OCTOBER 2002 MINUTES ARCHIVE
 What
a boo-scary time we had! It was nice to get back into some serious
Metal of Honor: Allied Assault again… Thanks to all who came out
to frag away at BTM35,
and a huge congratulations go out to SoDaLaS who walked with the Abattoir's
21" Monitor Random Draw Door Prize, we couldn't
think of a more deserving winner! (…Wait! Yes we can…
David Grima's far overdue to take a prize home…) Regardless,
we hope you enjoy it SoDa, cuz size does count! We also want to say
a big welcome to the newbies who've joined the Abattoir
community now, hope we see you at BTM36
-- Speaking of which, as you more astute readers have noticed, the date
for BTM36 "Special Twist 02" Edition
has already been set and is filling fast! November
30th will be the date, and we have a very
"entertaining tournament" planned with a very special twist at the final
match… Our last "twist" involved the final four players going at
it, with one person controlling the Mouse and the other player controlling
the Keyboard… This twist will be even more evil, hope you're up to
it!  Our
Abattoir
SuperFTP Server and WebPortal
Server suffered a major fall late last week
when we did a Microsoft Update, then attempted to reboot… It never
came back. As it turns out, the new IBM SCSI System Drive decided
to throw a rod (…what do you expect, it was already a whole 4 months
old, how long would you expect a SCSI Server Drive from IBM that you paid
a premium on to last?..) Since you all know my love of Microsoft,
you could well imagine the look on my face and the thoughts going through
my head when it looked like the Windows Update scrapped the Server…
Either way, a big thanks to Steve (Sgt.Slaughter)
McCoy at MTC
Computers for his fast action on getting us back up and running before
the BTM even
started. As such, once again, you'll all have to reapply for an account,
so pop us off an email with a password and we'll hook you up fast…  With
help from the School behind the Abattoir,
we now have finally solved our parking issues! Yes, the Oakville
Parking Nazi's can no longer touch us, and
we're thrilled! We've gone from "Parking and getting tickets" to
"Parking in a lit and security patrolled parking lot with permission from
the Vice Principle" -- Nice upgrade if you ask me! Still, some of
the not-so-bright walked with tickets, but there's little we can do when
you park directly below a "Don't even THINK about Stopping Here" sign.
It would appear also, our bitching, complaining and chasing of ticket officers
has resulted in a town meeting at City Hall on November 25th. Seems
they're getting so much flak about the lack of parking ability in my area
that they've decided to rezone and allow parking in the back laneways…
I think I'll attend this meeting, CorpsE,
charge the Abattoir AirHorn! All
that great news aside, here's some crappy news… After Isis
finished "the books", we landed ourselves rather happily in the hole on
this last BTM
and after much deliberation (…and feedback from the LANer's…) we've
decided to make future BTM's
stand at $25 each. Still a great value of course, but this little
extra will help us maintain the level of "service" we strive for, and also
help with our Electrical Bill! Yes, as mentioned before, we had a
nice little shock from our hydro bill (…punny, huh?..) Normally
our hydro comes in around the low $400 mark, which in itself is not that
great… Last hydro bill, $690!! Ex-squeeze me!? We didn't
use our central air more than 7 days this summer past, who are these ass-holes
kidding!? And we're paying an additional $35 or so as a surcharge
to help pay off Ontario Hydro's debt after they mismanaged our hydro for
all these years, AND we're actually paying GST Tax on that... Who
do these idiots think they are!? Time to coat the Abattoir
with Solar Cells. It's even been suggested the Abattoir
introduce a "Guzzler Tax" of $5 for each patron that brings a monitor over
19" and a sub-woofer, but we think that's going a little far. It's
going to be interesting to see how this electrified situation plays out
over the next few months.  For
all who've emailed us about the link below to the additional images of
my Sister and Paul's wedding, yes… We know the link doesn't work.
It's actually just underlined text and not a real link, we were hoping
to have the rest of the image plates done by that evening, but time ran
tight with all the scrambling for BTM35.
It'll be up soon.
We'll
also be finally getting around to adding another two breakers to LAN
Central, with the addition of the MiniArcade
and a BTM Fridge,
we'll be eating even more of that good juice we're paying so dearly for…
No more blackouts come BTM36*crosses
fingers* Get to that Sign-Up
Page and get ready for a Tournament with
a Twist! Have a scary Halloween!
 Ever
notice how almost every update we have at the Abattoir
seems to start with some sort of apology for the lack of updates?
Keeping with that theme, I'll fill you all in on the plethora of activity
that's caused the downward spiral of any and all free time (…whatever
the hell that is…) I may have had over the last month or more…
As you read below, my Sister Tracy and her Boyfriend Paul are now Husband
and Wife in what turned out to be an outstanding wedding considering the
circumstances. With almost no time to plan the event, it was held
at my Parents' new estate (...which wasn't even finished, and still
isn't…) There was even sod being laid in the back courtyard the
day before the wedding. The good crew of the Abattoir
stepped up to the plate and volunteered their time and muscle in a mad
scramble to get furniture moved in for the wedding. Paul looked robust
and hansom, Tracy looked stunning… If you want to see a few snappies,
click
here. Congrads you two… Where
are the kids?
The
very next day was my Parents 40th Wedding Anniversary and a surprise party
was all set to kick off the next day. My Father looked robust and
hansom, Mom looked stunning. (…okay, how many adjectives do you
know, smart-ass?..) Follow that with my Fathers 62nd Birthday,
and you just don't have time to sleep… Chuck Thanksgiving in there
too if you like. The
Abattoir's
beloved
Stuii
Bobcat is having a few health issues, he is almost 20 years old but
recently has been 'ejecting' much of his food… If it continues, we'll
rename him to 'Spewii Blobcat'. So off to the vet he went, keep in
mind, he's not an outdoor cat, so for the few times he's been in my car
it always involved a trip to the vet. He's put 2 and 2 together and
usually assumes a car ride equates to something going up his ass.
Tests all came out great and the vet was stunned to find a cat this old
in such great shape. I'm just letting you all know to be extra nice
and gentle with him during the upcoming BTM. The
BTM
is now just a short week away… Work's going at a fever pace around
the Abattoir.
LAN Central is
finally getting a little attention as we've torn the place apart, sterilized
it (…or "DeStuii'ed it" as it were…) and are in the process of building
an Abattoir MiniArcade
adjacent to LAN Central!
We're also responding to the Abattoir
patrons demands for refrigeration! Since there's so much food involved,
we don't have a whole lot of fridge space available for those who prefer
to bring their own drinks or snacks, so we're also adding a new,
full-sized fridge in the MiniArcade
solely for the BTM's.
Stop your bitching. <GriN!> |
|||||||
|
"Bringing people together... so you can blow them apart!" |
One
of the Abattoir's
big fans from overseas has complained and whined about never being mentioned
on the Abattoir,
so here you go… This is my lovely Aunt Monica and her Porno Star
boyfriend Chase who also joined us all for the above mentioned festivities
from England. I gave Monica a Logitech 3000 Web Cam to bring back
with her so we can video chat over the net, seemed like a good idea at
the time. So far I've seen her face for about 10 seconds before her
computer folds in on itself, don't worry, Monica… We'll get you hooked-up
one way or another. So there you go, you've been mentioned in the
LAN
Minutes and we've even put your mug shot up,
happy?
More
news on our favourite people, the Oakville
Parking Nazi's. At the last BTM
(…and many before that…) we have been receiving parking tickets
for those who leave their cars overnight, even though arrangements have
been made with the Town of Oakville. Thus far, the Abattoir
has scrunched-up and inserted back into the rectum of the Parking Nazi's,
over $500.00
worth of tickets… Anticipating an "issue" this time, I've taken the
precaution of direct taping the calls I've made, as well, I've recorded
numerous and detailed fax and call logs. Unfortunately, when I did
get them live on the phone, they folded like SoDaLaS on his keyboard when
I called and I didn't get the chance to use my unforeseeable arsenal of
tactical information against them. At least I was prepared for battle.
So… Anyone who received a ticket at BTM34
who's logged that ticket with me, forget about it, they've all been receded
once again. You can ignore the threat letters that leaked out before
they could cap them. These tickets are now dead: 0464050, 0464051,
0464052, 0464053, 0463672, 0463673 and 0463675. Thanks for your patience
on this confirmation. Due to the fact I've raised such a stink about
the totally unreasonable parking situation in my community, and the fact
that I've made them eat so many tickets, they've decided (…just one
day after my last call…) to grace my back laneway with "No Parking"
signs. Thanks for the extra decorations, Oakville… but they
don't go with my décor and I think I'll take them down. 
Speaking
of useless collections, check out this 407ETR bill that candie received
in the mail. Yes, you're reading it right… She was mailed an
ETR bill for a total of $0.09!
Does this take the bone-head cake or what!? I'm sure the ETR is run
by the Government, there can't be this many stupid people in the world.
Bet that bill cost them about $1.75 at least to produce and mail, makes
your head shake, huh, Folks. Speaking of the Government, let's shift
now to real stupid bills. Take a flying guess at what the Abattoir's
last Hydro Bill was? Go ahead, guess… I'll tell you tomorrow.