« October 2004 | Main | December 2004 »
November 29, 2004
Mexico in Pictures
It's a good thing a picture is worth a thousand words, because I haven't had time to write up my trip to Mexico. Until I do, these photos will have to satisfy. Enjoy!
November 28, 2004
I'll Do It This Afternoon...
I haven't had time to blog about my Mexican adventure, so I'll just point you to Rafi's account until I get off my butt and blog about it. Pics are coming too!
November 23, 2004
Coming Soon
My brother Matt is here visiting for the week, so blogging will be on the light side until after American Thanksgiving (three-day work week. Take that Canadian feelings of superiority!). I have photos from my Mexican trip, as well as hilarious adventures, including a man on the street who was willing to sell us glimpses of his sister. Viva Mexico!
Perhaps An Explanation Is Required
Apparently I'm not as funny as I think I am. In fact, I appear to be just plain crass and confusing sometimes. Take my last blog entry where I implied my friend Mark abandoned his would-be bride at the altar, then in an apparent act of total insensitivity, portrayed her as a monkey.
You see, ever since I met Mark, he loved monkeys. He would laugh at their simian hijinks, and ponder the possibility of actually owning one. It soon became a running joke that he would one day marry a bonobo monkey, and in honour of his wedding, I included said blog entry.
Hm, it seems a lot less funny now that I've explained it to death. I guess I sometimes forget how unfunny inside jokes are to 99% of my readers...
22:16 | Stuff | Comments (1)
November 11, 2004
Going Ape In Mexico
I'll be on blogging holiday for the next week as I celebrate the marriage of good friends Mark and Amy on the Mayan Riviera in Mexico.
Not invited to the ceremony is Mark's former fiancée whom he left brokenhearted at the altar.
08:15 | Stuff | Comments (1)
November 7, 2004
An Everyday Conversation With My Girlfriend
T: I used you in class today.
Me: Used me how?
T: Oh YOU know. The move toward socialism would necessitate a change in mindset away from American individualism into community mindedness.
Me: Oh yeah, that.
21:44 | Stuff | Comments (1)
November 6, 2004
Blog To Do List
Because just having an online outlet for my crackpot ideas and rants isn't enough, I need to obsessively control and tweak every last aspect of it. Here's a list (in no particular order) of the things I want to do to this here blog, if only I can find the time.
- Fix broken links to archived entries. When I reinstalled Movable Type, it helpfully decided to reindex my archives, breaking all my links, so I need to edit them on an entry-by-entry basis. This job sucks.
- Reorganize the categories. The Stuff category is getting ridiculously large. Unfortunately something is wrong with my MT setup, and I can't seem to create new categories...
- Site redesign. Dav helped design a fresh new look that could play well on this site. Unfortunately my zeal for all things CSS has been waning lately.
- Write some long overdue Misc Ramblings. So many rants, so little time...
- Make One Big Rant generally suck less. This might take more than an afternoon...
Flood Update
It turns out the flood my apartment suffered on Tuesday was not serious at all. Teresa and my quick acting minimized the damage the water caused, and in a few hours, had managed to soak up all the water with towels (mop and bucket are now on the To Buy list).
The laptop is back, and in perfect shape. The repair cost less than the insurance deductible (not that insurance was planning to pay for it anyway...)
Our ceiling is spotted with brown stains and crisscrossed with long plaster bubbles and cracks. The building owner will be repairing it in a few weeks.
If nothing else, this episode has taught us an important lesson: wrap your valuables in water-tight plastic every night before bed.
November 4, 2004
God Bless Jesusland
Thanks Americablog
21:37 | Stuff | Comments (2)
US Fighter Jet Shoots NJ School
Wednesday night at about 11:00 pm, an F-16 US National Guard fighter jet unloaded 25 rounds of ammunition into a New Jersey elementary school. Luckily no one was hurt.
Could it be there was an anonymous tip that terrorists were meeting in New Jersey classrooms? Was this a way to show local dealers that the US is serious about the War on Drugs? Could it be that the US military training is severely lacking, considering the NATO bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade and the US bombing of Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan?
Does anyone else find it disturbing, not that a school was shot by a military jet, but that the commander of the fighter wing has no idea why?
Here Comes The Flood
Tuesday morning, we awoke to find a steady stream of yellow-brown water streaming from the ceiling and centimetre of water on the living room floor. There had been an uncharacteristically heavy storm the night before, and water had pooled onto the roof, and leaked though the ceiling. After half and hour we had the leaks contained in bowls and the kitchen trash can, and had soaked up most of the water with towels. T and I both called work to say we weren't coming in, and began bailing out the apartment.
The only thing that was damaged was a laptop, which the night before had been placed exactly under where a stream of water would appear. It's in the shop and expected to make a full recovery.
After talking to the building manager and a roofer, we found the culprit: the building's flat roof has drains that funnel water off the roof and onto the ground. The drains above my apartment had been clogged up. Clogged with what, you ask? Not leaves, or debris, or dead squirrels, or anything you'd expect to find in eaves. No, these drains were clogged up with... Wiffle balls!
I wonder if the building's insurance's All Peril clause covers wiffle ball damage.
07:40 | Stuff | Comments (2)
November 1, 2004
Voting Is Sexy
To all my American readers: please take the time tomorrow to vote.
To all my non-American readers: don't bother trying to vote. Take it from me, they won't even let you into the polling station.
After work tomorrow, I'll be monitoring the election results with some friends. I wager by the end of the night, we'll either be celebrating, or crying.