GROOVY MAN

I was at Walmart on the weekend getting supplies for my home when I walked by a display of lava lamps. I wasn’t looking for a lava lamp but it caught my attention. I’ve never owned one before but I’ve seen them in other people’s homes. I checked the price on them and they were less than $20. On a whim, I bought one.

It is somewhat calming to watch one in action. The motion of the “lava” lumps is soothing, just like the box says. I’m watching them gently go up and down as write this and I bet my heart rate is relaxing as well. I might get another one for the bedroom.

HEATER

For about two years now, there has been only one heater in my entire apartment, the one in my bedroom. I had my electric fireplace removed from my living room, which was awesome, but was also the only source of heat for that room and the kitchen. While the plan was to eventually get a new baseboard heater installed in a new location, I admit that I am lazy and a great procrastinator. I was also not missing having a heater since turning the thing on would just burn money. When it got really cold, I’d just turn the heat on in my bedroom, close all the doors, and cocoon.

Alas, it’s time to stop procrastinating. Earlier this week, I got in touch with two electricians for a quote to get a new baseboard heater installed. It’s time to make this happen. Now, I recognize that getting a quote and actually getting the damn work done are two entirely different things but I’m motivated to see this thing through. Let’s go!

SICK

As I wrote last week, I took an extra day off so I could have a four-day weekend. That meant that I returned to work today, Wednesday. It turns out, I returned to a plague at work. Several of my co-workers called in sick on Tuesday. Some of them didn’t even make it in today. Those who did manage to return to work weren’t sounding too great. There were a number of people who were not doing so well. The person who sits next to me went home early today because they weren’t feeling well again.

Of course, by the late afternoon, I began feeling not so great myself. My sinuses were acting up. In the evening, they were a bit congested and I can feel a cold coming on. I should have stayed home today and made it a five-day weekend.

LOTTO

I bought a BC/49 lottery ticket on Monday night. It’s been a while since I’ve purchased a lottery ticket, mainly because I have terrible luck and I’m basically throwing money away. In any case, I decided to try my bad luck again. The draw is on Wednesday evening and jackpot, as it always is, is $2M. In this day and age, that’s not exactly enough money to retire if you’re still a few decades away from retirement age. Nevertheless, I think I would quit my job almost immediately if I did win, just to figure out what to do next.

FOUR DAY WEEKEND

I took an extra day off for Tuesday, so this is a four day weekend for me. I used to never do this on long weekends but I have a good amount of vacation saved up, so I decided taking one day wouldn’t hurt all that much. A three day weekend is great but a four day is even better. I’m looking forward to sleeping in again tomorrow morning as most people return to work.

NEW PHONE

I bought my current smartphone about two years ago and I know it’s already time for a replacement. I dropped the phone once and there’s a small crack in the front glass. Luckily, the crack is less than an inch long and it doesn’t affect the screen. This is just a cosmetic issue. What isn’t a cosmetic issue and a real bummer is that the main camera frequently has problems focusing on objects. I wind up having to choose either taking a blurry photo or not taking the photo at all. A smartphone without a functional camera really sucks. My phone also has trouble with its one or more microphones. Sometimes when I make a call, the person can’t hear me at all. What good is a phone when you can’t have a conversation with it?

My last phone was venerable Nexus 5, which I had for almost five years. Replacing a phone in less than three years seems wasteful to me but so far, nothing has come close to the Nexus 5 for longevity and value. I am waiting for May, when Google is expected to release the Pixel 4a. This phone will be the latest “budget” version in the Pixel series. I’m hoping this phone will last much longer than my current one and have fewer problems as it ages.

TO THE RAFTERS

I left work early so I could be home in time to watch the Vancouver Canucks retire the jerseys for Henrik and Daniel Sedin. It was quite the amazing ceremony and due to the amount of former teammates that the Sedins requested to be there, it was an evening full of nostalgia and emotion. Between the ceremony and the actual game that was played afterwards, it was almost four hours of hockey-related events. It was a good night for Canucks fans.

NEAT

This afternoon someone from IT came by near but not actually at my desk. They had a cart and were actually delivering something to the person who sits at the desk next to me. The special delivery was a big box containing an Xbox Series X dev kit. As some of you know, the next generation of video game consoles are being released next holiday season. Microsoft is coming out with the new Xbox and Sony is countering with the PS5. Previous to this, I have only briefly glanced at a PS5 dev kit with my own eyes. Dev kits are like the regular retail consoles but with specific hardware and software that makes it possible to develop games on them.

My desk partner got a whole box of goodies, the dev kit itself, cables, instruction booklets, and even the new Xbox controller. I did not get anything. No one has approached me about giving me either a Xbox Series X or PS5 dev kit. I’m not sure why other people got them but not me. I’m am sure it’s because they are more important than I am. This isn’t all bad news however, it just means that because I don’t have any dev kits, I don’t have to fix any Xbox or Playstation bugs.

I TRIED

This evening I attempted to get a jump start on my mortgage renewal process. A few people at work gave their recommendations on mortgage brokers and I selected one randomly and visited their website. The site had a form that I could fill out and start the process of getting a few quotes. The form stopped responding about halfway through filling it out. I tried three more times to fill out the details but the web site stopped responding. I guess I won’t be making any progress towards renewing my mortgage tonight. Sometimes life is just like that.