-Today has been overcast and rainy, which seems to be the typical forecast for April in St. John’s. The only good thing about the rain is that it has prevented the snow from accumulating.
-Over the past few days I have been reading judicial and magisterial inquiries. As these only happen as a result of fires or deaths none of them are all that uplifting. It is likely that later in the summer I will have to write summaries of these reports, putting me in touch with a strange element of Newfoundland history.
-It looks as though there is a weekly trivia night at the Rose and Thistle. A few of us may check it out tomorrow night. Even if the trivia isn’t all that great the drink specials seem pretty good.
-In case you are curious, tomorrow is May Day.
Monday, April 30, 2007
Saturday, April 28, 2007
A Few Quick Notes 91
-It seems to be about 6 degrees above freezing and snowing in St. John’s. The forecast seems to be suggesting that by later this afternoon this snow will turn into rain, making things generally unpleasant. Fortunately it is not as windy as it was yesterday.
-For some reason I have almost stopped using my computer for personal reasons since my return. I haven’t been able to figure out why this has happened, though it may have something to do with not having access to a desk. Hopefully my blogging consistency will pick up over the next few days.
-My younger sister Kirsten and I went out for breakfast at the Bagel Café this morning. I think that the event was a success. All in all, the restaurant was pretty much as I remembered.
-When I returned to St. John’s I was surprised to learn that Roll Up the Rim cups were still available. I was able to purchase a few more chances at the big win leaving me with a record of 4/44, all of my wins being coffees.
-On Monday I was able to go to Memorial to pick up my Alumni card, something that allows me to check out books from the university library. On Wednesday I went to the public library to renew my library card. Two library cards in a week, I think that is a personal record.
Just this morning I realized that I will be able to use my new public library card to ILL a book that I have been interested in reading for a few years. Maybe I can head back to the library this afternoon to get the process rolling (that is if they offer ILL services).
-It is amazing how relaxing work seems in relation to this last year of school. While my work projects are on my mind, I don’t have the ability to work on them in a concrete way after hours in the same way that I would with schoolwork.
-It looks as though a big part of my summer will be spent designing, creating, and adding records to an InMagic DB/TextWorks database. One element of the task that I am not looking forward to is having to import records from another database with a different set of fields (which apparently can be done).
-For some reason I have almost stopped using my computer for personal reasons since my return. I haven’t been able to figure out why this has happened, though it may have something to do with not having access to a desk. Hopefully my blogging consistency will pick up over the next few days.
-My younger sister Kirsten and I went out for breakfast at the Bagel Café this morning. I think that the event was a success. All in all, the restaurant was pretty much as I remembered.
-When I returned to St. John’s I was surprised to learn that Roll Up the Rim cups were still available. I was able to purchase a few more chances at the big win leaving me with a record of 4/44, all of my wins being coffees.
-On Monday I was able to go to Memorial to pick up my Alumni card, something that allows me to check out books from the university library. On Wednesday I went to the public library to renew my library card. Two library cards in a week, I think that is a personal record.
Just this morning I realized that I will be able to use my new public library card to ILL a book that I have been interested in reading for a few years. Maybe I can head back to the library this afternoon to get the process rolling (that is if they offer ILL services).
-It is amazing how relaxing work seems in relation to this last year of school. While my work projects are on my mind, I don’t have the ability to work on them in a concrete way after hours in the same way that I would with schoolwork.
-It looks as though a big part of my summer will be spent designing, creating, and adding records to an InMagic DB/TextWorks database. One element of the task that I am not looking forward to is having to import records from another database with a different set of fields (which apparently can be done).
Sunday, April 22, 2007
My Return to St. John’s (I am actually back now)
I finally made it back to St. John’s early Saturday morning. Much to my surprise, the trip to the airport and then from Montreal to St. John’s went very smoothly. I even encountered a very pleasant Air Canada employee as I was checking my baggage. If my memory serves me correctly, I must have been inside the security area within about five minutes of being dropped of at the airport.
The only delay that I encountered during the trip was the wait to pick up my bags in St. John’s. It seems that about four or five flights arrived with in a few minutes of one another. For some reason only about one person was loading luggage onto the baggage carousels. The one individual was dividing his efforts between the flights, giving each about one load before switching to another flight.
From the airport we went directly to the grocery store as my parents seemed to not have any food in the house. This was a pretty quick shopping trip, though we did end up buying a 15 pound turkey on a whim.
Early the next morning I was able to head over to Monty’s to pick up a copy of the Globe. Though he didn’t say anything, I believe that Mr. Monty (not his real name) did recognize me from my years of continued patronage. From there I hit the Tim Horton’s on my way back. At this point I learned that there are still some Roll Up the Rim cups in St. John’s, though they seem to have sold out in Montreal (or at least the places I frequent).
It was then on to my haircut. My hair length is now “respectable.” I am thinking that in a few weeks I may even go shorter still. What I find strange is that I have still not really noticed the loss.
My weekend of curling started at just before noon. Amazingly, this was the first time I had ever competed in the Bon Voyage, an annual mixed bonspiel. We were beaten pretty badly in our first game, though we managed to come back in our second game that evening, only to be eliminated this morning. My body is really feeling these few ends, demonstrating the affects of age and lack of practice.
Hopefully in a day or so I will be on the Newfoundland schedule, though as it stands right now it may take a little longer.
The only delay that I encountered during the trip was the wait to pick up my bags in St. John’s. It seems that about four or five flights arrived with in a few minutes of one another. For some reason only about one person was loading luggage onto the baggage carousels. The one individual was dividing his efforts between the flights, giving each about one load before switching to another flight.
From the airport we went directly to the grocery store as my parents seemed to not have any food in the house. This was a pretty quick shopping trip, though we did end up buying a 15 pound turkey on a whim.
Early the next morning I was able to head over to Monty’s to pick up a copy of the Globe. Though he didn’t say anything, I believe that Mr. Monty (not his real name) did recognize me from my years of continued patronage. From there I hit the Tim Horton’s on my way back. At this point I learned that there are still some Roll Up the Rim cups in St. John’s, though they seem to have sold out in Montreal (or at least the places I frequent).
It was then on to my haircut. My hair length is now “respectable.” I am thinking that in a few weeks I may even go shorter still. What I find strange is that I have still not really noticed the loss.
My weekend of curling started at just before noon. Amazingly, this was the first time I had ever competed in the Bon Voyage, an annual mixed bonspiel. We were beaten pretty badly in our first game, though we managed to come back in our second game that evening, only to be eliminated this morning. My body is really feeling these few ends, demonstrating the affects of age and lack of practice.
Hopefully in a day or so I will be on the Newfoundland schedule, though as it stands right now it may take a little longer.
Friday, April 20, 2007
Montreal Sign-off
As I write this I am sitting in my packed up room. My books are no longer on my bookshelf, my clothes are no longer in the closet, though my computer still is on my desk.
As usual, I seem to have ended up packing much more stuff that I can possibly need. Amazingly, I don’t quite understand what it is that is taking up so much stuff. Well that is not completely true, my steel toed books, three pairs of shoes, and unicycle are doing a pretty good job of killing luggage space. In particular the unicycle is taking up a fair bit of space.
Actually just yesterday I came to the realization that I likely won’t be bringing my unicycle back with me when I return to Montreal in the fall. If next year is anything like this past year, I won’t have the time or space to ride. This spring being pretty wet and snowy compounded the problems of the fall, resulting in only one ride. The wheel also takes a fair bit of luggage space.
Well I guess I should get back to tidying things up and preparing to go.
As usual, I seem to have ended up packing much more stuff that I can possibly need. Amazingly, I don’t quite understand what it is that is taking up so much stuff. Well that is not completely true, my steel toed books, three pairs of shoes, and unicycle are doing a pretty good job of killing luggage space. In particular the unicycle is taking up a fair bit of space.
Actually just yesterday I came to the realization that I likely won’t be bringing my unicycle back with me when I return to Montreal in the fall. If next year is anything like this past year, I won’t have the time or space to ride. This spring being pretty wet and snowy compounded the problems of the fall, resulting in only one ride. The wheel also takes a fair bit of luggage space.
Well I guess I should get back to tidying things up and preparing to go.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
My Return to St. John’s
On Friday night I will be leaving Montreal for the summer. If I recall correctly, I am scheduled to arrive in St. John’s early on Saturday morning. As I don’t have to leave Montreal all that early I will try not to get up at the crack of dawn.
Once I return to St. John’s my Saturday schedule will be on the busy side. My morning starts with a shedding of the locks (haircut) at 9:20 followed by a curling game at 10:00. The rest of the day, as far as I can tell, will be spent curling. Sunday is likely to be spent in approximately the same fashion.
Fortunately Monday is a holiday and I should be able to sleep in and relax. I would not mind heading over to Monty’s to pick up a copy of the Globe. Maybe I will be able to work in a trip to Georgetown Bakery also.
On Tuesday I will head back to work for the summer.
Once I return to St. John’s my Saturday schedule will be on the busy side. My morning starts with a shedding of the locks (haircut) at 9:20 followed by a curling game at 10:00. The rest of the day, as far as I can tell, will be spent curling. Sunday is likely to be spent in approximately the same fashion.
Fortunately Monday is a holiday and I should be able to sleep in and relax. I would not mind heading over to Monty’s to pick up a copy of the Globe. Maybe I will be able to work in a trip to Georgetown Bakery also.
On Tuesday I will head back to work for the summer.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
A Few Quick Notes 90
-Today has been relatively nice so far, certainly much nicer than many of the days in the near past. It seems that we are supposed to finally have some nicer weather in the next few days.
For some reason we seem to have had a pretty large amount of snow this April. While the snow does not have any real staying power, it does manage to make things much less pleasant than they would otherwise be.
-My final assignment of the year was submitted on Monday. It was nice to get this out of the way. Since that time I have been focusing on packing and getting ready to head back to St. John’s for the summer.
-In less than a week I start work again. This will be a rather big change from my current lifestyle. I am looking forward to this change.
-For those of you that were saddened by the paucity of posts in the past few days, I apologize. Unfortunately, my schoolwork was taking a fair bit of my time and mental energy. Though I frequently suggest that Neil need only take a few minutes each day to post, I now see that at times that can be at bit much to expect. Hopefully I will have better time management skills in the future so that this lack of posting will not occur again (though this is unlikely).
-To pack I needed boxes. My first stop was Thomson House. From the recycling bin I was able to find a few good boxes, mainly wine boxes. Unfortunately, the few boxes I picked up were not sufficient to meet my box needs. As I am somewhat shy the idea of going to other places to look for boxes did not really appeal to me. Eventually I worked up the courage to go Dollarama, though I only found one box. Afterwards I went to the local depanneur, only to learn that they wouldn’t have any boxes until Thursday.
My next stop was the McGill Bookstore. While on the main floor I found a clerk working on a mug display. I asked if she knew if they might have any boxes available. When she asked what size I was looking for I pointed at the box of mugs she was working from. She then left to try and rustle up some boxes. When she returned a few minutes later she was carrying five brand new boxes that had yet to be unfolded.
As excellent as the boxes are I immediately began to wonder why a bookstore would have all kinds of new boxes. Wouldn’t they just use old boxes if they needed any? Why would they need such a large number of boxes? Does this type of practice (the buying unnecessary items) explain why the prices are so high at the bookstore?
-For the past few weeks I have been exposed to several pieces by a Montreal based group called Arcade Fire. Apparently they are really popular. The part of the equation that I don’t understand is why. None of the stuff I have heard has particularly interested me or held my attention. In most cases I can hardly manage to listen to the entire song. I would guess that the common consensus would be that I am missing something. If anyone wants to explain it to me I am more than willing to listen.
-My Roll Up the Rim To Win record is now 3/41. Apparently I really don’t have any skills when it comes to this game.
For some reason we seem to have had a pretty large amount of snow this April. While the snow does not have any real staying power, it does manage to make things much less pleasant than they would otherwise be.
-My final assignment of the year was submitted on Monday. It was nice to get this out of the way. Since that time I have been focusing on packing and getting ready to head back to St. John’s for the summer.
-In less than a week I start work again. This will be a rather big change from my current lifestyle. I am looking forward to this change.
-For those of you that were saddened by the paucity of posts in the past few days, I apologize. Unfortunately, my schoolwork was taking a fair bit of my time and mental energy. Though I frequently suggest that Neil need only take a few minutes each day to post, I now see that at times that can be at bit much to expect. Hopefully I will have better time management skills in the future so that this lack of posting will not occur again (though this is unlikely).
-To pack I needed boxes. My first stop was Thomson House. From the recycling bin I was able to find a few good boxes, mainly wine boxes. Unfortunately, the few boxes I picked up were not sufficient to meet my box needs. As I am somewhat shy the idea of going to other places to look for boxes did not really appeal to me. Eventually I worked up the courage to go Dollarama, though I only found one box. Afterwards I went to the local depanneur, only to learn that they wouldn’t have any boxes until Thursday.
My next stop was the McGill Bookstore. While on the main floor I found a clerk working on a mug display. I asked if she knew if they might have any boxes available. When she asked what size I was looking for I pointed at the box of mugs she was working from. She then left to try and rustle up some boxes. When she returned a few minutes later she was carrying five brand new boxes that had yet to be unfolded.
As excellent as the boxes are I immediately began to wonder why a bookstore would have all kinds of new boxes. Wouldn’t they just use old boxes if they needed any? Why would they need such a large number of boxes? Does this type of practice (the buying unnecessary items) explain why the prices are so high at the bookstore?
-For the past few weeks I have been exposed to several pieces by a Montreal based group called Arcade Fire. Apparently they are really popular. The part of the equation that I don’t understand is why. None of the stuff I have heard has particularly interested me or held my attention. In most cases I can hardly manage to listen to the entire song. I would guess that the common consensus would be that I am missing something. If anyone wants to explain it to me I am more than willing to listen.
-My Roll Up the Rim To Win record is now 3/41. Apparently I really don’t have any skills when it comes to this game.
Last shift at Thomson House
My day at Thomson House was pretty long on Friday.
It seems that I arrived at about 2:00 or so, after spending several hours working on and then printing my final management project. Thomson House seemed like a good place to go to celebrate. Bruce, my partner, and I each had a muffin and some coffee. After a while Bruce had to leave. I decided to stay as the walk home would have taken a fair chunk out of the free time I had before my shift started.
Shortly after my shift started at 4:30 I had to change a few kegs. Unfortunately, I don’t exactly remember which one was my last keg. On the plus side, none of the keg changes were particularly problematic (meaning no beer showers), or deep in the bowels of the keg fridge.
I think it was at about 7:30 or so when I was notified by one of the bartenders that there was some vomit to clean up in the downstairs bathroom. As I had not had to do this before it took me a while to find all of the supplies and equipment. Once everything was gathered I started on the job. The downside of this vomit was that it was much more food based that I would have liked, meaning that there was a fair bit that I couldn’t get with the mop and eventually had to sweep up.
As the vomit was directly in front of the toilet my suspicion was that the person must have been sitting on the toilet during the incident. It turns out the guilty party is a fellow GSLIS student and he was able to confirm that he was in fact sitting on the toilet at the time of the incident. It seems all of the library people knew something was up but somehow managed to keep this knowledge away from me until relatively late in the night.
The rest of the night was relatively quiet and I was able to punch out at about 9:30 and join about twenty library school types for a few drinks. I was pleased to see so many and such a varied crowd in attendance. At least one person there is no longer in the program, and another was there having their first drinks at Thomson House.
Gradually the crowd thinned out until it just two of us were there. At 2:00 we were booted out just like everyone else and my final working day for the near future ended.
As Friday was my last shift I did not go to Saturday’s staff meeting, though in a weird way I wanted to. I have a few ideas that might help them increase sales and bring a few more people in, and it seems like this would be the venue to bring forth these ideas. I guess my great ideas will have to wait until next fall to see the light of day.
It seems that I arrived at about 2:00 or so, after spending several hours working on and then printing my final management project. Thomson House seemed like a good place to go to celebrate. Bruce, my partner, and I each had a muffin and some coffee. After a while Bruce had to leave. I decided to stay as the walk home would have taken a fair chunk out of the free time I had before my shift started.
Shortly after my shift started at 4:30 I had to change a few kegs. Unfortunately, I don’t exactly remember which one was my last keg. On the plus side, none of the keg changes were particularly problematic (meaning no beer showers), or deep in the bowels of the keg fridge.
I think it was at about 7:30 or so when I was notified by one of the bartenders that there was some vomit to clean up in the downstairs bathroom. As I had not had to do this before it took me a while to find all of the supplies and equipment. Once everything was gathered I started on the job. The downside of this vomit was that it was much more food based that I would have liked, meaning that there was a fair bit that I couldn’t get with the mop and eventually had to sweep up.
As the vomit was directly in front of the toilet my suspicion was that the person must have been sitting on the toilet during the incident. It turns out the guilty party is a fellow GSLIS student and he was able to confirm that he was in fact sitting on the toilet at the time of the incident. It seems all of the library people knew something was up but somehow managed to keep this knowledge away from me until relatively late in the night.
The rest of the night was relatively quiet and I was able to punch out at about 9:30 and join about twenty library school types for a few drinks. I was pleased to see so many and such a varied crowd in attendance. At least one person there is no longer in the program, and another was there having their first drinks at Thomson House.
Gradually the crowd thinned out until it just two of us were there. At 2:00 we were booted out just like everyone else and my final working day for the near future ended.
As Friday was my last shift I did not go to Saturday’s staff meeting, though in a weird way I wanted to. I have a few ideas that might help them increase sales and bring a few more people in, and it seems like this would be the venue to bring forth these ideas. I guess my great ideas will have to wait until next fall to see the light of day.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
A Few Quick Notes 89
-Today is a beautiful day in Montreal, our first in a while. While I was initially concerned that the day might be cool and overcast, my fears were clearly misplaced. Today seems like a perfect day for me to ride either my bike or my unicycle for exercise purposes.
Unfortunately, Environment Canada is not acknowledging the clear and sunny skies, and goes further to suggest that we will be back to rain and snow by tomorrow.
-My Roll Up the Rim record is now 3/38. It seems that other stores still have the special cups, even though the McGill Tim Horton’s has been out of them for weeks.
-Another project was due today, this one for Collection Development. I am now down to two, one on Friday and one on Monday. Friday’s project still requires a fair bit of work.
-Nithum took me for $10.00 the other night on coin flips. I started betting each series of bet by betting a penny, then doubling my bet until I won. I was doing relatively well, or winning a penny on each series, until I ran into a particularly long string of tosses that went against me. After making, and losing, a bet for $5.12 I pulled out, not wagering $10.24 in an attempt to win a penny. In the end Nithum gave me my money back (except for two quarters). Once again, I have had my great system beaten by the fact that I don’t have infinitely deep pockets (something that I did say was needed for my system to work).
-The GSLIS party on Saturday night went well. As far as I know most people in attendance had a good time. It was nice to attend a party and know so many people. As far as I was concerned, the main downside was that I was not able to speak to a few people that I had hoped to. I was glad that it wasn’t a dud, because if that had been the case I likely would take heat for it at work.
-I will be busing tomorrow and Friday night at Thomson House. I keep deluding myself into thinking that I might somehow be able to bring busing to a new level. People might start having guest busers, and people would visit bars to have their tables bused by a particular person. In some weird way I think that this might work, but only if the person had the right personality.
Unfortunately, Environment Canada is not acknowledging the clear and sunny skies, and goes further to suggest that we will be back to rain and snow by tomorrow.
-My Roll Up the Rim record is now 3/38. It seems that other stores still have the special cups, even though the McGill Tim Horton’s has been out of them for weeks.
-Another project was due today, this one for Collection Development. I am now down to two, one on Friday and one on Monday. Friday’s project still requires a fair bit of work.
-Nithum took me for $10.00 the other night on coin flips. I started betting each series of bet by betting a penny, then doubling my bet until I won. I was doing relatively well, or winning a penny on each series, until I ran into a particularly long string of tosses that went against me. After making, and losing, a bet for $5.12 I pulled out, not wagering $10.24 in an attempt to win a penny. In the end Nithum gave me my money back (except for two quarters). Once again, I have had my great system beaten by the fact that I don’t have infinitely deep pockets (something that I did say was needed for my system to work).
-The GSLIS party on Saturday night went well. As far as I know most people in attendance had a good time. It was nice to attend a party and know so many people. As far as I was concerned, the main downside was that I was not able to speak to a few people that I had hoped to. I was glad that it wasn’t a dud, because if that had been the case I likely would take heat for it at work.
-I will be busing tomorrow and Friday night at Thomson House. I keep deluding myself into thinking that I might somehow be able to bring busing to a new level. People might start having guest busers, and people would visit bars to have their tables bused by a particular person. In some weird way I think that this might work, but only if the person had the right personality.
Sunday, April 08, 2007
Happy Easter
As some of you might know, today is Easter, one of the most important days in the Christian year (at least that is what they keep telling me).
My big plans for the day revolve around having a classmate over to work on a management assignment that is due on Friday. Amazingly, I have been able to grasp this and make myself feel as though I have ‘proper’ Easter plans.
This is my third non-english Easter. My first non-english Easter occurred in Paris in 1995. My uncle and I were staying in a hotel in China town. Once we both realized that we were to lazy and not catholic enough to make it to Easter mass at Our Mother Cathedral we basically just hung around the hotel (or at least that is my recollection).
Then in 2005 I was visiting a friend in Berlin over Easter. We did all kinds of things as we only had a few days in Berlin, though none of them had anything to do with Easter. It is likely that I ate a donar with only meat and onions (as that is just about all I ate in Berlin).
Now, I am Montreal in 2007, once again doing non-Eastery things. Presumably this year is just a warm up for next year, my fourth Easter in a non-english environment.
My big plans for the day revolve around having a classmate over to work on a management assignment that is due on Friday. Amazingly, I have been able to grasp this and make myself feel as though I have ‘proper’ Easter plans.
This is my third non-english Easter. My first non-english Easter occurred in Paris in 1995. My uncle and I were staying in a hotel in China town. Once we both realized that we were to lazy and not catholic enough to make it to Easter mass at Our Mother Cathedral we basically just hung around the hotel (or at least that is my recollection).
Then in 2005 I was visiting a friend in Berlin over Easter. We did all kinds of things as we only had a few days in Berlin, though none of them had anything to do with Easter. It is likely that I ate a donar with only meat and onions (as that is just about all I ate in Berlin).
Now, I am Montreal in 2007, once again doing non-Eastery things. Presumably this year is just a warm up for next year, my fourth Easter in a non-english environment.
Saturday, April 07, 2007
A Few Quick Notes 88
-While we have a few centimeters of snow on the ground, today isn’t too bad. The cool temperatures have prevented too much slush from forming and the discontinuence of falling snow has prevented build-up on the sidewalks. My desire is that in a few days, or once my projects are done, that the temperatures will warm up and the snow will start to vanish.
-My Roll Up the Rim record is now 3/37, a solid losing record.
-The GSLIS party is happening tonight. It sounds as though there should be a fair number of librarians there.
-For dinner this evening I decided to go with my second steak bake. I was quite pleased with the results. It had bread, beef, and potato.
-My Roll Up the Rim record is now 3/37, a solid losing record.
-The GSLIS party is happening tonight. It sounds as though there should be a fair number of librarians there.
-For dinner this evening I decided to go with my second steak bake. I was quite pleased with the results. It had bread, beef, and potato.
Friday, April 06, 2007
Comment overheard on the street
As I was walking home from work a few minutes ago I heard the gentleman in front of me say “dealing pot is like being a doctor, you’re always on call.”
Thursday, April 05, 2007
A Few Quick Notes 87
-The weather in Montreal turned from bad to worse today. We started the day out with just above freezing temperatures and steady rain. By just afternoon, we still had the low temperature but also snow. As one can imagine, this was not very pleasant weather for bike riding. While there hasn’t been much accumulation yet it seems that we should expect up to 4 cm by tomorrow.
-Somehow when talking to a classmate today my scone recipe came up. As it was on my mind and I had promised to pass along the recipe I ended up making a batch almost as soon as I returned home. I have already consumed four of the eight, and plan on having one or two more for breakfast tomorrow morning.
-Last night I happened upon a discussion group dedicated to coming up with and sharing means of making an essay look longer without really writing more. The two ideas that I had not previously come across were to modify the character spacing and change the font size of punctuation, particularly comas and periods. Another suggestion was to use the passive voice so that a few additional words could be included by the author. Nithum was disgusted by this last suggestion.
-One more class left, though four projects are still in the works
-I have to head to work tomorrow night. As I don’t have to work this Friday this shouldn’t be too bad.
-A GSLIS party is planned for Saturday night. I wonder if any of the professorial staff or Ph.D. students will show up?
-There was some library-based content that I have been meaning to include here, though every time I sit down to write I can’t remember what it is. So because I can’t remember the first point I wanted to make, I will come back to my hobbyhorse; librarians need to stop beating around the bush and ask patrons/clients/users what it is they need. Librarians should encourage and engage in clear communication practices.
-A few minutes ago Nithum brought home a bag of samosas from an event he helped organized. So far I have had three, they are pretty tasty.
-Somehow when talking to a classmate today my scone recipe came up. As it was on my mind and I had promised to pass along the recipe I ended up making a batch almost as soon as I returned home. I have already consumed four of the eight, and plan on having one or two more for breakfast tomorrow morning.
-Last night I happened upon a discussion group dedicated to coming up with and sharing means of making an essay look longer without really writing more. The two ideas that I had not previously come across were to modify the character spacing and change the font size of punctuation, particularly comas and periods. Another suggestion was to use the passive voice so that a few additional words could be included by the author. Nithum was disgusted by this last suggestion.
-One more class left, though four projects are still in the works
-I have to head to work tomorrow night. As I don’t have to work this Friday this shouldn’t be too bad.
-A GSLIS party is planned for Saturday night. I wonder if any of the professorial staff or Ph.D. students will show up?
-There was some library-based content that I have been meaning to include here, though every time I sit down to write I can’t remember what it is. So because I can’t remember the first point I wanted to make, I will come back to my hobbyhorse; librarians need to stop beating around the bush and ask patrons/clients/users what it is they need. Librarians should encourage and engage in clear communication practices.
-A few minutes ago Nithum brought home a bag of samosas from an event he helped organized. So far I have had three, they are pretty tasty.
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
My web footprint
A couple of posts ago Cameron mentioned my 'web footprint'. Firstly, that needs a clever word to replace it, if you have any ideas, let me know. Secondly, I'm trying to keep track of my web footprint on del.icio.us. You can check it out. I'm trying to tag the pages on which my name occurs, or which relate directly to me. There are still lots of pages out there that I haven't tagged, but some day I'll get it at least mostly done. Some websites might have my name a multitude of times, in which case I might only tag it once. If anyone comes across my name on the web I'd be very to get an email telling me so.
As for Cameron's web footprint, I've started tracking that too. I've tagged some of his pages with 'cameron'.
I'm a little concerned with my practice of doing this. It would make it really easy for someone to steal my identity and/or stalk me. Essentially I've googled myself and put the results up for everyone to see. Google was what enabled me to find almost all the pages in the first place.
As for Cameron's web footprint, I've started tracking that too. I've tagged some of his pages with 'cameron'.
I'm a little concerned with my practice of doing this. It would make it really easy for someone to steal my identity and/or stalk me. Essentially I've googled myself and put the results up for everyone to see. Google was what enabled me to find almost all the pages in the first place.
Food products that I don’t consume for one reason or another
For some reason my dietary habits seem to be a popular subject of discussion among my acquaintances here in Montreal. All kinds of people can’t quite understand the problem that I have with milk (it modifies my behaviour in a negative way and is not lactose intolerance). They wonder what I do for food considering that I don’t eat most dairy products and tomatoes.
Amazingly, most of these conversations end up in the same place. People want a full list of the things that I don’t eat and they then want to know what I do eat. Surprisingly, I typically forget many of the things from the first list and am unable to come up anything for the second list. My typical verbose answer to the second question is “things.”
As it is on my mind I have decided to try to begin to compile a list of things that I don’t or shouldn’t eat for various reasons.
-Tomatoes
-Most dairy products (with the main exception being butter, as well as milk when used in baking. Occasional exceptions are also made for brie)
-Vinegar
-Parsnips
-Invertebrates and their by-products (i.e. honey)
-Nuts (including peanuts, though occasional exceptions are made for things such as peanut butter and peanut M & M’s)
-Spinach
-Tea (black, white, and green)
-Strawberries
-Rhubarb
-Salt (this is more a caes of me trying to minimize consumption, as total avoidance is just about impossible)
-The internal organs of most large animals (except as part of haggis)
-Oranges (at least most of the time)
-Orange food dye
-Pistachios (possibly my only traditional food allergy)
-Brussel sprouts
-Re-heated broccoli
-Cooked coloured peppers
This is all I can think of for the time being. I am sure that there are several glaring omissions. If anyone can think of any other foods that I actively do not eat please pass them along to me.
As I have been working on this list and thinking about my eating habits I have come to realize that it is a good thing that I enjoy cooking and don’t mind experimenting with recipes. Expecting anyone other than a close family member to routinely stick to this list would be a bit much.
Amazingly, most of these conversations end up in the same place. People want a full list of the things that I don’t eat and they then want to know what I do eat. Surprisingly, I typically forget many of the things from the first list and am unable to come up anything for the second list. My typical verbose answer to the second question is “things.”
As it is on my mind I have decided to try to begin to compile a list of things that I don’t or shouldn’t eat for various reasons.
-Tomatoes
-Most dairy products (with the main exception being butter, as well as milk when used in baking. Occasional exceptions are also made for brie)
-Vinegar
-Parsnips
-Invertebrates and their by-products (i.e. honey)
-Nuts (including peanuts, though occasional exceptions are made for things such as peanut butter and peanut M & M’s)
-Spinach
-Tea (black, white, and green)
-Strawberries
-Rhubarb
-Salt (this is more a caes of me trying to minimize consumption, as total avoidance is just about impossible)
-The internal organs of most large animals (except as part of haggis)
-Oranges (at least most of the time)
-Orange food dye
-Pistachios (possibly my only traditional food allergy)
-Brussel sprouts
-Re-heated broccoli
-Cooked coloured peppers
This is all I can think of for the time being. I am sure that there are several glaring omissions. If anyone can think of any other foods that I actively do not eat please pass them along to me.
As I have been working on this list and thinking about my eating habits I have come to realize that it is a good thing that I enjoy cooking and don’t mind experimenting with recipes. Expecting anyone other than a close family member to routinely stick to this list would be a bit much.
It's snowing in Montreal
We seem to be back to snow in Montreal, though I was under the impression that we had completely transitioned to spring
As of early this afternoon the rain that we had been having turned into snow. As one might suspect, the snow is not really accumulating all that much. The important part is the visual effect.
As of early this afternoon the rain that we had been having turned into snow. As one might suspect, the snow is not really accumulating all that much. The important part is the visual effect.
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
A Few Quick Notes 86
-The weather was overcast and damp today. Fortunately, it was not as rainy as it was yesterday. If the sun comes out later this week I am sure it will be beautiful.
-I had my final presentation of the year today. Surprisingly, it went much better than I had expected.
In the several practice runs I went through last night I was having a very hard time keeping things to the correct amount of time as well as even getting the content to come across in a way with which I felt comfortable.
Before class I went through my notes and decided to leave a few things out and re-order a few points. So I was basically going up there without any practice.
For some reason as soon as I stood in front of the class I felt comfortable and things started to make sense to me, I knew how I would proceed. While it was not the world’s best presentation it was much better than what I had expected would happen.
-It seems that gas prices jumped by about 10-12 cents last night in Montreal. The intricacies of gas pricing still baffle me.
-It seems that yesterday’s fudge was left in the fridge for to long and now has become stuck to the bottom of the pan. Maybe I could leave it out for some period of time to encourage it to soften up a little, something that might make it easier to remove from the pan without breaking all of the nicely cut pieces. Something else about the fudge that I have noted is that it isn’t the best fudge I have had. Maybe when I will get back to St. John’s I will look for a fudge recipe that my mother used to use.
-As Friday is Good Friday Thomson House will be closed for the day (as well as Easter Monday). This is unfortunate as I was scheduled to work my usual Friday night shift. Fortunately, a last minute event was planned for Thursday night and I was able to get one of the two shifts. This should give me enough tip money to be able to afford to go the GSLIS end of term party for a few drinks on Saturday night. On the other hand, if I really wanted to save money and still spend time with my classmates, I could take the available shift and work the event on Saturday night.
-For some reason in the past few days I have had three different types of sausages. This is somewhat unusual for me as typically I don’t eat sausages all that frequently. Hopefully I will head back to my low frequency consumption pattern in the near future.
-While poking around Neil’s web footprint I saw for the first time a method to allow the quick dissemination of mathematical. Basically the proof, or whatever the person is doing, is captured by taking simple digital photos of a blackboard with workings and then posted online. This process gets around having to deal with cumbersome typesetting programs and awkward file formats. People are easily able to see most photos posted to a website, in some cases even free photo sharing services could be used. If text recognition programs become particularly advanced maybe it would be possible to translate these photos into more traditional formats.
-Today while on an unsuccessful mission to look at an apartment, I was able to finally stop in and check out Segal’s, a Portuguese grocery store on St. Laurent. This place is pretty incredible. Aside from the amazing deals and strange food, they actually had a stack of salt cod in the back of the store. I was pretty tempted to buy an entire salt cod just because of my Newfoundland connection. I wonder if this is the cod that involved in that foreign over-fishing problem?
-For the past week or so the pull of the trashy, easy to read novels has been very strong. During this period of time I have read two less than stellar novels and had to fight off reading a third. There is so much good stuff that I want to read, why do I keep coming back to the crap that I don’t even really enjoy?
-I should go and make some humus so that I have something tasty to eat as I continue to work this evening.
-I had my final presentation of the year today. Surprisingly, it went much better than I had expected.
In the several practice runs I went through last night I was having a very hard time keeping things to the correct amount of time as well as even getting the content to come across in a way with which I felt comfortable.
Before class I went through my notes and decided to leave a few things out and re-order a few points. So I was basically going up there without any practice.
For some reason as soon as I stood in front of the class I felt comfortable and things started to make sense to me, I knew how I would proceed. While it was not the world’s best presentation it was much better than what I had expected would happen.
-It seems that gas prices jumped by about 10-12 cents last night in Montreal. The intricacies of gas pricing still baffle me.
-It seems that yesterday’s fudge was left in the fridge for to long and now has become stuck to the bottom of the pan. Maybe I could leave it out for some period of time to encourage it to soften up a little, something that might make it easier to remove from the pan without breaking all of the nicely cut pieces. Something else about the fudge that I have noted is that it isn’t the best fudge I have had. Maybe when I will get back to St. John’s I will look for a fudge recipe that my mother used to use.
-As Friday is Good Friday Thomson House will be closed for the day (as well as Easter Monday). This is unfortunate as I was scheduled to work my usual Friday night shift. Fortunately, a last minute event was planned for Thursday night and I was able to get one of the two shifts. This should give me enough tip money to be able to afford to go the GSLIS end of term party for a few drinks on Saturday night. On the other hand, if I really wanted to save money and still spend time with my classmates, I could take the available shift and work the event on Saturday night.
-For some reason in the past few days I have had three different types of sausages. This is somewhat unusual for me as typically I don’t eat sausages all that frequently. Hopefully I will head back to my low frequency consumption pattern in the near future.
-While poking around Neil’s web footprint I saw for the first time a method to allow the quick dissemination of mathematical. Basically the proof, or whatever the person is doing, is captured by taking simple digital photos of a blackboard with workings and then posted online. This process gets around having to deal with cumbersome typesetting programs and awkward file formats. People are easily able to see most photos posted to a website, in some cases even free photo sharing services could be used. If text recognition programs become particularly advanced maybe it would be possible to translate these photos into more traditional formats.
-Today while on an unsuccessful mission to look at an apartment, I was able to finally stop in and check out Segal’s, a Portuguese grocery store on St. Laurent. This place is pretty incredible. Aside from the amazing deals and strange food, they actually had a stack of salt cod in the back of the store. I was pretty tempted to buy an entire salt cod just because of my Newfoundland connection. I wonder if this is the cod that involved in that foreign over-fishing problem?
-For the past week or so the pull of the trashy, easy to read novels has been very strong. During this period of time I have read two less than stellar novels and had to fight off reading a third. There is so much good stuff that I want to read, why do I keep coming back to the crap that I don’t even really enjoy?
-I should go and make some humus so that I have something tasty to eat as I continue to work this evening.
Ah, Fudge!
For the past few weeks I have wanted to make a batch of fudge. In many ways this is a strange desire as I am not really all that big a fan of fudge. I am not sure that I can remember the last time that I actually purchased fudge.
The conditions to satisfy this desire seem to have all been met today.
I was in the midst of closing a .pdf file that contained a family's favourite recipes when I happened to see a recipe for fudge. A quick evaluation of the ingredient list suggested that I had all of the needed ingredients in my apartment. On top of that, I know that at some point this evening I would need a break from the project I was working on.
So at about 10:00 PM tonight I made my first batch of fudge. As I write the fudge is cooling in the fridge. I imagine that I will have to taste it either tonight before I go to bed or tomorrow morning.
The conditions to satisfy this desire seem to have all been met today.
I was in the midst of closing a .pdf file that contained a family's favourite recipes when I happened to see a recipe for fudge. A quick evaluation of the ingredient list suggested that I had all of the needed ingredients in my apartment. On top of that, I know that at some point this evening I would need a break from the project I was working on.
So at about 10:00 PM tonight I made my first batch of fudge. As I write the fudge is cooling in the fridge. I imagine that I will have to taste it either tonight before I go to bed or tomorrow morning.
Sunday, April 01, 2007
Beer Shower
Like last night, I had to work at Thomson House tonight. Unlike last night, I was working a function instead of a standard evening. While the evening was a little slow to start, things did eventually pick up.
Amazingly, things picked up so much that within about an hour and a half I had to change three of six kegs in the ballroom. This meant that I had to bring new kegs in from out side and cold kegs up from the keg fridge. Just before putting the finishing touches on the project I had to put the taps back in a few of the kegs I had unhooked.
As I was re-tapping the Moosehead I experienced my first beer shower, a stream of beer that shoots out of the top of a poorly topped keg. This was really quite an event. I got the first blast in the face and then took a pretty good shot to the torso. After a few seconds I was able to remove the tap and stop the flow. At this point I stood back and admired my handiwork. I had managed to spray beer all over the inside of the keg fridge as well as all over the floor and mats just outside the keg fridge. Fortunately the guy cleaning the kitchen had not yet gotten around to mopping the floor.
After all of this keg changing I found that I still had two more kegs to bring in to fill the keg fridge to optimal levels. In some ways I was fortunate that we are out of so many kegs or I would have had to spend another twenty minutes bringing additional kegs.
Amazingly, things picked up so much that within about an hour and a half I had to change three of six kegs in the ballroom. This meant that I had to bring new kegs in from out side and cold kegs up from the keg fridge. Just before putting the finishing touches on the project I had to put the taps back in a few of the kegs I had unhooked.
As I was re-tapping the Moosehead I experienced my first beer shower, a stream of beer that shoots out of the top of a poorly topped keg. This was really quite an event. I got the first blast in the face and then took a pretty good shot to the torso. After a few seconds I was able to remove the tap and stop the flow. At this point I stood back and admired my handiwork. I had managed to spray beer all over the inside of the keg fridge as well as all over the floor and mats just outside the keg fridge. Fortunately the guy cleaning the kitchen had not yet gotten around to mopping the floor.
After all of this keg changing I found that I still had two more kegs to bring in to fill the keg fridge to optimal levels. In some ways I was fortunate that we are out of so many kegs or I would have had to spend another twenty minutes bringing additional kegs.
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