Yea Eddie!

Sung to the tune from the theme song of "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air"
Now this is the story all about how
Alberta got flipped, turned upside down
I'd like to take a minute and then you'll see
How Ed because the leader of a party called PC

East of E-town Ed was born and raised
On the homestead where he spent most of his days
Milking cows, farming, and workin' real hard
And a-shootin' some gophers out in his backyard

When a couple of voters said, "Be our MLA!"
Ed started making headlines in the cabinet
Ralph got in one too many fights
And the Tories got scared
They said, "You're retired and you're out of your lair!"

Ed jumped in the race and when voting came near
The odds looked bad and he was in the rear
If anything, Jim thought Ed wouldn't make the pledge
But Ed thought, "Nah, forget it.
Yo, homes: to the Leg'!"

He pulled through the 2nd ballot, came up with a win
And yelled to old Ralphy, "Crack out the gin!"
He looked at his kingdom, he was finally there
To sit on his throne as Alberta's next premier.

-Originally published in the Getaway, Dec 2006

One of the few things that I actually found funny and NOT offensive in the Getaway. I was going to see if I could find a link to the actual article, but I don't want to link to the Getaway due to the nasty nature of the crap they publish in the joke issue. Plus I don't even know if they have it online, and I don't want to waste my time finding out. Time for sleep.

Oniomania

The gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education, the joy of their play. It is indifferent to the decency of our factories and the safety of our streets alike. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages, the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials. It measures neither wit nor courage, neither our wisdom nor our learning, neither our compassion nor our duty to our country. It measures everything, in short, except that which makes life worthwhile.

- Robert F. Kennedy

Things at work are starting to heat up. The oniomania is starting to grip the populace, and it's going to get crazier the closer we get to the 23rd. I have a funny feeling that's going to be the peak day, since it is a Saturday. Christmas Eve we are going to be open 9:30am-5:00pm. Boxing day is going to be pandimonium, plain and simple. I have no idea what kind of things were are going to be doing, what sales we are going to have, but even if I did, I couldn't post them in my blog. But hey, I have a funny feeling that making money will not be difficult for the month of December.

I also got an information about the employee health benifits package now available to me since I've been with Source for six months now. Now I'm kinda glad that I stuck through the school year working. Almost cost me my degree, my marriage, and my sanity, but I have a funny feeling that's just a taste of things to come.

Pleasant surprises

Even though my finished essay was a mere five and a half pages, I handed it in anyway. I couldn't think of anything else to write, and it was close to the deadline to boot. Turns out that although I thought my essay was much shorter than required, it was actually just about the right length. This is because of one little detail that I forgot about, and didn't do, which extended my paper within the 10-12 page requested length. I didn't double space it. After I got home, I double spaced it and discovered that my paper covered 11 pages. Actually with the endnotes, it spilled over to 12 pages. I would have put all the endnotes on the same page, so it's just as well to say that it was twelve pages long.

Class was pretty quiet since it was about a) Battlestar Galactica, which I know little about, and b) a Compendium of Canadian Science Fiction, of which I only read one story! Sadly, most everyone else in the class was on the same boat as me! Really embarassing. Next week it will not be the same, for we will be discussing Calculating God, the novel that I based my essay on. So next week I won't be sitting there looking over my schedule for the week.

Looking over my schedule for the coming week, I noticed something scary. Of the two assignments that are due on Friday, I only have about seven hours to work on them. I hope I'll be able to coordinate with some of my classmates, or at least get some competent work done on my own.

Oh yeah, and my final in C Lit is in EXACTLY two weeks. Meaning I have to start studying this week.

Maybe I should just stop sleeping. Wait. That would get me back in the hospital and into another quixotic quandary that I'd rather avoid.

Why couldn't the Christmas rush be in April when Christ was actually born, or at least January or February when I'm done school? I now know why I rarely worked during the school year pervious to this. The only other time I worked during the school year was when in 2003, and that was at Advanis where they didn't care what I did at work so long as I still had a decent flow rate, and even that they didn't care too much about. Nevertheless, I worked less than 10 shift there throughout the entire Fall term, and after midterms I think I put in two shifts.

Gah.

Well, I'm going to try to start the EE 430 right now before I head off to bed. Even though I need sleep. This is going to be a horrid week.

Five days.

Knockdown

Just finished up my final essay for C Lit 342, and man was that thing a dozy. Here's the initial draft for the email that accompanied my essay to my prof's inbox.

At first I thought writing this essay was going to be a simple matter, since my personal beliefs coincide with much of what Calculating God is about. I wasn't exactly correct in that line of thought, and I struggled to write something I would feel comfortable with.

I put forth my best effort to compile this essay, and I hope you find it to be a reflection of my efforts throughout the year.

Thanks,

Steven Clark

P.S. I fear I might have shot myself in the foot with that last comment.

After reading over the email I reconsidered writing the comment about shooting myself, and comparing the essay to my efforts in class, and I edited those bits out.
It's really hard to write something that you feel very strongly about, but remain detracted from it as well. I really hope I do well in this class, because I don't want to come back and do this again!

Nice as it is to get that essay done, there's no time to rest on my laurels, if I had any. I have two assignments due Friday, which happens to be the day of the Ultrasound appointment. I'll be missing EE 404, and will only have enough time to get to campus hand in the assignments, and maybe attend ECON 204 before I have to head off to work. All my shifts start at 3pm this week, which is good, but bad. It gives me more time on Tuesday and Thrusday, but cuts the time on Wednesday and Friday. I'm going to have really shoddy assignments this week. Hmmm... One might wonder how that is different from any other week. Stupid one.

At the cost of working a Sunday shift, I did get time off work on Saturday to attend the Iron Ring ceremony. w00t!

Five days.

Another step closer to the ring

Today I got sized for the Iron Ring. Oddly enough, before the sizing, I had to read and sign a document that outlines what it means to wear the ring. There was a spot for another signature, so I assume I'll be receiving the doc at the ceremony next Saturday. Next Saturday. Oh wow. With the assignments that I have pressing down on my brain, I don't think much about future events like that. But... wow. Nine days and I'll have the ring.

I also found out that I can have guests at the ring ceremony. Two guests, that's all. I had a guest list planned out in my head already, and the top two people are:
1. Caitlin (of course)
2. My dad

After that, I considered my father-in-law, and after that... well to be honest, I didn't think I would be able to invite more than three people. Heck, I didn't know if I would be able to invite anyone. Surprise surprise.

Nine days.

Not as I hoped

I just talked with a former classmate of mine, and he applied for the Rates Analyst & Implementer as well. He has an interview tomorrow. I do not. Methinks that I'm not going to get one either.

I'm starting to wonder just how long I'm going to be working at the Source.

There's another line of employment that was put in my eyes. A certain Drew LaHaie mentioned that Intuit is still hiring, and that all I need to do is go to the website and apply directly. They're looking for Quality Assurance people, and I think that's something I can do. Looking for mistakes, crashing systems, and debugging. Again, it's a stepping stone.

Hopefully I won't land in the water trying to cross the creak from university to the workforce.

Job Hopes

I need to keep my mind open for job oppurtunities. Turns out that a friend of the Tolleys has a brother who is one of the Vice Presidents at EPCOR. Let's see... I married Caitlin, Caitlin's parents are involved in the Beaumont Drama Club, of which Martin Stout is also a member, and Martin Stout is the brother of Richard Stout, Vice President of Regulation for EPCOR Utilities, Incorporated, one of the co-chairs for the 7th Alberta Power Summit. I called up Martin and gave him my phone number. Perhaps he'll be able to arrange a time to introduce us.

Maybe my application isn't such a write off after all!

Time will see.

You want what?

Should have guessed that university employers would want to see my transcripts. They serve as a better filter than any kind of cover letter software. Nevertheless, when I read the posting for the EPCOR position, there was no mention that transcripts were to be included, hence I didn't. With good reason. They are not the most impressive thing! Unless they are looking to see which courses I've taken, and how well I did in them...

I think my chances at getting an interview, let alone a job, dropped signifigantly when I hit send.

Time will tell.

TGIM

It's kind of weird that I look forward to Mondays. Most people don't have a Compartative Literature course through, and I feel sorry for them. Then again, those same people might feel sorry for me because of the essay that I have to hand in two weeks from now. Nevertheless, it a cool course, and my day is definately looking up.

I just dropped off the assignment that was due today, and I sent off the job application to EPCOR. I should remember to carry the cell phone with me in case they call, but I believe they set up the interviews through the employment office. Meh.

The big thing right now is to form a thesis for my essay. I'm basing it on Calculating God, and the challenge is finding a core theme to write the essay around. Science facts overlaps with theological beliefs; they are not seperate issues. This is what I took from Sawyer's work. The force of gravity is ever so close to forcing earth to collapse on itself, the curious wonder that is the physical properties of water, and the base structure of DNA. I seem to remember in scripture that God is bound by physical laws as well. There may be some standards that existed before the world was. That's not addressed in the book, so I can bypass that. I suppose all I need to do is take excepts of the book to back that up.

I was trying to think of something along the lines that you need to have an intersection of religion and science in order for them function optimally. For instance, you have the creationist who believe that the world was created over a period of 144 hours, no more no less. I personally think that's a crock. It's said that the Lord created the world in "six days". A day to God is not necessarily 24 hours. Our days are measured by the axial revolution of our planet. Just because God created the Earth, doesn't mean that he was living on the planet, and setting his watch to the local time. My assumption is that He would work on a certain thing, and once He was done, He called it a day. Literally. It might have been 10000 years, but under the project timeline, it was called Day 1. So why would the seventh day be included? Most people I know take some time off between massive projects.

Now to get that into 10 pages, and I'm set.

Much better now

Wednesday, I was in distress. I was worried about my courses, about my job prospects, and also about my family. I actually spent some time at the Student Distress Centre to help with the maddness that was chewing on me and it helped quite a bit. After talking with the volunteer, I had my feet on the ground, and some information about the Academic Guidance Centre. Yesterday I signed up for an online workshop about overcoming Exam Anxiety. Included with the purchase is a free 45 minute one on one session with one of the staff in the office. I'll have to arrange that appointment for next week, but I'm waiting until I know what the work schedule is for next week before I do that.

Oh, and yes I did get the exam back. Much to my surprise, I didn't get the worst mark in the class. My mark was higher than the 28% I got on my EE 430 midterm, a sore embarassment, and I didn't get the lowest mark in the class. Rather my mark of 40% earned me the third lowest ranking on the midterm. Sadly enough, I know who got the lowest mark, and he was none too happy about it. We went and played some Gunblade to help get the dregs out of his mind, but we both know that we need to really shine on the Final, or else we are hooped.

It can be done. It will be done. Now I just need to find a copy of the assignment, since I have misplaced mine. I'll email Koval. He's good about things like that.

Congratulations! You're an idiot!

Just finished the second half of the EE 404 - Reliability - midterm. Wow. I thought that studying yesterday would help me be prepared for the onslaught of knowledge testing, but that was a bust. For the one question that I figured out a last minute answer which I was quite confident of, I may have done wrong because most people don't have answers which match me. That could mean anything, but I've come to note that it usually means that I was wrong. Then the second question I thought was pretty straight-forward, until I realized after walking out of the exam, that the graph was not a sucess density plot, but rather a failure density plot. All my answers were wrong, only because I didn't do the final step of reversing the answer.

I am failing this course. Is this because I don't know what's going on? Is it because I don't do the work? That would be a no on both accounts. I'm not completely clueless about the material, but I don't refresh myself on a daily basis as to what it is. I find that I get frustrated easily, and when I'm frustrated, I don't concentrate, because I'm screaming inside. Most of the language used I prefer not to hear or read, yet I always seem to tolerate my indiscrepencies. Most people would say just stop and take a breath. I stop, forget what I was doing, start from the beginning, get lost again, get frustated again, shut down, and the cycle continues until either a) I find the correct answer, b) I find a solution that quiets my demon, or c) I run out of time and it doesn't matter what kind of solution I have.

Some people will work on something until it's done. I can't do that. I only seem to work until I hit an impass (ie. I don't know what to do next). That's not entirely true. Sometimes I'll work through an impass, especially if it's some kind of writting assignment. Lab report, Gateway article, or even the reading journal. Even doing blog, I write until I can think of nothing else to write, or I revamp until I find something that sounds more of what I was going for.

After the midterm, I was poring over the notes, trying desperately to figure out where I went wrong, and why other people got the answers they did. For the life of me, I couldn't do it. Every calculation that I did resulted in the same result that I wrote down on the test. I don't even know if I got the project right or not. All will be revealed in due time. We'll get the test back, and I'll see how much trouble I'm in. WHY? Because of the instant society we live in perhaps. Should I blame society on my idiocy? That would be unfair. It's my fault I didn't review. I could have stayed at home and studied on Sunday. I could have spent more time last night reviewing procedures and notes. I should have done that. It's just when things seem so easy, that when I don't do them. Or is it? Getting an engineering degree isn't so simple. I've been at this for over five years now. It's not just something that I picked up and boom there it is. I've worked at this for a long time, bit by bit.

Even so close to the goal, I'm still in a state.

I'll have to mention this to the doctor tomorrow when I go in for my monthly I'm-not-crazy-give-me-more-drugs visit.

All Hallows Eve

Even though I had to work, there was trick or treating at the mall. Lots of kids, lots of candy (we had to do five candy runs and we still ran out well before the scheduled time to end the trick or treating), and I still managed to do okay on sales. My AM took some wicked pics. I would almost say that I should get a new phone so that I could spontaneously take pictures like that. Meh. Have to sleep, and tomorrow I have the second half of a midterm.

Laters.

How did I make it this far?

It's a good thing that I decided to take a look at my notes to figure out how close, or how far, I was to the actual answers for the exam I just finished. Or rather the exam that just finished me! Nah, I'm still living and breathing, but now I'm not filled with the desire to scream profane explitives.

I hate exams. I really do. I tend to blank out, can't think of anything that we covered in class that seems remotely close to what I would consider helpful, and then in the end I just spew out anything that I can think would be close to what the right answer could resemble, because at that point I'm willing to write anything down, and I usually do. Oftimes I've written comments on how much I loathe exams, and how I should reconsider what I'm doing. I did that again on this exam, almost making me wonder if I should have gone into the Arts instead. But then again, we all know what happened when I took Drama 149. I'm thinking I should stick with sciences and engineering.

I do enjoy writing, but that's just it. I enjoy it. J.R.R. Tolkien enjoyed writing, but as a hobby, not a profession. He was an Oxford professor for the most part. I also hate working under deadlines, but I wouldn't get anything done if it wasn't for them. Gah. Speaking of which, I have an assignment due tomorrow of which I've only completed one quarter. I'll see what I can get done tonight, and I'll also see if I can find another pencil, because I broke the pencil I have now during the exam I just wrote. It wouldn't be that bad, aside from the fact that it was a mechanical pencil! Grrr...

New Toys

I didn't so much find new toys as I found new applications for iPaq. Avantgo is a wonderful little site that allows me to keep up to date with the news and weather. And it's free! That was actually something that I picked up from someone at church. Then I discovered The Core Pocket Media Player (link might not work)from a customer at work. I really like it aside from the fact that it doesn't play .avi files as well as I thought they would. Meh.

And then of course I have discovered the greatness that is YanCEyWare. I want to get a job that brings a lot of money in my direction so I can donate a massive amount to this guy. Wow. This software makes scriptures very easy to study from, and there is also a multitude of other good books to read. Classic literature such as Charles Dickens, Count of Monte Christo, Portrait of Dorian Grey, Odessey, Iliad, the complete works of Shakespear, and the complete works of Edgar Allan Poe are a few of the numerous titles.

I also have a CD coming my way because I found a spelling error in Vue Weekly. I don't know which one I'll get but I looked through the list of albums they have available, and I picked out five.

1. Weird Al - Straight out of Lynnwood (Hey Al! I'll have you know that I'm not a Canadian Idiot)
2. Dreamer - Soundtrack
3. High School Musical - Soundtrack (Haven't seen this, but I thought the songs were catchy)
4. Five for Fighting - Two Lights
5. The Last King of Scotland - Soundtrack (Haven't seen this either, but I like soundtracks)

I'll be getting an email soon from them and I'll find out the details then.

Another interesting link here. It's a brilliant commentary on the power of dreams and monsters.

And another year passes

One year older and wiser too. Happy Birthday - to you! I'm now 28 years of age, and I constantly wonder if this is where I truly wanted to be. I can't imagine why not. I'm almost done school, I have a wonderful wife, baby is on the way, and the prospect for employment never looked better!

Nevertheless, I was a little shaken after I read this article about the oil and gas industry. This is probably due to the fact that I'm looking to apply for employment with one of the said oil and gas companies. Getting on board with a utility would be the way to secure long term employment, and Alberta is the place to get a job like that.

Then there's the other side of the coin in which the abundance of money has crushed the infrastruce of Fort McMurray. I would be just as happy to find some downtown property and live in Edmonton. With my job, I might go all over the world. Europe, Saudi, State-side, who knows maybe Australia. It's just an odd feeling that I have a reasonsibility to society to implement the education I've aquired for the sake of something good, like powering homes and busineses. I've spent the past five years of my life figuring out what goes into making electricity, and energy is a huge market right now.

I like my job at the Source, but if there's no power for the electronics sold nor operating towers to sustain the wireless networks, I might as well work at McDonalds. Oh wait. There wouldn't be power to keep the building running. Hmm...

Good thing I ride my bike to work. I'll need some sort of generator to keep the heat on during the winter.

I need sleep.

Don't need to answer junk mail

Big debt? We have answers! Hey, funny coinscidence, so do I!

Another relief that I don't have to seriously consult junk mail in order to address my finances. Not that I ever would, but when you have tuition due in six days, and you do not have adequate amount of cash to do so, you start to get a little worried. I am going to apply for student loan funding, holding out for the Access Grant, and if that works, then I can scale back my hours a bit. If that doesn't work, then I'll ask my dad for a little assistance. But the bulk of it, in the short term, is going on the Visa. Not wise to do so, because I'm just amassing more debt, but desperate times call for plastic measures.

On a lighter note, my manager is going to be out of town for October 31. Hence my AM has the bright idea of dressing up for All Hallow's Eve. Caitlin thought a midevil/renaissance theme would be cool, but my AM has a zanier idea. One word. Drag. Oddly enough, we I heard that, two voices shouted their response in my head. First one was "Heavens, no." I paraphrased it and said it came out, "No." The other was "Hell, YES!" I pretended I didn't hear that.

Career/Swag Day

I find it odd that I view Career Day in two different lights. One, especially this year, it's a great time to network and find out about possible employment oppurtunities. Second, and this had been every year, can be defined in one word. SWAG. And this year, I made a good haul in both departments.
I got some pens from Schlumberger, Total, Blockbuster, Flint Energy, EUB, and Nexen. Six in all, the most I've ever got from a career fair. I would have taken some pamplets as well, but half the time when I got the pen, if it had the website on it, that was usually enough for me anyway. Some of those places actually told me not to bother giving them a resume, just apply online, because that's how their HR operates. All the easier for me! Some places I didn't bother visiting, because I knew that I wasn't going to apply to work with them, such as Enmax.
More swag, and this actually isn't all of it, because I gave one of the bottles of water and two caribeeners to Tammy, one of Cailtin's co-workers. I got a LOT of stuff, but I wasn't just going for swag this year. I was searching for job leads, and I also found those! If you'll notice there is stuff from ATCO Power there. That is a little misleading, because I don't plan to hitch my cart to them, but rather ATCO Electric. ATCO Power has their office in Calgary, while ATCO electric is based out of Edmonton. Fortis and Altalink are also prospects, but those two are again based out of Calgary. The biggest hope I have is with Nexopia. I was able to talk with the founder and owner to get the idea of just what exactly they are looking for. I must say that I was excited with the possibility of working for company such as this. I just have to get an application together and send it off. I know that I have two and a half months until I'm done school, but these things have a habit of sneaking up and bitting you.

Nevertheless, tomorrow's another day, and unless I get some sleep, I'm going to hate it.

The evil four letter f-word

FLAT. One of the four letter f-words I don't like to hear, particularily in regards to my bike tire. That's what I found last night when I went home from work, my rear wheel was flat like Saskatchewan. I only had enough money to make one phone call, since I didn't have the cell phone, and I decided to call Caitlin and tell her that I would be home late. I then had no money to use for the bus or LRT, so I had to walk home. It was raining, but not too bad, yet it still sucked since it took an hour and a half to hoof it.

When I got home at 11pm, I went right to fixing the tire, because I had the meeting tomorrow morning for work, plus I was scheduled to work. Found the hole easily enough, because Caitlin was able to feel it with her hand. I thought that was a little weird, because usually I have to put it under water to find the hole. But that was one step less for me to do, so I was able to get to work patching the hole. The patch took and after I had a pause to have some dinner, I went back to finishing the job, putting the wheel back on the bike. I inflated the wheel, and while I was struggling to but the tire back on... POW! The tire was flat again. Upon inspection, the hole, a very big one and hard to miss, was right beside the patch. The patch held, but the tube was shot. I thought that it was because I sanded the tube too much and compromised it. I had a spare tube, so I put that in, filled the tire, and... POW! My left ear took all the noise from that (owie), and I felt the air rush out along my leg. That was too much of a coincidence, so I carefully removed the tire, followed along the tube, and the hole was of the same style of the previous pop. What the flat was going on? The rim was fine, and the tire...

The tire had a small cut close to the edge. Right where the hole in the tube was. Some 'flat'-tard slashed my tire. I never thought that people did that to bicycles, but it just happened to me. Flat. With no more inner tubes, and a slashed tire, I was in trouble. But Caitlin offered me a bit of hope. I could use her bike. Her bike was fine. Needed a little air in the tires, but that was no trouble since our pump can do both Schrader and Presta valves. Karpoozi (Caitlin's bike, named after the fact that it's green and she wanted to call it "Watermelon" and I thought it was lame. So I suggested "Karpoozi", which is watermelon in Greek, which I thought sounded cooler. Caitlin agreed.) has Presta valves, while Bikey has the common Schrader valves that you find on most vechiles in the automotive industry.

The next morning, I filled the tires, and all was well. Until I started riding. Goodness that bike is small! In order for Caitlin to ride that bike properly, I'm going to have to find a new seat post and handle bar post. Heck, I might just get another frame so that the wheels are bigger! I could ride, but it was difficult. I nearly kneed myself in the chest a couple of times. I can only imagine what it feels like for Caitlin!

At work, I mentioned what happened last night and my unfortunate circumstance. With this, I requested if I would be able to get off early today to aquire the tire and tube needed to fix my bike up. I was sure that I wouldn't, and in the end I was right. However, my AM reminded me of a place close to work that sells bicycle stuff, and surely they would be able to supply my needs. Indeed they did! Crappy Tire or not, they had inner tubes for $6 each, and a new tire for $16. Plus I got some Canadian Tire money! w00t! I was hoping that I could go to RedBike or MEC, but I was in a pinch, and this will work. At least I hope it does, I haven't changed the tire yet. We'll find out soon enough!

Rolling start

I am so glad that I decided to get those books for Comparative Literature when I did. Turns out that one of the assignments is a reading journal for one of the books on the reading list. The only catch, is that you need to submit the journal before it's discussed in class. The first book that we are going to discuss is Left Hand of Darkness, and I could realistically do this, expect that it sounded like the prof wants us to do the journal as we're reading the book. It doesn't matter if I like the book or not, it's just a matter of doing a critique about the book, and my impressions about it. There's a list of things to think about, such as narrative style, thematic issues, opinion about the setting and premise of the novel, and the list goes on. The only challenge would be cranking out the journal before the end of the week.

Surprise surprise, there were a couple more books on the reading list that I didn't know about. Not a huge surprise, because not only have I read the books, I've also seen the movie too! The first two books in the trilogy in five parts, Douglas Adams Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and Restaurant at the End of the Universe.

I better head off to bed, because:
a) I'm tired
b) my wife has been imploring me to do so for some time now, and
c) one word, Thunderstorm

Treasure Hunting

When I clean anyplace that I occupy, I should bring an anthropologist or a palientologist. Half the time I find things that I thought I lost months ago. Other things I didn't realize we owned! Thankfully, it only collects dust, not mold. I'm not that much of a slob. Well... Actually let's not go there. Nevertheless, on the first Saturday I've had off of work in months, I cleaned my living room. Partially.

If anyone needs a cure for insomnia, watch Solaris. I don't know about the George Clooney version, but the Russian subtitled version put me to sleep at least three times. I thought the part where Hari drinks liquid oxygen was neat, although disturbing. Then watching the special features, I fell asleep during that too! Now I know why people doze off when they don't understand what's going on. This may explain why so many university students fall asleep in class.

I certainly hope the book isn't quite like the movie was, in terms of atmosphere setting. The movie certainly set an atmosphere, but after awhile, I gave up trying to figure out what direction the movie was going.

Speaking of books, I finished Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. That was a weird book, yet I'm intrigued how the movie holds up to it. I'll have to watch it with my wife so she can hide my eyes during the boob scenes. Unless I can find it on TV, and then I don't have anything to worry about. Hmmm... Maybe I can find an edited version somewhere. Setting that aside, it really does make you ponder the value of life, and what constitutes being alive. Right now we don't have much of an issue with computer sentience, yet I can't help but think that one day I'm going to get an error message on either an ATM, or my computer, or my PocketPC, or my cell phone, or the Moneris machine at work, or a customer is going to tell us about this error message that simply says, "I hate you." At first we might think that it's a joke the programmer put in to get back at his boss because he had to work one too many weekends, and it might be at first. But when the device actually comes forward and stops working, simply because it hates us all, we won't believe it. Not many believed B1-66ER and that caused decades of problems. A fictional account of course, but it parallels Dick's work.

This also seems to make me think about The Stepford Wives, and how I treat my own wife. Would I do the same thing as those men, have my wife replaced by a robot slave? How could someone even fathom doing that? In retrospect, I wouldn't call them 'men'. A man is the head of household, the patriarch of his family, but when he starts to be a dictator, that is when the title of man is stripped from him and a primal persona takes over. My wife has many names, and one of them is companion. Sometimes she leads and I follow. Other times the roles are reversed. We work together, and together, we make things work. Sounds cheesy, but it's what's kept us together for the past three years. Times have been hard, and we know they will get worse. I'm not a pessimist; I'm a realist. Before we got married I knew we would fall on hard times, all relationships do.

This morning, my beloved wife asked me, "Why do you keep loving me?" It took me awhile to come up with an answer that didn't sound ridiculous, ie. because there's so much of you to love. Finally I came up with the answer, "Because you keep changing". We might not have noticed how much we've changed over the past three years, but we acknowledge that we have. Every day and I love the same person I married, but I also meet a new person. Some who just had a dream or two. When I come home from work, I follow up on what she's done during the day, and sometimes during the day we catch up with each other. We guide and advise each other in decisions that change who we are, and who we will become. We share, we love, we grow.

I could go on, but I have to get some sleep. Plus I need to spend a good quantity of quality time with my queen.

Book =/ Movie

I don't have the proper logic symbol to indicate 'not equal', but I should not have been surprised that after spending three hours of my life watching a Russian movie, subtitled in English, based on a Polish Science Fiction book, that the author of the book hated the movie. Other critics saw the movie and the book as two seperate things. I should have seen that coming, because even with the first movie that I had the opportunity to both read the book and see the movie - Jurassic Park by Michael Critchon - I could blantently see that the two artistic works were similar but different. You can't fit the same amount of material in a two hour movie that you can in a 300 page novel. It's just not possible. And countless other movies have done the same thing, and not just the ones based on novels. Some movies take short stories and run with them such as I, Robot; Bicentennial Man; Minority Report; even that awful movie Johnny Mnemonic. Perhaps I'm a little cornered here looking only at sci-fi, but that's the kind of stuff I have experience with.

To sum up, I have a strong impression that I should read the book. Hence I bought it.

Back in class

Today was a bit of a waste of time in my eyes to go to U of A. First off, my first class was cancelled. I was two minutes late, and I wound up missing the entire thing! I talked with a couple of guys from the class, and they said that the prof is Africa for two weeks, and we have a sub for the moment. The course pack is available, and there was a brief syllabus, but other than that I missed the sub telling everyone that he couldn't write down his email address or his name because there was no pen. Great.

With three hours until my next class, I wandered for about an hour, then I went to drop off my perscription, knowing that it would take some time to fill. Not that it's difficult to find the meds, it's just that I was pretty sure that they would have to double check with the doctor that it was the right meds. I was right. When I went after Economics, I was told that same story that I've heard almost every time I've gone to fill my meds.

I made a stop at the Institute building, and the only class that I would be able to take would be Book of Mormon 1. Again. I find it a little difficult to find the motivation to take an insitute course since I've already graduated from the program, and received my post-grad. I know that I need spiritual studies to compliment my secular studies, but that's another kettle of fish altogether. I also realized that there are a lot of people that I've been out of touch with over the summer, and it was good to see everyone again!

I am so glad I decided to take Econ 204 as one of my last courses. First and foremost, 99% of the people in the class are first years. Heh heh. I'm going to mop the floor with these guys! Second of all, the course is not designed to add another 15 hours a week of work on the already huge work load of engineers. Hence there are no assignments, and all exam material is taken from the notes. The only catch, is that you have to show up in class, and take notes, because there is nothing posted online. All the same, hee hee hee. Swish! SO glad I'm taking this course when I am!

And on a less serious note, I got a view of the character designs for the new Transformers movie. All I can say, is that they are much different from what I remember, but they do have a slick look to them.

I've also revamped the links bar on the site. The blog where I got these pics is now listed there, as well as some more of my favourite webcomics.

BRILLIANT

Foolish me forgot how web-based entry windows work. And I also forgot that if you have more than one account it will log you out of one, and into the other. I now realize that if you are doing a blog entry, FINISH IT BEFORE YOU GO ABOUT DOING ANY OTHER MULTITAKING!!!

I just lost an entry because of that error, so I'll try to get it spit out again, quickly.

I was in charge of the store today, and I will tomorrow. I think it sucks because I had to miss church, and I will be working on a holiday. Hope that won't happen next month, because Thanksgiving is the same day as my birthday. This holiday/birthday scheduling won't happen again until 2017, which is eleven years from now. My dad has the day off, and wants Cailtin and I to visit. Another reason that I probably won't show up at work on October 9, even if I'm scheduled.

I also talked to my dad about the fact that I don't have enough money for tuition, and he said that he could cover what I come short. I hope I don't have to ask for much, but rent is going up, and my hours are going down. Not a good combo.

Caitlin and I saved some money when we went swimming at Grant MacEwan Saturday. We showed up 30 minutes before close, so we were let in for one admission from our 10-visit pass instead of the usual two. w00t!

I think things are going to turn out okay.

No such thing as an average day

After all the freaking out with the lost merchendise, there was a calm in the storm. My AM prevented an act of credit card fraud, and that instantly raised morale! We got an notice from the District Loss Prevention manager with a decription of someone with a stolen card. I didn't think much of it until I noticed my AM march into the back room with a very determined look on her face. I did a bit of a double take when I saw a person matching the description in the store. I was helping a customer at the time, and I did my best to keep on with that. My first manager once told me, "The customer is the focus", and that was never more true than at that moment. Caitlin later told me that acting like nothing unusual was going on was the best thing I could have done. I agreed to stay until the dust settled, but that was around 8:30pm, so I just stayed until close. Crazy day!

Less than a week before classes start again! OIE! I'm quite sure that I'm not going to finish the books that I bought last month, but I have read two. Mind you, I didn't buy Calculating God, but I read it all the same. I also renewed it in case I need to reference to it within the first week of classes. Who am I kidding? I should just return it, and then buy it. Caitlin wants to buy it, and I don't blame her. I could see her reading that one at least five times. I got a copy of "Solaris" from the library the other day, and it's not the book. The library doesn't have a copy of the George Clooney version, but rather they have a 2-disc edition of the Russian version, with English subtitles. Wow. It is tough to watch. Not gory or disturbing, just long, quiet, artistic, and difficult to follow, since it's in Russian. Unless you're following along with the subtitles, you are VERY lost. Almost like reading an abridged version of the book. I also read one of the short stories in the William Gibson collection I bought. I wanted to read Johnny Mnemonic because I heard that the movie sucked, and I wanted to see if this was a matter of Hollywood taking a good idea and putting it through the mill. I'm not sure what conclusions to draw, because I read the story rather quickly, and from what I read from Rotten Tomatoes, it was only "loosely based" on the story anyway. The story is still pretty freaky, and I also seem to remember that it was shot in Montreal. A gritty, dirty, and scary future looks a lot like downtown Montreal... Hmmm... I think the future just happened.

Well, there's a staff meeting tomorrow at nine, and Caitlin has been telling me to get to bed for 20 minutes straight now. Tah tah.

Don't say it

If you're having a bad day, never ever say any of the following. Don't even think it, or think about thinking it!
1- Well, it can't get any worse, can it?
2- At the least we got through the worst of it.
3- I can't think of anyone else who is having a worse day than me!

First, those statements are false. Second, by thinking, begining to think, or saying any of those phrases, their negativity is brought out twicefold. Am I exagerating? Maybe. Maybe not.

All I know is that I was nervous when I came into work today, because I knew I would have to face my manager, and try to explain what happened to about $1000 worth of stock. Surprising, that went over quite well. I answered all his questions the best I could, didn't go into a fit, and neither did he. Perhaps he was too jetlagged. I don't know. What I do know, is that less than an hour after we opened, someone got a five-finger discount on a $280 19" LCD computer monitor. All three of us, including my manager were on the floor at the time. NOT GOOD. The rest of the day was interupted at regular intervals by visits and phones calls from Mall Security and EPS. We were still able to sell a goodly amount by the end of the day, but I was still pretty shaken. Thankfully, I have tomorrow off.

Despite the missing stock, Jon was still impressed with the way I handled the store. He received a minimal amount of phone calls, and they weren't pressing matters. The big crisises I was able to handle between Liz and other managers and associates in the city. Reach out and find someone! That's what I did. It was still uber freaky being the manager for three days, especially when we had someone go home early for medical reasons, and I had less than an hour to find someone to cover the rest of the shift. I was faced with the possibility of closing early, but all it took was a couple of phone calls, and the problem was quelled. Management is hard! I can only imagine what it's going to be like raising a family now.

At least with the emergency scheduling, I knew that all the employees would be coming back next week. That wasn't the case at Northgate, where one of the employees put in their resignation. When the manager was gone. There was one employee left to fend for the entire store. He's a seasoned sales associate, so he could handle things, but it was nonetheless freaky to the extreme. Plus, once the manager comes back, there is still the problem of there being only two people on staff, and one of those associates is going to part-time in a couple weeks.

Ah yes, then there was the news that I received today for Caitlin. Her AM called with a bit of news that made my week seem like a cakewalk. Cailtin's manager quit. The AM was scheduled to have her last day on Friday, but she's going to stick around for at least another week until they have everything settled. Or the store shuts down. One or the other. I'm hoping the former. Caitlin might have to step into the shoes of management a little sooner than she thought, but I really hope that things will stablize downtown.

Why is it so hard to find people who will stay on with retail? Is it the sales? Interacting with people? Fear of rejection? Fear of sucess? Low wages? Not enough incentives? Or dream of something better?

Life is hard. Why? Because it takes work.

Can you say "addiction"?

It's funny when I read a new webcomic, I have to read all the archives. Even though I already have 34 webcomics on my favourites, and there are a few others I read that aren't on the favourites list, I added another.

I'm going to bed now. I already took my meds, so I can sleep easy knowing that. After I get to work tomorrow, that's going to be a different story.

Today? I'll say this much. I didn't anticipate so much trouble, and managing isn't quite what I imagined it would be.

All by Myself

Somehow my mind seems to float on the Chirs Columbus production of Home Alone. At first when Kevin discovers that he's home alone, it's awesome! He runs around the house screaming, jumping on beds, and riding his sled down the stairs and into the snow. I did none of the listed things, but I did stay up until 4am this morning watching random crap on YouTube. The weird thing is that I only slept for three hours, and then I was awake, and couldn't go back to bed. I did take my meds, so I don't think I'm going on an upswing right now, but it was a little odd. I'm going to try to get to bed a little earlier tonight.

The other somewhat freaky thing is keeping the store together. Albeit, LD isn't that tough of a place to hold down, but it is a little daunting to be in charge.

"First rule of management... everything is your fault" - Hopper, A Bug's Life, Pixar, 1997

Keeping tabs on everyone, making sure that things get done, and most of all, making sure that the customers leave the store happy are responsabilities that get added to the pile of making sales, troubleshooting, and receiving shipment. I'm just glad that Liz talked me through closing yesterday. That was a lifesaver, especially backing up the system. Somethings are assumed that you know, and it's also assumed that if I don't know, I'll figure it out. One thing I learned the hard way, is that it's important to close the batch each night! Sure you'll get impressive numbers the second night, but then it gets a little whacked to get the DR right. Bleh.

I have yet to recieve an email from my wife, who is in Banff still, and will be there until Sunday. We have spoken on the phone a couple of times, but I do not look forward to seeing the phone bill, since all the calls have been collect. Still, it does feel good to hear her voice. It would be nicer if we were together, and it would be great if I was still in Banff with her.

The time I spent in Banff felt like I was there to hurry up and relax. If there is such a thing. I spent more time relaxing at the Orr's and the Pierce's than I did during the five hours I was in Banff. Or maybe it was six. Nevertheless, it wasn't much. I wish I could have been there overnight at least. If we had our own car, that could have worked. As it was, it didn't. Fortunately for me, I was able to get rides from my sisters who were planning on going to Banff, and Liz lives downtown, so it wasn't difficult for me to get to the bus on time. I was still tired when I got on that bus though. Hence I didn't correct the blantent error of @@, instead of 22, in the date. I thought it was appropo.

Anywho, I should get off to bed. I still want to finish Calculating God before the week is out. It's quite a read, and it's also very thought provoking. I do believe in God, so it's kind of gratifying to see this athiest get hit over the head by aliens that have scientifically proven the existance of God. Hee hee.

Seemed like a good idea

@@ Auguser 2006

Right now, sitting on this luxary bus in downtown clgary at 6:30am, I am seriously hoping that this vacation was worth it. The bus seems equiped with a DVD player, so I was wise to bring my headphones. However, if I fall asleep on the 3 hour trip and miss the flick, I'm not going to be put out. I've already seen four movies in the past two days. The village caitlin and I watched on Sunday morning at the Tolley's while we folded up our laundry. Nanny McFee, we also watched together, but the location was at the Orr Theatre, also known as their Theatre room. RV and Larry the Cable Guy:Health Inspector I watched at the Pierce's. Thankfully Liz but Isobel down for bed before we watched LtCG:HI, because that is not a kid's show. Heavy on the cruude humour, I'm quite glad that Cailtin didn't see it either.

I am glad that I did get to spend some time with my sibs and in-laws. I made some interesting discoveries, such as the fact the Gail (Chris' mom) was college buddies with the owner of the Candy Shop in Banff.

Long Overdue

Written on iPAQ, 19 August 2006, 11:46pm

A lot of things tend to get shoved into the background. Taking time to write a blog entry, talk with siblings and parents, do laundry, and taking a vacation seem to presently come to mind. I also forgot to take my meds last night, but I didn't flare up at work today so I think I did okay. I have today's dose working through me right now. Caitln made sure to get me back on track.

The last time I saw my family was longer than a day ago though. Dad, Caitlin and I went to Calgary on July 2, 2006 so I could participate in the blessing of Benjamin Arthur Orr. My new nephew, and Dad's first grandson. I was hoping that Caitlin and I would produce the first, but for all I know, our first child may be a daughter. Nevertheless, that's two grandchildren with a third on the way. The only disappointment was that Liz wasn't there. I'll see her and Isobel Monday, because I'm using the next two days to do a lot of things that are long overdue.

While we were waiting for a load of whites to dry, I got a call from Jessica to discuss arrangements for tomorrow. Good thing I told her the Tolley's number in the phone message I left earlier today. My vacation, or 2006 Banff trip, began as soon as I got off work today, because when I got home, the only thing Caitlin and I had in mind was to leave our apartment. Caitin will return Sunday, August 27, 2006. I will be back Tuesday, August 22, 2006, much sooner than my wife due the shortage of experienced staff.

Two days of vacation is still two days not at work, so I'm going to do my best to relax. I'm going to need it if I hope to survive this coming week. It would be nice to spend the entire week with my wife in Banff, but alas, not this year. At least I'm getting some time off, unlike last year. True last year I went to Las Vegas, but that was a convention for WFG, and I'm not doing anything with them anymore. Almost seems ironic, because I'm wearing one of the shirts I bought there.

On a side note, an odd coincidence was brought to my attention today. My assistant manager has the same nickname as my little sister. Further odd coincidence is that the former manager of Londonderry Source shares the same name as me. Hence I make sure to answer the phone using my proper name to avoid confusion. So far those are the only names that have caused confusion.

One down

I finished Left Hand of Darkness an hour ago, and I must say it is an interesting read. I have no idea how we're going to be tearing this book apart in class, since class doesn't start for another four weeks. At first I thought the idea of people who can change gender was cool. By the end, it just seemed confusing. I have to read that book again, with a dictionary. I understood the book for the most part, but there were a multitude of words that are not in my vocabulary. I found the premise most intriguing. A lone man on an alien planet, his mission is to rouse interest and agreement to get the planet to join an interplanetary alliance. By the end of the book, the residents on the planet are more familiar to him than the people from the ship that dropped him off. Terran men and women seem alien to him. Facinating read, even though it didn't quite head in the direction that I anticipated with the mind-speak.

All the same, there are a lot of books to read, and I just finished one. Kind of scratching the surface. Meanwhile, Cailtin read one of the books on the reading list as well. I borrowed Calculating God from the library, and Caitlin read it in two days. I swear, she's a goat when it comes to books. She devours them. Over and over again too. She wants me to buy the book, so that means she'll read it at least 10 times by the time the year is out. She really liked it. I'm going to read that one next, since I have to return it September 2. From what Caitlin has told me, it's going to be a crazy read. Aliens land in Toronto, and the first thing they say is "Take me to your palentologist." Local people are mentioned in the book too, such as Prime Minister Chretien and Peter Mansbridge. I think it's interesting.

Good times

I really shouldn't say that life is all that bad right now. It's just that when I went to work on Friday I got caught in the downpour that soaked the city. I was mostly dry, save my pants, my jacket, and my socks. I was okay feetwise until I went through a puddle. That's when it was made clearly obvious that although my boots are watertight, lined with Gore-tex, and will keep your feet warm in temperatures as low as -30C, there is one problem with them. Each boot has a large gaping hole. Since that is where you put your foot in, the only boot that doesn't have that problem was one designed by Newfies.

Even in the rain, it only took about 20 minutes to get to Londonderry from the moment I set my foot out the door to when I arrived. I really need to lube my bike now, but I'll get to that later today, since I have the day off.

I was hoping to go see Monster House today with Caitlin, but that's up in the air. We'll see how she feels in an hour.

The company picnic on Saturday was a great sucess. I'm really glad I went to Londonderry, because no one from Westmount showed. They had other plans involving friends, family, and... video games. The fact that no one had a car played a part too I think, but the 128 goes right from Westmount to Hawrlack Park. Their loss.

There is a slight possibility that I'll get Sunday and Monday off again next week, but I won't know until the schedule is written. Here's hoping.

The surprises keep coming

I knew that I would have a tough time getting vacation time this summer, but now I know it's impossible. For a good chunk of the summer, I had the hope to go to Banff with my wife and some of my in-laws. That was cut down to a weekend, and now there is no hope whatsoever. First, the managers conference will take the manager at Londonderry to Barrie for a few days. During said time, the Assistant Manager will be gone to Grand Prairie to manage the store in absence of the manager, who will be in Barrie as well. That leaves me as the most experienced staff member to take care of the store. I'm not going to Banff during that time. Also, one of my co-workers needs the same weekend that I was hoping to use to go to Banff. That discouraged me, but what put the nail in the coffin was when I was refreshed on holiday policy. Minimum two-weeks notice for any vacation time. Schedule is already made, and I'm bound to it. Crumbs.

On the plus side, I am learning more store responsabilities, such as processing shipment, and doing Store Transfers. Cool stuff, plus I get to train new staff that we'll be hiring on. Oh boy.

Another great thing about the store, there is a microwave. And it works! Lunch is going to be so much easier now. Speaking of which I need to get that together. I still don't know how long it will take me to get to Londonderry, but I'm estimating 30 minutes. It took me 20 minutes to ride home from Belvadere station yesterday, which is about 10 minutes from Londonderry Mall. Again, approximations. Some stuff doesn't require preparation, such as the chocolate coated sesame snaps that I found at Save-On Foods the other day. So so so so so good!

When I went to the U of A yesterday for my bi-polar clinic, I arrived over an hour early. I decided to take a look in the bookstore to see if there were any books for my courses in yet, and there were. My Comparative Literature (or C LIT) 342 had most, if not all of the books there. Eight novels and a compelation of short stories comprise the list. Uh oh. I bought five of them, since four were used (and thereby cheaper than new), and the compelation was a course pack, and hence a moderate, but fixed, price. The other four, or three, novels that I left weren't that expensive. One of them was Calculating God by Robert J. Sawyer. Another was Solaris, the novel that served as the basis for the George Clooney flick. I might just watch the movie. I know I should read the book, and I started reading one of the books I bought, with the goal to read them all before classes start, but we'll see.

Same job, new location

It's official now. I'm being transferred to Londonderry, and I'm glad of it. Nothing against Westmount, it's a nice store, great co-workers, but low traffic. My reasons for going to Westmount in the first place was:
a) Nathan needed people badly since staff was cut down to one person, himself;
b) I was told it would be temporary. One week, maybe two, and then I would be back at Kingsway.

Since then, Kingsway is up to full staff again, and they are running very well. Therefore, there is no opening for me until September when part-time help is needed. As for Londonderry, they need another person there to bring the number of staff to four. With the amount of business they do, the store can easily support four staff members, while Westmount can do well with three.

I haven't done the bike commute to Londonderry yet, but I figured that it would be equidistant compared to Westmount, and that took about 25 minutes or so. Of course once the snow hits it'll have to be ETS as the primary mode of transportation, where it's secondary right now.

Although I am looking forward to this new position, there is one thing bothering me. No matter where I go, I don't think I'm going to be able to take the full holiday that I was planning for all year. Due to the labour shortage across the city, and the district, we are having trouble keeping stores staffed. So taking a week off is a bit of a pinch. Plus I've only been with the company for two months, and I'm going part-time in the fall. On top of this, the week I've been planning to go overlaps with the Managers Conference in Ontario. Every store will be down an employee during the time I want to take vacation! I really need time off too. Last year I didn't get to go to much of anywhere because of May 16, and then I was working two jobs to try to cover the lost time. Bleh. I seem to remember writing this previously...

Anywho, I need to get downtown to get my wife some water. The Culligan man hasn't shown up for a couple of weeks, the A/C is on the malfal, and she left her bottle at home. Not a good combo when you add on the fact that she's pregnant.

Cursing count rises

The following was written at 11:00pm August 7, 2006
I don't know if I'm cut out to be management material. Today we had a couple come in who wanted a refund on a purchase. They had the original receipt, and we had no trouble getting the Visa refund to work. Trouble started when they wanted a receipt. Policy dictates that we have to hold onto the originals, and give the customers a photocopy if they really need it. We can do photocopies, but we have to tape the receipts to a blank piece of 8.5x11 paper to feed through the fax. But I fed the paper into the fax wrong, so we got two pages of black smudge. Now the customers are telling me that I'm wasting their time and that I don't need to do this. I should just give them a receipt, and then we can make our own copy on our own time. Then the machine ran out of paper. No problem, just feed some more in, while I get the yellow receipt attatched. Up to this point, I was doing ok. Then the customer mentions that they still need the receipt for not only the refund, but the original purchase. Another thing to tape down, nothing major. I got a bit short when the customer told me to take the staple out of the receipt because it wouldn't feed properly if I didn't. I tore the staple out, and a sizable chunk of the receipt with it. Then I swore, and instantly felt ashamed for doing it.

When I fed the paper into the fax, I didn't realize that I had improperly secured the tension plate. I thought it had something to do with the Printer film, which was also running low. I was very frustrated at this point, and subsequently left the store in search of some place where I could find a copier that worked. I cursed again when I found that the place I went previously for copies was closed for holiday Monday. Thankfully, the Bell booth was kind enough to accomidate me, free of charge. I gave the customers the yellow receipts, and we kept the photocopy. Half an hour to get that fixed, and the fax was still on the fritz. Stayed on the fritz until close too. The sad thing was, I didn't care.

Oh yeah, then there was the fire alarm that blared for 20 minutes because it couldn't be turned off until the fire department came. Grrr...

Good thing the DR balanced, or I might have put my fist through something.

There was happy elements to this day. First, it ended. Second, Caitlin and I were able to go down to Beaumont and visit with the Tolleys, and Caitlin didn't get nauseated on the way there because we travelled there in a 2006 Dodge Calibur. A rental, of course, one of the nice things about being over 25. Hee hee. It's going to cost about $90, hence we don't rent a car very often. Good food, good company, a good DVD episode of Futurama, a haircut for Caitlin, and a couple loads of laundry, plus the fact that we'll be able to get to sleep in a cool bed tonight. I think it was worth the trip.

Thank God for the seventh day

"And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made: and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made." - Gen. 2:2

I'm not professing to be God, but I am very grateful for the seventh day, in my case Sunday. After all the craziness of work this week, I really need a day off to relax, get my mind of Daily Reports, and be with my wife.

Turns out that my sister-in-law was in premature labour, not full-on labour, so she didn't deliver her baby. She's that much closer though! I swear we got a bit of baby fever going on Kallie about to pop and Caitlin due in March.

This is the only entry I've made today using my desktop keyboard. All the other entries were made using iPAQ and the new keyboard. I found that using a Food Court tray as an impromptu lap desk works quite well for typing with the portable keyboard. Of course, sitting at a table works just as well.

We learn.

Tomorrow is another day

6:40pm

No word for Mher, an appointment with Lock Surgeon tomorrow at 10am, and some good food is all we have to show for today. We couldn't get Lock Surgeon to come by any earlier than 8pm, and the mall would have been locked down for the night at that point. We just made an appointment for tomorrow before the store opens. You would think that I would have called the other locksmith operation in the city after that, but didn't. I was kind of flustered today. Hopefully the smith won't break the lock, but we won't know until tomorrow. What's done is done, and the only thing lost was the day's sales. Considering that some customers went to Kingsway to get their shopping done, it wasn't a total loss for the company.

Nevertheless, I am not going to make my comissions this pay period, and hence I put in a request for a transfer. Ryan is considering putting me up at Londenderry. It's about equidistant for me to bike there, and the manager there has mentioned the possibilty of having me work there. I would like to make money, but I would also like to have a vacation of sorts this year. The way things are shaping up, I might not be going to Banff at the end of the month.

Caitlin is done her soup now, so I guess we should get a movin' on home. I was expecting to find the Tolley clan here, but there was nobody, not even the mother to be here. She was discharged today, and the nurses didn't mention if she delivered or not. We'll make some phone calls when we get home.

From bad to worse

1:25pm

At this point, I am beginning to think that we are not going to open today. I have not seen Mher, Nathan has talked with head office, and I've also consulted with mall security. By talked I mean he left a message on a machine which we may not hear a reply from until Tuesday, and by consulted I mean run into a dead end since mall security does not have spare keys for any businesses in the mall. Nathan did get home to check if he had a number to contact Mher. He doesn't. The only other place that there might be a contact number would be inside the store. Catch 22 there. If we call 411 we might find his number, but to do that, we would need his last name, which we don't know the exact spelling, but if we could contact another store, they could set us up with that info.

The title says it all.

One less thing to worry about

11:15am

Thankfully the guy working at the Fido booth has an Ericsson as well. Although not the exact same model, the charger works on my phone, and he was kind enough to let me use the said charger. So it's not going to die completely on me, but it came darn close.

Funny thing, across the hall from our store is a computer shop. They specialize in refurbs, so you can get decent computers quite cheap. In fact I saw a laptop there for $109. Quite a deal, although the little guy wouldn't be of much use except for email, blog, or notes at school. Then I realized that's why I bought the keyboard for iPAQ, and that was the end of that idea.

I wonder how much time my phone needs to charge. Or if Nathan has called yet. I am just all nerves today.

This is embarassing

10:45am

I changed into my uniform, so people will at least get the idea that I am supposed to be running the store right now, and that we'll be opening soon. Nevertheless, if anyone wants to do a transaction, whether it be a purchase or a refund, I'm at a loss. Such as the group of people who came by a couple of minutes ago looking to buy a camcorder battery. When I told them that the battery doesn't come charged that killed the sale anyway. I'm still glad that I decided to change, because I was able to help out a lady with some problems with her DVD player. It was more customer service than technical assistance, because she didn't have the player with her, and she'll be back Tuesday.

The other bad news is that unless I can find a charger for the cell phone, Nathan might not be able to get in touch with me to let me know what to do. Then again, if he doesn't get a hold of Mher, he will probably call the locksmith himself.

A regrettable, yet ordinary, day

10:00am

I know that I'm forgetful. When I was in Greece, Elder Jens Wolf told me that it wasn't an ordinary day unless I forgot at least one thing. Since that day, I have found that to be true. One day I forgot a belt for my work pants. Another day, I was about to get on my bike to ride to work when I realized that I was still wearing my slippers. There was even a time on my mission when I forgot my name tag, bus pass, and contact list.

Today has achieved a new status, because I was worried that this would happen to the point that I had a dream about it. I am typing this up at the food court at Westmount Mall, although I'm supposed to be at work, because I forgot the keys to the store! I was given the keys yesterday, and instead of putting them in my pocket, as I should have, I absent-mindedly put them in the office desk drawer. Hence, they're in a safe place. So safe that unless my manager and I find the other person with the spare set of keys, we will have to call a locksmith. Or we could wait until the person with the keys drops by, which could be at 11am or 5:30pm. We don't know. That's why my manager turned around to go home and find the contact number for this guy. We have opened late before, so this isn't really a bad thing. But this is not very good either! I had a nightmare, and it came true. Oie.

But those previous blunders had happy endings, more or less. Even without a belt, I was able to make it through the day, two days actually, of hiking my pants every few minutes. I was just outside my apartment building door when I looked at my feet and saw my American Eagle footwear instead of my black work shoes. Although I had to walk 20 minutes back to my apartment with my somewhat frustrated companion, there was no trouble to get the things I forgot.

I just hope this turns out the same way, because this is certainly an ordinary day.

Three years and going strong

August 2, 2006 marked the third anniversary of the day my wife and I entered into the covenant of eternal marriage. Some people question why I decided to get married, since the engagement was a scant three and a half months.

I had dated other members of the opposite sex, I had a good idea what I was looking for, and I also prayed about it. I was at the time, and currently still am, a good standing member of the LDS church. I paid my tithing (one tenth of my income), attended weekly worship meetings and various other protocol that qualified me to hold a valid temple recommend. At home and elsewhere I pondered the possiblity of living with my then-girlfriend as husband and wife for time and all eternity. It was daunting, but it felt right.

Everyday since, I thank God for His answer to my prayers, my sister and mother-in-law for exchanging mine and Caitlin's phone numbers, and most of all my darling wife who has stood by me through these tumultous times, knowing from the beginning that it was not going to be blissful 24/7, but not knowing how difficult to would be. Thank you.

Mainframe does another Gear-8 job

For years I have been keeping an eye out for the series Heavy Gear, and today, at a used media store at Westmount, I found it. Based on a video game that I have never played, it follows the battles and rivals of two teams of giant robots known as Gundam, sorry Battle Mechs, no wait... Gears! Been done before? Not quite. There are the futuristic elements such as the titluar Gears armed to the teeth (pun intended) with missiles, machine guns, and melee weapons, plus the fact that all the battles are televised with flying cameras propelled by superconductors, but it does not have a continuing storyline. It has more of the Saturday morning cartoon feel to it, much like the first season of Reboot, also made by Mainframe Entertainment.

That alone was one of the reasons I yoiked it off the shelf as soon as I saw it. I've found that Mainframe is for television what Pixar is for the film industry. When Toy Story came out, it was heralded as the longest production done completely in CGI to date. Not as widely noted was the fact that Mainframe had produced two 12 episode seasons of Reboot by the end of 1995, the same year Toy Story was released in theatres. About 500 minutes of material compared to the 75 minute feature film. I'm not saying that one is better than the other, I'm just saying that some other companies deserve the lime light too.

The other reason was that I had never seen it before since it was never televised in North America. For what reason, I have no idea. This show looks like it would have had a good home on The Zone (YTV), especially since Mainframe is a canadian company.

Nonetheless, it's a good little show, and I'm glad that I have Volume 1 added to my collection. I was releaved the show was pretty good, because the DVD features are crap. No special features, no additional languages, no captions, there is not even a Play All option. The main menu consists of the five episode titles, a shot of the Gears, and the series title. After an episode is done, you are returned to the menu. I guess they didn't think it would sell, so not much effort was put into the disc features. At least it has a menu though.

To Blog or Not to Blog

I recently got an email from my mom about a new blog that I started up about my wife's pregnancy. She was happy for us, yet was a little disconcerted that I was keeping a public record about these events. I was a little perplexed because I was thinking about writing and publishing a book about all this. Aside from the publication idea, I find it a better way to keep a personal record. I used to keep a private journal, but I've had problems with keeping track of the books, scribblers, and computer files that I've used over time. Also, I've heard time and time again that our journals are for our own records, but also for future posterity. Why let people wait until I'm dead to read about me?

Mind you there have been somethings that have been recorded, but are not available to the public. Sealed documents concerning the assination of JFK for instance. Some prophesies were written and not revealed to the people at that time. Such as the one by Alma the younger(?) where he foresaw that the Nephite empire would fall 400 years after the coming of Christ.

There were a few things that were starting to worry me about blogging though. First is that I was putting in a lot of time to do entries. Don't get me wrong, I love to write, but I also love to spend time with my wife. We don't have the computer in our bedroom, and I wind up spending quite a bit of time apart, even though we're under the same roof. Feels weird. That's not really a problem now, because I have my PDA keyboard, so I can type in the company of my wife. The other worry was that I get too absorbed with myself. I certainly hope not!

I heart eBay

My first purchase went as well as you can imagine. I paid using Paypal, and the vendor sent it out that day, and in about a week I got it. I was a little worried after I installed the driver, then I read the disk. "Keyboard driver for Compaq iPaq H3800 series" didn't really send a chill though me, but I thought I would try it anyway. BOOM! It works! Those other entries today were written on the bus and at the Agricom using the keyboard. You would think that it's easy to type on that thing. It's not the spring loaded laptop type of keyboard, it's the rubber keys with carbon contacts. I'm assuming, I don't want to take it apart!

After all this money that we spent, it made me realize that we still need to pay tithing. We're getting a little behind, so this Sunday I am going to do everything save staple the checkbook to my forehead.

At the fair

Just saw the Hoja show at Telus stage and now we're refreshing ourselves with some of the food that I brought. I knew that we would be spending some money today, because we both wanted to get some more baklava. That was just the beginning. We also got a vegetable shredder, some aromatherapy stuff, and some fudge. It is way too easy to spend a lot of money! And we haven't gone on any rides either. Funny thing is, I do not plan to, and I know Caitlin doesn't either.

I have to say that it's a lot easier to use this keyboard when it's on a flat surface. I need to get myself used to this thing if i want to use it for school. I know I would have to get my typing speed up to at least 35 wpm if I want to be somwhat productive. It's not just enough to know where all the keys are, I have to press them at the right angle to get the connection secure. It's also too small for me to use my thumbs for the space bar, so I use my index finger. As I said, I have to learn how to type all over again!

New toys, and we need to check mail more often

First thing written with new keyboard, and written on the bus to boot! Really handy, although I need to learn how to type all over again. It's also a little difficult since I don't have the keyboard on a completely flat surface. My typing speed also suffers because you have to press the buttons a little harder than I'm used to.

But it's here, and might have arrived a couple of days ago. Caitlin and I are not in the habit of checking the mail very often. If I buy more stuff on eBay that will most definitely change.

A spiritually resonating story

A voyaging ship was wrecked during a storm at sea and only two of the men on
it were able to swim to a small, desert like island. The two survivors, not
knowing what else to do, agree that they had no other recourse but to pray
to God. However, to find out whose prayer was more powerful, they agreed to
divide the territory between them and stay on opposite sides of the island.

The first thing they prayed for was food. The next morning, the first man
saw a fruit-bearing tree on his side of the land, and he was able to eat its
fruit. The other man's parcel of land remained barren.

After a week, the first man was lonely and he decided to pray for a wife.
The next day, another ship was wrecked, and the only survivor was a woman
who swam to his side of the land. On the other side of the island, there was
nothing.

Soon the first man prayed for a house, clothes, more food. The next day,
like magic, all of these were given to him. However, the second man still
had nothing.

Finally, the first man prayed for a ship, so that he and his wife could
leave the island. In the morning, he found a ship docked at his side of the
island. The first man boarded the ship with his wife and decided to leave
the second man on the island. He considered the other man unworthy to
receive God's blessings, since none of his prayers had been answered.

As the ship was about to leave, the first man heard a voice from heaven
booming, "Why are you leaving your companion on the island?"

"My blessings are mine alone, since I was the one who prayed for them," the
first man answered. "His prayers were all unanswered and so he does not
deserve anything."

"You are mistaken!" the voice rebuked him. "He had only one prayer, which I
answered. If not for that, you would not have received any of my blessings."

"Tell me," the first man asked the voice, "what did he pray for that I
should owe him anything?"

"He prayed that all your prayers be answered."

For all we know, our blessings are not the fruits of our prayers alone, but
those of another praying for us.

Christ died for the sins of the world, not only because of His great love
for us all, but because he knew that through his scarifice we can come to
understand and attain Eternal Life.

A friend of mine emailed that story to me. I cleaned up all the forwarding arrows and I took out the forward-this-to-everyone-on-the-internet-or-you-are-a-heathen-with-no-soul guilt trip. If I'm going to send a story, I want to share it with people that I care about. If they want to forward it, good for them. If they don't, at least they know I care about them.

This story made me realize that even though Caitlin and I make it a priority to pray on a daily basis, and that God does hear and answer prayers, praying for the welfare of others is just as important as praying for our own well being. "When you are in the service of your fellow being, you are only in the service of your God." - Mosiah 2:17 Prayer is a type a work and is also a form of service to others. I would recommend going beyond just praying for people, but praying for family and friends, church and political leaders, and even co-workers is something we should all do. Myself included.

Commonality between my job and a bakery

TURNOVERS! Ha ha ha ha.. ha... Hmmm. Kind of sad actually. Another store is in peril and my manager is sending off some of his own to help. By sending off, I mean going to Westmount for the rest of the week, and possibly some of the next. By some of his own, I mean me. There was a new person hired on, but he's going to be working at Westmount with me for the next few days. I am a little spooked, but only because Westmount is a lower volume store. Everyday at Kingsway, I'm surprised by the amount of people who come down from the Territories. We also get people who are staying at the Ramada Inn, or are in town for the first time, yet I wonder why other malls don't get traffic near the level as Kingsway? Kingsway still has the highest foot traffic of all the malls in the city. The Kingsway transit center is also a major hub for two of the busiest bus routes. NAIT is also very close by, so we get students looking for computer stuff, or alarm clocks, or stereos, or DVD players.

Westmount, not so much. It has a transit station, a skating rink, the cheapest first run theatre in the city, and ... oh yeah, my workplace! Telus World of Science, or Odyssium (or Telussium as I know some people call it), is also next door, as is Ross Shepard High School. The important thing is that I have the correct attitude, and who knows what can happen. A bit of a longer commute for me, but I know that it will help out the store in Westmount immensely. Nathan, the manager, has been keeping the place up himself for the past week. I've only been with the company for about two months, but I hold my own in sales, and Ryan (Kingsway manager) left me in charge for a few hours while he went home to get some rest. I goofed on giving his cell phone an unnecessary call, but that was it. Whew. Time for bed I think.

And then there were three

Now the other Assistant manager is leaving. Alright, she's actually being transferred, and promoted. You can't blame her for wanting to make progress in her career possibilities. But now, we don't have an AM! We have a new guy coming in tomorrow from Ontario, who is "AM Material", but he's not an AM. Yet. My manager will have to make the call on that one.

We're also getting another guy transferred in to our store from Millwoods. This works out better for him because he lives on the north side, and Kingsway is half the distance for him to commute. I think that I got the best deal out of everyone. Just a quick 10 minute bike ride and I'm at work!

Mind you I was a little worried that I wouldn't be able to do that commute anymore. Yesterday, we were in a bit of a rush to get out to Millwoods, and I quickly, but securely, locked my bike to the beams surrounding a power transformer. It was the closest place to the Transit Center, and the bus that Caitlin and I needed to take was there and about to leave. It was a very fast lock up, but I had the lock around the guard rail, the bike frame, and through the front tire. I was hoping that we would get back into town that night, and I wouldn't have to leave it there overnight. I was wrong. But I was also wrong in thinking that someone would steal my bike. When we came back into Edmonton today, it was still there. Tires were fine, brakes were good, and the gears were still in the same position I left them. I didn't worry about it for the most part while we were at the dance last night.

Ma-me-o Beach dance was a lot of fun. I bought some spilters at work to create a third RCA stereo input for my PDA. I also recently aquired a 1Gb SD card so to store more music on there too. I had to experiment a little bit before I figured out how to get the system balanced right. In the end, I used the splitters to support both CD players on the left input, and iPAQ had sole use of the right input. Since the CD players were the same make and model, they had the same signal output, and thus they were able to perform with the spilters. However, both had to be on, or else the volume was cut in half, which I learned when we were shutting down. I managed to get a good elcetic mix out there for people, but I know for a fact there were a few teenagers who weren't completely satisfied with my offerings. I was played "My name is" by Eminem, but I didn't even get a minute into the song before someone bigger than my father-in-law came up and suggested that we turn it off, since there are little kids in attendance. I like some of Marshall Mathers stuff, but this guy was right, there were little kids there, and no one was dancing to it anyway. So I nixed it and didn't play much hip hop for the rest of the night. Some kids complained, but they didn't hire us, so I could care less of what they thought of me. The compliments outnumbered the complaints too.

Always read the fine print

I was hoping that I would be writing a review about a fabulous keyboard that I got for my iPAQ 3950. Silly me did not remember what the model number, and therefore model series, of my PDA was. I knew that it was a part of the Compaq iPAQ series and it was somewhere in the 3000 series. After I bought it, brought it home, installed the software, had the device set up and ready to go, nothing happened. I thought that maybe the battery that came with the device was a dud, so I put in some of my own that I knew had a charge. Still nothing. Possibly the infrared part was not matching up with the transmitter, so I searched for, and found, the box. The solution to my problem was printed right on the box. My PDA is a Compaq iPAQ 3950, part of the 3900 series, not supported by the keyboard. At least I still have the receipt, and there is a 30-day exchange policy.

I have not lost faith though. I simply searched thought the online catalog for the Source. I found a Bluetooth keyboard, but that was all. My PDA doesn't have Bluetooth connector, so there was nothing else for iPAQ that I could get at work. So I tried something a bit more daring. Something I have never tried before. I went to eBay. Boom. I am currently the highest bidder, but I do hope that this will solve my situation. I had the hope that I could get the keyboard so that I would be able to take notes easier when school starts up again. That and make blog entries on the go.

And then there were four

I knew that there's a staffing shortage in the city. Everywhere I go I see help wanted signs. A couple weeks ago, the Journal had an article in which the writer went to a series of places throughout the city applying for jobs, just to see how desperate the market is right now. Some places he was offered a job on the spot, and was told that he could start that day. Other places, like McDonald's, had a bit more of a process, but offered him jobs as well.

Within my own employment organization, I had no idea how bad it was until today. There was a change of management at one of the stores, and subsequently all the employees quit. As of yesterday, the manager was the only person working at that particular store. Now there are two people in that store because head office pulled one of our assistant managers to help there. A bit of a shock to the system since we had a good team atmosphere, and another person quit last week taking the total staff down to five.

Now, our total store staff numbers at four people. That's the minimum amount of people you need to run the store daily. Sundays you can get by with three, but for the most part, you need four people. Since we received notice of the transfer just today, the schedule for the remainder of the week had to be adjusted to compensate for the lack of people. In short, I'm working more hours. I was already at 48 this week, and it has now increased to 52. Nice overtime, but I really hope that I'm not going to burn out. I don't mind working overtime, so long as I get my Sundays off. Thankfully, we have a transfer of our own that was previously in the works, and has now been expedited. The only downside is that he is going back to school in the fall. Funny that, so am I. I plan to do some part-time work in the fall though. Plan to. Once fall hits, and I realize what a foolish error that was, I might change my mind.

I have to go back to school though. I would like to continue working retail. It's a decent job, but I doubt that it would be sufficient to raise a family with. True, two of my co-workers have families, but their spouses are also working. An engineering position would pay better than retail would. I would suppose.

Not inexpensive merchendise, just cheap junk

Now I remember why I never got a scooter before Thursday. It's not because I did not have the money available, and not because I had rollerblades and my bicycle already, but rather the words of warning from a friend of mine. He told me of when he worked in the San Fransisco (novelty store) warehouse in Edmonton. There was always a pile of returned scooters. Very cheap, very unreliable scooters piled as a monument to the incompetent design of them. I was told that it was a very bad idea to ever purchase one.

This is something I learned the hard way. I did notice that the wheels got quite warm when used for a certain period of time, like 20 minutes.
To the left we see what the wheel should look like, more or less, and to the right we see what happened to the wheel after I was riding it for 21 minutes today. I do not know exactly how long I was riding for, but it was from our apartment to downtown, which took about 20 minutes, and it resulted in failure of the rear wheel. The reason I came downtown was to pick up Caitlin from work, which I was early for. So I sat down and decided to read the information that was on the bottom of the scooter, to see if there was some kind of warning about the wheels. No such luck, but there were warnings about using it for stunting and taking it into traffic. And a weight limit of 80 kg/ 175 lbs. Uh oh. Should have read that before I bought it, since I balance the scales at 190 lbs. Did that contribute to the failure? Probably. All the same I'm going to dig up the receipt and return it. Finding the receipt might be a bit of a chore though.

On a happy note, Caitlin and I used our gift certificate that we got from the LDSSA for our help with Friday Forum last semester. I know that it was Sunday, and you are not supposed to do shopping or the like on the sabbath day. When you have to work on Sunday, it really skews things in your head. So after I picked up Caitlin, we went to Second Cup and redeemed the $10 certificate for a strawberry smoothie and a piece of Hugs and Kisses cake. The cake was layered with chocolate brownie and vanilla cheesecake. One word, tasty!

Don't you love it when a plan comes together?

There it is, and for a bit less than I anticipated. I thought that the scooter was going to cost about $40, but turns out that it was only $30. That was the good news. The not so good news was the fact that it look a bit more time and a lot more effort that I anticipated to get from downtown to home and back again. For one thing, I was working muscles that I had not used before, and they didn't really like it. I could stay on one leg for about two blocks until I had to switch. Also, there were not many gliding parts. The pavement in Edmonton, espically on sidewalks, tends to be a bit bumpy. In Churchill Square and around downtown it was great! It would be even better if I could use it inside the mall, but security would be on me quicker than a squirrel on caffeine. Caitlin used it to get home today, but she drew the same conclusion as me. Nice to have, like our in-line skates, but a casual thing. She doesn't see herself taking that to work every day. Back to getting her a new handlebar post and better handlebars.

But I have one more crazy idea. What if I took the scooter to work, and she took my bike to work? I would have to see if I could make it to work myself on the scooter, but I think the pavement it worse the route I take. Maybe not the best idea. Another idea Caitlin had was to borrow her brother's electronically self-propelled scooter. Just plug it in and, "WHOO!", after a couple hours of charging of course. We would have to borrow, because I don't think we would buy one of those, since they cost in the neighbourhood of a new bicycle.

One of my assistant managers noticed that I am working 48 hours next week. This is greatly due to the fact that we are short staffed, and we need to make ends meet. This is a great plus for me, because then I can sensibly take the last week of August off to go to Banff, and not worry about missing a week of work, because with all the overtime that I would have accumulated at that point, I would have worked that week anyway. This is assuming that I'm going to be putting in 48 hours a week for the next five weeks. Plus I told my manager when I was hired that I would work six days a week if he needed me to, so long as I had Sunday off, and he has done that for me next week. |Smiles|