November 19, Y2K
Okay so yah I guess it's been long enough since I've written in my journal. Well maybe not...its only been like 2 months...2 months? Shit okay yah my bad it's been a while.
Lots has happened this last few months since my last entry. I'm pretty sure of that anyways, though I can't remember much of it right now... The big things are probably job related things. My contract at Credit Union ended in the early part of this month. But even before it ended it was put before me that my bosses wanted me to stay around a while longer yet. Now this is really a good job, and I'm in no rush to be pounding the pavement looking for a new one so I jumped at the chance obviously. This contract will be for 10 months I'm told, though as yet the specifics have not been worked out since my boss just got back from an extended leave. Hopefully soon ill have more details on the specifics. In the meantime I'm working hard sure enuf.
My last entry in here was very short and concise...it dealt with the loss of a co-worker and though time has past and I hadn't been thinking about it lately I glanced at the last entry before I added this one and was once again a little put back thinking about how I felt then. It's a sad thing when someone feels it necessarily to take their own life. I'm not immune to that feeling, there was a point in my life I had considerations like it but I lucky got past them. Though I'm not much for prayers my thoughts go out to his family. But not just his family, another friends father past away in the past months and my thoughts are with her as well...I can't imagine loosing a parent; honestly I don't even want to think about it... I know it will happen someday, but I hope it wont for another 100 years...
Not to dwell on sadness this time though, life is going WELL. I'm more settled in the past few months now then I have been in a long time. Haven't traveled anywhere outside of Regina for over a month...and for me that's pretty impressive especially when you consider from April till September I spent almost every weekend out of the city. It's nice to finally take a breather. Now my wandering spirit is hardly settled, but for now I'm content being where I am. Well almost, I kind of hope to go somewhere tropical this winter, I have the money in the bank right now (been saving) its just a matter of doing it now.
Now for all my friends out there who have not been updated from my injury list lately from my excessive abuse of my body through sports, this part is for you ;-). In the past 8 days ive had only three days where I didn't play some form of volleyball, or wallyball. Tis cool, but man I'm sore right now. I must be getting old.... pffffftttttt yah right. But I did get lotsa bruises all down my legs from diving for balls (yes VOLLEYBALLS!! just to specify for those of you with gutter minds; you know who you are). Also tore my lip up taking a ball in the face, threw my arm out, and hurt my back slamming into a wall trying to get a ball. So just in case you guys thought I was taking it easy, I wanted to assure you that its not so.
Lastly I want to say that I know a lot of you are wondering when ill be adding new pictures, and rest assured I have many to add its just finding the time to do so that has been a problem. My goal though is to add a bunch of pictures over the Xmas holidays?if I don't then you guys have permission to kick my ass?.ever so gently :). Laterz friends!
September 18, Y2K
I just found out an hour or so ago now that one of my co-workers killed himself this weekend. I worked with him quite closely, and even as such didn?t get to know him very well. He was a nice guy almost to a fault, never wanting to hurt or offend anyone around him. But sadly I guess my co-workers and I now realize that he was hurting too, and I know that all of us are wishing we could have helped him before it had come to this extreme. I think my boss just spoke well of how I feel, he said that ?if there is no heaven then at least for Kevin, his hell is over?. Kevin leaves behind a widow and two children, my heart goes out to them, because I know how they must be feeling right now... Rest in Peace Kevin...
I have more that I could write about things in my life lately but I just don?t have it in me right now. Ill say though that I had my operation earlier this month, and it went well. Don?t worry bout me, I always find a way to deal with stuff...
August 14, Y2K
Well gee arn't i the lazy one? NOT! :). I know i know its been a month and a half since my last update, but hey! ive been busy. Life has been soooo busy that ive been having to cut corners with other things in my life like sleep, and relaxation. Now im not saying i havn't been having fun, i just havn't really had a chance to sit on my butt and do nothing for a long time, which is nice to do once in a while. I dont get a chance to do so until after my b-day in september. Every weekend since mid-july was planned well ahead all the way through to mid september for things to do.
To give you an idea, in the past weekends ive been to Yorkton, Saskatoon, Prince Albert, Candle Lake, Moose Jaw, and more. Plus in addition to travelling, ive also be photographing a lot, most importantly a wedding last weekend, also been playing lotsa sports, and went to the SummerSault Rock concert(Our Lady Peace whom i mostly went there for was great, i wasn't too impressed by the Smashing Pumpkins set though).
I figure since i dont get a chance to go on a Nomadic Gypsy Trip this year, because i couldn't very well quit my awesome job to do so, that i would just use my weekends to the fullest. And well i have been :). The next few weekends are no slouch either, i have volleyball tournaments and baseball tournaments all this week and on into the weekend(i wanted to do the MS Bike Tour charity ride this weekend but i decided to do baseball instead, was a tough choice), summer sports are all done this week and winter indoor v-ball starts in september, since we(and im still impressed by this) took second place over-all in our league this spring, its rumoured that we dont have to pay the entry fee this year, or at the very least get a discount on 'em. The weekend after this one there is a big baseball winde-up/drink fest at a nearby campground too.
The only weekend that's sucked lately was this last one. One of my best buds Devin is leavin the city and well we threw a little gathering to say goodbye. You'll be missed man, but i dont think we will let such a big rift come between us again like we did when i moved to BC so long ago, o and dont worry ill make sure to have a few drinks for you at the ball winde-up bud ;-)...one for me, and one for...yo...me!... two for me, and...woo hoo two for me! :) Should be a fun weekend im thinking.
As for work, its going great, i think they really like me, cause gosh golley im special :). Seriously though in the past month ive been trained to cover a co-workers position while she was on holidays. The kicker is this co-worker is pregnant and likely to give birth round the time that my present contract is up, which though i wont get my hopes up, might mean an extension in my contract to cover her position while she is away. This would be a GOOD thing, cause by the end of that contract i would undoubtedly be done paying off my student loan...wow to be dept free again, i dont remember what thats like...i hope to feel that again soon. Though the week im free of dept ill probably go out and buy a kayak :). You guys all know what im like.
Lastly to do with that"lump" i have, im getting it removed on September first...just another thing to add to the "to do list"...it will be nice to get that outa the way...cancer or not i still wanna get it out! :) And so it shall be done. Hope alls well with you guys out there! Peace \/ Out
June 28, Y2K
I wanted to wait to add to the journal here till i knew for sure that all was sokay with that lump i mentioned in my last entry. Even though it weighed heavily on my mind this past month i didnt make it obvious to those around me, but needless to say it came as an IMMENSE relief to find out that alls sokay with me, its not cancerous. Regardless however im getting the thing removed, going to see a surgeon later in July about getting that done, and with that update outa the way...
...Life is going great, specially work, even though im feeling a wee bit burnt out from all the time i put into this job the first few months im still having no problem getting up in the morning to do it...which considering how much of a night owl i am that really is impressive! Its now just about 3 months into my 7 month contract at this job and really im very happy with the progress im making and i think...i hope my bosses are impressed too, it really would be nice to complete this project within the 7 months and get that sweet sweet bonus at the end :) but we will see when we get there. Also this last week my bosses gave me the oportunity to learn some duties of one of my co-workers...now this co-worker is pregnant and will be giving birth shortly after my contract is up...so hopefully this means that my bosses are considering keeping me on after the 7 months are up...that would be SO SWEEEET!!
In other work i have a wedding to photograph....coming up... :) thats all i can say on that cause i forgot when the wedding was again, Dawn when was it?? Oops i guess hopefully i mean "When IS! it??" hehe. O well i think i still have a month before that job comes up. Got another wedding to go to the weekend after this one, my cousin is getting married, it should be a fun time, and no im not working that wedding but needless to say ill be taking lotsa pics.
Wow one year ago today i was taking in the breath-taking beauty of Algonquin Provincial Park in Ontario on my 1999 Nomadic Gypsy Trip. It makes me realize how sad it is that im working right now...i mean a person looking at me right now might think that im very stable and settled...and yet i dont feel that within me...yet. I still feel the need to travel whether it be within Canada or the world beyond i feel the need to see new wonders. I even had it all planned out where i would go this summer if i didnt get a job...i was going to travel south into North Dakota then west through Montana and on into Washinton. Then back up into Canada, visiting all my friends in Vancouver and then return home stopping in at the pista-resistance in my eyes, Waterton National(er provincial?) Park in Alberta on the border of B.C., ive heard so much about that park, i know i would love it...Now dont get me wrong i do love having a good job...but this summer i really feel like im missing out on a lot by not being able to satisfy my need to just...get away for a while...
Welp even though the wether lately hasnt been all that desirable ive still been getting out as much as possible to have fun these days. With Baseball, beach volleyball and my long distance biking im getting lotsa of exercise which is how i like it, but im starting to get a farmers tan happening here ~sigh~ so i better even that out! I gotta say one other thing about the weather, being rainy as its been lately it does add a new and interesting dimension to playing baseball, specially this one game we had where there was a water obstacle between 1st and 2nd, as well as between 2nd and 3rd...i mean anyone can run the bases! But hurdleing water hazards...now thats REAL baseball! :). Laterz ;-)
May 18, Y2K
As always its been a while since I got a chance to sit down and add to this journal, despite the constant reminders from friends that I need to update it more often.
Its now summer in my eyes; I mean we had snow this past weekend BUT as long as there is leaves on the trees it will be summer in my eyes. I miss seeing the leaves all winter long, its just so drab to look outside and see what looks like dead trees everywhere. I've been enjoying my spring immensely, as I always do. Been doing lots of biking. I'm already up to my last years upper limit for distance which is 35km's a day(or each time I go out, maybe 3 times a week), maybe this year I will be up to 45km's a day by fall? Probably not, this city doesn't have 45km's of interesting biking to be done. I miss the bike trail in London, Ont. last summer, which was a gorgeous trail to ride on. I've also sadly, though for a good cause (money), been working very hard too lately, because of which I haven't been able to see a lot of my close friends lately. This is mostly because what I'm working in at the Credit Union is totally new to me. I have to teach myself how to use it, that isn't easy but I'm up to the challenge, I've been a GRUNT worker long enough in my life, I don't want that anymore. So I'm willing to work hard right now to prove myself an awesome computer programmer, and set my future in that direction.
When I do find "free" time lately I use it a lot for exercising, like biking or volleyball, and actually starting tonight baseball too, I haven't played that in a long time so this should be hilarious!! I've also been doing a lot of traveling too which has been nice to do. I've been trapped all winter in Regina, its time I get out. Now there is NO chance that I will get to take a Gypsy Trip this year cause of my job (cant take a month off), BUT I do get a 3 day weekend every second week, so with that I will be able to make a lot of small trips this summer. Hopefully that will be enough to satisfy my need to travel.
In more pressing and personal news; I debated mentioning this at all, but most of the people who read this are close friends who I have no problem telling "serious" things too. Late last year I noticed on me something that I could only call a weird hard "lump" under my skin. For the longest time I dismissed it and thought nothing of it, but more recently its been not so much getting bigger, but it always seems sore. Needless to say its starting to worry me and weigh heavily on my mind, I need to try to see a specialist, yah a cancer specialist, I renounce the idea that its cancer, but at the same time if I don't check I would be a fool. Hopefully I can get it checked out soon. . .
To leave on a happy note, this weekend is the May Long weekend which means its time to get drunk and go camping. . .not necessarily in that order. This is a ritual which I missed last year sadly but this year there is no stopping me. Kenosse Lake here I come!!
April 9, Y2K
Well its been a few weeks since I wrote and I thought I better put something on here before one of my many irate friends kicks my ass for not updating more often. In the last journal entry I was kinda bummed, I had been outa work for a while by that point and was sad cause I was running into the same job hunting prob's as always...companies wanting more experience then I have. But there was light at the end of the tunnel. Cause soon after my last entry of my journal, I had an interview with a great company. I felt awesome bout this interview, but deep inside I knew I didn't have the experience to get the job even before I got the call back, but I didn't admit it out loud, I remained positive...so much a surprise it was when they called me back and said I was HIRED!!! I apparently impressed them in the interview it seemed, and despite my lack of experience they were willing to take a chance on me that I could learn what I needed to know for the job and complete the project...this was the opportunity to prove myself i've always wanted...
Ever since I found out I got the job... well its pretty much dominated my time. I'm reading and studying at work, then at home as well. I'm in bed early and up as early. My weekdays have no real fun time right now. Hopefully once I have an understanding of what i'm going to be working in I wont have to let it dominate my life so much and ill be able to relax some. But thats a few weeks away for sure still before i'm at that point. One other cool thing bout this job is I get EDO's (Earned Days Off) which means every second Friday off, I took this first Friday off to get a break from my first week early, was nice cause it was my first relaxing moment in almost 2 weeks since I found out I got the job. But its back to work for me tomorrow as my second week is about to start. Wish me luck :-)
March 2, Y2K
Been a few weeks now since my lay-off. My original intentions were to canvas all of the major companies in the city with resumes of mine, but I decided to hold off on that, least for a short time. I am still sending resumes out, but just to jobs in the paper that are needing programmers. I decided to take some time off from job search to teach myself new skills, skills that i'm hoping will ultimately help me in finding a job. I spent a little over $200 dollars on programming manuals to teach myself JAVA, JAVASCRIPT, and VISUAL C++, not that all of you will know what they are, but they are computer programming languages. I'm concentrating on the JAVASCRIPT right now so if my homepage gets really frikken weird you will know why in the days to come.
In other news I had an interview yesterday at a place I would LOVE to work at, but I was really REALLY nervous during the whole interview and was answering the questions not so eloquently...so I probably bombed the whole interview. Its been a while since i've had an interview, guess i'm just outa practice. I wont make the same mistakes again in interviews to come for sure.
The interview itself kinda bummed me out but there was something else that happened, that really hit me hard. I saw at the place I was having the interview, a guy who I went to school with. This guy ALREADY had a job there which completely blew my mind because this marked the second time that he has beaten me to a good job...and I just don't know how! I mean he never did his own work in school, was always asking everyone else for help with his work, he barely graduated. After he got outa school he literally TOOK a job away from me by lying to the boss there and saying he was a programming GOD so he would get hired before me. When they found out he wasn't what he said, they fired his ass and hired me... but now to see that once again he beat me to a good job...it just made me feel like i'm wasting my time. The world just doesn't make sense sometimes. This is definitely one of those times. But much as I let it get me down yesterday i'm feeling a lot better now thanks largely to a talk with a friend last night who I haven't really spoken with in a long time, thanks for listening.
In the good news category i'm big time over-dosing on volleyball this week, and loving every minute of it!! Wish me luck at the tournament Friday night! PEACE \/ OUT
February 19, Y2K
Life has been busy up until last week when life took a little twist when my boss called me into the office for my re-evaluation and raise talk that was promised to me in my contract when I was hired 4 months ago. It seems that rather then give me a raise they just decided they would "terminate" me and hire someone that would be cheaper to have on payroll. Yah that was nice of them :-), NOT hehe. I didn't love the job that much so I didn't like beg to stay at my present wage, well that wouldn't be like me anyways to do that, I just said "Fine" and walked out.
It seems that when your fired without due reason that legally they have to pay you a weeks pay beyond the last day worked, so that was cool I was basically still on payroll till the end of this week. Spent last weekend outa town which was a nice way to unwind after that weeks events. Had a lot of fun out with my sis and out with friends all weekend long and came back fresh this week ready to look for work.
Oh one other thing I did last weekend which totally surprised the hell outa me was that some friends convinced me to get out ice skating with them. I haven't skated in at least 12 years so trust me it wasn't pretty. Last time I was skating was back when I was a wee lad and I was out with my sister at a rink in Saskatoon. She would push me round the ice and then head for a wall and let go of me...now she could stop no problem but me on the other hand I couldn't stop so id slam into the rink wall. :-). Ahhh sibling love aint it grand hehe...
So i'm planning on finding a programming job as of now. I was kind of wondering how id find the time to look for a programming job while working at Latitude Mens Wear anyways cause working 8-5 didn't leave me much time to go out to the companies...maybe its a blessing having been fired? We will see. I've taken the training and spent lots on that training to say the least, its time I use it I think. I plan to "advertise myself" to some 20 companies in the city Monday or Tuesday, while sending resumes out to companies advertising in the paper that need programmers. I also plan to teach myself some new languages with the time I have now which I think will look good on the resume. ~fingers crossed~
February 5, Y2K
Well this past weekend was truly the most weird and yet cool weekends ever in my life. Its kinda sad that due to what happened i better not put it on here seeing as i have my homepage up for perspective employers :-). But no worries i didnt do anything bad myself it was just weird and ironic the events that happened to me. Those who know me well probably already know what happened for the most part but not all of what happened, you guess will have to ask me about that.
Least sunday was normal, got brutalized at volleyball, hehe man i have to take it easy playing volleyball, i mean we did win and all but boy im still in pain this week from last weekend :-P sucks. O well im sure ill feel better after volleyball tomorrow ;-).
In other news my mom is doing well after her accident, its been like 3 weeks now since she got hurt and now with the stitches out her forehead looks much much better, but there is still a lot of bruising on her face that has yet to heal, but that i have noticed is easily covered up ive found by my moms cosmetition experience.
One interesting thing ill add here, i realized this week that ive never been more like a teenager then i am now, im not sure if thats good or not, but its kinda fun, when i was 17 i moved away from everyone and everything i knew to find myself in Vancouver. I grew up too quickly there and never really was a teenager, was too serious and had to deal with a life that was too grown up too quickly, i think. Its nice to realize now that what i once missed im able to have once again...
January 17, Y2K
Im saddened to say there has been ANOTHER accident....but ill get to that in a bit, i only found out about it an hour ago myself and would rather speak of lighter stuff first...
After a long week of dealing with the loss of a friend... i came to the weekend wondering if i will be able to have fun or not, but to my amazement i had a wonderful weekend, even though Friday night i had to say goodbye to another friend i recently made. She and her friends are on their way to Africa for a half year adventure, its so incredible to me the trip they are about to go on, i only wish i was going with them, its definately something that i would do and im sure anyone who knows me would agree that its something id do in a heartbeat.
I hadnt seen or talked to my parents in 3 days till this mornin. And i found out today that my mother was in a 3 car accident yesterday, and i was at the bar when she tried to call me from the hospital last night, which i feel terrible about cause i wasn't around when she needed me...It seems that due to the sheer ice we are having these days in Regina that my mom was hit from behind by a truck and pushed into the middle of an intersection where she was front ended by another car....im happy to say that psysically she seems okay which i hope is true cause she has a bad back that something like this could serverly hurt...but beyond the internal problems that i believe and hope she avoided, cosmetically there is a scar unfortunately that she got from the accident. Its a deep two and a half inch scar from the top of her forehead to the top of her nose, something like 7 stitches...it was a worry she might have a concussion due to the injury and excessive blood loss but happily that was not the case and she was released from the hospital last night. Im glad she is alright but i just wish i was there for her when she called, i cant get past that part...
January 10, Y2K
Since my accident well life got SO hectic, largely due to my wanting to have fun on the weekends while still having to work hard. See i work in a warehouse that sends stuff out to retail outlets, so no big surprise i had a lot of work to do for the Xmas rush, the 2 and a half weeks prior to christmas i was working up to 75 hours/week over 6 days, and yah it was pretty brutal and so during these weeks i was getting maybe 5 hours of sleep a night, not enough for me, and hehe stupid me even on my days off i got like no sleep because my one day off a week i went out with friends to have fun till early in the morn, i know i know i shoulda choose sleep over fun but i needed to unwinde.
Finnaly the weekend before the Xmas weekend our christmas rush was over, everything had been shipped out and we could all breath a sigh of relief...well sadly except for some of the guys i worked with who got laid off after all that cause with the rush over, there was not enough work for everyone to stay there, they all found out bout their lay-off notices that afternoon before we had like a christmas dinner so i heard the dinner was a little gloomy mood wise but still fun, but i couldnt go to the dinner cause well all of that lack of sleep and long hours took their toll on me finnaly and i got very sick that friday, was pretty much bed ridden the whole weekend, was rough... but mostly cause i had to miss a party that saturday night :-) hehe, yah i was actually a good boy and didnt go, getting healthy was more important, i wanted to be in good health for next weekend, Xmas Weekend.
I got over my cold around thursday, which was fine cause at least i wouldnt have it for Xmas and for the Xmas weekend i went to Saskatoon and stayed at my sis's place with mom and dad to have a good-ol-family Xmas, even though we are a small family we have a fun time for Christmas i gotta say, and i was good this year so Santa was kind, a new tire for my car, a clock radio, a very nice watch, lotsa music CD's and lotsa candy....Mmmm especially loved though orange shaped and tasting chocolates that you hit to open it up before you eat it...those are sooooooooo goooooooodddd :-) yumma. I also bought myself ~ahem~ a few "little" toys for my home and car stereos, with my car paid off FINNALY i felt a little rich :-)
We went home sunday and i vegged monday away and then toiled at work for the next 4 days just waiting for New Years....i very much wanted to go to Calgary for New Years but it just wasnt going to happen with me having to work a full shift that day and then an 8 hour drive to Calgary after that...it just wasnt going to happen so i stayed in Regina and went to a house party with some of my closest friends and mostly their friends which was cool with me cause i had met most of them before. Much to my surprise though i hardly drank that night! Yah go figure but i was having fun without being totally plastered on a New Years eve, i thought that was pretty cool actually, but was still out to a decent but not to late of an hour, next day i woke up early to go for breakfast with a friend but when i realized that wasnt happenin i quickly hopped back into bed and slept for another 4 hours hehe i needed to catch up on the sleep thing.
Since New Years my life has slowed down FINNALY but not totally, instead of being constantly on the go im only usually on the go now which is cool. Nother cool thing was that over the Xmas holidays i had a payng photo job doing a family reunion shoot. Turned out well too though i was worried that the pictures might not be up to spec. cause the flash i used was not the one i wanted, but they turned out really good for the most part im happy to say.
Im hopping soon that ill find out if i got any honors in either of the photo contests i entered last November, it would be so cool if i did!! One was the Canadian Geographic Magazine photo contest which the winners should be out in this or next months issue...i have to get to the store and check if this months issue is out yet, i hope so. The other contest will be a bit more of a challenge to hear about if i won cause the contest is in New Zealand but hopefully ill get some word back via email if i get any honors ~fingers crossed~ i hope so!!
so that brings us up to now...its the 10th of Jan, and well the world didnt end Jan 1st but HEY!! thanks to all the people who did think the world was going to hell New Years im thinking this is a prime time to pick up a power generator for cheap..."FOR SALE one power generator, brand new never been used..." hehe i think i could use one of those on my gypsy trips sometimes. Tis the season to exploit people isnt it?? O no wait thats February maybe during National Exploitation Week!! :-) hehe
December 2,1999
ITS OVER! As of today, even with the complications i mentioned in yesterdays journal entry, a decision was still made today and i was told that SGI will cover my accident deductable...finally after 3 weeks my life seems to be relieved of a major stress, im very happy that this is over finally.
December 1,1999
Well i have to tell you friends, today totally blew my mind the news i got... y'all know bout my accident and how the guy who hit me has made the last 3 weeks hell for me by trying to say the accident was my fault...well this week i found out he may be in THAT place...see my adjuster phoned me today and told me that im going to have to wait a few more days for a decision due to complications in the case... those being that the guy that hit me passed away this week and his funeral is tommorow...this news floored me, i mean how ironic is that, man my life truly is a soap opera like my friends say, i dont think i can denie it any longer!
November 24,1999
Its been a couple weeks now since my car was smashed up. The guy who hit me FINNALY got his butt into SGI last week...but it turns out hes trying to say it was all my fault and worse yet my SGI claims adjuster is almost acting like shes going to let him get away with screwing me over... I mean come on, where the justice in this....
...No this journal isnt always going to be me bitching but these past few weeks its been hard to see the good in my life cause its keeps getting drowned out by all the bad going on right now... But sufficive to say my life IS going good right now(besides anything to do with the accident). Only 2 more days till the weekend too... I cant wait!! :-)
November 11,1999
I would have preferred my first entry in here to have been a GOOD significant event in my life but that wasn't meant to be. Today while attempting to leave work I was slammed into by a pick-up truck, now I am fine and all that, least I didn't get hurt permanently... but man am I ever PISSED OFF!! I mean this is my car were talking about, I LOVE my car and now cause of this idiot who was driving like a maniac I have $6000+ dollars in damage to deal with. But because its his fault I have faith that SGI will see it that way too so that I can get my car fixed good as new at no cost to me. But since the idiot who hit me had no damage to his big truck I doubt hes in any rush to go into SGI and tell his side of the story, but I cant get my car fixed until he goes into SGI. So I guess its a waiting game now. |
