Get a real freak'n holiday!

January 2nd is not a holiday.

End of story.

Unless you live in Quebec.

Yup, that's right, in Quebec the day AFTER new years is a holiday... sorta. The studio where I work is open which means I have to work, but Zellers and lots of other retail and food places are closed. The mail still got delivered yesterday (which was Jan 2nd) but the commuter train that I take to work was not running. And I mean not running and the offices where closed. Not just running on the lazy Sunday schedule, oh no... completely closed! Effectively closing off the West Island commuters from getting to work. Commuters like myself. ARRGGG!!!!

"But Randy" you say. Why not just take the day off?"

Because then I'm being forced to use a vacation day just after I've taken a whole week off for the holidays. Forced to use it on a day that really isn't a holiday to start with. They don't even have a name for this day. It's just general practice that it's a holiday! WTF! I usually have this argument with my friends at work every year. They try and convince me that is really is a holiday and that other places take it off too and I tell them they're on the crack and no one else in the whole North America takes this day off. We're currently at a stalemate.

My first year here in Montreal I stayed with a friend and on the second of January we both got up and went to work using the subway system (Metro System here). No one said anything about it being some crazy made up holiday. I was none the wiser and ended up being the fool.

The next year I moved out to Pointe Claire and on the second of January I walked out to the train platform and was shocked to see no one there. I waited a bit and then some guy in a touque walks by and says "You're not waiting for the train are you?"

"Yeah." I replied cautiously "Why?"

"Well, you'll be waiting a while. It's a holiday today." says touque guy.

"Since when?"

"Forever." he says and continues off to his, I can only assume, place of work which he is walking to.

I tell you I was so mad. I've never been mad at getting an extra holiday until this day. No one says anything, it's not written anywhere, it's just an assumed holiday! ARRRGGGG!!! I stomped off home and didn't go in to work that day.

The next year the second of January fell on a Saturday. This was great because now I don't have to be bothered by that stupid made up holiday that goes on here. WRONG! See because it was on a Saturday that stupid made up holiday gets held over until the next working day so people can still have it. OMFG!!!! WHAT THE HELL IS THAT ABOUT!!! IT NOT A REAL FU#@ING HOLIDAY!!!! Luckily I was a little more prepared as I found out a delayed bus was still running and so I took that to work and back.

This year I've moved further off the island and need the commuter train to get in to work. My wife drives me out to Pointe Claire again to catch the bus, I'll just buy the next years train pass when I get in to the city and be all prepared to come home and take the train the next day. Wrong again. The whole commuter train outfit is closed. CLOSED! What the hell! So I had to go back down to the Metro and buy ($$$) a bunch of Metro/bus tickets so I could get to work and get home (my wife had to pick me up in Pointe Claire again) only to have to buy a special train ticket ($$$) to get in to the city so I could buy my monthly train pass ($$$).

Suck ass.

I hate the second of January more then any other day in the whole year.

It's not a holiday.

Stop pretending it is. >_<

Here's some photos I took last year.

Suck-tastic!

Ever have a crappy day that turns out to be a crappy weekend only to be followed up with a whole crap filled week? Well that's me. Actually it hasn't become a full week of crap yet but it's been 5 days of suck so why stop there? Here's a quick run down of the suck that's been happening in my life. Arguments with my wife based on lack of sleep, Chuck E Cheese scaring the life out of my daughter (I'll kick that mouse square in the nuts next time I see him), tiff with family members and longest car ride home EVER! Okay, life can't always be a bowl of cherries and things will pass. But the weekend is over, it's supposed to be a new week filled with better things right? Wrong.

I found out on Monday that E3 has been canceled-ish. I say ish because E3 still exists but now it's going to be some thing different then what it was. No more big floor trade show, smaller venue, smaller attendance (5,000 rather then 60,000). Great, that pretty much too all the wind out of going next year since I couldn't make it this year. On a side note I still stand beside my decision to stay and help take care of my daughter. Even if I knew at the time this was the last E3 I would still stay home because my little girl needed me and I wasn't going to leave my wife to take care of her on her own. I'm upset and angry about the whole thing, but not at my family and certainly not at my daughter. It just really, really sucks. But then I think, maybe it's not going to be so bad. Industry people are saying this is a good thing for E3 and that they support it. So maybe I'll still go and check out this new E3. Nope, can't do that ether.

Tuesday I found the date for E3 is moving too. It'll now be in July rather then May so the plane ticket I had to cancel that's only good for one year might just be useless. Well maybe not quite. If I use it in, March let's say, to book a flight in July I should still be okay or maybe even use it for a family vacation that wouldn't be so bad. Which I might have to do anyway because I also found out that next E3 is by INVITE ONLY! MOTHER F$#*@) SH#@ DAMN C*@% SUCKER @&*@&$# *@&$!!! Pant, pant, pant…

It's been the running joke in my life for a bit now.

Q - "Hey! What's keeping you from going to E3 this year?"

A - "E3… E3 is keeping me form going to E3 this year."

Then to finish off yesterday the air conditioning was busted on the commuter train going home on the hottest day of the year so far. I was trapped on a train with windows you can't open for 40 min. The sweat poured down my face and it looked like I had dunked my head in a bucket of water. Everyone was so lethargic on the ride home. I now know what it feels like to be a dog in a car with the windows up on a hot day. Suck ass. I hope today is better.

Well, to end this on a better note I'll mention some nice things that have happened as well. On the weekend we went to a wedding of close friends and it was a very beautiful ceremony outside at their cottages by the lake. I was able to get some very nice photos. We got a new car seat for my daughter and it's excellent. The guy at the store we bought it at http://www.canadiankidsfurniture.ca/ in Kingston Ontario was awesome and even helped us install it correctly. We will defiantly go back to that store. My wife is hosting an attached parenting group now and while she's only done one gathering it seems to be a hit. Those are all good things, so I guess it's not all bad.

Oh yeah, and my wife is pregnant again! Woo! My family rocks ^_^

Blue marble

As of late I've been doing research in to the 911 attacks and how, in my opinion, they where orchestrated by the American Government. I just watched Fahrenheit 911 and the whole thing makes me angry and sick. There is so much suffering, corruption and deception all for money and power. It makes you tired just thinking about it.

But then a friend passed me a link to wherethehellismatt.com. It's about this guy who goes around the world dances in various locals. First he did it on his own dime but then actually got sponsored by Stride gum to travel, dance and place the video on the net. Now Matt isn't a good dancer but that's okay, it's the fun that he has that makes these videos great. And seeing these videos made me realize something. Although there is much hate and violence out there, the world and its people are really a beautiful. It's beautiful beyond what any of us can imagine, because we really need to see it for our selves. And it's right here, on our very own planet. It makes me want to travel and see the world. I'm sure my daughter would benefit from seeing the world first hand, I mean, what child wouldn't. I would love to give her that opportunity to experience all that.

It really is an amazing planet that we live on.