June 2015 Monthly Entry
Summer is nearly here but the weather has been wonderful. This late Spring's weather is practically perfect - just the right temperature and very little rain. Work has been busy though as I've been slowly catching up on things via my manager pointing them out. We had the electricians come again a couple weeks ago and they replaced quite a few ballasts plus fix the electrical outlets in the area of my main janitor closet. For the last couple of months they stopped giving power and the electrical panel switch wouldn't allow for reseting. It made vacuuming the areas more of a chore as I had to use other outlets further away. It turned out one of the outlets had crossed wires and burned, taking out the power of the other outlets. They replaced each one as a precaution and after fixing the switch in the electrical panel (for some reason, it wouldn't reset until it was taken out and put back in), everything worked. I got in trouble with my manager two weeks ago because a recent move-in tenant left the front door of a building open and unattended. I forgot to mention it to the new tenant as the move caught me off guard (my manager has a habit to tell me things at the last minute) and he came within the last hour of my shift. I locked the elevator for him but didn't let him know about watching over the front door so intruders don't take advantage and walk freely into the building. After I left to finish things up in my buildings, one of the damn strata council members noticed the front door wide open and unattended and took a picture of it. The next day, my manager calls and scolds me for not telling the tenant to watch over or close the front doors during the move because the strata caught this and complained. I felt kind of bad during the week but I managed to redeem myself. Late last month, my manager gave me sheets of paper that contained the suites and assigned numbers for everyone's storage locker rooms and parking stalls. My manager wanted me to do a locker audit: checking for used lockers without locks on them, empty lockers, and anything out of the ordinary. I spent around an hour going to every storage locker room in the 4 buildings and noting the ones he (or more accurately, the strata) wanted. Just last Friday, he collected it from me and was thrilled so that took the heat off a bit.
I'm debating if I will be going to the Knights of Mantra's Jet Chapter Campout this mid-July weekend in Redmond, WA. I if decide to go, I'll let y'all know in my next monthly entry.
After my Midwest trip and my attending The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses concert last month, I got some cool Zelda merchandise! The best one is a kickass Ganondorf bust from Dark Horse Comics that I got off US Amazon and picked up from my Leatherdaddy in Alton, Illinois. This version of Ganondorf comes from Twilight Princess, one of the best and woofiest renderings of him! There is a more expensive, higher quality bust that is very much the same but I was satisfied. After I got home from the Midwest I received in the mail from Club Nintendo a Majora's Mask 300 piece puzzle! As Club Nintendo is closing down I got all my points together and picked the most expensive item. I was surprised that it came in an envelope and inside a simple plastic bag containing the pieces. Pretty cheap Nintendo! A box like any other puzzle would suffice! I don't know when I'll put it together but once I do, I'll get a picture of it. Finally, the Majora's Mask t-shirt I got from the concert plus poster. The pics below has everything I mentioned (excluding the poster as I don't want to open and damage it):
My brother-in-law (older sister's husband) was in the hospital for a few weeks due to an infection in his kidneys. He was hiking with a friend at some trail and they got lost without water. He dehydrated and his kidney function was very low. I didn't know it but it turns out his kidneys are not in his lower back but more toward the sides due to something he had since childhood (a transplant I think?). He was taken to Abbotsford Regional Hospital & Cancer Centre as the closer hospital in Langley is not held in high regard by my family. When my niece was a toddler and she fell ill, the busy hospital staff prioritized senior patients and gave them treatment and service while my niece (plus her parents and my parents) had to endue a number of hours in the emergency waiting room until my brother-in-law (younger sister's husband) lost his patience and got up and yelled at staff that they take her in! Because of that, they tend to stay away from Langley Memorial Hospital and my older brother-in-law did too (I'm sure he would have died if he went there!). My in-law's father came all the way from Chicago to see his son and it was the first time I met him. After a bit of a battle with the odds against him, my brother-in-law survived and he was discharged on Sunday! Of course, he survived long enough to see his Blackhawks win another Stanley Cup Championship LOL! Praise the Lord!
On the other side of the spectrum, my friend and fellow-Knight Peter is not doing too good. He suffered a heart attack a couple Fridays ago while driving and slightly clipped a car. They offered to call 911 but he said he didn't want them to as the ambulance will go to Burnaby General and he didn't want to go there as the last time he was there two days previous, the doctor didn't do tests and treatments for him after complaining of chest pains! He wanted to go all the way to St. Paul's so they called a taxi and gave the driver $40 to get him there. While at the hospital in the cardiology ward, Peter then suffered a stroke! These two things had drained Peter of his energy and his mind is more muddled and slow. His eyesight has been affected with one side being kind of blind as it doesn't process from the eye to the brain. When ICBC found this out, they revoked his driver's license! While Peter's older brother got his car stored at his home, Peter is going to give his car to David as it seems he cannot drive it again. While I have visited Peter in his private room in Cardiology, he was eventually moved up to Palliative Care... and we know what that means... I sent out an email to all Knights and while a couple of them gave well wishes (including Thad & Charlie from Seattle), I don't think any local Knights here have actually went and visited him except for Paul! I'm quite saddened at the lack of effort on a few Knights to go out of their way to visit Peter. When they moved him to another room, I sent an updated email to everyone again but still, no response (except Thad & Charlie, and Norman). Even David & Agustin visit him from time-to-time. Peter's stomach cancer is also a factor in his health since his diagnosis in December/January. He had radiation treatments which seemed to put the cancer in remission but now it has flared back up with a vengeance! Before all this stuff currently happened, he was debating his treatment options but now, they may not do much. Peter's power-of-attorney is his older brother and I'm also one of the main contacts as his friend and President of the Knights. I've been having Peter in prayers lately and ask everyone to keep him in your thoughts and prayers too. Peter was my best Knight contact and we understood the group best together. He is an irreplaceable friend and just a kind-hearted guy who helped me through years of on-off problems when they arose. During those times when David and I were going through major problems, Peter was the main one helped me the most through them. I'm praying for a miracle or at the very least, he live as long as possible through this.
Throughout the month, McDonald's here in Canada has been promoting the "Great Canadian Taste Adventure". It's a chance to try some new (but temporary) items that are region-specific or are a concoction to represent a province. Earlier in the month, I had a full meal (pictured below): Cottage Country Chicken Sandwich (Ontario), Maple & Bacon Poutine (Quebec), and a Chocolate Nanaimo Sundae (BC) with a Sprite to drink. It cost almost $14 for it all but it was a damn good meal. The Cottage Country Chicken Sandwich was for one week only and after it retired, the Western BBQ Burger (Alberta) took over the following week and then finally and currently, the McLobster (Atlantic). It sucks the chicken sandwich was only for a week as it was pretty tasty. The poutine and sundae will last until the end of the month. I hope they make this a yearly thing!
I just started Season 5 of Star Trek: DS9. Review coming later next month most likely.
On my flight from Toronto to Vancouver last month, I watched last year's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie. While the movie was pretty bad, it was nonetheless "Michael Bay" entertaining as expected. You can see both the Angry Video Game Nerd and Nostalgia Critic review this movie here or below as it pretty much sums up my feelings of the movie (and to be fair, it's not as bad as TMNT III):
A few weeks ago on Netflix the household and I watched a documentary called The Final Member. It's about a curator in Iceland who houses the world's largest collection of penises but is missing one - a human penis. Two men consent to offer their penis to his museum, one Icelandic and the other American. It's a pretty... strange documentary to say the least! I was hoping for someone to scream "COCK!" but nope, they kept it (mostly) professional. Check it out if you're interested in quirky docs.
Before I could see the sequel, I rented The Avengers from Xbox Video as I haven't seen the movie since its original theatrical release. It was fun to watch it again and have remember some things and forgot others. You can watch the Bum Review here or below:
Last Tuesday, I snuck out of work early to go see The Avengers: Age of Ultron in 3D at Cineplex in Coquitlam. A good thing too as there were only about 6 of us in the theatre. I was slightly late but since there were so many commercials before the trailers, I hardly missed any. I saw the trailers for Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Ant-Man. While I'm skeptical about this new Star Wars movie, Ant-Man looks like a fun flick. Anyways, Age of Ultron was a decent sequel and it was great to see the Avengers crew play off each other and interact more. There are some new, lesser-Avengers joining and may end up being part of the main cast in the third movie. The action was good and the 3D effects were okay. I didn't much find Ultron to be a menacing villain. Smart yes, scary no. I just can't wait for Thanos who was shown at the end of the first movie and featured in Guardians of the Galaxy. Unlike the first movie, the end credits have nothing at the very end which was a small disappointment (why not show them eating together at Hawkeye's home or something?) as I giggled at seeing the Avengers eating at a Shawarma restaurant that Tony Stark mentioned earlier in the previous movie. To see the Bum Review go here or below:
Sibling Rivalry between Doug and Rob Walker reviewing the movie here or below:
And Spoiler Corner here or below:
I haven't played Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII much and I actually plan to restart from the beginning as I'm trying to get used to the (questionable) gameplay mechanics. I've been concentrating recently on Kirby Mass Attack and want to get it out of the way while Suikoden is nearly done.
I've done little reading of Mere Christianity as I haven't had much time to read. I'll try to pick up on it so I can get the collection off to a start.
Last Movie: The Avengers: Age of Ultron 3D (Theatrical), The Avengers (Xbox Video)
Last Book: KJV Holy Bible - Revelation
Last Game: Parasite Eve II (PSN - PSone)
Current Book: The Complete C.S. Lewis Signature Classics - Mere Christianity
Current Games: Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII (PS3) & Kirby Mass Attack (DS) & Suikoden (PSone)
I'm debating if I will be going to the Knights of Mantra's Jet Chapter Campout this mid-July weekend in Redmond, WA. I if decide to go, I'll let y'all know in my next monthly entry.
After my Midwest trip and my attending The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses concert last month, I got some cool Zelda merchandise! The best one is a kickass Ganondorf bust from Dark Horse Comics that I got off US Amazon and picked up from my Leatherdaddy in Alton, Illinois. This version of Ganondorf comes from Twilight Princess, one of the best and woofiest renderings of him! There is a more expensive, higher quality bust that is very much the same but I was satisfied. After I got home from the Midwest I received in the mail from Club Nintendo a Majora's Mask 300 piece puzzle! As Club Nintendo is closing down I got all my points together and picked the most expensive item. I was surprised that it came in an envelope and inside a simple plastic bag containing the pieces. Pretty cheap Nintendo! A box like any other puzzle would suffice! I don't know when I'll put it together but once I do, I'll get a picture of it. Finally, the Majora's Mask t-shirt I got from the concert plus poster. The pics below has everything I mentioned (excluding the poster as I don't want to open and damage it):
My brother-in-law (older sister's husband) was in the hospital for a few weeks due to an infection in his kidneys. He was hiking with a friend at some trail and they got lost without water. He dehydrated and his kidney function was very low. I didn't know it but it turns out his kidneys are not in his lower back but more toward the sides due to something he had since childhood (a transplant I think?). He was taken to Abbotsford Regional Hospital & Cancer Centre as the closer hospital in Langley is not held in high regard by my family. When my niece was a toddler and she fell ill, the busy hospital staff prioritized senior patients and gave them treatment and service while my niece (plus her parents and my parents) had to endue a number of hours in the emergency waiting room until my brother-in-law (younger sister's husband) lost his patience and got up and yelled at staff that they take her in! Because of that, they tend to stay away from Langley Memorial Hospital and my older brother-in-law did too (I'm sure he would have died if he went there!). My in-law's father came all the way from Chicago to see his son and it was the first time I met him. After a bit of a battle with the odds against him, my brother-in-law survived and he was discharged on Sunday! Of course, he survived long enough to see his Blackhawks win another Stanley Cup Championship LOL! Praise the Lord!
On the other side of the spectrum, my friend and fellow-Knight Peter is not doing too good. He suffered a heart attack a couple Fridays ago while driving and slightly clipped a car. They offered to call 911 but he said he didn't want them to as the ambulance will go to Burnaby General and he didn't want to go there as the last time he was there two days previous, the doctor didn't do tests and treatments for him after complaining of chest pains! He wanted to go all the way to St. Paul's so they called a taxi and gave the driver $40 to get him there. While at the hospital in the cardiology ward, Peter then suffered a stroke! These two things had drained Peter of his energy and his mind is more muddled and slow. His eyesight has been affected with one side being kind of blind as it doesn't process from the eye to the brain. When ICBC found this out, they revoked his driver's license! While Peter's older brother got his car stored at his home, Peter is going to give his car to David as it seems he cannot drive it again. While I have visited Peter in his private room in Cardiology, he was eventually moved up to Palliative Care... and we know what that means... I sent out an email to all Knights and while a couple of them gave well wishes (including Thad & Charlie from Seattle), I don't think any local Knights here have actually went and visited him except for Paul! I'm quite saddened at the lack of effort on a few Knights to go out of their way to visit Peter. When they moved him to another room, I sent an updated email to everyone again but still, no response (except Thad & Charlie, and Norman). Even David & Agustin visit him from time-to-time. Peter's stomach cancer is also a factor in his health since his diagnosis in December/January. He had radiation treatments which seemed to put the cancer in remission but now it has flared back up with a vengeance! Before all this stuff currently happened, he was debating his treatment options but now, they may not do much. Peter's power-of-attorney is his older brother and I'm also one of the main contacts as his friend and President of the Knights. I've been having Peter in prayers lately and ask everyone to keep him in your thoughts and prayers too. Peter was my best Knight contact and we understood the group best together. He is an irreplaceable friend and just a kind-hearted guy who helped me through years of on-off problems when they arose. During those times when David and I were going through major problems, Peter was the main one helped me the most through them. I'm praying for a miracle or at the very least, he live as long as possible through this.
Throughout the month, McDonald's here in Canada has been promoting the "Great Canadian Taste Adventure". It's a chance to try some new (but temporary) items that are region-specific or are a concoction to represent a province. Earlier in the month, I had a full meal (pictured below): Cottage Country Chicken Sandwich (Ontario), Maple & Bacon Poutine (Quebec), and a Chocolate Nanaimo Sundae (BC) with a Sprite to drink. It cost almost $14 for it all but it was a damn good meal. The Cottage Country Chicken Sandwich was for one week only and after it retired, the Western BBQ Burger (Alberta) took over the following week and then finally and currently, the McLobster (Atlantic). It sucks the chicken sandwich was only for a week as it was pretty tasty. The poutine and sundae will last until the end of the month. I hope they make this a yearly thing!
I just started Season 5 of Star Trek: DS9. Review coming later next month most likely.
On my flight from Toronto to Vancouver last month, I watched last year's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie. While the movie was pretty bad, it was nonetheless "Michael Bay" entertaining as expected. You can see both the Angry Video Game Nerd and Nostalgia Critic review this movie here or below as it pretty much sums up my feelings of the movie (and to be fair, it's not as bad as TMNT III):
Click to viewA few weeks ago on Netflix the household and I watched a documentary called The Final Member. It's about a curator in Iceland who houses the world's largest collection of penises but is missing one - a human penis. Two men consent to offer their penis to his museum, one Icelandic and the other American. It's a pretty... strange documentary to say the least! I was hoping for someone to scream "COCK!" but nope, they kept it (mostly) professional. Check it out if you're interested in quirky docs.
Before I could see the sequel, I rented The Avengers from Xbox Video as I haven't seen the movie since its original theatrical release. It was fun to watch it again and have remember some things and forgot others. You can watch the Bum Review here or below:
Last Tuesday, I snuck out of work early to go see The Avengers: Age of Ultron in 3D at Cineplex in Coquitlam. A good thing too as there were only about 6 of us in the theatre. I was slightly late but since there were so many commercials before the trailers, I hardly missed any. I saw the trailers for Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Ant-Man. While I'm skeptical about this new Star Wars movie, Ant-Man looks like a fun flick. Anyways, Age of Ultron was a decent sequel and it was great to see the Avengers crew play off each other and interact more. There are some new, lesser-Avengers joining and may end up being part of the main cast in the third movie. The action was good and the 3D effects were okay. I didn't much find Ultron to be a menacing villain. Smart yes, scary no. I just can't wait for Thanos who was shown at the end of the first movie and featured in Guardians of the Galaxy. Unlike the first movie, the end credits have nothing at the very end which was a small disappointment (why not show them eating together at Hawkeye's home or something?) as I giggled at seeing the Avengers eating at a Shawarma restaurant that Tony Stark mentioned earlier in the previous movie. To see the Bum Review go here or below:
Sibling Rivalry between Doug and Rob Walker reviewing the movie here or below:
And Spoiler Corner here or below:
I haven't played Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII much and I actually plan to restart from the beginning as I'm trying to get used to the (questionable) gameplay mechanics. I've been concentrating recently on Kirby Mass Attack and want to get it out of the way while Suikoden is nearly done.
I've done little reading of Mere Christianity as I haven't had much time to read. I'll try to pick up on it so I can get the collection off to a start.
Last Movie: The Avengers: Age of Ultron 3D (Theatrical), The Avengers (Xbox Video)
Last Book: KJV Holy Bible - Revelation
Last Game: Parasite Eve II (PSN - PSone)
Current Book: The Complete C.S. Lewis Signature Classics - Mere Christianity
Current Games: Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII (PS3) & Kirby Mass Attack (DS) & Suikoden (PSone)