storming the crack shack

This morning Chicky and I went out to play some paintball at Panther Paintball in Langley. There were 18 of us playing (which is pretty good considering we had people drop out at the last minute). It was my first time playing paintball so I was a bit nervous. We had various skill levels in our group. Everything from people who have never picked up a gun in their lives (one of the other girls) to an real ex-marine (one of my coworkers). Chicky and I had a great time. After the first game everyone figured out right away who was "good" and who wasn't. Chicky and Mike (the ex-marine) instantly became "targets". For the most part Chicky and I played on opposite teams (we couldn't resist the idea of shooting each other in the head!).

There were many types of playing fields. We had a private party so we could choose which fields we wanted to play in. I brought my camera with me - like always - and the Ref said he would take pictures with it. I was thrilled as I didn't know how I was going to run, carry my gun AND take pictures! :-) Check out the pictures when you have time. The best scenerio game was "cops vs crackheads". I was a cop and Chicky was a crackhead. Crackheads had to defend this crack shack and couldn't leave it till the Ref gave the signal (which was to yell "crackheads leave the shack"). The point was for the cops to storm the shack, kill all the crackheads or steal their bottle (which was in the middle of the shack). Crackheads had to stay in or near the crack shack until they got the signal - then they had to rush out, kill as many cops and try to touch the "get away" car (a beat up car in the field). For cops - my team sucked...so much friendly fire! I got hit twice in the back by some idiot who had set up shop behind a tree as I was trying to rush forward. Had to yell back at them that I was on their team!

What I learned on the field:

• only SOME people play mercy (Chicky was nice enough not to shoot one of the girls at point blank) while I ran into other people who wanted to empty their rounds on me at point blank!
• hiding behind a barrel is NOT a good idea (actually hiding behind anything only gets you pinned in - learned the hard way)
• getting hit in the neck REALLY hurts (I yelped and fell over - thus disclosing my position and getting nailed a couple of more times while trying to stand up with my hands raised in surrender)
  
• getting hit in the face hurts too...wait...so does getting pummeled in the back, arms and legs (as you can tell I was really INTO the game)
• worst hit was in the face and having the paintball exploded into my mouth vents - this caused me to get a mouthfull of paint...ewww!!
• the gun was really heavy and after a few simulations I felt that I was better off leaving it behind and just running for my life!
• being someone spotter means covering them and not jiggling your gun trying to figure out why it's not firing balls :-) After that - only the girls wanted me as their spotter!
  
• in my defence - I had a defective gun (they cleaned it out once but then the paintballs exploded inside of it again)
• I did get Chicky cornered though and fired multiple rounds at him (unsuccessfully though) but in my intense concentration on killing him - I forgot that there were other players on the field and got killed myself.
• breathing with your mouth causes your mask to fog up and then you're at a real disadvantage (then again I can't aim right even when I can see properly!)
  

the EA experience

Tonight Kenny gave Tanya and I a tour of his workplace (EA - Electronic Arts). It's a very interesting place to work at. Unfortunately I wasn't allowed to take pictures inside the building so I can't show you all the techie stuff. Kenny said that we couldn't go into sensitive areas of the building (game development) but could basically look through the doors.

The facility boasts:

• an interactive console at the entrance to enter your name and info (so that the security guards can print you out a personalized visitors pass)
• live orchids at the majority of the seating areas (I couldn't resist checking for myself)
  
• full sized outdoor soccer field, basketball court and beach volleyball court
  
• indoor basketball court, yoga studio (with Kinesis machines), dance studio and a weight room that could rival any FitnessWorld location
• standing taning booth and towels at the entrance of the gym for everyone's use
  
• every floor has it's own coffee station with the "works" - looks like a bar to me
• the cafeteria is called "EAt" - it had the same layout as a fancy restaurant (including a private party table/room)
• sound dampeners above the booths in the cafeteria so that you can eat, chat with friends or watch TV without having to listen to other people's conversations
  
• lounge areas that are etched with inspirational quotes and well designed furniture that is both esthetically appealing and ergonomically correct
  
• the conference rooms and some hallways have their own names. I was amused by the name of the hallway to IT Support - "damnation alley"
• vents on the floors that blew air upwards (no vents from the ceilings)
• large server room with each server in it's own casing (yes - only I was excited about this part of the tour)
  
• 2 large conference/movie/lecture halls that are equipped with ergo chairs and individual LAN ports (sorry...the geek in me couldn't help but notice)
• meeting rooms that have the 4 various game consoles (Xbox, Xbox 360, gamecube and Nintendo DS) mounted on the walls incase they need to demo games. They also have tables with built in polycom units (for those of us that attend lots of meetings - these units are very handy).
• an outdoor deck that has a spectacular view of the mountains (and of the soccer field)

Check out the pictures of the outside of the building. After touring the building Tanya and I contemplated what life would be like to work at such a location. They appear to cater to their employees - which is different from life at a crown corp! What to work there? Click here for job postings. After the tour we went out for coffee and chit chatted about life, etc. It was nice to just drink tea and relax with good friends.

birthday wishes

On Saturday we celebrated Shannan's 29th birthday at Whineo's - a restaurant on Granville. The restaurant was dark and in a strange location - not the most trendiest part of Granville Street. The atmosphere reminded me of Lucy Mae Brown's (another trendy restaurant downtown). Everyone had fun eating and talking with each other. The food was good eventhough it was more "quality" over "quantity". It's a tapas and wine sort of location. Here are the pictures from the party. Afterwards we went down to Calhoun's for some dessert. I think Calhoun is becoming a birthday tradition for Shannan as we went there last year as well.

Operation Clean Sweep

The focus this week at work has been "wellness". We had a couple of seminars on how to stay healthy and happy at work. :-) I was only in it for the gift-packages that they gave up (nothing like more Purell!). Yesterday we had "clean sweep" at work, it's an opportunity to spend a couple of hours cleaning out our department. We chased away the dust bunnies with an arsenal of cleaning supplies. Doing that made me think about the sanitary conditions at home. We're still in the middle of renovations so everything is covered in dust and dirt. My mom on top of that has had the flu and is likely spreading it to all the objects in the house. So what's better to do on a sunny saturday then to spend 4 hours cleaning!! Goodness gracious - I need a life! This house was a bigger task than I thought. I gathered my artillery of cleaning supplies, rubber gloves, garbage pail, swifter wet jet (which I just bought yesterday and really love using!) and last but not least is my MP3 player. By the time I finished vacuuming I was sweating - mental note to self...look into installing central vac. Then it was off to dusting, moping, moving furniture, etc. It's nearly 4pm and I'm satisified with the effort. Most of the rooms are sanitized. I even wiped down my window sills. All that's left is to apply Alex Plus to them to prevent mold from growing. Alex Plus is on sale (50% off) at Home Depot - if any of you are interested. Still have a lot of laundry to do - I'm trying to wash everything that my mom had her hands on. Living with a nurse also draws my attention to the need to sanitize. KA has dust allergies so she hides in the computer room when my dad is working on the house - as he's constantly sawing/drilling/sanding/painting something and it irritates her sinuses. But I should clean myself up and get ready for Shannan's birthday party tonight.

trivia time

I've decided to change the format of my blog a bit. Instead of doing those "weekly quotes" in the side bar, which I'm sure some of you don't even look at, I'm going to do "useless trivia". The quotes were fun but you aren't getting anything out of it (other than an opportunity to say "yes...that quote really does relate to my situation"). Since I like to banter about nonsense to basically anyone that is listening. I might as well educate you in the art of nonsense. :-) Who knows - maybe you'll impress a potential employer with the useless trivia, obtain a high paying job, become a millionaire and rule the world! Then I can say to the camera crew "it's all because he/she read my blog.." (with tears brimming in my eyes as the camera pans away from my face). :-) I'm looking for a new career as as screen writer - any takers?!

disaster planning

On Monday we had our annual evacuation drill. Since I enjoy being part of different committees - I'm also a "buddy" to my coworker who is in a motorize vehicle. The benefits to being a buddy is that you get to stay inside the nice, warm and dry building while the simulation is going on.

Unfortunately they wanted to make it "real" this time around. Chad and the 3 buddies (2 other guys in my department) went to the muster area and were told to go to the elevators to await instructions. The whole buiding was chaotic - alarm bells were ringing and ERT people were running around with walkie-talkies trying to get everyone organized. They try to make these simulations real so prior to the evacuation the did a simulation earthquake. I had to get off the phone and crawl under my desk. This is quite the feat as my desk is a warehouse for useless items such as plates, cutlery, shoes, etc. Not much room for me under my desk. In reality under my desk is probably more hazardous (with all the computer wires and bonking myself on the head as the desk is too low).

I got to experience many things on monday. I discovered that when the fast bells begin - the fire doors automatically close (one set nearly clipped me as I was leisurely walking through it). I wasn't fully into the simulation and took my time - taking pictures of people, etc.

One of the ERT members approached us and said that we would have to do a full evacuation - meaning that we would have to get Chad out of the building without his motorized chair. I groaned (as I had anticipated being in the building so I wore my heels that day). There were 2 wheelchair people that had to get out so we had a choice between the vinyl stretcher (which is basically like a tarp with holes along the edges for handles) or the evacu-track chair (a lounge chair with big army-tank-type treads built into it). Thank goodness Chad chose the chair as I don't think I would have been able to carry him down 5 flights of stairs in the stretcher (maybe if I had my runners and work out clothes on!). We've all been trained in using the evacu-track chair and it was a bit scary doing it with Chad inside (as we never subject him to our training exercises). Usually we strap each other in and go roaring down the stairways (crashing into corners and walls). :-) I've never had to be a "victim" yet (just a driver) - I don't trust the guys and their driving. The chair is fun - it's like a rollercoaster ride except you're whole body is strapped in and someone is pushing you down the stairs at a 45 degree angle. The system is backwards though - there's a "brake" on the contraption - but it only engages when you don't squeeze on it. I always want to sqeeze the brake to stop - but it only makes the tank-treads move faster. Duh! One of the guys said it would be easier to just do a fireman's lift-over-the-shoulder for Chad as he's only 120lbs (a much faster alternative). The other wheelchair person only had one of their buddies with them so he was at the mercy of the ERT members to carry him down in the stretcher. Everyone made it out in one piece. It was a good waste of 2 hours - nothing like having time off the phones!

wine country

On Sunday KA, Michael and I visited Mission Hill Winery. I had watched a bit of Chicky's first race on sunday but KA had said that she wanted to visit another winnery then head home - so I went with her (as they are my ride).

Mission Hill was wonderful. It's been so long since I've been there (last time was for Cindy's bachelorette party). We had a delicious lunch on the outside terrace facing the vineyard. The food and view was spectacular. It was a bit chilly out but the restaurant was "classy" so they turned on the outdoor heaters beside our table. They even offered some of the guests blankets. :-) I would have loved a blanket!

I had the lunch special, which was bison steak with some vegetables. It was more about presentation than quantity of food. But what we got was absolutely yummy! After lunch we had lots of time to kill before our wine tour so we had dessert. Creme broule...mmm. Micheal and I wanted to gobble down our food but KA made us slowly eat it so that we could sit in the restaurant longer. Too bad Chicky wasn't there to enjoy the food. He didn't have too much luck with steaks all weekend - the bison steak was succulent. Check out the pictures.

We did the $5 wine tour. It came with a video about the proprietor of Mission Hill and a tour of the grounds. Afterwards we tested 3 different wines. I was feeling quite warm after my second glass and couldn't finish the last (which was a vibrant red wine). KA bought a couple of bottles of the wine we tasted in the gift shop. I decided to run up and down the outdoor theatre (which is basically made of grass) to get a few shots of the buildings at different angles. My head was spinning and my heart was racing when I ran back up to KA. I giggled and said that I felt like I was having hot flashes (from the wine and running around). I'm a cheap date!

Kelowna asian-invasion

On Friday afternoon Chicky, Nick, Julie, Aiden, KA, Michael and I headed out for the Kelowna Dragon Boat Festival. KA and Michael decided to go at the last moment (they booked into the motel the night before). I was actually happy that they came because Nick ended up renting a PT Cruiser (which the company said was their "full size" category) and that car had no room for the 5 of us. Julie's son (Aiden) is only 4 years old so his car seat took up most of the room in the back. I went in Michael's courtesy car. It took us nearly 5 hours to get to Kelowna as we had to have frequent pee-breaks for Aiden and couldn't drive relectlessly because of him. On the way there KA volunteered to drive a portion of the trip, Michael and I cringed, so he let her. We traveled for about 5km when she decided to press the buttons in the car. She disengaged the trunk hood while driving at highway speeds. That freaked me right out and we had to pull over - thus causing our entourage to wait for us to catch up.

We got to Kelowna at nearly 8pm. The team had booked rooms at the Kelowna Motor Inn. It's not exactly a 5 star hotel but it's clean. For some reason Chicky and I ended up with the smallest room out of the 3 couples. Our bathroom door banged against the tub each time you opened it! KA's room was like a mansion compared to ours - and they got a cheaper deal. Lol - I told Chicky that his team must have gotten the "corporate" rate.

That night we went to Kelsey's restaurant for dinner. The wait was horrendous and when we finally were able to get a seat (we had to break apart into 2 groups so that they would seat us faster) - the food took nearly 2 hours to get to our table. This was the beginning of a trend for the rest of the weekend. Darn those dragonboaters!!! They really put a damper on getting good food/service.

On Saturday we got up early, joined the obnoxious line up at MacDonalds to get our breakfast of champions before heading over to the park to check in with the rest of the team. The weather was cloudy and windy. I had to bundle up in 3 layers just to keep warm. I watched the Ritchie Bros. Auctionauts race. KA and Michael cheered on their own friends, on team "SGL" (So Good Looking) and "Dragon Hearts". Their teams are competitive teams so it was fun watching them as well (see what a good team looks like). I took some pictures of the festival - when don't I take pictures! Though I did grumble the whole time about lack of zoom! Chicky and I did our own thing most of the weekend. I was being a bit anti-social and not wanting to converse with his co-workers too much. I'm not very fond of what they remind me of - plus one of the girls made a snide comment to me which made me totally not want to hang out with his girlfriends at work. Yes - I insecurity issues that stem from experiences in the past. Saturday night - while waiting for Milestones - I bought a book at Chapters. The store was so nice - much bigger and had different stuff then the one near my house. It was fun to kill time in the bookstore. I wish books were cheaper. There were lots of photography books that I wanted to buy if only they were below $50!!!

online accounts

Thank goodness for online accounts. Sunday night I decided to reactivate my caller ID. Instead of calling Telus directly and having to explain to the agent the circumstances to why I deactivated my account and want to reactivate it 4 days later - I logged into my online account. Lo-and-behold there was an option to "add" features to my phone. I added the "special" pack that was on sale and my ego is still in tacked!

insuring for tomorrow

Tracey stopped by tonight. She was a bit tense as she had just come from a meeting with Cliff (our financial planner). Over the last couple of weeks we have been discussing what to do with Cliff. Some people have expressed a concern in his financial abilities. I haven't taken much thought to Cliff as unlike Shannan or Tracey - I don't have high expectations of Cliff therefore I haven't been disappointed yet. :-) The main reason for Tracey's visit tonight was to find a "tacky tourist" costume for her work function on friday. Since I love to play dress up and am building my own little "tickle-trunk" - I offered her some help.

Instead of discussing what constitutes a tacky-tourist outfit we discussed her meeting. She has a lot of questions that were not answered by Cliff and I think that this is main cause of her distress. The main concern is her contribution to a life insurance plan which may not be suitable to her needs at this point in her life. The problem is that if she cancels now - she will only get back half of the money she invested in it. All this talk about life insurance made me curious on the topic. So I ran some Google searches. There are 2 types of life insurance - term vs permanent. I think before we can broach the subject of whether or not we've been screwed over by Cliff - we have to understand what it is that we've boughten into. Both of us have "term insurance". The difference between the 2 can be found here. I think Tracey and I will continue our conversations on investment as it's a good way to learn from each other - plus it also gives her a chance to vent and get things off her chest. In the grand scheme of things - money is not the most important thing in your life so don't let it stress you out.

string of bad luck

Poor Michael - today he and KA got into an accident which might make his car a write off. That vehicle is not even a year old yet. It's had a string of bad luck since the day he bought it. Then again - the circumstances in which he bought it was bad karma too. His original car had died on the way to Whistler so he had it towed to North Vancouver. He was forced to buy a vehicle that day as the dealerships in the AutoMall would not allow the tow truck to dump a car in their lot - understandable. He bought the Mazda 5 within a couple of hours. I got to participate in that stressful situation with him. :-)

The first month that he owned the car - it was recalled for a fire hazard. He got it back months later (with a cheque for the dealership for the inconvenience he experienced - sweet!). A month or so after that his mom crashed his car and it was "almost" a write off. That was another stressful experience for him. Now he's got to deal with a driver who decided to turn left behind them (while they were turning left) and in doing so; plowed into them. I feel bad for him - hopefully all will work out. The two of them have enough on their plates right now with the planning of their wedding so they don't need this.

the future is not friendly

I just got off the phone with a Telus rep about my cellular contract with them. For once in a couple of months I actually opened my (paper) bill to find that I owed them nearly $100. I was pretty choked by this because I'm on a $20 plan! I know I talk a lot on the phones but this was ridiculous! So I called them up to have them explain to me that I went over my limit. I told them that I had unlimited evenings and weekends so why am I being charged weekend minutes?! The girl had to go consult with her coworker for that answer. She came back onto the phone and said that there was a mistake in their coding and that I was charged by mistake. I have an "old" plan that doesn't match their code tables correctly therefore causing the "discrepency" in billing. I was furious. Patience is not one of my virtues - especially not with retail staff (as some of you have already experienced with me). I demanded a reconciliation of the current bill and any others that they mistakenly charged me for. I don't normally look at my bills as I'm an avid internet user and have set up my bills to automatically be debited from my accounts. She proceeded to elevate my blood pressure by telling me that she can not correct the past bills as they can not change the system when a "bill is printed". That's absurd and she knows it. It's digital data for goodness sake. What's worst is that I've paid this insane amount for the last 3 months!!! So in my highly irrational and irritated state I demanded to talk to a "client care" respresentative (you know...those people that you call up when you're negotiating a new contract) - she said that they were all busy (of course) and that she could put me into the "queue". I'm not dumb...I know how that works, I'm a call agent myself! So I told her that I am very unhappy with Telus' service and that I would never sign with them again. I asked her how long I had left on my contract (note to everyone - it's never worth it to sign a 3 year contract) and she said 17 months. I grunted and told her that I want to cancel the plan. She smurked (or I imagined she did) and said that I would have to pay a penalty. In retalliation I repeated my distaste for Telus and told her that it would still be cheaper to keep the Telus plan and not use it while signing up with Rogers. She said in a challenging tone "it's your choice". I took the bait. I told her that I would do it and to emphasize my vendictive behaviour I told her to cancel all feature bundles on my phone and have it at the bare-bones plan. :-) Lol - so now that it's been a couple of hours and I've received 2 phone calls, I realize caller-id and voicemail isn't so bad after all. So there we have it folks; I don't have voicemail or caller ID. Maybe one of these days when I pull my foot out of my mouth I'll reactivate the caller ID and voicemail.

You know what the truly ironic part about all this is? I'm taking a tour of the new Telus Call Center at the end of next week. I get to spend the morning job shadowing one of their agents to compare their job with ours. Aparently we are the "industry leaders" in the world of Help Desks so their center is sending staff over to job shadow with us as well. :-) Learning from "the best". Lol - wouldn't it be just "swell" if the agent I sit with is "Victoria" (the poor girl that had to deal with me today). Ah - life is funny.

going with the flow

Today I attended a yoga Flow class. It's been two months since I've done yoga so I felt out of shape. I went back to Yogapod and had Todd as an instructor. Todd enjoys "enlightening" us and in doing so I end up performing acts that defy gravity and saneness. Today we practiced Sirshasana which made me weary as it's the same pose that cause the big bruise on my leg in the summer. This time around torture-Todd decided to "help" us by binding our arms and making us hold foam blocks. It could have been a scene from a sadistic yoga movie. :-) Not surprisingly when I tried to raise my legs, while trying to keep my arms in the binds and holding my foam block, Robyn assisted in me plummeting my face into the foam which cause a sensation of someone punching me in the nose. I prefer carpet burn over this. Grunting, I got up, took off the ropes around my arms and said "your turn!" with a mischievious grin on my face. Robyn declined. She's a smart cookie. My nose still ached so I sat on the floor and pretended to play with my yoga straps while the other students in the class made repeated attempts at the hand stand. I was done with the whole "trying" thing - I was into my "give up" stage.

the movie critic

On Sunday Chicky and I went to a family bbq in North Vancouver. It was for his side of the family. We had some good satay and sauce - the main reason why Chicky wanted to go. The usual family members showed up. I got to play with Brandon so that was fun. Michelle is looking great in her second trimester. It's funny how everyone wants to rub a pregnant lady's tummy (sometimes without even asking them).

After the bbq Chicky and I scoped out a movie. We've been seeing a LOT of movies lately. More than usual and that's saying a lot for us. We average 1 "in theatre" movie per week. This week it was the "Covenant". I've decided that I'm going to start listing the movies that we've seen - just incase you're interested in knowing if it's worth watching in the theatre or not. The rating are purely subjective so don't take me seriously. Check out the movies that I've seen under the movie-mania category in the side bar.

Par 3

This morning we went out in the dreary Vancouver weather to try a few rounds at pitch n' putt. My social club hosted a tournament at West Vancouver's Par 3 course. There was a great turn out (14 teams) despite the wet weather. Robyn (a coworker and fellow Social Club Executive) and I took registrations, handed out goodies and made sure that everyone had something to drink or eat prior to their tee times.

I wasn't sure this morning if anyone was going to come but was happy to see the first team show up on time. During the 3 hours, I took some pictures of the various teams and chit chatted with the players. Though this was mainly a work event, I asked our friends to come play as well.

Kel, Chris, Toshiki and Kevin G. were one team. Frank, Tracey, Kevin K. and Keith were on a team. Wilfred, Cindy and Gabriel formed their own team.

Kevin G. got the best score for the day (out of 14 teams) but everyone else did really well too. I'm very impressed with everyone's overall enthusiam.

I've posted more pics from the day in my image gallery.

baby number 2

I just want to say CONGRATULATIONS to Mary and Peter who are expecting their second baby in May 2007.

marketing 1120

Tonight was the first day of school for me. This semester I'm taking Marketing 1120 (intro to marketing). The wonderful thing is that it's at the Coquitlam campus (which is like 5 mins away from home). I came home from work, gobbled down dinner, made a big pot of coffee and grabbed my school supplies. Got to school, went to the bookstore, handed over a wad of cash for a textbook the size of a receipe book (man...books are WAY too expensive) then went searching for my classroom. The students in the class appear to be young (like half my age!) and eager to learn. As I sipped on my coffee I watched some of them read the textbook (keeners!) and other engage in mindless chit chat with friends. Everyone seemed eager to chat on their cell phones when the opportunity arose.

The instructor is this cute Indian lady. She tried to crack a joke at the start of the class and I think I was the only one that chuckled (must be an age thing). She then had to tell the class that it was a joke - ah...how embarrassing. As most "first-day" classes go, we went over the "important" stuff such as how we will be evaluated, distribution of marks and the course schedule. I heard the dreaded words "group term project" and groaned silently to myself. I'm not fond of group projects. They remind of the ones where I would basically LIVE with my schoolmates on the weekends trying to get something accomplish and ending up just having the bunch of them waste time by socializing. :-) I'm a social creature but I value my "free" time as well. My eyes did twinkle with delight as I heard the magical phrase "all the course material will be available online". Once those words were spoken, my mind wandered off to more interesting thoughts such as "what I am going to eat for lunch tomorrow?" Somewhere during the lecture I felt guilty for staring blankly at the teacher and not writing down anything (as some of the students beside me were busy scribbling incomprehensible notes into their neatly organized binders). I figured I'd better fein interest and hold a pen in my hand just incase the instructor looked my way. :-) I've become a lazy student over the years and rely too much on technology. I'll just download and print the notes tomorrow.

The class was short and we got out early. I headed to the library to get a new sticker for my student card. Without the "semester" stickers I wouldn't get the "benefits" of half-price parking. :-) I'm cheap. While in the library - the librarian asked me if I wouldn't mind filling out a survey. I said "what the heck"...and filled it out. Because my veins were pumped with 3 cups of coffee from dinner, I was "chatty". I began asking retorical questions like why they had to hand out the survey because some of the questions on the survey were redundant (information that can easily be obtained if you run the right SQL statements on the database - yes...geeky Kim emerges). The librarian - being the helpful person that she is - begins to tell me that they gather this information for a "fact" document. Me (hyper from coffee) decides that I want to see this "fact" document (more out of pleasure of tormenting a librarian then from genuine interest in the document). She takes me around the library and can't find the booklet (of course - who the hell even looks at student stats for "fun"!). I decide that I'm still hyper and want to bug her some more so I began asking her why they can't obtain the information on the survey from the Registar's Office. The librarian admitted that she's never read the survey and gets her coworker to come over and go over the survey with her. So now I'm really amused as I've got 2 people to torment instead of one! So the 3 of us read the survey and I point out the sections that can be obtained from the master database. These 2 people are more "book" people than computer people so I lost them somewhere between database and queries. After 10 minutes with the 2 of them I laughed and told them that I would leave them alone. I don't think they were as amused as I was (as I was being loud and obnoxious in the library) but they were friendly and smiled politely as I left. Ah...school is so fun!

Emerald City

On Thursday Chicky and I took a little trip to Seattle. We woke up at 5:30am intending to get across the border before the line ups got bad. But breakfast at IHOP distracted us. Didn't get to the border till nearly 8am.

Highlights of our trip:

• Pike Place Market - I wanted to go see the famous fish market that inspired all the "Fish" books. We found it but they weren't throwing any fish around. It was still fun to take pictures of the seafood though. I got a picture of a monk fish - they are so ugly looking!!
• Seattle Public Library - yes...we're geeks. I heard that this library had a cool structure so I dragged Chicky to go see it. We had to ask a bus driver how to get there. I really wanted to ride transit - don't ask me why. Instead Chicky wanted to walk around downtown Seattle. Eventually we made it to the library. The library has 11 floors - each of which has a different theme. The architecture is interesting as all the floors are slanted at a 2% gradient. Check out the pics of the "red floor".
• Fish 'n Chips - we ordered this on the Pier. The Halibut was breaded instead of battered so I was really disappointed by its taste. Plus it was like $9 (US) for 3 pieces of chips and 3 pieces of fries. The fries were gross (soggy) so we didn't even eat them.
  
• Unbelieveable traffic jams at 2pm. The traffic in and surrounding Seattle is horrendous. We were on an 8 lane freeway and it was back to back traffic at 2pm. We went to pick up some stuff for Chicky and basically drove out and back into Seattle twice.
• Seattle Premiere Outlet - have to do a bit of shopping before we go home! Chicky bought a lot of clothes. I didn't see any "great" deals for girls. I did pick up 2 pairs of Sketcher shoes though. Shopping in the US is better for guys - as there's not much stuff for them here.
• By the time we went home it was nearly 9pm. It was dark out and the traffic was backed up again. I took Chicky on a "scenic" detour. I was thinking that we'd try the Truck Crossing. So I pointed to Exit 256 - which had a sign that said Truck Crossing. We drove on that for awhile and I didn't recognize anything. Soon we saw a sign that said "Sumas". We knew we were lost but didn't know what to do - too late to turn around by then. So we drove on. I saw a sign that said "Abbotsford" (yah - a Canadian city) so I made Chicky turn around and follow it. Chicky found a "BC" plate to follow after that and I mused that this might not be a great strategy as the guy could be a US resident who has not surrendered his BC plates yet. So we drove through Sumas. There was one point where we saw a sign that said Mount Baker - uh oh...wrong way! After a long tour of duty - we saw city lights - yah! Finally got into Canada at nearly 11pm. I had to work early the next day.
• We had a late night dinner with KA and Michael. Both of us were tired and had to go to work the next day.