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I’ve been messing around with some PHP and MySQL stuff today. There is now a counter on all the image pages for the gallery. Plus, I’ve created a small script to list people who read my ICQ N/A message. Read my N/A message and check it out!

Update: The N/A message listing is now in a more friendly format.

Another Update: I won’t name any names but there were a few people abusing the N/A rankings. Now, N/A reads will only count if they are spaced out by atleast 1 minute.

I went down to Dominion tonight for the weekly grocery run. On my way back home there was a guy walking the opposite way on the sidewalk with a trench coat and was wearing a suit and tie. As we passed, he said “Hi” which I was rather surprised at, seeing how most people don’t even look at you when they pass by. But then he stopped and started talking to me. He introduced himself as Steve and said he was walking down to Ellesmere Rd and then to the Scarborough Town Centre which would have taken about an hour and a half to walk. He then proceeded to explain that he was just mugged up near the Chinese restaurant across the street from my apartment and that they took his wallet. He went into great detail saying that he had already canceled his credit cards and that he only had his keys left in his pockets. He was going to the GO Trains at the Town Centre so that he could go back home to Ajax and he wasn’t familiar with Toronto so he didn’t know where he was going. He said that police were still looking for the teens that mugged him and since he lived in Ajax, they couldn’t drive him home. So then, Steve proceeds to ask me for money for the bus and GO trains. Once again, as in a similar story, triggers started going off in my head that this is probably a scam.

Here is my deduction of the whole story:

What makes me think this was a scam for money:

1. The Chinese restaurant across the street from my apartment was packed at the time (around 120 people) and all of it’s walls are windows facing into the parking lot. Plus, the parking lot was full of cars at the time. The area is also surrounded by many stores, a market, and several condo buildings. If he was in fact robbed, those are some awfully brave crooks to rob someone in front of a few hundred people.
2. He only had his car keys in his pocket. How did he get to the restaurant? Why couldn’t he drive home?
3. He said that police couldn’t drive him to his home in Ajax, but why wouldn’t they drive him to the GO Station, about a 10 minute drive away?
4. He also mentioned that his sister was driving to his house. Why couldn’t she come to Toronto (about 30 minutes away from Ajax) and pick him up?
5. He canceled his credit cards awfully fast and seemed really proud about it as he mentioned it several times.
6. Similar to my other scam story, the second I told him that I didn’t have any money on me, he immediately turned and walked away.

What makes me think it was a valid story:

1. He was dressed up to the nines and seemed out of place for walking down Warden Ave at 8:30pm on a Friday night. From what I’ve heard and seen, many scammers don’t dress nearly this nice.

So, you can see that my reasons why I think it was a scam greatly out weigh those that make me think it was a true story. Any other opinions?

Oh yeah, and for those who are interested, this is my 100th post.

Today not only symbolizes the first day of the new year but also the middle point of my internship here at IBM in Toronto. For the next 8 months I will be on the downward spiral and then head back to Acadia in September.

This afternoon I went to my cousin Owen’s house in Ajax for a new year’s day supper with turkey and all of the fixings. I also got to see a couple of my other cousin’s, Roxanne and Trevor, who are Owen’s siblings. It was great to be around a bunch of newfies for the afternoon. We finished off the evening by watching Bruce Almighty. I dozed off for a few minutes during the movie, but I blame it on the tryptophan in the turkey.

I just arrived back from the 19th annual Citytv’s New Year’s Eve Bash downtown at Nathan Phillips Square.

I arrived shortly before 10:00pm where several thousand people had already gathered. It was a pretty good night with several performers and some other fun stuff thrown in. It was crazy while getting back home though since the subway and buses were jam packed.

Of course I took along my camera so the pictures can be found in the gallery.