Thursday, February 16, 2006

Sunday, February 12, 2006

See ya in awhile

I woke up this morning feeling pretty lousy. My allergies have been pretty bad these last couple weeks. I think I have caught a cold. Sometimes it is hard to tell the difference between an allergic reaction and a cold.

This will be my last post for a little while. Tomorrow the movers come at 9am. My car is getting fixed and should be done tomorrow. They will call me tomorrow morning to let me know for sure. Once I have my car back, I will pack it up and go to Calgary.

Saturday, February 11, 2006

Boxes Galore

11 February 2006 23:03 MST | Posted by janny

This week has flown by so fast. After I was finished my appointments in Regina, I got a ride back to Saskatoon with a friend. Thankfully she was able to spend some of her time here helping me pack.

Since Thursday afternoon all I have mostly done has packed. There has been little to no procrastination. Quick someone take my temperature: I must be running a fever because I'm feeling efficient.

One mildly amusing story about packing:
Today Ky was helping me finish packing some odds and ends. I have a TV stand/book shelf from the 70s that you can take apart and put back together again. We couldn't figure out how to get the legs off since my dad took it apart and put it together again in my last move. I was on the phone with my dad as Ky worked on it. The instructions were to twist the legs then pull them out but he didn't entirely remember how to do it. We had to pull pretty hard but some of them eventually came. One of them was really stuck so I helped Ky pull the leg out. We pulled so hard a chunk of particle board came with it. This is the point where we realized we had been doing it wrong the whole time. After closer examination there is a screw to turn by each leg that releases it from the shelf. Ky and I managed to completely destroy it. I was not upset at all. I actually find the whole thing to be rather funny.

Friday, February 10, 2006

deus ex machina: Dictionary.com Word of the Day

Word of the Day for Thursday February 9, 2006

deus ex machina \DAY-uhs-eks-MAH-kuh-nuh; -nah; -MAK-uh-nuh\,
noun:
1. In ancient Greek and Roman drama, a god introduced by means of a crane to unravel and resolve the plot.
2. Any active agent who appears unexpectedly to solve an apparently insoluble difficulty.

Thursday, February 9, 2006

Top TV Romances

The A.V. Club (a spin off website of The Onion) has an article on 10 TV Romances For The Ages.

Poll: Do you agree with their picks? Any blatant omissions?

Judge for Yourself

Conan O'Brien Visiting Finnish Doppelganger Tarja Halonen

Wednesday, February 8, 2006

"Nobody disses Opie"

From Time.com, 10 Awards They Missed: The Oscar categories we wish the Academy would recognize

"The word technology means magic"

Strong Bad Email: Introduction to Technology (for Middle School Students)

I love technology but not as much as you, you see

MIRANDA
O, wonder!
How many goodly creatures are there here!
How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world,
That has such people in't!

PROSPERO
'Tis new to thee.
(Shakespeare, The Tempest, V.i.203-27)

I thought of this quote a couple days ago when I was playing a game online with a friend from Charlotte, NC and a friend from Cranbrook, BC. I never dreamed this was possible when I first used the Internet about 10 years ago. I was reminded of it this morning when was I reading my sister's post about blogging. As I marvel at all these feats of technology, they will seem commonplace (or possibly antiquated) to younger generations.

Tuesday, February 7, 2006

The End is Near... with club sauce

The last four episodes of Arrested Development are all being shown this Friday night.

"long haired freaky people need not apply"

My allergy testing is done, however I still cannot take an antihistamine. This is the first time I have ever just had one day of testing. I didn't know I have to call them tomorrow with my reactions after 24 hours. Since I have only ever done 2 days of testing before, they always did it for me on the second day.

I have some good news regarding my move: I will not have to get a new allergist. Because my current allergist offers treatments that are not available in Alberta, I can keep the same doctor. The problem is that my doctor offers the newest testing and treatments and it is rare to find a doctor in western Canada that will. One of the nurses told me this morning that the government gives $62 to the doctor for everyone that they test. In the US, the doctor makes $1100 US for such treatments. So any doctor that is trained for these kind of treatments go the US. I can just arrange for appointments for times I know I will be Regina.

There was a guy who looked like Gary Oldman at the mall this morning.

I wanted to take a picture of a sign and post it on my blog. I saw it yesterday and I am very disappointed that the sign is gone now. The sign said "Hippies: Use the Back".

Monday, February 6, 2006

There are some seriously evil people out there


When Dogs Are Mules


I saw this story on the news a couple days ago. There were Colombians smuggling heroin in the stomachs of PUPPIES! I heard they were caught because in a particular shipment two puppies mysteriously died during transport into the US. The authorities wanted to check to make sure that they weren't carrying diseases. It turns out that the heroin packets burst and caused infections in the dogs.

Overkill

I am in Regina right now to run some errands before moving to Alberta. I had to take the bus because my car is in the shop for the next 5 days.

I dropped my car off at the auto body place this morning. I had called ahead of time so they could give me a ride to the bus station. The boss was going to drive me but then something came up and he asked one of the guys who work in the shop to drive me. He still drove the boss' vehicle which is a brand new Lexus SUV. It was a little strange being dropped off at the bus station in a Lexus.

I'm supposed to be spending time with my bro right now. Unfortunately he has spent the last hour helping my mom put up cabinets in the basement.

Early tomorrow morning I start my allergy testing. Boo.

Of course, now I'm tired

Last night I got stuck in my parking lot. We had some snow on Saturday and we had a lot of snow drifting into the parking lot since we live at the edge of the city. I was coming home from a Superbowl party around 11:30 so there was no one around to help. I tried to get myself out for about 20 minutes then I had to wake up one of my roommate. I feel so bad that I had to wake her up but I didn't know what else to do.

I had a horrible time trying to get to sleep last night. I think it was well past 4am when I finally did. I occasionally suffer form insomnia but it was a lot more frequent when I was younger. The last time it was really bad was before I moved to Saskatoon. So I am hoping I will be able to sleep as soon as I am in Calgary or before then, not when I finally find an apartment.

I move in 7 days.

Sunday, February 5, 2006

My apologies (AKA Cultures Behaving Badly Part 2)

My sister pointed out that the article I posted yesterday there is a time line. It shows that a Norwegian newspaper was the first to reprint the article. It does not surprise me. The problem with the attempt of an egalitarian society, like in the Scandinavian culture, racism often occurs. They embrace equality but reject what is different.

I know I normally don't talked about things like this but this situation really bugs me:
Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving.
Ephesians 5:4 (New International Version)

What we say and do is a reflection of what is inside of us (or our attitude). Jesus uses this analogy that if the fruit is diseased then the tree must be diseased. We need to change our attitudes before our words and actions will change.

The Vine and the Branches
I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes[a] so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
John 15:1-8 (NIV)

Saturday, February 4, 2006

This Makes No Sense

Embassies burn in cartoon protest
The Norwegian and Danish Embassies were burned by protesters in Damascus. Ok normally I do not discuss politics but this is ridiculous. I understand why the Danish cartoons are offense. I do not agree with violent protests but I understand why there are people are protesting. I have no idea what the situation has to do with the Norwegians. They weren't even one of the countries that reprinted the cartoon. They have nothing to do with the situation. So they are being punished for being from Scandinavia? That is like someone being upset with the US and mixing Canada into the bunch as well.

Home for a Rest

I have zero energy and so much to do. I have been off my allergy shots for more than 3 weeks. One of the biggest side effects of my allergies is fatigue. This is not a help when I move in 9 days. Three of those days will be spent out of town. Why am I slowly getting the feeling that I am in big trouble?

Friday, February 3, 2006

The More You Know....

One of my daily routines includes checking the headlines on Google News and BBC News. I found some strange stories today.
Rat brain 'can smell in stereo'
One gene makes earwax wet or dry Ok, I need to stop procrastinating from housework.

Farewell

I had my last night of work at the bookstore tonight. Appropriately I finished in the record time of a hour and a half. That is a full 15 minutes faster than ever before. Even though I did not particularly like straightening books, I will miss working there.

Things I will miss about working at the bookstore:
* I always enjoyed visiting with the ladies from the kids' section. Most of them are substitute teachers too.

* My conversations with Girma (his cleaning company has a contract at the store). Girma, like me and my future boyfriend George Stroumboulopoulos, is a Habs fan. He was the only person I could talk to about hockey. I certainly won't have anyone in Calgary. The Calgary Flames beat my Habs in the Stanley Cup finals; they're dead to me.

* I was starting to make new friends for the first time since I moved here. I met a lot of people in the last month. It is sad that I was only starting to get to know them.

* The books -- Some times it is very distracting.

*My sweet, sweet employee discount of 30%. I am almost considering applying for a job at the store in Calgary because of it. Almost.

*Last but not least, cute boys to flirt with. There are quite a few there.

Only 10 days until I leave for Calgary...

Thursday, February 2, 2006

Wild and Crazy Kind of Guy

Saturday Night Live claims that they have a new show this week with host Steve Martin and musical guest Prince. I'm pretty sure they made a mistake and it is actually a repeat from 1987.