Point of Reference

While cleaning out my apartment last month, I came across a $50 gift certificate for Chapters that I received from my MA advisor a couple of years ago when I first worked as his TA. Today I finally got around to wandering over to Chapters and asking if they would still honour the certificate. Lo and behold, they said it was fine, and so I got to go on a mini book buying spree!

( Book list )

I looked up the purchase date for my mp3 player and found out I have nine days left on the warranty. Ha ha ha ha! Take that, little player.

On the one hand, I'm not impressed with the need to replace this device twice in the first year of ownership (though it still beats the twice in the first month of ownership and generally lousy customer service that went along with my first mp3 player). On the other hand, if it's going to break down, I'm glad it did so just before the warranty expired and not just after. Thus far I've been pretty impressed with iRiver's customer service, so I'm hoping they'll replace it as quickly as they did the last time, and then I'll be good for another six months or so.

My mp3 player is broken...again. I need to figure out when I bought it to find out if it's still under warranty...

There are twelve wireless networks running through my apartment right now in addition to my own. That's frighteningly high (and even more frightening is the fact that a third of them aren't secure). I wonder if that's healthy? Ten years from now they're probably going to discover that WLAN frequences cause cancer or infertility or spontaneous mutation into weird demon forms. Maybe I shouldn't be pushing for wireless at my department...

I did my part for Canadian cinema last night with an opening day viewing of 19 Months. It's a good movie--quite funny in places--though I kept wanting to reach out and smack the male lead. The producer was a friend of a friend, so we hung out with him a bit afterwards. He said they were aiming for 300 people over the opening weekend, and the opening day numbers (about 130, which is apparently quite good for a Canadian film) led him to believe they would meet that goal. That's big contrast from the multi-screen blockbusters (which I think I might support today by going to see Shrek 2), and probably evidence for some people that Canadians don't want Canadian films, and that the government should therefore and ever after stay out of the whole business and let the market decide. I tend to think that there's value in providing space and opportunity for a country to tell its own stories even if most people don't go out to watch them, but I understand some of the frustration with the CanCon rules on radio and television. And, of course, there's the question of whether Canadian films are inherently distinguishable from American films. Last night's movie was about relationships--there was nothing overtly Canadian about it apart from the filming locations, which places it in good company with a lot of American films. Does it deserve automatic protection and support because the people involved were Canadian? Or is it a question of making sure that Canadian film makers survive long enough to start telling Canadian stories?

I was rather amused on our little movie excursion listening to my Saskatchewan and Newfoundland friends discuss how suburban the Eglinton area felt; I think that was as far north in Ontario as some of them had ever gone. I can't entirely disagree--when I was living in Richmond Hill and working down by Harbourfront, Eglinton always marked the point on the subway when I felt that I was crossing into home territory--but I still found it entertaining.

(I'm still trying to decide on a notebook computer. I'm kinda obsessed right now--loving the Toshiba, but thinking I should save money and buy the Dell. MacGuy, naturally, is still trying to convince me that Apple is the way to go. And I might have agreed with him...if he hadn't already given away his primary discount for the year.)

Now that my funding is secure for the summer and fall, I've begun looking at notebook computers. I originally went out with a plan to find a thin-and-light that I could easily transport from home to campus and back again. Thin-and-lights are remarkably difficult to find in stores, however, apparently because they're not popular among users who have to pay for their own computer rather than relying on their employer to do so. Now I'm beginning to wonder if I ought to suck it up at buy a regular 6.5lb mainstream notebook. I saw a fantastic deal on a Compaq with a DVD-RW and various other goodies for about $1800. Alternately, I could pay $1800 for a thin-and-light (and rather ugly) Dell Inspiron 600m that doesn't have a DVD burner, but that won't break my back hauling it around to conferences. Or I could make the switch and go with Apple, thus making MacBoy happy (and possibly gaining a discount).

What I've learned so far:

Sony makes pretty computers with absolutely gorgeous screens.

Toshiba Satellites are also extremely pretty and sturdy to boot.

IBM has some very small notebooks, but you pay for it. Or maybe you just pay for IBM.

ETA: I stand corrected. The Dell I was looking at isn't bad looking, though some of the others certainly are.

I survived my four hour stats exam. Yay me! I felt better coming out of it than I did last time; I'm hoping that's reflective of my performance. I actually enjoyed the problem solving element this time around. This is a distinct contrast to the midterm, during which I spent most of my time frantically flipping through my notes seeking some reference to terms that sounded only vaguely familiar and in no way resembled what I had studied.

Now onto home and the two papers due Friday.

Aching muscles as a result of a leg workout yesterday + an 11:30pm hike down nineteen flights of stairs as a result of yet another false fire alarm = no fun. MacGuy, of course, is away again. Somehow he always manages to miss the (no) fun.

There were six trucks out there tonight, including the highrise unit. I don't know the economics of fire fighting very well, but it seems as if these ongoing false alarms must be expensive for the city. I'm amazed the owners aren't being fined like crazy...or maybe they are. I'm seriously contemplating doing what I used to do when I lived in residence--making sure that all of my sleepwear is suitable for viewing by my neighbours. We haven't had a 3am fire alarm yet, but I'm sure it's only a matter of time. Ah well, at least some of the firefighters were cute. ;)

And now back to the marking and my (I hope) still warm hot chocolate.

This is my first playoff season living in Toronto, and it's proving to be an interesting experience. I've discovered that I don't actually need the media to find out how the Leafs are doing--all I have to do is take a walk along Yonge St. after a game. For example, the Leafs beat the Sens last night. I know this not because I saw the game, but because the entire walk home from dinner was spent listening to car horns honk as Leafs fans raced up and down the street waving blue and white flags and screaming. Keep in mind that this was just one game in the Conference Quarterfinals; the Leafs still need one more win to win the round.

It should be an interesting spring.