Wings, Wings And More Wings
Ezra 5
More opposition to the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem by the governor and his sycopants.

A bunch of us had a craving for buffalo wings so we went to Local Heros to take advantage of the 25% off wings special. Danny and I split the party platter (4lbs of wings or 12 wings each!) I think I've covered my cravings for awhile. :)

Dead Sea Scrolls
Ezra 2
This is the list of Israelites who returned to Israel to help rebuilt the temple at Jerusalem and of what positions they filled up based on their lineage.

Watch a bit of OCAC pick-up hockey today before heading to the Museum of Civilization to look at the Dead Sea Scrolls with Chris. It was very interesting (from a secular point of view) although there were some mistakes in the timeline (ie. John the Baptist's preachings ended 3-5 years after the death of Christ???). There were 3 scrolls on display out of 960+ scrolls found. The smallest and most badly damaged were fragments of the Isaiah Scrolls which was on display for the first time. The other two pieces of scrolls were quite well preserved and the words were written in very straight lines (they sure had excellent penmanship back then. To preserve the scrolls, the casings were temperature and moisture controlled as well as light controlled. Only 40 seconds (40 lux) of light was allowed on the scrolls with 20 seconds without light. Aside from the scrolls, there were artifacts from archeological digs around Jerusalem and other middle east sites that contained proof that King David existed. There were lots of bowls on displayed as well, I guess those Hebrews really liked their bowls.

After that, it was dinner at The Mill with Chris, Ben and Danny. It was quite an enjoyable meal and a recommended restaurant for anyone visiting Ottawa *hint *hint :) Overall, the steaks were done as ordered. PT at Danny's after dinner and that's that for the day.

There's still snow on the ground and it's getting COLD!!! again. -29 tomorrow, arrghh!
Winterlude has started.

Blog Filler
Ezra 1
This is the beginning of the return of the Isrealites to Judah from Babylon after Nebuchadnezzar conquered Judah for the 3rd time and carried the Isrealites off as captives. Cyrus, King of Persia decided to rebuild the temple of Jerusalem after God moved his heart. He proclaimed and put into writing that he would rebuilt the temple and all Isrealites are welcome to go and build the temple.

There's still snow, but much warmer but still cold and a little windy.
:P

Here's a little financial tip for the day (especially for new grads):
If you've graduated from a post-secondary education with student loan baggage, it would be wise to either reduce or eliminate that debt as soon as possible. Contrary to popular beliefs about the 6 months grace period for student loan repayments; yes you have up to six months of not having to pay back your student loans, however, interests begin accumulating the DAY YOU GRADUATED! So you get a very nice surprise six months after graduation. Should you be so fortunate as to receive some graduation gift of substantial monetary value from family member(s) or relatives, logical thinking would suggest that you use the resale value of that gift to pay towards your loan(s). This will significantly reduce the sum of the interest payment. If the gift has a lease value, you can use the rental income to payoff the interest accrued.

Thoughts of using bankruptcy as a way out of your debts is very, very DUMB! It's harder to declare bankruptcy these days and you will be under much scrutiny by the bankruptcy act. Your credit rating goes down the toilet and you can't have much of any lifestyle for the next few years. Any income that you may attain, a portion will be garnished towards your debt. It's best to sell off those gift(s) and payoff your debt(s) as soon as possible. You can always attain those trinkets later!

Topic for next week:
Do you squat or kneel when you take aim?
;P

Hmm... it's still cold outside and there's still snow on the ground.

Retail?
Well, I just started training for retail in electronics at Loblaws (for those who didn't know, Loblaws is shifting business focus to introduce a one stop shopping experience for shoppers with the Super store concept). Paid training to start off before the actual store opening. Orientation was "fun", getting to sit on my butt and get paid too! :) 6 more days of training before opening day.

Sports Expert has some cheap boards for sale now between 99.99 - 199.99. I have to save up for that next year. Finally got a letter back from CCRA, so I now on the placement list, I pray that I will get a placement once they finalise the new budget.