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Tuesday, June 26, 2007

I'm still alive...

I just haven't much urge to type. I will return.

It's kinda coinkydinky that I returned two months to the day though.

Spooky.

Saturday, April 14, 2007

Drinking & Driving & Littering

My wife and I went out this morning to pick up garbage off the highway as part of the Adopt-A-Highway program. Aside from the numerous Timmy Ho's coffee cups that littered the highway, you would be amazed at how many beer bottles, beer cans, and other assorted alcoholic bottles we picked up along the shoulder of the highway. And we only did ~2km stretch of the highway. There are no houses anywhere in sight, so the only place that these could come from would be passing cars.

Of course, maybe not everyone who drank them was driving at the time -- they could have been a passenger -- but even if 1/10th of them were consumed by the drivers, that's pretty scary stuff.

Thursday, April 12, 2007

Senators 6 - Penguins 3


What an incredible game! I've been to quite a few games over the years, including some playoff games, and the crowd at tonight's game had to be the loudest I've ever heard. It was amazing.

One thing that did bother me is the number of people who left before the game was over. During the last 10 minutes or so of the game, at every whistle, more people would leave. Yeh, the game was pretty much a done deal, but WTF? People are so worried that they're going to be stuck in traffic.

STAY UNTIL THE END!

My throat is sore now from yelling and cheering so much. I've nearly lost my voice.

Wednesday, April 4, 2007

My Fine Is... $420.50

I found this one on the net.

Your life acts can cost you. How much are you fined? Tally up your fines for each of these acts.
  1. Smoked pot -- $10
  2. Did acid -- $5
  3. Ever had sex at church -- $25
  4. Woke up in the morning and did not know the person who was next to you -- $40
  5. Had sex with someone on MySpace -- $25
  6. Had sex for money -- $100
  7. Ever had sex with the a Puerto Rican -- $20
  8. Vandalized something -- $20
  9. Had sex on your parents' bed -- $10
  10. Beat up someone -- $20
  11. Been jumped -- $10
  12. Crossed dressed -- $10
  13. Given money to stripper -- $25
  14. Been in love with a stripper -- $20
  15. Kissed some one who's name you didn't know -- $0.10
  16. Hit on some one of the same sex while at work -- $15
  17. Ever drive drunk -- $20
  18. Ever got drunk at work/school, or went to work while still drunk -- $50
  19. Used toys while having sex -- $30
  20. Got drunk, passed out and don't remember the night before -- $20
  21. Went skinny dipping -- $5
  22. Had sex in a pool -- $20
  23. Kissed someone of the same sex -- $10
  24. Had sex with someone of the same sex -- $20
  25. Cheated on your significant other -- $10
  26. Masturbated -- $10
  27. Cheated on your significant other with their relative or close friend -- $20
  28. Done oral -- $5
  29. Got oral -- $5
  30. Done / got oral in a car while it was moving -- $25
  31. Stole something -- $10
  32. Had sex with someone in jail -- $25
  33. Made a nasty home video -- $15
  34. Had a threesome -- $50
  35. Had sex in the wild -- $20
  36. Been in the same room while someone was having sex -- $25
  37. Stole something worth over more than a hundred dollars -- $20
  38. Had sex with someone 10 years older -- $20
  39. Had sex with someone under 21 and you are over 27 -- $25
  40. Been in love with two people or more at the same time -- $50
  41. Said you love someone but didn't mean it -- $25
  42. Went streaking -- $5
  43. Went streaking in broad daylight -- $15.50
  44. Been arrested -- $5
  45. Spent time in jail -- $15
  46. Peed in the pool -- $0.50
  47. Played spin the bottle -- $5
  48. Done something you regret -- $20
  49. Had sex with your best friend -- $20
  50. Had sex with someone you work with at work -- $25
  51. Had anal sex -- $80
  52. Lied to your mate -- $5
  53. Lied to your mate about the sex being good -- $25
Tally it up and Title it..."My Fine Is..."

One interesting thing to note is that there are only 3 acts on the list that have cent values, leaving two possibly combinations that will give you with a 60 cent value on your total.

Tuesday, April 3, 2007

Metallica

This swedish couple really needs their heads checked. They are fighting for the right to name their daughter, Metallica. For the sake of your daughter, give up the fight.

Monday, April 2, 2007

Sports players

Someone who plays Hockey is a "Hockey player". Someone who plays Football is a "Football player". Basketball players play Basketball. Baseball players play... what else... Baseball.

Why is a Golfer not called a Golf player?

Friday, March 30, 2007

Terrorist driver

I saw something odd the other morning, while driving my wife to work. A cab was pulled over at a bus stop, and the back door facing the sidewalk was open. The passenger in the back seat was hanging out the door, with his finger jammed down his throat, obviously trying to make himself throw up. That's not something you see every day.

I got my driver's licence renewal card in the mail yesterday. This year I have to get a new photo taken too, so that means I'll have to take a trip to one of the MOT Centres to get it done. I don't mind too much, since I really hate my current photo. I look like some kind of terrorist in the picture. My hair is much longer, and I don't have the goatee that I have now. I'm off on a Friday in April, so I'll probably get it done that day.

Monday, March 26, 2007

Mouse catching

We arrived home from work this evening, hoping that the little mouse was in the live trap.

I carefully untaped the cupboard doors and removed the trap.

Nope. No mouse.

I shone a light beside the basket and there he was. Still sitting in the corner of the cupboard.

We decided to try and catch him with a glass. A friend at work said he had done that twice and it was pretty easy. He said the mice never even tried to run away. Our plan was to get him under a glass, and then slide it along the shelf to the front, and slide him into a small cardboard box.

So I blocked off the other half of the cupboard to minimize the area he could run in, and started to pull the basket away.

He didn't like that, and quickly scurried in behind it.

By now, my sister inlaw and her daughter dropped by to watch.

My wife placed a large plastic recycling bin on the kitchen counter, beneath the cupboard, just in case he hopped out of the cardboard. He would then land inside the plastic bin.

I was standing on a step stool, and I was nervous as hell that this little critter would get away. So my hand was shaking. That was kinda funny.

I removed the basket. The mouse didn't like that, and ran back and forth at the back of the cupboard. He stopped in his corner. I reached in slowly with the glass... he scurried around again. At one point he even ran toward me. He settled down again in the corner and I tried again. After three or four more attempts, I had mouse under glass.

Sliding the glass wasn't as easy because his little tail kept getting caught. He even squeaked at one point. Eventually I got it at the edge of the shelf.

My sister inlaw decided to help out. She was going to help close one flap on the box, while I closed the other, and my wife held the box up for us.

On a count of three, I pulled the glass off the edge and into the box he dropped.

We closed it up and I went out for a much needed smoke. :)

My kids and I walked up to the woods up near the school to release him.

Could that mouse ever move! AND jump! A second or two after the box was tipped over, he bolted out, hopped into the woods and continued hopping a foot at a time, and I swear he jumped about a foot in the air for a distance of two feet just before he was out of sight.

THAT'S what I was afraid he'd do from the cupboard.

By the time we got back, my wife had cleaned and disinfected the cupboard. I had a can of expanding spray foam, and I sprayed it into the small hole that we suspect was the route to the top of the cupboards.

Hopefully he was the one and only mouse we had. And hopefully we don't see anymore.

"Phys Ed"

I must be getting old.

While my kids were getting ready for school, my wife reminded them to not forget their gym clothes for school. My 11 year-old son replied, "I don't need them. I have Health, remember?" Then he went downstairs.

I walked into the bedroom and looked at my wife.

"Health?", I asked.

"Yeh," she replied, "Phys Ed."

Now, when I was in school, Phys Ed was "gym". Running around. Sports. Stuff like that.

So I said, "Hmm.. wouldn't it make more sense to teach them about Phys Ed before they the physical part?"

She smiled at me and said, "No... 'PHYS ED'."

Then it hit me.

Sex Ed.

Why the hell do they call it HEALTH or PHYS ED? We called that SEX ED when I was in school. because that's what it was about. Sex.

Then it hit me again.

He's only 11 years-old!

Good god. Is it THAT time already?

I'm not ready for this shit.

Tiny visitor

The first thing this morning, after I got dressed and came downstairs, my wife said to me, "Can you look in the cupboard on the top shelf? I found mouse droppings."

So I got the step stool, opened the cupboard and looked on the top shelf.

Sure enough, there were mouse droppings. Five or six of them, from what I could see.

No mouse in the trap though.

So I took out the trap and there were more droppings behind it. I decided to re-bait the trap with some fresh peanut butter and some crumbled nut bar, and I put it back on the shelf.

Then my wife asked me if I could take everything else off the shelf.

Okee dokee. I started removing things, one by one, handing them to her. More droppings.

And more droppings.

And even more droppings.

"This was one busy little mouse", I thought.

The last thing on the shelf was a plastic basket. In the basket, my wife keeps a bag of chocolate chips, bag of coconut, and other assorted stuff like that.

I grabbed the basket and pulled it out.

Ever have that weird feeling when you're doing something, where you know that there's a chance something else will happen, but in the back of your mind you're telling yourself that it won't happen, and then it does?

That's what it was like with the basket. I was fairly sure that I wouldn't find anything, other than more mouse poop, but when I got that basket out... there he was. Sitting in the corner of the cupboard, looking back at me.

What else could I do? I put the basket back in the cupboard and closed the door.

My wife freaked out. Which is strange, because she loves domestic rats. My sister in-law has two and she has no problem holding them.

My wife said that we have to get the mouse out. I asked her what I was supposed to do? Reach in and pick it up? What if it ran out and fell to the floor, then took off?

I told her it was best to keep it in the cupboard and hope that it goes into the live trap sometime today.

I took a picture of him before we taped the cupboard doors closed, and taped over the openings. Yeh, he could chew through the tape, but I'm hoping he'll get into the trap so we can release him outside in the forest somewhere.

I don't know what we'll do of he doesn't.

Or worse, if we get home and find that he did chew through the tape.

Or even worse... DIDN'T chew through the tape covering the small opening on top of the cupboards that he used to get into the house. That would mean he'd still be somewhere else in the house. :)

We have a cat, but she doesn't seem to be aware of the mouse's existence. If she is aware of it, she's not showing it by hanging around in the kitchen.

At the last place we lived, we caught a few mice. We had another cat then, and he would walk on the counters and stare up at the cupboards.

Sunday, March 25, 2007

Peyton Manning SNL Skit - *UPDATED*

I was watching SNL last night and this skit came on. SNL hasn't had anything this funny in a long time.



NEW LINK -- quick before YouTube pulls it down!

Saturday, March 24, 2007

Senators 7 - Lightning 2

With tonight's 7-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Ottawa Senators have officially clinched a playoff spot. I'm going to have to dig out all of my Senators signs and start posting them on the windows, like I do every year for the playoffs. :)

My brother inlaw got us a pair of tickets for the first home playoff game too. Since the standings aren't yet finished, we still don't know exactly when that will be, or who we'll be playing. So far, it looks like it'll be the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Phone Number Math

This is kinda neat.

  1. Grab a calculator. (you won’t be able to do this one in your head)
  2. Key in the first three digits of your phone number (NOT the area code)
  3. Multiply by 80
  4. Add 1
  5. Multiply by 250
  6. Add the last 4 digits of your phone number
  7. Add the last 4 digits of your phone number again.
  8. Subtract 250
  9. Divide number by 2

Look at your answer.

Neato, eh?

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Clark, The Canadian Hockey Goalie

This is some pretty funny shit. Perhaps more so if you're Canadian. I dunno.

Welcome back Spring!

Depending on your source, either today or tomorrow is the first day of spring. Spring apparently arrives at some time today. Either way, tomorrow is the first FULL day of spring.

This winter has certainly been the mildest I've ever been through. We didn't really get any significant snow until some time in January. Unfortunately for me, that meant that I wasn't able to use my new snow shoes very often.

Now we await what spring and summer will bring us. I'm really hoping that the mild winter doesn't mean we're in for a cool and wet summer. We had one of those a few years ago and it made for some terrible camping.

On the other hand, I wouldn't want a very hot and humid summer either. I don't mind the heat so much, just spare me the humidity.

Quincy Video

It took YouTube a while to publish it, but it is now up. Here's the video I made. Despite the corny sound track, I still love watching it. :)

Monday, March 19, 2007

Quincy

I'm feeling a little freaked out right now.

I was messing around with YouTube, uploading a small video of our cat, Sam, meowing. (Yeh, I was bored) Since I was digging around in my videos folder, I decided to play a video I made in 2003 as a tribute to our other cat, Quincy, who passed away that year.

Then it dawned on me that it was March of that year that he passed away.

It gets even freakier.

I checked my calendar and it was actually March 19th -- THIS VERY DAY -- back in 2003.

Spooky.

Quincy, also known as "Buddy", "Rug", and "Quin" was a Maine Coone variety of cat. When we got him 1993, along with his "sister" Sam. He was so tiny. He could sleep in my hand.

Sam was the same age, but about twice his size. Quincy grew up fast, outgrowing Sam and became the dominant one. He grew into a BIG cat. And he had a temper, when he didn't get his way.

Yet, he never attempted to hurt our kids. He would hiss occasionally, but that was it. He was so tolerant of them picking him up like a rag doll later in life.

I remember when our son was about a year old. He was lying on the carpet, on a blanket playing with his toys. I was typing away at the computer. I leaned over to check on him.

I nearly freaked.

There he was, on his stomach, face-to-face with Quincy. He had both fists firmly grasping the fur on each side of Quincy's face, pulling Quincy's face close to his own.

Quincy had a look of panic on his face, but didn't even try to pull away or defend himself. Poor cat. I rescued him and off he went.

It was pretty funny after the fact.

Quincy had two incidents of FUS (Feline Urinary Syndrome) in his life. The first time was caught early when he was around 4 years old, purely by chance while I was in the basement at the same time he was using the litter box. I noticed that he seemed to be having some discomfort as he went about his business. I checked the litter when he was done and found a small pool of bloody urine. That cost us a couple of hundred dollars in Vet bills, but he recovered fairly quickly.

The second incident was a couple of years later. Again, we caught it early, but not early enough. $600 later, he was home. We changed cat food this time, switching to Science Diet.

Years passed without any further incidents. Both Sam and Quincy appeared to be aging well.

In March of 2003, I noticed that Quincy was looking a little scruffy. Not his usual self. Not as active. I feared that it was FUS again.

I checked the litter box. I dabbed some paper towel on any wet spots on the litter and it left a pinkish wet mark on the paper towel. Must have been blood.

After some initial tests at the Animal Hospital, we had a brief moment of hope that it wasn't FUS, but quite possibly something else and easily treatable. An hour or so later, our hopes were gone. They confirmed that it was FUS. And fairly advanced. He was completely blocked.

We made a difficult decision that day, and chose to put an end to the misery that kept coming back.

I have to admit that I whimped out. My wife took Quincy to the Animal Hospital that night. I pretty much knew what was coming and couldn't go through that. About 7 years earlier, I brought my family's dog, Peanut, there for the same thing. She was very old and sick. But I stayed right to the end.

I couldn't bear the thought of going through that again with Quincy. When I think back on it now, that's something I regret. I should have been there. I owed that to him.

Anyway, that's the story of Quincy. Once the video gets published on YouTube, I'll post a link.

RIP Buddy. We still miss you.

Reasonable shipping rates?

I was browsing around ThinkGeek.com and found something that I wanted. It was $6.99 USD. I filled out the "Country" for the estimated shipping to Canada... $20.48?!?!

And that was the cheapest option, using DHL Express Intl. The other option was UPS Express at $23.73.

Their "Shipping Info" page states:
"We have chosen DHL and UPS as the carriers for our International orders. They both offer reasonable shipping rates (compared to other express carriers) and fast delivery times. We do not use the Post Office for International orders because they do not offer a suitable package tracking system."
$20 shipping on a $7 item is reasonable?

I recently ordered a canvas messenger bag from Amazon.com that cost me $16 for the bag, and the S&H was $15. Not a great deal less, but $31 overall for a bag that I couldn't find locally didn't bother me. Plus, the weight of this package was far greater than this $7 item.

I realize that they don't set their own shipping rates, but surely they could find a cheaper shipping alternative for smaller "International orders" so we don't get screwed?

Speaking of getting screwed... UPS has a history of screwing us with their "brokerage fees" as well. For that very reason, I won't buy anything from any company in he U.S. that uses UPS as the only shipping option.

You have to wonder how many sales, like mine, are lost due to the outrageous shipping charges. And ThinkGeek.com isn't the only business that has lost my sale because of it.

Sentors 3 - Penguins 4 (OT)

If the officiating in the playoffs is anything like it was for last night's Sens vs. Penguins game, the Senators are doomed.

Talk about inconsistency. Yes, there were a few things that should have been called against the Senatorss, but there were more than should have been called against the Penguins. (i.e. Crosby's dive, Roberts' cross-checking Corvo from behind into the glass during the overtime period) Then there were things that shouldn't have been called (i.e. Volchenkov's push into Flury, resulting in an interference penalty, and a goal for the Pens)

It's frustrating as hell to watch.

I understand that the game looks different down on the ice, but you would think that it would balance itself out. It didn't.

I hate the Leafs and I love nothing more than to watch them lose, but I've seen similar officiating go against them in games as well.

I know the Senators can beat the Penguins, but the playing ground has to be balanced for that to happen. None of these BS calls and non-calls.

Saturday, March 17, 2007

Pet Food Recall

This is pretty scary stuff, if you're a pet owner. The recall is a "precautionary measure".
TORONTO (CP) - One of North America's largest pet-food suppliers said Friday it would recall some of the premium dog and cat food it sells through stores such as Wal-Mart and Safeway at a cost of up to $40 million after several animal deaths in the United States.
One dog and a "small number" of cats in the U.S. are reported to have died from kidney failure after eating the food, Henderson said. There had been no complaints from Canadian pet owners.
The lists for Cat and Dog food are now posted on Menu Foods Income Fund's web site. They're are a lot longer than I expected. It looks like they sell under quite a few different names.

Make sure you download the list for the brand that you buy. It'll be an Excel spreadsheet containing the product code, description and other information. Most, if not all of them, seem to be "cuts'n'gravy" style. If you don't have Excel or a spreadsheet program capable of opening the file, you can download a free one here from Microsoft.

Cache me if you can

Here's an interesting article about Geocaching in Stanford Magazine. I really like this quote from the article,
“[Caching] makes you more observant of your surroundings,” she says. “It brings me the joy of appreciating what’s around me.”
That's a big part of why I enjoy Geocaching.

Friday, March 16, 2007

Day off for me

Being the last day of "March break" for the kids, I decided to book today off. We haven't decided what we're going to do... yet.

My headache from yesterday hung around the entire night. A lingering, nagging kind of pain. I felt much better this morning, but I can still feel the effects from yesterday.

The Sens beat the Islanders last night. It was a fun game to watch, but not as much fun as other wins because I couldn't cheer from the couch. Yelling and screaming would make my head hurt. (Yes, my wife and I yell and scream at the TV when we're watching hockey) :)

Thursday, March 15, 2007

Changing weather... allergies... pain... migraines

I've never, to the best of my knowledge, been tested for any allergies. One of these days, I should.

I woke up this morning feeling fairly good. On the drive to work, I sensed an aural migraine beginning. Fortunately for me, I rarely get a full-blown migraine headache. 95% of the time it's just the visual disturbances.

I seem to recall feeling this same way last spring, but perhaps a little worse. With cold like symptoms.

After I got to work, I had a bit of a headache. More of a burning pain at the back of my head. I think it's due to the change in weather. It's been warmer lately. The spring aromas are beginning. Maybe I'm allergic to something?

I don't know... but the daily visual disturbances are annoying as hell.

Luckily I work with a few women on my team. Women are like mobile pharmacies. All three of them had different pain medications, and all offered me something. I accepted some kind of green liquid capsule thing (Advil, perhaps?) and was told to drink lots of water with it, or it would give me heartburn.

I still feel a bit of a headache, but that definitely took the edge off the pain. I can deal with this. She offered me another one if I needed it. I thanked her, but passed on it.

I'd better not get any more symptoms of allergies.

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Common Sense Obituary

A friend sent this to me, so I don't really know its origin. I like most of it.
Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape.

He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as knowing when to come in out of the rain, why the early bird gets the worm, life isn't always fair, and maybe it was my fault. Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you earn) and reliable parenting strategies (adults, not children, are in charge).

His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a six-year- old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.

Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job they themselves failed to do in disciplining their unruly children.

It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer Panadol, sun lotion or a Band Aid to a student - but could not inform the parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

Common Sense lost the will to live as the Ten Commandments became contraband, churches became businesses, and criminals received better treatment than their victims.

Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar can sue you for assault.

Common Sense finally gave up the will to live after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.

Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust; his wife, Discretion; his daughter, Responsibility; and his son, Reason.

He is survived by three stepbrothers; I Know My Rights, Someone Else is to Blame, and I'm A Victim. Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone.

If you still remember him, pass this on. If not, join the majority and do nothing.

Sunday, March 11, 2007

Rideau Falls, Ottawa, Ontario

I stopped by Rideau Falls today to check out the ice. They had crews there monitoring the ice flowing into the Ottawa River. My guess is that they just opened the dam. There must have been 20-30 people there all watching. It was pretty cool.

I took some photos and posted them online.

Saturday, March 10, 2007

Suitable for all audiences

While watching the Sens vs Leafs game tonight on TV a Kia commercial came on.

At first it looked like the controversial one, where the lady cop is making out with a young guy in his car. This one...



Various police forces didn't like it because they claimed it was degrading. I thought it was funny. And I don't think any less of female police offers because of it. Anyway, the police got their way and KIA backed down and pulled it.

I was surprised when it came back on. I started to say to my wife, "Hey, I thought they pulled that..." and then around 5 seconds into it, just before they pan back to show the cop car, it cut to a message on the screen that said:

And now a new ending that
is suitable for all audiences.

The next thing you know, we're looking at a goat standing in a field, happily eating grass and wagging its tail. Too funny. :) I couldn't find a clip of the new commercial, but I did find this story about it.

Anyone who has seen the original commercial knows that the woman in the front seat with the guy is a cop.

It'll be interesting to see if the police forces complain about it again.

Daylight Savings Time @ 2am, Sunday, March 11

Don't forget to set your clocks and other time devices forward by 1 hour at 2:00am Sunday, March 11th! Of course, this only applies if you live in Canada or the United States.

For the last day or two I've been trying to figure out what devices we own, other than the computers, that automatically adjust themselves for DST. My GPSr does. I was checking out its DST settings last night, and it allows you to set "custom" change dates, but unfortunately I can't find a way to set it for the second Sunday in March. It has First and Last. Ugh.

Cycling and Geocaching

The team I'm cycling with for the RONA MS Bike Tour in August met last night at one of the members' apartments. We met to toss around fund raising ideas and to... well.. meet each other, since some of us had never met before. We had a great time.

We're all linked by our hobby -- Geocaching.

After the meeting, we all went looking for a micro geocache hidden about 500m away. It was pretty cold out too. Some of the members had already found it in the past and got a good laugh out of the rest of us searching this small traffic island for a tiny cache.

Friday, March 9, 2007

MADD - drunk driving petition

I just received an email from a friend. It was a petition for MADD, entitled "Somebody Should Have Taught Him" and contained a poem about drunk driving. A quick visit to Snopes.com proved it to be an urban legend.

According to Snopes...
Unfortunately, no matter how well-intentioned, this petition is actually having a negative impact because people who don't know what to do with it are bombarding MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) with it, clogging their e-mail and taking up the time of staff members who now have to spend time responding to it rather than helping drunk driving victims. People who truly want to help should visit MADD's Activism page instead. For those who seek a legislative solution to this problem, contacting one's congressional representative(s) directly, by U.S. mail, telephone, fax, or e-mail is likely a more productive action than signing an e-petition.
Although it was sent with good intentions, I really wish people would take a minute and do a little research on any email petitions they plan on forwarding to find out if they're real or not. 90% of the time, you'll find it on Snopes.

My visit to the Dentist

My dental appointment went a little better than I expected.

First of all, I no longer have the same hygienist. It seems that she no longer works there. :(

The one who cleaned my teeth today appears to be a temporary one, picking up the other ones appointments. She said that they're in the process of hiring a new hygienist, so she said she doesn't know who I'll get in September when I go back.

I told her about my sensitive gums near one of my molars. She had a look at it and said it did look a little inflamed. She took an x-ray of it and showed it to me on the computer in the room. The tooth itself looks good, and so does the root. But the gumline around it is lower than the gum line around neighbouring teeth. She called it "bone loss". I guess my jaw bone is wearing away? I dunno.

After the cleaning, the dentist came in to have a look at my teeth and said the same thing. I didn't think at the time, but I should have asked if the occasional pain I have with my gums around the will clear up on its own. It's more of a nuisance if I'm not careful when I eat.

I will have to go back in two weeks though. The dentist also noticed that the filling on the tooth beside was chipped or cracked. Greeeeaaaaaaaat. :(

Thursday, March 8, 2007

Senators 5 - Leafs 1

The Ottawa Senators played a great game tonight, breaking their 3-game losing streak and NOT losing a lead in the third period for the fourth time in a row. *phew*

Ray Emery played a great game, making more than a few really nice saves.

Of course, the victory is that much more sweeter by the fact that it was the Leafs that we beat. :)

GO SENS GO!

Root canal? I hope not.

I have a dental appointment tomorrow morning. It's for my regularly scheduled 6-month cleaning.

Up until about a week ago, I thought it would be just another typical cleaning with my cute hygienist. Now I'm not so sure.

A week ago, my lower right gums started to be sensitive. They hurt a little. Almost like they got scratched by sharp toast or something. Know what I mean?

It started to feel like it might be getting better, but I just noticed that it's not. In fact, if I put my finger in my mouth and press hard on that area, it hurts quite a bit. More than it has up to now.

I'm no dentist, but I suspect that there's an infection lurking somewhere under the nearby tooth. I'm dreading that something is going to show up on an x-ray, and that the dentist will tell me that I need a root canal.

I've had at least two root canals in the past. They weren't too bad, but they're so freakin' expensive and my insurance plan doesn't cover the entire cost.

Ugh.

Meow?

Our cat, Sam, was acting really strange last night.

She usually keeps to herself, unless I'm sitting on the couch watching TV. Then she'll hop onto the arm of the couch and lie down. Last night I was at the computer and she wouldn't stop coming into the den and meowing. Or standing on her hind legs and rubbing her face against the arm of my chair.

I checked to see if she had food. She did. I emptied the bowl and gave her some fresh food and water. That occupied her for about 5 minutes before she returned.

I went looking for her toys in the living room, found 3 of them, and tossed them out into the middle of the room for her to play with. She walked over to them, batted one around for a few seconds and then followed me back into the den.

She eventually hopped onto my lap and draped herself over one of my arms and purred away contentedly. After 10 minutes of that, she hopped down and left.

I'm guessing that she just wanted some attention, but it's not very often that she acts that way. It was rather strange.

Wednesday, March 7, 2007

40 Things You'd Love to Say Out Loud at Work

I didn't make this list. Someone sent it to me. I could have used a couple of these today. :)
  1. I can see your point, but I still think you're full of it.
  2. I don't know what your problem is, but I'll bet it's hard to pronounce.
  3. How about never? Is never good for you?
  4. I see you've set aside this special time to publicly humiliate yourself.
  5. I'm really easy to get along with once you people learn to see it my way.
  6. Who lit your fuse.
  7. I'm out of my mind at the moment, but feel free to leave a message.
  8. I don't work here - I'm a consultant.
  9. It sounds like English, but I don't understand a damn word you're saying.
  10. Ahhh. I see the screw-up fairy has visited us again.
  11. I like you. You remind me of myself when I was young and stupid.
  12. You are validating my inherent mistrust of strangers.
  13. I have plenty of talent and vision - I just don't give a damn.
  14. I'm already visualizing the duct tape over your mouth.
  15. I will always cherish the initial misconceptions I had about you.
  16. Thank you. We're all refreshed and challenged by your unique point of view.
  17. The fact that no one understands you doesn't mean you're an artist.
  18. Any connection between your reality and mine is purely coincidental.
  19. What am I? Flypaper for freaks?
  20. I'm not being rude. You're just insignificant.
  21. It's a thankless job, but I've got a lot of karma to burn
  22. Yes, I am an agent of Satan, but my duties are largely ceremonial.
  23. And your cry-baby whiny butt opinion would be?
  24. Do I look like a fucking people person to you?
  25. This isn't an office. It's Hell with fluorescent lighting.
  26. I started out with nothing and I still have most of it left
  27. Sarcasm is just one more service we offer.
  28. If I throw a stick, will you leave?
  29. Errors have been made. Others will be blamed.
  30. Whatever kind of look you were going for, you missed.
  31. Oh, I get it. Like humor. Only different.
  32. A cubicle is just a padded cell without the door.
  33. Can I trade this job for what's behind door number 1?
  34. Too many freaks, not enough circuses.
  35. Nice perfume, but must you marinate in it?
  36. Chaos, panic and disorder - my work here is finally done.
  37. How do I set a laser printer to k!ll.
  38. I thought I wanted a career; turns out I just wanted a salary
  39. I'll try being nicer if you try being smarter.
  40. Wait a minute - I'm just trying to imagine you with a personality

Bugatti Veyron @ Top Speed

This is insane. 407 km/h.

Imagine having an accident at that speed? I doubt there'd be much left of the driver or the car.

Here's one that crashed at 160 km/h.

Tuesday, March 6, 2007

Korean Sushi

I'm not too keen on the thought of ever trying sushi. Up to now, I thought that sushi was always dead. If I were to try sushi, it would have to be dead.

It seems that I was wrong.

No Mouse

We checked the trap this morning and it was empty, except for the small piece of paper with the peanut butter on it. I'm not sure what I would have done if we had found a mouse in it. It's damn cold outside today. I would have felt guilty releasing it.

Monday, March 5, 2007

There's a mouse in the house!

Maybe.

My wife found a plastic basket had been chewed on. The small chewed pieces of plastic were inside the basket. Nothing else in that cupboard was chewed though. We don't know how long it's been like that either. No signs of mouse droppings.

At the last house we lived in, we had two mice over the years that we were there. We caught them both. Unfortunately, one of them died in the trap. We use live traps, but I had baited the trap for weeks, and checked it daily with no sign. I forgot about it for a few days and when I went back, it had a dead mouse in it.

The first one we caught about a year before was still alive. It was a much larger trap too. Click on the picture to see the little trapped critter.

I baited the trap with peanut butter and left it in the cupboard where the plastic basket was. These little critters amaze me how they manage to climb up into the cupboards, and navigate from one to another without any obvious access.

If there is in fact a mouse in the house, I hope we catch it soon.

Moderated Comments

I had to enable comment moderation due to some spam disguised as a comment.

The Britney Spears entry I posted earlier today attracted some porn spam. At first glance, it seemed rather harmless. The anonymous comment made reference to Spears' going commando and how it's a cry for help. Her name hotlinked back to some porn site. They then referenced the porn site directly, where we could find many more photos of her in her state of crying out for help state. Had they linked to specific pictures or articles associated with the reference, I may have left it.

Live and learn. The moderation shouldn't be a problem since I have yet to receive any other comments for my entries. :)

Britney Spears is the anti-christ!

Britney Spears claims to be the anti-christ.

I really feel sorry for her. I guess some people would say that she deserves everything that happens to her, but I don't.

Don' get me wrong. I can't stand her music. But I wouldn't wish this on anyone.

Looking back through time

I was messing around with Picasa and the online albums earlier. After Picasa had finished cataloging all my photos, I couldn't help but look through them.

The pictures of my kids from three or four years ago made me a little teary eyed. I could remember all those moments when I took the photos too. They grow up so damned fast. Too fast.

Where does the time go?

Anyway, I posted some pictures on the right of the main page here. Not pictures of my kids -- pictures that I took while learning some of the features on my camera. I love the super macro.

Saturday, March 3, 2007

Kraft Dinner?

It appears that my most popular blog entry was the one about Perfect Kraft Dinner. Most visitors arrive here after doing a search on Google for "Kraft Dinner". Interesting.

Customer Service

I used to work in tech support. I used to manage a team in tech support. I can relate to this. Oh boy, can I relate to this.

Friday, March 2, 2007

Weather not so bad

The drive in to work wasn't as bad as I expected it to be. It was a slow, but it was steady. No stop'n'go driving. I actually ended up arriving 10-20 minutes earlier than I thought I would. I was the only one on my team here for about 15 minutes. There wasn't much snow on the ground, it was mostly ice pellets. No freezing rain, though.

The school buses were not running today, but we sent our kids to school anyway. :) My son usually walks to school. He was not happy about having to go on a "snow day". But he was off sick twice this week, so we figured it would make a good catch-up day for him. My daughter happens to like school, so my wife borrowed her sister's car and drove her and her niece to school this morning. The unfortunate part about that is that they'll both need to be picked up later today, and the weather is supposed to get worse, with an accumulation of 15cms of snow.

Thursday, March 1, 2007

Weather Warning

We're expecting a big dump of snow tonight.

HEAVY SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW BEGINNING THIS EVENING.

15-20cms when all is said and done. Along with ice pellets and freezing rain.

For the last week or so, all the snow has been melting. It wasn't a lot to begin with though. We've got patches of grass showing on our tiny front lawn, and the entire flower bed is snow-free.

Should be a fun drive in to work tomorrow morning, if it actually happens.

Wednesday, February 28, 2007

How Many of Me

HowManyOfMe.com
LogoThere are:
28
people with my name
in the U.S.A.

How many have your name?

The weirdest part of my statistics is this:
  • 99.64 percent of people with the first name Scott are male.
I've never known a female named Scott. Has anyone ever known a female named Scott?

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Hershey's Closing Smith's Falls Plant

This is old news, but still worth mentioning.

Hershey's is planning on closing the Smith's Falls plant, and moving its operations to Mexico to cut costs. I have nothing against Mexico, but I think the quality of the products currently produced at the Smith's Falls plant will fall after this happens.

I've never had great faith with online petitions, but here's one -- it can't hurt to sign it if you're against the closure.

Sunday, February 25, 2007

Anna-Nicole Smith

I am in no way implying that Anna-Nicole Smith was a horse, but the media is certainly beating one -- especially shows like Entertainment Tonight.

How many times can they run the same stories, the same interviews, the same court footage, over and over again? Do people really like seeing them repeatedly?

Her death was certainly a tragedy, but give it a rest already!

Canon PowerShot S3 IS

I got a new digital camera yesterday -- a Canon PowerShot S3 IS. I have been wanting a new camera for a while. One of my co-workers got one of these a couple of months ago. After seeing it, all the features it had, and some pictures that she had taken with it, I knew that this was the one I wanted.

My wife and I both got our profit sharing last week, so my wife said she'd pay half for it if I wanted it. Since it was on sale at Best Buy, it seemed like a good time to pick one up.

After having about an hour to play with it before we left for the hockey game, I took it with me to the game and snapped a bunch of photos.

This camera is loaded with features. Probably way more than most people need, but it's perfect for me.

My last camera was a Panasonic DMC-LC33. It was a great little camera, and still is. But I needed something with optical image stabilization, for one thing. I also wanted something with better macro. I can't tell you how many times I ended up with blurry macro shots because I held the camera just a little too close. The Canon lets you get up to ZERO distance from an object.

Senators 6 - Sabres 5

Great game last night with a couple of good fights. :)

Admittedly, the Senators were lucky to win that one. Despite the Sabres missing a handful of key players, they played a strong game to keep coming back.

Friday, February 23, 2007

Space Services

I got a reply from the lady at Space Services about the error on the customers declaration sticker, and the fact that I had to pay customs fees on incorrect info.

She apologized profusely and said they would refund the amount to me, and also sent me a real picture of the star I had dedicated to my wife that I could print out. They normally charge $19.95 for that.

It was a nice gesture when all I really wanted was the money back that I paid for customs fees.

She added that they rarely make such mistakes, as they have with my order. I believe it. I couldn't see them staying in business for very long if they made that many. :)

I got a confirmation that the amount was refunded to my credit card about 2 hours later.

Sens vs Slugs - Part 2

Someone on my team at work won 2 tickets for tomorrow night's Sens vs Sabres game at Scotiabank Place. Unfortunately for her, she already has plans. So, she held a little raffle within our team to give them away and I won. :)

They're Club (100) Level Suite tickets. My wife is pretty excited about going. It'll be our first hockey game this year. We went to quite a few games last year, all with free/won tickets except for one game.

Should be a good game!

Sens vs Sabres (aka Slugs), February 22, 2007

Great fights last night. :)



Although, Lindy Ruff should be penalized and/or fined for sending out 3 goons to take out our guys.

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Mystery package -- revealed

We paid the $9.87 and picked up the package today. It was in fact from the Space Services company that I ordered the star certificate from. The fee was for tax and handling. (aka Customs fees)

The reason for the stupid charge was because on the customs declaration sticker, they wrote that they shipped software (valued at $19.95) along with the certificate (value $9.95), for a total value of $29.90 USD.

When I first saw it I thought, "They sent another copy of the software with the certificate... perhaps they re-sent the entire package that I ordered previously?"

We opened it up, only to find just the replacement certificate. No software. Nothing else. That's what I expected. But why on earth would they write that software was included and then not send any?

So basically I paid taxes and handling fees on an incorrect value of the package. Had they just listed the certificate, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have had to pay anything.

Anyway, I sent them an email when I got home. We'll see what they have to say. Hopefully they'll do the right thing and refund me the $9.87 on my credit card.

It's rather funny that I never had to pay anything on the first package, despite the accurate values written on the sticker. Go figure.

2008 Ford Escape

My wife and I lease a 2005 Ford Escape and our lease will be up in December. We've been talking about it for a while, and decided that we will probably get another Escape when the lease is up, except that we plan to buy it rather than lease. Our primary reason is because we don't want to tied down with a mileage limit. As it stands, we're either going to exceed or be very close to exceeding the 60,000km limit that we got with this one. Blah.

My wife took the truck in for it's regular oil change last night and came home with a brochure for the 2008 Ford Escape. My initial reaction was, "BLEH!".

First, it seems that they have done away with the unpainted cladding. We actually like the unpainted cladding. It takes a beating quite well. (i.e. doesn't scratch as easily as painted body parts, or chip from stones)

The chrome on the front looks out of place too. It looks cheap. The wheel wells also seem to flare out further.

I realize that the Escape isn't a big, nasty, 4x4, bush whacking vehicle to begin with, but the 2008 looks less like they could survive out in the wild. Like they belong only on paved roads. The 2007's and earlier at least look like they could survive a little easy off-roading.

I keep looking at pictures of it and it has started growing on me, a little. I guess I'd have to take one out for a spin to see what it feels like. And if we decide not to go for it, we'll hopefully still be able to pick up a 2007 with little or no mileage on it. Maybe even a little cheaper?

Mystery package

When I got home from work today, there was a notice from Canada Post that they tried to deliver a package when nobody was home.

The only "package" that I am expecting is the replacement star certificate that I talked about last week.

The kicker, though, is that there is a fee due on this package. A fee of $9.95 or something like that, for taxes and/or duty I assume. Why there would be a fee on a piece of paper in an envelope is puzzling. I honestly can't see that being the case because the original package I received from them certainly had a greater value and I never had to pay anything for it when it arrived.

What did cross my mind is that perhaps the company that I ordered the star certificate from decided to send me something else along with the certificate to make up for their error. While that would be a thoughtful gesture, I'm not too pleased with having to pay $10 for whatever it is they sent.

I don't recall ordering anything else that would require a delivery. I sometimes order software online, but it's usually registering shareware, where there's no need to send a physical product.

I'm stumped, and a little anxious to find out what it could be.

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Traffic Line Jumpers

I have to rant, because this really pisses me off.

When I drive my wife to work in the morning, we have to take a major highway and exit on the road where her work place is located. On some mornings, that exit ramp can be quite backed up, sometimes to the point where most of the traffic is sitting on the paved shoulder of the highway as everyone waits their turn to exit. Well, almost everyone.

Some people seem to think that they're special. So special, in fact, that they are allowed to drive past the long line-up of cars and then butt in right at the exit. It's not like they can't see that there's a long line of cars waiting to exit the highway.

And there are repeat offenders too! On a few occasions, we've seen the same cars doing this time and time again.

These assholes should consider themselves lucky. I'm just waiting for the morning that I'm right at the exit, and one of them tries to butt into the line ahead of me. So far, I haven't been so fortunate.

Then there are those who feel that they've waited in line long enough. This is a single lane exit ramp with a rather large paved shoulder. Once in a while other assholes will drive up along the shoulder, past everyone waiting and they'll do one of two things.
  1. Try to merge further up the line where most of the vehicles are turning right along a right bend.
  2. Drive up the left turn lane and make an illegal right turn.
#2 appears to be the most popular. Click the picture to see what I mean.

I pray for the morning where there's a cop sitting in his/her car on the small paved island, unseen by the oncoming a-holes, and then lets see if they have the balls to make that illegal right turn.

WTF makes these people think that they're so special? I'm sure that everyone is in rush to get to work. All these assholes are doing is slowing down the rest of us who are patiently waiting our turn.

Wrong Time. Wrong Place. Wrong Number.

Lucky Number Slevin was on one of the free digital movie channels the other night. I had been wanting to see it since a co-worker told me about it. She warned me that it starts off rather confusing but the pieces will eventually fall into to place.

She was right.

There are some movies where you can guess the outcome about three-quarters of the way through the movie. This one stays well hidden right up until about 15 minutes before the end.

My kingdom for a regular band-aid!

One of the side-effects of having kids is that you'll never find a regular band-aid anywhere in the house.

There are Sponge Bob band-aids, Barbie band-aids, Scooby-Doo band-aids, and other assorted cartoon character band-aids.

But not ONE regular, flesh-coloured band-aid. At least not one that is suitable for whatever wound you wish to cover or protect. Sure, there are plenty of those big-ass band-aids for sucking chest wounds, but not a simple, regular-size band-aid.

Wearing SpongeBob on your toe, or other hidden body part is fine. But I'm sorry -- on a finger, or hand just doesn't do it for me.

Sunday, February 18, 2007

Sunday

I went geocaching this afternoon. I wore my snow shoes. I now have a blister on my right pinky toe. It hurts. I have to remember not to strap the snow shoes on so tight.

Despite that, it was a good hike along the river. The wind coming across the frozen river was damn cold though. I had to cross frozen bodies of water a few times during my hike. That was kinda cool, actually.

I'm tired now.

Ghost Rider

My wife and I went out for dinner tonight, and then went to see Ghost Rider. I read a review before we went. They said it was better than Daredevil, and gave it a 2.5/5.

The FX were pretty cool. The acting was so-so. It had a few funny parts, and a few parts that made my wife jump. I have to admit that I jumped a little at the first one, mostly because I wasn't expecting anything like that in the movie.

Overall, I enjoyed it, but I think it would make a better DVD rental. Thankfully, we didn't pay to see it. I had a gift card that I got at Christmas, so we used that for the movie.

I'll probably pick it up when it hits DVD. It's the type of movie that I like collecting.

We saw a few previews before the movie started. Shooter, with Mark Wahlberg, looked pretty cool. It's hard to believe that he used to be Marky Mark. He sure has come a long way.

Another upcoming movie that looks like it might be good is Fantastic Four - Rise of the Silver Surfer. We never saw the first one in the theatre, but we picked it up on DVD and enjoyed it.

Friday, February 16, 2007

Geocaching Pub Night

Looks like I'll be able to attend a Geocaching meet/event tonight. There's usually one every month at a different location, but due to it being on a Tuesday and its starting time, there's no way I can make it there. This month's is on a Friday and starts at 7:00pm so I'll be there.

These meets are just get-togethers to meet other Geocachers, share stories and go for any geocache finds in the area after grabbing a bite to eat. The weather is supposed to be a bit warmer tonight than it has been lately, so it should be a good time.

Thursday, February 15, 2007

Flag Day proposal

Looks like there's a bill in progress to get us a holiday in February; Flag Day!

I'm all for it.

*CLICK*

I recorded LOST last night while I listened to the hockey game on the net. After the game, and after my wife had finished watching her show, she went to bed and I watched LOST. I asked her if she was going to stay up and watch it with me, but she was too tired.

Anyway, after LOST was over, I checked out the listing on our PVR to see what else I had recorded over the last week. I usually record all of the CSI's, Cold Case, Criminal Minds, 24, and Heroes as well. There was the last episode of Criminal Minds. So I started watching it.

Now it seems that in the last year or so, it can take me 2-3 hours to watch a 1 hour show. Why? Because I keep falling asleep. If it's not packed with action from start to finish, I tend to doze off. The funny thing is, I don't remember even feeling tired. It's like a switch in my head shuts off, and I'm out.

Then I'll wake up, realize that I missed some of the show, rewind it to where I last remember watching, and then the entire process repeats again a few minutes later. My mind keeps saying "Hey, you're not tired enough to go to bed. Rewind that baby, and finish watching it." And I feel like I'm wide awake after the quick snooze too, so I do stay up and try to continue watching it.

I don't fall asleep any other time of the day, just while watching TV. So it's not like I doze off while driving the car or something.

When I was younger, I remember times when I was feeling tired and fighting to stay awake while watching some movie on the TV. But the difference is that I was able to stay awake, not matter how tired I was.

Not anymore.

*CLICK* and I'm out.

I'm not even getting any hints from my body that I'm about to fall asleep.

*CLICK* ZZzzzz.....

No advance warning, sorry.

*CLICK*

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Slow Motion Videos

These are pretty cool videos, recorded with high speed cameras. The one of the dog drinking about half way down is bizarre. I didn't know dogs drank like that.

Valentine's are fucked!

At least that's what little Jerry Masterson says. Click the picture on the right.

Yeh, beyond a doubt it's fake, but still funny nonetheless. :)

I never did quite understand why kids nowadays have to give Valentines to ALL the kids in their class, if they're giving any out at all. We never did that in school. Sure, some kids got more than others, but that's life.

I was never one of the kids who got the most. Actually, I was probably one of the kids who got the least. I still turned out OK. At least I think so.

Although, I do recall giving some to guys. My friends. I'm not gay either. What the hell was I thinking?

Anyway, my point is... kids should not be forced to give Valentine's Day cards to every kid in their class. It kinda takes away from the meaning of Valentine's Day. Know what I mean?

Valentine's Day

My wife liked the star that I had dedicated to her. She took the certificate and other stuff in the envelope to work and showed it to some of her co-workers. They seemed to think it was pretty cool too.

I did have to print out my own certificate to replace the incorrectly dated one as I'm still waiting for the replacement. My wife said she wouldn't have known the difference if I hadn't mentioned that it was still coming.

As I mentioned before, we don't usually do anything special for Valentine's Day. My wife did get me a card and some heart chocolates though.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Lights out

Just as we were all getting ready this morning, the power went out. Not just a brief flicker. Completely off.

No more clock radio news. No more bedroom light helping me to find a matching pair of socks.

The phone rang. My wife answered and spoke with her Mother, who lives a few doors away, confirming that they too had no power.

Thankfully, the coffee was already made and still hot. I'd have to grab something to eat later from TimmyHo's when we made our morning Timmy's coffee stop while driving my wife to work.

My PC and my server box were still running. Both are on a UPS, but shutdown down about 20 minutes later, after the electricity gods decided not to fix what was broken.

I sure hope we have power when I get home later this evening. I'm not really keen freezing my ass off at home.

Btw, in case you're wondering, I did manage to find a matching pair of socks.

Friday, February 9, 2007

Got my glasses... FINALLY

My wife called LensCrafters today to find out of my glasses were ready. Surprise -- they were. She asked if I would receive any kind of discount for the inconvenience of waiting so long. The manager asked her what she had in mind. So my wife asked if they had any specials on right now that they didn't have when we originally went in. She said they did. A coupon online that I could print out to get 50% of the lenses. She said if I brought that in, they would honour it.

Sweet. Or so I thought.

As it turned out, the coupon cannot be used with other specials. Like the 20% discount I got because it'll be going through my health insurance. So I was left with a puzzle. 50% off $130 lenses, or 20% off the total cost (frames were around $145). In the end, I saved a whopping $9.01 cent over what I paid using the 20% off total cost.

I guess the important thing is that I finally have reading glasses again. No more struggling to read the newspaper in the morning.

Patients say private medical files 'held hostage'

My family and I were in this exact same situation last year, with the same company -- Green and McQueen. They wanted $450 for ours so we never did get them.

Here's another link that may be of interest. Several people filed a complain with the Govt.

A co-worker recently went through the same situation, again, dealing with the same storage company.

My best advice is to ask your family doctor for copies whenever something significant occurs with your health. They may charge you a "reasonable fee", but at least you won't be charged a fortune to get copies from storage.

Keep in mind that I do NOT blame Green and McQueen for this. They are simply a company that provides storage services for medical records. (Although their fees are rather suspect) It's the Doctor and/or the medical board's fault. There should be something in place that provides patients with sufficient advance notice that the practice is closing so that they can obtain copies from the doctor for a true 'reasonable fee'. If the patient chooses not to ask for copies at that time, then fine -- charge them more for copies from storage.

Thursday, February 8, 2007

Blame global warming?

Hello?

Do you think that, perhaps, the marijuana might have had something to do with it?

Man accused of riding nude on ski lift; also charged with marijuana possession

I found a name!

Katzenjammer.

That will be the name of my blog. I don't really know why, other than the fact that it's fun to say. I found it as one of the old "word of the day" words over at Merriam-Webster Online.

If Peter Griffin had a sex change

A friend sent me this picture. If you're familiar with the TV show, Family Guy, then you'll get this. Even if you're not, it might make you says "WTF?". Click the pic on the right for a bigger view.

Seriously, is that a guy or a girl?

Wednesday, February 7, 2007

Don't you hate it when...

... you launch your web browser to go to some web site and then can't remember where you wanted to go?

Snickers ad homophobic?

Apparently, due to the complaints from The Human Rights Campaign and the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, the maker of Snickers has bowed under pressure and pulled the ad from TV and their web site.
"This type of jeering from professional sports figures at the sight of two men kissing fuels the kind of anti-gay bullying that haunts countless gay and lesbian school children on playgrounds all across the country," Human Rights Campaign president Joe Solmonese said in a statement."
Give me a freakin' break. Get a sense of humour, for crying out loud, and pull your head out of your asses! It was FUNNY!

It depicts two straight guys who accidentally kissed! For them, it wasn't normal, and they reacted. What else are they supposed to do? They didn't say or imply that it was wrong. It just wasn't something that they wanted to do. If you're reading more from that, then it's YOU that has the problem. You're so paranoid about being discriminated against or whatever, yet you don't hesitate to complain about the silliest things that you don't like, drawing attention to yourself, and making you look like a bunch of big whiners.

I don't know how long this will last on YouTube before it gets yanked for the same idiotic reasons that it was yanked from TV, but here it is.

Tuesday, February 6, 2007

Star Stuff (Continued)

As expected, the large envelope was my wife's certificate for the star I had named after her.

It's very cool and came in a cardboard frame/card, with a sky map showing which star is named after her. I might go out buy a nice frame for the certificate. It also came with some astronomy software (which I'll probably get more use out of) and code she'll need for her free viewing of her star at SLOOH.

The information on downloading the Astronomy eBook still says it's for 2006. I went to the link printed on the sheet and as it turns out, it is for 2007. I guess they haven't printed a new download instruction sheet. I'm glad the eBook was updated though.

I told my son what it was, since he's sitting right next to me. He knows it's a secret, so hopefully he won't say anything to his Mom. :)

Addendum: I just noticed that they never fixed the registration date on the certificate. It still says January 1, 2006. AAAAAHHH! I just replied to the last email I received from them that said they would change it. I hope they can fix it and send me a new certificate with the correct date before Feb 14th.

Addendum #2: I already received a response! Man, that was fast. They apologized and said that the new date was in their database and the error was probably due to the certificate already being printed prior to the correct. They're sending a new printed certificate and they sent me a link to download a digital version to print out in case the new one doesn't arrive on time. Excellent customer service!

Star Stuff

My wife called me earlier to say that I got some "big envelope" from "some space place" in the mail today. I assume that it's from Name A Star Live. :)

She asked me what it was. I didn't know what to say, other than "Can't tell ya".

She left it at that.

I hope I don't get anymore questions about it. Dammit, it's for Valentine's Day.

Monday, February 5, 2007

Super Bowl Ads

I can't help but laugh every time I watch this Super Bowl ad:

That has to be one of the best ones. The other Sierra Mist ad is pretty good too.

Sunday, February 4, 2007

Ready When Promised

Or so LensCrafters claims.

"Just tell us what's convenient and your glasses will be ready when promised. LensCrafters has provided one-hour service since 1983*. Some prescriptions or lens materials may require additional time."

*One-hour service available in most locations.

I'm still waiting for my new glasses. Tomorrow will be 7 days of waiting.

I can see so-so using my driving glasses, but reading a newspaper is damn near impossible without holding it far away from my eyes. Using the computer isn't as bad, but I can feel my eyes getting tired after a few hours.

In their defence, they did warn me what it would take a few days because two of their three machines kept "going down". I told them that it wasn't a problem. I guess that was my mistake.

My wife called them last Thursday(?) to inquire about a time frame. They told her that the machines all came back up, but then went down again. They couldn't give her an estimate of when they'd be ready. She asked them if I could cancel, if I wanted to. They said yes.

I'm a fairly patient and understanding guy. I know things go wrong. My wife has very little patience and told me last week that I should cancel it and go somewhere else. But 7 days is just about my limit here.

I tried calling them earlier, but they weren't open yet. They open at noon, apparently. We'll see what they say. I surely can't be the only person waiting.

I think tomorrow evening will be the deadline I ask for. What sucks about canceling is that I'll still have to go somewhere else and wait yet again, possibly even a few days.

Regardless, I'm going to need to know when they'll be ready. If they can't give me any time frame, or if it's more than a couple of days, then I'll have no choice but to cancel and take my chances elsewhere.

Friday, February 2, 2007

Ice skating memories

Late this afternoon, a few co-workers and I had a chat about ice skating. At some point, someone brought up the topic of ice skating and that triggered a couple of very funny memories of two incidents I had when I was younger. I had to share it with them.

The first was when I must have been about 10 years old or so in the mid 70's. My class at school was going ice skating at an indoor hockey arena in our town. I think I had only been ice skating once or twice before that.

Anyway, we got to the arena. I laced up and made my way down to the rink, and stepped onto the ice.

Instantly, my ass met the cold ice surface. I grabbed the boards and pulled myself up, pushed off, and took a few strides.

Once again. Down I went.

Remember, I was a noob skater.

I continued like this, all the way around the entire rink.

A teenager, who must have been watching me struggle, skated up to me and said, "You know, it's easier if you take your skate guards off."

Oops.

The second incident was in the late 80's. Rather than sit in my friend's basement, drinking, listening to music and shooting the shit -- which is what my friends and I usually did every weekend -- someone decided that we should all go skating for a change. Since Winterlude was in full swing, it seemed like a cool idea.

We grabbed our skates and bussed it downtown. The canal was pretty busy. We went to one of the change huts, put on our skates and took off down the canal.

We didn't make it very far. I hit a crack in the ice and wiped out. No big deal. I stood up, took a few strides and wiped out again. The first thing that came to mind was "WTF? Are my skates that dull?" I had my skate guards in my hand, so I knew that wasn't the problem. :)

I persisted, but something didn't feel right. The lighting was poor, so it was a little difficult to actually see my skates. I stumbled over to the edge of the canal and had a look at them. Just as I was checking the blade on my right skate, one of my friends came flying up on his skates laughing and said "Hey check this out -- someone lost a skate blade!"

Yep. It was mine.

I had those all-plastic Micron skates, and the plastic supports that held the blade on had totally cracked, and the blade came off. In fact, the remaining plastic was crumbling between my fingers. And it wasn't even that cold! I guess over the years, the plastic just got weaker or something. Piece of shit.

Needless to say, our skating excursion was over. They tried to convince me to rent skates, but I was bummed out and pissed off. I wanted to go home and drink, listen to music, and shoot the shit. :)

Thursday, February 1, 2007

I won't be happy until I lose my legs


That's on one incredibly bizarre story. After reading it, I sat here for 5 minutes trying to understand why anyone would want to lose a limb because they believe that it's the way they should be.

The condition is called body identity integrity disorder or BIID. According to the BIID web site...
"Body Integrity Identity Disorder, or BIID, is a psychological condition in which the individual requests an elective amputation. Individuals with this condition experience the persistent desire to have their body physically match the idealized image they have of themselves."
The human mind sure is strange.

No turning back now

Well, I did it. I am now registered for the RONA MS Bike Tour in August.

I'm anxious. Excited. Starting to feel motivated. And stunned. All at the same time. :)

If you'd care to sponsor me, you can follow this link. I haven't done any customizing to my personal page there yet. Or, if you'd prefer to sponsor the team that I'm a part of, go here. It doesn't look like the team page has had any customizations done yet either.

Paying for your mistakes

The Ottawa Sun ran a follow-up article to the licence plate theft article last weekend. Glad to see it all over and done with! I'm sure the students won' t be pulling any stunts like that again. Or at least not post pictures about it. :)

Wednesday, January 31, 2007

RONA MS Bike Tour

When I first heard of the RONA MS Bike Tour a few years ago, I thought it would be a pretty cool experience. I was riding my bicycle fairly regularly -- at least 20kms every weekend -- and was fairly sure I could do the entire 150km (75km per day) trip with more preparation.

A few local geocachers put together a team to make the trip this year and I'm seriously considering joining them. During the trip, they plan to find a few geocaches along the way, if there are any.

Granted, I didn't do nearly as much cycling this past summer, but I did do a fair bit of hiking while geocaching, and I've started snow shoeing this winter, so it's not like I've become a total couch potato.

My reason for wanting to do it is somewhat selfish, in a way. I mean, it is for a really good cause, but a good part of my reason for wanting to do it is to motivate me to get in better shape. This could give me something to work for during the 6 months of preparation for the trip. You'd think that just being healthier would be enough motivation!

I guess I need more. And this might be the answer.

I talked it over with my wife this evening and she's cool with it. Although, at first she kind gave me a "Yeh right.. you sure you can do this?" kind of look.

I'm giving it some serious thought anyway. I think I have a little doubt in the back of my mind that I can do it and that's what's keeping me from just going for it. I don't want to commit to anything if I'm not going to go through with it, you know?

Stay tuned.