Matthew's Corporeal Dream

In a moment...

2008-10-04T16:36:00.000-07:00

So, I was reading a blogger who I have gotten to know through the realms of work, and he writed film reviews on a website called "blacksheepreviews.com"...

Anyways, besides the obvious plug for his website, I was browsing, and then suddenly remembered something... I HAVE A BLOG !

Now, you know that its been a long time when you log into blogger and the entire interface is different than what you remember and it all looks so strange.

So, now that I am kinda back, I will be going away, haha ! I am heading to the interior of BC on a bit of a business trip, but also a bit of relaxation... up to stay with Cody's parents and work with some clients up there. So, at the earliest, I will be back to the lower Mainland sometime towards the end of the week, so then I will have to blog again, assuming anyone even reads this anymore. Honestly, I wouldn't blame anyone if I discovered that no one read this anymore, I have been pathetic in maintaining it.

I will also be updating the entire thing, it simply does not look like I want it to look, so if anyone has any ideas or pointers, let me know !

OH RIIIGHT... work, none of you know where I work, nor what I do... that will have to be explained later, as I have to pack, and do some work today. Sigh, even on a Saturday afternoon. Then, in a couple hours our neighbour is putting on a big cocktail party, with like 24 people, and Cody is bartending, sounds like a blast.

See all none of you when I return in a bit !

haha, its like writing a diary to myself, all over again.

Mad Men

2008-07-27T22:01:00.000-07:00

I love this show. God, I love this show.

I'm immersing my feet in a foot-bath thing, and I have an Aveda powder in it, mmmm.

I'm loving it, I've been so damned busy that I cannot write on this blog, but I think it will be good for me to get back to it, as an outlet. Anyhow, new job, and new home, and its all a lot of work and time. Very exciting though.

Will write more later, lol. God I love this show !

:D

Medium

2008-04-20T19:04:00.000-07:00

I love the show. Its amazing, I absolutely love how well-written and creative it is. It centers around a medium named Alison DuBois who is a medium living in Pheonix, Arizona, who works as a contractor for the FBI, local police and other authorities profiling serial killers and murderers. She usually sees the murderers in her dreams, and provides hints and clues that otherwise are impossible to find.

I simply love the show, its awesome. The best thing, is that its based on a real-life story !

... in other news, desperate housewives is back ! So excited, love it !

I am totally Bree.

I am NOT Canadian

2008-04-08T07:25:00.001-07:00

OMG, this is such a true statement about Quebecois.

I can't actually write too much on this subject, else I will start ranting and/or insulting people, cause I feel pretty strongly on this subject.

Enjoy !

Back to looking...

2008-04-06T19:55:00.001-07:00

Interestingly enough, its actually HARDER to rent things in Vancouver, than to buy... and there is a lot on the market right now, but there just isn't enough thats actually of any good quality.

Its amazing how crappy, ugly and poor quality some of the buildings are, and to think someone actually designed and built these pieces of absolute shit, especially when you look at how amazingly crappy the layouts are sometimes.

Argh, but there are some absolutely stunning units, with mountain views, and even lofts... but most of them are over $250,000... which puts them out of our price range.

This is a most aggravating process.

Thats it.

2008-04-06T10:29:00.000-07:00

I totally have had it with looking to buy a place, its way too much work, too expensive to close, and too damned much effort.

I have decided we are going to rent a place for the next year again, I don't give a flying fuck about it anymore, its just too much wasted time of mine.

Now, we have to find somewhere to rent, argh. Gaddamit.

Also, I will have to let Cody know of this change of plans when he gets home.

House Hunting..

2008-04-03T18:39:00.001-07:00

... is a very tiring process.

Lol, although that being said, I am very excited about a couple of places that we have discovered today, and are looking further into.

Anyhow, it will be nice when its all over and done with, but I also have faith in the fact that its all going according to how its suppose to, the universe has an ultimate plan...

Well, besides my huge blind faith in the overall plan that the universe has, lol, it is still stressful.

Argh, I also have been working on this big assignment that I have due on Monday, and its going well so far, which is hopeful, but alas, it is also a little stressful. I wish the universe had a plan that involved someone else doing my assignment. Alas, I think that might be a stretch...

Hrm, not much else is new. Its finally warming up, thank GOD... it was actually decent and about +6 today with lots of sun... so I am happy to report there are now patches of actual green grass, and the snow is fastly retreating, yay !

Poop from God, and other stories...

2008-04-01T19:56:00.000-07:00

So, as I was walking to the Metro this afternoon, I couldn't help but be amazed at how warm the weather had gotten in such a short time. It was like +12 today, warm, and sunny this afternoon as I walked, it was absolutely wonderful, and all I had to wear was a sweater and a jacket, and was even warm with these layers. It was fabulous... finally some weather that was what April should ACTUALLY be.

Anyhow, so there I am walking, noticing the shrinking snowbanks and balmy weather, and I started to ponder if it really wouldn't be all that bad to live here, and that staying for the summer could be fun (just a pondering, not a serious notion or anything). Right as I was pondering while walking, what appeared to be a large 'rain drop' flying through the air, that then fell literally 3 inches right in front of my shoe. It didn't hit me, but it was right there, a big fat bird poop. I decided to take it as a close-call message from God: "if you decide to stay in Montreal, then I will sh%t on you."

Later on in the day, after attending my evening class, I was entering the Metro to go home at about 8pm, I got out my card, and was hoping it would swipe. I had swiped it earlier to go to school, but for some reason it refused to work, and the lady in the booth had seen me and just opened the turnstile to let me through anyhow (a nice Metro employee). So naturally, I was hoping it wouldn't act-up again.

So, I attempt to swipe it at the first turnstile, little red X, not a green 'check'... hrm, same with second... and third... and fourth. So, alas I went up to the lady in the booth, and asked her if I could get a new card because mine was not working any longer... alas, she just snickered and said of course it wasn't, cause its a March card. To which I replied, that of course its a March card, its March, and why on earth would there be an issue. We didn't quite see the issue between one another until after a couple attempts, at which point I realised that it was actually April 1st (something she never explicity explained), and therefore my card was old... lol. She was nice about it, and waved me through, telling me its okay for today, but to get a new card tomorrow.

Sigh, it was just kinda embarrassing, and made me feel dumb, lol. Also, now I have to walk all the way down to the bank before work tomorrow to get some cash to buy the new card, cause the damned Metro here doesn't take credit cards or debit !! Argh, its annoying to have to use cash for everything.

So lessons learned:

1. Don't stay in Montreal, its time to move back to BC, and any thoughts otherwise will anger the heavens.

2. Listen closely to what the lady in the Metro is saying, she might just have a point.

Hair Cut... and more.

2008-03-30T19:37:00.000-07:00

Firstly, what do y'all think of the chandelier ? I HEART it, so much, I really hope we can incorporate it into our future place, cause its amazing, and its on sale at my FAV store (Chintz & Co., already linked it in a previous post, and too lazy to do it again). Speaking of home: The condo is another piece of major news... we are having second thoughts on the place. The seller has been very hard to deal with (damned guy is from Eastern Europe, shoulda known he'd be trouble :P), and its a little overpriced for the area... so we are in the midst of possibly walking away, we shall see. Alas, if we do, it will be the right decision. I'll keep ya'll updated.

Well, we gave the dog a haircut yesterday, and by 'we', I mean Cody did, and I provided moral support, as well as helping hold the pooch a bit towards the end.

He is very thin now, hehe, and sporting a very summery look. Its a little shorter than I like for him, but his coat will grow, and this way it lasts a little longer too !

We have been finalizing the insurance thing on the car, and hopefully we will go back tomorrow to sign all the documents and have it all set-up. Its kinda weird cause I have a new car, but we are just storing it at the dealership until we are ready to drive back home, so its sorta anti-climatic... but I will certainly get to know it well on the 5 day drive home !!

I start work at CIBC tomorrow, they were a little sad to find out that they will only have me for 4 weeks, at the most, but they took FOREVER in getting all the paperwork done and background check finalized, so its their own damned fault, haha. Although, I must say, I am not exstatic about having to work, sigh... the things Cody makes me do, like go and 'work', sigh.

And, umm... besides that huge amount of news, not TOO much else, have a big assignment that I still have to complete for Thursday, but besides that we are pretty much good.

OH, and its my birthday on this Saturday coming up next weekend ! Send me lotsa presents !

(or better yet, cash...)

Torture.

2008-03-28T05:55:00.000-07:00

I turn on the TV to watch Fashion TV before starting my day... all the runway shows are for spring/summer, everything is warm prints and sunny-weather outfits. Then, I look outside, and there is still snow on the ground and its -1.

I read my latest issue of GQ, or Details, and there are tons of Ads for everything that I need for the upcoming summer, the latest colognes, bags, polos, and cool shirts... but then I have to get up to turn up the heat in here cause its cold.

The most depressing thing, is when I go onto Facebook and look at all the photos that other people have put up, some of them frolicking on green grass and sunny weather, in green parks, driving with sunroofs open... But, I am interupted from this envious viewing by a small, lone snowflake falling outside the window... watching as it slowly drifts towards the pile of millions of its bretheren that are stacked on my patio, making it impossible still to open the door.

Its a wee bit warmer outside, hovering around zero celcius, but WHEN WILL THIS TORTURE END ?!

Why I am a Classical Economist...

2008-03-27T07:41:00.000-07:00

I have a lot to say about the recent issues in the US, but I will try and keep this short.

Lol, I am very opinionated about this because as much as I see the damages to the US economy, this is a fear response for the most part.

Lets review, there has been no damage to capacity to produce in the US, no shock to domestic demand or supply, no large shock to world economies REALLY... all this is is a paper-effect. People see their paper-wealth diminish and thus start to think of themselves as 'poorer' than they were, they then spend less. Some people, who took out risky loans and were idiots (banking they could just refinance them in the future) have to default on them. Yes, there are sob-stories, and yes its a terrible situation, but you signed on the dotted line, and you should have been diligent about your own finances and realised that this was very risky. But, back to my point, there has been shocks to credit markets and to consumer spending, and to housing prices, yes... but there is no long-run effect on the economy here. This is ALL short-term. Yes, there will be a recession, and YES it will hurt, but ultimately even the recession is just a result of Wall Street's over-reaction to what it deems to be a 'crisis'.

However, this does point to a systemic issue in the American economy. America is the consumer of the world's goods. And they do it by spending more than they earn (almost 50% of Americans spend more than they earn, and their government runs huge deficits each year, funded by Chinese banks and worldwide consumers), and by ringing up huge credit card debts (over $1 trillion in total for the USA now). This is the REAL fuel behind the US economy... and sadly, the worldwide one as well.

Its interesting because its been proven that Canadians are much more risk-adverse than our American neighbours. This is a good part of the reason why we also have less inventions-per-capita than the US, its also why we have dramatically lower consumer debt per household, and we have a tiny fraction of the government debt that the US has. Canada is lucky in the sense that we are resource-rich. We have the last great source of oil outside Saudi (the tarsands in Alberta), we have uranium, huge forestry sector, gold, silver and metals mining and a lot of fresh water and huge amounts of grain crops. In fact, there are only two nations in the world that could be self-sufficient if all borders were closed: Canada and Australia.

Despite all this though, we, like the rest of the world, have the USA as the consumer of 80% of our exports. If the US for whatever reason eventually decided to actually start paying off its debt, and cut back on spending, it would create a worldwide recession. Basically, the worldwide economy is banked on the idea that the US will keep on spending like a 13 year-old who just got her first credit card.

If, and when, the US grows up and actually gets the idea in her head to start paying off some of the debt and spending responsibly, thats when we really have to worry... cause there will be a HUGE worldwide recession. And you can quote me on this.

However, after the dust cleared and the economies of the world re-adjust to a less spending-happy US, the health of these economies and the US will finally be stable and solid.

AND, my personal belief is that this is all a result of Keynesian economics... and this is why I am a classical economist. But I will spare you all from describing why....

Me Birthday !

2008-03-26T09:07:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to me ! (in 10 days...)

Cody gave me my birthday present early this year, its a new SUV ! Its my first car, well, if you don't count my mom's old car that I bought from her and used for 3 years (1991 Honda Accord).

This SUV is FAVULOUS ! I love it, hehe... we are having some issues insuring it, cause we are in Quebec, and we need to either insure it here temporarily to drive home, or insure it as BC... but then there are issues cause BC requires inspections (even on new vehicles, basically a money-grab, argh). Anyhow, here it is !

Its a 2005 BMW X3 :D

Home, Sweet Home

2008-03-22T20:29:00.000-07:00

Well, after almost 4 days of negotiations, and bartering back and forth on price, terms, and dates... Cody and I finally own our first home together !

Its a cute condo, in a nice building called King's Court in Surrey, BC. The guy that currently lives in it has maintained it nicely, and done some little upgrades, but we have big plans, especially for the fabulous patio !

I quite love it, its perfect because we like it the way it is, but also have great plans for upgrading the unit and making it ours. I am totally excited !

We move-in May 1st ! Cody and I are going to re-paint it a nicer golden-yellow colour, and probably something of an olive green or such in the bedrooms... Cody also wants to tear out the cabinet door outside, and put in nicer solid-wood ones. Eventually we have bigger plans, but its good for now, its just nice to actually own something for once, and finally stop renting !

New Places

2008-03-19T08:24:00.000-07:00

So, we didn't get the place, which is entirely because no one reads this blog anymore, and no one prayed for it to happen, DAMN YOU ALL !

Hehe, but also, we are looking into another unit in the same building that is also really nice...

I re-did the blog yesterday, although I am not sure how much I like it, I love the top banner with Taco, our baby... but something about the colouring just doesn't work for me... I dunno.

Anyways, fingers crossed we find a home soon, and hopefully I figure out what I don't like about the blog, haha.

French Soap Operas

2008-03-18T10:04:00.000-07:00

... are rather interesting to watch.

Though, they are in French, and therefore I can only understand about 57% of what they say... they always revolve around the espresso bar (which everyone has in their own kitchen, LOVE IT), or at the office, which is gorgeous and always involves a scantitly-dressed secretary.

Bescides that they are mostly just like the English variety, except harder for me to understand...

Also, I have spent a lot of today looking at Chintz & Company's website... and admiring this cool paint colour-selector thing on Behr's website. I also love looking at kitchen cabinets and appliances online. Sigh.

Cody needs to make more money so we can drop a crap of money on renos to our new place ! hehe.

New Home...

2008-03-17T20:08:00.000-07:00

So, Cody and I signed the paperwork, and we are faxing our first offer on a condo together to our Realtor tomorrow morning.

I'm totally excited, I love the building, the area is sweet, and its south-west facing, lots of light, and me likes !

I would share more, and I would put up pics.... but I'm superstitious. I don't want to jinx it, so I won't be telling any more until its solid.

However, I'm totally excited, wee ! Fingers crossed ;)

French Snow

2008-03-15T06:37:00.000-07:00

Its March 15th,

And its snowing outside.

Two days ago it snowed,

And the day before that too.

Oh snow,

Please Die.

I miss green plants,

And driving without death-scares.

I want to go home.

hrrmmmff. pfft.

2008-03-12T06:47:00.000-07:00

Ugh.

Its snowing again.

I am so F$%king sick of this weather.

I could REALLY go for some Global Warming right about now.

Wide Open Spaces

2008-03-10T17:33:00.000-07:00

I just tonight stumbled upon this song in my iTunes library that I haven't listened to in forever. Its leftover from my big country music period. I still love most country, I don't know why, I don't think I listen to is as much anymore cause Cody hates country, lol.

Anyways, this song just kinda spoke to me regarding our current situation... buying our first place together, and how much work its been to try and find a place, and how hard it is to do from so far-away. And, how sick I am of Eastern Canada, I am most definately a Western boy, and shall remain so.

I miss home.

Who doesn't know what I'm talking about
Who's never left home, who's never struck out
To find a dream and a life of their own
A place in the clouds, a foundation of stone

Many precede and many will follow
A young girl's dream no longer hollow
It takes the shape of a place out west
But what it holds for her, she hasn't yet guessed

She needs wide open spaces
Room to make her big mistakes
She needs new faces
She knows the high stakes

She traveled this road as a child
Wide eyed and grinning, she never tired
But now she won't be coming back with the rest
If these are life's lessons, she'll take this test

She knows the high stakes

As her folks drive away, her dad yells, "Check the oil!"
Mom stares out the window and says, "I'm leaving my girl"
She said, "It didn't seem like that long ago"
When she stood there and let her own folks know

She knows the highest stakes

Best Cat Photo EVER !

2008-03-05T18:26:00.000-08:00

So, I read a blog called Cute with Chris every morning for a quick second, he always has the funniest photos of cats and dogs... and he has a show on youtube called 'Cute with Chris' and its amazingly hilarious.

So, today I checked, and he had a new photo from a viewer, and I just have to share it. I have laughed SO hard at this one !

The 'attack' cat's name is "Buddy", and it was sent by Mike and Heidi, OHIO. The poor cat on the lower left corner ! :)

Something to Ponder

2008-03-05T10:39:00.000-08:00

Well, despite the fact that a whole TWO! people commented that they still read my blog (and Cody doesn't really count), I am going to keep using it as an online journal of sorts.

I had an interview this morning with CIBC Wood Gundy. They are an investment brokerage firm in Canada, and the interview was for a cold-caller position that would be part-time, working with a team of two Investment Adivsors and their secretary (I think her name was Isabella, something like that...). Its interesting because its an intense sales role in the sense that my job would entirely be just cold calling prospective clients, trying to get appointments booked with the Advisors to help drum-up business as well as the other means at their disposal.

Its interesting in the sense that I have always wanted to be an IA myself, but its a hard job to get started in. You can start with most brokerage firms as one, and they train you and send you out, but the success rate is only like 10-30%... as its salaried in the beginning, but you need to develop a base on which to make a good commission. Normally, beginner IAs need to bring in about $500,000 to a $million/month, or so, in order to make it in their first year. Sp, doing this calling for these guys would be a good way for me to test myself and see if I am ready to try and do this on my own myself.

Because, though that is the more risky route for the job, its also the faster-rewarding. The other option is the one I was aiming for, which is starting as an Account Manager at the bank side of things, not the brokerage, and slowly working to develop myself and a client base... and then eventually in 4-5 years moving over into an IA role once I have the clients already established and my experience in place.

Although the second is more realistic, and more sensible: I am not a patient person, lol! And so, this is kinda my test.

Its a contract position, to work while I am in school for a while here in Montreal, then I will probably have to make a decisions as to which line to follow when I go back to Vancouver (if not beforehand).

Yeeaaa... so thats that. Something for me to ponder.

Now I have to go do a Literature Review for my project for a class... argh, I HATE lit reviews. Sigh, I just wanna be done school already !

The Value of Security.

2008-03-04T07:45:00.000-08:00

I've been thinking about this all morning... Cody is making good money, but he is working at a contract job where they can lay him off at any time, and we are both living on his income. Its been getting really slow at work and Cody is increasingly wary that if they choose to tighten their workforce he is the first on the chopping block. This adds to our general feeling of instability, as we are also renting a furnished place here, meaning that 90% of the stuff isn't ours, and to be honest, its a bunch of crap. Clearly the people who live here are a bunch of 'hippies' that do all their shopping at Thrift Stores, and haven't ever heard of bleach and cleaner. I have cleaned the place substantially since our arrival, its much better now ! This just creates our overall environment of movement, exciting change, but also insecurity.

Meanwhile, I am in the process of securing a job back in BC for when we move to Vancouver... as an Account Manager with RBC, but this isn't secured yet either.

Though its an exciting time for us, cause I am beginning my post-degree carreer and Cody and I are establishing our lives together, I cannot help but notice the value of security. There is a vastly underestimated value of knowing that your employment is secure, your housing is owned by you and also secure, and you have some financial solidity.

A sense of community is also missing right now, I feel. Though we are still in Canada, Quebec is most certainly not REALLY a part of Canada. The language is different here, personalities, attitudes and laws are all foreign to us. I cannot wait until we are back in English Canada, and have established a sense of community by living in one area for a while and developed roots.

To these ends, we both agree its vital that we buy a place when we move back, to get over this whole renting thing, and develop that security. Also, so we can establish a sense of community and grounding. Even if we only live there for a year or two until we can afford something bigger, it will serve as an anchor for us.

Basically, I am enjoying my studies, and taking in Quebec... but I miss 'home', and cannot wait until May-June when we move back !

Takashi Marakami !

2008-03-03T19:59:00.000-08:00

I LOVE the new Mika music video... its to a song that I have listened to for a while, since he debut album... but he has never had an official music video to it, now we know why: He had something up his sleeve !

Silly Mika !

The animation of the movie was done by the infamous Japanese animator Takasshi Marakami, who is best known for his animations, but also for his sculpture artwork, and his wonderful creative designs, many of which are in art museums.

He even recently teamed up with Louis Vuitton (whom anyone who knows me, knows I'm a little obsessed with...) and they did a series of fabulous LV bags with his characteristic colourful cartoon prints. They showcased them in an art gallery show in New York (I seem to recall, although it might have been somewhere else...), and I think the works are all limited time. Sadly, I am sure they are all sold... I will have to buy one and become a crazed collector once I can afford to !

The last one was being sold on eLuxury.com, at as an 'affordable' way to buy into the historic collection. The shoulder-clutch-little-thing was $690 US, and sold-out in less than 24 hours !

Dammit, Cody make more money !

Now, lets all watch the FABULOUS new Mika music video, which was the original point of this posting, before I got distracted by pretty bags !

Interesting..

2008-02-29T05:53:00.000-08:00

Aoccdrnig to a rscheerch at Cmabridge Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltters in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.

It is also interesting to note...

THAT NO BODY READS THIS ANYMORE.

Argh, I hate you all !!!

Whatever, I am totally going to delete this blog and start a new one me thinks.

Swing Vote

2008-02-27T06:30:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I am quite the Hillary Clinton fan, especially since she actually has a voting record, has experience in the White House, and has a solid plan built on more than just 'hope'... cause just that one word doesn't turn around an entire nation on the brink of collapse !

However, this may have just swung my vote to Obama, this is a priceless photo-op !

P.S. Also, it should be mentioned, that although I follow American politics (sadly)... I cannot actually VOTE in the US... something about not being 'American' or somesuch nonesense !

Exciting Times

2008-02-25T07:43:00.000-08:00

... but also secretive ones !

Muwhahaha.

Suffice to say, Cody and I (well, I actually found it) have found a fabulous little townhouse in Vancouver that is vastly underpriced because it is a foreclosure... and its basically down to its studs and beams, with no proper flooring or walls.... which is perfect, we can make it exactly what WE want, hehe.

Also, we are in the midst of the mist and jungle that is buying out first business potentially !!!

Its a lot of damned work, but its a hella lot easier than starting you own !

hehe.

Oh, and school is okay... exam on Wednesday... and I am currently in talks with RBC about them re-hiring me to work as an Account Manager when we move back to Vancouver !

YAY, only got 4 major things on the go at one time !

Pfft, life is fun.

Going Crazier...

2008-02-22T07:47:00.001-08:00

So, this morning I took the dog for his morning meet-and-greet to the rest of the world.. then made myself some simple breakfast, did my hair, shaved, etc.

After all this, I usually make myself a cup of coffee, watch "The View", and then get to schoolwork.

So, I go into the kitchen, and get the bodum coffee-press out, and boil water, and do all that. I get the coffee container from the cupboard. Then, I proceed to scoop ground coffee into my mug. Not the coffee-press, my mug. Then, still unaware that I've done anything out of the ordinary, I take the hot water and start filling my mug. Suffice to say, in the process of filling the mug, I realised something was wrong.

I rinsed out the mug, boiled some more water, and then made coffee in the ACTUAL coffee maker.

Cody says I'm absent minded. I have no idea what he's talking about.

Enjoy.

2008-02-19T08:49:00.000-08:00

This morning, I found this video on YouTube by a favourite of mine, he apparently lives in Montreal... but thats beyond the point. Here it is:

Love, Hate Relationship

2008-02-18T19:53:00.001-08:00

I get really excited about applying for jobs for some strange, inexplicable, weird reason. I dunno, the idea of applying for a new job, a new beginning, and not knowing what is going to come of it is very excited to me.

On the other hand, I hate the work, the waiting, and the amaount of effort it takes to make a personalized, hand-crafted fucking cover letter for EVERY single job.

My goal is to apply for 7 tomorrow... we'll see how that goes. They are all with RBC again, 3 are at Dominion Securities (the brokerage division of RBC Royal Bank) as Associate Advisors, and Assistants... and the other 4 are with the bank itself as either Senior Account Manager, or Manager of Client Care.

I always make sure to spend a little time finding out who is actually going to get my resume, who will read it, and what their name and position title is. Something I learned from a course at UVic in their Co-Op placement program, that statistically you have a 50% higher chance of getting an interview if you know the recruiter's name and use it in the cover-letter... also if you tailor a cover letter specifically to each job. This has always stuck with me as an obvious way to improve my chances of getting the job, but it is also a truck load of crap work. I hate the time it takes, and often run out of BS things to say, lol. I am being very frank, haha.

Anyhow, back to the jobs... they are all interesting, I have always wanted to manage people, despite the hatred that many coworkers of mine have had towards managing other employees... I would love to be a Manager of Client Care (MCC) because they manage and hire all the tellers, and supervise the cash flows and such, and also are involved with big clients issues and requests. It just seems like a good starting point towards Branch Manager and beyond, but it would also be a lot of work I am sure. The idea of hiring people and interviewing them myself excites me for some reason also. Yes, I am weird.

Sales roles are the other ones, Account Managers are just fancy names for bank salespersons. They sell products, and that is also interesting. Its kinda the catch-all job at the bank, as there are tons of them at every branch, and its known as a good platform to tesst your sales ability. People who are good at it can rise fast with their books and get into Financial Planning and Mortgage Specialist roles fast which is good money, and good commissions (usually better than branch management). However, there is always the stress of selling people things... but I am not too concerned, I seem to be able to sell things easily, I dunno why.

Now, the DS jobs (Dominion Securities) are interesting. DS is known as a cushy place to work (my friend Breena works there, about 4-5 hours a day is her 'full day')... but the pay is a lot lower to start. The positions would all involve me being the Assistant or "Licensed Associate" to some big, and probably egotistical, Investment Advisor... one who is most likely very successful to be able to afford an assistant. I would do his cold calls for him, his marketing, advertising, and as such its GREAT sales experience, and is seen as such. I would also execute some of the trades, and be involved with some of the financial aspects to some extent. I would also get his coffee for him, whoopee ! However, it allows me to build a reference of contacts, especially with high-ups, as anyone he knows, will eventually get to know me. It also ensures that, when he retires or dies, that I would have a good chance at 'inheriting' his book of clients and getting to be an IA in my own right, all set-up with a crapload of money on the books. So, it can be a Freaking AWESOME opportunity in the longer run, but not so awesome for the first couple years.

I am applying for them all, its up to the universe to steer me towards what I think is best. Lord knows though, I need a job, and I want to make lotsa money in a couple years, so I need to plan this right.

Sigh, why can't people just make me a CEO of a small company of my own already ! GAWD, or give me my own country to run, either would make me perfectly happy.

Although, the idea of being royalty is more attractive than owning a business. Probably a little less realistic.

You people wanted a new posting, and this is the best you get !!! Muwhahaha !

I'm going to bed.

Confession

2008-01-29T19:16:00.001-08:00

Sometimes, when I am on the metro listening to my music, and a really good song comes on... you know, one of those songs that sends shivers down your spine cause you love it so much. I get this uncontrollable urge to break out into dance and song right there and then. then, I day dream that I am part of an elaborate dance troupe that goese secretly onto the train, just to whip out a ghetto-blaster and dance elaborate moves to the song. Or, I am part of a music video, being filmed right there and then, and all these people would admire me for my talent, and just sit and watch as we all perform for this random music video we're making.

Sigh, and then I usually arrive at the station, usually I barely get off in time, cause I was so immersed in my day dream.

Homework, and Jobs.

2008-01-28T19:32:00.000-08:00

Argh.

I applied for a part-time job at Holt Renfrew here in Montreal last night. I am excited for the opportunity to work, and to take some of my extra time on my hands and make it productive. However, I am not really all that excited about working in retail. Especially given the fact that I am not terribly experienced at it, but who knows... I am excited for the opportunity of a change, and I am one of those people who really hates not working, lol, which sounds weird, but is true.

Now, just after applying for the aforementioned position, I decided to sit down and work on my readings, and really compile a list of all the assignments, projects and such that are due. Mainly, I don't have too much due over the next week... but the week after next I have a SHIT-load of stuff due, so I am gonna start it tonight. Also, I have realized that I hate my distance class that I am taking through UVic. Its a management class, and its hard, and the final project involved interviewing 4 people about management, writing a freaking 3 page proposal, and then a big paper on my results.

Argh. I HATE projects.

I HATE interviewing people.

And most of all, I HATE stupid management courses, honestly, its gonna be the same dumb questions, about dumb crap that no one cares about, and I cannot possibly honestly interview people with a straight face. Let alone, the fact that I don't have a clue who I would interview about management.

Sigh, but I will do it, because I need to get it done, this is my last hurdle.... but it sure as hell is a test from the heavens.

Maybe I shouldn't be working also, lol.... meh.

My Journal

2008-01-21T17:55:00.001-08:00

Well, its cold today, I felt like an arab woman wearing a burka today, I had this big scarf around my face/mouth, and my big fur hat on covering my ears and head, and my big parka, with my long underwear with big wool pants, which kept we warm on my long walk home from the Metro station (well, like 10 minutes), and yea, it was cold today, like -25 with the wind chill, argh.

Anyways, I am watching this show called 'the week the women went' on CBC, its rather amazing actually. It takes place in a small town in Alberta, and they literally took all the women in the town (well, 90% of them, leaving the nurses at the local clinic, and some of the grandmas) and took them to a spa retreat for the week. Leaving the men, who are mostly married oil workers, who aren't used to doing much housework, to fend for themselves, and balance life and work and kids. Its amazing, because I think its about damned time, there are some single moms on the trip, who have gotten either nannies or their ex's to take care of the kids while they are away. They're response is that now the men will know how single moms feel, and thats totally true if you think about it, they do this all the time. Anyways, its a great show, and its going to be VERY amusing to watch how the men deal with the changes.

Anyhow, the show just ended, and I am gonna sit down and work on some schoolwork, and read some before bed. Its been nice here, and its nice to be able to enjoy the city and kinda feel like your travelling away from home... but I will be happy to be back in BC. I especially miss the weather, but I also miss my friends and family, and also just the little things that are familiar back home (you know what I mean...).

That being said, its been fun. This Friday we are going out for dinner with a friend here, and I am meeting up with an old friend from High School that moved out here 4 years ago for coffee on Thursday.

I am missing being settled, it will be nice to be settled wherever we are eventually and actually spend more than 10 months living in one place, and really get to put our roots down and build 'home'... plus, it will be nice to be done school. I am SO missing working, and I am really not that interested in school this semester, which I have to get over, cause it needs to be done.

Anyways, thats my thoughts, sometimes its nice to get it out. I guess this sorta functions like a journal for me. lol.

News.

2008-01-17T08:15:00.000-08:00

Words cannot describe how much I love this guy, and his youtube videos, lol. So, after reading this, watch it, cause it made my morning, and I hope it makes yours.

So, I haven't written a blog entry in forever, I'm not gonna lie, its mostly cause I don't see much point, since not very many people read them anyways, and its also because I am lazy. Now, to clarify, I am not lazy all the time and about everything, I spent my morning cleaning the floors, doing dishes, reading an article for school and wrote a paragraph for my assignment due on Monday, but then all I wanna do is just lay around watching 'What Not to Wear' instead of writing this blog entry. I think Clinton isn't gay, many people think he is, but I just think he is really metrosexual (if you've watched the show, you might disagree.. meh).

Anyways, focus... umm... Oh ! Yea, so one thing that has impressed me thus far about Montreal, the grocery stores here sell alcohol, wine and beer. The wine is mostly crap, as we have come to discover, but they have some okay beers, and an assortment of vodkas and other liquors. This is definately a civilized way of grocery shopping, I also noticed that the alcohol section is the first section when you walk in the door. Thus, allowing you to choose the most important part of the meal first, and then buy other groceries accordingly.

However, Montreal is dirty, there is a certain overall grime to the city, which is part due to its age, but also I think due to obviously crappy maintenance on most of the buildings, metro, roads and general infrastructure. Also, we are spoilt by newer construction and more money for maintenance in the West. The city of Montreal has a huge budget deficit, which is part of why there is such crappy maintenance, and also why there is a Metro strike looming. Apparently the mayor said its too expensive for them to give ANY salary increases to Municipal employees for the next 3 years, and most of the unions were okay with that, but the Metro and Transit drivers are not, and it looks like a strike is looming for early March... but they will maintain 'essential service'. AKA they will have like 6 trains a day, only for rush hour, WOO HOO, DAMN YOU UNIONS !!!

Sigh. So, Cody was accepted to Air Traffic Control training yesterday, which is great news. Its well paid, and its a desk job, which is much better for his physical health in the long term than continuing as an Aircraft Maintenance Engineer... but it means we have to wait and hear back to see when he starts his training... oh, and the training is in Vancouver. So, basically, we are going to have to return back, they give us about 4 months notice ahead of time, which is good, but it also means we need to seriously consider saving as much as we can. The tuition is cheap, only $3,500... but the main cost is going to be him not earning anything for a year while he goes to school. Argh, dammit, I am SOOOOO happy being the stay-at-home-mom for the dog, lol. thats not true, I'm also a full-time student, but you get the idea. And lord knows my starting wage won't be grand, it won't be bad, but not grand.

Anyways, so its good news, it just means we have to make it through the next year somehow... somehow. The key is for us to save and pay-off as much as we can while he is here making the rediculous money he is making. I'm going to apply back to the banks there, and hopefully get hired, and then maybe they will decided to promote me to Senior Vice President of the largest bank in Canada (RBC) and we will be good to go ! Yep, thats my bet !

Lol, Anyways, it looks like 2008 will be just as interesting and eventful as 2007 was !

Snow Day

2008-01-14T08:09:00.000-08:00

Its snowing today, and I have errands to do, and class to attend, and I really don't wanna leave the house.

Its rather lovely actually outside, big fluffy snowflakes falling on the ground, and I have the heat nice and warm in here... mmm.

Well, I am off to read and then go do things. Hope you are all enjoying a snow(less) day !

And I am SO totally doing this the next time I am at an airport !! :

Feist - My Moon My Man (Canadian singer at a Canadian Airport, lol)

Land of the Bloody Cold

2008-01-05T19:37:00.000-08:00

Well, I have arrived, its been very cold here in Montreal, it was -25 last Thursday, and we had snow banks on the side of the road over 4 feet tall, which was very disconcerting for a West Coast kid like me, used to my rain, and very unwhite winters !

Its been a fun experience thus far though, Montreal is very European, and very arrogant. As a city, the moment you meet any of the locals, you get the feeling that this is a city that knows its one of the oldest in North America (if not the second oldest, only to Quebec City), it knows its beautiful, and it damn well thinks its the best place on the continent. There is certainly an elite arrogance, and powerful pride to this city, which I view as both a positive and negative thing. I love the city's architecture, the old buildings, with their ornate decorative design, they just don't build great office structures, or even townhouses like they used to !!

And Quebec City just celebrated its 400 year Anniversary, which I am very sure makes it the oldest city outside Mexico, in North America, it was definately founded before any city in the USA... and as an interesting scandal, the Queen was invited to the celebrations, but she turned it down, due to the prominent arguments of many Quebec politicians that the British monarch should not be recognised in Quebec. I honestly do not know why Quebec is allowed to get away with what it does, I mean, we (the British part of Canada) won the war against Quebec, and conquered it hundreds of years ago, so just move on for God's sake ! But, alas, they insist for preferrential treatment, under a system that is unfair on sooo many levels (someone born in Quebec pays half the University tuition than any other Canadian citizen, double standard much?)...

Anyways, I am ranting, I love the city, I need to start taking photos, its absolutely a winter wonderland, and its been getting warmer, nearing 0 degrees C, which has been absolutely wonderful. There are such cute little coffee shops and wonderful places, and the Metro, LOVE the Metro, its a wonderful mass transit system that makes it soo easy to get around ! the underground city is especially wonderful... I especially love the shopping, yesterday Cody and I went to the underground city and got the ring resized, got our brows waxed, purchased a coffee maker, and went to see a movie, which we left (long story).. all while staying underground, and walking between like 7 different shopping centres, and hotels !

OH, I completely forgot to mention, My family and I and Cody all went up to a ski resort called Sun Peaks for Christmas this year... and Cody took me for a wonderful walk throught the ski village, and around the cute little shops in the valley, and then on the way back to our Chalet, he stopped me on the trail and proposed ! It was amazing, the snow flakes were coming down and it was very sudden that I didn't believe him at first, I was totally shocked ! It was absolutely lovely, and amazing, and the RING is GORGEOUS, its two bands, each one representing our corporeal bodies, his body is represented by a band of yellow 18k gold with 26 diamonds, and mine by a white 19.3 karat band with 26 diamonds, and then an intertwining weave of gold in the middle represents our intertwining spirits, and our energy joining. I LOVE that it was a custom made ring here in Montreal, and jeweler is amazing, very nice man... but the ring was a little bit too large, so we are getting it remade to be smaller to fit my finger.

Its very exciting, no date for the wedding has been planned yet, although we want to do it on the Summer Solstice, and its a secret how we want it done ! Either its going to be June 21 in 2009, or 2010. Not sure yet... we need to start saving, lol !!

I am right now snuggled with the dog, watching a documentary on Dubai on CBC, and holy Christ the city has changed a lot since I was there, there are entire sections that were once desert that are all now dense scyscrapers, but such is Dubai... and the more I watch, the more I remember that perhaps a couple of years there is what we need to jumpstart our careers, perhaps thats what we need to make the lives that we want for ourselves back home... perhaps.

But then I remember that our new found love, and our young enagagement, is completely illegal there... and I wonder if we could ever live there... even maybe for a period.

The plot thickens...

2007-12-19T18:06:00.000-08:00

So, I work with some very cool employees at Starbucks, and have really connected with a couple of them... three or four people that I absolutely adore, and think are grand. Well, one of them was suppose to work last night, which was my last shift, and about 30 minutes before he was suppose to start, my manager called and said he couldn't work. He refused to give specifics... but was just quiet about it.

Anyways, then I was told by the same manager to read the front headline of the local paper this morning, which I read online. Now, I do not want to slander the individual, so I will not be mentioning names, or the name of the newspaper, although if you really care I am sure it wouldn't be too hard to find out..

NEWSPAPER ARTICLE (name changed):

"The Oak Bay Marine Group's former vice-president of finance has been charged with theft and fraud after more than half a million dollars was diverted from the company's bank accounts.

G-DAWG, 43, of Victoria, has been charged with theft over $5,000 and fraud over $5,000, said Det. Sgt. Don Symes of Oak Bay police.

DAWG, who worked for the Oak Bay Marine Group for eight years but who is no longer with the company, is likely to appear in court in early January.

DAWG is accused of transferring funds from the Oak Bay Marina account to the account of another company in the Bahamas owned by the Oak Bay Marine Group and then transferring the money into his personal account, Symes said. The transfers happened between 2005 and March 2007, police allege.

The financial discrepancies, which totalled $511,750, were discovered by chance by another employee, Symes said.

The investigation, which started in October, was handed to the Oak Bay Police Department by the RCMP commercial crime section, Symes said.

Bob Wright, Oak Bay Marine Group founder and CEO, is travelling in a boat off the coast of Africa and could not be contacted for comment yesterday."

The interesting story that isn't told in the papers, and was explained to me by my manager, is that the CEO of the Oak Bay Marine group is a rather vindictive man. My manager's partner is a bookeeper, and used to work for the Oak Bay Marine Group... and so he has some negative stories about this individual that runs the company. Anyways, the story is that my coworker had actually sold his house and already paid the funds back 5 months ago... but that charges are just now being levied against him, and he was under the impression that it was taken care of internally already when he was caught. Now, I do not dispute that he did a bad thing, and neither does he, but when faced with it, he sold his house, gave the money back, and moved on... it seems odd to not tell him at that time that you are going to press charges, and instead wait until 5 months later.

Anyways, I am not involved, and I do not know all that much besides what these individuals have told me. But I do know this, my coworker now works for an Indian Reserve Office during the day, and works two nights a week at Starbucks for extra money. He isn't rediculously loaded obviously, and he is a really nice guy, genuinely a hard worker from my experience, and a nice guy. Thats all I know, and it seems rather mean to go after him now... also interesting that this CEO happened to be 'away' on a sailing trip at this crutial time.

Suffice to say, there is more than meets the eye, I am sure... and more I suspect, than most people know... including myself.

Happy Holidays !

Song about me...

2007-12-18T23:39:00.000-08:00

This song is SO my life, God, its awesome, and what I love, is that its a rap song about the everyday person's life... he really pokes fun of how silly most rap lyrics are with just talking about their bling and lifestyle...

Oh, and this is an edit to my response to TruthSpew's comment on my last post, I got the actual data on Canadian Income Tax Rates from the Canada Revenue's website:

HAHA !

Are you kidding, your complaining about a 28% income tax rate ?!
Here, in Canada, the federal income tax brackets are:
15% on the first $37,178 of taxable income
22%(on the portion of taxable income between $37,178 and $74,357)
26%(on the portion of taxable income between $74,357 and $120,887)
29% of taxable income over $120,887

And the Provincial (for my Province, BC, which has the second lowest):

5.7% on the first $34,397 of taxable income
8.65% on the next $34,397
11.1% on the next $10,190
13% on the next $16,925
14.7% on the amount over $95,909

And we effectively pay about 40% in total. Probably more now that Cody makes more...

28% sounds good to me !

P.S. This also does not include mandatory CPP contributions, EI, MSP insurance, etc.

Oh, the weather outside is Frightful..

2007-12-18T11:26:00.000-08:00

... but I have to go to work in 3 hours and leave the fireplace !

Jerks, this whole working for money thing, I just don't get it.

So, nothing too much is new, well actually, thats a huge lie, lots is new, I am overwhelmed sometimes by the daily amount that my life changes, especially with this big move. I cannot WAIT to sit on a couch and read a good book for Christmas.

All I want for Christmas is good literature and alcohol. (take note !)

Umm... yea, its really windy and rainy today, and today is the day that I have to walk all around downtown to do errands, which I am not excited about, but oh well... Its better than the weather in Montreal. God, its been freaking -25 with the windchill there !! I don't know how on earth I am going to survive. It better warm up for me, or God help me.

So, yea. I am off to call some stupid government agencies, and other beaurocratic nonsense that I have to deal with. God, I hate the government, they basically take 40% of what we make, and bill us for tons of services I never use (seriously, I cannot even remember the last time I was in a hospital... or clinic), and they provide SUCH amazing support to the average citizen in return... NOT. Pah, makes me wanna move to the States, where they aren't one big gigantic welfare nation. I am even starting to reconsider the whole idea of universal healthcare... cause yea, we all have 'free' healthcare, but we are all paying for it through high income taxes, and actual MSP bills that we get in the mail (Cody and I pay $96 a month), and MSP doesn't even cover dental work or massage therapy, or chiropracteurs... basically they only cover if I end up breaking my leg, getting cancer, or developing smallpox ! And the best thing, we would probably pay more, if we had the option for a more expensive plan that covered more things, but we can't, because its a government system that covers 'everyone'.... oh, except the poor, homeless, and elderly, who are covered but don't have to pay for it !!

So, essentially, the people that use the system the most, don't even pay for it ! And the people that don't use it (cause we were dumb enough to take care of ourselves by paying for chiropracteurs, etc, with our own cash) pay the bulk of the bills !!

Dammit, I hate Canada sometimes. I would far rather pay more for a private insurance that covers more and has better service.

Can you guess what government program I am having issues with right now ? lol.

Oh, and last night was my Starbucks staff Christmas party, that was a damned hoot, so freaking awesome. Except most people left at like 9pm !!! The few of us that remained went to this hilariously awesome pub, and just drank some, and played darts, and it was great. The best thing, most of the people I work with just pay with cash for things, cause they are young and have no credit cards... so I just offered to pay for the whole bill, and then take their cash... so I got the points for a huge bar tab, but I have the cash from them to pay it off, God I am smart, even when I drink, hehe.

But now I have to walk in the rain, to the bank, to deposit said cash and pay the Visa... silly walking.

I really should stop complaining about my life in these blog posts. Man, this one really turned out to be long. woopsie.

Ciao, I will probably post something later.

Baking, Part II

2007-12-11T23:55:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I baked about 200 cookies Sunday night, and tonight I was aiming to complete the tast.

It started well, I baked some amazing, although secret cookies (cause someone will just have to wait to know what sort of cookies I have baked ;)... and then cleaned up and prepared to make shortbread. This ended in me throwing out a bowlful of cookie dough.

I don't even want to talk about it.

But I think I can blog about it.

So, I made a number of mistakes along the way, mistakes that I should know better than to make. Firstly, and probably my biggest mistake, I decided I could be cheap and use the regular whole wheat flour we have instead of expensive specialty cake flour. WRONG. It simply doesn't have the right texture, and ended up making a grainy, chunky dough. Not good for shortbread.

Mistake two, I decided that I could try using (cheaper) margarine instead of butter. Lets just put it this way, butter is better. MUCH better.

Mistake number three, baking 2 dozen cookies before bothering to taste taste them. They tasted okay, but were extremely grainy... really, really, really grainy, and had a horrid texture. They were also flat, cause the margarine just didn't act right. And they just didn't have the rich taste that butter gives a good shortbread.

So, lesson for tonight, cheaping out with the ingredients for shortbread just results in REALLY aweful shortbread. Argh.

So, tomorrow, I am going to the market, and buying REAL unsalted good quality butter, proper cake flour, and then trying this all over again.

And yes, I thought of trying to use the dough, and invent a new cookie, but all the results were horrible, there was no alternative but to abort.

Sigh, such a waste. Meh, C'est la vie. I did learn a good lesson. With shortbread, if you want good stuff, you have to use good stuff.

Do you hear what I hear ?

2007-12-09T17:46:00.000-08:00

I am listening to Christmas Carols non-stop today. Basically started about 2 hours ago, and now my Christmas baking time is in full-swing, and there are cookies everywhere, and nutmeg, flour and other baking essentials all over my counter... and the house smells like gingerbread, eggnog, ginger, nutmeg, chocolate and mint. With the fireplace roaring (as much as a gas one can, lol) and me blasting cheesy Christmas songs.

Sigh, I love Christmas baking, its so much damn fun. And when I bake for Christmas, its a two-, sometimes three-, day event. I am baking 4 different types of cookies this year. I am only on my first type, and I already have about 10 dozen cookies.

Its a lot better when there is more than one person in the house though.

Yea, thats why the music helps, makes me feel a little less lonely.

The Eggnog I steamed (with the espresso machine) with wonderful rum in my mug also helps ;)

10 days until Cody flies here, and we pack and leave for the cold East !

:D

Merry Christmas

Greatest Fear

2007-12-08T14:33:00.000-08:00

This is my greatest fear in life.

Sex and the City and No Shower.

2007-12-07T12:16:00.000-08:00

I woke up this morning, and used the bathroom. The toilet flushed, but no water-running sound as the tank filled up. Hrm, weird ?

So, then I go to wash my hands, no water comes out of the tap. That's odd. Now, I am starting to become concerned. So, I try to start the shower, about 50 ml of pathetic water come out and then zip, nada.

I actually was on the verge of tears. I LOVE having a morning shower, its the best part of my day (and sometimes the longest, lol, JK)... so I walk angrily up my hallway to the head of the Strata's suite, and there is a notice on the door, and it reads:

"Due to repair issues and damage, the WATER has been shut off temporarily for the building. Sorry for the inconvenience, it will be on as soon as possible"

ARE YOU KIDDING ME ?! Somebody's suite better have been completely flooded or something huge for this to happen. At least, thank God, I have electricity. However, you don't really know how much you love running water until you don't have it.

So, now I am unshaven, stinky, and have dirty teeth (I thought about going to the local Starbucks and brushing my teeth in the bathroom, but that seems weird...).

Its 12:30pm and I'm not impressed.

I went to go make coffee with the espresso machine, thank GOD I have bottled water, so I filled the kettle with bottled water, made two shots (the espresso machine has its own water tank, which I had filled already) and went to go rinse before making another two shots, and guess what ?! YOU CANNOT CLEAN THE COFFEE THING FOR ANOTHER SHOT WITHOUT RUNNING WATER ! Also, I cannot rinse my mug and make another, I cannot water my plants, I can't even wash my hands.

So, I am literally living in my own filth right now until the Godsend that is internal plumbing is brought back online.

I feel especially bad for those in my building who had to work today, imagine going to work at a bank (my neighbour does) without shaving, brushing your teeth, having a shower, or even washing your hands !?

Argh. I think I might actually walk to Starbucks, just to wash my hands, and brush my teeth.

So, the only thing that can make me feel good right now, is the fact that the Golden Compass comes to theatres today, WOOT !

And, the new Sex and the City movie trailer was announced today, its totally a teaser, but its something. Sigh, I am so Miranda. I am a total Miranda.

Wish me luck, God I hope the water comes back soon.

2007-12-06T15:07:00.000-08:00

Oh, I love this video.

Now, to clarify, I would feel entirely comfortable with investing in something like Amazon.com, or even Google, because they have built themselves brand-names, they've been around for a long time, and in the case of Google, they are proving themselves to be a powerhouse of innovation, and diversification into other markets. I mean, look at how scared the big Cellular Networks are in Canada about a potential G-Phone and a move from Google into the Cell Phone market, they're practically shitting themselves. So, they, I believe, will be strong runners for years to come. but Facebook, valued at almost the same net worth as all of FORD, with its physical assets, hundreds of thousands of employees, and millions of products sold worldwide. And Facebook has ? Ad revenue from a bunch of teenagers and young adults wanting to easily connect with ex-girlfriends and best buds from College. C'mon, the day that Facebook announces an IPO, it'll have come, and the burst won't be far away.

And you can quote me, and hold me to that prediction ;)

Bank Gossip..... and Mika

2007-11-27T21:43:00.000-08:00

So, my coworker at Starbucks, a couple months ago got a job as a teller at the Bank of Montreal... I recommended him, but it was mostly just his own merrit. I was so happy for him, he is awesome, I have kinda known him for about 4 years, he used to work at a Starbucks in James Bay with my best friend at the time, and I have seen him around town a couple times... anyways, it was a good move for him. He has worked for Starbucks since the dawn of time, and is paid absolutely shit, and is trying desperately to leave the party life, and make something of himself, and I just thought this was the best step for him.

So, he still works at my Starbucks once a week at night for extra cash on the side (working fulltime at BMO during the day), and he worked tonight when I went in to get my schedule for next week. Anyways, he and I got talking, and it turns out that the manager that I worked with, Barbara Bell-Irving (yea, I'm not afraid to smear her name all over the net !) has been transferred from my old branch, to his !! He was complaining about this new manager, and how he is sure she is out to fire him, and how she is snooty, self-riteous, really bossy, and oddly enough kinda looks like Miss Piggy (I kid you not...), and I was like "OMG, is her name Barb ?!"... and yea, so the discussion went.

I feel so angry, the woman single-handedly was responsible for three employees either quitting or transferring out while I worked under her, and thats quite a feat when the entire branch had only 9 employees !!! Sarah, whom I love, and haven't talked to in forever (note to self: call Sarah) actually quit one day right on the spot.

Barb used to schedule her to start work right at 9am, even though she was a commercial teller, and therefore had craploads of coin, deposits and cash to count and verify in the morning before we opened. Therefore she needed to start doing this at about 8:30am in order to be ready for our daily 'team huddles' before we opened at 9:30am. Barb took it upon herself to just stop scheduling her at 8:30am, and instead at 9am... which Sarah took, she is a sweet little blonde thing, and just came in early and wouldn't get paid for it... but then it got rediculous... Barb refused to pay her for the half hour, and it honestly makes a difference when all of a sudden your paycheque is 2.5 hours less a week (thats almost $200 less a month), so she stopped coming in early and would come 'on time'... and I would just help her with the deposits and cash, which wasn't my job, but that was fine, to assist and make sure she was done in time.

Then, Barb came and talked to me, and let me know that it was 'inappropriate to support others in doing their jobs', and 'that Sarah was perfectly capable doing it herself', so I had to stop. So, Sarah would come in every morning, count and do as much as she could as fast as she could, and Barb would harp on her for being late to the 'huddles' while forbidding anyone to help her... she would literally sit in her chair in the meeting room and yell accross the branch for Sarah to 'hurry her ass up'.

One day this above scenario happened just like this, except Sarah's dog was ill, and she had been a little late, and Barb was being especially ferocious, even mumbling sarcastically that its hard to come in on time when you start 30 minutes after everyone else (which poor Sarah didn't want to !! lol), and Sarah flipped. She literally smacked down the binder that she wrote her daily counts in on the desk, stood up, walked into the back room, grabbed her stuff, and on her way gave Barb her key to the vault and said 'Fine, I quit'.

It was one of the most awesome things I have ever seen. And damned good for Sarah to do it !

I called her that night, and she was freaked out cause, she had no job, and no plan on what to do, and her fiance made good money, but they needed to make mortgage payments, etc... Anyways, she ended up getting a job as a secretary for HSBC's Premier branch in Oak Bay, assisting and working with their high-end clients. Anyways, she loves it, and really enjoys it now, and its better money, so I was happy for her.

But it makes me sad that now my poor Starbucks coworker will have to put up with Bitchy Barb... one of the nicer names I have for the woman. Sigh, this is the issue working for a big corporation, as much as I love it, and the perks are awesome, big companies never seem able to actually FIRE these horrible people, rather they just move them from department to department (Barb was originally sent to my old branch from Vancouver !!!)... I think its cause she has so much seniority she almost cannot be fired.

Argh, makes me mad. I just hope it doesn't affect his newly-founded carreer. She better not mess with him, or heaven help her if I see Piggy Barb on the street !

ON a positive note... this is Mika's new single, and I Heart it. It could never replace the soft spot in my heart that I have for his others, but its quite possibly my favourite song of his to-date.

Enjoy, I love his artistic style !

Momentum

2007-11-26T23:41:00.000-08:00

Do you sometimes feel like you've just been stuck in a bit of a rut, and honestly don't really have any willpower to get out of it ?

I have been so dis-interested in school over the past month or so. It feels like I have already moved on mentally, but I still have to go through the motions and participate in the proccess, because ultimately the last 3 years are useless if I don't actually buckle down and finish my damned degree. That being said, the only class that inspires me to care all that much anymore is my Econometrics class. How sad is that ? My hardest class, the one thats mostly just Statistical Economics, is my most interesting, and engaging class. Its also the class that I have the best mark in (almost an A+, and its my hardest class... ?>!?!)

That just goes to show, it doesn't really matter how hard the material is, if you have it presented well, by a good professor (which I do, I love him, he rocks), then no matter how 'hard' the material is, you will be engaged and learn. I am totally engaged, and now that I think about it, I have always had the best marks in my statistics classes, or my classes that are heavily based on Statistical analysis, research and empirical work. Its like I was born to analyse Economic data. I could've give less of a rat's ass about unapplicable theory, or 'international economics', or even raw theory... but the moment you give me that same material in the form of data, or an analysis of stats... or in the form of statistical research, I am all over it like a fat kid on smarties.

I think this is something I need to be aware of, and look into....

I would love to do a Master's degree one day, and go on to Graduate school.... God, that would be awesome. And honestly, I would love to do a degree in Statistics... how sad is that ? The class that every undergrad loathes, and even my mom (who is one of the most academic people I know) says she cannot stand statistical classes... and I want to do it as a second degree !

So, in honor of Stalin, I am coming up with a 5-year educational plan (hopefully you might get my reference, if not, just google 'stalin 5-year plan'...) Although, I hope mine to work out a lot better, and be more humane, lol !

I want to work, be involved in banking and build my experience (also possibly do some government work...) but ultimately, I want to go back to school within the next 5 years, and do my Graduate degree in either Econometrics, or Statistics.... and then I REALLY want to get involved in government policy work. There is such a huge void of Statiticians and Economists in Canada, especially with retiring Baby Boomers... UVic's Economics department office is littered with brochures for "Public Service Canada", "Bank of Canada" and other government agencies... but they all mostly want Graduate-level education (ie, Master's and above...), but these are actual policy jobs, thats makes me hot and bothered.... actually being involved in making policies and advising government agencies... !!!!

Sigh, one day. 5 year plan... hold me to it !

lol, that assumes you all still know me in 5 years... :D

And by you all, I mean the select few you actually read this rambling that I post, hazaa ~!

Now, I am off to bed, to dream of regression models, and statistically significant variables !

I heart you Gwen !

2007-11-25T16:02:00.000-08:00

God, If I was half as classy and amazingly chique as Gwen Stefani, then I would die a happy man.

I just cannot get over how she is constantly reinventing herself, her style and her mannerisms are always uniquely Gwen-ish, but change and adapt over time. Sigh, she is just so amazing.

And I particularly love how you never hear how Gwen went on a rampage in her Mercedes while on coke and crashed into the sidewalk... cause she doesn't ! She is not only classy on screen, but in real life, she has no major tabloid drama, she proves we can all have a fabulous, beautiful nature, and not be major partiers, or turn into a Hollywood mess...

She is also one of only two women in Hollywood who can wear typically-male clothing and look amazing in it (also Diane Keaton, love her), as exemplified by her wearing a tie and suit in the taxi towards the end of this video !

Anyways, she is class, and I want to be the male version of her, soooo badly !

Gwen, I love you !!

.... Yeah, that's right, I just wrote an entire post about my obsession with a pop star... no, I am not a loser :P

I miss my puppies...

2007-11-23T19:20:00.000-08:00

I was trying to write a post earlier, and lacked any inspiration whatsoever. Even though I frequently think of many things to post about during class and on the bus. (hence I should probably start taking my laptop to class, so I can jot things down as I think of them...)

So, I went to Starbucks to get a cookie to inspire me, and there was the most amazingly adorable little dog outside, clearly upset that it had to wait (in the cold) while its owner purchased a beverage inside. It was a cutie, looked a lot like a chitzu, but not quite.... Anyhow, there I am adoring this dog, letting it jump up on me, and rubbing its ears, and back, and petting it as it attempted to lick my hands, sooo cute !

Then the owner came out, and gave me the weirdest look ever ! I honestly felt like I had just been in the middle of making out with someone and his wife had just walked into the room... so awkward !!!

She looked at me, then took the dog's leash, make a joking remark, I made one back... and off they walked.

Now that I think about it, it was probably weird from her perspective, but that being said, I MISS MY PUPPIES !!

Sigh... we will cuddle soon my darling...

soon...

Danger Matt Bowyer !

2007-11-21T21:54:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I am dangerously close to turning into someone who just posts YouTube videos on his blog all the time, and that is my only creative contribution to society... Well, I am loathe to turn into someone who just regurgitates someone else's creativity and spews it all over the internet...

However, and i promise this is the last for a while... I just watched this Video from LisaNova, and honestly, its sooo me... its actually really sad how much this is me:

Watch it, and I will perhaps rant later about how I feel that written blogs are in danger of becoming extinct (I have a theory that YouTube is for the written blog, what cable TV was for the book/library)...

At mommy's

2007-11-18T00:36:00.000-08:00

I am at my mom's place in Kitsilano in Vancouver... and they have cable, which I do not.... the fancy type with big buttons and menus, and AN ENTIRE CHANNEL DEDICATED TO OLD CARTOONS !!

I HAVE WATCHED PINKY AND THE BRAIN FOR THE LAST 2 HOURS, AND I LOVE IT !!!

Everyone else is asleep...

It truly makes me sad to think that there are entire generations of children with no idea what this show is.. sigh... so, enjoy the Theme Movie, and a compilation of the best parts !!!

And the BEST CLIP EVER (no, I am not dramatic at all...)

Matt is Paranoid...

2007-11-15T21:22:00.000-08:00

Okay, so seriously, there is a new technology out there called RFID, I do not know entirely what it stands for and I really do not feel like going into a big long explanation. Suffice to say it would enable a consumer to have information read by an almost standard metal-detector-like sensor. This would facilitate the scanning of passports, credit cards, etc... It is truly interesting technology...

It has already been implimented by the Japanese food chain Domoco, as a trial run...

Here is a short IBM Advertisement for it:

However, there is already some issues with the technology. The state department in the US has implemented voluntary passports that have the technology, allowing a person arriving off of a flight to simply wave their US passport at a detector and walk right through customs, nice and easy right ? Well, the problem lies in the fact that though the material is encrypted and therefore VERY hard to steal about the person, each nation would use slightly different frequencies, allowing the person's nationality to be instantly, and easily, found out. This has been cited as a potential terrorist hazard and an invasion of privacy (bomb could be designed to only go off when a person of a specific nationality walks by with their passport, or certain stores being able to track nationality of clients.. etc)

Anyways, I find it interesting, I think the technology is UBER cool, but I also think that there are some issues that need to be addressed.

Now, and lastly, and I know this makes me sound like a conspiracy theorist, but there was a mention of a passage of the bible (Revelation) on a blog, and the blogger noticed the creepy similarities of this...

I do not presume anything, this is more than likely a simple co-incidence... or is it?
(Keep in mind the ultimate idea is to install these chips in one document that everyone carries, or implant one chip that carries all your financial/nationality info on you, like your right hand.....)

"16And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
17And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name."
-Revelation 13:16-17

Anyways, if they announce a plan to put them in a head, or on the right hand, then I will geniunely freak out.

Until then, this post is clearly the result of me reading too much about technology while being bored and drinking lots of Starbucks...

...

..

Although, if Starbucks had this, it would make the line move a whole damn faster... !!

Reminds me of ...

2007-11-08T18:14:00.000-08:00

I was watching this video today, and it was reminding me of Cody for some reason. At first I thought it was just that I was missing him and that everything reminded me of Cody. But then I got to the end, and I realised what it was that made me think of him while watching this, tee hee.

Enjoy !

Its by a student from the Vancouver Film School, I am impressed ;)

Christmas at Starbucks...

2007-11-08T17:05:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I worked until 2am last night putting together (along with 4 other people) the Christmas display and merchandise at my store...

I always volunteer for it, and it was a hoot, sooo much bloody fun !

Now, that being said, I WANT ONE of the new stainless steel mugs ! Its sparkly, and shiny, and a really nice red, not too hot-red, but a nice gentle red, that adds a little pa-boom cause it sparkles so much.

The problem is that I own about 4 travel mugs, and about 20+ mugs for home use... most of which I rarely use. Now, the travel mugs I do use a lot... and this one is so damn pretty, but I can't really justify buying something new, when I have a perfectly good one at home, right ?

right ?

Argh... consumerism is such a curse...

And a wonderful, wonderful thing.

DAMN YOU EVIL MUG ~!

And sometimes it just rains cows...

2007-11-07T10:17:00.001-08:00

I think this is a sign from God. Of what, I do not know.

MANSON, Wash. - Charles and Linda Everson were driving back to their hotel when their minivan was struck by a falling object - a 270-kilogram cow.

The Eversons were unhurt but the cow, which had fallen off a cliff, had to be euthanized.

The year-old cow fell about 60 metres from the cliff and landed on the hood of the couple's minivan, causing heavy damage.

A Chelan County fire chief, Arnold Baker, said the couple missed being killed by a matter of centimetres in the accident Sunday on a highway near Manson.

The Eversons, visiting the area from their home in Westland, Mich., to celebrate their first wedding anniversary, were checked at Lake Chelan Community Hospital as a precaution.

Everson, 49, said he didn't see the cow falling and didn't know what happened until afterward.

He said he kept repeating: "I don't believe this. I don't believe this."

I would like to thank the CBC's website for this story, and for entertaining me while I procrastinate studying for my midterm at 2:30pm today.

Montreal place.

2007-11-06T15:18:00.001-08:00

I just realized that I never actually put up any photos of the cute, albeit small, place we are staying in when we are in Montreal. Cody is there right now, he arrived, very sick of driving, last night.

I will be going in December.

Anyways, here is the place, the landlady is a darling too, she even stocked the fridge upon Cody's arrival !

Let Me Borrow That Top

2007-11-04T14:25:00.001-08:00

Best Liam video ever, he rocks !!

'Shoes' was damn awesome, but this is a GREAT second. The best part is the Spanish bit at 2:20...

My favourite quotes are:

"You just won't die will you..." and "Fuck you with something hard and sandpapery"

Oh god, makes me laugh so hard.

Way to go Kyle, another great video, and he just got a TV show too... anyways, it rocks, make sure to watch till the end, the last 5 second are the BEST, priceless !

Ode to DST

2007-11-04T09:50:00.000-08:00

Daylight Savings time is great, at least in the fall.

I woke up this morning, running for the shower, because I had 'slept' in and needed to be ready and dressed by 10am. I have someone coming over to buy my old laptop, and its not nice to be in one's pyjamas when doing such a transaction, makes all parties involved feel awkward.

Anyways, so I run for the shower, quickly dry and flat-iron my hair (its finally getting some length to it...), and then try to scrounge up whatever I can to make some sort of breakfast that might at least pretend to be 'balanced'.

Then I look at the computer's clock.

It says its 8:30am, my wall clock says its 9:30am. Guess which one was right ?

Yep, It was only 8:30am... no need to rush. So, instead, I went to the grocery store, bought some muffins, milk, cheese, etc... got some scones from Cobs (the girl screwed up and charged me only $.85 for 6 scones, I'm not gonna complain !! I think they were $0.85 each...), and then came home and started making coffee and typing this story on my laptop.

I love you Daylight Savings Time, and today will be a good day !

Civilization IV

2007-11-03T16:13:00.000-07:00

I just ordered Civ IV on eBay today, and thanks to the rapidly rising Canadian dollar, paid the US price of $60USD (about $55 Canadian) for a game being sold in Canada for $99.

The fact that prices are 20% higher in Canada than the US, despite the fact that our dollar is the highest its been since 1957(when we went off the Gold standard), closing at 1.07 USD yesterday, is a whole other issue that I could rant about for a long time... and I might just in a later post.

Suffice to say, many Canadians are buying things like this awesome computer game at a significant discount through American sites and then shipping them up... some even buying cars for $10,000+ less than the price in Canada. Canadian retailers are suffering, and deserve to until they get their heads out of their collective asses...

*cough* focus, anyways, what this post is REALLY about is this game, and how excited I am to be getting it in the mail sometime next week !!!

I am not allowing myself to open the box until I am done my midterms as of Friday, but after that I anticipate I will be barely heard from over the days to follow.

I am just so bloody excited !

Check out the intro movie to the game:

This is the Official Advertisement for the game:

And this is the Advertisement for the Expansion Pack:

I cannot wait !!!

The graphics are awesome, and their are such new things you can do, like form your own religion, and a completely unique governments you can fully create !

Weeee !!!

Song Lyrics Rant

2007-11-03T10:21:00.000-07:00

I find it important to have an actual message in the songs that I listen to. I want to not just have a good beat, and listen to something that I enjoy listening to, but also reading. I want a song with lyrics that speak to me, and are emotional. I love songs where you can just hear the pain in the singer, or the love and affection come right through in a deeply primordial way.

So what the hell happened to mainstream music ? Seriously, I cannot stand most 'hit' music now because I enjoy the beat, love to dance to it, but then I listen to the lyrics, and its freaking bull crap.

Britney Spears' (just cause I love to hate her) new song is the best example of this. Seriously, WHAT THE HELL, did you really need a song to basically say "I'm a whore, I pretend to be a pretentious biotch, and I just want to have fun and have no substance to my life"...

Thats deep.

Britney aside, most other musicians aren't any better. And those that have good lyrics sometimes can't sing worth a damn. Case-and-point, Bedouin Soundclash. I love there songs for their messages, I love the tolerance and acceptance and questioning of the world-order in their music, but GOD, is it too much to ask to have a lead singer that can ACTUALLY sing.

It used to be that to be a musician you had to have singing talent, a good voice, a fairly good ability to write music, or at least collaborate and do it. Now, someone else writes the lyrics for you (which could take a 5-year-old thirty seconds to write), someone else writes the music, and usually all you do is sing, albeit badly !!!

What ever happened to TALENT ???

Oh, and just to prove my point, Britney's lyrics, and the song by Bedouin Soundclash (if they just replaced their singer, I would love it...).

Gimmee More
Britney Spears

It's Britney Bitch
I see you,
And i just wanna dance with you

Everytime they turn the lights down
Just wanna go that extra mile for you
You got my display of affection
Feels like no one else in the room (the room)

We can get down like there's no one around
We keep on rocking, we keep on rockin'
Cameras are flashing while we're dirty dancing
They keep watching, keep watchin'
Feels like the the crowd was saying

Gimme Gimme more
Gimme more
Gimme gimme more
Gimme gimme more
Gimme gimme more
Gimme gimme more

Gimme Gimme more
Gimme more
Gimme gimme more
Gimme gimme more
Gimme gimme more
Gimme gimme more

Gimme Gimme more
Gimme more
Gimme gimme more
Gimme gimme more
Gimme gimme more
Gimme gimme more

Center of attention, even when you're up against the wall
You got me in a crazy position (uh huh)
If you're on a mission (ooh)
You got my permission oh

We can get down like there's no one around
We keep on rocking, we keep on rockin'
Cameras are flashing while we're dirty dancing
They keep watching, keep watchin'
Feels like the the crowd was saying

Gimme Gimme more
Gimme more
Gimme gimme more
Gimme gimme more
Gimme gimme more
Gimme gimme more

Gimme Gimme more
Gimme more
Gimme gimme more
Gimme gimme more
Gimme gimme more
Gimme gimme more

Gimme Gimme more
Gimme more
Gimme gimme more
Gimme gimme more
Gimme gimme more
Gimme gimme more

I just can't control myself, more
They want more?
Well I'll give them more (ow!)

Gimme Gimme more
Gimme more
Gimme gimme more
Gimme gimme more
Gimme gimme more
Gimme gimme more

Gimme more gimme more
Gimme more gimme more babe
I just want more

Gimme gimme gimme gimme gimme
Gimme gimme gimme gimme gimme
Gimme gimme gimme gimme gimme
Gimme gimme gimme gimme gimme

seriously, what the hell was she (and Hollywood) thinking ?!?!?!?!?
(moreover, who the hell wrote this CRAP ???)

Oh, and Bedouin Soundclash, PLEASE LEARN HOW TO SING !

And NO, its not the style of his singing, he is actually off-key a lot of the time, and tries to sing notes he cannot hit, so he forces it, you can just hear his voice straining...
GOD, AND ITS SUCH A GOOD SONG WITHOUT HIS DAMN VOICE...

Argh, I'm gonna go have a Starbucks...

Rotting Pumpkin

2007-11-01T17:07:00.001-07:00

I like the music.

Its fun to watch.

Happy All Hallow's Day ! (not Eve)

Pics from last night...

2007-10-28T15:44:00.001-07:00

I had a headache this morning, it is mostly gone.

The party was good, not great, but good.

These are from beforehand, when we were getting our friend Sanjay all dressied up as Elizabeth I, he definately was the show-stopper.

Then, we decided to walk the 4 blocks downtown instead of cab-ing it, and it was awesome, we got SO many looks, especially Sanjay. It was really cool, he felt like the center of the universe, the Queen that he is, haha !

Cody, er, ravaging the foods of plenty !!

I think this one needs to be on a book cover or something, Jamie has a GREAT couch:

And these are the others that were there:

Girl Guide cookies anyone ?

Sun-bathed Ken and drag-queen-Barbie:

Pirate and scary Police Officer (she had a club... things happened):

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES (missing one):

Partae !

2007-10-27T11:14:00.000-07:00

We are off to our Halloween party tonight.

Weee ! Our friend Sanjay from Vancouver is wearing this gorgeous dress that Cody made and going as Elizabeth I, Cody is going as the Count of Monte Christo (I also think he looks like Casanova) with a long brown/black haired curly wig... and I am going as an English Prince, with a blonde bob-like wig and these awesome lace-up boots.

It will be fabulous, pics to come. This is the first time EVER that I have dressed up this much for Halloween, and we are totally going ALL out.

:D

Long Black Hair

2007-10-25T20:13:00.000-07:00

Tonight I found a long black hair on the bathroom floor.

There can only be three explanations to this:

A. Cody is having an affair with a man named Eduardo from Spain (or perhaps Argentina), with long, flowing locks of black hair, and while he was vainly brushing it (with MY comb !!) it fell on the floor for me to later discover.

B. My appartment has recently been broken into, without me realizing it. It must have happened when the locks were recently changed. The locksmith was a man in his late 50's, and must have some perversion towards cutting copies of people's keys and giving them to his long-haired wife. She, in turn (because likeness attracts) has a perversion towards having long-warm bathes in other people's places. She takes these keys, draws herself a bath, bathes, and then while also combing her hair (with MY comb!!!) she lost a hair on the bathroom my floor. She probably watched it gently fly through the air, to land on my once-clean bathroom tile, which she then left there as a sick joke, cause she figured it would form a mystery that would haunt me forever. WELL GUESS WHAT, I'M ON TO YOU !!!

C. The other option is that its Cody's mom's hair. She came and stayed with us about 3 weeks ago.

I think option B makes the most sense.

For you, from ME

2007-10-24T14:41:00.000-07:00

Chris, and his show, were recently discovered by me.

I am now addicted.

There are 52 episodes, I think I may have watched them all. This is one of my favourites, its fairly funny (although he has funnier), but the cat at the end named 'Riley' reminds me of myself, so I chose this one to post.

Enjoy. (all two of my readers)

P.S. Go to his website, Chris rocks.

Matt in Montreal II

2007-10-24T09:05:00.000-07:00

Matt's NOT in that place.

Apparently, the guy wanted some money transferred to him as a deposit to hold the place (illegal), and he wanted it through Western Union... pretty seedy sounding.

So, we are still moving to Montreal, just to a different place that we haven't found yet !

Weee.

Matt in Montreal

2007-10-22T10:23:00.001-07:00

Cody went into work today, and gave his notice.

He has been offered a very well-paying contract job for Bombardier Aerospace in Montreal, and we have decided to move there for the next 6 months.

First Cody will drive out, and I will stay here and pack-up some stuff, watch the movers, and monitor them as we place all our stuff in storage here in BC... then I will fly out and meet him after my semester here is done, at the end of December...

Lots of changes, tons of work is involved, but I am excited. Packing is going to be a lot of work, and I am already super busy with schoolwork. Speaking of which, it looks like I will be finishing my degree as a visiting student at Concordia University in Montreal, and then grad from UVic when they transfer the credits back !

Its all exciting, I am a little overwhelmed, and I will post more later, but right now I have to head off to my next class !

P.S. This is the place that we have decided to rent, its right downtown, near Route Guy, and Concordia Univeristy, and its CHEAP compared to our current place (rent in Montreal is much less than here, and its bigger, go figure?)

Mud Skating

2007-10-10T11:07:00.000-07:00

Its muddy on campus...

I was trying to be quick to get to my class not-more-late-than-usual and therefore didn't walk on the sidewalk, and I slipped, and totally skated on mud for a bit. Seriously, It was the mud-scapades, just minus the grace. Also minus the cheering audience, rather I had two giggly first-year girls watching me, probably some others too (since everyone has nothing better to do than follow me on campus and watch me).

Now, I didn't actually fall, but I sure made a scene in front of all the people at the bus stop. Feet sliding, hips swaying to maintain up-right bipedal locamotion, and the facial expression of concentrating on all the above while avoiding spilling my precious morning coffee.

Sigh, I am just soo cool that its hard to see sometimes.

Perhaps I just invented a new sport: Mud-skating.

Happy Turkey Day !

2007-10-09T16:17:00.000-07:00

The Turkey weekend is over, and I have eaten a lot of turkey (and have a lot in my freezer).

Happy Thanksgiving !

Cody left me in charge of the groceries, which resulted in us having three gigantic Yams, (seriously I have never seen yams this big) and a 15-pound turkey. There was only the two of us for dinner last night, so there is a LOT of leftovers. I know whats for lunch for the next month.

Cody is still stressed about work, we are in the process of finding him a new job and looking for other options. It most likely looks like we are going to be moving at some point, although how that will take place is uncertain (you will know when I know...)

Anyways, its raining, and I love it.

Yay leftover stuffing, and turkey !

Dedicated...

2007-10-05T11:27:00.000-07:00

to Cat in (her) Gulf.

And yes, I was born in the mid 80's :D

And I must admit that 'White Wedding' is my favourite song, but I don't really like the music video all that much...

Bears, Bears, Bears...

2007-10-01T14:28:00.001-07:00

So, Cody and I went up to Cody's parents' cabin this weekend, it was grand.

My mom and her partner Claude and my bro all went up too from Vancouver, it was awesome. Our two families met for the first time, as we stopped in at Cody's parents' place along the way to the cabin, it went really well.

It was a great drive, its about 1.5 hour ferry ride to Vancouver from the Victoria and our little island, and then about 3 hour drive to Merrit, where Cody is from, and then a further 45 minutes to the cabin.

Its absolutely beautiful, deep valleys, and intensely high rugged mountains, along the drive we drove to the highest point in the Canadian highway system, and the cabin is at about 5200 feet above sea level.

Upon arrival Friday night it was dark and Cody lit the wood heating system that heats the cabin, while we unloaded the food from the car and made the beds, etc. The 'cabin' itself is actually a log cabin that was made by Cody and his father about 10 years ago, and is roughly 2000 square feet, with three bedrooms, laundry, decks, two bathrooms, running water, electricity and all that jazz. They just got electricity up there about a year ago, so thats definitely nice.

Walking is a great thing to do up there, the weather wasn't bad, it rained mostly, but it was only about 0-2 degrees celcius the entire time, and it snowed a wee bit too, but the ground is still bare. We ate way too much food, played cards, my mom and I studied (she is doing her Phd in Transpersonal Phsychology right now), my brother and Claude fished, and we all ate. Did I mention we ate a lot ?

WAY too much food was eaten. Between the 6 of us, in two days, we ate 36 egss, salmon fillets, calamari, seafood chowder, bacon, ham, lots of chips with fresh homemade salsa, and lots of wine and beer. Hehe, way too many calories :D

On Sunday, Cody, myself, my bro and Claude and our friend Sanjay from Vancouver who had also come up with us, all went for a big walk around the lake that the cabin is on. Its about 5-7 KMs around the lake, and we kinda took a long way, hehe. Cody was leading. It was simply magical. Cody spotted many moose and deer tracks along the trail, most fresh. I discovered a bear tracks, and we found more, all of which were fresh in the mud. That was a little scary. Luckily, there was no sightings... but it is serious bear country.

It was a great weekend, totally relaxing, and we got lots of fresh air. Long drive to get there, but it was great to see the high alpine mountains and be there right before winter really settles in.

Now, I must return to reality, and my midterms that I have this week...

Oh, and Cody's parents rent out this cabin a lot of the time, so you can see it on their website here.

Pink Update

2007-09-23T17:26:00.000-07:00

I am sooo impressed by these students, but they're grassroots student anti-bullying movement has totally sparked off and now hundred of schools across the Maritimes have started wearing pink to school, some are offering pink face painting, there was even a picture of a football team member sporting a pink (very tight) hello kitty tee. All in support of one student who was bullied by classmates for wearing a pink polo shirt on the first day of school.

The story is totally moving, I love how it has taken off, and now schools are considering having 'Pink Day' once a month.

It just is nice to have a story that shatters our normal perceptions of high-school age kids with their self-obsessive, sometimes spoilt, clique-y, and highly hierarchal social structure... and we see that they are turning into mature adults with a sensible solution and a will and want to change things to make the social atmosphere of their world a more accepting one.

Yay, this totally makes me smile.

Check out the short video on CBC's website about it, its under 'news' and then on the right hand side, under 'Pink Power' ... CBC

Commercial Songs

2007-09-19T17:06:00.000-07:00

Just watch this, enough said. This guy is wicked.

Way to Go !

2007-09-18T20:27:00.000-07:00

WAY TO GO. I am soo awestruck and proud of this occurrence. A great article from CBC today:

"Two Nova Scotia students are being praised across North America for the unique way they turned the tide against a fellow student bullied for wearing pink.

The victim — a Grade 9 boy at Central Kings Rural High School in the small community of Cambridge — wore a pink polo shirt on his first day of school.

Bullies harassed the boy, called him a homosexual for wearing pink and threatened to beat him up, students said.

Two Grade 12 students — David Shepherd and Travis Price — heard the news and decided to take action.

"I just figured enough was enough," said Shepherd.

They went to a nearby discount store and bought 50 pink shirts, including tank tops, to wear to school the next day.

'Sea of pink' support

Then the two went online to e-mail classmates to get them on board with their anti-bullying cause that they dubbed a "sea of pink."

But a tsunami of support poured in the next day.

Not only were dozens of students outfitted with the discount tees, but hundreds of students showed up wearing their own pink clothes, some head-to-toe.

When the bullied student, who has never been identified, walked into school to see his fellow students decked out in pink, some of his classmates said it was a powerful moment. He may have even blushed a little.

"Definitely looked like there was a big weight lifted off his shoulder. He went from looking right depressed to being as happy as can be," said Shepherd.

And there's been nary a peep from the bullies since, which Shepherd says just goes to show what a little activism will do.

"If you can get more people against them … to show that we're not going to put up with it and support each other, then they're not as big as a group as they think are," he says.

The students' "sea of pink" campaign did not go unnoticed outside the province. U.S. talk show host Ellen DeGeneres expressed interest in their story, and other schools are talking about holding their own "pink day."

"It's been totally overwhelming for us. I mean [we're] just two local boys and I mean we're getting calls from Alaska and e-mails. It's just phenomenal the support we've gotten from across the globe," said Shepherd.

The school principal, understandably, was flush with pride.

"You're always hearing about the youth of the world and how bad things are. Well, they're not that bad," said Stephen Pearl. "

Check out the original HERE.

YouTube Video of the Year...

2007-09-15T14:16:00.001-07:00

My Morning Coffee Lesson

2007-09-07T10:54:00.001-07:00

It all started when I planned on getting up at about 6am this morning (which may have been a little unreasonable since I worked until midnight last night), and then proceeded to sleep in until 8am... when I had class at 9:30am... I panicked a bit, but quickly realised that if I forwent my morning shower, made coffee in the bodum, and had a very small breakfast, I could easily make it to the bus stop on time for my first class.

So, I do all the above... except, I normally have a cup of coffee at home (to warm me up to the idea of me leaving the bed/house), and then a second cup for en-route to school. I had to skip the cup at home, this would later prove to be a fatal mistake.

I then proceeded to give a goodbye hug to the dog (whom I think I smother, probably not a good sign for the mental health of any future children of mine), and rush out the door to the bus stop.

I cross the cross walk, just in time for the light to change and to see my bus coming... I am already at the stop, so things are good. There are two busses, one is mine (the 14), the other I have no idea, and still do not know what number it was.

Now, this is where the fateful twist occurs.

For reasoning that is beyond me, I step onto the first bus that arrives... which is not my bus. This I think is partially due to the fact that at this point, while I am holding my coffee, I haven't had any of it yet.

Not only did I get onto the wrong bus, but I did not realise this mistake until after some sips, and numerous stops, and suddenly finding myself entering Uplands. Uplands is near UVic, but most definately NOT along my bus's route, nor is it anywhere near the most direct ways to UVic from downtown.

The bus then proceeds to WIND through Uplands... down Cadboro Bay road, along the water... PAST the road that goes to UVic (there was a lot of praying happening at this point) and around god-knows-where-land. I saw lots of pretty houses, I have no idea where I was. The trees were fairly dense, houses/lots were larger, and there was an increasingly suburban feeling to the area.

Eventually, after about 45 minutes of this, the bus arrives at UVic (this I think is a direct result from the frantic praying), just in time for me to arrive to my over-filled class 35 minutes late (which is bad when your class is only 50 minutes long....), where I have to sit on the floor with a bunch of first-years because the class is overbooked.

Oh, did I mention that I tripped and spilled my coffee on someone's bag upon my very-late arrival at class ? Yea, cause it certainly wasn't ALREADY an embarassing enough of a situation.

I talked to my prof (I am also on the waiting list for this class), whom seemed sympathetic, and he agreed to take me off the waiting list and put me in the class. I think he just felt bad for my pathetic-ness... also it helped that its a first-year class and I am the only student with 4th year standing on the waiting list.

Which also brings me to a WHOLE new level of embarassment considering I am probably one of the OLDEST students in the class... sigh.

So yea, that was my morning...

The moral of this story:

NEVER leave the house without at least consuming one cup of coffee.

Meatloaf Moments

2007-09-04T18:48:00.000-07:00

Cody is making Meatloaf for dinner and sowing our Halloween costumes on the dining room table right now.

Lol, he is just so cute.

Meanwhile I am laying with the dog on the couch studying.

AHhh !

2007-08-29T12:22:00.000-07:00

Okay, I promise sometime soon I will stop posting videos and actually write about something, but I think this counts as a conversational item. This new song by Mika that I absolutely adore (and you realize how tall he is) is awesome. I love the idea of the song, I love the beat, I love to dance to it and ponder the lyrics.

Yay Mika !

OMFG

2007-08-28T12:19:00.000-07:00

I don't know what else to say.

This is simply the most amazing video I think I have ever seen, and the second most disturbing. The most disturbing one was the video of clips from George W. Bush's speaches and how he is literally an incompetent public speaker and has horrible analytical skills (both kinda important when you run a country...)

At least this Miss South Carolina lady doesn't actually RUN a nation, but it sure is scary that this crap is even on TV, not to mention that she is PAID to be an idiot ! Christ, stuff like this makes me seriously worry about where our world is heading. I believe we are an age of stupidity. An age we might not survive.

Here it is:

Jebus help us all !

Love Today

2007-08-23T15:26:00.000-07:00

This is my theme song for today, I am in an awesome mood, just finished my evil Sociology paper, which will hopefully be the last paper of my University career (although I somehow doubt that...) and I am off to UVic to apply for a bursary that I will probably get (I put that I am a 'visible minority' on the application, which I considered fair since they had a checkbox for 'lesbian' but nothing for 'gay'... jerks)...

Another HUGE part of my cheerful mood is that I recently learned that Cody was originally planning on proposing this month !!! I know, OMFG.

I'm breathing.

Okay, but he didn't because of my 'taste for expensive jewelry'... which I know is a horrible reason to not propose. It also makes me really sad to realise that I scared him off from proposing cause of my comments that wedding rings should be of a certain value. Especially when the ring he had selected is from Tiffany's and gorgeous... although I don't know the exact details.

I think it is for the better in the long run, because we aren't really at a place yet where we can afford any ring at all, but I am soo amaxingly happy that he was seriously going to do it. And kinda kicking myself for saying what I did in passing...

I hope that it does happen, and I hope sooo much that he follows his heart and gets me whichever ring he thinks suits me, because I trust that he knows what I love, sometimes more than I even do myself.

I also love him SO much. I have never been with anyone whom I even thought was capable of thinking of us being married, let alone someone who had planned to !! I appreciate him soo much right now, and I think we have been taking one another for granted. I don't know what I did to deserve such an awesome boyfriend, but I sure as hell am happy that I did it !

:)

p.s. enjoy the lyrics below, I heart Mika.

- MIKA Lyrics

My Day

2007-08-20T14:17:00.000-07:00

So, I went to class at 8:30am... wrote a test I barely studied for, and I think I did quite good on... possibly, then attended a class at 10:30a that never happened. I suspect my prof cancelled the class without my knowledge, and of course, that is a huge inconvenience to me.

Then, I went home and did some calls and cleaning. Then, since I was tired from all my non-studying yesterday and my lack of classes this morning, I had a quick nap.

After said nap I was groggy, as naps tend to have that effect on me. Thus, I travelled to my friendly, neighbourhood Starbucks, and got a latte for free (I don't know why I EVER quit). On the way back I signed some sort of a Greenpeace petition, they are having a protest downtown about something, the guy was cute, I didn't really listen all that much to what he said. Then, I felt bad cause I signed the petition without knowing what it was, and for some reason it bothers me that my signature is on a document that I have no idea what it says... moveover, I felt bad for my motivations for signing the document, cause the guy was cute... and I have a wonderful boyfriend.

So, I came home and thought about these things while sipping my latte. That is, until the dog came up to me, curled in my arms, snuggled, and then started heaving. I took him onto our patio just in time for him to expell something I can only describe as 'dog-ish' from his stomach. I petted him, tried to make him drink some water to clean his mouth, and then put him in his bed. Poor baby. I think its the medication he is on for his worms. Yes, my child has worms, I am a horrible parent. Hopefully they will die soon (the worms, NOT him), cause it makes me soo sad and disgusted all at the same time.

After that I sat down and decided to update my blog with this post.

I believe I will go read my CSC notes and possibly do a practice exam... (aka I am procrastinating writing my paper).

Housecleaning

2007-08-16T22:42:00.000-07:00

I removed some links to other people's blogs that they don't have anymore, or that I don't care about anymore.. haha.

I have reconnected with some people too, its been awesome.

I am also addicted to Facebook, it is the source of all evils (I think I might have previously mentioned this...)

Anyways, I am thinking of having a social get-together tomorrow night, for no apparent reason... actually its to celebrate that I am getting my brows done finally Friday afternoon, they have needed some landscaping for quite a while now.

I think its time for bed... I have a test tomorrow, and I suspect I may actually be prepared for it, hehe.

This was a total post about nothing, sucks to be you who read it !

Me, extremely intelligent ?

2007-08-15T13:04:00.000-07:00

So, I got back my Astronomy tests and assignments for the last couple of weeks, and something is seriously wrong. The lowest mark I got was 16/20... and two I got 100% on. Normally this would be a good thing, but you see, I completely BS-ed my way through most of the tests and assignments. Generally his questions are nothing about what we did in class, the readings, or anything on the slides, thus I do not have a clue, and completely fudge my way through them. I was honestly expecting to be doing fairly poorly.

Now, there are two theories I have come up with to explain this incident. Either:

a) My prof is a complete wacko, and is marking extremely easy (this is also supported by the fact that his questions seem to come from out of nowhere, and are generally on material we never went over)... or

b) I am a super-genius in the field of Astronomy/Physics, and till this day had no idea.

I think its the latter of the two. I'm going to go get a latte to celebrate.

Mika made Better ?

2007-08-13T23:51:00.000-07:00

I hope I grow up to be almost as cool as these guys.

They made my night of studying worth it.

Sometimes

2007-08-13T20:45:00.000-07:00

You just wanna eat a big chocolate eclair !

Sometimes not.

I am REALLY craving chocolate right now, in case you didn't notice. Its a problem I have. My crappy mood is mostly over. I don't know what the heck it was all about, I really don't, but I think its just been one of those days.

Anyways, things are grand now. I started at Starbucks this weekend, it was actually quite a lot of fun, and they are apparently wanting me to come back and be a shift manager, even though I am only willing to work 10 -15 hours a week, they are making an exception for me. Wee hee, cause its more money, haaha.

And yea, things are good with the boyfriend, he is reading right now. Sometimes I think I forget how cute he is. He is especially right now cause he went back to growing he goatee, and I love it. I have to stop being so anxious about life, I am where I am, and I am doing what I am doing, and it will be alright. I just have to breathe.

Days go by...

2007-08-13T14:53:00.000-07:00

I love Daft Punk, but only sometimes.

Anyways, this is going to be a short post. I am working on my paper for my Sociology class, which has taught me that Sociology as a study is very interesting, but that the people involved in it are petty, egotistical and overly self-absorbed. Suffice to say its the last Sociology course I will probably ever take.

I having a fairly down day, no reason for it. I just don't like the world today. This is probably the best attitude to have while writing an academic paper anyways, so it will probably work out for the best.

I'm sure I will share more insight later, right now I am off to Starbucks for a latte, and then more writing. I am actually procrastinating going to get said latte because I literally desire absolutely no human interaction at the moment, I just want to be alone. I want the world to leave me alone, just for a day.

That won't ever happen, so I might as well get over it.

Happy Bunny

2007-08-09T17:58:00.000-07:00

... makes my DAY !!

Argh.

2007-08-09T07:20:00.000-07:00

Don't you hate it when you have a hard time getting out of bed, and then you realise that not only must you get out of bed, but you have to go somewhere and do things...

Argh.

I just started a load of laundry, put away the dishes and showered, do I REALLY have to go to school as well ? Cripes, freaking demanding life I have...

Working... Again.

2007-08-08T15:56:00.000-07:00

So, I have a job... I just did what was simple and went back to what I know, Starbucks... haha. Its odd cause I remember why I hated the job and why I disliked it, but as a job for only 5-10 hours a week, its totally awesome, I get the discount again, and the free drinks, and the free pound of coffee every week, so that is good.

Cody and I are trying to plan through some financial issues. While all is good, we just have to try and figure out how to make everything work until I am done school. I cannot wait until I can work full time because that would solve all of our issues, even if it wasn't for that good of a wage, me working full time would make a huge difference.

I think I should plan for starting working full time in January, or thereabouts. If I can complete my CSC course (securities license) by then, and then only have 5 courses left for my degree, I can do the leftover courses in the evenings while I work... that way its less of a burden overall.

Anyways, I think thats what I might do, but we shall see. I am actually, and surprisingly, really looking forward to starting work on Saturday ! hehe. My schedule will be working every Saturday and Sunday, to a max of about 15 hours a week, but less when I have exams and such.

Thats about it, wanted to get that off my chest... I should post about something more interesting soon, haha !

Job, me ?

2007-07-29T19:25:00.000-07:00

Hrm...

So, as much as I love being part of the wonderful leisure class, and not working for anything, I have discovered something.

I am bored.

School is great, classes are really engaging and interesting. Cody and I are doing awesome, really enjoying our life, and looking forward to his birthday bash this weekend coming up... but I am kinda bored with just school.

Don't get me wrong, I am super busy and have lots of schoolwork, but it is manageable and I am finding that I would like to have a job for one or two days a week to get my mind into a different mode, maybe make some fun money and get out of the house and my mind out of the books.

So, I have an interview at a new shoe store opening next week !!

Its called Town Shoes, they are fairly high-end and carry collections by Richard Tyler, Oscar De La Renta, Hype, Lacoste, Puma, Steve Madden, Diesel...

So, I would get to work with fabulous shoes, there is a free shoe plan involved working there, and its some money (although I am sure the wage is crap).

Anyways, my interview is on Wednesday, I'm totally over-qualified, but I hope I get it, hehe. It will be a good distraction.

Taco !

2007-07-27T21:33:00.001-07:00

Okay, so it appears that out of all the last photos, the main personality that people are interested in is our baby, the dog named 'Taco'.

He is such a sweetheart, frequently snuggles in bed with me, we enjoy our yawning sessions together (as I contemplate a world outside the covers, and he hopes that I don't go to class)... He also frequently protects me against the world. Most notably Cody, whom I think he perceives as some alpha male that he must defend me against. The moment Cody kisses me, touches me, or sometimes come near me (not always but about 60% of the time). Taco will start barking and growling at him, its sooo cute. It can be annoying, but I think that its endearing that such a small creature loves one so much that he feels the need to defend me. He sometimes does it when I kiss Cody also. He also likes to defend me against the people who live across the hall... which they, surprisingly, find amusing.

Despite his tough demeanour (and he is such a ferocious-looking dog), he is such a big baby. Possibly compounded by the fact that we totally spoil him. He spends a lot of his day on his back, and is incessant with his demands for belly-rubbing. Cody is not as much of a fan when I rub his belly, I am not quite sure why, since Taco sure loves it.

Anyways, enough of my rant about my baby, here are the photos you all want !!

Some pictures

2007-07-24T11:17:00.001-07:00

Since its been a long time, here are some photos of the last little while:

**see if you can spot our baby boy!! (his name is Taco and he is a long-haired chihuahua)**

Me, in all my glory

The cute couple.

Me, Cody, our baby, and our friend Andrew.

Cody and my best friend, Elaine.

So Little, so long.

2007-07-23T18:13:00.000-07:00

It has been such an awefully long time since I wrote anything on here.

I seriously doubt that anyone will actually read this, rather its almost like a personal journal now I suppose, just really a container for my thoughts... although a public container... what an odd world we now all live in that it can be so.

Anyways, enough of my ramble. I just finished the latest Harry Potter novel. It was good, not great, no excellent, but good. Above mediocre for sure. I was impressed by some of the character developments (Snape definately shines), and thoroughly disappointed by the un-needed complexity of the plot, and the lack of grace in the way it is laid out, it was not smooth-flowing or mind boggling, rather I would say its her most disappointing novel at best. Probably the worst of all 7, but definitely a good novel nonetheless. It also has an overwhelmingly happy, cheerful ending, which I usually dislike, and she seems to waste a good portion of the novel with all three main characters simply lollying around, aimlessly pursuing a goal, but with no real advancement.

Moving on from my Harry Potter rant: I suppose it has come to that time when I do the obligatory update about my personal life (as much as I can reveal in a completely public environment), especially since it has been almost a millenia since my last update (or something like that)....

I am in school again, working hard at a very condensed summer class at UVic, and also doing full-time studies in the fall. I had been working at BMO, but left them to just do full-time school and get my degree done. I am also working on my securities course, so that when I do return to the working world I will have a bona fide degree and a license to sell securities to add to my name.

And just like that, life goes on, and I run out of things for this post. Tata !

A rant about Everything ... and nothing

2007-04-10T22:11:00.000-07:00

Okay, so they 'updated' the whole blogger system and the login, but honestly, its just a headache and WAY too much work to try and figure out exactly how to log in, post a new entry, etc. I guess its my own damn fault for not blogging for about 2 months straight !!

Gawd, I hope someone out there is crazy enough to still be reading my entries... although the idea of just ranting to myself is rather entertaining in a way.

Enough of these musings. So, I am in the middle of exam month, woo hoo, gawd, I want to die. Wrote one for my Software Engineering class today, hopefully I passes it cause it was damn hard. I don't even know why I am taking the damned course. I had these grand ideas of minoring in Computer Science back 4 months ago, and took the course because it was required... as well as a math course I am taking right now. Guess what ? They are both kicking my ass royally ! Excellent. Effectively I just paid the University of Victoria $1,000 for these two courses in return for a barely-passing grade, two second-year credits when I am in THIRD year, and a constant look of pity from both my professors... absolutely awesome.

Suffice to say, I am no longer minoring in CSC.

Argh, I have another final tomorrow, for my class: 'European Economic Integration' which is actually quite interesting. I am also trying to organise some sort of summer studies schedule that allows me to also go away for a week or so this summer. I am quickly learning that 'vacation', 'new job' and 'summer studies' are items that may not all schedule well together over the next 4 months... hrm. I have also decided, about 3 minutes ago, that I want to go on a road-trip down to California with the BF. I think it would be grand fun, maybe bring a girlfriend or two along, and I am now 21, so I could go to pubs and drink along the way, hurrah !!

Hurrah indeed...

I don't wanna ...

2007-02-19T23:05:00.000-08:00

I am SO not in the school mood right now.

I have a 12 page paper I need to write and two tests that I have to write next week, and I have this week off for Reading Break, and guess what ? I don't wanna study !

I'm seriously unmotivated right now, Its not that I don't THINK I should study, I just honestly am avoiding it very well. I got some reading done tonight, and about 30% of my math assignment done, but thats it so far, hehe.

My goal is to finish my math assignment by Friday. I want to have one section of my 12-page paper written by Sunday night, and I want to be fully studied for both of my tests. Its a lot, but it shouldn't be too hard really. I just CANNOT get started... argh.

Well, I did some reading and studying tonight, tomorrow night will be working on my paper. Wednesday night will be the Math assignment... that sounds like a plan that might work... yea.

Valentines... yippee

2007-02-14T15:52:00.000-08:00

I love today... its raining (which most of you know is my favourite weather when I am indoors) and my Cody just sent me the sweetest hallmark e-card from work. We're gonna go out to a movie tonight, I'm excited, something simple yet enjoyable.

In unrelated news, I got a midterm back today, and the mark was slightly disappointing. I love the course, and I pride myself in getting great marks in courses I love (lets not talk about the others). Its with my favourite Prof, Dr. Gugl who is from Austria and she is so sweet and helpful and adorable. Best word to desribe her, adorable, and she always wears these warm cozy hip-looking retro-style sweaters and jeans and I dunno, she reminds me of a cool Aunt. Anyways, I like her and I like the class. AND I GOT 74% ON THE MIDTERM, WTF ?!

The best thing is, after analysing the marking, out of 10 questions, I got 7 of them PERFECT, not a flaw, not a thing wrong !! I would like to see a statitician who is perfectly correct 7 our of 10 times, or a politician who knows what the hell they are talking about that often. Then !! On the stuff I didn't get perfect, I got marks for knowing the underlying concept or idea, but missing out a minor detail that became important to the calculations. How amazing would it be, if every person in life, know 70% of their job/position perfectly correctly, and then knew the underlying concept but were fuzzy on the details for the other 30%.. ??? How much smoothly would business and government function if that were true for all employees and workers ?!?!?!

GAWD. I know, I know, my mark is fair, and it is a true reflection of how much I knew overall, I just think that it is silly that I only get a B (for my 74%) for knowing more on a subject that pretty much 99% of the world population.

Yea, that was just a rant cause I wanted a better mark. I feel better now.

Dork

2007-02-12T22:16:00.000-08:00

Hrm. It is 10:16pm and I was working on my Software Engineering assignment (in fabulous Linux, well Unix .... and Perl) for about 20 minutes before I got distracted and ended up looking at screenshots of the new Windows Vista (specifically looking at the Ultimate version). They have totally stolen some GUI ideas from Mac and are simplifying the entire look, making the icons bigger and more user-friendly while not looking like a design to make sure old ppl can still read the screen through their rediculously thick lenses. Anyways, umm... I'm rambling. Pretty much this entire post is a ramble. So.. yea, I also find it interesting that Windows Vista is the 'most secure version of windows ever' so I started reading about it, and it does have a whole lot of security features, encoding, encryption and backup storage systems built-in. However, I still fear they might have missed the boat on making the code behind it 'simple' (relatively) and crash-free, but that remains to be seen.

So, just a thought. But, as I was doing this, and thinking/reading about this, I realised, I am far more of a dork than I can ever admit.

There, thats it, my 10:22pm revelation. Goodnight.

Dinner Party

2007-02-11T00:09:00.000-08:00

Well, Cody and I just officially hosted our first fabulous dinner party in our new place. My friend Stacey came over, and Cody's friend Andrew came with his gf and his friend. So, there was 6 of us, and we had a wonderful curry dinner that Cody made, with espresso beverages flavoured with liqueurs of all sorts as a desert. It was lovely.

Its so nice to be downtown now. I have never been the host of any sort of social get together. It was just so nice to have people over, have good food and drinks and then play some cards games and watch crazy people across the street sword fight in a parking lot (true story, and very amusing). I have always been the person to go downtown to some else's parties or host my own with someone at their place, never at my own house, and never so close to everything.

Its awesome, if we want to see a movie, we walk 3 blocks to the movie theatre. If we want to get some last minute groceries then we walk over a block and get them, and along the way we can stop at the local Starbucks that is a block away, or go to the Chinese food restaurant that has great lunch specials that is literally right next to our condo building. Its just all so easy and freaking fantabulous !!

Anyways, I love living downtown, its grand.

I want to write more, but I am really tired, so I am off to bed, more blogging tomorrow. I really need to start this back up again !!

Bank of Montreal ?

2007-01-19T21:18:00.000-08:00

So, Cody is a client at BMO Financial Group, and he loves them. So, I looked up their banking packages, and they rock, its amazing how cheap and efficient banking with them is...

They have a student banking package that is free, and its not like other banks where the package is basic and includes nothing, its actually got a lot of features. Anyways, so I am impressed, definately they beat anything that RBC has. So, I went in to open an account and do some other financial things (hey, its private... you don't need to know). I even have a banker that I deal with specifically, with RBC you as a client can have someone you like to see, but they don't monitor your account or anything, this lady actually does. I am impressed to say the least.

Best thing is, I applied at BMO months ago (back in the summer) before I got the job with RBC. The manager at the branch still remembered me, and my personal banker told me today she had talked with him. Apparently, the only reason he didn't hire me was that they had just hired a slew of new people at the time, but he liked me. They have some openings for (get this !) Financial Services Managers, and they are part-time positions. They would be willing to work around my shool schedule just like they do at RBC with me being a teller, but at RBC, there are no sales positions (office people in the branch) that are part-time. Well, BMO has started having part-time ones !!!

I am so excited, its totally more leaning towards what I want to do, and its with a bank that I believe in, I would bank with them even if I wasn't an employee. I do not think I would bank with RBC if it wasn't for the fact that I work there. Anyways, so I have the Branch Manager's number, and I think I'm going to call him on Monday and set up a time to see him.

I am totally excited, even though I already have a million things I am doing, this is too good of a possibility to pass up, Wish me luck !!

So much...

2007-01-18T19:51:00.000-08:00

I'm working a lot, its seriously starting to toll on my gorgeous looks and cramp my style.

Anyways, so worked at the bank today, that was fun. I opened an account that is joint with Cody today, so that we can pay all of our bills together for the new place. Its totally exciting, but I didn't think much of it until about an hour after we had done it, its kinda a big step and a big leap of faith in the relationship. I think its totally the right thing, but I just think that its cool that I trust and am committed enough to do this already. Anyways, I was just pondering on that topic.

I finished my math assignment last night, that was also exciting, and I'm trying to sort out this virtual machine thing on my computer so I can fool around in Unix/Linux for my Software Engineering class.

Anyways, I'm going to go fool around with that now....

Daunting.

2007-01-14T17:19:00.000-08:00

So, I have a new home !! Cody and I have found the perfect suite downtown, right on Yates, and smack in the middle of everything. I'm tres excited to move in and enjoy the space, but I am daunted by the idea of moving there right now. Its so much work and stres to move, especially when its my first time on my own, with a bf, and while I'm doing full time schooling.

I started the task today. I went and got some groceries from Thrifty's and asked my friend Amy who works there for some heavy-duty potatoe boxes to start packing books. Now, Cody has warned me that there is a lot more 'stuff' in my room than I am aware of, but I had no idea until this evening. I got three large potatoe boxes and proceded to pack them when I got home. The first one was quickly filled with old textbooks and notes from past schoolwork that I want to keep (but will almost definately never use). Then I cleaning off the top two shelves of my bookcase. Only two shelves ! They took up two entire boxes worth of books ! I now still have my entire desk and the bottom two shelves (not to mention other books tucked into the niches of my room) remaining !!

So, suffice to say I have more books than previously estimated. I am going to tackly my endless piles of crap and collected random nonsense next. These include christmas cards from my extended family for the last 5 years that I have never had the heart to recycle. I also found my old camera in my closet, along with two undeveloped rolls of film (the fact that these are even from the era of rolls of film should give you an idea as to how much of a packrat I can be). My goal is to get through all the useless crap that I have and do not wish to take with me within the next week or so, then all I will have left is the boxes upon boxes of meaningful crap and books !

I swear sometimes I get the urge to just burn all this stuff, its such an annoyance. I vow, that from now on, I am going to be a minimalist.

P.S. I am also inviting my friends to come and help me pack. In return, people who help me pack (or have a damn good excuse) are invited to our house warming party once we move in !! YAY.

P.P.S. There are attached photos of the new place, enjoy !

HELLO ?

2007-01-03T18:37:00.000-08:00

Did you guys give up on me ?

I have not blogged in SO long its insane. I feel really bad about it actually, its like missing a long-time friend that you forgot about. Seeing them, you feel bad about slowly moving away, but they think that you are just a jerk. The conversation is awkward, and then afterwards, you know that you two will never be the same again.

So, I don't want us to be this way, my blog and I.

Updates:

Cody is slowly moving some stuff into the house that I live in. My mom is fully based in Vancouver now with her partner Claude and my little bro starts school in Kitsilano on Monday.

I just now started back to classes at UVic today, its exciting and nerve-racking. We (Cody and I) are currently in the process of finding a place to move into to live in ourselves. Lanny (Nathan's [an ex] former roomate's place) is one of the places we may be looking at. Not sure how comfortable I feel about that since I hate Lanny and Nathan and have lost a lot of respect for them. I think they are cool with me still, so hopefully won't be too bad...

Anyways, so we are moving Cody here slowly. He has moved his computer and his AWESOME laser printer here, and we are combining it all. I am really excited about us finding a place together. I am finding myself tending to just want to dive in and move into the first decent place we see, but I have to remember that we have about two months before I need to move out (possession date is March 31st). Anyways, I love that we can be picky and wait to find the right place, although the idea of moving while working an doing 5 courses at UVic is not exciting to me right now.

Anyways, got to get going. Megan (I spelt your name right !!!) is meeting us for coffee later, and we still have not had dinner. I work tommorrow and just picked up my new pants from the tailor's. I am so excited !

I will update more. I had the BEST New Years, it was awesome.

ALSO, Megan:

WHAT the HELL happened to your blog. I'm going to ask you about it tonight, haha !