Where you will find my (documented) thoughts, worries, concerns, and issues
1999th
Entries
The clock, as they say, is ticking. In a few short hours, the last few seconds of 1999 will disappear somewhere just off the coast of New Zealand, and we’ll start to find out what we’re in for. Some believe it’s the end …
Well, another Christmas has come and (almost) gone. It was an unusual Christmas for me, mostly because things have changed. My family is bigger than it was, and I’ve got a few more traditions to start remembering. The …
‘Twas the night before Christmas, And all through the house, Not a creature was stirring, ‘Cause they were all at the hospital. Well, briefly anyway. Our evening was off to a startled start, after Allison required …
There’s nothing better than seeing the look of complete terror upon someone’s face. Especially if you know there’s a benevolent force behind it. Such as with a surprise party… Allison’s birthday was on Sunday …
Sometimes I wish we celebrated American holidays. At least then we’d have one more Hallmark Holiday(tm) between Hallowe’en and Christmas. As it stands, we now have a two-month Christmas season. Don’t fool yourselves, …
I hate moving. I mean, I really hate moving. As you know, we moved to a new apartment yesterday. Based on the amount of time that it took to move Brian and Gill from their apartment to their house, I assumed (rather …
The alarm went off at 8:00, and I staggered out of bed. Chris and I had made tentative plans to go for breakfast, but I needed to call him and find out. Chris couldn’t make it. The whole week had been like that — we’d …
The Old Man was still cursing the sink the following morning. By the time Allison and I left for Waterloo, the plumber had arrived to solve the problem once and for all. (It would take an additional two hours, and …
The original plan that day was to go into Toronto. Allison was feeling better, and she wanted to see the various neighbourhoods of Toronto she had heard so much about. That was the original plan, and plans around the …
Allison was not feeling well the following morning. Jet lag, the flu, a bad bit of food, we didn’t know — only Allison was not feeling well. Wednesday thus became a slow day — Allison slept off her illness, I read …
The alarm went off at 6:45am. I was up almost immediately, Allison begged for “five more minutes”. I took the opportunity to quickly have some orange juice. Allison was in the shower moments later. We had to …
If Sunday was quiet, Monday was dead. Being Thanksgiving Monday, it also meant that every store in Ontario was closed. (Stupid Holiday Shopping Act.) As it stood, Allison had work to do. Unlike myself, who was trying his …
The fire was still going the next morning. I don’t know if they rekindled it, or if the fire had just simply burned all night. Breakfast was eggs, bacon, leftover ham, and potatoes (not the deep-fried ones, thank …
We awoke to the smell of bacon. It must be an instinctual thing — no human can sleep through the smell of bacon. Your body takes in the smell and promptly yells: “Get up ya lazy oaf! There’s bacon to be had! GET …
We awoke to three deafening pounds on the bedroom door. Cathy had arrived at the Sowrey homestead, and wasn’t going to wait for her poor brother (and future sister-in-law) to adjust to the time change. She wanted to …
Allison was supposed to call me when she got downtown. I was a bit concerned that it was 2:00pm, and I hadn’t heard from her. I was supposed to pick her up at 2:00 at the Stadium Skytrain station. We still had to go over …
Several weeks ago, we received an invitation to a gala event in the Okanagan for one of Allison’s friends, Heather. She was getting married to her significant other, Brian. We were asked to attend the three-day event in …
Stress. I hate it. It sucks the life right out of me, and leaves nothing but exhaustion and bad moods. In short, I don’t do well under a large amount of it for a long period of time. And when you consider that I haven’t …
“The goats have been sucked.” That was how the Rad Sox season wound up Saturday afternoon. We started off the season with a fairly inspirational rallying cry before each game. However, as our …
Another birthday has come and gone, and save for a minor panic attack when I realised I wasn’t 21 anymore (yes, that actually happened, believe it or not), I’m doing okay. Things got off to a start on Friday, when Pure3D …
Life’s a beach. At least, it should be. Last weekend was the second busy weekend for Allison and I, the second weekend of the month we weren’t home. We won’t be home for a weekend probably until mid-August at the pace …
Deciding that the weather here had become too unbearable to stand for another weekend, let alone a long weekend, Allison and I opted to abdicate the Lower Mainland for places sunnier. At least, that was the plan. I …
10 years. I can’t believe it has been 10 years. On 30 June 1989, I departed for the first of what would become a string of interesting journeys into the unknown. This was my first trip out of North America, and my first …
I hate monopolies. They generally treat the customer like so much belly button lint. Late last month, Allison and I decided to get Roger’s @ Home (aka “Wave”). For those of you who haven’t heard of it, better …
On Monday and Tuesday, I experienced my first real business trip. I probably would be more excited about it than I should be, but we went to Seattle. Whoopee. Going to Seattle for a business trip is like … well, …
This weekend, I did something a little different than usual. I went to Calgary. Alone. Well, not totally alone. I went to visit Stuart, who I had only seen for a whopping six hours at Christmas. Ideally, I would have …
It’s finally happened. I guess it was only a matter of time. Allison and I are going to prison. Specifically, the grounds of the former Oakalla Prison Farm, about a kilometre east of where we’re living now. We’re moving …
A few weeks ago, I made the decision to join the company softball team, the Rad Sox (Rad, as is “Radical”). This was for several reasons: I’d get out more, meet more people in the company that I wouldn’t …
The shock came Thursday night, when I accidentally ran into the press conference while flipping channels — Gretzky was going to retire. I couldn’t help but think to myself: “Wow.” That was about all I could …
Our long weekend started Thursday night, when Allison’s company decided to hold an employee appreciation event at Metropolis (an entertainment-centric mall a couple of blocks from our apartment). Interlogic was springing …
This weekend was a little strange — we received some very unusual weather. It all started Friday night. As we were walking around English Bay with our friend Tyler, returning from a wonderful Greek dinner, we noticed …
There’s only so much rain you can take before you start to go a little strange in the head. It has rained here nearly every single day since 1 Nov 1998. We’ve had about 10-15 days in that stretch where it didn’t rain, …
Today is an auspicious date for me — one year ago today, I started my new job, working for a company that makes video games. A year later, I’m still here, despite the difficulties Radical went through in October and the …
Last night, Allison’s sister Jane returned from Europe, having spent the past seven and a half months in England (and Greater Europe). I remember being quite jealous at the time that she was going — she was doing what …
I’m two days late in writing this (okay, only one day, but holistically speaking, it’s two), so I apologise if anyone had been expecting me to say something. (Like anyone actually reads these things … I’m kidding, …