I know it’s technically “spring” now but the government meteorologists have issued a special weather statement saying that snow is a possibility at some of the higher elevations in the greater Vancouver area.
This evening, I put my fleece liner back into my North Face shell because the temperatures have dipped back to near freezing again. I forget if that groundhog saw his shadow or not but it’s gonna be cold this weekend.
This week EA released Burnout Paradise Remastered, a remastered version of the game with the same name from 2008. I played the hell out of it a decade ago and it’s been one of my favourite racing games of all time.
When I loaded it up on PS4 this week, I was instantly brought back in time ten years ago. I was in my third year of my career as a software engineer and I had only shipped one console game at the time. I was playing the game on my Xbox 360 using the very first LCD monitor I’d ever bought. I remember the game came out in late January, which meant I played it during the winter months. It was cold out but warm inside as I raced around the city. I also remember playing it so much that my ass and legs fell asleep from sitting so long. I distinctly remember getting up on to my chair into a squat position just to move my muscles and to get the blood flowing again.
There are lots of triggers that bring back memories but it’s very cool that video games can also be one of them. I was so young and fresh-faced back then. Ah, good times…
Last year, company management at work decided to go with another food services provider to run the studio cafeteria. The previous company was ok but not great and they definitely had some areas to improve in. The news that another company was coming to make the cafeteria better was well received by many of my fellow employees.
It’s been three months now since Restaurant Associates started running the cafeteria. I would say they’ve done a worse job than the previous company. The Slack channel for the studio was filled with complaints about the cafeteria for several long weeks. For days and days, it was the main topic as everyone seemed to be disappointed with the food.
The general consensus, which I agree with, is that the food quality is lower now, you get less food, the prices are higher, and you have to wait much longer to pay for your food (the cashier lines are ridiculously long now).
Today, a survey was sent out to all studio employees regarding the satisfaction level with the new food services provider. I couldn’t wait to fill out the survey. I was polite but firm and clear with what I thought was wrong with the cafeteria now. If I’m reading the feelings of many other employees correctly, I would say there will much more negative sentiment than there will be positive.
I’m eager to see what changes will occur because of the employee feedback. I’m hoping it’s extensive because it needs to be!
I recently stumbled upon a series of YouTube videos that feature people with extreme dietary habits. The videos are from a TLC show called Freaky Eaters. The shows were aired seven to eight years ago so it’s been a while since these people faced their extreme diets.
In the episode above, a young lady named Amy drinks somewhere between 20-30 cans of cola a day. These are non-diet colas too. That’s about two pounds of sugar a day from just cola. You should also see what the rest of her diet consists of. I haven’t seen the rest of the episode but I really want to know how she’s doing now, nearly eight years on.
On this Saturday, this domain turns eighteen years old. Yeah, barely legal baby! Seriously though, it’s amazing that I’ve had this domain for this long. Sure, it’s not anywhere close to the oldest domains in history but for a personal domain, eighteen years is fairly impressive.
I wish I could say I’ve used this domain to secure fame and fortune but that’s ok. This was a really cool hobby I’ve had for nearly two decades. Alright, I’m gonna go change my web host to GeoCities now.
For the last two weeks I’ve changed up my lunch routine a bit. Previously, I’d been having pre-packaged salads and a soup. Before the new year, the pre-packaged salads were actually quite good. They had leafy, dark green, and crisp spinach, an acceptable amount of protein, and a bit sweetness from dried cranberries. Since the new year, the new food services company has lowered the quality of the salads and increased the prices. They use cheap iceberg lettuce which has less nutritional value and they cut back on the amount of protein.
I’ve since gone to a sandwich and salad everyday. I also get the same sandwich too. It’s a poached salmon sandwich, grilled for a few minutes to crisp up the bread and heat up the filling. It’s a generous amount of salmon and it’s quite good for you. The salad at the sandwich station consists of spinach too, so it’s also healthy. Sometimes if I’m really hungry, I’ll get a soup as well. I understand the two slices of bread are a bit carb heavy but oh well.
This lunch may seem boring but at least it’s tasty and relatively healthy.
This is totally a promo for Dwayne Johnson’s new movie Rampage but it’s got some pretty good lines.
I’m feeling kinda low-energy right now and some of my muscles are sore. Lots of people are sick at work this week, something must be going around. A few of my friends are sick.
This maybe one of those things where I go to bed and I’ll feel ok in the morning. Let’s hope so.
To further report on my last post, I was able to determine from internal company communications that at least four other people at the studio have encountered problems with the lock on the washroom stall in question. I have no doubt there are countless others who just haven’t spoken up. No one so far has been trapped for any length of time but that lock is definitely dodgy.
I forgot to submit a facilities ticket today but will definitely do it tomorrow. This is a disaster just waiting to happen.
For about a period of five minutes, I was trapped inside a washroom stall at work on Friday around 6pm. I had gone to urinate in one of the washrooms near the cafeteria. These are individual stalls with walls that go from the floor to ceiling, same with the doors. They’re quite amazing really and the best place to go do your business.
My plan was to go pee and then catch a ride home with one of my co-workers. I had finished my business and went to unlock the door. The lock itself is a deadbolt style lock. I spun the latch to pull the deadbolt from the frame of the door but to my surprise, the deadbolt still had a significant amount to go before it was free of the frame. I couldn’t turn the lock any further though. Damn. I turned the latch back to the lock position and then tried again. I was met with the same result as before. It was stuck in the locked position.
There was a slight panic rising in me by now. It was getting late in the day and since it was a Friday, people were leaving for the weekend. I didn’t have my phone with me, so I couldn’t contact anyone via that method if I needed to. I could hear some people in the walking around outside, washing their hands at the sink. Should I yell for help or bang on the door? I contemplated that for a few seconds but I decided I needed to try again.
Could I use something to perhaps help move the deadbolt back? A credit card or something? As I looked into the gap between the door and the frame, I realized if you could defeat a deadbolt that easily with a credit card, people wouldn’t really be using deadbolts then.
I had to try the lock one more time. I spun it closed and then with great speed and force, I turned the latch back the other way again. It opened! I didn’t realize it at the time but now days later, I was also pushing against the door, which helped free the deadbolt from rubbing up against the strike plate. I think it was this friction that was keeping the bolt from moving back the whole way.
Relief washed over me and I quickly opened the door to freedom. I was outside! I went to the sink to wash my hands. I briefly thought about informing security about the possible death trap but my ride was leaving soon. I was hoping since it was late Friday, there would be very few people using that stall.
Now that I think about it, I regret not mentioning it to security as what if someone else did go in there and also get trapped. I’ll submit a facilities ticket on Monday so it gets looked at.