Many years ago I went to Chianti’s for Valentine’s day. It is a nice Italian restaurant that some might consider romantic. I was single at the time and was only looking for a meal. Afterwards I described the experience as “I went to Chiant’s and glared at all the happy couples.” The thing is that it keeps happening. Not every year, but quite often I am there irrespective of it being Valentine’s day. I went again today because I go on Tuesdays before my improv class. Crowded.
At least I got groped by a Mary on this day. Unfortunately it wasn’t a girlfriend. Mary Nowski was a doctor doing nerve induction testing on me. Worse, it wasn’t really a women, but Dr. Marynowski. An aged gentleman.
My only other concern for today is that I took my car in for a yearly checkup. They found a leak in a rear strut. It isn’t serious but it would take approximately $700 to repair. It’s under warranty for 60,000km/3 years. I’m way under for the kilometers but way past for the years, so it isn’t covered. I’ll save it for after my mortgage is paid off.
The weird thing is that after the repair, my key doesn’t always work in my lock. The car starts fine with the key, but in the door it just doesn’t turn. I believe that it is because they washed the car and it is finally cold here. So some water got into the lock and is jamming it up. If the car is in one of the heated garages that are at work or home, it seems fine. But after sitting outside for a few hours while I was at improv, it jammed up again. Luckily I could open the passenger door. I’m hoping a night in heat will evaporate enough of the water to stop this from happening.
My sister gave me a lock deicer that I’m going to start carrying around.

It’s been awhile since I last posted. So I should spend time catching up.
Fah! That’s boring.
Today was rough though. I was operating on three and a half hours sleep when I thought it would be a good idea to run 20km. It felt good to run, because it was so nice out. The high today was +12. But by the time the afternoon rolled around I had collapsed in bed and totally ignored the beautiful weather.
The reason for the lack of sleep was the previous evening. A co-worker’s wife was in Taiwan for a few months so he decided to host a dinner party. It was just him, me and another co-worker. The dinner was fantastic with delicious butter chicken, Tandoori chicken and a bunch of things I can’t remember and can barely pronounce. The host uses Bittorrent and had downloaded a bunch of TV shows. One we watched was Posted in Uncategorized

I have a friend, Peter, who has been more encouraging than my other friends. He wants to actually go out and do things. He makes my other friends look like sedentary sloths. It’s great.
Today, he decided that I need to get new clothes to help me look better at bars. So off to West Edmonton Mall where I go through a large amount of money to get new clothes and shoes. I’m sure I look nice in them, but I had planned on the Ralphbucks going to pay off my mortgage, and a large purchase doesn’t help.
But I do need to get new clothes.

Yesterday I think I wasted the day. I spent most of the afternoon on the computer. I would like to say it was on computer games. But, instead it was spent going through old computers and trying to transfer files in obsolete formats into non-obsolete ones. I finally knocked off the hard drive of the Macintosh Plus (20 years old), and the Macintosh Performa 6200 (ten years old). I wrote rather prolifically in my younger days, so there are quite a number of files. Unfortunately, I did most of my writing in a program called “Write Now”. That file format is no longer supported, so I have to work on the old programs to save the files in RTF format which the later Macs actually like.
Some of the transfers have been harder than others. A few files were written in Nisus in a newspaper style which has been impossible to maintain. Sacrifices have been made with format to preserve content. I’ve also had problems with multiple files existing. I sometimes find the same file existing on two different computers, and I have to figure out which one is the more recent.
It has been nice seeing some of the old memories. I even have works by friends that were buried in the electronic sediments. And now that I have two computers cleared, I can look at getting rid of them and reclaiming space. And not worry about moving them.
Then I started on the old floppy disks. (The Performa 6200 is the latest computer I have that can still accept a floppy.) Most of them had already been transferred to hard drives long ago, but I ran across the floppy that I kept a journal on. From April 4th, 1991, I kept a journal for a few months. All of it written in “Write Now”. Each day in its own file. It isn’t really critical to preserve them, but that feels like a cop-out attitude. I wrote it originally for posterity (I’m assuming) and it would be wrong to just toss it.
Mind you, it isn’t high literature. I would be tempted to store them in LiveJournal, except it doesn’t shed me in the most glowing of light. I would be about 17, in grade twelve at the time. A time when the average boy is hormones and stupid. The final line of the first entry pretty much summarizes it: “So far all I can say is that this diary is going to be very private.” So it is probably best if I keep them for myself.

I haven’t updated for awhile, and for that I apologize. I thought it was because nothing very interesting has happened, but that isn’t totally true. I have a few drips and drabs of… stuff.
On Saturday I saw Underworld Evolution. It was good, nearly as much so as the prequel. It kept up with plot development and we learned secrets of the world that helped explain previous actions. My only problem is that in the last few minutes it fell into the common Hollywood trap: “Hey this fight scene is going great. Let’s spice it up by breaking a few laws of physics and probability and kick it up a notch by adding another hazard for the people to fight around.” All that really does is strain credibility.
Sunday had a 14km run. I had stayed up too late the previous night so I was wasted by the time the afternoon rolled around. I still went to the improv jam in the evening, but I was the only one. (Aside from the two moderators.)
On Monday my Ralphbucks arrived. A $400 bribe from King Ralph to forget that the conservatives have been in power for far too long and have no idea what to do with all the money they won from the geology lottery. I would have preferred that the money went to better the province, maybe by building infrastructure. However, I still am not giving it to charity. It’s going to pay off my mortgage.
Tuesday was another Improv class. The class is too crowded so I’m not enjoying it. I’m not getting a chance to actually do improv, and I feel my skills are starting to slide. Afterwards I went to Improvaoke. A former teacher was doing a combination of improv and karaoke at a nearby bar. The end result of that was me staying up too late. I didn’t sleep that well either.
Wednesday was a disaster. I got into work in a haze, and I was not very productive. In the evening there was running. I did hill training again. I have noticed that I am no longer looking forward to the Wednesday evening run. I don’t know if it is because when you are running hills there isn’t a chance to socialize, or that it is just hard to do. My legs don’t ache as much, so I suppose that is good.

I made a change in my running habits today. Instead of the normal run, I started hill training. As the name suggests, it involves running up and down a hill. With the Kananaskis 100 Mile Relay Race on my schedule, I really have to get in training.
It was a good day for it. There was great traction. Probably because there is no snow in this town anymore. It was a high of 9 degrees today. Traction is very important when you are fighting your way up a hill.
A word of advice: Don’t have a Blizzard as a late afternoon snack when you are doing hill training in the evening.

Once again I’ve started another Improv class. This time there are a record 13 students. So it is crowded and you don’t get that much individual attention.
My biggest problem is that I am the one with the most experience here. Everyone else seems to have just come out of the level 1 course, or they haven’t been doing many other classes. So I am in real danger of becoming cocky. That killed me in a previous class. I have to remember that I don’t know everything and that I can still learn.

I’ve been working on learning how to program in Cocoa. I’ve got a book on it and I’ve been slowly going through it. It’s hard to devote time to it though. I seem to have collected too many hobbies. I reached the point where I know enough to be dangerous. I’ve started writing a program. It could go better, but I have no instructor to ask questions. That’s the problem with book learning.
The program I’ve been trying to create is different than the one I’ve been working on for the past twelve years. I decided to try and make a Sudoku solver. Something with an actual user interface as opposed to the one I have that needs me to babysit every step in the debugger.
Progress died a quiet death last week. I found that someone has written a Sudoku solver that does everything that I wanted mine to do. And more. It’s hard to feel motivated when someone has already finished the race.
So instead of continuing that line of attack, I installed Diablo II on my computer and started playing that.
Why, yes, that game is five years old.
I first played it when it came out, when a co-worker brought in a copy and let everyone use it. I played it after work on a Windows machine and enjoyed it. Eventually the guilt got to me and I purchased my own copy of the battle chest version that had the expansion. That was about the last time I ever played the game.
On Saturday I finally cracked it open and installed it on my Mac. I played a few levels and tried to remember how everything worked. Good times.
Then I did an experiment. I took the saved games from years ago from a different platform and copied them into the appropriate folder. To my pleasant surprise, they worked. I could use my old character and finish the expansion without going through the whole rigamarole from scratch. Of course I have forgotten how to use my high-level character effectively. So maybe I should start from scratch…
I can’t completely blame that other Sudoku program for this. On Friday I started as a player in a new D&D campaign that was based off of Diablo II. It’s fun. Basically a black and white morality game where you go around and kill things. Simplicity. D&D at its core. It brought back memories, so I decided to try the original.

So tomorrow I have to vote. I don’t support the liberals. My conservative MLA has done squat for this riding and I would really like to punish him, or at least let him know that the conservatives can’t just assume every riding in Alberta will support them.
For the last few elections I have supported the Green party. How can you not like them, and they appreciate every vote.
But, in my riding there is an NDP running, Linda Duncan. The newspaper did an article on her last month and I like a lot of what she is saying. The thing is that I don’t like the NDP. They couldn’t balance a budget with an army of accountants. (Plus the cost of that army would almost certainly unbalance that budget.)
I’ve been going with the assumption that my vote doesn’t count. Then Jack Layton announces that this is the riding in Alberta where he thinks he will finally get his second NDP MLA elected. And he’s speaking historically with that last statement, not currently. The NDP really aren’t loved in Alberta.
So if I vote strategically, I should go for Ms. Duncan. That makes sense, doesn’t it? I have a plan, I am content.
Then Mr. Layton goes and ruins it. He declares that people shouldn’t vote strategically. You should vote for the party that is going to do the best for Canada, instead of the party that isn’t the worst. Otherwise Canada will never get the best.
Please realize I am paraphrasing from memory here, so it isn’t an exact quote.
Now what? Was he speaking on a riding basis or a Canada basis? I don’t know! The former would mean I should vote NDP, the latter Green.
Any advice now would be greatly appreciated.

I’ve noticed something about my job.
The product I am programming is quite old and has a lot of stale code. Much of it was written poorly. I’m sure it was good at the time, but its age is showing. It makes maintaining it harder, and new features are difficult to implement because you are fighting that legacy.
Every so often, we programmers would propose rewriting parts of it. This would make it more efficient and easier to add new features. Sounds good, doesn’t it? The problem is that the managers will always ask “Will the customer notice?” No, they won’t. So we would spend many months working on something to make the user experience exactly the same. So the proposal would die.
Lately though, things have changed. I now work for a large company that loves its bureaucracy. This has led to a new development. We have finished the work for a new release that won’t go out for several months. So we have time to do stuff. Now we can change the code, but only if it won’t change the customer’s experience. In other words, “Will the customer notice?” is working to our advantage. The documentation has been written, so as long as the UI is the same, we can get away with a lot.
We still need to convince a manager though.

So I went to a cooking class tonight instead of running. In my defense, it was an event organized by other runners. The chef was John Lizotte and he was teaching French cooking. The class was set up that we all watch him make the dishes, and then eat a four-course meal of his creation.
I can’t say if I actually learned anything. He was good to watch, and he knew what he was doing. But I’ll be honest, I really can’t see myself making Creme Brulee. I’m not a big dessert person, and the amount of trouble that goes into making that dish is more extensive than I usually put into making a main dish. The rack of lamb was tasty, but also looked like a lot of work. I probably will try it one day, but not soon.
The Coq Au Vin left me with a quandary. It looked easy enough that I could feel safe attempting it. There were two problems though:
1) My mother’s Coq Au Vin tasted better than what he made. His was still good, but the comparison makes me nervous. If he, with a full kitchen and a lovely assistant, couldn’t match her, what hope do I have.
2) The recipe requires at least 1/2 cup of red wine. I don’t drink, so it is expensive to buy a bottle of red wine and then throw most of it away. I certainly won’t cook fast enough to use it all.
Mr. Lizotte provided recipes, but looking at them, he didn’t follow them. At no time was the can of cream of mushroom soup used in what he demonstrated. I took copious notes, but I can’t guarantee I got everything down that I would need.

There is an online game that I’ve been playing, UltraCorps. It’s for a beta test and has been a hoot to play. Basically it is a massive multiplayer game of “Reach for the Stars”. Simple rules, but still lots of strategy.
It is the first time I’ve played so my strategy has been a bit lax. My biggest problem was that I made too many allies. Almost everyone around me agreed to non-aggression treaties early on. There was one who agreed but then never got around to playing the game so he has a very small empire that I could crush easily. But I want to be honest and stick to my agreements.
But, remember, I said almost everyone. There was one person, across a vast gulf of empty space who only said “Maybe later”. Well it’s later, and I still haven’t heard anything. So I plopped a large force on the nearest planet and took it over. He seems a bit perturbed. But to ease things over, I sent him a polite explanation:

> Do not know why you took <CENSORED>, I have the capabilites of sending a fleet there that to re-take it. You will not be able to make the giganto, if that is your intention
—-
Our ranking diplomatic representative has been at the <CENSORED> post for TWO YEARS! And your military government hasn’t once invited him to their year end banquet! Of course you must realize this means WAR!

It also has to do with that in turn two I sent you a proposal for a non-aggression treaty. You politely declined by saying “beliebe[sic] it is to early to talk about any non-agression treaties, but I am prone to them, only later “. Since that time I haven’t had any communication with you. Meanwhile every other star empire around me has been more than willing to sign treaties. This leaves me with only one direction to head.
—-
> I had no plans to attack your empire, If you leave gannise unprotected, for me to take next turn, and sign a non-agresion pact I can offer you 2 Megabots V2 as as gift fleet as aprecciation.
—-
While your offer is interesting, I have to refer to “The Ten Commandments of UltraCorps” section 8: “The correct answer to a threat or ultimatum is ALWAYS ‘Come get some!'”
So, I must respectfully decline.

Bring it on.

Bonus points if you recognize the declaration of war.
I’m feeling good about this. I realize I am not winning the big overall game. The person in the lead has three times as many planets as I do. Still, I’m having fun.

I’ve noticed something lately. The thought of Stephen Harper as Prime Minister doesn’t feel me with dread anymore. I don’t know why, and it worries me.
Is it because he is rising in the polls and I want to be like everybody else?
Is it the recent leak that he is a big fan of the original Star Trek?
I don’t know. I remember not liking the guy, but now he feels tolerable.
Do I want to try him for awhile as a conservative-lite. (Half the fear-mongering with no Liberal aftertaste.) A minority government nicely restricts his power and he has to listen to the people.

I’m still not voting for him.

When I was growing up my father never played the guitar. I knew that in the past he had played a lot. Lately, I’ve gotten it into my head to learn to play. My father kindly lent me one of his old guitars. I brought it with me to Edmonton after my last visit to their home.
Unfortunately I couldn’t get it opened. The lock on it didn’t have a key to go with it.
I took it to work with me today because there is a locksmith nearby. While there, a co-worker showed me that no key is actually required. You just need to push the lock to the side and it opens.
Then things got interesting.
The guitar in question is a Martin. Research by co-workers shows that it was made in 1958. The finish on it is Brazillian rosewood. That is from an endangered species and hasn’t been used since the 1960s. They were all amazed at it, and somewhat jealous.
I took it to a guitar store after work. They were practically drooling over it. It was in nearly mint condition. A few minor repairs were needed, and I’ve left it with them. I’m not keeping it as an investment, I got it to play with.
The sad thing is that I found out my father hasn’t played regularly with it since 1961. He used to love to play, but six months after his honeymoon he got so busy that he hasn’t had time since. So I missed a huge part of my father’s life.

I’m feeling better today. Yesterday was not so good though. I woke up feeling fine, but as soon as I got to work I started getting worse and worse. I guess poor air quality. By the time I got home I had a horrid headache.
I’m glad I went to sleep early. Especially with the hindsight I have now. If I hadn’t done that, the phone call I got at five in the morning would have really disrupted my rest. And I can’t say it was an important phone call.

“Hello”
“Hi. The grass is green and the moon is purple.”
“Who is this?”
“It’s Billy.” (I don’t know a Billy.) “Did you know the devil has scissors?”
“As long as he isn’t running with them.”
“He’s using them right now to cut bud.”
“Goodbye.”

I’ve been sick, so I haven’t been updating. Nothing interesting happens when you are sick, so I have nothing to say.
However, I’m watching the Canadian political debate. I’ve noticed a few things.
1. Jack Layton always seems to talking like he is in a commercial. He’s not really debating, but using it as free ad time.
2. Three of the leaders have admitted, proudly admitted, that they are from Quebec. I haven’t heard anything about Western Canada in this debate.
3. Best question for Gilles Duceppe. “If Canada can be broken apart, can Quebec be broken apart?” The speedy answer “No!” makes him look hypocritical.
4. Stephen Harper remains scary. He seems convinced that he is helping the poor by raising income taxes on them, and lowering the GST for everyone. I personally think the GST is a good tax. If you don’t want to pay it, don’t buy anything. I suppose it is a sin tax against consumerism.
5. Gilles can’t say “Democratic”. It comes out as some weird assemblage of consonants.

My person opinion is that I like how the Liberals run the economy. They seem to be very fiscally responsible. The complaints about underestimating the revenue is silly. We should always underestimate revenue because it is so much better that overestimating the money you have available. The problem with the Liberals is that they have gotten arrogant.
Stephen Harper is not Prime Minister material. I think when the Reform merged with the Progressive Conservatives, and they were electing a leader, the previous leaders shouldn’t have been allowed to run. I think Belinda Stronach would have been more palatable than Harper. I don’t know if she would be good as a PM, but at least she isn’t just a reincarnation of the Reform party.
I have never voted for the NDP, and I don’t want to now. They are not fiscally responsible, and they seem to hate business.
I wish Gilles Duceppe would just leave. The threat of separating is hurting Canada. If you are going to go, just go, so we can get on with our lives. Do it soon though. Alberta is about to put a huge load of money into the federal government’s coffers. I would rather if Quebec didn’t get that if it was leaving. Metaphorically: I want the man (Quebec) to leave the wife (Canda) the week before she wins the lottery.
I do have peace of mind in the knowledge that my vote doesn’t count. My riding has always voted conservative, and probably always will. So I already know the incumbent will win. I get to vote for whoever makes me feel the best. That party will get the $1.75 my vote is worth.
It would be nice if any person running in my riding would actually try and get my opinion.

I have decided that I am allergic to small children.
On Monday I attended a small party at a friend’s place. One person had brought their family, which included a baby and a small girl. The next day, I had a scratchy throat. Coincidence? I also wasn’t at my best, but I blamed that on coming off of a vacation. Today, I am really out of it. Not enough that I couldn’t go to work, but I really wasn’t there.
But, I still went running today. I actually just got back. It’s been about three weeks since I last pounded the pavement. I kept up a good pace, and I think the fresh air did me good.
It’s probably just as well that the girl previously mentioned never phoned back to arrange the coffee date. I am not in the mood to play phone tag with someone who doesn’t seem interested in me. Or it might be that it took too much sucking up courage to phone once, that I don’t have the energy to do it again. Take your pick.
Life continues.

Yesterday was the second anniversary of this journal. Not really a cause for celebration, but I should note it anyway.
New Year’s Eve: I went to a bar. Saw people I know. But it was just like any other bar evening. I still don’t drink, so no getting sloshed.
A few minutes before I left, I did meet a girl. She gave me her number, and seemed totally convinced that I wouldn’t phone her back, because “the cute ones never do.”
I did phone her a few minutes ago. We had a nice conversation, and we are probably going to meet for coffee tomorrow.
I’m worried about myself though. It took about half an hour of sucking up the courage to actually pick up the phone and call. I think I have gotten so set in my ways that I am now afraid of changing. A girl in my life would definitely cause that.
So maybe I am in need of a resolution to try and change that.
I hate resolutions….

I resolve to revolve. I should be able to fit that into my schedule at least once a day, with celestial mechanics continuing at their present rate.

I learned how lucky I am to live in this country today. I started the day south of Calgary, departing from my parent’s place. The car was stuffed with gifts and luggage, including two laptop computers, a vacuum cleaner, and a valuable guitar.
While passing through Calgary I stopped off at a few places before heading to Edmonton. I was a little nervous with all the precious cargo, so I made sure as much as possible was hidden in the trunk. I even used the Club on the car.
It was only after the third stop, when I was picking up something to munch on from McDonalds that I noticed the entire time the passenger’s door was unlocked. And yet all my stuff was still there.
So I felt warm about the general good character of the natives of Alberta. That lasted for almost a whole minute. Then I lost it, when I noticed that none of the men in the washroom washed their hands when they left.
To further downgrade the quality of life, I noticed that Whyte avenue seems to have gotten infected with squeegee kids.

I really should be more proactive with this journal. Yesterday a few things happened, and yet I didn’t write anything. Today is proving quite dull, and I have to reference the stuff that happened previously.
Of course with that build up, what I describe will only be a letdown.
The family decided to take a trip into Calgary. I wanted to look at a gaming store that is better than anything in Edmonton. There was a certain book I wanted. I had thought about hitting the store on the way down on Saturday, but I was warned that Calgary was a madhouse and I would be better off avoiding it. On Monday, a similar thought prevented going after it then. So when I get to the store, I find that the book sold out the day before.
That put a bit of a damper on the trip.
My family also went to look for a new receiver. The one that they have is approximately 20 – 25 years old. It is time for a new one. Buying audio-video electronics is a lot like buying a used car. The salesmen are always trying to make a sale, will use lots of words you don’t know and try and dazzle you with glitz and glamor. I am so glad that when I went to buy my surround sound I had advice on what to get, so that it was a surgical strike shopping. Get in, get out, nobody gets hurt.
The family didn’t buy anything. I’m going to check with my friend to find out what he recommends and then tell that to my parents.

I learned something today.
On Saturday I came down from Edmonton to my parent’s new home a bit outside of Calgary. (South of Red Deer, the radio stations that aren’t playing country music are only playing Christmas music. You can’t win in that situation.) Before leaving, I stopped off at the farmer’s market. I was there to pick up a turkey for Christmas, but I also needed a gift for Harry (a dog). I found it. There was a place there selling huge honking bones for dogs. These are bones straight from the cow, large, and bits of gristle still hanging off it. Perfect.
Now Harry quite likes this bone. He also likes burying it and saving it for later. I guess being underground helps tenderize it. I don’t know, I’m not a dog. In either case, it leaves his breath rather rancid. And he is quite willing to share the smell with you. He is not willing to share the bone.
So I found the perfect solution: Listerine Pocket Paks. Those small little sheets of green that melt in your mouth instantly. I held one up to him. His first instinct is to sniff, then lick to figure out what it is. Because of how they are formulated, they melt immediately in saliva. So that first slurp carries it right into his mouth where he can’t get rid of it. Most importantly, he can’t spit it out. Any other breath mint would be on the floor at first taste. With this, all he could get out was some drool.
So now when he pants in my face, it’s minty fresh.

So my plan was that next year I would go to Jamaica once again, but only because the yearly event was happening during my birthday. I might as well make a party of it.
I just got an email telling me otherwise. It has moved back to its regular schedule of the first week in November. The email continued to list all the special deals you can get if you are either a woman or attending in a group of two or more. I don’t apply for any of those. Last year I got a $100 discount for being an alumni and I might be able to get that again.
Now do I go? I felt a little burned the last time when my camera was stolen. I justified deciding to go again because it was during my birthday.

I probably will go.

I went down into the bowels of the building, also known as the parking garage, to open up my storage unit. It’s in an awkward place and stuffed to the gills with mostly empty boxes. There is a deck chair in their that doesn’t collapse, So, like I said, awkward.
I was looking for a small object that would form part of a Christmas present. I had purchased it awhile ago, but after the move I had no use for it. But now I know someone who does need it. I suppose this could be considered regifting, but no one gave it to me, so I’m in the clear.
Anyway, after rummaging in the locker for some time, I found that the object in question wasn’t there. Armed with this knowledge, it took me five seconds to find where I had put it in my laundry room.
I think I have an order of operations problem.

Today was the office Christmas party. Well, not the true one. That one is happening at a restaurant in January. Today we had a catered lunch. I found it somewhat unsatisfying. There wasn’t a lot of food, and it didn’t taste that spectacular.
My biggest beef was when I was told that there was Coke in the fridge. I opened it up, and couldn’t find any. There was a box of something called “Coke Zero”, or “Zero Coke” which pretty much summed up my attitude about there being cola in the fridge. Why yes, I am petty.
After the lunch, things picked up and we went to see King Kong. I’m sure everyone knows the plot, unless they’ve “been on Mars for the last decade, in a cave, with my eyes shut and my fingers in my ears.” Which when you think about sums up the last four Peter Jackson movies. They are ones that have well known plots. Can he make an original movie anymore?
I went in with a good attitude. In my heart, I expected that I would eventually own the DVD. This is after all Peter Lord-of-the-Rings Jackson. Things were going well until the scene with the maggots. I literally could not watch. And now that I think about it, there was nothing compelling about it for me. The action scenes were great, but the emotional scenes drag on. Of course this is the same man that never seemed to get tired of the “Frodo with the furrowed brows” image.
Still, I would say that people should go see it. It is the Christmas holiday event movie. I believe I like it better than the Narnia movie.

On Monday, one of the top 40 radio stations in Edmonton changed. I usually listen to the top 40 stations, but with an attention deficit disorder. If I don’t even vaguely like the song, change the station to the next one. So I keep the rap and hip-hop down to a minimum. If the two top 40 stations aren’t playing tolerable music, (which happens often in the morning when they think I want to hear inane chatter) then its off to CBC AM for news. In an ironic twist, I’ll switch back to the music stations if CBC AM tries to play music.
Anyway, the station changed the format to country music. (Insert spitting sound here. See Corner Gas Re: Wullerton.) So that station is now dead to me.
This has left me with nothing to listen to on the radio. The other top 40 station has taken advantage of this vacuum to peddle their all rap and hip-hop ideal. And my refuge of CBC AM is currently spinning a lot of Christmas music.

The stupid camera is now $100 cheaper. I could have gotten one with 7.1 megapixel resolution for what I paid for a 5 megapixel one.

Bloody hell.

I went to the bank today and put a payment down on my mortgage. It wasn’t as much as I would like. It never is. But I did pass an important milestone. With the mortgage I have, I am allowed to pay 20% of the initial amount in advance payments. So if I had taken a plan for $100,000 (I haven’t), I would be able to pay $20,000 extra in a given year.
I am now at the point where I have less than 20% of the mortgage left. So in theory, next calendar year I would be able to pay it off completely at any time.
Assuming I had the money.
I’ve given myself a goal to pay it off by May 20th. That would be the three year anniversary of my home ownership. Now I probably don’t earn enough by my salary to pay that much. But I do have a large chunk of US dollars sitting around, being unproductive. I’ve been waiting for the Americans to stop tanking their economy so that I can use them to pay off my debt. But those silly Yanks keep electing dumb presidents. I may just have to bite the bullet and convert the currency at a less than optimal rate.
That still won’t be enough. The other option is to be very careful about any purchases I do. Live frugally. The thing is, I can probably do that and not even notice. I don’t buy many toys for myself these days. The only frivolous items I get are DVDs and books. And I already have a lot of those that I haven’t done anything with. So saving money shouldn’t be a hardship.
Let’s see what happens.

Tonight there was the annual run through Candy Cane lane. I wonder what being on that street does for your property values. It’s probably a lot of responsibility to have to light up your yard. Of course not everyone lights up, but some people do go overboard.
It was a better run this year than last. The biggest perk was that the moon was full. The first and last part of the run is about 3km through a ravine with no street lights. It was amazing how bright it was. I kept thinking someone was shining a flashlight at me, but no, full moon.

Well that was an interesting movie.
It started out well, and I can see where it would be good for improvisers to see. But, then the last half hour seemed to undo all that.
For the first while, Peter Seller’s character refuses to drink, so you can see him trying to maintain his composure under trying circumstances. And it is funny. Then he gets some alcohol in him. He stops trying to maintain himself and he starts fitting in. Which isn’t funny.
Then of course the whole movie got ’60s on us. Let’s have a groovy party! Let’s have an elephant in it too. Let’s fill the house with foam.
My advice: Skip the last half hour. You can figure out how it ends.