Highlights

Cytoplasmic Writings - November 2006 Archives

November was an odd month. It was really cold some weeks and really warm other weeks. Wreaked havoc on many people's immune systems. Interesting things happened around the world and it looks like 2006 will end with a bang!

Thursday, November 30th 2006

I've been in the email queue this week. No phone calls but definitely at least double the interactions I take daily. Most of the cases are straighfoward but there are some that are simply nightmarish. Some issues just can't be solved using emails. Well because I'm in the email queues, I pretty much work non-stop through the day. It's really relaxing to take your break when it's scheduled and such but at the same time, I'm sitting in front of my desk for a good 8 hours straight. When you're talking on the phone there's at least some user interaction and you can do other stuff while troubleshooting (like surf the web hee hee), but with emails, you're researching and writing up information. I think this has caused me to be pretty lethargic this week. I come home and hardly want to do anything.

Oh for those who noticed, I have an extra post below. I wrote an entry when I was at the library on Saturday and being a little lazy this week, I didn't post it when I got back from Toronto. I'm posting it now, better late than never right? Did anyone notice that there was a spammer on the Haloscan comments? I thought it was weird and since I didn't know who it was and they were advertising, I removed it.

I've taken the plunge into the LCD market and I've ordered two 19 inch LCD monitors. I'm getting a really good deal on them and I can't wait to get them. It will definitely be less eye strain for me, especially since I stare at a computer monitor 10-12 hours a day. I've got a CRT at work so it's a lot of wavering lines all day long. I can't help to think about the hydro I'll save from running LCDs. I know that if I keep my door closed and work on my computer for 2-3 hours, there's a considerable temperature difference in my room compared to the outside hallway. I just don't know what I'll do with all that extra desk space. It's gonna be weird...

Tomorrow is December 1st and another year is almost over. Last month I actually thought this year was 2007 and not 2006. Jenn had some chuckles over that. It's amazing how time really flies when you're not doing anything. I'm glad I've started to put up auctions on Ebay to liquidate some of my old hobby material. I'm gonna put some of the high-end stuff up this weekend. Well not some, just the Hayden Christensen autograph. Let's hope it sells for over 500.

DRAGONCRYPT 11/30/2006 11:19:15 PM

Saturday, November 25th 2006

In Toronto right now on Jenn's laptop writing this entry down. There's no Wi-Fi access but there are some available networks. I connected to a network that said Public Wi-FI access but it did say it was a computer to computer connection. When connected, there was a computer that said "Jin's Sexy Computer". Didn't sound like a viable network so I'll live without the network connection. Decided to write up an entry and have Jenn send it to me later for posting.

We're currently sitting in the Richmond Hill Public Library at Major Mackenzie and Yonge. It's a fairly large building. The last time I went to the library was probably 3-4 years ago. I was thinking about borrowing some books and was returning some for my sister. Glad to know that all libraries do look the same. The library is fairly crowded with students studying. Luckily, the library provides electrical outlets for the laptops. Otherwise it would have been BlackBerry games for me.

For the last few weeks I've been on a mission to acquire some new coffee mugs. I'm looking for a particular style of coffee mug and I've been having a difficult time. My roommate has a mug from Starbucks and it's just the right size and weight for my coffee. Since I'd rather be using my own mugs (in case of breakage), I was off to find a similar style. Nobody has this style. The only place which I saw something similar was Walmart, bu it was ridicuously priced at 4 dollars per mug. That's way above my price range. I've seen tons of Irish Coffee Mugs, but the're all too small for my liking. I can't believe how difficult it is to find such a mug. So it's Steve's quest for the Holy Grail...can I find that glass coffee mug before it's too late? Find out more next week! Same Steve time, same Steve channel.

DRAGONCRYPT 11/30/2006 9:50:34 PM

Wednesday, November 22nd 2006

In Atlanta, a 92-year-old woman was shot and killed by police during a drug raid. The woman shot and wounded 3 of the police officers before they returned fire and killed the woman. People are outraged this latest "police brutality" and Rev. Markel Hutchins, a civil rights activist, thinks the police owe the woman's family an apology. What?!!! She SHOT at police officers. The officers had a legal warrant and when they approached the house, she SHOT at them. Last time I checked, shooting police officers will get you shot. I'm willing to bet that this family will try suing the Atlanta Police. I don't care how old you are, you don't shoot at people who are armed...they tend to shoot back at you. I just can't believe a 92-year-old woman actually hit the three officers. Wow.

Tomorrow is the American Thanksgiving. This means less work for us in the service centre. Everyone is really looking forward to it as I hear lots of people talking about Thursday and Friday. A lot of people were also complaining about having to work during the week between Christmas and New Year's. Volunteers like myself took shifts but the remaining shifts were randomly assigned to people. Some people got some shifts and were pissed they had to work. Well lemme see here. We're technically given this week off even though most companies would have you working. You're working shift work knowing full well that this situation would occur and there were plenty of warnings advising of such situations. Sigh. Hearing people complain about their holidays being ruined is getting annoying...

So Prime Minister Harper has proposed that Quebec be a nation under Canada. What? I can't believe that this is still an issue. If all this effort went into something like poverty or the environment (Kyoto anyone?), imagine how Canada would be. All four major parties are wasting our time. As an immigrant I don't understand why an entire province feels the need to be defined as a nation, when the country itself is multicultural. Sure, we don't speak French, but y'know what? My mom doesn't speak English and her kids are all white-washed. You don't see the Chinese (who, btw, helped build this nation) declaring Markham or Richmond as a nation do you? LOL. Imagine that. What a waste of time and taxpayer money.

DRAGONCRYPT 11/22/2006 11:19:10 PM

Tuesday, November 21st, 2006

Mike Richards aka Kramer from Seinfeld did something really funny during a live comedy show. He got really pissed at some hecklers in the audience and started saying Nigger this and nigger that. Somebody filmed it on a phone camera and then posted it on YouTube. Wow. He was really pissed off and said some pretty nasty things. Richards later went on the Dave Letterman Show to apologize (Jerry Seinfeld was a guest). Richards apology was pretty funny too as his body language was almost Kramer-like. So why do I think this was funny? Because of the reaction that it received. People were outraged! Media outlets everywhere are running the story and groups everywhere are accusing Richards of being racist....let's cut a Chris Rock clip now....right. I remember watching an episode of Boston Public where a white teacher was trying to teach a book called Nigger. The parents were in an uproar. The African-American teachers were pissed and the white teacher couldn't understand it. The black principle finally said that he has the right to call other black people nigger but not the white teacher. Huh? It's one of those double-standard things, like how Chinese people can call other Chinese people chinks? I never understood how some words have become so taboo in our society. By making them taboo, we empower these words and when used inappropriately, they are even more powerful. It doesn't help that all these black music artists and comedians say nigger (or nigga) while the rest of the world isn't allowed to? Huh? Isn't that racist as well? Anyways, go check out the video, if just for how awkward the whole show was after Mike Richard's comments.

So has everyone done their Christmas shopping yet? This year I'm attempting to get gifts for most of my family. I'm definitely not buying the nieces and nephew any toys. I was thinking more along the lines of educational books or something they can have fun with and learn at the same time. Maybe an educational board game? The games and books out there right now are either too simple or too complicated. I don't even know what the nephew and nieces enjoy for books. I remember when I was a kid and I got a present that I didn't like. It was pretty bad, but you learn to adapt to the new 'toy' I guess.

Speaking of presents, what was the best present you've ever received? I remember the Nintendo Gamecube being near the top. Although the LEGO Blacktron ship when I was younger is near the top too as it was a complete surprise. Surprises definitely nudges you up a few places.

DRAGONCRYPT 11/21/2006 11:07:11 PM

Sunday, November 19th 2006

It's been a busy but very relaxing weekend. I've finished off some reviews and put them up. 3 movie reviews and 8 comic book reviews. Most of the comic book reviews are the new Wildstorm relaunched titles. Overall the creative teams that Jim Lee got are awesome. I'm liking what I've read so far and I'm definitely looking forward to more releases. I'm particularly pumped about Gail Simone's Tranquility series. It's about a city where super-heroes to go retire. Nice.

This weekend saw the release of the Playstation 3 and the Nintendo Wii. Both sold out within minutes. LOL. I don't understand the need for gamers to pay 3 times the asking price on Ebay for these game systems. Bragging rights? Idiots is more like it. It's funny cuz they interview a guy and he just wanted to sell it on Ebay to make a load of cash. That's a smart guy. Speaking of Ebay, the number one toy right now? Elmo. WTF?! He's still around?

I went to the mall and did various shopping over the weekend. It's definitely a lot busier than it was a few weeks ago. I'm hoping to get all my christmas shopping done online so I don't have to fight the crowds. Oooo, I went to Pier One Imports looking for some glass mugs for coffee. It's scary in there. Everything is so expensive and so...wasteful I guess. This lady was talking about her mantlepiece and how she wanted it...though I think it was just for one party...crazy.

The Leafs have now lost two games in a row. I couldn't believe how slow New Jersey made the game. I hate New Jersey and the way they play. It's sooo boring!!! They better not win the Stanley Cup because all these rule changes would be useless. Stupid trap. Well, let's hope the Leafs go back to their winning ways tomorrow. Go Leafs Go!

I officially dislike Prime Minister Steven Harper as Canada's Prime Minister. Why? I saw clips of the Asian summit and all the leaders were waiting for the Vietnamese dignitaries to meet and greet. All the other leaders were smiling and looking sincere. Mr. Harper? As stiff as a 14-year-old boy's erection after watching some good porn. No smile and looking very uncomfortable. Canada needs a good Prime Minister with some charisma and personality. Harper just isn't that. Even Paul Martin was better. By the way, I love how the Conservatives blamed the Liberals for pulling out of the Kyoto accord? WHAT?! Wasn't that a Conservative campaign promise? Bleh.

DRAGONCRYPT 11/19/2006 11:35:52 PM

Thursday, November 16th 2006

Go watch Stranger Than Fiction starring Will Farrell and Emma Thompson. Saw this on the weekend and it was delightfully refreshing. It has an all-star supporting cast with Dustin Hoffman, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Queen Latifah. The movie is about Harold Crick, an IRS agent who suddenly hears a narrator in his head (Emma Thompson). It's billed as a comedy but there are some really serious parts in it. I'm definitely glad I went to watch it. Last few movies I've been to have been great. Let's keep it up with Bond and Dead or Alive (LOL).

I've been working the late shift this week and then a co-worker switched Thursday and Friday for an early shift. The sudden shift in sleep schedule has me really really tired. I fell asleep a few times while typing this stuff out. Woohoo! Jenn says going to go work out will wake me up. Yeah it prolly will and then when I come home I'll be wired and I won't be able to sleep. LOL. At least it's Friday tomorrow and only one more day of work! I'm gonna have a ton of things to do on the weekend here in Waterloo. Hopefully I'll have the rest of the reviews done and posted.

DRAGONCRYPT 11/16/2006 9:56:31 PM

Wednesday, November 8th 2006

Britney Spears is getting divorced! Wow! Never saw that coming! And she got big boobs, guess it's from her two pregnancies. Whatever. Looks like it may actually be a publicity stunt to garner media attention. She is apparantly trying to come back. In other worldly news, the Democrats have taken control of the House of Representatives for the first time in 12 years. The counts and recounts are still being done for one Senate seat so we don't know if the Democrats control the Senate yet. What does this mean? Well, for Americans, it may mean lots and lots of commitees and inquiries into the conduct of President Bush and his government. So we could see some slowing down of Bush's policies. One good thing so far is that Donald Rumsfeld resigned after the elections and is being replaced. Glad to see him go. If only the rest of the posse could leave as well.

Since I've been sick for a little while now, I've been taking Nyquil so I could get a good night's rest. That stuff is awesome! I thought I didn't need Nyquil on Sunday and I stopped taking it. Man was I wrong! I woke up multiple times and actually got worse the next day. I hope I don't get too addicted to this stuff as it really lets me sleep. I wonder what Dayquil is like? Anyways, I'm going to try to work out a little later tonight. Jenn says working out a little will help speed up the metabolism.

DRAGONCRYPT 11/8/2006 10:47:08 PM

Sunday, November 5th 2006

I've terribly sick for the last 3-4 days. It sucks cuz I was telling my roommate how I hardly ever get sick and then I started feeling a sore throat an hour later. I was going to go to bed early that night but our neighbours decided to throw a Halloween party on Tuesday night. Yup Tuesday night. Of course, them being students they had no regard for working people and they continued to party late into the night. I actually called the police twice, with the second time shutting them down. If they had their party on a weekend like any SANE person would have, I wouldn't have minded, but it's a fucking weekday! Goddamn stupid kids.

So I tried working the next day and managed to stay only a few hours before heading back home to rest. Man, I was out for two days. On Friday I went to work, but I suddenly got a case of a runny nose. Try answering phone calls with a runny nose, it's fun....So finally I've been resting the rest of the weekend. Not the greatest weekend since I'm still sick, but I'm slowly getting better.

Oooo, finally bought a new coffee maker. I decided to go for the moderately expensive one since it's going to last for 3-4 years at least. Why not spend a little more for a coffee maker with more features? This new one is by Oster and has a self-clean option which is handy since we have crappy hard water here. The rest of the weekend consisted of scanning comic books (all done!) and creating the box breakdowns for Lord of the Rings Masterpieces. Oh yeah, I also finally put some items up for sale on Ebay. World of Warcraft TCG is hot right now and since I managed to get a few booster boxes I've decided to put them up for auction. I don't have anyone to play with anyways.

One thing I've realized is that there are a lot of people out there who sell products they don't know much about. It's kinda sad that these huge dealers are selling things with a huge mark-up. Especially the World of Warcraft. The cards were an immediate sellout and there's a crazy aftermarket price for them. I've heard stories of stores selling the packs for 5 or 6 bucks. That's ridiculous. The product just came out and you want to get as many people into the store to play it. Short term profit will only damage your long-term profitability. I know I wouldn't go back to a store that was gouging me on prices. I understand Yu-Gi-Oh is like that, but that's because the actual costs are high. These retailers definitely got these boxes at very cheap price. I hope Upper Deck knows what it's doing by producing such a low print run on it's initial orders. We'll see if WoW TCG is the next big thing or not.

DRAGONCRYPT 11/5/2006 9:47:26 PM