Me, Walkin'

I just got back from a good hike in the River Valley. I've wanted to check out Emily Murphy Park for about four years now so finally drove out and walked the trails along the river. All I can say is, it's phreakin' hot and muggy out there! It was a very beautiful walk though and I'm glad I finally got to see the area. I actually did some "killer stairs" as well although they were not the ones I usually do here. These ones were a bit easier!!! :-P

PS: I saw a beaver...a squirrel and about a hundred mosquitoes came for a visit. *s*

Wii Rock Band

So last weekend we managed to get the long awaited Rock Band for the Nintendo Wii. Finally, I get to smash away at a pretty set of white drums. I am not very coordinated but I'm sure with a little bit of practice I'll be an average girl in medium mode. The game itself is a slimmed down version as there is no downloadable content you can get. The tour you do is very limited and reminds me alot of Guitar Hero's tour. What really has me steaming though is that our two Guitar Hero guitars are not compatible with Rock Band. So, that means if we want to add a fourth person in our group we have to buy yet ANOTHER guitar. That does not make me a happy girl whatsoever. Apparently, Activision, the maker of GH decided not to make it compatible with Harmonix for some stupid reason. One thing that did get a bit improved were the drums themselves. They have a better spring on the pedal and drums so that's decent. We'll see how long they last with me banging on them though. *s*

Note: To my neighbors I am going to apologize in advance for when I pick up the microphone and belt out a few tunes. It's gonna happen...and with the temperature these days...the patio door will be remaining open. lol

When Cats Attack

LMAO!

A Nice Walk

Was in Camrose today. Got a haircut and visited with my boyfriends. *s* What a fantastic day here in sunny Alberta. We had a nice BBQ and then went for a beautiful hour long walk in the Camrose Stoney Creek trails. Having moved from Camrose seven years ago to the city here I have done those trails many a time. It was nice to see some old stompin' grounds but truly, I never want to go back. Just a little bit too "small town" for me but it's quite a cute little city to raise a family in I suppose. Grabbed this shot with my cell phone. Gotta love technology!

I hope everyone enjoyed the sun today. It really was a great day for that. *s*

My New Vocabulary

Well I've completed three days at my new job (Atco I-Tek). I feel like I am trying to learn a new language in two weeks or less. Here are some of the new words that are now a part of my daily activities. Mainframe, Citrix, VPN, Nortel Networks, SSL, Oracle, File Restoring and the list of new words goes on and on. Now yes, I do not completely have to know these things inside and out...or write programs but I am learning a ton of stuff! Talk about a full head though. *s* So, if I'm a little quiet over this next week just know that I'll be icing my noggin'. :-P

First Day At The New Job!

Two thumbs up! The people are great...my new digs are great...the location is great! I couldn't ask for anything more. Of course, it IS a new job so the learning curve is steep. The next couple of weeks will be a bit challenging but that goes for any new adventure. So for my first day I give Atco I-Tek two thumbs up...one thumb for the things I have mentioned and one for having my name plate on my cubicle already. :-P

Bill Gates surrendering Microsoft helm

Looks like he will officially give up his day to day operations at Microsoft on June 27th of this month. Maybe the pirates left in charge can do something about this apparent sinking ship. I think they need to send Vista to "walk the plank". That should lighten their load some. *s*

Check out one of the many articles here.

Poll Results!

The results are in and it seems we all have a vested interest into what will be come election time in the US. Only time will tell now. Thanks for voting!

Last week's question was voted on by 9 peeps. *s*

Who would you like the next President of the United States to be?

Barack Obama - Democratic Candidate	3 (33%)
John McCain - Republican Candidate	2 (22%)
I could care less about American politics! They have no effect on me.	0 (0%)
I'm interested in the outcome but have no preference at this point.	2 (22%)
I wanted Democratic Hillary Clinton to be President.	2 (22%)
We're having another election? I thought that Harper guy had a longer run than this.	0 (0%)

Longest Day Of The Year

June 20th marks the Summer Solstice. These occur twice a year when the tilt of the Earth's axis is most oriented towards or away from the sun causing the Sun to reach its northernmost and southernmost extremes. Hence the Summer and Winter Solstice. In Ancient Egypt, summer solstice was the most important day of the year. The sun was at its highest and the Nile River was beginning to rise. All I know is that you can pretty much roller blade in the park past 10pm! Anytime one can do that...it's a thing of beauty!

Live Eagle Cam

Last season I tuned into the Hornby Island live eagle cam and enjoyed my experience very much. Today I was going through old bookmarks and instantly went back. Today though, I went to a different eagle cam called Delta 1. Be sure to check it out cause it's pretty cool some of the things you catch at different times of the day. This morning I have not seen the parents so they are probably out looking for food. Also, the babies are fairly big already but it's still a unique experience that I think you'll thoroughly enjoy. You'll have to load a streaming plugin once you get there but other than that...it's pretty painless. :-)

A Message From Our Sponsor

This was scribbled on one of the benches along the "Killer Stairs" journey tonight. Thought it was worth a picture.

E*TRADE Mobile Baby 2008

I phreakin' LOVE these commercials! *s*

Iron Man

Went to this movie last night and really enjoyed all it had to offer. It's not often that the leap from comic books to cinema gets pulled off so well. I think X-Men and Batman did a good job but even though I am a huge Spiderman fan...I'm not too fond of the movies. Just thought they were a little slow. Anyway, back to Iron Man. Some good action, special effects, cool toys and an underlying humor throughout the film made this a GREAT enjoyment for me. Two thumbs up and I know I will be purchasing the DVD when it comes out. One note, if you see the movie make sure to stay for the credits. There is something of "interest" at the end. *s*

For the guy in the row behind me that was so adamant to his friends that he knew so much. Iron Man, Spiderman and The Hulk were indeed Marvel Comic Books. Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman on the other hand are from DC Comics. GET your comic knowledge straight. Fans of both would be quite upset that you thought all of these were under the same umbrella. Oh, and the comic creator genius for Marvel that you couldn't remember the name of...his name is Stan Lee! *Shaking my head* There...my rant is done.

New Survey Posted!

Now that the Democrats finally have their candidate for Presidency...after so many months Hillary finally bowed out of the race. Let's see what we think of all this. Whoever wins this election, it will mark a "first" in history. Obama would be the first black man while McCain would be the oldest President ever elected. I myself, would like to see a Democrat in office. McCain is just a little too much of a mirror of what they have now. The Americans really do need a "change" in my books. That change needs to happen sooner not later.

Vote on the right hand side of my blog. Note: The last poll question had the most votes ever. Eleven in total. Thanks to EVERYONE who participated. My goal was to have ten so I guess I will raise the bar to twenty now! :-P

Alanis Morissette - Underneath

This song is from Alanis' new album "Flavors of Entanglement". I really enjoy her music but I don't think there is a middle of the road with her unique voice. You either like her or you just don't. This song is great. I hope you like it too...if not...C'est la vie! Here are the words to the verse. GENIUS!

There is no difference in what we're doing in here
That doesn't show up as bigger symptoms out there
So why spend all our time in dressing our bandages
When we've the ultimate key to the cause right here, our underneath

Random Photo

Just came across this picture on the Internet and thought I'd share it. I really like it's intensity. It's strikes me, that when we are at the darkest hours in our lives we have this urgency to reach out to others. When no one is near...we reach out to ourselves.

El Camino Del Ray

In English that means The King's Pathway. Check out this video. There is NO WAY you would catch me on this old rickety path. I think I'll leave most of my adventures in the river valley here. There's a few paragraphs of text you should read. It gives more detail on what you are seeing. Personally I think this guy needs his daily fix of adrenaline...either that or he's got a death wish. Yikes!

How Do You Spell Relief?

I spell it ATCO I-TEK.

I had an interview with them yesterday and they offered me the job today! Shazam! That was fast. I start on June 23rd and I am very much looking forward to turning the page on this chapter of my life. I will be part of the Internal Help Desk there. So if employees have issues...they call me up and I help a brotha or sista out. *s* I'm actually excited to getting back into the whole gamut of technical calls that are sure to come. I learn best by doing. So ya, that's my news. Dream hours of Monday thru Friday 8-5 and a 4 block walk from home. Teddy is a happy girl. :-P

Poll Results!

I guess my hunch on surgery being pretty common nowadays rings true for this group. Thanks to the 11 people that participated on this poll. It's a new record! :-P Stay tuned for the next question.

Have you ever had any type of surgery?

Yes	8 (72%)
No	3 (27%)

The Deadliest Catch

This is one of the best shows on the Discovery Channel. My favorite is Captain Sig on the Northwestern. If you ever get a chance you just gotta tune in and see the hard work that goes into getting the crabs for your feast! This is why it's so expensive in the restaurants. The next time I ever complain about a part of my job I should really think of these guys...in these boats on the ocean in the wind and cold!!! Well...that is when I GET a job. :-P

Adding to HNIC Theme Song

Ok, in my last post I was a wee bit disillusioned. I THOUGHT we would still be hearing the theme song on Hockey Night in Canada but sadly, that is not the case. They lost the rights to the song today. TSN will use the song when they air hockey games on their station but HNIC will have to come up with a new diddy. I just heard one guy on the news say we should use "The Good Ol' Hockey Game" by Stompin' Tom Conners. Perhaps...but truly...how could you ever replace this song? We might as well just have a picture with no sound and let us Canadians hum it ourselves.

Good Grief Charlie Brown.

HNIC Theme Song

It's over. As reported on TSN, CTV acquires exclusive rights to the Hockey Night in Canada theme.

Thank goodness all this nonsense is done with. It's a relief to know that we'll be listening to the opening song for many years to come. When it comes right down to it...everything has a price and finally...someone saw that and it's finished.

There are some things in this life that should just never be tampered with. This is one of them...along with breathing...and original Kraft Dinner.

K.D. Lang Concert

I went to her concert tonight and it was nothing short of phenomenal. From the moment she walked out on stage in bare feet till her last wave goodbye to the audience...I was mesmerized. No fancy set, no wardrobe changes. Tonight, it was all about the music and her amazing milk and honey voice. What did surprise me was how funny she was. While singing one song she actually lost it and cracked up. *s* It was a roller coaster of emotions for me, where one minute I was laughing out loud and the next my breath had been taken away by her powerful soothing voice. This song in particular was extremely moving for me and had the hairs on my neck standing up. If you ever get the chance to see her live...I can say this much. You will love every moment of it.

Dr. Mario Online RX

So yesterday I finally purchased Dr. Mario in the new Wii Ware section of my Nintendo Wii. Wii Ware is basically the same as downloading Virtual Games but they are new games just created or like Dr. Mario...have been a bit revamped. The Virtual Games are all the retro games you played and loved oh so many ions ago. We played head to head a bit and essentially it's the same as it's original predecessor. Kind of a Tetris spin off that I remember wasting many an hour with the Dr. and his damn pills! The controls are simplistic and we just used the wiimote turned sideways. For me this is the most comfortable way and reminds of the original controller quite a bit. The download took up 92 blocks on my hard drive. I believe I have 814 blocks still available so I will be able to download a few more games before having to purchase a second hard drive that I hope Nintendo is making for their system!!! So far I have 8 games downloaded onto the hard drive. Check my note in Facebook to see all the games we own so far. I didn't get a chance to play the newer game they have in Dr. Mario yet. It's called Virus Blaster and you use the wiimote as a pointer as per usual and move the pills that way. I'm sure I'll be giving that a go as well...but for the most part. It's all about the retro game. I love this game and I love Nintendo for bringing all these oldies but goodies back to life!

Muppets - Mahna Mahna

Ahh ha ha...so awesome! This was such a classic song and from time to time I still catch myself singing it. There always seems to be someone nearby that joins in. *s*

Hit and Miss

When I first started this blog I was off work for awhile due to some surgery I had. The goal I set for myself after I got it going for a bit was to post at least once a day. For the most part I have done that but of course lately...that has not been the case. It's more hit and miss and that is entirely to do with my head space. I don't want my blog to turn into one big whine fest and it seems that my desire and interests are at an all time low. Hard to blog about nothing without sounding too much like an idiot. So hang tight...I will return...hopefully every day. I used to enjoy doing my blog and I am hoping I find that passion again soon. Peace out Peeps.

2008 Stanley Cup Champions

Hats off to the Detroit Red Wings for winning that all elusive trophy. They completely dominated this series and proved to be true champions. There is no question the team they put on the ice this year was extremely talented. Congrats to all of their fans. I know one in particular...hey Mark...have fun but don't party too hard!!! *s*

Just wait till next year though...Go OILERS!!!

Sun Rays

I took this picture this morning. I happened to glance out the window and saw this shower of sun rays beaming through the clouds. It was visibly striking and of course...pictures never do Mother Nature true justice.

New Survey Posted

So I asked a pretty simple question on this one. I was just thinking of my own surgery and the unique experience it was to go through. Nowadays it seems pretty common place for people to have surgeries. Take a minute and vote on this weeks poll. For you newbies...look for the question on the right hand side of my blog. *s*

Hockey

Just finished watching 6 periods of hockey to decide a winner. *whew* The Pittsburgh Penguins live to fight another day! They sure got outplayed pretty much the entire game but at the end of the day it really doesn't matter but the final score. Wednesday's game may be a yawner after this one but you can bet I'll be watching. Go Penguins! It's slim...but hey...dare to dream. *s*

Lost

Without an excuse really.