Sowrey.org

Well, so much for an easy day. I suppose I was asking for that, eh?

We left the hotel a little later than planned, and the movers (three guys in their 20s) and the two cleaners were already at our front door engaged in deep chat when we got to the house. After a few quick introductions (I have since forgotten all of their names) we proceeded to all lay siege to the house.

The movers moved. The cleaners cleaned. The owners … um … well, mostly ran around stupidly trying to finish things without getting in everyone’s way.

Read the rest of this entry »

I remember when I was back in university. As part of my English degree, I was told that I had to take two languages. Literally, different languages, not just something that was culturally different (a couple of friends not in English got away with courses about the French language’s cultural impact, rather than having to learn French, for example).

At the time, I signed up for French. I figured I already knew enough that I could ace the course and not worry about it. The other language was harder. My advisor suggested Latin, mostly because the one instructor he said I should have had a simple rule: ace all the weekly tests, you get 100% and you don’t have to take the final. I liked that plan.

Sadly, the plan didn’t work exactly as planned. The French teacher was an absolute bitch.

Read the rest of this entry »

You might be wondering: Gee, Geoff, where are all the posts you had for Costa Rica? Well, it’s not that I don’t want them up, it’s an issue of timing. I can’t really go into that right now, but let’s just say that this is the best way to have it for now.

But on the bright side, there is more stuff to come shortly. Our month o’ meetings continues as we head down to Panama [insert Van Halen here] tomorrow for a client kick-off. This should be fun.

First, though, let me recap our weekend just past.

Read the rest of this entry »

I am a broken man. For I have sold my Mini.

This is, truly, a sad day.

Read the rest of this entry »

I had said I wanted a Rolex. I still do, really. I love the GMT Master II, the Submariner, and the Milgauss. But here’s the sad reality: I can’t afford one. I tried. I really did, but the finances weren’t working in my favour. (It’s hard to justify the high price when you have a small child, and we’re far from “rolling in it”.)

My major problem was that I still wanted an automatic movement — no quartz. And I really like the Rolex style — it’s not just iconic, it set the mould for watches around the world. Within my price range, there weren’t a lot of ones available that I actually liked. Most were atrocious, gaudy, tacky, or just downright ugly. Or quartz.

My co-worker Matt turned me onto something I hadn’t previously considered: Invicta.

Read the rest of this entry »

I was recently out in the United Kingdom on vacation. If you know my travel habits, you know I rarely stay in one place for long — I like to move around. (Yes, this often fuels or is fueled by my mild obsession with trains.) It means that I often pay close attention to public transit, and how it operates.

While we were in York, a thought suddenly hit me. I’m sure I’d seen this elsewhere, but it hadn’t really registered. The buses weren’t run by York Transit, or Transit Yorkshire, or anything directly related to the city/region government. The buses were privatized through FirstGroup PLC.

And suddenly I thought: Why couldn’t Calgary do the same?

Read the rest of this entry »

Late arriving in San Francisco, no thanks to an incoming snowstorm in Calgary. The deicing truck broke down mid-hose, and we had to wait 30 minutes for another one. But it gave me more time to have an interesting chat with my seatmate, who works for Wind River. Software, not the outdoors stuff.

The flight was pretty good — drinks were actually free! Nothing to eat, though. Not even pretzels. Watched Golden Compass. Did some post-vacation photo editing. Both toilets on the train broke down 30 minutes before we landed.

Just waiting for the BART to leave the station. Won’t likely see the guys tonight, though.