The Long Road

Archives: January 2006

Tuesday, January 31, 2006

I wish I was really excellent at something. Anything. There are lots of things I’d consider myself good or even very good at like poker, Street Fighter, writing, drawing, but I doubt my skillz in these things would impress anyone who’s spent any significant amount of time at them themselves.

As a general rule, I try to be “above average” in most things, or better than 50% of the population in 90% of everything I do. Whether this is true or not, I leave as an exercise to the reader. I would love it though if I had just one thing where I could say that I was better than 99% of people at. Something that I had spent lots of time learning the ins and outs of, something that people who knew me could say “Thai is the best [whatever] I know” about.

I wonder if I have the attention span and focus necessary to do this, it probably takes years of practice, studying, and dedication to be truly excellent at something but I know lots of people who’ve devoted that kind of time and I want to be like that, to be like one of those people who end up having videos of them doing whatever it is they’re great at uploaded onto the internet for all to admire! Not really, but that’s along the lines of what I’m talking about.

Am I already excellent at something and don’t really know it? If so, what is it? If not, what do you guys think I could take on and try (and maybe actually succeed) to be great at?

Posted by Rayne @ 05:15 PM EST [Link] [7 comments]

Friday, January 27, 2006

When I was living with Arthur, we’d always be judging girls using the classic 10 point scale (we haven't upgraded to the new fandangled 14 pt scale yet). There was often an undertone of trying to one up one another by pointing out physical imperfections in the girl if one of us found her attractive. This gets to the point of ridiculousness because no one is perfect and you can always nitpick no matter who it is you’re looking at. Eventually, I came up with the ultimate challenge to such a self-defeating outlook: “you wouldn’t say no”.

If the girl comes up to you and shows interest in whatever, would you reject her? It’s an even stronger question than whether or not you would approach her because it’s a sure thing and requires no effort on your part but to accept. So would you say no? I wouldn’t think that most guys would. But then there’s always “you wouldn’t say no, drunk”.

Posted by Rayne @ 04:45 PM EST [Link] [5 comments]

Wednesday, January 25, 2006

So I bought some Yaktrax a couple of weeks ago. They're funky metal + rubber contraptions that you pull under your shoes/boots and allow you to walk confidently on ice and snow. Snow tires for your feet, essentially. I got the "pro" version which some with an extra velcro strap to go over your shoes for extra security and money. Anyways, I tried them out - on uncleared sidewalks while it was raining freeze - and they were wonderful! While the website provides some scientific numbers, "40% better traction" or something, my careful and exact measurements more closely resemble "they work real good". I was able to run on ice and snow without fear of breaking myself, not once did I come close to slipping.

My only complaint is that, like snow tires, Yaktrax aren't great for cleared roads. Instead of feeling the ice crunching under your feet, you feel the metal coils scrapping against bare asphalt and it gives the impression that something’s going to break. I found myself avoiding clear ground when I had these one, but I guess that’s not a big deal since I’m avoiding iced ground otherwise. It’s not a significant amount of extra effort.

The Yaktrax also take a bit of work to put on as it takes some work to stretch the rubber over your shoes, so I’m wondering if I got the right size even though the box suggests that these are right. In any case, an interesting little thing to spend 40$ on.

Posted by Rayne @ 02:52 PM EST [Link] [4 comments]

Monday, January 23, 2006

I choose the second "or not" in this case. Today's election is very screwed up. I do not want either of the two major parties in power and a vote for any of the other minor ones is a lost cause anyways. Normally, I would most certainly vote for the type of warm oatmeal, but they need to be taken down a peg. Twelve years in power is just too long.

The only viable alternative is to go with the conservatives but when the only thing you've got going for you is "We're not the Liberals!", that's not going to be good enough, really. During the last American election, I was firmly of the stance that they should have done all that they could to get rid of the republicans, including for voting for a party they didn't believe in. I guess a lot of people are currently feeling this way about our own corrupt government since it's all about voting for or against the Liberals, but I just can't bring myself to care enough to cast a vote against them.

One thing I enjoyed about this campaign was all the criticism thrown at Stephen Harper and his apparently inability to crack a smile or show any kind of emotion. I can actually relate to that as I did spend many of my years being somewhat of an emotional cypher. I feel bad for the guy having to constantly be told to show anger, passion, joy, etc. Expect a stone cold poker face when he wins tonight.

Posted by Rayne @ 06:49 PM EST [Link] [41 comments]

Thursday, January 12, 2006

In the spirit of Top 30 facts about Chuck Norris

Rayne once jogged in -23 C weather. It was +30 when he finished
Rayne once ejaculated into the ocean, this is how sperm whale were formed
Rayne once saw a mango tree. No mangos live to tell the tale
Rayne once took a sleeping pill. He then proceeded to remain awake the whole night
Rayne knows all the digits of pi
Rayne can make asymptotic functions cross their asymptotes
Rayne owns enough graphic novels to buy a small country
Rayne is the intelligent designer
Rayne is in the details
Rayne goes out to shovel, the arctic circle retreats
Rayne is at the top of everyone's MSN list

Posted by Rayne @ 11:52 PM EST [Link] [7 comments]

Wednesday, January 11, 2006

Self Serving Bias is one of the most interesting things I learned about in MSCI. It also came up in Psych and Soc, albeit under different names. Basically, self serving bias is a defence mechanism which tells you whatever it is that’s gone wrong is not your fault. If you fail a test, your prof sucked or it was unfairly difficult. If you get rejected by a girl/guy, they weren’t good enough for you in the first place. It is a defence mechanism because it protects your ego and allows you to try, try again without self-doubt.

Being a very introspective, and supremely objective, kinda guy, I don’t think that I rely too much on SSB. I tend to think more along the lines of “how did I mess up here and how would I go about improving this?”. Whether or not I implement the improving part is another story. Also, having learnt about Self-Serving Bias, I tend to recognize when I’m using it.

I’ve noticed a strong streak of SSB in a lot of people I know; and, yes, it does seem to work as they’re not fazed by their failures. So, is it better to not know your faults and go on through life without trying to correct them? It depends. I think SSB is helpful in cases where you’ve failed at something wholly due to circumstances outside of your control; but if SSB kicks in strongly when it is obviously your fault, then you’ll never learn from your mistakes.

For example. If you fail to impress at a job interview and SSB it away as the interviewer being stupid or something but you showed up poorly dressed and stinking of sewer and don’t think there’s anything wrong with that, then you’re not in a good position to win over the people at your next job interview. However, if you showed up well dressed and knew what you were talking about but there just happened to be someone better qualified that day, and SSB comes in to protect your ego, then your next interview will not be greatly affected by this one.

Posted by Rayne @ 05:23 PM EST [Link] [4 comments]

Friday, January 6, 2006

Trying something a little different now. Instead of writing down all my expenses at the end of each day (theoretically), I'll only be writing down the cash ones and saving my credit card receipts. At the end of each month, I input all my interac transactions into the spreadsheet, and when the credit card bill comes in, I check off the receipts I've hoarded and add them to the spreadsheet. I THINK doing it this way will be cut down on some redundancies.

As for November, it's probably the best month yet! A thousand dollars if you forget the car and the osap. This also includes a road trip I undertook so it's pretty good. I got more than paid back for gas from the people I was driving and poker was very fruitful that month, so in the end it only comes to 700$ or so in expenses.

I bought myself a very nice running jacket and a replacement dreamcast. JEREMY WONG still owes me money for the Go board I picked up for him though.

December is going to be Monstrous!

Posted by Rayne @ 01:05 AM EST [Link] [17 comments]

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