The word of the week is indifference.
Jan 16 - Lama Life Instructions
When it comes to religion, I am a very easy-going person - live and let live and let's not waste our lives discussing it or beating each other up over it. Some religions appeal to me more than others, like Buddhism or Taoists; anyone who thinks getting along with other humans is top priority is tops in my books. Being a fence-sitter between atheism and agnosticism, I don't have much to add to the topic, as I'm too busy with things in THIS world to worry about the next one - I live a decent life, decently, and leave it at that.
One should, however, take good advice when you hear it. Like from the Dali Lama, who recently spoke of his 20 Instructions For Life that are VERY worth a read. Number 1 has especially been on my mind for years and moreso of late; now that I am 'job free' I can decide the next steps I want to take - should they be safe, or something else? Freedom, as I may discover, can be a terribly wondrous thing... but it's exactly that unknown that I've striven for in my leaving MMart.
Jan 17 - Snow Day!
It seems Mama Nature conspired to keep me home today with my cold: the roads were slick and snowy making it very dangerous to attempt to drive down the mountain for 4km until well after noon. Even then, the sun made only brief appearances between long stretches of cloud, which kept the temperatures around zero and the ice still slicking the roads. Given that I was still recovering today from my cold, it was a no-brainer that I stayed home. My family and I enjoyed each others company for the remainder of the day( when I wasn't dozing fitfully )and managed to get a good game of Scrabble in there too.
I almost, almost sat down to start watching Babylon 5 again, but I am saving such marathons for AFTER I am unemployed in a few weeks time. If you've never heard of Babylon 5, or just want to see WHY I keep mentioning this amazing show( yes, there are a ton of good reasons... )then check out the recent Everything You Needed To Know About Babylon 5 at io9.com - it's the perfect primer to start off the show with, along with The Lurker's Guide to Babylon 5, the one and only source for all things Babylonian. Trust me!
Jan 18 - Snow Day Two!
The snow kept on comin' down; the Victoria Times Colonist summarized the various silly things that too much snow caused in the area today. Also, all of the MMart stores closed early( some never managed to open )as I spent some hours of my morning at home coordinating the 'close safely effort' for the day( which I billed them for! ). It meant that I could stay home again and spend time with my family; I even had enough energy to venture out for a walk in the snowbound quiet for a few minutes with my sister, which was delightful if somewhat cool( but any wind was absent ). It was definitely a day I needed to relax in addition to yesterday, so I was glad for the snow.
Bonus - One resourceful Victoria filmmaker made a GREAT video of what the city looked like ON THESE LAST TWO DAYS - have a look:
Jan 16 - Lama Life Instructions
When it comes to religion, I am a very easy-going person - live and let live and let's not waste our lives discussing it or beating each other up over it. Some religions appeal to me more than others, like Buddhism or Taoists; anyone who thinks getting along with other humans is top priority is tops in my books. Being a fence-sitter between atheism and agnosticism, I don't have much to add to the topic, as I'm too busy with things in THIS world to worry about the next one - I live a decent life, decently, and leave it at that.
One should, however, take good advice when you hear it. Like from the Dali Lama, who recently spoke of his 20 Instructions For Life that are VERY worth a read. Number 1 has especially been on my mind for years and moreso of late; now that I am 'job free' I can decide the next steps I want to take - should they be safe, or something else? Freedom, as I may discover, can be a terribly wondrous thing... but it's exactly that unknown that I've striven for in my leaving MMart.
Jan 17 - Snow Day!
It seems Mama Nature conspired to keep me home today with my cold: the roads were slick and snowy making it very dangerous to attempt to drive down the mountain for 4km until well after noon. Even then, the sun made only brief appearances between long stretches of cloud, which kept the temperatures around zero and the ice still slicking the roads. Given that I was still recovering today from my cold, it was a no-brainer that I stayed home. My family and I enjoyed each others company for the remainder of the day( when I wasn't dozing fitfully )and managed to get a good game of Scrabble in there too.
I almost, almost sat down to start watching Babylon 5 again, but I am saving such marathons for AFTER I am unemployed in a few weeks time. If you've never heard of Babylon 5, or just want to see WHY I keep mentioning this amazing show( yes, there are a ton of good reasons... )then check out the recent Everything You Needed To Know About Babylon 5 at io9.com - it's the perfect primer to start off the show with, along with The Lurker's Guide to Babylon 5, the one and only source for all things Babylonian. Trust me!
Jan 18 - Snow Day Two!
The snow kept on comin' down; the Victoria Times Colonist summarized the various silly things that too much snow caused in the area today. Also, all of the MMart stores closed early( some never managed to open )as I spent some hours of my morning at home coordinating the 'close safely effort' for the day( which I billed them for! ). It meant that I could stay home again and spend time with my family; I even had enough energy to venture out for a walk in the snowbound quiet for a few minutes with my sister, which was delightful if somewhat cool( but any wind was absent ). It was definitely a day I needed to relax in addition to yesterday, so I was glad for the snow.
Bonus - One resourceful Victoria filmmaker made a GREAT video of what the city looked like ON THESE LAST TWO DAYS - have a look:
Jan 19 - The Snow Queen
Back to work today, nothing special about that. However, I DID come up with something VERY special yesterday, when the falling snow kicked my muse into gear again and my typing fingers tumbled out a new poem, PLUS searched out and found the perfect picture to accompany it. I give you The Snow Queen; enjoy. It gave me shivers when I finished it... ( click on the image for the full size picture )
Jan 20 - Big Cookie Friday!
The big thing about today was telling my co-workers that I was leaving, that ended up NOT being a big thing. My DM kept insisting that I put it off until the party this Sunday, which I WAS NOT going to do - no WAY I was going to be a bucket of cold water on our once-yearly party! So I went ahead and told everyone late today that I was leaving, thumbing my nose at my DM for the first and only time - sorry. It actually felt good, and as it turns out didn't have much effect on people; I don't think anyone was surprised, really. Some of my staff already knew or had figured it out, as they're very smart cookies and I'm going to miss working with them daily very much.
Speaking of cookies: I love 'em. Peanut butter or chocolate chip, fudge or frosty, they're a single weakness of mine in the food area. Over the years I've managed NOT to become a butterball due to cookies alone, but instead I've made them into a running joke with myself to keep on top of the things. Which is where Ormie The Pig comes in( below ); I can relate to him some days...
Jan 21 - Lazy Day? Oops.
I am hopeful that days like today are NOT the norm when I am between jobs in a few weeks, as I'll be sad if I accomplish so little in a day. Not that I mind having a day off, I just don't want to laze around EVERY day as much as I did today. Not to say that today didn't accomplish much: I got out of the house, drove around a bit with the windows cracked a touch for fresh air and had lunch in the company of other people - briefly. I even found a bargain at FShop( a $30 phone screen protector for my new HTC phone for 97 cents!! )and dropped off some surprise teas for the ladies at work.
No, I just want to get some things DONE while I am off work, as well as relax.
It's been so LONG since I've had free time in the form of consecutive days that I am wary of falling into the 'lazybones' trap of putting things off, watching TV and just entertaining myself, day after day. Sure, I can do what I want while looking for work, that's understood. But I ALSO want to get other things done, like writing a novel, getting some of my computer projects solidified, going through my things to prepare for my upcoming move, looking for a place to move TO in the spring... all that and more. I'll have to find a balance between having a sense of accomplishment at each day's end and being able to say I didn't overextend myself, to avoid stressing out again. Yet somehow the thought of NOT working for MMart will make me smile - daily.
Jan 22 - My Last Staff Party, With Friends!!
Alright, so much of today WAS a Lazy Day, gaming on the Xbox with friends after watching some late-morning cartoons - it's to be expected on Sunday. In all truth, I was whiling away the hours until my MMart Staff Party in the evening, held at Boston Pizza in Saanich - food's paid for but not the drinks, fairly SOP.
Which turned out to be a fun, but not crazy, affair. As things turned out seating-wise, most of the older( ne: former MMart staff )crowd gathered at one table, surrounded by the younger( ie. nobody knew everybody )groups. I enjoyed sitting flanked by friends( past co-workers )and simply enjoying their company, as I haven't done since they left - life's odd that way, in that you miss someone but somehow neither of you come up with the effort to meet up again. Weird; you don't want to 'spoil' the fun memories with new ones? In any case, a couple of hours passed fairly quickly as we reminisced and ate and laughed, and it was too early when I saw that everyone else wanted to get going - it was a company party, after all, and not a night at the peelers.
Still, it was something special, sitting there with friends; something I hope to do MORE of MORE often as I make the time in the coming years. It's one thing to sit at a restaurant and go over old memories, and quite another to DO things with friends to MAKE those memories. That distinction is what keeps friendships strong: don't spend more time reliving the past than you do in making new things to remember and share a laugh over. That's the key, and with that thought I shoved aside quite a few sad things that were also hovering in my brain, as they have been of late, and went to bed, smiling as the rain beat at the windows...
The power flickered quite a few times today( Sunday )as high winds drove rain into the area. Yet thanks to my UPS, my TV / PC / Xbox never hiccupped the whole time; totally worth the purchase, which I recommend everyone have. Even my parent's DVR has a little one, to keep their shows going in the event of a brownout. Hmmm; I could really have used a mental UPS this past year... :-)
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