Currently listening to ...

Wow, an entire month since our last post. You'd think we both have other blogs that we're posting all of our wit and wisdom to. The truth is that we have no wit, nor any wisdom, so our other blogs get ignored as much as this one. Given that 1/12 of a year has passed since anything's been posted here, I figured I should come up with an excuse for a new post.

So with that, I give you what will be my standard filler when we need some content: I'm listening to ...

Our first edition features the new Relient K album, Five Score and Seven Years Ago. A nice progression of their prior work that characterizes the gradual maturation of the band. There is more reliance on vocals with the album, and some nice harmonics that carry some of the songs. Of course, the typical clever and catchy songs that have made Relient K so popular with their last few albums. Crayons Can Melt On Us For All I Care exemplifies this one for me. Catchiest tunes would be Come Right Out And Say It, Must Have Done Something Right, and Up And Up.

A solid recent release that is sure to please fans of Relient K, and likely attract many more.

No Deal, Howie!

I had a fun first experience this evening. I've always heard about these door-to-door vacuum salesmen, but I've never experienced the sales pitch first hand. Well, we had the pleasure of taking part in one such demonstration this evening. In all truthfulness, the vacuum cleaner that this gentleman demonstrated for us was very impressive. I have to say that I actually enjoyed watching what this little machine could do. But then came the real sales talk. I knew I wasn't going to like this part.

Of course, we got to see the price, the comparisions to other products, and the financing plans available to make the terrific device available for us. And then, somehow, the whole evening morphed into an episode of 'Deal or No Deal'. The salesman asked to use our phone to call his supervisor, at which point he went through some rehearsed dialogue to see what sort of a deal he could offer us. After we effectively told him "NO DEAL, HOWIE!", he made two more calls to 'the banker' to see if the deal would get better.

Well, we didn't win the million, but it was fun being a participant nonetheless. And we got a set of three Ginsu knives as a gift for our time ... just in case we feel like chopping up some pop cans or old sneakers.

Thinking its time for a new post

Last weekend we went up to Edmonton for a couple of Hockey games (which the Horns won). It actually was good games. I even watched the hockey games. I don't know if it was because the games were being well played, or maybe it was the simple fact that there were no little kids running around being cute in front of us! The Horns swept the Bears at home. Unbelievable.... but it happened. It was really nice being back on the U of A campus. So many great memories. I really liked that campus, and it was fun to see all the places I had spent so much time, plus all the new additions ( and removals... they took away the v-wing). Saturday we spent the day at West Edmonton Mall. Josh played in a table hockey tournament... while I shopped. In the morning I bought not one... but 2 winter jackets. They were such a good deal... and I couldn't decide between the two of them. :) I also found the snowboard I want.... but that will have to wait for another year. In the afternoon, I met up with one of my rowing and class buddies. Steph came and spent the afternoon at the mall with me, despite her busy schedule! It was fun to catch up with her. On Sunday we planned to hit the Outlet stores... but sadly, they didn't open til noon. So we drove to Red Deer and went shopping there ( although we didn't buy much.. more looked). I spent the whole weekend looking for a winter jacket (wihch was easily found) and some nice knee high boots (which I still haven't found - I either don't like them... or they don't sip up over the calf). It was a good weekend away though... and was just nice to get out of town!

This weekend is a soccer tournament here in town. Josh and his friends have formed a team, and most of them are from the calgary area, so we have A LOT of people crashing at our house. At first it was going to be about 12 people.... it sounds like we're down to 8 people... so we get to keep our room now. YAY! It'll be a crazy weekend around here. I still haven't decided if I want to play or not yet, but will make that decision by game time Saturday. :) I have a paper to write this weekend.. plus I work a graveyard, so it may be better if I don't.

I really don't have much to say, but I figured it was time for an update. OOO I did get to see the class schedule for the fall. There's lots of good courses offered, and since I'm doing on my concentration in GIS now, there are some more require courses to take. Due to the offereings, and lack of offerings during the summer, I will not graduate til April 2008 now. I think it will be getting better, at least there won't be any more biology courses after this semester.

Blue Man Group on Global Warming

I love the Blue Man Group. Came across this as well!

Toast the Earth with Exxon Mobil

:) This video made me laugh. IT was posted as required viewing for my climate change class. So funny.

The Dean is Hip

For the first time in a half-a-dozen years, the Tragically Hip made an appearance in Lethbridge tonight. I’ve seen them play in Calgary and in Edmonton, so this show completed my Hip hat-trick. Having seen these guys twice before, I had some established expectations about the show.

Several of these expectations were fulfilled:

• Gord Downie’s crazy antics on stage. Perhaps crazier than ever. From his using the mic stand to act out the sweetest of dekes during Lonely End of the Rink, to hip-checking the mic stand and dancing like a gorilla on top of the monitors, Gord’s performance was typical in both uniqueness and oddity. You either love or hate this aspect of the Hip; I love it.


• An entertaining opening act. With a prior record of openers like the Rheostatics and Sam Roberts, one expects an opening act worth showing up early for. The Sadies certainly satisfied with their upbeat, quick-picking, country flavoured tunes. I typically show up early in order to get a good parking spot, and doze through the opening act, but these guys actually kept my attention through the entire set. It was even better that Travis Good of the Sadies returned to the stage to play fiddle with the Hip during their encore cover of Four Strong Winds.


• A good cross-section of Hip music. As much as I enjoy World Container, I want to hear the classics as well. By playing some of the favourite classics (like New Orleans is Sinking, Bobcaygeon, and Wheat Kings) and some ‘deep tracks’ (like Escape is at Hand for the Travelling Man) they keep both the casual and the lifelong fan entertained.

Sometimes, you just get that little extra experience that makes the show truly memorable. That happened for me when my wife noted that, though she was enjoying the show, the dancing of a man near our section was nearly as entertaining. I glanced in that direction to watch the dancing for myself. It only took me a brief moment to realize that the man who had caught our attention was none other than the U of L’s Dean of Management, Murray Lindsay. Certainly the highlight of the night for me, was watching the esteemed dean air guitar to the Tragically Hip with a beer in one hand. And when that beer was empty, some of my Faculty of Management colleagues made sure to promptly supply him with another. We all had a good laugh.

So while the performance by The Tragically Hip and The Sadies was enjoyable, it was the performance by Murray Lindsay that really made the night’s entertainment complete. Rock on, Murray!

Image credit http://www.flickr.com/photos/myk4bz/317759554/
(reposted from www.joshuaschroeder.com)

Merry Christmas to everyone! My favorite season is upon on us. Enjoy the holidays with your family and friends!

Chemistry.... why is it so.... ARGH!

I know I shouldn't be posting, but I need to vent. I have been working on Chemistry for about 20 hours now, (since my last post) and I am very frustrated. I just DON'T get it. It's so frustrating. And then they throw in all these complex log things that I cannot figure out. 4.40=4.266+log (x/0.03754-x). How the heck do you figure out x. The text tells us nothing about logs, but uses them nearly every page. I have been trying to figure out this one for a while. A math major friend of mine attempted to help me, but it wasn't going so well. Apparently he hasn't done much logs since highschool. :( Chemistry is an awful subject. I just want to pass, but it's making things difficult.

I want to welcome Josh to my blog. He is a better and more entertaining writer than me, so it should liven this place up a little. Also it means posts will be more frequent. Yay for that! SO look for updates from him on here too.

Also I won't be posting much until at least the 15th, due to exams. I planned out the next 9 days, and figured out what times I will be forcing myself to be at the library studying it. It adds up to 80 hours! 54 of which are dedicated to Chemistry. Blech... sounds exciting doesn't. If I'm needed, I'll be in the library.

Oh and if you get a chance, watch today's Oprah!! It's about living green and global warming, with Al Gore.

I will be incredibly happy after this PC ALberta Leadership vote is over. For the last 2 weeks, we've gotten at least 4 calls a day from candidates (or their supporters). It's frustrating, because half the time it's recorded messages, and it's exactly the same thing as the day before. But.. Jim Dinning I hope will win, he has quite the environmental platform. Guess we'll see, at least the phone won't keep ringing.

Today was the international Buy Nothing Day. Convieniently it is the same day as Black Friday. Our club had a stuff swap on campus. It was a store set up, but no money was exchanged.. just items. Kinda cool. Unfortunately today was also the big Country Christmas Craft Show at the Exhibition Grounds. Over 177 craft booths! :) I did go, and I did buy a couple of items (as gifts of course). I also wanted to scout it out, since I plan to have a booth next year for my cards. Last year I had said I wanted a booth this year... but I'm still in school. So next year... I have it in writing now... that I WILL have a booth at the craft show. There were 2 other card booths there this year. One of which the cards weren't very nice and they were charging $4 a card. The other one had great cards. :) I would considered mine to be on the same level as theirs. They were charging $3.50 a card. So I scouted it out, and both booths were selling a number of cards while we were there, so YAY!

My cats have been fantastic lately. I thought they'd be all over the tree, but they just leave it alone. Actaully they've been napping under it, but not disturbing it. Which is wonderful.

At this point, I think there is no way I can fail any of my classes. I think I'll even get through chem with a somewhat decent mark (my lab is definately going to drag up my mark). In lecture I'm sitting at 56% (higher than I thought), and she gave out a make up assignment which is able to add 6%to the top of my mark. So say I only get 50% on the assignment, I will be sitting at 59%. Which means I only need above a 40% on the final. :) which I can guarentee I'll get. So YAY!!! No chem worries anymore. With th lab factored in, I should get 65-75% on the course in the end. YAY for lab, even though it is a very brutal lab.

Ohh and I charged up my cell phone for the first time in,.... 8 or 9 months! They're threatening to cut me off if I don't use it soon. So I figure I'll carry it this week, and one day I'll call Josh to get him to pick me up!

I was reading yesterday about christmas trees and the environment. Artificial trees (which I have) are bad in that they have so many chemicals in them. Which really isn't bad, until it hits the land fill. Real trees, well.. you're cutting them down and killing them. Now being a christmas freak, christmas just isn't christmas without a christmas tree. So it gave a solution. In some cities you can rent a tree. It's a really neat idea. You pay a rental fee, and the tree comes burlapped up (roots), and after the holidays, the tree is picked up and gets planted within the city, whether it be a park, a schoolyard or something! It's brilliant! Right now this program is available in San Fransisco and Portland. Hopefully it takes off elsewhere for next year. If you have a real tree... make sure to recycle it at the end of the season!

Radium was fantastic! Relaxing and enjoyable! We got to enjoy the facilities within the condo (billiards..... I lost, but it was fun), movies and sleeping. The condo was very nice, very spacious. Josh's parents decided to buy. So now we will be able to enjoy it a couple times a year.

Once again I am working on Chemistry. I just don't get this stuff. I'm on my second time around in this course, and it's not any easier. In fact, having a different prof different material is covered. The average on the midterm from last week was in the 40% range.... which means I probably did even worse than that. I haven't found out yet (she's planning to hand out the marks tomorrow). I REALLY don't want to fail this class a second time. That would push back graduation, and I don't want that, I want to be done. I spent HOURS... DAYS studying for this midterm, and turned it in with only 2 questions actually answered. Not a good thing. Anyway, since the class mark was so low on the exam, she's decided to give us an assignment to help bring up our marks. So I really hope that the assignment will put me over the 50%. I'm REALLY hoping.

Registration for next semester is next week for me. I have 2 courses I am quite excited about, and according to others I should do very well at (easy markers). Then I have 2 biology classes. One is Evolution, which I'm not too excited about, and apparently is a very brutal course. Then i have molecular genetics. Which I would have thought is a difficult course, but according to proffessor ratings, if you just print out the ppt slides, and study just those, I should get an A. So that's comforting. Other than that I have an independent study that I have to do, but I haven't decided what topic I want to do. I do have an idea what prof I would like to do it thorugh though. So that's a start. Hopefully that is my last semester. It would just be this Chem course that may screw that up.

Christmas tree is going up on Wednesday night! from then it is only 39 days til christmas!

Getting away for the weekend.

It is a 5 day weekend. Well, that's not really news... since I never have class on Monday and Friday's anyway. But this weekend Josh gets them off too! We're going to Radium with his folks. It should be fun, good to get away. I can get away from everything here that is driving me crazy. I was hoping this weekend would be a break. But unfortunately I have an exam to write (submit online) and 3 assignments and then studying for another exam next week. But I will be in a different location. Plus... I get to do some soaking in the hotsprings... and probably have some tasty food. Very exciting. The ipod is being prepped for road trip!

Last weekend was the climate change weekend. The Be Aware Club (Biology and Environmental Science students) here on campus (which I am a part of) held a funeral for the climate. :) I didn't attend, but I was excited to read the coverage of it. They had a a priest, a coffin, grim reaper and much talk about the changing environment. They had it on the steps of City Hall and then walked down to the MP's office. These events were held all over the world. Not all done the same, but the same topic. But as Canadians we are not keeping out Kyoto commitment. We signed the Kyoto Accord, but have not reduced our emissions much at all. So sad. We could do so much!

Anyway... now I'm going to be bad.. and we're DRIVING to calgary. But there will be 3 people in our car. From Calgary we will all car pool out to Radium, rather than each driving seperately (or even as couples..).

Anyway, I was sent this video from a faculty member. Really interestinng. Watch it.
Movie
I liked the longer one better..


-apparently we'll have flying cars in 50 years.....

Halloween... I guess.

I think it's halloween, there are some strangely dressed people here at the University today. Which really isn't that weird.. there's quite a few of those drama-type people in this area of the U. I was excited about Halloween, the way the scheduling of my night class was, it looked like he was going to give us this evening off... but not so.. he decided to drag out his lecture last class. So Halloween.. it may be out there, but I'll never know. School from 8 am til 9 pm. Plus the extra time after my night class that I wait for Josh to finish his night class.. and meetings. SO I figure tonight I'll be out of here by 10 pm. Unfortunately I don't get to see all the tykes dressed up and banging on my door. Don't get to set up my tombstones, pumpkins, floodlights and fog machine. Unfortunate. Last year I enjoyed the fascination of the kids as they came to the door. I left a candy stash just inside the door.. in case some kids come by while we're out and a roomate answers the door. It's a sad night. I love costumes, and enjoy seeing the kids. They're adorable. Instead I get to listen to my prof talk for 3 hours, while not covering any of the course material (it fascinates me every week... he'll lecture for 3 hours on nothing related to the course... the whole course is learned from the textbook). You may ask... why do you attend class then? Well 20% of my mark comes from GROUP tests. Yes... group tests. We have one every class. We sit in our groups, we discuss the question (which is usually straight from the text) and then we write down the answer (oh.. and we can confer with other groups), with all our names. Great testing strategy. Other than that our tests are all WEBCT, meaning online, and multiple choice. Yes... I know what you're thinking... what on earth does this prof do? He doesn't have to mark anything. It's all done by computer, he doesn't really lecture.. he just stands in front of 100 students once a week and tells jokes and rattles on about different environmental projects that are going on in Alberta. I wouldn't consider him a great prof... but his actual lecture period is entertaining, just not related. So we go to class. Plus, I am one of about 5 students in the class that he knows, he would notice if I am not there. He was the prof that led the SouthWest Trip I went on this summer.

Tomorrow is a scary day. I have to present to my class for 15 minutes. All alone at the front with control of PowerPoint. It's the scariest thing for me. I feel sick, I fidget and I refuse to look at the group. I even shake. Presenting is not a good thing. The most I've ever done before is 5 minutes.. and usually that is with other people. I do know the content of my presentation thoroughly, but I am nervous that someone will ask a question. Actually in this class I know at least 5 people will ask questions. I'm scared that it'll be questions that I do not know the answer to. I am also one of the first 3 to present in this class, so I have no idea if I even approached this from the right angle. Guess we'll find out tomorrow. I already found a mistake in the handout that has been sent to the entire class already.

On the plus side, I have received 2 more orders for Christmas cards. One is a rush order that needs to be done for next week, so after tomorrow's presentation I will start in on them. :) Very exciting. There are only 55 days left til Christmas. And tomorrow you are officially allowed to decorate for Christmas. I don't think my tree will get put up for a couple weeks yet, since I have so much to do prior to that. But Christmas music is free to be played everywhere now... not just in my IPOD.

I think I should quit my rambling now. I have class again soon. This was a quick break, and I finally got another blog in.

I will leave you with the following image.....

Why me. My thoughts when I first got up this morning.

First a little history. Every year at University I have had something go wrong that is not my fault. At U of A I had problems, with registration.....(they booted me out of a class... saying I didn't have the pre-req, when I did), I had problems with my tuition (I had paid, they decided I hadn't). At LCC, I had a problem with my accomodation, they screwed up something, and I had to go and straighten it out. U of L, I NEEDED a course (required), and the class was still half empty, yet I couldn't register for it... because of my major, even though it's required for my major. It tooks like 2 months to get that one sorted out. Everything goes wrong with the Universities, I'm really fed up with it.

This morning I wake up to get an e-mail that reads "There have been changes to your registration in the last 24 hours. You are not registered in any courses". First reaction.. .maybe it's an error message. SO I log onto my registration pages, just to realize that I am not registered in any classes as of the middle of the night. Here I am in the midst of writing midterms, turning in papers... and I'm not registered in any classes?

My first question is WHY? I have no holds on my account, I have been a good diligent student, I've even determined that U of L is really a good school... I'm not holding grudges. But this. I need to sort it out. I have a scholarship dependent on me having full time status, I have a billion papers and midterms in the next few weeks, and they removed me from school.

I'm not a happy camper this morning, and I plan to go to the Registrar when they open at 9. Until then I just stew and freak out and wonder, with all the troubles Universities give me, maybe this isn't where I should be. Maybe I should just find a job.... and forget this all together.

Never get excited

One thing I've learned this week... is never get excited about something.. or it won't happen.

First... Well actually lastly... I'll go backwards. We packed our bags and were just waiting for Josh and Mike to finish a project they were working on, so that we could leave to go to Edmonton for the weekend. I was so looking forward to going, I was going to get the rest of my christmas shopping done.. maybe buy a new sweater for me. SPending the whole day at WEM. We were going to leave in about half an hour... when the phone rang. One of the girls had double booked herself, and couldn't work her shift tomorrow. Everyone else already works that day.. except one other person... who's on a varsity team - which plays this weekend, So I said I'd take the shift. I'm not going to leave her in a lurch. So josh is gone now... and I'm here. I was really looking forward to getting away.... a weekend away from roomates and stress.

I have been excited for about a month about my boss letting me sell my cards in the store. Well last night I was told that I no longer have a job after this week. They've decided to close the store. I really loved that job, but oh well.

No Job, No Cards and No Edmonton. I'm never getting excited again...

School has started.

I'm really looking forward to being done school.

Although one of my classes should be fun. Weather and Climate. I've always been fascinated with weather, loving storms and such. For the tornado in Lethbridge last year, while everyone else was running indoors. I was outside watching funnel clouds and hoping to glimpse the tornado. I was at work at the time.. so I could not go to my basement as recommended. Same is true for thunder storms. Love watching them through the window. It's just amazing the power of weather. I'm very excited about this class.

Another class that will be intereseting is my River Science class. It is a 4000/5000/7000 level course, meaning that it is undergraduates, masters students and phds all in one class. We have to adopt a river, analyze and interpret data and give a presentation to the class on our river. I have decided to do the Illecillewaet River. It will be a lot of work. There's a very large paper, and the presentation is long as well. A lot of information. I think it will take at least 2 months to gather data and another month to interpret it. Overall it will be interesting. The class is a 6 hour class once a week. We don't spend much time in the classroom, mostly on field trips.

My other classes will just be brutal. I have Analytical Chemistry (the hardest and brutalist Chemistry class that is offered at the U) and Geographical Statistical Data Analysis (or somethign like that). Both are going to be harsh.

I joined the Be-Aware club - the environmental science club. Most of the people I got to know on my trip are in the club, and more peopel from my program that I have not met. So we'll see if I actually get time to attend the events this year.

Anyway... my new battery arrived today.... I just put it in, so I'm happy. Yay for free replacements!

It's 3:15 am. I was sleeping quite nicely, maybe a little light, when I woke up to a glug, glug, glug. Now my immediate thought was, a cat knowcked over a water jug, but I didn't think there were any in the bedroom. So I crawled over to the light, turned it on. Teemo was laying on the corner of the bed, and Oakley was sniffing something on the floor. I loo only to realize that a cat had thrown up. Now the smell usually makes me throw up myself, so I cleaned it up right away (best I could without firing up the spot carpet cleaner machine), only to notice another pile. SO I cleaned that up too. I put a dirty towel over both spots (so the smell won't make me be sick before morning comes) and turned off the light only to step in yet another pile. On go the lights, and another scrubfest. Just as I was throwing that out, I see and hear Teemo loudly dry heaving, ready to deliver another. I thought it had been oakley in the bedroom, but I guess Teemo just jumped back on the bed after doing his business. And Oakley, being Oakley, had gone down there to investigate and maybe try to eat it.I shooed Teemo while he was heaving, down to the linoleum of the dining room. But it appears nothing more is coming tonight. Thankfully.

And now no sleep will come. I checked out online, and have a few ideas I may try with Teemo (such as petroleum jelly, and cutting fish out of his diet). We'll see..... he doesn't throw up often. I think this is only the 3rd event since we've had them. So it may take a while to determine if something is working. Open to suggestions.

I had begun a post about The Swadeshi Movement about 4 days ago... but never finished it.

And thus the silence of this blog continues...... but only for a little longer.

I have much environmentalism running around in my head, but I haven't had the time to put them down in my blog. I started this blog for that purpose. Now that my trip has been recapped, and my life is smoothing out, I should be able to get on here with my thoughts...... next week. :) I'm heading to Vancouver for the weekend, and will be back in 5 days. AND I WILL POST MY TREE HUGGING THOUGHTS!