Not bad at all...
Nov. 28th, 2008 11:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lance_sibleySince I haven't posted in a week, and it's been a bit busy, I'll put each paragraph behind a cut...
Tonight's scores: 143, 199, 213. That first game was a bit frustrating, as my practice frames went well, as did the first two or three frames of the first game, but then I had three straight opens and, well, that tends to send a game down the tubes pretty quickly. So I adjusted, moving left six boards, and promptly got three strikes in a row... I may stay there for the next little while, at least until the maintenance guy changes the way he dresses the lanes. So my average is now up to 173 (the highest it's ever been, not counting years when I've had a really good first week, because inevitably my average drops to the 163-166 range pretty quickly). It's kind of weird seeing my name in the league's top 10 averages (I was tied for 8th going into tonight - I'm usually down around 15th). And we won two out of three games - going into tonight, we were tied for second, three points out of first. I know the first place team won all three games against one of the two teams we were tied with tonight, so we'll be four points out of first next week, three points ahead of one of the teams we were tied with, and I have no idea how the other team did.
Work-wise, I accomplished quite a bit for the new clients this week. On Monday, I finally got the website access issue resolved (there was a hard-coded connection string buried deep in the code which had the server name wrong), and they came back after that with three more change requests, including a new form in the Windows application and a change to the way insurance quotes are calculated on the site. I got all of those completed by yesterday afternoon, and am now enhancing the process management software I was working on a few weeks ago for my boss.
The commute got even more painful this week, though - part of my trip to work involves crossing railroad tracks (the GO line that runs from Union Station to Newmarket) and traversing the length of a parking lot. Some may remember that I mentioned a few weeks ago that they had put up a fence that almost blocks access to the parking lot - well, this week Aurora has gotten about four inches of snow. The parking lot is pretty big. Guess where the plow put the snow? If you guessed, "right up against the opening in the fence," you win the Kewpie doll. There's about a six-inch path that's been trodden down by other people (probably high school students on their way through) between Mount Snow (which is about eight feet tall right now) and the fence - I can get through if I hold onto the fence for balance. This is ridiculous. Something really Ought To Be Done. There's no reason why the snow has to be piled up right there - there's 50 feet or so of space along the back of the parking lot, where nobody parks, where they could pile it up instead. I think they're just trying to prevent people from getting from Yonge Street to Industrial Parkway on foot.
The other annoyance this week has been that I've had a headache on-and-off since last Saturday night. Around 3 AM, I was online with Eric, and all of a sudden it felt like someone had taken a power drill to my right temple. It hasn't been bad for most of the week, but it seems to flare up when I'm exerting myself (like during that last portion of my walk from the bus stop to the office), and it's been moving around to different parts of my head - sometimes it's like someone has wrapped a belt around my head and is pulling it tight, sometimes it's behind my eyes, sometimes it's in one specific location at the back of my head. My boss offered to drive me up to Newmarket Hospital on Wednesday, but it wasn't bad enough to warrant going to Emergency (and frankly, I'd rather go to a hospital in Toronto - at least I could come back home easily). It's been okay since I left the office this afternoon, and it didn't flare up while I was bowling, so I'm hoping it's gone. If it comes back this weekend, I'll call the Telehealth number and see if they recommend going to Emergency or if the clinic at Mt. Pleasant will suffice. I've been a little worried because my father had an aneurysm in his brain when he was 47 (though he survived it), my maternal aunt died of a brain tumour in her 40s (I think - she may have made it to her early 50s, I don't recall) and, well, I'm 41... I haven't been too worried, though, because except for Saturday night, it hasn't been that bad. Annoying, yes. But the pains haven't lasted all that long before subsiding. The only really disturbing part (apart from the pain itself) was when I got up from my desk to use the washroom the other day, and I could sense that my irises were spasming as my field of vision was pulsating. I'm sure that's not supposed to happen.
Tonight Mario suggested that I have my eyesight and blood pressure checked, though my vision doesn't seem to be appreciably worse than the last time I had it checked. I can still manage quite well without wearing my glasses outside of the bowling alley or the theatre (just don't ask me to read the route number on a bus until it's within 100 feet or so). And my BP has always tended to be low - back when I used to give blood, it would always take me two or three times longer than anyone else.
Well, as I said, we'll see how I feel tonight when I go to bed.
My mother called me yesterday, so I called back when I got the message upon my arrival at home. It looks like we'll all be getting together for dinner, but I'm not sure yet when that will be. It'll depend on when my father feels like driving down to Toronto. I emailed him last night to ask, because my mother doesn't want to pay the cost of a long-distance call, and of course, he responded, "Tell your mother to call me." *headdesk*
I'm hoping to start my shopping this weekend. I already know what I'm getting for some of the people on my list, but as usual, I have no idea about others. Shopping is my least favourite part of this season. It was funny, this morning at Starbucks the barista asked me about my plans for this weekend, and when I told her that I was going to be starting my shopping, she said, "I bet you want to get it overwith. Guys hate shopping." The funny thing is, 90% of my gay male friends love shopping. I just didn't get that gene (along with the interior decoration and fashion sense genes).
I got a little work done on my Anticipation duties this week - I sent a bunch of stuff to the webmaster for uploading, including the Schedule of major events, the Request For Proposals for Dance DJs and the Masquerade rules (which aren't on the website yet, but should be this weekend). I have to send a response to an email I got this week about the Aurora Awards, and I really ought to get some kind of writeups from the people responsible for the Hugo and the Chesley Awards as well, or at least find out when I'll be getting stuff from them for the website (so far they haven't had any submissions for any of the Progress Reports, though I'm not all that worried just yet). Then I have to send another letter regarding Opening Ceremonies (our first choice to open the con sent me a letter this week politely declining as her schedule doesn't permit her to attend). Yes, Julie Czerneda (who is our Toastmaster) will be performing the usual Toastmaster duties at Opening Ceremonies, but we're trying to add a little extra pomp as well - I'm just hoping that we're not already too late as we had to wait about four months for a response from our first choice.
I've been following the latest news out of Ottawa with some interest. I see that Stephen Harper has tried to delay the fall of the government by cancelling next week's Opposition Day (where the Opposition parties get to drive the agenda of the House of Commons, as I understand it). I wasn't aware that he was allowed to do that - it smacks a little of dictatorship to me. But Harper has never been lacking in arrogance since he initially became Prime Minister two years ago.
It does seem, though, if I remember correctly, that Harper has backed down on the Conservatives' plan to get rid of the federal subsidy to political parties. (For the non-Canadians reading this - because there's a $1100 limit on the amount an individual or a corporation can donate to a party, the parties also get a small amount - I think it's $1.85 - for each vote they receive in an election. Getting rid of this is fine for the Conservatives - they're very good at getting grassroots donations - but not so good for the other parties, hence the kerfuffle over this particular item.)
Now if only he would come up with, oh, I don't know, a plan for dealing with the financial crisis... for an alleged economist, he sure doesn't seem to know much about the current state of the economy (referring to the stock market dip as "an excellent time to buy" when people are worried about keeping their jobs at all) or about how to support it in a difficult time. He seems to be stuck in the 80s, wanting to let the markets do whatever they want and not trying to calm them down at all. Cutting $30 million or thereabouts out of Parliament's budget by freezing MPs' salary increases and reducing perqs is like pissing on a forest fire.
Regarding the leaked negotiations between Jean Chretien and Ed Broadbent (what is this, 1990???) about a possible Liberal/NDP/BQ coalition, I remember the Liberal/NDP coalition in Ontario in the mid 1980s didn't go too badly - the problems, as I recall, came with the NDP won the following election outright and Bob Rae (who is now running for the leadership of the federal Liberals) because Premier. Now, it may not have been all his fault, but he didn't exactly do a great job at handing the situation. Which doesn't give me the warm fuzzies about Rae being a potential Prime Minister, but I wouldn't mind seeing a coalition government. I just wish that it didn't have to include the Bloc Quebecois (though there's no other way - the Conservatives came close enough to a majority that it'll take all three Opposition parties working together to bring them down). And I also wish that it didn't mean that Stephane Dion would become PM - sure, I predicted that he would become Liberal leader during the last leadership convention (I figured that Ignatieff's and Rae's supporters would be polarized and allow Dion to sneak up the middle - besides, the previous Liberal leader had been an anglophone, and the party usually alternates between anglophones and francophones), but I haven't been particularly impressed by his performance since then. I still wish Ken Dryden would run... unfortunately, even with only three people running against him (whereas it was six or seven last time), I don't think he has the power base to pull it off. It would be nice, though.
Well, that's all for another week (or unless something really exciting happens in the next little while).
Tonight's scores: 143, 199, 213. That first game was a bit frustrating, as my practice frames went well, as did the first two or three frames of the first game, but then I had three straight opens and, well, that tends to send a game down the tubes pretty quickly. So I adjusted, moving left six boards, and promptly got three strikes in a row... I may stay there for the next little while, at least until the maintenance guy changes the way he dresses the lanes. So my average is now up to 173 (the highest it's ever been, not counting years when I've had a really good first week, because inevitably my average drops to the 163-166 range pretty quickly). It's kind of weird seeing my name in the league's top 10 averages (I was tied for 8th going into tonight - I'm usually down around 15th). And we won two out of three games - going into tonight, we were tied for second, three points out of first. I know the first place team won all three games against one of the two teams we were tied with tonight, so we'll be four points out of first next week, three points ahead of one of the teams we were tied with, and I have no idea how the other team did.
Work-wise, I accomplished quite a bit for the new clients this week. On Monday, I finally got the website access issue resolved (there was a hard-coded connection string buried deep in the code which had the server name wrong), and they came back after that with three more change requests, including a new form in the Windows application and a change to the way insurance quotes are calculated on the site. I got all of those completed by yesterday afternoon, and am now enhancing the process management software I was working on a few weeks ago for my boss.
The commute got even more painful this week, though - part of my trip to work involves crossing railroad tracks (the GO line that runs from Union Station to Newmarket) and traversing the length of a parking lot. Some may remember that I mentioned a few weeks ago that they had put up a fence that almost blocks access to the parking lot - well, this week Aurora has gotten about four inches of snow. The parking lot is pretty big. Guess where the plow put the snow? If you guessed, "right up against the opening in the fence," you win the Kewpie doll. There's about a six-inch path that's been trodden down by other people (probably high school students on their way through) between Mount Snow (which is about eight feet tall right now) and the fence - I can get through if I hold onto the fence for balance. This is ridiculous. Something really Ought To Be Done. There's no reason why the snow has to be piled up right there - there's 50 feet or so of space along the back of the parking lot, where nobody parks, where they could pile it up instead. I think they're just trying to prevent people from getting from Yonge Street to Industrial Parkway on foot.
The other annoyance this week has been that I've had a headache on-and-off since last Saturday night. Around 3 AM, I was online with Eric, and all of a sudden it felt like someone had taken a power drill to my right temple. It hasn't been bad for most of the week, but it seems to flare up when I'm exerting myself (like during that last portion of my walk from the bus stop to the office), and it's been moving around to different parts of my head - sometimes it's like someone has wrapped a belt around my head and is pulling it tight, sometimes it's behind my eyes, sometimes it's in one specific location at the back of my head. My boss offered to drive me up to Newmarket Hospital on Wednesday, but it wasn't bad enough to warrant going to Emergency (and frankly, I'd rather go to a hospital in Toronto - at least I could come back home easily). It's been okay since I left the office this afternoon, and it didn't flare up while I was bowling, so I'm hoping it's gone. If it comes back this weekend, I'll call the Telehealth number and see if they recommend going to Emergency or if the clinic at Mt. Pleasant will suffice. I've been a little worried because my father had an aneurysm in his brain when he was 47 (though he survived it), my maternal aunt died of a brain tumour in her 40s (I think - she may have made it to her early 50s, I don't recall) and, well, I'm 41... I haven't been too worried, though, because except for Saturday night, it hasn't been that bad. Annoying, yes. But the pains haven't lasted all that long before subsiding. The only really disturbing part (apart from the pain itself) was when I got up from my desk to use the washroom the other day, and I could sense that my irises were spasming as my field of vision was pulsating. I'm sure that's not supposed to happen.
Tonight Mario suggested that I have my eyesight and blood pressure checked, though my vision doesn't seem to be appreciably worse than the last time I had it checked. I can still manage quite well without wearing my glasses outside of the bowling alley or the theatre (just don't ask me to read the route number on a bus until it's within 100 feet or so). And my BP has always tended to be low - back when I used to give blood, it would always take me two or three times longer than anyone else.
Well, as I said, we'll see how I feel tonight when I go to bed.
My mother called me yesterday, so I called back when I got the message upon my arrival at home. It looks like we'll all be getting together for dinner, but I'm not sure yet when that will be. It'll depend on when my father feels like driving down to Toronto. I emailed him last night to ask, because my mother doesn't want to pay the cost of a long-distance call, and of course, he responded, "Tell your mother to call me." *headdesk*
I'm hoping to start my shopping this weekend. I already know what I'm getting for some of the people on my list, but as usual, I have no idea about others. Shopping is my least favourite part of this season. It was funny, this morning at Starbucks the barista asked me about my plans for this weekend, and when I told her that I was going to be starting my shopping, she said, "I bet you want to get it overwith. Guys hate shopping." The funny thing is, 90% of my gay male friends love shopping. I just didn't get that gene (along with the interior decoration and fashion sense genes).
I got a little work done on my Anticipation duties this week - I sent a bunch of stuff to the webmaster for uploading, including the Schedule of major events, the Request For Proposals for Dance DJs and the Masquerade rules (which aren't on the website yet, but should be this weekend). I have to send a response to an email I got this week about the Aurora Awards, and I really ought to get some kind of writeups from the people responsible for the Hugo and the Chesley Awards as well, or at least find out when I'll be getting stuff from them for the website (so far they haven't had any submissions for any of the Progress Reports, though I'm not all that worried just yet). Then I have to send another letter regarding Opening Ceremonies (our first choice to open the con sent me a letter this week politely declining as her schedule doesn't permit her to attend). Yes, Julie Czerneda (who is our Toastmaster) will be performing the usual Toastmaster duties at Opening Ceremonies, but we're trying to add a little extra pomp as well - I'm just hoping that we're not already too late as we had to wait about four months for a response from our first choice.
I've been following the latest news out of Ottawa with some interest. I see that Stephen Harper has tried to delay the fall of the government by cancelling next week's Opposition Day (where the Opposition parties get to drive the agenda of the House of Commons, as I understand it). I wasn't aware that he was allowed to do that - it smacks a little of dictatorship to me. But Harper has never been lacking in arrogance since he initially became Prime Minister two years ago.
It does seem, though, if I remember correctly, that Harper has backed down on the Conservatives' plan to get rid of the federal subsidy to political parties. (For the non-Canadians reading this - because there's a $1100 limit on the amount an individual or a corporation can donate to a party, the parties also get a small amount - I think it's $1.85 - for each vote they receive in an election. Getting rid of this is fine for the Conservatives - they're very good at getting grassroots donations - but not so good for the other parties, hence the kerfuffle over this particular item.)
Now if only he would come up with, oh, I don't know, a plan for dealing with the financial crisis... for an alleged economist, he sure doesn't seem to know much about the current state of the economy (referring to the stock market dip as "an excellent time to buy" when people are worried about keeping their jobs at all) or about how to support it in a difficult time. He seems to be stuck in the 80s, wanting to let the markets do whatever they want and not trying to calm them down at all. Cutting $30 million or thereabouts out of Parliament's budget by freezing MPs' salary increases and reducing perqs is like pissing on a forest fire.
Regarding the leaked negotiations between Jean Chretien and Ed Broadbent (what is this, 1990???) about a possible Liberal/NDP/BQ coalition, I remember the Liberal/NDP coalition in Ontario in the mid 1980s didn't go too badly - the problems, as I recall, came with the NDP won the following election outright and Bob Rae (who is now running for the leadership of the federal Liberals) because Premier. Now, it may not have been all his fault, but he didn't exactly do a great job at handing the situation. Which doesn't give me the warm fuzzies about Rae being a potential Prime Minister, but I wouldn't mind seeing a coalition government. I just wish that it didn't have to include the Bloc Quebecois (though there's no other way - the Conservatives came close enough to a majority that it'll take all three Opposition parties working together to bring them down). And I also wish that it didn't mean that Stephane Dion would become PM - sure, I predicted that he would become Liberal leader during the last leadership convention (I figured that Ignatieff's and Rae's supporters would be polarized and allow Dion to sneak up the middle - besides, the previous Liberal leader had been an anglophone, and the party usually alternates between anglophones and francophones), but I haven't been particularly impressed by his performance since then. I still wish Ken Dryden would run... unfortunately, even with only three people running against him (whereas it was six or seven last time), I don't think he has the power base to pull it off. It would be nice, though.
Well, that's all for another week (or unless something really exciting happens in the next little while).
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no subject
Date: 2008-11-29 07:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-11-29 07:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-11-29 07:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-11-29 07:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-11-29 07:52 am (UTC)I was always under the impression that we the voters decided who ran our country. I'm pretty sure we decided we wanted a minority Conservative government. I know that's exactly what I wanted. I don't want a majority from any party at this point and the Libs/NDP/BQ get along well enough that if any major issue was to come up they can take the Conservatives down whereas the Conservatives don't play nice when they're the opposition. Also on the super big issues typically each party allows the back benchers to vote how they please. I always just assumed that was how democracy worked, with votes and not small powers combining like Voltron to defeat the elected power. But that's just my take.
I'm also really sick of elections right now. First the Feds, then the US (which was a spectator sport), then the NHL All Star teams (hey it's still voting) and in a few weeks I'll be working on TV coverage of the Quebec elections and may even vote (though I'm still trying to decide if I should as I don't believe I'll be staying here the entire term).
I agree with the Dryden thing though. Dude's got some awesome plans for social programs and seeing any Stanley Cup winning Hab as PM is always a hope of mine ;o). Ok, maybe not any. Ok maybe just Dryden.
no subject
Date: 2008-11-29 12:09 pm (UTC)Harper walked right into this, by calling an un-necessary election then proposing an untenable budget hoping that either the other parties would be too fearful to challenge it and bring it down, or would challenge it leading to another election.
no subject
Date: 2008-11-29 06:33 pm (UTC)Morgentaler got his Order of Canada without a peep from the Conservatives. GST was lowered. And while threats were made to social programs like the arts (which I greatly oppose. The cuts not the arts) nothing drastic has happened.
Politicians in a Parliament are like jealous ex-girlfriends. They may say they're going to burn down your house, even make up the plans, but only in the rare circumstances does that actually happen.
And with a minority government that's like allowing the Conservatives to make all the plans they want but giving the matches to the other main parties. A Coalition Government is letting those parties keep the matches but throwing them some crayons and your address. Sure new plans but in the end they're going to burn down your house.
no subject
Date: 2008-12-03 05:51 am (UTC)Am I the only one who felt that nothing bad happened in the last term?
I don't know if you're the only one, but this blog entry by author James Bow summarizes pretty well the reasons I feel that this Conservative government deserves defeat.
(Bear in mind, James also wrote a similar blog entry in 2006 regarding the Martin Liberals.)
Cu,
Andrew
no subject
Date: 2008-11-29 12:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-11-30 05:46 pm (UTC)I have to send a response to an email I got this week about the Aurora Awards
Did I miss that one? I don't remember seeing that.
It does seem, though, if I remember correctly, that Harper has backed down on the Conservatives' plan to get rid of the federal subsidy to political parties.
I had not heard that, and I would be pretty surprised. The most annoying aspect of this to me is doing it right *after* the election, after so many Canadians voted with the words "the party I am voting for may not win, but at least they will receive my $1.85". From that point of view, I see this as stolen money.
by freezing MPs' salary increases
My understanding was that it is not a freeze, it is merely a reduction in the amount of the increase.
about a possible Liberal/NDP/BQ coalition
Actually, the latest I heard was that it was only a liberal/NDP coalition, but that they would have the confidence of the Bloq.
And I also wish that it didn't mean that Stephane Dion would become PM
That would not be automatic, actually. Looking at historical precedents from other parliamentary democracies, the coalition could choose pretty much any MP from either of the component parties to be their leader - that would be part of the coalition negotiation. We could even see Prime Minister Jack Layton.
The other historical precedent to keep in mind is the 1980 Federal election. When Joe Clark's minority government fell, the Liberals were in a similar state that they are today - Trudeau had submitted his notice of resignation after being defeated by the conservatives in the previous election, and the Liberals had not held their leadership convention yet. The party had to convince Trudeau to the recind his notice of resignation in order for him to lead the party in the election. Had he not done so, the prime minster could have been whover the party president named as interim leader. We could have ended up with Prime Minister Allan MacEachen until the leadership convention... Or perhaps an early turn for Turner or Chretien.
Similarly, the party could name Iggy as the interim leader and the coalition could make him leader of the coalition party, and therefore Prime Minister.
Cu,
Andrew
no subject
Date: 2008-11-30 10:31 pm (UTC)I'll forward it anyway - it was from Liana (I think she sent it on Tuesday).
I had not heard that, and I would be pretty surprised. The most annoying aspect of this to me is doing it right *after* the election, after so many Canadians voted with the words "the party I am voting for may not win, but at least they will receive my $1.85". From that point of view, I see this as stolen money.
Is it retroactive? I didn't think so.
My understanding was that it is not a freeze, it is merely a reduction in the amount of the increase.
Could be - I don't recall.
Actually, the latest I heard was that it was only a liberal/NDP coalition, but that they would have the confidence of the Bloq.
You're right - I was misremembering (or perhaps the article I'd read was ambiguous, but it was clearer in the article I read in yesterday's paper.
That would not be automatic, actually. Looking at historical precedents from other parliamentary democracies, the coalition could choose pretty much any MP from either of the component parties to be their leader - that would be part of the coalition negotiation. We could even see Prime Minister Jack Layton.
True, though I think it would take a bit of backdoor wrangling for anyone other than Dion to take over, as Dion's resignation doesn't take effect until the spring (May, I think?). I don't think I'd want it to be Layton, though. ;)
The other historical precedent to keep in mind is the 1980 Federal election.
Right, I'd forgotten that Trudeau had already announced his intention to step down then. The difference being that there was an election - the other parties weren't simply asking the G-G to hand them the keys to 24 Sussex, which is what I suspect will happen this time given that we had an election less than two months ago.
Similarly, the party could name Iggy as the interim leader and the coalition could make him leader of the coalition party, and therefore Prime Minister.
I don't think they would do that, though - it would give him an unfair advantage over Rae (and the third guy, though he's not really a player - I can't even remember his name. Leblanc?)
no subject
Date: 2008-12-01 08:38 pm (UTC)It would make for an interesting situation, since the tradition is that interim leaders don't run for leadership...
The smart thing to do would be the have a liberal-heavy cabinet, but name Layton leader of the coalition.
But that would be smart, so it probably won't be what's proposed. :)
Cu,
Andrew