I wrote that first part on Friday, and now it is Monday. Let me just say that hooking up my work computer to the internet, where there may be emails waiting for me, was the last priority on my list this weekend. But since I’ll be using this computer as my main one all week, this time my entry may actually wind up getting posted. Once again, I apologize for all these delays. And now that I think about it, maybe I should have checked my work email at least once this weekend… Sigh, oh well, they have to give me a break. It was my first week.

I’m sitting in the airport right now, at gate 20, waiting for my flight to board. This will not happen for another 40 minutes. I read the time wrong and wound up getting here too early. And I specifically asked for a cab that could accept VISA, but when we get here, the cab driver starts searching though all of his stuff and announces that he only has paper for AMEX. What. The. Hell. Why do I even bother asking in the first place? I knew he would try and find a way to screw me, whether it was with the VISA or overcharging me on my fare. So luckily for him I had $50 on me (thank you, Lisel) but I was not happy about parting with it.

I’m already getting the swing of this whole airport thing. Unlike last time, when I packed a bag so huge I couldn’t even lift it into the back of the car, I have managed to shove my entire necessities for the week into exactly two bags: one duffel and one messenger. This way I can carry them both on board and avoid last week’s problem of me making my switchover flight, but not my luggage. Also, despite how funny it felt stripping down at security (my bags, my jacket, my shoes) I was the only one in the lineup who didn’t beep on their way through the sensor. The guy in front of me was beeping like crazy. The security guard kept waving her wand all over the place, making him empty his pockets, take off his watch and ultimately even his belt.

The coolest thing so far today has been getting my boarding passes. I don’t know how long they’ve had these things, but you can do it all on a computer without having to wait in line, as long as you have a credit card with your name on it and know your flight number. It was super cool, and you even get the chance to see if other seats on the plane are available and switch yours for a better one. I changed my back of the plane, middle seat for a 7th row window seat instead. Cool beans.

This weekend, Shamus and I decided to have a look at this work-issued laptop and see what it could really do. The answer? Not very much. It has a whopping 5GB of space, which is barely even enough for me to hide my games on. We also discovered several loverly viruses, left here for me courtesy of the last co-op idiot who used this computer. While trying to boot up, I often got a warning saying that the something modular bay was unidentified, something something, so could I please fix it and try booting again. After much fiddling, we finally gave up and looked it up on the net on Shamus’s computer. He found a post on a message board discussing the problem, and the whole thing was in French! How fitting! So it turned out the problem was my "lecteur CD" (read: CD drive) and when I checked it out, sure enough, it was gone. Just kidding, it was just sticking out a bit. So I popped it back in and all was well again. Well, as well as it ever could be, for this giant paperweight. [Sigh, 20 minutes to boarding…]

In other wonderful news, my cell phone chose this weekend to start acting up, by which I mean: it won’t ring. Maybe it’s just me, but I find that is one of the most important features of a cell phone. But oh, it still beeps when I push all the buttons, because it likes to taunt me. "Look!" it says, "I can make all the noise I want! I’m just not going to alert you when someone calls. But if you try and type a text message on a bus, everyone will glare at you because of all the beeping!" Stupid piece of crap. I’m pretty sure the vibrate option still works though, although that theory is untested. We shall see how many calls I miss this week. I should call them up and see if I’m still under warranty…

Hey! The duty free shop just opened. I should go buy a giant bottle of Crown Royal. Or is that maple syrup? I really need to get my new glasses. Sigh, still 13 minutes to go, but maybe I should pack up the laptop, just in case. Maybe I’ll waste my time playing some Age of Empires once I’m on the plane.

PS, I hope these past two entries were enough to make up for weeks of neglect.