For some of my Canadian readers, you're aware that our dollar has been performing spectacularly against the greenback from down south. "Experts" apparently predicted the dollar to be on par sometime in the new year but many now for see that happening as early as next week.

I was initially dismayed to see our dollar rise so much and so fast in the last few weeks. In September, I sold some of my EA stock, the proceeds of which I received in US dollars. Selling US-based stocks is a bit of a two-step process. The first step is deciding when to sell, which is never an easy decision. Then there's deciding when to convert it all back to Canadian dollars.

As I waited, the dollar went up and up. I didn't really need the money right away, so I just dumped the proceeds into a US dollar ING Direct account. There it sits, waiting for the inevitable drop. For now though, our dollar is strong.

I didn't really see the bright side of things until today, when I realized I should probably buy all my US goods now. I have my eye on a few things over at MonoPrice and I really want Season 5 of Mythbusters on DVD.

So I suppose it's not all bad news. By the way, I forgot to bring my camera to work today. You'll just have to trust me that I fish and chips for dinner. I would have had the BBQ ribs but they ran out. The lady behind the counter even chastised me for not eating earlier.

0 Comments

So I have officially started to work OT. I say officially because now the managers are now providing meal vouchers which are redeemable for dinner at the cafeteria. I haven't had an OT cafeteria dinner since March of 2002. That all changed this week. Despite the seven year gap, it seemed all very familiar.

While working OT isn't a great experience overall, working OT in Burnaby is less enjoyable than working OT while downtown. When we were working late at our Howe St location, at least I could look outside the windows and see the hustle and bustle of the nightlife. Now, when I look outside a window I see nothing, it's pitch black.

Anyways, I'm thinking of taking a photo every single OT dinner I have. I'd also take said photo and put it on this blog. Wouldn't that be interesting?

0 Comments

So for the past few years I've been doing something silly as the calendar blends from summer into fall. I try to go as long as possible without wearing my winter coat. Every year it seems like I just put away my heavy wool coat before it turns cold again and I need it to keep warm.

This year so far has been a fairly easy transition into fall. Yes, it did get quite cold the last few days but there hasn't been many rainy days. I can tell I'm not the only one who's doing this. The guy who sits next to me and the dude behind me at work both wore shorts today. I myself haven't worn shorts to work at least two weeks now. I've been holding the line with just hoodies so far. I have a fleece MEC jacket somewhere but I think I may have misplaced it in the move.

My goal is to get to at least November without wearing my winter coat. If my Mom knew about this, she would be very displeased with me.

1 Comments

For the most part, the older people in my immediate family don't know anything about my Internet presence. My father doesn't use a computer. My mother is a little better, she browses a few web sites and does that e-mail thing.

So it was a bit surprising when I saw a new Facebook friend request on the weekend. It was from my aunt or specifically, my mother's older sister. Now I've seen many, many examples on the Internet where people allowed their parents to be a Facebook friend and that did not work out so well. Yes, I realize my aunt isn't my Mom but as sisters, they talk on the phone fairly regularly.

Now I don't have extremely embarrassing pictures in my Facebook profile but at the same time there's the stuff you do while you're not around your family and the stuff you do while in family company. Those two different kinds of "stuff" don't mix well sometimes.

I haven't responded to the friend request yet and I'm not entirely sure what to do. I wish there was a setting so that a friend is a "limited" friend, where you can control exactly what about your profile they can see. I swear there was something like this but I can't find it anymore.

So do any of you have your parents as a friend on Facebook? How's that working out for you?

4 Comments