Day: December 11, 2008

Thursday night brought Vero and I to Minglewood’s for the Army News Christmas party.  I was excited to go and meet all her colleagues that I have heard so much about.  I was also wondering how this civilian would fare amongst Army types.  Would I have to speak in military time?

When we arrived, they indicated that there was a hired van service to bring us home if we so choose to use it.  I asked if he could bring us to Toronto and when he scoffed I admitted that I only wished to go to Montreal for the night.  He thought that was more reasonable.

The buffet was already in full swing so I met a few people and then we sat down with some great food (the roast beef was top notch!) and the company was great at the table.

The party got into the swing of things once a blooper reel was shown which was quite hilarious.  Keep in mind that a lot of footage is caught in an average day at work in the news world so there’s sure to be some hilarious moments.  My favourite moment was when Marco was walking down the hallway and tripped.

The rest of the night descended into a haze of beer, music and dancing.  I chatted it up with Marco and his wife for most of the night and then went dancing with Robert, Luc and Vero for the remainder of the night.  We headed home after midnight which was a little rough on this chap who woke up at 6:30AM the next morning.

It was great to meet the folks at Army News and I guess I passed the test.  Comments like “Best civ I’ve ever met” were heard amongst the halls!

iplaying: Sad – Pearl Jam (Lost Dogs)

100_1907, originally uploaded by palm0014.

Let us not forget one of the greater people on this planet…me! Uh…I mean my sister Maureen!

It is her birthday today. She is twenty-eight years old and let’s look a few of her accomplishments in the past year (that I know about):

– She got her driver’s license!
– She smoked a moose driving back from Timmins in a car that she could drive because of a driver’s license!
– She got a cool job at the veterinarian’s office! She gets to help animals!
– She gets to clean up animal mess!
– She moved into an awesome apartment!
– She moved in with John!
– She got her brother to help her with the move! Score!

And that’s that. That’s all I know about Maureen in the past year. Personally, I feel like those are some pretty sweet accomplishments compared to most people. Maybe she will even vote 2008 as her best year ever! Who knows? Perhaps we need her to do a guest spot to answer these highly sought after answers.

Well, have a great birthday Maureen! Let’s all leave her some great comments on her birthday, shall we? Even if you don’t know her, she deserves that at least.

Yesterday I ended up working from home (which surprisingly saw a boost in productivity.  Hail to the at-home office work!) because the buses are now on strike and the roads were quite crazy as we had a ton of snow dumped on us.  I didn’t feel like taking the car out to get stuck on some side road navigating to Vero’s place.

After an enjoyable day at home working, I met up with Vero to do some Christmas shopping and then we headed out to Ruby King Chinese Buffet for some supper.  It was 8PM so they weren’t bringing out any more food but there was more than enough to fill us up.  I couldn’t even finish my plate!  It was delicious.

This morning I headed out from my house at 6:30 to work.  Let’s put a few facts out there for people who are not familiar with Ottawa.  I usually head out of my house around 6:50, make it to the Park and Ride six kilometers away around 7:00 and then get on the bus which delivers me to work by 7:30.  Total trip distance: Let’s say a good 25-30 kilometers.

For reference in this next example, it is approximately 20 kilometers to Vero’s place and I can usually get there in 20-25 minutes.

Now I present to you…my morning from Hell:

6:30 – Get into car.  Make sure Doc and Woody on Chez are tuned in.
6:32 – Realize that my windshield washer is acting up once again and it’s like it’s frozen or something.  Let it be noted that I just drained the stuff two days ago and put in the -40 stuff inside.  Clearly, this is not working out too well.
6:35 – I’m entering the Queensway.  Gatineau HO!
6:35 1/2 – I have traveled one kilometer and hit a wall of traffic.  Uh oh.
7:05 – Hey look!  There’s the Park and Ride!
7:10 – Doc and Woody are pretty funny in the morning.  I have never listened to an entire Morning Show with them.  Oh look, I’ve moved a few feet.
7:12 – I decide to move lanes seeing as they are moving faster.  Ever see the film ‘Office Space’ where the guy changes lanes and then the lane he was just in speeds up?  Yes, this is my life right now.
7:30 – The news is replayed and there’s nothing new.  But there are messages from callers “Ranting Back at Randall” who had some harsh comments about the OC Transpo strike.  Not surprisingly, all the callers shared his viewpoints with a lot of beeping of words.
7:34 – I change lanes again.  Not surprisingly, the lane I just left speeds up.  I guess I was holding them back with the power of the Mazda3.

7:37 – I’m passing by the Parkway and I smack my head realizing that it would have bene faster to take that instead.

7:40 – Hey, is that the sun rising?  Wow, it’s so pretty.  Unfortunately, I feel like ditching my car at this point and walking the rest of the way.  My right leg is cramping up.  I must get it into shape for the trip home in a few weeks.  Not surprisingly, the windshield washer finally works when the sun comes up.  Maybe they are solar powered?
7:45 – I get to the Blair Exit.  This is approximately 15 kilometers away from my house.  This means that I have been in the car for one hour and 15 minutes.  I decide that I need to get some speed before I get out and walk from frustration so I take the exit thinking that I can weave my way up to Vero’s place.
7:48 – Not bad, not bad.  Traffic is surprisingly moving quicker than on the Queensway.
7:52 – Ok, now I’ve hit some bad traffic on Ogilvie.  It’s still not as bad as the Queensway.  We have stop lights.  I’m impressed.
8:05 – I hit St.Laurent.  I’m flying.  This is it!  I feel it!
8:15 – I arrive at Vero’s, back the car up to get some good speed to hit her driveway which is full of snow near the bottom and park the car.
8:23 – I arrive at the work building down the road and wait for the shuttle to bring me to work.
8:24 – I’m wondering why there can’t be a little ‘order’ in our lives.  For example, when you go to a barber shop, you know who’s up next.  The people who were sitting there before you!  It should be the same way while waiting for a shuttle.  But no, it’s like a free-for-all savage race to the door when there’s only a dozen people standing around anyhow.  I had visions of pushing some woman into the snow because she had the nerve to cut in line in front of me, but I thought I would be the bigger man and if I ended up with no seat, I would single her out as a line-cutter and have her ejected from the shuttle.  Yes, I am a gentleman.
8:45 – I arrive at work.  Dang, I must find another way to commute.  I think I shall live at Vero’s until the strike is over.