Wrestlemania XXIV

Well had been late getting back home from shopping so missed the 24 man brawl. Initially when I saw that it was going to be $55 to order it, I was going to do my usual thing and watch it at Silver City. Until I saw that a ticket is $30. So w/ D and I watching it, it's more sense to just order. And no screaming or spilling idiots around either.

Missed part of the Belfast Brawl b/c we'd ordered the wrong version of the PPV. When ordered it on the Shaw digital menu, only gave 1 option. Ended up getting the HD version, so the Shaw tech had to credit it back. It seemed too short w/ no blood :( But it wasn't bad, went at each other w/ authenticity. Some of the camera angles weren't good. Like when JBL threw the trash can against Hornswoggle, and we didn't really see what happened. But the shot of Findley diving thru the ropes and getting smacked w/ the garbage can lid was aweseome0

Money in the Bank was pretty good, not that long though. Awesome moves by Morrison and Benjamin. Poor Benjamin going thru the ladder like that, though love the look on on Carlito's face. I think they got cheaper ladders this year though, w/ the ladder twisting out under Benjamin. Predicted that CM Punk would win, and I was right. That was so blatantly obvious that Jericho gave Punk his leg, so that he could hang there. MVP also did a good show. Run in by Matt Hardy was so cool. Kennedy was ok. Jericho wasn't as good as he's been in the past, but he still put on a good show. Carlito did pretty well too, but I wouldn't say that it's enough to put him in the A-list.

Yeah, I missed the Festus/Santino thing. Don't really care about the Jesse & Festus team. Just not interesting. But D says that Mick Foley was on. So I'm sad I missed that.

Expected the Flair vs Michaels match after they showed the Hall of Fame induction ceremony, but it's the Batista vs. Umaga instead. *off to watch* Well that wasn't too bad. Really the match to give Batista something to do in Wrestlemania. Though I think he threw out his back trying to powerbomb Umaga. And really, that's all anyone needs to do to stop the Samoan spike, just block the arm. It was still pretty good. Nice to see the wheel kick from Umaga.

Oh, they showed the 24 man Battle Royale. I was trying to see the end of it on the WWE website, but their stupid thing doesn't work half the time. Wonder if they'll still have it on the website. Well Kane hasn't had a title shot in a long time. And his style does sorta work more for ECW. Yeah, I'm predicting he'll win. Unless it's a DQ. ...and it's already over. That was completely lame. Totally retarded. "outsmarted"? OUTSMARTED? What's so smart about doing a chokeslam on someone?!! Completely denigrates Chavo's abilities as a wrestler and champion.

And they're showing the Ric Flair flashback, so it's time to catch up on my post here. Off to watch! ...Wow, that was a truly awe-inspiring match. Excellent spots from both, and truly great show. Flair did moves that he hasn't done in a while, and they told a great story. The first moonsault from HBK was a rib-cruncher. 2nd one was pretty but completely wiffed past Flair. Well, that was definitely the way to go for a final match. And so classy of Flair not to stay in the ring for a couple mins listening to the fans. Just quietly left. I wonder if they also told them to make the match long b/c the prev matches were too short.

Oh, the crappy womens' match. Not looking forward to it. Probably be playing my DS. Playing Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Blue. Yeah, I have Mystery Dungeon Time too, but I'm still not finished Blue. Gotta take the story line missions, not just accumulate money and rankings. I'm already gold. Yeah, whatever Snoop Dogg. Guess I'll go watch now....And yahoo, Beth Phoenix won! Cause really, Melina and Beth can wrestle, whereas Maria and Ashley can't. In fact, it really doesn't look like Maria and Ashley even practiced. They were pretty darn bad. And Maria, you should choose a hairstyle that looks good while you're wrestling, not just when you come down to the ring. And why were they showing Santino when Melina was doing cool moves w/ the feather fans?! Lumberjacks were useless. That was funny when the lights turned off and Lawler goes "is the Undertaker coming out early?"

Wait, they're doing the review of the HHH vs. Orton vs. Cena match. It's only 7:17 MST. Show started at 5. Doesn't seem like it's going to be a 3 1/2 hr. B/c there's only this match and then Edge vs. Undertaker. Grrr. Okay, I was wondering why the marching band was playing "God save the Queen" until D explained it to me. I bet "God save the ___ " came first. Ugh Cena. Well at least we don't have to listen to his entrance though. *off to watch* Woohoo! Cena didn't win!!!!! Yaay yaaay yaaah! Not as good as if HHH won, but still Cena didn't win!!! It was pretty good, although we were both screaming at the TV that they'd better not tap out to Cena's STFU. HHH put on a great show, Orton was kinda out of most of it. Cena did his usual schtick.

Oh yeah, there's still Big Show's match. I still don't know who this Mayweather guy is, really I'm no boxing fan. Yeah, boxers box, but worth 20 million for a match? That's just obscene. And especially when they show his place and the piles of cash around. I dunno if he's a philanthropist but doesn't seem like it. That seems to be the problem w/ that culture, is just promoting the bling and nothing else. Not expecting every celebrity to be like Angelina and Brad, but some charity would be nice. *off to watch* Wow, they really got their $20 mill or however much they paid for Mayweather to show up. Floyd did a great job and took a lot of hits. Quite impressed. And it didn't seem the Big Show was easy on him or anything. I was throughly entertained.

Who the heck was that chick they have on anyways as guest announcer?

*waiting thru the lead up to the Edge vs. Undertaker match* That was a really good match! There were some slow parts, and some of it felt like a TV match instead of a PPV. But they ended really strong. And of course Taker winning was awesome. I was wondering why Vicky wasn't there when they had the Batista vs. Umaga match. And wondered where the 2 Edge clones were when they didn't come out w/ Edge. Also wondered why they had the Smackdown title as the last match when it's usually RAW. But w/ Taker winning that makes sense.

And they actually ran the show until 8:55 when it's scheduled to 9:00, so that's really good. Usually the show ends anywhere from 15-30 min early. Overall, it was definitely worth it to buy it, if only to initially see Flair's retirement match, Money in the Bank match. But turns out everything but the women's match was good!

Performance Managed out the door

*ahem* Yet another tirade of the ineptitude and discrimination abound at work. So this time, I get put on a CAP 2 for things that I was never coached on . Oh, sorry they coached me on it by counting stuff they told in general to the entire team, none of which actually pertained to the issues that I lost marks on. I tried to protest but really there was no point. Nothing I said would have actually changed their minds. (I suppose if I threatened suicide it would get it overturned, but really no one would believe me. But then I'd show them. Oh yes I would show them. And I didn't mention whose suicide....No actually that would do nothing. This is Conversucks after all.) Anyways, so it's another 60 days in the slammer. Which is really bullcrap. Considering there was apparently 1 or 2 other people on our team that actually got 0% on monitors (I only lost 40% b/c I didn't troubleshoot), I don't see our team being very large if they actually applied the rules fairly across the board.

And this was just before I was applying for another team, mostly to get away from the bullsh!t that kept being flung about how we're supposed to be the creme de la creme of the center, losing out on bonuses b/c they can't figure how to adjust the scores for our specialized work, having management's work dumped on us b/c they've pissed off so many managers that they don't have enough to cover the work that's required. Yes, so it's a bit difficult to update my resume with the mood I'm in.

So very tempted to walk out the door, well to really go home early actually. I have a lot of games I'd rather be spending time with. But I didn't. Decided to just spread my misery. And ended up being stuck on call after call while in Res. So that I ended up taking my lunch in last 45 min of shift, followed by my last break and then going home.

And I played Rune Factory: A Fantasy Harvest Moon for about 1 1/2 hrs. Finished only 1 day though, but that was mostly b/c I was reading FAQS b/c their manual didn't cover the stats or how much crops sold. Didn't know I had a cold b/c I was awake too long, just knew I had some status change and didn't recover all my RP when I woke up. Although that's good advice, should go to bed early. And it would probably help more if I didn't have sleep apena. Well it's not diagnosed, but could definitely explain my high blood pressure when I'm a bit overweight, but don't smoke, drink or do drugs, cut down on shellfish, eats lots of veggies.

To be enfranchised

Ahem, so it's election time where I live. Our premier, in effort to rig the election, only gave his opponents 29 days to campaign. Yeah, that's really fair. Not!

And b/c I still hadn't changed my address w/ the govt, I would need to vote in a different division, which would take me about 45 minutes to get there...at least. Or I could just walk up 3 blocks, show 2 pieces of ID and vote. Think I'll take the latter.

Yeah, so even if it wasn't my day off, I would still vote. It's my hard-won right (being female and a minority). However my roommate, is lazy and doesn't know anything about politics, says that he won't. Well, then he can't complain about the govt. He whines, "Oh but I pay taxes!" Well then why don't you pick who manages your money? Oh wait, that's right. He's always flat broke and doesn't know how to do that. Well then I guess for him, anyone is better than himself.

Videogames Live 2008

Well, I got tickets before it sold out, but I got them really late b/c I was trying to get a group together but no one replied. And that pissed me off. Anyways, my seat was in the middle of the row on the 2nd balcony so it was pretty hard to see a lot of stuff. And whoever's doing the light show was blinding a lot of us. And I also go there a lot later than I wanted, so I couldn't find where they had the programs. Didn't play any games, or do much watching. Really sucks when you don't have any of the next gen consoles.

There were some pieces that were the same as last year, like the MGS, Sonic, Mario, Halo, Jade Empire, and medley of classic games. But they also had the debut of Mass Effect, and Castlevania. The ESO and choir were much better this year. One Winged Angel was awesome, although I missed the Final Fantasy stuff. Having Martin Leung there was very fun, as well as the other composer doing the jazz version of his composition. But I didn't catch what he composed, but it did sound familiar.

Didn't get a shirt this year b/c it looked the same as last year. And I don't play Halo, and not interested in Donkey Kong, or Mario. Yeah, brought $50 and didn't use it. At least getting there was super easy w/ the LRT. Anyways, am I going next year? Well even though I went by myself, it was still very fun. My hands are tender from clapping, and voice a mite sour. It's awesome that videogame music is getting recognition, and I wanna keep supporting. I only hope they change it up bit more, a lot of stuff was the same from last year.

Yeah, hands not doing so well. Also cut them up a bit when I dropped a jar of aloe tea. And it was completely full too! And so tasty! And on sale this week! I need another day off to pick some more up! *sob* And it really is only good when you pour boiling water on it.

UPS sucks monkeys' balls!

So I stayed home b/c I think the copious amounts of pizza I ate yesterday made me sick. Yeah, the company finally decided to "honor" the Res team. And of course since everyone was using their hands, and there was a lack of handwipes, well, sanitation was dismal. So far I've managed 2 apples, 1 glass of milk and 1 slice of toast. And that was since 10:00am.

Anyways, the side effect of being home all day was that I could wait for the flippin' UPS person to show. And I waited. And waited. And then refreshed the UPS tracking site. Waited some more. Refreshed UPS site. Yeah, bullsh!t that they attempted delivery. So I call them up, flaming mad, and the rep said that he'd forward my issue to a supervisor at the depot site, and also take off the brokerage fees that UPS charged. Well that at least mollified me a bit. But still doesn't really compensate for the extra hours I woke up to wait for them, when they were supposed to deliver on the 11th, and the website didn't update on the status, saying it was sitting in Winnipeg since the 7th. So every day I got up 1 1/2 hrs early waiting and waiting. Then I called them on the 12th, and lo and behold they attempt delivery on the 13th. Yeah, I'm mightly angry with them.

Elusive sleep

So for about the last month, I've been ...wouldn't call it living, surviving would be kinda close but doesn't convey the futility...existing on about 4-5 hrs of sleep a night. I'm really not kidding. Even when it was my vacation, I didn't get any more sleep because I had to get up early for the Fedex/UPS guy, people would call me in the morning. And then there was the fire alarm in the morning too. And of course my roommate D, is deaf and likes to set his alarm really early because he "gets too much sleep." Yes, that was his response when I asked him why he sets his alarm 2-3 hrs before he has to go to work, and then doesn't do anything but going back to sleep. So I've been having migraines for the last month too b/c of this, and major bags under my eyes.

This weekend was the last straw. The idiot's alarm goes off at 10:30, waking me up. Yesterday I was kinda up but then StatsCan calls me for their annual survey which took 40 min. And I wasn't able to go back to bed. So since I had to call some places, I was up doing that. Was on hold for 30 min to PC Bank. Today idiot's alarm goes off again. So I go play Animal Crossing to get sleepy. And then the stupid snowballs keep falling in the water, so it takes me over an hour to finish the watering/talking/delivery session (usually it's about 1/2 hr). Just when I'm about to go back to sleep, my brother calls me to make last minute plans to go out to see the kids b/c she had her birthday recently. So I can't go back to sleep at all, I've got a huge headache, I'm starving and exhausted. And yeah, I had a "I'm sick of people interfering with my sleep!" tantrum. Tossed my phone at the bed a few times, smacked it around a bit. But gawd, I'm really sick of people. All I want is some peace and quiet.

And I spent the afternoon climbing around the giant jungle gym at WEM with the kids. Gawd, my knees hurt. They have bruises. And then b/c Melissa wanted to sit on me when we went down a fast (and small) tunnel slide, so I'd land on my hip or back. My arms are kinda sore too b/c I'd be pulling myself up the tunnels instead of crawling. Or lifting random little kids up b/c they couldn't get to the next part. And had waaaaay too many McD's fries. Then Melissa wet herself b/c she got too excited and didn't go to the washroom when she should've.

Anyways got a funny story about Pokemon Emerald. I'm using my Lv. 36 Lileep, who can't be switched out due to Suction Cups, but does have Ingrain (gains some life every turn). All I have for moves are Astonish, Acid and Constrict. Lileep has horribly low Attack and Special Attack stats. I'm going against a CPU trainer, and her earlier pokemon used Torment(can't use same move in a row) on my Lileep. I'm fighting a Mightyena and it keeps using Swagger(which causes my Pokemon's Attack to rise but also be confused). And I keep using Yellow Flute (cures confusion). We kept trading off on this until the Mightyena ran out of Swagger (yes it was a very long battle), and then I killed it w/ Constrict and Acid. Then it was on to her next Pokemon, killed the next 2 really quickly b/c of my boosted up Attack stats, and Ingrain gave me back all my HP. Yeah, that was very satisfying.

Geekfest on Colbert Report

Wow, major squeal fest watching the Jan 29 episode. First Joe Quesada w/ his Wrist Strong bracelet and announcing that Colbert is a presidential candidate in the Marvel U. Then Jon Stewart coming on w/ his tape about Conan O'Brien. It was just too cool. It's so nice with you get to watch them in a different element. It was so weird to see Jon Stewart at that younger age. He's definitely grown into his looks. Or he has a lot better stylists now. *grin*

So anyways at work, I got my 5th yr anniversary gift. I ordered a crystal bowl. It's a lot smaller than it seemed in the picture. It has a leaf pattern on the bottom. I ordered it b/c there really wasn't anything in there that I really wanted (well they had some Mikasa tumblers, the pattern was only ok), and I figured I could use it as a gift. It's worth a bit if I recall....b/c I searched for it on the web.

This morning I was woken up by the fire alarm. Yeah, it was at the audio warning stage (there's first flashing, then a steady beep, then it goes to a really fast beep...and beyond that I'm guess is when we have a real fire or something). So I got some clothes on (didn't really wanna have to face -32 degree Celsius weather in t-shirt and shorts), and was filling my hockey bag. I'm starting to run out of room, there's a few too many plush. But it stopped when I was in the middle, and so D decided to see what was going on. Apparently something in the parking arcade. Gawd, I'm so tired. I was tempted to call in absent, but I figured since it was so cold today and there were so many absent yesterday (about 50% of agents) they wouldn't believe me today. *groan* Yeah, I hauled my cold butt in. Had tights under my pants, mockneck longsleeve shirt, pullover, fleece hoodie, winter jacket, knit gloves under leather mitts and wool socks. My feet were warm even though I only had runners.

Review: Royal Rumble 2008

Went to see it at the movie theatre. I'm starting to think just for not having to listen to a bunch of hooligans, smell unwashed masses, or have crap tossed on me, I'll just spend 3x the cost to watch it at home. I was planning on going there alone, but D had the day off and he said he wanted to see it so I took him w/ me. As usual he was late & slow, keep hanging around me and was a general nuisance. Stupid teenagers behind us kept calling the wrestlers "faggots" and "homo", and I'm just thinking 1)you're guys watching sweaty men in skimpy tights grapple w/ each other 2)Professional wrestling descended from Roman-Greco wrestling which used to be done in the nude and has a homo-erotic history 3)if they are homosexual, they could kick your ass so bad you'll be tasting sh!t. Anyways, on to the matches.

Ric Flair vs MVP
Wow, MVP's such a rude jerk to come out in the middle of Flair's speech. *sarcastic* It wasn't too bad. Flair's getting to the age where it's mostly chops, punches, back body drops, and figure-fours. And yes, he survives another retirement match.

....actually I can't remember the next match, lemme check WWE.com. I think it was:
Chris Jericho vs JBL
Which ended in a DQ. Disappointing? Not really. It had a good story backing it up, and they were brawling as expected from a personal match. Seeing JBL strung up there was pretty satisfying. I wonder if this means a permanent return to wrestling?

Rey Mysterio vs Edge
Really good match. Also a personal match. When Vicki came to take the 619, that was cool. Which will make Edge's betrayal all the more painful. Yeah, I'm predicting by Wrestlemania, the storyline will have them breakup. What's interesting is the concept of the widow moving on after the death. I think they're starting to get people to agree that it's just we don't want Vicki w/ Edge b/c she'll be betrayed, not that it's bad for Vicki to see someone after Eddie's death.

Jeff Hardy vs Randy Orton
Really good match. When Jeff starting hitting most of his special moves, I knew he was going to lose. But it still left me, a Jeff fan, satisfied. And yes, the idiot behind me was calling Jeff "faggot" a lot. But really that idiot did for anyone he didn't like.

Royal Rumble
Yeah, it was totally cool that Undertaker and Shawn Michaels were 1 & 2. Although I miss when they used to show the guys drawing their spots. It was always a good bit of comedy. You know the ECW championship means nothing when the ECW former and present champion are competing for a spot to challenge a belt at Wrestlemania. Shelton Benjamin lasting for less than a minute is bullsh!t. If you're going to tout him as the "gold standard" (and bleach his hair that awful colour), call him the "best natural athlete", then let him have an appearance like that! Cody Rhodes did a good job, he's definitely going to be a good performer. As for Cena appearing...that totally ruined everything for me. It was a good show up until he appeared. And of course all the marks were screaming in there. Hornswoggle should've won b/c he was never thrown over the top rope.

Overall, was it worth the $13.73(ticket) + $9(food)? Sorta. The crowd, fighting for arm room, smelliness really killed it for me.

Another year ...lived?

So it was my birthday a few days ago. It's probably a little childish, but I don't think it's my job to create a birthday party, it's my friends who are supposed to do that and remember when it's my birthday. And now that I'm on Facebook and they have birthday apps on there, there's less excuse. And so I had no birthday party, a few people wished my happy birthday but not from people I thought I was closest to. And so, I spent my birthday being treated to dinner by my brother and his fiance b/c they were in the area. Yes, I'm kinda pissed....Okay make that plenty pissed.

And it didn't help that I barely got any sleep over the mini-vacation. Woken up too many times too early. Fedex woke me up but I got my Pokemon movies. And then RJS called me at flipping 10 am. I'm not sure why people think that if you're woken up, you'd actually wanted to be called later. Oh yeah, probably b/c some people can go back to sleep easily. And so I ended up w/ only 5 hrs of sleep, hunting around the apt for some DVDs that I'd borrowed. I'm at the point right now where I'm narcoleptic if I'm not actively doing something.

Oh, and I was reminded I was a woman on my birthday. Thank you body. *sarcastic* So I've loaded up on steak, beans, spinach, and eggs. Last night I had steak w/ spinach/greens/tomato/red pepper salad and baked beans. Yeah, and I still haven't finished reading all my comicbooks or manga. Or make room for my new figures...although I did manage to change the bedsheets...not b/c of any stains. And I think my Amazon order came in too. Heh, all my Amazon announcements now are about yaoi. Before it was Pokemon and yaoi. Pokemon bestiality is sick.

How to become a good Houseguest

Is to have a bad one stay w/ you. Gah, V had to emergency stay w/ us after T booted him out b/c his gf was coming up for Xmas. So that's fine, but then he kept staying and staying even though he was able to move into his apt on Jan 1. Yeah, so all your furniture's in storage b/c your dad didn't help you move like he was supposed to. But there's nothing wrong w/ sleeping on the floor and eating takeout. Today, V finally moved out. And he managed to vacuum twice and wash dishes about twice. Didn't give us any money, offer to buy groceries or buy us pizza. And that's even I pointed that out twice. Even just left the sheets and blanket in a pile, couldn't even fold them neatly. Anyways, T and V are planning on rooming together in Vancouver, and I was thinking of going. But I don't know if I could stand it. H is right, I'm totally anal-retentive. ...But I go every morning! :))

So tired, H had her crisis w/ her friend that she's known for 12 years. So she's going back to Quebec. Which sucks. B/c she's just going to drop back into her depressive self-abusive pit. Hopefully the older woman who also works there can help keep her straight. She really could do a lot more if she had her issues sorted out. I'm sorta the opposite, I'm pretty stable but I've got little ambition, get discouraged easily, and really have no plans.

Oh, but it's not H's crisis that got me tired. Well it did in the way that I was up to 3 talking to her about this and that. Mostly it's b/c stupid job made me come into work 4 hrs earlier for stupid training. And they don't even have anything straightened out b/c there's a whole bunch of systems that're diff.

So it's 2008

Yes, Happy New Year. According to the Gregorian calendar anyways. The city fireworks this year were 10x better than last year. I really liked the spinning ones that explode out of a shell. I suppose I should learn some fireworks speak to explain it better. But it’s kinda late.

So I have another figure to find a place for. This time I was able to find the Beast Marvel Legends Icon one. It's really big, about...30 cm...so 12". There were 2 of them at the store, but one of them had the hand broken off. So it was pretty easy to decide which one to get. And it was originally $69.99, but I got it for $29.99. I might've actually paid the original price though b/c it's my Hanky-poo. Box was somewhat damaged, and I really hate all the dang twist-ties. Anyways, he has a lab coat and glasses, but the glasses don't come off. They look like they would, but it seems that they were glued into the slots. Which is really too bad, he has such pretty blue eyes. :D. Anyways, he's has 30 points of articulation...unfortunately not all of them make sense, like having 2 hinge joints at the knees and elbows. His feet are quite articulated b/c his first metatarsal moves independent of his other toes. But on his hands, his thumb doesn't move. And with the way that they built him, it renders some of the articulation points near-useless. Like the shoulder, it has a ball joint and there's a hinge joint too, but you can't bend him at the hinge b/c his deltoid region just smacks into his chest b/c they're both very large. I'd say only about a 3 degree bend. I'm not sure if I can actually bring his arms to his side. It was a major pain to take off his lab coat. His hip joints, I'm still not sure what's with them. There's 2 ball joints from what I can tell, but I don't think there's a hinge. So if you try to get him to sit, he has to lie on his lower back (there's a hinge joint at his stomach). I can't get him to sit on his butt. He was and still is very stiff. Feel like a physiotherapist when I was playing with him. One of his knee joints still hasn't bent. It'll be a real pain to make clothes for him. Here's someone's review and pics.

Yeah, so I also have 2 Beast Mavel Legends 8" figures (one was a gift b/c she didn't know I already had him, but that's okay b/c one's Dark Beast but which one? *heh heh heh*), and in comparison, they have better articulation b/c you can do much more w/ them. They sit up proper, can almost cross their arms, and almost sit in lotus position. Right now, they're showing their Pokemon(Bulbasaur and Pikachu) to each other.

Yeah, it's gotten desperate w/the manga situation....Uh, not just the space issue. That's reached orange alert a while ago. I mean the out of print stuff. Well, mainly the yaoi. Yes, I've been searching for the 3rd Volume in the Finder Target Series, Vol 6 of Kizuna, and no one seems to have it. Amazon.ca sellers have priced them to over $100. Damn capitalists! H used to be able to get me them, but she didn't swing by that Montreal store this time, so I'm SOL. Yeah, so I've taken it upon myself to order them w/ all the sales going on. My poor poor credit card. Actually I think it's committing suicide. A big crack has developed thru the card above the strip.

So I'm sure I haven't blogged about my Xmas holiday. Mostly b/c as I'm typing this in Wordpad, I have my computers hooked up to each other but not to the Net. No, I still haven't connected my new computer to the Net. Haven't installed all the anti-virus, protection progs. Or backed all my data. In the process of doing that. Yeah, I have to find a decent burning program. Can't seem to overburn on the one that come w/ the computer even though I changed the settings. And then there's the issue that not all files seems to have transferred over. Was checking some of my files, and they're not all there, so I have to move them over again, and do a manual verification for each folder...oh crap, I've burnt a few discs already. $@#$%!!!

Anyways Xmas holiday. B/c it was 1 day. Got Boxing day off, spent the morning w/ H shopping. She was supposed to get my Xmas present, but still hasn't. Only spent about $100. Then I left her to meet up w/ T and his gf for lunch. Hope I made a decent enough impression w/ the gf that she'll still let T see me. *sad chuckle* After went to my brother's for dinner and played w/ the kids. The girls seemed to enjoy their presents. What surprised me was that they really like the Mickey Mouse parachuting figure. Got it from the ...uh...coin slot machines. P, my brother's fiance, got me a jewelry chest but it's like uhm... I don't really wear jewelry. I have to consciously think about putting anything on. Doesn't help that my ears always react to my earrings and start leaking pus. So she was nice and said she'd just return it and get me something else. My brother said she should've asked him what to get me, but she said she wanted it to be a surprise. Heh, my brothers know not to get me anything girly. Yeah, so I got "I am America (and So can You!)" and "America the Book: Teacher's Edition" from my big bro. Then my 2nd bro ordered something from my list online. My dad gave me money. And it wouldn't be a family gathering w/o a fight, so this time it was my Dad first b!tching at me b/c I didn't grab the plate to pass to my brother. Then when I told him to try on his present (turtlenecks size 10-12 youth) b/c last time he whined the jacket was too small, he b!tched at me for telling him what to do, how there wasn't time and my bro needed to drive me home. When at the time, he was trying on clothes that P bought during the sales. Does that make any sense?! Anyways, it turned out to be too small so I was completely logical as usual.

So V is staying w/ us right now, until he's able to move into his apt. It gives D someone else to bug, although it means I can't leave my knitting on the futon. Yup, only 14 more rows to go on the pattern, and then about 5 rows of black and I'm finito the Hellsing 5' scarf. Which is pretty fast I think for only starting it in mid-Nov.

After hours of study...

I've finally got my crossover cable to work and the 2 computers to talk to each other. Seriously I would be searching at work to see what I needed to do to get them to talk to each other. Unfortunately there was a lot more stuff for connecting XP and 98 together. Vista just doesn't seem to be very popular. *sarcastic* I was just changing features and settings willy-nilly for the last 2 days. It actually took a tutorial on setting up 2 Win 98 computers to finally pull everything I learned together.

Now I'm trying to burn the files that I moved over to see if I can get a good copy. The burner on my old computer wouldn't burn it properly. The burning program that come w/ the Acer computer is called NTI CD&DVD Maker. Never heard of them. And boy does it suck. I'm burning mp3s, and a bunch of them have long names. All my other progs will ask me if I want to shorten them and how to truncate it. Not this stupid thing. I had to manually go into my File Explorer and guess which ones were probably causing the prob.

Anyways, super tired. My nose is massively stuff, and my throat hurts.

Our team had meeting w/ SMO to air out some issues we've been having w/ managers. Quite amusing his reaction on who some of the worst offenders were. And they've "found out" that there was an issue w/ their scorecards, so they had to recalculate everything. But they said that there weren't that huge amount of changes, but they'd be talking to people who's cards have changed. Huhn, well I haven't been talked to yet, and quite frankly if I don't get my bonus, I might not be going in to work during their most busy days. Just go in to get my stat pay, but there's no way I'm working Boxing Day.

No time

To post. Or do anything actually. Sooo busy, and w/ my work schedule being what it is, I hardly have any time for Xmas shopping or putting together the presents I do have. And I got myself a new computer. Which I can't seem to hook up to my old one to transfer files. Why not just burn them on DVD? B/c my old computer can't seem to burn it properly. Gotta finish my emails now. And survey.

Slapped in the Face

Ah yes, another post about the injustice and crap at my job. So they had launched a "career path" program, supposedly giving us bonuses on top of our raises if we met a certain criteria. And it was not supposed to be bell curved or anything. Essentially it was their Performance Appraisal. Which is supposed to be confidential. How do they roll it out? We're go into the lunchroom on our breaks and they look up our names on a list which tells them which lanyard to give us. And the lanyard tells us which bonus if any we get. Oh and then we can get cake.

Are we in f*cking elementary?! This isn't some freaking ribbon that's handed out at a school-wide track meet! Their lanyards certainly cost the same as the ribbons that I got in elementary. No, they publically announce what our bonus is when before they always told us to keep the results on the Perfomance Appraisal secret. Not only that, but for those of us on specialized teams, if we didn't go up in their rankings, we get no bonus whatsoever. And those us of who are already making more than their recently capped wages, we get bumpkiss. Guess who fell into that category. I was so furious. Not only did I completely waste my break on this bullsh!t, but I get absolutely nothing. The more I thought about it, the more riled I became and still am. T was kinda getting freaked b/c he never saw me so mad. Unfortunately I have to unleash the anger physically so if I can't damage something, then I start to cry. So after a half hour calming back down, I go to tell someone I'm going home. And it was JVH which was good in the way that he knew why I was pissed. But of course he has to try and ask me to stay, which makes me mad again. Well at least I got a hug out of it. And he's smelling pretty good since he got his new position. But he said that everyone on our team got the same fisting except for 2 people, one who certainly didn't deserve it. So they think that there's something wrong w/ the scoring and are going to review it. We'll see if anything comes out of it.

Anyways, that time of the month did start for me. Which sucks. And I was late today for work b/c a freaking CN train, and the bus driver managed to get stuck on nothing. There was no snow or ice that we could see.

'Tis the season for charities to come a-begging

I'm not lying. I'm looking at a pile of letters/cards/calendars from charities that's 9 cm high. Last time I processed all the charities stuff was beginning of October. Ugh, and you have to be so careful too. There's a lot of groups out there that sound like well-known charities, until you read the fine print where they say they're "non-profit". Whatever that's supposed to mean. If I don't get a tax receipt, I don't care then.

Anyways, I booked all my remaining vacation for these next weeks. Have to send out xmas cards...oh yeah, have to ask my cuz her address. Have to work on my friend's scarf. It's hand-designed strand knitting pattern for part of the scarf 72 st by 38 rows. And I'm using 5 mm needles, so even though I've worked on it for about 7 hrs today, I only got maybe 5 inches on straight stockinette st part. The strand knitting was the worst. And then the dp needles I got are actually too short, so I've dropped a few stitches, and accidentally created a few b/c I thought they'd dropped. So tired.

Stupid roommate D left my TV on all night. Said he was in a daze b/c he was watching it at 5 in the morning. Useless piece of #!@$!!! I can't stand to talk or look at him anymore. Everything he does or says makes me wanna boot him in the head. And I'm so cursing renewing the lease. B/c T thought that V had gotten an apt so we wouldn't be rooming anymore. But that's not the case, so now T and V are looking for an apt, and I'm stuck w/ D. *looking at calendar* Well it also could be that time of the month too.

Anyways, I'm majorly behind on my manga. And it's all because of RG Veda. Only have to read Vol 10 and then I can pack it away and get onto my other books. But I'm just not digging it. When CLAMP does epics, it's all so....overblown. Everyone's so mysterious. The quieter moments are good, but there's not enough character development. Everyone dies...although they get resurrected in another CLAMP series. So until I finish RG Veda, I'm not touching my other series...and that's why I'm so behind. I just don't wanna read Vol 10 b/c I've spent too much of my time going "Yeah, sure okay, whatever."

No Vacancy

AAARGH!!! Stupid Revenue Canada website!!!!! I have it tabbed and trying for the upteenth time to register for their epass, and it forced Firefox to shut down. So I have to retype everything. And of course stupid blogger has their freakass delay so I can 't look at the screen while I'm typing.

Anyways!!! I woke up early today to do apt hunting. And called 4 places. 2 were full, including the place where T is staying. When I got to the first appointment, Carlton Towers, I called the manager to let me in, and he tells me that the suite just got rented. Then since there was an hour to the next appt, so I tried callng them to see if they could show it to me right now, but he never answered. I ended up calling another apt b/c they were right in the neighbourhood, but they were full too. So I ended up buying milk, finally using the $5 gift certficate that work gave me. Went back home and finally go to pay the flipping Shaw bill. Because I usually pay it at the same time as my Visa bill, but their stupid website is always down at night. So yeah, my customer feedback on that was negative.

Headed back out to my 2nd appt, at Secord House. Mgr seemed enthused when I first called, although his first question was where I worked. But then it seemed to die when he saw me even though I was dressed in beige turtleneck, black jeans, canvas sneakers, natural makeup, hair in clip. Didn't say anything to me in the elevator, and basically rushed me thru the room. I had a big checklist and didn't even get to ask him if they allowed pets. He was really patronizing when I asked if there was any fire extenguisher or sprinkler system, saying that apts don't have that, and then when I said I was in an apt that did, he changed it to no apt over 30 yrs. Well, that's not going to add a lot more to my tenant insurance! Anyways it was $875 for that place. At least the appliances looked kinda new, although the kitchen was tiny. And there were some serious cracks on the bathroom wall. I dunno if he thought the way that I was scrutinizing everything that I was actually a building inspector, or maybe I just wasn't white enough.

And so I went to pay my rent. We have occupany of this apt until end of Nov but have to give them a decision by Nov 1. And really, even w/ going month to month, it's only $615 after the split. Plus unl internet+cable which is about $47 split. If I went on my own, they don't offer unl internet anymore, so it'd be at least $30 for just 10GB. I have enough unwatched DVDs for a year. Then utilities is $30 estimate b/c I'm OC on turning off lights and appliances. So basically if I lived by myself, I'd be looking paying around $850-900 at the cheapest rent that I'd seen advertised. Right now, even month to month, it's only $750. Argh! Yeah, so I asked the building manager some questions about our rent, and then she seemed kinda puzzled at first, but then when I explained that I can't stand to live my roommate anymore, she totally understood.

Yeah, heh, no one wants to live w/ D. T will kill him the minute he ticks T off. B knows her son won't want to room w/ D. Yup, so this summer D got dumped by H, and now 2nd wife wants a divorce too. I pity myself for pitying him. Tried calling H, but she didn't answer. Should be home by now though.

Good thing I didn't press send

Yes, so I'd made an order on C&L for some DVDs and manga. and at the time they were offering 14% off all items. So I'm calculating it, and what I expect the total to be. And the discount didn't seem to be there when I submitted the order, but the rules seemed to indicate that it would be there once it was packed. So then it gets shipped out, and it doesn't seem like it's 14% off. And I'm like WTF?! and start composing a long, polite, pointed email about how there's a discrepancy. And as I'm writing it, and doing all the math, it turns out that most of the discount was eaten by GST and the s/h. Argh!!! So it's been that kind of day.

Yeah, so got my CAP. And they throw a curveball saying that not only is the CAP itself 30 days (which is standard) but I have to be on calls another 30 days after that "in case I regress" WTF?! What does my call quality have to do w/ my attendance?! If anything, I'm going to find more ways not to show up for work. And they they give this story about how that's standard for CAPs for Floor Support. Having never been on a CAP before, I was skeptical but didn't press further. Well, after talking to fellow teammates who've been on CAPs while on the team, that doesn't seem to be the case. So I want it in writing, and it better be applied to everyone.

Oh yes, and my stupid manager again chased me out of my friends' section. And then talked to their manager about something. So I'm seriously peeved that I have to sit in a section that no one else on my team actually sits in, nor get chased into sitting. So if she wants to apply that to me, then she needs to do it to everyone else. And I'm really going to call her on it. And if she doesn't enforce it with anyone else, then it's a double standard. If she's going to throw it into my face, then I'm going to throw it right back. It's a bad idea to piss off someone who was also in management before. I don't like getting treated like a peon.

Oh yes, and the stupid call went a bit late, the bus was early, and I tripped and slid a foot as I was running for it. No cuts or ripped jeans. I guess the unshaven legs helped w/ lessening the scraping. Although there might be some aching. Don't bruise much though. And I have a split flesh just on the tip of my finger so it hurts much to type.

How not to retain employees

So my current workplace should really write a book on how not to retain employees and encourage turnover. My manager's going to put me on a CAP which means I have to be on the phones for a month. Just b/c I was late a couple times for the last couple of weeks. And it's not like half an hour, it's just at most 10 mins b/c I keep missing my bus. It not a huge deal compared to other crap that we see happening. And really she could just ignore it. But whatever. But what really pissed me off is that she's telling me to change where I sit, that I have to sit in "team seating." Where no one else sits but reps from other teams. So I can't sit w/ my friends, where I can chill. And it's not like I change my spot where I sit, which I could understand that it might be a little hard to find me. I sit in the exact same section all the frigging time. The manager that has that section doesn't care b/c I don't bug her agents, and actually help them out all the time w/ things. I've even done some of their work for them. And at least I know that section is relatively clean b/c the same people sit there all the time. There are so many disgusting stations out there, it's revolting. There's no logical reason why I should move.

T asked his manager if she could do something for me since I'm going to be on the phones, and she said if I was good (totally putting the brakes on my immediate tendency to tell management to f-off and screw around) for 2 weeks, she'd put me on the list to help her team. And thus sit w/ her team again but on official capacity. She's a smart one.

And so I'm still looking for other places of residence. It comes down to money and sanity. Money b/c I don't wanna spend more than 1/3 my take home pay on rent. However I also need to keep my sanity, which won't happen w/ the current living arrangement. H dumped D on me, so I'm trying to be nice to D while H w/ f*cking around and doesn't have to deal w/ him.

And my dad's going in for surgery, hopefully to fix his pumping. But he's old, and my brother who was living w/ him is moving out b/c he bought another house on the other side of the city. So while I'm not close to my family, there's still that concern about him being all alone. Even though my eldest brother is only a block away, he's got 4 kids and a b!tchy wife.

I still have to scream at the life insurance people to give me policies that make sense. Need to look for another place b/c obviously that place is handbasket to hell. So all that, and plus my frigging "." coming in, is putting a lotta stress on me. Gawd, I wanna read some yaoi.

Control

So this will be the gross post. Had to do some tests that my doctor ordered up, I was okay w/ the blood tests. Just don't look when they poke it in, and I'm okay. Needle seemed a bit big, and left a visible mark. But even though I had a glass of water 1/2 before, and I hadn't gone for about an 2 hrs, I couldn't manage more than a trickle. Actually I think I just gave barely enough of a sample. And why do they only give you 2 towelettes? Guys have it so easy. >:( Yeah, but anyways, I still didn't really need to go after I got home. So weird. Lately, especially at work, I have to go about every 1 1/2 hrs. But anyways, I had to do the other thing too. Usually I do it when I get up b/c it's good to be regular (and your gas doesn't smell as bad b/c there's less fermentation), but b/c I didn't want any contamination, I waited until after. Well anyways, just mentioned it b/c my roommate has a medical condition so he can't control himself. And H has no medical condition but can't tell when she needs to go until she nearly craps/pisses herself. She used my bathroom several times b/c D was in the other one and she couldn't hold it. Thought she was toilet-trained, but apparently only enough to actually look for one. *ba da bing!*

After I went to lunch at Kyoto. Ate 2 bananas on the way there b/c I had to fast for 12 hrs. It was pretty darn good, as usual (the restaurant, not the bananas...well they were pretty good too). I had the sashimi & tempura bento. The squid tempura was just perfect. The shrimp tempura was a little over done. I'm so sad that they only gave me half a hotategai. The surf clam(hokkigai) was really sweet. The sake wasn't so good this time. And no, I didn't smother it in wasbi/soy sauce this time. It's been so long since I had sashimi. Now nigiri's kinda common for me b/c I buy it all the time from T&T, but sashimi's always been a favourite. I love chirashi. But the best is when you have the baked oyster or scallop, and you pour the saunce into your rice. It's soooo tasty.

So I went thru my piling of Xmas cards from charities. Yes, they've already started coming. Gawd, I have so many cards. I might just have to make one for everyone I know. And then the empty mooncake box was too small, so I had to alter it. Hope the glue sticks. I have so many envelopes for them too. I might need to alter another tissue box, just for the new set of envelopes.

Got my shipment for Play-Asia. I ordered a DS cartridge but it sticks on the top of the DS...with sticky tape. Which means I can either use it and probably never take it off. Of keep using my Dalkia cover. Argh!!!! Haven't watched my Pokemon movie yet. It's the one w/ Manaphy. It's called Pokemon Renzya to ? Umi no Ouji manafui. Yeah. And then they came out w/ a collection of all the Pokemon movies a week after I ordered it. Waaaah!!

Anyways yesterday, was my Dad/nephew/nieces b-day party. They liked my presents! Yaaaay! Well I dunno about my Dad, but whatever. It's hard to find plain drab boy's clothing b/c that's his size. So I had to go w/ a small women's jacket. It looked vaguely unisex. After we went to the Space Science Centre/ Odyssium /Telus World of Science b/c it was free admission day. We had a blast. Considering we all had science backgrounds, we were still running around looking at things and had to keep reminding ourselves to look out for the kids. What is it about chicken that's so tasty? Had KFC on Sunday, and 2 kinds of chicken today too. And I'm not sick of chicken! Mind you, their living environment was probably horrible, crammed 10 rows high in a warehouse, pecking from a conveyor belt. But they're so yummy. I must have no spiritual sensitivity, can't taste their misery.

Quiz: The Song of Ice and Fire House Test

Your Score: House Stark

27% Dominant, 27% Extroverted, 81% Trustworthy

Responsible. Respectable. Dour. That’s not shit coming out of your ass--it’s honor. You are clearly of House Stark.



You are a submissive personality, meaning that you are more than willing to relinquish control to someone more qualified; you will unflinchingly accept any responsibility that is thrust upon you, including servitude. Unfortunately for you, your unending patience and accommodating nature often make people look to you for a leader. In essence, you are the perfect leader: someone who has no desire to lead, yet is substantially well-qualified to do it.



You are also introverted, which means that people sometimes have difficulty understanding your thought process. Your dependable nature makes you predictable, but you’ve probably got all sorts of emotional dysfunctions when it comes to more intimate relationships. There are very few people whom you trust unwaveringly, and you’re not the type to confide in other people. So cold, so aloof--so Stark.



Finally, you are trustworthy--the very definition of the word. All secrets are safe with you. All of your vows are unbreakable. True to your name, you world is a stark place; there is black, and there is white. Your rigidity tends to undercut your overall value as a friend and ally. Honesty such as yours is hard to come by, which is easy to understand when you consider how easily manipulated you are by less decent individuals. Essentially, you’re the nice guy, and you’ll always finish last.



Representative characters include: Eddard Stark, Jon Snow, and Sansa Stark



Similar Houses: Frey, Lannister and Tully



Opposite House: Baratheon



When playing the game of thrones, you play it with one sword in your hand and another up your ass.

I really have no clue what this is referencing to, but since my friends did it, so did I. This was actually my 2nd result...after I more carefully considered what the questions were asking. Yes, this is what happens when you're tired and just clicking. My first result:

Your Score: House Frey

36% Dominant, 27% Extroverted, 45% Trustworthy

Violent. Self-important. Total fuckers. Universally despised, you are of House Frey.



You are a submissive personality. Piranha-like, you’ll viciously attack anyone weaker than yourself. However, you are content to bow and scrape and kiss-ass, as long as the owner of that ass remembers the favors you’ve done him. You’re slimy like that.



You are also introverted. You don’t enjoy broadcasting your devices and ambitions to the entire world; instead, you prefer to confide in a close-knit support system of friends and family. The people you keep around yourself are as vicious and proud and power-hungry as yourself, so you’ll always get the advice you want.



Finally, you are untrustworthy. In fact, you are the most untrustworthy of all houses. Do you have any idea how bad that is? Lannisters kill their kings and their fathers and fuck their siblings, but they are still far more trustworthy than you! Nobody likes you; nobody trusts you; nobody respects you. In the end, your blatant ambitions and ruthless executions thereof will alienate you from everyone. You’ll die alone. And you deserve it. (Asshole.)



Representative characters include: Walder Frey, Lothar Frey, and Cleos Frey



Similar Houses: Greyjoy, Stark, and Tyrell



Opposite House: Targaryen



When playing the game of thrones, you play it like a true villain.

Link: The Song of Ice and Fire House Test written by Geeky_Stripper on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test

Okay, I lied. I was quite awake when I did it the first time. So this is either an example of how wildly inaccurate online quizzes can be, or a hidden look at my true nature. :D