Grazing Rites

Someone came by to see the apartment yesterday, three in fact. The landlord wasn’t able to make it so he asked me to show the apartment and he made a point of repeatedly saying “you don’t have to say anything“.

Enter the moral dilemma.

Do I tell the person the laundry list of problems like a good person but simultaneously stab my landlord in the back by sabotaging his efforts? He wasn’t the greatest landlord but he did let me leave early at only nominal expense.

There were also selfish concerns, like the harder it is to find a tenant the more of these situations I’m going to have interrupting my moving prep.

In the end I decided on a passive approach, I would answer any question truthfully but not volunteer any un-asked-for information. Unfortunately no one thought to ask about a leaking wall or mice. One person did have the presence of mind to ask about the landlord’s response time. All three people who came to see the place seemed grateful and surprised by my frank honesty.

So I guess I struck a reasonable balance.

Tom
Is this guy worse than the terrorists? I think a case could be made, although they of course have the higher body count…at the moment. “I love the constitution”? I don’t think he loves anything…beyond himself and power that is. “I’m not out to hurt you or your husband personally”…but professionally I’m going to kick you in the junk…hard.

Karen
I never really liked her but I wanted to see her take Tom down. Why did the writers have the issue with Bill take place in Seattle? He hasn’t worked in Seattle since before Season 4, unless it was a very temporary transfer. Her decision in this episode is weakness. Lynn never would have done that…Is she still alive? Can she replace Karen? I did like her encouraging speech to Wayne; he needs to take the gloves off. Be like the Wayne of Season 3, ready to sucker punch someone politically for the good of the nation. Or be like the Wayne of Season 5, the gun-toting ex-Marine. Cut through the crap and kick some ass. So, um, are Karen and Assad going to high-five each other in the air as they pass each other at 50,000 feet headed in opposite directions?

Morris
I can’t get enough of this guy. And, as predicted, he’s getting along with Milo *looks at ‘I Called It’ sign* hmmm, might be a little premature, I’ll save this baby for later.

Milo
“He has technology in the on position”? Did I hear that right? Watched it twice, sounded the same each time. He’s getting more and more back into character with each episode…excellent. I wonder, could he be the new Tony? I suspect he might actually have a bit more range than Mr. “Uh, yea”. “She’s registered Republican for crying out loud” is, unquestionably, the best line of the episode.

Nadia
And a small hint of personality emerges; can this be the birth of an actual character? Perhaps I’m prejudiced against her because I know that her character was originally meant to be a 2-episode Muslim Chloe in Season 4. They cut and re-shot those scenes for a reason, so now the question is can they make an entire regular character of that? I fear she is either a) a recycled idea b) a one-dimensional character c) a tool for addressing concerns over stereotypes on the show d) a poor man’s Michelle. None of those seem particularly interesting or satisfying. That said, 24 is all about surprising us so anything is possible. Is she shagging Milo? Are they going to hook up like Tony & Michelle? Maybe she’s a mole…

Sandra
Die or shut up. Or get the hell out of the FBI’s way and find a multidimensional character or plot to be involved with. And by character I mean her, it’s no slight on Walid. Samuels pays her boyfriend a compliment and she responds by trying to pull the rug out from under him again, just repeating the same stuff she’s said over and over, in this season of 24 and in Enemy Of The State.

Graem
That bag was on his head for at least 5 minutes by my count. How could a private firm gain access to a nuke? I know Republicans are allegedly fond of smaller government and privatization but damn. Interesting that he constantly throughout the episode tries to use family as a justification when at the start of the episode he swore on their lives and it was a lie. No wonder Jack doesn’t take any of it seriously. “If you give CTU McCarthy’s name they’ll come after the family”? They already had Phillip Bauer’s name, that was the lead they were following, I’d say it’s too late to protect the family from investigation. “Do you hear that, dad?” How old are we? Does this always happen when you put two brothers together in front of their father? This guy’s like an onion, every time you peel back one persona there’s another waiting.

Samuels
I like this guy the more I see him. But his guards are freaking incompetent. They had advance warning of Walid’s extraction and were completely impotent and unprepared when the attack came. The facility isn’t very large and he should have been under close and careful, but surreptitious, observation. Seriously, the guards needed to whip out the rubber bullets and/or the tasers during the beating.

Darren
So he yells at his woman and she turns on the charm? Bizarre relationship. She’s kind of attractive but her hating an entire city because it isn’t bourgeois enough is reason enough to kick anyone to the curb. She puts him down, and he offers to buy her a small country? Who would put up with that given the choice? It can’t be that hard to find someone more attractive than her that won’t constantly cut you down. That’s right, I’m playing Dr. Phil to someone helping the terrorists.

Walid
Has 24 ever followed a plotline for this long to have it go absolutely nowhere before? The closest thing I can think of is Richard Heller but even that came back to yield a result in the end. I guess the lesson from that is to not assume anything. Chole CAN make mistakes after all…just look at Spencer. Was this plotline really a red herring? They knew the term visitor where CTU had to be told by Assad after all…

Phillip
The curly hair at the back makes him look like a hippie. I almost expected his Irish accent from LA Confidential to come out, the characters seem similar at first but diverge quickly. Great casting, the last shot of the episode with both father and son in profile they totally look related. Moreso than his real father I think.

Chloe
Bill was being briefed on Fayed? How important could that be 6 hours in that he couldn’t be interrupted?

Fayed
Did he really need to be in this episode?

Cannon Fodder
Okay, so all the backup teams AREN’T dead after all. I think it would have made for an interesting season if they had been. They give the latest nameless CTU agents dialogue only to kill them off screen? Weak. Might shock the noobs I guess but anyone who’s seen Season 1 wouldn’t be shocked by their deaths.

I hope my cable gets moved in time for next week’s episode. If not I may be a 24 refugee next monday…

So my 12 hour reservation for a 10′ truck in Burnaby from 9am to 9pm on the 1st is now a 7 hour reservation for a 14′ truck in North Vancouver from 7:30am to 2:30pm.

Burton, God bless him is still on board despite this recent monkey wrench.

Unfortunately I thus far have no other helpers. Lindsey ignored me when I asked, several people had work or school which is understandable, Kim seemed hesitant and mentioned that she didn’t have a car. Frankly I kinda feel like crap just for asking given the reaction I’m getting. Fine if it means more work for me but this sucks for Burton, I was really hoping I could find someone (or even a few someones) to help take a bit of the load off…

Late the other night, one of those thousands of nights I haven’t felt like going to bed until 3am, I caught part of this excellent movie on TV. After the second commercial break I had to give up on watching it again, it’s a crime to step away from this movie for any non-emergency reason. Yes, it’s a collection of individual scenes but it builds an atmosphere and feeling you just can’t appreciate properly when it’s broken up by soulless commercials.

I wonder if anyone can truly know me on certain deeper levels if they haven’t seen this movie. Which is sad considering I don’t think I’VE seen it since the 90s.

Like that part about being sick of yourself. He talks about how “I’ve never seen a movie that I didn’t go to with myself, I’ve never experienced anything without hearing my stupid jokes and little opinions in my head” or something to that general effect. This itself probably explains why I so often stay up until 3am. It’s my way of getting away from myself. Higher brain functions seem to cease and you can finally shut off that endless commentary running in your own head and just be. I’m completely indecisive and it’s great.

I guess that’s probably part of my Silly Single Behaviour that may need to go. It’s simply not practical and who would put up with it? I can picture it now…

“What are you doing honey?”

“Soul searching and achieving oneness with myself”

“Well could you turn off the light? It’s 3am for God’s sake…”

Is this why people drink?

You know, to escape that voice in your head that IS you. I can be pretty obnoxious sometimes, I’m certain I could get sick of myself VERY fast…

I think the movie killed my interest in Europe when I realized you could have experiences like that anywhere. It occurred to me, in my quest for similar experiences, that many of them could be constructed with effort. Now is this being a romantic soul, an opportunist, or completely missing the point? I don’t know but that’s a property of self, not location. These realizations or questions pretty much killed the romance of Europe because really, romance is often all about making choices, wherever you are. I guess that’s kind of sad.

The themes struck ever closer to home. A last night, a future that doesn’t exist beyond the sunrise the same as it were before. Acknowledging that you have to become a different person the next day due to the realities of your situation and just fighting that to hold on to the magic of today would kill the magic and at the risk of rhyming, be tragic. Fed right into my packing lethargy.

I need to pick this flick up on DVD after I move and just sit and watch it silently…with cookie dough of course. Traditions, even those ignored for nearly a decade, need to be respected after all. The funny thing is, I already have but have yet to watch the sequel. Isn’t that just me? Having the sequel before the progenitor, having seen the first but waiting to re-watch it before attempting a viewing of the second? Very me I think.

It’s interesting, movies like this and dilemmas like my recent career question seems to make me feel more alive somehow. Deeper and able to see past the mundane. I guess having problems means you’re alive. That said I still despise drama of the real life variety so perhaps it’s not problems but just having really good questions about life that mean something to you. It kind of puts the “do I keep the yo-yo?” type questions in perspective.

Despite all the dialogue I think the lesson I often walk away from this movie with is about living in silence. There’s my oft-quoted bit, which I didn’t happen to catch last night but still remember vividly, about how it’s easy to share a conversation with someone but sharing a silence is something else. Something harder and more special somehow. I think perhaps that’s really what you’re supposed to walk away with, patience. An understanding that you DON’T have to go manufacturing special moments, just be quiet and let them come. Keep an eye out, but don’t play God…or cupid.

Then again I do have a tendency to over-analyze or over-romanticize these things, particularly at 3am.

Almost exactly one year ago I was faced with a dilemma that very well could have changed the rest of my life. A job posting at my company came up but not in the department I had served for then going on 10 years. At some urging from my very supportive boss I applied. One interview and a lot of soul searching and Star Trek quotes later I accepted the position.

Yesterday I received my performance review for that position which could not have gone better. Over the course of the year I met and subsequently defeated most challenges head-on. I grew and learned a lot about the business world.

And now one year hense I find myself facing a remarkably similar dilemma.

That same person who gave me just the push I needed then has found another position she thinks I can exceed at.

The catch?

It’s a year-round full-time position at a different company.

One of the companies I currently work for in fact, one I don’t particularly feel any affection for and have only been at for about a year and a half. In fact the same person opened the door to that job for me as well. This would be the 4th job she would be directly responsible for me having.

I crunched the numbers and I would actually make less per hour at this new job than I do currently, and I’m due for a raise any day now. But the full time status would in all likelihood increase my gross earnings by something like $7,000 a year even if I left my other jobs as well, which I’d probably need to. It’s a tough choice to be certain and there’s a lot of thinking I need to do before even deciding to apply.

Comments are welcome.

Wow, I was sweating over nothing. I mean it’s not like I’ve had any serious problems but I was expecting some criticism. Basically what it boiled down to was “you did better than expected across the board, and we had pretty high expectations for you as it was given your background and prior accomplishments, and management all the way up to the CEO have noticed, is there anything else we can do to help you?“. I was the only one who had anything critical to say about me and she disagreed with most of it!

No word on the raise yet.

Might get on the food list this year though, we both had a chuckle when I brought that up.

Was Dick Cheney trying to make Nancy Pelosi burst into flames with his mind? Looked that way to me.

He spent, what, 5 minutes acknowledging that the new speaker has a vagina? What would he have said if the speaker were African-American? “Good job, boy”?

Funny how there were some folks reluctant to give a standing ovation after wishing a speedy recovery to absent colleagues.

7.2 million new jobs…in the armed forces.

Kennedy looked very ill during the Medicaid points, insert irony here.

Providing health care by changing the tax code? He couldn’t even say it properly. A novel approach, we need to make sure Stephen Harper wasn’t watching or if he was, prepare to remove him if he gets any ideas. It MAY work for the Americans, but it is not our way.

Drug smugglers and terrorists are not criminals? What happened to “I believe when you kill someone, it’s a crime”? I guess Iraq and the death penalty killed that statement before it was uttered (or, you know, eventually put together with 2 hands and a flashlight).

Dick Cheney does not like to stand. Nancy Pelosi was quicker to support the president and more frequently.

“Clean Coal”? I believe this is a misnomer, should be CleanER coal.

Bush saying “global climate change” is like hearing the devil saying “praise Jesus”.

Cheney IS pulling Bush’s strings, they drink water in synchronous.

It took 35 minutes for the first 9/11 reference. Is that a new record for restraint? The second reference was only 1 minute later though. And the next two minutes after that that. The next 2 minutes later. Then again another minute later. He DID find a different way of saying it each time, probably to avoid becoming a ridiculous repeating clip gag.

Kennedy looked completely recovered by the section on the war on terror.

“They destruct with murder and bombs”? Putting aside the rhetorical nightmare, what precisely does your military do?

“And what is coming is ever worse”? If he ever claims not to be a fear monger after dropping that bomb will his pants catch fire?

Rice looked like hell. Preparing to return home perhaps?

2006 was The Empire Strikes Back?

So Bush is siding with the Shiia in the upcoming Iraqi civil war?

Softball Points

-Balanced budget

-Don’t raise taxes

-Spending discipline

-Eliminate the deficit (how could they possibly already cut it by 50% with a costly war?)

-Ending hidden earmarks (John McCain likey)

Seriously, who would disagree with any of those points?

Previously On 24

I still can’t believe so much of this is happening because
of Shaun Majumder of all people.
What the hell is Site R? I know Site J…wikipedia identifies Site R as a location
10 km from Camp David.

Overall
You know I kinda wish I could watch this season straight through like I did season 2, there’s something about going through it all at once that makes the drama and emotion and action and suspense all encompassing and unavoidable. A more immersive experience if you will that adds more weight and resonance to things.

Jack

So, um, don’t
want to be related to this guy. But as Assad said he’d remember how to get the
job done.

Wayne

From the nuclear forge
arises a great president. His brother would be proud. What he says at the
planning session would have made a perfect national address. If it were up to
me his entire speech would be viewable on the website, you know they filmed the
whole thing.

Bill

From dick who won’t
shake Assad’s hand and back again, quite the character arc for one episode.

Thomas

I keep waffling
back and forth from hating him like Eric Rayburn to liking him like…Mike. Hmmm,
if they kill/arrest/oust Thomas do you think they’d call up Mike? He was second
on my list of people I want back after all *crosses fingers* Internment…wow…how
obviously wrong an idea can you have?

Karen

It occurs to me
that she has the job George Mason wanted.

Morris

Still kicking
ass. I recently caught him in an episode of Little Mosque On The Prairie, I
hope that isn’t because his tour on 24 wrapped early. I get the feeling that
his character was some guy’s dumb idea “let’s get a male Cloe!” that worked out
FAR better than anyone could have expected. Go Rota! He’s just awesome.

Milo

Still needs more…everything
but he’s starting the play the moments he’s given a bit better. I thought he
was trying a little hard in the first couple episodes but he seems more
realistic now.

Nadia

She’s still a
poor man’s Michelle.

Sandra

Shut up. Can’t
you sit for 2 minutes without trying to sabotage everything you’re boyfriend’s
risking his life for? It’s like she’s addicted to the moral high ground even
when it isn’t hers…hooked on the soapbox I guess.

Graham

Holy crap! He’s
Jack’s…wow. I need to re-watch all of Season 5 now. And how the hell did he not
know Jack was back? Guess he’s been completely locked out of the circles of
power when Logan went down. So much for my secret theory about Graham and
Lennox working together. Graham’s ‘brother’ persona really is quite irritating,
if I was Jack I probably wouldn’t bother with him unless the nation depended on
it either. Glass jaw.

Assad

I see no Bashir
in him, that is a simultaneously good and bad thing. Great performance though,
it speaks very highly of Siddig. Regardless of what happens on 24 I really hope
Siddig is kept very busy at his craft, he’s wonderful to watch. They’re
shipping him off to meet Wayne! In the words of Stephen Colbert, I CALLED IT!
How long does it take to fly from LA to DC in a military transport?

The FBI

At first I hated
them, I saw them merely as a tool of Lennox but now I see that they’re pretty
brilliant in their own right. They stole my PDA trick of using it like a flash
card to convey secret messages though. Also rather sneaky how they assume the
role of the evil doers playing right into the assumptions of the real bad guys –
Sisko did that once.

Sam

Who is this guy?
Uncle? Butler? Grandfather? Seems a rather likable fellow.

Marilyn

She seems
familiar to me somehow…wikipedia says she was in Keeping The Faith, good flick,
that must have been it.

200th post y’all.

There was a feature in a computer game some time ago, one of the Warcrafts if I’m not mistaken, that would call out all your units including the peasants and have them attack the enemy and it’s tonight’s Wørd:

A Call To Arms.

It was generally a move used out of desperation…or humour. Peasants fighting a knight was rather amusing after all. Not exploding sheep funny, but still worth a guffaw.

Ah yes, the joy of comedic one-sided bloodbaths.

What was I talking about again?

Oh yes. A Call To Arms. It was also a title of a DS9 episode in which they prepare for war and eventually evacuate the station.

Suffice to say the parallels and potential usefulness of this phrase is striking.

Here’s the operational plan for the move. Burton has reserved the truck for 10am on the first and I am contractually bound to have access to the new place by noon of that same day. Now last time I moved it was just Burton and me and we managed. Granted I have more furniture, books, and DVDs but I also have an LCD monitor rather than the CRT and most of all, unlike the last move, I have a semi-healthy lead time.

You’d be surprised at all the crap I’ve recycled and thrown out preparing for this and I still have a lot to wade through. When all is said and done in terms of pounds this move is likely to be on par with the last one. Plus the few stairs we’ll have to contend with will all be downwards.

So I hope you can appreciate that the situation is far from desperate or even overly difficult but the more people the less each person has to do and the more time for the post-move feast. All that said, and I do this in no way implying any of my readers are peasants (unless you took Chem with me in high school, then you just might be) *clicks button*

A Call To Arms!

And that’s The Wørd.

Hour 5 of Day 6 of 24 tonight.

We just signed the lease (don’t worry, only 4 months) on our new apartment and gave the landlords, really cool people who I could totally see myself hanging out with socially, the security deposit so it is time to put my bachelor (in every sense of the word) place behind me. This place had its flaws, there’s no denying that, but I know a part of me will always miss it.

It was cheap which allowed me to step with confidence into the world of single adulthood as well as build up a healthy RRSP, particularly for my age. The rent was all about financial security.

It was so bare when I first came to view it but I saw in it so much potential, as I do with many things. I pretty much had one question before I accepted it and that was if I could fit my bed in where I wanted it.

I made it my own. Well, within my ability. I didn’t repaint the kitchen and living room or retile the bathtub and I had virtually no storage but I think I did pretty well. The bathroom was fine on its own and with some creative use of space the bedroom was really just a transplant from living with my mom, which is exactly what I needed to make it feel like home.

The living room was where I really got going. The desk and area rug Calvin and Elisa helped me get worked out fabulously. I even bought the same desk for my mom.

In an effort to cover the walls I put up any posters that I had. Depeche Mode, Prozzak, and 54-40 for style, Star Trek because I could, and Garfield to make it fun; and later a newer movie poster to make it a bit more modern. I took down those posters the other day; the place looks so sad and barren without them. So much for being a minimalist, those really became a big part of the personality of the place.

And of course the very me Ikea couch that Laura helped with which was never quite long enough for me but fit the place perfectly and the snazzy new computer chair she helped me pick out. And the coffee table that took years to find, even my new LCD monitor that Mindi got me for Christmas. I never bought or accepted any furniture because I needed it or it was a good price, I was willing to wait forever to find something perfect and I eventually did. In time I crossed everything off my list and it was all perfect, just what I had always wanted. Much of that will come with me and be added to but it’ll have to be incorporated into Mindi’s stuff and style as well.

The times I’ve had here…that Christmas when a certain someone dressed up as an elf…the time I created a waterproof seal with silly putty and candle wax…that pathetic attempt at a new year’s party…that time when the delivery guy from Pizza Hut knew me by name…the time the courier thought I was insane…putting up my little tree each year, particularly that first one…playing Catch Phrase with Warren, Burton, and Jon…Watching an entire season of 24 straight through for the first time…wrapping all my presents that first Christmas in Martha Stewart just to prove to my family that I had it together…Jon forcing me to watch Doctor Who…Burton looking after the place while I was in Europe and then apologizing for only cleaning my incredibly cluttered computer desk as if he was expected to do not only that but more when it all came as a very pleasant surprise to me…coming home after a trip and having that line of dialogue from DS9 play in my head “I wonder when that happened? When did I start thinking of this…Cardassian monstrosity as home?”…my funky little light blue vacuum cleaner…shower curtains and welcome mats from dollar stores…running across the street for groceries…Calvin blowing out my pilot light and taking 2 days to discover it…cooking meat for the first, and thus far only, time…walking to Central Park for golf and swimming…Jon bringing me Enterprise episodes…singing while doing dishes…playing Encounters with Burton…and a hundred other moments that could not have happened anywhere else in quite the same way.

Some of those moments I’m very sad to say will likely never come again, others may happen but won’t be quite the same and that’s fine really. But as I look around this place; bare walls and boxes in a corner looking so much like the place I eventually made into a home I can’t help but think no one is likely to treat it as well as I did. Once I got the place looking just right everyone would always comment on how nice it was and how much I had done with so little. Every month the landlord would comment on how he’d never seen it so nice. That first year everyone was very critical, the comparisons to dorm rooms were unending but I think in the end I earned the respect of all who returned for a second glance. Rick, the fellow who used to live in this suite, once said “wow, if I knew it could look this good I wouldn’t have moved”.

It wasn’t the greatest, but it was me.

It takes exactly 40 seconds to fast forward through the opening credits of Sex & The City. Half a season away from having the entire run of the series on DVD this information becomes vital to the survival of your sanity.

I was with my ex when I built most of my collection, it’d be a contest to see who could fast forward through it the best and if the control wasn’t easily found she’d dance to it.

Hey, you try listening to the same intro a half dozen times in an evening and see how normal you are.

Stupid thing to miss about a person.

So it seems that in order to know the gender of my child in advance it would require $100 for a procedure that isn’t medically necessary. So it looks like we’re going the surprise route. She thinks it’s a girl, I refuse to have an opinion.

Also looking in to registration the places we (I?) want to register at require a delivery address so it looks like we’ll need to sort the apartment situation out before y’all can start bombarding us with gifts.

It also appears that Julian has taken an insurmountable lead in the popular vote so we’re ready to call the vote for male first name. My blog is predicting a win for Julian, the male first name representative from the state of poached-from-Jon.

However the election for middle name is still too close to call. Polls are still open and there seemed to be a consensus among pundits that the outcome of this election would be tied to the results of the race for first name. So ultimately it seems up to west coast voters to choose between Julian Louis and Julian Joseph. Julian Neil is running as an independent.

Several names have formed exploratory committees to investigate the possibility of running for female middle name but it is too soon to say who it will come down to.

Overall
An interesting idea, releasing the first 4 episodes and the first 12 minutes of the next on DVD.

Jack
I wonder what brought him back more, the detonation or saving a single life.

Cloe
If Morris dies this season she’d pretty much have to have a breakdown, wouldn’t she?

Wayne
He’s doing a pretty good job of compartmentalizing things. Feeling things when there’s time. Where’s Aaron during all of this?

Bill
“I thought you were out“? Don’t be a dick Bill.

Milo
The only guy actually working when everyone else is just transfixed by the news. Seems he’s made of pretty stern stuff, perhaps they should give him a gun and let him back up Jack and Assad now that Curtis and, if I understood properly, EVERY tactical team is dead.

Curtis
Damn.

Fayed
He’s like a cockroach, this guy.

The Real World
Seems the debate of that article wages on.

Someone said to me “the show has some political bias to it. One of several reasons I’ve never watched it.” Yea I’m not overly concerned with the political bias of my sources of entertainment. I mean, James Bond, The West Wing, and even The Apprentice all have political bias and I doubt many people refuse to watch on those grounds, I don’t think I’ll waste my time trying to convince you of anything. You’ve made up your mind and are happy with it, who am I to upset the delicate balance of cognitive dissonance? someone else said “i wouldn’t really consider anyones opinion on a show as being accurate if they haven’t watched it” which I completely agree with, seems everyone has an opinion whether you’ve watched the show or not.

Yet another person said “Hollywood is using TV and Movies to push their points of view.” Or equally likely it’s incredibly difficult to write good television that refuses to have an opinion. There may be some people with specific agendas but generally I doubt it’s that sinister.

I’m called up to my boss’s office to discover a problem with one of the sleeves on one of new management jackets. Somehow the lining twists itself in such a way it’s as if it has been sewn shut. While the manager (#1) who got the jacket is demonstrating the problem another manager (#2), sticks his head in.

#2 is widely feared and rarely respected on the front lines. His behaviour erratic, his sense of humour eccentric, his decisions incomprehensible. Stories of him are legendary often at worst casting him as the reprehensible villain and at best the inconsistent lunatic. I’ve witnessed some of these situations myself so I knew they were more than rumour.

However he’d been particularly nice to me for the last year and a half or so. In fact historically he and I had never really directly clashed, it was more like a cold war. But I had seen the remains of people he’d stepped on so I knew what he was capable of.

So he sees this manager trying unsuccessfully to put his arm through the sleeve and can’t help but say “you’re special“.

“Yea I know” says #1.

“I mean in the Olympic sense” says #2.

He used MY line! How many times have you heard me say “special like the Olympics“?

As if that wasn’t creepy enough minutes later I’m in another room and I hear someone talking about the new Bond film which I had just seen a couple days previous so I throw in my thoughts on it’s drawn-out ending to discover #2 agreeing with me.

Now I admit I can be unpredictable, wacky, and maybe even a little crazy at work but I always thought that was part of my charm. How many steps away am I from #2 with my own eccentric ways I wonder. Is it possible that he’s simply misunderstood? I’m sure some people could think me a monster if they heard some of the things I’ve said out of context.

I guess it’s a dangerous line to walk but the alternative would be to become a dull administrator and that’s just not me. Oh well, worst case I’m sure the picture on my desk will keep me from turning to the dark side.

Overall

Episode 4 was perfect. Gripping doesn’t begin to describe it. As much as I love George Mason and Tony Almeida the crown has to be passed on. Perhaps George and Tony will take heart at what it took to knock them out of the top spot. Not one but two Star Trek actors. Manny Coto. Milo. And of course, the nuke. The first four episodes of Day 6 make season 2 look like a birthday party. Who I wanted to see more of: 4 out of 5. Cheng wouldn’t have been appropriate so score that as 100%. I’ll admit it, I cried when Mason bought the farm, when Jack broke down at the end of season 3, and Jack’s breakdown here.

Best. Season. Ever.

Jack

Jack’s breakdown in season 3 shortly after killing Ryan was powerful and laid track for the end of episode 4. To anyone who thinks this show is action, I choose now to remind you it’s drama. Kiefer’s got range.

Cloe

She put Milo and Morris in their places rather effectively. Regarding her comment about Morris’s character flaw, way to break the fourth wall.

Wayne

It took a little while to get there but there’s a Palmer in the White House willing to give Bauer carte blanche, it’s go time. It seems the curse of any Palmer administration is the detonation of a nuclear device. However Wayne issuing orders within seconds of it happening was great to see. That’s what real leaders do. Much better than, say, reading a book about goats. Much more decisive and productive than real life, how sad is that?

Bill

Bill losing it was distressing to say the least. I think Michelle’s the only other director of CTU to lose it like that and he had less motivation than she did.

Morris

I think it would be awesome if he was totally cool with Milo for the rest of the season.

Milo

Getting better. Getting back to that Milo we all remember.

Curtis

I never thought I would want to punch Curtis but I did and I’ve met the actor. He’s the nicest, kindest, most supportive guy. My best friend was embarrassed publicly and Roger Cross picked him back up, offered some encouragement, and my friend came back to win that level of the competition. Is Curtis alive? Who cares? I don’t mean to sound insensitive but if we have to give up Curtis to have Alexander Siddig be Jack’s new partner that’s a trade I’m willing to make.

Assad

Continuing to kick ass and take names. Please don’t die.

Amar

I was finally able to see him as a dynamic character with some range as an actor, so of course they kill him.

Ray

Much as I enjoyed watching him I feel bad for Raphael Sbarge (Michael Jonas) though. Both his characters are semi-cowards who help the enemy and end up dying in an explosion.

Behind The Scenes

Soon as I noticed episode 4 was written by Robert Cochran, co-creator of the show, I should have known this episode would have been great but even then I don’t think anyone could have predicted it’s full awesomeness, a cornucopia if you will.

The Real World

Within hours of the show’s airing this article was posted on the abcnews website:
http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=2795969
I have one thing to say to this: Blow Me.

Okay, maybe I should say a bit more as I want to properly rip this article apart. I was going to save this for a separate blog entry but I want to beat Jon Stewart to the punch.

Firstly while it somewhat presents multiple viewpoints, it strikes me as very clearly biased. Perhaps I shouldn’t be surprised given that it’s from a competing network and 24 is just about the most popular show on TV right now. It’s that Machiavellian approach that says putting the enemy down raises your relative position. Of course there’s no such thing as bad publicity in the entertainment world and 24’s been through this before with the Araz family in season 4 only to be vindicated episodes later.

First, the inaccuracies of the article.

“Feeding fears, that’s what ‘24′ is all about”

No, as it so happens it’s all about entertainment.

“A former senior agent on the FBI’s bin Laden squad in New York, said that trainees in former al-Qaeda camps watched movie videos “to get ideas…We saw what Columbine did”

So a guy who thought bin Laden was in New York thinks movies inspire terrorists and that somehow relates to Columbine. Well movies and bowling weren’t outlawed after Columbine so I fail to see his point.

“Fox may think they are doing a public service, but I don’t see any redeeming value at all”

Again, it’s not a PSA, it’s a form of entertainment and oddly enough last time this issue came up the show produced some PSAs to address the issues. I think Mr. bin-Laden-is-in-New-York needs to stop judging TV shows by PSA standards.

“Josh Governale, spokesman for “24,” refused to comment on tonight’s episode”

Well given that this article was up within hours of the east coast airing I would say he either didn’t jump at their beck and call or didn’t want to comment on the show before it aired. Either way they seem to be intentionally cherry-picking their facts and how they’re presented. Which ironically enough is an accusation often leveled at FOX news, even in this very article.

“This television show is very political, and it’s no accident that it’s on Fox, Given their propaganda system, it doesn’t surprise me”

I assume this comes from the just-because-I’m-paranoid-doesn’t-mean-people-aren’t-out-to-get-me school of thought. All evidence I can find points to next to no involvement in the creative process by the network. In fact in several DVD commentaries producers, writers, and actors have gone on at length praising the free hand they’ve been given by the network. Just because something is in some way affiliated with FOX does not mean it’s run by the people at FOX news.

The article goes on to discuss shows and movies from the 80s up to shows currently in first-run that have dealt with nuclear explosions, not even drawing those points back to the point of the article, they seem completely off-topic and completely ignored the nuclear detonation in season 2 and the nuclear plant melt down in season 4. In fact one of the two options of their poll “Has ‘24′ gone too far?” is “Yes. I think the show has run out of conventional ideas, and now it’s going nuclear” it went nuclear in the second season, do a little research Susan James before you present yourself as an expert or even a reporter.

“Television shows like ‘24′ also reinforce stereotypes about Arabs”

This is also not true, the primary plot of the season is about Assad wanting to put an end to terrorism and reach a negotiated peace, I challenge you to point to any other show doing that. It’s not reinforcing stereotypes, it’s constantly shattering them and not just about Arabs. It’s showing you that, yes, some Arabs are terrorists, but some are patriotic Americans like in season 4, many have a conscience as seen in seasons 2, 4, and 6, and that some Arabs are peacemakers. If I may quote my favorite movie once more “Show me that, defend that, celebrate that in your classrooms. Then you can stand up and sing about the land of the free.”

“Iran is on the news about nuclear power, and now there is an American TV story on an Arab terrorist using nuclear power”

What they don’t understand is these episodes weren’t made last week. It’s a long process from script to screen, taking months. To effectively reach it’s audience 24 has to be based somewhat firmly in reality. If it happens to discuss current issues or have unexpected predictive powers it should be praised for it’s intelligence. If someone describes reality and you don’t like it, perhaps you should do something about reality rather than pointing a finger at the artist. It’s ironic that someone devaluing fear seems so intent on making us fear a TV show.

“In CTU headquarters — which is information central — they are always watching Fox News”

Again, simply not true. This season, as with season 1 and sporadically in others, the primary news channel seen is the fictional CNB.

Secondly, statements of opinion.

“Some national security experts worry that television fantasy can trigger the imagination of terrorists”

Heaven forbid a work of fiction trigger the imagination. It might inspire a single terrorist so don’t dare let it air and inspire the millions of non-terrorist viewers. What if the character of Assad inspires some terrorists to seek peace? But no, this article is bent on ignoring anything positive and focusing solely on the negative. Now who’s peddling fear, hmmm?

“Fear has been used to paralyze people’s intellects, If they can scare people, almost anything becomes possible. When people are afraid their brains shut off and it makes you confused and want easy solutions”

24 does nothing of the sort. It doesn’t scare anyone and it addresses the issues far more logically that real-life politicians do in their sound bytes. That’s one of the great powers of the show, you can explore a single issue in greater detail because it has to be faced in real time, over the hours of a full day, facing many of the consequences the decision made are heir to.

In conclusion…

I like how civil rights lawyers rush to 24’s defense and these obsessive advocates rush to condemn it. At the time of writing this blog the online poll showed 81% support for the show despite the blatant one-sided hypocrisy of this article. So my comment stands: blow me.

Overall

It wasn’t as good as it could have been but it was still pretty freaking sweet. Overall they’ve got some good meaty drama already unlike the half-assed-action of season 5. I would have to say this season is ALREADY better than Seasons 5 and 1.

Jack

You would think after 5 years they’d run out of new dramatic places to take his character, season 5 certainly seemed that way, but once again they’ve found a way to make Jack new and fresh. Although I found it interesting that after having not spoken a word for two years he seemed to have difficulty talking a very interesting idea, they had him shouting orders like his old self in the second hour. The nitpicker in me is bothered by it but the pragmatist realizes they can’t have Jack whispering for half the season.

Cloe

Cloe’s Cloe, what can you say? Although her crying at Jack maybe dying seemed a bit much. Did she cry when Edgar died? Hmmm, I need to get season 5 on DVD…

Wayne

Alright! You know when they revealed last season that he was a marine the very first thing I thought was “that’s a good qualification to run for president“. If he doesn’t keep office through until the end of the season I will be very upset. They seemed to under-utilize him in the first couple episodes but hopefully they can get him some serious dramatically intense scene-chewing stuff in the episodes ahead.

Bill

You gotta love Bill. He’s a non-character in the sense that there’s not much you can say to describe him except that he’s a good guy. Who thought a level-headed administrator would be so fun to watch?

Thomas

I can’t wait to see Peter Nichols get beat down. You know DB Woodside is gonna kick his ass. He has Eric Rayburn written all over him. My nickname for him is Fatty, his face is so round now, it’s almost comical.

Karen

Okay, we get it! She married Bill. I mean, the sexual tension was obvious, if a little icky, last season you don’t have to spell it out for us. And then later revisit it to really bang us over the head with it. Geez, they should know the 24 audience is smarter than that.

Morris

I was SO ready to hate this guy given his behaviour last season but he’s just so charming…

Milo

From “Milo!” to “Milo, Milo, Milo“. I was so excited to hear he was coming back this season and yes his conflict with Morris is dramatically interesting but I feel like he’s completely forgotten his character from season 1. I REALLY hope at some point he smacks someone down with “I’ve known Jack far longer than any of you” and I can’t wait to see Jack’s reaction when he sees Milo back at CTU. He’s NOT just a new character people, he’s a fan favorite.

Nadia

She seems absent a personality but isn’t as interesting as Bill. Is she a placeholder or did they realize we had really gotten sick of irritating ambitious overbearing female managers at CTU?

Sandra

Regina King’s character, Sandra Palmer, while interesting and likable, seems just like her characters from Enemy Of The State and that Chris Rock movie, Down To Earth. In fact I coulda swore her guy friend called her by her name from that movie at one point during the episode.

Curtis

Curtis is still Curtis, under utilized in the first two episodes but unlike with Wayne I have no problem with that because you KNOW he’ll be kicking ass and taking names later in the season. Besides, Jack has a new partner now…

Cheng

Call his appearance a cameo I guess. Hopefully he’ll be back for more later as I really like that actor. Maybe Jack will kill him at some point.

Fayed

Okay, seriously, why couldn’t he be related to Syed Ali from season 2? That would’ve been way better than inventing another pissed off guy from a chapter of Jack heretofore unmentioned special ops past. I mean seriously, an 8 year grudge?

Assad

Hell ya. I cannot express how happy I am that Alexander Siddig is a good guy. I loved how Siddig was all trying to pick Jack up with his “you’ll remember” comment. I was like “Bashir’s the new Jack!“. They spend the entire first hour talking about him and then boom, it’s episode 2 and he’s the new Chase. This character is fully half of why these first 2 episodes kicked so much sour frog ass. I really hope they throw some meaty drama his way. It’s too bad Wayne’s in DC, could you imagine what it would be like if these two met face-to-face? Oh man, that would be sweet. They wouldn’t just spike the ratings for the show and provide some great entertainment - they’d heal the wounds that exist in real America. Okay, maybe that’s a bit of an overstatement but they could certainly address some serious emotional-political-military issues in a intelligent way. Educate, inform, and engage the masses as it were.

Amar

I haven’t even SEEN Harold And Kumar Go To White Castle and I spent the entire first episode thinking of him as Kumar. I spent the second episode thinking of him as an evil Behrooz. I think the actor has a lot of potential though, I hope they make good use of him. It would be sweet if Behrooz, now working for the government, ends up taking him down. That would be sweet.

Ray

Michael Jonas is back!!! And he stole my name. Please, please at some point make a secret transmission; come on Manny, make it happen.

Michael

Okay is this kid gay or just really good friends with Kumar, er, I mean Amar? And why did he steal Derek’s hair from last year?

Behind The Scenes

I just want to say I love Jon Cassar and if he ever leaves the show I would be greatly concerned. I was also pleased to see Manny’s still on board - he wrote episode 2. I caught it in the opening credits and then caught myself predicting dialogue in the episode. Several times I was like “it’d be cool if they said X right now” and then they’d say it.

Hit List

Who I want killed: Nadia and Michael.

Wish List

Who I want to see back: James, Mike, Chase (not gonna happen), Aaron, Behrooz, Mandy, Miles (to be killed), and Kate.

Yea Right

Who I want brought back from the dead: TONY, George, and Ryan.

More

Who I want to see more of: Assad, Wayne, Amar, Ray, and Cheng.

Tonight is the next two hours.

In preparation for tonight’s premiere of Day 6 of 24 I was planning where to order my pizza from when I solved a minor mystery. As stated in my post ‘Beware Light Cheese’, I had a concern that Pizza Hut had changed the cheese in their stuff crust.

Something to do with the water restrictions was my first theory. Crazy, I know, but perhaps contaminated water had gotten into the cheese or wherever this godsend was centrally created had to cut down on water consumption or find alternate sources.

Then, as the aforementioned post indicates, I thought perhaps they had switched to light cheese much like how Coke pretty much ruined C Plus by removing the sugar and replacing it with crap.

Neither theory proved to be correct for tonight as I was playing around online thinking about ordering regular crust pizza I noticed a small change to their website. Stuffed crust was no longer described as “stuffed with mozzarella” but rather as “filled with processed cheese“. The bastards had finally come clean and admitted their dastardly crime.

I tried to take it in stride. Things change, people die, life carries on. When I was a kid they stopped making die-cast Transformers and began making them out of plastic, this wasn’t all that different really. Or like when they stopped making stuffed crazy bread at Little Caesars. Or Pepsi Blue. It sucks but what can ya do? So I went to look at their online coupons only to discover they had all been removed.

The line has to be drawn here.

I found the feedback section of the website and sent this off…

“I have been ordering stuffed crust pizza from Pizza Hut on a regular basis since at least 1995 and I have to say I am enormously disappointed with the recent decision to go from regular mozzarella cheese in the crust to processed cheese which I believe occurred around November of last year. This new processed cheese is simply inedible, even the plastic-like smell is offensive. I have tried on two separate occasions to stomach the new processed stuffed crust pizza and have nearly been ill as a result both times.

After well over a decade of ordering what was once a great and unique product it is with profound regret that I am forced to take my business elsewhere, as the prices you charge for regular pizza are simply not justified. Assuming you keep track of past orders you can easily verify the regularity and frequency of my online orders over the last few years and phone orders in the preceding years so I hope someone within your organization realizes the kind of customer you are losing. Having worked in the service industry myself I know that only a small percentage (around 4%) of dissatisfied customers actually make their concerns known so I sincerely hope these comments are forwarded to decision-makers with the appropriate weight it represents. If at some point the decision is made to go back to the old recipe I would gladly return. If and when such a change occurs I would welcome being contacted to inform me that one of my favorite foods is once again available. I realize it’s just a cheese in a single product and as a result my comments may seem overly serious however I think we are both aware that, assuming others feel and act as I do, this represents a serious threat to your bottom line over what I can only assume was a cost-cutting measure. Unfortunately whatever small margin of expense changing from real to processed cheese has saved your organization I suspect it is going to be far outweighed by the lost of loyal customers such as myself in the long run.

Thank you for your time.”

May 31st 1995 was a day I had been awaiting for quite some time. I was 14. I had been saving up money for this day for over a month. For it was on this day that Star Trek: The Next Generation - A Final Unity was to be released. I had it all planned out. I went to the mall and purchased the game for $75 from EB and came straight home. As it was installing I ordered 2 large stuffed crust Hawaiian pizzas from Pizza Hut, with extra cheese.

My mom was confused, for one thing I hadn’t really told her about my plans, but more than that we always planned any pizza ordering together. It would generally be a negotiation, I’d ask for everything but settle for less. But this time was different because I was paying for it and it was just for me, although I was perfectly willing to share. It was one of a thousand little steps we all take on the path from childhood to becoming an adult. I ordered the pizza I wanted and I was going to pay for it. I was going to eat it as I spent the weekend playing the game I had bought. It was at that point the ultimate expression of independent freedom. I knew what I wanted, I devised the means to make it happen, I wasn’t going to inform anyone in advance or ask for permission, and nothing was going to stop me.

The pizza arrived, I paid, and sat down with my new game, a cold Pepsi, and my pizza and played what many still regard to this day as the best Star Trek game ever released. Although ironically enough I disagree.

It wasn’t perfect. I seriously doubt my pizza had extra cheese. One level really drove me nuts as I looked for this doctor on some planet. I beat the game in less than 24 hours. But despite those small glitches, I has in nerd heaven.

And every time I’ve ordered stuffed crust pizza I think back to that day. And now it seems that I may not be able to relive that particular moment any longer.

A damned shame.

Although, returning to my task of planning a perfect evening for the launch of the new season of 24 I take small comfort in the fact that despite everything that’s happened to me and the world in the intervening years, there are some things about me that remain the same. I’m still going to order my pizza, I’m still going to have a cold Pepsi, and it’s still going to be great.

Jack Layton and the NDP seem to enjoy contacting me through various media including e-mail, phone, and snail mail. Every now and then I get a yen to reply. Like the other day they called asking for donations and I told them I was expecting a kid and donating for an campaign during an election that has yet to be called doesn’t strike me as fiscally responsible to my unborn child. They were appropriately awkward after that rebuke.

Well today I got something in the mail from them about the environment, this is what I had to say in response…

I think a big reason the environment is suddenly such a concern among the electorate is that abandoning Kyoto went directly against our often hard to define Canadian culture and values. We honour our commitments and we want to be a world leader in areas such as green initiatives. What about a Canadian X prize for an electric car?

Since just shortly before Encounters came out I’ve been a member of the official message board for the 3 new games. Mid-December after attaining the rank of Commander (what? like it’s news I’m a nerd?) I was offered a position as a moderator which I happily accepted. Now a month later the administration of the site requested my contact information to send along a token of appreciation.

They asked if I would prefer a copy of Tactical Assault or Legacy and on which platform. Figures, right? I already have both games and only one platform for each anyways. Having purchased Legacy by direct download (totally works!) I figured I’d go for a hard copy of that for backup and potential compatibility issues with future patches. They tell me it’s a “special” copy.

Now I know a lot of content and features were cut from the game so I’m thinking maybe this copy will have them. Unlikely so I didn’t get my hopes up but it would’ve been cool.

Today another mod spilled the beans.

What makes it special?

Signed by WILLIAM SHATNER!!!!

Now I’m not saying Free Enterprise was about me but I’ll be watching the mailbox like a hawk.

Bids now being considered.

How To Make Snow Shoes Out Of Your Dress Shoes
Find a pile of salt that someone has laid down. Grind the heel of each shoe into the biggest pieces of the pile, impacting them between the treads of your heels. Voila! Your heels will now grip like cleats. Note: the nasty old school big brownish salt works the best, that fancy new white stuff doesn’t impact so well.

Squeegee Kids
Where are these guys when it snows? If you were an entrepreneurial homeless person you’d get up at 5 or 6 am and hit the upscale residential neighbourhoods and offer to remove snow and scrape windows of cars so the rich polluters can stay inside a bit longer sipping their designer coffees.

Being the big fan of Jon Stewart that I am I was very pleased when I got a copy of his book for Christmas. It certainly wasn’t what I expected…

JFK: Incomprehensible. Perhaps if I had an encyclopedic knowledge of his life I’d get a joke or two.

Ford: Ruthlessly funny.

Martha Stewart: Funny, depressing, and awkward all at once.

Judaism: Jews can’t eat cheese? He’s probably joking but I think I’ll renounce just in case.

Pen Pals: It’s Stan but with Mother Teresa as Eminem and Princess Di as Stan. That’s really all I want to say about that lest I end up in a worse layer of hell than I am already destined for.

Revenge Is A Dish Best Served Cold: In poor taste, absurd, and exceptionally well written - a bizarre and surprising combination.

Most of the rest of the book develops into a trend of absurdist personification/anthropomorphizing and you really need to keep in mind that it was written in 1998.

Although The Recipe is inspired, if logically extrapolated, genius. In simpler language, a guide to creating a really good awards show drinking game.

I used to think Jon Stewart was an undervalued genius and savior, after reading the book he comes off as intelligent, witty, and deeply disturbed. Perhaps 9/11 sorted him out.

This Sunday Jan 14th and Monday Jan 15th is the 2-night season premiere of day 6 of 24. If you had given any thought to contacting me during prime time on those nights allow me to offer you some advice from Stewie on Family Guy:

Go. Away. Fat man.

Any invitations for those evenings that do not include a TV larger than mine will be summarily rejected without prejudice. 24 fans are of course welcome to find refuge at my place so long as they can adhere to the King Of Queens rule:

Shutty.

Less than a week!!!

Almost makes up for Torchwood being over until next season.

I’ve already bought the popcorn.

Apparently the environment is now the #1 issue concerning Canadian voters. I was home with my throat virus when Harper shuffled his cabinet, I kept hoping David Emerson would get kicked in the junk but it just didn’t happen. In fact no one even brought up his name until the evening news. No, everyone was focused on Rona Ambrose being moved out of the environment ministry. They couldn’t go 5 minutes without mentioning it, it was like watching CNN.

Yes I wanted to see her moved if not removed but I couldn’t believe the attention it was getting. Frankly I thought Kyoto had died soft and quiet under conservative rule and frankly I figured it would when I first heard the results on election night. But apparently her gross mishandling of things has made it the number one issue above even health care which frankly I thought we’d be talking about for the next decade.

Then I caught the new federal green party leader being interviewed by Peter Mansbridge on TV tonight. I was impressed by her answers but I was also surprised how much attention and serious hard-hitting questions were being tossed her way. I was further surprised to hear that she has had conversations with Harper since winning the leadership in August. Clearly there had been a drastic shift in the priorities of the Canadian electorate since I’d last paid serious attention, namely the last election.

During the course of the interview it came out that she ran in the November 27 2006 London North Centre by-election, finishing second with 26% of the votes. It was the single best showing any green candidate had ever had in federal Canadian politics. I went to wikipedia to read up a bit more…

In 2000 they ran 111 candidates, got 104,502 votes or 2.11%
In 2004 they ran 308 candidates, got 582,247 votes or 4.31%
In 2006 they ran 308 candidates, got 665,940 votes or 4.49%

It seems to me that if a federal election were to occur this year clearly the environment would be an important factor in the debate which I think is great, although personally I think I’d prefer to see health care take the #1 priority with environment #2.

Elizabeth May, the new leader of the party, has set herself a goal of 10 seats if an election were to happen this year. I think this is both attainable and groundbreaking. Let’s take a look at the popular vote in the last election…

Conservative 124 seats 36.20%
Liberal 103 seats 30.17%
Bloc 51 seats 10.46%
NDP 29 seats 17.44%
Independent 1 seat 0.55%

Can you imagine if that by-election was a microcosm for the nation? I’m not saying it was but just imagine if the greens got 26% of the vote…if we had a truly proportional system that would result in 80 seats. Or look at it the other way, seems you only need about 36% of the vote to form a government in this country, that would put them only 10 points away…

If there is a federal election this year, the country could end up looking very different at year’s end and that’s a good thing.

I’ve only ever gone to one doctor before so when his office moved some distance away and I had an inflamed throat, runny eye (that’s right, just one), and some other odd unpleasant symptoms the clinic 2 doors down from my place began to look mighty appealing. I was however concerned that the union changeover at GM may have created some difficulties with my medical coverage.

Deciding to risk it I headed over. The sign was very unclear as it listed services not covered by MSP which included a visit to the doctor’s office for $58 for those without coverage. Did they mean with no third party coverage or MSP didn’t cover visits to this office?

After entering my information the receptionist dialed some kind of information service on speaker phone. When I heard an automated voice spell my name I thought hey cool, maybe they can access my medical records remotely. A few moments later I heard the voice say “this person’s MSP coverage is questionable, please have him or her contact MSP“.

Crap, I thought, the union screwed up even my basic coverage. At least that’s what I thought up until she called Mr. Wong to the desk to pay $58 by debit because he had no coverage. Apparently she switched accounts when I wasn’t paying attention. She then went on to check the rest of us and the disembodied voice pronounced every else’s coverage “in fine form“. Odd phrase for a machine if you ask me.

So this was the outcome of my visit…

Now I had figured that I probably got a virus on my hand, rubbed it into my eye, and it traveled down my face to the throat where the final battle of good vs evil would be waged. Perhaps some NeoCitran to help me rest and some Listerine to purge the bad guys but there probably isn’t much that can be done. Maybe some Vitamin C and lots of fluids which is a good idea even when you’re healthy. Just need to tough it out, like usual I figure.

But with everyone suggesting I go see a Doc I figured I should, plus I’ve felt truly miserable for the last day and a half so I figured I’d cry uncle and get a professional’s opinion and hopefully a miracle cure. I mean, I could be living in ignorance as some deadly bacteria ravages my upper body. Seriously, it felt like my tonsils had become cacti and were attempting a journey to my stomach. That a vivid enough picture for ya?

So I go to the clinic, deal with a very unhappy receptionist who clearly despises her job and everything and everyone associated with it, wait an hour, and see a doc.

5 minutes with the doctor and his conclusion? I contracted a virus through the eye, it spread down to my throat but once there it should be defeated handily by my own immune system, I can aid the side of good by using Listerine (which I had done prior to going to the clinic) but since it was a virus it can’t be treated, I just have to tough it out.

What’s the difference between the doc and my own self diagnosis? An unused stethoscope, an English accent, and he could conclusively tell I did not have a fever.

Bollocks.

On the up side my tolerance to analgesics and NeoCitran is so low that after a cup I’m higher than when I had Demerol in the hospital.

So, um, how do you tell the difference between a lucid dream and a hallucination?

On the eve of Legacy, the most anticipated Star Trek game since A Final Unity (in my universe), a local free newspaper ran an article entitled “Game Over: Video game addiction ends careers, relationships - and lives“.

At first it was rather amusing, talking about “multiple studies linking gaming with addictive traits like mood modification, tolerance, withdrawal, craving and dependency“. But then I thought back to BOTF. While I see nothing wrong with beating A Final unity in 20 straight hours or playing a co-op game of Warcraft 2 for 2 days I think I may have crossed the line with BOTF, largely because it took a day just to play a medium-size game and my strengths tended more towards the long game and since saving and getting back into the game was a pain (you’d forget where everything was and what your plans for specific planets were) it ate up a significant amount of my time.

Perhaps the easiest sign was girlfriends complaining. More than one in fact because even months and years later you’re drawn back to it. Even now I can hear it calling to me…”you haven’t tried on the new computer…maybe the latest XP fix made multiplayer work…”

The funny thing is even with 3 new trek games that came out in as many months I didn’t really spend much time on them.

Apparently South Korea had 10 gaming-related deaths in 2005.

A fan-made BOTF sequel is due out in about 6 months…could be trouble.