MikeG's own BLOG

rant!

2007-04-26T22:57:00.000-04:00

even though no one looks at blogs anymore since facebook has taken over like a virus I thought I would make a rant here.

The cost of going green by the conservatives.

so apparently it will cost us more for fridges, cars, and I am sure light bulbs. Okay, sure this global warming things we have to do something.

so its going to cost 8Billion a year in loss for Canada. okay, so for our 33million people that is what so that is $242 per person per year..... hmmmm okay that is not that bad right? so according to the government we will all pay more for everything.... I am very sure this will be more than $242 per person.

So my thought is there are a lot of ways for the government to make up this $242 per person like lets give the extra credits for energy saving items and put that extra cost on items that are not energy conserving. The conservatives did do that a bit, if you buy a fuel efficient car now you will get tax credits and if you buy an SUV then you will pay more. I like that but lets do more. Say you have to buy a fridge. you can spend more for an energy efficient one or less for a non energy efficient. So lets give rebates for the energy efficient stuff and tax the hell out of non energy efficient items.

and yes light bulbs.... why not make those nice energy star bulbs cheaper than the regular bulbs.

See it works right? This also forces industry to design and come up with more energy efficient items because it will make money for them.

MikeG out.

Time waster

2007-02-16T13:12:00.000-05:00

Not like I have a lot of time to waste, but those little web based games seem pretty popular. I thought I would include one of my own (or a link to a whole bunch of them).

Jay is games a neat little web site that has tons of different games. I have tried a few of the recommended games on the left, some are fun little time waster's.

Oddly enough, how I stumbled across this is that it popped up when I try to access an internal doc hosting site that uses the internal link http:\\jay\...

I just have to repair my IP address and my internal link works, but every so often I get the jay is games site popping up.

Have fun; let me know if you find a favorite. Here is an interesting motorcycle game, not sure how to finish it yet.

Motorcycle game

MikeG.

Ever hear of this iPH0NE thing?

2007-02-12T23:40:00.000-05:00

Ever hear of this iPH0NE thing?

Guess what, I got an interview with App1e. This is basically the third step of the process.

The first step was contact directly from a technical recruiter at App1e, this was via an email which originated from my technical profile on a website I am a member of called Linked-1n. This resulted in a few emails back and forth discussing my qualifications.

The second step was a very brief phone conversation with recruiter. At the end of this call was the request for my resume.

This third step is a one on one with a technical manager.

For now, I am not sure how ready I would be to accept a position with App1e, after all I just moved back to Ottawa and this position is located in sunny California….. hmmmm sunny California eh… well…..

MikeG.

Question: Who else uses Linked-1n?

Prince of Barrhaven

2007-01-16T13:14:00.000-05:00

Melissa and I had a great night last night. We took my Mom out for a drive. We decided to go out for a drive on the worst night of the year (day after the first snow storm) to stretch the legs of my Mom’s car as she has not been driving much.

The drive was nice; we did a nice run on the highway and just chatted with each other. Then I decided to swing out to Barrhaven to take a little trip down memory lane. You see I have always known that my Mom grew up on a farm out in the Barrhaven area but I did not know much more than that. So last night I asked her to show us.

We started the drive up Greenbank, left on Followfield, and then right on Woodroffe. As we were talking about the farm, my Mom tells us that there is a park named after us (well her maiden name)….. A park! Hey, that I never knew. So I blurt out, where is it… now remember there is tons of fresh snow, and she had not been there in years (so we start randomly driving down side streets and low and behold we see a wooded area and drive up to the sign and we se it “STINS0N PARK” (again my Mom’s maiden name).

This was wild, so after driving around the area (some nice houses) I decide to pull over and check this park out. The park is nice, several play structures, a soccer field, and a covered picnic area where I assume the house once stood. One day in the spring I will check it out rather than in a foot of snow.

I found out that it was quite a farm, it was off Woodroffe from went from north of Strandherd (or known then as Wills side road because Will something lived on it) all the way to Greenbank.

So to let you all know how much land once was in my family I am attaching a map (thank you google maps) of Barrhaven with the area once owned by my Grandfather (yup Grandfather, not that long ago really). Unfortunately for me and my family, it was sold at not much of a profit, so no family fortune waiting in the mist (sorry mel).

MikeG.

Time to talk about work

2006-12-16T13:05:00.000-05:00

As most people who visit my blog know it has not been that long since I moved back from Toronto. I am very glad to be back, Toronto was not a lot of fun.

Well what took so long to move back in the first place was my need to have a job back here in my field. Also as many of you know I am one of those computer geeks as I like to explain it. The more technical description of what I do is I work in the semiconductor industry in test and manufacturing area's of a company. I get hired to make sure there is a quality product that can be tested and shipped.

When I moved back I joined this startup company that specializes in hardware (chips) for high quality wireless audio at low power. Well we just came out of what is called stealth mode, so now I can talk a little more about the company.

The name of the place is pronounced clear, but spelled with a k and is eer instead of ear (done this way so I do not get searched by my boss).

So what does this company do? Well here is a picture.

What we have here is a standard iPond nano with an extra little adaptor on the bottom of it. Then we have these little earbuds/earphones, notice one thing. No wires. These things work great, good sound, no noise, and they fit well in your ear.

What we actually make is just the chips and the software to control them, but these were made up to show potential customers how it all works.

Well the product has a huge potential, our customers seem to be really buzzing over it. I know it will do well and I can not wait for these things to be on the shelf in a store near you.

MikeG out!

Home... home on the range... where the dear and the...

2006-11-27T15:52:00.000-05:00

Oh the joys of home ownership.

If only the finished product can be as good as the image in my head and be done just as quick. Well as most people who know Mel and I we have undertook the major task of home renovation. We are keeping our wits about it and only tackling one major project at a time.

The major project of the day is our living room dining room. This weekend was a good one for us, we did manage to finish the first coat of paint, and only a few hick-ups on the way. The next major task is to install the subfloor that Alex was kind enough to help me pick up recently (thanks again Alex).

Soon I hope to pick up our hardwood for the floor very soon. The type and details of the hardwood is a closely guarded secret, but it is sharp and suits our personalities well.

The question of the day is: Do I lay the hardwood myself (well calling on a few of my fellow man to help me out) or do I do the lazy way and hire someone to do it for me.

Let me break it down, and it makes the choice even more difficult. (please note, I am biased to doing the work myself)

To do the floor myself, obviously I need the tools (as this is real hardwood, not no click and lay laminate). Cost of this, I figure is around 200 loonies for the weekend thanks to home depot.
Next is the time, well as mentioned above a weekend, one that hopefully a few friends are also free. Then there is the beer (for after the hardwood is laid) and the pizza.

The benefit of doing it myself, the joys of knowing a job well done, and not paying someone to lay down my own floor.

The risks of doing it myself, the possibility of having an uneven crooked floor that I would probably never hear the end of....

So the other option, hire someone to do it.

Lets see this is obvious I hope. A professional would likely do a better job that myself and some friends (especially if beer is involved). Downside, cost, I hate having to pay 2-3 loonies per sqr foot (hey its a big room) to someone for work that I should be able to do myself.

Risks, the guy to do the floor may not be available at a convenient time.

benefit, well when you think of it the cost is not crazy if you factor in the cost of renting or buying the proper tools for the job, the floor would be straight and level, and the job would likely be done much quicker than I could do it

Sooooo any thoughts on my dilemma, as I said above I am partial to doing the floor myself, but the more I think of it the more it makes sense to pay the extra change (would likely work out to about 250 loonies more than what it would cost to do it myself) and would probably be worth it for the stress that dealing with the floor would probably cause.

Well over and out for now,

MikeG.

Mike's world

2006-08-22T21:02:00.001-04:00

Well I guess I have been neglecting this site. Well I started blogging to help keep in touch with all my friends and family while I was living in T.O. When I moved back I figured I would have tons of time to to keep in touch.

Well now that I am back in Ottawa, started the new job, taking care of the house, not really going out with friends as much as I wuld like(no one seems to call us anymore, not sure why....) but keeping extreemly busy just the same.

As for me not updating the blog is mainly due to really crappy internet at home (avoide bell, more about this after), and not doing any blogging at the new job.

Well I may as well give an update.
Job: Its been going well, I have a variety of responsibilities and some interesting work, some I could do without. But all in all it pays the bills and its great to be back in Ottawa.
House: Well I always new that home ownership would be alot of work, and
with the new car it is nice to be able to drive around and not worry about mechanical problems of the car.

Well I hope to get back to blogging and keeping everyone up to date.

Cheers to all!

MikeG.

Want to waste your time?

2006-07-27T00:08:00.000-04:00

I came accross this really cool web site. Want to waste some time?

Check this out: www.myheritage.com

This site is pretty neat. you can you can upload a photo to see what celebs you look like. trust me, you will be uploading like crazy.

Have fun!

MikeG.

It was just about time

2006-07-20T00:57:00.000-04:00

Big news from the MikeG camp!

After many many years of looking I finally bought a new(er) car. (featured on the right) I am happy with the decision; the main reason for this choice I must admit was price.

For what I paid it is quite a car. Good power, lots of features, good comfort, room inside for my meager frame. I have to admit I was a bit skeptical about buying a North American car, but greed took over. The base price of this slightly used car was significantly less than anything that I could have come close to in an import, plus I had serious problems with import cars. For instance, I did not fit into many of the cars I test-drove, not a big selling point. Second, most import cars that I drove had serious lack of power, not really that fun to drive.

This car is pretty new, its a 2005 model year, its very clean, nice and roomy, has power to accelerate, and yet is pretty good on gas (no honda civic but still pretty good) I am sure most of you will get to see it in the next little while (BBQ this weekend perhaps?), anyway so now I have a nice clean car that I am not afraid to drive.

This is good, I am happy now. I have the house, the pool is awesome, the bike has new tires, work is good, Mel is great, and now I have a new(er) car!

MikeG!

time for a post

2006-07-14T18:50:00.000-04:00

Okay it has been forever since I have last posted.

Here is the quick update.
Quit ATI.
Moved back to Ottawa.
Started a new job.
Got new tires on the bike.
Having a great life!

I am sooooo glad to be back, spending time with Mel, my Mom, and all of my friends.

Casino winnings

2006-05-15T13:08:00.000-04:00

Well its been some time since my last post, sorry about that.

I just had to tell the story of my casino winnings. For mothers day Melissa and I took my mother to the race track casino in Ottawa. Shortly after we arrived and I was already down $20.00 in the quarter slots I asked Mel if I could play the $1 slots. I took the eye rolling as a yes. So I put my $20.00 in the machine. Slowly I pressed the max bet button and .... Nothing, then again I pressed it (3 dollars a spin here people), and... Nothing... So I do this again and BANG, I get a single cherry.... Big deal 6 credits.... At this time I am thinking I should go back to the the quarters or even the nickel slots. Instead I keep going, what good is money if you cant loose it right? At 8 dollars left in the machine, Mel says " I am bad luck for you, I am leaving", right then and there no word of a lie, I get triple bar, Ten Times, triple bar.... Which on this particular machine is 900 credits or $900.00. After what seemed like an eternity of bells ringing on my machine, a casino worker comes by and gives me the cash. Not bad for a day out.

Oh and Mel broke even in her winnings (well won back the 20.00 that I gave her) and my Mom won close to $100.00.

Time for another post

2006-03-23T16:22:00.000-05:00

Well its been a long time for posts, but pretty crazy busy.

First off, I am still in Ottawa, not on a vacation, but here for my family. Second is this house that Mel and I are buying. It has great potential, but just the cleaning and upkeep that just keeps going and going.

Then there is this new thing, I get a call the other day about a job that I applied for a few weeks back. They want me in for an interview. Not much prep time, but I hope I can pull it off. It is another job right in my field so I hope all goes well.

Okay now its time to get back to the research and prep, I need to knock them down at this interview tomorrow.

MikeG.

Time for a post

2006-02-19T19:56:00.000-05:00

Well time for a new post, the vote is over soooo.

Some of the things going on:
Need a new phone
Need a new car
Need to get finances in order.

Well lets start with the cell phone, mine is about at the end of its life. I have had the phone for about 18 months now, so I can either wait the 6 months to get a free one, or pay the hit and get a new one from FIDO. I think it is just the battery, but I am not a 100% sure right now. I have a couple of options here
A. New battery from Fido (~50.00)
B. New battery from the internet (~25.00)
C. New phone from Fido(~100.00)
D. New phone from other source, say rogers if it works (as low ~35.00)

I will probably try for the new rogers phone, Duncan had a phone that he was thinking of selling and my friend Ken mentioned his brother can get some cheap (good) phones from rogers.

New car. This is one that has been on for a long long time. I am at the point with my car that I do not feel justified to put any time or money into it. I have been renting cars to go to and from Ottawa and that seems to work, but now I am starting to get concerned about my short little drive into work (oh well hopefully summer will be here soon and I can just take the bike.
My options
a. Brand new car (more expensive) say a Mazda6, an Altama, Accord, Acura or something like that.
b. Brand new car (an inexpensive one) say a civic, toyota yaris or matrix
c. A newer used car. this the options are limitless. but basicly newer than 2003 under $20,000 and less than 80k on it.

The final thing is to get my finaces in order, I am thinking of buying something expensive with Mel. More to come on that one.

MikeG

P.S still looking for that job in O town, I started using a new website http://www.ottawaregion.com/techdbase it is kinda cool, it has alot of the high tech companies in Ottawa. I started going through it, I managed to finish the letters and A, now I am onto B.

what does everyone think, if both an email, fax, and address is given. What is the best one to use?

almost time to vote!

2006-01-18T13:36:00.000-05:00

Well as most of you know, the federal election is almost upon us. I normally do not give much thought to elections, but there is something wrong about this Harper character. So just to spite the election call by the conservatives and NDP I am voting Liberal.

I just saw an interesting article in the Ottawa sun today.
"A blast from the past, 'Liberal conspiracy’ theory reveals Stephen Harper’s"By Greg Weston.

The article was interesting, the point that was great was this, Harper was asked about a Conservative majority and the response (from Harper) was These are his exact words: “I’m not sure there’s such a thing as a true Conservative majority. The reality is we will have, for some time to come, a Liberal Senate, a Liberal civil service — at least the senior levels have been appointed by the Liberals — and the courts that have been appointed by the Liberals. “So these are obviously checks on the power of a Conservative government ... and limits on our ability to operate that a Liberal government would not face.”

Wow, crazy, so the government may turn out to be conservative, but that’s okay, because EVERYONE in the government is liberal. So can we expect a shakedown?

There is my political rant, I say vote Liberal, just to put it in the face of the idiots who called this dumb election a year and a half after we voted them in.

PS a colleague of mine keeps saying that him mom likes to say that Harper looks dumb, well at lunch today I saw a picture of him on the TV and yes he does look like an idiot.

MikeG

ahhhh the fun of looking for a Job

2006-01-18T00:01:00.000-05:00

Well I guess I have been neglecting my Blog responsibilities lately. So here is another update.

So obviously a large part of my energy and spare time lately has been spent looking for a job. I am not sure if I am close or not, but I have a great experience I want to tell you all about.

DND job. Can anyone say charades?

I recently had an interview with the Department of National Defense. The job, pretty crazy requirements, I must have really wooed them on my qualifications letter (which I usually keep copies, but now I can not find it). This interview was in Ottawa on January the 5th. I go to the interview, arrive a couple of minutes early and start. So 845 I am sitting here with 3 gentlemen from DnD, they give me a half an hour to go over this 6 pages of questions that they are going to ask me. Two of them leave, the other takes a nap. Half an hour later the two come back, by this time, I am only half way done these questions, and I am thinking I should just walk out of here and cut my losses, there is no way I am qualified for this job.

Well the questions start, at this point I am wishing I memorized that study guide they gave me more because each question is worth a point, and if I do not say the exact yet word, I do not get the point. I am just sweating bullets, and they start asking me, so I try my best, at this point I understand what is being asked but I forget or do not know the key words, well these three gentlemen try there hardest to help me with out saying the words. This goes on for the next oh 4 hours, until we are done all 6 pages of questions. The next hour and a half is spent on another question sheet about my suitability at DND and my previous experiences. This I think I did pretty well on. (yes you did the math right, thats over 5 hours!)

There were several times during and after the interview when I had to literally bite my tongue to not say “sounds like, first word, two syllables….”.

Well at the end of the interview they ask for my references, at this point I am thinking I bombed this interview, no more government jobs!

So two days ago I receive an email from one of my references, this guy Jim from DND calls him for a reference check. After speaking with Mel (experience in the wackiness of Government) explains that this means that I made the eligibility list.

This is great, from thinking I scraped that interview to actually made the list, wow, now I am a little scared to find out how I did. From speaking with Mel, the top person on the list gets the job, if they decide to decline it, it goes to #2 etc…

Well, I am suppose to get a letter, so I guess we will just have to wait and see (ya I know I can call someone and find out how I did, but I like the suspense)

For now its just keep truckin away to find a job in good old O-Town.

Wish me luck!
MikeG!

about that time.....

2006-01-10T21:36:00.000-05:00

Well its about that time, it has been awhile since my last post. Since then I have not had much of a break, but here it is now..... ahhhhh that was nice, now BACK TO WORK!

So what's new since my last post, well lets see..... well there was that little trip to Switzerland...

Oh ya that! Well that went well for the most part, well not that good I guess, because the otherday I got "the message". The message was that they are offering the position to someone else. I guess it was for the best, because that would have been a tough choice to pack up and move everything to another continent.
So for now I can be happy that Mel and I got to go on their dime. The trip itself was nice, except for the nightmare of traveling that close to the holidays, avoid it if you can!

As Mel explained in her post, the water is amazing! Right from the tap, yum, that is what I miss most about Switzerland, oh that and the fresh cheese, and tasty chocolate (as I snack on a few pieces.... YUM).

Then there are the views, WOW, crazy, lets just say its nice there. Here are some much deserved pictures, (Mel gets most of the credit for these, but hey I did get her the camera, so I should get some credit)

The view from Lausanne

view from around the lake

So for now its back to work looking for a job back in Ottawa, I still ask, does anyone know of a job for me???? PLEASE!

Off to Switzerland!

2005-12-08T00:16:00.000-05:00

Well its official. I booked two tickets to Switzerland today.

Melissa and I will depart from Ottawa on the 17th of December (from the Ottawa Via station, for a quick train to Montreal) and then we will return on the 22nd.

This should be fun!, now to decide what kind of car to get, time for a poll!

What kind of car should Melissa and Mike get in Switzerland
(I will go with National car rental as I have an emerald club with them so I should get special treatment)
1. Mini 3-Door/Manual/No Air Hyundai Atos 1.0 or similar $234 SFr
2. Economy 3-Door/Manual/No Air Smart Forfour 1.2 or similar $250 SFr
3. Compact 5-Door/Manual/Air Peugeot 307 1.6 or similar $263 SFr
4. Compact Wagon 5-Door/Manual/Air Peugeot 307 Estate 1.4 or similar $289.44 SFr
5. Compact 5-Door/Automatic/Air Renault Megane 1.4 or similar $295 SFr
6. Intermediate 4-Door/Automatic/Air Mercedes A 1.8 or similar $335 SFr
7. Standard Wagon 5-Door/Manual/Air Citroen C5 Estate 2.0 or similar $361 SFr

Cost is not really an issue, because the company will reimburse me, should I try and push it and go big and get an intermediate? or should I go for the fun and get a smart car!

Oh P.S, for really cheap flights to Switzerland check out www.swiss.com. they have packages from about $580.00 return (if you book in time) hint hint nudge nudge for those that will come visit us!

More work than I expected

2005-12-06T01:01:00.000-05:00

So this morning I receive an email from the guy in Switzerland. It is a reply to an email I sent on Friday indicating my plans, and that it is not finalized yet, but close. This is the reply:

Mike,
It sounds like a good plan. Please let me know when you have confirmed your
itinerary.
We will reserve and pay for the hotel; and reimburse you for the cost of a
rental car and coach airline seats.
I look forward to seeing you.
..Ray

hmmmmmm okay, hotel booked, and reimburse for a rental car and..... and what airline seats!, hmmmmm according to my last post airline seats are almost 5 grand! Well that's a lot, I sure hope I can trust these guys to reimburse me. From what I know about the company and my feeling on them it is legit, but still .... A leap of faith? Or what?

So I am having a hard time with Mel's 850 return, I am sure it exists but where is it. So far I have found a few flights for 2k from Ottawa, and 1500 from TO. I can get a bit cheaper if I segment it, say Chicago to Geneva and then separate flight from Ottawa to Chicago.

As for car rental, I did find a smart car for four that may be fun to drive.

So I just sent an email to my contact asking for more details, lets see what the response is.

now time for bed, as its close to 2 am!

M

Our trip to Switzerland

2005-12-01T00:27:00.000-05:00

So as you all know by now this company that I have had two telephone interviews with has invited Melissa and I to Switzerland to check it out. Now aside from two heavy suit cases stuffed with Ryan and Matt here is my dilemma.

The suggested date for me to have the interview was the 19th of December (Monday).

I am not sure exactly how this is going to work, I sent an email back just now saying that I am looking at flying from Ottawa or Toronto on either the 16th (Friday)or the 17th(Saturday) and then returning on the 20th Tuesday. Not alot of time to look around, I may want to push this back a day and leave the 21st so we can look at apartments.

So I decide to research good old air Canada’s web site. What I found was that a flight from both Ottawa or Toronto to Geneva Switzerland is a staggering $5553.00 per person! Wow, I am glad I am not paying for this. If we select Executive the price does drop to $3499.00 per person (go figure, only in Canada).

As I said, we have a couple of options. Leaving from Toronto. Most flights that I checked out go from Toronto to Frankfurt or Munich, then a second flight to Geneva. Once in Geneva it would likely be a train to Lausanne. The flight typically leaves Toronto in the evening 5-9pm and would arrive in Geneva in the afternoon the next day. If we decide to leave from Toronto, Mel would have to come here and we would likely fly out on the Friday to arrive in the afternoon on the Saturday.

The other option is from Ottawa. This would mean I would have to go to Ottawa, likely after work on Friday and fly out on Saturday. but I may want to consider taking the Friday off... not sure yet but here are my options according to the air Canada site.

On Friday
Ottawa - Montreal- Frankfurt - Geneva or Ottawa - Toronto - Munich - Geneva. Both options are leave early Friday afternoon (~3-4pm) and arrive in Switzerland around noon on Saturday.

On Saturday
mostly just Ottawa - Toronto - Munich - Geneva. leave early Friday afternoon (~3-4pm) and arrive in Switzerland around noon on Sunday.

Now the Ottawa side of things would be good as well because I may be able to take some extra time off and stay in Ottawa for the rest of the week to spend with my family. If I do this, it will be hard to ask for the Friday off as well as the entire week. Plus most of the trips go through Toronto, and that will just suck taking a bus to Ottawa only to fly back to Toronto the next day.

The only other option is to have them split our tickets so that I fly from Toronto, and Mel flies from Ottawa. That is always an option, but seems strange asking for it.

There may be other international flights, that I do not know of that air Canada does not show me, but likely they will buy the tickets for me and I just pick them up electronically at the airport.

I need to get back to these guys soon, any advice? Some of this depends on what time I can book off from work (technically I only have 3 days left for the year so....)
MikeG

2nd Switzerland interview went great

2005-11-29T22:16:00.000-05:00

So I had my second telephone interview with Switzerland today. The call came for me at 8am my time (they are 7 hours ahead), the interview went well. I was expecting a tedious technical interview, but it was pretty much mostly about Switzerland, even when I tried to steer the interview to the technical side, it kept going back to how beautiful Switzerland is.

But all in all my two interviews must have went well because I received an invitation for both Melissa and I to go to Switzerland to see things for our selves.

I have not scheduled this yet, but it will probably occur soon. They mentioned the 19th of December for a visit (paid for by them, yes, for both Mel and I).

And then when I got home from work, I had a message on my machine about a woman at CSE asking me to call her back. This likely stems from an online application that I filled out for either an electrical engineer or an intelligence analysis. Not sure which one, I will call tomorrow and find out.

ATI SUCKS

2005-11-28T23:35:00.000-05:00

I have always known that my present work environment is not the optimal place for me to be right now, today its just the icing on the cake.

Months ago I decided I wanted to go to the company Christmas party. So when the invite was put to us I asked Melissa if she would like to be my date, she agreed. The main reason for my interest in the party was pretty selfish. ATI is a company that last year made 2 billion dollars (public record, no confidential information here), so I figured at Christmas time they would be generous. Well I was a little put off by the fact that they used some of the funds for gifts this year on parking for everyone, that's great if your driving there, I had every intention on taking public transit, so it was less gifts for me.

Now however due to a family emergency I have to go home for that weekend. Well first I decide, I may as well give my tickets to some of my friends at work, only to find out they do not want to go!, great company spirit I tell you, ATI just breeds it. So with my friends and co-workers all not interested in free tickets I give up. So I send an email to the coordinator, figuring, family emergency and the fact that they sell out every year these tickets must be easy to get rid of. What I get is a very typical Toronto attitude (sorry to generalize, but I have found people here not to be as friendly as other places I have been). This woman tells me in a very cold sounding email that the tickets are non refundable ($40.00) and even if I sell them(or give them away), the draws will be in my name and I have to be there to claim the prize.

This just seems wrong to me. Part of me really wanted to go to get this fancy dinner and then just toss it in the trash and walk out, because that is what this woman was suggesting.

Anyway enough of my rant (I ended up giving the tickets to a co-worker that just got back from a months vacation, I guess he had been trying hard to get tickets to go).

So based on my frustrations with ATI Melissa was great and she passed me over a half dozen job postings(like the government space job, and the job at rim, aka the rim job (read that one out loud if you want a laugh)) .

So I propose to all of my friends that would like to see me back in Ottawa, if you know of a position in high tech (electrical engineering, semi conductors, computers, telecommunication, etc) or know of someone highering for such a position, please let me know! Feel free to send me a link or post it on my blog.

Well thanks for listening to my rant.

MikeG!

2nd telephone interview

2005-11-28T00:23:00.000-05:00

Well its all set up. I have a second telephone interview with a high tech startup in Switzerland.

I feel quite confident about the interview as I am very suited for the position however, I am a little stuck on what questions to ask as I will be speaking with one of the founders of the company on Tuesday morning.

I do not know if I would accept this position even if it was offered for me, it would be a big move. Even further from Ottawa than Toronto!

For now there are other factors that complicate things. There is Mel, would she come with, the other is a family situation in where I feel I should be there for them.

View from the top

2005-11-20T16:24:00.001-05:00

I just thought I would include a view from my T.O place for everyone to see. Since very few have taken my offer to come for a visit, I thought I would tempt everyone.

This a picture taken from my balcony. I have to admit I have a great view. The buildings that you see in the background are along younge street. I have a large two bedroom apartment, that is really quite nice.

So the offer to come by for a visit still stands, but you had better work fast before I move back or to Switzerland, which ever comes first!

MikeG.

Motorcycle is stored

2005-11-19T21:02:00.000-05:00

Well it's done!

As the weather turns it comes time to put the bike away. I spent a couple of hours today winterizing it. This involved changing the oil, waxing the chain, taking the battery out, and putting it up on stands. The bike is now all locked up and covered, now for the long long winter ahead.

I will get some relief as there are two motorcycle shows in TO at the beginning of winter. The first is the Toronto Motorcycle show December 2-4 at the Metro Convention Center. This show is with the new 2006 models. Lots of fun, you get to see the bikes, and sit on them. Kinda like a car show, but obviously for motorbikes.
The second show is the Motorcycle Supershow 2006. This show is January 6-8th at the Toronto International Center. This is the show that one goes to buy motorcycle gear and accessories. This show is almost like a flea market for motorcycle's. Last year I bought a new pair of motorcycle gloves that retail for 250.00 and I got them for 100.00 (thank you Mel for pointing them out).

This year I have a few things I have to buy. Because of the many highway trips I made to and from Ottawa, I went through both front and rear tires. My chain and perhaps my sprockets are at there end of life. The final item I need is new rear break pads. Other items that I want from the supershow are leather suit and maybe a back protector. So lots of money to be spent but hey I am worth it!

First Blog posting

2005-11-19T15:58:00.000-05:00

Hello all who reads this!

Well this is my first posting here on Blogger.com, I will bet it wont be that interesting. My name is Mike, affectionately known as MikeG. I have created this BLOG to help keep in touch with all of my friends back home in Ottawa.

So why am I not with my friends in Ottawa you ask?, that is a good question, well you see when it comes down to it, its all about the money. Now I know money is not everything, but when you don't have it, well it kinda sucks.

For now I have a place in Toronto Canada, but I seem to travel back to Ottawa almost every weekend, I do this for my love Melissa. Melissa and I have been together for quite some time now, and we get along great!

Since this is only my first posting, I will not bore you with the details, but in the future posts I am sure you will learn all about me, my friends, and mostly Melissa. I can predict that most of my postings will be either about motorcycles, Melissa, or trying to find a job back in Ottawa.