Pictures Pictures!

So although I do have a blog devoted to my pictures, I never post there and so I've decided to post them here instead! Here's the first of more to come! Enjoy :)

The Lost Generation

Hey guys,

So I was looking through some old pictures that I had stashed away in my drawer and it occurred to me that we haven't actually printed pictures in ages! The invent of the digital camera seemed to completely eliminate the need for actual photographs and then along came facebook which offered to store our pictures for us. I won't argue that its convenient but it got me thinking about all the things that we store on hard drives. It doesn't take long to realize how vulnerable we've become by making our lives digital. By storing records online and pictures online and important documents online that in the past would have been stored in a fireproof vault somewhere. Naturally this thought train led me to wonder, what would happen if some cataclysmic event occurred that destroyed our computers and wiped out everything we had worked so hard to accumulate over the years. And if such an event occurred then who would tell our story? What would our generation look like in 100 years. It appears that it would be so easy for us to just disappear off the radar and that's a little bit scary...

My final word: Print out your pictures and your documents. Keep a physical copy of things because we've all been there. We've all crashed a computer and kicked ourselves for not backing it up.

I leave you with a picture I took awhile back, its gorgeous. Enjoy :)

Human Nature and the Internet

The internet is an amazing tool. There is limitless access to information about everything you could possibly dream of. Not only that, if you need more information there are forums for basically everything under the sun that range from interesting to downright stupid. However, human nature strikes again. These forums are plagued by what can only be called internet Nazis who have for some reason made it their life purpose to prove others wrong and make them look like morons. Every forum has it's unique set of rules that all members must follow lest they be ridiculed and insulted by other members who think having 7,000 posts on a forum about nothing makes them better then the 'noob' who just signed up. God forbid you post something in the wrong topic, or even worse spell something wrong. It kind of goes like this:

New Member: Innocent question about something that would probably do better in a different sub forum.

Member 2: Insults for posting in wrong forum

Member 3: Insults for misspelling 'your'

Member 4: Complains about the rules being broken -begin rant about noobs-

Member 5: Attempts to answer original question

Member 6: Ridicules member 5's answer

Member 7: THIS THREAD HAS BEEN MOVED

Right? Ya. This isn't contained to forums either. News articles are full of people who have nothing better to do then point out all the reasons why the journalist is a moron and god forbid a news article is missing a comma. Guaranteed several people will point it out to them whilst insulting the intelligence of the poor journalist.

What is it about the anonymity of the internet that brings out the worst in people? Why do we focus on the rules and not the content? I believe that being on the internet is like being in a car. We know we can do whatever we want and nobody can retaliate.

But who cares? Why does it matter? It matters because there are people who don't turn into complete idiots on the internet. There are some of us who sit on the sidelines and don't participate in forum conversations because we don't feel like dealing with all you morons waiting to pounce on us. We might be able to contribute to the conversation or even solve whatever your problem is but you're SOL because we're not getting involved. That's why blogging is so great! I can write whatever I want and nobody can say boo. Although I don't participate in forums and I rarely comment on news articles I put out this challenge to the internet: Be nice to each other. There's no need to mock and ridicule because you believe someone is wrong. There's no need to fight because you disagree about something that everybody has a different opinion about and there's no need to insult, degrade and correct every single journalist who writes something you don't personally care about. The world is a big place my friends, there will always be people with contrasting viewpoints to your own and being a jerk won't change their beliefs. Here's to positivity on the internet!

Do we all need to go back to kindergarten? Clearly.

-chris

The Unspoken Rules of the Bus

Hey people! Long time no talk. It has just occurred to me that every single post begins with that. So I'm gonna stop saying that. Clearly I'm not one of those people with seven million tweets and a blog post every day of their lives. But I digress. I really wanted to talk about the people who ride the bus. It occurs to me that many of you fine folks have never had the pleasure of experiencing the joys of public transit. So let me just give you a few rules in the event that you choose to partake in the adventure that is public transit.
1.) Don't stand at the front of the bus. You don't want to be 'that guy' who stands at the front of the bus even though it's empty and makes everyone who gets on squeeze by you.
P.S If you choose to be that guy then please don't look all offended when I push past you without so much as a look of apology. Douche bag, MOVE BACK
2.) Please have your change ready when you board the bus. Yes, I understand if you run to catch the bus and you have to fish the change from your pocket. I get it, I do. But how about the people who are standing there waiting for it and take 10 minutes to find it. Am I the only one who makes sure I have the correct change before boarding? No? Didn't think so.
Also, if you find the you do not have the correct change please don't come and ask me if I would mind sparing a few dollars. I mind. Very much so.
3.) Don't sit next to someone when there are empty seats all around. There is nothing more annoying then someone who chooses to sit next to you when the bus has 4 people in it. Not only is it annoying but it's creepy. 4.) If you choose to sit next to me because there's nowhere else to sit that's fine. But please, if you see that I need to get off the bus get the hell out of my way. I need to get past you so please stand up and let me out. None of this sideways leg turn nonsense. My ass does not need to come that close to your face. Get up.
5.) Don't be a seat hog. If there's an empty seat next to you and you put your bag on it you can bet your ass I'm cussing you out in my mind. Not only that, I will ask you to please move your bag and let me sit. Well now, this is awkward isn't it?
6.) Wear deodorant. Does this really need an explanation? You stink.
7.) I don't want to hear your life story. You missed the bus yesterday? really? and then your cat was sick? and then you had to go shopping? REALLY? No. I don't care. I'm on the bus because I have to be. I'm not here for chit chat. If you want to chat then pull out your phone like the rest of us.

This list is far from complete but its all I can think of right now...
Goodbye blogger world!
Peace and love!
~Chris

Attention Parents of teenagers!

So its been awhile! This won't be very long as I only have half an hour before I have to get ready for work. Yay? What a long week this is. Work sunday monday tuesday wednesday thursday friday and something tells me I'll be getting called in saturday and sunday as well. Too bad! Not gonna happen ;). But this brings up exactly what I wanted to talk about. Parents. Parents are great! They buy you things and keep you warm and dry and feed you and apparently assume you're superhuman. No, for real. If you are a parent I want you to read this as I'm directing this to you. Perhaps in your day, balancing high school and a part time job was easier. Part time job meant a few hours on the weekend or maybe a couple hours after school once or twice a week. Not to mention your school curriculum in grade 12 is now what we learn in grade 5. Believe me when I say things have changed. If you're like my parents you expect part time to mean 25-30 hours a week which roughly translates to this: wake up, go to school, get home, sit down for three minutes, go to work, get home around 10-11pm do homework until 1am and repeat. Then the dreaded weekend comes around and we are expected to work saturday and sunday. So now not only are we basically going non stop 24 hours a day 5 days a week but we don't even get a day off on the weekend. The law says workers must legally get one day off per 6 days worked. That's a person working 40 hours a week. How about students working (I include school and homework in this) from 7:00 in the morning to 1:00am monday to friday and 9-5 saturday and sunday. You then get surprised when we skip a few days of school to sleep or book a few weeks off work to get caught up. Thank god I'm not doing that anymore!

Here's my suggestion for you parents. Don't nag your kid to get a job after school. Recognize school for what it is. A full time job. One that not only takes up 6 or 7 hours of their day but also 2-3 hours of their evening as well. It's a 9 hour a day job and you want to add another 3-5 hours a night of actual work on top of that? Fine, you do that. But I challenge you to do the same. Go out and find yourself a student type part time job that takes up your entire evening and weekend on top of your normal full time job and you'll STILL come out on top because you won't have to come home at night and spend your last waking hours doing homework. See how fast you burn out. Contrary to popular belief teenagers are not robots meant to work 24/7. They burn out, fast. They require more sleep then you do and quite simply don't get it.

That's all. Rant over. But I can hear it now. "What you're saying is that I should just let my child be lazy and they won't learn work ethic blah blah blah". Not at all, that is what school is for. That is what homework is for. It teaches responsibility and time management and that is where you as a parent come in. Teach your own damn kids work ethic. And don't think that your 16 year old child should be working their fingers to the bone and contribute to the household because they owe you nothing. You brought them into this world and they are your responsibility until they turn 18. Even then, if you care at all about their future you'll let them focus on school because in the end all a teenager sees is that going to work gets them money and going to school becomes a pain in the ass so they'll stop going! Smarten up parents, you aren't doing your kids a favour by making them work to the point of a breakdown.

-Chris

Buffering...Buffering...Buffering

So here I am waiting for a movie to finish downloading. It's at like 85% so it shouldn't be too much longer! Yay! I really kinda sorta kinda sorta kinda really want to see this movie. So that makes killing time difficult. So for your enjoyment here's a list of stuff that I've done to pass the time. Enjoy!
-Shot staples at the desk
-bleached my teeth
-played bejeweled
-sims!
-tv
-fake iphone piano
THIS

That killed about an hour. I could go to sleep but then I'd have to watch my movie in the wee hours of the morning which would be like noon tomorrow because those are my wee hours of the morning. So there. That is all. I leave you with a video of a monkey pulling a dogs tail. Ahaha...priceless. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4aPGtx7e6k

Brampton Transit Update

So I've made a lot of progress in my quest to lodge a complaint against Brampton Transit. And I take back what I said before. Brampton Transit will listen to your complaint and investigate the incident... well, as long as you are relentless and do what I did. What is that? Well keep your pants on, I'll tell you!

So I basically called them, it went straight to voicemail and they would call me back later when it was convenient for them (and somehow I was never around a phone. I swear they were watching me and waiting until they knew I wouldn't pick up) and leave me a voicemail telling me buses were delayed due to traffic. So I called back and left a message saying I realize buses are late sometimes but come on, this one just didn't bother showing up at all. They would then leave me a message saying the same thing they said before. All I wanted to do was get my complaint heard so I looked up their customer support email addy and sent them a nice long email! Well I immediately recieved a robot reply stating they would do their best to answer me within 5 days. Not good enough. So I waited a couple days and sent a long rather detailed email to the Mayor of Brampton and bingo. That was the right move. She sent me a response within half an hour. She completely understood my complaint and seemed genuinely sorry and troubled by my experience with the people at (the lack of) customer service. So she asked if she could contact the transit director on my behalf and I was more then happy to agree. Today I recieve an e-mail aknowledging my complaint and asking for more information so they can conduct an investigation. I gave them all the info they need to know and they'll take it from here.

May I just say kudos to our mayor Susan Fennell. She has yet again helped me out when the city refused. She seems to have this connection with the citizens that the rest of the city employees lack and for that I applaud her. Keep up the great work Mayor and you will continue to have my support in the following years.

So, moral of the story? Don't let people push you around. If you have a genuine complaint then make sure your voices are heard. Don't assume things will change on their own if you don't speak up because they won't. This doesn't just apply to my specific situation. It applies in all areas of business. If you are paying for a product and service and you aren't satisfied then why should you have to suffer? That is all for today. Ramble over ;-)

Sincerely,
SATISFIED customer

Oh interworld net. I found this video yesterday which has been around for awhile but I tend to avoid youtube because Rogers has such unreasonably LOW internet caps that it just isn't in thebandwidth budget unless I'm in that I don't care mode...but that's another blog.

Anywhooooo it's by Andrew Bravener and it's about youtubers whoring themselves out for likes and comments and subscribers and such and I couldn't agree more! Run over to the youtube and watch it. Let me just find the link...just a moment...duh duh duh.....here. No seriously, watch it. I'll wait...
...
...
...
Welcome back! Now let me tell you a little tale about me. I blog (odviously, did I need to even say that??) I tweet, I facebook, I youtube and although I have no problem posting interconnecting links in my blog posts or my twitter or perhaps publishing my newest youtube video on facebook, I would not consider myself 'in it for the views' or the page hits. I genuinely post my crap on the internet because I enjoy doing it. I enjoy writing these pointless blog posts and connecting with old friends on facebook and twitter... well I whore myself out on twitter. Who doesn't?

But the moral of my story is this. I completely agree with that video I posted and just think people should start considering why they do stuff. Why did you upload that video on youtube? Did you think that people would genuinely enjoy it or are you doing it for views? Do you write blog posts with a gagillion tags so that a bunch of people will accidentally stumble upon it or do you write about what's in your head in the hopes that similar people might come across it and genuinely enjoy what you have to say?

In closing I'm gonna show you how all my blog posts COULD end :)
Byeeee
tweet me! CLICK
facebook me! HERE
SKYPE: chris.green3377
MSN (just kidding.)
GOOGLE +
GOOGLE MY HOUSE AND KNOCK ON MY DOOR! (No just kidding, don't do that)

Holy Heatwave!

Well guys it's that time of year where the temperatures soar and the air conditioners roar. See what I did there? I rhymed :)

Its been a hot couple of weeks with more to come. Tomorrow it's supposed to go up to 38 (100 fahrenheit for you Americans). To put that in perspective, the hottest temperature EVER here was 38.3. With the humidity it will feel more like 50. So it's kind of something to talk about! Here's hoping we don't have a blackout... That would stink.

Anywhoooo I just thought I'd check in since its been awhile. On a side note I'd like to take this oppertunity to bitch about something. Brampton Transit has to be the worst run transit system ever in regards to customer complaints. Have a complaint? Don't bother calling, they never pick up their phone. If someone from BT happens to read this I'd like to thank you so much for making me wait 45 minutes on two seperate occasions for a bus that made me late for work. Thanks so much guys! Keep up the crap service! If anyone knows how I can actually get in touch with someone at Brampton Transit who won't try and tell me construction has delayed the busses (I couldn't care less that a bus is late, it happens. But this bus just didn't even bother showing up) please hit me up and let me know!

Ciao!

So I was thinking...

So clearly I don't know how old you are but I think that this applies to everyone older then 11. So we know that the internet hasn't been around for a long time. Most of us remember first getting the internet and how freaking amazing it was to be able to talk to your friends on MSN or have a virtual pet on Neopets. But the thing here is that we remember not having the internet. We remember big bulky solitaire computers and because of that we can appreciate it more the better it gets. But then that got me thinking... What about the stuff that we take for granted. Hair straighteners, tv's microwaves, radio. All of these stuff were here when we arrived on this lovely planet (well unless you're incredibly old) and we don't appreciate them. Too us that's just the way it has always been. Now imagine someone born in 2010. Think of the technology that will be around when this child turns 10-15 years old and how all the stuff that we think is so cool will be obsolete and boring to this person. (How on earth my iPhone could become obsolete I'll never know). Can you imagine the things that we (the future old people) will say to them. Well I can. And here's how it would go.

Kid: Dad I don't feel like going to class

Me: Jesus kid, back in my day class wasn't talk in a virtual classroom over the internet! We had to actually go outside in the morning and attend school all day.

Kid: Wow, that sucks. I'm going to go play holograph halo for a bit.

ME: Back in my day we used to have these things called television that we played our games on.

Kid: Gee dad, get with the times.

Well blog, I'm not looking forward to those times. It'll definitely be interesting. You know, assuming we make it through 2012 ;-)

Have a great night blog!

*If future generations are to remember us more with gratitude than sorrow, we must achieve more than just the miracles of technology. We must also leave them a glimpse of the world as it was created, not just as it looked when we got through with it.

Geeze, I don't know what I'm gonna talk about. How am I supposed to make a title?

Hey there. How goes it? Good. Excellent. Anywhoo busy week. I think I was home Monday night and that's it :-o but I'm finally back so that's good :-)

I don't really have a lot of time to post anything but I just thought I'd check in and post something just so that I can say that I did. So there. What is there to talk about? There's been so much happening in the world since my last post. There was a gigantic earthquake in Japan on March 11 and there's an ongoing nuclear crisis going on there. There's also the conflict in Libya which seems to be making some progress. I'm not a news article though. If you're looking for news you might as well stop reading and click here.

Well that's it. Hope you're all having a great weekend and I'll maybe post something more later or tomorrow when I have more time.

Ciao

~Chris

Title. Ya. That's the title. OK?

So hello there. I'm not going to describe to you the conditions under which I'm writing this post because let's face it, I don't wanna! So you'll have to use your imagination and pretend I'm sitting on a boat in the middle of the ocean.

Here I am! Back in bramladesh! I've been here for about 2 weeks now and it's great. I missed everyone so much and if any of you are reading it then ya... good to be back.

I thought I'd post to see if I could get some insight into something that happened last night. Let me start out by saying that I am someone who is wired for stress. I'm constantly worrying about something or stressing about something and when I'm not I tend to go and look for more things to worry and stress about. I guess some of us are naturally like this but it stinks! You're not happy unless you're worried about something and you can't be happy when you're worrying because it's not possible!! Laaaame! But anyways I'm telling you this because something strange happened last night. I just kind of 'woke up' and realized that there's no reason to be stressed. No reason to worry or be upset or be sad because ultimatelly in the end everything will work out for the best. It's weird because I'm extremely head strong and I can never ever convince myself to think or feel something. Last night though it was as if it all just flew away. I felt relaxed for the first time in months and I had the first full night of uninterrupted sleep in weeks. It can only be described as utter contentment. But what I would like to know is where this came from. It's not like I've been listening to mellow music and watching stupid heart warming movies all day. I had been playing grand theft auto and blowing people up. Maybe that was the perfect way to let out my anger and agression and worry?! Who knows!! But I did and I feel great and I would love to hear anybody else's story like this :) If you have experienced something similar please let me know by sending me an e-mail here. Have a great day blog!!

~Peace OUT!

"A strong positive mental attitude will create more miracles than any wonder drug."

Patricia Neal

It's Elimination Time Kiddies

Well then, just finished watching American Idol and thought I'd comment on what I think. I honestly think that the contestants this year are incredible although there's a couple I don't like for no reason other then they piss me off. I must say though, all of them brought their A game tonight when they were fighting to stay in the game... Except for 'glasses'. I didn't care for him and I was glad to see him go. I also don't care for wanna be Adam Lambert but I must admit, he can sing. Haha what a loser I am for typing this and what a loser you are for reading it :-)

So I'm going home in a day .5. I'm so excited! Unfortunately though I have no packing done and I'm getting kind of stressed about it... I'm gonna have to spend my whollleee night packing tomorrow, BOOOO!!! I guess I could have a couple drinks, crank up the tunes and make it interesting though.

That's all for now I guess, have a good night blog heads

T-t-t-t-t-t-that's all folks!!

-Chris

Sunny Sunny Sunny Days!

So as per my previous post, before I start I shall tell you my surroundings. I'm sitting here in a laz-e boy in the living room watching Judge Joe Brown. There's a dog at my feet and a cat on the arm rest. Mystery SOLVED!

So spring's right around the corner. Now as you may or may not know I hate people who whine about the weather. It's nothing personal. I just believe if you live in Canada you have no right to complain about how cold it is! It's not half as cold here as the world thinks it is so suck it up and deal with it!! But anyways back to the point... Spring is almost here!! The snow is clinging to the ground as best as it can but it's losing the battle and the Australian cattle dog is spending more and more time in the great outdoors. I must say I'm pretty excited! This has been a particularly nasty winter. We've had blizzards, ice storms, wind storms etc and it's almost done! So I have a spring in my step and that is all for today folks. I'm not sure if you were expecting a big long post but hey, it's been less then 24 hours since my last post and I think I should be applauded for that!!

Bon Voyage!

~Chris

Who's back?

Guess who's back! It's me! I say it over and over. You must blog... YOU MUST but I never get around to doing it and it's a shame since I have so much to talk about... haha anybody who knows me knows that that is not the case. I've always had an interest in keeping a blog that I could read years in the future to bring back the memories lost over time.

So let me start out by painting you a verbal picture (that's a thing right?). I enjoy reading blogs and news articles but I always wonder about the person that's writing them. Are they sitting in an office? On the couch watching something that's taking away half their brain? Or are they sitting naked in the bath with a bottle of wine and a laptop on the side? It most definitely is one of the great mysteries of life so I've decided that when I post a post I shall start out by describing the current situation as it appears around me. So here goes. As I write this I am lying in bed all tucked in and ready to sleep propped up on a pillow. Of course I have music playing and I am sitting in the dark. It's extremely difficult to see the keyboard so I do apologize for any spelling errors as I am typing by memory and lastly I am in bedtime mode :) Glasses, PJ's and a bottle of water by my side. Now that the mystery is gone, on with the post!

I recently decided to move back to Brampton to be with my family and aid in the progression of my life. I realized that although being in the middle of nowhere has its advantages there's nothing quite like being surrounded by your loved ones. I miss my friends, my co-workers and most of all my family (and I assume they miss me too!). So on saturday I will be beginning my journey home and wouldn't you know I already have plans for the next day. Who has the best friends in the world?

I recently celebrated my 19th birthday and as you may or may not know I live in Ontario. So now I'm completely legal to smoke drink and gamble my life away if I so choose to do so. I didn't have the typical birthday in which you get completely hammered and stay away from booze for a month. I went to the casino, had a drink and then came home and polished off a bottle of wine with my aunt (being in the middle of nowhere I have no friends here so what's a guy to do?). It was a lovely night and I'm thankful to her for being there. Other then that nothing much has happened in the last little while. I keep on keepin' on. I've got some more heavily themed drinkathons to catch up on when I get back and I'm looking forward to seeing everyone. I hope you have been good dear reader and I do apologize for not posting anything sooner.

I leave you tonight with this thought. It's funny the way life works. Sometimes all it takes is to remove yourself from a situation to get a good look and realize that the solution to the problem has been under your nose the whole time. The ones we love get on our nerves but the most important thing to remember is that no matter the problem, it all can be solved with communication. We may not be comfortable talking about certain things but in the end it's the only way to get to the root of a problem and solve it. Cherish your family, spend as much time as possible with them because they won't be around forever. And remember, conflict comes to those who look for it. Don't look for it, and it won't look for you.

Much love interwebs ~~~

Chris

Long time no...write

Hello hello. It's been awhile. I don't think I've written anything in a month and to be honest I don't quite feel like writing anything now. It's almost 4am and I've been up for about 16 hours now so I'm running on caffeine and adrenaline. I just wanted to let anybody who reads this to know that I'm not dead, just didn't have Internet for a bit.

Ciao for now! Hope to be more interesting in the future ~.~

-Chris