you wouldn't believe me if i told you

how much the ticket to God forsaken cleveland cost me. i'm going to Europe this summer for the same money!

cleveland again next week.

but my agent is struggling to find me an acceptable ticket. ugh.

hmmm. that was nice.

dinner last night was nice, if a little too grown up for my taste.

it's Ali's birthday today!

All may cheer. Cheer, i said.

agreeable yesterday

good drink complete with good time, and nice distracted evening. too long for me, though.

two potential 'very awesome's' in the immediate future.

cross your fingers. oh, it would be so frakkin' cool!

well, i'm back.

and the peasants rejoiced and sang and laughed.

here i am

in the vancouver VIP lounge, awaiting my Air Crapada flight to YUL. Ugh. i'm in the middle of a 5 hour layover, 3 drinks into it, post-shower. i almost feel semi-human. this latest Romance of the Three Kingdoms appears to have gone well. i'm determined to make a concentrated effort to maintain the momentum i've garnered overseas. my intention is to disregard the 'tards back home.

i don't like north america very much. i think the root of the problem is the fact that it's colonial continent. no real roots or history to speak of, at least in context with much of the rest of the world.

10 year plan. focus, maintain, and then we're outta here!

word of advice: unless you're IRONMAN, long flights are definitely worth the business class upgrade. no waiting at the check-in counter, priority baggage tags, lounges at all your layovers (unless you're in North A-crapica, where there may as well not be any lounges), semi-comfortable seats, relatively private and CLEAN bathrooms (you try sharing 4 bathrooms with 150 Asians over 12 hours and then talk to me about disgusting).

mind you, i'm a delicate flower.

hey, Al, we scored the same, and I still LIVE here!

The True Montrealer You scored 84%!

Ahhhhh. Tr�s Montr�al, this. You either live in Montreal, or you did for awhile � and if it's the latter, what did you move away for? We don't take kindly to the likes of you, 'sti. But either way, you're a metro-ridin', bagel-eatin', Borale-swiggin', tabernac-sayin' Montr�alais(e) and nobody can take that away from you. Sant�! P.S. Feel free to rate this test (scroll down to see).

My test tracked 1 variable How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 36% on poutines

Link: The Are You A Montrealer Test written by johnny_rocket on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

WOOT! Heart pounders completed.

oh, and 1$ DVDs (movies that still happen to be in the theatres are available too. Gotta love "restricted freedom communist" countries...)

Taipei done. Changping done. Tangxia in progress. Next is Shanghai.

prices are so awesome here, that i didn't even bother to check out of my "VIP" room in the 5 star Metropolitan Yiking hotel while i stayed in Changping last night.

Ah, can't forget the Karaoke. OH! OH! and the food. ferchrissake, that stuff is awesome.

the good news is that i'll probably be living/working out here next year for a significant chunk of time. looking forward to it. then again, if stuff goes extra well, i won't have to. either way, it's win-win for me. i think all the effort and stress of the last little while is starting to pay off.

I MISS ALI!

Taipei heart pounder concluded.

i swear. i think i age about 1 year every time i have one of those meetings. the effort required to maintain focus for a matter of such importance is staggering to me. mind you, i think i acquitted myself and my company rather well, but then again, my ego certainly will not die of starvation.

all in all, i think it went well.

now then, on to the next mo-fo. set em up and knock em down.

as usual, from this side of the planet, the structural issues my company is having seem inconsequential and easily resolved. it is a testimony to the ability of those idiots in montreal that it only takes them a few days to knock me back down and bog me in the quagmire of their habits and personalities.

i WILL break them this time, however. i'm not going to let my company's growth be hampered by a few too many chiefs. time to make some indians, while my dad and i still have the energy to do so. it is, after all, better to make an effort to bend these idiots rather than spend time and resources bringing new folk up to speed on our unique methods of operating. if the effort fails, it is because i will have failed, not because they are knuckle dragging mouth breathers. <----(repeat ad nauseum, until i believe it.)

2 more heart pounders left to go.

the first one is in a few minutes here in Taipei. The other will be on Friday in Tangxia, China. pound pound pound.
I wish Ali were here.

Oh, I had Tokyo Italian food last night. Apparently, it's this whole thing with the fusion of wonderful and WTF??!?!?!
I suppose one could have called that thing a pizza in the most basic sense, and it was tasty after all.

pound pound pound.

I can't wait for friday afternoon, when all this stressful crap will be over.

oh, and it has finally happened. i am at last a road warrior. that is, flying away on business no longer holds a thrill; and consider that i LOVE the orient.

here i am, upside down again.

just got to the office in Taipei. I am so definitely on the other side of the planet. Mind you, were it up to me, I could easily spend 6 months out of the year over here.

the past weekend was entertaining, by the by. vodka /= hangover, as long as one remembers to drink lots of water.

i'll be back in the land of the fat and sprawling developments (a 2,000sqft house on 2,001 feet of land is a GOD GIVEN RIGHT in north america, right?) in 2 weeks, so hang tight, montreal!

fun filled weekend ahead, except...

i'm leaving on a jet plane. oh, babe, i hate to go...etc etc...

nothing much to say today.

surprising, no? well, i'm not in a complain-y mood, and this is, after all, my complain-o-thon unit.

long trek to Gnomerigan

no completed quests, but TONS o'dead gnomes! can't wait for next time!