Computer Workshop

WTF day is it...?

2007-09-07T16:21:05Z

Oh drat. Week is going by too quickly, and a good pal dblaser_ca had his birthday yesterday. I trust it was a good one for you buddy, and best wishes for you in the year to come! Happy Birthday!

Gakked from Ozreison: Friday 5iver

2007-08-03T18:15:58Z

1. What is your local lake/river/sea? Currently closest is Lake Ontario

2. Do you believe in dragons and unicorns? Just komodo dragons

3. What is your favorite fruit? Cherry

4. Do you smoke? Only when lit on fire

5. Friday fill-in: Together they would make beautiful music.

Weekend fun!

2007-07-24T00:06:20Z

My family is a bunch of nutters! Don't get me wrong, I am proud to be one of them. But we can be a bit crazy ~~at times~~ most of the time. We just had our "Christmas in July" festivities this weekend in Pembrooke, and a good chunk of the clan descended upon my Aunt's and Cousin's houses. This year, the festivities included a trip across the Quebec border to do a little white water rafting with the adventure company run by second cousins of ours.

The trip started on Friday where I picked up my younger brothers and baby-brother's girlfriend in Toronto. We departed Nik's place and headed to grab a bit to eat on the road. It must have been a long day for me already, because I was very directionally challenged for a while until we got onto the highway. I took the first leg of the trip up to Belleville, then Aaron took over and handled the back-country roads up to Pembrooke. We arrived much later than we'd have liked (after 1am), but still made excellent time! (Ok, so we're a bunch of speed demons... so what?!?) It was very quickly to sleep as we were expected to be up by 6:30 that morning.

I awoke a couple of times to the paperboy and oldest nephew, but managed to get just enough sleep. We were up and my Aunt had started breakfast preparations for the herd, and we were all taking turns getting sleeping bags rolled up and in the bathrooms getting prepared to head out for the day of rafting. We got a call from the other house when we figured out that our instructions were wrong, and instead of an expected 8:30 show-up time, we were really expected by 7:45. Being in a family of lead-foots helped again and we flew out the door and across the border, managed to locate Esprit and be ready by only 8:15.

The nice staff there saw us pull up and immediately identified us as the "Crago" party. Funny fact that, since none of the Cragos actually came with us for rafting that day. *haha* We also quickly identified our cousin Jim as one of our guides and quickly formed a bond that identified us as the "rowdy group". Not that much else would have been expected from us... *shrug* The experience took us to the Ottawa River down two of the channels that are commercially run by several companies in that area. Esprit does a full day adventure, taking the "easy" channel in the morning to get everyone associated with how the whole rafting thing works, then the more difficult channel in the afternoon after a filling lunch they provide. Each boat has a guide assigned and sits seven people (plus the guide for eight). We all picked up the instruction quickly in the morning, but the boat I went in had the worst of luck as we tried surfing one rapid, the front end tucked under the wave and we went over! *lol* The river was actually quite comfortable temperature wise, but I wouldn't recommend drinking too much of the water. Hardly can be helped as the boat goes over, so I got a hearty helping of the river. We figured whatever doesn't kill us would make us stronger, so I presume by now I'll live. *haha* Only one other boat in the morning channel flipped as we went through the rapids just before the lunch stopping point. All of the guides were extremely good at their work and very encouraging, and we were all able to help each other by playing rescue when things went awry.

Lunch was excellent considering we were in the back woods! Two different kinds of wraps, hot soup, various beverages, and fruits and sweet breads. Overall I was very amazed at how well this company conducted itself. I read in the brochure afterwards that they are very committed to being ecologically responsible! They only used reusable dishes for lunch (nothing disposable), and practice a "leave no trace" policy. They even have a "Greenhouse Gas Neutral" program where they make sure all their vehicles use biodiesel fuel, but because running vehicles never eliminate the gases, they donate to programs that produce alternative energies in equal amounts to those being used by their vehicles, thus offsetting the emissions of their vehicles. Colour me very impressed!

For the afternoon run, we went back to the original launch point and took the second channel. Things quickly became quite a bit more challenging, but the level of fun was just that much better as well! One of the rapids, the Coliseum, is one of the more infamous commercial rapids in North America (and maybe the world), was a sight to behold. The water levels were particularly high that day, and the rapids were just amazing! Extra precautions were taken, and weak swimmers were encouraged to consider walking around this particular rapids. Our boat decided to venture down, and again we were tipped over. The rush under the water was amazing, and when we popped up amongst the other rafters and debris of paddles and our raft, we all made our way to the shore as instructed. My cousin Anthony lost a shoe, and my brother's friend Mike got lacerated by a stray paddle (Not too bad, though. He only bled lightly for about a minute.). Got another few good mouthfuls of the Ottawa River when the rapids got me in the face, but we all managed to get to safety. And I'd do it again in a heartbeat! *haha* The afternoon capped off with a lazy stroll down the remainder of the river, which deposited us at our final destination. We cleaned up the boats and equipment, and made our way back to base camp. After saying goodbye to Jim and extending an invite for him, Erin, and another guide Brent to come over that night, we headed back for the bird-sacrifice.

Back at my Aunt's, dinner preparations were almost finished and a lot more family had arrived. People had been arriving all day, the kids and some of the adults not available to go rafting had made use of the neighbour's pool, which they gracefully offered for us. We figured we had about 50 of us there in the poor three-bedroom bungalow, so thankfully the backyard was quite useful for the overflow. Good thing about a Christmas in July get-together, for sure! All the usual meal choices were there... turkey, stuffing, potatoes and gravy, and salads galore! After a long day of rafting, we were thrilled for all the great food as we were starved. Food was devoured, and our garage-sale-gift exchange was held, and that took us late into the evening. Those of us who were local headed home for the night by that point, leaving the rest of us to find spaces to sleep again and crash for the night.

Again Sunday morning, my Aunt begins the day with a hearty breakfast for everyone and we started to find our way out the door, satisfied from another family gathering that brings us together for fun and frivolity. We gave everyone our hugs and hit the road for the trek home.

Gakked from ozreison

2007-07-20T18:59:39Z

Friday_fiver, so none of y'all think that I've died or anything... *snort*

1. Tea or coffee? Tea mostly, but the occasional coffee is good. As long as it isn't burnt! *bleah!*
2. Do you speak your mind? Hell yeah!
3. What is your escape? Convention or Internet.
4. When is the last time you cried? Last weekend. Damnitall.
5. What are your bedtime rituals? Get out of clothes, do the bathroom routine, lately I've been putting on some chapstick before bed (I find it really helps keep my lips in good condition all the time!), then hop into bed. I've also noticed lately that I rarely go to sleep on my side. Must lay on my back. Sometimes watch some tv until I'm tired enough to drift off.

Doctor Meme

2007-07-03T19:00:27Z

When you see this, post a favorite quote from Doctor Who.

"Do you know like what we were saying? About the earth revolving. It's like when you were a kid. The first time they tell you that the world is turning and you just can't quite believe it because everything looks like its standing still. I can feel it. The turn of the earth. The ground beneath our feet is turning at spinning at a 1000 miles an hour. And the entire planet is hurtling around the sun at 67,000 miles an hour. And I can feel it. We're falling through space, you and me. Clinging to the skin of this tiny little world, and if we let go... That's who I am. Now forget me Rose Tyler. Go home."

pann_da_bear contact me please!

2007-06-27T00:16:37Z

I don't have your email. You can get me at dx4_ducky@hotmail.com. That is all.

Found: Abandoned kitten

2007-06-08T19:20:00Z

About 5-6 weeks (eyes are still blue). Sex unknown. All gray and very cute. Found in my sister's yard in DT Toronto. Free to a good home before she takes it to a local shelter.

Busy weekend. A goat was even sacrificed...

2007-05-14T22:06:11Z

Friday evening was out enjoying a nice meal at East Side Mario's in Kitchener with Corey. They have a chicken breast stuffed with goat cheese that is just delicious, and I've had it twice now at a couple of locations. Will be back for that again!! Afterwards, we headed over to Chapters to check out things. I saw that Robert Sawyer had been in attendance only that afternoon, and there were several books on the shelves marked as "signed by author". Nifty!

Saturday was spent around the house tiding up, laundry, etc. Nothing terribly exciting. The exciting came Saturday evening when I headed over to my parents to gather people up to go down to Brantford. The guy my sister is currently with, along with his brothers and sister, were throwing a Happy 65 Birthday for their dad. They're Jamaican, so we anticipated at least one or two dishes of certain ethnicity. Mum told me, however, that Vicki and the kids had a bit of an interesting week in preparation for the party. Seems that goat is a common meat to make in Jamaica (or maybe just for this family), so Warren had asked Vicki to help him out by going and picking up the goat around Wednesday evening last week. Well, she arrives and finds that it is a LIVE goat! *lol* She actually had to take the creature home to reside in the yard until it could be prepared. I guess this was to be expected, but was a shock for Vicki. And the kids. Alex gets up the following morning and ventures to the kitchen, which faces out to the backyard. She screamed when she saw the animal. Mum also wondered if Terrell would have had a problem with this, knowing the outcome for the critter. He found out in the grocery store one day what happens to the lobsters in the tank (several years ago) and proceeded to announce in his loudest voice, "No one EAT THE LOBSTERS!" I guess once Alex's alarm was over, things were ok. Terrell has been taught since then where his meat comes from, so things were good. The only additional request that Vicki had was that the animal was taken off their property before being butchered. If I had known earlier, I would have put in a request for Patti's power of flight. *shrug*

Sunday was planned with the best of intentions to take the mums out for brunch. However, the execution was off and everywhere we wanted to go were lined up out the doors. Waaaay out the doors. And anywhere else was reservations only. So we ended up with a scrumptious McDonald's breakfast on our way down to Burlington to the RBG. The RBG was great, even though it is pretty early in the season for many of the displays. It was busy as hell, as well! Parking lot was full, but we managed to score the last spot on the street at the entrance. After a few hours at the RBG, we grabbed some lunch and headed over to the Ancaster Silver City for a viewing of Spider Man 3. It was a decent movie, all things considered, even if Toby seems to overact some of his scenes. And I caught a couple of glimpses where it is QUITE obvious that the actor under the suit isn't making "the bulges in all the right places"!

Busy two days

2007-05-10T22:00:37Z

Tuesday we had the Polaris yearly meeting where we review the hotel. We found out about some hiccups in the plans for this year, some of which have been causing a certain amount of discussion. But nothing that cannot be overcome. The extra discussion took some time, however, and we did not depart the hotel until 1am. At which point, puddlemagnet said she was hungry and so we had to stop for some food down at Perkins. I didn't pull into my driveway at home until about 3:30 am. Good thing I didn't have to work the following day!

I slept in to get enough sleep on Wednesday. I prepared myself to go to London for the evening concert/retirement party for my music teacher from high school. Arrived at the school shortly before 4pm (I cannot believe I actually got LOST in my old subdivision. However, in my defense, I did get lost in the newly constructed "West side"). 3:45 we were to gather to setup the school cafeteria into a reception hall, which required a few bodies to help move chairs, tables, and setup decorations and other items. Quite a few people came to help out with the setup, which was fantastic. Anna, one of my classmates from 1989/1990 school year, was the plan-master and had us all with tasks to keep us occupied for two solid hours. She had planned out buffet tables, punch, desert tables, a register to record thoughts and well-wishes for our music teacher, and all the decorations. I must admit, the cafeteria looked awesome by the time we had finished! I'm glad I decided not to work in my dress clothes and instead opted to wear shorts for the two hours, and then change just before the rehearsal.

It was weird seeing pann_da_bear in that environment, and he mentioned the same to me. We know each other from the convention world only, so getting together at this function was just a tad on the strange side. *hehe* Although I must give him cudos as well for a lot of hard work and excellent effort that he put into the success of the night! Helping to keep the music teacher in the dark for some of what was going on for the evening was not an easy task, I'm sure, plus pann_da_bear created the programme for the concert and liaised with Anna and the alumni for much of the planning in the reception. Thanks so much, pann_da_bear, for the great work you did!

So the reception was regarded as an overwhelming success! More than once did people approach me and say how well organized and well run the reception has been. I pointed out Anna and laid the blame *haha* at her feet, and even suggested they pop over to congratulate her in person. The night wrapped up, our music teacher seemed to be wiped from so many well-wishers, and suddenly the room got really empty and quiet. Anna was quickly getting worried that too many people had ditched without helping with teardown. Suddenly we were down to just a couple of guys (me and another), along with half a dozen women, half of which were pregnant. *hehe* So it was slow and hard work, but we finally managed to clean the entire room, along with all the dishes and service, move all the tables and chairs back in, drop all the decorations, and were finally able to depart at 1am. It was a fulfilling evening that we all felt proud of, but man we were beat! Felt like the end of a convention. *haha*

It was especially nice to run into familiar faces and reconnect. And to talk to music teacher again.

Weekend update

2007-05-07T21:39:27Z

Such a beautiful weekend to be out and about, so we did. Drove down to Burlington to visit a couple of furniture stores I had scoped out recently. We're looking to get a console table to place in the foyer, but our space is limited so we're having difficulty in getting any selections that please us all. Hopefully better luck will be with us in the future. It takes us so long to all agree on something. After unsuccessful furniture shopping, we made our way to St. Catherines where we attempted to go to Red Lobster for lunch. Only the Red Lobster has since been converted to an East Side Marios, so our lunch quickly went from seafood to pasta. They did have a goat cheese stuffed chicken that was quite tasty! *Mental note to look for a recipe*.

After lunch, we ended up down in Niagara to enjoy the botanical gardens for the rest of the afternoon. The sun must have taken a bit out of me, and we didn't bring any fluids to remain hydrated, so I ended up with a headache for the ride home and promptly went to bed.

Sunday was spent mostly around the house cleaning. But for the entire weekend, I didn't get out to see Spiderman 3. Kinda sucks, but should be less crowds (hopefully) next weekend!

Friday fiver

2007-05-04T18:53:08Z

1. Do you gamble? Yep, though I'm not proving to be very good at it, so I should most likely stop and save my money for other pursuits.

2. Have you ever rode a horse? Yes, and I enjoyed it quite a bit. I've always wanted to learn more.

3. Do you drink alcohol? I should be now.

4. What is your favorite Mexican food? I think I'd have to say the fried ice cream is my fav.

5. Friday fill-in:

On Saturday, I plan to avoid the cold going around at all costs, get out and enjoy the sunshine, perhaps taking a spin on the bike (either of them).

Surprise the crap outta me!

2007-05-03T00:34:13Z

Just went through my song for the performance next week without error. Haven't looked at it in two days and suddenly I sing it perfect. Mostly from memory even. How the hell did that happen?

Almost forgot

2007-04-30T16:30:22Z

Another note to my last update... Started watching Doctor Who S1 on the weekend, and am thoroughly enjoying it. Not that this is a huge surprise, that I am enjoying it. "Fantastic!!"

ozreison, I think I'll be finished with your discs and return them to you within the next week or so.

Weekend update!

2007-04-30T16:26:21Z

Friday night went to Flamboro Downs racetrack and slots. It was a function for hubbie's work. His department decided to get a table for dinner and racing. We arrived and just got seated about the time when the third race was starting, to which a couple people who were placing bets for others at work?? had to run off to get the bets in. The food wasn't half bad, and the races were enjoyable. We had a slightly disappointing vantage point, even more so when in the seventh race, I had bet a boxed-triactor on 1+3+4, and the race was going with 1+4 near the lead for most of the race. Then just at the end 3 made a press forward. From ~our~ vantage point, it appeared that 3 eked out a Show at the last moment, which got the me (and the table) really excited when it appeared that I may win. Especially considering the odds on 3 were pretty good. Unfortunately, 3 did NOT make it into Show and I was stuck looking at a 4+1+5+3 standing. So I ended the night down a bit, but it was still fun. I don't mind losing a couple bucks for a night out at the track.

Saturday was pretty uneventful for the day as I was attempting to work and practice. In the evening, went out for a birthday party with a whole crowd to celebrate for gurudata, kaelsu2's bf, and kanecool. We were as loud as quit often are in the pub, but the pub employees seemed not to mind and the other patrons tended to ignore us as best they could. *hehe*

Sunday again was uneventful during the day, and by later afternoon I ventured down to London to join a group of Westminster music alumni who are planning a surprise song, a hymn, for our vocal teacher who retires this year. The plan was hatched by some very great gals from the last year I was at Westminster. We are rehearsing in secret and will get up and perform in the last concert for the school year next week on Wednesday. pann_da_bear, you are now sworn to SECRECY! *lol* The rehearsal was fairly rough (many of us haven't sung in years!) at the beginning, and showing signs of being much less rough by the finish. I'm sure we could have gone two hours for some better polish, but we were told we'd have current music students who know the music well joining us to fill in. Singing beside someone who is basically keeping you in check for pitch and/or tempo makes things much easier and makes me much more relieved. I will be practicing heavy for the next week, however. The tenor line is a real bitch at the end!

Month end today, so I'd best get back at it.

Account from BOTH sides!

2007-04-30T16:04:07Z

Just read about the encounter of boywhocantsayno and summ3r_daze on Sunday. And I just had to laugh. Not laughing at y'all, laughing WITH you! *snicker*

Friday Fiver

2007-04-27T18:17:52Z

1. Turn your head to the right -- what do you see? My plants
2. Stand-up -- do you like how tall you are? I's good!
3. Do you believe in heaven or hell? This is dependant on if I believe something exists beyond what our mortal lives contains. And then, like most things in our experiences, we make our own heaven/hell based on our interpretations and reactions to our existance.
4. What is your favorite piece of jewelry? My ring.
5. What is the last thing you took from someone else? Coffee from Co-op's desk.

Visual DNA

2007-04-25T15:35:51Z

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

Swimming in the filth

2007-04-10T05:10:40Z

Get your mind outta the gutter, you're blockin' my snorkel!

Gakked from sgtsiler

2007-04-01T21:14:07Z

LIVEJOURNAL SCATTEGORIES

Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following... They MUST be real places, names, things...NOTHING made up! If you can't think of anything, skip it. Try to use different answers if the person in front of you had the same 1st initial. You CAN'T use your name for the boy/girl name question.

Famous Music artist/group: K-OS
3 letter word: Kit
Color: Khaki
Gifts/present: Kettle
Vehicle: Kia
TV Show: Knight Rider
Country: Kenya
Boy Name: Kurt
Girl Name: Kelly
Alcoholic drink: Kiwi Cooler
Occupation: Kindergarten Teacher
Flower: Kingcup
Celebrity: Kate Mulgrew
Food: KFC
Something found in a kitchen: Knife
Reason for Being Late: KST
Something You Shout: Kick it!

Friday to Sunday Fiver

2007-04-01T15:18:23Z

Friday Fiver

1. What web browser do you use? I.E. 7
2. What email client do you use? Outlook
3. What type of Internet connection do you have at home? Cable
4. What kinda of computer do you have? Home made Intel board/processor P3.4+Hyperthreading
5. When did you first get 'online'? It all started with a squeal! Probably about 1991. BBSing for a few years, ran a BBS with rbegley while in North Bay in year 1. Then in year 2 in the great white north, got online with traditional Internet with CW-Disconnect *giggle*. Had regular Internet ever since.

R2-D2 Mailboxes in the US

2007-03-30T04:27:36Z

Anyone want to lay bets on how long it will be until one of these goes "missing"?

Fans Track Down R2-D2 Mailboxes

Superhero quiz

2007-03-28T17:54:59Z

What Super Hero Are You? Now with Twenty-Eight Image Results and more to come.

Angel from the X-Men.
Take this quiz!

Quizilla |
Join

| Make A Quiz | More Quizzes | Grab Code

Oh my! What have I done?

2007-03-21T20:21:08Z

Now a willing Facebook participant. 'Nough said.

Watching Heroes

2007-03-20T16:08:21Z

I've been having fun watching Heroes the past week. A buddy at work gave me recordings of the season thus far, and I've been completely hooked.

Just watched episode 14 last night. This was the episode which guest starred George Takei and Christopher Eccleston. Hmm, Star Trek and Doctor Who goodness all rolled into one episode. I noted that George got into a limo at the end of the episode, and the limo had a New York license plate "NCC 1701". Must be a few Trekkies on the show.

Sweet jezus! Is this on everyone's journal today?!?

2007-03-15T04:37:16Z

Since this ended up on absolutely EVERYONE's journal today, I'm going to cheat and answer it once here. I hafta get to bed sometime! (Geesh!)

1. Can you cook?
Hell, yeah!
2. What was your dream growing up?
Superhero, of course *lol*
3. What talent do you wish you had?
See #2.
I wish I had better time management. Sometimes I do well, for obvious reasons. I can be almost not late at all working at the convention, but the rest of the year? *sigh*
I also wish I could learn to tie cherry stems into knots with my tongue. *hehe*
4. Favorite place?
Fondest thoughts are of convention and cottaging for places I most like to be.
5. Favorite vegetable?
Cucumber
6. What was the last book you read?
*sigh* Microsoft SQL 2005 - Implementing a SQL database (course 2779)
(fuckin' sucks that I haven't read for pure enjoyment in so long)
7. What zodiac sign are you?
Virgo
8. Any Tattoos and/or Piercings?
Not at present.
9. Worst Habit?
Fidgeting.
10. Do we know each other outside of Livejournal?
Everyone who I saw with this on their LJ today I know what they look like, unless any y'all have had some plastic surgery I should know about...
11. What is your favorite sport?
Badminton.
12. Do you have a Negative or Optimistic attitude?
Optimistic. I think very, for the most part. Which means I also get disappointed easily. *sigh* How Negative is that? *lol*
13. What would you do if you were stuck in an elevator with me?
How much booze and time do we have? *sly grin*
14. Worst thing to ever happen to you?
Depending on how you look at it. I'd have to say having been dumped.
15. Tell me one weird fact about you.
I have a mole that looks like Ab Lincoln on my left ass cheek. Ok, not really. I guess one weird fact is I'm a strange sort of night-owl type person, and will make plans to do things like go over to a friend's place to bake at midnight. I can also do a lot with my tongue (and you can take that any way you see fit... you'll probably be right!)
16. Do you have any pets?
Do husbands count? *duck*
17. Do you know how to do the Macarena?
I also know how to fire a 22 gauge shotgun, but doesn't mean I'll ever do it in public again.
18. What time is it where you are now?
On which clock? DST2007 patches have not been implemented very well on all my devices. It should be 12:25 am.
19. Do you think clowns are cute or scary?
Cute as long as they don't look like IT, or are not able to make a gun shape with their hand and zap insects for real.
20. If you could change one thing about how you look, what would it be?
Dropping to a 5% bodyfat would be about all I would want.
21. Would you be my partner in crime or my conscience?
Let's just say that everyone I know is evil and I LIKE it that way!
22. What color eyes do you have?
Blue.
23. Ever been arrested?
Nope, surprisingly enough!
24. Bottle or Draft?
Bleah!
25. If you won $10,000 dollars today, what would you do with it?
Find people to share it with.
26. What kind of bubble gum do you prefer to chew?
I like minty varieties when I do resort to chewing, but gum chewing is a bad habit imo.
27. What's your favorite bar to hang at?
Chez moi, because they make the best drinks. Otherwise, the Ren in Kitchener is fun enough.
28. Do you believe in ghosts?
Yep.
29. Favorite thing to do in your spare time?
Waste time. *lol*
30. Do you swear a lot?
Fuck yeah!
31. Biggest pet peeve?
Bad drivers. "Do you really need to be riding my ass like a hemorrhoid?!?" "Who died and made you 'king of the road'?!?"
32. In one word, how would you describe yourself?
Impetuous.
33. In one word, how would you describe me?
I'll have to get back to y'all on that one...
34. Will you repost this so I can fill it out and do the same for you?
These are fun enough and it is surprising what you learn. Please answer if you feel you have the time.