GPS's will be our downfall

So, here I am in southern Ontario... London to be exact.  I'm here to meet with other offices and see how they do things... sort of my training.

So the flight isn't too bad, a little delayed... and cramped.    But the real fun comes in when I'm sitting in YYZ waiting for my bags.  Well I say bags, but I mean bag... I'm travelling light.  I hate waiting, plus I'm so finding that I hate 'crowd mentality'.  Like when we're to board the plane, everybody rushes to get seated... you know what?  The plane won't leave until e're all on, we all get the spot regardless.

So I get to Pearson and I go looking for the rental booth... took some searching, but I got it.  It's a neat Ford Escape (Nolan, you've got this as well?  cool choice).  It's got usb plus audio in and sirius ... and of course I had to get the GPS unit.

Now as I foud out last time we drove to Minneapolis when we used Greg's GPS I found I was much more anxious as I relied wholly on the unit and didn't even look at a map hardly.  But it's Minneapolis... I know Minneapolis.  For some reason I didn't take this lesson to hear when I got to Toronto.  I pop the unit on and start driving.  It wasn't until I got out of the parkade that I went "I don't know which way to go" and I say this to myself as I stare at teh "ACQUIRING SIGNAL" screen... it continued to do that for about 10 minutes.  So fo 10 minutes I just drove around aimlessly near Pearson... when it finally gets going I find that I have been going in the wrong direction and criscrossed the toll high way a few times as I tried to get back on track (any body know if the 427 'collector' is the toll highway?) and the thing starts beeping "LOW BATTERY"... so I'm faced with the threat of it dying and me not having a clue where to go.  So I struggle trying to get the charger on and finally start my trek to London.  So it went well... turns out that I didn't have the thing plugged and dies; so while on the 427W I really have to mess with the unit to get it plugged in (luckily it didn't lose the destination).  To top it off... the mout kept falling off the glass... ugh.  Like 5 times in the trip.

I think I'm going to enjoy the trip from here on in.  I had a baconator... I have free breakfast coming to me... and I get to shadow people for the few days.

Yeehaw.

A new year - a new entry

It feels like it's been ages since I've written anything on this thing.  Heck, it's been weeks since I've even turned on this laptop.  How can I even remember where I left off...  I better go to the site to check it out... please wait.

I know there's no time passing for you, but for me, this is taking forever.  My new job is only aiding my low attention span as I'm constantly flipping gears for different projects.  In finding my blog I'm doing a set up for FireFox, checking my computer's work for a partition I mean for windows 7 (ooh, it's probably done now, I should see what I can do for it now), and watching "Lady in the Water".

Okay, found it... I think what I'll do is work backwards in time... makes more sense when you'll read this anyways.

So most recently... today we got a crapload of snow.  Almost as much as that time last year.  This year, we have Mandy's nanny's snow blower, but there's always been a catch tho'.  It just barely fit in the shed, so I've never used it, as to use it, it meant shovelling out all that area behind the shed, using the snow blower to get down the lane, down the side road, up the sidewalk and then use it for the little curb area, as we can't use it on the driveway due to the gravel.  Well, I never bothered to use it previously because it just seemed a bigger hassle to use it than to just shovel.

Well, today it snowed alot and I figured it was time to give it a shot.  Within minutes of my shovelling to the back shed, Greg was over.  Which was good, as he knew how to get it working.  After some playing with it, it eventually turned over.  And, as you would have it, we found out that it would fit through the side door of the shed, and then the side lane gate as well... double bonus!  So we got to play with the snow blower and it was really cool.  It really did throw the gravel if it was on any, so when I was near the drive I had to be careful where I was aiming the chute.

What previously... well Dean's been getting bigger.  He's really starting to crawl and furniture walk, and getting ready to just stand and walk.  Awesome.  Really cool to watch him turn into a person as he gets more and more of a personality.  There are still some days that he wakes up in the middle of the night that frustrates me, but all part of being a dad.

New Years - we had some discussion and we decided eventually that we'd ship Dean off to the grandparents (the Knauffs; my parents still had my sister's kids all about - so they had their hands full)and we went to the Family Frolic at Old Fort William (I guess I should call it Fort William Historical Park as it is officially known).  So, kidless, we went with Adam, Kelly, Kris and Greg.  It wasn't too bad actually.  We went on a sleigh ride (Adam's first ever), and to Bouche's Tavern to have some hot dogs.  To get to there we had to go the round about way, and it is a bit of a distance from the Fort that people wondered where I was leading them, but eventually we got there.  It was nice and secluded, apparently nobody else was going there.  We enjoyed roasting the dogs over the fire.  I just so can't wait until summer to go camping.

The night ended at 10pm with an amazing fireworks display.  Really!  It was something you wouldn't expect at New Years.  As it turned out, we were watching the fireworks only a few feet away from Charm and Steve and the kids.  Neat.

After getting home quickly we went to Kris and Greg's for some typical New Year's eve events: word games and Wii and even a round or 2 of "the Newlyweds".  (We lost one game and tied another).  Next thing you know, it's 5am and time to head home.  The 'morning', we had agreed to go online and post our status on MSN so that we'd know who was awake and could call when we decided to go for breakfast.  This time, the adventure breakfast was quite short as we went to Chicago Joe's.

We picked Dean up and headed to home and some minor holiday cleaning.  Charm and Steve said they'd like to come over and we said that we needed to get ready and that we were heading out to a family dinner, so they could come over between 2 and 4... this meant they came over at 345 and stayed until 445... I'm so turning into my dad, as it agitated me some amount.

Dinner at Sandi's was good.  The chicken was spectacular..., Dean however was less than enthused.  He had only an hour nap and missed his 2nd nap of the day so when we went, he had only a few minutes of a nap which made him extra cranky.  He ultimately made my decision to take him home early while Mandy stayed for another round of Family Feud.

Christmas was a great time.  Dean didn't really get the whole opening gifts thing, but I think he really enjoyed all the family attention and the new play things.  He really had a good haul this year.  He enjoys all the gifts the family gave him, even the boxes they came in.  It was great how he was excited and was ready to play, everytime we went to take a picture of him, he had this really sad and unenthused look on his face.  I'll post pictures soon, but there's just one hilarious one where we put this cap on him that said "Noel 2008" and he was just so 'unimpressed' over it.  Classic pic... hopefully not the sign of things to come from him.

The family get togethers and meals were just great... since leaving retail I really really enjoy the family stuff.  Amanda and Iain are just getting to be big kids now... crazy how time marches on, especially when you aren't looking.

What else there to talk about?  My new job is great.  I had an amazing time at the Job Fair that the chamber of commerce put on.  It was a "home for the holidays" and more idea... so I went around and talked to the employers about my role and program.  Really in some ways my job is amazing.  I get to network all day long essentially.  I got my travel arrangements completed.  Leaving in a few days to go to London and then Burlington.  Too bad it's a too short a trip to do any travelling or visiting, but it'll be good to see how other centres work.  Next trip (April for OCEA) I'll try to get some visiting in... maybe I'll even get to Henry's and trade in my camera... maybe.  I did find a Treo 700w on eBay which I'll use for the job while I'm there.  Kinda excited to test out some WinMo.

Oh, can't forget about the sleigh ride.  Mandy and Kelly truly had a great idea this year.  For a gift for the family they decided that they should host a sleigh ride.  A chance for all the family to come out, enjoy a nice horse drawn sleigh ride, some hanging out in a chalet with hot chocolate, and some good food.  Made shopping really easy.  Too bad more people couldn't make it, but it was great.  Greg and his brothers had some fun knocking each other off the ride... they had an amazing apple cider/drink ... and we did a nativitiy/activity where Dean got to be the baby Jesus.  So much fun.  It'll definitely become an annual event.  Sue from Gammondale's did a great job of entertaining us all; would have been ideal if there were more kids, which I think she expected there was, but it was still a great night.  Kelly has some video to work with and maybe I'll post links for that (I really should put more on my soapbox page).

Well, I think I've caught everything up.  Going to go check on the Win7 installation... stoked to try it out!  Reviews have been good... I can hear Dean waking up too... I should take him while Mandy gets dinner ready.

Hopefully it on't be another month before I write something on here.

Coordinated coordinates

So, I can officially say I'm landing on my feet.  Well... we'll see.  What I'm trying to say is that I have been officially hired for a real job.  Not that Scholars was a 'fake' job, just ... well this is full time, and although it's contract, it feels like it could be permanent.  Who knows?

I just went in to check out the 'digs' and it's pretty sweet.  I'll put pics up shortly.  I get a cell phone, a laptop, there's a budget for driving around town, alot of swag, and I might even get a trip to Hamilton with rental car priveleges... so what is this job?

PASSPORT TO PROSPERITY CO-ORDINATOR

It's a branch, or wing ... essentially overseen by the North Superior Training Board.  It's a great job thus far.  Tho' I haven't done anything.  The majority of the job seems to help coordinate the setup of the Regional Career Fair by contacting local businesses and getting them to register with the employer registry program so that students can have opportunities for appropriate training.  I'll find out on Monday more specifically what are my duties.

Kinda feel bad, the board (nstb) just had a press conference dealio yesterday and I missed it, and then missed seeing it on TV ... probably shoulda so I could brown-nose with the boss for her media presentation.

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Anything else?  Well Mandy put some new videos of Dean up on the web over at youtube.com.  Go check 'em out.  He's getting to be a real handful, now that he's crawling everywhere.

Semi Employed

So, yeah, I'm not exactly a bum anymore... well, I wasn't EXACTLY a bum earlier... just with no days supplying I get pretty lazy.  But that's over with now.

I have some work lined up now with Scholars.  Pretty much what I was doing over at PTC in the days of yore, but still somewhat different.  There's kids from highschool, there's kids who just need math help in general as well as adults who need tutoring as well.  Kinda good to keep practicing the 'art'.

Only, I wish it were more hours, but I'm the new guy... so just be patient.

I do have my interview with TD tomorrow...  'if' I get the job that'll mean 2 p/t jobs... ugh.  Plus supplying... but with that kinda schedule I'll doubt I'll get, or be able to do, any supply work.  Hrmm... keep applying I guess.

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 On other notes - the Celtic Kitchen Party wasn't not too bad.  Sure wish we coulda had more people there... but the Dust Rhinos really do a good show.

Doug enjoyed himself,

Mandy got to have Prozz fries,

Crystal said she had a good time, accented with a nice Wendy's burger after -- I enjoyed our BK burgers.  Mmmm...  The band wasn't too bad.  I think we played very well; we sounded amazing I thought.  The quartet I thought we'd try a new tack and start with a slow tune together, then do solo tag offs with a culminating set after... it was good despite Rory's gaff and Dylan and Jessome's slower set.  Let's just hope everybody who came enjoyed it enough to make it profitable for us all.

The great hunt

So my hunt continues -- same as always.  Check the job bank and other sundry websites.  Compile custom resumes and cover letters and apply.

I did have one interview at Fastenal.  And a phone interview with TD, which was followed with an online psych test.  The Fastenal one kinda interested me, so I did some research on them before I went.  Company sounded interesting, but none too fond reviews... albeit they were from ex-employees.  When I went to the interview anyways.  I've never had an interviewer convince me that this would be a company I would not want to work for.  Within the 45 minute interview he informed me that the job would be a huge challenge as they've experienced huge losses in the area and it would be my job to turn that around; that they've had huge turnover in the past few years (3 in the position for the past few years and no employee with no more than a year); that I was continually "wrong" as I answered the questions.  And when it came time for my second interview by phone with them I was supposed to call long distance.  What kind of company does that?

Anyhow... still many irons in the fire, another interview coming and more closing dates coming - just crossing my fingers.  EI still hasn't kicked in... but ah well.

I do need, however, to start really pumping my name around the highschools... I haven't had any for a while.  Which will be kinda rough come mortgage day...

But still, this is viewed as a positive event all around.  I will not look back with regrets or even any sort of vindictiveness.

Blog errata

Okay, so I have some errata to clear up.

1. Derek's kids are Tia and Ivy (I have no idea where Mia came from - I still am unsure how to spell Tia tho')
2. My parents have taken a picture of us all together back in July 30.  Still waiting to get the photo emailed to me (I have seen it - my mom made a point of finding it for me when she saw my last blog post).

Dean's First Hallowe'en

So Dean had a great first Hallowe'en... I was a bit late getting home from teaching so I get home around 4 and hoping to get out and do some trick-or-treating with the kid and family.  I get home and Mandy's parents have already stopped by and given Dean his treats.  My parents had the visit the day previously and he got some gifts there too.

So I get home ready to go ... and Dean's just started his nap... it's already 4, and he could sleep up to 2 hours, which means he'll miss trick or treating (if we don't want to get back home and dish out some treats of our own).  So do I wake him up, or just let him sleep?  Well a bit of both, I move him a little just to see if he'll wake up... no go, he's ultra limped.  He eventually starts to wake and then I put my outfit on and we go.  It was then I realize that my outfit isn't exactly as comfortable as I thought.  Mandy cut the bottom hem a little longer, so I am wearing a type of miniskirt -- getting into the car is a bit of a trick.

Anyhow, we get out to visit Cookie, Sandi, Jeff & Jenn (and all the Howie girls), Margaret and Burt.  We want to go home as Dean is now super upset and has missed a dinner and we were out way longer than we thought.  By the time we get near home Dean's a little settled so we stop in to quickly visit with Rory, Rain and Anna (a cute frog costume).

Well we get home and unpack and hand out some treats.  It's at that point we realize there's a message on the machine of a voice not identifying themselves saying that there is a gift of treats for Dean at her parent's house.  It took us like 10x listening to the message and then finally having the person IM us to determine who it was... Brandy, who then came by for a visit.

All in all... a good first Hallowe'en for Dean.  Jeff learned that it was indeed the Rubbles who had BammBamm (the Flintstones had Pebbles), I learned what it's like to wear a miniskirt and Mandy learns how to handout candy to some greedy and adolescent kids ("can we have lots?").  Oh, and Sophie and Jerry get to see Dean dressed up too.

So, Dean's Loot:

• Baby food, Rice Krispies a card and some college fund donations (My parents)
• Graduation cereal treats (Mandys parents)
• Stacking blocks with numbers and animals (Cookie)
• A Newfoundland shirt (Sandi) & probably the first ever full Moore Family photo (see below)
• Halloween bag with teething cookies, juicy fruit treats, and sippy cup (Howies)
• Animal crackers, fruit, puding (Brandy's mom)

photo from Sandi