Thar she BLOWS

So I got up this morning to just a dusting of snow on the ground...I think the rest blew away...phew! Cheticamp was not as lucky. Drove up there today with M. for work and they hadn't even begun to plow out their mess...I had to drive through and OVER snow drifts today, and through so much slush...not to mention the WIND! There was les suetes warning out today and Cape Breton sure got it. My car almost blew off the road a few times...WHOOSH. A truck did overturn on the Seal Island Bridge today and is still blocking traffic to Sydney...thankfully I didn't have to go in that direction today! I am driving there tomorrow, but plan to take another route...

It's still blowing a living gale here now, but I'm home and don't care anymore. Me and the resident feline are in for the night for our favorite night of television.

OK, ENOUGH ALREADY!

Well, the weather is sure to drive me right off the causeway and into the ocean for sure. Yesterday it began to rain, which is great...then poured...still great...then the heavens opened up...still loving it...then I went to bed and in the quiet of the house heard a motor running...WTF? Turns out its the sump pump and it cut in about every 45 SECONDS!!! I timed it. I never lived in a house that had one, so when it began running, I didn't know what the hell was going on. So the sump pump ran ALL NIGHT and roomie nor I got much sleep...even after ear plugs, the iron bed I slept on picked up the vibrations all night....and I thought a vibrating bed was going to be more enjoyable than this...

So it rains all day...fine...good riddance to icky snow blobs all over the place, covered in dirt. M. and I were off to Antigonish for some shopping and before we left to come back, the snow began...drove through a storm to get home, gale of wind, snow on the road. WTF??? I guess it is March's last kick in the ass. If I have to get up and shovel tomorrow morning, I think I will drive my car off the causeway...

Return of the FLY

ok, what in the hell is up with all the flies in my house??? I should have known something was up when I moved in - there were two fly swatters, very well worn. I moved here in June, so didn't see many and the windows were all open anyhow. Now my windows are all closed with plastic on them to keep out the winter drafts and the damn flies are bouncing and pinging off of that...I was away for the weekend and there must be a hundred or more dead ones on the floor...I am beginning to feel like I am in the Amityville Horror...except without the blood oozing from the walls...

WTF

well, I was surfing for porn blog explosion while watching Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas...what a weird friggin movie! I ended up turning it off as Johnny Depp was just annoying. Perhaps I was not stoned enough in the right frame of mind for it, who knows

I went to sell my soul have my tarot cards read yesterday with the kid...hers was bang on and mine left me disappointed. He asked us each to think of a question and not tell him while he read, then you reveal the question in mind. I wanted to know if I would meet another mate, although I was pushing a question out of my mind - what is next for me in my life...so he told me I needed to get a life and while I'm busy finally living live, I will meet someone, but not too soon...so it looks like no prospects in the near future, if I can believe what he said. He made us tapes to listen to again later, to see if it makes any sense.

tonight is a trip to the theatre for a movie...if we can agree on one that is...

Dare I say it is SPRING???

well holy shit, I think spring is finally here! The sun is out, the air is warm and its Easter! I can't wait to get out and enjoy the day...feels like hammock time...heh heheh

Goodbye to Crappy Jobs

inspired by someone I forgot to blogmark on blog explosion is the newest "list" of mine...crappy jobs once held by me...in some semblance of chronological order

1. pin setter - sure...a few quarters to dodge bowling balls to set pins...was also child labour, as I think I might have been 6 or 7 at the time
2. short-order cook at the snack bar (on the military base I lived) - lots of opportunity to meet servicemen! I dated two real nice fellas I met there, Chris and Raoul who were US military guys...downside - GREASE, GREASE, GREASE and being worked off my feet during an exercise where 2000 guys showed up on the base and not everyone is enthralled with mess hall food, so came to the snack bar
3. cashier/floor clerk at the Canex (military base store) - slave labour. $3.85 an hour which was less than minimum wage and snotty major's wives who thought I worked for THEM. Bitches.
4. cashier at Sunoco in Mississauga - worked with a stupid idiot everyday for low pay and kept missing the bus as they stopped running about the same time I got off work
5. cashier at a Gulf gas station - so busy I nearly pissed in my pants from lack of breaks
6. working on the roads in outport Newfoundland - half decent pay for hard labour...manageable if I didn't have to work with my self-righteous sister-in-law who lived with a black cloud over her head...quit after two days...that was enough of THAT.
7. cleaning apartments on campus for good pay - the filth that I encountered made me sick daily...roaches, grease, moldy food and dishes, you name it...and all in apartments rented by educated people, mostly foreigners...disgusting work
8. waitress/short order cook at the on-campus bar - grease, grease, and more grease for shitty pay catering to the masses, some of which were attending on daddy's dollar so whined about everything
9. security guard - BORING and tiring as most shifts were overnights...upside - working with trained dogs (dobermans and german shepards) for crappy pay
10. stock-taking for crappy pay and horrible hours and an asshole for a boss who granted no breaks - left that one pretty fast after telling the boss he was an asshole
11. prep-cook for East Side Marios - worked to death for 3 times the hours I signed up for...and I also nearly broke my hand in the dough mixer - had to go to hospital
12. research assistant for and English professor - good pay but the driest of the dry work...hard to keep from nodding off and he was so pretentious and self-righteous that during my last term with him, we mutually agreed I couldn't work for him any longer

I'm sure there are others...that was traumatic enough for my memory...thankfully I now work as a social worker in a job that I enjoy for much better pay...I have EARNED it.

Hip Hop and other random thoughts

ok, its Easter...bring on the chocolate! I was at the zoo this morning, aka Wal-Mart...thankfully they were very well stocked...now that I'm in the city for the weekend, I'm not used to store shelves being this well stocked...in the small town where I live, our Wal-Mart is pathetic during the holidays...when it's out, its out and no one replaces it. So I got the goods and headed back home again to sew up some Easter bunny pyjama pants for the kid. So far I have the pattern cut out...whew...ha ha...anyone who knows me, knows I can whip them up in no time. I forgot my friggin sewing kit though, so only have a little thread and dammit I can't justify buying MORE thread when I have about 10 miles of it at home...so I will get her pants done and possibly a pair for myself.

This afternoon after I pick the kid up from work, we are going to a little shop called Little Mysteries Books to have our tarot cards read...the kid has never had them read before so this should be interesting! I have had mine read a few times, and for the most part they were good readings, but interesting to go to a perfect stranger. All reports say "Steve" is a good reader. In any case, we just wanted to do something different and fun this weekend now that she has pretty much grown out of any other Easter traditions like searching for eggs...

meanwhile, back in the sweatshop...there are easter bunny pants waiting to come to fruition...

my daughter had a similar pose when she was just 2 days old...I should have known... 

this looks like something MY friends would pull on me if I passed out at a party...heh heh... 

this cracks me up everytime I see it... 

Where in the Hell is Spring???

Ok, I have had it! Where is spring? I want it NOW! It snowed again here today, and calling for more tonight. NOT FAIR NOT FAIR NOT FAIR! Sunday was the first day of spring and it was FREEZING out that day. My friend M. and I went for a walk with her dog and darn near perished (of course I am exaggerating). I want spring days where the sun is warm on my face, the water is running from the snow melt, and little children are out playing with skipping ropes...ok, I have gone one step too far...little kids are inside playing Game Cube or building websites...sad, I think. I remember the spring days of my youth...it always meant a new skipping rope, you know the kind - either pink or light orange rubber with a white and pink (or light orange) striped handle. We would tie them together often to make a long one, or to tie someone up...heh heh...we also got a new ball, the "pepsi" ball that was red, white, and blue...and I always had a little chunk taken out of mine before too long. I also remember playing marbles in the spring, and getting new ones in a velvet bag. love those big ones. Remember digging little holes in the dirt for them to roll into. I don't even remember the rules anymore, but I remember having a lot of fun, playing on the side of the street, where the little green and yellow weeds would poke through and we'd hit them with marbles.

See, now I am in the mood for spring but its not here yet!

Let it rain, let it rain, let it rain...

Well Stand Me Up And Call Me Luggage

As if SB (stupid bitch) and EX (ex-husband) didn't already have enough going on to concern me, the non-resident teen was chatting with SB's adopted teenage daughter last night(who was over visiting) and she spilled the beans on her mom. If you want more background, see the archives and look for the post on March 7, 2004 - The Incredible Life of My Ex-Husband.

So during the chat, SB's daughter informs NRT that SB has no driver's license. She hasn't for many years. It had been permanently revoked...PERMANENTLY??? This stupid bitch has been driving my daughter around for the past few years along with EX and her daughter, EX's daughter from first marriage and little grandchild. I was PISSED to say the least. It had to be nasty to lose your license for life...I wonder what she did. Then SB's daughter coughs up that SB has been driving drunk for years and case in point - EX called NRT last night from a party they were at, and both were loaded drunk. They then LEFT the party, with SB driving. OK. enough is enough, I will be having a little CHAT with some RCMP friends of mine tomorrow. This woman is a menace and I would feel really stupid if something happened to her daughter or EX. NRT has resolved to never get in the car again, thank goodness. She's nearly 19 now, so I can't "forbid" her, but thankfully she has good sense. And she had just been in their car last week.

Stupid Bitch has earned her name, no doubt in my mind.

Like a Bag 'O Hammers

Went to Halifax yesterday with a friend/co-worker to do some work/play/shopping. Spent far too much money, but par for the course...get a little extra in my pocket and I have to SPEND it. Anyhow, there we are in the Atlantic Superstore in Antigonish on the way home to Cape Breton, and my friend M. is walking towards something, so I look at what she's looking at, not seeing the flat pallet on the floor (empty) and trip over it, going down like a bag of hammers...an elephant charge couldn't have made more noise...I skinned over my knee and arm, and there are sure to be bruises in the morning. The most noise came from my palms I think, smucking the pallet (it was covered in cardboard). Everyone came running...I just felt like a complete tool and slunk off into the back of the store. I could have been a bitch and complained LOUDLY to the staff, but instead, mumbled to M. "great way to treat your customers, trip them" and was on my way.

But I bought a cool pop-up hamper before I left!

Had some good Chinese food today - certainly glad THIS wasn't MY fortune! Actually what I got was "You constantly struggle for self improvement" - hmmm. 

Think Good Thoughts

I picked this list from an e-mail sent to me by a friend (Tammy) and wanted to rename it simply Good Thoughts. I've altered a few of them, and highlighted ones that give me special pleasure based on my own experiences with them...so when you're feeling low and want something good to think about, or when your mind wanders and you're obsessing about your problems, refer to this list and I'm sure you will find at least one thing that brings a warm glow, little smile, or fond memory.

• Fresh-picked corn, barely steamed and dripping with butter.
• The smell of the air as you approach the ocean shore.

• Sheets dried in the sun.
• A kiss from your child when their friends are around.
• A girlfriend/boyfriend who listens.
• Strong arms wrapped around you.
• The purring of your cat curled up in your lap.
• Knowing that you have made a difference in someone’s life.
• Husbands who cook.
• Feeling the warmth of the sun on your skin.
• Your daily chat with a loved one.
• The deep silence of an empty church.
• Giggles.
• Secrets told to you in strict confidence by your teenage daughter. (although they are sometimes pretty scary)
• Losing even one pound.
• A call from someone just to say “I love you.”
• Someone asking ”how are you?” and really caring about the answer.
• Comfortable shoes. (run Forrest, RUN!)
• Sitting in a field picking and eating strawberries.
• New crayons.
• Forgiveness.
• Touching feet in bed with your husband in bed.
• A still lake at dusk.
• The scent of your baby’s skin.
• Someone saying you did a good job.
• The aromas wafting from your mother’s kitchen at Thanksgiving.
• The guts to say you’re sorry.
• Slipping under fresh sheets after a warm bath.
• Laughing out loud.
• Express checkout lines.
• First light on an empty beach.
• Listening to a child read his first book by himself.
• Favorite old songs on the radio.
• A full moon on a clear night.
• The scent of your husband’s undershirt. (ARE YOU KIDDING ME?)
• Sitting outside on a summer evening watching fireflies.
• A letter from your best friend.
• A place to call home.
• The conspiratorial twinkle in your child’s eyes when you share a private joke.
• The sound of rain falling on the roof.
• Chocolate.
• A down comforter on a cold winter night.
• Gentle Men.
• A favorite chair.
• Your dog’s welcoming bark as you turn your key in the door.
• A child’s head resting on your shoulder.
• The quiet after a snowfall.
• Wide hips. (OH we know what that means...)
• The wisdom of children.
• The deep, fresh smell of damp earth in a pine forest.
• The morning stillness of your home before anyone else has awakened.

• Unconditional love.

Snow Woes and Pros

Well, whether I like it or not, winter has reared its white head again. We received about 30 cms of snow again last night (12 inches for the yanks) and it looks like December all over again. So I have some woes and pros for this new development...

Woes:

- just when I thought winter was over, we have a fresh new batch of snow

- I can't find my f-ing wind pants so must shovel in just my bare pants

- the wind is raw and I am freezing in my bare pants

- I went outside directly after a shower and my hair froze to my head

Pros:

- my snow fairy is still plowing my looonnng driveway for free before I even rise in the morning

- my horse-owning neighbor has been out for sleighrides today with Darby the horse and I was invited to take a turn in the meadow...whoo hoo! It was a lovely ride, and I hadn't been on one in years!

- Once the wind calms down again, it might even be nice for another snowshoe.

- the snow as light as feathers and took nearly no sweat or backbreaking at all.

- my friend Mel found my wind pants and is going to bring them to me

Intense Saturdays

Well, along with the usual sloth that accompanies Saturday for me, I also began reading Viktor Frankl's book Man's Search For Meaning and then while checking out the movies for tonight, I came across the movie, The Pianist. I hadn't seen it before and thought it would bring more meaning to the book I was reading. If you hadn't read the book before, it's about psychiatrist Viktor Frankl's own experience in a concentration camp during the war. The Pianist is about renowned pianist Wladyslaw Szpilman's own ordeal during the war, successfully evading concentration camps, working in a German Work Camp in Warsaw, then hiding out until liberation.

Through both mediums I indulged in today, I was humbled. Here I sit in my own home (rental, but secure) surrounded by tons of my own things, a full kitchen, heat, among other luxuries. I realize that I throw out more food than they survived on. I don't know what to do about my humility, but I am certainly grateful for my good fortune, even if it doesn't seem like a fortune at times when I am "broke". Watching the movie, reading the book - I realize there is a different meaning for poor than I am ever used to. Boy, are we lucky.

Ode to a Tatoo

thanks to Cosmo-Tini at Failed Southern Lady for the inspiration of my next post...my tatoo. It's not as interesting as her story, but is a story nonetheless. It was the summer of 1982 when I was dating Joey, a real rough around the edges sweetie. He had a hard life, and I got to know his dad and step-mom really well, and remained friends for years after. Anyhow, Joey had a tattoo of an arrow on the top of his hand, between his fingers and thumb. His friends also had one and I was very envious. Back then, few teenagers actually had tatoos, and girls were a rarity. Now it seems every teenager has one on their ass, ankle, breast and shoulder. So I wanted one, and penned one in for a while to see if I would like it. I did. Their tattoos were not professionally done, so one late night at Adrian's house we decided to have a go at it. His younger brother Cecil got out the india ink, a needle and thread.

I didn't need any numbing because I was already pretty out of it. I was 16 and thought I was invincible! He wrapped the needle in thread and dipped it into the ink, and off Cecil went...he was also pretty out of it and made a bit of a mess of it. All the guys were watching intently, in shock that a girl would get that tatoo. So I felt pretty cool, and it was a great night.

My mother kept telling me to wash it off and then I had to break down and tell her it was a tatoo. My entire adolescence was all about shocking them, so while she flipped out, it was just something else to shake their head over.

Now here I am, 20+ years later and I look at the tatoo and can't imagine not having it. It hasn't really faded and while I have toyed with the idea of turning it into something else, I am quite attached to it. My daughter is also attached to it and I recall a conversation we had about it a few years ago as she began tatooing her body - she didn't want me to do anything with it because she felt it was part of my identity. Because it's on my hand, I can't really hide it when working or meeting new people. Most of the time I forget that its there, I'm so used to it.

So here I sit, thinking of my next tatoo and remembering the last...it was so many years ago. To be 16 again!

Is it Spring Yet???

Well, just when I have been fooled into thinking spring is around the corner, we get word that a storm is coming tomorrow. Great. Just when I was polishing up the ol' bbq...actually, when I was digging the cover out of the snowbank. Most of our snow is gone now and its been somewhat mild, so was hoping the worst of winter was over, not that it was even that bad of a winter. But I am DONE with it! whine, whine. So I stocked up tonight before coming home (out in the country) so hopefully I will be able to stay home all weekend until its cleaned up again by Monday. I'm on call, so who the hell knows...

How to lose a tooth...

otherwise known as ROCK CANDY. I had bought some at the Candy Store in Arichat for Valentine's Day and when the resident teen came home, I was going to give it to her. I had purchased two sticks of rock candy - chunky crystal like colored candy on a little wooden stick. I couldn't find it when she was here and I looked EVERYWHERE. I couldn't figure out what in the hell happened to the friggin candy. Then today when I was browsing the cupboards (nearly a month later) I found them - in a white paper bag, in the cupboard, next to the pasta. WTF was I thinking? I have no idea why I ever put them up there. I usually take stuff like that and poke it in my bedroom somewhere...anyhow, now I am munching on the rock candy and holy shit it's hard stuff! I am not much of a candy eater, but although I was fearful of my teeth, I CHOMPED right in...

Hey, it's me! Trekking through our snow of the past... 

missing in action

that's what happens when my parents come to visit...I worked myself into one big muscle ache on Saturday, cleaning and preparing for their visit. Hadn't seen them since the fall of 2003, and they had not been to my current home so it had to sparkle, lol. They arrived on Sunday morning, around 8am direct from the ferry that got in at 6am. Yesterday we hung out, watched some movies, and basically ate our way through the day. I took my mom next door to visit with the neighbor horse, where he nibbled carrots off her palm. Today I whooped my mother at cards, then my dad and I went for a walk in the woods, but the snow was crusty and we fell through more times than not, making for a tricky walk. We had 4 deer in the back yard today, early morning. After the walk, my parents and I played cards, where my mother whooped the both of us...

Tonight, more movies and of course...CURLING. Yesterday was also a few hours of CURLING. Oh, and this afternoon included CURLING. did I mention curling? I don't particularly like curling...actually, I really DON'T like it. I can't stand all the yelling - SWEEP! HARDER! GO! So much pressure...

Anyhow, good news in the past few days - my daughter got a new job at a fruit store and she starts tomorrow...no more greasy fries and burgers!!! Way to go kiddo...now how about a discount...

Whimper...Whine...

Oh how I hurt - let me count the ways. You'd think I have just completed a triathalon...you would be wrong. I cleaned my house from top to bottom today. It wasn't filthy, but many things had not been done for some time...some not since I moved in here (sweeping the basement stairs!) so now the house looks good for my parent's visit tomorrow...but I can hardly move. I used to have the stamina for this stuff when I was in my twenties...now time has stomped on me and wear out easy. If I'm like this at the ripe old age of 38, I will be immobile by 50.

Time for another drink...

The White Glove Test

Yup, my mother is coming to visit tomorrow with dad. She may be legally blind but you can bet she will spot dirt, especially in the home of one of her children. So today is all about CLEANING. I also had to clean and tidy the basement, my father's domain as he likes to "putter". So far I have stripped the bed for them, tidied my bedroom and the spare (where I will be hanging out), done all the dishes (with my roomie), and am halfway through the bathroom. It has to sparkle. I still have to herd up all the dust bunnies and dust MONSTERS and then wash all the floors. I don't have any carpeting, so this will be a large task! I should also freshen up the fishtank (small amount of algae there) and make sure all my plants are watered. Most of them came from my mother and she will be driving her finger in each and every one to check and see that I have not been neglectful. I should be sure to hide the ones that are not doing so well, heh heh...

The last I will do is DUST the living room. It accumulates and doesn't really bother me that much, but she will find it. I know I should just let my parents see my house as is, but this pressure gives me the motivation to finally clean it up well as I have been slacking off a bit. I too like a nice clean house. It will soon be time to start drinking...

Test of Time

Test of Time - thanks to Hairy Hoser

X & Bold the ones you've done:

( ) snuck out of the house - oddly enough, never attempted

( ) gotten lost in your city - no, but plenty in other people's cities

(X) saw a shooting star - great show of the perseids last August - me and roomie, laying on a sleeping bag in the pasture, watching them fly by...then we heard coyotes and got nervous...

(X) been to any other countries besides the United States

(X) had a serious surgery (DNC count?)

(X) gone out in public in your pajamas - hell yeah, to classes all the time, to the store, to the mall, to the movie store...the list goes on

(X) kissed a stranger

(X) hugged a stranger

(X) been in a fist fight - in high school

( ) been arrested

(X) done drugs - I ain't naming them

(X) had alcohol

(X) laughed and had milk/coke come out of your nose

(X) pushed all the buttons on an elevator

(X) made out in an elevator

( ) slept in an elevator

(X) swore at your parents

(X) kicked a guy where it hurts.

(X) been in love

(X) been close to love

( ) been to a casino

( ) been skydiving

(X) broken a bone - toes, arm x2

(X) been high

(X) skinny-dipped

(X) skipped school - hell yeah

(X) flashed someone

(X) saw a therapist

(X) done the splits - its been MANY years

(X) played spin the bottle - come on grade 7 parties at Timmy Hurley's, or Steve's

(X) gotten stitches - eye, twice (as a child) and my hand (BSW placement)

(X) had an IV

( ) drank a whole gallon of milk in one hour

(X) bitten someone - my daughter - she bit me first though

(X) been to Niagara Falls - numerous times, last time in 2002

(X) gotten the chicken pox

(X) kissed a member of the opposite sex

(X) kissed a member of the same sex - there's that spin the bottle game again

( ) crashed into a friend's car

( ) been to Japan

(X) ridden in a taxi

(X) been dumped

(X) shoplifted

(X) been fired - yes, by some dumbass english prof at UW...worked for him for 4 terms and during the 5th, he hired a new assistant and we DID NOT see eye to eye...so he fired me. Just as well, I got a much better job the same day.

( ) had a crush on someone of the same sex

(X) had feelings for someone who didn't have them back

(X) stole something from your job - you mean we can't take those pens and notepads home?

(X) gone on a blind date - too many, almost all losers.

(X) lied to a friend - only if telling the truth would hurt their feelings - small stuff, like you look fat in that skirt...

(X) had a crush on a teacher - does a TA count in uni?

( ) celebrated mardi-gras in new orleans

(X) been to Europe - twice

( ) slept with a co-worker

(X) been married

(X) gotten divorced

(X) had children

(X) saw someone die - at my side while giving CPR

( ) been to Africa

(X) Driven over 400 miles in one day - hell yeah, drove from one end of Canada to the other, averaging 1100 kms a day from Waterloo to BC, and from Waterloo to Cape Breton by driving 21 hours straight.

(X) Been to Canada (almost every day of my life!)

( ) Been to Mexico - not but been to Guatemala and Belize

(X) Been on a plane - both commercial and military

( ) Seen the Rocky Horror Picture Show

( ) Thrown up in a bar

( ) Purposely set a part of yourself on fire

( ) Eaten Sushi

( ) Been snowboarding

(X) Met someone in person from the internet - tons...many of my LINK friends from uni and several blind dates

( ) Been moshing at a rock show

( ) Cut yourself on purpose

( ) Been to a moto cross show

(X) lost a child - if miscarriage at 14 weeks counts

(X) gone to college

(X) graduated college - 3 times - BA '99, and '01; BSW in 2002

(X) done hard drugs - many moons ago I had quite an acid trip, or 2, or 3...

(X) tried killing yourself

(X) taken painkillers

(X) love someone or miss someone right now - will always miss my little girl...she's going to be 19 this summer...

Finger and Hand Gestures

Bet you thought it included the middle finger...you would be wrong. I was on the road most of the day today and people are so friend here in Cape Breton that wherever you go, someone will raise a hand, a few fingers, you know, like when you steer with your hand on the top of the wheel and lift your index and middle finger, possible a third. Most people do it because they assume that they know you, as the towns are all small-town and they do know everyone that lives there, however when I travel there for work, they generally don't know me, and so I will often wave back...heh hehe...and sometimes I wave to everyone, whether they wave or not just to confuse them...its rather funny looking at the expression on their face when they pass me and realize they have absolutely no idea who I am and they just waved to someone with purple hair.

I had a bandanna over the purple hair today as often it makes me stand out like a sore thumb in some of the remote towns, like Cheticamp. I remember taking another worker with me and she was beginning to get a little paranoid over all the stares...which are pretty normal for me, but they really bothered my co-worker until she realized they were staring at the purple hair...so she relaxed a little, ha ha. Picture it, two unknowns in town in winter (off-season for the many tourists that frequent during the summer) and one has purple hair. I love it!

I hope they all went home today wondering who in the hell waved to them...

Imagine getting off work to shovel this car out. Taken in the parking lot of a call centre (non-telemarketing or I would say they deserve it). These particular ones handle things like airline bookings and stuff like that. 

how's that for some snow! This was taken in St. John's Newfoundland this winter. 

Decisions, Decisions

I think I have finally made one, and since I talked about it out loud, with both my supervisor and executive director, I should probably follow through, ha ha. I am going to go for it - apply for work up north in the fall. My chosen town would be Whitehorse so will try to hold out for that if I can. I won't really begin looking until this summer (the process is usually a couple of months or more) and hope for the best, although if a good opportunity comes by sooner, I may jump at it. I really need to get on top of my student loans before I drown in interest, so that's it. I'm going. And I would like to come back here. I like my house, my job, my coworkers, my living situation...its only the salary that needs work...

wish me luck!

Germaphobic

That would be me. I hate getting sick. More than that, I dislike being around people who are sick, regardless of how sorry I feel that they are sick. I am more afraid of getting sick. And this past few weeks it has been surrounding me at work. Over half of the people there have a cold right now, and some are very miserable with it, and it has been lasting for days. There is barking, coughing, sneezing etc...I have thus far managed to avoid it. It is sure not to last. Although my roommate was the first to get sick, I haven't gotten it from her. Phew!

The last time I was sick, it lasted about 3 weeks...mostly the whole time I was on vacation in BC last fall. Some swear by echineccia or vitamin C supplements. I just swear by staying AWAY. No hugs, kisses, sharing of food.

I can get sick all on my own - pass me the rotten bacon...