DDub's Musings

Summer Road Trip - Day 1

2008-06-19T21:02:00.002-06:00

Weather Conditions: Quite hot in Chicago.

Yes, I am writing from Chicago, Illinois. Departing from Toronto, it's my first time driving through Northern United States, and so far I have to say it's not as pleasant as driving through the Pacific Coast Highway. There is a lot of construction here, and boy are there a lot of tolls along the I90. Granted that it's only 80 cents each time, but I have spent about $4 so far.

Being that it's a road trip, I don't intend to do much sight seeing as I get quite wiped at the end of it. Having said that I do want to take advantage of finding good eats wherever I go. In Chicago, I ended up going to Quartino. It's located in downtown Chicago and unfortunately got there half and hour late -- crazy traffic tie-ups on the I290. After finding a parking spot (quite quickly), I find Quartino and packed! Here is the thing though, despite I miss my reserveration BIG TIME, they did their best to get me in quickly. I must commend Kevin, whom I believe is the manager there. He apologized several times for the wait, and even bought the wine and offered complimentary meatballs. Now, that's what I call service.

Interestingly, I had a discussion with my parents last week over going for Shanghai food in Scarborough. We got to this restaurant, and it was packed. There were several groups before us, and no staff came to greet us. You see, unlike western restaurants, Chinese restaurants typically do not separate the host/hostess, waiting staff, bus-people, etc. As a result, we, as well as a few other groups, just left. If I went to a western restaurant, I would be greeted by someone at the door, and I would be able to ask how long the wait is. Even if I do end up leaving, I wouldn't feel bad and would most likely return. Let's just say I don't think I would be going back to that Shanghai place.

Now, going back to Quartino, I should note that they have an awesome wine list (and actually bigger than their food menu). The food of course was amazing, as I had the opportunity to try their homemade sausages. Will I be going back? You bet!

Dessert consisted of going to Cold Stone Creamery. Mmm... Our Strawberry Blonde.

ps: black witch: wish you were here... you would've loved it!

Happy New Year! A Teaser Post

2008-01-04T16:25:00.000-07:00

Weather Conditions: Dirty snow, cloudy and okay mild.

All About Timing

2007-11-21T20:54:00.000-07:00

Weather Conditions: Left over snow from yesterday, somewhere in the -9ish.

All about timing. Got together with Darcy to get his winter tires on the EL, and BAM! -- Snow on the ground right after Vietnamese noodles. Am I going to blame noodles? Never!

On the way home, someone called in a tip about a traffic accident that happens to be on my usual path. Again, talk about timing. I was just about to turn to that street too. So I made the intelligent decision to take the next street to avoid the mess. That's what happens when snow hits the ground; people seem to forget how to drive for winter conditions. What I have seen are either people drive too aggressive or too paranoid.

So plans for tonight? I realized that I still haven't finished uploading my holiday photos from Asia. How long has it been? Only 7 months. Well, they are up now, so enjoy.

Well That is Just Ducky!

2007-11-05T17:07:00.000-07:00

Weather Conditions: Snow on the ground and brrr...

First I have to give a plug for my friend Kristina. She recently left her job and started her Etsy Shop. Check it out: kjmillar.etsy.com. I love her her penguins.

Had the pleasure of Peking Duck with the boys last weekend. There were 7 of us, and we polished 2 ducks and sides. Good times had by all!

So get this, Dave said that he couldn't make it because he had a hockey tournament that evening, but then 30 minutes into our meal he showed up to the restaurant with his entire family. What's up with that? Well, all is forgiven because his kids are cute. In truth, he was going to be playing but later that evening. It's just that he wouldn't have joined us for the post-duck activities.

Speaking of kids, I also met with Colin's son James for the first time. It will be memorable because it was Sunday dim sum, and I was driving there in drifting snow. I wasn't sure whether a Chinese restaurant was a good thing with the noise and all but James slept through that no problem!

Like the last post, I didn't win the lottery again. So back to the ticket center and hope for the best as they bumped the winnings up another 5 million.

Got to get home; it's almost time for dinner. Mmm... Geoduck clams.

Website Returns

2007-11-02T16:42:00.000-06:00

Weather Conditions: Cooler but what do you expect for November?

It's baaaack!

Yes, if you haven't noticed, dannywong.org is no longer redirecting over to the blog page -- it actually has a cover! I have been wanting to find something clean and simple, and I think I have achieved that somewhat. Certainly feel free to suggest and compliment. :)

I have yet to figure out what to do with my placeholder (yeah, the thing that says blank). Perhaps something about the IS250, since it's birthday is coming up. Or maybe something to do with gadgets? Or both?

Well, nothing to report this week except I didn't win the lottery, like the rest of the country. Hmmm... the next jackpot is 30 million dollars. Got your resignation letter handy just in case?

It's TGIF alright, so I am outta here.

Boo...

2007-10-31T18:33:00.000-06:00

Weather Conditions: Some sun but now spooky clouds.

Happy Halloween! Instead of going out dressing up as the Michelin Man to go trick or treating, I decided to stay in tonight. Besides, I don't need anymore sugar in my system. It's kind of nice sitting on my bed with my notebook on my lap listening to some retro-karaoke on the new Mini.

Okay, clarification time:

I am using an iLap by Rain Designs Inc. The last thing I need is second degree burns on my lower body. Not to mention I really wouldn't appreciate saying "that's going straight to my thighs."
Mini refers to my new Mac Mini. It works very well as my personal entertainment PC. I am putting it through the paces, seeing how well the Apple Remote works with the DVD.
The DVD is a PolyGram Chinese Karaoke, featuring mostly late 80s and 90s music. Apparently that's considered retro nowadays. Man, it certainly makes one feel old.

Speaking of retro music, it was playing 一切很美只因有你 (Everything is Beautiful Because of You) by 陳慧琳 (Kelly Chen). It invoked a memory as a first year university student. Someone placed a bunch of posters around the campus with what I assumed was a confession of love. The funny thing was that the creator misspelled the English translation. So the poster had 一切很美只因有你 - The World is Wondarful Because of You. Yup, how Wondarful?

How's the Mac Mini? So far so good. The Core 2 Duo chip is nice -- the machine doesn't get too hot. Now I just need to get my copy of OS X Leopard; it's still in the mail somewhere...

Can You Keep A Secret?

2007-10-29T14:56:00.001-06:00

Weather Conditions: Sunny in the teenish Celsius.

What's with the title... I was listening to Utada Hikaru as I am writing this blog. Picture me in a server room, as this is where I am right now. Man, installing ArcGIS takes a long time. I figure might as well do a little writing while watching the paint dry.

The past weekend was filled with birthday parties. Oh yeah, happy birthday Elijah and David. One turned 1 and the other 30; the theme was certainly different between the two. One had baby products, and the other booze. Agreeably, it may be inappropriate to serve alcohol at a child's birthday party, but I am certain that there are stories out there. Ah, they are only a web-search away.

It was also the weekend of the last breakfast prepared by Val -- in one word: delicious. Funny thing was that Joe sent a text to both Fred and I, asking "What time are we meeting for breakfast?" Fred and I simultaneously replied, "now". Fred already there drinking a Caesar, and I was on my way there. Something came out of that special morning though, a new drink called "HoeJack". It is a combination of a drop shot of Jack Daniels into a Hoegaarden beer. Sound disgusting? You will have to try for yourself.

Food-filled Weekend

2007-10-21T15:48:00.000-06:00

Weather Conditions: Some sun but chilly.

Where have I been?

Well, a lot of places -- Hong Kong, Nanjing, Shanghai, Macau, LA, Vancouver, Seattle, Orlando...

The website was down as well, as I have not gone around to setting up my new web server. Of course, it's finally working as you can see.

Do I want to talk about "all those places"? Nah, it's in the past, so let's move on.

The weekend... As of writing, I am in part 2 of 3 of this amazing food-filled weekend. Last night was all about the lobster (thanks Office Broccoli and her mom!) Got to meet a bunch of new friends as well; it may lead to another food fest possibly. Nice!

So what was part 1. Part 2 was the Opera brunch... it was so nice of JoeLinda to invite me. Funny thing I bumped into a couple of other friends there too. Small world, yes it certainly is. The Opera brunch served really nice food, and the singing was amazing. I was told that the performers probably get paid next to nothing to do this, as it is more of a break from the official performance and to sing whatever they like. A couple of the performers (one of which is Tracy Dahl) did Lakme's Flower Duet. It really made my day.

Part 3 is coming up in about 2 hours -- Peking Duck. To close, this crazy food-filled weekend is supper for wish our friend Val a farewell as she is going to England for 2 years. We will certainly miss her.

Cyberbullies

2007-02-12T16:12:00.000-07:00

Weather Conditions: Drifting Snow and cold.

Hard start Monday morning with the conditions outside, and it's not just me being a wuss or anything as I still made it in. Certainly I'd rather stay at home with the fireplace running and in fuzzy bunny slippers. Ever have the problem of forgetting to bring something to work? I seem to be having that lately. I try to remember to leaving it on the bench by the door, but I still end up forgetting something else. Must work in a new system, useful recommendations are welcome.

Learned a new term that popped up from GMail headlines: Cyberbullying. Essentially it's about using sites like MySpace or Facebook to bash someone. I read today that 11 students were suspended from school for doing so: 11 Ontario students suspended for 'cyber-bullying'

What did we learn? Never make negative thoughts public. You WILL get caught!

On a lighter(?) note, it's Jack Bauer double-header night. Good to stay warm and watch over a hot cocoa. Mmm... note to self: marshmellows.

sunday, Sunday, SUNDAY...

2007-02-11T11:40:00.000-07:00

Weather Conditions: Light Cold Snow.

Just got in from work (post network upgrade), everything went quite smoothly. The only exception is that there is a lot of port scanning on one of my networks, but that's what firewalls are for. Good luck to you bots, we're quite locked down here.

Not much else going on except doing a little prep work before going in to the office tomorrow. I should probably get my papers in order and prepare for taxes. I know it's still two months or so away, but I probably need to buy RRSPs and stuff too -- that must be done by the end of this month.

How much RRSPs? Well it all boils down to how much money one can spend at this point.

Anyone care to contribute to a good cause? Leave me a note.

Vista Experience Index = 2.9

2007-02-09T16:40:00.000-07:00

Weather Conditions: Brrr...

Certainly a worthy day for an extra-hot Starbucks drink.

As mentioned in today's title, I have made the decision to upgrade my office computer (Precision Workstation 380) to Windows Vista Business. I had reservations about moving to it, especially with only 512MB memory. Obviously I took the plunge anyway. Result? 2.9. Yes, the bottleneck being memory. Here is the thing, to upgrade memory on a Precision Workstation, would require purchasing ECC (error correction) memory, which is a LOT more money.

I did however, made the move to run ReadyBoost (TM) with a 2GB memory key that I have here. Did it help? I can't really tell. I am going to assume it did. On top of all this, I also installed Office Professional Plus 2007. Yup, speed demon no more...

Yes, this is a geektastic post, but c'mon, I have been geeked out for the whole week. The last thing I will say is this: Like all Microsoft programs, RAM is good. Get lots! You'll thank me later.

What's in store this weekend? I have to come in for a network upgrade. Hope it won't take too long.

PostEd

2007-02-08T17:12:00.000-07:00

Weather Conditions: More more drifting snow...

I'm back. What do I have to say about Edmonton? Not much except I just ended up delivering the unit instead of installing it. Needless to say I felt unproductive, but what could I do? The weather conditions were so poor that I spent more time sitting around the airports than in the metropolitan area.

I always wonder about security checks at airports. For example, I had no issue passing through heading out, but leaving Edmonton played a different story. My belt actually set off the detection device. Not big deal, I had nothing to hide... As I was waiting in line however, I noticed that someone (not something) was being swabbed. You know what I am talking about -- notebook computers or electronic devices being swabbed and scanned. This time, however, it was a person. Looked quite embarrassing, as she was being swabbed from head to toe and side by side. I would personally feel quite violated. Nevertheless she had no choice in the matter. I wonder what was on her? Gun powder? Anthrax? Deodorant? (Thanks Broccoli as she is watching me write this out.)

The good news though was dinner last night. Mmm... Mmm... Mmm... I had so much uni there may have been tears of joy. What's uni? Look it up.

I decided to install Windows Vista and Office 2007 Professional Plus. I will have to warn you all considering this move. 512MB RAM is not a good thing... (that's what I currently have). Vista Experience Index = 2.9 (memory being the limiting factor).

Now I am sitting waiting for the Office Broccoli to finish her script, because I forgot my access card to the office. What's next, squish baby, squish. The meet will be a little thin, as 2 of us are unavailable this evening. And of course, that also means that they will miss out on the awesome meal ahead.

Pre-Ed Prep

2007-02-06T18:52:00.000-07:00

Weather Conditions: Snow is back...

Been away for a few days; a few things happen since. My parents are in town for a bit, which meant dinners with family / friends etc. Nothing wrong with that. Food is always good.

How's my flu? I think I am finally over it. I managed to do a triple-header squash match with TDawg. Where is the Geef? Well, he decided to take it easy as he is still in the midst of his flu. He booked courts for next week. Let's see if he will be well enough by then.

In the midst of the lousy weather, I have to head up to Edmonton tomorrow for an installation. It's only for the day, and yes siree, I am flappy my arms real fast. The thing about Edmonton though is that the airport is actually in another town -- Leduc. So it means $44 for a cab ride to get to downtown from there. Fortunately it's a fixed rate. With the roads the way they are, I hope it won't take too long. I do plan on getting back the same afternoon... especially with the fact that there will be a good meal happening the upcoming evening.

Road to Recovery...

2007-02-02T09:24:00.000-07:00

... really needs to be repaved.

Weather Conditions: Less Crazy Snow!

I woke up expecting aches and pains (damn age thing), but surprisingly not too bad. I certainly slept well given that I ended up working for 2 hours after squash and grub. I was wiped.

Yes, I have been fighting a nasty flu for the past week, but I am well despite I don't sound like it. My workmate (and squash buddy) The Geef eMailed in sick today and blaming me for it too... I don't know what to say, except ha?

Seriously though, get well soon. We have a game on Tuesday.

Oh, and Groundhog Day and no shadow... Hmm... notice that it's snowing out there? Not expecting an early spring this time around.

Back on Track

2007-02-01T09:00:00.000-07:00

Weather Conditions: Crazy Snow!

You may wonder... OMG, where have you been? Well, I got busy, lazy, busy being lazy. It doesn't matter, because I am back -- Bloggier than ever. I spent the last day migrating my old blogs over so now I am back on track.

What can I say? Well, it's February 1st, and I am in snow madness. Just got two eMails from colleagues saying that they are stuck in traffic. Not surprised. Telecommuting works, just check your messages often.

Oh oh oh... it's double-header squash day too -- lunch AND evening. How hurt will I be? Stay tuned...

Working Hard! Really!

2005-04-12T23:27:00.000-06:00

Guess what? I got lazy again. Okay, that's not completely true. I have been doing exams and working hard, (no, not hardly working).

Well, my friends et al have been harassing me to put up pictures from various events in the last few months -- they are there now, so stop bugging me! hehehe...

A busy evening for me talking with a few friends whom I haven't heard from in a while. Glad that you are all alive -- I do miss you very much. Let's meet up real soon, okay? Except for some who are a little farther away. You are in constantly in my thoughts; yes you know who you are.

Again, I promise to write more often.

Just one more thing. Pam and Chris, congrats on your engagement. I am invited to the wedding right?

Happy Wend[a]y!

2004-12-30T00:50:00.000-07:00

It's a little late, but I wish everyone a belated Happy Festivus -- yeah, yeah, I know I am being PC. Have been invited to quite a few gatherings since this month, so much that I have not gone grocery shopping for three weeks!

So what did I do on the 25th? Just lots of meat and cheese, Starbucks and Pepsi (no Coke in the fridge), as well as movie and nine (yes, nine) hours of Jennifer Garner... Mmm... Sydney Bristow (Alias - Season 3). Of course, we (Fred, Jay, Joe, and moi) did not finish the whole season, just half way through. I couldn't help myself, so I have been burning the midnight oil watching the rest of the episodes (oh, poor projector lamp.) I am done, but they always leave a cliffhanger ending... arrrgh, Season 4, where art thou?

It was also a very cold Boxing Day. Went shopping with Tammy and her mom, as well as Les. I had no intention of buying anything, so I didn't except for a dress shirt. It was a pretty good deal (thanks Tammy.) I happened to bump into a few people at the mall and got lots of phone calls. I felt like one of those important celebrity types or business person -- Can someone say Stock Broker?

What's next? New Years baby! I have to complete my resolutions soon; I think I am going to plunge into some positive changes. What are they? Stay tuned and you may see.
In case I get lazy again, I would wish everyone a wonderful 2005!

And... to Lovely Wendy, happy birthday my dear. You are in my thoughts! Have an extra slice of cake for me.

Go Jason, Go Dragon!

2004-12-05T17:15:00.000-07:00

Winding down this weekend, just got in (4:15pm) from Sunday brunch and a Children in Dance production of Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Sound familiar, well it's C.S. Lewis' From the Chronicles of Narnia. Anyway, my friend Jason Goethals plays the narrator, and the show was awesome! Go Jason, Go Dragon!

Yes, it has been a few days, but it was quite refreshing to take some time and not do too much. A three day weekend, yes I can get used to that.

So shopping day on Friday -- I cannot believe how busy the mall can be on a Friday. Do people not work or something? I actually found the mall pretty busy for a workday, but of course that is good for the economy n'est-ce pas? I did manage to get some shopping done, and I will not dive into the reasons why. Besides, some of you may already know. Overall it was a productive personal day, and yes I am the good uncle.

Back to work again tomorrow, and it looks like an early morning meeting to start the day. My business friends, I am sure you have the same thoughts in my head.
Oh and Annie, that lipstick really isn't mine.

ACLs...

2004-12-02T23:00:00.000-07:00

Just finish writting my yucky ACL test -- booo... I did okay, but of course keep forgetting about implicit deny's. Well what's done is done. Now I am just waiting for the rest of the class to finish theirs. Yes, I am usually one to the first 3 people who finish their test. I learned that with this class, checking the answers over may not be the best thing. The questions are tricky enough that one would tend to second guess. I have made that mistake many times over and no more! I decree that I will just go with my first instincts.

I am going to take tomorrow off to get my errands done and catch up on some Christmas shopping. I am the good uncle this year, so lots of baby / kids stuff shopping going on. So what are we "new" uncles supposed to buy kids? I don't know yet; I will find out tomorrow I guess.

Looks like the rest of my class have completed the test now. I better get back.

Till the next time.

World AIDS Day

2004-12-01T01:00:00.000-07:00

What we need to spread is the awareness, not the disease.

The fact that we are getting closer to the holiday season worries me, because it means that my course is coming to an end meaning final exams and wrapping up projects.
I got a chance to hear the remake of "Do They Know It's Christmas" on the radio this morning. It's performed by Band Aid 20 featuring many artists including one my favourites: Dido!
My manager took our team out for lunch today (thanks Dave!) I must say the food was really good. Of course the company was excellent as well -- go Team! On the way back, Terri and I stopped by Starbucks for a coffee, being snotty elitests and all. So far it's a good day.
So what is the plan? Just finish my work day and back to more studying, got a test to write tomorrow.

Trivia Time: Do you know Dido's last name?

Cisco Hair Fire!

2004-11-30T00:50:00.000-07:00

After a weekend of getting my hair done (looks like there was a forest fire on my head), sushi time (yes, I ate an extra piece just for you Pam,) then Martini night with Alma at Duncan and Tara's (thanks for the fun time), I am back at my Monday morning routine, except neither my partner and I could get into the new area where the lab equipment is stored. Well, I am now here writing a little blog before doing some prepping before the work day begins.

So what about the rest of the weekend? Well, brother D'arcy and I enjoyed a fine noodle time with Dave, Thanh and Isabelle -- Isabelle, you don't know how cute you are!! Oh, Chris and Mary dropped by and reminded me of the simplicity of soup and sandwiches -- yum. I think we will need to do some Sunday brunches too.

One module left in my course. By the way, anyone good at doing router ACLs? If you are, I am proud of you. It's not easy to grasp at all. What is an ACL? ACL = Access Control List. Oh well, it will be over soon.

To close, the lessons learned over the weekend:

Designated drunks should seek professional help.
Noodles is a good way to pull out of being under the weather (Get well soon Ross and Kristina)
Life lessons are good, but right now I should focus on the lessons that will help pass my course

2 Months

2004-11-23T01:00:00.000-07:00

Holy! Where have I been? I know it has been more than two months since I wrote anything, but I have an excuse, err... reason. Yeah, that's it.

First, my web host only gave me 20MBs of disk space to store my site. My pictures alone take up that much space and then some. However, they recently up'd my quota so I may put more pictures and other contents. (Rated PG of course)

Second, work has been busy. Not to mention I am taking classes right now. Don't even want to think about the condition of my home; I need to call a maid.

Third, it's time to start work again. So I am outta here.

WEIRDED OUT! (sm)

2004-08-24T01:00:00.000-06:00

Facing another busy week at work, but I still want write a little blurb about the weekend. The weirdest thing happened. Sarah and I have agreed to meet up on Saturday to look at cars, and so I dialed her cell number from my home phone. As I connected, my cell phone rings. Who called? Sarah of course. She called my cell phone from her home line. Talk about WEIRDED OUT! (tm - Strongbad)Anyway, today we are going to celebrate Romig's birthday. He is an awesome guy, and I am honoured to share this day with him.Time to go, there is a sale on Chunky Soup.

10 000 Steps (or 500 Miles?)

2004-08-20T01:00:00.000-06:00

One needs to do something a little crazy sometimes, and I did such that. I ran out of train tickets yesterday, so after work I went over to the ticket center to get another book of 10. Oooh, that's crazy!? No no... there's more.It was 5pm at that point, and I had an hour or so before I had to go out again. I walked outside and felt the breeze hitting me. So I thought, what if I walked home? I started counting the number of blocks in my head, and it was about 66-70 blocks from where I was. Oh well, why not?Now one must understand that I am quite lazy when it comes to stuff like that. Heck, sometimes I would even drive just because I was too lazy to walk to the train station (which is not that far away). Well, the walk was awesome. It didn't just give me the 10 000+ steps per day, as suggested by Dr. Lau, but it offered me a chance to think about things. Where I was, where I am, where I may be in all aspects of my life.I made it home in an hour and 25 minutes. Except the sweat from the 17+ degree weather and tingly feelings in my legs, I felt good.I think I am going to do that more often. Sure I am always busy with work and stuff, but pushing that back a little for the sake of the walk was well worth it.Give it a try sometime.

Master Tammy

2004-08-15T01:00:00.000-06:00

I am at work right now, waiting on an installation to finish. What am I doing at work? Well, there is stuff to do. I met up with friends Eddy and Li-Wei, who I have not seen in years. Lunch was great, with lots of catching up. Hope we will not have to wait years before we meet up again, eh?Oh, install done. One down, a zillion more to go. Before I go back to work, I must congratulate Tammy again with finishing her Masters and her new job. Wait, that's Master Tammy, hehehe...