Back online but in a slightly different local

I know I disappeared for a while and I really could have posted from work but I just never made the time to sit online at work. So I waited until we had the internet hooked up and until I wasn't busy. It turns out that the first night that happens is tonight (and this is after pool).

As previously mentioned, I'm now living downtown with a friend from pool. It's an old building split into five apartments (one on each floor, plus two small ones in the basement) but it's spacious and very nice. It's actually a heritage building (over 100 years old). So far Tora and I have been getting along great and I'm really enjoying living here. It's also going to be a lot easier on the old bank account so that's a good thing. There's so much new right now and a lot to write about but I'll save most of it for later. Suffice to say it's been an incredibly busy few weeks with the moving, my parents visiting, and life in general...so I'm tired and I need to get to bed. I'll write again soon though and with me back online at home, I should get back to regular updates in addition to some catch up posting this week.

Friends don't let friends do crackbook

Crackbook (or Facebook as it's more commonly known) is invading my social circles. I had recieved so many tagged photos and invitations to join that I pretty much had to see what all the fuss was about. I'll admit it's pretty adictive but I believe it'll still just be a passing fad. Nevertheless, I'm signed up so you can find me there but I can't promise I'll pay too much attention to it. It will definitely not replace my blog but it may be the only place I put photos up for now (with the exception of the odd one here; it's not like I post many now anyway). Anyway, that's my latest online excursion so why not make it a link of the week: www.facebook.com

So I've been pretty crazy busy. So busy that I totally forgot to write last Thursday. Anyway, the week in a few points:
- Hockey playoffs have started (YAY!!) so I'm watching as much as I can in what little spare time I have. I'm in a few drafts/pools including one that I'm running at work (1st so far).
- Volleyball playoffs started for one of my teams last week (after a bye week for both teams). We won of course and play in the B-final this week and I play in the A-tier semi-final as well this week.
- It was my last poker night at the old place (of course it's not really the old place until I move on Saturday).
- Which brings me to: I'm moving on Saturday so I'm panicking to prepare for that.
- The ski season is officially over now with our sunset party happening last Saturday night (see my facebook album for pictures). A good time was had by all.
- Curling is also over due to summer (though you couldn't tell from the weather we're having). We unfortunately lost a close game for the league championship and lost 8-7 with a miss on the last rock...sucky, but still fun.
- Finally, work; crazy busy and it looks like there may be some overtime in the next few weeks (I know, crazy for a government worker but we need to get some testing done and it's just not working). I don't know where I'll find the time but if it needs to get done, I'll be there. I've also started a new term of French classes (Bloc 4). Hopefully I continue to improve my speaking skills because that's what I need to work on the most. Maybe I'll post in French once just for practice and to change it up a little.

See, I told you I was busy. Now there's other news (like about vacation plans, etc) but I'll save that for a mid-week post or Thursday's update. Have a good week everyone.

The End of the Long Weekend Streak

This is my last long weekend for a while (or maybe only a few weeks). I've had three in a row now so it's going to be hard to get back to work (especially since I had a two day conference last week) but luckily it's still a short week this week. My next term of French classes should also be starting up sometime this week.

So my big Easter dinner yesterday went really well. There was plenty of delicious food (the ham turned out really well) and some excellent company. I kind of wish there were a few more people to share in the bounty with us but on the other hand it was nice just having the 4 people I had over. We played some games, then ate, then played some more games...then ate some more. Good times were had by all (at least that's what I'm assuming). Looks like I'll be eating leftovers for a few days but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Hope everyone else's long weekend went just as well.

The next few weeks promise to be pretty busy and action packed. I've got volleyball playoffs (in both tiers) and curling finals. We also have our pool tournament coming up. And of course, in two weeks I move in with Tora. That should be fun but unfortunately I can't just wave my arms and have all my stuff transport itself downtown. The packing and moving will probably be a pain but hopefully I can coax some volunteers to lend their muscles for an afternoon (beer and pizza are in the offering for any movers). Despite the long weekend, I'm still ready for bed already. Have a good week!

Monday update on Tuesday

Yeah, I'm late a day...so what. I'm still recovering from the weekend. I was out all weekend, mostly at the hockey rink. I did 10 games in 3 days (and only one was on Sunday). And to top it off, I also patrolled on Sunday and curled (we won our last game of the regular season, yay). So yeah, I'm a little tired and I have a wicked headache. So yeah, this post is short and late but I'm just too tired and beat up to worry about it. Don't get me wrong though, I did enjoy most of the weekend, it's just the after effects that I don't like. Hope everyone's weekend went well too.

Here's the link of the week. Quick little video clip from MADTV with some Mac and political humor rolled into one: http://www.glumbert.com/media/irack

Quiet St. Patty's Day Weekend

Well, as shocking as it may sound, I didn't make it out anywhere for St. Patrick's Day this year. While everyone was out drinking and having a good time, I stayed home, watched the hockey game and went to bed. Not overly exciting but I was feeling tired and had to ski the next morning so it just didn't seem like a good idea to go out. Yesterday at the ski hill was also the Snow Snake Day. It's just a bunch of activities at the hill as almost a wrap up party (just in case the snow doesn't last much longer, which it won't). The day culminates with the water skimming competition. Basically, skiers and snowboarders trying to work up enough speed from the last pitch of the main hill to skim across a pool of water 100 ft long and about 15 ft wide. It was quite amusing to watch but unfortunately I didn't catch the final few runs because a girl broke her arm and since I wasn't helping around the pool, I got to go with Ali and deal with the broken arm instead of watching the people faceplant into the icy cold water. Good fun though (not the broken arm, the water skimming).

So you like StarWars, well, the links of the week are a couple of funny/neat videos that these two guys put together of them having lightsaber fights. They're both quite well done. Enjoy!
Ryan Vs. Dorkman
Ryan Vs. Dorkman2

Curling Thievery

So we won another curling match (that's two back to back for those that are counting)! It all started with an end with a 3-point steal. Then we stole 2 the next end. Then stole one, and another. After 4 ends we were already ahead 7-0. Then they managed to get a couple and steal a few in the 6th (and last) end but we already had built up that insurmountable lead. Yay for us. I didn't shoot particularly well but I made a couple nice draws and a really important raise of one of our guards in the first couple ends to ensure the robbery that went on. Points were being stolen all over the place.

Other than curling I was, as aforementioned, crazy busy. I skied both Saturday and Sunday. Saturday ended up being a bit of a crap shoot since it rained in the morning and was kind of crummy but there were a lot of patrollers up and we had a pot luck at night (cabane a sucre, or sugar shack to us English folk, themed). I made a cake that was less than stellar but still quite edible. Sunday however, was very nice. Even though I was on race patrol for most of the day, it was a beautiful day to be outside so I didn't mind. Then after curling yesterday, I went over to Wei's for a Chinese fondue. It was a deliciously good time.

Well, I'm still burnt out from the weekend and the time change so I'm heading to bed. Hopefully I don't sleep in past the start of French class tomorrow. Oh, and here's the link(s) of the week, in keeping with the skiing theme from the weekend:

Mont Cascades
Canadian Ski Patrol System (Gatineau Zone)

Not much to report

It was a nice quiet weekend with only one reffing game, curling, and then volleyball tonight. The only other thing of consequence I did was pick up Anne-Marie and Jay from the airport (which took a good 2 hour wait for the late arrival and customs). At least we had a good sushi dinner afterwards. On another note (that I wasn't going to bring up yet but I may as well), I put in my 60 days' notice to leave my apartment. It's a good apartment; quiet, beautiful view, relatively spacious; but it's a little more expensive than I'd like and it was unbearably hot last summer and I'd rather not go through that again. Right now I'm looking at a few alternatives, one which involves moving in with a friend from pool who just bought her own place downtown in the fall. She'd like to save some money and thought of getting a roommate. I'm not totally committed to the idea yet but it has its upsides. You'll probably hear more about this as it goes on. I should be in a new place of somekind (maybe even a cardboard box) by May 1st. If anyone in Ottawa has any other suggestions on where to move, let me know.

Link of the week this week is a funny site but it has a little more crude humor than some readers can stand. If you like the stupid stuff, check out Pointless Waste of Time (PWOT). In particular, if you like video games, check out their latest article, "The 12 Awesomest Games of 2010". Also look at the daily "Craption" contest where you can submit funny quotes to wierd pictures. Good stuff. Until Thursday (barring some exciting event in the next 2 days).

Trade deadline day

Before I start rambling on about hockey, let me sum up my weekend. I am super tired and I think this weekend I actually burned most of the extra calories that I ate (read: drank) when Dean was here. I reffed 3 games on Friday after a week of little to no sleep so I was already burned out Friday night at 10 and the weekend hadn't even really started yet. All Saturday I was on the hill patrolling. It was a busy day with lots of work to do so I had quite the workout. My only desire was to crash and sleep on Saturday night but instead I went over to Mike Kim's and played some poker. Good times but I ended up losing. Then I got up early again on Sunday to head back to the hill to patrol for a race we were hosting there. Luckily, because I was only really on race patrol, I was able to go home at 2:00 after the race was done. I came home and crashed for a few hours before I "finished the war", ie. finished passing Call of Duty 3 on the Wii. Lots of fun but a little too short for me to consider buying the game for what it's selling for now. That's pretty much my weekend and today was a normal Monday topped off with a mediocre pool performance.

Okay, so as you hockey fans would know, tomorrow is trade deadline day in the NHL. I thought I'd weigh in on a few things before they happen. First of all, you should know that I love this time of year. All the speculation, all the drama, all the deadline deals and deciding on who improved their team the most. So I don't think too many big blockbusters will go down this year but hopefully the Oilers can pick up a top 4 defenseman and make a good run at the playoffs. More importantly though, hopefully K-Lowe signs Ryan Smyth. I don't think the Oiler faithful (including me) could really forgive him if he lets Smitty go. Just pay the man, you know he's worth every penny, and he bleeds blue and orange (I refuse to buy into the blue and copper scheme). For you trade deadline coverage and all rumors/speculation hockey related, there are several links of the week...check them out:
www.nhl.com
www.hockeybuzz.com
www.spectorshockey.net
www.hockeytraderumors.com
TSN's Trade Centre
TSN's Trade List

Enjoy the madness. Who knows, I might jump on tomorrow and post my thoughts if something big or contraversial comes up.

Ah, I missed one already

So only a few weeks into my regular updates and I already missed one...but I have a good excuse, honest. Dean is here visiting and arrived last Thursday. I was busy cleaning and recovering from a stick to the head that I took on Wednesday night's hockey game. Then it was time to visit with Dean and WIN again at poker (I actually took almost all of everyone's money). I never really had time to post. Anyway, it's been a good visit with Dean so far, I'll summarize it more this Thursday after he has left. We're going to the Sens/Oilers game tomorrow night so I'm pumped for that. The Oilers really need to win. Hopefully we bring them some good luck.

If you're bored sometime and you want a tough puzzle to work on, check out the Funny Farm. It's an interesting word game with naming things that are related (kind of like degrees of separation). Warning though, it's addictive and tough.

Who says volleyball isn't a workout?

So tonight was filled with volleyball. I played with my Statcan A-tier team from 5-7 and then with my Statcan B-tier team from 7-9. Boy am I exhausted. My legs felt like Jello and it required tremendous effort to walk sometime around 7:40 (second game of the second match). At least I caught a second wind which was enough to keep me going until I got home and could collapse on the couch. And since I am so tired and I just finished making some of my "famous" butterscotch/peanut butter squares for the bake sale at work tomorrow, I'm going to bed.

The day after Super Sunday

Well, I just got home from pool so that means it's time for the Monday update (ha, and I'll be some of you thought I'd already let it slide). This weekend was, of course, the Superbowl. Now I'm not a huge fan of the NFL but I do watch the odd game from time to time and I'm all for getting together to watch sporting events. Luckily Andrew was kind enough to invite a bunch of us over to watch it; a good time was had by all (except the Chicago Bears).

Before the party yesterday I was at curling. We lost again but I felt some improvements near the end. My sense of weight is still horrible and I seem to throw too hard often but when we finished 10 minutes early (not enough time for another end) I decided to practice by throwing all 16 rocks back to the start. That helped me get a better sense but if any of you curlers out there have a way for me to better judge my weight when I'm throwing, I'm all ears.

Well, that's it for now, I'm heading to bed so I can get up in time for French tomorrow. Enjoy your week.

Let the regular updates...begin

Okay, so I'm going to try this for a while. Updates on Mondays and Thursdays...even if it's just a short post, or a link of the week posting, or just a weather report or a sports update. We'll see how long I can keep that up. Onto my first Monday update...

Today I started my first rotation of three as a recruit at Statistics Canada. Though I've already been working there for over a year and I officially got my CS-01 classification just before Christmas, the first official rotational position started today. These rotations are 8 month terms in different divisions within the department so you get exposure to different styles of management and different aspects of Stats Can. I'm of course starting in the division that I did my internship in and brought me back for the last year, Tax Data. I like the people I work with and I don't mind the work I do. It's been a pretty good environment to work in. That being said, it'll also be good to get out in 8 months and see a new position where I should learn new things and meet new people.

Well, that's it for work. Not much other than the normal schedule going on outside work right now...except for that I finished Zelda for Wii. Wow, what a game. I think I might just start over and do it from the beginning again...after I find all the extra stuff I missed before I went through the final dungeon/castle. So much fun and such a good story. It sucks you in and has such deep content and such a vast world that you can just run around doing small tasks and spend hours without getting bored. Well, I'm off to bed now that Hyrule (the kingdom in the game) is safe again...for now.