Inn of the Wandering Dragon

At long last I am working again, temporarily as the title implies. As an added bonus my trip to work is quick and easy by bus - 25 minutes one way door to door - nice! For the next month or so I'll have a regular eight to four work routine comprised of a couple thousand files to sort through. Truth be told the work is tedious but it pays. Not surprisingly my supervisor was a little concerned as to whether or not I would not show up again the next morning. But realistically this is not the climate to be turning my nose up at an opportunity. I will take what I can get, thank you very much!


And it is not like this is the worst job I've had. I can easily think of others that were far worse for various reasons (although as far as reasons go, the smell would definitely be at the top of the list!). Those jobs would include:


a) Cleaning houses / apartments after the tenants have moved out. Some people have absolutely no pride, or shame for that matter.


b) Blowing out rotten ostrich eggs so the shells can be sold to crafters. Ah yes, a five galleon pail of stinking egg sludge in the hot sun... talk about the memories!


c) Grocery store cashier - I am zombie - let me smile even though you have 500 items in express lane...


Overall I'm feeling all right about this. Besides, you never know what these strange connections can bring in the future...

In placid hours well-pleased we dream
Of many a brave unbodied scheme.
But form to lend, pulsed life create,
What unlike things must meet and mate:
A flame to melt-a wind to freeze;
Sad patience-joyous energies;
Humility-yet pride and scorn;
Instinct and sturdy; love and hate;
Audacity-reverence. These must mate,
And fuse with Jacob's mystic heart,
To wrestle with the angel-Art.

Happily drifting through dreamland, in which the surprising contents of an old sailing ship I worked aboard are offered up to all past friends and crew. (Come to think of it I should probably check their website and see if anything is going on).

*purrrrrrrrrrrrrrr*

Wandering around the shelving units I pick up strange and wonderful items (mostly books) that I have never seen before. These will make great Christmas presents! This totally reminds me of (insert random name here). You see, we have to rescue these things because the ship itself is disintegrating into the sea.

*purrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr* (a gentle tap on the nose follows)

I do not encounter many people I know, I'm thinking most of the people here are from the last big voyage, while I was on the voyage before that. Oh wait, there's Andrea wading across the tidal flats to join us...

*PURRRRRRRRRRR* (a less gentle push on my cheek and a whisker tickles my ear)

Sigh...

Yes the cat has decided that I, the apparent slug-a-bed, must now be up at the horrendously late hour of 5:30 in the morning. He is quite pleased with himself as my eyes open and I roll over. Maybe I can shake the furball off and go back to sleep. Just one more hour of sleep is all I really want. His response to this is to hop onto the bedside table, which my other half has conveniently covered in miscellaneous stuff, and start to rummage through the clutter as loudly as possible. Push this, rustle that and all the while smugly purring. He knows it will drive me nuts. After all this is why I keep my dresser top clear of stuff - to keep him from doing this. The other half never bothers to think of these things.

Finally I can take no more of the this. I roll over and scoop the not-quite-fast-enough feline and toss him onto the middle of the bed. Before he can make his escape I am thoroughly rumpling the cat and pushing all of his fur backwards! Eventually I let him escape at a full speed gallop though the door. Ha! Victory is mine!

Or not. I am now most definitely awake. The other half was already up and now I can hear him going about his morning routine. And I have less than an hour remaining before my alarm goes off. I might as well get up. So it is a draw then. I am up and a decidedly rumpled looking cat is watching me from the other side of the room staying well out of reach.

I mean that facetiously of course. I am still hunting to return to the ranks of the gainfully employed but I am by no means alone in this - which is part of my problem. There are many skilled people out there competing for what is available.

I received a letter from EI stating I may be eligible for extended benefits while undergoing some form of career training program. That sounds great and I am definately interested! Here are the strings: Firstly, this is a limited time offer. So the only programs I can apply for are those that start in the winter semester. Not surprisingly, this reduces my choices of available programs considerably. Secondly, each of the approved schools for this program has X allotted funding to cover those students on this program. There have been so many applicants that the funding has run out. What this means is that I would have to seek alternate funding (ie. student loans) to go back to school, which will render me inelligible for the program.

In other news my poor car is still immobilized. The replacement engine computer makes absolutely no difference whatsoever - boy am I glad I never shelled out $900 for a brand new one! My landlord is a mechanic but he says he can't even look at it for another month. My other half is supposed to be checking the electrical whenever he decides it's not too chilly / windy / or when he's not too tired. Yes, I could probably take it into the shop and get it looked at sooner but I'm trying to avoid hemorrhaging money for obvious reasons.

In the meantime all I can do is keep at it and try not to let myself get discouraged.

A mental note for anyone who may be thinking of taking in Heritage Park any time soon - you need the full day! Not a half day where you show up after lunch time, but a full day from the moment the gates open until closing is what you need to go through most of the park.

We camped overnight so as to avoid spending the entire day in the car, as it was our campsite was closer to Jasper so we still spent most of the day in the car. But on the whole everyone enjoyed the trip.

And what more beautiful place to go for a trail ride than along Lake Louise? We saddled up for an hour and a half ride to the lake head (which is not a waterfall no matter what the guide says) and back. And after the ride we had lunch in the chateau and enjoyed the view.

Canada Day saw us enjoying an early pancake breakfast at Fort Calgary. The entertainment was provided by a variety of cultural groups performing ethnic dances and music.

Naturally, we had to pile in the car and head to Banff for the day. We rode the gondola up Sulphur mountain to enjoy the views in the frigid winds.

After much debate and trepidation we finally convinced our friend Cedric to try the Sky line at Canada Olympic Park (COP for short). If you're wondering what a zip line entails check this. I think we had our friend seriously doubting his sanity when he agreed to do this. But after all was said and done he decided he loved it (and was pestering Kim to give it a go, maybe next time).

Have you ever stood in the card aisle, trying to pick out just the right card and finding that you really don't fit all the mushy "hallmark moments" and flowery poetry. But then I don't fit much of the humour either. So on one hand it could be that my family is somewhat dysfunctional and out there, and on the other hand it could be that my family really is normal and everyone around us is just pretending.

Maybe people pick out the pretty cards in a hope that what they are and what they share really is like that - pretty. I usually find myself picking a blank or simple card and then picking a few words and phrases from other cards to write in by hand. I mix and match until I find something that actually fits the occasion and the people involved. It takes a fair amount of work and for whatever reason I usually end up doing this at the very last possible minute. Take my parent's anniversary as an example, I was signing the card for my parents in the car while mom is standing beside the car waiting to walk with me into the restaurant.

I can hear my friend laughing even now in my head - "you are such a dork!" On occasion I find a card out of the blue and keep it for the upcomming occasion. On occasion I actually get proactive about stuff as well. But for now I guess I keep my 'odd yet possibly normal' family ammused regardless.