Long Distance Driving

This weekend I embarked on not one, but TWO 11-hour driving marathon - all for the lovely sweetheart of mine. (aww...) It was a horrible drive, especially after work on Friday. There were times when I thought I was going to die because I would fall asleep at the wheel and crash. After I got there though, everything was worth it. :P We ended up just spending the day driving around (yes, more driving) and walking around. Left U-C around 12 noon on Sunday, only to get back to Toronto a little past midnight. *yawn*

Who says LD relationships don't work? Both people have to put in the effort, and it boils down to one word - trust.

Support for Universities

The Globe and Mail - Support for Universities

This is an open letter from the president at the University of Waterloo. It makes me angry that my education is at stake here, and the government is busy picking fights with other parties. Tax cuts are nice, but I remember Larry Smith (economics professor extraordinare) once said in ECON 101, "Society wants tax cuts, and society wants social benefits. It doesn't add up!" Show me the balanced budget - I don't mind paying for it, if I can see my money going somewhere.

October 2nd, I have no idea who to vote for. In fact, I don't think it matters - students are often shafted by the government anyway. I guess this explains the general apathy in the new generation of young adults..

Rush, dash, run..

First of all, I might have offended some people when I said that nobody wants to listen - well it was 6am when I posted that. :) Most of my readers would be sleeping at that moment.. plus, it was more of a symbolic metaphor that came out wrong. So I apologize to those who sent me angry e-mails.

It's been non-stop action for the past couple of days! With graduate school scholarship applications, and full time job searching, I'm up to my neck with work to do. Plus I haven't been sleeping well (see previous post), and been realizing that none of my friends really like me for who I am, it fuels to my frustration and short-tempered behaviour. (as if my usual short-temper is not bad enough)

Feels like I'm running a marathon, but with no end in sight. *sigh*

Sleepless in Toronto

I'm still wide awake, at 6:20am. Haven't been able to fall asleep for the entire night.. Too many thoughts. Things are definitely bothering me, and I feel so out of touch with the world. I haven't been acting myself lately either. I just want to talk to somebody about it - but nobody wants to listen.

Guess I should get ready for work.. *sigh* Hope I don't fall asleep during work - my boss is coming back from his vacation today! (Yes, he's been away since I started, so I'll be seeing him for the first time today)

Hurricane Isabel

When did they start naming hurricanes anyway? I wonder what this personification does for the public. Does it make the media much easier to identify for a personified object, so they can refer to it as if it had feelings and emotions?

Isabel hit North Carolina, and the US government declared a state of diaster for those states that were affected. Couple of people died already. Ugh, scary stuff.

Surprisingly, there was still sunshine when I left the house this morning. It was coined "The Storm That Never Was" this morning on the radio show, but looking outside the windows, it looks like it finally came.

Being fake

So I was told that some friends of mine think I'm fake. Me? Fake? I suppose it's the level at which you are looking at it. We all put on a show for others to see - some better at it than others. You cannot expect me to pour my heart out at you when I (a) barely know you or (b) you put on a face for me to see also. Perhaps it's due to the fact that I listened to X-Files - "Trust No One", but I have had one too many incidents where people backstabbed me. So pull that knife outta my back and then tell me I'm fake.

The ironic part is, I think those people who think I'm fake, are even more fake than I am. If they cannot even come up to my face and say it like it is, then they are just as fake as they perceive me to be.

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | TV and Radio | Charge over Blaine box incident

BBC NEWS - Blaine box incident

This whole David Blaine thing has gone on for long enough. People throw golfballs and food at him, use laser pointers to point him (which he thought was from rifles), even as far as sending a hamburger up using a remote controlled helicopter. Some girl even flashed him, or stripped naked underneath his cage. Why don't people just leave him alone? Better yet, the media should stop hyping it up so much. If he wants to stay in that plastic box, suspended over London's Tower Bridge, then so be it. Why do we care - or better yet, why SHOULD we care?

It's a personal challenge for him, and he feels that it will be a rewarding experience. Good for him. I have nothing against him, and I admire the fact that he is doing what he feels is right for him. Now let us all just carry-on with the rest of our lives.. there are much more important things to do in life than to stare at a man inside a plastic box.

languagehat.com: RDIAENG.

Since everybody is posting this, I might as well help spread the fire.

languagehat.com: RDIAENG.

I couldn't believe my eyes when I started reading it! I suppose from now on I just have to make sure I get the first and last letters correct for the words in my blog.. haha.. forget about the spell check. :P

Reading Blogs

While eating lunch, I had this wonderful thought : Let's expand my horizons and read some other blogs. Sure enough, I found this one..

I'm sorry, I wasn't listening. I was lost in your eyes

Makes me wonder if any of the full-timers are thinking the same way towards me.. NAH, I work in a bank and I am an engineer. :P These things, my friends, *ONLY* happens in movies. (and apparently in other people's lives)

Weekend in the city

This is the first weekend I had while I was in Toronto, and honestly I never thought it would be *this* packed with activities. Starting with a bit of design project meeting first thing in the morning, it wasn't my idea to start the weekend that way. In any case, it was done and over with quickly (so I see my group members share my feelings toward academic work during internship periods). Had wonderful lunch with two lovely ladies from my class (props to Lisa for getting us a table with her 'connections'), then off to karaoking. My throat still hurts from singing for 6 hours.

Kim (one of Evelyn's high school gal pals) recently moved to a bigger apartment with her sister, and held a house warming party at their new apartment. By the time I got there, a couple people were on their way out, and the rest of us decided to head downtown for a night on the town. One girl suggested this latin club.. uh.. drag club. I had some bad experiences before, but not wanting to be defeated by my own fears, I tagged along and saw the show.

It was definitely worth the line-up, the cover charge, and the risk of being picked up by another bloke. These 'women' really know how to put on a good show. Still, I prefer real women. :)

The rest of the weekend was - sleep, rest, relax, lounge in my home, doing nothing. I miss times when I could actually do this - back in high school.

Internship Again..

So now I'm sitting in my office, staring into the 19" monitor on my desk and blogging. Productive huh? Finally got my security pass (with the ugliest picture of me), and now I'm drinking Timmy's while reading the company intranet. Not very productive at the moment, and the work seems relatively simple. Perhaps it's because of the knowledge I gained from my last internship?

The work environment is definitely a lot calmer than on the trading floor though. :) This is a good thing - it's giving me a perspective of the whole business, while giving me an opportunity to learn new things.

Orientation Week Finished!

Finally it's over - a full week of activities ended with ComEng, Comedy Engineering night. Adding to the memorable week is my colour group's victory over the other 9 groups for frosh week! Go Grape Scots! We surely had some amazing frosh in the group, always very enthusiastic.. cannot forget about the other leaders who led the group much better than I did. (afterall, it was my first year as a frosh leader) I'm glad that frosh week ended this way. :)

Now to get ready for first day of work tomorrow.. *sigh*

Orientation Week Day 4/5

The Scunt was a lot of fun! Despite the fact that I didn't participate in any of the events, it was great seeing that at least 30-40 of them showed up. They participated in compeitions against other groups, such as 10-way Tug of War, Duct Tape Sculptures, etc. I wonder who would win Scunt this year?

Today was the final event of orientation week, and one that many people have been waiting for - The Toga Party. I was surprised at how many people actually showed up for this event, even when it was rather cold outside. I was doing security all night, until I got really sick because I forgot to bring a jacket. :(

Orientation Week Day 3

Finally I got to sleep-in today! The frosh wrote their ELPE (English Language Proficiency Exam) today, and they have the rest of the day off until the evening event. I took the time today to sleep and recover from the previous sleepless nights. For the Monte Carlo Night event, I signed up to be a dealer! It was definitely a lot of fun, and now I know that being a dealer is not easy. Keeping your eye out for any suspicious behaviours, knowing each player's hands, and having the ability to count very quickly (I was dealing Blackjack all night).

Tomorrow night brings the Engineering Scunt (Havenger Scunt), and Saturday is the Toga Party! I have never been to a toga party on campus, so it will be interesting to see how it will turn out.

Orientation Week Day 2

I forgot to mention about Single and Sexy, a play that the drama department puts on every year during orientation week. It illustrates all the 'potential' situations that could occur to the frosh entering university, from sexual harassment to AIDS, and they obviously plug the services that the university provides (Health Services, for example). The funniest thing from the play is the Chinese guy, which they have every year, represent the foreign student that is trying to fit into the society. This year, the foreign student is from Hong Kong, and in the middle of the play he started speaking Chinese. He said something along the lines of "Now that I'm speaking Chinese, nobody else will understand what I'm talking about except for those of you who understands this right now." Also, in the scene where his roommate got drunk, he screamed "Sei gwai lo, yau yum jui jau".. those of you who understand Chinese will realize how funny that is.

The second day of orientation was a little more toned down (at least I didn't get dunked into a mud pit again). It started off with Junk Yard Wars, where each colour group needs to build a machine using scrap wood, cardboard, and nails. This year, they had to build a machine that picks up aluminum cans, and a machine that destroys other group's tower of cans. My group was not very successful, but they had a lot of fun designing and I can really see some group dynamics going on between them.

The highlight of the day was Meet The Tool, the mascot of Waterloo Engineering. My colour group put on a skit, an reenactment of the war scene from Braveheart. (since we're the Grape Scots and all) I was so happy to find that my group came up with pretty much the whole idea, and planned it amongst themselves. As a result, we were allowed into Federation Hall first - hence closest to the Tool!

At night it was the Lunar Luau, a joint-faculty event with Mathematics and Environmental Studies. I ended up walking around and chatting with other leaders, while keeping an eye out for any trouble. Some EdCom was doing what they do best - taunting singers at the karaoke bar. "Frosh, I want to see more dance." "Frosh, put the microphone down and step away from the stage." It was a hilarious sight.

Now to get some sleep..

Orientation Week Day 1

Having to wake up for breakfast at 6:30am is painful, but not as painful as the breakfast not showing up until 8:30am. The flood of first year students arriving at the colour group HQ started around 8:45am, as they lined up patiently outside waiting to crawl through the 'maze' we constructed. They are so young - some even as young as 16. Sure makes me feel old amongst them!

The group started off relatively quiet, and it's totally understandable given the fact they barely knew each other. I felt the same way during my frosh week too. The leaders taught them a few cheers, and we mingled with them for a bit. The first activity was Meet EdCom - the Education Committee. I won't go into the details, but I can see that my group is getting pumped for the rest of the activities during the day!

At the department lunch, I took the first years that were in Electrical and Computer Engineering to the designated area. I feel that my department is the most.. economical. While other departments have pasta or outdoor barbecue, we were stuck with tiny sandwiches. Not only that, but there weren't enough to feed everybody there. So then there were about 30-40 first years without any lunch. *sigh*

The afternoon consists of Earn Your Hardhat, a tradition that's been passed down through generations of engineering students. The freshman will earn their hardhat by completing the tasks of the Five Principles of Engineering: Integrity, Teamwork, Communication, Organization, and Leadership. The most memorable event for any colour group leaders would be the Leadership event, and I shall expand a little more on that.

As leaders, the three of us had to kneel on the grass, wearing a hardhat with nails sticking out from them. The first years will line up, water-balloon in hand, and break them over our heads. After the water-balloon supply is depleted, sponges were soaked with water and thrown at us. When the group of first years finish drenching us in water, we had to crawl - on our stomachs - across a tunnel formed by the first years joining hands. At the end of the tunnel, we were to throw ourselves in a pool of mud water. We were then given our leader hardhats, of course, with mud water in them and poured right over our heads. Yum. I feel as though I have been finally accepted into the engineering fraternity, haha.

Showering after that was my favourite event of the day. :)

Orientation Week Day 0

I don't know how I came up with Day 0, but since the frosh is not arriving for the faculty event until tomorrow, I have another day to make sure everything is ready. The room now glows in purple, everything in the room is purple. We now even have a mascot - Nessie! It looks more like Barney, but that's beside the point. Everything seems to be ready for the big day tomorrow. A couple of leaders sat down and thought up some cheers for tomorrow.. I am never a big cheering person, but I think I'll need to lose my timid side and step up to the challenge!

Orientation Week Day -1

Today was another day of hard work to prepare the Grape Scots headquarter. It's really coming along - Andrew and Matt (the other two Huges along with me) built a tunnel with tables stacked on top of each other, so that the frosh can climb through. The room now radiates with purple, ever since we covered the lights with purple celophane. Other leaders came by and said that our HQ is by far the most innovative one. I sure hope the frosh will think so too.

The campus-wide leader social was more of a drink-now-because-you-can't-drink-during-frosh-week event for the leaders. I left early because I didn't know too many people at the event, and I would like to catch up on some much-needed sleep.