This holiday has been a strange one. The most obvious reason I can think of is because I had to work on x-mas and boxing day coupled to the fact that I will be working on New Years as well. That being the case, I didn't realy get as festive as I usually do and the result was that I wasn't as jolly as some of the folk around me. The end result has me feeling like a bit of a scrooge in the end as I might have dampened everyone's happyness around me just a little. If I did not contact you and wish you a happy holiday, I apologize as I slept through most of everyone's awake time. I hope that I do not have to work all three stats next year for my sanity's sake.
On the other side of things, I flew home to be with the family for a few days between the worked stats. There was a bit of a lul in my work schedule which allowed me such as chance as decided to take advatage of it. It worked out okay financially as my sister cashed in some of her rewards points and this lowered the cost to something more reasonable relative to the short time frame.
The trip home has been refreshing and allowed me to reflect upon the matters discussed above. In the past few days, I've had the chance to see some of my close family as well as touched base with a few friends. It has definately picked my spirits from the scroogish attitude I had before. The only downside to this trip home has been the overall jet lag of comming off being awake at night and having to switch for a couple days. So goes life though. I do have to get off these night shifts sometime soon though.
In a few days, I'm about to join some of the many folk who currently use Skype as my father bought my a USB skype phone. I didn't know these existed until recently, but it is a neat little product for those who use have a greater disposition to VOIP. Hopefully I'll actually use it though.
That's about all off the top of my head for now. Hopefully everyone has a safe and happy new year. I've got a couple resolutions that I've made which are as follows.
1. Set into motion the Jitsu Van domain of Jitsu Canada
2. Stop fearing that decisions made in the past will have the same repricussions. Every situation is different.
3. Get off these bloody night shifts.
4. Finish at least two CT courses (work related stuff).
5. Let everything be. If drama comes, it comes; if it goes, it goes. Everything happens for a reason.
In closing, everything will be fine...
Saturday, December 30, 2006
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
A letter
Dear RA,
I found myself in the Bay the other day. I had recently seen an add with an advertisement for 30% of all mens wear. That coupled to the fact that I had previously decided on getting my parents a Hudson Bay Company gift certificate for x-mas, brought me to a Bay store just the other day.
I entered with the intention of parusing the items at the Bay for a few minutes before proceeding to make my intended purchases of Boxers (which were part of the sale) and the gift certficate. This decision turned out to be very costly.
Within an instant of finding the Men's wear, I found myself in a Sport Jacket section. Normally I would instantly be turned back by the crazily high prices but the two signs of 'Take 30%' off and 'Take an additional 30%' off convinced me to browse through their selection. I began to look, and then I began to try on and before I knew it, I had found myself a tan orangish Tommy Hilfiger Sports Coat that I could not bear to part with.
My desire to have good clothing did not end there. While trying to bypass everything to make it to bexers, I found myself looking at some Nautica performance sportswear. I didn't even bother to try either of these on as they looked like good quality items and seeing how they were also 30% off, I decided to purchase a few.
With the total tally of unintended purchases adding up, I quickly made my way to find the items that I had gone to purchase. I found the boxers rather easily and proceeded from there towards the checkout. On the way there some nicer looking dress shirts caught my attention but I managed to refrain realizing that I already had quite a large bill comming to me.
In the end, without any service personal attending to me once so ever, I managed to double my orginally intended spending amount. That realy does not bother me so much though. Nothing at all bothers me about any of this in truth as I think I am comming to understand why you enjoy shopping at the Bay so much. The quality of the items they offer are definately quite high and the prices which they ask for are quite reasonably. In the future, I think I will definately be find myself there more often.
Sincerly,
Zout
P.S. I have not seen you on MSN lately. Have you taken an MSN sabatical?
I found myself in the Bay the other day. I had recently seen an add with an advertisement for 30% of all mens wear. That coupled to the fact that I had previously decided on getting my parents a Hudson Bay Company gift certificate for x-mas, brought me to a Bay store just the other day.
I entered with the intention of parusing the items at the Bay for a few minutes before proceeding to make my intended purchases of Boxers (which were part of the sale) and the gift certficate. This decision turned out to be very costly.
Within an instant of finding the Men's wear, I found myself in a Sport Jacket section. Normally I would instantly be turned back by the crazily high prices but the two signs of 'Take 30%' off and 'Take an additional 30%' off convinced me to browse through their selection. I began to look, and then I began to try on and before I knew it, I had found myself a tan orangish Tommy Hilfiger Sports Coat that I could not bear to part with.
My desire to have good clothing did not end there. While trying to bypass everything to make it to bexers, I found myself looking at some Nautica performance sportswear. I didn't even bother to try either of these on as they looked like good quality items and seeing how they were also 30% off, I decided to purchase a few.
With the total tally of unintended purchases adding up, I quickly made my way to find the items that I had gone to purchase. I found the boxers rather easily and proceeded from there towards the checkout. On the way there some nicer looking dress shirts caught my attention but I managed to refrain realizing that I already had quite a large bill comming to me.
In the end, without any service personal attending to me once so ever, I managed to double my orginally intended spending amount. That realy does not bother me so much though. Nothing at all bothers me about any of this in truth as I think I am comming to understand why you enjoy shopping at the Bay so much. The quality of the items they offer are definately quite high and the prices which they ask for are quite reasonably. In the future, I think I will definately be find myself there more often.
Sincerly,
Zout
P.S. I have not seen you on MSN lately. Have you taken an MSN sabatical?
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
One year ago...
While working out at the gym the other day, a tune came on that shot me back to a year ago to a moment when nothing but pure electricity ran through my veins.
I awoke that day knowing that later on, I would be heading to the great city of Montreal to see something that I'd only seen twice before. For some reason though, I couldn't get as excited as I wanted to be. I went through my normal motions of the day and did all the usuals all the while trying to get pumped. Perhaps it was the fact that the city of Cornwall (amongst other factors) were sucking the life out of me. I don't think I'll ever know...
The important thing though is that I did make it through and lasted til the end of the 'work' day. From there, the ambiance started to build. I had something to eat, relaxed a little bit and proceeded to get ready to head to Montreal. The drive there was relatively tame except for the actual city itself which saw me utilise some colourful language. That passed though.
We entered the arena and found our seats. It was then, where the magnitude of the evening started to set in as we were literally an earshot away from the stage. The pump started to set in at this point so much so that I think I blew almost $65 on memoribilia. That might sound like a lot but it consisted simply of a shirt and pendant. But I realy didn't care at that moment.
The opening band almost brought me back to the non pumped stage. It would only take the next few minutes after them though to bring me back and surpass that by almost a hundred. The screen above the stage lowered slowly as the house lights went down. From the behind the stage emerged most of the band members. The sound of the electric guitar filled the guitar and from and all the way accross the arena, the man emerged with his acoustic guitar, strumming like there was no other place in the world that existed except for the 20, 000 people in the stadium. And from his lips emerged:
"Come see a living breathing spectacle only seen right here.."
As I sat there at fitness world, just sitting there, thinking back, I must have spent at least three minutes or more staring off into the distance. And for those three minutes I was back in Montreal, Canada just reliving one of the best moments in my life. From the last man standing to his cover of "Have a little Faith in me", the man and his band didn't miss a beat.
I awoke that day knowing that later on, I would be heading to the great city of Montreal to see something that I'd only seen twice before. For some reason though, I couldn't get as excited as I wanted to be. I went through my normal motions of the day and did all the usuals all the while trying to get pumped. Perhaps it was the fact that the city of Cornwall (amongst other factors) were sucking the life out of me. I don't think I'll ever know...
The important thing though is that I did make it through and lasted til the end of the 'work' day. From there, the ambiance started to build. I had something to eat, relaxed a little bit and proceeded to get ready to head to Montreal. The drive there was relatively tame except for the actual city itself which saw me utilise some colourful language. That passed though.
We entered the arena and found our seats. It was then, where the magnitude of the evening started to set in as we were literally an earshot away from the stage. The pump started to set in at this point so much so that I think I blew almost $65 on memoribilia. That might sound like a lot but it consisted simply of a shirt and pendant. But I realy didn't care at that moment.
The opening band almost brought me back to the non pumped stage. It would only take the next few minutes after them though to bring me back and surpass that by almost a hundred. The screen above the stage lowered slowly as the house lights went down. From the behind the stage emerged most of the band members. The sound of the electric guitar filled the guitar and from and all the way accross the arena, the man emerged with his acoustic guitar, strumming like there was no other place in the world that existed except for the 20, 000 people in the stadium. And from his lips emerged:
"Come see a living breathing spectacle only seen right here.."
As I sat there at fitness world, just sitting there, thinking back, I must have spent at least three minutes or more staring off into the distance. And for those three minutes I was back in Montreal, Canada just reliving one of the best moments in my life. From the last man standing to his cover of "Have a little Faith in me", the man and his band didn't miss a beat.
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Day off
Today I have a day off after a six day stretch of 8.5 hour shifts. This day off couldn't have come at a better time as needless to say I feel very tuckered. Aside from working for the past six days, I have also been at the gyme each day which also adds to the tucker tole. Earlier today I wanted to attribute my fatigue to 'pushing the limit' at which point my roomate just looked at me and asked me 'if I'd been excessively flying at Mach 3?'. From that juncture, and likely from now on, I will likely refrain from using the term pushing the limit.
On a completely different note, I've been feeling a little hyposensitive to music as of late. Now, I think I'd safely say that those who speak to me often on MSN or take note of my MSN handle often enough would say that I regularily throw random song quotes into my name to reflect something of note in my daily events or on a reflection of things. Lately though whenever I try to find something of thematic value to quote, I find it a little more difficult. Perhaps because there's no real lyric about moving to Vancouver and starting on night shifts. Someone should work on that.
To conclude, a few comments of movies I've seen semi lately:
World Trade Centre - worth a watch but focusses less on the events of the day and more on a made up story
Beerfest - Another zany tale from the makers of Super Troopers. Better than that island movie but not as good as super troopers
You, Me and Dupree - Kate Hudson is smoking hot. Not nearly half as good as wedding crashers.
Talledega Nights - Unfortunately Baby Jesus couldn't make this as good as Anchorman. One might almost say its bush league.
Death of a President - Find it. Get it and watch it. This is a good one. Aside from the fact that its a movie about Bush dying, you're almost convinced that this is a real documentary knowing its fake. A brilliant work.
On a completely different note, I've been feeling a little hyposensitive to music as of late. Now, I think I'd safely say that those who speak to me often on MSN or take note of my MSN handle often enough would say that I regularily throw random song quotes into my name to reflect something of note in my daily events or on a reflection of things. Lately though whenever I try to find something of thematic value to quote, I find it a little more difficult. Perhaps because there's no real lyric about moving to Vancouver and starting on night shifts. Someone should work on that.
To conclude, a few comments of movies I've seen semi lately:
World Trade Centre - worth a watch but focusses less on the events of the day and more on a made up story
Beerfest - Another zany tale from the makers of Super Troopers. Better than that island movie but not as good as super troopers
You, Me and Dupree - Kate Hudson is smoking hot. Not nearly half as good as wedding crashers.
Talledega Nights - Unfortunately Baby Jesus couldn't make this as good as Anchorman. One might almost say its bush league.
Death of a President - Find it. Get it and watch it. This is a good one. Aside from the fact that its a movie about Bush dying, you're almost convinced that this is a real documentary knowing its fake. A brilliant work.
Monday, December 04, 2006
New Toys
Well I was afraid that this would happen. I went in to buy an iPod shuffle and walked out with a collectors edition 20th anniversary Optimus Prime. Now, truth be told, this supreme action figure is wickedly sweet as it features an Energon Axe, Ion Blaster and Light up matrix chamber. At the same time, I remember sitting at my desk staring at it thinking that my geekdom level had increased thus causing the percentage ratio of possible women entering my apartment to drop a few points. Overall though, I'd say the pros and cons balence out.
The decision to get the shuffle though wasn't quite as spontaneous as I'd done a bit of research the night before. I was mixed when I entered best buy on whether or not to get the shuffle or the SanDisk Sansa 1gb player. The pros of the latter player was that it featured a display screen, fm tuner and voice recorder. I was also trying to avoid being part of the 'iPod generation' and support a smaller company. Upon seeing the shuffle though, I realy couldn't justify not getting it as its absolutely tiny and light weight and since its purpose was a running/gym player, it made the most sense. The actuality of it all is that there is a reason iPods are so popular as they are pretty practical in the end for music listeners. I would definately recommend it to others.
Pictured below are both items.
Closing Comments:
- Look at it. It's tiny!
- Yeah for free time on night shifts for making blog posts!
- Aight, no more gifts for myself. Must focus of either saving or getting gifts for others.
- There is an off chance that Zout may return to Ontario sometime this month. More to come on this.
- The snow is starting to go away and the rain is starting to return. I can't decide whether this is a good or bad thing.
- Some people still suprise me. This time, the further demonstration of moral fibre deserves an acknowledgement. Now, just what to say.
- Gingerbread Latte - Good but expensive, served warm, drink fast. Egg Nog Latte - See Gingerbread. Coffee with Skim Milk - Flavour of coffee is stronger and thus makes coffee choice more critical.
- Congrats to all who moved up a degree in Dan Ranking. Now its time to get my ass in gear and put everything in place so its my turn next year.
No Song. Neutral Mood. Meh.
The decision to get the shuffle though wasn't quite as spontaneous as I'd done a bit of research the night before. I was mixed when I entered best buy on whether or not to get the shuffle or the SanDisk Sansa 1gb player. The pros of the latter player was that it featured a display screen, fm tuner and voice recorder. I was also trying to avoid being part of the 'iPod generation' and support a smaller company. Upon seeing the shuffle though, I realy couldn't justify not getting it as its absolutely tiny and light weight and since its purpose was a running/gym player, it made the most sense. The actuality of it all is that there is a reason iPods are so popular as they are pretty practical in the end for music listeners. I would definately recommend it to others.
Pictured below are both items.
Closing Comments:
- Look at it. It's tiny!
- Yeah for free time on night shifts for making blog posts!
- Aight, no more gifts for myself. Must focus of either saving or getting gifts for others.
- There is an off chance that Zout may return to Ontario sometime this month. More to come on this.
- The snow is starting to go away and the rain is starting to return. I can't decide whether this is a good or bad thing.
- Some people still suprise me. This time, the further demonstration of moral fibre deserves an acknowledgement. Now, just what to say.
- Gingerbread Latte - Good but expensive, served warm, drink fast. Egg Nog Latte - See Gingerbread. Coffee with Skim Milk - Flavour of coffee is stronger and thus makes coffee choice more critical.
- Congrats to all who moved up a degree in Dan Ranking. Now its time to get my ass in gear and put everything in place so its my turn next year.
No Song. Neutral Mood. Meh.
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Re-inspired by the musings of others...
Once upon a time it use to be a whole lot easier to blog as notable events happend in my life on a semi consistent basis. However with things mainly being in a settling mode right now not a whole lot of worthwhile stuff has realy happend of the usual upbeat Dawson's Creek like tempo that things use to be. So instead, as a few other fellow bloggers have done, I'll just make some small rants about everyday events just for rantings sake.
Night shift
Overall, its not so bad. Yesterday kind of sucked because I'd been up for 8 hours already prior to starting work and then when I came in, the work ran heavy for about four hours. It wasn't even the easy stuff either; hard trauma cases where people are in a lot of pain, broken something and can't move; or just plain so out of it that they can't help type stuff. I was thoughrougly tuckerd by the end of the shift. Today is making up for it though as its been mainly easy cases and very few of them.
I've redeveloped my affinity for coffee as adjusting to night hours isn't something my body readily did. Its not such a bad thing though as there are quite a few coffee shops in the Vancouver area and this allows me to sample a great many of them.
Sleeping during the day is also slightly weird as its light out when I go to bed and close to dark when I wake up. At the end of the day though, the extra $2 an hour makes up for everything, especially since I don't know very many people anyways and havn't got much of a social life right now.
Portable DVD player
As of the first or second shift working nights, I concluded that there's only so much reading one can do in the downtime and that a portable dvd player would be a cool item to have that would deal with that lul time. I spent quite a bit of time researching all the options that were available to me but in the end it came down to a choice between the Phillips PET1002 and the LG LPA 735 for their ability to play Xvid movies. The decision was made for me in the end though with futureshop putting the LG player on special with additional savings in the form of a general savings coupon. In the end, the total cost after tax was very reasonable and I've already got some good use out of it. Definately a worthwhile purchase.
Snow
How the f*ck is it snowing in vancouver and warm back in Ontario? Did my moving here bend the weather patterns so that snow would come with me? Either way, its been quite the set of events. I do have to say that Vancouver folk have no clue how to moderate themselves when it comes to handling snow and more specifically driving on the snow. Some of the stuff that drivers do just blows my mind and some of the risks they take are ludicrous. I specifically stayed off the road for this very reason as my normal road rage (under normal driving conditions) likely would have multiplied by a factor of X to the Xth power and likely seen more anger than than is healthy.
Closing Comments:
- My old mp3 player kinda went shotzkey on me which makes me want to get another one. Part of me is saying that I should save my money now since I'll need it in the future while the other half of me says that I have worked two full OT shifts at time and a half and can afford a little personal spending.
- I'm gradually starting to ease into some social circles and develope a few friendships that might have some good longevity. I even find myself developing semi serious attractions to some women as well. While my heart has not completely found itself fully restored yet, it might be able to handle a few runs of mental chess with the opposite sex.
- 202 posts isn't a big deal when yours posts have 3 lines of text and one train of thought for the last dozen posts.
- I baked some Spicy Oatmeal Raisin cookies the other day. I forgot to take a picture though and wish I had because they turned out spectacularily.
- I'm gonna get the jitsu gears going in the new year and think that developing a sucessful club will be my new years resolution.
No current song. I'm at work!
Current mood. Excited as I just schduled an exam by myself. (usually the clerks do it)
Night shift
Overall, its not so bad. Yesterday kind of sucked because I'd been up for 8 hours already prior to starting work and then when I came in, the work ran heavy for about four hours. It wasn't even the easy stuff either; hard trauma cases where people are in a lot of pain, broken something and can't move; or just plain so out of it that they can't help type stuff. I was thoughrougly tuckerd by the end of the shift. Today is making up for it though as its been mainly easy cases and very few of them.
I've redeveloped my affinity for coffee as adjusting to night hours isn't something my body readily did. Its not such a bad thing though as there are quite a few coffee shops in the Vancouver area and this allows me to sample a great many of them.
Sleeping during the day is also slightly weird as its light out when I go to bed and close to dark when I wake up. At the end of the day though, the extra $2 an hour makes up for everything, especially since I don't know very many people anyways and havn't got much of a social life right now.
Portable DVD player
As of the first or second shift working nights, I concluded that there's only so much reading one can do in the downtime and that a portable dvd player would be a cool item to have that would deal with that lul time. I spent quite a bit of time researching all the options that were available to me but in the end it came down to a choice between the Phillips PET1002 and the LG LPA 735 for their ability to play Xvid movies. The decision was made for me in the end though with futureshop putting the LG player on special with additional savings in the form of a general savings coupon. In the end, the total cost after tax was very reasonable and I've already got some good use out of it. Definately a worthwhile purchase.
Snow
How the f*ck is it snowing in vancouver and warm back in Ontario? Did my moving here bend the weather patterns so that snow would come with me? Either way, its been quite the set of events. I do have to say that Vancouver folk have no clue how to moderate themselves when it comes to handling snow and more specifically driving on the snow. Some of the stuff that drivers do just blows my mind and some of the risks they take are ludicrous. I specifically stayed off the road for this very reason as my normal road rage (under normal driving conditions) likely would have multiplied by a factor of X to the Xth power and likely seen more anger than than is healthy.
Closing Comments:
- My old mp3 player kinda went shotzkey on me which makes me want to get another one. Part of me is saying that I should save my money now since I'll need it in the future while the other half of me says that I have worked two full OT shifts at time and a half and can afford a little personal spending.
- I'm gradually starting to ease into some social circles and develope a few friendships that might have some good longevity. I even find myself developing semi serious attractions to some women as well. While my heart has not completely found itself fully restored yet, it might be able to handle a few runs of mental chess with the opposite sex.
- 202 posts isn't a big deal when yours posts have 3 lines of text and one train of thought for the last dozen posts.
- I baked some Spicy Oatmeal Raisin cookies the other day. I forgot to take a picture though and wish I had because they turned out spectacularily.
- I'm gonna get the jitsu gears going in the new year and think that developing a sucessful club will be my new years resolution.
No current song. I'm at work!
Current mood. Excited as I just schduled an exam by myself. (usually the clerks do it)
Friday, November 17, 2006
No longer sitting on the floor!
Yes, its true and you are seeing correctly. From here on in, I will be resuming my old blog post schedule as I am no longer sitting on the floor to use my computer but instead back in my good ol computer chair and my awesome new desk.
Vancouver so far has been great. Nothing too exciting has happend since I've got here since I've mainly just been working and getting my apartment in order as well as all the other things that go with that. Settling into a new hospital and new department has been a fun little adventure and looks like both could be promising. Everything at VGH seems to make so much more sense than it has in previous exposure (no pun intended) to diagnostic imaging field.
I've met a handful of people outside of the hospital in my wanderings but havn't had much social time since its taking time to get myself settled. I should be all done after this weekend though since my stuff finally arrived one of my last tasks just requires me to put it away.
I think I'll leave the rest of this post in summarized closing comments form.
Closing Comments:
- The city itself is beautiful and filled with culture at almost every corner
- People here seem to be way more health concious than in any other city I've lived in (especially compared to Cornwall). I think I've seen a total of maybe three fat people in the month that I've been here.
- My cell phone bill is going to be huge. Time will tell though just how big.
- I came at the beginning of rainy season and it certainly has been quite rainy. All part of the journey.
- It seems as though I'm not the only one in this town who has settled in for a little bit to take in the surroundings for a couple years. Of all the people I've met, only about half of them are from Vancouver.
- There hasn't been a day that has gone by where I havn't thought about how awesome it will be to get a club going here. Soon enough, soon enough.
- I baked a cake for the potluck last week which I self titled Zout's Choclate Volcano explosion. Everyone loved it. Here is a photo:
And here is a photo of the picturesque neighborhood that I live in:
Current Song: Goo Goo Dolls - Without you here
Current Mood: Pumped for the Gym
Vancouver so far has been great. Nothing too exciting has happend since I've got here since I've mainly just been working and getting my apartment in order as well as all the other things that go with that. Settling into a new hospital and new department has been a fun little adventure and looks like both could be promising. Everything at VGH seems to make so much more sense than it has in previous exposure (no pun intended) to diagnostic imaging field.
I've met a handful of people outside of the hospital in my wanderings but havn't had much social time since its taking time to get myself settled. I should be all done after this weekend though since my stuff finally arrived one of my last tasks just requires me to put it away.
I think I'll leave the rest of this post in summarized closing comments form.
Closing Comments:
- The city itself is beautiful and filled with culture at almost every corner
- People here seem to be way more health concious than in any other city I've lived in (especially compared to Cornwall). I think I've seen a total of maybe three fat people in the month that I've been here.
- My cell phone bill is going to be huge. Time will tell though just how big.
- I came at the beginning of rainy season and it certainly has been quite rainy. All part of the journey.
- It seems as though I'm not the only one in this town who has settled in for a little bit to take in the surroundings for a couple years. Of all the people I've met, only about half of them are from Vancouver.
- There hasn't been a day that has gone by where I havn't thought about how awesome it will be to get a club going here. Soon enough, soon enough.
- I baked a cake for the potluck last week which I self titled Zout's Choclate Volcano explosion. Everyone loved it. Here is a photo:
And here is a photo of the picturesque neighborhood that I live in:
Current Song: Goo Goo Dolls - Without you here
Current Mood: Pumped for the Gym
Thursday, November 02, 2006
Well I would make a post...
But right now my computer is sitting on the floor in the living area of my apartment. Thus sitting in front of it for long periods of time is not easy and hence why there have been no posts. When things are more condusive, you may or may not here about:
- the new apartment
- my new TV that broke within 2 mins of me purchasing it
- the new job
- life out west
Until I get paid and get a desk...
- the new apartment
- my new TV that broke within 2 mins of me purchasing it
- the new job
- life out west
Until I get paid and get a desk...
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Before the memories fade away...
They need to be blogged to be enjoyed by all. In truth, I should have done this yesterday since the memories were fresher but I got caught up doing other things. And so one day later, here is the story of Zout/T-Bone crossing 2/3 of Canada on his way to Vancouver.
Day 1
The first few hours before I left were definately quite tough as the emotion of the entire event became a little overwhelming. The hardest two moments were definately saying goodbye to my mother and the last few minutes before jumping in the car as I took one last long walk through the house. I knew it wasn't goodbye but the realization of how long it would be before I would be back hit me. Thankfully, Keeves was there waiting though and eventually I had to come back to the real world and realize that it was time to go.
The weather that day was the worst of the three days as it was rainy and cold. But we braved through it all and we were on our way. The drive to the Sue took approximately eight hours, some of which was spent getting lost. In fact, I'd say we got lost once a day but I digress. The drive was pretty boring as the Shield in Ontario is full of mountains, none of which are very exciting. We still managed to find ways to amuse ourselves though, laughing at the five or six ramps of the Trans Canada that take you to Sudbury as well as names of the funny roads. Some of these included Crooked Lake, Go Home Lake Road and Seldom Seen Road. Early Ontarians wern't very creative in most respects.
We arrived in the Sue at about six, checked into a Comfort Inn, showered and then headed off to dinner. We chose Lone Star because, I've only every known Lone Star waitresses to be awesome ;O). Wasn't the case here though as when we prompted here as to where two travellers would go to enjoy the atmosphere in the Sue, she brought us a NEWSPAPER. What waitress brings their customers a newspaper?!?! It didn't end there though. She told us about a bar named 'Stars' that we could find on 'Gouley' road. We would never find Gouley road on a map though but instead would query whether a street named 'Goulais' was what she was talking about. Either way, not the sharpest knife in the drawer.
We never made it out that night anyways as I'd eaten a Woody burger which is a one pound burger for all those that don't know. As such, I just laid on the bed for about an hour after dinner trying to digest. Following that sleep.
CDs listened to on Day 1:
Angels and Airwaves - We don't need to whisper
Evanescence - The open Door
The Killers - Sam's Town
Collective Soul - Collective Soul
VA - Rock Mix 3
VA - Rock Mix 9
Oasis - Don't Believe the Truth
Day 2
The second day started with continental breakfast, check out and then a trip to Wal Mart. We were originally going to get floss and a toothbrush but instead walked out with $70 of music cds between the two of us. These included:
Me:
Bon Jovi - Slippery when Wet
Bon Jovi - Have a nice Day
John Mayer Trio - Try
Bryan Adams - Anthology
Keeves:
Godsmack - IV
Killers - Hot Fuss (I was going to get this, but he ended up getting it)
After spending money that we didn't need to actually spend, we jumped into the car and started on route to Thunder Bay. About an hour into the trip, the needle on the gas meter dropped quicker than expected and for about 60 km I was driving with the Orange warning light on. I never worried that I'd run out of gas though because in the end 'everything would be fine'. There was more of the shield to see on the way and as such the drive was another lame one. In fact perhaps even lamer since the quantity of funny named lakes and roads dropped considerably.
There was one car that we grew to hate more and more over the course of the drive based on his lack of driving etiquette. One prime example of this is when he road my bumper in an attempt to get me to pass three trucks and a car in front of me. It trues that we were on a passing portion of the highway, but that is usually for one car or at most a truck. I chose not to adhere to his pushing and in the end he decided to try it himself. As far as I can tell, he almost got himself killed as a car came up from the other side. He did make it though much to our dismay.
We arrived in Thunder Bay at approximately sixish. Again we checked into a hotel and headed off to dinner at an AppleBees this time. Our waitress this time around was much better and more conversive. I attributed this to the presence of students likely going to Lakehead. We were told about a bar that students head to on wednesday's called 'Tony and Andy's' on what I thought was Court street. We would later go looking for this bar but would never find it which wasn't such a bad thing as we got to bed earlier. We hypothesized later that the street might have been Gore street based on a map. I'll likely never know though.
CDs listened to on Day 2:
Bon Jovi - Slipper When Wet
The Music - Self Titled
VA - Punk goes 90s
The Killers - Hot Fuss
Jet - Shine On
Bryan Adams - Anthology CD1
Dave Matthews Band - Central Park Concert CD1
Day 3
Day three saw us wake up to the usual continental breakfast. I was glad to note that my phone had set itself back an hour indicating that we'd be gaining an hour during the drive to Winnipeg. The drive went okay for the most part during the day. At one point I tried to pass a guy on a stretch of road with a double yellow line. I quickly realized there was a car and pulled back behind the car I was trying to pass. He didn't like this though, I suppose feeling I was being reckless, and turned to show me some profanities. From there he picked up the phone and called the police I assume which was a little over the top in my opinion. None the less, I behaved for the next 40 km or so and didn't even try to pass as an acknowledgement that I should be more careful.
As we drove, the presence of snow became greater and in following the temperature got colder. Because we'd left a little earlier in theory, we ended up delaying lunch until 2/3 of the way through the trip with a stop in Kenora. We were quite hungry by this point and I believe I ate more A and W burgers than any sane man should but I was satisfied in the end though. When we crossed into Manitoba, everything changed drastically. The roads straightened out completely and everything became flat (as oppose to hilly). Keeves immediately noted the increasing presence of deer in the forest and I commented that I would love to see deer (I couldn't turn my head for long since I was driving). When we stopped for gas though, some deer actually came out of the forest and randomly wandered over in our direction before heading off. That was pretty cool to me.
We ended up getting to Winnipeg pretty early since we'd left early. Thus we thought we might actually have more time to enjoy the city this time around. This was not the case though as we ended up getting quite lost for about one and a half hours. This was mostly due to a misunderstanding of where the Comfort Inn was located. The description of what we'd been given was that the hotel was right off the highway. As such we just followed the Trans Canada Hwy into the city. After not finding anything we stopped at a few gas stations none of whom knew where the Comfort Inn was. One lady even gave us wrong directions which got us even more lost. Finally we looked up the number of the Comfort Inn to see if she could direct us from our lost location. It turned out that she'd only been in Winnipeg for a month and had no clue where we were. I did ask if she knew what intersection she was at and after getting that, I was able to navigate my way there. In the end it turns out that the Comfort Inn was location on the Perimeter Hwy which runs around the city.
After eventually getting to the Comfort Inn, we cooled off for a bit and headed out to a Boston Pizza (of which there are many in Winnipeg) for dinner. We ate and once again settled into our server/customer banter. We found out about a club called 'Tijuana Yatch Club' and 'Coyotes' that were suppose to be the places to go. However, once again, after hitting the bed and relaxing, sleep snuck its way up on me and we never ended up making it to a bar. It's a shame in this case as I would have liked to have gone as they sounded pretty cool.
CDs listened to on Day 3
VA - Wreckless Intent
Dave Matthews Band - Central Park Concert CD2
Live - Throwing Copper
John Mayer Trio - Try
Bon Jovi - Crossroads
Bryan Adams - Anthology CD2
Godsmack - IV
Day 4
We took our time in leaving on Day Four as we wanted to hit the shops for a little bit before leaving. In our random car banter, we had decided that we needed winnipeg jets hats if we were to be crossing through Winnipeg. As such we went looking for such hats. Eventually we ended up finding the hats that we wanted but at the last minute, I decided against buying it as the value would be lost once we left winnipeg. I also don't wear hats very much these days so it would have just sat in the closet. Our search for hats did lead us to a future shop though and as before, we bought more music cds. They included:
Me:
Live - Awake (the best of)
Linkin Park - Meteora
Collective Soul - Seven Year Itch
John Mayer - Room for Squares
Keeves:
Neil Diamond - Best of
Beck - Odelay
(And another which I forget)
From there we jumped back into the car and were on our way to Regina. This day was to be the shortest day of driving as there was only one city in between which was Brandon. I was glad to have lunch at a Subway in Brandon as my body needed the delicious veggies which are present on a sub. Another unexpected surprise popped up when I was queried about chesse on the sub and offered monteray jack cheese as one of the options. I jumped at that option as I love Monteray Jack cheese on anything. There was a hottie who laughed at my excitement to which I just answered that such things don't happen in ontario and that it was a nice change.
We had no trouble finding the Comfort Inn in regina as it was right off the highway. Since we'd gotten there in good time, I decided to find a gym and hit a workout. During the course of the workout, I could feel the lack of proper eating and dehydration holding me back. It was still good to hit the weights though.
We went to Eastside's for dinner that night and proceeded to flirt with as many of the servers and hostesses that would indulge us. We also gourged ourselves with salad and bread since it was free with the meal. We once again heckled people for a bar to go to but this time we would actually end up going. (We did get lost again looking for it). The bar was called the pump and it turned out to be a pretty upbeat place. The overall whiteness of the atmosphere of Regina was aparent though as there wasn't a single asian, brown or african american person there. The band was also playing some country songs, none of which I knew. We didn't end up staying long though as we needed to be up early to head of to calgary in the morning. A shame too as some of the women in Regina were gorgeous.
CDs listened to on Day 4:
Bon Jovi - Have a Nice Day
Beck - Odelay
Linkin Park - Meteora
Live - Awake
Bon Jovi - Live in St. Louis CD1 and CD2
Day 5
We awoke at our usual time of what we thought was 830 the next morning. My cell phone said it was 730 though and it was then we realized we were in mountain time. Keeves fake yelled at me for getting him up so early and I fake yelled at him for being so lazy.
The drive to Calgary was very much the same as that from Winnipeg to Regina. Mostly flat and mostly boring from the lack of scenery. During our stop in Swift Current, we almost bought more CDs but Keeves was the voice of reason (shockingly enough) saying that we had already bought enough.
The stop in Medicine Hat was kinda lame as my allergies were acting up a little bit. Things got better though on our way to Calgary as the sun came out and made things better. We once again got lost in finding the Comfort Inn due to a terrible map that was in the map we got of Western Canada and highlighted choice hotels (of which Comfort Inn is included). This time, we knew how to proceed with minimizing lost time and managed to reduce the extra time to about thirty minutes.
The plan for Calgary had always been to have one hell of a time once we got there since it was to be our last night on the journey. Things changed though with the overall five day fatigue setting in. Thus we only managed to get to the Chinook Centre to buy belt buckles and have dinner at Hooters (which was across the street). Hooters isn't as entertaining as I thought it would be. The menu selection is also pretty poor.
That night, aside from raving about how cool my belt buckle was, we just watched some UFC fights on Spike TV and hit the sack. Once again, I didn't mind not heading out on the city since the next day of driving would be the longest of the entire trip.
CDs listened to on Day 5:
Collective Soul - Seven Year Itch
Neil Diamond - Greatest Hits
VA - Nostalgia Mix
VA - BBQ Mix
Live - Songs from Black Mountain
VA - Halloween Mix
Day 6
We awoke pretty early that morning to get Keeves onto his bus to Edmonton which was leaving at 830 calgary time. We ate breakfast, packed everything into the car and headed off. We managed to get to the Bus station with about 15 minutes or so to spare which was a decent amount of time and got him a ticket to Edmonton. From there we parted ways which was a little tough since he'd been my wingman for five days straight. We all need to soldier on though.
Day 1
The first few hours before I left were definately quite tough as the emotion of the entire event became a little overwhelming. The hardest two moments were definately saying goodbye to my mother and the last few minutes before jumping in the car as I took one last long walk through the house. I knew it wasn't goodbye but the realization of how long it would be before I would be back hit me. Thankfully, Keeves was there waiting though and eventually I had to come back to the real world and realize that it was time to go.
The weather that day was the worst of the three days as it was rainy and cold. But we braved through it all and we were on our way. The drive to the Sue took approximately eight hours, some of which was spent getting lost. In fact, I'd say we got lost once a day but I digress. The drive was pretty boring as the Shield in Ontario is full of mountains, none of which are very exciting. We still managed to find ways to amuse ourselves though, laughing at the five or six ramps of the Trans Canada that take you to Sudbury as well as names of the funny roads. Some of these included Crooked Lake, Go Home Lake Road and Seldom Seen Road. Early Ontarians wern't very creative in most respects.
We arrived in the Sue at about six, checked into a Comfort Inn, showered and then headed off to dinner. We chose Lone Star because, I've only every known Lone Star waitresses to be awesome ;O). Wasn't the case here though as when we prompted here as to where two travellers would go to enjoy the atmosphere in the Sue, she brought us a NEWSPAPER. What waitress brings their customers a newspaper?!?! It didn't end there though. She told us about a bar named 'Stars' that we could find on 'Gouley' road. We would never find Gouley road on a map though but instead would query whether a street named 'Goulais' was what she was talking about. Either way, not the sharpest knife in the drawer.
We never made it out that night anyways as I'd eaten a Woody burger which is a one pound burger for all those that don't know. As such, I just laid on the bed for about an hour after dinner trying to digest. Following that sleep.
CDs listened to on Day 1:
Angels and Airwaves - We don't need to whisper
Evanescence - The open Door
The Killers - Sam's Town
Collective Soul - Collective Soul
VA - Rock Mix 3
VA - Rock Mix 9
Oasis - Don't Believe the Truth
Day 2
The second day started with continental breakfast, check out and then a trip to Wal Mart. We were originally going to get floss and a toothbrush but instead walked out with $70 of music cds between the two of us. These included:
Me:
Bon Jovi - Slippery when Wet
Bon Jovi - Have a nice Day
John Mayer Trio - Try
Bryan Adams - Anthology
Keeves:
Godsmack - IV
Killers - Hot Fuss (I was going to get this, but he ended up getting it)
After spending money that we didn't need to actually spend, we jumped into the car and started on route to Thunder Bay. About an hour into the trip, the needle on the gas meter dropped quicker than expected and for about 60 km I was driving with the Orange warning light on. I never worried that I'd run out of gas though because in the end 'everything would be fine'. There was more of the shield to see on the way and as such the drive was another lame one. In fact perhaps even lamer since the quantity of funny named lakes and roads dropped considerably.
There was one car that we grew to hate more and more over the course of the drive based on his lack of driving etiquette. One prime example of this is when he road my bumper in an attempt to get me to pass three trucks and a car in front of me. It trues that we were on a passing portion of the highway, but that is usually for one car or at most a truck. I chose not to adhere to his pushing and in the end he decided to try it himself. As far as I can tell, he almost got himself killed as a car came up from the other side. He did make it though much to our dismay.
We arrived in Thunder Bay at approximately sixish. Again we checked into a hotel and headed off to dinner at an AppleBees this time. Our waitress this time around was much better and more conversive. I attributed this to the presence of students likely going to Lakehead. We were told about a bar that students head to on wednesday's called 'Tony and Andy's' on what I thought was Court street. We would later go looking for this bar but would never find it which wasn't such a bad thing as we got to bed earlier. We hypothesized later that the street might have been Gore street based on a map. I'll likely never know though.
CDs listened to on Day 2:
Bon Jovi - Slipper When Wet
The Music - Self Titled
VA - Punk goes 90s
The Killers - Hot Fuss
Jet - Shine On
Bryan Adams - Anthology CD1
Dave Matthews Band - Central Park Concert CD1
Day 3
Day three saw us wake up to the usual continental breakfast. I was glad to note that my phone had set itself back an hour indicating that we'd be gaining an hour during the drive to Winnipeg. The drive went okay for the most part during the day. At one point I tried to pass a guy on a stretch of road with a double yellow line. I quickly realized there was a car and pulled back behind the car I was trying to pass. He didn't like this though, I suppose feeling I was being reckless, and turned to show me some profanities. From there he picked up the phone and called the police I assume which was a little over the top in my opinion. None the less, I behaved for the next 40 km or so and didn't even try to pass as an acknowledgement that I should be more careful.
As we drove, the presence of snow became greater and in following the temperature got colder. Because we'd left a little earlier in theory, we ended up delaying lunch until 2/3 of the way through the trip with a stop in Kenora. We were quite hungry by this point and I believe I ate more A and W burgers than any sane man should but I was satisfied in the end though. When we crossed into Manitoba, everything changed drastically. The roads straightened out completely and everything became flat (as oppose to hilly). Keeves immediately noted the increasing presence of deer in the forest and I commented that I would love to see deer (I couldn't turn my head for long since I was driving). When we stopped for gas though, some deer actually came out of the forest and randomly wandered over in our direction before heading off. That was pretty cool to me.
We ended up getting to Winnipeg pretty early since we'd left early. Thus we thought we might actually have more time to enjoy the city this time around. This was not the case though as we ended up getting quite lost for about one and a half hours. This was mostly due to a misunderstanding of where the Comfort Inn was located. The description of what we'd been given was that the hotel was right off the highway. As such we just followed the Trans Canada Hwy into the city. After not finding anything we stopped at a few gas stations none of whom knew where the Comfort Inn was. One lady even gave us wrong directions which got us even more lost. Finally we looked up the number of the Comfort Inn to see if she could direct us from our lost location. It turned out that she'd only been in Winnipeg for a month and had no clue where we were. I did ask if she knew what intersection she was at and after getting that, I was able to navigate my way there. In the end it turns out that the Comfort Inn was location on the Perimeter Hwy which runs around the city.
After eventually getting to the Comfort Inn, we cooled off for a bit and headed out to a Boston Pizza (of which there are many in Winnipeg) for dinner. We ate and once again settled into our server/customer banter. We found out about a club called 'Tijuana Yatch Club' and 'Coyotes' that were suppose to be the places to go. However, once again, after hitting the bed and relaxing, sleep snuck its way up on me and we never ended up making it to a bar. It's a shame in this case as I would have liked to have gone as they sounded pretty cool.
CDs listened to on Day 3
VA - Wreckless Intent
Dave Matthews Band - Central Park Concert CD2
Live - Throwing Copper
John Mayer Trio - Try
Bon Jovi - Crossroads
Bryan Adams - Anthology CD2
Godsmack - IV
Day 4
We took our time in leaving on Day Four as we wanted to hit the shops for a little bit before leaving. In our random car banter, we had decided that we needed winnipeg jets hats if we were to be crossing through Winnipeg. As such we went looking for such hats. Eventually we ended up finding the hats that we wanted but at the last minute, I decided against buying it as the value would be lost once we left winnipeg. I also don't wear hats very much these days so it would have just sat in the closet. Our search for hats did lead us to a future shop though and as before, we bought more music cds. They included:
Me:
Live - Awake (the best of)
Linkin Park - Meteora
Collective Soul - Seven Year Itch
John Mayer - Room for Squares
Keeves:
Neil Diamond - Best of
Beck - Odelay
(And another which I forget)
From there we jumped back into the car and were on our way to Regina. This day was to be the shortest day of driving as there was only one city in between which was Brandon. I was glad to have lunch at a Subway in Brandon as my body needed the delicious veggies which are present on a sub. Another unexpected surprise popped up when I was queried about chesse on the sub and offered monteray jack cheese as one of the options. I jumped at that option as I love Monteray Jack cheese on anything. There was a hottie who laughed at my excitement to which I just answered that such things don't happen in ontario and that it was a nice change.
We had no trouble finding the Comfort Inn in regina as it was right off the highway. Since we'd gotten there in good time, I decided to find a gym and hit a workout. During the course of the workout, I could feel the lack of proper eating and dehydration holding me back. It was still good to hit the weights though.
We went to Eastside's for dinner that night and proceeded to flirt with as many of the servers and hostesses that would indulge us. We also gourged ourselves with salad and bread since it was free with the meal. We once again heckled people for a bar to go to but this time we would actually end up going. (We did get lost again looking for it). The bar was called the pump and it turned out to be a pretty upbeat place. The overall whiteness of the atmosphere of Regina was aparent though as there wasn't a single asian, brown or african american person there. The band was also playing some country songs, none of which I knew. We didn't end up staying long though as we needed to be up early to head of to calgary in the morning. A shame too as some of the women in Regina were gorgeous.
CDs listened to on Day 4:
Bon Jovi - Have a Nice Day
Beck - Odelay
Linkin Park - Meteora
Live - Awake
Bon Jovi - Live in St. Louis CD1 and CD2
Day 5
We awoke at our usual time of what we thought was 830 the next morning. My cell phone said it was 730 though and it was then we realized we were in mountain time. Keeves fake yelled at me for getting him up so early and I fake yelled at him for being so lazy.
The drive to Calgary was very much the same as that from Winnipeg to Regina. Mostly flat and mostly boring from the lack of scenery. During our stop in Swift Current, we almost bought more CDs but Keeves was the voice of reason (shockingly enough) saying that we had already bought enough.
The stop in Medicine Hat was kinda lame as my allergies were acting up a little bit. Things got better though on our way to Calgary as the sun came out and made things better. We once again got lost in finding the Comfort Inn due to a terrible map that was in the map we got of Western Canada and highlighted choice hotels (of which Comfort Inn is included). This time, we knew how to proceed with minimizing lost time and managed to reduce the extra time to about thirty minutes.
The plan for Calgary had always been to have one hell of a time once we got there since it was to be our last night on the journey. Things changed though with the overall five day fatigue setting in. Thus we only managed to get to the Chinook Centre to buy belt buckles and have dinner at Hooters (which was across the street). Hooters isn't as entertaining as I thought it would be. The menu selection is also pretty poor.
That night, aside from raving about how cool my belt buckle was, we just watched some UFC fights on Spike TV and hit the sack. Once again, I didn't mind not heading out on the city since the next day of driving would be the longest of the entire trip.
CDs listened to on Day 5:
Collective Soul - Seven Year Itch
Neil Diamond - Greatest Hits
VA - Nostalgia Mix
VA - BBQ Mix
Live - Songs from Black Mountain
VA - Halloween Mix
Day 6
We awoke pretty early that morning to get Keeves onto his bus to Edmonton which was leaving at 830 calgary time. We ate breakfast, packed everything into the car and headed off. We managed to get to the Bus station with about 15 minutes or so to spare which was a decent amount of time and got him a ticket to Edmonton. From there we parted ways which was a little tough since he'd been my wingman for five days straight. We all need to soldier on though.
I took off from the Bus station ready for my last day on the road. I immediately noticed the difference of driving by yourself versus driving with a wingman. It's amazing what your body and instincts become habituated to.
The drive itself was realy nice as there were lots of rocky mountains in the first portion and lots of folliage in the latter half when I got into BC. The drive itself was less straight forward, especially in the portion between lake louise and Revelstoke. When it says that one needs to go at 40 and 60 in some regions, you realy need to adhere to that. Things got much better though after passing through Kamloops and the drive was more straight forward.
After about 11H of driving and 1018.1 Km of distance, which saw me get lost in mini pockets three times, I arrived at my destination of Vancouver. I think I was braindead when I got here as I don't remember much of what happend that night. The drive certainly does take a lot out of you. Giles and I went out for dinner to celebrate and after that I crashed hard in going to bed.
CDs listened to on Day 6:
John Mayer - Room for Squares
Michael Jackson - The Essential Michael Jackson CD1
John Mayer - Continuum
Amanda Marshall - Intermission (The best of)
Michael Jackson - The Essential Michael Jackson CD2
John Mayer - Heavier Things
VA - Power Ballads
James Blunt - Chasing Time and Monkey on my Shoulder
Justin Timerberlake - FutureSex/LoveSounds
Closing Comments:
- A long drive has a very philisophical property and everyone needs to do it at some point.
- There were a great number of oversized vehicles in Ontario on the highway which sucked at some points. That's life though.
- The most listened to song on the journey was, not suprisingly, Living on a Prayer by Bon Jovi played four times. The second most listened to song, also not suprisingly was Summer of 69 by Bryan Adams played three times.
- Total money spent on gas - $396.17. Total spent on lodging - 554.27. Total distance travelled -4746 Km. Trip across Canada - Priceless (lame I know, but I earned it)
- There was an increased incidence of A and W, Robin's Donuts and Boston Pizza as we got to Calgary. They all but dissapeared here in Vancouver though.
- I stayed at Comfort Inns so much because they had a Choice club which reduced the cost of staying overnight and you get points for free stays.
- Now my mission is to find a place and stop bumming off Giles
- I can't believe I'm actually here now whereas a week ago I was getting ready to leave.
- I do get homesick from time to time but I suppose that's to be expected in completely new surroundings. All part of the adventure in the end.
Current Song: Collective Soul - Satellite (live)
Current Mood: Anxious (to find a place to live)
Sunday, October 15, 2006
'And I will shine on, for everyone'
Based on the sheer quantity of events and hijinks that went down this weekend this blog post is shaping up to be a long one and if you're reading this prepare yourself for a bit of reading.
The original plan for this weekend was that I was going to go to Peterborough for the mini course on friday and the Brown and Above course on Saturday. But, fate through me a curveball and stuck me into terrible traffic. One thing I will not miss after I leave is traffic on the 401. I don't think I've ever strung so many curse words together in succession like I did stuck in traffic. After letting the rage out though, I turned the negative of me not being able to make the course in any reasonable time into a positive and decided to go to kingston to get a full session in and see some of the faces that I've come to adore that I would not have seen otherwise.
Thus, I changed course and headed off towards K-town. It was quite the battle to get there in the end as half of the pacific came down from the sky and reduced driving conditions to an almost unbearable level. I endured though and made it safely. Things went up from there as the rain ceased and I made it to the session with a good amount of time. There were many suprised looks to take in including that of Mr. Bus who I would say was very happy to see me based on all the times he told me on saturday.
The session ran quite well as the 'bad cop, worse cop' duo shined like we always do. Teaching with Mr. Bus added a huge element nostalgia to the whole night as it wasn't too long ago we were doing the same as Dark Blues. Amazing how much things can change and still stay so comfortably the same. We also got to bounce Stu-Dan which was fun. Nothing like makikomis on b-day bounces.
There was a b-day celebration for him afterwards which he hosted at his place. After quickly suprising Mosie, who had no idea I was in K-town, we both headed over for some sweet times. There was some guitar hero, an airing of my superb acting skills, ice cream cake and the regular amount of merriment. Originally, I didn't think I'd have a good time as I did since I wanted to leave early and get some proper sleep for the course the next day. But even with the leave early element, things were fun.
I never ended up getting to bed early though as, even though we left at a decent time, Mosie and I stayed up reminiscing about the last six years from day one at university to now. All the fun trips, all the crushes, all the drama, all the parties and everything in between.
I awoke saturday suprisingly well and on time too. I had some cereal, filled the tank at the good ol J and was on the way to Peterbrough. I arrived early and as such just sat in the car listening to tunes. About five minutes before the scheduled start time no one was there so I started to get worried that I had the wrong venue. After a quick call, I found out that everyone was just late.
The course itself was quite intense and involved heavy throws for four hours. I took an elbow to the head in a throw about a quarter of the way through that slowly turned into a large headache later on and thus I cut out towards the end. Didn't miss too much though as the throws I had to sit down for I had done before at some point. At the end of the course, I was honoured with a (post-dated) katana which came as a huge shock to me. I was very touched by the whole thing.
I wasn't expecting the social to be terribly big as most everyone was beat up. As per usual I was wrong again. Things did start off slow with dinner and some good conversations as I'd guessed but as the first set of bar shots were done, the pace definately started to change. It wasn't soon after that, car bombs made their way an appearance. They also quickly vanished. At one point in the night, High Chief said that the night was in honour of my accomplishments and in going with this I asked if he'd make the day 'T-Bone day'. He shockingly enough just said yes whereas I expected some witty english response. Then later I actually got a hug from him!!! I was quite touched.
As the stone closed, we headed off for a destination that I didn't think I'd ever be back at which was the Trasheteria. Not suprisingly more drinks were consumed and there was even some dancing. One of the individuals started one of those person in a circle does some cool dancing circles during a heavy bass song. When I was called into the circle I threw out some ol school break dancing which was quite fun. Things tapered off there and progressed to the saphire room. I still had the dance vibe when I got there and SexyBack on the stereo just added to that. That being the case, when I went to the bar to get a drink I believe I said, "Can I get some type of minty thing? And could I also dance on your bar?". I was called on it though as the bartender said sure which came as a suprise to me. But there was dancing to be done so I requested 'What goes around' on the FutureSex/LoveSounds CD and went at it. I clearly remember getting up on the bar and Thumper yelling: "T-Bone get down from there, you'll get kicked out" and me resonponding with "No they won't, they let me". During the middle of the song I was amazed to find that people were enjoying the show and random people were taking pictures. Overall an awesome memory for my (possibly) last social in Peterborough.
We had some subway, that I couldn't taste, before heading to bed. As I predicted, I got some wicked spins which took some funny positions to get rid of.
This morning (sunday) we had breakfast at Smitty's and then I was off back home to spend the day with my family. The goodbyes at this point were very hard as I've known most of these individuals for the last half decade. It was a very surreal feeling.
The memories of this past few days are those that I'll cherish for the rest of my life. I've said it before and I will say it again that I've been very blessed to have met such wonderful people and shared such fantastic memories with them. I would not be where I'm at, or headed in this direction if it wasn't for the effort that each person has invested in me. To the following, I thank you dearly:
- Mosie
- Thumper
- My Parents and My sister
- Mr. Bus
- J-Bun
- RA
- McM
- Fish
- Flippy Dan
- Giles
There are also countless others to thank but those names present belong at the top. From the bottom of my heart, Thank You.
So ends one chapter of T-Bone/Zouts life and leads onto the opening of another.
(Cue Jet-Shine On)
The original plan for this weekend was that I was going to go to Peterborough for the mini course on friday and the Brown and Above course on Saturday. But, fate through me a curveball and stuck me into terrible traffic. One thing I will not miss after I leave is traffic on the 401. I don't think I've ever strung so many curse words together in succession like I did stuck in traffic. After letting the rage out though, I turned the negative of me not being able to make the course in any reasonable time into a positive and decided to go to kingston to get a full session in and see some of the faces that I've come to adore that I would not have seen otherwise.
Thus, I changed course and headed off towards K-town. It was quite the battle to get there in the end as half of the pacific came down from the sky and reduced driving conditions to an almost unbearable level. I endured though and made it safely. Things went up from there as the rain ceased and I made it to the session with a good amount of time. There were many suprised looks to take in including that of Mr. Bus who I would say was very happy to see me based on all the times he told me on saturday.
The session ran quite well as the 'bad cop, worse cop' duo shined like we always do. Teaching with Mr. Bus added a huge element nostalgia to the whole night as it wasn't too long ago we were doing the same as Dark Blues. Amazing how much things can change and still stay so comfortably the same. We also got to bounce Stu-Dan which was fun. Nothing like makikomis on b-day bounces.
There was a b-day celebration for him afterwards which he hosted at his place. After quickly suprising Mosie, who had no idea I was in K-town, we both headed over for some sweet times. There was some guitar hero, an airing of my superb acting skills, ice cream cake and the regular amount of merriment. Originally, I didn't think I'd have a good time as I did since I wanted to leave early and get some proper sleep for the course the next day. But even with the leave early element, things were fun.
I never ended up getting to bed early though as, even though we left at a decent time, Mosie and I stayed up reminiscing about the last six years from day one at university to now. All the fun trips, all the crushes, all the drama, all the parties and everything in between.
I awoke saturday suprisingly well and on time too. I had some cereal, filled the tank at the good ol J and was on the way to Peterbrough. I arrived early and as such just sat in the car listening to tunes. About five minutes before the scheduled start time no one was there so I started to get worried that I had the wrong venue. After a quick call, I found out that everyone was just late.
The course itself was quite intense and involved heavy throws for four hours. I took an elbow to the head in a throw about a quarter of the way through that slowly turned into a large headache later on and thus I cut out towards the end. Didn't miss too much though as the throws I had to sit down for I had done before at some point. At the end of the course, I was honoured with a (post-dated) katana which came as a huge shock to me. I was very touched by the whole thing.
I wasn't expecting the social to be terribly big as most everyone was beat up. As per usual I was wrong again. Things did start off slow with dinner and some good conversations as I'd guessed but as the first set of bar shots were done, the pace definately started to change. It wasn't soon after that, car bombs made their way an appearance. They also quickly vanished. At one point in the night, High Chief said that the night was in honour of my accomplishments and in going with this I asked if he'd make the day 'T-Bone day'. He shockingly enough just said yes whereas I expected some witty english response. Then later I actually got a hug from him!!! I was quite touched.
As the stone closed, we headed off for a destination that I didn't think I'd ever be back at which was the Trasheteria. Not suprisingly more drinks were consumed and there was even some dancing. One of the individuals started one of those person in a circle does some cool dancing circles during a heavy bass song. When I was called into the circle I threw out some ol school break dancing which was quite fun. Things tapered off there and progressed to the saphire room. I still had the dance vibe when I got there and SexyBack on the stereo just added to that. That being the case, when I went to the bar to get a drink I believe I said, "Can I get some type of minty thing? And could I also dance on your bar?". I was called on it though as the bartender said sure which came as a suprise to me. But there was dancing to be done so I requested 'What goes around' on the FutureSex/LoveSounds CD and went at it. I clearly remember getting up on the bar and Thumper yelling: "T-Bone get down from there, you'll get kicked out" and me resonponding with "No they won't, they let me". During the middle of the song I was amazed to find that people were enjoying the show and random people were taking pictures. Overall an awesome memory for my (possibly) last social in Peterborough.
We had some subway, that I couldn't taste, before heading to bed. As I predicted, I got some wicked spins which took some funny positions to get rid of.
This morning (sunday) we had breakfast at Smitty's and then I was off back home to spend the day with my family. The goodbyes at this point were very hard as I've known most of these individuals for the last half decade. It was a very surreal feeling.
The memories of this past few days are those that I'll cherish for the rest of my life. I've said it before and I will say it again that I've been very blessed to have met such wonderful people and shared such fantastic memories with them. I would not be where I'm at, or headed in this direction if it wasn't for the effort that each person has invested in me. To the following, I thank you dearly:
- Mosie
- Thumper
- My Parents and My sister
- Mr. Bus
- J-Bun
- RA
- McM
- Fish
- Flippy Dan
- Giles
There are also countless others to thank but those names present belong at the top. From the bottom of my heart, Thank You.
So ends one chapter of T-Bone/Zouts life and leads onto the opening of another.
(Cue Jet-Shine On)
Thursday, October 12, 2006
I hate blogs too!
...but people have to read something.
Most of items pertaining to the Vancouver move have been sorted out and I am definately looking forward to the venture. Mr. Keeves will be joining me for the majority of this trip which will at bare minimum provide constant entertainment. The trip itself will span six days and go as such:
Tuesday
Toronto to Sault Ste. Marie
Wednesday
Sault Ste. Marie to Thunder Bay
Thursday
Thunder Bay to Winnipeg
Friday
Winnipeg to Regina
Saturday
Regina to Calgary
Sunday
Calgary to Vancouver
Overall the total trip distance is 4482 km which splits up nicely over a six day trip. Originally I was going to make it a five day trip, but it made for stops is smaller and less interesting cities. The other advantage of having a six day trip is that it cuts down on daily driving fatigue and I can enjoy the cities a little bit more.
I am going to try and take pictures along the way and make as many daily posts as I can as a way of chronicaling the experience as well as a way to share it with everyone. Time will tell if I can actually stick to that though.
As most of you who are on my MSN list are aware, my old cell number is now gone as a new Vancouver BC number has taken its place. I must say that once that happend, the reality of this whole big change started to hit me. Its true that it is a big step and most of what will happen is unknown but in the end I think that's going to be the payoff. One day I'll be able to tell people I did something risky and have gained from it.
There a bit of writing by Marianne Williamson called Return to Love which reminds me of this. (Yes, this is from Coach Carter, but she still wrote it)
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant,
gorgeous, talented, fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking
so that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine, as children do.
We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.
It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously
give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear,
our presence automatically liberates others.
Most of items pertaining to the Vancouver move have been sorted out and I am definately looking forward to the venture. Mr. Keeves will be joining me for the majority of this trip which will at bare minimum provide constant entertainment. The trip itself will span six days and go as such:
Tuesday
Toronto to Sault Ste. Marie
Wednesday
Sault Ste. Marie to Thunder Bay
Thursday
Thunder Bay to Winnipeg
Friday
Winnipeg to Regina
Saturday
Regina to Calgary
Sunday
Calgary to Vancouver
Overall the total trip distance is 4482 km which splits up nicely over a six day trip. Originally I was going to make it a five day trip, but it made for stops is smaller and less interesting cities. The other advantage of having a six day trip is that it cuts down on daily driving fatigue and I can enjoy the cities a little bit more.
I am going to try and take pictures along the way and make as many daily posts as I can as a way of chronicaling the experience as well as a way to share it with everyone. Time will tell if I can actually stick to that though.
As most of you who are on my MSN list are aware, my old cell number is now gone as a new Vancouver BC number has taken its place. I must say that once that happend, the reality of this whole big change started to hit me. Its true that it is a big step and most of what will happen is unknown but in the end I think that's going to be the payoff. One day I'll be able to tell people I did something risky and have gained from it.
There a bit of writing by Marianne Williamson called Return to Love which reminds me of this. (Yes, this is from Coach Carter, but she still wrote it)
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant,
gorgeous, talented, fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking
so that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine, as children do.
We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.
It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously
give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear,
our presence automatically liberates others.
Thursday, October 05, 2006
"It's real! It's damn real!!"
Well after all the hoop jumping and rigamarol (as my parents would say), it all said and done with and a job offer has been formally been made my way and for all intensive purposes, I am on my way to Vancouver. It's very surreal that this has finally arrived because its been all talk for one and a half years and yet here it is at last.
Now the final details are still being ironed out but some of the more important and relevant details are:
- I plan on leaving Tuesday on the 17th sometime early in the morning. This allows me to spend the weekend at both the course, come home for a little bit and then be on my way.
- The job starts on the 30th of October. This allows me about a week to get familiar with Vancouver and spend time finding a place provided I arrive on the 22nd.
In the mean time there is quite a bit to sort out with insurance and licensing and moving companies and packing and other incurrent expenses. Oh yes, there's also thanksgiving.
My parents arn't to thrilled with the idea but I'd associate that with the close minded west indian mentality that plots out your future from birth as school, job, marriage, children, death. Since, I'm not following this, naturally I must be wrong. Hopefully though, they'll grow to understand.
I'd like to thank all of the people who have always been supporting me along the way keeping me positive. I'd also like to personally thank 'the man who will always have a place to sleep on my couch' for convincing me to take some decisive action which ended up spiraling into the offer being made. Without his sound advice, I'd likely still be waiting.
Closing comments:
- How much can you hate someone such that you purposefully lead them on thinking you've left a good reference all the while sabotaging their attempts. And you call me me low.
- It's realy a mix of excitement and fear of moving so far and doing something so completely off the wall. I'm sure that's where the payoff will be though.
Current Song: Alanis Morissette - Surrendering
Current Mood: Well... Fear and Excitement! Whoo!
Now the final details are still being ironed out but some of the more important and relevant details are:
- I plan on leaving Tuesday on the 17th sometime early in the morning. This allows me to spend the weekend at both the course, come home for a little bit and then be on my way.
- The job starts on the 30th of October. This allows me about a week to get familiar with Vancouver and spend time finding a place provided I arrive on the 22nd.
In the mean time there is quite a bit to sort out with insurance and licensing and moving companies and packing and other incurrent expenses. Oh yes, there's also thanksgiving.
My parents arn't to thrilled with the idea but I'd associate that with the close minded west indian mentality that plots out your future from birth as school, job, marriage, children, death. Since, I'm not following this, naturally I must be wrong. Hopefully though, they'll grow to understand.
I'd like to thank all of the people who have always been supporting me along the way keeping me positive. I'd also like to personally thank 'the man who will always have a place to sleep on my couch' for convincing me to take some decisive action which ended up spiraling into the offer being made. Without his sound advice, I'd likely still be waiting.
Closing comments:
- How much can you hate someone such that you purposefully lead them on thinking you've left a good reference all the while sabotaging their attempts. And you call me me low.
- It's realy a mix of excitement and fear of moving so far and doing something so completely off the wall. I'm sure that's where the payoff will be though.
Current Song: Alanis Morissette - Surrendering
Current Mood: Well... Fear and Excitement! Whoo!
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Head in the clouds
One of the good points about being home is that I always get a good nights sleep and a result of this has been an increased frequency of dreams. Most recently, the more memorable dreams have centered around many crushes in my life. The nature of the activities has varied but most just leave me with a 'what happend to this person' sensation in the morning. That is until last night.
I remember starting the dream just idleing about with another lady who I've known for quite some time. There was nothing extra ordinary about the atmosphere other than the fact that it seemed as though it was a moment where I was saying goodbye (most likely in anticipation of vancouver). As the idle conversation continued, I mumbled what I can only paraphrase as something along the lines of "I'd like just one thing before I go" and then I leaned over to kiss said party. The initial reaction was a lean back and a look of shock and then a slight returning gaze of "Well I guess you are leaving" and meeting me for the kiss.
It was soft lasting a few seconds and when it ended, things had been so spontaneously pationate that it seemed as if the only thing to do from there was meet again for another kiss. At that point it all just stopped as I fell out of the dream state and into normal sleep state. I remembered it clear as day though when I awoke and didn't just stop to think 'what happend to such person' but more so that I just wanted to see, hold and embrace them at that very moment.
Strange what our deepest desires hold within...
Closing comments:
- Still no word from Vancouver. I might throw an e-mail out later in the week.
- Prison Break had me on the edge of my seat once again. Just fine Television.
- The season premiere of lost is on tommorrow which I am quite eager to watch.
- Currently on my MP3 player, I have the following songs:
Mercy Drive - Burn in my light
Breaking Benjamin - Diary of Jane
Dashboard Confessional - Rooftops and Invitations
Storm Large - Ladylike
Fort Minor ft. Styles of Beyond - Remember the Name
Nelly Furtado - Maneater
Robert Tepper - No Easy Way Out (Rocky IV soundtrack)
Our Lady Peace - Innocent (live)
Eminem - Sing for the Moment
Seether ft. Amy Lee - Broken
- I've just downloaded the first two episodes of Jericho which is getting good reviews online and am looking forward to watching them
And a small blast from the not so long ago past:
I remember starting the dream just idleing about with another lady who I've known for quite some time. There was nothing extra ordinary about the atmosphere other than the fact that it seemed as though it was a moment where I was saying goodbye (most likely in anticipation of vancouver). As the idle conversation continued, I mumbled what I can only paraphrase as something along the lines of "I'd like just one thing before I go" and then I leaned over to kiss said party. The initial reaction was a lean back and a look of shock and then a slight returning gaze of "Well I guess you are leaving" and meeting me for the kiss.
It was soft lasting a few seconds and when it ended, things had been so spontaneously pationate that it seemed as if the only thing to do from there was meet again for another kiss. At that point it all just stopped as I fell out of the dream state and into normal sleep state. I remembered it clear as day though when I awoke and didn't just stop to think 'what happend to such person' but more so that I just wanted to see, hold and embrace them at that very moment.
Strange what our deepest desires hold within...
Closing comments:
- Still no word from Vancouver. I might throw an e-mail out later in the week.
- Prison Break had me on the edge of my seat once again. Just fine Television.
- The season premiere of lost is on tommorrow which I am quite eager to watch.
- Currently on my MP3 player, I have the following songs:
Mercy Drive - Burn in my light
Breaking Benjamin - Diary of Jane
Dashboard Confessional - Rooftops and Invitations
Storm Large - Ladylike
Fort Minor ft. Styles of Beyond - Remember the Name
Nelly Furtado - Maneater
Robert Tepper - No Easy Way Out (Rocky IV soundtrack)
Our Lady Peace - Innocent (live)
Eminem - Sing for the Moment
Seether ft. Amy Lee - Broken
- I've just downloaded the first two episodes of Jericho which is getting good reviews online and am looking forward to watching them
And a small blast from the not so long ago past:
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
One fun course; One Sore day
Well I think I've finally done it in that during this lag period of waiting for employers to consider my hat for their trade, I have physically run myself into the ground. In my previous post, I had mentioned my knees were getting a little worn out especially after the body Jam class. That being the case, I decided not to do any major physical activity on saturday to rest up me knees for the sunday course.
This seemed to work as I'd planned as there was no major performance issues or pain in relation to them. However, possibly as a result of the green and above course being 90% browns and Dans, I was overall physically done at the conclusion of the course. Yesterday, my body reminded me of this as, after hanging out in Peterborough after the course and driving home in the morning, my body went into a stasis lock. There was little energy to do anything except get a meal or so. Today, things are better, but I still think I'm going to take it easy and let the recovery process take its full course.
What to do in the meantime though is the big question? Maybe, lots of guitar practice.
Closing Comments:
- Stupid B minor requiring perfect finger positioning. Who made up such an archaic chord.
- Enjoying the song 'Maneater' by Nelly Furtado and 'It ends tonight' by the All American Rejects. There's also a cover out of the 'Monster Mash' by Mannheim Steamroller; Must be for halloween.
- Texas Holdem sucks when you get no over cards for 12 - 13 hands in a row. I need to win, not convince people that my 3 and 7 can dominate all.
- Speaking of which, the pseudo tournament that I went to was a fun little social event. I might hold some events like that if I ever get to Vancouver.
- Prison Break delivered up another solid episode. Though more people should have died as splitting five million six ways instead of two would suck. That was not a spoiler.
Current Song: Mannheim Steamroller - Monster Mash
Current Mood: Anxious
This seemed to work as I'd planned as there was no major performance issues or pain in relation to them. However, possibly as a result of the green and above course being 90% browns and Dans, I was overall physically done at the conclusion of the course. Yesterday, my body reminded me of this as, after hanging out in Peterborough after the course and driving home in the morning, my body went into a stasis lock. There was little energy to do anything except get a meal or so. Today, things are better, but I still think I'm going to take it easy and let the recovery process take its full course.
What to do in the meantime though is the big question? Maybe, lots of guitar practice.
Closing Comments:
- Stupid B minor requiring perfect finger positioning. Who made up such an archaic chord.
- Enjoying the song 'Maneater' by Nelly Furtado and 'It ends tonight' by the All American Rejects. There's also a cover out of the 'Monster Mash' by Mannheim Steamroller; Must be for halloween.
- Texas Holdem sucks when you get no over cards for 12 - 13 hands in a row. I need to win, not convince people that my 3 and 7 can dominate all.
- Speaking of which, the pseudo tournament that I went to was a fun little social event. I might hold some events like that if I ever get to Vancouver.
- Prison Break delivered up another solid episode. Though more people should have died as splitting five million six ways instead of two would suck. That was not a spoiler.
Current Song: Mannheim Steamroller - Monster Mash
Current Mood: Anxious
Friday, September 22, 2006
We're still waiting
There is no word in the english dictionary than can describe this feeling inside of being done all the school portion of my program and now moving to being on the cusp of starting into the job world. Deep down there is a satisfaction, a relief, a fear and some anticipation.
For all those who are curious (which seems to be everyone these days), I had called VGH last week to see what the latest update was on me working for them. The response which I recieved was that they were deliberating and would have an answer for me by October 1st. Now, while in the end, I understand that this how the 'real world' of jobs go, it is absolutly killing me waiting for a response. There is no more big exam to occupy my thoughts and in this wait all I can do is all the little tasks that get left behind.
In the end, it's good to get around to all the little things such as getting my guitar fixed. That being said, the little things arn't that exciting and bring only the minimal joy of knowing they're out of the way. However, I'd rather be getting myself ready for a job mainly due to the debt factor pressing upon me like a lead weight. So goes life.
On a lighter note, I did one of those female dominated classes today in an attempt to put myself in a woman's shoes when they do weights among the men. The end result had me completely stepping on my own feet in a Body Jam class likely looking like an idiot. I'm sure most of that was in my head but its always interesting to note how difficult something can be that others make look easy. The next class is in a week and I may or may not go. There were many an attractive woman in attendence which presents much motivation for me to step on my feet again.
The Z-BOT tour is being cancelled for now due to lack of finances. I was hoping to be employed by VGH and have a travel allowance alloted to me which I could have used for such a trip but since none of that has come through, there can be no trip. I will still be attending the course on sunday though to get some jitsu back into me.
Closing comments:
- The past episode of Prison Break was awesome.
- Gradually getting back into the guitar one chord at a time.
- So you're reading someone's blog purposely not leading on that you know about it. What is it in the end that you're waiting for?
- I've once again run my knees into a great deal of soreness. I need to rest but running is one of my only daily satisfactions. What's a man to do?
- How dumb can one man be to cheat on a very practical exam? And how much more foolish are you to get caught.
- I very much enjoy the new John Mayer album. Solid from top to bottom. The new Timberlake album leaves much to be desired though. It's not bad; it's just not as good as people make it out to be.
Current Song: Justin Timberlake - What goes around.../...Comes around (one of the few good songs)
Current Mood: Impatient
For all those who are curious (which seems to be everyone these days), I had called VGH last week to see what the latest update was on me working for them. The response which I recieved was that they were deliberating and would have an answer for me by October 1st. Now, while in the end, I understand that this how the 'real world' of jobs go, it is absolutly killing me waiting for a response. There is no more big exam to occupy my thoughts and in this wait all I can do is all the little tasks that get left behind.
In the end, it's good to get around to all the little things such as getting my guitar fixed. That being said, the little things arn't that exciting and bring only the minimal joy of knowing they're out of the way. However, I'd rather be getting myself ready for a job mainly due to the debt factor pressing upon me like a lead weight. So goes life.
On a lighter note, I did one of those female dominated classes today in an attempt to put myself in a woman's shoes when they do weights among the men. The end result had me completely stepping on my own feet in a Body Jam class likely looking like an idiot. I'm sure most of that was in my head but its always interesting to note how difficult something can be that others make look easy. The next class is in a week and I may or may not go. There were many an attractive woman in attendence which presents much motivation for me to step on my feet again.
The Z-BOT tour is being cancelled for now due to lack of finances. I was hoping to be employed by VGH and have a travel allowance alloted to me which I could have used for such a trip but since none of that has come through, there can be no trip. I will still be attending the course on sunday though to get some jitsu back into me.
Closing comments:
- The past episode of Prison Break was awesome.
- Gradually getting back into the guitar one chord at a time.
- So you're reading someone's blog purposely not leading on that you know about it. What is it in the end that you're waiting for?
- I've once again run my knees into a great deal of soreness. I need to rest but running is one of my only daily satisfactions. What's a man to do?
- How dumb can one man be to cheat on a very practical exam? And how much more foolish are you to get caught.
- I very much enjoy the new John Mayer album. Solid from top to bottom. The new Timberlake album leaves much to be desired though. It's not bad; it's just not as good as people make it out to be.
Current Song: Justin Timberlake - What goes around.../...Comes around (one of the few good songs)
Current Mood: Impatient
Monday, September 18, 2006
After tommorrow
Well tommorrow I'll be writing the big one and it will be hugely significant. For after tommorrow...
It will be the end of a post secondary school tenure
The time I will begin looking for a Job in a career orientation
Put my travel plans into full swing
Make a fully committed return to Jitsu Canada ending my hiatus
Put away two years worth of notes into the school Banker Box Archives
Play video games guilt free
Return to my 11am-12pm lifestyle (for a little while)
In other news, I'm still waiting to hear from Vancouver General about my potentially working at the hospital. I was told that a decision would be made by October 1st for the specific position that's available right now. Until then I cross my fingers.
It would be nice to know as soon as possible as there are a lot of items to put into motion if such a propect becomes reality. The most important at the moment is the cross Ontario tour (Which I've unappropriately named 'Zout Bangs Ontario Tour' or Z-Bot). Look for a post exam post on this and more items after the exam.
Now just to tackle six hours worth of exam
It will be the end of a post secondary school tenure
The time I will begin looking for a Job in a career orientation
Put my travel plans into full swing
Make a fully committed return to Jitsu Canada ending my hiatus
Put away two years worth of notes into the school Banker Box Archives
Play video games guilt free
Return to my 11am-12pm lifestyle (for a little while)
In other news, I'm still waiting to hear from Vancouver General about my potentially working at the hospital. I was told that a decision would be made by October 1st for the specific position that's available right now. Until then I cross my fingers.
It would be nice to know as soon as possible as there are a lot of items to put into motion if such a propect becomes reality. The most important at the moment is the cross Ontario tour (Which I've unappropriately named 'Zout Bangs Ontario Tour' or Z-Bot). Look for a post exam post on this and more items after the exam.
Now just to tackle six hours worth of exam
Sunday, September 10, 2006
Livin the homelife
Well since FoxTV has rooked me and put American Dad in the TV spot that family guy use to be in, I have chosen to take this time and throw in an entry.
Life is pretty chill these days being at home. It's nice to be able to sleep in everyday. That coupled with the healthy eating makes for some excellent training in this down time.
When I'm not training though, my time is otherwise spent marginally studying and watching TV. In the past I have not been a huge TV junky, but seeing as how I only know a handful of people in brownzmania, there are a few more shows that I tune into these days.
Of course there are the usuals such as prison break, simpsons and family guy but now I've added Rockstar Supernova, Celebrity Duets and So you think you can dance (the tryouts at least) to that list. It's pretty lame I know as I should be focussing the majority of my time on work but truthfully, its entertaining stuff.
I was down in K-town for a day which made for some good times. Played a game of Texas Holdem with some of the jitsu crowd which turned out to be quite the fun game. I am still quite bitter that I lost a hand which saw me with pocket kings and go down. The one time I get a spectacular pocket pair, someone else has a better one. Bah. I also still hate the river.
I also attended the grease pole for the first time in my run of seven orientation weeks. It was definately neat to see as I've never been to one. It was also a reminder of how old I've gotten as Munro and I were among the handful of 04s present.
There's quite a bit of contemplation time spent while I linger at home. While the majority of it is looking towards the exam and a west end future, some is spent thinking of trinkets that I will soon be able to afford and would like to get.
So far that list consists of:
- Food (good food. The delicious kind)
- A new laptop (I've been surviving on a PIII 667 for too long now)
- More Texas Holdem (Yeah disposable income!)
- Likely an IPod
- Some type of Video Game system (PS3?)
Naturally, its all treats as no one plans for the stuff they have to take into account for budgeting like insurance and rent. That stuff will get taken care of but I'll enjoy the items mentioned more.
Time for family guy.
Life is pretty chill these days being at home. It's nice to be able to sleep in everyday. That coupled with the healthy eating makes for some excellent training in this down time.
When I'm not training though, my time is otherwise spent marginally studying and watching TV. In the past I have not been a huge TV junky, but seeing as how I only know a handful of people in brownzmania, there are a few more shows that I tune into these days.
Of course there are the usuals such as prison break, simpsons and family guy but now I've added Rockstar Supernova, Celebrity Duets and So you think you can dance (the tryouts at least) to that list. It's pretty lame I know as I should be focussing the majority of my time on work but truthfully, its entertaining stuff.
I was down in K-town for a day which made for some good times. Played a game of Texas Holdem with some of the jitsu crowd which turned out to be quite the fun game. I am still quite bitter that I lost a hand which saw me with pocket kings and go down. The one time I get a spectacular pocket pair, someone else has a better one. Bah. I also still hate the river.
I also attended the grease pole for the first time in my run of seven orientation weeks. It was definately neat to see as I've never been to one. It was also a reminder of how old I've gotten as Munro and I were among the handful of 04s present.
There's quite a bit of contemplation time spent while I linger at home. While the majority of it is looking towards the exam and a west end future, some is spent thinking of trinkets that I will soon be able to afford and would like to get.
So far that list consists of:
- Food (good food. The delicious kind)
- A new laptop (I've been surviving on a PIII 667 for too long now)
- More Texas Holdem (Yeah disposable income!)
- Likely an IPod
- Some type of Video Game system (PS3?)
Naturally, its all treats as no one plans for the stuff they have to take into account for budgeting like insurance and rent. That stuff will get taken care of but I'll enjoy the items mentioned more.
Time for family guy.
Sunday, September 03, 2006
The goose has landed
To begin, I relize the saying is that the eagle has landed but goose sounded funnier to me. Leave it to me to change a good saying for silly reasons.
My tenure in the wall has finally come to an end and I have now returned back to te golden horseshoe of brampton. We had found out tuesday that we would be let off that day and after a bittersweet farewell, I made my way home to 1430 for the very last time. I proceeded to begin packing up the rest of my belongings that were out and acquired a trolly to cart all items between my apartment and the car. The rest of the day was spent packing things into the civic (which can be a challenge) and finding some sort of dinnner. After finishing the next day, I then made some goodbyes and said farewell to Cornwall for the very last time. Truth be told, it was a very strange feeling as you get a custom to many things about a place of living and seeing an empty apartment that you've lived in can throw you off a little.
I spent the next few days in Kingston seeing friends and getting a few little tasks done. It was orginally suppose to be a day in Kingston but I found out on the first day that I was there that a buddy was moving the next day and needed help moving and thus I extended my stay. Overall this might have been a mistake and I would end up pulling a muscle carrying his giganumbous TV down three flights of stairs. I have never cursed an object so much as I have that day. I've also never eaten so much food as I did that day. My goodness (my guinness!) does moving make you hungry.
I returned home this past friday even though I wanted to stay in Kingston amongst all the people, the culture, the diversity and not to mention, the incredibly attractive women (100x fold more so than the ladies of the Wall). But we can't all be spoiled all of our lives. I havn't done much since getting home except for unpack some of the majority of my stuff. I was about to start studying for my exam when family came over and that shot those plans to hell. I'd forgotten how loud west indian families can be. Oh yes, my parents also labelled me fat which I thought was insulting as I do more in a day than they do in a week in terms of activity. Irritating.
Closing Comments:
- Must attempt to be even less dramatic about the subject of blog posts. Stick more to self and less to others.
- New song of the month is Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol. I'd heard this before somewhere and it's now been released as a single. I also enjoy that new song by the Dixie Chicks.
- Saw Crank last night which is a very fast paced movie. The effect though is good as it adds to the story, which in and of itself is ridiculous if one thinks about it.
- Two weeks til my last exam for a long time. Such a strange feeling.
Current Song: None
Current Mood: Refreshed
My tenure in the wall has finally come to an end and I have now returned back to te golden horseshoe of brampton. We had found out tuesday that we would be let off that day and after a bittersweet farewell, I made my way home to 1430 for the very last time. I proceeded to begin packing up the rest of my belongings that were out and acquired a trolly to cart all items between my apartment and the car. The rest of the day was spent packing things into the civic (which can be a challenge) and finding some sort of dinnner. After finishing the next day, I then made some goodbyes and said farewell to Cornwall for the very last time. Truth be told, it was a very strange feeling as you get a custom to many things about a place of living and seeing an empty apartment that you've lived in can throw you off a little.
I spent the next few days in Kingston seeing friends and getting a few little tasks done. It was orginally suppose to be a day in Kingston but I found out on the first day that I was there that a buddy was moving the next day and needed help moving and thus I extended my stay. Overall this might have been a mistake and I would end up pulling a muscle carrying his giganumbous TV down three flights of stairs. I have never cursed an object so much as I have that day. I've also never eaten so much food as I did that day. My goodness (my guinness!) does moving make you hungry.
I returned home this past friday even though I wanted to stay in Kingston amongst all the people, the culture, the diversity and not to mention, the incredibly attractive women (100x fold more so than the ladies of the Wall). But we can't all be spoiled all of our lives. I havn't done much since getting home except for unpack some of the majority of my stuff. I was about to start studying for my exam when family came over and that shot those plans to hell. I'd forgotten how loud west indian families can be. Oh yes, my parents also labelled me fat which I thought was insulting as I do more in a day than they do in a week in terms of activity. Irritating.
Closing Comments:
- Must attempt to be even less dramatic about the subject of blog posts. Stick more to self and less to others.
- New song of the month is Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol. I'd heard this before somewhere and it's now been released as a single. I also enjoy that new song by the Dixie Chicks.
- Saw Crank last night which is a very fast paced movie. The effect though is good as it adds to the story, which in and of itself is ridiculous if one thinks about it.
- Two weeks til my last exam for a long time. Such a strange feeling.
Current Song: None
Current Mood: Refreshed
Friday, August 25, 2006
Right F'n pissed
Aight, so I was told almost two months ago than in all likelyhood we would be allowed to go a week early than the scheduled end of semester. Thus I arrange all my plans around moving home this sunday; End all the bills, contact the landlord, sell all the requred items, find the necessary moving help and purchase just enough food to last me to the end on sunday. Then today while be let go early, we're told to have a nice weekend and that she'll see us on monday.
And from that moment and continuing til the writing on this post I have been pissed off. There is absolutely nothing to be gained as a student from going in next week as we've finished all of the necessary items that need to be completed as students in our clinical year and therein lies my biggest quam. (Edited due to over excessiveness) . Most times I've let it go because I'm an easy going individual but, when I have to replan all of the items mentioned on account of her making ridiculous decisions, I start to get a little angry about it.
Needless to say, I'm pretty certain that all words exchanged with her next week will be short and brief. (Also edited).
Closing comments:
- WTF is this sh*t. Jebus.
- My kingston trip this weekend is being cancelled since everyone is out of town. Think I'll be rescheduling for tuesday night provided I get off that day.
- Some things surprise you more than others. Some events surprise you more than others and some people have some unexpected surprises.
- I might put off my move to Vancouver by a little bit in favour of staying for thanksgiving. So depending on what happens in the next few weeks, my departure date might be the 9th and my start date date would be the 16th.
- The apartment seems so lifeless without all my trinkets and posters. I guess its all relative to how each person lives in the end as some people might enjoy seeing their walls without posters plastered all over them.
- You can put posters in the kitchen right? I remember having this discussion a while back but have always gotten mixed answer on that.
Current Song: Bob Dylan - Blowing in the Wind
Current Mood: Frustrated
And from that moment and continuing til the writing on this post I have been pissed off. There is absolutely nothing to be gained as a student from going in next week as we've finished all of the necessary items that need to be completed as students in our clinical year and therein lies my biggest quam. (Edited due to over excessiveness) . Most times I've let it go because I'm an easy going individual but, when I have to replan all of the items mentioned on account of her making ridiculous decisions, I start to get a little angry about it.
Needless to say, I'm pretty certain that all words exchanged with her next week will be short and brief. (Also edited).
Closing comments:
- WTF is this sh*t. Jebus.
- My kingston trip this weekend is being cancelled since everyone is out of town. Think I'll be rescheduling for tuesday night provided I get off that day.
- Some things surprise you more than others. Some events surprise you more than others and some people have some unexpected surprises.
- I might put off my move to Vancouver by a little bit in favour of staying for thanksgiving. So depending on what happens in the next few weeks, my departure date might be the 9th and my start date date would be the 16th.
- The apartment seems so lifeless without all my trinkets and posters. I guess its all relative to how each person lives in the end as some people might enjoy seeing their walls without posters plastered all over them.
- You can put posters in the kitchen right? I remember having this discussion a while back but have always gotten mixed answer on that.
Current Song: Bob Dylan - Blowing in the Wind
Current Mood: Frustrated
Thursday, August 17, 2006
Been a while but its been warrented
As per usual its late and I'm posting. That being the case I will attempt to keep this as short as possible to maximize sleep.
I've been studying for exams lately which is why the posts have been kept to a minimum. Needless to say I've still done a few noteworthy items which might be of a reader's interest.
During the long weekend, I mainly studied as I'd set out to do. However, to keep from completely going insane from pure studies, I went to the highland games on the friday night as I had half planned to do. Now because, I was with one of my co-student friends and his fiancé, I didn't get too rowdy but I still had good time as I ran into some familiar faces who I hadn't seen in a long time and got to throw a few half filled beer cups around. But after all the fun was done, it was back to studying.
Truthfully, it sucked to have given up a beautiful long weekend for the books. But, as the fates would have it, the trade off I made in favour of going to Muskoka this past weekend was well worth it. The twelve hours on the road, was all worth it. In the end there was nothing super special and out of the ordinary that occured. It was just the company amongst old friends that I've grown up with that made it all worth it. That and some Ouzo. ;O)
The exam ended up going well and all the studying paid off. The other great part is that this was the last major thing that needed to be done and now I just coast til the end.
Tommorrow is the student celebration which includes dinner and a little house jam. There is a possibility that we may even frequent a bar and visit the locals. Then from there, there is just one week left before my tenure in Cornwall is over. The end has come at last.
Closing thoughts:
- Instead of any actual thoughts, I'm just gonna use some song lyrics to fill space that I thought would make good titles to posts
- "You ask me if I've known love and what it's like to sing songs in the rain"
- "I wanna have the same last dream again"
- "But if I don't come back then I won't look behind me"
- "It is truth and love and it is always there"
Current Song: Hinder - Lips of an Angel
Current Mood: Satisfied
And of course, a video...
I've been studying for exams lately which is why the posts have been kept to a minimum. Needless to say I've still done a few noteworthy items which might be of a reader's interest.
During the long weekend, I mainly studied as I'd set out to do. However, to keep from completely going insane from pure studies, I went to the highland games on the friday night as I had half planned to do. Now because, I was with one of my co-student friends and his fiancé, I didn't get too rowdy but I still had good time as I ran into some familiar faces who I hadn't seen in a long time and got to throw a few half filled beer cups around. But after all the fun was done, it was back to studying.
Truthfully, it sucked to have given up a beautiful long weekend for the books. But, as the fates would have it, the trade off I made in favour of going to Muskoka this past weekend was well worth it. The twelve hours on the road, was all worth it. In the end there was nothing super special and out of the ordinary that occured. It was just the company amongst old friends that I've grown up with that made it all worth it. That and some Ouzo. ;O)
The exam ended up going well and all the studying paid off. The other great part is that this was the last major thing that needed to be done and now I just coast til the end.
Tommorrow is the student celebration which includes dinner and a little house jam. There is a possibility that we may even frequent a bar and visit the locals. Then from there, there is just one week left before my tenure in Cornwall is over. The end has come at last.
Closing thoughts:
- Instead of any actual thoughts, I'm just gonna use some song lyrics to fill space that I thought would make good titles to posts
- "You ask me if I've known love and what it's like to sing songs in the rain"
- "I wanna have the same last dream again"
- "But if I don't come back then I won't look behind me"
- "It is truth and love and it is always there"
Current Song: Hinder - Lips of an Angel
Current Mood: Satisfied
And of course, a video...
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
"I don't feel like Satan, but I am to them"
After being somewhat lured back to the song 'Rockin in the free' World by an MSN handle of Mr. Yau's, I find myself unable to stop listening to it at the moment. There's something entrancing about the lyrics and the beat of the song that entrance. I also have several versions/covers which included one by one of my high school teachers and a school band which has a nostalgic element and adds to my enjoyment of the song.
Nothing too exciting happening in the world of Zout these past couple days. I went home this past weekend to take some stuff home and recharge the batteries. It's true that I have not been doing much and as such I shouldn't have been as tired as I was, but I think the recent surge of heat and humidity has been taxing on my sleep since I don't have AC. Thus a trip home, which has the excellence of AC, allowed me to get a few good nights of real good sleep.
We also had the oppurtunity to go out as a family (immediate as well as cousin's family who is like a brother to me) for dinner. My seven month old niece was present and everyone was giving her copius amounts of attention as is usual when she's present. I often question why it is that people abandon all forms of higher intellect and reduce themselves to 'baby talk' around babies but at the same time, I did the exact same. She's cute, quite cute.
I was orginally planning on attending the majority of the Highland games this weekend but have since changed my mind for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, I have a big exam in two weeks and think that four days off provides for an excellent chance to get into a good chunk of material. The other, which relates to the first, is that I am heading to Muskoka the next weekend for the celebration of Mosie's 25th B-day! I might still end up going on friday though and taking in the surroundings. It's 50/50 as of this moment.
Closing thoughts:
- It occurs to me more each time I make a long drive about how comfortable I am doing it and how it's nothing anymore.
- Does anyone actually care that Lance Bass is gay? Didn't everyone assume most members of boy bands were brady since they were in boy bands?
- I can almost see the finish line. Just 2.5-3.5 weeks left!
- There have been two wickedly intense thunderstorms in the past two nights? Where does all this rain come from?
- "That's one more kid that will never go to school, never get to fall in love, never get to be cool"
Current Song: Neil Young - Rockin in the Free World (duh)
Current Mood: Tired (another late night post)
Nothing too exciting happening in the world of Zout these past couple days. I went home this past weekend to take some stuff home and recharge the batteries. It's true that I have not been doing much and as such I shouldn't have been as tired as I was, but I think the recent surge of heat and humidity has been taxing on my sleep since I don't have AC. Thus a trip home, which has the excellence of AC, allowed me to get a few good nights of real good sleep.
We also had the oppurtunity to go out as a family (immediate as well as cousin's family who is like a brother to me) for dinner. My seven month old niece was present and everyone was giving her copius amounts of attention as is usual when she's present. I often question why it is that people abandon all forms of higher intellect and reduce themselves to 'baby talk' around babies but at the same time, I did the exact same. She's cute, quite cute.
I was orginally planning on attending the majority of the Highland games this weekend but have since changed my mind for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, I have a big exam in two weeks and think that four days off provides for an excellent chance to get into a good chunk of material. The other, which relates to the first, is that I am heading to Muskoka the next weekend for the celebration of Mosie's 25th B-day! I might still end up going on friday though and taking in the surroundings. It's 50/50 as of this moment.
Closing thoughts:
- It occurs to me more each time I make a long drive about how comfortable I am doing it and how it's nothing anymore.
- Does anyone actually care that Lance Bass is gay? Didn't everyone assume most members of boy bands were brady since they were in boy bands?
- I can almost see the finish line. Just 2.5-3.5 weeks left!
- There have been two wickedly intense thunderstorms in the past two nights? Where does all this rain come from?
- "That's one more kid that will never go to school, never get to fall in love, never get to be cool"
Current Song: Neil Young - Rockin in the Free World (duh)
Current Mood: Tired (another late night post)
Monday, July 24, 2006
On a different side of things
It occured to me today after reading RA's blog why it is that the majority of social events of my life have been nixed and nulified. That reason is simple in that I don't have any expendable money these days to put forth towards any type of social endeavour. I still don't have many friends here in Cornwall that arn't part of some type of relationship dynamic so there arn't many outings here where I'm not the third wheel. That being the case, I would usually head to Ottawa, Kingston or even home to get into a social/cultered set of surroundings but that always had a base cost for the price of gas and that base cost was high. And so to cut that base cost and save some cash, I've had to cut out the travelling and that subsequently killed the little social life I had. However, there is only one month to sit and wait in this social standstill; one month left in Cornhole. Until then, everyone is invited to visit!
I recently threw my name on the website plentyoffish.com in an attempt to meet people. Now its true that this is a dating site but the goal I had in mind for this was to meet some folks across canada so that in my half cross country trip, I'd be able to hook up with people in some canadian cities and get a taste of their culture through them. So far, I've met a grand total of no one but I havn't messaged anyone and no one has messaged me. I think I have to re-write my profile though because it was like a singles version initially which I thought it had to be. In reading other though I've learned otherwise.
This past weekend, I took care of some loose ends including bill cancelations and forwarding. I also put together a somewhat revised budget to get me through til I go back home. I also managed to reduce everything in the apartment to an absolute living minimum. Once I take this next load home this weekend and sell my major furniture (anyone need a bed, desk, deluxe computer chair or arm chair?), I'll have reduced everything in my apartment to one car load able to fit in the civic for the last ride home.
Speaking of the end, two tentative dates have been set for a possible end. If everything goes according to plan, then I should be done on the 18th. If not it will definately be the weekend after that on the 25th. We're planning on having a pretty huge celebration to end the year on the 18th so if anyone was ever thinking of comming up (insert rolling tumble weed) that would be a good day. It's gonna be a dinner, house gig and then a bar.
Closing thoughts:
- The ontario road trip (21st-28th) might get cancelled due to lack of fundalage. If it does happen, it will likely not include much boozing to economize everything.
- In the back of my mind, there have been a few instances where I think I'm gonna miss Cornwall. I think its just the familiarity of it all which your body grows accustomed to.
- This has been a rather long blog post about nothing at all. Suprised you've gotten this far.
- I found out today the reason I havn't heard back about a final deal in Vancouver yet is because one of my references hasn't sent back the reference form yet. Stupid busy co-ordinator of Diagnostic Imaging.
- They got Peter Cullen to do the voice of Optimus in the new Transformers movie. For anyone that dosn't know, he did the original voice of Optimus in the original series. Wicked.
- But is Topher Grace realy Eddie Brock? Realy?
Current Song: Living Things - Bombs Below
Current Mood: Tired
I recently threw my name on the website plentyoffish.com in an attempt to meet people. Now its true that this is a dating site but the goal I had in mind for this was to meet some folks across canada so that in my half cross country trip, I'd be able to hook up with people in some canadian cities and get a taste of their culture through them. So far, I've met a grand total of no one but I havn't messaged anyone and no one has messaged me. I think I have to re-write my profile though because it was like a singles version initially which I thought it had to be. In reading other though I've learned otherwise.
This past weekend, I took care of some loose ends including bill cancelations and forwarding. I also put together a somewhat revised budget to get me through til I go back home. I also managed to reduce everything in the apartment to an absolute living minimum. Once I take this next load home this weekend and sell my major furniture (anyone need a bed, desk, deluxe computer chair or arm chair?), I'll have reduced everything in my apartment to one car load able to fit in the civic for the last ride home.
Speaking of the end, two tentative dates have been set for a possible end. If everything goes according to plan, then I should be done on the 18th. If not it will definately be the weekend after that on the 25th. We're planning on having a pretty huge celebration to end the year on the 18th so if anyone was ever thinking of comming up (insert rolling tumble weed) that would be a good day. It's gonna be a dinner, house gig and then a bar.
Closing thoughts:
- The ontario road trip (21st-28th) might get cancelled due to lack of fundalage. If it does happen, it will likely not include much boozing to economize everything.
- In the back of my mind, there have been a few instances where I think I'm gonna miss Cornwall. I think its just the familiarity of it all which your body grows accustomed to.
- This has been a rather long blog post about nothing at all. Suprised you've gotten this far.
- I found out today the reason I havn't heard back about a final deal in Vancouver yet is because one of my references hasn't sent back the reference form yet. Stupid busy co-ordinator of Diagnostic Imaging.
- They got Peter Cullen to do the voice of Optimus in the new Transformers movie. For anyone that dosn't know, he did the original voice of Optimus in the original series. Wicked.
- But is Topher Grace realy Eddie Brock? Realy?
Current Song: Living Things - Bombs Below
Current Mood: Tired
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Not a whole lot
Well I'm stuck here on the 4-12 shift and its been pretty boring with little to nothing to do. I guess people are staying at home to conserve energy in the heat.
One thing that I forgot to mention about this past weekend is that I finally discovered the origin of the whole Leroy Jenkins thing. For those who havn't seen it, you can view it here:
There was also another clip on youtube that made me laugh which can be viewed here:
That's about all I got for now. Enjoy!
One thing that I forgot to mention about this past weekend is that I finally discovered the origin of the whole Leroy Jenkins thing. For those who havn't seen it, you can view it here:
There was also another clip on youtube that made me laugh which can be viewed here:
That's about all I got for now. Enjoy!
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Yesterday it was hot
I sit here on a Tuesday eating breakfast, hoping that today it will not be nearly as hot as yesterday. Usually the heat dosn't bother me as I have a heavy melatonin enrichment but yesterday I could definately feel every ounce of the heat and it was terrible at every moment. Thus I cross my fingers...
I spent the majority of the weekend hanging out with Giles at the Giles residence. We did most of the normal routine when the two of us were hanging out which included pleasant conversation, scotch enjoyment, lots of delicious food, some poker, a night out on the bar scene (which saw me spending too much) and other events.
We saw Pirates 2 which was decent. It wasn't as good as the first based on the lack of storyline continuity but was still good with some awesome visuals and an extremely hot Keira Knightly. The fight scene was definately well done as well. It'll be interesting to see the third.
This week I'm on the 4-12 shift which is good in terms of getting experience but you fade out of the social scene completely as your working when everyone is home. So goes life though.
I recieved another job offer randomly based on my workopolis resume for a position in Calgary. If there wasn't already a club out in Calgary, I'd consider it but since there is one already, it will likely become a passing thought.
Closing thoughts:
- When AC still puts out warm air, you know that it must be hot outside
- Packing up is going well. Still have to sell some major items though.
- Five more weeks.
- I'm cutting down the total that I'm lifting as I've decided I'm bigger than I'd like to be. We'll see how that goes.
- ' I can feel it everywhere, blowing with the winds of change'. Frenchy is a mountie in Halifax, Giles is in Vancouver and his parents are moving. The year is almost over and I'll find myself somewhere else soon. Change is a strange thing.
Current song: Stars - What I'm trying to Say
Current mood: Optimistic (moreso that it won't be crazy hot)
I spent the majority of the weekend hanging out with Giles at the Giles residence. We did most of the normal routine when the two of us were hanging out which included pleasant conversation, scotch enjoyment, lots of delicious food, some poker, a night out on the bar scene (which saw me spending too much) and other events.
We saw Pirates 2 which was decent. It wasn't as good as the first based on the lack of storyline continuity but was still good with some awesome visuals and an extremely hot Keira Knightly. The fight scene was definately well done as well. It'll be interesting to see the third.
This week I'm on the 4-12 shift which is good in terms of getting experience but you fade out of the social scene completely as your working when everyone is home. So goes life though.
I recieved another job offer randomly based on my workopolis resume for a position in Calgary. If there wasn't already a club out in Calgary, I'd consider it but since there is one already, it will likely become a passing thought.
Closing thoughts:
- When AC still puts out warm air, you know that it must be hot outside
- Packing up is going well. Still have to sell some major items though.
- Five more weeks.
- I'm cutting down the total that I'm lifting as I've decided I'm bigger than I'd like to be. We'll see how that goes.
- ' I can feel it everywhere, blowing with the winds of change'. Frenchy is a mountie in Halifax, Giles is in Vancouver and his parents are moving. The year is almost over and I'll find myself somewhere else soon. Change is a strange thing.
Current song: Stars - What I'm trying to Say
Current mood: Optimistic (moreso that it won't be crazy hot)
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Pure comedy genius
It's skit's like this that make me wish Dave Chappelle hadn't given up on the Chappelle show.
Sunday, July 09, 2006
The board is set, the pieces are moving...
Well, for the few who may not know, I was offered a full time job in Vancouver this past week which is what I've been dreaming of for the past two years. Gradually it all seems like all the efforts I've invested are slowly paying off as my dream materializes.
I went home this past weekend to take some belongings home and relax for a little bit. I got to hang out with my sister and some of her banking co-workers which was different as I've never been around the banker cliques before. Turned out to be a pretty chillax event though with lots of comedic spot. I was slightly out of it for some spots as I was pretty tired but still contributed to some of the laughs.
I'm getting kinda use to long drives which seemed like a sign to me in preperation for my cross canada trip in october. After going 450 Km each way, I still felt like driving more each time like I hadn't been driving at all. Just another piece it seems...
Closing comments:
- Six weeks left. Can't wait til five though cause then the weeks all fit on one hand!
- Stupid tests. Why can't they just not exist?
- Anyone want to come to Cornwall? Anyone?
- Anyone need stuff? I got stuff to sell.
Current Song: Blue October - Hate me
Current Mood: Tired. (The crux of writing before I go to bed)
Oh and apparently I'm a benevolent inventor.
Do the test here
I went home this past weekend to take some belongings home and relax for a little bit. I got to hang out with my sister and some of her banking co-workers which was different as I've never been around the banker cliques before. Turned out to be a pretty chillax event though with lots of comedic spot. I was slightly out of it for some spots as I was pretty tired but still contributed to some of the laughs.
I'm getting kinda use to long drives which seemed like a sign to me in preperation for my cross canada trip in october. After going 450 Km each way, I still felt like driving more each time like I hadn't been driving at all. Just another piece it seems...
Closing comments:
- Six weeks left. Can't wait til five though cause then the weeks all fit on one hand!
- Stupid tests. Why can't they just not exist?
- Anyone want to come to Cornwall? Anyone?
- Anyone need stuff? I got stuff to sell.
Current Song: Blue October - Hate me
Current Mood: Tired. (The crux of writing before I go to bed)
Oh and apparently I'm a benevolent inventor.
Do the test here
Monday, July 03, 2006
Well I havn't posted in a while
But there comes a time for everything to end and thus, another post. Life had been pretty mundance for the last week or so. I had another injection of tiresome drama recently but I nipped that before the situation was allowed to piss me off. Code of the Bone; Keeps the Bone in check.
I've been e-baying the last of all my accumulated stuff over the past couple weeks. Not getting much for it but at least its going somewhere. Right now I have some comic lots going and am crossing my fingers to maybe get something decent for them.
We were given a four day weekend over the past couple days and I made good use out of it. On friday I watched a couple movies, called a couple places in Vancouver, went for a run and just did a lot of the small things that you don't get the time for when you're rushing through life.
I spent Friday night, Saturday and Sunday in Ottawa just spending time amongst friends and enjoying all of the festivities that were thrown out on Parliment. The highlight was by far on Saturday where I got to spend time with a large quantity of folks I had not seen in a while and just watch them laugh and cheer (mostly watching soccer). Somewhere in the back of my mind, these things seem to mean more to me these days as the actuality of leaving gets closer and closer.
The other cool thing that happend on saturday besides all the laughs and 28 shots of Yager, was that I was within 10 feet of two people I would have loved to meet under normal circumstances to talk but did not because I didn't know who they were at the time. At one point, the lead singer of the STARS (!!!) came up and started talking to my buddy Dash. Originally I thought they were high school friends so didn't interupt but when I saw him on stage I couldn't believe it. The other was Chandra Crawford who recently won a gold medal (and had it with her) at the Winter Olympics. In the end I got to say hi and got an autographed card but there are a million other things I would have loved to say to someone in her position.
Today, I watched She's the Man which is another nice little boy meets girl movie and Inside Man. Both were good. I also did some more little things that get skipped over. Hopefully all is going well in all other parts of the world where people are reading this.
Closing thoughts:
- Man was Saturday silly. I think the pinnacle of ridiculousness came when Dash would wish people a happy Canada Day and I would throw out random tidbits of history afterwards such as saying "1867, John A. MacDonald and Confederation."
- If you need furniture, I'm selling quite a bit
- Only 7 weeks left which is super wicked
- I'm going home next weekend for some much needed R and R. I might also have to put together plans for a deck. I'm not sure if my sister actually realizes how incompetent I am.
- It's a funny thing to once again find that helpless dreamer in you again. Obviously it's good, but most feelings have done a complete 180. People who I'd stopped talking to are the ones I long to here from but in cases where there was a fools hope, I've let those things go so I've got a clean slate. It's just an unpredicatable thing.
Current Song: Sarah McLachlan - When Somebody Loved Me
Current Mood: Nostalgic
I've been e-baying the last of all my accumulated stuff over the past couple weeks. Not getting much for it but at least its going somewhere. Right now I have some comic lots going and am crossing my fingers to maybe get something decent for them.
We were given a four day weekend over the past couple days and I made good use out of it. On friday I watched a couple movies, called a couple places in Vancouver, went for a run and just did a lot of the small things that you don't get the time for when you're rushing through life.
I spent Friday night, Saturday and Sunday in Ottawa just spending time amongst friends and enjoying all of the festivities that were thrown out on Parliment. The highlight was by far on Saturday where I got to spend time with a large quantity of folks I had not seen in a while and just watch them laugh and cheer (mostly watching soccer). Somewhere in the back of my mind, these things seem to mean more to me these days as the actuality of leaving gets closer and closer.
The other cool thing that happend on saturday besides all the laughs and 28 shots of Yager, was that I was within 10 feet of two people I would have loved to meet under normal circumstances to talk but did not because I didn't know who they were at the time. At one point, the lead singer of the STARS (!!!) came up and started talking to my buddy Dash. Originally I thought they were high school friends so didn't interupt but when I saw him on stage I couldn't believe it. The other was Chandra Crawford who recently won a gold medal (and had it with her) at the Winter Olympics. In the end I got to say hi and got an autographed card but there are a million other things I would have loved to say to someone in her position.
Today, I watched She's the Man which is another nice little boy meets girl movie and Inside Man. Both were good. I also did some more little things that get skipped over. Hopefully all is going well in all other parts of the world where people are reading this.
Closing thoughts:
- Man was Saturday silly. I think the pinnacle of ridiculousness came when Dash would wish people a happy Canada Day and I would throw out random tidbits of history afterwards such as saying "1867, John A. MacDonald and Confederation."
- If you need furniture, I'm selling quite a bit
- Only 7 weeks left which is super wicked
- I'm going home next weekend for some much needed R and R. I might also have to put together plans for a deck. I'm not sure if my sister actually realizes how incompetent I am.
- It's a funny thing to once again find that helpless dreamer in you again. Obviously it's good, but most feelings have done a complete 180. People who I'd stopped talking to are the ones I long to here from but in cases where there was a fools hope, I've let those things go so I've got a clean slate. It's just an unpredicatable thing.
Current Song: Sarah McLachlan - When Somebody Loved Me
Current Mood: Nostalgic
Monday, June 19, 2006
The future is real
Well, this will be a first for the blog as I am currently writing and posting from the hospital. Things are slow here and don't seem to be adding up to much. I attribute the slowness to people watching the hockey game tonight and not realy caring that much if they're sick or not. Heck even I wish I was watching the game and I don't even follow hockey that much.
While on exchange, I had quite a bit of time to think about my future plans as I didn't have access to a computer or tv and thus passed the time with quiet reflection. In that time I came up with a brief plan of everything I'd like to do up until about 2007.
There are about 9 weeks left here during my placement. In those ten weeks I've decided that:
- I'm going to put forth a huge push to get a lot of the little things done that are required for my logbook
- Use my time in (what can be considered for the most part) isolation to train as hard as I possibly can as I don't forsee this type of seclusion at any other junction in my life
- Trips: A couple home, Ottawa for canada day and perhaps a Road Trip for Mosie's b-day
- Try and convince people to come visit me in the Wall to avoid spending money travelling.
- A good year end close out with the hospital folk who have grown on me
After the end of those ten weeks my plans are a little more general:
- Moving home for a little while to study for the exam. I forsee this happening at the end of august
- Write my exam on the 19th (The Big One!!!)
- Cross Ontario Road Trip to say good bye to all the close friends I've made. Likely stops include Peterborough, Ottawa and Kingston. There will be jitsu involved and a normal quote of hijinks. This road trip will conclude with the sunday course in peterborough following the grading. Road trip buddies are welcome to join!
- Cross Canada Road Trip heading out west likely starting on the 27th and concluding on the 2nd of october. I'm also looking for any takers here who might be interested in seeing the sights of canada.
- From there start work, being paying back loans and work towards opening up a club out in the west by January 2006.
Closing Notes:
- I was watching the Shawshank Redemption last night and it reminded me of the fact that while a brighter and more prosperous future lies ahead, it will be tough for me to let go of all the little things I've gotten use to in my Ontario life. But I suppose that's half the adventure.
- It's a strange feeling for such a long standing dream to be close to attaining actuality.
- My mom and my sister returned from England and they brought me real Cadbury choclate! Sweet!
- I have endowed myself with a permanent reminder of the qualities which make life meaningful and have titled it the 'Code of the Bone'. Cheesy but necessary in my Creek like life.
Current Song: None (though I wish I was listening to Live - Love Shines)
Current Mood: Somber (I guess that's the way I'm always going to be when writing so I might take this part of my blog out)
While on exchange, I had quite a bit of time to think about my future plans as I didn't have access to a computer or tv and thus passed the time with quiet reflection. In that time I came up with a brief plan of everything I'd like to do up until about 2007.
There are about 9 weeks left here during my placement. In those ten weeks I've decided that:
- I'm going to put forth a huge push to get a lot of the little things done that are required for my logbook
- Use my time in (what can be considered for the most part) isolation to train as hard as I possibly can as I don't forsee this type of seclusion at any other junction in my life
- Trips: A couple home, Ottawa for canada day and perhaps a Road Trip for Mosie's b-day
- Try and convince people to come visit me in the Wall to avoid spending money travelling.
- A good year end close out with the hospital folk who have grown on me
After the end of those ten weeks my plans are a little more general:
- Moving home for a little while to study for the exam. I forsee this happening at the end of august
- Write my exam on the 19th (The Big One!!!)
- Cross Ontario Road Trip to say good bye to all the close friends I've made. Likely stops include Peterborough, Ottawa and Kingston. There will be jitsu involved and a normal quote of hijinks. This road trip will conclude with the sunday course in peterborough following the grading. Road trip buddies are welcome to join!
- Cross Canada Road Trip heading out west likely starting on the 27th and concluding on the 2nd of october. I'm also looking for any takers here who might be interested in seeing the sights of canada.
- From there start work, being paying back loans and work towards opening up a club out in the west by January 2006.
Closing Notes:
- I was watching the Shawshank Redemption last night and it reminded me of the fact that while a brighter and more prosperous future lies ahead, it will be tough for me to let go of all the little things I've gotten use to in my Ontario life. But I suppose that's half the adventure.
- It's a strange feeling for such a long standing dream to be close to attaining actuality.
- My mom and my sister returned from England and they brought me real Cadbury choclate! Sweet!
- I have endowed myself with a permanent reminder of the qualities which make life meaningful and have titled it the 'Code of the Bone'. Cheesy but necessary in my Creek like life.
Current Song: None (though I wish I was listening to Live - Love Shines)
Current Mood: Somber (I guess that's the way I'm always going to be when writing so I might take this part of my blog out)
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
The end to the vagobond life
Well here we are at the end of my exchange time in K-Town and I must say that I had a memorable two weeks. The first week was already been put into writing and thus I will elaborate on the second half.
The party on the saturday night was a blast and a memorable time was had by all. A game of checkers with shot pieces saw that each person got a fair amount of alcohol into them. From there things unfolded into many jokes being told as well as dancing to be had. All in all my type of night.
Sunday was spent in recovery as Mosie was down and out for the count and I myself could feel the overall drag of the drink. During the day, we would head downtown to walk of some of this drag. It was during this moment when a sample of banana mocha frapuchino was given to me and all of my flavour satisfaction sensors fired. Within about 20 mins, I needed to have an actual regular sized drink and in this time became a pawn of corporate marketing. Falling prey has never been so delicious.
Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were pretty tame and for the most part I was just attempting to catch up on sleep and get through the days. I saw some cool coronary lab stuff and spent some more time in interventional which is overall just an awesome place to be. I'd definately like to be working there in the future.
Wednesday night after I'd gone to the gym and Thumper had come back from ballroom dance, he decided that it was time to drink Steelback's so he could make bottles for the weapons bag and thus we drank away. Aside from this, Mosie kept calling me bacause they were heading to the Elixer and he wanted me to go as well. Thus, against common logic I drank and stayed up one more time.
Thursday morning was fun considering I'd only got about five hours of sleep and had to be up even earlier to go on a portable run in KGH. Thankfully after the portable run, I got a chance to sit down in MRI and just ask questions. To add to this I got a lot of good answers from the Techs that have heavily increased my desire to head into MRI.
The rest of the thursday and friday stuff was also pretty easy going and required only observation for the most part. The end of friday saw a very redeeming moment for me when I got my evaluation. As a pre-amble, people at KGH had labeled me as somewhat of an ego centric know it all for the past couple of months. However, the KGH evaluation said that I was a shear pleasure to work with and far exceeded expectations from most. This was definately nice to hear as it verified the notion that not all techs are backwards Cornwall folk who can't look past their own interests to see those of others.
Friday night I left for what was suppose to be a one night trip in Ottawa. However after hearing that two of my good friends had saturday and sunday off, that trip was extended and a awesome time was had. Friday, we drank Bailey's and Coffee til 3 am and played monopoly. We had also gone to the Elgin Street Diner where I had polished off one of their burgers and a side order of four cheese poutine. At the end, I couldn't believe I had finished it.
Saturday, I ate 3/4 of a large pizza in one sitting and played video games and drank Warthog beer for the rest of the day. That night, we headed to the honest lawyer for drinks and to stare at scantily clad women and make subtle comments about them. Overall, simple but good times.
Sunday morning, I returned home to the Wall ending my vagabond adventures. I was pretty sad to see all the fun end and the suck level went up when I got rear ended at a funny intersection on Woodriffe. Stupid people who don't watch where they're going. Overall, there was minimal damage to the car so I think I'll let it be.
Closing notes:
- My future shop addictions have changed in recent months as I'm no longer seeking to own dvds but instead actual music cds. I'm not sure why as I've always been content to burn music but the desire for owning is now there instead of burning.
- I've got a future post comming with some short term plans for my last ten weeks here and some longer term plans which came about from my two week exchange
- I got a second wrist mangled two weeks ago so now I have a matching set
- While watching some world cup soccer, I observed that they use the word clinical for something which has been superbly put together and executed
- I came back to my apartment to find that it was left mostly clean by the person squating there while I was gone. There will an abundance of fruit flys though which stunk. However, she did leave $60 in gift certificates as a thank you with the flys, so its not all bad
Current Song: LifeHouse - You and Me (Live)
Current Mood: Tired
The party on the saturday night was a blast and a memorable time was had by all. A game of checkers with shot pieces saw that each person got a fair amount of alcohol into them. From there things unfolded into many jokes being told as well as dancing to be had. All in all my type of night.
Sunday was spent in recovery as Mosie was down and out for the count and I myself could feel the overall drag of the drink. During the day, we would head downtown to walk of some of this drag. It was during this moment when a sample of banana mocha frapuchino was given to me and all of my flavour satisfaction sensors fired. Within about 20 mins, I needed to have an actual regular sized drink and in this time became a pawn of corporate marketing. Falling prey has never been so delicious.
Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were pretty tame and for the most part I was just attempting to catch up on sleep and get through the days. I saw some cool coronary lab stuff and spent some more time in interventional which is overall just an awesome place to be. I'd definately like to be working there in the future.
Wednesday night after I'd gone to the gym and Thumper had come back from ballroom dance, he decided that it was time to drink Steelback's so he could make bottles for the weapons bag and thus we drank away. Aside from this, Mosie kept calling me bacause they were heading to the Elixer and he wanted me to go as well. Thus, against common logic I drank and stayed up one more time.
Thursday morning was fun considering I'd only got about five hours of sleep and had to be up even earlier to go on a portable run in KGH. Thankfully after the portable run, I got a chance to sit down in MRI and just ask questions. To add to this I got a lot of good answers from the Techs that have heavily increased my desire to head into MRI.
The rest of the thursday and friday stuff was also pretty easy going and required only observation for the most part. The end of friday saw a very redeeming moment for me when I got my evaluation. As a pre-amble, people at KGH had labeled me as somewhat of an ego centric know it all for the past couple of months. However, the KGH evaluation said that I was a shear pleasure to work with and far exceeded expectations from most. This was definately nice to hear as it verified the notion that not all techs are backwards Cornwall folk who can't look past their own interests to see those of others.
Friday night I left for what was suppose to be a one night trip in Ottawa. However after hearing that two of my good friends had saturday and sunday off, that trip was extended and a awesome time was had. Friday, we drank Bailey's and Coffee til 3 am and played monopoly. We had also gone to the Elgin Street Diner where I had polished off one of their burgers and a side order of four cheese poutine. At the end, I couldn't believe I had finished it.
Saturday, I ate 3/4 of a large pizza in one sitting and played video games and drank Warthog beer for the rest of the day. That night, we headed to the honest lawyer for drinks and to stare at scantily clad women and make subtle comments about them. Overall, simple but good times.
Sunday morning, I returned home to the Wall ending my vagabond adventures. I was pretty sad to see all the fun end and the suck level went up when I got rear ended at a funny intersection on Woodriffe. Stupid people who don't watch where they're going. Overall, there was minimal damage to the car so I think I'll let it be.
Closing notes:
- My future shop addictions have changed in recent months as I'm no longer seeking to own dvds but instead actual music cds. I'm not sure why as I've always been content to burn music but the desire for owning is now there instead of burning.
- I've got a future post comming with some short term plans for my last ten weeks here and some longer term plans which came about from my two week exchange
- I got a second wrist mangled two weeks ago so now I have a matching set
- While watching some world cup soccer, I observed that they use the word clinical for something which has been superbly put together and executed
- I came back to my apartment to find that it was left mostly clean by the person squating there while I was gone. There will an abundance of fruit flys though which stunk. However, she did leave $60 in gift certificates as a thank you with the flys, so its not all bad
Current Song: LifeHouse - You and Me (Live)
Current Mood: Tired
Saturday, June 03, 2006
The round trip couch crashing continues
So I now find myself at my third squatting location during my two week kingston visit for exchange. It is with my bud Mosie and has been just as fun and entertaining as my previous two visits. Last night (friday) I arrived, we made dinner and went to see X3 (for me a second time). What was interesting to note was that it seemed better to me the second time around; possibly because I knew the storyline was lackluster and enjoyed the x-men action. Who knows?
Today, they'll be a party for one of mosie's summer housemates. I believe its open invite so if anyone is interested in joining, then just give me a buzz. Should be a good times with tales of many old stories and many new ones in the making.
One of the small negatives about staying with people whom I'm close to, is that there is an easy tendancy to stay up and shoot the shit all the while neglecting the proper sleep. Then, add on top of that a return to jitsu which has me using muscles I forgot existed thus needing recuperation time. In the end though, I've survived one week and there is just one week left to go. We'll just have to see if I make it.
No closing comments:
- Too lazy
Current Song: None
Current Mood: Relaxed
Today, they'll be a party for one of mosie's summer housemates. I believe its open invite so if anyone is interested in joining, then just give me a buzz. Should be a good times with tales of many old stories and many new ones in the making.
One of the small negatives about staying with people whom I'm close to, is that there is an easy tendancy to stay up and shoot the shit all the while neglecting the proper sleep. Then, add on top of that a return to jitsu which has me using muscles I forgot existed thus needing recuperation time. In the end though, I've survived one week and there is just one week left to go. We'll just have to see if I make it.
No closing comments:
- Too lazy
Current Song: None
Current Mood: Relaxed
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