Sooner or later, I'm going to get around to starting my Christmas shopping. Hopefully within the next week, I hate crowds at malls.

Oh yeah, I forgot to say how much Trans4M makes me want to pull my hair out. Ahh well, at least I'm writing good reports (that they would charge $600 for, but I'm donating to the public for free). Yes, that's Trans4M the ERP system that blows.

Anybody have a better way to optimize this query?

SELECT
V_AR_TRANS_PART.CUST_PART_NUM,
MAX(V_AR_TRANS_PART.CUST_PART_NUM_DESC) PART_DESC,
SUM(V_AR_TRANS_PART.EXT_AMT) EXT_AMT,
SUM(V_AR_TRANS_PART.QTY) QUANTITY,
V_AR_TRANS_HDR.CUST_SHIPTO,
V_AR_TRANS_HDR.FCS_CUST_NUM,
AVG(V_AR_TRANS_HDR.FUNC_EQUIV) EXCHANGE_RATE,
V_AR_TRANS_HDR.SHIPTO_CITY,
MAX(V_AR_TRANS_HDR.AR_TRANS_NUM) INVOICE_NUMBER,
(V_AR_TRANS_HDR_TAX_DATA.TAX_PCT * 1) TAXABLE_RATE
from
V_AR_TRANS_PART,
V_AR_TRANS_HDR,
V_AR_TRANS_HDR_TAX_DATA
WHERE
V_AR_TRANS_PART.CREATE_DATE >= ?
AND V_AR_TRANS_PART.CREATE_DATE <= ?
AND HDR_KEY NOT LIKE 'C%'
AND V_AR_TRANS_PART.HDR_KEY = V_AR_TRANS_HDR.AR_TRANS_NUM
AND V_AR_TRANS_PART.HDR_KEY = V_AR_TRANS_HDR_TAX_DATA.KEY_ID
GROUP BY
V_AR_TRANS_PART.CUST_PART_NUM,
V_AR_TRANS_HDR.CUST_SHIPTO,
V_AR_TRANS_HDR.FCS_CUST_NUM,
V_AR_TRANS_HDR.FUNC_EQUIV,
V_AR_TRANS_HDR.SHIPTO_CITY,
V_AR_TRANS_HDR_TAX_DATA.TAX_PCT
UNION
SELECT
V_AR_TRANS_PART.CUST_PART_NUM,
MAX(V_AR_TRANS_PART.CUST_PART_NUM_DESC) PART_DESC,
SUM(V_AR_TRANS_PART.EXT_AMT * -1) EXT_AMT,
SUM(V_AR_TRANS_PART.QTY) QUANTITY,
V_AR_TRANS_HDR.CUST_SHIPTO,
V_AR_TRANS_HDR.FCS_CUST_NUM,
AVG(V_AR_TRANS_HDR.FUNC_EQUIV) EXCHANGE_RATE,
V_AR_TRANS_HDR.SHIPTO_CITY,
MAX(V_AR_TRANS_HDR.AR_TRANS_NUM) INVOICE_NUMBER,
(V_AR_TRANS_HDR_TAX_DATA.TAX_PCT * 1) TAXABLE_RATE
from
V_AR_TRANS_PART,
V_AR_TRANS_HDR,
V_AR_TRANS_HDR_TAX_DATA
WHERE
V_AR_TRANS_PART.CREATE_DATE >= ?
AND V_AR_TRANS_PART.CREATE_DATE <= ?
AND HDR_KEY LIKE 'C%'
AND V_AR_TRANS_PART.HDR_KEY = V_AR_TRANS_HDR.AR_TRANS_NUM
AND V_AR_TRANS_PART.HDR_KEY = V_AR_TRANS_HDR_TAX_DATA.KEY_ID
GROUP BY
V_AR_TRANS_PART.CUST_PART_NUM,
V_AR_TRANS_HDR.CUST_SHIPTO,
V_AR_TRANS_HDR.FCS_CUST_NUM,
V_AR_TRANS_HDR.FUNC_EQUIV,
V_AR_TRANS_HDR.SHIPTO_CITY,
V_AR_TRANS_HDR_TAX_DATA.TAX_PCT
UNION
Select
V_AR_TRANS_MISC.ITEM_NUM,
MAX(V_AR_TRANS_MISC.ITEM_DESC) PART_DESC,
SUM(V_AR_TRANS_MISC.ITEM_PRICE * V_AR_TRANS_MISC.ITEM_QTY) EXT_AMT,
SUM(V_AR_TRANS_MISC.ITEM_QTY) QUANTITY,
V_AR_TRANS_HDR.CUST_SHIPTO,
V_AR_TRANS_HDR.FCS_CUST_NUM,
AVG(V_AR_TRANS_HDR.FUNC_EQUIV) EXCHANGE_RATE,
V_AR_TRANS_HDR.SHIPTO_CITY,
MAX(V_AR_TRANS_HDR.AR_TRANS_NUM) INVOICE_NUMBER,
(V_AR_TRANS_HDR_TAX_DATA.TAX_PCT * 1) TAXABLE_RATE
FROM
V_AR_TRANS_MISC,
V_AR_TRANS_HDR,
V_AR_TRANS_HDR_TAX_DATA
WHERE
V_AR_TRANS_MISC.REC_CREAT_DATE >= ?
AND V_AR_TRANS_MISC.REC_CREAT_DATE <= ?
AND V_AR_TRANS_MISC.HDR_KEY NOT LIKE 'C%'
AND V_AR_TRANS_MISC.HDR_KEY = V_AR_TRANS_HDR.AR_TRANS_NUM
AND V_AR_TRANS_MISC.HDR_KEY = V_AR_TRANS_HDR_TAX_DATA.KEY_ID
GROUP BY
V_AR_TRANS_MISC.ITEM_NUM,
V_AR_TRANS_HDR.CUST_SHIPTO,
V_AR_TRANS_HDR.FCS_CUST_NUM,
V_AR_TRANS_HDR.FUNC_EQUIV,
V_AR_TRANS_HDR.SHIPTO_CITY,
V_AR_TRANS_HDR_TAX_DATA.TAX_PCT
UNION
Select
V_AR_TRANS_MISC.ITEM_NUM,
MAX(V_AR_TRANS_MISC.ITEM_DESC) PART_DESC,
SUM(V_AR_TRANS_MISC.ITEM_PRICE * V_AR_TRANS_MISC.ITEM_QTY * -1) EXT_AMT,
SUM(V_AR_TRANS_MISC.ITEM_QTY) QUANTITY,
V_AR_TRANS_HDR.CUST_SHIPTO,
V_AR_TRANS_HDR.FCS_CUST_NUM,
AVG(V_AR_TRANS_HDR.FUNC_EQUIV) EXCHANGE_RATE,
V_AR_TRANS_HDR.SHIPTO_CITY,
MAX(V_AR_TRANS_HDR.AR_TRANS_NUM) INVOICE_NUMBER,
(V_AR_TRANS_HDR_TAX_DATA.TAX_PCT * 1) TAXABLE_RATE
FROM
V_AR_TRANS_MISC,
V_AR_TRANS_HDR,
V_AR_TRANS_HDR_TAX_DATA
WHERE
V_AR_TRANS_MISC.REC_CREAT_DATE >= ?
AND V_AR_TRANS_MISC.REC_CREAT_DATE <= ?
AND V_AR_TRANS_MISC.HDR_KEY LIKE 'C%'
AND V_AR_TRANS_MISC.HDR_KEY = V_AR_TRANS_HDR.AR_TRANS_NUM
AND V_AR_TRANS_MISC.HDR_KEY = V_AR_TRANS_HDR_TAX_DATA.KEY_ID
GROUP BY
V_AR_TRANS_MISC.ITEM_NUM,
V_AR_TRANS_HDR.CUST_SHIPTO,
V_AR_TRANS_HDR.FCS_CUST_NUM,
V_AR_TRANS_HDR.FUNC_EQUIV,
V_AR_TRANS_HDR.SHIPTO_CITY,
V_AR_TRANS_HDR_TAX_DATA.TAX_PCT

I knew I should have updated the rest of my trip story. Long story short, San Diego is boring, saw Jimmy Kimmel live and San Diego is boring. One day I'll finish off that post...one day.

Sorry I've been slacking with this lately. I don't know what's been going on, I build up good momentum on my blog, and then don't update it at all. Ahh well.

Arrive in Vegas on a Thursday night and guess what? IT'S PORING!! I've never seen it rain in Vegas before, and neither have the people who constructed the airport either! It was leaking everywhere!! Makes you wonder how efficient their cooling system is with all the leaks in the roof.

Well, first night was spent in the Luxor casino (which is beginning to show the signs of a beauty queen from 20 years still clinging to old glory...in other words, it's the exact same as it was when it opened 15 years ago, good...but you gotta do something to keep up with the times.

Second day Charlene and I woke up early (which is easy to do with all the oxygen being pumped into your room) and walked all the way down to Slots O Fun. I love those cheesy old casinos...they've got something the bigger places don't: cheap drinks and low limits!

Went to the Mandaly Bay Buffet for dinner. A good choice, not as good as Treasure Island or The Bellagio, but much better than the Aladdin in my opinion. Friday night was spent drinking/gambling (as nights always end). Played some poker at the Luxor (they've got a ghey 50 min/50 max 1/1/2 no limit structure there).

Ok, time for my Vegas Vacation 2006 recap!

Day 1

Flight was supposed to depart at 6:30am...it was pissing rain. Needless to say, the flight was delayed. 3 1/2 hours delayed in fact. So I send a few text messages out while on board the plane and what do I find out? My connection has already taken off from Detroit...FUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKk! We finally land on the ground around 11:30. Long story short, I have to connect in Atlanta to get to San Francisco. By the time I get to San Fran and check into the hotel, it's 8pm...or 11pm my time on a day that I didn't sleep the night before. Once I hit the bed at the hilton, that was it for me. Those beds are soooooooo soft!

Next day, I wake up, grab some sour dough french toast for breakfast...sooooooooo good! Take the ferry to the alcatraz tour. A must see! Get back to Fisherman's wharf, do the touristy area, grab some clam chowder in a sourdough bowl. Head up to Union Square for a bit, ride the trolley and walk down the crooked street. Board a plane and head for vegas.

Vegas will be part II of my Vegas Vacation 06

I've been a bit busier than I thought I would be the last few days, sorry for the lack of a trip report. I'll try to put one up tomorrow, but you'll have to keep coming back to find out if I actually do or not.

Meanwhile, I'm working on a few new queries in Trans4M. This one is to view a list of stockroom issues (parts leaving the stockroom). I hope somebody out there in this world needs it.

SELECT
V_STKRM_MSTR.ACCT_GROUP,
V_STKRM_MSTR.AVG_UNIT_COST,
V_STKRM_MSTR.PART_DESC,
V_STKRM_MSTR.PART_NUM,
V_STKRM_MSTR.STKG_UOM,
V_ACCT_CLASS_TABLE.ACCT_GROUP_DESC,
V_SRC_BAL_HIST.TRANS_QTY * 1 TRANS_QTY,
V_SRC_BAL_HIST.TRANS_TYPE_ACT_CODE,
V_SRC_BAL_HIST.UPD_DATE,
V_SRC_DTL_HIST.EMPL_ID,
V_SRC_DTL_HIST.INV_VAL,
V_SRC_DTL_HIST.SRC_DEPT,
V_SRC_DTL_HIST.SRC_MACH_CNTR,
V_SRC_DTL_HIST.SRC_UNIT_COST * 1 SRC_UNIT_COST,
V_SRC_DTL_HIST.TRANS_REAS_CODE_INFO
FROM
V_STKRM_MSTR,
V_SRC_BAL_HIST,
V_SRC_DTL_HIST,
V_ACCT_CLASS_TABLE
WHERE
({ fn LEFT(V_STKRM_MSTR.ACCT_GROUP, 2) } = ?)
AND (V_SRC_BAL_HIST.UPD_DATE >= ?)
AND (V_SRC_BAL_HIST.UPD_DATE <= ?)
AND (V_SRC_BAL_HIST.TRANS_TYPE_ACT_CODE = ?)
AND V_STKRM_MSTR.PART_NUM = V_SRC_BAL_HIST.PART_NUM
AND V_SRC_BAL_HIST.TRANS_ID = V_SRC_DTL_HIST.KEY_ID
AND V_STKRM_MSTR.ACCT_GROUP = V_ACCT_CLASS_TABLE.ACCT_GROUP

ORDER BY
V_STKRM_MSTR.ACCT_GROUP,
V_STKRM_MSTR.PART_NUM,
V_SRC_BAL_HIST.UPD_DATE,
V_SRC_DTL_HIST.EMPL_ID

If not, no big deal at least if I ever leave this company, I'll have something to look back on.

Well I'm back from my vacation. It was too short (12 days just isn't enough, I could have easily spent another 2 weeks there). I'll do a full recap later on when I get home. Needless to say I had a great time in Southern California (as always) and I seriously want to move there (if it wasn't sooo expensive, I'd probably be there right n0w).

Ok, so I've updated my query to remove the union and replace it with an inner view. Which is good, because I get all the data I need in one row (instead of two) now. Great, sweet! Want to know what sucks, it takes 15 seconds to execute now instead of 2 seconds!!! Ahh well, at least reporting services can hide all the crap for me.

Just in case you were wondering, here's the query.

SELECT bad.HourOfDay as timeHourOfDay, bad.badParts, good.GoodParts FROM
(SELECT
DATEPART("hh",PD_000_00) AS HourOfDay,
COUNT(PD_010_05 ) AS badParts
FROM
RAS3524_ProcessData
WHERE
PD_000_00 >= (getDate() - 1)
AND PD_000_00 <= (getDate())
AND (PD_200_02 <> 'PASS')
GROUP BY
DATEPART("hh",PD_000_00)
) AS bad,
(
SELECT
DATEPART("hh",PD_000_00) AS HourOfDay,
Count(PD_010_05) AS GoodParts
FROM
RAS3524_ProcessData
WHERE
PD_000_00 >= (getDate() - 1)
AND PD_000_00 <= (getDate())
AND (PD_200_02 = 'PASS')
GROUP BY
DATEPART("hh",PD_000_00)
) AS good

WHERE bad.HourOfDay = good.HourOfDay

ORDER BY

timeHourOfDay

And yes, this may be the worst DB for data collection I've ever seen. It'll mark a part as failed, but NOWHERE in the database will it give you the error code it failed on (or even a column to search)

I've showed my progress to the engineer of the line...he's really impressed. Line of the year for me was

"The guys in CI (continuous Improvement) have been trying to get something like this going for years "

My reply "That's why it's called continous improvement...they never finish anything"

We're moving forward (almost at full steam) with my project. I've been given various ideas such as a counter for reject reason, and a graph charting where they are coming from, and production by shift by hour. Both these things can easily be done (well, if the database had been written right, the error counters would be simple, but as always with databases at work, they make ZERO sense). God, was I the only person in this world with Norm Olsen as a teacher???

So I showed off my little report to the controller yesterday. The one with the live data collection. He almost blew his load, he really liked what he saw (and accountants normally don't show emotion). Kinda good to know that I'll have some nice software up and running by the time I go on vacation next week. And then I'll pull a Costanza and leave on a high note! Ahhh yes, my master plan is slowly coming together, just in time for performance reviews!!

Ok for those wonder what I did to get the live updates for datacollection, here it is in a nutshell.

The query to group my results by hour of the day (it still needs work done, i'm going to turn it into a subquery one of these days.

SELECT
DATEPART("hh",PD_000_00),
COUNT(PD_200_02) AS TotalParts,
SUM(PD_010_05 * 0) AS Good
FROM
RAS3524_ProcessData
WHERE
PD_000_00 >= (SELECT CONVERT(char(10), GETDATE(), 112))
AND (PD_200_02 <> 'PASS')
GROUP BY
DATEPART("hh",PD_000_00)
UNION
SELECT
DATEPART("hh",PD_000_00),
COUNT(PD_200_02) AS TotalParts,
SUM(PD_010_05) AS Good
FROM
RAS3524_ProcessData
WHERE
PD_000_00 >= (SELECT CONVERT(char(10), GETDATE(), 112))
AND (PD_200_02 = 'PASS')
GROUP BY
DATEPART("hh",PD_000_00)
ORDER BY
DATEPART("hh",PD_000_00)

That gives me my parts made. First part of the union is for rejected parts, second part is good parts. In reporting services, I do a conditional sum based on the good column (if good > 0 add total parts). Now with that done, I created a subscription in reporting services to create a web archive based on the the above report (it's got a graph too).

Now, we have a few plasma screens in the production offices displaying current counts. In powerpoint, I inserted a webpage and had it dynamically update (the feature is built into 2003, I'm not sure about powerpoint 2000) so every time the slide is shown, we get updated reject information (10 minutes delayed, but still good enough)!

Next project of mine, is to do the same thing, but for shipping schedules with the datasource being TRANS4M instead of SQL Server.

I'm adding one more thing to my little project today. Using reporting services, I'm going to graph the daily production reports (15 minute intervals) and output that to our web server. I'm also going to try and get this to be dynamically updated in powerpoint (by linking to a file) so that everybody in the lunchroom can see how we're doing for the current day.

I've just signed up with adsense on my site. Lets see how much it'll bring in for me. If I get $5 I'll be a VERY happy guy!

I'm still working on my big idea at work. It's going to center around 3 big principles:

1) ASP Webpage with live production numbers for the current day.
2) A report in reporting services that will e-mail weekly production numbers to the management team
3) An hourly agent to notify the appropriate people when something starts going wrong on the line.

Amazing that a company with revenues in the the hundres of millions doesn't have this yet, I'll post up my work as I go (so in case I ever leave this place, I'll have a copy of what I've done).

Thanks for all those who submitted ideas to me (zero).

Rando idea for work:

pull production data out of database, plot and graph (using reporting services) problem areas of the lines and tell the six sigma fuckers how to fix it.

I think I may just be excited about going to work again, and if I ever actually pull off this idea, I see big things for my future. (yes, I was reading forbes today and was inspired.)

If anybody has an idea for something I can do at work (I'm talking a programming project on the side, related to manufacturing) please let me know.

Man those lions need to learn how to NOT beat themselves. That's all I'll say about them.

Went to Giancarlo's wedding on Saturday. Good times, saw some OLD pictures from when we were kids, plust a few pics from my first F1 race (circa 2002) and a few Bills-Dolphins football games (noteably the one in a 2002 snow storm).

Do a search on google for me As of today, my digg profile comes up before this website! WTF is going on here?!? And yes as you can see according to my digg profile, I have no friends! I guess that doesn't make me one of them. Which is good!

My blog is over 4 years old. Wow.

I'm counting down the last hour of my day here...praying I get out of here by 5...only 1 hour to go. I've found myself a nice deal on a convertible mustang for my San Diego Trip. 53.09 a day! Not too shabby! Gonna rent one for two days and drive up to LA and back. Should be fun...and unlimited miles!!!! Used coupon code U024100 at budget.com for those interested. Now I gotta book some hotels in San Francisco and Las Vegas (well, book a room at the luxor there, I'm not finding any special deals right now).

Heading back to Senneca tonight. I'm hoping that I can get a descent table like I had last week. Just gotta play my game and keep everybody else guessing and I'll do fine. Speaking of doing fine, I can't wait for Vegas. I'm really looking forward to it. I think this time more than the previous times, I want to gamble (which means, I'll lose more money than the previous trips).

Football season starts in 6 days (well, 9 for the rest of us non-Dolphin/Steeler fans). LETS GO LIONS...of course if you have been reading up, you'll know they'll tank the first 8 weeks, and be really bad.

37 Days and counting until my October Vacation 2006 begins! I know what you're thinking. What kind of person takes a vacation in October? Well, simply put, it's a cheap time to travel. Also, work is usually pretty busy, so it's a good time to get away. Plus, I hate it when my destination is much cooler than my home, so I stopped taking July vacations.

This year I'm heading to San Francisco on October 4th. On the 5th I fly to Las Vegas for 3 nights. On the night of the 8th I fly to San Diego and spend a week there with my sister and leave on the 15th. Using a bunch of travel tools (farecompare, orbitz, usairwaysvacations and kayak) and a TON of time I tested just about every theory I had going to find the best deal possible. End result was my 4 flights only cost me $600 cdn.

Among the stranger things: MUCH cheaper to fly into San Francisco than it was to fly into Vegas, LAX or San Diego. Booking a hotel in vegas on usairwaysvactions gave me the same price for 4 nights as it did for 3 nights. And it pays to book about 2 months to 1 1/2 months before your departure. The closer you get to one month, the less you find available deals.

Now all that's left are hotels in San Francisco and a nice car rental for my time in San Diego.

I'm going to keep this post short becuase the last few times I've tried making a huge post, it's crapped out on me. Last Sunday I went to beer fest at fort york. A great party and a definite must for anybody that likes trying new beers. A definite must try is this apple beer I had. Taste like apple juice with alcohol (and much better than cider).

Went up to Port Perry yesterday. I don't think I'll ever see a hotter black jack table. I saw a woman put $25 down on pairs plus (if your two cards at blackjack are the same you get 25 - 1 payout, if they're a mixed pair it's 6-1) and hit it...TWICE!!!!!! Add to that we went 2 hours with the dealer not once getting blackjack. Good times indeed.

I went to Montreal on the weekend. I really like Old Montreal with it's narrow streets and old buildings. Would make a great place for a condo development since it seems as if it's empty right now. They wanted $4 admission to visit Notre Dame Basillica. WHAT KIND OF BS IS THAT?? I flat out refuse to pay for anything like that. The drive back was a bitch, stop and go between Kingston and Port Hope. Over all, I liked Montreal though.

My week started out busy, but now it's grind to a halt. And not just one of those bumps in the road, I'm mean nobody talking, phone not ringing, not even the accountants are banging away at their keyboards. And shutdown WAS LAST WEEK!

Ahh well, it's the way she goes I guess. Speaking of the way she goes, how about that world cup. MY theory finally came true, I keep denouncing soccer and claim it's not a sport, and look who wins??? ITALY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh man, what a day that was, we got to St. Clair (for you out of towners, thats the tradiational Italian street in Toronto...I say traditional, because 30 years ago, it was strictly Italian, now it's about 1/3 Italian, 1/3 Portugese and 1/3 everything else. I think it's still the spirital centre, but really, most Italians have moved up north to Woodbridge (a suburb of Toronto).

But back to the World Cup. Parking was a nightmare there as St. Clair was closed off for the Corso Italia Festival (an excuse to shut down the street every year, complete with live entertainment). We ended up finding a spot, a 20 minute uphill walk from St. Clair at some mall. Good enough, I won't be getting any tickets and no parallel parking!! Walk up to Eden (not the garden, the restaurant) and order some food and beer. Mid way through the first round of beer the good people from Bramah come by to offer us a free bottle.

First 10 minutes of the game and Italy is down a goal on a BS call (see my earlier declaration that soccer is not a sport). 20 minutes later, we're all even. By the end of the first half, France is dying and Italy has all the momentum.

2nd half, Italy scores and the place goes INSANE!!! But wait, it was offside, goal doesn't count. Overtime begins and most are hoping for another heroic goal like we had against Germany. Zidane headbutts Materazzi, no call. There was almost a riot...then, in a scene right out of pro wrestling, the linesman calls the ref over to speak. Ref is informed what happens and pulls the red card out of his pocket. Yes, we've all seen that in pro wrestling a hundred times and we all still love it.

I meant to post that two weeks ago...I guess I kinda slacked. After the game it was amazing on St. Clair 100,000 people all waving Italian flags and having a good time. I think just about everybody that was Italian there saw at least 4 or 5 friends/family members they haven't seen in years. Two things stick out for me the most.

1) Passing St. Clair and Dufferin and just seeing cars/flags as far as the eye could see.
2) Seeing reunion after reunion of people just going crazy over the world cup victory.

It just goes to show you, the Italians invented the world cup street party in Toronto, and we still do it better than anybody else.

Saw Superman in Imax. I liked the movie, imax was alright (the whole movie isn't 3d...only 3 1/2 scenes (the 1/2 scene lasts about 30 seconds). It was worth the experience, but I don't think I'd do it again. I'd rather be at the drive in watching a movie. It's just a more enjoyable experience there, don't ask why, it just is.

World cup is almost over, and the more I watch it, the more I realize Soccer is no more a sport than Poker. Soccer players playing poker, now THAT would be funny! They win a big pot, run around the table and take off their shirt. They lose one, they go down in pain like they just got shot.

I had my first (sober) meal at McDonalds in almost a year yesterday. It reminded me why I stopped eating there. But it did taste good.

It's Friday! I intend to keep my boycott of posting anything related to the world cup other than stating this: Soccer is still a B.S. game and no matter how much you get your hopes up, you'll end up getting screwed over in the end. End of story.

I'm already going through hockey withdrawl...ahh well, October is only 3 months away. Kinda makes you think though...damm hockey season is really long and they STILL complain about the schedule...what ever happend to playing less games?

Work is DEAD right now. We're talking 2 world cup games a day and 2 hours of reading British newspapers. Yeah, the guardian does have decent coverage (and I am weary of any north american paper covering soccer since they only do it once every 4 years). Speaking of 4 years...guess who's blog is turning 4 years old soon??? Has it been that long? The answer is yes, and a big FU to all the people (nobody) who said my blog wouldn't last more than a month! And an even bigger FU to any blogs that have come and gone in between. And a big FU to anybody that's French (I don't need a reason).

Bah, Carolina beat Edmonton...the summer is a write off. Had Edmonton kept up the physical play that brought them to game 7 of the cup, they would have won for sure. Why they didn't come out swinging is beyond me. Watching that game 7 made me realize just how more exciting hockey is than any other sport (in my opinion). I would love to see a world cup final come close to the energy level those players had for 60 minutes. I don't think any sport can match up with that. And I know I knock on the Carolina fans a lot, but I'm going to give them credit. They were on their feet making noise the whole game. Not to mention singing the national anthems of both countries pretty loud (just nowhere close to Edmonton loud...I hope this is a trend that catches on). Whoever sang the anthem in Carolina was pretty hot, although it was funny to hear the crowd jump ahead of her on the Canadian anthem and then struggle to wait for her to catch up. Damm she was hot...and since when did they have cheerleaders in hockey??? Heres to hoping the world cup will be good (which it won't) and Italy won't get screwed (which they will). I can do without soccer as long as I have hockey and game 7 last night made me realize why.

For a change I was allowed to visit another division today to do some work for them. Nothing special, just migrating 3 accounts over. I told the resident IT admin what I was doing AFTER I was finished (this way no politics would get in my way). All 3 world cup games suck today and don't get me started on the Italy game from Saturday. There were crooked refs in the Brazil-Australia game yesterday, which only reinforces my point that soccer is not a real sport, that's why fighting is not allowed. It's hot outside, but I finally rememberd to spray lysol into my air intake...ahhh clean air now, and no more of that fungus smell! Damm, this afternoon is going to drag on.

Another day brings another post...it's soooo slow here at work, but at least my blog is seeing activity again...although I think all my readers have spontaneously combusted. I'm trying to find work to do here, but as of now, no luck. Not like anybody will give me anything to do, and I'm not dumb enough to ask for work. I guess with all this extra time I might be able to proof read my blog, but that goes against everything I believe in. At least it's sunny outside so when I go for my walk at lunch I can enjoy it. Speaking of lunch, I've got left over porchetta on top of baby romanie leaves with greek dressing and some cantelope for desert.

I had a bbq on saturday...thank god nobody saw how high the flames got when the burgers started dripping...there would have been serious trouble

I've been playing around with AJAX a bit, and I'm pretty impressed. I've made my own portal for the company (things are really slow here...I need something to do) and I'm taking on just about any programming job that comes my way here.

That TVU player rocks! The live world cup streaming has kept my sanity over the past few days. GO ITALY!

I really like the new layout of my webpage, but I think I've already mentioned that before. Worldcup seems to be pretty good. I've found a nice site with world cup 2006 streaming video!!!! Ok...it's about 5 minutes behind the TSN feed, but it's good enough when you're at work. Quality is good too. You may need the player

I like the new layout here...looks fresh. The old needed to be retired (espically since most of the links didn't work and I never bothered to fix the CSTcrew pictures). Ahh well...the first two people to IM me get their links on the sidebar.

Gonna test this out once again.

What do you think of the new layout? It's a blogger template, so I might change it in the future, but I like it. Comments to come soon too.

It's such a nice day outside, why the fuck am I at work?? Ahh well, I'm not going to complain, at least I've got a good view of the airport from my desk (ok, my back is to the window, but you get the idea). You ever realize how when girls cut their hair short it adds AT LEAST 5 years to their estimated age??? We have two girls here that recently cut their hair short, and I swear...they went from looking in their mid 20's to early 30's overnight...not cool at all

I'm writing more reports at work. Whoever invented Unidata and Trans4M should be shot. Hey guys, lets make our database ODBC complient, but simple things like using max in a group by function won't work for dates unless you multiply your date by 1....WHO THE FUCK MULTIPLIES DATES BY 1 TO GET A RESULT IN A GROUP BY FUNCTION???? Never mind that ANY SQL querey builder won't work with Unidata, as unidata has it's own (undocumented) formats and (documented) formats that just spit out errors. Gotta love that shit!!!

Reporting services is a great tool...but it has it's faults like anything else.

Did I mention Trans4M sucks?

well...turns out the dixie chicks career didn't TOTTALY tank It's a shame too...I was hoping for a lesbian spread from the three...ahh well

You know, sometimes I wonder why I just don't get it over and move to Europe. I mean, their working hours are less and their productivity is higher. It goes back to one of my old theories...the more time you have, the more time you waste. Just go back and think about it for a second, who hasn't waited until the last minute to finish a project in school? Why get it over with now, you still have 2 or 3 weeks until it's due? Give people more time, they'll slack off more. Give them less time and they'll rush around to complete it. Maybe that makes too much common sense for most people, who knows?

Use the heat from a car engine to brew coffee while you drive. Add a bottle of water weekly and some coffee grinds (filter changes would be necessary) and make your own coffee while you drive to work. Single cup dispenser (those fancy metal ones that keep your coffee warm) with a spill proof design (or at least something very close to one).

Crazy idea for today: Bet on horse races using live odds, but with fake money. Turn it into 3-4 race tournaments to encourage users to stick around and give out prizes (free meals at the racetrack restaurant, gift certificates to wager with, etc).

This blog is now a crazy ideas blog. Please note, if any patents are filed for devices similar to this after today's date, I'm going to pull a RIM lawsuit on you.

1) Mobile device tied in with satellite radio to allow you to bet on horse races while you drive (good for those stuck in traffic...gives you something to do).

2) Real time blood pressure monitor that is WiFi enabled. Lets doctors get real time updates on a variety of paitents all from their office.

That's it for now, as I get these ideas at work, I'll post them up.

Since when did blogging become a legitimate form of news? All of a sudden a few people in the media got a hold of blogging and it's become legitimate??? WTF?? I compare blogging with that homeless guy yelling out to anybody will listen. Sure he's making a noise, but does anybody really care and should we be taking him seriously? If the answer is yes, then put a keyboard and WiFi connection in front of him and call him a blogger on inner city relations. He's got his ear to the ground (litteraly, he sleeps there at night). I should create a phony history and see if I get picked up by a media outlet. That'd be pretty good...and you all know I'd have a field day with something like that. Espically if it's the AMERICAN media...yeah the ones who are picking on Neil Young for expressing his opinion. Evidently unless you're a citizen of the USA (not just a resident) you're not allowed to call for an impeachment. He did bring up a good point towards the end of the article.

"I was waiting for someone to come along, some young singer 18 to 22 years old,
to write these songs and stand up," Young told The Los Angeles Times.
"I waited a long time. Then I decided that maybe the generation that has to do this
is still the Sixties generation."

Well...the Dixie Chicks tried that, and look what it did for their career. He should have said we need somebody Intelligent and Talented to stand up and make a name for themself. Sadly, this won't happen which is why the established artists have to do it themselves.

Holy shit I've updated my site once again!!! I actually thought about doing it three or four times this week, but motivation is lacking. I'm not making any money off this site, and I highly doubt I have any readers. In fact the only thing keeping this site alive is knowing I've been going strong for well over 3 years (soon to be 4!!!) So what's happend since the last update, I went to Puerto Plata for a week...a mixed bag of weather, some good some not soo good, but good beer. I'll say that, the drinks were good. Went out to D Martini's last night...some loser in a pimp hat tried to hook me up with a girl...then pointed at my girlfriend...I said to him "That's my girlfriend you dick!" he took a step back, sized me up, then walked away. He knew not to mess with somebody from the hood.

I know, I'm really beginning to slack with these updates...now that blogging has gone mainstream, I don't feel as cool as I once did. Ahh well, that's the way she goes I guess. I'm thinking about maybe making my blog political so I can get some more readers...hmm...maybe I'll do that, maybe I will. Until then, I want to blog about something that I think has been a long time coming. Selling power back to the grid. What a great idea, generate my own electricty and what I have left over, I'll sell to the poor sap that doesn't want to be green. Espically with inventions like this, I don't know why more businesses don't a) invest in this or b) develop more of this technology. Just think of how one financial burned could be turned into a cash cow. Easily chop off a few thousand a month in expenses and turn it into a revune stream. Ideas don't get much easier than that. Add in a few solar panels and your set!! This is almost as good as my idea to turn stationary bikes into power generation for the gym. People are peddling already and most of that energy goes to waste (yes I know some of it powers that little display you have on in front of you), but still, you can do so much more with that energy.

I still have a blog?? Wow, I almost forgot about this thing. Good thing nobody still reads it anymore. I'm voting conservative on Monday...finally we'll see those liberal fags voted out of office...anybody that was in my poly sci classes in high school or university or college knows my deep hatred for all things liberal...their campaign seems to be good this year...vote for us because the "other" guys have a "hidden agenda"...really good way to run your campaign...don't bother with a platform when you can tear apart the other guys platform...that way when you actually get to office...you can't be acused of breaking any promises...actaully it's not a bad idea.