Wednesday, November 30, 2005

City Champions!

Today was the city champs swim meet. The JP swim team won first place in the small squad division. We got a sweet trophy. w00t.

I was still sick today, but there was no way I was going to miss this.

In grade 10 we won first in small squad, but for grade 11 we had just over the small squad limit and had to compete with medium squad teams. We were only able to get second place. This year we had less people and were able to go back to win small squad.

In the 50m back, I beat everyone and I think I'll get a medal or something. I was racing with three guys from my club who haven't been off sick.

Next year the swim team will be in serious trouble. The team is made up almost entirely of grade 12s. There are only two grade 10s and one grade 11. Good luck next year Bill!

Tuesday, November 29, 2005

Monday, November 28, 2005

Sick Day #1

My throat is sore and my head is literally full of snot.

Go Away.

Sunday, November 27, 2005

Wrapping Up Loose Ends

There are a few things I feel I need to wrap up from the last few posts. The first is the reason I was driving around with a backseat driver. My Mom's friend Laurie recommended the movie "Shopgirl" which, as far as I know, bypassed it's way straight to cheap theatres. It's the story about a boring girl's relationships. A total chick flick. Lauie couldn't believe my Mom dragged me to it. It was complete crap.

The next item is my Grad Writing. A few days ago I posted how displeased I was with my first stab at it, so on friday after my glorious victory (read back if you're lost) I went and revised my comments. After contemplating just writing 250 exclaimation marks I decided on this;

Shoot for the moon. If you miss you'll have all eternity to think about your mistake. I'd like to thank the little people for my success (anyone under 6'). Truthfully, I'm not going to miss any of you. So long and thanks for all the fish. IT'S OVER!!

That's exactly 250 characters and completely badass. The only problem is that it is slightly disjointed...

Saturday, November 26, 2005

Backseat Driver

The most hilarious thing just happened. I was making a left turn from 119th Street onto the Whitemud. To get onto the Whitemud (westbound) I had to go through an intersection, over an overpass, and turn left at the second intersection.

The funny part was when my mom went hysterical with some typical backseat driving. We were approaching the first intersection (with a "no left turns" sign) and she started yelling that I was missing my turn. She had such conviction and was so loud about it that it was all I could do to keep the car on the road. Somehow I ignored her and made my way to the second intersection. I then stopped to yield to oncoming trafic before making a legal left turn onto the Whitemud. All the while she never ceased her rant.

I told her that if she was going to backseat drive that I expect her to at least pay attention. When she starts screaming directions at me it only serves as a distraction and negatively effects my driving and reasoning. I also told her that for her own safty (not to mention mine) that she should invest in a blindfold.

Later she made the rediculous claim that I had been going too fast "for her comfort". I responded and told her that I was in fact going too fast to make the illegal left turn but that I had been going the speed limit and had even stopped for the correct turn (to allow oncoming trafic to pass). Her next excuse was that she conveniently had a headache.

This isn't the only time she has done something like this. I was making a left turn when she yelled not to go. The car was already moving and I knew that I had plenty of time, but her yelling made me hesitate. I made the turn normally (still having plenty of time) but that could easily have not been the case. I even have my aunt as a witness. She told my mom that her backseat driving is dangerous, but this was casually ignored.

Friday, November 25, 2005

First Place? Heck Yes!

Every year since grade 10 I've competed in the Skills Canada Cardboard Boar Race. My school usually has 2 or 3 teams of four. The team I'm on always uses a design in which we build two boats and connect them. This design has served us well. In grade 10 we were in second place overall. Last year we ran into some technical problems and slipped to 6th place. This year we were all veteran boat engineers and built the boat with plenty of time to spare. The quality also was greatly improved as was our strategy.

We crossed the pool in 25.5 seconds for the speed competition, and held all four group members (660 pounds) for the required 2 minutes in the weight competition. Previously we had only attempted to put 2 people in the boat for the weight competition.

Many factors came together very well this year. If you'll excuse me, Andrea, Steph, Mike and I now have some bragging to do.

Let us celebrate our victory with the adding of chocolate to milk.

Thursday, November 24, 2005

Grad Writing

I did the writing for the yearbook today. That was really tough. You can never think of anything good to say when you're faced with a blank page and a 250 character limit. Regardless, I churned out some words which I am not entirely happy with.

Below is a complete transcript of what I wrote:
"Shoot for the moon. If you miss, you'll have all eternity to think about your mistake." Thanks to all the little people. That means anyone under 6 feet. I'll miss high school. It's been fun.

How lame was that? Even I was bored while typing it. The first quote isn't bad, but then it takes a real dive. By the end it is cheesy and sentimental.

I resolve to replace the end with "Truthfully, I'm not going to miss any of you." or something equally harsh.

Wednesday, November 23, 2005

Sexual Assault

My CALM class had a pair of guest speakers from the U of A in to talk about Sexual Assault. The class was wildly hilarious primarily due to my comments. I'll give you an example. At one point they asked (in a very serious way) how you could put pressure on someone to do something they don't want to do, to which I responded with "Do it or I will DESTROY you!". Tone of voice was key.

There was another guy who made a good comment. They asked how you could prevent rape. He said to yell "I have AIDS!!" to scare them off. Then he kinda acted it out. Hilarious.

Sick Day #2

No post today. I'm sick.

Go away.

Tuesday, November 22, 2005

Grad Photos

Last night I got my grad photos taken. Some people went for the full deal and got all manner of pictures taken in various poses and clothing. I just got the bare bones package which consists of two polaroids for the yearbook (they'll pick the one that looks worse of course).

Where some people have paid $20 for this (not including the photo packages you can buy - the cheapest being $184), I got away paying a grand total of $5.

Let me see. 184 + 20 - 5 = 199. These fools have wasted their own time and $199 for pictures they won't like and won't look at ever again.

Something tells me I was the saavy consumer.

Monday, November 21, 2005

Harry Potter

I saw the new Harry Potter last night (giving Kassia a ride yet again). It wasn't bad. There was some action, adventure, and Hermione running around in a dress. From what I remember, the movie was extremely faithful to the book.

The books are well written (if a bit long) and are moderately enjoyable. Still, I enjoy the movies more. There is less work and it takes less time. If it were available in podcast form, I would be set.

Sunday, November 20, 2005

Claire's Blog

My cousin now has a Blog. I'm not sure if she just decided to do one or if my blog was motivation, but she's out there. So far there isn't much to see, but I'm sure that will change.

I've already posted comments on her site. My first comment was "Dumbledore dies of page 596. I just saved you 4 hours and $30." on a post about Harry Potter. I wonder how she'll react to that.

Saturday, November 19, 2005

Kassia's Car

She still hasn't driven me to and fro. What is going on?? The same day I got my license I drove around and had four girls in my car! This is rediculous!

In her defense, she has bonitis. How hard on her can I be?

Friday, November 18, 2005

Kassia... GDL'd

Yes, Kassia has her license. She hasn't driven me anywhere yet (she's afraid a random gust will come up from somewhere in the vechile and blow her hair into her eyes), but she's supposed to organize a joyride for sometime soon.

Being spoiled, she already has a car for no reason. On the other hand, certain people who swim day and night and need a car for the obvious transportation required still are minus one vechile. Not that I'm jealous...

Thursday, November 17, 2005

Security Now! (Podcast)

Another featured podcast for you. This one is done by the host of This Week In Tech (TWiT) - Leo Laporte, and Security Guru - Steve Gibson. Every week they do a show giving many ways to secure your PC and protect yourself and your data.

They have talked about everything from the Sony/BMG Rootkit to securing Wi-Fi networks. In the shows Steve tends to rant a little about how everything works while Leo translates it back to english. If your system isn't secure or even if you THINK it is, you should listen to this podcast once a week.

Wednesday, November 16, 2005

Guess My Friends - 1st Edition

I'm going to make a one line description of each of my best friends. If you know who I'm talking about in each sentence then send me an email. There might be a prize.

1. ________ has crappy interests.

2. ________ played soccer practically every recess in elementry.

3. ________ has strong art skills.

4. ________'s neibors like to run around in bikinis.

5. ________ hasn't really had alcohol.

Tuesday, November 15, 2005

Sleep In Day

I hereby proclaim this International Sleep-In Day. There was no waking me up this morning. When I did get up it was part of the way into second period. I showed up for the last 10 minutes of that class. That is my favorite part of class anyway so it all worked out.

After swimming we were doing dryland and watching a fat old woman diving. She was on the 1 meter board and eventually worked her way into doing pikes. It was hilarious and we were saying things like "that's a whole bunch of old woman changing direction midair". She would dive (making a huge mushroom cloud like splash) and we would all laugh. If we're all going to hell, we might as well have some fun along the way.

Monday, November 14, 2005

Too Many Podcasts!!!

My iTunes podcast folder has 48 podcasts and about 500 unplayed shows building up. I am swamped. Yesterday and today have been sorting and deleting podcasts I don't like enough. There are several shows I have featured on this blog that I really like, and then a whole bunch I may not even have gotten to yet. I am having a really tough time weeding out shows without listening extensively first.

Regardless of anything, I need to clear out some of these shows before they take over my hard drive. Wish me luck.

Sunday, November 13, 2005

Top Of The Pods (Podcast)

In this podcast there are two guys from England who do top 10 lists. Each episode is dedicated to a topic such as "Top 10 things to do the day you quit your job" and "Top 10 worst places to use the toilet".

Despite how idiotic this may sound, it is actually quite entertaining. Most of the lists are made by listeners and in such cases the hosts rarely agree 100% with the content. This is where it gets fun. Even if you miss the humor or are an idiot of some sort, it is STILL fun to listen to two British guys talk back and forth and say "Rubbish".

Saturday, November 12, 2005

My Spelling

My new goal is to change the spelling of "Better" to "Beter". I think it looks beter that way...

The motivation behind this is to make the english language more streamlined and faster to write. If we took one redundant leter out of every couple of words we could all type faster and get things done more quickly. It would take that much off the work of writing an essay. Every little bit helps.

Taking a single letter out of "beter" yeilds an amazing 17% less writing. Applied on a larger scale we could finish writing before we even start!*Results may vary.

On the other hand, it is equally possible that I am just too lazy to use spell check.

Friday, November 11, 2005

Rememberance Day

I observed my two minutes of silence yesterday, so I'm off the hook for today. This left me the morning for sleeping and the afternoon for vechile shopping.

I'm probably buying a van from my grandpa that he bought from my aunt when she got a brand new Honda Pilot. The thing is that my grandpa took the dash apart trying to improve the design of the parking brake. Most people would just get it fixed, but he is going to install a lever style parking brake from a honda in the middle of the floor in a dodge grand caravan. I'm thinking it's more of a make-work project than anything else.

At swimming I was promised water polo. I didn't get it, so I have to try again for tomorrow.

Thursday, November 10, 2005

U of C Recruitment

I went to Il Portico today after evening swim practice. Head Coach Mike Blondal talked about the programs and how everything works. As a fringe benefit I got a fancy meal with lots of pasta and desert.

One thing that really impressed me was how Mike shook my hand and knew my name without having ever been introduced. Wether or not he has just noticed me swimming at a meet or just had Marc point everyone out, it gives the impression that he cares and has taken the time to know my name. Kudos to him.

Also they gave out trinkets to all. Lanyards. If you don't know what that is by the name, it's one of those neaklaces for your keys.

I am 18 in 100 days. Only losers don't count down...

Wednesday, November 09, 2005

Still Sick

I'm still sick, but I went to school today. I had a horrible headache in the morning and almost threw in the towel, but I just missed school for a swim meet and I can't get too far behind.

By second period I was feeling alright, until I realized it's job shadow day and I didn't talk to the guy I was going to job shadow yet. I would have skipped the class if I had anything beter to do. So I had an uneventful class of watching Dumb & Dumber and playing Squares (good game).

In social I got an essay back (91% w00t). Then I went home and to swimming. I told my coach that I was "out of snot" and was going to swim. He laughed.

He also told me that there is a recruitment dinner at Il Portico (free food kicks SO much ass!) and the U of C wants to keep as many canadian swimmers as possible. That's tomorrow and I'm stoked.

Tuesday, November 08, 2005

I'm Sick

I was right about that whole "getting sick" thing. I feel awful.

Now I have to go sleep it off.

Monday, November 07, 2005

M.I.A.

I stayed at my cousins' house last night. They all use a bunch of Apple computers. Boo!

My mom was too lazy to drive back to edmonton, so I ended up doing it. I'm really tired from the swimming (surprising because the swim meet wasn't very hectic), the lack of sleep, and now having to drive. In addition to that, I'm starting to feel a bit sick. In retrospect it probably wasn't the best idea to steal food off my cousin's plate when she had a cold...

Sunday, November 06, 2005

Speed Meet Update #3

This is the final day of the swim meet. I'll be going home tomorrow.

100m Free - I didn't have a good day today. Lousy sleep last night. Time: 1:00 Best: 57

100m Back - I had to swim next to Taylor Maxey (pure evil). Continuing that crappy swimming streak. Time: 1:05 Best: 59

Relay - I wasn't disqualified (DQ'd) so that was good. My split was 26.5 (and I was wearing a training suit).

The highlight of my day was homemade chili for lunch.

ESKs suck by the way. Beaten by stamps. For shame.

Saturday, November 05, 2005

Speed Meet Update #2

I had two races and two good stories about things that happened today. I'll try to keep everything brief.

200m Free - The first thing that happened was that my silicon cap broke as I was pulling it on. A good chunk of the front came away in my hands. Thinking quickly I pulled the back part way off and got the cap into a position to cover as much of my head as possible. Geoff Braid (who is on my team) was in the land beside me and had quite a good laugh. In the race I had a good dive and swam long and strong. My goal in a 200m race is not to go out too fast and die for the end. My time was 2:12 (beating Geoff's 2:16 or whatever). This is 6 seconds slower than my best time (about par for this early in the season).

50m Free - The object of this race is to go as fast as you can for as long as you can. My dive and turn were both good and my time was 26.7. My best time is 25.8 so this was a good race. When I was talking to Marc Tremblay (my coach) after the race he asked me how many times I had breathed. I took one breath on the way out and three more on the way back. He told me to drop that to two on the way back next time. Oxygen Nazi.

One good story from today was the bet I made with these two other guys. I bet them a Milk 2 Go that I would eat an entire mandarin orange (including peel) in one bite. It turns out this is easier said than done. First the orange is too large to get good biting power. Second the peel tastes horrible. After a good long time chewing I got it all down. I'll collect that Milk 2 Go on tuesday.

In finals I had to swim in a 200m medley relay (each person swims a different stroke for 50m). Mark Phillips (another coach) told us the order we were to swim (Steven, Brody, Kier, Derek). We protested that Keir was beter at Free for longcourse (they switched for finals for some reason) and that I was beter at Fly. Mark P just told us to swim it and not to worry. Meanwhile Marc T (head coach) went and switched me to Fly and Kier to Free without telling anyone. Our relay team was disqualified for swimming in the wrong order. Being all optimistic I focused on the fact that I had swam 50m Free in 26.4 seconds (3 tenths faster than the morning).

Friday, November 04, 2005

Speed Meet Update #1

This morning I woke up at the crack of dawn and got on a bus (I'll refer to it as a "tin can on wheels" from now on). This bus was obviously built for and by midgets. I can't astnd up or sit straight (as the chair ahead of me would bisect my legs). Surprisingly enough I was able to twist myself into a position just barely comfortable enough to sleep. The rest and my iPod (now resurected) literally saved me from insanity.

After three hours in the tin can on wheels we got to Lindsay Park. For accuracy's sake I should point out that it is now called Talisman Center but everyone likes Lindsay Park beter. I had to do a warm-up but nothing more because there were only distance events today. After having two Milk 2 Gos I was rehydrated. Then I called my Dad and left.

Tonight I had homemade pizza so I should sleep well. Tomorrow I have 200m and 50m Free. That should allow me to talk more about swimming and less about random crap.

Thursday, November 03, 2005

Cascade Speed Meet

This weekend I will be in Calgary swimming insanely fast. This is the first actual (sort of) swim meet of the year and my goal is to get close to my best times.

I actually leave the city tomorrow at 0800 and will be there until late on Sunday. I hope to have computer access to post some times or something. These swim meets have all sorts of crazy stories...

Wednesday, November 02, 2005

Resume

Another story from CALM class. We had to do some crap with resumes today so instead of actually working to get it done, I just saved a version off my website that I did last year. I still had to do the cover letter, but I had most of the class to play "Squares" (link in title).

It is a very addictive game.

Tuesday, November 01, 2005

CALM Teacher

Mr. Postle was being a big tool today. I was all dehydrated and everything, but he wouldn't let me get water. As an athlete I have had nutrition information drilled into my head. One of the most important things is water. If you feel thirtsy ever, you're already dehydrated.

This morning I went to swim practice and had a tough set that I must have sweated alot in. We had to do 200m kick sprinting, but doing a dolphin kick patern off each wall. Also there was a time to beat, set by this national level chick who made this set up. Her time was 2:20 or something. People in practice beat her and the best time in our group was 2:12 or something. Meanwhile I slacked off and didn't do the kick pattern at all. So my coach made me do it again. This time I did a 2:08 (beating everyone by a good margin) but I did the kick pattern backwards without realizing it. So the THIRD time I had to do this set I did it all right and had a time of 2:10 or something. But I digress...

This all took large quantities of water and by second period I was really thirsty. I had to wait until lunch at which point I had two Milk 2 Gos and a can of pop in addition to spending a few minutes at a water fountain.