Since I started recovering at home, I've been less compelled to write up blogs. Unfortunately, I've also stopped reading other people's blogs. I'll get back into that slowly.

5:30am. I'm heading to the hospital for my surgery. For more-than-full details, read the Dental Chronicles in my links.

I've brought bad weather back with me to Vancouver. It was sunny the day I got back, then overcast skies the next day, and it's now pouring rain. I think I snuck in a little too discreetly and the skies didn't realize I was back... otherwise they would have greeted me with showers the day I returned. Haha... suckers!

The weather is always better above the clouds.

I'm home.

My journey home started with the flight back to London from Montpellier, where I sat beside an Irish woman and Dutch guy who were talking (I was at the far right, next to the Dutch guy). The other two had just met, and kicked up a conversation that lasted the entire ride. The Irish woman did most of the talking, yammering about 85% of the time... talking about herself (early 50's, rejuvenated by her in-process divorce from her husband of 20+ years after he's been cheating on her with one of her good friends for X number of years -- this being her 2nd husband, I believe). Anyway, although I didn't take part in the conversation, my eavesdropping has me feeling like I know her intimately, from her take on sexuality and dating to her beautiful daughters to her travels and her self-run business.

We landed around 10:30pm, fairly on schedule and I caught an 11pm Stansted Express train to London. Somehow, the 45-minute train ride lasted over an hour, making it very possible that I wouldn't be able to catch the last Tube connections I needed to make. But fortunately, I caught the last Picadilly line train of the day, and got to KevinC's place around 12:45am.

After a good night's sleep, it was off to Heathrow Airport. The 9h20m flight went by fairly quickly as I read some complimentary Top Gear, Time, and Business Traveller magazines, slept, and watched some on-board shows. And so my trip ended -- coming into YVR at 3:15pm.

It's rather nippy here in Vancouver, but it's good to be back. Somehow my 1400 photos/video clips only appears as 1250 on the computer. Not sure what happened there. I hope I just miscounted. I'll have some selected pictures posted shortly. Thanks for reading.

Just wrapping up my trip here in France. On Saturday, I went to the Pezenas market in the morning, then met up with Florence in Montpellier. We had lunch with her friend Julie, and then we walked around the main areas of the city, which has a nice mix of older (but well kept) buildings, and new modern architecture. Quite a nice city actually. But their traffic plans are screwed up, because it took me 30 minutes to get out of the city and back onto the highway! Too many one way streets, and poor usage of signs.

Yesterday, I drove down to Agde and Cap d'Agde, down by the Mediterranean Sea. On a sunny day, it would have been cooler. Would have also been better had I left the house earlier too. Then I drove for about 15 - 20 minutes along the sea to Sete, which also would have been nicer on a better-weathered day... and with more time. But at least I can say "been there, done that".

Trish and Trevor have both been suffering from the flu, so it was just me driving around. Would have been nice to have them there with me, but what can you do?

I am ready to head off to the airport in a couple of hours for a 2hr flight back to London. I am hoping to arrive at KevinC's place around 11:30pm for the night. Ok... see ya.

Yesterday, Trish, Trevor, and I took a short trip to a nearby town whose name escapes me. We did a little hike around the area which had once been a sea bed some 160 million years ago and is now a valley of scattered rock formations.

I was planning on going to Marseille today, but decided not to on account of going alone. Trish hasn't been feeling well, and Trevor didn't feel good about leaving her for an entire day at home by herself. So I did a short wakling tour (unguided) of the town, Pezenas. It's 4pm and I have just finished up. I am making plans to meet Florence in Montpellier tomorrow as well -- so hopefully that'll work out.

I've been feeling a little lazy recently and I think I need to kick my own butt and get out a little more. The shortened days don't help much either. But for now, I'm going to go home.

Cheers,
Kevin

So I let Krista's around 8:30am and drove down to Windsor, about 30 miles West of London. I saw the Windsor Castle from the outside but opted not to go in because I didn't want to pay the £9. Legoland was closed as well. So I left Windsor realizing that I had gotten very little out of it, and that it would cost me some 45 miles overall.

As I entered London, I realized I had to have the car cleaned, otherwise they would charge another 10 quid.... as it turned out, getting the car washed would cost me £8. Returned the car to learn that I was 90 miles over my limit and not 40 (oops... miscalculation on my part). The cost per additional mile at that point was approx $1 CDN / mile. Ouch.

Took the underground to Liverpool Street station, and then a train from there to Stansted Airport. Flew to Montpellier over a conversation with a nice French girl, Florence. Got picked up by Trish & Trevor at the airport and went back to their cozy little home there in Pezanas.

This morning, I got up late (ahhhh...) and went with Trevor to Bezier where he needed to look into some travel tickets for his and Trish's return back to Vancouver. Saw a bit of the town there, and now I'm back in Pezanas, in a local Internet Cafe. French keyboards suck, as some of you may know.

Cheers.

So the weekend (in a flash) went like this:

Friday -- Cambridge during the day. What an awesome city. With Cambridge University buildings dating back 600+ years, it would be my second choice for post-secondary studies... after SFU. [ahem] That evening Krista took me and her friends June and John to Northampton to meet up with some other friends, Trigger and Nigel and go for a little outting in town (details excluded). We went to a pub, met more people, played a bit of foosball with Nigel, went to a club, then crashed at Nigel's place.

Saturday -- was a slower day. Krista and I came back to Islip, got showered up, changed, and headed back out to Northampton where Trigger, Michelle, Krista, and I did a bit of shopping for their (the three of them, plus a big group of people) costumes for The Rocky Horror Picture Show, which sounds like a really good time. Came back to Krista's, where Trigger crashed for the night.

Sunday -- I went for a walk around Thrapston/Islip in the public pathways, took some pictures, and returned "home". Then Krista and I went back to Northampton and met with Trigger (again!) and Brent for some biking. It was this evening that I realized how sad I am as a cyclist. This won't do. I'm going to have to do something about that... hmmmm... maybe in a couple years. Then we went back to Trigger's (which is really Nigel's) where he cooked dinner. Krista and I stayed over on a whim and came back this morning.

Monday -- I drove plenty today. First went out to Warwick to see the Warwick Castle (went there first because I missed the exit for Kenilworth Castle, but I figured I could drive back later). Spent a couple of hours there, then went to Stratford-upon-Avon (home of William Shakespeare) and walked around there. Then a little further down to Stow-on-the-Wold, where I spent all of 15 minutes or so walking around. It was getting dark, so I quickly left and headed back to Kenilworth to see their Castle. By the time I got there, it was dark... and closed. So I took some long exposure pictures, and managed to make out the general feel of the ruins. Then, all hell broke loose on the drive home. I kept taking wrong turns and backtracking. I got onto a major motorway ... but in the wrong direction, and the next offramp ended up being some 10 miles down the road... But alas, I'm back home, safe and sound.

I am heading to France tomorrow afternoon, so no update from me for a short while. I'll be going down to Windsor in the morning to see the Windsor Castle, then over to Richmond (which I believe has a castle as well), and finally to return my car and tube over to Stansted Airport. I'll be in France around 9pm (local time).

Cheers.

All is well. No time for an update on my busy weekend. Talk to you soon.

Okay! Another update here...

On Tuesday, I went down to Leicester Square to pick up a third Lion King Musical ticket to go with the two tickets that Andrew and I had bought on Monday evening. While there, I ran into Wes and Erin, who are Kevin C's friends and whom I had met on the first night of my stay in London. Together, the three of us went to Tate Modern Gallery, spending approximately 2 hours there. The Tate Modern has some really neat paintings and structures, and then some other stuff that was a little too interpretive in my opinion... So I didn't get as much out of that as Erin did, who's an artist. We parted ways thereafter, and I went back to Covent Garden for a cornish pasty, an English food with beef and potatos wrapped in a pastry. I headed back to The Generator to change, and then walked over to The British Museum, which is as impressive as a building as the contents inside. I walked through the corridors quickly (3 hrs) taking a lot of pictures, reading very little, and wincing from my hurting feet. I left the museum just as the sun was dropping behind the horizon, around 5:30pm. I met Andrew and his Aussie friend Annabelle again at Leicester Square and we had a quick Chinese dinner before going to the Lycium Theatre for the The Lion King showing. While The Lion King followed the original Disney movie a littl too closely in my opinion, it boasted a great set of costumes and has some fabulous scene transitions. Overall, it was an entertaining show.

Wednesday would be my last day in London. I packed up my bags, had breakfast, talked to Harsh (a fellow from India studying in London and bunking in my dorm) for a bit, then checked out, locking my luggage in the luggage storage at the Generator. My first stop of the day was The Tower of London. And it is in places like that, which started to be built in the 11th century, that show the history of England, and its long tradition of Monarchy. I spent a good 3 hours there, starting with a 1 hour guided tour given by a Beefeater (Royal Guard of the Tower), then venturing off on my own of a little while. For lunch, I had traditional Fish & Chips at the Sherlock Holmes' Pub/Restaurant. The last big item on my list was to go back to the Westminister Abbey and see in the interior. I did just that, and thought it was fantastic. It's an incredible display of burials and memorials, most of them elequantly decorated with impressive sculptures. I found myself with a little bit of time before needing to get my luggage, so I stopped by The National Portait Gallery for some 20 minutes, walking very quickly through a few halls.

FINALLY, London is checked off my list. I picked up my luggage from The Generator and scooted over the tube for the last time. After some walking, I got to EasyCar, which was a shack in the middle of a parking lot, and got my car keys. The guy working was like, "The car's somewhere in the parking lot. Just go out there, press the button, and look for the blinking lights." Duh, Okay.

Driving on the left side of the road isn't very difficult at all. Getting out of London during rush hour is. After a couple wrong turns, I was on my way! I continue to approach the car from the wrong side and reach for my seat belt over my left shoulder. I've only made the mistake of turning onto the wrong side of the road once, and it was very momentary. So nothing too bad so far. I still don't know how to get the gas casket open, so I'll have to get some help the next time I need to fill up. I enjoy driving here however. When you can regularly drive 80 - 90 mi/hr (~140 km/hr), it's fun. At first, I wasn't sure how the roundabouts worked, but things are falling into place as I get more and more familiar with it. Got to Krista's only after 2.5 hrs of getting the car (granted the ride was estimated at 1.5 hrs, but traffic and wrong turns can take its toll). Krista has been a fantabulous and inviting host... and it's much appreciated.

Today, I had a later start on the day. I look my time with a shower, breakfast, and some TV before setting out around 10am. I went to Oundle (pronounced "Andle") which is a small town some 15 mins away, with some 17th - 18th century architecture, as well as some older 13th century buildings as well. After a few hours and lunch there, I drove a short ways North to the city of Stamford. Stamford has an even richer 1000+ year history that began with the Saxons and the Danes during the Norman Conquest. So by the 14th century, Stamford was one of the richest towns in England. Furthermore, Stamford was designated as the first Conservation Area in the country in 1967, so most of its heritage is preserved. I bought a little Town Trail pamphlet from the Tourist Information Centre and walked around the main area with its guidance and descriptions. The city a very ancient look and is truly breathtaking, as some of you will see in my photos (now 680+ of them).

Now I'm back at Krista's waiting for her to come back so that we can go for dinner.

By the way, I can read the comments you leave. Just had problems for that one day. Hmm... and I'm on free Internet (being at Krista's place), so feel free to email or post comments!

Okay! I'm here, and I'm safe. Just finished dinner with Krista, and discussed a few places for me to visit over the next days. I'll let you know how my last few days have been... and the next few as well. Ciao.

I'm ready to leave London. I am leaving my hostel (where I had already checked out this morning, but stored my luggage while I was enjoying my day) to go to the car rental place. Cross your fingers, as I hope to make this 1.5 hr drive within 2 hrs, and keep myself alive. Luckily, it's not raining anymore... but it's dark. And scary. :)

I also noticed that I can't read feedback here on this UK (Internet) Explorer... but please continue to leave feedback if there you have. I'll try to give an update when I arrive at Krista's place later tonight.

Cheers.

Still in London. Today was probably my most comprehensive day of tourism thus far. I took the "Original London Tour Bus" which has several routes with multiple stops at the larger locations where one can hop-off and hop-on. Today, I visit Trafalgar Square (again), saw the Westminister Abbey, White Hall, Parliament Building and Big Ben (again), St. Paul's Cathedral, Tower Bridge (again), Buckingham Palace, St. James Palace, and a few other places, I think. The repeated locations are because I went there at night with Andrew on the first evening of my arrival. I spent a good part of the day walking around with a French lady, who was in London for the day. We had some good conversations and exchanged contact info before she left for France again.

Yesterday, I had a short day. I got together with Andrew and we went to Convent Garden, had some Cornish Pasties, a few drinks, walked around a bit, and called it a night early (around 4pm) because we couldn't find anything else to do for the day -- and my right big toe was hurting from the day before. It's better today, but just slightly. I need a foot massage.

That's my last 2 days in a handful.

"This train is for Cockfosters." Well, I took it only until Russel Square.

I have arrived here in London and all is well so far. Everything is expensive by my standards, and the Internet browsing is £0.5 / 7 mins. Anyway, £1 is enough to get people updated.

I spent most of the day with Andrew and met up with Kevin C. for dinner with his friends. Managed to see quite a few spots, but in little detail. The night pictures are great! None to post, nowhere to post. I see more foreigners here in London than I do Brits... then again, maybe it's just me. Street signs suck, because they can be anywhere (on buildings, for example) other than on the corner of the streets. The Tube has been kind to me, and I'll be sure to take it more often. All in all, I'm enjoying my first day here... still much to see. I haven't really had any "day-light" time -- but I'll get that tomorrow, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.

Also had to take a picture with The Horniman (one of many bars).

In an effort to offset the time change and avoid the effects of jet lag, I have resorted to staying up extra late -- that and the fact that I have the dryer running outside of my room to provide me with some more clean, dry underwear for my trip. I think I've managed to pack everything I'll need for a 3 month journey... fortunately, if I have forgotten anything, I'm only away for 18 days. I have a headache. Going to bed now.

An engineering professor at Simon Fraser University died yesterday morning of a heart attack while playing soccer. Through my undergrad and graduate studies, I have taken three courses with Jacques Vaisey, and he was always a professor who took the time to help out his students, although he did have some rigorous expectations of them. I will always remember Jacques as the closer talker who would go back and forth between tippy-toe and heel as he talked; curved his fingers like beaks with his arms close to his body like a bunny rabbit as he explained course material; and would pace across the front of the classroom bumping into chairs and projectors on each side, over and over. His antics will be missed, as well as his teaching.

The details...

A week and a half ago, I realized that I would need to take 10 vacation days before the end of the year, as they exceed my maximum carry-overable limit of 15 days. Due to personal reasons, my vacation would be restricted to November, so I fired off a few quick emails and settled on going to England and France. Only one and a half weeks later, I think I've managed a cost efficient 18-day trip that will force me into many new experiences, and I absolutely cannot wait. As my plane ticket states below, I'll arrive in London on November 8th (6 days from now), and my carefully plotted plan will unfold:

• Nov 8 - 12: In London seeing as much as I can possible see. I'll be staying at The Generator hostel in Russel Square. I'll be equipped with a 1-week Travel Card, enabling me full mobility over London's public transit offering... although with the dense web of Underground (Tube) stations, I can't imagine why I'd take the bus, other than for photo ops. I guess I'll find out soon enough. There will be likely meet ups with Andrew and Kevin during my stay.
  
• Nov 13 - 18: On the 12th, I've got a car rental (hire) reservation, and I'll attempt to find my way safely to the town of Islip, next to Thrapston, near Kettering and Peterborough (approx 1 hr North of London) where Krista lives. About 3/5 of the car rental cost is in insurance, which amounts to some 70 GBP (fully insured, excluding personal injury) because I am under 26 years old. For the cost of insurance, I question whether it would be more worth my while to turn my driving experience into a regular smash-em-up derby.... hmm... maybe on my last day. Needless to say, driving on the "wrong" side of the road will be an awesome challenge, and I'm hoping to not find myself in any fender benders or caught in their Round-abouts like Chevy Chase did in National Lampoon's European Vacation. From Krista's place, I plan to make day trips while she works and trips with her on the weekend, with Bath, Oxford, Derbyshire Dales, Birmingham, Nottingham, and Cambridge on my list of possible destinations. On the 18th, I'll drive back to London, possibly visiting Windsor first, and return the car.
  
• Nov 18 - 24: I have a flight from London Stansted to Montpellier, France at a few minutes after 6pm. I'll arrive in Montpellier at 9pm local time where Trish and Trevor will pick up me and take me to their place in Panzanas. Over the next 5 days, we'll have a car rental for day trips to Montpellier and Marseilles.
  
• Nov 24 - 25: Shortly after my flight back to Stansted nearing midnight on the 24th, I will hop onto my last flight out of London Heathrow.
  

With powerbars in my right holster and bottled water in my left, I've got just about everything ready, booked, and awaiting my arrival.

For the savvy traveller out there reading this:

• What other kind of light travel food should I bring in case I get hungry on day?


• What are the recommended must-sees in London or around the London area? Any of them require substantial admission I should be aware of?
  
• Cheap places to eat? Chains of restaurants? Authentic English foods? Others?
  
• Places I should avoid due to cost or any other reason?
  
• While Canadians are beloved all around the globe, do the British like us still even though we didn't participate in the war? Would it be wise or dangerous to tote a Canadian flag (pin)?
  
• Any other recommendations?
  

After two years of spending tireless effort on Halloween costumes and acts, I've taken a break. Maybe I'll pick it up again next year.

There's no turning back now!! I'm stuck with my decision. Poor me.

Fri 7-Nov-03
Vancouver (YVR)
Depart 6:35 pm Terminal M
to London (LHR)
Arrive 12:05 pm +1 day Terminal 3 7585 km (4713 mi)
Duration: 9hr 30mn


Tue 25-Nov-03
London (LHR)
Depart 1:30 pm Terminal 3
to Vancouver (YVR)
Arrive 3:15 pm Terminal M 7585 km (4713 mi)
Duration: 9hr 45mn

"He put something in my mouth, and I felt a little prick."
- My coworker overheard at lunch in conversation talking about her visit to the dentist.

I just finished watching the season finale of The Joe Schmo Show. I only saw the last 4 shows or so, but I will be completely honest when I say that it was the most satisfying finale for a reality show I've seen so far. I truly enjoyed it, and got some good laughs out of it. The concept of the show is much like The Truman Show in many ways, where everyone but the protagonist is an actor -- and I really liked The Truman Show. Matt Kennedy Gould was the perfect guy for the show because of his personality and demeanor. He's strange, he's out there, he's likable, and he's always got something to say. I think Matt will have his turn on some other TV show, perhaps as a host or correspondent. Anyway, it was a fun ride -- as much as I saw anyway.

I saw Ellen Degeneres' talk show yesterday for the first time, before which I hadn't even known she had a show. During the show, she had some conversations with some ladies in Marengo, Il. Apparently, in Marengo, they have "fast time" and "slow time". Fast time is one hour ahead of slow time, and is affected by Day Light Savings. After the time change this past weekend, both fast time and slow time are on the same hour. Otherwise they're an hour apart. But people in Marengo can work on different times as they see fit. School is on slow time, so the kids can get to class on time. Work is on fast time. So parents and children, from room to room in the same house, will be on different times. Anytime a person specifies a time (say, to start an event), they need to specify fast time or slow time. It's incredible. Incredibly confusing too! You'll probably find some hits on Google by doing a search on "Marengo fast slow time".

Suddenly, I feel more confident in clubbing than I have ever felt. All because I know How to Dance Properly. With these cool techniques in my pocket, I will no doubt be the focus of the evening. No girl will resist. Make sure you read the dance descriptions below the videos to truly understand the significance and history of each move.

I had an odd sleep two nights ago. Didn't sleep well at all. I woke up, and realized that my head was sleeping on my pillow, on my clock radio, and on my night table sitting next to my bed. I don't think I've ever done that before. I remember when I was younger, I would go down to my brother's room during the summer and sleep in his room (he had a queen-sized bed), which was cooler during the warm nights. I remember waking up once and not being able to find my pillow... it didn't occur to me that it was because I slept-walked in the middle of the night from my room down to his, and didn't bring my pillow with me. Weird. What kind of odd sleeping experiences have you had?

As I was out with a couple highschool buddies over the weekend, something came to my attention. I have never been hit on by a gay guy. Both guys I was with, neither of them gay, have gotten a certain amount of homosexual attention. I wonder if I should be concerned... or glad.

I really like this new cereal I'm eating: Oatmeal Crisps. They're like cornflakes on steroids. They've got crunchy oats and dried apple chunks, and the flakes are covered in a brown sugar coating which keeps them noisy in milk. I've got a box under my desk at work, and a 4L jug of milk in the fridge. I no longer go hungry in the mornings.

The last two cereals I dug were Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Apple Cinnamon Cheerios. I don't think C.T.C. had much in way of nutrients, but it was loaded with sugar and cinnamon, and that was alright by me. A.C.C.'s were great tasting, looked healthier, and kept its crunch. But I'm on to new and better things now.

I saw The Rundown last night, and enjoyed it as a good action movie with some comical moments (as all movies seem to have these days). It wasn't until the very end of the movie when my buddy Joe pointed out in the credits that one of the actors was Ernie Reyes, Jr. For those of you who don't remember Ernie, he was The Last Electric Knight back in the old days. Ernie played a Brazilian rebel who has a battle with The Rock. The dude is ripped (Ernie is)!! Given that most of the movie took place in Brazil, it was also fitting that they put some Capoeira music of the berimbau and the atabaques in during that fight scene and had some Capoeira-like moves. I wondered about where Ernie had been all these years, so I did a quick search on him on Google. I didn't realize he was so old already (born 1972). His official website is erniereyesjr.com, which didn't seem to work here on my work computer. Might need to upgrade a plug-in or something. Also interesting is that apparently, Ernie recorded a Hip Hop CD called "Asia's Last Dragon". Go figure. And I didn't realize this either, but Ernie's Filipino, and not Chinese. Who woulda thunk it? He was so pale as a kid.

They're everywhere now. Teenagers and people in their 20s working street intersections hoping to get money from the drivers passing that way. I can't stand them. It's like a full time job with these people. Over the course of a few months, the same person will occupy the same intersection, sometimes walking between cars when the light is red, sometimes reading, sometimes sleeping, sometimes eating... a lot of people have moved to the "Travelling but ran out of money" approach. Well it's your own stupid ass fault you ran out of money, ISN'T IT?! The same guy has been "travelling" around that intersection for a whole month now. Idiot. Between work and home, I literally pass 5 intersections (3 before the freeway, 2 after). I passed Boundary and Grandview Hwy last week, and there were 3 panhandlers at that very intersection, each working a different spot. I wonder if they ever lash out each other for working their section of the cross... like whores on a block corner. And then I saw another guy "travelling" at Rupert and Grandview, not 1 min later. Unbelievable. I wonder how much money these kids can make in an hour. I wonder if people's generosity is enough to provide these kids with more than minimum wage. If a traffic light changes every 2 mins, you have a refresh of cars every 2 mins. 30 refreshes an hour. If you can get a buck in every 5 tries, you get $6/hr. Question is, is that realistic? I'm not sure.

Makes me want to run a test. I've often (well, not that often) thought about finding my rattiest clothing, heading out to an occupied intersection, and try my hand at Intersection Panhandling. It could be a week-long experiment. I could try different things on different days:

The first day, I'll have no sign.
The second day, I'll have a sign with "I'm a freakin' moron that doesn't know how to make a living. Please support me."
The third day, I could dress well, have a neon sign saying "Working on a Masters degree in Engineering. Please help with tuition costs."
The fourth day, I'll have a "Give me money or I'll kick your car." and so on.

Heck, maybe one of those days I'll just go to an intersection where someone is already and see if I can make more than him.

Water is fun. I like drinking water around the office. We have carpetted floors and spilling water isn't an issue because it just soaks up and then dries from there. Our Director of Engineering will talk with us by our cubes, and then squirt a little water on the floor from his water bottle. It's hilarious. Sometimes I feel like filling my mug with water and then sprinting down the hall. Just because. Water is fun.

I am now an officially ranked foosball player! You can find my stats on the Vancouver Foosball website under any of the Doubles links.

I like business travel. There's something about eating well, staying in nice hotels, going to foreign places, and all on someone else's dime that makes those trips enjoyable. I collect 12,500 Aeroplan points each time I travel too! Granted, I've been to the same Chinese city 3 times (and no where else), with a 4th time coming up in the next month. And sure, I don't have much time to see much else while I'm there; I wake up to an annoying loud sharp buzzing alarm at 6:30am which freaks the hell out of me and has me shaking the moment as soon as it goes off; otherwise I wake up 5 minutes earlier simply in anticipation and fear of hearing the alarm. I check my email over a slow and inconsistent Internet connection as I prepare for the day. I quickly get some food into my belly before I head out the hotel doors. I work through a grueling day of answering questions, sitting with customers, and having meeting. Then I go for dinner, sometimes with the customer, sometimes without. And finally, I get back to the hotel and email updates and questions to the people back here in Burnaby, which usually takes me to 12:30am, tired from the day I just completed and stressed about the day that's awaiting me in another 6 hrs. And to do this for 5 days takes the life out of a young man like me. It's because of this that I hate business travel.

I'm not a complete idiot. Some parts are missing.

Want to learn a new skill? Check this page out. It tries to teach how to beatbox. Very cool sight. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get anything other than the "high hat" down. But I'll work on it, and it'll come eventually.

There are a lot of colorful unofficial terms in the English language that are conceived simply through the vivid, flexible, and contorted imaginations of those around us. I heard a good one yesterday as I was talking to my buddy at work. He told me about his friend who once said "I have to go home first and drop a deuce." I couldn't help but to laugh my ass sideways when I heard this, so I've decided to integrate it into my vocabulary.

Do you have any colorful terms to share with us?

Here's a very interesting article for eBayers. Good read, good knowledge. Scams must be fun.

Another foosball posting. I played in my first rank-counting foosball tournament tonight at the Starlite. Here, we paid an entry fee of $10 and played on a ladder for a piece of the pot. I started my first tournament as a "Rookie", bypassing the "Beginner" level, and was teamed up with Rob Shin ("Master") and came 3rd or 4th overall (2nd in the losers side, so I guess that's 4th place) -- which earned us our entry fee back. What I've learned is that my defense is only good against Amateurs and lower. The Experts and higher are too good at reading my defense. That said, I've learned that I'm a much better shooter from the back than most of the guys there. My push and pull shots are pretty tough for them to defend against, and I definitely turned some heads. At this level, foosball is a very intense game -- and there's a lot of pressure on the defense to stop shots. Nevertheless, I'm pretty confident that with a little more work on my defense, I can play around an Expert level easily. We'll see how that goes. I should also mention that because of tonight, I am now a "ranked" player. Woohoo for me. You can probably see my name on the Vancouver Foosball website in the next couples days... or not, depending on when they decide to update the page and put me in.

Oooo... I'm excited. I went to Starlite Billards around Boundary and Canada Way today to see if anyone was playing foosball. The competition at Starlite is amongst the best in B.C. with ranked foosball players, and small tournaments every Sunday. This was only my 2nd time there, and no one knew who I was, much less knew what level I played at. I ended up playing a few doubles games for money, winning 5 out of 6. Winners earn $1 per game, losers pay out $1 per game. So I ended up making $4 on the night, but gave a loonie to my partner because one of our opponents cheaped out. It was because of his skill that we won't our games anyway... although I definitely held my own, and score a few goals too.

I think my partner was John Borbely ("Expert"). Never got his last name, so I'm guessing.
We played against Craig Williams ("Amateur") and Jeff Allen ("Amateur"), Richard Tench ("Master") and Nick DiGiovanni ("Rookie") -- again, I'm guessing the last names, so their rankings may not be accurate either.

Doubles rankings are at this page

Anyway, I got some really flattering compliments:

Richard said, as he was leaving for the night, "You can tell the other guys (at my company) that most of the High Tech guys that come to play get killed. But you played really well."

And John asked "How long have you been practicing martial arts?"
I responded, wondering, "Why would you say that?" (in an inquisitive manner, not one with attitude)
And he said "It's been a long time since I've seen someone with such a powerful snap of the wrist."

Very cool. So John told me that I should come and drop into the Sunday tournaments where they draw partners and that anyone would be happy to draw a goalie like me. :) :) :) The tournaments are handicapped, and lower ranked players get a bit of an advantage. And John said that someone might need to make a decision on where I would start... possibly "Rookie". Cool.... Kevin, ranked in Foosball. :D

I called into The Beat today for a radio contest, and I was caller #9 (the one I wanted to be)....

They played a Will Smith Medley earlier, and people have to call and tell them what songs were in it...

• men in black
  
• miami
  
• parents just don't understand
  
• nightmare on my street
  
• wild wild west
  
• gettin' jiggy wit it
  

And then, I caught the tail end of the medley again, and I hear "big willy style". So I added that on my list.

Unfortunately, my list was wrong!!

I realized hearing it again afterwards that "big willy style" was part of the lyrics from "gettin' jiggy wit it". So I had it all right the first time I wrote it down, and then I f__ked it up thereafter. BURN!

And then I got to hear myself on the radio getting it wrong again!

AAAHHHHHHHH!! I'm so mad.
Grr.

To commemorate my quarter-century birthday, someone has created a VERY cool website! I believe it's the coolest thing since my inception.

Fading Photos
(notice that the panoramic photos extend far past the right of your screen.)

I am failing to see the point of working out, more specifically lifting weights. For the regular healthy human, getting chiseled has no value. It just becomes cosmetics. If you're fat, yes, you should work out -- but only to be more healthy. Strength isn't necessary in life. I don't know that old folks live longer because they used to lift weights. There's so much maintenance required in working out, and in the end, we all become sloppy. How many people do I know used to go to the gym during the university days just to graduate and let it all go? Just two and a half years ago, I competed in the Strong Man/Woman competition at SFU just for kicks. Back then, I had a 205 lb bench for my 131 lb frame. Now? I'm struggling with a bad shoulder at a 155 lb bench! I say "Forget It!" I'm going to dedicate myself to watching TV and eating junk food. When I balloon up, I'll go for liposuction. Bah!

Give me a few years. I'll make it on the list.

Are animals self-conscious? I wonder if a kangaroo rat ever looks at a lion, then at itself, and says "man, I am a LAME animal!" People are the same. I wonder if lame people ever look at themselves and say "man, I got gyped on this deal!"

MY RULES FOR DRIVING

Everyone has their set of rules when they drive, and instincts that take over when they're riding on a set of rubber tires and pavement. As a person who loves to drive and prefers to reduce a drive from 30 minutes to 20, my set of mental rules are likely to differ from the next guy/girl. So here's a list of things I do when I'm out on the road, all of which I think can be done without breaking any laws.

Really, aside from finding a shorter road with less traffic or speeding, lane changing is probably the most effective way to reduce my driving time. Wisdom comes from knowing when to change lanes. The following rules guide my lane changing:

• Know the territory: Being familiar with where people often left turn, where there are left turn lanes, etc will often set the stage to which lane you want to be in.
  
  
• Get out of slower lanes: Obvious. If the lane beside you is going faster because someone is driving really slowly ahead of you, then change lanes.
  
  
• Understand other drivers: Watch drivers as they're driving, know what kind of people they are (young Asian males will most likely be speeders, middle-aged Asian males are slower, Asian female FOBs are slower, old folks are slow, etc), how they are changing lanes, and determine whether you'd want to be in their lane or not. Also an important factor to note is the make and model of cars - Acura RSXs, Integras, etc tend to speed, while Toyota Corollas won't.
  
  
• Use crosswalk signals: When approaching a green traffic light, look for crosswalk signals to determine whether the light may or may not change by the time you get there. You're safe if the little white WALK man is displayed.
  
  
• Prepare to Stop sometimes: If there is a "Prepare to Stop" sign flashing, and the traffic light ahead is green, decide based on your position w.r.t. the "Prepare to Stop" sign whether to slow down or not. If you are almost beneath the "Prepare to Stop" sign when it starts flashing, you're in the clear -- keep going. If you're within 10m of the sign when it starts flashing, speed up and you'll be in the clear.
  
  
• Approaching red lights 1: If I can be the first car in a lane at a red light, I'd rather be in that lane than in a lane with cars (even only one). I usually drive faster than other cars, so they'd just slow me down. Watch for merges ahead and determine whether you have enough time to get in front of the car beside you, or somewhere behind him. Again, knowing the capabilities of the first few cars next to you will give you a good idea of how fast you need to take off out of the gates when the light turns green.
  
  
• Approaching red lights 2: When approaching a red light, look at the traffic lights in perpendicular direction of traffic. If I'm the first car in my lane approaching a red light, I'll usually slow down much earlier, so I can observe the traffic signals. If I see the cross-traffic lights change to yellow, it means I won't need to bring my car to a full stop at my light. So I'll can start hitting the gas when their light turns red, generally meaning my light will be green by the time I cross the pedestrian crossing. Naturally, watch for pedestrians and left-turn signals for on-coming traffic.
  
  
• Approaching red lights 3: If there are cars in both/all lanes as you approach a red light, by default go with the one with fewer cars (and no left turners). However, if there aren't that many cars in either lane, go with the one that has the faster cars models, they'll likely hold you up the least.
  
  
• Trucks are slower than cars: By simply looking ahead, avoid being in lanes behind trucks. In general, the bigger the truck, the slower it moves. Rigs are usually the slowest in accelerating.
  
  
• Construction vehicles are slower than trucks: Construction vehicles with the thick grooved side panels are notoriously slow, especially when accelerating from stop or at low speeds. Avoid staying behind them at all costs, unless you need to make a turn very soon.
  
  
• Know your surroundings: This is a biggy, for safety also. If you know where cars are around you, you can easily change lanes in an instant if needed. In the same way, on the freeway, if you're in a left lane, know where the next space between cars in the right lane is in case you need to cut in, to exit the freeway for example.
  
  
• Know your car!: Also a huge one. You need to be familiar with the performance of your car and how quickly it will go when you want it to. There's nothing like trying to speed up to cut into another lane but not having the juice to do it -- and then you look stupid stuck behind a parked car.
  
  
• Know yourself!: Final big one. If you have no balls (girls can have balls in this context too), drive slow. If you can't handle driving fast or semi-aggressively, DON'T. It's okay to suck at driving. The rest of us will just weave around you. :)
  

Appendix A:

Scenario 1: There are two lanes, red light, the left lane has three cars followed by a left turner, and there are parked cars in the right lane after the light. I would pull into the right lane, but only slightly ahead of the left turner, not all the way up to the front of the right lane. When the light goes green, I'll stay beside the left turner, and change lanes as soon as I cross the intersection. There will likely be cars behind me. So if I go all the way up to the front of the right lane, and I start moving with the first car in the left lane when the light goes green, unless I can bullet in front of the car beside me, I'll probably get caught behind the parked car. The cars behind me will get to change lanes into the left lane behind me, and I'll be stuck there until all the cars behind me have changed lanes.

Scenario 2: You are approaching a red light. There is one car already stopped at the light, another car in front of you still moving, and no cars in the other lane. If the moving car changes lanes, I would to - even if both cars in front are the same make and model. By changing lanes, the moving car driver has displayed that s/he is eager to move along quicker, which means s/he won't hold me up if I'm behind him/her.

.

So that's the end of my driving guide. I'm sure there are a lot of rules I abide by that I've forgotten, missed, or having consciously thought about. Likewise, there are exceptions to every rule. But that's the gist of it. I don't encourage speeding, nor dangerous driving, nor dragging.

So here's where your comments come in. What do YOU do when you drive?

Old clothes. Why can't men throw them away? Can you disagree with me when I say that just about every couple has arguments about the man's worn out but indispensable articles of clothing? Sweaters, the favorite t-shirt, underwear... So the question stands: how long will YOU keep your clothing? What's the determining factor? Why will guys wear an underwear until all that remains is an elastic band around the waist? What's the solution, and is one necessary?

Have you seen those neat Hallmark butterflies? They come free with Hallmark cards. The first time I saw one was at a friend's birthday party. There was a group card going around the table, and when it came to gift opening, the card was presented to the birthday girl. Having been busy chatting away during dinner, I piped up and said "Oh, I haven't signed that!", so I took the card and opened it to finish it off. Little did I know there'd be a vicious MONSTER clipped between the folds of the card... so as soon as I opened it, I half freaked out as a snarling creature of paper, wire, and a rubber band came flying out and attacked me mercilessly!! Anyway, I immediately struck my knifehand out Karate-style to protect myself from its threating spiral, and all was good. The truth of it was that I noticed how everyone at the table had pent up laughter building up inside of them, and I chose to release that pressure to protect them from any discomfort. Mission accomplished.

Short post. Ninjai.
Check out this link: http://www.ninjai.com/
Requires shockwave. Enjoy!

Fast food restaurant are great. In light of the single BSE incident that caused the Canadian beef industry to go through misery, fast food chains like Burger King, McDonald's, and A&W are supporting the beef farmers by making their beef burgers 100% Canadian Beef burgers. McDonald's supply had been 80% Canadian beef prior to their announcement to help out Canada farmers. Not only that, McDonald's has a day promotion that states: Buy one beef burger and get a free voucher for another beef burger. So I did my part today by purchasing a Ciabatta burger and a Big Mac for lunch. Go Canada!

For real. What's up with the gas prices? A while ago, when the price for crap-grade gas hit 80.9 cents/L, I was taken back. Today, as I drove it to work, it was 89.9. This is silliness, and I won't take anymore of it! I'm a launching a revolt. My campaign will involve me putting my finger up my nose and holding it there until gas comes back down to a reasonable price! Who's with me? ... WHO'S WITH ME?!!?

Blogging is becoming a chore. I'm finding that these brain farts are giving me little to work with. I'd rather browse around to other people's blogspots and comment on their pages. Bummer, huh.

Haven't blogged for a while now. More than one week. Today's interesting story comes from the Vancouver Sun's Business section:

"Lenient Laws have made our B.C. bud a growth industry"

In short, an economics professor at SFU estimates that pot accounts for 3.5 percent of the B.C. economy. Through some "excellent detective work", "reasonable assumptions", and "fancy math", he estimated that B.C. residents grow about $4.8 billion worth of marjiuana annually. In comparison, the fisheries and aquaculture industry contributes only about $600 million annually (~1% of the provincial economy).

When all said and done, a lot of the illegal income ends up going back to the BC economy through purhases of houses and merchandise, and in retail stores, retaurants, and travel.

Bottom line: Help the economy and smoke weed.

Jones is lame. Jones Soda Co. is a small pop company that produces a colorful assortment of carbonated pop. Their bottles are clear and look much like those for beers like Shaftbury or Sleemans, and the flavors aren't bad. But, the packaging is ridiculous. I have a bottle of Cream Soda in front of me. On the front, there is a picture of two guys in a car wearing helmets. Off on the side, it reads:

"Send us your photo, if we like it we will put it on our label"

Bad grammar. Retarded photo.

On the back of the label:

"Ya gotta make a living somehow; we chose the beverage world. At Jones, we want you to buy a lot of soda and recycle the bottles. The labels are kinda like our minds - always changing. Run with the little guy... create some change. www.jonessoda.com"

Underneath the cap:

"Children will play an important role in your life."

Furthermore,
"We swiped these quotes from actual fortune cookies. Send your quotes to us at www.jonessoda.com."

Granted, I think the concept is kind of neat - to have consumers decorate their soda bottles with submitted pictures and other - but they need to filter some of the submissions. And I think they also need to get a new writer for the back of the label.

My two cents.

Woohoo! Just got back rollerblading around False Creek and I learned to jump! I saw some guy speeding by me and he was making little hops over bumps and stuff. And it kinda pissed me off that after blading for so long (7 years?) I couldn't jump. I had tried a little in the past, but it never felt quite right - so I stopped. But today, I forced myself to try jumping over and over, and Eureka! it worked! I think I can do as much as jumping over the concrete slabs in front of parking stalls. Yay for Kevin.

No comments on my blogspot anymore. And here I've blogged 4 times today. I must be bored.

Isn't it sad? I'm sitting here with a can of Minute Maid lemonade, and it says on the front of the can "Made with Real Lemons". The fact that a lemonade (which if it weren't so called, would be called "lemon juice") vendor can state that it makes lemonade from real lemons as a marketable feature is purely ridiculous -- made with real ridicule. Some 100 years ago, all fruit juices were made from real fruits. Today, we're happy when there's 20% juice from fruits in our fruit juice. Soon we'll be buying foods like chicken breasts "Made with Real Chicken!". How sad is that.

I think I need to visit more places in Canada. I don't feel like I've absorbed enough of our great nation. Aside from Greater Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, and Montreal, I haven't really been anywhere else. I should head out East... far East, and wake up to an Acadian breakfast. "Sure, I'd like the two eggs, side by each, parallel to the bacon, and a pair of toast with a orange glass of juice." Or maybe I'd go to McDonald's and get an "apple turn'em'over" and a "Pespi pop." So much to see and experience, and it'll probably never happen. How sad.

I got a Snack Pack (20) of Timbits this morning, and wondered "how do they make these?" Do they have a little line-up of 3rd world kids in the back rolling the dough into little balls, deep fryin' by hand, sugarin' and glazin'. They could suck a little grape jelly into a straw from the jar, stick it into the sugar powdered ones and blow it out to fill 'em. I noticed that some of these Timbits are irregularly shaped too... I'm glad Tim Horton's isn't discriminant against the disabled and disformed kids who can't roll proper balls (what, do I have to be PC all the time?). I should really know more about what I put into my belly.

Interesting story. I was playing in my volleyball league yesterday evening, and a girl on the opposing team says to me "Hey, is your last name Ko?", and I was like "okay, which one of my siblings do you know?"* And she replies "We went to elementary school together! My name's Trish.", and I was taken aback because I immediately recognized her. We used to play together as kids at school. But she left my elementary school after grade 4, and I had never seen her since. So, doing the math, that was 15 years ago. I actually can't believe she picked me out of a crowd. She's married now, and moving to France in October to live. Très bizarre!



*because my brother, sister, and I have similar facial features, and I've had their friends come to me asking if I'm Ben or Naomi's brother... even if I've never met them before.

I just finished watching A Clockwork Orange (1971). What a bizarre movie. It's one of those cult classics. What a strange film.

Well, I've finally proven it to myself. Costco's no-questions-asked return policy is true and works. I brought a pair of jeans that I had bought from Costco at least 6 months ago back this past Sunday. I didn't even have the receipt. After saying that I bought it a while ago, I was about to explain why I was returning it, but she didn't seem to need to know. She looked at the tag at the back of the jeans (for a product number or something), punched it into the computer, and gave me my cash back. That simple.

In today's posting, I would like to bless you all with gift of knowledge about a particular tabooed subject. The idea or theory came to me sometime in the first 2 years of university (I think), and has been proven consistent for me since then. Today, we talk about: The Art of Fart. You may find some information here disturbing, but you may be a happier person having read this. If you do not want read about farts or bowel movements, DO NOT CONTINUE.

1. The Short Version
TO STOP FARTS FROM STINKING, DO NUMBER 2.

2. The Explanation
A "fart" is defined as "an expulsion of intestinal gas" by m-w.com. This is the passing of gas from the intestine or colon, through the rectal sack, and out the anal canal. These "farticles" (term coined by RobC) are, in themselves, odourless. But funny enough, they are not the only things to pass out the anus. Doo doo does too. So, when there is poopy (that is the scientific term) near the rectal sack, the farticles will pick up the scent and carry it with them out of the bum bum. Hence, smelly farts. If there is no dung awaiting exit, flatulance is a safe exercise that will draw as little attention to you as the sound it makes when broken. Breaking wind quietly is another topic which is outside of the scope of this posting.

3. What This Means For You
If you know you need to go, do not fart in public. Sometimes it is wise to let a scout out, from which you can grade whether it is safe to release the rest. If it's not, get to a washroom and lose a few pounds before dispersing your farticles amongst people. Your friends and coworkers will appreciate it. What this also means is that if your farts stink, you have poopy up there... so visiting the porcelain potty isn't a bad idea anyway.

4. Put it to The Test
Through the years, this theory has done me a ton of good and has saved me from many potentially embarrassing moments. But don't take my word for it, try it for yourself. Do a before-and-after comparison, separated by a trip to the crapper. I guarantee (or your money back! Minus S&H.) that you will find that gas passed afterwards will be virtually odourless.

So, I hope we can all take steps towards cleaning up the air and making our country/Earth smell a little fresher. Feel free to pass this on to your friends. I'd also like to hear your comments. Did you already know this? Did it work for you? Will your change your life? Or do you think it's all preposterous and that I'm talking out of my ass (no pun intended)? You can even respond by saying "My friend says that it worked for him", even when you're actually referring to yourself. It's all good.

Canadian Idol sucks. Plain and simple. I have a feeling that Simon Fuller (creator of American Idol and its Canadian spin-off) didn't realize what he was doing when he decided to come to Canada to launch his show. The contestants are a group of misfits who lack vocal talent (the best are only good, not great) and definitely lack the visuals. Everyone looks like a dork. There haven't been any powerhouses, and so far I've been bored each time I've watched the show. Maybe it's missing a certain Cowell. My sister's friend called to vote for 2 people, and found that the phone lines were NEVER busy. So with the 500,000 votes they receive, they're going to determine who the Canadian Idol is. Fascinating. Heck, I don't even think I've heard them say something like "X million people voted, and..." I think they keep it quiet because the number of voters is embarrassing. Anyway, that's why I think Canadian Idol sucks.

They loved it! They really, really loved it!
Spectrum Idol drew a phenomenal response from the crowd. There were points where the video audio was drowned out by continued laughter from the previous scene, which was great. My perception of the film had been numbed after working on the project for so long, but I was ecstatic to see how the audience was taken by the film, and how they participated (cheering/applause) at all the right moments. A few jokes didn't quite fly, and we were surprised at how some jokes absolutely soared. But to be honest, the best part was after the lights came back on, and everyone crowded our table to shake our hands and congratulate us on a superb job. THAT was rewarding.

It's DONE! Spectrum Idol is complete, and will be shown in front of a crowd of 300 or so viewers on this coming Saturday at Spectrum Weekend in Kelowna. An enormous amount of effort was poured into this, including more than 100 hours of my own sweat and blood in the editting suite (my family room). I'm fairly happy with the result, in spite of some major bumps along the way, but I'm sure my audience wouldn't appreciate everything I went through anyhow. We probably spent a good 25 - 30 hours filming in a team of five (Triple Threat Studios and Wait/Maier Productions), and I took it home from there. In spite of the program running 48.5 mins long, I'm hoping no one will feel like it's dragging on (although our small test audience did say there was a bit of a lull in some of the sections, but overall it was really good).

I'll let you all know on Monday how it went. Cheers.

Funny thought of the day:
I was just recalling something I saw at Metropolis as I went to the washroom before watching The Hulk. As I passed a guy standing at a urinal on the way to the next urinal, he finished his business and pulled up his underwear and pants. Just think about it.

"Ummm.... I'll get Combo No. 6"
I had my braces tightened again yesterday, and now have the elastics in there between my top and bottom row of teeth. Every time I get the braces tightened, I eat congee for the next 2-3 days. Well, I found a new combo. It's called the "______ fried rice and congee mix". It's exactly as the name describes. Since I can't eat hard stuff, or foods that require chewing, I get a couple plain congees and whatever fried rice is on sale (yesterday's was beef fried rice), and I mix 'em and enjoy. Num num. You'll be surprised at how good it is. And it doesn't give me the runs! (neither does plain congee alone actually)

So the next time you get your braces tightened, you can try the same.

I got a company-wide email today. It was about one of our remote offices' employee's (actually, the head of our UK office) new born baby. There were 3 photos attached, including a picture of the father next to his wife naked in a bathtub holding the baby. In that photo, you see here breasts and the side of her body. This could be a perfect example of how different cultures react to nudity -- perhaps Europe sending pictures of your nude wife may not be so uncommon... but it was kind of weird to get that in my mailbox this morning.

Announced today: Vancouver has won the bid for the 2010 Olympics. WOOOOHOOOOO!!!

Voice your opinions here!

Some details on the Vancouver Olympic bid (courtesy of The Seattle Times):

Total budget: About $2 billion; $1.4 billion in Olympic capital/operating funds, $600 million in federal/provincial infrastructure improvements that would be made with or without Olympics. The Games are expected to produce a small profit, to be put in trust to run facilities. The provincial government is on the hook for any shortfalls. (All figures in Canadian dollars.)

Existing venues: B.C. Place Stadium (opening, closing and medals ceremonies), GM Place (hockey), renovated Pacific Coliseum (figure skating, short-track speedskating), Whistler Mountain (downhill, Super-Gsuper-giant slalom), Blackcomb Mountain (slaloms and all technical ski events), Cypress Bowl ski area (freestyle skiing/snowboarding).

Proposed venues: Expanded Vancouver Trade and Convention Center ($500 million expansion; would be used as Main Media Center; not part of Olympic budget); bobsled/luge complex, Blackcomb Mountain ($52.8. million); speedskating oval, Simon Fraser University ($57. million); secondary hockey arena, University of British Columbia ($28.8. million); curling rink, Hillcrest Park, near Nat Bailey Stadium ($24 million); cross country/biathlon/ski jump facility and athletes’ village, Callaghan Valley ($102 million); Vancouver Athletes’ Village, False Creek waterfront; housing built with mix of private/public funds.

Transportation: Vancouver is a congested metro area but has a healthy, integrated bus/ferry/sky train public-transportation network. An existing plan to extend the sky train south to the airport and Richmond likely would be accelerated by the Olympics. Highway 99, the Sea to Sky Highway from Vancouver to Whistler, would receive some $600 million in improvements. The often treacherous, 60-mile corridor would be widened to at least three lanes in most places. Spectators would be moved to Whistler by bus or via ferry to Squamish, then bus to Whistler.

The X-Files... in my own home? The other day, as I was working on the computer, my dad out to me "Hey, what's with the water in your room?!" So I walk over to my study room and I see a big puddle on the carpet by my bag, spanning 5 feet in diameter. Where did this water come from? I checked the water bottles in my bag, and they were fairly dry and well-tightened. The inside of my bag was only moist, probably from soaking in water on the floor. But what was odd is that I had water ON the cover of my bag, which was flipped open. So where could this water have come from? My mom and dad used our dishwasher for the first time in YEARS... perhaps a cracked pipe? But there was a little puddle on top of a small magazine holder that stood on metal legs about 2 cms off the ground. My jeans, which were drapped over a chair, but not touching the ground, were damp too... as was my jacket hanging off the back of the chair.

So here's my theory. A human-shaped entity made up of water, slipped through the crack in my garage and into my house. It got as far as my study, before it heard noises from upstairs -- most likely from my parents who were cleaning the house. In a desperate attempt to avoid being seen, it jumped into my study room. Unfortunately, it didn't realize the texture change in the flooring (from a vinyl floor to carpet) and splashed on impact, leaving a wet mess in the middle of my floor with no traces around a fairly uniform area.

That bastard.

"You're making me angry. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry!!!" I watched The Hulk, and I thought it was decent. It was a little long and a little slow (Cy fell asleep... twice, I think). The special effects and CGI were cool and fun to watch, although not really too believable. They left the ending open to a sequel too, but not in a lame the-bad-guys-not-dead kind of way. The transitions between scenes were a little too distracting though. They tried to make it kind of comic book-like, I guess, but the effect was a constant flipping between angles through split screens and irregular wipes. At the end of the day, $13.95 is far too much to spend on a movie... ANY MOVIE.

Man, I feel like a woman! I've never dressed in drag, not to the best of my recollection.... until this past weekend. Why? I can't say right now. All will be revealed in a few weeks. No, I'm not coming out of the closet. And no, I will probably never do this again. Anyway, wigs are hot and bothersome. Sock-stuffed bras don't stay up too well. Lipstick is messy and gets over clothes easily. Looking pretty is tough... even more so when you're not even a good looking guy. So hats off to all the ladies out there that can do this day in and day out.

What a crazy day. Today, we had our "Executive Carwash" at work, which is a fundraiser for United Way (charity for underprivileged kids). I volunteered to help out with ticket sales and whatever else. We also had a dunk tank that I was on the list for (along with 10 or so other people). So, in short, we're raising money for United Way Lower Mainland by selling car washes, burgers & food, and with the dunk tank. The dunk tank was a new idea this year, and it turned out to be a success. So here's my story. Today's weather was cloudy with little bits of rain. A tradition that started last year was that there'd be a water fight, some Wireless software guys would load the back of their trucks up with ice from outside an ice rink, and start dousing people with water. I was the 2nd last dunkee... but FORTUNATELY, when I stepped up to the plate, I got 4 big buckets of slush from the truck poured into the tank. Great.

I didn't think it would be a big deal, so I kept my glasses on. Well, they came off and into the water on the first drop. DAMN... THAT WATER'S COLD!! Anyway, I couldn't bare to stand in the so-recently-chilled water long enough to look for my glasses, so I took a soft mop and pushed everything in the water towards the front of the dunk tank such that I wouldn't step on it.

My gig was that I was yelling insults at the throwers, you know, things like "You trying to get me wet?! The only thing that you can get wet is your BED!"... just for fun and to get people lining up for me. It is charity after all... and it seemed to work. I went down a record 9 times into this freezing water, and believe me, it was unbarable (but I couldn't exactly just up and leave). I don't know if this means I was the most popular, or the most hated... or the most popular to hate. Either way, I guess I'll be proud of my accomplishments. Now I need to focus on not catching a nasty cold (which I feel coming on already).

I took a warm/hot shower for 15 mins, came out, and was still shaking. So I went back in for another 5 mins. A few hours later, I was exhausted. You wouldn't believe how stressing that kind of thing is on your body. In fact, I spoke to 3 other dunkees, and they were all REALLY tired.

Now, I came up with a brilliant idea. I did this for the kids... and so I think they owe me one. I suggested to a few coworkers that we all go down to United Way with some buckets of icy water, and find them lil' bastards... [SPLASH!] "Now what do YOU think of THAT?!"

Maybe another day I'll talk about how bad shrinkage can get after 9 dunks into icy water... and where the worst place to get frost bite is.

Does food taste better when it's free or when you've paid too much for it? Let's think about this for a second. On the one hand, free food tastes good because you paid nothing for it. On the other hand, when you paid $44.95 + tax for lamb chops at a hi-end French restaurant, don't you MAKE it taste good? So which one tastes better?

I guess I would have to argue that free food tastes better. At the end of the day, I'm full, and I've still got my $50+ in my wallet.

HEEEEEEEHHAAAAAAWWWWWW!! Would you like to be a donkey? Our Mexican travelling musical troop is looking for a hardworking person willing to be a donkey for us and carry our bags and equipment. Have you ever watched The Three Amigos and said to yourself "I wish I could be a donkey too!" Well, today's your day because here's your chance! We will generously pay you 125 pesetas a week, and provide you with drinking water (on hot days only) and soaked bread. For more information, please call Los Hijos de Putas at 1-800-HEE-HAWW.

Applicant must have strong legs with no history of back problems.

Be happy with who you are. Be happy with what you have. That's what they say, right? Do you believe in that 100%? Because I don't really buy that. People who are happy with who they are are most likely those that will never improve on themselves. People who are happy with what they have never see the need to want more, and hence will probably never attain more. Of course, it's not all black and white. The saying is subject to interpretation. While, I, for example, am completely content with who I wake up as each morning, I still constantly analyze and criticize myself and my actions. I think about who I am, who I want to be, where I am, and where I want to be. I think about how I react to people and situations, and how I think I should be reacting. I have a continuous subconscious mental typerwriter that keeps notes on what it sees me doing. I believe that most people have a similar mental mechanism or monologue, but they just don't do anything with it. From time to time, we need to sit down, and just read through the notes and ponder on each bullet point. I think it is absolutely critical, and are an important step towards self-improvement and, ultimately, happiness.

So how do you make the most of the precious time handed to you? Start by making a list, and answering a few questions. [Some of these ideas have been salvaged from a "Reach Your Potential" talk by Tracey Gurton I sat in a little while ago...]

- Who do you think you are -- what kind of a person do you perceive yourself as being?
- What kind of a person do you think others see you as? (i.e. they'd say "Kevin is a ______. He's so ______, ______, and _______")
- What kind of a person do you hope others would see you as?
- What is the one thing you would change about yourself? And how would/could you do it?
- What is your ideal lifestyle in 5, 10, 20 years? What is the state of your financials, health, family, etc?
- How realistic is that lifestyle?
- What is the next step you can take now to acheive that lifestyle in 5, 10, 20 years?

The idea here is to set goals for yourself. If you don't have goals, you won't achieve them. Plain and simple. In this case, take your ideal lifestyle as your goal... and run with it. Only when you are making strides towards your goals (or if you've achieved them already... though I can't imagine that any of you have) can you truly be happy with what you have and who you are. That is my belief.

Being Friday, and seeing how my mind is somewhat distracted from doing work, I thought I might spark a small discussion here that you can all participate in. Clubs. As part of my lacking childhood, I didn't go clubbing until well into university. And even as sparsely as I go now, I'm more of a clubber now than ever. So, here's the topic: what are the best clubs/lounges/restaurants in the Greater Vancouver area? They don't even really have to be the best, just places you recommend others visit at least once. Give us a name, some pros, some cons, some other random information about the place. I'll start.

Crush Lounge, Vancouver: Went to this place for the first time recently. Fairly good ambience, got really crowded. Lots of sitting area, comfy chairs. Drinks weren't too badly priced. I wasn't quite feelin' the music (kinda retro, 70's, 80's), but I guess it was ok for lounging.

Rain Premiere Lounge and Grill, Burnaby: Again, only been here once, and it was for a Canucks game. I wouldn't recommend it for a Canucks game... especially when they're going to lose. Only one big screen (which wasn't that big), and the site lines weren't good unless you sat in the center circle. But the place is nicely decorated, looking really modern... and you can't beat 10-cent wings (Wednesdays, w/ purchase of $5 of drinks).

11 o'clock AM on the dot. Don't it feel good to be Friday? As with most things I decide to take on, I'm trying to overload myself with volleyball. I've got the Thursday league, I've joined the remaining 3 sessions of a volleyball clinic on Fridays, and I'm starting to come out for all-day-Sunday volleyball too. It really gives me something to look forward to towards the end of my work week. Sure, we could argue that my M.Eng work is suffering, but I wasn't really working on that anyway. 6 hours to go before this day ends... and the fun begins. YEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWW!!!

Have you ever spent two minutes reading something, and wished you had never started when you got to the end?

That will never happen here. Here, you will always find something useful to take home with you. You will feel like your life is so much simpler, yet so much fuller. And you will want to visit this site (http://kkoa.blogspot.com) over and over again. And you will...