Lessons in Swedish
When I was studying abroad, way back when I was an undergraduate, I sent to a female classmate a postcard from Sweden. It was an unsigned postcard mailed to her home. The only thing written on it was “BORK BORK BORK!”
We weren’t dating at the time and certainly weren’t close to doing so. I have no idea what her parents thought of the postcard.
That girl is now my wife. The lesson here is that romance is very complicated.
Canadian NDP leader Thomas Mulcair publicly asks if the ruling Conservative party really lost 3.2 billion dollars of taxpayer money or is the money in the banana stand.
Dear Mom…
…I know you love me and that you’re proud of me, but this is my news to share, not yours. I really don’t like getting emails from extended family members about something I haven’t told anyone but my closest friends. Besides, I still need to negotiate; you’re killing my bargaining power. Please stop.
Well now you’re making me curious. I’m excited to hear when the news becomes public!
Reader Replacement Review
- the web version is actually a plugin, which is just confusing
- while the chrome plugin looks pretty, I feel like it lacks functionality
- it’s backbone is currently google reader. I have faith that it’s going to be replaced effortlessly, others are not as sure
- I like the android version, though not enough that I would take it over Google Reader’s app. Still, I think for mobile, it’s the best of the bunch
- haven’t gotten all my feeds imported, and am way down the queue (was 33k, down to 25k, now 19k, 4k)
- UPDATE: Now imported
- it looks pretty but lacks some features
- no unread button (EDIT they added one!)
- no mobile version
- load looks like pacman, which is cool
- on home page, shows “Dead Feeds”, which is useful
- Integrates with Pocket, which I appreciate
- Team looks like they honestly want to make a good and usable tool.
- nice, but only up to 64 sites for free. More than that, $24/month. Not sure it’s thaaaat nice
- however, it shows “misbehaving sites” which is really nice. I guess a few of the sites I thought went dead actually changed their RSS feed without notice.
- Android version is awful, Blar is better, but still not good
- Ugh, too pretty. It reminded me of Flipboard (http://flipboard.com/) which I just didn’t like. I understand that there’s a market for “magazine-ifying” your feed, but I’m not part of that market.
- potential, but a bit buggy
- kind of ugly
- no sort by oldest?
- Has a mobile website, but it’s very slow
- Google Reader clone, but not as good as The Old Reader IMHO
- Added some weird social aspect to RSS…when I want social, I got to G+, facebook, etc
- No mobile app
- Not really worth looking into further
Point Pelee National Park
I love Point Pelee! Haven’t been in aeons. The view is spectacular and the Monarch butterfly migration in the fall is almost overwhelming.
A “different” Review of #LesMis.
(Take that Michael Phillips - Chicago Tribune!)
/slowclap
Seriously, it was really well done. Eponine was perfect, I was not expecting Amanda Seyfried to be that good as Cosette and was that really, truly Hugh Jackman’s voice for the entire movie? Some parts, I swear I could hear Colm Wilkinson’s voice…
Click through for caption
Picture: Nate Chappell / Rex Features (via Animal pictures of the year 2012: part one - Telegraph)
AN UPDATE ON MY LIFE (take 3)
I said I would write an update two weeks ago but I didn’t so, let’s see what I can get done now.
Unlike last time I wrote, stuff has been happening. I’ve had an interview, got the job, had my medical for the Canadian Forces, had a doctor’s appointment as followup for the medical, started my new job and, just recently, been offered two interviews. All that has done a good job of keeping me busy.
When I moved back to Chatham, one of the very few places I was actually excited about the prospects of working at was TekSavvy. If you are unfamiliar, TekSavvy is an Internet Service Provider that was founded in Chatham. I’ve been using them for quite a while and have been really happy. Their support is all located in Ontario and Quebec. It seemed like a natural fit so I dropped off a resume in early August and applied again in September when they posted some openings. I was interviewed on Monday, November 12 and given an offer Wednesday, November 14 to start on Monday, November 26. I am working as a Technical Support Representative and while I’m still in training, it’s going pretty well. Last week we handled calls and I felt a sense of accomplishment in helping people solve their problem. I’m still picking up a shift or so a week at SportChek and am enjoying the contrast of the two.
My medical went okay. Everything they actually did went well, but they want more detailed information on 5 separate issue. They want my doctor to sign off on them, problem being my doctor hasn’t dealt with most of them. He’s going to collect information which looks like it’s going to hold up the process again. At least during this hold up, I’m not bleeding money.
Of course, after I’ve starting a job and am settling in, I get two emails from a company to interview for two separate jobs which I applied to over 2 months ago. I took a weekend to think it over and decided to decline these interviews. They are in Cambridge and while it would be nice to be back in KW, I’m reluctant to give up my new found stability. If I wasn’t as focused on getting into the forces, these opportunities would probably be more appealing but I’d rather not have the move my application file again and go through all the other inconveniences that come with moving.
Well, that’s about it for now. Merry Christmas everyone! Some of you I’ll be seeing over the holidays. Those of you I don’t, enjoy any break you might have and let’s try to organize something in the future!
AN UPDATE ON MY LIFE (part 2)
So, it’s been over a month since I last wrote. For most of that time, I really had nothing to write about. I was applying for jobs, trying to arrange for an interview with the Canadian Forces and getting nowhere with either. At least I was able to spend some of that time visiting friends. As well, thankfully, my parents have been more than hospitable having me home.
Applying for jobs is frustrating. I’ve got the sense that, if anything, my degree closes doors for jobs rather than open them. I’m over qualified for most retail jobs (I think my favourite response was, “Wait, you FINISHED this degree in Mathematics? What the hell are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be working for NASA or something?”) but I’m also not qualified enough to be interviewed for jobs in the software field because I don’t have a BCS. And yes, there are qualifications I could get to make me a more desirable candidate but it seems pointless to invest in courses if I don’t want to stay in the field. Anywho, I eventually got a chance with SportChek and will be starting there soon. It’s just a part-time retail jobs, but I’m happy to have something to pay the bills and it’ll leave me time for personal projects and volunteering.
As far as the Forces, it took a while to get my file transferred and get an interview. I have my interview booked for Tuesday, October 16 in Windsor. I went down but we didn’t actually do the interview. The recruiter was surprised my application had gotten to her desk as she didn’t feel I was qualified and my marks weren’t good enough to make up for that. While I agree with her, this was initially very worrying because I felt like once again my degree was closing doors. Then, she asked if I had looked into Non-Commissioned Members (NCM) trades. I had briefly looked at a few, but had never gone into depth because I was told a number of times that, “You have a degree, you become an officer.” Now I know while this qualifies me to be officer, it doesn’t disqualify me from entering as NCM. There is even potential to still become an officer later. As you can probably tell, I’m pretty high on this option. Some may feel I’m selling myself short, however, I don’t have that much pride. I went home, and researched the positions, the pay scale and the difference in roles between Officers and NCM. The recruiter called back the next day (Wednesday) saying she had an interview opening for the following day (Thursday). So, I had my interview on last Thursday. It went pretty well, and the recruiter said that I’m “a strong candidate in a field with demand.” I still have to do my medical which is scheduled for November 14, but I hope that goes well too and, if I get an offer, I’ll probably be starting in early 2013!
