Catching lightning in your hands.

I spent most of last night trying to photograph lightning. I got a handful of okay shots, but nothing spectacular. I was going on the law of large numbers, taking a 5 second exposure every 10 seconds. Basically, I was hoping to catch 33% of the lightning in a small section of the sky from my balcony. Unfortunatly, I missed the more spectaular strikes, but caught a few small ones. The storm was ideal. No rain, so the sky was clear, but lots of lightning.

I have a bbq lunch tomorrow and red lobster dinner with the coworkers tomorrow night. I hope red lobster has improved since the last time I went 10 years ago. It always struck me as the McDonalds of seafood restaurants. Well, maybe not as bad as McDonalds, maybe closer to Swiss Chalet.

*Update*
added ejessica's xanga site to the links

Working the lightning rod

Last night for dinner, I had home-made beef stew, with leeks, carrots, celery, onions, and mushrooms, poured over garlic mashed potatoes.

So... there's a severe thunderstorm warning with tornado watch in Ottawa. I figured it's a good time for me to bring the umbrella to work. Anyway, I decided to test out the umbrella before leaving the house, so I remove the strap and push up on that sliding thingie, and the umbrella opens, but unfortunately, I can't get it to lock in the open position. I'm staring at the little pole thingie that the ring thingie slides on, and I can't see that little metal thingie that holds the whole thing open. What the hell, right? So, then I realize that the umbrella is really short, and I mean like the pole is a foot long. I'm cursing and swearing, and then I see... the button. Yeah. I totally didn't realize that you gotta push the button to deploy the umbrella. Thats how long it's been since I've used an umbrella. I know, I know... why haven't I used an umbrella all this time? Because I'm not a pussy. Yeah, you heard me, you wuss. I'm allowed to use an umbrella today because there's a severe thunderstorm warning with a tornado watch.

Bachelor Cuisine

1 pack of instant noodles
2 eggs
green onion
dried chili peppers
1-2 cups of water
random veggies
a small pot
chopsticks
a spoon
a magazine

boil 1-2 cups of water in a small pot, depending on how much soup you want. Cut random veggies into bite sized chunks, and place in pot. When water boils, drop the instant noodles in. Crack the eggs into the pot, and carefully peel the eggwhite away from the yolk as it cooks. The idea is to separate the white from the yolk. Mix in soup-base, green onion and dried chili peppers to taste. Remove the yolks (unless you're a fan of eggyolk). Eat out of the pot to reduce dishwashing, and use the magazine to protect your tabletop (or chair or lap) from the heat of the pot.

The concept here is a more balanced and healthier instant noodle meal for long-term consumption. Basically, to decrease the MSG, and increase the fibre and protein.

Last night for dinner, I had...

... Asparagus, lightly sauteed with green onions, served in a lobster bisque sauce, with a side of freshly baked corn bread. For my meat serving, I had spam, fried, and for dessert, I had a portugese-style tart. Had I gone to the grocery store, I might have had steak instead of spam. oh well, maybe next time.

I've bought a corner table and a coffee table. Now, I actually have an eating surface. Before, I was sitting on my concrete balcony floor, eating off a folding chair. Nice, huh?

Coming home this weekend. What's the plan? I'll bring home my movie passes, and I'll take someone out to see MI3.

I've been in a news-blackout since May 1st. If something happened in the last 3 weeks, I don't know about it.

Thanks for the pen guys and girl. Hopefully, someone sees it and tries to mug me on the street, so that I can take it and stab them in the neck with a one-liner like, "You want it? Here, TAKE it... Bwahaha. The pen IS mightier."

BorrrRRRrrred

Yep, I have a dependence on coffee. If I don't have coffee in the morning, I can't think straight - I'll make tons of mistakes by noon-time. It's almost like I can read something, and I won't understand a word of it. In fact, I won't even remember reading it. After coffee, I'm a good worker though.

I'm thinking it might be psychosomatic though, because when I take that first sip, it's like my whole day brightens up, and I know there's no way in hell the stuff works that fast.

I think I like this job a lot. Mostly, I think I like this job because I hate natural health products, and this job puts me in a position to do the most damage to this particular industry. MMMMaybe I don't hate all natural health products. Maybe I only hate homeopathic medicines.

Ugh. This has got to be my worst allergy season ever. I guess if I only look at the upside, I can say that I get tired easily and sleep well.

8am... time to do some real work.

Submission Coordinator

Yes. I am now a Submission Coordinator (SC) in the group affectionately known as "the Q-Team," In the Submission Coordination Unit, which falls under the Product Submission Coordination Unit, of the Submission Management Division, ya di-da, Natural Health Products Directorate, Health Canada. Whew.

Anyway, Q-Team are all Co-op students, three from U Waterloo, two from Seneca (including me), and three that haven't arrived yet. Well, the last three, I'm not sure are Q-Team. They might be working for a different unit. Our immediate supervisor works 3 floors down, in the basement. So, pretty much, everything is done via email. It's sorta "sink or swim" here. "Have a question? Read the SOPs and the FAQs to see if that answers it. If not, then come down and ask us."

We have some pretty sweet equipment here. Our rolley chairs are the new ergonomic ones that cost hundreds of dollars each (the one that you have, Jeff). They're pretty comfortable, and even after 8 hrs of sitting, my ass isn't getting fat. The keyboard trays are a little lacking, though. There are only 2 settings: in my way, or under my desk. What with all the paperwork we have, there's barely enough deskspace, and what little there is, is too far away because the damn keyboard sticks out so much. Then, there's about 4" x 8" of mouse space. It's just enough space that at my sensitivity setting, I can get the pointer from one end of the screen to another in just one sweep. God help the fool who has a low sensitivity setting.

Where are all the fine pens? The government seems to use 0.7 mm exclusively. Thanks, Jane for those 0.38 superfine pens. They'll come in handy making my bosses squint. Oh, and I opened the "for emergency use only" package, not that I had an emergency. I just needed to know what my limits of self care are. Wouldn't want to be bleeding profusely, tearing open the package with 9.5 fingers, hoping in vain that you've packaged some polysporin in there. It also helps to know what other sort of supplies I need to buy.

On my first night in Ottawa, I had leftover fried rice from lunch, an apple and penut butter from the jar. Yesterday night, I had Beef Shawarma. Tonight, I will have instant noodles, spam, and a piece of fruit. Maybe some canned soup too. I need to go grocery shopping, but for now, my priority is mass cleaning. Once I've got this place up to a high level of cleanliness, it won't take much to maintain, and my allergies should go down (they already have significantly).

I'm not getting an internet connection or a phone line in Ottawa. I have access at work, and I'll do any emailing and chatting there. If anyone needs to reach me, you can email me or call my cellphone, the latter being reserved for urgent business.

Things that need to get done by next week:
1. Buy a pump to inflate my air mattress. I'm currently sleeping on the floor. It is very hard.
2. One more cleaning cycle.
3. Buy groceries.
4. Laundry