Holiday Season, Friends, and Resolutions

Well, like wild fire Christmas blazed on past. It's now boxing day and all of the build up ended in a present opening climax. I was actually pretty surprised that I received a gift this year that I actually wanted, haha. I received a combo printer/scanner/photocopier from my parents and my kids. I was floored when I opened it as this was to be a pretty slim Xmas.

My girls loved their gifts and are still going crazy over what Santa brought them: Ipod and Phone Camera (Santa must be a Techy). They are presently outsided sliding in the snow on the new sleds that I bought them.

All and all this turned out to be a wonderful time, we spend time with friends and family and we had a great time of it.

On behalf of my family to everyone out there in blog land, Merry Christmas and Happy New Years. For those of you non-Xmas folks, Happy Holidays.

I'm hoping the next year brings more smiles than misery though.

Rob

Powered by ScribeFire.

World of Warcraft: The Game you Love to Hate

Like 9.3 million of us around the world I'm one of those that enjoys playing World of Warcraft as my choice of entertainment. I don't watch tv much anymore, I prefer a more interactive form of entertainment.

I have made many friends in-game, and I have had quite a bit of fun as well. However, recently things have started to get stale for me as far as the game goes. The imbalances with certain classes, the fact that 95% of the player base will never be able to experience most of the Raid content, constant changes to class balance, gameplay, and items, and the lack of any real customer support have turned me off of the game.

If you read the forums it is one big morass of unhappy gamers and it doesn't seem that Blizzard really cares. Many of their fixes are poorly thought out, poorly implemented, and pretty much a waste of everyones time and energy. A good example of this is the afk solution, putting the onus on reporting of the AFK'ers on the players themselves. If that weren't bad enough they allow those with the AFK debuff to maintain and keep the honor that they accrued up until they were reported. It's ridiculous.

I don't know too many players any more that are playing the game for enjoyment, they play because they are either addicted, it's part of their routine, or they spent so much time leveling their characters they don't want to give them up.

Now some people do enjoy the game though, and I think for the most part those folks are newer to the game and still enjoying the initial fun that the game offered to the rest of us. The newness that an MMO of WoW's stature gives to those looking for a fun Onliine experience.

I've decided that I'm most likely not going to continue my subscription, that gives me another 2 months of play time, and if things haven't changed by then I'll go and try something new.

It's funny because this game was allot of fun at one time, the communities were all enjoying it, the pvp aspect was a blast, and it was full of laughs and fun. Now it's work, grinding for rep/honor, pointless quests, ridiculous requirements for mounts/epics, and content that no one but the most well geared can even begin to explore.

Until then I'm going to play and try and find something enjoyable to do while I'm there.

- Rob

Powered by ScribeFire.

A Battle of Wills - I Surrender

Lately I've noticed that my eldest daughter Jecynda has been much more argumentative with me in respect to bed times, doing homework, play time, and items.

I thought maybe at first that maybe she was angry about something and this was her way to deal with it. So earlier today I decided that the two of us would have a talk. I drove us down to the mall and we did some shopping, we sat at A&W and had a bite to eat, and then we stopped off for an ice cream and sat down. I decided to talk with her then about what was going on and what she thought we could do to solve the problem.

It was then I found out, that I was the problem. She didn't like my rules and thought that she was old enough now for some of them to be changed. Her list of demands were:

1) Go to sleep at 10pm rather than 9pm
2) Do homework when she feels like doing it and not at 7pm
3) She wants her room changed to more reflect herself
4) Be allowed to stay out past 9pm with friends
5) Allowed to go to the mall in the afternoon with her friends

Most of these demands were things that I would be a bit more flexible with had she not been giving me some attitude when she told me about them.

This is where the Battle of the Wills began. I was getting pissy at her attitude and she was getting frustrated with my getting pissy with her attitude.

So, I took a deep breath and made the following compromises with her.

1) Weeknights she can go to bed at 10pm as long as I have no trouble getting her up in the morning.
2) Homework gets done before bedtime, she has the freedom to choose when.
3) I gave her a week to come up with a list of changes for her room, and then we would discuss that.
4) 9pm is the latest she is allowed out at, there is no compromise here.
5) She can go with her friends to the Mall on the condition she is back at school on time, her homework is done, she doesn't do anything stupid like stealing, or anything else peer pressured teens tend to do in those situation.

We agreed on these things, and we'll see how it goes.

Of course after we arrived home and she started to play, I thought to myself: "My little girl is growing up way to fast." And that's when I needed some Daddy sad time, and retired to my room to reflect on how fast the time is flying by.

- Rob

Infamy and Pillows (repost)

I'm reposting this in this blog, because it cracks me up.

It started out innocently enough. I was tired from the days work and decided to take a manly type nap (Emphasis on Manly type Nap...not one of those wussy naps). The girls were playing downstairs so I ventured down to let them know that I was going to take a nap for a bit and to wake me if they needed me. "Yes, Daddy," was the unanimous answer.

It was at that point I should have realized that evil was afoot.

I wandered back up stairs, and lay down in my nice comfy bed. I hadn't slept much the past few nights for some reason and it had caught up to me pretty harshly. So before I knew it I was out and dreaming of nude jello wrestling...err...ignore that.

The first I realized I was under attack was the woomf of a pillow to the side of the head, a few feathers lodged in my nose causing me to sneeze crazily. The second pillow caught my sneezing frame right in the solar plexis, and a third to the side of my face.

The laughter finally brought me around long enough to be aware of the injustice being dealt upon me. Another smack to the forehead and one to the nose and I was up grabbing wildly for a weapon. My hands grasped a lamp....errr...put that back down, the damage would have been severe, and picked up a stuffed giraffe. *note*....it's not mine...it was Marrissa's...errr...she left it in there....yeah...that's it.

I aimed carefully while being battered and let fly my first sortie. It missed. I got creamed again by a flurry of strikes. One of the pillow corners smacked me in the eye and my eyes were watering. I couldn't see at all. Next thing I know the attack is over, the air is full of feathers, and the silence was spooky. I heard the thumping of feet, the slamming of a door, and the locking of the bathroom lock. The quiet giggling of the girls told me they were in hiding and with that the battle was over, and I was defeated.

However......the War had just begun.

Viva la Daddy!!!!

I'm Back, Life Until Now

Wow, again another long period of time passes before I start publishing to my blog again. First I have to say that the past 7 months have been added to the the top three worst years in my life.

I was laid off, I went through two relationships that didn't work out for various reasons, my car had a head gasket go and will cost roughly 1300 to fix, my daughter broke her arm, I had my gall bladder removed, Xmas will be very slim this year, and I lost a few close friends.

I have also drudged up quite a few old memories of the murder of my brother which was very difficult to do but also a bit therapeutic and necessary. I spoke with one of the investigators from that period and we emailed back and forth about the events that led up to and past the time of the murder. The course cases, the cover up by the Canadian Military because it was a French - English racism topic that the gov't didn't want Canada to hear about because of the stresses that referendum talk was having on the public.

So last month I sat down and I decided that life isn't going to run me over without a fight. I decided it was time to take matters into my own hands and to get out of the path I had been following. My first decision was career wise.

Career Decision: Over the past 15 years I have been in IT, I have worked for several companies some large and some small. I have always moved up the ladder when I switched companies and I have always excelled at my positions. Recently I began working with a smaller company out of Mississauga, Ont and things were apparent very early that it wasn't a good fit for me. I won't go into reasons why but let's say that the management system needed some work. After a year of working there it was pretty well known that my feelings about the company were very negative, I didn't want to be there, and when the opportunity came up I took a lay-off. I was very confident that i could find another position very quickly. However, 6 months later and I'm still looking. There are many jobs available but nothing within my area that would be worth pursuing. I didn't want to have to uproot the girls, move, find babysitters, apartment searching, and a host of other things at that time.

So my decision was to join the Air Force as an ATIS tech. It's a spec trade which means advanced promotion and pay as well as being something that will use my IT background. I passed the aptitude test with flying colors and my interview went very well. I'm on to the medical check and if that works out, I'm in. I will go to my 10 week basic training in early Jan or late Dec. I'm in the poorest shape of my life, but I've been told it won't be an issue, they make you get back into shape, lol.

Relationship Decision: I dated two ladies over the last year, one I miss very much but she lives in Bathurst and it was just too far for us to commute to keep things going. The other more recently was just a disaster and I'm actually glad it's over. Mainly for the safety of my girls than anything.

I have decided that I'm going to take a break from dating for awhile until I have my life worked out better, my own apartment/house, and to allow my girls to mature a bit more before they start meeting those I'm dating. My girls have a tendency to become quickly attached to people and it hurts them if things don't work out.

Outlook Decision: My outlook on life over the past year has changed dramatically. I have gone from being a happy, caring, humorous, and loving person to someone who is completely jaded on Life, Religion, Politics, and People. I have distanced myself from many of those I once called friends for varying number of reasons and with some I feel the justification for doing so is still sound. However, for those that I distanced myself from that was due to my hiding behind a mask of self-hate and depression, I have written to and apologized in my own way. I do so because it's the way i can move forward without having guilt about decisions made in haste or for the wrong reasons.

I have vowed to start being positive about life again, giving people the benefit of the doubt, and to get out more. To enjoy life again.

Allot has changed for me over the past years, my life has been one big pile of nonsensical crap and it all stems from the major events in my life never having been dealt with properly by me. I have been an emotional wreck for over 10 years. The death of my brother, the loss of someone I cared for deeply, the break up of a relationship to someone that I deeply loved, the battle for my children, and the list goes on. I needed help dealing with these issues and I never took the time to get it. That changed recently and it is really going a long way to help me cope with my emotions. No wonder I couldn't watch a sad show without balling my eyes out.

So, with these goals and the life plan I have set out I will battle on. Hopefully, the next year will bring some peace, love, and understanding my way. If not, then at least I'll know I went down fighting.

Me.

Powered by ScribeFire.

US Dollar Hegemony and What it means to Canada

An interesting conversation happened between an American friend of mine and myself. We started to talk about the dominance of the American Dollar in foreign markets and the hegemony that exists. With news that the Russians may start excepting the Euro as their new "oil" dollar and the fact that Iran has stated publicly that it will do so as well has caused fear to start rippling through the American banks, Investors, Corporations, and of course the Government. With American debt and spending so high, the weak dollar, and lack of leadership it is a fear that any informed American should take seriously.

Now my question is how will this affect Canada, and our finances. As I am not an Economist or really have any financial background I was wondering what this would mean for our economy. Some say that our dollar is growing in strength and that we will be fine. If the American dollar falls below ours, we will be even better off. So, maybe Canada should consider using the Euro as our "oil" dollar as well. I'm all for ending the dominance of the American dollar and in so doing weakening the power they wield over the rest of the world.

I asked my friend one time what he was most fearful of being an American. He answered, "At this point everything scares me. I can't get away from the media and their doomsaying, I can't get away from feeling that even though I'm far removed from the cities that our small town will be attacked. It's better to ask me what I'm not afraid of, that would be a much smaller list."

I thought to myself....How sad is that really. Here are some great articles on the American dollar hegemony.

THE INTERNATIONAL FORECASTER editor Bob Chapman writes: In a move that would have massive repercussions in the global balance of power, last week Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia could switch its trade in oil from US dollars to euros.

This news has not appeared anywhere in the western media.

Mind you, the comments were made at a joint news conference with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder in Yekaterinburg, where the two leaders conducted two-day talks.

We believe this is the beginning of a move by European elitists to replace the US dollar as the world's reserve currency.

A Russian move in this direction would boost the euros gradually growing share of global currency reserves and could prove to be catastrophic for the US ... it would end the US license to do as it pleases throughout the world.

http://forums.canadiancontent.net/international-politics/34891-us-dollar-hedgemony.html

The End of Dollar Hegemony

Before the U.S. House of Representatives 02/15/06

By Ron Paul

02/16/06 "ICH" -- -- A hundred years ago it was called “dollar diplomacy.” After World War II, and especially after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1989, that policy evolved into “dollar hegemony.” But after all these many years of great success, our dollar dominance is coming to an end.

It has been said, rightly, that he who holds the gold makes the rules. In earlier times it was readily accepted that fair and honest trade required an exchange for something of real value.

First it was simply barter of goods. Then it was discovered that gold held a universal attraction, and was a convenient substitute for more cumbersome barter transactions. Not only did gold facilitate exchange of goods and services, it served as a store of value for those who wanted to save for a rainy day.

Though money developed naturally in the marketplace, as governments grew in power they assumed monopoly control over money. Sometimes governments succeeded in guaranteeing the quality and purity of gold, but in time governments learned to outspend their revenues. New or higher taxes always incurred the disapproval of the people, so it wasn’t long before Kings and Caesars learned how to inflate their currencies by reducing the amount of gold in each coin-- always hoping their subjects wouldn’t discover the fraud. But the people always did, and they strenuously objected.

This helped pressure leaders to seek more gold by conquering other nations. The people became accustomed to living beyond their means, and enjoyed the circuses and bread. Financing extravagances by conquering foreign lands seemed a logical alternative to working harder and producing more. Besides, conquering nations not only brought home gold, they brought home slaves as well. Taxing the people in conquered territories also provided an incentive to build empires. This system of government worked well for a while, but the moral decline of the people led to an unwillingness to produce for themselves. There was a limit to the number of countries that could be sacked for their wealth, and this always brought empires to an end. When gold no longer could be obtained, their military might crumbled. In those days those who held the gold truly wrote the rules and lived well.

That general rule has held fast throughout the ages. When gold was used, and the rules protected honest commerce, productive nations thrived. Whenever wealthy nations-- those with powerful armies and gold-- strived only for empire and easy fortunes to support welfare at home, those nations failed.

Today the principles are the same, but the process is quite different. Gold no longer is the currency of the realm; paper is. The truth now is: “He who prints the money makes the rules”-- at least for the time being. Although gold is not used, the goals are the same: compel foreign countries to produce and subsidize the country with military superiority and control over the monetary printing presses.

Since printing paper money is nothing short of counterfeiting, the issuer of the international currency must always be the country with the military might to guarantee control over the system. This magnificent scheme seems the perfect system for obtaining perpetual wealth for the country that issues the de facto world currency. The one problem, however, is that such a system destroys the character of the counterfeiting nation’s people-- just as was the case when gold was the currency and it was obtained by conquering other nations. And this destroys the incentive to save and produce, while encouraging debt and runaway welfare.

The pressure at home to inflate the currency comes from the corporate welfare recipients, as well as those who demand handouts as compensation for their needs and perceived injuries by others. In both cases personal responsibility for one’s actions is rejected.

When paper money is rejected, or when gold runs out, wealth and political stability are lost. The country then must go from living beyond its means to living beneath its means, until the economic and political systems adjust to the new rules-- rules no longer written by those who ran the now defunct printing press.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11946.htm

Some further information on the subject:

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article12346.htm
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article8411.htm

My Switch to Linux (Ubuntu) and other Happenings

Heya,

First I have to get something out of the way here. Yayyy for Paris "The Tramp" Hilton to get jail time and actually have to do it. How sick are we of these spoiled rotten rich celebrities getting off with literally murder and doing no time. Now if only the courts could do the same for white collar crime, things would be much more fair in the US.

Now that it's off my chest, back to my original blog topic.

I recently made the switch from Windows XP/Vista to Ubuntu Linux and I'd like to walk all of you through how easily this was done, and how extremely happy I really am with this switch.

First the reason for the switch: If any of you have tried Vista yet, then I probably don't need to tell you it's a resource heavy, piece of shit. You need to buy a high end computer to run the damn thing and even then it's slow, clumsy, and STILL filled with security holes. Not to mention the ton of spam, viruses, hacks, trojans, malware, worms, spyware, etc. I had had enough and decided to see what all of the Linux hype was about.

I tentatively downloaded and installed the Ubuntu 6.0 Live CD and tried it out. I was messing around with the installed software and came across one particular program that just absolutely blew my mind: AmoroK.

AmoroK is a music jukebox type of application, but is far off the best I have ever had the pleasure to use. Not only will it show compatible artists and songs (as well as rate them), it will also provide you album covers, search for the lyrics, give you the artists wikipedia information, play and record your Last.fm song information, and a zillion other things. 10/10.

Then I started finding other programs and applications that were just far better than there Windows counterparts. It was then that I saw a youtube video for Beryl/Compiz. These are desktop effects that are encorporated now by default in the new 7.04 Feisty Fawn Ubuntu distribution, and it absolutely BLEW my mind.

Here is the link: Beryl

After this I installed it as a dual boot with my Windows XP and started playing with it. I began Themeing the Desktop and such, and that was so easy and cool, that there was another high score for Ubuntu. Once I had my complete Desktop the way I wanted with all the sweet 3D backgrounds, desklets, and effects going I was content.

I then found a way to run my Windows XP through VirtualBox (VMWare type app (only I found it much better)) I decided to take the leap and create just the Ubuntu install with Winxp in a virtual window. I very very rarely use Windows now.

One of the things that I initially found daunting was the command line options (although really you do not need to use this, there are gui icons for everything) I found that installing applications were a joke, here's an example of my entry that installs everything I need:

sudo apt-get install mozilla-thunderbird gftp kftpgrabber nfs-common vlc par2 unrar xmms xmms-mad xmms-skins sun-java5-plugin sun-java5-bin ubuntu-restricted-extras libk3b2-mp3 ntfs-config libxine-extracodecs xine-ui mplayer mplayer-skins kubuntu-desktop xubuntu-desktop azureus klibido

Now this may look complex, but actually all it consists of is a listing of the apps and such that I want to install in one line. The command itself is simply: sudo apt-get install (then just start listing the applications you want to install) and BOOM....it installs them. No hunting all of the damn web for applications then having to download, then install, then delete the containers. No spyware added to the installs to support the distribution...easy as pie.

If you don't like using the command line (which you will after you get used to the idea) you can use the Synaptic Package Manager, which is a one stop shop for so many applications it's hard to believe you can't find something that you are looking for.

Here are a few basic screenshots of my desktop, you can't see all of the effects, but it's an idea:
This is the basic desktop cube, I actually have 3D effects enabled and I changed my background to black to make the picture come out better.

And this is the desktop, again without any of the effects for better picture taking.

Now the greatest part of all: It's all FREE...as in doesn't cost you a penny. It is all open source software. No spyware, no viruses, no need for AV/Firewall running in the background, easy as hell to use, much prettier and more customizable than Windows, more powerful, and hella faster.

I HIGHLY recommend that if you have not tried Linux to give it a go...the Community at http://ubuntuforums.org are amazing. If you have questions or ran into a problem there are thousands of people ready and willing to help out.

www.ubuntu.com give it a go: There are two flavors, Kubuntu and Ubuntu (KDE/Gnome user interface respectively) If you don't know the difference between the Desktops, then go with Ubuntu initially.

Wow, Almost a Year.

Where has the time gone? I can't believe my last post on here was almost a year ago...holy crap.

Blogging for me was always a way for me to help clear my mind of things that were going in my life and the world around me. A way for me to express my opinion openly and to vent about issues that bothered me. After blogging for awhile I was also very lucky to meet alot of people that either agreed with me or disagreed with me, and we formed a community. I really think that's the greatest part of writing a blog.

I've switched blog sites so many times that I've actually lost track of where I have posts and where I don't, lol. However, I have decided that although some sites offer things others don't, it's time for me to pick one and keep it. This is going to be it.

I will be updating this as I go. I will also find the time to start reading others again, for the time that has past that I have not, I have missed out on alot of information, opinions, and views. I think it's terribly important to read those because it reflects on how I portray and see things. It adds clarity.

So, I'm back.

Seth

Moving Forward/Reflections

All is well in Rob land. The job is going great, the kids graduated and are having a wonderful summer, I've lost 11 pounds, and the dog seems to be finally making some new doggy friends with our new neighbours (the war is over).

Thanks to some of my buddies for having me over to play poker on Friday, sorry you lost all that money to me, mwahahaha. $113 bucks isn't a bad take home all things considered, next time we can have it at my place, just bought a new table that would be perfect for it.

Our Mentor Meet will be held in St. Andrews and I believe it lasts 3 days, all of the remote Mentors will be flying in to Moncton, where we will pick them up and cart them all on over to the Hotel. I'm really looking forward to this, beats the hell out of the Family Day my old employer gave us. It really amazes me how the smaller companies treat their employees so much better than the larger ones, I guess after a certain growth in a company it's no longer the employees that matter anymore, and that's just sad. I really hope this doesn't happen with GMS, they are growing so quickly and offer such a broad range of services that in no time they are going to be very very big.

A dialogue has been started between myself and a buddy of mine, I have sent an email to him explaining things from my point of view, as long as it stays between him and myself, I think it can be worked out.

Well another birthday has passed, and I have to say that it was one of the better ones I've ever had, it was a time of reflection for me and a time for me to really grasp how good I have it now. I still would like to move, and all things are now possible, but in the last few years I've really come a long ways. I think that the turmultuous relationship I had with my ex, the circumstances of why I took custody of the girls, the inability of coping with my brothers murder for such a long time, and other issues that I kept buried finally had a chance to air themselves and I was able to put most of it behind me. I look back now and wonder at the wasted time, but in hindsite I think I needed it as well. The death of my brother still haunts me and I still can't forgive. As far as my ex goes, I've come to alot of realizations, 1) She was one messed up cookie long before I met her. 2) I have two beautiful daughters through that relationship 3) Looking back, she really wasn't worth the heartbreak. (Although she was my first real love, and that's always hard to get over).

Well, my exercise routine got a boost yesterday, the friend of mine that I'm currently in dispute with, dropped off a Treadmill to me. Although, I certainly appreciate his efforts, I'm still really hurt by his previous actions. The treadmill doesn't really work all that well, it kind of jolts the mat so that you can't really get a walking pace going, becauseit jerks your feet backwards, lol. But it was the thought that counts, and putting everything aside, I still love ya man, and thanks for the gift.

Also, I'm trying to get a BBQ together for myself and some of my old buddies from SS. Really miss the laughs and joking around we had on a nightly basis. They were all a great bunch of guys with great senses of humor. I worked out a miscommunication with one buddy of mine, I had written a hasty goodbye email to them all and accidently left his name off the list, I think it was because he wasn't working at the time, and I was so flustered trying to get out of there that I just overlooked him. So, again DR my apologies if you read this.

I'm one more step closer to buying my own house, I've been buying furniture and appliances for when i do pick one out, but finally the Bank has given me the ok to start looking. I'm also looking to buy a new car, trading in the Tauras, according to the Bank, they can help me there as well. The only issue facing me now is that if I do decide to buy a house here, I'm committed to staying here, no more thoughts of leaving to Ottawa. So, I'm really taking my time deciding.

I started with Athabasca again for my new Semester, I've decided to change my Major from Computer Science to Psychology. My end term plan is to get my Majors or PhD, and actually do something to help others with it, maybe be a youth councellor or something. I love my current job, but I think I'd like a change. I got into the computer field mainly due to desperation, (new child on the way), and it wasn't what I really wanted to do.

And that is me getting caught up so far.

Robert

The End of an Era

I'm free! I've finally mustered up the courage (liquid as it may be) and left my job for something much better.

The management at my old job was a group of terrible, untrained, clique', bunch of idiots. There was just too much dissention within the ranks and they did very little to end it, and much to keep it at its peak.

They gave out $3000 dollar bonuses to some, none to others. This wasn't based on anything other than the fact they were trying to build morale. Which, obviously, wasn't the case. They gave raises to some and not others, and of course those that got them couldn't keep it secret, so the others that didn't got angered. (I happened to receive both). The stress and hostility in that place could be cut with a knife, and I'm actually suprised it wasn't.

My new position is a work from home Mentoring position. The pay is approx $1000 less, but with the cost of driving, food, and babysitters, I'm going to come out ahead. I'll get to use my home office as my work space, I can move to any city in Canada and work now. So FINALLY, Ottawa here I come again baby!!!!

Things are looking up, of course change is a bit scary, but I laugh in the face of err..scary.

-Sethalos

Back to Work

Well, I'm back at it again. After a little over a month of recovery time, I felt it was time to get back to work. To be honest if I had my way, like most people, I'd just as soon stay on leave, hehe.

First day back was definately not good. After answer the requisite number of questions from co-workers, the work began. It's not hard to remember why I needed time off. I'm strong starting to consider a different career.

I've had alot of time to think about things, and I do believe that in my case now, that would be my best course. I need to have something more interesting and not as sedintary as what it is I'm doing now.

Short blog today, but now that I'm back at work, I will try and update regularly.

Seth

Doctor, Daughters, and Doggy

So, I've been off from work now for about a month because of this Anxiety/Stress/Heart issue and just found out that my Doctor forgot to send in the paperwork to my insurance company so that I could get paid for Short Term Disability while I'm out. Now the dumb #$%$ is on vacation for two weeks and I'm halfway through my savings. Just goes to figure that when things go bad, they go realllly bad.

Well my two evil daughters loved there Easter, we had the requisite egg hunt, and they received their new Bikes. We had a great time of it, this year rather than cooking a huge meal we all decided to go out to our local fancy resteraunt and let them do the dishes for the night. The food was great, the kids behaved, and jokes were told. I think we should do the eat out thing more often.

Jecynda, however, is home from school for a few days with Broncitus (sp?) and even sick she still has the energy of 15 of me.

Well, it's spring, and spring brings water and water brings a wet dog. Every single time I take Winter out for a walk, she gets to the bridge, looks back at me with those wide innocent brown eyes, and jumps in the river. Normally this wouldn't bother me but wet dog on a muddy trail = muddy car seats on the trip home. At least this time the beaver decided not to show itself and cause my lab to try and navigate herself across the fast current of the river to chase it.

On a political note, the US has decided not to allow us Canadians to use our Passports if we want to cross the border by land. They have it in their heads that "special" identification cards are the solution, yet, they can't seem to agree on what the cards will ultimately do or how they will be authenticated.

I'm at the point now where I think Canadians (Business/Individual) should just not bother visiting the US until Bush is out of office. He's a twit. Of course, the lady that I'm currently involved with is an american and lives just across the border...DOH!!

Anyways, I'm not sure they are aware that you have to go through a very thorough screening to acquire a passport, denying entry to those that use our passports is downright rediculous.

- Seth

Tattoo Experience

Well, I did it. With the moral support of two of my best friends I went in today to get my tattoo. It took about 2.5 hours and it looks AMAZING!!!.

I'm going to take a picture of it and post it on my blog later. Can't take the bandage off for a few hours. For those of you that don't have one because you fear the pain...didn't hurt much at all to be honest. I had my self freaked right out, but when he started, there was really nothing to it.

The only time it became sore was when "Billy - The tattoo artist" took a quick smoke break. When he came back and started working on it again, that was a bit tender, hehe. I'm most likely going to get another one in a few months or so, I'm extremely impressed with the work he did.

These guys are brilliant artists, I really never took much notice before, I always thought that tattoos were just traced on, but to be honest, there is alot to it. And the skill and talent of some of these guys is just amazing. I went through some of the work he had done previously and it really just blew my mind how detailed and unbelievable some of the images were.

And I didn't cry once. hehe.

On a seperate note, I've decided to not purchase the Mustang GT V8. I'm going to hold off a bit. For the record though: I LOVE THAT CAR!

- Sethalos

Here it is:

Tattoo's and Me

One thing I have always wanted to do but never had the cajones to do was to get a tattoo. It's not that I'm especially scared of the pain (however, that's definately a factor, haha) it's more the problem of looking back in 10 years and asking myself, "What the hell was I thinking?".

Well today I went into our local tattoo spot and picked out a Stone Angel (baby looking) with a cross, underneath I will have the names of my two little girls in a rock type font. I'll take a picture of it and post it after it's done. I'm a bit nervous about it, but to be honest, I've wanted one for a very long time and this is a good time to do it.

I went for blood tests today, and an ecg. I think there will be more tests soon, we'll see. As for now, I still have a pain in my left arm, and I find it very uncomfortable to lay on my left side. So I'm pretty confident something is up. My doctor believes that it is all anxiety related, but I have a nagging suspicion it's more serious than that. He's the expert though.

Also, on another note, I've decided that I'm going to trade in my 2001 Ford Tauras SE, for a 2006 Ford Mustang GT V8. It's black with a burgandy interior, detailed, and two front air intakes. The payments will be roughly what I'm paying for my Tauras now, so that makes it an even sweeter deal. I've always owned family orientated sedans and this time I'm getting something for myself. I love Mustangs, and I love the look of the new ones. So, I'm off to the bank tommorrow to try and get the financing all arranged. Hopefully, by the end of the week, I'll be ripping up the highways in my new Mustang...and yes...I'll be nekked...err...nevermind that part.

-Sethalos

Tunage Extremicus

"...and if you leave me...Furious Angels shall bring you back to me." Rob Dougan.

For all of you out there that are like me and love to listen to new music I've found some pretty darn good tunes to listen to.

Furious Angels - Rob Dougan
Black Brick Road - Lake of Tears (EXCELLENT)
Stone the Crow - Down
Vindicated - Dashboard Confessionals
Slow Chemical - Finger Eleven
Nothing at All - Rob Dougan
Furnace Room Lullabye - Neko Case and her Boyfriends
Time for People - Atomship
Put your lights on - Everlast Santana
Ordinary - Train
Release - Anathema

These are just a few of the tunes that I'm listening to at the moment, give them a try, you will like I'm sure.

My saturday plans kind of went up in smoke when the folks decided to take off for the evening, lol. So no babsitter. I've been going through my 100+ gigs of music and put together a few good cd's. I'm one of those people that has to have music no matter what they are doing.

If you're one of those, toss some songs my way, let me know the Artist, the Song Title, and possibly the album.

-Sethalos

Let the Relaxation Begin

Well, it's done. I spoke with my doctor yesterday and he wrote me about a note giving me an inedefinate amount of time off from the job for medical reasons. He's a bit upset at me that it took this long for me to do, actually. He thinks that I may have permanently damaged myself.

Of course, work is extremely pissed off that I am taking stress leave (for medical reasons) and I'm sure they are looking for every possible way to let me go now. I used to love that job, teaching the students, learning new things, and the camaraderie that went along with working with a single bunch of people for 3 years. We have alot of laughs during that time. But, things change, the company went through a takeover by SkillSoft (Previously SmartForce), our management was so concerned about the bottom line (financial) that they forgot to take into account the employee. We use very out of date equipment (replaced by equipment that was equally bad, only newer), 15" CRT Monitors that the dinosaurs generally used (very hard on the eyes), a pention for never giving praise but quickly firing off emails if something was wrong, no management interaction, untrained management, and the list goes on. The workplace went from an enjoyable place to be, to a place you dread going to every morning, wondering what email would be in your inbox telling you that you fucked up some how.

Not to mention all of those, but the writing of certification exams every 6 weeks. I mean, people take college courses to learn this stuff and it takes them a year usually for one or two certifications, we do these every 6 weeks. Do you think we have adequate resources, hell no, they buy us a book, and tell us we can only study at home...not at work. The company won't pay for technology lectures that come around to help keep us in the know, either. There are so many things about this company that I hate now, that I can't even possibly get into it all. Suffice as to say, that I will be looking for something else immediately. Hopefully, I'll find something of interest. Until then, i'm taking time off to relax and get my health back up.

I still have alot of tests that I have to go through to be sure that my heart and arteries are ok. I'm on a diet now (forced this time), hehe. So at least that's a good thing.

I haven't had a chance to talk to my special lady friend now for about 4 days, no answers to me emails either, so I'm beginning to think that maybe this was all one sided. I'll keep up hope though and maybe it can work. We're only about 2 hours away from each other, so it can't be all the distance.

Well, there is where i'm at today.

-Sethalos

Cars and the Companies that Build Them

I was reading about the recent GM employee buyouts and early retirement offerings with a bit of skepticism. Not from a corporate or economic view but from an overall perspective of business in the US.

Much of the innovation that is ongoing for automotive makers is coming from Europe of Asia. Most of the automobiles that are being purchased are not the big SUV gas guzzling beasts that are the North American standard money winner. With the cost of fuel on the rise, and no hint of it slowing in the near future, it's time for American companies to wake up and smell the coffee. We are in a global oil crisis, and it's only going to get worse. The type of automobiles that are created must reflect this.

My question is where are all the true hybrids? Where is all of the innovation for new types of fuels? Why aren't these automobiles flying out of the dealerships?

One big reason is that they aren't worth it yet. They aren't true hybrids for the most part (some exceptions apply), and they still require gas.

I would love to see new fuel options available (cooking oil anyone?) . I'd love to see some new modern vehicles (ones that are truly awe inspiring) come down in price. A good example of what I'm talking about is the new Pontiac Solstice which I can see would be a HUGE success if they can manage to keep the price down.

I currently own a 2001 Ford Tauras SE 6cylinder family car. Let me tell you, this sucker is HELL on fuel. I have owned Ford vehicles for the last 3 cars that I've had. This will be my last one. I am strongly considering picking up a new hybrid Toyota or even a Honda. I'm in the market now for a car, and will soon start researching vehicles in my price range. I'm a bit skeptical to be honest about my choices.

Many people are losing their jobs in North America due to outsourcing and such, but many others are losing their jobs to the fact that some companies just are not on the ball as to what their customers want. When they finally do luck into something that is a hit, they over price it to the point that many who had considered it won't purchase it anymore, and go on to a less expensive alternative, that actually is quite comparitive in all departments.

I feel so bad for people losing their jobs for reasons such as this. It's terrible.

-Sethalos.

Sleep...or lack thereof

How many times have you been lying in bed, tossing and turning, staring at the clock saying, "Three more hours before I have to get up, ok...going to close my eyes and sleep now." then "two more hours...need sleep."..."One more"...."SHIT!!".

Sleep disorders are quite common and they can be solved by something as simple as buying a new pillow or a mattress. Or...you need serious drugs, therapy, and meditation.

I'm one of those folks that it takes a very long time for me to get relaxed enough to fall asleep. I toss and I turn, and I toss and I turn until finally at some juncture of which I'm oblivious...I fall asleep. However, if there is the slightest little noise, or nuisance I'll wake up, and it will take another hour or so for me to get back to sleep.

Well, this goes hand in hand with my previous blog about Stress and anxiety, because sleep deprivation is part of the big three. Stress, Anxiety, Lack of Sleep. The problem with the lack of sleep is that it is culmulative, so if you get 5 hours on mon, 6 hours on tues, 4 on on wed...come thursday you're working on no sleep. No sleep, leads to stress, which leads to anxiety, which leads to death or worse.

It's funny because I brought this subject up with some friends, and not a single one of them sleeps well. Not one! That's pretty scary.

I've even gone so far as to pick up sleeping pills and use them when I absolutely must rest and cant' seem to. But, they are addictive, and the more you use them, the less they work. The next best thing....NYQUIL...hell yeah that stuff is a godsend. But again, addictive.

A girl I'm very fond of at the moment gave me a tip....meditation. Relaxation techniques. So, I'm about to go all samurai on everyone's ass, and actually give it a shot. I keep picturing monks and their chanting while sitting cross-legged in a temple. Well at least I have the bald head to fit in.

Too many times I've woken up from a sleep only to find myself as or more tired than when I first lay down. Too many times, I've watched the mintues tick away trying to get that few hours of desperate rest. Too many times, have I woken from a sleep only to find I've only slept for an hour and then can't get back to sleep.

Not sure if there are any answers for this yet, going to bring it up to my doc when I see him on Thursday, but I have to say, this is just way to common, and what is this really saying about the method in which people live their lives.

Sethalos

The Heart vs Work

I went to see the doctor this morning about some pains I've been having in my chest and left arm. I immediately chalked it up to something to do with my heart obviously and it scared the shit out of me.

However, apparently my heart is fine, i'm in good shape (although I need to drop some weight), and my blood pressure is good. The problem: Stress.

Apparently, stress is rapidly becoming one of the most common reasons that people have heart problems, high blood pressure, migrains, etc. The hours I work, the job situation, family problems, single parenthood, and many other contributing factors have finally pushed my Stress threshold to the limit where my body is giving me a very clear warning. Stop it or die.

I've decided that I'm going to look into another position with another company. Something with daytime hours, and not as much corporate crap. There will always be stress I think in any job, but I can at the very least minimize it as much as possible. My doctor is going to see me again on Thursday, and on his recommendation he is giving me a letter to allow me to leave my job for stress related reasons. He's actually broached this with me last November when I went to see him about pains in my chest, and he's happy to do it now.

The issue for me is leaving a position because of stress. I feel kind of wimpy to be honest. Real men don't leave there jobs because of stress do they? I mean, shit, if I lost an arm maybe...lol...but stress. I'm trying to justify it all and I'm really having a hard time with it. It means that I'll have to go on Unemployment for a bit until I secure another position (which I could do immediately if need be), but I may just take a month or two to catch up and get healthy. Get some sleep finally and relax.

Doohead had a great blog about something similiar (check it out if you haven't read it, link to the right of my blog) and I responded then, before this happened this morning, and it really just enforces my belief now.

You can't really put much stock in statistics but here is a very good read about stress and what it can do to you if not taken seriously: Great Work Related Stress read .

After my little bout with chest pains this morning...I'm taking this shit seriously now.

If you feel or have felt this type of stress, you've had chest pains, depression, anxiety, or get sick often. GO SEE YOUR DOCTOR!!!.

Seth the Stressed.

It Comes In Threes

Well, they say that bad luck comes in threes, and I'm on number two already.

I was supposed to go to Boston to write an exam this morning, a pretty big deal at work. Well when I got to the airport they wouldn't allow me to board the plane because my birth certificate didn't match the name on the ticket...let me explain.

When I was 7 my Mother remarried, and along the way we took on my step-fathers name. It never really occurred to me that it was an issue because I seldom use my birth certicate and I've yet to have any problems. However, on the one day that I actually need it, they turned me down.

So not only did I miss my flight (which cost the company 1300 bucks), I missed the exam (which cost 496USD), my only excuse is that they wouldn't allow me to board because of the above explained reason. So, pretty much next week I'll most likely be looking for a new job.

Then later today, I got a killer deal on a new treadmill, $1000 dollar treadmill for $20 bucks. I paid the lady, and ran my buddy back to where his truck was to pick it up, when we got back some guy in a minivan is taking my treadmill. So I yell, "Hey there buddy, I've already paid for that."

Apparently, the lady double sold the treadmill, and this guy had the minivan there. She apologized profusely, but I'm still out a killer deal. Needless to say I was a bit miffed at it.

Now, I'm just waiting for the hammer to fall. I'm pretty sure it'll be my job loss, which wouldn't be altogether that bad for me. I've been wanting out of that job for awhile now. I already have other positions opened up, and you know what, I don't think I'd mind going on unemployment for a few months. I really could use the break.

One good thing that has happened lately is I have met a like minded lady. The problem. She lives about 2 hours away which makes dating difficult. She's a sweety though, and I really really like her. I'm doing my best to try and arrange times to meet up but it's a pain in the ass. Especially, those times you could really use someone to be with both emotionally, physically and err..cuddly. I'd really like to see this work out though, so I'll make every effort.

The girls are doing great, but lately they have been fighting like cats and err..more cats. I'm honestly considering picking up boxing gloves and letting them go at it until they are tuckered out, lol. Either that or find a tranquilizer gun.

Well this is going to be my new blogging home for awhile, so hopefully I will see some of my ole blogging friends around. I will be making more of an effort to keep track of their lives and mayhem. Never know, I may have plenty of spare time shortly. hehe.

So if you see this, send me a heya.

Take care all,

Sethalos