still going

going where? Well, good question. I haven't yet decided.

Probably because I have no time or money to go anywhere yet, but just you wait and see... soon, soon I will have more $$$ and will buy some much needed new clothes, and take some time off to spend up in C.L. :)

New job still going great.

I believe deeply in the powers of intuition. Also known as "Spidey-Sense", or as I like to call it, "Momsey-Sense", because I have previous experience... Trust me.

I also believe that you choose your path(s) before you come to Earth, and you choose what you want to experience, long before you enter the temporary body that houses your spirit. Thus, somewhere deep inside, you know what your paths are, and what options you have available. Life just has a way of making you forget all of that, somewhere in the learning to tie shoelaces, and numbers, and use manners. Deja vu, to me, is your spirit 'remembering' certain instances of the paths you've already chosen, and is a sign, to be used to reaffirm you are where you are supposed to be. The more I experience deja vu, the happier and calmer I become as a result.

And the point to this story: I have been experiencing deja vu at this new job more and more often. It hasn't been this strong a feeling since I moved to Edmonton.

And the moral of the story is: Listen to your gut. Trust yourself.

You really don't have to. It's just what I do.

And It Works.

Blaine.

Thanks Chair!!!

My aunty Chair gave me some advide about the format of my blog and the fact that my right side index thingy was way down at the bottom, and how to fix it, and it worked. It took me a whole 15 seconds... there was only one line causing the problem...

Off to Cold Lake we go...

Blaine

It's been too long

People need to tell me if I haven't written in awhile... otherwise I forget...

Or I get too busy!!

Lately I have been going to bed as early as 9 p.m., to get up at 5 a.m. to go to work. Of course, I have been wanting to have naps every afternoon when I get home, at 4ish, and I never seem to get around to it...

I expect to be completely screwed up by Monday a.m. because I will have gone to CL and driven home late the night before, if everything goes according to plan... and so will be even more tired for my first day back...

I don't know if all of you Cold Laker's have noticed, but I sent to the Cold Lake Sun a letter to the editor. I felt the need to voice my opinion in regards to the public transportation's on again/off again service. It's online if anyone wants to read it. They screwed up how I wrote the first sentence though. You will understand when you read it.

So working at my new 'job' is great, so far, I have done 9 days of training, with 4 more weeks to go. And I get paid for every minute of it. Then, I get a raise when I 'graduate', and get to answer real live customer calls. Hopefully I won't get any off the fake dead ones...

Yeah...

So... I have a headache, anyone else? No? Just me? Well... okay then! Great! Mine is because of not enough sleep last few nights, especially last night, and I didn't take my vitamins the last two days.

It is amazing. I take a One a DAy Adult multi Vitamin, A crunchable vitamin C, a B 50 complex vitamin, and a Calcium vitamin.

I am out of shape, and so it is tough to do a lot of walking while carrying a 40 lb bag that has my binder, notes, lunch, etc, in it, but when I don't take my vitamins, I notice it INSTANTLY!!!! The reason I didn't take them was accidental, plus a bit of oops out of time... but I did it a few weeks ago, and SAME THING!!! So needless to say, I intend to take my vitamins tomorrow.

I am happy. Just because I am. I like life. yay. :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)) :) :) :) :) :) :)) ::) :) :) :) there's some double chins in there!!! and an alien one with four eyes!!!

I need to pay attention to what I am doing when I type.

So, I hope to soon have some pix uploaded onto my 'other' 'website' that hasn't been used in a long, long time...

But it seems like everytime I try to upload using the program that they have, it never works... maybe I will try with a brand new page...

I don't know.

Going to go, either have a bath, or read a book and try to nap... then I guess I will make that roast that is in the fridge...

Hope everyone has a great weekend....

Blaine

more new things...

I have cut back my already not very many hours from the green building to one shift per week.

But only because I got another job. The next 6 weeks, I will be training to do what my roommate does: inbound call centre customer service representative. a.k.a. I answer phones, and attempt to deal with angry Americans. This call centre is 'based' in Washington... so far as any customers need to know.

Yeah. So, that is about all that is new. Besides the huge name change by Chris's work soon, not much has been going on.

Oh, our place is finally cleaned up and pretty, and organized. But go figure, now I can't find anything...

For more details on the name change, please follow this link:

The Source By Circuit City

More details to follow. I know the inside scoop... hee hee.

I am tired, going to go to sleep now.

How Could You? by Jim Willis

A man in Grand Rapids, Michigan incredibly took out a US $7,000 full page ad in the paper to present the HOW COULD YOU? By Jim Willis, 2001 How Could You?


When I was a puppy, I entertained you with my antics and made you laugh. You called me your child, and despite a number of chewed shoes and a couple of murdered throw pillows, I became your best friend.

Whenever I was "bad," you'd shake your finger at me and ask "How could you?" but then you'd relent and roll me over for a belly rub. My housebreaking took a little longer than expected, because you were terribly busy, but we worked on that together.

I remember those nights of nuzzling you in bed and listening to your confidences and secret dreams, and I believed that life could not be any more perfect. We went for long walks and runs in the park, car rides, stops for ice cream (I only got the cone because "ice cream is bad for dogs" you said), and I took long naps in the sun waiting for you to come home at the end of the day.

Gradually, you began spending more time at work and on your career, and more time searching for a human mate. I waited for you patiently, comforted you through heartbreaks and disappointments, never chided you about bad decisions, and romped with glee at your homecomings, and when you fell in love.

She, now your wife, is not a "dog person" -- still I welcomed her into our home, tried to show her affection, and obeyed her. I was happy because you were happy. Then the human babies came along and I shared your excitement. I was fascinated by their pinkness, how they smelled, and I wanted to mother them, too.

Only she and you worried that I might hurt them, and I spent most of my time banished to another room, or to a dog crate. Oh, how I wanted to love them, but I became a prisoner of love. As they began to grow, I became their friend. They clung to my fur and pulled themselves up on wobbly legs, poked fingers in my eyes, investigated my ears, and gave me kisses on my nose. I loved everything about them and their touch -- because your touch was now so infrequent -- and I would've defended them with my life if need be.

I would sneak into their beds and listen to their worries and secret dreams, and together we waited for the sound of your car in the driveway. There had been a time, when others asked if you had a dog, that you produced a photo of me from your wallet and told them stories about me. These past few years, you just answered "yes" and changed the subject. I had gone from being "your dog" to "just a dog," and you resented every expenditure on my behalf. Now, you have another career opportunity in another city, and you and they will be moving to an apartment that does not allow pets.

You've made the right decision for your family, but there was a time when I was your only family. I was excited about the car ride until we arrived at the animal shelter. It smelled of dogs and cats, of fear and hopelessness. You filled out the paperwork and said "I know they will find a good home for her."

They shrugged and gave you a pained look. They understand the realities facing a middle-aged dog, even one with "papers." You had to pry your son's fingers loose from my collar as he screamed, "No, Daddy! Please don't let them take my dog!" And I worried for him, and what lessons you had just taught him about friendship and loyalty, about love and responsibility, and about respect for all life.

You gave me a good-bye pat on the head, avoided my eyes, and politely refused to take my collar and leash with you. You had a deadline to meet and now I have one, too. After you left, the two nice ladies said you probably knew about your upcoming move months ago and made no attempt to find me another good home. They shook their heads and asked "How could you?"

They are as attentive to us here in the shelter as their busy schedules allow. They feed us, of course, but I lost my appetite days ago. At first, whenever anyone passed my pen, I rushed to the front, hoping it was you and you had changed your mind -- that this was all a bad dream...or I hoped it would at least be someone who cared, anyone who might save me.

When I realized I could not compete with the frolicking for attention of happy puppies, oblivious to their own fate, I retreated to a far corner and waited. I heard her footsteps as she came for me at the end of the day, and I padded along the aisle after her to a separate room. A blissfully quiet room. She placed me on the table and rubbed my ears, and told me not to worry. My heart pounded in anticipation of what was to come, but there was also a sense of relief. The prisoner of love had run out of days.

As is my nature, I was more concerned about her. The burden which she bears weighs heavily on her, and I know that, the same way I know your every mood. She gently placed a tourniquet around my foreleg as a tear ran down her cheek.

I licked her hand in the same way I used to comfort her so many years ago. She expertly slid the hypodermic needle into my vein. As I felt the sting and the cool liquid coursing through my body, I lay down sleepily, looked into her kind eyes and murmured "How could you?"

Perhaps because she understood my dogspeak, she said "I'm so sorry." She hugged me, and hurriedly explained it was her job to make sure I went to a better place, where I wouldn't be ignored or abused or abandoned, or have to fend for myself -- a place of love and light so very different from this earthly place.

And with my last bit of energy, I tried to convey to her with a thump of my tail that my "How could you?" was not directed at her. It was directed at you, My Beloved Master, I was thinking of you.

I will think of you and wait for you forever. May everyone in your life continue to show you so much loyalty.

=====================================================

A Note from the Author: If "How Could You?" brought tears to your eyes as you read it, as it did to mine as I wrote it, is because it is the composite story of the millions of formerly "owned" pets who die each year in American and Canadian animal shelters.

Anyone is welcome to distribute this essay for non-commercial purpose, as long as it is properly attributed with the copyright notice. Please use it to help educate, on your websites, in newsletters, on animal shelter and vet office bulletin boards.

Tell the public that the decision to add a pet to your family is an important one for life, that animals deserve our love and sensible care, that finding another appropriate home for your animal is your responsibility and any local humane society or animal welfare league can offer you good advice, and that all life is precious. Please do your part to stop the killing, and encourage all spay and neuter campaigns in order to prevent unwanted animals. Jim Willis

It's a Stick?

Here's a thing that was posted on both of my aunt's websites, and 'sent' to me:

- Total number of music files on your computer?

umm, I don't own a computer, but Chris says before he met me, there was probably 13,000 between his two, some copies, and now he figures maybe 20,000. He copies a lot of discs, and we download sometimes.

- The last CD you bought was?

Avril Lavigne's second one, about a year ago. Put it this way, I had long since memorized all of the songs before my family's vacation in June?July?

- What is the last song you listened to before reading this message?

"Elevator muzak" Or at least that is what I call it. That is what was playing at work while I was still there an hour ago.

- Name five songs that you often listen to or mean a lot to you.

Sorry, I can't do just five. So here's my top ?__? songs, in order of which I remember them.

1- "Bittersweet Symphony" by the Verve or The Verve Pipe - I don't know which, it goes by both names sometimes...? Because it brings out the passion in me for life, and all things in life.

2- "Iris" by Goo Goo Dolls. Because I love it. It is sad, but uplifting at the same time.

3- "The Reason" by Hoobastank, because it has the potential to make me cry and sing at the same time.

4- "Take On Me" by A-Ha, because it is the song that is connected to my earliest memory: My Father, sister and I were sitting in the waiting room of a hospital, and we were there to bring my brother home for the first time. Unfortunately, I cannot remember if my Mother came home that day too, or if she remained in the hospital. This song was playing on the radio. I figure that I only remember this so specifically because as I was growing up, the song was played hundreds, and I mean hundreds, of times, and I kept remembering the day in the hospital. I remember one of us girls commenting on how red he was. Probably my sister. She could probably talk more than me at that age. I would have been 2 years, 7 months and 5 days old on the day my brother was born. My sister was 5 years, 2 months and 17 days old. This is the kind of thing I like to figure out when I am bored...

5- "My Immortal" by Evanescance" because it is a great, soul stirring track.

6- "My Way" by Limp Bizkit. Because I always liked it, and a few years ago, my sister dubbed it my song in regards to my mother, because I was such a stubborn and rebellious teenager. (Mom, Dad, I love you and respect you so much for the way you raised me!!! I am sorry for the stress and worry, and probably grey hairs that I caused you. Please feel free to fill my (future) children with sugar before bringing them home to me as payback. I will understand.)

7- "Beautiful" by Christina Aguilara, because I love her voice, most of the time, and this song makes me feel how I think all women should feel about their appearance: proud and happy. (not to mention satisfied, too many of us are controlled by our ever present thoughts of how we are not good enough compared to (fill in the blank). I have to say that I hate that about us women.

8- "Until It Sleeps" by Metallica. Just cause I like it.

9-" The Unforgiven" by Metallica. Because it reminds me of certain periods in my past, back when everyone else told me, that I was doing something wrong, that I shouldn't have been with who I was. But I learned a lot, and I still care for that person a lot, but more for who he was than who he is now. I am sure that most of my family realizes to whom I am referring. And if he is reading, I am sure he also realizes it is he I speak of.

10- "Stairway to Heaven" by Led Zeppelin. Who hasn't slow danced to this song? Seriously. I have loved it since I first heard it. And yet, I can honestly say, and write that I have never, EVER, done any illegal drugs. Typically, so I hear, this was a hit among drug users. I had good friends that did, and they were great about not pressuring me, and once I declined, actually going out of their way to ensure I was not exposed. Fot that, I am glad.

11- "Hurt You So Bad" by CrazyTown, because it reminds me of who I was at one point, and what I had done to other people. It makes me feel guilty, and almost ashamed, but not really at the same time, because I am now me The Way I Like Me. And I had to get here somehow.

12- "I Just Want You" by Ozzy Osbourne, because it is another that reminds me of my past, and it brings me down to earth a little bit.

13- "Nothing Else Matters" by Metallica, because, DAMN they have some great songs. The three here are more ballads than rock songs. But they still rock.

14- "Love You To Death" by Type o Negative. See #'s 9,11,12,13 for explanation.

15- "Children" by Robert Miles, because it relaxes me.

16- "Lucky(in my life)" by Eiffel 65, because it's true, and I do 'thank you for this life', stolen from the song which is... now playing. I feel like I have been very lucky. Sure, I take a pill daily to keep from going all screwy, and I am a little overweight, and I have recently lost some people who were dear to me, and I don't have a job I love, and I live everyday knowing that I was the last person to touch Pookie alive, but I still have led a very happy, good life. I have my family, and they all have always supported me, and I cannot express in words how much I love them all, because even to try would make me cry, and is making me tear up right now. I have always had more than what I needed. On a side note, I have realized, thanks to the discussion I had with the lady that did a reiki treatment on me last month, that to continue to feel guilty about Pookie's death is only going to hold her back, that I need to let the guilt and with it, her, go. And it shocked me when she said that. But only because it is true. And I have let her go. I still miss her terribly, though. I will never again meet an animal that will teach me, and give me, so much. Besides Patches, who was a gift from Pookie.

17- "A Horse With No Name" by America. I grew up listening to this, and found it on CD, and love it still. Actually, any and all of my Father's records constitute one of my favorite songs. This is just one I can name. this song used to make us kids hyper, because we would dance around and sing along to it. It was fun. Great memories.

18- "I Will Remember You" by Sarah McLachlin (did I spell that right?) because it is such a great song. I would love to see her in concert.

19- "A Day Without Rain" by Enya, because I love this music too!!!

20- "The World I Know" by Collective Soul. It was a very passion inducing, and inspiring song, that makes me cry. There is a version of this song, where they took clips of WTC 911 calls, and commentary, and put it in there, and I have to stop what I am doing everytime I hear it. I have a copy of it, so...

I am going to stop there, because there's better things to do.

- Which 3 people are you going to pass this stick to and why?

... Are they supposed to have a website to post it on? The only people I know who have websites, have already done this... so... I guess I will send it to:
1- Chris, because I don't send him enough stuff.
2- My Mom, because she is an amazing woman and Mother.
3- Nicole, because she's a great friend, with an awesome daughter.

Wow, I wrote a lot.

Life is good.

I am considering quitting my job, because I am sick of the way I am treated sometimes, and the atmosphere is not the best.

First of all the temperature makes it so that I have basically been sick since I started working there, even though I take (daily) a Women's One a Day Multi-Vitamin, B-50 Complex Vitamin, Calcium, and a Vitamin C or two. I basically work in a fridge. Seriously. 4 hours out of my 7 hour shift is spent in the cooler, setting up 5 pallets to be sent to other stores. This means I put packaged cut meat in trays, and stack the trays on pallets, and if I have time to, i label and wrap them, which is a very dizzying job. I know that isn't a word, but seriously, let';s see you wrap 5 pallets with a roll of thick saran wrap, and still walk straight and feel fine. Oh, and it's cold where you do this...

Second of all, some of the people are REALLY NEGATIVE, like a lot.

Third, I feel like no one there likes me. They are just so 'clique-y' that I feel like I am working in Middle-age-meets-high-school-hell.

Plus, it is only technically part time, 28 hours a week. 7 hour shifts, 4 times a week. I like the extra days off, until bills show up.

I am going for an assessment on monday to apply to work for an inbound call centre that provides customer service for two cellular companies in the United States. Technically, the call centre reps live in Washington D.C., or that's what they tell customers.

Because it is unionized, I may keep my present job, but with even less hours.

I haven't done my taxes yet and they are due by tomorrow. I will do them before bed tonight: I have Quicktax. Helps a lot!!! Also have to clean my apartement. Going to go do that now, I think.

Going to go now. Have to get my stuff done.

Wow, I sure do go on, this is 4 pages in Microsoft word. That's how I make sure I never lose another blog entry in the midst of typing it!!!

It is so hard

to get motivated, stay motivated, and then be happy with the big mess that is a partially finished organised house...

I was very motivated, but apparently life didn't seem to notice, or care, that I wanted to get it all done.

On the first of my two days off, Life threw at me The Challenges of Chris's Job. Also known as more b.s. for him to deal with. Whilst getting ready to do some running around, he got a phone call from another manager saying he needed his help to round up a bunch of portable dvd players from all of the other store within the city (and Sherwood Park), for a big sale that needed the product by that evening.

To be exactish, it was 44 portable dvd players, a $10700.00 sale.

Chris being Chris, and his job being what it is, he was forced to oblige, and so we went all over the East side, picking up handfuls of them. We then delivered them to the place where the customer was waiting, at an ad agency that had a client that was going to give them out as safety awards!!!

Remind me to find out if my company does that. And if not, maybe find out which company paid for these...

ANY way, we then had a bunch of running around to do, for my dead car... Got it towed, and the tow truck driver, who was an ex-mechanic, checked it out a little bit, and said he thought the engine was seized. He figured it would be a waste of money to bring it to Cnanadian Tire, but seeing as how it wasn't our decision anymore, we did it anyway.

CT said the same thing: seized. So we then got estimates for used, and rebuilt motors, and labour, and let Chris's Dad know, and he decided to go with the used motor, only 110 km.

I am glad that the car will be useful to someone now. I was going to sell it or junk it soon anyway.

I just hope after all of this that it will pass inspection in Saskatchewan.

Back to my original thought: I was destracted by a lot of little things from getting my place cleaned the first of my two days off, and the second was better, but not great.

I got a lot of stuff done, and sorted a lot, but still have to find time to 'finesse' the place up. Get rid of recyclable stuff (It's so great to live near a recycling center, if you can call a row of dumpsters that.), pack away more stuff to be stored, pack up more stuff to be given away, find room to store temporarily all of the stuff I can't throw out.

And I have amountain of laundry to finish putting away!!!

TOO. MUCH. CAN'T SLEEP!

ARGGGH!!!

:) just kidding, it's not that bad, I just get frustrated easily with some things: cleaning house, laundry, exercise, weight management...


So I am very VERY undecided about how I feel about, and whether or not I like my new job.

OOh, sirens. I wonder where the fire, or accident is?

I don't hear those nightly, no, not at all...

It's actually worse than downtown here for sirens, but we live only three blocks from the police station, and very close to major routes, and intersections, so I can't say I am overly shocked.

OH CRAP!!!

I just realized I haven't done my taxes yet. Oopsy.

Need to get list of prescriptions from SDM, so I can figure out how much more the government owes me...

Gonna go now, need to get some sleep for my early shift tomorrow, after which I will be helping Chris with his inventory... 1,2,3,4. 4 of those... 1,2. 2 of those... It'll be great!

I like counting. I am one of the few people who look forward to inventory...

Yes, yes, I am weird, thanks for noticing...

The good the bad and the messy...

The good was the bbq'd pork sirloin chops we had for dinner last night... my mouth is watering just thinking about them...

The bad, was my day today. The cleaner called in sick today, so on top of all of my other duties tonight, I had to do a large portion of a job that isn't mine... including washing, rinsing, sanitising and stacking 200 yellow bins that the meat cutters put all of the meat in for the wrappers to wrap.

It stunk, literally. I have a new respect for the guys who do the cleaning. AND I think I will refuse to ever do it again, on top of everything else.

The messy is my apartment, which still has boxes all over, and I need to finish unpacking. Thank goodness I have the next two days off!!! I swear, to myself, that I will get it done by friday morning.

I am feeling very motivated, and optimistic about gettting my place clean, so hopefully I willl wake up feeeling the same way.

I went and saw the Hostage with Chris a few nights ago, OH MY GOD!!!! SUCH A GREAT MOVIE!!! IF YOU ARE THINKING ABOUT GOING TO SEE IT, IT IS SO WORTH IT!!!
I don't think I have seen such a great movie, in a long time!!!

And I watched the movie CLoser the other day, with Jarrod, the movie with Julia Roberts... what a screwed up movie... I need to watch it again to understand exactly what the hell the plot is supposed to be....

And I am supposed to watch Ocean's 12 soon, so I will let people know how it was afterwards... Chris rents too many movies.

Gotta go.

Hey mom if you read this, can I have your recipes for beef barley soup, and ham soup (the one with cabbage)

I have a LOT of leftovers, and I froze a lot of stuff, and need to make some room in the freezer so I can actually make ice cubes.... How pathetic is that!!!

Ooh, and also your banana bread recipe, mine haven't been turning out all that great, so I was wondering if I am missing something...

Life is good.

Blaine

I have been informed

That I haven't updated here since my first day at my new job...

So here's what is new with me.

I recently went down to Cold Lake, in preparation for going to St. Paul on last Sunday for my (step) grandfather's funeral. He passed away last week, after a long battle with heart problems, diabetes, and most recently discovered, cancer. He was in a lot of pain because of the cancer, and they allowed him to have as much morphine as he wanted. I guess he was in and out of consciousness, I don't really know, I never got to visit him to say goodbye.

I was thinking about him a lot on his last day, while my sister visited him. I think his spirit knew I was thinking about him, and I feel like I was able to say that I loved him, and goodbye, because I felt so... what word works here... um, spiritually connected... all day. I was so not paying attention to what I was doing at work that day, that I smashed my hand between one of the meat carts, full of meat, and a stack of trays. It only brought me back briefly enough to look at the blue welt, and then forget about it.

So I do feel like I was able to say goodbye to him, even though not in person. And I am glad that he didn't suffer anymore.

I am also very glad that my sister told him the things she did. Apparently when she entered his hospital room, he basically said that he could tell he was dying because she had come to visit. She told him, whenever he was ready to go. That he didn't have to wait for us all to visit, that we would understand. That we loved him.

I am glad he didn't try to hold out any longer.

It didn't really hit me until at his funeral, my Aunt went up to say her Eulogy, one of several that were said. Everyone else told stories of John's youth, and we didn't know him then, but it was good to hear. Chair said more about his generosity, and personality, from when we knew him, and it made me start bawling, pretty much, because it finally clicked in.

I found that it was amazing that pretty much no one on our side of the room during the ceremony was really crying until Charity read her eulogy, and broke down herself. That pretty much finished us all off, and I could see tears in all of teh family's eyes.

After we brought out the Urn with his ashes in it out to the car, most everyone went back inside, and I kind of stood there crying, and my sister and I hugged my Grandma, and, I started to cry more.

I think John's 'other' family found it weird that we put nibs (the long strings of them) into his grave, along with the checker board, and other things that belonged to him. Everytime we went out to visit them, John had a stash of the nibs, and would bring them out for us to eat, and so they were a way of remembering him.

Man, if I had had the amount of money needed to buy it, I would have bought his and my Grandmother's old place off of them. It was so beautiful, I don't know how many acres, but it was so so georgeous, the paths, and the 'lake' that was usually muddy, but was still full of wildlife. The gardens out there were huge, and I think I wouldn't have been able to find the time, energy, or talent to keep them up.

But I still would have liked to be able to get up every morning a go for a walk on those paths. Back when Pookie was alive, she loved it, and taught her babe, Patches to love it too. Unfortunately, no one has the time to take Patches out for good long runs, and I wish I lived closer, because I would...

I have even thought of offerring to Mom And Dad to take him for a week every now and again, so I can take him out for good long walks here in Edmonton, but I don't know how he would react to being left here... especially alone while we're at work. We pretty much work different shifts, so I think there would be someone home always when he would be here, but I still don't hink my parents can live without him at home. It would be too weird for that house to not have a dog.

On another note, I saw my friends Jim and Nicole on Saturday night! First time I have seen Nicole since she was in Edmonton, and Jim, since I worked with him on his last day at the Pub...

I cried a little bit...

I will admit it.

I missed them.

Man, I would quit my job in a flash if they moved to Edmonton, and wanted to start a catering company with me, or a restaurant.

I can guarantee without a shadow of a doubt, if Jim came to Edmonton to work, and offerred me a job, it would be really hard to refuse... and I don't know if I could.

And then I would go to Cold Lake, kidnap Nicole and her daughter, and bring them up here and force her to work with us!!! Just kidding, but it's nice to dream.

Going to go now, have to keep unpacking... my house is a mess.

I am glad you are at peace, John Harris. We will always remember you. Stash some Nibs up there for when we eventually come to see you.

(I know it's a little morbid, and I don't care).

Always, Blaine.

new is good.

My back is sore.

My feet hurt.

My hands smell like antibacterial soap.

My nails are cracked and dry from the powder covered gloves that I wear throughout my entire shift, and change frequently.

My schedule is screwed up, because I get up at 6 a.m. and am home by 2:30.

Everynight feels like a day off.
It's cool.

I am actually WORKING!!!! Not standing around and 'housecleaning.'

I missed actually working, feeling it in my muscles, the next day ache.

It's great. I am very happy.

There are, of course, downsides, like only working 7 hour shifts, and only 4 shifts a week.

However, I am now unionized, and could be called in on any of my days off, but I think I want to get a second job, maybe at Timmy's... I hear they get free coffee... I don't know.

because of the union thing, I can only change my availability twice a year, but I am not sure if it is anytime, or at certain times in the year that it will just come up... ... but I like my new job.

And am happier by the day that I no longer work for the evil RS. I still need to finish unpacking... It's so hard, because of the limited room in here, separating things is real tough.

Plus, it would be good to be able to pile up all of the garbage and then bring it all down at once, but there isn't really room to do it.

And it is so demotivating to move everything all the way down the hallway, and out the front to the dumpster. It's almost a 10 minute trip. For garbage. Yeah.

Gonna go now, talk to you all later...

Moi.