A chain is only as strong as its weakest link.
Therefore a chain of one link is the strongest there is.
Discuss.

Today was a tiring day.
Half of my division had a meeting downtown, so instead of the drive to the west end, I had to find a way to the center of the city. To take my car would have cost a lot in parking, so I took the bus. From Whyte Avenue to Jasper was fairly easy. And since it was a beautiful day, I walked the rest of the way, eight blocks.
After the meeting I thought it was still nice enough out, so I ignored the bus and took 40 minutes to walk home. Which has left me rather tired.
If my division ever moves to the downtown office though, walking/running will be a very viable way to get to and from work.
The meeting was an orientation on our new corporate overlords and how to use all the resources at our disposal. It was interesting. We are now personally responsible for our career paths, but we are also given tools to help with that.
They were also very behind the idea of goals. Lately I feel like I’ve been flapping in the wind. I have needed to find my own projects to keep me busy, because management is too occupied to tell me what they want me to do. The one thing I’ve been working on had been completely self-directed (no idea if anyone wants it), and I’m not feeling especially motivated. I’m going to try writing down some goals for it and see if that helps.

My passport expires in April. Bad time for it to happen because all the passport places are a solid mass of people due to the new US air travel restrictions.
But I have time so I’m taking the long, slow approach. I’ll see what I can do online. But I am aware that I will need passport photos. Since I have a dentist appointment next week, now is the time to get them taken so that I can have my chosen guarantor sign them.
I realize that you can not win with a passport photo. You will look like a terrorist, no matter what. Especially with the condition that your “Facial expression must be neutral (not frowning nor smiling) with the mouth closed.”
So, I decided to look as evil as possible. You can still do it with the conditions given. And must say, I have lovely eyes of liquid rage.
I wouldn’t let me into the country.

I had an improv class today.
It was fun, but I’m a little scared after participating. I haven’t been to a class in awhile and I feel my skills are starting to go away. I didn’t do that well. I think I’m forgetting the basic lessons.
It will probably help to go see some improv tonight. See how the experts do it.
At the very least, it will feel better than last Saturday. At least with this I know that there will be people happy to see me there.

Yesterday I hosted the Friday Feast party. What this involved was a bunch of people I barely know invading my place and giving me food. I have no problem with this.
Really, it was a pot-luck supper. I made a cake. And not from scratch, baby. Pure prepackaged garbage from Duncan Hines. I think it went well, and it was eaten.
Other people brought food that was also devoured. I think the pork dumplings were the best. Thankfully, as host, I get to keep stray leftovers. So I have cake and dumplings at my disposal. It doesn’t always work out though, I also have a new box of ice cream. I haven’t even finished the last ice cream I got in August. (I think maybe it’s time and I should let it go.)
I went into host mode, which means that I don’t get to relax. I must make sure everyone is having a good time. What can I say, I like to keep busy. Keeps me from having to provide the sparkling entertainment. And I’m most happy when the people around me are happy.
It was pointed out that Canadians have an interesting habit; We tend to congregate in kitchens. At parties other cultures will go off to designated socializing areas, such as living rooms, whereas we talk and drink around the person doing the cooking. I suppose it is more polite so that the host doesn’t get left alone.
I like throwing parties.

I had my acting class today. The second semester just started. It’s focusing on comedy instead of drama.
In class, they asked everyone to think of a funny moment in their life and tell it to the rest of the students. For the life of me, I could not think of a funny moment. Well, there was one, but that is a story that I refuse to tell in public. Unfortunately I couldn’t get that story out of my mind while trying to think of another moment.
I need to go through my LiveJournal and figure out some good anecdotes.

I purchased an iPod way back in October.
I waited until new ones came out and then immediately got one. I had the goal to not feel stupid for three months. I would feel stupid if a newer and better model came out within that period.
Today was MacWorld. If they are going to release a new iPod, this would be the time.
Thankfully, they didn’t. In fact, it looks like the next iPod-like thing won’t actually show up until June. I may get away with not feeling stupid for nine months!
How cool is that?

I don’t like bars, but I feel I need to go to improve my social skills. Plus, in my job I don’t see many people of the opposite sex. It’s nice to me reminded what they look like. I’ve been trying to experiment with drinking, but it still tastes vile. I consider it medicine. Tastes bad, but will hopefully improve my socializing.
There is a bar I go to semi-regularily. I can’t say I particularly care for the music. But I do have a friend that is there most times I go. So I can usually get a table to sit at.
I’m pretty sure his girlfriend doesn’t like me. I’ve tried to talk to her in the past, and she never seems to want to hold a conversation. I have no idea what I have done to offend her.
When I went today, I did something stupid. In a moment of politeness, I asked my friend if I could join them. I’ve never done that before, I took an invitation in the past to mean that I could always sit with them.
After consultation with the GF, the answer was “Not tonight.”
I can’t say that really improved my outlook for the evening. Still, I had paid to go, I was going to stay and have a good time. No sitting at a table watching people go by. I would go out and mingle.

Of course, none of that plan actually happened.

I’m proud of my mother. As previously mentioned, for Christmas I gave her my three year old iBook. She now doesn’t need to borrow my father’s Windows box to do computery stuff.
And she is doing well. She still doesn’t grasp some basic concepts, and I do get the occasional question. But she is using it every day.
Before I left I introduced her to iChat, and now she can speak to me over the internet to ask questions. I think this is the best present I’ve given her.
Speaking of Macs, I got into a discussion with over the Christmas break. He decreed that the “I’m a Mac and I’m a PC” ads were offensive to Windows users. They were negative ads, and those never work, except in politics.
Canticle is better at debating than I am, so I have learned not to argue with him, but do my best to hold my opinion until I have time to mull over his points. Frequently he is right.
I did an experiment. I showed my father, a Windows user for at least twenty years, some of the ads.
Verdict: Funny and not offensive.

Okay, I need to vent a bit, and this is a convenient forum.
First, a confession. I played far too much Civilization IV in the past two days. During this brief time, I have formed an opinion that I would like to share.
Diplomacy still doesn’t work in Civilization.
As near as I can tell it has never worked properly.
I’ve heard people say that it is better and that there is nothing you can’t trade. But the problem is that there are some things that aren’t tradable. The human still isn’t on equal footing with the computer opponents.
Let me give you an example. In the current game I am bordered by the Incans. We’ve had our disagreements, including a small war long ago, but nothing major. (Well not major for me. They lost a town so it might mean more to them.) The Incans don’t like me, and I am fine with that. I understand. So they have closed off their borders so that I can’t just move through them. Fair enough.
The Aztecs live on a different continent far away. They have declared war on me, because they thought I was puny. (An apt observation because I never have a large standing army, preferring to get scientifically way ahead of everyone and then build troops when war happens.) Initially they went around the Incans and smote a couple of towns. Now, they apparently have an open border agreement with the Incans. So instead they pile their troops on the Incan border, where I can’t attack them without causing the Incans to declare war on me. Then they unleash a wave on my towns.
I would like to tell the Incans that I am upset by this. Theoretically I could, in the diplomacy options, ask them to cancel their open border agreement with my enemies, or I will declare war. But they don’t even allow that option; they have disabled it as unthinkable. So I can’t even give them a good reason why I am declaring war on them.
That is what annoys me the most. They can disable a negotiable point, but I can’t. So the French feel free to come bug me whenever they feel like it and ask me to stop trading with the Germans. The Germans have been great neighbors who have been at peace with me for thousands of years. They even share our religion of Confucianism. Breaking a trading agreement with them is unthinkable.
But the French are able to ask for it, and then get huffy when I don’t bow down to their demands. The French live across an ocean, and the Germans are on my front door. Who would you rather have on good terms. The French opinion of me goes down and I’m sure they are talking behind my back to the Japanese. And now there is no way I could possibly convince them to attack our mutual enemy, the Aztecs.
Is this how George Bush feels?
Freedom fries anyone?