Recently, I missed my bus to work and had to call an Uber, which isn't such an unusual occurrence. The app said my drive was "2 minutes away", but near immediately, I got a call from the driver asking for my unit number.
Usually, they just stop at guest parking and I walk out to meet them there, so that's what I told him. He said, "No, I live in the same complex as you."
Then he walked out of his apartment and waved at me. We were neighbours and I was his first call of the day.
I see him pretty regularly nowadays. I was tempted to try and create an arrangement where, if I needed to get to work when he starts his shift, he could be my private driver. But that's still a bit too posh for my current income.
At work, one of our members accidentally locked his keys into his locker, so it fell on me to break his lock to retrieve them. I've never done such a thing, always feeling that a padlock was suitable defense against the average layman, and was surprised to be presented with such a primitive device as a set of clippers to do the deed. I set those clippers against the thick metal cables of the lock, pulled, and was disturbed by how easily they carved through them.
I will never feel safe with a combination lock, padlock, or deadbolt again.
You know how I'm obsessed with shea butter, as it is a major export from Mali? Well, we had a guy with a store in Guelph called The Shea Butter Man, which was stationed in Old Quebec Street Mall. Recently he relocated to St. Jacob's Market, and this has made it more difficult to access shea butter.
Fortunately for me, he does have an online presence: https://sheabutterman.ca/
So, I only wanted to buy a tin of shea butter, but noticed that shipping costs almost doubled the price. As I added onto my order, I realized that the shipping prices didn't increase, so I allowed myself to pay for more product while allowing the shipping costs to remain the same. Unfortunately, he only has three products and I'm not about to bother with Simpah Cream. The things I will do for you, Shea Butter Man.
The thing I added to my order was Black Soap. It's made from plantain skins, cocoa pods, palm oils, and kernels. It feels like I'm rubbing compost on my skin while I shower, and makes me feel oddly clean.
You might remember, but I used to work for an organization called Facile as an Independant Facilitator. After I left, it was rebranded as Bridges to Belonging. Recently, it has been revealed that the government is not planning to continue funding Independent Facilitation. This is a huge blow to developmental services.
However, there's a small part of me that is happy that I got out when I did, as so many of my previous coworkers are struggling to adapt to the funding cuts. It's kind of like seeing an ex-girlfriend having issues while you knew that you are doing well for yourself.
And to finish things off, I'd like to thank my readers for giving me permission to like BBQ sauce while also hating ketchup. Huge weight off my shoulders.
Saturday, February 23, 2019
Saturday, February 16, 2019
Weather, Phone, and BBQ Sauce
Weather's been nasty. In the past two weeks, my organization has been closed twice, due to snow storms followed by a thaw, followed by freezing rain. The townhouse complex I live in is sort of concave, so I've been living in a bowl of ice. Getting in and out has proven to be a challenge.
The other day, I was walking up to where I usually enter the complex. A rabbit was sitting at the top of an iced-over hill. When it saw me, it tried to scurry away but lost its grip and slid down the hill. Never saw such graceless behaviour from a rabbit. Felt sorry for it.
One time, when my regular way to get in proved impassable, I chose to walk through a park and over a bridge so that I could enter from the other side. When I approached the bridge, I realized it was at the base of a small hill, overseeing a river. If I slipped, I stood a good chance of falling into the freezing river. I did slip, but didn't fall and kind of "skiied" onto it.
I'm good with winter, but I really wish the weather would remain consistent. These interchanging blizzards and thaws are really hard to deal with.
I got a new case for my phone. Pretty slick, it was estimated to show up next Tuesday, but instead I got it on this past Thursday.
Some of my contacts didn't come through for some reason. For example, I recovered my brother's phone number but not my mother's, so I might not have yours.
My old phone is showing some weird signs of life. I set my new phone's alarm, and when it came on in the morning, it also came through my old phone. When I set my new phone to snooze, it also shut off my old phone. When my new phone's alarm reactivated, so did my old phone's.
It's been off for days. Its' charge wasn't that strong when I was using it. I wonder how it still has enough power to operate
Valentine's Day was a bust, of course, although I did get one Valentine. You remember in Grade School when you would set out an envelope in front of your desk, and everyone would go around giving out Valentine's cards? You had your "cool" Valentines cards, and you had your "Romantic" ones. For the most part, you could expect a "cool" one from each student, but if you got a "romantic" one, it meant something.
So I got a "cool" one from one of the members where I work. It said "From My Heart to Yours" and had a picture of Iron Man. Female facilitators generally did better, with members giving them chocolates disguised as roses and balloon bouquets and suchlike.
Oddly though, getting the "cool" Valentines is actually cool now. Bunch of adults in my complex were comparing weather or not anyone gave them one of those cheesy cards and I got to flaunt my Iron Man.
I learned something horrific recently. For a long time, I've been an avid hater of ketchup. It is the worst, most vile condiment out there. I hate the smell, it's far too sweet, it masks the taste of any food it touches... It's bad. That being said, I feel pretty positively about most barbecue sauces. I love that smokey, tangy flavour. I could acknowledge a certain similarity between the two condiments, but I was able to draw a hard line betweeen them.
Recently, on the subreddit /r/ketchuphate, of which I am subscribed to, the question was brought up "Can you hate ketchup and still like BBQ sauce?" The rationale was that most BBQ sauces have their main ingredient as ketchup.
I immediately grabbed a bottle of BBQ sauce and looked at the ingredients list. I felt a wave of relief. "Ketchup" wasn't anywhere on it. In fact, the main ingredients were tomato paste, sugar, and vinegar.
Oh no! That's ketchup!
Most of the people online didn't hate BBQ sauce, the rationale being that "Ketchup is an unfinished product. I like bread but I don't eat flour". I don't know, though, I feel like I've been outed as a hypocrite.
The next day, I was supporting someone and we went out to a restaurant. I usually order the BBQ Burger, but this time I couldn't. I think I'm obligated to hate BBQ sauce.
The other day, I was walking up to where I usually enter the complex. A rabbit was sitting at the top of an iced-over hill. When it saw me, it tried to scurry away but lost its grip and slid down the hill. Never saw such graceless behaviour from a rabbit. Felt sorry for it.
One time, when my regular way to get in proved impassable, I chose to walk through a park and over a bridge so that I could enter from the other side. When I approached the bridge, I realized it was at the base of a small hill, overseeing a river. If I slipped, I stood a good chance of falling into the freezing river. I did slip, but didn't fall and kind of "skiied" onto it.
I'm good with winter, but I really wish the weather would remain consistent. These interchanging blizzards and thaws are really hard to deal with.
I got a new case for my phone. Pretty slick, it was estimated to show up next Tuesday, but instead I got it on this past Thursday.
Some of my contacts didn't come through for some reason. For example, I recovered my brother's phone number but not my mother's, so I might not have yours.
My old phone is showing some weird signs of life. I set my new phone's alarm, and when it came on in the morning, it also came through my old phone. When I set my new phone to snooze, it also shut off my old phone. When my new phone's alarm reactivated, so did my old phone's.
It's been off for days. Its' charge wasn't that strong when I was using it. I wonder how it still has enough power to operate
Valentine's Day was a bust, of course, although I did get one Valentine. You remember in Grade School when you would set out an envelope in front of your desk, and everyone would go around giving out Valentine's cards? You had your "cool" Valentines cards, and you had your "Romantic" ones. For the most part, you could expect a "cool" one from each student, but if you got a "romantic" one, it meant something.
So I got a "cool" one from one of the members where I work. It said "From My Heart to Yours" and had a picture of Iron Man. Female facilitators generally did better, with members giving them chocolates disguised as roses and balloon bouquets and suchlike.
Oddly though, getting the "cool" Valentines is actually cool now. Bunch of adults in my complex were comparing weather or not anyone gave them one of those cheesy cards and I got to flaunt my Iron Man.
I learned something horrific recently. For a long time, I've been an avid hater of ketchup. It is the worst, most vile condiment out there. I hate the smell, it's far too sweet, it masks the taste of any food it touches... It's bad. That being said, I feel pretty positively about most barbecue sauces. I love that smokey, tangy flavour. I could acknowledge a certain similarity between the two condiments, but I was able to draw a hard line betweeen them.
Recently, on the subreddit /r/ketchuphate, of which I am subscribed to, the question was brought up "Can you hate ketchup and still like BBQ sauce?" The rationale was that most BBQ sauces have their main ingredient as ketchup.
I immediately grabbed a bottle of BBQ sauce and looked at the ingredients list. I felt a wave of relief. "Ketchup" wasn't anywhere on it. In fact, the main ingredients were tomato paste, sugar, and vinegar.
Oh no! That's ketchup!
Most of the people online didn't hate BBQ sauce, the rationale being that "Ketchup is an unfinished product. I like bread but I don't eat flour". I don't know, though, I feel like I've been outed as a hypocrite.
The next day, I was supporting someone and we went out to a restaurant. I usually order the BBQ Burger, but this time I couldn't. I think I'm obligated to hate BBQ sauce.
Tuesday, February 12, 2019
Visioning 2019
Recently, WALES went through a process called "Visioning". This is something that happens every 3-5 years, and is meant to determine our goals and strategies as an organization moving forward. I was present for a Visioning session once, about five years ago, as a student during my first student placement. Really interesting to experience it a second time, as an actual employee with experience in the field.
During my first session, we rented out a meeting room at a bar called The Huether. This time around, we were limited to the board room at the Extend-a-Family main office.
We each developed an individual dream for the future of the organization, then read it aloud and assessed them for commonalities. We split into groups of three and wrote our shared visions, then we put them on display and compared them with the other groups. After that, we each attempted to condense our goals into a "vision statement", broke up into different groups of three, condensed our answers, then came together as a group, taking each of our vision statements and condensing them into one.
Then we broke the vision statement into three parts and came up with steps for each section. I wound up being a part of the "People leading people" group. So I'll be collaborating with my two group members in this next vision piece for up to two years (presuming I maintain my position).
During my original goal, I managed to include "It is five years in the future, I own my own vehicle..." and somehow, by the end of visioning, there is an image representing me driving a Volkswagen Beetle.
....Aside from this, I recently needed to get a new phone. During this past Summer Program, in a game of Mission Impossible, I, with the intention of staying as close to the ground as possible, opted to army crawl and then roll sideways to the next hiding place, forgetting that I had a phone in my pocket and subsequently hip-checking it into the floor repeatedly, shattering the screen. I was therefore thankful for the fact that it would continue working after this incident for about half a year. During the later stages of its lifespan, it developed chargeport issue, becoming picky about the type of cord being used and it's own position while charging.
I kind of knew that this could happen, but the night that it chose to stop working came before a day that we had ice storms on the horizon. Usually, I am not in charge of alerting people due to bad weather, but since we had so many staff absent, this meant that I would be in charge of this duty.
So, if I planned to call people to let them know about the organization shutting down, I needed a phone.
After work, I went to the mall to get a new phone. When I arrived, Phone Guy wasn't there. I asked where he was. He was on break. I waited until break was over, then attempted to make a purchase. Turns out I got a bill from my cell phone provider during the time my phone was broken and they can't grant access if I have a bill owing. He directs me to a kiosk in the mall, but the kiosk says they can't accept payment. I attempt to connect to my cell phone provider's website but I got the password wrong and they froze access after one attempt, then I attempted to get into my banking account with the mall wifi and my work iPad, but they need to to verify my identity... by calling or texting...
So I have to go home. Bus misses my stop.... I finally get into my home and through some song and dance I manage to figure out what I owe, pay it, and return to the mall. The bus was late on the way back, too.
Wound up to be necessary, as the next day was a snow day and I needed to call people to let them know that the organization was closed. Second time in two weeks...
A least it was a good trial run for my new phone :)
And at least I managed to get a phone out of it. I managed to copy my contacts, so I should have your number. Text me!
During my first session, we rented out a meeting room at a bar called The Huether. This time around, we were limited to the board room at the Extend-a-Family main office.
We each developed an individual dream for the future of the organization, then read it aloud and assessed them for commonalities. We split into groups of three and wrote our shared visions, then we put them on display and compared them with the other groups. After that, we each attempted to condense our goals into a "vision statement", broke up into different groups of three, condensed our answers, then came together as a group, taking each of our vision statements and condensing them into one.
Then we broke the vision statement into three parts and came up with steps for each section. I wound up being a part of the "People leading people" group. So I'll be collaborating with my two group members in this next vision piece for up to two years (presuming I maintain my position).
During my original goal, I managed to include "It is five years in the future, I own my own vehicle..." and somehow, by the end of visioning, there is an image representing me driving a Volkswagen Beetle.
....Aside from this, I recently needed to get a new phone. During this past Summer Program, in a game of Mission Impossible, I, with the intention of staying as close to the ground as possible, opted to army crawl and then roll sideways to the next hiding place, forgetting that I had a phone in my pocket and subsequently hip-checking it into the floor repeatedly, shattering the screen. I was therefore thankful for the fact that it would continue working after this incident for about half a year. During the later stages of its lifespan, it developed chargeport issue, becoming picky about the type of cord being used and it's own position while charging.
I kind of knew that this could happen, but the night that it chose to stop working came before a day that we had ice storms on the horizon. Usually, I am not in charge of alerting people due to bad weather, but since we had so many staff absent, this meant that I would be in charge of this duty.
So, if I planned to call people to let them know about the organization shutting down, I needed a phone.
After work, I went to the mall to get a new phone. When I arrived, Phone Guy wasn't there. I asked where he was. He was on break. I waited until break was over, then attempted to make a purchase. Turns out I got a bill from my cell phone provider during the time my phone was broken and they can't grant access if I have a bill owing. He directs me to a kiosk in the mall, but the kiosk says they can't accept payment. I attempt to connect to my cell phone provider's website but I got the password wrong and they froze access after one attempt, then I attempted to get into my banking account with the mall wifi and my work iPad, but they need to to verify my identity... by calling or texting...
So I have to go home. Bus misses my stop.... I finally get into my home and through some song and dance I manage to figure out what I owe, pay it, and return to the mall. The bus was late on the way back, too.
Wound up to be necessary, as the next day was a snow day and I needed to call people to let them know that the organization was closed. Second time in two weeks...
A least it was a good trial run for my new phone :)
And at least I managed to get a phone out of it. I managed to copy my contacts, so I should have your number. Text me!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)