Rannie, Jay and myself.

Wheeee!

Posted via LiveJournal.app.

What is my "big" announcement?

• 09:48 The Russians spam me more than the Nigerians. Is this a sign of the endtimes? #
• 10:40 Today shall be "Work in Pajamas" day. Very dull and grey outside. Pajamas make it better. #
• 10:41 @AccordionGuy If you're working from home, it's Work in Pajamas day! Pyjamas? Who spells it with a "y"? #
• 10:43 @aeredhal The bright blue with monkeys on them may not cut it! #
• 10:43 @mintidea Slippers and a housecoat as well or is that pushing it? #
• 10:46 PYJAMAS/PAJAMAS...both are correct. Now to have a serious decision on what I want to go with for the rest of my life. ;) #
• 10:57 My grammar today is not "all there". Must be the weather. #
• 12:29 How am I supposed to stalk new co-workers when Facebook consistently throws me a "Page Load Error"? #
• 16:58 @mikeanddanica Twitter fail! #
• 17:55 I just realised that I've lost close to 60 lbs. since Spring '05. #

• 16:30 I'm enjoying a litte afternoon of Röyksopp. #
• 22:16 Time to say goodbye to Scott or Michael on American Idol. Booooring. #
• 22:20 Where the Wild Things Are teaser trailer! tinyurl.com/db23qv Looks so awesome. Can't wait! #
• 22:21 @mintidea less than rific! #

• 10:43 My skim milk and Splenda chai tea latte kicks Starbuck's ass. #
• 12:55 @PassionPants *scratch* #
• 12:55 Dreaming of a cross Canada road trip! #
• 15:57 @delineated OMG I wish I knew about it! Love. #
• 17:06 Can't wait to dig into my new National Geographic I got in the mail. Nerd alert! #
• 19:00 I'm over working for a living. Bring on the sugar daddies! #
• 19:03 @photojunkie What is #ttt and other "#" things. I would hate to be missing out on something Twittery. #
• 19:07 @delineated I'm too far and don't get off until 8pm. :( #
• 20:07 @delineated I am teh suck. #
• 20:17 I admit, I'm a TMZ TV addict. I'd do Harvey Levin. #

• 10:50 I'm a blonde again and loving it! #
• 10:59 @aeredhal Welcome to Twitter! #

• 12:27 Red nail polish likes very whorish on me. Guess it's back to black. #
• 12:27 @corinacorona I second. #

• 18:01 Going to my parent's place this weekend. #

• 08:53 Damn Twitter is reposting my messages from last Saturday. #
• 09:36 @nakedknitgirl That was also Twitter messing up my posting times! I startd my trip before noon! #
• 10:30 The nice weather we had was only a Spring tease. It's now snowing again. #
• 13:41 I'm all growed up! Got pre-approved for a mortgage! #

• 11:34 Put my broken iPod in the freezer. Apparently this *may* help it to be not broken! #
• 13:43 Here I am! Rock you like a hurricane... #
• 22:11 Made Svenska Köttbullar tonight. Mmm, mmm, good. Time to now cozy down to watch LOST. #

• 08:56 Collingwood's expected high for the day, 14°C and sunny! #
• 12:24 Channeling my Irish blood today by listening to non-stop Irish tunage. #
• 13:11 Working from home means a shower for lunch! #
• 16:11 16°C doesn't feel as warm as it should! #
• 20:08 Broken iPod. Sad times. There's only so many times you can bang it on a desk to fix itself. #
• 00:54 Didn't do anything for St. Patrick's Day. Ah well, there's always next year I suppose. I think I've said that for the last 5+ years... #

• 11:54 Why are my LoudTwitter Tweets' times really, really off? #
• 11:55 The time is currently 11:53 AM EST! #
• 12:06 Twittering from Twadget on my desktop. #
• 14:01 Monday lunch hours go by way too effing fast! #
• 16:08 The life of a cat...sleeping in the sun and eating all day. I wish. #
• 18:09 Time to make a week's worth of egg muffins! #
• 19:49 Making lean beef & bean chili now for the week! Yum. #
• 23:12 The chili was a success as well as the egg muffins. Point for Liz for not having to prepare any meals this week. #

• 10:51 Heading to Port Credit to pick up paycheque. In Hillsburgh now. #
• 10:57 Now in Brisbane. #
• 11:11 In sleepy Stewarttown. #
• 11:31 Oakville, Dundas and Trafalgar. #
• 11:38 Getting on the QEW East. #
• 11:46 Exiting south on Mississauga Road. #
• 11:51 Target reached! #
• 12:04 Cheque deposited. Back to the Valley, different route. #
• 12:10 Back on the QEW east to Cawthraw. #
• 12:22 On 403 to 410. #
• 12:25 On the 410 to Mayfield. #
• 12:34 Hit Mayfield. Heading west to hwy 10. #
• 12:37 Now heading north to Orangeville. #
• 13:30 On hwy 9 west to the Valley. #

So I fell off the wagon, smoking wise. I made it an entire 1 week and 4 days until I drank more than my fair share of red wine and it all went downhill from there. For a week I tried again and would go 24 hours but then buy a small pack and smoke them within 24 hours, go another 24 hours without, etc. But, I’m back to it again (3 days, 5 hours & 20 mins) so let’s hope this time I can go longer.

However, I will say, I really miss it. I never felt “better” after stopping like most people do so I didn’t notice any of the benefits. Well, one benefit is that I don’t feel like dying during my 5K training, but even without smoking I feel like dying during my 5K training so the difference is minuscule.

Whatever, the main reason I need to keep it up is for everyone to stop looking at me like I’m an asshole. Okay, I get it, I smoke, it’s awful, I’m killing myself, wasting money, etc. No preaching allowed please! I know I should never have succumbed to peer pressure in high school to look “cool” but hell, cut me some slack, this is my first time trying. OK? Thanks.

Single, no dependants (pets should count!) and not legally renting, equals NO REFUND FOR YOU!

In fact, I owe the damn government $250 this year. That’s a first. Geez. Top that off with the fee from H&R Block, it’s turned out to be an expensive day.

I have a BodyBugg that my friend Jackie gave me a few months ago after she was done with it but she had already used up her “membership” to the Web-Only program. So I figure it’ll be easy enough to hop online, get a subscription and away I go tracking all the calories I burn in any single minute of the day. I like it ’cause I’m anal like that. I probably was a filer in a previous life.

Okay, so getting back to it, my opinion of the BodyBugg (as see on The Biggest Loser for at least a few seasons now and ever so popular) and it’s parent company Apex have taken a turn for the worse.

First it was what I thought a bug with their online ordering system. I filled in all the required information, it asked for country and province, SUBMIT:

Please enter State.

Revise ON to Ontario

Please enter State.

I live in fucking Canada, assholes.

Please enter State.

Okay, so it’s my browser? My computer? When in doot, reboot.

Please enter State.

Now I’m getting pissed off. I leave it for a couple of weeks and try again.

Please enter State.

Call toll free customer service. Denied. Can’t call from outside of the USA.

I email customer service.

Wait two weeks, no reply, send another email.

Got a reply!

Apex does not have an International online order set-up at this time…

You could try mentioning that on your website and NOT have choose a frakkin’ country or display state/province either.

They sent a form to fill out and a credit card authorization form that you had to MAIL or FAX in to order. Fine.

I finally do this this week (I’m a procrastinator okay?). I didn’t MAIL or FAX (how archaic) but printed out the pages, filled it in, scanned and emailed the customer service chick back.

To my shock and awe^TM I got this message back:

We apologize for the inconvenience but at this time Apex is currently not able to process international orders for the bodybugg. We have suspended the sale of the bodybugg internationally; however, you can check back with us in the future to check availability. Again, we apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

Seriously Apex? Seriously? You won’t take my money for a log-in to a web page?

Maybe it’s a good thing. That’s $99 I could spend on cake, cookies and ice cream instead.

In all seriousness it’s kind of shocking to go from selling Internationally online, to having to write in your order on a piece of paper (and not even an accurate form either for example it still said Zip Code and State for an International Canadian form), to not taking orders at all. It’s a conspiracy I think! Either that or they are really, really, knee deep in crazy juice.

So I’m back on the blogging wagon again. Been too long. I’l try to get out of my Live Journal protected posts safety net.

What’s been happening is this:

+ I’ve lost 19 lbs. since January 2nd.
+ It’s been 5 days since I’ve had a cigarette.
+ In that 5 days I gained 4 lbs. (I seriously haven’t replaced food with smoking, so WTF?)
+ To spite the gain, I ate McDonald’s today and feel sick so now I’m not only pissed off with gaining weight, I’m pissed at myself for justifying McDonald’s.
+ I’ve started the Couch to 5k program (http://tinyurl.com/4gtmz)
+ I’m looking for a 1-Bedroom apt. downtown Toronto for April 1st. Daunting. I’m too picky.
+ Still single!

• 17:48 Collingwood has the worst power grid. Barley a breeze and power is out! #
• 17:51 Barely! Barely a breeze. Beer on the brain maybe. #
• 19:00 Finding a decent place to live downtown Toronto is proving to be a nightmare considering I have taste and don't want to live in a dump. #
• 19:00 @mintidea I heart Fringe. #

• 20:05 @paul_henman UNRELATED but SORRY! Re: HP DNS is down. :( Guess who's the lucky one who is working until 10pm tonight? #
• 21:07 @photojunkie looks good! #
• 21:08 Excited for Battlestar tonight. I never want it to be over... #
• 21:26 Drinking vodka on the job. All systems down! #
• 21:49 Need my bio Dad's sig. for his birth cert. Think I should forge it? #
• 22:02 Done! Done! Done! Finish up my laundry, watch my Battlestar I PVR'd, bed! #
• 01:00 Wishing it would STOP SNOWING already. Bring on Spring/Summer! #
• 01:02 BTW, Godsdammit Felix! You ass! #
• 01:04 @paul_henman It's been ridiculous this week. I'm sorry I ever suggested us. With the new hire of another sys admin, this WILL be fixed. #

• 20:00 is watching LOST allllll night! #
• 20:00 @photojunkie which miniseries are you referring to? #
• 20:20 is trying to buy a used iPhone for under $300! #
• 20:47 I realize now watching the LOST pre-show, how much I've forgotten what's happened in the past 4-seasons. #

• 10:31 @paul_henman What kind of a job are you looking for? Want to work from home? #
• 11:44 - watching the Inauguration on CNN. #

• 17:16 Stuck in Toronto due to freezing rain conditions up to Collingwood. #
• 19:50 Left Toronto at 18:15, in Barrie now...last stretch to Collingwood! #
• 21:04 Made it home in one piece but not before swerving on ice to miss a deer crossing the road. #
• 21:14 @mintidea Yeah, what would HP do without me!? #

So, 2008 had to have been one of the worst years in recent times for me. Well, maybe not the WORST but it’s really up there in terms of all round blah. There are a couple of highlights including heading down to New York City to meet up with Paul and Ali for four days and a couple of other random family moments and an inkling of some sort of a relationship that fizzled into a heap of uncertainty and then failure. What started out good, ended into confusion and blah. I think I’ll dub 2008 as “The Year of Blah”. Also, the weather really sucked (bad winter, awful rainy summer and then a crappy beginning of another winter).

2009 has already started off fairly decent. New Year’s Eve was pretty good. I got to spend time with Darcie and her husband who brought their friends Michelle and Jake and Darcie’s brother-in-law, Damon. My brother and his girlfriend had some of their friends over and we had a house full of laughing, Guitar Hero, Jello shots, lap dancing and a torn ankle (not me this time!).

January 1st, yesterday, Darcie, Matt, Michelle, Jake, Damon and I headed to the slopes (Blue Mountain) for a day of boarding. Let me preface this next part with stating that I haven’t been skiing since 1992 and I’ve never boarded in my life.

Damon was to teach Darcie, Matt and I how to board. How hard could it be right? After a few hours of barely being able to stand up for longer than 10 seconds I decided that I was going to trade my board in for skis. I had had enough. I was frustrated, as was Darcie who wasn’t able to even stand up, because the physics of it, I got, but the practise, not so much.

So after we had lunch I traded in my board and got skis no problem. Darcie was determined to actually learn to board because her Australian husband who’s never boarded or skied in his life, was making a decent go of it and was actually able to stay up.

We went up the lift for the first time after lunch. Being on skis for the first time since ‘92 I was a bit nervous that I wouldn’t remember but as soon as I got off the chair and skied over to where we all met up to go down the mountain, I realized I was fine. I knew how to stop (without looking like a snow plowing fool), turn, slow down, speed up, etc. Poor Darcie however was defeated. She couldn’t stand up and stay up long enough to actually try going down. She was done and walked down the hill.

I enjoyed skiing down the mountain and my only regret was not picking up the skis when we first got there. But at least I tried boarding. After a handful of times down the mountain, I offered to swap with Darcie so she could at least get a run in before we left. So I stayed at the bottom and off she went. She also regrets trying to learn to snowboard because she didn’t fall once coming down on skis.

It was getting dark and even colder out so we decided to pack it in for the day. It was a long drive home for everyone else back to Niagara Falls and an early start was needed. They dropped me off at my place, we said our goodbyes and I went in to have a hot soak in the tub, crawl into my warm pyjamas and veg with my brother and his girlfriend (Ashley) and watched 4 hours of a COPS marathon on Showcase ACTION. Good times.

Today, I’m heading down to my parent’s place to hang out, then tomorrow it’s down to the city to meet up with a couple of friends, then it’s over to Scott’s place for the night. Sunday Scott, I and a bunch of folk are heading to the Raptors game at the Air Canada Centre. First NBA game ever for me so that should be fun especially since we have a private box to watch the game from.

To my friends and blog readers, Happy New Year and the best of everything good and great in 2009.

• 10:46 is up and awake and ready to do housework, grocery shopping and hopefully not get blown away by the massive gusts of wind outside. #
• 13:28 Collingwood has lost all power...not good news for the groceries I just bought or the sub pump! #
• 15:27 Power back on! #

• 15:06 twittering from bed. Not feeling too well. #
• 15:30 watching The Hills. I *must* be sick. #
• 16:20 thinks that this Spencer kid on The Hills is a douchebag. #
• 18:49 wishes that she didn't feel so crappy, there's nothing good on TV! #
• 19:16 is watching Stop-Loss. #
• 21:13 is now going to watch Burn After Reading. Such an exciting Saturday night! #
• 22:46 is hungry and bored. Bad combo. Gonna make a pot of rice. #
• 01:18 is reading World Without End by Ken Follett. Wish I could experience 14th century England! #

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays!

Enjoy your family, friends, charity and a bit of drunkenness!

Groundhog Pub
Toronto, ON
December 20, 2008

Flickr Sets:
1. Mine
2. henman's: Link

Nothing sucks harder than cruising along in the rain at 120 km/h along the QEW -> 427 -> 401 > 410 and then getting slammed just North of Brampton by a winter storm you didn’t know was coming (or how long it has been going on) and being stuck behind some asshole at 20 km/h braking every 10 seconds ’cause the dumbass failed to put on his winter tires.

People…this happens every year. I luckily didn’t bother to take off my winter tires from last year so I was good and after half an hour of following this idiot, I caught a break and passed him. Granted I was going 60 km/h up Hwy. 10 into Orangeville, still way better than breaking UP hill at 20 km/h for the next week ’cause that’s how long it would have taken him to get anywhere close.

Yay! A map!
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2396471