My life is so exciting. (not). I had the stomach flu on Tuesday, so I missed my design lab and physics lecture, so now I feel really behind in both. And badly for my team in 253 because I wasn't there to help them work and things. But Ian was really nice and came to the university from the Tom Baker to find me and take me to the doctor's, so that I would not collapse en route. So yay for him.

Not much has happened... there has been homework. and some quizzes. and labs. and easy to digest food. and unfortunately not much sleep. I really ought to get some more of this.

My chem prof is really cool, other than the fact that he has a tendency to wear the same sweater for about 2 weeks in a row. But he has a really cool slavic-esque accent and a good sense of humour. Yay for chemistry.

My dog is really, really cute. She is also really funny and likes to behave perfectly whenever there is a chance of her receiving some food. She was really cute when she was a puppy... awwww...

Whoa. Babble-some. sleep = good. g'nite.

Whoa man. Elections and Politics seem to build up this anger within me. Sad day. This is what I have been doing in the last 20 minutes: (2005 estimate of population)

• Population of Alberta: 3,223,400 Seats in Alberta: 28 Seat to Population Ratio: 1: 115 121
• Population of British Columbia: 4,168,123 Seats in British Columbia: 36 Seat to Population Ratio: 1 : 115 781
• Population of Manitoba: 1,165,944 Seats in Manitoba: 14 Seat to Population Ratio: 1 : 83 282
• Population of Ontario: 12,449,502 Seats in Ontario: 106 Seat to Population Ratio: 1 : 119 707
• Population of New Brunswick: 757,100 Seats in New Brunswick: 10 Seat to Population Ratio: 1 : 75 710
• Population of Newfoundland (2001): 533,800 Seats in Newfoundland: 7 Seat to Population Ratio: 1 : 76257
• Population of PEI: 137,900 Seats in PEI: 4 Seat to Population Ratio: 1 : 34 475
• Population of Quebec: 7,568,640 Seats in Quebec: 75 Seat to Population Ratio: 1 : 100915
• Population of Saskatchewan: 978,934 Seats in Saskatchewan: 14 Seat to Population ratio: 1 : 69 934

(States in Legislature that each gets 1 seat no matter what)

• Population of Nunavut: 29,300 Seats in Nunavit: 1 Seat to population ratio: 1 : 29,300
• Population of Northwest Territories:42,944 Seats in NWT: 1 Seat to Population ratio: 1 : 42,944
• Population of Yukon Territories:31,227 Seats in Yukon: 1 Seat to Population ratio: 1 : 31,227

Populations from "http://psychcentral.com/psypsych/Provinces_and_territories_of_Canada"

Well. O dear. One can see with this that there is a large discrepency in the seat to population ratio across Canada. Now wouldn't it be nice if it were relatively equal? Anyways. WOot for conservatives :P

Okay, enough of Politics, even though this is what the majority of my day has been filled with the election because of me voting for the first time and heckling others to vote :P

Here's an exciting picture, I drew it at sunday school when it was terribly, terribly uninteresting (as only one child was there and she didn't really want to be there) But guess who is who and it will be exciting!

Last night I went to this "Branch" thing at St. James with Ian. It is kind of like a "College and Careers" event, but it's more of a 'let's sing, listen to a talk and discuss it while eating food'. But the young lady who did the talk spoke about Church Community and how it is important to be 'fed' on many different levels - like the 'foyer' being the sunday church where it's a celebration for God (where one is a guest), then the 'living room' where you get to know people more (where one is a friend) and then the 'kitchen' where you really get fed and really get to know people (where one is family). (of course, I did not say it nearly as eloquently or neatly as she did :P) But it made me wonder about things in my "church community" (or sometimes seemingly lack-there-of), but I think that I must think and ponder them more before my thoughts are written down or spoken aloud. Anyways, it was really cool and people were quite nice, thus it was exciting.

Well it is quite late and I have a lab tomorrow morning at 8 (gah! only 10 hours away - death!) So sleep is excellent.

Wow. I have not exactly been very good at updating this in the last while... the reason: homework everywhere! I have decided that it might be wise to at least attempt to do all of these recommended practise problems for every course, but this takes A LOT of time, thus I am very busy.

Well *much* excitement has happened to me in the last 5 days: lots of homework! yay! Well, technically one could describe me as being a socialite (or as much as a socialite as an introverted engineering student can be :P) for on Monday there was much excitement with my friends at lunch and went and did homework in a room with physics TAs trying out the next experienment (I know, not really socializing, but hush! :P!)... then on Tuesday I had "coffee" with Elaine and then went to Ian's house for dinner and a homework festival... On Wednesday there was our physics lab in which Elizabeth, June and I spent a large percentage of the time giggling - yay! for measuring people's wrists with string! - however, I was a bit of a homework'd recluse in the evening... On thursday there was again much excitment with my friends during lunch, for we sat at this table after our (useless) ENGG 253 lecture and again, I went to Ian's house for a homework festival. Then today, I met with Heather and then Britney... then there is College and Careers tonight. In addition, in this week, I've actually stopped a lot more to randomly talk to people and/or have has longer conversations with people about the most random of things... Wow.

Oh dear. My brother is listening to Collective Soul and attempting to do an air guitar impression. Oh dear.

Surprise, surpise, I'm reckoning that I am no longer on the follow-up subcommittee. However, this is not unexpected due to recent-esque events. The thing that kind of bothers me is I recieved an email annoucing that this dinner was going to take place and that things needed to be planned, and I replied saying that I was willing to help, but no response came. Then a couple of days ago on the forum, there was an annoucement that it was happening at this time on this date and to rsvp if you are coming. Thus, my assumption that I am no longer on it because I was never told anything about it or asked if I could help. I'm not sure if I should be offended or not, but if someone does not want help that is offered, what can I do?

Well I am officially amazing, for I recieved this invitation to this awards ceremony thing from the Dean's Office and I spent a very long time being confused as to whether I won an award or they just want me randomly to be there. But then I talked to my mum and realized that I actually had won an award (the scholarship from the Engineering Alumni Association) and that it was a night to meet people who gave it to me. haha. I must remember to rsvp at some point, for the deadline is the 9th and the night is the 16th or something.

Well I should probably go now, for I am going to pick up Ian and then go to his house to have a homework festival and then go to College and Careers. I'm excited.

Upon being so negative in the last week-esque, I have made some exciting goals for myself / realized some things:

1. To try to be as positive about myself as possible - just because I'm not perfect does not automatically mean that I am worth nothing.
2. If I am feeling negative about something, not to continually beat myself up about it, making myself feel worse and degenerate into more of a depressed state.
3. Be happy for the things that I have, instead of becoming frustrated about the things I lack in or don't have

Thumping is fun. There is something very satisfying with breaking off chunks of ice with sticks. My name is now "Bean - Basher". haha.

It is late, sleep is calling.

Boo on Head Colds. boooo. I'm calling my current affliction a head cold because I'm in denial and don't want it to be/become a sinus infection, which, I have decided, I am predisposed to when ever I get a cold. I hate them (sinus infections) because they never, ever go away. Plus, they always happen after I have been cold while sleeping at night (ie. lack of sleep do to being cold and lack of warmth). You'd think it would be impossible for me to be cold while sleeping because I have a grand total of 5 blankets (including the sheet) on my bed, one of which is a duvet. *gah* I don't really want to add any more blankets, because if it gets really cold, I'll have no more blankets to add to my bed to keep me warm! Sad Day. I just must continue to guzzle tea and other hot water based beverages and hope for a good night sleep eventually.

This week has been exciting - for I have been able to sleep in a lot more that normal - due to lack of labs and tutorials in general... so this week, it's probably as if my class/lab/tutorial time had been cut in half - so kind of like the average other student who has 5 classes with considerably fewer labs! Amazing! About the only time ever!

Today was quite exciting, especially since many things were done with my friends, who, as per usual, are quite funny... We spent a while wandering around in the basements of the Science Theatres, Science A and B, where we found this "mini hallway" (ie. it was enough to open a door in) with a door that had a sign of "no pets allowed". It was kind of off a very sketchy hallway anyways, so that created some exciting explainations (you know, engineers must justify *everything* :P). We also spent about 20 minutes debating about politics and gay marriage and things... But I feel badly for this guy (who also went to churchill, he used to do homework with us/eat lunch with us and stuff, but does not anymore) came into EDIC twice, where we were eating lunch and working on labs (or at least attempting to :P), but turned around and walked out both times upon seeing us sitting there. This makes me wonder if he's afraid of us or something... it could also be because Carl was in his group in 251 for the MFP and he didn't do much, so naturally there was much anger... Alas.

I feel that soon I am going to become recluse-esque - ie. focussing really only on school... for I really want to do well and well, let's face it - Ian is quite busy, which results in less time being spent with him, which will end up with me doing more work for school... (or more time being mopy :P) but I generally a very single focused person, sometimes I have a tendency to tune out the rest of the world while working on a single project... even though that comes back and throws wet fishes at me. kind of a depressing thought. alas.

o dear. That has been 2 paragraphs that have ended with an "alas." Time to make it three :P

It's really sad because everytime that I think/hear/see (about) this certain person/situation, it makes me feel really dumb, depressed and delinquent-esque, and generally it degrades and degenerates from there, creating much sad/mad/bad moods within me. Sadly though, I don't know what I can do to rectify the situation - or if that is even possible. Alas.

Gah. This liberal lady who is running in this riding phoned my house with her computerized voice. It really bothers me that federal politicians feel that they must dabble into healthcare and education issues, which is, at least according to our constitution, in the domain of the *provincial* government. Sad Day.

I should probably go and do things such as working on my lab and other homework related issues, for it is a good idea. All I really feel like doing is sleeping, but this, more likely than not, will not happen.

In regards to my last post: I hate politics - it seems whenever you state an opinion, someone is always there to bash you with a mallet and their own propaganda and views. So boo on them.

Anyways, moving on, yesterday sucked. Very much so. Now I know what it's like to be depressed... I'm not exactly too sure what happened, but it's like this switch clicked, and it was terribly difficult to not feel miserable and pathetic. But Ian came over for a bit last night and that made me feel better.

My poor dog though... Over the last day or two, her eye has become really, really red... and my mum was afraid that her eye would explode or something... for it was really nasty to look at, as the whole pupil was red, which generally should not happen for any living creature, unless they have been a victim of the red eye thing from a camera. Anyways, my mum and I were quite upset, so my mum took my dog to this eye vet on 17th ave - luckily the special vet guy was actually there and said that he would make room for lucky. But now my dog is back at my house and it turns out that a blood vessel popped in her eye from an undetermined cause... According to my mum (who was told by the vet), nothing deathly can come out of this, except dog must go back in about a month to make sure that the pressures in her eyes are relatively normal.

Anyways, today was an adventure-some day... for first we went to sports-swap to get Ian some skates and me a helmet... it took a while, for Ian tried on many, many pairs of skates. Luckily for him, he found a nice new pair that were actually semi comfortable and fit him... I found a helmet that fits me - it's also the same one that fits Ian, however, there was only one, but we found the exact same one in canadian tire. Mum had some excitement with this card thing she has for sports swap... She didn't know that she had to validate this card online and no one told her... o dear. But things have been bought. Then, after eating some lunch at my house, Ian and I went to Canadian Tire to get this rim on his car replaced (as it was bent from running into a storm drain in my culdesac), where we wandered around for a while. We found some exciting things that could be potential "house warming/birthday presents" for Trevor... Then we went to the cheesecake, so Ian could pick up his last check and to have some tea. Tea is good.
After this, we went to pick up his fixed car... then went to this lady's house to drop off our registration for our skating lessons... It's really funny because she intially thought that we were registering for the children's canskate - which, to me, implies either two things:

1. That she thought that we were children
2. or that we were registering for our children.

o dear. This causes me much amusement. But now we are both registered and payed for these lessons, which should be exciting. Trevor was very impressed that I somehow managed to convince Ian to skate... I guess it could be an amazing thing, but with such a hockey happy family like mine, it's difficult to resist :P

Anyways, there is this movie tonight at Ken's house... it's apparently really artsy and I may not like it (for Laurel did not), but I have decided to give it a try, or else I know that I will probably just sit at home and do nothing, which generally results in non-happy moods. Thus, I reckon it's better to attempt to do things and hopefully not become disturbed in the process. And hopefully it will not be too awkward, depending on who is there *oh dear.*

Wow. It's already January 5th. How time flies when you're having fun! And classes start again in 4 days. AHH!
It's amazing for they have *finally* updated the last 3 marks... here's the rundown:

• ENGG 201 (Properties of Fluids and Solids) - A - I am quitely pleased with this mark... especially since I had experienced many weird dreams about recieving a B- in this class and not being happy, for I knew that I had done better on the exam than that... and then in another dream had to use these weird symbols to try to figure out which ID number was mine, but mine wasn't there...
• ENGG 205 (Engineering Mechanics) - B - I'm also quitely pleased with this mark... I know, it is again my lowest mark, however, it could have been a lot worse. Plus, this course caused much anxiety... and I failed a couple of assignments... so overall, I think a B is quitely good.
• ENGG 251 (deisgn) - A - Yay! I wasn't expecting such a high mark in this class after our piece of an MFP and horrible final report... I guess it's because they really liked my drawings and my logbook... plus I recieved many dogs on some of the projects and things... Hopefully I can keep this up for ENGG 253 (its continuation)

Well with these marks, according to my calculator (not the official GPA calculator) my GPA is 3.62, which I think is pretty good... it would kind of be nice if it were slightly higher, however, I did have 6 courses... But I think that my mum might be more disappointed than I am at me getting another B... for according to her, it will "decrease my chances of getting scholarships." O dear.

Anyways, over the last couple of days, I have been doing some work for my mum, that has included digitalizing graphs - or basically just tracing lines and blobs onto a layer... But on Friday I will have to take the 3 graphs that I digitalized and make them into a 3-D graph... This will be a bit exciting, but cool because this is actually one of the first chances I have had to use some of the skills I have gained in a practical application... I have always had problems with somethings learned in classes that are "just soo pointless because you'll never get to use them!", thus this is quite exciting and eventful for me!

Have you ever recieved chocolates from Bernard Callebaut? I have, as of two days ago and man, were they quitely good (I didn't eat all of them by myself, I had help, gladly given :P) Anyways, for our 6-month-anniversary, Ian gave me chocolates from Bernard Callebaut... and he also took me out for dinner (after much exciting-ness: first we went to the Schnitzel Haus, and it was closed, then to the broken plate, and it was full, then to Tona Romas where there was much room) Man, I think Ian spoils me :P

I think today I am going to clean this sunday school cupboard at my church, for it has exploded... for people just randomly stick things in there and nothing is labelled clearly, so it's death trying to find anything. This guy from my church phoned this morning and I told him that this was what I was planning to do, and he said that I would be his hero if I did it, thus it should be done.

Have a great day Anne! (and of course, any one else who might be reading this :P)

Oh yes, before I forget: This is an email I got from my friend Meghan, I think it's worth thinking about:

SOMETHING WORTH THINKING ABOUT

Hello.

My name is Alan Robberstad I am a Canadian. One voter out of millions of Canadian voters.

Paul Martin is no friend of mine. Liberal governments have not made my life any better. Liberal governments have made the future worse for my children.

Jean Chretien and the Liberal Party became Prime Minister many years ago. Guess who was the Liberal Finance Minister.....Paul Martin...LEST WEFORGET

Since 1993:
(1) My taxes have increased.
(2) My family's share of the national debt has increased.
(3) My personal expenses have increased.
(4) My waiting time to see a doctor has increased.
(5) My concerns for my family's safety have increased.
(6) My costs to educate my children have increased.
(7) Government interference in my life has increased.
(8) My personal debt has increased.
(9) My income has stayed more or less the same.
(10) My savings have decreased.
(11) The buying power of my dollar, in Canada, has decreased.
(12) The value of my dollar, in the U.S., has decreased.
(13) My trust of elected officials has decreased.
(14) My trust in the justice system has decreased.
(15 )My trust in the immigration system has decreased.
(16) My hope that a Liberal won't waste my tax dollars has decreased.
(17 )My dreams for a better future for my kids, in Canada, have disappeared.

That is my story since the Liberals came to power.

I am not voting for Paul Martin's Liberals. I am voting against Paul Martin and his Liberal Party in January.


Do I like the Conservatives and the NDP? Not particularly......I don't really like Politics. I am not political by nature. I am not passionate about politics. I am a middle age guy (48). I live in a small house on a fairly quiet street in Edmonton. I have a wife, Kathy, and two children (ages 19 and 17). I have no pets. I am a middle class man. I don't
usually say too much.

Until now.

Now I am going to say something!

In 35 of the past 37 years, Canada has been ruled by:
(1) Pierre Trudeau - a multi-millionaire lawyer from Quebec.
(2) Brian Mulroney - a multi-millionaire lawyer from Quebec.
(3) Jean Chretien - a multi-millionaire lawyer from Quebec.
(4) And now we are going to vote for Paul Martin???? - a multi-millionaire lawyer from Quebec???

But wait! Paul Martinis now saying the same thing. My mother told me forty years ago: "Fool me once - shame on you. Fool me twice - shame on me!"

The Liberals have had 34 years to be financially responsible. Remember, Jean Chretien was Trudeau's Finance Minister. Remember also, Paul Martin was Jean Chretien's Finance Minister These people have been raising my
taxes for thirty four years. They have been mis-spending my tax dollars for 34 years.

34 years!

And now Paul Martin says he'll stop taxing and spending. No way.

Thank you for reading my story so far!

Why am I telling my story to you?

Although I feel alone, I know that I am not alone. Your story may be similar to mine. And you may also feel alone. One small voter in the midst of millions of voters.

What can you and I do together to change things?

Here is my idea: Lets you and I join up together. Just you and I. Together. As a small team of two.
How can you and I fight a huge political machine?

You and I have two things that we can use:
(1) Our individual personal connections.
(2) The Internet.

The Internet is supposed to be this global zing tool, right? Let's put it to use.
I have 27 Canadians in my personal e-mail address book. I am sendingthis e-mail to each of them.

I'm asking you to do two things:
(1) Forward this e-mail to every Canadian in your own address book.
(2) Vote against Paul Martin and the Liberal Party in January of next year.

I have probably written this e-mail too late. As I said I am not politically adroit. I feel like Peter Finch, in the 1976 movie "Network", when he shouted: "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore!"

Please, forward the e-mail RIGHT NOW!!

I hope the Internet is as fast as some people claim it is.

This may not work. This e-mail may "fizzle out" and go nowhere. But you and I will have tried, won't we have?

My best wishes to you. My best wishes to Canadians everywhere.

My thanks to David Stokes from Toronto He actually wrote this just (5) days before the last federal election. Fool me once - shame on you. Fool me twice - shame on me!"

Alan Robberstad Edmonton, Alberta .


I think some of his points are a bit faulty and subjective, but he does make a couple of good ones!

Happy New Years!

Today has been an... exciting day. I woke up at 11:30 (as there was no church) and was lazy for the majority of the day. As one can imagine, much idle-ness in me results in not the best mood ever... Plus I was feeling kind of lonely due to no one being at my house and not being able to do much... But then I got out some lego and have spent the last three hours sorting and building things with it. Man, I'm such a geek.

Cabin-ing was exciting... I slept a lot... and worked on this puzzle a lot. I think Ian had much fun, for he played hockey with my family. He was really excited about playing it and it seemed as if he now has a desire to take up playing hockey... I guess if he did do this, I would go and watch - much more faithfully than watching John's games (yes! for 1 game in 3 years!) But poor Ian was witness to my family playing Tile Rummy - the game in which whomever makes the most noise generally wins - where my brother and my mum each won a game.

New Years Eve was fun... First Ian and I went to Joey Tomatoes in Crowfoot half an hour earlier than planned - which was actually a really good idea, for if we had arrived at 5, there would have been a considerably longer wait (even though we didn't have to wait at all) and when we left at 6:20, there were people EVERYWHERE in the foyer... But it was a nice dinner... I don't like avocadoes... they're really gross. After J.T's we went to starbucks, where Ken told some pretty exciting stories of his elementary school career... the proceeded to go to Memoirs of a Geisha. Ian was quitely smart and bought tickets ahead of time, for there were lines and people everywhere. The movie was really well done, it appeared to be quitely continuous... it was interesting to see how the protagonist grew up over the period of (I'm assuming) 21 years... for when she was 9, she wasn't very assertive and free spirited, then when she was 15 she was very unsure of herself, then when she was 30 she became more sure of herself and what she wanted to do... One thing that bothered me was how creepy the old Japanese men were - one guy liked this guy from when she was 9 years old until she was 30... *gah*

After the movie, we went to Ken's house and played this Star Wars Lego Episodes 1, 2 & 3 video game thing... Ian and Ken managed to beat all of episode 2 in a very short amount of time (ie. a bit more than an hour). Then Laurel and I were champions and played a couple chapters of episode 1... it's really amusing to make chairs dance (and make these things do the disco hahahahaha) and to have characters blow up as bits of lego when they die...

Then it was Happy New Years! After this, I took Ian back to his house... and stayed there for a while, which was exciting... I didn't get home until some time around 2... apparently Ian phoned my house at about 2 to make sure that I got home safely, and I was pretty sure that I was home around this time, however, I do not remember at all as to whether the phone rang or not... I think I was really tired... In fact I'm pretty sure I was really tired as I almost fell asleep sitting on the step by Ian's front door. oh dear.

I should go and play more lego or something... or at least clean up... then sleep for I think I am starting to become sick as I feel continually tired and very stuffed up in my head. Hopefully my dad will go and pick up these photos at some point, for I would like to see them!