Cube Incorporated Logo
Main Menu
Online Photo Album
Who's Who in John's Life
Read my Online Journal
Download Music I've Created or Mixed
Browse my Artistic Creations
Where the Name Came From
Return to the Main Page
We'll be in touch...
Sign The Guestbook Read the Guestbook
Journal Entries for November 2005
November 1, 2005 - 4:21 PM
Of all the things I have, I want the one I don't.

It's funny how the mind works sometimes. Who can explain the mechanism of emotion? It's crazy how even when everything seems to be going right for you, you can still feel more depressed and empty than at times when you had nothing. Such is the state of mind I am presently in. I hate it. I can't explain it. Everything that could be happening in my favor has or is happening right now. I've on top of the list of candidates for the job I want to get. I've even got a fall-back job that pays better than what I am presently making. All my bills are paid, I have a house, vehicles, toys, a bright future, great friends, a wonderful, reliable family, practically everything I could ask for - and yet despite all of that, I just want to lie down and wake up tomorrow morning, hoping I'll feel better. How intercoursed is that??? It makes no sense, yet I understand completely why I feel this way.
I have no one to share it with.

Then through some sick twist of fate, I've been seeing the number 378 come up a LOT lately. Like, literally dozens of times in the past week. License plates, subtotals on invoices, just now the process ID of giftd, a peer-to-peer program I use on Linux, started as process ID # 3378. Is there some reason for this or is someone upstairs just having some fun with me? The lightly falling snow outside casts an ambience of warmth as one peers out from the heated side of a window and the neighbourhood looks and feels very cozy. 8 more working days till I'm done at Custom Linen. I gave my notice yesterday, two weeks means the 11th but that's actually a holiday so the 10th ends up being my last day. Then, depending on how things work out with circumstances and events outside my control, I'll take one of two jobs at a higher rate of pay than what I am presently making.

Where do we go? Where do we go now? Where do we go, sweet child of mine?

Don't you wish you were dead like me?


November 3, 2005 - 10:51 AM
There is perception, and there is reality. If you preceive something is real, then it is - for you - reality when in reality, it is nothing more than a perception.

November 4, 2005 - 8:53 PM
A glimpse through my rearview mirror

Look back before you move ahead

I really like that picture. When I pulled up to my house this afternoon after work, I glanced in the side view mirror before exiting the vehicle and noticed quite a lovely sunset displayed in it's reflection. Having my camera close at hand - I couldn't resist. I've been taking a LOT more pictures lately. I think in October I snapped close to (if not over) 600 images! As work continues on my new photo album it's getting easier to add pictures to the site and still keep them organized. One of the features the new photo album is going to have is a random image displayed whenever you enter the album - taken at random from somewhere within the database. It will, of course, tell you where it got the image from and I might even have the ability for you the visitor to post comments on pictures. There's lots of new stuff coming so keep an eye out!

November 6, 2005 - 12:34 AM
Happy Birthday Mandy Sullivan!
Happy Birthday Sarah Burrows!

Actually, ironically enough I went today to the last place I SAW Mandy Sullivan before she moved away around 10 years ago: Southland Leisure Center. The last time I was there was to go visit her. It's funny too, I seem to remember the pool being a lot bigger. Instead of going to our regular spot of Village Square Leisure Center, Bo and I took Maddy to Southland today. It was pretty fun, little Maddy is getting SO brave! She goes off the diving board by herself (with a life jacket of course) and today she went off the rope for the first time, and she also went down a waterslide by herself too! And she's only three!!! It is so exciting to see her experience all these firsts. I know I was swimming by the time I was in ECS but I don't think I was in water much before then... At the rate she's going, she might just be swimming without a lifejacket pretty soon!

Unfortunately, my afternoon of swimming was cut short when I somehow caught my finger on the blue waterslide and tore a strip of skin nearly two inches long off the side of it! Took it clean off - didn't even hurt! I kind of thought it felt wierd while going down the slide, but it wasn't till I got to the bottom that I had a chance to look at it and saw I was short a little finger skin. I quickly got out of the water before it had a chance to bleed and got it bandaged up at the first aid place (where I also used the opportunity to flirt with the cute lifeguard... hehehe) and then proceeded to go get dressed and head over to the cafeteria to get some long-craved Fries. Well here if it didn't take them over 20 minutes to make my chicken fingers and fries, and when I did finally get them, the fries tasted old and were crunchy and dry. I was disgusted and so were a lot of other people who were also waiting unusually long amounts of time for their food. And what made the situation more irritating was that there were three staff members in the back of the kitchen SITTING there while there were customers waiting to order from both concession windows! It was insane! But then while I was waiting there I ran into Mr. Mack, my grade 12 homeroom teacher and his family. It's funny, he hasn't changed a bit! So we chatted a bit and it turns out that his wife works there. They were stopping by for supper at the same concession stand since she gets an employee discount. Kind of neat catching up with your high school teachers...

So here I am, typing away with one big white poofy finger. It doesn't hurt at all, and I have actually been playing the piano for several hours tonight before coming in here to type my day out - so far it's not giving my any trouble at all though I wouldn't want to play the drums with it just yet... When this bandage comes off I'll get a picture of it to gross you out. It was a pretty cool cut. And the wierdest part is that I have NO idea how I did it! My finger just caught on something as I was starting down the slide.

My birds and I had a good play this afternoon. It's intriguing how they both have very different personalities. You can watch their thought process's at work too as they try to solve problems. Definitely neat creatures. I took the two of them for a tour of the house on my arm. They seemed to enjoy that, the little heads bobbing this way and that trying to look at everything around them. They are cute birds. And NO, I still haven't named them... I guess I should put the names to a vote now... I didn't anticipate the naming process would have taken so long but I just haven't had time, what with quitting my job and all... Four more days of work at Custom Linen. Wow. I'm pretty excited. But I should get to bed. Late now it is getting, yes? Indeed to sleep I must go. Goodnight to you all, that's all she wrote.

November 7, 2005 - 12:54 AM


There is my cut - you can see the skin started getting torn from the right hand side and it just skinned a good inch of my finger progressing towards the left. It still doesn't hurt, but with that 'dead' skin sitting there now, it feels very strange when I touch the part that was removed. Eventually it will fall off, but for now it's keeping dirt out of the wound and hopefully allowing things to heal.

November 7, 2005 - 5:40 PM
Snow on the roof of my garage

THREE MORE DAYS!

This Thursday will be my last day working at Custom Linen as a salaried employee thereof. There IS a strong possibility that I will have to do some contract work for the company after I leave to look after some upcoming IT projects, but until such time - there are only three days left. Lorne and I passed each other with huge grins on our faces today, exchanging the most cheerful greetings I believe have ever been heard in that office since the aquisition. We both leave on the same day. There will be a little get-together after work to celebrate our time spent and our future endeavours. It's ironic that the community spirit the place is lacking is only experienced when people leave it...

Anyways, going to the pool. I might write more later tonight.

John

10:30 PM
Ok, I'm back. And since I left my good camera at work this afternoon I had to take some images with my other camera and discovered there were a few images still on it's card that I had not yet transferred. Bo and I took Maddy to the leisure center again tonight. It's becoming a regular thing lately and I am quite enjoying the water, being that I am an otter and all... We had a bit of a scare this evening though, when she was going off the rope with the red ball, she swung out and then didn't let go in time - then let go on the way back and hit the wall with her bum. She got a little bruise and a lot of attention, but after 20 minutes or so she wanted to go back into the water and so we kept on swimming until almost 9 and then got out because my cut was starting to flap.
Flappy, the Waterslide Wound

When we got home I went out to the garage to help Clayton with his car and after some troubleshooting we discovered that his air conditioning compressor was siezed and was therefore the cause of his engine trouble. He's going to find a shorter belt for it tomorrow and then bypass the compressor so that he can drive it again. Once the serpentine belt was off, it fired right up, and because the alternator was able to spin freely, process of elimination determined that the A/C pump had to be the cause.

Going back a few weeks now, I came across some other pictures from earlier in fall.

Tree and Leaf pile in perspective

I was out having some fun with the camera and the leaves one afternoon and got some good fall shots.

A rake lying on a leaf pile

Past and Present

Aren't I cute?

November 8, 2005 - 11:59 PM
Defocus. Let your eyes relax and blur the image before you.

Come up to meet you
Telle you I'm sorry
You don't know how lovely you are...

I had to find you
Telle you I need you
Telle you I set you apart

Telle me your secrets
and ask me your questions
Oh, let's go back to the start


November 11, 2005 - 12:20 PM
Farewell supper for John and Lorne
Farewell Supper at the China Rose - From left: Kama, John, Rick, Brian, Lorne, George, Barb


Today is 11-11

Well, It all comes out in the wash... I handed in my keys and phone today and cleaned out my office. I took all my pictures off the wall and said goodbye to most of the people I've worked with over the past two years. I've learned a lot from my time at Custom Linen, but it was time to move on. George bought lunch for the office staff seen pictured above to celebrate (or mourn, depending on how you look at it) the terminations of Lorne and myself. Barb baked brownies for us as well so it has been a fattening day all around! It was nice to leave the company on a good note. Ironically, I'm still waiting to hear from Shaw about that job... But in the mean time Blair and I have decided to go on a little trip to BC next week. It will probably be one of the only times both he and I are able to do so at the same time. Perhaps by Monday I'll know about the job situation and can put my mind at ease. But even if not, I know it will work out.

I spent a few hours this evening working on a new song. I've been itching to compose some new music lately, and now that my drums are home again I have all the instruments I need to create something new - this time using real instruments and not just the computer. So far I've got some promising ideas. Now if only I could get my laptop to work again so that I could start recording!



Because of the corporate lunch today, this was the first time since we started hanging out that I didn't eat lunch with Kerri. But we still went for slurpee's after work one last time. I'm going to miss her fun-ness. She really brought a lot of joy to my life these past couple of months. But, as with all good things, they end... And so endith another good thing.

November 12, 2005 - 10:06 PM


In the mood for some music...

I've been tinkering around on the keyboard a lot in the past couple of weeks - even moreso now that I am unemployed, and I've begun the makings of what will be my next song. So far it's got a lot of promise but I don't know if I'll put words to it... I'm still hammering out the chorus and melody. It is nice having all the instruments though... Sure beats composing with a mouse! I guess each have their advantages though. Right now the challenge is precision. It's amazing how hard it can be to hit the exact notes, exactly when you're supposed to with exactly the amount of pressure and for exactly the right amount of time... Sounds hard you say. Exactly.

Some other things I got done today: I bagged those leaves I raked a few weeks ago (finally), put up a motion sensor light, cleaned the back yard, fixed Barb's hot water tank, and now I'm trying to get my laptop to read memory cards again before my trip to BC. Blair and I have decided to take a road trip this week to BC.

November 13, 2005 - 5:59 AM


A few days ago my mom tied my puppy outside in the morning, as she usually does. But somehow this time his rope came disattached from whatever it had been tied to and he took himself for a walk. It was several hours before anyone even realized he was gone, and by this time - he could be anywhere. Now fortunately he has his tags on his collar, and in this particular instance he was also dragging about 20 feet of rope as well - but even so, an exhaustive drive through Pineridge - up and down virtually every street and alley, revealed no puppy. I drove the perimeter a few times, hoping and praying that I wouldn't find him on the side of the road after an unfortunate encounter with a motor vehicle - but still no puppy. After almost two hours of driving up and down alleys, literally feeling dizzy from turning my head side to side for so long, I went back to my parents' house to see if anyone else had heard or seen anything.

Not fifteen minutes later, the phone rings and it's a lady who has FOUND my puppy! His rope got caught in her bushes and he was quite stuck when she got home from work and discovered him there. I quickly drove to her house, which was actually a mere two blocks from my parents' house, but on the OTHER SIDE of one of the major roadways that serves as a boundary the neighbourhood! Somehow he made it across the street safely, that silly puppy! I found him there, quite happy to see me but equally expecting to continue his walk. I thanked her most profusely and got her name and number. I'm going to do something nice for her. When I got BJ back home, the first thing he did was go straight to his water bucket and drank and drank and slurped and sloshed and lapped and licked for several minutes! I knelt beside him, rubbing his back as I watched the water line get lower and lower in the bucket. He wuz a thursty poppy...

And now for something completely different...

We all know that dreams aren't real. Or at least in the sense that what happens in a dream does not in real life actually take place. If you were to win the lottery in your dream, you'd not wake up with a six figure bank account balance (unless you already had a six figure bank account balance, in which case - why on earth are you dreaming about winning the lottery? That's just greedy!) But we've all had those dreams that seem so real, we could swear we'd been awake the whole time and sometimes even have to check some things out in the real world to make sure we had in fact been dreaming. I'm sure we've all been there, right? Now what if two people had the same dream at the same time, and in that dream they interacted with each other. When they awoke, they conferred with each other and discovered that although both knew they'd been dreaming of each other, they remembered the conversation exactly and discovered that both of them had been in each other's dreams. Would that be a dream or would it be real? There's something to think about.

November 14, 2005 - 1:34 AM
Leaf

All adventures, great or small, have a beginning somewhere.

As I'm sitting here in my little dungeon, sipping a big mug of tea and listening to some music - I'm contemplating adventure. What IS an adventure? Is it a trip? A journey? Is it something you can 'do'? "I had an adventure." Is it a concept that only emerges in retrospect or are there times when we realize we are in the midst of one? For some I suppose it could be defined as the result of a lack of planning... Well that was an adventure... Perhaps it means getting lost and finding one's way back?

Some people shy away from adventure - others live for it. For some it is their drug, their addiction which drives all that they do in an effort to satisfy the craving. One of my high school teachers, Royce Williams' entire life seemed to be one big adventure after another. Everything he did, everwhere he went became an adventure. Bo and I have made our own adventures on many occasions in the form of various camping trips and day hikes. Like the one time we went hiking in Kananaskis late at night, wandered around until we were sure we were lost. We built a fire and waited for morning, only to discover that our firepit had been constructed RIGHT in the middle of the trail and we were about a hundred and fifty feet from the parking lot we came from... Or the time we went camping with James Peterson and Dave Huntrods by the Crowsnest Pass and ran for our lives away from the firepit into which someone had tossed a handfull of 22 shells... That is why I say that sometimes it's not until you look back on a series of events that you realize that you had an adventure.

So why am I up at two in the morning, discussing all these things with my keyboard? Well, the tea isn't helping I can tell you that much. But as I sit here I am poised on the verge of yet another adventure, another first in my life: Going on a road trip with my brother. It is something I've wanted to do for a long time, but never had the opportunity to do until now. And one of the other characteristics of what makes an adventure such is usually a lack of planning. Otherwise it's just a trip. We drove here, we did this, we stopped there, and came home. By not planning the where's and when's and how's, you leave a lot more room for improvisation and in making plans up as you go, that seems for be a key ingredient to a good adventure.

So to that end, we really have very little idea of what we are doing, just that we are going to drive to BC and spend a few days there. I've already spoken to Raychel who is possibly more excited than I am at the chance to see each other again. She said she'll hang out with us as much as possible and I'd like to go see Sandy and Mick as well. Not living at the Berstads anymore I hardly hear of them anymore. Blair wants to go see some beaches in Victoria that he visited on one of his last adventures... I'm sure you can imagine, any chance I get to see a beach in November is awesome. Ironically enough the last time I was on a real beach was about this time last year in Grenada. It's hard to believe that has been a year already. I'm also planning on doing to Raedene what she's done to me the past couple of visits: Showing up in her city without notice and requesting dinner. It's been a good 5 months since she was here last.

During this next week, I will get to see some old friends, see part of the country I've never seen before and spend some quality time with my dear brother. It definitely sounds like the makings of an adventure. There will be pictures and stories to tell when I get back. In the mean time, it's packing and sleeping on my agenda. Have a great week everyone.

John

Fire in the sky this morning

As I was walking past the kitchen window this morning, I happened to notice an incredible sunrise on the horizon. I quickly ran downstairs, grabbed my camera and tripod, leapt up onto the garage roof and shot a few pictures. Is that not absolutely beautiful? Within half an hour of this picture, the entire sky was a dull grey.

Green Christmas Tree Bulb

Yes, I am dumping a bunch of pictures on the web site this morning... I took this one about an hour ago... Only fourty-one more days until Christmas! Boy is that ever sneaking up! I have always loved Christmas lights. There is something about the glow they emit and the shadows they cast - warm and colorful, inviting and comforting. It reminds me of smiles, of laughter, of family, of purpose.

Light through the tinsel on my baby Christmas tree

November 15, 2005 - 1:55 PM
Finlaysons
Street

We are heading back to Nanaimo from Victoria after spending the morning walking around the parlimentary buildings and taking pictures. Barb sent me a text message this morning asking me to call her so I did, and it turns out that NOW Thad has asked her to phone me and find out if there's any chance I'd come back. Why do they wait until their employees have already left the company before they make any attempt to retain them? I gave two weeks' notice and during that entire time he made no attempt to counter-offer anything. Now suddenly, two days after I've been gone they want me back? I have a very hard time trying to understand the mentality behind that one...

We just took a scenic detour over a mountain that found us in Langford (or perhaps it was Langdon?) - a suburb of Victoria. We pulled into a Future Shop and I bought a CD adapter for the car and the Beavis and Butthead collection as an early Christmas present for Bo. If he already has it, I wouldn't mind having it myself.

I've been inexplainably craving a Second Cup Moccachino but do you think there's a Second Cup to be found? Of course not. Starbuck's on every corner but so far I have yet to see a single Second Cup. We stopped at a Quizno's for lunch in Victoria. "I'm not used to seeing you on this side of the counter" I said to Blair, who changed out of his Quizno's vest before we went in the store.

When we arrived in Nanaimo this morning the first thing I did was try to remember how to get to Sandy's house. What would you know it, we drove straight to it! I can't believe I remembered the way after only having been there once several years ago. I can't remember if I mentioned it in my journal last night but we just barely missed the last ferry and ended up sleeping in a Zeller's parking lot. About 5:00 this morning we woke up, had a bit of breakfast and drove back to Horseshoe Bay where we got in queue for the ferry and caught the 6:30 over to the island.

One of the next things I think we'll do is go and find the mall Raychel works at and go say hi to her. I phoned her last night and told her we were stranded on the mainland. Even though it is 'winter' here, there is no snow and it's still quite comfortable walking around outside in a sweater.

I could definitely get used to working here. It really is beautiful. According to the forecast we likely won't see any sun this week we're here, but at least it's not snowing. I've seen quite a few motorcycles out and about too.

I was trying to find the Moby Dick hotel we stayed in last time we were here. The place was an absolute dive, when we first got into our room I found a pair of men's speedo-style, leopard print underwear beneath my bed. When I went and complained at the front desk, the girl laughed and said, "What? Do they not fit you?" I was not impressed. The rest of the Moby Dick experience went downhill from there. The ice machine didn't work, I don't think the pop machines worked either, and when we had some of the other people over for a game of cards they charged us visitors' fees!!! Then when we finally went to leave, Steve and I got up really early to catch that first ferry off the island and when we went to check out, the office was closed! There was no number to call, no contact, no self-checkout, nothing. So we had to leave Steve's credit card with Jason and got Jason to check us out. It was the worst hotel experience I've ever seen. When I couldn't find it this morning I concluded that it must have been either bought out and renovated or torn down. It was a total dive.

It's funny, driving around on the island here has reminded me of several places. At times, it reminds me of Kananaskis, probably because of all the trees. But other times the overgrown, narrow, windy roads reminded me of Grenada. There are a lot of streets in Grenada that GREATLY resemble parts of Vancouver and Victoria. Looking out from a hillside across a dark vally through the trees also brought back a lot of Grenada memories.

We got some neat pictures today. I'm trying to get pictures of the two of us in front of signs of significance. We found a street called "Finlayson Street" so we took a picture of us underneath it. There are a lot of Save-On Foods stores out here. It also seems like there are a lot of Quizno's too. I just passed a Moby Meats vendor... Had a little blue whale on the logo...

That's all I can upload for now, I was writing on the other laptop yesterday and it doesn't have Internet capability at the moment... But I will post my journey journal from it as soon as possible.

Blair in front of
the BC Coat of Arms

The
Parliment Buildings in Victoria

We went and saw the Parliment Buildings in Victoria this morning.

Objects
in mirror are cuter than they appear...

Objects in mirror are cuter than they appear...

This stone
bridge made me think of dad

This stone bridge made me think of my dad. I took lots of pictures of it for him.

I just got a call from Raychel and she has a staff meeting tonight so it's going to be later than we had expected before we can meet up with her. I must admit, it's a lot harder than I expected to find touristy things to do here... Most of the tourist information we've seen so far seems to want to point people to Vancouver. But we'll keep on trying to find things to do and places to see. It's only quarter after four local time and already it's nearly dark. The lacking amount of daylight hours makes seeing sights a short-lived thrill... I think Blair has fallen asleep beside me. At least I can take a few more pictures... hahaha

November 16, 2005 - 10:00 AM
Hanging out in a laundromat

Last night we stopped into a laundromat to wash some clothes. It probably wasn't entirely necessary but we had some time to kill and everything seems to shut down about 5:30 out here. We actually got kicked out of the mall by the cleaning staff. Blair and I had stopped in at the Save-On Foods in the mall, bought supper and were eating it in the nearly abandoned food court when one of the cleaning staff asked us to leave. It wasn't even 6:00. I couldn't believe it. So we drove around until we found a laundromat and came to The Busy Bubble on the north side of Nanaimo. I threw my sleeping bag and a few clothes into a triple-loader and started it up. All was going well until Blair noticed that the washer was already on the rinse cycle but hadn't injected any soap yet. I asked the attendant if that was normal and long story short, she restarted the load for me and manually put the soap in - I guess the washer was faulty. It washed it again and we put it in a dryer but I don't think their dryers run on gas out here. It didn't seem to get very hot and took quite a long time to dry.

Kyle & Chris

After our laundromat experience we headed back towards the south end of town and Raychel phoned to say she was done her meeting. After some rather confusing directions from her she put Chris on the line who talked us to their house. We ended up staying the night there in their living room after she insisted we not sleep in our car again. One of Chris's friends who brought over some slurpees lives in Airdrie. So, given all the small world experiences I've had lately I decided to try my luck and ask if he knew Shawna. He pondered the name for a few moments and then asked if she had a brother named Alex. Blair and I both burst out laughing and we began telling Alex stories. Raychel DEEP in thought

We sat and talked with Raychel, Chris, and Kyle until about 12:30 before calling it a night. Although I was picking up four different access points, I couldn't get a good signal off any one of them so I gave up trying to add pictures to the site last night and just went to bed. When we woke up this morning, Chris and Raychel had both left for work and there was a note on the coffee table to give her a call when we got up. Our first stop of the day brought us to the Cualicum beach where we found quite an elaborate playground and spent a few hours there. They had a pretty good zip line and what would have been a really neat waterpark had the water been turned on. It feels pretty dead since we are technically here in their off season... Locals here have told us that even some stores close for the winter. It's chilly, but certainly not "cold" as Calgarians know it... Water droplets on a blue bar in the playground

Me at a waterfall

We ended up going to see a number of waterfalls and overgrown forest trails through the interior of the island - some incredibly beautiful spots. The whole trail itself is very pretty, but with all the moisture a lot of it, particularly the rocks, are slippery. I've fallen three times since we got here, one time in Queen's Park Victoria where I banged up my elbow pretty good and once in the forest this afternoon (which actually did some damage to my tripod and I nearly lost my camera down a moss-laiden steep incline descending towards a river) After the first two times we were joking around about how much I seemed to be falling, so when I fell a third time this afternoon, I knew I was going to hear about it. This time however, there was no way I could have known. We stopped outside Nanaimo at the "Welcome to Nanaimo" sign so that we could take a picture in front of it. The sign is quite big though, so to fit it all in the frame the camera was quite a ways from the sign. With only a 10 second delay, I knew I would have to run full out to get into position in front of the sign before the picture snapped, so I set the camera, pressed the button and took off at full speed towards the sign. Just before I reached the rock bed beneath the sign however, my foot sank deep into the ground inexplicably and effectively tripped me. I landed on my knees in the rock bed and only barely had time to roll over and squeeze out a smile before the picture snapped. There had apparantly been some plants, flowers perhaps, in the ground in front of the sign that had recently been removed. The holes had been filled but certainly not packed by any means, and the slightest pressure on the spots would cause your foot to sink deeply into them. I reset the camera and got a picture successfully (and this time without injury) but then as Blair was walking back to the car, HE stepped in one of the land mines. His shoe sank right down and his foot came up without it. Looks like the shoe is on the other foot now...

Me and Blair in front of the Nanaimo sign

So now we're going to browse some shops until Raychel gets off work and hopefully we can go shower before heading over to Mick and Sandy's place for supper. After a day exploring the woods and falling in mud pits I'm not the freshest I've ever been - that's for sure!

Canada's national symbol - the Maple Leaf

Reflections of some trees on a pool of water

Good times at the Busy Bubble

Tree rodeo

Blair, Chris, Raychel, and Me

November 17, 2005 - 7:45 AM
We are waiting for weather information to find out when it will be safe to go. This morning, Blair and I are flying to Vancouver with Mick in his helicopter! We'll have a couple of hours there to do some sightseeing and touristy things, quite possibly ride the sky train around and see the city before flying back to Nanaimo. Needless to say, more pictures are coming! hehehe

November 17, 2005 - 8:41 pm
Vancouver Island from 800 feet at sunset

Blair's Head Mick's Head John's Head

The Ferry Repair Shop

Car Dealership in Vancouver

Me at the Waterfront in Vancouver

Blair at the Waterfront in Vancouver

Underwater Line-Laying Ship

In line to pay for my supper on the ferry

We have just docked at Horseshoe Bay, Vancouver and are about to drive off the ferry. WHAT A DAY this has been! There were trains! There were planes! (Well, a helicopter) and there were automobiles! When we first got up this morning, after breakfast we drove to a hanger where Mick keeps his helicopter and he flew us to Vancouver! It was absolutely awesome! Breathtaking views, adrenaline, radio humour! It was, hands down, the coolest part of this trip. He landed at a helipad outside his work and drove us to the Braid SkyTrain station where we boarded the SkyTrain and headed towards downtown Vancouver. Our first stop was at the Science Center where we spent a couple of hours playing with the various exhibits and educational toys. One slightly disturbing experience though - there was this one game where two people sit at a table and connect a velcro band to their heads. The machine measures each person's brain waves and the object of the game is to relax. Whoever can relax more wins. Well - neither Blair nor myself could get the machine to register ANY brain activity! We won't explore the implications of that any further but it was disappointing not being able to play it.

After the Science Center, we got back on the SkyTrain and went to the end of the line in downtown Vancouver where we stopped in a food court, got some lunch and then wandered throughout the streets of Vancouver's core. We didn't really stop in any shops because most of what we saw were stores we had in Calgary or stores I'd never shop in anyways. We walked down by the water and I took a bunch of pictures. Eventually we made our way down to the HeliJet Helipad and waited for Mick to arrive. It was one of those once in a lifetime type experiences, I can honestly say that I have never hung out at a helipad before. We watched some helicopters land and take off - it was really neat. Mick phoned me and several minutes later he was landing himself at the pad. Shortly thereafter we were aboard the chopper again and flying back to Nanaimo. This time we landed on his own helipad on the lake behind his house. After thanking them all for their above and beyond hospitality, we got ready to leave only to discover that we had a dead battery in the car. Never has that battery ever gone dead before, but we think that the sleeping bag in the trunk must have tricked the sensor and the trunk light stayed on. They gave us a boose and again we thanked them.

Not wanting to take any chances, we popped into Wal-Mart, bought a new battery and quickly changed it in the parking lot. From there we made our way back to Departure Bay where we got in queue for the ferry and now we're back on the mainland, driving East to Abbotsford where Raedene is going to meet us for coffee. From there, the plan is to drive all night back to Calgary and we should get home about noon tomorrow. UFC 56 is on tomorrow night so I have to be back in time for that. Then I've got a weekend to recover and Monday I go to Shaw to sign some papers - then I start training on Tuesday.

We're actually driving by several buildings we saw from the Helicopter on the way in to Vancouver this morning! Jordan's carpet and IKEA were both obvious landmarks as we flew some 500 feet above the highway we're now driving on earlier in the day. Seriously, that was a really cool experience. I will never look at helicopters the same way again.

So now this is the beginning of the end of our vacation. I would definitely like to work on the island, and that was one of the places mentioned specifically in the interview at Shaw that I could work in. That would be quite something.

November 19, 2005 - 5:05 PM
Name Those Birds!

Ok everyone, you've had several weeks to get your names submitted - now it's time to vote! So head on over to the polls for part two of Name That Budgee! Tell your friends, get your mom to do it, the more votes - the better! My poor birds are confused as they don't yet know who they are! Help them with their identity crisis and vote for your favorite names today!

Speaking of the little guys, their latest fad has been to climb up ( and inevitably poop on ) my drum set. All day I've put them in their cage and when I come back a little while later, they've perched themselves somewhere on the drumkit. It's like a big jungle jim or something. Of course it's very cute, (sans the poop) but at least it's very easy to clean...

Bo and I took Maddy swimming this morning. Apparantly they didn't go all week while I was away. UFC 56 is on tonight which looks to be a great one! Two title matches! Not much else to report.. I'm going to go play with the birds.

November 21, 2005 - 10:59 PM
I'm going to bed early tonight so here's an update on my life in point form:
  • Start my new job at Shaw tomorrow - 7:30 AM!
  • Vaccumed my living space today - lots of bird seed!
  • Making huge progress on the new photo album, ready to begin public testing soon!
  • Had lunch with Al and Pat from Sylvania today. Good times
I'll let you know how my first day goes tomorrow! I'm very excited but also nervous - not knowing (or having ANY clue) what tomorrow will be like is a little unsettling. But, I've stepped off that diving board now: like it or not - I'm falling. From this point on there's no turning back, only plunging head-first into it and not looking back.

November 23, 2005 - 6:54 AM
Wow. I know it may be a little early to tell, but after going for a ride-along with one of the other guys who does what I'll be doing at Shaw, I can tell you two things: One, I am VERY excited about my new job, and two: I made the right decision!

I spent the day working with a guy named Alex and basically shadowed him throughout his day. There was nothing he did that I can't already do, and perhaps if I demonstrate good aptitude I can begin working on my own sooner than later. The funny thing is that even though this was my first day and I was in training, I made more today than I have in one day at any other job! (With perhaps a few side job exceptions...) And this is only my first day!! When I asked Alex what he enjoyed most about the job, his answer was simply, "The pay." I am more excited about this change now than I was before. I was talking to Pat the other day and he wants to see if HE can get hired! I could totally see Pat doing this job. I don't know if they're still hiring but if he could get on here I think he'd be set too. I simply cannot believe how much of an opportunity this is! I would have never guessed.

On a more personal note, I was quietly amused by the fact that yesterday, my first day at my new job, a new beginning brought me back to another new beginning in my life a few years ago. One of the buildings we went to was an appartment complex next door to the 7707 complex. It was funny how I didn't even realize where I was until we pulled into the back alley behind it and suddenly the whole place seemed very familiar to me. "Why does this look SOOOO familiar?" I asked myself. Then I remembered. And smiled.

November 24, 2005 - 9:47 PM
It may not be the prettiest van but at least it's reliable...

I am house-sitting the Millers' again and as usual, Barb leaves me her car while she is away. She mentioned something about the voltmeter in the car showing lower-than-normal voltage but noted that she hadn't had it stall out or die and they were planning on getting it looked at once they got back. When I asked about the Alternator, she said that it had been recently replaced. Same thing with the battery. So this morning I went out, started it up and began my commute to work. Remembering what she had said about the voltage, I looked at the gauge and noted that while it did look to be a little on the low side, it was still within the Normal range and I continued on my way. WELL by the time I was 3/4 of the way to work, I noticed that the needle was dropping. And at each set of lights I'd hit, the needle was lower and the dash lights were dimmer. As I was approaching Mcknight I saw the lights in the dash go out, and by the time I had pulled to a stop in the turning lane, the car was completely dead. No NOTHING. I couldn't even put on my four-way flashers! So I quickly put up the hood and under the dim light of the streetlights overhead I tried to see if anything could be done. Knowing the battery was completely dead at this point, I really wasn't expecting to find much, but as I stood there, here if I didn't see stopped in her car beside me one of the ladies that works at Shaw. She rolled down her window and told me she'd let them know I might be late on account of vehicle trouble. What luck!

I ended up calling my dear brother Blair, who I'm sure was sleeping but none the less came out and with his car, charged the battery in Barb's car enough that I could start it again and get to work. Ironically enough, for part of my training today I had to drive to a site. Taking the chance, I started the car and proceeded to the address, rolling to another stop just several blocks away from the spot we were doing the training. Fortunately, there was another trainee behind me so I hopped out, got in his vehicle and we continued on our way. At the end of the day, Blair came back out and charged me up again and I was able to make it home again. What a good brother he is! Who needs AMA when you have Blair!

So tonight, the project of the day was trying to figure out why there was no charging taking place. After extensive troubleshooting with Kevin's help, we decided that the problem had to lie in the alternator itself, though supposed to be fairly new. There was no power coming out of it's main terminal, there was full battery voltage at both the I terminal (from the ignition switch) and at the A terminal which goes to the battery. The connections all looked good, the belt was tight and the commutator was turning... There should have been lots of power coming out of it but there was none. Kevin and I took the alternator off and opened it up. Everything inside looked good, so tomorrow I will take the regulator in and get it tested. Perhaps even get them to test the entire alt because it wouldn't be the first time something looked good but was in fact shorted out or disconnected or otherwise faulty. We'll see what the tests tell us tomorrow.

For our hands on ladder training course today, we went to a site of an aerial drop in a back alley where the cable line into the houses comes from a telephone pole a good 20 feet up in the air. As several people drove by they must have thought we were city workers as one fellow was up the ladder with 11 others standing around the base of it watching him work... We changed the drop to this guy's house too Just for the fun of it which also drew some bizarre looks from the homeowner as two half-dozen Shaw employees swamped his back yard and alley way to fix a problem that he hadn't complained about. We explained to him what we were doing and why which obviously answered a lot of questions he had about why there had been several Shaw vans in the alley and dozens of Shaw employees coming out to work on this one particular pole... "I thought there must have been some serious problem up there... Every two days you guys kept coming back and working on it!" the man explained.

I had an interesting call from Child Services tonight... Some concerned neighbour called in and complained that Sean and Kevin were home alone unsupervised and that their parents were away and there was supposedly a big fight between them last night. I didn't get here until about 9:45 but when I did, Sean was asleep already and Kevin was watching Madagascar. I asked them both about the supposed fight and neither of them seemed to know anything about it, explaining each of their days from the time they got home from school till the time I got there and there was no mention of any confrontation. What I found strange was how Child Services seemed to know so much about the situation, and where they would have got my number from I don't know! Very wierd. But I explained the situation to the lady, how I am living at the house until the parents get home and that I was not aware of any fight that allegedly took place last night... I told her I had Barb's cell number and that both Sean and Kevin knew the number as well, and also that their grandma lives fairly close if there was any problems. She seemed ok with that and ended the call. Kevin and I resumed working on the car while Sean and one of his friends were skateboarding in the alley behind us. It was very strange.

On a lighter note, this time I brought my birdies with me. They get so lonely when left alone by themselves all day and I don't blame them either. Plus it gives the kids something else to do while they're home here too. The birds seem pretty happy now that they've gotten used to the change of scenery and we're all having a pretty good time. I am, however, going to get to bed. These early mornings are really taxing my body. It's 10:10 PM and I am EXHAUSTED! Don't forget to cast your vote for bird names! Click Here to get your vote in! Get as many people as you want to vote, and you can vote once every day too if you'd like. So far we don't seem to be any sort of overwhelming majority on names although Bertie (Blue) and Lizzie (Green) are in the lead right now. Get your votes in today!

Some other point form recent events:
  • Got to see Rob & Lee's newborn - VERY cute! And tiny! It never ceases to amaze me how tiny babies are!
  • Brooklyn gave me a rock
  • The game of the day was performing a drumroll on any surface before speaking. Penalty for violation was death by flatulation.
  • Learned about proper coding for services and ladder safety in training today
  • Tomorrow is one month from Christmas! Does it feel like Christmas???
  • I am tired
  • I am going to bed now.


  • November 26, 2005 - 10:28 PM
    Sean and the Birds

    Great Family Guy on tonight... I haven't laughed so hard in weeks! And some unexpected humor popped up tonight during a news headline for the 11:00 news: "A teenaged boy fell 15 stories out an appartment window." the reporter announced. "He was visiting his girlfriend when her parents arrived home. We'll tell you what happened at Eleven." Gee, I WONDER what happened... hahaha We're going to try to tape the full report when it comes on.

    I was a soccer mom this morning, getting up at 6:30 to shower, eat breakfast and then drive Kristin downtown to her class and Kevin to work. Then after church Sean and I went out for lunch. I haven't had Pizza Hut in months and MAN was it good! Pizza bread in Ranch dip and garlic cheese toast! So um, ya we're eating healthy these days... hehehe

    Have you ever thought back to your high school (or maybe even junior high or elementary days) and thought, "I wonder whatever happened to so and so?" I came across an email address in a message someone sent to me that I think belongs to one such person I used to know back in junior high / high school. Curiosity overtook me so I wrote her an email. I sure hope it is in fact her because otherwise some stranger is going to get a bizarre message... haha

    Tomorrow I start a week of classes at the shiny Shaw building at Barlow and 32nd street.

    November 29, 2005 - 7:45 AM


    Did you know they have a bakery in that shiny Shaw building on Barlow and 32nd?!? I sure didn't! It's not like a full bakery but they make all the food they sell each day right there in the kitchen. Luckily for us trainee's, the ventilation system in the kitchen is connected to the ventilation system in the room we're doing most of our training in, so all day we are immersed in an aromatic diet-defeating fragrance.

    Last night I introduced my two and a half kids to Princess Bride. Can you believe none of them had ever seen it? Phrases like Hallo. My name is Inigo Montoyez. You killed my father. Prepare to die. or No more rhyming! I mean it! Anybody wanna peanut? were completely lost on them until last night. Fortunately that has now been remedied and they all quite enjoyed the movie. Not surprising either, none of them even knew who Fred Savage was... (The little sick boy the grandpa is reading the book to.) I guess The Wonder Years was also before their time. Man I feel old sometimes!

    Latest favorite song: Our Lady Peace - Angels Losing Sleep

    Well, time to go to work again. I guess it's still not really work... Training rather. Learning about Shaw and about their plans, products, and procedures. Yesterday I stole Kerri and we went for lunch. I really miss our lunches.

    Cuz there's you and me, and all other people
    with nothing to do - nothing to lose
    And it's you and me and all other people
    and I don't know why I can't keep my eyes off of you.

    November 30, 2005 - 7:32 AM
    Last day of November...

    It would seem that the snow has arrived just in time for December. And of course, the day it arrived everyone forgot how to drive... Every year, without exception, whenever there is a drastic change of weather - people forget how to drive! None the less, I still made it to work on time yesterday and today our classes cover a subject I am very excited about: The Internet. Now I don't mean to toot my own horn, but yesterday during the training class the trainers were asking ME questions about various technical things! I thought it was supposed to go the other way around! But still, I won't lie and pretend it didn't feel good... hehehe And in all fairness I did learn some things in other parts of the class so the knowledge is flowing in both directions. So far in the training, I'd say I knew 3/4 of what is being taught and about one quarter of it is new to me, usually the information that pertains to Shaw specifically.

    November 30, 2005 - 6:40 PM
    Highlights of the day...

    • Stole Kerri for lunch
    • Learned a lot about Shaw products, services, prices and bundles
    • Got a free Flu shot (courtesy of Shaw)
    • Drove one of the TSR's home from work
    • Taking the kids out for supper tonight at Swiss Chalet
    • Need to make some cash in a hurry! Anyone need a furnace, hot water tank, computer, DVD player, CD player, VCR, small appliance, etc. fixed, installed, built, rebuilt, upgraded, removed, etc.?! Will work for cash
    • The word of the day is OOT!
    Ok, do you want to know what is really strange? Today when I went for lunch with Kerri, our meal came to $11.11. That's fairly odd in and of itself, but then tonight when I took the kids out to Swiss Chalet for supper, would you believe our bill came to $44.44? What are the odds of that??? Anyway, it's 10:10 (hahahahaha) and I am very tired. So tired, in fact, that I am going to go to bed. I don't know that has come over me lately, maybe it's the new job, maybe it's the early mornings, maybe it's Barb & Ed's bed - but whatever the why, every night this week I've been hit by the sandman worse than Monty Python's Fish Slapping Dance. Consequently, I shall end this report of my day and wish you a good night. Oot.


    BACK to Journal Index