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Suffice it to say, woot!

Yeah, I know... I suck at updating this thing, but there ain't much to catch people up on. I'm alive. Angie's alive. Pele (surprisingly) is still alive. Life is good, apartment rocks, work is relatively a'ight, etc. Really not much else to talk about. The above, however, I'm quite excited about.

All Moved In

It took us three days but, on Saturday, we were all moved into our new place in Sandy Hill.  It was a tense few days.

On Wednesday I called to re-confirm our U-haul reservation and found out that we only have the truck from 8am til 4pm.  That sucked.  It meant that Angie and I would be doing it ourselves on Friday.  Thursday, feeling we might be pressed for time on Friday with the U-haul, I went down the street and prayed I could get a vehicle so that we could move some boxes over and leave the Friday move for only furniture.  Luck had it that the only vehicle that Budget had was... an 8-seater van.  Aw darn.  And because it was the only thing they had, I got 15% off the price of the rental and the insurance.  Done!

With Erin's help, Angie and I moved three loads of boxes over to the new place.  Friday morning, I took a bus out to Coventry Rd and waited for only 45 mins (one guy had been there for 1.5 hours) and got the 14'x10' truck.  We loaded that all up and were doing well until around 1:45.  At that point, we realized there was no way we could finish on time that day and had no means of renting anything else from anywhere.  I made a panicked call to my parents and, thankfully, they were able to come in on Saturday with a trailer.  Aaron was also able to help and so, with 5 of us, we got the rest of the stuff moved in one and a half loads.  My parents also dropped off one of their sofas for us.  Woohooo!  Actual living room furniture.  Exciting!  By 3pm all the moving was finished.

By 4:30pm, Angie and I had finished doing a clean-up of the old place and headed out.  BBQ at Suzi and Jamie's was freakin' awesome and all the better given all the work we had done.  Yesterday, I handed the keys over to the landlord, got my deposit cheque back, a cheque for $50 for the blinds I left the new tenant and, most importantly (in terms of principles) I got the money for the phone cabling and hookup I had to do last November.  $175, only 9 months late.

All is well here at the new place.  Pele was a bit freaked out on Thursday and Friday as we had to shut her in the bathroom.  She settled in no problem here and right now she's with me, chillin' in the open window of the second bedroom/computer room.

I also have an interview tomorrow morning for the Communications Officer position with NRC.  If I get that, I'll be dancing in the streets.  So all is well and Angie and I are very pleased with our new place.  Pretty boring blog post, but hey... there you have it.

Dark Knight

Okay, best movie I've seen in a long while. It had a Blade Runner feel to it in that it felt like we were in the theatre for 4-5 hours when it was only 2.5 hours. We saw it at 3:30pm on Friday, at the Imax screening at Silvercity.

As I'm sure has been said all over teh intarweeb, Heath Ledger was fantastic. The Joker was unpredictable, pulled no punches and was insidious. He was a much more true-to-form Joker than Jack Nicholson. The make-up job was more appropriate and less '60s comic book style. Jack Nicholson had the crazy thing going on but Heath Ledger made me tense when he was on-screen. His insanity was much more homicidal and eerie. He was just... I don't even know the word for it. He just had a simmering yet cold insanity. He had nothing to lose, so he had no weaknesses. He was free to do whatever he wanted, and had no moral issues with pushing that to extremes. The greatest thing about the Joker as a character is that he's free of all restraints whereas Batman is not. That's what makes them a superb hero-villain pairing - they're such great foils for each other.

It was an all 'round amazing movie, far surpassing Batman Begins in feel and intensity. I wasn't sure how I'd feel about Dark Knight given that I love "genesis" comic book movies; I like to see how it comes about and how the characters test and evolve their roles. This movie gave everything to the story and characters, though there was no build-up and it started pretty much right after the first one. The characters were more involved and connected to the story as opposed to appearing and just providing a gadget or bit of advice. It gave the movie a more full, real feel. Aaron Eckhart was a great addition to the central cast.

I could keep talking about it but my point is simple: Go see it.

Hellboy 2. . .

. . . was a huge pile of steaming shit. If you want to sit through two hours of uninspired drivel just to see a few Pan's Labyrinth-esque critters, be my guest. I haven't wanted to walk out of a theatre in a very long time, but I nearly did for this one. If Guillermo del Toro pulls this kind of shit with The Hobbit, he can expect me to go Senate vs Julius Caesar on his f'ugly ass. I honestly would have enjoyed some shitty-ass teenage romantic-comedy more than that. The sad part is I didn't go in with inflated expectations. There's a big difference between "It wasn't as good as I thought it'd be" and "It wasn't good."

The only positive of having gone to the theatre tonight was that I saw a great trailer for the Clone Wars theatrical release of the show. August 15... I will so be there. It makes me wish Episodes I-III had been done in that CG style.

The prognosis for Pele is good. Well, not good but curable. She has a hyper-active thyroid. Cats are supposed to have 50 (points? whatever) and Pele has 215. Not. Good. So she'll go on medication soon (maybe tomorrow), and I'll change her food over tomorrow. The good news there is that I don't have to put her down. Phew. The other good news is that she checks out everywhere else - her health is good all around, with some minor potassium issues and her protein something or other is a tad low. Might be caused by her thyroid issue, so we'll resolve that and see what happens in a month.

Do - not - go - see - Hellboy 2. That is all.

Oh, and I'm in the Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning beta. That's all I can say besides saying that there is a beta, which is sort of pointless since, if I'm in the beta, obviously there is one. *squeal of joy!*

Wretched News & Fantastic News

Guess I'll start with the bad news first. It looks like I'll have to put Pele down soon. She's really showing her age, and having trouble with her bowels. She sleeps most of the day and doesn't move much otherwise. She still shows a spring in her step sometimes, but usually she's slow and has taken to sleeping in strange places: behind the toilet, under the bed. Poor girl doesn't even talk much anymore. I'm going to try some new cat food for her ummm... toilet issues, but it's just a stop-gap measure, I think. If we can keep her going til the end of August, she may find some new vitality in our new place. . .

Which is the great news - Angie and I have found a place and we signed for it yesterday. It's an awesome two-bedroom apartment with a washer and dryer, a nice rooftop deck, all hardwood floors, an actual dining room (on top of a massive living room and two really good-sized bedrooms). We're very excited. We'll move in at the end of August. We have it as of the 25th of August, so that gives us some time to move. I don't want to be doing it on the 1st of Sept, as that'll be crazy. We'll likely rent a U-haul and take a load on the Friday, and then see if we can't get some help for the bigger stuff on the Saturday.

So booo... and yay.


Edit: I'm taking Pele into the vet tonight. We'll have some blood tests done and have her checked out. However, if things don't look good...

Driving... HOOOO!

Everyone beware - I am now road-worthy. Re-did my G2 driving test yesterday and had no issues. Glad to have that done (again... after 12 years).

Work is all wrapped up and I'm looking for summer work/another permanent job. Also looking for a new apartment for Angie and I. My 1-bedroom place was great for one person, but we have zero room and the place is maelstrom of possessions.

So that's all in the works. Not too much else to report.

Oh, PG and I started a new blog on table-top gaming. It's called Gamers' Handbook (for now). That name will likely change to something a bit more... ummm... good.

Day of Days - 4th Edition Unleashed

Well, the day finally arrived, and Angie could tell you that, in these last few days, I was as annoying as a 4-year-old anticipating the approach of Christmas. So as happy as I am to have the books, I'm sure she's just as relieved not to have to hear about it anymore.

I am not disappointed in D&D 4th Edition. I got the boxed set (Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide and Monster Manual) for $90, taxes included, from Fandom II. That's $5 off the U.S. price for each book. Purdy sweet.

I'm not going to review them, since Gnome Stew has done an awesome and comprehensive review of all three books. I absolutely agree with everything he's written, including the WoW or MMO influences and feel of some of the material.

This is quite the geeky weekend, actually. Yesterday, I picked the boxed set up at 11am, then met my buddy, Pat, at the Royal Oak for lunch, beer and oodles of geek-talk. We were there so long that Angie actually came to meet us after she finished work (5:30). ... yeah, many pints were drunk.

Today, I'm playing the Keep on the Shadowfell module (round 2 since we suffered a total party kill last time) with my new gaming group and, tomorrow, I'm getting together with my old Ottawa D&D gang for a beer and some catching up. I haven't seen any of them in 2 years. Should be great! I will also try to recruit some of them for a game that I want to run in the near future, ideas for which have been coursing through my mind since getting my grubby hands on the new books.

Thankfully, Angie understands my need for geek stimuli and, if not endorsing it, certainly accepts and tolerates it. With a smile, even. I don't think there is higher mark of excellence in a significant other than one who accepts and obliges in their loved one a hobby or activity they find incomprehensible, strange and/or time consuming. I'm sure Pascal and Angela both will wholeheartedly agree.