October 2015 Monthly Entry
The Lower Mainland is looking very nice during the fall season. Lots of yellows and reds and we've had quite a bit of sun too. The rains have come in now which spoils things. I should try to get a pic or two before things start to turn ugly.
The good news is that David has been out of the hospital for 2 weeks now. I felt a lot better to see him home after 2 weeks fighting an infection which started in the pancreas and spread to the gall bladder. They had him on antibiotics but it wasn't working so they sent him for a few hours to Royal Columbian Hospital to have his gall bladder drained. After the procedure, he was out of the hospital around a few days later. I could finally take a break spoiling him with snacks and drinks LOL! He now has a nurse that visits around twice a week. But recently things have taken a depressing turn... David says he doesn't want to take chemo now because of the side effects and that it would prolong his life "just 11 months more". I'm now concerned about whatever remaining time I have with David. I'm trying to push him to get him to do his final wishes and what to do when he passes away so it would make things much easier for me. Agustin is still a handful and even getting on David's nerves lately (as usual). He'll be the cross I'll have to bear after David is gone.
I got the job with Burnaby School District! I got the phone call at the end of my shift on Sept.23rd while at the condo I was doing about once a month (more on this below). I found out from my mom that they called her brother (my uncle and first/third employer) as a reference and he gave them a great report about me. Strangely, they didn't talk to my current manager as after they hired me and I told him, he said he was never contacted. Strange. The following Monday was orientation and receiving our packets to help us know how the system works. I have to call Mon-Fri from 10-10:30am checking to see if work is available and Thurs/Fridays for any weekend work. As of this writing I have had about 42 hours in 9 shifts. I've done about four secondary schools and only one elementary school. I've worked one day every weekend and I absolutely hate it. And three times now they have gotten me to wake up early to go open a school. It's really taking a toll on my body and especially my gaming and social life. If there is a conflict with the scheduling with my current employer, I let him know and I leave early while only being paid the hours I worked. The work is fast and hard and I cannot cleaning too thoroughly as I have to practice good time management. One of the most aggravating things is finding custodian closets lacking key items that I need and wonder how the hell they manage without them.
The first school I cleaned, Burnaby Central, was the same school my dad's younger sister and brother attended. Also, actor Michael J. Fox went there too. The second school, Burnaby South, connects to the Michael J. Fox Theatre. While Fox was born in Edmonton, Alberta he grew up here in Burnaby, British Columbia hence the large connection to the city. Funny how everyone is mentioning today as Back to the Future II Day LOL!
Because I got the job, my folks gave me the SUV they have been holding onto for years. It is a white 1999 Suzuki Grand Vitara and it was originally owned by my uncle (same one above). He offered it to his daughter from his first marriage but she rejected it and then he let my folks use it, even paying the yearly insurance. My older sister used the car a lot after hers was totalled by her husband in an accident. Eventually, my uncle decided to just give the car and put it in my mom's name. As his second marriage is now on the rocks, my uncle's wife wanted that car back and my mom signed it back over. She changed her mind and my mom got the car back. My older sister continued to use it until my folks and I went to a nearby insurance place on Sept.26 and my mom transferred the car in my name. Also, they paid for my first year's car insurance: $2177!!! Was I ever grateful! But shit - that much and I had my license for over 3 years (no accidents)??? Fuck you ICBC! Anyways, I couldn't take the car with me home as my dad wanted it checked out by his favourite mechanic and give it a cleaning. After we got home, I registered my car on TReO so I could get a discount every time I used the two new bridges. For my first week of work at the new job I had to transit and use taxis to get where I needed to and even enlist the help of Leatherdaddy MasterG for my first night so he could get me home. I got the car that following Sunday and my father became my first passenger as we went to a nearby gas station and taught me how to pump gas. My younger sister let me borrow her TomTom GPS. She warned me that she hadn't updated it in at least a few years. So when I finally got to drive all the way home by myself, I went straight north on 200th Street and when I got onto the Golden Ears bridge, the GPS wouldn't register where I was as the bridge wasn't complete the last time it was updated. It was probably thinking I was driving on water LOL! Despite taking a wrong turn veering off Lougheed Highway, I got lucky and ended up on the Coast Meridian overpass and on my home. For the first week of driving, I was very nervous but the GPS helped a lot. I had a couple of bad instances going home from a school at night as the GPS wanted me to take the Mary Hill Bypass - which is fine but since the GPS wasn't updated, it almost got me lost! What saved me was a McDonalds on Harris & Lougheed since I recognized it from all the bus trips I took home every weekend from my folks place! If I saw it, I knew where I was and could get myself home no problem. The worst though was driving at night in the rain. I hate it as it makes visibility more difficult. I also hate driving in downtown Vancouver. THAT is an exercise in frustration! But overall, these last couple of weeks I have gotten a ton of experience and feeling more comfortable driving around on my own. I'll need the GPS for quite a long time before I memorize the streets of the Lower Mainland. Speaking of which, last Saturday I paid to update my sister's GPS and it was a 3 hour update! My dad (and then my sister texts me) says that she is giving me the GPS for free and thanked me for updating it regardless. I tried it out and yes, it now knows of the Golden Ears bridge and even better, when I put in my home address, it warns that the route will take me to a tolled bridge and if I would accept it or take an alternative route with no tolled bridge. I accepted and the GPS got me home with no problems. Now that it is updated, I feel more confident getting to places that I'm not experienced in.
A couple Fridays ago, I have now returned to the Marquis Grande... as intern-manager. After over three years of employment, David has been fired (my entry on him being hired at the time is here though I don't mention his name) due to complaints from residents and others about his confrontational nature and anger problems. It's a shame, he seemed to be doing good there compared to when I first met him back in 2010 at the Silhouette. He was kind of rough with me at first but I smartened up and we got along better. Both of us hated the Silhouette! He was there for a year before they fired him. I relieved him in late August and early September for over a week during his vacation and come late October or the beginning of November when they fired him, I became intern-manager. It was hell and glad the strata hired a new manager quickly and kicked out my company and the property management company! I saw David again under two years later when I was doing the Marquis Grande for the first time, covering for the manager that quit, Barry. I started around late April and as I was walking down the hill at the end of my shift in June or July, lo and behold, David was walking up the same hill. We said hi to each other and I knew immediately he was going to his interview. After he was hired, I started to train him in the complex. After I left at the end of July, I didn't hear from David until about a year later which began the whole (mostly) monthly relief stage. It was actually going pretty well and the last I did it was a month ago when he injured himself on the job and I relieved him for three days. The straw that broke the camel's back though was an incident that involved a fireman inspector being on the property without informing neither David nor I. He calls me while he's in the lobby as I notice him working on the fire panel via the security camera. He asks for me to give him access to the generator room and I take him to there. As we were inside, David came in through the main parkade gate, walking his puppy, and noticed I was around inside with the fireman. He confronts the fireman rather strictly asking why he was on the property and why he was not informed of his coming. The fireman replies that he is under no obligation to call ahead and can go on a property for inspection at anytime. David says he has never heard that rule before as all fireman call him before they come on the property. It was a little heated with David but he eventually left it and walked away. The fireman and I went back to the lobby and on the way, I could tell he was a little upset by the confrontation. I said to not take it too seriously and that David was being protective of the property. When we got back to the lobby, David was there and the conversation between them was much better. I didn't think more of it until the next day before the end of my shift, David comes by the office and tells me that the fireman "wrote him up" and in fact complained about him on that confrontation. This wasn't good as the AGM was the following week and he knows that Scott, the strata president, will side with the fireman on this issue as he is a fireman himself. A week or two pass until my manager tells me that David was fired and I would be returning as intern-manager. I was pissed and stressed about this. But it was true, it was an accumulation of David's behaviour that caused his getting terminated. I found a letter from the strata dated in July that warned him to stop with his confrontation behaviour or he'll lose his job. His firing has upset a number of residents who liked his work while others are glad he is going. As for how this affects me on the one hand, it's less labour and easier on my body - especially if I have a school shift in the afternoon. On the other hand, it is psychologically stressful to deal with people's problems and run the complex. I heard today that David got a new job with a complex in Coquitlam near the mall and the best part, it has a pimp & prostitute problem for him to drive out. I'm not sure when David will officially move out of the Marquis Grande but I'm sure we'll cross paths again. He has helped me a bit here and when he goes, I'll definitely feel vulnerable.
My favourite snack, Snyders of Hanover Sourdough Hard Pretzels, have changed the look of their box after over 15 years. They used to sell these kind of pretzels in Canada but then they stopped in about 1999 or 2000. They are difficult to find as no one imports them so my folks and sometimes even my older sister will buy a bunch of boxes for me when they shop in the US. Hell, even my fellow-Knight Wayne T. picked them up in Seattle for me in July! I have one box of them a week and I never get tired of eating them.
For the very first time, I saw the first 3 Rambo movies last month on Netflix. I thought they were testosterone-pumped fun movies. I'd say First Blood was probably my favourite of the three but they all had great action. Stallone plays a total badass in these movies and his stuntwork is impressive. At the same time, you feel sympathy for his character John Rambo as he's a troubled Vietnam veteran and cannot integrate back into normal society. The first movie touches on the issue of how some Americans treated their own soldiers and the flak they got when they returned from the war. A war they lost, the trauma they experienced, and going back to a country with people hating them. In the case of Rambo, he's a professionally trained green beret and in the next two movies, his Vietnam experience is used to his advantage. I can't help but feel that Hideo Kojima was influenced by these movies when he was writing the earlier Metal Gear series of games.
Season 6 of Star Trek: DS9 is starting slowly. Likely won't have it done until around December.
I haven't started Resident Evil 6 yet nor have I got much chance to work on Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII. I have made some strides in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II - The Sith Lords but still have some more work to do.
I've been so busy that I don't have time to read either. I'll try to get Mere Christianity finished and reviewed soon.
Last Movie: The Avengers: Age of Ultron 3D (Theatrical), Rambo III (Netflix)
Last Book: KJV Holy Bible - Revelation
Last Game: Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands (Xbox 360)
Current Book: The Complete C.S. Lewis Signature Classics - Mere Christianity
Current Games: Resident Evil 6 (PS3) & Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII (PSP) & Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II - The Sith Lords (Xbox)