who's soonger??

Wednesday, June 8

This self-imposed work marathon is starting to take its toll on me. It started the day after Victoria weekend and won't finish until June 18th (I picked up a half shift today for the 18th). I have to keep reminding myself to work hard now so that I can take it a little easier in the fall when I start up school.

Weather here's getting awfully HOT. High today is supposed to hit somewhere around 35C (95F). Hot and humid -- weather I don't particularly am fond of. It's only the start of June -- there's a whole lot of summer still left to go! One good thing about this job -- I'm indoors in a climate controlled environment. You don't want your medications to go bad, do you?

What else is on the agenda ... I plan on taking full advantage of the weekend I have free at the end of the month. I think JJ and I are going to travel to Toronto for the w/e. Stay at that Hilton Suites uptown we stayed before -- really nice place and lots of parking. We'll check out some places in GTA we've never been before. I wonder if that megamall in Vaughan is any good or not.

Hmmm ... it's my mom's b'day coming up and I am without any ideas. My bro and I teamed up and got my mom a laptop. Don't think we'll go so big ticket this time around. I want to get my dad a new widescreen TV set but I don't know if he'd be fond to the idea (since he recently purchased a 32" CRT TV to replace the one we got when we moved in 10+ years ago).

Wednesday, June 15

Another week ... bad day for me because it's quarterly income tax payment is due today. Money going towards -- what? -- The government to pay off their cronies? (ie sponsorship scandal) Kinda frustrating to see how money is squandered because it's not "their" money. Trust me, if this were a private industry, the punks who stole this money would be fired and most likely prosecuted for this white collar crime.

Something newsworthy ... a guy I know pretty well ... he's MIA. People are worried about this guy. We even posted an APB on the Acura website that I help moderate. I hope he's OK. Sheesh. Scary to think of the desparate things people do when they're down.

I'm looking forward to the weekend ... my first day off in close to a month! Don't know what to do with myself ... I guess I'll figure it out on Sunday. In the meantime, I have a few things to do. My mom's b'day is this week so I have to find a present for her. Also something for JJ's day since his b'day is the following week.

Oh ... I have presents to buy ... friend's wedding is next week. I have to get a wedding greeting card while I'm at it. I am looking forward to Jane's wedding. Should be cool.

Wednesday, July 6

Appears that I've been busy the past couple of weeks at the pharmacy and other opportunities to update the webpage. What's been going on ... I was supposed to go up to Toronto for a weekend but it never panned out. It wasn't in the cards, I guess. Hotels were pricey, to my surprise, so it was a no-go.

I did hear some good news from friends. FJ is officially engaged. She's having an engagement party at her parent's place in Stratford next w/e. It luckily coincides with my trip to Toronto that w/e. A good friend from pharmacy school is getting hitched that w/e (JH). I'm glad so many people I know are doing so well. Of course, rumours will be abound about when my big day will be. There is a diamond convention over in Detroit in a couple of weeks ...

Hmmm ... what else is cookin' ... JJ got her results back from the Canadian Board Exams (aka PEBC). She's happy to be over and done with that! I heard from other candidates that it was a horrible experience, at least in the one sitting in London, ON. The testors did not adequately feed people, nor did they allow them to get their snacks until the end of the day. Nevertheless, the people I know all passed, so that's good to hear.

JJ started her first day of her residency yesterday. She has to drive over to Detroit each weekday for the next year. It's just like last year but at least she's getting PAID to do the grunt work. She's feeling a bit down about the whole thing about working a lot of hours and the pressures of residency but I think she'll do just fine.

I had lunch with Char the other day. She came back to help her sis drive back from Colorado. She gave me updates with what's up with her (moving in to her new place she BOUGHT in May 2006 tentatively). I hear that my Korean friend Jean has a healthy baby girl. I'm happy for her. Also hear some more wedding bells for other people in the class.

Wednesday, July 13

Been quite the busy week. Did quite a few hours in various locations. Work at the hospital wasn't too bad -- did quite a bit of clinical with one of the interns (AP). Opened up a can of worms -- couldn't explain a few things which allowed both of us to learn.

This weekend, I worked Saturday between 2 places. Ziter's wasn't too bad. Shoppers in the afternoon was quiet (relatively speaking). In the evening, JJ and I went out to eat then caught 'War of the Worlds' with MHH. I can't believe how CRAP it was. You'd think Speilberg / Cruise would be a blockbuster hit ... instead, it was a dud!

Sunday ... I wasn't feeling so well so I relaxed. I can't believe how much we went out to eat. Talk about being piggy! Heard that one of our favourite eating spots, Saigon Restaurant was closing its doors. It finally sold their joint and will be vacating at the end of the month. We went out to eat there for dinner. Have to go again this week to take some photographs of the place. The family has been really nice to us.

Wednesday, July 20

Another week of action packed excitement. Worked a couple of days at the hospital before going for a drive up the 401 over the weekend. It was a pretty relaxed day at the hospital. Friday, they had a staff appreciation day with hot dogs, hamburgers and the like. It was quite a good turnout. =)

On Saturday, it was a multinational event. First, I had to visit the hospital to return the on-call binder and pager (thank goodness). Then I went to visit a friend's grandmother who was just admitted. It was raining out, so I had to RUN to the car so I wouldn't get soaked. From there, I did the trek out to Detroit ... there was a diamond trader's show up by Auburn Hills (hint, hint). Did see some items with lots of BLING. I'll keep you up to speed on what's going on with that.

It was a hurried affair after the trip to Detroit. Had to do the 3 hour drive up to Stratford for FJ's engagement party. It was scheduled between 2-5. I left Windsor at 3 -- you do the math! It was periodic rainstorms along the way. It didn't deter my resolve to get there in a decent hour. Construction didn't help matters, either. We got there around 6. Even though I printed out a map via Mapquest, I still mananged to miss a turn but luckily, the path there is very straightforward (and my memory served me well). The weather finally started to turn agreeable -- the sun came out. Most people were on their way out when we rolled in. Of course, there was plenty of food and drink served. Nice to see FJ's parents. Finally got a chance to meet James' parents. We took some photos before going back inside. While I sat and chatted with FJ's dad, JJ helped FJ & FJ's mom clean up. I felt bad because I forgot to bring the ice wine I bought for FJ's parents. Oh well ... next time I'm in the area.

The drive to Toronto was a challenging one, indeed. Lots of rain and roads not being illuminated didn't help the situation. What should have been a 70-min drive took in excess of 90 minutes. Finally got to the hotel. It was a nice Holiday Inn Suites. There was a lot of rambuncious teens in the foyer, which didn't sit well with me. Luckily, the consierge was nice to give us a room at the penthouse (top floor). Room was good -- not the best, but very acceptable. JJ was peckish so we did the drive to DVP/7 for late night Chinese food.

On Sunday, we woke up late. Checked out at noon then went over to Pacific Mall to do some shopping. Got a primo parking spot and then shopped like there was no tomorrow. Got some Korean DVDs, snacks/pastries and other goodies. The shopping didn't end there -- drove over to Yorkdale Mall for more shopping madness. I think everyone in Toronto goes to Yorkdale on a Sunday afternoon -- the place was utter chaos. Took me at least 20 minutes to actually get INTO the lot! Once inside, it was fairly smooth sailing. JJ was looking for work clothes so the time we spent there was for that task.

Let me summarize the shopping experience -- 45 minutes in 1 store to find a pair of shoes. One good thing -- that time didn't go to waste since she bought a pair of shoes. Luckily, I went to one store that I liked and found something that I wanted. Got myself a new watch ... a Tag Heuer Kirium series watch. I like it. Didn't cost me too much (70% off) and I know the 'net price for a watch like that. It's battery operated instead of the chronograph kind (thus it was cheaper than I anticipated).

Had to truck on over to my aunt's house in North York to get changed. My ma had some stuff to give so going to visit served a 2-fold purpose. Quickly got everything done and then headed off to Richmond Hill. The reception was held at a Chinese restaurant. Food was good -- it was nice seeing classmates. Haven't seen 'em in close to 4 years. I'm glad that Jane is so happy. =) Left the wedding at 11. Got home to Windsor at 2:30. It was a long day!

Thursday, July 28

Finally ... a break in the heat wave we've been having here in the province (well, the US is pretty hot as well). Down to 80F (27C) and low humidity. The gov't is happy now that energy consumption will be far less than last week (we almost hit a record and they warned of blackouts).

Let me try to recap what's been going on the past week or so. Since coming back from Toronto, I've been working like a dog ... had to work the w/e at the hospital (on-call, no less). It wasn't that bad a w/e -- not that many Rx's. I'm glad that there weren't that many problems or issues that required a lot of attention. Sure, there was the odd thing like a vanco dose to follow or a renal dose of cipro/ceftazidime to watch but nothing needing a specialist to assess.

I did go out a bit to eat ... had a dinner that Roseville Pharmacy was hosting. Nice to see the whole gang out. It was weird that my folks were there to eat ... but I was sitting at another table. Also went out on Monday night. It was MHH's last day in Windsor before he flies out to China to meet up with YY. I can't believe YY has been overseas for well over a month and doesn't return until close to Labour Day. I bet her Mandarin skills are getting brushed up. She's probably down with the latest slang and trends over there. She hopefully changed a lot of currency before the gov't allowed the Yuan to float (as opposed to pegged).

I'm out in Essex this morning. It's been a while since I've been here last ... seems like little has changed. I feel bad because the tech, Crystal, isn't feeling so well. Must have eaten something bad yesterday and now feeling the effects. Now I'm working on the other terminal and fixing up the webpage. I feel bad that I didn't bring my laptop to watch movies. With weather like this, people miraculously aren't sick and don't come to the walk-in clinic.

The weekend ahead: working at Shoppers ... it's my turn to work a long weekend. What to do? I'm glad the weather looks like it'll hold up. I will DEFINITELY wash the car today and if time permits, the Volvo, too.