I've been pretty lazy lately...sleepin' in until noon or later. Actually, I don't really sleep until then. I'll wake up earlier, but then doze or even just lie there, thinking about how I should get up.

Friday was an interesting night at work. CityTV lost power at their building. I'm not sure what was going on, but they had some serious issues. About 15 minutes before the 6PM news, the suffered a minor attack or a surge or something and lost some of their equipment. They managed to get the newscast to air though. Soon after 7 they lost all power and weren't able to send us anything via the fibre line. They got back up and going by 9:30 and we thought we were gonna be good to go for the 11PM newscast...but 30 seconds before air they lost their power again! They called us on the phone to let us know they wouldn't be there when we took them to air, so we scrambled to get some standby programming in place. It was a bit ugly, but we got an episode of The New Music started. Then CityNews suggested that we run A-Channel News on CityTV as well. Since both stations are Master Controlled from Victoria, that wasn't much of a problem (we'd done it once before for the Breakfast Television). So that's what we did and it seemed to work out ok. Fun times! Hope they've got things sorted out now...sounds like the weekend newscasts went all right.

Saturday I had the option of hanging out with some work people at the Stinky Winky, but then Q called (all the way from upstairs) and said they were havin' a barbecue...so I opted for that instead. I made up a 5 Cup Salad (also known as Ambrosia Salad I think) for my contribution. We had some good burgers and salads and desserts, played a couple games, and talked Real Estate. 'Twas a good evening.

Sunday, I headed out to East Sooke to water the parents yard. It was supposed to rain, but hadn't yet, and I knew if I didn't go, then it probably wouldn't. I got about 85% of the yard watered and then it started to rain. Oh well...everything got a real good drink. I hung out with the kitties for a bit. Lemieux seemed particularly happy to see me. He followed me around the yard as I watered...not staying close, but nearby. He seemed to just want to know where I was at all times. Went back to town, Watched Constantine, then Rol and I got ourselves rocked at the Def Leppard concert.

The Tea Party opened up, and they were awesome as I expected they would be. The crowd wasn't overly appreciating of them, but they were decent. They played for about 45 minutes and I realized I really need to get all of their albums. They made a nice transition from Heaven Coming Down into a cover of Stairway to Heaven and then back to Heaven Coming Down.

Def Leppard hit the stage around 9PM and started out with some high energy and didn't let up until after the encore. It was rockin'! Good light show, interesting video display...a mix of live video from about 3 different cameras, plus old video footage and random effects. It actually worked well. They played for a little over 90 minutes and the crowd was into it the whole way. We were in row 22 on the floor and could see it all quite well. The sound mix was pretty good, only a few times were the vocals drowned out. I think a couple times there was an off-key note or chord played. Joe Elliot's voice wasn't in the greatest of shape, but he managed through the night. There were a few songs where they put a lot of echo or effect on his voice...I'm not sure if it was just to cover up the fact that he couldn't hit the high notes anymore. Regardless, it was a rockin' show and I'm glad I went.

Now AC/DC needs to come to Victoria.

Mmmm, ice cream cake. Thanks Sara!

Last week kinda sucked, except for Wednesday. This week has to be better. It got going pretty good last night. Almost a flawless shift at work...and what did go wrong I wouldn't chalk up as a big deal...nor totally my fault. We actually had to swing into action and put our first ever Amber Alert to air. We've been sitting ready to have to do this for months now...never knowing when to expect one (and hoping there never is one, because it means a child has been abducted). We got one last night, originating from Abbotsford. The system didn't work though...media had not been contacted when the alert was issued. It was two hours later when media found out...and even then we were still not on the contact list. It was a bit of excitement and action in Master Control for maybe a half hour...all without flaw.

My hair seems to be the topic of a few discussions these days. My mom wants me to cut it...but not a lot...just to shape it. I'm pretty happy with how it's going now and am going to leave it as is. I want it to look a bit scruffy.

I need a hobby...one that doesn't cost much money and is constructive. I really should make a stronger attempt at writing something...I have the base ideas.

Q hosted a poker night last night. I took the evening off work so I could attend (I had a lieu day to use from BC Day). In retrospect, I should have gone to work and made money, rather than play poker for the grand total of about 20 minutes. Ugh. I sucked it up big time. I had a couple of decent hands, but Q bested me on them both times (in a row I might add) with trip Kings. I never won a hand and was the first one out. Super lame. I dealt for the remainder of the evening, so at least I felt useful. It wasn't a bad game to watch...there were a handful of interesting hands and bets. Choy ended up taking the win, so I'm happy for him.

I got some tips on long hair care from MetalMike and they're working out nicely. I'm well on my way to having Dave Grohl hair...in particular, hair like this, or this.

I'm bartending Pam's wedding tonight. I haven't bartended anything in a while, but weddings are pretty straight forward, nothing fancy. Should be good...hopefully it's not to hot (but I have a feeling it will be). Finally my Serving it Right and Joe the Bartender training are becoming useful!

Nobody wants to be the jackass who can't cope with change. But guess who I was yesterday??? Without getting into the gory details, let's just say the start of CityNews @ 6 was...ummm...rough. We have a slightly modified procedure from how we've been doing it for the past 16 months, and wouldn't ya know it was I who fucked it up just 2 days into it? I felt like a douche bag. I still do. I suck.

So last night wasn't the greatest night at work. Some of it was good though.

This is the first day in many that we've had some cloud cover. I've actually opened my blinds to let some light in. I've been keeping them closed for the past month so that the sun doesn't heat up my pad too much. It rained a bit last night, but it's supposed to be back to sunny and hot come tomorrow.

I'm gonna go help Choy network his house.

I rode my bike yesterday! First time in almost four weeks! My knee is definitely on the mend. Still not 100%, and I won't be attending soccer or behind a boat sports anytime soon, but it's gettin' there. Man, being injured sucks.

I tried out online poker the other night...not for real money, just pretend. It was kinda fun. I went to pokerroom.com - they have a pretty decent looking interface and it seems like a good reputable site. You're playing against other human players, but all the emotion is taken out the game, and you can't watch the other guy squirm in his seat. The only notion of a tell that you've got is the amount of time it takes for your opponents to make their betting decisions. Not that I'm much for noticing tells anyways. I ended my brief stint with more pretend money than I started with.

I'm so sloth. I think I'm about 8 months overdue for a Brita filter change. I looked at my jug today and the little indicator sticker to notify when to change the filter was pointing at Nov/Dec. Hmmmm. I bought the jug and 4 filters last July. I would have put one filter in off the bat, then another about 3 months later...ah that must be when I moved the indicator last...filter number 2. I just put in the last filter (#4), so I must have changed it last in Januaryish. Still, I'm long overdue. Pretty gross...but hey, it's just water. Algae is good for you...right?

Tree writes emails with a lot of "...". I thought I was bad for it...she is definitely worse.

Thanks to Choy for supplying me with some gel that will give my hair some weight. I tried it out this morning...we'll see if it works.

I don't have much desire to see the Dukes of Hazzard movie, but I'm liking the version of Black Betty they use in the trailers and ads. It's not the original Ram Jam version (which is quite good, and used well in the Blow trailers and spots)...I believe this version is done by a band called Spiderbait. It's a little grittier and in your face. I love it! Kinda funny coincidence...I watched Without a Paddle last night and the Spiderbait version of Black Betty was the first song up during credits. A nice little treat. The movie was not overly great...it had a few moments, but was mostly silly and goofy. I learned that it was filmed in New Zealand though...New Zealand doubling for Oregon. So thumbs up for that. My theory on how the New Zealand islands broke off of the west coast of North America, picked up some palm trees on their way past Hawaii, and ended up where they are now is starting to look pretty strong, eh? Apparently there are palm trees visible in many of the shots (the majority of the film is set in the forest)...but I didn't notice. I'm sure a second viewing, watching for them, would indeed prove this correct.

I know I've mentioned before how brilliant I think "Will it Float" is on the Late Show, but I'd like to mention something else that is becoming equally as brilliant. The Late Show bear. It started a few years ago where Dave got someone to put away the Late Show bear...a guy in a large bear suit who appeared to be dangerous and someone would shove him into a room and close the door (and let out a "phew!"). So they revived it recently and have been having fun getting different people to put away the bear every night (sometimes even a lucky audience member gets to do it)...it was great as that. But now they've started selling sponsorship on the bear. I think it's real...Dave just kinda mentions it as a joke, but I think it's for real. For $1000 you can have your company's shirt put on the bear. First it was John Deere, then it was Reese. To add to the comedy, not only do they show someone putting away the bear, but they also show a clip from earlier in the day on the wardrobe people trying to put the shirt onto the bear (and of course the bear is fighting to not get dressed). It's wonderful comedy (and a good promotional scheme) and I enjoy it immensely. I so must see Letterman live before he's off the air (which, I don't think will be for a while yet).

I have no clue when it comes to flirting. No skill, no clue, no dice. I don't know how it works. I don't know how to identify if I'm being flirted with, or even how to respond if I was able to recognize it. Quite pathetic am I.

It has now officially been over one year since I cut my hair. I'm not sure what I should do with it now. It'd be nice to have a little bit of style to it, if I could. Johnny Depp looks good when he has long hair. I also like Dave Grohl's long hair look. I think I'd like to aim for that. The problem is mine gets too poofy after it dries. I'm not sure what those guys do to give their hair weight and keep it in closer to their head. Any tips?

Poker night last night. Not the usual crew...I joined in with a group of guys from work. It was fun, and I did all right. Started out a little shaky...couldn't get my betting right, but I soon got into the groove and a few goods hands came my way throughout the night. I managed to take out 3 players...maybe even 4, and it ended up being myself and Bannan at the end. I took second, so I doubled my $20. We both had a heart flush, but mine was low and I really shouldn't have called his all in...but it's called gambling and I figured he was pullin' a bluff. I figured wrong.

Highlights were me taking out Adam when he went all in with a pair of jacks...I had a pair of queens, and taking out Steve-O and Mike in the same hand...I held a club flush to the king (I can't remember what they had, but it's weren't no flush). I look forward to playing again.

I've been feeling disinteresting in most things lately...especially work. I couldn't figure out why...usually I'm fine being at work. I think I've figured out that it's because I'm not getting the amount of exercise I've become accustomed to...no biking to work, no running, no soccer, no behind a boat sports, etc. This knee injury has put a damper on my lifestyle and I think it's getting to me subconsciously. Ah well...it's getting better. Hopefully things will be back to normal within a reasonable time frame.

Been geeking out a lot lately. I formatted my MythTV computer and upgraded to the latest software. It was something of a pain in the ass, and I'm not sure why I did it, but it's turned out all right now. The installation went fine, the problem lied in configuring it as I had it prior to the format...I had done a fair bit of customization in the past year, and never once documented what I did. I still have documented it. I've been frantically searching forums and google for answers to linux issues that crop up. I'm no expert with this thing...although I'm becoming quite comfortable with it.

The P5 hits the paper tomorrow...hopefully it will sell this weekend. I hope I haven't asked too much...although I am open to offers. I don't want to lose too much money on the car.