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| Backlog: November–February |
[ Friday, February 27, 2004 | 11:36 a.m. ] |
Final Intro (late-February): So, I've spent the last two months trying to sum up the last four months into one concise blog post. It's ended up being a bit long, and I don't expect many people to read it, but it's there for me to look back at and for others to maybe take a look at one day when they're bored at work or when a looming assignment or test demands some serious procrastination. So, for those who are interested, I present Terri's Life: November 2003–February 2004.
In-Progress Intro (mid-January): I've been getting into work early lately. Due to the cold, and the fact that I'm working in my own little pocket of the Arctic right here in Toronto, I've been getting rides from Dad in the morning. That gets me here almost an hour earlier than when I take public transit. So, I've decided to finally try to cobble together an update. I'll chip away at it whenever I can, and hopefully get it up sometime this month.
Original Intro (early January): I haven't posted in a while... Recently it's been because of work; before that it was the holidays; before that it was exams; before that... well, let's just say that I fell back into an old trap.
EverQuest: Lost Dungeons Hours of Norrath
"You know you are spending too much time playing Everquest when your diet is even worse than your character's."
Yep. Good old EverQuest. It all started when Sean made a Froglok shaman to lure me back into playing. (I'd always wanted to try out a froggie.) I didn't play Greebar too much (Sean mostly plays him now), but it was enough; I was back playing my own character occasionally through the beginning of the term and midterms. Then came November. The calendar above my desk was nearly empty, with a few small, scattered assignments. Midterms were over and exams were still far off in the future. My time had come.
I think it was around the month of November when I gave myself over completely to EverQuest. I was still going through the motions of getting up, going to school, mindlessly copying down notes, etc. but as soon as I got home, I would log in and play for the rest of the night. I remember one night when I worked on a C&O assignment in the breaks healing up between fights. Another memorable night (from a look-at-the-depths-of-my-addiction standpoint) was one Wednesday when, tired of pissing away my free hours before my evening class web surfing in a unix lab, I brought my laptop to school and played EverQuest over the wireless network in the SLC. That was cool.
Of course, my time on EverQuest peaked when my free time peaked: final exams.
Exams
My exam schedule last term was decent, but unfortunately spaced for someone like me. I had one exam near the beginning, one around the middle, and three near the end. This left me with a few large blocks of totally free time, aside from the odd review session. It was the perfect time to play EverQuest all day, every day. Well, I suppose not all day; I did take bathroom breaks. What about food breaks, you might ask. Well, you see, feeding myself is not one of my strong suits.
I'd survived the first three months of the term by eating at a cafeteria whenever I happened to be on campus, which was every day, since I went home on weekends. Sure, on days other than Wednesdays, when I had my evening class, I'd get a little hungry come dinner time, but I could just open up a game, dig out an assignment, or pick up the phone to take my mind off it. During exams, however, I was almost never on campus, and it really blew the nice system I had going on. So, I set out to feed myself. One evening at the start of exams, I walked over to Zehr's, the nearest grocery store, to pick up some supplies. My "study food" consisted of Tostitos, Sun Chips, Hot Rods, Jos Louis, Goldfish crackers, and white cheddar flavoured rice cakes. By the end of the two weeks I was pretty much starving, but it was all good. But I'm getting ahead of myself...
Truth be told, other than playing lots and lots of EverQuest, and apparently talking forever on the phone (if my long distance charges amount to what El says they did), I don't remember too many specifics from exam time. It was basically like all of my other trips through finals: procrastination, addiction and malnutrition. They came and went and next thing I knew I was packing up my bike into the mini-van Mom had rented for the move back to Toronto. (The van was there pretty much so we could take the bike with us in one trip. Other than that, I had almost exactly the same things with me as in all my previous terms, which fit quite easily into the Maxima. Well, I left my furniture for the subletter.)
I can't say I was sad to leave the house behind. While living off campus didn't turn out to be that bad, I'm still hoping to be back in residence next winter. I just don't like the hassles of having my own place. Paying bills, deciding on ISP's and gas providers, living with other people... These are all things I could do without. Now, if Carol or Tim happen to read this, I hope they know that by that I didn't mean that I didn't like living with them specifically, but just that I'd rather not live with anyone other than my closest family (by which I mean Mom and Sean... say what you will).
I was talking about exams, though. The word "coasting" pretty much sums up how I felt all term. My only final mark that I was truly disappointed with was CO 350, Linear Optimization. I got 75% in a course that was supposed to be the closest thing to a bird course in the math faculty (not counting MTHEL's). Most of it was fairly simple stuff, since we dealt more with application than deep theory, and the application involved only basic matrix operations and linear algebra. Of course, I barely studied for the final; about ten minutes before it there was still a chapter that I hadn't even looked at, which was, conveniently, the last chapter of testable material, which we hadn't had an assignment dealing with, and consequently, I'd never bothered to learn. (Anyone remember my OAC Physics exam?) I suppose I could've done better, but, strangely, I have no regrets. The rest of my marks were adequate: CS 240 was in the low 80's, STAT 230 and PSCI 291 were in the high 80's, and CS 246 was in the low 90's. Par for the course, I guess. Really, I don't have much else to say about school, other than slacking doesn't pay, but go for it anyway.
Christmas & New Year's
In contrast to my rather blah term, I had a tremendously good time over the holidays. The main part of that was getting to spend lots of time with Sean, but also receiving presents and giving presents and just relaxing. My grandma came over from Hungary, the same night I moved back from Waterloo, which was a little hectic, but it was nice to have her here. I can't remember if we got a chance to reprise our Swiss Chalet dinner from last year with Mom, Grandma and Sean, but he was invited for dinner on Christmas Day. I went completely overboard with presents for him, but he went overboard with birthday presents for me, so it all balances out. (For my birthday I got, among other things, a big Hamtaro-like stuffed hamster, the entire series of Excel Saga on DVD, and the Rush in Rio DVD.) It was funny because Mom, Grandma and I had put all of our presents for each other under our Christmas tree that morning and then opened them all, but when Sean came over later there were enough presents for and from him to fill up the bottom of the tree again.
My favourite present of the season was from Sean: a Game Boy Advance SP! It's everything I thought it would be and so much more. Finally, a backlight! A rechargeable battery! A return to the original control layout! (That lame horizontal button layout had been the thing really stopping me from purchasing one of the original GBA's.) Did I mention the backlight?! (Essential because I like to play Palm/PocketPC/Game Boy games at night in bed with the lights off before going to sleep.) Anyway, Sean got me two games with it: Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, an awesome RPG/Mario Bros. game that almost seemed to be made for me, and Hamtaro: Ham-Ham Heartbreak, a game similar to Ham-Hams Unite! for the Game Boy Color, previously my favourite Game Boy game ever, but with improved graphics and other enhancements. Sean assured me Ham-Ham Heartbreak was happy, despite the name, but there were an awful lot of crying hamsters in the opening animation.
Speaking of hamsters, did I ever mention that we've got one? Well, really he belongs to Sean, as he lives with Sean and Sean mostly takes care of him, but Sean insists that Hammy is ours. We got him in August, shortly after Sean moved into his apartment, and he's just the cutest thing ever. I might get some pictures up, but I'd probably have to take better ones first. I wish I could see Hammy more and spend more time with him, since he's often asleep when I'm at Sean's. I always miss out on him doing really cute things, like the first time he watched TV, or the first time he used a keyboard and mouse. (Well, he just tried to chew on the mouse, but he did press some keys on the keyboard, supposedly.) I miss Hammy a lot.
New Year's Eve was also spent with Sean, Mom and Grandma. We all went out for dinner together at Il Fornello downtown and then went to see Mamma Mia. The musical was fun and romantic and we all had a great time. The surprise was how much Grandma liked it; apparently she knew every one of the songs and they were some of her favourites. Who would've guessed? Seeing Mamma Mia that night also added that extra special touch to the evening when, back at Sean's, we were watching CityTV's New Year's bash and who should appear on stage but the cast of Mamma Mia to do a rendition of "Dancing Queen". It was a great night. One of the best parts, though, was Mom letting me spend the night at Sean's. We barely stayed up past midnight since I was dead tired and Sean was still getting over a flu bug that had kept him in bed with fever and chills for the past week, but it was great to fall asleep and wake up together. I felt very optimistic for the coming year.
Work
"I'm not exactly making a contribution to anything, but I'm certainly not killing myself either; it's a government job."
So, that just leaves work to catch up on. The above quote from my first work term, two years ago now, seems oddly appropriate. Well, no, I do feel like I'm making more of a contribution to something, but I'm certainly not killing myself either. There are days when I do a lot of work... and then there are days like today. Well, seriously, I suppose I do what's expected of me and I work when necessary, so I'm not all bad.
I'm working for Environment Canada this term doing some climate research stuff. I wasn't entirely sure what I was doing at first, but my boss seemed cool, so I wasn't too worried. Since then I've discovered that we have a fair bit in common, including, significantly, a very similar taste in music. In fact, we have the same favourite band, Rush. He's also a huge Yes fan. I only have two albums by Yes, Close to the Edge and Relayer, but now that I've had a chance to listen to more of their stuff I plan on picking up many more. Also, I have all of Rush's studio albums but none of their live ones so he brought them all in for me to try, complete with post-it note reviews inside each case. At the moment my desk has 7 CD's of climate data on it versus 13 music CD's borrowed from my boss (primarily Yes and Rush). I'm not sure what kind of work experience I'm getting out of this job, but I'm definitely having a blast.
Finally...
Overall, life is good. I have love, peace, and video games. I'm officially half-way through my degree, and so far, things are going well. Hopefully I'm only a couple more years away from finally getting my leather jacket. (Techincally I can buy one any time, but I'm waiting until I'm fairly sure that I'll graduate. Which will probably be no earlier than fourth year. God, I want one so desperately.) Work's okay. Sean and Hammy are wonderful. The Game Show Network is pissing me off, but I'll save that for another rant. Oh, and I've got a cold right now, but it's a minor distraction. Speaking of distractions, I should get back to work... :-)
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| When climate research and EverQuest collide... |
[ Tuesday, February 24, 2004 | 11:54 a.m. ] |
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I just read "Snow Pellets" as "Snow Cougar Pelts". That'll teach me to get my head out of Iceclad Ocean (and my browser away from Allakhazam's, Magelo, etc.) at work.
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| Stream of Consciousness |
[ Wednesday, February 18, 2004 | 12:49 p.m. ] |
I should get back to work.
I don't think our research is coming to anything.
I need to drink more water.
Do I have to pee? Maybe just a little.
I hate menstruating.
I hear my boss's boss. Look busy.
I just can't seem to work very hard these days.
Should we be concerned about the lack of women in computer science?
God, I've slacked off today, just like every day for the last while.
I would be a lot more productive if I didn't have access to the Internet.
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| Fun at Work |
[ Friday, February 13, 2004 | 11:24 a.m. ] |
I think it all started one day when I mentioned my Thursday dinners with my Dad at Swiss Chalet. This was followed by extensive email discussions on Sausage McMuffins, and lengthy chats about other fast food delights. Now it's gotten to the point where these are the sort of emails I receive from my boss:
| I Sausage brought McMuffin in popcorn the chicken live Big Rush Mac albums, large so fries you quarter can chicken listen Snickers before bar you cheesies buy. |
Can't you just taste the popcorn chicken?
Close your eyes and think about popcorn chicken. |
P.S. Happy Friday the 13th!
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[ Wednesday, February 11, 2004 | 2:48 a.m. ] |
So much for all those posts, eh? Well, I'm still working on my summary of November to January, but for now, I have a few current things to mention.
First of all, my boy is officially old. He turned thirty the Saturday before last. He still insists that he's not an adult, but as far as I'm concerned, he's crossed the threshold. I was bad as usual, not getting him any presents, but I did take him out for dinner to the 360 Restaurant at the CN Tower. It was a little expensive, but our beef tenderloins with goat cheese mashed potatoes were superb and the view was absolutely breathtaking. Mom also let me sleep over at Sean's apartment the night before. It seems this being twenty thing is actually having some noticeable effects.
Aw, nuts. Valentine's Day is this weekend, isn't it? I am in serious trouble.
On a not-so-romantic note, I read a disturbing article in the Globe this week about young (twelve- and thirteen-year-old) girls giving out blowjobs like handshakes. A significant portion of school counselors and the like that they interviewed were from private, all-girls schools. It made me think of that time the old HC gang had dinner at this Greek place (for someone's birthday, maybe?). Sonia, the only one there who was still at Havergal, told us all sorts of disturbing stories about the sexual escapades of the Middle Schoolers. (At least I think that was the occasion. I don't have a terribly good memory, which is why I keep this journal.)
I was telling Sean about this stuff in the car the other day, and he seemed completely unfazed; he just didn't see what the big deal was. I wrote that one off to his being a guy. But seriously, is it old-fashioned or prudish to think that twelve-year-olds shouldn't be wearing thong underwear and heavy makeup or servicing their thirteen-year-old classmates? It could be argued that I'm already a bit backwards, what with my not even "fooling around" at all in high school and just kissing a guy for the first time in university. Still, I find the whole thing really disturbing.
[Yes, yes, that was an incomplete thought. I'm out of time.]
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[ Friday, February 6, 2004 | 10:12 a.m. ] |
I just had the most disheartening morning in recent memory.
As usual, my dad drove me to work. This morning, however, he made the unusual move of stopping at McDonald's, since he had some coupons that expired on the weekend. So, he bought us breakfast. When I got in the car and he told me that, I was pretty excited. If I had my choice of any place in the world to get breakfast, I think I'd choose McDonald's. Unfortunately, my excitement was not to last.
"What'd you get?" I asked.
"Egg McMuffins, of course," he replied.
My heart sank. I absolutely, positively hate eggs. I can think of few foods I hate more. Just the smell of them starts to make me sick. I mumbled a polite thank you, while mentioning that I didn't really like eggs, but I figured I could just take out the layer of egg and still eat the sausage. I love the sausage. In my afore-mentioned "any breakfast in the world" scenario, I'd be eating a pile of Sausage McMuffins. So, really, all was not lost.
Or was it? My story could have ended there, but there was one final twist still to come when I arrived at work. As I unwrapped the sandwich to throw out the egg I realised something wasn't right. Where was the sausage?!? The sandwich turned out not to be a Sausage & Egg McMuffin, as I had assumed, but rather a Ham & Egg McMuffin. I was crushed. Without the sausage, I couldn't bring myself to eat the still eggy-smelling sandwich, even with its promise of yummy English muffin.
Dejected, I brought the sandwich back to my desk. I stared at it for a while, poked it, sniffed it, but eventually decided that I just couldn't eat it. After twenty minutes of limbo, the rest of the McMuffin followed its Egg into the garbage. I felt like a terribly wasteful person and a horrible daughter, but what could I do? I only hope that with better communication, this situation can be avoided in the future...
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