As always, feel free to comment on this blog at the bottom; I love feedback. :-) Also, you can start at the beginning of the blog here or follow the links on the left, organized by date.
Nov. 18 & 19th: Starting out the week
Sunday, well... that was a restful day. Sort of. I spent the day relaxing, off work.
Monday: work time, of a different sort. My parents & descended on our storage unit, to sort through boxes and pick out some more essential items, which we packed into a rental SUV( a Ford Freestyle ). It was a cold day, and the storage unit was unheated... so after spending 4 hours there I was chilled and hungry, with what felt to be the start of a cold I'd picked up last Saturday; lovely. We packed the car to half-full and unloaded it at the condo, then spent the rest of the day doing grocery & other shopping at the various area malls, more easily reachable by car. I also managed to snag the cell phone I'd been waiting for, the new LG Shine Gold flip phone. It must have been my lucky pot of cold, as we saw a double rainbow at sunset tonight.
I couldn't locate the Olympus camera I'd purchased from eBay, and needed to return to the seller for a refund( after I disputed the fact that it was 'perfect', a long and protracted email argument resulted in arbitration through PayPal that was to end with my return of the camera for a refund... but it's MISSING ). In fact, the whole box it was in is missing... and since there was no item manifest for the movers( Multicites )to sign off on, I can't produce any evidence to get a refund. So, that sucks, I'm out a fair chunk of cash and( most galling of all )the seller on eBay gets away with selling a defective camera... and keeps my money. Life's not fair, kiddies... so take all the precautions you can, or you'll find yourself one day wondering how you got a hole in your wallet.
Nov. 20th & 21st: The head cold sets in... and my articles are published!
I worked both days, feeling miserable and blowing my nose every 5 minutes... all day long. But I stuck with it, and vowed to purchase some nice lotion-packed kleenexes on the way home. On a BRIGHTER note, BOTH of my articles that I had submitted last week to Informit.com were accepted, without ANY alterations, and for a NICE sum of cash - lovely! Too bad they don't have a timeline for being published... and that my head hurts too much from the cold to celebrate.
Nov. 22 & 23rd: Suffering from my cold, but persevering.
I stayed in bed for both mornings until I had to get for the closing afternoon shifts; the cold has, of course, socked it to me. It was a nice sunny day here in Victoria, and quite a few flowers are still blooming along the way to work. Too bad I couldn't smell them.
Nov. 24 & 25th: Soldier on. Skype, then brunch the next day.
I opened the store on Saturday, which was an experience. Did I mention that though I lot of things are the same with NMM here in B.C., there's a LOT more paperwork that they seem to LOVE doing? I'm not a fan, if you couldn't tell. At least I finished work early Sat. and could spend the evening resting up until I chatted with my friends in Niagara using Skype; it was a blast, though I was really, really tired after 90 minutes of fun talking to them all at Pierre's place. The 3-hour time difference does make things tricky to schedule though.
My parents & I had Sunday Brunch at Samuel's Restaurant next door, only a few steps away. It is a lovely restaurant, with top-notch service and impeccable food. We had to make reservations, and it was quite crowded, but things run smoothly there and it was a pleasure to dine at such an establishment... despite the cost. Having someone ALWAYS notice that your tea needs topping up, or whisks away plates right after you're done, is indefinably comforting. The best part? The brunch was paid for by our landlord Kevin, as an apology for the various small annoyances we'd experienced at the condo over the last few weeks. How nice!
Nov. 26th & 27th: Two Days OFF
My cold seems to be fading, and these two days off should help kick the little buggers out of my system permanently. I spent the Monday making a TON of calls about rentals, hoping to find the perfect place... or at least an acceptably affordable one. Turns out that Victoria hasn't had its rental market expand much at ALL in the last 20 years, so the turnover rate is low; it's really a landlord's market, so they can be both picky AND pricey in many cases. While I was originally looking for a two-bedroom unit, I soon found that these were both scarce and pricey, so much so that the few decent ones I did find were either already taken, or had major things wrong with them... heck, a lot of them were just too damn pricey to even consider without a roomie... which negates the storage and guest benefits of a second room altogether. My mother's been a great help in the search; being retired, she's been scouring ads from many sources to find those few that fit my needs. It's helped cut down on the number of calls I've made considerably.
Tuesday the 27th, I saw a few places, but again there was nothing I'd be happy to call 'home' - I'm not picky, but having a kitchen where I can place my flat palms on ALL four walls is a little too cozy for my tastes; I can't cook in a closet, thanks. On a more interesting note, there was a minor earthquake( a 3.3 ) in the late evening, which caused a large mirror to fall off the wall in the front entry... on top of a glass table, no less! Miraculously, neither the mirror OR the table shattered, or even cracked - considering that the HUGE mirror had been held up by a tiny little hook in the drywall, that was amazing all over again. Needless to say, it stayed on a solid shelf elsewhere.
On a lighter note, my sister called to say she was quitting her job at the art gallery in Banff. The stress was simply too great, and though the owners were nice folks, they apparently just can't bring themselves to take the pressure off my sister to do more sales... so she's quitting before she has a fit at work. Can't say I blame her, though it's a shame, as she's said she loves most of the other aspects of the job. She's got a new job already though, at a high-end spa, so we're relieved and happy for her.
Nov. 28th & 29th: My Dad's Birthday... and I bought a BIG TV! Doh - my wallet...
I just worked on the Wednesday; too tired to do much else. More and more I know that I'll have to get some physical activity scheduled for the spring, once I find a place to live. It's been a lot of work so far, day after day, in getting things DONE even AFTER the move here to B.C. ... I've definitely lost weight, as well as sleep. I'm hoping to get more of the latter and gain none of the former once things settle down and I can just RELAX for a time, get some writing done... *sigh*
The 29th was a BUSY day. I viewed an AMAZING condo today, right down by the bayshore on the west side of Victoria, near the Johnson St. bridge. It was called the Mermaid, and it was so fantastic I would have given half of several vital body parts to be able to live there. It was a HUGE one-bedroom place( sizedfor 2 bedrooms, but only 1 was built.. so the main room was BIG! )with stainless steel appliances, in-suite laundry, a soaker tub and heatlamp in the bathroom and a TON of storage. It even had a SPIRAL STAIR that led to a rooftop terrace that was the size of the ENTIRE condo's footprint - amazing, with an amazing view from the top floor across the bay! Sadly, it was $1500.00 CAN a month PLUS utils, so there was NO way I could even dream of affording it.
I took my parents across the street to the Canoe Brew Pub for a nice birthday lunch for my dad( he turned 60 today )though the beer as usual gave me a headache instantly( even the nicer microbrews do this; allergies perhaps? ). They went over to view a nice place across the bridge in Esquimalt... and fell in love with it. The building is all white-painted steel and glass, consisting of sweeping curves and floor-to-ceiling windows in a design that looks like a cruise ship on land. All of which costs a fortune, which is why they are going to rent the place; no sense in stretching themselves to invest, as it limits their future mobility.
I zoomed over to Future Shop to check out a deal on an LG HDTV that seemed too good to be true: buy the 42" TV and get an Xbox360 Elite tossed in FREE! Skeptical, I had been checking the specs on the TV for the past week, and found it was a top-end model from many, many reviews and owner's write-ups. I prepared for my trip today by filling a USB key with a bunch of 1080p high-def images, to test the TV in-store. Armed with the key and some other info, I tested several of the TV's on the store's sales floor, collecting a large crowd of store staff around me in the process; apparently nobody else had ever bothered to test a flatscreen TV while still IN the store, BEFORE buying...! Nuts if you don't, if you ask me.... 'cuz the first TV I tested had a dead pixel, spotted right off the bad - saved a messy return right there! *grin* I was quite satisfied with the TV's image after a half-hour of testing, and bought it on a no-interest Future Shop card deal... which was the ONLY way I was giving them my money, thanks... too many bad experiences at the St. Catharine's F.Schlock over the years had soured me somewhat. The staff at the Victoria store were VERY nice though, friendly and knowledgeable... and soaked up the HDTV info I was spouting as I tested the TV. All in all, a good time.. then I went to work. *sigh*
Nov. 30th & Dec. 1st: Work, work, work... and work some more.
Friday the 30th was boring; all I did was work after dragging myself out of bed to PLAY WITH MY NEW TELEVISION! It was delivered not long after 10 am, and to my horror the delivery guy was carrying the large box BY HIMSELF, pressing the flat against the bump of his shoulder....!! With visions of a cracked screen, I quickly unpacked the TV and found to my utter relief it was unharmed by the idiot. Whew! I let it warm up for a half hour while I unpacked the Xbox360, then plugged them both in and ran their setup routines. I was playing Forza Racing before noon while the new dishwasher was being installed behind me, thanks to Kevin. Nice! Leaving for work for the evening was hard, but I knew the TV would still be there in the morning...
Saturday, the 1st of December I spent playing with the TV. Yep, it's that simple. The colours are great( after tweaking of course! ), the sound is good ... I've run a ton of tests, and the picture comes out with( pardon the pun )flying colours! I walked over to the Bay Centre and purchased a few games( used of course! )from EB Games... Halo3, as well as Mass Effect and BioShock. All of which promise to be great-looking games at 1080p on a 42" screen... *drooling* Ah, tech.
My parents went out in the evening with a new local friend by the name of Pat, who through amazing coincidence is part of the Victoria Welcome Wagon group AND knew my mother in high school back in Niagara! They went to see the annual Island Truck Light Parade( see the pictures at their website here )which is a popular tradition here in Victoria every winter. It was too wet out, and I was both too tired and still trying to shake my cold, so I stayed home and comforted myself with my TV... a little. Amusingly, there is a Fireplace Channel through Shaw Cable here, so I called that up and had hot chocolate while reading by the fire... with the REAL( well, gas )fireplace on as well. Quite warm and cozy, all in all - a nice end to a hectic and tiring two weeks.
Hope you're enjoying this blog folks... I certainly am while writing it. :-) Merry Christmas!!!
Nov. 18 & 19th: Starting out the week
Sunday, well... that was a restful day. Sort of. I spent the day relaxing, off work.
Monday: work time, of a different sort. My parents & descended on our storage unit, to sort through boxes and pick out some more essential items, which we packed into a rental SUV( a Ford Freestyle ). It was a cold day, and the storage unit was unheated... so after spending 4 hours there I was chilled and hungry, with what felt to be the start of a cold I'd picked up last Saturday; lovely. We packed the car to half-full and unloaded it at the condo, then spent the rest of the day doing grocery & other shopping at the various area malls, more easily reachable by car. I also managed to snag the cell phone I'd been waiting for, the new LG Shine Gold flip phone. It must have been my lucky pot of cold, as we saw a double rainbow at sunset tonight.
I couldn't locate the Olympus camera I'd purchased from eBay, and needed to return to the seller for a refund( after I disputed the fact that it was 'perfect', a long and protracted email argument resulted in arbitration through PayPal that was to end with my return of the camera for a refund... but it's MISSING ). In fact, the whole box it was in is missing... and since there was no item manifest for the movers( Multicites )to sign off on, I can't produce any evidence to get a refund. So, that sucks, I'm out a fair chunk of cash and( most galling of all )the seller on eBay gets away with selling a defective camera... and keeps my money. Life's not fair, kiddies... so take all the precautions you can, or you'll find yourself one day wondering how you got a hole in your wallet.
Nov. 20th & 21st: The head cold sets in... and my articles are published!
I worked both days, feeling miserable and blowing my nose every 5 minutes... all day long. But I stuck with it, and vowed to purchase some nice lotion-packed kleenexes on the way home. On a BRIGHTER note, BOTH of my articles that I had submitted last week to Informit.com were accepted, without ANY alterations, and for a NICE sum of cash - lovely! Too bad they don't have a timeline for being published... and that my head hurts too much from the cold to celebrate.
Nov. 22 & 23rd: Suffering from my cold, but persevering.
I stayed in bed for both mornings until I had to get for the closing afternoon shifts; the cold has, of course, socked it to me. It was a nice sunny day here in Victoria, and quite a few flowers are still blooming along the way to work. Too bad I couldn't smell them.
Nov. 24 & 25th: Soldier on. Skype, then brunch the next day.
I opened the store on Saturday, which was an experience. Did I mention that though I lot of things are the same with NMM here in B.C., there's a LOT more paperwork that they seem to LOVE doing? I'm not a fan, if you couldn't tell. At least I finished work early Sat. and could spend the evening resting up until I chatted with my friends in Niagara using Skype; it was a blast, though I was really, really tired after 90 minutes of fun talking to them all at Pierre's place. The 3-hour time difference does make things tricky to schedule though.
My parents & I had Sunday Brunch at Samuel's Restaurant next door, only a few steps away. It is a lovely restaurant, with top-notch service and impeccable food. We had to make reservations, and it was quite crowded, but things run smoothly there and it was a pleasure to dine at such an establishment... despite the cost. Having someone ALWAYS notice that your tea needs topping up, or whisks away plates right after you're done, is indefinably comforting. The best part? The brunch was paid for by our landlord Kevin, as an apology for the various small annoyances we'd experienced at the condo over the last few weeks. How nice!
Nov. 26th & 27th: Two Days OFF
My cold seems to be fading, and these two days off should help kick the little buggers out of my system permanently. I spent the Monday making a TON of calls about rentals, hoping to find the perfect place... or at least an acceptably affordable one. Turns out that Victoria hasn't had its rental market expand much at ALL in the last 20 years, so the turnover rate is low; it's really a landlord's market, so they can be both picky AND pricey in many cases. While I was originally looking for a two-bedroom unit, I soon found that these were both scarce and pricey, so much so that the few decent ones I did find were either already taken, or had major things wrong with them... heck, a lot of them were just too damn pricey to even consider without a roomie... which negates the storage and guest benefits of a second room altogether. My mother's been a great help in the search; being retired, she's been scouring ads from many sources to find those few that fit my needs. It's helped cut down on the number of calls I've made considerably.
Tuesday the 27th, I saw a few places, but again there was nothing I'd be happy to call 'home' - I'm not picky, but having a kitchen where I can place my flat palms on ALL four walls is a little too cozy for my tastes; I can't cook in a closet, thanks. On a more interesting note, there was a minor earthquake( a 3.3 ) in the late evening, which caused a large mirror to fall off the wall in the front entry... on top of a glass table, no less! Miraculously, neither the mirror OR the table shattered, or even cracked - considering that the HUGE mirror had been held up by a tiny little hook in the drywall, that was amazing all over again. Needless to say, it stayed on a solid shelf elsewhere.
On a lighter note, my sister called to say she was quitting her job at the art gallery in Banff. The stress was simply too great, and though the owners were nice folks, they apparently just can't bring themselves to take the pressure off my sister to do more sales... so she's quitting before she has a fit at work. Can't say I blame her, though it's a shame, as she's said she loves most of the other aspects of the job. She's got a new job already though, at a high-end spa, so we're relieved and happy for her.
Nov. 28th & 29th: My Dad's Birthday... and I bought a BIG TV! Doh - my wallet...
I just worked on the Wednesday; too tired to do much else. More and more I know that I'll have to get some physical activity scheduled for the spring, once I find a place to live. It's been a lot of work so far, day after day, in getting things DONE even AFTER the move here to B.C. ... I've definitely lost weight, as well as sleep. I'm hoping to get more of the latter and gain none of the former once things settle down and I can just RELAX for a time, get some writing done... *sigh*
The 29th was a BUSY day. I viewed an AMAZING condo today, right down by the bayshore on the west side of Victoria, near the Johnson St. bridge. It was called the Mermaid, and it was so fantastic I would have given half of several vital body parts to be able to live there. It was a HUGE one-bedroom place( sizedfor 2 bedrooms, but only 1 was built.. so the main room was BIG! )with stainless steel appliances, in-suite laundry, a soaker tub and heatlamp in the bathroom and a TON of storage. It even had a SPIRAL STAIR that led to a rooftop terrace that was the size of the ENTIRE condo's footprint - amazing, with an amazing view from the top floor across the bay! Sadly, it was $1500.00 CAN a month PLUS utils, so there was NO way I could even dream of affording it.
I took my parents across the street to the Canoe Brew Pub for a nice birthday lunch for my dad( he turned 60 today )though the beer as usual gave me a headache instantly( even the nicer microbrews do this; allergies perhaps? ). They went over to view a nice place across the bridge in Esquimalt... and fell in love with it. The building is all white-painted steel and glass, consisting of sweeping curves and floor-to-ceiling windows in a design that looks like a cruise ship on land. All of which costs a fortune, which is why they are going to rent the place; no sense in stretching themselves to invest, as it limits their future mobility.
I zoomed over to Future Shop to check out a deal on an LG HDTV that seemed too good to be true: buy the 42" TV and get an Xbox360 Elite tossed in FREE! Skeptical, I had been checking the specs on the TV for the past week, and found it was a top-end model from many, many reviews and owner's write-ups. I prepared for my trip today by filling a USB key with a bunch of 1080p high-def images, to test the TV in-store. Armed with the key and some other info, I tested several of the TV's on the store's sales floor, collecting a large crowd of store staff around me in the process; apparently nobody else had ever bothered to test a flatscreen TV while still IN the store, BEFORE buying...! Nuts if you don't, if you ask me.... 'cuz the first TV I tested had a dead pixel, spotted right off the bad - saved a messy return right there! *grin* I was quite satisfied with the TV's image after a half-hour of testing, and bought it on a no-interest Future Shop card deal... which was the ONLY way I was giving them my money, thanks... too many bad experiences at the St. Catharine's F.Schlock over the years had soured me somewhat. The staff at the Victoria store were VERY nice though, friendly and knowledgeable... and soaked up the HDTV info I was spouting as I tested the TV. All in all, a good time.. then I went to work. *sigh*
Nov. 30th & Dec. 1st: Work, work, work... and work some more.
Friday the 30th was boring; all I did was work after dragging myself out of bed to PLAY WITH MY NEW TELEVISION! It was delivered not long after 10 am, and to my horror the delivery guy was carrying the large box BY HIMSELF, pressing the flat against the bump of his shoulder....!! With visions of a cracked screen, I quickly unpacked the TV and found to my utter relief it was unharmed by the idiot. Whew! I let it warm up for a half hour while I unpacked the Xbox360, then plugged them both in and ran their setup routines. I was playing Forza Racing before noon while the new dishwasher was being installed behind me, thanks to Kevin. Nice! Leaving for work for the evening was hard, but I knew the TV would still be there in the morning...
Saturday, the 1st of December I spent playing with the TV. Yep, it's that simple. The colours are great( after tweaking of course! ), the sound is good ... I've run a ton of tests, and the picture comes out with( pardon the pun )flying colours! I walked over to the Bay Centre and purchased a few games( used of course! )from EB Games... Halo3, as well as Mass Effect and BioShock. All of which promise to be great-looking games at 1080p on a 42" screen... *drooling* Ah, tech.
My parents went out in the evening with a new local friend by the name of Pat, who through amazing coincidence is part of the Victoria Welcome Wagon group AND knew my mother in high school back in Niagara! They went to see the annual Island Truck Light Parade( see the pictures at their website here )which is a popular tradition here in Victoria every winter. It was too wet out, and I was both too tired and still trying to shake my cold, so I stayed home and comforted myself with my TV... a little. Amusingly, there is a Fireplace Channel through Shaw Cable here, so I called that up and had hot chocolate while reading by the fire... with the REAL( well, gas )fireplace on as well. Quite warm and cozy, all in all - a nice end to a hectic and tiring two weeks.
Hope you're enjoying this blog folks... I certainly am while writing it. :-) Merry Christmas!!!
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