Denis Lemire's Site

The unthinkable has happened. I went to Harvey’s to satisfy my standard diet of a poutine, a coke, and a Big Harv. Imagine my absolute shock when I was informed the Big Harv was no longer with us. It has been discontinued!

What am I to do now? The Big Harv is what swayed me from the deathly habit of McDonalds to the new and meaty world of Harvey’s. Now it’s gone Instead, I had to have a Sirloin burger! A damn Sirloin burger!!!

I am unable to determine with absolute certainty who is behind this monstrosity, although I believe it to be part of a conspiracy involving the same group that have brought us such damning outrages as changing the Big Xtra packaging from a wrapper (protecting your in vehicle seat lap from the bombardment of lettuce, onions, and other various burger condiments to the now useless tiny cardboard box. I believe it’s the same group that toy with our emotions by constantly removing, and later restoring our access to the Bacon Mushroom Melt from Wendy’s.

If only I could find these horrible people, the world of soon-to-kill-ya fast food would be a much safer place. Until then, I can only hope that I may someday love another burger.

Another Christmas has now passed. I am back to work as of today, though still taking the time to play with my new toy.
Jessie got me a Palm Tungsten T5 PDA for Christmas. It is amazing how far these things have advanced since my last unit (a Palm IIIc). This device has 25 times as much storage, over 10 times the processing power, and a pile of other enhancements. I just finished configuring its Bluetooth capabilities for wireless hotsyncing and internet connectivity before I began writing this.

As for my own shopping, I got Jessie a nice white gold diamond necklace. Picked out all sorts of other things for the rest of my family, including a dinner out at the Red Lobster for my Mom and Rene.

I would say overall everyone had a pretty awesome Christmas this year.

Frank, a friend and co-worker of mine managed to dig up an old Super Nintendo from some pawn shop of sorts. On invitation I couldn’t resist popping over for some classic Nintendo gaming action and slightly excessive beer consumption.

Played Mega Man X primarily throughout the evening, was probably one of my favorite game series of that era. I’m not sure if my Nintendo touch has eroded over the last decade or if it was just due to the addition of Molson, but I remember being at least a little better. I did manage to complete a half decent chunk of the game before I could no longer stand up straight though.

Arrived back from the Catch The Wave wireless conference in Medicine Hat put together by one of Triton’s suppliers of wireless gear (Comco Technologies Inc.). It was a very well organized event, with speakers from Motorola, Allot Communications, Orthogon Systems, and more.

There was an assortment of product demonstrations as well as a Motorola training course. The conference lasted from Tuesday to Friday evening during which I stayed at the Medicine Hat Lodge. Both the event in general and the accommodations at the hotel were very enjoyable.

I had a great time meeting numerous people from various backgrounds, both technical and non-technical. Of course, and in spite of my enjoyment of the event, after three days of early mornings and late evenings it feels great to be home.

I just learned yesterday that Nathan Allen, a good friend of mine has passed away, sadly taking his own life. His funeral was today. I originally met Nathan working at my former employer (OA Group). After he left OA we got together regularly, either when he needed some help with whatever computer problem he was currently unable to solve or he just wanted to get together for a couple beers. He was an amazing guy to hang out with, he always had the biggest shit eating grin on his face, and a fun loving personally that was sure to crack me up regardless of how cynical of a mood I was currently in. The guy was consistently armed with a smart assed remark for any imaginable situation. It’s impossible for me to imagine what kind of situation he felt he was in that he couldn’t see an alternative to his demise. The guy was so fun loving any time I saw him, he had a small army of his friends always ready to help him out with whatever he needed. Regardless of whatever situation lead him to this end, he will be greatly missed.