Out of Bo'ness

It's been a while......AGAIN!!!!!!!

2011-05-30T00:13:00.002-04:00

Yeah I know, I only do this when:

A. I'm bored at work

B. I'm awake in the middle of the night

In this case it's B.

What's been going on I hear you say? *Crickets*

Well I have finally got my Canadian Citizenship, before all of you back in Bo'ness go mad on me and try and revoke my Corvi privileges because I dared to give up my Scottishness. Well I am still Scottish, I just enjoy having both nationalities assigned to me, so that makes me a "Scanadian", right?

Anyway see you all the next time I'm bored or awake at an unreasonable time.

All alone at work

2010-09-04T21:49:00.004-04:00

It's Saturday, 4th of September at 9:49pm and I'm all alone at work.

I'm the only one on the floor waiting to take a call.

The rest of my team left at 9:30pm and I don't finish until midnight.

What else can I say but......I'm Bored!!!!!!

Ran out of legitimate stuff to read on the Net, so I may as well blog for a bit.

Here is the view of my floor at work, taken on my trusty old clunker of a BlackBerry......

As you can see pretty quiet, maybe a security guard will wander by and wonder what what the hell I am doing here.

I just realized that on the 1st of October I will be 2 years at RIM, which makes this to be longest period I've been with an employer in Canada since leaving Scotland.....

Ah well, roll on midnight.........

Big chicken!!!!!

2010-08-31T14:34:00.008-04:00

Alright so I did chicken out walking out onto the glass floor on the CN Tower.

Being the height I am you would think I would not mind heights, but I did find the tower quite unsteady.

It was mostly the sky pod above the main pod. I think it was the size of the pod that got me the most.

As you can see it was quite literary "a pod" with not a lot of headroom for me.

But what a view, it was such a clear day, we could see for miles at that height.

Check out the view we had:

After the tower we had dinner at Wayne Gretzky's resteraunt, took us a while to find it. The restaurant was OK I suppose, I got fish and chips:

Jenn had some sort of fried ravioli:

And Shawn had the '99' Burger:

Also it was the weekend of the Fan Expo, so a lot of wierdos running around, check out the queue waiting to get in:

Going up in the world

2010-08-28T15:56:00.004-04:00

Tomorrow (Sunday) I will heading into Toronto to finally get up the CN Tower.

It has taken me over 6 years to finally get round to going there.

Hopefully I will have the nerve to do this:

We shall see........

Changing furniture: 101

2010-08-24T19:22:00.002-04:00

Just goes to prove a point that changing furniture around gives the cats new stuff to explore.

Back to work

2010-08-24T19:13:00.003-04:00

Ah well, another long weekend over with and back to work tomorrow (Wednesday).

I've been nearly 2 years on a 4x10 shift pattern.

I mean I like the time off as every weekend is a 3-day one. The downsides are working every Saturday and late 10 hour shifts.

Seeing I have vacation time mapped out until the end of the year I will have to stay on this until then.

Then there is also the question of giving up my 3-day weekends.

Ah well, the perils of work I suppose.........

Back in here again.....Hopefully!

2010-05-29T14:31:00.001-04:00

Decided to visit my old Blog site to see if it's still about, and looks like it is!

Hopefully I should be adding stuff to this in the future.

Stay Tuned........

Goodbye Old Friend

2008-06-10T23:25:00.006-04:00

Yes after 5 years long service, the trusty Canon Powershot A300 died.

Bought in a Montreal shopping mall in July 2003, travelled back with us to Scotland, then back to Montreal, then to Ottawa. With several vacations to New Jersey and Chicago, with a colourful life taking pictures around Scotland and the Carribean it's had a good life.

Died while in action on the Staten Island Ferry, en-route to downtown New York City.

The last image taken, image number 4863:

This is where things started going wrong for the old fella:

R.I.P.

Back Home

2008-06-10T07:49:00.003-04:00

Ach Weel, back hame......

We decided to drive a wee bit early from visiting wee brother in New Jersey, we did an overnight drive mainly to avoid traffic and busy border crossings but also mainly due to cooler tempratures.......

We had left the apartment (aka Flat) and our cat in charge of Jason, which from his blog entry he seemed to enjoy. Have a read here.

Also check out this animation totally rendered using open source software and the movie is also available to download for free - Big Buck Bunny (I recommend the 1080p version)

Top Gear is almost here as well......Oh I cannae wait.......I will be scanning the torrentsphere for that!!!!!

Top Gear Trailer

Expensive vacation.

2008-06-04T16:51:00.004-04:00

So far the weeks holiday time in New Jersey has been eventful so far.

Firstly the car started to act up on the drive down. We car started to loose power on hills (considering we were driving through the Pocono's, hard to avoid) and struggled to keep above 100KPH., so the drive was slower than normal. Also this was our first road while being guided by a GPS, things were going great until the GPS decided it was bored and took us to downtown Scranton, so we had to turn off the GPS nagging (it telling us to "Do a U-Turn") and get back onto the highway and figure our own way through,,,,wierd.

Anyway it turned out that the spark plugs, HT leads, air filter and fueld filter had to be replaced to get the car back to normal, $250 to fix those out.

Yesterday we travelled into New York and everything was great but another thing died on the way in, the camera!!!!!! So we had to find a replacement camera (This holiday is getting expensive)

We got another Canon mainly as I was always impressed with the last one, this time it's a A590IS and it's rather nice.

Job Hunting......It's a pain!

2008-05-09T13:36:00.001-04:00

After Dell decided to can us all I've been getting back into the job hunting BS again.

Went to downtown Ottawa twice this week so far to talk to agencies and get them to register myself on their databases and also visit a job fair, saw a lot of ex-Dell colleagues, hmmmmm....imagine that.

Anyway had the camera with me and I spotted this no parking sign while walking about.

Job Hunting again!!!!

2008-04-23T23:40:00.001-04:00

Went into work work for a site meeting and we all got the boot..........

News at 11: http://www.achannel.ca/ottawa/news_56282.aspx

More Snow?

2008-03-07T17:15:00.000-05:00

Friday March 7th

Looks we're in for another pasting of snow this weekend, already there is a winter storm warning for tonight and most of tomorrow. They are predicting 25-30cm of snow to be dumped on us.

Been listening to local radio and so far we're gaining close to the all time high of most snow accumulated in one winter, so far we've had about 350+ cm of snow. You would think everything should be getting better as the clocks go forward over this weekend, but no, "This is Canada" I keep having to tell myself.

We did have plans to escape our noisey neighbours this weekend and spend some time in Montreal but I guess the winter storm has put an end to that.

Anyway at least I have a proper weekend now as my schedule was changed rather suddenly through the week and now I have Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays off now. This will feel weird, I mean actually having days off just like the other normal working population of the world.

This just in......

2008-01-15T00:28:00.000-05:00

They have found water on Mars, here is the proof.......

Merry Xmas, Eh?

2007-12-23T19:20:00.000-05:00

'ow Much?????

2007-12-21T07:43:00.000-05:00

Interesting price tag: Fork handles script makes £48,500

The Sketch:

Incoming!!!!

2007-12-15T17:15:00.001-05:00

Feel for me?

2007-12-14T08:45:00.000-05:00

OK Guys

This is what I deal with on a daily basis

Thanks Angus......

Beavertails

2007-12-12T14:43:00.000-05:00

OK there a few things I've excperienced since moving to Canada, sugaring off and cold winters to name a few.

But when a few of my work colleagues decided to have a meet up in downtown Ottawa and someone mentioned "Let's have some Beavertails" made me think of something else. (I think my mind is always in the gutter).

My response to that was "I think we may have an HR issue here" which resulted in what all I can say was a Canadian backlash. Responses like "You've never had a Beavertail????" or "You're not from around here are you?".

So when we met up and quite by chance they piked a location close to a well-known Beavertail stand, I just had to accept the offer.

What is a Beavertail?

Apparently it's a deep fried pastry in the shape of a beaver's tail covered in a choice of sweet toppings, the usual one is sugar and maple (need I say more?) but I went for the chocolate and hazelnut.

Fried Dough Info

All I can say is it will quite interesting.

The Beavertail stand:

(Thanks to John for buying me my first Beavertail)

The white stuff has arrived.......

2007-11-21T09:07:00.001-05:00

Courtesy of the Canadian snow board........

Open box theory

2007-11-13T10:55:00.001-05:00

When you've got a cat an open box always must be inspected.....

All set up now

2007-11-13T10:52:00.001-05:00

The home office is finished now......

Let's get ready to burnout..............

2007-11-13T00:23:00.001-05:00

Want to compare burnouts from different countries?

We have Europe Vs Iraq......

A Wee Holiday.......

2007-11-06T23:08:00.001-05:00

Just back from Niagara Falls at the weekend.

A big change from going to a wee caravan in Arbroath or going doon ti the Crookies.

After listening to the rush of water all weekend I was kind of visiting the wee guy's room a bit mair often ye ken......

Like my picture?

All change (Again)

2007-11-03T01:08:00.001-04:00

OK things are changing at work (Again), but this time it's quite an unusual change for me.

For those who don't know my job, it has me talking to Americans and listening to them telling me how awful Vista is and not finding the "Any" key. And I do this for the super-huge company, Dell.

For the past year it has been fairly interesting and for the most part amusing. I think it's down to Americans not expecting a Scotsman answering the phone and so far I've been asked if I'm Irish, Australian, Indian and even German, but very rarely Scottish, go figure.

I can get to work by means of a 5 minutes car ride, a 10 minute cycle ride or a 30 minute walk and the bus passes right past the apartment block, ok.

Now.......

At Dell they have a special group of people where they can work from home and guess what? I applied and got, so now my commute to work is about 30 seconds. (2 minutes if I stop at the kitchen and pour me a coffee)

Why?

Well.....

The hours I work are pretty awful and I do like the job I figure why not sit at home and get paid.
Winter is coming and even though I really close to work, going out in -25c weather doesn't appeal to me.
I was given money to spend on a home office setup and they pay for my Internet access.
They also given me a rather spanking laptop with docking station and nice monitor. (Better than the ones at work)
I only need to come into work once every 3 weeks.

The office setup so far........

Frankenapple

2007-09-28T09:34:00.001-04:00

I know it's been a while since I've added something here.

But I just had to post a picture of this apple I tried to eat at work.

Just as well I didn't bite through this, er, er, thing?

Gross eh?

I'm still about

2007-09-05T08:20:00.000-04:00

Yup that's true, I'm still about........

Nothing much has been going on since my last entry.

But I will add something soon.

Freakin' Priceless

2007-06-06T23:33:00.001-04:00

You goota see this sucka!!!!

Darth Vader being cool

No Internet for you!!!!!

2007-05-08T23:37:00.000-04:00

Last week I got denied Internet access from my lurvly Internet Providers, don't want to name them, let's just call them Dodgers.

It all happened last week when I came home to my Modem doing a lovely disco show, "Dodgers must be down again" I thought. What else can I think they haven't had a good record so far with me. So I left it overnight to see if they sort themselves out, next morning still the same.

The wife called them later that morning and was told our bucket-o-bolts PC was apparently attacking their precious network so they blocked my Internet connection. Also she was told that they left a voicemail telling us that, nice idea but............WE HAVE VOIP!!!!!!!

If you cut us off we don't have a phone service numpties!!!!!!

Also I have far better use of my time, rather than letting my PC loose on your network, I just not that starved of attention.

Anyway I spend 30 mins at lunch, at work talking to their "Security advisor" and all he could tell me was that my system had something called the "Arbor" virus. Now for the rest of my lunch I was trying to find some info on this.......nothing. What I was also told that I need to scan my PC for viruses and spyware, again another good idea but.........HOW CAN I GET THE LATEST VIRUS UPDATE IF YOU HAVE CUT ME OFF!!!!!!!

So I had to find updates at work in between calls. When I did my scan and guess what? Nothing! I asked the "Security Guy" earlier if I didn't find anything and his response was "reinstall Windows".....Lovely.

So I did just to make sure and now I'm all back up and running complete with firewall, so let's see if they cut me off again, this time they will cut me off for a week if they see something suspicious. If that happens it won't be active again, goodbye Dodgers.

Rant, Rant, Rant.........

Fits like a glove

2007-03-27T23:37:00.000-04:00

Was at the Ottawa Autoshow last weekend with a few guys from work, just had to try some cars out for size:

Not quite me, is it?

Nope.......

We have a winner!!!!!(Yes I know it's blurry)

Happy Guinness Day!!!!

2007-03-13T23:38:00.000-04:00

Had to do my bit for St. Patrick's Day................................

Winter not over yet

2007-03-04T23:52:00.000-05:00

I was beginning to believe that winter here in Ottawa was almost over.........WRONG!!!!

Thursday afternoon there was a bunch of emails floating about work that there was a winter storm warning for our area, highs winds and 15-20 cms of snow coming our way. I thought "So what it's Canada, they expect this kind of stuff every winter", and they do. But in this email was a hotline for our site, just in case. So I went home thinking nothing more of it, had a look out our window every now and again to see if anything came of this.......not a lot really.

Woke up the next morning and before I switched the coffee machine on I called the number......"Dell Ottawa is closed today"......YES!!!!!

Now I'm only a 5 minute drive from and I can almost see my work from my window, but if they want to close, go ahead.

So it was a unplanned 3 day weekend ahead of us, here are the various stages of snowfall that was dumped on us during Friday.......

We got bored being stuck in the apartment all day, so we decided to have a wander out in the snow, we needed to get milk anyway.......

May have to dig the car out.

Those snow banks are getting bigger.

Glad I'm not driving in this.

We're almost there to get the milk.

The quest for milk was successful

Too cool for words

2007-02-28T21:09:00.001-05:00

The Glen

2007-02-25T07:20:00.000-05:00

This weekend it was another food outing, this time it had a Scottish theme.

The Glen, not far from us.

I when for the fish supper and look what I got, there are 2 lumps of fish there, one breaded and the other battered.

Jenn finished off with a trifle, I could hardly eating anything else, almost considered asking for a wheelbarrow to get me out the place.

Adventrues in eating out

2007-02-18T15:58:00.000-05:00

Last night we tried to have an evening with Fiona, Jeff and baby Gemma but I guess it was not to be at the planned venue.

We planned an evening at a place called The Works, so Jenn called ahead earlier in the week to see if we could set a reservation. We were told that they are quite quiet around 5:30pm, so we planned for that time. When we arrived and wandered in, it was packed and there was a 45-60 minute wait just to get seated.

So we decided to make our way to our local Baton-Rouge but that also didn't work. So we choose a Vietnamese place just round the corner and that was quiet enough, at least we got a table straight away, it was good though, maybe we should try The Works again through the week. I was rather looking forward to trying some the burger there though.

Anyway, I have uploaded new pictures to my Fickr site of our Cruise in January. Check it out there: Cruise Pictures

Johnny Vegas Special

2007-02-02T11:47:00.000-05:00

I see after browsing on YouTube that Johnny Vegas and Monkey!!!!! are back, for those who don't know this is, here is some examples of the previous ads for ITV Digital:

Got that?

Now the return......

I like my food beaten

2007-01-24T19:10:00.000-05:00

I wonder if ye will see this guy doon at Corvi's daeing a fish supper.

Back to reality

2007-01-22T20:07:00.000-05:00

Just got back from a 7 day cruise touring Labadee(Haiti), Ocho Rios(Jamaica) Grand Cayman and Cozumel (Mexico).

Pics coming soon....................................

Happy New Year

2007-01-02T01:15:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year to you all

And here is a New year message from the cat:

Back fae Montreal

2006-12-26T02:54:00.000-05:00

Merry Xmas to ye all!!!!!

Jist back fae Montreal, we decided tae come back on Xmas day efter a warning o' sna.

So we did an' jist got in afore it started tae come doon, noo it's all white oot there.

Wanna see where I work?

Take a look below:

Classic

2006-11-19T08:24:00.000-05:00

Well it made me laugh.

WTF???????

2006-11-04T03:32:00.000-05:00

Errrr............Why????????.......WTF????????????

Welcome ..

2006-10-31T20:42:00.000-05:00

Welcome .., originally uploaded by Rock Artist.

Says it all doesn't it?

Where is the "Any" key?

2006-10-28T06:08:00.000-04:00

Yes I know it's been a while since my last post.

Getting into how things work in a call center now. When I did my 3 weeks training I was asking myself if I was going to handle this, now after nearly 5 weeks of answering calls I can say it's getting easier. My first answering by myself was nerve racking, I was absolutely crapping myself. It didn't help I was being listened to by another guy, talk about pressure.

So far I've had a few crazy calls:

A guy ordering 70 rubber feet - A real use of my tech knowledge
An argument over what size a mini-tower should be - "This is not a mini-tower, this is a full size tower. I'm going to get a tape measure to prove this!!!!" - Go ahead I say.
A women who was wondering where she could download Microsoft office - I think you need to buy a copy.

And of course I've had a few where they are demanding a whole new system because a small device is not working, like the touchpad isn't working.

The funny thing is I get most of these about 10 minutes before I finish for the day.....go figure.

Another question I get is, "Where are you?". I have to respond, "I'm in Canada". This conversation can go 3 ways:

"Is it snowing?" - Yes we have snow all year round
"Is that you all speak up there?" - Yes we all have Scottish accents
"Why the Scottish accent?" - I was born there

So you can see it's interesting, will keep Y'all posted.

A new lodger

2006-09-18T11:07:00.000-04:00

Posing, originally uploaded by Big Bri2005.

We've got a new lodger in our apartment.

Not seen much of her, she keeps hiding..

My last day at Bug Tracker

2006-09-15T11:09:00.000-04:00

My last day at Bug Tracker, originally uploaded by Big Bri2005.

I know it's a bit late but I get there in the end.

Click o the above pic for a better view and to see what comments I added to it.

Moved!!!!

2006-09-12T03:02:00.000-04:00

OK

We've landed in Kanata, west o' Ottawa.

Been here over a week noo but A couldnae git oanline 'cos o' nae interwebby-type-access available until last Sunday. But here we are, aw setup noo.

Anyway here is my "Real" reason for moving here:

A long list

2006-08-22T15:17:00.000-04:00

Does anyone have any more suggestions?

Flittin'

2006-08-22T09:13:00.000-04:00

New joab is comin' up but A need tae flit tae Ottawa fae Montreal noo.

We've foond digs in Ottawa but nae interporn connection is there yet, so it's gonnae take a wee while afore A kin update this blog.

Jist hing for a wee while an' A'll be back.

No comment, just drooling noises

2006-08-18T09:24:00.000-04:00

Foond this photae oan Flicker Scotland.

Noo A'm dying fur a fish supper noo, there's only yin place in Montreal that dis smoething kinda like it. Mind you it is run by a Scotsman, so there ye go.

Everytime A look at this photae A kin feel the plooks building up inside me ready tae burst oot.

Press any key

2006-08-07T14:41:00.000-04:00

Wife Removal Tool - video powered by Metacafe

Yin key dis it 'a

Jist mucking aboot

2006-08-07T12:24:00.000-04:00

y=45428335&x=-73942108&z=11&l=0&m=a width=125 height=125 frameborder=0>

Jist trying oot something tae see if this wurks.

Wild weather

2006-08-02T15:02:00.000-04:00

Yesterday we've had one of the hottest days of the year, it was 34C but after they add in the hummidity factor it was more like 47C!!!!

This of course triggered severe thunderstorm at about 9pm in our area. For those of you who have not experienced one of these here is a little summary of what to expect:
- Frequent Lightning
- High winds (Gale force)
- Hail
- Tons of rain

During our nice little storm we heard a loud "crack" and "thud" sound and in the morning we found half a tree in the garden, it's going to be great fun moving this.

Anyway I tried to video the storm using my digital camera so I need to see what I got is viewable, so stay tuned for videos and images.

Kin anyone remember playin' gundae tig?

2006-07-15T00:24:00.000-04:00

Fur aw yous wha didnae come fae Bo'ness, the game's pish easy.

Find a gundae and stan' oan it, the poor sod who wis "it" hud tae try an' tag ye if ye tried tae leave the safety o' the gundae. The guy who wis "it" hud tae go through a selection process of "it dit, bird's shit", a very scientific process ye ken.

Used tae play this at the Public school instead o' hassling yoan Janny fur sweeties at the tuck shoap.

(Translation is available)

Superman returns

2006-07-13T14:12:00.000-04:00

We went to see Superman Returns last weekend and it thought this latest version of the movie series is quite good. Firstly they did not try and re-write the original storyline from the Christopher Reeve attempts, it's more of a continuation, which is nice. Even when the movie starts it had the original score and a recreation of the credits at the beginning, it's worth a watch.

Another Scottish picture site

2006-07-07T10:50:00.000-04:00

Angus has suggested to add this link to my blog: Dave Henniker
Photography, he does a lot of cool pics of Edinburgh and surrounding area, well worth a click.

New website

2006-07-06T12:33:00.000-04:00

Just come across an interesting site called
Flickr Scotland, great for Scots living outside Scotland to see how the country is doing.

I'll be adding this my my favs on the right hand side of this blog.

Happy Canada Day, Eh?

2006-07-03T15:39:00.000-04:00

Last Saturday was Canada day over here, lots of Canadian flags being displayed.

Also last Friday was Bo'ness fair day, busy weekend.

New pics have been added, just on the right hand side for the Wisconsin and Chicago pics, more to come soon.

Bo'ness is on air!!!!!

2006-06-28T13:19:00.000-04:00

I see there is finally a radio station in Bo'ness and it's broadcasting online as well as on the radio. I've been listening to them while at work in Montreal.

Just got a shout out from them after e-mailling them.

Check them out: Valley FM

They will be doing a live broadcast of the Fair day, how cool is that?

Modern Man

2006-06-22T08:42:00.000-04:00

Been listening to some George Carlin and this speech I like:

George Carlin - Modern Man

“I'm a modern man, a man for the millennium, digital and smoke-free, a diversified multi-cultural post-modern deconstructionist, politcally, anatomically, and ecologically incorrect. I've been uplinked and downloaded, I've been inputed and outsourced, I know the upside of downsizing, I know the downside of upgrading. I'm a high-tech lowlife, a state-of-the-art bi-coastal multitasker, and I can give you a gigabyte in a nanosecond. I'm new wave, but I'm old school, and my inner child is outward bound. I'm a hot-wired, heat-seeking, warm-hearted cool customer, voice-activated and biodegradeble. I interface with my database, and my database is in cyberspace, so I'm interactive, I'm hyperactive, and from time to time, I'm radioactive. Behind the 8-ball, ahead of the curve, riding the wave, dodging the bullet, pushing the envelope. I'm on point, on task, on message, and off drugs. I got no need for coke and speed. I have no urge to binge and purge. I'm in the moment, on the edge, over the top, but under the radar. A high-concept, low-profile, medium-range ballistics missionary. A street-wise smart bomb, a top-gun bottom-feeder. I wear power ties, I tell power lies, I take power naps, I run victory laps. I'm a totally ongoing bigfoot slamdunk rainmaker with a proactive outreach. A raging workaholic, a working rageaholic, out of rehab and in denial. I got a personal trainer, a personal shopper, a personal assistant, and a personal agenda. You can't shut me up, you can't dumb me down, 'cause I'm tireless, and I'm wireless. I'm an alphamale on beta blockers. I'm a non-believer and an overachiever, laid back, but fashion forward, up front, down home, low rent, high maintenance; super size, long lasting, high definition, fast acting, oven ready, and built to last. I'm a hands-on, footloose, kneejerk headcase, prematurly post-traumatic, and I have a love child who sends me hate mail. But I'm feeling, I'm caring, I'm healing, I'm sharing, a supportive, bonding, nurturing, primary caregiver. My output is down, but my income is up. I take a short position on a long bond, and my revenue stream has its own cash flow. I read junk mail, I eat junk food, I buy junk bonds, I watch trash sports. I'm gender specific, capital intensive, user friendly, and lactose intolerant. I like rough sex, I like tough love, I use the F-word in my e-mails, and the software on my hard drive is hardcore, no soft porn. I bought a microwave at a minimall, I bought a minivan at a megastore, I eat fast food in the slow lane. I'm tollfree, bite size, ready to wear, and I come in all sizes. A fully equipped, factory authorized, hospital tested, clinically proven, scientifically formulated medical miracle. I've been prewashed, precooked, preheated, prescreened, preapproved, postdated, freeze dried, double wrapped, vacuum packed, and I have an unlimited broadband capacity. I'm a rude dude, but I'm the real deal, lean and mean, cocked, locked, and ready to rock; rough, tough, and hard to bluff. I take it slow, I go with the flow, I ride with the tide, I got glide in my stride. Drivin' and movin', sailin' and spinin', jivin' and groovin', wailin' and winnin'. I don't snooze, so I don't lose. I keep the pedal to the metal and the rubber on the road. I party hardy, and lunch time is crunch time. I'm hangin' in, there ain't no doubt, and I'm hangin' tough, over and out.”

Madonna in Montreal

2006-06-21T15:17:00.000-04:00

Madonna is in town and she is apparently staying in a Hotel across the street from my workplace. So the street is full of people hoping to get a sighting of her as she leaves or enters the hotel. It's quite funny watching everyone get the cameras ready everytime the main doors open and someone steps out.

I thought I seen the curtains move in the one of the rooms.

Back in Montreal

2006-06-19T15:20:00.000-04:00

I'm back in Montreal again and back at work, so soon I will have an update and hopefully new pics.

Leave a message after the beep

2006-06-14T17:24:00.000-04:00

Blogging from Wisconsin at the mo, will have updates next week sometime, with new pics......BEEEEEEEEEEPPPPPPP!!!!!

Road Trip #3

2006-06-06T07:59:00.000-04:00

Another road trip is on the cards, this time it's a big one. From Montreal to somewhere in Wisconsin, which will be about a 14 hour drive with a overnight stop in a hotel somewhere.

Our route is going to take us through Toronto and Chicago.

I watched too much crap

2006-06-05T12:45:00.000-04:00

Watch this video and see what I was watching on TV when I was younger, it kinda explains a lot really.

Let some else do the work

2006-05-31T12:51:00.000-04:00

A video slideshow of Montreal I found with more pics of Montreal.

Disclaimer:
I don't accept responsibility for the musical content of the above video. you can either ignore the music, turn down the volume, wear ear plugs or have your ears removed.

Any comments will be ignored or laughed at.

Tunnel of Cans

2006-05-26T14:34:00.000-04:00

Something wierd has been constructed close to our work here.

It appears to be a tunnel made out of empty cans, is it a sculpture?

Here are the pics

I've been Clubbed to death

2006-05-26T12:16:00.000-04:00

For the past few weeks I've been listening to music from Clubbed to Death courtesy of Angus.

It's worth a listen, check it out.

Is it Summer Yet?

2006-05-24T16:20:00.000-04:00

Bloody typical!!!!

After spending a ton of money on a bike for the so-called summer months here and it pours for about 2 weeks!!!!!

Mind you the weather seems to be picking up for the weekend so who knows I might able to get the bike out of the garage,

Hyperactive

2006-05-19T12:44:00.000-04:00

Just had to post this video.

Road Trip #2

2006-05-10T10:01:00.000-04:00

This weekend we are off to Ottawa for the weekend.

Not really a big road trip, only 2 hours but a road trip.

On the journey we will be stopping at a LCBO for booze, mainly Cider.

Insane songs

2006-05-09T15:00:00.000-04:00

Been listening to one of my favourite crazy songs - Charlton Heston by Stump from the album A Fierce Pancake - have a read of the lyrics:

The pyramids were in construction
The pharoah glowed with satisfaction
But then to his immense surprise
His empire fell before his eyes
A hundred thousand busy slaves
Downed their tools and stood and stared

The Red seawalls stood like a canyon
The pharoah pulled up in his wagon
And saw within those walls of glass
A herd of whales go racing past
A hundred thousand fishy tales
Crossed his mind about the day

Then Charlton Heston put his vest on

The broken tablets had been mended
The golden calf had been up-ended
And old folk sitting round the fire
Would talk of voices from the sky
Babies sailing down the Nile
The recipe for locust pie
A hundred thousand frogs per mile
We'd always ask them to describe

How Charlton Heston put his vest on

Thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal
Shalt not commit adultery
Boils the size of fifty pee
Lights! Camel! Action!
Bushes that refuse to burn
See these sandals hardly worn
Raining blood, raining bread
The night we painted Egypt red
Thou shalt not covet, shalt not lie
Thou shalt not bonk your neighbour's wife
The recipe for egg fried lice
A hundred ways to kill a fly
Love your daddy, love your mummy
Put your bread in milk and honey
Loved his fish, he did, he did
Never beat the wife and kids
Slouch though desert, slouch through sand
Until we reach the promised land
Thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal
Shalt not commit adultery
Boils the size of fifty pee
Lights! Camel! Action!

Who Farted???? - Wisnae me!!!!!

2006-05-02T12:17:00.000-04:00

Very early Monday morning (around 2am) we got woken by a lovely smell of Skunk, it was so bad we almost thought there was one in the house.

For those who haven't experienced the joys of a skunk smell, it's quite a unique smell and I can't really describe it to you.

Let's just say it's not pleasant.....OK!

Costco, Hockey, haircut and a bike

2006-05-02T08:23:00.000-04:00

Last weekend the weather was good, so we were in bike buying mood in order to embrace the good summer weather to follow. (Hopefully)

Started with a trip to Costco, not to buy a bike but to do our usual monthly shop. Then it was over to see Mel playing Hockey which her team won the game.

Then we started to look for bikes, first with Canadian Tire which sucked, mainly because they had nothing it my size and they looked cheap'n'nasty. Then we went to Wal-Mart where it almost the same story but they where only showing the wheel sizes not the frame sizes. (How dumb is that?). After visiting a few local shops we found a shop who was prepared to let me try one out and offer 25% discounts on any addtional item we buy from him in the future. He was so good even Jenn got a bike for herself.

The weather was still good I even rode the bike home from Baie D'urfe back home which took me about 20 minutes and I got my first flat tyre.

Screwed PC.....The Revenge!!!!

2006-04-27T11:32:00.000-04:00

Well Windows XP has done it again.....screwed my PC.......or should I say Microsoft did it?

Got an e-mail from the Windows Live offering me to try a new PC security product called Onecare (Beta), well it certainly took care of my PC.

It installed and wanted the usual reboot, so I let it do that, only to find Windows would not start, just rebooting.......bugger. "Nevermind" I told myself, I'll reboot into safe mode and do a system restore, so I did. What happened after that was a total disaster, Windows was completely screwed!!!!!

Thanks once again Bill.

The Kickabout

2006-04-21T15:25:00.000-04:00

Yesterday we had our kick about in downtown Montreal (Well Eric and Fred did).

And we survived.........well almost.......there were casualties. The ball did stray far enough to bounce off someone's head while eating his lunch, which did result in a few French sweary words being mentioned at us. Just as well it was only a soft foam ball not a real one.

Eric posted a few pictures of our adventures here

Is it Summer yet?

2006-04-20T08:29:00.000-04:00

Yesterday it got up to a rather nice 22c with lots of sun.

A bunch of us decided to go out and hunt for food at lunchtime, pity everyone else had the same idea as us, big queues everywhere.

Today it has been mentioned that we go out and chuck a football about in nearby Square Victoria, keep on the lookout for any news stories about a bunch of guys getting arrested.

Road Trip #1

2006-04-19T15:37:00.000-04:00

We made it back from our Easter weekend in New Jersey, we got back at 10pm Monday night so it we had to unload the car then off to bed because had our jobs to get to this morning. The junk from the car will wait until tonight to be sorted out.

Our trip down was OK, we left started our trip around 2pm on Thursday after having a hotdog combo at La Fleur's in Lasalle (Quebec Greasy spoon). We made it to the U.S. border after about an hour of driving where we picked up some duty-free. Then we crossed the border with the usual questions:

Guard: Where are you going? (How dare you attempt to cross our border!!!!)
US: New Jersey (Across your border)
Guard: Why? (How dare you!!!!)
US: Visit family for Easter (Same as the above)
Guard: Do you have anything to declare? (Can we charge you money for anything?)
US: Nope (Yes but I'm not going to tell you that)
Guard: Can I see you passport? (Can we laugh at you passport?)
US: Yes (Why? Are you going to laugh at it?)
Guard: OK you can go now (I suppose I will let you through)
US: Bye (Vroooooommmmmm!!!!!)

Then we had a long drive ahead of us. We did our usual missing the correct exit in Albany route due to Streets and Trips but this time we discovered our mistake (following the directions) and managed to recover the mistake far quicker than last time. After that it was pretty easy. (Best gizmo for the car: Cruise Control) We arrived at our destination for 9:30pm which was about 7.5 hours, not bad considering how many pitstops we made.

Friday, Saturday & Sunday consisted of BBQs and red meat, so the next few weeks it's salad.(maybe)

The trip back was a bit easier mainly due to Albany is a lot easier northwards. We had the usual questions from Canadian border control:

Guard: Where are you going? (Why did you leave us?)
US: Montreal (Also known as Home)
Guard: Where have you been? (I'm nosey)
US: Visiting family (Talk to the U.S. Border dudes)
Guard: Have you received or bought anything? (Can we charge money for anything?)
US: Yes but not a lot (You think we're going to tell you that)
Guard: Can I see your Pernament resisdent card? (I'm bored and I need a laugh)
US: Yes (You're bored aren't you?)
Guard: OK you can go now (I'm done hassling you)
US: Bye (Vroooooommmmmm!!!!!)

We made it home for 10pm which meant unloading the car and going straight to bed.
June is going to be a 16 hour road trip (Ugh!)

Ready for the off (Almost)

2006-04-12T13:10:00.000-04:00

Getting ready for a road trip to New Jersey, USA.

Which should be a 7-8 hour drive (not allowing for border crossing, Mickey-D stops and getting lost in Albany).

Snow?????

2006-04-04T20:02:00.000-04:00

It seems to be snowing in Montreal at the moment.

And I thought I had seen the last of the white stuff for a while......ah well.

Had a couple of Ciders and a Fish Supper at Kelly's Bar on the way home tonight.....lurvley. Pity there's not much IRN-BRU about here to wash it doon.

Flickr Pictures are here!!!!

2006-04-04T12:10:00.000-04:00

Got my Flickr pictures linked to this Blog now, check out the link on the right.

More coming soon.

Landscape Picture #2

2006-03-31T11:47:00.000-05:00

St. Andrews Golf Club House

Taken again in October 2003, I know it's a bit dark but it was late in the day because my car had died and we had to get a rental, maybe I'll brighten it up one day.

A sugaring we shall go

2006-03-26T20:42:00.000-05:00

Maple, Maple and even more maple, I think I overdosed on maple.

This weekend I went to my first sugaring off and I was on a sugar-high for the rest of the day.

All the maple covered foods I could eat, there was a wide selection too and a lot of stuff you wouldn't think they could cover in maple, but they did it. Just imagine trying a poached egg swimming in maple syrup or bacon and sausages coated in this stuff.

During the day there was also a lot of Canadian Geese flying over, heading south. Just imagine if someone had brought their shotgun along.

How much does Windows suck????

2006-03-23T21:04:00.000-05:00

It seems to be a monthly install of that wonderful Microsoft product, Windows XP.

Come back to the PC not booting at all and after an hour of swapping cables thinking it was a hardware issue.....no it was Windows screwing up the filesystem on the hard drive again!!!!!!

Just as well I made a ghost image of the hard drive last time.

Just another comment to add.......Windows Suck!!!!!!

So where is Bo'ness?

2006-03-22T11:10:00.000-05:00

I get a lot of questions asking me which part of Scotland I come from and I get a lot of confused looks when I say "Bo'ness", so now it's just been relocated to "Edinburgh" or "Just outside Edinburgh", both are technically true.

Bo'ness (or Borrowstouness) is a small town on the banks of the River Forth about 10 miles west of Edinburgh. It's had a long and colourful life, where it has seen a lot of various industries come and go. Now the only industry there is the Bo'ness Iron Co. where various drain covers are made and shipped all over the U.K.

Bo'ness also used to be a major shipping port until the nearby town of Grangemouth took over as a major port, now it just sits empty collecting mud.

Here is some Bo'ness related websites:

Landscape picture #1

2006-03-21T12:50:00.000-05:00

The Forth Bridge from South Queensferry

This picture was taken in October 2003 from South Queensferry on the banks of the River Forth. Maybe one day I will edit out the construction work on the Forth Rail bridge.

A blast from the past

2006-03-20T16:18:00.000-05:00

I was browsing through my picture CDs and came a couple of pics from one of my previous employers, Jabil Circuit.

I think this one was taken around October/November 2003, about 2 months before I left for Canada. (Can you guess which one is me?)

I can name a few of the people in this picture but I think there was quite a few new starts in there who didn't last long.

Here is another one of what I tested, which took about 4 hours. Interesting combination of high voltage and water cooling............

How green do you want to be?

2006-03-18T20:45:00.000-05:00

Last Friday was St. Patrick's day and some of us at work did do our bit for this day by wearing something green. But Eric just had to go that extra length as you can see by the picture.

Mind you it was fun watching everybody's reaction to his greeness when they arrived for work.

Montreal has their big St. Patrick's day thing on Sunday which will be televised, don't think I'll go there, it's still rather chilly outside.

Fun'n'Games at lunchtime

2006-03-16T11:53:00.000-05:00

There seems to be a growing trend of game playing at lunchtime at work, me included.

Everybody else here likes to play Halflife: Counter Strike where they seem to enjoy killing each other (even the Boss), where me and Eric pursue our interests in Retro gaming. My choices are Commodore C64, Sega Meagadrive and Super Nintedno. Having a USB memory stick allows me to keep my games with me.

Ah well I suppose that's the advantage of working in a software & video game testing company.

Winter almost over?

2006-03-15T15:39:00.000-05:00

When I thought the Canadian winter was showing signs of ending, we get a small present of overnight snow. So it was quick session of clearing snow from the car this morning before making our ways to work.

For nearly 4 months things here in Montreal have been rather chilly and white, things were starting to warm up and I even managed to break up some ice that's been covering the driveway.

Ah well maybe it's just a one-off dumping of snow. (hopefully)