In a moment...

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

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

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

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...

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.

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..

... 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...

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.

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.

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...

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 !

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

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

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

... 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...

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

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.

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

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 !

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 ! :)