Archive - February, 2004

----- 02.25.2004 --------
Tonight I had a focus group. I love focus groups! This one was pretty awesome. It was a taste test on ready-made caesars! I had 3 to taste. The whole thing took about 15 minutes. Not only did I get free drinks, but I got paid! That's right! $40 for 15 minutes. And to sweeten the deal? They even gave me two subway tokens! Awesome! Now, the only problem is that I thought caesar 1 and 3 were pretty bad, but I really like number 2. Unfortunately I don't know what kind it was! They kept talking about three different ones, so I assume it was either The Keg, Mott's, or Smirnoff. Since I've tasted the first 2 before and didn't like them, maybe it's time to give Smirnoff a try? Anyway... it made for a cool after-work activity :) When I got home I relaxed a bit, playing some GRIT (Ghost Recon: Island Thunder) online w/ Jamie over XBox Live!. After that, I setup my new web cam. Yes, that's right... a new cam! I'll have my webcam page working again.... FINALLY! So far I really like the cam, it's a Quick Cam Pro 4000. It's very snappy, has a very clean picture, and auto-balances really fast. By zooming in, it also has a face-tracking feature :) The software looks pretty cool that came with it. It's called Image Studio. It allows you to do quite a bit, including monitoring, web cam, time-lapse, stop-motion, full-motion video, stills, and my favorite, live broadcasts! I wants me to setup an account with some "free" service, but I haven't yet. I am anxious to give it a try. I don't know what I'll broadcast yet, but I'll think of something. Maybe I'll play didgeridoo on sunday evenings or something :) Speaking of which, I played mine for about 1/2 hour tonight. I must have put 15 hours into it since I got it (from Australia). I'm really enjoying playing! Although I don't have the circular breathing all figured out yet, it's getting there. Anyway, I think I'm off to bed. Be sure to check out my webcam page sometime in the near future. If this software won't cut it, I'll fire up Webcam32. It did a good job for me before... with the exception of that memory leak that left my system resource-less and weak. But that's old news... ANyway, catch ya later! WAIT! 2 more things I just remembered!!! One is a warning about some new, hi-tech ATM fraud. Check out this link from Snopes. This could happen to your! Another reason I should get a 2.4 GHz scanner... I'd pick up a camera if it were broadcasting from an ATM. Oh ya, and the other thing: A Perfect Circle Concert!!! It's April 22nd. I've got 3 extra tickets @ $46.50 each if anyone's interested. Email me!

----- 02.22.2004 --------
I'm still working to get my Australian Pics posted. I still have 2 galleries left to post, but the majority are there. I've heard many good things from you all which is encouraging to get the rest posted. It almost feels like work, but once it's done, even I can enjoy them from any computer. It almost takes me back to vacation mode :) Well, this weekend was a good, relaxing weekend. My buddy Jamie came over and we played some XBox. We played tons of Xbox actually. But hey, it's better then going out. Especially when you're on the wagon! Speaking of which, it's going well. I slipped last weekend, but that's all fine and good. I'm not going to beat myself up over it or anything. Anyway, back to XBox. I got a new game: Crimson Skies. It's a wicked dogfighting aircraft game you can play online. We were playing split-screen online. It was a blast! Some other games we played were: Mechwarrier, Wolfenstein, GTA: Vice City, and as usual, Halo (in legenary mode). What a great game! I can't wait until Halo 2 comes out. Unfortunately it's been pushed back to Fall '04. It was supposed to be released this spring. Oh well... if it takes longer to come out because they are producing a quality product? That's fine by me! Anyway, I don't have too much else to talk about. I'm just half watching/listening to "Bowling for Columbine" in the background. It's playing on the movie network. I think I'm going to get back to it. Take it easy!

----- 02.17.2004 --------
Well, I got some more pics posted! Better late then never, right? You can see them at my Australian Pics page, which has been updated with a link to my Fraser Island pics. I still have quite a few more galleries to go, so stay tuned. I'll get them up when I find the time... Anyway, that was the main reason for an update. Really briefly (cause I wanna go to bed), everything's going great. We lost pool last night (again), but that's it for our losing streak. We've actually been doing quite decent for the most part. Speaking of pool, I'm thinking of joining a 9-ball tourney every saturday at the Charlotte Room. We'll see. Anyway, I'm off to bed. Enjoy the pics!

----- 02.13.2004 --------
Last night I wired up my system. I replaced all the rca connector's with S-Video and made sure all devices have their audio connected digitally. My XBox included!!! In fact, it was the driving factor behind it all. I got a "Madcatz Ultra AV kit" which supports Dolby Digital 5.1 (through fibre) and HDTV. I don't have an HDTV, however I can take advantage of the S-video. Or can I? Back when I set it up, my VCR limited me from doing it via S-video because it doesn't have it. It's screwed up, but you can't mix the two going into my TV. Oh well. I decided I don't use my VCR anymore and removed it from my system. If I really need it, they now make RCA - S-video connectors. Anyway, the result of it all is a clearer picture and the sound on my XBox is night and day!!! It's friggin' amazing! What else is new? Oh ya... I bought tickets to "A Perfect Circle" today. They'll be playing in Toronto on April 22nd. I can't wait! Anyway... that's about all I have to say. Oh ya... one more thing. My Australian pics... I'll get more up this weekend. Don't you worry :) I came through last weekend when I said I would, right? Cheers!

----- 02.08.2004 --------
Happy Birthday Mom! I love you! Giving credit where credit is due, if it wasn't for my Mom, I'd never be here and this site would never exist. A good thing? :) I hope you're referring to the site.... Anyway, speaking of which, I'm close to posting my Aussie pics. I know I said I'd have them by the end of this weekend, so I will. BUT, I won't have them all. There was just so much to go through! And the underwater ones need to be scanned in. Anyway, there are lots more to come. I'll post them all here. Enjoy!

----- 02.05.2004 --------
Well, I'm quickly getting back in the groove of things! Work's going well. And so is life outside of work :) What more can a guy ask for? I was back in the gym tonight for some squash. I played last night for a few games, but it was more of a warm up before my workout. Tonight I was purely there for the squash. I played for soooo long! It's my first round robin in over a month. It feels good to be back! I played from 6 until about 8:45 !!! That's a LOT of squash! I'll be paying for it tomorow.... but hopefully I'll get back into the gym. I'm on the wagon right now.... all that partying in AUstralia.... time to dry out! That and my wallet could really use a break :(. So, I guess that means more nights at the gym. I've set some pretty rigorous goals for myself for summer and I plan on meeting them. I'm going to have to bump the workouts up to 4 nights/week, but that's OK. And none of this "1 muscle group per week" stuff like I was doing all fall. It's all about the super sets! As long as I leave atleast 48 hours in between exercises for the same group, I should be more then fine. Anyway... I'm going to go to bed right now. I'm kind of beat. Btw, I posted a bunch of new links on my links page. The newest additions are at the top of any given section. Bye!

----- 02.03.2004 --------
I like to start by saying Congratulations to my cousin Scott and his new Wife Ederlyn who got married on Saturday. I spent the weekend in Bradford celebrating. It was a really fun weekend! I got to see a lot of my friends from my cousins' circle that I haven't seen in quite awhile, and some that I met for the first time. We had a blast! So much, that when I got home Sunday... Superbowl Sunday that is... I went to bed. I was beat! I wanted to watch it, I was just too tired! Actually, I was really only interested in seeing Survivor: All Stars, but I slept right through it. Oh well, I'll try and catch it Thursday. Well... I know I'm dragging my heels, but I'll get my Australian pictures up by the end of this upcoming weekend. Fair enough? There'a date to go by :) I'm still sorting through them... there are literally hundreds to weed through. After I decide on keepers, there's the captions, which can take a long time! Maybe once I get them up I can look through my videos and possibly compress some of it for posting. No promises though. Well... I've been back just over a week and I'm starting to get back into my routines. I hit the gym last night and then played pool. The gym felt great! It had been over a month since I've worked out and I missed the burn I felt all day today. Next target: Summer! Maybe I can throw another 10 lbs. on :) Actually, I had lost a few pounds in Australia. I guess that's what happens when you don't maintain a 3500+ calorie diet!!!! We won our pool match last night against the 2nd best team in the league 5 - 4. It was a big win for us and it felt good as well! We've surpassed the other Harbour team and are starting to win most of our matches (Knock on wood!). Well, that's about all for tonight. If you haven't been here in a while, be sure to check out my January archive for a play-by-play of my vacation to Australia. It was sooooo awesome! I miss it already :(

-------------------------
SEE THE ARCHIVE FOR PAST MUMBLINGS

© 2000, Rob Girard dot com