My life is work, and work is my life, at least for now

Either way, no vacation.

Work is pretty much all I am doing at the moment, even in the evenings. I'm 3 weeks away from our go live date on the new software. I'm pretty stressed out, but I did manage to sneak away tonight to see Star Trek.

I did not have a good week in Halifax last week. Training did not go as well as hoped. I also managed to leave my purse behind on the last day of training. The people running the training center had to go to Truro on Friday, so they took my purse with them, knowing I'd be coming through Truro on my way home. Only problem with that was that I had less than $5 on me. I had enough to cross the Mackay Bridge and back to visit one of my stores. Luckily I wasn't very hungry and made it to Truro by lunchtime.

While in Halifax, I met up with Cyn. We had our usual driving adventures (fitting for the anniversary of the Van Man incident) which included ignoring the GPS in favor of Cyn's directions, only for her to realize that she usually comes from the other direction. Funny thing: the GPS liked to pronounce Halifax as "Hellyfax". Fitting.

So, I got the heck out of Dodge on Friday. My "luck" continued on Saturday when I drove to Calais to get my mother's day present. I ordered it in plenty of time, and checked the online shipping status on Tuesday night. It had already reached Maine, so I knew it would be in Calais in plenty of time for Saturday. John's DnD session was canceled, so he drove down with me. We arrived at the hardware store to find out that my package wasn't there, even though I asked twice, the guy insisted UPS didn't come until Monday. Er, ok. Drove home, checked the internet. It had been there since Wednesday. GRRRR. Now what do I do? Drive down Sunday morning, after having driven a lot the last 2 days? In the end, I rearranged my day so that I didn't exhaust myself, didn't rush my time with Mum, and still managed to see a friend's new house. I did have to sacrifice my plan to see Star Trek with friends that day, but that was the one thing I could reschedule. John drove to down to Calais today and got the wreath, so now I just need to get it to my mother. I haven't opened the box, scared to after the luck I had last weekend!

I left work "early" and was able to see Star Trek with John tonight. It was very entertaining, and I did enjoy myself, but I was left with a sense of disappointment. I am a longtime fan of the original series (TOS), and I felt annoyed that the writers re-wrote history. Spock's mother didn't die, she and Sarek visited the Enterprise in TOS. Capt Pike was totally messed up and could only beep "yes" or "no" in his wheelchair. These people didn't go through Starfleet Academy together. As a fan of TOS, it is very hard to set aside things you know not to be true. For those who don't know much about TOS, I am sure you enjoyed it much more thoroughly than I did. I'm torn because I did enjoy the movie, but think they could have done a movie with these characters that did not involve time travel and did not rewrite history. John is rubbing off on me with his dislike of time travel as a plot device.

I loved the cast. Everyone was very well cast, and I particularly enjoyed Karl Urban as Bones. Chris Pine was great as Kirk, he didn't do a Shatner impersonation, but I felt kept the essence of Kirk and made it his own. His final lines to Bones had just that right intonation that you felt you were hearing the same character.

Time to break out TOS DVDs again.

Frustrating

I am trying to knit a gift for a work friend, and I have managed to screw it up 4 times:

1. Didn't leave enough yarn to cast on all stitches
2. Dropped a stitch after 1st round and couldn't recover
3. Finally got the first section done, only to screw up after misreading the pattern, undid the 2.5 rows back down to the start of the second section
4. Followed the pattern correctly this time, only to screw it up again

At that point, I decided to put it down as I felt pretty incompetent.

After that, I managed to totally ignore the beets cooking on the stove to the point where it created a giant red mess everywhere and started to burn. My mother managed to save the pot for me, thankfully.

I realize that I suffer from perfectionism, but I just feel totally incompetent today. It's stressful cooking a meal for my mother and not having everything turn out the way I want it to. Yes, she's done it a zillion times and has likely made her share of mistakes, but that's not the point. I should be capable of remembering that something boiling for over an hour may need to have more water added. This led to me being tired & grumpy during Easter dinner.

What I am ultimately tired & grumpy about, other than a couple of failed attempts today, is that my long weekend has come to a close. I could really use another day (or week, or two, or three) off from work, but I just can't do that right now. I feel like a slave to my job. I'm on tap to go to Halifax for 2 weeks to observe training. I hate Halifax, so that's also making me very cranky. I do not want to go, but I don't have a choice; I was volun-told.

The hardest part is knowing that the worst is yet to come with this work project. Trying to get everyone on board may lead to me going to the nuthouse. I will be so glad when this is over.

Behind the [tech] times

Tech consumers frustrated by Canadian roadblocks (cbc.ca)

I feel like a "digital peasant" a lot. Even last night, I watched my husband sigh out loud at yet another site that denied him access because he's in Canada. I know he feels like he's sacrificed a lot tech-wise to move here, and he also understands how frustrating it is for me to be consistently denied things I'd like to pay to access but still cannot.

The Leno Effect

I have been following the news regarding Jay Leno's new fall show and NBC's fall format. Leno will be on 5 nights/week, at 10pm Eastern, spelling the end of "drama at 10pm".

I like Leno, but am not a big enough fan to tune in on a regular basis. The Tonight Show is also on at 12:30am here, being 1h ahead of the Eastern time zone. It's not often that I can't sleep, so I rarely am awake to watch his show. On the odd times I happen to catch it, I do enjoy his monologue, headlines, and Jaywalking. I may tune in more often now that he'll be on at a better hour for me, just as I'm heading to bed; sometimes I stop and watch a few minutes of TV before hitting the sack.

NBC is taking a big risk with this format. Will it succeed? I don't think there are enough die-hard Leno fans to keep this show at a viewership level that would be acceptable to NBC. I think the other networks are sitting back, drooling over the 10pm slot, planning to put their best efforts into destroying NBC. Because this is such a big commitment, NBC will let Leno continue for at least half a season before replacing it at midseason. One can only assume/hope that NBC has replacement shows in the wings if this gamble turns out to be a losing effort.

Perhaps the gamble will work and we'll start to see copycats. I'm not totally negative about this situation; any new show that isn't "reality" programming is a welcome relief these days. I've had enough of D-list "stars" dancing, skating, rehabbing, and slobbing their way across my TV screen.

What prompted me to dust off my blog today (in addition to it being Sunday and I actually have time to write) was this article. Since I am in Canada, my local cable company chooses an network affiliate for each US network. A few years ago, we switched from the closest US location (Bangor, ME) to various locations. My FOX comes from Rochester, NY, ABC from Detroit, CBS and NBC from Boston. WHDH is thus my NBC affiliate, and if it chooses not to carry the new Leno, the first question that came to mind is whether my cable company will give me a new NBC feed. It is the responsibility of my cable company to provide me with a US network feed that provides network programming, and if this station does not do so, will Rogers make a change?

Back when all of our networks were Bangor affiliates, the broadcast signal was unreliable and crappy at best. NBC was station to stay on the longest, but the signal reliability was so bad that eventually that station also had to be replaced with a more reliable signal. With the recent US change to all-digital programming, that is no longer an issue. I have to wonder: will we get a Bangor station back on the air in this area?

I missed having a US network affiliate that was closer to my geographic location. Though I don't live in Bangor, their news and advertisements are sometimes relevant because I visit there on a semi-regular basis. Perhaps the station has a news story about Calais, or an advertisment for a new store in Bangor that will make me want to drive 3h to shop. And don't discount the humor that comes from the "downeast" commercials from businesses such as Hammond Lumber. I may never drive to Bangor for a hardware store, but "ham and cheese, ham and eggs, Hammond Lumber" always gets stuck in my head.

John is starting to rub off on me as I am now contemplating a letter to Rogers Cable, asking if it plans on providing me with network programming and thus switching my Boston affiliate to another area, preferably Bangor. Will I actually do this? Probably not, as I don't have a lot of time on my hands, and it is a fruitless effort to try and contact Rogers about anything. But it's an interesting idea and question.

It will be a bad decision if NBC "punishes" WHDH. The station should continue with their news plan, and if viewers want Leno, they'll pummel the station with requests to the point where the station will have to make the change. Or, if Leno's show sucks and NBC pulls it anyway, at least WHDH has come up with a plan and they will be the one station in that area to have news programming during that timeslot.

More stupid things heard on 20 on 20

XM's 20 on 20, after the merger with Sirius, now has a "morning show". I blogged the other day about the parenting issues of Brendan Fraser. The next stupid statements from the DJs had to do with TiVo: a pet peeve topic for John and me. I'll recount the conversation:

"Did you catch [American] Idol last night?"
"No, my TiVo screwed it up, so I didn't catch it."
"Do you have TiVo or DVR?"
"Well, they're pretty much the same thing." (Stupid statement #1)
"No, they're not. My TiVo doesn't seem to work right anymore." (Stupid statement #2)

Having seen examples of cable company DVRs vs TiVo, I can attest that they are NOT the same thing. The principle behind the unit may be the same, but their functionalities, and especially the user interface, is quite different. The cable version I have seen is ugly, confusing, and not as user-friendly as TiVo.

This is not the first complaint I have heard regarding TiVo "not working right anymore". My MIL recently has made similar statements to the point where she decided to cancel her TiVo and go with Time Warner's DVR and cable service. Her complaints focused around not getting the shows she had requested, and when she did get the correct show, it may have been missing the beginning or end. Being on the other side of the continent from her, I can't just stop by and try to help figure out her situation.

If I was there, the first thing I would investigate was whether she was getting timely schedule updates. TiVo can only record a show if it's on the schedule, and the schedule is provided by a third party which, in turn, gets its info from the local cable company's service. Think about this for a second. If you're the cable company, and you offer your own DVR, plus you provide schedule information to a 3rd party that passes it along to TiVo, is there a lot of incentive to provide the competition with correct information? I am very dubious about this and suspect that it was part of the problem my MIL was experiencing. Since I'm in Canada, maybe my cable company is playing more fair with their schedule information than some US companies. [I laugh at the thought of Rogers being more ethical, but it is likely true. I chuckle nonetheless.]

I have never had the type of major scheduling issues that my MIL has experienced. John has had TiVo even longer and has had fewer errors or issues with scheduling, especially since changing to a broadband connection. Sure, I get the occasional screw-up; for instance, when President Bush's final address took place, there was not enough time to update the schedule. I ended up with the President instead of Ugly Betty. There have been a few occasions where we have recorded a show only to discover another show was on, but when we checked the TiVo guide, as far as TiVo was concerned, the correct show was supposed to be on at that time. If there is not enough time to notify the third party and then reload the schedule change to TiVo, then of course you won't get the correct show. However, this is not TiVo's fault, and I think TiVo gets unfairly blamed for a lot of these instances.

Another problem may be the use of a phone line connection instead of broadband in order to download the schedule. Per John's first-hand experience and the TiVo manual, the phone connection is slower than broadband, only makes a connection once per day, and is slower when the TiVo is being used at the same time as the download. Using broadband, the TiVo usually connects on average every 12h, is a faster download, and overall doesn't have as much effect when using the TiVo during the download. Logic would dictate that the person with the broadband connection would have a more accurate schedule. In addition, the broadband connection can be used to force an update at any time if TiVo deems it necessary. A phone line can only get updates when it calls in (typically around 2-3am).

A possibility, though a long shot, is also that the time on the TiVo device isn't correct. TiVo is supposed to sync its clock on the download, but if your phone connection isn't necessarily reliable or if there is some kind of sync problem, then that may be another cause for the shows to get cut off. I have never experienced this issue using my broadband connection, but I could see how it may be a possibility using a phone connection.

Another cause may be due to the fact that many networks are purposely making shows slightly longer or start at 59 minutes past the hour in an effort to hold on to an audience. CSI, ER, and House are all shows that have had slightly over an hour lengths, that, if TiVo's guide is not made aware of, means you only get the first hour and may miss the last couple of minutes. This is another area where TiVo gets unfairly blamed for something that isn't its fault.

Saying TiVo doesn't "work right" requires more investigation than simply placing blame on the box sitting on the shelf. There are many things that could be wrong, and most of them have to do with the non-TiVo players involved. Had I been able to, I would have liked to investigate my MIL's issues and perhaps saved her some frustrations. She has since moved on, switched cable and DVR providers, and seems happy with her new equipment. This was her choice, and though I don't agree with it, I hope she's happy with her decision and has a better TV recording experience. As to the DJs, I hope they will stop dissing TiVo to the nation and instead try to find a resolution to their problems.

I'm annoyed at...

• the City, for seemingly never plowing Gaelic Drive. I guess everyone on Gaelic works from home and doesn't need to be elsewhere by 8:30am? I know it's not an important street, being in a subdivision, but can you at least give it a scrape so a car can attempt to drive on it?
• our mayor, for telling people to "please shut up" in a public forum. News flash: you're not better than anyone else, and you should apologize. You should be treating people with respect, not rudeness.
  
• people who complain about winter weather AND complain about it being too hot in the summer. SHUT UP ALREADY (I'm not the mayor, so I can say that). You're only allowed to complain about one or the other, not both. If you're complaining about both, then you're obviously very unhappy here and should move.
  
• doctors' offices which expect you to call them back, but have very limited hours during which you can reach them.
• the girl currently visiting my office who is complaining that today is "the worst day of [her] life because [she's] a quarter of a century old." Old isn't bad. Seriously. I wouldn't want to go back to being 20-25, no thanks.
• people who walk on the street even when the sidewalk is plowed and clear of ice/debris. If I hit you, it's your fault for walking where you're not supposed to be.
  

Islander Day

PEI is joining the ranks of other provinces that get a holiday in February. What I don't understand is why they chose the 2nd Monday of February, whereas the other provinces chose the 3rd Monday (which coincides with Presidents Day in the US). Can someone explain this one to me? Why not take advantage of the fact that most of the rest of the country is shut down? I can't find any reason for it to be the 2nd instead of the 3rd Monday.

Bad planning and no forethought, if you ask me. What if Family Day becomes a federal holiday at some point in the future? Does that mean PEI will be the odd one out?

Accountability

I was flipping through the channels on XM satellite radio this morning, and stopped to hear Brendan Fraser’s guest spot on 20 on 20. He was telling what he termed a parenting genius moment (paraphrased, but he was not being sarcastic). His 3 year old child hit his other child with a broom. When he came by to see what was going on, and [I believe] administer punishment, the 3 year old looked like he was about to start crying. Fraser wanted anything but the kid to start crying, so he said “Bad broom!” and thus the 3 year old joined in and shouted “bad broom” and then everything was ok. I may not have my details correct regarding whether or not the child was punished before almost crying, but I do have the crux of the story: he taught his son that it was the broom’s fault that his sibling was hit.

I did not find this story “cute” in the least. It is yet another example of how children are not being taught accountability for their actions. That 3 year old, despite not really knowing what he was doing, should have been dealt with properly. He should have been taught that brooms can be dangerous and can hurt people if you use them the wrong way, thus learning not to do it again. Instead, all the child will remember is that it was the broom’s fault that his sibling got hurt.

Children are going to do bad things that they will need to be punished for; this is inevitable. They will cry, and parents will feel bad. None of this means that a parent should find an alternate source of blame just to avoid an emotional outburst. Easy for me to say, right? I’m not a parent, but I think I’m right on this issue. I’ve seen the result of what happens when children aren’t taught accountability, and it begins with something as simple as a broom. This is what leads to a life of never having to take responsibility for your actions. We have enough of that attitude already, thanks. How about teaching your kids right and wrong, and responsibility. There's a novel idea.

A Saturday off

It's nice not to have to be at work today. I'm sitting at the hair salon, waiting for my turn. Afterward I plan on heading to Wal-Mart, Michaels, and Kent to pick up a few things. Then to church, then some grocery shopping, and spending the rest of the weekend inside. With 15-20cm coming tomorrow, I think I'll just stay in and catch up on all the TV I have saved.

I've been working hard, and was finally rewarded yesterday by the news that they are giving me a bonus. We'll be able to pay for the barn and have a bit left over, I hope. Taxes will take a big dent out of it, but it will still be a good amount.

I'm still doing pretty well using the treadmill. I'm on it most every day, and watching TV while I walk. I'm feeling better, and I think it has helped with the stress I've been under at work.

Weekend? What weekend?

I've only been away from my office since 1:30pm on Saturday, so it doesn't feel like I've had a whole weekend off, which I haven't.

Friday night we watched Charlie Wilson's War. Not bad, but I didn't feel like either of the leads were Texans. I felt Julia Roberts was not well cast in her role. Tom Hanks was good, but I think Billy Bob Thornton could have made a better Texan. Philip Seymour Hoffman was the only lead who made me forget that they weren't their character. Decent movie, but not one I'll buy.

Today felt like non-stop chore day. I volunteered to make dinner tonight, so I set out a prime rib from the freezer and cooked it along with mashed potatoes, carrots and green beans. After dinner I baked a pound cake. It was a good meal that gave John a break from cooking for once. I have also finished gathering up the remaining Christmas decorations (which weren't many because John took most of them down, and even labeled the bags for me, thanks dear), did some laundry, tried to work on my knitting club mitten project but got stuck when I didn't understand the directions. I put that away and decided to start the blanket for Regan's baby. Unlike some, I don't get bored by thousands of knit stitch row after row, and anything I don't have to sew up later is more motivating to do.

We received a treadmill for Christmas and after John set it up last weekend, I've managed to walk all but two days. I've been watching TV on DVD while I walk, which takes the boredom away from walking on a treadmill. The only down side is how hot it gets, since the treadmill isn't far from the wood stove. I am feeling pretty good about getting exercise again, and not having to endure freezing windchill outside.

This will be another busy week at work. There are a lot of things to fix on the project I'm doing. We're also doing a demo for some co-workers, so I'm interested to see their reaction. I'm not fearing it, for once, which is good. After that presentation, I'm invited to dinner afterward, which is dinner theatre at Steamers.

I've been taking a break from status updates on Facebook this week. Lately I've been feeling that my updates are likely getting lost in the crowd, and I've been wanting to say more than one line about what's up with me. So I return to hopefully more regular blogging.

LOL

Seen on a Facebook group of high school kids who started a petition for allowing phones/iPods back in school after being banned:

oh well I still f***ing hate my princible for banning them

Maybe if you learned to spell, your princible [sic] might be a little more lenient.

a long week

I'm very tired. I've worked overtime every night this week, and I'm mentally exhausted. I have a hard time believing I just came off a week of vacation for Christmas. I still have to go in to work tomorrow, for another half-day of training. I have Sunday off, then I get to do it all over again next week. I'm not quite sure how I'm going to pull this all together for Feb 2nd, especially since the largest part needs input from someone who today told me they have basically 3 free days between now and the end of the month. It isn't the first time a project of mine has taken a backseat to everything else, but this one is more important than most that I've worked on.

Kash (or, Money with Eyeballs)

I have to disagree with this blog post. I love Kash. I can't stop laughing at the money with eyeballs. I also love 80s music, so hearing "Somebody's Watching Me" is also amusing.

To each their own. I'm still laughing. I'm looking forward to seeing where Kash ends up next.

Weekend

I've had a good, albeit short, weekend. It took most of it just to get the tree decorated. I somehow haven't been as interested in decorating this year as I usually am. I did, however, seem to be much less stressed about presents this year, so overall that is a win.

Friday night John and I went to see a musical version of Narnia. Most of the songs were not memorable, and they changed or removed items that were in the book; I wouldn't care to see it again. The children in the audience seemed to enjoy themselves, so that was at least a good point. After having now read the book, seen the movie, and watched a musical version, I can say without a doubt that the book is the best. The movie and the musical both make Edmund's "acting out" so over-the-top that I wanted to smack him. In the book, Edmund really isn't that bad. I enjoyed the book, and would read it again, preferably over watching the movie.

I wrapped some presents on Saturday. Still have more to wrap, but I am not as interested in that action this year either. I need to wrap John's presents, but he's usually home, so I guess I'll just have to shut myself away in the basement and tell him not to come down.

Today was a small milestone for me: I finally got to light an Advent candle at church. I have always wanted to light one, and this year I spoke up and requested it because mass this morning was being said for my grandparents. The wreath was higher than I thought, so I couldn't fully see the top of the candle, but luckily hit the wick and lit it without problem. Following mass was a family Christmas party which I really enjoyed. I don't get to see my family as much anymore, compared to when my grandparents were alive. We had food, conversation, and a Yankee Swap where I got some Belgian chocolate fudge and choc covered almonds. Looking forward to trying that fudge, and I like almonds. John almost walked away with some movie money, but got traded for a lotto ticket and an ornament. He did end up winning $3, though, so not a bad deal at all.

We watched Office Space tonight, which I had never seen. It was funny, though it did feel a bit long in parts. Jennifer Aniston, who I usually can't stand to watch as anyone other than Rachel, was decent. The fact that they used a Mac that shut down to a C:\ bothered me, but I understand the point of making it generic office computer.

I have 2.5 days of work left and then I am off until Jan 2nd. I am really looking forward to the break. I barely had any time off this summer, so having this week off that already includes 3 stat holidays is a real treat. I hope to enjoy lots of reading, movies, and I am already booked to setup and install a PC for someone on Boxing Day.

Should have stayed home today

It started on my drive in to work. There was some snow in the air. An hour later, my car was covered. We have about 15cm (6") down since about 9am this morning. I am not looking forward to driving home tonight. The wind is supposed to pick up, and along the coast it may change to a mix of freezing rain and snow. I just want to get home safely and not venture out again until tomorrow.

Radio experiment: results

I finished tracking 5 days' worth of songs on Saintjohnradio.fm. I wasn't able to catch every single song, nor was I able to write down all that I heard because there were some that I didn't recognize or couldn't google. Here are my findings:

Total number of songs tracked: 388
% of those songs which were CanCon: 44% (surprisingly lower than I thought)

Top played artists:
Pink Floyd 14
Rolling Stones 13
Led Zeppelin 13
Kim Mitchell 13
April Wine 12
Beatles 12
Bryan Adams 11
Rush 11
Tom Cochrane 10
Elton John 9
Blue Rodeo 8
ZZ Top 7


Most played songs:
Gimme All Your Lovin' by ZZ Top: 5 times
Just Between You and Me by April Wine: 4 times

Standing in the Dark Platinum Blonde 3
Magic Power Triumph 3
Try Blue Rodeo 3
Hey You Pink Floyd 3
New Orleans is Sinking Tragically Hip 3
Easy To Tame Kim Mitchell 3
Good Times Tom Cochrane 3
Eyes of a Stranger Payolas 3
Feel It Again Honeymoon Suite 3
Voodoo Thing Colin James 3
Nova Heart Spoons 3
Rockland Wonderland Kim Mitchell 3
I'm an adult now Pursuit of Happyness 3
Go For A Soda Kim Mitchell 3
Working for the Weekend Loverboy 3
Show Me The Way Peter Frampton 3
Someday Glass Tiger 3
Sinking like a sunset Tom Cochrane 3
Angel Eyes Jeff Healey Band 3
All Of My Love Led Zeppelin 3
Diamond Mine Blue Rodeo 3

With all of these artists, why in the heck didn't they play any: Queen -- not a single song by Queen all week. I did hear Another One Bites The Dust today, though.

Songs repeated during the same day:
Carry On My Wayward Son Kansas 12/12/08 2
Gimme All Your Lovin ZZ Top 12/12/08 2
The Joker Steve Miller 12/11/08 2
Time Pink Floyd 12/10/08 2
Try Blue Rodeo 12/11/08 2

Most ironic song: How Many More Times by Led Zeppelin

Radio experiment: halfway through Day 3

I've heard 4 Pink Floyd songs today, two of which were the same song. They played it this morning and this afternoon. Seriously?! I thought maybe I wrote it down incorrectly, perhaps it was the end of the list from yesterday, but no.

I haven't run across a song that has been on all three days (yet), but I'm getting lots of repeats today.

Just heard the 8th Rush song since I began, and it was the first Rush repeat.

Once I have a week's worth of data, I'll post some statistics.

Radio experiment: start of Day 3

The station I'm following is Saintjohnradio.fm (the former Pirate) at 103.5.

It's the start of Day 3 and I already have some repeat songs:

• Going to California by Led Zeppelin
• Rose Colored Glasses by Blue Rodeo
• Fantasy by Aldo Nova
• Just Between You and Me by April Wine
• Gimme All Your Lovin by ZZ Top

I've heard 6 different Rush songs, so I'm convinced I'll hear a Rush repeat today. They love Rush on this station. I've also heard multiple songs by Glass Tiger, Bryan Adams, Colin James, Elton John, Kim Mitchell, Pink Floyd, Rolling Stones, The Beatles, and Tom Cochrane. Repeats are sure to follow the rest of this week.

Radio experiment

When we moved into our new office, my co-worker and I found it a little too quiet and decided to get a radio for background noise.  Most local radio stations are so repetitive that it became more annoying to keep hearing the same songs than silence.  However, we did come across a local station that had changed format in the last couple of months.  When first tuning in, I thought it was great – I must have hit upon a good programming day.  Any station that plays Notorious by Duran Duran will pique my interest.

 

We’ve been listening to this station for a few weeks now, and I have noticed an odd pattern.  While they do play songs not normally heard on the top 40, light rock, or classic rock stations, they seem to be just as repetitive.  I’m fairly sure that they play Tom Sawyer by Rush every day.  While I don’t have any like nor dislike for that song, I find it odd that they would play the same song by Rush with such regularity.  Rush has a large catalog of music, why not spread it around?  Another example is Nova Heart by The Spoons.  I’ve heard this quite a few times now, but where are the other Spoons songs they could be playing?

 

They play a large amount of Canadian Content, which makes me curious if they are under a different set of rules.  Since they are a smaller station, do they have to play more CanCon that the others?  Or do they just love resurrecting Canadian 80s songs?  While I’m happy to hear some Blue Rodeo and Glass Tiger, I am not sure how much more April Wine I can take.  SJers seem to love April Wine, as evidenced by the number of times they’ve played here.

 

I’m gathering evidence by starting to track the songs being played.  It should be interesting to see how often things really are played.

Grumble

It's hard to feel motivated when you don't see that carrot at the other end of the stick. All I see is the stick still being there, and right now, that's not much of a motivator.

I was supposed to have a 4 day weekend, but that got cut short to a regular weekend. Partly because I am behind, but also because a third party didn't clearly explain their expectations of me. I'm really angry about that, since they sat in front of me and marked off what needed to be accomplished, only to later turn around and ask if I was finished other things. I'm losing motivation and energy at a very quick pace.

I didn't have much of a summer vacation. I took a few days off when John moved. I couldn't take any time off during his mother/nephew's visit. I took two days off for a 1 day event in Montreal. I'm burning out.

I have US Thanksgiving booked off, and if the job market continues to look bleak, John will be off too. I am taking that time come hell or high water. I need the break. I learned today that I may also be able to take the time between Christmas and New Year's. It's not my turn, but the other person doesn't seem to care as much as I do about it. I could really use that solid week off to relax and just enjoy myself.

I've been working from home this evening for the past 2 hours, and now I'm pretty much spent. I still have laundry to finish. It may have to take a backseat tonight.