17 Days...

... into Spring and it starts snowing again. Big flurries followed by even bigger rain pellets. It's so windy there's no point even having an umbrella! =(

Can't wait till Friday when I jet off to South American 20 degree weather!

Knowing your Friends

Speed is not my friend. Call it a confidence complexity, a trust issue, whatever the case, Speed and I have never hit it off.

It started on the bunny hill in a world class ski resort in the Rocky Mountains. While 5 year olds were embracing Speed, I sat on the side, taking deep breaths before throwing myself down the run. I was a skeptic. Come to think of it, I'm not friends with Turns either. Turns and I, one sided relationship. It took me a while to become acquainted with Turns, a good few seasons actually. For a long while, I could only turned one way. The right way. It took a lot of stacks and bruises to finally turn left. Deep breath, b-i-g circle.

Since we're on the topic, I'll admit, I'm not friends with Two Wheels either. Or maybe it's called Balance. When it comes to wheels, the more the merrier.

So I don't really know what overcame me when I decided to purchase a Scooter. After a long winter, we finally picked it up.

And, I fell off within half an hour. Speed laughed, so did Balance. My poor knees weren't so happy. My Jeans and I became best mates.

When I finally overcame the whole Balance thing, and let the machine drive me in a straight line, I needed to face Turn. I was told that I needed more Speed. Damn. When I finally overcame Turn, I found I could only turn one way. Right. By the time I managed to turn left.. I felt deflated and sore like snow boarding, and my arms were lead like I was boxing non stop for ten hours (this is the same person who gets blisters on their hands when riding a bicycle). But I turned!!!

Slowly, I am getting used to it. I need a little more control, a little more confidence. As for Speed and I... we're slowly making it work. I'm only at 25kms, but I'll get there eventually.

Here are some pics of my new toy. Look out for canary yellow if you're on the road!


The best part about owning a Scooter? This is how much it cost to fill a tank:

Who says Accountants are Boring?

I studied Commerce and majored in Accounting. I was once upset with not getting an Accounting scholarship. Later, I refused to do my CA. My Accounting career lasted a whole 9 months - I quit my Auditor trainee ship at a Big 5 to become a really bad Developer. You can say I am either an expert judge of stereotyped professionals, or hold a somewhat biased view. I've studied and worked in both Accounting and IT, and know some very cool people. I have a lot of Accounting and IT friends, and they are neither boring nor geeky (that's not what I tell them). I'd like to think that I'm not boring or geeky. Stereotypes suck.

Until I met my first Accountant. Potential Accountant. Potential because I walked out thinking he was the most boring person I've met, and coincidentally fit the Accountant stereotype like a glove.

Although I initiated the inquiry about his services, I expected that him, being the professional in this relationship and I the client, would lead the meeting. Instead, he leads me into a dark meeting room and sat there waiting for me to start. I had to nod at him after I finished rambling to prompt him to start talking.. which ended up in mumbled monotone questions, head down, and a few neat squiggles on the page. I didn't even realized he had asked me 'how Toronto was treating me'. I blinked and asked him to repeat because I could not believe such pleasantry could come out so dull. His response to my animated reply was no better.

Since he wasn't offering me any information, I did the asking. I felt like I was at work, digging with a million questions, trying to piece together fragmented information to understand the reason for something because the person could not just simply tell you.. "this is what happens and this is why". What frustrates me is when I get the answer.. "this is what happens, that's the way it is"... "what do you mean why?". Just like at work, I have to coax and cautiously detour around defensiveness.

It's bloody hard work, and a headache. I thought people paid accountants to give advice and guide them in their decisions. This dude wanted me to pay him $325 to prepare my taxes... and that involves me to handing over my spreadsheet with macros and built in formulas that calculated my invoices and cash flow for the year, so he doesn't have to charge me for bookkeeping!

To think the hour I took off work to meet this guy would have been better spent and more stimulating reading Canadian Tax Law.

I'm a believer of the stereotype. I'm an exception. So are my friends. We must have skipped one too many Accounting lectures.

Bollywood in Vegas

Vegas. There is nothing quite like it. Everything is larger than life, if you're not the biggest, you're not the best. You can see lions, the Pyramids, New York and Paris and hundreds of other huge hotels and casinos side by side on a mere 7km strip. Vegas spans the entire spectrum of slum, tackiness, frustrating arrogance, and even a little bit of class.

My last trip to Sin City was back in my backpacker days on a Contiki tour. We stayed off the strip in a dingy motel. I think it was behind a Denny's carpark, the motel was painted pink with blue trim.

Not a gambler, Vegas is not on my list of favorite places to revisit. But our bride-to-be wanted to spend her last hurrah in Sin City, and Sin City was where we went.

It started at the airport where the bride-to-be donned the mandatory stagette veil... we had the whole airplane clap as we boarded! The veil was not allowed to come off the entire weekend, which is fine when you're with a whole much of girls, but so used to the hair piece, the runaway bride went shopping by herself and either had to fend off pitiful glances for the crazy woman with the veil, or take a moment to work out why someone congratulated her each time.

The theme was Bollywood... before we went out on the town, our stagette was decked out in an Indian outfit, was presented her dowry of a million gold chains and bangles, and was well wished with Caesars Palace chocolate gold coins pelted at her.

On arrival, our bride-to-be was surprised to stay at Caesars Palace... a thousands times bigger than a Denny's-car-park-motel, and much, much better than The Golden Nugget that we had made the guest of honor believe. One can spend an entire day or two in the hotel and complex, and still be entertained, even if you're not gambling.

The last time we went Contiki-style clubbing in Vegas, it was at a club way off the strip, there was toilet paper strewn from the ceiling, that ended up knee high on the dance floor. Bikini clad girls offered shots from test tubes, and the boys would be swooning for photos.

Clubbing this time round was a different affair. We went to XS, the newest and best club in town (apparently), and part of the gorgeous Encore hotel. Before you can even get to the scantily clad girls, you have to get through the door. To get through the door, you need to say the key word - and no, it's not "test tube shots". Rather, Bottle Service. Bottle service is nothing new in North America, we were expecting it. But at $400 a pop, with a maximum of three girls sharing one bottle was a little outrageous (we would need $1200 USD and end up with 3 bottles of Grey Goose!). So we wait in line. And the bouncers pick and choose who they want to let in. They are very good at not making eye contact. That is unless you wave them over for a greasy handshake. We're guessing it would be a few hundred dollar greasy handshake for us to get it.

Once you're in though, the venue is pretty dang amazing. Pity it's a journey to get to the bar and it took us almost an hour to get a drink. After $16 shots (that's for one) and an even more expensive chaser, and no way of getting more overpriced alcohol within an acceptable time frame, we gave up on drinking... So we made the bride-to-be entertain us instead!!

(this is as much of the club I'm allowed to show - there are actually beds in the water)


Food was surprisingly amazing (for American fare!). We sampled Alize, with an amazing view and impeccable service - every time you get up or sit down, someone is miraculously there to pull your chair and fold your napkin! The food was fantastic, European dining at American sized serves. Way too much food to warrant our buffet at Wynn's the next day - but no complaints since I had the best cream brulee ever!

Slot machines all seemed the same to me. I put all my money in, press a button and leave the seat much poorer. Not much excitement for me unless you counter the flutter when you credit goes up by $1. But we got introduced to Wheel of Fortune slot machines! Not only do you play your chances of winning a row of something or other, but you play for a chance to spin the wheel and multiply your bet by whatever the wheel landed on. It's fantastic!

So the six of us are sitting at the boarding gate (trying to hide from a guy we met at one of the clubs who happened to be on our flight), eying the blinding lights of the Wheel of Fortune... calling for us. One by one, we relent, scramble in our purses for last scraps of USD... only two of us got lucky, but hey, it was the best entertainment I've ever had waiting for a plane!

I rest my case...

I love the guy, but what the F does Obama have to do with a Sugar Cane drink??

A success story, not mine.

I have spent the last four years working on two huge projects that have or will spend hundreds of millions of dollars implementing a system will provide fantastic customer experience. Both projects boasted they will deliver state of the art CRM that will revolutionize the ordering process, reduce the need for customers to call and complain, blow customers away with the efficiency of how their calls and needs are handled, and eliminate the need to decipher bills.

One of these projects has apparently failed miserably - despite the the hard work, dedication, and the quality of team. The second of these projects, still in the works, will, I predict go much, much worse - based on the work, dedication, and the quality of team.

Although I personally did not attribute to the failure of these projects (with teams of hundreds), it's disheartening to see that such a common vision, is so difficult to achieve.

Attempting to complete a simple transaction with my Aussie telco confirmed my disappointment. First I couldn't find where to change my direct debit details on the web, when I found it and deleted the old info, it wouldn't let me add my new details. And I was trying to make a payment for crying out loud.

I was convinced it was not possible. That is until I saw a success story.

I have a soft spot for Amex... the only credit card vendor willing to give me a Canadian credit card! I've had an Amex since university, at the moment I carry three - two Aussie, and one Canadian.

They are the only providers of customer service that has me smiling when I hang up the phone. I was so impressed with their service that I jumped at the opportunity to provide feedback on a survey sent after my last interaction. No longer will I scoff at the vision of 'first call resolution', 'customers will only state their need once' and 'billing made easy'.

I'm not sure I want to implement another one of these projects, but if I do, it will be a success!

Obama Mania

It's a sunny but cold Sunday afternoon, the traffic is light, the seat warmer is on, the tunes are pumping... and there is a wave on the side of the road. Obama is waving at us from the side of the road with a goofy grin.

We stared incredulously at President Obama, well, the picture of him plastered on the outside of a box. The box was worn by some guy, it was big enough to cover him from head to knee, and even went as far as having a side window where a comical, over sized red glove is extended out in a enthusiastic wave.

We were so distracted with the Obama set-up, we didn't even catch what advert President Obama was being exploited over. The Marketing department was in despareate need for fresh inspiration.

Before we could give it another thought, 200 meters down the road, there was Obama again... grinning and waving enthusiastically. This time we took a better look... the box, was actually shaped like a cardboard house with a red roof, and Obama is pictured in front of the house pointing us to the right. A third Obama had to wave us down before we realized, that President Obama was waving us towards some Open Houses off the main road. If I wasn't already in the market for some real estate, I am now. No, not really.

This is not the first we've seen of Obama Mania, but from T-shirts and bumper stickers, it's been raised to brand new heights.

And I thought the dude who is opening a Cafe Obama needed help...


It's great to see that people have renewed hope. That for once, they have faith.

But this exploitation has gone way overboard. Every night, the White House will always hold a good few minutes of coverage on E! News, on Entertainment Tonight, on Access Hollywood... after the breaking news of another Hollywood starlet with weight issues, or before the ground breaking news flash of yet another split-up in Tinseltown.

I really hope that Obama's name will upstage the tacky signage of Obama Cafe, and the Obama coffee imported from Kenya will live up to the promise.

An early morning message

I've been pretty good this year with my weather whines... but this was the news I woke up to this morning...

This could be the year we have the heaviest snowfall in 70 years. And we're not even half way through winter yet - I still have the worse month of Feb to look forward to. It was a great incentive to spring out of bed!

And whats with the 40 degree weather back at home?? Not sure if I envy you or not...

Sand without the beach

"You need to step outside... every time you open your mouth, the price goes up"
Gotta love mi-wei-sik-chu for her honesty. I can ask her anything at all, and she would give a straight answer. Never mind the fact that I considered leaving her in the Moroccan souk after a comment like that... she may have the art of bargaining, but she also needed my sense of direction to get her out of the maze of never ending stores and alleyways:


Good thing I didn't leave her behind. She was my toilet paper dispenser, my drug store, supply of pastries and my mother away from home... when we got back to London, she was my nurse, cooked me soup and bought congee at 2am so I can have it for breakfast. She was worth skipping out on sunny Mexico to go to bloody cold London and Morocco.

An added bonus to this trip was that reen-ee decided to join us before we left!

Morocco was every bit as colorful as I had imagined. A guesthouse Riad Jona was true to gorgeous pictures on it's website. We met some really great people, people who offered us mint tea, cookies on the street, students studying English who offered to take us around... but there was many others who tried to rip us off.. cab drivers, shop owners, and
even random people off the street. It was a shame, but we sported a defensive attitude, and was often rude, just to get them off our backs.

Moroccans are also fascinated with Asians, we couldn't walk anywhere without being hassled with "Konnichiwa"... "Japanese? Chinese?"...

It was extremely annoying, but I guess Moroccans are so rooted in their culture, regardless of how they were brought up. Their background is such an important part of their lives that naturally they are intrigued with our backgrounds.

I was asked who I would represent in the Olympics if I had to choose between China, my heritage and 'where I am truly from', or Australia which they described as simply 'where I live'. There is no doubt who I would choose the represent, yet to them, not fighting for your roots is a foreign a concept, as foreign as I am to them.

The highlight of the trip was definitely the Sahara desert. The places of interest on the way there was nothing compared to the destination itself. To be riding a camel and watching the sunrise in one of the greatest natural beauties of the world is awe striking. Sharing a tent with 12 others (including four snorers), sleeping under blankets used to cushion our butt on the camels back, and peeing under the stars was less inspiring, but worth the cause:


And the best of the rest? Being able to meet with sorely missed coffee and shopping buddies in an exotic country. I can't think of better travel buddies to pee under the stars in the Sahara desert with.

Happy Holidays!

I have been too lazy to send out Christmas cards this year (like most years). In my old age, I do get sentimental, and my laziness does not speak for how much I miss my families - both real a pretend, and my friends that are scattered in all corners of the globe.

I'm just grateful that these days, our distance is less noticeable through email, Skype, Facebook and ease of hopping on a plane. This year I've been able to spend precious time with loved ones in Canada, U.S, Sweden and Australia. Sadly, the truth is, the time I spend with an old friend during a quick trip, may very well be only a little less than if we were living in the same city. I guess being apart makes you take less for granted.

To the few people that read this blog, where ever you are in the world, I wish you a very happy holiday season! And for the New Year - may there be many happy travels to Canada (Toronto specifically), because it is about time you come and spend some quality time with family and friend!

xoxo A

The weekend of eating, drinking, driving and being Madonna

The excitement of the week was not my birthday, not X'mas parties, and definitely not the snow.

I got my first Canadian credit card! Big deal you think. It is a big deal. I have been complaining for over a year about how backward and inefficient the banks are here, and how stupid they were giving loans to people who can't pay but not giving a credit card to someone who can! I have been charge ridiculous transaction fees for over-using Internet and ATM banking. And I am fed up having to carry cash with me everywhere I go. Thank god for Amex Global Transfer, and bless WendyBendy for alerting me to this programme.

In other news, I have had a fabulous birthday weekend. No patio drinking at waterside bar, but the next best thing. My old team at work took me out to dinner at Peridot, and G took me out to Madeline's… both scrumptious meals that reminded me of the fine dining days back when. These days, it is more comfort cheep and cheerful which suits me fine, but it is nice to indulge once in a while.

My girls here had our annual themed X'mas party… Madonna was definitely in the house! Everyone made an entrance with their Madonna outfit and corresponding song, bearing a kris kringle that 'Madonna would like'. Besides a few moles on the wrong side of the face, it was the best bunch of Asian Madonna's I've seen!

 

(bad photo of me being a few drink shades too pink, and this is as much of the costumes the girls will let me post)

A lot less exciting but worth a celebration nonetheless, was the fact that I finally sat my road test for a licence here. I'd be pretty peeved if I didn't pass the test, but given that it was the first time I have ever driven in a snow squall, the Pass came more as a relief than expectation. This is just for a normal car licence. I still need to sit all my motorcycle tests next year once the snow season is over!

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

We went took a roadtrip to Pittsburgh about a month ago, mostly so I can practice my driving so that I can sit a road test here, and also to check out the town where G spent five years of his life during university. We booked a hotel on a strip that G described as having a lot of shops and restaurants, immediately, I thought it would be like the strip stores in our neighbourhood, or Oxford St back at home. The stores and restaurants G were referring to were Target, Walmart, McDonalds, The Keg, Red Lobster, Dennys and any other American franchaise imaginable. It was more like industrial area Alexandria than it was Oxford. It was difficult to have any doubts where we were, because everywhere you looked, everyone you spoke to, everything you ate was quintissential American fare.

First stop was G's uni… he went to a small university called Duquesne. Much smaller than UNSW, it was actually quaint, with a small community feel. We passed a inter-university football game which was pretty cool coz I've never seen one before. G got all excited about being able to buy new logo tees and sports gear. I don't know anyone who has ever forked out good money to advertise UNSW on their chest!

Downtown Pittsburgh would have been much nicer had it not been pouring rain. Although we saw the entire downtown in a couple of hours, it was much nicer than I had aniticpated. The mixture of old and new architecture was a surprise from the industrial slab buildings I was expecting, but I can understand why G couldn’t' wait to get out of there.

Highlight was a Primanti Brothers sandwich… pastrami (grilled with a hot iron), fries, mayonnaise, relish, coleslaw, provolone cheese all whacked into a rye bread. It was huuge.

 

For dinner, I demanded Olive Garden, another American-Italian franchaise, which I remembered had really good garlic sticks and soup. The garlic sticks and any soup off the menu come complimentary with your main. Better still, it's refillable - as many times as you wish, as with the beverages! No wonder Americans are the size they are! (Another factor why you would not doubt where you are).

Coz there was absolutely nothing to do at night (besides shopping at Target), we decided to see the Bond flick at the local cinemas. Another highlight. The cinemas were so true to what we know from any 80's movies we've seen. One storey building in the middle of a flat carpark parked with very large GMs and Chryslers. The signboard for the movie times was retro black lettering, individually pinned onto a white back board. The candy counter was brightly colored and manned by a teen in a diner uniform. The cinema seating was low back, bright green vinyl, that must have been there since the 70's. It was most surreal.

On the way home, we stopped at the outlets, and I must say, I was very proud of myself. My only purchase was a gift and some socks even though there was crazy sales that I would normally regard as too good to miss.

So I'm all set for my drive test, this weekend. Ofcourse, it's going to be snowing - the only questions I had wrong on the knowledge test was snow related, so this should be interesting!

Anticipating Unemployment

For sensible people, when faced with less than a month left of secure employment, and a roller coaster economy that is yet to feel the incline, they would play it safe.

I have a friend who works in mortgages, who is very successful, and to our friends amusement, quite aggressive in climbing the corporate ladder. A little stressed with the state of the economy, she decided to return a sweater she had purchased, one of many spending changes she's made.

Meanwhile, whether frivolous or foolish, I am shopping for holiday destinations to spend my new found time. So earlier in the week, a conversation on Skype was enough to convince me to book flights to meet a friend on the other side of the ocean, and travel to a country I know barely anything about.

Today, whilst G and I were chilling out at a local cafe, we come across an ad for a sale on Vespas. We've been thinking about it for a while, but with winter coming on so quickly, we dawdled on the idea. But the $2k discount was too good to miss. So we did another impulsive thing and bought one. Mind you, neither G or I have a license to drive our new purchase, and we probably won't get an opportunity to practice and ride until April next year, but who can resist a sale?!

We chose the color coz without electricity in the garage, this will help brighten things a bit:


Okaes, so only this color was available at our price, but we can work yellow methinks.

To my dear siblings, the 'rents don't really need to know about this, k?

Whats for lunch?

This morning, I decided to run into the grocery store to get some provisions for work - flurries yesterday at lunch is enough to prevent me walking down the road for food.

Plus, with 99c frozen meals, it's cheaper than a bag of chips!

So here I am, gym bag on one shoulder, handbag on the arm, and hot tea in hand. I forgot the basket, but figured 'what's a couple of boxes of frozen pasta'?. That was until the pasta fell on me. Yup, one minute I'm expertly juggling my bags and my tea, and the next minute it was raining pasta, and what was in the freezer is now on the floor (ok, little exaggeration, maybe not the entire freezer, but enough to make a scene).

If I didn't feel stupid enough, I must have looked it... frail little granny ran over the help me.

Take heed, frozen meals can kill you.

The conversation

... resulted in a polite decline.

The last time I declined an offer and quit, I was in tears. I remember it being a very emotional experience. Having said that I had great managers who had really shaped and support my growth and offered me opportunities which were a shame to refuse.

This time round, when asked whether it felt like a huge lift of my chest, I gave a shrug. I knew all along I wasn't going to stick with it. But I'm glad I forced myself to think it through and consider it, rather than use my emotions to decide.

My only regret is that I have three trips planned to U.S. outlet malls over the next 3 months, and I'm going to have to watch the spending.

On the flip side, now that it's done and dusted, I need to decide where to go in January! I'm thinking Florida / Central America, Morocco or somewhere else in Africa. Anyone free to join me??

Resorting to a list

With all the venting I have done on this blog and to my friends, I don't think it is a revelation to say that I don't enjoy my current contract. So being offered a permanent position, should really be a no brainer, except that the current market conditions suck.

I have been subtley trying to convince some of my London friends to make the move over to T.O. as I didn't think the job market was suffering as badly. But reality has hit as I monitor the job sites everyday - only a few jobs make it through my loose search criteria, and I will be lucky if one of them remotely resembles my type of work, let alone interest me. So when a permanent offer at my current contract is placed on my table, what do I do? I have less than a day before I have to express my interest, and the responsible, logical side of me warns me not to be so frivolous in giving an answer.

Pros
* Stability (not sure when this has mattered to be before, but I think it is an adult consideration and I'm trying to make an adult decision)
* Better leverage in my Permanent Residency application (which I have not decided to pursue or not)
* More say in what I do as a permanent staff (I think, and within boundaries)
* Easy to excel in this environment (at a cost, see below)
* Employment means earning money to travel

Cons
* I have not enjoyed the project in the last year, what makes me think it will change?
* The people on the project do not inspire me
* Lack of challenge. My learning curve is not very curvy at all
* Risk of being stuck in Telco if I don't run away now
* Commuting out to woop woop - which means car pooling or car shopping, and less sleep
* Huge pay cut, and no billing for over time
* Cut any leads of getting contract work through another Consultant on the project (conflict of interest for them to poach permanent staff)
* Full time work means only 3 weeks to travel per year
* Unemployment means I get to travel and escape winter (this is really a pro for me, but a con against taking the job)

It was actually helpful for me to write this down - I have more Pros than I thought! Although I'm not surprised I still have more Cons. If I'm as geeky as some of my friends, I would weigh each of my points and graph it! LOL

At the end of the day, it really boils down to how much risk am I willing to take in order to get a more satisfying job?

Like my usual non-commital-till-the-last-minute self, I'll leave it till tomorrow.

Sassy Circus Sideshow

As we all know from the movies, Halloween is no casual affair in North America. Not when you are walking down the street past tombstones on the lawn of a lovely home, across the street you see a ghost of a bed sheet, and down the road a fine looking set of skeletons are sun baking.

Out here, they grown a special breed of pumpkins that have no other purpose than to serve as decoration for Halloween! Bright orange, perfectly round pumpkins are cultivated and sold by the truckloads in the months leading to Halloween to sit on people doorsteps... apparently they aren't for eating!

Although excited about experiencing a real Halloween, I was less enthused with having to hand out candy every 2 minutes the doorbell rang. So G and I took the cheats way out and decided to go out for dinner and leave the poor kids disappointed on the only non-pumpkin lined doorsteps in the neighborhood. Somehow, our dinner plans ended up at G's parents place, for which they were unusually pleased to see us. Halloween virgins you see, have the privilege of answering the door bell, and G's family were happy to oblige.

Halloween is the day that you don't even flinch when you are sitting on the subway next to Joker, or across the aisle from a poor woman who had been slashed with a machete. The party organizer in the crew threw a house party with a less macabre theme of Sassy Circus Sideshow - we had fortune tellers, lions and lion tamers, magicians, chicks dressed in very little clothing... and then there were ugly Siamese twins who crossed path with Hannibal Lecter. Let me tell you, being bound to someone might be amusing for the first five minutes, but gets a little testy any longer than that. Here's a few pics of the evening...

 

One of those days

I woke up this morning and our lawn was speckled with snow... wet, ugly, unwelcomed snow. I have been in denial of late, even when the mercury dropped, my hats, gloves and thick winter jackets have stayed in storage. It is October after all. In defeat, they all came out today, every last bit of winter.

Yesterday I was literally in tears I was so bored. I sat at my computer in my little cubicle, absent-mindedly refreshing my Google page because I had nothing to type into Google Search... the page refreshes, and nope, no inspiration in the last second that can fill that dang search box.

I went home at 3pm. Couldn't stand it no more. It was Pub Night for the project too, but a beer and nibbles did not warrant staying another two hours. For a contractor, it's like leaving a wad of cash on the table and walking away, but saving my sanity was priceless.

This morning, after my somewhat dissappointing start, I rock up to work at 9.30pm and I have an email. What sh*ts me more than not having work, is to receive an email for a task that takes the originator the same amount of time to complete themselves as it does for them to document the task in an email for me. I got asked to sort a spreadsheet and split it into four separate files and then send them back. It's an insult to any intelligence I have. I'm not sure whether he was feeling sorry for me an decided to throw me a bite, or whether he was being a dick and felt that sorting a spreadsheet was beyond him. Whatever the case, I've thrown work ethics out the door (onto the snow covered lawn) and I'm making Workopolis the homepage on my work PC.

Lost for words... well suitable words anyway...

It's time to revamp my resume again. My contract will unlikely be extended at the end of the year. Regardless, I have been whining about my job for some time to warrant getting off my comfortable butt to find another job.

The thing is, I now have to create room on my already borderline-unacceptably-long resume of three pages, for my latest experience. If finding white paper isn't a challenge in itself, I also have to fill this newly created space with the skills I have used and gained in the nine months.

How do you phrase nicely, that three months out of nine was sitting pretty doing absolutely nothing except web surfing and holiday planning. The most valuable skill gained was standing my ground and being heard amongst a team of overpowering analysts. My strength is my flexibility in working on constantly changing directions, if any was given at all. And the biggest challenge I overcame was throwing my values, standards and work ethics out the window when working with people who "don't give a sh*t" and just want to "get it done".

Yes, I think it is time for a change. Pity that change means filling the gap in my resume!

In search of fall

I've been in and out of Canada frequently in the last five years, and not once have I experienced a Canadian fall. This is my first year here for fall, and I was adamant to see the famous colours and jump in a pile of maple leaves.
Can you believe they have a Colour Report that is issues weekly, reporting on the percentage change in colours for each popular region in the province???

We took a road trip up north which was a nice break away from the city. I must admit, I was a little disappointed with the colours, they weren't as concentrated and magnificent as I had imagined, but that's just me with high expectations and high likelihood of disappointment. We did see some fantastic colours of scarlett red, burnt orange and bright yellow, but we found it more breathtaking seeing it from the road, rather than being in the Provincial Parks or lookouts themselves. Maybe it was just because I couldn't find a nice pile of leaves to jump in. I'll get over it.

We had a lovely drive nevertheless, I tasted elk for the first time in pot pie, passed a pumpkin patch (it looked really cool, all the Halloween pumpkins scattered over the field - wish I had a photo!), met a chipmunk and got to enjoy the last weekend of decent weather (yesterday was the first day of snow, north of the city!)

Below are some of my fave photos from the weekend: