Category Archives: Life

Reflections and glimpses into bits of my life.

Inbound Tasks

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I got up this morning, or rather crawled out of bed this morning.  I didn’t expect today to be the grandest of days.  Nor did I expect today as the worst of days.  I expected that for once I could relax this week, and just take it one day at a time.  When I logged onto my machine this morning, I noticed first a large number of e-mails.  Then the existing pile of tasks.  And the message from one of my friends, that I might have a huge event to go to.  A event that requires preparation, time and expenditure of financial resources.  In mortal terms, I have enough to keep me busy for this entire week.  And I’m a bit overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of it all.  If I don’t roll up my sleeves and get to work soon, then I’m going to have a pack of snarling, salivating tasks all over me in the matter of a single day.  Help.

I’m not worried, cause I can handle the load.  (Assuming nothing else doesn’t pop-up.)  I’m a bit cross that I’m waking up this morning, to the realization that a shitload of work is heading me way.  Oh well, I need to be expedient, and hope for the best.   Wish me luck.

New Site for justCheckers

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I’m setting up a new site for the justCheckers project.  The only real good reason for my working at all on this project, is simply to build a portfolio.  As a software developer, I want to show to others that I can code.  And that my code is clean, elegant and professional.  I also want to show that I can write my own web applications.  So I am writing the justCheckers website as a PHP, MySQL DB enabled application.  All using proper XHTML, CSS and a touch of AJAX.  The site is a work in progress.  I’m not planning to build an entire flexible CMS, rather I plan on building a custom site.

Happy Birthday Canada

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Today again, we Canadians celebrate Canada Day.  This day marks Canada’s 142nd anniversary as a nation separate of Great Britain.  So Happy Birthday Canada!  I’m off to chill and relax for the day.

Crazy Busy

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I’m going to have to keep these next upcoming posts short.  I am a bit overwhelmed at the moment, with the sheer amount of things going on at the same time.  I still want to try to keep going forward on the projects already in progress.  But I will not add anything new to my plate for the next few weeks.  I’m seriously planning a trip to Europe this year.  Planning this trip will take quite some effort.  Still a short update is in order.

I got meet up my university friend Rob yesterday.  Have not talked to him in ages.  I did spend a long time with him.  But it was great to talk to him again, and I needed someone in a similar position to my own to bounce ideas off of.

I started to compile some notes for my novel.  I wrote down most of the background of the novel.  Now I plan on completing my notes and sketching out the plot.  Then the serious work writing can begin.  As for programming, I’m working on a PHP powered website for justCheckers.  Also I am slowly reading through a book on coding C++ and Qt, along with a silly application I plan on writing to learn the Qt framework.

Rolling a Katamari

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I had a great weekend.  I got to meet a few new people.  Made quite a few people jealous by walking around with some quite attractive ladies.  No, I am not suddenly dating multiple girls or anything crazy like that.  Just made a few friends, and went for a few walks with them.  Them being attractive in my case was only a bonus.  Even thought I feel kind of dirty for thinking this… but… I had fun making other people that I have something that other’s want, even if I’m totally just posing. 😀  Sometimes I like being perceived to being on the other side of the equation.  Whether or not the perception is real or not doesn’t matter, at least not in these cases.

That aside, I’ve recently become addicted to a game for my cellphone.  Rolling with Katamari is ridicilously addictive.  I know the game does not break any new ground.  Katamari Damacy exisited for quite some time.  But I like the concept of growing a rolling ball by consuming larger and larger objects.  The beginning of each level starts off slowly.  You can’t absorb all the neat big items.  You have to start small and build up.  After a while you become a massive rolling, all consuming ball of goodness.  This seems analogous to life.  Start small, accumulate, save and with some patience, effort and good tactics, you too can become unstoppable. Just like the Katamari games luck and positioning help you achieve more in less time.

Kicking Tires

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This week, I’ve started working on my delayed projects again.  I feel exhausted from the week.  But I also can not wait to play around with my projects.

Learning Qt

I’ve always admired the KDE and Qt developers.  They make some of the most innovative and interesting technology in the consumer-desktop-mobile land.  I’ve decided to pick up learning Qt and C++.  So far I’ve read the beginning of C++ GUI Programming with Qt 4 (1st ed).  I need to play around with C++, which I plan on doing it while using Qt Creator.  One of my first major Qt experiments might be getting the TEA text editor working on my Nokia 5800 XpressMusic.  I know that Nokia just released the tech preview  of Qt 4 for S60 devices.  But I’ll give it a shot.  Hopefully the GUI will port over nicely.

Completing justCheckers

Yes, the project that I left for dead still lives.  I want to work on it, as portfolio material.  I first plan on building a website in PHP (or maybe JSP?) that renders beautiful CSS and XHTML.  And then I need to give the project much love.  But I owe it to myself to finish this application.  I won’t build any crazy game servers.  But I want to make something totally configurable and fun.  And in the process I want to create something that proves that I am a strong Java developer.

Writing A Collection of Shards

I am going back to writing.  Unfortunately I need to start almost from scratch, since many of my written sections simply will not work.  The ideas are there.  I just need to get them down on paper.

Driving License

This one is the ultimate in the tire kicking sense.  I plan on getting my driver’s license really soon.  Aside from parking, I feel comfortable driving.  Once I figure out all this parking stuff, then I’ll be ready.  I’m exciting since this will give me a lot more mobility and flexiblity.  I’ll be able to solve a lot of problems and have even more time to do things in the day.  And I’ll be able to sleep and live in normal time periods.

Hurt and Tired

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I hurt my foot in taekwondo yesterday, after sparring with someone who clearly didn’t understand the hypocrasy of telling me not spar as if I were competing.  The hypocrasy being that she acted as if it was a competition.  So while I’m limping back into shape, I’m going to take it easy on myself the next few days.  Not only am I injured, but I’m tired from lack of sleep.   I pushed myself for the past weeks, but I need to tone it down a notch.  I plan on doing my essential work as it should be done.  But all my other nice-to-have tasks and projects, I will treat as nice to haves.

I’ll Be Right On It

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It is a bit early in the morning to come up with material to write about.  And I did not get much sleep this night.  Today I probably wouldn’t be able to stop yawning.  And insane amounts of coffee will only keep me from trying to take a nap on the new office’s couch.  All that said, I am on track with my current work: personal, professional and long-term.  I’ve even managed to get to those much delayed tasks.  Yesterday I restarted my coding projects.  Today I will dedicate some time on building a portfolio: in writing, graphics and coding.  And I really need to clear the dust off my resume too.

The key statement for expressing the feel of these past few days should be: I’ll be right on it.  And I will.  Things get done and on time.  The only thing missing is sleep, but I’m sure that will return if I keep at it.

As an aside, I played Alpha Centauri this morning.  What a difference lower the difficulty a single level makes.  At the moment I’m kicking ass and taking names.  I can also verify that what they say about state theory is true.  It is all about power and domination over a territory.  It takes incredible restraint to not exercise aggressive military power, especially when you know you can get away with it.  Hmm… that should prove a great uncurrent theme in my novel.

Final aside: I have to rewrite the first chapter of my novel.  I can’t adapt any of my previous writing to it, in any real degree.  I can use some ideas and elements here and there, but regretably it looks like the first chapter needs a rewrite.  The overall plot and characters feel strong.  The setting needs some thought, since the terrain in reality does not work a 100% with my idea.  Anyways, I plan on just writing the rough drafts first.  Then I brace for painful edits later on.

The Day After

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Today marks the first day of my 26th year of existence.  So far I feel quite pleased.  I have some progress in my various goals.  I go out more often.  I talk to more people.  I have found a few girls who have taken some sort of an interest in me.  Life goes on without missing a beat.  In my mind, my writing is shaping up nicely.  Programming is left to the side, for now.  But I plan on working on that fairly soon.  Getting a license and a car is within my reach.  For once I can see myself living an ordinary independent adult life.  For various reasons I’m doing anything crazy like moving out.  Or spending vast amounts of money, or doing silly things in general.  My time management, project management and organizational skills are far better than they were a year ago.  And most importantly, I still see a glimmer of hope of my eeking out a prosperous existence on this rock.  My situation is not the simplest or the easiest, butI still I have room for maneuvering.  All in all, the day after and the coming days looking promising.

26th Time Around the Sun

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I made it!  I made it around the sun for the 26th time.  Quite amazing that I made it in one piece too, considering how fast the Earth travels around the Sun.  Hopefully, I’ll repeat the same feat next year.

Caroline asked as we walked on the Toronto Island on Saturday, how do I feel about being one year older.  I went into a long winded philosophical debate with myself.  And then I shortened it down to: I don’t feel differently than I was a year before.  I gained some more experience.  I feel that I’ll better handle the future thanks to said knowledge.  And I’m fairly happy with where I am in life.  It could be better, but I can’t complain.  Still I look around me, and can’t help but feel a tinge of anxiety.  Many of my friends have moved on to the next stage in their life.  And I’m just drifting along, occasionally kicking forward frantically without much success.  And the inertia worries me, because one doesn’t grow if one is not moving forward.  But again I’m not in a bad position or place.  So I have mixed feelings about my reaching 26 years of age.

I did enjoy my weekend though.  I saw my brother succeed in Air Cadets.  I walked around the gorgeous Toronto Islands with my friend Caroline.  I got to play a wargame with my coworker Shehan and his wife yesterday.  I didn’t conqueror the Polynesian Islands as I planned to, and the game dragged on.  But I enjoyed myself throughly.

So what do I want to do before I hit 27?  I guess more of the same.  Get closer to achieving my long term goals.  Work on being a better person.  And experience in the world more.  This next year should be fun.