the winds of change

Is this the beginning of a new era? Am I about to embark on a new path, alter one of the fundamental aspects of my behaviour? Am I redefining myself at 29??

I've found a new drink.

I've always been a fairly predictable lager girl. Moosehead with lime if possible, taking kokanne or maybe Keiths as a backup. On certain occasions, or if they're on special, then the drink of choice is a caesar. That's pretty much it, those are my drinks. Not much variation in the past 10 or so years. But tonight a new door has opened. I've discovered.... dark beer! I don't want to get too excited, maybe it's not all dark beers that will be as smooth, sweet and as supremely sublime as this one. But for now, Fort Garry Dark has got me salivating for more. I can't wait til my next opportunity to enjoy a pint.

It is with eager enthusiasm that I usher in the Dark Age!

Wasps

I hate them. What the hell are they good for? I was stung by one two nights ago and it still hurts like hell. I think somehow the evil little bugger got inside my pant leg. I've been stung at least 5 times that I can think of. How crappy. So now my knee is all hot and swollen and red, it hurts to bend it or to put much weight on it. Every once in a while shooting pains will spasm through my leg. It's also itchy and feels soooo bruised. I had a terrible sleep because any pressure on my knee wakes me up in pain. I hope it goes back to normal soon. Blotchy and limpy isn't my favourite look.

I feel like Nancy Kerrigan. "Why? Whhhhy??" sobsobsob

Test day

In May I applied for a job. In June I made it past initial screening and took a grammar, spelling and punctuation test, and a logic test. Easy, I made it to the next stage, which was a tougher written and computer test that I took today. I was tested on my knowledge of financial practices, the Public Health Agency, ability to prioritize and abiltiy to use certain computer programs. Hmm, let me rack my brains, sift through my modest vernacular, deliberate with utmost care and discrimination to select the perfect combination of words with which to accurately convey my sentiments of said examination:

"Meh."

Serves me right

Of course all that slacking would come back to kick me in the ass. Next week I have so many things to finish! You know, all those things I should have been working on the last month. Oy. Oh well, I think I work better with a bit of pressure. Forces me to get moving. Unfortunately, the timing is really crappy. I was so used to doing nothing that next week I had planned to cash in on some of my banked time. Monday I was going to take off completely, as well as Friday afternoon. Then I got a letter concerning a job I applied for, saying I passed the 2nd stage and am moving on to a 3rd phase of testing, which takes place Thursday afternoon. I definitely can't get everything done with only 2 full and 2 half days. So I guess I'll be working tomorrow after all.

What a boring entry. What can I say to jazz it up a touch? Hmm... I went to a comedy club last night and saw a couple of really funny comedians. That was good. Then we ended up at the bar and I just wasn't in the mood for it. The particular bar we went to, although usually a good mix of ages and styles, is also reknowned for its large 'cougar' demographic. They were in fine form last night, with some wonderfully too-tight clothing and frazzled hair, a few grinding psuedo-lesbian style in an attempt to get some male attention. Plenty of middle aged, mustachioed men lurking abouts too. At the other end of the spectrum were the young'ns in their drunken glory, from the ditzy girl dressed like Tarzan's Jane, to the guy in the tuxedo t-shirt who inexplicably thinks he's cool. A great place for people watching, if they weren't always pushing and stumbling into you.

mission unaccomplished

Damnit, such a simple task and I failed! The day is over, and my goal of accomplishing something work related remains unrealized. I really thought I could do it today. I was going to be productive! But somehow the hours slipped by and now I'm clocking out with not a single completed task to my credit. I checked my email, surfed the net, looked at job postings, chatted, went for lunch, sent out lots of personal emails, and managed to put 3 booklets in a cabinet.

 

Oh wait, and I stapled something. A report has been sitting on my desk for about a week, waiting for me to do an evaluation. But it's all just loose sheets, so I stapled it. That's work related!

 

Actually, now that I checked, I didn't even staple it. I hole punched it so it's ready to go in it's file folder, and paper clipped it. What an rough day at the office!

 

Tomorrow, tomorrow I will be productive for sure.

Today's resolution

I vow to do some work today. I mean it. Enough's enough. No more slacking. I have lots I could do. Work related stuff. Really.

my stealthy readers

In the past couple of weeks I've heard from a few unexpected people that they check up on my blog. How nice! None of them leave any comments, but it's still sweet to know that they're reading. Yay! Of course now I can't write any secrets or nasty things about them.

Is there a psychoanalyst in the house?

Here are a couple of my latest dreams, ready for your interpretation.

Two nights ago:

I was driving through the countryside with the queen of England and her bodyguard. Not really sure how I ended up in their car, it was like they'd picked me up hitchhiking or something. Anyway, Elizabeth and I really hit it off, she seemed to be in her 40s, not her 80s. We chatted and joked around and I asked her if I would be able to visit her next time I was in London. She said that'd be nice and we should go for lunch with Bridget Jones and Rosa Parks. She corrected herself to say Helen Fielding, the author of Bridget Jones, not the character. Then she told me she'd give me her email so we could keep in touch, and I thought it was so cool that the queen used email. I was getting very excited, especially since I figured that the queen could hook me up with another work permit for the UK. Yay! But as we zipped along the gravel road, I realized that Rosa Parks was dead, and this probably wasn't really happening. You know, because it had all been so plausible up til then!

Last night:

I was on some group hike, going along rivers, through tall grass and patches of forest. The next bit is a little unclear, but I ended up being chased by a bear, and then a whole pack of bears. Yes, I realize bears don't really travel in packs. I fell down and curled into a protective ball, thinking I was done for. But luckily I had a saviour! Someone had come over to me and was pretending to be a bear himself, roaring at the other bears to stay away. It worked and they all trudged away. The rest of our hiking group rushed over and I jumped into the arms of my brave rescuer, who was a quiet and sexy young Norwegian scientist. Bizarre. Of course we fell madly in love and seemed to be an amazing couple (with the best ever "how'd you meet?" story). Unfortunately, I don't think things were so perfect in the end, although I can't put a finger on what was going awry. I was left with the feeling that my sweet, Norse god scientist and I were going to get a divorce. One thing that strikes me now, is that he never spoke. Not a single word. Maybe that's because I'm ovrebearing and selfish in my relationships. Or perhaps my unconscious knew that it couldn't get the accent right.

I need to scream

AAARGH!!!

 

Not nearly as satisfying as a real life, bleeding vocal chord scream. But that might cause a stir at my work...

Wasting time

I'm feeling so frustrated right now. I'm not sure what set me off, but I just want to crawl under a rock. This job is going nowhere, and I'm finding it hard to be motivated. I feel I could just sit here and play games or blog or surf the net, and no one would even notice. BAH!!!!

 

HEY EVERYONE! I'M NOT WORKING! DOES ANYONE CARE???

 

No.

 

I wanted to do this whole settled down thing, but maybe I'm just not meant for a sedentary lifestyle. Maybe if I stay in one place too long I'll just end up chewing my arms off and clawing my eyeballs out. Oops, other way around, I guess. Can't very well claw my eyeballs out with chewed up stumps, now can I?

 

No, I want to stay put, I do. I just want to feel content. My siblings and I were joking around last night about whose life is lamest. Let's compare the stats.

 

Sister:

1. works for "water and waste" answering calls about garbage.


2. boyfriend lives far far away


3. no friends in city anymore

But, on the upside, her job pays really well, at least she has a boyfriend, and who cares about friends here because she's planning on moving away again soon.

 

Brother:

1. only has a part-time job


2. no girlfriend


3. his friends are more interested in video games than real people

BUT... he's only 20 so who the hell cares. He's got plenty of time to enjoy slacking off.

 

Me:

1. making half as much as my garbage-talking sister at a job that is going nowhere


2. no love interest


3. friends are all married and only like doing grown-up couply things


4. can't for the life of me lose a single pound, no matter how much time I spend at the gym.


5. nearing 30 and live at home.

ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I win.

Okee dokee, enough whinging and griping. Time to attempt some work. Or at the very least drink some tea.

Canada Day in Canada... for once!

Happy Canada Day!

It's kind of nice to spend a Canada day at home. It's seems in the past few years I've been everywhere but in Canada - China, London, Edinburgh... But today I wandered the streets of Winnipeg with all the other happy canucks. And just like last year I slapped on a lovely maple leaf tattoo. Here's a pic of my sister and I being dorky.

Then we enjoyed a late lunch while listening to a mixture of bagpipes, drums, didgeridoos, and rock bands, while watching people juggling, waving flags, demonstrating martial arts and dragon dancing, and of course drinking lots of Canadian beer. How multicultural! And what did we eat to celebrate our national day? A traditional Ethopian meal of course! Yummmmmmm. I love eating with my hands.

Off to watch some fireworks now!