Colds suck

Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. That's how I feel right now. I can't remember the last time I was awake at 4:30 in the morning. I have to wake up in 3 and a half hours to go to a meeting, followed by a shift at work.

I wonder if it's safe to take the vacuum to my sinuses, I'm guessing it's not. Ah well, I'm going to attempt to get some sleep, just thought I'd share my misery with the world.

Now that's interesting

So I hear today that Belinda Stronach has moved from the blues to the reds just 2 days before a house of commons vote on the budget that could take down the government if it does not pass. Currently the Liberal/NDP alliance has 152 votes (including Stronach's), and the Bloc/Conservative alliance has 152 votes (obviously excluding Stronach's). So assuming everyone votes along party lines, everything falls to the 3 independents:

Chuck Cadman - former Reformer, Alliance, and Conservative party member.
Carolyn Parrish - 10 plus year liberal before leaving the party over the sponsorship scandal (if memory serves me).
David Kilgour - 14 plus year liberal before leaving the party around the same time Parrish did.

One would think that even if the former Conservative (Cadman) were to vote with the government, that at least one of Parrish/Kilgour is still holding a grudge with the Liberals and will vote against them. If at least two of those three vote against the budget then it's election time. Although I wonder if there will be any more crossing of the floor between now and Thursday, this stuff seems to happen in streaks. It'll make for an interesting vote.

Thunderstorms make for some amazing pictures. I stole this off Matt's blog. He's taking this picture of Jay taking a picture of me flaked out on the little deck thing. 

I Proclaim This "New Southwester Ontario"

Okay, I don't want to go all Homer Simpson on everyone, but Windsor is about to turn into Springfield:

http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/NEWS/RELEASES/2002/r020422.htm

I'm now waiting for my invitation to area code camp. Stupid 10-digit dialing. Where's Phoney McRing-Ring when you need him?

"Excuse me, Phoney, I have a question". Classic.

So, do I get to be mayor of new Southwest Ontario? Is The Who gonna play here? What about the wall of garbage? I bet no one thought of that did they?

An open letter to television broadcasters

I'm so sick of having to change the volume to adjust for each station. It's so annoying when you're flipping back and forth between 2 shows and the volume on one is a bunch lower than the other. So you get watching one at a normal volume, and when you flip you can barely hear the other, so you have to turn up the volume. Then when you flip back, the volume is rediculously loud. I typically set the volume to around 17-20 on my tv, and today I was watching a movie and had to turn it up to 30 to hear it, and then the commercials were obnoxiously loud and I had to keep switching back and forth. It really took away from my studying time having to keep changing the volume. So if I fail my exam tomorrow, it's the Space Network's fault.

And on a side note, the movie I was watching was one of the older Star Trek ones, which I've seen a couple times, but I always miss the first part and have no idea why they have to travel back in time to save humpback whales. Hell, I don't even know which movie it was.

Hearing music without a speaker?

I know, you think I must be on an acid trip, but check this out:

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/tech/2005/apr/21/042104146.html

This guy invented what I'll call a "Direct to ear" sound system. He points the antenna at you and you hear it, but no one else does because there's no speaker.

This guy will be a very rich man.

So Stupid

Okay, I'm watching the Amazing Race, and the challenge for the teams was to push this 700 pound elephant on wheels through this town. So while everyone else uses both team members to push the thing, the old couple decides that one of them should ride on top. After all, what's easier than pushing a 700 pound object? Pushing a 700 pound object with a 150 pound woman on top...who's yelling at the local children to help push the thing. Here's a thought:

GET OFF THE DAMN ELEPHANT AND HELP PUSH THE BLASTED THING. I know they aren't the most athletic, but at the very least get off so the thing your husband is pushing is significantly lighter.

I don't know what's worse, her stupidity or watching her order around small Indian children.

Badger, badger, badger, badger...

you know, I saw this thing like a year ago. I knew what it was, and knew that the second I clicked the link it'd be in my head for the next week and a half. And yet, I couldn't help but click it. I think I enjoy punishing myselft.

Badger badger badger badger badger.....It's still playing in the background.

Thanks for bringing this menace back into my life Sara.

Anyway, on the topic of punishment, I had a staff meeting this morning, and on the ride home from work it hit me: I left for work at 8am, and got home at 5:45 pm, and I was paid for four of those hours. Now granted the staff meeting lasted for 1 and a half of those hours, and we don't get paid for our staff meetings, but still. Oh well, at least I've only got a few months left before graduation and probably grad school. And one of the best things about grad school? No spending almost 4 hours of my weekend travelling on and waiting for busses.

Badger badger badger badger badger badger badger badger badger badger badger badger badger badger badger badger badger

Oh my god, I should have done my climate change presentation on the effect of the climate on badger populations, I could have had this thing playing in the background the whole time. Why must I always have the greatest ideas when it's too late. It's like George Costanza's "jerk store" incident.

That's Right Bitch!

I'm pumped, today has been a good day. Today's one of those days when you want to walk up to people and just tell them "I Own You!". What am I talking about? Well, my day started by getting a letter that confirmed my acceptance for a presentation at a conference in August about the software I'm writing. Then, while programming that software during the day I overcame a few hurdles that have been slowing me up. Then I just checked a test mark in my databases class and after getting a 14% on the first test and a 66% on the midterm, I rocked the second test with a 100%. I'm so happy.

And on top of that, it's now April 7th, which means just one month till vacation!

I'm off to go do a happy dance.

Brain Chip

"He can think his TV on and off, change channels and alter the volume thanks to the technology and software linked to devices in his home."

"Mr Nagle has also been able to use thought to move a prosthetic hand and robotic arm to grab sweets from one person's hand and place them into another."

This is pretty fascinating, it shows real hope for people with paralysis.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4396387.stm