more about the soonger |
july 2001 |
Saturday, July 7.It's been a busy couple of weeks at work. Orientation is completed now and slowly they are putting me into the regular 'pharmacist rotation'. What that means is the kid gloves are off-- they want me to do all the same things as the full staff. I have no problems with all activities except order-entry. I really am disliking the system we have now (recently upgraded to new software). Otherwise, my initial reservations about the job are more or less gone-- I wanna make a big change into how things are done in hospital. Pharmacy can do so much and right now it's not happening. I want to make some serious changes as to contributions pharmacy can provide to the quality of services in Windsor. As for this weekend, it has been quite busy. Mike and I went downtown to check out the Epicure Festival by the riverfront. Just checkin' out the scenery, if you know what I mean. As for today, it was quite a day for me. I took Rex out for a walk around the block this morning. He was so happy to go outside in the front. Did some banking before dropping my mom off at my cousin's wedding shower for lunch. My dad and I went to Arby's instead. Got some magazines from the library my reserved earlier this week on the way home. I was doing a little 'net surfing this afternoon-- I figured out why the DSL wasn't working last night. My mom plugged in the phone in her room-- I had to disconnect it 'cause it was interfering with the DSL (one of the sacrifices of this service... forgot to mention that she has to plug it in when she wants to use it but then immediately plug it out so that we can have 'net access. Yes, this is ghetto but Bell only provided us with 4 line silencers and I've used them all up!) |
This afternoon, like I said I did some MP3 searching and some CD burning. We went out for supper this evening. I paid! (Well, my brother had a $25 gift certificate that a patient gave him and we used it-- I paid the balance) It was tasty 'cause we haven't eaten there in a while. This evening, I got a phone call from Jane while out for supper. I called her back and we talked for an hour. Chit-chatted and discussed my plans for the end of the month-- I'm headed up to Toronto for my BMW comparison test drive. Family friends came by so I cut things short. Natalie (out of the blue) gave me a call tonight as well. She's doing great-- being quite the social butterfly. Glad that she's having fun at home. As for tomorrow, it'll probably have dim sum somewhere in the equation. As well, Pat and I will go see Jet Li's, Kiss of the Dragon. Previews look great on TV. Downloaded the trailer from the website. Also downloaded the trailer to new Kevin Smith movie, Silent Bob and Jay Strike Back. It has Kevin Smith's genius written all over it. (For those who are easily offended by strong language, then stay away from this one!) That's about it for now. |
Sunday, July 8.Well... it's been a busy day. Went out for dim sum-- that was tasty! Then it's been fixing up this webpage 'cause it's been not well-kept the past few weeks. I've posted up my new page, grad and convocation scans in the scans section. Haven't had a chance to do any commentaries. Just a preview of the pictures. Trying out using the one thumbnail to speed up page loading. Write me and tell me the results for those who are 56k'ers-- DSL is in my house and things load up much faster now! |
Plans for this evening? I plan to continue on and burn some CDs-- owe a friend a long-awaited disc. Also have to clean up the hard drive-- don't know why I have so much stuff on here. Guess it's 'cause I download so much more things now that I have faster Internet-- there's a feeling I get that I'm wasting bandwidth if I'm not downloading something. Ironic, isn't it? I guess there's no such thing as your transfer rate being 'too fast'... it's only the opposite. Hope I don't get too reliant on this speed... at $40/month, I think I should be getting faster service than I currently have. Average speeds are around 20-30k/sec. That's pathetic when I hear people in Ottawa getting rates of 100k+/sec... man, what a rip-off! (And my friends with cable also get good rates... much faster than mine!) |
Sunday, July 15.I have to say the drive up to Stratford Fri night was pretty good. I gave my car a chance to get some highway miles. PLUS, no stone chips or scratches, which is such a relief! The reason why I went up was due to Eli Lilly's generous invitation to attend a talk about osteoporosis. (They wanted to promote Evista.) The inticement was to sit for an hour talk, have lunch then go see The Merchant of Venice. No problem for me! I left Friday night. I went over to my friend, Farah's place to see how she and her family are doing. Farah's place is quite nice. She lives in a quiet neighbourhood. She was down the street from the hotel my brother was staying, so getting there was easy. I saw her parents and FJ was nice enough to make a nice pie that her cousin from UK gave her. (She just came back from UK/Spain with Karen a couple days ago.) I crashed at FJ's after watching Sex in the City. For Saturday, Mrs J made us some really good raisin bread French toast. Yummy! (FJ invited my brother over and we had a nice b'fast) We left Chez Jamani around 10:45 to go over to the drug talk. Lilly had a nice production over at this place called the Church Restaurant in downtown Stratford. (Apparently, it's the most expensive restaurant in town-- no joke-- dinner entrees were no less than $50! Off-peak hour dishes were around $18...) The presentation had 2 speakers from Mac (gyne & rheumatologist). Both were highly distinguished researchers so their knowledge was good. I learned a thing or two but my bro told me that, ultimately, Fosamax is a better drug with more supporting data. |
After the 3-course lunch, we walked over to the Festival. Went to see the play. Have you ever read it? It's about a guy (Brassanio) who wants to marry a woman (Portia) for her $$$. He needs to borrow $$$ from a friend (Antonio) such that he looks like a nobleman. Antonio normally has quite a bit of $$$ but he's invested everything into exporting/importing so he has no cash on hand. Antonio ends up being the co-signer to a loan from Shylock, a Jewish guy. (And that's where Shakespeare looks like a racist-- the portrayal of Shylock as a bitter old man who hates everyone, etc. -- it's evident that Jewish people weren't looked upon highly in Elizabethan England. That's the story in a nutshell-- if you've read it already, then this is just a refresher. Overall, I thought the play was not bad but not a really good. I'm not sure why it's categorized as a comedy-- it's more of a social commentary, more than anything... The drive back had me go through London. Pat and I were hungry so we went to our favourite buffet place-- Harmony Grand Buffet. I tried calling up Imran (forgot to take his # with me so I used the phone book and 411 to no avail). Drove home -- got back at 9. Had enough daylight to hose off the numerous bug guts. Wasn't tired to so I watched Gladiator on TMN and went 'net surfing before bed (1 AM). |
Saturday, July 21.Quite a busy week for me. The 7 AM shifts that I work at the pharmacy is doing horrors to my sleep patterns. Sure, I finish work at 3 and I have the rest of the day but I just don't have the energy to go out and do stuff! The heat is another contributing factor to this-- I used to be an anti-air conditioning type of person but when the heat becomes oppressive, the windows get rolled up and the A/C is put on 'auto'. On the most part, I am quite satisfied with the work environment. People are good and the challenges are there. My greatest hurdle is the computer system, which I must have said over and over again! Let me tell you that the steep part of the learning curve is over and now I'm at the plateau part-- I am confident that what I enter is correct and the technicians on the other side don't have to make that many corrections. Not much else was going on except for Tuesday. I went out after work to pick up a DVD player! Went to a place called Stereoland on Ottawa street because they have some decent equipment in the store. I picked up a Pioneer DV-626D. It's a discontinued 2000 model but it does all the things I want out of a DVD player and more! It's got dts and Dolby Digital decoders built onboard but unfortunately the Yamaha receiver that we have does not have the inputs to accept the Pioneer. Thus I have to compromise with Dolby Surround. (What a shame!) The movie experience has increased several fold in the house. I have been watching all our DVDs in the house-- at least the ones I want to watch. Each night has been a viewing of at least one film! |
On Thursday, I made several phone calls to friends across Ontario. I was glad to hear how well everyone is adjusting to working for a living. Most are quite happy with their current situation. I'm sure making real $$$ is a great reward for all the efforts we put forth the past 4 years! I also picked up my degree from framing. It looks quite sharp. When I have an opportunity, I'll take a picture beside it and post it on this webpage-- after all, it's my money-making degree (no snub to my University of Windsor science degree but it doesn't pay the bills!). This weekend, it's been somewhat quiet, socially. Got up around 9:30. Did some internet and then completed some chores. I helped my mom find a b'day card for her friend at Shoppers. My mom also wanted to go to Winners to return something. Before lunch, I went over to Future Shop to buy some blank CDs to burn music (to all my friends as well as build my own collection) In the afternoon, my mom had a birthday party to attend at 1 so we (my dad & I) stayed around home until then. We dropped my mom off at the party downtown and we ourselves went to Arby's for lunch. Read the Globe & Mail while we were there. We made it back home before the HUGE thunderstorm. Power was flickering on/off so I stayed off the computer after it powered down the first time. For supper, we went out to eat. I ran into a pharmacist working at the Shoppers by my house. She's just come back from family vacation to Marineland (Niagara). Heard that a fellow pharmacist had his new Toyota hit in the parking lot-- hit and run. Isn't that awful?! This evening, it was watching more DVDs! I watched Transformers movie, the rest of Unbreakable and flipped through Aliens. It was an entertaining evening. Rex barfed in his cage while we were out for supper so I gave him some Zantac. I didn't think it was wise to take him out for a walk so he's sleeping beside me here in the computer room. I should get some sleep. Need to work on my internship review questions. |
Tuesday, July 24.I can't believe how much I've done at work in a mere 6 weeks. Orientation is done and I feel quite comfortable answering questions ranging from computer stuff (which I hated before but consider not so bad) to general pharmacy questions. Strange once you familiarized yourself with the surroundings. |
I look forward to this weekend. Going up to Toronto to do some driving at the expense of BMW Canada. I have to see what the fanfare is about a BMW. Sure, I've done a test drive but don't think it's all that. In fact, the trim around the car is kinda subpar for a C$40+k car. If you're paying for luxury, you'd better deliver! I also look forward to meeting up with my friends who I haven't seen since convocation. Can't believe that was so long ago (a month!) Time is flying by. This is nuts... |
incredible weekend!Monday, July 30.What an incredible weekend I just had. On Saturday, my friend Mike and I made a trek up to Toronto in a BMW 750iL. Why? I was invited by BMW Canada to participate in a "comparison drive" challenge. What?! Well, BMW wanted me and a guest to see how its 330i & 330xi compared in performance to its 5 largest competitors-- Acura TL Type-S (my car), Audi 2.8 A4 quattro, Lexus IS300, Mercedes C320 and Volvo S60 T5. BMW had converted part of a Downsview Airport hangar into a pavillion and obstacle course. The pavillion had numerous cars in its line-up and other promotional advertising. The obstacle course was for us to take each car through and see how they felt in performance-inspired driving. How? (did I get to drive a BMW 750iL to Toronto) Well, this is a tricky one. I was intending to take my Type-S up to Toronto to show my friends my new car but something came up. One of Mike's neighbours had a dilemma-- his car only takes premium fuel (like mine). However the service attendant accidentally pumped regular unleaded into his car-- the engine light went on causing some great concern. Mike and a mechanic diagnosed the warning light to the lower octane fuel. It was next to impossible to siphon out fuel from the car via conventional means (hand pump and long tubing) so it was thought that driving the car and adding premium gas via geometric dilution (ie keep adding fuel when the guage reads 1/2 tank) be the most practical means. City driving with low octane fuel would probably cause the most harm to the engine so a long distance highway driving be the least wearing style of driving for that car. Can you see where this is going? ... That's how we got to drive the Bimmer. Mike came over on Saturday at 8:30AM. The weather could not have been any better. It was sunny, low humidity and temperatures in the mid-20s (about 80 F). Let me tell you that it was such a nice driving experience sitting in a nice car like that. It's not that great a leap from the Acura but there were some subtleties that I immediately noticed. Seating comfort in the plush leather was apparent-- Mike noted, "How many cows had to die to make this interior?!". The instrument panel-- you could control any aspect of the interior from temperature to the very powerful (440 W) stereo system. In fact, I thought the panel to be overwhelming-- why so many buttons?! We had to consult the owner's manual on several occasions to figure things out (ie it was not intuitive like the Acura). Mike and I arrived in Toronto around 12:30, on time to meet up with my aunt for lunch. We went out to eat with my aunt for lunch Sat afternoon out in a Scarborough eatery. Very good food (maybe the experience was enhanced by the fact that I was quite hungry!) It was also my opportunity to reciprocate on generousity. (My aunt took me out so many times while I was in school.) I paid! We went back to my aunt's place to relax. I promised my aunt I would come by Sunday to pick up some things for my mother. Afterwards, Mike and I went to a BMW dealer to find a light bulb for a burned out front turn light on the prestigious car we drove. First thing we did was get gas for the car. As we were filling up, one of the customers started talking to Mike about the car. He asked to take a look at the car and looked inside. It was funny-- he had no problems thinking that this was Mike's car. (It definitely made Mike feel good, let me tell you!) We stopped off at Town+Country BMW at Yonge and Steeles (it's on Yonge!) A funny thing happened while trying to find this place. We couldn't find it so we stopped off at a grocery store (I was going to look in a phone book when I saw this guy in overalls buying a Pepsi from a vending machine and asked where the dealership was... he pointed it out. I then noticed the BMW badge on the overalls and the 2001 BMW M3 sitting right in front of us!) At the dealership parts department, we heard a story about one guy having the BMW emblems pryed off 3 of 4 hubcaps. He assumed that the emblems could be individually replaced but discovered the whole hubcap assembly had to be purchased-- $75 each! Ouch! I said to the man, "That's wrong for anyone to mess with a guy's ride." I hate to stereotype but an older gentleman waiting in line what I meant. I then rephrased that it was it's sacreligious to damage another person's car. (Mike and I joked about that when we went back into the car...) We then went to the comparison drive-- wow, when we got there, it almost felt surreal. We got there early so we could see what cars were available, the 'test track' and what other promotional information we could pick up. Not only did I learn more about proper seating position, I learned A LOT about driving and how cars handle. The test track was comprised of 7 criteria:
Of the 7 cars available to drive (Acura TL Type-S, Audi 2.8 A4 quattro, BMW 330i, BMW 330xi, 2001 Lexus IS300, Mercedes-Benz C320 sport, Volvo S60 T5, the Acura was the only 2002 model. I was unable to compare the Lexus due to time constraints. The first car I drove was the Audi. For 2001, the traction control and dynamic stability control was unavailable-- the 2002 model will have that as an option. At the time, I thought I could control ANYTHING they threw at me. Guess again! Thinking how advanced the legendary quattro system was, it gave me a false impression of how I merely needed to just steer the car. Nope-- a lot is left up to the driver to control thus I was all over the place in the skidpad portion of the course. The other sections of the course allowed me to see how the car handled itself. It's quite an extrordinary car but I personally did not like its interior layout (too many gadgets!) and its small size did not justify its lofty price. The quattro system-- very advanced-- but I didn't give it a chance to learn some of its subtleties. I just hit the accelerator and steered it hard. (First impression score: 7/10... wasn't impressed but give me some more time so that it'll grow on me...) The next set of cars I drove was the BMWs in order-- the brilliant marketing dept gave me the first impression of this car to be 'the ultimate driving machine'. When I put this car through the tests, I felt I had to control it to unlease its potential. It gave lots of feedback but still was refined. Much better than the quattro. The RWD allowed the back end spin out more than the 4WD but to some, they like that sensation. Personally, the BMW is not what it claims to be. Don't get me wrong, it's a great car but when I stepped into another car, it was night and day... (First impression scores: 7.5/10 (RWD), 8.0/10 (4WD) -- if you want more safety in the winter, go 4WD... more to play -- take the RWD but go with the manual. Save C$1000+ and get some mods!) The Volvo... it's one of the lightest cars in the comparison (surprisingly). No one will argue the safety features to the auto and how the engineers put safety in the forefront of its design. Workmanship on the inside is good-- a little more buttons in the instrument panel than my parent's S70 but still within reason. I felt quite comfortable at the wheel and the seating position could be manipulated in a multitude of ways. (Like I said-- it's a small transition from my parent's 2000 S70) I have to say, driving the car did not leave any lasting impressions on me as I think about it. It did have quite a bit of grunt on the straightaway and the brakes did bite hard. A bit of feedback was felt on the brake pedal when I mashed it hard. (I've done that before but those who never done it-- try it once and don't panic when you feel it.) The feedback when the traction control was a little louder than the others but effective. (Impression score: 7.0/10 -- good name, did respectably in the crowd, but not a real performer.) |
The Mercedes was an amazing car-- the most expensive car in the comparison. But let me tell you that no expenses were spared on this one. The beefier suspension and other techno refinements to the car were readily seen. This car did wonderfully in the course. Mind you, this was the last car I took around the track so I was quite familiar with what obstacles to do. I threw everything into it and it asked for more. I felt I was in total control of the vehicle and no panic was felt. The ride was great and it was very quiet. A little too quiet considering I wanted to see how it could perform! Perhaps I like the finer things in life and that's why my enthusiasm towards the Benz is so favourable. Acceleration was not bad and the brakes were fantastic (even though they were hot!) No real flaws to its design and handling but it being C$20000 more than the least expensive car (Acura Type-S)... that's quite a premium one must pay to have the privilege to drive such a fine motorcar. (Impression: 9.5/10 -- this car was designed to ace the obstacle course!) Lastly, I have to compare the Acura Type-S in this group. (Due to time constraints, I was unable to drive the Lexus-- too bad, I wanted to see how it compared to my car! After all, it was the other 'serious contender' to being my first car...) This lap around the course provided me an opportunity to test the limits of my car without me wearing my car out! I felt a bit overconfident with what my car could do-- I skidded the first station pretty badly. On the winding road, the bulk of the car (it was the heaviest in the group) was quite apparent and was emphasized in the hair pin turn and the slolam. The hard brake after a sharp turn, I barely was able to keep it between the pilons (Mike drove through many of them on his run). The raw power of the Type-S was easily demonstrated in the straightaway. The speed limit was 70-- I made it to 70 with plenty of room and could have made it to 100 at the stop sign. When I slammed the brakes, the front heaviness of the FWD and engine provided some serious nosedive. (I'm used to that feeling) Distance wasn't so good-- almost hit the end pilons but still could manouver it back to the starting point without having to go in reverse. Based upon the various stations, my car did the poorest in comparison (6.0/10) Performance-wise, the Acura was the heaviest and had the smallest brakes. Although the suspension was beefed up, it's not engineered to be pushed through this course. In its defense, the test vehicle had some serious mechanical problems-- the steering wheel was making a clicking sound when you turned it-- something was loose/wrong. The amount of sway on the car was signficantly greater than my car (easily felt) and one of the tires were already changed over the course of a week. The odometer read 1500km-- I can guarantee it was not properly 'broken in'. (I feel sorry for the individual who will buy it after this lease is up!) In conclusion, I had a blast-- I would highly recommend ANYONE to go if they are invited. (How did I get invited? I must have given them some demographic information when I asked for more info about their driving school. I did that over the web...) They did give me a small press junket about their driving school and I am seriously considering to do it this fall. If I buy or lease a BMW within the next 90 days, they'll give me the driving class for free! (A $450 value) Don't think so when I already drive a C$48000+ auto! After the great driving lessons, I called up my friend Jane to see how she's doing. She was working until 8 so it got complicated. Instead, I called up my brother's friends who were in town to see what they were up to. They were going out for supper. I gladly hooked up with them. For supper, Mike and I ate at the (Chris Ruth's) steakhouse at the Hilton downtown. The evening was filled with great conversation and some fine wine (2 bottles of wine = $100!) Dinner for us 5 must have been about $500, at least. But let me say that was high quality food and high class atmosphere. Not for the budget minded, let me tell you! I had the nicest prime rib of my life!!! Finished supper around 11:30--those boys live the high life! Because it was so late, we didn't get a chance to hook up with Jane. She had to go to work the next morning at 9. =( I did promise her that I would contact her before I left. We got back to the car and dropped off Michael, Dave and Dave's girlfriend, Leslie. It took us forever to find a place to sleep that night. I think someone told me it was Caribana weekend and every room in Toronto was filled to capacity. We started our room search in Scarborough off the 401 and went as far out as Whitby. By around 1:15, all hope was growing thin. Rooms we left behind (in search of cheaper rates) were taken when we revisited. I made one last desparation phone call-- I phoned up New College to see if there were any room available. Success! It was the cheapest rate we could find ($30 / person) and it was downtown. Ironically, I asked Mike if he wanted to stay there or not at 11:30 and he politely said 'No'. (Well, he swallowed his pride after that and has vowed to always stay there if he goes to Toronto in the future!) We went to bed around 2 and got up the following morning around 9. I got up first, brushed my teeth and did some exploring. I called up my good friend, Satwant, who's living in the other building of New College. Unfortunately I woke her up (she's not a morning person) We decided to go out for lunch uptown. After I got all my things together, we all went uptown for lunch with Stephanie. Mike was not too impressed with my directional skills. Oops... we were late picking up Stephanie by 15 minutes. Anyway, we went out for dim sum. Mike paid for us all (very generous of him). I dropped Stephanie off and thanked her for taking time out of her very busy day to spend time with us. I went over to my aunt's house to pick up the stuff that my aunt wanted to give to my mom. It filled up the BMW trunk quite nicely-- wow, that was a lot of FOOD! Dropped Sat off downtown-- before heading back home, I had to go see Ping to buy 1 pound of char siew (BBQ pork). He was happy to see me-- I paid $6 and he also gave me a free bottle of cold water. Any time I go to Toronto, I will always go there to order some BBQ food for home-- he's taken care of me these past 4 years and I will be a loyal customer. On the way home, we went over to visit my friend, Gurinder, in Kitchener/Waterloo. It was good meeting up with him. We mainly talked about cars and reminisced. We checked out his ride-- a '97 Integra. It's starting to show some signs of aging. Don't know if I can solve some of his concerns though... He also got to check out the BMW 750iL that we were driving. He was a little disappointed not to see my car (type-s) but the 750iL was not that shabby! We stopped off at London for supper. Mike decided to take a 'short cut' instead of the standard Wellington Road exit. We did end up saving some time so it was worth it. I finally got a chance to see where Imran was living. His apartment wasn't bad-- it was nice, considering how much he paid. He's got his toys (TV / DVD player, books, etc) Mike and I played a prank on him. We walked first into the elevator to go out to eat and allowed Imran to get out of the elevator first. He walked out into the parking lot and looked around for our car. It was funny when he said, "Where's your car? -- Wouldn't it be nice if it were this (the BMW 750) car?" Mike and I cracked a big smile-- Mike started to walk towards the car and deactivated the car alarm. We made to believe that Mike came along with me to Toronto, not only to drive some BMWs but to accept an inheritance of a new car. The facade did not last too long-- we told him about our very fortunate situation. We went out to eat at Jack Astor's, near Maisonville. Food wasn't bad-- we did give our server, Jesse, a bit of a hard time. Not in a bad sense, but in a joking way. She played up with us. By the time we left, it was close to 8:30. So we had to hurry home 'cause we didn't want to have Mike's neighbour wait up. The drive home was rather tame up until we reached the last stretch. When we passed Chatham, an electric storm broke out-- we saw some amazing lights and colours. There were some kick@ss lighning! The rain starting coming down when we reached Lakeshore but died down when we saw the Windsor city limits. I got home at 10:45. It took a while for me to unpack the car. Everything was just as I left it. It was nice to see the Volvo back from the body shop. Rex was happy to see me. I wanted to taste the BBQ pork I brought home to Windsor. Took a shower and did some computing before bed. My mom reminded me that I took today off so I didn't have to get up early (thank goodness-- I was prepared to turn the alarm on for 6...) Today, it was very productive. I got up at 9 (brilliant!) and messed around the house. I ate more of the BBQ pork for brunch as well as some instant noodles. Parents did some shopping. Had some turnip cakes my aunt bought me for lunch. Had to run some errands this afternoon-- went to the east end to deliver some video tapes for one of my mom's colleagues to watch, went to McGaffey Pharmacy to pick up some pledge sheets, got my hair cut, dropped off the film to be processed at Wal-mart, talked to my friend, Kristie at the pharmacy, and did some shopping at Shopper's Drug Mart. Now I'm home and enjoying... it's so hot outside. I'll have to wait until evening to wash the car. I'll definitely go swimming-- after all, I picked up a U of W membership to use the St Dennis Centre facilities! One last thing: I have to remind myself to go back to Wal-mart to pick up the pictures and scan all the photos I took at this weekend!!! |