So, I guess it's really no secret that I jumped on the Mozilla Firefox bandwagon quite some time ago (Version 0.9.1, was my virgin version I believe). So, in keeping with my undying support for the entire crew over at Mozilla, I've decided to try out Mozilla Thunderbird.

I had originally downloaded Thunderbird sometime in September or early October, but found it to be very weak as a mail client... at least for work purposes. I do plan on using it for my mail client once I decide on a domain for this website, and convert my personal mail from Hotmail to a local inbox. (As an aside, I hate webmail).

Mail Client Review:

While I never fully tested out the capabilities of Thunderbird, I found very early that it would not suffice as my main client for email at work. The Address Book is very weak, and rather unattractive if you ask me. The lack of a calendar is what really hindered me from making the switch. My life is attached to that stupid Outlook calendar.

However, the lightweight approach to the mail client is reminiscent of Outlook Express, and I am beginning to believe that Thunderbird is not aimed at taking over full Outlook users. As a replacement for Outlook Express? Oh yes. Very much yes.

As a replacement for Outlook? Not even close. The Mozilla crew needs to add a calendar, revamp their address book (come on, cave in and use vcards), and I will make the switch.

RSS Reader:

The coolest thing about Thunderbird is the built in RSS Reader. While a little unfriendly at first to set up - especially for someone who has never used an RSS Reader before, such as myself - I was eventually able to get it set up to read the RSS feed from my blog.

After that I went crazy, and added five of my favorite blogs, and a bunch of news services. Oh, how I love RSS.

It just makes gathering information so much easier. I still get to read all of my favorite blogs and news sites, am still able to view their sites, but all from one central location.

Very cool.

Anyway, Get Firefox, and while you're at it, Get Thunderbird!

Ahh, it would appear winter has arrived! I woke up this morning, went out to start the car (a loaner Sunfire, while both the RX-7 and Aveo are out of commission for the time being), and was greeted by snow -- a LOT of snow.

I guess we got upwards of 5cm last night. Although the snow flying is a scary thought, this downfall will undoubtedly melt, and we will be dry for a few days before we are greeted by the semi-permanent view of white stuff.

November 2 is late for a first snowfall of the winter by my recollection. As a matter of fact, no winter in memory has begun later. Mind you, my memory is probably incorrect, and I'm sure there was a freak winter somewhere (for some reason I want to say 1997 or 1998 was later, but I'm not sure). Either way, we went all of September, and all of October without seeing a snowflake. I think we got pretty lucky in Saskatoon.

Becky took pictures.

Firefox 1.5 Release Candidate 1 has been released!

Nothing special as far as I know... I've been using 1.5 Beta 2 for a few weeks now, and haven't noticed anything yet. Besides "Beta 2" being dropped from the title bar. For the record: I found that "Beta 2" quite annoying.

So, yeah, check out the newest Firefox build. Woot!

How unbelievable is this?

Veterans have won a battle far removed from the front lines of Europe, Asia and Africa. They've gained the right to sell poppies inside Canada Post offices across the country.

The Royal Canadian Legion's annual poppy campaign got off to a rocky start in the northern Manitoba town of The Pas last week when veterans were told they could not sell the familiar red lapel pins inside the post office.

Bravo to Duke Dutkiewicz who actually fought Canada Post on this. I can't believe that anyone at the post office in The Pas would actually refuse to allow a veteran the ability to sell a poppy. Personally, if a veteran asked me to sell poppies in my living room, I would oblige. I am a firm believer that any Canadian veteran should have the ability to sell poppies anywhere he damn well pleases.

On a side note - veterans are pretty much the only group of people who are void from my road rage. Quite honestly, if I see one of the new veteran license plates (below), they can do anything they want without any interference from me. Those guys own the road in my view.

Not only that, but if I see a veteran anywhere, they get my utmost respect. I believe veteran's are the cream of society's crop, and anyone who doesn't agree should be exiled from whatever country they live. Seriously, these men (and women, ahem) are the sole reason we live in a free and (sometimes) just society. There is absolutely zero reason for anyone to serve them with disrespect at any time on any day.

How a government employee that only receives a paycheck because of the acts of the veterans, was able to pull that kind of an act of disrespect out of their meager mind is unconceivable to me. If it were up to me, every veteran in the town should be able to poke them with the poppy pin at least once. Maybe twice.

Go veterans!

...sucks. And everybody knows it.

Very handy; cooks well; easy to use; reduces fat. Hardest thing in the world to cook if you don't clean it before you eat.

To tell you the truth, I barely use either of mine (I have two) any more, because of how hard it is to clean.

My buddy Marc's MSN name led me to post this, so blame him.

I bought a car from a friend today. $180 total. A 1989 Nissan 240SX in (decent) running condition. Not bad, eh? I haven't had a chance to take a look at it yet, but I will tonight or tomorrow morning. More then!

I watched a small portion of FOX's show, Trading Spouses last night. Wow, what a fiendishly crazy woman. I would be mortified if I were to witness one of her rampants face to face.

From Chris Pirillo:

Marguerite, a mom from Trading Spouses S2E1, needs her own show; I'd tune into her regularly. Holy mother of God, this lady is Psycho Christian...

That about sums it up.

Thanks to a news release from BBC that popped up in my trusty RSS Reader (shameless Mozilla plug), I can announce.... Google Print is now online!

Check it out now, I haven't had much time to play around with it yet, but I have done a couple of searches and it appears to be pretty cool.

Away from your computer? Friend doesn't want you to download MSN Messenger or AIM? Head over to eMessenger. It allows you to use MSN messenger, AOL Instant Messenger or Yahoo! Messenger via your web browser of choice. Well, I've tested it with Internet Explorer and Firefox 1.5RC1.

It works pretty well most of the time, and I make use of it a few times a week usually.

Edit: I should also mention MSN Web Messenger. It finally works in Firefox, so I guess I can support it. Check that out too. Only works for MSN Messenger though.

I absolutely love it when vacation time comes around. I booked Monday and Tuesday off more than a month ago, just to burn a couple of vacation days. It is so nice when you pretty much forget you have a couple of extra days off come up, then all of a sudden you think to yourself "I have a four day weekend".

Wow, it really is a nice thought nearing the end of your Friday workday. Just thought I'd let you know how I feel :)

I added the About section to the website. It contains only a bit of statistical/vitals, but a biography shall come soon. Check me out!

I've just installed Microsoft's Visual Studio 2005 Beta 2. Work can now continue on a couple of projects I'm working on. I'll post some information about them here soon. Stay tuned!

I've been playing with Microsoft's Money 2005 that came installed OEM on Lana's laptop.

Wow, what a great program for budgeting and keeping track of expenses. It costs $80 USD according to Microsoft's website, and I think it is well worth it. If it doesn't come installed on my next computer, I will have to buy it. I suggest checking out their Free Trial. If anyone knows of something free that will compete, that would be aweosme. Let me know.

Is anybody else not surprised by this? In the year 2005, is it so hard to believe that the Intelligence Agency for the most powerful country in the world is operating secret prison facilities?

I've always, always thought that there had to be some kind of secret detention facility in use by the CIA. Why this is news at all is beyond me.

Blog Links:
Jordon Cooper: CIA Holds Terror Suspects in Secret Prisons November 4, 2005

News Links:
BBC: CIA 'running secret terror jails' November 2, 2005
CNN: Report: CIA operates secret prisons November 2, 2005
CNN: EU looks into 'secret CIA jails' November 3, 2005
BBC: Watchdog urges 'CIA' jails' probe November 4, 2005
CNN: CIA asks for review of newspaper's report November 8, 2005

Racism? Saskatoon? Police!? Never!

Leave it to the Saskatoon Police Service to make the national news for racial profiling. It is getting to the point that I am surprised if any news of police corruption in Canada is not about the Saskatoon cops.

For a police force who is still reeling from the Neil Stonechild inquiry that was released not too long ago, and still involved in the David Milgaard inquiry, these guys sure can't take a moment to keep themselves out of trouble.

From CTV:

"A police car, out of nowhere, slides in and hits me," he told reporters at a press conference Wednesday. "I had to stop myself from sliding under the car and I was like, 'What the hell? What's going on?'"

For a department already tarnished with a reputation of one of the most corrupt police forces in Canada, they sure do like attracting attention. When will they learn that the Native individuals they are abusing actually will go to the media? Do they honestly still believe they are going to get away free-and-clear? Do they think they are in the Southern United States, and the year is 1954? This is Canada in 2005. Racism no longer flies.

Besides the fact that racism is a pointless crime. Most victims of racism (and all prejudice) are the least deserving victims of all. It's a damned shame. Why can't the Saskatoon Police Service just grow up already?

And I mean, they really, really, really suck. Budget Rent-A-Car can go to hell, and I hope they make their way there in a hand basket.

Due to a severely unfortunate move on my part: lending one of my cars to my younger (20 year old) brother; I was forced into using the services of Budget Rent-A-Car.

What Brent (my brother) did to my 04 Chevrolet Aveo: Somehow, during normal operating procedure the following happened (according to a Wheaton GM service advisor):

- The serpentine belt that drives the alternator shredded, causing a large chunk of it to get caught under the cam cover.
- While lodged under the cam cover, the piece of the belt got stuck between two of the teeth on one of the cam gears, causing the timing belt to skip thirteen teeth.
- This caused every valve in the engine to be destroyed.
- This also cracked the head.
- He also managed to shear a lobe off of the camshaft.

So... it was at Wheaton getting some work done under warranty for about two weeks. Now, I did not need a car - as I could drive my RX-7 or my 240SX. However, my younger (once again... 20 years old!) brother is useless and doesn't own a vehicle. So, I decide I would get a loaner vehicle from Wheaton, since under my warranty, if my vehicle is in for over a day, GM must provide me with a vehicle.

Turns out, Wheaton doesn't carry loaner cars, and all of their loaners go through Budget Rent-A-Car. Well, there is a Budget about a block away from my work on 45th Street W (please, do not EVER go to this Budget location for anything, they are criminals). So I make arrangements to pick up the vehicle after work.

I get to Budget, and they hand me over my new car for the next two weeks. A blue, automatic Sunfire. I would say approximately 2004. This car was missing parts of it's bumpers! Also, the LED display on the radio/CD player didn't work... this really sucked when I was trying to find 650 CKOM to listen to until I was able to reconnect with my CD book.

So, I drive the car home, go out for supper and go back home. In the morning I go to work. At lunch time, myself and a co-worker go for lunch. When we return, I notice a flat tire on the Sunfire. Sweet. And I mean, it was pretty much completely flat.

So I go into work, and call Budget to ask what I should do about this tire. I speak with some over-trained, job-happy piece of shit woman on the phone. Here is a pretty accurate depiction of our conversation:

Me: I rented one of your cars last night, and it has a flat tire, what should I do with this car?
Her: Take it to the nearest tire shop and have it fixed.
Me Ok, should I send the bill to you, or how will you pay for it?
Her: We won't. It's your responsibility.

Now, I really could have just got down to Wheaton and had them fix the tire and demand that they pay. However, this lady was a bitch in every sense of the word, so I lost it on her. I flat out refused to pay for this tire. So, she put her manager on... pretty nice guy actually. He told me I could bring the car in, and they would give me a new one.

So, I left work, took the Sunfire in (one block remember) and tried to exchange it for a new car. The bitch-lady from the phone decided that since I hadn't filled the gas tank up, she would be charging me for it. Keep in mind how much I drove the car, and you will see how absurd this is later. She said I will have to pay $1.599/L for them to fill it up. NO! This was not happening either. I told her flat out, I will take the car right now - while driving on a rim to a gas station and fill it up then. She agreed to charge me pump price ($0.929/L).

So, I got a Red Sunfire... this car had the worst brakes of any vehicle I've ever driven. Anyone who drives a Cavalier or Sunfire at some point must have experienced the pulsating brakes. This Sunfire had pulsating brakes to the most extreme degree.

Anyway, I put up with this pile of crap for about two weeks (actually the day after I got the red car, I gave it to Brent to put up with, and maybe destroy like he did my Aveo) until yesterday, go to take it back. And then the fun begins.

They tried to chage me $20.67 for the gas in the blue car. What?!!?! I flat out asked how many kilometres I drove the car... her answer: 53. How many litres did she need to put in the car: 13! I then proceeded to tell her, and the trainee she was training that that was complete bullshit. Not only does 53 kilometres in a Sunfire not equal 13 litres... but 13 litres at $0.929 is not $20.67. WTF?! Apparently, the previous bitch had neglected to put the note on about pump price. So I managed to talk her into $0.929 after approximately 15 minutes.

However, bitch-face and the trainee (note to trainee, get out now!) proceed to try and convince me that 13 litres for 53 kilometres is not too uncommon. That is approximately 25L/100km or 9.4 mpg. In a SUNFIRE! I get MUCH better mileage in my RX-7, and that gets worse mileage than a Hummer!. 9mpg in a SUNFIRE!? Are you kidding me? Nope! Apparently, both of these idiots drive Cavaliers and it is not uncommon for them to go through a 1/4 tank of gas in 50km's. Even after I told them I got about 500km in the tank of gas I went through (read: Brent went through) in the red car.

What a bunch of idiots. Please, what ever you do not ever use Budget Rent-A-Car. Especially Budget on 45th St W in Saskatoon. F' them.

Thanks to Jordon Cooper for the heads up about Google Analytics. It is a new website tracking system, and I have installed it over at Marc's blog. Bastards at Google won't let me install it here because I don't have a domain. Yet another reason I need to get on that. I have a few ideas, so watch for it soon! Woot!

Ok, since roundangle.com is not an available domain name, I decided it was time to change the name of this site.... to stephenglauser.com. I don't have the domain yet, and since I've publically posted that information, I fully expect it to be gobbled up by someone and I will be forced to pick something else.

Also, the logo above will change from time to time, and if I get creative enough, it will become random. Woot!

Today has been the worst driving day I've endured in my brief driving history - six years, seven if you include my learner's permit year. Well, maybe I just think that because today was the first taste of winter driving for the season.

Starting this morning when I drove Lana to school. According to Google Maps, the route I take is 8.6km, a good chunk of which is on the Circle Drive freeway. This 8.6km of travel took about 45 minutes this morning. I travelled at 15km/h or less for most of the trip, including the entire freeway trip (90km/h speed limit - don't even get me started on that), the entire time spent on Attridge Dr (60/70km/h speed limit), and the entire time spent on Warman Rd (60km/h speed limit).

About ten minutes ago, I wanted to go to Pharmasave. The roads in the Sutherland/Forest Grove area are the iciest I ever remember driving. Tomorrow is going to be horrible. I am really not looking forward to the morning commute. Ugh.

Why is it that as soon as a couple centimetres of snow flies, everyone in this city forgets how to drive? I mean, we do get snow for about six months of the year. You'd think most would remember a little bit.

As I said yesterday, driving in Saskatoon in the winter sucks. Especially right at the beginning of winter. It turns out that it is not just in Saskatoon that driving on snow proves too difficult for some.

Unfortunately elsewhere in Saskatchewan there were a couple of fatal accidents this weekend. One of them actually hits really close to home. :(

From CBC:

Two vans collided in a blinding snowstorm near Yorkton Monday afternoon, killing two men and a woman.

According to the RCMP, the crash occurred on Highway 16 near Springside. The names haven't been released.

A man driving the larger of the two vans was killed. A man and a female in the other vehicle also died.

This is the one that really hits close to home, and I am quite worried about. I grew up in Yorkton, and spent the better part of my young life there (until I was 15 or 16, with a few earlier years spent elsewhere). I haven't heard anything from anyone in Yorkton yet, so I'm sure I don't know who was killed in this accident. I hate hearing about accidents in Yorkton, and there seems to be a lot of fatal winter-time accidents every year.

A couple of years ago, a few kids were coming back from the Asessippi ski resort in Manitoba and were killed when they hit black ice. It's scary driving in that part of the province in winter. It's a damn shame the province won't do anything about it, too many people are killed or hurt every year. Something needs to be done.

I am a big fan of Jones Soda, and have been since I first came across their neatly-packaged bottles a few years ago. I don't always buy Jones when I'm in the market for a soda/pop/whatever you decide to call it, and usually end up with something a bit more traditional, like Coke or Sprite or something. The odd time, however, I will spring for a Jones - usually an Orange and Cream or a Green Apple or something. One Jones flavor I will most likely be skipping however, is Salmon Soda.

What are they thinking? Salmon soda? Who wants to drink a fish flavored pop? Nasty!

From CNN Money: (ed original link broken.)

"When you smell it, it's got that smoked salmon aroma," said Peter van Stolk, chief executive of Jones Soda.

The artificially flavored salmon soda will be offered as part of a $13 "regional holiday pack" that also includes other unusual sodas such as turkey & gravy, corn on the cob, broccoli casserole and pecan pie.

Not only do I find the idea of a Salmon flavored soda to be terrible, I find all of the others listed above to be horrible ideas as well, even though it appears as though they sell quite well. Must be the novelty factor, as I have a hard time believing people actually like the taste.

Later in the CNN Money article (ed: original link broken.), company founder Peter van Stolk goes on to say:

"I cannot finish a bottle, I just can't."

I don't think it is such a good idea to be releasing a product the company founder can't even get through.

As Becky was so kind to point out, it is going to be crazy cold tonight. According to weather.ca:

Current Temp: -19°C
Overnight: -22°C
Wednesday Morning: -17°C

Wow that is cold. I am NOT looking forward to starting the car in the morning. Get a load of these lies:

Thursday: 1°C
Friday: 2°C
Saturday: 1°C
Sunday: 8°C
Monday: 4°C
Tuesday 9°C

Yeeaaaaahhhhh......

I finally bought a domain. Woot! http://www.stephenglauser.com. Update your bookmarks.

I recently set my buddy Marc up for blogging over at MADsRambling.com. Be sure to check him out!

Well, that didn't last long. I sold the Nissan 240SX I picked up for $180 for an undisclosed amount ;) I didn't make too much, but the car was more of an annoyance that anything else. Good riddance. Time to get to work on the RX-7's to do list for the winter. I'll post an updated, complete version in the coming week or so.

Over at Jeff the Martin's blog, I was reading some of his past posts, and his very first post was about blogging and how they make him feel young.

From Jeff the Martin: (ed: blog moved, orig. artical lost)

I'm only 25, but I feel old. Why? Because of blogs. I used to be internet savvy--at least, I thought I was, and at work, people always came to me with questions. But now I realize that the world of blogs almost passed me by. So here I am, blogging, so that I feel young, and independent, and cool--just like everyone else :-)

Now, although I am not 25, rather 22, I don't feel old or young as a result of blogging. And although I realize blogging is perceived by many as a hobby for the young, in my experiences I noticed it is actually quite different.

Blogging knows no age limits. And as a matter of fact, all of my favorite blogs are written by people older than me and from what I've seen, most of the very popular blogs are not written by people who fall into the 16-24 demographic.

Blogging, along with most things, gets better with age.

So, I've been to the doctor a few times over the past couple of months about my ailing knees. Yes, I know, I'm only 22. And yes, I have bad knees. Both of them. It's gotten so bad that it is now physically impossible for me to run. I can make it maybe five steps before I'm hobbling.

Which sucks, because I was an avid skateboarder, and was looking forward to doing a lot of snowboarding this winter. So, the last three or four times I've been to a clinic, I've gone to either Lakeside Medical Clinic on the east side of 8th Street in Saskatoon. Every time I go there, they look at my knee, ask me what hurts, and tell me to wrap it up.

One time, they actually sent me to get x-rays, but I never heard anything about it. Not a "your knee looks fine" or "you need surgery" or "kiss it good by, it's going to be cut off". Nothing!

So finally, I went to the Kenderdine Medical Clinic. Wow, what a difference. The doctor I saw (happens to be accepting new patients, btw... if you want to know his name, email me or something) was outstanding!

He spent about 20 minutes working on my knees... both of them. Long story short, he figures I've got an ACL injury in my right knee and is referring me to a surgeon. And he has prescribed me some physiotherapy in the meantime.

Kenderdine Medical Clinic: 1
Lakeside Medical Clinic: -4

Kenderdine wins!

More updates later, I'm sure.

When I was about 12, my mom took me to an optometrist who decided I needed glasses. I don't know whether it was lack of taste on my part, or lack of taste on my mom's part, but I ended up with some pretty ugly glasses. As a result of ugly glasses, and an increasingly difficult social scene, I ditched the glasses in about a week.

When it came time to get my learner's license, I neglected to tell them about these glasses and managed to pass my eye exam. Cool, don't need em to drive.

However, over the past couple of years I've put on some friend's glasses and noticed a marked improvement in my eyesight. And I mean an incredible improvement. During my day-to-day life I don't notice my eyesight is less-than-perfect unless I think about it. Then I start noticing that things are a little blurry. Especially computer screens, which is problematic because I work on a computer 8 hours a day.

So, I was going over my benefits package that work offers, and found that the cost of eye exams, frames and lenses are all 100% covered. Sweet. So I made an appointment for an eye exam on Saturday. I'm actually pretty excited. I'll keep you updated.

This news report from CBC saddens me. Literally. I have a frown on my face.

From CBC:

... Weber says this is the third consecutive year that farmers will not be making any money on their operations.

I, as I'm sure just about every person living in Saskatchewan, have family who farms. Some of my friend's parents still farm. Reading about the depression these poor people are going through is greatly upsetting.

Farmers are the bloodline of our society. They provide us with food! How is it that the very people who allow us to live, are actually losing money on a year to year basis? I think it is completely absurd.

I don't claim to be an economist, or know anything about agriculture, but I think it is about time for the government to step in and do something. We need to help these people out before we lose all of our farmers.

Woo! Today is the first time I've received comment spam. Four messages from the same person on the same post. This must mean someone is reading my blog. I feel special.

Something is wrong over at Jordon Cooper's blog. I hope he gets it back up soon. :(

I decided to have a leisure-shower. I consider leisure-showers to be any shower not otherwise-required. For example, the before work shower; the after work shower; the before public function shower, etc.

Leisure showers are always a much better experience than a required shower, and can sometimes prove therapeutic... in this case, a bit too much so.

I was jumping out of the shower, I had already started to towel my head, when....

.... I realized I hadn't taken the conditioner out of my hair. I feel like a complete retard even though no-one else needed to know about this.

I've been noticing lately that I tend not to post anything on the weekends. I'm not too sure why that is, because, generally I would think that would be the most likely time for me to blog. I mean, I don't work, I have commitments, why not post something? I really have no idea why this is... I just don't feel motivated on Saturday or Sunday to do anything really.

Oh well.

I'm pretty much SOL for any kind of nutrition today. I did not bring a lunch, and I don't have a car with me at work, so I'm left to the mercy of the vending machine. Wow, how much this sucks is unbelievable. Never again will I come empty handed without a car.

The person at work I usually go for lunch with, brought a lunch today. Weaksauce.

Woot! Today I found the first link to my site over at Becky's Grrrl Meets World. Sweet! It was really kind of refreshing to actually see someone linking to me. Becky used to be a regular visitor to The Blue Duck and it's nice to see that she might start visiting again. Thanks Becky!

Also, Google Analytics is finally showing me some reports. More on this later.

Now, generally I wouldn't be so happy with myself being the #1 result on Google for salmon flavored pop (wihout the quotes even!), however, people are actually searching for it, and coming to my site using those keywords. I kind of feel honored. Sweet.

Read: Salmon soda?

So, this site has now officially been around for one month! Woo! Cake for everyone. Seriously though, I am quite surprised how dedicated I've been over the past month. I haven't had all that much time to refine the look and feel quite as much as I wish I could have, but it will all come in due time. I'm not planning on going anywhere.

I haven't really delved into the blogosphere as deep as I would have liked to by now. Mainly, that is because of just how extensive it is these days. Blogger has grown up in a big way. Blogs that accept TrackBacks are on the decline, unfortunately. I've always thought TrackBacks were one of the neatest things about blogging. It brings the community together in a big way.

I'm even giving back to the community! I've set my friend Marc with a blog. Hopefully he'll get around to posting more often and really get into it. Also, another friend has expressed an interest as a direct result of my site! Hopefully I'll be getting him set up soon. My little sister, also, has expressed a distinct interest in me setting up a blog for her. Things like that make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Woo!

Just over two years ago (two years, three days to be exact) I made an entry (the final entry, if memory servces correctly) on my original blog, The Blue Duck located at http://www.glausers.com (damn domain squatters don't deserve a link). The entry is as follows:

From The Blue Duck on November 20,2003:

i dont know how i lost interest in this. i promise i will get back into it sooner or later.

So, as it turns out, I've kept my word! Abandoning blogging has left me with deep emotional scars, and the past two years of my life have been defined by dark bouts of depression that I link directly to my lapse in blogging. Ok, maybe not, but fact remains I'm glad to be back and I'm having fun. I'm getting a little upset with the lack of commenting and trackbacks, but I'm sure it will come in due time.

Anyway, here's to one month! Many more to come, I'm sure.

So, earlier I had mentioned that it was snowing and cold in Saskatoon. For the past week and a half or so, we've been in the plus temperatures and haven't seen a snowflake. I was holding off on posting, because knowing my luck it would have snowed as soon as I posted.

Well, it hasn't yet, and they say there is a small chance of it today, but not likely. Cool. I can't remember the last November 24 when there was no snow. I would be extremely happy if we entered December with no snow on the ground.

As long as it snows on Christmas, every other day can be dry, thank you very much.

An update to "My knees!":

Incredible! All I've heard of is incredibly long wait times even to hear back from these guys. I went in last week and was referred. They tried to call me on Tuesday, but I missed the call, so I returned it yesterday. The lady told me the wanted to get me in Thursday (that would be today) but was forced to fill that spot, and she had an opening next Thursday (December 1). Wow! I can't believe the turnaround. Update to come next week.

I read an awesome article on Wired about Google. It is a really thought-provoking article about Google and it's ambitions. Just thought I'd point you guys toward it, tis a good read.

I finally went and saw Wedding Crashers at the cheap theatre last night with Lana.

With all the hype that surrounds this movie, I walked into the theatre with very high expectations, especially after watching The 40 Year Old Virgin a couple of weeks ago.

The movie was laughs from start to finish. The story line is fresh, inventive and hilarious. I am quite surprised actually that they were able to turn the premise into a full-length film and keep it very entertaining.

The surprise character at the end is awesome, and I won't give it away for anyone who hasn't seen the movie.

I highly suggest seeing this movie.

I was watching Back in.... 91 on Much More Music tonight, and the #1 worst video of the year was Gerardo's Rico Suave. This part of the song stuck with me...

So again don't let my lyrics mislead you I don't love you but I need you Would you rather have me lie Take a piece of your pie and say bye Or be honest and rub your thighs

RICO!

I've added a new section to my site, the DVD Wishlist (section deprecated). It is simply a list of DVDs I wish to own, and I will update it whenever something pops into my head. I will also update it with a date of purchase whenever I purchase a DVD on the list.

A "DVD Collection" section will soon accompany the wishlist. That will simply be a list of the DVDs I own. I really don't expect anyone to visit either of these sections, but it's my website, and I will do with it as I please.

So, my RX-7 is currently in the hands of Mainway Mazda here in Saskatoon. I decided to cave in and let them take care of my throttle cable, as my usual-mechanic is uber-busy these days and for something so minor I may as well take it in, rather than wait.

So, they've replaced my throttle cable. However, I also asked them to report on my exhaust leak, and that is where the problems begin. Keep in mind the turbo on the car right now is garbage, and will be replaced shortly. Since it is winter, I don't really care, because I'm not going to be driving the car.

1) There was a nut missing from somewhere on the turbo, which they've replaced.
2) The exhaust leak appears to be coming from the turbo flange to the exhaust. They don't know for sure, because I've told them not to rip apart my turbo, as for them to do the replacing they want like $300. No.

So, anyway, they say one of the leaks, whether it be the nut, or the leak at the flange has been causing a massive heat leak, and has melted a couple of vacuum lines, and a couple of electric wires.

BEAUTIFUL! So, after I get my car from Mainway tomorrow morning, it will be going to my regular mechanic, and we will begin ripping it apart to replace the turbo. So, once the old turbo is out, I'll have to get all the gaskets to try and get rid of the leak at the flange. Wow I hope I can get rid of that exhaust leak, because it is f'ing annoying.

More to come later!

Myself and my roommate, Mike, just got a callback from a landlord today, saying that he would rent to us. Sweet. New digs. We are moving to a place in Silver Spring, which is one of the newer areas in Saskatoon. I'm pretty stoked for the new place, however... moving sucks, big time. Also, the fight for the big room will be on tonight. I'm going to offer to pay $50 more than him for rent, and see what he says. Shit. I won't be too impressed if I end up in the small room, because most of my stuff won't fit in it, and he doesn't have much bedroom-stuff.

Oh well, more on the moving saga later this week, with pics and everything. I promise!

I went to Taco Time to get a Soft Meat Burrito combo for lunch today, and their debit pinpad wasn't working. Tried it three times and got a pinpad error every time. So, they let me have my lunch for free. Sweet. Free food is cool.

I went to see Just Friends last night with Lana, and about five of her friends. I walked into the theatre having heard good things but was admittedly a little skeptical. I mean, how good can any movie made mostly in Regina truly be?

My skepticism was unneeded, that much is for sure. Now, this movie will not win any awards, and will probably not go on to be a huge box office hit, but wow was it enjoyable! Ryan Reynolds just keeps getting funnier; Amy Smart pulled off her role perfectly; Chris Klein stole a couple of scenes.

The entire theatre was laughing hard. Very hard. Throughout most of the movie. I will have to see it on DVD to see if translates to the small screen, but I definitely think it will.

Ryan Reynolds reminded me a lot of Jim Carrey throughout various parts of the movie, and pulled it off! Like Carrey, he doesn't seem to be trying very hard, it all comes off seamlessly with his character. It's a pretty tough thing for me to say someone reminded me of Jim Carrey and liked it. Jim Carrey is probably my favorite comedic actor workign in film right now.

It was enjoyable watching the movie and picking parts of Regina out of the background, but I think it took away from the film. I will have to watch it again and try to forget that it was filmed in my province. That my dream career is happening so close to home.

Anyway, go out and see this movie.