My new roommate moved in today! I feel like this one's a keeper, or at least, I feel like he'll be sticking around a bit. As opposed to that last couple's five day stay.
He had more stuff than he'd estimated, which is to be expected. People generally don't realize how much stuff they own. I remember mentioning on this blog how, moving into student housing, all I had were two suitcases and a backpack, but moving out, I had three suitcases, two backpacks, like six garbage bags full of clothing, and several bins. And this is when my only living space was one room and a kitchen cabinet. I'd stated before that I only ever owned what I could carry on my back, and this was still true, but there's no way I could carry all that on my back at once. I even abandoned a mattress, night stand, and bookshelf (I'd later get my mattress back)
I moved that couch bed into my room. For the past few years, I've only been sleeping on a mattress on the floor. This seems to be an indicator of your socioeconomic status. Soon after we first got our furniture at the place I'm staying at, I ran into someone I knew, whom I'd seen when I didn't have furniture, and told her the good news. Her first question was "Do you have a bedframe?" When I told her I didn't, she said "That's okay, I don't either" kind of like saying that I'd risen to her socioeconomic status but hadn't surpassed it.
And I know a couch bed isn't the same as a proper bedframe, but I was talking to a friend who is a floor-sleeper like me, and she was quite proud of having adopted a couch bed as well (through the same people who were moving out), denouncing the mattress she'd been sleeping on. This tells me that a couch bed is a step up from a mattress, even if it isn't the same as a bed that was constructed to be a bed.
But to be honest, I don't know what society's obsession is with slightly elevating yourself above the floor. Me and my old roommates got some furniture from a secondhand store, and they disassembled the legs. We never bothered to put them on. Why would we? Just creates a trap for dust and miscellaneous items that might get kicked under there. Same concept for a bed, why do people need to feel like they're hovering above the floor?
But the truth is, with all the new furniture being moved in, as well as the influx of furniture I received not long ago, it's hard to find a place for everything. So just in the interest of space, it makes sense for me to use the couch bed.
Moving the couch bed was pretty exhilarating. I don't
tend to ask for help when I need it, and moving a couch up a flight of
stairs with a landing in the middle is easily a multi-person effort. But
somehow someway I managed it on my lonesome.It isn't something I brag about much on this blog, because I've done little to maintain my bragging rights, but I'm pretty physically powerful just naturally. Even for my body type, which suggests I'm pretty strong, I beat expectations. It almost feels like cheating. Like, I'll look at something like that couch bed and think "I need another guy to do this" and then I'll think of a number of people I might call, and then I'll think "Oh wait, I forgot, I'm Gryphon" and then I'll just do the whole job on my own
I've been looking around for posters to cover the hole in my bedroom door. Wal Mart only had a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle poster, and while I've nothing against TMNT, I don't know if I want to put it on my door, telling anyone who may see that I define myself as a TMNT fan. Other places I've seen posters are movie stores for the most part, and the same issue arises. I don't want to define myself by a band or movie. . I've got a number of paintings that are scenic or nature-focused, but posters don't like to do this. But I don't want to fix a painting or mirror to a door, since it's a swinging surface and might come off.
I'm probably going to have to get rid of a couch and loveseat, which is fine. New roommate has better stuff than my older things. I'll get rid of the old batch left from my old roommates and keep my new stuff. With the sudden influx of new furniture as well as the new roommate and his stuff, my place is looking way better than it has a right to, considering my income. I do hate throwing things out though.
After my initial 4 responses to my room for rent after the first night of posting it, my add was pushed back by newer ones, I stopped receiving responses and forgot about it. Recently though, I started getting a bunch of emails, as people became more desperate and started digging through the archives. I admittedly left my advertisement up, seeing how many responses I could get even though I've recently made a commitment. I'm like an unsatisfied and insecure girl on a dating website.
We found out why that one unit got raided a while back. Murderer in Montreal was on the lam and subletting from someone in my complex. Here's an article on the topic:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/ferdinando-belmonte-shooting-death-laval-kitchener-ontario-1.3793623
Saturday, October 29, 2016
Saturday, October 22, 2016
New Furniture 2
Today I scored a free dining room table, four dining room chairs, two loveseats, with one extending into a bed, and a reclining chair. And later, in the same day, someone offered to deliver me a free Lazyboy chair. I don't know what this is, October 22nd, the Day of Furniture I guess. The unit's going to be crowded, but everything being offered is better than what I currently own, and it's so against my nature to reject opportunities of great value.
I have a roommate for next month. An acquaintance from Conestoga's Social Service Worker program, same as me, but he was from a different year, So now I've got his furniture moving in as well as all the new furniture I just got.
It was kind of fun doing tours of my unit. I've been in the position where I was looking for a place to live inside the second half of the month with no fallback solution twice before, and I gotta say, it's a lot more comfortable being the one offering a space in their home, than it is to be the one hoping to find a space in someone else's home.
Everyone else is like "Please, I need a place ASAP, or I won't have anywhere next month" while I'm all "I need someone by next month, or I won't have a place to stay... in four months."
Okay, it's a little depressing because I can relate with some of the people that I need to reject, but it's still nice to see the challenge present, without addressing itself to me.
I moved into the large room. My first set of roommates were a couple, so even though I found the unit, and even though I was the largest, I got put in the small room. At my interrim sublet place, my roommates called dibs on the larger rooms and I got put in the small room just the same, since I was away for the Extend-a-Family Summer Program Overnight Program when they found the spot. In my current place, after my roommates moved out, I was planning on subletting to an elderly woman in the community, which would have required me to give her the larger room out of respect, but that didn't work out because of lease agreement technicalities, and then after that another couple, but that didn't pan out either. When things turned into me trying to sell the room without leads, I realized it was ridiculous that I was still sleeping in the small room despite having been the only person in the unit for a month and a half. So now I'm in the larger room and I feel like a king. I haven't had such a nice room since I was in highschool.
I still need a coffee table for the living room... And I guess kind of a coffee table for my room. And I need two more paintings of faces in the landing between floors. I have a painting of an elderly Native Canadian man, and a painting of a young African female. I want two more belonging to different demographics so that I've got a hallway of faces.
My old roommate once knocked in his bedroom because he'd locked himself out of it. By the time that I am currently occupying this room, the hole in the door is still a reminder of times past. It was my most difficult explanation for tours of the unit. I found a Bob Marley poster from my old roommates, and wondered what was more acceptable, having a suspicious large hole in your bedroom door, or being a Bob Marley fan. Despite Marley's popularity, I decided to hold off my poster in favour of something a bit more generic.
Remember how I made a big deal out of curtains? How I'd accidentally bought a set that advertised their patterned side, but had a light pink underbelly and were too short for the living room windows to boot?And I had to buy a complete new set for the living room because of this. Well, because the larger bedroom has posts to attach the curtain rod to, it invites curtains to be hung, while the smaller room only has a few bent-up nails in which you can place a curtain rod, but the metal rungs of a curtain will be incompatible. My solution when living in the small room was to sling an elephant-patterned sheet over the curtain rod set by the pair of upturned nails. In the larger room this wasn't an option, so I wound up using those detestable curtains.
I had the choice of setting the curtains so their desirable, advertised side faced me inside the room or alternatively to the rest of the world. I got to choose who would be subjected to the nauseating, Pepto Bismal colour. Would I choose to prioritize how I saw myself, or how the world saw me? It was quite a poetic conflict.
In the end, I chose to set the cool-looking pattern to face inside the room, and the Pepto Bismal to face outwardly. Quite like a Social Service Worker, to take care of what is happening internally as the first place to look
I have a roommate for next month. An acquaintance from Conestoga's Social Service Worker program, same as me, but he was from a different year, So now I've got his furniture moving in as well as all the new furniture I just got.
It was kind of fun doing tours of my unit. I've been in the position where I was looking for a place to live inside the second half of the month with no fallback solution twice before, and I gotta say, it's a lot more comfortable being the one offering a space in their home, than it is to be the one hoping to find a space in someone else's home.
Everyone else is like "Please, I need a place ASAP, or I won't have anywhere next month" while I'm all "I need someone by next month, or I won't have a place to stay... in four months."
Okay, it's a little depressing because I can relate with some of the people that I need to reject, but it's still nice to see the challenge present, without addressing itself to me.
I moved into the large room. My first set of roommates were a couple, so even though I found the unit, and even though I was the largest, I got put in the small room. At my interrim sublet place, my roommates called dibs on the larger rooms and I got put in the small room just the same, since I was away for the Extend-a-Family Summer Program Overnight Program when they found the spot. In my current place, after my roommates moved out, I was planning on subletting to an elderly woman in the community, which would have required me to give her the larger room out of respect, but that didn't work out because of lease agreement technicalities, and then after that another couple, but that didn't pan out either. When things turned into me trying to sell the room without leads, I realized it was ridiculous that I was still sleeping in the small room despite having been the only person in the unit for a month and a half. So now I'm in the larger room and I feel like a king. I haven't had such a nice room since I was in highschool.
I still need a coffee table for the living room... And I guess kind of a coffee table for my room. And I need two more paintings of faces in the landing between floors. I have a painting of an elderly Native Canadian man, and a painting of a young African female. I want two more belonging to different demographics so that I've got a hallway of faces.
My old roommate once knocked in his bedroom because he'd locked himself out of it. By the time that I am currently occupying this room, the hole in the door is still a reminder of times past. It was my most difficult explanation for tours of the unit. I found a Bob Marley poster from my old roommates, and wondered what was more acceptable, having a suspicious large hole in your bedroom door, or being a Bob Marley fan. Despite Marley's popularity, I decided to hold off my poster in favour of something a bit more generic.
Remember how I made a big deal out of curtains? How I'd accidentally bought a set that advertised their patterned side, but had a light pink underbelly and were too short for the living room windows to boot?And I had to buy a complete new set for the living room because of this. Well, because the larger bedroom has posts to attach the curtain rod to, it invites curtains to be hung, while the smaller room only has a few bent-up nails in which you can place a curtain rod, but the metal rungs of a curtain will be incompatible. My solution when living in the small room was to sling an elephant-patterned sheet over the curtain rod set by the pair of upturned nails. In the larger room this wasn't an option, so I wound up using those detestable curtains.
I had the choice of setting the curtains so their desirable, advertised side faced me inside the room or alternatively to the rest of the world. I got to choose who would be subjected to the nauseating, Pepto Bismal colour. Would I choose to prioritize how I saw myself, or how the world saw me? It was quite a poetic conflict.
In the end, I chose to set the cool-looking pattern to face inside the room, and the Pepto Bismal to face outwardly. Quite like a Social Service Worker, to take care of what is happening internally as the first place to look
Sunday, October 16, 2016
Coffee Filter Baskets and Coffee Basket Filters
I've lost the coffee filter basket for my coffee maker. That's the plastic bit that holds the coffee filter. It's different from a coffee basket filter, which is the filter that goes into the basket. Plenty of people sell coffee basket filters, but no one seems to sell coffee filter baskets. I accidentally bought a reusable filter because of the similarity in name. The only place online I've found that sells coffee filter baskets is Mr. Coffee. You can get this part directly through their site, or over ebay. But the part is $3, and they charge $15 shipping and handling. I mean, I can afford the part, but I could buy a whole new coffee maker for that price. My pride won't allow me to buy a part that's transportation fee is five times its value. But I also can't bring myself to buy a whole new machine for a piece of plastic when I've got a perfectly fine machine otherwise.
So in the meanwhile I've bought one of those single-serve coffee things. You put the grinds in and pour boiling water over the top. It's as fast as instant coffee, but it's made from legit grounds. So long as I'm living alone and not entertaining, this is a decent substitute.
I've started advertising for a new roommate a couple days ago. First night, and I get four responses. I've got one view set up next week.
Here, you can take a look at my advertisement. Bump up my views:
http://www.kijiji.ca/v-room-rental-roommate/kitchener-waterloo/looking-for-roommate/1208020922
I started using the bread maker my neighbour gave to me. This thing must be ancient. It's instructions are on a VHS tape, which means it must have been constructed from before DVD technology was introduced. That means it must be over 20 years old! But I'm pretty sure no one has ever used it. It sounds like it kept changing hands between people who liked the idea, but never used it and eventually realized they were never going to. Until it reached me. Just finished my third batch tonight.
From one perspective, it takes four hours to bake one loaf of bread, while I can bake six loaves in half that time by hand. From another perspective, it takes a degree of attnetiveness across several hours to bake a batch by hand, while with the maker, I can literally just put the ingredients in and forget about it. It does all the mixing, kneading, baking, it decides the necessary temperature and amount of time, and it even turns itself off after it's done. You can set a loaf to bake, go to sleep and wake up to the smell of fresh baked bread.
It's pretty cool.
I think in the past, I've mentioned that Kitchener has the largest Oktoberfest celebration in Canada, and second largest in the world. This year, Justin Trudeau came to do the honours at our Tapping of the Keg. I had forgotten that it was Oktoberfest, and I hadn't heard Justin Trudeau was going to be there until day-of. By some quirk of fate, I happened to be in the area he would show up, around when he would show up, when I heard about it. So I dropped by and got to see J.T. Not a great view, I kind of had to squat to see him, and I had to leave to catch a bus for a work shift before he tapped the keg, but at least I got to snap a pic of the crowd where I saw him before leaving for work. Second time I've seen Trudeau in person (first time was at Conestoga, where he did a speach before he was elected).
So in the meanwhile I've bought one of those single-serve coffee things. You put the grinds in and pour boiling water over the top. It's as fast as instant coffee, but it's made from legit grounds. So long as I'm living alone and not entertaining, this is a decent substitute.
I've started advertising for a new roommate a couple days ago. First night, and I get four responses. I've got one view set up next week.
Here, you can take a look at my advertisement. Bump up my views:
http://www.kijiji.ca/v-room-rental-roommate/kitchener-waterloo/looking-for-roommate/1208020922
I started using the bread maker my neighbour gave to me. This thing must be ancient. It's instructions are on a VHS tape, which means it must have been constructed from before DVD technology was introduced. That means it must be over 20 years old! But I'm pretty sure no one has ever used it. It sounds like it kept changing hands between people who liked the idea, but never used it and eventually realized they were never going to. Until it reached me. Just finished my third batch tonight.
From one perspective, it takes four hours to bake one loaf of bread, while I can bake six loaves in half that time by hand. From another perspective, it takes a degree of attnetiveness across several hours to bake a batch by hand, while with the maker, I can literally just put the ingredients in and forget about it. It does all the mixing, kneading, baking, it decides the necessary temperature and amount of time, and it even turns itself off after it's done. You can set a loaf to bake, go to sleep and wake up to the smell of fresh baked bread.
It's pretty cool.
I think in the past, I've mentioned that Kitchener has the largest Oktoberfest celebration in Canada, and second largest in the world. This year, Justin Trudeau came to do the honours at our Tapping of the Keg. I had forgotten that it was Oktoberfest, and I hadn't heard Justin Trudeau was going to be there until day-of. By some quirk of fate, I happened to be in the area he would show up, around when he would show up, when I heard about it. So I dropped by and got to see J.T. Not a great view, I kind of had to squat to see him, and I had to leave to catch a bus for a work shift before he tapped the keg, but at least I got to snap a pic of the crowd where I saw him before leaving for work. Second time I've seen Trudeau in person (first time was at Conestoga, where he did a speach before he was elected).
Wednesday, October 12, 2016
Scary Moment
So, remember how I had two roommates moving out, and two roommates moving in? And I wasn't willing to elaborate on the reasons behind my old roommates moving out? Well, my new roommates didn't permanently move in, and I'm unwilling to talk about that, too. So it's just been me in this unit these past three months.
I hate to admit it, but being alone hasn't been very discouraging. The community I live in is very engaging and invested in what everyone is doing. If I come home with groceries, I can expect to be asked what I bought, and to have that information spread around the complex and repeated back to me by someone I hadn't told.
So I don't get lonely. I step outside the door, someone pulls me into conversation. I step inside the door, I'm left to my own thoughts. It's a pretty good balance, from my perspective.
The roommates that didn't stick paid for their stay (they stayed five days). They left behind a pack of pork chops, a pack of bacon, some chicken strips, half a box of those hash brown patties, and a dozen eggs. I didn't know how to cook the pork chops, so I contacted my mother. She sent me a recipe, I put it ina pan, and it exploded into a ball of fire.
I wanted to turn off the heat, but the path to the knob was too covered by flames. I wanted to take the pan off the heated element, but the handle was covered with sizzling, spitting cooking oil. I dumped out the kitchen garbage pail and filled it with water, but as I prepared to toss it on the flames, I noticed the fire was subsiding.
If a camera had been angling at me, and I hadn't dumped a trash bin on itself, the flaming pork chop may have been considered a culinary technique. You known how on those cooking shows, they have those chefs playing with fire in their pans? The end result was a delightful sear, but I chose not to be so adventurous next time, and with the remainder of the chops I just had them heat at the same time as the oil.
I am baffled how my technique wound up the way it did. Apparently my chops erupted because I'd failed to thaw them first. But how could ice, which is solidified water, result in fire? How could more frigid temperatures caused by being frozen, result in unexpected heat? I don't get it.
Recently, I became incapable of making pancakes. I don't understand. I used to find pancakes a fun and natural way to start the morning, especially if I was making them for someone else. But for some reason, now when I try to slide my spatula beneath the pastry, it caves in on itself, unless I burn oneside to a crisp. I just purchased a waffle iron and am experimenting with it, but the first batch hasn't been promising.
My neighbours recently gave me a breadmaker. In the past, I've scoffed at people who own breadmakers (Do I need a breadmaker? I AM a Bread Maker!) but I never gave one of these machines a fair try. I will, and I will let you know.
They also gave me some board games: Connect 4, Monopoly, Snakes & Ladders, Trivial Persuit, and something called Shuttles. I love my neighbours <3 3="" p="">
<3 p="">
I recently applied for several positions. I was accepted today as a Safe Management Instructor. I will be teaching courses on escalation and de-escalation, relationship building, enviro-scans, and self-defense techniques.
Recently, we had a really scary moment in our complex. It started (from my perspective) at the Talize (secondhand story across the street). Somebody walked in who I assumed was a police officer. Put someone to the floor without asking questions or reading their rights, went on pulling their pockets inside out. Person pinned was hollering that they didn't know what was happening, and the person applying force was putting too much pressure on their finger.
Someone I knew from college wandered over there and started listing things on his finger. I wanted to snoop, but they were at the children's section and I had no reason to be there. the authority figure is joined by four other people of his rank. I'm beginning to wonder if it's standard practice to have five people on one guy.
The officers pull him out on the street and pin him. Just so happens a Girl Guide is trying to sell cookies there. As the persecuted is being dealt with, the girl is shouting "Girl Guide cookies, five dollars!". I go up to buy cookies, but hope to overhear something from the commotion nearby. The girl tried to sell me three boxes for five dollars, several nearby people overhear this and take issue, since apparently she'd only given them one box for the same price. I don't know why she did that, maybe she was trying to pad her numbers.
So anyway, I go home with one box of Girl Guide Cookies and notice the same unmarked van and at least two of the same authority figures that were inspecting across the way are in the complex. Someone asks what they're doing and they say it's "So boring, you don't even want to know"
But they're in full defense gear, and they're carrying assault rifles. Apparently at the same time as someone got pinned at Talize, someone else got pinned by the bus stop. Another unmarked van shows up with another group of authorities. In total, 15 authorities armed with assault rifles show up in undercover vehicles.
<3 p="">As soon as I see the rifles, I duck into my unit, deadbolt all the doors, turn off all the lights, curl into the fetal position and pretend I don't exist. I don't even peek out the window, because I'm afraid one of those guys might think I'm a sniper or something. In contrast to this, a group of my neighbors watched it all happen, sipping beer.
<3 p="">
<3 p="">Everyone in the unit got arrested. There's rumors surrounding the reason, but I don't think anyone really know. One of my neighbours who watched it happen while drinking beer on his porch said it was all an act to scare us. I don't really think they would plant undercover cops in a unit for months, then have 15 men show up in full gear to stage a fake raid, so that they could spook some people living in a townhouse complex.
I hate to admit it, but being alone hasn't been very discouraging. The community I live in is very engaging and invested in what everyone is doing. If I come home with groceries, I can expect to be asked what I bought, and to have that information spread around the complex and repeated back to me by someone I hadn't told.
So I don't get lonely. I step outside the door, someone pulls me into conversation. I step inside the door, I'm left to my own thoughts. It's a pretty good balance, from my perspective.
The roommates that didn't stick paid for their stay (they stayed five days). They left behind a pack of pork chops, a pack of bacon, some chicken strips, half a box of those hash brown patties, and a dozen eggs. I didn't know how to cook the pork chops, so I contacted my mother. She sent me a recipe, I put it ina pan, and it exploded into a ball of fire.
I wanted to turn off the heat, but the path to the knob was too covered by flames. I wanted to take the pan off the heated element, but the handle was covered with sizzling, spitting cooking oil. I dumped out the kitchen garbage pail and filled it with water, but as I prepared to toss it on the flames, I noticed the fire was subsiding.
If a camera had been angling at me, and I hadn't dumped a trash bin on itself, the flaming pork chop may have been considered a culinary technique. You known how on those cooking shows, they have those chefs playing with fire in their pans? The end result was a delightful sear, but I chose not to be so adventurous next time, and with the remainder of the chops I just had them heat at the same time as the oil.
I am baffled how my technique wound up the way it did. Apparently my chops erupted because I'd failed to thaw them first. But how could ice, which is solidified water, result in fire? How could more frigid temperatures caused by being frozen, result in unexpected heat? I don't get it.
Recently, I became incapable of making pancakes. I don't understand. I used to find pancakes a fun and natural way to start the morning, especially if I was making them for someone else. But for some reason, now when I try to slide my spatula beneath the pastry, it caves in on itself, unless I burn oneside to a crisp. I just purchased a waffle iron and am experimenting with it, but the first batch hasn't been promising.
My neighbours recently gave me a breadmaker. In the past, I've scoffed at people who own breadmakers (Do I need a breadmaker? I AM a Bread Maker!) but I never gave one of these machines a fair try. I will, and I will let you know.
They also gave me some board games: Connect 4, Monopoly, Snakes & Ladders, Trivial Persuit, and something called Shuttles. I love my neighbours <3 3="" p="">
<3 p="">
I recently applied for several positions. I was accepted today as a Safe Management Instructor. I will be teaching courses on escalation and de-escalation, relationship building, enviro-scans, and self-defense techniques.
Recently, we had a really scary moment in our complex. It started (from my perspective) at the Talize (secondhand story across the street). Somebody walked in who I assumed was a police officer. Put someone to the floor without asking questions or reading their rights, went on pulling their pockets inside out. Person pinned was hollering that they didn't know what was happening, and the person applying force was putting too much pressure on their finger.
Someone I knew from college wandered over there and started listing things on his finger. I wanted to snoop, but they were at the children's section and I had no reason to be there. the authority figure is joined by four other people of his rank. I'm beginning to wonder if it's standard practice to have five people on one guy.
The officers pull him out on the street and pin him. Just so happens a Girl Guide is trying to sell cookies there. As the persecuted is being dealt with, the girl is shouting "Girl Guide cookies, five dollars!". I go up to buy cookies, but hope to overhear something from the commotion nearby. The girl tried to sell me three boxes for five dollars, several nearby people overhear this and take issue, since apparently she'd only given them one box for the same price. I don't know why she did that, maybe she was trying to pad her numbers.
So anyway, I go home with one box of Girl Guide Cookies and notice the same unmarked van and at least two of the same authority figures that were inspecting across the way are in the complex. Someone asks what they're doing and they say it's "So boring, you don't even want to know"
But they're in full defense gear, and they're carrying assault rifles. Apparently at the same time as someone got pinned at Talize, someone else got pinned by the bus stop. Another unmarked van shows up with another group of authorities. In total, 15 authorities armed with assault rifles show up in undercover vehicles.
<3 p="">As soon as I see the rifles, I duck into my unit, deadbolt all the doors, turn off all the lights, curl into the fetal position and pretend I don't exist. I don't even peek out the window, because I'm afraid one of those guys might think I'm a sniper or something. In contrast to this, a group of my neighbors watched it all happen, sipping beer.
<3 p="">
<3 p="">Everyone in the unit got arrested. There's rumors surrounding the reason, but I don't think anyone really know. One of my neighbours who watched it happen while drinking beer on his porch said it was all an act to scare us. I don't really think they would plant undercover cops in a unit for months, then have 15 men show up in full gear to stage a fake raid, so that they could spook some people living in a townhouse complex.
Friday, September 30, 2016
Jenga
Hey hey, so one thing I forgot to mention from my time at Impeesa is that me and a couple other people managed to play a perfect game of Jenga. For anyone that doesn't know, Jenga is a game where a tower of wooden pieces is made on a 3x3 grid is built, and then players are required to remove pieces from the body and transport them to the top until the tower falls. Whoever made the last move loses. It's a pretty pessimistic game, because in most games there is only one winner, whereas in Jenga there is only one loser. Jenga is a game where you can't win, you can only lose.
At Impeesa, they have a giant Jenga set, where the pieces are set 5x5 instead of 3x3 and the pieces are heavy and huge. I played with a couple of people, and when the idea of a perfect game came up, things became more about facilitating this possibility than defeating one another. In the end, we managed to create a tower built entirely on a 2x2 grid. We were further validated when an external member challenged us when we claimed this was the best game. He offered to show us we were wrong, he spilled the tower, and so no one in the team that competed had to make the shameful final move.
I watched Suicide Squad a second time in theaters. The nature of my work puts me in a very advantageous position, in which I see movies for free regularly, but because the people I serve are the ones calling the shots, I often see movies several times if they're trending. I saw Minions three or four times in theaters because of this.
I don't understand Snap Chat people. For the longest time, all I knew about it was that my friends would make really exaggerated expressions into their phones about whatever it was they were doing, and then point their phones at me and tell me to react. I would never react, which would make them react even more strangely into their phones in response to my non-reaction. Eventually one of my friends made me get it, and I promptly forgot I had it.
So I'm complaining about Snap Chatters to my friends, and they're like "But you are on Snap Chat. We all added you." Then I remember my friend making me get it nine months earlier, so they snap chat a picture of me with the text "When you forget you have Snap Chat" and send it out. That's not funny. My expression did not convey an emotion that implied I'd forgotten Snap Chat, it's just an image with the context added on. Then that Snap got a return Snap of my friends laughing. I just don't get it.
At Impeesa, they have a giant Jenga set, where the pieces are set 5x5 instead of 3x3 and the pieces are heavy and huge. I played with a couple of people, and when the idea of a perfect game came up, things became more about facilitating this possibility than defeating one another. In the end, we managed to create a tower built entirely on a 2x2 grid. We were further validated when an external member challenged us when we claimed this was the best game. He offered to show us we were wrong, he spilled the tower, and so no one in the team that competed had to make the shameful final move.
I watched Suicide Squad a second time in theaters. The nature of my work puts me in a very advantageous position, in which I see movies for free regularly, but because the people I serve are the ones calling the shots, I often see movies several times if they're trending. I saw Minions three or four times in theaters because of this.
I don't understand Snap Chat people. For the longest time, all I knew about it was that my friends would make really exaggerated expressions into their phones about whatever it was they were doing, and then point their phones at me and tell me to react. I would never react, which would make them react even more strangely into their phones in response to my non-reaction. Eventually one of my friends made me get it, and I promptly forgot I had it.
So I'm complaining about Snap Chatters to my friends, and they're like "But you are on Snap Chat. We all added you." Then I remember my friend making me get it nine months earlier, so they snap chat a picture of me with the text "When you forget you have Snap Chat" and send it out. That's not funny. My expression did not convey an emotion that implied I'd forgotten Snap Chat, it's just an image with the context added on. Then that Snap got a return Snap of my friends laughing. I just don't get it.
Thursday, September 22, 2016
27
Well, as of yesterday, I am 27. First year of my late twenties (21, 22, 23 are early twenties, 24, 25, 26 are mid twenties, 27, 28, 29 are my late twenties, with the rounded 20 just being what it is). Still the youngest you can be while in your late twenties, though!
I don't know if I really feel like celebrating my twenty-sixth year of life. During this year I moved, I changed roommates, I left Facile, I did another round of Summer Program, arguably the most successful, and I got past my one year anniversary working with two of my contracts. It wasn't really a bunk year, there were some successes, but there was a lot of struggle.
I remember last year on my birthday, I had to be in Kitchener for work but I arranged so I had nothing going on on that day specifically. Kinda tried to avoid people. One of my old roommates made some tickets that were good for a homemade meal of my choosing and stuff like that. Never used those. Should maybe see if they're still good, haha.
Went to a Tim Horton's and there were a couple of elderly women having an existential chat about the concept of mortality. Felt applicable to my own contemplation of the passage of time that day. Had a chat with a coworker about a fairly intense topic, didn't mention my birthday, she found out later through Facebook and said she'd've sung me Happy Birthday if she'd known.
This year I'm in Guelph, actually took a few days off. First time in Guelph since the Summer Program ended.
Got 67 Facebook birthday messages this year, 3 emails, and 4 texts.
You remember how I said my luck was sided against me before the start of the summer, and then it went in my favour for the summer? Then, I knew my charmed season was over when that flood hit. But I don't really know what my luck is looking like right now. My hot water heater got knocked out, but then when I called to ask for it fixed, it turns out there was going to be an inspector later that week so my landlord was eager to fix it as soon as possible. Last Monday, I lost my phone, but yesterday it was found and returned to me.
It's so satisfying to have a shower after you've been living without hot water.
I don't know if I really feel like celebrating my twenty-sixth year of life. During this year I moved, I changed roommates, I left Facile, I did another round of Summer Program, arguably the most successful, and I got past my one year anniversary working with two of my contracts. It wasn't really a bunk year, there were some successes, but there was a lot of struggle.
I remember last year on my birthday, I had to be in Kitchener for work but I arranged so I had nothing going on on that day specifically. Kinda tried to avoid people. One of my old roommates made some tickets that were good for a homemade meal of my choosing and stuff like that. Never used those. Should maybe see if they're still good, haha.
Went to a Tim Horton's and there were a couple of elderly women having an existential chat about the concept of mortality. Felt applicable to my own contemplation of the passage of time that day. Had a chat with a coworker about a fairly intense topic, didn't mention my birthday, she found out later through Facebook and said she'd've sung me Happy Birthday if she'd known.
This year I'm in Guelph, actually took a few days off. First time in Guelph since the Summer Program ended.
Got 67 Facebook birthday messages this year, 3 emails, and 4 texts.
You remember how I said my luck was sided against me before the start of the summer, and then it went in my favour for the summer? Then, I knew my charmed season was over when that flood hit. But I don't really know what my luck is looking like right now. My hot water heater got knocked out, but then when I called to ask for it fixed, it turns out there was going to be an inspector later that week so my landlord was eager to fix it as soon as possible. Last Monday, I lost my phone, but yesterday it was found and returned to me.
It's so satisfying to have a shower after you've been living without hot water.
Sunday, September 18, 2016
New Furniture
So I had two roommates move out, and soon I'll have two more moving in. Don't expect much more explanation.
I've been living on my own for about a month and a half now, and I've bought a stupid amount of new furniture. I'm a pretty cheap person, and having spent as much as I have makes me feel nauseous, especially since I'm minimally employed at the moment. But most of the furnishings left with my old roommates, and I wanted to make a strong first impression for the people moving in. Give the place an impression that somebody lives here.
Finally got my standing lamp. The living room doesn't have an overhead light, closest one is in the connecting hallway. New lamp spreads out light exactly like an overhead would. Got my bookshelf for the living room, which is something I've wanted since moving in. I actually bought a 5-drawer for my bedroom since my 3-shelf was full. Moved the 3-shelf to the living room and put my board games on it. I've got a standing coat rack for the front hall. These three items were what I've been wanting for the living space for a while.
I have a dresser now. Ever since I moved into student housing, I've not had a dresser. I had a 2-drawer nightstand that I inherited from the previous owner, which I put my socks, underwear, shorts, undershirts, bathing suit etc. Then I hung my pants in my closet with my shirts. I abandoned the nightstand when moving, because I got sick of moving things (but then wound up helping a roommate with much more stuff). I got a another nightstand, but it wasn't as big. Turned into a situation where I never had quite enough room to fit everything.
But now I have a dresser. My pants can go in it, my socks, my shirts, my undershirts, my shorts, my bathing suit all have a place where they belong. My closet can be reserved for my shirts.
My old nightstand is in the kitchen, filled with a collection of cook books I somehow developed, and supporting my microwave. Now that's a move that made me feel peculiar, like I was trying to step into a class I didn't belong. But I found it at only $50, when my impression was that microwaves usually cost several hundred. I'm worried I'll feel the need to branch into other household conveniences from here. But the microwave is useful for heating leftover pasta and stirfry.
I feel like everything's cheaper than usual right now, which has helped encourage my spending.
I got a shoe rack, bath rug, floor mat, curtains... Curtains have always been something I've been a bit particular about. When I was in Katimavik, me and another guy puzzled out a way to create a "secret language" where we described curtains, but it actually meant women. And it seemed to work, since the females in the group would become frustrated because they couldn't understand what we were talking about, and al their attempts to interpret our conversations were completely off-base.
Of course, since then, I've learned you can take pretty much any topic and twist it around that way. Still weird that I'm weird about curtains. None of the curtains at any of the generic stores were thick enough. You can see a silhouette of the person from the outside with those, which to me, doesn't really allow for privacy. There was one value store that sold curtains that I'd been satisfied with before. But last time, I'd bought two single-panels that seemed to have the same pattern, but wound up being asymmetrical. Drove me crazy. This time, I found that they had two-panel sets with a price that equaled what two of their one-panels would be. Thought this would be a good way to get thick, symmetrical curtains.
But the inside lining was like, a bubble gum pink. I really don't understand why curtains will have different patterns on either side. I mean, if they were used as a wall hanging, you might put the more decorative side facing the public, with the more plain side against the wall, where nobody is meant to see. But if you hang your curtain against, say, a window, then it is probably meant to be seen from both sides.
So I had to go back and get two single-panels with confirmed symmetrical patterns on both sides. So yeah, now you know I like my curtains thick, patterned the same on both sides, front and back. If you don't know what I'm talking about YOU ARE NOT A MAN.
I went to a Katimavik Alumni Meet yesterday. There were only 4 of us, and I wound up knowing two of the people there. One was someone I've hung out with before, and the other one was someone I've had a professional overlap with, but I didn't know he had done Katimavik. Fourth person was someone new.
We were at Beertown (uninspired name). I got the fish and chips. They asked me if I wanted it with fries. I'd thought that since it's "fish and chips" the "chips" would be half the dish, and you couldn't replace it. Whereas with another meal, if fries were a side, you could swap it out. But I swapped out the chips for sweet potato fries and got a whole bed of them, at the same quantity as if they were chips. Much than if they were a side, but at the same price.
I got rejected to become a member of the Katimavik Board of Directors. They're feeling confident enough that Katimavik may get new funding that they are taking on new board members. I applied, and they sent me a really nice rejection notice. Said they were grateful for my participation in the program and my willingness to volunteer my time, that they were impressed by my resume and cover letter, and that they hoped I would continue to serve, but that they had narrowed the applicants down to a very small number, and that I hadn't made it.
Could have been a copy-paste email since it had no identifying characteristics about me, and it sounds like I didn't even get into the final round of people being considered. Bummer. I felt pretty confident in my application, since they were looking for members who had done the program. I was in the last program to have fully completed it, so I felt that I had more experience than others, and they asked for volunteer history, how the Katimavik program had impacted our lives, how our values corresponded with the organization, and what our proficiency was with French. I was able to say that Katimavik offered me my first opportunity to work with population I would choose tom follow a career with, I was able to state a number of volunteer opportunities I'd taken on, including the Respect Campaign, which reached out to all vulnerable populations which coincides with the values of Katimavik, and I even became a Respect Leader. I was able to say that Katimavik inspired me to do Canada World Youth, which put me in a full French immersion scenario, where it was the dominant language in La Pocatiere, and the language of trade in Karadje. But apparently there's a list of people who finished the program when I did, with more applicable experience.
I've been living on my own for about a month and a half now, and I've bought a stupid amount of new furniture. I'm a pretty cheap person, and having spent as much as I have makes me feel nauseous, especially since I'm minimally employed at the moment. But most of the furnishings left with my old roommates, and I wanted to make a strong first impression for the people moving in. Give the place an impression that somebody lives here.
Finally got my standing lamp. The living room doesn't have an overhead light, closest one is in the connecting hallway. New lamp spreads out light exactly like an overhead would. Got my bookshelf for the living room, which is something I've wanted since moving in. I actually bought a 5-drawer for my bedroom since my 3-shelf was full. Moved the 3-shelf to the living room and put my board games on it. I've got a standing coat rack for the front hall. These three items were what I've been wanting for the living space for a while.
I have a dresser now. Ever since I moved into student housing, I've not had a dresser. I had a 2-drawer nightstand that I inherited from the previous owner, which I put my socks, underwear, shorts, undershirts, bathing suit etc. Then I hung my pants in my closet with my shirts. I abandoned the nightstand when moving, because I got sick of moving things (but then wound up helping a roommate with much more stuff). I got a another nightstand, but it wasn't as big. Turned into a situation where I never had quite enough room to fit everything.
But now I have a dresser. My pants can go in it, my socks, my shirts, my undershirts, my shorts, my bathing suit all have a place where they belong. My closet can be reserved for my shirts.
My old nightstand is in the kitchen, filled with a collection of cook books I somehow developed, and supporting my microwave. Now that's a move that made me feel peculiar, like I was trying to step into a class I didn't belong. But I found it at only $50, when my impression was that microwaves usually cost several hundred. I'm worried I'll feel the need to branch into other household conveniences from here. But the microwave is useful for heating leftover pasta and stirfry.
I feel like everything's cheaper than usual right now, which has helped encourage my spending.
I got a shoe rack, bath rug, floor mat, curtains... Curtains have always been something I've been a bit particular about. When I was in Katimavik, me and another guy puzzled out a way to create a "secret language" where we described curtains, but it actually meant women. And it seemed to work, since the females in the group would become frustrated because they couldn't understand what we were talking about, and al their attempts to interpret our conversations were completely off-base.
Of course, since then, I've learned you can take pretty much any topic and twist it around that way. Still weird that I'm weird about curtains. None of the curtains at any of the generic stores were thick enough. You can see a silhouette of the person from the outside with those, which to me, doesn't really allow for privacy. There was one value store that sold curtains that I'd been satisfied with before. But last time, I'd bought two single-panels that seemed to have the same pattern, but wound up being asymmetrical. Drove me crazy. This time, I found that they had two-panel sets with a price that equaled what two of their one-panels would be. Thought this would be a good way to get thick, symmetrical curtains.
But the inside lining was like, a bubble gum pink. I really don't understand why curtains will have different patterns on either side. I mean, if they were used as a wall hanging, you might put the more decorative side facing the public, with the more plain side against the wall, where nobody is meant to see. But if you hang your curtain against, say, a window, then it is probably meant to be seen from both sides.
So I had to go back and get two single-panels with confirmed symmetrical patterns on both sides. So yeah, now you know I like my curtains thick, patterned the same on both sides, front and back. If you don't know what I'm talking about YOU ARE NOT A MAN.
I went to a Katimavik Alumni Meet yesterday. There were only 4 of us, and I wound up knowing two of the people there. One was someone I've hung out with before, and the other one was someone I've had a professional overlap with, but I didn't know he had done Katimavik. Fourth person was someone new.
We were at Beertown (uninspired name). I got the fish and chips. They asked me if I wanted it with fries. I'd thought that since it's "fish and chips" the "chips" would be half the dish, and you couldn't replace it. Whereas with another meal, if fries were a side, you could swap it out. But I swapped out the chips for sweet potato fries and got a whole bed of them, at the same quantity as if they were chips. Much than if they were a side, but at the same price.
I got rejected to become a member of the Katimavik Board of Directors. They're feeling confident enough that Katimavik may get new funding that they are taking on new board members. I applied, and they sent me a really nice rejection notice. Said they were grateful for my participation in the program and my willingness to volunteer my time, that they were impressed by my resume and cover letter, and that they hoped I would continue to serve, but that they had narrowed the applicants down to a very small number, and that I hadn't made it.
Could have been a copy-paste email since it had no identifying characteristics about me, and it sounds like I didn't even get into the final round of people being considered. Bummer. I felt pretty confident in my application, since they were looking for members who had done the program. I was in the last program to have fully completed it, so I felt that I had more experience than others, and they asked for volunteer history, how the Katimavik program had impacted our lives, how our values corresponded with the organization, and what our proficiency was with French. I was able to say that Katimavik offered me my first opportunity to work with population I would choose tom follow a career with, I was able to state a number of volunteer opportunities I'd taken on, including the Respect Campaign, which reached out to all vulnerable populations which coincides with the values of Katimavik, and I even became a Respect Leader. I was able to say that Katimavik inspired me to do Canada World Youth, which put me in a full French immersion scenario, where it was the dominant language in La Pocatiere, and the language of trade in Karadje. But apparently there's a list of people who finished the program when I did, with more applicable experience.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)