Grift, Grind and Grief

The word of the week is hyperbole.

Oct 3 - How's that paycheque?

One of the things I've found most difficult at the jobs I've had( and there's not too many of those )is pay scale. At every job, employees were told not to discuss wages with one another, only with their manager - for several reasons. I've seen it happen where people find out they are not earning the same as someone 'newer' or 'less experienced' which leads to harsh feelings and problems in the workplace. However, living in ignorance is not a good idea either - your company could be taking advantage of your 'ask not, tell not' instructions to pay you less than you are worth. Have a look at this handy salary tool from Monster.ca and find out if you're being paid what you're worth - I know I'm not, but I'll be rectifying that next week; seeing as I'm the only one able to do the job right now, I can ask for what I'm worth and expect to get it. Not so that I can be a jerk, but instead to show I know what I'm worth and will work hardest knowing I'm valued at that level. Hell, it's been a long haul to get here as it is...

Oct 4 - Nice Guys

Oh, cruel fate, why do you torment me? Or at least make my life interesting? Today I worked at three different stores, due to the staff shortage crisis we are in. I opened one branch, went to a second to cover for 2 hrs, and then had to send my CSR home from work sick and close the third. She's really, really ill and sounds ghastly, so there's no helping it - today was a 15-hour day for me, with the only rest being the travel time between branches.

Why do I do it? Some kind of masochistic sense that I have, to take care of everyone regardless of the personal cost to myself? Hardly. No, I work with great people that I care about, and I know that they would( and have )done the same for me. It's been that way for years and I don't mind, as nobody's ever taken advantage of my generosity - more than once. Nice Guys Finish Last, as they say - so here's four rules to live by, if you're Nice.

Oct 5 - Apple Mourns

Today was yesterday, repeated. My CSR is still too sick to come into work, and everyone else is already working 5-6 days as it is, so it again fell to me to cover as manager - yech. I opened one branch for a full shift, then hopped the bus to Colwood to close for another 5 hours. Equaling another 15-hour day, with only a few minutes rest each shift, because of COURSE it's stinkin' busy in the middle of the week for NO reason. Yep. That kind of day.

Which makes the passing of Apple's Steve Jobs today all the more poignant. Now, I'm not a fan of Apple, but anyone can see the huge impact that the company, headed by Jobs, has had on the world. Going from a has-been in the late 90's to one of the world's top tech firms( if not THE top company )can be attributed to the drive, imagination and zeal that Jobs brought during his time at Apple. I've owned an iPod Nano, an iPhone and an iPod shuffle, all three of which served me well, albeit too briefly. I can think of few better epitaphs for someone than seeing the outpouring of sentiment by millions today when his death was announced. For someone to change the world for so many, for the better, that's tribute enough. Or you can watch this: it's good to be crazy.

Oct 6 - What just happened?

It was a reverse day today: I headed into town to work Cloverdale, going in around lunchtime while juggling the car with the parents - always on a tight schedule, that. I went in a little early to eat at the nearby McDonald's... but when I tried to pull into the lot, there were milk crates across the entrances save for a small spot. Since there were cars in the lot and no sign of line painting or other construction, I pulled up and went to the main door, where I was met by a head-shaking employee. I asked what was going on and was told "You just missed it, watch the five o'clock news tonight." So great timing on my part; if I had been even ten minutes earlier, I'd have been caught up in whatever it was that happened there around lunchtime. Edit: turns out it was a large grease fire, but they had it under control fairly fast. Seems to be a trend of late, not one I'm fond of - leading a stressful life of late is not conducive to adding MORE stress, though on the other hand what's a little more of the same? At least work was fairly straightforward with no surprises; I went home tired but on time.

Oct 7 - Good news? Really?

Some good news this morning, not work related: I'm getting a new TV! Seems that my current TV's pixel-spotted panel can't be replaced as LG doesn't make them anymore. So I'm getting a credit at Future Shop for $1500 towards a NEW TV of my choice( maybe this one! ) as part of the 4-year service plan I bought 3 years and 11 months ago. Talk about beating the odds - sweet! I've taken a quick look online at a few models and will probably read a few dozen reviews in the next week before I decide. Nothing TOO large, as I can't fit much larger a TV than I already have into my room. But good news, for a change - and it'll have NEW tech too!

I worked the closing shift at the Mill Stream branch, as I won't ask my CSR to work there again until after the branch has been fully glassed-in and made secure. I feel fine there, as I'm not the one who had a gun pointed at them, and I hope I never will - I can't ask her to go through anxiety attacks every time she works there if it's still open-concept. Not a chance.

Oct 8 - Cartoons!

Saturday morning cartoons, as I've lamented before, are a shadow of their former selves. They reached a zenith in the toy-crazed eighties, when hours could vanish for kids quite easily as they watched their favourite shows. I remember eagerly perusing the latest TV Guides to ensure I NEVER missed a new episode of a show in case the networks had switched timeslots around( which they did ). What better way to start your weekend than in your PJ's, enjoying new stories with favorite characters?

Which is why I laughed in delight when I came across this gem. It's Daffy Duck in some kind of new Merrie Melodies series, where he's a wizard... and a lazy roommate:

Pure Awesome!

Oct 9 - Turkey Day comes early

After opening the downtown branch today( I'm managing two of them for the next few months )it was time to head home, with lovely sunshine beaming down for a change. When I got home, my parents and I went down to the terrace gardens that border the golf course, carrying the urn of our beloved pet cat Tristan. We had waited for a perfect fall day to put him to rest in the gardens, at a time while life all around was changing after the summer's warmth. Again I felt the loss of this special friend, who was with us for too brief a time - yet as with all things, his time came and he passed on surrounded by we, his loving family. Placing his ashes in the ground was difficult, as I was overwhelmed by a sense of grief I still feel most strongly... but I am reminded of the incredible love that Tristan showed all of us every day he spent in our lives. That love sustains me, as I dry my eyes and remember him.

// rant It's been a long week, and the rest of the month looks to be a grind as well. Even writing the schedule for 2 branches myself, it's going to be tough, with a couple 12-hour days each week and around 60 hours all told weekly. I fully understand why the other manager left, but I'm bringing quality new people on-board and am making damn sure to take care of all those who are still with us. It will be tough until the close of 2011, but I hope we'll make it there with the district team intact and fairly sane... it helps to have a DM who believes in me. :-)

Robbery, Routine and Respect

The word of the week is meme.

Sept 26 - Escapism

Strange how the days go sometimes; some drag and some fly by. Oddly, those that I get the least sleep for and up earliest seem to be the better ones - it might be a karmic thing? Though I was up at 6 and at work today for 9 hours, it flew by thanks in a large part to my wonderful staff, who make Getting Things Done easier than I could hope. They take on tasks with no complaints and WORK, instead of sneaking in breaks whenever I'm not watching... I'm truly lucky to have each one of them and don't think I'd be as sane as I am( relatively )without their support. I make sure they have the best working environment I can provide them( regardless of company stupidities )and let them know how much I appreciate their efforts and hard work - sometimes I wish I could do more, but we all work a lot. This month I am going to try to come up with something to do as a group outside of work - suggestions are welcome! Myself, after work today I spent an evening on NWN, my own form of cathartic character-based relaxation. Nich was in fine form again, playing to her strengths while dungeon-diving, disarming traps and her companions alike with wit and charm. Even the two liches she took on solo while... tactically retreating... who hardly knew what hit them, and she made the nasty plants that were the lynch-pin of the adventure regret their actions. It was very satisfying to make the weeds bleed and still have a ton of fun before sacking out for the night for another early morning.

Sept 27 - Treehouses

One thing I've never had and ALWAYS wanted was a treehouse: a cool place to hang out that you can pull the ladder in once you're up there and just let the world muddle on without you for a while. Usually this meant some crazy discarded-wood deathtrap that you and the neighbourhood kids built in the back end of a ravine somewhere that any good breeze would blow over. Or, you could have a look at these amazing treehouses -I like the one that has an exterior spiral staircase, as it looks the most 'traditional' of the bunch. Still, there is one treehouse that is near and dear to my heart, even if it is fictional:

Sept 28 - Routine

I have a love-hate relationship with routine; I despair of falling into a 9-5 rut, where I do the same thing every day and maybe have a 'special' day on a weekend where I go out to Starbucks or something. This was what I found I was doing in ON, when I would work / go to school, go to the Kilt... and do the same thing next week. And the week after. I sometimes wonder where those years from 2000-2007 went, as I didn't keep a diary, but I DID keep my bank statements - I could probably reconstruct my activities from those alone, but I don't really feel or see the need to bother. It was a period of mental survival and soul-searching that probably lasted too long, but then I do tend to overthink things.

But back to routine: I've found myself falling into a 'comfort zone' here in BC as well, where I arrange my work shifts for similar times( closing ), watch the same show in the AM( Kid Vs. Kat )and surf the same websites for news each day( io9.com and related ). While this isn't a bad thing, it means my creative juices aren't exactly bubbling; instead, I am cocooning myself in some ways - which means I am ignoring some things altogether, like my shelf of dusty videogames, DVD's and novels, most of which I haven't touched in a year or more. That bothers me, as I have to wonder what I'm doing with my 'free time' ... but for the last few years, the answer to that has often been 'keeping my sanity from shredding' most days. Now, as the burdens begin to life one by one, I can start to make some choices and see about taking other paths, be they work or personal or both - that's not scary, as I'm coming to see, but instead very much something I need to do.

Sept 29 - Respect

While I was filling in downtown today, the manager of that branch thanked me a few times, saying how I was the rock that the district depended on. It was good to hear it in words what I've worked hard to get - respect, even if it doesn't pay more. I've always been about the people, not the business, and I'm pleased that I've been able to make my co-worker's lives easier as much as I have over the years. Of late though, it's been a stretch, and it's going to get harder before it gets easier in the next 90 days - we need to hire up to a dozen new people and get them on their feet properly. Only then will I feel right about leaving - I won't abandon the remaining staff to their own ends, as I'm the last experienced manager left now that the only other manager with more than 6 months experience has resigned as of today. Burnout, pure and simple - too much to do with too little pay and too few staff to do it in. Same old and I wish him the very best working somewhere new with about a tenth as much daily stress overall as he's had for a year now.

Sept 30 - My god, it's full of memes...

The internet has been variously described as a wondrous repository of knowledge, a cesspool of opinion, and a place where things go to die but instead live on far, far too long. Until they're cool again. Memes are one of those things: things that spread at a viral speed and then fade, only to come back again sooner than you think. You can actually track down those memes that are half-remembered at KnowYourMeme.com, or better yet get a few of them out of your head. Here's a great video from MAD TV that mashes up the new Thundercats cartoon series with dozens of internet memes, including the NyanCat:

Oct 1 - We were Robbed ???? WTF ?!?!?!?!?

I was at work twice today, once to transfer the managerial paperwork for the store I will be taking over this coming week. And once when our local branch down the hill from me was robbed.

Yep. Robbed. Some brazen jackass ran in, waved a gun, got a tiny bit of cash and ran out again. While a customer and my favourite teller were chatting at the counter. Fortunately, nobody was hurt and the teller called me right after the police even though I'm not the manager - I was closest. I winged down the hill and was there in minutes; this is the only store left in the city which doesn't have bulletproof glass yet installed as it's "open concept". Bah! I then spent two hours assisting the police in getting video of the perp( who wore a hoodie, I hate those, a 'boyz' rapper hat and a bandana )as well as helping the teller close the store. I made sure to keep her mood up; she impressed me with her resilience and ability to keep composed after such a scare - I've never had a gun waved in my face and I don't know if I'd have been as calm as she was. Local police think that this was the same scumbag who has robbed half a dozen local businesses in the last few weeks, one of them a toy store! I'll be sure to keep an eye out for the outfits he was wearing while I'm around town this week, as I'm sure the police will as well. I can't wait to sit in on his trial when he's caught, as I'm coldly furious that the teller I care a lot about had a gun pointed at her. For F*ck's Sake, this is Victoria BC, not New York NY... we're in Canada, we write polite notes and thank-you's!!!

I'm Furious and feel helpless. And I'm relieved that she's all right - that's twice this month that death has passed her by, far too close.

I didn't sleep well tonight.

Oct 2 - NOT Thinking about it...

Argh... I tried NOT to go to work today, but in the end I spent 6 hours of my only day off there, grinding through paperwork that I know I won't have time for this week after I start running both branches. I'm still rattled from last night's robbery, as it's the first incident in 12 years in an area where I've worked in where the teller was directly threatened with bodily harm. I just plugged away at my work today and tried not to think about all the things that MIGHT have gone wrong yesterday, and was thankful that things turned out as well as they did.

That's about all I have for this week; barring a weekend off coming up, I'll be working six days a week until the new year when I hope to have most of our new staff on board. At that point, I'll look at taking more vacation time and using said time to dig into job options. Again.

As for the novel outline I'm writing: so far, it's an outline that I add a little to every day, and take away a little sometimes too. I hope that by the new year I'll be able to devote some more serious time to it, as I'm adding ideas here and there as they appear.

Henson, Hummingbirds and Hammocks

The word of the week is: suspense.

Sept 19 - Life Lessons, Escaped

Life is odd and scary sometimes, when you least expect it. Today I had one of my CSR's call in sick, for a very personal medical reason. As it turned out the next day, it was a close call due to the nature of the medical diagnosis, which is all I can go into to respect her privacy. Brushes with reality like that can really hammer home how your life can change with just one bit of news and how you really, really have to pay attention when needed or you'll find out the hard way how fast things can change. Thankfully, she's going to be all right... and I often wonder how my life might have been different if I'd been given news like that, back in the day. Along with other thoughts, like losing a home, supporting my sister and myself while still a student, having to leave school, and more. The list goes on, but I've dealt with them all as best I can and still managed to be where I am today: sane, semi-healthy and my family safe. All the rest is moot, as I still have a future to discover.

Sept 20 - Hummingbirds

Sharing a vehicle is good for saving on costs and for the environment, but lousy for convenience some days. Today, for example: I was up at 6am to drive my dad into work in Victoria, to avoid the usual traffic logjam later on. We breakfasted at A&W, then I went back home to later drive back into town at noon, taking my mom to the hospital for a minor surgery in prep for later in the year to have her other knee replaced. I managed to time things well enough to pick my dad up early from work at the same time, so I was able to be home for most of the afternoon and evening. My activity of choice? Lounging on the hammock outside in the perfect weather: sunny, not too hot and not too cold with no wind and many a hummingbird chirping at me as they visited the two feeders we have on the balcony. They're quite chatty and don't mind coming in only a few feet away from us( as long as we keep still )to chirp away as they flit in and then off again. Their colours are amazing, different iridescent sheens depending on the light and angle - it's a real treat to be this close with so many of them each time I'm outside:

And just for fun, here's a mixup of a boat and a hammock that I just love:

Sept 21 - Downtown Daze

Another early 6am day again; this time I'm the one dropped off, as I'm helping out today at the downtown store to take some pressure off the manager there. We're still short-staffed, so I'm working as a CSR all day to let the manager actually get some paperwork done, as the company is still breathing down her neck regardless of the lack of staff and her anxiety medication; not a good combo. It's Social Assistance Day downtown too, so that made for a fun day standing at the counter all day cashing cheques. Which I don't mind, as the day goes by VERY fast and generally you have fun - the staff downtown all get along very well with 'their' customers so that makes for a genial experience all around. Tiring though, as I had a total of ten minutes all day for both lunch and a bathroom break... I'm not as young as I used to be and not in as good shape( relatively )so that made the end of the day hit harder than I recall. Still, it made a difference for the staff by being there in support, so that was worth it in the end. Nobody freaked out on me either, which I was also surprised at - I must be getting better at psychically calming people.

Sept 22 - Siblings means Sister

Some big family news today: it looks like my sister will be moving out to Victoria before a year is out, which is great! We haven't all lived in the same city for going onto ten years now, so it will be fantastic to have her here close to hand. I'm working on the logistics of things to see how it might work out; we may end up rooming together again( like we did back in university )or something else may work out for the both of us but it's too early to tell right now. It's strange to think that we get along as well as we do, compared to the majority of other siblings, but it's always been that way. Neither of us ever felt the need to torment each other that so many other brothers / sisters do, for which I'm thankful as we both had a much calmer and closer childhood than we might have if we were less... supportive, like these two:

Guess which one is the sister there? :-) Seriously though, I'm thrilled that she's decided to pursue her dreams out in Victoria with us close by!

Sept 23 - Eye Want That House!

I've always liked the James Bond villains for their secret lairs, from which Dr. Evil of Austin Powers fame takes his points from. But what about real life? Are there places in the world, buildings even, that evoke the sense of spectacle and wonder that you get from some of the villain's lairs of bond fame? The short answer: yes. The long answer: soon - news has arrived that Naomi Campbell, supermodel, is having her Russian billionaire boyfriend build her a house on a private island that is like no other on the planet - and that's saying a lot! Check out this site for pictures and plans - all I'll say is that the place is designed to look like the Egyptian Eye of Horus from space, all by itself on a freakin' island in Turkey. How cool is that?

Sept 24 -Training and Jim Henson

Edit: I would be VERY remiss if I didn't mention that today was Jim Henson's 75 birthday... he passed away FAR too young, but he left a legacy of creative delight that has made life more joyous and fun for millions over the years. I know that I loved( and still do! )shows like Sesame Street, Fraggle Rock and The Muppet Show, as well as The Dark Crystal. Google designed their logo today to honour Jim, check out the video:



Not much to mention work-wise today; I spent a lovely afternoon indoors training on how to hire people to get out of the staffing crunch we're in( and have been for years, really ). It was useful and meant I was being paid while not serving customers, which I always like. Too bad I missed out on the mid-twenties sunny Saturday afternoon while doing so; the fluorescent lights inside the branch back room were poor recompense for actual sunshine.

Some welcome news from my new DM, who went out of his way to tell me how much I deserved recognition for the hard work I've done keeping the district intact( not part of my job description, by the way )in the last few years. A BIG difference from my previous 4 DM's( yes, four )in Victoria, who never counted all the things I did on TOP of the job to ensure that things worked in the area - my support role was only mentioned in passing and never reflected in my wages. An oversight I am tickled to see has finally been recognized... but we'll see how MUCH it equates to tomorrow when I talk to him again in detail.

Sept 25 - Thanks to Bugs Bunny!

While watching some morning cartoons this AM, I suddenly realized that some of my sense of humour AND my love of puns must have come from early Warner Brothers episodes of Bugs Bunny. How's that, you ask? Watch the episode entitled 'Compressed Hare' and see how many puns and other subtle comments you pick up on, as I obviously did as a kid, for years:



After a tiring workday, I was pleased to come home and hop online to give Nichneven some rein playing NWN. She was in fine form tonight, with the quips coming fast and funny - she went on for a spell about her extended family, who apparently cover quite a few dimensional area code, which costs a bundle in long distance. I think there's the makings of a second novel in there, so I won't say too much right now - except to say "Stay tooned!" or something similar. To bed early, for an early and long day tomorrow.


Oh, and I was told I DID get a tiny little raise today, which while a Good Thing, I also think is a sop to keep me with the company... as I likely won't be getting the Regional Trainer job. I haven't heard a peep about it yet and at this point don't expect to hear that I will, given the massive staffing crunch we're still spinning out of control on. At least the new DM is working to get new hires in the door and trained ASAP, but that will take at least 60 days, but if anyone else leaves, then the whole area will wobble like a house of cards...

Imitation, Introspection and an Interview

The word of the week is anticipation...

Sept 12 - Week-long Homework

All this week, I've spent my free time building up a training plan for all of BC as part of my interview for an internal job posting as Regional Trainer for BC. The interview's on Sept 16th, so I've put together a 7-page plan outlining all the things that would need to be put into place to make it happen. I don't have any training in training( hmmm... )so I've had to pull in a lot of resources from the 'net, such as ManagementHelp.org. I found that there's a lot of 'soft-talk' but very little free guidance as to the nuts and bolts of training plans / scenarios out there for the layman. Must be why HR and training companies make so much money; they keep their industry cards close to their chest. Still, I've come up with what I believe is a solid plan, so I'll keep refining it every chance I get until this Friday.

Sept 13 - Growing Old

Being alone has been on my mind more of late, which is natural given where I am in life and not having had a lot of time( or emotional space )for commitment( that scary word )until recently this year. I've wondered, as we all have, if there's anyone out there for me... really, truly 'The One' as I'm not the sort to settle for someone 'sort of right' and try to make things work in an uphill battle - no thanks. Seeing this video below gave me hope that spending multi-decades with the same person won't be a ball-and-chain experience, but rather a walk hand-in-hand through an ever-changing journey of discovery and delight. Or it could just be based on laughs and plain old funny:




Sept 14 - Hiding from WiFi

Back in the day, the movie Johnny Mnemonic explored the world of cyberpunk, where people have electronics buried in their bodies and the world is a scary place, thanks to Keanu Reeves. The movie centered around a fictional disease called NAS( Nerve Attenuation Syndrome )which was a result of electronic overload from the massive 'radio wave bath' we all invisibly wander through each day. Which actually leads into real life, as some people have now developed a hyper-sensitivity to WiFi, which bathes us all in radio waves we can't see... but you can see the connection. These poor souls have fled to a place in West Virginia, where there is a 'radio wave refuge' that has inadvertently been created for the use of radio-based astronomy in conjunction with some US Military research bases. Which kinda makes you wonder about these radio waves we're all bathing in...

Sept 15 - Is that you, Jar-Jar?

I like funny, especially funny voices and voices that can imitate 'famous' voices. When I saw this clip, I immediately tried to do a few of these voices... but failed miserably. Of them all, would you believe Han Solo is the hardest to get right on the nose? Have a listen with your eyes closed and see if you can pick out which voice is being done, and remember there's a second clip linked to on the YouTube page - just click the YouTube logo on the video window:



Sept 16 - Internal Job Interview!

Today I had my interview for the position of Regional Trainer for BC at 10am. I went into Victoria early JUST in case the highway was backed up, which didn't happen, thankfully. The interview went for well over an hour, where I presented my plan for training all of BC - the head of HR didn't pick it apart too much, which was good. She asked some pointed questions about how I would handle some situations, which I answered as best I could and with confidence; the job would definitely involve a lot of tracking progress, as well as poking people with sticks to ensure priority is given to completing training modules on-time. I thought the interview went very well and I'll find out about it next week - I'll be on tenterhooks until then, as they won't tell me diddly until the 'yes' or 'no.' If it's no, well... I'm definitely outta here ASAP. If yes, then I'll be bucking for a raise for SURE, otherwise they can find some other sucker; I've been there too long and seen too much to be paid on the cheap for my experience!

Sept 17 - Star Control and Mechs

Hrm, I haven't mentioned games in a while... so how about two that I remember quite fondly from my high-school days - yes, THAT long ago. Apart from the ubiquitous D&D, I also played a tabletop pen-and-paper game called BattleTech. It was a mech-based heaxagonal-map combat game with little miniatures and half the fun was coming up with mech designs that kicked ass. It's been brought intact into the Internet Age for free in the form of MegaMek, which is a community-created freeware game... sans the fancy real-time graphics of the Mechwarrior game series that I also enjoyed. The other game I fondly recall is StarControlII, which doesn't work that well on modern PC's, so again the community came up with a freeware clone: The Ur-Quan Masters. This was a great little game that had the distinction of being FUN with two-players; I actually played it on a friend's 386( pre-Pentium! )and it was a blast, literally. The game's premise is simple: each alien race has a ship with unique powers that will be used to blast the other alien's ship to bits. Let the battle begin!


Sept 18 - Sunday Party? Sure!

Working all weekend isn't as bad as for me as it might be for others; I don't have free time 'blocked' into just weekends like some folks who are 9-5 weekdays, so that's nice. It might wear on you a little though if those selfsame people ARE doing something on the weekend... and you're working. But those are the breaks; at least I can plan ahead and reschedule if need be - a benefit of being the guy who writes the schedule, in the end. Though it hasn't come up more than a couple of times while in BC, to be honest. Today after work I did attend a party for a co-worker, who found out this week she will be attending the 2012 Olympics in New Zealand, which is pretty special. I don't believe I know any other Olympians, so that's cool too... I'm so far from being athletic it's sad, but I don't have the extra padding anymore to really drive the point home. Sadly, at the party, all we did was talk about work as about half the people there were also co-workers... and the other half of the people took over the kitchen. Which is also SOP... the stories were really good though, as they always are - it's never boring most days, which is one of the few good points about my current employment. Which might change next week - stay tuned!


I've been reading Uncle John's Unsinkable Bathroom Reader that was given to me by friends( thanks Josh & Mandy! )and it's MUCH better than I thought it was. It's like a little fact-based slice of trivia in your hand, with each book in the series covering all sorts of topics in its 500+ pages. I'd definitely encourage people to pick up the series; you'll feel smarter after spending a little time parked with Uncle John in the privvy...

Smoke, Sisters and Sunshine

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:

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. 

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?

Sjorgrens, Space and Shocking News

The word of the week is Homunculus. 

Aug 29 - Past Poetry, For The Future 

Today something bubbled up from my subconscious, taking over my fingers and typing itself out on my screen in a matter of minutes. A combination of creativity and emotional purge wrote itself in striking words that spoke so true: 

I have stood in the darkened ruins of my home,

Seen the changes choice and fate have wrought.

Felt the calm hand of duty point for me to roam,

And journeyed long towards what I have sought.

Summer's breeze is light upon my hollowed cheek,

Her gentle hand caresses my graying hair,

And turning my face towards what I now can seek,

Lifting most of the burdens I've had to bear. 

This speaks of my past, of my present and of my future, all at once. I'm pleased with the words that wrote themselves, as they show I've worked through where I've been and am now working on where I will be going. Towards an unknown future, but coming through all that I've had to deal with, I am hopeful that that future will be a far more positive one that I could have seen ten years ago. 

Aug 30 - Noyse? 

Catching up on things stinks... even moreso when it has to do with your neighbours. Specifically, the lady upstairs: today we had a meeting with the head of the rental agency that our unit is managed by. We calmly expressed our concerns over the course of a half-hour, and were impressed by how well said head listened. At the end, he said that he completely believed our issues with the noise from upstairs are valid, but that he needs more than our word to go on. So from today, I have set up a USB mic in contact with the condo ceiling to record the massive noise disruptions that happen every few days. We'll see how well those recordings turn out; if they're still too faint I will look into getting a contact mic designed for that sort of thing. My parents and I just want an end to the constant moving-in noise that the woman upstairs generates from what we can deduce is running a business from her home. We've no issue with that in itself... just the sound of her carrying TONS of extremely heavy objects she stores in the condo to her front door and back, for hours a day. It's excruciating to sit under and should not have to be borne by people like ourselves who have to leave our condo to keep our sanity - no earplugs or normal music can block out the sounds. 

Aug 31 - Space Conquest! 

I did some more running around today; it took me two hours to find a lightbulb, if you can believe it. Seems that the light in my shower is rather unique, so I ended up driving to Victoria to get one; it was cheap, fortunately, but waterproof. Feeling rather frustrated after that, I spent a few hours on the balcony enjoying the weather and reading part of Perdido Street Station by China Mieville( good SciFi! )on my last day of vacation. Then I headed indoors... to play video games. For once, I had an entire evening to devote to playing a solid single-player session of Sins Of A Solar Empire, a game of interstellar conquest for the PC. I absolutely love this 'space genre' of RTS game, hearkening back to the days of Homeworld( LOVE THAT GAME! ). Many hours later, I had finally beaten back my foes to their homeworld... and then I sent in the fleet of capital ships to finish them off. It was my first single-session win in many years( of not playing in one go )so I was really happy when I went to bed - it's not every day you conquer 3 solar systems! 

Sept 1 - First day back at work 

Going back to work was surprisingly less painful than I thought it would be today; I arrived to find the place in great shape, as I expected, thanks to the stellar staff I have. There were hundreds of emails to catch up on and a ton of paperwork, but I expected that as well and dug in with a vengeance. Thankfully most things were cleared up by the end of the day, but alarmingly there was no sign of ANY of the initiatives that head office said they were embarking on over a month ago in July - not good. It remains to be seen if they are going to walk the walk, not just talk it... BUT, there's some good news as well. Seems that a trainer position has opened up for BC just today, so I called the head of HR and she was absolutely thrilled to hear I was interested! There's nothing concrete yet, but it MIGHT mean I can get out of the branch manager gig and finally put my decade of experience to use training people up into star performers, as everyone who has seen my trainees constantly tells me how great they are. Here's hoping for more news soon! 

Sept 2 - International Bacon Day! 

Could it be? An entire DAY devoted to the meaty taste-treat that is bacon? Yes, it's true - TODAY is International Bacon Day! Thousands across the world celebrated the unofficial holiday today by cooking up a sizzling side of bacon-y goodness. Hundreds of websites, including Wired and ForeverGeek posted articles about bacon... it was a smashing success and a holiday celebration I hope will spread further as time goes on. After all, it's BACON, people...

That's all I've got on bacon today. You should be celebrating, not reading about it!

Sept 3 - Sjogren's, my mother's affliction 

A entry worthy to mention today: Venus Williams revealed she has been struggling with a rare disease called Sjogren's, which affects the levels of fluids in your body - in essence, you dry out. My mother also has this disease, which has complicated her life quite a bit as it has progressed; there is no cure, as yet. It's subtly debilitating and requires constant monitoring, though it is not immediately life-threatening by itself. Instead, Sjogren's affects your quality of life in many ways, creating difficulties such as reduced eye function and a sensitivity to things like fragrances, sometimes severely so. I'm pleased in a horrible way that Venus has gone public with her illness, as it is a disease that few people know about and fewer still understand; my mother has had to educate more than one physician who was unaware that Sjogren's was more than a name in a textbook. 

Sept 4 - WHO is in the hospital??? 

After work today I attended a BBQ being held by a good friend, who used to be a co-worker at MMart and wisely left recently to keep their sanity. There were quite a few other current and ex-MMarters there too, whom I enjoyed a few hours chat with outside around a plastic bag with a flashlight in it to simulate a campfire. We talked of many things, some personal and more than a few funny and ended up sharing YouTube videos on my tablet - favourites were 'LLamas with Hats' and 'Charlie The Unicorn' among other offerings. 

BUT: At the BBQ, I was shocked to hear that one of my staff was hospitalized yesterday, having become so dehydrated after a few days of illness that she had to be admitted to the local emergency ward! She is apparently stable, but I am extremely worried and will be visiting her tomorrow ASAP to check up on her - this is totally out of the blue and I'm not going to sleep well tonight at all, knowing she is in the state she is in. Not good, not at all. Thoughts and positivity all on her swift recovery!!! 

Ah, crap. Here I thought I'd be enjoying 3 days off with perfect weather and I find out that someone I care about is in hospital. Goes to show you that life never really lets you relax when you want to... but with good reason sometimes. Right?

Friends, Family and Flights Of Fancy

The word of the week is fulfillment.

Aug 22 - A brief evening in Milton

One of the nice things about where I am staying is that it is within walking distance of a local Tim Horton's, among other things. So I have been breakfasting there every other day or so on the cheap; a bagel BELT and a tea provide exactly what I need to fuel up until well after lunch. Also, the local Timmy's have started providing free WiFi internet access, so that's an added bonus. Today though, I was feeling rather tired while I worked on my blog, which didn't help as I discovered that while I can type up docs on my ASUS tablet easily, the web interface for getting them INTO my blog is fraught with minor glitches. I spent hours alternating between naps and trying creative solutions to finally end up with my blog online, before I headed out to Milton ON for a brief evening with Rob - I was too tired to handle anything else today.

That visit was a good one, as I arrived at Rob's place right on time after getting a picture of Ned Devine's, a local hangout that has a story attached to it from my last visit years ago( Dustin Hoffman's wrapped up in that story, too ). After saying hello to his wife Leanne and his two boys, we headed out to a patio at a local pub to catch up. As with all my good friends, it was like the years between us fell away and we chatted about a lot of things broad and deep. It was incredibly good to see Rob, who again was still the same friend I'd met in high school all those years ago, all wrapped up along with family duties and career aspirations - neither of which has changed him in any way save for the better. It was with regret that we called it an early night, as I didn't know when I'd next get a chance to catch up in person... I was back in Niagara by 11pm and hit the hay worn out.

Aug 23 - Family and Friends

 
A major reason for vacationing in Niagara was to see my relatives, those of them that I could in the time I was in ON. I arranged to visit several of my aunts and uncle for the day, traveling from Niagara Falls to Grimsby to see them all in one place. In the hours we talked, I mentioned several things that they might have inferred over the years about the troubles my parents and I faced that resulted in our moving to BC. I was happy to see how open I could be with them and how supportive of my decisions they were, given how little contact we've all had. I was especially pleased to spend time with my uncle, who is not in the best of health and whose memory has started to fail him in major ways. It's difficult to juggle memories of being young in a crowded family gathering with the quiet afternoon with just a few retired relatives; in my mind, I am still ten and sitting at the kid's table in the kitchen, while all the adults squeeze into the dining room. It's a hard thing to reconcile memory with reality, and harder still when memory starts to fail.

In the evening, I was at Jack Astor's( the original one! )with three former MMart co-workers, having managed to forget to invite several others who were not on an updated FBook list - my technical bad. We had a good time remembering old times, as well as catching up. They were all very glad to see me, as I was them - it's a mark of how much we enjoyed one another's company that we still find the time to talk years later and thousands of miles apart. Good people always will, really. I just wish more people could have made it out... but we all have to move on and prioritize.

Aug 24 - The Kilt Again!

‎In the Falls today for lunch with my friend Brian and our buddy Ray, who has a car sales business there. We grabbed some food from Garrison's Grill on Thorold Stone Rd, which was excellent - big subs, with thick real bacon and great turkey. Ray caught me up on a few things, but in the main we really enjoyed just shooting the breeze on a sunny afternoon without any time pressure. It was great, and just one more reason to enjoy having the time off to do things like that.

Of course, a Wednesday evening in Niagara HAS to be spent at The Kilt, so I was there in plenty of time to snag a patio table with Lucas. We were joined by Dan, Dave, Shawna, Nigel, Scotty and Matt K. and later on Matt L. It was a great group to be with as the sunlight dimmed and we dug into our $2.50 wings, despite a few nosy wasps. The light continued to fade far too fast as we kept track of a developing storm on our various devices - the deadly tornado on Sunday in Goderich ON was fresh in our minds. A little after 6:30pm the rain started and by 7pm the storm was in full swing, with lashes of water falling from the sky and reams of lightning making it bright as day over and over. Power failed to various parts of the city and did not return by the time we remaining few left around 11pm, soggy in the rain. It was a good night to be on the protected patio though, as the storm didn't dampen anyone's spirits - I was in very good company.

Aug 25 - BOOM goes the thunder!

Not a lot of sleep for me last night, as a SECOND storm front crashed its way though Niagara at 3am. Rain and hail rattled the windows while lightning lit up the sky continuously for almost an hour, with bolts tens of kilometers long. Check out this radar map of the 12hrs from 6pm PST Aug 24 to 6am PST Aug 25 and you will see the MASSIVE fronts that swept through the area.

I managed to get back to sleep after an hour when things subsided and was rested by the time I headed out to lunch with more family at Cafe Amore in St. Catharines. It was a good afternoon, though I didn't manage to catch a snooze before heading to the Lake St Starbucks around dinnertime. I snuck over to Pizza Pizza across the street to grab some dinner, pleased to be able to enjoy one of their pizza pockets as there are no locations in BC on Vancouver Island - they're pretty good as pizza goes and the Lake St. store is big and clean.

Back at Starbucks, I visited with Dan, Shiloh and later Mike, along with Sarah K. who was there too. It was very similar to years ago when we would gather at the Fairview Steebs( Starbucks )but I prefer this newer location, as it is far less crowded with more space, as well as being less noisy - you can actually converse easily inside at any time of day. We all talked on various subjects, but the one that came up that caught my muse was talk of writing... seems to be a theme this visit. All too soon we had to call it quits, but we lingered in the parking lot as the wind rose and we tried not to simply turn all our separate ways, again.

Aug 26 - How Messed Up Am I?

I was in Welland in the morning for a long-overdue massage therapy treatment, my first and thankfully it was at the hands of a good friend. They examined my range of motion and quickly determined that my back and neck needed the most work, which we set to with determination. As it turns out, I wasn't in terrible shape... but I was definitely in need of an RMT and again a few more times when I return to BC. My neck and upper back have seem continuous bouts of tension, with me pulling my neck turtle-like into my shoulders and hunch, as though trying to avoid being beaten about the head with stress-sticks. Not good, and by the next day I would be quite sore in my neck and shoulders... but standing noticeably taller than I was while hunching. As I had been doing unnoticed for years.

After a lovely waitress-centric warm-up at the Kilt in the afternoon, I was at a friend's in St. Kitts for a BBQ gathering by dinnertime. There were burgers and cheese dip( Groo! )galore to be enjoyed by many friends who dropped by. The weather co-operated nicely as well, though I managed to pick up( only )a half-dozen nasty mosquito bites on my sandaled feet as souvenirs that would be angry red for quite a few days. We gathered inside as it grew dark to continue our breeze-shooting( and some shots for me )with an electric miniature Mini-Cooper planted on the living room carpet( it belonged to my friend's child ). Gatherings like this are why I love visiting ON, and it really made my heart ache as every single one of my friends kept asking when I was moving back from BC - not if, but when. I've discussed things as best I'm able with most of them and I don't have an answer, save that I've never put moving back off the list. When the time and cost are right, I will need to decide if that's best for me when the choice needs to be made... but it's leaning more and more towards the east, not west.

Aug 27 - Packing Up, Last ON Day 

Breakfast in the morning was on the patio at The Bleu Turtle in St. Kitts, along with Lucas, Dan, Josh and Rene. This was somewhere I had never been before, as they opened only a month before I left in October 2007. Their kitchen is graced by a trained Chef( note the capitol )and the food is supposed to be amazing - I am pleased to say that nobody was disappointed. I had the French Toast with Apples and Oatmeal with a Maple Cream sauce... oh my, was it tasty AND filling! Perfect to enjoy while sitting on a patio in warm morning temperatures with friends, despite my error in updating FBook that left another friend at a wrong location - social messaging fail #2 this trip, annoyingly. I headed back to pack, then spend a few more hours with Josh, Mandy and their Aria - mainly trying to get an iPod Shuffle to work with Aria's song CD's, which kept on giving very strange errors( Josh got it to work hours later, finally ).

I spent a few hours at Romby's on Lake St. with Lucas, Shawna and Nigel, listening to the dulcet tunes of James Moore live over beers. It was a great way to end my stay in St. Catharines with friends, as the sun was shining in through the windows. Again, I was reminded of all the reasons to return to Niagara, sitting in the company of such fine people and not influenced even a little by the free beers. Shawna and Nigel drove me all the way to Hamilton in plenty of time to catch my flight, with several pit stops along the way and a lot of good conversation. The two flights back to BC were uneventful, though we arrived in Calgary late and the other flight had to wait for us - I found that out at the boarding gate, as nobody on the Hamilton flight told us to hurry up. On both flights I ran through a few TV shows on my ASUS Transformer, finding that using an external drive manages to drain half the battery in about 3 hours. Not bad, but not great, so I think next time I will put some shows on a USB stick or flash card to save power while playing. I arrived in Victoria rather tired, but was picked up and arrived home after a stopoever at Timmy's well before 1am... which by then was 4am EST and boy was I tired. I fell into bed and slept dreamlessly.

Aug 28 - Sleep and more sleep

My morning vanished into early afternoon, as I alternated bouts of snoozing in the warm sunlight with unpacking my things and putting everything into its place. Amazingly, it was quite warm here, with my room reaching over 30 degrees by noon despite the effort of several fans - shades of Niagara, anyone? I took advantage of the good weather to spend some time outside in a hammock, then moved over the The Bean for some tea... but no peanut butter cookies, sadly. The new owners haven't been doing a good job of keeping regulars while attracting new business, which doesn't bode well for the slower season approaching - they've lost some staff and are about to lose more, so I can only hope that they'll still be there in the spring( heck, I may be in Victoria itself by then ). In the evening I was on my usual NWN quest with friends, which was a fairly talky one that engaged my negotiating skills... atop trying to make a lot of chatter interesting for everyone else who wasn't talking. It was a good three hours of conversation, not action, which was good as I was feeling rather tired again. Once my blog was updated, it was almost midnight and I turned in ASAP - a quiet end to my travel weekend, which was nice.

 

And I still have 3 more days off - bonus! 

 

I'll update my FBook albums with the Niagara Trip shots on Monday, as well as a few other things. I'm back in BC now, but my thoughts are still far away in ON...

Travel, Tribulations and Tummies in ON

The word of the week is friendship... 

Aug 15 - 48 hours until ON 

It's all about the anticipation, folks. I've checked and double-checked things here, ensuring that my car rental details are in place, that I have my ticket info for the flights( just in case )and that I've updated / added all the people I can think of to my email lists to get the word out independantly of FBook - which not everyone is on. I've packed up a large suitcase and a small carry-on, with the necessities and a few frivolities that will make the trip easier in many ways, though again I am going to travel light and forgo my usual multiple changes of clothes for any weather eventuality. From what I can see, Niagara will be humid, fairly hot and only have a few days of rain out of the ten days I plan on being there - I can't count on the perfect weather that's followed me around for the last few vacations, though a few years ago the intensely hot weather that Jay's wedding took place in can be counted as an anomoly, I hope. No, this trip is going to be all about making time to meet with friends and family, while hopefully taking some time to just have to myself.

With most everything in readiness for the trip, I took some time off today for myself and went to downtown Langford, to sit at a table at a little corner cafe I've passed by for a year but never found time to sit AT for a while. I always wanted to just go there for lunch and people-watch, so today I did. The turkey sandwich was dull but filling, the latte was light and too small for the price, but the seating was perfect.

Aug 16 - The Day Before Annoys
 
Today I ran errands and generally got final things ready for the trip, spending time around the place as needed. I did get out of the condo around noon, as the crazy woman upstairs was pounding around like there was no tomorrow - she has all the grace of a bull elephant trying to tapdance and does it at all hours of the day( and sometimes night ). So I went outside to soak in the sun in my hammock, figuring it'd be quiet next to a golf course in the afternoon: nope! Three women watching their kids play in the track-court were actually louder than the children, blathering on about the most inane things at such a volume that even headphones couldn't drown them out. So I went next door to the( former )Bean to relax outside on the patio as I have done so many times before with a tea and cookie... but  that was not to be either. At first I ignored the over-perfumed woman sitting nearby as she chatted on her phone loudly, but eventually I had to move to face her directly and indicated via looks that she could better pursue her business needs at full volume elsewhere; point to me. Yet no sooner had she left than another woman at down to sip a coffee( unlike the first )and flipped open HER cell to chat with a friend... for a full half-hour, about nothing at all. Disgusted, I left for home to take a nap and then pack before an early night... maybe this was just BC trying to hurry me on my way to ON tomorrow AM? Perhaps... I'm able to ignore annoyances for the most part, but when people are shouting into their phones or at the world for long periods of time, human nature is such that you want to shout back. I won't, so I leave... in this case, the province!

Aug 17 - Arrival in Ontario! 

Travel days always feel longer somehow, especially when they include time changes. I was up at 4am BC time and out the door soon after to catch  my 7am flight; the airport here on Vancouver Island is less than an hour away even in heavy traffic, but I made it there in plenty of time. I did manage to annoy a security guard by handing him my empty tea from Timmy's, but hey: I needed it this early and there were no garbages provided - who knew? It was a brief 1-hr flight to Calgary and an almost immediate transfer to the Hamilton flight, with a bright daytime sunlight window-view of Canada the whole way. My seatmates on both flights snoozed, so I alternated between watching TV episodes on my ASUS tablet and looking out at the endless varigated green vistas of Canada rolling by below. Lucas was able to pick me up from the airport soon after I landed( thanks, my friend!!! )and I was in St. Catharines well before dinner, being dropped off at where I am being graciously hosted while in Niagara at my good friend Josh & Mandy's. Of course, I ended up at the Kilt for the evening; Honest Frankie was playing and was happy to see me, as he was leaving the next day for PEI so good timing all around there. Many of my friends came out to see me off the bat: Lucas, Brian, Mike, Simon, Dan, Katie, Shawna and Nigel... they were all there and some stayed until closer to midnight.

Aug 18 - A WHOLE day at the Kilt? Sweet!

Breakfast was at the Sunrise Cafe on Hartzel Rd, with my good friends Josh and Dan. I had some of the finest french toast anywhere, in a place I miss more than most restaurants I've been to. Soon after lunch, the rest of my day was steered away from Starbuck's on Lake St by none other than Lucas who wondered if we'd be better served with drinks after lunch at the Kilt. So down we went, grabbing the VIP seats on the corner and proceeding to watch the sunlight slant ever sharper as the day passed on. I thoroughly enjoyed  the entire afternoon and then the entire evening at the Kilt, with drinks arriving regularly and good company throughout; one thing the Kilt has never had a dearth of is pretty, competent help in all the years I've been going there. By all accounts, I was rather more entertaining than most people there( I thought so too! )and I smiled the the whole time - a rarity for me. the weather was excellent, with a heavy downpour early in the day leading to perfect cool evening weather - perfect for sitting on the Kilt's patio to reminisce about Things Past and muse about Things Yet To Pass. Still and all, I eventually headed home; I had had more drinks in the last 48 hours than I'd had in the past year in total... and being out of practice, I had foolishly neglected to keep up my water intake. So, on to the next day...

Aug 19 - Ouch, my stomach... 

There's something to be said for experience, as well as learning from the past. On my 30th birthday( held at the Kilt, naturally )the drinks flowed so frequently and fast that I regretted it for several long, uncomfortable days afterwards where I did naught but sleep and hydrate. Today was a similar experience, in that my head was fine... but my now more-sensitive stomach was certainly NOT. I thought I was fine when I woke: a clear head, a little tired and thirsty but otherwise okay. No sooner had I headed out to berakfast when I felt my stomach wake up and complain that it wanted to part company with me for a while to recover - that's bad. I met Lucas and Rene at Frego's on Lake St along with Josh, Mandy and Aria... but I couldn't eat; I broke out into a cold sweat( literally! )at the thought. I did manage to nibble some dry toast and sip some OJ, but I endured the smiles and good-natured ribbing at my expense as I watched everyone else enjoy their breakfasts, until I could be driven back home and hydrate myself into a 4-hour slumber. I was feeling much more normal by dinnertime, when I headed out for the evening again after picking up my car rental - see a pattern here? Tonight though, we started out at Shoeless Joe's on Geneva St, which I picked because of the name. My friends and I arrived, ordered a drink each... and then we put down the menus once we had eyeballed the prices - ouch! We quickly left for the Kilt again; Matt, Josh, Rene Lucas and I were joined later on by Paulino and Ryan. We had a patio seat and the place was hopping, but I kept my drink level to a minimum and made it through just fine, thank-you-very-much. It was definitely a shorter, more relaxed night that saw a lot of people-watching as well as a few promises made, one of which was for me to really dig into getting into shape before the year is out. I may have lost a fair amount of weight over the last few years, but overall I haven't done much else for my physical health, which Paulino pointed out in his usual competitive way. Which is good to see, as I've known for a while now that I need to move beyond just 'being me' and try to get my health on an upward path, before too many years pass and it starts declining naturally with age.

Aug 20 - Saturday On The Road

Wow, can it be? Breakfast at the Sunrise Cafe twice in a week? Well, I shared a meal with Dan, having some time before heading up to Bolton, ON to visit my friend Dag. I followed the directions of my Garmin GPS most of the way there, with a minor hiccup when I arrived in-town that was resolved with a phone call - nice how that works. I visited for a few hours with he and his girl Barb, in a lovely home with a rather verdant backyard by a river. It was really, really good to see him, as it had easily been ten years or more since we last got together. I'm pleased to find that with friends like Dag, the years in between meetings matter very little, though the topics of conversation do tend to change as one ages. Neither he or I have kids, but we both still maintain the same worldviews, sense of humour and a love of tech, so it was far too soon when I had to leave for Jason and Ruth-Ann's place in Georgetown. I left feeling reconnected to Dag which I was really happy to find - score one for keeping in touch by 'net!

It was a bit of an adventure getting to Georgetown, as my GPS battery died 3/4 of the way there, so I had to stop and charge it at a gas station which elicited some odd looks from passers-by. After another quick phone call to confirm their address( which I'd had wrong, BTW )I did arrive a little late at Jay's place around dinnertime, just in time in fact for leftovers - something I am always happy to help clean up with! Jason's mother and her boyfriend were there, so we all spent a few hours visiting and catching up before they had to leave and baby Anya was put to bed. More hours were spent g33king out with Jason, as we compared the merits of our respective Android tablets - he has a Nook Colour, a great machine in a 7" format that is highly moddable and one I had considered myself before I got my Transformer. We traded app names and talked about many other things until close to the witching hour, when our respective days caught up with us both. They kindly put me up on a couch downstairs, as their home renovations are almost done and the guest room was full of stored items anon.

Aug 21 - Sunday Beersbie - MISSED it!


Ah, Sundays... times when you want to sleep in, but also jump out of bed to get things done before the weekend is truly past. Today leaned more towards the relaxed, as I breakfasted at Jay and Ruth-Ann's place then spent the morning with them and their lovely new bundle of joy Anya. They are also the proud owners of a hairless Egyptian cat named Cleo, who was a cuddle and didn't take much getting used to as she had a gentle nature. It was great to see them both and their new arrival, who has a lot of really fun toys that I regretted I was too old to play with anymore - brought back memories, they did. All too soon I had to leave, with definite plans to visit again as soon as I could - like everyone I have seen in ON so far( EVERY one! )they asked when I would be moving back to Ontario... and I don't have an answer for that. Yet.

The drive back was another adventure, as I was chased by not one but TWO large angry stormfronts: black clouds and lashing rain that spawned a tornado in Goderich, ON - a town not too far from where I was. I made it to Niagara somewhat later than I had hoped, thanks to having to stop for an accident in Hamilton ON( nobody looked to be injured, thankfully )and the fact that I made a stop for lunch and gas... so it was closer to 4pm that I rolled into town.

Which stank, as I was supposed to attend the annual Beersbie Tourney today, which I had thought started at 4pm-ish. As it turns out, it began at 2:30pm and when I arrived at 4:30, it was literally the very end of things: Shawna was taking her final shot and won the tourney in the pouring rain as I got out of my rental car and crossed over huge puddles to congratulate her. Simon, Rose, Lucas, Dan, Shawna, Nigel, Matt and his girlfriend all went inside with me to wait out the rain a bit, then watched me play an 'exhibition' game with Simon... we both shot terribly and ended up with a 1-1 score and a draw game by the time the rain returned. What else could we do but take things down the road to the Kilt? It was only supposed to be for 'one drink' but as usual our stay ended up being until well after 10pm, when only Lucas and I were left talking with a large-sized nice guy by the name of Tim. By that point I had had more than a fair share of drinks, but I'd also had an entire pitcher of water so the effects were mitigated... despite being gulled into having at least 2 shots with the very pretty waitress who, I am told, rarely does even one shot with people, even regulars. Point to moi, thanks - it helped make up for my bitter disappointment at travelling thousands of miles and not being a part of Beersbie in any meaningfully competitive way. I left for my bed that night in a far better mood than I had arrived in, despite the rain... heck, I even slept fairly well too!

I'm writing this late on Monday afternoon, as I was too worn out last night to complete my update. The time change has caught up with me and I'm not sleeping fully thoughout the nights, so I'm planning on catching some rest as I can during the remainder of the week. Lots to do, but also lots of time to do it in - vacation rocks!