So how about those Olympics?? Actually no, I haven't much to say. I've been proudly telling everyone how I've been using the CTV website to watch the games at my leisure, skipping and replaying as I see fit, how ALL television should be. I cheered for the Canadians and the South Koreans, happy to see both doing really well this year. There were plenty of hiccups (luge/bobsled course) and dramas (Ohno, Lysacek vs Plushenko) so one could hardly call it a flawless hosting but has there ever been a perfect games?

I was originally going to write about all the minor nuisances and things that I'm having to endure with this condo -- leaky taps, the low humidity (causing havoc on my respiratory until I realized what was happening), the sounds from the street, the streetlamps outside my windows. That was until I encountered a MAJOR nuisance: water leaking from the unit above! Between that happening at 2AM last night and construction starting at a vigorous 7AM today, I did not sleep much or well, haunted by various disaster scenarios.

I will update soon!

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Well, the move was a disaster -- I was ill-prepared for the moving day and severly underestimated the amount of work left to do. So much so that I pretty much moved on the Saturday, Sunday and a bit of the Monday. My lesson to take away? Never turn down help to move when it's offered because even if there are too many people you have yourself a gathering of friends at the very worst. I shudder at the nightmare that was the move, but am thankful for the Herculean efforts from a2chow and pops, whose patience in my dire time of need made the improbable possible. Kudos to qyv and his gf for making Sunday much more bearable.

So yes, I am now more or less comfortably in my new place. Am I happy and excited? It appears.. not. The place is great, don't get me wrong. I am however dogged by the constant weight of financial concerns. Turbulent times at work and a recent, shocking iPhone bill from Rogers have proven to be a dizzying knockout combo. A far from ideal start to this mortgage, although on the flip side I suppose this could be interpreted as evolutionary pressure for change!

Pictures, yeah, sorry, I don't have these yet. I keep forgetting, frankly. Perhaps tomorrow. Oh right, yes, as you may have guessed, I didn't have internet for a while there because I switched to dry DSL and had to wait for the Bell technician, who conveniently only gives 8-hour ranges of when he'll be in. And, if you miss his call like I did, you have to wait 4 business days to schedule another appointment. Anyway, in that time I used the "Network Tethering" functionality of my iPhone to get online while at home -- I sure hope that this doesn't translate into yet more jawdropping Rogers fees.

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Is there nothing more disruptive yet appallingly belittled as the common cold? I speak of course as a current sufferer, and in fact have been suffering for nearly a week now. Seven days of coughing, sneezing and flipping between periods of chills and sweats; what a bother! But I do feel its end to be near, and thence to freedom! Freedom, yay, and more, for I shall be, as of January 29th, moving to the King East area of Toronto, known for its high end furniture stores, the St. Lawrence market and, uh, proximity to the Distillery district. I drove past my building Saturday to be met by the soul-crushing, jaw-dropping scene of a condo highrise being constructed across the street, perfectly set up to obstruct my view of the city's sunset. I do not condone senseless violence; which is why I entirely condone myself blasting that monstrosity to smithereens, weekly if need be. I haven't the technology, the skill, nor the materiel, but surely my cause is righteous.

Until that time, in between sniffs I have been packing and dismantling furniture. My place is more than usually unkempt. Not many hours until I move so this is definitely the time for upheaval.

Other news? I have been dating rather heavily. More than that I shan't elaborate, though I will say that my wallet has never been lighter.

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meditated for 15 minutes, involuntarily opening my eyes. Not today, the other evening.

if a task I need to do occurs to me, I need to write it down or else it will haunt me (through remembering it) later.

wow I am really bad with updates, for which I apologize. I'm just.. too boring and busy to talk about anything. I saw Fantastic Mr Fox, that was primo. I don't have any stories to share, other than I recently realized that I am horribly, disfiguratively broke. Work is totally kicking my ass. So yeah, job and money stress await me in 2010. Been online dating, which I guess means I'm out there and meeting people, sometimes face to face! I bought Agricola and have yet to play it, although Settlers has been getting some action.

I am taking today off, so I'm typing in my pajamas, a bit of free time before I have to get ready and get out there. The weather is a cool -6C, but it'll get up to zero later. Christmas and Boxing day are supposed to be 4 and 3 degrees, which is rather nutty.

Oh yes, some friends and I worked on a clinical survey website, which you're welcome to try. The questions are there but the layout isn't 100% finished so don't bother pointing out if the images don't line up in your browser or some such; we're working on it. The link: Am I Gay?

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Ok, yup, I bought a place. It still hasn't quite sunk in yet. I mean, I believe it to be true and am slowly (slowly) warming up to the idea but until I actually move in it's still a rather unreal thing for me. Certainly, it is nice to not have to flip through ugly, ugly housing listings. Now, paperwork and all the tedium that it brings are my daily plate. Oh, and financial strains, indeed and oh yes.

Speaking of strains, my freakin' harddrive died! And it would seem I lost everything -- old photos (more recent ones are on flickr and at work), shows, movies.. and all my saved games! My personal notes on stuff. Gone. Well, not GONE gone.. presumably they're in statis, comatose on a few drive platters, locked by a $1k key ie. a data retrieval service. It's a frakking nightmare I tells ya! Although to be truthful I am getting more reading done at home; nearly halfway through The Crossing.

Saw a couple movies recently, A Serious Man, the new Coen brothers film, and The Road. The first quietly delighted me, the second made my blood boil; it seemed like a flagrant slap to those that had read the book. Looking back I suppose it's made the story more palatable to those who've not read it, but I still think it unnecessary and an insult to viewers. But ah well.

Winter is here with a frosty backfist to the cheeks. Bicycling has become officially a painful thing to do, so I've been taking the streetcar for the past couple of days. Gives me a chance to catch up on "The Skeptic's Guide to the Universe" podcast. HOLY COW it's -9 outside? That's Mother Nature for ya: turn around and she's kicking you in the ballsack.

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2010/02/10 llamariffic The return is being able to access the Internet in any location - its value relative to the cost is down to the buyer, really. :)
2010/02/10 girl Dangerman has several IOUs when it comes to moving - he's just conveniently out of the country for now... How about doing some tutoring to supplement your income?
2010/02/10 Dangerman in SGH Not sure if it's about being frugal. I just think you aren't getting the returns you were hoping for. You never will if you look at it this way: 30/month is like getting internet access for your home. So you are paying for data access at 2 locations effectively. Since you cannot be at 2 locations at the same time how are you ever going to get a return on this that will beat you doubling the rate you pay for "data" in your life? Moreover, you're probably spending ~ 80% of your day in locations where there is already internet access. (e.g. the office and your home!)
2010/02/10 Hwan Thanks. It's funny, I thought I was leading a frugal lifestyle but it appears I rather have a lot of junk! Indeed, getting rid of the iPhone data plan ($30/month) would reduce my monthly expenditures but I do enjoy being able to be online anywhere I go.
2010/02/10 Dangerman in SGH Congrats again on the move and I'm happy to not have to be moving myself or the family anymore these days! Why don't you ust get rid of the iPhone?! Does it really make either your life or work any easier? The only thing I can think of for myself would be to have a sort of crutch when speaking in Chinese (of course that's still contingent on finding a good app!)
2010/01/24 growli It's not "common" as in pedestrian. It's "common" because we all share this malediction of an affliction, from high-born to low.
2009/12/10 dangerman in sgh wow! congrats on your new place!
2009/12/10 Kyle Lahnakoski Whatever's use of the word "efficiency" really means danger! I want to protecting myself from more than one point of failure. Rebuilding a terabyte will take all day, and during that time a failure will be catastrophic. Yes, I am paranoid.
2009/12/10 whatever Raid 6 is completely useless in a home environment. Raid 6 provides double disk protection by doing pairity calculations on both horizontal and diagonal directions, and requires 2 extra drives for pairity. If you have a drive distribution that's larger than 8 drives, then raid 6 makes sense as a larger grouping has an exponentially greater possibility for failure. if you really wanted to maximize your efficiency then use zfs on a solaris system, connected to a storage array with raid 4 or raid dp. that will allow instant snapshots, and protect against any single failures.
2009/12/10 Hwan Sure! I had actually given thought to getting a Drobo, but I've heard a lot of mixed reviews about those things. I just like it because I don't need to learn much.