Thursday 10 January 2008

Catching up from the beginning of the year, wow... it's been a busy 2008 so far! I knew it would be, so here I am writing this blog at 11:23pm PST Jan 10th - yeesh!
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Jan 1st - New Year's Day


Sucked back some more Tylenol and tried to get rid of a hangover headache... which is odd, seeing as I didn't have a drop to drink the night before. Go figure. Did some writing today, and relaxed.

Jan 2nd - Back to work.

Worked in the early afternoon today, it wasn't that busy. Checked on all the things to get ready for the move to my new place next week - lots of details to finalize.

Jan 3rd - A new Doc.

I met my new family doctor today, an ex-pat from England. She seems quite nice, competent and rather fun, we seemed to hit it off well. I hope she'll be here longer than the year she's said she's over for in Victoria, as she looks to be quite the doc to have. I told her my various medical oddities, none of which seemed to phase her, which is good. She was very positive about getting my needs met, so I have a positive medical outlook for the rest of 2008. Nice! Worked the rest of the day again, same as yesterday, a little busier but not too bad.

Jan 4th - Early to work, late to bed on a BUSY day


Worked the early shift today, it was decent overall but I was pooped by the end of it. Seems I can never get quite caught up some days, go figure. I spent the early evening running around again, including picking up various bits of hardware for my new place's AV setup. Nice to know all the secondhand bits I've hauled across the country will finally get wired together into a working whole.... thanks, eBay, for all your help over the years. I swapped a lot of boxes around in the storage area at my parent's new place, to better facilitate the move this Monday AM.
I chatted the late evening away with my friends via Skype, hunched over my tv-tray table setup in the temporary condo - not good for the back, and it's bloomin' hot in there too! It was great to talk to everyone again, though I had to do it one person at a time; they were at Starbuck's at the Fairview, so the crowd was loud. The video was bad too, but that's just the way it is right now.

Jan 5th - The Weekend starts

I worked later in the morning today, so I managed to get a few things done and packed before then. The day at work wasn't so bad, nothing unusual to mention. Again, the people I work with make the day fly by most shifts; it's too bad we have to deal with such stress all the time, but I think that's why the humour we all employ so often is so vital, as it helps reduce the tension, Heck, it's a lot of fun too, for that matter. The evening flew by, and I only got a little packing done.

Jan 6th - the Day Before


I was up at 7am today to finish packing all my things from the temp condo, and I managed to do it in plenty of time before working the afternoon shift. There's quite a pile of boxes set to go.

Jan 7th - Moving Day!

Turns out to be a beautiful sunny day after the usual predictions of rain: hooray! I was at my parent's place for 8am, awaiting the arrival of A to B Movers for 9am. Two big guys and a truck showed up a little after 9, and went right to work. They made impressive time, getting both the condo box pile and the storage area cleared out within the hour - we're talking dozens of boxes here, including all my 2000+ count book collection( that's a lot of boxes there! ).
They stopped at the temp condo to pick up another few dozen boxes, including the TV, then off to May St. where they hustled it all up three flights of stairs. Did I mention this included a couch and a loveseat? I was impressed, as they were done by 1:30pm... and I had a 1-bedroom apt stuffed full of boxes. You might have guessed that I spent the rest of the evening unpacking things, with some help by my parents, bless 'em... have to love the retiree work ethic.

Jan 8th - Moving, Day Two


Yes, it continues! Up early again, for the delivery of my bed & mattress from Dodd's. Oh, and a small table too, can't forget that one. The two guys hauled the stuff up the stairs and assembled it in record time, rather impressive for the bed in the limited space of the room I have. Looks great in there though, and damn comfy. Too bad I didn't even get to test it with a nap, as the day kept on being busy. Atlas TV came to install the TV on the wall around 1pm, and I must say it was a professional job all the way. The thing swivels like a dream on the mount I purchased( at a dear price ), so that I can watch it from any point in the main room. It looks fantastic! Better yet, my timing of the install was perfect: as soon as Atlas was done, who should show up but Shaw to put the HD tuner in? Yep... great scheduling all around, glad there were no problems too. As you may have expected, I spent the rest of the evening unpacking... while watching the TV. Yah! My first night in my new place was COLD though - it's heated by a fireplace, which is nice, but it's in the other( main )room. Supplementing it with an efficient space heater in the bedroom works, though again it's going to be cool in the morning walking around; guess it'll wake me up some. Hard to believe the windows in this place are single-pane glass, with no real edge-seal to speak of... which means it should be lovely in the summer.

Jan 9th - Third Day In

Yep, I have four days off work( thanks guys! )to get this move seen to, and it looks like I'll be needing ALL that time to do it. The place is mostly to rights now, after I spent the morning sorting boxes like crazy into some semblance of order. All the kitchen and bathroom stuff is away, the bed's set and my clothing's mostly in wearable condition. Heck, I even set up the PC today, and DAMN but it looks like Shaw's got a fast connection; I'll speed test it later.
Of course, I was still short on minor things, like food and some other consumables, so I spent the evening out( again )getting things from a list... yay, more money gone. *sigh* I had dinner at the White Spot over on Mackenzie, and it was very good: chicken ceasar salad with calamari on top. Quite tasty, and the service was excellent. I ended up with a new microwave too, as the one I'd hauled across Canada STILL stinks of burned popcorn, despite my intense cleaning efforts - in a small apartment, that spells B.A.D. ... and it was a Panasonic Genius 4-in-1 to boot. *sigh again* However, I found a great little deal at London Drugs this same night: a NEW Panasonic Genius( not a 4-in-1 though )for practically a song, with new features and stainless steel to boot. Took a bit of juggling but I swung the deal and took the thing home... and went to bed. So... tired.

Jan 10th - Last Day of the Move

On the go again early today before 9am, over to my parent's place to set up their TV and internet, once the Shaw guy was done. He did a great job too; turns out the place has a wiring cabinet in the back of one of the closets, so the modem, routers and sundry cables can be neatly tucked away... once I'm finished with them next week, that is. For now, it all works just fine. At least their place is pretty much to rights, with just a few boxes remaining to move from the temp condo tonight; they're doing that themselves.
I came back to my place for lunch, then went out again for the rest of the afternoon to collect the remainder of my list, as well as help my parents with their own things. We had dinner at the Arby's at the Mayfair: the Two For $4.00 Ham Melts are back! Mmmmm... sourdough. Back to my place to relax for the evening, catch up on some emails, watch a little TV and then write this blog... and here we are. Back to work tomorrow afternoon, which should be ... fun.