Palmer's World

When I worked at Woolco, there was a manager there who was an avid golfer so for awhile I hinted that my uncle Arnold would be showing up in Kap to play a round of golf. He was ecstatic until a week later we told him it was a joke.

This weekend I'm heading out to the Gaspe golf tournament. Every year, this event brings the people from Gaspe into a common terrain to socialize and play a round of golf.

Let's be honest here...I haven't played a game of golf in my life. I went to the driving range once in the past 5 years (twice if you count last night) so I'm not expecting I will do that well. However, everyone has assured me that it doesn't matter if you can play well. Which makes me think that there's something a little more to this tournament - it's not about the game, it's about the good times.

Last night Eric and I went out to the driving range in Orleans which was good times. We were hitting them pretty good for the first 15 minutes and after that the humidity has sapped our strength. They don't just give out humidex warnings lightly. Luckily, Eric and Annie purchased a sno-cone machine and we made a few when we got back to his place.

I can say that I was doing decent in the driving the ball part, but sucked when it came to hitting it with the iron. It may also have to do with the lack of coordination due to the heat.

I also went biking last night after work. Now that I can't bike into work from Orleans (too far), I've decided to make it a point of biking for an hour every day after work (pending rain of course).

It was a decent ride but I was disappointed to find that there are no paved trails along the river like they have in the west end of Ottawa. It's all gravel which wasn't the best to travel on. I can proudly say that I made it up Trim Road hill alive which was an accomplishement on its own. ;-) Tonight is supposed to be 40 degrees with the humidity so I am happy that I have class to go to and not have to go biking.

http://www.gamedaily.com/Specials/Mario-Through-the-Years/?page=1

26 years? Whoa.

Imagine a picture of Bono with a mullet here. Philipp loves Bono with the mullet. Did Germans ever grow a mullet? Or was that North American tradition back in the day?

Anyhow, Vero cut my hair yesterday during the beautiful day yesterday. I dig it, but she thinks that it may grow into a mullet in a few weeks so she wants to do a touchup.

I say NAY! If I'm going to grow a mullet, I say grow for it! This will be a good segueway into the moustache that I must grow for Katie's cottage. Considering the amount of facial hair that comes my way, I figure I should start growing the moustache around Canada Day to be ready for the August long weekend. I hope they have some amazing challenges lined up for the moustache-off.

In other news, as I have grown older, I have not cared to bend over all day long with a sponge to wash my car. Last year at Rob's, he introduced me to an amazing invention - a scrub brush with a handle. I'm sure everyone in the world has one and is laughing at me right now, but I had never had one. So I picked one up yesterday at Wal-Mart and I am loving washing my car again! No more bending over...just scrub a little with the brush and you are gold. Or, the car is.

You know, while I'm just speaking about things randomly, can I just say that corn is amazing? Vero and I bought corn for the last two days and it's amazingly cheap and filling. Granted, an hour later, I think your body has processed whatever it can and then you're hungry again. But for 50 cents, I can get two corn and be full off of it. You cannot go wrong. In fact, I'm going to start a street vendor shop that sells corn.

Vero ended up buying Beauty and the Beast at the garage sale so we ended up watching it last night.

I haven't watched a Disney movie in ages so was pleasantly surprised at how good it was, although I had forgotten the crucial part of any Disney movie - the singing.

It was funny to see Vero watch it because she had only seen it in French so the words to the songs had changed.

All in all, one thumb up, only because we all know Aladdin is THE Disney movie of all time.

The Glebe Garage Sale has come and went...was I impressed?

Well the sale itself is always impressive. I'm not very impressed with my purchases each year - Benoit seems to get crazy good deals out of thin air.

But, I succeeded in purchasing the one item I wanted. A weed wacker.

Oddly enough, when we went to pick up Eric and Annie, there was a garage sale going on across the street and when we got there I heard the owner and a woman talking about three weed wackers sitting right there.

Owner: Yeah, we just don't want them anymore. I think some of them work, one has a problem with the choke. I'll sell them each for $1.
Myself (thinking): Dang, of all the times to show up, I'm losing out on a $1 weed wacker.

I look over at Mike and his eyes are saying something to me.
Myself (to purchaser): Lady, I'll give you $2 for one of them. I just want the electric one, not the gas powered one.
Purchaser: Oh, I'm not buying the electric one at all.

That's how I bought an electric weed wacker for $1. It doesn't have the spool on the end, but no big deal. It still works. Mike ended up finding one with a spool on the end at the Glebe so we will see if it works.

I loved how I didn't even have to leave Orleans to find what I was looking for. So, in the end, I purchased a James Bond book and a book about Souvenirs of Canada. Not too bad.

Total money spent:
$1 - weed wacker
$2 - Souvenirs of Canada book
$0.25 - James Bond book
$4 - sausage from street vendor.

Puts things into perspective really.

First off, there will be no spoilers in this post, however, I will be expressing general sentiments towards which seasons I liked better and GENERAL reasons why. For example, I may say something like "I liked Season X more because they introduced some better characters". I won't list the characters or anything.

So if you don't think you could handle that, then don't bother reading this entry.

----
5 years later, Alias is over and what do I think?
Not bad.

Alias follows the life of spies, specifically Sidney Bristow who is spy trying to juggle her real life at the same time - so you have a bunch of "Oh, where were you last night Sidney?" and she says "Oh, working on a term paper." while in reality she was kicking some ass in Munich. The story revolves around conspiracies, family life and an ancient 15th century inventor: Milo Rambaldi. (think Da Vinci.)

So, the first three seasons were top notch. Top, top, top TV viewing notch. It was awesome. Cliffhangers abound. Made by our favourite JJ Abrams.

But then Season 4 came along and added a new storyline (along with the old) and it was meh. They redeemed it near the end of the season when they went back to the old storyline for awhile.

Then Season 5 started off just as bad as Season 4 with new characters. Plus, Sidney was pregnant considering her real-life alter ego Jennifer Garner was pregnant. I'm not saying pregnant ladies aren't cool, but when they are kick ass spies, sometimes it takes away from the storyline.

Then, mid-way through Season 5, there was a decision to end the show so the Season started closing out the story we've been following for years which was great. I wouldn't say the finale of the series disappointed me, but it wasn't awe-inspiringly good either. Wait, that's not right. Let's just say that the finale kicked bigtime, but there are still unresolved plotlines. So that took away from it. Whereas, if you take a finale like...Star Trek: The Next Generation, that was an amazing finale. But at the same time, they knew there would be other stories via the movies.

All in all, Alias has been one of the best television series I have ever seen. Even though I thought Seasons 4 & 5 were sub-par, I believe the entire series was top notch and I would recommend it to everyone.

Granted, Lost has now replaced Alias in my books as 'must-download TV', but hey, that's what you get when you focus your energies on a new show instead of the last two seasons of Alias.

FYI: JJ Abrams is creating a new show this fall called The Nine where nine lives are intertwined without them knowing it. Sounds like classic Lost material, but based in New York.

In reference to the American Idol finale (and no, I don't watch this show, never have.)

Singer Billie Joe Armstrong: "I don't know, but I had an idea. I think how America votes on 'American Idol,' the next presidential election they should vote in the same way and have a massive TV show that's once a week that keeps you updated. ... The new way of voting. Screw singers. Let's go for the politicians this time."
Drummer Tre Cool: "That's a good idea, Billie. And for 50 cents a pop, all those calls could pay for all the campaigning."

Honestly, the best thought that's come out in awhile.

If you value your friendship with me, do NOT tell me how Alias ended. I just found out the series ended last night, unbeknownst to me.

"Are they built for speed or built for comfort?"

Classic.

Watch this movie. It is amazing.

If the weather was anything like it was in Ottawa this past weekend, I am sorry.

Vero, Mike and I decided to go up to Matt's cottage regardless of the rain because the long weekend fever hit us hard on Friday.

Surprisingly, it had not been raining at all up there so that was a welcome change. We sat by the campfire for the remainder of the night and much hilarity ensued until 4:00 AM. It's funny how time works...one moment you notice that time is moving slowly, then the next, you lose track of 4 hours. Whoa.

The next morning, we awoke to someone shooting paintballs at the cottage and someone mowing their lawn in the middle of the rain. Odd. The paintballers were especially odd as we never found out who they were.

Shannon and Adam were heading out to paintball for their bachelor party but it got cancelled unfortunately, due to the rain. We all met for some breakfast in a Population: 40 people town which was nice. It was good to see Adam again as it has been a few years. I like how some friends can just go back to being how they were together without a care in the world.

A slew of us ended up going to the bowling lane in Smiths Falls which ended up being a vintage, vintage joint. I asked the 90-year old shoe guy if the shoes I was getting for the day were used by the bowlers who bowled 450. He said something like "You only wish Sonny!". We had a good laugh.

Smelly old cloths and some serious mid-game resets aside, it was fun times.

After that, Alex, Mike and I returned to the cottage to cook up some sausages and then we packed the car and left. It is unfortunate that it was raining...it really puts a damper on the weekend.

That night, Mike and I headed out for some bachelor party debauchery which included a hand of poker in which I split the pot at the end with Dave as it was getting late. Nothing wrong with money in my pocket.

All in all, I thought it was hilarious how we packed up the car so much that we could have lived out of it for a week, but ended up staying there for one day. The same thing happened last year also. Really bad weather. But, Matt is a gracious host and I thank him for having us up.

Ah, victim of the hype.

My friends went to see this last year in the fall and said it was a very scary movie.

I love scary movies. Finally, I picked this up for $8 in the bargain bin at Blockbuster.

Trish, Eric, Vero and Mike assembled to have their socks blown off by this fright show.

Was it super scary? NAH! It had its moments but I was thinking a full out creepfest.

Was it a good movie? Sure it was! I enjoyed it. I wouldn't say it's a must-own but it was interesting to think that its based on a true story of exorcism. You don't really see that around these parts that often.

I especially liked how the exorcism moved from the bedroom (ala The Exorcist) to the barn. I thought it was a wink and nod that they started out the bedroom scene for Exorcist fans.

I'll give this 1 1/2 thumbs up for the sole fact that my friends hyped it too much. Much like how I hyped up MI:3 and Mike and Melissa didn't think it was the greatest.

Oh, I almost forgot...I woke up this morning to Running with the Devil by Van Halen. Nice touch after watching this movie.

In lieu of most of the world (or in Canada) ending on May 25, drink a lot of beer this weekend.

http://www.savelivesinmay.com/

Oh, blogger, you finally work. Two days later this photo is able to upload.

Samantha (Mike's sister) came into town for a few days as she was in Montreal for a business trip. Seeing that Our Lady Peace was in town, they decided to pick up some tickets. I mentioned to them that I didn't feel like going as I had already seen them this year, but mentioned that they should wait until the last day tickets are on sale because they usually open up more floor seats after measuring the stage.

So, that's what they do...pick up a few floor tickets for themselves and head off. Keep in mind that they are not entirely excited about this ordeal as they have no idea where their seats are. When I checked them out online, I noticed they were in Section .B, and not B which I took as probably some extra space they opened up in behind Section B. Only makes sense.

So, they get to the Scotiabank Place, find section B (or .B turns out there was no difference) and proceed further, further, closer, closer to the stage until they get to three rows in front of the stage!

AS IF.

They said the concert was great...I read somewhere that Matt and Jen went to the concert randomly also.

So, they are in the Ottawa Sun article since Raine Maida invited the press staff to take pictures of the audience instead of the band. So, there you have it. Mike and Sam, inside the Ottawa Sun. I am jealous, but super happy at the same time that they had this opportunity. That's so wild.

iplaying: Not For You (Boston 8-30-2000) - Pearl Jam

This is the second day in a row that I cannot get any sleep at night. Everyone has those days where they can't sleep, but two in a row isn't fair. Maybe it's somehow connected to the rain in the city. I feel like a zombie...

PERFECT segueway into my posting about zombies. If anyone is interested in getting made up into a zombie for a commercial which is filming this weekend in Ottawa, I suggest you get in contact with Vero. One of her cohorts in crime is organizing this shindig which should be fun. If you call working 7 - 5:30 at night fun. Personally, I can't think of a better thing to do on the long weekend, can you?

Speaking of the long weekend, pending rain, I should be heading out to Matt's cottage for a bit and also out to Adam and Shannon's bachelor party. That's right ladies, these men are getting hitched so it's your last chance to convince them to be with you instead of their wives-to-be.

I did an interview with Vero for the Youth.gc.ca website if you would like to a look.

CLICK ME !

To whom it may concern,

On Friday, May 12, 2005 there was a message on my home phone from HMV indicating that my pre-ordered copy of the new Red Hot Chili Peppers album; Stadium Arcadium, was put aside for me at the Merivale Road location (located at Merivale Place 1651 Merivale Road (613) 226 9190 in Ottawa, Ontario) where I had placed the pre-order.

Excited that the weekend had arrived and I finally had time to pick it up, I left my house in xxxxxx, xxx (hey, you don't know what kind freaks are out here in the world reading my blog!) to drive out to the location.

After driving the 30 kilometers to the store, with my pre-order confirmation voucher in hand, I went to the front cash to show them my voucher and ask for the album. After a few minutes of the cashier looking in cupboards and out on the floor and speaking on the phone with an unidentified person (whom I can only assume would be a supervisor on duty?), he informed me that they did not have a copy for me and was very sorry.

Working in the retail industry myself at one point in my life, I chose not to express my frustration with the cashier who had no control over the situation. I politely asked if they could arrange for me to pick up the album in the xxxx,xxxx location since I did not wish to drive for 30 kilometres again in fear that the store would once again not have the album. I was impressed with the fact that they arranged it so I could pick it up at the other store even though the pre-order voucher indicated that this would not be possible.

I would like to question how a store could go ahead and call people indicating that a copy of an album is now at the store and ready for pickup, and then not have it. I understand that the pre-order voucher does not indicate that a copy would be placed aside for the purchaser, however, considering the phone call I received which indicated so, one would think there actually would be, especially considering I had driven out to the location within 24 hours of the phone call.

You may be asking why I had chosen to make the pre-order at the Merivale Road location in the first place considering it was 30 kilometres away from my house. I was picking up a DVD which was on sale and the only store in the area that had it left in stock was the Merivale Road location and at the time I noticed the pre-order deal for the new RHCP album and signed up. Unfortunately, I didn't notice until later that the voucher indicated that I had to buy it at that location and not at any HMV location.

I would ask two things:

• Have someone explain to me (in writing) why this error occurred
• Reconsider the policy on needing to pick up a pre-order in the same location that you placed it. It was easily done in my case as an exception, so why not do it for all who take part in the pre-orders?

I must say that I am not impressed with HMV at the moment and that I will be spreading my distaste amongst my other friends who are known to frequent HMV stores. Hopefully my comments to my friends can be positive after hearing from you.

Please note that I am sending this same letter to both the head office in Etobicoke, Ontario and to the Merivale Road location in Ottawa.

Thank you,

The Palmer

***and there you have it. I wonder what kind of response I will get. To all those who have ever been snubbed by stores - write to them! I am kicking myself for never writing sooner to Home Depot about my paint issues last fall...it's probably too late to do anything. On the other hand, it doesn't hurt to try, right?***

It's a Radiohead day today.

In the movie news, all you hear about is how Mission Impossible 3 is not bringing in the big bucks it was planning to.

I find this disappointing considering I wasn't disappointed with this movie. This reminds me of another flop - The Island. I never heard anything about this movie other than the fact that it didn't do too well...and it was a killer flick.

Speaking about killer flicks...methinks Tom killed this one on his own. Unfortunately, the line between actor (in a movie) and actor (in real life) is connected and that's probably what drove people not to go see MI3.

Can you blame them? Unsure at this point. It is a movie after all, so it's not like he's going to be harping about his religion in the movie (unless THE RABBIT'S FOOT is some Scientology device that none of us know about! I hope my faithful Scientologist contingent answer my question) so no one should be scared of the movie from that point.

But, I suppose it could be that people just didn't like the previous movies. John Woo movies are a love/hate thing - I personally love them.

Anyhow, to Tom, some sage advice. There's three things that you just don't talk about in public - that's finances, religion, and how your girlfriend can beat you up.

It's Pearl Jam fever time right about now...new album was released last week....they just kicked off their WORLD TOUR in Toronto for the first night last night (next show is tonight!)...and there are rumours that this will be the last tour (which is pretty silly if you ask me. They are judging that from a quote from one of the guitarist saying they are getting pretty old and they'll have to stop touring soon. Come on. It's Pearl Jam. No one stops touring. Except the Beatles. And that was due to the PA System.)

Anyhow, when I saw Pearl Jam in Ottawa last year, I didn't manage to snag a tour poster which disappointed me. Pearl Jam do the old school thing where there is a different tour poster for each date they play - harkening back to the days where all bands did that. It's like...they had their own personal artist or something.

Anyhow, I've been scouring the Internet for someone selling it and VOILA! Yesterday it went on sale on Ebay from some guy in Hawkesbury. Awesome. Hopefully I will get it. Will know in a week since the bidding will go until then. I will also see if I can save the shipping costs by either hitting up my good man super_ap who's father lives out near that way or else I will make a road trip myself. But we'll see how the bidding war goes!

iplaying: Thin Air: Pearl Jam

Before I start on a spiel about summer, take note that the new Mac laptops are rumoured to be announced today. If you ever wanted to get me something, now is the time.

Yesterday, I figured out all my holidays and whatnot...I don't think I'll be taking massive time off...just days here and there.

One of those events is the infamous Kapuskasing Lumberjack Festival. Information may be found here.

If anyone is interested in coming up for the Festival (running July 27-30), come on up!

As it stands, I have a feeling there will be NO room in my vehicle so there will have to be coordination on that end. I have heard that Joelle will be up there and most likely be able to bring people back down.

Just checking out some formatting error that Guylaine mentioned. Heck, while I'm at it, why don't I speak a little about a Sam Roberts concert coming up for Bluesfest. Buy some tix people! No disappointments!

I am also trying to score some FLOOR tickets for tonight's Strokes concert. Contact me if you have the connections I need.

Yesterday, we went to see M:I 3, although we didn't manage to hook up with Alex since he was working on something. Sorry buddy!

MI 3 follows our favourite Ethan Hunt, spy extraordinaire on the IMF (Impossible Mission Force) where he has retired from the mission life and is now an in-house trainer. Until something goes wrong and he's brought back into duty.

Hey, let's be honest. I can't say we've never watched a spy film with this premise before. ;-)

Anyhow, I was anticipating an excellent movie from the fact that JJ Abrams was helming it and...

I was not disappointed!

We all enjoyed the flick. Excellent action, excellent STORY, and the villain was one of those villains who you don't want your kids to be around. They're scary.

And for all the wackiness which is Tom Cruise, I will be the first to admit that he puts on a good film. I've never been disappointed and I wasn't with this film either.

Go check it out for a solid showing of impossible missions, which, in the end, aren't that impossible. Now why don't they actually just show a bunch of missions whom no one can actually complete, hence, an impossible mission scenario?

While we're at it, where the heck is the mention of the baby swimming for the cashola on a hook in the Nevermind album?

Let's talk about This Desert Life by Counting Crows. I'm pretty sure (but I have to go back and listen to it FULLY) there is no songs or lyrics pertaining to a man with a fishbowl for a head. Wait a second...nevermind I found it: "Oh why, oh why, do I have a fishbowl for a head, you may as well call me Bert.". Wow, that's a really deep lyric.

As for the U2 album...do I even need to continue? Ferda has clearly demonstrated that some album covers DO misrepresent what is contained inside. I, for one, was pretty disappointed when I purchased the U2 album and there no mention of bisons kicking each other's asses.

Have we uncovered something?

In a world where we are what we buy (oh there comes my Theories of Communications class), here's a little taste of things that have piqued my interest in the last while.

Pearl Jam - Pearl Jam: The new self-titled album is good. Pick it up.

Tool - 10,000 Days - Wow. The first Tool album where I can say that it's not as good as the last one. Still a worthy buy, but meh. It feels like a watered down Lateralus (that's their last album for people who are saying "Whaaa?")
Grey's Anatomy (TV Show): Mike got me into this show. I'm diggging it. I lost interest in ER a few years back so this is my replacement. Also, House is good also.

Alias: Oh man, Alias is getting good towards the series end. Watch it now!

BBQ Sausages: We're not talking about Johnsonville here people...go to the butcher counter to buy your sausages from now on. It only cost me an extra $1.58. That's what I will now refer to as "The Price of Happiness".

On turning 30 years old: Alright, I cannot really review this topic, but a few of my friends are turning 30 this week and they are distressed. Being of 27 in age, I feel this is silly. But maybe in 3 years I'll be eating my words when I start to lose my mental stability.

What can I say about turning 30? Well...I know that society seems to have put this magic number of 30 as the number in which 'if you haven't got it all together, you're screwed'. Let's go take a trip down the hall of greeting cards for a moment. Oh, there it is! If a greeting card has your age on it, you know it must be important somehow. I predict in 15 years, the greeting card industry will have covered off every number from 1 - 100.

What else can I say about turning 30? Well, I know that nowadays, my generation seems to put more emphasis on putting off responsibility in the form of settling down. More and more people stay in school longer and longer. Or they choose to travel a little more while they are young (aka before the age of 99 years of age where it's nearly impossible to board the plane with your walker.)

I applaud this new extended way of living life. Yay! These are great times people!

So, I will agree that a generation ago, by 30 years old, you should have a mate by 20 years old, 7 kids by the age of 25 and were on the way to your retirement.

But we're living in the new world here people. 30 is like being the old 23. Chances are, you're going to live until you're 80. That means that you still have more than enough time to do whatever it is you want to do.

And if you can't even figure out what it is that you want to do, don't worry about that either. No one ever said we all have to have it figured out. Heck, I don't even know. Just because I own a house doesn't mean anything. It means I have a place to sleep at night. That's it, that's all.

What's my main message today? Whatever your age, go out and have a beer on a patio today. That's what I've been trying to say all along.

Diving into ANOTHER George R.R. Martin novel was too much for my senses so I placed a bookmark in it and will leave it for an extended period of time. Although it bugs me that I haven't finished it.

So what should I move onto after I get tired of a book? The ever faithful Star Wars series! However, I first read The End of Eternity which was a super good book. Thanks to Eric for recommending it.

Anyhow...let's recap the whole Star Wars novel phenomenon - particularly The New Jedi Order series.

Star Wars novels (or the ones that came out in the past decade) are based after Return of the Jedi. So it's just a continuation of the people you all love in various situations vs. the Empire (or what's left of it) or random warlords that come around to wreak havoc.

So, someone had the brilliant idea to make this massive 25 book storyline that involved a new alien species that comes into attack our friends in the galaxy. A bunch of authors got in on this and contributed to the 25 book monstrosity.

Around the time this started (circa 2000), I finally gave up on the Star Wars novels because that was all I was reading. I moved onto other readings. Off and on, I've come back to Star Wars but have been hesistant to tackle The New Jedi Order. I had read Books 1 and 2 in the series and found them very boring.

So, what did I do? Well, I re-read book 1 which was still kind of boring but then skipped to Book 4.

Hero's Trial is a great novel focussing in on our favourite nerf-herder Han Solo. It follows Han on a solo mission as well as a quest to find his soul after events that happened in Book 1 of the series (which are insanely rocking events). I'm sure if you really wanted to find out what happens, you can just google VECTOR PRIME. That's the book's name.

Anyhow, I enjoyed the book immensely and it did a really interesting job of bringing in characters that you don't usually see - like Bossk the bounty hunter. I am hoping the rest of the series is more like this and I now have renewed strength in reading the entire series.

So, if you like a good Star Wars novel, take a look at Hero's Trial for a good Han Solo story. The book stands alone well as you don't really need to know what happened before other than the fact that there is a new enemy on the frontlines.

In what is probably the biggest news of today (other than my bus fiasco), Lucasfilm is releasing the original versions of Star Wars on DVD this September for a limited time.

Man, this has been a long time coming.

Something tells me you'll be hearing about this everywhere from Entertainment Tonight, to CNN, to the Northern Times.

6:04 AM - Wake up to the sound of Mike going to the washroom. Man, I would be livid if my body woke me up before my usual 6:45 AM wake time to go to the washroom.

6:10 AM - My alarm goes off.

6:11 - 6:45 - I do my regular thing. Get into the car.

6:46 AM - Decide to take Mike's advice and drive all the way to Place D'Orleans' park and ride instead of the Trim Road one.

6:58 AM - Get to the Park and Ride. Park the car. Notice that AChannel and Majic100 are here giving out T-Shirts and coffee mugs. I promptly ignore them to go look at the bus schedule.

7:02 AM - Am waiting for the 7:05 bus which awesomely enough will be bring me right to work's door. No transfers for me! Driving to Place D'Orleans has its perks!

7:02:30 AM - Realize I forgot my bus pass along with my security pass at home.

7:04 AM - Back on the road back home. Grumbling all the way since I'm 4 kms away from home as opposed to the 1 km I usually am if I went to the other Park and Ride.

7:15 AM - Get back to the house, grab the pass, get back on the road. Please keep in mind that I'm usually at work at 7:30 AM.

7:16 AM - Realize that traffic is just plain dumb if I take the highway so I decide to take the side streets there. Surprisingly enough, no traffic encountered. As Ted 'Theodore' Logan would say "Excellent!"

7:25 AM - Get back to the Park and Ride at Place D'Orleans.

7:28 AM - Get onto the packed bus which coincidentally does NOT have an empty seat for my ride downtown. Automatic deduction in Mike's theory of driving to Place D'Orleans. I was trying to explain to him why I didn't go to Place D'Orleans to take the bus and I couldn't put my finger on the reason. This was the reason! Everytime I go there I had to stand up on the bus, whereas if I go to Trim Road, it's the first stop on the line so I have the pick of the litter in terms of bus seats.

8:00 AM - I get to work. Now I have to stay until 4:00 which in itself is not too bad considering I have class tonight anyhow so I have to kill some time.

Oddly enough, I have discovered the following facts that actually made the trip worthwhile:

• If I take the 95x bus from Trim Road, it takes me usually between 45-50 minutes.
• Even though I had to stand up on the 27 bus from Place D'Orleans, it managed to only take 30 minutes to get to my work. That was a surprise.
• Usually, the 27 bus is a double decker long bus so they would have room.

Verdict: I'll give the Place D'Orleans one a shot again. I can't hold the forgetting of the bus pass against Mike. I can hold the fact that I had to stand up on the bus against him. But that was at 7:30 in the morning. Perhaps if my original plan went through and I got on around 7:00, there would have been a seat.

Plus, when I get to the mall, I can just get into my car and drive home. Sometimes I have to wait for the 95x to bring me home which can take up to 15 minutes. Sure, I may use a little extra gas and mileage but the difference is 6 kms a day. Sure that adds up, but at some point you have to find a balance between environment and convenience. Ha! I'm laughing at that statement considering the environment posting below which is all about being inconvenient but necessary. This morning, I am a walking contradiction.

The metal Gods doth shine on thee.

http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=51111

Courtesy of Duffman.

http://www.vanityfair.com/features/general/articles/060417fege09

Please take the 10 minutes and read this article on 50 ways you can help the environment (and yourselves!)

I challenge all my faithful readers to do 15 of the things on the list at a minimum. It may be a pain at first, but it will become second nature in time.

Case in point - When I was younger, I used to let the water run while brushing my teeth. Then I heard that that's a waste of energy. It took some getting used to, but it's now second nature to me to reach for the tap to turn it off while I brush my teeth.

• If you haven't picked up the new Tool album do so just for the album packaging. I've never seen anything like it.
• Also, pick up the new Pearl Jam album.
• I read Isaac Asimov's The End of Eternity. It was amazing. My first foray into Asimov was not a disappointment.
• I biked down Trim Road towards Navan on Monday. It was fraught full of traffic and smells of manure from the farm. Something tells me I should head towards the Ottawa River next time.
• Alias is back on TV and it's getting good. Too bad it always gets good near the end of the season and then is kaput. This time around, it's really gone as in the series is ending.
• Mission Impossible III is out...tomorrow? Sometime this week...I will definitely want to go see it for the sole reason that J.J. Abrams (of Alias and Lost fame) is helming this one.
• I started my new class last night - Theories of Communications. My professor's name is Doctor Strangelove, and yes, he changed his name to that. I think I will enjoy his class as he seems to have an unorthodox style of teaching in him considering I entered the class and he was playing a music video for Alice Cooper - Poison and then through on a Rammstein DVD. Then he was talking about how we'll take a look at some cartoons like Spongebob Squarepants and talk about Anti-Americanism in the world. It's two nights a week for 6 weeks so that will be rough, but I don't think I will be bored. The classroom setup blows though.
• I got an A- in my English class. Why didn't I get marks like that when I actually went to school?
• The Canadian dollar is at an all time high. Is it time to make a trip across the border to buy some merchandise before we need barcodes tattooed to our skin to get across?
• I had to kill some ants sprouting up around my house yesterday. I bought some powder to do the trick. This morning I saw a few roaming around. Don't know if that's a bad sign or not.