A belated happy new year!
Alright, stop whining. I know it’s been 6 months since I’ve updated.
I said stop whining.
Ok, so before we go any further, let’s do the so-popular year in review. It’s hot, it’s trendy and it’ll at least catch you up with the goings on here in TO.
January
Leave Winnipeg / arrive in Toronto on Jan. 1.
Don’t fly on Jan. 1.
Ever.
Especially not with a cat.
This is because you will, after negotiating outrageous crowds, have to remove said cat from it’s carrier so it can pass security. Maybe Jake the Cat is secretly planning on taking the plane out ina blow for feline freedom. You never know.
Anyways, Amrit went straight to work on the 3rd and I got busy unpacking. Our 2 bed, 2 bath condo turned out to be only slightly bigger then the 1 bedroom condo we left (bigger by 50 sq. ft.). It seems the real estate agent may have misrepresented the place in the ad.
Oops.
The agent wrote it off as their secretary’s fault. Uh-huh. Great. So the 1100 sq. ft. we were expecting? Not happening. Nor did we get a cut on the rent. More about this in November. (Really - it’s not just a cheap ploy to keep you reading.)
February
I started at IBM. Of the help desks I’ve worked at, they take the cake. Hands-down the best place I’ve worked. The staff were smart and motivated, the managers were real people and set realistic goals. It was a fun place to work.
March
Ummm… Yeah. I’m sure something happened here. I just can’t really remember. Mainly, it was a blur of work and wedding prep. Running out to Brampton to shop.
April
More wedding prep. Amrit’s mom came out and they did some dedicated shopping, too.
May
I turned 33. Go me! And more wedding prep.
June
My older brother got married on the 3rd and then the fun began - review the older posts for the full run of events. There were a lot. Needless to say, the wedding happened, it was good.
When I got back, my work schedule had me on for weekends and evenings through the summer. So I quit.
Not that rashly, mind you. Amrit really encouraged me to quit for two big reasons: one, we’d just gotten married and would have liked to seen each other more then two evenings a week.
And I was planning on returning to school in September.
July
When it rains, it pours. What was to be a quiet summer for me changed pretty quick when Amrit’s mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. We were on a plane back to Winnipeg ASAP to help with doctors appointments and to see just what the diagnosis would be.
They caught it early and my mother-in-law (who thinks the world of me for some reason… but the feeling is mutual - she’s great) is doing well. Amrit was out for two weeks and I stayed a bit longer to help out with some other stuff - I’ll just say that I can’t see investing in residential real estate. Wow.
August
The letters finally arrive - I get into Seneca College for two degree programs: Business Admin. (HR specialty) and Flight School. Now, I love to fly. LOVE to fly. I’m a big kid and always watch the scenery pass by underneath and all that jazz. Getting into flight school was big.
But a starting pilot 1. makes crap wages. United Aitlines once told its 3rd tier pilots (think a rung lower then Jazz) that they couldn’t apply for food stamps - even though they made so little that they qualified. That’s right - your pilot might be on welfare. How’s THAT for sending a chill down your spine? 2. The hours suck. Holidays? Yeah, I’d be the new guy working them. 3. Amrit would be a nervous wreck. She’s a nervous flyer at the best of times but she’d be really worried if I was flying full time.
So, we compromised - I’d take the HR degree and in return, I could take private lessons later.
It also helped that we’d found out that baby would be making 3 at about this time. I really want to be around to see my child.
September
You know that nervous feeling you get starting a new job? Yeah, that one.
Imagine what it’s like when it’s a job you haven’t done for 10 years and everyone else there is 10-15 years younger then you. That’s what my first day of school was like. Nervous? I was probably a bloody wreck. The night before my first quiz, I was edgy and snappy and generally a grouch - ask Amrit, she’ll tell you.
October
More school. And Amrit took me along to a couple conference during my reading week (“Fall Break” just doesn’t have the same ring to it). Vancouver - where we met up with two of her cousins, then on to lovely Phoenix. It’s great down there. I see why people spend the winter there - +20C, dry, and sunny. And the scenery! I’d never seen a desert before. It was very odd realizing that a lawn, with real grass, was not the norm.
November
Crunch time in school. And time to prep for Xmas back home.
AND - since you actually read this far - remember that real estate agent mentioned in January? Yeah, him. Well, our landlord indicated he wanted to sell and / or raise our rent. Seeing as we were already paying for more then what we had expected / were promised, we said no. So we got looking at places. And people started coming by to see the place.
Eventually, Victor (the original agent) dropped by with a couple. And Amrit asks him in a dead serious tone “you’re not going to lie to them like you did to us, are you?” Wow. You’ve never seen someone thrown so far off their game so fast. Especially after it was pointed out that he’d never even *met* us until that day - after nearly a year of haggling with him and the landlord about the rent.
He never came back and the landlord is currently getting someone else to sell the place.
It’s one of the many reasons I love her. I would have just shut up and let the issue drop. She can be a pit bull at times. I may not always like it, but it does have its place now and then.
December
Finals.
Final score: 1xA+, 4xA, 1xC+. 3.80 GPA
I’d complain about the C+, as I was expecting a B, but I was also expecting a B+ rather then 1 of those A’s. I’ll shut up and take it.
And we moved. With a baby on the way, our little condo just wasn’t gonna cut it - especially not at the price we were paying. So, while I wrote finals, we were also packing and moving. Not far - we’re just east of the DVP now. Amrit has a shorter walk (but a longer streetcar ride) to work. It’s better as she’s 6 months along at the end of this month.
We went back to Winnipeg for a white Christmas and my aunt’s wedding. 10 years after her commitment ceremony to her partner (my aunt being a lesbian and all) they finally tied the knot. That is a total of 3 family weddings this year. Jokes were made about trying to squeeze my little brother or mom into the schedule…. no takers.
We closed out the year with the Hutchings and friends. Good times. We left around 3:30am - I honestly can’t remember the last time I had been up that late.
Anyways, that’s the year.
I’m back in school for term 2. Amrit is still working. The baby is still growing - April 14 is the due date. Two days before finals start. Good timing on our part.
That was 206. Here’s to me updating more often in the new year. Leave a comment if you’ve actually read all this, too.
I said stop whining.
Ok, so before we go any further, let’s do the so-popular year in review. It’s hot, it’s trendy and it’ll at least catch you up with the goings on here in TO.
January
Leave Winnipeg / arrive in Toronto on Jan. 1.
Don’t fly on Jan. 1.
Ever.
Especially not with a cat.
This is because you will, after negotiating outrageous crowds, have to remove said cat from it’s carrier so it can pass security. Maybe Jake the Cat is secretly planning on taking the plane out ina blow for feline freedom. You never know.
Anyways, Amrit went straight to work on the 3rd and I got busy unpacking. Our 2 bed, 2 bath condo turned out to be only slightly bigger then the 1 bedroom condo we left (bigger by 50 sq. ft.). It seems the real estate agent may have misrepresented the place in the ad.
Oops.
The agent wrote it off as their secretary’s fault. Uh-huh. Great. So the 1100 sq. ft. we were expecting? Not happening. Nor did we get a cut on the rent. More about this in November. (Really - it’s not just a cheap ploy to keep you reading.)
February
I started at IBM. Of the help desks I’ve worked at, they take the cake. Hands-down the best place I’ve worked. The staff were smart and motivated, the managers were real people and set realistic goals. It was a fun place to work.
March
Ummm… Yeah. I’m sure something happened here. I just can’t really remember. Mainly, it was a blur of work and wedding prep. Running out to Brampton to shop.
April
More wedding prep. Amrit’s mom came out and they did some dedicated shopping, too.
May
I turned 33. Go me! And more wedding prep.
June
My older brother got married on the 3rd and then the fun began - review the older posts for the full run of events. There were a lot. Needless to say, the wedding happened, it was good.
When I got back, my work schedule had me on for weekends and evenings through the summer. So I quit.
Not that rashly, mind you. Amrit really encouraged me to quit for two big reasons: one, we’d just gotten married and would have liked to seen each other more then two evenings a week.
And I was planning on returning to school in September.
July
When it rains, it pours. What was to be a quiet summer for me changed pretty quick when Amrit’s mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. We were on a plane back to Winnipeg ASAP to help with doctors appointments and to see just what the diagnosis would be.
They caught it early and my mother-in-law (who thinks the world of me for some reason… but the feeling is mutual - she’s great) is doing well. Amrit was out for two weeks and I stayed a bit longer to help out with some other stuff - I’ll just say that I can’t see investing in residential real estate. Wow.
August
The letters finally arrive - I get into Seneca College for two degree programs: Business Admin. (HR specialty) and Flight School. Now, I love to fly. LOVE to fly. I’m a big kid and always watch the scenery pass by underneath and all that jazz. Getting into flight school was big.
But a starting pilot 1. makes crap wages. United Aitlines once told its 3rd tier pilots (think a rung lower then Jazz) that they couldn’t apply for food stamps - even though they made so little that they qualified. That’s right - your pilot might be on welfare. How’s THAT for sending a chill down your spine? 2. The hours suck. Holidays? Yeah, I’d be the new guy working them. 3. Amrit would be a nervous wreck. She’s a nervous flyer at the best of times but she’d be really worried if I was flying full time.
So, we compromised - I’d take the HR degree and in return, I could take private lessons later.
It also helped that we’d found out that baby would be making 3 at about this time. I really want to be around to see my child.
September
You know that nervous feeling you get starting a new job? Yeah, that one.
Imagine what it’s like when it’s a job you haven’t done for 10 years and everyone else there is 10-15 years younger then you. That’s what my first day of school was like. Nervous? I was probably a bloody wreck. The night before my first quiz, I was edgy and snappy and generally a grouch - ask Amrit, she’ll tell you.
October
More school. And Amrit took me along to a couple conference during my reading week (“Fall Break” just doesn’t have the same ring to it). Vancouver - where we met up with two of her cousins, then on to lovely Phoenix. It’s great down there. I see why people spend the winter there - +20C, dry, and sunny. And the scenery! I’d never seen a desert before. It was very odd realizing that a lawn, with real grass, was not the norm.
November
Crunch time in school. And time to prep for Xmas back home.
AND - since you actually read this far - remember that real estate agent mentioned in January? Yeah, him. Well, our landlord indicated he wanted to sell and / or raise our rent. Seeing as we were already paying for more then what we had expected / were promised, we said no. So we got looking at places. And people started coming by to see the place.
Eventually, Victor (the original agent) dropped by with a couple. And Amrit asks him in a dead serious tone “you’re not going to lie to them like you did to us, are you?” Wow. You’ve never seen someone thrown so far off their game so fast. Especially after it was pointed out that he’d never even *met* us until that day - after nearly a year of haggling with him and the landlord about the rent.
He never came back and the landlord is currently getting someone else to sell the place.
It’s one of the many reasons I love her. I would have just shut up and let the issue drop. She can be a pit bull at times. I may not always like it, but it does have its place now and then.
December
Finals.
Final score: 1xA+, 4xA, 1xC+. 3.80 GPA
I’d complain about the C+, as I was expecting a B, but I was also expecting a B+ rather then 1 of those A’s. I’ll shut up and take it.
And we moved. With a baby on the way, our little condo just wasn’t gonna cut it - especially not at the price we were paying. So, while I wrote finals, we were also packing and moving. Not far - we’re just east of the DVP now. Amrit has a shorter walk (but a longer streetcar ride) to work. It’s better as she’s 6 months along at the end of this month.
We went back to Winnipeg for a white Christmas and my aunt’s wedding. 10 years after her commitment ceremony to her partner (my aunt being a lesbian and all) they finally tied the knot. That is a total of 3 family weddings this year. Jokes were made about trying to squeeze my little brother or mom into the schedule…. no takers.
We closed out the year with the Hutchings and friends. Good times. We left around 3:30am - I honestly can’t remember the last time I had been up that late.
Anyways, that’s the year.
I’m back in school for term 2. Amrit is still working. The baby is still growing - April 14 is the due date. Two days before finals start. Good timing on our part.
That was 206. Here’s to me updating more often in the new year. Leave a comment if you’ve actually read all this, too.