random thoughts

Happy (?) April Fools Day

April Fools Day, especially in the era of the Internet, seems to be split between clever and obviously fake ads, stories and such, along with other ‘pranks’ that are mean-spirited, insulting or deliberately meant to confuse and/or falsely raise expectations.

I’m glad it only comes once a year.

On the plus side, today was another sunny, mild day. The weather is expected to change tomorrow but I’ve taken advantage and walked or run over 40 km in the past three days. My feet may not be on speaking terms with me at the moment but I plan to bribe them with new comfy shoes next weekend.

Ready for summer now

It’s mid February and today was cool and showery. This means it’s time for my annual ‘ready for summer’ post. And here it is.

I’m at least glad it’s no longer dark when I leave work. There’s something mildly depressing about wrapping up a shift to find it looks like midnight.

I conclude this post with a yearning-for-summer haiku:

Inviting summer
How I miss you and your warmth
Winter sucks corn dogs

Happy candy manufacturers appreciation day!

It’s my favourite manufactured holiday of the year–or at least it was when I was a wee lad. Back then I loved scarfing chocolate-coated marshmallow hearts and trading Valentine cards with classmates. Nowadays I try to limit my indulgence of sweets to a few carefully-chosen targets and sadly exchange cards with no one. The face-stuffing has been relegated to a fond, gooey memory.

And so Valentine’s Day is now simply that time of year when store shelves overflowing with Valentine-themed candy will soon be replaced with shelves overflowing with Easter-themed candy. Easter was my second favourite manufactured holiday as a kid because I loved scarfing chocolate-coated marshmallow Easter bunnies. I suppose the holiday itself isn’t manufactured but as a kid I didn’t care much one way or the other because of the chocolate-coated marshmallow Easter bunnies.

Thinking about it now I kind of have a craving for one of those horrifically sweet Cadbury creme eggs they roll out (ho ho) for the season. I just checked and they apparently have only 150 calories each. I say only because the taste suggests the number would be closer to 10,000. I remember when I could eat a 3-pack of the things without stopping to take a breath. By coincidence I also weighed 40 pounds more back then. By fat overindulgent coincidence.

Goodbye Programming category, I hardly knew ye

Earlier today I added the Creative category to the blog. With one post it already equaled one-third of the total posts found under the Programming category. As such I have chucked the Programming category into the vast sea of tags I have on the site (390 and counting!)

This concludes both the Programming category and my attempts at programming. I know when to move on, even if it’s 20 years late.

I’m just glad I was able to solve the Rubik’s Cube when I was a kid. I don’t think I could have taken the lack of closure on that.

On not sleeping, candy hearts and other things both sweet and sour

There’s nothing quite like the sensation of laying down to sleep and finding yourself unable to breathe. This happened a few nights ago when my über-cold left my nose completely stuffed up. I had to breathe through my mouth, which made me dizzy. I eventually fell asleep probably due to exhaustion. When I awoke in the middle of the night one of my nostrils had kindly opened up enough to permit semi-normal breathing.

Worst cold ever.

Also the last post I’m making about it. Colds are pretty boring to read about and if I could capture the misery of the past week in a way that was truly entertaining, I’d be rich. Hmm. I may have to think about this.

Onward to the rest of what should hopefully be a healthy remainder of 2013:

Valentine’s Day is coming up. My favorite manufactured holiday when I was a kid because of the candy. I was especially fond of chocolate-covered marshmallow hearts. Mmm. Now I prefer the day after when all the candy gets marked down 50%. I usually treat myself to something small that I can work off without too much guilt/effort.

Running: This is probably still about three weeks off. I’m going to start stretching exercises to make sure my tendon is ready. The first run will be a short test that will also serve to calibrate my new iPod nano. The best thing about it, apart from the electric green case…

iPod nano green

…is that it incorporates the Nike+ sensor/receiver so I don’t need to attach any extra hardware to my shoe (or the iPod). An added bonus is no more infernal clickwheel to deal with, especially one that refuses to function in the slightest bit of rain, making the end of a jog unusually difficult to, well, end. The test run will be done at a track to ensure maximum accuracy for the calibration. In the meantime I’ll try to return to the pool/gym at least a few times each week until the runs resume. Excelsior!

Diet: My weight has steadied out around 156-157 but should start going back down soon as I start packing a modest lunch to work and resist the siren song of the donut. My goal is to be back to my usual weight by my next physical, probably a few months from now.

This site: I have found a few themes I may be able to hammer into something serviceable for my needs. This is a long term project so I’ll probably work away at it a little at a time. I am planning on having a revamped site up before the end of the year.

My Windows 8 review in haiku form

I took advantage of the $15 upgrade offer to get Windows 8 shortly after it launched in October 2012 because I am a sucker for new tech/nerd stuff. It has its good points and its not-so-good points. I’ll have something more substantial to say in a later post but for now here is a summary in haiku:

I got Windows 8
It’s mostly Windows 7
With secret clicking

iPost

I am posting this from an iPad. Why? Because iCan (lol).

Seriously, though, think of a new naming scheme, Apple. You made more money than Canada did last year, you can come up with something better than a variation of McDonald’s McEverything.

In other news, because February is the shortest month of the year and I can now post from the comfort of bed, I am once again going to try posting at least once per day. This will undoubtedly end in tears. Or apathy.

The ‘where did December go?’ post

In which I remember a month later that I have a blog.

There is not much new to report from the past 30 days. I have been working a temp position I hope will become permanent and should know whether that happens in the next week or so. Regular work would be nice.

I have not been running this month after noticing how the bone structure of my right foot does not quite match the bone structure of my left foot. Is it due to injury or just goofy asymmetry? I hope to find out at the doctor’s appointment next week.

With the lack of running and a bit of overindulgence my weight has crept past 150 pounds. I should be able to get it back down under control in the new year once I am back running. If I can’t run then…um…I’ll improvise, somehow.

Other than that, Christmas was pleasant and unexciting, just the way I like it, though I got a bothersome head cold as a bonus and unwanted extra gift.

I shall endeavor to blog more in 2013 but will make no specific resolutions for such, beyond making an official and content-free ‘first blog post of 2013’. You’re excited, I’m excited, everyone’s excited.

Happy Canada Day!

Dreary and wet during the day but mercifully clear and dry for the nighttime fireworks around the Lower Mainland.

I predict July may not be the driest month on record (eh).

My New Year Resolutions for 2012

As mentioned on the Martian Cartel forum:

  • Keep fit.
  • Keep slim.
  • Keep together.
  • Keep working.
  • Keep writing.

In 2011 I feel I managed to:

  • Keep together.

Keep fit? I spent the last three months of the year pretty much not exercising thanks to my stupid body.

Keep slim? See above. I gained weight.

Keep working? I ended the year out of work.

Keep writing? I utterly failed at National Novel Writing Month and wrote little in general otherwise. Apart from being with my wonderful partner, 2011 was a bust for resolutions (I use pretty much the same set every year).

I aim to do better in 2012, Mayan predictions of doom notwithstanding.