welcome. everything I write here is something I felt to be important to some degree; game reviews, life updates/vents, and philosophical musings. I do my best to make my statements truthful. everyone is welcome to post comments, provided they are relevant.

2.27.2004

Snorkeling was fun. The underwater camera I used was less than great though, because most of my shots were blurred or faded. I really recommend it, it's a lot more fun than I thought it would be. Some people prefer it over scuba diving, but they're usually good swimmers. That and the equipment can be a real hassle. Food was ok, but not enough for picky people like me. Can choosers be beggars?
Oh man, did the first day of my trip SUCK. Here's a copy/paste of the file I sent to the travel agent, who's going to wrench some compensation out of the hotel.

-begin-
Feb. 15, 2004
After landing in Punta Cana, My sister (Jennifer Young), her boyfriend (Robert Chalmers), and myself were told by the Air Transat representative in the airport exit that there was a "change" and instructed to board a bus (a large tour bus with a "3" in the front window). On the bus, we were told by a different representative that our hotel had been changed. We were worried at this point, because our reservation was made specifically so that we could join our parents for their last week of vacation, celebrating my mom's 50th birthday. We were told that they would sort things out when we reached Casa del Campo, being told that Jean Chretien usually visits there. When we eventually did get there, it took a long time after passing the entrance before someone informed us that the facilities of the hotel were far apart, at which point everyone on the bus became more agitated. When we finally stopped in some kind of parking lot, we were told to wait, then get off the bus, and then wait some more. The sun was setting around this time. We were, apparently, to take some other bus somewhere, but when nothing arrived we were told of a restaurant a few minutes walk from the bus. At the time, it was suggested that we leave our luggage at the bus, but no-one agreed to that and everyone took their luggage to the restaurant. The restaurant served a very small buffet which appeared more like left-overs than a buffet. I eat a small variety of food, so I only ate bread and juice. After hours of waiting, I knew the situation was this: the hotel we were at refused to accomodate us, all other hotels in Punta Cana were full, and we were to bus to Santo Domingo. Before leaving, we finally contacted our parents, who were at Ocean Bavaro, with the assistance of an Ocean Bavaro employee. After more waiting and a 3 hour bus ride, we stayed at a hotel in Santo Domingo (a hotel with the big diamond on the sign).

We were told to meet with an Air Transat representative in the lobby at 11:00am (local time). We waited there for another 1 - 2 hours until someone in the group contacted an Air Transat representative, and took some degree of control. A bus arrived at the hotel, but there seemed to be some confusion as to who it was for, and where it was going. My sister, Jen, started asking when and if we were going to meet our parents. I simply waited, since I trusted my sister to figure out the details. We finally determined that the bus was to go back to Punta Cana to send most of the group to a hotel very close to Ocean Bavaro, and a taxi would take us the rest of the way. Apparently, 2 other people were in a similar situation to ours, that is they were supposed to be with other people at Ocean Bavaro. We then eventually arrived at Ocean Bavaro around 6pm, more than 24 hours late, and our parents greeted us at the entrance.

I had paid the full single rate to have a room to myself. We were told that they wanted to put all five of us in a 2 room suite but my parents told them that we had paid for three separate rooms. Jen and Rob took the room that my parents were booked in, and my parents and I took room 9125. The room was fitted with a sofa-bed and a mattress, which I decided was adequate at the time because I was tired and did not wish to withstand any further frustrations. Over the course of my visit at the hotel, I became more aware of the faults present in the room. The thermostat did not efficiently maintain room temperature, and was at any time either too hot or too cold. The hot water was usually only slightly warm. The large tub was missing the hot water dial, and the tub's jets could not be activated. We managed to fix the cold water dial for use on both hot and cold water. The tub's drain plug was also not properly installed, and my parents needed to use a spoon to remove it. The shower in the large bathroom leaked large ammounts of water that did not always reach the emergency drain. The mattress I was in became increasingly uncomfortable, as it sank wherever I laid down and became too hot. The best comment I have for the room is that the Pepsi in the fridge was free and re-stocked every day, except for one day when there was just 7up, which I do not like at all.

That concludes the majority of grievances I have regarding my trip. Other comments on the hotel: there should be a list of activities available in the hotel room. All other hotels I have visited have hotel information available in the guest's room, including restaurant hours, facilities, and the time and place of special events. Most hotels list local attractions as well, so the guest has the option of exploring the area outside the hotel. I had thought that the pizza bar was open 24 hours, so I was surprised when I went to get pizza at 6pm and there was no pizza being served. A lot of teenagers like pizza for supper, and most of the restaurants did not serve anything I found appetizing.
-end-

The hotel looks nice, and the service is nice, but the administration must be retarded or something.

2.14.2004

slacker goes to Dominican Republic

why? why the fuck not? it's winter in Ottawa, and that's pretty cold, especially for anyone who hasn't lived here for 20 years. also there is valentines and my mom's birthday. she and slacker sr. are on a cruise, and i, along with my sister and her boyfriend, will meet them in punta cana in a day or so. I'll be there for a week too. I had to pay my mom $1500 (CDN), but i think that's just the room and all-inclusive hotel stuff, and she's paying the extra for me having my own room. (costs more to have one person in a two-person room.) I have no idea wether I'm going to enjoy it or not, but I want to visit that general area of latitude at some point in my life and I don't see why not do it now.

i need to pack. tah~

2.07.2004

To lazy to rant again, so here's a copy/paste of my IRC rant (EnterTheGame #prontera.net)

[15:41] (Astatine) star trek the movie is a piece of crap
[16:00] (yuethomas) star trek the movie WHICH?
[16:40] (Astatine) yeah, star trek THE MOVIE
[16:40] (Astatine) the first one
[16:40] (Astatine) crazy 70s sci fi crap
[16:41] (Astatine) about as freaky as space odyssey 2001 (sp wtf)
[16:41] (Astatine) space oddity
[16:43] (Astatine) and don't forget close encounters of the 3rd kind
[16:43] (Astatine) teh movie
[16:47] (Astatine) khan trek was slightly better
[16:55] (Astatine) i swear, the entire storyline could be told in the span of a normal episode
[16:56] (Astatine) the majority was drawn-out footage of trippy visual effects and shitty models
[16:57] (Astatine) though the intro with spock on vulcan would be cut because kirk wasn't there, if it was an episode
[16:57] (Adrian) who are you talking to?
[16:57] (Astatine) umm.... uh, YOU!
[16:57] (Adrian) hehehe
[16:57] (Astatine) :P
[16:57] (Frosty|exam) he was talking to me
[16:57] (Astatine) it sucked
[16:57] (Adrian) im gonna grab some breakfast
[16:57] (Frosty|exam) ;D
[16:57] (Adrian) ah ok, just seemed funny, for 15minutes hes talking and nobody is responding
[16:58] (Frosty|exam) and yeah the thing here to note is
[16:58] (Frosty|exam) star trek is a one hour show
[16:58] (Frosty|exam) thats half a normal movie
[16:58] (Frosty|exam) so its hard to get away from that extended episode type feel
[16:58] (Astatine) yeah, iresist saying WTF y don u ppl respnd wtf!!!1
[16:58] (Adrian) how can they drag that crap on for an hour?
[16:58] (Adrian) each episode
[16:58] (Frosty|exam) lol
[16:58] (Frosty|exam) star trek TNG
[16:59] (Frosty|exam) 90 percent of the time theyre not fighting
[16:59] (Adrian) sounds exciting
[16:59] (Frosty|exam) you have to be a real nerd to like it
[16:59] (Astatine) THERE WAS NO FIGHTING in this movie
[16:59] (Astatine) soooo boooriiing
[16:59] (Frosty|exam) LOL
[16:59] (Frosty|exam) i watched first contact, the newer one i think
[16:59] (Frosty|exam) i havent watched any others
[16:59] (Astatine) i'm like, OK I GET THE POINT, THE INTRUDING VESSEL IS FUCKING HUGE
[17:00] (Frosty|exam) so im not like an authority or anything
[17:00] (Frosty|exam) lol
[17:00] (Astatine) LETS SEE SOME PLOT
[17:00] (Frosty|exam) most episodes its all plot
[17:00] (Adrian) the plot is: draw in huge nerds money
[17:00] (Astatine) first contact was ok
[17:00] (Frosty|exam) for some reason
[17:00] (Frosty|exam) making star trek movies still generates enough movies
[17:00] (Frosty|exam) er
[17:00] (Frosty|exam) revenue
[17:01] (Frosty|exam) to warrant making more of them
[17:01] (Astatine) yeah but the rest are ok
[17:01] (Astatine) this one was CRAP
[17:01] (Frosty|exam) its all about turnout... every star trek nerd in the country goes to see it 5 times
[17:01] (Frosty|exam) thats way better than like a thriller where you have no solid audience
[17:01] (Astatine) it's called amnesia i think
[17:01] (Frosty|exam) lol
[17:01] (Frosty|exam) no
[17:01] (Frosty|exam) its called
[17:02] (Frosty|exam) omg wtf that was so leet when picard owned the klingon with his 10 page speech
[17:02] (Adrian) it's called they need to be beamed back to reality
[17:02] (Frosty|exam) -_-
[17:02] (yuethomas) bleh.
[17:02] (yuethomas) nemesis was CRAP.
[17:02] (Astatine) nemesis was not as good as it could have been
[17:03] (Astatine) the only reason you should ever watch the first star trek movie is morbid fascination of how crappy it is
[17:04] (Astatine) fyi
[17:05] (Frosty|exam) well
[17:05] (Frosty|exam) it was made 20 years ago right
[17:06] (Frosty|exam) ive seen like bits and pieces of old star trek stuff
[17:06] (Frosty|exam) the models are absolutely hilarious
[17:06] (Frosty|exam) they suck so much
[17:07] (Frosty|exam) makes you wonder how star wars did it, their moves were released around the same time probably, but their models dont really look the part
[17:07] (Frosty|exam) *movies
[17:07] (Astatine) it's called good directing i think
[17:07] (Frosty|exam) lol, one thing at a time ;D
[17:08] (Astatine) as opposed to crap directing
[17:08] (Astatine) star wars was good
[17:08] (Astatine) i can't imagine how anyone can get worked up over a battlestar galactica space battle
[17:08] (Astatine) have you SEEN those?
[17:08] (Frosty|exam) lol
[17:08] (Astatine) MY GOD
[17:09] (Frosty|exam) ;)
[17:09] (Frosty|exam) its like something your 8 year old brothers might put on tape
[17:09] (Frosty|exam) gg
[17:09] (Astatine) ... i just can't describe the crap
[17:09] (Frosty|exam) sure you can
[17:09] (Frosty|exam) but probably without battlestar galactica
[17:09] (Astatine) i don't WANT to
[17:09] (Frosty|exam) there wouldnt have been much scifi
[17:09] (Frosty|exam) and then you wouldnt get good stuff
[17:10] (Frosty|exam) like say star wars and uh
[17:10] (Frosty|exam) hmm
[17:10] (Astatine) uhm
[17:10] (Astatine) i dunno
[17:10] (Frosty|exam) trying to think of some good scifi series
[17:10] (Frosty|exam) gg

2.01.2004

i just sent my PS2 for repair today, and already I am sad. at least the problem i was having gets me free repair.
I WANTS IT, my preciousssss...