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So the truth is out of the bag. Without embarassing anyone, somebody I know stopped working out because he got "grabbed" at his local gym. Ewwww.

Thus begs the question: Did he stop going because he was scared? Or did he stop going because he enjoyed it, and is now scared of what that might imply?

Enquiring minds want to know....

I'll tell you one thing, I ain't joining that gym, like ever.

On a completely different topic, the Leafs came out flying and beat the NJ Devils in the first game of the series (best of 7). Yeehaw. Went to Shoeless Joe's for the game. Many showed up, including mute, Massivest, xtreme-pwr-play, Scotland, HelterSkelter (a.k.a. Samurai of Slide), ms. toxin and myself.

We had a pretty good time. The food was pretty raunchy though, because it was slightly on the cold side. You can't blame them really, because it was so packed, the waitresses didn't have time to pick them up and deliver them piping hot. Still, it was fun. Go Leafs Go, baby.

...It's FINALLY Friday. OhMyGash, I thought it'd never come. posted by losir at 4:27 PM

Okay, so I'm feeling pretty cruddy. I mean, no matter how much documentation I've read, how many real world examples spoon fed me, I can't seem to make much progress. So I'm not smart.

Then I headed over to Mensa's website, and tried their little workout. What do you know? I got a 23 out of 30, in less than 15 minutes. I admit I wasn't trying very hard, as I understood some of the questions, but didn't sit down to figure it out, instead just taking an educated guess. I'm greeted with a cheery message -> Your score was 23 out of 30. That is a very good score, you would have a good chance of passing the Mensa test.

Now of course, that test was only for fun, and not indicative of anyone's real IQ. It wasn't all that hard. I've taken another Mensa prep-test when I was younger, and I did well too.

What does that mean? It means that it probably costs money to become a member, and they need the membership fees as a source of revenue. Apparantly, now they're taking scabs.... like me.

....Imagine the headline: First Mensa member to be fired from his work due to stupidity. posted by losir at 3:43 PM

Missed my May 25th posting too. Not much happened though, so it's alight. Well something did happen, I'll get to that another day.

I wake up this morning, weather report says that it's currently -1 outside. I look out, it was sunny, fergettaboutit, I'm taking the bike. As I go through my morning routine of getting dressed, I put on my pants and then thought about it. "-1?! I better wear my leathers instead. It'll be too cold to ride in my jeans."

On the way out the door, I check for my wallet. It was still in the pair of pants I had just worn previous. "No probs." I said to myself. Since I'm bringing the jeans to work to change anyway, I might as well leave my wallet in my pants. Big mistake.

Fast forward 20 minutes: I can't find my bloody wallet. It's NO where to be found. I start to panic. Where the blank is it? Is it in the bike? I run down, check my trunk. Neit. Is it in my knapsack (highly unlikely because I made a conscious effort to leave it in my jeans....) Nein. Uh-oh....

I look around my cubicle, nudda. I look around the hallways of the Company. Nope. "Mr. President, we advise to go to Defcon 3."

"Maybe it's at home! In my room or in the garage." Worst case scenario is that while I carried my pants to the garage, it dropped on the doorway or driveway. Better go home at lunch to check.

FF 20 minutes (Look, normally I'd go into exqusite detail about how great the ride is. Forget that, it's about my wallet, not my bike!): I'm at home riping my room apart. Clothes are flying everywhere, furniture is overturned. I'm kicking and cursing anything and everything that could be covering the beloved wallet. "Come out, come out, wherever you arreeeee...." Not-fing

I check the garage, I check my car (I had opened up my car to get my sunglasses this morning), I looked under the car, I check the bush, the grass, the dog next door! uh-uh

"Mr. President, we advise you to go to Defcon 4."

Now I'm starting to really worry. Credit cards, ATM card, driver's license, SIN card, health card, citizenship card, ID badge for work, money, telephone numbers, Second Cup frequent buyer card, library card, coupon at Booger Thing... ohmygawd!!

"Okay buddy, maybe it is still in your knapsack. It could be in one of the little pockets in the front."

FF 20 minutes: I'm at work now, seething and steaming. Where the bloody hell is my wallet? Okay, not the nicest of language, but hey, my wallet's gone AWOL, I think I'm allowed to be a little maniacal.

I'm back at my cube, the knapsack in front of me. I'm afraid to touch it, I'm so afraid that it's not there. I mean, if it ain't there, it means it's lost. It's not just the money that'll take to replace the cards, but it's the hassle. I look for a familiar rectangular bulge at the front of the pocket. My mind's playing with me now. I think I see it, but I don't know for sure. Is it or ain't it?? One way to find out.... "Open sesame"

NOOOOooooOOOoooooOOooooooo It. Is. Not. There.

"Wallet-o, wallet-o. Wherefore art my wallet-o."

I'm utterly and completely deflated. I mean, I'm so low, I can play handball with the curb. To say "This ain't good." would be an understatement. How many 4 letter words do I know?! I guess I'll find out in about 1 second....

My rational brain kicks in. Profanity won't help you now. Let's be calm. What do I need to report lost first? Just what exactly was in my wallet that I need replacing? Start the phone calling.

I flop down on my chair. I look at the phone, unable to bring myself to call up Visa and report a lost card. Right now, I just want to hide under the covers and whimper.

Well, look on the bright side, I can finally use that new wallet I've had for like forever. And frankly, it's a great way to remove some of the bulk and junk I've aquired from my old wallet. Besides, there wasn't that much money in there to begin with, and that coupon at Booger Thing was probably expired. Annnnd, it's lunch time, so why don't you grab some grub before you start making phone calls. (Luckily, I had just gotten $45 reimbersed for supplies I had bought on behalf of the Company.) So at least I had money to buy lunch.

Sure, it's a pain that I have to call half of the government of Ontario and several banks to replace all my stuff, but it won't kill me. Feeling a little better that at least nothing lost was irreplaceable, I push back on the desk and slide out my chair.

I look down, underneath my desk. Lo and behold, there she sat. As smug as a newday sun. Half hidden because the wallet's black, the other half from sheer panic.

....if it was a child, do you scold and spank it for putting you through the ringer, or do you hold it and say you love it?? I dunno, maybe a little of both I guess. posted by losir at 1:03 PM

I'm too tired.... must sleep. Must find bed. Must, must, must....

...ZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzz posted by losir at 6:26 PM

I mucked up SleepyHead's URL. Try this link again.

The riceboy picture below is a fake.... a nice adobe photoshop picture, nothing more. I knew it looked a little too sharp, but I thought he just used photoshop to bring out the details. Man, too much time on your hands buddy.

Oh well. posted by losir at 1:58 PM

Missed my Sunday posting time slot. Oh well.

Here's one that gets me upset and a little stumped. Do you know that the Toronto Support Worker staff for public schools are on strike?? Basically, "Support Worker" is a very political correct name for janitors, lunch room monitors, cooks (if they have a cafe), and cleaners. They're now demanding the normal wage increase as well as job security.

The problem with this country is that people can find jobs very easily. Look at Hong Kong, which has like 8-9 million people crammed into a city the size of the GTA (Greater Toronto Area). Hardly anybody goes on strike there, because the second you threatened to not work because of wage dispute, they'll can your ass and hire someone else who's more than grateful for making what you earn. It's a very cutthroat practice to be sure, but would you rather be only getting a 2% raise in 3 years, or be completely out of a job??

Right. I totally understand that whatever the raise increase over however amount of years may be too little. Of course the ideal situation is that yearly raises should not only cover for inflation, but actually be a raise. But what if there really isn't enough taxpayer's dollars to give you that raise? Janitors and cleaners doesn't require a university degree. You don't major in toilet plunging or permanent marker removal, nor do they have Garbage disposal 101. It isn't a very skilled job, so when the slice of the taxpayer's pie is divied, you just can't demand to get the lion's share. That's just the way it is. Would I be too mean to suggest that janitors and lunchroom monitors are the same ones who probably skipped a lot of school in their time, and now doesn't have the necessary skills to be anything but? Yes, it's too mean, but I'm still suggesting that.

Now, I don't really want to talk about the right to strike, I'm split between that. What I want to talk about actually, is the effect the strike has had on the kids. I know, the cliche is "Kids come first." Everyone union rep. and school board arbiter chants the same tired line. But are they really putting kids first? I don't think so.

Remember, it's the janitors and other cleaners that are on strike now. Which means garbage, washrooms, and the classroom in general are filthy. The garbage is overflowing, the toilets are dingy and probably smelly. The whole school could be a harzardous area to be in for both teachers and the students. Or so they would like us to believe.

You know, we kids are really spoiled. Maybe because it's everyone saying that school should be the primary focus of our life. We must concentrate and focus in our studies. Let nothing detract us from our scholarly pursuits. "Cow poo!" I say. What happened to learning to take care of ourselves? What happened to pitching in when others need a hand? Have we forgotten that manners and morals are just as important as good grades?

I think we have. Look, it's just garbage. I know it's not exactly a bed of roses, but it's only refuse. It's what we produce every single day. It's not like it's weapon grade plutonium for crying out loud. Instead of closing the schools for health risks, get the students involved and start mass cleaning the classrooms and hallways. Get the students to take out the trash, wash the floors, wipe the tables, unclog and flush the toilets. If you got enough people pitching in (and there are an average of 1000 high school students in every school), then maybe they'll appreciate the institution more, and actually care about its facilities in the future. After I started cleaning my own bathroom, I was more careful not to get it dirty. I took pride in the loo being spotless. I loved the look of a shiny sink basin. They will too, once they learn to appreciate hard work.

The kids moan about the strike and how it's affecting their education. Well, take charge then. Take the school back into your hands. Help out a little. The garbage you help clear is made by you and your friends. Do something, don't just whine like a baby who's lost its soother. If you wanted to be seen as a grown up earlier, then be an adult, and take charge of your life and surroundings.

The other alternatives is for you to be sent home with homework, with no guidance or tutorage. Worse yet, you may risk throwing your education away. I'm not the one to talk, since I've been such a bad student. But I'm old enough to see the errors of my ways. I might not regret it, (my life's been too fun and interesting to harbor feelings of regret) but I do see that I could have been wiser.

So I say to you, stand up for your right to education. Stand up and say "That's it, I will not always depend on other people, because I have the capabilities to do things for myself." Don't let the government and selfish people control your destiny. Do it for yourself.

....I thought having the kids pitch in to help clean up the schools like everyday was a no brainer. But I haven't heard or read about this as an option. posted by losir at 12:50 AM