Category Archives: LiveJournal Imports

Happy Festivus (Or: A Debt to Lactam)

I received a package full of holiday presents from Downhill Battle the other day.

  • Red wrapping paper spraypainted with the Downhill Battle stencil
  • Instructions on how to make wheat and rice paste.
  • A brush for applying said paste
  • 1 “I took back music and it worked” notebook
  • 1 “downhill battle fights to win” keychain
  • 1 “I will be going to the downhill battle family x-mas party 2005” button.

Lia, we should finish up our work on Downhill Battle North soon. Also, pancakes.

…

In other news, I called Logitech the other day to inform them of problems using my MX 700 mouse, and they sent me a free new MX 1000 in the mail. Other companies could learn a thing or two about warranty and customer service from Logitech.

Now if only they had a keyboard to compare to my old Model M.

WOMWOMWOM

Floating Logos is an art project in which photos are taken of signs on poles, and then:


They look like they should make that ‘hovering’ sound.

“The poles are digitally removed from the image in order to give the illusion that the signs are disconnected from the ground as they ominously float above us.”

I would very much like to buy some prints of these.

416

HOW ARE YOU GENTLEMEN

This is a friends-only post, to which everyone is allowed to read except Leslie Leslie, if you’re reading this because Josh (the jerk) forgot to log out, stop now.

Okay.

So — I’m putting together a collection for a Christmas/Solstice/Etc. gift for Leslie. As you may (or may not) remember, a year or two ago I put together a collection to pick her up an old digital camera, because she wanted to get into photography. We ended up getting an old Kodak, and many wonderful pictures were taken. Now, however, the camera is showing its age, and is rapidly approaching uselessness. This is what I’d like to get her:

A shiny new Coolpix 4500 (or a 995, if I can’t find a deal on a 4500), which is the undisputed king of macro photography. Which is really the kind of ography that Leslie wants to do. On the plus side, the camera also takes killer non-macro shots.
An also-shiny Cool Light SL-1, which attaches to the Coolpix (either model) for helping light macro subjects.
A 1-year Flickr account, so she has all the space in the world to upload/share/post photography, and a nice interface to do it with.

This is the plan. I understand that money is tight all over, so if you can’t contribute, no worries. If you can, that would be fan-fucking-tastic. There’s over a hundred and fifty people who have me on their friends list — even if 1/3rd of that number has an extra few dollars in their paypal account, that’d cover a large chunk of the expenses.

Also, you’d be making Leslie really, really happy. And you’ll have pretty pictures to look at, afterward.

If you can email me at jairus@gmail.com if you’re able to contribute (not any other email address, which she might accidentally open), it would be greatly, greatly appreciated.

Thank you for your time.

Trying to find some light

I’m having a terrible week, and I’ve been trying to write about it for a very long time now. The only things that are coming out are sad, angsty, angry, and depressing. 100% LiveJournal, in other words.

So, rather than add more gothic poetry to the internets, I decided to say a few nice things about the people I don’t often talk to. In alphabetical order:

amandarochelle: You’ve always known what’s important. Thank you, and please — take care of yourself.

cephalopod: Do you remember the conversation we had over coffee, where you shared with me your infrared photography, and we gave each other secret advice? I do.

dem: Don’t get caught in the middle of scene politics. You’re too good for that. Do what’s best for you.

dharmasatya: I wish I had known you better when I was younger and wiser — I think we could’ve had some wicked ESD time.

essinem: The stars burn brighter when they know you’re watching; they, like us, are hoping to inspire you.

prox2: Y’know, if you came with us, we’d be un-fucking-stoppable. Just sayin’.

siksyko: If I won the lottery or otherwise inherited a business tomorrow, you would be the first person I’d hire.

substance_p: Sometimes I think it’d be a good idea to rent a van, drive to Toronto, and literally fucking kidnap you. I think that might be best for everyone involved.

t0yb0x: We love you, you know.

zeewhiteninja: Do you remember when there was only one set of footprints? That’s when I was carrying you.

There were many more, but the words on my screen are starting to blur. One more, for someone more familiar:

Leslie — you’re my partner in all things, and the most beautiful girl I’ve ever known. You and me, okay?

I love you.

fsck

In today’s pre-backup format, we lost:

– To-Do Lists (Work/Promotion/Personal)
– Contact/Address Book (Work/Promotion/Personal)
– FTP site/account list (Personal/Private/VERY VERY PRIVATE)
– Bookmarks (Five years worth)
– More to come.

Words from the Threshold

“Just a brief note at this difficult time  – Ian and I both, and I’m sure John also, feel about financial donations, flowers etc this:

Rather than send us anything – we have too much already – do one of the following:

1. Write the words “Jhonn Balance” on a small piece of paper, put it in a hole in the ground or a pot, and plant a vegetable or tree over it. Some people might want to anoint the paper with their own seed as well. When you see the plant grow or even better when you eat the resulting vegetable, know you have him beside (or inside) you.

OR

2. If you see someone that needs some kind of small help or kindness, do so, but say “there you are Jhonn Balance”, if only for the pleasure of seeing the startled look on their face. (It was a running joke between us that Jhonn (like Blanche Dubois from Streetcar Named Desire) “often relied on the kindness of strangers”)

And to everyone that has sent messages so soon – thank you SO so much – They are a massive comfort and help and mean a lot, even though sometimes it IS hard to read emails through the tears!!!! B^) What is the emoticon for that I wonder?

Love to all

Sleazy and Ian”

409

Wise words from the departing
Eat your greens, especially broccoli
Remember to say “thank you” for the things you haven’t had
By working the soil we cultivate the sky
We embrace vegetable kingdom
The death of your father, the death of your mother
Is something you prepare for
All your life
All their life

Pak Chooie Unf!

Dear [info]antigenshift,

your new motherboard is shiny and new and… purple…!

love,

Jairus & leslie

[leslie typing for Jairus as presently he’s assembling parts of your PC – “ah pig pig pig PIG!!!! I CAN’T BELIEVE WE STILL USE SCREWS??! as if we haven’t thought of something OW!! GODDAMMITASSFUCKSHITMOTHER…!!” – and AFK for a while]

406

Any of my friends in Toronto looking for a job? Let me know if you (or anyone you know) fit this description. The pay is very good.

Job Description 

  • Accepts ownership of all incidents assigned to them unless further dispatched to a service provider. 
  • Flexibility to accept all shifts in a 7/24 support environment. Owns the resolution of all incidents that are not dispatched. 
  • Ensures “signed on” and ready to accept calls at the commencement of shifts and adheres to break and lunch schedules in accordance with schedule.
  • Records all incidents and requests in appropriate incident tracking system
  • Provides complete and accurate documentation on status, progress and history of incidents resolved at first point of contact and closes the incident record upon resolution.
  • Dispatches incidents to appropriate entity for escalation or support, updates communication and dispatch status in the incident record, and verifies escalated incidents are acknowledged by vendor.
  • Minimizes the effects of incidents on the service levels by resolving troubles as quickly and efficiently as possible, or managing length of call

Qualifications

  • Operating systems: NT workstation, Windows95/98/2000
  • Servers: NT server and Novell Netware, MS Exchange server
  • Outlook98/2000
  • Applications: MS Office 97/2000, Visio 5/2000, MS Project, MS FrontPage. 
  • MOUS certification or equivalent experience
  • A+ certification or equivalent experience

Nice to have

  • (MCSE)Working knowledge of NT and Novell Servers.
  • An understanding of networks.
  • Excellent Analytical and problem determination skills

NICE TO HAVE TECHNICAL SKILLS:

  • 1 or more years in a Call Centre/Customer Service environment.
  • Ability to maintain customer service standards while meeting productivity standards

REQUIRED SOFT SKILLS

  • Excellent Customer Service skills
  • Ability to respond to irate customers in a professional manner
  • Excellent Command of the English language – Verbal & Written
  • Bilingual (French) – Excellent verbal and written communication Skills
  • Typing Skills -50WPM

Electoral Whozit? (Or: Bush received more votes than any candidate in US election history)

Dearest America:

You’re a very confusing neighbour. We’re not sure why you hate gay people, why you elected Tom “death-penalty-for-abortion-doctors” Coburn and Jim “single-mothers-and-homos-are-morally-unfit-to-teach” DeMint to the Senate, or what exactly you’re doing in Iraq, for that matter. But it seems very important to you, so we hope you accomplish whatever it is you’re trying to do.

We are, however, very much looking forward to taking weekend shopping trips to NYC after our dollar overtakes yours.

Love,
Canada.

More trouble.

Theo van Gogh has been shot and killed in Amsterdam.

He had been subject to a number of death threats after his last film, Submission, which highlighted Islamic violence towards women. He had been working on a film about Pim Fortuyn, the anti-establishment slash anti-immigration politician who was shot and killed two years ago. The Mayor of Amsterdam is organizing a protest — expect rioting tonight in The Kingdom of the Netherlands.

What a terrible day.

Kittens

MY PEEPS:

Chris and I went down to the Cat Sanctuary. The two big buildings have been put back up, and while there’s damage, things are mostly okay. The cats have food and water and shelter again.

I left a message with the Citizen to get contact info for Rene Chartrand, to setup a kitty donation/drive/etc fund.

Let me know if you want to be involved. Otherwise, I’ll keep you all posted.

ad·ver·sary

Belated:

I would like to thank everyone who came out to the Halloween show for my first show. Thank you for supporting me, and telling me sweet lies about my performance.

I’m not certain I really enjoy being on that side of the stage, to be honest. I’m of the opinion that anything worth trying is worth trying twice, so I’ll probably play another show at some point — But beyond that, I don’t know if I’m really a live performer. Maybe as my gear/structure/music changes, but not as it is now.

Thank you again to everyone who showed, and to Nick and Warren. You made the show what it was.

you two

So I have my costume picked out..

Josh is going to be my evil robot LAZER (red).

My idea is for us to walk around the club on sunday, everytime we see eachother I am all like “IS THIS GUY LOOKING FOR A CHALLLLLLEEEEENNNNGGEEEEE!!!!???”

Thats it.