• 18Sep 08

  Wow, long time...

  While I was perusing the new look last night, I noticed that in my little picture box it says "member since: Sep 18, 2005". I honestly had not realised that it had been so long.
  
  So, in honour of my three years here, I've decided to throw a little party.
  
  
  
  There are some snacks...
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ...and salads...
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ...and dessert.
  
  
  
  For beverages, my favourites are...
  
  
  
  ...and...
  
  
  
  ...and for the non-alcoholic variety...
  
  
  
  For the day after, may I offer...
  
  
  
  Hope you enjoyed your stay! Thanks everyone for a fun three years, and I'm sure there'll be many more.
  • Posted Sep 18, 2008 3:17 pm PT
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• 13Aug 08

  Selling The House, The Olympics, Work...

  Every once in a while I wish that someone had invented something that could translate thoughts to words, so that when I think of all these things that I'd love to share with the few who bother to read my blogs I wouldn't forget them later and not bother writing them down.

  The house has been on the market for about three weeks now, and while we've had a couple of return visits, so far we haven't had any offers. This does not really bode well, as likely it means that we've gone too high in our initial pricing. That sucks. About the only good thing to come out of this at the moment is that my house hasn't been this clean in quite some time, and I'm getting used to keeping it that way again. Last year when the hubby and I initially split, I got told by him that, "I'm not doing any housework until we list the house." My response to that was to say, "Fine, neither am I, as I'm not cleaning up after you anymore." Unfortunately I am still cleaning up after him, and rarely even get a thank you in return. If there were a way I could clean the bathroom (we only have the one full bath in the house) so that he didn't get to take advantage of it being clean, I would. I know... cheesy and petty, but there are days, and you just have no idea how frustrating it can be.

  Anyway, I'm currently stuck into the Olympics - Summer or Winter, when they come on I actually watch sports on tv, some of them sports I would never otherwise watch. I'm going to repost a comment I left on FrakkingFrakker's blog here, because maybe that way a few extra people will get to read it. Then again, probably not, as there are way more people who read his blog than read mine...

  Being Canadian, we pretty much expect to suck at the Olympics, the summer ones, at least. As a result I have noticed the extreme tendency to concentrate on "so-and-so should have got this flavour medal" from the commentators and hosts. Don't get me wrong, I love Ron McLean and most of the rest of the CBC, but the attitude is still there. What feeds the problem is that we, as viewers, have been indoctrinated to think that our respective countries somehow deserve these medals just because the athletes come from those boundaries.

  I personally don't care - I just love the Olympics. I love to see athletes from all over the world competing against each other. I despise the fact that there are professional athletes allowed into this competition - Venus and Serena Williams, anyone? - that was never to be the point of these games. They were supposed to be a showcase for amateur talent, for those who live and breathe their sport though it's not one the world tends to watch (fencing??), not a grandstand for those who already have millions in endorsement deals and contracts.

  Having said that, some of those with endorsements deserve them - Michael Phelps, as a case in point. How someone can devote up to 8 hours a day to training and still be expected to maintain a job to pay for even a meagre way of life is beyond me. He is rumoured to receive a $1 million bonus should he make his goal of 8 golds in Beijing, and I can't really say he doesn't deserve it. Who am I, who is anyone, to put a price tag on what he has sacrificed since he was a child to achieve this dream? Besides, a million dollars doesn't go that far these days.

  (gets off soapbox and trundles away quietly into the corner)

  As for what else is going on in my life, I'm happy to report that at work we have finally had a chance to look at a contract hammered out by management and our union reps, and voted 69% in favour of accepting said contract. I was a little surprised that that number was as low as it was, as management did their darndest to buy the drivers off. The raise is substantial, and it is also backdated to 01 Feb 2008, which is when the previous contract expired. Definitely going to like that retro pay, and yes, I already have plans for it - Visa bill, meet retro cheque... Not all of it, of course, but definitely the largest chunk of it. I suppose the reason it wasn't more than 69% in favour is that the largest chunk of money was directed to the drivers who have 3 or more years in. That may not seem like very long, but trust me, there are days... Let me just say there are days when I really don't like people. As a result, there were those drivers who thought that this contract didn't benefit them in any real way, though if they have plans to stick it out that long, they, too, will eventually get the huge raise when they have served their time. Unfortunately we have a large number of drivers who come for the training, then bugger off to another transit provider who pays considerably more. If I wanted to be spit on or shot I could go work for the TTC and make a starting wage of about $7/hr more than what I currently make, but that's not my idea of a good time.

  Anyway, that's about all there is that's interesting in my life. I'm on vacation this week, thank goodness - sleeping in is a marvelous thing that I really don't get to do often enough.

  Having mentioned that, I'm off to bed shortly Have a good night, every one of the three who actually read what I write here.

  Good night.

  • Posted Aug 13, 2008 6:28 pm PT
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• 24Jul 08

  The current saga of life...

  
  Well, let me see, where did we last leave off - it was a few weeks ago, and I was very excited about Wall*E. We did go see it, and had a great time - loads of fun, both of us running around saying "Wall-E..." and "Eve-a" for ages, and even contemplating buying the toys at WalMart, just because they were so much fun.

  The next big one was, of course, The Dark Knight - fantastic movie!! Loved it, start to finish!! I can't stand spoilers, so I won't go into any detail, but if I may just say one thing - if you even think you *might* want to see it, do so!

  

  In other news, my house is finally up for sale, sign on the lawn and everything. It was listed as of Tuesday morning, for what seems to me a rather obscene amount of money (relative to what we paid for it, anyway), and I got my first call from the listing agency on Wednesday that an agent would like to show the house that night from 6:30-7:30. I had been going to go see a movie with my sister that afternoon, but as I was on my way down the stairs I saw the two bags of garbage that needed to go out, and thought of all the vacuuming, mopping, tidying, etc that needed to be done before allowing anyone to see the house and put the movie off til Thursday. So I spent 5 hours playing Molly Maid, doing all the stuff that hasn't been done in ages, finishing with the cleaning of the bathroom, as it's nice and easy, doesn't take long, you know. However, since things seemed to be going smoothly at that point something had to go wrong, you just know it did. I decided to clean around my shower caddy, which, being rather old and well loved, promptly objected and fell to pieces. Literally. Dumped all the shampoo bottles, body wash, facial cleansers, body puffs, combs, razors, etc all over the bathroom floor. *sigh*

  So, it was a quick trip off to Canadian Tire for a replacement, then home again - by now I had 45 min before the real estate agent was to show up, and was a little frantic. I finally get it together - I have to figure it out all over again every time I buy one of these things and I'm on about number 5 by now - got all the stuff on it like it was before, rinsed the tub again, tidied some more and thought, "To heck with this, I'm taking the dog for a walk." I got all my things - keys, iPod, leash, poo bags - got Honey ready to go, and just as we were walking out the door, my phone rings and it's the real estate office saying that the agent had cancelled the showing. I spent all that time, and they weren't coming...

  Oh well, there was another one booked for Thursday, and three for Friday. At least everything I did isn't going to go to waste.

  Bedtime for me, have a good night

  • Posted Jul 24, 2008 5:23 pm PT
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