Good Morning Folks,
It has been a few days since I posted. This is because I've been working from home because my son has been sick with some kind of cold/flu virus. Normally, working from home would be the best time to write, but things have been a lot crazier than that. It brings on a whole new meaning to "What Tomorrow Brings".
First off, as you are all aware, my Team Lead gave his notice a couple weeks back. This is his last week here and we're going to miss his humor and leadership. Well, I found out on Tuesday that our Project Manager has also given his notice. Other than myself, he was the only other person who knew more about the product I support here and with his knowledge leaving, I'll be the "goto guy" for this product and everyone will be asking me questions. Not sure I like that position.
Yesterday, I found out one of my team mates has given notice and will be done next week. This person has been wanting to leave for awhile and I'm happy for him because he is going to be moving on to do something he really wants to do. Lucky Bastard!
This all happened over the last couple days and I am just returning to the office today to find all this out. I can't even begin to gather my thoughts on this to share with you. I'm very confused about my future here and very confused as to the direction I want to take. In one hand, I have an opportunity to take the leadership role of this team and become a manager. The job comes with a pile of new stress, but may have benefits if I work it correctly. On the other hand, I have a job opportunity within the same company to do something a bit more interesting. The issue with solution two is the uncertainty that comes with it. The team will be a new team to the company and it hasn't been fully outlined yet. I may be walking into a disaster, or I may be walking into a great opportunity. What do I do?
For now, I want to focus on today because there is no way of knowing what tomorrow will bring. I may find another co-worker quitting today or tomorrow. I may find this leadership "opportunity" forced on me with no way out of it short of quitting. I don't really want to fret about what may happen at this point as the situation is very fragile and I have a LOT of work I need to get done. This is a huge distraction and is causing a lot of doubt and stress among the people here.
So what do I do?
I'm going to start by signing off here and then begin my work like it was any other day. Until told otherwise, my role and responsibility hasn't changed. I will work through the day and hopefully have nothing major to report to you tomorrow :)
By the way, my son is fine now and back in school. As I mentioned, he was down with a bit of a cold/flu virus that kept him out of school all week this week. Tomorrow they have the day off so in total he made it to school one day this week (lucky kid!).
Anyway, take care folks and we'll hopefully see you here tomorrow.
Cheers,
Al
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Monday, October 22, 2007
Moandays
Good morning folks,
Or should I say, "Happy Moanday". No, that isn't a typo, I misspelled Monday on purpose to make a point. I've heard this term used quite a bit, especially around the "Office" scenario where people go to work in some kind of office building, sit in a cubical and do the same mundane task every day. I am reminded of a comic (as luck would have it, I can't find right now) where there are a couple archaeologists looking over their latest dig. Inside is a perfectly preserved cubicle in your typical present-day office building. They are talking about how in the past, people used to be forced to sit in these small boxed offices and perform mundane tasks. I had a chuckle because it is probably closer to the truth.
That said, I've been putting a lot of thought into my current working environment lately. Right now, it is too damn hot to even think about working as I'm working hard to just stay awake. Seriously folks, it is almost 30 degrees Celsius (86 Fahrenheit) and I'm breaking a sweat, sitting at my desk, doing nothing. *sigh* It is time for a change of scenery and pace I think.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, my current Team Lead has given his notice and is almost done. Unfortunately for us, this is officially his last week of work here, and while he is supposed to be here until Friday, never has anyone lasted till the bitter end and has either ended up leaving early the last day or being told to go home mid-week. Either way, I am going to miss the guy and wish him well at his new job (lucky bastard). I'm very jealous to be honest. Sounds like the job he is going to is my dream job and the one I've been looking for since I moved here. Alas, it is time to take action!!
Anyway folks, I'm having issues keeping my thoughts in order with this heat. I hope to have something worthy to write about tomorrow :)
Cheers,
Al
Or should I say, "Happy Moanday". No, that isn't a typo, I misspelled Monday on purpose to make a point. I've heard this term used quite a bit, especially around the "Office" scenario where people go to work in some kind of office building, sit in a cubical and do the same mundane task every day. I am reminded of a comic (as luck would have it, I can't find right now) where there are a couple archaeologists looking over their latest dig. Inside is a perfectly preserved cubicle in your typical present-day office building. They are talking about how in the past, people used to be forced to sit in these small boxed offices and perform mundane tasks. I had a chuckle because it is probably closer to the truth.
That said, I've been putting a lot of thought into my current working environment lately. Right now, it is too damn hot to even think about working as I'm working hard to just stay awake. Seriously folks, it is almost 30 degrees Celsius (86 Fahrenheit) and I'm breaking a sweat, sitting at my desk, doing nothing. *sigh* It is time for a change of scenery and pace I think.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, my current Team Lead has given his notice and is almost done. Unfortunately for us, this is officially his last week of work here, and while he is supposed to be here until Friday, never has anyone lasted till the bitter end and has either ended up leaving early the last day or being told to go home mid-week. Either way, I am going to miss the guy and wish him well at his new job (lucky bastard). I'm very jealous to be honest. Sounds like the job he is going to is my dream job and the one I've been looking for since I moved here. Alas, it is time to take action!!
Anyway folks, I'm having issues keeping my thoughts in order with this heat. I hope to have something worthy to write about tomorrow :)
Cheers,
Al
Friday, October 19, 2007
Finally it's Friday!!
Afternoon folks,
A bit late today but like my ma used to always say, better late than never. Funny how that never was the case when I was late for supper or late coming home from school. Hmmm
Parenting is a strange force. You remember that "This is going to hurt me more than it is going to hurt you!" saying? This usually was spoken prior to a beating of some form which was typically determined by the severity of the offense. You see, my parents taught me cause and effect at an early age. I talk back, I get a spanking. I yell back, I get the wooden (later upgraded to plastic) spoon. I get angry and punch a wall or door, I get Dad.
{shudders}
Of course when the severity of my disobedience increased so did my punishment. After my parents decided I was getting a bit too old to spank, they decided to ground me. Grounding is such a funny term because it comes from pilots who would sometimes be grounded when they broke the rules or disobeyed orders. In the traditional sense, being grounded meant you lost your privilege to fly and had to remain on the ground. While pilots are still grounded today, the phrase was probably originally used by a military father who told his child they were grounded which meant they lost their privileges. This later turned into "grounded from TV" and "grounded from video games" for those of us who enjoyed such things :)
Now that I'm older and a parent, I'm starting to see the benefit of grounding and find using that tactic works well with my children. I observe them and find things they enjoy doing. The easy ones are TV and Computer, but there are also some others like playing outside with friends that usually sets my kids off and typically changes their attitudes quick. I can't say I overly enjoy "grounding" my children, but it is my responsibility as a parent to ensure my children are ready for the world when they reach the right age and are able to cope with things like disappointment, loss and authority. Being able to cope outside of the family unit is the main reason we should discipline our children.
But what do I know? :) I've been a parent for just over 7 years and there are people who are reading this who have been parents for over 30. So let me open up the forum here and see what all you other parents think. How do you discipline your children and what is the main reason for doing so? I look forward to reading some of your comments.
Until next time folks, I must be off. The weekend is just around the corner and I can't wait!!!
Cheers,
Al
A bit late today but like my ma used to always say, better late than never. Funny how that never was the case when I was late for supper or late coming home from school. Hmmm
Parenting is a strange force. You remember that "This is going to hurt me more than it is going to hurt you!" saying? This usually was spoken prior to a beating of some form which was typically determined by the severity of the offense. You see, my parents taught me cause and effect at an early age. I talk back, I get a spanking. I yell back, I get the wooden (later upgraded to plastic) spoon. I get angry and punch a wall or door, I get Dad.
{shudders}
Of course when the severity of my disobedience increased so did my punishment. After my parents decided I was getting a bit too old to spank, they decided to ground me. Grounding is such a funny term because it comes from pilots who would sometimes be grounded when they broke the rules or disobeyed orders. In the traditional sense, being grounded meant you lost your privilege to fly and had to remain on the ground. While pilots are still grounded today, the phrase was probably originally used by a military father who told his child they were grounded which meant they lost their privileges. This later turned into "grounded from TV" and "grounded from video games" for those of us who enjoyed such things :)
Now that I'm older and a parent, I'm starting to see the benefit of grounding and find using that tactic works well with my children. I observe them and find things they enjoy doing. The easy ones are TV and Computer, but there are also some others like playing outside with friends that usually sets my kids off and typically changes their attitudes quick. I can't say I overly enjoy "grounding" my children, but it is my responsibility as a parent to ensure my children are ready for the world when they reach the right age and are able to cope with things like disappointment, loss and authority. Being able to cope outside of the family unit is the main reason we should discipline our children.
But what do I know? :) I've been a parent for just over 7 years and there are people who are reading this who have been parents for over 30. So let me open up the forum here and see what all you other parents think. How do you discipline your children and what is the main reason for doing so? I look forward to reading some of your comments.
Until next time folks, I must be off. The weekend is just around the corner and I can't wait!!!
Cheers,
Al
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Been Sick
Morning folks,
Sorry for the lack of posts the last couple days but I've been ill. Some would argue whether I've been physically ill or just "sick and tired". :) I'll leave that for you to decide on your own.
Today I have made it into the office and am sitting at my desk staring at my monitors wondering why. The why is what is driving me crazy right now because I don't know the context in which I'm asking the question. I guess you could say I'm feeling a little "blah" today and would rather be home with my wife who has today and tomorrow off from work. We don't get to spend as much time together any more because of her work schedule. Not that she is working when I'm home, but she goes to work so early in the morning that she is in bed shortly after supper time which only gives us 2 (maybe 3 if I'm lucky) hours to spend with each other. None of which are alone because the kids are up and we are making supper, getting homework done and various other things we need to do in an evening before bed time.
Don't get me wrong, I'm glad she is working and is making some money for herself. I still find it odd to walk into a store and not have to buy a bunch of stuff with my money. In fact, last week she picked up one of those Ab Lounger things I've been wanting to work on my growing tummy :) When we got to the checkout, I was getting ready to haul out my wallet when she whipped out her bank card and bought the whole thing. It is nice to have extra money coming in and I've noticed the place seems to be sprucing up nicely with little things like throw blankets and rugs on the floor. It makes our town house feel like a warm home.
It isn't all bad of course. We have weekends together which is nice. On weekends she works, she is home shortly after noon so we get to spend all day and early evenings together. We have started a weekly routine where I will take our son to Dance class in the morning, then we'll go and pick up Katie from work and come back. Then we'll take the scenic route home along the coast and if we can afford it, we'll pick up some food to eat (otherwise we'll wait until we get home to eat). I actually enjoy the Saturday because it gives me a little bit of time to spend with my daughter (just her and I) and it gives the entire family a chance to spend some time together in a neutral setting rather than at home all doing our "things".
Anyway folks, since I've missed a few days at work here I need to run and get caught up. Hopefully I'll see you all here tomorrow morning :)
Cheers,
Alan
Sorry for the lack of posts the last couple days but I've been ill. Some would argue whether I've been physically ill or just "sick and tired". :) I'll leave that for you to decide on your own.
Today I have made it into the office and am sitting at my desk staring at my monitors wondering why. The why is what is driving me crazy right now because I don't know the context in which I'm asking the question. I guess you could say I'm feeling a little "blah" today and would rather be home with my wife who has today and tomorrow off from work. We don't get to spend as much time together any more because of her work schedule. Not that she is working when I'm home, but she goes to work so early in the morning that she is in bed shortly after supper time which only gives us 2 (maybe 3 if I'm lucky) hours to spend with each other. None of which are alone because the kids are up and we are making supper, getting homework done and various other things we need to do in an evening before bed time.
Don't get me wrong, I'm glad she is working and is making some money for herself. I still find it odd to walk into a store and not have to buy a bunch of stuff with my money. In fact, last week she picked up one of those Ab Lounger things I've been wanting to work on my growing tummy :) When we got to the checkout, I was getting ready to haul out my wallet when she whipped out her bank card and bought the whole thing. It is nice to have extra money coming in and I've noticed the place seems to be sprucing up nicely with little things like throw blankets and rugs on the floor. It makes our town house feel like a warm home.
It isn't all bad of course. We have weekends together which is nice. On weekends she works, she is home shortly after noon so we get to spend all day and early evenings together. We have started a weekly routine where I will take our son to Dance class in the morning, then we'll go and pick up Katie from work and come back. Then we'll take the scenic route home along the coast and if we can afford it, we'll pick up some food to eat (otherwise we'll wait until we get home to eat). I actually enjoy the Saturday because it gives me a little bit of time to spend with my daughter (just her and I) and it gives the entire family a chance to spend some time together in a neutral setting rather than at home all doing our "things".
Anyway folks, since I've missed a few days at work here I need to run and get caught up. Hopefully I'll see you all here tomorrow morning :)
Cheers,
Alan
Monday, October 15, 2007
Simply Amazing!
I'm sure you're wondering what could be so amazing that it would warrant a title on my little site. Well, remember that power outage we had last week in our New York building? Yeah, the one that happened last Thursday. Well, we're still dealing with it today. In fact, the issues seem to be worse today than they were on Thursday when this all happened.
As a result, my day has been tied up in dealing with users, engineers and various other factions of IT. I haven't had much time today to even think about posting until now. Of course my time is limited so I'll leave you with some sound advice. If you're in IT, please, please, PLEASE have some kind of organized plan on what you're going to do if you lose power. And no, I'm not talking about buying a UPS. I'm talking about finding a good way to bring all your servers down and back up with as little issue as possible. Run regular (bi yearly) power down scenarios so you can practice this. You'll save yourself (and your customers) many headaches and possibly save the company millions of dollars.
That is all :)
Cheers,
Al
As a result, my day has been tied up in dealing with users, engineers and various other factions of IT. I haven't had much time today to even think about posting until now. Of course my time is limited so I'll leave you with some sound advice. If you're in IT, please, please, PLEASE have some kind of organized plan on what you're going to do if you lose power. And no, I'm not talking about buying a UPS. I'm talking about finding a good way to bring all your servers down and back up with as little issue as possible. Run regular (bi yearly) power down scenarios so you can practice this. You'll save yourself (and your customers) many headaches and possibly save the company millions of dollars.
That is all :)
Cheers,
Al
Friday, October 12, 2007
What Happened to Wednesday and Thursday...
Good morning folks,
As my title would suggest, I seem to have lost two days and have no idea why the thought of posting here didn't enter my mind. To start, let me explain...
Wednesday
This was a very interesting day. My daughter had to go to a clinic in the morning. This was something we booked over a year ago and were not about to miss it because of scheduling. As a result, we ended up dropping my son off at school and racing downtown to make it for the 9am appointment. We made it, with minutes to spare, and I made my way to work. I arrived at work, informed my boss that I would need to leave early to pick up my daughter from the clinic and then proceeded to do some work. This was also the day we all found out our Team Lead gave his notice at work and was leaving us. We had a little meeting about it and before I knew what was going on, I got a phone call to pick up Katie and my daughter.
Off I ran, picked them up, drove back home and dropped her off at school. I was done work for the day so Katie and I went home to do some cleaning and such since we were expecting my cousin's husband to drop by that evening with his boss to do a presentation. The night before we had gone out and bought a sectional couch we found on Kijiji. It is a very nice couch and the price was right. We were busy cleaning that up as it had been held in storage by this older couple and there was quite a bit of dust.
Thursday
All I can say is WOW. No, I wasn't up all night playing World of Warcraft. I walked into work at my regular time and immediately was bombarded with questions about one of the applications I support. It didn't take me long to figure out that there was a major outage in the New York plant so I sat down at my desk and started typing, reading and trying to figure things out. I spent 8 hours of my day on a conference call and trying to stabilize the application I support. It was a LONG day, but it went by surprisingly fast. So fast, in fact, that when I got home I realized I hadn't posted and almost sat down to write, but I got side tracked with getting supper ready for the kids and cuddling on the new couch with the family while we watched a cartoon movie.
This brings us to Friday, today, and I'm TIRED! This week has been a little crazy for me and I'm really looking forward to leaving at the end of the day and heading home. We have plans this weekend to go to a U-Pick place to get some pumpkins for Halloween. It looks like it could be a good time so hopefully the weather is nice and it doesn't start pouring rain on us.
Other than that, I don't plan on doing much this weekend other than planning out a weight loss/workout program for myself. Lately I've begun to notice that I'm not as slim and built as I used to be :) I won't say I'm huge, but it is enough to make me want to do something now before it gets out of control. I plan on hitting the weights again and start building back some of the muscle I've lost. Working at a desk for 8 hours a day is a great way to build fat. Especially when you don't eat properly and on a regular basis. I plan on doing what I do best and do some reading on the subject. I want to find something that works for me and on my time schedule. I will plan to begin this on the weekend and keep at it until I've reached my goal(s). Wish me luck! I plan on documenting my experience, so be looking for a new section under Experiments (Experiments may be getting a name change soon since it really doesn't fit well) where I plan on keeping a record of my progress.
Well folks, it is time to get things rolling and see how quickly I can make this day go by. I'm still looking for a name for my Musings so if you're reading this and have some ideas, feel free to comment and reply with them. If I don't have anything by the end of next week, I'll have to do some kind of crazy Random Title Generator to see if I can come up with something fun.
Have a safe and happy weekend.
Cheers,
Al
As my title would suggest, I seem to have lost two days and have no idea why the thought of posting here didn't enter my mind. To start, let me explain...
Wednesday
This was a very interesting day. My daughter had to go to a clinic in the morning. This was something we booked over a year ago and were not about to miss it because of scheduling. As a result, we ended up dropping my son off at school and racing downtown to make it for the 9am appointment. We made it, with minutes to spare, and I made my way to work. I arrived at work, informed my boss that I would need to leave early to pick up my daughter from the clinic and then proceeded to do some work. This was also the day we all found out our Team Lead gave his notice at work and was leaving us. We had a little meeting about it and before I knew what was going on, I got a phone call to pick up Katie and my daughter.
Off I ran, picked them up, drove back home and dropped her off at school. I was done work for the day so Katie and I went home to do some cleaning and such since we were expecting my cousin's husband to drop by that evening with his boss to do a presentation. The night before we had gone out and bought a sectional couch we found on Kijiji. It is a very nice couch and the price was right. We were busy cleaning that up as it had been held in storage by this older couple and there was quite a bit of dust.
Thursday
All I can say is WOW. No, I wasn't up all night playing World of Warcraft. I walked into work at my regular time and immediately was bombarded with questions about one of the applications I support. It didn't take me long to figure out that there was a major outage in the New York plant so I sat down at my desk and started typing, reading and trying to figure things out. I spent 8 hours of my day on a conference call and trying to stabilize the application I support. It was a LONG day, but it went by surprisingly fast. So fast, in fact, that when I got home I realized I hadn't posted and almost sat down to write, but I got side tracked with getting supper ready for the kids and cuddling on the new couch with the family while we watched a cartoon movie.
This brings us to Friday, today, and I'm TIRED! This week has been a little crazy for me and I'm really looking forward to leaving at the end of the day and heading home. We have plans this weekend to go to a U-Pick place to get some pumpkins for Halloween. It looks like it could be a good time so hopefully the weather is nice and it doesn't start pouring rain on us.
Other than that, I don't plan on doing much this weekend other than planning out a weight loss/workout program for myself. Lately I've begun to notice that I'm not as slim and built as I used to be :) I won't say I'm huge, but it is enough to make me want to do something now before it gets out of control. I plan on hitting the weights again and start building back some of the muscle I've lost. Working at a desk for 8 hours a day is a great way to build fat. Especially when you don't eat properly and on a regular basis. I plan on doing what I do best and do some reading on the subject. I want to find something that works for me and on my time schedule. I will plan to begin this on the weekend and keep at it until I've reached my goal(s). Wish me luck! I plan on documenting my experience, so be looking for a new section under Experiments (Experiments may be getting a name change soon since it really doesn't fit well) where I plan on keeping a record of my progress.
Well folks, it is time to get things rolling and see how quickly I can make this day go by. I'm still looking for a name for my Musings so if you're reading this and have some ideas, feel free to comment and reply with them. If I don't have anything by the end of next week, I'll have to do some kind of crazy Random Title Generator to see if I can come up with something fun.
Have a safe and happy weekend.
Cheers,
Al
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Tuesday Already!
Morning Folks,
Yes it's Tuesday already! It was a nice long weekend here and when I awoke this morning I came to the realization that it wasn't Monday, but Tuesday. Imagine my surprise and happiness as I realized my work week was 1 day closer to being over.
Here in Canada we had Thanksgiving this past weekend. It was a great time and we headed over to my sister's place to food, family and fellowship. We were only able to stay a few hours, but they were fun and relaxing which was exactly what I needed to have. Since my better half has started working, I've noticed a great deal more stress and strain on us. Of course that stress and strain seems to be offset a bit by the fact she is making money now and is able to actually buy things without need of my bank card. It is actually quite strange to see her whip out her own bank card and make a purchase or buy lunch for the family. I nice change.
This past weekend was also an epic gaming weekend. Normally I don't stay up super late to play WoW, but this past weekend I had some kind of drive to do so. Both Saturday and Sunday nights were very late for me (later than 2am) and then last night I was up until after midnight. A friends and I decided we were going to run some Heroic instances over and over. For those of you who don't understand what a Heroic instance is, it is a dungeon where 5 players go team up and go into. The Heroic part means we've set the dungeon difficulty level to harder than normal so we can get better gear and something called Heroic Badges. These heroic badges are the primary reason for running these instances since you can buy some pretty nice armor and weapons with them. Well, over the weekend I ended up picking up 17 of these badges. Consider for a moment that the average instance has 3 bosses that drop these badges, and then consider again that I picked up all the badges (poor Bim), that would mean I ran around 5-6 heroic instances this weekend. Not a lot by some standards, but a lot for me when you consider I used to run maybe 1 a week.
Anyway folks, I must run for now since I keep getting side tracked by work. I'll see you again tomorrow!
Cheers,
Al
Yes it's Tuesday already! It was a nice long weekend here and when I awoke this morning I came to the realization that it wasn't Monday, but Tuesday. Imagine my surprise and happiness as I realized my work week was 1 day closer to being over.
Here in Canada we had Thanksgiving this past weekend. It was a great time and we headed over to my sister's place to food, family and fellowship. We were only able to stay a few hours, but they were fun and relaxing which was exactly what I needed to have. Since my better half has started working, I've noticed a great deal more stress and strain on us. Of course that stress and strain seems to be offset a bit by the fact she is making money now and is able to actually buy things without need of my bank card. It is actually quite strange to see her whip out her own bank card and make a purchase or buy lunch for the family. I nice change.
This past weekend was also an epic gaming weekend. Normally I don't stay up super late to play WoW, but this past weekend I had some kind of drive to do so. Both Saturday and Sunday nights were very late for me (later than 2am) and then last night I was up until after midnight. A friends and I decided we were going to run some Heroic instances over and over. For those of you who don't understand what a Heroic instance is, it is a dungeon where 5 players go team up and go into. The Heroic part means we've set the dungeon difficulty level to harder than normal so we can get better gear and something called Heroic Badges. These heroic badges are the primary reason for running these instances since you can buy some pretty nice armor and weapons with them. Well, over the weekend I ended up picking up 17 of these badges. Consider for a moment that the average instance has 3 bosses that drop these badges, and then consider again that I picked up all the badges (poor Bim), that would mean I ran around 5-6 heroic instances this weekend. Not a lot by some standards, but a lot for me when you consider I used to run maybe 1 a week.
Anyway folks, I must run for now since I keep getting side tracked by work. I'll see you again tomorrow!
Cheers,
Al
Friday, October 5, 2007
Fantastic Friday Tastebuds!
It's Friday!
Of course Friday is only relative. For those who work this weekend, Friday is just another day. For those who have worked the last 4 days and are now embarking on the 5th, congratulations, you've made it to the weekend!
Today I want to talk a bit about taste. No, I'm not talking specifically about the types of things you buy or things you wear. I want to talk specifically about eating and how things taste to certain people. Have you ever wondered how something that tastes so good to you can be revolting to others? My brother-in-law and I don't see eye-to-eye on onions. He feels they should be abolished from the earth while I just love them and eat them on everything. Why the difference?
Well, I can't completely answer that question, but I can give you some insight. If you're up for some reading, I suggest you check out The Physiology of Taste by Tim Jacob. Very interesting article that talks about taste and how we taste with diagrams and lots of big words. Have a dictionary handy as you'll need it.
I guess you could compare a person's "taste" with the same mechanism that defines what a person sees as beautiful and ugly. Why does one person look at a piece of art and see beauty and another person sees ugly? Scientists seem to think this type of "taste" derives from upbringing and culture. For example, I'm not a fan of Curry or any super spicy foods, but someone growing up in India or Mexico would love the hot and spicy and in most cases will have a much different tolerance for spicy foods than someone like myself. So why does my brother-in-law hate onions? Other than the obvious reason that he is silly, I suspect there was a childhood incident where he had a bad experience with an Onion (maybe mother's milk after she ate a greasy onion filled donair) which programmed his brain to send a negative feeling when he tastes onion. Or perhaps taste is genetic? I know personally I can eat almost anything but I find my tastes follow closely with my mother. I drink Coffee and eat onions (not always at the same time) and so does my mother; my father, hates onions and doesn't drink coffee (doesn't like the taste). So where down the line does one get the hating onions?
Well, I could go on with examples and theories on why taste is genetics and why it's bad childhood experiences. The truth is, nobody really knows and it could be a combination of both. I'll leave that for you to ponder today.
As I mentioned in yesterday's musing, this weekend is Thanksgiving up here in the cold North. I plan on exercising my taste buds this weekend!
Take care folks, and have a safe weekend.
Cheers,
Alan
Of course Friday is only relative. For those who work this weekend, Friday is just another day. For those who have worked the last 4 days and are now embarking on the 5th, congratulations, you've made it to the weekend!
Today I want to talk a bit about taste. No, I'm not talking specifically about the types of things you buy or things you wear. I want to talk specifically about eating and how things taste to certain people. Have you ever wondered how something that tastes so good to you can be revolting to others? My brother-in-law and I don't see eye-to-eye on onions. He feels they should be abolished from the earth while I just love them and eat them on everything. Why the difference?
Well, I can't completely answer that question, but I can give you some insight. If you're up for some reading, I suggest you check out The Physiology of Taste by Tim Jacob. Very interesting article that talks about taste and how we taste with diagrams and lots of big words. Have a dictionary handy as you'll need it.
I guess you could compare a person's "taste" with the same mechanism that defines what a person sees as beautiful and ugly. Why does one person look at a piece of art and see beauty and another person sees ugly? Scientists seem to think this type of "taste" derives from upbringing and culture. For example, I'm not a fan of Curry or any super spicy foods, but someone growing up in India or Mexico would love the hot and spicy and in most cases will have a much different tolerance for spicy foods than someone like myself. So why does my brother-in-law hate onions? Other than the obvious reason that he is silly, I suspect there was a childhood incident where he had a bad experience with an Onion (maybe mother's milk after she ate a greasy onion filled donair) which programmed his brain to send a negative feeling when he tastes onion. Or perhaps taste is genetic? I know personally I can eat almost anything but I find my tastes follow closely with my mother. I drink Coffee and eat onions (not always at the same time) and so does my mother; my father, hates onions and doesn't drink coffee (doesn't like the taste). So where down the line does one get the hating onions?
Well, I could go on with examples and theories on why taste is genetics and why it's bad childhood experiences. The truth is, nobody really knows and it could be a combination of both. I'll leave that for you to ponder today.
As I mentioned in yesterday's musing, this weekend is Thanksgiving up here in the cold North. I plan on exercising my taste buds this weekend!
Take care folks, and have a safe weekend.
Cheers,
Alan
Thursday, October 4, 2007
A New Theme
Good morning folks,
I've decided to update the theme. While the other theme was nice and sleek, it was a bit confusing for some and difficult to navigate archived posts (even I had some trouble with it). Over the next couple days I plan on playing around with the theme and tweaking some settings until it is configured exactly as I like it.
I'm so excited!
This weekend here in Canada we're celebrating Thanksgiving. I've had discussions with my American friends regarding our "Thanksgiving" and I always find it comical when they ask "What do you celebrate on Thanksgiving?". I don't feel Thanksgiving is a time to celebrate, but a time to be thankful for the things and people we have in our lives. I am thankful for so much I couldn't list it all in one post here. The point is, we set aside one weekend a year (both US and Canada) to be thankful; is that such a bad thing? :)
{slurp}
Gah.. bad habit :)
Things are starting to really get busy here at work. We are working on some pretty major projects and my days seem to just fly by because I'm so busy. I find I'm working more these days because I like getting lost in the work so my work day seems shorter. I've come up with a new saying: "When life starts throwing you a bunch of curve balls, get a bigger mit". There!
Anyway folks, time to do a little song and dance. Hope you all have a fantastic day and evening and we'll see you here again tomorrow morning.
Cheers,
Al
I've decided to update the theme. While the other theme was nice and sleek, it was a bit confusing for some and difficult to navigate archived posts (even I had some trouble with it). Over the next couple days I plan on playing around with the theme and tweaking some settings until it is configured exactly as I like it.
I'm so excited!
This weekend here in Canada we're celebrating Thanksgiving. I've had discussions with my American friends regarding our "Thanksgiving" and I always find it comical when they ask "What do you celebrate on Thanksgiving?". I don't feel Thanksgiving is a time to celebrate, but a time to be thankful for the things and people we have in our lives. I am thankful for so much I couldn't list it all in one post here. The point is, we set aside one weekend a year (both US and Canada) to be thankful; is that such a bad thing? :)
{slurp}
Gah.. bad habit :)
Things are starting to really get busy here at work. We are working on some pretty major projects and my days seem to just fly by because I'm so busy. I find I'm working more these days because I like getting lost in the work so my work day seems shorter. I've come up with a new saying: "When life starts throwing you a bunch of curve balls, get a bigger mit". There!
Anyway folks, time to do a little song and dance. Hope you all have a fantastic day and evening and we'll see you here again tomorrow morning.
Cheers,
Al
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
One Way
Morning folks,
Or Afternoon as the case may be today; I'm late, but here.
I had debated on whether I would write today and then forced myself to login and post. Why? Because I said I would post every day and by god I'm going to stick to that promise! :)
I've entitled today's musing as "One Way". As most of you are aware, I live in the city of Halifax. Halifax is a very old city established as a City in the year 1841, and a town in the year 1749. I won't go into a lot of depth on the city I live in, but if you're interested, I urge you to check out This Wiki Article. Because of the age of this place and the fact most of the buildings are now historical land marks, you have a place where roads and intersections were an after thought. If you've had the pleasure of driving around in Halifax, you'll know what I'm talking about.
Yesterday, I left work a little early because I had to pick up my daughter from dance class. I was supposed to be there around 5pm so I left work around 4:45pm to give myself enough time to make it. I didn't drive very far until I realized I wasn't going to make my 5pm deadline. As luck would have it, there was an accident on one of the bridges (I don't take either of the bridges home from work) which was causing wide spread delays across the entire city. I only know of one way for me to get home without having to drive across the confusing streets of Halifax and possibly ending up in a ship yard somewhere. So I stayed my course and inched along for over an hour. I finally arrive at my destination just before 6pm, pick up my anxiously waiting family and we headed off home. If you look at a map of the Halifax area, you will see that the major city part of Halifax exists on a little peninsula. It is because of this that there are only a couple ways to get out of the city and when one of those ways is blocked by an accident, traffic everywhere suffers.
Meh
Anway folks, thought I'd share that short little story with you. Please read the Wiki article on Halifax. I'm sure you'll find it most interesting. :)
Cheers,
Al
Or Afternoon as the case may be today; I'm late, but here.
I had debated on whether I would write today and then forced myself to login and post. Why? Because I said I would post every day and by god I'm going to stick to that promise! :)
I've entitled today's musing as "One Way". As most of you are aware, I live in the city of Halifax. Halifax is a very old city established as a City in the year 1841, and a town in the year 1749. I won't go into a lot of depth on the city I live in, but if you're interested, I urge you to check out This Wiki Article. Because of the age of this place and the fact most of the buildings are now historical land marks, you have a place where roads and intersections were an after thought. If you've had the pleasure of driving around in Halifax, you'll know what I'm talking about.
Yesterday, I left work a little early because I had to pick up my daughter from dance class. I was supposed to be there around 5pm so I left work around 4:45pm to give myself enough time to make it. I didn't drive very far until I realized I wasn't going to make my 5pm deadline. As luck would have it, there was an accident on one of the bridges (I don't take either of the bridges home from work) which was causing wide spread delays across the entire city. I only know of one way for me to get home without having to drive across the confusing streets of Halifax and possibly ending up in a ship yard somewhere. So I stayed my course and inched along for over an hour. I finally arrive at my destination just before 6pm, pick up my anxiously waiting family and we headed off home. If you look at a map of the Halifax area, you will see that the major city part of Halifax exists on a little peninsula. It is because of this that there are only a couple ways to get out of the city and when one of those ways is blocked by an accident, traffic everywhere suffers.
Meh
Anway folks, thought I'd share that short little story with you. Please read the Wiki article on Halifax. I'm sure you'll find it most interesting. :)
Cheers,
Al
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Mathmatics
Good morning folks,
The gods have decided to grant us another day on this planet and therefore, have granted me another day to muse.
Oh Boy!
{slurp} <-- Couldn't resist.
I'm tired. Last night I decided to stay up a bit later than normal and play World of Warcraft. We gathered a team of 5 people and went into the underground water caverns known as the Slave Pens. Normally I turn these runs down, especially when they are starting to form around 10pm. However last night, I was feeling charged and looking forward to running this particular instance. After a couple hours we finished and I ended up sticking around and chatting with some folks for a bit. In the end, I think I hit my pillow at around 1am and was woken up at 4am with a page from work.
I know I know.. My fault :)
Needless to say, I ended up dragging my heels this morning, but I got the kids to school on time (as well as the kids next door) and made my way to the local gas station to fill up my vehicle (at $1.04/liter). Something about the fall air that seems refreshing and invigorating. Despite only getting a few hours sleep last night, I still feel like I got a full night of rest despite my eyes being sore from lack of sleep. Strange feeling.
Well, I would like to thank ad0lph1337 for signing up on my site yesterday and posting their suggestion for my musing name. While that was the only suggestion I received, I don't think naming my Musing "a023d432eeeffac323" is such a good idea. Thank you though! Now, I know there are people out there reading this and I know there are some good ideas floating around. Don't make me come up with this all on my own :) I'll end up using something like "The Musing" or "Musing" as a title... don't think I won't.
Anyway folks, I must hurry along and do some work. I have about 12 hours of work to do in about 7 hours so I best get at it. In case you are wondering about the Musing title. I couldn't think of anything so I put that in there. Today's math question is:
How can you do 12 hours of work in 7 hours?
GO!
Cheers,
Al
The gods have decided to grant us another day on this planet and therefore, have granted me another day to muse.
Oh Boy!
{slurp} <-- Couldn't resist.
I'm tired. Last night I decided to stay up a bit later than normal and play World of Warcraft. We gathered a team of 5 people and went into the underground water caverns known as the Slave Pens. Normally I turn these runs down, especially when they are starting to form around 10pm. However last night, I was feeling charged and looking forward to running this particular instance. After a couple hours we finished and I ended up sticking around and chatting with some folks for a bit. In the end, I think I hit my pillow at around 1am and was woken up at 4am with a page from work.
I know I know.. My fault :)
Needless to say, I ended up dragging my heels this morning, but I got the kids to school on time (as well as the kids next door) and made my way to the local gas station to fill up my vehicle (at $1.04/liter). Something about the fall air that seems refreshing and invigorating. Despite only getting a few hours sleep last night, I still feel like I got a full night of rest despite my eyes being sore from lack of sleep. Strange feeling.
Well, I would like to thank ad0lph1337 for signing up on my site yesterday and posting their suggestion for my musing name. While that was the only suggestion I received, I don't think naming my Musing "a023d432eeeffac323" is such a good idea. Thank you though! Now, I know there are people out there reading this and I know there are some good ideas floating around. Don't make me come up with this all on my own :) I'll end up using something like "The Musing" or "Musing" as a title... don't think I won't.
Anyway folks, I must hurry along and do some work. I have about 12 hours of work to do in about 7 hours so I best get at it. In case you are wondering about the Musing title. I couldn't think of anything so I put that in there. Today's math question is:
How can you do 12 hours of work in 7 hours?
GO!
Cheers,
Al
Monday, October 1, 2007
Musing Name
Good morning folks,
The weekend is over and another week is ahead of us. Are you ready to tackle it head on? Are you ready to face life's challenges for the next 5 days?
I find it funny how we view the work week as life's challenge and the weekend is the time of rest. Truth be told (at our house at least) the weekend is sometimes busier than the traditional work week. I guess you could say my weekend exists while I'm at work? Nahh...
So as my topic suggests, I'm looking for a Musing Name. I was so pumped about doing the Musings again that I didn't spend any time thinking on a name. For those who have read my past musings you will know they used to be called Musings over Coffee. While the name is fine, it wasn't truly something I invented and I wanted to try something new and unique (at least for me). Therefore, Musings over Coffee (for me) is my past and ____________ is my future. I don't imagine my reader base is that large right now, but if you are reading this and you do have a suggestion for a Musing name, please feel free to comment and let me know.
I trust everyone had an enjoyable weekend. Our weekend was enjoyable. The sun was shining the weather wasn't too hot (borderline cold really) and everything seemed to be ticking along just fine. Over the weekend I did some thinking on my Musing and came up with a few great story ideas to write about today. Of course after arriving at my keyboard and starting to type I completely forgot ALL of them so here I ramble trying to remember something and charm you all with my witty banter. Alas, I got nothing.
Tomorrow I'm going to attempt something a bit different to see how it works out. Until then, I will bid you all farewell and hope to see you tomorrow. Don't forget to post and give me some suggestions for my Musing name! :)
Cheers,
Al
The weekend is over and another week is ahead of us. Are you ready to tackle it head on? Are you ready to face life's challenges for the next 5 days?
I find it funny how we view the work week as life's challenge and the weekend is the time of rest. Truth be told (at our house at least) the weekend is sometimes busier than the traditional work week. I guess you could say my weekend exists while I'm at work? Nahh...
So as my topic suggests, I'm looking for a Musing Name. I was so pumped about doing the Musings again that I didn't spend any time thinking on a name. For those who have read my past musings you will know they used to be called Musings over Coffee. While the name is fine, it wasn't truly something I invented and I wanted to try something new and unique (at least for me). Therefore, Musings over Coffee (for me) is my past and ____________ is my future. I don't imagine my reader base is that large right now, but if you are reading this and you do have a suggestion for a Musing name, please feel free to comment and let me know.
I trust everyone had an enjoyable weekend. Our weekend was enjoyable. The sun was shining the weather wasn't too hot (borderline cold really) and everything seemed to be ticking along just fine. Over the weekend I did some thinking on my Musing and came up with a few great story ideas to write about today. Of course after arriving at my keyboard and starting to type I completely forgot ALL of them so here I ramble trying to remember something and charm you all with my witty banter. Alas, I got nothing.
Tomorrow I'm going to attempt something a bit different to see how it works out. Until then, I will bid you all farewell and hope to see you tomorrow. Don't forget to post and give me some suggestions for my Musing name! :)
Cheers,
Al
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