RatFang-tastic

Ho Hum

So bored... and very tired...

At work, I'm only doing small tasks of minor importance.... I'm really just waiting until the term is over.... that will be nice....

Took way to long getting to work today... spent at least 30 minutes waiting for buses... that really sucks... I was getting really pissed off when I had to wait 20+ minutes for a bus that's supposed to arrive every 10 min or less.... bah... I meant to get to work a bit early, but that didn't happen...

So tired... I think I'm going to rent another movie tonight.... maybe Dawn of the Dead.... I saw The Punisher last night... it was ok... not what I expected... There really wasn't as much action as I expected... a few gruesome scenes... a few funny scenes... meh... not bad... worth seeing, I guess...

I wish I had something more interesting to say... just going through the motions...

Beer, Movies & Sleep

Well, I had a good time this weekend.... Got a lot of sleep.... went to a keg party with friends.... and watched a couple of movies... not bad...

Friday night, jen & I were thinking about going to see Alexander... but we were just too tired... so we were going to rent a movie... but by the time we got to the blockbuster... we were too tired for that too... ended up just going to sleep before midnight... slept until 10 am... good sleep... (definitely needed it)...

Saturday, we met up with a friend of hers for a drink at the eaton's centre... had dinner there... then went to a keg party.... just after dinner, we were waiting for Jason to call for us to go meet them, and jen & I went looking for a coffee shop... so strange that you see the bloody things everywhere.... EXCEPT when you're actually LOOKING for one! Argh! Anyway... keg party was fun (realized that people REALLY open up when you get enough beer in them)... We played some drinking games... I hadn't played a drinking game (except for the checkers game mentioned in a post a while back) for a long time.... Good time until some drunk guy ruined it...

Sunday night, after jen had gone home, I rented two movies: House of the Dead and Daredevil. I watched House of the Dead first... Oh... My... God.... what a freaking TERRIBLE movie! The acting was horrendous.... the cinematography was poor.... and the plot was just bad (I'm running out of negative words here!).... On top of all of that, in between shots, they kept showing clips from the video game! Although the game was a lot of fun, the graphics weren't that great and so it made this bad movie look even worse!.... I'm normally not very picky with action movies... But this one was took bad to a whole new level...

After House of the Dead, I was wondering if maybe I was just in a really cynical mood, and wouldn't enjoy any movie... but then I watched Daredevil... I had already seen it before, and was just trying to decide if I want to own it.... the verdict is, yes, I do want to own Daredevil. In spite of the bad reviews that it got, Daredevil is a good movie with replay value (at least to me)...

Anyway... that's it for now... maybe another post later.... I think I'll need to rant about my job...

Note To Bathroom Guy

It is NOT ok to undo your pants before getting to the urinal... ESPECIALLY when I am standing inbetween you and said urinal!

Freakin' Friday!

So, it's finally friday... it's been a really long, unpleasant week.... I'm really looking forward to relaxing this weekend....

I'm feeling quite a bit better today... I don't feel nearly as sick OR depressed...I actually got to see Jen last night.. that was a nice change... since losing (I'll call it 'losing') my car, I haven't been able to see her nearly as much as I was.... I guess this can act as sort of a transition period between this work term and my school term (when I'll be in waterloo and she'll still be in Scarlem)...

I AM extremely bored though... don't really feel like doing work... in fact, I've been at work for over 3 hours now and haven't done a single work-related thing.... pretty impressive, eh? Doesn't make you wish that I worked for YOU? haha

Really, I feel like this work term is already a write-off... that makes it really hard to motivate myself to accomplish anything... the only reason that I do any work is to alleviate my guilt... oh well... it's nearly over!

I'm going to have to make sure that I post regularly... I hear that some people have actually made my blog their homepage! hahaha...

Falling Apart...

So, I still feel like crap today... My stomach feels really bad and I have a weird sharp pain on the side of my head.... but I only have half of a sick day left... so, here I am at work...

I've been slowly slipping into a depressed state since I lost my car... Actually, I guess it started part way though this work term... I feel pretty useless here... I had a lot of trouble with my last project and took WAY too long on it... now I'm working on something new and I'm getting stuck periodically... Now I panick whenever I get stuck on something... I don't like feeling stupid...

Losing my car really aggravated this state.... Now I'm riding the bus and it feels like I've dropped a level on the social ladder... I know that makes me sound like a snob... but here I am: Not done my undergrad yet, no car, huge debt, and unable to really accomplish anything at work... I found out the other day that I don't want to run into anyone that I haven't seen in a long time... I don't want people looking down on me....

The only way out of this rut that I can see is to try harder at work... Although trying hard is a gamble... If I try harder and STILL can't accomplish my goals, what then? I've never reached the limit of my potential before, and to be honest, I've been hiding behind the "I could do better if I tried" excuse for most of my life....

I can't believe that I'm actually going to post this.... but, in my usual style, No Proof-reading allowed....

Argh...

TTC Part II: On The Flip-Side

Earlier I had a brief rant on rude and scary TTC bus drivers... However, As I noticed today, there is another side to the story....

I believe that the reason that a lot of TTC drivers don't like to answer questions and are generally unpleasant because they get no courtasy from the TTC RIDERS... Today, on my way to work... The driver of the Vic. Park bus that I was on stopped twice for passengers (including waiting for some of them to finish crossing the road)... and then stopped AGAIN on the other side of the road where there isn't even a STOP!

Now, since he was in no way obligated to do this, you would think that people would be grateful... but you'd be wrong.... I was watching them come into the bus and only ONE of the people said thank-you to the driver... What has happened to common courtasy? When someone goes out of their way to help you, you thank them for it! Argh! I hate people!

Yahoo...not so good...

I think that Yahoo has become a pretty crappy search engine.... apparently when searching for:

telus + commercial + "le tigre"

, my blog comes up first... and when searching for:

telus commercial songs

, my blog comes up 4th....

So I guess a lot of soon-to-be Le Tigre fans might run across my blog... :P

Misc

First off, best wishes go out to Connie and her fight against "The Man"... Hopefully everything will turn out ok...

Today was another coffee day... I had two cups of coffee today... it really messes with my head... It's kinda fun... but I have to make sure that I don't do it very often or else I will get addicted... and that would suck!

It's almost time to go home! YAY friday!... I've been so tired this week... I'm really looking forward to doing nothing tonight... then tomorrow J5's birthday should be a lot of fun...

meh... I guess that's it for now...

Art Studio

So, last night after work I went to check out Artsy's new place... It's a new building near yonge & sheppard.... nice area... nice building.... he's got a really big balcony (looking forward to some balcony parties next year).... He made me dinner and amazingly, I'm still alive today! :P

In other "news", I've been so tired this week... it's getting harder and harder to get up in the morning.... I find I start wanting to go to bed around 9:30ish.... so sad... I'm old!.... maybe the time on the bus is sucking the life out of me...

At work, I'm only getting day-to-day stuff... it's not bad... but I think that I'd rather know what was coming up so that I can think about it while I'm doing something else....

I've created my 2nd character for my Flash cartoons... I think that I'm going to revamp the first one... Give him a little more depth... and figure out a voice for that one... I'm also going to watch a lot of HomestarRunner to see if I can figure out how to make my characters, etc. look better...

I also want to brush up on my Cantonese for Saturday.... see if I've actually learned anything useful...

Athletic Politicians

Monday, Bloody Monday

Well, I've always hated Mondays, as most people do... however, yesterday was impressively terrible, even by Monday standards....

So, on Sunday night, I ate at Jack Astor's with Jen, Wendy, Bonnie, and Jeff.... that was fun... I had a really good BBQ chicken salad.... however, I think that something was wrong with the salad because I started to feel sick later on... so, Monday I was sick (I think it might have been some sort of food-poisoning)...

I started to feel better later on in the day... so I went to my Catonese class... that was fun as usual... the day seemed to be getting better.... when class finished, I had received a message from my dad asking me to call him back... I was expecting to find out how much my car was going to cost to fix.... so I called him back...

BAM! POW! BIFF! (classic Batman style) That's when Monday really hit me! Apparently, I'm perminantly carless... My mechanic (who we trust) had 2 body shop guys that HE trusts take a look at the car... they said that the frame was twisted, and it would cost over 2000 to fix it (not including brake pan work)... and they said that even then, the frame wouldn't be as strong and so the car wouldn't be as safe.... That was enough for my mom (who actually OWNS the car)... she doesn't want me driving an unsafe car.... but that doesn't really matter because we can't really afford 2500+ to fix the car....

ARGH! I'll get you one of these days, Monday! You just WAIT!!!!

Story Friday!

I've been a little disappointed with the lack of commenting lately... so I figured that I'd revive something that Rob used to do. I'm going to try to start a story every friday for people to waste their day on! Just pick up where it leaves off in the comments... Here we go:

Manny couldn't see very well through the thick fog coming in off the bay. He wandered blindly through the maze of winding allyways, peering hopefully at each doorway he passed. It seemed like hours that he had been searching. Finally, he began to hear the distinctive clicking sound that indicated that his searched had neared its end. He rounded another corner and.....

Advantages of a Terrible Memory

Don't you love it when you're at work thinking "boy, I'm pretty hungry... I wish I had something to eat".... then you hear someone near your desk say something that isn't 'muffin' but it SOUNDS like they said 'muffin'... and it reminds you that you bought a muffin on the way to work and it's still in your bag!

I know I do!

Score!

Please Won't You Be... My Neighbour

Good morning people... I'm feeling highly unproductive at work today.... I have stuff to do....and it's fairly interesting... yet, motivation escapes me.... So, instead of working... I have been reading random stuff on news sites, etc....

Also, I would like to welcome Ben & Bonnie to my Links section! Everyone say "Hi Ben & Bonnie!"... there... good...

My car is now in G-Town... So I can relax about that... I guess my parents will be taking care of most of the details now... :) I just have to worry when the bill comes in.... I figure that it will be at least 2 weeks until I have my car back... but the bus isn't too bad... I guess I'm on my way to becoming one of the angry intolerant TTC riders! Oh NO! :P

I hear that we're supposed to have 2 minutes of silence at 11am this morning... hope that I remember...

Yoinked from Flying Squirrel

The Waiting Game...

Today RatFang gets to play the waiting game... RatFang does not like the waiting game....

I'm waiting for my boss to come out of a meeting so that he can tell me what I'll be working on next.... I'm looking forward to doing something new... I did such a terrible job on my first project and I'm eager to put it behind me...

More importantly, I'm waiting for a call from Golden Mile Collision and Refinishing.... they're going to look at my car today and call me with an estimate... I'm so worried about this... body work is quite expensive.... ack!

This weekend looks like it might be a busy one.... possibly Club 279 on friday and Bier Market on saturday... I'm still not sure if I'm going to be able to do both yet.... I have this strange feeling that I have another plan that I'm forgetting about.... If I do go out this weekend, I'll have to try to avoid spending very much money... after all, I have a car to support... :P

In other news... I'd like to offer a semi-public appology to Tom... I just remembered your resume.... I'll try to look at it tonight.... Also I would like to thank Jason and Jim for their advice on car repairs... Thanks.... I would also like to thank everyone who's offered their support/prayers for me and my car... :)

RatFang Out!

Kinda Scary

Take a look at this.

If even half of what they claim is true, that's pretty scary....

Anti-Social RatFang

Alrighty... So, as I said before, my car is smashed... I don't really want to talk about the details... Suffice it to say that I'm finding out how much it is going to cost me to get it fixed later on today... Pray for my car...

Anyway, that's about all the details you'll get right now...

I would like to talk about busses... I took the bus (actually 2 busses) to work today... I think that the TTC would be a lot more popular if it lost the "secret society" feel to it.... Allow me to explain to those of you who are very familiar with the TTC system.

To those of us who haven't grown up with public transit (especially the TTC), the whole process can be quite intimidating. Everyone is in a huge hurry and everyone expects everyone else to know exactly how everything works. Unfourtunately, us TTC newbies, don't know how every little detail works, but there is really no-one to ask... bus drivers, subway fare collectors, etc. only get angry if you ask them questions or do something wrong... That doesn't make it easy for us... here's an example:

On the weekend, I took the bus a few places.... at one point, I needed a transfer.... I walked on to the bus and asked the driver for a transfer. Since he looked annoyed and took a while to get it for me (also because the transfers were within reach of passengers), I started to wonder if I was supposed to get it myself....

Fast forward to this morning.... I get on the bus, and because I'm still not sure about the transfer thing, I ask "could I please get a transfer"... again, the bus driver doesn't move initially, so I start to reach for one... then he starts to reach for it and I pull my hand back... Now, this has taught me that the bus driver is supposed to hand out the transfers... but this has angered the mighty bus driver... A stranger has entered his territory! He grumbles something (I think it was about me being impatient) and it ended with "I'LL get it for you!" accompanied by a glare and a VERY dramatic eye-roll. Why do they expect everyone to instinctually know all of the TTC social-protocols? It doesn't make for a very pleasant experience....

The gouvernment has been making a push to make the TTC more appealing in order to reduce traffic congestion. I think that a good step would be to make its employees at least act CIVIL to passengers... New riders are not going to want to ride the TTC if you can't get ask any questions without being made to feel as if you just played "kick the baby" with someone's youngest child (which, in my opinion, would be preferable... but that's just me)... anyhoo... end rant....

As for the title of this post, I think that I'm going to be quite anti-social in the near future... I guess maybe it's because I'm in mourning for my car... but overall... I'm passing through a dark-mood period... So I may not answer my phone or return calls/e-mails/IMs.... don't be offended if I don't respond... It's nothing personal... (END Social disclaimer)

RRRRRRRRRR.....

A quick grammar lesson

Today's lesson is on pronouns. Now, to the best of my understanding, a pronoun (in most cases) should be associated with an object (antecedent). One should not talk about two different groups of people and refer to both groups as 'they'. There is no way for a listener to discern between the two groups. Here is an example to help make it more clear why this should never be done:

"There were some punk kids breaking windows. Some adults were just sitting there watching. They were talking to each other and laughing. They stopped what they were doing when they noticed them and they left."

See how confusing?

Movie Review...and Stuff

I rented Ginger Snaps III: The Beginning last night... Like Ginger Snaps II, it had some very good moments and some very crappy moments.... In Ginger Snaps II, the character development at the beginning was very good (i.e. first half of the movie), then it became really crappy.... and the last 15 seconds were good.

In Ginger Snaps III, it was the beginning that was highly disappointing... Probably about the first two thirds of the movie (with the exception of a few funny lines) was sub-par to say the least. However, the last third of the movie redeemed it. The ending was quite impressive in my opinion....

All in all, this Ginger Snaps fan has been disappointed with the sequels...

In other news, I'd like to send out an appology to all the people I haven't gotten back to when I was supposed to.... I've been really bad at returning phone calls/e-mails/etc. lately... Hopefully that will change soon, but I don't see it happening until sometime next week.... I seem to have been hit by a wave of extreme apathy...

On a positive note, I found a little grocery store near my house that sells good (and cheap) produce... finally I have somewhere nearby that I can get my shanghai bok choi... mmmm....

Alright kiddies, that's all for now.... remember, drink your milk, excercise, and take your vitamins, and maybe some day you too can can have a fang....

Update-o-rama

Let's see... what's going on? hmm... okay, so I had my first cantonese class last night... it was pretty good... apparently I didn't miss too much in the first session... There are only 4 people in the class (including me)... a chinese guy, a chinese girl, and a russian guy... I don't think that I'll learn too much in this class... they seem to be going pretty slowly... but maybe that will pick up.... "Nei sic dso fan mei a?" "Sic dso laak, mgoisin" and so on.... oh well.... I'm just hoping to get enough so that I can pick the rest from the Getto Fobulous crew...

I feel obligated to say something about the US election today.... RatFang predict 4 more years of Bush.... Go ahead, America! Prove me wrong! (please!)

What else? Well, there's a couple of birthdays coming up.... Jamie is apparently having a celebration spanning the next two weekends, and then we have Sang Wook's on the 19th....

As usual, I'm really tired and not very productive.... I'm hoping that I can force myself to stay at work a bit late today so that I can bank some hours...

Damn! I really have nothing good to say... Sooo.... "YOU WILL RUE THIS DAY! ...Go on.... START RUEING!"