The word of the week is change - not the coin kind.
Sept 5 - A New Job Training People? Maybe!
Looks like change MIGHT be in the air for me, job-wise! I've applied for the position of Regional Trainer, which would involve me working out of our head office and traveling to Vancouver a few days a week most likely. It's exciting and definitely the direction I want to head in, as my knees have been aching of late from standing and I don't think there's much more mileage left in them - so it's change or quit for a desk job of some unknown kind somewhere else. I should mention that the head of HR was thrilled to hear I was interested and will be setting up an interview with me by the end of next week. In the meantime, I was given an assignment to complete as part of that interview that will take me ALL of the next week to really put a shine onto... but I'll reap what I sow, hopefully for MUCH better pay! Less stress? We shall see... but at least it would be a different kind!
Sept 6 - Relief!
Word came through late today that my friend has returned home from the hospital for a few days of bed rest and is expected to make a full recovery. I have to say I am VERY relieved, as this was a sudden and unexpected turn of events - who knew that you could get so ill from a flu bug that you couldn't even keep down WATER? I was quite scared and felt very powerless; you can do little save keep checking on their status and placing your faith( such as it is )in our medical system, that the hospital will do all they can to stabilize them and then help them recover. In this particular case, the start was the scary part; if my friend had been hospitalized a day or so earlier, things would not have been as severe... but that's what you get for living alone, nobody to tell you that you look ill enough to take straight to the hospital. Did I mention I'm very relieved already?
Sept 7 - Life's a Beach!
The last of my 3 days off and I can actually relax today, knowing my friend( see above )is on the road to recovery. I lounged on the balcony in a hammock for a few hours, avoiding the sun here and there as I baked and cooled in the gorgeous weather we've had ALL this week! Later on in the afternoon I went down to Esquimalt Lagoon to the beach, where I walked for an hour on the mostly-empty sands in just shorts and a sleeveless shirt - incredible to still be able to do that at the start of September! The beach itself is several kilometers long, with lots of room for people to have their own space and every meter of it has amazing views of the Olympic Mountains to the south. Take a gander at my nearby beach you can walk on almost year-round:
Sept 5 - A New Job Training People? Maybe!
Looks like change MIGHT be in the air for me, job-wise! I've applied for the position of Regional Trainer, which would involve me working out of our head office and traveling to Vancouver a few days a week most likely. It's exciting and definitely the direction I want to head in, as my knees have been aching of late from standing and I don't think there's much more mileage left in them - so it's change or quit for a desk job of some unknown kind somewhere else. I should mention that the head of HR was thrilled to hear I was interested and will be setting up an interview with me by the end of next week. In the meantime, I was given an assignment to complete as part of that interview that will take me ALL of the next week to really put a shine onto... but I'll reap what I sow, hopefully for MUCH better pay! Less stress? We shall see... but at least it would be a different kind!
Sept 6 - Relief!
Word came through late today that my friend has returned home from the hospital for a few days of bed rest and is expected to make a full recovery. I have to say I am VERY relieved, as this was a sudden and unexpected turn of events - who knew that you could get so ill from a flu bug that you couldn't even keep down WATER? I was quite scared and felt very powerless; you can do little save keep checking on their status and placing your faith( such as it is )in our medical system, that the hospital will do all they can to stabilize them and then help them recover. In this particular case, the start was the scary part; if my friend had been hospitalized a day or so earlier, things would not have been as severe... but that's what you get for living alone, nobody to tell you that you look ill enough to take straight to the hospital. Did I mention I'm very relieved already?
Sept 7 - Life's a Beach!
The last of my 3 days off and I can actually relax today, knowing my friend( see above )is on the road to recovery. I lounged on the balcony in a hammock for a few hours, avoiding the sun here and there as I baked and cooled in the gorgeous weather we've had ALL this week! Later on in the afternoon I went down to Esquimalt Lagoon to the beach, where I walked for an hour on the mostly-empty sands in just shorts and a sleeveless shirt - incredible to still be able to do that at the start of September! The beach itself is several kilometers long, with lots of room for people to have their own space and every meter of it has amazing views of the Olympic Mountains to the south. Take a gander at my nearby beach you can walk on almost year-round:
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| Looking south towards the Olympic Mountains - sunny spectacular! |
Sept 8 - West Coast Trail, by proxy
Hooray! My sister returned late last night from her hike along the West Coast Trail, six days of trekking along rugged wilderness on the coast of Vancouver Island. She went on the trip with three of her friends from Calgary, all of whom are experienced hikers, so I knew she'd be in good company. She had a blast, taking a ton of incredible pictures and managing to avoid any nasty wildlife encounters - Vancouver Island has what is believed to be the world's HIGHEST population density of cougars( and we're not taking the bar-lounging kind either! ) - one was recently shot and killed in Goldstream Park, less than a kilometer away from where I live. It was a journey of a lifetime for her and I salute her stamina; my physical condition needs a lot of improvement before I'd attempt that sort of hike, especially given the questionable state of my knees. As there's no help available for days out there on the trail, you really have to be fully prepared for the trip and ready for most any emergency - especially since you have to PAY for a rescue helicopter!
Sept 9 - Unfriended? Me?
It's a small, strange feeling: being unfriended on FBook. I don't have a ton of friends on there numbering in the high hundreds, so when I noticed that I was down one today, I was a little surprised - who did I manage to honk off enough that they no longer wanted to talk to me? Or was it just boredom, that they weren't interested in keeping up with me? The sad part is that I combed through the list, checking to make sure people I've known for years are there... but when I was done, I couldn't come up with a name. I think that frustrated me the most of all, that I could lose track of someone so easily and not recall who they were, once they were off my Friends List. Kind of like people I see come into work: when I ask them for a friend's telephone number, they have to check their Contact Lists on their phone or just sheepishly say that they know the person is 'Speedial Four' or somesuch... the details of friends have become sketchy, these days.
Sept 10 - Smoke In My Eyes
It's been a beautiful week for weather here in BC, hot enough to enjoy outside yet not insanely fry-your-brain-hot like it was two years ago. Unfortunately the lack of AC and / or airflow has meant my room has remained about 30C most days, even with fans... not so great for being in, so I've stayed outside as much as possible. Of course, good weather means people fire up their BBQ's on nearby balconies ... which means I have to close windows and turn off fans, or my room quickly fills with eye-watering smoke. And becomes stiflingly hot really, really fast. Such are the compromises I'm willing to make though, to enjoy the quiet, smog-free living of the location I'm in. I've come to realize that though I'd be quiet happy to be totally away from other people, I'd be so far into the wilderness around here that I'd have to watch for bears and cougars( see above ). So as usual, compromise( and earplugs )are the tools to use at the end of the day.
Hooray! My sister returned late last night from her hike along the West Coast Trail, six days of trekking along rugged wilderness on the coast of Vancouver Island. She went on the trip with three of her friends from Calgary, all of whom are experienced hikers, so I knew she'd be in good company. She had a blast, taking a ton of incredible pictures and managing to avoid any nasty wildlife encounters - Vancouver Island has what is believed to be the world's HIGHEST population density of cougars( and we're not taking the bar-lounging kind either! ) - one was recently shot and killed in Goldstream Park, less than a kilometer away from where I live. It was a journey of a lifetime for her and I salute her stamina; my physical condition needs a lot of improvement before I'd attempt that sort of hike, especially given the questionable state of my knees. As there's no help available for days out there on the trail, you really have to be fully prepared for the trip and ready for most any emergency - especially since you have to PAY for a rescue helicopter!
Sept 9 - Unfriended? Me?
It's a small, strange feeling: being unfriended on FBook. I don't have a ton of friends on there numbering in the high hundreds, so when I noticed that I was down one today, I was a little surprised - who did I manage to honk off enough that they no longer wanted to talk to me? Or was it just boredom, that they weren't interested in keeping up with me? The sad part is that I combed through the list, checking to make sure people I've known for years are there... but when I was done, I couldn't come up with a name. I think that frustrated me the most of all, that I could lose track of someone so easily and not recall who they were, once they were off my Friends List. Kind of like people I see come into work: when I ask them for a friend's telephone number, they have to check their Contact Lists on their phone or just sheepishly say that they know the person is 'Speedial Four' or somesuch... the details of friends have become sketchy, these days.
Sept 10 - Smoke In My Eyes
It's been a beautiful week for weather here in BC, hot enough to enjoy outside yet not insanely fry-your-brain-hot like it was two years ago. Unfortunately the lack of AC and / or airflow has meant my room has remained about 30C most days, even with fans... not so great for being in, so I've stayed outside as much as possible. Of course, good weather means people fire up their BBQ's on nearby balconies ... which means I have to close windows and turn off fans, or my room quickly fills with eye-watering smoke. And becomes stiflingly hot really, really fast. Such are the compromises I'm willing to make though, to enjoy the quiet, smog-free living of the location I'm in. I've come to realize that though I'd be quiet happy to be totally away from other people, I'd be so far into the wilderness around here that I'd have to watch for bears and cougars( see above ). So as usual, compromise( and earplugs )are the tools to use at the end of the day.
Sept 11 - Ten Years And So Little Learned
I suppose it's inevitable that I mention 9/11 today, as I have for the past few years of blog entries. Having been to New York and stood at the foot of the Twin Towers in high school, I have a small personal connection to the place and always regret not spending 3 hours in line to go up to the observation deck. Ten years ago was the day that changed the world in ways unsuspected before and regretted since. We're more paranoid, no closer to solving terror threats globally and still unsure if this sort of attack will happen again. Myself, I wonder about the biological end of things; I am reading a book now called Wired, in which a terror threat is being designed that will wipe out only people who eat a food trigger. Which means that biological attacks can target specific ethnic groups by their diet... and the unlucky few who happen to like that culture's foods. Scary... and sad that we STILL live in a world of such intolerance and fear.
The next two weeks should see some changes in my work life, so I'll keep everyone updated. I'm just happy to be heading into the fall season not scared poopless about making it to the new year financially - it's been a big relief from the previous ten years, I can tell you. Who knows that 2012 will bring for us?
