Ode to Another New Year

December 31st, 2010 Thomasso

Sipping on a cup of hot chocolate and snuggled up beside my fake fireplace, I am thinking about how I should wrap up the final moments of this year called 2010. What a year indeed?

“A” is for Apple. “A” is my favourite letter in the whole Letter Grade Alphabet, especially when it is followed by a “+” sign.

Today is the end of a chapter, the day I say farewell to my co-workers, and start my trek towards the next page of the next chapter of my little old life. I chose this day for many reasons, but I wanted to start off 2011 with all of my previous goals in place before I continued onward, like starting off with a fresh new whole look and feel, where I become something totally fresh and new.

Looking forward, I see that I will now need to focus on my career objectives as I enter into the work of bureaucracy. My friends and colleagues are joking that the PhD. Is next for me. They could be right as I become more specialized in my interests. I could very well be logging more classroom time in the distant future?

Most Hated Part of 2010

Surviving two terms of French in 2010 was my biggest accomplishment of the whole year. However, just the anxiety of knowing that I was on the precipice of a fail/pass grade kept me up some nights. That was a whole new level of hell for me, and something that I never wish to experience again.

The Best Part of 2010

Knowing that I have such wonderful friends. I am really blessed with the people around me. I thank you all. I am the richest person alive with the wealth of friends that I have.  I am glad that I can take you all with me into 2011.

Happy New Year!

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Joyeux Noël

December 25th, 2010 Thomasso

like to say Joyeux Noël to my Christian friends, and all the other cultures that use the 25th of December to celebrate their respective holidays. I hope you all enjoy the holiday, and all the festivities that go along with it.

LOOKING BACK AT 1997

Although I did my celebrating days ago, today, I found, was a bit of a milestone for me. I was reading in my old journals and came upon this little tid-bit of my personal history. Actually this was quite a bit of a milestone to say the least?

On this week, way back in 1997, I was introduced to Linux for the very first time. Prior to that, I spent most of my time using a MAC, then onto Window$, but was never really savvy with the operating systems then. It was a two day computer science seminar that I took where I met up with some people who did a few lectures on new and cool software, software that we see today. The people that I met way back then  would then become almost world famous because they were the team that created Corel, the paint and photo software that competed with Microsoft’s products for the last decade. Corel was developed on Linux before it was sold as a multi-platform program. So later on that week in 1997 I took the CD home and on December 25, “1997,” I loaded my very first copy of Linux onto my PC.

Since that time, I have always had the OS on my PCs. It was in early 2003 that I completely switched all of my machines over to Linux because the cost of security and system failures was just too much. Now, I run one of the most stable and secure systems among my group of friends.

Since then, my development in Linux systems has put me in the forefront computer forensic software and development.  In my personal life, I am 100 percent Linux, using my personal favourite flavour called Ubuntu.

Unbelievable that that was back in 1997? How did we manage?

THE SANTA MYSTERY

Another question I like to pose to the kids out there is, “how does Santa get around so fast, from the North Pole, to everyone on the Earth”?

The best answer that I got so far is, “he has help…, lots of it, and they’re called Elves.”

Sure, but where does Santa keep them, and how do they get around all over the Earth? Apparently, that has a simple answer too. “They each get their own supper charged space, rocket powered, sled.”

One kid, who just made me laugh told me, “He just does, OK. It’s called magic, and you’re not supposed to know!”

So, there you go, the Santa Mystery.

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Rain On, Rain On

September 6th, 2010 Thomasso

There are less than twenty-three hours left of freedom before I head back to classes. I was really hoping that today would be a great day, but the weather held everything back. With the cold and damp weather came the gloomy attitudes and low self-esteem that makes conjuring up fun activities almost impossible.

Today I was invited to a Labour day BBQ, sponsored by the Labour Federation of British Columbia, but I decided not to go becuase of the weather. I was told through Twitter from my friends that half of the activities were cancelled, and the rest were moved indoors so seating was limited. I had set aside most of today for that event.

Tonight I was invited to a stargazer party and told to bring my telescope and binoculars. I love these parties becuase you get to meet great people who have a shared love for astronomy, and you can see the latest gadgetry used by astronomers. It does not look promising for a really great stargazer party. The clouds are really socked in, and the drizzle will make being outside very unpleasant. Stargazing indoors just does not cut it–if you know what I mean.

I guess all I can do today is work on stuff around the house. Cleaning is what I have been doing most of this morning. I may fix a minor plumbing problem I got, but that may require taking a trip down to the hardware store for some parts. I really do not want to spend a whole lot of money right now.

The most disgusting thing I saw on the net today was the news story about Indonesian Two Year Old boy who quit smoking. Ya, a two year old boy smoking! I have heard of messed up parents and weird cultures before, but letting a kid smoke before the age of two, that has taken “dumb” to new levels?

Well, back to cleaning and working around the place. Enjoy what is left of the long weekend!

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All Through The House, It’s So Cold

December 24th, 2009 Thomasso

Yikes, could it snow tomorrow?

This is great, two long weekends in a row! Nice.

Happy Holidays Everyone!

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All Four Weather Elements are Scheduled for Today

December 24th, 2008 Thomasso

I woke up this morning to that weird and eerie sight of bright whiteness reflecting through my window blinds, when it was supposedly pitch black outside, and you know that this is not right. It was even weirder when I saw that snow had built up on my windows, something very rare because the wind hardly ever blows from the East. And on top of that, my next-door neighbour getting stuck in his driveway as he tried several times getting out—he owns a 4-wheel-drive pick-up. Yes, today is a snow day for us.

People were getting around, albeit very slowly. Walking was the best way to get around, and I was amazed at how many shops were open. What normally takes ten minutes to walk took me thirty.

My first stop was the Post-Office. I am sure that this is one most stopped at place today in Canada. People were getting by on foot, car and ATV (all terrain vehicle). There was the usual line-up in there because so many people were picking up their x-mass and seasonal gifts. When I went to my mail-box there were only bills and ads that were addressed to me. Nothing to stunning about receiving bills this time of year. I grabbed the important stuff and left the rest inside the box to take home later, like when the snow melts.

Next stop was the IGA grocery store and market to pick up some food items knowing that tomorrow everything is practically closed. I bought a few kilograms of Walnuts because I love them this time of year. They are very addictive. The IGA was also packed with people. I had to go to the customer service desk to cash out my groceries it was so busy; I did not know they even had a till there.

The walk home was an adventure also as I helped a stranger with a push who was stuck. It took a couple of tries till he could get onto the ploughed section of road. He offered me money but I flatly refused saying that it was hardly worth offering money and that he was in my road anyway. The poor fella was obviously going through holiday fatigue as he said he was picking his girlfriend up to do last minute shopping. I recommended that they stay home and drink eggnog in front of an open fire. He was too frustrated to give me a witty answer and he drove off.

So I am home now with the warm glow of my monitor and dancing snowflakes gif animations on my Desktop holiday theme, and the window behind it giving me a picture of falling snowflakes piling on top of each other outside. Later on today and part of tomorrow the weather prognosticators are saying that the snow will ease off and turn to rain with the wind picking up along with it, then followed by sunny periods. It is a weird day, but a different one which makes it temporarily enjoyable. I’m hoping that it clears up soon because I will soon have drive in it on Friday.

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The Most Special Event

December 20th, 2008 Thomasso

Tomorrow is the winter solstice, and this means a lot of things for many different people, but for me it has special meaning above what other cultural norms I grew up in have—the days are going to get longer again. I recognized this day over the other days that my parents celebrated because it is real day with real meaning for me. It is the shortest day of the year, and the longest night, so from there on in the days will get longer, and hopefully the winter will be short. Knowing that the days are getting longer means that the cold and snow will soon disappear—hope for a new year.

I also observe the solstice as an astronomical moment in time. In theory the solstice is a mere second of time because as soon as the Earth’s North poll reaches it maximum tilt away from the Sun, it continues its tilt back for another cycle. I like to look at it as a whole day to celebrate and reflect on new beginning, so the whole day is special. It is also a good time to start thinking about new paths that I should take when the warming seasons starts while I’m sitting at home out of the cold. You know, those New Year Resolutions that are bound to be broken?

Every culture, in some way, celebrates the shortest day of the year. It is interesting to follow the different calendars of other cultures and wonder why these certain groups celebrate it on days close to or on the 21st of December.  In my Anthropology classes, I remember the lessons on how inaccurate most calendars are, that “leap years” and other adjustments had to be put in place to keep them on track. Nothing worse that finding out that our month of December would mean weeding the garden in 3000 years from now with out these tweaks? This explains why some cultures calibrate it on days near the solstice.

Equally interesting are how organized religions have used this day to incorporate their special meaning into it. Go to any land and you will find celebrations all over the calendar month of December that have various traditions and calibrations on it. And this brings up the holiday season. I am glad that at least there is a respite from work, and regardless of what the dominant discourse of my culture says it is for, it is the winter solstice for me. While my next-door neighbour is setting up a tree to decorate in their living room , another is placing candles in their front windows, there is a wide variety of calibrations in my neighbourhood. It all looks pretty. Not me, it is all about a good time off snuggling up by the furnace to keep warm, and being rest assured that the longer days are around the corner.

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HALLOWEEN!!!!!

October 31st, 2008 Thomasso

So much for enjoying it. I just did a 10 shift at work, and my co-worker did a no-show, so I had to go solo during a fairly busy day. I just finished a two hour reading session, my quite time, for my homework, a seven page paper due on Monday. So I think I am just going to write this out and call it a night.

I saw some really good Halloween costumes today while I was driving home. I think the best one that stuck out in my mind are the family of cats that prowled Mary Street while I was on my way to the Post Office. The parents spent a lot work on their outfits. They were a family of five, the youngest was just able to walk while the older two ran in circles with their bags of goodies slung over their shoulders. It was cute.

Maybe it is still too early, but the town is dead, too dead if you ask me. Maybe it will change as it gets later? I hear the odd fire-cracker and exploding fireworks, but nothing to major. Hummm, I guess we shall wait and see….

Anyway, I am going to be the Halloween Scrooge this year. I will not be handing any candy out to the trick or treaters because I am just too tired. I wish I could, but I am just out of it. I was going to watch some TV, but every show that was on sucked, so I decided that I should at least get a October 31st post done. I don’t think I have ever missed a post on this day? I’ll have to check my archives tomorrow to see?

So feel free to wish me and everyone a Scary Halloween here tonight! May it will be the scariest ever!

[Added] November 1, 2008: It was about 2:15am when I heard a big crash. It sounded like some was moving a garbage dumster accross the road. It turned out to be some prankers moving some scraps of sheet metal by the railway tracks. When I drove to work this morning I saw nothing, but when I got home I saw some roofing metal scattered at the end of my road. Great, another mystery?

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Summer: Relaxation Bliss

August 4th, 2008 Thomasso

For me, and like many others, these long weekends are like once in a lifetime events because we value them so much. I am so glad that I have the day off from work so that I can enjoy another day of summer, and I decided to spend this morning doing an unannounced hike along the Fort to Fort trail. When my body was tuned to spending yet another day working for the man, I instead got up and left for a hike around 6:00am when most people are still dreaming, tucked away in their beds and under the covers. The streets were empty even though the sun had risen.

Walking through the streets of Fort Langley at this time of day is so weird and unusual for me because I am so used to seeing the people and the traffic constantly and all around. The sounds, of human voices at the sidewalk café, the restaurant exhaust vents and rumble of wheels from the streets all creates a normal environment for me. To have that missing feels like a Hollywood film, when some mysterious plague wiped out the human race and I am the only left alive. This is the felling that is so nice–no one around.

The trail was different because I met over ten other hikers all doing the same thing I was, taking advantage of less people to spoil the moment. Here there is lots of traffic. You can meet the most interesting people in these trails. One of the hikers, a women who dressed in a full body-multi panelled yellow and black spandex suit, was very talkative as I rested with her group at the Pump house. She was from California and was on a cross Canada trip starting at New Brunswick and heading West. Another hiker, a local, said that he knew me, although I could place a name to his face. With all this traffic along the trail I thought that the town was up extra early.

To my surprise when I got back onto Glover Road I saw only one vehicle, a police car, before I got home.

It was the perfect way to start a holiday Monday. I feel so good after that walk. I am not one of those guys who gets all dressed up with special gear to go out for a hike. I am not a competitive person. I see people in spandex hiking outfits as a little excessive, especially on a trail that takes me only 30 minutes to hike. Jeans, t-shirt and running shoes are my hiking cloths. I just do not want to tire myself out on my day-off and spend as much time preparing for it as I am doing it. That is way too much!

Now the town is in full swing as people have been pouring in to it since 8:00am and onwards. This is BC day, the day that is marking the 150th anniversary of the birth of our province, British Columbia. It is been promised by the weather prognosticators that today is going to be a hot one, at 32C with nothing but unobstructed sunshine. I think a mid-day swim is in order!

[ADDED]

I just saved all my photos that were on my camera. I had photos from the last three weeks on it, so I figured that it was time to get them off there so I can fill it up today. When I was going through them, I came across these, my trip back from Agasszi, B.C. from when I was at a seminar at Corrections Canada, Kent facility. I must of done this trip fifty times now. Not only do I travel up to Agassiz, but I also drive to Chilliwack as part of my Monday schedule at work.

I remember my first trip through this part of the valley after I moved down to Vancouver. Looking at these mountains seemed so breath taking after not seeing them for so long. The sight of seeing such steep and high mountains in the middle of a summer day is breath taking. When I have passengers, it never fails, they do nothing but stare out the window up at the skyline.

These photos show the trip back from Agassiz heading back just after Chilliwack going towards Abbotsford. Towards mid afternoon the traffic is light compared to the afternoon rush hour.

Maybe one day when I get lots of time I will grab my camera and drive up one of those mountains and snap a hundred or so shots of the valley. That’s the disadvantage of shooting through a window in a moving vehicle–bugs.

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Thinking, Listening to the Wind Out Side

November 11th, 2007 Thomasso

Right now I am listening to the wind out side, and I am thinking about a lot things today, but the wind is kicking up the leaves as they stick to my window. Today is Remembrance Day, a day to reflect on wars past and present, and the solders who gave their life for our freedom, and it is about the fallen and the living from these wars. I think about that a lot now days, the wars, the solders, and the people. Today, while I was at work typing and clicking on my keyboard and mouse, I stopped at 11:00am and closed my eyes for two minutes because It was the least I could do–to remember. Sure, it sounds corny, I, all alone, to stop working for two minutes, but I felt it was the right thing to do. In all my former jobs employers would have punished anyone who dared stopped working, even if it was to remember, but they were hypocrites because it if were not for those who made our land free, they would not have their business and the economy that makes them their money! Oh how does the capitalist forget who got them here in the first place…. But I was alone, so no harm. I am sure there are employers out there who do care, and would honour the those today?

It is windy out! The wind is really picking up. I better hurry and save this before the power goes out.

So far, so good: the electric is holding. So I did some homework today; getting ready for the finals in three weeks. Another semester almost gone, and a little closer to the end of the last course. It is a nice feeling to be almost done, finished, completed. I read some old papers from when I first went to college way back when, …and wow, I have come along ways since then. I think I have surpast even my wildest expectations because I had no idea ten years ago that I would here be today doing what I am doing right now. My papers then, well, sucked. I cringe when I read them. They make me think about how naive and ignorant I was, and how I first embarked on answering the question, “why.” I remember going into the classroom for the first time, since high school, thinking, “what the heck am I doing here…” It was scary, but I stuck it out–and I am sure glad I did. *smirk* I still haven’t found an answer to the question, “why,” if you were wondering? But I am thinking about it. But I remember!

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Ooooo, What Pertty Sunset

July 1st, 2007 Thomasso

Oh of course the weather office lied about this weekend’s forecasts. It even says on their website that Environment Canada’s prediction rate is 80 percent of getting the weather forecast right, and the rest of the time it is a best guess. Well, this weekend’s forecast is in the remaining twenty percent of their prediction rate, and not surprisingly, our cool, rainy, overcast holiday took a turn for the better with nice warm sun, shining down for most of the day. Here, check out this photo of the sunset:

It is amazing how a little sunlight can change one’s mood, make their day go by much better and getting-the-job-done becomes a pleasure rather than a chore. So I guess I need to turn off the “Complaint Switch” and enjoy the unexpected sunshine.

Happy Canada Day! [Added] Oh, and here is a little fact-web-site about our national anthem. I thought is was interesting because I did not even know this?

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