Seriously

Why is it that every time you just want to browse in Futureshop you can't not be harassed by sales people, but if you're actually there to buy something there's not a salesperson in sight?

Home Is Where The Heart Is... So Your Real Home's In You Chest

Wow, it's been over a year since I bought a house (and subsequently unbought it). I didn't realize it had been that long. So, thirteen months since then and well... not much has really changed. Am I still hunting for a house?

Well, yes and no.

On the one hand, the apartment I'm in right now just isn't really cutting it. With my office setup and other stuff, I'm struggling to find enough room around here. Also, there's the fact that once in a while, my neighbours are really loud, and I can hear them clear as day... which makes me hesitant to do things that make noise myself, since other people would probably be able to hear me too. Thirdly, I dream of the day I have my own laundry facilities. So, I'd love to get out of here.

On the other hand... I don't know how much the unbuying of house last year unnerved me to the whole process, but I've been a mountain of indecision since then. Basically, it boils down to this... the houses that are in my price range aren't what I'm looking for (which is to say I wouldn't be completely happy with) and the ones that I am looking for are out of my price range (and quite frankly, way too spacious for just me). Now, technically I could raise my price range (as the bank would let me do that), but then almost every cent would be going to a mortgage and bills (and how would I buy things like the new surround sound system I just got last week?) and I'm not prepared to go that route.

Other options include a condo, but the whole noise thing in my building has really made me wary of sharing walls anymore. Alternatively, I could move into another larger apartment, but then I'd have to sign a new year-long lease, and I'd have to give up my utilities-included sweetness that I enjoy now. Plus, my building is really nice as apartment buildings go, so a new apartment is definitely not the way to go either.

Gotta Find The Kind With Tiny Nubs...

I was able to sneak in one more round of golf on Saturday. Went down to Dundee Golf Club and while it's a really nice course, it was really SLOW. The entire course was backed up the whole time. The marshals are really inept there, unless we're supposed to wait 10 mintues to tee off every hole. Anyways...

But the most exciting thing that happened was the head of my 4 iron flying off while taking a tee shot. Let me tell you, that's a weird feeling. Fortunately, the head went straight forward and not to the side. On the bright side, I now have a cool metal stick.

So I'm now down a 4-iron (broken head), 7-iron (broken handle), and pitching wedge (umm... I forgot it somewhere). Time for new clubs? The expense would probably be worth the 3 times I go out golfing each summer.

Matt Versus the Small-Nosed Sunglasses Designers

So, once again, I find myself looking for a new pair of sunglasses after my current ones broke. What I really need is to get a case to carry them in, but unless I start buying more expensive glasses, I'm not really inclined to bother. But that's not the point here. The point is that I figure that nearly 90% of sunglasses have nose pads that are completely inadequate for people with wide bridges, like me. I find this in regular glasses too. It severely limits the selection of styles available. Maybe I should start looking at more expensive models, but if I've learned anything about designer stuff... they'll probably be even smaller.

Camping in Algonquin

This past weekend I was up in Algonquin Park on a canoe/camping trip. This time we entered in through the east side of the park and stayed on St Andrews Lake. Here are some pictures.

A Non-Work Post

So, I looked at my blog today and saw that the last post I made was a soliciatation for work. I hate putting those things up... it's like my work life intruding into my personal life. So, what better way to get rid of it than to make a new post?

So, what to write about? I notice the last time I mentioned Weight Watchers was back in March when I wrote how I had gained 10 pounds since getting off the program. Well, to bring you up to date on that... add another 10 pounds. The first 10 wasn't so bad, but the second 10... well, things just aren't fitting again. So, starting yesterday, I'm making a conscience effort to eat within my point target without having to go to an actual meeting. Yesterday was a success, but today the hunger pains (and when I say "pains" I mean "minor discomfort") are out in full force. My goal is to see if I can get to the end of the week staying on the program... and then we'll see from there.

Need Some Extra Cash? Want To Survey?

Hey everyone,

We're doing travel surveys on Highway 26 up in and around Collingwood for the next couple weeks here at work. As usual, we're tight on staff (tight as in we're short). So anyone who want to spend a few (around 6 or 7) hours doing some short travel survey/interviews and make $15/hour doing so, let me know and I'll get you in touch with the appropriate people. Gord, I think, can vouch to how easy and straightforward the interviewing is. There are, however, a couple catches... First, we need people for the morning shifts (5:30am start on weekdays, 8:00am start on Sundays). Second, you'd be responsible to getting yourself to the sites, so it'd be a bit of a drive. The surveys will run on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays for 2 weeks and then just Sundays after that. If it sounds like something you'd like to do, like I said, let me know.

Before Friday.

(Sponsor Name) (Race Title), Baby!

Today was the Molson Indy Steelback Grand Prix Honda Indy Toronto. For something different, I watched the race with my Dad from the comfort of my parents' living room this year. Maybe it was getting used to the year off last year, or maybe a lingering bitterness at the Indy Racing League's buyout of Champ Car, or maybe a lack of a full-time ride for Paul Tracy or Alex Tagliani (and therefore, much less change of a good result for the Canadians) but we decided not to trek up to Garbage City this year.

A couple things I noted:

• Both PT and Tag ran really well... 1-2 at one point. It looked good for both of them until Helio Castro Neves took out Paul and Alex tried a bit too hard to make a pass, ending his day.
• Hearing the crowd boo the crap out of Castro Neves was beyond great. The guy didn't quite know how to handle it.
• They really cut the number of stands significantly from years past. To their credit, it kept the stands they did have full.
• Franchitti won... meh.
• For people who say that Indy Cars and Champ Cars were the same thing... let me first point out the difference in the engine sounds. Sure, I have an obvious bias here, but the cars there this year don't sound nearly as sweet.

Indy Car has some evolving to do before I become half the fan I was of Champ Car. With Tony George "stepping down" as ringleader, it'll be interesting to see what happens. It's just too bad that didn't happen before he wrote his cheque to kill Champ Car.

Genius? or Smart Kid on the Short Bus?

If you caught my facebook status yesterday, you'd have seen that I placed 5th in just over 1000 people in the Canadian edition of 1 vs 100 Extended Play on XBox Live. Well, tonight I did a bit better... First place, baby! That was even after missing the first question due to logging on late and getting 2 easy questions wrong early on because I was chatting to Joe about his bad blind date. Not that it means much... there's no prizes given away for Extended Play, but it's still kinda cool.

The Canadian edition is a special one tacked on at the end or beginning of each night of 1v100 where only Canadians answer Canada specific question. Now, the rest of the night is open to Canada and the US and it's general trivia. The number of players on those games is much higher (at it's peak it was up to 100,000 but it's settled down to about 20,000 for tonight) and good luck getting anywhere near the leaderboard. So, the Canada game is only for Canadians who've stuck around and haven't logged off yet.

But still, winning is fun.

Now the Live version of 1 vs 100 plays like the actual game show, and it's quite a bit different to watch/play. But it's only on Friday and Saturday nights. So, if you have an XBox 360 (and really, when was the last time you even touched that Wii?) and like trivia, give it a go.

Cedar Point 2009

A week ago I got back from my most recent trip to Cedar Point. There were no new rides this year, but obviously there's still lots to do. We went on Saturday, did the starlight ticket, then 2 full day tickets on the Sunday and Monday. It had rained on Saturday, so by the time we got there the crowds were not very big. On Sunday, it was ridiculously not busy, and most rides had short lines. Strangely enough, Monday was much busier than Sunday. I had thought we went early enough in the year so weekdays would have low attendance. I had noticed the same phenomenon last year (although we went 2 week later), with Monday being more busy than Sunday. Next year, I think I want to try and do an even earlier trip.

So, here's the breakdown of this year's awesome trip: 3 times on Millenium Force (once at the front), 3 times on Top Thrill Dragster (once at front), 2 times on Raptor (once at front), 2 times on Maverick (once at front), twice on Wicked Twister, Magnum XL200, Mean Streak (twice too many), Power Tower and Sky Hawk. The others we only got on once. Also, I had a blast playing Deal or No Deal in the arcade and came home with a spiffy mug.