Snagged By The Web Again

So you've gotta love it when you try to move on from a person, an event or both when you come across something that brings you right back into what you've been trying to move on from. Case in point, this past Thursday, I was out with the folks from work enjoying a much needed end of shift soiree. More than a few pints were put back and the jovial state was not confined to my being.

At the end of the night, we were saying our goodbye and goodnights when I saw someone crossing the road that looked very familiar to me. Turns out he was my ex's roommate's ex boyfriend. Ok, you caught up there? We always got on well so it was only natural to sit down and have a drink with him. I knew he was still in contact with his ex, who is traveling with my ex down in Australia so I tried for a while not to talk about her. I figure that I've spent enough of the last year thinking about her that I didn't need to dwell anymore.

As it turns out, the conversation inevitably turned to Jeannie (mine) and Lauren (his). He asked if I had spoken to Jeannie at all and I told him that I had a few weeks ago, but beyond that not that much at all. I explained that after we broke up we'd kept the conversations light hearted and civil, but limited and that I hadn't even seen her since the night we broke up. Just let her go and not be up in her face with it all. Hard but right thing to do, you know... It's not to say that I didn't think about or want to talk to her, but anyway...

Without much preparation, or warning, Dave let drop that she'd started seeing another guy after she and I had broken up. Let me go back a few and just say that Dave is of the very cool dude variety; think surfer or Michelangelo from TMNT. So when he said, "Yeah Jeannie started seeing another guy named Mike (something or another) eh? You were totally the rebound guy.", it knocked me back a few.

I wasn't completely mad at him for doing so. He meant no harm by it but needless to say it caught me rather off guard. It was something that I realized was a possibility, but I took her on her word for her reasons for breaking up: not wanting the commitment when she went on her travels, and not knowing if she'd be in the same city as me to live or work before she left. I just thought it might have taken a while longer than it did. So hearing that she’d started seeing a friend of his made me feel just a little stupid and insignificant. I knew the possibility existed and I even had my suspicions at some points, but I didn’t really want to accept it.

That moment was brief though, and I quickly put it to the back of my mind. I am going about things these days with a new approach and attitude and there isn’t much time allotted to wallowing in self-pity. After all, what right did I have to expect her to stay single at least until she left? Any and all reasons would be personal and selfish, the designs of which would have only been for the preservation of a bruised ego and broken heart. I guess it’s something I’ll deal with down the road, but by then who knows, there may not be anything I’ll remember to deal with.

Name Change Candidate

Sometimes you know you're just not meant to win. It's just too bad this guy is always going to lose in the game of life.

The Things We Do

On the way home a few days ago, I ended up taking the same train home as my sister. When we got to our stop, she challenged me to a race to the station doors to avoid the slow walkers as they exited the train.

" I'll race you."

"Where?"

"To the door, I hate getting herded like cattle by all the slow people when they get out of the train."

"Are you serious?"

"Yes."

"Really?"

"Oh yeah."

Oh dear...

Nevermind the fact that we are what society considers adults having this conversation, it was done aloud and on a crowded train. There was also a cute girl in a smart business outfit who was rather amused with our antics. I don't think she thought we were actually going to do it, but she obviously doesn't know my family.

The business class and rush hour deadheads don't have much personality going on at 6 in the evening so needless to say it was essential that we got ahead of them in the effort to exit the station platform without being swallowed up in a massive void.

The doors open and damn it all if Ali doesn't bolt as if there was TV with America's next top model playing on it at the end of the platform. I was clearly in for a challenge to get to the door ahead of time. Let me also add that we were dressed somewhat respectably as well, her for work, and me for court so that must have added to the bewilderment we caused running for the doors.

Ali darted to the right and I thought I had a good path with a few zig zags along the way. A HA!!! I had it, the door was just ahead when damn it all, old Grandma Nettles decides to do a zig of her own. A full zig zag combo may have broken her hip, which coincidentally is what I almost did when she and I met...

We all joke when in our cars, about collecting points for running old people over at the stop light. (don't try and hide behind your screens and deny it) It just seems so funny and totally acceptable when you're in a car...

Oh why couldn't have I been in a car?

Oops

Seems like the comments feature was turned off for the last 5 Point Post. That problem has been fixed for your commenting pleasure.

A 5 Point Post

The good: The amazing house and crazy hat party held at Amy's on Friday night followed up by another solid night out at the Green Room on Saturday. It was so good to see so many good people, Tom, Steve, Lori, Chloe, Carolyn, Tristan, that I haven't seen in a while and meeting a few new ones. For some it's been months and others years. It's funny that the older we get, the more we stay the same in some senses. Kinda blew my mind that it's been 8 years since I got to meet some of these cool cats for the first time. You can't beat good people.

The bad: The stupid mother fu*#er who stole one of the hats that I brought to Amy's party. I had brought a rice paddy hat as well as a very nice and very real British Bobby Helmet. It was a gift that was given to me by members of the South Wales Police Rugby Team when they visited Canada last year. It had been making its rounds throughout the party and had been enjoyed by many of the party goers throughout the evening but towards the end, it went missing. There were a few people that showed up late and who happened to leave before the main group as well. I will never know who stole it for sure, but rest assured if I ever find out, bad things would most likely happen to them. The worst part of it is that someone that was invited to Amy's stole from her house and made her feel guilty for my loss. Big time booooooooo to the jackass that put a damper on a great evening.

The funny: Earlier today while walking around the Home Show with a co-worker, I was passing a cooking display where live demonstrations were going on. There was a clear sign warning visitors not to touch the display. I know it meant not to touch any of the potentially hot items in use, but there was one guy who decided to touch a glass jar on the table. I had to walk away to avoid laughing out loud when he recoiled slightly after getting an electric shock. I asked my friend if he'd seen it and it became funnier when he started to laugh and nod his head. Later on while I was watching C.S.I. Miami, I couldn't help but laugh when the show took a very obvious shot at poor Miss Britney Spears. The show was about a murder which took place at a rehab centre. At the end of the show, as the main characters had their story lines wrap up, the news reports started up on a story about a pop star who had just checked herself into the centre. As they zoomed in on her, she proceeded to snort some coke she'd hidden in her hair and then the show ends with her shaving said hair off. Snicker snicker snicker.

The sad: Today another school shooting took place where 33 people were killed. What does the N.R.A. have to say about this one I wonder.

The down right odd: Japan's leading toilet maker Toto is offering free repairs for 180,000 bidet toilets after wiring problems caused several to catch fire. The electric bidet accessory of Toto's Z series caught fire in three incidents between March 2006 and March 2007, according to company spokeswoman Emi Tanaka. The bidet sent up smoke in 26 other incidents, the company said. "Fortunately, nobody was using the toilets when the fire broke out and there were no injuries," Tanaka said. "The fire would have been just under your buttocks." The company will repair 180,000 toilet units manufactured between May 1996 and December 2001 for free, she said. A manufacturing defect is thought to have led to the faulty wiring. Toto has been a pioneer in high-tech toilets fitted with pressurized water sprayers — a standard fixture in Japanese homes. The popular Z series features a pulsating massage spray, a power dryer, built-in-the-bowl deodorizing filter, the "Tornado Wash" flush and a lid that opens and closes automatically. Prices range from $1,680 to $2,600.

The model is not sold overseas. (Thankfully)

Ho Hum

I love my mom. She's an amazing little (stature wise) woman who has the right words at the right times. There are times though where it becomes clear that she wasn't born here, nor keeps up with modern day slang as evidenced by the following conversation. As some of you may know there were a few racist comments made recently by a radio personality regarding members of a women's basketball team. The following is the conversation my mom and sister had with my mom trying to understand what this man was apologizing for. : )

mom says:

by the way do you know about the racist comment on Rutgers basketball team by Mr. Imus?

mom says:

what is "hoe" (?) the word used by Mr. Imus?

Alison says:

no i didn't hear what he said but i heard he got suspended

mom says:

what does 'nappy-headed ho' mean?

I love my family.

Facebook: The E-World's New Crack.

So Facebook...

How the hell did this happen AGAIN?!?! How is it that there's something more addictive than crack, yet it costs nothing and isn't physically bad for your health? (debate now opened)

Ok, there is all the wasted time, lost productivity, missed sleep, delayed assignments, forgotten conversations, vitamin D depletion, but on the other hand, there are great new ways to catch up easily with friends, re-connect with people long lost, or never expected to be heard from again. Hell, even people that I never thought I'd see on a site like that are diving right in to the thick of things. You know who you are. There are people still holding out, but you'll give in eventually. You also know who you are.

While MySpace had it's blip on the map in the sporting year 2005/2006, Facebook is spreading like wildfire and leaving MySpace a barren, burnt wasteland. It's actually kinda interesting to see the progression. I have recently been swept up in the tidal wave and now find myself completely immersed in its practices: posting notes and photos, writing on walls, messaging and yes, even being poked and poking back. Such devilish fun this poking business can be. I'm sure though, that there are some people out there that wish there could be a different type of poking that could be facilitated by this web page which brings me to the next point.

On MySpace, one of the things that made me pretty much swear off it was the complete randomness of some of the people on there. I can not begin to count the number of crappy emo-screamo-pee my pantso-cry myself to sleepo-never gonna get a real record dealo bands who wanted to add them to my friend list, not to mention the friendwhores who wanted me to boost their friend counts. Having said that, I am mildly alarmed by my friend count on Facebook already. But I digress, On the former, you could randomly look up anything on any given person's page. At least on the latter, you have to be granted access to do any of that or at least I thought you did...

Turns out "creeping" is possible. I was introduced to this term by my sister and her friend Lori. I thought you had to have a direct link to someone in order to view their page, but NOOOOO, not the case as they told me with almost demonic glee. Coming from girls, I should not have been surprised by their joy, but it alarmed me slightly, that these two young women with their heads screwed on relatively straight could freely banter about the joys of creeping. Turns out there are people out there with whom you have absolutely no connection to but you can view their pages as if you were their friend. That prospect is MySpace kinda scary, but at least it hasn't happened to me yet, not that I'd be able to tell, but no random adds yet.

The temptation must be there at least at some point for all of us to want to entertain the inner creep. I've seen that 2 of my exes are on there, but thankfully we're not accessible to each other. Then there's the whole matter of seeing friends of your friends and just losing yourself and wasting even more time checking them out. Surely this craze will be the focus of phenomenology at some point down the line, but for now off to feed the addiction... : P

Glad I Don't Go To Middle School Anymore.

Today I read a story of a middle school principal who had been charged for flinging a piece of fecal matter at one of her students. I've heard of monkeys flinging poo, cause I guess that's just what they do. For a human being to do that is another thing. Drunken university mis-adventures aside, this isn't typical behaviour for us. For an adult to do it is bad enough, but for the head of an educational institution to do it and victimise a child is a whole other pile of...

Yeah so... It should be noted that this principal is the sister of a prominent local politician. So the citizens of spin city have been hard at work and get this... the principal has been portrayed in the local media as the VICTIM of all of this fall out. "She's gone through enough already" one of the quotes said. She has suffered enough and it has all been tragic, according to her lawyer. I wonder if her brother wasn't the deputy mayor how this all would have been played out. They say she snapped... How does a principal of a junior school get that worked up that she snaps in the first place?

Between teachers sleeping with their students and principals now flinging turds, I'm wondering if my ideal situation of finding a nice education professional to date is in need of an update.