Don't eat there.

I just had the worst lunch ever.

One of my coworkers is leaving, so about twenty of us went out to a local restaurant for her 'last lunch'. As we pull in, we realize it's attached to a strip joint, so I figured right off the bat that there wasn't going to be any five-star chef heading up the place.

I ordered fish and chips. The other regular stuff on the menu just didn't appeal to me, and with my food allergies I wasn't about to try something different.

First off, it took forever for the food to get there. Then when she put my fish down in front of me, I noticed the top of it was a bit overcooked. I flipped it over with my fork, and the underside was charred. I called the waitress back, and told her this was just a little but too burnt for me. She looked surprised, but took it back anyways. (And I HATE sending food back. I've heard way too many horror stories about what cooks do to the person's next dish when they send the first one back.) Anyway, I got the next round of fish, and it was cooked fine, but I really was concerned about what the cook might have done, and I really didn't feel like eating it.

The desert menu got passed around, and I thought I'd treat myself to something. I picked a chocolate brownie cake thing with 'creamy chocolate mousse' in the middle, a brownie bottom, and a fluffy cake top layer. The bottom layer, the brownie part, was rock hard. Tasted stale. The middle part? The 'creamy chocolate mousse'?? Frozen. The top fluffy cake layer was almost non-existent.

On top of my crappy food, some of us had things on our bills the waitress had to correct, and she had a helluva time figuring out which bill belonged to which person. I really don't think I'll be eating there again. I'm still glad I went, because the girl that is leaving rocks, and I hate to see her go, and I would've gone anywhere for lunch on her behalf, but it kind of irks me that I paid $20 to have a crappy lunch. I have better things to spend my money on.

(Good luck Jill! Stay in touch!!)

Gone.

Update: Mister Pigeon is gone. I went home at lunch, and all that was left was a dozen piles of bird shit. Thanks, buddy.

I did get ahold of the local 'pigeon club' president guy, and he said if the bird was still there tonight, I should be able to box him up no problem, and the guy would take him and get him back to his owner. Looks like I won't have to now.

Heh. I'm surprisingly sad that he's gone. I would have like to gotten a little closer to him.

Visitor

Pigeon
Originally uploaded by Jenn W.

There is a pigeon camped out on my balcony. I leaned out to shake off a towel, and when I was done, I saw a movement out of the corner of my eye. At seven floors up, that scared the crap out of me. Obviously my towel shaking didn't bother him, because he just looked at me.

I don't know why he's here, or what he's doing, because I know jack about pigeons. I do think, though, for some odd reason, that he's not well.

He's been there now for a couple hours. I hope he's just hanging out for the night, and isn't sick or anything. I guess I'll just have to wait and see (which is something I'm just SO not good at doing).

Incredible.

What an absolutely fantastic day. We went to the biggest PowWow I've EVER been to! Ok, so this is only my second, but it was huge. And incredible. It was at the Skydome, er, I mean the 'Rogers Centre'. We got there before the Grand Entry and did a bit of shopping and then I hiked up to the high seats that overlooked the area where the Grand Entry would be. The drummers started, and I could feel it in my feet. I LOVE drum circles. I was so caught up in the drumming and singing, I barely remembered to take pictures.


(Click on these pictures. They really do look better bigger.)

I could watch them dance for days. The colours, the music, the singing. They way they just DANCE, without a care. It was nice to see even our RCMP, in full gear, dancing a bit as they walked the processional.




Now, not only was the Festival incredible, but spending the day with my inlaws was great. We see them a lot, but usually at their house. It's always so nice when we can get out and do stuff together. I'm *very* lucky that I got the inlaws I did. Oh, and the husband. I'm lucky I got him too.

Finally.

Friday, finally.

This has been a long week. For those of you not in the know, I have a small (budding!) computer repair business on the side. I haven't advertised for clients in a while, because I just haven't had the time. And because we are moving, I've packed one of the spare monitors and pretty much disconnected everything else, thinking I wouldn't need them till the new year. Not so. I had a client Wednesday night (a repeat client, seem this guy *always* has problems) and a new client tonight. Luckily, I fixed both their problems at their house. But the client I had Thursday night had a mess of a computer. I told her I'd need to bring it home, or I'd be charging her an arm and a leg to sit at her computer while diagnostic programs downloaded (on dial-up!) and ran. If I take it home, it can do it's thing while I do mine. So I've got that behemoth sitting on the desk, and it's all finally hooked up, but I'm not even going to start it until tomorrow evening when we get home from Toronto.

Tonight, I'm on a desperate search for a copy of MS Access 97. Anyone have any idea where to get dinosaur software? I've checked eBay, and I can't even find it here. Meh.

I think I need a snack. And the 10-year old in me wants chocolate milk and pb&j sammiches.

:)

Friday morning.

Sunrise
Originally uploaded by Jenn W.

Just a picture for now. It was so pretty I had to share it.

I got nothin'.

Trifle
Originally uploaded by Jenn W.

Whoa. It is *bitter* out there. My poor dog, her belly barely higher than the snow she was standing in, almost fell over in a gust of wind. One more reason why I can't wait for us to be in the house. Her whole run is fenced, a good solid 6 foot-ish high fence, so she'll be nice and sheltered on nights like this. And of course, I don't have to stand out there with her while she does her business.

**********

If the weather cooperates, we're going here on Saturday (after a stop to pick up necessities at Lush, though). Mike's parents are coming with us, and I'm bringing the camera, for SURE. (Winter means I don't take *nearly* enough pictures. Boo.)

**********

You know, I really like Blogger, but I do wish I could password protect some posts. And because I can't, I have no more to add right now.

**********

It's getting chilly in here now. Time to go crawl under all my blankets. 'Night.

Winter bitchfest

Winter is officially here. And, truth be told, that's fine with me. I know I bitch about winter, but I do actually like the snow, and the cold, but what I can't stand is the people. Here's my two big winter rants:

Workmates: Because it is now winter and snow will be on the ground for the better part of the next few months, please adjust your schedule accordingly. This weather phenomenon is common enough that you should leave yourself enough time to deal with it every day, instead of coming to work late and announcing with surprise that 'it snowed!', and then telling us all how long it took to clean off your car and brave the snowy streets to get here. We get MIGHTY sick of this by April.

Bully drivers: If you are driving a large truck and you are behind a teeny car in a blizzard? SLOW DOWN. Driving so close that all they can see is your damn grill in their mirror is really not going to help anything. One of two things inevitably happens:

1) You are behind a driver that is not comfortable going much faster than they already are, and you bully them, causing them to speed up and become anxious, thusly ruining their damn drive, or to speed up and dump themselves in a ditch, oh, and now look, you have room to pass.

or

2) You will drive behind someone like me, who really doesn't give a rat's ass that you can drive faster than me in this weather. People like me rebel, and will slooooow right down, to a crawl even, snickering to ourselves that we are probably pissing you RIGHT off, thusly ruining YOUR damn drive and making ours somewhat fun. I figure you are probably not a world renowned surgeon, on your way to the hospital to perform a liver/brain/heart transplant, and that the world will actually NOT end if it takes you a couple extra minutes to get where you're going.

(And yes, a third thing can happen. You'll speed up and pass, or they'll speed up and turn off, and everyone gets to where they're going, but that's just no fun to bitch about.)

There you go. Rant over. I must work.

And hey, Americans - - Happy Thanksgiving!

Malachi, sleeping again

Malachi, sleeping
Originally uploaded by Jenn W.

I just went through a few hundred pictures of my cats, to sort them, and I realized that almost all the pictures I have of Malachi show him sleeping.

Oh, the life.

"She's not a Christiaaaaaan!!!"

Remember Mrs. Perrin, the 'God Warrior'??

This is just too funny.

(and if you don't know who I'm referring to, you've missed one of the funniest things on tv.)

(and a warning - if you are at work, turn your speakers down, music starts right away. But then you *must* turn it back up to hear the clips.)

*Whew*

Look at that, I'm finally sitting down.

Yeah, so the last couple days have been a little nutty. We had Mike's work Christmas party on Saturday, a birthday dinner for his mom on Sunday, plus our regular round of groceries, laundry, housecleaning, etc. and I've been working and packing and fighting migraines in between all that. I got a pile of packing done tonight, dinners and lunches made for the next couple days, took the dog for a walk, and got some other computer-y things done.

In a very short while, I'm heading to bed. I have just NOT been sleeping well lately. Ok, that's kind of a lie. Once I'm asleep, I sleep well, but I am having a helluva time *falling* asleep. It's really affecting my moods, and my attitude. And not in a good way. ;)

I still have some things to catch up on around here, but it's just not going to happen tonight. Anyway, my (caffeine-free) tea is done, and I'm going to catch the last few minutes of Amazing Race.

Migraine.
Day two.
Eyes throbbing.
Ears ringing.
Stomach woozy.

And yet I'm at work.
*sigh*

RENT!

how do you measure,
measure a year?
In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights, in cups of coffee.
In inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife.
In 525,600 minutes - how do you
measure a year in the life?
How about love? How about love? How about love?
Measure in love. Seasons of love.

Rent is out in the theatres November 23.
I saw the stage production, and can't wait to see the movie.

I shoulda been a doctor.

Oh, and hey, Postcard Project people?? Uh, yeah. You should be getting them soon, or have gotten them already. I had a ton of fun, but MAN, I have horrible writing. So, hopefully you can read my scribbles, especially those of you I did towards the end. Ball point pens on that crappy shiny post-cardy paper really bites, especially when you have bad penmanship to begin with.

Big spender. (In my dreams, I mean)

I do this every year, just for shits and giggles.
My Best Buy Wish List. You know what they say, GO BIG OR GO HOME!!

Apple M9689LL/A Powerbook G4 17" 1.67GHz Laptop
http://www.bestbuy.ca/prodlink.asp?P=0926INGFS10057978&L=EN
Benq 17" LCD Monitor (FP71E)
http://www.bestbuy.ca/prodlink.asp?P=0926INGFS10057527&L=EN
Apple Airport Extreme Wireless Base Station (M8799LL/A)
http://www.bestbuy.ca/prodlink.asp?P=0926INGFS10030713&L=EN
Logitech X-530 5.1 Speaker System
http://www.bestbuy.ca/prodlink.asp?P=0926INGFS10055037&L=EN
Logitech Quickcam Webcam (Pro 4000)
http://www.bestbuy.ca/prodlink.asp?P=0926INGFS10020631&L=EN
Iogear ION 80GB 2.5" External Hard Drive
http://www.bestbuy.ca/prodlink.asp?P=0926INGFS10061686&L=EN
APC Battery Back-Ups (BE500R-CN)
http://www.bestbuy.ca/prodlink.asp?P=0926INGFS10065919&L=EN
APC 11-Outlet Surge Protector (PF11VT3)
http://www.bestbuy.ca/prodlink.asp?P=0926INGFS10033669&L=EN
Apple 60GB iPod Video - Black
http://www.bestbuy.ca/prodlink.asp?P=0926INGFS10068386&L=EN
Ca! non EOS 8.0MP Rebel XT Digital Camera
http://www.bestbuy.ca/prodlink .asp?P=0926INGFS10059193&L=EN
Canon Photo Printer (CP-330)
http://www.bestbuy.ca/prodlink.asp?P=0926INGFS10045287&L=EN
Canon Elura 85 MiniDV Camcorder
http://www.bestbuy.ca/prodlink.asp?P=0926INGFS10057454&L=EN
Panasonic 2.4GHz Multi-Handset Cordless Phone (KXTG2424) - Black
http://www.bestbuy.ca/prodlink.asp?P=0926INGFS10059197&L=EN
Maxxim XA-9044 Audio Stand
http://www.bestbuy.ca/prodlink.asp?P=0926INGFS10025906&L=EN
Toshiba 14" Flat Screen CRT Tube TV (14AF45C)
http://www.bestbuy.ca/prodlink.asp?P=0926INGFS10059023&L=EN
Griffin Road Trip for iPod/iPod Mini
http://www.bestbuy.ca/prodlink.asp?P=0926INGFS10064260&L=EN

Funny Guy

I mentioned Derek Edwards earlier. He's a comedian from Ontario, and the man is unbelievably funny. If you aren't familiar with his name, get thee here. Take about 7 minutes and watch him work. It's not just WHAT he says, but how he says it. He's got this unmistakable accent and these movements on stage that just crack me up, and he's CANADIAN. He talks about stuff that is SO familiar to me. The 401, and our weather, and Timmins, and Tim Horton's.

Mike and I, and a friend C, and her friend have tickets to see Derek Edwards at the River Run Centre at the end of the month. C and I have been huge fans of his for YEARS, and we damn near wore out an old video tape of him that C has. I wonder if she still has it? We should convert it to digital. No matter HOW crappy a mood you were in, Derek was guaranteed to have you making faces, talking funny, and giggling your butt off.

If you're in any area he's touring, I highly recommend going to see him.

There are some sound bites here, and another short video here.

Enjoy!

Drop-ins

I had a little surprise at lunchtime.

I was just getting ready to go back to work, and the phone rings. It's my lobby, and when I answer, I hear a voice say "That must be you, I'd recognize that voice anywhere."

Huh?

I ask who it is, while simultaneously flipping on the TV to check the security monitor. He says "Don't you know?"

All I can see is the back of a head. I ask again who it is, and he says "I can't believe you can't remember!"

Yeah, dude, it's not that I can't *remember*, but you sound like you are on a McDonald's speakerphone, and I'm not quite prepared to play guessing games and identify you by the top of your damn head.

"Seriously, who is this? I can't hear you well and I'm on my way out. What do you want?"

Finally, he says "It's SomeguyIknew20yearsago!!"

Are you kidding me?

I say "Are you kidding me?"

The he turns a bit, and I see him. It is indeed some guy I knew twenty effin' years ago.

He says "I was flipping through the phone book, and saw your name."

So as I'm in serious disbelief, I just say "Dude, then call my actual *phone number* some time to say hi, ok? I'm on my way out."

Then he starts to tell me he owns his own company, and

--------
BEEP
--------

the lobby phone cuts him off.

Well, I can't exactly call the lobby back, so I watch on the security monitor as he blabs at NOTHING for a couple more seconds, gives a wave to the intercom panel, and walks out.

So. Crazy.

Whiskery kitty.

Malachi
Originally uploaded by Jenn W.

Too tired to update. You just get a picture. I've got lots to talk about, including spice cookies, murdering bloggers, Derek Edwards, Kijiji, and Macs.

With any luck, I'll fill you in on all that soon.

Toodles.

Peek-a-boo

Peek-a-boo
Originally uploaded by Jenn W.

My nephew, playing peek-a-boo with me. I love this kid. He's got a helluva sense of humour, and had me in stitches all night.

No matter how crappy my day has been, a few hours with a sixteen month old fixes it all up.

They tower above me.

They tower above me.
Originally uploaded by Jenn W.

The cat condo is almost six feet high. When I'm sitting in the chair underneath them, this is the view I get. (Click to enlarge, because you can *just barely see* Malachi's tongue sticking out.)

Damn HTML

Hey, can I have some help?

Holler if my header is still broken, ok? If it is, let me know what browser you are using. I'm in Firefox and it looks fine, but in Opera it's wonky, and I'll be damned if I can find where to fix it.

Thanks!!

Postcard Project

Punching cattle postcard
Originally uploaded by Jenn W.

So, I saw this idea and thought it was something I'd love to do. I'm not great at writing letters, but I love sending (and getting) postcards. And I don't know anyone who doesn't like getting a little note in the mail.

So, if you're interested, send me your contact information, and I will send you a postcard. If there's a specific theme or picture you want, let me know. I'm not going to guarantee I can get it, but if you prefer an animal picture over a landscape, I'll do what I can to oblige.

I'll even put my return address on the postcard, so if you want to send one back, you can. If you're interested, send your name and mailing address to essohess (at) gmail (dot) com with "Send me a Postcard!" in the subject line.

All information will be held in the strictest confidence.

The view from here

Shadows
Originally uploaded by Jenn W.

One (and perhaps the ONLY) thing I'm going to miss about this place when we move is the view.

Jebediah

Jebediah
Originally uploaded by Jenn W.

We lost a member of our family today. One of our rescue rats, Jebediah, died this morning. He was terribly cute, but one of the meanest rats I've ever had. We got him off the 'adoption' table at PetSmart, and he was mean even then. He came with a 'no return' policy. The previous owner was a kid who was apparently pretty rough with him. We hoped we'd be able to settle hiim down, but it just never happened. We still loved him, though.

Mike has buried him in the back yard with our other little critters who have passed.

What language is this??

This was posted on a blog I came across recently:

damnsz..wassup yahsz..havent been bloggin for awhile..i dinksz..watcha'sz do foe halloween? trick or treating ? well..me, jennifer, tiff, marcial, nd ton t0ok da kidsz to dimond to t.o.t..fuken packed man..dey barly even got candy..den ton t0ok dem home nd me, jennifer, tiff, nd marcial t0ok us to frite nite..but before we went dea we went to 5th first to picked up billy..first we couldnt find him so den me nd da grlz went into wet seal nd was trying on some clothesz..while marcial went around l0okin foe him..hahasz..we bought some clothesz..den marcial found him..was gettin hisz fone fixed or some shiit..den hisz asz went to get some underwear..lolsz..hisz asz fuken t0ok foevah..densz finallie..went to frite nite..marcial went in wit us grlz only..nd damnsz! we was all fuken over him in dea..tiff was holding hisz hand/arm...i was grabbing hisz h0odie from da bak..nd jennifer was holding on to me nd him..lolsz..it was k0oL tho..deresz different pathsz to get out yannoesz..nd we t0ok da path wit da wet spongesz on da floor!! i was fuken wearing sandalsz t0o...shiit..nd one of my sandalsz came off..nd da zombie was behind us !! LOLSz..nd i was like WAIT WAIT !! MY SHOE !! lolsz..nd da zombie was like haha ohkay hold on...lOlsz..he picked up my shoesz nd gave it to jennifer..shiit i didnt fuken turn around...didnt wannah see hisz face..densz..towardsz da end..i knew da guy w/ da chain saw was coming up..nd damn! wen we heard dat shiit..we all fuken screamed..nd i kept pushin marcial up to walk faster but he wouldnt so me nd tiff was like fuk dat nd t0ok off running...nd jennifer fuken hit her shouldersz on da wall..LOLSz..i heard dat shiit t0osz...it was funnie..yeahsz..n.e whosz..

Blargh. I think my brain just broke.

Whatta you doing??

whatta you doing??
Originally uploaded by Jenn W.

Packing is slightly hellish when you have eight cats. It goes something like this.

-Unfold box, set it bottom up and prepare to tape the bottom.
-Get all the cat hair off the tape gun.
-Get the cat off the box.
-Tape the bottom, and turn the box right side up.
-Put item to be packed in box.
-On top of cat.
-Remove item.
-Remove cat.
-Quickly put item back in box while holding down the nearest cat(s).
-Put next item in box.
-On top of cat.
-Remove item, remove cat.
-Quickly put item back in box while holding down the nearest cat(s).
-Put next item in box.
-On top of cat.
-Remove item, remove cat.
-Quickly put item back in box while holding down the nearest cat(s).

Repeat last four points until all your items are packed.

*sigh*

And people wonder why I start packing so early.

Want a cookie?

Want a cookie?
Originally uploaded by Jenn W.

How CUTE is this child!! And I get her all to myself next week for a couple hours!

Today was a relatively uneventful day. Grocery shopping, five loads of laundry, and listening to the seriously kickass storm that's been howling through here all day. It started in the wee hours of the morning, the thunder waking me up around six, and has continued all day with tons of rain and brutal wind. Damn near knocked my dog over when we were out in the front yard.

I just finished cleaning the house and making our lunches for tomorrow, made myself a blueberry tea, and am going to plunk my butt down and watch Desperate Housewives.

"YOUR AD"

YOUR AD
Originally uploaded by Jenn W.

I happen to think this is a *great* licence plate!

Moving Day

Moving Day
Originally uploaded by Jenn W.

Today we helped some friends move. If I never see a stair again it will be too soon. They lived on the top two floors of a house, and moved into a house with a lot of stairs. My wonky hip hates me right now.

I am, however, incredibly glad for them. They are such a wonderful couple, and we're very blessed to have them in our lives.

And with that, I'm off to put my feet up for a little while.

Damn!

Balcony railing
Originally uploaded by Jenn W.

I'll be glad for winter, because then at least all the damn construction will stop.

That picture up there? That is what our old balcony railings used to look like, before they put in nice new not-rusted ones. That was over a year and a half ago. I think I've maybe touched the new ones *twice* because our balconies have been blocked off for one damn reason or another. We've lived here for almost two years and have never sat out on the balcony together to just enjoy the view.

The whole building has been underconstruction: new balconies, new siding, new windows, a gazebo thing in the back, and a whole slew of other 'improvements'. How it's an 'improvement' to get rid of the pool, I'll never know, but they did that too.

And it suddenly comes to me, as I bitch and moan about the state of the building, that it DOESN'T MATTER ANYMORE.

Why, you ask??

BECAUSE I OWN A DAMN HOUSE NOW!

Sheesh. The things I forget when I'm tired.

Casino and Cyrus

Casino and Cyrus
Originally uploaded by Jenn W.

Doesn't Casino look like she has her arm lovingly draped around Cyrus??

NOT.

She's not two seconds away from chomping on poor Cyrus' ear.

Brat.

Husband and Dog

Husband and Dog
Originally uploaded by Jenn W.

We got out this weekend for a good walk in Sudden Tract. I love that place. The paths are great, although the wood walkways are starting to fall apart. This time of year, the colours are fantastic, and the air is crisp.

Today is a six-month checkup for me with my surgeon, to see if my jawbone is regenerating properly. Then, a haircut, which I desperately need. I should be sufficiently pooped out by the time I get home tonight.