one more day

So the week is winding down to a close and tomorrow I'll be heading off to my second destination. Montreal was fun. It's a great city. Good food, and lots of stuff to see.

I finished off the day by running up Mont-Royal. Took about an hour round trip. Oh, and I had my first dry heave while running! Whee!

happy birthday!

I was out last night and I got a call from my friend Maia, whose birthday is June 28th, the day before mine. I was about to tell her happy birthday, but she caught me off guard by telling happy birthday to me! But it wasn't my birthday yet. It was her birthday!

Actually, we were both right. Maia, being in Japan and all, was calling me the morning of June 29th, her time... my birthday. I got the call the evening of June 28th, my time... her birthday. So even though we don't have our birthdays on the same day, we were able to both say happy birthday to each other at the same time on the right day (for the speaker). Neat...

Now we only need to swap places one of these times so we're not both confused when we hear the other person say happy birthday on what we think is the wrong day... :-)

learning

Day 2 of the conference. I didn't have any tutorials scheduled for today, so I spent a good bit of time walking around the city. I started off at about 8am and walked over to McGill with Todd, which was having his tutorial by there. I then spent some time stalking my dad's old digs at McGill. Found his old place here. Pretty nice street.

I then walked all over the park behind McGill, coming down the other side. On the way down I saw this one interesting looking church that was about a mile away. Since I had all the time in the world, I decided to check it out. In the process I found the street my dad mentioned (St. Laurent) and also this breakfast place that was recommended (Eggspectations). I eventually found the church, which was in a eastern style (as in likely Orthodox). I then swung back towards the St Lawrence river to check out Old Montreal. On the way, I stumbled across Chinatown and also Nortre Dame, two other places I was told I should check out (but wasn't given directions). Eventually I worked my way back to hotel along Victoria Park.

After I got back to the hotel I checked out the map that I had and apparently I traveled about 10 miles on foot during this 6 hour excursion. Not bad. I then took a half hour nap. Needless I was a little tired after being out in the sun for that many hours. I guess that means I'll have a big steak dinner tonight!

futurama

So last night at around 11:30pm I remembered that I should be watching [adult swim], so I turned on the TV in search of the Cartoon Network. I didn't see it on the channel listing, but I did see this channel that seemed like it had cartoons....

I changed the channel....

Viola! Futurama! Then I noticed that something wasn't quite right. Bender was talking, but his voice sounded funny. Then I realized that it was in French. It was amusing at first, but then it got kind of annoying because I couldn't really tell what was going on and also because Zoidberg had a normal voice. What's up with that? Non! I say! Non!

montreal - day 1

Got into Montreal safe and sound last night. Staying at the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth. Nothing too eventful so far. We had dinner at Vargas, which is right down the street. Very good place, especially if you're getting reimbursed. :-) I had the gigantic prime rib. Tasty.

I was originally thinking of going for a run this morning, but decided against it after checking out the possible route on Google maps. Ended up that the walking path that looked so nice on the CAA (Canada's AAA) map went straight through this shipping area. Not exactly what I had in mind for the St. Lawrence River. I'll still probably walk over there tomorrow though. I plan on spending most of the day wandering.

Oh yeah... I came here expecting to get free high speed internet access in my room. I am, but not through the hotel. Apparently I still have to pay $CAD 13.95 a day for it. Right now I'm getting a decent connection off of someone's wireless hub. Not sure who, but it doesn't really matter. ;-)

i'm out

Got my bags packed and ready to go. No, it doesn't feel like I'm coming back, but I'll be back here 7/18.

events

I got the new Better than Ezra album, and it's pretty decent. Something for me to listen to on my trip.

I still need to pack and everything, but at least I have all my laundry done. I'll be leaving tomorrow in the early afternoon and I won't be coming back till July 18th. :-D Technically I'll be back for an hour or so on July 1st, but aside from that stopover in Hopkins, I'll be out for a while.

I've got all my gear assembled, and I'll try to have some updates at least during my first week at Montreal. I may even have some updates when I'm in Vancouver or Washington, depending on whether those Choice hotels have free internet access. We'll see.

product idea of the day

For the makers of animal crackers:

• Animal heads
• Headless animal crackers

oh hell...

I've started seeing what I need to bring for my upcoming trip, and I'm disturbed to report that I need to bring 5 pairs of shoes... sigh....

1. Merrell Jungle Mocs - General shoes for everything - UPA conference, wandering Montreal, light hiking, wandering Japan. Not going to substitute another shoe since I know these rock. I overpaid for these shoes, but I'm still getting my money's worth.
   
2. Timberland hiking boots - Crystal Lakes Trail, maybe some other trails in Olympic NP, climbing Mt. Fuji. Can't use the Jungle Mocs for some of these since there'll be severe wet spots. I overpaid for these shoes too, but I may break even if I destroy them on Mt. Fuji.
3. Rockport casual shoes - Another thing to bring for the one night I'll be at a fancy restaurant in Montreal. What do you mean I can't wear my two year old treadless Jungle Mocs? I like these shoes and they're comfy, but they aren't waterproof like the Jungle Mocs. Not as comfy either. And no, I didn't overpay for these shoes. :-)
4. Nike sandals - Almost decided against it, but if I'm going to be taking a dip in the Pacific they'll certainly come in handy. Depending on the weather I may wear them in Montreal too, but they aren't going to Japan. And no, I didn't overpay for these shoes.
5. Running shoes - Some of my best travel experiences involve running... usually along a river (um... usually cities are built along rivers). Did this in London, Paris, and Minneapolis. Something to attempt in Montreal. Probably not worth the weight to take them to Hiroshima, but maybe?

To offset the shoe dilemma, I am happy about my light coldweather and rain gear. Funny part is that aside from my tights (from my superhero days), my best cold weather gear comes from this Hong Kong company, Giordano. That could explain why my grandma got it for me. She loves picking up deals. My guess is that cold weather gear isn't a hot seller in sub-tropical Hong Kong.

closure

So I finally closed my account with Ohio Savings Bank. Pain in the ass. I've been intending to do it for about two months now and finally got the winning combination of remembering about it on a Friday and being able to leave work early.

Funny thing is that closing my account was incredibly easy. Easier than updating my address! Something isn't right there.

Some consolation is that the teller I was dealing with was pretty nice, and we got into an interesting conversation about why I was closing my account. During this chat, I explained how my other bank, First Internet Bank of Indiana, is awesome because I get interest checking and I get reimbursed $6 in ATM fees each month - essentially enabling me to use whichever ATM I wanted anywhere in the country. Pretty nice, eh? She thought so. She wrote down the address for their web site as I was talking to her.

presentation...

So how did it go? It went pretty well. Good thing I had a spare 2-3 hours. I used it all up and finished on time. Yay. So yes, overall it went well, but not without a few challenges...

• I had gas. You all wanted to know that, I'm sure.
• Time somehow became an issue...
• On this one slide I had the phrase "click tracking." Because of the how the slide was scaled, I though it said "dick tracking," so I apologized for the typo. I paused for a moment trying to figure out what the heck I tried to write there, finally realizing that this is what happens when the 'c' and the 'l' are written too close together. Thanks to my sketchy handwriting, I then realized it wasn't a typo, and it just looked like a typo. So I said, "Wait, it's not a typo, but it looks like a typo." People looked confused. Then some people in the back started laughing hysterically. I composed myself and pretended that nothing happened. Still funny though. The highlight for sure. ;-)
  

presentation

So I'm supposed to do this day-long training course for my group, the managers, and their manager. 40 slides is enough, right?

Nah. No worries. I have a ton of examples to go through. So long as I don't lose my voice halfway through.... Wish me luck!

if there is a hell it will be a party

http://www.bitterfilms.com/hell.html

bs

Excerpts from an IM conversation.... slightly edited for coherence...

>i clearly don't bullshit enough

>if I adopted BS-speak, I'd be able to sound all fancy, and people would think that I'm good because I must be... the things I say would use large words that they aren't familiar with, so I must know something they don't

>"by tilting the schema of communication, I could effecively emote the spirit of my abiliity..."

>"...allowing a fluid progression towards career goals"

>but apparently, I think it's a waste of time to talk like that. i'm too pragmatic

>insert buzzword every 10 syllables

>with occassional dash of poor grammar and making up words

>like "strategery"

lists

Playlist: Stone Temple Pilots

*A* list: People I work with named Smith (two of them at least)

Shit list: ac4lt (even though I don't know the person at all), bn, Ohio Savings Bank

almost queen

So I'm writing this post in my underwear, because I just woke up and it's already warm out Good thing, right?

So on Friday, I went with Greg to see Almost Queen at the House of Blues. If you couldn't guess by the name, they're a Queen cover band. I didn't expect too much. After all, I never really expect anything too great from a cover band, especially when they cover bands that have fanatical followings. But we went, and I have to say that I was impressed.

They put on a good show. I'm not even sure where to begin. Singer Russo not only looked a lot like Freddie Mercury, but was also able to pull off the vocals (including all the highs and lows), the piano playing, and also the... um... the way he carried himself. He didn't just do it all. He did it all well.

That isn't to say that the other members of the band didn't stand out. They were all into it, which is great to see and it adds a lot of energy to the show. The drums were awesome, and so was the guitar and bass. I give it the thumbs up.

studs

Cleveland Summer League 2005

Looks like we have ourselves a team. We'll be ready to rock starting next Thursday.

Kelly Green (a shade off from last year's Jade):
Derek Arnold
Samuel Barker
Brianna Blair
Jimmy Dunn*^
Tricia Fairman
Greg Ferreri^
David Feuer*
David Gelehrter^
Michelle Holko
Andrew Hunt
Paul Ip*^
Brandon Jones
Jeff Lazarus^
Jason Parris*
Bill Scanlon^
Sarah Schumacher
Brooke Smith
James Urban

*veterans from last year's team Paul
^Shaker squad