who's soonger??

Thursday, August 12

OK ... I'm out in Essex which means I can sit down and write a thorough update on what's going on with me. Hmmm ... where to begin. Well, good news is that I finally booked time off from work and taking a week long vacation out to Hawaii. Going with my brother so it should be a good time. Leaving in early Sept so there will be minimal impact on the places I normally work. Plus, I've given them over a month's notice that I will be gone. Reason for travel: relax and also attend a good friend's wedding.

A story goes along with Del's wedding -- I met Del way back in '96 when I was on the Taiwan / Love Boat trip. Since then, we've kept in touch via e-mail and what now. Last time I ran into Del was 2 years ago in Chicago. He was on the 'mainland' (he's actually from Hawaii) for his brother's convocation, so he'd thought to come by and visit friends from the tour. I thought I'd pay him the favour back and visit his hometown and celebrate his wedding. Should be a good time!

The unfortunate thing is that this wedding in Hawaii coincides with another wedding closer to home. I'm sorry to Natalie because she told me about her wedding (good friend of mine from pharmacy school) but she didn't tell me when it was until early June (Del invited me to his wedding back in March/April). Which reminds me, I have to give Natalie a ring ...

There must be something in the air because I also received another wedding invitation very recently. It's from a person I know from pharmacy school. Haven't spoken to her in 4 years! This is an out-of-the-blue invitation because I didn't think I was that particularly close nor received any e-mail correspondence, etc. Nada. Well, I did receive a surprise mass e-mail about a month ago. She was on TV (Life Network), featured on a surprise proposal show. I missed it but several of my classmates caught her. In a nutshell, her finace proposed to her in Eaton Centre with a breakdancing troupe. (Correct me if I'm wrong on this!)

Have been working quite a bit as of late. Trying to sort out what to do with my free time. Then I have to figure out my schedule for the fall. Got a few phone calls to return (re: freelance hours). I want to slow down a bit from my 50+ hr/wk summer schedule. (I did schedule 3 Saturdays off this month!) Also thinking about taking on some hours in the hospital. They have to get back to me on that. Nice change and a different attitude/perspective I have on the whole thing. Maybe part-time is the answer to my previous frustrations. (That's the reason why I do part-time hours in retail ... avoid burning out or getting mad at any particular person/place.)

Sunday, August 15

Eventful weekend thus far. Friday, worked my usual 9-5 shift out in the east end. Spent time with JJ in the evening. Went to see Collateral last night after running around and driving. Went to the mall, Future Shop, and places inbetween. All I have to say about the movie is that I was a bit surprised to see Tom Cruise in the role of the 'bad guy'. Jaime Foxx did a good job keeping the audience involved in the movie. At least there was a shred of us wanting the good guy winning, desite the lack in story driving the movie. Michael Mann is apparent in the way the movie flows and the style the movie is presented. Kind of live Armaggedon but linear, instead of jumping back & forth between people. A lot less action scenes that I would expect but the danceclub scene was kinda cool. (And it's good to see Asian faces in Hollywood roles, albeit 2-bit roles.) Aside: I wouldn't mind being a flunkie that gets shot up by Cruise if they asked me ... LOL.

Saturday ... my first day off in a while. Ahhh ... relaxing! Got up early to take JJ to run errands then we drove around and test drove a Hyundai Sonata for her parents are looking to buy a new car (their beat-up Geo Metro is on its way out). I know the people at the Windsor dealership (since they sell Volvo and we've owned Volvos in my house since 1988) so I know those guys are pretty honest (for a car dealer). Had dim sum for lunch then relaxed in the afternoon (naps are way underrated!) Stayed in last night. Helped JJ with a project she's working on. After the fiasco known as last week is behind me, I'm glad that there is some peace. Just have to focus.

Today, I'm working out in Essex, Ontario in this walk-in clinic pharmacy I help out from time to time. It was busy in the beginning -- someone called in to refill their 'regular' meds (13 in total) so today's count is artificially inflated, but that's no problem with me. :) Makes the time go by really fast. In fact, I can't believe it's past noon ... and I believe out count is over 40 (yesterday's tally at the end was a paltry 27 ... ha! beat it by a bunch!)

For the rest of the day, have a couple things in mind. Want to wash the car (rained yesterday briefly leaving some crap on my car), visit friends, have a nice lunch, do some writing (re: journal stuff) and go to Costco to pick up a 512MB CompactFlash card for my camera (re: Hawaii trip). Rest of the week looks like it's the same-old ... work Mon-Fri but work the w/e out at SDM. Friends are coming in from out of town. Talking about doing something with them while they're here ... movie, perhaps?

Dreamcruise weekend

Saturday, August 21

Back in Essex today which leaves me an opportunity to update the webpage a bit. Not been too eventful a week ... work a lot and that leaves me drained to go out and do other activities. Did weigh myself at the last walk-in clinic I was working ... a very good sign. BMI is officially 25.0 (you can figure out my weight if you know my height ... cough ... look up ... cough). It's surprising to think that this has been done only through diet. I have not exercised nearly as much as I had hoped. Cutting back on sweetened drinks and cutting back on how much I eat. Down 7 pounds (3 kg) since Jan 2004. I am quite proud of my achievement. Aiming for another 5 lb to lose and then keep it there.

We are having a real mild summer here in southwestern Ontario / Midwest. Unbelieveable how cool is it at night. This is normally the dog days of summer here -- it's supposed to be really muggy (humid and hot) and just a real torture to be outside. Doesn't bother me much ... I prefer weather like this. Feels like I'm in San Fransisco / Vancouver, not Windsor. I do hear a lot of complaints from pool owners. Outdoor pools are hardly being used these days. Only good thing: they're using a lot less chemicals (sunlight = eats up chlorine like mad). I was supposed to redo the deck in the backyard but I haven't mustered up the energy nor the drive to get it done. Oh well ... there's always next year.

Today, I've got a wedding to attend. Work only until 1 here so I will probably go to the Penalty Box for chicken delights (don't mock the name ... once you have one, you'll love it!) with the fellas who are rolling into town for the w/e. Then off to a wedding tonight. It's of Italian-style proportions so I expect there to be about 600 people. (no joke) Guess the 512 meg memory card for my camera will come in handy today! I don't know these people -- only met the bride once (JJ's friend).

For the rest of the w/e, it'll probably be spent relaxing. I did have a sad thing happen on Thursday -- one of my fish died of mysterious causes. He didn't look right that morning but by evening ... totally still and lifeless. Looked like his scales came off (OMG! Happened to the other fish the last time!) I yanked the dead one out and I hurriedly got the bucket out to let the water stand a day. Changed it yesterday and the other fish looks fine. I thought goldfish are indestructible ... guess some are stronger than others. Also have to do some lawn mowing -- probably Sunday. Good weather this w/e. Too bad I can't do the Dreamcruise with Rob (guy I know over in Michigan with a TL-S). He invited me to join his car club to do the cruise today. Oh well. No time today. But I do have a BBQ over at Mike's house tomorrow.

Final thought: I'm a little freaked out by something I read over at Acura-CL.com. Life of Comptech springs are really short, especially in northern climates. Contacted the dealership I had them installed and seeking replacement springs. I hope they can get labour costs included but if not, I'll swap in new shocks while I'm at it. Troubles me, but what to do? I saw pics of a guy that had springs SNAP while he was driving!

Thursday, August 26

Midweek update. Went to a wedding last weekend over at the Caboto Club. A spendid affair -- no expenses were spared. Actually, I was suprised at how FEW people attended. I thought it would have been a 'traditional' Italian wedding of 400+ guests but turned out about 200 people showed up. It was good time. Nice to see people I knew all dressed up for the occasion. I didn't stay too long ... about midnight.

Less than a week away before taking off to Hawaii for a week. Nice to get away from work ... but I know JJ, Man Tou and my fish will be sad. Should be nice to see friends from abroad meet up for Del's wedding. I've never been to Hawaii before so it should be cool to see everyone all dressed up. Plus ... what sights to see? I hope the weather will be agreeable. (fingers crossed)

Weather here has not been agreeable. It is starting to feel more like the dog days of summer. Humid, very warm (muggy) -- rained like mad last night. At least I won't have to water the grass for a few days. This is the first summer in a long time where I didn't have to worry about how brown the grass is. Everyone's lawn looks fine.

Today, I'm out in Essex. Not a particularly interesting day but at least I have 'net access (no need to bring my laptop to work). One thing's for sure -- I'm glad I'm not at a Shoppers Drug Mart. The last Thursday of the month is senior's day -- lots of people wanting to buy stuff at a discount. It surprises me how many seniors will come to the pharmacy and take a whole pursue-full of TimBits home. Of course, there's the music of yesteryear playing ... just not a good day to be at such a store. (Thank goodness I make sure I have those days off to work at independent stores ...)

Still had to do a few errands before I call it a day (5pm). Still have to go over to the bank and buy travel/medical insurance. At least I wrote my pharmacist association to get a quote on a car rental. I still have to figure out an itinerary for Hawaii becuase NO ONE else is bothering to figure out what to do, which makes me mad. I had every intention to do this alone but then people want to tag along... do nothing except have someone else plan. No effort put out by anyone. When I ask for suggestions after printing ideas out ... I get nothing -- that bothers me.

Jonesey and Kristie came down to Windsor for the w/e. Tayyab was around as well. I did get a chance to meet them all (separately) so it wasn't a wasted trip for anyone. Had Windsor-famous Chicken Delights from the Penalty Box last weekend. Then I hung out with J&K over at Rob's house (thanks Mike for hosting the event). I took some photos but I have yet to post them.

In the near future, I have to do the above items. Have Saturday off so I can figure out what to get my brother for his b'day. I have a couple things in mind, but I need Mike's help to get it. Got his card ... pretty funny, if I do say so myself. I know Monday night, there's dinner to be had.