Pictures at last ...

Finally... after months and months, I have the pictures I want AND I know how to post them to the blog - a good combination. *** I've added pictures from my neighbourhood and my new apt all throughout this blog. Read on...


Feb 18th - the Return of Groo!

I worked at another location today, the one near the 2-for-1 $5.00 movie theater. I was all set to see a double feature tonight of I am Legend and The Golden Compass... but I checked the marquee on the way into work, and they'd replaced Compass with P.S. I Love You .. ick. So, I just went home to read the new copy of Watchmen I'd bought before work at one of the many local comic shops. I've heard about this mini-series for well, twenty years now, but never actually picked up a copy to read it. Now I have it all in one lovely yellow-jacketed book. And to TOP it off, I discovered that Sergio Aragones has come out with a NEW limited series of the Groo The Wanderer comic book... nice! On a side note, check out the 10 Coolest Toys from the 2008 New York Toy Fair... I just have to try to find that kite!


Feb 19th - So long, little buddy ...

Soldiering on, I spent the morning working on a few things around the apartment. Spring cleanup, I guess you could say... which it certainly seems like, with no snow and temperatures in the low double-digits: sweet! Oh, I sold my old PDA on eBay last week, my versatile Asus MyPal A716. Having taken in trade a Dell Axim X50v, I no longer needed the little guy and so gave him up to a good home. Too bad the bottom fell out of the PDA market a year ago, or I might have gotten more for the A716... I just can't see myself trying to use a smaller smartphone's screen instead of a PDA; too tiny!
Interestingly, I heard today that B.C. will be celebrating it's 150th year as a province this year. I guess I sure picked the right time to move to 'The Best Place On Earth' ... right before the biggest party in a century and a half! As well, the Province will be giving every man, woman and child a Climate Action Dividend cheque for $100.00 this June, part of the government's recent pro-environment budget.


Feb 20th - Crazy at Work, literally.

Got a call this morning that a co-worker was rather ill, so I agreed to come in in the late afternoon to finish off the shift and cover for her; strep throat isn't something to mess with, so she's staying home. Of course, no good deed goes unpunished, as they say. The evening finished with a crescendo of crazy an hour before close: a crack addict( or similar drug )wandered into the lobby with a friend, and wouldn't leave. She was well off her head, having misplaced her cheque or somesuch... the bottom line was that she was freaking out in the lobby( and getting worse despite her sane friend's attempts to calm her & get her out of there )so much that I had to call the police to have her removed. Reason and patience didn't count for much when her eyes were rolling back in her head like a zombie chewing on fresh brains. I felt helpless, in that there was nothing I could do for her - her suffering was plain to see, but at the same time I had to step back and realize that she was in it herself, and that I would just get dragged down if I did something stupid to try and help her immediate situation. She was still waiting around, howling outside the store, as I closed up and went home, to sleep rather fitfully and ponder the fragility of the mind.


Feb. 21st - My Ship( ferry? )arrives at last.

I worked the mid shift today, after a morning spent groggy from lack of sleep. Amusingly, the same woman from last night came in just after I started work. 'Carrie' apparently found her cheque, and was much, much calmer... but one could see the dark waiting behind her eyes, even in the bright sunshine pouring into the lobby. Amazing what a difference a night can make, making evening the craziest addict seem almost normal at more than arm's length. Shocking. Still, good news with bad, I suppose. My ship came in today, so to speak, so monies owed to me are coming back in decent enough quantity that I will be able to pay down a few things that have been hanging over my head like the Sword of Damocles. About time too, give the current rates of interest... that and a good tax return means I won't be wondering which ends to try and stretch to meet this month's month-end, for once. We'll see about next month, but the outlook is good.


Feb. 22nd - First Day Off of a 3-day weekend!

I started off the day with breakfast at Quizno's, then off to give various places their dues early. It felt good to pay things down ahead of time, instead of waiting for the bills to come in at a larger size than they were a few months previous. A nice, nice feeling for a change. It's not a lottery win by anyone's definition, as THAT would be conducted in a limo with cash leaking out the windows. Still, small steps in the right direction are GOOD, no matter the size of the coin leakage. The rest of the day was, in a word, spectacular. I spent part of it walking the neighbourhood( it smelled like spring, warm and sweet! )taking pictures in the brilliant sunshine and sipping a chai tea at the Cook St. Starbucks. That was very relaxing: the village was FULL of people going about their business, stopping to chat with one another and smiling... so many happy folk I wanted to sit there and smile like a fool myself, but I restrained myself to a wide grin. After a surprise call from Rene & Shiloh( miss ya!! )I spent the evening watching various things on TV: some recorded eps of Robotech and Shadow Raiders, and the ever-popular The Fifth Element, one of my more Fave Films.


Feb 23rd - The Much Anticipated Pics!

Surprisingly, I didn't watch a single cartoon this morning, as I was quite busy cleaning the place up to take some pictures for this blog. Here's one taken down by the coast, ten minute's walk from my front door:

I spent a good deal of the day out and about, doing the usual "Hey, I forgot I needed that..." shopping, returning things that don't work, and generally getting good use out of a rented car. Evening was partly spent online with NWN, as I ran into an old friend and caught up with her for a bit.


Feb 24th - Lazy Sunday at the Parent's Place

Well, kind of a letdown today, but at least it was productive. I had breakfast at home, then did some work on the PC for a bit( backups are boring ). Picked up for lunch at Quizno's, where I tried out their new 'Sammies' ... basically small toasted flat pita's in four varieties. VERY tasty, and the pitas were SO fresh, like poppin' fresh squishy. Yum! After that, it was hours spent putting things together at my parent's place... patio sets can be SO fussy. At last the cat was happy to see me, and he didn't have to help aside from drooling all over.
Evening was relaxing too, as I was feeling worn out for some reason.



Well, I managed to get all the pictures up at last. Apparently Blogger.com had issues Sunday. From the top, the pics are: 1) Moss Under a Bench 2) The mountains to the south 3) Greenery on Feb. 22 4) my New Apt on the Day of Possession 5) More Greenery in Feb 6) The Coast 10 mins south of my new Apt and 7) my new Cozy Apt Setup.... plus a Sunset to finish it all off.

"Why do we always come here? I guess we'll never know. It's like a kind of torture, to have to watch this show...."

Feb 11th - Hear that phone ringing?

Worked the early shift today, nothing special really, just another day and another dollar made. I did set up a telephone for my Internet phone service in the evening. Months ago, Mike had found me a lovely old-style telephone which I kept after moving out here. I now have it and another phone plugged into my Vonage service, so that calls made to me here will ring with that lovely old-style bells-banging sound. Can you say nostalgia? Beats rap ringtones any day, IMHO.

Feb 12th - Cheap movies around the corner

I was up earlier than I'd have liked today, as I had to figure note which busto take to work this morning. Actually had to take two buses, the one that runs past my apartment and swapping to another one I was not familiar with. Fortunately, they have an excellent transit guide here in Victoria, so I was able to pick the correct route without too much trouble. It was actually easier than I thought, and I learned a few things while waiting at the bus stop: a few folks were talking about the markets on Yates, right across the street. Although expensive, there is apparently quite a good variety of fresh fruit and other delicacies not found elsewhere in the city. I may have to stop there another day and have a look, as I have driven past there dozens of times and never bothered to stop. Just goes to show you there's always something new just around the corner.
Work was okay today; I enjoyed working at another branch for a change, even though I'd been there before. the customers are different and interesting in other ways. They ask for a lot of change, which I don't find odd, as this branch is on a corner near a busy intersection. Also, there is a movie theater several doors away which plays discount movies on a 2-for-1 basis. Currently playing: I Am Legend and The Golden Compass, neither of which I have seen. I I might take an evening off next week and go see a cheap double feature for a mere five dollars, plus popcorn of course( those of you who know me know I almost never buy food or drink at the movies ). Because they just charge too damn much....!

Feb 13th - RRSP's, Taxes and a nearby village

A lot of things done around the house today( house, apartment, same turn of phrase ), which means it's slowly coming together bit by bit. I did go to the bank today and talked to them a little about RRSP's to help maximize my tax return. I talked to a lovely young woman with the whitest teeth I've ever seen outside a Crest commercial - yikes! Either she had them bleached, or the toothpaste she was using was fluorescing under the bank's lights. It was quite startling.
I should mention, if I haven't already, that my new apartment is right in the middle of two shopping areas in my neighborhood. Cook Street Village is to the west, and it's quite charming as the name implies. Aside from the Beagle Pub( one of many fine places to eat in the city ) there is a nice little grocery store called Oxford foods, which has some really amazing specials from time to time. Now, some of you might find this a little boring but I would like to describe the area in some small detail. There is a post office, opticians, laundromat, flower shop, diner, bookshop, antique store, walk-in clinic, hair salon, lawyer's office, Mac's convenience, video store and a few other places. There's even a Starbuck's, right across the street from their chief rival, Serious Coffee - both of them have nice outdoor patios that I plan to try out in the nicer weather ahead. Even now, a few folk do sit outside during the day, non-smokers all, as there's no smoking allowed on these fine patios. I love it.... especially since there is a SECOND Starbuck's in the opposite direction at the Fairfield Plaza, again only ten minutes walk away. I'm truly well set for my shopping needs here, it's just fantastic.
I spent the evening finishing up my taxes and submitting them through Netfile. I managed to pay less than $20.00 to file them online thanks to a promotion through my bank - nice! I should be getting a decent if unspectacular return this year( for once! )thanks to the incredibly expensive costs of moving out here to Victoria. not that it will offset very much of what I've already paid, but the short-term should be very nice to have in hand were paying some upcoming bills.

Feb 14th - Valentine's Day: Do you know where your heart is?

Nothing special today: I closed another branch( again )on the evening shift, which was very relaxing. This particular branch tends to be very very slow after seven o'clock in the evening, which is fine by me, as I can relax and make sure I get all my work done before closing time. There was even a Subway nearby, which I stopped at before work - cheap Subs of the Day! No candy hearts though.
---> Down the road, only a block away and less than 15 minutes walk is the Pacific Ocean. Why and my mentioning it here? I think it's just amazing that I can be down at the waterfront in less than 20 minutes from where I live. And were not just talking about a crowded strip of shoreline here: it's all park land in the view is unblocked due South straight to the mountains across the water. The clouds and sunshine some days makes an almost magical picture in its serenity.... photos coming soon I promise.
There was another anniversary today, ten years ago this year, but nobody but myself and one other will ever likely mark it. Heck, who am I kidding: only I remember...

Feb 15th - Call of Duty calls me once more!

After working the mid-shift today, I hopped onto Xbox Live after getting home and ran into a few of my friends playing Call of Duty 4. We played quite a few games for a couple of hours straight, and I am proud to say that I acquitted myself very well for not having picked up a game controller for months. I only wonder what I could be like if I played a more regular basis. Still, with all the work I have to do with Cyberwalker, my plate is quite full for the next month or more.

Feb 16th - Neverwinter Memories

I opened the store today and had a really good day overall. Everyone was in a really good mood, both staff and customers included. Maybe it has to do with the sunshine this weekend, which of course I'm working both days of. Still, if it means that everyone is happy, I can deal with it.
Evening saw me run into an old friend on Neverwinter Nights, while patiently working on my Nichneven character on a new server( the old one went down before Christmas ). I was very pleased to have run into her again, and we spent a few great hours adventuring and reminiscing both. There are quite a few people from Neverwinter( Lands of Nordock server )that I haven't seen much of, even through email contact, and I'm hoping that will change soon with the re-opening of the old server under new management. Still, we have some fantastic times there in the last few years, and I cherish those memories. Though I didn't spend nearly as much time on that server as many of the folks there did, it was amazing to me that almost every session I gained in was memorable in several ways. As a writer, the stories that developed were fascinating for some of their plot structure and their characters( with the players providing the twists of course ). Some real friendships have developed with people I have never seen face-to-face, and perhaps never will save through their avatars. What a world we live in.

Feb 17th - Blu-ray: 1 HD-DVD: 0

I opened the store again today, after spending a little time yet again in a nearby Starbuck's after stepping off the bus. It was a gorgeous day outside, with brilliant sunshine blazing down on the buildings across the way, though it was a little chilly in the shade, from what people told me. I had a great time with my coworker, whose sense of humor is always well-timed and witty. Working with such people over the past seven plus years has been my privilege, and I hope that any future job I take will have even half as many great people as this company has had.
On a side note, it looks like the high definition DVD wars are finally drawing to a close, and unfortunately it looks like I backed the wrong horse: HD-DVD has lost to Blu-Ray thanks to the power of the open market, despite HD-DVD being a better format than Blu-ray( shades of Beta vs VHS, anyone?. Still, it means that for the next little while, I should be able to pick up quite a few HD-DVD titles and good discounts as the stores clear out their inventory. Considering that I don't watch all that many movies, the ability to build a quality high-definition movie library cheaply appeals to my budget sense. $2.99 !!!


Yet another week draws to a close. I found out this week as well that a good friend of mine is now pregnant, way back east, so she and her hubby are thrilled along with the rest of us. Congrats!
Also, for those of you interested in the process, it takes me about an hour or more to do each of these blogs... I'm using some voice recognition software called Dragon NaturallySpeaking to help speed things along at about 140 WPM, but it still takes me a while to edit it all and insert the links. Presto.

Hokay, here you are: your Weekly Dose of Me. Go easy...

Feb 4th - The Fiddly Bits Never Cease to Move

Yeah, you guessed it: I spent today working on my place again. I still find it amazing that I can spend os much time for so little apparent result, but really it's all about organization.
Also, it's about relaxing after yesterday, I'm still pooped... averaged one customer every 3.5 minutes for 8 hours straight, plus phone calls and other daily duties... yeesh.
Also on my to-do list: fix my parent's laptop. Again. After resurrecting it from the grave this past summer and upgrading it to Vista( hi Dan! ), it's apparently decided to cough up a new problem, one that's OF COURSE hard to diagnose: the power LED flashes three times when the on button is pressed. That's it. No mention of this little problem anywhere that Google can find...


Feb 5th - Back to work

Yep, worked in the afternoon... and it was teeh-grindingly stressful. Apparently though I was insanely busy on Sunday, I managed not to do certain small things correctly and managed to tick off the store managed( more than I usually have so far ). Sad to say she's really sick this week as well, so she doesn't need the stress any more than I do. Seems I can't do much of anything right, as it results in doing two things wrong in the process, even with fiddly checklists to help me form proper work habits in the new branch. I went home feeling wrung out, tired and worthless as a long-term employee, not a good combo for someone in the business of money risk-assessment.

Feb 6th - Dah-dah-doh

Again, stress at work. Lovely people, teeth-grinding details I can't relate. I'm certain that Dante would have included these things as one of the 999 Layers of Hell if he was alive today. Sleep was a relief.

Feb 7th - Movies

Read the above. Nothing else worth mentioning, save that I'm keeping an eye out for either a) an explosion of grey hairs or b) a trail of hair falling out as I sleep. Neither of which appeals to me.
So instead, let's look at what I promised to list last week: my Fave Movies! Now, as some of you may already know, one of my all-time faves is Groundhog Day starring Bill Murray. I could watch that movie again and again, which may confirm some folk's more arcane theories about the soundness of my mind. Moving along: The Dark Crystal, which blurred reality and fantasy in the days before CGI; thanks Jim. Spiderman( heck, what kid doesn't want to be Spider Man? ), Forbidden Planet( some of the best sci-fi ever ), The Road Warrior( teeth-shaking post-apocalyptic road carnage! ), The Shawshank Redemption( beating the system ), The Star Wars Trilogy( 3-for-1 there! ), Aliens( bug-blasting action horror ), Metropolis( the benchmark for all SciFi films to follow ), The Matrix( yeah, I know, but it had KILLER W.O.M. before release! ), Blade Runner( so lovely it hurts to watch ), Donnie Darko( feeling trapped, anyone? ), The Princess Bride( my sense of humour 100% ), Brazil( the system beats YOU ), The Purple Rose of Cairo( how you can beat the system but lose anyway ), The LOTR Trilogy( one word: hobbits! ), Blade Runner( so good it deserves mentioning twice! ), Citizen Kane( hubris and so much more from the Forties ), 2001( a stunning visual work of art and mind ), Superman( we miss you Mr. Reeve ), and Life of Brian( laugh when it hurts ). This is by no means a definitive list, but as you can see it's long on Fantasy and SciFi, and quite short on romance, with a leavening of comedy tossed in. Horror, not so much, nor mystery, nor drama... I get enough of all three in my daily life, hence the somewhat escapist Movie List. *smile*

Feb 8th - Respite

My day off started fairly well, I went in early for an ultrasound to determine the size and severity of my gallstones. Hopefully I can work with my doctor on non-invasive treatments, as it's my firm belief that original equipment like a gall bladder should not be removed without thought being given to long-term health effects. I've managed to manage( hah! )that particular problem( among several I might add )without any painful relapses for almost three years now, through diet and exercise alone. I really don't want the thing chopped out if it's going to shorten my lifespan or do other things to me long-term; something to discuss with the doctor.
The remainder of the early morning and early afternoon I was out doing various things, when I received a call from one of the local stores: could I cover a shift for a sick co-worker? I said yes and so worked the evening shift at another store, and loved it. It was just me and the passing cars through the window. I had time to deal with the few customers( slow night! )and get ALL of my duties done properly, which was a huge relief especially being at an unfamiliar branch.

Feb 9th - Saturday Shopping in the crowds

Wow, talk about shopping 'till you drop. Skipping the AM cartoons( not much on of interest anyway ), it was out first thing in the parent's rental car, a nice Mazda3... stylish and comfy. Not taht there was a lot of exciting things happening, but we did end up with a full day and a full car: mostly storage boxes for me, bought on the cheap so I can store all the little bits and knacketts that I've accumulated. Since my new place is VERY short on closet space( where I usually stuff all the bits ), I have to put the boxes on the shelves... and since cardboard looks like crap, I went for tweed. Much better looking, and durable too. Heck, they were CHEAP, so I may stock up again on the next sale. Of course, I don't have a lot of room with all the books I have...

Feb 10th - a new laptop ... well, almost.

Sunday Shopping: once the bane of religious zealots everywhere, now nobody thinks twice about blowing hard-earned cash on materialistic gain on the Lord's Day. I certainly don't, and never did. That said, I was on the road again today with a specific goal in mind: laptop replacement. I had settled on a nice Toshiba model over at Staples, not too pricey and full of enough features to satisfy the less technically-inclined retired couple, such as my parents. The purchase wasn't helped by the sales clerk, who looked like he'd rather be back in ESL class; honestly, he did nothing to help the sale at all, aside from checking stock. And guess what? All they had was a 'restored' model, aside from the demo. I should have taken that as a warning sign, because sure enough, I set it up at my parent's place a few minutes later to discover a bright red stuck pixel smack in the middle of the screen. Stuck pixels: bane of my tech toy existence. So back it went to Staples within the hour for a rather smooth return... and then I discover that they won't credit my card until up to 48 hours later. So, no laptop for my parents today, or tomorrow... and all of this in the pouring rain. I tell you, when it wants to RAIN here, it does. Still doesn't quite match the ow-the-drops-are-raising-welts pounding that a good summer rainstorm in Florida will give you, but it's mean enough to soak you six times from sideways. Then the sun arrives to blind you with the wet glare on the roads, all within a few minutes. Yet... it's still better than snow. *grin*
I went out to the Irish Times Pub here in Victoria to listen to some Celtic music courtesy of Daniel Lapp and his bandmates. The pub was a great place, huge with two stories inside. I downed a Guinness while feasting on a great veggie burger, the only way I can get close to beef these days. I was out with some new friends from the building, and we had a great time; intellectual discourse was never so much fun when in a pub. I look forward to my next night out!
The late evening was spent working on a few projects, including a PAYING writing project that will be published in early summer - more on that as I'm allowed to release info. Deadlines... lots of fun when you work ahead of time on the things.


Thanks again to the Anonymous Poster on my last blog entry: it warms me to know that I'm on some folk's minds of late. Especially given the total lack of Punnage they've been blessed with in my absence. I can almost hear the brain cells rejoicing... miss ya folks.

The Shortest Blog So Far - Yay!

Hey there folks Out There Somewhere, this will be a short one, compared to the last few! As always, I never know if anyone's reading this... but heck, I write it anyway!

Jan 29th - Bills

Yep, I went through a whole bunch of bills today, as well s a ton of other papers. Took me a few hours, but I finally feel organized again... to a small degree. It will still take me a few weeks to get things put to rights around here, every book in its place and all that. More work. :)
At least my writing career seems to be taking off. No Great American( Canadian )novel sales as yet, but one has to start somewhere. I'll take getting paid for a series of small articles on a regular basis, yessiree! At least I won't be going into web design; my two efforts so far, Nichneven.com and ChurchOfTheBanana.com are great for what I wanted them to be, but will be making me exactly nothing, forever. At least it was fun designing them, and I can put some of my lighter creative work into new stories on occasion for both sites.
Speaking of light, my good friend Shiloh called me tonight on my Niagara phone number, so I was thrilled to talk to her. Sadly, she related some bad news on several fronts, so I felt my own problms shrink by comparison... sad how that works, too. Still, she's one of the few people who have called me, which is bitter as I've sent out numerous emails with my # in them, reminding people they can call me for FREE from Niagara. I guess it just goes to show that people get a little too busy for the small things.... and that I should be more proactive in calling people, at least for a little while. Maybe next week!

Jan 30th - Back to work, doggie!

Not much to say, worked in the evening today. As usual, everyone I work with is fantastic... which makes the STRESS I'm being put under there all the more bitter. Not that I can get into details, but for those loyal blog-readers out there, I have mentioned the reason already. Sad to say, it's only getting worse. It's a true juxtaposition of people versus paper, ironic in all it's mind-shredding glory. Suffice to say, I'm not sleeping well at night, and I'm finding grey hairs now... *sigh* Not what I need after the last four days of sweating buckets to get my place in order.

Jan 31st - Short Sh(r)ift Day

Same stress, less working hours. I know that everyone, in every job since the dawn of time, likes to complain about their work. I'm no different, but I do know this: nobody cares. :) Those few lucky souls who are in jobs they love better watch out, 'cuz I'll find you, and douse you in cod liver oil then set some starving cats on you - you've been warned.

Feb 1st - A New Month! TV Shows!

Welcome to February, when the thoughts of the young turn to love, and the thoughts of the older and wiser folk turn to paying their Christmas bills. Myself, I went to work for the early shift today, opening the store and generally not enjoying myself. It's sad when almost eight years with a company means little in a new branch... but I won't go into that. Suffice to say( love that phrase )that escapism seems to be on a rampant rise in the last few decades, as people find new and exciting methods to push the daily job grind from their minds.

Speaking of escapism, I've discovered I have quite a few favourite TV shows( insert audience groan track here ), so I thought I'd share a few of them here( since it is my blog, and I can )in no particular order: Babylon5( my all-time fave show!! ), Stargate( SG-1 and Atlantis both ), Undergrads( only 1 season! ), Farscape( Jim Henson, we miss you! ), Samurai Jack( amazing visuals and writing ), Battlestar Galactica( the new one ), Alias( still working in it Mike! ), Firefly( even Kris couldn't un-cool it ), Reboot( ah, Tara in 1998! ), Dave The Barbarian( the wacky humour is RIGHT on my level ), MegasXLR( only a few weak eps ), Star Blazers( introduced me to Anime! ), Robotech( futher fanned my fan fires for Anime! ), Thundercats( one of the coolest cartoon intros ever ), Venture Brothers( a total sendup of all things cartoon ), as well as quite a few shows that are off the air from years past... but thanks to DVD, we can BUY reruns now instead of just waiting for the networks to recycle them. Isn't consumerism grand?
Next week: My Fave Movies...

Feb 2nd - How to Miss The Bus

After my ususal disappointing saturday morning cartoon meh-ness, I went to work for the closing shift. All in all, it wasn't so bad... except for the fact that after finishing as best I could as fast as I could, I missed my bus by sixty seconds. I'm sure everyone can relate to that sinking, frustrated feeling you get in the pit of your stomach as you see your buss pass by... or pull away from the stop ahead as you break into a yelling sprint... ah. So I discovered the hard way tonight that I lived exactly thirty-three minutes away on foot, at a Missed-My-Effing-Bus-By-Less-Than-A-Minute walking pace. Good exercise, that, in the cold too.

Feb 3rd - a Day Alone @ Work.

I was on my ownsome today for the short Sunday shift: I both opened and closed the store, just like I used to to back in Niagara... save there, I didn't have nearly as much initialling papers to do. *cough* Oh, and since everyone at work is sick( some with strep throat! )it was soothing to my twitchy sinues to not have sick folk around - best rest in bed kids, and get better soon. Of course, it was a BUSY day, so by myself I got exactly five minutes to both eat AND take a pee break - no fun, especially if you know how fast I usually move when it's busy. Snag that for 8.5 hours and can you sad, TIRED? Yeah.... at least I caught my bus. Barely. I have to say though, my choice of residences rocks: my bus route takes me to within a block of work, and goes past ALL the places I might need to go. I may not even buy a bike until later in the year, just a bus pass. Um?
Of course, more work when I got home: laundry! There are two pay machines here, at only $1.25 a load. Not exciting, but not having to leave the building to do laundry is a BIG plus... hanging stuff to dry in my bathroom is not so great, but again it beats killing hours at the laundromat, time I can spend doing other more productive things. Got three loads done in a few hours, with minimal trips on the stairs: nice. Rene also called from work, which was great! He's one of the Few Fine Folks who call me... miss ya, big guy! :)
Now a-bed, to dream of all the work I can get tomorrow on MY DAY OFF. *happy tired sigh*

That was a bit longer than I'd planned... but if I was able( willing? )to write down ALL the things I wanted, I'd be here for hours every week. Plus, this would become a Bloated Blog...

It's January, and where's the snow?

I've decided to do these updates Sunday nights, so that those tuning in will know when the next update will be. Of course, your best bet with the time difference is to check Monday morning, as I'll likely be updating after work... more on that later. This blog runs until mid-week in late Jan as well, so the next one will be a bit shorter... going easy on my readers, I guess.

Jan 20th - A short Day, with Vampires

I worked a short shift today, none of it on counter duty( well, save a few 'helpers' when it was busy )so that was nice. Now that our hours have been cut back due to things being slow, I can actually get a few days off in a row... good for the mental health, bad for the pocketbook. Oh well... one of these days I'll parlay my vast life experience into a career of some kind, instead of learning to deal with soul-vampires disguised as people every day. Where's my garlic....?

Jan 21st - Same Crazy, Different Location

Basically today was working at another store, my first time doing so here in Victoria. It was rather different, as any new place will be. Though the daytime was rather slow, the evening picked up considerably, so much so that I was glad to simply escape back home afterwards. Interestingly enough, there were no crazies today, for a change... and change was what this place was all about, being on a busy urban corner on Quadra - everyone wanted change, for their laundry, small business, or what-have-you.

Jan 22nd - Cloudy ... no wait, Sunny. Nope, clouds... and sun?

The weather here in Victoria is rather varied. When the forecast calls for rain, it doesn't seem to mean it will be JUST rain all day; the pattern seems to be morning rain, some sunny breaks, afternoon rain, a nice sunset, and rain overnight. Rather more pleasing than simply having grey skies and buckets o'water from the sky straight on all day. The temperature curve is rather steady as well; instead of a crazy up/down zig-zag pattern, it's more of a gentle median curve that hovers a few degrees above zero; cool, but comfortable enough if you dress for it. The ocean being so close means that wet cool winds do crop up, so ensuring you're not under dressed is a must. Oh, and I worked until the early evening today. Nothing exciting to report, thankfully.

Jan 23rd - a Bit on Local Scenery

I worked in the early-ish AM today, and was home by dinnertime, which was almost like having a normal daytime job - weird feeling, that was.
Here's a side note on Victoria: it's not your typical suburb-mall-suburb layout. Not at all! What I LOVE about this city is the fact that it's NOT your typical city layout, where vast tracts of suburbs are interspersed with the occasional strip mall or plaza, with separate downtown and commercial areas. Instead, Victoria( see the huge local attractions list here ) manages to blend it's very urban downtown core with a mix of surrounding homes, businesses and several shopping areas. The rolling rocky hills of the city provide pleasing vistas to the eye, as each property has different attributes depending on how it is blended into its own local space - rocky walls, mature trees and other geographic features make each yard, park or other zone unique. Winding roads meander through heavily-treed suburbs of unique homes built on hillsides covered in trees and mossy rocks; no cookie-cutter suburbs here. Heck, down the street from my new place, there's a WALL of rocks, cliffs really, that are part of a small park that goes VERTICAL - all part of the visual candy here. There's even the Galloping Goose Cycling Trail that runs 55km through all this beauty.

Jan 24th - Fixed another problem

I went and saw a few people today about my parent's situation, and made arrangements to take care of that. No details, sorry; this sort of thing doesn't lend itself well to metaphors, but let's simply say that stormy skies are now looking much more calm, with a hint of sun later on. :)
I also have a visit from the Victoria Welcome Wagon, that I almost missed due to all the running around. The nice woman by the name of Pat, dropped by to drop off a TON of great info and small gifts from local merchants. It's a great idea, and I have a stack of local info now to go through to help me better know Victoria.
We went off to Sears after that to get our orders seen to, all of which came in THIS week, of course. I helped get my parent's items over to their place this evening, which was a lot easier with the loading dolly I had purchased( with amazing foresight, I might add )in my first weeks here in Victoria - it's come in QUITE handy since then for all the various moving jobs we've had.

Jan 25th - Workaday, workanight, repeat.

I worked later in the morning today, which turned out to be a nice day save for one person, whose brittle nasty attitude again made me wonder how he's managed to almost reach retirement age without someone rearranging his face( or other body parts )for him in painful yet interesting ways. Part of my job that I can tell you about is updating people's information in the computer; pretty standard stuff in customer service, confirming that their phone# is the same, etc. When I asked about other info, he lost it totally, for no reason at all, suddenly launching into a rant about having lawyers investigating misuse of his information and a ton of other paranoid babble that made me question his sanity. Needless to say I did my best to reassure him, but sensing he was simply looking for someone to vent on, I got him out of there pronto. Would that I had the gumption to simply tell him he was a crazy old man and that he could find somewhere else to do business... but I don't take that tack, even though by the end of the 'conversation' I wanted to tell him EXACTLY what I thought he should do with his attitude. Some of these stories and more can be found at CustomersSuck.com - check it out. it's rather amusing there.
Fortunately, he was the only Idiot Of The Day, which was a miracle for a Friday....

Right after that I went to Sears to pick up my bookshelves, which have finally come in. There were quite a few, along with a dresser, so it was a job to get some of them back to my place in the evening. We managed to only get about half of them there, as it was a big order and I was the one carrying them, box by box, from the car and then up the three flights of stairs. Only after I had got the second batch up the stairs did I discover that the very nice folks at the Sears loading dock had given us ALL the bookshelves... including the ones we hadn't paid for, and that I had no room for either. While it's nice that Sears doesn't mind if you over-order, I don't believe they'd be in for giving out free product... and to be fair, it was both a large AND complicated order that took some straightening out in the first place yesterday. Nice CSR's they have at Sears here!

Jan 26th - The Work Weekend Arrives

Cutting short my morning cartoons( the sacrifices I must make... )to get an early start on the day, I headed back to Sears to get the remainder of my bookshelves straightened out. Good thing we know exactly what will fit in my place... as well as the rental car. We had it all finally in my place by early afternoon, and spent the rest of the day and well into the evening putting the things together. Only a few tiny missed nails in all that too, and I was quite grateful to have an understanding downstairs neighbour( whom I had warned beforehand about the imminent noise for today and tomorrow ). That's pretty much the word for the day: bookshelves.

Jan 27th - The Build Job is complete

Another early-ish day; up and building bookshelves until well past 4pm, but we got the job done... finally. I put out a ton of empty cut-down cardboard boxes, whose contents are now sitting in a somewhat organized fashion on my new shelves that line the entire outside wall of my apartment( and incidentally add another layer of insulation to the place! ). I'm also going to be putting in a layer of Styrofoam behind the shelves to add to the insulative effect; I have a pile of saved styro from various furniture and other boxes from the move that I can now put to good use, as it's almost all in thin sheets. Waste not, want not, especially here in Green B.C.
I must say, the place looks a LOT more like a home now with( almost )all the boxes gone and shelves making neat rows along the walls. It feels less cramped as well. Now all I have to do is get it organized.

Jan 28th - Day Three of Four days off.

I wish I had something more exciting to put down here for today, but all I did was rearrange things from boxes. Oh, and finally get around to wiring up my sound system, so that I can bypass that pesky problem with my Xbox's sound - no luck in getting either LG or Microsoft to find and/or fix the problem, so I can either fix it myself or return BOTH the TV and the Xbox... which I'm not willing to do, with only the one issue( annoying as it is ). At least the speakers seem to have survived the trip intact; amazing to think that a cheap eBay purchase could sound so good, given the mileage on them. Goes to show that money spent wisely can pay off sometimes.
I was beat by the end of the day, but the place looks MUCH better now; I'm about 80% done, with a lot of move-this-there and that-to-here organizing I can do on and off in the next few weeks. The important thing is that the MAJOR bits are in place, now it's all fiddly from here. Once I get it looking tidy, I'll post some pics - trust me, it will look quite neat and cozy!
My movie choice tonight was Underworld: Evolution in HD - Kate Beckinsale looks great in Hi-Def, even with the vampy overbite, and who cares if the plot stinks? Just hit 'mute' and put in your own dialogue, like the old Mystery Science Theatre 3000 did, which incidentally is being reborn for a new generation, check out the news here. Heck, the show is very similar to the old Rick Green series Prisoners of Gravity, which is one of my favourite TV series from my early formative years watching TVO... and would explain much about me for the years following.


All for now - Comments are as always welcome.

What's a week worth to you?

It's amazing how quiet an audience can be, especially on the internet. I have no idea how many folk are actually reading this blog as I've only heard back from about 3 people I know who have mentioned they've read it. *chuckle* So it goes.

Jan 11th - back to work and Meet The Neighbours

Just an ordinary day, worked in the afternoon. Thankfully, it went uneventfully. I met some of my neighbours today too, so that was good; this building I'm in seems to be VERY quiet, so I made an excellent choice. My downstairs neighbour has been very helpful with a few questions I had so far, and everyone I've me seems very friendly. I've even got used to the buses that rumble the place every so often, but as I've mentioned before, it's nothing compared to the vast hordes of buses that passed the Landmark every hour. This is a placid pond in comparison!

Jan 12th - Boxes, boxes, and more boxes

Looks like I know what I'll be doing for the next few weeks( months? ): unpacking. At least I can watch TV while doing it, as the place is small enough to see the wall-mount from anywhere in the main room. I've booked off four days at the end of the month when the bookshelves from Sears should be in, so I can assemble them and load 'em up with consumer goods / books / whatnot.
I worked the evening shift tonight( sorry I can't go into details about WHAT does go on at work, but it's the privacy policy I have to adhere to )and that meant that I missed a chance to see everyone at a wine & cheese party thy were all attending tonight. Oh well... sometimes the timing just doesn't pan out.

Jan 13th - The Xmas Party

I opened the branch today, and it was quite a nice day overall. I was off in the early afternoon and headed over to my parent's for a bit to get ready for the Xmas party. in a few hours... which turned out to be rather hard to find. It was at a marina over in Esquimalt, down an unlit back road whose sign at the MAIN road was hidden completely from one direction, which of course was where *I* was coming from. Even the GPS couldn't find the address, which tells you something.
Still, I made it with time to spare, well before the rest of the crew showed up in a limo, of all things. The company was excellent, everyone was having a lot of fun, especially the ladies at the end of my table; my hearing has yet to recover from their enthusiasm. One thing bothered me though: the place was COLD. I mean, down by the water, a bit of chill is expected, but for some reason it was ICY in the place. Of course, I was one of the few folk who weren't drinking, so I guess everyone else was too 'happy' to notice. An hour after dinner and well into the karaoke, I was glad to head out to get back to someplace WARM. Unusual for me I know, who doesn't feel the cold( save for the arthritis, but that's different ). Ah well... it was a good party, and a lot better than a few of the annual work functions I've been to before. Victoria has a great crew!

Jan 14th - Missing Mailbox Key

I opened the store today, and things were rather quiet across the many branches, as expected after last night's party. I went to check my mail... and discovered my mailbox key was missing, thanks to the newly-broken keyring I pulled from my coat pocket. A quick check confirmed that ONLY the mailbox key was missing, so thankfully I wasn't locked out of my apartment( and I gave a spare set to my parents anyway ). Still, I can't get my mail - the key is circa 1962, and a quick call to my landlord confirmed no spare for THAT existed. I talked to my neighbours, who confirmed that they keys were both rare and unique to each box, so that ruled out a simple copy of someone else's key. Where MY key has ended up, I have no idea, even after a search of my place, the car, work, and my parent's. I ended up going right to the post office and getting my mail forwarded( within a few business days )so I can avoid getting my inaccessible mailbox stuffed while I think of another solution, whatever that will end up being.

Jan 15th - After a great start, I spent the whole... day ... driving around.

My first day off this week... and I had it PACKED( pun intended ). This morning I had a GREAT Skype meeting with the folks from Cyberwalker.com, and while I can't give out any details, the news was VERY good about future work with that wonderful team. As a writer, I'm very pleased, and it looks like I'll have a LOT to keep me busy in that department for the next while!
I spent the rest of the day driving around, getting various things straightened out with places like The Brick regarding missing deliveries etc... painful. I even went to Future Shop about my defective 360: they told me MAYBE next week, there might be some new 360 Elites coming in. No promises though, and I've been offline for MS Live for a month now; annoying. On the BRIGHT side, managed to find a GREAT deal at the local value village: a Panasonic Genius microwave in working condition, for only $35.00 - a bargain! I tested it in store by heating some water, and it worked perfectly. Since my 1-week old stainless steel Genius doesn't fit properly on the counter, I'll take it back rather than try and balance it on a board or something( and look stupid in the process ). Besides, that's quite a savings... too bad they didn't have the thing a week ago at Value Village when I looked; just goes to show you have to keep checking. At least I got to eat at Arby's today, in between driving around. Nice!
I should also mention that as always, there was a plethora of pretty ladies walking around. One in particular I should mention, as I was rather disappointed with the person, not the presentation. This lovely woman was in line behind me at London Drugs, pretty as all get out( and obviously knew it )as I was asking about the possibility that I had lost my mailbox key in the store and it might have been turned in. As I attended to that, this vision approached the Guest Services counter as next to be served... and asked for a pack of cigarettes.
My heart broke( well, it was dented anyway ). Not that I'd even exchanged a word with her, but to think that under that veneer of pretty, poisons and possibly cancers were eating away at her from within, all due to her addiction to something whose sole function is to make money for people who care only that she live long enough to buy a few decade's worth of smokes. It makes me angry and sad at the same time, to know that in a few decades her looks will be withered by the weed, and all she'll have in return is the likely possibility of a fatal doctor's report she hopes she'll never get. Bitter.

Jan 16th - Tax Training and Microwaves

I attended the Tax Training seminar we had for work today, at another branch. There were less than a dozen of us there, and I was among the most senior present. I didn't expect it to be overly informative, considering I've done taxes for a few years now, but I was wrong. The trainer we had was excellent, she went into detail about a ton of things that I had not been trained in in previous years, and all in a fun and friendly way. We all blazed through the training and were done the day well before dinner, which was nice, as I had a lot still to do.
I took back my brand-new week-old barely-used microwave tonight, as it just doesn't fit on the counter- the little support legs are about a half-inch too far to the left on the one side, so it leans against the fridge. I wrote four reviews later in the evening on epinions.com, check me out under 'modicus' on that site. I like doing those, as they share my tech product experiences with others who might be doing the same kind of pre-sales research I do before making a tech purchase. Also, it keeps my writing chops in tune, as well as testing my after-a-long-day-job-day stamina in being able to write coherent sentences on my own time. Soon though, the day job might be a fond memory, if I'm able to type-my-way to a living. Working from my own living room? Sweet.

Jan 17th - Some bad news, taken in stride

Of course, good news has to be balanced by bad, and that came in this morning. My parents, who have retired here to Victoria, got some not-so-great news about a dearth( lack )of supplies pf certain forms they need for some of their retirement planning; not good. It looks like it will be a few months before some parts of their needs fall into place, which places a rather awkward strain on them, and so me as well( since I can't stand by and do nothing ). Needless to say, it's going to be an interesting few months ahead in that regard( sorry about the lack of specifics ) ... so I'm going to have to reexamine some plans I'd made for the spring and put a few ideas on hold. Happily, it's not a disaster, as I tend to plan for the worst, since this sort of thing has happened to me again and again over the years. Sitll, it's disappointing to be right about planning for the worst.

Jan 18th - Another day off, so let's de-stress!

I only spent the morning out and about, gathering a few more items for my place, including some flexible plumbing hose... more on that in a moment. I had found the PERFECT A/V rack at the Brick( on sale no less )to fit above the corner fireplace in my apartment. That was no mean trick, as I've been looking everywhere for weeks now for a tall, not-too-deep corner shelf / rack / thingie, to no avail. I was even considering ones from the USA from a few websites before I stumbled across this one while out earlier in the week. And, it's black, so it doesn't stand out.
As those of you familiar with me may have guessed, I spent the afternoon putting the thing together and then packing it with all the various tech toys I've saved over the years, including my PS2( thanks Rene! )and even a Turbografx-16... yeah, it still works. Once I get the place to rights I'll get the sound system working, but for now it's enough to have about half of it all working. Oh, and that tubing I mentioned? I cut it to size, and packed all the various wires that ran to the TV into it... so now I have a neat-looking black tub running from the black TV to the black A/V shelf. Amazingly stylish. *grin*

Jan 19th - Cartoons and Working

For some reason, my left leg's been aching this week, despite the Lakota I've been taking as usual. Hopefully it's just something I did while moving, but I'll keep an eye on it; I don't want to add to my new doctor's list of problems to fix just yet.
Morning cartoons were briefly amusing; there's a new show called 'Storm Hawks' that uses some cutting-edge cell-shading CGI that is very similar to another, somewhat older show called 'Dragon Booster' - it's like a comic done in CGI, marrying the best of computers and traditional animation. After the amazing Reboot series by Mainframe, I've kept an eye on this technology, as it looks to have promise in quite a few areas. Plus, it just looks darn amazing.
On that note, I worked the evening shift... which dragged on another 1/2 hour past when it was supposed to, due to some issues I won't get into with my signing off on everything. Thankfully I didn't have a bus to catch, or it would have been an even longer end to the day.


That's all for now. On a curious note, this blog seems to be turning into a journal of sorts; the two are very similar, but I've always thought it a blog as more of a stream-of-consciousness thing, whereas a journal is a diary of events. Maybe I'm blending the two here? I've been so busy it's hard to mention any observations I've made about life out here compared to back East, but I am trying to note them as I see them, and eventually they'll make their way into this blog. Until next update then.... with more puns.

Catching up from the beginning of the year, wow... it's been a busy 2008 so far! I knew it would be, so here I am writing this blog at 11:23pm PST Jan 10th - yeesh!
Please comment( below each blog entry ). I love to get feedback / razzes / gibberish( some kinds )on the blog, if you're reading it... just a sentence would be lovely, folks. Thanks!



Jan 1st - New Year's Day

Sucked back some more Tylenol and tried to get rid of a hangover headache... which is odd, seeing as I didn't have a drop to drink the night before. Go figure. Did some writing today, and relaxed.

Jan 2nd - Back to work.

Worked in the early afternoon today, it wasn't that busy. Checked on all the things to get ready for the move to my new place next week - lots of details to finalize.

Jan 3rd - A new Doc.

I met my new family doctor today, an ex-pat from England. She seems quite nice, competent and rather fun, we seemed to hit it off well. I hope she'll be here longer than the year she's said she's over for in Victoria, as she looks to be quite the doc to have. I told her my various medical oddities, none of which seemed to phase her, which is good. She was very positive about getting my needs met, so I have a positive medical outlook for the rest of 2008. Nice! Worked the rest of the day again, same as yesterday, a little busier but not too bad.

Jan 4th - Early to work, late to bed on a BUSY day

Worked the early shift today, it was decent overall but I was pooped by the end of it. Seems I can never get quite caught up some days, go figure. I spent the early evening running around again, including picking up various bits of hardware for my new place's AV setup. Nice to know all the secondhand bits I've hauled across the country will finally get wired together into a working whole.... thanks, eBay, for all your help over the years. I swapped a lot of boxes around in the storage area at my parent's new place, to better facilitate the move this Monday AM.
I chatted the late evening away with my friends via Skype, hunched over my tv-tray table setup in the temporary condo - not good for the back, and it's bloomin' hot in there too! It was great to talk to everyone again, though I had to do it one person at a time; they were at Starbuck's at the Fairview, so the crowd was loud. The video was bad too, but that's just the way it is right now.

Jan 5th - The Weekend starts

I worked later in the morning today, so I managed to get a few things done and packed before then. The day at work wasn't so bad, nothing unusual to mention. Again, the people I work with make the day fly by most shifts; it's too bad we have to deal with such stress all the time, but I think that's why the humour we all employ so often is so vital, as it helps reduce the tension, Heck, it's a lot of fun too, for that matter. The evening flew by, and I only got a little packing done.

Jan 6th - the Day Before

I was up at 7am today to finish packing all my things from the temp condo, and I managed to do it in plenty of time before working the afternoon shift. There's quite a pile of boxes set to go.

Jan 7th - Moving Day!

Turns out to be a beautiful sunny day after the usual predictions of rain: hooray! I was at my parent's place for 8am, awaiting the arrival of A to B Movers for 9am. Two big guys and a truck showed up a little after 9, and went right to work. They made impressive time, getting both the condo box pile and the storage area cleared out within the hour - we're talking dozens of boxes here, including all my 2000+ count book collection( that's a lot of boxes there! ).
They stopped at the temp condo to pick up another few dozen boxes, including the TV, then off to May St. where they hustled it all up three flights of stairs. Did I mention this included a couch and a loveseat? I was impressed, as they were done by 1:30pm... and I had a 1-bedroom apt stuffed full of boxes. You might have guessed that I spent the rest of the evening unpacking things, with some help by my parents, bless 'em... have to love the retiree work ethic.

Jan 8th - Moving, Day Two

Yes, it continues! Up early again, for the delivery of my bed & mattress from Dodd's. Oh, and a small table too, can't forget that one. The two guys hauled the stuff up the stairs and assembled it in record time, rather impressive for the bed in the limited space of the room I have. Looks great in there though, and damn comfy. Too bad I didn't even get to test it with a nap, as the day kept on being busy. Atlas TV came to install the TV on the wall around 1pm, and I must say it was a professional job all the way. The thing swivels like a dream on the mount I purchased( at a dear price ), so that I can watch it from any point in the main room. It looks fantastic! Better yet, my timing of the install was perfect: as soon as Atlas was done, who should show up but Shaw to put the HD tuner in? Yep... great scheduling all around, glad there were no problems too. As you may have expected, I spent the rest of the evening unpacking... while watching the TV. Yah! My first night in my new place was COLD though - it's heated by a fireplace, which is nice, but it's in the other( main )room. Supplementing it with an efficient space heater in the bedroom works, though again it's going to be cool in the morning walking around; guess it'll wake me up some. Hard to believe the windows in this place are single-pane glass, with no real edge-seal to speak of... which means it should be lovely in the summer.

Jan 9th - Third Day In

Yep, I have four days off work( thanks guys! )to get this move seen to, and it looks like I'll be needing ALL that time to do it. The place is mostly to rights now, after I spent the morning sorting boxes like crazy into some semblance of order. All the kitchen and bathroom stuff is away, the bed's set and my clothing's mostly in wearable condition. Heck, I even set up the PC today, and DAMN but it looks like Shaw's got a fast connection; I'll speed test it later.
Of course, I was still short on minor things, like food and some other consumables, so I spent the evening out( again )getting things from a list... yay, more money gone. *sigh* I had dinner at the White Spot over on Mackenzie, and it was very good: chicken ceasar salad with calamari on top. Quite tasty, and the service was excellent. I ended up with a new microwave too, as the one I'd hauled across Canada STILL stinks of burned popcorn, despite my intense cleaning efforts - in a small apartment, that spells B.A.D. ... and it was a Panasonic Genius 4-in-1 to boot. *sigh again* However, I found a great little deal at London Drugs this same night: a NEW Panasonic Genius( not a 4-in-1 though )for practically a song, with new features and stainless steel to boot. Took a bit of juggling but I swung the deal and took the thing home... and went to bed. So... tired.

Jan 10th - Last Day of the Move

On the go again early today before 9am, over to my parent's place to set up their TV and internet, once the Shaw guy was done. He did a great job too; turns out the place has a wiring cabinet in the back of one of the closets, so the modem, routers and sundry cables can be neatly tucked away... once I'm finished with them next week, that is. For now, it all works just fine. At least their place is pretty much to rights, with just a few boxes remaining to move from the temp condo tonight; they're doing that themselves.
I came back to my place for lunch, then went out again for the rest of the afternoon to collect the remainder of my list, as well as help my parents with their own things. We had dinner at the Arby's at the Mayfair: the Two For $4.00 Ham Melts are back! Mmmmm... sourdough. Back to my place to relax for the evening, catch up on some emails, watch a little TV and then write this blog... and here we are. Back to work tomorrow afternoon, which should be ... fun.

A whole month in ONE blog entry - yowsah!

They said it couldn't be done... that it shouldn't BE done, but I did it anyway: I've compressed the entire month of December into this ONE blog entry, to catch all of you folks up. I've only done the highlights, cut out all the boring stuff, and thrown in some tidbits for spice. Enjoy!


Dec 2nd to 9th - I find a place to call home

Sunday, I worked. Not much happening there - same kind of people, different city, more rain.

Monday, I looked at an apartment over off Quadra St - a little dated, but it's a 2 bedroom with lots of space, laundry on the main floor and it's five minutes from the Mayfair Mall shopping area - tons of restaurants, a Staples, and more. $900.00 a month plus cable, so it's within my budget. Needs some updating though; it was built in the 70's and hasn't been updated since. *sigh* After seeing my parent's place for the first time today, there's no comparison. Also, we're getting a LOT of rain, but northern parts of the Island are getting flooded - not us! Yay!

Tuesday, I FOUND my apartment over on May Street! I met the landlord there in the morning after a 30 minute walk from the condo we're in now; he's friendly and gives off an air of trustworthiness( so I'll use caution instead of paranoia like I usually do with folks ). As soon as I saw the place, I knew it was perfect - one bedroom, built in the fifties( but updated ), with hardwood floors and windows on three sides of the third floor. The capper is a new corner gas( pun unintended )fireplace, which heats the space. It's bright, fairly spacious and most importantly, affordable for me. The location is near( but not next to )the Fairfield shopping plaza, which has a pub, a grocery store, a TD bank, a dentist, a hardware store and more. Apparently it's the densest plaza in all of Victoria and I can walk there easily. Also, there's the Cook St. Village, which is another nice area to walk to with more pubs, stores and even a Starbuck's. To top it all off, I'm near 2 major bus routes( one in front of the building, but it's not noisy from what I heard while a few buses went by ). It's ideal. I had lunch with my parent's at Sam's Deli downtown( GREAT sandwiches, with beer! )and then met the landlord again an hour later to sign the lease and fork over cheques. Joy!

Wednesday, I looked at some more furniture at Dodd's, and managed to pick up a night table that is the twin to the one I left behind in St. Catharines... for $10.00 ! I love Kijiji! Needs a little love, but I'm thrilled - I'd had that thing for nearly thirty years, and I hated to leave it behind. Also I found a new vacuum for 1/2 off at Can.Tire( sweet! )and played around with my parent's new Pixma iP4500 photo printer in the evening - makes my old Epson Stylus 500 look like an ink blotter... and it's less than 1/4 the price of what I paid for the Epson back in the mid 90's. Tech progression...

Thursday, I worked in the evening. Today was Lucas' birthday, but I haven't been able to figure out what to get him yet( been trying for weeks now ). Something able to be mailed, but not cheap... we'll see.

Friday, I worked a morning shift. I got another car rental for the weekend, mainly for my parents to use, zipping around the area to look at furniture and explore. It's so nice to see them excited about retiring in this city.

Saturday I opened the store, had a busy but far less stressful day that yesterday, and had dinner at the ABC restaurant with my parents. Turkey dinners, no less - it smelled too good at the next table over NOT to order. Another nice thing is that my parents can order from the Seniors menu now, so their portions( and prices )are smaller... both things that they enjoy. I talked to my friends in Niagara that evening via Skype, which we all enjoyed. Miss ya folks!

Sunday I had off, as a day of rest. I fiddled around on the Xbox360, trying to diagnose a nasty crackle that it's had since Day 1; no luck. I'm hoping it's not the TV, as I'd hate to have to return the thing. Good that the crackle only shows up in certain parts of certain games, I guess...

Dec 10th to 16th - More working, got some furniture, windy out!!!

Monday I took my parents out to Smitty's for a lovely breakfast to get the day going. We went a few places, and I purchased a few necessities at Home Depot for the new apartment( like a gas detector ). I went to work for the evening shift, and it wasn't too busy, which was nice. Sunny!

Tuesday I was at 'my' new apartment for 11am to take some measurements, then we went to the Brick Clearance Center, where I found a nice 3-piece sofa set in a sage colour... that was on sale cheap, cheap cheap! So I bought it, with only a little wallet-twinge. I got off work quite early, which meant I was able to get back to the Brick Clearance to pay for the rest of the sofa set and so not lose it to some other devious shopper with a good eye for a bargain - whew! I also went to London Drugs right after to check out another deal on an HD-DVD player from Toshiba, the A30, which was on sale AND came with a total of 7 free HD DVD's; too good a bargain to pass up. Since I now had a 1080p-capable TV, I needed a DVD player that would take advantage of the high resolution... and the A30 upconverts regular DVD's to play at HDTV 1080p resolution too. Amazing, and not that expensive really. I always love a good deal, especially if I can actually afford it at the time.

Wednesday and Thursday I worked the early/opening shift, both days were OK. I had an early supper at the Bay Centre Cafe` with my parents, then took a nice stroll along the wharf area of town, which was lovely with the evening lights on. No snow, but it feels very Christmas-y.

Friday saw my parents over at their new condo, measuring and admiring the view. I worked.

Saturday I had off, so after some morning television I went out to do some shopping comparisons. The wind was picking up, so I didn't stay out too long, though I did manage to miss a couple of buses and ended up walking a LOT further than I'd wanted to today. Oh well.

Sunday was VERY windy; there was a lot of damage up-island from fallen trees and the like. We all basically stayed home and revised plans etc for our moves in a month's time. Relaxed too.

Dec 17th to 24th - Emptying out the storage unit exhausts me...

Monday was, as expected, freakishly busy for me. I was at Budget Truck & Van Rentals for 8am waaay down Douglas St. at Queens to get a 13' van; we're moving the contents of the storage unit today over to their new place. So my dad & I spent the day loading & unloading the van from the 3rd floor of City Center Storage using the freight elevator( I did 99% of the moving, he shifted boxes and packed them tight ). We ended up making three trips to get everything, most of the time was spent carting boxes from the storage to the van and from the van to the condo, 4 boxes at a time on the dolly. We hadn't finished moving the boxes out of the lower foyer at their condo at 6:30pm, but I had to go pick up some other furniture and get THAT back to the condo, then return the van by 8pm... which I managed with 5 minutes to spare. I finally finished getting all our stuff into the condo by 10pm, at which point I was totally... wiped... out. My left knee( oddly enough )was a mess, and my winter coat was totally soaked with sweat. Geez....

Tuesday I worked in the early am( groan )and I'm still wiped from yesterday's exertions. I basically got home and napped the evening away to recover.

Wednesday I rented a Ford Focus early at 7:30am then had breakfast with my dad at Smitty's, before I went to work for the morning( It's cold here in the mornings, but that's amplified by the wet weather as it often rains overnight and in the mornings - have to watch that if you're out ). Sadly, my first customer of the day was extraordinarily nasty, threatening me for no reason. I later found out he was emotionally disturbed and off his meds, according too several other people in the lobby - not an excuse, but a reason to understand why he'd go off like he did. On a lighter note, apparently the police had staked out either end of the block around the store, as today was Welfare Day, and they picked up several dozen folks they'd been looking for recently - good to hear, though I can only hope they got Mr. Nasty too. I spent the evening trying to relax and forget about how vicious people can be if they're sick.

Thursday I worked quite early again, with no incidents to speak of. I spent the evening helping my dad move some boxes down to a storage locker at their new condo; my parents have spent the last 2 days sorting and packing boxes to separate my things from theirs and get it all ready for me to move in January to my new place on May St. Thanks guys. :)

Friday dragged until I worked in the evening; my week's caught up to me and I'm beat. Even Saturday was much the same, as I worked the closing shift. At least the morning TV shows were funny.

Sunday was MUCH nicer: we had Christmas Brunch at Samuel's next door, and we had my mother's friend Pat along as well. The food was fantastic, the atmosphere was sublime and we all had a good time, making me forget for a little while how the week had been rather hard on me.

Dec 24 to 31st - A busy week, my sister visits, lots going on ...

Christmas Eve( Monday )was another day off, which I really needed. We picked up my sister Cheri from the airport before noon in our rental, then went to have lunch at Spinnaker's Brew Pub near their new condo. It was rather busy and the service suffered some because of it; I think I'd like to go back on a less busy day and sit in the main restaurant, as we had to go upstairs to the 'pub' area to eat( same menu though ). I got dropped off at the other condo( home for now )while my sister & parents went for a drive along the coast, as I wasn't feeling well. That turned into a full-blown migraine within the hour; I attributed it to the microbrew I'd had at lunch. Some research a few days later( see item 10 here ) turned up the interesting fact that beer brewed in copper kettles( like a lot of microbreweries have )can be a migraine trigger for many folks, myself included. I spent most of the evening curled up in a corner in agony, despite medication, but I did manage to crawl out later on to watch some of 'Heidi' with my family before my sister was dropped off to sleep in luxury at my parent's new place. Merry Christmas to all, and pass the Tylenol...

Christmas Day was a quiet one; we had no presents to speak of, as we're all carefully watching our budget and have spent years worth of Christmas-cash in this move, so nobody minded. We went to the Sticky Wicket Pub for lunch... as we found out we'd arrived far too early for them to be serving their Christmas Turkey special; oh well. The waitress Jessica was VERY cute. We all piled into the rental for a LONG drive north up-island to Sooke, about an hour, which apparently we just HAD to do today. Good thing I love & get along with my family, and the view was rather pleasant with the varied scenery. I took some great photos( future link here ), then we went back to my parent's condo so I could nap for a while, as I'm still not feeling great after yesterday's migraine. We went back to the Sticky Wicket for dinner at 5pm, and though it took an hour for our dinner to arrive, it was worth it: turkey with all the trimmings, in large quantities. Fabulous! We all spent the evening watching the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie, which oddly enough felt very appropriate for Christmas( don't ask me why ). Again, it's amazing to have ALL my family there for Christmas, I'm feeling very blessed / lucky to have us all here and safe in Victoria.

Wednesday I was at Future Shop in Victoria for 5:30am... and there were several hundred people already there ahead of me in line for Boxing Day! Doors opened at 6am, and we all went inside in quite the orderly fashion; I was surprised. Though it was crowded, I did managed to snag several DVD deals, as well as a nice 'net router for 1/2 off. We met my mom & sister at Smitty's for 7am breakfast, then I took a nap for a few hours before working at 11am.

Thursday I had a morning coffee( well, tea for me )with my sister at the nearby Starbucks. We talked about quite a few things, and I was so pleased to just spend time talking with her. I'm thrilled that she's getting along well in life, and has remained such a great person. Love ya sis! It made working for the rest of the evening much nicer.

Friday I had a last breakfast with my sister( and parents )at Brannigan's, then got dropped off at work for the day after saying goodbye to my sister, as she's leaving today... I'll miss her a lot. I'm also happy that she has so many good friends who have helped her get here for two visits so far - it's VERY much appreciated. Just goes to show good folk know the same, and act like it. :)

Saturday was another day off, most of which I spend out again running errands, including a stop at Future Shop to test my Xbox360 on the same TV model as the one I have at home. Unsurprisingly, the SAME audio crackle boomed from the speakers to startle several customers, which leads me to a 99% certainty that it's the Xbox, not the TV, at fault. Now I have to convince Microsoft of the same thing... and get in line on the phone for long, long waits after the busy holiday season. Yay. Had lunch at the Red Robin restaurant near the Mayfair Mall, which was a mixed experience - the service was so-so but the food was good. At least we weren't near the section with the screaming baby... who stayed ALL the time we were there. I hate to say it, but if your child won't stop crying, perhaps you might consider taking them home a touch early?

Sunday I opened the store again. Man, this place LOVES paperwork, as I've already mentioned. Perhaps it's because they don't have a midnighter to balance everything, but even when I WAS working on midnights, the store didn't have so many, many things to checklist, file, sign and doublecheck... it's almost obsessive, and though I'm an organized person, even I find it a bit much. Ironically, I spent the evening at home filing MY paperwork to try and catch up on all the receipts and such that have flooded me since we moved... there's a ton to track, so I'm using MS Excel - urk. At least I'm getting practice for work, and I'm getting better THERE too.

Monday: New Year's Eve, and it was BUSY at work( shocker ). Even though I only worked until the early evening, the last few hours were crazy - human nature dictates that many folk wait until the last minute to get anything done, then complain when places close early( uh, holiday...? )and they can't get their business done. Sheesh. At least the TV repairman from Q-Tel came in the morning to tell me that my TV was fine... though he nearly made me throttle him when he shook my Xbox to 'test' it... not very technical, and potentially damaging! Anyway, enough on that. I was online with them on Skype until 10pm, talking & viewing with my friends for New Year's eve. Everyone was at Pierre & Faith's place for the evening( Rene & Shi couldn't make it, sadly )but I had a great time despite being 4000km away... folks stayed until 1:30am EST to watch the first Austin Powers movie, which I heard more than saw through the tiny grainy picture that I was granted via Skype. A great way to ring in 2008 with my friends, I miss 'em all.

All for now. For those of you who care, all posts have been edited as of Jan 3 2008 to eliminate any references that my cause heart palpitations for NMM. Of course, having an online policy would help matters... and now I know you're watching. :-)