July 28: </scottishes>

Tomorrow's the day the Scottishes leave for home. It's hard to believe it's been a month already. Seeing as they had Canada Day to blast off the start of their trip, it's somewhat unfortunate that there's no holiday to send them off. They've got a dreaded night-time flight, technically departing on Sunday morning rather than Saturday night. We celebrated the end of the trip by going out for dinner — we went to Jack Astor's and then played glow-in-the-dark mini-golf at The Putting Edge (Victoria stole a golf ball).

Starting Sunday, I'm going to start jogging again in an effort to get into shape, and I'm actually going to try to improve my food at the same time. I eat far too much crap and never ever ever take a lunch to work. I could probably be healthier and save quite a bit of money if I started doing that instead of eating out every day. Wish me luck on that front.

Anyway, early morning tomorrow, so I shoudn't spend too much time geeking it out tonight. What are you up to?

July 21: Way Up Yonder

Well, I'm in Cape Breton.

Yes, yes, I know, it's sort of random, but I'm here. The Scottishes needed to see the Highlands of Nova Scotia in order to compare them to the Highlands of Scotland (based on my relatively recent experiences there, I think they're similar) and I decided to come along. (Technically, since they left yesterday, I'm catching up, not coming along.) I left work at noon and drove-drove-drove and arrived about half an hour ago. Goals: Lousiburg and the Alexander Graham Bell Museum.

In other news, remember how I was supposed to get my wisdom teeth out on Tuesday? Yeah, that totally didn't happen. Due to gross administrative incompetence, the dental office completely lost all record of my appointment ever having existed. It wasn't on a different day or cancelled, it was just completely not there. Needless to say, when I got there on Tuesday, I was pretty furious. Said fury has since died down a bit, but I'm switching dentists anyway. I don't particularly trust that place anymore.

Anyway, I should stop lurking on the WiFi here in the Silver Dart Lodge. Until we meet again.

July 13: When It Rains, It Pours

Sad news, folks: the trusty Dell laptop that kept me so entertained prior to the switch has sort of crapped out. I came downstairs the other day to a sound not entirely unlike that of a sheep going through a meatgrinder — not that I actually know what that sounds like — and a generally non-functional computer. With noises like that, it's obvious that a phone call to tech support isn't going to solve the problem, but I went through the motions anyway and successfully got them to recall it to the repair depot. It departed on Tuesday and should be back within a few days. It's a real bummer — the hard drive is toast, so I'll have to set it up for Mom all over again. I just did that about two weeks ago — man, I hate computers.

In other news, whoever made the first weather-related joke about Halifax sure hit the nail on the head. Today was, I think, the rainiest day we've had all year. It just poured and poured and poured, and just when you thought it was done, it just kept going. Of course, the Scottishes, who were getting a tour of Citadel Hill from Janet, hardly batted an eyelash. Scotland has to be the rainiest non-rainforest location on the planet, I think.

Anyway, from the Mark's-going-to-San-Francisco department, I've got all of my flights lined up and my hotel booked. I'm getting exciting (well, boring, but exciting because of what they represent) emails from Apple about the event, and I'm generally stoked. I just can't wait.

And on that note, I just can't wait to go to sleep. So, until we meet again, I bid you good day.

July 06: Vacations

Oh, man, I'm just awful at this blogging thing. I make myself sad — every time a week goes by, I promise myself I'm going to post fifty times in the next week, and then I never do. I'm so easily distracted by the real world — life, work, Scottish relatives, and Canada Day — that it always slips my mind. To summarize my last week: fireworks, relatives, rain, sleeping on the floor. The usual.

So, yes, the Scottishes are here and seem to be enjoying their vacation. There's only one problem: what to do with 'em? Halifax, it must be said, is not the most exciting place in the world. Does anyone know of any super nifty places to go or things to do that we might've missed? Before anyone suggests it, “Nearly poisoning them with oodles of greasy Chinese food from Fong's” has already been checked off of the list. Just so you know. Possible things I'm considering suggesting include glow-in-the-dark miniature golf out at The Putting Edge, a trip to the beach, and tricking them into a Tim Horton's coffee addiction.

Anyway, I should get back to working. Until we meet again.