Feasible showtimes downtown are 6:20 at the Rideau Centre and 8 p.m. at the World Exchange. If we do the Rideau Centre and I'm working until 5, someone will have to be there to get us a place in line. Megan, if you're joining us, I'm guessing you might prefer the 8 o'clock show?

Weigh in everyone.

Oh, and tickets can be purchased online using either credit or debit. Though I'm still willing to go downtown and get them, since I live closest to either theatre.

Obviously there's a new HP movie opening next week. I have the evening booked off already. Anyone up for going to see it together? Time to be negotiated, though definitely an evening show. I think I work until 5, so not getting downtown until at least 6. I can try to buy tickets in advance if I have numbers and time. I think I'm off on Monday to do this.

Any takers? If not, I think it's just Nyssa and I.

Been meaning to post this for ages. A friend of mine is looking for a TV series. This is what he remembers about it. Hopefully someone reading might be able to shed some light on this for us.

Probably aired in the early '80s. Kind of a cross between Lost in Space and Sliders. Family gets lost on an alternate Earth-like planet. They keep attempting to jump back to their home (either same planet or back to Earth) by opening these light port holes and keep ending up at another place. Similar idea to Quantum Leap, but that's not it either.

One remembered episode goes like this:
Good-looking late teen or early 20s son winds up being held captive by a bad guy. Memory serves that the bad guy was played by John Calicos. Bad guy shows the son a trophy case of severed fingers. These are people I've defeated - your finger will soon be there. Son says "No, I won't lose". He then has a brawl with a robot-like guy the size of wrestler. Much bigger and stronger. For the 80s it was a pretty violent fight on TV. Son ends up with his body sprawled across the robot-like guys knees. Robot is about to strike down and kill the son by breaking him in two. With his last bit of strength the son reaches up and grabs the robots head, managing to open it and pull the plug, turning it off. Obviously, the son survives the encounter.

The thought was that this series was created by Gene Roddenberry. We originally thought it was Earth 2, but that's not it. Nothing found on IMDB under Roddenberry or Calicos that sounds right. Could be wrong about the name of the actor, but he was so distinctive and did play a Klingon on Star Trek so is likely a casting by Roddenberry.

Any ideas?

Yes, I'm alive! Though very hot and sweaty at the moment. And we haven't really hit a heatwave here yet. Maybe I'm just getting less tolerant of hot weather as I get older.

BBQ for all the work folks went well, though I was extremely bummed when it was over. Mostly because the original purpose of the gathering kind of got lost. When we started planning this a few months back it was meant to be for my birthday. Then we found out my boss was being transfered to another store, so we made it a joint birthday/farewell event. Except that everyone then promptly forgot about my birthday and made it all about the boss leaving. Didn't so much as get me a card. Except Jeremy, who bought both of us chocolates. Yay Jeremy! Chocolate is appropriate for any occasion. :)

We did not do the "annual birthday dinner compromise" dance this year, as someone is actually cooking me a dinner. No, not anyone in my family. Granted, I've known Lynn and her family long enough that they should surely qualify as family (I think I've known them since about 1970). Dinner is this Saturday and I'm fairly dancing with excitement as A) I have the entire weekend off (from 4 p.m. Friday until Tuesday morning) and B) amandageist is flying in the for celebration!

Saturday is the dinner Lynn and her husband Bernie are cooking. Amanda will finally get to meet my family. Poor thing. I'm sure she'll survive, though. Sunday is dinner with Alex, Paul and Mark. Nyssa, in case you read LJ before I talk to you, your dinner is courtesy of the guys, so don't make plans for Sunday dinner. Perhaps we'll have some time to play at touristy stuff when we're not stuffing our faces. Oh, and Amanda says she's bringing me chicken-fried steak!!! Was considering taking her for what passes for Tex-Mex food here but decided I like her too much to inflict that kind of punishment on her. :)

Will update on the trip to New Orleans very soon.

Just over a week, actually. Been pretty much deathly ill since I got home. Went to work sick last Wednesday and Thursday. Attempted to do the same on Saturday and came home as soon as I got there. Stupid idea, trying to work that day. Had a fever so high (no, I don't own a thermometer) that my eyeballs felt hot. Still have a wretched cough but am going to work tonight anyway. Yes, am stupid. Also need a paycheque as the bills are mounting up.

21. City of Ember
Good family adventure story

22. Flow
Documentary on water privatization around the globe. Well done.

23. Henry Poole is Here
Why is this billed as comedy? I kept waiting for it to be remotely funny and it never happened

24. Vicky Cristina Barcelona
I'm not a big Woody Allen fan. While the acting was good, I thought the movie itself was a bit over-rated.

25. Call Girl
While the story was good, I think it tried to go in too many directions. Paring down the story (and the 2 1/2 hour running time) would probably have done it more justice

26. Rocknrolla
Typical Guy Ritchie film, though nothing new to make it stand out

27. Lucky Ones
Soldiers coming home from Iraq. Certainly much better done than some that have gone before (Home of the Brave, which sucked the big one!)

28. Lakeview Terrace
Completely predictable

29. Just Buried
An attempt at dark humour that didn't quite work for me

30. Closing the Ring
Nice little drama that's probably been overlooked by many

31. Pride & Glory
An average crime drama with a great cast who pull it above mediocrity.

32. Bottle Shock
It's funny, it's based on a true story and it has Alan Rickman - what's not to love?

33. Passchendaele
Great combination of war epic and love story.

34. Secret Life of Bees
Good, solid, heartfelt drama

35. Nick & Nora's Infinite Playlist
Average teenage romantic comedy with a good soundtrack

36. Good Student
Another supposed dark comedy that completely misses the mark

37. Tenth Circle
The story had potential but this made-for-TV flick just doesn't cut it

38. Zack & Miri Make a Porno
The dialogue is a little too forced to work, making it just an average, if somewhat vulgar, romantic comedy

39. Private Valentine
A Private Benjamin wannabe that fails miserably

40. Blindness
Well done and one of the best book-to-movie adaptations I've seen in a while

Wow, I watched all those in January. Guess I have some major catching up to do to bring my lists up-to-date!

15. First Among Sequels - Jasper Fforde
Another Book World novel. Delightful as always.

16. My New Orleans - edited by Rosmary James
New Orleanians write, honouring their home.

17. Twilight - Stephenie Meyer
Bad sign when I've got pen in hand, correcting typos/grammar, while I read. Suffice to say I've no urge to read any more of her books.

18. Miss American Pie: A Diary of Love, Secrets, and Growing Up in the 1970s - Margaret Sartor
Taken from the author's diaries. Kind of like spying on someone, mildly entertaining.

19. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas - John Boyle
YA, highly recommended.

20. 1 Dead in Attic - Chris Rose
A collection of Chris Rose's columns for The Times-Picayune in the year following Hurricane Katrina. Humourous and touching, I can't count the number of times it made me cry while I was reading on the bus. Highly recommended.

7. Magic of Madness - Justine Larbalestier
YA fantasy. I need to add the next in this trilogy to my 'to read' list.

8. Never Hitchhike on the Road Less Travelled - William Thomas
Amusing collection of travel adventures.

9. Ella Enchanted - Gail Carson Levine
YA lit. It was fun but I'll probably not keep it in my collection.

10. The Year of Eating Dangerously - Tom Parker Bowles
Somewhat humourous collection of culinary adventures

11. Harry, A History - Melissa Anelli
More a story of Melissa in fandom than about the fandom phenomenon itself. Certainly not an objective look at fandom.

12. Beauty: a Retelling of the Story of Beauty & the Beast - Robin McKinley
Meh, it kept my interest but nothing stood out.

13. The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins
I really liked this one, though the basic idea was reminiscent of one of the Pendragon books.

14. The Man Who Ate Everything - Jeffrey Steingarten
Great collection of culinary essays.

There being Texas.

The day after I arrived, poor Amanda had to spend the day at the office. Yes, she was on vacation. Didn't, unfortunately, prevent her having to go to work. Still, it was only for the one day and so I saw much more of her on this trip than on most previous ones and that is a Very Good Thing. :)

Since she was at work, I got to spend the day with Jan and the kids. Lots of movies watched, though I dozed off during The Scarlet Pimpernel and will have to watch that one again on my next visit.

As for the here, well, it's snowing. Ick, ick and more ick. At least I haven't put away the winter boots yet, so my feet will not freeze on my way to work.

Oh, and Ottawa Hydro is run by morons. This is NOT a news flash. They send us a reminder of our overdue balance last month. Dated the 12th. Postmarked at 22:49 on the 19th, arrived here on the 23rd. Oh, and it was a 7 day notice! Today they send a guy to the door with a disconnect notice and he says we over them over $1000. Um, no, says I. So I call hydro and they are including the bill we haven't received yet in the overdue! Like I said - Morons!

Movie to watch before work, so off to make an attempt. It will likely turn into a nap.

Yes, I'm finally getting around to posting about my trip to Texas. It could be worse, I could have waited for months like I usually do. We all know I'm the queen of procrastination.

This'll be a fairly quick post, as I work at noon and don't have much time this morning.

We all know I don't like to fly, so this trip was an adventure in that sense. Not sure I'd do it again in a hurry, though it could have been a lot worse. My ear bothered me very, very much on the landing in San Antonio (and again landing at home), but the rest of the time was fine. Wonder if that means I'd be fine if I were taking direct flights to places?

In any event, air travel is not near as full of adventure as riding Greyhound. Just a few observations:

I did not know that there are instructions painted on the wings of planes, "Do not step out of this area"

To the fellow that cut in line to board the plane in Ottawa, "Did it get you to your destination any faster to cut in front of 4 people in line?"

2 women were chatting in the terminal, one with cell phone in hand. I didn't hear the first woman's comment, but cell phone lady replied, "I did that when I went to..." She never finished the sentence as she was so totally focused on texting someone. If I'd been her friend I'd have slapped her back to reality.

Loved this last one! I was on Concourse C at O'Hare, waiting for my connection to San Antonio. Lady walks by. Designer clothes, expensive shoes, perfectly done hair and over made-up face. Walking by with her nose in the air, like she was much too good for the average traveler. Would have been a much more effective look if she hadn't been carrying her lunch in a bag from McDonalds!

All flights were on time, a bit early even. Arrived in San Antonio and hooked up with Amanda almost immediately. Was very much overdressed for Texas weather, as it had been -17 when I left home. I'd changed in the airport before heading out to meet her car. We had a quick lunch at a mall food court and headed over to her office so she could finish up what she needed to get done. Quiet evening at home in which, as usual movies were watched downstairs while Amanda slaved away over her computer. Not the best way for her to start her week of vacation. Me, I never mind watching movies and it's a pretty much expected way to spend an evening while I'm there. They have an awesome movie collection.

Okay, enough for today, I should think about work.

and have been in serious procrastination mode. Since I am the queen of procrastination, that's worked out quite well. I have spent a great deal of time in the last couple days just vegging on the couch, watching movies, letting Andy spend the last of his March break cooking for me.

Will update on Texas in another post, as I need time to try and remember everything. Today was spent going out to gather tickets for the upcoming trip to New Orleans. Despite my best efforts, no decently priced airfare was to be found. Greyhound it is. And I totally scored on getting those tickets for a good price. Greyhound no longer advertises a Companion fare. However, it is still there. You just have to hunt around for it and be firm with them at the ticket counter. Oh, and taking a print out of the webpage that has the last remaining mention of it with you. Armed with that page and a copy of the schedules from the US Greyhound site (which, unlike the Canadian site, does not insist that an 8 hour stop in Atlanta is a necessity), I had them build our itinerary manually on their computer and it worked. Airfares were ranging anywhere between $1000 and $1400, bus tickets cost just over $500. All we have to do now is decide between hotels and we're set.

Nyssa, I'll probably see you as you come in from placement, but in case I don't - we have a dinner invitation from Glendy and Greg for next Wednesday. They've been to New Orleans before, too, and I thought you might be interested in seeing their pictures. They were there before Katrina, so their pics will be different from mine. Oh, and there was a new driver on the #2 bus this afternoon and he's really nice. We were talking vacations. He'd like someone to have a drink for him while we're there. I volunteered you. :D

Should get to the movies I have lined up to watch. Seven Pounds is in the player now, wih 5 more to watch before Monday afternoon. I told Andy I was going to spend the rest of the day just eating and watching movies. I've worked through the sushi I brought home and now have to decide what's next. :)

Might even get around to changing loads of laundry, but that does sound like work and I'm trying to avoid that. :D

Not even close. Not done packing. Laundry in the washer, as a matter of fact. Pondering how to fit all this stuff into that teeny-tiny suitcase. I'm determined to fit it all in, as I intend to have it as a carry-on. Not taking any chances of my luggage going somewhere it's not got a ticket for. Oh, yes, must try to pry the luggage tag off the big suitcase so I can use it. I like having something distinctive on the generic black bag.

Still have a couple things to watch on TV before I go, clear out the PVR so there's room for all the stuff I programmed. Andy cannot be relied on to know how to set up the programming. That is my department. I made sure his shows were set up as well, as he'd never remember to do it even if he knew how. In all honesty, he does know how. He's just not good at juggling the timeshifting so that it all fits when there's a conflict. Likely just doesn't know which channels repeat their programming after midnight.

Am still pondering the dilemma of what to wear. I refuse to pay a cab to the airport when there's a perfectly good bus running for a fraction of the cost (I'd rather spend the money in Texas than give it to Blue Line cabs). But... it's going to be about -16 or so when I leave. Fingers crossed there's no windchill factor added to that. Yes, I own a wonderfully warm winter coat. However, I don't want to show up in San Antonio in a parka and winter boots. I think I will cross my fingers that a warm knit sweater and my Blockbuster fleece will be enough. The other pain in my planning is OC Transpo. Yes, the 97 goes right to the airport. The only run on that route that doesn't is... you guessed it, the one that would be perfect timing for getting me there. So I have 2 choices. Take the later bus and hope there's no delay or take the earlier on and get to the airport seriously early. Yeah, I'm opting for option B.

I should go finish packing. Maybe forage for dinner.

For those hoping to meet up with us sometime, my cell is 613-262-4925. I will be checking email regularly (well, at least once a day, either early morning or late evening) while I'm there, so that's always an option.

For those who look forward to my 'adventures with Greyhound' posts, sorry to disappoint you by flying to Texas for a change. Will surely have Greyhound adventures later this year to make up for it. :D

Off to the airport in 8 hours, I'd better get cracking!

Fairly dancing with anticipation. I'm in such need of vacation. Being off sick for the better part of a week doesn't count. :)

Had a very nice dinner on Monday night at the Blue Cactus with loudmeggaphone, gmonkey42, logospilgrim and karen_jk. It was very nice to see everyone again. For those of you who so kindly asked, if I've done this right I will have created a PayPal button. :)

Mom was by today to give me Nyssa's rent for March. When Nyssa went away to school we dropped the rent by $100/month to make it easier to keep the rent paid for her. Now that she's coming back, I figured the rent would go back up. Apparently not. Now, keep in mind hat I owe my mother money. More than once since she started paying Nyssa's rent I offered to lower the rent and have her subtract the difference from what I owed her and she declined each time. Now that we lowered the rent under a different agreement she seems to think otherwise. *sigh* Not what I needed in the month that we get the $800 hydro bill. Oh, and yes she knows about the $800 bill that came in, as I told her today. *sigh* This is seriously hurting my vacation plans for this year. Stupid Ottawa Hydro and their 'we can't put you on equal billing because you don't pay every single bill of the year on time but it's not our fault that we don't read your meter regularly enough to not hit you with at least 1 humungous bill every year that you can't pay within 3 weeks of receipt'. Stupid hydro.

Meh, will go think about dinner instead.

A seriously late start to my movie list for this year. Hopefully I will get caught up and be able to actually get them all listed this year. :)

1. The Alphabet Killers
Give this a miss. Predictable and boring.

2. Disaster Movie
Nothing resembling a plot at all and a poor send-up of disaster movies. More an exercise to see how many bad movies can be mentioned.

3. Secret of the Grain
Moving human drama, though a bit long.

4. The Wackness
Quirky coming of age film. Not bad.

5. Babylon A.D.
Mediocre action film.

6. Bangkok Dangerous
Not Nicholas Cage's worst film but certainly not his best. Just kind of average.

7. Pineapple Express
Re-enforced why I don't care for modern comedy.

8. An American Carol
Watched this only because of the presence of Leslie Neilson. It was okay, nothing more.

9. Righteous Kill
I expected more from a movie with this kind of talent in it. Disappointingly mediocre.

10. Bustin' Down the Door
Decent documentary on surfers in the mid-70s.

11. Tyler Perry's The Family that Preys
Predictable.

12. Appaloosa
The best on the list so far. Definitely worth watching. Who says the western is dead? :)

13. Mirrors
Another Hollywood remake of an Asian horror film. Saved, IMO, because Kiefer Sutherland can actually act. :)

14. Save Me
Slow, predictable and not at all well done.

15. The New Protocol
Drama/thriller, decent action and story.

16. Max Payne
Not bad for an action film based on a video game.

17. Tribute: Stanley Tookie Williams
Pretty much just 66 minutes of various people eulogising the deceased. Not worth a rental fee to watch, so thankful I saw it for free.

18. Igor
It was fun, 'nuff said.

19. Repo! The Genetic Opera
Uh, it stars, among others, Paris Hilton. Since she can't act, take it from there. :)

20. Children of Huang Shi
Wonderful true story, great acting. Add this to your list of movies to see!

Back home, back in my pyjamas. Going downtown? Not such a great idea. Gone for barely 90 minutes, feeling crap. *sigh* (but have necessary instructions and such for the weekend)

Gacked from darn near everyone. That'll teach me to be sick for a week. :)

- Describe me in one word... just one single word. Positive or negative.

- Leave your word in a comment before looking at what words others have used.

- Then copy and paste the meme to your journal to find out how people will describe you when limited to one word.

A while back lots of lovely friends posted tips on dealing with ear problems when flying. I can't seem to locate all this wonderful information, so I'm asking anyone who helped out with tips to post them here. I'd rather not arrive in San Antonio after hours of painful flying, even if I did tell amandageist that it would be easily cured by aspirin and good food. :D

Okay, really going downtown now.

At least, that's how it feels. Bad, bad cold, fever, now a cough that's settled in my chest. I don't feel like death warmed over anymore, though, and I guess that's a good think. As bad as Buckleys tastes, I'm pretty much at the point of sipping out of the bottle instead of dirtying all the teaspoons. :)

Called in sick to work on Sunday, first time in forever. Around suppertime I started thinking, "Why did I call in? I could have worked this.". By 9, it was obvious I'd made the right call. Even Tuesday I was still feeling crap, enough so that Heather stayed an extra hour and sent me home after only 4 hours. Still somewhat fuzzy headed but fever seems to be going, leaving me with just the wretched cough. And I can breathe now, and talk without sounding totally stuffed up.

Minor snowfall yesterday, enough to cover all the dirty snowbanks and make everything pretty and white again. Will head out shortly. Must go give the Bank/Somerset store a lookover and find out alarm codes and the like. Am covering the Saturday and Sunday opening shifts there. Declined on closing shifts, do not want to be waiting for buses on crack-monkey corner in the middle of the night.

Vacation coming very soon. Two weeks. And... wait for it.... I'm flying to Texas. Yes, me. Diehard bus rider. Fingers crossed that this visit will have me meeting up with lots of lovely friends. Plans are to go up to Austin for a day as well. Must finalise with amandageist, but Sunday, March 8th, seems to be the best day for all concerned. This could work out awesomely well, as others interested in trekking down to San Antonio will have the Saturday to do this. Fingers crossed that the flights go well and my ear doesn't bother me. Last time I flew I was fine. The time before I cried all the way home from Chicago. Not much fun feeling like someone's jamming a knitting needle through your eardrum. Never had a problem flying until after surgery when I was 12, so kind of annoying. Flew a lot before that, what with being an Air Force brat and all. :)

Okay, going to tackle the bus ride downtown. Re-rerouting for Obama's visit won't impact on the #2 bus that far down Bank St., so should be fine there in terms of location of stops. Timing of buses, not so much. The sooner I go out, the sooner I can get home and crawl back into my jammies.

Local peeps, I'll see you Monday. Just let me know where and when!

There's always a catch. To get a full refund for my bus pass I must present it for refund before February 7th. Yes, that's right, before there are any buses running for anyone to get to the places that will issue refunds. Way to go, OC Transpo and City of Ottawa. Oh, and the OC Transpo service centres that you can use for refunds are even more restrictive as they aren't open until February 5th. I can imagine the line-ups at Lincoln Fields, which is where I'll go. *sigh*

Nyssa, this means if they won't do yours for me I'll have to mail it in.

that the transit strike is over? Not that we have any buses yet, but they're working on it. Should be able to bus to work starting next week. And for free at first. Yeah, there's the kicker. I paid $81 for my December bus pass. They say I can keep it and use it for February. Okay, so I used 9 of the 31 days paid for back in December. Transit service is free until mid-February. If I want to buy a February pass it's just under $23. I also have the option of cashing in my December pass for full refund. It's kind of a no-brainer - get my $81 back and turn around and purchase a Feb. pass of less than $23. They're telling people to hold onto their December passes because there will be contests in March. Contests? You've got to be kidding me. I'll take the cash, please.

Also, full service won't be up and running until the end of April. Until then, I expect to pay less than full price for my passes. Until all routes are accessible, no one should be paying to access to all routes. They had a fare increase scheduled for April 1. Wonder if they're going to try to pull that off?

Nothing much going on at work. Will be able to go back to working evening shifts once the buses are up and running. Not that I object to working day shifts, though there's often less tasking to do at night. Hopefully someone will have put in a Pepsi order this week. We've been out of Dr. Pepper since Christmas! I keep telling the boss I can't work under these conditions but she just laughs at me. :)

Spent my last couple days off cataloguing my books over at LibraryThing. All done now except the cookbooks. That's a day's project on its own, as we have a 6 foot high bookcase in the kitchen full of cookbooks. Granted, they might not all be keepers by the time I'm done. I've been using the opportunity to sort through books and whittle down my collection. So far I think I've given away 8 or 9 plastic grocery bags of books through Freecycle. I have another 5 bags to list (don't worry, Nyssa, nothing you'd like!). Just over 800 books done and 923 DVD titles. Oh, forgot to add the silent films I got recently. Will get to that later, I think I'm catalogued out for the moment. And I think there's just enough empty shelf space in the last bedroom bookcase (yes, I have bookcases everywhere) for the stack of books on the dining room table that didn't fit anywhere else. Yay!

Okay, off to forage for lunch and then go out to the bank. Must also call amandageist to see if there's dates yet for my vacation.

1. Turning the Tables: The Insider's Guide to Eating Out - Steven A. Shaw
How to get a reservation at that busy restaurant, how the food get to your table and more on the restaurant world.

2. Pendragon: Book Eight: The Pilgrims of Rayne - D.J. MacHale
Only 2 more to go in this series. This one ended with a heck of cliffhanger and raised more questions than it answered. Can't wait for the next one (well, the paperback edition).

3. The Eclectic Gourmet Guide to New Orleans - Tom Fitzmorris
Just a tad out of date but I'm always entertained reading about restaurants.

4. Frommer's Irreverent Guide to New Orleans (3rd Edition) - Guy Leblanc
Again, a bit out of date. Can you tell I'm going back to New Orleans this year?

5. Glass Houses: The Morganville Vampires: Book One - Rachel Caine
I love the Weather Warden so had no qualms about taking the advice of some of my flist and picking up the first of this series. And good advice it was. This was fun, quick, easy to read and drew me right in. As soon as I have money for more books I'll pick up the next of these.

6. Stardust and Shadows: Canadians in Early Hollywood - Charles Foster
During WWII director Sidney Olcott advised the area's service clubs that all Canadian visitors would be welcome at his home. For one man that visit turned into days of visiting with the likes of Mary Pickford, Louis B. Mayer and many more and, after many years, turned into this book. A fascinating look at the early years of Hollywood and the Canadians who made it helped make it happen.