Never use UPS

Did I mention I hate UPS? They're not open on the weekends. I'm sorry, but what global company isn't open on the weekend? I could sorta understand maybe not delivering on the weekend, well actually not really b/c if they think everyone works M-F9-5, when are people going to be home except during the weekend?! So b/c the sh!tf*ckers aren't open, I can't call them to see if they can allow someone else to sign for it. Hates them!

So I'm up early b/c I'm not sure if my niece's party is going...and it's not. Pffffft! Sucks. Why do I bother sometimes?

I might as well live in another country....

for all the times that I get to see my nieces and nephew. Yeah, they may live in the same city, and when I was living in the house, they lived a whole block away. But the only time I get to see them is for their bday. Maybe. This Saturday, we were going to take them to Chuck E Cheese, but their maternal cousins are seeing that day instead, so my brother thinks it'd be better if we had a party for them another. Well aside from the f*cking fact that they see their maternal relatives every week, some of us don't have 9-5 M-F schedules. And happen to live by ourselves so if I don't cook or clean or whatever, it doesn't get done. No, my roommate doesn't count. Even when he was living here. Yeah, so it'll probably be another year where they'll get their freaking b-day present in the summer or some crap like that. I was going to do calligraphy for her bday card, but I really don't think I should even bother.

And I found out I'm working this Sunday. Royal Rumble Sunday. Although the card really sucks, Royal Rumble's still fun to watch. Usually. Argh. And the stupid losers who do scheduling have me working straight to thursday, one day off, and work Friday, and then have Saturday off. @sswipes.

And I was supposed to be getting a pkg on Jan 23 for stuff I'd ordered from US. But it was delivered by UPS which meant that it never got to me. I live in an apt, and they don't even bother to come to your suite. Instead they ring the buzzer. A lot of other companies will try your suite at least. But since, knowing my stupid roommate, he still has the buzzer rigged to his cellphone, not to the landline he installed. And he's in Quebec. Yeah, so a fat lot of good that did me. And how do they leave notice that they attempted delivery? They stick the paper next to the buzzer console. So everyone visiting can see the delivery notice, but not any residents. Thanks a f*ck lot. And they said they dropped a delivery card. Bullsh!t!!! I hate them so much. And instead of using a brokerage who just sends you a bill a week after they passed it thru customs, the @sswarts instead want COD. So of course they can't leave it w/ the office. And their f*cking pickup centre is in the middle of f*cking nowhere. Literally. It's in a industrial area. So those of us who don't have cars, can tromp around for half a kilometre from the nearest stop to attempt to find the damn thing. And they can't deliver to one of their stores b/c it's franchised. F*cking moronic. At least FedEx has more than one centre you can pick things up from, and it's on a bus route. Although FedEx f*cked up my delivery too and can't keep track of their inventory.

Yeah, so I was rip-roaring mad this afternoon. And then this poor schlob from StatsCan calls up, and b/c I hadn't powercycled my phone for a while, the connection was really crappy. And some of the questions were horrible. For example, I tell them that H is married to D. Then he has to ask me if D or H is under 1 yrs old. So I was really ticked and I acted pretty short w/ him for a while. And the survey went on for 1/2 hour. So by now it's already past 6, and I usually leave for WEM @ 6:30, and I'm still in my jammies. But I'd forgotten to ask my manager what days I have off next week (b/c the scheduling idiots are really late in posting schedules), so I have to call him up again. So by the time I'm dressed, and stick my contacts in, it's already 7:09, and the bus took a while to arrive.

Finally get to WEM, didn't plan on really shopping, just the usual grocery @ T&T, but b/c I'm peeved, I stop by the petstore ($800 for a tortoise, $500 for a baby. And then when you add in their tank, heating stuff etc... it's pricey to get a pet. That's why I like my betta fish. Spent...maybe $30 in total so far on him b/c he's in a IKEA 2L jar, has a lucky bamboo stalk for swimming and resting on its roots, and 4 diff kinds of food for $10, a net, old margarine tub for when I'm cleaning the jar, bleach for cleaning jar, water conditioner, old milk jug for conditioned water. Yeah, and it's his 1 yr birthday too! Maybe I'll give him some bloodworms, though he wasn't too interested before). Anyways even though it was 8:30 and the store closes in a hour, they still didn't really discount their sushi that much. Only on 2nd sticker price still. Argh! But got sushi for today and Sat (was actually planning on eating out on Sat b/c of bday party, but seems that plan will fall thru. Actually this week, I've had sushi every day except for Wednesday when I stayed home and cooked. But b/c it was sooo late and there wasn't that much public transport, I ended up catching only the last 5 min of Zatch Bell. Which is too bad, but at least it's better than the tape running out and missing the last 5 min.

So I guess I should go to bed b/c it's almost 5 now, and I'd actually been typing for a goodly long time. ... And I still haven't done my niece's card.

Videogames Live!

You know, not having the paper really sucks. Or watching the news, not that I'm sure it would've been announced on the local news. The concert started at 7:30, and we got there about 7:30, thinking we were 1/2 hr early but thinking "Where the hell is everybody?" Missed part of the Classic Arcade Medley, but caught the rest. Nothing beats having stuff played by a live orchestra b/c you can feel everything. I believe they were also miked b/c you could hear people cough. Although some of them weren't at the correct distance b/c some people were a bit quiet. And I couldn't even hear Tommy play the guitar during the Halo 3 theme. Hard to say which my favourite was. WoW was excellent, along w/ Medal of Honor. Metal Gear Solid was really good too, along w/ Civilization 4 and Zelda. One-Winged Angel was great, although the choir seemed to have problems coming in on Liberi Fatali. Mind you, Liberi Fatali is one of my favourite songs, so I know it really well, so I might be a bit harsh. I really liked when the pianist Lee Ann Leung did the Mario theme. She didn't have her hair tied back when she was playing the Final Fantasy soundtrack, so she had to brush her hair bit, but definitely corrected for Mario, which I think allowed her to play more freely. Sonic the Hedgehog wasn't bad, but I think the one which caused my mind to wander. But it was worth the $55.65cdn.

Yeah, so anyways, as expected the guys were late, but we still managed to have supper. Finally had my mackeral. *slurp* It's soooo good. And they don't put ginger on it, just green onions. Also had a chop-chop temaki and Futo maki. Yesterday for my birthday, I also had some sushi, but b/c I went to one of those chain restaurants they only had the standard stuff. So I just ordered a sushi bento (which came w/ 1 salmon nigiri and 1 tuna nigiri) w/ chicken teriyaki, rice, bean sprout salad and egg roll. It was filling but not very satisfying.

Yeah, my birthday. Huh, definitely not memorable in the sense of how much fun I had. I'd applied for the Redhat position, which is floor support for the reps. Which is technically a step down from my current position as Senior Lead Rep. So why apply for something lower? Well aside from the fact that they treat us like dirt, we don't get much respect, and it's a surprise when my SLR TL says hi to me, the only time we get a top-up pay now is when we're filling in for TLs. Which won't be happening soon I imagine b/c they want to revamp the program (so we get stages of training we need to pass, instead of the previous tossing us to the wolves), which mean unless we complete the program, we don't get to be acting TL. Even though some of us have taken over teams for months. Even during Xmas, they said unless a TL was gone for more than 2 weeks, we couldn't take over. So whatever, for the last few months I've been on the phone. And had to teach my TL how to use the systems b/c he docked me for not leaving notes. Which as several people can tell you, the easiest way to find my notes is to look for the essay. So after I showed him how notes don't transfer with accounts, I got full points as usual. Yeah, I hardly see my TL which isn't too bad, except when Quality docked me for something completely stupid, which happened over a month ago, but b/c he didn't tell me about it, I didn't find out until weeks later when I check my Quality score.

Oh yeah, what I was writing about? Oh, right my B-day. So anyways, I filled out the quiz and expression of interest for the Redhat, and then they ask me to come in for an interview. I'm like "Dude, it's the first day of my vacation and on my freaking bday." But they're like it'll only be for 1/2 hr. So yeah, I went into work on my f!cking bday to do their stupid interview. And no, I didn't bother preparing b/c it'll be questions I've answered before, and really, considering I've done it before, unless I curse them out, I should get it regardless if I show up hammered. Not that I was. Yeah, so they called me later that day and told me I got it. Heh. Yeah, I know a lotta people would be scratching their heads if I didn't.

Anyways, after my interview, I went shopping for my neice's bday present. Her birthday's on ...damn, I don't actually know when. I never wrote it down. Well sometime close to mine. Actually I have another neice...well technically my cousin's daughter...so I guess that's still neice, and her birthday's on 24th. Which since she lives in Australia means I'd better send her a card. Even though she's only a year old. Anyways back to the neice I actually can visit w/o a plane ticket, although considering the amount of times I've gotten to see her she might as well be in another country, I ended up getting her a foam mat that you can draw on w/ water and also had cut outs so she can practice tracing. Safe toy and suitable for when you have a 1 yr old running around too. Wait, how old is she anyways? Oh well, whatever, I got a gift receipt so they can return it if they want.

Uhhh, before I got distracted again, so as I was shopping at ToyRUs, I got Pokemon Trozei for $20. Everywhere else it was like $40-45 so it's a really good deal. And I'm freaking addicted. All I've really played is Endless mode....which means I'll be playing it for like 2 hrs before I die. Gotten up to level 45. My ass and hand have died and I'm still playing. It's bad. I also found Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Blue for $15. It was used, but booklet was in good shape, so another great deal. However instead of getting Bulbasaur, I'm more of a Squirtle (among my least favourite non-bug type pokemon), Totodile (not too bad but slightly annoying), Pikachu (well, he is actually pretty smart and dependable but somewhat tempermental) and Skitty(I do not chase my tail all the time...although this post is pretty everywhere. I blame it on the late hour). But since I'll need to learn new controls, and I have Pokemon Ranger(finished in 22 hrs! and now to get every Pokemon) and Pokemon LeafGreen (evolved to Venusaur already but stuck in Pokemon Tower and don't have Silph Scope), I think I'll play Mystery Dungeon later.

Really I will be getting non-Pokemon games for my DS. Capcom vs SNK Card Fighter is coming out, and Cooking Mama seems interesting. Wonder if I could learn to cook? Can't seem to find Trauma Center though. Phoenix Wright seems interesting too. I'm so sad that Angelique isn't out for the DS.

So the next few days will be spent...playing Trozei or something. My computer is also going kaputz, think the CMOS batt died. *sigh*

Stupid sites and their stupid logins

So yet another site has my freaking information. And I have another damn login and password to remember. And why do they ask for your birthday when they never send you anything on your birthday?! Heh, if anyone creates a program that automatically sends out birthday cards on people's birthday, I declare that it was my idea first and I want royalties!

Anyways, I'm trying to d/l programs that I'll need when I move over to WinXP. Yes, I'm still using Win98. And I'd still be wanting to use it if some programs would keep supporting it! *cough*ZoneAlarm*cough* All viruses there were written for it have been blocked, and no one cares about it. I guess kinda like Linux (just kidding! I really know nothing about Linux except it's user-created, which is fab but also creates a lotta probs troubleshooting. Just ask my roommate). So I'm trying to d/l Sonique file, which is a kickass prog but was bought up by Lycos. So it tells me that I have to sign up to Lycos to d/l the prog. I'm like "Fine, grumble grumble." Only to find out some @sshole has picked Ravencat. WTF??!! That was my handle for like 10 years! Sure I had retired it for a bit when I was totally disconnected from the Internet. I was sooooo pissed. Anyways, make up another handle, and get booted to Lycos homepage. Ooookay, well I'll just go back to Sonique's page. And I can't find the link to d/l the prog b/c it just keeps redirecting me. I was soooooo p!ssed. Lycos YOU SUCK!! Anyways, eventually got the prog and a few others from Tucows. Tucows rules. Although they say they review a prog, but you can't find the review. WTF?!

So today was my day off. It was above freezing so I walked over to Chinatown. Stopped by library to pick up some blank applications. But they renovated the upstairs too, so I didn't know where the hell to go. So I ask these 2 women who were waiting for the elevator and they act all smarmy and tell me that I can d/l the form and print it out., I'm like "I'm aware of that, but where can I find the paper form?" Bah. Stupid people. Anyways ended up buying absolutely nothing from Chinatown. They'd renovated Lucky 97 a bit (which they'd fix their damn website. Completely seizes up the computer every time I try to look @ their sales), and got rid of the electronics. It'd been steadily growing smaller, but I was hoping for some DS lite stuff. And I was looking for replacement utensils for my bento box b/c I'd broke the chopsticks, and the spoon didn't take well to going in the dishwasher. But nada.

So went to T&T, and they had a mystery lunchbox. Was discounted to $2.99 from $5.99, and was one of those big 10"styrofoam containers w/ a soup on the top. So having a silver stomach (handles most foods pretty well but can react to some things), I just picked it up. Turned out to be breaded shrimp, pickled carrots and cabbage, rice, sweet & sour pork, miso soup. Sweet!!! That's a good investment. I'm kinda lazy now, in that I'll pick up a lotta stuff instead of making it. But I did make a pot of my meat sauce. But I forgot to pick up tomato paste (ketchup was a poor substitute) so it's quite sweet. Also added the garlic a bit late, so wasn't cooked to translucency. Is sprouting garlic edible?

Watched Getbackers while eating sushi. That show is soooo yaoi and slash-friendly. My favourite still is seeing Shido in cat-form and Ban teasing him w/ a cat toy. Next to my KOF and Saiyuki yaoi doujinshi, I'd definitely get Getbackers doujinshi. *heads off to read some Getbackers fanfic* Oh yeah, now I remember why I'd disconnected from the Internet. Just got sick of all the whining, poor grammar....and now I'm guilty of it all. Oh well.

I've been obsessively checking the gaming sites on DS games. I'm sooo tempted to order the Japanese Pokemon Diamond/Pearl b/c I'd get it. And when I was checking out the screenshots on the Pokemon.com site, all the dialog was in hiragana or katakana. Which means that I could technically read it. Make sense of it might be different matter. Even changed my language on my DS to Japanese. Just for fun. Well, really to practice. Finally kicked my tush and worked on my Japanese again. I'm not sure if I'm scared of finished Gr1 kana or something. I don't know why I have so much trouble writing the kana for "sensei". I can read it, but can't seem to remember the character that well. I do have to expose myself to more varieties of how the characters are written. "So" and "N" in katakana are so similar in print, and I think I mix up "Ra" and "U" sometimes.

Word of Mouth

Everyone must know that saying about if you get a bad experience you tell 10 people, but if you have a good experience you tell 3 people. Well, was just emailing w/ a friend who's no longer employed at the same place as I am, and he was telling me that when he was job hunting, our place of employment has such a bad rep now that if it were for his other experience, he wouldn't have gotten interviewed. Ouch! Man, I'd better look elsewhere before the reputation tanks even more! *sad laugh* Actually I remember a time when we were snatched up b/c the training we recieved was superior to elsewhere. But I have a feeling that w/ all the people the management has chased away, that it's now known as a seething pot of discontent. Really, the management is truly something. Never know if the praise they give you is something they're told they're supposed to do in seminars of Effective Management and then they'll fire your @ss b/c you're dead-weight.

Anyways, time to watch Mythbusters!

Bah upgrades

Yeah, so for the last few months, Blogger has been telling me to upgrade to the version supported by Google Accounts. And all I can think about it, there's going to be more frigging passwords to remember, and more ads to avoid. And another site that has my information. Yeah convenience. Do I had the fact that I've lost a few posts b/c it wouldn't upload properly. Hell yeah! But geez, I'm too frigging lazy to read thru all the crap about Google accounts, so I'm not going to do it. Not unless they force me too.

And then I get notice that C&L is closing their points program this month. Argh! I have so few points, but it's enough to buy a DVD. But w/ the cost of the s/h, it's almost not worth it!

Speaking of which I got a desk set from my brother and his gf. Has the desk blotter, mousepad, notepad paper holder, cup holder etc. And I so do not need it. First off, I have everything except the desk blotter. And there's not frigging room either on my desk. Even if it was completely cleaned off.

Got money from my dad. My other brother wasn't able to find my dvds on time, so he's going to try for my bday. I got perfume and a dvd so far from my friends. Still expecting stuff. And I got myself a DS Lite.

And it is sooooo sweet! I got Polar White, b/c pink would so suck. I have Pokemon Rangers and Pokemon Leafgreen right now. Kind wierd that GBA games don't come w/ a case to store them in. Accessory marketing? Anyways, I need to get headphones and a case for it so I can take it out my apt, but no one sells decent headphones. Just those damn earbuds. And they never stay in my ear, so I hates them! But I did find some Pokemon ones online. From Japan of course. *sigh* there was another site that did imports: Lik-sang, but Sony closed them down. So sad. I'm very tempted to order the headphones and a case. And soooo many choices! And why is Angelique only avail on PS?!?! I get a region-free console and it's not avail!!!!

And alas, my PS2 is dead. Again. And committed suicide the same way. Yes, the dreaded static shock. Won't even turn green. Completely dead. If I recall, it was about $90 to go thru warranty. From EBgames, it'd be $109 for a used slim model. For brand new it's $130. *sob sob* At least I have my DS lite. I should name him....Hmmm, actually I think a lot of things I have could be a him. My computer's Gilliam. Although I feel my TV is a her. As for my PS2? I don't get any vibe. Could be b/c it's dead. *waaaahhhhh* And it's too soon to get a PS3. If there were any available to buy. The bugs haven't been worked out of yet. Must design an anti-static shield for the PS2. Cause seriously, I can discharge it on the fireplace and a minute later, I'll have built up enough static to feel another shock. Curse you Static!

Quiz: The Sesame Street Personality Quiz

You Are Bert

Extremely serious and a little eccentric, people find you loveable - even if you don't love them! You are usually feeling: Logical - you rarely let your emotions rule you You are famous for: Being smart, a total neat freak, and maybe just a little evil How you life your life: With passion, even if your odd passions (like bottle caps and pigeons) are baffling to others

The Sesame Street Personality Quiz

...Yup, I'm Bert. Smart-ass, easily bored by most conversations, my roommate will testify that I'm pretty neat (well in the shared space anyways. My room's...lawfully messy), pretty evil (he actually tried to show off to his wife how fun it was to wave his hand in front of me like teasing a cat. I swatted it alright, into his head, broke his nail, and left some scratches on his hand. And then he complained that I didn't hit like a girl. Dude, there is a reason why I liked spike serving when playing volleyball). And I definitely have my odd passions *cough* Pokemon, KOF, Angelique, seiyuu *cough* I did always feel sorry for Bert, I liked Ernie but I definitely shared his frustration when Ernie was being annoying. I was wondering if I would get Snuffleupagus. Funny, T and I were talking about Sesame Street today too, and how kids won't appreciate it.

Problems w/ Calendars already

Nothing like having a dozen calendars for 1 year. Have a couple from the charities I donate too, some from charities that want my donations, a Mouth/Foot Painters one, one produced by the Milk Council (turned into my work schedule calendar b/c it fits into my bag and I don't care what happens to it), and one from Shojo Beat.

Last year's Shojo Beat calendar was nice. It was pretty desk calendar, displayed 2 months at once and had a nice pic of the various titles appearing that year. It was a little wonky on how the week started (which would always throw me off), but it worked well on top of my computer tower. But this year's calendar sucks. It's the standard wall hanging calendar. Now I understand that the wall hanging calendar's probably easier to produce since you just need to staple in the middle, instead of having the cuts exact so it stands correctly, folding to make a slip, and having little slips of paper inside, but it doesn't fit on my computer! I can't pin a calendar to my computer! And yes, that's about the only place that has room that I can regularly look at. So I've taken to modifying the new calendar. To fit into the old calendar sleeve. It's a bit of snipping, and looks a little off b/c things aren't centered. But dang it, I've made it work.

Incidentally, their "Beat Girl" is hideous. She's on the November/December month and I seriously thought they chose it b/c they had some contest and that was the winning entry. Then I looked thru Shojo Beat, and they actually commissioned a published manga-ka to draw it. I'm sorry, but that's a horrible representation of the readers. For one thing, most of us don't look like frogs. Wide thin-lipped mouth, tiny little nostrils w/ no evidence of a bridge, huge bulging eyes...it's just horrible. Clothes are okay, I'll give her that, but seriously. Ugh! I can and have drawn better. I have many friends who draw better than that. I'm hoping that she's a great writer b/c I wouldn't publish her art.