Category: Uncategorized

I’m having gum surgery tomorrow. If that seems vaguely familiar to my long-time readers, it’s because I’ve had it done before, as chronicled in this post, nearly six years ago to the day. It’s almost in the exact same area as well, the lower right portion of my mouth.

I cannot express in words how much this is gonna suck. At least for the first time, it was all new so I didn’t know what to expect for the recovery period. Now I know what’s in store for me, which is a whole bunch of suck. Specifically, my mouth is gonna swell up, I gotta eat soft crap for a week, and I’m gonna be super tired all the time. What a wonderful way to spend the last week of my month off. The most awesome part is that this is gonna cost me well over a thousand dollars, of which I don’t know how much my dental plan will cover (which is not likely going to be 100%).

If you happen to look at the clock tomorrow and see that it’s past 2pm, know that my mouth will be a bloody mess by then. See you mofos on the other side.

After doing my income tax return last year I discovered that I had to pay $60 to the government. It was the first time in my entire life that I had to pay taxes rather than get a refund. That was disappointing.

I just did my tax return for 2009 just a few days ago. I was kinda dreading the result because I was afraid I’d have to pay again. It turns out that I’m getting a refund again. It’s a pretty sizeable one, well over a thousand dollars. I’m still not exactly sure why it was different this year. I bought the same amount of RRSPs as last year. I also know the federal government made a few changes this year to give citizens bigger tax breaks. It’s my belief that the biggest help came from two things. First, I reported some capital losses on some stocks I had to liquidate. I bought shares in two companies around 2000 or so. The shares are now worthless so I lost several hundred dollars with that foray into trading. Second, I believe buying an apartment helped me out too. I was eligible for the First-Time Home Buyers tax credit which amounted to $750 (non-refundable). It’s good to know that going into debt several hundred thousands of dollars gave me a one-time, non-refundable tax credit of less than a thousand dollars.

There’s a lot I could do with my refund but I’ve already decided I’m going to use it to pay down my mortgage. That’s a very responsible thing to do and it makes me feel like I might be a grown-up in no time.

I am currently cat sitting for a friend while he and his girlfriend are on vacation in Mexico. I really don’t mind doing this for several reasons. First, I like cats as they’re one of the most interesting domesticated animals on this planet. Second, my friend lives in my building so it’s very convenient for me. Third, I have a lot of free time on my hands.

This cat, named Mika, requires just three things from me: food, water, and a little bit of attention. I was told I didn’t have to attend to Mika on a daily basis and that checking up on her every other day would be fine. Since it takes me about two minutes to get to my friend’s apartment, it’s really no big deal for me to spend some time with Mika every day.

When I open the door to the apartment, Mika is usually there to greet me. At this point, about a day has passed since she’s interacted with another human being. She meows for like a minute or so, the only time she really meows while I’m there. I immediately go and refill her water dish and her dry food dish. I then get some wet cat food from the fridge and give her some.

At this point, I could just go back to my apartment but since it’s taken less than ten minutes to do all of this, I usually stick around. As a bonus, my buddy’s cable TV selection is about 10x better than mine, so I wind up just watching a bit of TV.

While I’m examining the schedule to see what’s on, Mika is usually eating the wet cat food I’ve set out for her. It doesn’t take her very long to finish it. When she’s done, she’ll come by the couch where I’m sitting and paces a bit in front of me. Soon she’ll decide to jump up onto the couch and on my lap. She’ll then proceed to rub her face on both my hands. Mika will also headbutt me in the face a few times as well. It’s at this point that things can get painful. Mika will then try to put both her front paws on my chest and sorta kneads all over. This would be slightly endearing except for the fact that she’s got her claws out. The first time she did this I just had a t-shirt on and it hurt like a sumbitch. I now ensure I have a heavy-duty hoodie zipped up when I’m on the couch now.

When she’s done the kneading, she’ll settle down and just rest on my lap. At this point, I can comfortably go back to watching TV. Once in a while, I’ll give her a little rub between her ears on her head. When I’m done watching Jersey Shore, it’s time for me to go. Before I leave, I give Mika a little treat in the form of some catnip.

The whole process then repeats itself the next day.

Well, with less than 5% of the precincts reporting, et.com is ready to project that the Kings of Los Angeles will defeat the Vancouver Canucks in six games or less in their first round playoff series for 2010.

This isn’t some divination pulled out of thin air, the evidence is really quite clear for everyone to see. The special teams for Vancouver are horrendous. For two straight games, any time that Vancouver took a penalty, it essentially meant an automatic goal for LA. The power play for Vancity is anemic and most of the shots on the PP wound up being blocked by the PK. Also, the Vancouver club pays millions of dollars to a guy named Roberto Luongo to stop pucks and to steal games for them when the rest of the team sucks (like they do now). The problem is, Bobby Lou hasn’t stole much of anything since the Olympics, other than millions of dollars in salary.

There isn’t much more to it than that. Bad special teams and very average goaltending. I’d like to say there are signs that the Vancouver club will correct these problems but there are none. The Canucks will be done before May! You heard it here first!

Is it bad that part of me wants my non-existent daughter to have the same qualities as her?

The local professional hockey team here in Vancouver is now two games into their opening round playoff series with the Kings of Los Angeles. The series is tied at one game a piece. In a previous post, I wrote that I would write more about the playoffs once Vancouver’s opponent would be known.

After two games, it’s clear to me know that the series will go at least six games with a strong likelihood that seven games could be in the cards as well. Though on paper, the Canucks would appear to have the slight edge, the reality is that the two teams are quite evenly matched. At this point, the series will really hinge on two things: if the Canucks can stay out of the penalty box and if Jonathan Quick can continue his awesome play in goal for the Kings.

It’d be foolish to predict a Vancouver series victory right now as the teams have demonstrated it could go either way. It’s too close to call!

I’ve been back from the east coast for two days now but I think I’m just now feeling the effects of the jet lag. I am so tired right now, the kind of tired where I just want to put my head down on my desk and just sleep.

I think I may dream about sleep when I fall asleep tonight.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjADkqD0NH8&hl=en_US&fs=1&]

I made the dash back from Washington, DC just in time to see Conan O’Brien perform his first of two shows in Vancouver.

The above video is from the opening minutes from last night’s show. It was an awesome show with a fantastic and appreciative crowd. If you want more video, click here. Actually, with the number of videos appearing on YouTube, you could probably string together the entire show.

I’m headed off to Washington, DC tomorrow afternoon. This trip was decided fairly last minute. I am meeting up with a buddy on the last leg of his four city tour of the east coast of the US.

I’ll try to post updates while I’m away but no promises. I don’t think there will be any official state dinners while I’m in DC but if there are, I’ll try to sneak in.

See ya in a few days!

It’s 3:30am in the morning as I type this and if you live in the Greater Vancouver area, you might also be awake right now as the wind is howling outside. I only had my patio door open a crack but the wind is so strong right now that it was able to move the floor to ceiling blinds about a half foot.

Just for fun, I slid open the patio door the entire way and was met with a wall of wind. I’m hesitant to actually step onto my balcony as it seems there might be an actual tornado next to my apartment. It’s very noisy outside right now and it sure sounds like there are some sizeable “things” being tossed around by the wind.

I’d be very surprised if there weren’t a million trees fallen over in the city right now, which pretty much means the Lions Gate Bridge is probably closed (the approach to the bridge is lined with trees).

Well, I better go to bed, I have to go to dim sum with a friend tomorrow (today?).