Comments (1)

By Matthieu, December 17, 2009 10:51 pm

I don’t think this week can get any better. Today we had a fantastic Christmas breakfast at work, and were treated to a big lunch at Congee Time.

And even better than that, after running into my friend on Tuesday, I called her and we arranged to meet up for dinner on Wednesday. She had to work until 8:30pm, so I stayed late at work and met her at Yorkdale afterwards. We were both tired and hungry, so we settled on dinner at Moxie’s because it had the shortest wait time, and delicious white chocolate brownies. I had a great time, couldn’t ask for a better night. Good company, good conversation, good food… fantastic.

By the way, Emma, hats off to you for surviving all those 10-hour work days. You deserve better .

Comments (1)

By Matthieu, December 15, 2009 4:30 pm

Today I finally started working out again. After much coaxing from a couple of my colleagues, I headed over to the weight room for the first time in quite a few months. I must say, it isn’t so bad, it was actually a nice change from all the sitting around I usually do…

After that, I decided to head over to Yorkdale for lunch, because I was craving some Thai Express. I figured that while I was there, I’d pay a visit to the good old Apple Store. On my way there, I passed by Santa’s “Castle” (which was actually more like three large cones made to look like trees using LED lights) and was admiring the flashing lights when one of the girls working there caught my eye, but then went into a back room. She looked very familiar, so I decided to wait around and see if she would come out again. Eventually, she did, and I realized that it was a very good friend of mine. She didn’t notice me and looked really busy, so I decided to go and buy her a nice hot tea latte. I came back to give it to her, but there was a Global TV reporter and camera in the way. I waited until they left and then went up to the counter to give it to her. She was surprised to see me but unfortunately was quite busy, and I myself was late for work, so I rushed off.

Lessons to be learned today: Working out is GOOD. and not unpleasant. Also, going out for lunch can lead to interesting things.

Comments (0)

By Matthieu, December 15, 2009 1:08 am

Lately my blog has been essentially a pell-mell repository of random procedures and other technology tidbits. The reason for this is that lately, work has been quite busy and the social life has kinda been on the down-low. I did accomplish some pretty cool things though.

Last Monday I got to meet up with some friends for the first time in a little while. It was a really nice “chill” night; we watched some YouTube and I was coerced into trying some shisha and mint tea. I couldn’t fall asleep until quite late, so the next day at work I was quite tired, but I have no regrets.

Anyway Christmas is fast approaching. It’s strange, it didn’t really register in my mind without the usual exam period stress. In any case I am now quite aware of it and am both stressed and excited. The holidays will be a welcome break after these long months of work and an opportunity to meet up with friends and family! On the other hand, this year is the first year where I have a real job so I feel like I should be buying some slightly bigger gifts… and I have no idea what to get for anyone.

A nice little thing this year is that our little church will finally be getting proper church benches in time for Christmas. Should be interesting to see the chapel’s new, more permanent look.

Winter, however, is a different story. Last week we got our first snow of the year in Toronto, and winter seemed to have arrived in full force. The rest of the week was quite frigid, requiring gloves and hats and scarves. This week so far seems pretty mild though. Gotta love climate change.

Today I also finally started working out at lunch again, after much encouragement by some colleagues. It feels great to have gotten back into it, although my arms are kind of tired.

Well, now it’s getting late and I’m losing track of my ideas. So I guess it’s time for bed.

Comments (0)

By Matthieu, December 9, 2009 9:40 pm

Today was the first snowstorm of winter 2009/2010. Made for a fun drive to work… Apparently the City of Toronto figured there was no point in sending out snowplows.

Comments (0)

By Matthieu, November 28, 2009 3:16 pm

Early this morning I was at Tim Hortons. I had the opportunity to see this:

Tim Hortons uses LINUX!

tim hortons uses linux on Flickr – Photo Sharing!.

Comments (0)

By Matthieu, October 14, 2009 3:22 pm

With Microsoft set to unleash its latest OS on the world in about a week, the Interweb is buzzing with all sorts of new Windows 7-related material. Some interesting things i’ve found:

Michael Dell says when “you get the latest processor technology and you get Windows 7 and Office 2010, you will love your PC again; we actually have not been able to say that for a long time.” Let’s hope that’s true.

Windows 7 also improves touch and tablet support, bringing a wave of new touch and pen powered devices. You’ve seen the HP TouchSmart PCs, and the old Tablet PCs. Now Acer has announced a relatively cheap (799USD) 15.6″ touchscreen laptop, the Acer Aspire 5738PG. Looks interesting, but I won’t be getting one… my wallet is still hurting after being hit by that MacBook Pro.

On a more personal note, I’ll be heading to Ottawa on the 26th for some training on Windows 7 Desktop optimization… should be interesting; also, Ottawa!

Also, less in the mainstream but equally exciting, only 15 days to go before Ubuntu Karmic!

Comments (0)

By Matthieu, October 6, 2009 11:27 pm

This past weekend was also Nuit Blanche in Toronto. Highlights included a giant silver bunny-shaped balloon in front of Sears in the Eaton centre, four-letter words on a light sign at city hall, and sweaty blindfolded men cage fighting in the bus terminal.

Also, waffles.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ch15GMJfYGg

Comments (0)

By Matthieu, October 3, 2009 5:08 am

Yes, I know it’s 5AM on Saturday morning. Yes, I know I should be sleeping. Yes, I want to be sleeping. But I’m not. And for good reason. I’ll start from the beginning.

Friday night was awesome. I left work and drove Marie-Sophie and Sebastien home, then headed over to the Eaton Centre to hang out and have dinner. Later on, I met up with some friends at their apartment. Emma and Alina were just back from auditions for some sketch comedy. We then had a few drinks and headed over to Dance Cave and danced ’til the place closed, singing on the way there and back. Back at the apartment, we had some awesome 3AM pancakes and headed to bed.

Pretty good night so far. But now to why I’m awake at 5AM. About 30 minutes ago, I heard a loud annoying beeping sound. Turns out it was the carbon monoxide detector. So we called poison control, who told us to call 911. Emma and I waited outside for the firemen to show up. They did, sirens and all, and then proceeded to declare it a false alarm. The fire captain then proceeded to have Emma sign away her first-born child and wished us a good night.

And that’s why I’m up at 5AM on a Saturday. Also, now Emma, Alina and Muna have a notice from both the fire and police departments on their fridge .

Emma checking out the damage caused by rocking out.

Comments (0)

By Matthieu, September 30, 2009 8:02 pm

Yes, I know it’s Wednesday. However I feel that the first half of this week has been eventful enough to merit a blog post. I’ll start right from Sunday.

Sunday looked like it was going to be a low-key day. All I had planned was to clean up my room and do my laundry. Early in the afternoon, I got a call from Charlie who told me that they were having a surprise party for Alina’s belated birthday at Diane’s condo. Naturally, I had to go. Had quite an awesome time, between guitar, sushi, mafia and just hanging out, it was a great night.

[youtube_hd 4HjMokTvFFk]

Monday also started off pretty quiet. (Literally, because since David is away on vacation in Europe, we don’t have Fréquence 3 playing in our office) Then I got an e-mail from upstairs telling me that my new Macbook Pro had arrived. I must say, it is a damn fine piece of equipment – glossy and brushed aluminium, no evidence of air vents, backlit keyboard, large trackpad… kudos, Apple. That afternoon, I was about to go into a meeting (where a whole lot of new projects were discussed) when Emma called. The boss was waiting, so I called her back later. Turns out the laptop I gave her was stolen from her living room while she was sleeping. Not a very nice thought/feeling. I went over to her place after work and had dinner with her Alina, Charlie and Muna. We watched the season premiere of House (a week late) and talked, again a pretty good night.

Tuesday I woke up on the couch (a very comfortable retro couch ), got ready for work and said goodbye to Emma. Outside, I found a parking ticket. (No overnight parking on Baldwin St. without permit apparently. Also, I think it’s pretty cool that the parking ticket was printed on plastic… Is that weird?) I then proceeded to drive to work. I took Bathurst St. north from College to Finch, most pleasant commute I’ve had in a long time, probably because it was refreshing to see some old downtown neighbourhoods that I’ve never seen before.

Today was the least interesting day of the week so far, not that it was a bad day, just didn’t particularly stand out. Pretty busy day, sorting through cerberus, making phone calls, installing jabber clients, troubleshooting access points… I also discovered a fantastic FREE personal finance software for Mac, iCompta. As with most mac apps, it’s pretty, and it works very well. (merci Mathieu).

So, thus ends the week (so far) in review. But the week’s far from over. Yet to come are Dance Cave on Friday, Nuit Blanche on Saturday… and a haircut, sometime.