My dirty laundry is out to dry.

I'm struggling in my new living situation, and I wonder if writing about it will help me think it through.

I'm living in a three bedroom suite, on the top floor of a house.  In addition to me, there is a 30-something woman living here, and a 20-something grad student.

The girl has been living here for five years, and she takes care of the bills.  She's not the owner of the house though, as we all pay rent to the landlady who lives next door.

Joe is the grad student.  He's originally from Calgary, and is very friendly.  He's in microbiology.

The girl is very passionate about turning the lights off in the house, which is an environmentally sound and economically smart hobby to have.  I've had her scold me a few times for leaving the lights on in rooms I wasn't currently in, which I wasn't so happy about. She has done the same to Joe.

Today, we both received the following text:

"I have to say that I'm not used to people being home all the time with gf's included.  Used to be a much quieter place.  Not so much anymore."

and

"Tonight if you don't mind."

Joe's girlfriend was here for five days or so at the beginning of the month.  Carmella has been over for dinner three or four times now.  We're all quiet types; Joe played Ticket to Ride with us last night.  We make dinner, play games, and have conversations.  There is never music involved, never yelling, never any heated disagreements.  Nobody throws plates against the walls. Carmella has also enjoyed the house for studying.

When I was speaking to the girl about moving in, she said she'd be happy to have Carmella over to visit, and seemed to promote a healthy, happy living environment.  I do not feel that way anymore.  I found myself leaving the house today and not wanting to return.  Carmella isn't as interested in coming over anymore.

I'm wondering if I should start looking for a new place, and have a tough discussion with the girl about what her expectations are for her roomates.  Are we supposed to avoid the house because she doesn't like it when people are home?  Or is she just crabby because she's got an exam coming up or something?

It's fairly frustrating.  At least I didn't sign a lease.

Carmella's Dress

Back in July, Carmella and I visited Ontario for Kir's wedding.  While we were there, Carmella and I visited the local shops.  I returned home with a few t-shirts and Carmella came back with an empty coffee cup.  She had considered buying a new dress she saw, but decided against it because it was just too expensive.

Mom and Carol then conspired to purchase this dress for Carmella!  While we were back in BC, they found the dress and bought it.  I was in on the action, receiving pictures from Carol's phone and confirming the dress was the correct one, and helping them decide on a size.

Mom had originally thought the dress would be a Christmas present for Carmella, but since it was a summer dress, and it was nice and summery outside, she decided to send it along early.

Carmella was so surprised!  The package arrived at my work, and I pretended I didn't know what it was.  I opened it, and it said "For Carmella.  Not for you, Jonnie!"

Carmella came to the hotel, and opened the package.  Out flopped the dress that she figured she would never see again!

When she tried it on, the size was as good as it could have been, but she'd need to take in the seems at the top.  Carmella found a seamstress, and she did a great job.

We had one last sunny day a few weeks ago, so Carmella and I walked down to the beach to celebrate a successful move to Vancouver, and a new job for me.  Carmella wore her new dress.  Here are some pictures of the final product!

Let's see if I can blog more!

Alright, I'm going to try and encourage myself to keep up on this blog.  I'll start by introducing my new design!

The background is a picture I took in New York, on the top of the MET.  It is a large aluminum sculpture, and it reminds me of a tree.

This weekend is Thanksgiving, and happily I get the Monday off.  Carmella and I will go to her mom's house in Maple Ridge. Before that though, we're going to visit the Body Worlds exhibit at Science World.  And maybe before that, I'm going to try and by myself a new bed.

I bought a bed, but it's terrible.  Being my thrifty self, I purchased a used one from a used furniture store in Burnaby.  It's creaky, and is so old that the box spring actually has a spring system in it.

Vancouver is struggling with a bedbug epidemic, so you can't give away a used mattress here, but for some reason I decided to pay money for one.  I'll minimize my losses and buy a new bed in a few days.

Today, I woke up feeling sore.  My back hurts, and my sleep wasn't deep because whenever I moved around, the box spring creaked and woke me up.  Very unfortunate!

This weekend, I'll also renew my vehicle insurance.  I may save some money because I won't be using the car to go to work, and will just use it for leisure.  I will likely have to pass an emissions test though, so I'll have some preparations to do for that.

I hope to have many pictures to share in the next few days, as I've got lots of things to document.  Visit often, because I aim to keep this blog humming along again.

Massey Lecture!

Yesterday I bought two tickets to the 2010 Massey Lectures stop in Vancouver.  This year's speaker is Douglas Coupland. I'm looking forward to it, and I'm excited to experience the venerable Massey Lecture series.

I hope the evening is different from a normal Coupland reading on a book tour. The event is happening on Oct 12, at the Chan Centre @ UBC.

A nice comment card from work

When guests check-out of the property where I work, they're sent an email comment card.  They're asked a lot of things about their stay, and one category deals with the Overall Experience.

The following was sent to in yesterday, and forwarded to me by my managers today:

This facility is located in a great place and convenient to many attractions and outdoor recreational opportunities. All the staff and resort manager were extremely nice and helpful. Of particular note, Mr. Jon Van Drunan (sic), was very helpful to us in explaining the sites to see in the area, printing directions for us, and greeting us every morning and evening. He made it seem like we had known him for a long time, and is a wonderful example of why I purchased, and have continued to increase my credits with this time share, due to the quality people that are hired, like Jon.


This was nice to receive.


I may use this in my job search.  You can't argue with such superlative performance!  


Ok, Canadian outerwear company, call me back for another interview!

The Memory of Running

Kir gave me this book awhile ago, and I've just started reading it.  It deals with an overweight man who loses his parents in a car accident, and previously lost his sister to a mental hospital.

Today is my day off, and I enjoy reading books on days I don't have to work.  I also like running.  I was about to do both today, but I had to stop my run about thirty metres into it, or less.

I experienced extreme pain in my right knee, and could no longer run.  I've never had a pain like that before, and I am a bit concerned about it.

The only thing I've changed in my life is that I started biking to work.  It's a long way, so I try and go as fast as I can.  I try to push big gears, because I don't want to admit to myself that I'm in worse shape now than I was a year ago.

So now I've got extreme pain in the anterior portion of my knee.  I needed to find out what it was, so I googled it and came across some interesting information.

Cyclists often experience either hip pain or knee pain, and they're the two most common injuries that plague those on two wheels.  These injuries are most common during the early season when the rider's body isn't used to riding, especially if the rider tries to ride big gears too often and tries to push too hard before the body is ready.  The article also mentioned that inflexible lower extremities can add to the problem.

I am guilty on all counts.  I try to ride as fast as I used to, and I try to ride big gears because I assume they're more manly.  I also have inflexible lower extremities.

I'm happy that this preliminary research points to it not being a permanent injury.  I wouldn't want to only have memories of running as a result of a serious knee problem.  I'll have to find other ways of getting exercise for a bit, and with running and biking seemingly out, I'll have to try something new.

ANOTHER fire on Blackcomb?

Rumour has it that Blackcomb is on fire again.  Last year, apparently on this date, it famously caught fire for everyone to see.  It created a burn zone that made for some pretty surreal tree skiing.

Here's a webcam shot, taken this evening.  Is that fire, or something else, top right?

Today around 4pm we had a big lightning storm that included torrential rain and hail, so at first I was skeptical that a fire was brewing on Blackcomb.  Confirmation reports seem to be coming in though, so possibly it's true.