A Skewed View

August 24, 2008 My legs caught a break today. I’ve been staying up until 2 or 3 a.m., and then sleeping in until maybe 10 a.m. This morning I was up at 8:30 though, so I made breakfast and hauled it down to the beach to eat it there. Today was supposed to be the hottest day of my visit, but it was cloudy and windy all day. I geared up for a walk on a nearby trail, but on the way I stopped at a beach a bit further up the lake than I usually went. I decided that while it wasn’t exactly sunny, it was still rather warm. So I abandoned the walk and returned to grab my bag for an afternoon at the beach. The water was too cold today to swim, so I just sat with my feet in the water and read. The owner came by tonight. Last time I was here, I didn’t meet him once. His wife did everything. Which leads me to believe his wife isn’t around this time. Maybe any more. I could speculate scandalous reasons for her absence. But I digress. He stopped by to give me a birthday cake, complete with flowers a...

August 23, 2008 Today was a day of relaxing. I had to go into town because while I have 72 double-A batteries for my camera at home, I neglected to bring even four with me on vacation. Which brings us to why I have 72 at home. I’m always forgetting to bring any of them with me, so I always have to buy them when I’m out of town. But I digress. Into town for batteries, and I stuck around for some window shopping (which netted two pairs of earrings, a watch and a vanilla iced coffee) and lunch. Then back to the beach to read by the water and a little swimming. Well, dog-paddling really. It seemed more prudent, being in the water by myself, to stay close to shore in one spot that was a few inches from where I could stand up. In theory. In reality, waves have their own plans. I’d dog paddle a few minutes, then have to swim back to where I wanted to be. Paddle a bit. Swim a while. Today was supposed to be about giving my over-walked/hiked gams a break ... maybe tomorrow. But I did fit in qui...

August 22, 2008 So. Dead. I did the Marten Mountain hike. Yikes. It took about an hour and half to do the 2.8 km trail. A muddy, rough, steep incline trail that hardly even looked like an official trail for about half the length. (Now my pants are truly done for. And guess what happens to sneakers with a hole that lets sand in when they meet mud?) I considered turning back about six times. Stopped at this bridge to catch my breath and take off my shoes lest my feet burst into flame. (no blisters though! Bonus) What kept me going forward was the promise of an outhouse on the map. I reached the lake – no frickin’ outhouse! Still, the lake was nice. Not 2.8 km trek nice, but nice. I just wanted to be done the hike, so my exit was as hasty as I could make it without my heart exploding from my chest. I had to stop considerably more often on the way out, but I made it. I’m glad I did the hike, but I would never do it again “for fun”. It was like when we were kids and I’d let my sister haul ...

August 21, 2008 So. Tired. I geared up for a long walk along the lakeshore. Long pants, t-shirt, fleece jacket, hat, camera, binoculars, map, water and some snacks. I was off at 12:30 p.m. I was supposed to be able to find a trail to the east of the guesthouse that would take me along the shore back to a picnic area of the provincial park. I most assuredly did not find the trail. I abandoned plan A by 1:00 p.m. But I was already packed to the ears for a long walk, so plan B had to be formed. I hopped in the car and drove to the picnic area – if I can’t walk to it, I’ll walk from it. (I also start from the finish end of puzzle mazes that stump me and work my way backwards to the beginning.) By 1:20, I was on the path. And by path, I discovered that I mean large stretch of sand dunes. Hard to walk on soft sand dunes. I also discovered under those conditions that a hole in my sneakers let in soft sand with impunity. So I veered off “the path” and took to walking on the hard packed wet san...

I didn't have internet access on my vacation at the lakeshore -- so let's look back on the past five days spent in Lesser Slave Lake together: August 20, 2008 Happy Birthday to me! =) I really quite enjoy the drive up to Lesser Slave Lake. For one, unlike Highway 2 South, I have not driven this route about 472 times already in my lifetime. The overcast weather wasn’t even dampening my enthusiasm, because quite frankly that is the perfect driving weather. I was hoping that I hadn’t over-inflated my memory of the suite where I was staying – but as soon as I walked in the door, I knew I hadn’t. So extremely cozy, quaint and with a beautiful view. Immediately I looked forward to the next morning when I would eat breakfast on the balcony. Quite the bonus discovery – the owners have put in satellite tv since my last visit. Two summers ago, my choices were a somewhat passable CBC, a fuzzy CTV and a Global that could be watched if I took off my glasses and pretended that was the proble...

I was waiting at an elevator earlier last week and noticed an adorable dress on the young woman who was standing next to me. As I admired her outfit down to her shoes, I ended up having to stifle a laugh. This lovely, attractive young woman -- who was maybe five feet, five feet two tall -- had HUMONGOUS feet. Flippers really. I had to double check that she wasn't just wearing clunky shoes. Nope. Those dogs were all hers. Poor thing. I think I have cute feet. Especially for a five-six woman who weighs one hundred and *mumblemumble*, wearing a 7 1/2 shoe is cute. So maybe I should be more into shoes. So today I went shoe shopping (you don't want to know how much money I have spent in the 4 days since I've quit my job ... but then you don't have to pay my Visa bill, so it's none of your business anyway). (I won't post pictures of me wearing my shoes. Years ago I posted pictures of a friend who was wearing footed-pajamas. Some creepy guy emailed me asking if I had a...

My last day at work was Friday. I know you're dying to know how it went. It went ... almost unnoticed. Man, my "boss" really has no managerial skills or knowledge. What might you do if one of your three-person office were leaving? Maybe ask the exiting employee where she keeps things? The status of her workload? The process to follow when the reports that need to be edited start coming in? Nothing. Nada. Not one question. It was the end of the day on Friday, I had cleaned out my desk earlier in the week, and just had one small box of knick-knacks to escort home. I stood up and said "Well. I guess that's it for me." Not even a kazoo salute. All this just confirms how much I should have exited. No one should have to work under someone who is this clueless. I have actually never quit because of one person before. Oh, I had been thinking of leaving for months now. Years now? Yeah, I was actually only there a few months and I started thinking of...

(... just in case you are frantically scanning my blog, drooling "But what about Frankenstein? What happened in Frankenstein?!") I was right. The narration folded back upon itself -- from the Monster to Frankenstein to the original Mariner. (you can wipe your chin now.) (p.p.s. do you like the new choice in font size? for those without my niece's eyesight)

Want to know how crazy I am? I spent five hours today doing work that I brought home on the long weekend. Work. Even though I've given my notice, and deservedly so. Just can't brush off the work ethic, I guess. And in the scheme of things, I think that's a good thing. That even when I am in a job that doesn't appreciate me, I still try my best. It isn't about what "they" deserve. It's about the type of person I want to know I am. At least I tell myself that while I'm working on a Sunday and knocking myself on the forehead to the beat of "Hel-lo!" (this picture just amuses me. what are ya gonna do?)

Or: What To Do Now: So I didn’t get into the Centre. Crap. (which, coupled with my Monday afternoon car accident, made this a crappy week) I was quite upset and disappointed when I heard. Not so completely and wholly because I wanted to go to this school, but because I wanted wholly and completely to change my life. I know I still can ... and I still will ... but right at that moment, I was quite upset and disappointed. Still, the rejection is not without some positives. I can hang the pictures on the walls of my new apartment that I had been putting off until finding out if I was moving (why mark up a walls that weren’t going to be mine for more than 6 months?). And buy a hot-air popcorn popper (why buy something I was just going to have to pack or sell again?). And since I don’t need the money right away for a move and tuition, I can take a bit of a vacation at that guest house on Lesser Slave Lake that I love so much (you all think that’s the lamest things you’ve heard – but ...

My crappy week started out okay. The flight to Toronto was fine. Nice fluffy clouds. Toronto was kind of fun, actually. The minute I walked into my hotel room, I was excited. White comforter, white sheets, white pillows – no worries about cleanliness here. Even the chair at the desk was leather. Very nice. Pleased with the hotel. (don’t look at the window, though. Seriously needed a good scrub from the outside.) The first day I just roamed around the neighbourhood and watched tv. Different only from a Friday night at home by the fact I roamed around the neighbourhood. Saturday I got up late and met a friend for a movie. (Oh, did I mention my hotel was a few blocks off Yonge Street, and as such was only about 10 minutes away from a movie theatre? Can I pick ‘em or what?) Batman! ( http://a-skewed-review.blogspot.com/2008/07/dark-knight.html ) Very awesome. Then we went to an ice cream place to chat about life and my impending interview the next day. That night I basically just stayed i...