For those who don't know the above is, "E R T W."
Engineers Rule The World.
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employed engineer-in-training.  

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25 December 2006

Yes, once again... a long time between updates. I guess that must mean that things are pretty good. Yes, there are! Overall, life, things and such have not felt so level / stable in what I surmise to be 4 or 5 years.  This is good news. I won't lie and say that I still don't have bouts of being grumpy. However, those are more a result of explicit work frustrations rather than the inwardly directed frustrations from years past.

When I think back and reflect on the way I was for the years following Christina's passing, I can't believe how my friends stuck with me. It wasn't always evident to me at the time, but the more I think about it, the more I know it was there. You people really did worry about me... take care of me... and I'll say it again, I would have never made it without all of you. THANK YOU. I want some way to thank you. I am not sure how to. Suggestions?

And I'll say that the significant other has been a wonderful partner.  She has weathered through a job change, rowing shenangians, and my general other all moodiness. It's amazing. I still get hugs when I see her... and it's nice everytime. What really cemented things for me was something that I think occurred sometime in the Spring I think. I can't remember what precipitated it but I basically spent an evening balling with her.  Just a lot of sniffling about Christina, and how I felt... etc... you've all heard it. She lay beside me the whole time and listened to me sniffle and snort my way through recounting some old stories. I think she does understand... understands that there are things I won't forget... and that a part of the way I am now is because of what experiences I've had.  She's amazing all in that right.

My rowers 2006.

Her and I.

01 October 2006

Yowser! Long time between updates. Things must be just dandy. I guess they are. :)

Haven't done a picture update in awhile. Here goes:

Just in case anybody doesn't remember or know. Here's a picture of - my buddy. He lived in my bathroom for over a year. I couldn't bear to clean him out... I don't really miss him though.

For those of you who have never seen Christina's final resting place... visited this year August 25th.

Went to see the Spruce Goose and saw this thing parked out back. This my friends is a Beech and/or Raytheon Starship 2000. It's sex with wings. Swept back wings, canard, pusher turboprops. Couldn't get any sexier than that.

A somewhat arts photo of me looking over Crater Lake. What you don't see is the wicked wind, and pile of snow on the right...

Concrete arch bridge... don't see these in Canada. Oregon is FULL of lovely bridges. Multiple long-spans... over rivers, creeks, valleys... they sure do know how to build them down south.

10 August 2006

I feel sad, but not paralyzingly so. I remember, but only the good parts. I miss her.

<sigh> Younger Days....

Ashley is very understanding. She gets it. I had a breakdown sometime about two weeks ago. She just let me cry on her shoulder, and babble non-sensical stories about days gone by. She looked in my eyes, told me that I was strong and kept on holding... Many-many points for her, and a sign of just how fortunate I've been now (twice).

Well, off to a regatta.

8 June 2006

Damnit, life is good. I know I've written it before but right now life is damn good.  It's busy like the shits, but it's good. I wake up feeling good every day. There is hardly any work stress anymore, rowing is going well, and things are humming along nicely on the relationship front. It's good shit. I've hit the workout wagon again, and the results are almost instantaneous. I was walking out of the gym on Tuesday night after like 2 hours of aerobic work, and I must have been as high as a kite! The weather was amazing, and things felt like they were all in place for the first time in awhile. On Monday night, I had an amazing little date. We didn't do much except talk and share pizza and wings... but it felt good, comfortable, exciting...

I'm happy.

29 May 2006

Check out the West Ender this week. It has an article about some girl who OWNS a house in 1st Shaunessy. She's an SFU student and owns 3000+ sq. ft in one of the richest neighbourhoods in Vancouver. WTF? Checkout that picture... looks a little bit too well decorated - No?  There can't be anything in in that neighbourhood for less than $1 million. Just how the hell does a student afford that without some substantial loaning from the bank of mom and pop? ARGH!

Real estate prices drive me BONKERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I hate this goddamned media. If the guy pimping wood-wards puts another stupid ad in the paper, I am going to have a baby! GRAH! I want to know who the HELL is buying $350,000, 500 sq. ft. apartments! It sure as hell isn't people I know... I just don't get how anybody can afford this shit. Yes, we should save and good shit like that but at some point things just get a little too crazy. Or I can move to Mission. My parents bought their first house for $50k, and sold it for $250k. That was 30 years ago. That same house is now worth about $990k. That's a 20-fold increase in 30 years. Have salaries gone up 20x? NO FUCKING! WAY. SO WHO THE FUCK OWNS THESE HOUSES!? And moreover, how do people OUR age purchase these things? We can't, so we move to Surrey. Yes, I'm just bitching and moaning mainly. 

22 May 2006

Would people STOP GODAMNED building their houses in fucking FLOODPLAINS! They're called FLOODPLAINS for a reason... Maybe it's because THEY FLOOD! If you are stupid enough to accept the risk of building in a floodplain, then, actually, I am sorry... you got snookered. You look up the maximum predicted water level, and make goddamned sure that your basement is above it. At least you won't lose too much property. You CANNOT blame the government for YOU buying a house in a floodplain. They Gummint may have many powers, but controlling water is not one of them (within reason). Almost every natural watercourse on this planet has a regular channel and a FLOODPLAIN. Those floodplains (geomorphology) developed in order to handle the excess volume from excessive rains, or snowmelts. When you put a house in there... well.. you're just asking for it.

20 May 2006

I cried for the first time in many months today. Not sure why... I think I realized that everything is good.  The job is decent enough and is ever so slowly improving. I'm moving out of the basement hole. Rowing has reached a steady-state. The relationship front moves forward unabated. It's all good! It is almost kind of sad that I'm letting go of Christina, but funny thing is I don't really feel guilty anymore. She really would want me to be happy. I don't doubt that anymore. I hope she smiles down at me sometimes.

07 May 2006

Yep, pretty much... things are sitting pretty - pretty these days. In general, I'm still trying to carve out a niche at work, and change the system from within. I still faintly believe that things can be changed, but that it will be a LONG slog uphill -- kinda like herding cats. Can be done, but sure as hell is not easy!

As to ranting... well, I think that the biggest public infrastructure project in BC is going to get the doors blown off its budget real soon. The prime contractor, is just able to deliver "just on time" designs. I don't think they have properly accounted for all of the numerous and lengthy relocations of sewer, gas, and electrical. I am not talking about some dinky catchbasin lead.... I am talking some MAJOR pipes!!! Their prelim design called out sewers "to be replaced", and in some spots they missed conflicts completely. Unfortunately, they didn't go into details, and as engineers know, the devil is in the details. Somehow, it didn't occur to them that building a 10 meters high and 5 meters wide was going to present a problem for underground utilties. Through some magic of physics shit is going to flow uphill through pipes that are shown to go THROUGH the tunnel.... yagh, ummm no.  A simple callout on a drawing that says "cut off sewer to the west"... results in a re-direction totaling about 600 meters which is about $600,000. Bang gone adios. And that's being generous. The net efffect is adding 15% to the total load. This is not really anything to sneeze at.  They thought that they could build a siphon under the tunnel. A SIPHON!? You gotta be kidding... This add to the fact that their station designer doesn't seem to know much about civil design (he appears to be a structures guy).... They originally wanted to put a pretty big sewer THROUGH the a pedestrian tunnel by hanging it from the ceiling... yikes!

And in other news, I haven't thought about Christina much at all lately... except last week when I thought I had really broken the HP49G... but I kinda fixed it so felt a lot better... It was actually the first time in a long time when I felt the same sort of lingering sadness, that I've been dealing with since '02.  It is coming up to 4 years now, and I think I can say that I'm definitely more "recovered" than any time before. There is some part of me that feels guilty still, but I think it gets smaller everyday. But, life is good right now. I have no reason to complain about anything significant. Rowing is uber-busy, stressful, but as much as I complain, I love it... But for some reason, I miss Keeta a LOT right now... They had the rescue dogs at work last week, and they were so cute... old golden retrievers - white faces... SO cute, and reminded me much of Keeta. I've also seen a lot of golden retrievers on the street lately too... don't know why. But I think about him a lot.  It's probably the thing that makes me the saddest right now. Is that strange?  Do dogs get reincarnated? I hope so... I hope people do too.

11 April 2006

I hate it when people are right. I don't have the built-up ranting energy to blog when I'm in dating mode... maybe this is a good thing? Or am I depriving my good readers of an entertaining read?

Not sure what to write really... I've been wretched sick since last Sunday. I was supposed to do the "meet the friends" thing last Sunday... and I still went albeit sporting a fever, and the chills... I'm such a trooper! It went ok, I think...  Anyways, I've been pretty sick... but thanks to my new job, I have so much goddamn sick time I don't know what to do with myself. In all my time at the previous employer, I used a grand total of 1.5 sick days. And the 1 day was because I was skipping out on August 25th for Christina stuff, and the other time, I took 3 extra-strength tylenol, broke the fever and went to work in the afternoon! Whatever I have now though is kicking my arse. Had the very pain sore throat and fever combination, and sometime Thursday lastweek it turned into the cough. Now it's straight cough and sorethroat. The coughing during the day is pretty ok... but it just gets SO bad at night. As soon as I get to bed, it just gets something wretched going... although, I am getting quite an ab workout from  all the coughing... nothing much is coming out... and when it does it's green and VERY VERY gooey. Yeah, Im sure you wanted to know that... The fever part, and the feeling gross is mostly over though... the mother was very helpful and brought me a costco sized container of Vit C tablets which I have been chewing on like candy. Can I harm myself with too much vitamin C? MD's chime in...

Ok, so everyone wants to know about the Vball player. Dah? Things are good. Really good.  No crazy tendencies observed at all... :) I know not what else to write about it.

21 March 2006

Indeed, a bad, bad man.

Updates in brief. The jobby is still the same. Professionally, I think a step backwards was taken. All other fronts are quite good though. So maybe I sacrificed the professional life, for a more better personal? I'd say that is the case. Overall, I'd say the happiness quotient is up. However, this feels to be zero-sum.

This post was inspired by knowledge of a terribly sad thing. I learned about someone who is dating someone whose wife died less than 2 months ago. Through a bit of internet sleuthing, I found that both he and his passed away wife have blogs. The wife's is still up, although the last entry is from him. Anyways, I read some archive entries and started crying. This couple seemed to be a few steps ahead of where I thought I'd be (highschool grad '96). It was wonderful to read their entries to see how their relationship worked. Heck, they even appear to have an uber-cute golden retriever.  Whatever, the case, I found it very sad to see that such a wonderful woman left us, and ended what seems to me to be a beautiful young marriage. It gives me much sadness to consider this thought - that one could be married for such a relatively short amount of time - only to lose the love of your life. Moreover, it brings back feelings and memories that I have not had for a number of months... not just the date ranting of previous, but actually the chills and goosebumps from the hard realization of what happened coming up on 4 years ago. I am going to turn on my judgementalism right now, but it is absolutely NOT RIGHT to be getting involved with someone with wounds less than 2 months old.  At 2 months, I was a babbling moron still... Yes, that was me... but I was vulnerable, and in absolutely no state to be fair to any person that might have dated me, nor could I have been fair to myself. The goodness of that guy is being taking advantage of by the person dating him. I really do feel strongly about this. Sure, I don't REALLY know anyone involved, but... well... it's just plain bad. Her stock is now really worthless in my eyes. That and she basically wished death on someone who was a bad date and wound up in the hospital. That truly is bad form and I hope that Karma bites her in the ass.

02 March 2006

Yeah, I'm a bad, bad man.

Things are pretty level these days. I'm riding the top of the crest right now, and I'm enjoying it lots. Big announcement for you all... I finished my first plane in THREE years on Tuesday.  THREE YEARS!!!! Really, that's a milestone. I know it doesn't really seem like one, but I really enjoyed getting the bits together. You know, it's that whole enjoying things you used to like to do. The new situation (dating) seemed to spur me on to be a little more proactive with my life, and activities I enjoy.  This is all good things.

Picture taken Spring of 1999.  I still own the fleece (the famous blue one), and those shorts. Dude, I have been coaching for a LONG time.

23 February 2006

Ok, I do post less frequently when I'm dating someone. So sue. me. :) Before you ask, NO, I do not know if we're an "item" yet. I have not initiated that discussion, and have received SUPPORT in my decision to wait until she initiates. Thank you!

Now, I had the MOST MOST unsatisfactory day of work yesterday. I got "forgotten". The entire department goes to a meeting at the  Yard, and they all left without me. We take 2 cars... and they came back and didn't say a word. I was most displeased. Sons of bitches! My "mentor" and I use that in the loosest way possible has no clue what I can do and/or have the ability to do. There is SO much that can be done, but the leadership is so lacking. I know there's good potential here, but as the FNG, I don't feel empowered to do anything about it. There is an onerous sense of the "old boys" club...  There is a struggle of doing the "right" thing versus doing the cheap thing. First of all there MUST be an understanding that doing the right thing costs money. 70 years ago it was OK to dump raw sewage into the ocean. Nobody complains one shit about the costs of treating sewage now because it's well-accepted that treatment is the right thing to do. Well, folks, stormwater is important too. If you think that urban stormwater is "clean" well think that shit again. Anybody who thinks we're doing the environmental right thing by discharging untreated stormwater to the ocean, burrard inlet, English Bay, the Fraser, and False Creek has their head in the sand. We have totally FUCKED UP the hydrology of where we live. It does not goddamned matter that we have a discharge point with virtually unlimited capacity. That plays into the oldschool capture and convey.

Langley Bypass 1954. Ok there is no Bypass yet. But that's 200th ST.

Langley 2003. Since that photo, there is an additional Costco, and Home Depot. You can see a flood plain that is probably 50 meters wide reduced to more like 15.

The SAME level of urbanization occurred in Vancouver. We changed ZERO imprevious into 50-90%. We generate on the order of 3 to 4x the VOLUME of runoff than occurred naturally. We STARVE the hydrology of the area. With only TWO exceptions EVERY Creek in Vancouver was FILLED in. FUCK FILLED IN!!!!!! Those creeks formed because of the groundwater hydrology, topography, geomorphology... they conveyed direct runoff, interflow and longterm groundwater seepage. Somebody 100 years ago filled them full of dirt, and directed every last drop of rainwater into a pipe which we have to build and make bigger annually as we make things "harder" with more asphalt.

13 February 2006

Apparently, I also cannot use a calendar... I don't really think that I post less when dating. I mean I did post a whole bunch when Christina and I were together. Didn't I? None of the posts were really sad though.

I found out the sweetest thing about Vball player today. Ok, so she was over watching the Bachelor with me. The rivalry of predicting who is going to get kicked off is over now though since we both agreed that Susan was going to get the boot. Anyways, I can't remember what the hell we were talking about but she mentioned that she played oboe in the 'ol highschool band, and that they went to Musicfest in the Big Smoke and played M azama. What do you know?! I happen to have an MP3 of it! :) Fire up the 'ol iTunes, and click play. UBER-MAJOR points all around... I think she's a first rate band hack like me. Her stock went up a lot. I am pretty excited! Also, in case you're all still left wondering, I still have not engaged in the "are we g/f, b/f yet?" conversation. A part of me wants to wait until she brings it up, but like most initial things relationship, it's left up to the guy... but then am I game playing? I don't really know...

12 February 2006

For all your avid readers out there, this is NOT the longest gap between posts. It is also NOT attributable to fun & exciting dating action, I may or may not be having. :) Two things to cover for now...

The new jobby at C o V.... is taking awhile to ramp up.  At this point, I am bitching and complaining like mad, but at the core, I want to believe that they are just piss-poor at employee startups. There is obvious potential, but the bureaucracy is so incredibly large. On the otherhand, my cube-mate is totally fun and good. I think my experiences and skills have been totally under-estimated by the City... which is unfortunate - mainly for them though. I am taking a bit of a risk because the next design, I am going to do using software they don't use.... and do it within a modeling context. No more of this stupid Rational Method shit. If anybody tries to tell me that the rational method actually makes sense, I am going to have a mild anger. Unfortunately, I think some of the guys have been designing sewers the same way for so long that they don't really know what else is out there. This is not to say they aren't crack designers. There is some seriously screwed up shit in the City sewer network (HAHAH! that's funny on multiple levels)... just that they don't avail themeselves to the tools that are available that can help them optimize designs and gain further system understanding... as I think things stand now, nobody really knows how the whole system performs. Designs are generally done on an "as-needed" basis with only as much planning to get them through the next crisis. Also, what I had believed was a inclination towards sustainable stormwater design is actually driven out of a branch OTHER than sewers - this surprized me greatly... the sewers folk are pretty much your old fashioned pipe & manhole sort... I think I will find it frustrating.

Now onto a topic, I am sure you are all just tripping over yourselves to get the update on... Some of you may have met the V-ball player at my birthday... well, things are going swimmingly - at least I think they are. I am trying to compare the intial goings with the crazy meddie with the V-ball player now... as far as I can tell things are better, more fun etc... I definitely feel more comfortable with her. This is in terms of her "judgementalism" and I find her to be much more compatible on the interests and variety front.  She is not really embarrassed to be seen with a guy who can tell her which TNG episode is on within the first 10 seconds of watching it. :) I think we can really share some things together... she has a complete life on her own, and really so do I. So, when we've spent time together, there's much sharing of individual stories - at least now. I assume there will be the generation of together stories over time... Anyways, things are good - I enjoy spending time with her... and she thinks I have lots of hair left! She's gotta be lying but hey... she knows how to treat a guy!

I have owned this pencil for 3 years. I really like it. It's not a particularly good writing tool - the cap comes off really easily, so that if you drop it all your lead goes everywhere and it's kinda too short. I do like the retractable eraser though - finally I have a mechanical pencil with a built-in eraser that is actually useful. It's refillable too.  It's gone through I dunno hundreds of leads, and about a 1/2 dozen eraser refills; yes, I make a lot of mistakes. I really wanted to take a picture of it though. It's been with me through some pretty rough times. It's written very sad things, sad thoughts, and sad ideas.  Then on the other hand, it's written some very uplifting things... good things, good wishes and much happiness. It's put down sewer designs, and analyzed hydraulics.  It's going with me to my new job... I am just so pleased that I haven't lost it over these years. I know it's just a simple material possession, but it's important to me because it's been with me for awhile, and I've done so much with it. Same thing with my phone... I've owned the same cordless phone for 10 years. It's gone through 4 sets of batteries - anybody who's ever seen it will remember! :) If only it could talk... I've spoken some pretty lovely words into the thing, and in return I've heard some beautiful things out... Interesting...

28 January 2006

I was duly chastised by 2 people for the post below. Your comments are noted, and ALWAYS welcomed.  Note though, that some of those post are not always the most reasoned assemblage of verbs. Sometimes, I stew for a long time, and others it's just a rant. I was particularly disappointed with my LL performance (still am really), but just do have to remind myself of the medium in which I am competing -- the nature of the beast, so to speak.

First off, I went skiing today. It was fucking'tastic. The dad, sis and I geared up for Thursday morning. It snowed Wednesday night, and there are few things better than having an entire mountain to yourself. Although, we did manage to find the entire skiiing population in the 7th Heaven line... anyways, mega puffy white stuff... good thing. When you bail  in that shit, it doesn't really hurt at all! Yeah, and my legs are on fire...

Also, have I written that I hate the media before? So, some kid dies at a highschool in Abotsford. This is not good. The fucking news is reporting that the students have been instructed NOT to talk to the media to protect the family. Well, I think that's a very good thing. I don't have a problem with that at all, and I think it's a good thing. Why can't they just shuttup? Do they need to imply that the family/school is doing something wrong by issuing these requests to students? the Fucking news found it worthy to say that there were students reminding others NOT to talk to the media. IT IS NOT YOUR GODDAMNED RIGHT!!! Some kid died. It is not for you to sell papers, or get viewers.

Regarding the V-ball player referenced in a previous post, I have been out with her twice. Some vital statistics for those who are curious. 5'8", blue eyes, dirty blond hair, 23 years old.  First of all, I have never dated anybody with blue eyes. So, talking to her for the length of time that we have, has been a lesson for me... I don't think I've ever really looked at blue eyes a lot before. I can't even think of that my friends that do... yes, there are, and I know who you are, but I haven't dated you. :) The first date was breakfast, and then a walk along the seawall on south False Creek. That was nice. I asked her if she wanted to go see the excavation for the RAV line at the south end of the Cambie Street bridge. She was agreeable, and stared into the whole for a few minutes with me. That was cool. This experience actually reminds me of when I thought it was incredibly attractive that Christina could weld... similar feelings and type of attraction there. Conversations have been lengthy and very in depth. She has asked REALLY deep, probing questions way beyond "what do you like to do?". I am perhaps too willing to trust, or am seeking someone to dump on, but I trusted her enough to abbreviate the Christina stuff for her. She took it well, and reacted by telling me about some family tragedy of her own. I thought this was a high level of 2-way trust...  All is steering nice so far, and feels to be an upgrade over the crazy meddy. As with the last dating session, I have been extremely deliberate with my body language, and advancing of physical contact. Apparently, that's the first question you have - you know who you are! During the entire course of date#2, we high-fived once, in acknowledgement of our ability to go to movies solo. At the end of date#2, she told me that she was going to hug me. It was kind of week though, so I'm thinking that she thinks I'm also a prude or something... :p. 

18 January 2006

Statistics:

Total Smiles Out = 72

Smile Responses Received = 2

Cold Smiles Received = 4

Response Success Percentage = 2.8%

Of the Cold smiles, 1 was from someone in Edmonton. 2 were from totally uninteresting FOB's and then there remains 1 with whom I have managed a 4 day correspondance.

Of responses received, I await (48 hours passing), for mail responses from 2.

As of the time of this writing, there is only ONE viable new person meeting opportunity. Therefore, the overall viable response percentage is 1/74

Practical Succes Rate = 1.35 %  DAMN. I'm good.

I just fired out a bunch more smiles. I am going to see if I can drive it under 1%.

16 January 2006

MOTHER FUCKER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The Bachelor makes me SO SO SO ANGRY. I cannot possibly communicate the level of angrification this gives me. I am surprized that he can even speak! The guy has the intelligence of a gnat, and is about as smooth as a 30 grit sandpaper. How can you possibly not impress when you can order up a cake on a whim? Yes, next time I close the deal on a date, I am just going to snap my fingers for a dozen white roses. Dude, I have to get on the next Bachelor. I want women throwing themselves at me before they meet me.

AND THE DUMBASSES in North Vancouver who decided that it was a good idea to buy a house on the top of a big fucking hill. What the hell happened to buyer beware? Do your own fucking due diligence! It is NOT, I REPEAT NOT!!! the Districts fault for the geotech problems.

Ok, so 3 teens died in Richmond lastnight, and 2 kids fell off Burnaby Mountain... this brings much sadness to me. The news today shows the family and friends in Richmond, crying , and such. I think that is just about the most DISTASTEFUL THING EVER! What the fuck? Does anybody have any fucking respect? Why the FUCK would you ask a question like, "why are you visiting the crash site?" (to girlfriend of guy that died). That is absolutely a loaded question designed for an emotional response. Credit to her for not cracking right there (I would have). Having gone through this, I would have gone ape nuts on the media. Then they just showed scenes of the crying sister wailing away in her description of her sister. Just get your goddamned fucking business out of theirs. It is hard enough dealing with someone you love dying without some inane reporter asking questions designed to make you cry. I was pissed enough when reporters showed up at Christina's Memorial... I can't believe they even showed clips of the thing on the news.  Where the fuck is the respect?! JUST SOME COMMON HUMAN DECENCY! 

14 January 2006

A minor cry on the way back from buying laundry detergent...

A fleeting moment of excitement was had on the online dating front. It, like previous experience, did not last very long nor provide an opportunity for me. Up until today, I thought I could handle doing the LL thing again, but based on the way I'm feeling, it doesn't seem like. I am handling it better, but definitely not handling it well. It all seems very futile. While I know that it's a womens' market out there, I don't quite understand how it got that way? Are men more desperate than women? I guess that's the case - no? I know women who've not spent a dime (so, therefore had men initiate all meaningful contact), and got a few (or a lot) of dates out of the thing. I have probably spent about $60 or so - I guess. During that time, I squeezed out 2 dates with the same person. Yes, it's valuable experience (all of life is "experience), but I was afforded only a brief opportunity for which I am thankful to the powers that be. Other than that, I'd say my experience has been fairly negative or null. Why is it that girls just "sit and wait" ? How can they do that while I am given advice to be "aggressive" ?

Some form of V-ball player responded to a smile of mine - this was the fleeting excitement. I wrote a nice flirty mail, to which one response was received and responded to 3 days ago. While, it is not a total writeoff, the odds of a reply decay by the hour.  Based on the tone of her mail, I interpreted some interest on her part - but I suppose that was predominantly my optimistic nature getting in the way! (HAHAHAHAH!!!). Turns out she's an environmental tech, which I found interesting, also a v-ball player... I didn't get to know much else. I thought that I had crafted an excellently flirty reply... but obviously not good enough.

I am going for about a 5% response rate... I can't recall what it was before. I am sending smiles to all the really scary looking women. Scary, as in, they look like the type that I wouldn't even bother talking to. What the hell right? I wonder why conventionally attractive women  scare the shit out of me. I have some really cute/attractive female friends, and sometimes, I wonder if I would ever be friends with them had it not been through introductions and forced activity sharing. I mean that through school, orchestra, band, rowing, etc. I wonder, if I saw them  online, would I have the balls to do anything? Or would I just keep browsing? I honestly think, I'd just assume I was wonting, and move right along. That's kind of sad for me, unfortunately. Absolutely, I'm stereotyping, but why would I besides to protect myself from history repeating itself? It's a shitty world that I have as many preconceptions as they do. I think they have themselves a little chuckle when someone like me even bothers, and they probably think I play computer games all day. (SHIT they're right). I didn't really spend all Saturday playing computer games.... There should be a way to send BATCH smiles. How else am I going to generate any meaningful statistics?!

Gems from LL hunting tonight:

I don't really have a list of physical attributes I'm looking for, but it helps if you're taller than me in my heels and have a physically fit body (big broad shoulders-yum!). A nice smile and dark hair would get me too...

Imagine what a guy would write and be called a bastard:

I don't really have a list of physical features, but it helps if you're exactly 1" shorter than me in heels, have a fit body with a nice booty and a big rack. A nice smile and just slightly wavey dark hair would get me too...

Oh, and the girl with the LIST:

I'm looking for a man who:
-is smart
-is funny
-is sensitive
-is athletic
-likes children (no, I don't have any)
-is social with my friends
-returns phone calls
-is romantic
-likes to dance
-makes me feel wanted and appreciated
-Is over 5'6"
-has a job
-is comfortable having me around his friends...

Ok, here's my list:

I'm looking for a woman who:
-is smart in the engineers sort of way
-is funny in the 'yo momma way
-is sensitive
-can scull and sweep
-likes children (no, I don't have any)
-can put up with my friends when we talk LAN Party
-doesn't want me to "check-in"
-is romantic
-dances just as crappily as me, but secretly enjoys it
-makes me feel wanted and appreciated
-Is over 5'6"
-has a job
-is comfortable having me around his friends...

Christmas was a high... and now this is the low. Today was the lowest of the last month or so.  The only thing making me happy right now is Barry White. No kidding. How shitty is that? Oh. My cousin is getting married next Christmas. Yikes. Very happy for him though. His fiance is a wonderful woman actually. Factoid: she was born in Hong Kong, spent time in Montreal, speaks almost perfect English, and mandarin, and they met in San Francisco. Kinda strange. The 'ol cousin scored BIG TIME with her. I'm jealous.

This time around, I think I'm going to last until my birthday...

10 January 2006

This statement increases my value of angrification:

"...men on internet  dating sites have to make the first move usually. Women get used to the men making the first move, and don't bother to make the effort."
 

This was followed by:

"I haven't made the first move yet. Why bother, when the guys are already emailing me? OH, and I usually don't bother emailing or winking at guys who just send me a wink (smile). It seems like such minimal effort, like a copout. I usually only respond to real emails."
 

I have never ever ever received response to cold-mail. EVER. She is implying that I should spend $$$ (credits) to get her attention - that if I don't, I'm a cheap copout. That's honestly the most insulting thing ever. My smile tactic, at the moment, is meant to gauge interest. I'm a fairly low smile count at the moment (around a dozen), and have yet to receive reply. I highly doubt if I had send a mildly generic mail, that all of a sudden I'd get response. 1st round, I send many cold mails. Not a single reply. It's unfortunately for the unfortunate.

The inequality in typical dating is magnified in by orders of magnitude in online dating.

08 January 2006

Holy fuck, it's 2006.

I quit U S L. Writing about it makes me kinda queasy still, so I'll just say that's what I did, and I should be starting C o V by February.

Have many thoughts on the subject of career, but I'm still gaining comfort with the move.

So, back on the LL. Even with help tweaking the 'ol profile, results are so far <null>.  I will be tracking progress, or lack thereof, on this site. The tally so far is 3 smiles from 3 apparent FOB's. 1 mailed me to ask what my degree is in, and what my job is. If they read the profile it pretty much says exactly what I do. Oops. FYI, I have received smiles from 3 more people. I know both of them personally -- so they don't count. Anyways, have begun to start squeezing out smiles now - about a dozen over the last 3 days. Nadda. It's quite sucky. Oh well. I am doing much better at handling the little rejections. I mean come on, a few thousand find me wonting. Ouch! I won't lie. It does bother me a lot, but much less than it did last time. I KNOW that I'll get zero cold-responses. I have WAY lower expectations this time.

I ran into Christina's parents today while erging. I chatted with them and mentioned the job change and such. About 20 minutes into my 30 minutes, I started welling up a bit. I was telling them about a career move... moving on with my life... etc. It was sad.

28 December 2005

In pictures.

Nothing really smells better than melted butter, and brown sugar... ! Heavenly.

40 of Andrew's famous chocolate gingerbread cookies. Sweetness.

Fuck, I look small. Crazy Carpeting down Blackcomb at midnight.

In other news, I have C o V job letter pending this week... Now there's a conundrum. If it weren't for 1 guy at work, I think I would actually like my job on a semi-daily basis. Unfortunately, this is not the case. I have been working, for the past month, or so exclusively for 1 manager, and the job has been enjoyable actually. I know what I'm doing and am currently working on a smallish-medium size job entirely on my own. For once in 20 months, I actually feel confident about what I'm doing. Fuck yeah. The other guy makes me break into the sweats. Whenever he comes into my office (yeah, I have an office... that'll be hard to give up), I have a minor blood pressure spike, as I rapidly search my brain for whatever I thought I was supposed to complete for him. Input and discussion required.

I think I have an obsession with this cow.

Also, in other news, I have made a LL re-appearance. This time, I have decided just to sit and wait. Minimal to no outgoing activity. So far, (about a week), I have received 2 smiles from two short Asian ladies with shitty profiles that tell me that they desire to find a date. This is quite revealing and deep. Aka. Tells me precisely DICK about them, so I have no interest. Also, if you recall my previous experience yielded zero incoming smiles from anybody not Asian and of the FOB variety. Do I exude FOB'ness? When a white girl smiles me, I will be taking the gang out to dinner. 

23 December 2005

I hadn't realized how many family pictures there... I am going to give my sister a frame of pictures of us. I don't think there are any for the last 10 years or so.... but I wound up going through "the box" and finding a few old very powerful photos. Not the least of which were several years worth of Christmas photos - the whole family including Keeta. Saying that they're somewhat painful is a bit of an understatement. I even found more pictures of Keeta when he was a puppy - his first Christmas!!! <sigh> I am sad. Not depressed... sad. I often think about Keeta. I actually found smiling picture of all five of us in varying combinations at Christmas, at events, on vacations... together. Strange. Those of you with intact family structures are goddamned lucky.

I miss the people (people includes Keeta) that have died. There is not other way to put it.

22 December 2005

The more LL profiles I read, the more I'm convinced that I can't compete. That said...

This is going to be my new profile.

I'm not in the dating section with a laundry list of interests, but you're here and allegedly looking for something longer term, let's get down to the nitty gritty, shall we?

I'm considered cute, & will make a great looking date for any endeavor. I can be lazy and will usually opt for jeans or sweats unless you request otherwise. But if you suggest I put on my suit and we go out for Martinis on a Tuesday evening I can be ready in under 12 minutes.

Speaking of cute - I'm guessing you find me attractive. I'm hoping I find you attractive. No point wasting time if I don't. If you don't have a picture posted, please send your backstage.

Every so often I need to complain. A well executed bitchfest is an art. If you are from the Tony Robbins school of optimism I will probably hate you.

Family is important to me. I love mine. I'll probably love yours. They'll probably love me. I also want to start a family of my own down the road. Unfortunately for you, I'm the the youngest boy in my family (immediate and extended) and you'll have to stay on your best behaviour to convince them you're worthy of their baby boy. If sucking up to my mom the 6-8 times a year you'll see her isn't something you think you can do & be successful at, look elsewhere.

I'm a has-been rower and sporadically active guy. This means I'm strong and flexible for about 2 seconds. As much as I'd hate to ruin the hard work I've put in, if I like you & spending time with you turns into sitting around watching TV one of two things will happen:

1. I will decide I don't have time to sit around and watch TV with you, and I will leave you
2. I will be sedentary with you, get fat, hate you and leave you.

I could go on about what a great catch I am & I have a small trail of broken hearts behind me who will attest to that. But if we have no chemistry to begin with, you probably won't see those qualities anyway.

So if you're childless, between 20 and 30 and are up for a challenge, then send a smile or lavamail.

13 December 2005

I think this may be the longest non-post gap in awhile.

So, I was erging again today... I am finally at a point where the splits are actually going down, and I'm not hacking up the lung butter after 3 minutes. I can't believe how out of condition you can get after sitting on your ass for 3 years. I am still a VERY VERY far cry from the peak of my fitness circa mid-2002. Not only was my conditioning a lot better, I was a fuckload stronger and believe it or not about 15lbs lighter!!!! Yes, the skinny asian! Anyways, I haven't started running yet, but that'll start in 2006, I think. My goal is sub-50 minutes for 10km at the Sunrun. Last year, I got something like 59:58... yikes.

My gym observation of the day... the ergs are setup very conveniently behind a buncha dreadmills so you sometimes get a pretty good view. :) There was this girl running at something like an insane 9 mph (as fast as the treadmill gets!)... I was watching umm... my monitor... ok, I lie. I watching her run. I noticed that her ass looked particularly round and lifted... and then noticed that she was wearing some spandex crop pants (not lulu though), that looked as though they had strategically placed elastic/cut in order to lift and push if you know what I mean. You could see the seams. She stopped, and then put her leg on the console to stretch. WHOA! Anyways... that made the erging only slightly less painful. Just my notes on the state of "helper" clothing.

On the weekend, I went dress shopping with a wonderful friend of mine (same friend who sent my flowers last Christmas). We were on Robson, at le crapeau and I spied this very attractive lady. I pointed this out to her. Embarassingly, my friend took it upon herself to go up to this girl and tell her that her friend thought she was cute. By this time, I had already run out of the store! Anyways, it was interesting in that I was embarassed as shit but also... have to question my confidence. Why shouldn't I be able to do that myself? How many people can actually do that to random people? It is much easier to flirt with someone you already have a connection with (work, school, sports teams, activities, etc)... but how good looking do you have to be to go up to someone at a clothing store and go "hey, you're cute." Like WTF? Who does that? I think I have friends that can and have done that but they are the ones people comment to me about their stunning looks, etc. So they, already know they can pull it off.  I think everyone at one point has thought "she/he wouldn't be interested in me, I'm fugly" or whatever similar statement. Now, I do that all the time. I think sometimes, I could probably be right. Having lovely bunch of lady friends, I have heard a zillion stories of "this guy just tried to ask me out randomly, but he's too... <blank>" Blank being, fat, ugly, short, stupid, bald, hairy, creepy, or whatever.  But maybe I could be wrong sometimes too.  I just have to take that risk now and then.

07 December 2005

Just got back from the sojourn to Kelowna. Yep, it's -12 there at night. About 2" of snow on the ground. What I would like to offer is this observation: There seem to be a greater number of good looking people out there. Why is that? I have made the general observation that the further you go into the stix, the better looking the people get. Langley is FULL of them. Why is this? Quite weird...

Christmas season is coming. I have a date to the office Christmas party. Yay! She's engaged, but hey... she's a friend. :) Maybe people will think I'm engaged to her? Probably.

I am the worlds hottest commodity. Yes - ME. Moi. I am so hot that girls just don't talk to me. They're afraid that I'll give them the harsh rejection. Yes -- absolutely! Afterall, I have standard to keep. Pfftt... I can't be seen with anyone less than 5'9", and outside of Barbie Doll measurements. I mean really here folks - let's be real. Next to me, it would take a pretty damn fine person to feel even close to sufficient. My ass just won't quit.

I am having random bouts of thinking about Keeta. It's somewhat deja vu'ish. Thinking about him gives me some sadness.

03 December 2005

How many of you have read this?

01 December 2005

FUCK. It's December.

I did the 60 min. erg today. Not really that hard... Sure, it wasn't very fast, but I was around abouts 13000 metres. Ok, less than that, but close. :) I have no idea what all those people are complaining about. Well, ok I do.

29 November 2005

Am I the only one who thinks the pictures below are hilarious? Do my hands look particularly skinny there?

So, if you don't know already, I the recent ex paid me a visit on Sunday morning - unannounced. Holy fuck nutter. This is a new experience for me. It was awkward to say the least. She did the begging and pleading thing again.  For greater details, please contact me. However, what it did make me kinda realize is that at least there's someone out there that REALLY wants to be with me. I have no desire WHATSOEVER to be with her, but... it was a mild ego boost. The depressive in me wants to explain it by saying that she's just emotionally inexperienced, and has NO IDEA how to deal with herself -- NONE. Less than I have about myself - it's not me, it's the idea of me... or maybe I was a decent boyfriend for the 3 months or so. Maybe? I didn't think I was. I've done a better job before... I do think that in general, I am pretty good at getting people to talk.

And onto a rant... I BET THAT THE OLYMPIC CONSTRUCTION WILL GO OVER BUDGET BY MORE THAN THEIR CONTINGENCY. There is no way on this planet, that they will come in at their estimates. Let us take into account several factors. First off, construction is on FIRE. ON FIRE. PERIOD. Every facet of the construction industry is breaking loose being busy. Contractors are padding their retirement funds as we speak. Now, more importantly, let's look at how things can go crazy. The venues MUST BE BUILT by certain times. So the deadline is fixed in stone. They cannot be late finishing the skating oval or whatever. Normally, if tenders come back higher than can be paid for, we can re-tender (cross your fingers that it'll be cheaper) or reduce the scope of work. Yes, make the building smaller, save money by using cheaper materials, or phase the project. Since we can't really do any of that... they're fucked. The contractors have VAN OC by the balls. They KNOW THIS. They can simply bid the project high. Every contractor will do this - guaranteed. I doubt that anybody is lowballing these days - based on the sort of things we get back for our construction projects. The contingency fund works out to be about 15%. Given that contingency was compiled or estimated in 2002, 3 years ago, before ANY of the projects had been put to paper, that is FUCKING RECKLESS. Who the fuck puts in a 15% fudge factor on something that will not be built for 4 years (at least) into the future? It seems just a wee bit low to me. VAN OC has absolutely NO REASON WHATSOEVER to worry about construction costs. The taxpayer is picking up the tab... no matter what. PERIOD. The venues MUST BE BUILT. There is no alternative of delaying construction. If that's what it costs, that's what it costs. There is no goddamned fucking "managment" involved. Yes, the designs can be cheap or use cheap materials, etc... but what the fuck? We are picking up the tab, and the budget is not fixed. The Gummint has stated that they will pick up the inevitable overruns.  I do not so much mind (ok, I do), but be fucking honest here folks. Just say that the Gummint will be paying for construction. PERIOD. Don't go and pretend that VAN OC has its own money. That's STUPID. THEY HAVE OUR MONEY! I bet you Furlong expenses a lot more than a pack of gum on any given day. Don't get me started on the conspiracy theory stuff either...

They've started to dig RAV. This should be fun to watch.

27 November 2005

26 November 2005

non supetto

25 November 2005

I saw the Goblet of Fire today. Pretty good movie. They cut out a lot of the fighting and other good stuff... but overall a very entertaining movie. I'm a bad man for thinking Hermione is cute... What happened to Dobby? They got rid of him completely... and I don't remember Neville dancing with Ginny. It's been a long time....

Today's suck? When Cedric dies, and Harry brings his body back, and he's sobbing over it... I welled up too. SHIT. I identified with a kids movie. How sucky and weak. I put on the strong face though. I couldn't let my company see me. I went with a friend I attempted dating last year. That failed clearly, so I retain her as an occasional movie, or lunch date -- for extra torture. I find her highly attractive (hmm... dark hair, deep'ish voice).... also in law school. :) Likes movies, likes to argue about pointless things, but also incredibly guarded about herself.  For some strange reason, I also strongly identified with a scene where Hermione is about to cry, and gives Harry a big hug just as he's about to do battle with a Ridgeback Dragon. It felt cathartic for some reason. Kinda like when I shoved the rowers off the dock in Edmonton. Actually, a lot like it.

The more I get out and see relationships functional relationships around me, the more I am led to believe that I'm screwed.

New experiment. I still can't believe anybody thought that profile would work. That's ridiculous. In order for it to get a response, I'd have to be teh hottest guy on the planet to get over the bastard profile. So, now we're going to put up Tpear. I'll be taking my pic down, and Tpear's will go up sometime tomorrow. I will rename the profile to "Hotguy_Tpear". If he actually gets a smile, I'll be sure to send him the contact information.

22 November 2005

I think that I am a blogging machine. Although, I think that might have something to do with my relationship status. With few exception all LTR'd folk have fallen off the blog bandwagon. I also suppose they have their asses in order.

I ran into Jimbo today at Ikea. I was picking up some more frames - I love pics - anyways, he was with someone I wasn't too sure he was supposed to be... strange.

Girl who I helped with her profile picked up 1/2 dozen smiles overnight when she had been online since April. Good work me. It looks like I will be winning my bet. Although, I think I smell a conspiracy.

21 November 2005

What do I do when people ask me why I wear a square ring on my right hand? Ok, obviously I have the good'ol Iron Ring and that one is easily explainable. But this square silver? Not as easy... I was asked this on the weekend. I dodged the question by changing the subject. It's not the first time I've had to do it though.

20 November 2005

I'm screwed. Sat with lawyer today while she perused the LL shopping aisles. Based on the criteria that were being bandied about, I have no chance in hell - not just with her - but with anyone on that thing.

Santa Claus parade today - quite fun... and I can see why there were so many people there. Love marching bands... so many families and such... many, many strollers and YOUNG families. Hardly any old folk - except maybe grandma and grandpa with the grandkids... then again, also very many young couples - no kids. If anyone wants to know how I felt about that, you can ask.

I have spent the last 60 minutes helping a x-country friend with her LL profile. We spruced things up with a little image editing, cut out some heads, and misc. arms in photos. I think she looks gorgeous. We tweaked up her profile to sell her triathalon and marathon credentials, but yet her body type is listed as "average" The girl can run 26 miles without stopping... sure she ain't size 2, 4 or 6 or 8 probably... but she can run circles around me... Why should someone that think that she is "average"?? This gives me a social sadness. Why should she feel badly about her body? She's an engineer which makes her uber attractive to me already... yet, I advised her to remove that from her profile. I have never seen engineer put in as an occupation for a woman. Not that I look at guys' profiles, but I've only ever seen 1, and then he said he was doing something else for a job.   

18 November 2005

Tonight, I will bring you LL profile highlights:

"Also, I'm interested in guys who take note of the fact that I am tall, and perhaps are also tall themselves."

Translation: If you're short, fuck off.

"3) I'm tall, you had better be too. "

Translation: If you're short, fuck off.

"Yeah I like a tall guy. Good eyes, smile/teeth and hands…not just that you have them but they’re good! You need to take care of yourself."

Translation: If you're short, fuck off. Also you must not only be human, but also NOT UGLY... and buff.

I don't have problems meeting men, however I tend to have problems meeting the nice ones

Translation: Men bow down to me and kiss my feet. I talk only to people who aren't fugly.

Translation: You have no chance motherfucker.

Translation: I am a ruthless ballbreaker, but I also watch Extreme Engineering. Although, if you are an engineer and really do have a concept of the load path in a cable-stay bridge, I'd probably tell you that you're ugly to your face.

Damn. I'm funny -- funny looking! Anyways, I was checking for smiles tonight, and started reading profiles... Damn trickery I say! I was tempted again to send some out, but since we're conducting an experiment, I have to adhere to the protocol. I am impressed with the trickery though. There really aren't too many people whose profiles I haven't read already though.

I have interview at C o V this Thursday. How does one handle references when one is still employed? My boss will have an absolute BABY if he figures that I'm job hunting. They have mucho $$$ invested, and if I leave they're actually in a bit of a pickle... Should be interesting. I think I have done the job interview enough times and am confident in my stormwater management that I can sell them a very specific set of skills.

On the other hand, I am signed on to do a presentation (by myself) as a C S C E at UBC in 2006. Also, I am proposing a stormwater modeling workshop (taught by yours truly)... I am about 70% to grasping this work shit.

I think the Provincial Gummint is on crack.

My predictions for the future:

I think Jimmy Green will beat "the guy in the wheelchair".

The RAV line is going to be the biggest Gummint boondoggle ever. Sometime before now and the time it's finished (if they meet the 2009 deadline) there's going to be a request for more money by SNC.

The S2S is one fucking hell of a mess. Look at how the thing is setup: MoT - Mcquarrie - Hatch Mott - PKS - U S L. We have U M A sub-sub-consluting for a design portion. T R O W is the geotech, and I think they work for PKS. What Hatch does I'm not entirely sure... I think Mcquarrie are the financiers, but they're also engineerings, HMM has engineers too... PKS is obviously building the thing, and we're design portions, and we subbed out some design to U M A, and then also Northwest Hydraulics is subbed out the PKS level to do all the culvert design... WTF?! What happened to the good'ol days when MoT actually designed their own shit? Or at the least had ONE consultant do it? You have to wonder if after awhile that these gigantic arrangments between some super-large companies is kind of inefficient.

Also, I heard through the grapevine that HMM is cracking the local (small) (ie. 20 million)  market with an overpass in a rather sprawling suburban hell here in the Lower Mainland.... this is interesting since it's a DB project. 

NEVER EVER READ EMAIL FROM 6 years ago. I just did, and it gave me the shivers. It's like reading a ghost.

17 November 2005

http://www.z95.com/hot-guy-date

Yikes... he appears about 10x hotter in the above picture than in the below picture. They both look moderately sloshed. She looks especially hot with the glass of wine... NOT!

Day 2 of bet. Nothing.

14 November 2005

DOM at its best, I can barely walk today... Time for some Vitamin I! EEE.

Let's see how far I can stretch out this hot guy ridicerousness.

Robert is 33 and says he is not only hot but he told us he had a problem meeting women because of his high level of hotness. We would like to help Robert with his affliction by setting him up with someone who will see him for not only the hot guy on the outside but the hot one on the inside as well. We asked women to write in and tell us why they wanted to go out with Robert and below are the three women that were picked to choose from. Now we would like your help by picking one of the three for Robert to go to dinner at Skybar in Vancouver.

TRANSLATION:

Robert is sensing the need to procreate at 33. He has trouble meeting women because he is always wearing a toque due to his male pattern baldness. Women can smell his desperateness from 30' away. Another reason why he wears a toque is because he has an abnormally large head. This swollen head has affected his brains. He asked us to find three women worthy of his 30 second attention span. He would like to find a blonde bimbo with a large chest to take to the cheesiest club in Vancouver. After you mutally get bored (30 seconds approximately), you can both go ogle hot women in vinyl skirts, fishnet, and halter tops.

Chrissy is 25 and has been dating on and off for over a year now. She considers herself to be "average" but says she is notorious for being interested in "Hot Robs" who never turn out to be as nice as their exterior appearance. She is curious to see if this is a thing with guys named Rob or just a crazy theory. She is also looking for someone taller than her (5'11") and is truly down to earth and is not just about playing games.

TRANSLATION:

Chrissy is 45 and had gobs of good plastic surgery. She just had a $500 haircut. Over the last year, she's dated 24 guys (2 weeks each); she's a bit of a man eater. She considers herself "GODS GIFT TO MEN" in the looks department, but says that she'll date anybody if they're hot enough and named Rob. Height is an absolute requirement, and she'll sooner stop on your nuts than look at you if you do not exceed 6'0" at a minimum. Game playing is right up her alley -- but only if she makes the rules, starts the game, is the dealer, stacks the deck, and can throw the playing board out the window whenever she likes. If you play games with her, she'll break out the waterworks, and call you a bastard.

13 November 2005

I feel somewhat pregnant - as in pregnant thought pregnant. Not sure when I'm gonna give birth though.

At some point about 6 years ago, I could squat 300 lbs or so. It was really quite sad to see what I pulled off today.

Check out Contestant #2

http://www.z95.com/hot-guy-robert-contestants

Yipes! Where do people like that come from? This contest makes me angry. And that guy isn't even that hot? What do the ladies in the crowd think? I've been following the story on the morning radio, and she he makes me angry.  Could they have picked anymore generic women?

12 November 2005

Somewhat surprized as to the number of folk who asked me about the change in the site. I guess I do have regular readers.

At the urging of certain folk, all deeply personal bitching/whining/complaining/crying/expressions will no longer appear here. Best be that everyone be like my mom. All political bitching will remain, as will all daily ranting and social commentary. I think I've made this switch before. I remember that it didn't last that long. So, we'll have to see how long it lasts this time. If I feel like shit, and nobody knows, then did it really happen?

That said. See Shopgirl. Nice movie. Claire Danes is gorgeous; she has a wonderful wardrobe in the movie - all these lovely simple dresses and sweaters.  At one point, she puts on elbow length black silk gloves - hubba-hubba! A very romantic, and slightly uplifting movie by Steve Martin. I quite enjoyed. I am also now, I believe, firmly entrenched in "friend" with lawyer. Although, this I believe, may be mostly due to my lack of height.

The Knuckleheads need to trade Special Ed. He was the direct cause of the first 3 (maybe 4) first goals. I swear if he trips over the blue line again... I am going to have a rage.

10 November 2005

Everything off. Knuckleheads licked nut tonight.