Gus Digital

Just a place where I can give my opinions about Vancouver life and beyond.

Wednesday, August 30, 2006

Ho Hum and a Bottle of Rum

Ok so it's just a couple of days before we leave to Europe on holidays and I'm sitting here at work not wanting to do anything. I feel like I'm already on vacation. Work seems quiet enough these days and I don't want to get on the phone and start calling clients to set up appointments when I won't be here for 2 weeks. Plus we all know how it gets after a 2 week holiday, I'll be busier than hell when I return.

Tonight we are going out with some out of town friends and I still have a few things I need to get done at home. I need to make sure the place is spotless before leaving. I need to finish up on some laundry and I need to start packing. Hmmm maybe a good stiff drink will help me get ready.

Laura is coming over tomorrow night to pick up my keys to the condo as she so graciously accepted to house sit for us. She'll be taking care of the cat and will be looking in on the condo (we appreciate it so much). Plus since she will be over I have to set her up on our internet, tell her how to use the TV, DVD (as it comes with some many remotes), and how to set the alarm when she enters and leaves.

I know, not an exciting blog, but HO HUM :)

Monday, August 28, 2006

Humming Birds Live

Well on the heals of the successful "Live Eagle Cam" comes "Humming Birds Live" (link)

See them while they last! Summer is almost over!

The makers will soon have a host of other live webcams soon (link). Stay tuned!

Movie Review - "The Illusionist"

So Russ and myself went to the movies on Saturday to watch "The Illusionist"

Now this movie is set in Vienna at the beginning of the 19th Century. Very visual and stunning cenimatography really makes this film. The acting is enjoyable, but for the most part very slow moving. Now I can't remember the movie critics name, but he said the movie is a combination of the "Usual Suspects", though one suspect, a love story and a period piece. Definitely has a "oh my gosh" moment at the end, though very predictable I thought.

Ed Norton as Essenhiem could have been better in the roll, but was enjoyable to watch. Jessica Biel as the Prince's intended Sophie von Teshcen I thought "why is she in this?" She sorta reminds me of Wynona Rider in Dracula. Paul Giamatti was the most enjoyable to watch as the struggling Chief Inspector Uhl followed by the ruthless Rufus Sewell as the crown Prince Leoplad.


I won't get into more details about the movie as you can find that on its website. Still overall a very enjoyable movie for getting away from the world for 2 hours!

My only concern was they previewed "The Prestige" just before the movie which looks ALOT better than The Illusionist.

Where is Mars?

Ok so for over a week I've been trying to get a glimpse of Mars as it was mentioned at the beginning of the month in a news report.

"This month and next, Earth is catching up with Mars in an
encounter that will culminate in the closest approach
between the two planets in recorded history. The next
time Mars may come this close is in 2287. Due to the way
Jupiter's gravity tugs on Mars and perturbs its orbit,
astronomers can only be certain that Mars has not come
this close to Earth in the Last 5,000 years, but it may be
as long as 60,000 years before it happens again."

So last night I was looking into the sky and since I couldn't find it, nor have I heard anything new on this in the news I thought would find out what is going on.

Well to my surprise, this is HOAX. Supposedly there was an email going around, something similar to what went on in 2003. DAMN I guess I should have known it wasn't true. Afterall how could Mars look like a FULL MOON? That would make it WAY too close for comfort! Oh well "fool me once" :)

Friday, August 25, 2006

Telus Long Distance Charges

All I have to say is WOW!

Just opened our phone bill yesterday and to my horror a 7 minute call on a Saturday to speak to my Aunt in Buenos Aires Argentina cost me over $10!!! That is right folks over $10!!!

Now I'm always surprised that calling the UK is cheap, calling Europe is cheap, but why isn't South America cheap? In this day and age of the internet, wouldn't it be smart to have a cheaper rate here as well. People do live in that city, it's not like we are in the middle of the Amazon!

Let us say that I won't be using Telus for my long distance calling in the future. I think I will buy one of those phone cards and talk for over 3 hours for $10.

Stupid Telus!! So much for the "future is friendly" tag!

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

My Cubicle

Ok maybe not mine exactly but sometimes we all feel this way :)

My Cubicle

EDIT: other renditions of this lovely song! A & B

Gus on Google

Sometimes it's fun to Google your name to see what pops up. Now in the past mine has taken me to a porn site. So today I did it again to see what came up.

Gus* - a very nice modern design company (Hmmm I wonder if I can get a discount)

GusGus - not only a nickname Laura (LoloD on TV) likes to refer to me by, but an interesting group.

The Genomics Unified Schema (GUS) - a genomic database (hmm interesting)

Gus Online - a communications company

I have to say Gus* is definately my favourite of them all. So Gus* Team, if you are reading this, feel free to send me some samples to try out (Hey if Rebecca (Miss604)can do it and get freebies, why I can't I?)

Paris Accommodations


Well we are now fully booked for Paris. We will be staying in a studio condo in the centre of Paris known as the Marais (4th) District. We will be about 1 km away from Notre Damn Cathedral and about 1.5 KM away from the Louvre museum. Not to mention 0.5 km from the Picasso museum.

This is a city full of culture from what I can read up on. How's this for class, you are free to enter any city owned museum, free to enter any museum if you are unemployed, and free if you are under 18 years of age! Now that is CLASS!

I'll try to keep everyone posted on my activities during the trip which is 10 days away! EEK!

Friday, August 18, 2006

Paris Bound!!!

WOOHOO!!!!

I'm Paris bound for September 1 - 14.

I can't wait to have this vacation start! I'll be stopping in Toronto for a couple of hours lay over so to all my family who are reading this, expect a phone call at least!!!!

Thanks again to my wonderful sister Gladys for getting these tickets for me!!

Now we need to book a hotel. Anyone know of a good hotel in Paris?

EDIT - Just found out we'll be there during Fashion Week. I'll try my best to get that purse for you Maria :)

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

Paris - Maybe


So with all these recent airport regulations that are in place, Russ and I had to re-evaluate our Europe plans. Now were hoping to fly into London and then linger there for a few days followed by a few days in Paris, but with airports in London being so strict on carry-on luggage, we decided not to fly into London. Instead I think we are going to head into Paris directly and maybe plan a few days in London before coming back to Paris.

No tickets have been purchased as of yet and I hope to have this done by Friday or Monday at the latest thanks to my wonderful sister Gladys. She has been amazing at getting details for me on available flights and times. LOVE HER!

So hopefully by next week I'll be blogging about my trip plans to Paris in September.

Vive le France!

Tuesday, August 08, 2006

Just Another Manic ... Tuesday


Boy it's always fun to be off work, especially during a long weekend. But boy when you come back to work there is always double the amount of work to do. Now I don't know if it is because of the day off on Monday, or just because generally we are busy this time of year. Today has been a VERY busy day. A lot of following up on clients, getting things resolved, dealing with some phone calls, proofing releases from our OPS team, and of course those dreaded REPORTS! Sometimes I wonder if anyone really makes any sense of those reports, or if it is just a way for Management to give us some work to do. Hmmm.

Though now things have slowed down for me (granted I probably just cursed myself on it) and I hope to make it home and get back on that elliptical trainer downstairs in our gym. Relieve some of the stress of the work day!

EDIT: Yup I cursed myself! :(

Wednesday, August 02, 2006

Weird Mood

Have you ever woken up and felt great?

Well that is how I felt today. I was feeling great, good start to the day, brisk walk to work while listening to some tunes on the iPod. Even when I got to work I felt great after dealing with an issue from a client (nothing serious as they LOVE ME).

Then something happened. I don't know why or what could have caused this, but I started to feel BLAH. I even went for a walk after lunch on this gorgeous day to see if my mood would change. Slowly it is, but still overal feeling BLAH.

Maybe when I leave work it will all be better :)

Hmm a good workout and the fireworks tonight should help the mood. If not I'll have to start trying to find those "happy pills" my sister keeps talking about.