:: Dreams and Other Chimera ::

:: 31.1.03 ::

Some days just aren't worth it.

So today I go to work and I find out that one of last nights groups was a bit of a pain. Seems they thought that they could be billed for the rooms, when we specifically told them that a cheque was nessisary. Could have been a simple misunderstanding, right? So I am given orders that I am not to be confrontational about it at all, and that I am to get the two leaders to sign all 10 billings and we would bill them from there. Also I was to get our group sales co-ordinator to come out to make sure everything went smoothly.

What actually did happen, had no bearing on the afforementioned plan.

Firstly, I ask one of the students from this group what time the bus was leaving, and get a time of 8:25. No problem, so I expect that after 8, and yet before 8:30 I will be seeing them. So 8:15 rolls around and a middle aged gentleman wearing the groups logo on a jacket over top of a suit comes to the desk. Allright, so I greet him and ask if he's here to check the group out. Haven't said, done, emoted, or acted in any way then professional, polite and, dare I say, happy. The response I get was quite interesting.

"I am, and I would like to say that the service in this hotel is the worst I have ever encountered in all my career of staying at them. I have never been treated so poorly and rudely ever. I realize there was some trouble with payment at check in, but our understanding with the hotel was that we had a purchase order for the rooms. If you had wanted payment some other way then the lady who set up the rooms should have informed us thusly. But still your staff's behavior is inexcusable and I shall see to it that no one from my college, no sports teams, no one from the veterens society, no one from my community, no one from the western canadian army, and no one from the Anglican Church ever uses this hotel again. Have I made myself clear."

To which I replied, "Certainly, sir. Can you please sign your bill so that we can bill you for the rooms?" Once again the epitomy of calm and collected professionalism.

"Certainly not." At which he turned on his heel and walked out of the building.

I never did see the other group leader, its possible she avoided the lobby so as not to be embarassed by her collegue's behavior. The thing I find most amusing about this however, is the fact that I spent most of his little speech trying not to ask him if he was up all night thinking it up.

Just to add insult to injury however, the next lady to check out was so horrificly rude that I would have problems explaining it.

:: James [+] ::
...

I can't seem to get rid of the first version of the below post, the joys of accidentally putting in a single quote when you wanted a double.

:: James [+] ::
...

A few more days have passed.

I haven't really had much time for the internet lately though. Real life and shared hallucinations have been eating my time. I plan on putting up a few webpages about the characters from one of the games I play, called Tierel, but that will come when it comes.

In the past couple days a couple things have happened at work that bear mentioning. Firstly, I got a raise on the first of the year, my raise was 1.5% of my salary, which workes out to approx. $12 per pay cheque. Now, every other year, my company has given out at least 3% and we were expecting more as our property was the best performer out of all the properties of my company and had its best year ever, for the second year in a row. I can swallow that pill though. The bitter fact is that our benefits premiums have gone up, by a whopping 46% is completely absurd. This means that my raise of $12 a pay cheque has been wiped out by my increse in benefits which amounts to approx $18 a pay cheque.

I'm not mad at all.

I harbour no ill will at my local management however, they had nothing to do with this. It's upper management that has done this. Which leads me into the daydreams. Because of this, I spent all morning watching my regional manager in the lobby. To call him a duplicit fink, doesn't do it justice, but I had to smile and look busy despite the fact I had nothing to do, and this man has taken away all of the most basic things that made my job at all enjoyable. But inwardly I was daydreaming, quite vividly. I could see the tracer dot panning around his head, and then hear the glass shatter. The only drawback I had to this dream is that the president of the company was standing next to him, and I like the president of my company, strangely.

To pass away the evening I have been spending time at my friends houses, doing all sorts of interesting things. I give neckrubs, listen to stories, watch movies, break in the odd blanket, and all manner of other sundry things. Ya know, it only sounds boring in hindsight.

Oh well.

Anyway, I am off to bed. I may get in a six hour streatch for the first time since the weekend, and seeing as its almost the next weekend, thats a good thing.

And to everyone who makes my life bearable, thank you.

:: James [+] ::
...

A few more days have passed.

I haven't really had much time for the internet lately though. Real life and shared hallucinations have been eating my time. I plan on putting up a few webpages about the characters from one of the games I play, called Tierel, but that will come when it comes.

In the past couple days a couple things have happened at work that bear mentioning. Firstly, I got a raise on the first of the year, my raise was 1.5% of my salary, which workes out to approx.
:: James [+] ::
...

So as a result of playing Nation States, I read Jennifer Government, the book that the game is a publicity thing for... I must say, its pretty good. Its definetly Sci-Fi, and it has dealt with the future of capitalism in the same manner that Neil Stephenson, among others, has. It has created an anarchy. Basicly everything is privatized, and corporations are their own state. You take on the name of the corporation that you work for, hence 'Jennifer Government" works for the government. The government exists as a buisiness, basicly they will enforce rights and will invertigate crimes and such, if you pay them to, meaning this: If someone you loved were to be killed, then, if you wanted it investigated, you would have to provide the Government with a budget to capture the felon, otherwise, they won't do anything. I think a lot of good work has gone into the setting, and its quite well done.

Overall, I find this book worthy, because the author spins a good tale within the afforementioned setting.

That is all, you may return to whatever it was that you were doing.

:: James [+] ::
...

You know... with all the new music I listen to these days its not suprising that one of the ones that is the most strikingly good to me is from an unsigned indy artist. Miss Kitten and the Hacker is quite good, its simple which is different these days.

I listen to a little music from an online radio station most nights while reading before sleep, and it cought my ear last night while reading Jennifer Government.

On that topic, The book is very good, though should probabally be in Sci-Fi as opposed to General Fiction, which is where I found it.

So far it has been... an experience.

Anyway, off to kill some players. Its probabally too bad that they don't have any dedicated doctors with them... oh well, hindsight is 20/20...

:: James [+] ::
...

So tonight I went for a short drive, I needed some time alone, and I wanted to relax.

To give you an idea of the sort of stuff that relaxes me, I spent the drivve listening to Otep. For those of you who don't know who that is, Otep is fairly hard music, read sonic assualt. So on top of that I silently raged at the other drivers around me for being morons. I do realize that its hard some times, but there are still as many lanes as there were before the snowfall, and they should still be used as such. The introduction of snow to our roads does make the quaters a little more cramped, but I have a simple solution for all the driving problems. It goes something like this. If you are in a curb lane, try to stay close to the curb. If you are in a center lane that has a snowpile for a median, stay close to that median. For anyone else, stay as close to in the center of where the other cars are as you can. Such a simple precaution can make driving a whole lot easier. And it can save cars from having to bunch to the point that if one is passing, mirrors are at risk of being removed. The second point to my solution is this, as much as it pains you to do it, leave at least two car legnths between you and the guy in front of you, preferably more like 3-4. This will ensure that you never actually have to be beside anyone, therefore causing the lane thing to be more moot.

But hey, no one will listen to me, thats why my ideal society is a Corrupt Dictatorship.

Anyway, off to plan my party's demise.

:: James [+] ::
...

A small updato to Nation States, apperently, when I create a government and do things the way I want them done I get a corrupt dictatorship... hmmm.... Apperently I'm doing something very right or very wrong. On a side note, My government's official currency is the Fatal Beating. I can just see someone in my ideal society walking into a store and buying a loaf of bread.

(Imaginary Person): This 'ere loaf of bread is all I need.
(Imaginary Clerk): Allright, that'll be 2 Fatal Beatings please.


Ought to impress the American Tourists.

Anyway, aside from that, I am gonna write this day off to Stupid Accountants (Not mine), and one of my co-... I should say worker here but somehow it doesn't seem appropriate...desk-jockie's l337 communication skillz.

Bed, Tirel, work... sleep.... so tempting.... trying my patience...

:: James [+] ::
...

Hey.

Another link for you all... its on the side in the random collection. Jennifer's Nation States has a pretty little graphic and for all my friends who like the Diplomacy style game, this is a fun little game where you awnser issues every day or two, and thereby form your nation.

Ta.

:: James [+] ::
...

Only 2 things of note really today.

No, wait... 3 things.

Firstly, I am worth 1.5 mil... if I sold myself on the open market. Too bad that Cas already own's me. Got me at the bargain basement price of a tarnished nickel.

Secondly, Theres new cool stuff on cockeyed.com

Lastly isn't so important to anyone who doesn't know me.

I've been playing around with an idea in my head. Something motivational, good for my self confidence and self esteem, and something that gets my life more in line with the track I want it to take, instead of mearly being at a 90 degree angle.

Now these idea's strike me alot, but most get tossed after the first couple hours as I debunk the Idea in my heat.

Well its been 4 days now, I think this one's a keeper.

Later

:: James [+] ::
...

Well. To an outsider, my day might look unproductive. And, well, thats because it was. I got me some new music, new addictions and obsessions. I briefly looked into the future and consulted the magic 8 ball as to what that would be.

Shake magic 8 ball
"Of the days dreams, how does the future comming from them look"

M8B: "Outlook not promising"


So there we have it. Today's megatokyo kicked butt. Now my roomate thinks he's fixed one of my other roomate's computers so that she can access webpages. I think it must have been fun for him to hack in Japanese considering the fact that he knows very little. He knows windows well, so I guess thats a saving grace (As much of one as knowing windows at all is. Though those are skills that I posess to a certain degree as well.). Anyway, aside from Music, I watched The General's Daughter. I ate some, I played on the net, looked into the magic 8 ball. And thats about it.

Later.

:: James [+] ::
...

Another night wasted.

Spent screwing, and pounding, and hammering.

Rolling, and erecting, and filing.

Putting ridged bits of wood into prefabricated holes.

Some of it even involved being well hung.

I guess wasted is mabey not quite the appropriate word.

And I wonder why my back hurts...

:: James [+] ::
...

The Child in Me.
Clan of Xymox

Don't slow me down, just drive me away
The skies are grey today, I look at life that way
So put me on a plane, I may escape the rain
My friends are acting strange, things don't look the same

I guess the child in me, defines the way I see
I guess the child in me, defines the way I see
Miracles

Don't let me down, just live for today
The price is high you say, you look at life that way
So put me on a chain, I will escape again
Living by the book I say,would drive me insane

I guess the child in me, defines the way I see
I guess the child in me, defines the way I see
Miracles come my way

Through the eyes of a child I am spinning round
Through the eyes of a child I will work it out

I guess the child in me, defines the way I see
Through the eyes of a child
Through the eyes of a child

:: James [+] ::
...

Aah... the weekend, time for relaxing and such... time to enjoy and time for leisure.

It should be wonderful.

I shall make a list of 10 things.

1. Tea: for me, from Mao, Its great.
1. New OS for me: Mandrake 9.0, recently upgraded from 8.1. It has already increased my vocabulary. (when your brain starts to curse formated in linux techspeak, you know that there may be a problem.
1. LANning for dummies: 'cuz boy, do I feel like one when I attempt it.
1. Count Zero: Loaned by Nightshade, I may actually get around to reading it.
1. wcevolution.org: For it has died, I may mourn its passing.
1. 7th Sea: Wherein my players all wept in terror (Probabally of my horrible GMing)
1. Coffee shop: Where my raise, and 85 cents may equal a cup of joe.
1. Pan: Making newsgroups easy.
1. Sleep: Interspacing in and sanity.
1. Friends: See above. Though sometimes they add to insanity.

And with those 10 things I shall bid you adieu. and will see you in the near future.

:: James [+] ::
...

Dream of Warmth

So after I get back to my parents place, I grab a couple apples and a knife, a glass of orange juice and the phone and adjourn to the bath, not this isn't a perfect bath, its about 4 feet long, and I am about 6, it has a overflow drain set about an inch below the depth of say... my back to belly... but it was still heavenly.

Maybe Heavenly is a poor choice of description. Heavenly would be something like a hot tub or larger sized bath with several bath attendants, or a smaller Jacuzzi type tub with one slightly more romantic encounter. However, lacking the necessary ingredients to make that fly, I went with what I could.

A flip to the stereo knob, and a tank of hot water later, I was quite content. My battered muscles relaxing slightly, and I made a couple of phone calls. Ensuring that all was right with the world.

All was right with mine.

/Dream of Warmth

:: James [+] ::
...

Full of pain and warmth.

First for a Tale of Folly:

For those who have never been to a place of skiing, a few details are required. Firstly to get you up the hill, the sadists at the hill use what’s called a chair lift. Basically this is a loop of cable that is suspended above the hill up to about 30 meters. On both ends these cables come near to the ground. Near enough that the chair (think 2-6 person bench with side rails and a safety bar that you can pull in front of you so that you can't fall out the front.) can come within a couple feet of the ground. So what happens with this contraption is that at the bottom end, you wait just outside of its swing, and then once one chair passes by, you follow it until you reach the stop line, which is about 10-15 feet in. Then you wait for the next chair, which you sit on just as it reaches you, and you glide to the top of the hill, where you stand up as it touches down just before it turns to head back down the hill.

Today, I was run over by a chair lift.

Aside: Typing this while watching Iron Chef is quite distracting. /aside

Now, to clarify, I was not horsing around, nor was I doing anything that would classify as silly, incorrect, or anything else. So I go through the line and slide up to the stop line, which is marked by a red rubber mat that stretches across the path. Now, this mat was designed to be a little sticky, but at ten or more degrees below zero, it turns hard and somewhat slippery. So I glide somewhat gracefully up to the pad, with my left foot strapped into the board that I was using. My right foot was free to speed or slow me, but as I was gliding up to the line, it was on my board, just keeping balance as it was not strapped in.

Aside: Caviar and Smoked salmon, sandwiched by potatoes? A Miso broth over mashed potatoes.... hmmm.... /aside

So I glide up to the line, stop as promised, and turn so that I can sit when the chair comes up, as opposed to taking the chair in the side of the knee, which would hurt a lot... hang on to that concept folks, its returning soon.

Aside: A sandwich made of tartar sauce, tomato, and calamari?!? /aside

Anyway, so I glide up to the line, stop, and step down onto my right foot which I have artfully turned at 90 degrees to the other foot, and placed onto the rubber "wait here" mat. That’s about when the world comes crashing down, as my right foot (which had supposedly been carrying all my weight) fly’s backwards along my board, and I end up half laying, and half kneeling/crouching on the ground. So I think .o0(ok, I'll just get up and then I can go back to whatever it was I was doing.) Having forgotten about the steel chair which is now rushing at me.

Aside: Flipper pie, with cod tongues and cheeks, topped with a wonderful sauce made of wonder's berries? I remember a nightmare that went like that. /aside

Now, as I go down, Amy, the lift attendant is on the ball and hits the big red buzzer on the control panel with is like a beacon to anyone around who is a veteran of lifts (myself included) and flashes a message to said veterans that some unskilled sucker has just managed to screw up, somehow, and now they will have to wait for an additional length of time as the sucker is removed from danger, blood mopped up, and the lift restarted.

Aside: Mmmm... rack of lamb... but with an anchovy? And what the heck is Eggplant Caviar? /Aside

So now I try to get to my feet, and manage to get my head above the rest of me, when the chairlift slams into the back of my head. Now I have to say that it is fortunate that these things travel a couple feet off of the ground, as I could just go limp (it wasn't really hard) and allow the chairlift to pass over my back.

I just wish I hadn't worn a backpack. So eventually, about 5 feet later, I manage to disengage from the chairlift, where I got up, sat on the dammed thing and was whisked away up to the top of the hill.

I think some of my friends are rubbing off on me...

/Tale of Folly

:: James [+] ::
...

It is now january eleventh (11 for those not as literate)

I have left this blog for far too long. not alot to say, really. I got demoted at work, and I would feel bad about it, but I don't. Things around the office seem to be taking a turn towards tragedy and I, for one, am looking for my escape hatch and lifejacket.

I may be moving in with my sister soon. hopefully I will, in fact. She has and old school house in the historical part of town, and could use the rent money, so I am thinking "why not?" The answer is "a better job in a location near there"

We'll see. I need a change. A big one. Something good to happen. A girl who really loves me... a winning lottery ticket... a job paying more than 30 000 a year.... something like that. Perhaps to go back to school. I dunno.

I am not depressed, but I DO have to admit that the world seems pretty dulled down and almost hopelessly barren from where I'm sitting.

"Pibald troll needs (blank) badly!"

And I lost my cell phone. Shitty deal.

Ah well. I'm sure things will liven up soon.

:: The Other Guy [+] ::
...

Yaay to snowboard happiness.

My oldest friend and I (length of friendship as opposed to mere age) have never actually gone skiing with each other. We both ski/board avidly for all the time we've known each other, but never seemed to have overlapping schedules. So now it's finally happening. Aside from that tidbit. Listening to lots of Cocteau Twins along with some Mesh, This Ascension , and Switchblade Symphony.

I will have to post the number, and extent of the injurys and mock myself some about how I get them over the weekend. (Skiing I can do, Boarding I can't so much.) I will be at Sunshine Village for those who care. They have a webcam which I probabally won't appear in, but if you see ambulances/helicoptors... you know the story.

Enjoy your weekend.

:: James [+] ::
...

Back again. Only a couple of things to post. Firstly, Lazarus has a blog, and it was good. Secondly, I be away this weekend, finally get to do some snowboarding, after psyching myself up for it for a while. Thirdly, have a listen at Lacrimosa and Clan of Xymox. Fourthly, I'll talk at y'all more over the next while.

Oh yeah, and soon, Lazarus, myself, Radioactivemessiah, and possibly The Other Guy will start a chronical of workplace related horror stories, a la Acts of Gord.

:: James [+] ::
...

well, it is now 2003. I really don't have much to sayother than I had better get more nookie than I did in 2002. dammit. once is never enough.

Other than that, I have a good feeling about this year. I do not have the feeling of dread and apprehension that went into the beginning of 2002. An apprehension which turned out to be right on the money as it turned out to be one of the worse years I have experienced, and I don't call many years bad.

Things are alright. My heart and mind appear to be getting back on track, my drive to survive thrives and I've arrived alive, (no knives or hives), while I strive to contrive acquiring five live wives. BOOYAH!

The eve of Dec 31 was entertaining enouh. I got drunk. not blind barfing drunk, but rip roaring drunk. maniacal laughter, and smiling galore.

yep. headbutted a punk with a bright red mohawk, talked to a sweet goth girl, hung out with my best friends and just about clocked a DJ. Fun.

Yep.

That's all for now. still recovering so I will yak back later.

word.

:: The Other Guy [+] ::
...