log 517

Here’s a silly set of photos. All taken with a crappy logitec camera that’s not even at 1.0 mega pixels. heh heh. I bought it when it was on sale for $50. To me it has somewhat of a lomo chic to it. (though I’d never truely understood the appeal of lomo cameras) Little flaws here and there that makes the images unique. Anyway, the top left is a photo when my odometer hit 666. The top right is a building I saw 2 summers ago when I went downtown with my sis on one of her chocolate hunting trips. The smaller pics are a collection of photos I took of the school and the sky. I have an obsession with taking photos of the sky. The ever changing sky, a second apart and you have a new composition, new lighting, all sorts of unpreditability which makes it interesting. I once used a whole roll of film just taking photos of the sky. Another time, I stayed up the whole night taking a photo of the sky every hour, which was for a school photography project. The project didn’t turn out too well. Apparently dawn doesn’t last too long and taking photos at night is always a challenge. oh well, live and learn. ; )

It was thursday again. 3 hrs or break between classes. With nothing to do and nothing but $$ and time, I headed over to Ikea for lunch. I ordered the "Manager’s special". Meatballs, potato with gravy, a bowl of fruit, and a drink. All of the mentioned for $6.83 (tax included).  Don’t think I can find a better deal on campus. A fruit cup alone(half the size of the fruit bowl in the photo) cost about $5 on campus. 

I’ve always enjoyed dining at ikea. The seating is comfortable and clean. The room is bright and usually isn’t overly crowded. It was my lucky day too, the place I sat just happen to have an eletrical outlet, so after the meal I got to do a little bit of work on my laptop. It would have been better if they have wifi but it’s a furniture store, not an internet cafe. : )

After my work is done, I went to have a look around. Letted my mind ran free as I imagined how my home will be, decorative and neat, soft light filled, with everything look like it came out of a design magazine. One day, it will be but for now, I can dream. 

I was shopping for a bed(mine is broken, I’m sleeping on a matress on the floor).  I really like that hopen/sultan lade bed frame. It’s not exactly the best looking frame I’ve seen, but price is alright and the design is something of a cross between the conventional and platform bed.  I like platform beds. I don’t plan to making the purchase though. The frame alone cost $229, with the matress and other accessories, it probably will be near the $500 mark. Considering I don’t plan on staying in Canada, any spending on stuff like a bed seem to be just a waste of $$. 

Anyway lunch was great, I’d probably do it again next week. And probably will continue on a weekly basis until it snows. I’m not particularly fond of winter driving or the cold.

Dear executives of HMV (or the dumbasses who came up with the idea of cd case opener and putting sticky labels right on the cd jewel case),

Stop giving me less reasons to purchase a cd!

Sincerely,
Angry Customer.
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Today I went to the local HMV to purchase the soundtrack of the movie "The Last Kiss" (Zach Braff has great musical taste). Upon paying for my purchase, the cashier ask if I would like to buy a cd opener. I didn’t know what a cd opener was for, so I asked. Cashier: "oh, it’s to take off the plastic wrapping on the cd case". I though, "wtf? why would I buy a dumb product like that when I can just slash the plastic at the joints with a knife?". So I refused the offer.

Little did I know, they now put that annoying transparent label sticker right smack on the case, the poor quality ones too. Being the low quality stuff, it left sticky residue after I carefully remove the label. These residue will eventually attract dust and turn black, leaving an ugly mark on the case. …I seriously see no reason for this type of security. Unless they are trying to prevent employees from stealing cds… Still, who would steal a cd?

CDs are practically worthless nowadays. For most internet connected people, every cd is just at the edge of their finger tips. The only people who purchases cds are the not to computer smart ones and people who still have respect for copyright and artists.

So please…don’t make it any harder for me to purchase music via the proper channels!

1. Get a new sim card  [DONE]
2. Get a new e-mail address (pop3 account) from the new isp [DONE]
3. Car maintenance [anytime before Nov]
4. Join a gym (…maybe)
5. Update everything to my new number and e-mail [asap]
6. Get some chocolate milk (yes, I’m switching from soy to chocolate)
7. Possibly hand wax my car one last time before winter
8. remember what I’m suppose to do…apparently I forgot most of what I wanted to write down….heh heh

(this is how I write my task lists. The job to be done follow by() or [] of the status of the task and due date. Makes life a lot easier.)

Had a wonderful dinner last night with Ms. Mars.  It’s been months since we last met. She’s pretty as always and great to talk to. She is one of those few friends who I can really open up to. People who understand what you talk about and not just saying stuff to be agreeable are really difficult to find. It’s always interesting to hear what she’s been up to. Much similarities and yet much different, in life and all it’s choices. One of things we talked about was relationships. (I rarely talk or ask about these, simply because it invades people’s privacy. So my take is, if you bring it up, I will too) Anyhow, my take of the current situation is, I know I’m not going to stay in Canada for long, so it’s best not to start anything. I hate letting things like relationships linger, and of course, I don’t want anything to divert my plans. Short relationship? hmmm…best not to. Most people say they can, but they have no idea what they are signing up for until the day when it has to end.
Another thing we talked about was music. Designers tend to listen to stuff that’s more alternative. I think it has a lot to do with appreciation/association to other artists.  Designers want to relate and feel art in other forms. So we tend to go out of our way to find stuff that’s not the average commercialized crap. The tv music channels that’s controlling the music trend really pisses me off but that’s another topic for another day.
So…the dinner was great. We ate at that restaurant E recommended. It’s me third time there. Very consistant quality, I’m pretty so that’ll be my new "cafeteria" when I’m too lazy to cook.

After reading Ms. Mars’ blog about TenRen’s Tea Time, I was compel to give it a try. Not only that, my mom use to work at the old location when it was just a store selling tea leaves.  It’s right on hwy7 & what ever that new street is called. (If you drive from the west, and you see commerce valley, you’ve gone too far. ha ha) Anyway, I ordered the minced pork rice with sausage and had a pot of tea call "summer sun".  These are pretty much what I always like to order. The minced pork on rice is something tasty and economical. It comes with an egg pickled in soy sauce and pickled veg on the side. The "summer sun" is a pretty and fragrant type of tea. Basically a dried bud of a flower soak in hot water. You get to see it slowly blossom in water. It satisfy my 3 senses, that’s why I always order this. The servers smart enough to present it correctly. Bring it out dry and pour the water in afterwards(unlike go for tea, which served it pre-soaked. It makes me wonder how fresh it is. There was also a bitter taste with the last 2 cups which suggests bad bud.) The meal was filling and satisfying. It totaled around $15, a bit pricy for lunch but that’s because I ordered good tea.
Minced pork rice + sausage ($6.99)
Summer Sun tea ($6.99)

The enviroment was relaxing. Very modern decor with jazz playing on the system. I sat behind the curved glass separator with a tiny rock(pebble) garden beneath it. It’s a serene place to just sit, talk and eat. Next time I will bring some friends and get a booth. There were plenty of windows and on a good day like today, the bright day light just made it that much better. 

The menu has some set meals, but mostly are too heavy for lunch. Meals cost fro $13.99 to $18.99.  Very complete meals but again, a bit more than I would want for lunch.

Final Flight
The F-14 is taking it’s final flight this week. Saw it on CNN today(good timing, I don’t usually come home after lunch). The F-14 is a beautiful jet, both great for long range and short range attacks. Though with the advances of the last decade, it’s not as agile as the newer jets. Still, it very much bring memories of watching Top Gun, heh heh.

No Smoking in Winnipeg Rentals
I support it all the way. Being a rental space, any activities that’ll affect others or de-value the property should be banned. You might not notice, but smoke from cigarrets will darken the walls and leave the unpleasant smell. One woman on tv said people should be able to do what they want at home. I’d say, sure if you own it; Rentals are a totally different matter.

24Hr TTC Service
…yea suuuure there’s enough business to sustain that….I smell another TTC strike follow by another ticket price hike.

Killer? no…just a Loser
All the news last week reporting the Dawson College shooting is somewhat disturbing. I think all the coverage does nothing more than encourage others to be copy cats. It somewhat famed the criminal. I’d say, that Kimveer Gill is nothing more than a loser with a gun and knife. That guy posted such thing as calling himself "angel of death" and wanting to die in a blaze of gun shots. Let’s study the figures. In a busy full of student cafeteria, he only managed to kill one person. Mind you he had a automatic assult rifle and a knife. (…loser). Die in a blaze of gun shots? That little piece of shit chickened out and shot himself. He doesn’t even have the courage to face death and die like a man. (…coward)  All in all, he’s angel of nothing, just a dumbass with weapons. Loser in life, loser in death. Boy, I can see it now when he arrives at Hell’s gate.
Devil: So what are you in for?
K.G.: Mass murder.
Devil: arg…you only killed one. You don’t qualify as a mass murderer.
K.G.: I’m oppose to authority.
Devil: yea..sure. But you know you shot yourself in the end. hmmm…you don’t actually qualify for anything. So let’s just place you with the other loser near the shit pipe. Yea…that fits you well.

阿扁下台
While I support an independent TW. I dont’ support it’s corrupt president. I mean how shitty can people be? He’s got money, he’s got power and still goes corrupt. And not just him, his family too. Did you notice all the voilent event that has occur are all caused by his supporters? And most of his supporters are farmers and old geezers with less to no education who doesn’t know better.  Man…when you have a leader that’s taking $$ from the country and using it for his personal gain, you don’t continue supporting him. Corrupt presidents need to be put in jail! Iknow it’s uncivilized but I wish someone would just end it(him) with a sniper rifle. There’re just too many officials on his side…probably because they all have something to hide.

ever since I got my connection back a week ago, my brain is back to the state of no rest. Every minute of every day, some new information is going in it, relevant or not.  It’s quite a contrast from the weeks without connection. I actually much more enjoy life without the internet. I was able to concentrate more on everything else. I was even having a good sleep pattern, waking up totally energized every morning. Heck, I was sitting down to read. I was able to do so much more (mentally). With the internet back on, my brain just keep taking in data and doesn’t have time to process it or just make use of the data. I think I should cut back on the time being connected.

Met up with my friends E & H on Sat. We went to lunch(monring tea) then headed to the driving range…(sounds like life after retirement.) Went to this place on Bayview for morning tea. We actually didn’t know they serve morning tea, was just looking for a place to have lunch.  Over at the driving range, I had my first try swing a golf club. Considering it was my first time, I did pretty well. The first 3 tries all had contact. On average the ones that made it out are near the 150 mark, not bad for a first timer hitting with a 5 & sometimes 7 iron. If I knew there was a driving range so close, I might have taken it up sooner. The only thing I didn’t was that I had to borrow my friend’s clubs. Not trying to offend anyone, those clubs are perfectly fine. But if you knew me, you know I like to use my own equiptment. Heck, most of the stuff I use are very much hand picked that’s very much specific to my needs. Anyway, I didn’t hit that many balls that day, partially because my body isn’t properly configed for the club swinging action.

Maybe next season I will start getting some clubs of my own and go more often…..maybe.

For no reason at all, I just fell like having a lot of canned peaches. I actually already got a can on my last grocery run, but that little can only has 5 pieces. Think I will drop by costco this weekend and get something bigger.  :p