Life of Glenn

Humor at it's best

2008-06-25T02:58:00.002-04:00

Well.. I like blogging about things that makes me laugh... and I cant sing to save my life. But hey - at least I keep good company... or do I?

HA!

/Glenn

Militant Tibetans?

2008-04-09T03:58:00.002-04:00

/Begin Rant

Seriously, I've had it with Tibet.

I know I will piss off a lot of people with these thoughts... I admit I don't know the first thing about the background to the whole China-Tibet conflict, and I am almost ashamed to say I don't care.

Almost...

What is it that ticks me off with all this Tibet crap flying around now? That Tibet fans (ex-pat? exiles? fans? exported people? what?) decided that the ONE event in the world that stands for peace and "shut the f&%$^ up and stop fighting for a while, is the event they turn into a guerrilla war on?

I'm going to go to the extreme here, and you will not like it at all: Political Terrorism
*.

The General Assembly resolution 49/60, titled "Measures to Eliminate International Terrorism," adopted on December 9, 1994, contains a provision describing terrorism:

"Criminal acts intended or calculated to provoke a state of terror in the general public, a group of persons or particular persons for political purposes are in any circumstance unjustifiable, whatever the considerations of a political, philosophical, ideological, racial, ethnic, religious or any other nature that may be invoked to justify them." (Resolution session 49, page 4)

So does this make me a China lover? Hell no!
Like I said in the beginning of this blog, I don't know anything about the situation. Most likely China is in the wrong in the grab of Tibet, but I'm not having the information or background to pass judgment, other than the fact that the Dalai Lama is cool.

Unfurling banners from bridges - Cool.
Picketing embassy locations around the world - Cool.
Disrupting the Olympiad traditions in a terrorist fashion - Not Cool.

In most of my life, I've always heard that Tibet was one of the last places where love and peace came before everything, even invasion! The Dalai Lama is a perfect example of that thought. But after the recent events globally, I'm starting to think Tibetans are acting like children now, acting out because they think no one is listening to what they want.

/End Rant

*Note:
The modern definition of terrorism is inherently controversial. The use of violence for the achievement of political ends is common to state and non-state groups. The difficulty is in agreeing on a basis for determining when the use of violence (directed at whom, by whom, for what ends) is legitimate. The majority of definitions in use have been written by agencies directly associated with a government, and are systematically biased to exclude governments from the definition. Some such definitions are so broad, like the Terrorism Act 2000, as to include the disruption of a computer system wherein no violence is intended or results.

Blogging and Life

2008-02-18T14:43:00.003-05:00

Mleh! Some people have poked me and repeatedly asked why I'm not posting anything anymore.

I think it's only fair that I give a small update to what is going on in my life right now... don't make me say "I warned you!".. :)

Car(s)

So my poor Chevrolet Cavalier (1992) was declared officially as a total loss by the insurance company in early January. This was from a accident that took place during the aftermath of the first real snowstorm here in Quebec (Dec 18), and took the form of an oncoming car deciding my side of the car was softer than the snowbank. No body injuries and the damage did not seem that severe, but evidently enough for the car model to be bought by the insurance company, rather than repairing it.

So for nearly a month of being car-less, I have now stepped into the V6 era with my Chevrolet Venture (2000). It's Big! It's HUGE! It reacts like a trigger finger on the gas and is overall a pretty cool minivan. Cross your fingers that this puppy wont get hit too.

Job(s)?

Well... Mid-February and still nothing. If you are within 160km of St-Jerome and have an opening for a hard working person that don't speak French, don't hesitate to leave a comment. :)

Gaming

With my jumping ship and leaving Elune, I have mixed feelings about the whole thing. I mean, no AV wins... NONE! Nil! Zero! Noll! The Big O!! How can people be so oblivious as to how to play AV, hmm?

Raiding though have been a pleasant surprise. Joining my friends guild, which had severe problems just going passed Moroes, they are now clearing to Shade in 4 hours, downing Prince and have started learning about Illhoof and Netherspite. I keep getting credited for it, which is pretty silly, since I just kick their behinds and tell them they need to pull faster, and what we used to do in Elune. Silly Prince! Infernals don't help you not get a kick in the Crotch!

Oh.. and I am taking applications for Editor positions for a potential new website "L2P-AV", in a vain attempt to show Alliance how to play AV properly. Will it ever launch? No Idea.

Daft Charleston!

2007-10-27T00:49:00.000-04:00

I just love reading Ctrl-Alt-Del, not only because of the comic, but because the author is hilarious in his blog. And when he gets tired - this is what follows:

What can I say - +50 Humor.

World of Warcraft ...wha huh?

2007-10-06T22:44:00.001-04:00

Hehe... it should not come as a secret that I'm a WoW player or that my wife is as well.

It should also be common knowledge that I have a good sense of humor. Slightly twisted at times, but still a good sense of humor.

But I have nothing at all compared to the brilliant geniuses that made this clip:

What can I say - I will live to be 449 years old at the rate I'm laughing.

Labor Laws and Unscrupulous Senior Executives

2007-09-19T18:31:00.000-04:00

Wow...

I'm now realizing just how bad some of the people are in the world at running things... and how little some people have in terms of knowledge.

Belittling people about their positions based on their work on something they have never touched before? Smells like harassment charges.

Screaming wildly in meetings, not wanting to listen or understand how the company makes money? Smells like low IQ, or not wanting to actually make money with the company.

Not setting foot in the office more than once a quarter, or showing a working way to make people want to work, and then complain that the sales department is not doing it's job? Grow up and do your job instead of complaining, MR CEO.

Fact is, someone who is more engaged in the well being of the workers and have an intimate knowledge of what makes money in the company, will be more successful than someone who curse the day they stepped into the office. And while it is possible to do so remotely, you have a better chance doing it with more frequent visits than once a quarter.

I was planning on waiting to see what EI had to say about things before looking, but it seems like I am about to find myself a labor lawyer and have my previous contract examined under Quebec Law.

Any Quebec Ex-Workers want to join in? :)

Setting Goals and Having Fun

2007-09-12T03:47:00.000-04:00

Once upon a time, I was overheard muttering the following words:

"I hate Blogging.... I always forget to post regularly..."

Clearly, I was not overstating reality, or writing a large work of fiction when I uttered those words - they are simply true.

So this will be a general update and dump of my mind and emotions right now... so if you had expected something serious (or something in Swedish.. sorry Mom), please stop reading. I've been pretty casual and my mind I think have been cluttered up with too much relaxation to have been able to spawn a generally serious thought....

#Begin Dump/Mental Enema

Unemployment and Opportunistic Employers

Wow... yea this is one beef I've been wanting to squeeze out for a long time, but thought I'd be civil about it and give people opportunity to correct them self. But after pouring 4+ years of my life into something I did not fully believe in myself, I find it lacking that there is people out there in the world that think they can control things by screaming and belittle people around them.

I'm also sad to say I wish the former employer had never gone through with the sale of the company, and especially to someone who clearly had no clue about the important thing in the industry. Or if they did, they did not bother to follow what decent people would think they should care of anyway...

Am I vague enough for lawyers and anyone seriously reading this in the hopes of squash any claim to my potential 3k-4k of (in my opinion) missing severance? Well... I've moved on. So I hope both the CEO and the CFO can go about their master plan* of closing down the Montreal office and getting rid of the front people that actually make sure that there is any money at all going into the company. Oops... was that my outside voice?? Well.. guess Normes du Travail don't read my blog, so they should be safe.

(* No actual knowledge of any master plan exist - I just go on my observation and what I've seen of the action of the two. )

Opening My Own Business

I have to say that it's always been my dream to create something of my own, or run something for myself... something that depends on me alone (or as the boss) and to be able to set my own hours. What is getting painfully clear to me at this moment on, is that I will never be able to do this from within Quebec.

"But you can cater to Anglophones only..." or "Then why not move out from the province, silly?" are both things I've told myself could work.. but I'm a realist at heart, something some people seem to not understand. Realist, and a Swede. If I cant do something, fine.. let me wallow in my misery and after that find something else to pine about. Just dont make me pissed, cause we all know that the Angry Swede(tm) is a mighty force, only standing second to the mighty Mother Nature... (or an annoyed wife that wont take more bitching about how everyone should learn English so I can service them with my awesome company, despite region).

Job Opportunities

In my whole life, I've had the great (mis)fortune of always applying to one place and getting it. If I've applied to several opportunities, the first one would always be the one that first contacted me and ended up giving an offer I could either not resist, or was enough to figure "I can live on that" and see what happens.

When I came to Canada, it was pretty much the same... I was doing my hunting before hand, initiated my profile on the job search sites and was getting calls directly after, with the first company that was fast enough to make an offer be the one I got into. At the same time, informing everyone else that called that I was "off the market, since I already accepted an offer".

Now recently, I started hunting again... and my predictable pattern of behavior shattered when I applied for two jobs at the same time. You see - I was having some problems with sending my CV through my mail, and ended up writing both letter to two companies at the same time, sending it off at virtually the same time as well.

Some might at this point ask.. "So?", and would probbaly kill me when I mentioned that again, one company was fast in all the interviews and scouring through my history and references, and offered me a pretty nice position. I'm sure I would have had no problems at all in that new and exciting field... but at the same time I was having interviews with the second company. This second company took their time, and did not have an actual interview until two days after I got my offer... at which point I had to accept or turn down the first offer.

At this point, there are moments where I'm beating myself to a pulp for not going with the sure thing I had firm on paper. But after that interview with the second company, I was faced with the problem of either accepting a lesser paid job I had in my hand, or one that paid up to 25% more and required travel.

People kept telling me to take the job anyway, keep silent about the continuing process with the second job and then leave if I got it... but thats not me. That has never been me and I refuse to believe I might end up like that in the future. Not this Swede!

So there.. if I don't get this second job, I will go out and burn $300 I don't have on strong alcohol and really be hammered. T & G, feel free to drag me out and make sure the shots keep coming if that happens!

Depressed or Lonely?

I think the hardest part of getting laid off was coming to the realization that I don't have a social life and I'm a miserable fat guy, too depending on a computer to feel alive. My limited social life have always been work, or in the off chance I had friends nearby, the geeky friends I played various games with in a social setting.

So - should I be depressed or just feel lonely? Not very appealing options, eh? (<-- Blatant Canadian thing.) Bah! I'll just ignore myself and go frag some Spetznats Infantry or Tanks as an SAS Apache Heli Ace Pilot on my favorite Ghost Town server.

Movie Trailers that Rock

Well... what can I say. The Iron Man trailer is really making me want to fast forward to May 2, 2008.

#End Dump/Mental Enema

Well.. that was sufficiently depressing, wasn't it? :)

A lesson to learn: The Division Bell is mighty powerful very, very late at night and might make you write things you normally should not dump into blogs.

Unemployment !

2007-08-06T19:15:00.000-04:00

Wow.. who would have thought this day would come, eh?

I arrived home early due to the fact that a first wave of layoffs were done in the office today... and yes, I was one of them.

I was surprisingly calm for a person who's world just crumbled and having the prospect of trying to look for a new job that don't require French and is not a Tele Marketing job. I think I was calm due to the fact that I ahve yet to get the papers, and the valid reason for the layoffs. I'll be sure to write more about that once i know (and can!).

For now, I point you to my very friendly email adress 'glenn (dot) fallhorn (a-t) gmail (dot) com' and invite you to mail me if you happen to find fun possible opportunities.

And no Mom, moving back to Sweden is NOT an option, sorry. ;)

Summer Blues and Busy Days

2007-07-10T08:33:00.000-04:00

Wow... did not really think it had been more than a month since I last posted here. Time truly flies when you have fun, or when you are dealing with incompatible schedules.

So what is new since last time? Other than the The Car, wife's new job, and me getting decent pvp gear ... nothing much.

I've been awed by Robots, killed by nasty un-dead monsters and been driving a lot (license and car to prove it).

What else can I say?

Oh yes - people that do read my entries are probably wondering how or why I never really put work related frustration rants on here... it's simply because there is always a time and a place for that... and neither is online. It wont make me happier, airing dirt and frustration...

More to come!

Best... Link... Ever!

2007-06-01T06:51:00.000-04:00

Well... it wont take much to make me happy... at least when it comes to watching the TV shows that is a regular thing in my life.

So what better present could I have gotten than the link to Tv-Links?

None I say.. none!

Jenneil - you ROCK!

Superpost in Miniformat

2007-05-30T06:55:00.001-04:00

Yea.. . you heard me!

42!

'nuff said!

Best Part In Cinema...

2007-05-28T01:28:00.000-04:00

... is without a doubt the new trailers you get to see.

Like the following movie, which I'm pretty convinced will hook both me AND my daughter on an epic adventure that is not something we have yet written. Or at the least it's not Tolkien. :)

The Golden Compass:

And yes - I DO know my daughter is only almost 5.
She watches Yu-gi-oh and Di-Gata, something much more perverse and mind controlling than any movie violence.

You think I'm wrong? You think it's just a nice and neat kid show that animators create for their own fun and story and no one is having an hidden agenda? Think again.

At least action and movie violence is extreme enough not to be taken (in 99.999% of the cases) serious enough.

Frustration, Ranting and General Tidbits

2007-05-22T11:50:00.001-04:00

So I've gotten to the point where I have several things to vent about... but nothing that really deserves it's own entry.

So here goes:

#[Begin Rant A]

What is WRONG with Unions and Syndications here in Quebec? Have they created a system in which would automatically cause a strike every two years? Have anyone ever heard of planning ahead and starting a long time a head of the looming strike deadline?

Honestly, I think Quebecers just love to mess around with people and tosses out strike notice left and right, just because they can. PLAN IN ADVANCE! *mutters about silly people*

#[End Rant A]

#[Begin Rant B]

How can the world have such talented writers that can torment an entire population of Heroes fans and still revolve around the sun. Do we REALLY have to wait to October (or worse, January 2008! *gasps*) before Heroes start again?

It almost seem unfair that Heroes have all the good ones and Lost have lost so many things that made it a promising Series. Yes - I'm a Lost Basher! :)

#[End Rant B]

#[Begin Rant C]

Why is people always making a garden out of a flower (is that a saying?), or cant see the tree for the forest (or is that one backwards)?
Why cant people think before they jump, or ask before they assume? Investigate before they ignore? Or be quiet when others want to say something?
Why cant people stop using the word "cant" and start using the word "can, with some time"?

#[End Rant C]

Oh well... cant really remember all the rest i needed to rant about - I just know it was good and frustrating at the time.

Take THAT, Sun!

2007-05-12T18:06:00.000-04:00

The word is "Diplomat", a Danby creation packing 5,000 BTU's of sweet cooling...

And it's sucking your heated air in to transform it to a cool sweet savoring 17 degrees Celsius flowing column of air, spreading through-out the apartment.

So take that, Mr. Sun. Take it somewhere else and leave us alone.. or at least don't push it beyond 24 degrees.

*Shakes fist at the Sun and crawls back in front of the Diplomat*

Air Condition - Life

2007-05-10T11:23:00.000-04:00

Hmm.. is it "Air Condition" or "Air conditioning"?
No matter - it is life... it is the anti-death of Summer and the only thing that makes Montreal and the rest of Quebec bearable during the summer.

Yes, all you Sun lovers out there - I hate Summer!

What is there to love about a season that makes you sweat the moment you step out of hte door, or that prevents you from sleeping during the night?

Who in their right mind looks forward to 30 degrees at MIDNIGHT? Who looks forward to sitting in the sun all day long, exposing all of their body to the deadly rays?

Ok, so I will admit that the body part is a nice thing if it's on a woman (most of the cases) and there is very little thing to leave to fantasy - but still. It does not make up for the rest of the horrible heat and pain and torture we will endure shortly.

Abolish the Sun!

Taxi – The Weird Traveling

2007-05-09T06:53:00.000-04:00

I’ve been thinking a lot on what it might take for a person to become a taxi driver. Clearly it never requires directional skills or knowledge of the city – no, that seems to be an extra perk you might pay extra for. And you’ll pay even more if the driver actually knows his way around.

Cynical, am I?

Let’s see – Whenever I am REALLY late and I feel I have enough of my spending money to burn on Taxi, there are some facts that always seems to happen.

I ALWAYS get a black guy who barely can speak. Sign language ftw!
They NEVER know where Cavendish is, so backtracking skills are essential (Cavendish -> Thimmens -> Marcel Laurent -> Henri Bourassa)
If no directions are given, you KNOW he’s either following the busiest bus route, or decides to brave the 40.
It will always cost 20% more than you think.

I do have to admit that there are good drivers around, decent people with decent lives, holding decent conversations… and some even get you from point A to point B in the fastest way possible. Imagine that!

Famous rides I’ll never forget:

Taxi from Cote Vertu Mall where I seemed to have been picked up before the guy was to make his last deposit before the bank closed. It seemed like a life or death thing, and God knows death was a HUGE factor. The entire trip took less than 9 minutes – something normally going on 20 – 25. Halfway he was wondering if I had a problem with speeds, since he was in a hurry. “Hell No, as long as I am alive when we get there” was my response. He laughed and thought I was joking. I was not.

The newly minted driver who had never been in St-Laurent and picked me up at the Metro, to go to a friend of mine living (it turned out) about 10 min walking distance from the metro. Had I known that then, I would have saved about 30 min off the trip, and tons of $$$.

The old man who was a pro taxi driver (clearly, cause he was very friendly and had a infectious smile that made you think “I got to tip” even before he started driving) that missed the turn to get to Marcel Laurent, and the 2 following exits, before going around in the wrong place, trying to get his bearing. Granted, he did stop the meter after realizing his problems and we still arrived without problems, but still… I gave a large tip.

In the end, I probably think that being a taxi driver is amongst the high end jobs available for people. Where else can you see the sights of a city for free, get to meet people on a daily basis and get money for simply being friendly? Although you have lots of dead time and you run the risk of being robbed and stuff… I can still see why so many people want to be drivers.

Teenagers, or 'When Did I Grow Old™

2007-04-18T16:10:00.000-04:00

So I am taking the train as you all know by now (and by you all, I mean my Mom and the 5 other readers I have) and I’ve been reflecting before on the Dweller status hat we have… so it’s time to comment on the other big thing with the train : Teenagers.

Was I THAT naïve when I was a kid, growing up? Was I doing my utmost to impress girls, cheat on tests and frantically study in the wee hour before the first hour where the rest of the semesters score were riding on that one tiny test? Was I bragging about my drunken stupors the weekend before and how I blew people off by partying at someone else’s place instead? Did I have such a blatant disregard for other passengers?

Yes is the answer to some of the statements above, and I leave it to your fantasy to guess which ones that would be. I just know that from all the copulating / studying / chatting going on by the younger generation on this train, I just feel plain Old™.

Woot!

Snow in Mid April

2007-04-17T08:53:00.000-04:00

[This is a Piece I should have posted yesterday, but got pushed to another publication day, since there was other news available. So when you read this, think it as if it was Monday Morning.]

So I woke up this morning, zombie out of bed in an attempt to get ready for the day (Success! You have created [Fresh Morning]x1) , did the usual getting dressed bit until I looked out of the window…

(Best Abominable Snowman voice) How about all this fabulous Snow!!

It’s amazing to think that despite all effort of us humans, Mother Nature is still trying to wash away our dirt that we spew up in the air. Either it’s that or this snow fall we’ve had now every 4-5 days is just a natural thing. Probably should find a climatologist and check to see if we are heading into some permanent snowfall. :)

Train Dwellers

2007-04-16T13:08:00.000-04:00

What do you call the people that you see always in the train (or bus for all you commute n00bz out there) every morning, getting on at the same stop, always sitting in the same place (If given a choice) and never speaking to anyone? Or never speaking to me I might directly state…

Well… I’ve just decided that the proper term for that should be “Train Dwellers”, since the train is (supposed to be) a clockwork regular thing that is hard to miss. I used the word Dweller, since we never really do anything other than just sit, take up place and just exist in the 55 – 120 minutes we spend in the infernal Iron worm, getting ourselves down to the designated areas where we earn our keep.

I just wish someone would think the words “That’s IT! I’ve had it with this infernal silence!” and start talking. Although, with my luck, I’ll end up not understanding a word of what they say, and they end up being ashamed to have said anything and me not understanding that they wow never to speak again.

“Why don’t you take the first step then?” some of you dear readers (numbering an average of 2 a day, one I’m sure being my Mom - Hi Mom!) might ask in a loud and insistent voice… “Maybe everyone is just shy to approach you, in your black and slightly worn winter coat that really should be tossed by now… Ever thought about that?”. Well… I have, and I have also learned that unless it’s a REALLY bored 19 year old, the chances of me finding someone on this train that dare speak English and not thinking they suck at it, is about the same as me winning on the 649 Lottery here. (Winning chance for the highest win is probably somewhere around 1:17.000.000)

So yea… Do I take my train time and simply write these blog entries, or do I risk winning? Well… My Train Posse and I say: Bring it on, Loto-Quebec, Bring It On!

Friends and Work

2007-04-16T12:06:00.000-04:00

So yesterday when I plugged in my dead cell phone in my charger, something strange happened.

It Rang!

Now – if you know me a little, you know that there is only 3 things that makes my cell ring in the weekend. It’s either

a.) a wrong number;

b.) Telus informing me of new services

c.) Someone at work calling to let me know there is a problem somewhere and I should be informed of it.

Now, imagine my surprise when it was neither! It was someone I dare say I consider a friend and that I hope will have to fend off all the head hunters she’ll have running after her now that she is no longer employed. So if you are looking for a kick-ass C++ Senior Developer, let me know and I’ll forward you to her.

Mindy, all the best – and don’t be a stranger!

Things I miss from Sweden

2007-04-15T02:38:00.000-04:00

LMAO....

Well.. what can I say. Some days I don't really think about my roots, the culture I grew up in and the environment I thrived in before jumping the Atlantic... until I find clips like this one on Youtube:

There is a Party in Sweden's Pants!

Of course you wont understand half of it... it's one of the most brilliant comedic actors in Sweden doing an SNL quality bit on how wild the Swedish people are, featuring all natural unsuspecting passing by people that without hesitation jumps into the action. All in all, GREAT CLIP!

*Tries not to wake anyone up this late at night*

The Environment (or how we f’k’ed Planet Earth to death)

2007-03-30T22:52:00.000-04:00

So you may or may not have seen the movie The Inconvenient Truth, the documentary featuring Al Gore (yes, the almost next president of the 2000 election). If you have, you know what I’m talking about and will nod your heads in unison when reading this post. If you have not, you should get your butt out of the computer chair and rent/buy it from your nearest DVD store!

Yes – the title of this post does contain harsh language designed to chock and awe you. It’s harsh because we as a collective human race is not really stopping our pursuit of instant gratification in terms of huge luxury cars, gas-guzzling monsters, oil burning factories or other types of production facilities that is geared towards providing the masses with pre-packed convenience in bulk.

Without going into details (because I’m writing this offline and can’t really dig it up online right now), we as a species was slowly killing off the delicate environment that we live in. I state “was”, because we have gone beyond that point a while ago – shutting our government ears to the scientific community screaming for more attention to our nature, climate and the habitable environment. We are now rapidly slaughtering our only place in this universe (so far... it’s pretty damned big and we have barely search billions of a fraction of it so far for habitable planets) that is not openly hostile for us to live in. W

We don’t have to have pressure suits, bring our own oxygen/nitrogen environment (or artificially create it on site) or constantly be afraid of the surroundings (unless you live in New York) changing your living arrangement.

And that we are taking for granted will last forever… foolish humans! Climate Crisis is not the word to use now… it’s Climate Triage and you need to select what you want to live without, cause if we keep this up, we’ll either have luxury surrounding us in the limestone caves that will form our legacy lifeboat for the selected few humans, or discard the luxury – get more environmentally conscious and push for people to change some of the habits that is causing the Climate change.

Time to take a smoke – planet earth is exhausted and need a break before we get deep and dirty in her again!

*mutters profanities and tries to figure out how to reduce my own carbon emissions to save planet earth*

And yes - It's my twisted opinion only... hey.. It's my blog! =)

Morning Commute

2007-03-29T22:28:00.000-04:00

So a lot of people are almost horrified when I start to describe my daily commute, and when I normally go up in the morning to go to work… While I usually explain in broad strokes on how my travel is, I’d thought it be interesting to go into a bit more details, hence today’s post.

06:05:

Mleh! First alarm goes off (a series of 2 more to be expected if I miss the first one) and hopefully I’m awake enough to zombie out to the bathroom for the normal stuff.

I won’t bore you with the details of my morning routine, but if you have met me, most likely it does not involve shaving… I’d be way to scared handling a blade in the morning when I’m still in Zombie mode. I want my skin to be not horribly disfigured, thank you very much!

06:48ish:

Out of the door after hugging my daughter goodbye (if she’s awake)… rushing to get to the first bus stop 50 meters (or is it more than 50? Can never judge distances…) before the bus arrives around 06:55ish. The bus takes a grand tour of the eastern side (I think it’s east – mental note: check compass direction on Google Earth) of St-Jerome before getting to the train station (Gare Intermodale – look mom! I know French! Woot!) at about 07:18.

07:25:

Train departs from the station… funny how we had to wait more than 7 years for the train to be pulled up to St-Jerome only to have four (!) departures in the morning down to Montreal (FOUR!!) with the last one being the one I take. WTF! So you would proably say “But you then have 4 in the evening going down, right?”. Nope! Wrong-O! De-nied! It’s four trains transporting you down to Montreal in the morning and five that transport you back up to St-Jerome. If you go all the way up to St-Jerome, don’t expect to be able to get on the train in St-Jerome to go back down to Montreal, cause the train is just off loading and then travels down the track to park for the night. Again – WTF?

08:14ish:

By now, (hopefully) the train has arrived at Bois-de-Boulogne and I will have jumped off (Only missed the stop twice, embarrassing to say the least) and started running to the stop. I say running, cause usually the 171 will be passing by with 3 busses between 8:14 and 8:28, provided the drivers are not competing in the STM Rally, in which case they all arrive almost at the same time and you can just bet your wallet content on the annoying fact that they will drop off their load and leave before I make it to the stop. If I’m lucky, I’ll make it just in time for the 8:18 and get a seat somewhere, hopefully not next to the 400pound old man that sings to himself in a way that makes you wonder if he knows English to begin with (and yes, apparently he s from Israel, and was a real bad-ass when he was there – if you would believe the story he tells to the poor drivers he starts to talk to).

08:42ish on a good day:

If this has been a good morning, I’ll arrive before the 216 departs from Cote-Vertu Metro station… which makes the rest of the travel to the office REALLY painless. It essentially stops outside the office which tends to be nice when it’s pouring down and you forgot your umbrella (again).

08:58ish on a good day:

Arrived! Coffee!! Anti-Zombie Drug #1, double shot Espresso, 3 cream, 3 sugar in my trusted stainless steel mug.

And so begins my morning, with hopefully no major issues to deal with in the first 15 minutes of De-Zombie-fication… and make sure you don’t stand in my way for a second cup if it’s a really tough morning. :)

Life is Hard?

2007-03-26T11:59:00.000-04:00

Last night I was busy doing absolutely nothing in front of the TV, watching TLC as always, when the story of Abby and Brittany Hensel was aired.

For those that don't know these two girls, I can start off by saying that they are conjoined twins, and they are both amazing!

I cant (and I'm pretty much thinking not many people can) think of how hard it must have been for these girls to grow up... and to discover that they are pretty much unique in most things. It's awesome to see that they don't really mind people asking them questions, discovering that they are in fact two real people stuck together and that they dont like the same things, clothes, food and (I'm pretty sure) boys.

And then people, in full control of their body, complain that life is hard? Really?

Life is what Life is.

I (heart) Firefox

2007-03-23T23:31:00.000-04:00

//Begin Random Dump

My Firefox and me - we are new best buddies...

It does what I want it to do, it displays and allows me to seamlessly integrate new and fun addons (Hey! My FTP program is my browser!) and even have a smart replacement system if I like the del.icio.us system better than conventional bookmarks.

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Got Gmail? Add an extension called Gmail Manager and you'll always be able to see by a quick glance if you have new mail... and you can add multiple Gmail accounts to check at the same time!

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Have a component in Firefox been updated? Have a flaw been detected that is severe enough (or not that severe even) to cause concern? No worries! Firefox will Update itself! (Eat your heart out, IE7!)

//End Random Dump

And yes - I had a problem figuring out what to write about. I've been out of it for a few days now... hopefully it will pass.

Oh, almost forgot... get a Facebook account!

Can't Sleep?

2007-03-22T02:39:00.000-04:00

Can't Sleep? Learn about Insomnia - National Sleep Foundation

Well... here we go again. Late. Damned Late!

So I was browsing around when I suddenly remembered a show on TLC about sleep disorders and problems, and figured I'd check out the site (Link above).

While reading about the problems of insomnia, I stumbled over this little tidbit:

Insomnia is a risk factor for the onset of depression and can significantly affect your quality of life.

*Gasps* No! Really??

I'm getting depressed just reading that line... and I already know how it is affecting my quality of life.

*Mutters about silly doctors who probably laughs while falling asleep without any problems*
Yes, I'm cranky at 2:45am...

Widescreen

2007-03-21T15:29:00.000-04:00

With my daughter's recent marathon viewing of Men in Black II, and the worms comment "Once you go Worm, thats what you'll Yearn", I've come to realize that I now hate one of my 3 monitors at work.

Yes, 3 monitors. One is my Laptops built in (hey! it's a laptop, ok!) 15.4" WS Screen, and it has an external 17" Monitor set up as well. On my test computer, I am stuck on an old 17" SyncMaster 750s that have that nice "Ouch my color is draining from my eyes" kind of feel to it.

But then I think of home, and to my recent purchase (Thank you DELL Canada!) of my latest baby...

... it is SO true. Once you go Widescreen, that's what you'll yearn!

Insomnia Sucks...

2007-03-21T08:41:00.000-04:00

Honestly - what is worse than insomnia? I'll tell you - 98% Insomnia.

98% Insomnia is the cheating form of insomnia that leaves you with some sleep, but severely lacking any benefit of sleep, and it also rob you of the delightful (?!) feeling of staying up past the 32hour mark... It plain 'ol suck, is what it does!

8 Days - 1 Reboot

2007-03-20T12:17:00.000-04:00

I'm not sure if this is something I want to think about.. my baby (not the human kind) is summering from dust and is plagued with reboot pains.

Reboot pains?

Yea... you start the computer, only to hear the CPU Fan, HDD and other various components rev up to normal operations, but nothing appears where you normally would see your post-boot text/graphic.

This Boot is Dead! Diseased! Cut Power and Try again! Rinse and Repeat 80 to 400 times before you succeed in getting your boot sequence to launch.

What does this mean for me?
24/7 computer running - fan doing it's normal loud sound in the middle of the night.

*Sigh*

Life and It's Inevitable Doom...

2007-03-20T10:27:00.001-04:00

Well.... with a title like that, what else can be said...

First, I'd like to say that thanks to Sizel (http://www.lunarstorm.se/Sizel), I am yet again blogging. I'll probably fail at it eventually, like I have in the past... but until then - Wohoo! Blogging!