Great. I'm locked out of my own course registration. One of my friends asked me what was so bad about registering for my university courses online, when I told him I didn't like Bear Tracks that much. It's reasons like this. Couldn't they have kept the telephone registration system (780.492.4000) as a means for old-fashioned people to register? It's the weekend and there's nobody at the Office of the Registrar to talk to, and I'm 100% sure that I was typing my password correctly (eight alphanumeric characters plus a special character, for good measure) but I kept getting invalid LoginID/password errors. I didn't set up a password question, which shows you how much faith I had in the computer system. (Bad idea.) Now I can't reset my password, and still don't know if I actually got that last spot in the section I was hoping to fill. (Yes, another one. I have a skill for finding these.) If not, I will have huge 2-5.5 hour breaks all over the place. I guess I will have to wait until Tuesday to find out.

I was on my usual walk during lunch hour when I decided to walk east on Jasper Ave from 97th St. It was a sunny day and I was busy listening to the radio. As I walked by yet another shopping cart filled with old sleeping bags, clothing and useless junk I heard a cry from below. "BUDDY!". I looked over and saw a homeless guy and woman trying to climb Grierson Hill. "GIVE ME A HAND," he called out. They were about 10 metres down and wanted me to pull them up back to street level. I didn't want to get dirty, smell like booze, or risk being stuck down there with two dirty people, so I waved my hand and walked on. The man called out again, "HELP ME OUT HERE!" Yeah, right. I thought he might pull out a gun or start chasing after me, so I marched on, afraid to look back. By the time I stopped I was at that halfway house where they keep convicted criminals. I crossed the street back to the bike path and finally felt safe. That area freaks me out, and I'm never walking to the park using that way again.
Yesterday there was a crowd of people on my usually quiet neighbourhood street. There were three firetrucks. Only one had to draw out a fire hose, though. I don't know what the whole deal was, but I think some teens were playing with fire in their garage and oops! However, the garage is still in one piece the last time I checked.

After an evening with my friends with an unexpected rainstorm last night, I was planning to get up real early to attend the 7th annual Premier's Klondike Breakfast on the legislature grounds this morning. I was quite tired and set my alarm clock to wake me up at 5:43 a.m. Or so I thought. I had the weirdest time falling asleep. The next thing I heard was my mother, asking me if I was going to get up, since it was 6:30. My first thought was, why didn't the alarm clock go off? It turns out, I had set it to 5:43 p.m. So no free breakfast for me.

Other than a 9.5 hour work day, not much happened. During my lunch hour, I went to the UofA to ask the education general office whether I could apply the CMPUT 114 credit that I took in first year to my program (I never thought I'd see the day when I would use the worst grade I have ever received in my university career applied to a degree). I actually kind of miss school. Only a month-and-a-half left!

I am now going to place 'Shaw Communications' on my blacklist of goods/services. I turned on the computer at 6:05, hoping to make some changes to my course timetable. The Internet was down. (Loading the corporate page didn't work either.) Luckily, the 1 spot on the course I wanted was still there when I did managed to log on temporarily about one hour later; otherwise, they could have been expecting a mean phone call. (Well, maybe not that mean, seeing that it's coming from me.) At 13:30, the Internet wasn't working again, and the TV lost its signal as well. I watched as an already fuzzy-display faded into complete grey fuzz. Why is it that when you need something the most, it stops working? Another example of Murphy's Law #1, I guess.

Sunny day today. I mowed the lawn before noon because that's what Saturdays are for. Oh, and on to another electronic image-capturing device: the Canon PowerShot A80. Of course, I have suggested to my father that he return it, because a new model to replace the A80 is rumoured to be introduced in the near future. It came with an hp photosmart 145 printer, which I also think is useless.

Yesterday I went to A Taste of Edmonton with my friend BoBo. We walked to the little park on 102nd St at Jasper. We spent a combined total of $12 (= 16 tickets) and were still hungry. This is what we purchased: 3 bacon-wrapped scallops (4 tickets); 4 stuffed mushrooms (5 tickets); 1 chicken caesar pita (5 tickets); 2 chocolate cappucino shooters (2 tickets). Lucky for BoBo, he went to a pancake breakfast earlier that day, I did not. So I was practically starving until I got home.

New iPod announced today (a.k.a. fourth generation iPod). This was leaked a few days ago [thinksecret.com]. If you feel like saving some money, Apple has made a deal with hp: you install iTunes on your computers, we'll let you sell rebranded iPods. Anyway, the new features: click wheel (same as the iPod minis, but bigger), better battery life, and 1 mm thinner.

Walked from the Low Level Bridge to the UofA via QueenE, Kinsmen, and Emily Murphy parks yesterday. Waterfall on High Level Bridge turned on for Sourdough Raft Race festivities. There was no hailstorm this week (thank goodness). I see that they have built a nice wheelchair-accessible ramp for the east entrance of the Gunning / Lemieux Chemistry Centre. Those who can walk will find the stairs much quicker.

Las Vegas has opened a P3 (public-private partnership) monorail to the public, built by Canada's own Bombardier.

At this moment, in the land the Americans call the great white north, it is currently 26°C, with a projected high of 32°C today. I don't know what the deal on West Nile virus is in Alberta, but how are you supposed to go running in this kind of weather while keeping from being bitten by a mosquito?

There was a silly fire alarm in the building yesterday. Luckily, it happened at lunchtime, so then I thought "what the heck" and walked down eighteen floors where I was greeted by a nice loud buzzer on the main floor. I took the LRT to the UofA and walked/ran all the way back to Grandin Station. I managed to do it in 22 minutes wearing cargos and a polo shirt.

This time I actually used the hiking trail which led to the bushes. Last time I went that way I was afraid that I was going to get lost and backed out after maybe 50 metres, but I was determined this time. There was a lot of staircases in between lengthy downhill paths (you have to keep running to keep your footing). But when it led back to the bike path, I knew where I was, and that was good.

After work, my friend A.M. and I went out for coffee (in a bookstore / coffee shop hybrid), went to Best Buy to look at miscellaneous stuff that techies would love to have but not actually need, and then visit to Tokyo Express. As usual, I didn't eat the pink ginger things that came with the plate but I did try my raw fish with wasabi in soy sauce this time. Not too bad.

Today I was quite tired because I only got about five hours of sleep. This was because I was at my best friend's house until it was quite late last night. Since I haven't seen him for a while, we chatted about anything and everything.

I heard from my sister today. She's in Montréal, taking in the sights, going to class, doing whatever she wants. Apparently she's always out until midnight, doing lots of shopping, visiting people hotspots, you know, the things that teenagers tend to do when their parents are a few thousand miles away.

Well, I've already been in front of a computer for nearly eleven hours today, so it's time to sign off for a bit. Enjoy the warm weather!

I woke up at 05:30, somewhat deprived of sleep. Reason? My sister left for Montréal this morning and she had to get to the airport. I watched longingly as travellers checked their bags, ready for their summer vacation. When I got home I couldn't sleep. So I walked to Lakewood (about six blocks away) and took the bus to the UofA. It was such a nice day, people were in shorts and stuff, while I had my fleece and jeans. I walked along the bike trail westward on Saskatchewan Drive until I saw a sign that said Kinsmen Park, although when I followed the trail (second time in my life I went down this path; first time was in Biology 208) all the way to the end, I saw Emily Murphy Park and a firepit and picnic table that looked really similar.

Exactly where I was three Saturdays ago, hanging out with l337 d00dz and other people who love cellphones, PS2s and computers. We had a barbecue and played this stupid card game called Mao. I reminisced for a couple of seconds, and then walked towards downtown along a wide dirt path that followed the river. I was getting pretty sweaty, and thirsty. Nope, didn't bring a water bottle. Practically all of the cyclists and joggers along the trails had shorts...but I am West Nile Virus savvy. Anyway, I walked under the LRT bridge to River Road, and then followed the bike trail some more until 105 St. Then I walked northbound to 96 Ave., then west (up a slight incline) to the Legislature building. I took a quick repose watching some kids play in the mini pool and then continued to the Grandin LRT station. The sky was overcast by then. I took the LRT to downtown and waited about 10 minutes for the bus. About three stops away from my home, it began to rain. Hard. With hail. Just my luck. Or maybe I should be glad I didn't go out in a T-shirt and shorts. Anyway, I got home soaked. And that's my adventure for today.

Searching for that ultimate vacation...

I've been working in the IT department for some seven weeks and they've run out of stuff for me to do. I look forward to my abbreviated summer vacation, which begins August 28th this year. My parents have been out of the country twice in the past year; next week my sister leaves for Montréal for five weeks. Montréal is one of my favourite cities in Canada. The last time I went on a vacation was April 2003, which was a two-day getaway to Banff National Park. The last time I went anywhere more than 2 Mm (2 megametres, = 2 000 km) away was San Francisco and Las Vegas, and that was ... almost two years ago.

I've been travel deprived, even though it's one of my favourite things to do. I've opted for summer jobs instead of going on vacation. I've gone to school for five straight years now. I travel virtually through the Internet and travel guides. My philosophy says that I can't go anywhere exotic until I secure a full-time job, and (unfortunately) I don't know when that is going to happen. Tomorrow night my favourite reality TV show begins on CFRN and CBS. The Amazing Race 5! I can't wait.