ottawa does it again!!

Yay Sabres!! I love it!!

The best part about the Sabres putting the Senators out of the playoffs is that it was a shorthanded goal (the refereeing in the series was blatantly pro-Senators) and the Sens player who got beaten was Alfredsson. He showed just what a lazy, good-for-nothing, self- important, useless piece of work he really is. He didn't even try to stop the Sabres player.

I love it!! Goodbye again Senators!! Enjoy the golf season... you should... it takes about the same energy output you seem to be capable of..

Oh and now maybe Heatley will have time to get a tooth... come on Dany, you make grillions of dollars (for apparently no reason), so get your damn teeth fixed! You make hockey players look like idiots.

quinn's gone

Well it figures. Just like any major corporation run by a board full of illiterate gits (which in my opinion can be interpreted as 'all of them'), MapleLeafs Entertainment Co. (or whatever they are called) have fired Pat Quinn.

What a bunch of idiots.

I totally agree with Pierre MacGuire on TSN on this one... Quinn isn't the bonehead who traded for losers like Allison, O'Neil, and (God spare us all!!) Lindros. And those three bozos fell so short of expectations they probably haven't even noticed the season is over yet... they are still stuck in January.

So I think I speak for many fans when I say "Good Luck Pat. It wasn't your fault. Go win a cup somewhere then send pictures of you with the cup to the Leafs Board of Directors!"

the leafs

Well the season is almost done and the Leafs are not in the playoffs this year. Nor do they deserve to be in the playoffs this year. But I don't think the season has been a total write-off.

The Leafs have learned a valuable lesson this year, I hope. That lesson is youth, youth, youth! They need to get rid of alot of players and make room for the young players that either spent the season with the Leafs, or were called up on occasion to take the place of older players who just didn't fulfill their obligations.

Here is my Keep / Get Rid Of list:

Aubin - keep
Tellqvuist - keep (if you have to)
Kaberle - keep
McCabe - keep
Kilger - keep
Tucker - keep
Steen - keep
Stajan - keep
Sundin - keep
Ondrus - keep
White - keep


Everyone Else - gone

PDF Creator

Well I found another great piece of software at sourceforge. This utility allows you to create PDF(Portable Document Format) files for free!

Yep, Free! You don't have to spend gazillions of dollars purchasing Adobe PDF Writer, or the even more ludicously-priced Adobe Enterprise 'Solutions'.

Okay okay so you don't get as many features. Well, chances are you aren't printing out top-secret documents that need 400 digital signitures installed on your computer just so they will open. You are probably like me: You want to print receipts or bank statements in a format that can't be easily edited, and aren't enormous in size. Plus, you can burn them to CD for backup purposes. You can get alot of PDF's on one CD.

What's really convenient about the PDF Creator is that it installs itself as a printer. Therefore, you can use it just like a printer. Instead of sending your output to the bubblejet on your desk, just pick the PDF Creator printer instead. A nice GUI will open and give you some options about what you want to call your print job, where you want to save it, plus some other options. It's nice.


Get the PDF Creator here.

very cool software

I don't post here much because it seems to me that there is just too much pseudo-information in our culture. So many people post pure and utter crap; someone (if anyone even reads this thing, which I very seriously doubt) may even think this blog is utter crap. That someone may even be me...

All that aside, I found a really cool software package today at Sourceforge called Stellarium. It is possibly the best star viewing software I have ever seen... but that's not coming from an expert. I know nothing about astrological software but hey I might as well say it's the best. It is certainly the best running on my computer. It is also the only astrological software running on my computer, but that is beside the point.

I won't try to explain it except that it is really really neat. The backwards-and-forwards in time feature is the one I found the most fun... plus the 'Constellation Art' feature.

Check it out here.

By the way, the Longitude and Latituded coordinates for London, Ontario, Canada are:

42.942 Lat. -81.267 Lon.

Olympics

Well it's winter olympics time again and Canada is it's usual throes of self-doubt. The common belief is that we are a 'winter' or 'nordic' country that should excel at 'winter' or 'nordic' sports. And of course we don't. With the exception of hockey, we are above average at best. We are not world dominators. We aren't even a nordic country, really. Most of us live at the same latitude as northern California, and the really cold parts of our country are flat like Holland, which pretty well eliminates most of the winter sports straight-off. We do have natural areas for skiing, but it's not like we ski in the same sense that the Swiss or the Austrians understand skiing. So it's not hard to see that we aren't really nordic in the true sense of the word.

And for some reason, alot of people seem to think our lack of representation at the medal podiums is somehow shameful. Somehow, as Canadians, we are supposed to excel at the winter olympics. Well, we don't. We are not complete failures, but we don't win alot of gold medals. And to me that is fine, but of course I am one very tiny, very insignificant voice.

It seems to me that the olympics are supposed to be 2 weeks every 4 years (well 2 years I suppose now that the winter and summer games are staggered) during which we as a group stop shooting at each other and generally being mean to each other. Excluding the middle east, of course. They aren't happy unless they are either blowing someone up or being blown up by someone. My point is it is a time for a world sense of community, not about who has the most medals. As Canadians we seem to have bought into the American concept of competition at every level and that self-worth is dependant solely upon how well you perform at a national or international level. American's have pie-baking competitions, folks. I think that's a bit extreme, don't you? They televise their spelling bees! Well that's a bad example, actually, since even though it is still competition there is the odd chance that someone might learn something, even if it is by accident.

All I am saying, really, is that the olympics aren't really supposed to be about the medals, but about countries coming together for a few weeks, forgetting their differences, and competing on equal footing. Sport is a common language, like music and mathematics. The rules are the same for everyone.

the leafs...

...are tanking. Everyone except Tellqvuist, Steen, Stajan, McCabe, and Kaberle. The rest, players, coaches, management... get rid of them. They all have to go. That includes Sundin, whose eye injury has impaired him far more than he is letting on. The rest are hangers-on and slackers. That includes the coach.

I hate Tuesdays

"Why", you may ask, "do you hate Tuesdays?"

Let me tell you why I hate Tuesdays.

Only on a Tuesday could my lunch explode inside my lunch bag on the way to work. Only on a Tuesday could cleaning up my lunch bag cause both of the sinks in our cafeteria at work to clog.

Only on a Tuesday could these things happen. All before 7:15 AM, too...

Gold Medal

Well the Canadian Junior hockey team just won the Gold medal at the IIHF Junior Tournament in Vancouver, B.C.

Things are as they should be...

too good to be true

This is great. I just got a bill from my bank for some unpaid interest on my line of credit. It just so happens that I paid it down completely last month, but somehow I have been charged interest on monies owning for some small number of days. I owe the bank... 11 cents. Yes. Eleven cents. Ten cents plus one cent. A dime and one penny. Two nickels and a dime.

You get the point.

But wait, it gets better.

Last year, I believe right after the wedding, someone tried to hack my paypal account. Long story short, the credit card associated with my paypal account (a VISA card through guess who, yes. my bank) came up for renewal at the same time. I didn't activate the new card so my paypal account would be useless, and now the account is dormant. Well, I just got a notice from the VISA-Bank people saying they screwed up in August last year, and they overcharged me by the breathtaking amount of.... 15 cents. Yes. 15 whole cents.

So do the math. I am ahead 4 cents.

So now try to figure out if I will ever see my 4 cents. I am betting 'no way in hell', but... read on.

The way I see it, I won't be able to pay the 11 cents I owe online because I think the minimum amount you can move around is $1.00. And the credit card with the 15 cents owed to me is dormant. So even though I should reap 4 cents out of this deal, I expect it will cost me $80.00 to reactivate the credit card, and at least $1.00 to pay the 11 cents online.

So is it worth it to go to all the effort?

No.

But, I am going to go into the bank and make a serious attempt at getting my 4 cents. Hopefully I won't get arrested...

kittens kittens kittens

Someone sent me a link to this website. The graphic at the top left is really cute. And alot of the pictures are of course cute. Needless to say, I had to upload a pic of Edward the Cat to see how well he would contend in the KittenWar. Right now he is winning more than he is losing, so I guess he's doing just fine!

http://kittenwar.com/kittens/41033/

this is too funny

I love goats. I don't know why, but I do. But this, this is just too funny:

http://www.qarxis.com/Fainting_Goats

konfabulator no more!

Well the konfabulator is now the Yahoo! WidgetEngine.

Whatever.

What is cool is that with the new release there are some neat new features I haven't got a clue how to use yet. But it gives me something to do and keeps me off the streets.

I do know that going forward my widgets will require version 3.0, so if you want to use them, go get the new version from here.

i hope i look like this guy!

Damn! That is one fine-lookin' Donkey!

another knofabulator widget

This widget connects you up to all the Canadian CBC Internet radio stations. When you first install and run it, you will see a blue bar. Just right-click and select 'Widget Preferences'. You can set you radio station and your font preferences. Close that and it will connect. To disconnect (and reconnect) just double-click the widget.

Get it here.

the konfabulator

A coworker sent me a link to something called the konfabultor yesterday. Being the mindless drone that I am, I followed the link.

Turns out this konfabultor thing is pretty cool. First, it's made by Yahoo! and isn't spyware. Second, it is a small shell-like application that sits in your System Tray that runs 'widgets'. These widgets are like little applets that run different little utilities and programs. The cool thing about konfabulator is that it runs on XML and Javascript, so you can write your own 'widgets' and use them within the konfabulator shell. There is also documentation provided by the konfabulator team to show you how to create your own.

There are lots and lots of widgets made by other konfabulators, so you might not have to lift a finger. On the other hand, if you like to mess around with things, you can probably find a widget that is close to what you want, then you can customize it for yourself. I customized a widget designed to retrieve headlines via RSS from BBC Technology so that it would retrieve headlines from the CBC.

You can download my CBC TopStories RRS widget here. My web space provider won't allow the .widget file extension, so just save the .zip file to your widget folder, and rename it with the .widget extension (e.g. CBC TopStories RSS.widget).

Here is what my widget looks like when it's running:








I know it doesn't look like much, but once you see some of the features built into it by konfabulator, you might change your mind.

more about root canals

Well the whole job is done, now. Well, mostly done.

I had the temporary filling removed, and a more permanent filling placed. Unfortunately, I had to have a small post installed in the tooth to provide more structural integrity for the tooth. All this was done of course with local anaesthetic, so I didn't feel a thing.

Next year I will get a crown fitted on the tooth. Not sure why that isn't happening now. On the other hand, I have had enough of being in the dentist's chair for now...

root canals

Root canals aren't that bad. As a dental procedure, I mean. I just had one, and quite frankly it wasn't anywhere near as bad as I had anticipated. In fact it wasn't bad at all.

I guess you need a root canal when a root (or the roots) of one of your teeth becomes infected because of decay. Or not. I don't really know, to be honest. I do know, however, that if you are going to have a root canal, you will need to get yourself to a endodontist. An endodontist is a dentist specializing in diseases of the dental pulp and nerve and will be an expert at completing root canals. If you are going to have small metal drills stuck 2.5 cms into your skull, I really suggest having an expert do this. Fortunately for me, my dentist partners with an endodontist, so I was able to go to the same clinic for all the work.

Here is the procedure in a nutshell, from the perspective of the recipient. This is in no way to be interpreted as a factual account of a dental procedure; this is just what I had happen to me:

1) You have a cavity. The dentist drills out the rot and discovers the dental pulp and / or nerve is a mess. You need a root canal.
2) You worry about having the root canal. If you are lucky, you have someone to drive you to your root canal appointment so as you don't collapse with fear behind the wheel and crash.
3) You get to your first root canal appointment. They take some x-rays to get an idea of just how deep you tooth is rooted in your skull, and an idea of the approximate shape and size of the tooth.
4) They give you local anaesthetic. This stuff is not your normal freezing the dentist gives you for a regular cavity. This stuff works instantly. My endodontist (and dentist for that matter) use a topical freezing to numb the entry point for the needle. They should be given major awards for this. Although I must say that the palate needle (the one that went into the roof of my mouth) was a bit painful at first... but nanoseconds later the freezing takes over and you feel nothing.
5) They drill out holes in your tooth above each root. If this is a molar, you get three holes, one for each root. I think if it is an incisor they drill a hole on the back of the tooth, but as I am not an expert, don't quote me on that one.
6) Using successively larger 'files', the endodontist reams out each root, removing all the diseased tissue. Actually, these 'files' get to a size that is rather alarming. Thirty millimeters doesn't seem like much until you hold a ruler up to your head and realize that they are drilling up to the region near your hypothallamus. No, the aren't up that far. Really. Anyways, my endodontist did alot of the reaming by hand with a set of very small (and very long) drill bits (or files). I am quite sure there is a technical term for these, but I don't have a clue what it would be. I just remember hearing the word 'file' alot. And 'endo-explorer' which is like a dental pick on steroids. During this part they flush the canal out quite a bit. I am pretty sure they used some pretty strong anti-bacterial agents, too.
7) Once the reaming is done, you get plugged. At least I think that's what they were... sort of like little, root-canal shaped plugs. Those get fitted and cut down to size. Then, you get a temporary filling to cover the whole thing up.
8) If your endodontist is on the ball, you get another x-ray at this point to make sure everything is lined-up and inserted where it should be.
9) Sometime after that, your regular dentist will rebuild the top of the tooth. I don't know what that entails (although I expect it means inserting a post and installing a crown or some such thing. Who knows, maybe it will be a convenience store.... either way, that's next week's appointment and it all happens under local anaesthetic.
10) You are done! The freezing comes out. You may or may not get antibiotics. I didn't. You will want some off-the-shelf pain medication. I used Advil Extra Strength. I didn't have any significant pain. On the other hand, I did use a significant amount of Advil. Oh hell it wasn't that bad.

The hardest part of the procedure, really, is being the the chair with your mouth open for two hours. I felt like I did that night the Blue Jays won their first world series, my jaw almost permantly locked in 'yelling mode'. My root canal took 1.5 hours for the first appointment, and just under 1 hour for the second. I had two appts. because my endodontist wasn't happy with the placement of the palate root plug after the first appt. No charge for the second appointment.

So far it has been less than $700.00. And I have had no pain at all after the second appointment.

Bottom line, I would recommend having a root canal if possible. I really like my dentist and it helped that the endodontist is his partner... I didn't feel like I was seeing a stranger even though I had never met the endodontist before. All in all it has not been a bad experience in the least.

Read this for more info.

the new nhl

Well, I promised myself that I would hold off until at least the end of October before I started commenting on the new NHL.

Well, it's now the 19th of November, and it's about time something was written in this blog abouth the new NHL.

I like it! I really like it, actually. I even like the shootout! I know, you purists out there who argue that it's not a proper way to determine a winner, or that it's like changing the game to determine a winner. Some of you even say, 'What's wrong with a tie?' Well, your arguements are all valid, and I can't say that you are wrong. But I think that you need to rethink how you feel about the NHL brand of hockey.

Alot of Canadians have raised hockey to some sort of mythical status, that is somehow more than sticks, pucks, players, ice, and rules. And that is cool, really, because it IS more than just a game here; it is part of what defines our national identity. Quiet and unassuming, we Canadians love the chance to kick-butt on an international stage where the stakes are mostly unimportant, and we do it very well with hockey. Our men's and women's teams are without compare. But the NHL is different. The NHL is a business, not a sport. And, it doesn't belong to Canada. It belongs to investors who are expecting return on their investments. That is not to say the investors don't share other's Canadian love of hockey. But they understand that hockey is, fundamentally, an entertainment product at the NHL level. It is, and always has been, about putting bums in seats, and the new NHL is doing that. The rule changes (or as some will rabidly point out, the proper enforcement of the old rules) have made the game faster, higher scoring, and more exciting. Period. The NHL and the NHLPA have hit a home run. Attendance is up, viewership is up, revenues are up, and the players seem pretty happy with what's happening, too.

Two very important things to remember: One, penalty shots have been in the rule book for a long, long time. The shoot-out is really just a modification of that rule. Two, Lacrosse is Canada's Official Sport, not hockey.

nick hornby revisited

Just finished 'High Fidelity'. Better than 'Long Way Down'. Still, get a Douglas Coupland novel. You will be far more satisified.

On the other hand, reading Nick Hornby novels is a far better thing than reading Danielle Steele novels.