Saskatoon drivers SUCK!!!

I had no less than four driving adventures as I came into the city this morning. For those that know Saskatoon, the places named will make sense. For any others, bear with me, as the stupidity knows no geographic bounds.

As I always do, I came in from in the east on College Avenue. I needed to be in the north end, so I had to get onto Circle Drive. To accomplish this there is a merge lane that takes you from College Drive going east-west, to Circle Drive which at that point is going north-south. So I get behind someone on the merge lane. And they come to a complete STOP on the merge lane. WHY!?! There was room to get into traffic. The flow was light. There was no reason to stop, for criminy sake. Nevertheless they did, as I cursed a mean blue streak.

Then I continue around on Circle Drive, as I approach the bridge over the South Saskatchewan River. Some moron comes flying up off the Attridge Drive merge lane. There is a cargo truck ahead in that lane. So with barely a nickel's width of room, this idiot goes Mario Andretti and cuts up into my lane, ahead of me, necessitating brakes and more cursing.

I managed to make it several blocks before another Captain Wizard showed himself. I stop for a light at the Quiznos on Circle Drive and our latest genius pulls a U-turn at the turning of the light, right in the face of oncoming traffic. It was a beat-up looking van so I guess he has nothing else to live for.

Our final act of moronic behaviour followed quickly on the heels of the previous one. The light at Circle and Northridge was clearly red but someone in a red Blazer had a desperate need to be somewhere. So after a hesitation (thus marking this as a conscious decision) the jackass drives through the intersection. Compounding the idiocy, they also made a lane change as they passed through the intersection. The final definition of this ridiculous behaviour is evidenced as I happened to pass Colonel Impatient a block later, as their pushy behaviour put them behind a large truck at the next light, which was not able to get going quickly on the snow covered streets. Just another example of why patience often does win the day.

Suffice it to say, I was glad to reach my destination and stop driving. I didn't think so much stupidity could show itself in one 10 minute period.

What's the deal with this newest trend in spam advertising? Why is every second email I get an offer for a free gift card to something? And its always American chain stores that are 'supposedly' offering me a free gift card. And if you read the fine print (which I sometimes do just because I'm bored) you'll note that its limited to US citizens only. So why spam the whole world with this crap? The least you could do, as a halfway reasonable human being, is buy a damn mailing list that contained only US mailing addresses. But no, these annoying emails have to go out to the whole world.

Does anyone actually GET a free gift card? Or is the whole thing just another pointless internet scam? I get so tired of the crap that gets perpetuated on the internet. At least with the email jokes that go around, you get a chuckle or a funny picture. But spam just annoys you.

If no one really gets anything, and everyone gets annoyed with the emails, what's the point?

Blog Question Of The Day:

What is the best AC/DC song of all time?

I am not happy with the Town of Watson. Their plowing of the streets left me with a drift in front of my yard that I actually had to SHOVEL before I could get into my garage.

NOT HAPPY

I have to tell this story about my trip to Mexico. . .

We had possibly the worst flight times ever. Our flight back to Canada was scheduled for 3:50 in the morning. Our ride to the airport was listed to pick us up at 1:00 in the morning. This is a full half day after the check-out time for the hotel, which is pegged at 12:00 (noon).

Obviously we were unenthusiastic about being 'homeless' for half a day. So we inquired about whether it would be possible to keep a room for a few hours, so we could shower, change, and basically have a home base as we finished our last few hours in the tropical paradise that is Puerto Vallarta. Our multiple inquiries, with multiple suggestions were all met with the response they were 'too busy' and couldn't spare a room. The one concession we got was that we could have a 'hospitality room' at the end of the day to clean up, and get ready to wait out the evening. Reluctantly we leave our rooms at noon. I abandoned the home I'd had in good ol' room 6103.

So the afternoon ends and we're sweaty, hot, and probably a little smelly, from being by the pool, swimming, drinking, and enjoying our last few hours. We inquire about this hospitality room we'd been promised. Our request is met with blank stares. Finally we got across the point that they'd PROMISED us facilities to get cleaned up in, so we wouldn't have to travel looking and feeling like homeless people. After more confusion we manage to get a key to a room so we could shower, change, and so on.

The key they give us is to room 6103. It had been empty all along.

I have come to a conclusion.

Coldplay is by far the most over-hyped band on the face of the planet.

Blog Song Of The Day:

Reliant K - Who I Am Hates Who I've Been

What kind of corollary can be drawn from the observation that you think a rectangle with two circles drawn under it seems to represent a penis?

I gotta say something. . .

What the hell is wrong with technology? Why is it that we can't find a way to seamlessly move from one state of existence into another? How is it that we have to leave backdoors and deadends to everything as we move forward?

I have a problem. The 'computer' that controls my pilot unit can only store approximately 45 days worth of performance data before it needs to be downloaded. To get the data off the controller, I need to connect it to a regular computer, like a laptop. But do they make that easy?

HELL NO!!!

To connect to this controller I need a 25 pin serial connection. Do you know how hard it is to find a computer with a serial port on it? Its damn near impossible! First of all, anything portable, like a laptop, does NOT have a serial port on it. If you want a laptop with a serial port on it, it has to be old. OOOOOLD!!! Next of all you have to be able to communicate via the serial connection. Does Windows want to communicate over a serial port?

HELL NO!!!

So I waste 6 hours and another 8 on driving there and back . . twice. And in the end I don't have my data. Plus I'll probably LOSE some of it because it doesn't look like I'll have this problem solved before the 45th day.

Technology pisses me off.

Blog Question Of The Day:

How does one decide if they are blowing their nose too often?

Blog Song From a Movie Of The Day:

White Zombie - The One (from Escape From LA)

I think 'Falling Down' is definitely Michael Douglas' best movie.

Blog Song Of The Day:

Kid Rock f/ Sheryl Crow - Picture

This is what a caustic burn looks like.

For the record . . . sulfuric acid is hard on your clothes.

If you get a chance, go to the Burger Pit in Foam Lake. They make a good burger and the fries and gravy are outstanding.

Blog Question Of The Day:

Is it wrong to enjoy a PG movie for reasons that were never intended?

Blog Question Of The Day:

If you're the only person on a boat, and its about to sink, do you have to go down with it?

Things That Piss Me Off:

The Kiss Cam

Who's genius idea is this? Let's turn the camera on unsuspecting people in the audience of a hockey game and make them engage in a public display of affection! This is an idea with no down side.

WRONG!!!

What if the couple you feature aren't even there together, but just happen to be seated next to each other? It could happen.

What if the couple is actually sitting next to each other, pointedly ignoring each other because they were arguing about some spilled chili fries?

What if they NEVER kiss in public?

What if she's underage and its a felony? Or he's underage and its a misdemeanor and a $50 fine?

Referring back to reason number one, what if its your buddies girlfriend and you've always harbored a huge crush on her, like that song Jesse's Girl?

What if they're really clueless enough to not realize they're on the JumboTron?

What if the couple is just embarassingly bad kissers?

There's about 603 more reasons why the Kiss Cam is a bad idea, but I think I've successfully argued my point. This is just another example of stupidity brought to us by the people self-appointed to be 'cute'. They make me want to vomit.

Things That Piss Me Off:

I was riding along to Winnipeg on Monday night. It was late when we were approaching the city and the night was pitch black. The radio was our only entertainment and we were noting good songs so I could make a compilation CD for the guy that was doing the driving.

For the most part I knew the singer/band and the title of the songs that were coming up. However they played a new one that I'd never heard before. But do you think that they'd pause between songs to name the artist and song title, so I could put it on the list?

NO!!!

I hate that. The one time you need them to tell you the song title and they skip it. I wish there could be a rule that they couldn't play a song without telling you the artist and title, either before or after the song played.

Had Star Wars been made 10 years later, don't you think Bruce Willis would have made for an outstanding Han Solo?

I am a huge Brittney Bottoms fan.

Things That Piss Me Off:

You can spend countless hours, and thousands of dollars putting high tech equipment into a water treatment plant. All of these tools and devices provided to make the water plant automatic, sophisticated, and easy to use. Dollars are spent on top of dollars, with device working with device, all to create a seamless operating experience for the water treatment plant operator.

And what do you find when you check on the operator, sitting studiously at his computer terminal. A god damn game of solitaire is being played on his desktop INSTEAD of the sophisticated control system that is supposed to be on the machine.

I have made a decision.

The Rock is my current favorite actor.

Things That Piss Me Off:

Windows is so stupid. Pay attention as I outline all of the steps I carried out.

1. Opened Explorer
2. Opened my Word document
3. Clicked the Print button
4. Closed Word

It asked me if I wanted to save my changes. What changes!?! I just printed the document. Printing is not changing. Pay attention!!!

Things That Piss Me Off:

I hate the song 'Big Yellow Taxi'. I suppose at one point it might have been an okay tune. I don't know, its original release pre-dates my interest in music. But it is not such a great song that it deserves the endless parade of cover versions that exist. It seems like every artist with even the slightest bent towards a nostalgic folksy-pop sound has to cover this song. It drives me up the wall.

The measly four hours of sleep I got last night is catching up to me.

Blog Survey Of The Day:
(This is a serious one. I could use the data for something I'm working on.)

Do you want the water you drink to have 'taste'?

I was watching music videos on the weekend. I wanted to watch a movie, or sports, but at the particular time I was tuned in, there was nothing in either of those categories that I wanted to see. Thus I was relegated to MuchMusic.

It was a countdown show. One of the first videos I saw was the new one from Ashlee Simpson. Why on earth do they let this girl dance? She's got all the rhythm of a block of cement! And yet, they still let the girl twitch and jerk like an epileptic on LSD. For the love of god, someone stop the insanity.

Blog Song Of The Day:

James Blunt - You Are Beautiful

I swear the people that work at Future Shop must be retarded.

I bought a dryer. I needed a dryer so I purchased one. However, I'm not a huge fan of doing the laundry so I'm not going to spend a lot of money to be able to do it. Thus I went to Future Shop. I suppose I doomed myself to their incompetence but at the time . . . it seemed like a good idea.

First of all they lose my dryer. How do you lose a dryer!?! I mean COME ON! Its a great big metal thing. It seems impossible to lose. One idiot went back to the store room THREE times and couldn't find it. It took Captain Wizard two trips to the back to eventually find the dryer. I'm standing there like a complete tool because I do want my dryer as these idiots keep going back, time after time, only to tell me its not there. Like I'm going to say 'oh, that's okay, you can just keep my $250.' Morons!

So they do, eventually, find the dryer. They didn't seem real thrilled with me that I insisted that it was back there. But the jackasses had taken my money so they damn well were going to give me my dryer. So what's their genius plan to get it into the back of my sister's truck? Why don't you just pull up front, into the FIRE lane, and we'll load it on there. Oh this is a good idea. Six hundred thousand people are trying to move around in this parking lot and we're going to clog up the fire lane loading a big-ass dryer. That was their genius plan and I was in no mood to spend any more time in Future Shop so we do it.

It still amazes me that they could have such a retarded plan to load a dryer. What if it had been a double wide refrigerator!?!

Blog Song Of The Day:

Fefe Dobson - Don't Let It Go To Your Head

Things That Piss Me Off:

There are two sizes of calendars in the calendar store that always opens at Christmas time. There is the great big calendars, that are about a foot square, and the smaller size ones that are maybe 6 inches square. The smaller ones are much better to hang at work, because they're more inobtrusive, and don't take up wall space. But they never have any good ones in the small sizes. Its all puppies, and kittens, and stupid nature landscapes. I suppose they must be popular but couldn't you at least publish a few that are more pop culture oriented?

Future Shop pisses me off.

Blog Question Of The Day:

How do you decide which are the obtainable and which are the unobtainable fantasies?

I could stand to catch a break.

I refuse to get despondent about my lack of success lately but, things aren't going well. Today's fiasco came in two parts. On one hand I was trying to get my prized project, my special little undertaking, to operate the way I wanted it to. In the end I failed. It is going to work in a fashion, but not in the one I wanted. The modulating valve to control waste flow does NOT work and had to be abandoned. The variable frequency drive is not being signal controlled by the control system. My acid chemical pump is not connected, as I was unable to get the control system to vary the operating signal it was supposed to send to it. I'm missing a housing for a pH sensor, one of my pressure transducers is on backorder and I have no idea where my caustic pump currently is located. On top of that I still haven't had a chance to try and log the performance data from the system automatically.

Despite all of that I am keeping my spirits up.

Nonetheless, more personal issues are also going poorly. Someone at worked as me to attempt to get some concert tickets for them. Now I can do this, by asking a favor of a good friend. As he is a good friend, he made an effort to oblige. However, what neither of us anticipated was the over-eager-ness of the intended concert-goer. She has not been quite as quietly appreciative as we'd have liked and that's causing stress. Luckily the concert is soon so I hope we can weather the last of this storm.

Monday nights are rarely heart-warming. I take comfort in the warmth of the house I own. I find warmth in the contentment of a good job. I gather content from the family and friends that still reach out to contact me.

Good night all, and I wish that you find your own cheer as you face obstacles.

I have done some experimenting and I think that a frosty mug may actually keep the beverage too cold right out of the deep freeze.

To what I'm sure will be the chagrin of some of my more hard-core friends I have to admit that I like the new Lindsay Lohan song.

Note:

M&M's will get melty if you leave them in your pocket all afternoon.

There was nothing about today that was worth blogging about.

Blog Quote Of The Day:

When the fuck did we get ice cream?

Blog Question Of The Day:

Do you think a prostitute gets her money's worth out of a daily ad in the newspaper?

Watching movies this week I have come to a conclusion:

Kate Beckinsale is hot.

I made $241.85 in tips in 2005. What should I buy with it?

I predict that, if you give the Pittsburgh Penguins a couple of years, they are going to be among the elite teams in the NHL.

bicarbonate

bi-car-bon-ate

bi - which is just incredibly greedy
car - like what you drive
bon - which is French for good
ate - like I did to my sandwich

Blog Question Of the Morning:

Do shipping companies (Purolator, UPS, FedEx) stop moving parcels during the Christmas holiday season?

I hate people that have no trouble falling asleep.

Blog Question Of The Day:

If you were designing a new laptop, what features would you include on it?

Did anyone else notice the re-occuring theme of decapitation in the movie 'Sin City'?

How do you tell the difference between worthwhile and foolish spending?

I meant to write this last night but I ended up forgetting.

I give a thumbs up to the movie The Transporter. Formulaic but an exciting, fast paced movie. I recommend giving it a try.

6:30 on a the last Wednesday before a Christmas vacation and I'm still in the office. That sounds about typical.

Its been a decent week so far. My garage is getting to look like something so I'm feeling enthusiastic about that. Not that there's been any other great successes to report but a general sense of positivity is permeating my mind. That and a lot of questions. I asked a lot of questions today.

Okay, I'm officially weird. Good night!

Favorite toy, thy name is PlayStation Portable

If anyone in my readership happens to be osamita1904@hotmail.com or know who osamita1904@hotmail.com is, could you get them to knock it off? I can't answer MSN messages that come in Spanish.

I confirmed at lunch today that my garage does, in fact, have erected walls.

I've spent a lot of time thinking about things lately. I've had occasion to consider the circumstances of my life and I am forced to admit that after a year of attempts, I have not accomplished any of the things that I wanted for this year. This has caused me to reach a conclusion.

I need an adventure.

I listen to the conversation among people and they always have exploits to share. Wild times that they've gone though and how its shaped their life. I don't have any stories. I play it safe, cut my risks, and end up boring. I don't want to be boring.

But because I'm the Ned Flanders of adventure, I don't know where to start. Please forward to me any suggestions you might have for an adventure I should undertake. I think I've had my fill of childish fun, since I've spent nearly the entirety of my existence fostering my inner child. I've missed out on the formative hijinks. What stupid fun should I be having to fulfill my sense of inadequacy.

I'm willing to beg now.

Is there anyone that will travel with me to Las Vegas?

I know its late but I just can't get passed this.

Why would ANYONE give a rat's ass about Paris Hilton?

Blog Theology Of The Night:

What if God doesn't exist, but the Devil does?

I swear I will never understand Wal-Mart.

I just wanted some pop. A nice, easy and should have been quick trip into the store for ONE itme. But nothing about Wal-Mart can be quick, easy or painless.

First of all I can't find the god damn pop. Every other bloody Wal-Mart in the world looks exactly like all the rest. This one had to have the damn grocery section off in a different spot. FINE, whatever. So I get the pop. Not without having to maneuver around idiots in shopping carts. (Don't EVEN get me started on shopping carts. People that come to the mall in the winter and get a shopping cart JUST for their coat drives me right up the wall) So I want to pay for my purchase and get the hell out of Dodge. Can that be simple? HELL NO!!! Its bloody Christmas season and true to form Wal-Mart is skimping on the staff and every singe line is 4 deep with idiots buying a month's worth of supplies.

Do you know what I actually heard someone say, as I was hunting for the pop. I'm going to have to paraphrase a little as the exact comment eludes me but it went something like this. "But its 4 cents cheaper her then at Shoppers' FOUR CENTS CHEAPER!?! Is your world going to be that rocked that you can price shop for FOUR cents? Come on people. Buy the crap and go home. Wal-Mart is evil.

Can someone please explain to me why I'm having so much trouble with MSN lately? Here I am again, trying to log in and have it tell me the service is not available. I know that to be false because I am able to log in under a different Hotmail address that I have created. So what gives? Is this just Bill out to get me or what?

Blog Song Of The Day:

Paul Oakenfold - Starry Eyed Surprise

Blog Poll Of The Day:

Which of the following would you prefer?

a) sex
b) ice cold Pepsi

I was reading this article earlier today about car theft in Canada. Among the top 10 cars most frequently stolen in Canada, 4 of the leaders were variants of the Honda Civic. The article went on to say that the most commonly stolen vehicles were those that did not have an ignition immobilizer.

This got me to thinking . . .

Why would you steal a Civic? I mean, REALLY!?!

The Civic is a stupid, clunky barget basement piece of foreign garbage. If you're going to break the law and steal a car, at least target something good. Immobilizer or not, go after something flashy and worth grabbing, like a Lexus or a sports car of some kind. Sure its probably harder to do but since when was anything good easy?

Blog Word Of The Day:

zaftig

How long is it likely to take for my Playstation Portable to arrive from Aeroplan?

Does anyone want to come to Watson and keep me company for the weekend?

Blog Question Of The Day:

Should I sell my house and learn to just live in my office between Monday and Friday?

Blog Song Of The Day:

Yellowcard - Only One

Blog Question Of The Day:

What are those temporary tattoos, like the ones the give out at sporting events, made of that makes them temporary?

Blog Song Of The Day:

New Found Glory - I Don't Wanna Know

I have removed my hair.

Why does it bother me in a vague way that Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey are separating?

Can someone explain to me how you can take as talented an actress and Natalie Portman, and reduce her to the relevance of a porcelain figurine?

I'm watching Star Wars Episode III. This is the same girl I watched in Garden State a couple of weeks ago, and she lit up the movie with characer. In this she's just a china doll to put obscure hair styles on, and make her say stupid lines. Its a crime.

This is a good story. A little better execution in certain spots would have carried a long way. Not the least of which is a better use of the talented Ms. Portman.

Is there any musical group that gets annoying faster than Outkast?

Blog Poll Of The Day:

Do you know what the word 'misanthrope' means, without looking it up in the dictionary?

I was installing Windows for someone today. This is a horribly tedious project and leaves lots of time for introspection. I came up with a question.

Why is it that the only thing people would want bundled into Windows, an anti-virus program, is the only thing they don't include with the package?

I swear the universe must be sentient. There's no way one guy could be this unlucky. The only possible excuse is that:

fate. . .
the universe. . .
destiny. . .
the cosmos. . .
God perhaps. . .

is out to get me.

It smells like Subway in here.

I had the strangest dream last night.

First of all, I was on vacation. But it was no place I'd ever been before. I think it was Mexico, or supposed to be Mexico, but I have this recollection of being just off the coast of Florida. It was a lush, tropical location. The resort layout was kind of strange, or at least nothing I was used to. All the cabins were along the ocean front, and you walked from place to place through the bushes, along this wood sidewalk.

That's not what was strange.

First of all, I was there alone, while everyone else was with someone. That depressed me but whatever. My cousin Bruce was there, but I've never travelled with him. I was bunking with Cowan, but he wasn't there alone, so I didn't quite understand that. Plus, I knew all these people were on the trip but I could never find anyone. I was always on the beach alone.

Somehow I'd hurt my hands so I was leaving the beach a lot to go re-wrap them with gauze. I didn't understand that at all.

Here's the weird part. I went walking on this open land that actually resembled a golf course a lot, but no one was playing golf. Suddenly, out of the pond started walking this huge lizards. But the silly thing was, they didn't look leathery and 'real' like you'd expect. They were all wildly colored and vaguely cartoonish. Actually, they were painted up like you'd expect to see video game monsters.

Now I get all excited about these monsters and go looking for my friends. I find them, and they assure me I must be over-reacting and completely wrong. So I take them back to where I find the monsters and they all freak out when they realize that I'm right. So we're running from place to place in this resort, and the whole place is over-run with cartoon-like dinosaur monsters.

I think that dream ended when I woke up in a start because I had the blankets wrapped around my leg. Then I had another dream that I was living in my new house, but it was actually attached to the house I live in, in Central Butte. But the stupid part was that the houses were only joined, with an indoor walkway, through the attic. And the door to get from one to the other was this solid steel door, with a massive hydraulic contraption for opening it. And to add final insult to the injury of using it, it was only about half the regular height of a regular door.

I think I need to lay off the cheap drugs.

Do you ever encounter something and you can't help asking - what's the point?

I'm downloading drivers for a computer today. And every driver I want to download comes with a 19 page document prefacing the download button. WHY!?! Nobody reads these things. I mean NOBODY. We all just scroll down and click Accept.

At least have the decency to put the Accept button at the top. Think of those people without scroll mouses.

I swear people must be stupid.

On one day you will have them bitching sulfuriously about the price of gas. The commentary will be that high gas prices are the ruination of society. We will be completely bankrupt by ruthless corporations bent solely on stealing our hard earned money.

Then another day when its only modestly cold, they will start their vehicle 15 minutes before they intend to go home so that the interior can be warm when they get in.

Today my wrath is directed towards the insidious presence of:

AOL Music - First Listen

Why must they ruin everything with their annoying corporate presence!?!

I went to Taco Time for lunch today. I ordered a chicken taco. Below you will find my review of it.

meh

Today's password of the day was: abc123

I am contaminated with fecal coliform.

Ever have one of those days where you just wanted to steer into the oncoming traffic?

I just realized something.

I could have put my house purchase on my credit card.

I feel really tired tonight. Can writing an 11 page letter make you drowsy?

And one more thing on top of the last thing . . .

Souris can suck my ass.

And one more thing . . .

For those of you that knew about my trouble with my digital video camera, and the fact that I lost the AC adapter to charge the battery . . .

I found it. It was in my backpack, of all places.

I wish someone could explain to me, in a way that made clear and rational sense, why you'd put a metal RING through any part of your traditionally unadorned face!?!?!

If anyone needs me, I'll be on the phone all afternoon.

Blog Poll Of The Day:

Which of the following is preferable?

a) ice cold Pepsi
b) ice cold beer

The password for the water plant I was in today is: 618

And . . .

For reasons that completely defy explanation, all of the web pages (including Blogger) that wouldn't work on my computer at work, have today started displaying again. I did nothing to make this happen. Everything just . . . worked.

Does anyone else think that the re-incarnated Family Guy is a bit lame in comparison to the original run?

I think its funny that Microsoft, that tried to create their own music format to replace MP3's, uses MP3's in their video game products.

I think they ruined Mountain Dew.

I used to really like it. It was sweet, had a nice citrus bite to it, and even if it got warm it was still palatable. Now it has a weird, icky taste to it. I'm not sure how to describe it actually. Its lost its fresh, citrus bit and instead has an almost bitter finish to it. I don't like it at all.

Why do they gotta ruin good things in the name of innovation? You'd think they'd all have realized the folly of doing that with New Coke. But here they are, putting stuff in the drinks in an effort to make 'new' products. We don't NEED new products. Just leave the good ones alone and let us enjoy them.

Progress pisses me off.