Sunday, November 6, 2011

v42.6: August What?

Howdy folks,

I can't believe it's been three months since I posted last.  I was reminded about my lack of writing lately by the fact that November is NaNoWriMo.  No, I don't think I'll be taking part in NaNoWriMo this year; I just don't seem to have the time to actually dedicate myself to the word goal.

Anyway folks, just a quick post to let everyone know I'm still here :)  I seem to be having an issue with Word Press through Firefox right now which is making it VERY difficult to write.  I'm not entirely sure what it is, but it seems to be causing my browser to "stop responding" in the middle of typing randomly which is starting to get really annoying.

I will write again soon; I promise :)

Cheers,

Al

Thursday, August 4, 2011

v42.5: "Socially" Acceptable

"Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out." - John Wooden

There's nothing like a good storm to get the inspirational juices flowing.  Especially when the power goes out and you lose access to all of the "life distractions" that seem to inhibit inspiration.  On Tuesday this week we had an impressive thunder and lightning show here in Halifax which lasted for a good 8 hours in total.  I have never seen or experienced anything like it before.  There were times during the storm where I was sure my apartment building was going to cave in on me because the thunder was so loud.  I lost power at my place a couple of times, but it only lasted for a minute.  It got me thinking though: how would society cope if our access to data, news and social media was abruptly cut off?

You see it everywhere you look these days.  Smart phones, tablets and laptops are a common scene in our daily society.  News and information is readily accessible wherever you go and social networking is on the rise.  I have been using Twitter since it came out and I recently started using Google+.  I'm amazed at what people like to post sometimes.  I constantly see things like: "I'm on the bus, heading to work" and "Sitting at home, watching TV".  While it may be entertaining, there comes a point when you just need to keep certain things to yourself.  There are some "famous" people who have climbed on the social media wagon and are bad for this.  These people have literally thousands and thousands of followers who read everything they write.  In most cases, their followers will often comment which can lead to a simple post about "Going to bed for the night" into a frenzy of "good night"s and "sleep well"s flooding the stream.  What is the point of telling your fan base you're going to bed?  What ever did we do before we knew what time 'famous" people went to bed?

We (yes I'm including myself in this) are addicted to social media.  We are "net junkies" who constantly hit multiple sites all day long to get the latest updates on things and to see what our "followed" are up to.  I'm just as much to blame for this as anyone especially since I live alone and spend my evenings on my laptop reading streams and commenting.  Hell, I even have a blog where I write about completely useless topics and drink coffee.  Of course I wouldn't consider myself famous, but I do have a small following and my posts are being published on most of the social media streams out there today.  My site will even allow people to share my blog posts to various social media sites if they like what I have to say and want to share it with their followers, so feel free to share.

Now that I've written all this, let's go back to my original thought: how would society cope if all of a sudden our access to data, news and social media was abruptly cut off?  I'd be interested to hear your comments or thoughts on this.

Monday, July 25, 2011

v42.4: Getting Things Done?

Hey folks,

Our office hosted a little seminar today on David Allen's Getting Things Done work-life management tool.  I must admit, I was a bit impressed/inspired by it all.  There are definitely some parts of the system that I could apply to my day-to-day life that would help quite a bit to ensure I get things done properly.  As I was listening to the session, I was trying to put it all together in my head; how to make it work in both my work and my personal life.  Unfortunately, with the way we do things at work, there is no easy way to bridge the gap technically.  I was thinking a smart device like a Black Berry or iPhone must just do the trick, and it may if I could get my hands on one.  I have a Black Berry for work now, but due to the security policies on it, I'm not able to do anything with it except make phone calls and read/send corporate emails.

The first part of the seminar we were asked to grab a sheet of paper and write down everything we had in our heads that are things we need to do.  For example, I wrote stuff like:

  • Pay Power Bill

  • Pay Cable Bill

  • Do Laundry

  • Wash Dishes

  • Sweep Floor

  • etc.


These are things that are constantly on my mind and when they start to add up, you have a greater chance of forgetting things.  The whole idea behind GTD is to write it all down so you don't have to remember it.  This way you can take the things you need to do and categorize them into buckets or areas.  You could create some lists like "Home" and "Work" where you could list things you needed to do for each.  You could have another list called "Call" where you could list all the people you had to call for whatever reason; include the telephone in the list so if you're using a smart device like an iPhone or Black Berry you can easily dial out while looking at the list.  These are great things you can do while driving in traffic or when you have a few minutes waiting for something.  Been putting off calling the garage to get your car in for maintenance?  Add it to the call list so you don't forget it.

Of course this whole idea of lists and writing things down is pointless if you don't review it.  The guide to GTD has guidelines on when to review lists; some are daily while others are weekly or monthly.  This way you are only focused on the things that are most important while the other things can be followed-up on less frequently.  The idea is clearing your mind from all the unnecessary "remembering" and taking the things you need to do and getting them done by organizing them.  It really is an interesting system, but it will only work if you invest the time to do it properly.  If you're interested in learning more about GTD, I highly urge you to head over to David Allen's site and read about it.

Well folks, just a quick update for now.  I will definitely be adding "blog on my favorite blogging site" to my list of Getting Things Done :)

Cheers till next time,

Al

Friday, July 1, 2011

v42.3: Canada Day

Just a quick note to say Happy Canada Day to my friends and family in Canada.  It has been a nice day here in Halifax (for a change) and there are a lot of tourists and families around the city taking in all there is to offer on this National Holiday.  If you're working today, I feel for you.  I had to work this morning but was lucky enough to get away for the afternoon to enjoy the nice weather.

-slurp-

Please don't drink and drive and have a safe and fun Canada Day!

Cheers,

Al

Friday, June 24, 2011

v42.2: That was close

Morning folks,

-slurp-

I realized this past week that I had inadventantly allowed my domain to expire.  I had a couple emails from the registrar reminding me about it, but I would read them and immediately forget about it.  This week I got yet another reminder, but this one told me that the domain has expired and they would modify my DNS so the domain would redirect to an alternate site; if I didn't pay to renew the domain, it would be sold off to one of those domain holding companies after 30 days.  Needless to say, I promptly logged in and renewed it for another year.

-slurp-

I'm still waiting for summer to get here.  I'm not sure what the weather is like in your area of the world, but Summer has definitely been late in arriving here in Halifax.  Our temperatures have been low, it is has been raining non-stop and I think I've even picked up a viral upper respiratory tract infection.  It isn't uncommon for people get "catch" a cold during the transition from spring to summer but since it doesn't really feel like summer around here, I can't say that is the reason :)  While technically Summer started this week, I can't help but feel a bit robbed of the nice weather.  I can count on 1 hand the number of nice days we've had in the last month and even then, spectacular they were not.

-slurp-

Well folks, work beckons and I must heed the call.  I have a lot of work to get done today so I can relax this weekend and not have to work (like I do most weekends).  Working in IT was not my career choice when I was younger, but at least it pays the bills (almost :) ).  I need to approve a bunch of time sheets (which hopefully are submitted on-time), I need to put together a spec document for a new project my development team will be working on and I need to clean up some old tasks that have been lingering around.  I should be able to get it all done today if I put my head down and actually work, but it's Friday and we all know how motivating that can be :)

Take care everyone and I hope you all have a safe and happy weekend!  If you plan on having a drink or two this weekend, have one for me :)

Cheers,

Al

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

v42.1: Stalagmites in my Freezer

Howdy folks,

-slurp-

Today was much like any other day.  I got up, got ready for work and headed into the office.  I worked.  I came home, ran a few errands, came home again and decided to have a glass of Pepsi.  I opened the freezer door and stopped.  I couldn't help but notice all my ice cubes in my ice cube tray had little ice spikes sticking out of them.  It was the oddest thing and initially I thought something was wrong.  Why the hell would my ice cubes have stalagmites sticking out of them?

-slurp-

Of course I had to look this up and apparently it isn't uncommon to see ice cubes with stalagmites sticking out of them.  I bet you're all wondering how this is achieved?  I examined the ice cubes for a few minutes, but I couldn't figure out exactly how it happened.  Did someone break into my apartment and fashion these out of ice?  Was there water dripping down from inside the freezer in precisely the exact spot where my ice cubes were?  Are there microscopic organisms living in my freezer who can only survive in sub zero temperatures and they build these structures to live in?

-slurp-

After a quick search on Goggle, the answer finally presented itself to me.  This strange phenomenon happens to ice cubes when they freeze from the outside in.  Since water expands when it freezes, there is no where for the liquid to go - but up - when the ice starts to form.  Seems so simple doesn't it?

-slurp-

On the gaming side of things I've started playing WoW again.  This time I've decided to start up a little Blog to record some of the adventures and to just talk geek about WoW.  Initially I had the domain wowgeek.com registered, but I let that domain expire and go away, so I've decided to use my old domain fiendz.net to house the new blog.  If you head over to http://www.fiendz.net you can check it out.  I don't have any content there right now, but I'm slowly building the site up and plan on doing some posting there soon.

-slurp-

Anyway folks, time to head out for now.  I hope everyone had a great day today!

Cheers,

Al

Friday, May 20, 2011

v42.0: What the Frack?

Evening everyone,

-slurp-

I just wanted to post a quick note to let everyone I'm still here and I haven't forgotten about you.  Work has been quite busy lately and my life has been going through some massive changes.  I haven't been doing any gaming lately, which is strange for me; I have always been a huge gamer. I have, however, been thinking of reactivating my WoW account.  Most of my gaming friends have also moved on to other things and none of them (that I'm aware of) are playing WoW these days.  I had thought about firing up Rift as well, but I'm not really looking to start a new game right now.

-slurp-

Well folks, time for me to sign-off for now.  I'm going to try and post more frequently here in the coming months.  Hopefully my writing dry spell clears up.

Cheers,

Al

Monday, April 11, 2011

v41.9: Roll Up the Starbucks

Howdy folks,

-slurp-

Apparently while I wasn't looking, the Roll up the Rim contest has come to a conclusion.  Imagine my disappointment when I got a coffee yesterday and I was handed a standard brown cup.  Of course that doesn't mean there are not Roll Up cups out there in Timmy town, just the Tim Horton's I frequent.

-slurp-

This year I barely drank any coffee in comparison to previous years.  In fact, I believe I drank 60% less coffee than previous years, which is saying something since:

  1. This is a Blog about musing over coffee

  2. I'm a huge coffee fan

  3. I like coffee


Perhaps it has something to do with the broken driver's side window motor in my truck and the other personal issues I've been dealing with these past few months.  I'll be honest here, my coffee "tastes" have drastically changed recently.  In fact, I'm finding Tim Horton's coffee to be a little on the weak side now and I almost prefer to drink (GASP) Starbucks coffee.  I know, many of you are probably as floored as I am about it, but recently I've been drinking (GASP) Starbucks coffee.  I've even picked up a French Press which I use to make my own Starbucks coffee here at home.  It is something a little foreign to me since I've never been really picky about my coffee and I've always been a huge hater of Starbucks.

-slurp-

Of course that doesn't mean I won't stop by and have a Timmy's every once in awhile; in fact I had a Large Timmy's today.  I don't know what changed, but coffee has taken on new meaning lately and I foresee some interesting musings in the future.  In fact, I may go to an actual Starbucks sometime and write a musing from there.  What a grand idea!

I just need to take baby steps with it, there is no hurry to rush off to the nearest Starbucks and start trying to fit in.  I start off with buying their coffee and slowly work my way into the Starbucks club.  Eventually I will be accepted by them and they will welcome me in as their own.  Then, and only then, will I be worthy to sit in their coffee shops and use their free WiFi to Blog about being there and using their free WiFi.

-slurp-

Cheers,

Al

Monday, March 28, 2011

v41.8: Laughter is the Best Medicine

Howdy folks,

-slurp-

Lately my life has taken an unexpected turn.  I've been down, I've been up and I've even gone a bit sideways with things.  Despite the way things have gone, I've managed to maintain a bit of my humor and laugh every so often.  It isn't easy, especially with the way my emotions have been.  Today when I was checking the administrator portion of my site, I was greeted by this joke in my spam folder.  Normally I delete spam from my site's spam folder without reading it, but for some reason I decided to read it today and found this little gem:
Oh To Be 12 Again…(Humor)

A man was sitting on the edge of the bed, observing his wife, looking at herself in the mirror.
Since her birthday was not far off he asked what she’d like to have for her Birthday.

‘I’d like to be twelve again’, she replied, still looking in the mirror.

On the morning of her Birthday, he arose early, made her a nice big bowl of Coco Pops, and then took her to Alton Towers theme park.

What a day!
He put her on every ride in the park; the Death Slide, the Corkscrew, the Wall of Fear, the Screaming Monster Roller Coaster, everything there was.

Five hours later they staggered out of the theme park.
Her head was reeling and her stomach felt upside down..
He then took her to a MC Donald’s where he ordered her a Happy Meal with extra fries and a chocolate shake.

Then it was off to the cinema with popcorn, a huge Cola, and her favorite sweets…………M&M’s.

What a fabulous adventure!

Finally she wobbled home with her husband and collapsed into bed exhausted.

He leaned over his wife with a big smile and lovingly asked, ‘Well Dear, what was it like being twelve again?’

Her eyes slowly opened and her expression suddenly changed.

‘I meant my dress size, you retard!!!!’

The moral of the story:

Even when a man is listening, he is gonna get it wrong.

-slurp-

I thought I'd share that with everyone in hopes it brought a smile or laugh.

Cheers,

Al

Monday, March 21, 2011

v41.7: Short Update

Good morning folks,

-slurp-

I've been very bad at keeping this site updated lately.  I've been keeping my coffee winnings and losses update (when I've had a chance to get to Tim's) but as far as posting and writing, I've been slacking.  There have been a lot of changes in my personal life lately which I'll refrain from sharing with you now, but know that I'm doing OK and things will eventually come around and get somewhat back to normal again.

-slurp-

If you've been following along with my Roll up the Rim 2011 page, you'll notice I am well above the 1 in 6 odds of winning this year.  I don't believe I fell below that at all which is different for me.  Granted I haven't had nearly as much Tim Horton's coffee as I've had in previous years, so the odds are a bit more in my favor in that regard.  The Roll-up season is starting to wind down so hopefully I can get a few more coffees in between now and then.

Well folks, as the title suggests, this is just a short update today.  Work beckons and I must answer the call.  Hopefully I'll get some time this week to post something worthy.

-slurp-

Cheers,

Al

Thursday, March 3, 2011

v41.6: Thursday O'Clock

Howdy folks,

-slurp-

It's Thursday!  Isn't that exciting?!  Not really, but Thursday means the work week is nearly over and the weekend will be here.  I have no plans this weekend so I'm not really sure why I'm looking forward to it.  Normally I would say that the weekend means no work but lately work has been the only thing keeping me sane.  I've actually started to enjoy things there and the work is actually starting to get a LOT better; which is nice for a change.

-slurp-

So if you've been following along with my Roll up the Rim winnings you've probably noticed that I haven't had a Tim Horton's coffee in a few days.  Actually, I had one last night but I didn't get a Roll-Up cup so I was a bit put out by that.  Allow me to explain.

I'm usually a pretty lazy guy first thing in the morning.  I'm also a create of habit and when I get into a routine, I tend to stick with it and rarely deviate.  Lately I've been finding myself going to the local Irving near my apartment to get coffee.  First off, the price is right ($0.99 for any size) and they lots of different flavors to choose from.  Secondly, it is quick and it doesn't taste all that bad.  Thirdly, they give me a little card that is stamped every time I buy a coffee and after 6, the next one is free.  Normally I don't ever use the free one, so I have 3-4 cards in my truck that have free coffees on them (2 per card) that I'm saving for when I don't have any money on me and really need a coffee.

This works out since I had an unfortunate incident with the truck last weekend.  For whatever reason, the driver's side window started to act up when I used it.  I was heading to the Tim Horton's drive-thru to get a coffee last weekend and when I pushed the button to lower the window it began to lower (slowly) and about half way down I heard a bit of a crunch sound.  I was a bit worried, especially when the window failed to go down any further.  I pressed the button up and down and it didn't seem to be doing anything.  I could hear the mechanism in the door moving, but it wasn't moving the window.  I pressed the down button until I couldn't hear it moving any longer and then I gently pushed down on the window and it just slid down.  Of course it was raining out and I was getting wet while waiting for my coffee and I was mildly annoyed that the window was having issues after only owning the vehicle for a little over a week.  Regardless, I drove away, hit the up button and low and behold the window began to raise, VERY slowly.  I was a relieved when it went all the way to the top.  The last thing I wanted was a broken window in the down position during a rain storm.

It seemed to work on and off most of Friday and Saturday, but Saturday night the thing really broke.  The window wouldn't go up or down and the window was sitting about 1/4 of the way open.  I could slide the window up with my hands, but it would just slowly crawl back down again.  It was frustrating.  Thankfully we didn't have any snow or rain that night because I was forced to leave the window down all night because it was late and I didn't feel like fumbling my way around in the dark trying to figure out how to keep it closed.

The next morning I woke and went outside with my son and we took apart the door to see if we could figure out the problem.  The door was fairly simple to take apart and after getting it open, I noticed a snapped cable inside which (I assume) is responsible for pulling the window down and pushing it up.  A quick trip to my local Canadian Tire told me that due to the year and the type of part that was busted, I would need to take it to the dealer.  I figured out a way to keep the window up so at least I could remain dry and warm this week, but it has really sucked getting into the parking garage and going through drive-thrus when I don't have a window to roll down.  Needless to say, I haven't been to a drive-thru since this happened which means I've been drinking a lot of Irving coffee and haven't been going to Tim's.

-slurp-

Last night Kate had a job interview at one of the Tim Horton's near our place and when she left, she grabbed a free coffee (interview perk maybe?).  Of course because the coffee was free, there was no Roll up cup with it.  The funny part is, I had sent my son in to buy me a coffee while I was waiting because I wanted to be able to roll-up and post about it, but alas, it wasn't meant to be I guess.

I plan on giving the dealership a call tomorrow to see if they have time for me to take the truck in and look at it.  I'm not sure how much this is going to cost me, but I suspect it will be expensive.  the part itself seems fairly simple, so I don't suspect that will cost me much, but the labor will definitely cost me.

-slurp-

Well folks, time for me to take off for now.  Hopefully I'll get some time tomorrow to post again.

Cheers,

Al

Friday, February 25, 2011

v41.5: Regulated Gas Prices

Morning folks,

-slurp-

It's FRIDAY!  My work week has finally come to a close and now I have a weekend to potentially look forward to.  This week has gone by quite fast for me.  I've been quite busy at work this week so my days seem so much shorter.  It's a good feeling to be working away on something and then look at the clock and see the time jump by several hours.

Here in Nova Scotia we have regulated gas prices.  Basically, that means the price of gas is controlled by a group of people who raise (or lower) the price of gas every week based on various factors.  Last night I drove by a gas station and noticed there was quite a line up of cars waiting to get gas.  Normally I hear on the radio what the projected increase (or decrease) is going to be, but for whatever reason I didn't catch it yesterday morning.  I assumed gas was going to go up, hence the line of cars waiting at the pumps.  Normally people freak out over a couple of cents a liter.  When you consider the average car has a 40 liter tank, if the price of gas went up 2 cents a liter, you're looking at an additional 80 cents to fill up your car.  Seriously people!  Is that a good reason to wait in line to get gas?  You're probably spending that much in gas just waiting to beat the 2 cents per liter increase.

Unfortunately, the price of gas jumped 4 cents per liter here in Halifax last night, which still isn't a whole lot when you consider the 40 liter tank again.  Unfortunately, my truck has at least an 80 liter tank in it and at $1.21 per liter, I'm looking at approximately $100 to fill the thing.  Truth be told, I have no idea how big my gas tank is but I know the last time I filled it up, it took $100 easily so the tank must be a bit larger than 80 liters.  Regardless, an increase of 4 cents a liter is still a lot when you look at the overall price of gasoline in the city right now.  I haven't been following the price of oil lately, but I suspect that, combined with the conflicts over in the middle east, are the primary cause for the sudden jump.

-slurp-

Well folks, just a quick musing this morning to start off my day.  I hope everyone has a great weekend and if I get some time to post this weekend I will definitely do that.  If you live in the Halifax area, drive safely today.  There is going to be a ton of rain today and then the temperature is going to drop suddenly tonight, causing it all to freeze.  Take care.

Cheers,

Al

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

v41.4: The Truck

Morning folks,

-slurp-

It's hump day!  At least for those of us who typically work a Monday to Friday work week.  For those of you who don't, this is Wednesday to you and could be the start of your work week or the end.  Either way, Happy Wednesday.

Last week I took a drive up to New Brunswick to visit my father and to buy a new vehicle for the family.  My family has grown a bit over the past couple years and there is no way a standard 5 passenger vehicle is going to cut it any longer.  We got by for a few months after the baby was born last year, but it is starting to take its toll on us and we needed to get something a bit larger.  Originally I had driven up to visit my father to buy a mini-van, but after arriving at the car dealership, I was surprised to see they had no mini-vans in stock.  I was a little distraught by this as I was really looking forward to getting a vehicle that day.  I did, after all, drive all the way up there to get one.

-slurp-

After looking at the few vehicles at the dealership (which also happened to be a full service garage), I finally found the one I wanted.  Normally I wouldn't look twice at a vehicle like this because they are typically very expensive.  Fortunately for us, this vehicle is a few years older than I was looking for and it was going for a great price.  It is a 2003 Ford Expedition Eddie Bauer edition.  This truck is fully loaded (and I mean fully loaded) and seats 8 people very comfortably.  In fact, the middle row has 3 seats and we can easily put the two car seats  there with lots of room for a 3rd person without begin squished.  In the old Matrix we had, two car seats took up most of the back seat with a small spot for my 8 year old daughter to sit; and she was squished.  Needless to say, this vehicle will serve its purpose and there is more than enough room to take everyone out at the same time and do whatever we need to do.  The one downside is the size of the engine and how much gas it consumes.  With the prices of gas being so high right now, it is a pain in the ass when it comes time to fill it up.  Oh well, the price we pay for the convience of having a vehicle that will seat at least 6.

-slurp-

Well folks, it is time to do some work.  This week promises to be as busy as previous weeks and while it is only Wednesday, it feels like it should be Friday for me.  I hope everyone has a great day and hopefully I will get a chance to post again tomorrow.

Cheers,

Al

Monday, February 21, 2011

v41.3: Return of the Roll-up

Howdy folks,

-slurp-

It has been a long time since I've posted here.  I've been taking a break from the writing lately, mostly because I just can't seem to come up with anything new or interesting to write about.  Well, seeing as I've started a tradition of writing during the months Tim Horton's has their Roll-up-the-Rim promotion, I couldn't let day 1 go by without posting.

-slurp-

So the official kick-off for Roll-up-the-Rim started today.  Of course I had no idea this was starting today so I was quite surprised when I pulled up to my local Tim's and saw the familiar red cup with the huge yellow arrow on the side.  I was excited!  I immediately started wracking my brain for useful and/or interesting topics to post about as I began the journey of writing here again during the roll-up season.  Of course I drew a blank, which seems to be happening a lot these days.

I decided instead to make a quick post here and then think on some new topics tonight so I can start off fresh in the morning.  I still can't believe it has been almost 2 months since my last post, where has the time gone?

-slurp-

Hopefully I will get the opportunity to post daily like I've attempted to do in the past for the roll-up season.  You'll notice I've already started a new page where you will be able to follow along with me and keep up-to-date on my current winnings and losses this year.  This will be the 5th year I've been doing this and I'm excited to get a chance to do it once again.

Anyway folks, just a quick note to let you know I'm still here and to welcome the roll-up season for yet another year.  Wish me luck!

-slurp-

Cheers,

Al