So we went to Grande Prairie to attend a Murder Mystery. This was going to be our first time so we were not sure what to expect.
We got our character profiles and I was to play a US Senator, while Michelle was to play a high class Las Vegas call girl.
We were encouraged to dress up so I wore a shirt and tie, while Michelle went all out. Short skirt, tall boots, fishnet stockings and a pink feather boa. Needless to say she looked smokin hot!! She also won for best dressed.
When we got to the party we were given a set of tasks to complete before the murder. Basically just to introduce yourself to everyone and get to know all the characters. There was also some setup for the rest of the night.
After the lights went out, someone was murdered!! The hunt for the killer was on. Each of us got another list of tasks and objectives to accomplish in our pursuit of the killer.
Everyone from the senator and his wife, to his mistress, to the casino owner are suspects. I am not going to ruin it for anyone who is going to do one of these so I won't tell you who did it!! Lol.
It was a fun time and I would love to do another one someday. I think it would have been better if everyone knew each other as we didn't know some of the participants and they didn't know us. However, we had a great time.
Photos are up on Facebook and I will also be putting them on my Shutterfly site in the next day or so. Http://hollandsphotos.shutterfly.com
Monday, November 23, 2009
Monday, November 16, 2009
Where's my cane sonny?
So...there I was minding my own business on a Saturday evening. Tracey (sister-in-law) bought a new house so we were helping them break it in when I get a text message. I check and it is from my son saying that he has some news. You can imagine my shock and surprise when he tells me that he and his girlfriend are pregnant. That's right...you heard me. BubbaMike is going to be a Grandpa for real!
After I got over my initial shock - oh wait...I still haven't. It's not that I am upset or anything, but I worry about Rob and wish nothing but the best for him. He is only 17 which is WAY too young to be fathering a child. I was 21 when I became a father and that was too young. I remember well the challenges I went through, so I can only hope for the best for Robin and Storm.
Now that I have completely blown your mind...on to other thoughts.
Umm...
Ahh...
Right now, at this point in time, nothing I can say would come even close to topping my latest news. Maybe I will come up with something later...
After I got over my initial shock - oh wait...I still haven't. It's not that I am upset or anything, but I worry about Rob and wish nothing but the best for him. He is only 17 which is WAY too young to be fathering a child. I was 21 when I became a father and that was too young. I remember well the challenges I went through, so I can only hope for the best for Robin and Storm.
Now that I have completely blown your mind...on to other thoughts.
Umm...
Ahh...
Right now, at this point in time, nothing I can say would come even close to topping my latest news. Maybe I will come up with something later...
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Fragapalooza 2009
So, Fragapalooza 2009 is over and we have a break before we need to start worrying about next year. Of course, that is assuming we have a next year.
I wish I was kidding about that. The staff put up with so much BS before the event this year that some of us are questioning our committment to doing another event.
We had to change venues at the last minute as there were not enough paid registrations to actually make a go of it. It was to the point where we almost cancelled the event. However we found a venue that would take us out in Fort Saskatchewan - the Dow Centennial Center. It would mean a longer commute for some people but it was the best that we could do.
The event was a huge success by the time it was over but the complaining we had to put up with before the event left a bad taste in our mouth.
I am not going to go into great detail about the complaints but suffice it to say we were not impressed. As a result, Fragapalooza 2010 is up in the air.
Thanks to all the participants who supported us by coming, thanks to all the great volunteers and staff, and a special thanks to the staff at the Dow Center for going out of their way for us. I hope to see you all next year.
I wish I was kidding about that. The staff put up with so much BS before the event this year that some of us are questioning our committment to doing another event.
We had to change venues at the last minute as there were not enough paid registrations to actually make a go of it. It was to the point where we almost cancelled the event. However we found a venue that would take us out in Fort Saskatchewan - the Dow Centennial Center. It would mean a longer commute for some people but it was the best that we could do.
The event was a huge success by the time it was over but the complaining we had to put up with before the event left a bad taste in our mouth.
I am not going to go into great detail about the complaints but suffice it to say we were not impressed. As a result, Fragapalooza 2010 is up in the air.
Thanks to all the participants who supported us by coming, thanks to all the great volunteers and staff, and a special thanks to the staff at the Dow Center for going out of their way for us. I hope to see you all next year.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Heat
Why do some people think that I am crazy for not liking the heat? When it gets above 24c I get cranky. Even in the shade it becomes too uncomfortable for me. You start to sweat, your clothes stick to you and it is all around not fun.
The sun is my worst enemy too. As a red head I can burn in like 30 minutes. How is that fun?
So, when the talk comes around to holidays, people are surprised when I day no to places like Cuba or Mexico. In fact they are actually shocked. I didn't go with the family trip to Cuba because of the heat.
Go ahead and ridicule me all you want. I will be nice and cool in my air conditioned house while you are roasting in unbearable heat.
The sun is my worst enemy too. As a red head I can burn in like 30 minutes. How is that fun?
So, when the talk comes around to holidays, people are surprised when I day no to places like Cuba or Mexico. In fact they are actually shocked. I didn't go with the family trip to Cuba because of the heat.
Go ahead and ridicule me all you want. I will be nice and cool in my air conditioned house while you are roasting in unbearable heat.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Windows 7
So, I have been playing with Windows 7 for a while now. I had heard that it was supposed to fix all that was wrong with Vista. Considering that I refused to run Vista as it was so bad, I thought I would try out the public Beta in a VM for a while.
The beta seemed actually quit good so I thought I would try running it on my home machine. Without getting into too many details, the install was slick and the OS seemed really good. Even in beta it was better than Vista.
After running it for a while and upgrading to all the leaked builds as well as the public RC, I gave it up. There was some networking bug that affected some people but not others. I was one of the affected. I went back to Windows 2008 workstation.
However, we got more ram in our work machines so I thought it would be a great test to see how it runs in a work environment. I dual booted my machine with the standard XP and Windows 7. I have to say I love it. Everything now works that I have tried. Some of our applications needed some tweaks, while most just worked. A couple needed an updated version downloaded but I am happy to say that everything I need to do my job is working.
I also installed it on my laptop to see how it would run on older hardware. For the most part I am quite happy with it. Sometimes it seems to take longer to wake up than the XP did, but overall it is running about the same. I think I will keep it.
For anyone that is currently running Vista, I highly suggest you run out and buy the upgrade while it is on sale. You will not be dissapointed.
The beta seemed actually quit good so I thought I would try running it on my home machine. Without getting into too many details, the install was slick and the OS seemed really good. Even in beta it was better than Vista.
After running it for a while and upgrading to all the leaked builds as well as the public RC, I gave it up. There was some networking bug that affected some people but not others. I was one of the affected. I went back to Windows 2008 workstation.
However, we got more ram in our work machines so I thought it would be a great test to see how it runs in a work environment. I dual booted my machine with the standard XP and Windows 7. I have to say I love it. Everything now works that I have tried. Some of our applications needed some tweaks, while most just worked. A couple needed an updated version downloaded but I am happy to say that everything I need to do my job is working.
I also installed it on my laptop to see how it would run on older hardware. For the most part I am quite happy with it. Sometimes it seems to take longer to wake up than the XP did, but overall it is running about the same. I think I will keep it.
For anyone that is currently running Vista, I highly suggest you run out and buy the upgrade while it is on sale. You will not be dissapointed.
Friday, May 29, 2009
So I finally decided to join Twitter to see what all the fuss is about. Meh. That's pretty much how I felt about it at first. Then I started to realize some of the marketing power it has.
I signed Fragapalooza up now so that I could keep the world updated and to see if I could put some of this free marketing to work.
I can make a post about one of the sponsors for instance, and if I tag the sponsor name (#) then my post will return as a search result when someone searches for that sponsor. This works for any term that I tag. #LAN for instance is a great tag.
In the two days since I have signed up Frag, there are 15 followers already. Each of those followers have followers of their own who can see that they are following Frag. This has the potential of reaching lots of new attendees in a short time. As long as I post regularily and tag the correct terms, this will work out well.
You can follow me at http://www.twitter.com/michaelhollands or Fragapalooza at http://www.twitter.com/Fragapalooza
See you online!
Mobile Blogging from here.
I signed Fragapalooza up now so that I could keep the world updated and to see if I could put some of this free marketing to work.
I can make a post about one of the sponsors for instance, and if I tag the sponsor name (#) then my post will return as a search result when someone searches for that sponsor. This works for any term that I tag. #LAN for instance is a great tag.
In the two days since I have signed up Frag, there are 15 followers already. Each of those followers have followers of their own who can see that they are following Frag. This has the potential of reaching lots of new attendees in a short time. As long as I post regularily and tag the correct terms, this will work out well.
You can follow me at http://www.twitter.com/michaelhollands or Fragapalooza at http://www.twitter.com/Fragapalooza
See you online!
Mobile Blogging from here.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
To BE, or not to BE...
So...we had a bomb dropped on us at work the other day...the dreaded OUTSOURCE was brought up. Once we all got over the initial shock of hearing that, our CIO went on to discuss some of the ideas around it. Now, when I say ideas, it is because nothing has been decided yet. The entire IT branch will be involved in the entire process from now until the end of it. Should be interesting...
There have been a zillion discussions already about it and I am looking at it in the most positive way possible. What other choice do I have? I guess I could be miserable for the next year...instead I decided to get out in front of this thing, and make sure that I have some sort of control over my career. (good luck with that right? LOL)
Beyond work, things are pretty much the same... I have been watching WAY too much hockey...I try and catch at least a couple periods of every game that is on. Doesn't leave a lot of room for catching up on regular TV, but I'm sure I will get over it.
For kicks, I joined Twitter the other day...if you are one of those Tweeple, follow me! http://www.twitter.com/michaelhollands
Planning for this years Fragapalooza is well under way. If you or someone you know is a gamer, please sign up! http://www.fragapalooza.com
L8R!
There have been a zillion discussions already about it and I am looking at it in the most positive way possible. What other choice do I have? I guess I could be miserable for the next year...instead I decided to get out in front of this thing, and make sure that I have some sort of control over my career. (good luck with that right? LOL)
Beyond work, things are pretty much the same... I have been watching WAY too much hockey...I try and catch at least a couple periods of every game that is on. Doesn't leave a lot of room for catching up on regular TV, but I'm sure I will get over it.
For kicks, I joined Twitter the other day...if you are one of those Tweeple, follow me! http://www.twitter.com/michaelhollands
Planning for this years Fragapalooza is well under way. If you or someone you know is a gamer, please sign up! http://www.fragapalooza.com
L8R!
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