Review: Nineteen Eighty Four

Now this isn't really a review. I've been too outside of academic circles for far too long to believe that I'm still capable of writing a decent review. Synopsis and analysis was what I studied. I don't really remember taking any comparative lit *searching thru transcript*, nope never did. Well okay, I did do comparisons when it came to writing essays, but nothing formally. This is more...what I felt and thought after reading this classic.

And classic it is. The edition I read is the Penguin 1984 (hahaha). Upon finishing the book, I was struck by how...not happy sappy the ending was, a change from regular popular fare. Happiness, as defined by conventional terms, has been crushed. All that was left was Big Brother's triumph and perpetuating the cult of power. Power which was manifested in complete control over another, over perception of reality. Institutionalized solipsism. Which of course leads one to examine if such events, such dulling of humanity could be achieved. Forces one to consider recent world events.

Do statements such as "We do not merely destroy our enemies, we change them"(218)

Goldstein is most likely a created threat, an outlet to ensnare those who disbelieve in Big Brother. The agency gives its enemy power b/c it creates a purpose for the agency and a target for hate for its followers. I was watching the Daily Show w/ Jon Stewart and the guest was Reza Aslan, and he mentioned how Al-Qaeda is attributed more influence and power than it actually posseses. While I'm hardly suggesting that Al-Qaeda, Taliban, Osama bin Laden or any other terrorists organizations are fictional groups created by governments to prop up their military-industrial expenditures, flagrant disregard for human rights and laws, or popularity ratings; there is no doubt that everyone feels better when there's an enemy to blame for failings, a villain to curse. And it's less shameful for a govt to explain that they can't catch a criminal b/c the murderer has an enormous network of associates and safehouses, not b/c it's inefficient and can't collaborate its depts and data.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So going back into my account, I found this draft, not sure what the date was on it. As always, not quite sure what I was going for, particularly that 3rd paragraph. And of course, we've caught & killed Osama bin Ladin by now. Anyhoo, publish it as is!

Passwords for everything

It's been almost 2 years since I've accessed my blog, since my last post was about getting a new phone. And that phone continues to serve me well. I do like the pull-out keyboard, a feature that's very rare on new smartphones. And the tiny 2" screen! When you look at the Samsung Galaxy 5, with it's 5" screen, it's crazy to think that I watched Youtube videos on it. Or maybe not considering I had it about 5" from my face. Could explain why vision continues to be horrible.
I'm considering getting a new phone but again, I do like that keyboard. I've tried typing on my friend's phone, and it's typo-mania. Even when typing on my 3DS (for Animal Crossing), there's a fair bit, but that's mostly because I'm not really looking at where I'm tapping my stylus, and just counting on the familiarity of typing on a keyboard. Much like right now, when I'm typing on my laptop keyboard. It's most a standard keyboard except for the stupid "\" key that's taken up part of the return key. Oh, and the stupid french characters that are on there as well.
So visiting my accounts as a result of the Heartbleed bug. This flaw just emphasizes how vulnerable we are. Is the only way to be safe is to live off the grid? Could be.

Relearning how to use a phone

I upgraded my phone so that I could use it overseas, but it was quite the experience.  Last weekend, I looked up which phones I wanted and read the reviews on the Blackberry 6390 and the SE Experia Pro.  I really tried to give the Blackberry a chance, but no flash?!

On Monday, I went into a store because I needed the Experia right away.  But because I was on an old plan, they couldn't upgrade it so I had to call into Customer service.  So the next day, with a new plan, I go to the same store again.  I get the Electronics mgr, and after she had some problems signing in, she tries to upgrade me.  But apparently they lost the ability to upgrade existing customers, so she had to check with Head Office.  But she promised me that she'd upgrade my phone and to return tomorrow. 

So now it's the 3rd, and the store is a 30 minute bus ride away.  But she's able to upgrade me so all I have to do in come into the store and put in my SIM card.  And the rep that helps me is the same one that I'd talked to on Monday and explained roaming to.  And the manager also gave me a $75 gift card for all my trouble.  So that was pretty nice.

So I'm still trying to set up my phone.  I could get the WiFi working, but for some weird reason, it won't connect to the 3G network if I don't turn data roaming on.  WTF?  And I'm trying to find what the different icons mean at the top. 

And then when I'm trying to set up my account, it keeps saying I don't have a Google account just because I don't have gmail.  Stupid.

Review: WWE Survivor Series 2011

This year is the 25th anniversary of Survivor Series.  They did mention a lot of people made their debuts at SS, most specifically "The Rock".  I went to it with K b/c D didn't get back to me about being available.  Also I think K wanted to share in more of the stuff that I'm interested in.

Dolph Ziggler vs. John Morrison for US Title
It's been a tough year for John, losing streak added with falling popularity.  Not really sure why because he still puts on great matches and stuff.  Maybe people are just tired of his character?  It's hard to tell what he believes or stands for.  And apparently making it a title match was also outta left-field.  Vicki is so hilarious, she really makes it more fun.  It was a very good match with lots of clost falls.

Beth Phoenix vs. Eve in title match
Which was a lumberjill match.  I guess the Bellas are considered pin-up strong?  They worked with Natalya outside.  But you could really tell Beth was pulling her punches.   But good on Eve for taking a glam slam from the top rope.  That was really nasty, and earned respect points for a big bump.  But they really have to let the women really wrestle b/c it's pretty boring right now.   Everyone's so one-dimensional.

Team Barrett vs. Team Orton in traditional SS match
Started a bit average until Sin Cara hurt himself.  It kinda looked like he and Kofi didn't hit the ropes at the exact same time so the rope vibration caused Sin Cara to loose his balance and get tangled up.  Anyways K was like all "Hurry up and get on with it!" when they were trying to figure out to do.  And I had to explain to him afterwards that 1) it's not part of the script so they had to figure out what to do 2) after the Owen Hart accident, they're a bit more sensitive to resuming things too soon after an injury.  I liked that Team Barrett won and there wasn't an insanely stupid comeback from Orton.  It made sense how the eliminations went and no one became retardly strong.  Cody looked great during the match.  Hunico got his butt whooped so that was too bad.  Swaggart didn't do very well at all. Surprised that Vicki didn't come out with them since her 2 clients were competing.

Mark Henry vs. Big Show for World Heavyweight
Had a "Boring" chant.  Which was an honest reaction because it really slowed down after Big Show did some wrestling moves on Henry and then they just started circling and did little grappling.  But after the Boring chant, they really picked it up so the chant worked! Some fans in the theatre were predicting that Kane would show up when Henry put the chair on Show's foot and it did make sense.  But it was fair if not nice that Show injured Henry's leg. Turnabout is fair play after all.

CM Punk vs. Alberto Del Rio for WWE title
So cool to see "The Fink" back.  Although it looked like they didn't have his mic on at the beginning.  I was getting pretty tired by now so my eyes started to glaze even though it was a good match.  Excellent back & forth.  So happy Punk won.  K doesn't really like Punk because he likes Cena instead.

Rock & Cena vs. Miz & R-Truth
Since MSG fans hate Cena, is MSG also Bizarroland?!  Lots of people hate Cena, so it was annoying to have Lawler call Canada that.  Anyways Rock looked awesome, physically and wrestling ability.  I was surprised that the fans wouldn't give Cena a little pop even at the end.  But so cool to have Rock give the Rock-bottom to Cena at the end.   If Awesome Truth didn't showboat so much, they could've won.

So it was a great PPV, not just because the people I liked won, but lots of storytelling. 

Review: WWE RAW

Went to see the show live yesterday.  I saw the trucks pulling in on Saturday night, so I can't imagine what their travel schedule's like since they were in San Diego last week.

Wasn't quite sure what seats we had except that they were right behind each other.  Turns out that they were right next to where the Zamboni comes in, so literally our seats made up the rows. Quite cool that I didn't have to deal with any louts next to me, but because they weren't part of the concrete, any time someone over 150 lbs walked up or down the steps, my chair shook along with the camera.  Anyways, to get decent shots of the ring, I only need to use my max optical zoom of 10x, and for the ramp it was about 15x digital zoom.

They taped 2 matches for Superstars:
Sheamus vs. Heath Slater  - Sheamus got a huge pop of course.  Heath got a really good pop too.  Maybe that's why he's still around.  It was very entertaining.
Daniel Bryan vs. Drew McIntyre -  Pretty good pop for Daniel, not quite as huge for Sheamus.  Drew got a decent pop.  Good match with some back'n'forth.  Daniel won, but didn't get a very long cheer at the end, although he did stay around a bit.

I thought they'd have fireworks for RAW as well, but it was only for Superstars. So I wasn't quite sure of when to stand up.  Oh well.  I don't know why they still have the laptop around when the mysterious GM hasn't been around for months.

Didn't see Alberto's car except on the Titantron.  Looked like had some problems getting out.  I like Richardo Rodriguez, he's good on the mic, and has a lot of touches that are fun.  I like Alberto, but it's fun to boo him too b/c it gives him pop.  Stupid Cena.  CM Punk is so right, it's complete deja vu to have Cena ask for yet another title shot.  Bit unfair to make Alberto be in a match w/o any warning, but he's been a real good champ.  Until Cole mentioned that he'd won it on Sunday, defended it on Monday, and fought on Smackdown, I didn't add them all together. Considering he'd a match 3 days in a row, and very good matches, that's pretty awesome.

Alberto Del Rio vs. John Morrison

Very good match.  Again, I'd forgotten that John had a repaired neck, so I was wondering why Alberto spent so long in the holding positions.  It's hard to take pictures and watch at the same time, b/c my camera blacks out while it's saving, so I'll miss stuff.  Or I'd be watching and then I'd forget to have my camera up.  And since it's on auto-focus, it's takes a bit of time to correct.  Which is when I miss some moves.  Yup, on TV, it's annoying that they're telegraphing moves, but when it's live, it just goes soooo fast.  Anyways, very exciting match, and didn't know who'd win.

Nikki Bella vs. Eve

Okay, so if it's Eve's match, why the F is Kelly holding her belt up and walking in front of Eve when they're going down the ramp?!  Stupid b!tch.  The Bellas are pretty amusing when they're heels.  As faces, the whole "Twin Magic" doesn't make sense.  I'm neutral on Eve.  She can do moves, but she's not interesting.  And that stupid Kelly doing the legdrop on Nikki when she's coming in to pull out her sister.  Some champ.  Wish Beth and Nat would come down, but they just stood up on the ramp.   I had almost as many pics of Beth and Nat as there were of the Divas match.

Alex Riley vs. Jack Swagger

Alex got a pretty good pop.  But when Vicki came out and announced Jack, wow, that's pretty cool.  Didn't know they were on try-out basis. (again, that's why it's good to watch the show on TV after you've seen it live)  So is it jealousy that Dolph doesn't want Vicki to manage anyone else?  Even though he dismisses her a lot nowadays?  Hmmm.  Anyways, I don't see how it's a bad thing that one of the qualities Vicki looks for in prospective clients is their appearance.  She knows that a good looking wrestler will last longer and go farther than ones that aren't.



Kevin Nash and HHH and CM Punk

Kevin could've apologized to Punk, but it probably would've meant the same as when Punk apologized to that Jack Larynitis. Loved the reference to Tim Horton's.  Not sure if it's only in Canada that we call it Timmy's or Tim Ho's, but it was wierd to hear the full name except in commercials.  Enjoyed the talk a bit too much, so didn't take any photos when Punk was in HHH's face and missed Kevin punching him out.  Later on, Jack Larynitis (I know it's Laurinaitis, but since he does sound pretty bad) says the Nash was involved in an incident on the Yellowhead "Parkway".  Dude, it's Yellowhead Trail.  But at least they got the Royal Alex right ... because it was written on a paper.


Kofi Kingston and Evan Bourne vs. David Otunga and Michael McGillicutty

After that long-ass title, I'd missed good pics of Kofi's entrance. Anyways, got some really nice pics through the match, and it was a very good match.  I'm not sure why people don't like Kofi. He's well-spoken, has some unmatched moves, and can do aerial and matwork.  Oh well.  Glad the title's changed b/c Otunga and McGillicutty were pretty boring.  They need a manager.

Santino vs. beatdown from Miz and R-Truth

It's true, it's kinda mind-boggling that Santino still gets such huge pop after not appearing for a long time, or winning.  Anyways, the crowd was soooo loud yelling "What?!" back.  Didn't catch a lot of the insults that Miz & R-Truth slung out until I saw it on TV.  Good entertainment.


CM Punk vs. John Cena
The hosts on Score's Aftermath said that they were worried that CM Punk was becoming overdone.  I thought that we were about as loud as before, although I was getting coughing fits from cheering so long and loud.  Anyways, they didn't see what happened after the feed cut. And unfortunately I don't have a $1000 camera that can take auto-focus continous shots faster than 0.7/sec because I'd have a lot of pics before or after a cool move.  Or they'd be pretty fuzzy. But I still have pics that showed some cool stuff too.  Anyhoo, does the job for everyday things.

So after RAW when off-air, Miz and R-Truth come out and put the beatdown on CM Punk and Cena.  Alberto joins in too, and this goes on a while.  Then Punk and Cena beat them off, and do their respective finishing moves.  Alberto loses his scarf in the ring and Punk takes it and wears it.  Alberto sends Richardo in to get it, and Punk plays matadore with it.  Punk hands it to Cena to have some fun, but Cena doesn't play along too much.  Anyways, Richardo gets slammed and Punk jauntily wears the scarf and does the Ric Flair strut.  So they're playing Cena's music at this time, but Punk is totally hamming it up with the scarf.  Then when they switch to Punk's music, the crowd really explodes, so Cena bows down to Punk, and leaves the ring.  And Punk had fun in the ring, wearing and elbowdropping a fan's hat and taking a lotta photos with fans.  And he showed off a fan's sign for a CM Punk Ice Cream bar.

Afterwards, we went by the loading ramp, but they had all the trailers way down by the entrance, so we didn't see any superstars walking up.  Oh well, it was still awesome, but did I get a migraine and sore throat from it.  Didn't have earplugs, but as long as it's not all the time, I should be ok.

Summerslam 2011

Saw it in the theatres with D again.  Not very crowded this time, we had an empty seat on both sides of us even though we were in the 4th row.

Alberto Del Rio/Miz/R-truth vs. Kofi Kingston/Mysterio/John Morrison

An unannounced match, and it was really good.  Everyone got to play, although Kofi and Miz took most of the bumps.  Lots of good spots and back & forth to keep it exciting and moving.  Good storytelling too.  I love Alberto's Ferrari.  I may not know cars but I know what I like.

Mark Henry vs. Sheamus
Also a very good match.  Kinda wierd to see Sheamus as the face.  And really, is Mark Henry that much a bully?  He's just trying to get noticed.  So if it takes out a few people, well that's the biz.  But I think it was supposed to go a little longer, except the wall broke.  But still a very good match, and moved the story along.

Beth Phoenix vs. Kelly Kelly
Not sure I like the outfit on Beth.  Really doesn't fit her image.  And what's with having no headband?  That's why she lost.  And that she couldn't do most of her moves, and obviously didn't hit Kelly when she could've.  Did like her rubbing her butt into Kelly's face. Geez, waaay too many rest moves.  Barely any back & forth, and it's just so tedious watching Kelly.  I'm really hoping that they do more w/ the Divas of Doom (I also like Destruction better.  LoD has doom already), and add Tamina.

Liked seeing Jimmy Hart again.  Didn't really care about the musical guest.

Good match between Wade and Daniel.  Honestly, all the guys did really well at wrestling and telling a story.

Christian vs. Orton
Totally awesome to see Edge.  I hope he helps Christian recover from this loss.  Anyways, the match was awesome, and did they take a lotta damage.  Wish Christian was able to let loose a bit more.  He was getting there, but of course they wanted to focus on Orton going nuts.  I'd like to have seen them match the crazy.


CM Punk vs. Cena
Loved Punk's apology to the Sr. VP.  Cena did more real wrestling in this match than thru this entire year.  OMG, he did a dropkick?!  OMG, a fisherman suplex?!  Very good back & forth, although I could see Punk holding back on some of his repetoire.  Honestly thought that they'd reverse the decision, so I'm superglad that HHH upheld it and didn't get mad when Punk didn't shake his hand.  Very nice, and it looks like maybe a future storyline would be to rebuild the relationship btwn the WWE and Punk.  Whatta kicker to see Nash back.  And then to have Del Rio win the title.  Wooooo! 

Overall, it was a great PPV, even if not all my favs won.  But everyone worked really hard, told their stories, and set up for future grudges/rematches and development.  No audio/video probs this time, and work the $17.

Review: Wrestlemania 2011

So D was supposed to pick me up at 2:30.  Since he's chronically late, I wait until 2:45 to call him to see where he is.  His phone doesn't pick up, and the error msg tells me to try him later.  Stand outside for 10 min in case he forgot his phone which he's done before. Go inside to check out FB to see if he left a msg there.  Keep calling him.  Wait outside again.  By now it's 3:00.  Turn on computer again and leave a msg.  Start checking how much it'd be to order it online.  It's 3:38 by now, and he finally calls me to say he slept in. By the time we get to the theatre it's already 4:40 because he wasn't paying attention and took the wrong road.  So we get bleh seats but the crowd isn't full of marks and there's a good contingent of anti-Cena/pro-Rock people so it was still enjoyable.

Checking out the WWE website, the dark match was a Battle Royale. I think that was the same last year too. Rock was awesome.  Not sure why there's soooo  much flag-waving this year.  The singer was meh, as D puts it, the typical American singing which was overdone. I'm pretty sure is supposed to be longer too and she cut out some of the lyrics.

Opening match is strangely Edge vs. Alberto del Rio
I'm probably a heathen for saying this, but that Rolls Royce wasn't not very pretty.  So it was not heartbreaking for me to see it demolished.  Anyways, really awesome match with interference from Brutus and help from Christian.  Excellent way to start things off.

Rey Mysterio vs. Cody Rhodes
Another excellent match.  Amazing feat with Cody holding Rey up for that long and on the middle ropes. That was cute that Mysterio came with references to Capt America.  Did not expect that finish so it was all so good.  Cody, take off the mask, it's giving you zits!

Show/Kane/Santino/Kofi vs. Corre
Waaaay too short.  Hardly anyone got to wrestle.  Honestly, if you blinked, you woulda missed it.  The technical bits of it was ok.

Orton vs. CM Punk
Pretty good, liked the back n forth of it all.  It ended somewhat predicatably.  Nothing too spectacular but solid match.

Lawler vs. Cole
The stupid theatre had their feed cutoff in the middle of this match, so we got to the part where Cole was beating on Lawler in the ring, and finished with Austin giving Booker the Stunner.  Like what happened?  We were mightly pissed.  Cole really sucks as a wrestler, couldn't even look like he was standing on Lawler's leg.  Anyways, mightily pissed that Cole won.  But it was awesome to have JR back.  And really, you know that Lawler was overselling his injury when he could go back to commentary right away.  Match verdict: ??? due to technical difficulties

Undertaker vs. HHH
Entrances were awesome, wish we saw more of HHH's armour.  If only they didn't get injured early in the match.  But even then, being the workhorses that they are, they still gave us an excellent match.  Not quite as epic as last year's Taker vs HBK but still awesome.  It was totally heartbreaking seeing Taker trying to get up after the match, and I'm pretty sure that was not a sell.  It was great to see HHH checking on Taker and going to help when he fell.  Geez, Trainer, aren't you supposed to catch him?  Okay, well he's over 300 lbs, so maybe break his fall at least?

Trish, Morrison, Snooki vs. Laycool, Ziggler
Not quite sure what they're doing with Laycool, and gotta love Layla for still wanting to help out Michelle even after she was shoved.  Loved seeing Trish in action again.  Still has all the skills.  Surprised that Snooki pulled off 2 moves and pinned properly.  Quite impressed, maybe she can give Cena some lessons?  Pretty pissed that Morrison and Ziggler couldn't go against each other.

Miz vs. Cena
That opening clip of Miz was pretty good, b/c we got to see him all nerdy and watch the progression.  And it really is impressive how far he's developed, despite all the people ragging on him.  Then we move to Cena's completely overdone, Christian theme which was completely boring and annoying.  Is he supposed to be the Messiah or something?  Gawd, made me wanna puke.  Cena was terrible too, didn't display any more wrestling skills than in a regular TV match, so really I'd say he didn't even try to make the extra effort.  Miz is so utterly wasted on him and carried the match. Was extremely happy that Miz retained twice.  So happy that Rock got revenge.  Oh yes, and what the hell, red/white/blue for his outfit?  Like really, what's with all the American colors?  Is Linda going to run again, so they want to show that WWE is as American as apple pie?

Rating overall: B, the matches everyone wanted to see were a decent length and pretty awesome, but the other ones were too short and felt like space fillers. Wasn't there supposed to be Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan for the US title?  Who's holding the IC title again?  Pretty annoying that there's no Women's title match or Tag Team title match. Sad how those divisions have fallen.  Rock was awesome as the host.  Austin was ok (I guess, a little confused with all the Stunners since a certain theatre sucks.  And they didn't turn on the lights after the show so we were using cellphones to light up the floor).

At least we got a free ticket to another movie as an apology for their screwup.  But the manager was pissed that there were still people asking for a refund 15 minutes after the show ended (geez, we can't go to the washroom first?)

WWE: Summerslam 2010

Saw it with D at the theatre.  It was about 80% full, and didn't seem like too many marks. I hadn't been following RAW or Smackdown lately (especially Smackdown.), so the WWE Experience (or whatever it's called) was actually useful for once.  I wasn't really hungry, but super-hot.  Unfortunately they didn't sell individual ice bars at T&T, or I would've gotten one to eat before we went in.  Somehow, I think trying to eat 4 in one day will make me sick, however delicious they are.


Kofi Kingston v. Dolph Ziggler
for IC title.  It was a pretty good match.  Not to bad setup.  Kofi's still a nice guy, but they're showing he has a mean streak if need be.  Not quite sure why he's not an A-lister, has good personality, charisma, skill, and nice body.  Maybe b/c he's African?  Anyways, the match was ruined by the Nexus run-in.  And what's w/ beating up Kofi?  Should've done it equally.


Big Show v. SES
Didn't know Joey Mercury w/ the 4th member.  Didn't recognize him at first, but I do remember he was pretty talented, but nowhere near as charismatic as ...*looking up on Wikipedia* Johnny Nitro/Morrison. Pretty fun and entertaining match.  I like CM Punk's new look better than his old one.  He always looked like he had greasy hair then.  Speaking of Wiki, seems like Serena is a real wrestler.  Why they don't have her doing anything is really annoying.  Speaking of real wrestlers, where's Beth Phoenix?  Aww, injuried.  At least she wasn't let go like Mickie James.

Melina v. Alicia Fox
Pretty good match as well.  I'm not sure what Melina's ring entrance outfit's supposed to symbolize?  A phoenix rising?  Anyways, her pants were quite interesting. Like OMG when I saw the front.  I'm sure it got a lot of people hot-n-bothered.  Anyways, Alicia is really coming along as a wrestler.  Still not quite up there for skills, but getting better at selling it.  Melina rocks as usual.  Loved her reaction when Laycool came in, though wished they showed more of it. Bad cameraman!  Not so happy she got her butt-kicked though.


Randy Orton v. Sheamus
D was complaining about how they're wussy-fying Sheamus.  I think Americans have a problem with heels who are articulate, funny, but also bad-ass.  So they have to make him less of a threat.  Although there's also the factor that he's the champion after only a year in the big leagues, so they might be trying to mollify people who think he's risen to fast w/o a good fan base. I like him.  Match was quite good as well.  Too bad Sheamus had to DQ to keep the title.

Rey Mysterio v. Kane
I don't think anyone believed that Mysterio took out Undertaker.  Aside that Mysterio's a face.  I never saw the storyline when it first started, so I don't know how Undertaker was taken out, but Mysterio's a small guy.  Not very likely he could physically do it. Anyways, good match.  I called that Undertaker would be in the casket.  Honestly, I thought it was a casket match, but it was just a regular match.  Could this be the return of Kane back to A-lister and not a A-list jobber?  Taker did look pretty tired coming out of the casket though.  Might be close to retirement.  Maybe he'll have a retirement match at Wrestlemania.

Team WWE v. Nexus
So I was pretty pissed when Nexus interfered in Kofi/Ziggler match since Nexus is RAW and not Smackdown.  Anyways, loved the commentary on the match, especially Cole ragging on Daniel Bryan.  He did pretty well in the match, good submission moves.  Not sure if he's supposed to be a submission specialist since I never watched...uh that show.   *looking up on WWE* Oh, Nxt.  Oh yeah, wasn't Kaval on TNA?  *checking Wiki again*  Yup, under Senshi.  Hey, who is the tag champions anyways?  It's sooooo off-radar, no one cares anymore.  Don't see any tag matches anymore.  So sad. 
Anyways, back to the match.  Jericho and Edge got good pop, about equal to Bret.  Expected R-truth to go out early.  Too bad Morrison did too.  They're not really pushing Morrison anymore.  Oh, and not choosing Miz sure came back to bite them.  Bret got eliminated how I expected, b/c they can't have him pinned, and he can't wrestle that long either.  But he got some good shots in, so we're satisfied.  Funny how they were ragging on Wade Barrett not doing much wrestling when Cena didn't do any at all until. he and Daniel were the only ones left.  Liked how Edge and Jericho beat on Cena, who did get them eliminated.  Or if you're a Cena fan, you could say it wasn't his fault. 

Some pretty good writing in the show, nice match constructions.  Overall, it was a good show.  My inner-mark wasn't completely satisfied but it was still worth the $16.75.  Yesh, maybe should think about ordering it instead if it's only $40.  But there weren't annoying marks around so it wasn't too bad.  Not too deaf...I think.

San Diego Trip - Day 10

10:15
Pokemon was on at 8:00, barely stayed awake to watch it.  Dozed awake to another show, and got up.  Oh, but wait, they suddenly decided that they want to leave at 10:50.  So I'd just finished going to the toilet, and hadn't packed.  So I'm throwing all my crap in my bag, and they're constantly calling me and say, "oh we're leaving and we've had breakfast, so you'd better hurry."  To say the least, I was super-pissed off.
13:00
We go to Las Americas Premium Outlets, and there's nothing really there.  They had Neiman Marcus, but there's no way I'm paying $50 for a plain grey tank top. Apparently TT wanted to go clothes shopping.  So I wandered around for 1 1/2 hrs, trying to stay out of the sun.  The Bath and Bodyworks didn't have the Wexler Acne Spot cream either.  TT was late showing up for IHOP. I had the Ham dinner, and AB and MT decided to share 3 dishes.  Which they couldn't quite finish, so I had their pancakes.  TT had pancakes leftover too, but I was too full.
15:00
Got to airport in plenty of time, and security was a breeze.  Actually it's kinda weird how fast it was.  No patdown, swabbing of bags or anything really.  We did beat the crowd for security though.
02:00 July 31, 2010
Finally got home.  AB's dad picked us up.  There was an issue w/ the luggage carousels, so the luggage from 3-4 flights came on the carousel that was still under construction.  Thanks YEG, great impression.  So tired, but still took a shower and got my artwork out of my hockey bag.  No damage.  Guess it was a good thing I spent the $10 to buy the Mylar shell and backing board.

San Diego Trip - Day 9

9:00
Since Pho Express opens at 9, we decided to meet at 9.  Again, they weren't ready.  After waiting in their room for a while, I said I needed to go to CVS to get cough drops.  I was also out of my Charmin Ultra Soft TP since I was getting a flu/cold.  But I was so hungry by then, I had breakkie at the terrace too.  By the time I got back, it looked like they just got ready.  Talked to front desk, and they told me it'd take 3-4 hrs to take the transit to the Wildlife Animal Park, but it's about a 45 min drive.  After TT and AB whined about how if I'd planned properly, they'd know whether they'd need to rent a car or take a taxi, we took a taxi.  MT was running out of cash, so he didn't want to go even though we had prepaid tickets. Then TT and AB were saying they were tired and didn't really want to go either.  Eventually we all went, but then the cabbie wasn't sure where to go and had to look at the map. AB said he drove like a maniac, but I was sleeping b/c I was so tired. TT and AB decided to buy a hat there, of course I brought one b/c I knew we'd be outside, and it's San Diego so their average weather was sunny and hot.  Not quite as well laid out as the Zoo, and too many confusing paths that doubled back on each other or looped in crazy ways.  The map and signs weren't as helpful.  Saw almost all the animals.  The elephants are soooo cute.  They had quite a few baby elephants there, and I could've watched them for hours.  Took taxi back.
20:00
Just sitting in my room watching History and Discovery Channel.  They wanted to take a break before going for dinner.  So I'm eating popcorn.
20:30
They finally decided to get moving.  Oh gee, the store they want to go to is out of business, and the mall closes in 25 min.  Sheesh, at least we went to the sushi place I'd been eyeing.  Anyways, I was bugging them on when we'd get up and stuff.  TT said he wanted to go to some outlet mall in the suburbs, and AB said he'd just get up whenever he woke up sans alarm clock, around 10:30.  So I'm like ok, well I'll just sleep until I don't feel like crashing.  Was so tired that I didn't even start packing my stuff up b/c I figured I'd be up before they were. 

Gearing up for SDCC

One day before I leave for SDCC.  Since I'm not the one who's booked everything, I'm a little worrisome that things will be missing.  Not overly impressed by the tour operator.  Doesn't seem to be on top of things since I'm sure I reminded him about check-in/out times.  Anyways, theoretically it should be awesome. I've had my period, so I don't have to worry about it like at AX.  I have a vague idea of what panels I want to see, just have to develop Madrox's power to do it...I know what we're doing afterwards...and I've got my list of stuff, so I should be okay to be packed.  But I don't know if it's old age or what, but I'm just so worried about things. 
Work let me have today off, because I was getting so stressed that I could only sleep about 2 hrs at a time, so I was getting really snappy and forgetful at work.  I guess that's the good thing about working for your friends.  They know you're usually not crazy.  Otherwise I'd be off work at 17:00 and then have to be up at 02:00 Wednesday morning for the taxi.  Now I actually have time to type and go thru my comics.
Speaking of comics, finally put most of them away in boxes, and more importantly read some of them.  Now I have a vague idea of what Nation X, Necrosha X, 2nd Coming and Doom War is about.  I may have bought X-Men Legacy and Black Panther, but I only really kept up with X-Factor.  And that was just kept up.  I fell behind in the last few issues.  Still have to read thru all the Hellblazers, but I'm not collecting that as single issues anymore.  When you have a year (or 2) worth of backlog, might as well do trades.  Doom War was quite good, although a little irritated that Shuri's just brash and violent.  Sometimes has good flashes of insight, but not anywhere near genius-level intelligence.  Maybe slightly above average...and that might be generous.  I hope they write her with more depth, other than being the jealous sister or hawkish leader.  I do like the politics in Panther, it's a bit more relatable for me now with the new writer.  Quite exciting, especially when you basically see parallels with Obama. 
Should go back to packing. And transferring new music to my Murasaki. Also planning on doing some cleaning so that I should be pretty tired by 7:00ish and maybe get some sleep.

General Malaise and Calgary Expo 2010

I've been feeling kinda down in the last few weeks.  I'd been really tired and headachy, and I thought it was mostly because I was working so much.  But it turned out that I'd gotten the flu.  The sick bug had been circling thru our unit for the last month.  So I was super-shivery on April 22, and worked half day on Friday and then went home.  And dug thru my comic book boxes looking for things for people to sign.

On Saturday at 9, we left for Calgary.  I'm not sure if I reminded them that it was happening, or that they just weren't sure if I was interested in going again.  But I had to go this year, b/c Leonard Nimoy and Brent Spiner were going to be there.  My 2 favourite ST characters!  How could I miss it?!  So W got the tickets, I searched for a hotel, and A drove.  Of course, A was lazy and just wanted to book the Expo hotels, but they were charging $120-127/night.  He said he wanted to walk to the Expo.  Which is pointless since we can't check in until the afternoon, and we'd have to check out in the morning.  So why would we bother walking.  After I found a few more hotels that were close by, he might've figured that out, so he said it didn't really matter on the distance then.  So I found one for $89/night with $10 breakfast coupon. That took me about 4-5 days to do all that hotel searching. Anyways, they did say the Sandman hotel was pretty nice, so that's good. But it snowed loonies on Saturday night, and my jacket's no longer water-resistant.  I was so soaked.  Edit (7/20/10): Did a video recording of the room I was in.  Was watching Criminals Minds at the time, b/c A&E have a marathon every night it seems.  Anyways, it wasn't an episode I'd seen, but I have the DVDs so it's okay. I was on the 12th fl, and in the corner of my room, where I could've gotten a 180 degree outside view, they put a column in the middle.  But the column is hollowed where it goes to the window b/c the curtains continue back there.  So you could hide a body or evidence, ala Criminal Minds.  So when I was examining my room, the room looked nice, but bathroom wasn't quite so.  A bit of gunk in the bathtub, floor tiles weren't even, peeling wallpaper.  But fine for one night.

Anyways, W said he had to be out all Friday night so he wanted to leave later.  I, of course, knew the line-ups would be crazy, for both the entry wristband and Nimoy.  But W kept saying there'd be no line-up b/c we'd already bought the tickets.  Guess who was right?! 

Anyways, didn't make it into the main hall for Nimoy's panel, but got into the overflow hall.  Which meant we got to see him on video...once they turned on the video.  Was not the same.  Since we couldn't add our boos to the idiots who tried to shake his hand or have him read their script.  But it's so sad he's going to retire.  Anyways, he was there for both days, and I was lining up to get his autograph on Sunday, but he didn't feel well so I lined up for nothing.  But a very lovely gentleman.

Edit (7/20/10):  Trying to free up space on my camera so reviewing what's on there, and there was one of me chatting of what happened b/c I was too tired to write.  Totally forgot I went to the X-Men panel with Len Wein and Chris Claremont.  Funnily, a lot of the people I saw in Calgary are also at SDCC this year, so it's pretty cool I get to really meet them in Calgary.  The panel was very good, very casual since they took mostly questions.  There was a different level of respect shown to Leonard Nimoy than to Len and Chris. 

Brent Spiner is hilarious.  He's such a good speaker, has a great sense of humour and knows how to handle the crowd very well.  I got his autograph, but I'm just so shy.  It's probably b/c I don't want to say the same thing that they've heard hundreds of times, so I just end up saying nothing at all except "Thank you so much for coming up here." Edit (7/20/2010) here's my shot.  I can't seem to get my pics sharp even though I have auto-focus.

Also got a few more Beast commissions.  I'm a bit disappointed by Jill Thompson...even though I shouldn't be since he isn't her character, and she couldn't quite remember what he looked like, so she probably had to look him up.  But it costed $100.  Which I guess I shouldn't moan about, since she's an established artist.  But the best deal was Chris Giarrusso.  He didn't charge anything for a headshot, and only $10 for a full body.  So of course I wanted the full body, and I would've paid $40 since chibi-Beast was soooooo adorable!!!!  Such an great job.  I'll have to scan it and put it up at work.  See if M still thinks Beast is ugly.  Anyways, ended up talking with colourist Laurie Smith and George Freeman about comic books and the change from working in analog (it seems funny to call colouring by hand that) to digital.  The order of work's changed, and so now the artists just pray it looks decent.  I'd wanted to go back to get him to do a sketch for me, but I couldn't find their table again!  And I was criss-crossing the floor b/c I vaguely remembered where they were. Edit (7/20/2010): Here's some of the commissions:

Anyways, got a Greg Horn print of pinball Iron Man for my brother.  And then I spent 2 hours looking at the frames in Michael's b/c my sister-in-law didn't want a black matte frame.  Cripes, that is what 80% of frames.  Finally found one that was faux dark-wood in 12x18 size.  Otherwise I'd be spending $40 on the freaking frame, which would be almost 2x more than the print.  Instead with all the coupons and sale, it was a decent price.  Was also going to pick up frames for the commissions, but then they'd just be sitting in a stack anyways, so got a scrapbook album instead, 3 for $15.  I'd been kinda wanting to keep all the stuff I'd pick up anyways...so might as well.  Now, if only I had the time to put them together, sort thru my photos, and post them.

Speaking of which, I hadn't read the latest Facebook policy but according to CNET, aside from FB never deleting anything you've put up, everything also belongs to them. Which makes me not want to post anything on there. Which really sucks.  So I've been avoiding FB for a while.  Also didn't help that one of my favourite apps changed their look so I can't figure out how anything works anymore.

Not sure if that's contributed to my downfunk, probably has.  Also did my taxes.  B/c my dad makes too much income (according to my bro who's doing both their taxes), I can't claim him as a dependant or get caregiver expenses.  So stupid.  Also lost about $1700 b/c  the pension buyback went against my RRSP limit.  So not happy.


Met up with S and L to see Kick-Ass.  Very good movie.  I felt guilty at laughing at certain parts b/c death shouldn't be that funny. Even if I have a black humour, seeing someone explode from being microwaved is pretty gross.  It was also Free Comic Book day, so I picked up a lotta stuff.  My store was giving away a lot of overstock too, so I got 4 magazines and 3 mangas.  Lovely haul.  That made me happy.

But anyways, still very tired and headachy.  Just very blah.  Losing interest in a lot of things, and just wanting to get distracted.  At least I got an Internet connection on my NDS again.  Just have to be sitting at City Hall or in the middle of the Square to get it.  Nothing weird about that.

R.I.P. Pontus, Sept 19, 2009 - May 1, 2010

After weeks of not eating, Pontus has finally gone back to the pond in the sky.  Not sure what was going on, and being a fish, it's not like I could force-feed him.  He didn't seem to like getting his water changed (since I put him from one jar to the other), so I increased the conditioner and lessened the water change.  He had a favourite fake plant that he liked to sleep on, so I always put that into his tank.  I'm not sure if my mistake was giving him a fish roe that'd fallen off my sushi.  As usual, once he got something particularly yummy, he wouldn't eat anything else.  Didn't eat the bloodworms, particularly when he couldn't gulp down a big one.  Although it was kinda funny watching him try to eat it.


And when he stopped eating for 2 weeks, I specifically bought a sushi set that had the fish roe piled on top.  But he wouldn't eat it fresh, wouldn't eat it dry.  He was still quite active up until the last few days, whacking the floating themometre around.  But when I dropped in food, he glance at it and swim on by.  Even when I moved it in front.   So is it possible for a fish to commit suicide?

Not sure if I'll get another one anytime soon.  4 fish in 3-4 years seems a bit much.  Probably if I do, I should get it after my SDCC trip. Don't wanna have to try to find another sitter.

Review: Wrestlemania XXVI

Went to see it at WEM with D.  It was $30/ticket!  Sheesh, if we had cable, we coulda ordered it, and it'd be about the same. But at least the crowd was pretty good.  Not too many marks in our section.  Had sushi as usual, but my guts were acting up.  Didn't have to do an emergency run to the washroom, thankfully.  The WWE site doesn't list the matches in order, but here goes from memory:

Battle Royale
This was before the broadcast started.  It's great that Yoshi won, so his star should be rising.  They showed a clip, and it looked kinda interesting.  Findley, Regal and some people from ECW were there.  But Hornswoggle was there too, so it wasn't entirely serious.

Singer for their anthem really butchered it.  Ouch.  Was cool to have the jets do a fly by though.  They used the open roofed stadium well.  And the set design was pretty cool too, especially the circular screen in the middle that went up and down. 


Show Miz vs. Morrison and R-Truth

It's kinda sad how low the tag titles have gone.  They used to be a big deal, but now it's the warm-up match.  And it was only about 10 minutes.  Waaay too short for 4 guys, but it was still pretty good.  R-Truth really costed them the match.

Orton vs. Rhodes vs. Dibiase
As expected, Rhodes and Dibiase started fighting against each other once it came down on who would pin Orton.  But it was hilarious when they were pummelling each other and then noticed that Orton was getting up.  Excellent example of 2 younglings getting trampled by the veteran.  Great match wrestled all around, with clear storytelling.


The run-up to the Divas match with Jillian singing, then turning into Mae Young, Mean Gene Okerlund and Melina, was a great promo.


Money in the Bank
10 guys are waaaay too many to have in the ring at the same time.  The guys had a lot of breaks outside the ring (so there'd be room to maneuver inside), but they earned it.  Some awesome moves from Bourne (as expected), Christian, Kofi, Shelton, and Matt.  Kane did pretty well too.  Dolph, Drew and Jack were much more tentative, and didn't use the ladders too much.  Kinda hilariously annoying when Jack had problems getting the clasp open.  Just really sucked that there was no one trying to climb in to stop him and all.  Wish Shelton would win, but it's obvious that they consider him a B/C-lister.  Extremely talented, but not enough charisma to carry a title.  Thought Christian might win.

Hall of Fame Inductees
Wish I coulda seen the ceremony, it looked pretty fun.  Looking at the WWE website, they have some clips, so I'll try and check those out when I have time.  Cool to see the Hart family there.  Mad Dog Vachon was so funny.  Glad to hear a good pop for Antonio Inoki.

HHH vs. Sheamus
A pretty good match, didn't see HHH carrying Sheamus too much.  Nice back and forth.  I mean, we all knew that HHH was going to win, but Sheamus did pretty well for the big stage.

Divas Match
Vickie's lost quite a bit of weight.  Wasn't spectacular wrestling-wise.  However it was pretty funny.  Amazing how Vickie's changed from the pitied widow to the vilified Cougar.  But really, there's a lotta talent there, and so under-utilized.  I loved that Kelly Kelly was pinned by Vickie, and then was rolled up too far so the count was broken.

Hart vs. McMahon
Ah, the ultimate screwjob.  Buying off the family.  Except making the classic mistake of paying upfront. It was satisfying to see Bret beat him up, although he used the crowbar a little too long, and it got a tad tedious.  Liked how he took a timeout in the middle.  Not sure what the implications for the Hart Dynasty are, but it was good to see everyone get their licks in.


Mysterio vs. CM Punk
Really, paying homage to Avatar?!  Why?  Anyways, a good match as well.  There were brief moments when I thought Mysterio might lose, but not too many.  I liked how CM Punk's trunk were a homage to GI Joe though.  Heh heh.  Go Cobra!


Jericho vs. Edge
Such a good match.  So many great moments when you thought either was going to win.  I hope Jericho's okay after that last spear.  Looked like both of them were broken, but Edge walked away.


Cena vs. Batista
The Marine rifle presentation was soooo cool. So nice to hear "can't wrestle" chants in the theatre.  Of course, they could've been directed to both of them.  However Batista did try to wrestle a bit.  Good match, with back and forth.  Quite a bit of anti-Cena crowd too, and it was hilarious when Cena won and posed with the "I hate Cena" T-shirt wearing fans in the front row.  Gotta like his sense of humour.

Undertaker vs. HBK
Very cool entrance by Taker.  Saw when Taker helped HBK by putting his leg on the bottom rope for HBK to stomp on.  I thought it was awfully early for Taker to walk the ropes, but when you see them in the corner, you know it was planned.  Did add a lovely tension to the match... if you didn't notice the planning.  The moonsault did look especially painful on Taker though, but HBK landed on his legs, and Taker had his left leg propped up...since he was expecting HBK to land on his torso.  So there might've been a legit injury there.  I did notice a lot of Taker's hands up when HBK super-kicked him. But it's all good.  And when HBK smacked Taker, similar to when HBK retired Flair, ahhh so good.

So there wren't any particularly weak matches.  They were all solid, some a little too short, but still very entertaining.  Had a lot of fun with screaming, and gasping.  And clapping and cheering.  Yeah, it was a great Wrestlemania.

Quiz: Are you a potato?

FullMetal Alchemist!

FMA rules, suckas!! XD
http://www.quizilla.teenninck.com/quizzes/16310055/are-you-a-potato 

Oh, the perfect quiz to end the night.  It makes no sense, and is absurdly funny.  And NO spelling errors!

I've got to get these contacts out and go to bed.

Quiz: The Rules of Capitalization

AMAZING!!! You really payed attention. If you have a test coming up, you are bound to ace it.

You scored 100.00% of the possible points for this test.

http://www.quizilla.teenninck.com/tests/16311013/the-rules-of-capitalization 

You know what would be even better?  If they'd spelled "payed"[sic]  correctly.  I've been up for over 18 hrs, and I can still spell "paid".  JFC. I took the quiz b/c it was different from the usual "How much do you know about -insert name of newest teeny bopper idol-?" quiz, but this is sadly funny.

Quiz: What kind of herb/spice are you?

You are lovely cinnamon!

Ahh, cinnamon. Probably the most popular and favored spice of people aged from four to forty! Cinnamon has a sweet and warm flavor that matches you perfectly! You must have lots of friends, and if you don't, go make some! Everyone will love you!

http://www.quizilla.teenninck.com/quizzes/16186308/what-kind-of-herbspice-are-you

 Is this true?  Well I do like cinnamon in moderation, although most stuff on the market isn't really cinnamon, but instead it's cousin Cassia. (Thank you Good Eats!)  Anyways, I don't have that many friends, but I like to believe that I can get along w/ most people reasonably well.  At least for 5 minutes.

Quizzes

Just a note here.   Will people learn to use a dictionary!?  Or spellcheck?!!  Seriously?!  You can't spell brutally?  (they had broutaly[sic]).  I can tell that most quizzes on Quizilla are written by 12 yr olds, but JFC!!  Gawd, if there's a spelling mistake in a quiz, I can tell it's going to suck.  I have to read most of the quizzes out loud b/c there are so many homonyms and/or misspelled homonym attempts that I have no clue what the sentence (and that's putting it lightly) means.  I wanted to do another quiz, but it's hard to find a decent one.  And don't trust the ratings.  It's probably just them and their little friends jacking it up.

They've also changed how to post your results, and their Share It to Blogger doesn't seem to be working for me.  But their FAQ doesn't say anything on why or what settings I should have. Anyways, looks like I'll just have to copy and paste.

Quiz: What do your eyes say about you?

You are sweet!

If someone needs a favor or a helping hand, they can count on you to be there. Sure, you won't let people use you and walk all over you, but you are always glad to help people when you can. You have a very kind heart:)


http://www.quizilla.teenninck.com/quizzes/16310998/what-do-your-eyes-say-about-you 

Awwww, thanks!  I do tend to agree to helping people, and unfortunately have problems pushing stuff back.  I'll grumble where they can't hear, but still do it.  Waaaait, isn't that getting walked over?!

Friends vs. ...interesting work?

Last week, my old work place called me up and said that they were shorthanded and wondered if I'd like to come back to help them out. Well, considering that for over a year, I'd been having various degrees of wanting to go back or at least get the heck outta the workplace I was at, you'd think I'd jump at the chance. But I was at the crux where we'd just gotten in a new system that I was the Power User for. And considering that one of my work goals was to get more into systems, this meant a big dilemma.

I'd made one of those foot-in-mouth declarations when I was initally hired at the current job that I'd deploy back to the old one (this was when I was telling them about the new job), but being possessed with some ethics, I decided to try out the new/current job first. Since I thought it'd be really rude to immediately leave them when they'd gone thru the effort of offering me a job. So for the first 2 months, it wasn't so bad. But then I started to notice the stupidty and lack of basic ethics. I've discussed the extra lengthy breaks with managers and other advisors, and the basic advice is they can't/don't want to police it, and to ignore it if it doesn't affect my work. Except it does b/c I have to cover for them (literally when they go on those extra long lunches), or delay my work b/c they're not around to review it. Also I had nothing in common with the other people, and they couldn't understand any of my interests (they really had no ability to conceive of anything more imaginative than Jersey Shore). So it got to the point where I would get # marks whenever I saw them not-working...which was often. And, when I went to a conference that my old workmates were at also, I'd spent my entire time hanging out with them. But I knew they were fully staffed, and therefore there wasn't a chance for me to go back.

Since I'm basically unambitious unless I have to do something, I decided to make the best that I could of my situation. I tried to get involved with things that would get me in contact with people from other branches. And honestly, the work that I was doing was interesting. I'd seen animals at work, there were lunch hour learning sessions, and I dealt with science or enforcement people. Most of the clients really appreciated the effort and speedy turnaround that I put on their requests. And we'd just gotten a new system, so I was doing a fair bit of troubleshooting, and getting into a bit of a groove. Also since my current job had invested a fair bit in me, it felt a bit traitorous to just up and go.

So for almost 2 weeks, I'd been weighing everything and trying to find options. My director wasn't willing to let me go there temporarily, but might consider it if I was part-time at both places. However they wanted me full-time and didn't want to hire my friend for temporary help. So after a talk with an unbiased friend, who advised me that it's really the people who will make or break a job (which I suspected), I decided to go back. But for some strange reason, when I told my director, Compensation person, and supervisor, I got all weepy. I'm not really sure why (or why just recalling the incidents is getting me choked up), but I just did. But I did get a lot of advice from people during my wah-wah fits, such as while it's true that they invested in me, I'd also worked for them and produced really good results so it's even. And that change is always scary and difficult.

Anyways, the rest of the people don't know just yet, so I have to figure out how to announce it. I'm not good with being the center of attention, so I'm thinking that email would probably be best, although my director and supervisor has offered to announce it at our team meeting. Probably b/c they know I'm not good at these things, and it would be soooo embarrasing if I started bawling.

While I was still thinking about what to do, I'd had dreams of me working back there again, and it was a pleasant, happy dream. And like they say, it's usually in dreams where you resolve things. But I'm still uneasy. Yeah, it's just such a wierd feeling b/c I'm still having doubts and regrets. When I'd left my previous work places (there were 2 other times), I didn't have any regrets. Well, w/ Stupidstore it was that I wouldn't be able to play with the plush or see the new toys anymore. And actually w/ Conf*gys, it was that I wouldn't see some of my friends daily anymore. But it wasn't like I still wouldn't ever be able to play with plush or see new toys ever again. And I stay in touch w/ my friends thru FB. I think with this, it's b/c there really aren't any other depts that have animals in the workplace, or the proliferation of scientists, enforcement and relevancy to my interests (although working at the Space Agency would be cool). Being able to attend scientific presentations was fun, and kept my brain working. But at the old place, it's a lot more formal, hierarchial, and dressy. Won't be calling up a director and asking if he'd like me to bring up the letters for him to sign, or if he wants to come down to do it. It'll be all thru his admin assistant. *sigh* Yeah, I think I've finally figured out or codified what's really making me question this decision so much. Of course, the benefits would be that I'd have less commute, be able to shop on my breaks (instead of sitting in the lunchroom w/ a snack and watching TV, although I'll miss the cable), see my other friends (who also work downtown but in other depts), and it'll probably be a lot closer to where I live if I ever move out. However I think b/c there have been a lot of personnel changes over there, it might not be the same as when I initially worked there, so that's probably adding to my doubts. On top of that, when the person I'm going to be working directly under (and who's also my friend) makes mistakes on what's required for my deployment, it really makes me worry. I'm certain that a -university- degree (which I'd sent him) globally supercedes any high school diploma, but he still asked me to provide the HS degree. I might agree if the university degree was from another country, but it's from the same city we're living in. Like WTF?! I'm trying really really hard to chalk it up to him being overworked and stressed, but O-M-G. I'm scared.