Petty Annoyance #3086 (and 3087)

The fact that almost every retailer, restaurant, fast food joint and gas station make you swipe your own debit card.

Control freak that I am, I would still prefer to relinquish control this one time in order to not spent 5 and a half minutes during every purchase having to reswipe my card because it didn't register the first 12 times.

The people behind you in line are annoyed, the checkout person is annoyed and I'm annoyed.

Are we noticing a pattern?

It wouldn't be so bad if they allowed for an error or two, but half the time, these bloody things are equipped with a metal sidepanel to ensure your PIN privacy and when your hand catches on it mid-swipe, you have to wait for the salesperson to stop pulling their thong out of their crack and reset it before you can swipe it again.

I hate these things.

Just swipe it for me, please.

And another thing.. to the bigwigs at Suzy's Inc... who wears 00 and XS? Honestly? Who are you catering to?

A Day of Childlike Joy

Mostly mine, but Mr. Roberts was nice enough to stomach a ride on the Tilt-a-Whirl with me when we first got there.

More food/junk than you can imagine. I love fair fare! Corn Dogs, Funnel Cakes, Cotton Candy, Pizza, Sausages, Foot Long Hot Dogs.. and we sampled most of it. Probably a large amount of the reason that he and I rapidly went through the $200 we had combined.. and that didn't include rides since I bought the passes weeks ago.

And the games. He spent at least $50 trying to win a minibike, while I probably spent the equivalent to get my 3 stuffed dogs: Nose, Pepe and Winter (that's Nose pictured.. I asked Wayne to name him by giving the first word that popped into his head, and apparently my nose was the only thing he could focus on).

He talked me into going on the Ferris Wheel with him.

I warned him, but he still laughed when I breathed my shallow breaths and held onto the metal pole with white knuckles.

It was kind of neat to look down and see the entire fair. Was a really nice view. But they stopped us at the top like they always do when I'm on it, and I couldn't help but think I was going to be another Ferris Wheel Casualty like this one. I may not be 6, but I'm just as likely to panic.

I did snap a few pictures while up there, though. Very tentatively. No.sudden.movements.

I figured that was the least I could do for upsetting his stomach 10 minutes into being there.

We also hit the bumper cars up. Terrific timing.. 10 minutes after we got to the line, we were at the head and about 150 people were lining up behind us. The rest of the afternoon went much the same way, we only really managed to go on one other ride and it was a 45 minute lineup for a 4 minute ride. It's hard to maintain childlike enthusiasm when you're in line for the majority of an hour with little kids (we were in lineup for the Crazy Mouse.. the sissy rollercoaster, decided mutually to be just our speed).

And for 1/2 an hour we watched the Flow RIDERS do their thing at the Ex Zone.. words can't summarize how amazing those guys are with their bikes, so I have pictures to do the job instead. Unfortunately, blogger is being a P.O.S. currently and won't allow me to upload them, so I'll have to do it once I'm more drunk and less frustrated. Namely tonight.

The Concert, No Sleep, and Supes

MSTRKRFT was great, Mr. Roberts and I danced and narrowly avoided the chipper, bouncy little thing in front of us mangling our toes. Keep in mind, it's ill-advised to wear sandals when going out to a club.

We ended up leaving fairly early by nightlife standards, but only because I was already tired and had to work at 9 the next morning.

Which was rough. I made him drive me to work, since I needed that extra half hour of sleep in order to recover, and all of yesterday, wandered around zombie-like, praying I would wake up soon. Naomi and I went for a walk to facilitate the 'wake up!' process, but it failed. Miserably.

At about 5 I woke up though. Hard not to when you're sitting beside a woman on a bus who is approximately the size of a Smart Car, and whose left butt cheek is threatening to cut off all circulation in your right leg. I can stay alert when my safety is in jeopardy.

Last night, he and me and his roommate Jeannette all caught Superman Returns, which I thought was a good flick, and made him glow like a 5 year old at Christmas. And then I went and spoiled it all by saying something stupid like Brandon Routh might be gay. I bought him an ice cream cone at Mickey D's, but I don't think it mended the wound I made.

And it's Friday.. Thank God.

Profanity 101 OR My Crappy Day

My head hurts and I'm irritable. Actually, I'm so irritable I just let my bus drive away this afternoon while I was smoking after finally tracking down my lighter. Fucking bus, fucking driver, fucking lighter that fucking died on me while lighting my fucking smoke. And fucking Anthony, for not picking up some of the slack while I hammered away at my closing duties after Day 1 of Month end.

As happy as I am to have Mr. Roberts home, I need to sleep more. I was happy until lunchtime, and then after spending 1/2 an hour of my break standing in line at RBC to make a deposit into my savings account (I knew I shouldn't have gone to the competitor just for kicks), I was on a rampage.

All afternoon, I varied between so many different annoyances and emotions.

Wanting to yell in utter frustration at all the asian people who just shoved a piece of paper with numbers on it across the counter to me ("What? You want the money? Or a money order? You want to transfer? What?!" And believe me, it was the second option more than most, as ridiculous as that seems).

Or tell the grungy smelly street people that antiperspirant is a better investment than the cheap wine they obviously enjoy dousing themselves in, instead.

Or just wanting to reach across the counter and hang up the phone on the commercial customers who think nothing of telling the person on the other end of the phone to "hang on one sec" while they vaguely tell me what they want to do in one sentence with no breaths (Iwanttodepositmoneyintothisaccountandthentransfersomeofitintotheotheroneok?).

Because modern day ettiquette totally states it's ok to give directions to someone during a business transaction while you're talking to someone else on the phone?

In the words of Full House's Stephanie Tanner.. HOW RUDE!

And the end of the day rolls around and I spend 15 minutes figuring out what number I wrote down wrong where that's leaving me exactly $900 out. And then aforementioned coworker who is supposed to help with our designated end of day duties, closes up, grabs his stuff and leaves while I'm still sorting my paperwork. I don't even want to go salsa dancing with him next week now!

I fully intend to do the same to him for the next 2 days, and will balance on first try just for spite.

Wayne and I are going to MSTRKRFT at the Starlite Room tonight. I'd be more excited if I didn't just want to head to bed early.

Good Morning!

Best thing I've woke up to in awhile.

"People have DIED because of telemarketers!"

"Well, your wife will leave you, Believe Me!"

"You don't ever call a human being!"

I can't stop giggling. Some people are freakin' CRAZY!

On another note, there's a great storm going on outside. Which I'd love a whole lot more if I didn't have to go outside to catch a bus in about a 1/2 hour.

How to Get Rid of a Hangover 101

1. Drink lots of water. Drinked vitamin enriched water works best. 2. Sleep, and if sleep doesn't come easily, lounge naked in your bed with a fan turned full blast on you.
3. Text message random people from bed, just to satisfy yourself that you didn't dance naked on a picnic table in your drunken stupor.
4. Down some more water, followed by a multi vitamin and a tylenol. Read a cheesy novel.
5. Go steal the last 2 pieces of your roommate's stuffed crust pizza, eat it in bed.
6. Do not smoke. At all. It won't make you feel any better, and you can totally do without.
7. Avoid looking at the goth roommate's pasty white skin when he does something ill advised like wandering around in only his boxer briefs. If you must be the vicinity, make sure a garbage can is readily available.
8. Drink some more water. You should have consumed at least 2 litres by this point.
9. Make some toast smothered in cheese. Eat, and follow by another litre of water.
10. Spend the latter half of the day in an outdoor pool with 2 gay men.

Honestly... I feel great now!

Last Night

I have nothing to offer up from last night, other than I drank too much wine and was surrounded by gay men. In other words -- nothing new.











Ok, so ALL the men weren't gay.

I don't remember taking this picture, though, so I guess that was when I disappeared to have phone sex with a certain someone.

Wasting Time

Wasting time and keeping the PC away from Tyler out of spite:

1. How old do you wish you were?
I don't really mind being 22, although I sort of feel like the year of my 21st was wasted, and therefore, should be done over.

2. Where were you when 9/11 happened?
Sick on the couch with Mono. I was watching This Hour Has 22 Minutes in the living room where I'd been sleeping for the past 2 weeks (Doctor said it was too strenuous on my spleen to walk up and down 14 stairs, so I was banned to the lower floor of the house), and then right after a commercial break came on, this anchorman says something about a plane crashing into one of the twin towers in New York City, and then it cut to the image of it happening. I called my mom over and thinking it was still political satire, just sat there saying, "This isn't funny". We stayed glued to the TV for the next 2 weeks, crying.

3. What do you do when vending machines steal your money?
Dig out some more change. There's always a hot boy around when it happens, and therefore kicking it makes me look like a fool.

4. Do you consider yourself kind?
I think I try.

5. If you had to get a tattoo, where and what would it be?
The tattoo of my dog on the small of my back.

6. If you could be fluent in any other language what would it be?
Spanish. Although Latin might be kind of neat, too. Then I wouldn't be subjected to looking up phrases like "sub rosa".

7. Do you know your neighbors?
My landlord lives next door on the one side. The Phillipino couple I've never really chatted at length with, although they were always amazed that my dogs just stood there to have a bath and used to gape over the fence.

8. What do you consider a vacation?
Any time I'm out of the house with people I like and I'm not working. I'm really not picky.

9. Do you follow your horoscope? Pretty much.. I'm a typical Scorpio

10. Would you move for the person you loved?
Anything's possible. I'd have to like the place, though.

11. Are you touchy feely?
After a few drinks I am.

12. Do you believe that opposites attract?
I think that people are attracted to other individuals who hold characteristics that person is lacking.

13. Dream job?
I'm actually thinking a relationship therapist might be cool now. Add one more life ambition to my already lengthy list.

14. Favorite channels?
TBS or Teletoon

15. Favorite place to go on a weekend?
Camping.

16. Showers or Bath?
I enjoy Baths, but the faucet in my bathtub is fucked, so showers it is.

17. Do you paint your nails?
I did my nails on my hands for the first time in over a year. I'll paint my toenails but normally I just get falsies put on my hands.

18. Do you trust people easily?
Initially. Although I have to get a good vibe about them first.

19. What are your phobias?
Sharks, Heights, Betrayel, Getting left behind

20. Do you want kids?
Sure, do you have one?

Not, not really.

21. Do you keep a handwritten journal?
Not anymore. Although I used to keep them describing all my conquests. Back when I had conquests.

22. Where would you rather be right now?
In my baby's arms.. naked.

23. What makes you feel warm and safe?
When Mr. Roberts holds me

24. Heavy or light sleep?
Heavy

25. Are you paranoid?
No. Why? Did someone tell you I was?!

26. Are you impatient?
My God yes.. how many times I've wished I had a bulldozer while shopping at a mall.
"I know where I'M going.. why don't you idiots?"

27. Who can you relate to?
The dog. It's us against the world, Summie.

28. How do you feel about interracial couples?
Love is love.

29. Have you been burned by love?
Haven't we all?

30.What's your life motto?
Drinking solves 95% of life's ills. Except hangovers.

No.. that's my motto tonight.

Life's just better when you're in love.

31. What's your main ringtone on your mobile?
Your basic ringtone. Sounds like a phone.

32. What were you doing at midnight last night?
Blogging I believe.

33. Who was your last text message from?
Corey.. who was in the next room, incidentally.

34. Who's bed did you sleep in last night?
My own.

35. What color shirt are you wearing?
Black.

36. Most recent movie you watched?
Ray.. 2 nights ago.

37 Name five things you have on you at all times.
Cigarettes, cell phone, lighter, wallet, keys and clothes.

38. What color are your bed sheets?
Mint green

39. How much cash do you have on you right now?
About $24.00

41. What's your favorite town/city?
Not Edmonton.

42. I can't wait till...
Mr. Roberts and I go to Tahiti

43. Who got you to join LiveJournal?
No one.. this is blogger. (and I actually stole this from a blogger account, so Blah)

44. What did you have for dinner last night?
Homemade Pasta salad

45. How tall are you barefoot?
5'4

46. Have you ever smoked crack?
What? No.

47. Do you own a gun?
No.

48. What do you prefer to drink in the morning?
Tea or Red Bull

49. What is your secret weapon to lure in the opposite sex?
My eyes, my witty personality

50. Do you have A.D.D.?
Oh, I'm sure.

51. What time did you wake up today?
Like 11:30.. initially at 7, went back to bed in light of NOTHING to do today.

52. Current worry?
Nada. I am footloose and fancy free this evening.

53. Current hate?
Mr. Roberts still being gone.

54. Favorite place to be?
In a pool.

55. Where would you like to travel?
Pretty much everywhere.

56. Where do you think you'll be in 10 yrs?
My God.. I just hope I've figured out what I want to be by then!

57. Last thing you ate?
A big salad with nuts in it

58. What songs do you sing in the shower?
Anything stuck in my head

59. Last person that made you laugh?
Corey today with his ongoing commentary on Tyler's legs

60. Worst injury you've ever had?
Big bike accident when I was 12.. I had skin grafts done on my chest, almost lost the skin on my chin permanantly.

61. Does someone have a crush on you?
Yeah, probably. I'm crushworthy.

62. What is your favorite candy?
Strawberry Twizzlers, Cherry Nibs

I'm feeling HOT HOT HOT

And not that fun kind where everyone is craving my fine ass, either.

I was uber bored this morning. Rossy was bailing to go watch the Our Lady Peace concert, Corey was laying in bed naked with the fan turned on him, Wayne's still 3 days away from coming, and nothing else sounded appealing. So I decided to go get milk and cigarettes. And ice cream. And dog and cat food. And salad stuff. And wine.

So what the hell, I'll throw Summer's backpack on her, mine on me and wander 14 blocks down to Safeway which is in the same lot as Pet Planet and Liquor Planet (it's a fun galaxy!).

Summer came into Pet Planet with me. Got rubbed down, a big bowl of water and a big meaty beef bone to take home, as well as her favorite food in the entire world, Evo.

My dog is a yuppie, and she demands the best. I on the other hand, am more inclined to wait until my pocketbook stop shrieking in pain and only dole out the $40 it costs when I can. Most of the time she just eats Pedigree, and that we can (just barely) agree on.

She's a little heartbreaker, she is. I went into Safeway, and left her to guard her dog food, figuring no one but the most dog crazed knows that Evo is one of the most expensive foods on the market, and I'm inclined to trust the dog crazed.

I come back and she has a swarm of admirers standing around her. At first glance, I thought she'd collapsed in the heat, but once I got around the crowd, saw her winning them with her biggest husky grin and those big blue eyes.

I dropped the rest of my groceries, told her to stay and watch (not that I truly think she'd stop anyone who tried to steal my sorbet or shower gel, but this whole city acclimatization thing is still a gradual process) and went to get some alcohol for the liquor store.

She even allowed me 20 minutes to select a red wine that I didn't feel would be too dry (we're having a get together tonight, I figured wine would be a nice thing to drink), and then I called a cab to haul us and all my purchases home.

And she won over the cab driver on the way home, while she grinned and thanked him (ie. licked his ear) for getting her out of the heat.

It's beautiful, but does it need to be so damn hot?

The Plague Marriage

I read today that Carmen and Dave (that'd be Electra and Navarro respectively) are splitting. I'm surprised. That's 3 years longer than I figured they'd stay together.

Although I suppose if she let him take their wedding invite pics of the two of them on an autopsy table, they almost should have worked out.

I was rifling through my magazine rack in the powder room (I'm opting to be a lady tonight) last night and I started flipping through an old issue of Cosmo where it features an article on celebrity marriages and why some thrive while others tank.

Some of the noted "thriving marriages"?:

- Richie Sambora and Heather Locklear (signed divorce papers in December '05 -- she's screwing David Spade, while he's out with another half of a formerly 'happy' couple.. see next)

- Denise Richards and Charlie Sheen (March 2005 they started proceedings, but put it off to attend couple's therapy.. reportedly she continued with the divorce when he started sending her death threats. She's boinking Richie Sambora, now)

- Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey (there's a laugh.. no one was surprised when they failed and filed back in November, least of all the dimwit who wrote the article, I'm sure.)

- Hilary Swank and Chad Lowe (January 2006. Granted, this one actually surprised me.. I have no derogatory remarks about it.)

- Paul McCartney and Heather Mills (May 2006. Linda was the love of his life, he should have mourned her for longer. Stella had it right.. Heather is a manipulator. Love how she DIDN'T sign a prenup!)

Apparently the only thing that makes a marriage "thriving" in Hollywood, is when the couple is actually still sleeping in the same bed.

Wow.

Way to get jaded about long term prospects, B.

---

Addendum: After re-reading this I figured out a trend. None of the women took their husband's last names. There's some more food for thought.

Goodbye Puppy Man

As I mentioned yesterday, my mom and I drew the conclusion that Linc would be better off in a home that would spoil him utterly rotten and would have the time to devote to him.

Besides my lacking time, Summer is, well, to put it mildly, insanely jealous of me, and is just starting to realize that the cat is not trying to usurp her position, but rather could take me or leave me as long as someone else provided her with sustenance.

So today Trin and Jordan took off with him in a crate in the back of the truck, surrounded by 10 of his favorite stuffies and with enough kibble to sustain him until Monday when Mom gets home from the Prince George dog show with his sisters, and then he's off to his new home next week.

I hope they're good to him. He deserves that much.

But I'm going to miss him. Knowing he's better off doesn't make the tears stop.

I Knew I was a Rocker Chick!

You Are Sheryl Crow!

Down to earth with tons of creative energy When you talk, everyone can relate to you "Life springs eternal On a gaudy neon street Not that I care at all"

Who's Your Inner Rock Chick?

Did Ya Miss Me?

Is it 'Reconnect with Bridgit month'?

My brother, Trinity, and his friend Jordan were stopping at my place on the way to Warped in Calgary last night, so after I got off work I checked the messages on my home voicemail to hear a voice I haven't heard in over 2 years. It was my roommate from Mill Woods, Danny.

I guess he was thinking about me and all the fun times we used to have in 'Ill Hoods', and figured he'd see if I was listed.

He and I had a falling out about the time I moved out and up to the West End with DHW. He felt that Wayne wasn't a good fit for me, and abandoned because I was leaving him for a guy.

When our landlord down there went flakey and decided Wayne couldn't even come over to visit anymore, he and I had enough, and made plans for me to move into his friend Phil's place with him, and Danny took my landlord's side. I'm not sure I really forgave him for that, but it was still nice to hear from him.

Melissa told her parents about finding me online, and they sent on some pictures of us in kindergarten. Guess which one I am?







If you guessed far right, far right and far right.. you'd be right. DTD I told you I remembered what I was wearing in the fashion show! :)

In other news, Trin and Jordan are probably going to stay until at least Saturday morning in order to hit the AFI concert tomorrow night at the Shaw Conference Center. And I'm sending Lincoln back to Dawson with them.

That's taken me months of deliberation. Since his front end fell apart and he was therefore not show quality anymore, Mom and I have debated letting him grow up to see if it comes back together, or if it's just best to find a home where he'll be adored for his other qualities, and not rammed around by a jealous aunt.

Apparently she found a home for him in Fort St James with a young couple who have a 4 month old Alaskan Malamute male who they want a buddy for. I'm going to miss puppy man a ton, but I have to think about what is best for him, too.

Mr. Roberts is back on Tuesday. I missed him.

The bank is only open for half a day today due to the Capital Ex parade on Jasper Ave. They'll be blocking off the two streets surrounding is, and due to robbery protocol (ie. the police don't have a direct path in due to the obstructions of the parade), it's just safer if we open at noon after it's done.

I'm really tired, Rossy, Trin and I walked to 7/11 at midnight to satiate our 3 unique cravings (chocolate, energy drinks and oreo ice cream), and when we got back I fell asleep on the uncomfortable couch at the end of 'Ray'.

So I really ought to get ready to go, just figured it was time to update.

Tahiti, Sweetie!

I'm excited.

I may have mentioned a week and a bit ago that I get 3 weeks of paid vacation at my disposal next year, so I sold Mr. Roberts on the idea of going on a trip someplace. The last vacation I took that I can truly count as a vacation was in 1997 when the fam went to the Yukon. That means it's almost 10 years since I've been on one.

So I want to do it up in style. Daljinder and I were talking at work on Friday about places we'd like to go and we were just surfing the Lonely Planet website looking at places we'd like to go when we stumbled across the Maldives in the Indian Ocean. It truly is paradise on earth. But at $4000 each just for airfare to Sri Lanka, I'm not sure it's a paradise on my bank account.

So onward I went in my search. Big sis, Corina was on MSN and I was telling her my plans and the sadness of the realization I can't follow through with them when she pointed out an obvious answer.. Tahiti.

The reasons I loved Maldives are all available in Tahiti, and Tahiti is about 1/2 the price according to my rough Expedia estimate and it has everything we'd want in a vacation destination -- world class diving, gorgeous beaches, tropical weather, waterfalls and those cute little overwater bungalows, which I am bound and determined I'm spending at least one night in!

Apparently there are a ton of sharks in Tahiti, but their docile nature is somewhat of a phenomenom. I'm still not sure how I feel about diving among them, but at least knowing they're not similar to the maneaters off Australia's sunshine coast, I can breath a little easier.


So.. I have to start saving a lot more than I have been.

No more Saturday chinese cravings, lingerie splurges or fun toys and gadgets.

This girl is going to Tahiti with her sweetie.

Copying Corina's Blogthings

Your Love Song Is

Wonderwall by Oasis "I'm sure you've heard it all before But you never really had a doubt I don't believe that anybody feels The way I do about you now" You know what you want - but does that person want you?

What Love Song Are You?

You Are Apple Green

You are almost super-humanly upbeat. You have a very positive energy that surrounds you. And while you are happy go lucky, you're also charmingly assertive. You get what you want, even if you have to persuade those against you to see things your way. Reflective and thoughtful, you know yourself well - and you know that you want out of life.

What Color Green Are You?

Your Personality Is Like Acid

A bit wacky, you're very difficult to predict. One moment you're in your own little happy universe... And the next, you're on a bad trip to your own personal hell!

What Drug Is Your Personality Like?

Your Love Life Secrets Are

Looking back on your life, you will have a few true loves. You're a little scarred from your past relationships, but who isn't? It's important to you that your lover is very attractive. You like to have someone to show off. In fights, you speak your mind and don't hold back. You know you're right, and you can get quite angry about it. A break-up usually comes as a shock to you. You always think things are going well.

Your Love Life Secrets, Revealed

You Failed 8th Grade US History

Sorry, you only got 5/8 correct!

Could You Pass 8th Grade History?

And as for when I'll die.. suffice it to say it's average, but still low enough to be depressing.

Lost Connections

In the past week, I have now reconnected with 2 people from my childhood.

A few days ago, my best friend when I was 10, contacted me on MySpace after she ran across my brother's profile. She's married and a mom with 2 kids now.

We've been having an absolute blast reminiscing about our childhoods and catching up on things.

And then today I got an email from one of my best friends in Kindergarten, Melissa after she ran across my 'I Miss Kindergarten' post of a few days ago.

I love reconnections. I just wish Mr. Roberts was having an easier time with his. He found a friend of his from childhood, who's now gone MIA after all the hard work it took to find him.

And I also wonder.. where did Michelle and Tyler, two of my former coworkers from the Atha-B in Jasper end up? Michelle was this bubbly little dancing queen from the Vancouver area, and she pulled a disappearing act one day when she was supposed to be at work. I saw her a few days later, but a few days after that, someone told me she'd left Jasper. And Tyler was from New Brunswick, and he left under pretty much the same circumstances. Buddy.. you slayed the dead mouse in my apartment for me.. I owe ya one!

And Don Narine.. man, I'm sorry we fell out. I acted like a bitch to you, and I'm really sorry.

A Tale of Two Service Providers

What a day!

I now have a functioning phone, although Sara's not set up to do what she's entirely capable of. She's sorry for the inconvenience (esp. to Mr. Roberts and Mr. Pearson who waited on bated breath to be added to my BlackBerry messenger), but the morons that work at Rogers don't deserve their commission.

I set up my account through Fido today. And then was told that I could have had an account with Rogers, provided I was willing to pay a $100 deposit on my service. Which I totally was. Amazingly, I just seem to have $100 laying around, but since they were such ignoramuses/morons/dopes, I went through their partner and am now only using my phone at half it's capacity.

But I do have a phone now, oh yes. I can text and talk and be severely in demand whenever I feel the need. Unless I don't like you, and that's when the BB's ignore button comes in handy.

I have to apologize. Rossy left part of a bottle of 3 year old Australian Shiraz in the fridge.. I'm not sure if that was a good year for Australian vineyards, but after the day I had, it's a good night for some people we know.

I started to realize how much I need a cell in the past few weeks when I realized there isn't a payphone along Jasper Ave that allows you to make calls on it. Telus needs to get their shit together on just one more thing.

How the heck am I supposed to smoke and call someone on my lunch break if there's not a payphone within walking distance that I can call from?

Anyway I encountered the same problem today when I was at OmegaCell during Sara's surgery. The little Asian guy that was unlocking her told me it would run about a 1/2 hour, so I wandered over to Starbucks to grab a Chai and figured I'd check out the damage on my bank account up until this point.

Yep. The world is dependant on cell phones. I finally found one after 45 minutes had run by and the poor little guy was still overrun with Asian girls drooling over the new D&G V3i they just HAPPENED to have in stock (One only I might add). I'll admit that I was a little smitten, too. I think a gold phone would be hot, but I still think Razrs are taking over the world. And hey, I have enough status symbols in my life already.

Anyway, it's about time this lady gets reacquainted with her pillow. 9 came too damn early this morning.

My Dearest Sara

I love her, I love her, I love her.

Even though I hate all the bull surrounding getting her up and running.

I went to the Rogers kiosk in City Centre today to get a sim card, since none of the Digital Comm. stores will sell a sim card that isn't activated yet. And customer care won't set me up an account without a sim card. And all of the stores are apprehensive (to say the least) about going along with my idea about a month-to-month plan and are putting up roadblocks left, right and centre to put me off the idea.

This kiosk would sell me a sim card. That was good. Except she figured she may as well set me up with a plan as well. Not what I wanted, but she did it. I figured they just took ID to sell sim cards. I'm naive like that.

She went through everything and then turned to me and asked, "Did you used to have an account with us?".

"Years and Years ago", I replied, surprised they still had the information on file.

And then she proceeds to mention that I still have an outstanding balance on my account, because APPARENTLY they didn't ever apply the $200 fee I paid to cancel my contract back in the day in Jasper.

This was almost 5 years ago. I don't have paperwork from 2 years ago, much less from a time when I moved every 6 months. So if I go through Rogers, I'm screwed.

Also funny since I certainly don't see anything from Rogers on my credit bureau, so it's obviously their screw up, but how do I prove it?

My only option now is to get her unlocked and then set up my service through Fido, which is the other GSM network in the area. This is fine, since Fido is cheaper and they have no problems putting me on a m-2-m plan, but I need to find someone who can unlock BlackBerries. Every Tom, Dick and Harry can unlock your basic Motorola or Nokia, it seems. My baby is a little more difficult.

So here I am, taking it one step at a time, hoping like hell I have her up next week sometime.

I bought tickets for the Ride all Day deal at Capital Ex for Mr. Roberts and I. Yay! Rides!

CrackBerry!

*evil laugh*

Well, weeks ago, Brandon mentioned to Corey that he wanted to sell the BlackBerry 7290 that he had just bought in favor of a traditional phone-style phone. I'm still not sure how he managed to get so pressured about upgrading to the grandaddy of handheld devices instead of buying a SLVR like he intended to get (RAZR's are so 6 months ago, y'all), but he did. And then promptly wanted to sell it because it was too hard to learn.

Anyway, I was drunk and when Corey called to ask how badly I wanted a BlackBerry (I thought he was just rubbing it in, much like he and Mr. Roberts both did when they bought one after me drooling over them in my cashless state), I replied that I was a step down from selling my soul to the devil as long as the price was right.

Well, the price I named that night wasn't enough to appease Brandon and he went searching elsewhere, hoping someone may be as obsessed as me but with more spare cash.

I offered him another $20 to sweeten the deal, knowing it was more than he'd bought it for, and also well aware that he'll basically be reimbursed the purchase price in the amazing warranties RIM offers with these joyous little things, but figuring it's still an easy $200 under the retail price for me to buy the hardware outright, since this is my intention anyway.

Whoo.. runon sentence, can you tell I'm excited.

So, yesterday Corey calls to ask if I still want the BlackBerry. I knew holding firm on my price would work, since Corey informed me that Brandon was indeed, desperate for cash, and had no reason to hold onto it. So I did, I held firm, and Corey informed me today that Brandon will sell it for the $200.

I don't get my sim card until Saturday, when I can make a run to a Rogers store to get one, but I'm beyond psyched.

I wanted to buy it outright, because I know how much the voice and data plans on these babies can run, and I want to make sure I can afford it before I commit to anything, but feel the excitement!

Get on it!

I've said it before and I'll say it again. I am the bloody queen of procrastination.

I got my invite to Nana's birthday in February and put it off, put it off, put it off. Until my aunt told me the deadline for RSVP-ing was June 9th. And then I worried about how I could go without actually doing anything about it. Y'know that 90's Baz Luhrmann song where he says 'Know that Worrying is effective as chewing bubble gum to solve an algebra equation'? Yeah, well I just didn't do algebra, period.

June 9th passed and still my aunt asked if I was coming.

Her: "We never really got a response about whether or not you're coming.."

Me: "Ummmm"

Her: "Nana would really like you to be there"

And my Mom.

"Y'know, you are the oldest grandchild, Nana would really like it if you came."

And the guilt trips began.

"It's her 75th, Bridgit!"

"She wants all her kids and grandkids there"

"Do you want to lose your inheritance?"

Right. Well the last one wasn't so much said as intended. Not that I really care or anything. Nana knows the only thing I want from her would cost me about $60 on Ancestry.com, or the Purple Heart my grandfather got which my former naval officer Aunt will never relinquish anyway, so I don't really think opting out would affect that, but I do understand that it's important.

So here I am, just under a month from when I'm supposed to go, panicking because the Airmiles website is down and I can't find out how many miles I'd need for a flight from Edmonton to Kelowna, and more worried than anything because I (AGAIN!) forgot to ask in advance for time off.

So Annette and I sat down to talk about the benefits I'll get with the new position today and she mentions I have a few days of paid vacation time left(next year I get 3 weeks!). What apt timing she has!

So as it turns out, I can take a few days off surrounding that weekend, and perhaps some really super sweet guy I know wasn't too tired to remember he said he'd drop me by there on his way to the coast? Perhaps? :)

And maybe he's right. Maybe I don't have bad luck.

My Personality

Something quick before I go outside to read.

Your Personality Is

Idealist (NF) You are a passionate, caring, and unique person. You are good at expressing yourself and sharing your ideals. You are the most compassionate of all types and connect with others easily. Your heart tends to rule you. You can't make decisions without considering feelings. You seek out other empathetic people to befriend. Truth and authenticity matters in your friendships. In love, you give everything you have to relationships. You fall in love easily. At work, you crave personal expression and meaning in your career. With others, you communicate well. You can spend all night talking with someone. As far as your looks go, you've likely taken the time to develop your own personal style. On weekends, you like to be with others. Charity work is also a favorite pastime of yours.

The Three Question Personality Test

I also want to congratulate Kyle MacDonald on his house. I laughed ath entire time I read your Banff Alberta Beef parade story and I've been following the blog at length to see what's up for trade. I saw on Yahoo! that you finally got your goal. Small town Saskatchewan's not my idea of prime locale, but for a paperclip? It'll do!

I Miss Kindergarten

Had sort of a fun night last night.

Dustin and I have established that we both went to Kindergarten together in Tumbler Ridge at Claude Galibois, so we reminisced about the things and people we remembered. He has an old class picture from that year, although no scanner, so I coerced him into taking a few snapshots of the picture to send along to me so I could point out which one I was and prove how good my long term memory actually is.

It's funny how many names I remember from this picture. I went down the line naming people I could, and coming back to the ones that were on the tip of my tongue.

I'm the one in pink in the upper left hand corner. A girl named Holly standing almost in front of me -- she was obnoxious then and still was 11 years later at Tumbler's grad.

My teacher's name was Ms. Facca and she moved to Fernie after Kindergarten. Ms. Facca will always remain in my memory as the best teacher I ever had. Mr. Dodd from grade 8, if you read this, you were totally a close second.

Craig, my high school boyfriend in Dawson Creek, is standing right in front of me, leaning into Jeff Schuerkamp's shoulder. I believe the kid in green was Tyrell Gardiner, and the kid next to him was called Troy. And he thought I had beautiful hair.

Alain and Dustin, himself, right in front of them in the very front row.

Moira LaPrairie is directly to the left of Dustin. She was a little slow, but if I remember, she was a really sweet girl. A few years ago, when Dawson opened it's own Walmart, Moira ran into my mom there and asked her how I was. It's funny how she remembered me and remembered my mom all those years later.

My kindergarten boyfriend, Kyle Beattie is beside her, and the boy next to him was Douglas, who cried when we sang a song called 'Douglas Mountain' because he was certain we were making fun of him. I don't remember who the boy next to him is, or the boy on the very outside, but the girl in Yellow was named Kendra. I know that.

Behind Douglas in the White t-shirt, her name was Rachel, and she peed the bed at my birthday party that year. She also wanted to go home at 2 in the morning. The guy between her and my old best friend Laura (Dustin, her last name was Avery! I knew it would come to me) I can't recall, as well as the guy on the outside edge.

Behind Laura is my other best friend, Melissa McVicar. The girl next to her was named Trish or Trisha, and between her and Ms. Facca was Sam. Who I had a crush on until he left Tumbler in Grade 2.

Of course at midnight Dustin needed to go to sleep, so I comforted myself by unpacking things from my hope chest.

I finally threw away the bouquet of flowers that Nick Tetachuk gave me in grade 8. Mom counselled me to keep them, since they were the first 'bouquet from a boy' but since it was mostly leaves and stems and the petals were covering everything, I decided sentiment isn't worth as much as orderliness.

I discovered embroidered pillowcases that my Aunt Patricia in Pensacola, Fl made me to start my hope chest. I kept those.

Pictures and momentos of Angel, my manx cat, and Alace, my Irish Setter also stayed in. I kept memorabilia from Brownies. My uniform, all my badges, my workbook and my certificate allowing me into the Guides -- which I never did.

I found baby clothes that I don't remember ever holding sentimental value. They all went into a bag for charity. Except the pink dress I adored as a kid, and my baby jumper that Mom brought me home from the hospital in.

The Spanish flamenco dancer doll my aunt sent me from Spain when she was in the Navy I'm still at odds about. It's pretty, but it'll stay in the box forever if I keep it. So do I donate it, and allow someone else's it's beauty?

I also found the set of rosary beads that my Nana passed down to me when my grandfather passed away. They were his, and I'll keep those forever. I may have my differences with Catholicism, but I know how much of a man of faith my grandfather is, and those beads mean a lot to me.

But wow.. this thinking about the past stuff is tiring.

Anyway.. DTD.. thanks for putting up with the memories, man!

Auspices and Omens

I'm walking to the store a few minutes ago, strong wind blowing through the trees, dark clouds blanketing the sky and I get this sudden gut feeling that something bad is going to happen.

I look up at the sky and see a single magpie circle above me and rest in a spruce tree.

Sighting a single magpie is always unlucky, while seeing 2 is typically foretelling good luck to come.

I go to the end of the next block, and a black cat darts across the sidewalk and the street in front of me.

I got home, let Summer in, called Lincoln in from the yard and made sure the cat wasn't on the front porch.

I'm not taking any chances.

---

Edit: As soon as I clicked 'Publish Post' on this entry, my power went out. It just came back up now, 1/2 an hour later. I am crossing my fingers that was it for the bad luck.

Just an Average Nerd Wannabe

Your Nerd Purity Test Results
You answered "yes" to 16 of 100 questions, making you 84.0% nerd pure; that is, you are 84.0% pure in the nerd domain (you have 16.0% nerd in you).
Your Weirdness Factor (AKA Uniqueness Factor) is 6%, based on a comparison of your test results with 576688 other submissions for this test.

The average purity for this test is 73.8%.

You can take this test here.

And then this one..

Thanks for taking the Nerd test!
Your score is: Your rating is:
179 38.33%

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Additional Scoring Information:
Sorry, you lost 1 point because you are using
a Windows machine. Your environment is:
Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1; SV1; .NET CLR 1.1.4322; .NET CLR 2.0.50727)

And this one is available here.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Corina and I are trying to outnerd each other. Turns out she may have me beat.

End Result

I went like the crazed domestic goddess I know I am last night.

One loaf of banana bread, keylime cheesecake squares, mini cherry cheesecakes and a full size banana chocolate cheesecake. My thighs will hate me this week.

I kinda, sorta agreed (under the most extreme duress) to bring some stuff to a baby shower next week for a girl who went off on Maternity leave in May. Her baby was born last month, so it's not a traditional shower with gifts and the like, but we're basically just bringing eats and fawning over him. Everyone else is bringing something, so I figured I probably should, too.

I just hope they don't expect me to hold him.

Bridgit doesn't do so well with babies.

Anyway, here's my offering (there are 2 trays):




And dessert (and supper tonight, late night snack and breakfast tomorrow):




But I'm a little down this am. My sweetie is not in Grande Cache anymore, and there's no guarantee that there is access to the internet in La Ronge, Saskatchewan, where he now is. Now who do I send dirty emails to?

And Sunday

It's Sunday and I'm not sure I really have anything of substance to talk about today.

Not that I usually do.

I have a few errands I need to run today. It completely slipped my mind when I was at the grocery store yesterday that in order to make banana bread or keylime cheesecake, like I intended, I need chocolate chips and graham wafer crumbs. So while I'm out there picking up the missing links, I may as well stop at the bank and deposit my GST cheque.

Good plan? I thought so.

I found out today my home town is at roughly the same latitude at Moscow, Russia. I really have nothing to add or comment in, but hey, that's neat, right?

It's also the same as Edinborough, Scotland and Copenhagen, Denmark. There.. you learned something new today.

Efforts at Staying Cool

Well, day 1 of my 4 day weekend went off without a hitch, despite getting a phonecall at 2 this morning from a very drunk guy I used to talk to who wanted to reconnect.

Reconnect, fine, whatever, do whatever floats your boat, but 2 in the morning is MY time with my bed and my pillow!

I actually woke up at 10 this morning, in spite of that. Spent a blissful morning talking to one of my favorite people, and then Rossy and I went to go pick up some groceries for me to make lasagna tonight.

I've been talking about getting a free standing hammock for a very long time so I caved and I bought one today. Rossy set it up while I made supper.

Ryan came over to visit this afternoon. Ross' friend, Carl was over visiting him, and we all went swimming at the Outdoor pool a few blocks from here.

I had a blast playing in the water and cooling off. I can only assume they all had fun, in spite of the scratches both Rossy and Ryan have from me tackling them and riding on their shoulders during our volleyball/keep-away game. I'm competitive, and I'm a girl, so it's only fair that I fight dirty.

Carl snapped the above picture when Rossy and I were trying to dump my $2.25 bottle of water over each other. This is how the cool people spend a hot Saturday afternoon.

Summer and Storms

I love summer storms.

It's strange how rain has this really soothing effect on me. I've sat on my couch all afternoon reading and drinking tea while listening to the sound it makes on my roof.

Summer lay beside me cringing whenever the thunder clapped and Lincoln stared longingly out the window. I know he wanted to go outside to play in the puddles, but I had no ambition to want to bathe a muddy puppy before bed.

And abruptly as the downpour started, it stopped.





I only hope Tumbler Ridge gets some more of this. My dad went back to work today after being one of the 4000 people evacuated from Tumbler due to a forest fire earlier this week, and I would hate for such a large part of my childhood to go up in smoke.

I'm a Nerd!

Corina sort of blogged about the true definitions of geeks, nerds and dorks awhile ago, so I HAD to find out which I actually was.. funnily enough, I seem to be a wonderful bridge mix of all 3 with the emphasis on my nerdy side.

I like books, alright?

You have to join OkCupid to check it out.

The Nerd? Geek? or Dork? Test

Tri-Lamb Material
56 % Nerd, 34% Geek, 52% Dork
For The Record:

A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia.
A Geek is someone who is passionate about some particular area or subject, often an obscure or difficult one.
A Dork is someone who has difficulty with common social expectations/interactions.
You scored better than half in Nerd and Dork, earning you the coveted title of: Tri-Lamb Material.

The classic, "80's" nerd, you are what most people think of when they think "nerd," largely due to 80's movies like Revenge of the Nerds and TV shows like Head of the Class. You're exceptionally bright and smart, and partly because of that have never quite fit in with your peers or social groups. Perhaps you've realized, or will someday, that it is possible to retain all of the things that you like about being brilliant and still make peace with the social cliques around you. Or maybe you won't--it's really not necessary. As the brothers of Lambda Lambda Lambda discovered, you're fine just the way you are and can take pride in that. I mean, who wants to be like Ogre, right!?

Congratulations!

Like Soccer Practice with the water polo team...

So Hawt!

You, too, will want to be a gay pimp! So hilarious!

Someone Stop Me...

from making bad decisions.

Yesterday, Annette and I were talking about the promotion and she asked whether I'd be willing to just try it out today to get a feel for whether or not I'd like it.

No big deal, except I wasn't scheduled today, and was sort of looking forward to a day off to get a few nagging things done around here.

Now, I don't believe I've actually mentioned this promotion on here, but anyone speaking with me recently knows that it's for a commercial CSR position, which means I deal with mainly business accounts.

The primary draw for me (besides the raise) is that unlike personal banking tellers, commercial is ALWAYS busy, so you never get bored. Unfortunately for me, getting tossed to the sharks like I did today means I don't have a 'system' mapped out yet and I tend to feel a little overwhelmed quite easily. Being easily agitated isn't my work persona at all, but this is a challenging position to say the least, and not having a system in place for organization means that you often get confused about what is what and what's been processed.

In a nutshell.. I lost my mind today, and I ended the day roughly $260,000 short.

Ouch.

It's been almost 2 months since I've NOT balanced.

Bloody commercial.

Today's Coolness

A girl came into the bank the other day with the telltale accent that makes most Canadians silly and weak in the knees and asked if we exchanged foreign currency. I responded that indeed we did and she handed me 4 of the most peculiar notes.

I'm not sure if many people have ever seen Australian currency, or 'battlers' as Aussies like to call them (the AU$ hasn't been on par with even the Canadian dollar in quite some time, but it fluctuates often, thus 'battling' with the American, or 'standard' dollar), but they are truly some of the most unique looking notes I've ever set eyes on. Or looked through for that matter.

See the cool little window built in???

They're a polymer note, which means they are water (and washing machine) proof, as well as being more durable, more resistant to folding (anyone who works with money knows the hassle of trying to make paper bills lay flat in a till after they've been rolled into bundles).

Anywho, they sat in my cashbox until this morning, when Amy from Commercial popped over to see if any tellers on our side might happen to have Australian money to sell.

I sold her all 4 notes, totalling $200 AUD, and felt a moment of sadness when I saw them go.

I mourned the loss of them all day, and at 20 minutes to close I wandered over to see if Amy had sold them all. She hadn't. She had 2 left.

Best $43.07 I've spent this week... Although I'm sure Mr Roberts would beg to differ -- that strappy little thing you saw me modeling is indeed what would be called a 'negligee'. ;)

I welcome anyone who wants to come feel the polymer goodness that is my $50 Battler. You won't regret it.

Happy Canada Day!

We raised our glasses and toasted to our wonderful nation's birthday at 3 this morning around the fire. Tradition, of course, being that we drink and have a fire whenever Corey meets a new one.









He's a crazy hand talker.. he got relegated to the Dora the Explorer Sippy Cup.

I attempted to stay curled up in bed, sleeping off the exhaustion of staying up until 5 playing 'Name that Tune', but Shane took the ice cream suggestion quite seriously and called at 10:30 to arrange plans.

He, Rossy and I spent most of the afternoon at the mall, while I took advantage of the 1% decrease in GST and finished buying mom her birthday presents. Corey is heading back to Dodge this weekend to drop off the new truck his mom bought, and as much as I'd like to go, I can't afford more time off. I just figured sending the presents with him tonight would be more cost effective than sending them by Canada Post. They'd get there quicker, too.

Rossy and I spent the rest of the afternoon sunning ourselves in the park.

He pointed something out to me that I'd never noticed before. Lay on your back and stare at the sky on a warm, clear day. At first the sky seems completely empty and devoid, a great expanse of blue with a bright, warm star shining down from it. Look harder.

Way, Way up there, to the point where the bare eye can't see anything, there are dozens and dozens of birds hovering and playing air tag.

Laugh if you must, but seeing this gave me a great sense of peace. Everyone should make it a point to stop their busy lives and look harder to see things that aren't always clear at first.

The fireworks display is in 2 hours. Rossy is getting ready and then we're heading down to meet Shane and his buddies by the High Level bridge to partake.

I wish there were a certain someone here to watch fireworks with. I miss you, certain someone.