-Today was another pleasant day in the slightly above zero range. It is now possible to see almost all of most sidewalks and diminishing, but still sizable, snowbanks. More importantly, for the first time this year, I was able to spot an early bloom (reminiscent of a crocus). I guess all of this is to say that it is starting to feel like spring.
-As of moments ago I moved to 12/54 on this year's Roll Up the Rim. As you can see, I am still playing hard. I hope to keep up my momentum for the rest of the contest.
-While walking to school yesterday morning I noticed a seagull in the air above me. It seemed to be swooping around rather frivolously. Moments later I noticed and heard a splotch of bird feces. Fortunately, I was unhit, but only narrowly. Had my right foot and attached leg been about 6 inches further to the right I would have been nailed.
-Upon returning from school today, I noticed that one of my recent bean plants has started to sprout. Nearby there seems to be another sprout, though at the moment I don't know exactly what it is (as I planted beans, peas, and peppers simultaneously).
-As the temperatures begin to rise as we enter spring, the level of heating in our apartment remains unchanged. This means that while it is only a few degrees above zero, I am able to sit comfortably in shorts and a tee-shirt while the living room window and balcony door are both open. (I am also blasting the Planets).
-In the past few days I have really begun to notice that Nithum and I seem to generate a large amount of garbage. This is striking because we both take care to recycle many items, and additionally don't eat many foods with excessive amounts of packaging.
It is possible that part of the issue is that we don't fill our garbage bags completely before tying them off. This is largely because of our relatively small main garbage can, which seems to only accommodate a few items before we are required to engage in some pretty complicated stacking activities.
-A few days ago I recall coming up with a great idea to post. I was thinking that it would be well received, and also useful. Of course, now that I am ready to post, I have no idea what it was I was going to say. I need to start writing these things down as I come up with them if I don't want to forget them.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Mustache Free Since Oh-Three
As of last night I am facial hair free. At about eleven I finally chopped of my 'stache.
While it is likely that I could have just modified my 'stache so that it would not have frustrated me so much, for some reason I decided to just get rid of the entire affair. Maybe I will start some something new?
I should explain that the primary motivation was to try and look somewhat normal for my final few days in library school. I am hoping that people in Montreal's lasting impression will be one of me looking somewhat normal, rather than being the guy with the crazy facial hair. On the other hand, it may be a little to late for that.
While it is likely that I could have just modified my 'stache so that it would not have frustrated me so much, for some reason I decided to just get rid of the entire affair. Maybe I will start some something new?
I should explain that the primary motivation was to try and look somewhat normal for my final few days in library school. I am hoping that people in Montreal's lasting impression will be one of me looking somewhat normal, rather than being the guy with the crazy facial hair. On the other hand, it may be a little to late for that.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
A Few Quick Notes 166
-Today was another nice day, though a bit on the chilly side. My understanding is that such weather is not to hold, snow or some other form of precipitation has been predicted. This is rather unfortunate as just now the sidewalks are starting to clear and the snow disappear.
-I must now be 11/51 on this year's Roll Up the Rim contest. The decision to pick up my game that I made several days ago seems to have paid off. My win ratio has definitely started to improve. Hopefully I will be able to manage this level of intensity for the rest of the competition. If you are curious, my strategy is to play for more smaller prizes, such as coffees, rather than the big and rare prizes. So far this seems to be working.
-I was able to do some laundry yesterday. Once I started the process did I realize that I had less to wash than I expected. What caused this to be the case still baffles me, particularly as it seems that it was about the standard interval between washes.
-I am really having a hard time getting down to work. Though I have been trying all night, I have managed to make very little progress. Maybe if I take a walk I will be ready to work when I get back.
-A few days ago I heard an interview with George Saunders about his work, which tends towards satire. This motivated me to see if the library had any of his work, which they did. I was able to check out two of his books, one of which I completed that day. Generally I have been impressed and would consider looking into other of his works.
-A few days ago, at the Purim party, some of the guests noticed the 'take a book, leave a book' box and found some content that interested them. In class today someone gave me a book for the box to replace the one that he took. I am glad to see that this has finally worked in the way that it was supposed to, though it took much longer than I expected (but that may be because of the limited number of people that visit my apartment).
-A few days ago I planted some beans, peas, and peppers. While I am hoping for some action on the growing front before I depart, I don't know if this is actually going to happen. So far all three seed varieties have disappointed me, but it may be that I have not given them enough time to sprout.
-When I returned home from school today I found that the north-bound lane of my street was closed by a police car. At the end of the block I was able to see some more flashing lights, as well as a few at the end of the block to the south of my apartment. Fortunately, my apartment doesn't seem to be in any immediate danger.
I should note that this is all after there were two police car outside of the building to the south of mine. As these cars didn't have their lights on I assumed that there wasn't much of an emergency, though I am now wondering if something developed during the course of their visit.
-I must now be 11/51 on this year's Roll Up the Rim contest. The decision to pick up my game that I made several days ago seems to have paid off. My win ratio has definitely started to improve. Hopefully I will be able to manage this level of intensity for the rest of the competition. If you are curious, my strategy is to play for more smaller prizes, such as coffees, rather than the big and rare prizes. So far this seems to be working.
-I was able to do some laundry yesterday. Once I started the process did I realize that I had less to wash than I expected. What caused this to be the case still baffles me, particularly as it seems that it was about the standard interval between washes.
-I am really having a hard time getting down to work. Though I have been trying all night, I have managed to make very little progress. Maybe if I take a walk I will be ready to work when I get back.
-A few days ago I heard an interview with George Saunders about his work, which tends towards satire. This motivated me to see if the library had any of his work, which they did. I was able to check out two of his books, one of which I completed that day. Generally I have been impressed and would consider looking into other of his works.
-A few days ago, at the Purim party, some of the guests noticed the 'take a book, leave a book' box and found some content that interested them. In class today someone gave me a book for the box to replace the one that he took. I am glad to see that this has finally worked in the way that it was supposed to, though it took much longer than I expected (but that may be because of the limited number of people that visit my apartment).
-A few days ago I planted some beans, peas, and peppers. While I am hoping for some action on the growing front before I depart, I don't know if this is actually going to happen. So far all three seed varieties have disappointed me, but it may be that I have not given them enough time to sprout.
-When I returned home from school today I found that the north-bound lane of my street was closed by a police car. At the end of the block I was able to see some more flashing lights, as well as a few at the end of the block to the south of my apartment. Fortunately, my apartment doesn't seem to be in any immediate danger.
I should note that this is all after there were two police car outside of the building to the south of mine. As these cars didn't have their lights on I assumed that there wasn't much of an emergency, though I am now wondering if something developed during the course of their visit.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Weekend Socializing
About a week and a half ago Nithum and I came up with the idea that we could host a Purim party. Upon receiving support from a number of friends we decided to go ahead with the party, which we were originally thinking of hosting on a Friday evening.
Until about Tuesday evening nothing had really started to move, so I informed a friend that it was likely a no-go. Surprisingly, Liam, a friend present when the comment was made, immediately threw his support behind the idea of the party. Nithum confirmed his support for the party. So, again, the party was on, though this time for Thursday rather than Friday night.
Due to the short period of time between the final decision to host the party and the time of the party only limited planning was possible. A further problem was inviting people with such short notice, particularly before an amazingly long weekend (four days for the McGill community). Eventually a few invitations were distributed via email, though to a limited number of people as I blanked out under pressure.
On Wednesday night I decided to try and find some appropriate music for us to play during the party. Within a few minutes I found a site that listed klezmer bands with free samples online. Once I had visited all of the listed sites I had over 4 hours of such music in my possession, several of the pieces even had 'Purim' in their titles.
At about this time I learned that Nithum had come down with some kind of illness (of the cold variety) and would likely not be attending the party.
As the school day on Thursday drew to a close I hit took to the streets to pick up the needed supplies. I was able to hit the dollar store, the grocery store, and the liquor store and acquire pretty much everything that I needed. The only type of item that I was unable to find were special Purim noisemakers that are used to drown out the name of Haman during the reading of the book of Ester.
Upon returning to our apartment I did some work on cleaning, but much more work on food preparation. I baked some shortbread, made some humus, didn't make some bacon appetizers, and cleaned and chopped some vegetables, finishing only moment before the scheduled start time.
Shortly after changing into my costume the first guests started to arrive, causing me to open the first bottle of wine. As the time went on more and more people began to arrive, eventually peaking at about 20.
One thing that I noticed was that people tended to bring red wine with them but that the white wine went much more quickly. I know that this would be my preference, but I bought more white than red wine. Maybe it was just a quirk of the evening, or, as Neil hypothesized, that the white was more tempting in the context of an overheated apartment.
Anyway, as people arrived the seemed to quickly hope on to the drinking and feasting components of the evening, which was the intended outcome.
By about 4:00 AM most of the guests had departed, the exception being Mary, who crashed on the futon.
The next morning, upon waking, I surveyed the apartment. Much to my surprise, there wasn't all that much to clean up, aside from basically all of the glasses in our apartment. Within about 45 minutes I had returned the apartment to a more orderly state than when the party started the previous evening.
Shortly after finishing my clean up I returned to bed so that I could rest up for Friday night's events, which were to be plentiful, and which I hoped to take full advantage of as this was to be on of the few Friday nights I haven't had to work.
At about 6:30 a few of us from the Ghetto walked over to a bar on Crescent Street to celebrate a classmate's birthday. If I recall correctly, about 10 or 12 people showed up and we had a very enjoyable few hours of socializing. At one point we were even able to discuss local Newfoundland beers (as the celebrant is the only other person from Newfoundland in my class).
From the bar, a handful of us moved to a party on St. Laurent. Shortly after arriving at the party we ended up meeting the celebrant's former roommate, who, if my memory serves me correctly, is a friend of the host's, though I am not too sure about the connection.
After a brief, but pleasant stay at the party, we again were on the move, this time to a bar further North on St. Laurent.
The reason for visiting the bar was a party that they were hosting, which was called "Revenge of the Librarians." Though it was likely that my friends would be the only library community related individuals present, I did feel an intense desire to put on a cardigan and see what was going on. I should also note that it was a fundraiser for a feminist/gender neutrality cause (meaning that I knew that I would be one of the few males before I even entered the bar).
Upon entering the bar it was clear that the librarian stereotype is pretty easy to hit pretty accurately. There were plenty of cardigans and pairs of glasses (though I don't know if they were wearing comfortable shoes).
As the bar had only one bathroom playing the line was particularly important. As I have taken a management class and am familiar with the ins and out of strategic planning I hopped in the line shortly after buying my drink as I was sure to need to use the bath room my the time that I reached the front of the line.
One of the best aspects of the bathroom line was being between two or more people twenty minutes. I had some really fun conversations with my fellow patrons. It is likely that I wouldn't have really talked to anyone but my friends had it not be for the need to wait twenty minutes to use the can.
Eventually things started to slow down and people started to clear out. Soon enough a few of us were just about the last people there.
For some reason, we ended up visiting a local 24 hour bagel bakery shortly after departing. Somehow I ended up eating four of the six bagels, though I wasn't even the one with a particular inclination to get them.
Soon enough, after scrapping together bus fare, I was able to hope a south-bound Parc bus with Kyla. Upon making it back to the Ghetto we each headed home, drawing to a close my weekend of socializing.
Until about Tuesday evening nothing had really started to move, so I informed a friend that it was likely a no-go. Surprisingly, Liam, a friend present when the comment was made, immediately threw his support behind the idea of the party. Nithum confirmed his support for the party. So, again, the party was on, though this time for Thursday rather than Friday night.
Due to the short period of time between the final decision to host the party and the time of the party only limited planning was possible. A further problem was inviting people with such short notice, particularly before an amazingly long weekend (four days for the McGill community). Eventually a few invitations were distributed via email, though to a limited number of people as I blanked out under pressure.
On Wednesday night I decided to try and find some appropriate music for us to play during the party. Within a few minutes I found a site that listed klezmer bands with free samples online. Once I had visited all of the listed sites I had over 4 hours of such music in my possession, several of the pieces even had 'Purim' in their titles.
At about this time I learned that Nithum had come down with some kind of illness (of the cold variety) and would likely not be attending the party.
As the school day on Thursday drew to a close I hit took to the streets to pick up the needed supplies. I was able to hit the dollar store, the grocery store, and the liquor store and acquire pretty much everything that I needed. The only type of item that I was unable to find were special Purim noisemakers that are used to drown out the name of Haman during the reading of the book of Ester.
Upon returning to our apartment I did some work on cleaning, but much more work on food preparation. I baked some shortbread, made some humus, didn't make some bacon appetizers, and cleaned and chopped some vegetables, finishing only moment before the scheduled start time.
Shortly after changing into my costume the first guests started to arrive, causing me to open the first bottle of wine. As the time went on more and more people began to arrive, eventually peaking at about 20.
One thing that I noticed was that people tended to bring red wine with them but that the white wine went much more quickly. I know that this would be my preference, but I bought more white than red wine. Maybe it was just a quirk of the evening, or, as Neil hypothesized, that the white was more tempting in the context of an overheated apartment.
Anyway, as people arrived the seemed to quickly hope on to the drinking and feasting components of the evening, which was the intended outcome.
By about 4:00 AM most of the guests had departed, the exception being Mary, who crashed on the futon.
The next morning, upon waking, I surveyed the apartment. Much to my surprise, there wasn't all that much to clean up, aside from basically all of the glasses in our apartment. Within about 45 minutes I had returned the apartment to a more orderly state than when the party started the previous evening.
Shortly after finishing my clean up I returned to bed so that I could rest up for Friday night's events, which were to be plentiful, and which I hoped to take full advantage of as this was to be on of the few Friday nights I haven't had to work.
At about 6:30 a few of us from the Ghetto walked over to a bar on Crescent Street to celebrate a classmate's birthday. If I recall correctly, about 10 or 12 people showed up and we had a very enjoyable few hours of socializing. At one point we were even able to discuss local Newfoundland beers (as the celebrant is the only other person from Newfoundland in my class).
From the bar, a handful of us moved to a party on St. Laurent. Shortly after arriving at the party we ended up meeting the celebrant's former roommate, who, if my memory serves me correctly, is a friend of the host's, though I am not too sure about the connection.
After a brief, but pleasant stay at the party, we again were on the move, this time to a bar further North on St. Laurent.
The reason for visiting the bar was a party that they were hosting, which was called "Revenge of the Librarians." Though it was likely that my friends would be the only library community related individuals present, I did feel an intense desire to put on a cardigan and see what was going on. I should also note that it was a fundraiser for a feminist/gender neutrality cause (meaning that I knew that I would be one of the few males before I even entered the bar).
Upon entering the bar it was clear that the librarian stereotype is pretty easy to hit pretty accurately. There were plenty of cardigans and pairs of glasses (though I don't know if they were wearing comfortable shoes).
As the bar had only one bathroom playing the line was particularly important. As I have taken a management class and am familiar with the ins and out of strategic planning I hopped in the line shortly after buying my drink as I was sure to need to use the bath room my the time that I reached the front of the line.
One of the best aspects of the bathroom line was being between two or more people twenty minutes. I had some really fun conversations with my fellow patrons. It is likely that I wouldn't have really talked to anyone but my friends had it not be for the need to wait twenty minutes to use the can.
Eventually things started to slow down and people started to clear out. Soon enough a few of us were just about the last people there.
For some reason, we ended up visiting a local 24 hour bagel bakery shortly after departing. Somehow I ended up eating four of the six bagels, though I wasn't even the one with a particular inclination to get them.
Soon enough, after scrapping together bus fare, I was able to hope a south-bound Parc bus with Kyla. Upon making it back to the Ghetto we each headed home, drawing to a close my weekend of socializing.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
A Few Quick Notes 165
-Today is like the past few days in that it is pretty beautiful. The temperature is a few degrees below zero, with a crisp bone chilling breeze. Skies are clear and the sun is shining. This is a significant improvement upon the somewhat overcast skies and precipitation of a few days ago.
-It seems that I am about 10/49 for this year's Roll Up the Rim Contest. I seem to now be immersed in a solid two time a day habit.
-Today is Easter, but one would have a hard time telling from the appearance of our apartment. Much to my chagrin, the Easter bunny seems to have skipped our place. Also, some seeds that I planted yesterday have yet to sprout and give the sense of re-birth, or birth.
Anyway, things will certainly pick up on the Easter front later today when I slap my baby turkey (A.K.A. a chicken) in the oven and prepare a bit of a solo feast. I presume that my chicken will be accompanied by some vegetables (frozen green beans) and mashed potatoes, and maybe some carrots as I have a bunch kicking around.
-Shortly after waking this morning I decided that I needed to head out and hit the last day of the butter sale at one of my local grocery stores. While on my way there, I stopped at another store and picked up some celery.
While waiting in line to pay for my celery I noticed that one of the professors from my school as behind me. This is somewhat funny as the last time I was in this store buying only one item she was in line with me. In previous year and a half of frequenting this store I have not seen her there once, nor have I every made such specific purchases. I guess I will have to see if the trend continues (though I am running out of time).
Once I finally made it to the final destination grocery store I was able to find the butter and also some margarine (of the soft, easy to spread variety). After picking up my main selections I decided to browse the herbal tea section. While kneeling down I saw some cheaply printed white bags that reminded me of candy surprise bags of my childhood. After further inspection I learned that they were actually host cuttings, the sections of dough from which communion hosts are cut.
As it is Easter, and these of religious in nature, I thought I would splurge and spend the $2.49 for the 115 gram bag.
-This morning Nithum was noting that Montifax was a little out of date, which is certainly true. Sorry to all of you who have noticed this and not received your regular dose of Montifax during the last couple days.
-On a related note, there should also be a Purim Party/Good Friday rundown later today or this evening.
-It seems that I am about 10/49 for this year's Roll Up the Rim Contest. I seem to now be immersed in a solid two time a day habit.
-Today is Easter, but one would have a hard time telling from the appearance of our apartment. Much to my chagrin, the Easter bunny seems to have skipped our place. Also, some seeds that I planted yesterday have yet to sprout and give the sense of re-birth, or birth.
Anyway, things will certainly pick up on the Easter front later today when I slap my baby turkey (A.K.A. a chicken) in the oven and prepare a bit of a solo feast. I presume that my chicken will be accompanied by some vegetables (frozen green beans) and mashed potatoes, and maybe some carrots as I have a bunch kicking around.
-Shortly after waking this morning I decided that I needed to head out and hit the last day of the butter sale at one of my local grocery stores. While on my way there, I stopped at another store and picked up some celery.
While waiting in line to pay for my celery I noticed that one of the professors from my school as behind me. This is somewhat funny as the last time I was in this store buying only one item she was in line with me. In previous year and a half of frequenting this store I have not seen her there once, nor have I every made such specific purchases. I guess I will have to see if the trend continues (though I am running out of time).
Once I finally made it to the final destination grocery store I was able to find the butter and also some margarine (of the soft, easy to spread variety). After picking up my main selections I decided to browse the herbal tea section. While kneeling down I saw some cheaply printed white bags that reminded me of candy surprise bags of my childhood. After further inspection I learned that they were actually host cuttings, the sections of dough from which communion hosts are cut.
As it is Easter, and these of religious in nature, I thought I would splurge and spend the $2.49 for the 115 gram bag.
-This morning Nithum was noting that Montifax was a little out of date, which is certainly true. Sorry to all of you who have noticed this and not received your regular dose of Montifax during the last couple days.
-On a related note, there should also be a Purim Party/Good Friday rundown later today or this evening.
Monday, March 17, 2008
A Few Quick Notes 164
-Today was a beautiful day, the first in a while. The weather was quite warm, certainly warmer than reported by Environment Canada, and the sun was out, making it a nice day for walking and being outdoors. As the night progresses, the temperature has begun to drop, a somewhat common trend.
-With two more loses today I am now 8/38 with this year's Roll Up the Rim contest. My attempts to pick up my game have clearly failed. Maybe if I try hard I will be able to improve tomorrow.
-As my milk was about to go I decided to bake some bread today. This seemed to go relatively well. As I was doing laundry at the same time I didn't really waste too much time.
-My laundry washing was also quite productive. Though I am beginning to become somewhat frustrated that each time I wash my duvet cover items seem to migrate inside, and then don't dry properly.
-As term will be ending in a few weeks I need to start thinking about moving. Unfortunately, it seems that this is going to be a somewhat unpleasant process, particularly as I will likely be forced to leave things in Montreal and then re-buy equivalents where ever I end up next year. I guess it really isn't worth moving crap half-way across the country though.
-For some reason my library use seems to be way up this term. Particularly my checking out of monographs seems to be way up. I would guess that I have checked out more books this term alone than in the three previous terms combined.
-It seems that Sunday is now my big podcast day. Both Jordan, Jesse, Go! and This American Life Tend to release new episodes at around the same time on Sunday evening. The downside is that most new podcast content is consumed withing about a four hour period. Maybe I will try subscribing to a few additional podcasts to fill the void.
-With two more loses today I am now 8/38 with this year's Roll Up the Rim contest. My attempts to pick up my game have clearly failed. Maybe if I try hard I will be able to improve tomorrow.
-As my milk was about to go I decided to bake some bread today. This seemed to go relatively well. As I was doing laundry at the same time I didn't really waste too much time.
-My laundry washing was also quite productive. Though I am beginning to become somewhat frustrated that each time I wash my duvet cover items seem to migrate inside, and then don't dry properly.
-As term will be ending in a few weeks I need to start thinking about moving. Unfortunately, it seems that this is going to be a somewhat unpleasant process, particularly as I will likely be forced to leave things in Montreal and then re-buy equivalents where ever I end up next year. I guess it really isn't worth moving crap half-way across the country though.
-For some reason my library use seems to be way up this term. Particularly my checking out of monographs seems to be way up. I would guess that I have checked out more books this term alone than in the three previous terms combined.
-It seems that Sunday is now my big podcast day. Both Jordan, Jesse, Go! and This American Life Tend to release new episodes at around the same time on Sunday evening. The downside is that most new podcast content is consumed withing about a four hour period. Maybe I will try subscribing to a few additional podcasts to fill the void.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
A Few Quick Notes 163
-Though I haven't really been outside all that much today, it doesn't seem as though it has been a particularly cold or aggressive day. Unfortunately, the skies again overcast, continuing the trend.
-I think that I must now be 8/36 for this year's Roll Up the Rim to Win contest. I will need to pick up my game if I want to keep well ahead of the standard 9 to 1 win ratio.
-The Globe and Mail seems to have about two levels of Sudokus, the easy ones and the hard ones. Instead of switching these levels up from day to day, they seem to only change difficulty levels once every month or so.
This means that for about a month I think that I am doing quite well, so well that there isn't really much point in me continuing to try to complete these puzzles as they seem to complete themselves. Just as I start to think this, they change and I am not able to complete any.
After about a month of not being able to complete any of the puzzles I start to wonder why I am even trying as no matter how hard I try I don't make any substantial progress. Just as I start to think this they get easier, causing me to think that I have improved, and I continue to attempt them, and the cycle keeps on going.
-I really meant to bake some bread today, maybe that will have to happen tomorrow. If it doesn't happen in the next day or two I will have to toss my milk and start again.
-I think that I must now be 8/36 for this year's Roll Up the Rim to Win contest. I will need to pick up my game if I want to keep well ahead of the standard 9 to 1 win ratio.
-The Globe and Mail seems to have about two levels of Sudokus, the easy ones and the hard ones. Instead of switching these levels up from day to day, they seem to only change difficulty levels once every month or so.
This means that for about a month I think that I am doing quite well, so well that there isn't really much point in me continuing to try to complete these puzzles as they seem to complete themselves. Just as I start to think this, they change and I am not able to complete any.
After about a month of not being able to complete any of the puzzles I start to wonder why I am even trying as no matter how hard I try I don't make any substantial progress. Just as I start to think this they get easier, causing me to think that I have improved, and I continue to attempt them, and the cycle keeps on going.
-I really meant to bake some bread today, maybe that will have to happen tomorrow. If it doesn't happen in the next day or two I will have to toss my milk and start again.
Mary, Montifax's New Audio Correspondent
A few days ago I mentioned to my friend Mary that Montifax now had the ability to take calls, as well as the ability to post such calls. Upon tell her this I encouraged her to call and act as our correspondent, an idea to which she seemed receptive.
The following message is her first piece audio commentary.
[Embedded Audio]
In response to the message, I will say that I purposely tend to omit names as I am not always sure to what extent people want a presence on the web. In particular, I know that there are many people who wouldn't really mind a somewhat anonymized version of their story being told, but might not want their name associated with my take on the story over which they had no control (except to post a rebuttal in the comment section). Once I know that someone doesn't mind having their name used I am more than willing to use it as it typically makes the recounting of a pertinent tale a fair degree easier.
So this comment is relevant to all of you whose names I don't use. It is not meant to be a slight, but a way of preserving a degree of privacy.
The following message is her first piece audio commentary.
[Embedded Audio]
In response to the message, I will say that I purposely tend to omit names as I am not always sure to what extent people want a presence on the web. In particular, I know that there are many people who wouldn't really mind a somewhat anonymized version of their story being told, but might not want their name associated with my take on the story over which they had no control (except to post a rebuttal in the comment section). Once I know that someone doesn't mind having their name used I am more than willing to use it as it typically makes the recounting of a pertinent tale a fair degree easier.
So this comment is relevant to all of you whose names I don't use. It is not meant to be a slight, but a way of preserving a degree of privacy.
Message to Montifax
A few minutes ago I returned from work to find that I had received a call, and a corresponding voicemail from the New York area. Presumably, though I can't be sure, the person has called in to tell me how much they appreciate Montifax and that it is a very satisfying blog experience.
Hope this message brings you as much joy as it brought me.
[Embedded Audio]
Hope this message brings you as much joy as it brought me.
[Embedded Audio]
Saturday, March 15, 2008
A Few Quick Notes 162
-For the past day or two we have had pretty mild weather. It seems that the temperature has been about zero, or just above, with overcast skies, and little wind. The downside is that for the past few days we haven't really had that much direct sun. It seems that this might be affecting my wheat crop, but that could be something else.
-It seems that my Roll Up the Rim record is 8/34. Actually, as I was writing this post I finished a cup of coffee, rolled up the rim, and found that I had won another coffee, making 7 of my 8 wins free coffees.
-Last night we had a St. Patrick's day party at Thomson House. Not surprisingly, this meant plenty of Bailey's, Irish Whiskey, and, most importantly, Guinness. In many cases, all three were served together in the form of the Irish Car Bomb, a particularly unpleasant drink to clean up because of the presence of curdled milk products.
Anyway, after an early busy start, things calmed down a little, leading me to believe that we were in for a quite evening. Shortly after this deceptive lull, lines began to form and tables filled up. It was quite clear that we were in for a full evening, with keg changes a plenty.
The band playing in the ballroom, Squidjigger, seemed to be well received by the guests. I must say that I found the name a little off putting as I didn't quite get the connection between 'Irish' music and squidjiggers, but maybe that doesn't matter.
In total my fellow door person and I changed about ten kegs, did plenty of dishes, set up chairs, and generally worked our asses off. It was really an unrelenting night. Fortunately tips were good and people seemed to be enjoying themselves.
-In about an hour I have to head back to work for some kind of function. Hopefully it won't be quite as late a night as some of these dinner events can be.
-On Friday I learned that if I don't get my paper that the Globe will have it redelivered within 60 to 90 minutes. This is good to know as it seems that the number of times that I haven't been getting my paper has been increasing. This is particularly good to know in relation to Saturday papers as it is a bit of a frustrating financial hit to pay for the subscription and then have to buy a replacement.
-It seems that my Roll Up the Rim record is 8/34. Actually, as I was writing this post I finished a cup of coffee, rolled up the rim, and found that I had won another coffee, making 7 of my 8 wins free coffees.
-Last night we had a St. Patrick's day party at Thomson House. Not surprisingly, this meant plenty of Bailey's, Irish Whiskey, and, most importantly, Guinness. In many cases, all three were served together in the form of the Irish Car Bomb, a particularly unpleasant drink to clean up because of the presence of curdled milk products.
Anyway, after an early busy start, things calmed down a little, leading me to believe that we were in for a quite evening. Shortly after this deceptive lull, lines began to form and tables filled up. It was quite clear that we were in for a full evening, with keg changes a plenty.
The band playing in the ballroom, Squidjigger, seemed to be well received by the guests. I must say that I found the name a little off putting as I didn't quite get the connection between 'Irish' music and squidjiggers, but maybe that doesn't matter.
In total my fellow door person and I changed about ten kegs, did plenty of dishes, set up chairs, and generally worked our asses off. It was really an unrelenting night. Fortunately tips were good and people seemed to be enjoying themselves.
-In about an hour I have to head back to work for some kind of function. Hopefully it won't be quite as late a night as some of these dinner events can be.
-On Friday I learned that if I don't get my paper that the Globe will have it redelivered within 60 to 90 minutes. This is good to know as it seems that the number of times that I haven't been getting my paper has been increasing. This is particularly good to know in relation to Saturday papers as it is a bit of a frustrating financial hit to pay for the subscription and then have to buy a replacement.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
A Few Quick Notes 161
-Today was another pretty nice day in Montreal. We didn’t really have much of anything in terms of abnormal weather conditions, I mean, it wasn’t even all that cold today.
-Seems that I am now 6/27 with Roll Up the Rim so far this year. During class this afternoon, one of my classmates was convinced that I was about to win one of the boats. Both of us are dreading such an occurrence as we would have no particularly good way of dealing with such a prize at the moment. The joke is that if we win a boat we will have to have to store it at our parents’ houses.
-A few days ago a few co-workers and I were talking about the unpleasant experience that is drinking spruce beer. If I recall correctly, the general consensus, or maybe just what I thought, was that this stuff should be avoided at all costs.
As I was walking down the beer/pop aisle at the grocery store a few days ago I noticed that the store brand made a spruce beer. Assuming that they would have cut come of the spruce flavour and added some sugar, I decided to give it a try, for old times sake.
After letting it chill in my fridge for a few days, I eventually got around to trying it. Shortly after pouring myself a fair sized glass I tried it, only to find that it tasted pretty much like tree. The 40 grams of sugar per 355 ml seemed to have done nothing to make it sweet and tasty. I very quickly reached the conclusion that I wouldn’t be having any more.
When Nithum returned a few days ago I mentioned that he was welcome to have as much of the spruce beer as he wanted, and that whatever he didn’t drink we could just throw away. After his first taste he thought we could keep it around for a while, he would give it a chance.
Later that same evening I went into the kitchen and found that the spruce beer had been removed from the fridge and placed on the counter. It seems that Nithum’s infatuation hadn’t lasted even a full evening. Sometime in the next couple of weeks one of us will get around to throwing the rest away, though we don’t’ want to rush it as who knows who may want to try some.
-I should be working on assignments right now, particularly my presentation on the development of support for intellectual freedom in the American library community. I have plenty to do on that front, far more than I like to admit to myself.
-Seems that I am now 6/27 with Roll Up the Rim so far this year. During class this afternoon, one of my classmates was convinced that I was about to win one of the boats. Both of us are dreading such an occurrence as we would have no particularly good way of dealing with such a prize at the moment. The joke is that if we win a boat we will have to have to store it at our parents’ houses.
-A few days ago a few co-workers and I were talking about the unpleasant experience that is drinking spruce beer. If I recall correctly, the general consensus, or maybe just what I thought, was that this stuff should be avoided at all costs.
As I was walking down the beer/pop aisle at the grocery store a few days ago I noticed that the store brand made a spruce beer. Assuming that they would have cut come of the spruce flavour and added some sugar, I decided to give it a try, for old times sake.
After letting it chill in my fridge for a few days, I eventually got around to trying it. Shortly after pouring myself a fair sized glass I tried it, only to find that it tasted pretty much like tree. The 40 grams of sugar per 355 ml seemed to have done nothing to make it sweet and tasty. I very quickly reached the conclusion that I wouldn’t be having any more.
When Nithum returned a few days ago I mentioned that he was welcome to have as much of the spruce beer as he wanted, and that whatever he didn’t drink we could just throw away. After his first taste he thought we could keep it around for a while, he would give it a chance.
Later that same evening I went into the kitchen and found that the spruce beer had been removed from the fridge and placed on the counter. It seems that Nithum’s infatuation hadn’t lasted even a full evening. Sometime in the next couple of weeks one of us will get around to throwing the rest away, though we don’t’ want to rush it as who knows who may want to try some.
-I should be working on assignments right now, particularly my presentation on the development of support for intellectual freedom in the American library community. I have plenty to do on that front, far more than I like to admit to myself.
Monday, March 10, 2008
A Few Quick Notes 160
-Today has been a beautiful day. The temperature has also been quite reasonable today, not like some of the frigid days of this winter. Unfortunately, some of the streets are still filled with snow from Saturday’s storm. This makes walking around town a little more difficult than normal.
-If my count is correct, I am now 6/25 on my Roll Up the Rim coffee cups. So far I have won one donut and a number of coffees. The general consensus among my fellow classmates seems to be that winning a boat would just be a pain in the ass, particularly as most of us don’t have anywhere to store such an item, or a car with which to move it.
-The aforementioned storm caused most of the schools in Montreal to be closed today. Apparently, they had to do some work on snow removal before they were willing to send kids outdoors.
While I think that this was probably overkill, this isn’t as bad as the fact that CBC is reporting that the extreme number of school closures this year (3) is making it difficult for teachers to fit in the year’s required content. At the moment, at least this is what is being reported, the schools will likely re-schedule in-service days rather than add days to the end of the school year.
I can’t believe that this is an issue (though I know that it is in many jurisdictions), as we all know that elementary school isn’t so much about learning a list of things, but about socialization and day-care. Missing 3 days, or even several weeks, really isn’t that big a deal at the elementary school level, one has years to make it up, and likely will without problem. I know that missing the last six weeks of grade six because of a teachers strike has not been a problem for me (though it may explain why I still can’t do long division).
-Last night I was doing some reading about library education and thought that it was somewhat disappointing that many of the complaints people had about such education many years ago are largely the same complaints that my classmates have today. I guess people like me are at least partly to blame, we see these problems and then proceed to do absolutely nothing about them (except complain privately).
-A few weeks ago I tried to make some falafel from scratch. While the final product was edible, it certainly was nothing that I would want on a regular basis. This did get me thinking about home-prepared falafel options though.
A few days ago, while shopping in Lobos, I saw a falafel mix for $1.20. Not only was this about the same amount of money that I would pay for the raw ingredients, but it was also in a format that would give me some sense of what the pre-cooked product should be. At the moment I am in the midst of letting it stand, which is to be done before the cooking process is to take place, but after the mixing process has occurred.
My current concern is that the resulting mixture will not be thick enough to form patties, as directed on the box. I may have to add some flour, or other thickening agent, to achieve the desired consistency (though this would then screw up my chance at figuring our the desired consistency based on the pre-made mix).
-As some of you, our vast readership, may have noticed, we now have new buttons at the top of the right side bar of the blog. These buttons, when pushed, allow you to contact us (we each have our own buttons). At least in my case, this button will direct you to a voicemail service. We should be able to post particularly good voicemail messages to the blog for others to hear.
-If my count is correct, I am now 6/25 on my Roll Up the Rim coffee cups. So far I have won one donut and a number of coffees. The general consensus among my fellow classmates seems to be that winning a boat would just be a pain in the ass, particularly as most of us don’t have anywhere to store such an item, or a car with which to move it.
-The aforementioned storm caused most of the schools in Montreal to be closed today. Apparently, they had to do some work on snow removal before they were willing to send kids outdoors.
While I think that this was probably overkill, this isn’t as bad as the fact that CBC is reporting that the extreme number of school closures this year (3) is making it difficult for teachers to fit in the year’s required content. At the moment, at least this is what is being reported, the schools will likely re-schedule in-service days rather than add days to the end of the school year.
I can’t believe that this is an issue (though I know that it is in many jurisdictions), as we all know that elementary school isn’t so much about learning a list of things, but about socialization and day-care. Missing 3 days, or even several weeks, really isn’t that big a deal at the elementary school level, one has years to make it up, and likely will without problem. I know that missing the last six weeks of grade six because of a teachers strike has not been a problem for me (though it may explain why I still can’t do long division).
-Last night I was doing some reading about library education and thought that it was somewhat disappointing that many of the complaints people had about such education many years ago are largely the same complaints that my classmates have today. I guess people like me are at least partly to blame, we see these problems and then proceed to do absolutely nothing about them (except complain privately).
-A few weeks ago I tried to make some falafel from scratch. While the final product was edible, it certainly was nothing that I would want on a regular basis. This did get me thinking about home-prepared falafel options though.
A few days ago, while shopping in Lobos, I saw a falafel mix for $1.20. Not only was this about the same amount of money that I would pay for the raw ingredients, but it was also in a format that would give me some sense of what the pre-cooked product should be. At the moment I am in the midst of letting it stand, which is to be done before the cooking process is to take place, but after the mixing process has occurred.
My current concern is that the resulting mixture will not be thick enough to form patties, as directed on the box. I may have to add some flour, or other thickening agent, to achieve the desired consistency (though this would then screw up my chance at figuring our the desired consistency based on the pre-made mix).
-As some of you, our vast readership, may have noticed, we now have new buttons at the top of the right side bar of the blog. These buttons, when pushed, allow you to contact us (we each have our own buttons). At least in my case, this button will direct you to a voicemail service. We should be able to post particularly good voicemail messages to the blog for others to hear.
Saturday, March 08, 2008
A Few Quick Notes 159
-Today, or at least for this afternoon and evening, Montreal has been riding out a storm. For maybe the first or second time since I have been in Montreal we actually have a combination of precipitation and snow. Though I should be clear, while it is some of the worst weather I have experienced while in Montreal, it is no where near the worst winter storm I have experienced. It seems as though it may keep snowing well into the night, which would mean more than 24 hours of continuous snowfall.
-I think that I must be 5/22 on Roll up the Rim. Unfortunately, as I have not been posting as frequently as I would like, I have begun to lose track of things.
-It seems that in the past few months, or the era during which the American and Canadian dollars have been almost even, or the American dollar worth less than the Canadian dollar, that I have been getting more American money as change. This is frustrating, not because it is worth less than the coinage I should be receiving, but because I don't like using foreign currency.
I became particularly sensitive to this practice while working in New York. Customers would frequently become quite upset if they received a Canadian nickel instead of an American nickel. Now I can't bring myself to pay with foreign currency, so I end up basically losing the value of the foreign coin as I just set them aside until I visit the other country, which in the case of the United States isn't all that frequently.
-Today, two group-mates and I spent a good number of hours working on a project. Fortunately the time commitment paid off, as we now have completed a fair portion of the work. This is particularly good for me as I have a number of other pieces of work to deal with this week.
-Pineapples have been on sale at Provigo this week. I purchased and consumed two a few days ago. This evening I purchased another two, which I plan on consuming in the coming days.
-Last night was a very busy night at work. From time I started at 6:00, until I clocked about over eight and a half hours later, I didn't stop hustling. Not only was there plenty of busing to do, we also had a fair number of keg changes, but plenty of furniture to move, as well as some shoveling and salting to attend to. Fortunately our hard work was rewarded with it being a very good night for tips.c
-I think that I must be 5/22 on Roll up the Rim. Unfortunately, as I have not been posting as frequently as I would like, I have begun to lose track of things.
-It seems that in the past few months, or the era during which the American and Canadian dollars have been almost even, or the American dollar worth less than the Canadian dollar, that I have been getting more American money as change. This is frustrating, not because it is worth less than the coinage I should be receiving, but because I don't like using foreign currency.
I became particularly sensitive to this practice while working in New York. Customers would frequently become quite upset if they received a Canadian nickel instead of an American nickel. Now I can't bring myself to pay with foreign currency, so I end up basically losing the value of the foreign coin as I just set them aside until I visit the other country, which in the case of the United States isn't all that frequently.
-Today, two group-mates and I spent a good number of hours working on a project. Fortunately the time commitment paid off, as we now have completed a fair portion of the work. This is particularly good for me as I have a number of other pieces of work to deal with this week.
-Pineapples have been on sale at Provigo this week. I purchased and consumed two a few days ago. This evening I purchased another two, which I plan on consuming in the coming days.
-Last night was a very busy night at work. From time I started at 6:00, until I clocked about over eight and a half hours later, I didn't stop hustling. Not only was there plenty of busing to do, we also had a fair number of keg changes, but plenty of furniture to move, as well as some shoveling and salting to attend to. Fortunately our hard work was rewarded with it being a very good night for tips.c
Monday, March 03, 2008
Sunday, March 02, 2008
A Few Quick Notes 158
-Though not reported on Environment Canada’s website, today’s temperature really fluctuated by a fair margin. When I first left this house this morning it was on the cool side. By the time went out at noon I didn’t even need to close my jacket and the snow was clearly melting. Then by 5:30 the temperature had clearly dropped again, making standing around outside less than pleasant. Hopefully things don’t get too much colder tonight.
-My current record is 0/10 on Roll Up the Rim. Though I haven’t quite reached it yet, I am approaching the record I set last year.
-Things were pretty dead at work on Friday night. This isn’t really that surprising as it was the final day of reading week. Presumably things will be back to normal as of next week. The only particularly exciting event occurred shortly after I punched out.
My boss got stuck in the elevator for a few minutes. Though I could tell that the door hadn’t closed properly, I couldn’t tell exactly what the problem was. Upon investigating the matter one of my co-workers saw that there was a small piece of plastic preventing the outer door from closing fully. By pushing the plastic into the elevator shaft my colleague was able to allow free door to close, which then allowed the elevator to move on to its desired location.
-My former boss and her husband are in town for the weekend. On her suggestion, we met for a coffee this afternoon. It was fun to sit around and talk about a variety of subject, particularly my former place of employment.
-I have an essay that I need to complete for Monday. I have been working on it on and off for the past number of days but am still not as far along as I would like to be. I will really have to put in a good number of hours tomorrow and knock it into shape.
-My current record is 0/10 on Roll Up the Rim. Though I haven’t quite reached it yet, I am approaching the record I set last year.
-Things were pretty dead at work on Friday night. This isn’t really that surprising as it was the final day of reading week. Presumably things will be back to normal as of next week. The only particularly exciting event occurred shortly after I punched out.
My boss got stuck in the elevator for a few minutes. Though I could tell that the door hadn’t closed properly, I couldn’t tell exactly what the problem was. Upon investigating the matter one of my co-workers saw that there was a small piece of plastic preventing the outer door from closing fully. By pushing the plastic into the elevator shaft my colleague was able to allow free door to close, which then allowed the elevator to move on to its desired location.
-My former boss and her husband are in town for the weekend. On her suggestion, we met for a coffee this afternoon. It was fun to sit around and talk about a variety of subject, particularly my former place of employment.
-I have an essay that I need to complete for Monday. I have been working on it on and off for the past number of days but am still not as far along as I would like to be. I will really have to put in a good number of hours tomorrow and knock it into shape.
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