My new bike.

But that is later, tonight we are going to watch what will be a very cool show that Colleen Rice (a Co-worker of mine) will be headlining at the Whitestone Winery Tasting Room, check out the Facebook invite for all of the info.

What are you doing this weekend? Anything cool/interesting?

Well, I made it and have survived so far.  I joined the everyone else in North America and bought a car. Now that HURTS the pocketbook.  It was a necesscity, and if you talk to anyone that knows me you will find out how much I didn’t want to buy  car.  But I did go for a beauty, a 2006 VW Passat.

There are a lot of things about here that are different than home. I am living downtown and have a grocery store close, but the only shopping down town is for clothes.  For everything else you have to jump in the car and drive for 15-20 minutes to the big box stores.  There are no, or at least none that I can find, independant retail stores.  No Greenlyph computers, no Duggers, no Mac Store, no Biscuit, no Carsand.  I think that last one is the one that is bothering me the most.  I am trying to develop my photography skills and the only store that sells cameras here is Huppins which reminds me more like Wacky Wheatley’s than a Carsand Mosher. When I spoke with someone there, they seemed to only know what the description tells them, and not use the equipment themselves.

I commute East 20 mins every day and the snow covered mountains in Eastern Washington is what I look to out the car window. This is one thing that makes the commute to work a decent drive in the morning.  I can’t wait for Spring and summer so that we can do some serious exploring and hiking.

And the weather, well I must boast and say that I haven’t seen snow, other than on the mountains in the distance, since I came here.  My folks have sent me many pictures of the white stuff, and it is nice coming down, but walking around in a sweater with no hat or gloves is really nice too.

The Beer Lovers Paradise

And the BEER, it is amazing, and there is a micro brew for every taste.  I really don’t understand why people out here still drink from the large breweries, there is really no comparison to the quality and taste.  I have talked to a couple of local “experts” and I have learned a lot about the different varieties.  @mysteriouswayz is another great resource as she has a much better memory than me, and had a 5 month head start on sampling the wares.  I still haven’t been able to find something similar to the Granite Breweries Peculiar, but I am sure to find something soon.

Right now my favorite is Arrogant Bastard, not only is the beer great the marketing is pretty good too.  Washington beer has some of the best graphic design that I have seen in Spokane.  With the large number of micro brews out here and the relatively small market (the majority still drink the coloured swill), they have to do everything that they can to be competitive.

I have been able to check out a few eateries and pubs that are in the area and I will be putting together some reviews in the next couple of weeks.  I am also hoping to get out to some live music, I work with someone who plays around the area and I am hoping that she will be able to help me out with finding some good tunes.

You see, a couple of summers ago Aliant went to most of the coffee shops, cafes, restaurants, bars, etc around the city and installed their routers to allow free internet to the establishments patrons.  We all knew that this was going to end, and probably sooner than later, and really that didn’t bother me.  However when I got my Touch, I thought it was great, and was even thinking about switching my high-speed over to Aliant simply to have the ability to use their Hot-Spots that dotted the city.

Then I looked into it, they say that is going to be limited too.  This amazed me, they are trying to sell me high-speed DSL, but I have to get the land line that I don’t want.  I already have a cell phone with them, so why would I want yet another number for people to call me at, and another bill to pay.  However for unlimited access to a large MESH of Wi-Fi Hot-Spots within the city I was going to forgo the naked DSL and jump to Aliant.  And when I saw that they were not planning to allow their high-speed customers access to the Hot-Spots for the long term I halted that.

Why would anyone ever want to work with these providers?  There is no advantage to stay with someone who simply wants to lock you in and FORCE you to use their services.  Don’t they realize that if they were more flexible and worked on cultivating a base of loyal customers they will be better prepared for the long term viability of their business?

There is something rewarding about realizing that I can simply downsize and my quality of life will be better, not worse.  I don’t NEED this stuff and it really doesn’t bring me joy.

The Continued Plan

The tough part about going through this exercise is that there is a lot of "good stuff” that I am just throwing away.  I don’t mean that this stuff is worth anything, but simply that I am sure that if I had the room and was able to organize it properly I would find a great use for it in the future.  For example, coax cable connectors.  I had developed a minor collection of these over the years of moving and such, and I am sure that I would be able to use them again in the future…maybe.  The fact is that we are probably going to cancel our cable in the coming days and even possibly sell the TV.  So unless I take all of this type of stuff when I move, I am not going to find a use for it here.  On top of all of that it is not worth selling and I am sure that the Salvation Army will not have a use for it.  So it gets thrown out.  And good riddens.

My goal is to have all of the books that I am not going to read again out of the house, and given away, all of my magazine subscriptions cancelled and old magazines given away, by the end of the week.  From there it is more of the same.

How about you?

Do you try to keep your surroundings lean?  Or are you a pack rat? 

Do you have any suggestions or resources on ways to un-clutter your space, and I don’t mean ways to store MORE.

Cheers,

JM

My friends gave me reasons varying from lack of snakes, a reason to act retarded and even a question back of people like it without the drinking, and who knows?  To many Irish and Irish descendants around the world March 17^th is a day to honour a Saint to many others it is a day to celebrate everything Irish.  And to many others they see it as just another excuse to drink and feel like a souse the next day at work.  There is something more to St. Patrick’s Day, today across the world there will be parades in Chicago, New York, Montreal, Boston, Toronto, Vancouver, Liverpool, San Francisco, Sydney and many places in between.  People in the thousands and millions will line the streets, the pubs and music halls, they are offspring of the Irish Diaspora, the millions who fled the Crown and the Famine for better lives around the world, whose culture has transcended time and avoided the melting pots of other nations, being separated from their home.

In many years there has been an ever-growing crowd of people with no Irish connections but who may proclaim themselves “Irish for a day” who are coming out to take part on March 17^th.  So why do we love St. Patrick’s Day?  It isn’t the drink or the religion, St. Patrick’s day is one of the few days around the world where people who have nothing in common come together to simply have a good time with likeminded people, who only worry in the world is that you are having a good time.

A day of Religious observance, a day of foolish drinking has literally turned into a worldwide holiday and festival everyone loves to get behind.   I hope you all get out today and enjoy St. Patrick’s Day, if you are Irish or not, we all need a little joy and happiness in the world and the Irish have done that.  We owe a lot to the Irish, they have taken something personal and spread it to us all, if anything St. Patrick’s Day should be a world holiday for everyone around the globe, what else around the world brings so many people together without prejudice.

So enjoy it, wherever you may be today

Lá Fhéile Pádraig sona daoibh!

The Event is at the Garrison Brewery on Friday March 20, 2009.  Advanced tickets are $20 and can be received either at the CBCL Limited offices at 1489 Hollis St, or by emailing raiseaglasshfx@gmail.com.

You will be able to buy tickets at the door but they will be at $25, so be sure to save yourself the $5 and get them in advance.  Although they don’t say it, the $20 will get you a couple of the great brews that Garrison is famous for, and there will be a lot of fun people to hang out with.

For more information you can see the two attachments that I received in the work email.

Raise A Glass Poster

and

Information Sheet

Be sure to Twit This, Stumble It, Digg it and do what ever else you can to get as many people as you can out there. There are some handy links below.

Hope to see you there.

MOVE YOUR FUCKING CAR CUNT!, go park in the parking lot, get your fat fucking bum-bum out of your comfort zone car and walk in the door.  HOLY FUCK.  Now this doesn’t happen where I currently live but I have seen it numerous times at a certain Tim Horton’s in downtown Fredericton.  Cunts and Douchebags make me angry kids!  I really really really want to see you get fined by waiting in the street because there’s no room in the parking lot at the end of the Timmy’s line.  I think where I live there’s 4 of them in a 300m radius.

“OO OO (monkey noises) look out everyone, gotta have my large triple triple so my breath will stink, and my teeth will yellow, and I’ll breathe my stinky gross coffee breath in my co-workers faces then have a caffeine induced diarrhea in the workplace toilet and spray brown splatter all over the toilet seat and back of the toilet bowl.”
YEAH, you guys know exactly what I’m talking about because it’s true.  Go and idle your engine for 15 minutes in the drive thru, then afterward throw your non-biodegrable cup out the window in the ditch ya fucking rednecks.

Now listen, it really doesn’t bother me THAT much that people drink their Tim Horton’s, but once assumed title of Cunt of the Month, I must rant regardless of my anger level.  And let us not forget the nucleus of the Cunt, not the coffee drinkers, but the fuckwads who extend the drive thru line out into the street… or the ones who take 2 minutes trying to make a left turn into Tim’s.  Now I may be a PRICK at times, with no filter who steals your alcohol and stinks up your bathroom, but I am not a pushy-in-public type douchebag.  AW GAWD their everywhere!  Push push, shove, mine, my kid is #1, we’re more important that you, i’m cutting in line, don’t give a fuck about the other 100 people here, I can park here and block traffic if i want, my truck ERRGGHH is bigger than your civic so i drive down the middle of the street, move! etc.  I have subtle courtesy, you probably would never notice but it’s there.

Bottom line, IF I WANTED A FUCKING TIM HORTON’S SHITTY GROSS COFFEE AND THE DRIVE THRU LINEUP WAS JUST ABOUT TO SPILL ONTO THE STREET I WOULD EITHER:

A: Park and walk in.
B: Go to the next tim horton’s 100 metres away
C: Go anywhere else
D: Tell tim horton’s to fuck off and go piss on a church.

And for all the reasons mentioned above, you fat lazy engine idling franchise-logo dependent pieces of shit who think you own the road and can just SIT there on the street truly are deserving of Feb. 09’s CUNT OF THE MONTH AND I HOPE YOU ALL GET FINED!!!

-L

Suddenly I feel like humanity has redeemed itself.

There is a song that describes my week to a tea. It’s Rat Silo’s,
Getupgotoworkgohomegotobed. All I was able to do was get up in the morning, get into work and then leave around 10pm.

It is not a way I would like to go for very long, but I think I should have a break from the madness next week and will be more active with everything else that is going on in my little world.

If you like Rat Silo, be sure to check out some of the other bands on CBC Radio3.  It is a great resource for finding new music and I have all of their podcasts on my iPod for when I am not near a computer.

With that said I still have stuff that I want to get done, and even though I don’t watch a lot of TV in the first place, I am going cold turkey.  I am turning off the TV and not turning back on except for HNIC on Saturday.  I am going to keep the TV off, except for HNIC, till at least the New Year.

So what am I going to do with all of this extra time?  Well going to the gym comes to mind, and there are other projects that I have on the go that need to be cleaned up in the next couple of weeks.  My plan for the gym is to be in there every day, I am going to do some light cardio on my “off” days and some heavy lifting, or soon to be heavy since I am a sloth at the moment, on my “on” days.

The program that I am following is the 5×5 that I found when searching around.  It is a 3 day a week lifting program and you start off very light and add weight every day you go  back to the exercise.  The idea is to teach your body slowly how to lift the weight correctly, and then when you get to the heavy portions you will not get injured.

I will be chronicling everything on Twitter, when I go to the gym, and how it went when I left so be sure to follow along.  I will make a weekly update on hoserlife.com
Cheers,
JM

One of the moves that I have made recently is that I am not buying any books.  I am using the library.  Of course there are always going to be reference books that I am going to need to buy for work, but for the last few years I have been buying books, reading them once and putting them on a shelf where they sit till I put them in a box, move them to a new apartment and unpack them.  This is tiring, and takes up a lot of valuable space in my home.

The other move is working on going paperless.  I get all of my bank statements online, I pay all my bills online and I do the majority of my work online.  That said I don’t enjoy reading on the computer, so I still print off large reports that I am proof reading to read and mark up on.  The other thing I print off are large format drawings for review, this again I find hard to work with on the computer.  Most of the problem is the ease of marking and eye strain.

I think that I have found a solution for both the eye strain and the marking.  It is the iRexTechnologies Digital Reader.  This reader is approximately the size of a letter sheet and has a Wacom pen-tablet built it.  It is the first e-ink device that I think is large enough for me to review reports full size.  With it I will be able to review reports, mark up and then send back to be modified.  I will also be able to use this device to take meeting notes and make design notes, both things that I currently do on paper and then scan into the project file.

With this tool I believe that I can go completely paperless in my day-to-day life, there will always be print shops when required.  That means that I can also dispose of my printers, which I have 3.  One ink jet, one laser and one “large” format 11×17 max.  These take up a lot of space that I hope to clear out.

What Stays, What Goes

The next step is to look at what comes into the house and give it a 1-10 rating on importance.  For example, magazines I am going to give most of them a 2, maybe some of my industry specific magazines I will give a higher ranking but for the most part every magazine that comes into my home is read once and then put in a pile.  The advantage that I believe that magazines have is not in the actual information that they convey, but in the filtering of the noise out there.  This is the same reason I still read technical books.  I can find the information free in other places but there is much more work involved to parse through all of the crap.

Getting Rid of it

Some of this is the magazines that I mentioned before, the printers, but it is also books and “stuff” that I don’t need any more, well they can go now.  Some of this I think there is still some monetary value in and I can probably sell online with ebay or Kijiji.  I will use the money generated by these sales to off set any costs that are associated in the new tools (or Toys) that I am going to use, including the Digital Reader.  I will have more on my strategy, and talk about the volumes of stuff I have purged in the future.

I must say that I have been very busy with my life and haven’t had a lot of time to do anything.  However there is one good thing about being busy at work, and that is that I eat out a lot.  I have been to a lot of different places in and around Halifax that I will be writing about, just like I did for Annies Place.

I am also reading and going to more shows and will be talking about those to.  Maybe even get in a review of a CD that I have just bought.

Oh and don’t forget about the forum.  I am working on a couple of contests to get that place hopping, and make it the place that you want to spend some time.

Later,
JM

The funny part is people will stop right in the middle of the bloody cross walk and look at you, yeah just stare. Then drive away, or the ever popular, I am going to speed up and possibly try to hit you trick. Or the one I have found fun, I am going to try and drive through the cross walk while you are walking through it.  A nice lady in a sunfire discovered, people can walk on cars too.

I am afraid to go across the cross walk, bloody hell, I believe at any moment I could be gunned down.  People really don`t pay attnetion it is almost scary, ill take my chances in a mine field vs here. Hell crosswalks in Toronto are more safe to cross.

So I will be taking wagers for when you believe I will get hit first

bonus points if you can pick the injury

Now you don’t have to believe me that SBTS is a great show The Coast thinks so too.

Oh yeah, the company is great this year too. I would link you to the page but people these days still like flash to make all of their sites for some reason, so navigate yourself over there and check them out. There are some great resumes there for such a production.

If you have already been, make sure that you leave a comment telling everyone out there how great of a time it is. And the admission is by donation too (suggested donation is $15)

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Kiva is the world’s first person-to-person micro-lending website, empowering individuals to lend directly to unique entrepreneurs in the developing world.

There are now a group in Paraguay that are going to use their Kiva Loan to help bring prosperity to their families.

The ladies are involved in many business activities such as: running grocery stores and selling fruit, clothes, bags, shoes, drinks and sheets among others. The money provided by Kiva lenders will be used to purchase these goods.

The five previous loans that we have made through Kiva are all on track. When you sign up for Kiva yourself remember to tell them that jeff@hosernews.ca told you about it.

It was a blast, just like last year the sun was shining, the balls were flying, and the beer was flowing. I don’t think that I know how to play ball without beer.

The ball game took place on the

Halifax Commons and started at 9am, which is a god-awful early morning on a Saturday, but I made it. Our team wasn’t very successful, but it turned out that our pool was the toughest. I like to think that if we were in the other pool we would have at least made it to the semis.

I took a couple of pics while I was there, take a look

I have added a sample from the Flickr Set by the author Ray Fenwick that shows just how great the work is. You will be admiring the genius for years to come, and I am sure you will find new and strange oddities within the work.

So I am encouraging you, if you haven’t already bought the book, head over the Amazon, and get your order in now.

Or better yet, get outside in the beautiful spring weather and visit your local independant bookstore. I am a frequent visitor of a couple of my favorites in Halifax, one is Frog Hollow Books in Park Lane, and BookMark located on Spring Garden Road.

And if you have bought Hall of Best Knowledge, what did you think about it? You like it as much as me?

Another beautiful day in Halifax, however I seem to be a day behind in my dress. I wore short sleeves yesterday, and was cold, and today I wore long sleeves and am cooking.

If you don’t know what the offshore picnic is, it is a “Trade Show” that OTANS puts on every year to get plublicity. In all actuality it is a great big party.

The gist of the story is that he started to notice food missed from his fridge, so he installed a camera that sent images to his phone. He saw someone in the kitchen, called police and they searched the place finially finding her in the closet, top shelf.

My question is how quiet was she for him not to hear anyone for a year. Or how much was he really home? The moral of the story is to check your kids closet every night for the little tyke. You never know he may be right one of these days.

AFP/Getty Images/File/Carlo Allegri

I think that I now see an end in sight, not like I am going to be slacking at work, but I won’t be working weekends. Which means more for HoserNews YEAH!!…Come on scream with me, you know you want to read more about my rambling.

Oh yeah, this month’s Kiva Loan, well my bad. I didn’t even have time to do that, if someone wants to head over there and suggest one for me I will get on it, but otherwise I am just going to make 2 in June, or maybe even one big one. Later this week, I will give you all an update on where all of the other great loans that you helped make are at. I think that one should be about to be paid back very shortly.

That is all for now, I have to get back to the hockey game (Pittsburgh is losing) and my drawings.

Canada Wins!…again

I am not sure if anyone else is paying attention to the IIHF in Halifax, but Canada won yesterday and it was a doozy. The thing that scared me the most was the fact that Finland had more shots…..at lest from what I remember. This is not promising if Canada is the “powerhouse” most Canadians, myself included, think it is.

It was also interesting to see PM Harper (at bottom of page) in the stands. He was in town to make a DND announcement, but I think that was just an excuse to come to Halifax and watch Canada play before they head to Quebec.

If you didn’t get to the game, or missed it on TV, the IIHF has a decent gallery and recap so you can read about everything that I missed.

Cheers,

Victoria is 48 years of age, and she graduated from high school. She has three sons but only supports two of them. She lives in the district El Cortijo, in the province of Trujillo and in the department La Libertad. She sells fuels in the local market

]]> http://hosernews.ca/2008/05/12/victoria-was-helped-by-you-in-april/feed/ 1 http://hosernews.ca/2008/05/08/germany-vs-usa-iihf-qualifiers/ http://hosernews.ca/2008/05/08/germany-vs-usa-iihf-qualifiers/#comments Fri, 09 May 2008 03:02:16 +0000 Jeff http://www.hosernews.ca/?p=26 I got to go to the USA-Germany game tonight at the Metro Centre. It was a blast, we snuck down to get closer seats and stuck by the German fans. These guys are great, the energy in the cheering was infecting and the elaborate chants were something that I haven’t heard in a long time.

As for the game itself I don’t have much time for a recap but it was a lot better than I was expecting. The German goaltending left something to be desired, but Germany was able to get the game under control US was up 3-0 at one point but with about 10mins left in the third the game was 4-4, US won at the end 6-4 with a empty net and power play goal, not in that order.

When the game was just about over the German fans did something that I couldn’t figure out, they held up their scarfs and waved them…..Not sure what that was about, but if someone can tell me that would be great.

I was really amazed how many German fans there were, and the blatant lack of American Fans. I think that I saw 2 or 3 USA Jerseys but as you can see from the pictures there were a lot of Germans. I hope that the Germans get some better calls in the future games and Qualify for the next round…..but don’t beat Canada

]]> http://hosernews.ca/2008/05/08/germany-vs-usa-iihf-qualifiers/feed/ 0 http://hosernews.ca/2008/05/07/cool-new-book-hall-of-best-knowledge/ http://hosernews.ca/2008/05/07/cool-new-book-hall-of-best-knowledge/#comments Wed, 07 May 2008 23:49:47 +0000 Jeff http://www.hosernews.ca/?p=25 For those of use that have been in Halifax for an extended period of time, and have read The Coast for years, there is a book that you have to get….Hall of Best Knowledge, in case you don’t remember this is a strip that was printed in The Coast for years.

I haven’t got myself a copy yet, so if anyone wants to buy me one don’t hesitate

For those that haven’t read The Coast, or the comic it is even more important to check it our. You will love it. If you don’t believe me then check out what The National had to say.

“I don’t think it’s a kind of humour that’s laugh out loud, or anything like that. I don’t even know if any of it’s funny, to be honest,” the Halifax-based graphic artist says before breaking into laughter himself. “Humour is a big part of my life. I can’t have a conversation and not have humour be involved in some way. In tight situations, I always turn to humour … I just can’t help it.”

]]> http://hosernews.ca/2008/05/07/cool-new-book-hall-of-best-knowledge/feed/ 0 http://hosernews.ca/2008/05/06/beer-going-up-not-good-news-2/ http://hosernews.ca/2008/05/06/beer-going-up-not-good-news-2/#comments Tue, 06 May 2008 16:23:43 +0000 Jeff http://www.hosernews.ca/2008/05/06/beer-going-up-not-good-news-2/ I have heard the worst news possible. Higher beer prices on tap as summer approaches. CBC is reporting that the key ingredients for beer are going up in price, Malt almost doubled, and then there was the Hops problems in the last couple of years that have increased prices, but it is about hit a crunch since they had been using surpluses from the last couple of years and they have now depleted.

Independent Canadian breweries are warning consumers that the cost of
pouring a pint may soon rise, due to soaring malt and hops costs, as
well as gasoline price hikes.

The brews that are going to be hit the worst are the micro brews, in other words the “good” beers, and especially the IPAs that have a lot of hops.

Maybe I should start thinking about drinking more water ……Naw, I will just have to cut out milk

It seems that

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