Parks and Playground

As a child, I really enjoyed playing in public parks and playground.  I never got to play in those fancy McDonald's playground because by the time they were available, I was already too old.  There should be a day for adults to play in McDonald's playground.  Some adults, never got to experience it.  It is not fair!  The feeling of jumping into a pool filled with soft plastic balls is really one of a kind.

As an adult, I still secretly play in public parks.  My stay at these parks are short and, usually, I am the only one playing there.  It's great when you have the whole park to yourself because you don't have to share or wait for that kid to get off the swing.  Besides, I am a big girl now so I can basically go through the entire park pretty quickly.  As your body change, you use the playground differently.  For example, a slide that used to be hard to climb up is now easy.  Instead of crawling through a tunnel, you may choose to jump over it.  That is why I make sure no child is around when I play at the playground because they may get the wrong idea and attempt moves that their body is not ready to handle yet.

It's fun at the playground now because I feel like a giant.  When I was child, the park felt different relative to my small size.  Sometimes, I even stomp over kids sand creations (when left unattended).  It's great to feel like a giant!  I would love to play basketball with some kids half my height and block all of their shots with a big slam and go "HAAA!".  Sorry, went on a tangent.

Anyhow, if you have traveled to as many parks and playground and played in them like me, you will notice that there are slight and small differences, probably designed with different age groups in mind.

I plan to print-out a map of all the park areas within cycling distance and have photos of each playground at the park areas.  I don't know when I will go around to do this but its definitely on my to-do list.  I don't care if this is already available somewhere, it's different when you make your own map!

Some playgrounds are more fun than others but they all have the most basic element.  The element of fun!  When I arrive the fun increase drastically because I am the definition of fun!

Christmas Traditions - Business version

Notice to my non-existent readers.  Technology Tuesday is officially over.  Please welcome Creative Tuesday.

Christmas Traditions - Business Version

A very popular Christmas tradition started by business people was Santa Claus (aka Papa Noel).  In order to combat Santa Claus, the Grinch was created.  Every Christmas, I would see people lining up at malls to take photos with an actor dressed up as Santa Claus and his temporary booth at the mall.

Last night, I thought wouldn't it be funny to see two (2) booths set up, one featuring Santa Claus and the other featuring the Grinch.  I wonder which photo booth will be more popular.

Local advertisement edits and comments

Last year or maybe two years ago, I received a love letter.  It was actually a local advertisement for some dating company.  Wish I kept it so I can share it with my non-existent readers.

Today, I received another advertisement in a form of a letter.

The photo to this post are my preliminary and final edit and comments.

Santa Clause Parade

I attended my second Santa Clause Parade today.  It was better than last year.  It would have been even better if there were not two gossipy ladies standing behind me at the beginning.   I had to move to a better location because of them.

A good thing about Parades is that it's on the street where there are no assign seats and audiences are allowed to move around.

I was performing my own monologue as the lost elf while enjoying the parade.  I had lots of fun :).

My goal for the next Parade I am attending is to wave at the performers.  Today, I waved at nobody while watching them march, play music, stand, sit, etc.

Ragnarok Online Forever

At the beginning of this year, I wrote about my dream of Ragnarok Land.  A real-life theme park dedicated to my all-time favourite online multiplayer game Ragnarok Online.  Ragnarok Online or RO was massively popular when I was in high school.  This was evident from the amounts of private servers available worldwide.  It even had its own anime.  RO must still be popular or in demand today because it has migrated to mobile device format.  Unfortunately, I don't think you can link your computer progress to your mobile devices (especially if you played on a volunteered ran private server).

When you do things in a virtual world, it is truly magical.  You can do hard labour and fight for hours and never feel tired.  The price to travel faster than the speed of light is marginal.  The risk of exploring unexplored territories is not risky at all. 

As a lazy gamer, I enjoyed listening to BGM on repeat, repeatedly clicking on my mouse and keyboard to complete my in-game actions move whatever they may be, shopping for price error deals and collecting headgears.  It is much easier to do all of these things in a virtual world as opposed to the real world.  For example, in order to move around a virtual forest, I do not have to carry anything to listen to BGM on repeat and I only need to lift a finger to navigate or shop around in such forest.  On top of that, I won't get dirty unless if I, literally, pee my pants.  The most challenging part of what I enjoyed in this virtual world I speak of is collecting headgears but such undertaking is still significantly easier to complete in a virtual world as opposed to the real world.

In order to make headgears, I had to travel all over the virtual world to collect materials!  At times, I had to find help to hunt down MVPs in dangerous and deadly territories for extremely rare materials.  During our hunting, the extremely rare material may be destroyed or stolen by a party or non-party member.  As such, it is hard to know how long it may take to obtain such rare material.  Once the rare hard to obtain headgear is made, it may be destroyed by a non-experienced blacksmith during upgrades or worse lost due to server maintenance or end of free server service from volunteers.

Luckily for me, I quit before the worse case scenario happened and I left in a dramatic fashion by deleting all of my characters and donating all of my hard earned headgears to my trusted online friend who has helped me in numerous occasions.  When I quit, I quit for real.

Solving IT Issues

I am the back-up IT person at home.  As in if my father cannot fix something, I am the person he goes to for help.  IT according to this author means information technology.  The other day, the speaker on the desktop computer was not working.  Our computer has notified my father of this by not making any sounds and also displaying a small "I cannot detect speakers/headphone' icon.  I have no idea how long my father tried to resolve this problem before coming to me.

I was unable to help him resolve this problem immediately because I was pre-occupied with something else already.  In other words, my brain was already pre-occupied with another problem I am trying to resolve for myself.  I have now fixed the problem because the speakers are emitting sounds clearly and loudly.

The solution was simple.  I simply had to plug the speakers into the correct outlet.  Speakers cannot speak when plugged into the microphone outlet or inlet.  The speaker was not broken, the outlet was also not broken and the software installed on our desktop computer was functioning properly.

It is very hard to resolve someone else's problem when such person will not move.  It is hard to locate the problem with a gigantic block right in front of your face.  See picture.

Happy be-lated Monday, be-lated Good Tuesday and I guess its now Wednesday?!?!  WHAT??

Nice day, eh

Lovely weather today.  Very tempted to go bike riding.  Unfortunately, my body needs rest.  Have to sit out on such gorgeous weather. *Tear Tear Tear*

Brittany M. the next Bachelorette Canada

Late Spoiler Alert.  If you don't know what I have spoiled then continue reading.

Last night on Bachelor Canada, Miss Vixen left the retired baseball pitcher.  I believe his name is Chris.  Today is not just another DreamyThursday but Thursday, November 16, 2017.  Hopefully, Brittany M., this season's Vixen will be the next Bachelorette Canada.

She is smart, confident, fun, sassy, poise, elegant, well-dressed and capable of taking care of herself.  When someone is radiant, attention can easily be drawn or brought to such person without much effort asserted by such person.  Last night, I felt bad for the way she was treated by some of the eligible bachelorettes and the Bachelor.  I am glad she decided to leave the show because it would have been hard to continue living with a bunch of women who clearly disliked her.  She was on the show to get to know the Bachelor and see if he was the one for her.  He was not.

To find the right bachelor for Brittany would mean we will have a great cast of bachelors to watch.  You need to be a really strong man to be with Brittany M.  She is very very gifted physically and mentally.  I couldn't help but noticed how elegant she was as she glided across the resort to leave a never-ending pointless argument.  It was clear that the conversation was going nowhere.  Regardless of what happened and what transpired, she was lovely.

She left me curious as to what she looks for in a man and what men would do to woo her.  I am sure some men loved her!  I believe she would be very different at the other end of the spectrum.   Cattiness win again!

Anyways, great exit Brittany! Loved your dress!

Updated thoughts on cycling

I can safely say that I have been cycling seriously for a year now.  The best part about doing anything seriously for at least a year is watching yourself improve.  I knew how to bike ride since childhood but until recently I have never rode long distances, on busy roads, in the evening or during foggy and rainy conditions.   I have fell off my bike, I have broken it and somewhat fixed it.  Luckily, I have not seriously or severely injured myself or someone else.

Bike riding now compared to two decades ago is very different.  There are a lot more instructions on the road.  By that, I means signs and lane.  If you know how to read them correctly, it actually helps you learn how to ride more safely.  However, you always have to pay attention to the road and other drivers, cyclists and pedestrians around you because not everyone understand the signs or follow the rules.  When you are cycling by yourself, you are basically a skeleton.  Accidents happen so the best way to protect yourself is to ride safely.  When you ride safely, the chances of you getting hurt or injuring someone else (i.e. pedestrian) is also much lower.

Don't travel too far when you are just starting out because you don't want to get lost and not have enough energy to ride properly.  This has happened to me before.  The farther you ride, the closer you get to high traffic area, the more difficult and dangerous it becomes.

I suggest that you carry at a minimum I.D., money and a transit pass.  These stuff are light and easy to carry.  Your I.D could be your money (aka credit card).  You don't want to become a Jane Doe if you are unlucky.

Anyways, I am really enjoying riding on the roads and parks.  I feel that the more I ride them, the more I understand the designers thought.  Sometimes, I may not agree with them.

Lastly, just because an area is designated as a bicycle only area doesn't mean it is free of walking toddlers.  This one time after riding for hours to finally get to a bicycle only park area with nice tree settings, I was extremely upset to see a toddler with a supervising adult walking around at the bottom of a small but steep hill.  I have never ridden there before but I immediately left and rode on the busy roads again.  Toddlers are worse and scarier than security guards.

Scrambling before Hibernation

Lately, I noticed the neighbourhood squirrels visiting my yards more often.  Today, one of them even ate right in front of me.  As mentioned before, my neighbours have walnut trees so the squirrels are getting their walnuts.  I think the squirrel I saw was taking a break because it was peeling the walnut right in front of me and then ate the meat surrounding the walnut.  After that, it didn't even attempt to crack the walnut open to get the seed!  It probably needed some protein before it goes back to stocking up its home for Winter.

Anyways, I failed to capture this very interesting observation on video because I was scared that the squirrel will freeze up and immediately run away as I go grab my image capturing device.  Some things, you just have to see live! Sorry!

They are still working away right now as I am typing this.

Non-fiction storyboard sketch by me using an outdated desktop computer prone to blue screen of death with MS Paint installed.

Remembrance Day

Despite being in Canada since the late 90s, I think last year was the first year that I attended a Remembrance Day Ceremony.  I don't know if I remember Remembrance Day incorrectly during my elementary school and high school years but all I can remember about Remembrance Day was a moment of silence.  I understood that it was about remembering those who have served and fell in Wars.

This year, I attended two (2) Remembrance Day Ceremony.  The first one was held a day early and the other was today.  Yesterday, I was reminded that Remembrance Day can also be a day where we remember those are still serving.

After returning home, I did some light reading on Remembrance Day written by people this year.  Many of the writings talked about fighting for freedom and our Country.  What is freedom?  What was freedom to those who served and to those who fell?  Who is still fighting for freedom?

There were also writings on the pain and scars left behind by wars.  Experiencing pain, living with pain and imagining it is drastically different and the writings show.

I once heard a story about a man who would experience a heart attack at the same date, the same time and same second every year.  That moment being the moment his lover passed away.  I wonder for those who survived World War I, what they felt during the first moment of silence and every moment of silence thereafter.

Photo by me: Sunrise this Remembrance Day

Evening Walking

I enjoy walking a lot. Especially in the morning or when the street is quiet.  It's very calming and helps me clear my mind.

Allow me to describe my walk last evening.  Prior to my walk, I was feeling a bit frustrated.  If you have been following my blog, you would know that my year hasn't been going well so a lot of little things that used to not bother me would now bother me.

Before I lost my full-time job, I had no time to shop or to volunteer.  I am only working an unfulfilling part-time job now so I have time to shop and volunteer.  I shop because I am bored and I want to reward myself for all the hard work and time I put in at my last place of full-time employment.  I am shocked that my recent online shopping experience has been horrible.  In one transaction, I could not use a promotional code properly.  In another transaction, the price changed either during check out or when I received my confirmation of order and part of my order got cancelled.  In both cases, I had to contact customer service.  The fact that their electronic system was hard to use or not working properly reflects badly on their company because it created an unpleasant experience for the customer.  I was happy when I was shopping and I was ready to pay.  I have to go through and worry about my order and the incorrect amount of money taken away from me because of flaws that I should not have to worry about as a customer.  Anyways, this is just a small glimpse into a lot of things I would otherwise not experience if I was working full-time.  I am extremely disappointed this year to come across many working individuals that did not act professionally when I used their service.

The person that stood out for being the most unprofessional would be a customer representative who received my documentation to renew my passport.  I was feeling down when I was at their service centre and did not want to socialize.  I brought everything in for you.  Your job was to check my documentation and let me know if I missed something not make a rude comment about the fact that I am sitting at the chair behind the computer monitor screen.  There was two chairs and I just happened to be sitting on the chair behind the monitor.  It was as simple as that.

I also was unable to find employment services that was helpful.  I wanted to sit down with someone to talk about my options.  Out of all the "employment" service places I went to, no one ever talked or listened to me properly.  It is upsetting when I am talking to you, the employment expert, and telling you explicitly that I am considering a change in occupation and why I no longer want to work in my last field of employment yet your reply to me was you hear this a lot from people in my field and that I should just continue trying to look for a job in this field.  I finally have time to consider my options and I wanted an expert to discuss with me what places are looking for employees and what type of training is required so that I can think about it properly.  From a few unpleasant and unhelpful initial interactions, I was discouraged to approach more of those "employment experts" or "consultants" or any of those services they labeled as "helpful".  How can you refer services when you are not listening to the person who is coming for help?

I have reverted back to my old ways of only applying to jobs that I am interested in.  At least I can approach it with a positive attitude.

So, last night, originally I was thinking of not showing up to volunteer because they really don't need me but I wanted to step out for some fresh air so I walked there.  It was very quiet and dark.  The wind was blowing and it was snowing.  The first snow fall of the year.  When it snows the air feels fresher.  I was delighted.  Many random thoughts came up.

For example, I got to appreciate the walk more because I am experiencing it at a much slower pace than driving, cycling, rollarblading or running.  I am also in full control of my body and don't have to worry about a tool not functioning properly.  I got to do silly things that I used to do as a child when it is cold and snowing!

At one point, I had an empithany about Spartan Race or Events companies.  People are willing to pay to participate in sporting events because the experience is really priceless.  The medals, the headbands, the t-shirts are all simply the cherry on top of something already great.  These tangible items help me keep tracks of things I've accomplished.  The experience of what I've accomplished on the other hand is intangible and this is actually what is valued.  So yes, during my walk I thought about how much fun I had completing obstacles race courses at different ski resorts during the summer.

With that said, I strongly encourage people to do something out of your ordinary when you have some time to spare.  It could be as simple as walking around your neighbourhood at 9 p.m. or 6 a.m.

Video Technologies

Dear my non-existent readers:

First an announcement, I will be posting weekly videos about the 93" bear until boxing day this year.  Please visit my YouTube channel, the first video is already posted!

I have been a long time YouTube viewer.  The first users or video uploaders probably had a lot of fun communicating with each other in video formats.  As I only watched occasionally I was unaware of many inside jokes.

I think YouTube started as a way for people to share their view of the world and their love of video technology.  I made a handful of mini videos in my life.  My first video was a simple footage of my dogs taped in the early 90s.  My second video was for a school assignment shot in the late 90s.  My first short film was a parody music video completed in 2009 with one of my elementary school friend.  That year I also made a 60 seconds video resume applying for the best job in the world.  After that no more videos until this past weekend.

The making of this video brought back memories of my love for TV shows and creating videos.

Until boxing day, I am going to see what kind of videos I will be making and what technology is available for editting.  I may be very lazy and just keep uploading raw footage.

Anyways, content is what is important.  The tools available could enhance the finished product.  Hopefully, I won't be pulling my hair off as I do my videos.  I shouldn't because my past experience (from  almost 10 years ago) has always been pleasant.

xoxo

Count down to boxing day video girl

A Serious Review on the BIG bear

Let's be serious.  This blog is not that serious. 

The 93" bear is actually really smart.  When a baby is born, the baby rests on the parent's belly or other adult's belly when the parent needs a break.

The 93" bear isn't for an infant but for the baby inside the adult.  As in an adult's inner child that adults have to hide because adults are suppose to behave like adults.

As I was leaving Costco with my purchase, I was asked "Are you getting this for your grandchild?".  I said "I wish!"

Now thinking back, if I was 90, maybe I'll get it for my great great grandchild since I probably won't be here when my great great grandchild wants to hug me.

The big bear cannot hug you but it sure feels nice to just rest on its belly.

I slept in and woke up at the same time

I usually wake up at 5 a.m. Today I woke up an hour late but it is still 5 a.m. 

Thus marks the beginning of the end of daylight savings time.

I got the bear!

A few weeks ago I was unable to obtain the 93" Costco Bear. Well I finally manage to snag one home!

Birthday Cake

It is not a birthday party without a birthday cake.  See photos.

No cake, no cake cutting, no cake cutting photo.  Therefore, it is very important to buy a good tasting cake that is easy to cut and pleasing to the eyes.  Again, see photos.

Costume Rowing

If you are a faithful follower of this blog, you should know by now that I was part of the second strain varsity rowing team at my university.

Our coach was young and handsome compared to the coach of the first strain team.  In fact, he was so hot that one of my teammate once said "OH, DO ME NOW!!!" after he recited to the entire bus a very smart and sexy poem that he claimed he drafted during one of our many bus rides to our many rowing competitions.  I was sitting in the row behind her .  I don't know if those two ever connected at an intimate level.

Our coach also would bring an entire loaf of bread uncut before our bus rides to competition locations and also mentioned he study and sleeps at the library.

As you can see, he was very interesting and different from me.  He was a great prankster and joker too.  He managed to get the whole second strain team to wear bandanas and boxers to one of the rowing competitions.  He said it was tradition and that every team will be dressed like that.  My team was the only team that day walking around with bandanas on our heads and boxers over our leggings (every other team dressed normally).  I even had to go buy boxers.

Anyways, happy hump day!