who's soonger??

Monday, Mar 28

Ooops ... guess a lot has happened in a month's time. To update you all ... I didn't make it to Australia this month, after all that fanfare earlier. It has something to do with more personal matters so I had to be home and make sure everything was cool there. I do feel bad for my cousin, Kimi. I really wanted to be there but I hope the explanation I gave her was good enough. =( Because I decided not to go, I do feel as if my brother didn't attend the wedding. Guess I'm indirectly to blame there. Sorry, Kimi!

In the meantime, I did find hours to fill in the voids in the schedule. Kinda helps -- have taxes to pay next month (big time). Which reminds me ... I better get all my paperwork in order for my accountant (mental note to self).

Also ... I have been paying a lot of attention to the car. Weather here has been absolutely brilliant -- temps above 10 C (50 F) so that means spring cleaning. Did all that on the w/e (cleaned mats, cleaned/conditioned the leather seats, vacuumed) and a nice wash of the car. Also installed my new summer rims on Thursday. Had to ask Mike to come over and use the compressor he has on the van.

My preliminary review of the Volk rims/Pirelli tires: handles differently. The car has less understeer when pushed hard around corners. There is a lot more flex in the sidewalls (load 85 on tires whereas OEM tires have 93XL rating) which can be a good thing (but a little frightening at the same time). Major complaint: road noise. I was a little freaked out by it ... it's load as hell now. Putting on the radio 1-2 levels of loudness to filter out road noise. My hearing accommodation can only filter out so much ...

On the agenda: car meet this weekend in Toronto. Going up Friday night and crashing over at Farah's. Then Woodbine Acura for the morning / early aft to check out the cars. First meet of the year ... should be a good one! I'll definitely have to take pics.

Saturday, Apr 17

This has been a busy couple weeks. Let's recap: the meet in Toronto was pretty good. We shared the venue with Acura EL club. There were some other people out -- some Integras, Hondas, even a couple of CL's. Nice to see the TL crew out as well as some new faces. I also helped one guy take off his bumper and take off the resonator (where the outside air comes into the engine before the air filter). Hung out with Farah the night before and had dinner with Charlene before I left (after the meet)... nice to catch up with friends.

One story about after the weekend in Toronto ... my uncle bought a new Saab. He wanted to see how my car handles compared to my car (and hear how loud my tires are. He noticed my car pulled a little to the left (he works as a driving instructor at the CAA). He advised me to rotate my tires and it may help. The next morning, I realized that my tire was completely FLAT! I had to go to 3 different gas stations to get the tire pressure up to 48 psi (the first 2 places had problems with their tubing). I let the car sit in the garage for a few hours and rechecked the pressure ... down to 30 psi. It was a big leak! I took it over to Mike's place ... he and his dad took a look at the suspect tire and could find nothing. No tire place was open on Sunday so I had to put on my original tire / rim (Michelin / Acura factory rim) as a temporary solution. Had to drive with unmatching rims until Tuesday. Before going to Serbu Tire, I checked all tire pressures and noticed the driver's rear tire was losing a bit of air. Had the guys at the shop check the 2 tires ... one hour later, they found 1 screw in one tire and 1 nail in the other.

The past couple weeks have been not that busy with respect to work. Booked less than 40hrs in a week. That's a joke! At least I'm working today (Sat) so my weekly hour count isn't that bad. All things considering, one would think I would be working a lot more ... it's April, that means income taxes are due!

I gave all my stuff to my accountant and he gave me the news. It was good news -- I had anticipated that my burden owing was a lot more than it was. I wasn't sure how my RSP contribution (aka 401k to you Americans) would affect how much I would pay. The way I understand things: if I put in the maximum contribution, it may have put my taxable rate down a notch (38% instead of 42%) which in turn, would reduce how much I could claim in expenses, etc. It was a delicate balance for me. I would want to contribute to RSP a good size, but at the same time, not too much to mess up my expenses. This year, I anticipate I'm working throughout 2004 (not like the 2 months I took off in 2003) so taxable income will be a lot more this year. =)

I got a surprise package in the mail from Jonesey ... a belated present. I tried calling him last night but him and the wife were out (deservedly so -- finals around the corner!). Mike got his car from Alberta delivered on Thurs. He's the owner of a 1969 MG coupe. It's in a lot better shape than I had imagined (for a 35 yr old car). It's a project car ... he and his dad were washing / waxing / vacuuming it when they received it.

What else is coming up: going to Toronto May 1-2 for a conference. Taking that week off 'cause JJ has that week off as well. What a nice guy I am, huh?

Sunday, Apr 25

What's been going on? Not a lot! Worked Mon-Fri at 'the usual' spots. It wasn't particularly that exciting. I did go up to London on Wednesday night. Hung out with Imran and checked out his new place (Lambton Hall). I was quite impressed by the whole place. Imran got a pretty nice computer but he tried to cut corners on cost (re: sound card and motherboard) -- a big no-no. He opted to buy retail products to make up for his oversight (Audigy2 and good network card). We did go for some nachos and drinks at Jack Astor's for a bit. No hockey games on so we chit-chatted.

On Thursday, I was at the Lamplighter Inn for a conference. The OCP was hosting an orientation for pharmacists to become preceptors. Took the whole day (8am-4pm). Morning was just more information about the College and its structured program for student pharmacists. Lunch was just sandwiches -- the venue was nice ... the hotel has a nice solarium for people to sit around and enjoy their meals. The afternoon session dealt more with giving feedback and assessing communication skills. The hightlight of the day was watching student videos, starring ME! It was from my 3rd year -- CAPSI counselling competition. So many of my classmates saw it last year and I was dying to see myself. Weird to see how I perceived it compared to watching it. It was quite surprising to see myself -- yes, it was quite entertaining. I got some good feedback from the other pharmacists watching me. Guess I have celebrity status. HAHA.

On Saturday, I had the day off. Spent the whole day with JJ. She was tryingto study for finals. With such good weather, I was very sympathetic to her lack of concentration. Consider this: last set of exams, no real pressure to do well, great weather -- all adds up to lack of focus. I did notice she took a nap here and there ... but when you consider 5 exams over 4 days... you do the math!

Last night, I went to a dinner at a Chinese restaurant. Got invited by the Shoppers Drug Mart staff. Food wasn't that bad -- focused more on the Canadian than the Chinese aspect of the Canadian-Chinese cuisine (suit the masses). Sat with more of a 'younger' crowd. Heard some gossip from the hospital -- looks like the pharmacists are asking for a big raise and they are also desperate for pharmacists. Looks like the pharmacists are ready to walk if their demands are not met ... but I've heard that rhetoric before. We'll see how things go there.

What's going on in the week ahead: going up to Toronto this upcoming w/e for a pharmacists conference -- cardiology and nephrology. Also have a week off from pharmacy the following week. Need time to relax and also wanting to spend time with JJ -- coincide with her break between school and hospital rotations.