I have to say, I am pretty imperessed with my new gadget. I was concerned that I was going to run into problems migrating my music library over to it, but it went very smoothly. The normal playlists that I was using on my oterbipod fit perfectly onto the sixteen gigs of memoy I have on this one, so I didn't have to edit any of them.

Typing is also really easy, once you get used to the lack of tactile feedback. I've seen a couple gltches so far, but nothing that would make me want to return it. I'm hoping that apple will allow legit third-party apps soon, or else I'm going to have to jailbreak it and add them manually.

OH HAI. I CAN HAZ TEST?

So, I work at UPS... At work we have a moving conveyor belt to get boxes from one end of the building to the other, and people along the belt move boxes into the correct trucks. There is a policy at work to not cross the belt while it is moving... an acceptable and generally 'ok' policy.

I understand the dangers of walking/scooting over a moving surface, and as such, on the rare occasion that I move across it while its moving, I try to do so in a careful and quick manner. Today, a fellow employee was busy dealing with some other packages, so I decided on a whim to scoot across the belt to assist them in getting their packages off the belt while they loaded their truck.

I got caught by the Building Manager. "Caught" is such a weighty word in this instance, but it does apply. As a result of my action, I was sent home early from work, and have a policy review tomorrow about proper procedures in and around the work area.

I understand I broke policy... I get that. I know why I did it, but more importantly I know that I should have either a) stopped the belt, then crossed or b) checked to make sure the coast was clear.

One of the more frustrating aspects of this particular event was the fact that I have been honestly making an effort to follow more of the rules... I havent jumped across the belt in several days, and I've been treating packages with more care. Then in this ONE instance of transgression, I get a disciplinary note on my record AND sent home early.

Anyways... I'm frusterated that I was sent home when I'm a quality hard-working employee who actually wants to do a good job.

Well, as we can obviously see, I've slacked off on blog entries... even worse than usual! Therefor, we're going to have to break this down a bit into parts, not necessarily in chronological order, or order of importance, but simply what I can write about the easiest, sice this is going to take a LONG time, and I wanna get into the writing flow smoothly.

First off... my new computer. Unfortunately I dont have pics of it yet, but I must say its an impressive rig. We'll start with the specs

Intel Core2Duo, 2.13GHz, Plan to overclock after I get a decent processor fan.
nVidia 8800 GTS, made by BFG
2 500GB Seagate Barracuda hard drives, SATA, in Raid 0
650 watt BFG Power Supply
2gb Corsair TwinX Ram
Antec P180B Super-Mid-Tower Case
2 20.1in LG Widescreens

Building this machine took about a month, starting near the end of January, and proceeding all the way up to my purchase of Vista around the 20th of February. Orders were made through Memory Express, TigerDirect and NCIX, with all necessary shipping occuring through UPS (Yes, I was cautious about what components I shipped). The only major hiccup I found was due to the case design, mobo design and power supply design. The combination of the three resulted in my processor power cable being about 3 inches too short to attach to the motherboard. As a result of this, I had to ship in extensions for the two 4-pin cables, wherein lay a problem: P4 and +P4 connectors are different... mirror images of each other. I had to modify a regular P4 connection to plug in correctly to the motherboard. Fortunately, that only took about 1/2 an hour with a knife, and the result was safe-looking and a good fit. From there, it was no problem to get the raid array built, although it took some playing to get the sata drives connected where I wanted them

Installing Vista was a breeze, with very little stuff to configure. Most/all of my components had drivers in one form or another that were Vista compatible. The only major problem, and this has been a gripe since the card was released, was that the 8800 GTS drivers were not up to the standards that nVidia had promised to provide to Vista users. The 8800 series is the first to support DirectX 10, under Vista, but the problem is that some things just dont work right. Granted, nVidia is trying hard to get things developed now... but it really should have been done before. Even now, with their beta drivers, I'm still having a few little problems. I need to figure out how to report this stuff.

Overall, the machine is awesome! I really enjoy working on it. Its fast, fairly reliable (for a new OS, beta drivers etc.), and a great addition to my 'fleet' of computers. My favorite 'feature' so far, I'd have to say, is the fact that I can remote into it from my lappy from bed (which is what i'm doing right now) much like I did with my old system. Vista works alot better for that though, and I'd swear that the Remote Connection is faster too. :-)

Next topic!

Well, since my last entry, Chantel and I have further developed our relationship into an 'official' one... so we're now dating! We started that back on my Dad's birthday, February 10th, so its been a little over a month for us now. The last few weeks have been a bit tough for the both of us, since she is quite busy with work, and I have been getting all kinds of crazy school and other things thrown at me. More on those other things in a bit. I really enjoy Chantel's company, and we spend as much time together as our schedules allow. Unfortunately, at times its not too much, but we talk on msn, and text message quite a bit.

Its a different kind of relationship than I'm used to... (I mean no offense to any past girlfriends that might be reading this, by the way) Chantel is quite independent, more so than most of my past experiences. She has a full-time job, is extremely responsible, and overall a 'low-maintenance' girlfriend. In addition to a full-time job, she's now applied at SAIT to pursue an education in either Hotel and Restaraunt Management, or else Baking.

We have a good sense of each others time management as well. She's not demanding of my time, and I'm not demanding of hers... we reach compromizes when we need to, and dont feel bitter or put-off if the other person has plans on a given day/night/weekend. We both lead seperate lives, but share time when we can. She's understanding about school, about work, and about my family. Mom and Dad met her just before we started dating, and definitely were impressed by her, which I really like. :-)

Speaking of parents... Next Topic!

Approximately 2 weeks ago, I found out some disturbing news from my Dad. It was discovered that he had a growth in his lower intestine that had the possibility of being cancerous, but fortunately they were able to schedule him for surgery almost immidiately. So, last monday at 8am, he was in Red Deer for surgery to have a section of his colon removed. Sugery went with no problems, and recovery has been fairly quick. He had some nausea at a few different points, resulting in a tube down his nose (not fun, to say the VERY least... >_<), but he's now out of the hospital as of yesterday, resting at home.

The result of this surgery thing was that I needed to be in my hometown and Red Deer all last week, so there was a LOT of driving involved in my week. I got the whole week off of work, and since we were between terms at DeVry it was about as perfect timing for surgery as it could be. I got alot of time to hang with friends as well, which was fun and relaxing. I got alot of sleep too, except for the night that I stayed with dad in the hospital... then I got 20 minutes of sleep. I just cant rest in hospitals, I guess.

Next topic.

Last friday, I went and saw what was quite possibly the greatest movie I've seen in years. The movie 300 is an epic telling of a battle between 300 Spartan warriors and the 1,000,000 member army of Persia. The absolutely stunning camerawork and CGI that blends the whole movie together is the finest I've ever seen. All the hype you've heard about it; It lives up to it, by far. The actors were not just playing the role... they WERE their roles. Those muscles were the real deal, and every move, every fight was flawlessly executed. The movie was really gory, but in a realistic way. I may yet see it again in theatres. My review: 9.5/10, the highest I've ever given.

Final Bit

Overall, its been a hectic and crazy last few weeks. I've just started my 6th term at DeVry, finishing last term with an unfortunately low 2.47 GPA. My online courses started the monday of dads surgery, but due to the fact I emailed the instructors regarding the situation, I was granted some leeway on getting the assignments finished for week 1. Thus far, my average in those courses is very good... so good, in fact, that I'd consider this to be my 'easy A' term. I'm looking forward to my classes!

At this very moment, I'd like to state for the record, Nicole has gone to the hospital with her water broken... Baby time is upon us! *crosses fingers*

And with this bit of good news... I depart for a short nap before work. :-)

Tip of the Day: 22 hours of awakeness, then a two hour sleeping window will cause you to sleep through alarms.

What have I been up to... good question, since I've kinda been busier than normal with stuff outside of the routine.

Chantel and I have been really talking alot, and its lead to us starting to 'date', I suppose you'd call it. Not dating in the boyfriend/girlfriend sense, but more of the old-school dating... i.e., going on dates, but nothing official. Its been quite relaxing for both of us, since its letting us develop a friendship, but still spend that special time together without too many questions from people. On friday, I spent some time shopping in the morning with her and her mom, which was awesome! They've both got really good personalities and are fun to hang out with. Definitely a cool family to get to know. :-)

After the shopping, we picked up Saw's I II and III from rogers video, as well as the 5th Element (cause we didnt want to be too freaked out by the Saw movies), then headed back to her place. Eek man... those movies are messed up. I'd seen the first one, and Chantel had seen the second one, but it was definitely something different watching all three... *shudder* The third one is just plain messed up... pretty much everyone dies, to be honest. Its freaky stuff... very very gory.

I've been getting the parts for my computer all ordered in etc... the last shipment is on its way and should be at its destination (either I get it from work, or it goes to my parents place up north) sometime tomorrow I presume. Kind of annoying if I miss it at the Hub, but a trip can be arranged to pick it up, no problem. I must say, I'm very impressed by what I have so far... the screens are absolutely amazing! Total width of the 2 of them is around 40 inches... definite eye candy, to say the least! :-D The case is like something out of 2001 A Space Odyssey... massive black wall. The only left to do now is to figure out how I want to rearrange the network to get another line into my room. The simplest idea would just be to have a switch in here, but I might not have to do that since the motherboard on the new rig is going to have 2 ethernet ports. I can likely just bridge the connections and have that act as a router, but we'll have to see.

My online course is frustrating, since it seems that I never have the textbook when I need it... lent it to Eman last week, forgetting that I wouldnt be able to see him until tuesday, and as a result I cant do homework etc. until then. *sigh* Teacher's gonna ding me marks, likely. Ah well, I should be fine for marks... overall I think my average should be ok... currently looking at 2 A's and 2 C's... when it all settles out, it'll probably be a B average as usual.

I'm getting tired of Telus. I dont like the limitations that i have on my phone, and my plan honestly sucks. Looking into Rogers now, although buying out of my plan will suck alot. Just something I'm considering. >_>

Work has been extremely light, and its killing my paychecks unfortunately... was hoping I could keep up the 1200+ per month I was getting in the months before christmas, so I hope things get busier. People! Ship more stuff! (as lazy as I can be, I go to work to work hard, not lounge around for 4 hours with these crappy package volumes.)

Tip of the Day: Make sure the printed stuff on shirts you're buying is centered. I hate that. >_<

So last night Chantel (yay! spelled right!) and I went and saw A Night in the Museum! I was really impressed by it... its a good movie, with lots of laughs, a good plot, and acting that was pretty good. I'm not really a Ben Stiller fan, generally, but he wasnt too bad this time around. Robin Williams had a great role as Teddy Roosevelt, so that definitely made things more interesting. Rexxie!

"Good heavens man, why are you slapping that monkey?!" ;-)

So yeah, we had a great time... the movie was really good, and even the previews before it were awesome. Saw the one for Rise of the Silver Surfer, as well as Spiderman 3. Was hoping for Transformers, but no such luck. Overall, definitely a good movie experience!

After the movie, we walked over to Shotz and talked for quite awhile while the flames game was finishing. (we won, 4-2) Then the band that they get on saturday nights started up! Awesome sound! They played all great songs... honestly, I'd think of a song and they'd play it... I wasnt even saying anything! We had "Stuck in the Middle With You", "Another Brick in the Wall" and alot of other good stuff. Chantel and I had both had fairly long days, so she called her dad for a pick-up at around 11:30, and they kindly dropped me off at my place as well. It was a great evening! I'd love to spend more time with Chantel, she's really fun to talk with. :-)

Tip of the Day: Marshmallows dont make good breakfast food.

Welcome, 2007... i been waiting for you.

Well, went out to a house party last night, with Shazzy. She didnt stick around after midnight, but thats cool... I had figured she wouldnt even though I spent 2+ hours helping her get ready before we even left her house. I had a little too much to drink, and had to sit the party out for a bit, but in the end I managed ok. Grampa and Lorrie were awake around 3:30 (i knew they would be, we'd talked earlier yesterday) so I called them for a ride once I started sobering up, and they got me home before four, which I really appreciate.

The guy running the part, Amelio, was a pretty cool guy. He was the one makin sure there were no fights or anything, and was overall a very responsible host. We broke up one pair of guys who were 'just wrestling', so that didnt get too out of hand. I met girl named Chantelle, who I think was kinda in the same boat as I was, in regards to rarely getting drunk. I gave her my number at one point, I think. We were resting on the floor at that point, and memory goes a little fuzzy somewhere in there. :-)

I guess since I havent written since christmas, I'll give the update on all that stuff. Christmas day was a blast! We had alot of mom's side of the family over, and had a great dinner. I must say, I think its one of the best dinners we've ever had. The food was great, and alot of fun stories were shared. Everyone was really relaxed and had a good time. I got some cool shirts, and some great CD's as well, along with cash and a few misc. other things like blank DVD's for burning movies.

Stuff with Jeri is interesting. 24 hours ago, I was absolutely sure that there was no chance in hell of us getting together. In all honesty, we wont unless something changes in how her family works, and I dont see that happening or expect it to happen. However... always changing, the future is.

Time for some more family time. I have a headache.

Tip of the Day: Thinking that one shot of Bacardi rum is 'fine' after you've had a few is a bad idea. :-P