evanroberts.com

So here I was this morning, generating invoices, and I was slightly bummed that I’m already sending out ones for September. It won’t be long until the summer is over, which will suck, as I really like riding my bike, and lying in the grass in a field, etc.

But hey! I’m getting ahead of myself here! It’s still July, so enjoy it ya dunderhead!  

To cheer myself up, I recalled this hilarious Staples commercial I remembered seeing years ago where this Dad is ecstatic that his kids are going back to school. He’s loading up the shopping cart with school supplies while skipping down the aisle with the kids walking slowly behind, pouting. All the while, the song “It’s the most wonderful time of the year!” is playing in the background.

It didn’t take long, but I found it on YouTube. Check it out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPIIMbG9R4w

If all commercials were amusing like this one, I wouldn’t mind watching them at all. Also, it would help with their advertising, as I’m pretty much plugging Staples right now.  

Breakfast

• The rest of the Buddha House dinner
  • Sweet and sour pork ribs
  • Chicken bok choy
  • Chicken fried rice
  • Beef with broccoli

Activity

• Rode the bike to work (6.1km)
• Carried my 34lb bike up the stairs - 4 floors

Snacks

• One Premier Nutrition Protein bar - double chocolate crunch

Activity

• Carried my 34lb bike down the stairs - 4 floors
• Rode the bike to Dominion, then over to Strachan, down to the Princes’ Gates, through the CNE, and back up to the office (4km)
• Carried my 34lb bike up the stairs - 4 floors

Lunch

• Strip loin with Keg spice and covered in Keg peppercorn sauce - 294g

Activity

• Carried my 34lb bike down the stairs - 4 floors
• Rode the bike up Dufferin, along Dundas West, met Molly at Price Chopper, then rode along Bloor to home (6.2km)

Dinner

• Strip loin with Keg spice and covered in Keg peppercorn sauce - 354g
• Veggies (yellow pepper, orange pepper, red onion, mushrooms, zucchini, dill, olive oil)
• A glass of Tropicana orange juice - no pulp
• A glass of instant Gatorade - lemon-lime

Activity

• Rode the bike to work (6.1km)

Breakfast

• Small chicken Caesar salad with real bacon bits - (Dominion - 250g)
• Light Caesar dressing

Activity

• Carried my 34lb bike down the stairs - 4 floors
• Rode the bike to Dominion, then over to Strachan, down to the Princes’ Gates, through the CNE, and back up to the office (4km)
• Carried my 34lb bike up the stairs - 4 floors

Lunch

• One Interactive Nutrition Low Carb Bar - chocolate fudge delight

Activity

• Carried my 34lb bike down the stairs - 4 floors
• Rode the bike along King to Spadina, met up with Molly, rode up Spadina and over along College to Canada Computers, and then rode home along College, up Dundas West, and along Bloor (11.1km)

Dinner

• Buddha House (dinner for three - shared)
  • Sweet and sour pork ribs
  • Chicken bok choy
  • Chicken fried rice
  • Beef with broccoli
  • One egg roll with plum sauce
  • One chicken and corn soup
  • Two fried chicken wings

Breakfast

• A bowl of Ben and Jerry’s Cherry Garcia ice cream topped with Smucker’s caramel sauce and a box of Smarties

Lunch

• McDonald’s
  • Big Mac
  • Large fries
  • Large Coke

Dinner

• Granny’s
  • Pork in cream of mushroom sauce
  • Corn
  • Green beans
  • Potatoes
  • Gravy

Snacks

• A bowl of Our Compliments Strawberry ice cream topped with Smucker’s caramel sauce
• A glass of Tropicana orange juice - no pulp

Activity

• 1×10 - bench - half incline sit-ups
• 1×10 - bench - half incline sit-ups with 20lb weight

Vitamins

• One Centrum Performance

Activity

• Biked over to Price Chopper, then down to Loblaws, and then up to Dominion, along St. Clair to Runnymede, down to Bloor, over through some side streets, met up with Seth and Sparky, went to Price Chopper again, and then rode home (12.4km)

Breakfast / Lunch

• Top sirloin steak with Keg spice and covered in Keg peppercorn sauce - 689g

Activity

• A lazy afternoon of swimming in the pool

Living Life

• Shoeless Joes
  • One pint of Rickards Red
• BMO Field
  • Three tall cans of Carlsberg
  • A few bites of a slice of pizza from Pizza Pizza
  • A tub of cotton candy
• Wheat Sheaf
  • A pitcher of Creemore (shared)
  • One pint of Creemore
• Whelan’s Gate
  • Three pints of Creemore

Last night, Molly and I decided to go to the AMC at Yonge and Dundas to watch “WALL•E“. I had heard good things about the movie, and considering it was put together by Pixar, I had a feeling that it was going to be awesome. Sure enough, WALL•E didn’t disappoint, and I now consider it my favourite animated movie, with “The Incredibles” as a close second.

Pixar has made some great movies in the past, and WALL•E just takes the cake. The movie doesn’t have much dialogue at all, yet is quite entertaining as you watch the characters come to life through their actions. One of the parts that made me laugh was a chime that you’d hear when you turn on a Macintosh, most likely a nod towards Steve Jobs, seeing as how he used to own Pixar. Overall, the graphics were amazing, and the story was quite good. Personally, I can’t wait until this comes out on DVD.

If you were thinking about seeing WALL•E, I totally suggest you do. I loved every minute of it. I even stayed for the length of the end credits.   

Oh, and a word in about the AMC at Yonge and Dundas; this theatre kicks the crap out of the Paramount (sorry… “Scotiabank Theatre”). My co-worker Les is quick to point out that it is a digital theatre, which makes for crisper sound and sharper video. The popcorn isn’t as good, but the fact that the chairs recline is a HUGE bonus for my back. Also, the arm rests fold up, so its easier to cuddle with your movie date. 

Vitamins

• One Centrum Performance

Activity

• Rode the bike to work (6.1km)
• Carried my 34lb bike up the stairs - 3 floors
• 1×50 - machine - abdominal crunch - 50lbs
• 1×30 - machine - abdominal crunch - 60lbs

Breakfast

• One Interactive Nutrition Low Carb Bar - creme caramel (yuck)

Lunch

• I Love Sushi
  • Assorted sushi (eight pieces of sushi, a six piece spicy tuna roll, one California hand roll)
  • Kimlan soy sauce
  • Miso soup

• Bangkok Paradise
  • Two Thai spring rolls - seafood
  • Sweet tamarind sauce

Activity

• Carried my 34lb bike down the stairs - 4 floors
• Rode the bike down Dufferin, through the CNE to the Princes’ Gates, up Strachan to King, along King to Mowat, and then down to the office (4.3km)
• Carried my 34lb bike up the stairs - 4 floors

Snacks

• One Granny Smith apple

Dinner

• One Interactive Nutrition Low Carb Bar - chocolate fudge delight

Activity

• Carried my 34lb bike down the stairs - 4 floors
• Rode the bike to the bank and then home (8km)
• Carried my 34lb bike up the stairs - 10 floors

If there is one thing I can appreciate from my old days of phone tech support while working at Interlog, it’s the odd joke or video clip of a tech support agent completely baffled at the logic of some of those who call in for assistance. Everyone has their own way of thinking, and when it comes to computers, tech support agents generally have to adopt the mentality of the person phoning in to understand what the hell they’re talking about, and speak back to them in a language that THEY will understand. This may mean that the “desktop” is actually “the background”, or that “email” is “Outlook”… things like that.

Here we have a little video put together that details what sysAdmins and tech support agents are usually doing with their time, and the frustrations they go through. I thought it was awesome:

http://www.thewebsiteisdown.com/

The voices take a bit to get used to, as they’re sped up to “protect the identity of those involved” (which I find odd since they don’t fudge the websites they’re looking at, which are fake anyway), but if you can understand Alvin and the Chipmunks, you should have no troubles.  

Thanks to Mike F. for sending this my way!

Activity

• Rode the bike to work (6.1km)
• Carried my 34lb bike up the stairs - 3 floors

Breakfast

• Three hard boiled eggs
• Finished off the Evian water with three 3g Nestea Active Lemon Lime low calorie sports drink mix packets

Snacks

• One Granny Smith apple

Activity

• Carried my 34lb bike down the stairs - 3 floors
• Rode the bike to Dominion, then over to Strachan, down to the Princes’ Gates, through the CNE, and back up to the office (4km)
• Carried my 34lb bike up the stairs - 4 floors

Lunch

• Strip loin with Keg spice and covered in Keg peppercorn sauce - 284g
• Can of Diet Pepsi

Dinner

• One Premier Nutrition Protein bar - double chocolate crunch

Activity

• Carried my 34lb bike down the stairs - 3 floors
• Rode the bike home (6.1km)
• Carried my 34lb bike up the stairs - 10 floors

Living Life

• Large bag of popcorn (shared) while watching WALL•E

I think today was my single most exercise-filled and exhausting day since I started the whole “eating better” and “being active” routine. I am wiped. Check it out:

http://www.evanroberts.com/2008/07/02/185

Part of my fatigue is due to the Quad session, and how I started to be a smartass. For one of the songs, for each “tap up” of a quarter turn of resistance that Quentin told I to do, I instead did a half turn. Near the end of the song, I was dying, and it required me to put my weight into peddling, and I just couldn’t get them to rotate. I was counting on Quentin to tell us to take all the resistance off at the end of the song, but that didn’t happen. As soon as he said “Don’t touch that dial!”, I groaned inwardly.

There was NO WAY I could continue at that resistance level and continue to add more during the next song, so I will fully admit, here and now, that I took a full turn of resistance off. I’m not ashamed to admit it. It was too much, and I didn’t want to hurt myself. In the end, it didn’t matter, as we were already back at that resistance level half way through the song, but it could have been MUCH worse.

Anyway, can’t wait to see what my weight is tomorrow. I think I’ve up’ed the bar a little.