Anyone else find those Cavemen commercials extremely annoying? I see them and I want to write to that company and tell them that I would never buy their product / use their service. But I'm too busy. I'll just complain... that works for me. :)
I hate that fucking caveman!
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
All in a days work...
Today was the first weekday in over 2 years without my boys Nanny (she is on vacation from Wed-Mon) and boy did it get started on the wrong foot. The Happy Boy, the older of the two, came into our bed at 3am, not to sleep, but to toss, turn, talk and cry especially when Mummy turned her back in him. Sigh. So in a moment of self-sacrifice, Urban Mummy sent me out of the bed and into his room to get some sleep before a very big day.
As a result of sleeping in the Happy Boy's room, there was no clock and I had to leave the house by 7:30 in order to walk leisurely to the subway in my suit and crappy dress shoes for a 9am interview of the job seeking kind. Hopefully the first of many. For those of you who know me, you would be surprised how nice I clean up in a suit... I even surprise myself.
Once that was done - about 30-45 minutes later, I went down to the lobby and summoned a friend of mine who works in the same building but in the North tower. He did not answer his phone and his voicemail did not indicate that he was away for the day... Hmmm. He did not know that I was coming downtown, but then again, he should be able to meet me... unless... The only excuse I would accept for him not calling me in the 20 minutes I hung around down there would be if he had to run out of the office to be with his wife and son as there was a baby due anytime. So I left him a message and off I went to the office.
It's summer. My employer is not overly concerned about the appearance of their employees, therefor me coming to work in a suit made me REALLY stand out. So much so that if anyone asked me why I was wearing a suit and if it meant I had an interview, I would tell them the following, "No, I was at a funeral". I anticipated the asker would just shut up and I could move along. I was correct, but still had to use that line twice.
friend for coffee / wife had baby
Once off the subway I strolled towards the office and saw a familiar face walking towards me... It was Josh-O. So I grabbed him and forced him to come across the street with me to Starbucks, where I forced him once more to let me buy him a coffee. We chatted. Nice guy. It was LONG overdue.
So once coffee was over, I went into the office and took off my suit jacket, tie and changed my shoes to a less casual brown shoe. It took me about 2 hours before I needed another coffee and that was when this already odd day, got even more awkward.
Coming out of Tim Horton's across the street from my office I noticed two firetrucks decending on the building, from different sides, yet no one was evacuating the building. As I waited to cross the street, 4 more firetruck pulled up and an ambulance drove up on the island right beside me. I crossed and asked the consierage in the building what was happening and she said nothin to her knowledge. We both watch 2 more firetrucks pull up. So I raced up to me desk to notify my Team Manager and grab my stuff in case there was an alarm, and at that moment the alarm came on.
Normally, the consierage comes on and acknowledges that an alarm was pulled, and what the problem was and wheter or not we should evacuate. In this case, the Fire Chief came on, and indicated that a bomb was found and that we should evacuate ASAP.
I made it down 6-storey's in the building when the Fire Chief came back on the loud speaker and told us that the situation was under control and that we should return to our desks. Instead of turning around in the stairwall - still full of people coming down - I walked to the lobby, turned back to the elevators and went back up to my desk.
I sat at my desk for about 5 minutes before I realized that I was the only person on the floor. I picked up the phone to call UM to let her know what was going on, and when I spun to look out the window, I was shocked at what I saw. The police had blocked the street with 6 police cars and were frantically taping off the street to keep cars and people away from the building... that I was still in. I told UM that I was a little concerned and she gave me some sound advice to; "get the hell out of the building ASAP". So I packed up my stuff and took the elevator to the main floor. I walked to the consierage and asked what was going on. She advised me there was a letter bomb scare and that the letter bomb was 10 feet from where we were standing. You see, the police had roped off the building, there were 10 police cars, 10 fire trucks, an ambulance, 2 helicopters already there and the bomb squad on the way. Everyone was across the street looking on, and I was in the middle of the action wondering why.
So I was escorted from the building and wound up in the middle of an empty street. Yonge Street. A very main road, all by myself with helicopters hovering above, walking towards the police so I could get out of the area. Why did they lets us back upstairs???
I hung out for an hour taking in the whole scene before heading to the subway to go meet UM and the boys at a birthday party. Actually ate cake there. First time I'd had chocolate in 2 weeks. Not bad, eh?
After the party, we all went home, I bathed the kids, we all ate, then off to bed. Whew. What a long day.
As a result of sleeping in the Happy Boy's room, there was no clock and I had to leave the house by 7:30 in order to walk leisurely to the subway in my suit and crappy dress shoes for a 9am interview of the job seeking kind. Hopefully the first of many. For those of you who know me, you would be surprised how nice I clean up in a suit... I even surprise myself.
Once that was done - about 30-45 minutes later, I went down to the lobby and summoned a friend of mine who works in the same building but in the North tower. He did not answer his phone and his voicemail did not indicate that he was away for the day... Hmmm. He did not know that I was coming downtown, but then again, he should be able to meet me... unless... The only excuse I would accept for him not calling me in the 20 minutes I hung around down there would be if he had to run out of the office to be with his wife and son as there was a baby due anytime. So I left him a message and off I went to the office.
It's summer. My employer is not overly concerned about the appearance of their employees, therefor me coming to work in a suit made me REALLY stand out. So much so that if anyone asked me why I was wearing a suit and if it meant I had an interview, I would tell them the following, "No, I was at a funeral". I anticipated the asker would just shut up and I could move along. I was correct, but still had to use that line twice.
friend for coffee / wife had baby
Once off the subway I strolled towards the office and saw a familiar face walking towards me... It was Josh-O. So I grabbed him and forced him to come across the street with me to Starbucks, where I forced him once more to let me buy him a coffee. We chatted. Nice guy. It was LONG overdue.
So once coffee was over, I went into the office and took off my suit jacket, tie and changed my shoes to a less casual brown shoe. It took me about 2 hours before I needed another coffee and that was when this already odd day, got even more awkward.
Coming out of Tim Horton's across the street from my office I noticed two firetrucks decending on the building, from different sides, yet no one was evacuating the building. As I waited to cross the street, 4 more firetruck pulled up and an ambulance drove up on the island right beside me. I crossed and asked the consierage in the building what was happening and she said nothin to her knowledge. We both watch 2 more firetrucks pull up. So I raced up to me desk to notify my Team Manager and grab my stuff in case there was an alarm, and at that moment the alarm came on.
Normally, the consierage comes on and acknowledges that an alarm was pulled, and what the problem was and wheter or not we should evacuate. In this case, the Fire Chief came on, and indicated that a bomb was found and that we should evacuate ASAP.
I made it down 6-storey's in the building when the Fire Chief came back on the loud speaker and told us that the situation was under control and that we should return to our desks. Instead of turning around in the stairwall - still full of people coming down - I walked to the lobby, turned back to the elevators and went back up to my desk.
I sat at my desk for about 5 minutes before I realized that I was the only person on the floor. I picked up the phone to call UM to let her know what was going on, and when I spun to look out the window, I was shocked at what I saw. The police had blocked the street with 6 police cars and were frantically taping off the street to keep cars and people away from the building... that I was still in. I told UM that I was a little concerned and she gave me some sound advice to; "get the hell out of the building ASAP". So I packed up my stuff and took the elevator to the main floor. I walked to the consierage and asked what was going on. She advised me there was a letter bomb scare and that the letter bomb was 10 feet from where we were standing. You see, the police had roped off the building, there were 10 police cars, 10 fire trucks, an ambulance, 2 helicopters already there and the bomb squad on the way. Everyone was across the street looking on, and I was in the middle of the action wondering why.
So I was escorted from the building and wound up in the middle of an empty street. Yonge Street. A very main road, all by myself with helicopters hovering above, walking towards the police so I could get out of the area. Why did they lets us back upstairs???
I hung out for an hour taking in the whole scene before heading to the subway to go meet UM and the boys at a birthday party. Actually ate cake there. First time I'd had chocolate in 2 weeks. Not bad, eh?
After the party, we all went home, I bathed the kids, we all ate, then off to bed. Whew. What a long day.
Friday, August 17, 2007
Ouch...
I don't normally like to write about my feelings in my blog, it's not for that. I remember how I feel at certain points in my life and don't need to write it here to remember it. Today, however, is a little different.
You see today I had an opportunity to - as I was promised - to be a part of an exclusive party at my in-laws cottage which would have in attendance several senior employees of a company that I would not be adverse to working at. It has been my intention, now 2 courses and three months from completing my MBA, to seek employment that I would find challenging and which would provide me an opportunity to advance my career. While not the most ideal fit for me, this company is in the top 3.
So over the past few weeks, I was advised to get my resume (or CV) together and find some positions in this company and that the people at this party would be able to get me a job in their firm... I could be one of them. So I worked really hard on my resume, found a few really awesome jobs that I would really enjoy, dressed up nice and came prepared to shmooze my way to a long awaited career change.
What happened today was very disappointing for me - and really it was my fault for expecting, believing, that something was going to happen. No expectations, no disappointments. I had expectations and boy was I disappointed.
Turns out my father-in-law had invited 2 guys he met at Starbucks, one of which was selling flowers 2 months ago, and he helped them develop a product which they came to pitch to this company today at the cottage. My FIL was very proud of these boys and they were thrilled to have this opportunity. IT was all very surreal to me because I've been in the family for 8 years now and my FIL and I have had an OK relationship, but never a great one. He treats us great, but individually I never got the feel that he really respected me. We have only ever hung out once, and I don't feel like he really ever took me seriously, and why should he? I married his daughter, gave them 2 beautiful grandchildren and don't cause any problems in the family. I don't get it.
I mean that. I don't get it. So on a day when I expect to be discussing opportunities, these two boys present this idea to the company and I don't even exist. For the few minutes that one of these VP's asked me a question about what I am doing now, he gave me exactly 10 seconds of his time before he turned away from me and started a different conversation. This day was NOT for me. I gave my resume to one of his colleagues and she left in on the cabinet by the door and when he left, not even a good-bye.
I guess, as UrbanMummy speculated, the people from this company were there to have a good time and maybe a small pitch on the side would have been okay, but after this big sell for the two boys, trying to force me in there too was too much for the VP to take, so he let it be... and so shall I.
Today was a waste of a day for me, emotionally, I put a lot of hope into this day and it turned out to be a big zero! The rest of the day was fun - good food, my kids had fun, UM made an awesome show of herself asking great questions and with he knowledge of relevant information (asking GREAT questions). But for me. Pfffffft.
Back to the drawing board.
I'll have to remind myself every morning. No expectations... No disappointments.
You see today I had an opportunity to - as I was promised - to be a part of an exclusive party at my in-laws cottage which would have in attendance several senior employees of a company that I would not be adverse to working at. It has been my intention, now 2 courses and three months from completing my MBA, to seek employment that I would find challenging and which would provide me an opportunity to advance my career. While not the most ideal fit for me, this company is in the top 3.
So over the past few weeks, I was advised to get my resume (or CV) together and find some positions in this company and that the people at this party would be able to get me a job in their firm... I could be one of them. So I worked really hard on my resume, found a few really awesome jobs that I would really enjoy, dressed up nice and came prepared to shmooze my way to a long awaited career change.
What happened today was very disappointing for me - and really it was my fault for expecting, believing, that something was going to happen. No expectations, no disappointments. I had expectations and boy was I disappointed.
Turns out my father-in-law had invited 2 guys he met at Starbucks, one of which was selling flowers 2 months ago, and he helped them develop a product which they came to pitch to this company today at the cottage. My FIL was very proud of these boys and they were thrilled to have this opportunity. IT was all very surreal to me because I've been in the family for 8 years now and my FIL and I have had an OK relationship, but never a great one. He treats us great, but individually I never got the feel that he really respected me. We have only ever hung out once, and I don't feel like he really ever took me seriously, and why should he? I married his daughter, gave them 2 beautiful grandchildren and don't cause any problems in the family. I don't get it.
I mean that. I don't get it. So on a day when I expect to be discussing opportunities, these two boys present this idea to the company and I don't even exist. For the few minutes that one of these VP's asked me a question about what I am doing now, he gave me exactly 10 seconds of his time before he turned away from me and started a different conversation. This day was NOT for me. I gave my resume to one of his colleagues and she left in on the cabinet by the door and when he left, not even a good-bye.
I guess, as UrbanMummy speculated, the people from this company were there to have a good time and maybe a small pitch on the side would have been okay, but after this big sell for the two boys, trying to force me in there too was too much for the VP to take, so he let it be... and so shall I.
Today was a waste of a day for me, emotionally, I put a lot of hope into this day and it turned out to be a big zero! The rest of the day was fun - good food, my kids had fun, UM made an awesome show of herself asking great questions and with he knowledge of relevant information (asking GREAT questions). But for me. Pfffffft.
Back to the drawing board.
I'll have to remind myself every morning. No expectations... No disappointments.
Mary, Mary quite contrary...
... Why does my garden grow... Without veggies???
This really disappoints me.
You see UrbanMummy and I decided to grow our plants from seed this year. We went to a seed show, picked out a fabulous selection of heirloom seeds, crazy stuff like; "Hale's Best Melon pre-1923", Coloured Carrot Mix, "Garden Peach" Tomatos, Romanesco Broccoli, Black Beauty Zucchini, Sweet Basil, Roman Chamomile from the 13th century, Vegetable Spagetti Squash from the 1890's and Chocolate Peppers, to name a few.
So all these plants made it into the ground - a week or two later than they probably should have - but once the squirrls and raccoons had their way - we were left with a pretty good selection of plants which have grown out of control... tall, full, flowering plants... but without any fruit.
We have tiny green tomatoes, nothing ripe. Tiny cucumbers, nothing ready. Tiny peppers, nothing close to ready. It's all there, but I don't know if it is going to be ready in time for the cold to come. It is mid-August afterall in Toronto and that means, its going to be getting colder soon. Oh oh. All that work, of getting the seeds planted and making sure the kids and cats didn't destroy them, then the outdoor animals, it looks like all we are going to have is this pretty garden.
A pretty empty one.
So how does my garden grow???
Barren.
:(
This really disappoints me.
You see UrbanMummy and I decided to grow our plants from seed this year. We went to a seed show, picked out a fabulous selection of heirloom seeds, crazy stuff like; "Hale's Best Melon pre-1923", Coloured Carrot Mix, "Garden Peach" Tomatos, Romanesco Broccoli, Black Beauty Zucchini, Sweet Basil, Roman Chamomile from the 13th century, Vegetable Spagetti Squash from the 1890's and Chocolate Peppers, to name a few.
So all these plants made it into the ground - a week or two later than they probably should have - but once the squirrls and raccoons had their way - we were left with a pretty good selection of plants which have grown out of control... tall, full, flowering plants... but without any fruit.
We have tiny green tomatoes, nothing ripe. Tiny cucumbers, nothing ready. Tiny peppers, nothing close to ready. It's all there, but I don't know if it is going to be ready in time for the cold to come. It is mid-August afterall in Toronto and that means, its going to be getting colder soon. Oh oh. All that work, of getting the seeds planted and making sure the kids and cats didn't destroy them, then the outdoor animals, it looks like all we are going to have is this pretty garden.
A pretty empty one.
So how does my garden grow???
Barren.
:(
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Ramblings about nothing
First off a shout out to Josh-O, hubby of Haley-O whom I continue to brush off for coffee because of vacations, work and other events, who was telling me why their loud floral couch was sitting on their front lawn for the past few days, when the elevation shut.on our conversation… I’ll get you buddy!
Looks like the Maple Leafs traded for a player (Mark Bell) who is going to jail after the season for 6 months - yikes... I think its time for front office overhaul. JFJ has to go. Does this look a little like Mike Sirotka, anyone??? Trading for damaged goods.
The following post contains foul language.
Fucking Toys!
Fucking toys from China containing lead and other shit...
Would anyone have cared if the Canadian authorities not turned up this information? The Chinese company would have just continued shipping their toys to our children - who would have played with these toys, and once the paint chipped, played with it still, and been exposed to a potentially harmful contaminant. Grrr. So what does the president of this toy company do once he and his company's name have been exposed??? Hangs himself in the boardroom of his company... Coward.
Does this not send a STRONG message to us parents??? Buy locally! Buy wood toys. Buy smarter.
Looks like the Maple Leafs traded for a player (Mark Bell) who is going to jail after the season for 6 months - yikes... I think its time for front office overhaul. JFJ has to go. Does this look a little like Mike Sirotka, anyone??? Trading for damaged goods.
Caution:
The following post contains foul language.
Fucking Toys!
Fucking toys from China containing lead and other shit...
Would anyone have cared if the Canadian authorities not turned up this information? The Chinese company would have just continued shipping their toys to our children - who would have played with these toys, and once the paint chipped, played with it still, and been exposed to a potentially harmful contaminant. Grrr. So what does the president of this toy company do once he and his company's name have been exposed??? Hangs himself in the boardroom of his company... Coward.
Does this not send a STRONG message to us parents??? Buy locally! Buy wood toys. Buy smarter.
Thursday, August 09, 2007
Hi... It's been a while... How are you?
You're still here. :)
YAY.
This is a summary of the week that was.
First, my employer cut off all access to blogger. Damn. I used to browse blogs and create draft updates there - during my lunch and breaks, of course. Now I can't. I see less posts coming in the near future, well that and facebook takes up a lot of my addiction time.
Last weekend we took the kids to Centreville - where I have not been for like 20 years. It was fun. The Happy Boy liked the rides that were not noisy (he really dislikes noise so much so that he wont pee in an automatic flush toilet if it flushes too loudly), like the riding cars, and the log ride. We met some friends up there and had a wonderful time. UrbanMummy made us a picnic and we all chowed down. Can't wait to go back.
I think the highlight of that trip was on the way home when the Happy Boy and the Weed fell asleep in their stroller, Happy Boy on the top and Weed on the bottom - it allowed UM and I the opportunity to walk around Queen's Quay and have an ice cream by the waterfront without interruption. It was heavenly. I like my wife. I've seen more of her in the past few weeks than I have in the past few years.
The following day we hiked up the cottage and played around in the heat.
Loads of fun at Grandma and Grandpa's even if the cottage isn't by any means child friendly and I have to be on high alert for breakage inside and the water outside.
During the week an old friend of mine since grade three, actually, with whom I had not spoken in a couple years called me out of no where to tell me that his Mom died. She was a nice British woman who developed a fear of the outdoors once her husband passed away 7 years ago. She, like he, was a pack rat and they kept EVERYTHING. They were renting a 4 bedroom townhouse and every room was packed full to the ceiling with stuff. It was really sad. She always treated me nice even though I rarely knew what she was saying because of that friggin accent. LOL.
The kicker here is that she died June 1st... ah, excuse me?!? I gave him shit. I had left him numerous messages and never heard back. Took the bugger 2 months to let me know. Nice, eh? Quite frankly I was kind of worried to have heard from him because I thought he was looking for a place to live for a "couple months". That means a year in Canadian time.
I am officially in the market for a career change. I'll be starting my last couses for my MBA in September - Corporate Finance and Business Strategies, and once done, will have my Masters and will need a new job for sure. My employer does not recognize MBA's and prefers to manage staff in the "traditional" way - not that I am knocking them - they can do what they would like, but it's no longer the way I want to be doing it. So if anyone knows a headhunter / recruiter in the finance, tax, consulting area, please think of my and let me know.
Thanks.
Until next time, when I update the arrival of UM's cousins from Jersey and the fun times we had at the cottage, at the Ontario Science Centre and their search for all things NOT high in "high-glucose corn syrup".
YAY.
This is a summary of the week that was.
First, my employer cut off all access to blogger. Damn. I used to browse blogs and create draft updates there - during my lunch and breaks, of course. Now I can't. I see less posts coming in the near future, well that and facebook takes up a lot of my addiction time.
Last weekend we took the kids to Centreville - where I have not been for like 20 years. It was fun. The Happy Boy liked the rides that were not noisy (he really dislikes noise so much so that he wont pee in an automatic flush toilet if it flushes too loudly), like the riding cars, and the log ride. We met some friends up there and had a wonderful time. UrbanMummy made us a picnic and we all chowed down. Can't wait to go back.
I think the highlight of that trip was on the way home when the Happy Boy and the Weed fell asleep in their stroller, Happy Boy on the top and Weed on the bottom - it allowed UM and I the opportunity to walk around Queen's Quay and have an ice cream by the waterfront without interruption. It was heavenly. I like my wife. I've seen more of her in the past few weeks than I have in the past few years.
The following day we hiked up the cottage and played around in the heat.
Loads of fun at Grandma and Grandpa's even if the cottage isn't by any means child friendly and I have to be on high alert for breakage inside and the water outside.
During the week an old friend of mine since grade three, actually, with whom I had not spoken in a couple years called me out of no where to tell me that his Mom died. She was a nice British woman who developed a fear of the outdoors once her husband passed away 7 years ago. She, like he, was a pack rat and they kept EVERYTHING. They were renting a 4 bedroom townhouse and every room was packed full to the ceiling with stuff. It was really sad. She always treated me nice even though I rarely knew what she was saying because of that friggin accent. LOL.
The kicker here is that she died June 1st... ah, excuse me?!? I gave him shit. I had left him numerous messages and never heard back. Took the bugger 2 months to let me know. Nice, eh? Quite frankly I was kind of worried to have heard from him because I thought he was looking for a place to live for a "couple months". That means a year in Canadian time.
I am officially in the market for a career change. I'll be starting my last couses for my MBA in September - Corporate Finance and Business Strategies, and once done, will have my Masters and will need a new job for sure. My employer does not recognize MBA's and prefers to manage staff in the "traditional" way - not that I am knocking them - they can do what they would like, but it's no longer the way I want to be doing it. So if anyone knows a headhunter / recruiter in the finance, tax, consulting area, please think of my and let me know.
Thanks.
Until next time, when I update the arrival of UM's cousins from Jersey and the fun times we had at the cottage, at the Ontario Science Centre and their search for all things NOT high in "high-glucose corn syrup".
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