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Got Mercury?

Posted on March 10, 2007 | Filed Under Day to day

Watched the following story on CBC Thursday: Mercury in fish warrants global public health warning: scientists

Methylmercury now poses a public health problem in most regions of the world, and high levels of mercury have been found in people worldwide at all levels of society, the [Madison Declaration on Mercury Pollution] concluded.

As a result, I’ve chosen to give up tuna and limit eating all fish in general. I had my last tekka don (ten slabs of mouth-watering, delicious raw tuna on seasoned sushi rice) at lunch yesterday, making sure to enjoy it thoroughly.

Sad to think that humanity’s fucked up the ocean so much.

In other news:

• I just upgraded wordpress and changed the theme. No, it’s not the hacked version of wordpress.
• I did some contract work in January and February. I got severely burnt out doing it. I assure you, it will be a very long time until I do a side-job like that again.
• My project at work finally shipped at the beginning of February. I started the prototype in August 2005, did another project, then started work in earnest in December 2005… so i’ve been working on it for well over a year.
• The boss that I had for the project (and honestly didn’t get along with all that well) has moved on to another team. The new boss — a senior dev from the team — is working out very well so far. Why didn’t I get promoted? I would much rather stay a dev than be a bureaucrat.
• I bought the Civilization Chronicles box set — it has Civ 1 through 4, a DVD, Civilization the Card Game, and tech-tree posters for all 4 games. I’m going to try and win each version, starting with Civ 1 this week.
• Laura and I remain unmarried, although I heard a rumour that she might be planning something

I’ll try not to fuck up the oceans playing Civ. Although, technically, the electricity i’m using is likely partially generated by coal-burning stations — a large contributor to atmospheric mercury. Feh.

~jstash

snow days

Posted on November 28, 2006 | Filed Under Day to day

Only in Vancouver(?) can you be walking home in the dark in the snow bundled up in a coat, scarf, hat, gloves and have someone cycle by you wearing flip flops…

 

Another thing I dont really understand is how a couple days of snow can strain the transit system so much. The skytrains certainly arent running more often to accomodate the extra people taking trains instead of driving. And the buses…well today I stood in the freezing cold for 20 minutes while 5 buses of route 3 went by while i was waiting for a 8 or 19…i started to worry that my routes were even running since i never saw one of them yesterday either…I thought you had to wait for 20 minutes for a main route bus in rush hour in Victoria, not Vancouver…

 

Other than that, I love the cold! Being bundled up in warm coats (I love my new coat! Thanks Mom!) and scarves and today the sun is shining and the mountains looked so beautiful covered in snow!

 

Yay for snow!

 

~L

Long weekend

Posted on October 19, 2006 | Filed Under Day to day

Well its Thursday already and I am so looking forward to this, my birthday weekend. I have tomorrow off work to get everything organized and then off we go to Skookumchuk for a camping weekend at the hot springs! Woot! Forecast says sunny and clear, with a low of zero, but hey, at least NO RAIN. hopefully.

This week has gone by really fast and I’ve had a very productive time at work. With Jo as extra help for the last few weeks, I am plowing through the backlog of files. Its such a relief to get things off your desk that have been piling up since May or June.

 

There is still a little issue of a person in my office that is difficult to deal with. I am kind of known for being calm and not getting mad easily. But once in a while I feel myself building up and feeling SO angry. I actually muttered a swear under my breath today. (gasp!) I have expressed my concern on a few occasions but so far nothing has really changed.

 

Last weekend we went out for a dinner to celebrate my bday, since some of us are going away this weekend, and it was really nice to see everyone. Thank you all for coming!

 

I will update some flickr photos soon and hopefully have some fun camping pics after this weekend.

 

~L

Busy week

Posted on September 15, 2006 | Filed Under Day to day

Monday after work we had Jen and Luke over for dinner to celebrate in advance Jen’s birthday. It was very nice to finally have them over to our place That night I packed up my bag and Tuesday morning I flew over to Victoria for two days of training/meetings for my work.

Taking the float plane was quite an experience. If you have never done it before I recommend it! Tuesday morning it was sunny, clear and not windy so the ride was very smooth. It flies so low you can see everything in detail. And it is only 35 mins between downtown Vancouver to downtown Victoria. Even though I get really nervous before flying, it was still fun.

I arrived in Victoria and went to my work’s head office where I got to see some people I haven’t seen for a long time! I met Jacqueline, a friend of mine from head office and we went out for brunch. I made it back to my meeting and by 5pm I was on the bus out to my parents for the night. Had a yummy family dinner and got to spend some time with my brother. In the morning my dad drove me into town and I made it through 7 hours of meetings with a nice lunch break in the middle with Adrienne, my newly married friend of mine from university. After that long day I met with another friend, Kristin, for dinner and made it to my 6:45pm plane with plenty of time. It was nice to squeeze in three friend visits inbetween work stuff.

The float plane ride home was not quite as enjoyable. It was windy and rocky and very turbulent. I think it was probably the smallest plane I’ve been in and when it dipped and tilted my stomach did the same. I think I’m just a nervous flyer anyway. Although when we landed smoothly in Vancouver there was a beautiful sunset and my sweetheart waiting for me on the dock.

We made it home and even though I was so tired, I stayed up and cleaned the kitchen and tidied up a bit. Thursday was a crazy, busy day at work and by 3pm I was getting angry/frustrated. After work the day went much better. Jeremy and I met up with my brother and his friend and went for dinner and beer, then made our way to GM Place for the Red Hot Chili Peppers show, which was a lot of fun. Jeremy was a little dissapointed, comparing it to the awesome Pearl Jam show we saw last year, but I thought it was great. I thought it was a good mix of old and new songs. I guess the only thing that was a little dissapointing was very limited interaction or even addressing of the audience.

But I had a great time and enjoyed myself. I may have drank too much beer last night and since we didnt go to bed until way past our usual bedtime I was a bit of a zombie this morning. Two cups of ginseng green tea later and Im feeling OK now. I was looking forward to going home to nap after work but then remembered tonight is work-people-socializing night, so Ill be going out after work. I guess there will be time on the weekend to catch up and relax!

~L

End of summer

Posted on August 31, 2006 | Filed Under Day to day, Home

This week I have noticed its much colder in the mornings than it has been…maybe no more walking to work in shorts and tank tops? Is the summer over?

Most people grumble with the coming of fall but it is really my favorite time of year. There’s so much that I look forward to as the summer comes to a close. In the past that would have included the start of a new school year, the excitement of starting new classes, meeting new people, seeing people you lost track of over the summer.  

I’ll think of some other things i’m looking forward to:

Cool crisp air, the smell of rain (i even like walking in it), wearing snuggly warm clothes (sweaters and coats, scarves and toques), leaves turning colour and falling, Thanksgiving (home cooked family meal, mmm), my birthday, Halloween (a good excuse to eat candy), cooking warm comfort food (stews, soups, etc), drinking hot teas and hot chocolate…

Hmm I sure did mention alot of food. Anyway my point is, I love winter and I love our mild west coast weather where it never really gets too cold. At least, not like other provinces where it could kill you to expose your skin to the freezing air.

 Who wants to go shopping for fall clothes?

 

~L

 

 

Ouch.

Posted on July 25, 2006 | Filed Under Day to day, Friends

After a nice relaxing weekend I was doing dishes Sunday evening and I got a shot of pain up the right side of my head. I actually gasped. When I told Jeremy, he said, sounds like a migraine. I dont think I can remember having this before. After some sleep and a nice walk to work Monday I thought it was gone. Monday was a very busy day at work and by 2pm I was having pain again. I bused home (i couldnt stand to walk in the sun) and took some tylenol and went straight to bed. After a nap it was mostly gone but i spent the night feeling kind of hazy. Now I’m back at work and I’m not feeling very well. I pretty much want to just go home and hide under some blankets. Im gonna be tough and at least get my morning work done, but might be going home early.

I really need to be feeling better by this weekend. Jeremy and I are headed over to Victoria Saturday morning. Saturday night is a party at my friend Jacqueline’s house. The rest of the weekend will be taken up with our friends Adrienne and Russ’ wedding. Sunday is the wedding rehearsal and get together/ rehearsal dinner. Wedding is on Monday and we should be coming home Tuesday. It should be a lot of fun and I’m looking forward to it.

~L

miss me?

Posted on July 13, 2006 | Filed Under Day to day

Busy work days and weekends filled to the brim have made me be quite neglect-ful (?) of our little site here…I am still alive and around just not able to find the time to post. A small lull in work has given me a few minutes. Somehow its already Thursday and we have another weekend in Victoria coming up full of visiting and errands and birthdays. Last weekend I was in Victoria by myself visiting friends, doing wedding stuff for Adrienne and Russ’s wedding, and visiting my family. I actually probably spent more time with my brother than my parents and that was kind of nice.

I usually like travelling by myself to Victoria, spending time with my ipod and looking out the window of the bus. Last week, I was able to get a car ride to the ferry and then I ran into an old friend from college at the terminal so we had a little visit, but I really wanted to spend some time by myself so I made my way to the ferry buffet dinner to hide out and not talk to anyone. Maybe my weekend full of visiting made me want to be a little reclusive this week and spend time with myself. I was very nicely invited to a girl’s night event last night and I put off writing it down anywhere and then when I remembered it was last night it was already too late. (oops, sorry Brigette).

My new position at work is going really good, as I actually enjoy being busy all day and not so bored to tears. Its nice to have an old friend that i used to work with in Victoria working here now, makes it a bit more friendly here. Although as we seem to be chronically short-staffed (always someone on holiday, sick, away, etc) so it can be a little stressful. I have not yet had my yearly review but that should happen tomorrow or next week. Im not sure if I will get another raise, but one can always hope.

Jeremy and I are once again thinking of moving and buying a condo, but its so discouraging that Vancouver is so darn expensive. I cant understand how people can afford to live in houses, with yards, and spaces between them and neighbors? Is that even possible?

There was a little miscommunication between Jeremy and I regarding summer holidays so I have some booked off and he doesnt. I think we might scrap it and take a winter vacation instead. Somewhere hot and tropical. Any suggestions?

I should get back to work.

~L

Camping and upheaval

Posted on June 13, 2006 | Filed Under Day to day, Friends, Drama

Last weekend was really great. We went camping at Skookumchuck hot springs. It was a beautiful weekend, no rain, great campsite right beside the river and good friends to spend time with. After the weekend I was relaxed and happy, and went to bed super early and got a great rest Sunday night.

Monday my work got very dramatic. Our manager went to Victoria for a meeting with bigwigs and we got a call that he’s not coming back. We all freak out, wanting to know whats up. Today, big wigs come to our office and tell us he is suspended (with pay) while they investigate. Systems people come with a locksmith to break into his office and steal his computer. Our compliance dept is claiming he did this sketchy deal which lost our branch $10K and we are all completely sure that it was a computer glitch because it all makes no sense at all and its completely absurd that he did it. Anyway, so now we got interviewed by HR and it is just all very sketchy and is making us all uneasy. Im not feeling very confident in their investigative skills. I guess Ill see what happens tomorrow….

~L

Honey, while you’re up, can you get me a big bowl of WTF?

Posted on May 17, 2006 | Filed Under Day to day, Family, Rants

Hey, it’s Jeremy… the guy who never posts on here

So in general, my life is pretty good. If you read the title, don’t worry, i’ll get to that part in a bit. I’m feeling healthy — i’m enjoying weekly yoga classes and i should start biking again closer to June. I’ve had three extremely good days at work in a row — we’re releasing the tech-preview of the web-security product i’m working on and things are going exceedingly well. I also got a raise that i’m very happy with.

My juggling skills are improving since i’m practicing more often. I’m up to 30+ catches-without-dropping of 3-club juggling after just starting clubs two weeks ago. I’m heading to Bellingham with Luke and friends on Friday (I took Friday off). I’ve got some custom-made clubs on order that we’re going to pick up on the way down, which i’m very exited about. Even more exciting is that I’m going to be staying in a barn in the middle of a swamp with lots of other jugglers.

Unfortunately, I had a bit of a shock yesterday after coming home from a really good vanjug meeting and a nice visit afterwards with Luke and Jen. Hence the title.

First off, I found out that my Grandpa on my mom’s side has aparently had a stroke. I’m not sure how serious it is. I’m a bit estranged from that side of the family, so i feel nervous about phoning and trying to find out more. I wasn’t really close with my Grandpa, partially from competition with the 30-so cousins (i have 12 aunts/uncles on that side of the family), but mostly because my family was fairly insular. I’m more afraid that I’d end up having to talk to my mom…

Which brings us to the second shock. My youngest sister is only my half-sister. She found this out this week after finding out that my dad is O+ (the + means Rh+, the O is the blood group). My mother is also Rh+ (not sure of the blood group). My sister is Rh-. She found out when she had her daughter, who is Rh+ and needed blood transfusions after birth. It’s pretty much impossible to be Rh- with two Rh+ parents. Therefore, since we know for sure who the mother is, it’s extremely likely my dad is not my sister’s genetic father.

I’m upset that, once again, my mother has lied to my entire family. This is why i have no respect for my mother. Well, that and the stories of abuse from my childhood that i’ve no recollection of — I found out about a year ago from my Grandma on my dad’s side. To a certain extent, it’s not my mom’s fault; she’s Bi-polar with a few other mental illnesses. But, she’s hurt me and the rest of my family so much in the past 25 years it’s hard to forgive. I’m sorry if i sound bitter, but i think i’ve been through a lot in this respect.

This brings up some interesting thoughts. Namely who are my parents? What is my blood type? I don’t think i’ve even been told my blood type. I bear a very strong resemblance to my mother — hair, eyes, skin, build. I almost don’t want to know… If i’m not my dad’s genetic son, how would that change things? Would I even be able to figure out who my real father was if it turns out to be true? I hope i’m just being paranoid.

Either way, i am what i’ve become, no matter how that came about. I’m happy about where I am and who I’m with (my very significant other, my friends, and my co-workers). Who cares if i’m a literal bastard? It’s not like i’m nobility

She’s gone!

Posted on May 9, 2006 | Filed Under Day to day, Rants, Drama

If you start a new job and you know that you live really far away from the office, for example you live in White Rock and your new job is in Downtown, should you really be surprised that it is a long commute on a bus?

She quit today and left right away.

And so, Im back at the phone. Sigh.

But, my raise is still happening. So now Im just answering the phones for more money. It still sucks monkey butt though.

~L

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