Tired....

I am tired of many things....

1. People not getting the idea of a websites guestbook. My personal website's guestbook is for friends, family, website visitors to comment on my website and anything pertinent there of. Sure post your website link, but make sure it is not a commercial site. Is this that hard?

2. SPAM. My blog, website address book, e-mail and many other places on the web have seen SPAM go up. Do you think I am really interested in purchasing porn via my guestbook "Jessica"? NO! In case you haven't noticed my website containes many things that parents with young children may wish to look at. So why would any of these people want to purchase porn or products associated with porn from you? Also, if I delete your add three times why do you keep posting the same thing, but with a different e-mail address, in my website's guestbook? I just don't get people.

3. I receive probably over 35 spam messages a week in my hotmail account. I now only use this e-mail address for website sign ups requiring an e-mail address. Why? Because I found using this e-mail address at websites meant I was inundated with spam. How? The websites I signed up for ended up selling my e-mail address to a third party or I missed a small check mark signing me up for some useless commercial newsletter. So in this account I mostly just delete the items in the junk mail folder.

4. Idiots VIVA drivers. I transfer twice between three VIVA routes on my commute. I have to run in some cases because VIVA drivers don't have the courtesy to look to see if someone wants to get on their VIVA bus from another bus. Perhaps the worst location for transferring is at York University between Orange and Purple routes. Despite an Orange bus pulling into the stop, the VIVA Purple bus pulled out nearly leaving me behind. HELLO! If you want to encourage people to ride the bus system, perhaps making convenient transfers might be a good start!

Discovery of old wharf a 'wake-up call'

TorontoSun.com - Mike Strobel - Discovery of old wharf a 'wake-up call'

Sometimes history gets in the way of progress. Toronto and other cities just like it have seen historic buildings fallen or included incoporated into new buildings. Usually, when a historical artifact (e.g. building, landmark, etc.) is known about, the item can be included into the plans for a newer piece of construction (i.e. a building). However, sometimes history can be hidden away for over a hundred years and is not known about until stumbled accross.

This happenned in Toronto recently when the old Queen's Wharf was dug up by construction crews who were digging in order to lay a foundation for a parking lot and for a new condiminium project. The old Queen's Wharf used to be where sailing ships hauling cargo would dock in order to unload their contents at the Toronto Harbour back in the late 1800's. However, due to issues of sailing into and out of the Toronto harbour, the wharf was no longer used and industrial progress took place. Soon Toronto's harbour would be pushed southward via quite a few landfill projects. Front Street, named at the time because the street ran along the harbourfront at the time, would become an irony. An irony because it would be pushed further and further back from the lake front (as seen here).

Fast forward until more recent times. Construction crews are trying to dig down in order to lay a good base for a parking lot for a condiminium project. The crews strike large cedar pieces of timber nailed together using wooden connections. The old Queen's wharf is suddenly unburied! Now what to do is the question. I will let Mike Strobel, columnist of the Toronto Sun tell the full story on this one.

Apparently, because this piece of history was hidden from view and forgotten about for about a hundred years, it has to go. There was not even a thought of including this piece of Toronto's history into a windowed portion for tourists to look at. An example of this possibility can be found in southern Manhatten Island (New York City) where the remenants of the Old Dutch City Hall building's foundation can be seen through a glass encased section of an otherwise unassuming New York City sidewalk right next to a large modern financial office building. This can be seen at 85 Broad Street just south of Stone St. and north of Pearl and Bridge Streets in Lower Manhatten (south of the famous Wall Street Area). The remenants were stumbled upon when 85 Broad Street was being constructed and saved. Now tourists and locals alike can look through the glass encased portion of the sidewalk to see what the Dutch had built.

Now to Toronto. In true Toronto form, the old Queen's wharf is no more. A corner of it has been excavated and sent, for posterity purposes only, to Old Fort York. The rest of this historical piece of workmanship has been chainsawed and sent to a Michigan landfill. A shame really that the remenants couldn't have been included within the construction of the parking lot and plaqued. A shame really that the landowner or the city did not see the great possibility of saving the old wharf. Now the true history of why "Front Street" was truly "Front Street" may never be known. Sad really. But I guess this is progress.

You think it is easy to steal a car? How about a....

Yorkregion.com - Stolen fire truck dumped in Vaughan

And you thought it was easy to steal a car. Check out what happenned to some of Toronto's bravest (click on the link above).

Question! How does this happen? Did the driver leave the keyes in the vehicle?

Setting up an Apartment is hard to do

So I thought setting up an apartment would be fun. But after 18 days of lifting, carrying, dropping, screwing things together, dusting, vacuming, scrubbing, and buying, I have realized this is not a fun process any more.

There is not a day that goes by now that I realize, "RATS! I STILL NEED SOMETHING!" That need might be as simple as a mop and pail to a more harder something to sit on in order to watch television.

But I am thankful for one thing about this apartment, it's close proximity to a Canadian Tire and No Frills stores. That makes getting those "I NEED SOMETHING!" items so much easier to purchase. Now if only an IKEA were just a little closer I could get a nice kitchen table with chairs and a futon for watching television and in case anybody came over to visit. But, sadly, these will have to wait.

But at least I am making steps forward, I got cable and internet hooked up in my apartment as well as a phone line ordered to be installed in the coming week (hopefully). Slowly but surely things are coming together in my new place.

It will be a nice place once I am done. When I'[m done....

So I haven't Blogged for a While....

So I haven't blogged for a while....

Here is the top 5 excuses for why I haven't Blogged:

5. I got lost in a paper bag?

4. My Mommy made me do it!

3. I haven't had anything interesting to mention.

2. Work, Eat, Sleep, only so much to blog about in that department....so I decided not to bore you.

1. I am still moving into my new apartment and haven't had internet or time to!

There is only one that is true (hint: #1!)

Yup, moving will do that to you. I have been spending the past week moving my stuff out into my new apartment. It takes a long time (and patience!) to put together Ikea type furniture. I only had to look at the directions for one piece of furniture too! I am proud of myself.

Well, gotta go! More furniture putting together still to come!

The Olympics are over

So the Torino Winter Olympics are over and the Canadian (and for that matter all other athletes) are headed home. Now is the time the pundits reflect on how well each of their countries did at the Olympics.

The Canadian Men's Hockey Team has taken some heat for not even meddling during this Olympics despite including players who worth over ninety two million dollars worth in the NHL. General Manager of the Canadian Olympic Hockey Team, Wayne Gretzky, has taken a lot of flack over this team. He is debating whether he should return for the next Olympics or not. I would implore Wayne to make a return on the basis that he is perhaps one of the best unifiers of hockey worldwide. Remember Gretzky was the one the Canadian players rallied around in Canada's push for the Gold Medal in the 2o02 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. Gretzky is perhaps one of the only hockey figures that Canadian NHL players are willing to rally around. Why? Perhaps it is because the players know Gretzky has a great personality and knows Gretzky will bring together the best coaching staff in Canadian Hockey. Pat Quinn, Jacques Martin and Ken Hitchcock have more wins in the present NHL. Gretzky may be the only person in Canadian hockey that might be able to unite Canada's best in push for Gold in the future.

Gretzky has learned a lot from these games. He learned that leaving players like Jason Spezza and Sidney Crosby behind might have been a mistake. Jason Spezza is one of Canada's leading scorers and normally plays on the same line with Canadian Olympian Dany Heatley normally for the Ottawa Senators. These two "click" on the same forward line in the NHL and are used to playing with each other, so why not put them on the same line in Torino? Sidney Crosby is the future of Canadian Hockey, so why didn't Crosby get a chance to at least play on the fourth line of the Olympic Team.

As for the rest of the Canadian Olympic Team, I look forward to Vancouver in 2010. Many of the athletes who medalled or came close are still young. The likes of Chandra Crawford, Cindy Klassen, and others are going to be in their prime when Canada hosts the games. There is also a plan for Canadian athletes to do even better than in Torino. Better than Torino? Canada came in third in the metal standings overall. Not bad considering Canada a country of thirty million was only one metal behind the United States who has about thirty million people packed into both New York City and Los Angeles and surrounding areas alone.

The mainly higlights for me during this Olympic games were the smiles of Clara Hughes and Chandra Crawford atop the podiums. Clara Hughes, the Canadian Speed Skater who won gold in the Women's five thousand metre speed skating, collapsed in exhaustion after finishing her race. Myself, and apparently her husband, were worried when she fell in heap on the ice soon after finishing her gold medal race. Hughes had beaten Cindy Klaussen, arguably the best female speed skaters in the world overall now with five Olympic medals in this past games. I was worried Hughes may not be able to enjoy her gold medal win. But luckily she got back on her skates and did climb the podium up next to Cindy Klassen. Hughes had a huge smile on her face in her first Olympic Gold Medal win. Hughes is also another note worthy Canadian, just like Cindy Klassen who has one a total of six olympic Medals in two olympic games in speed skating. Hughes has a total of four olympic medals to her name. Hughes has one speed skating gold medal, one silver speed skating medal (from the Salt Lake City games) and two cycling bronze medals from when Hughes was a cyclist in the summer olympic games. She wasn't my favourite Canadian though in the Olympics.

Chandra Crawford, the cross country gold medalist, was my favourite highlight of this Olympic Games. Crawford had set her goal at placing in the top thirty in the cross country race. Crawford, in her gold medal race, nearly gave her coach heart attack as she fastly sprung out from the starting position. Crawford set a fast pace from the begginning. Her coach thought Crawford would wear herself out at the pace she set from the beginning of the race. But that was not the case considering Crawford was still jumping up and down as she rose with a beaming smile onto the podium to receive her gold medal. The person that nobody thought had a shot at Gold had won! This is the story I will remember from this Olympics.

Other notable accomplishments were Pierre Leuders and Lascelles Oneil Brown taking the two men bobsled silver medal, Jeffrey Buttle taking an unlikely Bronze Medal in men's figure skating (a sport that I don't really watch since the Salt Lake Skating Fiasco), Duff Gibson Gold and Jeff Pain both in Men's Skelton. I have left out some other Canadian medals, but the people above I believe have shown the greatest Olympic spirit in a various capacities. These stories are worth looking up in the future. I may have missed other stories due to working and sleeping (who isn't sleeping at three in the morning on a week day?).

I look forward to Vancouver in 2010 where Canada will hopefully do even better and I will hopefully be able to see more of the games live. I prefer that instead of hearing the results first then seeing the event unfold via tape. As the Vancouver Mayor probably said leaving the closing ceremonies tonight said....

"SEE YOU IN VANCOUVER IN 2010!"

Cat fight leads to carnage in New York City

TheStar.com - Cat fight leads to carnage in New York City

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Cat fight leads to carnage in New York City

NEW YORK—Police officers shot and killed a 65-year-old woman after they said she stabbed her neighbour at least eight times in an apparent dispute over the woman's cat, and then refused their orders to drop her knife.
The cat, Dickie, also suffered a serious stab wound to the eye in the attack Thursday at an apartment on Staten Island. Police spokesman Paul Browne said officers responded to a report of an assault in progress at about 8:15 a.m.
When officers arrived, a handyman said he saw Stephanie Lindboe grabbing neighbour Linda Padula by her hair and repeatedly stabbing her in the head, neck and shoulder with a kitchen knife. The officers found Padula, 59, bleeding profusely and pleading for help just inside the door of her apartment. As one of the officers went to her aid, Lindboe flung open the door of the apartment across the hall and brandished the knife over her head.
Police ordered the woman to drop the knife. She refused and came at one of the officers. He fired two shots, one of which hit her in the chest.
Lindboe was pronounced dead in hospital; Padula was in serious condition with eight stab wounds.
Neighbours told police the argument may have been sparked because the cat often defecated in the hallway. The cat was being treated at an animal hospital.

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So apparently the world is headed to complete stupidity!

I knew some people (mostly working in the Department of Education in New York City as evidenced here and here) were a little screwed in the head. But these two take the cake. A cat repeatedly defecates on the hallway carpet? So why not have the Superintendent intervene and determine if the occupant of the offending pet owner is at fault. If the cat is such a problem and the owner refuses to help solve the problem, which obviously is the case, than why should the cat owner be allowed to reside in the building?