Opa, opa, opa-pa-pa

It's Friday. Friday. Gotta get down. This is freaking awesome. Everyone is looking forward to the weekend. Woo-hoo. Anyway, I finally got a break from work, so I slept until noon. Then I ate breakfast and got ready to go out with Mareks. We decided to take the girls somewhere, so we tried to decide something on the way there. All of my suggestions were rejected, so we ended up just thinking about going to Yorkdale mall. We went to Wilson station, and from there we took the Dufferin bus to stop at Orfus road first. There was this sushi place there that my mom didn't want to try when she was here, so this time we went and ordered a large maki party tray =] After eating we tried to go to the mall, but it was closed, so we just went back to Diana's to drop Beatrise, and then I came home while Mareks and Sabine went downtown. I got my stuff ready and then left for PMRI, where my day finished.

Saturday I was at PMRI, and I played FF7 most of the day. I'm almost finishing, finally! I just need to tougher up and kill Sephiroth now. It will be the 6th Final Fantasy game I finish, after FF5, FF6, FFT, FF9, and FF8. There's nothing else interesting about PMRI, so that's it for Saturday.

Today I woke up, took a shower, followed the exit procedures, and came home. Mareks had left an awesome easter gift for me along with a letter in Portuguese =P I made some coffee to have together with one of the treats he gave me, and then I waited until he showed up so we could get ready to leave. We had prepared an easter bag for Beatrise with chocolate and candies, so we took it with us to Diana's. We had a nice Easter Sunday there, eating good food and playing the game where you try to break the other person's eggs. I'll try to make this the only time of the year when we are allowed to eat dairy and eggs - I'm afraid the vegan police will come after us if it's more than that. We walked and biked to a park nearby that had swings, so we could play and sing there to avoid mosquitoes in the summer. Then we went back and got ready to come home. Once here, we had to finish laundry and I ended up napping for the rest of the day. Now I have to gather energy for another devastating week on my work project... Wish me luck.

SeeYa,
Feliploko; happy easter.

Chau Chuchuco

This is not a fun post. Tuesday I left work early to go to Adam&Eve to buy some chocolate to give my Easter awardees this year. Sad I was when I found out the place closed for good =[ I thought about a plan B, so I went up to Laura Secord. They didn't have dairy-free options, so I couldn't buy anything there. I went to Shoppers to try my luck, but nothings caught my attention. That's when I googled chocolate Toronto and found out there was a Swiss chocolate place at Manulife Centre. I tried going there, but I was 2min too late - they had closed. I checked the next result on google, and it was a place in Cumberland ave. I knew it would be expensive, but it was my last chance. I finally bought two nice baskets there and went to Express afterwards. The group was in the middle of a HEAT workshop, so I waited until the break to give the chocolates to Suhail and Olimpia. =] After the meeting a few of us walked to College Park and we stayed there until about 10pm, when we all headed home.

Wednesday I wanted to leave work early again, but I got caught up with last-minute tasks. I confirmed with Kevin that we would still have time to meet, so I asked Mareks to go buy his chocolate for me (at the same place from Tuesday) and meet me at Wellesley station. We met, and I only had time to give Kevin his basket and chat very quickly with him, and then I had to go eat something with Mareks since we were starving. We went to the Magic Oven, finally. We had a spicy soup that wasn't very good, but our vegan pizza was delicious. We also had dessert, so now I should be ok without that place for another half a year. We took the subway back home, and when we got here it was late enough to finish the day on the internet and then sleep.

Today wasn't much happier at work. I finished late once more, and I obviously didn't have energy to go to gym. Mareks came home a little bit after me, and then we left to buy stuff to take to Diana's on Sunday. We found $5 on a grocery basket =D Now we're back home and I watched another episode of Skins on my computer. Mareks' charger for his computer burnt, so we have to get a new one before his battery dies =P I hope this long weekend will recharge my energy, because right now I'm wasted =/

SeeYa,
Feliploko, who never sounds happy when he calls.

Burn it up again

Yusuke please lend me your Leigan... I'll probably shoot myself or two people that I'm currently working with. I've had enough already, I'm about to explode >.> If it weren't for my Marekoso I would be boiling with stress by now.

Saturday I was at PMRI, so there isn't much to report on that (not now that so much time has passed). Sunday I came back home and in the afternoon I went downtown with Mareks for a service at St. Barnabas. I met this interesting couple in which the wife is a hyperactive nurse that shared some unnecessary details with us about her private life, and the husband is a Latvian descendant who works for IBM very close to me. Anita made me eat a lot of delicious things, and I even had to bring home some food. After we got home, Mareks and I still watched this interesting Russian movie I found online (Ya lyublu tebya). Then we went to sleep.

Monday I went back to the office to start another crazy week. I'll skip the details about it here not to lose my cool. When I came back home, I was too tired to go to gym, so I just waited for Mareks to call so we could meet at Food Basics and buy some groceries. We took a cab back home because we bought a lot of stuff, and then after some internet browsing (and Skins watching) we went to bed.

SeeYa
Feliploko. Who know he reads, knows he reads, knows he reads, he's bad.

Statement of Work

Thursday was not fun. At all. I had a meeting with my client at the office, and once again they gave us whole new perspectives on what they want us to do. I was only able to go to lunch around 3pm. I biked to Alladin's just around the corner, and I enjoyed some falafel there with fries (lol). Then I went back and we sang happy birthday to Chantelle. I worked a bit more and left after the end of my shift to make sure I delivered everything I had to that day. I went home, chatted with Mareks, and then he left while I stayed home waiting for Rauf to show up. He came around 7pm, and we went for sushi at Aoyama before taking a look at his tax return. As expected, Rauf's taxes were done wrong and he doesn't owe the government any money, but he has to do something about the mistake. While I was having dinner with Rauf, my project manager called asking me for a terribly inconvenient favour: get back to work. It was in my best interest to help, so after letting Rauf at the bus stop, Brian picked me up so I could join Richard and him in writing this document they needed for Friday morning. I was at the office until 3am, which was when my manager decided to take me back home for being so sorry that I had to be there.

I obviously took the morning off on Friday, but my phone still rang twice before I wanted to get off the bed. I later checked my voicemail and one message was from Richard thanking me for the favour and updating me on the rest of the work for the day; the other was my very polite co-worker Johnny blaming me for a problem in his project. I had breakfast, took a shower, and went to the office. When I got off at Sparks avenue, I saw the Kaizmobile going out for lunch, so I joined them. After they got some take-out meat, we went to the office and I started my long work day. I juggled between organizing the schedule for next week, assigning tasks for the day, answering emails and calls, and ultimately finalizing my work permit extension. After so much wait my company finally completed the application for the LMO, so we faxed it today. That allowed me to complete the submission of my extension, just in time before my time here expired. I almost had a heart attack when I thought I confused the dates and that I was expired for two weeks already. Luckily Kaizer drove me home so I could get my work permit and confirm I was still ok. I tried to leave the office early, but I was held there until after 5pm. When I finally left, I came straight to PMRI, stopping only at Pizza Pizza to eat something. Now I should finally have some time to post more interesting things, so let's see what comes out of this weekend.

SeeYa,
Feliploko, who uses his credit card history to remember the past

After Monday and Tuesday, even the week says WTF

So much stress... The days should have more than 24h already. Monday the strong wind broke the fence of my backyard, so I reported that to my landlord and apparently he already had plans to renovate the whole outside portion of the house. Work kept busy as usual, but the week began quite promising as I found out we were supposed to stay home during the Jewish holiday of Passover. My client didn't appreciate that, so after a lot of uncertainty we realized we would work anyway.

Tuesday I went downtown straight from work, and again I bought bread at Cobs. I got to Express and we had this amazing workshop about the tax system in Canada. I learned a lot in the single hour this Uruguayan woman was there, and that awarded me some dollars I didn't know I could get =] After the meeting we went to Second Cup and once more our table rocked.

Wednesday I promised Mareks we would go downtown to the AGO, se we did. We walked around a good part of the gallery, and then we walked to Chinatown to eat at Buddha's. We wandered around Kensington market a little bit, and eventually took the streetcar to College station. After buying some stuff at metro, we came home.

SeeYa,
Feliploko, who's the man in that bike.

Woo, womanizer. You're a womanizer, baby.

Not only this is a four-day post, it's being edited veeery late =[ But anyway, Thursday after work Mareks and I went to Fairview Mall to buy some stuff and watch a movie. We finally used the 2 for 1 movie voucher from Pizza Pizza that I had, and we watched Limitless. It wasn't bad, in fact it was even a little entertaining. We then took some take-out sushi at Takara Bune and came home to eat =] Friday I don't remember going out. I think I biked to gym after work, and then I went to Hong Tai with Mareks.

Saturday we usually go to the pool with the girls, but this time only Sabine came since we want to know if Beatrise is actually allergic to something there. I stopped at Pizza Pizza before going, and then I swam a little bit while Mareks and Sabine worked out. We came back home, changed, and then took the TTC downtown. I got off at Wellesley station while they continued to go to Buddha's. I went to Rauf's place to pick him up, and then we went to eat some crepes since I was a bit hungry again. Around 10pm we met Grant and his friend Alex at Bathurst station, and none of the places we wanted to go were open yet, so we ended up at this Paupers Pub that really sucked. We stayed there until Javi and Marco were about to arrive, then we all met at XO Karaoke. Zulema and Lilian also joined us later, and we had a great time =] We had to leave at 2am, though, because other people had booked the room. We walked around a bit, but then I rushed to catch the blue night bus as I didn't want to take too long to get home. I was lucky with the two other blue lines I had to take, and I ended up getting here quite fast =]

Sunday I woke up in the afternoon and barely had time to do anything because Mareks and I had to go to this concert that we had free tickets for. It was in this beautiful church downtown, but the performer was not that great. He plays the organ very well, but nothing in that repertoire caught my full attention. After that we walked for a while and tried to go to a couple different places to eat, but they were all full =[ We ended up at this cheap sushi place, and after eating we came home.

SeeYa,
Feliploko, who's back.

Daudz laimes Vārda Dienā

Without further comments, Monday I went to the office in the morning hoping I would meet Marc to work on the LMO application, but Brian had told him I would not be there, so he didn't go =[ I used the time to generate some documents my client wanted to see, and then I went to have lunch. Since I was on my way to TLC, I walked from Finch station looking for a place to eat. I was feeling like eating pizza, so I stopped at Pizza Nova and this guy rushed me into choosing the very first onion-less vegetarian option I found -.- It wasn't bad, but I didn't appreciate that. I met my team afterwards, and then started my process of endless hot-chocolate drinking. Not much was done that day, since my laptop only got ready by the time we had to leave. I took the subway home, and once I met Mareks, we took off to go to the gym. The pool was a bit crowded at first, but I waited 10min and then it was ok. I did my usual routine and then Mareks and I came back home. I really should work on a harder routine at the pool, but I feel so exhausted when I actually get to the gym =/ Anyway, we watched The Forgotten that night and then went to bed.

Tuesday my whole team could meet at the office, since our VPN tokens were ready. They are really cool devices that generate random numbers that we use to access our laptops at TLC. We started developing/enhancing test cases, and I was working on the VM server on the side, trying to get reporting services to work (where's Amor when he's most needed? >.<). The day was a partial disaster, but at least I got some stuff accomplished by the end of it. Teddy informed me that he and Marc might need my presence at a career fair next Friday at Seneca, so I'll probably go to that. After work I took the TTC downtown and went to Alex to have my hair cut. Then I bought some bread, and this mean guy threw away a delicious bun just because he tore it in two by accident! I then went to Express, and Grant had this activity going that exhausted us all. Guessing names, what are you doing, and loudest game of all - hopefully the names by themselves will ring a bell when I read it in the future. After the meeting we gathered a large group to once again have our coffee time. We started at Starbucks, but given that we didn't have enough space we moved down to College Park. We planned a karaoke night this next Saturday, so let's see if that happens.

Today is my name's day, so Mareks surprised me (let's say it was a surprise) in the morning with beautiful gifts =] I then had to go to work, and once again work on multiple things. Marc gave me all of the stuff to work on the LMO documents, so I was juggling between that and the TLC project. I got everything done for the LMO, and almost everything ready for finishing TLC tomorrow. I left when I couldn't concentrate anymore, and when I got home there was nothing here =[ I started doing random things online until Mareks showed up coming from teaching Peters and we ate together. We chatted for some time, and then Diana, Bunchka and Krukenaids showed up to give me a hug. They brought a flower and cheesecake =] I helped Kruka sell some chocolate bars around here to help her school "build a beautiful park", and we managed to sell 3 of them (one to my landlord, and two to other neighbours). Then we came home, ate cheesecake, spoke Latvian, and parted and left. Now I'm about to go to bed.

SeeYa,
Feliploko, who's riding his bike to work.

Pra que dormir se voce pisca?

Another 3-day post =[

Friday was my first day on-site at TLC. I met my team at the Tim Hortons beside the building (not my call) and then we went up to the 3rd floor where our room was set up. We have access to a really cool lunch area with a pool table and free coffee =P I invited Nate for lunch, since he works not far from there, and he agreed to meet. My cellphone completely lost signal when it was around 12, so I simply walked down and went to Nate's department at the government building. We decided to eat at Spring Rolls, and I chose one of my usuals. I got back to work after dropping Nate off, and my team and I continued breezing until around 3pm, when we all left. I then went to the gym, and after I came home.

Saturday I had a screening at PMRI, and on my way back I solved some things at my dentist before going to Hong Tai with Mareks. I bought goiabada and yakult! =D Then I came home and ate something before the girls (Sabine and Beta) showed up for another Pool Saturday. We left right away, and this time Mareks and Sabine went to the 2nd floor while I stayed in the pool with Krukenaids. We had to leave early, since Mareks and I had plans for the evening. We took the girls to their bus, and then came home to change and leave. We took the TTC downtown, passing in front of places I miss. We were early, so we went to a Portuguese bakery before going to the concert. This was a nice choir to which Mareks got some free tickets. We enjoyed the pieces, and it was nice to be surrounded by a crowd of Latvians - they were there because one of the composers was a Latvian-Canadian. We got home late and night and went to bed.

Today (Sunday) we couldn't sleep in because we once again had plans. We went downtown again, but this time to a real Latvian church. Not the one we've been already, but a Lutheran church this time. We attended the service, and then a donation reception in which Mareks played. The food wasn't that great, but everything was ok - Latvians are good people =] Now we're back home and after having eaten sushi, we will watch a movie on my computer. May the new week begin, now that I'm debt-free ^^

SeeYa,
Feliploko, or Filips.