Thursday, November 30, 2006

Victory

HA! I found a wireless source that doesn't cost anything and I don't have to be in a Fivebucks and support that crazy corporate-coffee shop-gobbling company.

How can this be?

We got a MAC (environmentally evil and corporate...you get the picture). Hmm. So I guess I'm supposed to feel better for being at my local coffee shop that supports fair trade organic tea and coffee growers and yet...environmentally evil computer made of PVC (a product I stopped buying ages ago) and if you check out Greenpeace's campaign against apple you can learn more for yourself.

All right...anywho...I feel victorious to have found a great cafe with great teas and free wireless. We just need to figure out what we'll do at home for a connection. All in good time. Last night we were picking up a signal, but today...nothing. We also had no satellite connection for a while because of all the snow.

It's been crazy here. We arrived in summer like conditions in October and then it started raining and flooding, we had a water advisory and then the temperature dropped considerably and I had to dig out the extra heavy winter boots and the big winter coat. Not only did we get snow, we got dumped on! Yesterday I was even sent home early from work because no one was in the store and everyone was leaving early to beat the new round of flurries that was about to descend.

I have to say it's been quite beautiful and we've been lucky so far with power etc (our lights flickered a bit last night). I took photos that I'll try and post, but for those of you who live in a full east coast or prairie winter it won't astound you since "snow, big deal." However, nothing really gets cleared so the snow just sat and people dealt with it and struggled along. After the initial storm, the sun came out the next day and there was an incredible view of the mountains.

I heard via D. that my stepdad, P., is not faring as well as we are. He's on the island and they got a lot more snow. He and a neighbour have been shovelling their road! The road is not a little street but rather quite a hill and a long one to boot. Anywho...I hope he's doing okay.

My sis is on her way to BC., to the Haida Gwaii to be more exact. She's having a bit of a time getting herself and four cats across the country and then north to the Queen Charlottes. She's managed to make all her plans and it looks like she'll be staying a couple of days with us so that will be great.

Next visitor red jane? I'm not sure if her apartment will be ready by her landing date so we may have her visiting too. I'm sure her place with be ready by then though. I'll have to check in on her blog and see what's up.

It's so great to have access to the world wide web again! It does feel like a victory.

More to come sooner than I've been posting as of late.

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Back at the library

This is not my preferred way of communicating. I cram computer time into my busy day off so I can catch up on things on line.

We were supposed to have our computer by now. We went on Sunday to pick it up but alas sold out and that's not the first time we've been told that. However, the teenage sales clerk offered us a whopping five percent off the display model. Well I was overwhelmed by the generous offer of the much played with display model, but turned it down after thinking about it for uh...two seconds. So then...the very clever and resourceful D. did a little research and discovered that the updated version of our computer is about to be released. The store failed to inform us of this (how else will they sell that display model even with the generous discount?). We're now waiting for the new version to arrive and then we'll pounce. It's basically the same computer for the same price but with a few modifications and more life to it and something about an improved battery life (at least that's what D discovered). Our old computer's battery lasted four years and I was happy with that. I really wish I didn't have to go back to that store and buy it though.

anywho...patience. I'm trying to find my patience today. I did spend the better part of my morning writing which is much success for me, but I can't help but feel anxious about what's not getting done. Have you experienced this? What is that about? It's absurd because writing is exactly what should get done. D would probably tell me that I put too much pressure on myself. Maybe. However, there is only three minutes remaining in my half hour session, the warning signal at the bottom of the screen is flashing red (it's very annoying) so I'm signing off before I lose everything to time. Now warning signals are popping up on screen. I'm really pushing it so I'd better press "publish post" before all is lost....

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Roaming

I'm moving around. Red jane has kindly loaned me her computer and I'm parked at Fivebucks (Starbucks), as a friend of ours calls it, and I'm using up my precious time trying to figure out what is going on in film out here on the very very wet coast.

...and it is wet today. The ferries stopped running because of the stormy conditions and that's always a bad sign. However, being further inland we haven't been hit too hard with high winds, just a lot of rain. So, i've invested in some rain boots and my feet are staying dry (finally!).

Film? Well, I'll find my way. I'll work my way into this industry one way or another. I can't apply for internships until I have so many credited hours (this isn't uncommon). I can at least become a "friend" of the women in film and t.v. out here. Since I'm not working in the industry I can't become a member. There doesn't seem to be a LIFT type place (see my sidebar if you're not sure what that is). Victoria has a co-op that I use to belong to, but I don't think that commute is realistic nor desireable.

Writing? Not much lately as is evident here on my blog. I'm desperate to get at it though. Stupid work gets in the way. Don't you hate that?

There are still little things nagging me about our apartment that I would like to finish because the longer we put stuff off the more involved we get in our day to day and the less likely those things are to get done. D. achieved a lot when he had Remembrance day off. I'm the master procrastinator though so...you know how that goes.

Red jane and I did hit the gym pretty early this a.m. at the local aquatic centre. It was nice to be in a gym today. There was a treadmill nazi who was managing who was getting on what machine and when. She actually stopped her own treadmill at one point to directly talk to someone who had stepped out of turn. Whew. Is it worth putting your energy into that? She doesn't work there. Really? Worth it? I'd rather get my work out done. Tomorrow we're going to check out the local "ladies fitness" and see what that has to offer.

Sis got a great review in the Mirror as did the play at the Centaur. I'm so proud of her and I cannot believe how far away she is right now and the impossibility of me seeing her play. C'est la vie.

I just realized that my connection has stopped identifying how long I've been on line which means I'm probably way over so I'd better go. There's a free connection at the fivebucks down the street so I'll head over there. Gotta keep moving.

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Quick notes

I'm at an internet cafe in London Drugs and time is running out. I have to eat too!

red jane is visiting and has found a place to live! She'll be living nearby soon. Yay! She's off meeting agents right now.

It's been rainy yes, but not unbearable. I'm adjusting and plan on buying rain boots today. I ran in the rain and it was totally fine in my new running waterproof jacket. If you've got the right gear, go for it.

The cats are doing well. I've been emailing for the last hour so if this sounds more letter or email like then my apologies. i'm not in blog writing mode. or am I? Anywho...i want to write more, but we've been computerless still. However, P. is helping us to upgrade to something flashy and fast so I'll be bag to blogging in no time.

Work is work. I can't even begin to go into the commuting. It's a challenge. Love the short bus though.

Food glorious food. We went to the Mt. Pleasant area which is all veg friendly places, great film rental places and Italian groceries and bars. Shouldn't D. and I be living in that neighbourhood? I think so. We'll see what the year brings.

More later. i've got to meet red jane at the library.

The library wouldn't accept my whoville library card. Hrumph!

Thursday, November 02, 2006

Adjustments

The clocks changed this past Saturday. We shifted back one hour which meant I was up an hour earlier in the morning because my physical clock doesn't not shift as easily and it takes a few days for me to adjust to dark at five o'clock and bright in the morning when I get up.
The past two weeks have been a series of adjustments for me. I don't think I've ever taken the time to really consider how much moving takes out of you emotionally and physically. I've moved 20 times in my life and i've always just rolled with it I suppose, but they've been smaller moves to new apartments in the same city often. The big move as in when I moved west in the 90s and moved back east in 99 and now I'm west again are much more dramatic, life altering changes. I really need time to think about how it feels. I'm like that though, I can't just jump in and here we go, i have to over think many things.
The move feels like a delayed jet lag that keeps prodding at me during some point in the day reminding me that it's time to...oh no wait we're in another city and you're not walking to the corner for the paper because the corner is now a ten minute walk. Where am I? I know I'm still at LV, but this building has no windows and my sarcasm is being taken too literally. I've stopped being sarcastic which is probably a good thing in the end.
It's all a period of adjustment until eventually I'll roll with it again and a bus schedule with feel natural to me as opposed to something restricting my movements. After all when you go from a city of millions to one of the "tri-cities" of hundreds of thousands you can't expect everything to be so easily to come by.
Every morning when I get up i look out our bedroom window at the view of the valley and the houses rising up the mountain opposite us. It's really a hill compared to the mountains that exist out here, but to speak to those more easterly reading this blog, it's a mountain. I marvel at having this view every day and every day it is different in some way (the sky is pink and clear, there's a light strip of cloud hovering over the valley, the lights are still on because it's gray or the sun casts shadows as it rises). I hope I always marvel at the view. i hope I never adjust to it becoming merely the background scenery. Of course that never happened to me when I lived in Victoria so why should it here?
Anywho...my library visits continue as far as computer availability is concerned so this is a brief post and there will probably be another gap of time before i post again. i haven't made any blog rounds so I can't wait to catch up with you all. I also haven't been in touch with any friends I said good-bye to before i left so hello everyone and I'll be in touch soon.

Until next time.