Iraqis went to the Polls today

Unsurprisingly, the Iraq election was declared a 'success' by US and British leaders, as the fiasco/quagmire of the building of this Democratic Middle Eastern state continues. Turnout was irregular, with good turnouts in some areas while other polling stations were deserted, presumably because potential voters fear attack.

Updates Not Posting.

Looks like I'll need to review my sent items log at work... I was dead certain I sent a long update in on Thursday. Blogger problems? I'll have to check. Presently I'm headed into work to get more things off my desk before the expected madness of next week.

Ted Rogers does hate me!

It seems that I am not the only one who is of the opinion that Rogers has no interest in building a customer base - in today's edition of [ ConnectIT e-News Daily ] it is noted that Rogers' business strategy for the newly acquired Fido division is to "[get] the most revenue from current customers".

Months later I'm still angry Ted, but alas, am still a customer.

Definitely in the Odd Law Category

Ah, those crazy Dutch. Seems that there courts have decided that a robber's gun is a deductible expense - for bank robbers.

Once more unto the Breach

Yet another frantic day at work today (the time spent writing this note notwithstanding) as I juggle many pressing marketing related tasks and ongoing projects. I have fired off a ton of emails over the last few days while simultaneous racking up numerous phone calls all over North America. The Mexico project is storming ahead... I have so many pilots on the go it's pretty crazy. My numerous projects are advancing but this too requires constant attention.

A very unfortunate side effect of this activity is that I have had to cancel my training sessions with Humberto. Probably will have to do the same tonight. This, of course, is disasterous as I clearly need the physical outlet to keep my energy and spirits up. Next week is going to be mad as I am headed to Ottawa Monday and returning Tuesday for last minute preparations for the Trade Show which runs Thursday and Friday.

Karina is also very busy at work, putting in even longer hours as busy season is now in full swing. Her energy level and usual good spirits are definitely lagging these days and I'm pretty concerned... perhaps a Joel Plaskett concert will be what the doctor orders. In the meantime, this year is not getting very high grades.

Reds go to Cardiff

After what had been a week of terrible (really terrible) football from LFC , Liverpool are in the Carling Cup Final with a second leg win against Watford. Speaking to the former players this past weekend, it's still unbelievable that the chance of another FA Cup game was so casually lost. Here's to hoping that this is the beginning of something!

...and a Surreal Update

Last night's episode of "The Surreal Life" was fabulous - it's like watching a tinsel covered trainwreck!

Lennox Lewis to come out of Retirement?

Rumours that the 39 year-old is to return to challenge Vitali Klitschko have been circulating, and Klitschko is apparently 'happy to fight Lewis'. The last Lewis-Klitschko fight (in 2003) was declared a TKO on cuts. Afterwards the Briton/Canadian retired to Kitchener, Ontario. But now he aparently needs the money - he's being offered about $50m for the fight.

Oh my is it cold this morning!

I think I heard it's -35 with the wind chill... The Weather Network says it feels like -24. Yikes! So far half of Infoware's staff have called in sick!

No Updates; Changes

A few factors have come together this week resulting in fewer posts: 1)
I have been really busy at work 2) My PocketPC has decided to lose it's
mind and 3) Liverpool's play and supporters' stuff has been frustrating
me.

Last night I moved out the majority of my clothes and other niknaks that I had at Karina's house. It seems that Dr. Walsh isn't quite as comfortable with the living arrangements as we might have supposed. Given his preference for a private space (aka his house) and the fact that Karina is working late these days, this arrangement makes perfect sense. On the extreme downside, this means that K and I won't be able to spend as much time together. Guess I had better get some curtains for my apartment bedroom.

Tom Waits: The Best Show on Earth.

As if there was any doubt. On the topic of Tom Waits' recent London Concert, reviewers were absolutely gushing.

In other Waits news, it seems that Tom has also been nominated for yet another Grammy - this time for Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance. I'm a little torn as he's in against Steve Earl's "The Revolution Starts Now".

Site Woes?

I not really sure what has happened to my site - the Blogger generated page on which this page is based just disappeared. So if you're reading this Blogger has addressed the problem.

The Surreal Life Hysteria

The new The Surreal Life with Charo, Flavour Flav and Bridgette Nielson is hysterical. Joey from "Full House" is there too!

Doesn't look that big to me.

Seems that the era of the Giant Zeppelin has returned with a 75m long airship floating in Japan. These airships are filled with Helium rather than the flammable hydrogen.

Tsunamis from Space.

Really the title should be tsunamis as seen from space with spectrograph (? well it's some kind of rendered image). Check out - http://www.noaa.org. You can see than the tsunamis reached both coasts of the U.S.!

Top 10 Blog Site in TO?

Oh my! It seems that my blogging activities have not gone unnoticed...
apparently this site has been rated one of the Top 10 Blogs in Toronto. Another meaningless accolade!

Late for flight? Call in a bomb threat?!!

In what has to be the biggest bone-head move of 2005 so far (Bush will get a chance, don't worry), an Englishman has been sent to jail for 18 months after calling in fake bomb threats. His reason? To delay the flights for a friend who was running late!

Call for Action: Get Hockey Day in Canada Back!

During its five years on television, Hockey Day in Canada on the CBCquickly became a tradition, a February celebration of Canada's game.

But the CBC, which created Hockey Day in 2000, has called off the event this year because of the National Hockey League lockout. Nancy Lee, head of CBC Sports, said Hockey Day was inextricably tied to the broadcast of three NHL games involving Canadian teams. She also said she had neither the staff nor the money to produce the show.

I've already sent in my note of protest - contact the CBC if you'd like to add your voice.

Big Sales Day, Reds Win

Today was a pretty great day on the sales front as several large projects got the tenative go ahead - now we just have to get the final "OK" (it's pretty definitive) and see what the final tallies may be (they are only likely to go up). I'm pretty sore from my run of yesterday (note to self: let the machine calculate the route), but am set to go again back to the cardio as Humberto cancelled our evening workout.

In today's FA Cup semi-finals match, the final score was Liverpool 1-0 Watford with many regular team REDs in the game for the first time in the competition. This is the the first of two games between the clubs. Reading the reports, I'd say it's hooray for the win, but the play doesn't necessarily impress. Milan Baros dressed for the first time today coming back from injury. Spanish star Fernando Morientes is set to be a RED in a matter of days and may debut against another team on Saturday.

Red Cross donations for Tsunami Relief

As I make my Canadian Red Cross donation like a good little citizen, I have to wonder - will international aid be sufficient to build a long-term and significant infrastructure in the areas affected by the earthquake and tsunamis? Surely with the massive aid that is being delivered someone has to be thinking that it may be possible to start hereto unimagined projects in this depressed region.

This could be 'about Mothers'

But it isn't. Riding back home on the streetcar after another busy day. Tomorrow promises to be the same. Looks like I'll be working a good chunk of the weekend too.

As the New Year Comes (and goes)

December 31 in the late afternoon -

I'm writing this as I head out on the subway to meet Karina. Work was very quiet today - I only received two emails the entire day! Still, it was quite productive as I was able to focus on some longer term project plans.

Tonight's plans are not really set as of yet - tentatively we are having Chinese then returning to Dunvegan for games before heading to The Horseshoe to catch the 1:30 set of the Skydiggers.

I'm not going to be synching my PocketPC for a few days so please excuse the strange format of this post.

Jan 4, 2005!
OK, yes, I didn't write all that much while off on the weekend - nor on my return! Yesterday I was at a client site most of the day and today I was fairly frantic with new and old business. While I did manage to fire off a brief message to the site, today was entirely business with numerous calls and 47 items on my to do list. I didn't even have a chance to look at my Web Boxing! ;)

I did make it down to the King St. Gym and finalized my membership - I now have a gym close to the office. I feel healthier already!

In the Dog House.

I'm likely in the doghouse today as an attempt to give Karina a wakeup
call failed when, after waking to my alarm, I decided not to call for
another 5 minutes and then fell asleep again.

Today has been a crazy busy day... although good as some large product sales
have been given the go-ahead (and one got larger!). Holiday update will
follow at some point in the near future.