7th Anniversary Blog Posting!

The word of the week is anniversary.

This is the Anniversary Week of my blog, which I started seven years ago upon moving to BC on November 1, 2007.

I hope you've enjoyed my story so far, wherever you join me along the way.

Oct 27 - Afterglow

It was back to work today for me, smiling the entire time as my brain slowly wound down from my NYC trip - the process could take months, darn it. :-)

I'm working on the phones this week, taking calls and directing people to the information they need. It's quite different from doing invoices, in that I don't have to deal with pieces of paper that need to be paid in a timely fashion but rather people who need their information in a timely fashion - sort of the same.

As the day went on, my left leg began hurting more more, enough so that my walk home was extremely uncomfortable. I attended my writing group's meeting downtown, wishing that I'd brought along a cane, as I was unable to walk home due to the ache in the upper back part of my leg.

After taking a cab home, I gave BC Telehealth a call and they advised me to head on down to the nearest hospital Emergency Ward, as there was a possibility that I had developed a blood clot from my long flight home from New York City. Oddly amused and worried at the same time, I again took a cab straight over to Emergency, which fortunately wasn't all that far away. A few preliminary tests, some blood drawn and then I waited for a few hours with my new OnePlus One phone for company, which made all the difference as its battery easily was up to the challenge - I watched a good portion of Megamind, not realizing that the Full HD screen of the phone meant I was eating up data at a furious pace, but I didn't go over my limit... but I did come close, using 2.2 gigs in 2 hours - ouch!

Finally, I was seen by a doctor, who told me that my blood tests indicated no clots were present( whew! )and after a few physical tests, he indicated that I had a moderate case of bursitis. I was again both relieved and amused, as in my mind bursitis was an old person's disease, which I thought I would have avoided by moving around as much as I did on the flight home - apparently I didn't move enough or sat in an odd position due to my relative fatigue from my NYC adventures.

Home well after midnight, I creaked into bed and was fast asleep.

Oct 28 - Podcast!

I was interviewed for my first podcast today!

One of the Dark Crystal Facebook Fan Group members asked me to take part in a podcast he is running, to talk about my recent experience in NYC. The podcast is called 'Trial By Stone' and I had a great time, along with JM Lee, the winner of the AuthorQuest contest and Melissa, another member of the FBook group. 

We talked about what went on that evening in NYC at the BAM Fan Fest event - with great enthusiasm, I might add - playing off each other's recollection of Things Exciting. The podcast owner, Philip, cut in some audio that Melissa had recorded, including the powerful reading by JM of his Jarra Jen ballad. It was fantastic to hear the audio clips, almost like being there again

There was a glitch about halfway through, when my new cell phone rang - despite my setting it on 'silent' … I've rarely moved that fast in my life, to whisk it away to the bathroom. Turns out that I hadn't set my phone ringers properly, as some had priority to 'ring through' even when the phone is silent - dang. Live and learn, I guess.

The podcast was a ton of fun and I hope to do another soon, perhaps speaking more about our visit to the Jim Henson Company. Seems I've fallen into a creative group of like-minded artists, as we're connecting online and still going strong in talking to one another, so we'll see what comes of it all!

I should mention that I took the day off work today, being unable to move around much without a cane. Resting my leg as much as possible, the doctor said I should be back to full function within a day or two, barring any other complications. It's a good thing that I don't have to walk all that far to work or cycle any more, as I'd be in a bit of a spot!

Just call me Gimpy - for this week at least.

Oct 29 - Fine Feedback

I've been 'shuffled' over to the phones at work, which was probably inevitable given my decades of experience with customer telephony as well as my empathetic manner.

It's strange, but some people there loathe the phones, much preferring to work 'offline' in terms of contact with people. I've no problem talking to people, though I have to thoroughly familiarize myself with procedures, including who to forward calls to and what questions I can answer on my ownsome. 

After work, I scooted over to the central library downtown, to meet up with a fellow writer who recently took on the task of reading through my third draft of my first novel. Being a rather illogical fellow, he had a lot of points to make about the plot and other items critical to the functional success of my book. I found his notes extremely useful, bringing up several issues that I hadn't quite considered from his point of view: although he said my book wasn't 'his kind of story' we both like many of the same authors and so his perspective is very valuable. For some reason, he worried that his feedback within me, but the entire time I kept reassuring him that I was able to take a step back from his points, not taking things personally but rather seeing them from his point of view as a reader.

I'll be incorporating a few of his points into my next draft and again I'm quite grateful that 

he was able to take the time to do such a thorough reading of my book.

Oct 30 - Farewell to a few work-pals!

After another enjoyable day on phones, it was time for party after work.

It was a bit of a quiet gathering, over at the Sticky Wicket, with people crowded into two long tables in the Clubhouse area at the side of the restaurant facing the rainy road outside. I rather liked the setting, as I was able to talk with quite a few people for the hour and a bit that most folks were there for, with some staying later for dinner.

Of all the new people in the office, only a relative few won't be staying on permanently. Of the nearly dozen people who were temporary Auxiliary staff, all but three found positions, with some going to other Ministries in the area as they had qualified for positions there through other applications.

It's interesting to think about the friendships that people develop in the workplace, alongside people that you work with for months. I know that having worked alongside some people for years doesn't guarantee that you want to talk to them outside of work or after moving on from that job - the Niagara MMart staff are good example of this, as I now have little contact with them, unfortunately.

Of the people that I have worked with at the AFB since May of this year, I can honestly say there among the best co-workers that I had the privilege of sharing office with in many years. It's been a treat to go to work and know that everyone, without exception, is pulling together to make each day less stressful than the last and to take enjoyment in each other's company as people, not just work-bodies. I'll be sad to see some of them go and hope they'll keep in touch.

I wasn't done for the day though: tonight was movie night!

In a last-minute move, I accepted an invitation to see a performance of the Rocky Horror Picture Show, not realizing what that meant in terms of interaction between the cult movie and a live audience. Arriving at the theater, I saw many of the various audience members in costume, which I thought was a treat on Halloween and we even had a brief 'Best Costume' contest before the movie:

The real fun took place during the performance, as almost everyone in the audience( except me )knew the movie line by line as well as what points to interject appropriate commentary at. Dried rice, unbuttered toast and spritzes of water filled the air at times along with good-natured banter and the occasional few people dancing in the aisles. I hadn't realized how enthusiastic a fan base the movie had and I went home that night thoroughly amused by the whole experience.

I also scrubbed the 'V' off my forehead, for I am no longer a Rocky Horror Live Virgin - hurrah!

Oct 31 - Happy Halloween!

It was costumed chaos at work today!

Actually, that's a bit of an exaggeration: it was a splendid day, with myself and a co-worker running the day's small activities. More than 75% of the office dressed up, with a ton of great costumes and more than a little effort put into each costume. As you can see, we all had a great time getting on our garb:

Identities have been camoflaged to protect the guilty.

After tallying up voting ballots, we handed out prizes for Most Creative Costume, Scariest Costume, Funniest Costume and even an award for Best Decorated Desk. People participated in trivia contests throughout the day, stopping by the many desks where treats were there for the taking and to admire the decorations. All in all, the day went off splendidly and although I was a little tired, I managed to make it through without feeling rushed or otherwise stressed from my regular duties on the phones.

You can read more about my costume in the entry for the next day - everyone loved it and I actually won the voting for Most Creative Costume! I was quite tickled!

Evening was one of simple rest and relaxation, as I had no party plans tonight. Being in an apartment, there was no possibility of trick-or-treaters disturbing me by doorknocking, so I caught up on a few things as well as watching most of Wreck-it Ralph on TV - I will be able to do that in a few weeks when my cable box goes back to Shaw, so I simply enjoy being able to channel-surf from my comfy couch.

Also, I love that film: it just oozes video-game nostalgia.

Nov 1 - Happy Anniversary to B.C. Beginnings!

Seven years ago, I started this blog as a way to keep my friends and family informed as to what I'm up to in BC after moving here. While I thought I'd keep up my entries on a weekly basis, I never thought I'd have so much to say or enjoy doing it so much.

Seven years later, I'm still doing it, having missed nary an entry to accumulate over 360 posts, with a total word count approaching a million words. Some weeks were good, others bad and still more mediocre, but I kept writing, to ensure I set it all down as it happened and as I felt the emotions stirred by events as they happened.

I came here to BC to start anew, though I didn't realize it at the time; I thought I'd be continuing things as they were from where I left off in Ontario. All the crazy things that happen to my family and I in the last seven years have, amazingly, led to stable plateau where we all are now - a little stunned, admittedly.

Still, I won't go on about this milestone in detail, save to say that from this point on - almost literally this week, when I start my full-time permanent job on November 3, will only get better from here on. If you asked me two years ago when I thought I'd be able to say that, I would've laughed and shaken my head, as back then I couldn't see even a glimmer of where my future might lie or really have any sort of hope about spending it writing instead of scrambling for some sort of financial solid ground.

Which is why it pleases me greatly to say that my answer now is that my future is looking bright.

- - -

On another note, I waited all day to attend a Halloween party this evening.

Although less not strictly true, that story what it felt like while I puttered about the apartment, trying not to use a cane while still paying close attention to the twinges my leg was still giving off here and there. I spent a little while putting together my costume, which was mostly ready from last year, with a few additions. Here's a shameless pic of my world-dominating pose at the festivities:

Determined to rule the world!

On my left arm, you can just see a strap holding a small device: that's my old Samsung S3 phone, which I rigged up to be part of my costume. I installed a custom soundboard app, linking the phone's audio to a Bluetooth speaker I had slung around my neck under my blue dickie. On the phone itself I had installed a library of over 60 audio clips of Cobra Commander's voice that I had sampled myself, painstakingly pulling them from YouTube videos, cleaning them up and trimming them to be used at the touch of a button. 

It was actually rather hard to see through the facemask, as a kept fogging up and seeing as I didn't have my glasses on, I had to hold the phone fairly close to my face in order to get the right sample. All the same, the actual voice of Cobra Commander really added to the experience and everyone just loved the way the costume came together.

I'm already planning what I'm going to do for next year...

Nov 2 - Hey, you seem cool!

I've been thinking about friendship this week.

As I mentioned earlier, there's friendships formed at work as well as in one's personal life and often these two things combined. My recent trip to New York City really resonated with me around the word friendship, for it was there that I made quite a few fast friends among all the attendees of the Dark Crystal Fan Fest. Mingling among so many like-minded folks, it was impossible not to make friends and it seems quite a few of us made impressions on one another, for I'm still in contact with about a dozen folks from the Workshop Tour as well as the Fan Fest event.

It's really great to run into people so like myself, who share the same passions. I think Simon Pegg put it best:

I'm excited see where we're all going to go together and what's going to happen along the way. Everyone from the NYC experience is still bouncing off the walls from the residual excitement, enough so that I think that if we all met up again today somehow we'd spend at least an hour jumping up and down with huge smiles on our faces as we relive the memories of our shared experience.

Speaking which, after a relaxing day, I went over to Staples for a movie night!

It was a chance to reconnect with some of the people I work with, though at least half of the people working at the store in our new and unfamiliar to me - that's what happens when you don't work for weeks on end. We watched Ghostbusters on the furniture pad, munching croissant sandwiches and popcorn while laughing together at the zany magic of the film that still shines through after three decades. Just like The Dark Crystal, Ghostbusters is a pillar of my childhood and every time I see it, the boy inside me comes to the fore, resting his chin on the theater seat in front of him and thrilling to the film flicking on the screen.

Magic, that's what it is; I'm thankful that I still feel it as strongly as I do all these years later.

I'm walking without a cane as of today and it looks like the rest of my week will be very interesting at work, being moved over to phones and into a new area the office. I am hoping to do some work on my novels this week, for with NaNoWriMo starting this month I can feel the energy of thousands of writers around the world surging to bring new creative life into being. I need to use that energy to focus my own writing and get some work done this month, as the end of year is coming fast and I want to try to attain the goal of completing at least the first half of my second book at this point. I just hope this coming week isn't as busy as this past week was, as my eyelids are drooping and it's only 11pm!