It's a strange feeling, waiting for the company-wide email that you've quit.  It's been a week since I've tendered my resignation letter, and I've already spoken with both the manager and Director.  I don't know what the timeline of these things are, but I would have thought these things happen faster.

I feel a bit like a game show contestant, waiting for my name to be called as I eagerly check my email:
 
8:33: nothing... 9:07: nothing... 9:10: nothing... 9:27: Jason, come on down!.... 9:33: nothing... 9:42: Victor, come on down!... 9:58: nothing... 10:11:nothing... 10:28: nothing... 11:01: nothing...

Two notices went out today... where's mine?  I want to answer "where are you going?" thirty-seven different times!  I want to receive the "we may as well kill your email account now" joke/threats from the OPS department!  I want to get "you're so lucky" followed by the "you're making a mistake" comments!

Mostly, I just want everyone to know.  Even though 80% of this company doesn't even know who I am, and 88% doesn't care if I stay or go, I'd still like everyone to know.

It's just not Official until The Notice goes out...

Spend a few minutes with the cutesy minigames at the nicely done site Orisinal : Morning Sunshine,


Or try to break the records at Makmai's Volcano Jump.  The closest I got was 48.925.

Lots of game-worn and game-issue stuff at the official Raptor Auction:

Great exchange rate + 5% tax + US Thanksgiving shopping deals (US equivalent of our Boxing Day sales) = some great shopping in Baltimore over the weeked.

I've been looking for a leather jacket for what seems like years now and finally found one I really liked in Wilson's (the US version of Danier).  Original price was $375 US and I got it for $110!  Throw in the almost-negligible 5% tax for an after-tax price of $115.50, and that means I just bought a great leather jacket for $135 Canadian!   Sweet.  The Nike outlet had 25% off everything, Banana Republic took 30% off everything, Gap was running crazy sales, Eddie Bauer, Kenneth Cole, Hugo Boss... even the Fudgery store was running a 2 for 1 deal (I bought three pounds of fudge... ugh).  Sara got hers as well: two(!) pairs of Nine West boots totalling under $80 US, a pair of Nike trail runners for $50, numerous pants/sweaters/tops from Banana Republic (prices are waaay cheaper in the US than in Canada!), leather purse and wallet for $25 at Wilson's, tons of soap shtuff at more than 50% off... yeah, we went nuts.  But we got really, really good deals.  :)

Baltimore itself was pretty nice - the weather was an excellent 10 degrees and sunny for the majority of the trip.  Perfect weather as we walked around the Inner Harbour waterfront area.  Spent a day in the aquarium, had great seafood, made some friends at the Thai Noodle Bowl, almost accidentally crashed a Narcotics Anonymous conference, and took lots of pictures.

Vin-tage VC

So there I was, all ready to post about how Vinsanity has become Vinstupid after his "I don't want to dunk anymore" proclamation, and then VC goes out and plays the last two games with the most aggression I've seen in 3 years.  He attacked the basket, and most suprising of all, he actually initiated contact rather than avoided it with his usual fallaway jumpers.  He even had two big highlight dunks, capped with last night's fast break windmill that had everyone in the stands going beserk (along with a few at home).

Apparently, Vince was able to clear his head early this week during a heart-to-heart chat with his best friend and brother-in-law Antawn Jamison.  I don't know what was said, but Vince is looking like the Vince we all loved from his first 3 seasons in the league.  Sure, he still pouted on the court a bit, and yes, he still took some fallaway jumpers, but that's all acceptable if he's also using his incredible athletic ability to play aggressive and attack the rim.

The Raptors are currently in first place in the woeful Atlantic division... dare I say it, we could win this crappy division outright and have a 3rd seed in the playoffs?

If (and this is a big if) Vince is back to being his rim rocking self, buckle up kids: the Raptors are about to go on a serious roll through the NBA.

So I ended up getting a $4 cut... and I can't believe it, but it's the first time ever that I've had a good cut on the first try.  I was so happy with the cut I actually gave him five dollars... dude, that's a 25% tip!

$4 cuts that are actually good... does it get any better than that?

One thing I've always hated about moving, other than the whole living-in-a-huge-mess-while-unpacking-for-two-months thing, is having to find all new service locations: new post office, new gas station, new convenience store, new dry cleaner, new tailor, and new hair salon.

I haven't had the time to go looking for a new place, but I'm a month overdue now, busting out the bushy porcupine look.  I'm off to find a new haircutter tonight.

I'll be wandering the streets of Chinatown, looking for the perfect new hair salon to serve my needs for the next year or so.  Where should I go?  Hmmm... should I surf the net and drink some bubble tea while getting my hair cut at the local Hair Salon/Internet Cafe/Bubble Tea shop?  Or should I go ghetto and try out a $4 cut?

Whereever I end up, I know one thing: it's gonna be a bad hair cut.  My first cut with a new hair stylist has always resulted in a bad cut.  Always.  It doesn't matter what I ask for, since each hair stylist has their interpretation of definitions: "A little off the top" will result in anything from a half-inch trim to a full-on #1 guard buzz.

I'm off... hopefully it won't be too bad...

I *still* can't believe that was real... Pistons and Pacers get into a brawl... and then the Pacers go into the stands to fight the fans???  Insanity - it's a scene straight outta Slapshot, only we're talking about mulitmillionaires at the game's highest level, not some bush league nobodies.  I think the sanctions handed down were incredibly strong, and absolutely just.  The players should never, ever, EVER go into the stands, no matter what happens.  All that talk about the players needing to "defend" themselves is bullshit - Ron Artest shoulda just turned around and started cussing out the fans rather than physically assaulting them.  Then this would've been just another Ron Artest Incident and we'd be talking about a 2 or 3 game suspension rather than a debacle that places a black eye on the entire sport.

The worst event of the night: a fan is being held by security, and then Jermaine O'Neal comes flying in to unleash a punch to the helpless, if stupid, fan.  That fan's head may not be attached today if O'Neal hadn't made like a baseball player and  lost his balance while throwing the punch:

Nintendo DS has launched - check out the official site @ www.nintendods.com.


Lots of pics and movies of the games that are now available.

Also take a look at Gamespot's DS Launch Center for a comprehensive overview on the DS itself.

George has picked it up!!  Um, George, what are you doing tonight?...

Words fail me.   www.cockolada.de

The Matrix Shop is selling The Ultimate Matrix Collection Limited Edition Collector's Set as a pre-order to be shipped on December 7.  Just in time for my birthday.  ;-)

The box set justifies its long-ass name by including 10 discs and a Neo bust.  Here's a look at the sweet-looking box set:

Why does Snoop Dogg have an umbrella?

Fo' drizzle.

Not only did the Raptors beat the Rockets in the season opener last night, they were actually entertaining, too!  Dare I say it?  The Craptors are no more?  I know, I know, it's only one game into the season, but we do look a heckuva lot better.  One thing's for sure: it's gonna be a much more entertaining season.  Even if we lose, I'd like to watch.  Last season was a terrible eyesore - even hard to watch the few wins we got. Rafer looked real good last night, definitely worthy of the contract.  Boards, buckets, dimes - he did it all.  If I dream, I dream that Rafer does for the Raptors what Kidd did for the Nets.  I'm not saying that Rafer is All NBA 1st Team, but I can dream...

Matt Bonner stops Juwon with his whiteness

Bosh is gonna be AWESOME, and sooner than I expected.  That one power move - iso'd on the right side with Yao between him and the bucket.  Goes right baseline on the power attack, gets hit hard by Yao and the weakside help D, still drops the layin.  Did I mention Bosh is gonna be awesome?

I can't believe I'm about to type this, but Loren Woods Shut Down Yao.  Wow.  And Matt Bonner is the whitest dude I've ever seen.  Ever.  He's scary white.

Raptors are 1-0.  Gonna be a good season.