Posted 5:34 PM by Tim
Ok. Hmm... it seems that I start a lot of these things that way, doesn't it? Anyway, there's not much to report today. My Sims are going well. Lisa managed to convince Bella to leave her husband and daughter, as I have said already, and they've adopted a little boy, James. The house is busy. Fortunately, they all leave the house at 9, and get home at 3. So, everyone is finally on the same day/night schedule. It's easier to plan the routine.

For those of you wanting to design a game - take note: it would be hard to make it more addictive without having it jab you with a shot of heroin every 10 minutes.

Today was slow. I didn't get to much. Mostly because, as my sims would put it "I'm too depressed." That said, I'm looking to get out of my depression soon. I figure that it shouldn't be too long before something happens.

I'm headed to Midland tomorrow. Arrangements for getting me back here, and for getting me to work on Monday haven't been made yet. At least not completely. If all else fails, it means getting started really early and walking the distance. Not too much trouble, but I'd rather not if I can avoid it. I almost want a carpool to my carpool :)

That outght to be interesting anyhow. I figure that people in the car will either want to talk to me or will want me to leave them alone. I'm the quiet type really, so I'll be one of those people just looking to be left alone. I wonder if that will work. I don't know the person who hooked me up with this that well, so I'm not sure what she's like.

I'm trying to get used to Wayne's kitchen. That is, I know where everything is already (well mostly), but I'm not sure how long it takes to cook things. I had spent a little time figuring out how long it took too cook things on a gas stove, and now I'm back to electric. Electric is much slower. I think that I perfer gas, even though I know that it has to be watched all the time (which I'm notorious for not doing).

We'll see how tonight's food experiment goes anyhow.

Posted 10:30 AM by Tim
OK. Here's what's happening today. First, its snowing. A lot. So, I've probably got another parking ticket waiting for me today. Yeah. That's where the fun is.

Also, Wayne hooked me up with The Sims. If you don't know, this is the kind of game that I'll waste all day on. Like I did yesterday. All day playing the little life of Lisa Robertson - my sim. Strange game, a lot happens that's just like real life. I have to admit that I spent most of the game time trying to convince Bella (a neighbour) to leave her husband and child and move into a lesbian love affair with Lisa. Eventually, I was successful. I'm now aiming to convince the daughter to join us, leaving the man out in the cold. Isn't that fun?

In other news, I start going to work on Monday. The carpool thing is going to be pretty harsh. They leave here at 6:05, arriving in TO at about 7:45 or something. I mean, if I start work about 8:00 that's fine, but I'm not going to be able to do that on the first day. They leave the city at 5:10, so on Monday I've got to get out of the office no later than 5:00. I'm thinking of calling work just to let them know for sure what's up. It's probably a good idea.

I need to get out a little more. I spend most of my time in the appartment. Much like I did when I was living alone in Cleveland. I'm just not very active in the social areas, I guess.

Bren and I have discussed some of the details of getting to and from work. For the most part, getting between here and TO and Midland and TO are pretty much the same. Drive about an hour to a location where you can catch the mass transit to downtown. The transit time takes about another hour. No problem, right? A 2 hour commute each way. I've done a little over an hour before, and I know that the main thing that I need are books. A lot of books. Given the situation, I can probably tear through a book a week, or better, depending on the thickness of the books. A library card seems to be in order.

Now heres where the but comes in. I can take a carpool from here, right to downtown. Not bad, eh? It's only about 1.5 hours to get there, even in traffic, and it'll cost me about $11 per day. That's not that bad really. The transit would cost me about $13.50, not to mention gas and parking for the car at the halfway point. So, carpooling seems like the best idea.

There's a big tourney coming up in 14 days, and I don't have a deck ready. Typical of me, really. Gah. Gotta build something.

Posted 12:37 AM by Tim
Ok. Today I went downtown to pay my parking ticket. I parked on the street during winter snow ban, in case you're wondering why I got a parking ticket. So, I'm downtown, and as with any place, the downtown tends to be the busiest place all day. Here's my adventure.

I know that parking downtown is a pipe dream, so I don't bother. I know a place I can park reliably, which is only a short walk to the actual downtown core. I don't mind the walk (it's good for me after all), and it's close to the game shops too. Anyway, I'm not sure which way I need to walk to get to the City Hall (where I can pay my lovely ticket), so I just go to King Street, and figure that I'll see it, figure it out, or ask. I tend to accost a lot of people when I'm looking for something. I don't mind if people ask me, so I figure they shouldn't mind if I ask them.

I start off in the wrong direction, then think, then ask to be sure. As I'm heading along, I note that one of the Catholic schools have to be in the area. Young girls in short, pleated, tartan skirts. Excuse me for saying so, but those are distracting! Anyhow, I'm walking along towards city hall when a guy asks me for money. That's not a problem, I'm cleaned up somewhat, so I look like I might have some. I do, but I hate giving it to beggars. Gah. He asks me for cash so he can make a phone call or something. I tell him I don't have it, and I ask him where city hall is, since the last person I asked wasn't really sure. He tells me the right way to go, and then changes his story that he really just needs a coffee. I hate it when they can't keep their stories straight. I tell him that I need my money to pay a parking ticket and leave.

I get to city hall and I'm waiting to cross the street with three goth chicks. Sorry, that's derogatory. Goth females. Anyhow, I've always liked goths. I'd do the goth thing myself, but I've got to look "respectable" at the places I work. That's the life of a person who has to deal with the public and clients. I figure that they're headed somewhere, but no, they're going into city hall too. Apparently, there's a group of them who hang out there. Interesting.

I ask a nice turbaned man about where I can find the cashier to pay my fine and he directs me on my way. I pay, handing over my ripped ticket with a bit of concern. FYI, the ticket ripped because it was wet (it was buried under snow after all) when I got it from my car hood. I thought that they might think I had torn it up, and was worried about what they might think about it being ripped. They didn't care. More worries for nothing. I pay my $20, and go on my way, taking a moment to lamet the fact that I didn't have anything to sketch on, since I wanted to draw the goth group. Oh well, lesson learned about bringing my drawing materials along.

On the way out, I notice a youngish girl that I had seen outside on my way in. She looks about 14, dark hair, and freckles. She's just sitting there on the ground in front of a pillar. She's not doing anything. She's not reading, not drinking a coffee, or smoking or anything, just sitting. I figure this is one of Kitchener's homeless. Or, at least, likely homeless. She didn't look sad, but she felt sad. I'm sure that doesn't make a lot of sense to some. I just felt that she was sad, even though she didn't have that sad face that some sad people do. I crossed the street, but I had to stop and look back at her for a minute.

I wanted to help. I wanted to do something. I walked away.

That's made me a little sad all day.

I thought about things that I could have done. I could have sat down beside her. Just to be there. I could have taken her for a sandwich, or a coffee or something. Anything. But, in the end, I did nothing. Nothing.

I'm not sure I understand how I can do that. I think it's become part of the reflex of living in bigger and bigger cities. When I lived in Bridgewater, there really weren't many homeless. We have only 7000 people there, there can't be that many who are homeless. If there was just 1 in 1000, well, that's only 7. They wouldn't be that easy to notice. I think there may have been only one or two people who I thought was homeless. Then I moved to Halifax. There's over 100,000 people there. That's at least 100 homeless. They're easy to spot. They're downtown, where the people are.

Then Cleveland. 2,000,000 people. There are a lot of homeless people there. You can see them downtown, and in the communities around the downtown. I got used to ignoring them.

When I lived downtown, I got used to seeing the same homeless people day in and day out. I eventually managed to avoid being accosted for money. There are some things that I didn't get used to though. People sleeping on the ground. Even in winter. People not having anywhere to go even late at night. And people collecting discarded cans of pop, or coffee, or food - just so that they can eat. I don't think I got used to that.

Hmm, this is becoming a sermon. In that case, let me give an object lesson in hard heartedness: While I was downtown, there was this man who would mournfully call out "Please feed the hungry." Notice there's no exclamation. This wasn't a shout, or a demand, it was a plaintive cry. A call from a man who probably hadn't eaten all day. And who might not. Of course, I wanted to help the man, to give him money. But, in my mind, I figured that if I gave him money, he might spend it on booze or cigarettes or drugs or something else I'd rather not support. So, money is out of the question. Well, since I usually saw this man on my way to, or way back from lunch, I could easily spend another dollar or two and buy him a sandwich. Well, I'm not sure that he won't just throw it away (if he's really just looking for drug money), and I can't be sure if he's deathly allergic to some food, so that doesn't seem like a good idea. Well, I could take him to get his own food, but then, I'm just giving him one meal. Will he expect me to do this every day? I can't afford two lunches all the time. Besides, there's always the old adage: Give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day, teach him to fish and he'll eat all the days of his life". So, really, if I want to help him, I should be helping social programs, or soup kitchens, where he could go get a lunch, so I should help him get a job or learn a trade or something. All things that demand more time than the few moments I see this man every day. Thus, locked in the idea that I now don't have the time (and not the money), to help, there's nothing for me to do, so I don't have to be bothered by him anymore.

Surprisingly, I accepted this logic, and went with it. Eventually the man did go away, but I'm not sure if he just stopped hanging out downtown, or if he died. Who knows.

All the same, I wish that I felt a little more like I could do something to help.

Posted 9:54 PM by Tim
Ok.. more today. Been thinking about what I'd really like as a nice network setup. Regular readers, you know that I've talked about this before, yeah?

Anyway, this is kinda what I'm thinking, given a little bit of free time and cash. Get a cable network connection hooked up to a 5 point hub. Unless I'm really wrong, that'll distribute the cable connection 4 ways (the other 4 ports being free). Part of that connection would go to Wayne's laptop, part to Rosa, and another part to a new system I'd like. What new system? Well, I'm thinking of a P3 laptop, maxed up for development, with a fair sized HD, CD-RW/DVD drive, and such. I'm thinking that the laptop connection would be best used for a wireless connection. An Air Port or something similar. That'd free up the system to be mobile around the house, and not have to deal with dongles or wires. I figure that would give the most freedom to roam.

The fourth port is left open for now, eventually, it'd be hooked up to Helga, or maybe another dev system. I'd leave it open for now though, for expansion purposes.

Gah. So, we're looking to start up the business again. Part of a contract eligibility requirement, but that's alright. I figure that the company name is fine. In case I haven't mentioned it before, the company is Unique Horizons. Neat name, eh? Yeah. We have one software product called POSitive... well, it was called POSitive. Apparently, a Seattle-based development company has that name already on a product they released in Feb 1999. We released our beta-test in October of 2000. So, they've got older claim to the name. Of course, it is an American company, but we're directly competing against them (both systems are for small business Point-of-Sale operations). So, rather then possibly get into legal troubles or brand confusion, we're going to be making a change to the name of our product. That's fine, because we're re-releasing it sometime in the nearish future.

I'm having some trouble thinking of a new name though. Wayne reminded me of the method that I used to come up with POSitive. I was planning on using it again if something didn't strike me immediately. It's a simple enough method. Basically, you just brainstorm a lot, and write all the ideas down, no matter how stupid. Every name is reviewed.

I'm looking for a name that does a lot. It has to suggest the purpose of the application (Point-of-Sale). It needs to sound professional, be fairly short, easy to pronounce and remember and it would be nice if it included some sort of indication of quality or overall goodness. I'm kinda sad that we have to lose POSitive, since it's such a nice name.

After I've got a short list of names together, I've then got to go out on the net and look for other companies already using that name. I don't wanna infringe. If I don't find anyone else using a name, then it's just asking a few random people what the name suggests to them, and see what their response is. I take this as my really brief comsumer focus group testing. :)

That's just for the name. The code base is going to take me a while longer. I hate to predict the length of time it'll take me to code anything, since it really depends on how much time each week I actually devote to doing the work. I'm thinking about 9 months given 10 hours a week. Not that much really, but it's a little bit of time each day. I figure that I've got the to develop the app, the tools, documentation, and then get the product out to a new beta-testing unit somewhere. The old beta-testers have stopped being a business.

I can't say much about the code base, since that's proprietary information. I will say that I am totally reworking the code though, to make it a lot more flexible, and a lot more useable in the long run. It does mean adapting a lot of code though.

Anyhow, with that out of the way and said, lets get on to the topic of games. There's a lot to say.

Apparently, there's a place not too far (about an hour - remember, in Ontario, an hour isn't far), that has weekly games of Warhammer and 40K. Only on the weekend though. Too bad for me. But there is a shop in Kitchener that has tables. If I can convince Wayne to play a game every other week or so I'll be happy (I'll probably use the off week for painting). Magic is pretty common in Kitchener, so there's no problem getting a game on. Vampire: The Eternal Struggle is not played by anyone... at least not regular. Apparently one of the shops used to carry it, and there used to be games, but there just isn't anymore. According to the White Wolf site, there is no longer a Prince of Waterloo (the nearest princedom). That leaves the Princehood open for the first person to claim it. Which, if I have my way, will be me.

Of course, to make it worth the effort, I'm hoping to get a few of the guys interested in playing a game every few weeks or every week maybe. Just getting people to play it. Then, moving the game to a local store, and getting others into it. At that point, I hold a few regular games, then declare a tournament. Well, a Praxis Seizure, which is the term for taking over a princedom. I'm not sure what I'd do for prize support, since I wouldn't be supported by White Wolf likely until after I was prince (though I may make the prince thing in advance and see what I can get for prizes).

Now for everything else I've thought about lately. If nothing else, I like to totally immerse myself in a new location after a move. When I leave a place, I pull all the roots and go, leaving behind friends and memories. When I stop somewhere, I drop all the roots back into place as quickly as I'm able, so that I'm set up. One thing that I haven't had time to do since I left Halifax is fencing. I love fencing. I wish I had started it earlier. I checked when I got to Cleveland, but I didn't have a way to get to practices consistently, so I didn't do it. Kitchener doesn't have a club, but Waterloo does, which is so close I can spit on it. Though I won't, that's disgusting.

Anyhow, I'm going to look into possibly doing a bit of fencing again. I'll probably need to take the beginner course again, but I remember some of the moves, so I should do alright. We'll see how it goes.

Posted 4:48 PM by Tim
Alright. Two posts in as many days. Today wasn't too bad. A lot of hassle, and some of the things that I wanted to get done really just didn't go off like I hoped they would.

I have to get back into some kind of routine to get my day in shape again. What I'm looking at right now is between 2 and 4 hours of commute time every day. That's time I could use productively to do just about anything. I'm just not sure what. I'm definately thinking about a laptop, which would let me do some programming work while on the train. That'd be something anyway.

Too tired now, gonna go nap.

Posted 12:37 PM by Tim
Days pass... the dust settles in on the website for a good long sleep. Gah.

Well, that's saying two things. First, I haven't done any a href=blogstory.html>Storylines things in a while and it's been too long since an update. Anyhow, news. There's a job on the horizon. Gonna get the details hammered out and that'll be good. 6 month contract work, but I can handle that - if Wayne can live with me that long. I'm looking into a few options, and trying to figure out living conditions and all that.

All the stuff that we own is going into cold storage for a while. That's just the way it goes really. Most of the stuff that I need is already at Wayne's or is being excluded from the big freeze. Officially, I'm not entitled to work in the USA again. That's fine. The contract work is right in downtown Toronto, so I don't have any reason to go to the US.

I'm gonna miss all the guys in the US that I game with, but we all have email, so that's solid. There's plans in the works already for Origins in July. Everyone is planning on going, or dragging those who haven't committed to going. I'm still thinking that there's a reasonable possiblity of getting a mini-tournament on somewhere between Cleveland and Toronto.

About Toronto: apparently, there's an underground city there so you never really need to see daylight, or go outside. My job would be in a building along those tunnels, so it'll be pretty cool. I'm thinking about the commute to TO, which is going to be fairly long. About an hour in a car, and then 35 to 60 minutes on train (depending on if I hit an express or not). That gives me a little bit of time to read/write or whatnot, so I figure that I'll need to stock up on a few books. Wayne's got a series that I haven't read yet, so I may borrow some of those.

I've been getting comfortable with Kitchener lately. That's the new terrain, so I've got to find all the stuff I need. Where's the appartment, where's a nice coffee shop, where's the games stores, who's got what anime, and how cheap is it - you know, the essentials. I've got most of that figured out already. For some reason though, I'm refusing to call some stores by their names. One store is in a basement (game shop of course), so I've been calling it "The Pit" rather than anything else. I think it fits. The store isn't bad, but it's not the prettiest place. It is a good place to play though.

New topic. Apparently, the previous Prince of Waterloo has abdicated. That leaves the space open. There don't seem to be too many players around right now, so I can't see me calling a praxis seizure (taking over the princedom). I'm going to try to get the guys to play a few game of Vampire, and if they like it, then maybe I'll start a weekly thing.

Enough for now, more stuff to move.

Posted 10:22 PM by Tim
Well, this has been an interesting week. A lot of stuff going on. I've got an interview on Friday, and another probably soon after. To get ready, I went to the barber... well, hairdresser. There's a place here in Kitchner that I stumbled on that's pretty nice. Nice people, and they do a good job. A little expensive maybe, but that's alright.

Anyhow, apparently, there's a large gap in the knowledge area for Actuate. What I mean is, there are very few people who know Actuate, and a lot of people who want to use it. That makes me a hot commodity. After all, I got my training direct from the Actuate group. Anyhow, that should speed up the job finding process. It looks like I'll be hitting a number of small contracts here and there.

In other news, the move is coming up very soon. I'll be headed up with the family early next week. This'll be good, it'll mean that we're all in the same country anyhow. Still going to be separated, but that shouldn't be too much of a hassle to get between here and there.

Gah. Too many things.

Posted 6:28 PM by Tim
Ok. One update a week it looks like. No problem there, really, you'll all just have to live with it I suppose.

I couldn't get the network to reroute the internet to both systems, so I have to work on the slower system. This isn't that big a problem, but I don't really like the laptop keyboard. Blah.

Been playing a bit of magic now and then. Not too much though since there isn't enough time or cash for it. Keeps my mind busy on other things, rather than the move, and all that.

Wayne's been putting up with me for a little bit now, and we're getting along alright. We do a few things differently, but that's the case when you live with anyone. Most things aren't too much of a problem, and it's just a little bit of adjustment to get used to everything. I'm hoping I can get out of here soon, cause I know my personality grates on a person over time. I'm not sure how Brenda's kept from smothering me at night...

Anyhow, I've been doing some programming. I figure that it should take me about 9 to 12 months to finish the app I'm working on, if I work only about 10 hours a week. Not nearly so long if I manage to get some additional time in on it.

The job situation is kinda funny. Apparently I can get unemployment, so that'll help to cover some of the costs. I was thinking about getting a few short term contracts, but that'll mess up unemployment. So, it looks like the best plan for now is to keep looking for longer term work and to do a little programming.

That's all for now.

Posted 3:50 PM by Tim
Gah. This has been a bad month for driving for me. In the last four weeks I've been stopped twice (ticketed once) for speeding, backed into a car in a parking lot and just basically had bad times behind the wheel all around. The only good thing about driving lately has been the acquisition of an FRS radio. This let Wayne and I talk between two cars over our 8 hour drive. It would have been horribly bad otherwise.

My lack of net-time has left me with a very full inbox. Mostly from my father-in-law, who's busy sending me items about jobs. Helpful stuff, but it does get to be hard on the inbox.

Ok, now for some more pleasant news. I've been struck by an idea (7 hours alone in a car will tend to let my mind wander). This has given me something to do to while away the wee hours of the day, when I'm not playing games or Magic with Wayne or looking for work, anyway. Given the scope of the application in mind, I figure that at about 10 hours a week, I should have it ready for Beta somewhere between 9 and 12 months. Gah. Maybe I can get someone to help me with the dev? Though, I don't know anyone handy who can do dev, and who has a dev system. Anyhow...

Other news. I'm unable to update the website easily right now. The best that I can do is create the files, forward them via the network to the computer hooked to the net, and run an FTP action against geocities. Not the best method, but workable. If I get something worked out soon, I'll be sure to let everyone know.

Posted 11:11 AM by Tim
Let's see here. Since the first, I've been unemployed, moved, visited my family in the US, been hassled by the border people, had an interview that didn't go because the client changed their requirements, moved more stuff, hooked up a small network, wired the VCR into the TV and video console, and driven a few too many kilometers around.

Seems like I've been busy, eh? Well, I tried to do updates the to blog about three times or so, all of which failed because of time, network failures, or having a modem that would actually make me wait before showing me what I typed. Bah. I've got a minute now, so I'm doing it.

Anyone looking for an experienced System Analyst with a good head for screen design, application planning, and Point of Sale or other application development, please send me an email: trafuse@hotmail.com. I'm good in VB6 and I've worked with Java, C/C++ and learn pretty quickly.

Maybe I should put my resume out on the web here? Yeah, I should probably do that again.

Anyhow, the work situation aside, I've been graciously living off of Wayne for the last week or so. Basically, I eat, sleep and take up space in his place, and he does his best not to mind it too much. Talk about cramping his style, eh? Wayne: If you wanna bring a woman home, let me know, I'll find a crash pad at Timmies or something.

Bah. So, I've been trying to think about how to raise money, and all that. Well, getting a job seems like a solid idea, yeah? No luck there so far. The one interview that I had going didn't go. I mentioned that already. The safety job that I had hired other people, and that leaves me without any kind of work whatsoever. I'm very much of the idea that I really just have to look hard enough to find something. There's a lot of tech places around, but those aren't my only skills. I've got lab skills, so I could get hired on there. I've got music skills, so I can maybe get a job in a band or something... maybe even get a job at a bar as a drinks mixer (my mom would love to hear me say that.... sorry mom!). Anyhow, with all the demands for cash, there's a lot the needs to be done.

My time is just about up, so I've gotta get running. Got a lot to do today.