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.

Kettle calling the Silverware black

So this week we had training on PeopleSoft 8.9, an entirely new system for the dept, but I had previous exposure to 8.0. Interface changed a fair bit, the basic concepts were still the same. So I obligatorily followed along on the help instructions, until it was time for us to do it on our own, and then didn't touch the help system except to doublecheck 1 or 2 things. Not surprisingly, I was always finished first (even after creating most of the X-Men as applicants). So if I wasn't exhausted (I had to get up an hour earlier than normal, and even when I get up at the normal time, I don't get enough rest so I'm doubly tired.), I'd help out. However since the last seat that was available was near the instructor, all I could hear was bad advice being passed out by the G and S since they were closer to the hapless people. It`s a little difficult to be polite at when you`re non-verbally saying "don't help if you have no clue what you're doing, you stupid git". Anyways, if the instructor said that people who were done early could go for a break, you can bet I was outta there. There's only so much dusty air being blown by a computer fan into my face, cramped room, being with people and uncomfortable chairs and table that I can take. So anyways, my supervisor gave me a talk today that people thought that I was skipping work early and not doing my 7.5 hrs. Whatta load of crock. I showed up at work 20 min before the class started, and did my regular stuff during that time and on my breaks (b/c we only had 15 min breaks, which is barely enough time to have a snack), and worked on anything urgent after class. Unlike other people, I planned well enough that I had things prepared ahead of time for this. Not to mention, I don't regularly go on 40-50 minute breaks + the same for my lunch (unlike my accusers). So I was plenty steamed.

Anyways, on the 2nd issue, wearing casual and jeans on Monday and Tuesday (guess no one noticed the cargo pants on Wed) when we're supposed to be in business casual b/c we're still in the office, which was my bad. But I did ask if I could wear pjs at the bi-weekly meeting, and no one specified biz-casual. And no one specified on any invitation that we couldn't. Anyways, I just said that all the other trainings I went to, it was casual. So I got 2 warnings today. *snort*

Anyways, before she gave me that, I was already telling people that I was going home b/c my stomach hurted. Which it did. Since last night. I think it's b/c I ate a bagful of organic chestnuts. Well, the instructions on them said "after opening, refrigerate and consume in 1 day". So I ate it in one sitting, while I was watching Daily Show and Colbert Report online. Had a little upchuck to the back of the throat about an hour later (which I thought was just a burp with substance), but then it started to hurt more. I had to make a little tent for my stomach last night, and this morning, I thought it was my stomach muscles that were sore from being cramped up. Anyways, at work, I had to go to the washroom every hour b/c I was uncomfortable (doing just usual No. 1 stuff in there though). So, the main point, is that I don't think she'll be able to link me going home to being mad at the warnings. However, my stomach still hurts, and I upchucked in my mouth this evening, so I probably won't go tomorrow. Not that I have anything urgent to do anyways. It's good to be ahead. And it's not like I'm really motivated anyways. Unlike my previous 2 jobs, there's no one I'd miss.

Review: Royal Rumble 2010

So I went to see it with D, who picked me up an hour late b/c he couldn't remember what time to pick me up even though he chose that time. Wonder why he doesn't have a job still? Anyways, this meant that I couldn't look at what was at the 75% sale at Bath & Bodyworks. Technically I probably don't need any of the stuff (except to give away as gifts) but I just can't resist trying their new scents. And since we had to pick up food at T&T, and stand in line, we only got in 30 min before the show started. Good thing that David went out to pick up earplugs though. It was really loud.

Christian v. Ezekial Jackson
Good match, with Christian being the underdog (despite being champ). Nice back-forth, storytelling. a very good match. I don't get to see ECW anymore (local station doesn't seem to carry it anymore), but I think it still might be on the WWE website. But honestly, I didn't watch it too much since I would fall asleep (not always a commentary on the action, it was after being up 18 hours), and the only people to watch were Christian, Shelton Benjamin and Yoshi Tatsu.

I can't believe Teddy Long called the ECW manager "baby girl". That's pretty disgusting. Anyways, he made a "surprise" match of Miz vs. MVP. Which was ... okay. Not quite convinced that MVP's improved that much. He did for a while, but seems to be coasting now. Miz seems to be in semi-coast mode too.

Randy Orton v. Sheamus
Quite surprised that Sheamus is still champion. He's not too bad...in the limited amount of moves he does. Not too clunky. But he's so new, doesn't seem to have quite earned his stripes to become champion, but maybe that's the point they're making. Anyways, nice little tete-a-tete between Cody, Teddy and Randy in the back. Pretty good match, and loved when Randy "slithered" backwards. Can't wait to see the fallout to Randy's fight w/ Legacy on RAW. It used to be that the RAW title was higher-standing than Smackdown, but Sheamus is just getting onto the B-list, so I was semi-surprised to see it that early.

Mickie James v. Michelle McCool
Nice to see Michelle get her comeuppance. Uh, not much more to say since it was a short match. Like 3 moves?

Undertaker v. Rey Mysterio
Really good match. Was kinda funny to see Undertaker with a bloody nose b/c all the blood over his mouth and nose, kinda looked like a clown. Errr, maybe not that funny since I hate clowns. Anyways, good storytelling. I thought Mysterio had been champ more than once. I did want Rey to win while I was watching the match, but I'm a Taker fan.

Royal Rumble
That so sucks that Evan Bourne is just a jobber now. Ugh. And what the hell w/ eliminating people in under a minute after they come in the ring?! Matt, Yoshi, and so many others didn't even get to do anything. While it's great that they had Beth in the ring, it was pretty lame in the way they had her eliminate Khali. They're basically saying that's all a woman can do. At least Chyna got to get some people out the traditional way (kicking their butts over the top). And so sucked that Punk just threw her out. At least she got to throw a clothesline. Quite the shocker when HBK super-kicked HHH out so quick. I think after that, a lot of people didn't have too much sympathy for him when he was eliminated by Batista. But best thing of the night, the return of Edge!!! Sure, it was similar to Cena's return 2 years ago, and Edge didn't look quite ready. Still a little pudgy and sporting the Grizzly Adams look. But it was sweet. I thought after Batista was out, Cena would win, but thankfully not. Wished they had Kofi more. He was good.

So it was a good Royal Rumble. Worth the $16.75. And I'd chosen seats that weren't near kids so it was a good crowd around.

Review: WWE TLC PPV

I don't usually see the monthly ppv's, mostly b/c they tend to suck, but with the prospect of Christian and Shelton Benjamin in a ladder match, I couldn't resist. Christian said he wanted to make it the best match of the night, and it was great. They did some wicked moves, and it was fast-paced. And then it started going downhill.

John Morrison vs. the Scottish guy endorsed by Vinnie Mac. Does that guy have another submission move? Matt Striker was trying his hardest to sell it, but really. It wasn't all too bad, was kinda exciting when Morrison got to get going. But really, this guy doesn't seem to have put in his on-screen dues to get the IC title.

Mickie James vs. Michelle McCool. Still going with that Piggie James schtick. Mickie looks like a healthy girl w/ meat on her bones. Anyways match was so-so. Nothing that couldn't be seen on regular TV.

Cena vs. Sheamus. Boring. Yawning thru the entire match. Obviously, neither of them have good ring sense b/c they could only have 1 table out at a time. Everything was so awkward. Loved how Matt Striker put it into perspective, and he's so right. It's sad how tame Jerry Lawler's become. I wish the fans started chanting "loser" when Cena was walking out.

Undertaker vs. Batista. Not so boring but was still yawning. Batista really needs to learn how to wrestle. Like honestly, would it kill you to learn a suplex or submission hold? Undertaker tried, but there's only so much he can do to sell Batista, and he's getting up there so his stamina's not so high. Happy Taker kept his title.

Kofi Kingston vs. Randy Orton. Woke me up. Good to see Kofi and Randy let it out. Randy hasn't had very technically challenging foes lately (*cough* Cena). Some very good moves and back-and-forth action. I'm sad Kofi lost, but they had a good match.

DX vs. Jerishow. Good match to cap the night. Exciting, very back and forth, which displays the guys' experience on crafting a match. When they were wrestling separately at the beginning, it just didn't work. I was too busy wondering what the other pair was doing. But once they got back in the ring, it was cool. I wonder if the ladder was supposed to rip in half like that. I hope Jericho's okay. That fall he took looked really nasty. You could see him try to push off the ropes, but he didn't have the traction. It was cute when Jericho was on Show's shoulders.

I went with A to see it b/c D had to work. A doesn't watch much wrestling, but it still wasn't too bad. Almost didn't make it b/c his car mysteriously died while parked in my driveway for 5 minutes. When we were about to push it back up the driveway to plug it in, it started again. So wierd. While we were wandering HMV, he decided that he just needed to pick up the Farscape boxset. I pointed out that he could wait for Boxing Day or check the prices online or at other stores, but nope, he just had to get it right then. Which completely explains how he committed the 4 of us to a trip package for SDCC, which'll cost us $1600 each. Went from sending an email out about a website that "showed" the package (I didn't have time to look at it since I was busy at work, but apparently there's not much on there anyways.) in the morning to saying that he put the deposit down on the same afternoon. Like WTF?!

Work/Play trip - Day 7

9:00
Aaaaaahhh!!!  I don't know why I'm so slow getting dressed and stuff.  Went down to breakfast at 8:30, which was supposed to be the time I was supposed to be finished eating so I could finish packing.  So I asked for a doggie bag, but they don't have any plastic utensils, so I grabbed 4 muffins, 2 French toast and 3 sausages.  Figured I'd use the coffee stirrers as chopsticks.  And I fogot my water and fruit cups.  Crap!!!  So hungry.  Greyhound stations looks as dingy as the one at home. Murasaki's down to 1 bar.  Crap, can't even listen to it while waiting to board.

13:00
Found the hotel, except the clerk tells me that there was a problem with the room so it's not ready and they booked me at another one. In another hotel!  Oh, and it's just a 15 minute walk away.  So after I finally get her to print a map and not rattle off some general directions, it's a block from the Greyhound station.  Which means I have to walk all the way back the way I came.  Great.  But apparently I'll have a "good room".  But she doesn't even know the name of this good hotel.  So I finally find it, and it's still under reservations.  And my room's up 2 flights of narrow stairs.  And the first room still had a faint smell of paint, so I ask for a different room which is bigger and has a sitting area.  But I should've looked at the bathroom size b/c it's tiny.  The shower is directly behind the door, and that's pretty much the size of it.  I can't have both elbows out w/o smashing them. And when I went to meet H, I forgot my camera, and I have to ring to be let back in, which takes 15 minutes for someone to answer the door.  I think I can guess that no one else's staying there.

23:00
We spent the day walking up the Chinatown, down to Old Port and back.  Found a ton of yaoi, so my backpack was heavy all day.  I bought so much that I filled out the membership card, but totally forgot to give it to H so she can pick me up a free book when something comes in.  D'oh!!!! ( Oct 3/10: now H doesn't live there anymore and I don't know when I'll ever get back to Montreal.  Double D'oh!!).  H has no money so we can't go into anything with admission.  Other than hockey stuff, doesn't seem to be much Montreal-specific souvenirs.  Ate at Frites Alors! which had a TinTin theme.  Wonder if they had gotten the copyright for using them. Food was pretty good, but H pointed out that I acted like an American with the waitress when she brought me a Pepsi. (I hate Pepsi).  So I tipped her really well and paid for H's meal. Saw the National Film Board cinema and it was pretty cool.  B/c it was after 17:00, we got a free hour, and got to select from 10,000 films in their catalog.  Great cheap entertainment, got to sit down in comfy chairs and lots of amazing films.  Brainwasters was disturbing, but I have to see the full poem of the "Erl-king" by Goethe.  The short was amazingly done.
After we went back to my hotel to chat.   And make plans for tomorrow.  There's no hairdryer and no floor mat in the bathroom.  No cup for brushing teeth either.  Missing a lot of stuff actually, and of course I only notice this when I'm in my pjs, so there's no way I'm opening the door for possibly non-existant night service that may or may not have toiletries.  Considering their shampoo/conditioner was in packettes, eh no. Guessing there's no amenities. And as predicted, I kept hitting the temperature control with my elbow when I was washing my hair, and there wasn't really any shelf for me to put the shampoo, conditioner, body wash I brought.  Gaahh!  And someone started smoking, so I opened the window and kept the heat up.  So tired, but we're meeting at 9:30 for breakky.

Work/Play trip - Day 6

Midnight
Woke up to find my Murasaki only @ 1/2 battery.  Guess putting it on speaker full blast didn't help. At least the room is cooled from leaving the window open all night.  And that weird smell is gone too.  I now look at the jet tub with suspicion. Seems like we haven't covered all the stuff that they wanted, w/ people starting to leave @ 11:30 a.m.  Staffing is not sinking in for me.  I'll have to play with it more, but it seems illogical w/ how you attach someone.  Well at least the Intelligence manager is now a FSWEP student.  Ha ha ha.

13:00

Went to lunch with Jane.  She seemed lonely b/c her flight doesn't leave until 19:00 and she already checked out.  Ate at the Pho restaurant again b/c it's next to the hotel.  Also could drop off all the course material and newspapers.  The drive to the Science and Technology Museum was long, and I was probably bouncing in my seat.  Good thing I got a museum map b/c it's kinda confusing, like IKEA w/o the arrows. Totally skipped past the canoes, and then went back when I was waiting for an old man to finish reading about the Titanic.  Didn't know there were so many ways to join together a canoe. Anyways, a lot of the displays were geared to kids, but it was still good. They had entire trains in there, and I tried to take a shot of one, but it involved 5 shots, and w/o a tripod or a marking line, when I tried to merge the shots together, it just looked wierd.

Actually a lot of the pics I tried to merge looked wierd.   I feel so sad I had to stand on the little kid step stool to see out the space shuttle's windows.  Took a bunch of pics of different devices and Lego display.  Spent a lot of time in the space exhibit.  I tried getting onto one of those old time bikes.  It was pretty-hard, seat-wise and agility-wise.  Took a lot of random shots, which I'm  really wishing I'd included a pic of their description plate of.  Just stuff that looked neat. Ran out of time as expected since I didn't leave the hotel until about 13:45.  Bought more gifts.  Nothing for me though.  The cool T-shirts were all in youth size.  Riding back to the hotel, I passed by a building that was for the Conference Board of Canada.  Why?!  Seems so Dilbertish.

21:00
Ate at Totoya for their all-u-can-eat sushi.  It's a bit different in that you don't order the sushi you want, but the waitress brings the trays of rolls by and you pick how many you want.  Then after you look at them all, you can request specifics for seconds/thirds etc.  So stuffed but you gotta get your $20.95 worth.  Waddled my way to the bank.  Had to get thru a bunch of people waiting for the bus.  So disgusting with people spitting on the sidewalk, dealing dope and not getting out of the way.  Thought I was going to get pickpocketted trying to get through the crowd.  Caught a cab as I walked out of the bank, so that was cool.  Finally got onto the Internet but it didn't have a USB port in the front and I forgot to charge in class. Crap.  Well, charging my phone in the room though.  Wish there was some adapter for Murasaki so I don't always have to plug it into a computer.

Work/Play trip - Day 5

13:00
Breakfast was the same stuff.  Tried the chocolate danish this time.  Not really sure what the point of getting there 15 min early.  Went into the Compensation unit, and you'd think Marilyn would stop w/ the dumb questions.  Hell no!  And then when William made a joke that a function that'd auto-calculate leave wasn't working, she picks up -my- pencil case and chucks it at him.  Highlighters fly out and Kim has to dodge out of the way.  So I hiss "Don't throw my stuff!"  Will picks up the stuff and goes to give it to Marilyn, but when he learned it was mine, he had an apologetic face.  Anyways, I'm will be so freaking glad not to sit next to her anymore.  Also disappointed that the Security field won't be used.  Like WTF?

What is this series called?

So Cecile said her niece was going to take her to the Museum of Civilization, so I asked to tag along.  But her niece doesn't get out until 17:00 and we were out by 16:00, so I was debating whether to just take the taxi to there, but I figure we could eat in the 1/2 hr.  Well the cab didn't come for 30 min, so we just took the Envirobus, then we walked to the hotel.  By now, it was almost 17:00 so I ate my bananas (as I'd finished my raisin bread at work & had some fruit sauce.  But the niece hadn't shown up by 17:40, and it turned out the niece went to the wrong hotel.  So Cecile said that she was going to meet her niece in Ottawa, and they weren't going to the museum.
Well, I call a taxi and away I went. It was free admission today (Yeah!) and the ran thru most of the permanent exhibitions.  Took a bunch of pictures of indigenous masks to use on Animal Crossing.  Yup. And took pictures of interesting clothes.  They didn't allow cameras in the special exhibits: Afghanistan, Royal Stamps (history of Canadian stamps), Northwest Company.  Which really sucks for the Afghanistan b/c it's all jewelry, pottery, carvings.  Maybe they wanted to sell their book?  But was amazing and so sad that a region w/ such a  long and beautiful history is wracked by war & the Taliban who smashed thousands of artwork.  I'm not a stamp-lover, but it was still interesting on how people developed stamps & people immediately started trying to forge or re-use them, and the govt's attempt to stop it. I just read the main text, but all the stamp examples had a clerk's handwriting that documented the attempts of creators. Spedwalked thru the NWC b/c I think I did that in history. Canada Post has a permanent exhibit. Trotted thru that one.  With 10 minutes to go, I sped thru Canadian history, got a little lost, and some looked familiar from when I went in Jr. High. Helps when you've a History degree.  With 2 minutes to go, looked up at the Canadian faces exhibit and went "Naw".  Probably would've spent only 15 minutes anyways if I had plenty of time.  Zipped thru the Boutique.  They must've thought I was crazy b/c I was whipping my head around evaluating all the merchandise w/ a glance.  They had Afghanistan jewelry, so I go Patty a wall hanging thing.  Think it's supposed to ward off the evil eye. No jewelry for me b/c didn't see any earrings.  It was a beautiful night, and if the cab wasn't coming right away, I would've check out their "Zen garden".  Didn't really see anything resembling it though.  Ate supper @ the Pho Bo Ga 777 restaurant.  I had noodle soup.  It was good.  I was the last person there, even though they close at 22:00 and it was 21:00.  Walked over to the Casino to take pictures of their Xmas decos.


22:00
Sitting in the tub w/ the bubblejet going.  My dawgs are tired.

Work/Play trip - Day 4

6:45
Didn't have a good sleep.  So tired.  Got to breakkie @ 7:30 and Becky was later than me.  But she only had toast, and I had eggs, cheese, cereal, muffin, danish, cold beef thing, tomatoes...Got everything down except for last bit of cereal by 8:02.

12:00
Such a headache, and so sleepy.  I closed my eyes thru the day.  Mostly when I finished the exercises, although also when we were navigating.  Still not thrilled w/ the recruitment module.  So much extra crap to go thru just to make a job requisition.  Oops, sorry...job opening.  Some very strange terminology. Honestly.  It feels like they're trying to make it "easier" to prevent errors but create more confusion instead.

Anyways, was trying to keep myself awake, so I opened my work email.  Aahh, so much stuff!  And then Marilyn started asking me about it, so I'm trying to explain that it's not really Outlook, but the IE creating an Outlook-like interface.  Which she didn't understand.  (Big surprise.  She asks the dumbest Qs in class).  But since she's so freaking loud, Will.i.am was waiting for us to finish. She's so annoying.  Anyways, as usual, found more L & R stuff, and my advisor confusing managers or leaving stuff behind and I'll have to clean stuff up when I get back. We finished w/ another exercise, but I just blew thru it b/c I was so annoyed w/ the email.

18:40
I took a cab to Currency museum b/c I was out by 15:40. I was going to walk to the hotel but it was raining, so I asked for a cab and swear I didn't pay in the morning. Finished it by 16:45.  Then I got turned around and went West instead of East.  I walked Sparks mall for a bit.  Popped into Zellers for Pokemon but they didn't have much except for Regigigas mini plush.  By now, I really had to use the loo so I popped into Chapters.  And yes, I got a book.  Wandered to Byward Market b/c I was hungry by now, and finally found a map post.  But still didn't make it to where I expected and one of the restaurants online wasn't on the map.  Weird.  Anyways, found that Totoyama is offering all-you-can-eat sushi on Friday for $20.  Guess where I'm going.  So I'm writing this @ Wontonmama and the lemon chicken was good.  But weird that I had to ask for rice.  Geez, it's quite Westernized in service.  And they charged me $2 for it.  *sigh*  Tom Yum Soup was good too.

20:00
Erm, why is there no CTV?  And how am I going to watch Criminal Minds?  At least I can finally see TNA.

Work/Play trip - Day 3

6:45
So do not want to wake up.  Didn't get much sleep...again.  Too warm b/c the A/C didn't work.  The others were at the restaurant at 7:00, I'm sure.  I brought raisin break, tomatoes and fruit pudding for lunch, but I still went w/ the others to the "nearby" mall.  Never would've thought of using soy sauce as salad dressing.
14:00
Moving into Staffing stuff.  It's so different from 8.0.  I don't even recognize it.  The trainer, William, went really fast too.  And then after I found a couple of mistakes on the material.  Ugh.
16:00

Went to Byward Market w/ Bhumika.  Dragged her around a bit looking for presents.  Ended up going to the National Gallery Boutique b/c the Gallery itself was closing by the time we got there.   Had dinner @ Fat Tuesdays. We weren't sure about the quality after our cutlery was dirty.  But it was delicious.  I had jambalaya.  The chicken was moist, shrimp perfectly cooked, dirty rice was yummy.
18:40
Back at the hotel.  So weird to be back so early but I'd actually gone out.  Ottawa-Gatineau is a daytime town.