Author: admin

Travel is a pain.

Air Canada deserves to go under, with the quality of service they're offering.

My mom drove me to McDonald-Cartier airport at 3:45 for a 6am flight. Loads of time, you'd think. Of course not! The check-in counters weren't manned yet, and people were still in line from all the weather cancelled flights from the 23rd. To make a long and tedious story short, I checked-in at 5:30, passed the security checkpoint in 5:45 (with every square inch of my body beeping – even my wallet, a new one for me) and finally sat down in the plane for 5:55. We were an hour late for liftoff.

Toronto-Pearson was a blur. We got there, had to rush to take a shuttle to get to the right gate. I just had enogh time to stop at the duty-free for a bottle of scotch for Katy's dad before making it to the gate. My flught was scheduled to leave at 9, I sat down at 8:45. We finally ended up taking off 1h45 min late. Urgh.

What can I say about the trip. It was long. I ate the food I'd packed, listened to all my pink floyd albums on minidisc and watched I,Robot. Got to Heathrow, breezed through customs and baggage claim and saw my sweetie. As a side note, Heathrow has the politest elevators I've ever seen. After a drive where Katy, her dad and her uncle scared me with children TV show references, we got to her place and promptly went to bed (that's my story and I'm sticking to it).

This morning was spend watching Jeff eat breakfast cereal (I have to say it, the little rat is kyooooote) and opening presents. Yay, presents :D I'll write more later. Now is time for food and drink.

Today was hectic. What should have been a chill day kinda sorta rapidly devolved. Woke up this morning, realized that I didn't have any more coffee. Always a sure sign of trouble to come.

The spare keys I'd had made for Sara and my sister so they could come and take care of Boris didn't work. The locksmith had miscut them, so I had to go back downtown early this morning and have new keys cut. Got downtown, only to find that the locksmith didn't open until 30 minutes. I bought a large coffee and went to get some UK money and a new epipen. Finally got the keys cut, and headed home to make sure they worked. They did, woohoo.

After making a list and checking it way too many times, I called a cab and went to give Sara her set of keys and head to the bus station in the ohpes of catching the noon bus. GAAH! I have NEVER seen that many people at the bus stop. To make a long story short, I had to wait a stupid amount of time to get my ticket, then wait a stupider amount of time to finally get on the bus. I got in to Ottawa at 3pm.

So, I'm now at my parents' place, waiting to leave at 3am to arrive at the Ottawa airport for 4am for my 6am flight to Toronto. From there, my flight to London leaves at 9am. Or that's the plan. Reality is…. I dunno. The shit weather meant that no flight went in or out from Ottawa today, and Pearson had a hundred flights cancelled. Last time I checked, the weather forecast for Ottawa was clear, with flurries for Toronto. Both my flights are still on schedule, according to the Air Canada website. I'll keep you guys updated. Pray for nice weather. I will :)

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Before I sign off, I'm going to take a moment to wish all of you people in LJ land a merry xmas and a happy new year. I met a lot of you this year through this forum, and I'm glad I did. You make my life a better place. Love you all :)

Went to see a movie at sbourge's place last night with eniran,emjayne,moonlightjoy and don_teo.

They ate nuclear indian food (it was funny to see Stephane suffer) while I ordered St-Hubert goodness. I miss Indian food, but it's death on a plate for me. Le sigh. We watched an 80s movie. John Cusack was a stringbean when he was younger. And you have to love 80s hair.

The evening was really fun, with lots of silly and easy and frequent laughing. One couch had a stephane-lesbian sandwich, the other had a mj-white boy one (one good quote of the night was MJs: I'm surrounded by white men in white t-shirts. My ancestors would be so proud!).

At times, the movie dialogue was drowned out by the kibbitzing that was thrown about the living room:

Everything butt sex?
No, everything *but* sex.

What's the word I'm looking for?
Platterpus?
No, potpourri.

I can't find your underwear!

I should have a little midget following me around with a camera.

BUTT SLICE!

I started falling asleep during the second movie, so I mosied on home and crashed.

Things to bring with me on the trip:

– katy's laptop, power supply, modem cable, security cable and plug adapter
– TODO: burn DVD with NAV, XP key, trip pictures
– blank CDs to bring back trip pictures
– minidisc player, music, headphone and batteries
– digital camera, card reader, battery charger
– voltage adapter
– books: Pratchett, guide books
– papers: CDS show confirmation, plane ticket confirmation, hotel confirmation, travel insurance, passport photocopy
– foodstuffs: bakers chocolate, coffee crisps, coffee bags, oreo crumbs
– gifts: wouldn't you like to know :P

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KATY!

I'm sure somebody spiked my water, cause I'm a walking talking Hallmark cliché today….

jeebus, somebody smack me.

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Edit: nice to know you people care :P

Cell Phones That Do It

By Regina Lynn
Story location: http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,66052,00.html

02:00 AM Dec. 17, 2004 PT

A few columns ago, I mentioned my longing for a Treo 650. It's a cell phone, yes, but it's also a camera, an MP3 player, a phone book, an organizer. You can browse the web, check your e-mail, chat over IM, create spreadsheets and edit Microsoft Word documents, all from a device that fits in a shirt pocket.

With all of the business functions covered, I suppose it's no surprise that the next big thing in cell phones is to turn them into sex toys. In fact, one of the Wired News editors says it was a natural progression, considering everything else you can do with the dang things. (When I put him on the spot with “Would you buy one?” he responded, suavely, “I prefer specialized devices. I'm not an all-in-one kind of guy.”)

First, there's the VibraExciter. This handsome device works in conjunction with any GSM cell phone, responding to incoming signals with a 30-second burst of buzz. It will respond to any phone call or text message within its 1-meter range — whether that call is to your phone or to somebody else's. It could be just the thing to stave off ennui at a Hollywood club, or to spice up the New Year's Eve party in Times Square.

Dial an Orgasm claims to “put the sex into phone sex” with its two cell-phone attachments, a butterfly-shaped clitoral stimulator and a “phildo” (I'll let you figure that one out on your own). These come in four colors, fit many kinds of phones and offer different vibration patterns for different ring tones.

Of course, not everyone wants to carry around yet another piece of hardware. If we did, we'd have no need for all-in-one mobile devices in the first place. If you have a compatible phone, and your provider lets you download Java, you can install Purring Kitty software and take total control over your cell phone's vibrating battery, whenever you want. If you have a Nokia phone, you can try the similar Blissbox Vibi application.

Homemade-Sex-Toys.com offers instructions for using your cell phone as a vibrator even without hard or soft accoutrements. It also provides practical tips, such as use a condom if you plan to put the phone inside you — or if you want to talk on the phone later.

Many of these devices were available in the United Kingdom long before they came to the United States, leading me to wonder just what, exactly, Americans are so afraid of. When Leander Kahney wrote about the launch of Purring Kitty in April 2003, the software developer worried that he wasn't going to be able to offer the product in the United States due to resistance from cell-phone service providers worried about carrying adult products. (And yet, the Yankee Group predicts a billion-dollar market for mobile porn by 2008. Go figure.)

I think it's common for us to greet new technologies with trepidation, even the innocuous ones that exist purely to bring a bit of pleasure into one's life. But video didn't kill the radio star, peer-to-peer file sharing has not put any huge music labels out of business, and vibrators are not actually all that new — the first mechanical stimulators came out in the late 1800s, invented to make doctors' lives easier by automating hysteria-curing clitoral manipulation. (Before the devices, doctors had to massage women's genitals by hand.)

Even the Bible Belt is starting to recognize the joy of “marital aids.” The Los Angeles Times recently reported on the uproar a chain of adult stores inspired in Kansas; a more recent story in the Abilene Reflector-Chronicle details new regulations these toy stores must comply with.

However, despite protests from some who have nothing better to do than judge others' sex lives, the stores have not been shut down. Apparently too many people, including local married couples, are interested in the merchandise for the protesters to force a closure.

There's a case to be made for trying something new and spicing up one's sex life with toys or other “adventurous” practices. According to an ABC News survey of American sex lives, “people who call themselves adventurous sexually are 10 points more apt to be very satisfied with their sex lives, 20 points more apt to enjoy sex a great deal and nearly 30 points more apt to call their sex lives very exciting. They're also much more likely to have sex at least several times a week — 62 percent of the adventurous do so, compared with 36 percent of sexual traditionalists.”

I can see cell-phone vibrators opening the doors for people who are otherwise embarrassed about sex toys. What starts as a joke, perhaps as a birthday or bachelorette party gift, might become the first step into a whole new realm of sexuality. I can also see the devices as a wonderful gift for travelers, who need not endure any more smirks from security guards at the airport. It's just a phone, right?

As for me, I didn't order the Treo 650. Realizing that I am also a specialized device kind of person, I bought a Dell Axim x30 (with portable Bluetooth keyboard) to be my lightweight writing machine and mobile internet access. I keep my cell phone for conversation and my sex toys for sex, and let each device do what it does best.

Links from the article:

http://vibraexciter.com/shop/erol.html
http://www.dialanorgasm.com/
http://www.vibelet.com/

Cell Phone Vibrators

Did you know that you can watch up to 3 consecutive CSI episodes on different channels, and probably find more? CSI is the new Simpsons. It's everywhere…

In other news, I got Katy's shiny, pretty thing last night. IT ROCKS! I'm really happy on how it came out. She keeps asking me about it, but being an evil overlord, I only give her vague and enticing clues :D When x-mas is past, I'll post a picture online and give a shout out to the maker, cause da-yum, she's good!

Dear Mr. Cote,

I am writing with regard to your application for the post of a Software
Engineer, ref. No. 04/106, at EBI in Hinxton, UK. I regret to inform you that
one of the other candidates has now been offered this position.

If you have applied for one of our other positions at the EBI, you will be
informed of the outcome of your application for each individual post
separately.

I am sorry not to be able to give you more encouraging news and would like to
thank you for your interest in our scientific Organisation.

Yours sincerely,

LR
Senior Personnel Officer

Yoinked from elfs:

http://www.dollnomori.com/doll/index.html – link not safe for work.

A love doll rental service. You can rent them by the hour, with delivery to your hotel of choice, with discretion guaranteed.

Ummm, ew?

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Edit: you can use Google's language translation service for a good laugh. They offer a BETA service for japanese to english. Look here