Monthly Archives: March 2007

He Got an Interview!

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Jeff found out this morning that he has indeed passed all the tests so far and he has been selected for an interview for the Nova Scotia jobs!

Our life is already in total upheaval so not knowing for more weeks (months?) where we are going to be living isn’t such a big deal. They haven’t set a date for the interviews yet but I imagine he’ll be flying back out to Halifax for it.

I’m happy and proud that he passed that last manager’s test. I couldn’t even read through the information package because it was so dry and boring. He not only read it, he studied it and nailed it!

So in other news, Julie called today for a ride. She’s stranded in Pittsburgh with Dad and Patrick and Patrick’s Grandpa. They went down to watch a hockey game and Dad’s van died. She’ll update her blog when he gets back so watch for her update with all the details of the story. Luckily they hooked someone else into driving down there to pick them up. I think Dad’s van is heading to the scrap yard.

Stay At Home Bum

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Well this week it’s starting to sink in that I’m jobless. It is really odd to be at home. I feel so guilty if I leave my computer for a minute, thinking of Jeff at work earning his cheque to support me too now. I pack his lunch in the morning like every good house bum should do for her man.

Today the temperature went up to 10°C! The snow is running off the roof like rain. It was sunny for a couple of hours so I took Monty for a short walk up to the mailbox by the store to send out some mail. I had a couple of windows open for most of the day and turned off the furnace (I better remember to turn that back up).

Yesterday I was busy calling up all the accounts for the house and arranging to turn off the services (phone, cable, internet, oil, PUC, water tank rental, etc). It went smoother than I thought. I’m not getting my phone forwarded, so after April 2nd, you can find me at my Mom’s – 519.291.2701 until we find a place to live. Shaw Cable is just like their commercials say – they are the nicest customer service reps ever – you just want to stretch back and chat it up for awhile.

Today I started pitching more stuff that doesn’t need to be moved just to sit in storage. I don’t need the movers to come into a messy house so that might keep me busy some of these days. I’ve done laundry and dishes and have taken the garage out just like a good house bum should.

Tonight is Monty’s obedience and agility class. I wish it wasn’t 90 minutes long – it’s a long 90 minutes. But the last 30 minutes is agility and that is Monty’s favourite. He has no fear and will jump over and run through anything (especially when they train each task with a bowl of hot-dog bits at the end).

Next week is our Michigan vacation! I’m excited we’ll have a few days stress free to relax before things go crazy the next week (the movers come).

What I’m listening to right now: Monty ruff-ruffing in his sleep

The Great Global Warming Swindle

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Dad sent me a link to a movie today. Well worth watching this one. It’s called “The Great Global Warming Swindle“.

The documentary, by film-maker Martin Durkin, looks into Global Warming. Scientists are interviewed. Al Gore’s farce of an argument is ripped apart in less than a minute. It also looks into why this farce is hurting poor people the most, and furthermore, why the co-founder of Greenpeace believes Africans should be allowed to generate more CO2.

Al Gore looked at ice core samples and saw a correlation between atmospheric CO2 levels and temperature. He made the conclusion that a rise in CO2 corresponded with a rise in global temperatures. Only there is no proof for this! It is actually the other way around! When the global temperatures increase, the CO2 levels in the atmosphere increase (but are 800 years behind the temperature increases).

The movie shows that our global temperatures have always fluctuated.

Oh I could go on and on, but really, you should just take 1.25 hours of your own time and watch this movie:

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Lunch Today with Co-Workers

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I had lunch with my old bosses and colleagues today. It was nice, and tame. My first boss who originally hired me into the building picked up the lunch bill for both Jeff and I. They all signed a card for me. I even got a few hugs. It sounds like they all expected me to be sitting at home bored stiff but really it hasn’t even sunk in yet that I don’t work anymore – I’ve just been too busy with other things.

The moving company bossman came by today to assess the situation. He used his handy dandy little hand held computer device to keep track of all the items in the house and the garage. He figures that our rented storage space will be too small, but they did assure Jeff they had smaller ones available. We’ll work it out.

They gave us a big package to read over of the things they will not take. They will be sending someone here to verify that all of our appliances work – probably for insurance reasons so we don’t put in a claim that the movers broke them if they don’t work when we get there.

I’m a little worried about moisture in the storage facility because I remember moving a friend of a friend out of a storage unit before and there was a lot of green mold – probably items touching the walls and floor. This man also told us today to be sure that we get rodent pellets to keep them away from our stuff. Will do!

We don’t have anything much planned for the next week. I’m busy trying to advertising systems online – finding new products to market and make money. So far I’m learning but I haven’t hit the big time. Maybe tomorrow will be my lucky day.

G’nite!

Zodiac

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ZodiacWe went to see Zodiac tonight at the theatre. If I had known it was 2.5 hours I might not have got the large pop – holy did I have to pee!

I think the first time I consciously heard about the Zodiac killer was just a few weeks ago as I caught the tail end of the story on one of the crime shows Jeff watches.

This movie is based on the true events and shows the crimes and the suspects and the trail of clues and events. I really enjoyed it. I could tell there were people in the theatre who thought it was just way too long because they were figity and talking and bolted instead of reading the words on the screen at the end.

I give it a solid 8/10. I suppose it was stretched a bit in length but I didn’t feel the need to look at my watch at all. I was surprised at just how late it was when the lights came back on.

I imagine this movie will start an entire new generation of people who are hooked on the Zodiac killer case. There really are people who live and breathe the case still today.

My 2nd Product Recall

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A few years ago I had to return my brand new laser printer for a refund because it was a fire hazard.

Just now I had a gut instinct that I should check the code on my contact lens solution and sure enough it is part of the latest voluntary recall. Something about there being too much iron in it and it could discolour. I’ve submitted my information to them. I wonder if I’ll get a new bottle?

In case you are wondering if yours is affected, if you use Bausch & Lomb ReNU MultiPlus, then you better check your code here: http://info.bausch.com/ca_en/vision/products/renumpsolution_info.jsp

“Homelessness and Unemployment”

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That was my answer yesterday when people were saying their goodbyes and ensuring me I was on to bigger and better things.

Yesterday, last night, and this morning have been a whirlwind. I didn’t finish everything at work I wanted to do but so be it. By about 4pm it was time to just cut the strings and let ‘er go.

Then I came home and filled out my application for unemployment online. Good grief, it took probably an hour! Once I said I owned a business all sorts of more questions were targeted towards me. Then it was time to scarf down a peanut butter and honey sandwich, grab my dog, and dash off to his obedience and agility class. The class went okay. I was smart enough to dress warm and most of the rest of them froze their asses off.

This morning I had a lot of running around to do, a form still to get from the bank to bring in to HR at work, and I had to deliver my Record of Employment to the Canadian HR office downtown. My errands were a total mish-mashed off backtracking. I had NO idea that neither of my banks opened until 9:30am. What the heck? I just assumed they would be open by 8:30. At least my post office was open so I could get an order for Flexicose out to a customer. When I got to the Canadian HR office at 9:10 I was the first footsteps in the snow going in the front door.

I also dropped my truck off and told my friendly neighbourhood mechanic that if he’s busy he can put it off to next week. It made the noise for him when I tried to start it and he confirmed that the starter wasn’t engaging.

Now I’m tidying a bit because my friend Susan is coming over in a bit to visit and restock her Syn-Flex or Flexicose supplies (the liquid glucosamine arthritis supplement I sell).

Jeff just called from Sudbury and he was in touch with the department who is arranging our move. They are packing our stuff and loading it in the truck on Thursday March 29th and Friday the 30th. It will be unloaded in to our Parry Sound storage facility on April 2nd. The timing looks good. I’ll have the weekend after the stuff is out of here to clean up the house. Jeff will head down to Parry Sound to be there on the Monday when our stuff is unloaded. I’ll stay here to wrap up the deal on Monday. I’ll have to turn over the keys and hope there is a cheque big enough waiting for me at the lawyers that I can take in to the bank to pay off my loan. Then I’ll head out of town.

Last Day of Work

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I’m at work for my last day today. I am still actively coding applications to make everyone’s life easier after I go. Why? ‘Cuz I’m a nice person I suppose.

Then I have to get the signature of 15 or so people as a check-out procedure. It’s a pain in the ass. Apparently it is in place just in case you still have library books checked out in your name… or government vehicles… or government credit cards. I wonder what happened before this form….. Anyway, I have two signatures already and one of them was super chatty and is going to miss me and wishes me lots of luck etc etc. She’s a real nice lady. But I hope the rest go faster.

I’ve had about 6 meetings in the last 3 days of work and I’ll have another one at 3pm to pass over my work and answer last minute questions. I hope I can still get out of here at 4pm.

Tonight is Monty’s obedience and agility lesson. It better warm up because it was -27°C when we got up this morning. Talk about crunchy! The mill sounds so loud when it’s cold like this. But it’s clear and calm and sunny so that is nice.

Jeff is heading to Sudbury later this afternoon to work there tomorrow. Then he’s going to pop down to Parry Sound to check a few things out. We’re booking a storage unit today. Hopefully we can fit everything in 10x25ft2. I’m not crazy about the warning that we need to supply our own rodent repellent. But.. whatever.. we gotta do what we gotta do.

I’m going to get the starter replaced on my truck this week because it’s really bad now. I’m sure my trustworthy local mechanic will give me a good deal on a refurbished one.

Leaving work is a little less uneventful with everything that is going on (you know, the whole homelessness bit). They are having a good-bye lunch for me on Friday at Dock’s (restaurant on the waterfront).

What I’m listening to right now: Not CBC (we moved my radio/tape deck/record player home yesterday). I can hear people socializing at the end of the hall (31 minutes into their 15 min. break). Ahhh gov’t jobs.

So I’m Not the Only One Questioning the Sun

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I linked to QuadsZilla‘s SEO BlackHat blog a few weeks back on the subject of Global Warming. As I’ve stated, I don’t believe humans are causing the earth to warm and that our politicians and David Suzuki are the only things that can save our hides. I specifically have questioned the sun’s role in the warming (or cooling) of our planet.

QuadsZilla dug out references that indicate four other places that are getting warmer – and our polluting cars are not the cause – they are Pluto, Triton, Mars, and Jupiter!

To read what he has to say, visit: Global Warming on Mars, Pluto, Triton and Jupiter where he talks about “Global Warming on Mars, Pluto, Triton and Jupiter strongly points towards the Sun or Some other cosmic force being the cause of the recent global warming on Earth.”