Wow...I can't believe how much snow we have this month...it never snows this much in December...well at least it never stays on the ground this long...global warming my ass...I'm begining to like playing poker in casinos much more than home games or online...I don't know why...it's just more fun and there's no mess to worry about cleaning up...oh yeah, and when I play at Senneca they do give out free beers...yeah I think that's the reason...free beer!

Work has been really dead...a laptop that normally takes me half a day to setup (while doing other tasks) took me a full day today...not for lack of motivation or anything like that...I just had nothing else to do...I'm not complaining though...I remember how the old place was, and I definetly do not want to go back there. I gotta admit though...working close to a California sandwiches does have it's bonuses...like veal on Mondays!

Played poker on Friday night...not as good to me as Seneca was last week, and saw Just Friends Saturday night...not a bad movie. Went to My Apartment in Mississauga after the movie...I gotta say...it's one huge cougar hangout..something about that place though...seems like the class of 1994 has a reunion there every week, because everybody was my brothers age...not my type of place, but at least it's close to home and the drinks aren't expensive.

Lions fired Mooch today...sad to see him go, but the offense just wasn't getting it done with him in charge. Some say it's Harrington that's the problem...but Joey's never been in the right scheme...and yes, scheme does make a huge difference, just look at Drew Bledsoe in Buffalo and Drew Bledsoe in Dallas...nuff said.

Yeah, I know, I haven't blogged in 3 weeks...so sue me :) Nobody reads this page anyway, heck I don't even bother to proof read my work because it's soo bad. But at least I can say I keep this page alive!!! Blogger 4ever!!! I think I've had this blog for 3 years, easily outlasting all the blogs I link to. Just finished watching the lions game on the PVR...Mariucci has to go...that guy doens't know the first thing about offence. Harrington has actually played well. They just showed a highlight of the 1998 thanksgiving day game...ahh what a memory...Phil Luckett blowing a coin toss...I mean seriously, how the fuck do you blow a coin toss...not that I cared...the Lions won the game and went on to...well, finish the season is a nice way to put it. Did I mention I won $100 at Seneca casino on Saturday...gotta love poker...I've got about $300 in my poker bankroll now, from my initial $100...not bad. It's nice that I keep it in USD because it stays seperate from the rest of my money, so I'm not really losing anything.

Oh yeah, new job, it's nice. I actually had time to sit down and vegatate today. I'm working at a profitable division where people are organized. Sooo much different from my old place where we had 99 chickens with no heads. That's the only way to describe it.

Got a new job. I'll be working a full 12 minute drive from home now. With winter coming up, it'll beat the shit out of those long ass drives home from Aurora that's for sure. Responsibilites at this job will be the same, but I'll be supporting half the users I do here and get a little bit of a pay raise. So, it all works out to my benefit (at least that's the way I see it). I'm kinda excited to start this new job. Most people claim that when they leave a company there's a bunch of people they'll miss. There's a few people I'll miss here too.

My boss for teaching me so much about IT. Our old AGM (who left a few months ago), what a character he was. He'd yell at people in the halls, call you whistle dick during a meeting, but when it came time to put people in line, he was the guy you wanted to do it. He'd also stick up for you whenever you needed it. There's the guys in Shipping/Receiving that were always ready to talk football. The stockroom guy, who while cranky (at times) always had a porchetta sandwhich hanging around if you could help him out. The electricans who would always help me out with the PLC's (even though they never worked right). The boys in the tool room always had some shit to say.

As for the office people...well, the accounting girls were cute, the engineers were....engineers, they prove my theory that you don't have to be smart to make it through university. QA was ok too. Lots of fun memories I'll be leaving behind, but it's time to move forward (and closer to home).

Another Wednesday morning here at work...tried to go to Formula Kartways last night, site of the original 33.22 lap (ahh...the memories of that fast lap) and to my suprise, it was a private events only night...WTF??? Ack...I'll have to go another day :( Anybody busy Thursday??

Been really busy at work lately, and I've been slacking a lot less than I normally do...does this mean I'm growing up??? Nah!

Probably heading down to Seneca casino on Saturday...I've felt a gambling itch ever since I came back from Vegas...now would be a good time to scratch it.

So, it looks like my days at my current job may be coming to an end. No I'm not getting fired, I'll probably be getting transfered out of here though which may be a good thing, or not the best I could have hoped for. I might be getting a job I applied for in Mississauga, a whole 13 minutes from my house. I also might not get that job (not due to lack of skills, it's a lack of family members that are vice presidents as the other person that applied for this job has an uncle in that position). It looks like a wait and see. They asked for my references today, which can only be a good thing (they didn't ask for it at the interview which may mean the other guy bombed it). Pray for Stu!!

Man have I been slacking lately. To answer that I've spent the last three weekends in the following places:

Muskoka
Las Vegas
Niagara Falls.

I think I've been spending a bit too much money on these weekend mini-vacations, but hey, each one was worth it. Muskoka was nice because it was our last good weekend of the year (weather wise). Got to do a lot of drinking, outdoor exercise and see the leaves changing colour.

Vegas was...well Vegas!! My 4th time there, and each time it gets better than the last. Made my first profit ($250) on that trip and had a ball doing it. Played blackjack, poker and roulette when I was down there, but more improtantly, I began to sample the buffets they have. There is no possible way you can beat the $25 buffet at Treasure Island. Where else can I get a 2 inch thick piece of prime rib at a buffet? And then wash it down with some cotton candy??? What set this buffet apart from the rest was the quality. It was actually really good food...not just a lot of food. It was some good eating. The buffet at the Alladin (the hotel I stayed at) was also great. They had differnt stands set up with different themes. Going from left to right they had a salad bar, seafood bar (some of the best chips I've ever had there), soup stand, Italian bar, American bar, Middle Eastern Bar, Desert Bar, Mexican Bar, and another Salad bar. A TON of selection, the quality wasn't up to Treasure Island standards, but I won't complain. The peach crepes cooked fresh made up for it. So much else to discuss from that trip...I'm going to have to make another blog about it.

Last Friday me and Charlene went to Niagara Falls for her birthday. Got a fallsview room at the Sheraton. Only thing I can say is WOW! The view was spectacular and the room was soooo nice. We moved the couch and coffee table to face the window and had pizza and beer (yes sooo romantic) while we watched the falls all night. Great way to spend a Friday night!

So that was my life over the past 3 weeks. I also found time to have a job interview at a division closer to my house, so lets cross our fingers and hope that it works out well for Stu!

Well, it's offical, my project in social engineering is a success. After watching a bud light commercial (I'm pretty sure it was bud light) from a few years about "Johnson" and his steaming cup of coffee (you know the one where the guy puts a steaming cup of coffee on his desk, leaves the door open and lets the rest of the office believe he's there all day while Johnson is off having sex, watching the baseball game, etc). Well I did that today with a bottle of water at my bosses desk. And would you believe it? I had people claiming they saw my boss today. Note to self, next time I need a day off, I'll pay somebody to open the door to my office, and put a bottle of water next to my keyboard. People are dumb. Time away from work is good.

Hmm...it's been about a week since I've last posted...what's been happening in Stu Land??? Lets see...Friday night I had a serious lack of energy...stayed home, watched old school with Charlene and was passed out by 11:30pm (urgh...i'm getting old)...Saturday we played football in the afternoon (always good...seems like we're slowly getting together a weekly game) went to Niagara in the evening...always tons of fun down there...hey is there any better feeling in the world than putting some old random CD into the CD player while hammered, and realizing that you had some pretty kick ass music on that CD and you forgot all about it?? I had one of those moments Saturday night...all the classic songs from 2000-2002....ok maybe not ALL the classics, but just enough to make me want to play Counter Strike again.

Went to Daily Planet afterwards...almost got caught up in a brawl...back to the hotel with the gang (we had 10 people in a room!!!)....well 10 does sound like a lot, but the room had 3 double beds and one pull out couch...it was huge, great for partying though!!!! Woke up around 4am...put my arm on Charlene when I realized there was another body there...thank god it was a female (get your minds out of the gutters...nothing happend!!!!!)...it was a strange feeling...being in bed with somebody who I had no clue who it was...turns out it was just Ana...but I was upset I wasn't consulted on this first.

Lets not talk about Sunday's Lions game...up $20 in poker last week though...that's almost 3 lunches!!!

Here's another update from me..down $30 in the last week at poker...that includes one tournament win (dammed 4 player tournaments)...got around to re formatting my computer at work...it's sooooo much faster now, I should have done this a long time ago...still looking for a new job though...just getting tired of this commute each morning.

Anybody else try that the new google desktop...it's pretty cool..I love the constant slide show...keeps me entertained espically through the boring work day...it's always good to see friends and family flashing by...which reminds me, I gotta bring the camera with me this weekend for Christina's birthday party...all of us will be there so it'll be a great time!

Man, I have a massive craving for a pizza sub right now...it'll have to wait 5 hours until lunch though...anybody think it weird that the HR department gives you a thank you card after you get them a printer? Strange...and kinda creepy if you ask me....but I'm not going to complain about being recognized for me work efforts...even if it's only HR and not a real department...Vegas in less than a month...that'll be good...I've got my wallpaper as a picture of the strip I took from the Eiffel tower...with a great view of the Alladin (the hotel I'm staying at)...I guess it's a motivation of sorts...I heard Try Honestly as soon as I got in the car this morning...followed by Wonderwall...not if that doesn't start off my day the right way, I don't know what will.

Well well well...where have I been? Complaining about gas prices a lot lately. Now seriously considering leaving my job (well...first I gotta get my two vacations paid off after that I'm free to go). Probably sometime around the begining of December. At least that way I can use all of my vacation days at work up and collect all the benefits I have coming my way.

Football season starts really soon! I'm excited about it, time to watch some Lions football. Speaking of which, I made it down to Buffalo last friday to watch their final exhibition game. I know it's tottaly meaningless, but it was good to see the Leo's win in person for once!! A ton of fights at the game too. It's bound to happen when there's that much alcohol going through that many male bodies.

Ended up losing $100 at the poker tables at Seneca on Friday night too...had top card on a king high straight...some guy kept fishing with A/K and hit it on the river. That cleaned me out.

I've been watching a bit of the coverage of New Orleans sinking. Very depressing to see how slowly a goverment reacts to a tragedy like that. Makes you wonder though, if it takes 5 days to get troops in, then we can take over Washington DC in that time!!! Lets do it!!! Repeat the war of 1812!!!! Hahahahaha...alright enough of that, needed my one crack at the US government and their historic military defeat at the hands of the Canadians and British soliders.

It's been a while since I've last blogged...I'm begining to slack a bit...but that's because I'm actually being productive at work. And not productive as in the always away from your desk, never answer your phone and walking around the building with a stressed out look on your face productive (no, that's only to fool the boss into thinking I'm doing something). But productive as in actually doing something around the office. Like yesterday (day #1 of my bosses vacation), I managed to finally get around to installing that wireless access point (it's got some decent range on it too), finally upgraded the cd rom drive in the board room to a DVD drive (now we can watch DVD's off that projector), as well as installed the new google desktop on my machine. Ok, maybe the google desktop wasn't necessary, but it's dammed cool (and somewhat usefull as well). I'm sure there's other tools out there that do the new updates, scratch pad, quick view, stock ticker, todo list, system monitor and weather that I have running right now, but this is much cooler and the user interface is super simple. I'd love to know how much spying they're doing on me though (end paranoia).

Poker wise, I was down $30 this weekend...could have easily gone the other way if I played two hands differently, but that's the way she goes.

Go see the great raid...pretty good war movie.

Well well well...it's been a while since I've blogged, what's been happening in my life??

Thursday night, I have to give props to Talon for putting on a good poker night. Good job buddy, don't forget to do it again!

Well, lets not talk about the -$60 swing in poker I had this weekend. I took Friday off of work. I haven't taken a legitmate day off all summer so it was a refreshing change. Went to h(.)(.)ters for lunch, saw the Dukes of Hazzard movie with Charlene (good movie) and went to Jason's stag for dinner (3rd place in the poker fundraiser).

Saturday I slept in (thank god, I need more sleep), hit the gym, then went to a bbq/poker event. Played two tournaments, finished 3rd in both of them (yup, just out of the money).

Sunday I spent the afternoon with Charelne in Port Credit. Can you believe she showed me a fish and chips place with $2.69 beers!!!!!!! Can you believe it??? Went bowling in the evening (lets not talk about that either)

All in all a good weekend minus the details of couse =)

You guys wanted an update??? Well...you'll have to wait another day =)

Ok...quick poker updates...This week I'm down $40

I don't think anybody on this earth hates smelly testing engineers as much as I do. Here I am today...7am in the morning, hitting up the vending machine for a bran muffin...do you think the testing engineer waits until I get my food out of the machine to ask me a question? NO, he has to come right up to me (I mean he almost touched me) and tell me "internet is not working on my computer"...like I give a fuck, your a testing guy, test some parts and shut up, you shouldn't be on the internet in the first place, if you were you would have had a job in finance and probably a shower by now. Now to understand how bad the BO was on this guy (keep in mind, it was about 12 outside last night, so it wasn't one of those 40 degree plus days inside the plant like we've had the past few weeks. In other words...there's no excuse for that smell. The smell is so bad, I'm going to wait until he goes home to look at his computer (I've got a server on my desk that's 4 years old and "breaking down"..it automatically gains a higher priority number than anything associated with the test lab). Lets not even start talking about that breath either...I've smell better decaying skunks. Anyways, the point of the story was if he didn't talk to me today, I would have had a bran muffin instead of a two pack of chocolate creme donuts. So much for my eating healthier movement.

In what may have been either the luckiest day of my life, or an elaborate trap (I'm going with the first) I managed to pull off the biggest 15 minute late sneak into work today at the office. Here's the situation: 7:10am, Focus is headed northbound on Yonge St. Approaches set of Red Lights (no, not the red light district). Begins to play with newly purchased radio (did I mention I managed to pull .75g's on a left hand turn Saturday afternoon? Because the radio is the proof I did that!). One lane over and two cars deep I see the GM's car, complete with customized license plate. A thought of "oh shit, I am soooo busted today creeps into my mind". What courses of action do I have? 1) Lie low, stay two cars behind him, and sneak to your office after he enters the building. or 2) Act normal, realize his parking spot is not the CAS (closest available spot) and try to pass him on the entrance to the building. In the boldest move I could try, I go with option #2. Sneak into the CAS, camp out while The GM parks his car, and quickly sneak in under the cover of the bushes. Through the door and nobody was the wiser. Of course, it took him 5 minutes to get from his car to the front door, but then I already had my morning cup of tea in my hands, but that's a different story all together.

Oh yeah, I just found out we're on our 6th in just under a year. We went from Cougar, to 40 year old party girl (who goes MIA one week after accepting a full time position) to the russian girl with the cute nieces, to the girl who looked like meatloaf, to the Italian girl to "a permenant" receptionist that is starting today. I'm sure there was another one that I am forgetting about, but these were the significant receptionists here...fucked up place.

As for poker, I ended up Friday +$10 after the CST crew split a $100 pot 3 ways (yes, we were the top 3 finishers in an 11 person tournament...it's the first time that has ever happend...good work boys!). The second tournament I busted out early, but that's still another week in the positives for poker so I won't complain.

My poker update for this week is really blurry...I won 3 tournaments on Friday...lost 3 on Saturday, lost one on Monday and got my money back on the second...when all the buy ins are factored I think I broke even, which kinda sucks because I was getting used to showing a profit over the last few weeks.

Went to formula kartways last night with Boost Monkey...man I miss karting. It felt really good to rip the go-kart around those corners....getting soo close to the wall (tapping it a few times) using the classic CST Spin Move on a poor unsuspecting soul (hahahahaha...I'm still laughing at the look in that guys eyes when he realized that I drove right through his rear axel). Good times indeed...I wanna go back to pro kart sometime soon...I miss their ultra loose karts and the extremely slippery surface.

Does anybody else hate people who constantly jack up the A/C EVERY DAY??? Fuck it's the summer enjoy the fact that it's not -20 like it is January! Or people who don't take advantage of the patio...man we don't have it for much longer...and definetly don't bitch at me about how much you hate cold weather when it comes around, because you brought it upon yourself!!!

Alright, quick poker update first, Friday, up $10, Saturday up $40, Monday up $20-$15 for Mike's birthday present...so not a bad week at all for me! In fact, you might argue that it was a GOOD week!

Anyways, now for the story behind the game. Friday was Matt's birthday...went to Dave and Busters. I'm not a big fan of their menu at all...food was average at best but priced wayyy too high for the quality. Nobody wanted to go to the midway (which really sucked I think). Around 10pm...we head on out Mike's house for some poker...I think we played until 4:30 because I didn't get home until 5. Up by 9 to take my mom's car and the focus to the mechanics. I had a bad case of a glowing battery terminal. $30, the terminal doesn't glow and there is no screw in my mom's tire. Later that day we head out to Karl's place for some drinking by the pool and some poker. A 6 pack of bud later, it's time to go to the Phoenix...I told Mechanic Mike I'd make it a mission to say hi to simon...sorry buddy, I failed you...didn't see him :( But I had a good time at the phoenix as always!

Passed out on the couch around 3:30 I think..woke up around 7...watched 2 laps of the F1 race and fell right back asleep...woke up again at 10 and went to bed...slept there till 1. Got up watched the Indy race (which started early this year for some unknown reason). I was dissapointed to see Paul Tracy run out of fuel...he deserved that race...but that's racing.

Went to my cousins wedding at Casa Loma in the evening. Damm that was a nice place...really fancy! I wanna live there one day! The wedding was good...it was nice to see some of the family together and drinking again! Did I mention that the castle was really nice???

That's about it...oh yeah, I found out yesterday the AGM is leaving to be a GM of another division. I'm going to miss him, he's the only senior management type I know that you can talk to straight up, tell him to go fuck himself, be made fun of and come out of it all laughing. He's one of a kind and I know he'll do good.

It's plant shutdown here...the place is dead, I took a nap in the shipping office and lines are running. Go figure. Actually I just found out we will be making Balance Shafts for the New H3, which is pretty sweet when you think about it. Add that to the flexplates we make for Ferrari and things can sound pretty sweet around here. From what I hear, the business is on the upswing (of course, would management ever admit otherwise).

Played poker at Seneca Casino Saturday night with the guys...finished down $100, but my brother was up $150 and Edwin was up $400. Poker at my place on Friday showed a $30 profit and even more poker last night showed a $50 profit...granted I'm down for the weekend still, but at least it doesn't hurt as much knowing I can still win against the poker crew. What does bother me is that I can never seem to turn a profit at a casino. Save for that one night last summer when I cleaned up, I just can't win at casino's. Who knows why...the same people that I constantly beat on weekends manage to leave with money, but I can't even come close. I'll probalby have to adopt the same strategy that turned my home game around for the casino's....just concentrate on braking even and after you accomplish that, start doing the things you need to win. This actually helped me out a ton, as lately I've been pulling wins out of my ass, where as 2 months ago, I was always finishing 2nd or 3rd and 4 months ago, I was always just missing the cut.

Anyways, I'm thinking I should get back to work...I'm going to DQ for an ice cream break around 3 today...anybody wanna join me :)

It's been a week since my last update...time for a new one...lets see, played poker on Friday and Saturday. Won one tournament on Friday (well...didn't offically win...it was getting late so I gave Dan and Bill some money and sent them home...but I ended up with a chip lead anyway)...Saturday I busted out really early...had pocket kings...flop came Q-7-5...Eddie had 2 pair...ahh well such is the poker world...my fault for calling an all in call with only top pair...lesson learned. I had a throwback moment on Friday though...when we used to play $3 games, I'd call all in from the washroom to see who had the balls to call me...well Friday I had to take a pee break midway through the game...come back and do a patented all in call....Dan calls me, I flip over my cards and see a nice pair of bullets looking straight at me..BANG BANG! Needless to say, Dan catches two pair and kicks me in the nuts...that costed us about an hour of sleep because that's about the time it took for me to get my chips back.

Ok enough of the boring poker talk, lets get to the juciy stuff! Well...that was it for the juicy details of my weekend, Saturday we went to Hess Village in Hamilton for a Mardi Gras party...damm that place was packed!!!! Something like 16,000 people showed up...it would have been better if the bars had good drinks and weren't all rammed...but ahh well...not much else to do in Hamilton other than drink I guess.

Sunday we had an evening BBQ with my neighbour and his girlfriend...a few people from the poker crew came over later on and we just chilled outside...it was a really nice night so it felt good just to sit back, grab a few beers and not worry about anything.

So, work asked me to come in from 7am-4pm now. You know what...I'm not as upset as most people think. Since we "require" support for the morning shift at 7am I'm essentially in the office area by myself doing support for the first hour of my day. Oh yeah, my phone hasn't rang before 8:30 yet. Ahh well, it's the company's loss I guess. It's still a challenge to get out on time at 4pm, but I think i'm going to get try a few new things this week like
a) get my boss to schedule meetings for himself at 4pm

b) 3:45pm pee breaks

c) page my boss and request that he visited shipping on the other side of the building...by the time he gets there i run out the door.

But I do think it's time I move on from my present company. I've had a good run here, but things need to change. I think it's about time I take the dust off that old resume of mine and start applying to random jobs.

So there I am driving in and I get a 10-4. Being the good work I am, I push the window up button and answer the phone...only problem is the window doesn't go up :( It falls right down. Turns out the Focus has a broken power window regulator. D'oh! And wouldn't it be my luck, there's rain in the forecast. So with little other options available, I am forced to bring in the focus to Crappy Tire for work on this. Greedy bastards want $500 to fix it! WTF?!? So I told them to prop it up for now...and I'll worry about getting the work done tomorrow. I did a bit of research (who would have thought auto shops don't like it when you tell them exactly what needs to be done?) and found out that this little regulator thingy costs $225!!! WTF?? Bah...all for dry seats. So I'll probably call in sick to work tomorrow and get this thing fixed.

Dot com crash part II? For sure! How could google be worth $80 Billion is beyond me...probably the reason why I don't invest in the stock market. But hey, lots of people made money off of this, so who am I to say what's right or wrong...but if market value is 25 times sales....that can't be a good thing....but there's plenty of potential!

Fuck it's hot outside today...but even though...why the fuck do we always jack up our air conditioning on days like today? Seriously, I hear nothing but complaints about the cold. The second warm weather comes by...BAM it's time to jack up the AC so high that we need a jacket inside the office. Fucking bullshit if you ask me...people just like to complain. That's the problem with the world today...complainers don't get bitch slapped enough. There should be a law allowing bitch slapping as long as the person that got hit was complaining about something. Hmm...that might just silence ALL the special interest groups.....then we wouldn't need lawyers...wouldn't that be nice

Man..do they ever stop feeding me junk food here? Evidently somebody found out I'm much more tolerable when I'm bribed with either candy or food. I seriously don't know how that rumor started...I should keep my mouth shut more often. Screw that...I'm going to milk everything I can out of this place within my job description.

You know what sucks...when you're alone in the washroom...ready to let one rip then the GM comes in. FUCK MAN...let me fart in peace! One of these days I'm going to ambush him inside of there...build up a nice brew of milk, burriots, beans and eggs wait for him to come in, and unleash the worst scent known to man!

Shit galore in CSTville lately. Seems we all just can't get along. Whatever. It's a shame too because at the end of school we were all good friends...and things fell apart. Life is too short to drag each other through the mud every day. So what if some people like to party hard when they're young and have some money for the first time. Is that wrong? And is it a sin that your parents look out for you and you live at home? Where does culture fit into all of this? Who's set of standards are right? In my opinion, there is nothing wrong with being proud of what you have accomplished. That is until you try to take down others a peg because they chose to go in a different direction.

Sometimes people just need to be cut off. If they want to leave, let them leave. Their ego may never let them come back, but don't feed the beast by speaking to them. Let them go and make their own decision if they want to throw away years of friendship and little to no commitment other than a few comments a day about random topics.

So to the CST crew...and that is everybody past and present (not really future I guess since school is done), I wish you all the best. We've all had life long memories together, got through really tough times (including the death of one of our brothers). If we can look past our faults and the faults of others we can move forward, possible pursue business relations in the future with those we know best.

We've got our own forum that they tried to shut us down but they couldn't. In the end though, the only one strong enough to bring us down was -- the CST Crew...but those are the same people strong enough to bring us back together.

It's Tuesday...but feels worse than Monday. I just feel like...bleh today. I woke up for work on time...got to work on time, but now that I'm here I just don't feel like doing anything. The office seems quiet, I guess more than a few people took today off. The weekend was great!

Poker at Mike's house on Friday was pretty good...even if I didn't win. I'm begining to notice a trend with my playing though...I play tight early on...and try to hang in there for 2nd place and then take advantage of my opponents mistakes when we play heads up. It's a strategy that's worked for a bit, except I'm always short stacked when I sneak into the final 3 and end up in 3rd place...just past the money line. Net result no money :( Of course, I have my fair share of 2nd place finishes too and I'm consistently in the game until the end, but I'm not winning any tournaments. But enough about my poker game...I can't reveal too much info in case somebody uses it against me :)

Niagara on Saturday night was sooooo much fun...got hammered and went to the planet. The planet was alright...not as busy as other times I've been there.

Sunday we went to Wasaga Beach for the afternoon/evening. Man I haven't been to that place in a long time. It hasn't changed much, but the crowd has. Sooo many wanna be thugs from the suburbs...yes they were all hard core. Had some ice cream, made fun of Edwin because whenever it came time to pay for something either a) his wallet was in the car...or b) he doesnt' have any money right now...he'll pay us back later. Oddly enough though, whenever we are in the casino, he's got a ton of cash. But it's all good...we got to ride in the hummer on the way up, which is always a bonus. You just can't go to Wasaga in a focus, now can you?

Woohoo, it's the long weekend! Well...at least I don't have to go to work on Monday...it's not like I missed Thursday morning at work (seriuosly...when I wasn't at work, I didn't miss it)...and it's not like I was an hour late Friday morning (closer to 90 minutes actually). But ahh well...such is corporate life I guess. Heading to the Falls tonight and Wasaga Beach tomorrow night...should be a good little weekend. Come back home on Monday to recover. We need more long weekends. Maybe one in June because it has no holidays.

I found out that I get the first week in July off due to plant shut down...and my boss also wants me to come to help with an upgrade....so yeah I think I may have a few sick days in July. No vacations for me that week because I need to save up money for a car...what car? Well I haven't thought that far ahead, but something nicer than the Focus.

10-4 -- The never ending quest.

For anybody interested in getting a 10-4 phone from bell...please for the love of god, wait it out. Now, I don't have a horror story. But I can say that bell does a horrible job of documenting their information. Management must have a pickle up their ass because none of the helpdesk people I've called in the last week and a half is aware of this service. Here's a quick recap of what I'm talking about:

Bell Canada release 10-4. It's a walkie talkie for your cell phone, similiar to the Mike Network offered by Telus. One thing I'm supposed to be able to do with my 10-4 phone is upload contact lists to all of the users on my account. We have 6 people with 10-4 phones so being able to push out new numbers from the internet to the 10-4 devices is a huge advantage.

Call #1: We don't have the that feature.
Call #2: That feature is available sign up here.
Call #3: This is how you do it for personal accounts
Call #4: Lets see how many times we can transfer Stu around before he hangs up.

I think I've wasted at least an hour and a half just waiting on hold for these losers while they play pass the call. No use yelling at anybody because it's not worth my effort. Thank god this is company time and not personal, or else I might get upset.

Here's to hoping somebody on support instructs me how the hell to upload contacts to a corporate list.

I was driving home from the baseball game yesterday when I felt a pretty stiff vibration on my steering wheel. I knew right away I had a flat...so I pulled over (luckily for me I was able to get from the left lane to the right lane on the 401 without much hassle....the gods must have been parting the way for me because that NEVER happens when you need to change lanes). So I pull over and yup...it's a flat! BLEAT! ahh...well...took me 4 calls to get a tow truck...eventually I caved in, called *OPP and got the guy that would get here the quickest...he arrived in 2 minutes...had my car to a parking lot in 5 and changed the tire himself in no time!!! God he was quick! So the mission today is to get a new tire. Shouldn't be too bad. I'll save a bit of money just by not showing up to work and actually having time to shop around for the best deal.

My Boss: Dan it's really busy here...do you think you'll be able to come in?
Dan (while sitting down at home in his tighty whities): Nah...they still haven't fixed my car yet.

Another day, a new receptionist. That's the 5th since I've started I think. Wow we go through these girls really quick. You think with all the receptionists we've had that I'd get some eye candy out of it? Nothing. This one looks like a Serbian teacher I had in college (read David Bowie for those who get the reference). The last was a female version of meatloaf (she only lasted 3 weeks). The Russian before her was really cool...we always talked about office space and joked around. Now, the one before the Russian was truly a work of art. The weekend after she signed a full time job with this company, she went missing never to be heard from again. No joke..we all came in one Monday morning said "where the hell is Linda?" Which brings us to the original cougar. She was the only receptionist who could handle the workload. She also liked to take it up the ass and was very liberal when it came to discussing her sexual exploitations. She left with 6 weeks left on her contract because she wasn't certain this would be a full time job. She did come back twice to interview for a full time position, but was given the run around. Such is life here I guess.

Went to see Arthur's final resting place yesterday. Got there about 20 minutes early and walked around the cemetery looking for him. I wasn't as creeped out as you would think being the only person there just walking around looking for an old friend. Eventually Mike showed up and led me to the grave. By the time he got there I wasn't too far from Arthur. Maybe about 20 feet, but would have never found him at the rate I was going.

It was nice to meet up with the old crew from Sheridan...even if it was under less than ideal circumstances. I still have flashbacks of Ed calling me in tears that morning before work. Man did it suck having to drive to work. That whole day sucked. Seeing Arthur lying there in the casket was even worse. Hearing many rumors but nothing certain about how he passed away was probably the worst part. Even today, I still remember the last look on his face. The empty feeling I had the day of his funeral.

As the night went on, we talked and talked about the days at Sheridan. The good times, run ins with the law and the people. The one thing that makes any place special is the people. Names like Cancer Balls, The Gimp and Lou all have special memories associated with them. Memories that last a life time. When one of those people that you share so many memories with passes away, it feels like the life has been sucked out of it. You still want to go on, but you wonder "what if" sometimes.

What if he was still here ready for paintball next week? What would it feel like to just one more time hide the smoke as he lights up a joint inside a club? Especially now that there is so many no smoking by-laws.

All these thoughts passed through my head last night. But that's what they'll stay as. Just plain old thoughts. But the memories I have will last forever.

Funny how talking about Super Size me would actually GIVE me a craving for some McDonalds. But we were talking about it yesterday at work and here I am today eating it. Life works in mysterious ways. What about that whack job that tried to sue Wendy's claiming there was a finger in her chili. Thank god they arrested her. It brings up a good point though...what kind of punishment do you give this person? With one false accusation she cost that company a lot of money...got some pimply faced teen's laid off from their jobs. Hurt the suppliers of Wendy's. All so she could make a few easy bucks.

Normally I'd say make her work for Wendy's, but after watching one too many episodes of the Simple Life we all know that there's no way this would work out. So I say this...take 50% of any bank transaction she tries to do. She's still free to make as much money as she wants...it's just Wendy's will take half. If she tries to file for welfare, Wendy's takes half. Tries to collect unemployment insurance, Wendy's takes half. She tries to sue McDonalds...yup you guessed it, Wendy's takes half. She dies while in bed, and her son collects a multi-million dollar life insurance policy...Wendy's takes half.

Upon further review...I may have been a little off on my Polish pope prediction. But hey...it came to me in a dream...what was I supposed to do? Ignore it? Nah..it's probably better this way...I would have easily freaked myself into thinking I am the second coming if I got that one right anyway. So...other than misguided prophecies (TAKE THAT NOSTRADAMUS!!!!) what else have I been up to?

Got kicked in the nuts pretty good last night when I moved all in with A-K suited. Naturally I'm going against pocket aces...because that'd be just too easy for me. Umm...Saturday went to a house party -- at a mormon's house!!! Go figure...it was alright...had a bunch of jello shooters and a 4pack of rev. Friday I played poker...broke even for the night! The other days aren't important.

That new bell 10-4 technology sounds pretty sweet. Just like the Mike network except all it needs is 1X to operate. The bell guy is going to give me a demo model to play around with next week! That's one thing I've been trying to do more of lately, get some demo models coming my way. I've got a pretty sick HP Xeon workstation coming by later this month (or early February).

I had a vision (dream) last night that the next Pope will be Polish. The 2nd straight Polish Pope. That is all.

Why can't cellphone companies make a phone with an MP3 player built in? If this idea has already been done, why can't I purchase one from Bell, Rogers or Telus? Does anybody else think that these guys are losing out on a lot of new phones because of this? And I'm not talking about that smartphone bullshit. I'm talking regular joe phones. You know the type, small, inexpensive, and mass produced. For people that actually buy their phones themseleves, not have their IT department buy it for them.

I'm just venting because I'm bored at work. Sure my hybrid/alternative fuel powered sports car at an affordable price was just too good of an idea to work for auto companies, so why would this idea be any better?

I'll probably come up with something else tomorrow that would be better than my last two ideas, so stay tuned and see what new things may pop into my head!

I had a revelation yesterday in the shower. Here's an idea for Ford and GM. They're consistently getting their asses handed to them by their Japanese rivals. People who looked at how they did things, and found ways to do it better. Why don't you guys stop worrying about your big SUV's and try to make a hybrid that's cheap, fast and good looking.

Anybody else notice how none of the hybrids out there resemble sporty? How hard is it, for a company like GM or Ford, with all of their engineering strength to put together a hybrid (or alternative fuel car) and market the hell out of it. Make it as fast as a Ferrari. With the reliability of a Corolla. Do this and watch your market share grow. Do this while your competition struggles to catch up.

Apple has proved that if you are able to be innovative enough, you can succeed. Look at the iPod. GM and Ford need an iPod of their own. A fast, sporty, inexpensive hybrid marketed towards the college graduate would be an ideal choice. Don't go for the guy with cash that already knows he wants an import. Go for the kid that doesn't know any better. Time and time again, we've realized that going for the dumb masses is a much better strategy than the smart minority. Look at how the Liberals stay in power.

Inevitably what will happen is a hybrid will come out, that's more expensive than a car of similar features, yet lacks the power and style of others in it's class. If GM and Ford don't want to step up to the plate and reverse this trend, maybe a supplier (*cough* MAGNA *cough*), or worse yet the Chinese will figure out the formula and put the final nail the Big 3's coffin.

Holy shit it's been a while since i've last updated. I've now given in and moved my webspace to blogspot. Once I get my lazy ass around to doing it, I'll add an automatic redirect from my other webspace to here. So what's happend since my last update:

Went to Dicks...again. Place was pretty dead. We tried to get into my apartment, but the lineup was rediculous. Go smashed, went to McDonalds and had a quater pounder....on Good Friday!!! I felt so bad when I woke up the next day and realized what I did. But I managed to go two days without meat after that, so it balances out!

Good Friday I flew to Santa Barbara! My sister picked me up from LAX and we drove the rest of the way. Not much of a drive at night, but the weather was pretty nice! My sister really loved the Maple Liquer I gave her (tastes like Maple Syrup). Went out for a night on the town Friday night....was soo much fun out there....some girl named Mandy txt messaged me in the morning to go to a "grill out"...whatever the fuck that is. Needless to say I didn't remember who Mandy was, nor did I bother replying to the message.

Saturday I slept most of the day. I went to sleep around 6pm and woke up at 6am!!! Sunday I forget what I did. Monday through Thursday we went to Happy hour every day!!! Nothing beats 2 for 1 drinks on the patio in the California Sun! Well one thing does...2 for 1 drinks with half priced appitizers!!!! I went out to some bar with 80's night on the Tuesday down there....I managed to tell a group of 3 girls to hit the gym when I was all smashed. Oh...and the $2.50 redbull and vodka's!!!!! I pay $3 for a red bull alone up here from gas stations!!!! Thursday night we went out as well but nothing special happend. The best part of that night was when I ordered a rum and coke. Only catch was this guy put just enough coke in the rum to change the colour!!! Wooo...way to go for $3!!!! The bar was alright...they had a stripper pole which the ladies seemed to love...hmmm.......

Friday I went to Vegas. What can I say about Vegas??? I love that town...I always have a great time whenever I go there!!!!! We stayed at the Flamingo this time, which is right in the center of the strip. The hotel itself is no big deal. I figured something out when I was down there. Go to the 2/4 Hold'em tables....play really tight and order a drink every time the waitress comes by. I got sooo drunk and didn't lose any money in the process the first night! Everybody was trying to win money...I was trying to get drunk! Walking around Vegas and doing shit buzzed is what that town is all about.

Saturday morning I went on the (Hoover) Dam tour. It dam sucked that's for sure! What a waste of my dam time. I did take a couple of Dam pictures when I was down there, but didn't ask any dam questions. Came back to the hotel...took a nap, then did my nightly pre drinking at the poker table. This time I lost $20. I then went to the Barbary Coast, played some blackjack for a bit. Ended up $15!!!! Afterwards we went to the Palms. I've never seen a lineup for a bar after 2:30am, but Ghost Bar had a pretty good lineup at this time!!! I really gotta stay at the palms one night!

Sunday I walked around town a bit. Played $0.25 roulette at Casino Royal! That was pretty good, but I"m not a big roulette fan. Lost my $20 but I didn't care. I was there for about an hour...although the drinks were pretty slow in coming. Now I don't feel bad about giving the waitress a quater tip.

Went to the buffet at the bellagio for dinner. By far and away the best buffet I've ever been to in my life!!! 2 different types of prime rib, 6 different types of bread, crab legs, sushi, pasta, pizza, and 6 different types of potatoes. The quality on all this food was something else. Most buffets I've been to, there's a good selection, but the quality just isn't there. This one had some of the best foods I've ever had.

My flight on the way back got delayed...I ended up on the red eye. Had to call in sick to work on the Monday (I know...a good image...but ahh well). Played poker Monday night (no we do not need to repeat what happend).

Friday I played poker with the guys, then picked my mom up for the airport.

So, that's the quick recap of my week!

I think I just remembered why I don't go out on Wednesday nights. I went to Dicks last night...and I dunno...I had a good time...but it wasn't like it was a great time or anything. All I kept thinking in the back of my head was "how many of these people actually have real jobs?" From what I saw it was a bunch of thugs and a bunch of "My mommy paid for my thug clothes...I'm the blackest white kid on my block...respect me!" people. Needless to say, I'd rather be at the gym on Wednesday working on my flabby physique. Although it was cool to see the poker crew (minus the roid man) out drinking instead of playing poker...I think it was the first time I saw all of us at a bar together. I got home around 3....up for work at 6:45...didn't actually leave the bed until 7:30...but go figure...I get in at 8:45 and I'm here before my boss!!! To top it off the AGM wasn't here either...although the GM walked by a few times and I highly doubt he was impressed by the turn of events. Ahh well! I'm not as tired as I thought I'd be though...but I have been trying to stay on my feet...I find I have more energy if I use more energy.

I leave for Vegas and Santa Barbara tomorrow. We've rented a convertable mustang (I think...i did let my sister do the rental work so it may be a sebring...but it's a convertable nevertheless) for the drive between Santa Barbara and Las Vegas. That'll be one sweet drive going through the desert in a convertable...just like all those commercials you see on TV!!!!!!! It'll be one of the hidden highlights of my trip! We're also planning on seeing the Hoover Dam. I want to go on the dam tour!!

In order to get myself mentally prepared for my vacation, I have watched Vegas Vacation 3 times! You can never watch that movie enough, that's for sure! What a movie! Anyways time to be productive at work..later!!!

Well it's poker night tonight with the cst crew! Haven't seen those guys outside of the Phoenix in a long time. It should be fun. As for me...it's 2:04pm and I'm still in my PJ's. Why you might ask? Well I did come home at 5am last night after laying poker...drank a full six pack of bud too and managed to make money...wow! Well not really...as long as you drill certain rules into your head while your sober...they stick with you and become second nature. You then can play drunk and have your opponents believe you don't have a clue of what you're doing...when in fact you will be cleaning them up! Well that's my theory at least...I'm going to have to play a lot of poker and drink a lot to test it out...I know...it's a tough life.

Ok, I hate the address of this website. I'm moving it to blogspot (unless somebody wants to provide free and very reliable hosting for me). The new address has really killed my posting habits (ok ok ok...I've been lazy). But soon enough I will post again..and maybe about something important!

I signed up for a cash account at PartyPoker.com on Sunday. Lemme know if you wanna make a deposit, if you want to be nice, we'll make $75 together and split it via the referall bonus, or if you want to be a whore and hog all the bonuses to yourself, I recommend you try www.pokersourceonline.com They've got some pretty sweet signup bonuses happening there.

My first tournament at partypoker resulted in a win!!! Yay me for winning $25!!! Second one I played I just missed the cut to get my money back and finished in 4th place. BOooo....I tried playing some $0.50/$1 tables but got my butt cleaned there (really bad breaks...but some bad calls on my part as well). Still...I'm up $10 on party poker and thats before the bonuses kick in (so I'm really up $35!!!).

I've gotta say this change in my website address has killed my passion for blogging. I hate the fact that rogers did this to me. FUCK YOU ROGERS!!! The best part of my ordeal was that the e-mail they sent me with my old pictures from members.rogers.com/stugautz couldn't be downloaded due to a virus. WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?!?!?

Alright done venting. No comment about poker this weekend...although I got a 5 high straight flush!!!! Yes kids...that's A-2-3-4-5 suited!!! That hand is just as hard to get as a royal flush!

Well seems gayness @rogers (FUCK YOU ROGERS) and they changed the address of my webpage to http://ca.geocities.com/stugautz@rogers.com/. Yes it's http://ca.geocities.com/stugautz@rogers.com/. One more time, http://ca.geocities.com/stugautz@rogers.com/. It used to be http://members.rogers.com/stugautz. But noooo, rogers wants to use geocities and their crappy webpage name. Instead of the easy to remember http://members.rogers.com/stugautz. But such is life...maybe one day I'll register StuGautz.com.

It's offical, I need help with my gambling addiction...and my alcohol addiction, and my porn addiction...and just about every other addiction I have. But screw that, I'm having too much fun! Played poker on: Friday night (down $10) Saturday night in Niagara (down $20) Sunday night (down $20) and Monday night (up $40)! Yeah... I may be addicted.

Friday night was soo much fun. Had a few drinks and played from 9pm to 5:30am. I was up around $40 at one point...then the booze kicked in. Saturday I only played one $20 tournament. Had pocket 5's and trips 8 came on the flop. I go all in (since there are way too many overcards that could fuck me up). One caller...isn't this convienent...pocket 10's!!! Argh!! After that game I went out to get some 5-alive....Mmm...5-alive!!!!

Sunday night I showed up at 7:30 only to find 10 people in Rich's basement! WTF?!? Waited an hour for the first tourny to finish. Managed to convince everybody to play a multi-table tournament the second game (one table of 6 people, one of 5). My fortunes still didn't change...I called all in on 2-pair against a newbie. 2-3-4-5-9 was showing. I had 5's and 9's. She calls...I say do you have the ace..she says no, but I do have a 6! Do'h!!! The next tournament was a 9 player one...since two of the guys left. Down to the final 3 people...I get A-5 Suited. All in...2 callers. One has King/Jack hearts...other A-3 offsuit. King-Jack flops a flush...my night is done.

Monday night...back at home for another tournament. This time I wasn't going to be out done. My favorite hand of the night was: I'm holding Queen - 10 of spades. Flop comes 7 spades, 8 spades, jack spades. I bet 5...everybody folds. Do'h. We see the rest...9 spades and 6 spades...I had a straight flush!! Final hand of the night: I'm holding 5-6 suited. Flop comes 7-8-Queen. It's heads up, so I try to steal the blinds calling all in. Other player calls. Turn is a blank...on the river I catch my 9 and the pot ($70 pot...minus 20 to 2nd place and $10 as my buyin = $40 profit).

And that was my weekend in poker terms.

Another day, another day. Mmm...Mr. Nooodles....cheap and filling! The best way to save money. I've been really slacking off when it comes to bringing lunch to work. At corporate it never really mattered because there was always leftovers in the training room from lunch. But here at a division, food is hard to come by. Well free food at least...there's always the wheel of destiny...err the vending machine down in the lunch room. I guess I could try that out....yeah right. We've got two grocery stores (or supermarkets if you are from Fort Erie) really close by, so selection isn't a problem. Then again, this is Aurora.

Onto poker...lost $30 on Sunday, $10 on Monday. Yay me!!! On Monday I went somewhere in the neighbourhood of an hour without seeing face cards in my hand. Got dealt 2-4 in 3 straight hands, followed by 2-5 off suit. Used my bluffing skills to steal 25 chips with the 2-5! Tried to wait out the tournament for the next half hour....but couldn't get any cards to work with. Went all in on A-5 off suit...tried to steal the blinds....it horribly backfired as Rich showed me pocket 8's. No worries I think....until I saw the 8 come on the flop. I be fucked.

So no hockey...well that's not a total truth, there is the world championships (which if the organizers were smart, they'd be expanding the tournament to feature more round robin games). If Hockey Canada was smart (well...they are, they hold every significant hockey title right now), they'd be organizing a tour of North America to play the US in some "exhibition games". But what do I know about making money? What gets me is there is still talk that they might play a season. Are these guys idiots or something? Well...I'm not going to blame them for negotiating a deal (for the record anything above 42.5 million means the NHL players on average will make more than the NFL players, and we all know which league gets more TV money to offset any gate revenue.

Nothing else much has been going on for me lately. Hit the gym 3 times this week, played poker on Sunday and Monday ($40 and $20 profits) and that was about it. Played a few games of madden and I was done for. Man I forgot how much I love playing Madden.

Will the NHL make up their freakin minds?!? I gotta admit...I'm kinda hungry for some NHL hockey. Probably because there is a lack of anything good on TV right now. Yes I know it's not popular to say this because I'm supposed to be impartial to the whole hockey thing but I'm not. I think this absence of hockey has actually made me crave it. Don't get me wrong though...it's not like I was going to buy a ticket this year anyway.

Personally...I have my doubts there will be a season, but if there is, I love the 28 game idea! So much better than an 82 game season. Maybe it's because I don't usually give a fuck about hockey until Februrary that I feel this way. Because lets face it, the NFL has the best regular season by far (only 16 games). So why doesn't the NHL try to copy the NFL? If only one game is needed to win a playoff round in football, but 4 in hockey...take 16 x 4 and you have 64. The ideal length of an NHL season. But hey, just an idea.

Of course if the NHL season never gets off the ground, how many people will be lining up to see the world championships??? Dear god that'll be a great tournament! If the organizers are smart, they'll capitalize on the lack of an NHL season and milk the tournament for all it's worth. Add extra games for the hell of it so we can see some of our best players again the lesser countries.

I just love this whole NHL lockout stuff. Man what I wouldn't give to be in that negotiating room. It's beyond the point of what's best for the league and now it's down to who can save face. My personal opinion is there should be linkage (revenues tied to salaries) but the owners and teams should all be forced to disclose how much revenue they actually get (by independent accountants...not these enron types). I'll admit though...I am missing hockey now that football is done. And no, I flat out refuse to watch basketball (personal preference).

Ahh well...there's always poker on tv (well not always...just sometimes). And I wonder if there is any relation to the increase in popularity of poker with the lack of Hockey. Ahh well...baseball is only 2 months away...I can wait. And what about that rogers center? You know, if they really want people to come to a game more than once a year, just lower that beer cost. Baseball is a lot more tolerable after I've had a few beers than it is when I'm sober (see Homer Simpson).

Did I ever mention how much I hate the process of buying things at work. Create requisition, get requisition signed. Get requisition electronically signed. Get P.O. get P.O. signed by controller, then GM. Submit PO to vendor. Takes almost 2 weeks to get a freaking keyboard!!!! Bah!

Well...what an interesting weekend I had. Saturday started off pretty good. Went to Abercromibe and Fitch. Score one for me since it was Tax free days in Buffalo!!!! I'm thinking sweet! Got a couple of really nice shirts (I wouldn't be able to pick them out without help). Went to Media Play afterwards (hey...how come nobody told me they stole Jumbo Video's idea of giving away free popcorn...MMmmm...popcorn). Got a Diet Vanilla Cherry Dr. Pepper (tasted really good). Had my first Yoohoo (I don't even know if that's the right spelling) and headed back to Fallsview Casino (I'm figuring hey...my luck is pretty good right now...lets try my luck there!) Well my chaufer misses a turn in the casino parking lot...tries to back track when....scratch! I'll post pics tomorrow...but the rear passenger door has a nice scratch on it...no worries I think (well not true...I cried like a baby for over an hour)...lets go to the Casino and win some money!!!! $20 later...I had a scratched car and no money in my wallet :( But at least I got a free coke!!!

Day didn't end off so bad as I went to Pizza Antica for dinner (by far and away the best pizza in Ontario -- take that Pizza Pizza!!!). Played a couple games of Madden (1 win, 1 loss...did I mention I'm 9-1 in my past 10 games?!?) and went to bed.

Sunday was a new day. Hit the gym early for the gunshow (watch Anchroman again if you still don't know that gunshow is). Showered and headed to the superbowl party...took out $160 cash from the ATM. $65 admission fee, $30 for a hug (and some raffle tickets) left me down to $75 (I had $5 lying around). $10 for the first poker tournament...yeah I was gone quick and I'm down to $65. Time for some blackjack!!! That was a good attempt...I'm down to $5!!! Whats this...the first quater of the superbowl ended at 0-0! 15 % of a $300 pool is $45!!! Yay me...well...lets try another poker tourney...hmm...at least I won my money back on that one. 1 more for the road! Yeah...I'm out another $10 (and now I'm $5 in debt because I borrwed money off him).

Alrighty then...it's raffel time!!! Nope...didn't win the pasta...nope...not the olive oil...nope...not the bike...nope...not the microwave...nope not the two lift tickets to blue mountain! Bah...that's an expensive hug I got :( But wait....there's a draw for a 20-inch slyvania (I know...I thought it was a country too!) flat screen TV!! haha...Seems like I finally won something!!!! Woohoo...I was offered to trade the microwave straight up for the tv...I declined...wasn't until I got home that I realized I should have took the microwave...ahh well :( At least I've got the Slyvania!!!

Monday morning get in to work to collect my money. Seems like I misheard something along the way. The prize pool wasn't $300...it's $500!!!! So instead of $45, I get $75!!!!!!!

Fast forward to Monday night...I skip TJ's...and play another poker tourny. 7 people...my basement, $10 buy-ins winner take all. Started the tournament at 9:45. By 11pm only one person had been eliminated and Edwin was well on his way to winning, holding the chip lead. Midnight came...Edwin still had a 40 chip lead on me but I was catching up. 12:30, rich gets cleaned out by me when I show him Trips Aces. Deal is made that the winner get $50, loser gets $20. 12:45 As Jc 7d was showing on the board. Edwin goes all in, I call with a pair of aces. Edwin flips over his 7 for a pair of 7's. 2 blanks hit, I win! So I start my day with an empty wallet and finish it with $125!!! I'd say Monday was a good day!

Happy groundhog day everybody!!!!

But seriously, on to more important things. I had a talking to by the boss yesterday about my $250 cell phone bill for last month. It wasn't the long distance charges that killed us, it was all the fact that I went 500 minutes over my limit. Well...i've added evenings and weekends to my account so it shouldn't be soo bad (he did have $100 in roaming charges so he couldn't really lecture me). Ahh well...maybe now I'll stop calling Ethopia and asking what's for dinner when I need a good laugh.

I'm eating a panzarotti for lunch today. These things are just not the same unless they are fresh from a deep fryer. Mine was baked yesterday. Yes baked. I know...it disgusts me too but when you don't wanna spend money...you eat things like this.

I know I'm going to jinx it, but I couldn't resist! 3pm and NOT ONE INTERNAL CALL AT WORK!!!! This may be the best day of my life! I feel like getting some take out and doing it twice!!! I do realize though that the day ends at 5 and not 3 and something will surely ruin my day in the next two hours. That's why I'm posting now while I still can! It feels soo good to not be bothered. And my desk is sooo clean! Not to mention I've caught up on paperwork and we're getting two seperate people coming in tomorrow! This may be the best day ever!!!

It's Friday!!! Nobody else has been fired...although I heard it was politics that got the last HR manager removed from here. She wanted to make a change, the GM didn't like it so she left. Ahh well...she had her run here, and now it's over.

Heading out to the Keg tonight for my brother's birthday...mMMMm...steak!!! Then maybe some more poker or drinking...or both!

Played Dark Phoenix in Madden 2005 last night. All I'll say about the game is he did play like a phoenix franchise. Hehe, 1-18 passing with 3 ints!!! My defence caught more of his QB's passes than his offence did! I'll post the game stats once they get e-mailed to me. Anybody wanna challenge the king of madden?!? Final score was 26-7. His only points came off a Joey Harrington fumble returned for a touchdown. I went for two once and had a wide open fullback drop the ball (Harrington was under pressure) and booted two field goals. I also returned one of McNabb's passes all the way!

*UPDATE*

As promised...here are the game stats!

Here are the official results of your Madden NFL 2005 game on 2005.1.28

3:03:08.



Mode: Ranked

Qtr Length: 4 minutes

Difficulty: All-Pro

Opponent: DrKFeniX

Rank: 100001



Score breakdown:



                                 1    2    3    4   OT    F

StuGautzz (Lions)                 0    6    6   14    0   26

DrKFeniX (Eagles)                 0    0    7    0    0    7



Statistics                  StuGautzz         DrKFeniX       

Rushing attempts for                 14               7

Rushing yards for                    78              31

Passing attempts for                 27              18

Passing yards for                   145              11

Punts                                 3               4

Field goals for                       2               0

Long field goals (40+) for            1               0

Rushing touchdowns for                2               0

Passing touchdowns for                0               0

Returns touchdowns for                0               0

Defensive touchdowns for              1               1

Turnovers for                         3               1

Interceptions for                     3               0

Sacks for                             1               6

Number of third downs                 9               7

Third down conversions                4               0

No-huddle plays                       1               0

Audibles called                       7               0

Hot routes used                      10               0

Shotgun plays                        16               0

Blitzes                               5              19

Time of possession                10:53            5:07

2-point conversions tried             0               0

2-point conversions succeeded         0               0

Red zone field goals                  2               0

Red zone touchdowns                   2               0

Red zone opportunities                4               0

First downs                          14               3

First down yards                    137              41

Special teams yards                  18              95

Punt return yards                     0              13

Punt yards                          117             193

Penalties                             0               2

Penalty yards                         0              32

First down rushing plays              6               5

First down passing plays             16               6

Second down rushing plays             7               1

Second down passing plays             9               7

Third down rushing plays              1               1

Third down passing plays              8               6

Fourth down rushing plays             0               0

Fourth down passing plays             0               0

Passes completed                     17               1

Fumbles                               2               0

Fumbles recovered                     0               1

Possessions                          15              14

Third downs, 3 or less yards          3               2

 Successes                           1               0

Third downs, 4 to 9 yards             3               2

 Successes                           2               0

Third downs, 10 or more yards         3               3

 Successes                           1               0

Hurries                               6               5

Knockdowns                            5               1

Passes deflected                      8               5

Passes tipped                         0               0

Offensive yards                     223              42

Total yards                         241             137

Return yards                         18              82

Total touchdowns                      3               1

Here's a kick in the nuts for you: Brushing my teeth this morning. Feeling good that I'll be leaving 10 minutes earlier than normal to battle traffic. When all of a sudden I hear Mr. Plow come by not once...but twice!!! Grrr...and for insult to injury he was on my side of the street first (so I got the bulk of the snow). Well...I attempt to move the pole blaster (which packs on the focus side of the driveway) out of my path so I can release the focus into the wild. Pole blaster goes down the driveway and comes to a nice rest along Mr. Plow's snow work. Grr...the focus is going to be super fucked. Now pole blaster up....nope. It doesn't want to go up the driveway. Back and forth...back and forth...back and forth. Eventually I get it up and the way is cleared for the Focus! Focus down and through the snowbank without a problem at all!!! Man I was shocked....yup...i continued on all the way down to the curb right across the street from me! Well...nothing was damaged so all is good! BUT I HATE YOU MR. PLOW!

Easy come, easy go. Yup, that describes our HR managers. We had 2 full time HR managers leave us last year. Took us 6 months to find a replacement, and she lasts about a month and a half. Wow...what is it about this place that makes people go crazy??? Yup...I definetly need to go somewhere else. But I can't get a transfer for another 6 months. Grrr....maybe I'll find something better in that time!

Kids I'm moving to California!

Hmm...seems the recall may be our fault after all! Still haven't had any new job offers yet...but I'm not quite ready to jump ship either. Meh whatever, I just won't work as hard. Played poker on Saturday (not much else to do when you're snowed in). Despite my attempts to recruit crew members to play...nobody accepted my challenge. But back to poker...I had a great night. We played $10 N/L hold'em tournaments. For those of you that don't know we all put $10 into the pot and each get 50 chips. The one with all the chips at the end of the tournament gets the pot. Saturday we had 6 people...so you would get a $50 profit if you won.

I started out by playing really tight...raising in hands that I obviously had something (and doing nothing to hide the fact). Slowly though...I snuck in a few bluffs but stuck with my strategy. Ended up $50 for the night!!! I won one tournament outright...then made a couple deals another three, and lost the last two. We had about 6 players for two games and 4 for the other 4. It was a good Saturday night!

Anybody hiring for network support? One day after telling my (un)loyal readers that we aren't allowed to buy new PC's until May, I find out the company may get dinged for a recall. Now, while I won't go into details (because I've probably already let you know too much as it is) all I can say is it's time to start handing out resume's because I seriously believe this company is fucked. Second thought...I don't want to be known as somebody that abandons the ship while it's sinking...I probably could get a lot more credibility if I stay on the sinking ship and drown (after all this is a quality/production issue, not related in any way to IT...until they can find something to blame us for...then it'll be our fault).

So that's been my day today. Finding out this great news...well thankfully the parent company has a lot of money and I'm not hated by those in the corporate office (at least I hope I'm not) so I'm gonna stay put.

Just a quick update. I should really be getting home from work. I thought I"d be cool and use an old KVM instead of buying a new one. Well the old one sucks because none of the cables are tied together (think 3 wires for each computer...it's getting messy). Man I gotta let a big fart rip...blogging with your boss in the office...have I sunk to a brand new low? The answer is no. Being late 15 minutes, 10 minutes, 1 hour and 20 minutes on consecutive days is a bad thing, but hey at least I'm up for my review later this month. One of the hot financial analysts from corporate was in today...she remembered me and asked me what I was still doing here. I told her...another few months and then I want to be transfered somewhere closer to home. At least I've got a legitmate reason for asking to be transfered.

That's about it...except one more thing: We've got $80,000 in our budget and can't touch any of it (unless production is stopped) until May!

New Years Resolution:

Be early or on time for everything.

Days resolution lasted (excluding work because that was broken on January 3rd): 8

Alright people, I'm really going to try and be on time for everything now! It's my new years resolution and I plan to getting rid of this habit of being late for everything. See my problem is I try to track things down to the exact minute (see control freak) and there's always something that delays me. So from here on in, I'm going to aim to be everywhere 15 minutes early (exculding work).

That's my resolution and I'm sticking with it!

I know I've been slacking lately with my updates, but so what? That's why it's MY site and not yours!!!! Was up until 4:30 am last night playing Madden. Damm that rushing attack is addictive...I think the final score was 25-14 or something like that for me over the hairy greek. Tons of fun!!!

I went sking last weekend at Blue Mountain. I gotta go again, it was the first time in my life I was ever on ski's and I had a blast doing it! Best part of all was I didn't break anything!!! I think that's the most shocking part.

Poker room opens up in Niagara in 2 days! They better have a good room there. Sure I'm not expecting something like Binions or the Bellagio's poker room, but something like the one in the Luxor would be good enough for me. If anybody has been to the one at the Bellagio you know what I mean, it's simply MASSIVE! Binions has a great poker room as well, but that because they have great people and tons of history there.

Damm, that reminds me, I haven't played poker in 6 days!!!