Well we sit on the eve of what promises to be the most exciting hockey played by professional players since the summit series of '72, which I was too young to remember, but have seen many a rebroadcast.
Two young teams, hungry for a Stanley Cup to put them on the map in the hockey world. From the opposite sides of the continent, as far southeast as the states will go and as far as the Canadian Rockies to the northwest will allow. Travel time could be a factor.
No matter which team walks away with the cup, we the fans will be the winners in the long run, having witnessed some of the best professional hockey we will ever have the chance to see.

That said, updating this thing is a real pain sometimes, trying to tweak the design to keep me interested is hard and this computer dosent want to display me an updated view of the thing. So many thing i want to do, but the time constraints are brutal. I have to log into three different web sites download info and files from one site and upload to another site and then finally link it all together to make one totally copastetic? view. And, I only have an hour or so to update each week while the girlfriend is eyes deep in gay guys on "queer as folk", other than that it's hockey (for another 2 weeks anyway) then maybe i can do some serious house keeping here, instead of just changing a font colour.

Gotta go......

Well, don't they have a pretty new blog style going here, all rounded off and unoffensive? Very nice design. I might hire these people to do my living room.

I just got around to blogging since the leafs tragically lost game 6 to philly. Gotta pull off my previously confident post to replace it with a big "go calgary go" post.

I've done a bit of housecleaning myself and found a hosting service (thanks to Shrapnels) that isn't bothering me about hosting a few pictures. Thanks to LYCOS and Angelfire can bite me.

Not sure if i like the fruity blue or not, may have to change that in the near future - no time now though - hockey game is on - got to go!

SKINNYLICKIN TECHSUPPORT

Hey, does anyone do windows updates at all?? W32.sasser.worm, nuff said. Update your computers. You pay too much money for your computers, which incidentally could launch missiles and all you do is get email and go to ebay, and then more for internet access, and you don't want to be as up to date as possible? Sucks to be you!

~~~~~~~~@_@~~~~~~~~
No more VTO, 300 calls waiting, lets early out, lets get fired for a point infraction when there's 18 shifts til we get an 11 week paid vacation. I think the technicians here are as stupid as the customers sometimes.

~~~~~~~~@_@~~~~~~~~

Still Skinnylickin - still skinnylickingood

Well i got a new side bar to commemerate my new quitting frame of mind! Buttin out again, this time it's for good, i can feel it! (sure you say, what about last time?) Well last time too, but ran into some difficulty with "environment issues" which seem to be under control for now. (sure you say, we'll see, we'll see!) And i say, ya we will!! So there!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~@@_@@~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Looks like the Canadians are falling to Tampa Bay, possibly in 4 games, so it sucks to be a Canadians fan, but even more, it sucks for hockey fans from Canada. I'm a leafs fan, blue and white, wrong or right!, But I wanted to see the Canadians, (whose fans are apparently sworn to never ever say a nice thing about the Leafs), win so there would be a chance of the east being the leafs and canadians, guaranteeing a Canadian team goes to the stanley cup finals. The hopes are now on the leafs and the flames, not much chance for the habs to be coming back and winning four straight, just can't see it happening.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~@@_@@~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

All our jobs are in limbo, and we've already bent over backwards for this place and i can't bend anymore. Well the 11 weeks of paid, possible time off will be good, and it might just be the kick in the ass I need to get the hell outta here and get a decent pay check coming in, not this pittance, it's just enough to live on, not enough to live. But it's all the lazy people like me need to keep us here, just enough to live on.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~@@_@@~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(revised as the loser's lament)

ROUND 2 - HERE WE COME!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well, well Boston fans, see ya next year! Montreal made history and came back from a 3-1 deficeit(?) to win the first round!

All we need now is Toronto to win tommorrow, night and both teams to advance to the eastern conference finals for every canadian hockey fan's wet dream to come true. I wouldn't even care who won! Just to see that series would be incredible to watch that series.
SkinnylickinLater!!!!

The bastard flu is finally lending reprieve, I can almost think straight again. Look out world, here I come. YA

~~~~~_****_~~~~~

Appetite is slowly coming back to me and Maitre `D functions at home shall be soon restored to their previous grandeur! Viva la sausage burger!

~~~~~_****_~~~~~

Work is so slow. How slow is it? Well, it's so slow that I'm looking for more work. Reached the ceiling as far as where I can go in this company now, and I'm sure there will be no blanket raises when the new owners take over, just the same old same old, and I don't think I can handle it much longer. The option of Korea has been taken away, unless I can get a degree somewhere – anyone want to donate their edumacation to me? So it looks bleak, but it'll get better. I hope! ☺

~~~~~_****_~~~~~

Began reading from the quit smoking bible again, and this time I think I'll read to the end like they say I should, keep smoking till they tell me to quit, so I can count myself among the 99% successfully cured. Talk about being in a shitty minority. You are in a group of only 1% of the world's population, and to add the insult to injury – you're condemned to smoke till your lungs are dried up ashen husks. Gonna stay on course this time, the payout is too big at the end to fuck around with the instruction manual.

~~~~~_****_~~~~~

I hate blogging about work, but when you're at work, what else is on your mind?
90 minutes with this woman, go out of my way to help her, it's outta my hands by the end of the call, so all I can do is give instruction on what to get done to make it work. Not so much as a fucking "thank you"! The ignorance of these people is blinding! I say "thanks" when someone apologizes for doing me wrong in some way! I know that’s going too far with manners, but there's gotta be a line there somewhere and if you cross it your mother or grandmother starts rolling over in their grave. Ease your ancestor's eternal slumber and say a simple "please" and / or "thank you"; I don't want to have change the blog name to "raising Americans".

~~~~~_****_~~~~~

Ever see the movie Canadian Bacon, well there is a line in this movie where Alan Alda (playing the US president) is attempting to inspire American hatred of Canadians so they can justify an invasion of Canada (kind has a familiar ring to it huh?). Well the big propaganda spin doctoring all cumulated in the line "Canadians, They walk among us".
And I see this as the way for us to help out our racist, IQ challenged, armor-piercing,
high velocity, semi automatic loving neighbors from the south of the border.

We can move in next door, most of us are white and most of us speak English, so we wouldn't draw a hint of suspicion from the overly racist US population. Of course we would have to slack off a bit on the job, cut out the beer and the back bacon, learn to watch baseball from start to finish, (not just from the stretch) and put an big show of watching hunting programs on TNN but I think we could pull it off.

We could teach them how to spell, and pronounce words like house properly, and empress upon them the importance of knowing their own home telephone # - what do you do if your car breaks down, you can remember the auto club # for a tow, but the # for calling the wife or husband, or (even scarier) the kids just eludes you? That ain't right.

The bastard flu is finally lending reprieve, I can almost think straight again. Look out world, here I come. YA

~~~~~_****_~~~~~

Appetite is slowly coming back to me and Maitre `D functions shall be soon restored to their previous grandeur! Viva la sausage burger!

~~~~~_****_~~~~~

Work is so slow. How slow is it? Well, it's so slow that I'm looking for more work. Reached the ceiling as far as where I can go in this company now, and I'm sure there will be no blanket raises when the new owners take over, just the same old same old, and I don't think I can handle it much longer. The option of Korea has been taken away, unless I can get a degree somewhere – anyone want to donate their edumacation to me? So it looks bleak, but it'll get better. I hope! ☺

~~~~~_****_~~~~~

Began reading from the quit smoking bible again, and this time I think I'll read to the end like they say I should, keep smoking till they tell me to quit, so I can count myself among the 99% successfully cured. Talk about being in a shitty minority. You are in a group of only 1% of the world's population, and to add the insult to injury – you're condemned to smoke till your lungs are dried up ashen husks. Gonna stay on course this time, the payout is too big at the end to fuck around with the instruction manual.

~~~~~_****_~~~~~

I hate blogging about work, but when you're at work, what else is on your mind?
90 minutes with this woman, go out of my way to help her, it's outta my hands by the end of the call, so all I can do is give instruction on what to get done to make it work. Not so much as a fucking "thank you"! The ignorance of these people is blinding! I say "thanks" when someone apologizes for doing me wrong in some way! I know that’s going too far with manners, but there's gotta be a line there somewhere and if you cross it your mother or grandmother starts rolling over in their grave. Ease your ancestor's eternal slumber and say a simple "please" and / or "thank you"; I don't want to have change the blog name to "raising Americans".

~~~~~_****_~~~~~

Ever see the movie Canadian Bacon, well there is a line in this movie where Alan Alda (playing the US president) is attempting to inspire American hatred of Canadians so they can justify an invasion of Canada (kind has a familiar ring to it huh?). Well the big propaganda spin doctoring all cumulated in the line "Canadians, They walk among us".
And I see this as the way for us to help out our racist, IQ challenged, armor-piercing,
high velocity, semi automatic loving neighbors from the south of the border.

We can move in next door, most of us are white and most of us speak English, so we wouldn't draw a hint of suspicion from the overly racist US population. Of course we would have to slack off a bit on the job, cut out the beer and the back bacon, learn to watch baseball from start to finish, (not just from the stretch) and put an big show of watching hunting programs on TNN but I think we could pull it off.

We could teach them how to spell, and pronounce words like house properly, and empress upon them the importance of knowing their own home telephone # - what do you do if your car breaks down, you can remember the auto club # for a tow, but the # for calling the wife or husband, or (even scarier) the kids just eludes you? That ain't right.

This guy in the UK has a page dedicate to things he and his girlfriend have argued about. It's pretty funny, check it out at www.mil-millington.com
.
My addictions are few, but when I'm stuck in those ruts, there's no room to swim for the stars, and the end creeps ever closer to becoming the next beginning.

Sick as a dog is an over used term, clichéd, but very appropriate for the way I feel now, and for the last coupla days. Ever wonder where "sick as a dog" came from? Well right now, even if I could lick my own balls, (like a dog) I’d be too sick to be bothered (sick as a dog?) Anyway, that's rambling, and my head aches like I was beaten with a pipe, every bone and muscle screeches in near agony with every movement, even my hands and fingers as I type this (What a trooper I am, eh?) out on word pad, being ever conscious of Big Brother's network police. Not that we can't spare the bandwidth at the moment, if it gets any slower here we'll be moving backward, but ya never wanna giv'em the opportunity to legally diminish the payroll by breaking the much publicized “use of the network” rules, now do ya?

I'm too sick to think straight so I must end this. I'll return to blog again.

Well I've neglected this page for far to long, if they gave out blog licenses, they would have taken mine away by now. The network cops seem to have lightened up their seemingly never ending quest to nab bandwidth abusers, it being so slow at work there really isn't much more to do than surf, but i still seem to find other things to do when i've got 45 minutes on my hands. This is a habit (unlike smoking), that once broken, is hard to start on a regular basis again, but as I've probably blogged before, i'll do my damndest(?) to be a little more regular.

Blogging from home now, sitting in the basement, lit only by the glow of the wordpad document opened full screen in front of me, sipping Neocitron, cause I feel a flu coming on quick. Will it be a VTO day tommorow? I don't think so, i think i need money and the highspeed surfing ain't bad at all, got the ol' dialup here, and the connection just ain't what it should be. (but I do that shit for a livin so I know better than to try and fix that issue. What am i gonna send MYSELF for modem drivers?)

****~~~~~~~~____~~~~~~~~****

As for the smoking, back on the butts for a bit now, but only in body and mind, I have the soul of a non-smoker, I assure you. Although I know it's my own fault for putting cigarette to lip, and flame to cigarette and inhaling, I really think I could have done this if my quitting partner had lasted. She broke down and started smoking a week before me.

Sure i had a puff here and there, but if i wasn't subjected to opportunity (guilt free opportunity I might add), I'd have never broken down a bought an entire (gasp) package of the skinny white bastards.

It's not my girlfriends fault that I started smoking again, it's mine, but I need someone to blame for all my problems. This is sometimes a something to blame, like the cigarettes for instance, but that will lead back to blaming her for starting again, and lets face it, I was only off them for all of four weeks, almost five. I was still a smoker, and I put myself in a position of submision in a place where I knew i was weak. I am totally to blame. I hang my head in shame.

****~~~~~~~~____~~~~~~~~****

My buddy Scott and hid girlfriend Dnet went to Korea to teach english. They left just after Christmas and were making some pretty good money, enjoying themselves in a foriegn culture. I wanted to go and was assured that all the proper arrangements would not be a problem, but I got a lazy lazy ass and filled out the passport paperwork, but didn't even get a photo taken for it as of yet.

But my point is that i could have been there by now, and now Scott, along 350 other english teachers from thailand, phillipines, china, etc, are being deported for improper paperwork. Isn't that shitty!! He spent 2 days in a Korean prison, 2 days in a Canadian (or foriegner) prison and was then put on a plane for Canada, only because they had the money to pay for the flight, some of the other teachers didn't have the cash, and will be in prison for another 14 days. Thats real shitty too.

It all apparently came down to a teacher getting in a fight or arguement at his school and getting transfered to another school, but the first school knew he didn't have the proper documentation and blew the whistle, prompting a crack down and an investigation into the matter. Well, just goes to show how one bad asshole can spoil everyone else's good shit!

****~~~~~~~~____~~~~~~~~****


Well there's a heading on the top banner of Tuesday's Cape Breton Post, that reads something like - Glace Bay call center sold to an American company - well it was always owned by an American company. This is not news to anyone, but a sensationalistic headline to grab the eye of people who want to have something to bitch about over bingo when they really don't have much of a clue about anything, let alone the ownership of a "Glace Bay Call Center". Stream's inital head office for all thier corporation was Canton, Mass. U.S.A, No news here CBP!

****~~~~~~~~____~~~~~~~~****

I've got so much to bitch about myself but it's been so long since since i blogged last, i must control myself and let it flow out smoothly, else and explosion of bullshit proportions would appear. There would be far too much to ramble on about, so i will try to come back and bitch some more later, and leave you with this:

A young couple got married and in their family it was tradition that the best man dance with the bride for the first song. Well, this happened but then they danced for the second song too. And a third. By the time the fourth song came on, the groom ran up and kicked the bride between the legs.
A riot broke out and all the invited guests were hauled off to jail. In court the next week, the judge asked the best man what happened. "Your Honour, we were just dancing and the groom ran up and kicked the bride between the legs." "That must have hurt!" exclaimed the Judge. "No kidding," said the best man. "He broke three of my goddamn fingers!"

All skinnylickinblogged out for now

90% of the yanks i talk to seem to be unable to tell the difference between IE6SETUP.EXE and IE_S6.cab or .zip, i say "double click on IE6SETUP.exe" they say "do you mean IE_s6?? duh duh huh?" And it burns, it burns so bad. I want to hollar "DID I SAY IE_S6?? YOU BLITHERING KNOB." But i never do, and i believe thats why it burns so badly. I need to hang up on someone, i do it at home all the time, I have a call centersupport friend that i can call, they say something stupid to me, and i get to hollar at them and hang up! It's all the outlet I need.

Lately it's been the most incredible farts I've ever had (frequency and wavelength) and i think it's cause of the no smoking, between the coughing fits and the fartin, coming outta both ends, it's been keeping me busy, but not just me, I know plenty of people who are stinking it up a lot lately, and they now who they are, non stop farts - like 30 seconds long - and stinkin like "freshly opened grave site in spring". What is with that? Is it just the winter air? Well don't breath in too deep unless you know who's standin beside ya. (it could have been me.)

So thats what they meant by that,.......ok, I see it now! Ya you are totally right! lol

Still off the butts as of this writing, the applause is deafening. thank you. So many people say they want to quit, but don't have the time to put out the effort, but i find it's not bad at all, was in the van at lunchtime and Brad had what seemed like a 100 smokes between the burger hut and coffee shop, but it didn't really bother me, and that surprised me, its one thing to be in the bar, and there be a seperate room for smoking, but when it's no more then 2 feet out of my grasp when sitting in the van and still nothing, thats an acomplishmint. That was friday, tried a puff while out at the bar and it was BAD. Not really bad. But bad enough not to make me want more of that vile, soul sucking filth.....Don't ya just hate the x-smokers, all holier than thou and shit, well I vow to never become one of those. If I do, someone please, hit me with an ashtray.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


I think once you reach a certain age you should be dried out in a great big flash dehydrator and then used as a cheap source of food for third world countries. At the very least you should have your car and computer taken away. Stick to the TV, move on only after you'ved mastered the therory of "remote control" and can set the clock on the VCR. Or better yet read a book!, stick with the technology your
generation invented. I loved the movie "Logan's Run", but they should make it 60 instead of 30.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


I have tried using MS Word to blog, but it puts these characters in the mix which get blogged up as wierd characters on the blogger. Shame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Shoelaces! thats something we never really think about but so much depends on those laces being there and working correctly when you need them, I recently noticed one of my laces are borderline and and may have to be retired as a preventitive measure. It's seen better days for sure, hopefully we won't be putting any undue strain on it and we will be able to keep on tying tight shoes at least til replacements can be purchased. There is the real problem though. Who remembers to "buy" shoelaces? I was at the mall last saturday and had the shoes with the very same problem lace on, and still could not remember to purchase a replacement lace. That is how little onus we actually put on such a large and intragel part of our daily lives. So the next time you bend down to tie your shoes lets take a few extra seconds to acknowledge theseunderapprieciated shoe tightners, examine them for defects and anomalies which might lead to breakage and embarassing loss of shoe. If you have a bit more time, learn how to make your shoe knots just a little more effective.
Shoelaces's are our friends!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


What started out as a beloved daily expression of love, eagerly anticipated, has, over the months, become a chore, a loveable chore, but yet an uphill battle, and little by little it slipped away and over time became a weekly attempt to rekindle that affection which was first felt so long ago, and once again it is becoming something which I feel I must do, and I genuinely want to do, but sometimes lack the drive and, I
must admit, I have failed personally on a committment I made long ago to blog on a daily basis. I feel so bad about it too. DAMN THE NETWORK MONITORS!!!! We never really had a chance, did we! Well, I'm still going to try and do this daily but it's just not going to be as daily as the word daily would imply. But as daily as I can make it.

A brand new year, been off the smokes since 1am saturday morning, and it aint that hard. I quit earlier then is generally recommended to get the girly girl off my back about her quiting while I suck harder on the teet of smokey joy, getting as much of the wonderful drug of life as I could manage between the pains in my throat, my lungs, upper back and my sinuses and the headaches and coughing fits. Really, there wasn't much time for actually smoking, just complaining about smoking, and all the aches and pains associated with smoking. The web site in my previous entry is really helping to stay off them. I no longer wake up and reach for a smoke and then spend the day in that foggy haze, blind to the fact that there's is a whole world of smoke free living out there, covered in fudge and peanuts and one great big spoon in the glass to stir it up, oh baby, stir it up, into a sweet sweet covering for when you need to get it done on time and there's nowhere else to turn, that right. And now I'm gonna get some too!! Wooohooo Stamp that one and we'll see how long it lasts. Me?? I think it's for a good cause, so I'll just give and give and give. Then they always turn around on ya and just, and just bite you on the arse when you need it the most, leaving you hanging there, after walking the whole length of the room only to hear, "no I will take the ugly chair, you shall stand!" and at that point there's absolutly nothing to do but keel over laughing and coughing up brownshit cause you quit smoking only a few days ago and still smell it from the clothes of you co-workers, who seem to think "I'll get everybody down there to blow it on me before I go back upstairs and sit next to skinnyXsmoker!" I know that's not the case but they smell so sweet walking by that I have to squeeze out a big draft blaster fart to bring me back to the cushions of home and hearth, shooting darts and eating pepper fried steak by the bun. Man, I almost forgot about the last time I felt this good, I was like twelve and there was so much going on, it seemed like the last innocent summer, but it wasn't, I never got laid til years later. Still got alot of shine to polish this winter up to a blinding mirror-like reflection and this time I'm pretty sure I won't be forgettin the way it used to be, brown fingers and teeth, and stinking like an old man at the bus stop outside the nursing home after being kicked out of the smoking room because visiting hours are over. So here's props to girly girl for demanding an early release from the butts for me. "Your loves got me skinny so skinny right now, got me skinny so skinny right now!" It's gonna be an uphill battle but I'm up for the challenge.Even the stress of dealing with these people who can't spell their own names, dosent make me want to smoke, I sort of get this run on sentence thing going in my mind and i don't know where to put the commas and periods, where one thought stpos and another starts they just seem to blur into one incoherent mess of tuna and strawberry jellyfish sandwiches all rolled into one miss mash of what the hell are ya talking about anyway and i can't tell you that, you have to figure it out for yourself! "Please oh please Lord Nicoteen, don't forsake me, snuggle me in your smokey arms again, never againwill I turn from the dark side, take me back into the fold, and love me love me love me...." No that won't be me, no way, no friggen way. I hate bloggin on notepad, all the friggin formatting is off see .....Get your friggin hands off my crackers!!

Havent blogged in a while, due to network restrictions and being in a blurry haze of alcohol, triptaphan, and nicoteen, kinda makes me sleepy when I'm home. Too sleepy to blog from there anyway.

Christmas wasn't the big disapointment I expect it to be every year, once again I've been proved wrong, this year by salami, scallops, spiced rum and the excitment of children on christmas day. So merry belated christmas, I guess.

So, I got a Genoa for Christmas, (see above line) the finest of the rolled meats, the king of salami's! For eating only this time. Two more feet and we can put it in the fridge! Man those things are big, and yummy too! Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

Fruity pink/purple walls, this place is like a detox ward, makes me want to get high so I'll enjoy the view.

No word on the stalker watch, still don't have the time to get to the police station, there should be plenty of time (and no excuse) now that all the shopping is done.

It sometimes takes me three attempts to spell the word spywear, I mean spyware!

Gonna try and quit smoking this week, and you may have seen this statement before but I mean it this time! Got a stop smoking book which apparently works on rig pigs so I should be able to use it and have it work too, right? Girly girl has a web site which is helping her quit and seems to be working so i have back up for that if need be.

click to quit --- that's the link if your interested on being smoke free next year.

Well thats all the time we have for now folks, bloggin is hard work, I hate bloggin on notepad, see ya all next year! Have a happy one!

I hate bloggin on notepad, the Network nazi's are everywhere though. They're watching
every move you make, waiting waiting waiting to pounce and "misappropriation of
network resources" my skinny ass to the sidewalk. Just scanning my security badge
every morning is a stressful event and when it does "ding" me in, it is like a
catch 22 thing - "well I still have a job......but I still work here."

It's not that bad, I'm not surfin porn or downloading Mp3's or setting up pyramid
schemes or mass mailer bots with the network, and now, bloggin on notepad and running
a cut a paste operation, I don't even have that blog window open for more than a few
moments, but the whole time I do I hear the mission impossible theme running through
my head and constantly turn over my shoulder to see if Big Brother is indeed watching
at that moment. Of course none of that even matters because "IT" is always watching
and logging and logging and watching with a never tiring eye, it dosent even blink.
Thats the reason for the mixed feelings at the swipper in the morning and the reason
I'm blogging on notepad.

I hate blogging on notepad.

What a hateful week this is turning out to be, one step closer to the poorhouse, one step closer to the nuthouse. Not sure where I'll end up first, but the race is on. It's this thing they call Christmas, the shift change, and the stupid people I must deal with each day while in here. Like this:

Customer: "I need to dial a 9 to reach an outside line!"

Me: "but we just connected without the 9 and get an operator message when we use it!"

Customer: "I still need to dial a 9 to reach an outside line"

Me: "aaarrrrrrrrrgghgghghghghg!"


I think I'm still in "Tuesday and Wednesday Off" mode. I’m feeling all snappy with customers and think it might be cause I feel like I shouldn’t be here today. Oh well, it'll work itself out. A few good "Saturday and Sunday Off" combinations should fix this in short time.

Still no hacker update…nothing to post here anyway.

Just upgraded my parents computer to give it some USB ports, so ya can guess how old that friggin thing is. But the hardware gave IRQ errors with soundcard, video card and finally I had to get rid of the printer port to get it to run properly, printer is busted anyway and the next one we get will have USB capability, so that's not a problem. But instructing my parents, who rarely have the time to teach themselves how to reset the VCR clock (again), to operate this pokey win98 with a 166 MHZ (the camera wants a P2) set up with the auto email feature of the new digital camera, is going to be hell. See below for what my life is like before during and after work.