Giant Untainted Apple Man

Ocean Man

Landing Pads for Alien Spaceships

Rotating Pope - Doesn't rotate anymore due to failure of mechanizm

Miniature statue of Liberty. Feels just like New York!

The first official greeting I received from Guam was during the post-flight video( which looked like it must have been recorded over 20 years ago). In the video, the narrator mentions that one of the biggest attraction is the Rotating Pope Statue, built in honour of the Pope's arrival back in ~1985. The other big attraction is the aquarium. Yep.

I have to confess, I knew nothing about what or where Guam is before I came here. Here's a short lesson. It is an Island-Nation/Territory of the USA in the Pacific Ocean. It is about three and a half hours of travel by plane from Japan and Taiwan. Plastered on the walls here are posters proclaiming that "Guam: Where the Sun first Rises in the USA". Neat.
So, Spain owned the island for about a billion years. The Americans came in the 1800's and won it. During the second world war, the Japanese took over for a while. It went back to the United States after the war. Cool man.

Guam is a hugely popular tourist place for the Japanese people. Thus, I've been mistaken for being Japanese a couple of times. When they try to speak with me, I just say Domo Arigato and ohayo gozaimasu, which doesn't make sense for most of the conversations. Neato.

Anyway, I've been here a couple of days. After the wedding tonight, I'll be hopping on a plane back to the Hong Kong Land. The place is pretty nice. The first couple had been marred by the occasional rain. Today is gorgeous though, with the sun and blue skies and stuff.
Woo!

Videos:

Imagine this was a tweet.

Guam hot humid. water undrinkable. humid, condensated windows.
lack of sleep first day.
paid internet good, happy.

swam today. beach water salty, shallow
not good at swimming anymore

City of the Future

So, we went apartment shopping today. Went to a nice island that's about 25 minutes by ferry away from Central (mainish part of the city). It was pretty nice but a little far for my liking.

Worst of all, my phone has decided not to charge. I'm stuck without bleh so I've decided to buy a new phone while I'm here. Its now mostly HTC Hero vs N97.
I'm leaning towards the hero simply because of its integration with the cloud.

Aflong a Hong Kong.

Cathay Pacific isn't actually too bad. During the 14 hour flight, I went and explored either movie selection.
This is what I watched.

G.I.Joe - Awesome movie. During the rewatch, I was able to pick up on the whole Zartan/President/Most Powerful Person plot.
Wanted - Retarded. I fell asleep briefly during this.
Stardust - A family friendly light fantasy story. A little lovey dovey at times, but good.

In the Loop - A british/american political story about how certain statements can get blown out of proportion, and how politicians play their political game.
Star Trek: First Contact
The Dark Knight

So long, suckers!

I'm leaving Vancouver! Permanently!

It'll be the first time in a long while since I've left the continent, so that'll be pretty fun.

Not really looking forward to the 35ish hours I'll be flying in the air, mostly due to the negative dreams I've been having. I don't want to spoil it, but somebody dies and somebody gets left behind. Oh yeah, there's also a creepy (legit) psychic who gave stern warnings from the future (like, you should really get a CAT scan before its too late, etc.). For a particular someone, he only said to make funeral arrangements. :/

Anyway, I'll be gone for two-ish weeks. Feel free to call me if you don't mind paying the extra long distance.
Back December 31.

PS: Exams suck.

Airport. What a fgt.

I've written about this already.
Pretty much the same.

I've brought nothing for my flight. I'm not expecting to be able to use my notebook computer at all. Obviously, even if I do I probably won't have internet. I heard that there are airline companies out there that don't treat you like garbage. Obviously Cathay won't be one of those.

I'm sitting at the departure gate, and the intercom has been going on sporatically. From my understanding of Chinese, they're doing last calls for this person. The strange thing is that they're only announcing in Mandarin.
Bleh.

gg 14 hour trip ahead.

Better Off Ted Premiere, SGU, and Shitting my pants because of KFC

Better Off Ted - Returns tonight! Quirky science-fictiony show. Watch it!

SGU - As I mentioned before, this show doesn't appeal to everyone. Not everyone loves the slow, soapy, character driven shows. Historically, the Stargate Franchise has been more action and plot driven. As a result, many people dislike SGU, and it shows in the ratings. At this point, however, most of the critics have quit or already stopped watching the show, and the remaining few (myself included) mostly generally enjoy the program. The real question is whether there are enough fans of the show to sustain the program for another season.

Shit on pants, KFC - I made a detour coming home tonight to stop at the KFC at Lansdowne. What used to be Toonie Tuesday a couple of years ago have morphed into 2.69 Tuesdays. Two chicken pieces (thigh and drumstick) plus a small order of fries for that price is excellent. When I got out of my car and tried to close the door, I heard a loud clanking sound. I assumed it was my seatbelt which might have been stuck. I checked and it was clear. I closed the door.

When I got inside to order my sweet (salty) fat chicken meat, I realized that I wasn't carrying my N95 Mobile. Thus, I couldn't call My Friends and ask why they were so late. Oh well. I finished my food and went to buy some study-treats.

Half an hour later, when I was about to leave the parking lot, I remembered about my phone. Did I get messages? I'm a fairly important guy so I should have messages.

I couldn't find my phone. It was dark outside and the interior lights were being dumb. I looked under the car seats. Nothing.
At this point, I was starting to get scared. I thought back to when I last knew I had my phone. It was in the car. What was that noise when I tried to close my door? Was it my phone? WAS MY PHONE LYING ON THE GROUND OF THE PARKING LOT? OH SHIT.

I did a U-turn right in the intersection, ignoring all the traffic signals. After dodging a few cars, I made it back to the parking lot. I got out. I looked around. Did I park here? or there?
Nothing.
My phone was not on the ground.
I looked in my car again. This time, on the passenger side.
Nothing.
Fuuu-

I know! I'll call myself, and then the gentle vibration of its silent ringing will lead me to it.
Fuuu-

Oh well. I'll just go home and play world of warcraft, Patch 3.3
Fuuu- My Blizzard Authenticator is on the phone. Can't play without it.

Fuuu-

I walked between the rows of the car, feeling much like a thief looking for a weak spot.
In the end, I shamefully walked back to my car. I went back home.
I used my home phone. I find my phone. The end.

Ninja Assassin is a terrible movie.

I wasn't expecting much going into the film. I first saw the trailers a couple of months ago and I was not very impressed. Although lowered expectations have worked out well in the past (especially with GI Joe), this film managed to cause a sort of rage to boil inside of me. A rage of angerful...ness. This is clearly the worst movie I've seen this year. It isn't an easy task considering Transformers 2, Wolverine, and Paranormal Activities all came out in the same year.

I didn't know anything about the plot before watching the film but I masterfully deduced that Ninjas would assassinate some people. I was not disappointed in that respect. Here's a warning: There is a lot of blood and extreme gore in the film. If people being sliced in half with cgi-added blood splattering everywhere turns you off, you might not want to watch the film.

Cinematography and fight correography were done well for the most part. If you're one those people able to watch a film and not even spend one iota of thought, then it would be enjoyable.

My main issue with the film is the horrible, horrible writing, and numerous logical inconsistencies.

I'm extremely familiar with terrible writing, so I get angry when I see it produced on the screen. The main Ninja's betrayal of the other ninjas seem very weak. It just seemed like a weak reason. If the main ninja brought up the idea that he was kidnapped at a young age, became an orphan due to his real parents murder, then maybe there would have been more weight to his betrayal. As shown on screen, he has no problem killing random people that the Ninja Boss says, but he has a problem with killing a girl. Refusing to kill the girl, the main Ninja attacks the Ninja Boss and his thousands of Ninja Disciples. The main Ninja narrowly escapes as he falls thirty floors from the top of a skyscraper into the ocean. The main Ninja has been hunting his former Ninja brothers ever since.

The biggest writing flaw is the inclusion of the whole EuroPolice storyline. It was obviously added as a way to bridge western audiences with an otherwise Japanese/Asian dominated film. The idea that Ninjas aren't enough to sell tickets without adding white and black people is ridiculous. Ninjas can sell anything.
That storyline is about a female researcher finding links between Ninja killings. She visits an old EuroPol agent's wife who was deemed crazy and was suicided. Ninjas don't want anyone finding any information about them. A Ninja Assassin was sent to assassinate this chick. The main Ninja decides that he needs her help to expose the Ninja Conspiracy and fights to protect her.

Now for the logical inconsistencies.

Ninjas portrayed in this film have three special qualities

1. They're super fast. This helps them to hide in shadows effectively, and they appear as a blur to an average viewer. Fast enough to avoid bullets.
   
2. They can regenerate cut flesh just by twiddling their thumbs in meditation.
3. They are super strong, able to throw Ninja stars faster and with more force than humanly possible. They can wield katanas that can slice a torso into two.

Oh yeah, and with training, they have super senses. Main Ninja was able to hear a conversation from several rooms over. And when he is asleep.

With these abilities, how is it possible that they get defeated by mere gun toting normals? Well, for the first 90% of the film, the Ninja Assassins were able to kill anything and anything they wanted, other than when another Ninja stops them. They pop out of shadows whispering words such as "kill him", and "ninja" in a Lost-Others fashion.
I don't want to spoil the super awesome ending, but the Ninjas get demolished by a group of commandos. Oh yeah, and the researcher lady is with them with her weapon shooting at Ninjas too! Who thought it was a good idea to bring her along. Good thing gets killed by the Ninja Boss so that the Main Ninja enrages and out-Ninjas the Ninja Boss. Except that in the end, she's going to be okay. Ugh.

Oh yeah, and the acting wasn't done very well either. (Except for the Ninja Boss, and some of the flashback scenes)

4/10

Stargate Universe

Stargate Universe is the third (or fourth if you count the abortion that is Infinity) iteration of the popular science fiction franchise.
Set on the Destiny, an Ancient starship that's millions of years old, the crew is focused on survival and finding a way to get home. The Crew didn't start out that way though. Due to an attack from an unnamed foe, an evacuation was ordered and everyone was ordered to go through the Stargate. Doctor Rush, the chief scientist involved with the Icaris Project, decides to dial the 9th chevron address one last time instead of Earth. Everyone was forced to go to the Destiny instead of Earth, stranding them halfway across the universe in a failing starship.

The first couple of episodes dealt with the issue of getting Air and Water. Another two episodes dealt with the ship's power concern. The latest episode was about the crew's relationship with Earth. Scientists on Earth have a plan to bring everyone back, but their plans wouldn't have worked according to Rush. Faced with imminent death, the scientists fled back to Earth.

Fans of the franchise have several issues with the plot.
1) Communication Stones
 - The stones were introduced in SG1 and are magical devices that allow the consciousness of two individuals to switch across vast distances. I understand why the Icaris Expedition would have these stones. It is the only technology they have that can be used to communicate from really far away. I like the continuity aspect of it.
- I really would have preferred if they kept the Destiny Crew all alone with no communication from Earth. I think it adds a dramatic element if they're not able to visit home. Though, being in someone else's body isn't the same, it still feels like a cheat.
- An issue raised is that the people who swapped bodies don't seem to respect the body. Drinking alcohol or having sex is equated to rape, etc. The main problem is that there doesn't seem to be a clear guideline created by the Pentagon. We know that there are rules mentioned by dialogue, but it still doesn't seem clear. It doesn't really make sense for the government to not be watching these people. (maybe they are but they're just in the shadows)

2) Drama / 90210 / Love Triangles
- A lot of screen time has been devoted to exploring the character's psyche or feelings. This is a big departure from previous Stargate shows. In those shows the main characters knew the mission they're there for. At the end of the mission, they get to return home to Earth. In this show, the crew is comprised of evacuees from an exploding base. They're not the ones who would have gone through the stargate. They're the people who are there to maintain the base. Cooks, Janitors, and HR reps.
-TV watchers are wary of love triangles because they're fairly unrealistic and are mostly unsuccessfully dull. It looks like the show is setting up a series of triangles and quadrangles. I understand why this will turn people off, but it hasn't reached a breaking point for me yet.
3) Dark and Gritty
SGU has a lot of sex scenes and unlikeable characters. They're there by design and this annoys a bunch of franchise fans who would prefer their stargate to be lighthearted popcorn entertainment. There's nothing wrong with wanting some more of the old. I just want to see a more serious story like this in the stargate universe.

" I don't want to dream anymore."

"Why do you say that?"
"I don't want to see any trains."
"What?"
"TRAINS!"

I like dreams, especially when they are scary.
Trains don't scare me though. Not like it does for that special needs kid I saw on the bus.

I often feel like I'm on the precipice of a great decision in life. One path leads to mediocrity and the other one leads to a slightly greater purpose. The problem is that the slightly better path requires a lot more work.
If I was a slacker, I would choose path one.

---
Is it wrong that in my dreams, I'm trying to escape from authorities after committing a crime? It isn't a scenario where the police thinks I caused a crime. I knew that I caused the crime.

In it, six men in full tuxedos are sprinting down the street, desperately running away from a crime in which they committed. Murder.
Hoping that the suits will camouflage them from police,  they disappeared into the crowd. Instead of joining them, I slipped away...
While running, I held onto a particularly rusted key. I knew that the key won't fit anymore due to its damaged nature, so I was desperately looking for a key shop.
Weird things happened. The door to the key shop was locked... and required me to deposit my key into a slot on the side. It was sort of like a proof that I wanted to do business.
When the key was inserted into the slot,  a button inside was pushed and the door became unlocked. I didn't get my key back.

Looking for signs inside the darkened building pointing to the key shop, I found a graphical symbol of a key. I didn't even bother reading the rest of the sign.
I had stumbled into a (French Canadian) "Department d'Autre Chose". Other Things. (When I woke up, I thought it was Other Choices, which would make this place a second chances kinda place. You know, redemption.) . I had a short and private conversation with the two greeters. Whatever it was involved me giving them a lot of information voluntarily. (Other Things? Maybe they were recruiting me for some super secret spy thing. Like in warehouse 13.)

Expiry Date.

Orange Juice - 3 days. Left unrefridgerated for a week.

World of Warcraft - 4 more days.

Aion - 30 days.

Do you know what expired orange juice looks like? I do now, and I made the ultimate sacrifice so you don't have to find out. Expired Orange Juice smell and taste the same. The only difference I was able to notice about the juice at its level of decay is that the colour looks darker...  Drinking the juice did not instantly make me sick. There was just a slight ache in my stomach, so I didn't think much about the juice.

A couple days later, I once again reached out for more orangy goodness. This time, while swirling the container, I noticed that there was a sort of milky substance swimming inside the juice. Once again, it tasted fine. I took extra care to not drink the bottom gunk of the juice where it looked too questionable for me to drink. The next day, I wasn't able to go to school.

Fall TV shows.

Sunday:
Simpsons / Family Guy - Decent short shows. Good to watch during commute.
Dexter - Great Show.
Californication - Decent Show.

Monday:
Heroes - Decent Show

Tuesday:
Being Erica - Watched first season. Interesting but definitely not a priority.

Wednesday:
Eastwick - Pilot was interesting. Probably going to drop this show.

Thursday:
Flash Forward - Pilot looked good. Should be a keeper.
Supernatural - Great Show. Heaven vs Hell vs Winchesters
Fringe - Good Show. X-Files clone

Friday:
Stargate Universe - Premise sounds interesting.
Smallville - Really hit or miss show. Can be fun but also kinda dumb.
Dollhouse - I'm looking forward to seeing how this one ends.

Saturday:
Merlin (UK) - More dumb than fun, but I need something to learn English.

You Will Obey.

I was driving through town like usual and I started to count the number of people who were violating traffic laws. I'm excluding speeding here because everybody speeds.

2 counts of left turn at the end of the traffic light cycle (It was clearly red. Red is bad. Turn only when you're blocking the way at the end of the traffic cycle. It isn't time to squeeze in three or four cars. Fgts.)
1 count of illegal stopping (to drop off somebody.)
1 count of not signaling while changing lane. (not including those who change lane as soon as they signal. This is bad too.)

This was during a 20 minute drive to drop somebody off.

Spoilers: Kanye West / Taylor Swift staged the whole thing.

It seems to me that there's some kind of flu around and it seems to be fairly contagious. Stupid swine flu.
So it is the first full week of school now, still attending some classes for the first time. I am really starting to enjoy things. So, I hope that I can accomplish some vague goals I've set for myself. We shall see.

I've been dreaming a lot nowadays. Mostly about real life. About once per day, I encounter something that I find familiar because I had that dream already.  IE. I had a dream where I was late for a class. I wasn't actually late when I woke, but I guess it was on my mind. Summary: I am having dreams relating to my fears and desires. Weird stuff.

Topic: If the whole Kanye/Swift thing wasn't staged, it should have been. Look at how much publicity this has generated. Every tool out there is talking about it (myself included.) Bye.

Thanks you Maptek.

We're all forced to go to this Mining Software Training at UBC this weekend, from 10am to 4pm. Bleh.
I would much rather we didn't, but mandatory is mandatory.

This first week of school has been slightly frustrating and tiring. It seems like the Mining Department really needs to work on being more organized in general. I know I'm calling the kettle black, but its true.

PS: I probably have the swine flu.

The Big Day.

Sister's wedding, today.

As glad as I am for her, I've discovered a few things from this whole preparation experience.

1) I hate traditions. It is bad enough to follow a 'western' traditional wedding at a church + etc. Following the whole chinese model too made it much more confusing. There is way too much superstition associated with both of these methods. Honestly, what's so terrible about the groom driving in a non-white car? Bleh. Superstitions + luck are both really dumb concepts. Don't do it.

2) A wedding takes a lot of work to prepare. It doesn't seem like its worth it to have a big ceremony. I'm talking about both time and money expenditure.

3) The above two combined has made me really tired. I'm going to go away for good now.

Words are fun when used against your Family!

I finally did something and installed a new hard disk on my notebook computer. Now it runs extremely well, except for the fact that it looks like the battery might be dying.

So, what does this mean?


-
As you know, I've been taking a Philosphy class this summer.
 We discuss things like the ethics of economic systems, war/peace/torture, and now censorship.
When on the topic of Pacifist/m, I said that I would like to be a pacifist (like Ghandi), except that it is way too hard to achieve in real life.

Too true.

--

I had this strange dream recently. I was watching a documentary about the moon/mars landings, except the facts were way wrong.

For one thing, the shuttle looked exactly like the statue of liberty in some shots, while it others it looked like she was sitting down in a giant (solid) chair. There were scenes where the astronauts were walking outside and the cameras panned back and there was the statue. The Astronauts said something about how they'll never get lost out here because they can always see the figure.
Another thing that seemed wrong was the fact that the dusty/hilly ground was sometimes red and sometimes grey. One of the astronauts was trying to get back into the building, but the guy inside locked him out. After pointing out the seriousness of the situation, the guy apologized and let the people in.

I think this dream was brought to you by the 40th anniversary of the moon landing or what/whenever that occured.

Twitter

Guy in bus seat ahead has a sony e.reader. He's reading some kind of
ranma/dragonball fanfic. No lies.

--
Sent from my mobile device

James Cameron's Avatar

I watched the entire series of Avatar: The Last Air Bender this past week.

I'm pretty amazed at how fully developed the world seemed. It really felt like the creators had the series mapped out before starting. There were course-correction during the run, but that's understandable. I particularly like how they portrayed the Zyko character during Book 1. Starting that character with the background being slowly revealed was a good choice. I mean, you knew that something was up with his scar, but they didn't explicitly explain it until much later.

I understand that the show is made for kids, but some of the character's motivation/action seem imensely dumb. Example: The Dai Li (Earth Kingdom Cultural Guards) 's betrayal made no sense at all. I can't see any justification where they would join Fire Kingdom. Yeah, I get that they weren't loyal to the King, but to the Cultural Minister who was trying to overthrow the government. Siding with the enemy and then letting them take over... ugh.

Throughout the series (especially book 3), they constantly remind us of Sozen's Comet... but the heroes' constant dicking around really crushed the sense of urgency. A more productive use of the time would be to (maybe) destroy the fire kingdom's airships? Speaking of which, they could all have been so easily destroyed by Angggg... and if they did that, then Sozen's Comet would have been wasted. All of the fire/earth/water/wind bending could have been put in much better use. I mean, when water can be used to cut down a huge metal girder (as seen in the battle at the wall of Ba Sing Se), the water tribes should have sent a single water bender commando to destroy the entire navy. The person could just be hiding deep underwater, using water to maneuver,  and then start cutting up the bottom of the ships.

By the way, I'm not so sure that a 12 (112) year old boy and a 14 year old girl should be able to comprehend love like that. Underaged sex. Ew.

Ants don't need milk. They're dying now.

Six Feet Under
The show is five seasons long and is basically a snapshot of the lives of a family that owns a funeral home.
Pretty interesting stuff.
As you can imagine, they have to deal with death daily, but it starts to take a toll on their psyche after a while.

I watched the five seasons over a week and, while interesting, it isn't really the best thing ever.
If there's one message in the show, its that everybody dies. No exceptions. Spend your time here well.
People make terrible decisions in their lives, and end up living unhappy lives because they become stuck in it.
The show kinda says that if you're going to have prolonged unhappiness, you should probably do something about it.

Everything is a Conspiracy

We all joke about crazy people and their paranoia sometimes. 9/11 is one of those things.

In this case, he believes that there's an active person somewhere out there dedicating their life to making his life miserable. Every little instance of something on the computer going wrong can be attributed to this person 'hacking' into the computer.

"Why did the computer shut down by iteself?"
"The spyware scanner says that this registry has been changed."
and so on.

Of course, a novice user of the internet will probably get infected with spyware/virus eventually, but to attribute that to a malicious person out there is a little far gone. It's come to the point where the person would refuse to do anything on the Internet.

Person also asked me if there was something I'd like to say... because he thinks I've been compromised by the hacker as well. That the hacker has somehow coerced me to perpetuate the lie. Yeah.

Yeah.

I guess you can say... UP is a downer.

Pixar seems to be able to make no wrong.
First it was Wall-E (Movie of the Millenium)
Now it is UP.

I have to say that the music in the first fifteen minutes of the film, combined with what's happening on the screen, had forced a strong emotional reaction from me. I couldn't stop crying. All the while little kids were screaming and yelling too. It was sweet watching this couple meet and share a dream. It was intensely sad to find that they were unable to fulfill their lifelong dreams due to different circumstances.

;_;

Blame

The life you live is mostly determined by yourself. Nobody was scheming at your birth to make your life miserable.
I believe that most of us are blessed with a life that's not limited by problems of food, money, or shelter.

Thus, you ultimately shape how you became.
No matter how angry you are at what you are, you still don't have the right to treat other people like dirt. It isn't going to help you.

Don't feel sorry for yourself either. You would be stuck in a self-defeating/hating loop as your life becomes more miserable due to your inaction.
You still have time to change.

Perfectly Normal

I've been doing a lot of thinking recently and I've come to the conclusion that I don't want to die.
At least not from any illness or decapitation.

Yesterday, I was walking through the mall when I saw a pair of lovely kids running around bumping into things. It was all very cute until they started kicking into the air, and eventually they went up to perfectly normal strangers and started kicking them. The victim turned to them and told them to stop, but they won't. He lifted them up by the arms (hanging) and walked to the parents. I'm sure they had a good conversation, but it didn't feel right for me to listen.

Yesterday, I saw a woman die. She choked on her own vomit and nobody helped her by moving her to the side. Hey dying would have solved a lot of problem for everyone, but she didn't really deserve to die. Would I have done it in Mr. White's shoes? Or I have let her die the same way? Probably not. (You should all watch Breaking Bad.)

Forsaken Class

This past week ranks pretty low in the scenes of my life.
Surveying class is brutal, especially when they squeeze the equivalent of a 13 week class into two weeks - 12 days (including saturdays).

I get home really tired and I just want to sleep, but there's like 1-2 hours of homework that needs to be done for the following day.
I just can't do this anymore.
Good thing there's only one more week.

Anyway, I'm still trying to get that Mars story up and running, I've got about two segments out of 7 done. I still think I can do it, but I just need to have it stew around in my mind some more.
Working on another thing that's kind of out there. It is interesting, but ideas jump very quickly and far apart.

Who Watches the Watchmen

So, I've finished the Graphic Novel this week in anticipation for the movie.

I'm not very impressed by the movie. Yeah, it was a faithful-ish adaptation, but I felt that the movie didn't show how humanity had deteriorated on the streets. In the comic, it was evident that the streets weren't safe and was filled with thugs and gangs. There was a real sense that the world was ending.

The movie didn't illustrate this point well.

My second problem is I didn't think the source material was that great.
It was interesting, but kinda very boring at times. There's literally a part where there's a comic within a comic. It takes over some of the panels and is juxtaposed over events currently happening in the 'world'. I didn't care much for this technique. Basically, I was expecting more of the comic, but it doesn't mean the comic sucked. It felt more like a 7/10 story, maybe an 8/10 if they removed the annoying comic-within-a-comic part while delivering the same information.

Fire. Alarm.

Saturday morning. 4 am.
Residence.

A blaring noise wakes you. It isn't the usual friendly song playing on your phone's alarm function. It is the sound of a half gimped bell ringing inside your apartment. From your closed door, you see flashing lights beneath and around the edges of the door.

It was scary.
The flash made it looked like an electrical fire.

So I was stumbling around in the room, trying to find my glasses and to turn on the real lights. When I did, I found myself woefully underdressed for inter-apartmental mingling, much less potentially -30C weather outside. ( I didn't have time to check the temperature.)

I put on some pants and a shirt. I put on two layers of jackets. It is much better to be overwarm than underwarm.



The department probably arrived in 15 or so minutes. I kinda wish this building was burnt down along with the rest of this town. Apparently some joker had a party on our floor and decided it was funny.

The really sad thing is that this is about the usual hour for us to wake up and go for work. Sad.

I'm going back to bed.

Computer done

I've done it.
I've built my own computer.

Windows 7 is working great right now, after I made a few minor tweaks.

Contemplating on whether I should do it on the notebook.

Dollars at Work.

So I just placed the order for my new compooter. I'll still have to build it.
The sad thing is that I think it'll arrive before the whole dell-box fiasco becomes resolved.
It still hasn't come yet. I have no idea what's happening anymore. The next time I speak to them, I won't be very happy.

Work is very, very tiring. No, it isn't physically or even mentally stimulating. It is the shear amount of un-work I have to do.
1) There's no internet, unless I can justify to my boss that I need it. (Well, I can get to the cbc news site, but that only provides maybe half an hour of news articles. They really need to update more often.)
2) My job requires me to call people, wait for people to call me back, and then get some information from them. Most of the time is spent tracking people down when they're away from their offices. When I'm not doing that, I am spending time making documents (following the format), and going to meetings.
3) I'm dying here, of boredom.

My co-worker/fellow-coop-student has even less to do than me. It is sad, really.

Dell. You.

Dell box hasn't arrived it. They delivered it to Richmond. I specifically told them to ship it here.

I have a huge urge to cover my face with my hands in disgust.

Are you all North American?

Why yes, I am.

Today was the first actual day of work. I woke up at 5:08 am (that's 4:08am your time) to get ready for my 5:50 bus. I had to get up slightly earlier because I didn't know where the bus stop was. So I walked down the street looking for dorks just standing around. I found a group. Success.

The actual drive would have taken slightly over one hour, but the bus' movement ebbed and flowed in the traffic. By my estimate, it took 1h30m. Not that I care, I was sleeping on the bus.

When I first landed, I had no idea where I was supposed to go. There were no instructions or anything, so I went into the security desk and waited to ask the person.
"So you're a new hire? Go into the Consul."
"Where's the Consul?"
"Over there. Just follow the chains on the left and you'll see it."

So I go out and follow the instruction. The chain fence stopped about halfway. I didn't know where to go so I went ahead and asked someone.

"Excuse me for a second. I'm a new hire and I'm supposed to go to the Consul. Can you direct me to where that is?"

You have to understand that it is below -25 degrees out this hour in the morning. The guy didn't want to help me. He just wanted to go to the bus to go home.
" The what?"

"The Consul. Do you know where that is?"

"I've never heard of it."
"Well do you know where I should go as a new hire?"
"Probably over there to THAT building over there."

He runs off, and I went the direction he said.
I walked inside the building. Strangely quiet. I found a lady and said I was a new hire and I didn't know where to go. She has never heard of the Consul building. To her credit, she tried to help me get to where I'm supposed to, but she never actually found out. She just called for my 'leader', but he wasn't there. I was directed to go back into the main building. I instead went back to security.

I made her give me better instructions.
"You know that building at the vehicle gate? You go there."
"Thanks, that would have been a better description."

Again, I head out into the cold. I found the building she was describing. I saw a bunch of scruffy looking fellows and asked them if this where the new hires go. He said yes. Finally. The Consul.

Once I got inside, I met a bunch of other scruffy looking people. I tried to confirm with them. "Is this where the new hires go?"
They nodded.

A couple of seconds later, a guy walks in. "Are you all North Americans?"
I nodded.
"Anyone here a new hire?"
I said yes, along with another guy. The rest of the people were transfers.
"Oh you two are going to be staying for long." Queue laughter.

Something didn't seem right.

The instructor guy left the room after getting our names. He left to get a van. I stood there, listening to the people talk. They are seasoned veterans at... trucking? I don't think I'm supposed to be here. So, after about fifteen minutes of weighing the possibility of being in the wrong place, I stepped out. I saw the instructor.
"Excuse me, are Engineering new hires supposed to go through this too?"
"Engineering? You work for North American, right?"
"North American?"
"The company. Our company."
"No, Syncrude."
"You're in the wrong place, buddy."

To the security office I go.

"Hey again. I don't think I was supposed to go there."
"Oh. Let's see your contract."
I look around for my contract. I lost it.
"I lost it."
"Hm. What's your job title again?"
"Base Plant Projects"
"Base Plant... as in Mildred Lake?"
"No, it clearly said Aurora."
"I'm sorry. I usually work down at Mildred Lake. I'm just filling in for someone."

Eventually, she called someone who knew someone who knew where I was supposed to be.
Someone came and picked me up.

I didn't feel too bad about this though, they didn't know they were getting student workers either, so it was kind of a surprise.

Communication rocks!

State of half-dead.

I'm not sure what's happening with my computer, but it kinda works again. Sure, the power-charger is broken (doesn't detect battery), and the monitor is dead, but it still works when attached to an external monitor. What I find very curious is that 12 hours ago, it wouldn't start at all. It isn't because the machine wasn't dry because it was working the night before.

I'm just kinda glad I can still use it, for you know. that reason. withdrawal

I find it kind of funny that when I can't play WoW anymore, my second urge is to write something. Blogging, or short story, or whatever. I see things and think to myself: T"his is interesting, I should write it down." When I do get a chance, however, I go back to playing the game. Well, not anymore! I'm putting that on top of my priority list... just after I finish that jewelcrafting daily.


-
On a side note, it is a baumy -20 degrees centigrade outside. Absolutely beautiful weather. I love it, except for all the driving in town that I have to do. It is incredibly annoying to have to plug/unplug my block heater, then clear my windshield, then wait for the car to warm up. It adds about 4-5 minutes to any trip.

I'm not sure what kind of heating they use in here, but I think it involves dehumidifying. I am finding that I need to drink a lot more liquids, or my lips chap. Because of this dryness, I get 4-5 static shocks everyday from interacting with things in the apartment. Hella annoying.

Water is bad

Protips: 1) always backup. 2) keep room and floor clear 3) secure a
place to put computer / keep away from nightstand. 4)don't spill water
on to computer in the dark of night( or whenever)

--
Sent from my mobile device

Alive and well in Fort McMurray.

1) It is cold here.
2) My room-mate's name is Tyler. He is a geek. Star Trek, Star Gate, Battlestar. Plays Counterstrike Source mostly. He sometimes plays World of Warcraft (He has a level 40 paladin).
3) I can get just about anything here in Fort McMurray. What I can't get, I can probably acquire via the Internet.
4) There's nothing to do here except hide inside my house, which I kinda enjoy, but when the house involves pretty much nothing...
5) There's no part 5.
6) I've been dreaming a lot lately, mostly involving people from High school (Gary, Oliver, people I don't talk to anymore, etc) and mostly in Richmond. Strange that I still have such vivid memories of something that's 3-4 years ago now.

Freezepop

Driving in subzero temperature is pretty fun. I had a lot of fun today.
Everything was cool when I was driving, but when I wasn't... things got scary.
The car lost control three times, and the driver opted to stop the car completely.
I'm not letting anyone else drive my car anymore.

Oh, and my pristine glass is broken again.