Wednesday, January 25, 2006

It's Official

It's official. Feb. 11 is my last day at Safeway. I will finally be able to close one proverbial chapter of my life and carry on to the next one. I'm actually enjoying these last days at Safeway because a bunch of regular customers have all kindly expressed how they'll miss me and a few other regular faces. Like any change in life, it will be hard at first because I will miss many of my coworkers and a lot of the regular customers, but I think this is a case where the good will definitely outweigh the bad. The way Safeway is heading, I think I am getting off a sinking ship at the right time.

Why Do I Still Live in Saskatchewan Again? Pt. 914

The Federal Election occurred on Monday and not surprisingly, Stephen Harper and his Conservatives came out on top. The one bright side of this is that they only have a minority government. While I was expecting this result, I was once again flabbergasted at the stupidity of Saskatchewan's voting poplutation. In the last federal election, the Conservatives won 13 of 14 seats here in good ol' Sask. This year, they won 12 of 14 seats. Baby steps I guess. What completely boggles my mind is the fact that the NDP can do no wrong in provincial elections, consistently winning year after year, despite the fact that Lorne Calvert oozes less charisma than a zit. So you would think that a province that bleeds NDP blood when it comes to provincial politics would be consistent and vote NDP, or at least Liberal, when it came time to vote federally. Call me crazy, but I think this would make some degree of sense. I am a very left wing person so I would never vote for a right wing party either provincially nor federally. However, the majority of the voting population in Sask. seem to be schizophrenic when it comes to federal and provincial voting. This is definitely another case of why I am embarrassed to be from Saskatchewan. Alberta is a very right wing province, but at least they are consistent in their provincial and federal voting. No wonder so many young people here are jumping ship and heading elsewhere.

Wednesday, January 18, 2006

Odds and Ends

It's been awhile since I've posted anything on here besides pictures, so here's a quick recap of what's been new in my crazy world.

APRIL

Today is me and April's 8 month anniversary, so happy anniversay honey! It's hard to believe that it's been 8 months already. It's even harder to believe that next month it will be a year since we first met. I still feel unbelievably lucky to date someone who totally gets me and puts up with me. I never imagined being so comfortable around someone. Not too many couples feel comfortable enough to fart on each other! I am still completely in love with her and I still love hearing her voice when she calls from work and I still love seeing her when I walk in the door from a long day at work. April is definitely THE ONE for me.

WORK and SCHOOL

It looks like my days at Safeway are indeed numbered. I applied for the buy-out last month so I find out officially some time this month if I get accepted for the buy-out or not. By the sound sof it, everyone who applied for the buy-out will get it. My manager got a memo from head office and he has started asking cashiers if they would prefer their last day to be either Feb. 4 or Feb. 11. So it looks like Feb. 11 will be my last day at Safeway. In a lot of ways I am really looking forward to being out of Safeway, but I'm sure I will have a big lump in my throat on my last day. There are many aspects of the job that I hate and there are lots of bullshit and politics that go on at Safeway, but I do have ltos of fond memories and I have met some truly amazing people that I will really miss. Over the years I've had the provelege of becoming friends with Natasha, Bobby, Sandra, Megan, Geneise, Cory, Scott, Hung, Breck, Joanne, Dawna, Kerri, etc. I have spent one third of my life at the Regent Park Safeway so it will take getting used to not being there anymore. However, I think the change is necessary and will help me finally get onto the next stage of my life and finish my school. I am really looking forward to waking up every day and focusing on my thesis 100%. I can't wait to go get into a routine of going to Stone's Throw coffee shop and having some coffee and doning soem reading for an hour or two, coming home and going for a quick run and then typing away for 4 or 5 hours. This buy-out will also help me feeling more like an actual student. I will be able to participate more in Grad Student events and attend more conferences and social events. In less than a month my life will be drastically different, but I am looking forward to it.

XMAS

I never really wrote anything about how my Christmas was, so here's a quick, belated recap. Overall I had an enjoyable Xmas. For Christmas Eve, April and I went to my parents house. The last couple of years my parents have had a big come and go social night at their house on Christmas Eve for friends of the family. The only problem is that I could honestly give two shits about mingling with the vast majority of these people, especially during Christmas time. I had a far better time after everyone left and April and I just hung out with my parents. It's pretty sad when I go "home" for Christmas and I don't even feel like I'm at home at all because of people like a certain "vocalist" diva with size 26 jeans who can't even say a simple "hello" to my girlfriend. However, I did enjoy the quiet time with my parents and April. For Christmas Day, April and I went to her aunt's place in Weyburn with her parents, sisters and several other relatives. It was really nice meeting soem of her relatives for the first time and they really made me feel at home. They really made me feel like I was a part of the family. April and my parents were getting frustrated with me because I never gave them many ideas of what to get me for Christmas because I never really wanted anything aside from some CDs and DVDs. However, they caved and I got the two main things I asked for. April got me the Ramones boxed set Weird Tales of The Ramones. It consists of 3 CDs for a total of 85 songs, along with a DVD of all of their music videos. The packaging is amazing. It contains a comic book of assorted mini-comics about the Ramones by cartoonists ranging from the guys who do Archie to Mad Magazine to The Simpsons. I think it's my fave Xmas present ever. My parents got me the Bruce Springsteen Born to Run 30th Anniversay reissue box set, with the remasted CD, a restored 1975 concert DVD and a documentary DVD on the making of the record. A really cool package.

Other than that, the holiday season was very hectic. Tina was down for two weeks so our rowdy gang went out a few times. My cousin Ian was down from Calgary so it was nice to touch base with him again. It was a fun-filled two weeks but I'm glad to get back to reality for a bit now and look forward to my post-Safeway phase of my life and get my thesis finally done.

Thursday, January 12, 2006

B!LF @ McNally's Boxing Day


















Tina sent me a whole bunch of pics from her two weeks here over the holidays so I'm going to post some pics from when B!LF played at McNally's on Boxing Day. Me, April, Tina, Gianni, Zubazz, Shelene and a few others were on hand for the night.

This is a great group shot of me and the gang. It was definitely a fun and wacky New Years. See y'all next year! Posted by Picasa

Gianni: "JC, You are the MAN!" Posted by Picasa

Here's something for the ladies. Now that's a nice nipple! Posted by Picasa

Here's a pic of Mark and I horsing around. Posted by Picasa

I really like this pic of April and I. Posted by Picasa

Hiyeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Posted by Picasa

Judo chop! Shelene and I got sick of talking politics so we broke out into a kung-fu fight. Hoo! Ha! Posted by Picasa

Keeping with the theme... Here's Janeen's boobs. Posted by Picasa

Here's a pic of April's coworker Nadine showing off her boobs. Posted by Picasa

Here's an EXTREME CLOSE-UP of Shelene's boobs. Nice camera work, Tina! Posted by Picasa

Here's a pic of Shelene and I having a very deep, intellectual conversation on the plight of the rain forests, which would later segueway into a debate over the pros and cons of stem cell research. Or maybe I'm just talking out of my ass. Posted by Picasa

Now here's the money shot! Ka-pow! Posted by Picasa

I have no idea what I'm tryiing to do in this pic... maybe attempting to pull a Mike Tyson on Tina's ear? Who knows... Posted by Picasa

I like this pic of Tina, Shelene and I. Posted by Picasa

Group hug! Posted by Picasa

There was a lot of love in the room on New Years. It was very beautiful...it brought a tear to my eye... sigh... Posted by Picasa

Here's a nice pic of April and Shelene grabbing eachother's boobies. Posted by Picasa