Down comes the curtain

I don't think I've ever seen summer end so abruptly. At 4:00 today, it was about 29C and sunny, and people were swimming in my building's pool. I am writing this just before 6:30, and it's now 14C and raining. It's as if the show has ended and Mother Nature has pulled down the curtain: it's time to go home, everybody.

Ten good things

Here's a list of ten things I would have trouble doing without, listed in no particular order.

1. Call display and voicemail. I don't have to deal with newspaper call centres, recruiters, telephone solicitors, or anybody else unless I want to. My friends realize that if they're calling from a number I don't recognize, I probably won't answer the phone.
   
   Basically, I don't like the telephone. I prefer to either meet face-to-face, which allows for periods of silence, or send messages or email, which gives me time to think of what I want to say.
   
   
2. Solitude. If I spend too much time by myself, I get weird and cranky. But if I'm around people too much, I get frazzled. I need downtime to function.
   
   
3. Portable radio. Essential for listening to Blue Jays games when I'm away from home.
   
   
4. Cellphone. I just got one this year, and I don't use it much. But I no longer have to stay at home and wait for important phone calls.
   
   
5. iPod Shuffle. Another new toy (which superseded my old iPod after its battery life dropped to less than an hour, fully charged). Sometimes, you just have to have the tunes.
   
   Now if I could only figure out why my computer and iTunes don't work well together. I think it doesn't work properly if iTunes has already been started when I plug the iPod's USB cable in. But that's just a guess.
   
   
6. Knapsack. Carries everything I need: books, radio, cellphone, notebook, pens, umbrella and/or sunscreen (depending on weather), etc. etc. I do not travel light.
   
   
7. High-speed Internet. For a geek, this goes without saying.
   
   
8. Sunscreen. I'm white bread. I burn in less than half an hour on bright, sunny days. And I love to be outside. So I'm an SPF 30 kinda guy.
   
   
9. Headphones with volume control. I don't care whether I have great sound quality, but I need the ability to easily change the volume. My MP3s are not at a consistent volume level, and I don't want to have to fiddle with the controls on my iPod, as they're too hard to reach.
   
   
10. Prescription sunglasses.
    
    Side note: I can't imagine ever wearing contacts, even though I've never found a pair of glasses I look good in (I have a big nose, high cheekbones, and sunken eyes). Sticking things in my eyes? I don't think so. I'd probably poke myself into blindness.

Honourable mention goes to my digital camera: I've had a Nikon D70S for a little over a year now, and I love it. The only problem with owning a good camera is that I have no excuse any more: if I take a bad picture, it's not my camera's fault, it's mine.


Here's a sad story about a man who fell for a Nigerian bank scam.

In case you're wondering...

If you're wondering why the sun hasn't been seen in these parts lately, it's because (as I've mentioned before) I'm between contracts right now, and am wanting to enjoy a few sunny days before looking for a new position. Naturally, there haven't been any sunny days. I'm convinced that the universe is trying to teach me a lesson.

Of course, I'm not going to give in this easily. I want to enjoy some good weather before being forced to sit inside an office building while it's sunny and warm out - especially since I'll probably have to work through the summer this year. The universe seems to have other ideas.

We'll see who blinks first.

Spring has to be earned

I have two theories that might explain the very late spring in these parts.

One is that winter is like a giant bucket of crap that has to be completely emptied. We started emptying the bucket late this year, as you may recall: December and the first week of January were very mild and non-wintery. We now have to pay for that luxury by giving up our April. You see, spring has to be earned every year with sweat and despair.

The other theory is that it's personal: it's not going to get warm until I'm back at work and am forced to endure watching bright sunny days through an office window. So it's all my fault. Sorry about that, everybody.

I miss Carb Boom

Last fall, when I was out of work, I got my exercise by going for a walk on the Don River path. From where I live, I can do a loop: up Broadview, down Pottery Road, down the path to the Riverdale bridge, and up Broadview to home. And I can even stop at the Loblaws on the way back. It works out perfectly for me - an hour-long workout, and lunch food afterwards.

At about the halfway point of my walk, the Don path passes under the Bloor-Danforth ramp to the Don Valley Parkway. At this spot, there used to be an empty beverage box lying on the path with the label "Carb Boom!" on it; I guess this is an energy drink or something.

Because the box was under a bridge, it remained, undamaged, for weeks. I used to look for it whenever I passed that spot, and was happy to see that it was still there.

Earlier this week, I went for a walk on the path again, for the first time since the snow receded. I looked for the box. It wasn't there.

I am old enough to know that nothing lasts forever. But I hate to keep being reminded of this.

Not the sharpest knife in the drawer

So I bought one of those Yogurt Parfait thingies from McDonald's today. The person who packaged it wasn't the brightest of bulbs. He or she put the yogurt in, put a little circular piece of cardboard on it to seal it, sprinkled the nuts on it, then put the plastic dome on top.

Since you're a clever person, you probably will have figured out that steps 2 and 3 should have been done in the opposite order.

Two kinds of people

Here, for posterity's sake, is the weather forecast for this evening:

Snow at times heavy and local blowing snow changing to freezing rain mixed with ice pellets this evening then to rain near midnight. Snow and ice pellet amount 10 to 15 cm. Wind east 50 km/h gusting to 70. Temperature rising to plus 1 by morning.

It feels really good to be inside in a nicely heated apartment, typing in comfort. How did our pioneer ancestors survive this and stay sane?

I was thinking today (a dangerous practice, but I indulge in it every once in a while). As I see it, there are three kinds of people in the world:

• Those who can get other people to clean up their messes for them
• Those who have to clean up their own messes
• Those who have to clean up other people's messes

I think about this whenever I go to eat lunch in a food court. There's always one or two people around whose job it is to empty the garbage bins, wipe the tables, clean gunk off the plastic trays, and otherwise fight a never-ending onslaught of untidiness. They're always required to wear spotless uniforms, as they're Representing Their Company. They're being paid squat. And the rest of us depend on people willing to do this kind of work.


I figured out another way to divide people into groups as I was walking to get groceries after work. Traffic was backed up in all directions due to the weather, but there were some people out there who were still trying to get somewhere in a hurry, and were honking their horns in an attempt to get the world to do their bidding. This leads me to divide humanity into two classes:

• People who feel a sense of entitlement, as if the world owes them something
• The rest of us

The trick is to spot the people in the first group as soon as possible.

Random disorganized thoughts

I have not much to offer in the way of coherence today. It's been a long day, and I still have traces of The Cold That Wouldn't Die - the gift that just keeps on giving and giving.

There were two separate door-to-door salespersons going around my building this evening. One wanted to offer me three free magazines as part of some promotional deal or other. When he asked me whether I read magazines, I saw a way out: I said no. (I actually don't, at least not much.) The second salesperson was offering an alternative electricity plan, or something. I'm not sure. He showed me a sample bill, and guaranteed my rates wouldn't go up. Or maybe not. I was pretty sure I didn't want whatever it was.

My worst fears, in no particular order: death, being trapped in an enclosed space, drowning, poisonous snakes, any height I am at risk of falling off of, wearing out my welcome. Especially this last. I would rather hide away from the human race than go where I am not wanted.

I guess I'm officially middle-aged now: my hair is starting to go more and more gray. I swear it's like time-lapse photography. If this keeps up, I'll have to get a new driver's licence, as I won't look like my picture any more.

According to the CBC, Stephen Harper was less than supportive of the Kyoto Agreement when he was the leader of the former Canadian Alliance. In 2002, he wrote a letter that included the following: "Kyoto is essentially a socialist scheme to suck money out of wealth-producing nations." Gosh!

Ten random thoughts

I'm listening to WFMU over the Internet as I type this, and they're playing a version of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" that uses the music from "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida". What? Why?

It's raining again. Again.

The time between the last day of work and Christmas is like pushing the PAUSE button on life.

I hate the telephone. I especially hate calling people on the phone. I much prefer either email or face-to-face contact. If I'm communicating with someone by email, I can take the time to try to write something clever, or at least try to avoid saying something stupid. And I can be sure that I'm not imposing on my recipient, as he or she can read my message at a time that is convenient. Face-to-face contact is fine: when you're talking with someone in person, there's lots of ways to communicate besides words, and silence is sometimes okay too. A phone call, on the other hand, is an immediate demand, and I'm uncomfortable with making immediate demands on people.

2006 has been a difficult year for a lot of people that I know, including me. What the hell is going on out there?

At the rate things are going, there will be no parking lots left in downtown Toronto in 2010. They'll all be replaced by condominiums. Eventually, I envision that developers will try to lobby for a law that forces all apartment dwellers to go out and buy a condo, already. (A few years back, one large landlord tried to convert his high-rise to condos. This was disallowed. If it hadn't been, there would be no high-rise apartments for rent - they'd have all gone condo by now.)

I have a goal in life: as I get older, I don't want to give up. I see so many older people on the subway who look despondent, as if life has gotten to be too much for them. I hope this doesn't happen to me. I want to go down fighting.

I used to eat in restaurants by myself all the time. I hardly ever do this any more, as it's too depressing. I guess I'm saving money this way.

My advice to you: if you're feeling lonely, never go to a coffee shop on your own. Especially on a Saturday night. You'll be surrounded by equally lonely people, and the weight of loneliness will become too much to bear.

Am I the only one who can't go to certain places because they bring back bad memories? For me, Toronto is sprinkled with no-go zones. On bad days, I have to plan my excursions carefully. I'm grateful that downtown Toronto is laid out in a grid system - I can always find another way to get where I want to go.

(Edit: here's an 11th: I just found a link, via Warren Kinsella's blog, to a video of Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros doing Bob Marley's "Redemption Song". Remember: the future is unwritten.)