New hobby?

I just got an old broken computer given to me, as I said I would take it after helping The Greeds dad shop for a new one. So I spent a day going through some old boxes from the move and found my old broken computer pre-laptop you see. So armed with nothing but the internet and a screwdriver I cannibalized the two old computers and built one that works! So... I think that I'm going to try to build computers and maybe sell them or fix peoples computers for them! I enjoy playing with them but maybe I can even make a couple of dollars doing it!

I'm Back...

Wow, this week has been cold! Cold enough for someone that has been climatized to our winters, but I just got off a plane from the Dominican Republic! If you were wondering only about a 70 degree difference in weather. The grass, palm trees, sand and ocean... all beautiful but I would have traded it all just to have my wife with me. She, with the baby was trapped here at home whilst I flew to be the best man for my friends wedding. It was an amazing experience but felt lacking without my best friend there to share it with me. So here's to make the most of it.

Now I'm off to make a snowman.

Procrastination...The sequel

So I've given up fighting it! Yes it has won. After another few weeks of procrastinating everything and getting it all done in the crunch (my crunch is best 48 hours from the due date). I now realize to get almost anything done I have to be in the 'crunch' zone. So I'm starting to set due dates for things I'd like to get accomplished. This may not work though as it's just me and I can always change these dates. We'll see.

Procrastination...

So it has hit again... Finished school, the house is pretty much set up and nothing huge is going on. (Finally) But now it's just hard to get motivated to do anything lately. So going to set some small goals and attempt to push through with them. I'm not going to say what these goals are otherwise I may feel bad about pushing those back!

Cool video...

So as my coffee addiction spins out of control, I was searching for another banner pic when I came across this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZU-76j8eUOo

A guy on http://blog.theyearofcoffee.com actually made this from taking a picture of every single cup of coffee he drank for a year. This blew me away and maybe, just maybe sometime in the future I would be able to come up with some creative way to showcase my addiction to my love of caffeine!

Cell phone epic...

For the past couple of months the charger for my cell phone had gone on the fritz. It reminded me of the old TV antennae that you had to maneuver just right to get reception, just to get the thing to charge.

So I went to the original Bell Mobility dealer that I had purchased the thing at and was told I would need to buy a new phone or get it repaired somewhere, there was nothing they could do.

I went to the suggested repair place, who told me it was a waste of my time to get the pin fixed as it would break in a couple of months again, it would cost "a lot", and the strip of pins on the base of the phone was a connector for a different charger, a better one. But I would have to find it somewhere.

Again, I talked to Bell, Telus, Verizon, Future Shop, Bestbuy, London Drugs and no compatible charger could be found. So after a week I called Bell directly and spoke with a 'manager' who said they wanted my continued business, as it was cheaper to cancel my account rather than finish the term by about $300.00 and said he would mail the charger right away, I would only have to pay the shipping fees. (I was not looking for anything for free, just to be able to use the phone I had and was happy with that). Two days later a charger for the busted pin was mailed to me and I was pissed. With no phone, I couldn't complain.

Yesterday I stopped at Rogers, a place I didn't have much hope as nobody I knew went through them. I asked for the guys help to find a charger for my year old, but discontinued phone, and he said no problem. The charger tip (from igo.com), that was recommended for my phone was the broken tip, but he opened several of the packages until he found one that not only fit, but charged the phone.

Just the service alone has gained them a customer, I'm stuck until my contract is up; however, my company never helped me like that, and Roger's Wireless helped me with no hesitation and no requirement.

Two weeks later and I finally have it fully charged and texting!!!

Quick update!!!

1. No more school... finished my last exam.

2. Finally out of the apartment and moved into the house. It's nice.

But I still have no internet at home!!!!

Back to ... Normal?

So this week I'm wrapping up a couple of huge steps in my life. My house (besides some finishing touches) is finished and were set to move in on Tuesday, as well as I am done school this week after my last two National CIP exams!

I can't wait but somehow feel a little down about it all. I feel that the whole experience coming to an end is a little anti-climactic. So much has changed in the 2006 that I missed. When I 'left' for school I was a newlywed, just off vacation to Mexico, renting an apartment and kind of fell into the whole going to school thing. I was nowhere prepared for what life in an accelerated program would be like. It was a year of juggling everything all at once and unfortunately that meant my personal life came to a halt. There was no time for me, my wife, or family and friends. I lost a lot of time that should have been spent with The Greeds in general. No coming out of school I own a house, I have a baby on the way and besides the people I went to school with I haven't talked to anyone.

Spending time with The Greeds is my biggest priority. I would love to get to know her again, I miss her so much. She's made several comments that I've changed a lot over the past year and I know that was true of her when she went to school. I just hope that I have not changed or grew in another path from her. At least I have a job to lean on for the next year at least while getting back to living; however, I need to catch up with everybody I put on hold.

I just can't believe a year went like that (snap of the fingers). Like waking from hibernation, it's back to business.

Can I have 1... How about just a drag?

I still scares me that after (see below) 169 weeks that I still have the urge to lit up a smoke. Every single week there's a point that I get a craving; however, every so often (today for example) it feels as though I just quit and NEED to have one. I'm not sure if it's something in the air, the crispness of the fall breeze or everything else that's been happening recently.

I haven't bent to the craving yet...

Just one day at a time I guess... only 65 years to go.

Already!?!

It happened on a dark and stormy night...

And by that I mean it was yesterday about 10 pm-ish, and I was driving while it was raining lightly. Between the wiper blades frantic strokes I noticed it 1 or 2 oddly shaped rain drops. The sight invoked a quick panic and flashbacks to skidding through the streets, traffic jams, cold hands, and hot chocolate.

It was.

I don't know if anyone else noticed it... ... a snowflake.

(Insert a quick high-pitched scream.)

Man finds his car seven months after forgetting where he parked it

he said: I had almost given up hope of finding the car again but I knew it must be there somewhere. In future I'll make sure I park in places I know I can find it.

This is totally something that might have happened to me!! My memory is about as sharp as a steaknifes handle!!

read more | digg story

Burnt toast...

At some point over the past month or so I hit the end I think. Yup, I am finally undisputed-ly burnt out. If you were standing next to me you would smell toast, if you asked for some though I would have to decline... I've no toast left (that's another story). But anyways, I'm not sure of the exact point it happened to me.

Somewhere in between doing the accelerated schooling, working, preparing to be a father, taking care of the soon to be mom (aka The Greeds), keep up with my chores, searching for a house, buying the house, and house renovations, preparing to move, study for the national exams and spending 3 hours a day commuting in between my commitments it happened.

Now everything I do it's feels as though I am sleepwalking; 14 billion things on my mind and struggling to maintain consciousness. Only 2 and a half weeks to go for school, then I can trade in my textbooks and 19-20 hour days for an 8 hour desk job.

I have never pushed myself this hard in life before and the fact that I am still going has surprised me beyond belief!

There are some sayings that I believe:

• If something can go wrong, it's already starting to...
• Everything will work out in the end. (The Even-Steven rule).
• I am already there, it's done, the results are in, all I have to do is wait for time to catch me up.

15 days to go.

The house...

Well it's been a week and I still love it! It's a small 1156 square floor, 2 storey with 3 bedrooms and 1 and a half baths. It's not the perfect place but it has character. So much character in fact that I've read more in the past month on home improvement then the textbooks I should have been reading.

(If anybody out there is considering the Insurance and Risk Management course, you could study your insurance policies it would be about as interesting! Not bashing the career I'm looking forward to the profession, but the textbooks could be made more interesting... just a smidge.)

So after an ... ahem ... sum of money for misc. tools and supplies, I have set out a brand new handyman. I was planning to paint the upstairs and replace the carpet with laminate flooring. I spent all Friday preparing the walls for paint, hours of sanding and patching as well as ripping out all the carpet, staples and tacking from the floor. Saturday was spent painting the walls which was finished that day and today we painted all the trim and the bathroom! Now almost ready for the flooring next weekend... right on schedule!!

Extreme thanks to all of our family that has put in the sweat and tears helping me to get our first house up to what we want!!!! I owe you all.

Possession date minus one...

To set the record straight... school may have won for the afternoon, but the evening was all nature (and excessive drinking). Good-times, Good-times.

I woke up early today and grabbed all my dirty laundry and head out to do it. Instead of taking the usual right at the lights and going to my local Laundromat, I went right and drove to my new (too me) house! I was as excited as a kid on Christmas morning. It was nothing special though an old washer and dryer in a dark basement, but they didn't take quarters! It was awesome. I'll miss the quiet mornings reading the paper at the L'mat, I may be weird but I found it relaxing. Now I have a ton of work ahead of me, the previous owners were slobs and The Greeds is picky! So I went out and bought a cart full of cleaning supplies and replaced all the lights and started cleaning. I also have to prep the entire upstairs as I bribed some friends and family to come help paint this weekend.

I'm half ready for the tests this week, but there is only two so I think they will go fine. I'll know for sure on Wednesday...

School vs. Nature…

As it is the September long weekend we're camping, this makes it exactly the first and last time this summer that I haveve been outside for more than a few hours. The Greeds demanded that we go; she has gone with her friends and family several times this year. The catch is the two exams and two assignments that are coming due this week that I need to get started on. That being the case here I am at the lake fighting myself to study for a couple of hours so I don't fail. This is my last term and it's wrapping up fast. My marks have been dropping due to the fiasco that was house hunting in Edmonton. Now with that behind me and moving in coming quick, I am getting worried about pulling everything together for the last couple of weeks! So it seems for the mean time that school has won this battle.

But who knows maybe, just maybe, starting October I can live the 2006 that I missed this time around... Kinda like yearlight savings time you could say...

Time flies...

So I found myself in between assignments for a day and looking back to my neglected blog. It's so amazing how time has flown since my last post. School for me is almost up, done the end of September. I cannot believe for a second that I have done it, looking back 20 courses in twelve months - what the hell was I thinking a year ago.

With my break (this morning), I grabbed a seat for a couple of poker tourneys finishing both in the money 3rd and 5th places. Decent I figure as I also renovated my blog as you can see from the shiny new layout!

The Greeds is demanding a new name for herself suggesting something like the amazingly entrancing-ly beautiful sexy super-hot wife formally known as the greeds. But that just tells you why my first choice was so good! Seriously though, she is doing great 4 months along and we're both excited and a little scared. I think it will take a lot to get used to having three of us, it took me 4 and 1/2 years to come to terms with the 2 of us before I finally proposed.

After weeks of searching in the hottest real estate market of the world, we finally squeaked out a deal of buying a house! It's sweet, and along with trying to do everything while I'm preparing for final exams....I move in Sunday.

I have got the call...

When we got married (our first anniversary is on June 25) we stopped using protection and decided to let nature take its course. The first few months were fine, but soon after worry set in. At that point we actually tried planning it, to no avail. Now just last week we had seen her doctor who told us that her tests showed an extremely low chance of conceiving. As you could imagine
she was devastated immediately she was devastated thinking the worst.

Jump to yesterday when my cell rang in class. Over the past month I had also been teaching my wife how to use text messaging and instant messenger with much success (as she is technologically challanged) and now she even enjoys using it so we can talk when I can't answer the phone, and catching up with her friends. It seemed funny that she would call so I left class after a couple minutes of worrying. When I called she was crying, and my heart sunk; however, when I asked what was wrong she said it was nothing, ... but that she thought that she was pregnant. Now I don't remember much of the call after hearing the news but it wasn't fear, or panic like I had always imagined this call would be. I must have been in denial, actually I think I still might be. We were worried of a false positive and couldn't get into her docter for a couple weeks so we just took another test. This second test didn't take long to confirm what we hoped for, she is, actually quite, positively pregnant. Like I said, I'm not afraid, just worried. I'm worried that it will be healthy, what sex it will be (even married, I know nothing about girls) and if I can be a good father. It feels good, different, I'm not sure what's different but good...

Let's go Oilers... clap... clap... clap. clap. clap!

Finished that assignment with 5 minutes to go! I feel soooo much better. Now on to better things to worry about like finishing the final round of the playoffs and clinching the cup back for Edmonton. It's amazing driving after winning the western conference final last night, the city has gone absolutely insane, it's fucking awesome. I'm definately hitting whyte ave to catch the games during this round, it's gonna be one hell of a party....

...hope you can make it...

everybody, who's anybody will be there, just don't fall from the light posts it's quite a drop.

CC-C-CCCoffee...

Sitting at Bogani's on my third large coffee, I am trying to finish my marketing assignment that's due tomorrow at 2pm. Of course that's when it hits me...there is less than 4 weeks left in this term and I'm struggling to keep up! Damn it now how am I supposed to get anything done! Well off to the Greeds moms for dinner, and out to a party. Maybe I'll be able to force myself to work tomorrow before I head to my actual job. Who knows maybe I'll make it...

It's Good!

Just got my national exam results for last term back and it's a pass on both!! Not honours or anything but I'm happy with anything over 65%. It's just such a relief to know I don't have to look forward to re-writes with my three new nationals this term.

Serenity now...

Last weekend, friday, 10:45pm, I stood at my front door, tired, angry and evicted. The slumlords evil sidekick (Apt. Manager) and I tangled in a flurry of comments and anger. You see a month or so ago we put in a check in the mailbox for laundry tokens. Four days later we call him... Do you have our tokens yet. To which he replies no, but you'll get them tomorrow. Okay, another day passes and no tokens so we call and he delivers 5 out of the 45 needed to get us by and he'll bring the rest tomorrow. Another day passes and no more tokens, so she calls again... "do you have them now?" and he has the nerve to ask if we paid or put in for tokens! After a week of asking he has no recollection of our troubles with him. Very frustrating.

Fast forward to last friday, noon, and I call ahead to make sure he has tokens.
me: Are there tokens available for today?
him: the procedure hasn't changed, put it in the door and I bring them. I'm very busy and with 71 families I deliver them all at once.
me: I know but I'm just making sure I can get them today, I can't wait 4 days this time, or I'll go to the laundrymat.
him: Yeah, yeah...you'll get them just put your check in.
me: Okay it's in now.

The clock throughout the day crawls by at a blazing speed and 10:00pm finally hits. After a long day stewing about all the promises to the greeds I would not be following through. I call him:

me - "Hello, I was wondering when you were delivering todays tokens to everyone?"
And you know what he tells me
him - "Oh, I don't work weekends from 4pm until monday".
Snap.
me - "That would have been great if that was posted somewhere! But that's why I called you earlier."
him - "Oh, did you put in your check?"
me - "When I called... this morning."
him - "Well I just spent the entire day snaking electrical wires, but I get right on that!"
me - "Great".

Twenty-five minutes later he shows up to my door obviously pissed off. How many do you need he asks, and when I reply with fortyfive dollars worth he blows. He puts the 5 tokens he brought back in his pocket. You know with 71 families bugging me at all hours for these things I don't have to put up with smart ass remarks from some punk. I tell him (loudly) he sould post his hours and give some expectation when someone can get tokens or anything for that matter from him he might not have such a problem. Some louder words were exchanged both ways and he leaves down the hall. Just before I go into my apartment he mutters something about me being an asshole. And the last restraint in my body goes. I yell back at him "Well If you can't manage the building, maybe you should find a new job!". So he screams back with "You want to see how I manage my building, as of tomorrow morning consider yourself evicted!

So that about tells it. I was sick to my stomach with mid terms that week (last week now, they went fine), the Greeds birthday on the 14th, and the chores I promised to do not done I spent the night tossing and turning. After 2 hours of that looked for new apartments, packed up the laundry for the trip to the laundramat, and tossed and turned waiting to hear the notice slid under the door and hoping to grovel to get our place back for a few more months. When the greeds arrived home after her 12 hour night shift, I did what I usually do when I screw something up...I made breakfast! After finally getting around telling her what happened, she laughed and ran to call her mom with the "great" news and we finally get to move out and buy a place. So she was happy and shocked, you see it's usually her that gets angry and blows while I sit back and relax.

By the way, the next day late in the afternoon I got my tokens without the notice...and two days later he apologized!

One down and one to go...

After procrastinating this weekend studying for my nationals (I've decided I'm too good at it to give it up), I woke a 6:00 this morning to brush up and prepare for the exam at 9:30. After finishing the exam with 15 minutes to spare I feel great! That's right I cannot complain today. I know that it was not perfect or close, but I just want a pass. I'm sure that this weather has something to do with my mood, I live for the sun and the heat. It feels that I'm walking on air and flying, even the 45 min commute is a peaceful drive (with the wind in my hair!) I love it. Tomorrow if the sun is out I think I'll make the greedy go out on a date with me to the park. But that is after the last test tomorrow at 9:30 sharp....I'm not worried in the least. Yet.

Phew...

Well that was a stretch! The past few weeks have been insane. I have just wrapped up term II of my accelerated program. Over the past week alone I wrote 5 finals, with 2 national exams on the horizon for next week. Between work, school and making time for my wonderful wife (I'll refer to here as 'the greedy' or such for the most part I will explain more in a post tomorrow) I have lost quite a bit of sleep. Getting my marks though wasn't the hard part as most of my work paid off as I managed a decent mark, except the financial math I pulled a 60%. I remember back over the last couple of years the greeds had been taking a 3 year accelerated nursing program at Grant Macewan, she had so much to do and all the time. Me I am a laid individual, prefer to do the crossword with a coffee on the balcony on a sunny morning to relax personality. I helped as much as I could to support her and get her through that hell and told her that I admired her for her strength and that I knew that I couldn't do it and would never dream of putting myself into that situation. Thinking back I am sure that exact comment caused karma to put me where I am today, all I can say is thank god my program is only for a year. Needless to say I'll be back to start this all over again 4/10!

On the other hand I had ordered a notebook through dell.ca and it had finally arrived. It also has collected a weeks worth of dust as it proved to be too much of a distraction while studying. Now though I'm sure it will be a life saver with assignments and such through out the summer. It was a great deal and I love not being tied down; however, it too came with a few problems. I set up the wireless network and transferred most of my stuff of the home computer with no trouble at all. Then I proceeded to blow $49.99 on Microsoft Money as came packaged with my home computer 4 years ago as the deluxe edition me being an idiot assumed that the store edition had most of the features and an option to upgrade online....Wait for it.... The Canadian edition (which I bought) has no upgrade capability and in my opinion no useful features. So I blew $39.99 online and got quicken 2006 BASIC and it does exactly what I need. Finally after countless hours resetting all my financial information (and 1 late bill, but the greeds need not know that) it is up and running and everything else works great. If you're on the southside there is my coffee shop, Bogani's Cafe, it's great, the service, the coffee, just lacks on the hours. With my schedule 10:00 pm is too early to close, but they offer almost free wireless internet (only $5.00 for ... Well ever, until they realize that they are being short-changed for it anyways).

For today anyways...Back to work...

Tim Horton's Rim Count: >> 4 Free Coffees -- 1 Free Donut<<

Those Mondays...

Again and again, It surprises me everything. I've tried everything to prepare but nothing helps. Somewhere between the serenity on Sunday eve and the unrelenting screaming of my alarm clock 1 Something changes ... all the world turns agains you. Okay it's not that bad. I'm not superstitious; however, perception is everything. When everyone gets up to a day they don't want to start, things begin to happen that are not so much in their favor. For the drivers on the road, you can chalk that up to incompetance. For the idiots holding up the drive-thru at Tim Hortons I shake my fist at you. To the group of 3 sauntering down the hallway holding up the ten people behind you that are late for class you should be ashamed! Ahhhhh! Of course I am sure I am not one of these people, but you'll have to take my word for that.

Anyways, with two weeks left until finals I find myself increasingly agitated with the small things. The last stretch is always the hardest but I'm already done my assignments are done, the finals already graded. Now I just have to pass the time till I'm actually there myself.

1 (I may be exaggerating slightly based on how I personally see the world).

Tim Horton's Rim Count: >> 3 Free Coffees -- 1 Free Donut<<

It is time...

After digging my way through the papers on my desk, the junk mail, the bills, the old receipts I was overcome by an urge to finally push myself past my natural tendency to procrastinate. The time has come where I not only should, but need to set new goals and run as fast as I can with them. I know that I can achieve them if I actually put in the effort. On June 22, 2003, I had ... well my very almost last cigarette and gave up that habit. Check out the newly added counter at the bottom for more info!

Now, almost three years later, I have yet to accomplish anything else (besides actually getting myself into school again but that is another story!). I need to start achieving something, anything and feel like I'm moving in the forward direction in life. So on that note here are my new goals for the next while.

• To be free of debt ASAP. Realistically within 2 years. (Not Including Student Loans).
• To focus and plan my studies to be ahead instead of always catching up.
• To reliably work out (at least three times a week).
• To keep my small promises to others (more).
• To revisit, update and my goals and my progress with them.
• And quit procrastinating.

So we'll see how this goes, Procrastinating my procrastination!

Tim Horton's Rim Count: >> 2 Free Coffees <<

Last Minute Cramming...

So I'm sitting here flexing my mighty procrastination skills. I have an exam first thing tommorrow and had planned to study all evening. Now as you've probably guessed I have not yet started, I've flipped through the television for 2 hours, played a game online, checked my e-mail (again) and searched for some interesting blogs. I finally decided to start at 8:30 but changed that to 9:30 as soon as 8:29 hit. So as I just got a new coffee I'm sure that I'll start soon...?

The new season is finally here...

If you thought spring is upon us, think again I'm talking about Canada's fifth season. That's right nestled tightly between winter and spring, Tim Hortons has brought back the Roll up the Rim! contest. You can bet on another few months of "Please play again" and a drawer full of free muffin rims. Get ready for the excitement, personally I don't know if I can do it again this year, maybe I will finally win. Instead of the usual extra-large I think I'll opt for a tray of mediums instead!

Does this mean I'm addicted to gambling... or ...coffee?

The infamous first post...

Well I can't promise that I will get any better...So I'll start this off with a quote:

"I put instant coffee in my microwave and almost went back in time."

-Jack Handy.