Working Overtime on the 30th.

1.5x pay.

Thanks


Other: I got my packages.
1) Doctor Who - Thanks to Arman, except you forgot episode 9 = (. Don't worry about it.
2) Package with my Newsradio DVDs + some Gin Seng?

Reluctance to live. Passive Suicide

As I am growing older, I find a certain new reluctance to live. By this, I mean I want to do things that I've done before. Key point: watching television shows that I've seen already (rewatching Farscape, Arrested Development, etc), playing games that I've already beaten (Earthbound, Super Metroid), or listening to music that I've already memorized (Bowie, Streetlight, ELO).

Is this because I want to relive old and perhaps more exciting times? Probably not, since they weren't that exciting to begin with. I think the main reason why we all do this sort of stuff is because the familiar is reassuring. We are reluctant to learn new things, to have new experiences. That's why I am more likely going to skip a song from somebody I've never heard of. I mean, it is kind of ridiculous that I give songs 15 seconds to 'hook' me before I move on to the next one.

This reluctance is inherent, which means that I am going to have to actively go against that instinct.

Today, I had a workplace incident. Undeniable Proof.

I had my first workplace incident today. First aid called it an accident. I was subjected to a drug test. I, of course, knew what the procedures were, or at least I thought I did. I thought that I had to pee in a cup, and then they'd put the urine through some tests to see if anything came up. It was exactly like that. That's what I did, exactly (except for the perculier bit about how they taped all of the faucets up, and dyed the toilet bowl blue so I can't cheat). They used some litmus-ish-paper (except it was a 5 in one test) and dipped it into my urine. They also split some of it up and is sending it to a laboratory in Edmonton. I came off clean, thankfully.

The actual incident itself isn't as fascinating. I drove down the Forest Service Road to the 16.5 km mark, where I was supposed to take readings from the Slope Inclinometre pipe. My supervisor advised me to back up the pick up so that I can sit on the 'box' part (the rear part of the truck) and do my reeling there. About one hour into it, the music playing from the radio stopped. When I got there, the frequency had changed to 660 AM (it was at 101.3fm) . My investigation turned up nothing, so I decided to just go without music. The task took a total of 2h30m. When I tried to leave, the truck wouldn't start. The radio wouldn't start. The battery must have died.

I walked a good one-half kilometres back to the offices where I informed my super of the event. He got in contact with the right people and the whole thing was solved in an hour. They used another truck to jump start ours, and left it running for a while to recharge the battery (or something). In short, the administration was afraid that my heavy drug use had -somehow- drained all of the energy from the car battery. I understand their fears too, and was glad to know that no such link existed.

And here's the kicker.

I received my offer package from Elk Valley Coal today (the deal is really nice too. 4200/month , with reimbursed travel cost) , and it included quite a lengthy health section. According to it, I was required to take a drug test at a laboratory downtown Vancouver on the 22^nd of June. I think I can just use the stub I got from the drug test and apply it there. Is this coincidence, or proof?

Four things on my mind.

As my job continues to be stolen by one Zachary, my life continues. He has taken over my piezometre task. I lost even that! My only task now is to do the tailings dam compaction test.

Second on my list of current events is my Co-op Experiential Report which is due on Friday. Nice. I haven't started yet. 2000 words.

Three. I got nothing. Though, I am enjoying watching the show "Regenesis" saved on my computer already.

Four. I have four packages ready to be picked up from the post office.

Yeah, I know. Four?

This is what I think they are.

a) Elk Valley Coal offer package. This is probably going to be highly annoying (drug testing, etc)
b) My Teriyaki // BBQ beef Jerky  - imported from Pennsylvania.
c) A copy of Elder Scrolls 3 (Not oblivion)
d) two sets of these creative earphones, at 15 dollars each.

 

Hello, Mr. Bear! Mister Golden Bear!

I'm on the third book of the Ender series by Orson Scott Card. It is a facinating series about a boy/man named Ender Wiggins who is a super intelligent leader.

I don't want to say anything about the story except that thus far, it is a good read.

Yesterday, I went Mushroom picking with another person. It was, like most things I've discovered, fascinating for about half an hour. After that, it was just repetitive task of looking for these weird mushrooms and picking them off of the ground.

These mushrooms could be sold at 6 dollars / pound.

We got about 2.5lb in total, and kept half a pound altogether.
We made 6 dollars each in what amounted to be 4 hours of work.

Replaced. Ignored and Abused.

About three days ago a man named Zack was hired into the my company. He was a surveyor in a nearby mine.

He has now, as an authentic surveyor, replaced my job as the secondary surveyor (we only have two sets of gears.)

I am now sad.




There isn't really anything for the other two.

The Veil has been lifted.

The innocence is gone. Will they continue to read, or will the mundane words drive them away?


I spent a fair amount of time at the rock laboratory today, and I frankly don't like the work.

This is what I did.

1) Move bag (<10kg) of slightly crushed core rock onto table.

2) Read label, find corresponding little ziplock bag. Put it aside.

3) Start the small crusher. Warm up the large crusher

4) Put the core rocks into the crusher, the jaws reduce the size of the crush to about 1/2 inch

5)  Place the 1/2 inch cruch into the large crusher. This results in crush about 5mm or less.

6) Repeat 4 and 5 until the <10kg bag is all crushed

7) Dump everything into a splitter (which is shaped like a V. When the lever is pulled, the bottom of the V opens up and the crush is split into two equal halves. This is due to the little slopes under the V which makes them fall in one of two buckets.)

8) Repeat the splitting until there is a small portion left.

9) Sift the remains until everything is <2mm

10) Place <2mm in a rotating plate thing, which is set into a vibrating table thing. The result is a fine powdery substance.

11) Repeat for 20 different bags.

The purpose of this is so that the powder can be more easily tested in the 'chem lab' with acids. Powder == increased surface area + little room for unknown embedded material. The splitter is used so that we could get a representative sample instead of just scooping a portion from the beginning.

The Miracle was retracted. Thoughts on Technology.

I can't believe this stupid Ipod. Why can't it stay usable for more than five minutes? This thing is absolutely worthless.
I'll have to order another mp3 player soon, but I can't really decide. I've heard good things about the next Zune, and I'm not entirely sure when the next 6G iPods will come out.
Other players aren't excluded (Creative, San Disk, whatever) as long as they 1) can hold all of my music at once (this is important), 2) Reasonably good play-list selection thing, and 3) has a good battery life.

Oh, and I think I'm going to put in extra hours at work to fund both this thing and for my next (gaming) notebook.
And since this is going to be a 'gaming' notebook, it doesn't have to be small and it doesn't have to be too power efficient. I think both of these decisions are going to make things cheaper.

Christmas Miracle! (or Darwinia Book Review)

This is an absolute Miracle which could only have been brought on by divine intervention. My Ipod Mini (or rather, the one I stole from my sister) has miraculously corrected its battery  recharge problem and is now working 100% fine! (which means that the unit will sporatically power down within the first three hours)
. What this means is that I can (and will) take more walks outdoors. I didn't do this before because I can't listen to my podcasts without.


Darwinia is a book by Robert Charles Wilson about a very different 20th Century Earth. In the 1910's, Europe was transformed into a different, yet same continent. The geography is the same, except that in this new Europe (nicknamed Darwinia), Humans never existed and there are fantastical and deadly creatures roaming the land.

The book was good up to about halfway before it just degenerated into poo. The first two parts covered the initial exploration and politics of the new world. (In the 1920's, the Colonies of Britain banded together and tried to domesticate England while America wanted the continent to remain free and boundary-less.) This part was great. The book then jumps decades (to the 1940's) following the main characters and the changing world. The last part follows the final battle in the 1960's. It was the battle between good and evil, etc. It was revealed half way through the book that the whole world existed in a simulation in a thing called the "Archive". Darwinia came from an alien viral infection in the Archive. Both the Virus and the maintainers of the Archive are trying to recruit the characters in the simulation to do their bidding (to win the war by attacking this secret city in Darwinia.)

It has some neat concepts, but I felt that it detracted from the story. Does it really matter that Aliens from another galaxy are trying to corrupt the Archive (at the end of the galaxy in terms of time, when all the stars have faded out and are sucked into the galactic black hole) with information from their own Archive? I mean, it just added another layer of complexity. Also, the concept of a giant simulation is kind of boring and overdone, and I feel that the whole thing would have been better if left unexplained.

I wonder why the Wonder Falls

I think I might have broken a personal record.

Recently, I purchased the series "Wonderfalls" , a thirteen episode series aired on Fox. (Only the first four were aired before it was cancelled.)

I received it yesterday, and I'm watched all thirteen episodes now.

It is a good series, and I would have liked to see further seasons, but I don't feel an affinity to it like Firefly, or Dead Like Me.
This show is about a 24 year old underachiever who has, due to an unexplained reason, started to see and hear inanimate objects (plastic, plush, cardboard animals) speak. They give her cryptic commands which usually turns out to be good at the end.

I hate Fox.

Wow. I am alive.

I dodged death today.

There was a giant fireball in the sky. It almost hit me.

I dodged at the last second, and thus I 'dodged' death. You get it?

Ha ha.




Seriously though, I worked at the laboratory today. Basically, I just break down some rocks into smaller sized rocks. There were these machines (crushers) where I put rocks in. They break down into smaller parts. I love doing this job.

I don`t want to be black any longer. Thief of Time sucks.

This coal is disgusting. The coal dust is making all of my `work clothes` black. It is remarkably hard to get off of the skin. Heavy scrubbing is necessary, and I just don`t want to spend all that time doing heavy scrubbing.


- - -

I finished reading thief of time. I think the problem with the book is primarily the way that the plot is somewhat predictable, and therefore the idea became stale when they decide to elaborate upon it. I`m talking mostly about the Auditors and their time in human bodies.

I also think that my bumpy ride to work is affecting my enjoyment.


Jacky sucks.

(Don`t get mad.)

Getting Dial-up internet tomorrow.

I think this is self explanatory.

 

 

Yeah, not much more to say, except that the library is closed today and there are far too many mosquitoes to go outside.

 

Jamie is gone. Please don`t leave me.

Jamie and I have been having problems connecting for a while now. Whatever I try to send doesn`t really get through to Jamie. There has been serious communication problems. Jamie would freak out if I even open the slide-door a bit.

But now, that is all gone. Jamie has left me.


Jamie is the wifi connection I`ve been using in my apartment.


This means that there is no way for me to use the internet at my home.

I`ll have to go to the library to use the internet, which means I`m at the mercy of the hours of operation while I`m off of work.


I found a pretty sweet connection though, and I think I`m not really addicted to the internet anymore.

PS. I bought the game ``Morrowind 3``, which should hopefully be a fun game. (Going to be shipped on the 12). In the meantime, I`ve been playing Super Metroid, which is still one of the best side scrolling games ever.

Fall/Winter job secured -Elk Valley Coal.

Even though I thought that the interview was completely awful, I ended up getting the job. I think this is due to the lack of students in the employment pool (most of my buddies have 8 month terms.)

 

I really want to drive there this time.

 

And, barring any weather phenomenons, I can actually come back.

Thoughts on The Rapist, Therapy

I was watching some local (BC) news today, and since over half of the population of BC reside in the Greater Vancouver Regional District, there was a lot of news about the Rapist in Surrey. (His name is Paul Callow)

Apparently, a rapist was released from Ontario and decided to move to Surrey. There was a rally of sorts in what appears to be a school gym. The purpose of this rally is to gain support for removing Callow from the neighbourhood.

First of all, I want to say that I am not female, and I haven't been raped (yet). I'm sure it is a psychologically traumatizing event, but please stop clinging onto it. I'm serious. I know I'd try to forget and erase it completely from my memory. Bad things happen to people all the time. I'd rather get raped by an evil man than to have my arm cut off by the same evil man. The two crimes have similar legal punishments. I'm not making light of rape. I hope that all rapists(as with most other criminals) get caught and face their legal punishment.

What do you want to do with the serial-rapist anyway? Kick him out of the Surrey? Where would he go? Do you think that there is any place in the world that will truly accept him? I even heard a butch-ish lady suggest the idea of Capital Punishment as opposed to his "slap in the fist" punishment (of five years in prison). Capital Punishment! I know that the victims of the event is left with a scar that can potentially ruin a life(much like the way she has probably ruin hers), but the fact is that the little old game of "In and Out" doesn't even come close to murder. Rape victims seem to take out their frustration on all rapist and seem to be taking each scenario as if it was their own. Even murderers don't deserve to be killed. Capital Punishment doesn't work. Eye for an Eye doesn't work. When did Canadians become so blood-thirsty and mean-spirited?

Callow's life is ruined; is this not punishment enough? I don't know if he deserves a normal life, but according to the law, he has paid for his serial rape charges. Labeling him out as a rapist and having constant petitions outside of his going to help rehabilitate him. Yeah, there's a chance that he'll rape again, but this means that there is a chance that he will not rape again. There's a chance that he will not commit further crimes in the future. Why are we condemning this potential innocent future just because there is a chance that he could be guilty? Though I don't have the statistics, I doubt he will ever rape again anyway. It just sounds like all of these petitioners need to learn to not hate.

I don't know if this made sense.

Hints of Jurassic Park

There was a thunder shower today at the Tumbler Ridge. It was like the rain in the first episodes of Lost. There was nothing one minute. The next minute was filled with thunderous showers.

When the Van was traveling through the 17 KM road, we stopped frequently (due to poor visibility and to see the high water level). It really felt like that scene in Jurassic Park when the children were in that Jeep at night. You know, the one with the glass of water.

Anyway, at home, the power had been flickering off and on. It happened a couple of times today, and the power was restored within five seconds.

Weird.

Nelly tells me no lie.

I'm done with the Frozen Throne.

I need new games (single player//not-online) to play.

I'm thinking about getting some roms (Smaller sized-downloads <<32MB) to play. Primarily thinking about replaying Secret of Mana.

Personally, I'm getting tired of playing Minesweeper.

Drunk and standing by the com'uter terminal

Well, today ( technically yesterday) is Friday, and that means that it is the single night before the wholesome two day weekend. This, of course, means that there is a lot of drinking to be done. We (Matthew Kitka, Karl Olsen, and Daniel Bonnar) and some supervisor (Travis) went to the golf course for some dinner slash drinks. I immediately ordered the BLT sandwich (which obviously is the Trinity of tastes in a restaurant) and happily sped away time until about 10pm. At this time, we made our way to Sheila's Bar, which has a special Karaoke party which lasts until 1am. I just got home from this thing and started typing it out. Right, so Karl Olsen, Daniel Bonnar,  Travis (Anderson?) and Nicola Irwin bought me drinks, which made me really appreciative. I around the same as if I were to buy  my own dinner. It was nice overall. The only thing I fear is the upcoming hangover. In preparation, I will drink an unseemly amount of water.


Tommorrow (Saturday), I will be going to Dawson Creek (<2hours away) to buy groceries and to cash in my check.

I don't feel too alert at this moment, so I will be resting.

PS. I have an upcoming interview with the mine at Gibralter right after work. To be honest, I am not too keen at getting a job there. My first choice would be the mine at Elk Valley Coal. I would at least be able to hang out with my other buddy, Daniel Vriend.