Ahhh.
The weekend.
Those precious 48 hours where your time is hypothetically your own. With S working this weekend that last statement finally has the ring of truth to it. I could spend my time wisely, catching up on schoolwork or entering the three boxes of books I have stashed in the car (We've sold seven books in February, so we're doing extratordinarily well right now...ha-cha-cha).
BUT.
I have a new addiction. Civilization IV (with expansion pack). For the last month of my life this game has taken up every increasingly rare spare moment I have. In a bid to shake me out of my reverie my wife has threatened divorce and\or physical violence with varying desgrees of sucess.
I've always had a weakness for the Civ franchise (thank you for that Adam) but C-4 has become the perfect outlet for an overworked me.
For the most part I've suceeded in weaning myself off the game. Only that was before the prospect of 48 Chris-centric hours were streched out before me like a field of candy and free comic books.
I mean, I'm strong. But I'm not that strong.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Thursday, February 26, 2009
RRSPect
So,
The RRSP deadline is almost here. I made one final contribution and managed to find some extra cash to top up some of my funds.
I'm a couple years late to the RRSP party so I have a bigger unused contribution amount than most people. I'm trying to winnow that amount down, but, well money doesn't grow on trees.
This shit takes time yo.
But, I think I've done a lot better than last year at contributing my RRSPs. Considering this is all taking place in the same year I got married, took an unexpected field trip to Oz and watched the financial markets commit hara-kiri I don't think that's too shabby.
Now to beef up my emergency fund. (I have got to stop reading Turner's doomsday blog)
The RRSP deadline is almost here. I made one final contribution and managed to find some extra cash to top up some of my funds.
I'm a couple years late to the RRSP party so I have a bigger unused contribution amount than most people. I'm trying to winnow that amount down, but, well money doesn't grow on trees.
This shit takes time yo.
But, I think I've done a lot better than last year at contributing my RRSPs. Considering this is all taking place in the same year I got married, took an unexpected field trip to Oz and watched the financial markets commit hara-kiri I don't think that's too shabby.
Now to beef up my emergency fund. (I have got to stop reading Turner's doomsday blog)
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Silly season
Rumours of my demise have been greatly exagerated. I've come out the other end of the Awards\Magazine\Conference silly season, shaken, stirred, but not broken.
Although if forced at gunpoint, I would have to say it was a near thing.
So now happens to be the time of year where I step back from the hustle and bustle of the world and peer closely into "what else is going on in my life."
I'd really like to up my physical regimen. I dropped down to one game a week and I quickly saw the unfortunate reprecussions of that choice in my weight and my stamina. My intent was always to pick up yoga and rock climbing and give something other than frisbee a try. The time to put that plan into effect is now.
Stace and I are considering buying a home. We're not stupid people, just people who are considering taking the next step in our relationship at a very inopportune time. The alternatives are to act now or wait out the financial apocalpyse first. Only there are no guarantees the latter will end anytime soon and we'd kind of like to get moving on the former now. So we're researching our asses off and going into the house buying thing with our eyes fully open.
Financially it's save, save, save time. I'm topping up my RRSP's this week and hoping I come within spitting distance of my maximum contribution amount. I think this year may get me close enough to max out completely next year. That would be nice. I'm still working on repairing the emergency fund after the wedding and Oz trip and I'll feel much happier about the state of that by the summer.
My birthday is coming up. No comment. I feel fat and flabbtastic as it is. No need to mark that milestone with celebrations.
I'm way behind on my reading and I need an injection of some quailty film making ASAP. But there's not much else happening for me right now. Mostly I'm trying to catch up on all the little things that I had to put aside during the aforementioned silly season.
Q: Who knows what little forgotten work gems are going to crawl out of the woodwork now?
A: The Shadow knows.
Although if forced at gunpoint, I would have to say it was a near thing.
So now happens to be the time of year where I step back from the hustle and bustle of the world and peer closely into "what else is going on in my life."
I'd really like to up my physical regimen. I dropped down to one game a week and I quickly saw the unfortunate reprecussions of that choice in my weight and my stamina. My intent was always to pick up yoga and rock climbing and give something other than frisbee a try. The time to put that plan into effect is now.
Stace and I are considering buying a home. We're not stupid people, just people who are considering taking the next step in our relationship at a very inopportune time. The alternatives are to act now or wait out the financial apocalpyse first. Only there are no guarantees the latter will end anytime soon and we'd kind of like to get moving on the former now. So we're researching our asses off and going into the house buying thing with our eyes fully open.
Financially it's save, save, save time. I'm topping up my RRSP's this week and hoping I come within spitting distance of my maximum contribution amount. I think this year may get me close enough to max out completely next year. That would be nice. I'm still working on repairing the emergency fund after the wedding and Oz trip and I'll feel much happier about the state of that by the summer.
My birthday is coming up. No comment. I feel fat and flabbtastic as it is. No need to mark that milestone with celebrations.
I'm way behind on my reading and I need an injection of some quailty film making ASAP. But there's not much else happening for me right now. Mostly I'm trying to catch up on all the little things that I had to put aside during the aforementioned silly season.
Q: Who knows what little forgotten work gems are going to crawl out of the woodwork now?
A: The Shadow knows.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
On the road again
So.
Over the holidays S and I were involved in a collision.
Everyone was fine, even if there were a couple of scary moments (oh look, that car is getting AWFULLY close to my side window, and it seems to be coming ever so quickly).
Unfortunately, after the accident, our car was a write off. I’ve been driving my parents Win(d)star around for the past three weeks and I won’t cry at all to see the back of that particular whale. The slightest gust of wind is enough to push this thing all over the road, which can be a little scary when highway driving, white knuckles all the way.
So after some fruitless and highly frustrating outings we’ve finally closed the deal on our replacement vehicle.
It’s the exact same model.
It’s the exact same colour.
It’s the exact same year.
Only it has 40,000 less km on it, as well as a remote starter.
Upgrade?
Over the holidays S and I were involved in a collision.
Everyone was fine, even if there were a couple of scary moments (oh look, that car is getting AWFULLY close to my side window, and it seems to be coming ever so quickly).
Unfortunately, after the accident, our car was a write off. I’ve been driving my parents Win(d)star around for the past three weeks and I won’t cry at all to see the back of that particular whale. The slightest gust of wind is enough to push this thing all over the road, which can be a little scary when highway driving, white knuckles all the way.
So after some fruitless and highly frustrating outings we’ve finally closed the deal on our replacement vehicle.
It’s the exact same model.
It’s the exact same colour.
It’s the exact same year.
Only it has 40,000 less km on it, as well as a remote starter.
Upgrade?
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Fit and (just) bearing it.
So.
Every day this week I’ve gotten up before work and put in about half an hour on the Wii Fit. If you know me at all, (and you don’t…thanks a lot of caring….jerks), then you know that when it comes to getting up early in the morning, voluntarily, during the work week, you’ll find that to be an extremely improbably event. Unless, you know, you were handing out free bacon or something.
You aren’t handing out free bacon are you?
You’re much more likely to win the lottery, or become the first person in the history of the planet to teleport to the moon, rather than see my ass role out of bed without hitting the snooze button on the alarm less than three times.
I likes my sleep I does.
Fun fact. If my wife doesn’t turn off her alarm fast enough in the morning she’ll find that I’ll reach over top of her half awake self and do it for her. Which will allow her to fall quickly back to sleep. And nothing bad ever happens.
Anyway. Back to the story. Me. Up early. Wii Fit.
Surprisingly I’m enjoying it. I’ve written off the aerobics and games as nothing more than amusing light and noise, but the yoga and strength exercises seem to have some value. I also like charting my mostly insignificant weight loss. Perhaps I’ve become inspired because the Wii has chosen to calculate my Mii character as overweight and plumps up my avatar accordingly. It’s not fun to watch that chunky little version of myself toddle across the screen, presumably chasing after some mythical Wii Doughnuts.
Whatever the reason, this new fitness regimen has part of my morning routine. Finally I can exercise in the privacy of my own house, without having to shamefully hide my body away from the judgemental eyes of the casual gym-goer. Now that’s Wii-tastic
Every day this week I’ve gotten up before work and put in about half an hour on the Wii Fit. If you know me at all, (and you don’t…thanks a lot of caring….jerks), then you know that when it comes to getting up early in the morning, voluntarily, during the work week, you’ll find that to be an extremely improbably event. Unless, you know, you were handing out free bacon or something.
You aren’t handing out free bacon are you?
You’re much more likely to win the lottery, or become the first person in the history of the planet to teleport to the moon, rather than see my ass role out of bed without hitting the snooze button on the alarm less than three times.
I likes my sleep I does.
Fun fact. If my wife doesn’t turn off her alarm fast enough in the morning she’ll find that I’ll reach over top of her half awake self and do it for her. Which will allow her to fall quickly back to sleep. And nothing bad ever happens.
Anyway. Back to the story. Me. Up early. Wii Fit.
Surprisingly I’m enjoying it. I’ve written off the aerobics and games as nothing more than amusing light and noise, but the yoga and strength exercises seem to have some value. I also like charting my mostly insignificant weight loss. Perhaps I’ve become inspired because the Wii has chosen to calculate my Mii character as overweight and plumps up my avatar accordingly. It’s not fun to watch that chunky little version of myself toddle across the screen, presumably chasing after some mythical Wii Doughnuts.
Whatever the reason, this new fitness regimen has part of my morning routine. Finally I can exercise in the privacy of my own house, without having to shamefully hide my body away from the judgemental eyes of the casual gym-goer. Now that’s Wii-tastic
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
2001: A Strike Odyssey
I feel sorry for the York students currently suffering through (yet another) TA and contract faculty strike.
I went through the same roller coaster back in 2001 and the experience was not a pleasant. It’s extremely unfortunate that in a contract dispute between the TAs and the administration only the students will suffer. When this whole mess is done the TAs will keep on teaching and the school will keep on running, but the students will have lost two months, and counting, and they’ll still need to wrap up their school year.
Chances are the administration will extend the school year by another month, at least that’s what they did when it happened to us. But that’s the only favour they’re like to do anybody.
1. Students will still have to be out of their apartments and residence rooms at the same time. The administration will extend the school year, but they won’t extend your room lease, meaning those unfortunate enough to live on campus will have to couch surf for that month.
2. Students will lose a month of summer employment. Either they start job hunting late, when all the good jobs are gone, or they’ll have to do double duty, going to school and working a summer job. There’s a difference between a PT job you do during the year, and a summer job, which often comes with FT houts.
3. All the students projects will be due immediately. Yes they may extend the school year by a month, but, um, duh, they’ve still been our for OVER TWO MONTHS. So students will have the same amount of school work to do, but a month less in which to get it done. And if you’ve read point number two, some students will now have jobs. Hurrah! Yes, some profs will drop an assignment here or there. But trust me, if my experiences at York are indicative of what may happen, the majority of profs will insist that ALL the work still be completed, on time, because that’s how things work ‘in the real world.’
For the students at York this strike is like being caught in a divorce between two angry parents. Only the children will be hurt.
I went through the same roller coaster back in 2001 and the experience was not a pleasant. It’s extremely unfortunate that in a contract dispute between the TAs and the administration only the students will suffer. When this whole mess is done the TAs will keep on teaching and the school will keep on running, but the students will have lost two months, and counting, and they’ll still need to wrap up their school year.
Chances are the administration will extend the school year by another month, at least that’s what they did when it happened to us. But that’s the only favour they’re like to do anybody.
1. Students will still have to be out of their apartments and residence rooms at the same time. The administration will extend the school year, but they won’t extend your room lease, meaning those unfortunate enough to live on campus will have to couch surf for that month.
2. Students will lose a month of summer employment. Either they start job hunting late, when all the good jobs are gone, or they’ll have to do double duty, going to school and working a summer job. There’s a difference between a PT job you do during the year, and a summer job, which often comes with FT houts.
3. All the students projects will be due immediately. Yes they may extend the school year by a month, but, um, duh, they’ve still been our for OVER TWO MONTHS. So students will have the same amount of school work to do, but a month less in which to get it done. And if you’ve read point number two, some students will now have jobs. Hurrah! Yes, some profs will drop an assignment here or there. But trust me, if my experiences at York are indicative of what may happen, the majority of profs will insist that ALL the work still be completed, on time, because that’s how things work ‘in the real world.’
For the students at York this strike is like being caught in a divorce between two angry parents. Only the children will be hurt.
Monday, January 5, 2009
Hey! Look at me!
No. Seriously. Look at me.
It’s long been a source of bemusement for me that the day I got my new laptop I was going to leave the dating world forever and finally get serious about this writing stuff. All I had to do was get this ONE DATE out of the way and I could finally clear my schedule of any and all distractions.
How was I supposed to know that the woman on that one date would end up being my wife?
That was three and half years ago and while I’ve dabbled at writing since then I’ve only done enough to take the edge off the disease. I’ve never given myself over to the lifestyle change necessary to produce a completed work.
Well, all that is changing.
I’ve bought a new laptop, again.
For the past few months I’ve been winding down my external commitments, putting firm boundaries on how much time extra time I spend at work and brainstorming like made on some of the insanity that’s been bubbling around in my head.
Hence, no new entries here. What could I say? I’m tired of reading and analyzing the works of others as my sole contribution to the artistic world. I want to start participating in an actual dialogue.
So I am.
This is not a New Year's resolution or a spur of the moment whim. I've been working at shaping my schedule around this moment since the wedding. This is about doing.
It’s long been a source of bemusement for me that the day I got my new laptop I was going to leave the dating world forever and finally get serious about this writing stuff. All I had to do was get this ONE DATE out of the way and I could finally clear my schedule of any and all distractions.
How was I supposed to know that the woman on that one date would end up being my wife?
That was three and half years ago and while I’ve dabbled at writing since then I’ve only done enough to take the edge off the disease. I’ve never given myself over to the lifestyle change necessary to produce a completed work.
Well, all that is changing.
I’ve bought a new laptop, again.
For the past few months I’ve been winding down my external commitments, putting firm boundaries on how much time extra time I spend at work and brainstorming like made on some of the insanity that’s been bubbling around in my head.
Hence, no new entries here. What could I say? I’m tired of reading and analyzing the works of others as my sole contribution to the artistic world. I want to start participating in an actual dialogue.
So I am.
This is not a New Year's resolution or a spur of the moment whim. I've been working at shaping my schedule around this moment since the wedding. This is about doing.
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