It's amazing how quiet an audience can be, especially on the internet. I have no idea how many folk are actually reading this blog as I've only heard back from about 3 people I know who have mentioned they've read it. *chuckle* So it goes.
Jan 11th - back to work and Meet The Neighbours
Just an ordinary day, worked in the afternoon. Thankfully, it went uneventfully. I met some of my neighbours today too, so that was good; this building I'm in seems to be VERY quiet, so I made an excellent choice. My downstairs neighbour has been very helpful with a few questions I had so far, and everyone I've me seems very friendly. I've even got used to the buses that rumble the place every so often, but as I've mentioned before, it's nothing compared to the vast hordes of buses that passed the Landmark every hour. This is a placid pond in comparison!
Jan 12th - Boxes, boxes, and more boxes
Looks like I know what I'll be doing for the next few weeks( months? ): unpacking. At least I can watch TV while doing it, as the place is small enough to see the wall-mount from anywhere in the main room. I've booked off four days at the end of the month when the bookshelves from Sears should be in, so I can assemble them and load 'em up with consumer goods / books / whatnot.
I worked the evening shift tonight( sorry I can't go into details about WHAT does go on at work, but it's the privacy policy I have to adhere to )and that meant that I missed a chance to see everyone at a wine & cheese party thy were all attending tonight. Oh well... sometimes the timing just doesn't pan out.
Jan 13th - The Xmas Party
I opened the branch today, and it was quite a nice day overall. I was off in the early afternoon and headed over to my parent's for a bit to get ready for the Xmas party. in a few hours... which turned out to be rather hard to find. It was at a marina over in Esquimalt, down an unlit back road whose sign at the MAIN road was hidden completely from one direction, which of course was where *I* was coming from. Even the GPS couldn't find the address, which tells you something.
Still, I made it with time to spare, well before the rest of the crew showed up in a limo, of all things. The company was excellent, everyone was having a lot of fun, especially the ladies at the end of my table; my hearing has yet to recover from their enthusiasm. One thing bothered me though: the place was COLD. I mean, down by the water, a bit of chill is expected, but for some reason it was ICY in the place. Of course, I was one of the few folk who weren't drinking, so I guess everyone else was too 'happy' to notice. An hour after dinner and well into the karaoke, I was glad to head out to get back to someplace WARM. Unusual for me I know, who doesn't feel the cold( save for the arthritis, but that's different ). Ah well... it was a good party, and a lot better than a few of the annual work functions I've been to before. Victoria has a great crew!
Jan 14th - Missing Mailbox Key
I opened the store today, and things were rather quiet across the many branches, as expected after last night's party. I went to check my mail... and discovered my mailbox key was missing, thanks to the newly-broken keyring I pulled from my coat pocket. A quick check confirmed that ONLY the mailbox key was missing, so thankfully I wasn't locked out of my apartment( and I gave a spare set to my parents anyway ). Still, I can't get my mail - the key is circa 1962, and a quick call to my landlord confirmed no spare for THAT existed. I talked to my neighbours, who confirmed that they keys were both rare and unique to each box, so that ruled out a simple copy of someone else's key. Where MY key has ended up, I have no idea, even after a search of my place, the car, work, and my parent's. I ended up going right to the post office and getting my mail forwarded( within a few business days )so I can avoid getting my inaccessible mailbox stuffed while I think of another solution, whatever that will end up being.
Jan 15th - After a great start, I spent the whole... day ... driving around.
My first day off this week... and I had it PACKED( pun intended ). This morning I had a GREAT Skype meeting with the folks from Cyberwalker.com, and while I can't give out any details, the news was VERY good about future work with that wonderful team. As a writer, I'm very pleased, and it looks like I'll have a LOT to keep me busy in that department for the next while!
I spent the rest of the day driving around, getting various things straightened out with places like The Brick regarding missing deliveries etc... painful. I even went to Future Shop about my defective 360: they told me MAYBE next week, there might be some new 360 Elites coming in. No promises though, and I've been offline for MS Live for a month now; annoying. On the BRIGHT side, managed to find a GREAT deal at the local value village: a Panasonic Genius microwave in working condition, for only $35.00 - a bargain! I tested it in store by heating some water, and it worked perfectly. Since my 1-week old stainless steel Genius doesn't fit properly on the counter, I'll take it back rather than try and balance it on a board or something( and look stupid in the process ). Besides, that's quite a savings... too bad they didn't have the thing a week ago at Value Village when I looked; just goes to show you have to keep checking. At least I got to eat at Arby's today, in between driving around. Nice!
I should also mention that as always, there was a plethora of pretty ladies walking around. One in particular I should mention, as I was rather disappointed with the person, not the presentation. This lovely woman was in line behind me at London Drugs, pretty as all get out( and obviously knew it )as I was asking about the possibility that I had lost my mailbox key in the store and it might have been turned in. As I attended to that, this vision approached the Guest Services counter as next to be served... and asked for a pack of cigarettes.
My heart broke( well, it was dented anyway ). Not that I'd even exchanged a word with her, but to think that under that veneer of pretty, poisons and possibly cancers were eating away at her from within, all due to her addiction to something whose sole function is to make money for people who care only that she live long enough to buy a few decade's worth of smokes. It makes me angry and sad at the same time, to know that in a few decades her looks will be withered by the weed, and all she'll have in return is the likely possibility of a fatal doctor's report she hopes she'll never get. Bitter.
Jan 16th - Tax Training and Microwaves
I attended the Tax Training seminar we had for work today, at another branch. There were less than a dozen of us there, and I was among the most senior present. I didn't expect it to be overly informative, considering I've done taxes for a few years now, but I was wrong. The trainer we had was excellent, she went into detail about a ton of things that I had not been trained in in previous years, and all in a fun and friendly way. We all blazed through the training and were done the day well before dinner, which was nice, as I had a lot still to do.
I took back my brand-new week-old barely-used microwave tonight, as it just doesn't fit on the counter- the little support legs are about a half-inch too far to the left on the one side, so it leans against the fridge. I wrote four reviews later in the evening on epinions.com, check me out under 'modicus' on that site. I like doing those, as they share my tech product experiences with others who might be doing the same kind of pre-sales research I do before making a tech purchase. Also, it keeps my writing chops in tune, as well as testing my after-a-long-day-job-day stamina in being able to write coherent sentences on my own time. Soon though, the day job might be a fond memory, if I'm able to type-my-way to a living. Working from my own living room? Sweet.
Jan 17th - Some bad news, taken in stride
Of course, good news has to be balanced by bad, and that came in this morning. My parents, who have retired here to Victoria, got some not-so-great news about a dearth( lack )of supplies pf certain forms they need for some of their retirement planning; not good. It looks like it will be a few months before some parts of their needs fall into place, which places a rather awkward strain on them, and so me as well( since I can't stand by and do nothing ). Needless to say, it's going to be an interesting few months ahead in that regard( sorry about the lack of specifics ) ... so I'm going to have to reexamine some plans I'd made for the spring and put a few ideas on hold. Happily, it's not a disaster, as I tend to plan for the worst, since this sort of thing has happened to me again and again over the years. Sitll, it's disappointing to be right about planning for the worst.
Jan 18th - Another day off, so let's de-stress!
I only spent the morning out and about, gathering a few more items for my place, including some flexible plumbing hose... more on that in a moment. I had found the PERFECT A/V rack at the Brick( on sale no less )to fit above the corner fireplace in my apartment. That was no mean trick, as I've been looking everywhere for weeks now for a tall, not-too-deep corner shelf / rack / thingie, to no avail. I was even considering ones from the USA from a few websites before I stumbled across this one while out earlier in the week. And, it's black, so it doesn't stand out.
As those of you familiar with me may have guessed, I spent the afternoon putting the thing together and then packing it with all the various tech toys I've saved over the years, including my PS2( thanks Rene! )and even a Turbografx-16... yeah, it still works. Once I get the place to rights I'll get the sound system working, but for now it's enough to have about half of it all working. Oh, and that tubing I mentioned? I cut it to size, and packed all the various wires that ran to the TV into it... so now I have a neat-looking black tub running from the black TV to the black A/V shelf. Amazingly stylish. *grin*
Jan 19th - Cartoons and Working
For some reason, my left leg's been aching this week, despite the Lakota I've been taking as usual. Hopefully it's just something I did while moving, but I'll keep an eye on it; I don't want to add to my new doctor's list of problems to fix just yet.
Morning cartoons were briefly amusing; there's a new show called 'Storm Hawks' that uses some cutting-edge cell-shading CGI that is very similar to another, somewhat older show called 'Dragon Booster' - it's like a comic done in CGI, marrying the best of computers and traditional animation. After the amazing Reboot series by Mainframe, I've kept an eye on this technology, as it looks to have promise in quite a few areas. Plus, it just looks darn amazing.
On that note, I worked the evening shift... which dragged on another 1/2 hour past when it was supposed to, due to some issues I won't get into with my signing off on everything. Thankfully I didn't have a bus to catch, or it would have been an even longer end to the day.
That's all for now. On a curious note, this blog seems to be turning into a journal of sorts; the two are very similar, but I've always thought it a blog as more of a stream-of-consciousness thing, whereas a journal is a diary of events. Maybe I'm blending the two here? I've been so busy it's hard to mention any observations I've made about life out here compared to back East, but I am trying to note them as I see them, and eventually they'll make their way into this blog. Until next update then.... with more puns.
Jan 11th - back to work and Meet The Neighbours
Just an ordinary day, worked in the afternoon. Thankfully, it went uneventfully. I met some of my neighbours today too, so that was good; this building I'm in seems to be VERY quiet, so I made an excellent choice. My downstairs neighbour has been very helpful with a few questions I had so far, and everyone I've me seems very friendly. I've even got used to the buses that rumble the place every so often, but as I've mentioned before, it's nothing compared to the vast hordes of buses that passed the Landmark every hour. This is a placid pond in comparison!
Jan 12th - Boxes, boxes, and more boxes
Looks like I know what I'll be doing for the next few weeks( months? ): unpacking. At least I can watch TV while doing it, as the place is small enough to see the wall-mount from anywhere in the main room. I've booked off four days at the end of the month when the bookshelves from Sears should be in, so I can assemble them and load 'em up with consumer goods / books / whatnot.
I worked the evening shift tonight( sorry I can't go into details about WHAT does go on at work, but it's the privacy policy I have to adhere to )and that meant that I missed a chance to see everyone at a wine & cheese party thy were all attending tonight. Oh well... sometimes the timing just doesn't pan out.
Jan 13th - The Xmas Party
I opened the branch today, and it was quite a nice day overall. I was off in the early afternoon and headed over to my parent's for a bit to get ready for the Xmas party. in a few hours... which turned out to be rather hard to find. It was at a marina over in Esquimalt, down an unlit back road whose sign at the MAIN road was hidden completely from one direction, which of course was where *I* was coming from. Even the GPS couldn't find the address, which tells you something.
Still, I made it with time to spare, well before the rest of the crew showed up in a limo, of all things. The company was excellent, everyone was having a lot of fun, especially the ladies at the end of my table; my hearing has yet to recover from their enthusiasm. One thing bothered me though: the place was COLD. I mean, down by the water, a bit of chill is expected, but for some reason it was ICY in the place. Of course, I was one of the few folk who weren't drinking, so I guess everyone else was too 'happy' to notice. An hour after dinner and well into the karaoke, I was glad to head out to get back to someplace WARM. Unusual for me I know, who doesn't feel the cold( save for the arthritis, but that's different ). Ah well... it was a good party, and a lot better than a few of the annual work functions I've been to before. Victoria has a great crew!
Jan 14th - Missing Mailbox Key
I opened the store today, and things were rather quiet across the many branches, as expected after last night's party. I went to check my mail... and discovered my mailbox key was missing, thanks to the newly-broken keyring I pulled from my coat pocket. A quick check confirmed that ONLY the mailbox key was missing, so thankfully I wasn't locked out of my apartment( and I gave a spare set to my parents anyway ). Still, I can't get my mail - the key is circa 1962, and a quick call to my landlord confirmed no spare for THAT existed. I talked to my neighbours, who confirmed that they keys were both rare and unique to each box, so that ruled out a simple copy of someone else's key. Where MY key has ended up, I have no idea, even after a search of my place, the car, work, and my parent's. I ended up going right to the post office and getting my mail forwarded( within a few business days )so I can avoid getting my inaccessible mailbox stuffed while I think of another solution, whatever that will end up being.
Jan 15th - After a great start, I spent the whole... day ... driving around.
My first day off this week... and I had it PACKED( pun intended ). This morning I had a GREAT Skype meeting with the folks from Cyberwalker.com, and while I can't give out any details, the news was VERY good about future work with that wonderful team. As a writer, I'm very pleased, and it looks like I'll have a LOT to keep me busy in that department for the next while!
I spent the rest of the day driving around, getting various things straightened out with places like The Brick regarding missing deliveries etc... painful. I even went to Future Shop about my defective 360: they told me MAYBE next week, there might be some new 360 Elites coming in. No promises though, and I've been offline for MS Live for a month now; annoying. On the BRIGHT side, managed to find a GREAT deal at the local value village: a Panasonic Genius microwave in working condition, for only $35.00 - a bargain! I tested it in store by heating some water, and it worked perfectly. Since my 1-week old stainless steel Genius doesn't fit properly on the counter, I'll take it back rather than try and balance it on a board or something( and look stupid in the process ). Besides, that's quite a savings... too bad they didn't have the thing a week ago at Value Village when I looked; just goes to show you have to keep checking. At least I got to eat at Arby's today, in between driving around. Nice!
I should also mention that as always, there was a plethora of pretty ladies walking around. One in particular I should mention, as I was rather disappointed with the person, not the presentation. This lovely woman was in line behind me at London Drugs, pretty as all get out( and obviously knew it )as I was asking about the possibility that I had lost my mailbox key in the store and it might have been turned in. As I attended to that, this vision approached the Guest Services counter as next to be served... and asked for a pack of cigarettes.
My heart broke( well, it was dented anyway ). Not that I'd even exchanged a word with her, but to think that under that veneer of pretty, poisons and possibly cancers were eating away at her from within, all due to her addiction to something whose sole function is to make money for people who care only that she live long enough to buy a few decade's worth of smokes. It makes me angry and sad at the same time, to know that in a few decades her looks will be withered by the weed, and all she'll have in return is the likely possibility of a fatal doctor's report she hopes she'll never get. Bitter.
Jan 16th - Tax Training and Microwaves
I attended the Tax Training seminar we had for work today, at another branch. There were less than a dozen of us there, and I was among the most senior present. I didn't expect it to be overly informative, considering I've done taxes for a few years now, but I was wrong. The trainer we had was excellent, she went into detail about a ton of things that I had not been trained in in previous years, and all in a fun and friendly way. We all blazed through the training and were done the day well before dinner, which was nice, as I had a lot still to do.
I took back my brand-new week-old barely-used microwave tonight, as it just doesn't fit on the counter- the little support legs are about a half-inch too far to the left on the one side, so it leans against the fridge. I wrote four reviews later in the evening on epinions.com, check me out under 'modicus' on that site. I like doing those, as they share my tech product experiences with others who might be doing the same kind of pre-sales research I do before making a tech purchase. Also, it keeps my writing chops in tune, as well as testing my after-a-long-day-job-day stamina in being able to write coherent sentences on my own time. Soon though, the day job might be a fond memory, if I'm able to type-my-way to a living. Working from my own living room? Sweet.
Jan 17th - Some bad news, taken in stride
Of course, good news has to be balanced by bad, and that came in this morning. My parents, who have retired here to Victoria, got some not-so-great news about a dearth( lack )of supplies pf certain forms they need for some of their retirement planning; not good. It looks like it will be a few months before some parts of their needs fall into place, which places a rather awkward strain on them, and so me as well( since I can't stand by and do nothing ). Needless to say, it's going to be an interesting few months ahead in that regard( sorry about the lack of specifics ) ... so I'm going to have to reexamine some plans I'd made for the spring and put a few ideas on hold. Happily, it's not a disaster, as I tend to plan for the worst, since this sort of thing has happened to me again and again over the years. Sitll, it's disappointing to be right about planning for the worst.
Jan 18th - Another day off, so let's de-stress!
I only spent the morning out and about, gathering a few more items for my place, including some flexible plumbing hose... more on that in a moment. I had found the PERFECT A/V rack at the Brick( on sale no less )to fit above the corner fireplace in my apartment. That was no mean trick, as I've been looking everywhere for weeks now for a tall, not-too-deep corner shelf / rack / thingie, to no avail. I was even considering ones from the USA from a few websites before I stumbled across this one while out earlier in the week. And, it's black, so it doesn't stand out.
As those of you familiar with me may have guessed, I spent the afternoon putting the thing together and then packing it with all the various tech toys I've saved over the years, including my PS2( thanks Rene! )and even a Turbografx-16... yeah, it still works. Once I get the place to rights I'll get the sound system working, but for now it's enough to have about half of it all working. Oh, and that tubing I mentioned? I cut it to size, and packed all the various wires that ran to the TV into it... so now I have a neat-looking black tub running from the black TV to the black A/V shelf. Amazingly stylish. *grin*
Jan 19th - Cartoons and Working
For some reason, my left leg's been aching this week, despite the Lakota I've been taking as usual. Hopefully it's just something I did while moving, but I'll keep an eye on it; I don't want to add to my new doctor's list of problems to fix just yet.
Morning cartoons were briefly amusing; there's a new show called 'Storm Hawks' that uses some cutting-edge cell-shading CGI that is very similar to another, somewhat older show called 'Dragon Booster' - it's like a comic done in CGI, marrying the best of computers and traditional animation. After the amazing Reboot series by Mainframe, I've kept an eye on this technology, as it looks to have promise in quite a few areas. Plus, it just looks darn amazing.
On that note, I worked the evening shift... which dragged on another 1/2 hour past when it was supposed to, due to some issues I won't get into with my signing off on everything. Thankfully I didn't have a bus to catch, or it would have been an even longer end to the day.
That's all for now. On a curious note, this blog seems to be turning into a journal of sorts; the two are very similar, but I've always thought it a blog as more of a stream-of-consciousness thing, whereas a journal is a diary of events. Maybe I'm blending the two here? I've been so busy it's hard to mention any observations I've made about life out here compared to back East, but I am trying to note them as I see them, and eventually they'll make their way into this blog. Until next update then.... with more puns.
