Zen and the Art of Procrastination

This just in...

2006-03-07T16:38:00.000-05:00

An update on the Select Farms debacle. My wonderful and talented wife to be fielded a call from these people and stood firm behind our registered letter. She declared again that we are a poor new family and couldn't really afford the luxury (hah!) of a custom meat service. No matter how the person wheeled, whined and otherwise attempted to get us to negate our cancellation it was no dice. She stood firm and God love her for it. I can't wait to see her handle our yet to be children.

And on the subject of the wedding her parents gave us a cute little statue that is apparently a family tradition with my soon to be in-laws. I have to admit as a man who can't stand cute, I really do like this little statue. OK maybe I like cute, a little bit.

And in further news, I stopped by the church to see what Vicks and I have to do to get hitched. It looks like right now we have to read through the package they gave us, and arrange to have a meeting with Father Muldoon. And then it's a six week course and then hopefully our planned wedding in October.

And still more good news!!!

2006-03-06T13:50:00.000-05:00

Well the current indecision about my job has just been resolved and it looks like I'll be gainfully employed until April of next year. *Phew* "Now I can pay for my wedding." says I in the meeting. "You will always pay for your wedding" says Al with pretty much perfect timing once again proving that Canada Post employees are experts at delivery.

Thank you, I'll be here all night. Try the meatlyke, it's delicious.

Life: A series of Very Good and a Very Bad things

2006-03-04T11:29:00.000-05:00

Wednesday past was a very eventful day in my life as I've now reached a major milestone in my life with Vickie.

I proposed and she said yes! It was very low key affair but I think very sweet too. Tuesday before I picked out the engagement band and on Wednesday I picked it up after work along with a very nice card. I sat down when I got home and wrote an invitation to my love, with 'The Question' at the very end. When Vickie came home I gave her the card and then went down on one knee and gave her the ring. She smiled, crying a little, and said yes. It was a great night for the two of us...

Until I answered the phone later on that is.

Expecting one of her brothers on the phone congratulating us on taking the plunge, it was my regret that I picked up on 'Canadian Select Farm services' who had been calling us for nearly two weeks. If you don't know these are people who will sell you meat services for a year and a freezer to keep the meat in...as well as having been reprimanded by the BBB for bad standards and sale practices. He (the salesman)said that he was here to deliver a free sample and talk about the plight of the farmers. Sadly he never got to this as he went right into filling out an order for us. I have a feeling neither Vickie and I wanted this service but we went along with his sales pitch and never questioned his filling in the order sheet. I've never experienced that sort of loss of control before and in retrospect I did not enjoy it. The salesman of course never asked "Do you want this service?" Instead he went right into filling out the order slip and kept asking "Are you OK with this?"

I think you will agree that the two questions are indeed very different.

Well to make a long story short, we actually bought into the service mainly because we didn't ask each other if we actually wanted this service. We assumed that we would stop each other if we didn't like it, and of course we didn't. So the minute after this very persuasive man left our home, I went down to the computer and researched what we just bought in to and didn't like what I found. So Vicks and I have rattled off a registered letter to the company stating in no uncertain terms that we Don't Want Their Business.

And now the lesson learned is, if you don't want something just say no. And as usual, always screen your calls.

2006-02-25T09:44:00.000-05:00

Well yesterday was certainly a day for events. Bad news at work always makes me feel uncomfortable and the news that my contract that I thought was going to be extended to March '07 has instead been extended until March '06. That's right I now have a month's extension instead of a year. With any luck the funding will be there, because if it isn't my job is going to lose a lot of experience and knowledge about the project. Not to mention leaving me unemployed...

But do you know what? I came home happy yesterday despite the bad news. I was doing something at my job that was useful and made me feel useful to the team and my supervisor actually asked me a question that I was able to give him a reasonably intelligent answer too. I may not be employed but as long as I feel useful, I'll be happy.

So how about that quake last night? 4.5 quakes are fairly rare around this neck of the woods so I have to admit to being startled a bit by it. It didn't help that I was downstairs (below ground) and *ahem* using the facilities so to speak. I swear that I thought somebody had kicked the hot water heater into ludicrous speed. Then I thought somebody had dropped a big one on downtown Ottawa. And then I shrugged and said that it was probably an earthquake. Anyhow we are supposed to be on the lookout for aftershocks in the 2.5 to 3.0 range but considering I sleep through those routinely I expect I'll miss 'em.

Well it does say Procrastination...

2006-02-18T12:09:00.000-05:00

Wow, has it been that long? Um hi all you hypothetical folks, welcome back to one of the most boring blog on the Internet and considering the size of it, that's saying something.

For those of you out there following Ottawa's weather that was quite the ~~interesting~~ scary day yesterday. Freezing rain through the early hours, Wind gusts up to 90 Kph flash freezing everything, and now a high of -15°C. Phoned Vickie's parents to make sure they were OK since they live very close to where the 30 car pile-up happened. Likewise my parents made it through unscathed as well.

Freezing rain is about the only type of weather that puts the fear of god into me. With my lousy left leg, every step seems like the one that'll take me down. I don't mess around with it if I can.

Anyhow soon I'll be outside scraping the car from it's icy tomb and wishing I was with Greg in LA at Gallifrey Sixteen.

Just more random thoughts for the Internet's eventual breakthrough into consciousness. I'll be back sooner next time!

A Quiet Day

2005-11-02T22:40:00.000-05:00

Today I was sick at home, and this I blame on my girlfriend’s little nerglings. So this left me at home with a sinus cavity stuffed to capacity and various achy pains.

So I spent my day trying to get caught up on my two play-by-post games on RPG.net. So for once I updated both my Stargate PBP SG-15 Ad Astra and my Gamma World PBP The Cleansing War of Garik Blackhand. Did I update my PBP game of Paranoia on Paranoia-Live? Of course not. A man has to know his limitations.

Of course I did other activities other than the quiet contemplation of the hobbies that eat up my precious time. I spent the rest of the day helping to celebrate my brother's birthday. He's 34 this year, just like email!
In celebration of this my lovely and talented girlfriend and I are sending him on a trip to Los Angeles to the biggest Doctor Who convention in North America.

Now with the planning in full swing, I take my leave for the night. I have to go cheer on the Senators in their struggle against Buffalo and finish draining my nasal cavities so I don't sound like a rutting bull moose.

Night All!

What am I doing?

2005-11-02T21:46:00.000-05:00

I mean seriously what the hell am I thinking? I can barely keep up with my online RPG posts what makes me think that I'll keep this up?

Peer presure. Fear it.

*Sigh*

OK then. Hello out there! Welcome to my own little strain on the bandwidth of all my friends. What am I going to talk about, the usual topics that matter only to my circle of friends and geeks in general. Other things about my life should also be fair game, but I don't imagine that I'm going to be producing the next great Canadian novel here. Just someplace I can vent, talk about my life and what's going on. You know, just like every other blog out there.

Anyhow enjoy the scribblings, and feel free to comment on anything you read.

I'll be here. Usually.