Out of The PIT

I should have known that something was amiss when the clutch got a little spongy. Anyway, long story short, there is some sort of leak with the clutch system and the clutch went. Unfortunately so much air also got into the system that after topping up the reservoir, I still couldn't use it. I don't have the tools to bleed the line so I am stuck here waiting for a tow. Yay.

I think this is paying it back, but during our health and safety rounds today, we were fishing through some areas of the office that we normally don't pry into. We found a bag full of goodies! It included a Bluetooth mouse, and a Nexus 7! Now, this closet that we were looking into had not been touched for months, and these items were on a high shelf, in a bag, with bunch of other garbage and it was unlikely that the original owner even knew it was there. I called dibs on the Nexus and took it back to my desk after our rounds. I figured that if it worked, I could reset the device and use it. I plugged the device in, and was able to power it on. Amazingly, the device was not locked. Who the heck does NOT lock their tablet or phone? Who?!? First guess: Millennial. Anyway, I was able to fish around and find their e-mail account. Through that, an e-mail address and name. I checked the company e-mail listing. Nada. I asked around the office to see if anyone recognized the name. I

I took the bus to get to work yesterday. As I was about to insert my token into the till, I was met with a plastic back covering the entire contraption. The bus driver just waved me in. Now, it looks as if I got a free ride, but I needed to transfer buses to get to my destination, which would have required me getting a transfer (no) or paying on the next bus. However, the bus I was on was headed to a station, and the station had another bus that went relatively close to my workplace. I decided to spend the extra several minutes on the bus (reading a book) to save myself the three dollars and hassle of waiting at a bus stop rather than at a station. Score!

Bah, I just found out that someone beat me to the punch at developing LED lights for toilets . Found out about this on a D.O.N.G. video . *scratches item off of list of things to invent*

I went through some of the boxes of stuff I have at my parents' place and dumped all of my university (undergraduate and graduate) notes. I'm also donating the textbooks and getting rid of quite a lot of paper. I have not looked at any of this stuff in over a decade - two for some of it. I do not think I will miss it much. Now to dig up those high school notes..

I've been in contact with FL for several months now trying to figure out the market value for my condo when I put it into rental stock. This was all for capital gains purposes you see. In any case, it was tough getting in contact because both of us were busy but today, after I got dropped off by the dealership shuttle bus at the salon, I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw FL walking out of the door. It took him a few seconds to recognize me, but what were the odds?

So this is the first anniversary of incorporation. I do not feel that much different, except for the fact that I have no time to do any company stuff now that I have my hands full with an infant. I will continue this experiment for a while. It is fun playing CEO, even though I have no employees, no real office, and no real business going on..

I was talking with RM today and he was mentioning how he's come to a point in his life where he considers young kids as punks which makes him an old man, and that he was okay with it. I told him that I guess that he's come to the final stage of aging. Let's see what the other stages are: Disbelief - Shock that you are starting to age - seeing the gray hairs or spots or wrinkles appear. Denial - Trying to avoid paying any attention to the signs of aging, like the aches, pains, and slowing metabolism. Anger - Getting mad at your own body for not performing up to the standards that you once were used to, like climbing stairs, or running after a train. Bargaining - Pleading with your body to work the way it used to if you go on your weekly ten minute run or give it some celery oatmeal every now and then. Guilt - Finding out how far you have gone to hide the signs, by dying hair, makeup or going on unwise diets just so that you can kind of fit back into that suit for your

I had another near Squishy sighting last night. I was picking up pizza and noticed a woman who, well, distantly reminded me of Squishy. Normally this would not have been even worth a mention, nor would the two toddlers that were running around all over. But when the husband showed up and he looked like DWC I had that real uncanny feeling. Kind of a "what could have been" sort of scenario. Freaky. It was only Thursday though.

Toadstool is such a fungi that he can bring life to a dead party. Alga and took a lichen to him. Too bad he had to leave because there wasn't mushroom there. At yeast he was a good spore about it.

I went to the hospital to visit Laz again. This time it was after the crisis was over, and this time I went with Fively. The extra company was good. I was able to use the HOV lane, and Fively was able to comfort Laz more than I could ever have. Hearing him recount the events from earlier in the week brought to mind the text that MJH sent to me on Monday. How shocked was I that things had gone from bad to worse so quickly. That I had only seen him the day before and he was in okay, if not good, spirits. Mind you, the events of that morning were quite worrisome, and it should not have been that much of a surprise to anyone that events could have turned this way. It was quite lucky for him though that he was in the care of a hospital when things unfolded rather than alone at his condo. How important it is to have a companion, especially if you have some sort of ailment. As with the last visit I stayed for over two hours, the time ticking by unnoticeably quickly and only leaving the hosp

I went to visit Laz in the hospital today. It was one of the rare times that MJNL would be at an event with EYS which meant that I was left to my own devices for a couple of hours. MJNL did not want EYS to be in a hospital unless she had to until she had a few more immunizations in her so having her come for a visit was out of the question, which meant that one of us (MJNL) would need to watch her while the other (moi) would visit. Finally the hospital was pretty far from where we are living now so things were not very convenient, until today. I dropped MJNL and EYS at a bridal shower that was actually on the way to the hospital, so I decided to keep going in that direction for a visit. Of course I could have given a better heads up but I was not sure about the precise timing (due to EYS and waffle making) so when I arrived (after not getting any confirmation messages) I found that Laz was out cold. Fortunately his parents were there, even more fortunately, his mom actually recognize

Three days I have taken public transit and I have exercised more this past two days than I have in 5 months! Let me explain. No, that will take too long. Let me summarize. I missed the courtesy shuttle that takes us from our building to the subway station and decided to walk instead of wait the half hour for the shuttle to come back (or take the bus). This happened twice. Also, bought shelf on craigslist and decided to pick it up on the way home (using public transit) rather than drive to pick it up. It was a long ten minute walk back to the station. I think I should keep it up. I haven't produced this much sweat since March 12th!

MJNL and I had a craving for waffles this morning so I decided to go to a waffle place near us only to find that it was boarded up! Since when? I ended up going to another place where the prices were more expensive, but hopefully that much more tasty? I doubt it..

I do enjoy having an uncommon first name. Makes it easy to determine if someone was talking to (or about) me or not. However, a good portion of the people I know have fairly common English names or variations thereof: Stephen, Michael, David, Brian, etc. So I sometimes need to be careful when talking about someone so that the person I'm talking to knows who I am actually talking about, because just discussing someone's situation doesn't always makes it obvious who I am talking about. Last night was a case in point. I will not repeat what I said but I just wanted to send myself a reminder to be more specific in my conversations as to not sow confusion in the future.

I was just informed by DS (the sleepy one) that he just got a cheque for more compensation for the DRAM lawsuit. Instead of the original $20 that we all got, he got over $100! Apparently others have gotten hundreds in dollars worth in cheques! What the hey?!? I guess I'll be waiting with baited breath to see if a cheque arrives in the mail for me..

So I read that GRRM may not have been overly happy with the way the TV series brought Jon Snow back. But the book has not been written (read) yet so there may be a different way that Jon Snow may factor into A Song of Ice and Fire. I think he may be revived by Lady Stoneheart who might finally accept Jon and transfer her fire to him. I think that there was some fan speculation of this, but people don't seem convinced due to certain personality traits and physical limitations. My other thought was that Jon might be revived by the Night King and/or Children of the Forest making him something akin to Coldhands or a white walker, this would bring him back but prevent him from crossing the wall. Only after Lady Stoneheart meets up with him beyond the wall will she be able to fully revive him with her fire, completing the Song of Ice and Fire, and only then will Azor Ahai be reborn.

During my teenage years, I grew a lot of spots. Mostly on my face. It was a part of growing up for many of us, but I had it especially bad, the scars of that war would linger on my visage for years, nay decades afterward. As I was approaching my thirties, those scars would fade and only small traces from that those forgotten battles would still be visible those in the know. As the forties approached, the spots have returned, but this time different. Not as irritating, but definitely noticeable. Darker, smaller, flatter. These spots would not just appear on my face but all over. My arms are littered with them. My hands even have developed spots here and there. Age spots they say. Of course, there are other types of spots that can appear. Melanoma is not uncommon these days. These spots will need to be watched. New ones need to be examined. Old ones need to be tracked. As the spots multiply, this task will become increasingly more difficult. As spots develop in areas my eyes cannot rea

How does one allow for an inclusive society but prevent those who are exclusively minded from harassing others?

I went to a party on Saturday and was surprised that I saw two people who looked like Pokey and Karma! They were indeed not those two people, but the resemblance, especially for Karma was uncanny.

I was finally able to ride to work today. Albeit it was after I had flushed my oil twice and avoided the highways. Still, it felt good to get back in the saddle. Despite the heat, I remember now why I really enjoyed booting around on two wheels.

I've been keeping tabs of meli (notverymetal) for over 15 years. But it seems like her diary has finally been removed and the only traces now are of her really really old links page and the saga of her broken leg . (I think it was her saga.) Anyway, enough stalking. Time to delete that RSS.

For the first time in a very long time I do not think that I will be doing the Ride for Heart. Due to my sudden lack of time, and some chores I really have fallen behind on, I need the extra morning to catch up on sleep and/or other tasks. Sad but true. Also, my bike has still not been moved yet, I have not gotten around to getting any pledges, and I am out of shape.

I picked up my bike this weekend from Brampton to bring back to the condo. We were running late, and I had trouble starting the bike (the battery was not strong enough for some reason), we ended up heading straight to my parents' place instead of back downtown. I had anticipated riding back during the daylight hours, so I brought my mesh jacket, but when the sun went down, the temperature dropped like a stone and I was riding in the mid teens. It was surprisingly not bad, akin to that really cold Ride for Heart last year, but I somehow managed to keep myself warm. I only noticed how chilled I was when I got into the house. The next day I had trouble starting the bike again, as the battery could not turn the engine. I am thinking that I need a new battery for the bike, but after jump starting it and getting ready to leave, the bike died and the oil light started to flash. What the hey? I took a look at the fuel gauge: empty. What the hey? I have never run out of oil before

I was moving things around the house last night when I felt my sock catch onto something I tried moving my foot but it only went in one direction and it felt like I had stepped on a staple. Interestingly enough, it did not hurt but I could not seem to remove the foreign object from my sock. I tried removing my sock to see if I could pull it out, but since I was standing on one foot, trying to look at the bottom of my other foot, I had some trouble seeing what I had stepped on. Fortunately, MJNL had heard my yelps and came over to investigate. She noted that it was a sliver of wood and had to yank hard to get it out. It seemed to have gotten lodged about one centimeter into my sole. Amazingly enough it did not hurt since it went into my foot obliquely and I guess stayed mostly in the epidermis. Still, after hopping around for a few minutes, it did start to sting, so I put some rubbing alcohol on it and hoped that I didn't jab anything nasty in there..

I got a little hungry, so I decided to go through my stash of backup snacks. Snacks that I have not touched in years. Many years. First up, was the package of crackers which I have held on to for about 15 years. They looked fine from the outside, but when I opened the package and took a sniff, it smelled like cardboard. At least to me it did. DS thought it smelled metallic, or plastic. RM did not smell anything. (I would not trust an ex-smoker's sense of smell anyway.) I figured that it was time to let it go. Next up was a Kashi granola bar. This bar I have had for about 14 years. When I opened it and took a sniff, I thought I smelled play-doh. DS thought it smelled off as well. RM refused to smell it. Into the trash heap. Finally, I had this Chinese fried snack that I have held on to for about 11 years. After opening it, I thought it smelled like plastic. DS and RM both refused to do the sniff test. *chucks* At last I still have my Ferrero Rocher from this past Christmas..

With most of my waking (and some of my sleeping) moments at the house earmarked for baby time, I have had to find ways to find the time to do some of the things I used to do at the house (like update my books). My YouTube viewing has definitely taken a hit since Elsy was born. Not a bad thing, but I do like to keep educating myself.

So my two week "vacation" is over and I am back at work. My salaried work that is. It is a amazing how quickly my time away went and how easy it was to lose track of time, or what day it was or keep track of anything temporal that was no related to feeding/burping/changing/cleaning a newborn. Also, it is amazing how little time I have had to think of other things while in that little cocoon of baby rearing. Not that I am complaining (much). I do recall remembering that I would definitely regret never having children, and after finally having my own truly honest to goodness child, I would completely agree with that assessment. There will be days when I wonder why this child is driving me to madness, or times when I would just like to be able to tell the spawn to keep quiet, or moments when my little girl does things that only seem to be fitting for torturing me but.. In the end the good will easily outweigh the bad. This was a good choice. This was the right choice.

Contractions started at 0430. Excited?

Huh. I just happened to be looking up passive aggressive behaviour and started checking off a number of them that seem to do more often than not. Curious!

On the road again with the RSX. It had been sitting in the garage for months; ever since the last checkup which was some time last year? In any case, the battery was too weak to turn the engine so I had to jump start it which made me even later for work than I already was. Ah well, it was good to drive stick again. I do need to put some air in those tires though.

I have to admit, I think aw robot searing module would be hilarious.

I thought I wrote about this when it happened, but now that I look back I realized that I only talked about it and didn't write it down. Several weeks ago, I got a call from my alma mater asking if I would make a donation to the school. The girl on the other end sounded monotonic and bland, like a child who was forced complete a chore. I said, "Sure how about $100."? It was as if a light switch had suddenly turned on. The girl initially sounded shocked, and then excited, as if I was the first and only person who agreed to donate anything. I've been donating every year for a while now. I figured that all the money in scholarships and bursaries I got over the years should go back to the students attending now, who have to pay a tuition several times more than what I ended up footing (pre-scholarship). I'm always reminded of the chat I had with MJO decades ago when he had that gig as a telemarketer for the university while we were still in school. He needed the j

Laz forwarded this news post from the Beaverton regarding Canada's BattleMech development .

So it has been ten years today that I got my eyes fixed. I do not need reading glasses yet, but I am told that I will need them in ten years time. I certainly think that it was one of the best investments that I made. The fact that I did not have to purchase any prescription glasses in the past decade has helped offset the cost of the surgery. But more importantly, the convenience of not having to need to wear glasses all the time, to not go blind by walking into a warm humid environment from a cold one, to be able to go to the beach and not get lost, etc. is really something hard to put a price on. Indeed, for me these types of conveniences outweigh short term costs, and I do plan on enjoying these improvements for decades to come. It has been ten years (plus three days) since I had my teeth rearranged. I really did not need to do this, because only I noticed my teeth issues. The improvements in convenience I gained by losing my glasses were slightly offset by the additional time an

This morning I got onto the highway and was greeted by a sight I see fairly rarely: a pair of sun dogs ! These guys were extremely bright and really caught my eye. The sun rise and the sun dog. They were there during the entire commute and even started to grow a bit as the sun rose. I took a picture of one of them (the other hand disappeared by the time I took the picture) when I got into the office. Only one dog with this sun. This contrasts with the picture I took when the sun was setting last week. The sun setting. Still a nice sight though.

So MJNL and I will be moving back downtown after baby is born. This to give her parents a break from the screaming and sleepless nights to come, and also to get us back downtown where we belong. We were lucky enough to be able to rent a place from someone we know for a very good price. Lucky that it had not been snapped up beforehand and lucky enough that they were still in the middle of renovating when we started seriously considering the option of going back downtown. To top it off, they live more-or-less down the street! Potential baby-sitter material I can imagine.. *rubs hands in anticipation* We had checked out the place a couple of weeks ago just to see if it would work for us, and this past Saturday we went down to take some measurements before having dinner with said couple (plus family, plus several other families). Instead of heading back to the house for dinner, MJNL wanted to do a bit of a tour of the area, so I started driving around, turning left, left.. I got tired of

So for those in the know, I will be a dad in the near future. The first thing that most people tell me after they hear the news is: "You're going to be a great father." Really? How can people be so sure about that? What have I done to make myself "great father" material? It is not like I have had practice raising a child. I never even had a pet. In fact, the only pets and plants I raised died pretty quickly under my watch. Something I wrote about time and again and again . I have certainly spent my fair share of time with children big and small, short and tall, young and old, and the kids and I generally have a good time. But, these kids are not mine, and when dealing with a child that is not yours, you can have liberties that do not have when dealing with your own spawn. With someone else's kid you can fill them up with sugar and candy and not have to worry (too much) about potential disciplinary consequences down the road. It's the job of the paren

I think I have been burned once or twice by take out orders not actually having all of the items that were ordered in the order. Since then, I have been a bit more thorough whenever picking up my take out orders. Even with really large orders (or especially with them) I would open up the bags/boxes and count out each dish to make sure that everything is there. It saved me a trip back to a pizzeria when they forgot a dish and it (kinda) saved me this past weekend when I ordered wings and ribs. I ordered a moderately large order of wings and ribs from an establishment that I had never been to, and despite having two large bags to go through, I decided to open up the boxes to look through all the items that I got. I went through the big boxes and didn't see any wings (I was supposed to get two pounds of wings plus twenty boneless wings). I found ribs sure, and all of the sides were taken into account. No wings. I had them go through the boxes themselves and, yup, no wings. The exc

I completely forgot about my post from two and a half years ago regarding that little math trick BL brought up regarding numbers divisible by 9 . I had discovered that there was a general rule that the difference between two integers will always be divisible by 9 if the two integers are of the same sign, and use the same digits. For example, 4751 and 1574, or 9201 and 291 (i.e. 0291). I mentioned that I would write down a proof when I had the time, and forgot to. So I'm going to do it now before I forget. But I apologize in advance for the terrible non-math font. Any integer can be expressed as a sum of the powers of each digit multiplied by the ten to the power of the digit's position in the number. For example, 583 = 5 * 100 + 8 * 10 + 3 = 5 * 10 2 + 8 * 10 1 + 3 * 10 0 Let us take an integer N with n digits and express it as a sum of its digits: N = a n * 10 n + a n-1 * 10 n-1 + ... + a 1 * 10 1 + a 0 * 10 0 Where 0 <= a k <= 9 where 0 <= k &

So remember I was talking about getting some "free" money last year ? Well, I got the cheque in the mail a couple of weeks ago and cashed it just before Christmas. Did you get your "free" cash?

I found myself walking through a crowd into an airport. I was looking for the computer room so that I could.. well, do computery things. However, every time I tried to compare the map that I had with the room layout, I could not seem to find a way into the computer room. It took a while of poking around the area to realize that the computer room was actually inaccessible normally even though it was on the map. It was JW who was able to find someone to lead us to the entrance for the room. I was not there when he was shown the door, but I was able to get in before they closed the door to the room. I could not remember much about the room itself except that there was a lot of boxes that you needed to hop on to get deeper into the room. Higher and higher the boxes went. I mentally thought that it would make it very difficult for zombies to ever catch anyone hiding in here and realizing that I may have tempted fate, I went out to the one of the waiting areas to look outside at one of the