So yeah.. the not-so long weekend is here (silly Canada falls on a Tuesday). Heaps of people have booked Monday off work - as did I. However I am coming into work on Tuesday (hey double time)... just too much work to do.

The room is getting cleaned today. Finally pushed my dad to the limit on this one. It's going to be easy since most of it is just clothes sitting on the floor. They are in the washing machine now.

I got a 6% raise yesterday.. yay! Also got business cards too! Don't know when i'm going to use them... guess they are handy when you want to enter those "free lunch draws". It's not like I didn't feel like I was apart of the team before.... these actions just reaffirm that they want me to stay.

Leaving for white water rafting tomorrow! w00t w00t! It's going to be great. I'm not going to be bringing my digital camera but going to buy two disposable cams and get them developed to cd. This time i'm not lending the cd to Mark ;) (you still have my NYC one, right?!?) bastardo!

Work is a nightmare... that document is hauting my dreams... it will be all over July 15th though. Thank god... then I (hopefully) get to work on the neat projects I want to do. Yaay!

Not sure what else to say. I've been frisky lately... it's been a while.

I'm so fucking tired. I havn't fully recovered (sleep wise) since my trip back from San Fran. Tonight is going to be the night though. Hitting the pillow at 9pm!

I'm an employee at work for another year, yay! Signed my contract extension on Friday. Got my security pass renewed today.

I asked Bonnie out on a date today (via email)... I was shot down. That's alright, even though I had this feeling she didn't like me that way it was worth a try. We might still end up going to the movies tomorrow though (she's going to bring some friends).

The weekend was great. Too much to go into details but I have the sunburn and the skimboard (and wetsuit) to prove it. This weekend is going to be great too. Heading up to Ottawa for two days of white water rafting. Yipee!

Have to head to Shoppers Drug Mart sometime this week to make my toiletries run. Floss, sunscreen, toothpaste, etc.. I never come out of there with spending less than $20.

I bought this months issue of Wired today. They have a two page spread of the Akamai network operations centre. Pretty cool looking place. Some of the monitoring graphics look similar to the stuff I am working on at work. It will be great to get a tactical overview of our network in real time going. This week is devoted to version 3.0 of the Document From Hell.

Hmm I have a lonely planet "San Francisco" book that I may sell. Anyone interested?

Well time to get some dinner. The weather here has been great all week (in the mid 20s). Summer is here :)

It's been one of those weeks.

You know.. going on vacation sucks. It's harder coming back to work than it is just working away with no vacation. The flight back was alright.. nothing too exciting. As soon as I landed I picked up Mark and we headed to Jacksons Point for some skimboarding. Pics are online (you know where to find them). I was glad to be back home :) I also went out with Kara and Bryan to Shoeless for some eats.

Tuesday was hell. I was at the point of quitting my job - seriously. Do you remember a while back I was working on a really big document for my boss' boss? The one he hacked up? Well the revisions were due on Wednesday. The project (which has no definition. bosses like to break the rules, no definition, no scope, just a deadline) had been given to someone else because I didn't want to do it anymore. Well, during my trip the person who was working on it was calling me asking for help. Derek kindly intervened and told me just to not worry about it until I get back. I didn't end up leaving work until 11:30. I was fucking pissed. I was looking forward to hitting the gym, relaxing with friends.

I almost just said "fuck it" and walk out of there. I really wasn't in the mood to deal with this shit. I hate it how people bend the rules. Part of the problem was that the scope and definition of the document changed in the middle of things. This is a project which I worked over 100 hours on and it didn't have any definitions or scope written down on paper (like we have to do for every other project). The book i'm reading right now ("Leading Geeks" by Paul Glen [ISBN: 0-7879-6148-5]) has a quote that will explain why I feel the way I do:



"It is important to recognize the differences in how people view work. Most managers think nothing about critisizing a piece of software: "It's too slow." "The interface makes no sense." "No one can use it." These are valid criticisms of most software, but the speaker has to realize how such things are heard, not how they are said. The same manager would never think about looking at someone's newborn child and saying, "What an ugly baby." Even if a baby is ugly, we instinctively spare the feelings of new parents with something like, "That's going to be one smart kid" or "He looks like you." Just as parents take criticism of their child personally, geeks take criticism of their art personally.

On the plus side, the beauty and utility of their work is a great source of pride for most geeks. They put extraordinary effort into the creative solution of a technical or business problem."

The document was handed in today.. so I hope that's the end of that.

Bonnie e-mailed me today. She was the girl I was flirting with at Jack Astors before I left for Cali. She digs Mark instead of me. I'm in the awkward situation where I think her friend (who we call 'snaggletooth' for obvious reasons) digs me. Meh! I'm not going to make a big deal about it... we will see what happens.

I'm also relieved that my Java course has been delayed (again) until September. I really don't want to take it anymore. My desire to move to Cali and work for Google are no more. However, it will still be a nice addition to my skill set (Java that is) and i'm glad it wont interfere with my summer plans.

I still haven't signed my contract yet. I'm super anxious to see what kind of raise I got. I totally forgot about it until my boss told me today that he should have the contracts done soon. I really like my job when everything goes well. I'm excited for some of the projects i'm working on. It's really fun.

I feel kinda bad for Mark. He's trying so hard to get me to get a surfboard and go surfing with him. I'm skeptical about the amount of surfing I can actually get in. Not because of work or my schedule, but because of the lack of waves. I see it like buying a snowboard when you know you only get 10cm of snow a year. Sure, you *might* be able to go snowboarding when the conditions are just right.. but chances are you will never see any snow. If all goes well this summer. I am definitely getting a board next year. Right now $400 seems a little too steep. I am all down for skimboarding though.. I have so much fun.. and I dont mind laying down $80-$110 for a board.

Plans for this weekend are starting to form. Wasaga beach on Sunday, Possible party Sat night, Making some custom tees on Saturday during the day. Even though i'm getting annoyed at work I have a feeling this summer is going to be pretty kick ass. Blue Man Group concert, Gord's Cottage, My Cottage, WakeStock, Lion King, Skimboarding, Biking... The summer agenda is looking pretty sweet.

A huuge purchase might be coming up soon...mortgage stylez. (Plan B, Plan A was moving to Cali)

Day Three! Santa Cruz. This is the "northern hot spot" for surfing in California. The drive down (about 2 hours south of San Francisco) was great. Hiway 1 is such a beautiful drive as it meanders (sp) along the pacific coast. I passed by at least 2 dozen beaches on my way to Santa Cruz. You just pull off the side of the road and park. They were pretty busy on my way back from Santa Cruz (around 6pm). I saw some people kite-boarding and surfing.

Hunting down some sufboard wax was tough. Nobody sold any :( It wasn't until I went to Monterey did I find some! I got 4 pucks for Mark. I told the shoppkeeper that I need wax for cold water. He suggested Sex Wax, so I grabbed some. I also snagged a Hurley T-Shirt and a Hurley decal.

The Monterey Aquarium was great! They had an exibit on Jelly Fish (or Jellies as they call them down here). I spent a few hours there checking out all the exhibits and learning quite a bit about marine life. There really wasn't anything else to that city, so I headed back to San Francisco.

Pacifica, a town between Half Moon Bay and San Francisco is a really cool place. Great views of the ocean, and beaches near by. If I was to live in California, it would probably be there.

I'm feeling a little homesick now. Which is wierd, because I don't normally.. especially after 3 days. I shouldn't have called Mark earlier today. I really wanted to spend this weekend with the guys (and gals). Also wanted to go to Brents party. I'm really tempted to fly back tomorrow instead of Monday.

I just need to find some dinner.. hmm.. where to eat?

Day Two was interesting.

After dropping off Chi at the airport (after I was done at Google). I headed to the Intel Museum. Learned about the history of Intel and computers in general. Very interesting. I also bought something from the museum store. I then headed down to Cupertino to visit the Apple campus. I got a little lost and didn't make it until 5:30pm. That's when the whole place shuts down (including the retail store) so I couldn't pick anything up. Blah.

The drive back to the city sucked. Traffic was bad. When I arrived, I was planning on doing a little shopping at Union Square. No dice. After 20 min of looking for a place to park, I gave up. Most of the parking garages charge $30-35 for parking! yeah right :/ Headed back to Johns place where we went back out to get some grub.

You arn't allowed to smoke in bars. That was the first thing I noticed when I walked into "Hotel Utah". It's a really old bar (like early 1900s) wood everything, really warm. I grabbed some chicken curry and a coke. I was once again reminded of the size of american portions. HUGE!

Off to Santa Cruz tomorrow. Picking up some surfing supplies for Mark. Tomorrow is my "shopping day". I'm going to *try* to find parking again in the city and do some shopping (Disney Store anyone?!).

Sleepy Time!

Trip is turning out to be great so far. I already took quite a few pics, but I forgot the adaptor to be able to upload the pics to the website. The first day was fun. I wondered around the city, took some pictures, had some lunch, rode on a cable car. It's fun driving on the streets. They are really hilly. It's a wierd feeling being able to get to an intersection and not be able to see anything infront of you other than blue sky.

San Francisco is hilly, but the skyline is pretty flat. Other than the downtown core most of the houses are square. Stucco exterior, flat roofs. John's place (where I am staying) is pretty cool. Studio style, with kitchen and living room on the top floor, and bedrooms and bathroom on the floor below.

Right now, I'm at Google. I'm waiting for Chi and the rest of the gang to get out of a last minute meeting before we have lunch. I met a lot of people who I could talk to for hours. I also noticed a good male/female ratio. Which is also good. The atmosphere is great, it's theme based. When you get hired, you are given $500 to decorate your cubicle in any theme you want. Some people bring in their pets (a few dogs roaming around), and you can chill on the hammocks in the courtyard. The "googleplex" is 4 seperate buildings, attached with brown brick walkways that weave in and out of parks, waterfalls, and parking lots.

Everyone does seem to know who I am. Everytime Chi introduces me, people are like "oh Blake from CBC!". I'm humbled by everyone here, and it seems like i've been working with them for a while. I can't wait for lunch to be able to sit down and hash some of the ideas I have in my head with the support/engineering team.

I can't wait until tomorrow. Heading down to Santa Cruz for some surfing....probably going to do some shopping as well.

*yawn* Everything's packed! In about 30 min I'm heading to San Francisco.

I had an interesting dream last night. Naturally I dreamt of going to California. Specifically the airplane ride. After going through customs, I was waiting to board the plane. Even though we hadn't started boarding yet, the flight attendant was announcing over the PA system, the names of people who weren't boarded yet (since this was last call). She calls out Mark, Gord, and Bonnie's name. A few seconds later, I see them running down the hallway afraid they are going to miss the flight.

Out of breath, they arrive at the gate and we all get a good laugh. Thats when I woke up, at 4am, laughing. I was actually laughing out-loud! Hehehe.

I will try to post updates (and pics) while i'm down there. See you guys on Tuesday! (Have fun at Brents!)

Sorry for the quicky update.. time is running out.

- Weekend was awesome. Went skimboarding with Mark et al. in the 'wick. Also had a great time the rest of the day, frizbee, baseball, hacking..


- Got a new watch: The Gearhead (in silver)


- Got some new Sandals too!


- Going to California in two days.. still havn't packed, recharged batteries, etc.. fuck. no time.


- Saw "The Italian Job" with peeps. Good movie, see it.


- Talking to Sheena now about late night movies, rollerblading at Wasaga, wakestock, cali, and how she misses me.


- Going to see Lion King July 5th.. apparently same weekend as Gords Cottage :/

Turns out that it wasn't my speakers that were destroyed.. but the sound portion of the logic board. Sucky. I'm going to buy a soundcard instead of replacing the logic board. Apparently the Sound Blaster Extigy works in OS X.

Its been a crazy few days. Things are getting back to normal though. Worked 16 hours on Monday, then worked late on Tuesday. I slept in to 9am this morning, so work let me work from home :) Back to the normal sched tomorrow.

I hooked my friend Sarah (I used to work with her at Click) up with an interview. It was today. I wonder how it went. I hope she gets the job.. since she really needs to get out of the place she's at now. I will remember to ask her tomorrow.

Just got back from Boston Pizza with Kara and Bryan. I had fun. I'm starting to enjoy getting away from the computer every night.... especially after the week I just had.

A dream I had last night:

We were all on a runway at buttonville airport. Not sure what we were doing there but we were all gathered checking stuff out. Someone had a special ops. vest and I took a tear gas canister out and was checking it out. Someone grabbed it and set it off. Nobody seemed affected by the gas at all. I grabbed the canister and tossed it away. Even though it was clearly a few meters away, and underwater, the hissing sound it produced still appeared as if it was right behind me. I recall waving my hand in the area the sound was coming from.



Someone noticed that the ground was shaking. I look up and see an airplane thats about to land on the runway we are on! We all head for cover.



The next thing I know, i'm in an airplane walking down the steps to get into the tarmac. But for some reason the stairs got more narrow as they got closer to the ground.. I figured it was to stop people from sliding down the banisters.



Someone famous was waiting for us.. it was an actress. I can't remember who it was.. dark hair. We were part of an interview.. we were asking her questions. She tossed me her cell phone and told me to hold it. After a few questions we all followed her inside where she went to the bathroom. Everyone was just all walking about. I took this opportunity to look through her cell phone to see if I can find anyone famous.. "me", "home", "mom"... for some reason I was trying to find if Ben Afflecks telephone number was there. She came out of the washroom and caught me snooping through her phone. She was pissed and snatched the phone away from me.

Ahh.. another *great* weekend. I love hanging out with my friends, we always have a great time. I really love the summer time.

Saw a movie friday night.. Finding Nemo. Fucking kick ass movie. It was really funny, the characters were great. Go check it out of you have time. After the movie, Mark and I tried to meet up with the rest of the gang (who had been out drinking). Dissapointment ensued as we discovered that by 1:30am, everyone had gone home. Shitty.. So we decided to call it an early night.

Saturday was spent at the Royal Ontario Museum. We weren't going to do anything else during the day, so we decided to head there. Gord and Bryna went to Guelph, while Mark, Bryan, Kara, and myself drove down to the ROM. It was raining so hard... Mark's such a pussy and didn't want to walk to the car.. afraid of a little water are we? ;)

It's all about the impromptu hack sessions. We busted out the hacky sack in the Elevator, in the lobby, and in a replica of an Egyptian tomb.

I had a great time on Saturday night. We met up with Gord and Bryna, then headed to Boston Pizza for some delicious food. MmmMmMm So tasty. I had three cheese corkscrew pasta.. Delish! Another impromptu hack session commenced in the parking lot after our meal, while we discussed what we are going to do that night. It was decided to head back to Gords place and do a little drinking. In addition to our crowd, Katie (who is now in S. Korea) and Courtney and Heather dropped by. We all watched a few DVDs and did a little drinking. I have this little thing for Katie, so I busted the moves on her. Nothing big (I really wanted to hug her, but that never happened). I'm not going to worry about it, since she's gone for three months.

Kara and I spent a good hour or so talking about philosophical items over MSN (ugh, so frustrating). Mainly about dreams and the conscience/sub-conscience. It was great. I love talking to her about such things, it's interesting to hear here point of view. It's probably because she's a Psychology major in school.

Today was great as well. We headed to the mall. While Bryna was doing a little shopping, the boys decided it was time for another impromptu hack session in the middle of the hall. We had one of the best sessions. It's something about being indoors, smooth floor, no wind. It's ashamed we got busted by those lame security guards. Heading to Future Shop yielded no results in purchasing new speakers for my computer. So we decided to head back to Aurora for some bike riding. The weather was perfect (it was all weekend), sunny and warm. Hit the trails for an hour and a half (or so). Did some technical too. I dominated the sea-saw, not once, not twice, but thrice! Gord was getting mad air off some jumps as well. It was great. I'm going to have to bring the camera next time so we can get some pics online.

Next weekend is already started to shape up to be a killer weekend. Saturday, Bart is having a party, while a BBQ on a beach in Kwesick is planned for Sunday.

I love summer.