| nine weeks?! |
[Jul. 18th, 2007|05:28 pm] |
How nice of LJ to tell me how long it's been since I last posted. Man I knew I was a delinquent but I didn't think it was THAT bad.
Anyway this post has TWO purposes:
1) To inform you all that from now on I'll be posting at http://ben.jokuty.com/blog/ and not here
2) To invite you all to come by my (mom's) place on Saturday evening around 8ish for coffee and chilling and such. As I will likely be leaving the following Tuesday, it will probably be the last chance for me to see many of you.
THAT IS ALL
for now... |
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| (no subject) |
[May. 10th, 2007|10:44 pm] |
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
What's new:
Forms! Doctors! Needles! Certificates!
I've been jumping through the necessary hoops to get my immigration papers in order.
The process goes like this.
-- I am here --
1) Send copies of passport, certificate from school, medical test results, to employer
2) Employer sends stuff to Chinese gov't
-- I am planning to buy my plane ticket here --
3) Chinese gov't issues employment permit
4) Employer sends employment permit to me
5) I take employment permit, and apply for my visa
6) I take my visa, and go to China
So I'm getting my passport monday. I've got my physical tuesday morning, and I already got my certificate of enrollment (best I can do since I've got no degree!), and sent off a scan of it to Exoweb to see if it looks ok. I have my fingers crossed for being able to send all my documents electronically. If I can, that should speed up the process by about a week. If not, no big loss really, just more waiting.
I've also started going through all my stuff. I threw out a bunch of crap yesterday and have been consolidating boxes and such. If anyone wants to come over and keep me company while I pack/purge I can provide coffee/tea/beer/snacks/etc...
that's all for now. there will doubtless be more in the next few days. |
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| Goodbye stress, hello madness! |
[Apr. 27th, 2007|02:50 am] |
School is out and I think that's great.
In other news, I will be moving to Beijing sometime this summer, hopefully in early - mid June.
I'll be working as a software engineer there, for a company called Exoweb. My contract is for a period of two years.
I'm going to have to sell or store pretty much everything I own, so if any of you can think of any of my possessions that you want, let me know and we can work something out. Otherwise, I'll probably be posting up some lists here, or on the wiki, of stuff I'm getting rid of to give friends first dibs before I try and sell it online or give it away.
So for the next while I'm going to be going nuts getting ready to leave. I need to get my passport, and a suitable computer, as soon as possible. I can't bring my desktop, so I want to get a laptop to bring with me, since computers are apparently MORE expensive in China.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!
That's all for now. I'll be posting more as the details get worked out and stuff. |
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| (no subject) |
[Apr. 9th, 2007|07:12 pm] |
hello everyone,
today I am 21.
It doesn't feel very different from being 20, except for the fact that I'm a little more stressed and delirious than I was for most of the time I spent being 20.
Delirious is a bit of an exaggeration, I just haven't slept for a much lately.
What else is new?
I bought a headset with a microphone, and downloaded some software that takes dictation. I'm actually using it to write this post right now. For the most part I wouldn't say it's faster than typing but it has been really interesting and it's enjoyable to write without typing.
Unfortunately I don't think I'll be able to use it to write code. There are too many braces and quotation marks and slashes. I still haven't figured out how to get it to let me say the word. You see it just puts in a period. Hey! It worked that time. That's the first time I've been able to do that.
The program also write some pretty hilarious things if there are multiple people in a room talking, but when the room is quiet it's quite accurate.
That's all for now, though I may post more later if I can think of anything worth saying. |
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| (no subject) |
[Mar. 12th, 2007|02:56 pm] |
"Your call is important to us..."
Translation: We hired someone to tell us that the amount of money we're likely to lose by providing shitty service is vastly outweighed by the amount of money we definitely save by understaffing our call center.
Why was I on hold? I was calling the bank, because I received a cryptic voicemail from a robot, giving me a reference number and telling me to call them. At least the robot pronounced my name right. They wanted me to pay the interest on my line of credit, which is interesting because I was so sure that I had set up automatic payment on that the LAST time they called to bother my about it. Also last time I was called by a human, clearly not a competent one, but definitely a step above the robot they sent this time.
They must be getting cheaper... |
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| infornography |
[Feb. 27th, 2007|11:35 pm] |
good eeeevening,
Today I wrote a midterm, and a test. I also ate three pickles.
What else did I do? I read this short story, which I found disturbingly compelling.
The main attraction in the circus of my day eclipses all those other things. I imported my RSS feeds into Google Reader. Now, not only do I not have to visit the sites I frequent to see if they've been updated, I don't even have to check their RSS feeds myself. Google Reader only shows me the ones that have been updated, and to top it all off, I got the Google Reader Notifier plugin for firefox, so I don't even have to check Google Reader.
Now that my main pastime is completely automated, it really doesn't pass time very well. I can read everything I want to read in a few minutes, whereas before I could easily have spent half an hour on it. There are two possible courses of action here. I can use that time to do useful tasks, such as schoolwork, or I can use that time to filter and absorb ten times as much (mostly) useless information as before.
Of course it's no contest at all. Infornography FTW. |
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| (no subject) |
[Feb. 8th, 2007|01:04 am] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | take a wild guess | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Brian Eno - Here Comes the Warm Jets | ] |
Good morning,
I discovered today that the internet archive has a (mostly) functioning copy of my old blog, which I had long assumed was lost forever. I read through my posts from Japan, which are, I think, the only ones even remotely worth reading. I was so sure I remembered writing about some of my other exploits, like getting okonomiyaki, and getting marooned in Nagoya and Tokyo, but I guess my memory is playing tricks on me.
In other news: I propagate plants.
In other other news: Ze Frank describes my (every) day, too too well. |
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| I don't need no stinkin' subject! |
[Jan. 9th, 2007|10:42 pm] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | Chair, Bedroom | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Sonata in D, K284/205b 'Durnitz' - III. Tema con variazioni | ] |
Dear Everyone,
I have just eaten a bowl of leek and potato soup. It was delicious.
I have two type writers, but only one brain cell.
I have to work tomorrow.
I have had enough with the verb 'to have'.
It's 18 degrees in my room.
Tomorrow, tomorrow I will DESIGN. On Monday I gathered up the requirements, and next I shall sit down for coffee with them. We'll have have a little talk about our lives, and eventually I'll convince them they ought to try becoming a PLAN.
I shaved off all my facial hair.
I WOKE UP on the morning of December 31st and felt like a perfectly new person. I said "Hello World."
School? School is Operating Systems, Database Management Systems, The Foundations of Software Engineering, and Biotechnology and Society. They may soon be joined by my old friend Programming Paradigms.
Lulu, I stand in awe of your paragraphs.
What else is new? Nothing really. I would say "I am going crazy." But that is not news to anyone.
Sincerely,
-b |
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| (no subject) |
[Nov. 19th, 2006|10:00 pm] |
Something strange happened this evening. I had a laser printer delivered to my house by a Doctor of Dental Surgery, for 60$. I don't know why, but I don't think he trusted me. He wanted to meet me at a Tim Horton's. I thought that was pretty ridiculous, as I'd have had to walk home in the dark and the cold with a laser printer in my arms, so I asked if he'd could bring it to my house.
I told Cameron about this, so when the guy pulled up, Cam was watching out the front window to make sure he didn't try any funny stuff, you know, like killing me and taking my teeth. The first thing I noticed when I got out to the sidewalk was that he wasn't the only one in the car, though I didn't get a good look at the other occupants. When I met him in front of the car he was holding the printer. We exchanged pleasantries and he took a good look at Cam in the window. Cam just stared right back at him. I counted the money in front of him and we swapped the money and the printer at the same time. He got back in the car. I went back up to the apartment, and it was over.
Never have I taken part in a transaction in which there was less trust between the participants. That said it was a great deal, the toner cartidges alone cost about $60.
And here I was thinking my life had stopped being weird. |
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| mid october |
[Oct. 15th, 2006|10:18 pm] |
|
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! |
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| (no subject) |
[Sep. 28th, 2006|01:26 am] |
I think some of you may enjoy this article. I thought it was pretty funny.
In other news, there is no other news. |
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| (no subject) |
[Jun. 15th, 2006|09:45 pm] |
I'm a programmer and I'm ok
I sleep all night and debug all day
I scratch my head, I press F10
I drink some more coffee
Some days the build is broken
But not broken by me!
That's pretty much the last couple weeks right there. May was more menial and nowhere near as intense. Things are going decently now. I got a keyboard tray and a track ball which made a huge amount of difference to the amount of shoulder/wrist pain I was in. I can actually go through a whole day of work without getting really sore now, which is nice.
What else... I devoured Slaughterhouse Five and Cat's Cradle recently, but I'm still stuck at about 1/3 of the way through Godel Escher Bach. I discovered that in the same amount of time (~50min) I would get through about 10 pages of GEB vs about 50 pages of Slaughterhouse Five.
One more thing, I'm looking to get rid of my desk so that I can get a smaller one, so if anyone is interested in my large wooden desk, let me know, bonus comma splice with purchase. |
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| (no subject) |
[May. 2nd, 2006|05:27 pm] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Glenn Gould playing the Goldberg variations | ] |
Today I()
{
-accepted the job at Sciemetric (Stephanie seemed happy)
-dozed while listening to the Goldberg variations
-made smoothies
-ate leftover thai food (thank you Cindy! <3)
-watched Cowboy Bebop
-jammed with Cameron
}
It was all excellent. Later I think I'll go for a bike ride, clean up a bit, and get ready for my first day of work tomorrow. I'm working 8:30 to 5, so I think I'll be catching the bus around 7:30. Sadly, I don't think the deli is open that early ):
Tomorrow I'll also be registering for summer school. Abstract data types and algorithms, here I come!
And now for something completely different.
ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR! |
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| (no subject) |
[Apr. 28th, 2006|03:23 pm] |
I got the job at Sciemetric! Starting early next week unless Natural Resources calls with a job for me down the street. I also got another email from FSWEP asking if I wanted to be referred for this position with the justice department:
The job title is: Junior Technical Analyst, Desktop Support
The job description is: Setup, install, configuration and testing of computer equipment in a test lab, Assist with the evaluation, analysis and documentation of new and upcoming technologies (network, server, and desktop).
It starts 2006-05-01 and ends 2006-08-18
I think it sounds like something I could do well, and pretty interesting too. I don't buy that it is going to start on monday.I told Stephanie at Sciemetric that I'd like to wait just a little to see if either of the offers from the gov't pan out. She didn't sound too pleased with that, but whatever, they pay better and the commute is better too so if I get one I'll take it. However they don't seem to be very organized, and I doubt I'll hear from either of them before I get back to Stephanie and accept the job for real.
Mostly I'm glad that no matter what, I won't be washing dishes this summer!
THANK YOU SO MUCH LULU! |
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| (no subject) |
[Apr. 28th, 2006|11:51 am] |
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Anyone up for breakfast tomorrow? 9:30? |
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| (no subject) |
[Apr. 14th, 2006|12:49 pm] |
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Someone put together a post on metafilter that links to a bunch of shorts released by the National Film Board. I thought 'how to speak french without having to learn it' was pretty funny. Also, in the thread somebody else posted a link to the NFB animation "The Cat Came Back", which I watched many times when I was little. Mmm nostalgia. |
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| (no subject) |
[Apr. 9th, 2006|03:20 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | tired | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | clocks ticking in sync | ] |
I've been studying discrete math, so I figured I'd get two birds stoned at once and mark the occasion with a proof:
For every year n >= 1986, there exists a day b such that, for every day d with, b <= d <= 365, my age a(n) = (n - 1986).
Induction on n:
Base case: n = 1986 with d = b
a(1986) = (1986 - 1986) = 0
True.
Now assume true for n = k with d = b
Case n = k + 1 with d = b
a(k+1) = (k + 1 - 1986)
= (k - 1986) + 1
= a(k) + 1
QED
I didn't really doubt it before, but then again I guess I never doubted that n + 0 = n either. Lots of stuff has happened in the past year. I discovered the joys of coffee, beer, dreaming, and of course, proofs. I moved into an awesome new place with an awesome new room mate, and actually did some work for once in my life. School was fucking grim tough, and isn't really over, so I'm reserving judgement there, but all in all I think it was pretty good year. Thanks to all you guys for keeping me sane throughout it.
P.S. Some sort of shindig will be had when exams are over. |
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| (no subject) |
[Apr. 4th, 2006|08:06 pm] |
Say friends, I have a question for you:
Are you dreaming? |
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| stack trace of a rainbow |
[Mar. 28th, 2006|07:02 pm] |
there were actually two, both were right next to the train, just past carling ave, coming from carleton.
i threw an exception
the sunlight hit the water
the water was taken by gravity
gravity sent it through the air
the air guided it to the rock face
the rock face returned it to the air
the air offered it to the sunlight
the sunlight became a rainbow
and the rainbow climbed into my eye
spring is too short |
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| (no subject) |
[Mar. 23rd, 2006|08:34 pm] |
yesterday
it was early
i was lying in bed
drifting in and out of sleep
i was somewhere right in the middle
and i realized i couldn't move my hands
but i could feel them moving about
i decided to do an experiment
i rubbed them together
my two dream hands
and then i felt
electricity |
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