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December 29, 2004

Shaky shaky wakey wakey

By now, I'm sure, almost everyone has heard about the 9.0 quake in the Indian Ocean. Rather than belabour the point and take attention away from the people paid to report the facts and sensationalise the human tragedy, I'll just say this:

Please donate to the relief efforts, whether through monetary aid or personal effort.

The Red Cross
World Vision

By the way, the NOAA have a simulation of what the tsunami progression throughout the region would have looked like. Watching the ricochet tsunamis between India, Indonesia, and the Siam Peninsula was a sobering realisation for me about the terror that the people must have felt, not knowing if they'd be hit again after the initial waves crashed down.

Posted by KinCross at 01:04 PM | Comments (0)

December 28, 2004

Now I can sleep at night

Thanks to Useless Thoughts, I've finally got the answer to the question about who penned this quote:

Life is not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming "Wow! What a Ride!"
It's Hunter S. Thompson. Now I just need to verify it.

Posted by KinCross at 10:38 PM | Comments (0)

December 24, 2004

At least I learned how to make french fries

It used to be that getting home for the holidays was no big deal. In university, winter breaks started well before Christmas. In Syracuse, it was a few hours driving distance. In New York, it was only one flight out of any of the airport's or a nine hour drive.

This will be the my second Christmas since moving to Los Angeles. Last year, my family came to me. This year, I'm coming home for the first time in two years.

The flight home was LAX to Newark and the Newark to Ottawa. So, the weather will cooperate, of course.

Of course.

The flight out of LA went without a hitch and if I had to complain about anything, it was that they showed Catwoman as the in-flight movie. It was distracting when I wanted to sleep. It's hard not to be distracted by Halle Berry slinking around as a cat. I imagine I might have enjoyed the film more than the people that actually listened to the sound.

Newark brought new challenges, perhaps best summed up this way: I was awakened from my impromptu bed on the floor near Gate 101A by the announcement that my flight had been canceled due to weather.

Seems that a major weather front had beeb rolling in through the Midwest and was set to hit the NY area by afternoon. I heard it stretched up into Canada, so it's hard to say if the cancelation was due to conditions in Ottawa, the high winds in Newark, or the lack of equipment--airline speak for "the airplane"--that may have originated from the Midwest and got snowed in.

Whatever the reason, I was screwed for a flight on Thursday, but I was confirmed on a flight for the following day, Christmas Eve, in the afternoon.

Not about to hunker down at the airport for 27 hours, I decided to head into the city. It would mean having to get a room, though.

The travel agent at my workplace really came through for me in a time of need and even scored me a great deal, considering it's Manhattan during the holidays.

I stayed at the Waldorf Astoria. It was pretty damned sweet.

I was so tired from the redeye travel and the Christmas shopping around Herald Square that the first thing I did when I checked in was to collapse on the bed. Various phone calls strung me along in a half-wakened stupor until 6 p.m., when I finally succumbed to exhaustion.

I slept till midnight, took a shower, and considered food since I hadn't eaten since the previous night's dinner.

But, I was distracted by The Last Samurai on HBO. I was pleasantly surprised that I liked the film. It's a little gory at time, but I thought it was well done. Tom Cruise could stand to be a little less stiff, though.

After the movie, I finally dealt with food. Got some Nantucket Nectars Guava--wow, I miss these drinks-- and some pineapple at the deli on the corner, then decided to order room service.

I went all out and got myself some French Onion Soup and a 2.5 pound broiled lobster. Heaven! Ate it while overdosing on my fourth Law & Order for the day. In the end, it was a fantastic meal... and I think I watched a total of five Law & Orders.

Slept again, trying to return some normalcy to my sleep schedule, and wrote some postcards and letters before heading out for some picture-taking, shopping, and the commute back to the airport.

I'm about to leave New York again, for the first time since I moved away from this area fifteen months ago. I have no hair goo. I had to buy a scarf and gloves because mine are in baggage and who knows where that is now. I'm wearing an obnoxiously Canadian hat.

But, at least, this time I learned how to make french fries.

Posted by KinCross at 03:39 PM | Comments (0)

Dear Santa...

Hi! How is everyone? I've been a good boy. Well, better than usual, I think. Certainly better than last year, but I suspect that's a reflection of my general happiness than anything else.

I don't really need anything. I've got what I need. Of course, Giftmas isn't about what I need. It's about what I want. Ultimately, I don't really care what you give me as long I get to see you or talk to you this holiday season.

However, if you feel so compelled, this Giftmas, I would like...


After all is said and done, I just want to spend time with my friends, old and new.

Posted by KinCross at 03:09 PM | Comments (0)

December 21, 2004

Quietly, without fanfare

I'm in the Superbowl at my old workplace's fantasy football league.

Posted by KinCross at 08:41 AM | Comments (0)

December 07, 2004

Pimpin' It

Last night, I met up with the lady that hit my car last week to exchange money to cover the damage and it probably looked odd to the bystanders.

I was hanging around outside Fry's for awhile--she was late--and finally this fairly attractive blonde in DJ attire walks up. We exchange a few pleasantries and then she hands me a big wad of cash. A few more pleasantries and we parted ways.

I feel like I need a more garish wardrobe now.

And a four-finger ring with my name on it.

If my name weren't so short.

Posted by KinCross at 10:03 AM | Comments (0)

December 04, 2004

WoW

So what was I doing at the Fry's? (For the folks outside the Western US, it's a chain of superstores devoted to consumer electronics, computing, and media.)

I was there to pick up a retail copy of World of Warcraft, which I started playing just before Thanksgiving. Henry had been on one of the beta tests and picked up a collector's edition when it came out on the 23rd. He slipped me the guest pass that it came with, which meant the end of my Not Playing Video Games (A Lot) streak.

So, if you used to play City of Heroes with Roughrider Girl or Inquisitor Lal, you can find us now on World of Warcraft as Naeve or Flyingsnow on Uther server (Pacific).

Posted by KinCross at 02:53 PM | Comments (0)

Le Ding

I've had the car for a little over three weeks and on Wednesday it got into its first "incursion of personal space". The long and the short of it is that, around 6:40 p.m., in the parking lot of the Burbank Fry's store, a woman in a giant SUV backed into my passenger side door.

The damage is slight. There's a paint chip high on the door around the size of a quarter. There's also a depression where the bumper mashed into it. There's no other apparent damage. The window and door locks still work fine.

The estimate I got to bang out the door and repaint it came to almost $480, which won't come out of my pocket.

The whole thing ticked me off initially, and it wasn't even really about the damage. It was that the car was damaged so soon after I bought it. I also had no control over it. It was probably the lack of control that bugged me the most.

On the other hand, as bumps go, I suppose the ones where you had no hand in the matter are the best ones.

Posted by KinCross at 02:43 PM | Comments (1)