Back home!

Hubby and I got back home from our vacation yesterday afternoon. We're severely jet-lagged, but we had a fun time. I'll be posting my vacation comments shortly, probably in about 4 parts, including the pictures.

I've spent some of today getting stuff done, and most of today (like about 10 hours worth) catching up on work email. I probably need another couple of hours tomorrow to be really caught up; I need to hit the ground running come Monday when I go back to work.

Although we did have a nice time, there was about a 24 hour period where it was very stressful. In order of appearance, on the first full day in Rome:

• It was raining very, very hard, and we were outside most of that day. Think of someone pouring water out of a bucket on your head, that was our day (no joke);
• Hubby had his wallet stolen. We spent a lot of time calling Canada to cancel cards and such. Our cell phone bills will be huge;
• Someone called me at 2am, on my cell, to tell me that the house alarm on my mom's house was set off, and the alarm company couldn't get a hold of anyone. Lots of panic calls back to North America ensued, again our cell phone bill will be huge. After several calls, I had managed to reach my sister in Seattle. Fortunately, it was a false alarm.
  
• I sprained my ankle and shin muscles. Found out today that I wasn't suppose to walk long distances on it. This happened smack in the middle of my vacation, so naturally, I kept walking long distances; it is vacation after all. I won't be going to my step class for a little while.
  

Off to Europe!!!

Yayay! We're going to Europe! I may post, but it'll be highly doubtful that this will happen. Definitely will when I return end of this month or in early June!

Off to Europe!!!

Yayay! We're going to Europe! I may post, but it'll be highly doubtful that this will happen. Definitely will when I return end of this month or in early June!

For all the geeks out there

Sadly, I want the projector, and I'm not even a huge Star Wars fan.

http://www.nikkor2d2.com/

So here's the scoop....

Yes, I had promised that I would update my readers as to the status of my school thing once I found out what was going on with it. I've had a very busy and exhausting week, so that was my only excuse, and not a good one at that.

So here's the scoop. I didn't get a pass, but I didn't get a fail either. They (being the committee of people who looks over and grades these reports) didn't feel that there was enough substance in my report to warrant a pass. I had a very long talk with my advisor, and she felt it was partially her fault for trying to push me into finishing too soon. She didn't take into consideration the rest of my life (ie that I work full-time, and that am a manager who needs to work outside of work hours to get things done, and that I have a life outside of all that). To her credit, she was trying to help me finish quickly, there wasn't any malicious intent, just some misjudgment on her part.

So the bottom line is I need to do a major rewrite and add lots more information to the report. She's given me more time, but I really want to get this done by the end of July. She did a lot of brainstorming as to how I could improve my report, so I now have lots of fodder to work with.

In other news: work has been very stressful for me. I had someone leave, and haven't had a chance to replace her properly. The big problem is that this position is needed by a very large project that we are doing at work, and schedules keep slipping, and people keep breathing down my neck to hire someone else. Easier said than done. While that is mostly resolved, it's not completely. Without getting into too many details, there's a lot of pressure of getting this positions filled permanently. Sigh. There are other things going on at work too that is sucking up a lot of my time and attention, so I've been coming home every day last week completely exhausted.

Life: I'm going to Europe in 4 days! These last few days have been very busy with trip planning as well. Even though we've been in London a couple of times already, I'm still amazed at how much stuff there is to do in that city! I did a bit of a search as to what else there is to do and there are a ton of stuff that are not on the top 10 tourist attraction list! What we will be this time around is three out of town trips: Bath, Strafford-Upon-Avon/Warwick Castle and Leeds Castle. As well, we'll be hitting a few of the lesser known sites in London. I'll definitely post a full itinerary and pictures after we come back. But this is why I love London so much, there is always something to do.

Rome was a bit of a challenge to plan out, mostly because I'm not that familiar with it. What I did was print out weekly calendars and listed everything that I wanted to see, and planned out the trip that way. It's a bit of a juggle as there were several things I had to take into consideration, but I won't bore you with the details just yet, they are for a different post. I'll let you know if all my plotting has worked out. Needless to say, we will be doing lots of walking! I really hope that the weather will be good.

We still have some part of the trip that needs planning out (for instance, we still don't have a hotel for the last part of our trip), but things are coming together... I can't wait!

Rest of my life: well, somewhere amongst all the busyness, I need to go to see my chiropractor. Apparently my lower back is slightly out of alignment. My massage therapist caught it last week, but she wasn't able to fix it (the feeling of someone trying to push at your vertebrae is very weird). Part of the problem is that I physically need to be at work to get certain things done, like interviews, so it's been near impossible to go see my chiropractor. I definitely need to see him before I go on my trip, my lower back is warring with my upper back as to which part wants to cause me more pain an misery. Sigh.

Sigh...

So I had handed in my report on May 1. Although I told people that I was done, there is always a risk that I may need to tweak my report or some other such horrors to be had before I actually pass and get my credits.

My adviser had informed me today that she had to talk to me about my report. It's probably nothing more than I need to flesh out a couple parts of my report, but of course, I'm thinking worse case scenario, so I've been stressed all afternoon. I will find out tomorrow what the status is.

On top of all that, there is still trip planning and work is crazy busy. I need to get a certain amount done before I leave. This isn't a good time for my free time to be eaten up (yet again) with school work. Please just let me pass this thing.

Plus, my massage therapist told me today that my lower back is out of alignment. Which means another trip to the chiropractor, and I don't have time as it is. Stupid body, I'm not suppose to age.

It was also bad enough that I got to listen to our neighbour's dumb-ass kids (who are high school aged) get drunk and high on pot. With about 50 of their friends. And no parents. Two nights in a row. In the middle of the night. Two nights of calling the cops, and two nights of no cops showing up.

Sigh.

Going AWOL

(You know, I'd always thought that the term meant that the person went crazy. Not completely off the mark with my life right now).

Sorry, I haven't been posting for a while. It's not like I don't have things to say, I always do. However, I'm up to my neck with:
- Schoolwork - Due April 30th, so it's really the home stretch for me, I need to buckle down, focus and bang out a 100+ page report (plus peripherals) by my deadline. Cross your fingers for me!
- Work-work- I'm about 2-3 weeks behind on some of my email, bad me, and it takes me about an hour just to compose my daily to-do list. Sigh. One day I'll be caught up, just not today.
- The rest of my life.

As much as I would like to blog about my musings, honestly, it sometimes take me a hour or more to properly post something up. I can barely keep up with laundry, dishes and cleaning my toilet as it is (no joke). Never mind the fact that we still have trip planning to do.

You will hear more from me at the beginning of May, promise!

Dear Passport Canada

I will be going on a big European adventure in six weeks time. My passport will be expiring within 6 months by the time I start my grand tour, and thus, being the good citizen that I am, and knowing that it would be easier on me to cross international borders if I had a newly-issued passport rather than an almost expired passport, I am going to renew my passport.

Since January of this year, I have been trying to figure out your extremely complicated, non-explicative, new "simplified" process for renewing my passport. Your rules, I must tell you, are not simple.

First, I am puzzled and dismayed by your new rules for the passport photo. I understand that you need to scan the photo and you need to set it up so that it is easier to scan. However, those rules also ended up making me look like a washed-up bag lady. I also understand that you prefer that people have a neutral expression, in other words, no smiling. In my picture, I look like a pissed-off, washed-up bag lady. I also don't understand how my own dear mother managed to smirk in her photo, and you allowed it through.

Second, your instructions for the Simplified Renewal Form are not explanatory enough. Do I need to have my photo endorsed by a sponsor? Can I use the online form to do the simplified renewal process, or do I still need to bring in my form or mail it to the Passport Office? Do my references need to be passport holders as well?

Third, nowhere on your website did it explain that I could use the online form as part of the simplified renewal process. First of all, your ePass user account creation was horrible. Why would you get people to create a username that they won't remember is beyond me. I think I've already created three different accounts. Next, after somehow going through the entire process of filling in the form online, I had deduced on my own that this wasn't the simplified renewal process. I had just wasted 2 hours of my time. You need to inform people that the online form is the full form. But as it stands, I don't know what time I will save by filling in the online form, I still need to send in the application. I refused to do so as mail has been known to be stolen before, and I am not mailing sensitive information about my identity. My only other option is to stand in a queue, so I might as well just fill the regular form in the first place and saved myself the hassle and frustrations.

Fourth, I went to the closest Passport office, spent $2 on parking, on my day off (which I will waste in a passport lineup, and note, that I needed take this day off because I'm working on a very time-sensitive project), only to be told that they don't process passport applications for people who are travelling within 6 weeks. That would be me. I was also told at that office that I had to go to one of three offices that did process passports immediately for traveling citizens, none which are close, none which are opened on weekends or holidays. However, there is one opened until later in the evening, and that's the one I'll be going to, even if I have to fight traffic and cross a bridge to get there. Because I need to pick it up for fastest receipt, and I really don't have the luxury to take more time off during work hours to fart around in a queue.

So here is my advice on how you can better spend my tax money:

• Hire a content writer for your website. I always say if someone has to ask a question about it, your communication was not clear enough. Plus, this person should also be able to lay the content out in a more searchable format.
  
• Hire a usability or process expert to go through your very poor processes, which includes the really hard to use online form. Sure it may cost a lot at the beginning to set up proper processes, but in the long run, it will save you time, and save my tax money for more important spending.
• If you are going to turn away passport photos because they do not conform to your guidelines, you should have an on-site service to have the photo retaken, if a sponsor doesn't need to sign the photo (I am assuming this as per my first point above). Trust me, I am willing to pay for less of a hassle.
  

If you have already implemented the first two points, you are still wasting my money. Fix your problems now.

Signed,
Weed, a disgruntled citizen who pays way to much taxes into an inefficient system.

Happy Birthday to Me!!!!

Yayayayayayayay!!! It's my birthday again!!! Here's what I did to celebrate my birthday:

Went to the Hart House on Friday for dinner. Went out for Chinese food Monday night for dinner with the parents. Saturday, got my annual birthday hairdo. Check out the purpley! This also freaked out my mum, she couldn't understand why I wasted money dyeing my hair purple. I actually came this close to getting hot pink but I a) hate all things pink and refuse to wear that colour (makeup being the sole exception) and b) found the purple to be a little more subtle, but I was able to keep it fun.

Movie Review: Jumper -- Ug

Today, Hubby and I went to see Jumper. I will write about why I went to go see this movie in a separate post. However, I'm not even going to write a proper review of this movie because, quite frankly, this movie stank. Big time. At the time of writing this blog post, Rotten Tomatoes gave it 16%. If you want to read a synopsis, check out Wikipedia.

I know that the main weakness was the script. The premise was interesting, but the execution was lousy. They needed to develop the whole concept of jumping further; instead, we're left to piece together how jumping may work through side comments and events in the movie. Not a bad way of doing things per se, but it lacked any organization and cohesion in the movie, and I was left with more questions and a feeling of dissatisfaction. I would have liked to see a little more of the history of the Palidins more, it would have at least made me understand their motivation better.

I certainly didn't feel any sympathy for the main character in the story, nor did I care either way for the "bad guys". All the relationships between the characters were very poorly scripted out. It's such a shame because there were some great actors, like Jamie Bell, who performed spectacularly in Nicholas Nickleby, and whose acting I really admire.

I'm still sitting on the fence about Hayden Christensen. The only other movie I've seen him in were the Star Wars movies. Hayden, in my opinion, can't act. He delivers his lines with a monotone voice, and always seem like an emotionless block of wood; he is part of the reason why I feel nothing but apathy for the main character. Most of the other actors, as bad as the movie was, at least put in a passable amount of acting. I even felt more for the Young David Rice than the Adult David Rice, because I felt the young actor did a better job than Hayden. I'm hoping that Hayden will improve in his other movies, but frankly, I'm not holding my breath.

I give this 3 out of 10, and it only even deserved such a high rating because, as a friend of mine who saw it said, "The movie was lousy, but the scenery was great!"

Update on me....

I've been pretty busy. Busy being sick that is. The last few day I've been preoccupied with hacking up a lung. I think that there's a nasty flu bug that's been going around, and it was my turn to get it. I've called in sick two days in a row. It's rare that I even call in sick, never mind two day. And last week, I was also not feeling too swell either, I had to leave work early. I think I've been fighting the flu bug for a while now.

Work. Work is... busy. It's tough being a manager. I don't mind juggling 10 billion things. It's the people factor that I'm scratching my head on. Mainly, those who work under me. Don't get me wrong, for the most part, they do a good job. But there's something... lacking. I don't know if it's me, or the people I work with, if it's my style of management, or their style (or lack of it) of doing the job well, or a combination of everything. The project manager tends to measure how well a project is doing by the "nag factor". I seem to be nagging a lot with okay results, but I feel many times that I'm herding children along. This managing people business is hard. However, I will be getting my raise shortly. My manager actually asked me what I wanted. I had to think about it. (Okay, I did say 1 Billion Dollars, and he laughed and cried at the same time).

School. Less than two months to go. And the less said on that subject, the better. Sigh.

What's been occupying a great deal of my time is planning our trip to Roma! Yay! We almost have everything booked. I'll leave the actual planning of the trip itinerary until after May Day. Since we're also going to be spending a few days in London, I've picked up Frommer's Best Day Trips from London. I really want to go back to Bath, but there's a few other interesting side trips I would like to take as well.

I've just gotten my Visa bill for part of our trip purchases for flights and hotels, and yikes! But this will probably be our last kick of Europe for a long while, so might as well spend the money while we can.

Going back to hack up my other lung...

Geeks!!!

Today I went to this Microsoft bru-ha-ha event. Cheesy marketing, MS propaganda everywhere, but the best part: being in a room with 14,000 other geeks with bad haircuts and questionable fashion sense. Sadly, not unlike the picture posted here.

Well, I was somewhat interested in what they had to say in their new product offerings, and while I picked up on a few interesting points, it on the whole was not too thrilling. Of course I go for the free lunch (it was meh) and the shwag, but they make you sit through most of the session--pounding your every auditory and visual nerve endings with how wonderful Microsoft's products are, and how they can completely change your life around--before they give you your bag of goodies. Sadly, a string of emails about Tiramisu--that was being sent amongst my colleagues through the day--that I was reading on my Crackberry was equally as riveting, if not even more so...

To be fair to them, they are trying to sell a product, and have to do a credible job to suck us in. And because we're an MS shop, we'll be using those products. Eventually.

(BTW, Bill's the guy in the bottom row, far left with the blue shirt. His eyes are really crooked!)

Garfield Minus Garfield

Someone on my chatboard had posted this site for our amusement. This is the funniest thing ever! The Garfield comic strip, with Garfield take out. Who knew Jon could be so funny!

Garfield Minus Garfield

KOOKY: Mountains!

I thought I'd share this with you. I took this picture on Feb 21st, on my way back to my office from a meeting I had across campus. The gardens in the picture are the Rose Gardens, and while it's difficult to see in the picture, I saw green flowers shooting up in the soil, so Spring is slowly making it's way here.

I actually can see bits of mountains on campus on a good day, and that day it was glorious!

Shamrock Shakes are back!

One of my fondest memories of my childhood is having a McDonald's Shamrock Shake. I loved Shamrock Shakes because they are made with the magic of 1000 leprechauns and kissed with Irish luck.

Just kidding. I think the main reason why I liked the minty goodness was mainly because they were only around for a short time (usually around St. Patrick's Day) and then they would disappear, never to be seen again until the next year. But I think there may be some leprechaun magic blended in as I was drawn to it quite often.

Imagine my surprise then when I found out that they were re-introducing them after not a hair to be seen for so many years. Last Tuesday was the first day of their introduction back in the mortal realm. I, of course, made a beeline to the closest McDonald's at lunch time. Here's what happened:

Me: Walks into the restaurant, and noted that there were no advertisements or pictures of any Shamrock Shakes. Confused, I asked the cashier.

Me: Excuse me, but do you have any shakes?

McD: Yes, we have Vanilla, Chocolate and Strawberry

Me: Do you have any Shamrock Shakes?

McD: What?

Me: Shamrock Shakes (says this very slowly). You know, the green one.

McD (looking very confused): No. We have Vanilla, Chocolate and Strawberry only. No green one. (Way to go McDonald's for informing your staff!)

Me (very disappointed and trying to figure out what I wanted to eat): Well, I'll have...

McD (looking at her screen): Wait. Sham-rock Shakes. Yes, I think we have them. (Now turns to her superior, whom looks like a Junior Manager). Hey Junior, do we have the Shamrock Shakes?

Junior: What?

McD: You know, the green one?

Junior (walks over to the area where the shakes are located): No. Wait, yes, we have some left.

Some left? You weren't even suppose to have any before today, so how could you have some left? Anyways, to make a long story short, I don't think they were prepared for the onslaught of Shamrock Shake fans (ie me!). My shake turned out too sweet and too watery, and nothing how I'd expected it to be. It definitely was the first one out of the machine.

Very disappointing.

I, however, was rewarded on Friday. One of my staff happened to make a trip to McDonald's so I asked her to bring me back another Shamrock Shake. After one sip of that baby and I was in minty heaven once again. Yum!

Air Poo

I don't know if this is a hoax or if it's real, but it's an interesting concept nonetheless. The Mac Air won't ever be the same again....

Air Poo

This is wrong in so many ways...

A co-worker sent the linked article below around today. I am flabbergasted. Two things that jumped out after I read it:

1. The last time I'd checked, exchanging money for sex is considered to be prostitution
2. Why the heck wasn't the guy wearing a condom? Do people really not care about getting sexually transmitted diseases? Apparently not.
   

Click here to be just as horrified. Trust me, it gets better...

Music

I've been finding that my taste in music has been tending towards Alternative/Indie/Rock. To this end, I've been listening to a local station that plays more of this genre of music. The one I could find locally is Evolution 107.9, which is actually a student-run radio station. The students are part of the radio & television broadcasting program at a poly-technical school in town. Let me tell you that I don't tune in for the witty banter. However, I've hear some great music, and some great bands, who, for whatever reason, don't get very much, if any, air time on most other local stations.

However, I feel that there is also a lot of good music that comes out from Europe, and after a bit of searching, I found this London station that plays the same genre of music. The interesting thing is since I'm 8 hours behind London, I hear their late afternoon, evening and late night programming. There is one particular late night segment that features interviews with groups or artists who just so happen to be in London. It's really cool because I get to hear music that I wouldn't normally get to hear. Some of these people have such a small following that I'd doubt the music even gets heard outside of the UK.

Anyways, I've recently become a fan of the Arctic Monkeys, a band from the UK. Here they are performing Teddy Pickers:

Happy Chinese New Year!

Happy Chinese New Year Everyone! It's the Year of the Rat, and it's my year!

Here's some stuff I found out about Rats, with my comments in italics:

Years
1912, 1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008, 2020

Rat personality traits
People born in the Year of the Rat are one of the most industrious and hardest working in the zodiac. [That's me!]

Forever busy in pursuit of an ambitious personal goal, at times they may become difficult to work with since they are born perfectionists. [Yup, I'm a perfectionist!] Rats must ensure that every "i" is dotted before completing an assigned task. As a result, they are often successful financially, and are good providers for their family and those they cherish most dearly.

Loyal and loving, Rat people inspire loyalty in others who are close to them. They are essentially honest individuals and loath to betray a confidence. However, their quick wit and restlessness [yes and yes!] can sometimes lead to chattiness, and they can often be relied upon at large social gatherings for a good story or a juicy bit of gossip. [I love gossip!]

Their energy levels and expert organizational talents are such that it is a rare thing to see a Rat person sitting idly by with nothing to do. [Yes, I need to be organized, and I hate sitting around doing nothing!]

They may even sometimes be viewed as opportunists who cajole others into helping them accomplish a great ambition. In their careers, Rat people can find much success as business leaders or politicians.

Rats are most compatible with : Dragon, Monkey, Ox

Famous people born in the Year of the Rat : Charlotte Bronte, Truman Capote, Catherine I, Prince Charles, Sasha Cohen, Eminem, Peter the Great, Mata Hari, Scarlett Johansson, Wolfgang Mozart, Plato, William Shakespeare, Leo Tolstoy, George Washington

[Source]

KOOKY: So not amused

This really gives me the rage!

Another UBC threat has put RCMP on alert