Thursday, December 30, 2010

The End of 2010

I wish I could write something profound and super meaningful, but at this very moment there's nothing pressing I want to share. All I can say is that I can't believe 2010 is coming to an end. As I get older, it seems like time passes by quicker.

Gas was 121.1¢/litre on Christmas.

I'm currently reading What Good Is God?: In Search of a Faith That Matters by Philip Yancey. It's very sobering and basically deals with what good is God when people are suffering? Not "Aw shucks, I dropped the remote control in between the couch and the wall," but real suffering like mass shootings, persecution in non-democratic countries, and human trafficked sex slave workers. That's only the first three parts, which is where I am now. It is a good and necessary read.

Hope is a necessity in life. What good is life if there is nothing to hope for?

This showed up in my inbox on Boxing Day from The Daily Bible Verse and I really like it:

Matthew 2:1-2 – We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.” – Matthew 2:1-2

The Magi add a fascinating twist to the Christmas story. They were ancient astrologers who were regarded as the wise men of their time. They were not Jewish and this is the only time that they are mentioned in the Scripture. Their appearance and departure is mysterious and full of imagination. Notice the two groups who knew of the Christ: poor shepherds and respected wise men. Jews and Gentiles. God wanted to make it clear that the gospel was meant for rich and poor alike. It was meant for the smart and the uneducated. In other words, the gospel has been sent to the entire world.

Today’s commentary by:
Dave Whitehead, Senior Pastor, GraceNYC.org

It's something worthwhile to think about.

======================================================

When I was in Grade 7 (1999-2000), the school gave us agenda books to use as day planners. Being a special school year (Y2K), the agenda had a little rip-out portion that you could fill with memories and seal up to serve as a "time capsule." I wrote on mine that I could not open and read the contents for at least 10 years, and I actually did rip it open last year, January 1, 2010 at about 1:15am. I thought I would be flooded with memories and have some laughs, but I was pretty disappointed with myself with what I had written down. I was so vague!

Now a year later since I opened the "time-capsule," I'm still a little disappointed with what I wrote, but some of the things I recorded are kinda funny when I think about it, so here are some things that are maybe worth a chuckle to you (my answers are verbatim):
----------------------
What kind of computers do you use at
SCHOOL: junky ones
HOME: pc with a cd-rom [NOTE: It was a 300 Mhz Celeron with less than 4GB HDD space and about 256MB of RAM running Win 98)

Out of any vehicle I would choose: One of those cars that are boats

My friends will remember me most for:
being a geek, helpfulness, annoyingness, smartness, funnyness (not really), wanting to skydive

The Movie I want to own: Pokemon, the first movie [NOTE: I was really into Pokemon]

The class I like most: Gr 5, because Miss Loewen and Mr. White were nice.

Junk Foods, what do I buy, what does it cost? Chips - 69 cents to $3.00 [NOTE: this Christmas 2010, I received 2 huge bags of chips (the kind that's almost 1kg) and a huge thing of cheetos...so good...]

Top 3 tunes: Supernatural by dc Talk, some church tunes, and I'm So Happy by Hokus Pick [NOTE: my music tastes back then were pretty much limited to the local Christian radio station or whatever I heard about through friends)

My coolest day this year (1999) was when: I got lots of money, and when I got out of school

Two TV shows I never miss: Pokemon and Recess [NOTE: I still love Recess and saw a few episodes this year; I laugh at Pokemon now..aaah childhood]

What random act of kindness have I done lately: trying to be good [NOTE: so basically, nothing]

What are 3 things people do that I see as hurtful: hitting, name calling [NOTE: lol. I had virtually no world view back then]

Two issues I care deeply about: huh? and wha? [NOTE: I got lazy here. I wish I could slap my younger self]

My pet peeve: idiotic annoying people [NOTE: I think today I would change this to selfish, ignorant people]

Three things I enjoy learning about: animals, computers, people

My best learning resources: encyclopedia, computer, people [NOTE: we had a World Book Encyclopedia set that I used to browse and read for fun....kinda like Wikipedia now, but with 1000% less pop-culture and 100% more paper cuts]

3 new skills I want to learn: skydiving, 2nd language, being funny

3 things I want to achieve in my life: skydiving, being a millionaire, helping the world [NOTE: I almost can't believe how many times I referenced skydiving in my time-capsule, and I'm still not done mentioning it]

Time travel; what I am doing in 5 years? probably either in college, university or whatever [NOTE: I was in my second year at SFU in 2005]

What would I like people to remember about me: all the good things

This is what I wish to contribute to society: helpfulness, money, a good idea

Personal Mission Statement:
I want to be the best I can be and have God help as I do things. I want to be a success and always be a help. I want to have a ripe, rich, old life and fulfil dreams. Hopefully I might be able to fly/skydive.
----------------------

I still want to skydive, but it's at the back of my mind now 8^p
God is too good to me. I need to put away childish things.
Let 2011 be a year of hope, renewal, and growth. Man up.

Friday, November 19, 2010

Pointless Post #54

Someone I literally just met said "See you in the new year!" and then wished me Merry Christmas. So I wished them a Happy New Year. It felt strange because one, I'll probably never see them ever again, and two, it's over 36 days until Christmas.

Huh.

Here's a funny thing. If you are not happy or satisfied with your current job, I noticed some labels on some dry dog food the other day. One read "Better tasting formula" and the other said "50% less fat, but very tasty [sic]."

You've got to be pretty dedicated to have that job. Or very unfortunate.

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Gas was around 115-117¢/litre a few days ago. Phew!


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Monday, November 08, 2010

Pointless Post #53

When no one is around, instead of walking normally, I sometimes like to hop, skip, or gallop.


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What are Pointless Posts?

Monday, November 01, 2010

KFC Double Down Review – Verdict: Double LET DOWN :-(

Colonel Sanders, why oh why have you failed me? I wanted this to be a good review. I really did. I have longed to write something positive about KFC ever since their idiotic contest of Summer 2008 caused me to rebuke them, because I really do like fried chicken. But I can’t, because I want this to be an honest review, with only my bias. 8^p

So let me begin!

When I heard about the launch of the Double Down in the US, all I could think of was “genius.” A sandwich of bacon, cheese, and two pieces of KFC’s original recipe chicken breasts with no room for a bun? Beautiful. Deep fried goodness! If America is good at something, it’s fast food. I always make an effort to eat fast food when I’m in the US. There’s just so much variety, fast, and all kinds of delicious unhealthy, and usually cheaper than prices in Canada! I was sad to hear the Double Down was only available south of the border, but my heart leapt with joy when I read on some news website that the sandwich would be made available in Canada for a limited time.

YES! \o/ <-- a="a" air="air" br="br" can="can" guy="guy" hands="hands" his="his" if="if" in="in" it="it" s="s" see="see" t="t" the="the" with="with" you="you">
I was excited again when I saw a KFC flyer in the mail within days of reading the news, with the Double Down sandwich proudly featured all over it. I got even more excited when I read and heard on the news about how experts, doctors, nutritionists, and other humans were disgusted about the amount of calories and sodium this one fast food menu item had (actually, I wasn’t to thrilled about the sodium, but hey its fried chicken). I was excited for the hype. I like fried chicken.

So I told myself I would try it, and I did. I went and bought the Double Down sandwich a few days ago for $6.99 ($7.83 total with HST; the combo was priced at $8.99) and apparently I had a stupid grin on my face as I walked out with my takeout bag, or so I’m told. I hadn’t had KFC/friend chicken in a long time. Did I mention I liked fried chicken?

Under normal circumstances, I would have cringed and debated for a long time at the price, because lets face it, I’m Chinese. But I thought, this sandwich has to be worth it, because, its fried chicken, cheese, and bacon…TOGETHER! But I now know, its not. This was my first let down. Also, as a Christian I believe in good stewardship of money and so paying almost $8 for one item of fast food isn’t worth it.

Yes KFC, you may be raking in the cash on early sales right now, but I believe they’re all sales out of curiosity based merely on the aforementioned hype. While writing this post, Yahoo News linked to this story on their front page about how the Double Down broke sales records but I don’t think they’re sustainable. At least, from a rational point of view, they shouldn’t be. I could have gone to MCDONALDS and bought FIVE JR CHICKENS for about the same amount of money ($1.39 + HST five times is $7.78). So take that KFC. I’ll have to post another time about my love for the JR CHICKEN available at MCDONALDS. I’m so subtle

This is what the Double Down looked like in all the ads I saw:


Honestly, doesn’t that look deliciously beautiful? Look at that crispy batter skin. Look at the golden brown of fried perfection. Look at the tantalizing pieces of bacon hanging out of the side, waiting to be nibbled. Look at the sauce smeared with love, as processed cheese peeks playfully from the inside of the sandwich. This is what I expected.

I concentrated in marketing for my BBA degree and I did not clue in. Sigh (and also consumer FAIL).

This is what I unwrapped:






Huh.

There was a lot of processed cheese. As you can see, it hadn’t really melted. There were only two pieces of bacon, and they were maybe about 3 to 3.5 inches in length. The top chicken “bun” was comparably smaller to the bottom “bun.” I do not remember tasting any special sauce. I will give credit, in that they were two delicious pieces of white chicken breast. I will give a thumbs down on the crispy batter. There wasn’t a lot of crisp to it. The eleven herbs and spices of the original recipe batter were not as aromatic as fried chicken pieces I had eaten in the past. I should have cut it in half and taken a picture of it as a cross-section, but I was too hungry at this point to care. It was also a lot smaller than I thought it would be, especially for the price of $6.99 plus tax. Picture something quite smaller than the Burger King Whopper and that’s what it is.

Overall, I was mostly disappointed and let down on the general appearance of the sandwich and the amount of bacon. I googled pictures of the Double Down, and American versions don’t really look like what I received. I also stumbled upon home made versions of the Double Down. If you want this “experience” you’re better off trying to recreate it at home. It would be cheaper and more satisfying in the long run, especially when you’re adding your own bacon.

So long story short, KFC’s Double Down is not worth it. I kind of want someone to prove me wrong and tell me it was all a bad dream, but un-photoshopped pictures don’t lie.

Just ask Spider-Man.

Spider-Man is not happy with the KFC Double Down

STEEELLLAAAA!!!

Friday, October 22, 2010

Pointless Post #52

I hate hearing people eating/chewing with their mouths open. To me, it's vulgar, disgusting, and bad table manners. Also, it sounds gross.

On the other hand, I LOVE hearing animals eating/chewing with their mouths open. When they do it, it's just so cute!

Look! He's making crunching sounds! AWWWW! O_O



This is just a cat licking a goat milk lollipop. Not as cute as the above video, but still cute!



This is sort of related, so I thought I'd link it too.




And to end this pointless post on a completely unrelated topic.....
CODY MCKENZIE!!!! GUILLOTINE CHOKE!!!! YEAAAAAHHHH!!!!

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What are Pointless Posts?

Saturday, October 02, 2010

Riding the “Euro Express” at Genting Highlands

I decided to upload a new video to YouTube from the Tim-vault of 2009! While visiting relatives in Malaysia, our cousin took me and my sister to Genting Highlands with his family, just for fun. Compared to North America, this theme park was pretty tame, but it was still fun. It’s even more fun when you make your own fun.

While eating dinner at the First World Plaza (a part of the entire resort area) I looked up and saw the “Euro Express,” one of the indoor thrill rides that make up the First World Theme Park. It’s more or less a kiddy roller coaster. I had a lot of pent up energy and I noticed people (a good mix of south east Asians, other Asians, and some Arabs) didn’t really scream and shout on thrill rides as I’ve grown accustom to back home. I though to myself, wouldn’t it be fun to go on that little ride, lean over the edge of the car to look at the families that are trying to have a nice meal and the oblivious bystanders below, while shouting at the top of my lungs “we’re all going to DIE,” making them think I was crazy while filling the building with sound of my screams?

The Plaza was not a noisy place to begin with. So I agreed with myself, yes, that would be fun! This is an amusement park after all! Good idea Tim!

I also thought it would be appropriate to scream “we’re all going to DIE” in a more common language, which is Bahasa. So my cousin taught me the very useful phrase: Sekarang kita semua nak mati.

Aaaand my sister and I got into the line for the “Euro Express” (mostly filled with family-aged kids, mothers/fathers with youngsters, etc) and got into the roller coaster car. I turned my camera on and started to record. I screamed the ENTIRE ride. I looked down below and across the different levels of the shopping area, tried to make eye contact with confused visitors, and screamed AT them. At their faces.

We got off the ride and I checked my camera. In my haste, I somehow thought it failed to record at all. My throat felt quite sore at this time, but hey, we’re here; we have nothing better to do, so lets try it again! So we lined up and got on and I did it again! And I promptly bought a bottle of overpriced water after that. Ugh my throat was sore. It even felt a little sore as I watched my videos again, hahaha.

Long story short, both times we went on the ride, my camera DID record my antics and screams, but the video mode it was on only limited it to 1-minute clips.

Usage of convenient technology FAIL along with the obvious Bahasa language FAIL.
But making your own fun memories WIN.

Here’s what the rollercoaster is like with normal people:


……and then with me, spicing it up a notch. WARNING: there is a lot of Tim in it:

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Wipeout Canada bummer and REESE’S PUFFS RAP!

I was a little bummed tonight. I had somewhat high hopes to be a contender to be a semi-finalist in Toronto for a chance to compete on Wipeout Canada. But the rules stated they would consider the top 20 entrants with the most votes and it became apparent to me that I was not popular enough to garner enough votes because my inbox had 0 new emails tonight.

Section 5 (d) stated:

(d) The twenty (20) entrants WILL BE NOTIFIED BY TELEPHONE OR E-MAIL NO LATER THAN 11:59 p.m. ET on September 26, 2010, AND MUST RESPOND WITHIN 24 HOURS OF SUCH NOTIFICATION. Upon notification, the entrant must respond by telephone to the contact number provided in the notification, and the entrant’s response must be received by the Sponsors within 24 ours of such notification. If the selected entrant does not respond in accordance with the Rules, he/she may be disqualified. The Sponsors are not responsible for the failure for any reason whatsoever of an entrant to receive notification or for the Sponsors to receive an entrant’s response.

As of now, its about 3:00am EST and I haven’t been contacted so…….poo. 8^(

I’m still hoping that maybe the entrants who had more votes than me will be disqualified for some reason and that I’ll be chosen. Some of the entrants didn’t even have a wipeout in their video!

Anyways, to take my mind off of that, I’m going to talk about eating cereal.

I do not understand how people poor* cereal into the bowl first. I always poor milk first, then cereal. I eat the cereal until its gone. I usually have a substantial amount of milk left, so I pour more cereal. I finish my cereal, and continue the pattern until I only have about two mouthfuls of milk left which is usually quite sweet at this point and then I’ll drink it and finish up. This should be the norm… isn’t it!?

*see comments

On average, I usually take about 8 minutes to eat a bowl of cereal using my method. I don’t know how the people who pour cereal into the bowl first do it. Oh well.

In the past few months, I have eaten a lot of Reese’s Puffs cereal because a cousin of mine discovered them and got me hooked on them in the process. Prior to this, I had been faithfully eating Oatmeal Crisp (almost exclusively) for at least the past 10 years. But enough about that. What I really love is what’s been on the back of my cereal box which always still amuses me when I read it. It is the Reese’s Puffs Rap, and I’ve transcribed it below. I rap it in my head as I eat. It’s quite catchy.

My Reese’s Puffs Rap

THAT PEANUT BUTTER CHOCOLATE __(1)__

IS THE __(3)__ THAT I __(2)__ THAT __(1)__

REESE’S PUFFS,
REESE’S PUFFS, IN YOUR BOWL, IN YOUR BOWL!

RECOGNIZE THE TASTE THAT I __(2)__

REESE’S PUFFS REESE’S PUFFS,

WOW PEANUT BUTTER CHOCOLATE __(2)__


SO CRUCIAL TO MY __(4)__ VERNACULAR

THAT PEANUT BUTTER __(3)__ IS OH SO SPEC
TACULAR
REESE
’S PUFFS, REESE’S PUFFS

MY
REESE’S PUFFS ARE __(5)__
EACH PEANUT BUTTER ORB IS __(5)__!

REESE
’S PUFFS, REESE’S PUFFS, IN YOUR BOWL, IN YOUR BOWL!

1 - I MUST CONFESS, I MUST POSSESS, I WILL OBSESS, I WILL ADDRESS


2 – FLAVOR, SAVOR, CRAVER, RAVER


3 – DUO, TASTE, FLAVOR, MIX, COMBO, HOOKUP


4 – EATING, CRUNCHING, BREAKFAST, CEREAL, CHOMPING


5 - A MIRACLE, L-L-LYRICAL, OH SO SPHERICAL, TOTALLY RADICAL



General Mills should send me a free box of cereal for this awesome free pub I’m giving them. Also, I like free cereal. Canada overprices cereal and its ridiculous. American groceries FTW!

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Saw gas for about 111¢/litre three days ago.

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Pointless Post #51

Please go to this link:

http://apps.facebook.com/contestshq/contests/55534/voteable_entries/8198534?ref=mf

and vote for me, and then tell your enemies (and friends) to vote for me too, so that I can attempt to get on Wipeout Canada, so that I can make a fool of myself.

If not, I will commit hamburger seppuku. And by that I mean will eat a hamburger with a knife (and probably a fork).

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Hockey FAIL

Monday was a bit of a bummer for me.

My wooden CCM stick that I bought from Walmart 3 years ago and cost me $11.26 broke. And it wasn't the shaft, it was the plastic blade!
I wasted 45 min the previous week re-taping the shaft with duct and hockey tape, hehehe. On the bright side, I now know my taping is effective, because I'm cheap. Because I'm Chinese. Cogent? Who cares.

I also somehow tripped myself which trying to check someone from behind. I'm not sure how I tangled myself up, but I wasn't even able to get my hands/arms in front of me to break the fall, so I landed full force on the left side of my body. I really felt an oomph of wind leave my breath as my chest hit the floor. I now have a weird "L" mark/bruise on my left shoulder (I'm not kidding, there's a mark that looks like a triangle with one side missing, hence the "L") and a bruise on my left hip.

And when I got home, I realized I got a splinter from something. Probably from the tables we use as boards. Its hard to see but the cut where it entered my flesh is further up, so the splinter you see there is actually the whole thing lodged under my skin. It wasn't too bad to get out.



Ok I'm done whining now.

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Saw gas for 117¢/litre a few days ago and now its at 112¢/litre.

Friday, September 10, 2010

Last chance for Wipeout Canada?

I just got an email in my inbox saying this:

Disappointed that you didn’t get the call to compete in Wipeout Canada? MOTRIN® and Wipeout Canada are teaming up to give previous applicants one last chance to be cast AND COMPETE TO WIN THE FINAL SPOT FOR WIPEOUT CANADA! For five days only, the casting call will reopen for those who previously applied.

Answer the casting call
:

All you have to do is share your favourite wipeout caught on camera. Go to http://apps.facebook.com/contestshq/contests/55534 and upload your video. ENTRIES WILL BE OPEN FOR SUBMISSION from September 10th (9 am ET) – September 14th (11:59 pm ET). Then, invite your friends to vote for you at www.facebook.com/wipeoutcanada from September 15th – 22nd. A panel of judges will select the top 10, from the 20 entries with the most votes; those selected will compete in a Wipeout-style challenge in Toronto on October 16 for the final spot in Wipeout Canada!

So I uploaded a video of me wiping out.



Voting starts September 15, 2010 at http://apps.facebook.com/contestshq/contests/55534/voteable_entries/8198534?ref=mf so view my video and vote for me if you want to potentially see me on TV and make a fool of myself, provided that I make it to the "tryouts" in Toronto first.

Thursday, September 09, 2010

Four Wisdom Teeth Cut Out

I had all of my wisdom teeth taken out this morning in an oral surgery. They were impacted (I believe that means they were growing into my other molars) and were all still underneath my gums still. So the oral surgeon cut them out.

To be honest, I was A LOT more nervous for my Class 5 road test than this. I sat in the chair, the anesthesiologist came in and poked my arm with a needle, said he'd pump me full of something, I'd taste something bad in my mouth, and then be knocked out in about 15 seconds. I asked him if it was going to be exactly 15 seconds. He said more or less. I started to get a weird taste in the back of my throat and I think I started to gag. And then I woke up about 45 min later (or less?), not remembering anything, but feeling very, very drowsy/weak. It's a very trippy experience to be sedated! Phew!

My biggest concern about getting my wisdom teeth removed was about my recovery and being able to eat (because I am a selfish glutton). When my sister had her wisdom teeth removed, she wasn't able to stand up after the surgery and then she got high on the Tylenol 3's. She does not remember taking our dog into her car and taking him for a drive. Very scary, and somewhat hilarious stuff. God was merciful then.

And He's been very merciful to me too! I was completely conscious and aware of everything right after the surgery and still am. I don't have a lot of pain, other than a dull soreness at the back of my mouth and throat. Swallowing is a little problematic, but I have very little swelling. I watched Jana and Jill Duggar get their wisdom teeth removed a few months ago on 19 Kids and Counting, and I thought my cheeks would balloon and go chipmunk like they did. I think I just look I've been eating too much for the past week. See bottom for pictures.

[WARNING: potentially gross paragraph ahead!]

I asked for my wisdom teeth and they put two of them in a little container for me. I think the other two teeth were removed in pieces so they just chucked them. They were a lot more bloody and had little pink globs of flesh(?) stuck to them, which I guess must have been my bits of my gum they hacked out of my mouth. I tried to wash them and remove it as best as I could. It reminded me of uncooked chicken. And I really hoped they were my teeth I was washing and not someone else's they randomly gave to me. What do I know? I was sedated! I don't know why my mind likes to over think stupid things like this. And no, I will not try to see if they fit in my mouth to determine if they are actually my wisdom teeth or not. I know some silly goose is thinking about that now. You fruit.




So yay, I'm on mush foods and have limited mouth movement. I wonder how people in developing countries cope. They probably just never have their teeth checked out, have complications, get infections, and suffer a lot/die early. I am such a pansy.

Why is God so merciful to me?

And now to end this post, a trio of Tims for my own amusement, and now yours. I know, I need a haircut. Maybe I should end every post I write with a picture of a trio of Tims. Nooo, that would just be narcissisticly creepy.

12am - just ate Korean noodles and ice cream. The last time I can eat solid food and I'm content.
12pm - surgery just finished less than an hour ago... I'm alert, but still under effects of anesthesia. Also, there is gauze in my mouth.
6pm - haha look at how more swollen 12pm Tim's face and crazy his eyes were! I'm hungry now. Also, my hair still sucks.

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Wipeout Canada is RACIST

Wipeout Canada is RACIST because they didn't pick me! I'm Chinese, so they must hate Chinese people! Actually, that's probably not true at all....I think they didn't pick me because I wore glasses in my audition video. I can really see without my glasses! Ugh. Also, they're racist.

The callback interview/auditions(?) were last Thursday (July 22) at the River Rock Casino, and I was not invited. I saw the snippet they did on Global BC news that night and most of the people in line where (drumroll please....) white! Surprise, surprise! I bet all the show's producers are......WHITE! I think all the judges were white. Anyways, I saw one girl's face that was Asian-looking....other than that....nope. In all seriousness, I'm joking about the racist thing. I just like to stir up trouble because I have nothing else better to do. Or do I?

The main website claims that applicants shouldn't give up hope and that they will still contact people.....so I guess I should cross my fingers. One percent of me is actually really excited that I still have a chance! The other 99% is plotting vendetta. I mean, I didn't say that out loud.

PS - I love white people. I was just kidding, haha Chinese make the funny joke!

Thursday, July 08, 2010

Free Advertising: DealExteme.com

I am a satisfied customer. The gist is, super cheap stuff, potentially Chinese knockoffs of the real thing, but fairly good quality at super cheap prices, with shipping included. SHIPPING INCLUDED AAAAUGGGGGHHH-MAZING! Note that prices are in US dollars. And that shipping takes a few weeks..... maybe a month. No joke.
Things I have got from them include:

1. Silver Irregular 3x3x3 Brain Teaser Magic IQ Cube - $4.33
Great bump cube, turns beautifully, light, but sturdy, if you're not a gorilla. Ordered and paid May 7th, received on May 31st.

2.
Mini 2x2x2 Brain Teaser Magic IQ Cube Keychain (5-Pack) - $3.58


They feel cheap, and they are, but hey its a keychain. After a few months, I'm pretty sure the stickers will wear out. But, hey, there's five!
Ordered and paid June 7th, received on June 16th.

3.
Floppy 3x3x1 Brain Teaser Magic IQ Cube - $3.11


This thing is crap. It's made from a cheap soft plastic and after some playing with it, the middle flap pieces broke off, that's how soft the plastic is.....so now they are held by plumbers glue. Stiff turns too. BUT DealExtreme, being the smart company they are, offered to send me a replacement or give me store credit, for FREE! So I chose store credit. See number seven.
Ordered and paid June 7th, received on June 16th.

4.
3x3x2 Brain Teaser Magic IQ Cube - $4.56 (no longer sold?)



This thing looks cheap at first, but upon closer inspection is very good quality plastic and turns fairly nicely. The stickers also feel like they'll last a long time. It's just really hard to solve! Ugh.
Ordered and paid June 11th, received on June 24th.

5.
4x4x4 Brain Teaser Magic IQ Cube - $7.86


See number four. I think they're the same company too, because they both have a cheap looking logo sticker slapped on them "QJ Magic Cube" which is kind of a shame because the cubes themselves are beautiful! The stickers on this one are also like a textured matte feeling....very nice.
Ordered and paid June 22nd, received on July 8th.

6.
Floppy 3x3x1 Brain Teaser Magic IQ Cube (White) - $5.37 (no longer sold :-( i think?)

It's just plain beautiful. Much more different and complicated than the regular 3x3x1.
Ordered and paid June 22nd, received on July 8th.

7.
Maru Mini 3x3x3 Brain Teaser Magic IQ Cube - $3.93 
(no longer sold :-( i think?)


Haven't received it yet, but all reviews say its a good cube. I would have never gotten this, or number five and six if it weren't for number three (the lousy 3x3x1 floppy cube) breaking and them offering store credit. There was some ambiguity in their customer service, and I misunderstood their offering of credit when I made the last orders...long story short, I'm getting this one for free.

Saturday, July 03, 2010

Two New Vids: Wipeout Canada and Jumping over KongKong

I uploaded two new videos on YouTube.

I applied to be on Wipeout Canada and it was advised that a video would be a good addition to the application, so I tried to do something reasonably entertaining/funny on short notice. I had much better ideas, but this is the result:



And from the Tim-Vault of 2004, a video of me jumping over my grandfather as he takes a nap:

Friday, June 25, 2010

Pointless Post #50

Friday night. Sitting in my room. Trying to figure out my 3x3x2 puzzle cube. Life is good.

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What are Pointless Posts?

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Pointless Post #49

Sometimes the sound of my own voice irritates me.

......o.O


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What are Pointless Posts?

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Wisdom is Empathy

I almost can't believe it's been about a month since my last post. But then again, since I'm no longer in school, I don’t really have the same things to procrastinate about……just real life….sigh. Whatever, this almost doesn’t make sense.

IRRELEVANT INTRODUCTORY PARAGRAPH

I guess some big news to share is that my sister is now married and “removed” from the family. She’s no longer in her room and her last name is all different. In Chinese “thinking,” when a daughter gets married, they’re “lost” to the family she weds into, which in one way sounds ridiculous, but in a sense is true. I don’t miss her (yet), but it is quieter around the house.

Fun fact related to the wedding, or rather, embarrassing fact. I bought a suit three years ago (off the rack, yeah!) and it fit great. But when I tried it on last month (for the first time since then), it was very evident that my butt, hips, and thighs (good grief, I sound like a woman) had gotten bigger… much bigger. My mom, God bless her seamstress-ing skills, let out the pants a bit, but even then it was a tight fit. So the two weeks before the wedding, I started cutting out almost all salty snacks (and some sweets… only some) and a few days before my sister’s big day, I started running, er… fine, fine, WALKING on a treadmill (because I don’t have stamina to run) to cut down on my water weight. And the good news is that it worked! My suit pants fit better…but they were still a bit on the tight side…haha.

Why I am explaining all of this? Because last night, I gorged on some lovely salty snacks before going to bed; a nice 240g bag of crunchy Cheetos, which I had only planned to eat half of. Ugh, I felt horrible right after, and while trying to fall asleep too, as I lay in bed (thank you God for my bed!) with a parched mouth and that horrible thirsty-but-not-thirsty-at-the-same-time feeling. I don’t know how to describe the feeling on my tongue, but just know and understand that I had ingested too much monosodium glutamate (and about 2485mg of sodium according to the nutritional facts on the bag). I think I was still feeling the effects of it today as well. But all in all, I love Cheetos and I love you too, Joyce and Phil (so please buy me some Cheetos). Haha, it’s a joke! Seriously though, Cheetos are the best. Haha, another joke! I could do this all day!

Sooooo…. it was two week that our pastor at church was talking about Solomon and wisdom, and I sat there pretty convicted, because I think in my heart there have been times where I’ve been asking God for much lesser things. In 1 Kings 3, God asked Solomon in a dream what he wanted, and instead of asking for wealth and power, Solomon asked God for an understanding heart to judge the people and discernment between good and evil. I think I realized at an early age that it is actually quite foolish to ask for wealth from God, despite desiring it very much, and I used to pray to God to give me wisdom, just like Solomon asked God for wisdom. In summer 2006, I started to memorize Proverbs 2:1-6 and I used to pray it too, because not only does it sound noble, but its quite godly. However, I know there are many times where I prayed and asked meaninglessly. I asked God for wisdom without even caring or thinking about what I was asking for.

But God in His great love and mercy, I believe has started to answer my prayers. In the past few years, I’ve started to learn how to have empathy, so much to the fact that its felt like my heart actually hurts, and I may have even shed tears for strangers. I believe that wisdom is empathy, understanding and caring for what another person goes through. I still have much to learn though, because I know there are times when I choose to be ignorant and cold-hearted, but I think empathy, and wisdom altogether, sometimes feels like rare qualities to find on someone in the street. Sometimes it feels like it doesn’t even exist at all.

I found this fantastic video through Lon Wong’s blog. It is potentially intellectually heavy, so only watch it if you have enough time to think and digest it. Think of it as a challenge, especially if you’re only used to watching stupid, funny videos like me, but you will be rewarded in the end, because the doodles are cute and funny, but the message is strong:



And finally, I found this Venn diagram yesterday (via Gizmodo) and I literally laughed out loud, because it is AWESOME!



ITS SO CUUUUTE!!!!


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Been seeing gas between 113 -115¢/litre.

Saturday, May 08, 2010

Tom Cruise Clairvoyance

This happened on Saturday, but I just remembered that I wanted to write about it now....

Anyways, while vacuuming I was thinking about how my mom likes to offer slippers to visitors to our house. Personally, I like to go barefoot (I like to feel carpet underneath my toes) and I sometimes think offering slippers to guests is unnecessary. I think it's because in Malaysia when my parents were growing up (and even now) most people wear slippers in the house because somehow the floors get really dirty there. I can attest that even in my grandparent's home to this day, there's always an abundance of slippers to wear and the floor did feel dirty when I walked barefoot on them.

But that's not the point of this post I'm writing about.

As I continued to vacuum, my train of thought somehow wandered to the scene in The Last Samurai where Tom Cruise tracks mud and dirt all over the nice hardwood floor of the Japanese widow's home. And then I remembered how he later learns to take his shoes off before coming into the house. And then I thought about the scene where the youngest son starts making faces at Tom Cruise during dinner. I love that scene because its so cute, and feels real.

I dare you to sip water as you watch this:



If I ever meet Tom Cruise, I think I'd like to try this, or better yet, that's how I'll thank my prospective employer when I go in for my next job interview.

Anyways fast forward a few hours later when I'm flipping channels on TV and what's playing on CBC? Yes, its The Last Samurai. Am I clairvoyant? Definitely not, because I didn't predict it to be playing on TV, I just happened to think about it.

But just in case, I'm going to try and think about foot-long hotdogs with all the trimmings, and crunchy Cheetos all day tomorrow. But according to the my logic, that would mean I would only be seeing these things on TV...

Hmm, I'm going to have to think this through more carefully. But I do like junk food!

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Saw gas today for 114.9¢/litre

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Pointless Post #48

Haven't wrote anything in a while. Because I'm lazy.

Here's a very small snippet of what my life has consisted of in the past few weeks/months, in no particular order:
-Battlefield 2
-the Vancouver Canucks (and other Playoff hockey)
-Sriracha sauce
-the Duggars from Arkansas
-going crazy thinking that something is wrong with my computer, only to find out that it's Microsoft's stupid software that can't handle a semicolon (";") in a password (and just to add, if SQL Server Express were a person, I'd kick it in the groin)
That last one really drove me nuts. Sigh.

If I had a nickel for every time I went out and realized the zipper was not zipped up on my pants from when I was a little kid until now, I'd probably have about $1.

Here's a new Tim-video on my YouTube channel, starring Tim. If it seems familiar, it's because you have a good memory and saw a picture of it here, way back from Pointless Post #31.



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What are Pointless Posts?

Thursday, April 01, 2010

CGA Recruit Process

It has been a relatively time consuming process, but I got an email saying my CGA application has been accepted and I'm now officially a CGA Recruit!

I'm one step closer to getting my accounting designation and becoming a Certified General Accountant!

YEAH!

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Pointless Post #47

It was such a warm and beautiful day, I thought to myself, as I knelt down to pick up a warm, steaming pile of Lance's feces off the sidewalk.

Today was the eve before spring.

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What are Pointless Posts?

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Spider-Man at the Royal Canadian Mint Pavilion

As seen here:

Spider-Man in line for the Royal Canadian Mint Pavilion (during the Vancouver 2010 Olympics)

Standing in line. The lineup to see and touch the Olympic medals is just ridiculous, and to wait in that line is also potentially ridiculous, depending on your priorities.

Spider-Man holding a loonie ($1) in front of the one million dollar coin  (during the Vancouver 2010 Olympics)

Royal Canadian bling (there's a loonie in his hand).

Spider-Man sending greetings at the Royal Canadian Mint's picture booth (during the Vancouver 2010 Olympics)

In a digital photo booth.

These should be the last Spider-Man pictures in a while. *shrugs*

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

the Terriblelands update - NEW feed, NEW "host"

Relatively important news (relative to me anyways)!

Do not check http://www.sfu.ca/~toh anymore!
It is no longer being updated!
It's been moved to http://www.theTerriblelands.com.


I've been publishing the Terriblelands using Blogger via FTP onto my SFU file space since I've started this site in 2005. Blogger won't be supporting FTP publishing very soon (by the end of this month) because of costs and resources and so while mucking around with my Blogger settings a few days ago, I clicked on something that I can't undo, so now my stuff no longer gets published onto "http://www.sfu.ca/~toh."

Everything now gets hosted at http://theterriblelands.blogspot.com (or now that I've paid for it, www.theterriblelands.com, which will redirect you to the blogspot address anyways). Its actually more convenient this way.

Also, the new RSS feed to subscribe to is:
http://theterriblelands.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default
Please delete the old feed if you used it.

For now, all my old pages (on my SFU file space) will remain up, but I plan to move all that stuff someday anyways, especially all the things categorized under "the Terriblelands Annoying Frame Menu". Expect many broken links in the future.

Please do not panic. Please return to your seats in a calm and orderly manner. That is all.

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Saw gas for around 113¢/litre. Hasn't been that high of an average since the past summer.

Monday, March 08, 2010

Saturday, March 06, 2010

Pointless Post #45 - avec Spider-Man pendant the Olympics

Here's two new Spider-Man pictures:

Spider-Man with some fan-made inukshuks on the edge of False Creek (during the 2010 Vancouver Olympics)
Spot him and win a prize!
(The prize will be you win at life)


Spider-Man walking towards Sochi House (aka Science World) during the 2010 Vancouver Olympics
I'm sitting on a ledge!

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What are Pointless Posts?

Thursday, March 04, 2010

Back to "normal" life (post-Olympics)

I'm almost sick of the word "olympics." The keyword there is "almost" because I consider the fact that I got paid to do very close to nothing (which makes me feel good and bad at the same time) because of the Olympics. On the bright side, because "working" at the Olympics was so uneventful, I was able to learn how to solve a 3x3 Rubik's cube (done during "work")! I've only memorized the algorithms though, so it's not like I can analyze a cube and figure it out in a few steps. I have to do it step by step, according to Leyan Lo's beginner's guide. Basically, if I mess up one turn on the last step and something is out of place, I usually can't fix it, and I'll have to start again. So far my best time is 1:47 though. Thank you Leyan, for making it possible for slow people like me, to be able to appear to be smart.

I'm personally quite happy that the Olympics are over. No more crowded public transit. No more drunk people butchering the Canadian anthem as they scream it at the top of their lungs. No more woo-ing (eg. people screaming WOOOO!) in the streets for no apparent reason (with subsequent "echos" by other people down the street). No more lineups for silly things such as disappointing pavilions (I'm looking at you, Canada House, even though I didn't even bother to visit you!). No more of a lot of things. It was very nice for a time, but that good thing needed a good ending, which it did. Nothing and no one was blown up. God was merciful to Vancouver.

Also no more VANOC cookies (at least for now). I'm glad someone else wrote a post about them before I did. There's a picture in that link, and that's what they looked like. I averaged about 6 per day, with a grand total of 108 cookies. They're pretty good. The only disturbing part is that the cookies are all individually packaged, and they didn't have an expiry date on them. With all the additives/ingredients listed on the wrapper, I was slightly wary... but hey free cookies! Everything is A-OK!

I registered a domain name today: http://www.theterriblelands.com

I slightly regret doing it it, because now that life is back to "normal" it also means I'm unemployed again. Oh well.
Two weird searches have lead people to my site recently which are worth sharing:

"how to graph geraniums"
AND
"is 2 bowls of multigrain cheerios too much?"

Not random at all! I'll post more Spider-Man pictures soon.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Pointless Post #44

I almost can't believe it, but the last time I posted a Spider-Man picture was in December 2008! That's a long time ago. I had already planned to do this, but thanks to Jill's spurring on, it made me do it faster. So far, the fences are still up around it but apparently "engineers" are working on a solution to be able to get people to be able to get closer to the fire. I know this because a Montreal cop told me this as she laughed at me taking these pictures.

Spider-Man says "hello" in the rain at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics Cauldron

Spider-Man is ecstatic at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics Cauldron

Spider-Man tries to roast marshmallows over the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics Cauldron

I at first wanted to have Spider-Man waving a Canadian flag, but seeing as how I didn't have any small ones, I made him hold a skewer of mini marshmallows, yeah!

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What are Pointless Posts?

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Pointless Post #43 - Olympic Cauldron Edition

Here's an obligatory, stand-in-front-of-a-famous-landmark-like-a-tourist picture. I believe this was the most popular conservative Chinese person pose of the 20th Century if my made-up facts are not mistaken.

What should I do/how should I pose the next time I'm near it?
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What are Pointless Posts?

Vancouver Olympics, Day 1 - Cauldron up close

Day 1 was yesterday, but as I've previously mentioned, its sort of unbelievable the Olympics is finally here. After seven years of speculation and hesitation, we'll just continue to speculate and hesitate how it will unfold. And we may as well enjoy it, when possible.

I nearly cried a few times yesterday, once out of sadness and once out of joy. Within the past few years, my tear ducts seem to be easily triggered, but I always manage to keep it in at the last second (I don't mind crying, but I try not to because its messy). I woke up in the late afternoon yesterday and while checking my email, I read about Nodar Kumaritashvili's death. It saddened me, but like most bad news, I sort of brushed it off. While flipping through channels on TV, all of a sudden I saw the video of the crash and I cried out in shock. I pray that God can turn this tragedy into something good somehow.

The opening ceremonies was beautiful overall, with the First Nations welcome and representation from across Canada and Parade of Nations the best part. I lost interest after that because it got too slow. Long story short, I almost cried during the parts where Canada was represented. Again, in the past few years, I've gained a greater appreciation for this country, one nation under God, where He has dominion from sea to sea (to sea). If Canadians realized what they were praying when they sing "...God keep our land glorious and free..." during our national anthem, who knows what wonderful things God could unleash on this nation to use to bless the world with.

At work, anything Olympic related seems to be a popular topic of choice to talk about (that was sarcasm) and some coworkers have theorized that the majority of Vancouver has come around into embracing the Olympics because of the torch relay that went into so many communities. I literally only had to walk outside my home for 30 seconds before I was on the torch route. It seems to have been a good way to capture everyone's interest. Somewhat ironically, the cauldron that is now lit outdoors which was lit by the flame in the torch relay (presumably) is inaccessible to the general public, because if you were to go down there now, unless you have proper accreditation, there is a rather large fence that separates you from the flames (although you can still see it). My YouTube description will end this post:

This is the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics Cauldron up close, in the middle of the Jack Poole Plaza (I think that's what this open space is called). This video was taken on February 13, 2010, around 5am. Just out of site are some police officers who guard the flames, probably chuckling at me because I look like a tourist (and I did). Unfortunately, it looks like the fencing around this plaza won't be taken down for security reasons since it's right next door to the Main Media Centre Venue (this plaza is connected to the International Broadcast Centre, aka the new Vancouver Convention Centre) so hopefully this video will suffice for now until it opens up to the general public. You can hear the gas burning and feel the warmth if you stand close enough. Its pretty windy as it's basically on the waterfront. If I get the chance, I'll try and bring some hot dogs to roast over it the next time I'm there.



Saturday, February 06, 2010

A bunch of Olympic related stuff (work and play)

I've had four full shifts so far at the Main Media Centre venue. Not many guests have arrived yet so not much was done this week. It was pretty quiet. On the plus side, I've been trying to make use of these slow times to pray. I had a very good prayer time one night. If my prayer life was plotted on a graph, you would have seen a huge surge in activity at the point "Friday, 2am." A good way to make a true Christian feel guilty is to ask them how their prayer life is.

On the negative side (or is minus side the opposite of plus side?), almost all other Olympic venue workforce (other Event Staff, Games Security Screeners ("security?"), and police) have been celebrating the Olympics the same way I've been by planning to also, by eating as many cookies as possible. I speculate there must be a correlation between the amount of cookies we eat and the amount of work we have to do (and also not to mention the fact that we were promised cookies during our shifts). Truthfully, the cookies aren't actually that tasty. It just helps to eat something.

I pity some of the police from across Canada that have been brought in here to work the Olympic venues. Some of the cops I've talked to have shifts over 12 hours long, in a single location (ie. blocking off a tiny street with a barricade), only at one particular venue. Whoopee. They also have to be away from their families for 5 weeks.

Ok, so for something unrelated to my job, I happened to be walking along Thurlow street (the newest part, closest to the waterfront) and I saw what resembled huge helium tanks (but not quite... maybe it's natural gas?) being delivered behind some covered gates next to the International Broadcast Centre (the new Vancouver Convention Centre building). Inside those gates is a huge thing covered in white plastic so it just looks like a big white cube. Global BC news speculated a few weeks ago that's where the Olympic flame will be on display during the games, so that makes sense if it's true. And if it is true, I'll try to take a picture of it.

I can't remember what other stuff I wanted to say and I want to end quickly because I haven't killed zombies for a few days now, so if you are looking for optimistic news/insight/fun related to the Olympics, check out:

http://2010vanfan.ca <-- a super-optimistic and informative fan blog http://www.citycaucus.com/2010free <-- free stuff happening during the Olympics

Tuesday, February 02, 2010

Vancouver Olympic Cookies

It is a little past 5am right now. I'm trying to alter my sleeping schedule, because I start work at 10pm tonight (or ~17 hours from now). My shifts will go until 7am. How ironic that I've been killing hundreds of zombies for the past few days (playing Left 4 Dead, yeah!) and I sort of feel like one now as I force myself to stay awake. I wonder how Batman does it.

I have a more general idea of what I'm actually doing at the Main Media Centre venue, but not so much of what I should expect (and I can't really say too much anyways because our supervisors made a point during training/orientation by asking us not to blog on the interwebs). Because of strict corporate sponsorship and stuff for the Olympics, we're not allowed to bring our own food/drinks to work, so instead one meal is provided for every shift you get, and hot drinks and cookies are provided throughout the day! So I'm definitely expecting that.

I plan to visit the break room so that I can stuff my pockets with cookies to eat during my shift. That's a normal and rational thing to do right? That's how I'll celebrate the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics. I like cookies.

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In other Tim-news, I was finally able to pick up a book from the SFU library that I put a hold on in, wait for it, October 2008. Apparently it was lost.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Post-SFU, 2010, and the Vancouver Olympics doesn't feel real

I've been a student for almost my entire life and so the idea of me not returning to school again still doesn't feel real. On the other hand, I'm finding it very easy to not think about school... at all. It's actually very easy too. Also, I'm a lazy bum.

I saw someone at church last Sunday who I haven't seen for a long time and we greeted each other with a hug. I'm pretty sure he's done two handed hugs in the past, so I put out both arms, just as he only put out one arm (maybe to do a side-hug?). It was almost awkward. He asked me if there's anything new in my life, and being the dull person I am, usually I respond, "Not that I can think of" but for the first time....this decade (oh yeah, I also find it weird that its 2010.... I keep writing 2009 on things) I promptly said, "Yes, I'm done school, and I'll be working at the "Olympics" soon!" (although I didn't do air quotes). I'm no longer a dull person (or am I? Please don't respond to that in the comments)!

And yes, it's the Vancouver 2010 Olympics (that's also weird to think about that its happening so soon... and that its actually happening). I'll be getting paid (none of this volunteer nonsense... I only work for free for Jesus and family) to be an "Event Services Staff" at the Main Media Centre venue at Canada Place and the new waterfront Vancouver Convention Centre. I'm still not sure what I'll be doing. Apparently it involves standing a lot outside and smiling.

With so much free time, I've been able to watch and read more news, so I'm trying to learn and absorb as much useful information I can about the Olympics seeing as how I'll be representing it in a way. I used to be so anti-Olympics, but I think that's an incorrect perspective now, as I think I was (and still pretty much am) actually more overall anti-corporation. That seems contradictory coming from a recent business student graduate. I just hate seeing money mis-managed and poorly spent on unnecessary things. Stewardship is to be a godly act of worship which I could probably preach about. Long story short, I think I'm getting excited that the Olympics will be here, and that there will be tons of people from all over the world (but I'm not looking forward to the crowds and traffic/wait times everywhere...which again seems contradictory). I am a strange person.

There are a lot of hardcore Canadians who are really excited about the games and who are actually taking the time off to volunteer and are so proud at the fact that they can do that sort of work, in Canada. You only have to watch CTV to get a glimpse of that with all the propaganda "Do you believe?" commercials as well as the newscasts (but then again, perhaps they're just trying to milk the Olympics for as much as they can because according to some other news (Global was it?) CTV overpaid for the broadcasting rights and still haven't broke even yet due to low advertising/sponsors). On one hand, all that stuff almost makes me feel bad that I'm not also moved to the point of tears when I see venues/the torch/etc which is exactly how some people are reacting, because I almost feel like a marginal person who happens to be working at the Olympics. On the other hand, I've been trying to busy my mind with more important things; things that last longer although fun and useless things (eg. video games) are competing for that same attention.

I should be starting work by the end of the month and by God's grace, I plan to work hard and put forth my best efforts (as God would require me to as a testimony to who He is and why He made me) while trying to have an enjoyable time at this once in a life time opportunity (as I also try to stay dry, assuming Vancouver winter weather remains the same old rainy Vancouver weather). Yay.