On this crisp holiday weekend I would like to welcome my brother and sister (Kurtis and Kari) to the land of the adults. It has been a tough struggle making it this far ... I know ... I was the one making it tough!!! (hee hee)

Funny how the little ones grow up ... seems like not so long ago they were helping each other out of the cribs, skating around in bread pans, beating the dog with the hockey sticks, ... and now look at them ... both moved out of the house, looking to vote in the coming election, and working towards a career. Just amazing ... I don't think I am ever having kids ... my siblings make me fell old enough!

In other news ... last weekends injury to my ankle has kept me mostly sidelined though I am expecting to make an appearance this afternoon. If I ever get out of here. Right now I am sitting at work test driving an older iMac 350 for possible purchase. Work seems to be ditching a couple of their old machines and I have been looking for something to use at home. The price is right, but if it does not do what I need it too then their isn't much point is there!

I have to thank Amy and Erik Johnson for a great friday night at the theater. Playing was "The competition", a Russian comedy about life in Russia during the transitional period of communism to capitalism. It is told through the eyes of 4 families each coming from separate areas in society where previously higher education and numerous doctorates held you in high standing and the factories were always running. Now they now found themselves confused as to their place in the world. They dream of that better life but feel they are powerless to do anything about it ... but "The competition" will finally make life better.

PS. For the record: Melissa turned the heater on in the car this weekend. The air had that nice clean, crisp winter smell to it ... and we curled up in blankets and drank hot chocolate. Was a wonderful reminder of home. Hope everyone is enjoying those precious snow flakes ... cause we do miss them. (Though we are not liking this cold thing one bit ... )

What a weekend ... Saturday found us playing in the sand down at the beach for MJ's "going away party" [she leaves for the snow covered mountains on Dec 7th]. Little sun, sand, and surf always puts you in a good mood - even got some disc tossing in, which turned into a tackle-Ultimate before the end of it (I swear it was the girls who started it!!!!). We had a great time ... especially when a pod of Dolphins showed up. They were not 100ft off-shore, well within the swimming boundaries ... needless to say Melissa went for a quick dip.

Sunday Manatee Parks & Recreation held their first "hat tournament". For those who don't know, a hat tournament gathers a bunch of people together, picks their names from a "hat" to fill the teams, and then going about playing a full-day of Ultimate. With only 24-28 participants, we managed 4 teams of 6/7 players (a regular lineup contains 7 players) which meant we played 6-on-6 ... and with no substitutes (ouch!). Managed to find myself on the injured list by the end of the second game (rolled my right-ankle) but I could not stop playing ... we having way to much fun. So over the next 2 games (played 4 all together) I limped around as much as I could ... it was not until it was all over and I was sitting on the couch at Jeff's place that the ankle started to really swell and the pain set in. So, with it all wrapped, I hobbled into work today. I should be fine for the next (and last) regular season game.

Anyways, thanks again for the BBQ Jeff ... had a blast!

Melissa and I work up this morning and started our regular routine. She pushed me off the bed .... I grabbed the covers and pulled them to the floor to curl up for another 15 minutes or so ... etc etc etc

Eventually we managed to get to a reasonable level of consciousness and head for the shower, the coffee, and the freshly baked banana-bread muffins. Everything you would expect from a beautiful Saturday morning. The sun was shining, the trees are green, the flowers are blooming, and we enjoyed our fresh cups of coffee in t-shirts and shorts. The problem came when we turned on the radio .... "Santa's sleigh radio network" ... ahhh .... what ???? The A/C is still on ???

We looked around at each other wondering what universe we were in. Here the radio was blasting great christmas tunes to a nice Jazzy beat ... but we just could not grasp the talk about snow, sleigh bells, chestnuts, snow, tinsel, snow-men, snow flakes ... I know that the christmas push starts earlier and earlier each year ... but this had to be what ... ... ... November ... end of November ??? Funny how one can type the date out everyday and not really pay attention to it .... after all ... it *is* only thanksgiving. Time to harvest the food "before" the snow flies, sometime in October right ??

Anyway .... basically it comes down to climate shock. Down here people dream of "chestnuts roasting on a open fire" ... but dread an actual snow fall. Heck, most of them have fled the infected areas! Guess this year I am just going to have to discover how to enjoy christmas on the white sand beaches of Siesta Key

PS. We have a small one-bedroom place, more like a closet really. In fact it is so small I have to leave and go to the office almost daily just so that Melissa can move around. And we are REALLY REALLY bad cooks.

Hope everyone got a chance to catch the ER show last night. The show was great (the opening segment was the best though). Excerpt:

Beeeeeeeeep! Patient has flat-lined after the hard work of nurses and doctors

Boom ... the eyes open !
(And back here in Florida, the roof is brought off the Gecko's pub)

This was a great demonstration of how our product can be used. While normally these "training sessions" take place in schools, I could see one day a room designated to simulation in hospitals so that staff can continue practicing. And as we saw in the show, practicing on the simulator trains you for those real life situations.

Now ... what did everyone think of the show ? tell me

The ER episode airs tonight at 10PM EST, and we here at the office are going to watch it in style. The entire company has booked a patio at one of the local establishments, reserved 3 big-screen TVs, and enjoying the television debut of Stan - everyone's favorite medical simulator.

Not only does Stan hit the air waves, but also is getting paper time:

It breathes, it bleeds but it doesn't sue, an article written by MARCIA MATTSON for the Florida Times-Union.

This is the first in what is expected to be several news stories to hit NBC and national newspapers over the coming month or so. So ... keep an eye out :)

So ... with two games remaining in our Ultimate league play we finally managed to hold a real, honest to goodness, drive you, teach you, train you, make you really tired, practice . Luckily there was beer, cake, and fresh veggies for our after practice tired souls. I think it was successful ... too bad we only had a make-shift field just outside the fence of those soft-ballers who managed to win the double-booking shuffle.

Melissa managed to sneak out, while I was kickin' up the dirt, and head to a dance studio just around the corner. Turns out that Swing dancing is Tuesday and Sunday ... with some Salsa thrown in on Fridays. However, there seemed to be some confusion on what was "west coast" swing and what was "east coast" swing ... so she ended up in an advanced class of the wrong coast. It seems that either we were mistaken what we were taught -- or things are referred to differently in Canada. Either way ... I expect we will be heading out and shakin' some booty a little more in the coming future.

We here at METI Software Engineering welcome our newest recruit ... Kathy Wu. We promise we will be nice :)

Remembrance Day is the one day of the year where all of Canada stops and reflects on sacrifices that our vets, and vets from around the world, made during the past century. All those who paid the terrible costs of war fighting for the basic rights and freedoms of people they did not know. It is a day left for their memory ... a day to say thank-you.

The following poem was written by a young medical core volunteer during the First World War. First appearing in 1915, it became one of the best-known poems from the war and a piece of the Canadian culture for years to come.

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders Fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

- John McCrae, 1915

It seems that things have gone public ... so I will now make the announcement here. "Stan", our medical simulation mannequin, has reached a new point in his career.

On Nov 20th, 2003 at 10pm EST "Stan" will make a guest appearance on NBC's ER. - METI press release

I am not sure what the show fully consists of or how much air time the simulator gets ... but everyone here at METI is pretty excited about it. If you get a chance to catch the show you can finally see what I am working on.

So ... last night after a day of ... ... ... doing something ? (these weekends can get way to relaxing) We all (Krishen, Melissa, Kemp, and myself) headed to Jeffs' place for a little further relaxation. For months now Jeff has been bragging about his old bar-tending days in school - so we thought we would put him to the test.

It started out as a Martini party ... moved to some margaritas ... and ended with some shots. Now, few of these drinks were 'standard' ... some were even of Jeff's own creation. Final result ... we all had a great time sitting out on the deck enjoying several hours of mind numbing relaxation. Jeff truly has some skills beyond that of typing (a METI codeword for programming ... keeps us appearing mysterious). Basically, the drinks can be summed up in a single quote from Kemp:

"Hmmmmm .... that is good s***"

Thanks Jeff for a great time ... we should do it again sometime soon!

That is right folks ... this past weekend the Vancouver, BC team Furious George, sole Canadian entry in the US Ultimate Nationals, took top prize for the second year in a row. And what a game it was, will try and get some pictures up soon ... Melissa is sorting through them now ... so stay tuned. The whole weekend was fully of sun, sun, and more sun as Melissa and I enjoyed several games down at the local Polo club (Polo club? I did not think they had them anymore either ... think the last time I heard of Polo was in Pretty Woman). We came out a little crisper but energized for our game against the Ducks tonight (The Ducks are still running undefeated in our Ultimate league this fall).

In other entertainment news ... picked up the movie Finding Nemo last night - and it lived up to expectations. Great family comedy and a wonderful addition to our growing collection of DVDs. I imagine that this movie will get almost the play-time out of Melissa as the Harry Potter collection has.

Next up ... the release of The Matrix - Revolutions