Home

Advertisement

Customize
Bio (yes, this should be in my userinfo...)
This Month's Rants
 12
3456789
10111213141516
17181920212223
24252627282930
31
Let's see...I'm a semi-sane Political Studies graduate of Queen's, just finished my last year. As I slogged through the course work, I found myself more and more academically inferior to my fellows, though most of my marks didn't seem to reflect my academic alienation...I'm probably smarter than I give myself credit for, but there are days...I'm also a drama queen, which probably comes across in my rantings, but hey, it *is* my journal. I mainline on Diet Coke, which means I'll probably die of aspartame poisoning at 24 years old, but hey, as Neil Young always said, "it's better to burn out than to fade away". Besides, I'm young and life is long and there is time to kill today. But then today I've found four years have got behind me; no one told me when to run, I missed the starting gun...yeah, I suck at introductions, this is the best I can do.
Links:
Morto's Memories: Big Events, School Stuff, Money Stuff, Day-To-Day Drunk Talk, Polls, ELJAY-Related, FO'd!, GCA, Good Times, Drama Queen, Meme Sheepage, Nightmare on Elm St, Only In Dreams, OUTSIDE THE INTERNETS, Culture Whorage, Random Crap, Survey Says...You're An Idiot!, Unrepentant Geekiness, Politricks, Work Related, It's Not *For* You...
May. 7th, 2009 @ 11:44 pm Tired of screwing up, tired of going down, tired of myself, tired of this town
Entry Details
chortdown
Current Location: Compy 886
I'm feeling: tired
Now playing: Tom Petty - Last Dance with Mary Jane
Edit to the previous post: got most of my marks from Jo-Anne, rather than the Registrar's Office. Still waiting on one, Legal and Governmental, though. I'm assuming I got an 80 in the course, which isn't an unreasonable assumption, given this:



Assuming that's borne out, this is the first full academic year since 2002-03 in which I've received straight A's. I'm quite thrilled with the 80 in Stats, as well as the 84 in Land Use (81 in Community Design, as predicted, plus 86 in Public Participation, though that one's only worth a third of the other ones as it was a four-week module).

PS - did I actually just post twice in a single day? Am I that bored?
May. 7th, 2009 @ 11:25 am ...I'm only garrulous today. Don't count on it continuing.
Entry Details
O RLY?
Current Location: Compy 886
I'm feeling: bitter
Now playing: nothing at the moment, too bitter
So as I'd thought, Cobourg's only slated to get 30% of the population growth slated under the Places to Grow Plan. Said growth was rather miniscule (16 000 county-wide over thirty years), compared to the plans that Cobourg had (New Amherst/West Park Village, plus Development Area C - the east end, where my family lives - which combined would have worked out to an increase of 20 000 or so), plus it would have been unrealistic to assume that Cobourg would be given all of this growth. Grandpa can now rest easy, as he'll be 102 before his fear of the area around the house being turned into a suburban wasteland will be realised. Granted, said development was slated to be somewhat New Urbanist-esque, which given that there's not that much traditional suburban development in Cobourg would actually be quite a natural-feeling extension to the town, unlike New Amherst/West Park Village, which is separated from the older parts of the town by a mall and the majority of Cobourg's traditional suburban development (Ewing, Westwood, etc). (This isn't to say that New Amherst/West Park Village is itself the traditional suburban crap that I've come to hate - far from it, it's a New Urbanist development developed and designed by the high priests of New Urbanism themselves, Duany Plater-Zyberk and Company. It's just like Cornell, however, insofar as it's a wonderfully-designed, tight community separated from "traditional" neighbourhoods by a swath of crappy single-detached houses on curvy streets and culs-de-sac.) It's ironic that the ad that came up with the article pointed out the very reason why Development Area C could very well not ever be completed even in my lifetime (despite the fact that the goal pre-Places to Grow was to have it largely finished by 2031): 'twas an ad for New Amherst. There can't be more than 100 dwelling units already constructed there, out of 1 100. So call that 2 500 people (at a conservative estimate of 2.5 people/dwelling unit). West Park Village is possibly half-done - not sure how many dwelling units that is, but given that after taking New Amherst into account Cobourg will grow by only another 1 100 people, between West Park Village and other planned developments (east end just south of Area C, the Sidbrook condo redevelopment, finishing up Elgin/Densmore, etc) I don't see development starting in Area C before PtG expires. So basically by the time it gets off the ground, New Urbanism (and/or New Urbanist-style development) may very well have been discredited, and it will end up as Grandpa's fear - tacky, suburban sprawl/crap. Or we'll have scaled Hubbert's Peak, and our way of life will have dramatically shifted. Either/or. (However, I'd be remiss in failing to point out that the current Area C plans show the land that our house is slated to become a church, which should hopefully make Grandpa rest easier.)

Also: note to the Registrar's Office - kindly get off your lazy asses and post my damn marks! Jo-Anne probably had those into you a goddamn fortnight ago! Le sigh...shades of undergrad recur, when [info]campofiorin and I would trade barbs about the Registrar's Office and its seeming inability to follow its own schedule...granted, they're still on schedule, though if I don't have my marks tomorrow - tomorrow being the marks release date - I will be an unhappier camper than I currently am (which is saying a lot, alas). Unless they're not up because some fool never bothered to return the Community Design reader to Jo-Anne, in which case she's withholding our marks. Though it could be just the Community Design mark that she's withholding, in which case I won't care as much as I know I got an 81 in that. I love long asides...

...and long tirades. Like how Virgin Mobile, which I consistently refer to as the lesser of four (Canadian cell phone) evils, is being completely bought out by Bell (originally it was split 50/50 between Bell and Branson). If Bell decides to turn it into a Baby Bell with crappy plans and insane System Access Fees, bank on me leaving once my contract's done in a little over a year. As if this particular camel needed one more goddamn straw right around now...my back's in a rather precarious position right about now...at least Star Trek's coming out tomorrow.
Mar. 25th, 2009 @ 08:46 am Smart move, McGuinty.
Entry Details
nightmares
Current Location: home
I'm feeling: annoyed
Now playing: =w= - El Scorcho (¡ay carumba!)
Wow, an extra 8% tax on items crucial to a college student's life such as books, Internet and transportation? Thanks, harmonisation! I'd yell at the first Ontario government employee I see, but a) I'd kind of like to be an Ontario government employee, one of these days, and b) I know only the one right now, and for various reasons I wouldn't want to yell at her (different department, so it'd be stupid anyway). I wasn't aware that raising taxes in a recession was considered a fiscally sound idea. (Especially when the harmonisation will drive taxes up on housing purchases as well!) Benefits businesses, but businesses don't vote. This probably isn't a fundamental enough for me to not vote Liberal, by any means - nor would it change anything if it were. The NDP is going to be politically irrelevant in Ontario for a very long time (thanks, Bob!), and the Harrisite wing of the PC party is coming back into vogue - if Tory had actually succeeded, there might have been a faint chance I'd reconsider (one of my greatest fears is becoming a Red Tory; what terrifies me even more is that I can't rule it out), but as [info]mongoose_face notes, there's usually a negative consequence to losing a riding where you could paint a dog Tory blue and it would still be returned to Toronto or Ottawa. As it stands, I'd sooner hang myself than vote for Harrisite Tories.

Maybe I should move to Fort McMurray for the summer (their recruiters are coming to SURP today, though a lot of us are going for the free pizza...you know you're a grad student when you're willing to go into school when you don't have to if there's free food involved). Of course, this would make getting back for [info]fourthfate's wedding an interesting proposition. And I kind of do want to live in Toronto over the summer...I really never thought I'd ever say that, considering I once found the prospect to be almost as terrifying as becoming a Red Tory. Weird.

Anywho, how are you, Internets?

[EDIT]: 1132, for grammar and sentence completion fail.
Dec. 29th, 2008 @ 12:23 pm Survey Meme Time!
Entry Details
fish_fry
Current Location: Compy 886
I'm feeling: blank
Now playing: 98.9 The Drive
Long story short, I'm still alive, which makes it time for Ye Olde Survey Meme!

Ye Olde Survey Meme! )
Nov. 7th, 2008 @ 01:02 am Oh man, check out that thing man...what do you want to do with it? Let's launch over it.
Entry Details
ludes!!!
Current Location: home
I'm feeling: intoximacated
Now playing: Hans Zimmer - Mutiny
Tags:
Dear CNN (and whoever is in charge of elections in Georgia),

Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) is 0.2% away from an outright majority. Just project him as the fucking winner already.

Also, please sell Ted Stevens down the series of tubes for a price.

Signed,

[info]mortonofski

[EDIT]: for Georgian election policy understanding fail.
Oct. 23rd, 2008 @ 09:47 am Swing and a belt...
Entry Details
zizowned
Current Location: home
I'm feeling: nostalgic
Now playing: Tom Cheek
Joe Carter 1993 World Series Home Run Celebration


Touch 'em all, Joe.

(I'd promise to post more eventually, but those promises tend to be hollow.)
Sep. 3rd, 2008 @ 12:43 pm [info]mortonofski is not dead! (Your feelings on this matter may vary, however.)
Entry Details
ludes!!!
Current Location: Stauffamus Prime
I'm feeling: very busy
Now playing: annoying lovebird couple at next computer over
Lots of stuff going on, lots of stuff to actually write about (I was kind of prescient when I predicted that I'd be much more garrulous once I had the opportunity to bring the 'academic Hiroshima' tag out of retirement, though it has since been renamed 'thought control'), very little time or opportunity to actually write. Anywho, I'm moved out of 42 Elm (more or less...I still have one or two small items there that Luff and I need to get rid of) and into the New Place. It's going to take a fair amount of time before I have everything unpacked and set up the way I want it, and since I don't really have much in the way of free time right now that could prove interesting. I've started orientation week, and that's keeping me away from the house a lot. Judging by comments by the students and teachers, this next two years is going to be the purest form of Hell, but I figure I need a good kick in the ass, and this is just the kick I need. Anywho, I've got orientation events in a couple of minutes, and I need to get said ass in gear. Will post more once I get my Internets set up; I'll likely be outside the Internets for most of the next week or so.
Aug. 30th, 2008 @ 12:36 am Along the way, I lost my faith...
Entry Details
ambivalent
Current Location: 42 Elm, one last time
I'm feeling: rushed
Now playing: The Smashing Pumpkins - Crestfallen
I've come to the decision that I am not, and never can be, Montreal's Finest Gentleman of Leisure. Kingston's Finest Gentleman of Leisure, yes, but I could only aspire to be Montreal's Second-Finest Gentleman of Leisure. Montreal's Finest Gentleman of Leisure was, is, and always shall be, Nick Auf der Maur.

But of course, I'm still going through Montreal withdrawal. Will post more when I'm not dead tired (and don't have to be up in six hours).
Aug. 3rd, 2008 @ 07:05 pm I think this thing could even go as high as a 'Don't Buy'! Don't buy Bluth!
Entry Details
chortdown
Current Location: home
I'm feeling: whimsical
Now playing: something on TV
My hopes for the rumoured upcoming Arrested Development movie:

-The Omniscient Narrator saying something about something in the Bluth's lives possibly happening entirely in the mind of a 14-year-old autistic boy from Boston (thus acknowledging that, through the appearance of Det. John Munch in one of the final AD episodes, AD exists within the Tommy Westphall Universe...bonus points if Munchkin actually shows up!)
-Jim Cramer re-creates his (in)famous Rant Heard 'Round The World in a Bluthian context (i.e. somehow the Bluth Company somehow gets caught up in the subprime mortgage crisis) - to wit:

Omniscient Narrator: "Even Jim Cramer had turned his back on the Bluths."
(Overlay: Stop Trading, August 3, 2007 - video courtesy of CNBC)
Jim Cramer: "...and Bluth's nuts! They're nuts! They know NOTHING!"
Erin Burnett: "Cramer."
JC: "I have not seen it like this since I went five-bid for a half a million shares of Sitwell and I got hit in 1990. This is a different kind of market, and the Bluth Company is asleep!"
EB: "Okay, but here's the thing..." (Cramer interrupts.)
JC: "George Bluth is a shame! He's shameful!"

Speaking of shameful, instead of packing or starting some preliminary readings for school (next month :S), I lay on the couch and watched the second half of The Stand. Ah well...being Kingston's Finest Gentleman of Leisure has its perks.
Jun. 11th, 2008 @ 01:18 pm Licensed To Ill
Entry Details
nightmares
Current Location: Lappy 886
I'm feeling: decent
Now playing: David Guetta - Love Is Gone (feat. Chris Willis)
Oh hi. Long time, no chat. Anywho, things are well at this end. I'm starting to get anxious about school, which anxiety will only increase when I finish work in late July (I need to talk to my boss about the actual final day but right now it's looking like the last Saturday of July but is subject to change). I surprisingly got off my butt and got my G2 yesterday (first try, too); about time as I've only been putting it off for six years. I'm also planning on breaking down and getting a cellphone plan instead of just the prepaid plus landline, and am debating getting rid of the landline period as I really don't use the phone that much anymore. We'll see what happens, though.

I'm also planning my vacation time for later this month. I'm definitely going to the GCA for a couple of days, also hopefully Toronto and London, and possibly Windsor and Montreal. I've pretty much killed the Lollapalooza idea - much as it would be awesome to see Rage Against The Machine, Nine Inch Nails, Kanye West, and a whole bunch of others, it's also going to run me at least $500 for a four or five day trip. I've not completely ruled it out yet, though; my roommate Alex and one of his friends are discussing a roadtrip out there. We'll see. What I'm considering doing now is the Montreal Jazz Festival, as I'm hoping to be in Montreal around that point anyways. There's a couple of free shows I may drop in on, plus the two crown jewels: Public Enemy, Monday 30 June ($50, but...FLAVOR FLAV! YEAH, BOY-EE!), and the Bran Van 3000 block party the night of Canada Day (which might make getting back for work on the 2nd a little interesting but would be well worth it). I've ruled out catching Woody Allen's show, as I don't want to spend $100 to see a neurotic man with a clarinet. I saw enough of that for free while playing in front of a mirror in high school (rimshot - thanks, I'm here all week).
May. 14th, 2008 @ 01:35 pm If you cross my path, I'll make sure you feel my wrath...
Entry Details
ambivalent
Current Location: Lappy 886
I'm feeling: complacent
Now playing: Busta Rhymes (feat. Ozzy Osbourne) - This Means War
I've decided that the plot of Iron Man more closely follows the lyrics of the Busta Rhymes version of Iron Man rather than the original Sabbath version. For example, Obadiah Stane went to war with fake [RADIO EDIT], standing alone, but now Tony Stark is with all of his loyal [RADIO EDIT], breakin' the bread. Also, I probably shouldn't have added the word 'mother[RADIO EDIT]' to the end of every sentence during the secret scene.

That is all.
May. 5th, 2008 @ 11:38 pm And when she's pressed she will undress, and then she's boxing clever...
Entry Details
O RLY?
Current Location: home
I'm feeling: confused
Now playing: Placebo - Pure Morning
So whilst en route to the nearest Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company outpost ([RADIO EDIT] with my [RADIO EDIT]' tea at twenty-two thirty and the [RADIO EDIT] be ON), a guy may or may not have tried to buy drugs from me. I only say 'may or may not' because I didn't quite understand what he said, but in the following breath he offered me money for that which I didn't understand, or indeed have. But I left the conversation with the distinct impression that the guy had tried to buy drugs from me. And that's the most intriguing thing that's happened to me all week.

Also, I know it's been a while since I've seen one of those "soundtrack to your life" memes on ELJAY or elsewhere. I know it's just one aspect, but I concentrated on love scenes If I had to pick one, I'd have trouble choosing between Massive Attack's "Dissolved Girl", Portishead's "Wandering Star", and Placebo's "Pure Morning". Say what you will, but British trip-hop and alt-rock artists are to love scenes what James Horner is to ship launches.

One last note - apparently Tom Cruise has admitted he was wrong about postpartum depression. But here's the problem, Tom - you don't know the history of retracting stupid statements. I do.
May. 4th, 2008 @ 10:07 am We both have shiny happy fits of rage...
Entry Details
ha! ha!
Current Location: home
I'm feeling: amused
Now playing: The Moldy Peaches - Anyone Else But You
So apparently Konami makes slot machines. I would think that the best way to win at one of those machines would be to punch in the code, "▲▲▼▼◄►◄► B A Start", which would result in thirty times the average payout. Just because you use cheats (to bilk the Ontario government out of thousands of dollars) doesn't mean you're not smart (until you end up in provincial PYITA prison, of course).

Seriously, though - Konami does, in fact, manufacture slot machines. Apparently they programmed some subliminal messagores into them, and the Ontario Government had to return 87 of them. Rest assured that even though those are gone, there are still plenty of superliminal messages.

Let the flurry of random posts continue!
May. 4th, 2008 @ 12:04 am While I'm really not much of a hockey fan these days...
Entry Details
zizowned
Current Location: Lappy 886
I'm feeling: disappointed
Now playing: Steam - Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye
I'm feeling a particular sort of gleeful schadenfreude whilst saying:

"Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye!"

My Scouts are going to be inconsolable on Monday. That having been said, les Glorieux sont morts. Vive les Glorieux!
May. 2nd, 2008 @ 01:08 pm Life is complicated.
Entry Details
ambivalent
Current Location: Lappy 886
I'm feeling: complicated
Now playing: random Korean movie on IFC
This is probably the fourth or fifth time in the past two months that I've started an ELJAY post and failed to follow through with it. So much to say, so little desire to say it, and all that razmatazz. Life is complicated. On the school front, I didn't get into Toronto or McGill, but I got into Queen's (early acceptance with sizeable entrance scholarship, to boot). I've got another four months before school starts, but as I've probably said before I don't know which will be harder - the wait to get acceptances, or the wait between now and school. We'll see. I've finally started to learn how to drive, only took me eight years. My goal is to get my G2 by the end of the summer; I figure it'll come in handy eventually. I've got a few plans percolating for the summer, such as going paintballing, and potentially going to Chicago for Lollapalooza. We'll see what happens there.

Perhaps this summer, things will be different. Will post more at some point in the future (I've given up on promising updates in the near-future...)
Feb. 5th, 2008 @ 01:45 pm Doing the Oil Thigh a little earlier than anticipated...
Entry Details
ludes!!!
Current Location: Compy 886
I'm feeling: confused
Now playing: Bobby "Blue" Bland - Ain't No Love In The Heart Of The City
I never thought I'd ever be a unique case in Canadian tax history. In my last academic term, I took 3 courses at Queen's and one at Ryerson. According to the government, I was part-time at both institutions - I fell one course-hour per week short of qualifying for full-time at Queen's. However, given that I took the course at Ryerson, my question is whether or not I can combine the course-hours and say I was a full-time student. The difficulty is that the Ryerson course was correspondence, which can't be considered as part of full-time if I studied outside of Canada; Revenue Canada's website doesn't say what happens if the institution was, in fact, in Canada (as Ryerson happens to be). I've been on the phone with Revenue Canada for 20 minutes, and they can't seem to find the answer either. Which is odd - it may be a bit of an oddball question, but you figure someone's had to have done this before. Of course, it would have made my life a lot easier if the Queen's Politics department had had a course in local government, or if I'd swapped the correspondence course with one of my on-campus courses in Fall term, and been full-time at Queen's both terms (4 Queen's courses & 1 Ryerson course in Fall, 4 Queen's courses in Winter). Le sigh. Hmm...okay, they found my answer, it looks like I can only claim the higher of the two, so I simply lose the $900 in tax credits from Ryerson. Fair enough...I've got enough credits carried over from previous years to wipe out this year's tax as well as next year's.

I still get tagged with that infuriating health premium this year (thanks a lot, Dalton), but I worked it out to be $25 or so (about what I pay every other week in health insurance). At least I won't have to pay it this year, unless I find a part-time job during the school year. If I end up at McGill or Toronto (which I won't know for another six to eight weeks), I probably won't, but if I end up staying at Queen's (which is still a possibility), I'll probably keep my existing job and go down to part-time. I got my acceptance e-mail from Queen's yesterday afternoon, so at least I'm going somewhere next year (well, aside from back to Cobourg to sell WuMus with [info]mongoose_face). I don't know what the etiquette is when it comes to accepting or rejecting offers of admission...I want to let Queen's know as soon as possible, but right now it's looking like two months before I make my final decision. Queen's hasn't given me a definitive "accept/decline by now or else we automatically decline you" date aside from "as soon as possible"...any thoughts, flist?
Feb. 4th, 2008 @ 12:03 am I remember, I remember no worries...
Entry Details
chortdown
Current Location: le salle de Morto
I'm feeling: chemically compromised/ANGRY
Now playing: Morto needs angry music - Metallica - I Disappear shall suffice...
This week's pros:

-Got to see (and play pool at the Ports with) [info]mongoose_face
-In the event that urban planning isn't as fulfilling as I'd hoped, [info]mongoose_face and I have hatched a secondary plan, that being to join the Wu-Family and sell Wu-Tang Clan-endorsed mutual funds, or "WuMus"
-Got a raise
-Got called into work last Sunday (pro because it meant that I got overtime pay for that day).

This week's cons:

-Got called into work last Sunday (con because it meant I had a one-day weekend, which'll be like next weekend).
-The Giants are what we thought they were. They're what we thought they were. We played 'em in the regular season, who the hell treats the last game of the season like it's [RADIO EDIT], [RADIO EDIT]? We played 'em tonight, everybody played three quarters, but the Giants are who we THOUGHT they were! That's why we took the damn field! If you want to crown 'em, then crown their [RADIO EDIT]! But they are who we THOUGHT they were! And we let 'em off the hook!

Yeah, it displeases me greatly that the Giants triumphed over the Patriots. Quite greatly. As a result, I'm a mushroom-cloud-laying mother[RADIO EDIT], mother[RADIO EDIT]!
Dec. 21st, 2007 @ 02:05 pm Ye Olde Survey-Meme (early this year)
Entry Details
nightmares
Current Location: home
I'm feeling: busy
Now playing: Pink Floyd - Time
survey meme! )

Happy holidays, all!
Dec. 3rd, 2007 @ 11:04 pm 'SUP, Eljay?
Entry Details
O RLY?
Current Location: home
I'm feeling: complacent
Now playing: Francis Albert Sinatra - My Way
So apparently (which is apparently Melissa's favourite word) ELJAY's been sold to the Russians. Pretty much the first thing that came to mind was the Russian crackdown on independent media, but I highly doubt that ELJAY's going to become a Nashi mouthpiece anytime soon. (Of course, the Duma could always shut SUP down...but again I doubt it'll come to that).

However, as it stands I've pretty much gone off of ELJAY. I guess I'm just not as chatty as I once was, plus this blog has pretty much always been a place for me to vent my academic frustrations, which are more or less nonexistant for the moment (my unfinished statements of intent notwithstanding). Perhaps when I go back to school in September, I might average more than the once a week I've been averaging thus far this year (I've got 47 entries thus far this year - back in 2004 I'd write more than that some months). But to be honest, I think that blogging - or at least ELJAY - has lost much of its relevance amongst my friends. To be certain, there's still a handful of my flist that posts actively, and I'll still definitely read and comment, but to be honest I just don't see myself posting that much anymore. It's been a good run - 700+ posts over just over four years - but for the time being I think I've really run out of things to talk about. For now, hopefully...I've got most of you on Facebook, anyway.

PS - happy birthday, [info]amaaanda, [info]mittz and [info]mongoose_face (even of only one of you will ever see that, haha...)!
Dec. 1st, 2007 @ 10:45 am Welcome back, Academic Hiroshima tag!
Entry Details
nightmares
Current Location: Compy 886
I'm feeling: happy
Now playing: Payolas - Eyes of a Stranger
Back in my OAC year, I decided that quite frankly I was bored as hell, and I wanted to get out of Cobourg for a couple of days. I was old enough to sign myself out of classes, I didn't work at that point in the week, and considering my average was more than good enough to get me into whatever program I wanted, that last semester of school was academically (if not financially) useless (except to inflate my average further, of course - go go Gadget 97% OAC Modern Western History!). Moreover, Roméo Dallaire was speaking at Queen's, and a trip to Queen's EMC had cost me the chance to hear him speak at my high school the previous year, so it was easy to justify returning the favour. During the 36 hours or so I was at Queen's, I had a fucking awesome time, and met a number of equally awesome people. My trip only increased my desire to get the hell out of the Greater Cobourg Area.

This past weekend, I went to Montréal to visit the McGill School of Urban Planning. The entire time, I kept thinking, "wow, this is just like that visit to [info]mongoose_face way back when". Many similarities - fell in love with Montréal (Melissa occasionally jokes about my "other girlfriend", who I've now admitted exists - her name is Montréal, she's 141 square miles and weighs several billion metric tonnes), had a fucking awesome time, and met some equally awesome people. The similarities also included the fact that the trip only increased my desire to get the hell out of Kingston, as evidenced by my MSN/Facebook quote:

SELL THE HOUSE
SELL THE CAR
SELL THE KIDS
FIND SOMEONE ELSE
FORGET IT
I'M NEVER COMING BACK
FORGET IT

(which itself was lifted from Apocalypse Now).

The key differences between the two were length, the fact that I drank like a fish during the second trip (haven't done that in a while), the fact that the Queen's trip didn't involve actually visiting professors, and the odds of me getting into Queen's were virtually 100% at the time of the first trip (and indeed, I got my acceptance letter six weeks later), whereas the odds of my getting into McGill...well, 175 applicants for 25 spaces last year says a lot. I figure my odds of getting into U of T and Queen's, respectively, are slightly better and considerably better, though I still worry. I just hope to God that this stuff works out.

NB - so Lappy 786's new wireless card rolled the big Seven. I think that Lappy's days are numbered - we'll see where I'm at closer to September, but it looks like a new laptop may be in the cards. Not sure if I'll go with a Lenovo (IBM) or something else...I'm an IBM fanboy and likely couldn't live without the track point thinger, but I could also cut costs considerably if I went with Dell or someone else. *shrug* My MP3 player also died, so I bought a new one. $80, SanDisk 2GB flash, upgradeable to 4GB. Good times.
Nov. 8th, 2007 @ 01:38 pm isn't it good to be alive?
Entry Details
chortdown
Current Location: Compy 786
I'm feeling: busy
Now playing: Joe Egan & Gerry Rafferty - Stuck in the Middle with You
Must run off to work, so only time for an extremely basic update:

-still living
-work's going okay
-things with Melissa are going awesome
-grad school apps are going okay, but I'm still stuck on my statement of interest, mostly because I have little time to actually write the damn thing
-thought Lappy 786 had rolled the Big Seven, but it's looking more and more like the random system hangs were caused by my wireless card, so I'm going to do what I meant to do a long while back and purchase an internal MiniPCI wireless card for $20 off of eBayo'Pigs...until that shows, Lappy's internet-less...
-qualified for OSNAP interest relief, meaning I don't owe them money for six more months
-still thinking about that trip to London in mid-February
-am loving ELJAY's auto-tag-insert feature

That is all, will post more eventually.
Oct. 11th, 2007 @ 12:09 am What the...an actual update?!
Entry Details
chortdown
Current Location: home
I'm feeling: content
Now playing: The National
So yeah, I've not posted much recently (and by recently I mean this year), though the reports of my ELJAY-death are still somewhat exaggerated. Things are pretty decent right now...we found the Mythical Housemate 4 and things seem to be going well thus far ("thus far" being the past twenty-four hours), I've been kind of sort of seeing a girl, I'm thinking about travelling to Britain for a week or so sometime in the winter, and (to that end) I worked my first election as a poll worker, and (a useless supervisor notwithstanding) had an awesome time doing so. I've decided to do it again, partially because I had a pretty good time doing so (even if it meant that I couldn't start getting my election night coverage fix until 90 minutes after results started coming in), partially because I managed to take home a bunch of election swag (that would have ended up in the garbage or recycling), and partially because working one election pays for about a quarter of my proposed England trip.

Political note - I've been watching and reading CBC election coverage (sample CBC.ca headline: "Ontario election polls close"; your tax dollars at work, folks), and recently to one of the relatively few successful PC candidates, and one of his concerns is gridlock in his York Region riding. What is he going to do, put another bloody freeway through there and sell it to the Spanish and the Quebecois? Petty of me, I know. Aside from that, though, only some slight disappointments with the election. MMP failed (as expected), and the candidate I was hoping would win the next riding over (Ian Wilson [LIB], Lanark-Frontenac-Lennox & Addington) is trailing by several hundred votes to Randy Hillier [PC], late of the Lanark Landowners Association, with about a dozen polls yet to be counted (CBC suggests that poll boxes yet to be counted are currently stuck in cars that are broken down, even though it really doesn't work that way). Mr. Wilson's defeat rather disappoints me, as I know and quite like him (indeed, it was he who suggested that I try out the whole poll worker thing this election).

Last note - if I wasn't looking at the TV, I could have sworn that Rick Mercer switched from the Corp's entertainment division to its news division. Keith Boag sounds very very much like Rick. Anywho, I've been at it since 6:30 this morning, so I'm off to bed. But to quote one of Rick's former colleagues as a closing note, please remember:

If you can mark an 'X', you are MY KIND OF PEOPLE!
(read that: "if you marked an 'X'"...)

(Mark 'X' for Jerry Boyle.)
Oct. 1st, 2007 @ 01:24 pm Always tickin' like the clock on Flavor Flav (yeah, boy-ee)
Entry Details
tee_gee_ess_t00
Current Location: home
I'm feeling: complacent
Now playing: The Bar-Kays - Too Hot To Stop
The reports of my ELJAY death are only somewhat exaggerated. That having been said, poll below.

Poll #1064224 Higgins, boy-ee!
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All

Who should I dress up as for Hallowe'en?

View Answers

Flavor Flav
1 (33.3%)

Magnum P.I.
2 (66.7%)

Jul. 31st, 2007 @ 10:31 am Everybody's working for the weekend...
Entry Details
ludes!!!
Current Location: home
I'm feeling: excited
Now playing: nothing
(x-posted from Facebook)

So yeah, I'll be in the Greater Cobourg Area this weekend, and am looking for things to do. For some reason, I'd like to hit the beach on Saturday, followed by a pub crawl (or at the very least Oddballs). Sunday's wide open; Monday's a Toronto day. Any fun stuff going on this weekend?

Some random stuff... )
Jul. 21st, 2007 @ 02:54 am Nothing matters but the weekend, from a Tuesday point of view...
Entry Details
ha! ha!
Current Location: Compy 886
Now playing: The Boggs - Arm in Arm (Shy Child remix)
So yeah...remember that time I asked my direct supervisor who I resembled more, Higgins or Magnum? Her initial response was Higgins, though upon further reflection (i.e. it being Hawai'ian day at work) she changed her response to Magnum, who I plan on dressing up as for Hallowe'en.

How I remembered not one but two characters on a television show I've not watched a full episode of in perhaps a decade is somewhat beyond my comprehension at the moment, though given my chemically compromised state a fair deal is beyond my comprehension at this point in time.

[info]shifuimam, this isn't the A+ update I may or may not have promised you. I may or may not write one at some point in the near future.
Jun. 8th, 2007 @ 12:53 pm Grr. Just...grr.
Entry Details
ha! ha!
Current Location: Lappy 786 is being turned off now
I'm feeling: distressed
Now playing: Sunfreakz - Counting Down The Days
Firstly, [info]shifuimam, best wishes go out to you. Things will be okay. :)

Secondly, I tried the FIXBOOT thinger...didn't work. I didn't bother trying FIXMBR; I could still access my drive, even if I couldn't boot from it. So I ended up formatting the drive instead, and reinstalled Windows to the SATA drive. Well and good. I turn Compy off, reasoning I can now install SP2 and Symantec AV and all that at my leisure. I turn it on this morning - NTLDR is missing, and Compy won't boot into Windows. Back to the recovery console - and it would appear that the exact same problem has reoccurred. My next recourse is to make sure that there's nothing on the IDE drive that I don't already have on my external hard drive (pretty certain there's not), then reformat both drives, set the IDE drive's jumpers back to master, and install Windows to the IDE drive instead of the SATA drive. So yeah, not fun, not impressed. However, this is a minor inconvenience when weighed against the fact that I will soon have a stable computer.

Also, Lappy 786 felt like it needed to one-up Compy 886 in terms of issues...the end of the power cable that plugs into Lappy has frayed somewhat, and doesn't actually work. I've had to order a new one from eBay (I ensured it was brand-new), after shipping it comes to $43 or so. Considering IBM wanted $59 plus tax and shipping for the same part, good move on my part.

However, as Lappy's only running from its battery right now, I'm pretty much computerless until I can get Compy up and running (I've got all day tomorrow and Sunday to do it), so I'll be more silent than usual until then.
Jun. 4th, 2007 @ 12:47 am Computers are more fickle than...well, pretty much all other inanimate objects.
Entry Details
morpheus
Current Location: the dining room office
I'm feeling: tired
Now playing: Finding Neverland
So yeah, Compy 886 has given me a number of problems, to the point where I had to get a new motherboard for it. Apparently the A8R-MVP board is a piece of crap according to numerous users' forums; my own mobo had a habit of rebooting at random intervals. While this probably shouldn't have been a complete deal-breaker, the fact that it might reboot while I'm in the middle of taping something or playing a game or working on (eventually) a school project eventually got to be too much, and I broke down and bought an A8V-E SE instead. The new board is (reboots notwithstanding) a slight downgrade - no Firewire, no dual graphics cards, only two SATA ports and they're the older brand of SATA. Still, it's rock solid stable, and I'm willing to trade off several perks I'll either never use or don't really see the effect of for stability and reliability (the only thing I'll actually miss is the Firewire port, but my external hard drive will run on USB just as well as Firewire).

In terms of the switch from the old mobo to the new, things went fairly well. I was scared that I'd screw something up and the board would fail to POST. Surprisingly enough, the board POSTed, first try. Not bad for a n00b. The problem now is that for some inexplicable reason, the motherboard has screwed with my drive lettering scheme. This would normally be fine, except for the fact that the SATA drive - the drive that I've installed Windows to - is now the D drive instead of the C drive (while the IDE drive is now C:, despite not having an installation of Windows from which to boot), which poses a major problem as Compy 886 no longer bootstraps into Windows (it BSOD's PDQ). I've managed to get into the Recovery Console, but I'm hitting a wall I'm going to give a couple more tries to fix it - [info]shifuimam, any help you could provide would be much appreciated.

In other news, it would appear that my supervisor is leaving in the next couple of months, meaning that a senior desk position will be opening up. I'm still deciding whether or not to apply for it - my youth, immaturity and the fact that I'll be around another 15 months tops work against me, however I've got a great deal of experience upon which I could draw, which involves some supervisory experience in Cobourg (admittedly petty and extremely low on the totem pole...occasional Shift Supervisor, but I take my victories when I can get them). I might throw the thought out to my supervisor at my next performance review, which should be sometime soon. We'll see what they think.
Jun. 2nd, 2007 @ 10:25 am (lazy, no subject)
Entry Details
tee_gee_ess_t00
Current Location: bed
I'm feeling: content
Now playing: Patrizio Buanne - Stand Up (FIFA World Cup 2006 Champions Theme)
2007 JUN DEGREE GRANTED: B.A.(HONS.) POLITICAL STUDIES

Fare thee well, academic hiroshima entry tag, and we thank you.
May. 8th, 2007 @ 10:15 pm I can feel it coming in the air tonight, oh Lord...
Entry Details
ludes!!!
Current Location: Lappy 786!
I'm feeling: chipper
Now playing: Phil Collins - In The Air Tonight
M. Stairs hit for V. Wells

Me (to nobody in particular): Is John Gibbons trying to get himself fired?!

M. Stairs singled to right center, R. Clayton scored, A. Lind to third

Me (to nobody in particular): Okay, I think I can successfully put my foot in my mouth now.

Top 9: BOS 9:2 TOR

Me (to nobody in particular): Okay, maybe Gibby really is trying to get himself fired.

In other news, I've finally started work on Compy 886 (currently formatting its main hard drive and then installing Windows), I have a few things to copy off of Compy 786 before I can format its drive, I managed to get 90% in a POLS seminar, and I may or may not be doing the geekiest thing I've ever done by working simultaneously on three computers. Pictures to follow.
May. 4th, 2007 @ 10:30 am Random Updating
Entry Details
fish_fry
Current Location: Compy 786 (yeah, haven't formatted it yet)
I'm feeling: sick
Now playing: none
1) I think I have laryngitis. Either that or something that makes me sound like a pre-pubescent when I speak much louder than my normal (relatively soft) voice (i.e. the pre-pubescent I'd actually look like if I were to shave off my goatee). And apparently I shouldn't drink alcohol, as that dries out the throat. Stupid being sick.

2) So yeah...apparently I need to learn the importance of examining merchandise before actually purchasing it. Last Monday (the day the undergrad died...bye bye miss POLS pie, took the Volkswagen to the carpark but the carpark was full...) I went out to the townships to pick up the hard drive for Mom's computer. 80GB drive, more than she'll ever need but the price simply wouldn't be beat for a new drive. I don't think to look the damn thing over before bringing it back this way.

Silly move. As I'm putting the big drive in my drawer (it's in storage until I've finished examining and formatting Rob's drive), I take a look at Mom's drive and notice the letters SATA (serial ATA) on the top. "That's funny, I thought I'd purchased a parallel ATA drive." I take a look at the drive connectors. Instead of the big ol' familiar 40-pin connectors, I see the wee lil' SATA connector instead. So yeah, I goofed and bought a hard drive that will never work in my old computer without an adapter, and even then I don't think I can boot from it. My options are either to trade in the drive for a regular old PATA drive (which would involve hoping that Shawn, my contact at Microage, is willing to trade the drives in, as well as a trip to the Townships), or installing the 80GB drive in Compy 886 instead (which actually supports SATA, unlike Compy 786). I'd lose 40GB of storage and Mom would have at least triple the storage she actually would ever use.

Every time I think I've regained my geek credentials, I do something stupid like virus up a computer (either mine or someone else's), or buy a useless hard drive. In-bloody-credible.

Advertisement

Customize