0 for 3.5

With Edmonton winning last night’s game, I am on the verge of not picking the winner in every single playoff series of the second round. I didn’t think Anaheim or Carolina were that good, I should’ve known better with Ottawa, and we’ll see if Edmonton’s got the grit to finish it off at what is sure to be a rocking Rexall Place on Wednesday. Now the challenge will be to pick the losers correctly in the next round, because I’ll be pretty much out of the running after this one, so I’ll go for last place (while still “trying”) instead.

finish the fight… next year… maybe

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Bungie’s finally got around to announcing Halo 3, which is probably about the only reason I can think of at this point of wanting an Xbox 360 over a Wii (no, Sony doesn’t even bear cosideration at this point). Thankfully, the game won’t come out until 2007, which probably means sometime in 2008 (if we’re lucky) This means I have time to think about it and stick to my plan.

The setting is a Covenant-controlled Earth with some huge thing that draws the attention of a lot of Covenant ships and the Master Chief. It also sounds like Cortana is a little more than just a construct this time around; according to her “this is the way the world ends”.

Do check out the trailer – it’s purty.

join the club

Gosh, I’m really sorry to hear about how upset the pilots are that they’re subjected to the same indignities as the people who punch their meal ticket. God knows, I’ve never felt that way.

The association says it has received “complaints from pilots who are finding the screening process increasingly annoying, often demeaning and in some cases so enraging that they find themselves unable to properly focus on their duties when they get to their cockpit shortly thereafter.”

It totally sucks, but hey, at least they get to go to the front of the line and not wait up to two hours just to be harrassed and subjected to the “demeaning” searches. I’d say I sympathise, but I’d be lying. Empathy, sure, sympathy… well… sorry. I also love how the pilot’s association is trying to spin it into a safety issue.

Life sucks. I have to deal with similar situations daily, and I suck it up. Deal with it, or find another career.

sometimes, i actually like toronto

While getting out of the cab upon returning from a client meeting today, a gentleman on the street walked up to me and said “I love you, man”. I replied “Why thank you, I love you, too.”.

With that, he finished the exchange with “Well you’ve got a pretty shitty way of showing it. Now gimmee a quarter!” and went from smiling, soft-spoken man to spittle-flying-while-shouting angry man.

I think I made it worse when I started laughing. I know I shouldn’t have, but it was a ridiculous situation, and I couldn’t help myself.

it’s my party…

…so today is the start of something that I’m not sure I can finish. I’m going to try, but I dunno how well it’s going to go.

There’s that old saying “A fool and his money are soon parted.” I have lived and breathed this as mantra, although I occasionally changed it to “A fool and his money soon party”. I’ve had fun. I’ve bought a lot of cool stuff. I’ve been to some great places, had some amazing dinners out, watched a lot of movies, cried over my ridiculously large TV (that sits in my brothers basement), and marvelled at my stupidity of having 19 (I am not making that up) computers.

It’s gotta stop. I’m debt-free, and I have RRSP’s, but I figure I could have saved a ridiculous amount of money if I had used a little more common sense. People who know me know the odds of that happening, so I’m on a mission to change those odds.

For the entirety of the next year, I’m going to avoid buying shit. Shit is things like DVDs I’ll watch once, videogames I’ll throw in and play for 10 whole minutes, the latest version of an iPod FM transmitter/power combo (I have 4 of those… well, 3 now), stereo gear, gadgets, and a whole pile of other crapola. In short, I’m gonna stop buying so many goddamn toys that I give anything that’s a year old away to friends (sorry, friends).

That doesn’t mean I’m quitting spending cold turkey. I firmly believe in enjoying life and reaping the rewards of working stupid hours and travelling all the time. I like going out for dinner and drinks, and will continue to do so. I want to go on vacation and see my friends, so I’ll do that, too. I just want to cut down on extravagences, and save for something a little more fun… like a house or something.

So, a year starts today. Coincidentally, a year ended today. Yesterday’s arrival was the last thing I’m getting in a long while, and I got it with the blessing of my advisor, so I only feel a little guilty starting things off that way… ok, no I don’t. Let the trial begin!

I’ll let you know how it goes.

giggle

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Some things make me giggle more than others for no good reason. Obviously, I’ve been trolling through my pics today, and I came across this one. This pic is from the first game of the 2004 co-ed jambouree (we won the rec division), and every single person in the foreground of this pic (i.e. the closest four players) is playing in the same game. Do you see the potential problem? In spite of that, if memory serves, Alvin completed the pass.

tooting of one’s horn

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Jeez I love how the pics I took last summer turned out. The blues and greens make me happy, and the shots from the site of the Lone Cyprus turned out better than I ever could have imagined. They’re all unretouched, and it really was that gorgeous that day.

Apologies for foisting them on you, but it’s beautiful outside today, and the spring weather made me think of them.

8 years

Huh. I missed the squid’s eighth birthday.

I don’t really feel bad about it, but it’s interesting to reflect on how much has changed since the domain was originally registered. People have moved on, married, had kids, changed jobs multiple times, fallen off the planet, etc. I’ve held five jobs and lived in four different cities myself in that time, so it’s fair to say a lot’s gone down with everyone else, too.

I’m glad that the nature of the squid has changed. It started out as a mailing list whose purpose was ostensibly to stay connected, but ended up being a forum for the vituperation of a failed company that we had put a lot of our time, effort, money, heart, and hope into. That list hasn’t seen a post in over a year, and hasn’t really had anything of substance beyond the odd hello and address change in over three, so it comes down today.

What the squid has turned into is a home on the weeb (sic) free of hooks for some of my favourite people on the planet, and I hope it stays that way for many years to come.

swollen expectations

I started working out in earnest this week, and it seems that I have forgotten what happens when you do a full workout after not really doing any kind of workout for a long time. Fear not, for my muscles are reminding me in such a way that I won’t forget for at least a couple weeks. I am sore, sore, sore. Everything kinda hurts (I was going to say throbs, but I’m sure I’d get priior talking about the latest purple helmet fashion), and I’m trying to convince myself that it’s a good thing.

I thought it was a moderate start… actually, I’m sure it was. Unfortunately, when you have muscles with the consistency of limp noodles, and a brain that is semi-convinced that those noodles are really just a small step away from bands of iron, bad things happen a day and a half later. I did everything right and included stretching and ice baths (which I find are amazing for speeding recovery) after working out, but it’s still the wonderful rediscovery of just how out of shape I am.

I remember this from last time (hence the use of the word “rediscovery”), and by my count I’ve got two weeks of suckage to endure. The key is to keep at it and to attempt to stay as loose as Paris Hilton around a camera. I think I can do that. The worst part is I had finally started sleeping well again, and that went out the window with my usual thrashing making me keenly aware of which muscle groups hurt more than the others.

And so it goes. Yay for Advil!

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