I am at the hotel here in San Diego after an uneventful (except for the beginning) flight down ...

I finally fell asleep last night around 2PM, and I had to be up at 3:30AM to get ready and get to the airport on time. I had two alarms set. One alarm went off and I turned it off, and then ... nothing. I groggily opened my eyes and looked at the clock ... 5:10AM, and my flight left at 5:45AM! Visions of Tyler laughing at me for sleeping in and missing my flight raced through my head - the ultimate comeuppance for me and Blair ragging on him about our vacations on Friday night. Luckily, my clock was 20 mins fast, but that still meant I had zero time to make it there. I threw on some clothes and grabbed my (heavy) suitcase and flew down the stairs (of all the weekends for the elevator to be broken) with my cell phone in one hand calling the cab company. The only problem was, they didn't pick up. I was on hold for what seemed like hours before I just gave up and hauled my suitcase back up the stairs and went to the parking garage to get my car (P.S. - FUCK YOU Regina Cabs). I raced out of my garage (literally) and ran every red light and stop sign and broke every speeding law on the books and managed to get checked in with time to spare. Props to my family for waking up early and going through a lot of hassle to bring my car back to my condo :)

Anyways, the rest of the day was fine - all my flights were empty so there was lots of room to stretch out and I found out that Delta is a member of the SkyTeam alliance so my Worldperks Silver Elite status works with them, too :)

Oh, and to make you feel really better, here's a few rumoured U2 tour dates for the fall:

Sept. 29, 2005 @ Calgary, Alberta - Pengrowth Saddledome
Sept. 30, 2005 @ Calgary, Alberta - Pengrowth Saddledome

Friday night me, Blair, and Tyler went to Brewster's Normanview for what seemed like millions of pitchers of beer. A word to the wise: their "wheat" beer seems to contain little or no alcohol so it's best to steer clear of it, regardless of how good it tastes. It was a good time nonetheless. You pushed the "Up" button, right?

Today I did a bunch of running around, and then after a quick haircut I went to my parents' place for supper with Hali and Brandon and my grandparents who are in town to catch the plane to Puerto Vallarta on Monday. I've spent the rest of the night packing and I think that I have everything that I need - I hope!

Well, folks, this is it - I have to be up in about 4 hours to make it to the airport on time to get to San Diego, the first stop on my voyage to marriage. I'll be back on the 21st with a new roommate in tow :D

P.S. - Shout out to fold-your-shirt.com for making my packing that much easier ;)

I never want to be older than 50 years old if it means tottering off into antiquity like the bumbling fools who were on my flight to Winnipeg this afternoon. How they manage to feed themselves, let alone get to the airport and get on the right plane is beyond me. Anyways, beyond that, I'm feeling good, because I'm back in Canada again!

Today was my last day of work in Chicago, and it was definitely bittersweet. On Tuesday everybody on my team went out to the Yardhouse to commiserate (celebrate?) me leaving the project. They even sent me on my way with a great gift and my manager gave me a sweet wedding present - a crystal vase from Tiffany's. I managed to get what work was assigned to me done this week in time to leave for the airport this afternoon. While the first few months were rough in Chicago work-wise, things really improved at the end and I had a super team to work with so it's hard to leave that behind. I've now left behind two great teams of folks in the USA and I miss them both dearly.

With that being said, it feels so good to be Canadian again! Now French might be the gayest language in the world, but it has never sounded sweeter than when security spoke it at the airport when I landed in Canada. While I've been back a lot, this time it was for good so it's a weird feeling to know that I don't have to go back to the States again.

As I look back on the past year+, it was probably one of, if not, the best of my life. I did things that I had never even dreamed of. After living in the USA (and becoming an American taxpayer!), it's given me even more insight into the workings of the world and I am super excited about the future. What Trey Parker and Matt Stone might say in irony, I say with conviction:

America...
America...

America, FUCK YEAH!
Coming again to save the motherfuckin' day, yeah
America, FUCK YEAH!
Freedom is the only way, yeah
Terrorists, your game is through, 'cause now you have to answer to...
America, FUCK YEAH!
So lick my butt and suck on my balls
'Merica, FUCK YEAH!
Whatcha gonna do when we come for you now?

It's the dream that we all share
It's the hope for tomorrow
fuck yeah

McDonalds, FUCK YEAH!
Wal-Mart, FUCK YEAH!
The Gap, FUCK YEAH!
Baseball, FUCK YEAH!
NFL, FUCK YEAH!
Rock 'n roll, FUCK YEAH!
The Internet, FUCK YEAH!
Slavery, FUCK YEAH!

FUCK YEAH!

Starbucks, FUCK YEAH!
Disney World, FUCK YEAH!
Porno, FUCK YEAH!
Valium, FUCK YEAH!
Reeboks, FUCK YEAH!
Fake Tits, FUCK YEAH!
Sushi, FUCK YEAH!
Taco Bell, FUCK YEAH!
Rodeos, FUCK YEAH!
Bed, Bath, and Beyond (Fuck yeah, Fuck yeah)

Liberty, FUCK YEAH!
White Slips, FUCK YEAH!
The Alamo, FUCK YEAH!
Band-aids, FUCK YEAH!
Las Vegas, FUCK YEAH!
Christmas, FUCK YEAH!
Immigrants, FUCK YEAH!
Popeye, FUCK YEAH!
Democrats, FUCK YEAH!
Republicans (fuck yeah, fuck yeah)
Sportsmanship
Books

As you may have noticed, I've upgraded this website to one of the latest versions of Pebble. It's got a lot of improvements over earlier versions, including spam protection and comment moderation. That sounds boring, but it makes my life a lot easier.

I'm telling this to y'all because this website is not very explicit in telling people that comments are moderated, which means before they are displayed on the website, they go to me first for approval. My comment policy is generally this: if I decide it should go up on the website, I'll approve it, otherwise, I reject it. It's that simple. It's my website, so in the spirit of the Beastie Boys, if you don't like it then, hey, fuck you.

A personal pet peeve of mine is people who don't leave their names in their comments. That's a fast track to rejection, so unless you have something so controversial that you need to remain anonymous (like insulting Tyler), do us all a favour and stand up and tell us who you are.

Last Wednesday's South Park episode (#901 - Die, Hippies, Die) was just great. All these hippies come to town to organize a big music festival and hilarity ensues. As usual, the material was fodder for some insightful political commentary. Here's a scene from Day 6 at the Woodstock-esque event:

Stan:

So it seems like we have enough people now, when do we start taking down the corporations?

Hippie #1:

Yeah, man, the corporations! Right now they're raping the world for money!

Kyle (wearing a Che Guevara t-shirt):

Yeah, so where are they? Let's go get 'em!

Hippie #2:

Right now, we're proving we don't need corporations. We don't need money. This can become a commune where everyone just helps each other.

Hippie #1:

Yeah, we'll have one guy who like, who like makes bread, and one guy, who like, looks out for other people's safety.

Stan:

You mean like a baker and a cop?

Hippie #2:

No, no, can't you imagine a place where people live together and, like, provide services for each other in exchange for their services?

Kyle:

Yeah, it's called a town.

Hippie #3:

You kids just haven't been to college yet.

There was even a scene where hippies berated the 4th-graders, calling them "little Eichmanns" for selling magazine subscriptions at school. "We just spent our first semester in college. Our professors opened our eyes!" Pure genius!

Gee, tonight was the worst night of my life. I really hated being in an Executive skybox at the United Center to watch the Bulls game.

Oh wait, it wasn't the worst time ever - it was fucking awesome. A big "HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!" goes out to people who are not me.

I got back to my hotel a couple hours ago after flying to D.C. for the weekend to visit Nick. It was a great trip, especially since I spent some of my AAdvantage Platinum upgrades so I got to fly to and from in First Class! Friday night me and Nick hit up The Tombs, Rhino and Garrett's in Georgetown, and we had a great time, capping the night off with our traditional slice of pizza and un-traditionally burning the roof of our mouths off ;) That aside, drinking beer and living the good life, you can't ask for much more than that. On Saturday, while Nick did work stuff, I walked around Georgetown and up and down M Street, just enjoying the trendy shops and the beautiful people. The weather was tremendous - spring has definitely sprung in D.C. That night me and Nick went walking around Georgetown in search of something to do, when we decided to head back to where we had started off the night before, The Tombs. The highlight of the night was when we decided we were full of beer so we were going to order some hard stuff. "Two double-Crown-and-Cokes, please!" It was great to have a taste of home, but luckily before we ordered another one I asked how much they were - $15. Nick gasped, "Each?" Yes, it was true; we had just spent $30USD on two rye doubles. Lesson learned :) On Sunday morning Nick dropped me off at the International Spy Museum while he went house hunting. It was an amazing museum and one that I highly recommend. The price is a little steep ($14) compared with lots of museums in the area that are free, but it was money well spent. Two caveats: you can't just show up and go through the museum whenever you want; it's got some theme-ride elements to it, so usually you need to buy tickets in advance. In my case, I had to spend about an hour killing time downtown, which was okay by me, because I had some lunch and walked over to see the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial. Also, give yourself a lot of time to go through the museum. I did it in about two and a half hours, but I would recommend at least 3 or more. If you want to watch all the videos, etc. along the way it will take you all afternoon. After my trip to the museum Nick picked me up and we went back to the hotel so I could pack up my things and Nick could take me to the airport. Thanks again for the hospitality, dude, it's much appreciated!

Work is slowly winding down - only 4 business days left! It is actually good timing, because we are winding down on one project and people are transitioning to another one, so it's a good time to leave without impacting the client's work too much. To celebrate the end of the project, the client took us all out last Wednesday for lunch at Bob Chinn's Crab House, where we all had some fabulous seafood. That night we went to Gator's for some great food, beer, and darts! The weather has improved to the point that I left my winter jacket at home last time I was there, and the days are getting longer, so it's a tough time to leave Chicago. At least it would be, if I wasn't leaving soon for a month's vacation to marry the love of my life :) The first wedding guests have started to arrive in Mexico, and Brad et. al leave for Puerto Vallarta tomorrow ... it's almost here!

At my union meeting tonight, I discovered that the Communications, Energy, and Paperworkers Union of Canada's Saskatchewan components (of which my local is a member - as well as everybody who works for SaskTel) are withdrawing all financial support and otherwise from the NDP in the province. We will be the first union to do so but others will surely follow.

To me, it's hilarious how the only reason they won in the last election was because of the huge support from organized labour, and they haven't done a lick of work for them in return - no most available hours law, little or no increase in pay (0%/0%/1%), etc.

Sorry, folks - you can't have your cake and eat it, too!

There are absolutely no companies from Saskatchewan in the list of the top 250 technology companies based in Canada (except for SaskTel, which has a legal monopoly on telecommunications in the province). Way to go, NDP!

An old story I like to tell: a few years ago, a friend of a friend was trying to start a business that would provide Internet access to Indian reserves on the cheap (this man was Native himself). He rented a room in a hotel in Saskatoon to hold a gathering of interested parties to discuss his plans and give a demonstration. To counter any attempt at private enterprise in the province, SaskTel called the hotel and rented out all the rooms - forcing our story's protagonist to look elsewhere for space to meet at the last second and totally spoiling any chance he had to do anything.

These are the same folks who like to own off-shore corporations so they can funnel any money they make out of the hands of the Saskatchewan taxpayers they continually abuse at every turn.

Remember kids, vote jackass NDP in the next election!

I seriously considered writing this letter and cc:'ing it to the Leader-Post:

Dear Paul Martin:

Great job on yet another example of how oblivious you and every other politician from the East are to Western Canadian concerns.

U2 played concerts in the prairies on both of their last two tours, in Winnipeg in 1997 and two shows in Calgary in 2001. This year, they won't be playing anywhere near the prairie provinces - thanks to you. Instead of letting the market decide, you had to call Bono directly and ask them to play in Ottawa instead, when there are already numerous concerts being played within a 5-hour (or less!) drive from the city. The rest of us here out West will have to drive 16+ hours to see the best band in the world (except for AC/DC, of course) play, meaning most won't see them at all.

Did Ottawa really need that concert? Certainly not any more than we need Ottawa, so please enjoy the show and then promptly fuck right off!

Sincerely,

ME

There is something you can do - sign the petition and bring U2 to Winnipeg. It'll probably be as effective as protesting (hat-tip to all the idiot hippies out there), but you gotta make a statement somehow :)

I'm back in Chicago after a make-shift long weekend trip back to Regina. For some reason there are some late-night flights back to Regina right now so I was able to work some long hours at work last week and then come home Thursday night. It was a great trip home because I am now a Silver Elite Worldperks member so I get upgraded to First Class all the time!

On Friday I went out for lunch with my buddy and ex-co-worker Mark and current co-worker Shelley. It was nice to visit with them since I hadn't seen them in many moons. Mark was also kind enough to leave me his coupon book for Hawaii for me to use on the honeymoon! After lunch I met up with Rob at Bonzzini's where I had some post-lunch coffee with him and his fiancée and picked up our wedding rings from him! If you haven't seen them, they are gorgeous! During the afternoon I went into work for a meeting with my manager and to do up expenses so that kept me busy.

Friday night I went to visit with my mom and have supper. Dad was out of town for all the funerals so the two of us went to Wendy's for a light meal. After supper I went to Brad's and met up with him and Blair. The three of us piled into my car and went to 20-44 where we met up with Tyler, Janson, and Zab. We decided to make our own pub crawl so we left for Bushwakker's where we met up with Mike and his g/f. We had some expensive beers from around the world and then later went to the The Crooked Cue for some less expensive beer and pool. It was a good night!

On Saturday I slept in a bit and then I went and picked up my mom to go shopping. We went to the Canteen at Depot where I found some reasonably priced and reasonably fashionable clothes. When we were done we went over to the museum, where I bought some souvenirs to give to my team members here in the USA. It also gave us a chance to sign the book of condolences. It was a pretty surreal experience - the sense of loss was palpable. I've been to Depot hundreds (if not, thousands) of times (I practically grew up there) and I've never felt anything like that before. The tragedy really could have happened to anyone and everyone there knew it. My mom confessed to me that there were many times that Dad didn't come home at night after a surveillance op, and just the thought runs shivers down my spine.

Saturday night me and and Marco went out on the town to celebrate almost two successful years of living together, even though later we calculated that while he's been living in my condo for 20 months I've probably only been there for maybe eight at the most! We went to The Diplomat and had a great meal. I had never been there before and was pretty impressed with the layout, although the portions were small and the service was super slow. Though it was pretty pricey, luckily my mom had given me a coupon so we saved a bunch of cash! Afterwards we passed on dessert and went to DQ instead, which was good eatin', as usual. It felt good to live the high-life for a few hours!

Today I slept in and bummed around the house for a few hours before Marco dropped me off at the airport. My flight was delayed coming into Chicago so it took a long time to get here, even though it was very comfortable sitting in First Class! I am heading to D.C. this weekend to visit with Nick, so I am looking forward to that. We are also going out as a team on Wednesday night to my favourite place in Chicago, Gator's, so that will be fun, too! I only have 9 more business days left before I leave on vacation for the wedding ... life is good, my friends.

Because of the online video provided by the CBC, I was able to see most of the memorial service today, and I am thankful. I am thankful and I am proud - so very proud.

As per the CRA:

Phase-out of the Excise Tax on Jewellery, Clocks, Watches, Goldsmith's and Silversmith's Products

The Excise tax on jewellery products, which has been in effect in some form since 1918, is being phased-out over four years. Currently, persons manufacturing or producing the above goods valued at in excess of $50,000 in a calendar year, must hold a federal Excise tax licence. They are also required to file returns and remit the Excise tax imposed on such articles.

Effective February 24, 2005, the current rate of Excise tax is reduced from 10% to 8%. Furthermore, this rate will be reduced by an additional 2% on each March 1 beginning in 2006, until March 1, 2009, at which time the Excise tax on jewellery products will be eliminated. This tax is payable at the time that such goods are imported into Canada, or are delivered to a customer in Canada from a licensed manufacturer, producer or wholesaler.

As someone who's purchased a lot of the above hardware recently, this is a welcome relief! The only downside is that they have already been delivered to me so I will not benefit :(

Merci :'(

While I was gone this weekend, I missed the sad news of Brad's grandfather's passing. He and his wife were always kind enough to put up with Brad's friends on numerous occasions, and their hospitality is unmatched. We have all known that he was ill for a long time, so it was extra special that he was able to make it to Brad's wedding a few years (did I just type that?) ago.

One time a few of us were in Assiniboia for a wedding, and we had way too much to drink the night before, myself in particular. It was all I could do to stay mobile during the wedding ceremony and, quite frankly, near the end couldn't (and didn't) even stand when required to do so. After it was over, I rushed back to my car and back to Brad's grandparents (where we were staying) and didn't quite make it, throwing up all over the street the moment I stuck my head out of my car. Feeling quite refreshed, I continued about my activities for the day. It was later I learned that Brad's grandpa had gone out and washed what had earlier been the contents of my stomach off the street.

From that day forward, I was known to Brad's grandpa as "The Puker". Without fail, whenever his memory failed him and he couldn't remember my name, it was always, "Oh, you're the puker!" What was originally a source of shame became a term of endearment to me, because he was such a joy to be around I was honoured that he even remembered me, even if it was for the wrong reasons.

I talked with Brad briefly tonight and he said that I even came up in conversation as recently as a few weeks ago. Apparently Brad's grandma was telling him about mine and Sofi's wedding and how Brad and all the crew were going down to Mexico for it. Grandpa Mattson quickly replied, "I hope he pukes all over his own dance floor!" :)

Brad swears to me that his grandpa liked me, he just hated me for throwing up on his sidewalk, but I'm not so sure. What I am sure of is that I liked him - a lot. He will be dearly missed.

RIP Grandpa Mattson

It's early morning and I'm back in Chicago after my extended long weekend. It was a good trip but not very relaxing! Still, Vancouver was lots of fun.

Friday afternoon I headed to the airport to catch my very long (4.5 hour) flight to Van City. Bernie picked me up from the airport and we went back to his new pad for a couple beers while we waited for Jae to get home. The three of us went out for some Italian and making fun of girls at the nearby Macaroni Grill. We were all pretty tired after a long day so we called it a night.

The next day both Jae and Bernie went to work so Colby and his new (HOT) woman Shannon picked me up and we went for lunch at Bojangles. Afterwards we grabbed some coffee at Starbucks and then walked up and down Robson doing some window shopping, some book buying, and gawking at the idiot protesters who for some reason had a problem with Canada's involvement in Haiti even though no one else in the international community does. Colby had to ref that night so they dropped me off at the end of the afternoon. Unfortunately, Colby and I's schedules just didn't work out this weekend so that was the last time I saw him. Thankfully, he's going to be coming to the wedding(!), so I'll see him again soon.

That night Sony (a friend of Bernie and Jae's in for the weekend from Regina) decided to follow my lead and crash in the apartment for the night. We went to a Cold Beer and Wine Store (British Columbia sucks) to pick up a bunch of booze and enjoyed some awesome "Numero Uno" pizza before hitting the town. We went to The Fountainhead (the infamous gay pub from last year) for a couple beers and some brutal service. We were planning on going to "Celebrities" (Vancouver's newest gay bar attended by mostly straight people) but we decided to head to The Odyssey instead. It quite the interesting time there, what with all the naked (male - boo!) go-go dancers and little faerie Asian boys running around, but thankfully it was a bar after all so I got to have a much-needed drink(s). Sony's attempts to find a man were the entertainment for the evening, because thanks to an asshole DJ and his brutal music, dancing was few and far between. We left pretty late and wandered down to Numero Uno for hilarious adventure buying pizza, insulting 12-year olds who claimed to be 20, and for me in particular, street-performing.

Thanks to alcohol poisoning, the next morning (well, afternoon) was brutal. We went out for brunch to a nearby Cafe Luxy (recommended) where I could barely move let alone eat, but by the time we were done I was feeling better. We grabbed some coffee and did some window shopping before heading back home. Sony left and so did I when I said my goodbyes to Jae, and then late to Bernie after he dropped me off at my hotel in time for my conference to start. Thanks for your hospitality, guys, it was much appreciated and I had a great weekend!

My conference was a jam-packed couple of days. It is an annual event held for everybody in the company (in my line of work) across Western Canada. On Sunday night the Regina folks went out for supper and then attended a reception. Afterwards, me and a subset of the group walked (and WALKED) around drinking here and there (specifically at Steamworks and Cardero's, both recommended) until past midnight, which meant Monday was a long day. It was full of education sessions and then a hypnotist for entertainment at night. I didn't end up staying out too late on Monday which was a good thing, because Tuesday was just as busy as Monday. At 4PM me and some other folks from Regina caught the bus back to the airport, except they were going home and I wasn't. I got on a plane bound for Los Angeles and caught the red-eye to Chicago so I could be back at work this morning instead of missing a bunch of work time traveling all day. I'm not sure I recommend this practice.

I am not sure exactly what my travel plans are for the next few weeks. I only have 17 more business days (am I counting?) before I am done here and then all the wedding stuff kicks into high gear. After a weekend of hard drinking and learning, I need a break :)