Signs from Signs

Ryan and I were on our way to Hamilton on Thursday night for some karoake goodness at the Hub when a sign on the side of the road spoke to me.

This was a new experience for me. So far in my life, signs haven't provided me with many inspirational messages besides suggestions such as "stop" or "avoid the falling rocks" or "you'll get a big fine if you get caught driving 140 on the 401."

Maybe this will all change now.

The message was so presise, so clear, so fitting...



Rock on, Rockton.
Rock on.

Monday Monday

It's Monday morning.
I'm sitting at my desk.
I'm working on some insurance stuff.
But where is my mind?
What am I thinking about?

Keytars.



I want one.
Anyone know where I could find one for not too much money?

Camping and a Horsie

Hand-powered crank blender = margarita's anywhere

May 2-4 in Virginia Beach

What I bought with my bonus in March

I think it's fairly self-explanatory.

A late post for Zoë's birthday.

It was Zoë's birthday on April 27th. She turned two this year! My kitty cat's all grown up.

What a special birthday girl she was. She had a nice breakfast that comes in a can. Oooh.. she loved the birthday breakfast. :) She also had a couple of birthday treats.

When I got home from work, I presented her with her birthday gift and took the above picture. She wasn't all that interested in it when it was wrapped, but once the shiny new bouncy balls came out, she was running around all over the house!

My morning rage

Some people get road rage on their way to work in the morning.
Not me. Unless you consider side-walk walkers that are too slow walking in front of me (I don't drive to work)
I suffer from a different problem and this morning I discovered that it is....
Coffee Rage.

On my walk to work every morning I stop at the Tim Horton's closest to my work. I walk in, get my coffee, and then continue the rest of my walk.

This morning, I noticed a small line-up inside my coffee shop. No worries.. it's not too long, but it's going in a funny direction.
I stand close to the people at the end of the line, sort of crushed up beside a trash can.

A man walks from the tables and stands behind the people who were there right before me. I kind of gave him a look to say 'look buddy.. I was here first' and continued to wait patiently.

The two people at the counter were ordering MANY coffees each for their fellow work-mates. This is never fun to be behind. As one of them left, the line moved slightly. I move to get in my proper place in line, but the man also moves slightly as well.

The next person is done and he moves into a spot sort of beside me! I'm looking.. not ready to say anything because he COULD still be waiting to go after me.. he hadn't moved in FRONT of me yet.

But what happens next? A spot opens and he quickly walks to the counter. The rage begins to boil.... I didn't actually say anything, but I certainly did swear at him under my breath. I think he may have heard it because he sort of turned around.

So I get my coffee and go outside to continue my walk to work. I see the man. I swear under my breath again as I pass him on the sidewalk. But I have my coffee now and everything should be okay, right? Well no... my coffee had what I am now calling DLS (drippy lid syndrome) and coffee was dripping on my hand and on my bag. This just makes me all the more rageful. And you can never seem to cure DLS while you're still walking... no.. it continues until you actually start to DRINK the coffee, which I never do until I get to my desk.

Now I'm at work. I've had my coffee and my yogurt and strawberries. Things are better. No rage for the moment.
You're just not supposed to mess with my coffee experience/ritual. At least not before I've had ANY coffee.
That's just evil.

Allie: 1992 - 2006

Allie, the best puppy dog ever, left this world yesterday. She was much more than a pet... she was a member of the family. I don't really know what to say besides: she was fantastic and I miss her.

~10 years ago:



Summer 2005




Christmas 2005


Allie, you will never be forgotten.

Pictures! pictures! lalala!

I've now declared today "picture posting day."

Yesterday. Yay. I love birthdays.

Yesterday was my birthday. This is quite possibly my best birthday ever! I went to work for my last day in my job. There was cake involved. Cake that said "Congratulations Vicki" and also "Happy Birthday." Mmmm.. carrot cake with cream cheese icing.

After work, I went home where Ryan showed up with some tulips for me. I love happy flowers. He made me dinner and gave an Atari game (Frostbite) and a new digital camera for my birthday!

We then went to see Gowan perform at the Centre in the Square. It was a good show and we got to go backstage after to meet him. Good times. Good times indeed.

Went out to the Spur after the show and Nick brought me the shirt that he made me for my birthday (the one at the top of this post). yay! Today I'm off work and tonight it's off to Starlight for my 1979 Birthday Disco Party! I'm pumped. Gold sequin dress here I come!

2 weeks until my birthday celebration and I have something else to celebrate

I got a new job!

Yep. My last day in my current job just so happens to be the day after my birthday, which also so happens to be the night I'm celebrating my birthday in disco style!

So come out and celebrate two things with me!

I start my new position (same company) on February 27. Yay.

It'll be my birthday soon! YAY!

This year I thought I'd spread the word through the wonderful world of blogging. So here's your official invite to my birthday party.
Come to my birthday! I'll be the one in the gold sequin dress. :)

New Year

A new year is upon us. Hopefully it will bring some new adventures and good times. Maybe even a raise or a new job. :)

I hope everyone had a chance to relax over the holidays... I just got that this weekend. I almost forgot what it was like to have a couple of days where there wasn't really anything specific that needed to be done. It was good. I'm looking forward to having a few more of those, although I'm kind of itching to get out and dance soon. Perhaps that will happen next weekend.

Here's to an excellent year for all of us!

More pictures from NYC

Statue of Liberty

From Ellis Island


From the Empire State Building
you can see Macy's in the bottom right on this one

The glowing section is Times Square

Pictures from New York City

Central Park Zoo

Central Park

Strawberry Fields (part of Central Park) on the 25th anniversary of John Lennon's death


Radio City Music Hall

Rockefeller Center

Macy's

South Street Seaport

Brooklyn Bridge

City Hall

More Updates on the Same

Last Wednesday's Interview
I did not get the job. I got an email just before leaving work tonight stating that although I was more than qualified for the job, they came across someone with a bit more experience and bilingualism to boot. There might be another posting in January and I've been encouraged to apply at that time.

Rival Company Interview
Seemed to go alright. I'm supposed to find out about this one early next week.

Another Math Test
Today I wrote the "Complex Math Test" and was told that if I passed this test, I would have an interview for another job. I passed the test, an interview is booked for next Tuesday.

Moving
I'm am now officially in my new place along with piles and boxes and whatnot. Hopefully this weekend it will all be organized. But until then I don't have a whole lot of time. I'm about to tackle a bit of it, though. Wish me luck.

A Follow-Up Post

Math Test
I apparently made my one silly mistake that I'm guaranteed to make on any given test. Read something wrong, invert a fraction for no apparent reason or something like that. Anyway, my score for this test was 15/16. 93.75%. I was told this was "great" and "very good" as well as "excellent." I was disappointed that I did something wrong. Oh well.

Wednesday's Interview
The "excellent" from the above paragraph was from the interview on Wednesday. It seemed to go fairly well. I should hear by the end of next week if I am being offered a position.

AND yesterday, as I was sitting at my desk working, my phone rings. I look at the phone and recognize the number as a big rival company. I answer the phone. They were calling in regards to a position I had applied to a couple of weeks ago. They said they "definitely want to meet with me to discuss the position further" and I had my pick of any time on the day they were going to be doing interviews because I was "at the top of their list for people to call" I've never had a request to meet for an interview sound so promising! The interview is also at a building that is approximately 2 blocks from my new place. I'm very excited.

Moving
Tomorrow is moving day. I took today off so that I could get some more packing done and perhaps bring some boxes and smaller furniturish things that'll fit in my car over to the new place. My parents are stopping by today as well, so perhaps I'll enlist them into helping me for a little bit today. But only if they're willing, of course.

Next Week's Events

Monday 11:30 am - write a 'basic math test' in HR
I'm pretty scared about this. Well no. not really

Wednesday 1:00 pm - interview for a new job
the job is very similar to what I currently do, but in a different department. A department that tends to have overtime available. I haven't worked overtime in many many many months. With OT, I could possibly quit second job in a few months. Possibly.

and something completely unrelated:
I got my keys to my new place last night. Yay! I think I'm going to go paint shopping tonight 'cause my bedroom in the new place is kind of a light purplish pink. A little too girlie for me.
Oh! I can make this related because I'm moving next week. :)

Today's Intranet

"We have had a number of inquiries about observing
Remembrance Day... We realize that this year the process was
different than it has been in the past. A message was posted
on The Source, but this year, the moment of silence was not
prefaced by an announcement, and this caused some concern
with employees who expected the reminder. We do appreciate
the feedback we received about our change in process and
will take it into consideration for next year."

I guess I wasn't the only person to email.

Remembrance Day

For the first time in my life, I was at work and there was
no announcement for a moment of silence. I've worked with
the same company for over two years and the other years
there was a warning announcement and then the start of the
moment of silence, followed by the sounds of a bugle.

Today? Nothing. Well.. not nothing. I ended up going onto
our intranet and I did find a message saying: "Today, at
11:00 a.m. we join Canadians across the country in a silent
moment of remembrance for the men and women who have served,
and continue to serve our country during times of war,
conflict and peace...."

I must say.. I was disappointed. I actually missed 11 am
because I was expecting the announcement that we've had in
the past.

I always look so pretty on Halloween