So in the course of the past few days I've gone from "OMG, I'm going to be laid-off", to this gem this morning...

SVP of Worldwide Ops: "I need your help with something .. we're having problems with (customer x) and I need you to go there in August to fix things"

I get this weird sinking feeling as I hear the customer name ..

me: "Of course ... where?"
SVP: Bangalore

So it looks like I'm going back to India. I was there in 2007 for a month. Its looking like I'm flying on the 11th and back on the 21st (in time to turn around and fly to Germany for EF :)

For you home-gamers out there, that's 32-hours of travel (YVR-ORD-FRA-BLR).. EACH WAY. Vancouver is basically on the exact other side of the world from India.

Of course .. this torpedoes a number of my summer plans for August .. but ignoring an executive request for a personal favor during a major corporate merger is career suicide.

Very busy weekend out this way -- tons of fun though!

Mountain biking in Whistler (amazing!), gun range (I still suck), and an awesome party last nite at aphinity's place



Off to Chicago on Thursday for camping - looking forward to it!!!

.. oh, and the dog wasn't really drunk :P

I just got back from seeing Bruno -- it was definitely funny at points (as expected, waaay over the top)

But, I'm just not sure what to think. There were a few stunts that really illustrate that parts of America are still quite intolerant; albeit not a surprise, and of course, the movie was scripted to elicit those exact reactions.

It takes a lot to offend me, and I really don't think I am, but I'm just having a hard time figuring out WHAT I think.

I don't feel like he was maliciously attacking anyone (and he did go after a number of groups), but I guess what I'm struggling with is at what point does mocking go too far?

When a social-group is in the midst of struggling to gain levels of equality, does this type of movie help or hurt the momentum?

Undecided right now, but worth seeing.

Funny, since I had a similar United experience back in December 2008 -- they ripped open the side of my new hockey bag (16" long cut) on my trip from ORD to MCO .. they told me the same thing

"We did nothing wrong, and there's nothing we're willing to do" .. extra interesting, since that was United 1K services (having done about 150,000 miles a year in travel with United)

640 Fursuits in a parade. While its cool (though not surprising) to see things have gotten massive ...

Is this really something worth bragging about?

I guess I'm not on the same page, but it seems to me that something so many use to be unique and have fun with, is becoming more and more like a bar-code.

Worse, most conventions seem to be using it to compare each others penis sizes.

...just my $.02 :)

... the only pads I don't have yet (yeah, yeah :) - off to get elbow pads tomorrow :)

Remember to celebrate your nations independence, by blowing up a small part of it :):)

Seriously, have a Happy 4th!

Seriously - it started very late last nite and its been doing its thing all morning.

I've had very minor things in the past, but this is pretty nasty.

(kinda glad I wasn't able to make AC work out, this would have been brutal to deal with traveling)

I finally purchased my Eurofurence plane tickets (cheap too, direct out of Vancouver to Frankfurt) .. But as I was going over my calendar, wow! I've got a ton of things coming up!

- Canada Day is Wednesday this week (with Independence day, of course, on Sat) -- Seeing Infected Mushroom on Sat here in Vancouver!
- Off to Chicago for camping July 17-20

- Moving into my new house July 25th - the house is basically finished construction and I have the inspection on July 14th
- Whitewater rafting in early Aug (Washington)
- Vancouver's annual camp out on pdawgydawg's mom's lawn Aug 14-17
- Eurofurence (Germany) Aug 25-Sept 2


Somewhere in there, whoever ends up buying my company (we're in the midst of a bidding war) will determine who stays and who's redundant -- which always makes things interesting :)

After coming back from Canada Post to ship a suit to the UK, I've confirmed a very simple thesis:

Canada flat out sucks for business.

I'll take anyone to task on this, and there are about a dozen things I could reference, not just Canada Post (especially compared to the USA).

Canada Post (recently too) removed mid-level service outside North America leaving only 2 options:
- Surface (seriously, surface means being dumped on a ship) at 30-50 days to England
- Express (like a rocket) at 2-3 DAYS to England.

The difference in price is staggering for this suit - wait up to 45 days for $80 .. or send it by Saturday for $200.

Comparatively, from Chicago, USPS does STANDARD SERVICE (yes kids, the regular "I didn't think to ask how fast" rate) to the UK for $65USD at 7 days -- I sent several of these last year.

Canada, Its so sad you can't compete on your own merits, and that the only way to be competitive is to levy crippling import duties and taxes on items.

Wow. A first. I screwed up my meeting time! :):)

I had flown in late last night for what I had thought was my meeting this morning. When I arrived back at the airport to pick up a colleague .. "OHHHH WAIT! The meeting is Wednesday..."

Seriously.. first time in over a decade I've done it too! Anyway .. another night in Alabama it seems, and back in Vancouver tomorrow evening.


..Now if I can just think of something to do during the day here

I don't post too many of these types of pics, but I just really liked this one from last weekend at the Vancouver Zoo (the most recent revision to 'Kodi' earlier this year)

Randomly went down to Seattle yesterday along with p_dawgydog and laceaurora to hang with a few locals (and beat up on rev_fox) .. I love a good road-trip adventure! :P



Thought this one odd.. it was off Valley Hwy in Renton, WA -- does that mean you're free to race off hours??


Headed back to Vancouver this afternoon, and in record-time too (2hrs)

Off to Huntsville, AL tomorrow overnight (back Tuesday evening) .. we'll see what shenanigans I can get into this coming weekend

I think I blame the Subway in Toronto, or the 5-hr flight full of folks onward to Korea ... But I woke up this morning (and on the ferry to Victoria, no less), and I'm sick.

It'll pass - just bad timing

Things are suspiciously getting clearer at work, and for the better. We're still waiting to see how the new owner of the company wants to restructure (July 3rd will be that clarity).

But .. in the meantime, I'm off to Victoria tomorrow to work with a client.


I also confirmed today that my new house will be done on July 20th. I'll be in to do the final inspection on July 14th, and get the keys on the 24th.

.. all this means I need to break the lease on the place I'm in now (wheee :), and prep for a move on the 25th of July. Fortunately the new house is only a few minutes down the road from where I am now :)

The wedding in Toronto on Sat was.... interesting. I have a pretty messed up family, but I did it for my brother and it was incredible for him; he's found the perfect person for him.

huskydoggeh and I spent a few days between my meetings and the wedding fun running around Toronto and exploring the city. Toronto really is quite an amazing place :)

NOW.

I've been getting back into the Pawz stuff up here after my years absence in Chicago; though we've been doing performing community events for close to 6 years now. Yesterday the gang was helping at a Juvenile Diabetes Research fundraiser which went amazingly well (at the Vancouver Zoo).

What hit me like a ton of bricks was a story that Global TV (basically, an NBC Affiliate in Vancouver) on "Bumper", a character played by thump ...I'd like to think that the story illustrates all of the group's hard work. Last weekend we were helping entertain at the BC Children's Hospital "Miracle Weekend" Fundraiser (they raised almost $16,000,000 that weekend)



This is why after 6 years I keep doing this stuff. We've all been getting reactions like that for years, but this is the first time anyone's presented it as touchingly as we were fortunate enough to have seen.

We do some amazing stuff and we've got a lot to be proud of.

Quite the interesting weekend indeed :)

thump was up for a Pawz event on Sunday at the BC Children's Hospital "Miracle Weekend" fundraiser - a pretty huge event for a great cause, and lots of awesome really great stories out of it all

And OMG, p_dawgydog can dance :P


I'm off to Toronto on Wednesday for a couple work items, and for my brothers wedding on Saturday (never been to a wedding before :) .. that should all be interesting; I'll be in Toronto until early Sunday morning

Seriously, this is crazy! Its been weeks since rain, and another 30C+ day (for my Yankee friends, 37.5C is about 100F, which is very hot for here :)

Completely Random ..

it's a software services consulting company (project management, business analysis etc..)

I'm trying to think of something catchy -- something like a one word name or something in a couple words ..

Hmmm...

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