The One About The Missing Week

I was doing quite well with updates coming daily or at least every few days.

Until last week.

Not sure exactly why I haven't posted for 8 days, but for whatever reason I have. I somehow missed out on some things in my online game too and a deadline I had for a former classmate with a project I was helping her with. It's like everything passed by and I didn't notice the week was gone.

My excuses:

1. The whole family was sick, except for me. I've been the prescription cop, ensuring everyone was taking their medicine at the right time and frequency for the past week.
2. I know! I wasn't sick! It's been really odd being around sick people and feeling fine.
3. Scratch "feeling fine." The kidney stone thing seemed to pass as I could actually handle certain bodily functions again without wincing.
4. I did regain a pain in my right arm which I hadn't felt for 2 years. I whacked my arm on the window of my car 2 years ago when I slipped in a parking lot after an ice storm. My arm hurt in a very specific spot and I know I talked on here about thinking I may have a small crack or hairline fracture. the x-rays came back negative for... *anything* and the pain eventually went away. It's back with a vengeance right now and I can't sleep on my right side (which is my main comfy sleep position).
5. This means I'm really tired.
6. I've spent some decent time getting prepared to open an eBay Store. I've been discussing stuff with my wife and my sister about selling off a bunch of antiques that my parents have handed down to us and we don't want everything. Like, what do we need with a dozen gold-trimmed teacups? Or half a dozen Royal Doulton figurines? I've checked their prices and $200 seems to be the minimum so why not sell?
7. I've also started sorting through a bunch of old stuff from my old store and getting ready to put it all on eBay (damn the torpedoes type of thing) just to get it all out of the house!! There's way too much frickin' stuff and 99% of it is mine and I don't want it anymore.

Those are my excuses. I have more to say, but now I'm running out of time for today. That's happening more often too.

The One Without Prejudice

I received a letter from my insurance company today. I received letters in the past with "without prejudice" listed above the greeting and it's usually bad news. This is neither good nor bad news, but just informing me that my 'claim' is now under independent review as of February 15.

So, the wait continues, but at least they're acknowledging I have to wait....

Although, I wonder what the postman thought when he saw the "without prejudice" highlighted above my name in the address window.

The One About A Newfound Pain

I felt fairly stupid after washing my car on Saturday. I suddenly had a pain in my side that felt like I'd pulled a muscle. How bad can it look to pull a muscle while washing your car? Sheesh, like the water pail was too heavy or something. Embarrassing!

The pain was a little worse on Sunday and then again on Monday. On Tuesday morning I realized it had moved over a bit towards my stomach and I started to think maybe it was ulcers because of the job search stress and the whole car accident thing. It would make sense to have the pain where it is, but not how it started out at my side.

Yesterday was an uncomfortable day for me as my stomach hurt. I felt like I needed to undo my pants and go to the bathroom a lot. And it wasn't a good day for it as I'd driven a friend into a Vancouver hospital for his dialysis treatment. I did a little walking around to get my mind off the pain (walking doesn't hurt much, but laying down does). If I sit, I feel pretty much fine, except for the occasional twinge.

It hit me late last night, thinking of my friend using a gigantic machine to do the work of his kidneys.

Kidneys.

I'm feeling pretty confident (and pretty sore) that I have kidney stones. So, off to the doctor I go.

The One About A Lady, A Cane, and a Couple of High-5's

I realized today that I haven't done an update since my meeting with the 'supposed independent arbitrator' to deal with the car accident snafu. I have a couple of reasons, which I'll get into in another post. I promise.

I did have the meeting on Tuesday and my suspicions were right and it was with another representative of the insurance company and not the arbitrator as I thought was the planned schedule.

She was quite the character. She came bounding into the office using a cane (a little like 'House' without the attitude) and got down to business right away.

She admitted as the meeting began that she had not read anything in the file (which was a lot thicker than I expected) and wanted to hear from me first. I gave her a little information before she asked her first question: "Do all drivers in your town yield there if they're making a turn?" To which, of course, I answered YES. We then went through the witness' testimony and how both he & I referred to the lane I was in as a main lane and even how the insurance company initially recognized it that way. The insurance company had screwed up my intended driving and stated I was making a left-turn where I was going straight and I got that sorted out. The Google Earth satellite images also paid off as I could clearly point out the yellow lines and stop lines on the lane I was driving on, which proved that the other driver needed to yield to traffic as she was on a "feeder lane" and not a roadway, which was my argument. I then wrote out a statement point ing out the glaring errors by the insurance adjustor, the witness' testimony and the road markings with a suggestion to the arbitrator to view the parking lot area for himself. After finishing that, she read the statement for clarity, smiled and gave me a high-five as she feels confident that the decision will take the blame off me and back squarely on the shoulders of the lady who hit my car.

High-fivin' lady with a cane. Interesting.

I'll know by mid-March what the decision is. My only cynical thought right now is: 'A Thanksgiving Day accident finally closed by St. Patrick's Day'

The One Before Meeting the Arbitrator

This afternoon I'm finally meeting with the "independent" arbitrator in regard to the car accident back in October.

To summarize the event, this is what happened:

1. I was driving down a main lane in a parking lot headed to a gas station.
2. A van came out of a parking lane.
3. And t-boned my car, doing just over $2000 in damage.
4. The witness to the accident claimed that the van didn't stop and drove into my car while I was driving down the main lane.
5. The insurance company found me 100% at-fault.
6. The insurance company said that I was in a parking lane as well and I entered a 4-way intersection where I failed to give right-of-way.
7. The insurance company said that there are at least 1 dozen parking spots in my lane.
8. There are actually 4 parking spots, all in front of one building.
9. The insurance company acknowledged they did not notice the witness' statement that the other driver failed to stop and that I was in a main lane until after their decision.
10. The insurance company claimed that a former employee from the same town as the accident also said I was in a main lane.
11. The insurance company refused to accept his claim after he no longer worked there.
    
12. The insurance company backed their decision still.

To prepare for this afternoon's meeting, I've printed out maps from Google Earth (hehe), I printed out maps showing where the vehicles were driving (with an assist from Photoshop, of course), and I've typed out my arguments against the insurance company's decision.

Some might say this is all just for me to get back the $300 deductible I had to pay for the car repair. It isn't. It's also about the principle. If the arbitrator still decides I'm at fault, that means I'm forced to stop at this so-called "intersection" whenever someone is travelling down the parking lane. I guarantee this....

The time I stop there for someone coming down that lane, I'll have another accident claim in to the insurance company. I'll be hit from behind as no one else would stop there.

The One With A Bunch of Small Stuff

This one's all about some itemizing, so maybe at the end of the year I can look and see where I was at the time. These items are broken down like this: Reads (books currently on the go), Watches (what TV shows are doing it for me right now), Plays (which games I'm currently playing the computer and/or game console), & Works (ignore the irony that this is the last 'item'. What I'm doing right now to make money or other important projects).

Here goes.....

Reads: My nose is buried in several books at the moment. I have a couple technical books on the go, mostly regarding Macromedia Flash and the various programming/coding to make it work. I'll talk about that more under 'Works.' I also have a book on blogging (whaaaaa?) for a similar purpose. For more entertaining reading.... I'm currently reading Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brien, American Gods by Neil Gaiman, and Make Love! by Bruce Campbell. The Campbell book is my 'Fortress of Solitude' book as my giggling wakes up my wife if I read it in bed. Still waiting on the latest book at the library from my favorite author. After getting the audio version instead of the actual book, I'm finally in the top 20 for the waitlist. Should've just bought it, but I'd never hear the end of it.

Watches: Grey's Anatomy still has me hooked in its 3rd season. Out of all the new shows this season, the only ones I really tune into are The Class (although I liked it more before cast changes and their so-called 'new direction'), Heroes and Studio 60. I'm still watching Lost and anything else I feel like watching gets downloaded and watched on the computer at a later date. Oh, and hockey. I always watch hockey. Apparently the NHL All-Star game had a 0.7 share in the U.S. but the NHL head office is still spouting about this being a successful season. Anyone wondering whatever happened to Saddam Hussein's prime minister needs to look no further than the NHL head office. For those trying to make the connection: the Iraqi PM is the one who held the press conferences during the whole 'Shock and Awe' campaign and basically said Hussein's forces were winning.

Plays: Video game-wise, I mentioned buying a whole bunch of new games for less than $10 each. One's been installed, played and un-installed again as t was extremely frustrating. Amazing graphics, but the playability was horrendous. Hard to believe there was a sequel to it. Next on the 'to be installed' list is Left Behind: Eternal Forces, which is based on the novels by the same name. It's a post-Rapture/pre-apocalypse game where there's supposedly little violence as the people left behind try to 'convert' the people lured by dark forces over to the light. It was a $60 game in November and $5 as of last week. Doesn't speak well of its success. I still haven't read the books and the box actually had a complimentary copy of the first book. Sadly, I saw the first movie and I'm not sure if I can read it without seeing Kirk Cameron (who was in the film). If I can't read it without picturing him in the novel, I'm going to be waiting for Boner to appear at some point too. Sheesh.

Works: Oh Lord. The job-hunt continues and I've been talking with a number of former classmates who are working about any potential openings at their companies. Hopefully something happens soon and I don't have to rely on the "career advisors" ever again. I'm also branching out beyond the intended field and looking at doing something where my previous office experience is vital. Even if I get an auxiliary position for now, the potential's there for something better. Eventually....
I mentioned above that I'm perusing a number of books on Macromedia Flash. I'm upgrading my personal website and I'm hoping to make it a Flash-site (with maybe a little bit of html mixed in). In the time it took me to set up my original site, I've managed to do 2 of the buttons in Flash. This could take some time.... I also have a book on Blogging and I'm studying some techniques, again, to add some newer features to my website. Obviously, a much different blog than this one.
eBay sales have started again and I have a bunch of things selling tomorrow. 3 minutes after I listed them, I received an email message from eBay informing me of a discounted listing day the very next day. So, if I'd waited a few more minutes, I would've saved $10 on fees. Sheesh.
I've been hit by a creative bug of late when it comes to the story I've been working on for close to 20 years. As a comic story, it works out to be about 2100 pages in length, of which 80% is plotted out, 20% is broken-down by page, and another 10% is drawn. This week, I managed to do about 15 pages of art and 5 pages of dialogue.

The One With A Little Relief

This post is about relief.

And it's unexpected relief from a totally unexpected source and it's completely and totally welcomed.

When I finished school, the plan was to get a good-paying job and start early on my student loan payments. A certain blogger (who keeps changing her name so often I forget what she's going by these days) waaayyyy in the North has written a number of posts about student loans and the loan payment process. I know the nightmare my wife went through with her student loan payments (they'd written her address wrong and when they finally got a hold of her, it was a demand from a collection agency for the full loan amount). Needless to say, I wanted to rid myself of the student loan ASAP. But with no job in sight yet (sigh) and payments expected to start in April, I added another line to my 'list of worries.'

Yesterday's mail had an envelope from one of the loan branches I have to deal with come April. I dreaded opening the letter because they usually have really really bad news. So, imagine my surprised when I see it's a letter regarding debt relief. And not only a letter about debt relief, but a letter telling me I'm eligible and they've already processed and knocked off 1/3 of my entire loan.

Well.

Well, EFF me is more like it!

I was ready to faint. It'll still take years to pay off the remaining 2/3 of the loan, but this was a ray of sunshine on a bleary week.

The One With The Sourpuss

No, it's not another post about Fat Kitty (although I found some pics online of yet another fat kitty!). This post, oddly enough, is about... me.

I hadn't heard from the "career advisors" this week and, in some ways, I like not hearing from them. Although it means I haven't spent nearly the time I should be on the job hunt (talking to a couple classmates about postings in their companies, mainly), it was a nice break not having the "advisors" getting on my nerves about something else.

So, first let me quote the majority of an email from one "advisor" as he gives me a pep talk on applying with a specific company. No, I'm not naming the company:

"Hey,
I received news today that XXX is looking for people to work as YYY. I put your name forward."

Yep, that's the pep talk. So, a couple days later I get a call from a lady saying she's with a company called 'DDD' and that she heard I was looking for work. They're looking for people to work as 'YYY' but she was concerned because my commute to work for minimum wage (less than $9/hr) would become a financial hardship quite quickly. I agreed with her, but asked about any possibility of other positions that maybe more commensurate with my work experience, but she let me know that there wasn't and that was basically the end of the conversation.

Today, though, I get an angry phone call from the "advisor" informing me that he'd just talked to 'XXX' and that I'd turned down a job offer when they called.

Wha?

As it turns out, 'DDD' was the company and 'XXX' is the name of their production. Urgh. Still, for minimum wage it wouldn't be good, correct? Well no, the "advisor" tells me, there was a very good chance of promotion quite quickly after starting. I could be making up to $40k/yr within weeks.

I hung up on him.

I know better, I do, but after hanging up on him, I sent a "quick" email to the "advisors" informing them of a better approach to the people they're trying to get hired at the various companies. I sent them a sample letter for them to send out to people still on the job hunt. See if this sounds better:

"Hi [jobhunt-person],
I received news today that DDD is starting production in the next few weeks on XXX. XXX is the first of its type to be produced in the Vancouver area and there's potential for promotion and at the least it will get your name out there on a major production. I've recommended you fro the position and highly encourage you to accept the interview when they call. More information can be found on their website at WWWZZZ. At present, I have not been informed of the pay rate, but the opportunities might make up for any shortfall to start. Your work will impress and your value will increase quickly afterward! Good luck and keep me informed on any phone calls!"

Not bad, eh? Same information I was given over time, but suddenly the job hunt person isn't about to cringe when they get the initial phone call.

Gotta hate it when I'm smarter than the people helping me. And, yes, they really think I'm a total bastard now.

The One With the Purple Toe

Monday was an injury-prone day for me.

The belt loop on my housecoat got caught on the bathroom doorhandle, effectively trying to slam the door while I was walking out of the bathroom. So, instead it just smashed into my left elbow.

About 20 minutes later, I was opening the door to the basement and opened the door right over my left pinkie-toe. It's currently quite purple and looks like a grape. Glad we don't have a dog at the moment, or I'd be down a toe. As I did that to my toe, I stepped back and stepped on my cat who had come rushing out of the kitchen because of the noise. So he clawed up my right foot in retaliation.

The reason I was headed downstairs was for 2 things. I needed to get a new jar of strawberry jam out of the freezer and I needed to restack some firewood in the carport before it got too wet.

I dropped the jar of jam, which bounced off the door of the freezer, hit my knee, bounced off the freezer again and slammed into my foot where the jar shattered. Left knee, left foot. A bit of blood, but kinda hard to see with frozen red goo on top of it. Hobbled back to the doorway to grab my shoes and the first aid kit (sigh). I started hauling the wood inside and dropped one....

On my frickin' left foot. By morning, I expect a rainbow of colours and some throbbing pain to go along with the already-purple toe and red-and-blue damage to the top of the foot.

I wonder if I can find that old 'Kids in the Hall' video with the infected foot...

The One About a Beer Label

OK, so tonight's blog thread may be a little obvious, but if you haven't figured it out --someone's been drinking. :)


Don't worry: I always drink along and late at night. Although when I didn't finish my last beer, the initial thought I had was "Oh well, I can finish it in the morning."

Oops.

The picture you see (or should see) is of my current favorite Canadian beer. Oh, I'd much rather be drinking Guinness, but I lucked across the Honey Brown a few years ago while working in the office (From Hell!). See, one day we had a major event (although my old boss from Hell considered everything a major event) and I'd been running around for a few hours getting things set up. Now, where my office was located was just down the hall from a little pub/restaurant and while the major event was going on, the pub was closed to all but a few of us and the special guests. It was some band, I can't recall who at the moment. As I was making a brisk run through the pub to get some issues settled, the manager poured me a pint of Honey Brown and told me to relax for a moment.

I've never had a pint disappear that quickly. The second and third went fast too. Let's just say that my "lunch" at 3 in the afternoon consisted of 3 pints of beer and breakfast was at 6am. So, getting my tasks done afterward was completed by a surly guy.

So, the ball was rolling and this was my drink of choice for many an occasion after this. When my time was running down in the office (leading up to my final transfer before my ultimate "resignation"), this was my drink of choice during my dinner break. Yeah, it was most likely against policy, but the only people still working at the time were the cusotdial staff and they loved me to bits.

After finally getting out of Hell, this remained my choice drink, especially whenever I was visiting my parents. But it soon disappeared from the store shelves and --despite my onslaught of internet-presence-- I thought for sure the company had shut down. Every where I looked, I couldn't see the honeycomb label for the Honey Brown beer.

I was sad. I tried numerous other Big Rock brand beers, but none tasted like the Honey Brown. So, I stopped looking and gave up on it.

And that was a mistake. The Honey Brown is still brewed, it's just that I knew the old logo: the honeycomb, which naturally made me think of HONEY.

The image (hopefully) on the right shows the current labels for Big Rock. The honeycomb is still there, but what's really prevalent is the rooster in the right corner of each label. Bottle #5 is the Honey Brown.

OK, back to my beer. Leave me alone now.

The One with the Bad Smell

Just thought I'd bring it up. Something really stinks right now. I'm guessing my cat's having a major dump and hoo-boy!!

Sorry 'bout that.

Reminds me of a friend of mine who used to talk about his BMs all the time like it was important to share information. Instead of just shrugging off showing up late, he was more than happy to share that he needed to have a "major dump" before leaving the house.

Yeah.

Watching "Wife Swap" a few weeks ago (slow TV night, I guess) and there was a guy talking about how he "disrespects the toilet." I couldn't help but think of my friend again.

The One About Bargain Games

The local drugstore chain (they still do prescriptions, but I've never dealt with them for that --just everything else, shopping-wise) has put a ton of different video games on sale this week and that means I've gone a little gonzo picking up titles that I haven't played before.

I was thinking at an earlier time, it'd be cool to do reviews of video games, but my loyal readers (all 2 of you) would enver forgive me if I bored you with video game stuff.

So, what you get here instead is this: I bought 5 video games for $25. 2 were selling less than 3 months ago for $60 each (yowch) and the other 3 have been around about a year.

But $25!!! I get ot play for a bit tomorrow. But only for a bit.

Then it's time for more eBay fun.

The One About a Bad eBay Month

When it comes to overall online purchasing, January was not a good month for me. I ordered a special book (I'll explain later) for me, 2 toys for my son's birthday (even though it's in July), a complete comic series for a friend, and 2 "text" books (off Amazon) again for me.

In November, I'd sold a rare book for $100 and I had a chance to win another one on eBay in early January for less than $30. I've already talked to one of the guys bidding on the $100 one and he's willing to buy the book off me for $85. So, yeah, a $55 profit with no complications. Well, one complication: I paid for it Januury 5 and it's not here yet!

There's a toy set my son just loves to play with and the series (despite being made by Fisher Price) is virtually impossible to find in major chains in Canada. Toys R Us carries some of the series, but they have limited shelf space and the pieces can get quite big. So, there may only be a selection of 5-7 different toys available. Yes, I"ve ordered items in the past directly from Fisher Price and have tried to get some on eBay, but the bidding can sometimes go fairly high. So, imagine my surprise when one "store-exclusive item" (usually selling in the $150-200 range) came onto eBay with a purchase price of $50! Yep, I bought it right away and then wondered from the picture, if the item had been mistakenly named. There is a different set with a similar name with usually sells for less than $30. So, since I already paid for it, I planned on sending it back if it wasn't the correct item. I paid for the item on December 23 and it's not here yet! Actually, I got my money refunded by the seller after 5 days of haggling. She insists it was sent out by UPS, but nothing ever showed.

One of my friends from school is really interested in this one comic series and I couldn't find the complete set (6 issues) at any of the local shops. I looked on Amazon for a collected edition (no luck) and then looked up the series on eBay. They sell at a decent price that I offered to pick them up for my friend and bring them into Vancouver when next we met. He's working at a studio in Vancouver and he's been trying to land me a job there too. No luck so far, but he's only been there a few weeks... no, he didn't get it through the "career advisors." Anyway, he's happy I could get him the books and I paid for the item on January 10 and it's not here yet!

Geez, like my luck so far?

eBay's been a wash so far in 2007, and then I saw Amazon had a couple of books I've been looking for (for some website work I'm doing) and at super cheap rates. So, I order the 2 books off the site and aniticpate them showing up. I paid for the books on January 11 and they're not here yet!!

I mean, c'mon! Was January really that bad of a month? And for anyone thinking it might take longer for things to arrive in Canada... nuh-uh. I have everything sent to a post office box in Washington state because it's only a 30-minute drive to get there. It's supposed to be cheap and convenient to have things sent there because it means I don't have to pay extra for shipping or wait a few weeks for my stuff to arrive.

So much for that.

The One About the Near-Miss Job

So, I got the phone call on Monday. It's not completely negative. But I didn't get the job. He really thought I had a great interview (and it was the first time I've done a 'personality interview') and thinks I could have a future at the studio. But he really felt I would be better in a more creative position. And who am I to argue with that? So, the job's gone to someone else, but my name's been put forward for a more creative position which will be discussed this Friday. Who knows? I could be working by Monday!

The "career advisor" wasn't impressed when he heard that I'd accepted the offer to put my name forward for the other position. I'll never figure out these advisors. He's since recommended me for a $9 an hour job in Vancouver. I'd gross $360 a week and my fuel costs would only be $250. That 'advisor' just doesn't get it. I didn't tell him they'd already called and I turned down the offer. Dick.

One of my classmates landed a job on Monday, no thanks to the "advisors," of course. But they called him the same afternoon and faxed over an agreement that they were done looking for work (and, of course, taking credit for his employment and bragging to the poor students still attending).

I also found out I'm not the only one waiting for anything. One guy had an opportunity that fell through just before he was supposed to start. He'd been quite complacent about 'looking', especially when he already had something lined up (even if he had to wait for a month). But, now he's scrambling to find something else.

I just warned him to stay away from the "advisors."