Time Flies

Yup, it sure does. This weekend was here and gone in record time (or so it seemed). On Friday night, Diane and I joined our friend Paul - whom I haven't seen in forever. We went out and had a few drinks -- fun times! On Saturday we had a couple of friends come over. Apparently there wasn't many people interested/able to come out so we had a relatively small gathering at my place. We played some games and went out for dinner. It was actually pretty good. We've got so many board games at my place and just don't have much time to play them. So it was nice to get the chance to play a variety of different games. I finally got to try the expansion to the bean farming game Bohnanza that I bought last month. I really liked it. I'm quite happy with that game purchase - it has gotten much more play than some of my other purchases.

Yesterday Diane and I went out for Dim Sum with some friends. Afterwards, I returned home to do some work and then I went over to my parent's place to have dinner and help my mom with a gardening presentation she's working on. I also got a chance to look at the posters my Dad printed up for my sister's upcoming recitals. Boy does it look good! I'm rather jealous that I didn't get the chance to take the photo that appears on the poster, because it looks amazing. For those who don't know, my sister is a harpist has to play a number of recitals in a variety of venues in the next little while. If you're interested in attending any, please leave a comment and I'll let you know when the dates and locations are.

So this weekend disappeared in a flash. And now it is Monday again and I have to work. *sigh*.

Heraldk

Stomach Update

You may recall that I posted about having some stomach problems a few months ago. I'm still having issues with my ability to eat certain foods - so after a few months of waiting for various doctor appointments I went in for a gastroscopy on Friday afternoon. For those who aren't in the know, that means they put me to sleep and stick a tube down my throat so they can take a look at what's going on in my tummy. It wasn't a painful procedure or anything -- though it certainly isn't comfortable. I believe I wasn't totally asleep during parts of the procedure and I have a hazy recollection of the tube being removed and someone saying they found something. However, the results haven't been told to me yet. It sounds like they took some samples to run a biopsy on. So the results should be in on Monday and maybe I'll finally find out what's going on. It'd be really nice to know what it is -- and hopefully it is treatable, whatever this is. Heraldk

More Shopping

So I'm rather enjoying my new camera lenses. Enough so that my interest in photography has been piqued to the point that I would like to be able to take my camera around with me to my daily activities so that I can get some photos of the cool things I see once in awhile. This means that I needed a bag. I literally spent a couple days looking at various camera bag options on the internet -- comparing features and capacity. At first, I thought the best plan would be to get a minimal bag that wouldn't bother me when I carried it along with my other gear (or perhaps one I could fit into my regular day backpack). But most of these solutions didn't really work for me. They either didn't fit quite enough of my gear, or they were too bulky looking (it is hard to tell looking at them online, but I had a tape measure out and spent time visualizing these things). Finally, I made the switch in thinking ... what if I bought a bag that replaced my day bag. If a bag existed that had some dedicated camera space, and perhaps a spot for a laptop, it would be an ideal carry-on type bag for travelling as well as a good day bag for my day-to-day activities. Eureka! There does exist such a bag! The Crumpler Sinking Barge. It's a tad pricey, but with the amount I spent on my camera/lenses, I think it's totally worth it. I can't wait for it to arrive!

Heraldk.

Flickr Gathering

On Sunday there was a gathering of Edmonton Flickr-ites at the Muttart Conservatory downtown. It was a rather fun gathering -- it was certainly good to meet some people from around e-town that like to take photographs. Overall, roughly 10-12 people showed up. We chatted for awhile, took some photos, and then a small group of us went to the Sherlock Holmes pub downtown to have some food and talk for awhile longer. I left around 4:00, but it looks like (from the various photos of people I met) people stayed for quite awhile longer (and quite a few more beers). I got a chance to try out my new lenses, and they're pretty cool. I especially like the canon 50mm f/1.4. It's a pretty sweet lens. Here's a photo I took with it:

Heraldk

Bayne Family Reunion

Well I got back yesterday from the first family reunion on my Mom's Dad's side of the family since 1989 (or something in that area). It was held at Camp Nakamun, which really was the ideal place to hold a family reunion. It was away from the big city, but had all the luxuries that you don't find at just any camp setting. I was totally impressed with the facilities and the comfort was definitely appreciated since we weren't really out there to be camping! The story of the weekend? Photos, and good food. I ran around with my camera for most of the weekend taking photos of people taking part in the various activities. More than a few turned out really well so you'll be seeing some of them hit my flickr photoblog soon enough. The meals were also pretty awesome. We were called into meals at specific times and were treated to a very satisfying selection of food to choose from -- and there was plenty of it!

One of the highlights of the weekend was the game of human foosball we played. Some ingenious person setup this area where players strap themselves onto rods that are basically gigantic versions of foosball rods. The difference being that the players run back and forth and kick the ball instead of there being an outside player controlling it. The game is a lot of fun, but mostly the game is filled with hilarity as the players and observers alike enjoy the rather amusing situations.

It sounds like there might be another family reunion in 3 years, which I will gladly attend. Maybe I might start to learn the names of some of my relatives a little better and I might actually start to get to know some of them a bit better. Funny how an 18 year gap between reunions doesn't help you remember people...!

Heraldk

Tired

This last week has taken a lot out of me. I've been quite busy working on this poker project -- the results are starting to look really promising, but I'm not gonna talk about that just yet. It looks like we're gonna have to get ready for an exciting event that should be happening in Vancouver in July. But you didn't hear that here first! I had a terrible downturn in poker so between that and the neteller trouble, I think I'm going to take an extended break from online gambling. (I didn't lose all my bankroll, but I might just cash out my money for awhile). I might use some of my PSO points to start a micro stakes bankroll from which to climb back up again ... we'll see if that's worth doing or not. In the meantime, I'm tossing around the idea of buying some lenses for my camera. The basic lens is pretty good, but it is starting to limit me in the stuff I'd like to try. So it is definitely time to purchase at least another lens. I'm kind of thinking a decent low-light/indoor lens with no zoom and a more general purpose zoom lens that borders on some telephoto capability ... If anyone has any helpful suggestions on good lenses or good place to buy such lenses, I'd really appreciate it! I haven't quite picked out the exact lenses I want yet. I'll be doing a bit more research over the next little while before I settle on something.

So that's where I'm at so far. This coming weekend Diane and I will be joining my family for a big reunion. So I won't be in town for most of the weekend. Should be fun, though it might be awkward since many people will be there that I should know/remember. Oh wells. Perhaps I will take my camera down and practice some photography! Hmm - maybe I should buy that 50mm lens I've been looking at *before* this weekend ...

Heraldk

Run Run Run

Last night was crazy. I had two campus rec intramural playoff games, one Volleyball and one floor hockey which were at almost overlapping times. I decided to play the volleyball one because if we won, then we'd make the final which was the same night. So I went there and we lost really fast. It was 8:00 - about the time our floor hockey game was to start. So I ran over to the bus stop and saw that the bus to get over there was there! I hopped on, and got to the gym to find my team down a goal with 3 minutes or so left. I grab a guy's stick and play the remaining two minutes straight -- unfortunately we couldn't tie the game up. *sigh*.

So then I go home and sit down at my computer where I code a script that will help the development of the poker bot I'm working on ... and don't finish that until 3 in the morning. I'm TIRED.

So if you'll excuse me, maybe I'll go take a nap. Heraldk

Facebook

Wow, I can't believe I've found a social networking site I actually don't hate. I can't stand myspace -- most pages are garish and poorly presented. Orkut became meaningless when people lost interest with it in the first couple months. So I never really considered joining facebook since I assumed it would be another waste of time. Eventually though, I heard enough people talking about it that I decided I needed to give it a try. Boy was a surprised. The first thing that struck me is that the site is well-organized and easy to browse. It is very much a web2.0 style done right. Just enough AJAX (I'm assuming) to make the elements of the page interactive to the right degree. Everything feels very easy, but the lack of full customization means that viewing other people's profiles is actually pleasant (unlike myspace ... *shudder*). So all in all it is an impressive piece of software.

The other big thing that struck me right away is just how many of my former schoolmates were on facebook already. I suppose mileage might vary depending on whether facebook has hit critical mass for the people you know. Definitely, however, a large number of people I went to high school, junior high, and even elementary school with are already on facebook. What that meant was within a few days of creating a facebook account, I already had more than 50 people on my friends list. Insane.

The last thing that I think facebook does amazingly well, is it gives you a big reason to login on a regular basis. When you login, you get a list of 'news items' for the people on your friends list. This means that whenever you login you are notified whenever someone adds a new person to their friends list, or when they update their profile, or ... all kinds of stuff. This means you can see what's going on with other people's friends networks and update your own if you see someone you know get added to someone else's list.

So, I have now fallen to facebook and it appears to be another good time waster. Just what I needed.

Heraldk

Back to UB

I returned to ultimate bet this weekend to play there a bit last night and this morning. Last night went terribly - I didn't get any action on my big hands, but kept getting played back at when I didn't get a hand. So I dropped two stacks at $100NL before calling it a night. This morning, on the other hand, was beautiful. I got myself back up to even from last night's losses and then proceeded to stack another couple players for a net session profit of $425. So in two days, I'm up $225-ish. Sweet. In a little while, my grandparents are coming over. My Grandma is going to teach me how to bake her bun recipe. Let me tell you: these buns are awesome. I can't wait to have a batch tomorrow morning -- hot and steaming straight from the oven. Mmmmmm. I'll try and get some pictures part way through and of the end product.

Heraldk

I won the lotteries

It seems like every day I get two or three messages that say: You have won the lottery! Just send us your name, address, social insurance number, and your bank account number ... as well as you mother's maiden name, your date of birth, and your soul to us and we'll give you this totally non-fake prize of several tens of thousands of dollars! What the hell? I know I've seen these emails before ... most of you probably have seen these before too. But why am I getting them every day now? The worst part is that it passes through gmail's spam filter which means it is a daily annoyance to manage the message (rather than just hitting the 'delete all spam' button). So what gives? It isn't like I'm going to give them the information they want so they can steal my money, my identity, and my soul. It hasn't worked yet, and it won't ... so ...

This is similar to the situation when I got a bazillion emails entitled 'good luck!' in short order. Thankfully, gmail recognized that as spam.

This post has gotten pretty rambly, so I'll just wrap it up quickly. I find it scary that these emails continue to be sent because that means that people, somewhere, are falling for these tricks. The success rate is probably not high, but somehow people are dumb enough to believe that they just won the lottery and pass on all these important details. And so I find that truly scary ... and I'm also mad at them because it is them that justify these spammers sending these damn emails to me everyday.

Heraldk

Poker-filled Weekend

My friend got a reload bonus at Party Poker late last week, and I did not. So I sent them an email (at his suggestion) asking why and lo and behold they gave me a couple of bonuses! So I spent almost 12 hours this weekend playing 4-table $100NL. Saturday was very profitable ... I finished up $370 for the day, though at one point I was actually up over $500. I finished off my $100 bonus yesterday while making maybe $25 or so. So a pretty successful weekend on the poker front. What I don't really understand is where some of these players are coming from and why they throw away their money! It almost makes me feel guilty ... except that I know that if I don't take their money then someone else will. Some of the players are so bad that they are asking me to take their money. *shrug* - I guess I won't ever know the answer to this.

In other news, it was my grandparent's 54th wedding anniversary yesterday, so we went out for dinner to celebrate. It was pretty good - though I'm not sure I would go back to the restaurant we went to. It was good ... but pricier than I like to pay on a normal basis. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a nice expensive meal once in a while, but I need to be real impressed with the food to get me to return. Both Diane and I felt that there were better options available for spending that kind of money.

But. It was fun and we enjoyed spending time together. I really don't spend enough time with my grandparents, and I really should spend more time with them. More stuff to feel guilty about I guess.

Heraldk

Skiing!

This weekend I went out skiing at Kimberley, BC with a small group of friends. It was fabulous! It was a bit of a long drive just for a weekend trip, but I definitely felt it was worth it. The snow was incredible, and the weather was unbeatable. On Saturday we hit a high of +4-ish, and on Sunday the forecast was saying it would hit +7! Diane and I, along with Rob, drove down starting in the afternoon on Friday and made really good time. We arrived at before 10:00, and hung out for a couple of hours. We enjoyed using the private hot tub which was one of the excellent features of our suite. The condo we stayed at was actually an amazing deal. It cost us $100 a night for the condo ... split 5 ways! So $40 for the weekend's accomodation was pretty sweet I'd say!

On Saturday morning, our group got up in an attempt to get on the hill as soon as the lifts started. After a full day of some really fun skiing, we got cleaned up and went out for dinner at the Kelsey's on the hill. Fun times! Somehow Rob decided it was a good idea to pay the bill for dinner: Thanks Rob! You really didn't need to do that!

After dinner we wandered back to the suite (en route I took the above picture) and relaxed. We completed a game of scattegories we had started the night before and then watched the hockey game. It was all in all a good day! The next day we got ourselves all packed up and then went and enjoyed a few more hours of skiing before starting the trek home.

It was a very good weekend -- full of snow, sunshine and some wonderful company. I can't wait for the next trip!

Heraldk

Work and Poker

Yup, that's what I do. Diane was away for a few days last week so I spent a lot of time finishing up my interpoker bonus for this month. Unfortunately I tanked, and ended up only up $190 for the month in poker plus all the associated bonuses ($300) and rakeback (probably around $150). So, while I made some money, I certainly wasn't up near as much as I'd like to be.

The good news is that I sat down for a session at UB, and I think I'm gonna stick around there for a bit longer this time around. The players were noticeably worse than at interpoker. Where it was a struggle to win chips against some of the grinders at interpoker, UB was almost immediately profitable. Sure, it helped that I hit some hands, but some of those players were playing brutally. I made $180 in one two-tabling session tonight! Sweeet. A lot of that came on a hand where I rivered a full house against a maniac player who had actually flopped a straight. I couldn't put him on a straight and had to call his all in with a set of queens. Another notable fact from tonight is I made TWO straight flushes. Its been weeks/months since my last straight flush and then I make two tonight ... and both of them I stacked a guy (less than full stacks though). I did suffer a couple bad beats, including one where I flopped a set of deuces and lost to a guy who rivered a jack for a bigger set. Oh well, those things happen.

In other news, work continues at a good pace. I'm getting stuff done and that feels really nice. I have a pretty productive office environment which is helping me stay more focused than I was before. I'm pretty happy with where my life is at the moment. It is pretty exciting!

Heraldk

The Big V-Day and my Birthday

Been awhile since I last posted again - I kept starting posts, but not getting around to finishing them... so I apologize for the delay. This past week was a busy one that included a couple of notable events. One was Valentine's day which every year is a source of frustration for me. Why? It's not that I don't have a significant other that I wish to bestow upon my love and devotion to ... it's that I hate that there's a specific day for it! It feels entirely too forced for me -- one of these events that the general public (read: corporations) have decided is the time for all who are involved in a relationship must partake in. To me, that's not how you should show your love! Showing your love and affection for your significant other is by all means great -- but there's no reason that it has to happen on a particular day! What's wrong with ... today, tomorrow, or ... next Tuesday?!

So while Diane and I did spent the evening together, there wasn't a lot of extra fanfare outside of spending a fairly ordinary evening together. I did cook dinner though ... something I want to start doing a little more often. This time was cod fillets battered with flour and pan fried with oil and butter. It turned out pretty well! So Diane and I had a rather lovely evening, thank you very much corporate greed.

On a related note, a couple of my friends lent me some copies of Good Eats to watch. I have since gotten addicted to watching it. For those who haven't heard of it, it is hosted by Alton Brown.. He's kinda like the Bill Nye the Science Guy of cooking. Besides being really fun to watch, the show is also very informative. The food recipes are explained really well ... but not only that, the reasons for the various steps are explained which means that the show builds understanding of cooking.

A couple days ago, Diane and I tried out the pan seared steak technique he shows in the first show. It turned out really well! The juices from the meat stayed on the inside which made the meat juicy and tender and oh so very tasty. I'll definitely be trying out some more of Alton Brown's recipes in the time to come! Mmmm ... tasty meat.

This Saturday was my 24th Birthday, so I held a party to celebrate. The party was quite a success -- many people attended, and I was really impressed with the food everyone brought. Very very tasty! After a poker tournament in the afternoon, we had our potluck, and then continued to play some video and board games. I think everyone had a good time. I certainly did -- though I was unhappy that the oilers lost.

Hope everyone is having/had a good weekend (those outside of Alberta probably go back to work tomorrow -- but most Albertans have Family day off tomorrow). I'm going to spend tomorrow playing some poker and doing some work.

Heraldk

Busy Weekend

This weekend was pretty busy. On Saturday, Diane and I attended the Slovenian association of Edmonton's Hunters Ball. Her dad has some clients who are members so gets invited every year - so Diane and I joined her parents to take in the most excellent food along with some lively dancing. We went to one other event the Slovenian association put on last year, and their dances are characterized by Polkas and some very fast waltzes (I can only imagine doing a Viennese Waltz to it). And unlike some dances I've been to - there sure was a lot of people who were willing to dance! The floor was crowded with people on just about every dance. This time around, however, there were a few other songs to which Diane and I couldn't really figure out what to dance to. We did get one Cha-cha in, which was pretty fun. We left a little early, hitching a ride from Diane's dad who dropped us off at my roommate's birthday party which was in progress at our place. Mike had a pretty eventful day. The group of them went down to WEM to try shooting some handguns at the Wild West shooting range. It sounds like they had a lot of fun. After the event, however, Mike was unable to find his car! Turns out someone stole it!!! Yeah, seriously. So, with his car missing, he managed to get a ride back to our place (after notifying the authorities of course) and everyone continued the party. One of our friends got here early so went to DQ to pick up a cake. Somehow, they managed to put together this gem of a cake:

So ... between the cake and having his friends around him, Mike's doing okay. Still, having his car stolen really sucks. Here in Alberta, the recovery rate for stolen vehicles is 75% (apparently), so there's a decent chance he'll get it back in some form or another. So hopefully it turns up.

On Sunday, I spent most of the day relaxing around my place. In the evening, I joined Diane and some other friends at a gym night we've been going to whenever we've got the chance. One of our friends managed to get a really good deal on renting some gym space every week -- so we go and play sports and board games for a few hours. It has been really fun - and good for me to get some exercise (which is admittedly a bit lacking lately).

Today I had a pretty productive day at work, and then joined some more friends for dinner at BPs. Now it is time for bed. Hope everyone had a good weekend!

Heraldk

On work

I'm finding out that I'm pretty motivated to work on the project I'm working on now. For stretches during my graduate program, I felt like I had to fight myself to get anything done. Now that I've started up on this new project, I can't stop thinking about it and have put in many more work hours this past week than I think I've done in a long time. I think a part of that is that this project is pretty exciting, but I think I also feel a certain amount of responsibility that is coming with this job. Even though it is at the UofA, which means the surroundings are familiar and it feels like my situation hasn't changed that much, I still feel like I need to make sure I am able to produce good work after each week of work. Part of that, I suppose, is that my supervisor/employer is meeting with me weekly to monitor progress. More than that, though, I think I feel grateful for the support he is showing me by hiring me on, and I want to make it worth his while. I think I feel like I need to push myself to impress him and show that I deserve the job he's given me. It has been a long time since I've felt that way. I suppose that's the biggest difference between an MSc degree and this employment. For my MSc, the only person that I could really disappoint was myself. Now that I'm working, I feel like I can not only disappoint myself, but also the source of my funds. So ... I work!

In a lot of ways it feels good having a working target again. January felt really weird since all I really did was prepare for my defence, and play lots of poker. For some reason, that month didn't feel all that fulfilling. Now I have a goal, and I think I need that. Something to keep in mind for the rest of my life, I guess!

Heraldk

Setting Up

So a common question I've been asked is what I'm going to do now that I've graduated from my MSc degree. I've been hired on by my now former MSc supervisor to do some poker related work. Many of you will know that I have been counting on this for stability until I can find a job I like. Of course, my first place to look is BioTools - but they aren't hiring at the moment. So I'll wait it out for a few months before I expand my search to other local companies. Until then, I'm happily employed at the University on a pretty exciting project. If anyone is interested in reading my MSc thesis, take a look here: Morgan Kan MSc thesis.

In recent poker action, I've started work on a second go around at Interpoker's monthly reload bonus. I did really well on the first one - raking in ~$200 in poker winnings, $300 in bonus money, and another $160 in rakeback. Through two nights of play, I'm up almost $400 playing .5/1 $100NL. I'm now 1/4 of the way to the first $100 of the $300 bonus and 8% done the full bonus. If this streak continues, I'm looking at a very profitable month!

Hope everyone is doing well! Heraldk

Free Beer!

Last night, Jeffu and I held our free beer night. In the computing science department, it has been a tradition for graduating graduate students to buy beer for anyone from the department who wishes to come. So last night was our night, and we held it at Campus Hudson's. The waitress we got was amazing. She took careful note of our ground rules and was very good about making sure they were followed.

Last night I got more drunk than I have ever been in my whole life. To some, I know I really wasn't all that drunk - I mean, I didn't get sick, nor did I have a hangover the next morning, and I also can remember what happened last night. But for me to drink roughly 10 beers and 4 or 5 shots is a lot of booze to hold. It was quite an evening for us ... and we had a really good time. Unfortunately the Oilers didn't win :\

Something I should mention is that I am extremely happy with Diane and what she is willing to put up with! Diane took very good care of Jeff and I - making sure that we got home alright and being extremely patient with us. I am absolutely amazed by how wonderful Diane is to me, and last night was just another example of how wonderful she is.

One thing I was amazed with last night was the sheer number of people who came to share in our beer night. Not only that, the large number of people who stayed well past the end of the hockey game to continue partying with us. I have known other beer nights to die down before 8:00 (when the hockey game started) so I think we can call our beer night an unqualified success!

Heraldk Not a drunkard

Skiing!

I got fairly late Sunday night from the annual department ski trip to Jasper. As usual, it was a ton of fun. Diane and I joined many of our friends for two days on the slopes of Marmot Basin. We had some absolutely gorgeous weather for skiing -- just a couple degrees below zero with sunny skies. I'm not all that great a skier, but I definitely took my shot at some of the tougher runs (read: blacks not double blacks). I think I'm going to have to take some lessons some day soon to try and figure out how to ski better and not stress my knees too much. Since I'm largely self-taught (apart from some early lessons in elementary school), I can't say I have any good technique! On the last run of the day on Sunday, I grabbed my camera and went up to the top of the hill to go snap some photos from the knob and eagle ridge. I got some photos that turned out pretty well, so you'll be seeing them hit my photoblog soon.

Now that I'm done my MSc, I'll be looking for a job soon ... but first I've been hired on for a few months by my supervisor to work on more poker stuff. I'm really excited about this work ... I think it has a lot of exciting potential and can't wait to get started!

Heraldk

Thesis Quest

Yesterday I finally completed Thesis Quest -- that being the running around doing all the necessary paperwork and errands necessary to submit my thesis and be finished for this semester! Here's what I had to do:

1. Pick up printed thesis from the printers.
2. Take signature sheets and get signatures from the 3 members of my thesis committee. Two of them are in CS, but one is a little walk away in Education.
3. Put theses together, ensure all pages are there, in order, and are in the correct orientation (I found a couple pages upside down!).
4. Take theses to FGSR where they are inspected. Fill out forms at FGSR.
5. Take a form up to financial services to pay microfilming fee
6. Take theses across campus to the Tory building for binding. Fill out more paperwork and spend more money. Estimated binding time: 12 weeks.
7. Return form to FGSR. In my case, go by CS to print out the CV that I forgot to bring with me in the first place.
8. Relax!

I had 15 minutes to run to do the bindery part of the quest before they closed. Thankfully I got there in time so I was able to finish yesterday. Hooray! So now, after a few hundred dollars in printing fees, bindery fees, and tuition/microfilming fees, I am now ready to be graduated in June! Hooray!

It looks like I'll be working for Jonathan for 6 months or so starting in February. It'll be pretty nice to not worry about schooling and just work a fairly normal 9-5 sort of thing. The trick will be getting myself back into a routine I haven't done in several months. We'll have to see how that goes!

Heraldk