I 'm fine with getting stuff for kids for Christmas, but adults are a pain to shop for. Usually they just end up with something they don't really want or need.
My constant car repairs and other debts make my budget an issue.
Humbug to Christmas, I just wanna relax!
The problem is my car keeps breaking down and draining all my finances. I got the struts and the alternator replaced in the last month and I still need to get the clutch replaced. On top of that it looks like the struts or steering has just broken again! At this point I'd like to just scrap the car and walk!
I'm excited about getting a new computer so I can do more stuff on the internet and edit video, which my current computer is way to slow and old to handle. I'm also planning on doing some web based distant education university courses so a decent computer was a must.
Hopefully they get the cheque to me soon!
Do I try to complete a general arts degree through distance education at my old school UNBC, which has a very limited courses available, or do I start fresh on a degree at a new school?
I'm really looking into it and weighing my options.
I still gotta work hard to get money for vacation next spring. Hoping to go to Scotland this year and visit my cousins that live there.
I'm thinking of adding a online store to the site. There are online stores that you can sign up for that will print your logo on items for sale and give you a small cut of the profits. So I wouldn't need to carry inventory and could possibly sell some stuff if the site gets popular.
I am wondering if I can effectively do anything more with myself right now. Am I only good for driving a bus for a paycheque?
Well I gotta do something to get outta these doldrums.
Always wanna make a difference in the world and I feel about as far from that as possible.
Living on pennies until then.
Really tired of struggling by, so I'm gonna take all the extra hours I can get until I feel ahead. Trying not do too much and burn out.
All this work has kinda put my other goals on hiatus, but hopefully I get back to them soon.
Should be cool!
The only problem in that I don't work a shift that has a lot of overtime hours. Kinda makes it hard right now.
Hope that this pays off and I get outta my financial woes quickly.
After that I may continue pushing overtime because I have vacation time coming in April/May and I want to go away somewhere.
Also want to buy a new car this year, so I will spend the next six months following the end of my bankruptcy saving and preparing to buy a new car.
So there will be quite a lot more overtime in my future to get to those goals.
Looks like I will put in some overtime and get stuff paid for. Really kinda on my own as far as paying for stuff right now. Kinda down that my job doesn't seem to cover my financial needs, but such is life.
I figure that when my wife goes back to work again then maybe things will get easier, but they probably won't because we'll just spend the extra on other stuff.
Sucks right now though!
Damn car repairs are killing me lately!
I had to work. Missed it all, maybe see highlights when I get home.
As is so often with this job, I feel like life is just passing me by.
I also listen to basketball podcats: Celticscast and TheBasketballJones. These two podcasts particularly impress me because they have decent if not excellent production and knowledgable hosts.
So I don't understand the aweful show 'Talking Basketball'. I find the show just badly produced: no background music; bad volume control on the three hosts mics and computers.
The hosts kill me, not knowing names of players, heavy breathing into the mic, one didn't even watch the Raptors games to discuss them. I find it really frustrating to listen to, so I'm cancelling that podcast!
So this is the last picture of the beard.
I have noticed that a lot of the bus drivers I work with do wear black sneakers for work. So my new plan became clear!
I will continue to collect sneakers, but now I will buy only all-black ones that I can use at work. Ha so now I can have the largest all-black collection ever!
I figure I'll shave in pieces. Keep the handlebar mustache with attached sideburns for a day, then a mustache and sideburns for another, just sideburns, and finally a clean shave.
Don't know that I would suggest beard growing as a hobbie. It has been kinda itchy. Any kinda sauce gets into it and is tough to wash out. My wife doesn't like the look. My sisters think I look way to much like my dad. I've even been told it makes me look too old.
Mostly I'm not really used to having a big hairy face. Almost never get much beyond a little bristle. Anyways the countdown is on. Ten days to go.
I was in court today for my discharge hearing. I arrived at the court at 9:30am and after many other cases and a 20 minute recess that went for an hour and 20 minutes. Then when I finally had my case, at 1:30 in the afternoon, we got adjoured until October 22 to review some case law that we're disputing. Courts are a huge waste of time and money.
Damn I need to sleep in just once this week!
Then I gave my father a ride to the doctors. I wish he would get afternoon appointments because I'm tired of getting up in the morning after coming off a night shift.
After that I finally picked up my car and had them gouge my wallet.
Off to my bankruptcy trustee next to see how my bankruptcy is going to finish. My trustee has made a complete mess of my bankruptcy that includes losing my tax info, setting meetings past due dates, and constantly changing the cost price of the bankruptcy. I have a court date in two days and they told me today that I owe them more money, based on information that I provided to them eight months ago. On top of that at my last meeting with the owner of the company in August I was told that I had one final small payment left and that would be it. I am really pissed off at these constant screw ups on their end.
All and all this has been a miserable day.
I also moved a stove around the house. Our gas stove has been malfunctioning and we had a fairly new electric stove in the garage. So we switched them around today. I had thought that the gas stove was going in the garbage, but apparently it's going to be repaired again. So no space gained.
Finally my car had began gushing oil yesterday and so I had to take it to get fixed. I went to Canadian Tire. Feels like a huge mistake, they charged me $100 to look at it and $200 more to repair a gasket on my oil filter housing. I feel very gouged by them and I'm not loving my old 1991 Volkswagon Passat right now.
We've been thinking about getting a newer family car for awhile now, but I'm always worried about adding another regular bill and how I'll feel about paying a car and repairs at the same time.
I like my money and want to keep it all. I have short arms and deep pockets!
I would like to get a newer, better car but I am concerned about the affordability of that venture.
I guess I'll get an idea of the cost of repair tomorrow and then go from there.
Mostly I'm trying to choose my next shift at work. Every 6-10 weeks at work we choose new bus routes and shifts. Currently I work about 5:30pm until 2:00am, but I get Fridays and Sundays off. I like the days off and that I can pick up my kids from school, but I do find that I spend a lot of time sleeping and alone.
So I may change my shift, I also may have to change it since the shifts are chosen in seniority order and someone else may choose my current work.
Choices are always hard to make because each shift has some advantages and disadvantages.
So what to pick???
CRAZY!
This is all of course just for fun. I've never grown a full beard before although my father often has. So here I will try just for fun. I have the goatee going good now, so I'm going into the full beard now.
Finally my wife will look forward to the start of the NBA season.
HAHAHAHA!
I for one think that owning a business is a lot of work and I'm wondering if it would be worth it. But if the owner is really into what they do then that can make it an enjoyable time for them.
So today it was back to work and working out. I got in a couple of good sets today in the weightroom, and continued on my jump program. I am hoping that continuing my workouts will get me in great shape this year. I feel good and hope to push hard towards goal achievement in this my 33rd year.
It's raining which kinda sucks. Mostly I'm thinking of my big plans and goals for the next year. I'm hoping to make 33 a big breakthrough year in my life, where I acomplish things that really define the next five to ten years.
After I finish my probation period at my work, November 25th, I'm going to buy a new computer through a workplace loan. I'm also going take advantage of career planning area of my work and apply to have them pay for the remainder of the courses on my university degree. I have also been trying to maintain a regular exercise regiment so I can be in great shape and look good.
All and all just trying to keep pushing and not just settle into a day-to-day blah.
We'll see how I do.
Pretty cool stuff, mixing some of the old with the new. Clearly some of the controls are improvements on the PowerGlove, PowerPad, and the phaser gun on the original Nintendo Entertainment System. To me it's not so much a new system as it is that Nintendo finally worked out the bugs on some old stuff that was cool but hard to use and easy to break.
I have enjoyed trying the sport games that come with it and Mariokart. I'm really looking forward to trying a sword fighting game in the near future as well as the WiiFit.
I'm impressed with everything but the price so far!
Certainly a watershed moment in my life. I was really not planning on doing much with myself up to that point in time, but after that I felt the need to become a family man!
It's been nine years now and although I have experienced many things I still feel basically like the same guy I was back then. It seem like yesterday, but also like another lifetime ago!
Happy Birthday to my beautiful daughter Daniella!
Now given I did spend it on buying my daughter Daniella a Nintendo Wii for her ninth birthday, but I am really tired of working extra and scraping bye
Since I finish work at about 2am I end up watching a lot of movies on my own when I get home.
Hey I think I have all the right questions and answers to make basketball better here in Canada!
Hmmmm... I'll have to consider!
In the meantime check out DunkUverymuch which is a nice blog by my friend Drew.
I got out to play some basketball at the new Cassie Campbell Community Centre ( The CCCC) here in Brampton. First time in weeks that I've played, felt good though even if I was a little stiff after.
It is cool to go into a building named after someone that went to the same highschool as you! North Park alumni, 'Go Vikes! Orange Crush!'
Well that helps one part of my day. Now if I can just finish the overtime I have agreed to do and enjoy the rest of the evening this might go down as a half decent day.
Well I'm not putting it on wax, but like an idiot I cleaned my ear with a cotton swab today and now my ear is blocked and I can't hear a damn thing.
Funny thing is that I have these ear drops that will clean the wax out of my ears, but I didn't use them until I made this problem for myself. Now I will spend the next couple of days putting these drops in my ear.
I think that at some point in human evolution we actually stored small items in our ears, or perhaps they were used to keep fingers warm. That would explain why children stick small things in their ears, why we clean with cotton swabs despite knowing that it's a bad idea, why old men always pick at their ears for wax.
Well that is where I'm at. It's a pretty miserable thing to deal with, but hardly the end of the world.
I have agreed to work overtime tomorrow, which is my day off. I got offered what I consider a nice easy bus route to drive for the day, so I took it!
Will I regret taking on extra work, or will the dollars make it all worth while?
I think maybe I'm overthinking stuff and it's stressing me out.
I'm really trying to focus on buying a new computer this month.
Lots on my mind lately though, time moves fast but life goals move slow.
Much of what I want to do is gonna take some time, but I of course want it to happen now! And time ticks on for me getting older while not achieving those goals!
As I said 'My brain hurts!'
'Money controls the world and that's it! Once you got it then you can talk ..' Ice-T from Power
I'm thinking of putting more hours in at work to get more $$$, but that really can throw of my work/life balance.
The trick is always to work with what you've got, can I get me and the family to the point where we can do that? Stay tuned!
I went to my friend Tyler's wedding in Masset, BC. I was only gone for six days, but it was a wonderful time.
Everyone who came helped prepare the wedding and reception sites. It was cool to see everyone lend a hand rather than just show up. I felt much more involved with it all.
The wedding was a beautiful outdoor ceremony in a forested area by a beach that the couple now own and will be building a home on.
The weather went great for that day and the food was served at the wedding location. The reception back at hall in town was really more of a dance.
I met lots of people that I have wanted to stay in touch with, but I'm gonna need to find out their e-mail, telephone numbers and stuff. Apparently everyone's not on facebook! Go figure.
So if your out there:
Gloria I miss your sarcasm, and didn't touch the moss!
Tom we have many more beers to drink and trees to see. Hope to visit you on the east coast soon.
Dana Bellis (check out one of her old blogs in my links) you are perhaps the person I clicked with best while there. I hope to hear from you soon about life as a student in Finland or on your other worldly travels. Hope yoi never lose that Haida woman charm!
Finally to Tyler and Carrie Anne Bellis I wish you guys all the best. I was really happy to come to your wedding and hope to see you soon.
Oh well 'Pain is weakness leaving your body!'
I am trying to get the most out of my new schedule. I took my youngest daughter Brianna (3yrs) to her first visit to kindergarten. Tomorrow she officially starts.
To fit in workouts I do them on my lunch break at work. Right now that usually means going for a run.
Now that's where I'm starting I have lots more stuff that I have goals on doing in this my 33rd year!
Today I'm taking this labour thing to a whole new level and organising my garage. Always difficult work and my storage unit is like 20km from my house. Wondering why I'm keeping all this crap anyhow, family of packrats!
Well I'm gonna starighten up this blog page today. Make it look pretty!
Well I plan on setting up my weight set in my garage tomorrow, now I have motivation. There is a fitness room at my work that I use regularly. I also have a YMCA membership which I do not, but my kids do go for swimming lessons. I hope that despite my schedule changes I will be able to get regular workouts between my three options.
Me and my buddy Scott are planning on entering a 10km race in October so I will be definitly trying to run a lot over the next month. I live close to my work so I will ride my bike to work, weather permitting.
Hopefully that will take me from lazy to crazy!
I'll say I've been down lately and have no good reason. My wife Julia has been ill, but otherwise I have been doing well. I have become an official full-time Transit Operator and will now have benefits and vacation time. I had been a temporary operator, as is the process to get to full-time. I will have spent a year basically on probation. So work is going well.
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