ScottMcLeod.com

I get to celebrate the new year tonight before packing everything tomorrow for the move on Sunday.

Another four month workterm begins Monday: a new job, a new company, a new city, and my last work report.

We made a trip to the big city of Toronto yesterday to take advantage of some solid deals at the Eaton Centre. On our way into Toronto on the 401 we passed Yorkdale Mall. While I can't attest to the crowds on the inside, the parking lot was literally jammed and cops were directing traffic. So at that point we knew the crowds would be thick.

After parking at our friend's place at Yonge & Sheppard and taking the subway downtown, we received another indication of the shopping frenzy that has become Boxing Day. Almost everyone waiting for the northbound trains at Dundas station was carrying shopping bags, while everyone arriving was empty-handed. That soon would change.

Being Boxing Day we knew any mall would be busy, and especially in fashion-conscious Toronto, but I've never been to a mall so busy. Some stores had lines just to get in and many had '50% off everything' sales. There was so much I could have bought but held off on. Probably a good thing. I realize that most malls were probably touting deals and crowds like the Eaton Centre yesterday but it was still extremely busy. One also gets a sense of how multi-cultural Toronto really is: roughly 1 out of every 10 shoppers was white, and that is not an exaggeration.

I managed to take advantage of some pretty good deals on a pair of shoes and pants; each was roughly 25% of the original ticket price. We then had a satisfying dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe, although the meal cost as much as my new shoes. The day was topped off with 'Meet the Fockers' for free, thanks to our friend, at a theatre in Mississauga on our way home.

It was quite the day and made up for last year's Boxing Day when similar plans fell through at the last moment.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

We just finished opening gifts. I am very happy with the thoughtful gifts I received from my parents: a couple things for my car, a George Foreman-type grill, socks & underwear, a Chapters gift card, and winegums ;).

I've found that during University there is no better or relaxing time than the two weeks surrounding Christmas. Whether coming off a school term or work term, I can act like a normal person for those two weeks. In other words, do absolutely shit all. Not to mention the two holidays that are jam packed in there. I hope to be making a trip up to Toronto tomorrow with my buddies for some Boxing Day shopping (and saving).

Marks came back and I smoked 3B. I earned my highest average yet by over 6%. I'll be interested to see what my class rank is, as I may not be too far off the Dean's List. I doubt I'll make it, though; your term average minus your percentile rank must be at least 80%, which is pretty damn tough. Having an easy elective helped, although SOC 101 wasn't my highest mark. Looking back, this was easily my most successful term when both academics and co-op are considered.

Well, I begin work on Jan 3 so I've got about a week left to relax and move down. I haven't thought about that yet, as I've been too busy doing nothing at all. Feels nice.

Lots of good sports on today: Indiana-Detroit brawl round II (hopefully!); Kobe vs. Shaq (aka Corvette vs. Brick Wall); NFL; and finally Canada's World Junior Hockey debut. I can't say that all the sports on today will endear wives to sports-loving husbands on this most sacred of days, but you've got to follow it nonetheless, Christmas or not!

Top that off with a delicious Christmas dinner and that's quite the relaxing day.

Well, despite my intentions to post at least a few entries over the school term, I let the blog slip for the full 4 months.

I last left you with a quick note on the last day of my 3A work term in Windsor. Since then I've moved back home to Waterloo, busted my balls for 4 months in my 3B term, and all the while tried to maintain a semblance of a life. That 'semblance' was a fraction of what I used to do during school terms; I worked harder this term than any other. As a result, I didn't get out as much as I wanted to or should have. But the harder work showed through on midterms and hopefully will again on finals. One highlight of the term was my class' victory at a cross-engineering trivia contest. Paul Teehan wrote up a little summary of it.

In retrospect, 3B wasn't as difficult as 3A. Mind you, I took six courses in 3A and five of those were ECE core classes, one of which destroyed me (324 anyone?). This term, I had four core courses and one easy elective (SOC 101!). On top of that, one of my classes was a Joke. I enjoyed the other three, however.

It's sad in a way that we're finished third year now. As Teehan put it, my class has been together for the same four core classes since first year but we'll each be branching off in different directions to pursue our interests in fourth year. We've been through a lot together. However, there isn't too, too much choice regarding fourth year electives so many of us will still be together. More hacky sac between classes!

But it's obviously awesome now that we're into fourth year. I get to select all of my courses now, which is something I'm sure Arts students take for granted since first year. The additional freedom of both courses and schedule will be nice. We can also ligthen or increase our workload as we so choose. But not me; I plan to take four ECE courses next term.

The end is near. Two academic and two work terms remain. It's a little alarming being so close to The Real World, in that it signifies the last significant life adjustment until retirement at about the age of 60 (give or take, preferably take). But I'm considering grad school, which means, as my friend Jeff wisely put it, I can "shelter within academia for a little while longer."

I'll be working in Burlington beginning in January for 4 months. It's an awesome job and I'm really looking forward to it. I decided to pay a little more for housing and accordingly have a nicer place to live than my accomodations in Windsor. I don't think I've looked forward to a term this much yet. I could be working down in warm and sunny San Diego instead but I opted for the better position over the high pay and perks of working down in Cali. I don't regret my choice.

I think that's it for the 'Life Update.' Hopefully subsequent posts will be more frequent and deal with more insightful things as opposed to 'what I've been doing the last two/three weeks.' I implore you again: Stay Tuned!