Where to start, where to start ... the trip went off almost without a hitch. But between the reunion fun, the very very very long drive and the studying I had to do for the exam I had yesterday, I didn't get much sleep. So in true kevo style, I will give you the highlights of the weekend in snazzy bullet-time:
- I've found the secret to surviving long car rides - leave before your body thinks it is suppose to be awake. By 9:00 on friday, my usual waking time, we were already four hours into the twelve hour trip. Made it much more barable. Also, speed like you've never sped before.
- It is Murphey's Law that whenever we plan to go hiking, it is gorgeous when we start our trip to the hiking site, but clouds over about halfway up the hike. Then when we finish the hike, the sun comes streaming out again.
- We got buzzed by an airplane at the top of the mountain. We were almost close enough to see the pilot.
- I am the new horseshoe champion of my extended family. The challenge has already gone out for my blood at the next reunion in two years. Too bad there aren't many horeshoe pits around here for me to practice. Although it was only my second time playing anyway.
- If there are no horseshoes in your horseshoe pit, you can amuse others by pretending to be involved in an intense curling match, running up and down the length of the pit with a broom, sweeping the ground to make the imaginary rock go where you want. (I was being amused, not doing the amusing).
- Drinking in front of your family gets easier the more you have to drink.
- I was amazed how many of my relatives support the legalization of pot. Even the ones I thought were most conservative.
The true highlight of the weekend must have been friday morning, when my mother lost her credit card. Every single reunion something like this happens to her. Four years ago she locked both sets of our keys in the car. We had our entire extended family trying to break into our car. Did you know Saturns have this wonderful feature, where if you try to use a jimmy to pop the door lock, instead you end up breaking the lock? Yah, we didn't either until after we had tried. I believe it was about eighty dollars to fix the lock. Two years ago she lost her key fob for work. I think that was a fifty dollar charge. This time around it was her credit card, which actually cost nothing but the half hour we spent tearing apart the car in an attempt to find it. At least we could enjoy the rest of the weekend knowing that the reunion curse had been fulfilled.
[ 26.7.01 9:18 AM | did ya miss me? ]
Sorry 'bout the lack of posts ladies and gents. I don't really have a good reason for it, I just haven't been home much the last week. I've been trying to be a good little girl and study for the test I have today, but I haven't been doing too well at that either.
Don't expect too much from me in the days to come either. By this time tomorrow I will be well on my way to Maine for three days for a family reunion. Strange as it may sound, I am actually looking forward to it. My mother has some pretty cool cousins. I think the biggest reason though is that my brother might be coming. I don't get to see my brother too much, so I'm looking forward to having a few days to catch up with him.
In the meantime, the blogathon starts on Saturday. So, if you come here forgetting that I am away, you can always check out one of the people I am sponsoring: accidental julie, spinning jennie, and bleeding monkey. And if you really need a blogging fix, check out one of the sites on the list of all blogathon participants.
[ 23.7.01 8:49 PM | wonder if they need extras ... ]
I didn't know that Waterloo was such a film mecca. I mean, once you are in a Labatt Out of the Blue commercial, where else is there to go?
[ 8:09 PM | blogs and journals galore ]It just keeps growing and growing ...
The UW webring now has 16 active members.
[ 21.7.01 9:52 AM | say cheese ]
After further reflection on this whole squirrel incident, I now wish that I had thought of taking a picture of it, just for posterity. I probably would have been okay, as long as I didn't use the flash I'm sure it would not have attacked me. It was actually much calmer than I would have expected. At the time I wasn't thinking too clearly - I just wanted it out of biting range.
[ 7:22 AM | i feel the need to wash my bed ]Being woken up by a squirrel bouncing around on your bed is definitely not the most pleasant thing I can think of. Apparently it found its way in through our open patio door, meandered through the apartment and down the hall to my room, the furthest possible point from the patio door, then couldn't find its way back out. So it just kept bouncing off my window and everything near it. Including my bed. You'd be amazed how beady their eyes look when they are staring right at you and look like they are going bounce into you.
After trying unsuccessfully to lure it back down the hallway, since my window screen does not open, I did the girl thing and woke up Brad to help me. But as he was trying to comprehend why I was going on about squirrels, it scurried past my feet and back out the patio door.
I now have all the motivation I need to put that patio screen door back in.
[ 19.7.01 11:54 AM | right = gas, left = brake ]
I think this is one of those secret fears that everyone has when taken their driving tests: Teen's driving test ends in multi-vehicle crash.
A friend I went to high school with told me of a similar tale when he was taking his test. The instructor had told him he had passed the test, but on his way back to the testing centre he ran a yellow/red light. Needless to say he did not get his license that day. All I remember is how nervewracking it is to see them make all those checkmarks on the form. You can't tell if they are critiquing your driving or just marking off "Yes, he/she can complete that manouevre satisfactorily".
[ 9:52 AM | okay ... maybe 2 ]Almost two hours and a trip to the Math Undergrad Office later, I am signed up for all but one of my classes. The only class that escaped my reach was the English class I have been looking forward to for almost a year. Somehow between Tuesday and today it managed to pick up the restriction of being for English majors only. Anthro 101 will have to substitute.
FWIW, if they hadn't input my one course incorrectly, necessitating the trip to the Undergrad Office, the registration process would have been a breeze. So maybe they've finally done something (half) right.
[ 8:48 AM | time flies ]It's very cool when you are talking with someone and realize all of a sudden that three hours have passed without you even knowing.
[ 18.7.01 9:54 AM | umph ]
An interesting post over at not.so.soft this morning.
A side note: when I worked with Sparks a few years ago, I noticed that whenever I had to sit or get up from sitting on the floor, I would make those little sounds of exertion, but the kids wouldn't. Is it because they are closer to the floor, and hence do not have to exert themselves as much, or have they not "learned" to do it yet? (Or am I just old?)
[ 17.7.01 10:35 AM | learn something new every day ]
A new marketing spin: Smoking deaths save money: Philip Morris.
[ 8:59 AM | 0 ... okay maybe 1 ]Oh Waterloo, how do I love thee? let me count the ways ...
Oops. Never mind. The feeling passed.
Course registration has me feeling less than enthusiastic about my current alma mater. It all started with an email recieved about two weeks ago with instructions on how to register for my next set of classes. You see, Waterloo is finally moving into the technology age, away from the paper and pen course registration sheets and is going online. Wonderful. After all, we are touted as being one of the leading schools in technology. For teaching at least. Yesterday was the first day the registration system was operational and one of only two days you can sign in to find out your "appointment" for registering online. I woke up at 8 and tried. "Page not available". Okay. 8:30: "Page not available". 9:30: "Page not available". This continued all day. In fact I was only finally able to get on at 2:45 this morning, almost nineteen hours after I first tried. And this was just for getting my appointment. My five hour window of opportunity to enroll for classes begins thursday at 8. I'm really hoping it won't take me the whole five hours to sign onto the system then.
The second part of registration that leaves me scratching my head is this: I'm trying to drop a stats course and replace it with a computer science course. Unfortunately the one I want to take is for CS majors only. (Well the one I really wanted to take is only offered in the fall when I am working. I should have paid more attention to that fact.) So I politely emailed the CS advisors to find out how I might go about signing into the class. I got a very prompt reply stating, in much nicer terms of course, that I had about a snowball's chance in hell of getting into that class. You see, they "often" do not have room for even the CS majors who want to take it, so my chances are pretty much zilch. Okay, I knew I was taking a chance signing into a class for which I do not meet the prereq, but here's a hint: if you "often" don't have room for the people who want and are eligible for the class, mayhaps you should consider either upping the limit or making a new section. After all, we are the customers, and we don't really like paying mucho dinero to be denied the classes we want to take.
[ 12:44 AM | Mr. Cab Driver ]" Mr. Cab Driver won't you stop to let me in ..."
The idea for the story was hatched way back in August 2000, but wasn't really fleshed out (who hates that expression? Someone I know) until this week. Sure, little tidbits arrived before now, but the majority was written fairly recently. And chronologically, which is strange for me.
[ 16.7.01 8:05 PM | ewwwww ]
How long past the expiry date are things good? Does it depend on what the said product is? Milk? I think that's about a week at most. Yogurt? Two weeks perhaps. Meat? I'd have to say you can't push that very far for fear of food poisoning. Egg nog?
But what about medications? They don't change colour or start to smell bad or taste different. I suppose they probably lose some of their efectiveness, but is it *dangerous* to take medications past the expiry date? I've always been really careful about dates for anything of a pharmaceutical nature. One month is okay to me. Two years is not.
What about you? What are your limitations for expiry dates?
[ 15.7.01 8:15 PM | a *painting* metaphor?? ]
Ugh. I feel like I have painted myself into a corner, and waiting until the paint dries is not an option so now I have to try and get out without getting my feet all sticky or messing up anything. It all seemed fine when it was being laid out but now I realize that maybe I didn't know what exactly I was doing. And yet everyone else sees only the nice brush strokes, and are oblivious to the fact that I have no escape. That's how I feel.
And yes I realize this makes sense to no one but me. And no it's not up for discussion.
[ 3:33 PM | pistol pete ]Thanks to Pete*, I found a radio station that plays all U2 all the time. Couldn't find one for Dave Matthews Band though. Too bad.
*He has a website that I could link to, but it hasn't been updated since June 3rd, so it really wouldn't serve any purpose to link to it.
[ 12:37 PM | 840 minutes ]We've finished two complete seasons of Sex and the City in 18 days, all while fitting in classes, assignments, a trip to Ottawa for Canada Day, and our busy social activites.
Previously we finished off all 19 episodes of My So-Called Life.
Now we need something else to watch. Buffy is available only in the UK. X-Files is too expensive. We didn't get cable at the beginning of the term because we figured we didn't really need to pay to watch re-runs of shows we have already seen, but we've found that it's nice to sit down to dinner and have something to watch.
(Yes, I'm just wasting time so I don't study for my stats quiz. Forgive me.)
[ 13.7.01 10:02 AM | sad so sad ]
While the deaths of three people [via plasticbag] is never a happy moment, I find it sad that the first thing that popped into my mind upon reading this article was my stats prof saying "There may be *association*, but can they prove *causation*?" Could there be confounding? What about bias?
I try very hard to keep stats out of my mind at any time other than stats classes. Very Hard. I must not let it win.
[ 12.7.01 6:51 PM | good things come to those who wait ]
So Brad and I finally have a place to live for September. And Brad actually has a room with four walls and a door, which I am sure he will find a refreshing change from the current situation.
And I finally get my cat.
[ 2:37 PM | crossing my fingers ]I am thisclose to getting my cat in September. Yes this means that perhaps the whole homeless thing is solved as well. Stay tuned ...
[ 1:45 AM | it's all in how you look at it ]Do you ever read other people's blogs and think: their problems aren't so bad ...
Lost your job?!? That's not so bad. I don't have a place to live for September!
Coke habit you just can't quit? Who cares! I don't have a place to live in September!!
Wife ran away with lesbian lover? Good riddance! I'll be homeless in September!
Who would have thought one little thing would cause so much stress in everyone?
[ 11.7.01 6:30 PM | that'll be $12.99 ]
More interesting news: Wal-Mart takes sting out of romantic rejection by allowing would-be suitors to return an engagement ring if the proposal is turned down.
Personally I think I'd say no just on the basis that the ring came from Walmart.
[ 6:09 PM | weird news of the day ]Two headlines you don't see too often:
Ten minutes of terror at mercy of crazed cat - the cat weighed almost nine pounds, but still - "Four carloads of police, two ambulances and an animal control officer"? All for a cat? One cat?
''I saved Gerard,'' a shaken Gagnon, 81, said of her spouse, who is also in his 80s. ''Otherwise he'd be dead.''It was a cat. It's not like it would have eaten him.
Man knocked unconscious by falling cow. One broken leg and a few stitches later he was as good as new.
''They told me that a cow fell on top of my husband,'' she said. ''I thought they were kidding me. May God protect us from a worse accident.''How would you explain that to people?
[ 10.7.01 10:05 PM | one day ]
i was playing with pictures and made a collage slowly i noticed that the image i had on this site bothered me too big too fuzzy too something i had tried with no success to find a replacement the new picture fit quite nicely since you see this is a site is all little bits of me of course if i was going to change the picture i had to change the colours for everything else then the line separating the title and the content seemed wrong in some way just not right and it had to go then the title had to be changed it no longer matched slowly over time it all evolved into this which i now give to you
[ 9.7.01 11:46 PM | woo hoo! ]
The essay is done!
Okay, you can all go back to your previously scheduled lives now.
[ 5:21 PM | here piggy piggy piggy ]This term I've been volunteering for psych experiments, just to kill time and make a little extra spending money. At an average price of about six bucks for half an hour's work, it's better than minimum wage, and some of the experiments are actually interesting. The rest .. well at least I get paid for doing them. You get a time, you show up, they lead you to a room, sit you in front of a computer and away you go. You finish, you get paid, you leave. Or at least you try to leave.
I'm beginning to think the real experiment is a test to see how long it will take you to find the exit. The psych building is like a maze, and although they generally escort you *to* the experiment room, seldom do they lead you back out. All the hallways look the same and are dimly lit, all the doors are a sickly orange colour.
I'm thinking I should start leaving bread crumbs. But with my luck, the building would have mice.
[ 7.7.01 11:35 PM | it's not you, it's me ]
Can someone maybe explain this to me. There seems to be no rhyme no reason to it, but sometimes my computer just ... "loses" text. Sometimes it's almost unnoticable, just a heading or two: [kevo]
Other times it's some of the text within the page that is lost: [Succaland] :
And then, there are those rare sites where all text is lost, leaving only the shell: [Midnight Inferno]
Any suggestions at all? Should I just blame it on a quirk of IE? (I keep forgetting to test in other browsers, so I don't know what the result would be) Rebooting solves the problem, but really, it'd be nice if I didn't have to do it at all.
[ 8:57 PM | smother ]I took a little break from the essay writing to finish up Smother. It's not often that a story starts writing itself, so you really have to just go with it when it does.
A woman in a restaurant was the inspiration for the physical characterization of the mother. The rest ... I have no clue where it came from. Enjoy.
[ 4:58 PM | math doesn't make me hungry ]Mayhaps it is for the best that I am not an English major. All I do when I write essays is eat.
[ 12:15 PM | oopsie, take 2 ]
I think my webcam may have dropped one too many times.
The thing is, I don't remember it falling since the last time I used it, which according to the webcam, was wednesday. So I'm really not sure what happened to make all those lines appear. It hasn't been particularly humid, or even warm for that matter.
[ 12:49 | Never mind. A reboot of the system seems to have cleared it right up. Computers are weird. ]
[ 11:43 AM | soft as a baby's bum ]Not so random thought of the day: do men really like it when women shave their nether regions? Because if you think about it, it's kinda weird. I mean ... no hair, you look like you are twelve. Is that what men want - some prepubescent girl? Or am I just completely missing something here?
[ 11:30 AM | oopsie ]Note to self: there are some things that seem like a good idea when you come home a little tipsy from the bar. But in the morning you realise that maybe it wasn't such a funny idea after all. Remember that next time. Please.
And on a completely unrelated note, why is it that I always have a great urge to rearrange my room when I have a big assignment to do or exams to study for? In this case it is an essay due tuesday, but you can pretty much find me thinking of ways to move things around any time a big school related activity comes up. I use to joke that it was good I moved every four months, because then I was *forced* to rearrange my room and get it out of my system.
I must have amused my mother when I was a child, this little kid pushing all her furniture around. I would measure all my furniture and my room and then make a little floor plan with cut out furniture that I could stick and unstick as I tried out various combinations. I was a very thorough child. Then a few months later I would do it all again. Eventually I got smart and started keeping all the furniture cut outs so that I wouldn't have to measure everything every time. Now I'm too impatient to measure everything, so I just rearrange on a whim. But I'm also bigger so I can move things more easily than I could as a child.
[ 4.7.01 10:42 PM | Ryan ]
For you and you I present Ryan. You know who you are.
[ 3.7.01 1:49 AM | 134 years young ]
Back from Ottawa, where we participated our little asses off in Canada Day festivities. The drive back actually wasn't as bad as it could have been, but I still stand firm on my dislike of mini-vans. I know they are great for transporting people and luggage, but I still don't like them. They are big and bulky and feel like they have ten times the blind spots that a car has. But enough about the driving ...
The crowds in downtown Ottawa were absolutely crazy all day Sunday and they had some of the streets blocked off, making for a confusing trip. Add to that my complete and utter lack of knowledge about Ottawa (this being only my third trip there) and you can guess as to how well we managed to navigate our way through. Thankfully we did have some knowledgable Ottawatonians (Ottawaites?) among us or we would not have seen anything. We did miss meeting up with Nick on Sunday, which is too bad.
Since the fireworks on Parliament Hill were so rudely cancelled, we found ourselves at Icon where Emily (who will soon have a website, she promises us) was amusingly picked on by the queens in the drag show. Nothing says "target" like being one of the few straight people in a gay bar. One of the ladies even gave Emily a big smooch and copped a feel. Amusing to us. Less so to Emily. But being the good natured person that she is, she accepted a bar shot to make up for it.
Now that I'm back in the 'loo, I have to get into the swing of school and tackle the assignments, essay, and final exam that I have neglected this weekend in favour of celebration.
There you have it - the thirty second recap of my weekend. Happy belated Canada Day.