A Moment To Myself: Or Five Seconds of One?

March 8th, 2010 Thomasso

I have a moment to myself. I really wanted to type more on the blog, but life has being hectic as classes are gearing up for mid-terms.  Work has calmed down to the point where I can safely go back to my part-time status and still have everything run smoothly. I still get the odd Linux user asking/bagging for help, but time is of the essence and I can’t make more of it. If I could make a 25 hour days, I would hide the secret so no one could ever do it.

My French prof ask to talk to me after class today. He siad that I have developed some very nasty/serious habits with my oral vocabulary from the textbook. When I read from my textbook, I periodically pronounce the last letters in words when I shouldn’t.  He ask if I had someone to help me along with reading out loud. Sadly my last French helper has had to stop becuase he is too busy with his job. The problem with teaching French I find is that it is a slow process and getting it right is an ongoing process for the learner. My friend was very much into teaching it, but only if he had the spare time, like a half hour at a time kind of thing.  For him, English was his second language, so he preferred to stick with English, not the French, and I could totally understand his point of view.

Statistics, I’m rock’n. My grades are very good, however, I have this large paper due on Wednesday, and it is more work than I bargained for. I think the prof thinks I’m some kind of freak becuase I actually enjoy it. Apparently, you are not supposed to “enjoy” Stats–it is strictly a taboo subject and should be frowned upon. Oh well, I don’t mind the mathematics, and theory behind Statistics, and me and my lab partner have chosen as really good topic to do research on. Why not be happy about it? I wish I could apply this level of joy to French!

Anyway, that is all for now. I’m going to go to bed early and get some badly needed sleep. The four to five hours nights are catching up with me. Good night everyone!

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Mass, Volume, Density & Four Dimensional Doo-Doo sludge.

March 4th, 2010 Thomasso

I’m back for a bit to slap together this post. There are a number things that are going on at the moment. Busy, is probably too loose of a word to describe the way things are going around here, but it is the only word I can come up with at the moment. Work, Education, family, friends, they are all adding up.

I’m using two servers, or web hosts, for this site now. I’m keeping my Stage5 host for this Domain until I can find the time to finish the migration over to my new host. My webserve account has a few more months left on it before I give them the “heave-ho” and have everything migrate over to a local company here in British Columbia. I will reveal the name of that web server once I finish the migration. Lets just say that I’m not happy with the level of service I’m getting. Sure, they all have good up time and routine good maintenance, but customer service is what makes or breaks a good product, and you don’t want to mess around with your on-line clients becuase migrating is such an easy thing to do. Hint-hint–you know who you are…

I’m nearing the Rubicon of the semester, and the “Drop-Date” is around the corner. This is when students can safely drop a course without it effecting their GPA. It is also the midway point of the term. Added to the stress, this is also the time of the term when each student must start thinking about registering for the next term. I know not too many people outside of post secondary education know this, but the on top of having mid terms and massive amounts of material to study, you also have to worry about selecting your classes, and waiting for your registration date, your window of time when you can pick your classes. If you are a good student with strong marks, then your date is close to the registration start date and there will be more to choose from. However, if you are more than three days passed the start time, then you will worry as the pickings are getting thin. Fortunately I have always maintained a healthy GPA and managed to keep myself within the 42 hour mark of the start date for registering. Nothing like a good dose of strees to keep the blood flowing, eh?

Later on next week I will type about the latest budgets passed by both levels of government, BC, and Canada’s. I’m going to have some friend’s who will be collecting unemployment very soon. More reason why people should go to University, or trades school and finish their courses. I really think the second wave of bad times are upon us now. Stay tuned.

Well, that is all for now.

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Spring Time in February

February 28th, 2010 Thomasso

Time flies when you are having fun. I have being so busy over the last two weeks that getting time to sit down and focus on anything has being a challenge. Already the birds are up chirping an hour before dawn becuase they all think that is it spring time, yet it is really only the middle of winter, and the noise is worse than the periodic trains that passes by. Normally birds here don’t start their mating screams until April, or the very end of March, but this year, they are at it six weeks ahead of schedule. But that is OK as I’m up before the birds hit their crescendo of chirping, and I’m usually going to sleep well after the birds have packed it in for the night.

Why such busy days? I have being going full-out, both at work and on my papers for classes this semester. Work has really consumed a lot of time, but it will be worth it as the two week break will end tomorrow and everyone will return to their regular routines. I am looking forward to that.

There have being some developments in the family. Of course I am going to keep everything confidential, as the whole world doesn’t need to know the details, but some serious stuff has taken place. A good friend has passed away, and an family in-law has undergone open heart surgery–all within the same week. Although the operation went well and the family is relieved, the death of my friend has consumed most of my thoughts. Funny thing about loosing friends, I think they have more of an impact than loosing a family member. Life goes on and soon we will all pass away.

Well, time for laundry. Hopefully the laundromat is open now. They are late opening it up–which is part of the reason for spending this time typing out this post. I’m trying to maximise my time. [I'll clean up the spelling later]

Posted in General | 3 Comments »

If You Drink and Drive, You Should Forget About Driving Ever Again!

February 20th, 2010 Thomasso

Last night while I was heading home from work, I was passed on the road by a rather rude driver who was just in too much of a rush that everyone on the road was in his way, so he tail-gated, honked his horn and swerved contently to get around you. Finally he passed me going towards Fort Langley on Glover Road, just pasted the 232nd Street turn-off to highway #1. I kept to my lane, gave him some extra room so he could at least have some space to make his manoeuvre before he had a head on collision with the on coming traffic, and then he was gone.

After I got home, I decided to do a little shopping. I hopped back in the truck and headed off to Walnut-Grove, where “low and behold” there was that same rude driver again, stopped by the police getting a breathalyser test. The officer has his stash of beer cans on top of his car, and I could see the look on the driver’s face as he was lead to the police car when I drove by.

I am somewhat perplexed that after all the TV commercials and anti-driving ads, that people still think it is wise to drive while having a few drinks? I mean honestly, you are endangering all the people around you when you are driving intoxicated. You are not in full control of your faculties–even though “you” think so. And with the beefed up laws that we have now, with costly fines and a possible criminal record, not to mention the loss of your driver’s license, you would wonder that people would think twice about getting behind the wheel of a vehicle and driving off after having a few belts.

I hope that the system has done its job and has taken one more inconsiderate driver off the road. If anyone wants to argue with me on this one, then I will start with by saying this is a safety issue from all aspects. Unsafe drivers need-not-drive.

Posted in Diatribe, General, Law, Law and Order, Social Justice | No Comments »

As I Walk Through the Valley of Steel

February 19th, 2010 Thomasso

This is going to be one of those posts where I may regret writing it. Normally I don’t like talking about the personal details of my life in terms of up to the minute details with commentary and graphics, but today is sort of a milestone of sorts. As the title says, “As I walk through the valley of steel,” this means, I am alive and well, and all is going great. Work is going so great too, that in fact, I have surpassed even my own expectations there. The Valley of Steel is all the steel shelving that I see everyday at my work. So, steel shelving is playing a big part in my life right now. Heck, it is even dominating it!

If you have ever worked with full-scale, massive sized warehousing steel shelving, then you will know what I am talking about. I am talking about the big orange and blue shelving that you sometimes see in the large big-box stores where you need a forklift to put things into them, and they tower up to twenty feet into the air. Well, for the last couple of days we have expanded our warehouse and started adding, rearranging and moving our steel shelving around inside the warehouse. I worked with a couple of very experienced and professional guys who know this stuff inside and out. They were worth every penny they asked for.

In the past I had worked with erecting and dismantling large siezed steel shelving myself, and it is not an easy job to do. In this warehouse, we all loath it becuase It is a tough job to do, especially with limited space and poor equipment. But when you have the right guys, the right equipment and lots of Will power, it all seemed so effortless. I am even kicking myself in the butt for not asking the professionals in the first place!

I could go on and on about cost effectiveness and efficiency, and all that stuff, but I am in the moment right now and I am not going to spoil it. In short, get the professionals–it will save you lots of time and money down the road.

But redecorating is like starting fresh again. It is like a second chance. On Monday morning I will walk into a whole new place. I am so looking forward to that. Also, knowing that things are the way “you” want them to be, is also a big thrill. A new desk, fresh coat of paint and a whole new layout, will greet me first thing on Monday morning–now that is the making of a happy worker.

Posted in Bitching about work, General | 1 Comment »

Happy Birthday Mom, and Valentine’s Day

February 14th, 2010 Thomasso

Yes, I know, this is a cheap way of doing it this year. But Mom, I have just being so busy to get out and send you off a proper birthday card. I know you sometimes feel that saying it public, like this, makes you uneasy, but at least this way I know will find it. So happy birthday Mom, and may this one be the best ever.

Also, today is Valentine’s Day, a day when you are supposed to give your “sweetheart” a gift of something that somehow conveys a romantic feeling to it. Because I have no “special” sweetheart in my life at the moment, I will dedicated part of this post to all those sweethearts who do not have that special someone in their life, and send out a blanket, virtual, Valentine’s day card to you all.

Maybe this will put a smile on someone’s face.  À bientôt!

[ADDED] I remember a long time ago when me and my father had a very deep discussion about the symbolism of the Valentine’s heart and the arrow through it, it left me wondering why we give cards to everyone when I was in grade school, and should it be a good idea if it is just a repetitious commercialised act we do today? He came up with some very interesting ideas of what could be alternative meanings to it, but when you start to add critical thinking to these ideas they start to loose their fun very quickly. Of course symbolism is the mainstay of why we use such things as cards and gifts on various days throughout the calendar like Valentine’s Day, but do we really know where they started from?

We know that the arrows come from the Greek myth Cupid, whose arrows strike those who have fallen in love. When the arrow hits you, you become transformed and fall love with whomever is near you, or the first person you see. I suspect that the kiss comes from this too, as the shape of the lips, in particular the top outer lip becuase it is shaped like a ancient bow from which you would draw an arrow from.

The heart shape we see today is where my Dad had came up with the weirdest part of this idea. We know that the human heart is not shaped like a Valentine’s heart, but rather like a potato or pear, and is not perfectly symmetrical like the drawings we see. Instead, what we draw today as the “heart” could very well be a symbolic representation of a woman’s buttock. Oh, it gets weirder yet: the arrow is like a pin, or mark that indicates that the buttock has being taken, or the sender wishes to take it. Tthe arrow could very well be a symbol of the penis, and putting it through the heart could be the romantic act in its purest form.

Although this conversation took place over twenty years ago, it still makes me wonder if it has any validity to it. I know that all societies have buried in their cultures dual meanings to their beliefs that we see today. All religions have their origins from older forms of cultural symbolisms that have evolved into what we see today. I never bothered to go out and research this, but perhaps I should? I would be interested in what other ideas there are that have laid claim to this symbol of love?

Posted in Birthday, Events, General, Photographs | No Comments »

I Admit it, I’m a Lost Fan Too! People Hate Me for it.

February 13th, 2010 Thomasso

For Ten long agonizing months I waited while rerun after rerun played before the launch of season six kicked in on the boob-tube, or flat-screen this month. As of two weeks ago, season six of the television show Lost finally started, and life seems to be back to normal, although normal is such a loose word these days. I have being capturing the last two episodes on my home-made PVR so I can watch it during the times I have to myself. Many I know love the show. I love the show becuase it has a cool narrative and a plot that would make a prime-time soup-opera look like a skit on kid’s TV.

The nice thing about the whole plot are the never ending twists that each character takes. I mean you really need to take notes on some of these details that go on. I also enjoy finding mistakes, especially the continuity of one scene to another, or editing mistakes where make-up changes dramatically–a cut, or gun shot location on a actor’s piece of clothing. There are some really good websites too that have hundreds of them listed.

I also love it when people poke fun at the show. The Onion News Network is probably one of the best American parity shows on the web that I have seen. There are many spoofs of the show Lost on the web, but this one has a lot of truth to it–you either love it, or hate it to death.

We will see what the final season of Lost brings, 17 episodes of suspense, drama and gut wrenching plot. Hopefully they (the writers and producers) can really make everyone heads spin with weirdness as the plot goes where no plot has gone before. I can’t wait!

Posted in Events, General, Humour, Video | No Comments »

Once Again I am Happy it is the Weekend

February 12th, 2010 Thomasso

I am tired and sore from all the classroom time I have logged in the past week. On top of work, reading over 300 pages of high intents text about statistics is enough to drive anyone into a state of craziness. Between all of my classes I have to deal with work too as we have taken on new contracts that are extremely demanding. But my classes are my biggest chunk of the daily pie chart of time, and the search for sleep is getting out of hand as that part of the pie chart is getting nibbled away. Yes, I complain about this a lot—I know that. What can I say, I’m a whiner when I’m tired.

Statistics is a really weird subject because all most everyone in the class is suffering from denial, or they shutter like it was the new AIDS epidemic, or they complain about it like they are about to be tortured by the rack when they have to show up to class. The language of statistics too is really wired because you are using common words in the most unique way. For example, “mean” is something like average, or “regression” is really predicting the future. The formulas are really algebra on steroids. And worse yet, there are multiple version of the same standard used by the various profs who teach it, just ask about the “X-bar.”

I found myself daydreaming at work too from lack of sleep. It was the weirdest sensation as I was reading my email, and found myself drifting off thinking about taking a trip over to Europe. I snapped out of it when I thought I could taste the salty air off the coast of Italy. Then I starting surfing the net looking for cheap flights right after that. That was bad I tell you—never go on a holiday searching spree surfing the net while at work. Surfing the web while at work is not good if you are back logged with numerous tasks. Though I did find some sweat deals. But I need sleep, and a better schedule to maintain my mental health with.

I got another job offer in the mail today. Last September I attended a trades-fair at the University, and I have being getting a steady stream of replies ever since. This company is located in New York State and seems really eager to take on graduates from anywhere around the world in the field of Criminology, though not in Forensics, but in Psychology which is right up my alley. I think I would have an issue with leaving Canadian soil though, but there was a listing from a European company too that looked very interesting. The European one was looking for researchers/crime experts… gulp…, more Stats, but hey it’s closer to Italy than Vancouver is. I really don’t think finding work is going to be a problem when I graduate.

Well, another Friday night is upon us, so I’m going to read for a few hours then call it a day. I need to get up fairly early tomorrow to do some on-line work with one of my classes—those pesky lab assignments for French. Then later on I have a video-conference with my classmates on Chicago—topic, International Crime between Canada and the USA, which will probably be dominated by the “War On Drugs” that everyone is talking about here in British Columbia.

Posted in Bitching about work, General, Homework and deadlines, University classes | No Comments »

A Mini Crime Wave, or is it Just the Background Noise of a Growing Society: Fort Langley on Video.

February 7th, 2010 Thomasso

Last year the local market had them installed, the Bank had them since I could remember, and I even have one: closed circuit video are everywhere, and more are to come. The local market, also know at the IGA, had them installed just last year after experiencing a record breaking year of theft. It was so bad there that the owner was almost looking at taking drastic measures to curve the financial loss it was incurring on his business. Once the video system was installed, they were able to use the images to show police who was steeling when they fled the store. For me, I had my vehicle broken into three years ago and I had to do something about it. My landlord was unable to offer any solutions, and they certainly did not want to install my camera, but after checking with law enforcement and legal experts, I was able to go ahead with the installation without my landlord’s approval. The camera has stayed ever since, even with many threats of legal sanctions, and a visit boys from the Township By-law office by them, my trusty little camera keeps a vigil eye on my vehicle. Oddly enough my vehicle has not being touched ever since?

Those same people who do not like me having a camera facing my vehicle, just had their “cash to change” vending machine broken into this last week in their laundromat. Guess what, they are now in the process of install the camera in their laundromat facing the vending machine! The thieves attempted to smash into the machine using some crude tools, and they gained access into the build by a flimsy window. Although they did not get any of the money inside the machine, they made a mess of the place.

But there are other lessons to be learned from the IGA and Laundromat experience. These buildings are prone to darkness and hidden sections when closed after business hours, ideal for thieves to lurk around. Environmental elements can be employed to lower the likelihood of thieves looking for “hiding” places like lighting and bars on the windows. A theory that says that thieves only like easy targets means that you must make it as difficult as possible for the theft to be not worth while and uninviting. Where I live, lighting is a big problem, that is, there is not enough of it. In fact, when thieves travel, our section of town seems to be where they prefer to move through becuase of the darkness. On several occasions now I have being awaken by police banging on my door asking me if I heard anyone running through my back yard. “Not since I fell asleep four hours ago,” I tell them.

I wonder if there is a correlation between the economic downturn and the growing population in our little village? Probably not.

I know that if you don’t nail it down, light it up, put a camera on it, alarm it, you are going to loose it. Thieves will “scope it out” and when they find something easy to take, they will waste no time to do it. Opportunity is something that thieves will take on in a moments notice. Timing is everything becuase it may not be there the next day.

So smile–you are on TV. I see cameras going up everywhere in Fort Langley.  But I should caution you if you are deciding to put up a camera in your neighbourhood for yourself. Check the law, rules and local by-laws. You have to post signage that you have a video surveillance system in operation, and you can’t capture audio while your camera is on. And obviously, you can’t aim it at your next door neighbour’s house, or through other people’s windows, only on your property.

Hey, video is changing the way our society looks at itself, and it seems to be crime driven. I can see all of us soon living in a gated community with cameras everywhere, check-points and ID checks leaving to and from our towns. Heck, all it would take is one good terrorist attack in the area to put all of us on high alert and straight in to paranoia. We may see cameras as intrusive now, but after an attack, we may all want one. Too bad though, I really like Fort Langley, and the small town atmosphere it has. I guess that is all changing as the population grows.

Posted in Criminal Law, Criminology, General, Law and Order | No Comments »

Is this Incredible Weather or What?

February 6th, 2010 Thomasso

For the last five weeks, I must admit, I was paranoid about having to go through another winter like the one we had last year in the Fraser Valley. For the first couple of week in December it looked as if we were going to endure another super cold one, but as luck would have it, we are getting California like weather in the middle of winter for 2010. Is this Incredible Weather or What?

I know that we should be worried about having such wonderful weather in a place like Canada this time of year because it is unnatural, and nature has a way of turning such a nice thing into a huge nuisance later on down the road. I am thinking of the mosquito problems we have here along the Fraser River. With every warm winter, there follows a wet spring, and mosquitoes love water to lay their eggs in. There are other bugs too that are loving this weather, take the Roach for example. Yes Fort Langley has Roaches–although some people I know will not admit it and call them something else, like a Termites. I saw one zipping out of the storm grate alone Glover Road yesterday when I was walking back home. That congered up bad memories from when I lived in Toronto, Ontario. Toronto is a place that has a huge roach problem. Also there is the infamous Pine Beetle that has destroyed a large portion of our Pine forests in BC–can  we say “Global Warming.”

Not having to deal with shovelling, huge heating expenses and the inconvenience of driving on snow and ice, I can enjoy this weather in the short term. I say keep it coming! I love thisI In fact, I am asking myself if I should even bother heading to Mexico, in stead, stay here where it is warm?

Posted in Bitching about weather, General, Humour, Photographs | No Comments »