Wee bit tired...

Last night was pretty restless. I made the mistake of having a Tim's at around 8:30pm -- I get quite the chirp off this stuff, moreso than any other coffee. I fell asleep at a reasonable hour, but woke up at around 1:00 (slow release chirp, I guess). I had just gotten back to sleep again, when the street cleaners did their thing at around 4:30. After another "nap", I was up at 6:30 -- seeing the sun, I feel I have to take advantage.

Thankfully, it seems like two wrongs make a right -- the Tim's I'm having now is at least temporarily pulling me out of this fog.

It was a pretty decent weekend. Had a bunch of TGIF drinks with Ginny before heading downtown for a short spell. A couple of good stories were tossed back and forth before calling it a night at around 3.

Saturday we checked out the hockey game. Our plan to watch it at Christian's was thwarted by the throng of people leaving the Bob Dylan concert and flooding all the bars on George Street. So we headed to West Side Charlie's, where our plan to watch the whole hockey game was thwarted by their insane decision to throw on UFC midway through. Good call, morons. Let's just shut off the Stanley Cup final -- I mean, who in Canada watches that? -- and put on something that's only a couple of pieces of fabric away from being gay porn.

So back to my place where the third period was watched via rabbit ears. But hey, the beer was cheaper, and snacks more accessible. And a favourable outcome.

Looks like after a long lull, work is getting pretty busy again. So I guess I should get back at it...

Illness... abating?

So the flu I caught last week did its standard progression, from nose, to throat, to chest, to troubled breathing, to me going to a doctor, to getting antibiotics, and to resting it off. These pills are pretty damn strong, and are playing havoc with most of my gastrointestinal tract. But I'm able to breathe again, which I regard as a good thing. The shitty part was missing out on Saturday's marathon of activities.

I neglected to mention that we resurrected our scotch tasting group after a 2-3 month hiatus. To make up for it, we did two scotches. This brings us to five:

• The Glenlivet
  
• Bruichladdich
  
• Clynelish
  
• Glenmorangie
  
• Laphroaig (aka liquid campfire)
  

Recently we've been appending a visit to the Duke after these tastings, which is a favourable development. Especially when there's a hockey game on.

Time for another resolution recap:

Cooking/Lunches Going really well. I'm only forking over cash to restaurants 2-3 times a week now. Today will be a bit of an exception. I only had enough for a sandwich, which I didn't make because the thought nauseated me. So I'll be buying lunch somewhere today (provided I even get hungry today... it's showing no signs of happening so far)

Housework Still haven't made this a habit. I find myself doing some stuff while waiting for the kettle to boil in the evening. Guess I'll just have to drink more tea.

Carpentry Mothballed the past week. Last thing I needed was sawdust, stain fumes, and turpentine fumes in my lungs. But I need to make a push to get this dresser done. It's been dragging on. I'm itching to start something new, which hopefully will be completed before the end of June, so that I'll be back on track.

Electronics Haven't done a thing, except finalize my Digikey order. Hopefully that'll be in later this week, and barring any omissions, I'll have enough parts to complete two projects.

Piano One thing about being sick, it's given me a lot of time to play piano, since it's one of the few activities I was capable of. Another song is close to joining the fold now. And it's nice that this one provides a high note to end the otherwise glib list of resolution setbacks.

I've decided that my workshop could use a streamlining. It'd be nice to have a lumber rack against the long wall. I don't like leaning lumber against a wall because after a while it starts bowing. So I'm currently putting all the spare lumber on the floor along my banister. Which isn't too bad until the fifth time I stub my toe on a piece of 1"x8" on my way down the stairs in a morning haze.

I also have two sets of shelves in the workshop but no "system" for using them. And I have an old TV stand and desk where stuff that should be on shelves usually winds up. By getting rid of these, it should simultaneously enforce a system of shelf usage and free up some space. That'd be a good start.

Anyone want a desk and/or a TV stand?

Green's Law:
Length of blog post ∝ boredom at work

That's right! Tax REFUND, bitches!

My strategy of dumping some spare cash into an RRSP paid off yesterday, when I noticed my tax REFUND deposited to my account. I'm afraid the novelty of a REFUND is not going to wear off soon, since for the last several years it's been pay, pay, pay.

• 2006 Made the mistake of working two jobs for a while. One did not deduct my wages. Ended up having to pay about half of the second job's meagre salary back. That'll teach me to get ahead!
  
• 2003-2005 Research grant money was not tax deducted by university. I was aware of this, but it's still annoying getting a hefty tax bill in April. The keen observer will notice that the federal government removed all taxes on grants in 2006 (that's right, the year after I finished).
  
• 2002 Had to pay in after HILARIOUS misinformation presented to me by CCRA. I was told that whatever I paid in Norwegian taxes could be used as a tax credit for Canadian taxes. Totally NOT the case. Had to pay taxes to both Canada and Norway for the period 01/2002-04/2002. The keen observer will notice that Norway and Canada now have a tax treaty, in force as of January 2003 (that's right, the year after I worked there).
  Also HILARIOUS about this episode was the letter I got this January stating that I still owe a chunk of change to Norway. I liked how they happily sat on it for 5 years, allowing interest to pile up, before notifying me. Thankfully my REFUND covers it and then some.
  

I know, I know... I shouldn't be complaining too much. The fact that I've had to pay in implies that I'm doing well for myself. The circumstances are nonetheless still annoying. So I feel awesome now that I got a REFUND.

In other news, I caught something on Tuesday and had to spend yesterday at home. Thankfully, bo-diddly has been happening at work lately, so it was a guilt-free sick day. Ah well, it happens every half year like clockwork.

Still in other news, I finally got my ticket to Montreal for a non-retarded price! Direct each way (fuck you, Halifax airport!) If any of my vast readership wants to meet up in Montreal from July 1 to July 8, drop me a line.