You know who I miss? Serial Joe.

Time for my regularly scheduled Tuesday afternoon post. Today has been a pretty filled day for me. I woke up earlier to get to campus at 10:30 so I could pick up some supplies for the euchre meeting tonight (none of the other execs could be there early enough to set up). When I picked up "the goods", I fired up a physics lecture I put on my Zen so I could try to get back on schedule with the lectures. Then Linguistics, as usual, followed by lunch, and then another t-e-r-r-i-b-l-y p-a-c-e-d physics lecture, and a Nathalie-filled Cryptography. And now here I am, preaching to my wonderful audience of (what I expect to be) three.

I'm a little disappointed at the moment...it turns out that euchre night and mathsoc games night is the same night, during the same timeslot. I suppose my existence as an exec of the euchre club obligates me to favour the prior, but perhaps in the future I could play games at 6, and when that game ends, clock in my time at the euchre club. If the gods are smiling on me, mathsoc will change the games night schedule.

I've been doing a pretty good job of staying on top of work (or so I think). Every day I have about an hour and a half to work on campus, away from the syren's call of my computer. So long as I keep throwing physics lectures onto my zen, I should never be at a loss for work, and the time I spend on the work on campus turns out to be pretty productive.

I baked up a storm last night. Well, just muffins and cinnamon rolls, but that's two more things than I usually cook on a given night. The rolls were on sale; 8 small ones for $2.50. They're really tasty, but any less than two makes for nothing more than a taste.

For all of you who are wondering what I did after beating Paper Mario (ie no one), I chose to start up a game in Dragon Quest VIII. It's got really nice graphics and music over my other main choice, Shadow Hearts Covenant (which I am also looking forward to playing through).

This last Friday, I was pretty well bored to tears. I was home alone for a while, and for some reason was not in the mood for sitting in front of the TV (be it TV, games, or a movie), so I just sort of sulked around the house for a while. On Saturday night, I visited the Medieval Faire in Waterloo Park. I got to see a few choreographed and even unchoreographed displays of weaponry and armor, among other events set up mostly for kids. I didn't really walk away with anything besides the program, but it was time well spent in Waterloo,, seeing something that I wouldn't be able to see in Thunder Bay. I'm glad I got to do some things like that in the summer.

Later on in the night, some of us hopped in John's car and drove to Brantford so Nicole would stop asking us to. We went bowling (where I got the high score and an impressive shot), and then to Boston Pizza where I got a piece of cake (hey! I already ate supper....I'm not a pig, really). After that we drove around looking for a bar, and found one. As usual, I sat around wondering exactly what the draw to such places was. The majority of us sat around at a table, complaining about the music, paying for overpriced beer, while some others got up and danced (besides picking up questionable people, dancing is the only other reason I can imagine people would want to go to these places). I can't say I had a good time, but I had a time nonetheless.

Phil (from Calgary) phoned me the other day. We had a nice chat about video games (he being one of a very few people who I can have such talks with). Aparently he's making some very nice green at his new job, because he was telling me how he was going to play a game on his 62" TV. He says he got some nice furniture, a fully paid pre-order on a PS3, and even a new truck, so it sounds like he's definitely doing well for himself. I can't imagine he'd have half of what he has if he'd stayed in Thunder Bay (though he doesn't have me, and I'm worth more than any amount of money).

There's a Warrior Weekend this weekend, so I guess I'll be going to it alone once again. They're showing three movies I haven't yet seen (Click, Pirates 2, and Superman Returns), and on the Saturday, they're having a speed dating event. I am both looking forward to and dreading the speed dating. I would really feel more comfortable if I could find someone else to bring with me, but I don't really know anyone who would be willing.

This Thursday and Friday is clubs days, so I expect that I'll be sitting at the euchre booth. Mr. President hasn't delegated any hours yet, but I've volunteered myself for all of Friday, and aparently the parts of Thursday where he has classes, so I will probably be doing a fair bit of sitting.

I've been typing pretty furiously, and I have really tapped my brain on non-video game related matters to dicuss, so I think I'll go find something else to do before grabbing some supper from Brubakers.

Listening to... Nothing...
Link of the moment... WW schedule

Another update from MC20XX

Tuesdays are looking like a good day to update the blog from this MC lab. Normally, I'd be sitting in the SLC Great Hall doing homework, or sleeping, or playing GBA during this hour and a half, but it's way too packed to find a chair. I miss the Summer term in that respect; the extra crowd on campus doesn't do much for me (although it does mean more events during the term which is a good thing).

This morning I scanned my physics assignment, and when I get home I'll put it all into one PDF and submit it electronically, but I'm not too sure how convenient that method is. I don't have much of a choice though, it's probably the most convenient option I have, unless I start getting assignments done ahead of time.

I'm getting towards the end of Paper Mario:tTYD, and I've started playing X-Men Legends with Andrew. Unfortunately, he doesn't play games nearly as often as I do, so any progress we're making in that game is minimal. I could play it single player, but the real joy of that game is playing it with friends.

I acted as a good roommate would this morning: I took out the recycling (which had been put off for far too long lately), and I did most of the dishes that were in the sink. It's like the work never ends.

It looks like Nathalie might be switching classes and taking Crypto with me. It looks like I have a reason to show up to class! Classes aren't nearly as good when you don't have anyone to ask for help when you get stuck with something.

Nicole came to visit last Friday. Good to see her. We went out to a pub and a bar, both of which I didn't find particularly fun. I just don't see what we did there that we couldn't do at home, aside from order an expensive plate of nachos and listen to some bad country music.

Time again for some useless banter about video games about which no one but me really cares. The Nintendo Wii has been given a release date (November 19th) and a price ($249US). On top of that, extra controllers will cost $40 plus $20 for a nunchuk attachment. Games will be $50 each, and only a handful will be ready at launch (I plan to buy Rayman and ExciteTruck, though we'll see what happens when the day comes). That's all, I'll stop boring you.

Unfortunately, I don't have much else to excite you with. I've got one hour left in 24, bought some gingerbread cookies, and am getting my bike fixed tomorrow. That's about it.

Listening to... (High) Visibility - Helmet
Link of the moment... I think I might want to watch the six Star Wars movies again. Is that nerdy of me?

Ubuntu FTW

I've got nearly another hour of free time to kill on campus. My ENGL class got let out early, and my next class isn't until 2:30. I've already read the Imprint, and ate lunch. I can't really think of any websites to visit, or anything productive to do at the moment, so here I am at Blogger.

Well, my bike is fucked up. I can't really change gears anymore on the right gear clicker thingy. I'm hoping I can fix it with a little elbow grease. Speaking of grease, the bathroom downstairs is effing filthy. I got one of those things that turns the water blue and supposedly has bleach to clean the toilet, but it's already diluted and hasn't done a thing. I think I'm going to buy some heavy duty bleach and rubber gloves and beat the shit out of that bathroom with a sponge. Shower, counter, toilet, floor, everything.

Paper Mario is good times. It can get a bit repetitive, but it's cutesy enough to keep playing. I've still got DQVIII in the back of my mind once I'm done PM, but I think it's in my best interests to get a change of genre in there. I don't really know what to play (besides perhaps Unreal 2004 or counter strike). Maybe I've got to find a nice platformer for GC.

I went to EB the other day to inquire about reserving a Wii, but they said that they're not taking any pre-orders. I shudder to think of the massive crowd they'll get on launch date, because I've a feeling that it will be the big winner of the "next-gen" consoles (though I have reservations about saying that the Wii is in the same generation as XBox360 or PS3). Andrew maintains his prediction that I won't have any trouble finding a system whenever I want one, but I have a feeling they'll be mostly difficult to find until just after Christmas.

I anticipate this this term will be pretty hectic. Between my DE course which looks much more intensive than I thought it would be, my marking (oh yeah, they gave me a marking job rather than tutoring...bastards), my three regular courses, and my obligation to the euchre club, it looks like my four-course term won't feel as light as I'd hoped. So long as I stay on top of things, I shouldn't get tripped up over anything.

Well, I'm sort of getting sick of sitting in this lab, so I'm going to wander around campus for a while, making my way to my next class.

Listening to... The roar of students on campus
Link of the moment... Ah, I see.

Don't trust the blind

So it turns out that the blind guy that I was renting a parking space off of is an effing dickhead. He phoned yesterday (the third of September) complaining about how we agreed that I'd pay him by the first of each month. I told him it slipped my mind and I could pay him when I get back in town, or even get one of my roommates to run it over to him, and he told me he didn't want me parking my car there anymore, even phoning my roommates to move it ASAP. I know it's not about the money...I think he's just using me in some fucked up experiment to show that kids these days are unreliable.

For the moment, my car is parked on the street (thanks to Hugh) and thus susceptible to getting some pretty nasty tickets. Once I get back, I'm going to get a parking pass for the Fall term. I just hope I can get one...this late in the year, spots can be sparse. Since it will then be a twenty minute walk to my car, I'll probably not use it unless it's worth my while. I'll just convince John to take us to Sobeys once a week, and I don't really need my car for anything else. Until the weather gets nasty, I can bike to campus. It'll just be more of a pain when I want to visit someone else, say Sonja.

So guess who has a boyfriend? EVERYONE. Not just that, I feel like I'm the only single person left. Except for Andrew and Nicole, so I predict they're going to hook up, leaving me alone. I swear, too many of my friends are in serious relationships now.

I had a BBQ the other day. The amounts worked out pretty well, though chicken was in pretty high demand, so I had to cook a few from frozen. I had a pretty good turnout...just about everyone I invited at some point or another. It's good to see them all. I feel like if I don't have events like that, I won't see most of my friends. It's rare that they hold things like that, so it's usually me doing the planning and inviting.

I rented Hitman: Blood Money. It's a pretty good game, though I find it difficult to control with a PS2 controller, and it's really hard to figure out where to go next (at least, on the level I'm on). I went to go buy Guitar Hero as well, but both EBGames were sold out and not getting any copies for a few weeks due to changing distributors, and FutureShop was sold out with none cmoing in soon. Guitar Hero 2 comes out in November, but then again so does the Wii. My current collection plus the Paper Mario I plan to buy will easily tide me over until I'm able to buy a Wii. I'm not sure when that will be; something tells me that the K-W region isn't one of the best places to try to get a Wii at launch without a reservation (though I cuold just reseve one now...).

Well I guess I'm sort of looking forward to getting back to Waterloo...I really want to get this parking thing settled ASAP. On top of that, there's not much for me to do around here, and I'm more comfortable in my own kitchen.

Other than all this, I don't think there's much to report on.

Listening to... Carpe Diem Baby - Metallica
Link of the moment... All hail Robot Chicken, my new master