ScottMcLeod.com

Last week was nothing too special. I’ve somewhat moved onto a new project at work, as I’ll now be splitting my time between this new one and the (more interesting) project I’d been working on previously. But I still get to tinker around with the original project when time permits, so this at least prevents me from getting too bored at work.

Regarding the site, I’ve modified the MT templates a bit more. I think I now have the posts appearing as I’d like them to, so if this means I don’t need to muck around with the templates anymore, well then, bonus. I also hope I’m finished altering the style sheet, as I’ve had enough of making minute changes that completely wreck the site’s design. I just need to leave the design alone for a time.

Meanwhile, I had a relaxing weekend, aside from being locked out of my room for Saturday afternoon and night (I slept on the couch). Yep, on our way out to grab some groceries I ended up locking my keys and wallet in my room. I couldn’t get hold of the landlords until Sunday morning, on account of their phone being broken. Coincidence? Well, yeah, it most certainly was…

The only extended stretch of sunshine this weekend occurred while Dan and I were at the gym on Sunday, meaning we missed out on it and I missed my chance to get a tan. I’m not used to be this pale (or this vain). Luckily we missed the obligatory weekend rain by a few minutes after walking down to grab some much craved for ‘za.

I have a full week of work and a few meetings to look forward to before heading home for the weekend and Dan’s sister’s stag-and-doe. It should be a good time.

And now that I’ve got the site mostly complete I can stop posting about it and move on to more relevant/interesting things; things that interest me more.

Because of Victoria Day today, Canadians have enjoyed a long weekend these past three days. My parents and sister came down to Windsor to spend the day on Saturday and Dan and I hit up the casino on Sunday. I cashed in big; Dan didn't...

Luckily we got some decent weather Saturday and weren't rained on, as it's been really erratic during the three weeks I've lived in Windsor. My housemate Dan tagged along (since he had nothing better to do ;) ) so we showed them Windsor's riverfront and happened to catch the tail-end of a military Victoria Day parade. There were historic military vehicles (tanks, jeeps, APCs, and a few others I'm not sure of) from WWII and perhaps even WWI. We just missed a Scottish bagpipe band.

We walked through the downtown district but Windsor's downtown attractions boil down to bars and clubs that cater to peeps my age (21ish), so not much appealed to my parents. But we showed them the casino and then a bit more of the riverfront. My Dad and I played some tennis during midafternoon which was very nice because I hadn't hit in over three weeks (I play varsity tennis at my uni). My parents and sister took Dan and I home and they left for Waterloo. It was good to see them.

Later Brent (other housemate), Dan, and I hit a downtown Irish pub by the name of Patrick O. Ryan's (doesn't every city have an Irish pub by this name?). The live bands were awesome and the beer selection superb. I tried a Scottish beer called St. Andrew's which was the first Scottish beer I've had; think Guiness but a bit thinner. So that was Saturday.

Sunday the weather sucked so Dan and I put off our plans to check out Point Pelee national park, Canada's most southerly point (wow!) until today. We relaxed most of the day and 'prepped' for a night of hardcore gambling. Well, hardcore on the 25c slot machines. After the perfunctory double id check at the door we decided on a couple of machines. Dan blew his first $20 in about 10 minutes and almost his second $20 shortly after until I cautioned him to slow down. I cashed out with $25 after beginning with $10. We moved onto a few other slots where Dan ended up losing $10 more and I lost $5. So I netted a $10 gain and Dan a $50 (!) loss. A good night.

Today the weather was still a little iffy but we drove down to Point Pelee on Lake Erie, anyway. The drive through the country was quite pleasant and we saw quite a few enormous plantations. They were almost a kilometre long and perhaps half that in width. The wind was near 30 or 40 knots and the swells near 5 feet. The water was a disgusting brown colour (hopefully just because the floor was churned up, but it could just be good ole' Lake Erie pollution...).

The Point is a marshy, triangular spit of land that narrows to a point at the southern tip. We walked through a marsh boardwalk and a few trails through the bush until we drove down to the 'tip.' A short shuttle ride later and we were at the tip itself. The windward side was difficult to stand on because of all the flying sand but the leeward side was quite calm, seemingly much more so with only 20 feet of land between the sides. It was a good trip and the $5 admission is worth the price and experience. Just remember to bring a camera (eh, Dan!).

So back to work tomorrow. How long till the next long weekend?

So we lost our free cable signal sometime yesterday. I had been looking forward to watching PTI (that's Pardon the Interruption for those not in the know) and then the Flames-San Jose game the entire day at work. I feel gypped because apparently the house had been getting free cable for over 3 years, so why were we the ones who had to lose it?

But not having cable will force us to do other, more productive things. We went out for a long bike ride to the mall and we each ended up buying a few new books. Going without TV for an extended period of time is a 'challenge' I wouldn't mind taking.

My folks are coming down this Saturday and then my housemates and I plan to hit up the casino now that the strike has been resolved. Looking forward to the long weekend!

I'm doing some (I think) really interesting things at work, for which I'm very grateful. Any new experience is a good experience.

I'm working with an OP7200 microcontroller, manufactured by zworld featuring the Rabbit 2000 processor. I was tasked with figuring out how to interface a 1-Wire bus through an RS232 (DB9) serial port to the controller. So this involves a huge amount of research to get up to speed on the protocols for the 1-Wire bus as well as learn the intricacies (function calls, I/O ports, assembly language, etc.) of the controller. It's been a lot to absorb but I've learned tons. And it's all relevant to what I'd like to get into in the future.

This is all the beginning of quite a large project that the company I'm working for is developing entirely in house. I hope to contribute significantly to it.

Hopefully I'll keep up this blog as the summer progresses. Living away from home, as I'm just experiencing, certainly has its perks!

Ciao!

Figured I might as well write something here to justify installing MT. So here's my first real entry.

My housemate, Brent, and I decided to take a trip over to Detroit this past Sunday to catch a Tigers game. It was a nice day out and we had the entire day free so it seemed like a good idea. We walked to downtown Windsor and caught the tunnel bus through the Windsor-Detroit tunnel and into Detroit. On our way through customs an angry black female customs official (you know the type) had the honour of checking my credentials. Here is roughly how our conversation transpired:

Her: Purpose of visit?
Me: My friend and I are going to see the Tigers game.
Her: You got ticket?
Me: No, I was going to buy one at the gate.
Her: You got any money?
Me: I have some Canadian money...
Her: How you expect to buy a ticket with no money?
Me: I was going to pay with my VISA card.
Her: How much money do you have access to?
Me: Between my VISA card and debit card, over $2000.
Her: But how do I know that?
Me: Say what?
Her: How do I know that?
Me: Well, I'm not sure, but I do. And my friend has American money (he only had $14; we were pretty ill-prepared).
Her: Don't look over at him! You are an in-di-vidual. How do we know you have enough money to sustain your visit?
Me: I have a VISA card and a debit card. I have money.
Her: But how do I know that?
Me: (So at this point I just gave up.) Well, I guess you have no way of knowing.
Her: Take a seat over there and wait.

So then my friend had the ill luck of also being attended to by her, and having already been prepped on our situation, she made quick work of him and had him wait with me. A few minutes later we were called up to the counter in turn to explain where we were from, why we were living in Windsor, etc. A real hassle. I doubt it served any real purpose. Then we were made to wait.

A few minutes later I got called up. She told me I needed to show something to prove to her I have money available, either by going back to Windsor or to an ATM state-side. I assured her that if I had to go back to Windsor just to get a goddamn receipt I'd stay there. But she pointed me to the duty free shop and instructed me I had 5 minutes to return or else I'd be 'in big trouble.' I was almost smiling at this point at the sillyness of it all.

I grabbed some cash and a receipt and a few grumbles later she set us on our way. By this time the next tunnel bus had arrived with the next batch of people waiting to get across so we caught that one all the way to Comerica Park and only missed the first inning. Game was enjoyable, weather was great, and the trip back proved uneventful. Side note: we passed through Detroit's Greektown (apparently Detroit has a Greektown) on the way back where an outdoor market was set up. Some very interesting wares were on display. A little pricey, though.

So it ended up being an eventful day and one I'm sure I'll remember for awhile. Then we watched the Flames get whomped by the Sharks. Oh well.