HNY 2005

Happy New Year 2005!

I think this has been the quietest New Year celebration for me ever. Oddly enough, that doesn't bother me much. Rather like how the lack of Christmas atmosphere here didn't bother me.

Yesterday, I managed to join our company event last minute: the company booked two theatres of Ocean's Twelve for employees for one showing this week and a matinee next weekend. The movie was only okay; even had I watched the first film, I don't think it would have added much.

I got home shortly before midnight, where I missed most of the countdown in favour of Harry Potter: The Chamber of Secrets. Just as Ginny Weasley was kidnapped, I decided my old tired body really needed sleep, and that was that. :)

Friendly Faces, Part 1

There was a window seat that I was eyeing when I found out that we could apply to move desks. It had a window with a deep knee-high ledge, making the cubicle larger than the standard desk size. The seat faced the walkway (unlike mine: my back is to the walkway). I would be able to document quietly (removed from all the SQC folks testing mobile phone ring tones) and in whatever yoga position that wasn't particularly flattering in dress shirt and slacks. And I'd be able to MSN or to doze off undetected.

Anyway, all that is moot, because when I asked my manager about it, he had already appointed the desks to the new employees reporting the following week. :(

As I was delivering my status report on Monday, the 2 new employees were led into the meeting. One male, one female. When I returned to my seat behind them, I decided that the guy looked kind of familiar. Right. How many people do I know in Taiwan! Pshaw. Probably the "white people" perspective: Chinese people all look the same.

Back at my desk, I finally placed from where he looked familiar, and minutes later, my manager confirmed by leading the new folks around to my desk and announcing, "N, you have a compatriot!"

Get this: he's a coworker from my former company!! What are the chances?! Turns out he came to Taiwan with his then-pregnant wife in Feb, and just changed jobs into my company, my business unit, my department... my team! Holy guacamole!

I didn't know him that well back then, but I've been giddy all week.

All the excitement has only been heightened by meeting someone else, too, but that's for another time....

Out of commission

Yesterday, the GND didn't show up to work again. She's in hospital with an infection, so she's out for the entire week. :(

My manager reiterated that if we wanted to buy a car (which he highly recommended), we could talk to him about financing. Apparently Hsinchu is an unlucky place for scooter riders. He even said that if the company couldn't make some kind of an arrangement, he would personally help us out.

Wined and... sort of dined.

Every month, the company funds the department with 500NT per employee for a get-together. Normally the department organises a monthly dinner, but they've been so busy of late that the funds have just been accumulating.

Finally, a week ago, after the semi-annual performance review dust had settled, our department went to a high-end restaurant and enjoyed a shark fin set meal at 1980NT per person. Keep in mind that here, you can get dinner for 50 - 150NT, and a good set meal for 400NT or less.

Dinner had 5 courses. We started with a light salad - nothing special.

Then was the crowning glory - a bowl of real shark fin soup - tasty, but again, nothing special, especially coming from Vancouver. The taste and texture of the shark fin remind me of vermicelli (<- nothing special).

We had a choice of sea urchin or prawn as an ante-pasto. I'm glad that, when we made our selections in advance, I didn't choose what I hadn't known was urchin, because I didn't think much of it when I'd tried it a couple weeks before.

My choice for a main course was lamb. What I got was 4 little lamb ribs. It was good, but again, nothing I haven't had.

Overall, it was a rather disappointing dinner. The food was okay, but take into the consideration the price, and there's no way I'm going back there again. I have friends who cook up a better meal. And they invite me over for free. ;) Consensus among coworkers was that dinner just wasn't worth the 1980NT ticket price.

Happily we weren't the ones footing the bill.

The only redeeming part was the wine. Of which I didn't get the name. But it was a very nice red wine - smooth texture, not tanic in the least. Since the dinner "theme" was of a celebratory nature (someone's engagement), there was plenty of toasting. Very nice wine. A-, I'd say.

C+ for everything else.

Except for the price. That gets an F.

One for the road

When I came in to work on Monday, it was just another week at work. It wasn't until lunchtime that someone told me the Girl Next Door had been in a scooter accident the Friday before. I'd seen the huge splotches of iodine and medicine all over her legs, but not paying attention, I'd thought they were actually just decorative tights.

She wore a skirt on Monday because the friction from pants against the wounds was too painful. She was taking itty bitty baby steps to get anywhere to avoid any pressure on her legs. She even had to get 3 stitches on her chin, despite wearing a motorcycle helmet (full visor), which is beyond the requirement traffic laws impose here. You could pretty much wear anything that resembles a helmet.

Yesterday she didn't come to work at all because apparently her legs had swollen up. Poor gal.

During a conversation with another coworker, my manager expressed concern about the GND and me (he knows I'm looking at getting a scooter). He even offered that if we wanted to buy a car and needed some help financing one, he could make arrangements with the company to have funds advanced to us.

But I'm still getting a scooter.

HBK!

It's a little late in the day :(, but...

Happy Birthday, Kev! :)

A little means a lot.

Sometimes, it's the little things that inspire you.

On our way up to Taipei last Friday night, the coach was full as usual, and not wanting to wait for the next bus meant that my brother and I resigned to standing in the aisle for the 1.5-hour ride. Thankfully, it was nowhere near as crowded as our ride 2 weeks prior, and the highway wasn't a huge traffic jam.

At the mid-point town, a few seats opened up, and tired after a week's work, I scrambled for a seat near me, and hoped my brother would be able to find another one.

And that's when I noticed an old man a few feet back, still standing in the aisle. Stricken with guilt, I stood up again and offered him my seat.

"No no, it's okay; I'm getting off in a bit. You go ahead. But thank you."

I sunk back into the seat. I felt a little guilty thinking that, "Yay, I get to keep my seat! I offered, he declined, so it all works out!" That's terrible, N; you can't offer, half hoping they'll decline! Tsk tsk.

But that wasn't what made me glad to do it. A couple of stops later, the old man gathered up his belongings. And as he headed toward the front to get off, he turned to me and thanked me again for offering my seat.

It's the little things.

Canadian, eh?

I had always been under the impression that there were advantages to being a Canadian abroad, mainly in that there was a strong prejudice against Americans. I didn't really have anything to support the claim, just little tidbits I'd heard here and there; and whenever I was in Europe and asked people I knew about it, they'd never heard of any such thing.

But apparently the Americans seem to agree that it's "better to be Canadian" when you're travelling: one company is capitalising on that fact and helping their citizens travel in peace.

The Girl Next Door

Yesterday we added a new gal to our SQC group. She is drop-dead gorgeous. She's full-Taiwanese, but she looks mixed: she has nice eyes that are set back and a more prominent brow ridge (unlike the Asian eyes that are flat with the face).

Unfortunately she sits right next to me. Dangit! Now I have to put more effort into my appearance so I don't look like a hag next to her!

HaHHAhAHhah...

She's pretty nice, though. :)

Peace Treaty, Addendum

P.S.

Could you also not land in/on/around my mug? As your friend may have let you know (in a seance), instead of the quick and painless death I would've dealt, I ended up trapping him in the mug and drowning him. Long and drawn out. I'm guessing it was rather agonising, too, when he realised that there was no way out and that the water level in the mug was steadily rising while the wet tissue overhead was getting lower.

So. No mug. Thanks.

Peace Treaty

Dear friend,

I believe that the need for a truce has arisen. This love-hate (mostly hate) relationship between us is causing much tension, so I hope that with this letter, we can reach an understanding between mosquito and me.

I know you must eat to survive. Such is life. But really you must ensure that gluttony not overcome you, as several nights I have awoken to 5 or 6 new bites. I hardly believe that you need such a feast at a single sitting. So I ask that you please limit your overeating tendencies. Let us start with 2 bites per night, and if this arrangement doesn't work, we can discuss the matter further.

Let's make that 1. One bite per night.

I ask you not to touch the face. The face is still the most aesthetically appreciated feature of a person, and needless to say, your savage devouring of my delicate skin leaves not only physical but also emotional scars. Please avoid the face.

Know that should you insist on supping on my blood, you will die. I don't care if I have to stay up until 03:00 to catch you, but I will, believe you me. Not only will you die sooner than you hope, but you will live your last hours (minutes) in utter fear. Utter. and. complete. fear.

So. How does that sound. Truce? :)

Sincerely,
N

Putt-putt, just puttin' around

Work is going well, and I have finally been getting some sleep at my place (after I stopped using the pillow).

Maybe it's because it's still Week 2 for me here, but the time seems to pass so quickly. Before I know it, it's 18:00 and my colleagues are asking if I want to go for dinner. And then before long it's 20:00 and I need to rush to catch the last shuttle bus.

My work hasn't even picked up yet, and already I feel that my commute is just too restrictive on my schedule, especially since there are weekly seminars and presentations that begin after dinner. Forget 9-to-5.

So, I've decided to buy a scooter. Yep, I'm gonna be a scooter girl! I've started asking my coworkers about getting one - cost, licence.... I haven't decided between getting the 50cc scooter or getting a larger one. I also have to wait until I get my first paycheque (monthly payments here!) to afford it!

But, until then, it's "Sorry, boss, can't work overtime; I have to catch the last shuttle bus!"

Workin' it

So. I made it through my first week of work. It was tough. Lots of positives and negatives that made my outlook of the future blink like a pedestrian-controlled traffic light.

To start off, my manager is great - I like him. But he's pretty busy, so I don't see him too much (we sit in different areas). And the project manager with whom I will be working - well, he was on a business trip all week, so I spent the week just getting settled, looking at some documents, and learning the basics of GSM and GPRS wireless technology (totally new to me).

I am the Canadian here. Everyone seems to know about me. My manager would introduce me, "This is N. She's a foreigner. From Canada." D'oh! Blew my cover, first thing. So much for slipping under the radar as a local. (Actually, while I may get away with looking the part, I apparently have an obvious accent when I speak. *sigh*) But it's almost as if they're proud of having a foreigner on board - rather amusing.

My colleagues are great. Everyone is really friendly with explaining product knowledge, logistics (how to order lunch), or even just whether or not I need attend certain meetings. Women make up maybe 15% of the staff - high compared to other tech companies here, but abysmal compared to my previous company (approximately 1:1).

Lowlight. The vast majority of the corporate e-mail I receive is in Chinese. Even with an instant translation software, it takes me forEVer to read my e-mail. IT installed an English version of Windows for me, but Dr.eye didn't get installed until the afternoon. I was a sitting duck, and it dawned on me just how inadequate my Chinese is, which was very discouraging.

Overall, getting on okay. More to come ....

Welcome home

I slept my first night at my new home for the next few months. I had arrived in Hsinchu around 19:30, and dropped off my laptop and my mini-pack at my brother's, hung out and then lugged my little suitcase across the street after an hour.

And then without realising it, I spent 4 hours mopping and rearranging the sparse furniture, dousing everything with citronella, and then assembling the simple clothes racks. When I finally emerged from my room, all was quiet in the house.

Today, after hanging up some clothes to dewrinkle, I headed to my brother's to reclaim my laptop ... and steal a shower. What can I say, the shower at my place leaves much to be desired. In a few minutes, I will borrow his bike and (after mopping it down) go off to explore the neighbourhood and figure out my route to work.

I report to work tomorrow morning at 08:30 sharp.

Imprisoned!

Today is my first real day off. I've packed everything I can pack for my move, and I've fulfilled all my obligations. Mom is off for a few days, so today is my first day of freedom, to wander about Taipei as I please.

Today is also the first day of a typhoon. It is raining buckets, and the wind is howling. While it's nowhere like a hurricane, it's still dangerous to be outside in this weather. Work has been cancelled in 9 cities of northern Taiwan, declared a typhoon holiday.

I can see rain being blown almost horizontal and several tv antennae being toppled on the lowrise buildings around us. The wind and rain are tremendous, but being situated in a basin surrounded by mountains, this is about as exciting as it gets for a typhoon here (except for flooding). Out in the countryside, where there is no shield, incredible things can happen.

And so on my first day of complete freedom, I am imprisoned in the apartment. :( The morning was spent cleaning the kitchen, where rain had dripped through the fumehood like a leaky condo. *sigh*

Thar she blows!

Being across the Pond, this came as quite the surprise to me: Mount St. Helens has apparently been huffing and puffing lately!

You can see a "live" picture (updated every 5 minutes) of Mount St. Helens, provided by the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument. This image on the left is from the Cascades Volcano Observatory.

While the geek within does think that's pretty cool, I hope that everyone in the Pacific NW is safe. Otherwise you'll know exactly what I mean when you blow your nose.

Spot of tea?

They fooooound me!! :( Some nights ago, a vicious mosquito attacked me over and over and over, while I lay asleep in my bed. The result was 9 bites on my left arm, a couple on my right, ... my earlobe, my eyelid, and even my tailbone! The next morning, my mother thwacked a mosquito, splattering blood all over the washroom wall. Very likely my blood. >:(

I've been eating lots of pomelo, because - well, it's in season, but especially because of Mid-Autumn Festival - yummy. But I've also discovered some other fruits that don't agree with my digestive system. Lovely.

Other than mosquito bites and unfriendly fruit, I'm getting used to living in Taiwan. There's been a cool breeze the last couple of days, which is a huge help.

On Wed, I had the opportunity to check out the Ten Ren Tea Company (did you know that Ten Ren is a Taiwanese company?). My uncle is a frequent customer there, so before sitting down for tea, we got a tour of the factory. The county line happens to lie between the store front and factory, so they are actually in 2 completely different cities! We saw the tasters - who actually taste, smell, look at, ... the tea leaf batches. Then was all the machinery for processing the tea leaves: cooking, deleaving (? separating the leaves from the stem), sorting and packaging. Quite interesting.

And of course, there's the tasting part. My uncle's "account rep" brought out 3 different teas for us to try. These are some *good* quality teas. The aroma is soothing and the flavour clean, with no bitter aftertaste. And after you swallow, your mouth continues to water and water and water, bringing a lovely sweetness to your mouth. My mouth was still watering about 2.5 hours later (and after lunch!) on the way home. Unfortunately, I can't really afford these teas: they cost about 120.00CAD/lb (250.00CAD/kg)!

Other than that, not too much. Interviews are going well, and I've started to get offers. Still have interview requests coming in, too.

K comes into Taipei tonight, yay! Tomorrow we are going to Yinggo, which is a city famous for its pottery and ceramics.

I stand corrected.

I posted a blog last year, for which I must reprimand myself. Don't bother looking for it; I've now removed it.

It was a post I'd written about my friend's grandiose wedding plans. In the post were words that were very hurtful to my friend, as I'd portrayed him to be inconsiderate and selfish, when I don't believe him to be either. He really is one of the sweetest people I know. He's always been generous and kind, and goes to great lengths for those around him. That's not just what I believe and know. It's a fact.

While I certainly hadn't intended to hurt my friend, whom I consider a good friend, what I had written was based on untruths and on a partial untruth at that. Had I taken another moment to think about what I'd heard, instead of reacting to the "shock" of the story, I should have known better. I would've known that that could not have been the full story, nor the person I knew my friend to be.

And now I've succeeded in hurting my good friend's feelings, which hurts me deeply as well.

I apologise to my friend. I am truly deeply sorry for the hurt I've caused.

I won't ask for forgiveness, because I don't think I deserve it. I only hope that Time will heal the wound I've created.

Let that be a lesson to me about hearsay.

Breathing smog

It hasn't even been a week that I've been in Taipei, and I'm already tired of the city smog. It's disgusting. At the end of the day, when you blow your nose, you can see just how much crap you're breathing in. (The "fog" in the picture is actually smog.)

It's also hot and humid here. Taking 3 or 4 showers a day isn't unusual. I pretty much have a quick rinse after any outing.

I get up by 07:30 or 08:00, because it's already light out and at that time the temperature is just right. But darkness falls around 18:30 or so, which makes the day feel "over" already, so we're usually in bed by 22:00, 23:00 at the latest. How odd to shift from my typical 11:00-04:00 hours to a 07:30-22:00 schedule.

My brother K is about 2 hours away by bus/coach. It isn't too inconvenient, and cheap enough for him to come to Taipei almost every weekend, which is nice, because one can only spend so much time alone with one's mother.

Food is ... cheap. And pretty good, for the most part. My mother and I can eat a decent lunch on about 120NT (< 5.00CAD); breakfast costs us about 3.00CAD all together. It's almost cheaper and more convenient just to eat out or buy take-out than it is to prepare something ourselves from scratch.

They have more 7-Elevens here than in Vancouver, heheh: there's one at least every 2 blocks. Definitely a convenience store!

I'm slowly getting used to the heat and everything, but it's going to take me some time. Mostly, I'm itching for "proper" Internet access!

What, only 70lbs??

Well, this is it. My last blog this side of the International Date Line.

I stayed up pretty much all night (had a 40-minute nap) repacking and rejuggling my suitcases to comply with the weight restrictions. My house is a mess. But the packing is more or less done now, finally.

The next time I post, I'll probably be in Hsinchu, at my brother's, barely staying awake. Deeeeep breath ....

27 years in a suitcase

My departure date is approaching fast, but I don't know what to pack.

Last week, I was nervous that I wouldn't have enough luggage space to start my new life. I had started scoping out other channels of sending stuff over: "Oh, J&Co. will be visiting in mid-Oct? Hmm, what can they bring for me ...." "Second Aunt and Fourth Aunt are coming to Vancouver in late Oct? Great, I'll leave a package for them to bring back!"

I pulled out the suitcases we had in the storage closet and negotiated the most luggage space of what was available. Some days ago, I brought the big red suitcase down from the hallway (where it'd been waiting for me for weeks) and placed it downstairs, open, so I'd have room to pack.

And there it sits - empty.

For some reason, I have no idea where to start. Staring at the huge vacancy, I have no idea with what I'm going to fill all that space.

So I began putting stuff near the suitcase when I passed or thought of anything. I brought my boots in, some shoes, my rollerblades. I seem to be accumulating more and more fragile items (ice wine, mugs, bowls) than I have clothes with which to pad them.

With less than 3 days until I leave, I'm starting to panic, because if I don't put something in that suitcase soon, I'll be going to Taiwan with just my brother's and my notebook computers!

Row, row, row your ....

Back then, we used to go to QE Park a fair bit. The adults would stroll leisurely through the park with its spring and summer blooms, while we cousins would swarm like bees. We would dart in and out of the huge hollow bronze sculptures (while banging on them), walk along the fountain wall, dipping our hands into the water and seeing if the coins were within reach. Sometimes we got dangerously close to all the wedding photo sessions taking place ....

My favourite thing of all was watching the water striders in the numerous ponds around the park. They would gracefully oar themselves across the surface of the water, creating little dimples under their feet. They seemed so carefree, lazing around in the pond on a sunny day.

I always felt so peaceful watching them, and always with a smile.

Carless

Yesterday, after a week of false hopes and visits to used car dealers, I sold my car.

I really liked my car, but it wasn't hard letting go after 5 years. Maybe because I knew that its maintenance was crap. A couple weeks ago, S helped me clean up under the hood: it looked like no one had popped the hood in 3 years. Which was more or less the case. After a good scrubbing, the car looked well cared for.

The nice couple who bought it were the perfect buyers. For me. They didn't ask about its maintenance, so I didn't have to lie.

So now I'm carless. I do have my parents' chunky Accord, but it's just not the same.

Leaving on a [Boeing 747] jet plane

Don't know when I'll be back again.

Well, it's done. I've booked my flight.

T minus 12 days.

Woooooooooooohooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!

Just passed my formal presentation (with minor revisions)! :)

Yay!! I can almost feel the freedom ...! :D

Happiness on the go

After months of shopping around, I have a new bundle of joy. Yesterday, S and I braved the flurry of back-to-school shoppers and purchased my Toshiba Satellite M30-YSJ. Loaded with a sexy feature set, this will be my notebook computer for the next few years.

It also came with a free D-Link wireless router (Staples offer), yay! And what's even better: the wireless router was marked 119.95CAD (with $79.95 instant rebate and $40 mail-in rebate). But, when it was rung in at the till, it came up as $109.95 (still with the $79.95 rebate and $40 mail-in!). Double yay!!

It's really slick and the screen is fabulous - very crisp. I haven't really played with it much (at all). My computer administrator is still suping it up with applications and whatever else I'll need, but it should be up and running by tomorrow, yay!

Smokers' exhibition

In the lab, I sit by the window, at a corner near the front of the building, and just far enough away from the phone. From my seat, I see people entering and leaving the building, I see the parking lot (to which I move my car after office hours), but what I see most of all are the smokers on break.

It's frightening how often some of them take a cigarette break: some people are out there 4 or 5 times in as many hours! I wouldn't be entirely surprised if some of them spent more time outside puffing away on their cancer sticks than inside working.

There's a mini-patio at the recessed front door, so it's a little unnerving to have someone smoking, leaning on the side rails of the concrete walkway, less than 2 meters away from me. The big window between us doesn't put up much of a barrier. I keep the blinds half-closed so that I don't feel like an exhibition. "And over here on the right, we have scholasticus eruditus, a species that spends much of their time indoors, away from natural light. They are a philanthropic species, constantly investigating and studying methods to progress the homo sapien species, however sometimes, we never see the fruits of their labour."

On a diet

Alright, I still don't like the waif look, but this is impressive, for lack of a better word. Talk about stomach capacity: Sonya Thomas is a competitive eater. Check out her bib sheet! Daaaaang!

Her latest accomplishment was winning the World Lobster Eating Contest in Maine this past weekend. She devoured 38 lobsters in 12 minutes. That's almost 4.5 kg (10 lbs)! And about 1 kg more than the runner-up!!

What's frightening: lobster isn't her "best" food for competitive eating. She holds a record for hard-boiled eggs.

Artist at Work

The other day, I was hunting for images to go with my post about being stranded outside my lab. Gotta love Google's images search. Anyhow, I came across the pink drawing that I have displayed, and, probably out of sheer procrastination, started clicking away at the artist's site: Nymbus 7.

I. was. amazed.

I am really impressed! I really like Chris Musto's art - his lines, his use of colour, his use of black!, the presentation of his ideas. There's a wonderful boldness about it. Some of the pieces have an almost "grunge" feel to them (like Acid Jazz) - which, if you know me, you would never have thought to associate with my goody-two-shoes-ness. Others I appreciate just for their brilliance (colour-wise, that is) (and idea-wise, too) (but I was referring specifically to colour here).

Given that this was more personal artwork (i.e., not just some vacation photo MS Clip Art), I left a message asking his permission to use that picture for my illustration, and get this: he was way cool about it, as long as I mentioned his name and provided a link to his site (not a problem: see the last line of that blog post). That just blew me away. It made my day! To be able to use nice art on my website - legally (ahem) - and free! Not that I think all artists are snobby and over-copyright-protective about their work. Okay, the first one, at least; the second one, rightfully so.

Have a glance! Here are just a few of my favourites, to entice you to check out his gallery:

• Kokopelli's Ghost,
  
• Sometimes the Music Doesn't Love You Back,
  
• Star Hunter, and,
  
• Ghost of a Silverfish Grapples with Mortality.

Anyhow, Chris Musto is located in southern Virginia, but if you're Googling "artist Virginia State", maybe this site will pop up. :)

Beautiful British Columbia

My Aussie friend was in town, so I took her on my favourite drive of all time: the Sea-to-Sky Highway. I. love. that. drive.

I love how the road curves, snaking alongside the mountains. I love the water just below, at the bottom of a 50-foot drop. Little islands dotting the ocean water. Trees galore. I love the esses that show you sunshine and shade and sunshine again, all within 3 minutes of driving. I love the feeling of crisp, clean air filling my lungs.

I love the splendor with which Nature graces us. The green of trees, the blue of sky and water, the white of snow-capped mountains in the distance, the grey of rocky cliffs.

I love the peace of the drive. Usually because you're on your way to a weekend getaway, or have just had a relaxing one. Even in the dead of night, it's a fantastic drive that makes you feel free.

And then, if you need a break from all that wonderfulness every so often, there are little sites along the way: Porteau Cove, Shannon Falls, Alice Lake, and my all-time favourite Brandywine Falls. Places to picnic, to gaze at waterfalls and lakes, to wade and wet your feet, to feel like you are on vacation. And then you return to a relaxing drive.

What's not to love!

PS - This drive is also fabulous from the passenger seat of a Porsche Boxster with its top down.

Vacation's over.

What the heck??

Today on my way up to campus, a bum is back on the intersection island!!

This ain't no tropical island.

Yesterday was the last day of exams, so at midnight undergraduate access to the building was cut off. Unfortunately Security may not have made the distinction between undergrad and grad, and when I returned to campus at 01:00 last night, I found that I was locked out of the lab building.

As I was repeatedly waving my card past the card sensor in hopes that it would suddenly decide to grant me access, my labmate S came up the stairs inside and let me in. He had been packing up to leave and made a quick trip to the bathroom (in the lobby, just outside the inner card access door), and got stranded in the lobby!

Forty minutes and several unhelpful calls to SFU Security later ("They're at the Pub Night. Call back in 10 minutes." "There was a brawl at the Pub. Call back in 15." "Okay, somebody will be over in 10." "We can't do anything about it until Monday."), my labmate S and I got let in.

We were rather concerned about this lack of access, since we both had looming deadlines and needed to work in the lab over the weekend. We ended up staying another 2 hours until almost 04:00, tag-teaming for washroom trips (letting the other back in), since we didn't know what the situation today would be.

This morning, I got a call from my other labmate N: "Are you coming up to the lab soon? My card isn't working." I told him to call Security and ask to be let in. When I arrived, N told me about how the Security supervisor wouldn't dispatch someone to let him in because "maybe [his] card access was cut off for a reason [that they weren't able to know], or maybe [he] was a bad guy."

This is not the kind of sh!t I need so close to finishing my project. Every hour counts. That said, it's back to work for me.

[ Artwork used with the permission of artist Chris Musto. ]

Bored as a low-fat muffin

You know you're bored when you start searching the Internet on "bored".
And sometimes you find something amusing. :)

Smooth move

I had to get up early this morning to drive my dad somewhere. Mind you, any time before 11:30 is considered early for me, but today it was 07:30, so I think we can all agree that that was pretty early.

As I was getting ready to leave, I noticed a lot of flyaway hairs. Grabbing my hairspray bottle (and testing it in the sink first), I targetted the loose hairs.

And sprayed hairspray right into my eye. Smooth move.

No bummin' around

Near my residence, the major intersections are often home to homeless-jobless-moneyless-foodless bums sporting Nike shoes (or people that are travelling and inevitably run out of/lose all their money).

The other day, I bought some really bad Chinese food. The honey garlic chicken on plain noodles was more like honey honey honey garlic chicken on noodles with an extra scoop of honey on the side. I barely ate half of it. My brother once gave his leftover pizza to a person on the street, so I decided that even if I couldn't stomach it, someone less fortunate might still appreciate it. If I saw one of the vagabonds on the street islands, I would beckon them over to my car window and offer my leftover Chinese to them.

Apparently, vagabonds have office hours, too. I wasn't surprised not to see them when I headed home at 01:00: they'd probably shuffled off to a shelter or something. But the next day and the day after, around midday ... nada. Not one in the entire week. I couldn't find any bums to whom to give it!

I suppose they're entitled to summer vacation, too.

Lookin' cool in mah shades! B)

I am now the proud owner of Oakley Half Wires in Blue Black Iridium! :D I got a great deal on them. This will be the first set of nice sunglasses that I've ever owned. (If you know how I take care of my stuff, you'd know why.) But I love them. They actually fit, which you would think is just a "well, duh" criterion, but for my small face, it's so hard to find sunglasses that aren't too wide/big for me!

I now have my sights set on a pair of Oakley Minutes in Silver Ice Iridium, so that I can have wraparounds to wear for sporty/casual outings. Sweeeeet.

Newton's Third Law of Graduation

Ah yes. Last but not least .... In my experience, this below law has been the most prominent. Paraphrased, it would be, "Two steps forward, one step and a stumble back."



Piled Higher and Deeper, by Jorge Cham
www.phdcomics.com

Pop a cherry

Nectarines topped my list of fruit about a month ago, but now my favourites are cherries. Not just any cherries. Big-a$$ Okanagan cherries.

If you have never tasted Okanagan fruit in all their summer glory, you are truly missing out. I kid you not. The warmth of the BC Okanagan region makes for the most fabulous apples, oranges, peaches, nectarines, cherries, you name it. And if you're anywhere near the area, there are kajillions of fruit stands along the roads selling their wares at dirt-cheap prices. Okay, that's my bit for Tourism BC.

So anyway, back to the cherries. I like to munch when I'm working, so I bought a 3-lb box (~1.3kg) of cherries for 9.00CAD. Ginormous, plump plump plump cherries. Massive, way-too-big-for-its-stem cherries. I can just encircle them with my thumb and forefinger. Huge. a$$. cherries. Practically mutant, I tell ya. The farmers probably watered the cherry orchards with green apple sparkling soda. (Aside: Why the h#ll is it soda?? They're a Canadian company. Pop.) Try chopping that tree down, George.

The great thing about these mammoth cherries is that the size of the cherry pit is still the same, so all that extra mass is sweet sweet cherry meat! Sweet chunk of cherry. And after I'm done with the flesh, I like to suck on the pit, roll it around in my mouth, bite on it, while I think. By the time I spit it out, the cherry pit is polished clean. An all-around fantastic fruit.

And damn yummy.

Nuclear pomme

Last week, during the heat spell in Vancouver, I found the slight tang in President's Choice Naturally Flavoured Green Apple Sparkling Soda quite refreshing. So I bought a 2L bottle for my long hours in the lab.

What I didn't realise at the time was that the bottle is clear, and that the nuclear green colour is from the bevie itself. It glows. Like a mug o' radiation.

I can't quite understand why they would think to make it naturally flavoured, yet add artificial colouring to it. Not to mention a colour that makes it look like it has a half-life.

I should've brought a black mug to the lab instead.

Over the hill? This way, please.

I have a young-looking face and I still occasionally get id'ed, so I sometimes like to think that I can still blend in with the young'uns.

Well, being summer and all, there are a lot of high school kids working their summer jobs. The other day I was at Superstore picking up some fruit, and as the "kid" behind the checkout handed back my credit card, he said, "Thank you, ma'am."

I got ma'am'ed. Ouch.

Newton's Second Law of Graduation

Piled Higher and Deeper, by Jorge Cham
www.phdcomics.com

Stick people

I am not a particular fan of the waif look that many Asian women are sporting. Women that eat like birds and don't like any activity more strenuous than walking to their car or making stars out of wrapping paper strips.

I can't stand women with thighs slimmer than my biceps or calves, who look like the slightest breeze may take them to Kansas City, and on whom a Size 0 doesn't seem to fit right. They just look so unhealthy, almost Ethiopian.

You could chalk it up to envy, since I have a "North American" figure and a healthy appetite, but in the end, I'd take my chunky thighs over their pretzel stick figures.

Newton's First Law of Graduation

This is a comic strip I recently found - Piled Higher and Deeper, by Jorge Cham of Stanford University, about grad student life. Hilariously funny. Here's a great introduction for you. (Unfortunately, fully applicable to me.)



Piled Higher and Deeper, by Jorge Cham
www.phdcomics.com

So much for plans.

Fvck fvck fvck fvck fvck fvck fvck fvck fvck fvck fvck fvck fvck fvck fvck FVCK.

I don't usually swear, but this warrants a good chain of profanities.

I was planning on presenting my project at the beginning of Aug.

I just learnt from a labmate that my senior supervisor is going to be away from tomorrow until Aug 04. Starting Sept, she'll be away on sabbatical for a year (that part I already knew, though). Fvck.

I also learnt from her that my other committee member is going to be away all of August. He won't be back until Sept. After my senior supervisor has left on sabbatical. Fvck.

I learnt that other faculty members are going to be away in August, or are already sitting on several other thesis committees and thus won't be able to take on additional students. Fvvvvvck.

Not to mention, my senior supervisor has conflicts with several members of the faculty, thus ruling them out to sit on my committee. Fvvvvvck!

I have to go find another committee member if I want to graduate this term.

Fvck.

Shameless plug

My buddy's theatre group Genus Theatre is putting on a new show City at Night.

2004 Aug 19-22, 26-28

Methodica Acting Studio
Suite 320, 440 W Hastings St, Vancouver

Tickets: Adults $12, Students $8, Matinee $8

If you enjoy tongue-in-cheek and satirical humour, this is a must-see. Or, as their motto goes, "Attendance is mandatory." Check out their website for show and ticket details!

Oh yeah, and this brilliant buddy of mine, he recently convocated with a Fine Arts degree and will be finishing his technical Master's soon. <shaking head> Wow.

I've fallen, ...!

I had dry feet, so I massaged in some healing foot cream. As I headed downstairs, the somewhat greasy cream and the plastic runner had a disagreement, so my feet went up, and I went down, landing with my full weight on my left hip.

I lay on the bottom few stairs, catching my breath and letting the pain subside a bit while I mentally tallied up the damage, and, deciding that it still hurt like h#ll, I let out a straggled wail. My big brother rushed out into the hall and asked, "Are you okay??"

And then he burst into laughter. Punk a$$.

It was a 3"-diameter welt of solid purple when I took this picture 3 days ago. It has since expanded. Today, it's the size of a very loose fist (about 5" across) with a thick edge of purple; the center of the bruise has taken on a jaundice yellow ....

I'm just happy it's above my shorts line.

All in a Day's Work

I've come to realise that working at school is good for me on many levels.

1. I actually get work done. I can really focus on my work. At home, the tv sucks up at least half of my attention. Go figure. :P Here, no distractions, it's like tunnel vision, instead of television. I don't even notice people entering and leaving the lab.
   
2. I drink enough fluids. There's a lot of compiling, so I have my bottle of water and lots of Tetra Paks of juice or iced tea. Of course, the downside is that I'm heading to the restroom every 15 minutes ....
   
3. I'm eating fruit! Same reason as above. With so much [necessary] waiting, I keep myself busy by eating and eating and eating, sometimes up to 5 fruits in the 10, 12 hours that I'm here.
   

I've taken to picking up 2 Subway deli sandwiches (for lunch and dinner; reasonably healthy) and fruit, before heading up to school to work on my project from noon (varies ...) until 10pm or midnight. I have everything I need, including spare batteries for my MuVo (I find that Vanessa-Mae is the best work music).

Of course, that's assuming I'm prepared. Occasionally, I'll forget to charge the batteries, which makes for a miserably quiet day. Or I won't get a chance to pick up deli sandwiches, which means that I'll be subsidising with crap food and mochas (Timmy H's - mmmmm ... oh, bad! bad!).

It's a double-edged sword, this working up at school.

Whath the point?

I'll never forget the time we came across the pride of San Francisco.

We brought our items up to the counter at Old Navy. Our cashier was - I kid you not - the reincarnate of Captain Hook (but without the hook). He was Latino, tall and slim; had high cheekbones and wavy hair that fell past his shoulders. He wore eyeliner, and had an earring (or two). No problem, we were cool. After all, it was San Francisco.

What really caught us off guard was his reminder to remove the price tag when we asked for a gift receipt, "becuth otherwithe, whath the point? And here'th your change, $13. Thome think it'th bad luck, but I'm not thuperthtitious." Tinkerbell voice, hand gestures and all. We flashed him a great smile and thanked him.

It was all we could do to run out of the store before we cracked up.

Damn technology!

For my birthday, S arranged a group gift from my friends. It wasn't a surprise, because we went shopping all over for an MP3 player. And we (he) ended up buying it on eBay for cheaper than we could have gotten it in stores.

I love my Creative Nomad MuVo TX! It's tiny, fits in the palm of my hand, runs off a single AAA battery, and provides me with hours of music. I managed to fit 11 albums into the 256MB memory capacity. I haven't even explored all of its features, yet.

A few minutes later .... AAAAHHHHhhhh!! While searching for a link for the MuVo TX's features, I came across this: the new MuVo TX FM! Identical to my TX, but with an FM receiver. And it's going for cheaper than my TX! Oooohhh, woe is me. :'(

Footnote: As it turns out, the MuVo TX FM isn't a Nomad, which means it was outsourced, which means it is likely not of the same caliber as their in-house Nomad products. Somewhat consoling. :)

Mouthwash, anyone?

I popped an antihistamine before hurrying out to the car, and we were on our way.

My eyes were tearing up and I started sneezing - and I realised that it absolutely reeked in the car. "Dad, are you wearing cologne to a funeral??"

"No, I rinsed with mouthwash. It was one of the little hotel bottles, labelled 'Mouthwash', but it was so strong that I spit it out immediately. I tried rinsing and brushing my teeth, but I can't get rid of it."

I think that one of my brothers must've reused the little bottle for cologne or aftershave. I couldn't talk to my dad all morning because the stench was too much to handle. (Luckily lunch and lots of tea helped.)

"My, what black teeth you have!"

I was digging around in passport documents and the like one day, and I came across a cookie tin with some old photos. One picture was of us and some older Chinese guests from about 20 years ago. When I showed the picture to my father, he recounted their visit.

Apparently, I pointed out, "Daddy, his teeth are really black."

Dad tried to brush me off, but I was intent on telling him. By the time he managed to shush me up, our guest's face was already flushed with embarrassment.

Rodent pets

My wireless optical mouse had been acting up, and even after changing the batteries, it wasn't responding. In our next phone conversation, I exclaimed to S, "My mouse died!"

"Your mouse died?" replied S. And then I heard laughter.

Apparently his mother had overheard and asked, "N has a mouse? and it died?"

:)

Violence as a means of resolution

A couple days ago, I was out running an errand when a radio news piece made my jaw drop. It was the latest horrific child killing: the slashing of Japanese schoolgirl by her classmate.

It wasn't just the fact that these girls were only 11 or 12. It was the fact that the victim's throat was slit, her arms cut, and she was left to bleed out in a nearby classroom. All because of a little Internet dispute.

In 1997, a 14-year-old decapitated one of 2 victims, leaving the head at the school gate. The man was just recently paroled.

How are kids these days resorting to that extent of violence as a resolution method? They need some serious therapy.

Window into my soul

There are some cool perks to going to an optometrist friend, besides having complete confidence in his skills. His downtown office has all the latest high-tech equipment, and I get to ask all sorts of questions without feeling like I'm pestering him.

He doesn't charge me. I certainly didn't ask or hint at it; I wouldn't think of it. So I bring him little cakes or pastries as a token of appreciation.

He gives me free samples - disposable contact lens, eye drops, anything I might need.

And the coolest perk is that I have access to neat stuff, like pictures of my retina! Normally off limits to clients, my friend gave me a soft copy. This is the retina of my right eye. You can see the blood vessels in my eye, the bright spot where my optic nerve is located, and the dark area of my blind spot. The bright haloing around the optic nerve indicates retinal stretching - a result of myopia. Neat, eh? :)

Shopaholic on the loose

I am exhausted. I have so much work to do on my project, but I pretty much haven't touched it in the last couple of weeks. I've been so busy MP3 player shopping, laptop shopping, camera shopping, birthday gift shopping, and (latest addition) sunglasses shopping. Costco, Coquitlam Centre, Future Shop, London Drugs, Lougheed Mall, Costco, Metropolis/Metrotown, Future Shop, .... That's a lot of running around! A lot of shopping for someone who's not particularly keen on shopping. My bank account's gonna have an owie this month ....

CYA

To catch the trough in the gas price cycle, I had to circle back to the same gas station. As I was waiting to pay inside, I noticed a yellow laminated sign on the counter:

If we ask you for id please, consider it a compliment.

Living a better life

For my birthday, my cousins got me a little music box with a framed saying on it: Live so that people will be better off for having known you.

A nice little reminder to make the world a better place (as long as you're not a pushover).

Hey, wait a minute, Mr. Postman ....

There was a time when my day started with the mail delivery. With over 50 penpals, receiving letters was the highlight of the day: I got to read news from a friend, and then tell them all about what was going on with me.

Well, those days are long gone, and the number of people with whom I correspond regularly has dwindled down to a handful or so. My ears still perk up at the sound of the mailslot, but my expectations have been reset. I often think about the others, and how to get back in touch with them.

And then the other day I received a letter. The first thing I noticed was the handwriting, which immediately told me: Europe. The stamp: Spain. I hadn't heard from any of my Spanish friends in over 5 years. It was from a friend I'd met in '93, and then stayed with in '94 during my second trip to Spain. She wasn't a particularly diligent penpal, and we lost touch a few years later. She works now, lives with her boyfriend; they bought a house in a town of 10,000. She's no longer the same brat I knew back then.

I can't wait to write back. :)

There was a tine when ...

It all started because I forgot to bring a fork.

I decided to stop at Brentwood Mall to pick up a pack of plastics, but parking was dreadful. After circling around, I finally found some guys leaving, turned on my blinker and patiently waited. As soon as they pulled out, though, some b!tch whipped in and stole my parking spot!! I couldn't believe it! And then she had the nerve to flip me the bird when I honked!

Lucky for her, she was already gone when I was left the mall, else it would've cost her a new paintjob.

Grrr.

Yowza!

Owiiiiiieee .... I got a paper cut.

In my finger webbing.

From a carton (like a granola bar box).

Owiiiiiiieeeee .... :(

Seriously West Coast

Love this ad for our local paper:

Still looking

Thought this was cute ....

I am still looking for the perfect job!

My first job was working in an orange juice factory, but I got canned - couldn't concentrate.

After that I tried to be a tailor, but I just wasn't suited for it ... mainly because it was a so-so job.

Then I tried to be a chef - figured it would add a little spice to my life, but I just didn't have the thyme.

Next I tried working in a muffler factory but that was too exhausting.

I managed to get a good job working for a pool maintenance company, but the work was just too draining.

I attempted to be a deli worker, but anyway I sliced it, I couldn't cut the mustard.

Then I worked in the woods as a lumberjack, but I just couldn't hack it, so they gave me the ax.

Next was a job in a shoe factory; I tried but I just didn't fit in.

So then I got a job in a workout center, but they said I wasn't fit for the job.

After many years of trying to find steady work I finally got a job as a historian until I realised there was no future in it.

I studied a long time to become a doctor, but I found that I didn't have any patience.

My best job was being a musician, but eventually I found I wasn't noteworthy.

I became a professional fisherman, but discovered that I couldn't live on my net income.

My last job was working at Starbucks, but I had to quit because it was always the same old grind.

SO I RETIRED AND FOUND I'M PERFECT FOR THE JOB!

I hadn't been able to access my bank account on-line lately, so I finally called the bank today. Well, just because there hasn't been any activity in that account for ... oooh, over a year, it moved to the dormant state. "Yeesh!" :P

Okay, that's fine. But, to reactivate this account, there's a $15 fee. The account only has $100 in it!

But on the other hand, there's no charge to close an account, and none to open one .... :)

Serving chicken

Everyone likes their chicken a certain way. So, go on: order [around] your chicken.

Well, it's official: I'm cross-eyed. *sigh*

ARGH!! Alright, I know that they all have their bad days, but tonight was the third time in the playoff series that Calgary scored twice within a minute! Let's recap:

Game 1, 2nd period: Simon @ 4:38, then Saprykin @ 5:06
Game 2, 1st period: Iginla @ 3:06, then Lombardi @ 3:56
Game 4, 2nd period: Clark @ 16:06, then Donovan @ 16:33

Now what is up with that?! AaaaaAARRGH!!

I've noticed that the past couple of years, I've become a hermit of sorts. I'm not sure why, but I seem to have closed or limited my network, almost like, "I have enough friends".

About 8 years ago, I thought one could never have enough friends. I loved talking to people, mingling with all groups, being a social butterfly. It was the best feeling. This was also the time when I gave people the benefit of the doubt, too.

Over the years, I've lost touch with a lot of people - either for lack of time or genuine loss of contact info. S is quite content to stay at home or to hang out with certain friends, and that's influenced me a bit, too. As well as a couple of creeps who have hit on me.

I guess that I miss the happy-go-lucky gal that I was. Hopefully, I can regain that cheery outlook again, while keeping the wisdom (that made me a cynic, without making me a cynic).

On Tue night, Team Canada defeated the US 2-0 in Women's World Hockey to claim their 8th consecutive gold. I was studying, but I caught snippets of it and was rather impressed by the women's skating skills (fast).

About 15 mins into the 3rd period, the US women scored a goal. At first, it looked like the puck hit the post. Whistle was blown, and the decision went upstairs. In the meantime, the commentators went over the play from all possible cameras, and you could clearly see that the puck went in: a fast shot that hit the back post and bounced out hard. Unfortunately, the Finnish referee waved it no goal. It was sad to see the players get robbed of a goal, and it dimmed the Canadian victory.

Well, just a little. I'm still glad we won. :)

Woohoo! Just wrote my last final exam ever! :D

When we stopped for gas on the way home, I decided to buy a lottery ticket as well ($21M!).

The man behind the counter looked at me and said, "You don't look old enough to buy a lotto ticket. Do you have any id?"

He was friendly enough, so I tried to detect if he was actually being serious. (Majority age is 19 years. I'm ... "just a touch" older.) Apparently so.

I handed him my driver's licence. I figured he'd say something like, "Oh, oops. Okay, thanks."

Nope. "Is this really you, or is this your older sister?"

Ehn?? I raised an eyebrow. I just smiled, signed my receipt and left.

Being frugal is okay by me; I'm certainly one to save a penny. But like many traits, frugality can be annoying when taken to the extreme.

I used to organise a volleyball tournament up at SFU for Applied Science students - it was one of the highlights each term: I'm proud to say it was a popular tourney and the participants always had fun.

Enter D, the same guy I mentioned here, who also asked for a bowl of tripe when he didn't find any in his $5 bowl of Vietmanese noodles. D, with whom I play vball, is always looking to get the most out of his dollar, even at the sacrifice of sportsmanship (read: sandbagging).

Last week, I was infuriated to learn that D entered a team into the AppSci tourney and that they won the movie admissions tickets. What's more is that they paid $2/person entry fee - the "AppSci" team fee. Not a big deal? Well, what gets me:

1) they weren't even eligible to enter at all (not one person on the team was an SFU student),
2) much less AppSci (to get the AppSci team rate),
3) and most of all, they practically stole the prizes away from eligible teams!

Absolutely disgusting.

Alright, for those who need a bigger challenge, try the original room game Droom. It took me a while, but after "mastering" it, I finished it in 43 clicks.

Then have a bit of fun with this interesting planetary quest.

If you're still bored, here are 2 sci-fi games I haven't tried: Kharon and The Art Machine.

Have fun!

Can you escape the Crimson Room?

We got a telemarketing call tonight during dinner (when else!). It was an Ipsos-Reid (related to Angus Reid) survey about BC post-secondary institutions, wanting to know what was important when selecting a post-secondary institute.

This survey was focused on Kwantlen College. During the phone call, I realised how little I knew about the local colleges - mostly because I completely disregarded them when I was in high school. As he went through his list of questions ("how would you rate Kwantlen on ...."), most of my answers were "don't know". He also read a bunch of statements: "did you know that Kwantlen has controlled class sizes", "now that you know, do you have a more favourable opinion, or no difference?" My answer to the latter was almost unanimously "no difference".

I'm such a post-secondary institute snob.

I am notoriously bad at flossing. The dentist flosses my teeth for me every 6 or 9 months (though I give it a courtesy flossing the night before). I don't know what it is about flossing, but I just won't do it.

Well, I changed all that. Last night was my 4th consecutive night flossing. :) It helps to brush my teeth while in the shower or watching tv so that when I get to the flossing part, it doesn't feel like I've been standing there at the mirror for so long.

After 2 weeks of frustration and anger and depression pent up inside, I had a bit of a meltdown today. The combination of a too-hard bed (having a sore back every morning), the class that I'm probably going to fail, zero motivation, bad volleyball, too much crap food, and an emotionally-exhausting dream, finally got to me.

I was so tired (even after 10 hours' sleep a night) that I couldn't even cry it out, but I managed to let go of some of it today. And S helped me make a mini-plan to work toward some short-term goals. So, starting today, I'm going to try sticking to a schedule, with limited goofing-off time. One day at a time.

Baby steps, baby steps. <deep breath>

Oohhh yeah, baby, 109!!!

Today is my high school friend's birthday. I had a crush on him back in Grade 9. And 11. ... And 12. (Only skipped Grade 10 because he was at Trek.) He wasn't a jock, or popular. I didn't even notice him on my own.

A and I were away at the '92 BC Winter Games for our respective sports, and so, after getting back, we had to pair up for some missed work in class. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the popular girls on the sofa drawing hearts in the air around us, and was embarrassed for him because - well, I wasn't exactly a hot commodity, haha.

From 4 classes together in Grade 11 to none in Grade 12. Come spring, I finally wrote him a note. Letter. Novella. Note. And got my friend to slip it into his locker. And then I spilt my guts to him over the phone. Boy did that catch him off guard. HahAhHAha. (I know one of you out there knows what I'm talking about!)

He found me the week after and we went for a stroll - yep, the "let's just be friends" talk. Which was really funny because after I'd told him over the phone, the crush was no more. :)

Ah, to be young and naïve again.

Happy Birthday, A. :)

I set a personal Minesweeper best time about 8 years ago: 127 seconds for the expert level. I'll never touch my brother's best time (80-something?), but last night, I came back to the game after so many years, and beat my personal best with a 123 seconds. Yay! :)

Hi, Grandma

Feb 22 was the anniversary of my grandmother's passing. I guess this year we had a lot of stuff going on, so it went by unnoticed. (Sorry, Grandma.)

That was 6 years ago, but here are some of the things I remember ....

I remember coming home from [elementary] school and having food on the table.

I remember watered down Campbell's cream of mushroom soup (because that's how my cousins had it at their place) - ew.

I remember Grandma teaching me how to cook (back in the day when it was okay to add MSG to anything and everything).

I remember her coughing in the middle of the night when I just got home from SFU, and I'd have to help her sit up in bed to drink water because she didn't have enough strength herself.

I remember how my room smelled of old people (c'mon now, y'all know what I mean!), plus the smell of fruit (sometimes gone bad) because she liked to keep it in the room.

I remember coming home and being horrified to find her on the [tile] floor of the foyer at the bottom of the stairs, cane knocked over, in a puddle of urine. I still don't know how long she'd been lying there, though she claimed that she didn't fall and was "just resting".

And mostly, I remember being in bed, on the phone, the week after she died. I was telling my friend about missing her, and all of a sudden, a wave of emotion passed through me, and I sat bolt upright, bawling and looking around, because I felt her there. Interestingly enough, she appeared in my brother's dream that night as well, so she was probably making the rounds before leaving the world.

Winter Wonderland

Contrary to what my dad thinks, our house is freezing cold. My dad sets "room temperature" at 15 degrees Celsius. While turning down the heat has an advantage (just one - saving on the gas bill), the drawbacks are many:

1. it's frickin' freezing;
   
2. it's so cold that your body goes into hibernation mode;
   
3. freezing cold -> hibernation -> can't do any work;
   
4. people stay outside to keep warm;
   
5. falling asleep when it's cold is not fun;
   
6. waking up to the cold makes you want to stay in bed longer;
   
7. it's frickin' FREEZING!
   

Why is it that we can't digest corn? It's one of the few foods I know of that passes through our system virtually untouched. It's considered a cereal, so how come we totally disregard it? What other foods get overlooked by the digestive system, as evidenced at the other end?

Okay, so there is a bit of geek in me, but you have to admit, a star being swallowed by a black hole is pretty cool!

Saint Valentine's Day is such a Hallmark holiday. I mean, seriously. Shouldn't you be telling your loved one that you love them a little more often than once a year? Or is it just for the lame-o's who need to be obligated to do so? And then, of course, there's excluding the singles. That just ain't nice.

S and I don't really celebrate V Day. We don't get each other Christmas nor birthday gifts. We don't need any of that. I don't tire of seeing him and talking to him everyday (or more than once a day). Our "gifts" to each other are found in the little things: doing research on the web at 3am, getting that DVD they'd been talking about, running a gas can up to SFU at midnight because someone (me) didn't have enough gas to even start the car! Little things. :)

I don't need a commercial holiday to know he cares. Nor to tell him that I do.

There's something to be said about being steered when you're 27. In the last couple of years (and maybe longer), I've had a lot of questions/doubts in the direction of my life, and I finally resolved to do something about it. I don't want to leave this to escalate into a mid-life crisis.

I haven't even made any minor changes, yet; just looking into possibilities and some planning, but it's already very evident that this will not go over well with the parents. Instead of even considering what I want, they are clamping down even more and trying to steer me "back on course". They apparently think that calling me (when I'm out) at 12:30am and telling me that I should really come home now will exert more control over me.

For fvcking crying out loud, I'm almost 27!

Maybe it's because I notice things now, but everything is starting to add up now, and I'm getting really close to apartment-hunting.

Sorry to B and K if they don't feel the same way, but somehow, I don't think they go through quite the same stuff.

Have you ever been so mad that you're just seething and you're past that productive zone? You're so angry that you can't even cry to let it out. Then the one weekly destressing outlet you always look forward to (volleyball for me) goes so badly that you're even angrier afterward. And it's worse when the person/people have no idea that they make you so mad because they're "not doing anything wrong".

That was my weekend.

Be careful what you say to your pet. It just might come back at you.

Shake what your momma gave you

There's this show Dance Moves on BPM (that's Channel 558 for Bell subscribers). It's kind of neat in a lame way. All they do for an hour is show you dance moves! Little snippets of moves that they then string together into a choreographed routine. Kind of neat for the dance floor challenged.

When you start getting them every weekend, birthday dinners really start to add up. One birthday outing is okay, but we've already had 2 since the holidays, there are 2 more coming up soon, and many more on the horizon!

First there's dinner - let's say, $25-$50 per couple (sometimes more, sometimes less), depending on whether or not we use the Entertainment Book (that's a bank account saver!). Then there's the gift; thankfully, this group does lots of group gifts so $10 per person ($20 per couple). And after that, there's the activity! This could be just going to someone's place for cake and coffee, or going bowling or whatever.

For someone who's in school, with no job, little things like this can take their toll on your wallet!

I don't wanna do jack. There are so many reasons why I should do what I need to do, and there are personal motivations for doing what I need to do, but I just. don't. wanna. *sigh*

Here's a cool article on the fat and the fit of the U.S. of A.: How Fat Is Your City?

Class has started. With any luck (and lots of perseverance), this will be my last semester to complete my M.Eng! Yay! Then I can go ahead and forget all this engineering education! :D Hahaha.

Happy New Year, everyone!

The end of 2003 was a quiet one. S came over after dinner, and we watched some odds and ends on tv before starting LotR: Fellowship of the Ring. (I hadn't seen any of the LotRs yet!) Went upstairs to get something and noticed that it was 23:58, so we caught the last 4 seconds of the countdown. Called up a few friends to wish them HNY, resumed LotR and watched World Cup Volleyball. Not very exciting, but I had a nice time, in good company. :)

Seems like most people I've talked to decided to have a quiet NYE this year - stay home, mellow out. Either that or we're just getting too old to party. Either way, it's okay by me. :)