Red in the face
I finished another component of the biz plan today. It's going well. It's certainly easier to write than to edit it, like we have been. Writing it makes me feel pretty confident; it's makes me feel like we know what we're doing.
I did suffer as the Manager at Foresters, and I hated it, but I learned tonnes. That's pretty helpful now.
• • •
Jordan and I went bowling tonight with a group of people from our new congregation. It was pretty fun. We hung out mostly with Caleb and Craig, two brothers who are funny, cool, and friendly. Caleb, who is 6' 3" and seems like he's just walked off the set of Mad TV, is the local s#!* disturber; it's pretty funny.
Jordan managed to score over 100 points, which he was pretty happy about.
We were going to have a beer but decided not too, in part because of our experience a couple of days ago. Caleb and Craig were at our house, and we were sampling a few red wines. We noticed one, the last, didn't have what you would call an aromatic bouquet. It smelled a bit rotten, but we figured isn't that what wine is, rotten grapes? And we proceeded to drink it.
Later on, we regretted that decision as we were all sick; Amy, Caleb and I. I
very rarely get sick from drinking (I don't remember the last time), so it surprised me that I would be sick after only a few glasses of wine. Add to that, both Amy and Caleb too. We were the only people to drink that wine. It's pretty strange that we all got sick. Did I mention that Caleb is 6' 3"?
We wondered if it is possible to get a bad batch. Can wine go bad?
Insecticide
That's insecticide in the same sense as homocide or genocide, referring to the masses of bugs we killed this weekend. My basement looks like a war zone of insect massacre.
We sprayed on Saturday, trying our best to do away with the fleas. We had planned to hire a pest control company, but that involved getting Jaime out of the house for over 24 hours, and washing everything (clothes, bedding, etc.) at the same time. We just aren't equipped to orchestrate something that involved just yet, so after some research, we found a good product that is available at the local Petcetera that should work.
We did a very thorough vacuuming, mopping and spraying of every nook and cranny, including the basement. That's where the armadillo bugs (you know the ones that can roll up into a little ball, the ones your cat likes to eat) lived, along with a few lady bugs and some type of beetle. The spray certainly worked on them; there were literally hundreds on the basement floor on Sunday. I'm assuming it's just as effective on the fleas, although I was bitten twice today.
I expect that we'll have to spray again, to make sure they're all gone, but it wasn't so bad. The house got cleaned as a bonus.
• • •
Yesterday, I picked up Donna Tartt's new novel
The Little Friend, her long-awaited return from a ten year hiatus since
The Secret History was released. I was compelled by her first novel in a way that happens too rarely. I couldn't put it down, so I'm really looking forward to this one. I bought it for Julia, though, so I'm going to have to wait. I'm an unbelievably slow reader, anyway, and Julia's crazy fast. She devours books, so it just makes sense. I like to let it digest.
Gaa Gaa
A little lonely today; a little sad.
My brain is turning to mush from making googly eyes at the baby all day. We both laugh at my stupidity. Clap, clap.
Me, me
The sad reality that I am going to have to actually work again at some point in the not too distant future became evident today. I sent follow-up emails to two gentlemen that I interviewed with during my inaugural Winnipeg visit. I'm interested in both agencies and would like to speak with them more. The first,
Intrinsix, is a web design agency that seems to be doing very well. The other, and perhaps the one I am more interested in,
Dechenes • Regnier, is an advertising and communications organization. They both seem like high calibre agencies; I think that I am just still gravitating to the tactile. I can't help but love the rich textures, colours, and true 3-D quality of actual pieces. I love the web, but it's insubstantial.
I also dropped a resume off at
Digital Chameleon, a well-respected comic book color house that is expanding their services. I got a tip from the mother of a girl who works there. We'll see if anything shakes loose.
• • •
Sometimes, when I think about the enormity of the world, it amazes me that we can be so self-involved. In general, we think very little about the world beyond our immediate realm. A half-hour of CNN, a few passing thoughts during the day, but that's it. For the most part, our thoughts are focused on the tiny, little world of our lives.
But there are people everywhere.
Everywhere. Here in Winnipeg there are about 700 000. That's a lot of people, but this is a small city compared the places like Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver. Then there's New York, a 24-hour drama. All those people, each with their personal lives and struggles. They all have challenges and successes, dreams and regrets. It's mind-boggling.
But even New York pales when compared with a place like Tokyo: 30 million stories.
Even on the drive here, all the way along there were people in the middle of nowhere. All I could think was that here, where you would think there would be no one, are whole towns, cities even, of people living their lives; all with their struggles, all with their dreams. I think irt's probably like that over the entire earth.
Like I said, it's the enormity that gets me.
First impressions
First off, to everyone I owe email to, I'm sorry. I have internet, but I can't send mail yet. There are currently four messages sitting in my Out Box waiting for a connection to the mail server.
Let's talk about Winnipeg.
Weather: it
is cool, but it's not unpleasant. Also, it's only a few degrees cooler than T.O. Actually, the other morning it hit minus ten, but I couldn't believe it. I thought it was about zero. Maybe it's that "dry cold" that everyone talks about, but it really wasn't bad. The air was fresh, I mean actually crisp, clean and
fresh. It smelled great, like leaves and autumn and smoke.
Each morning there's a light sprinkling of snow on the roofs and cars that melts away as soon as the sun hits it. We've been wearing coats, but for the most part haven't really needed them, just a good sweater. So far, I really like the weather.
People: they're nice. Everyone is incredibly nice. And slow. Don't expect to wait less than ten minutes in any Timmy's line up. Customer Service has a completely different meaning here. So far we've been invited to dinner twice already, once by the parents of a kid in Jordan's class, and tonight by a family in our local congregation of
J.W.'s.
The Hood: Our neighborhood is not one of the best, by far, but it's not the worst either. We have a small pocket of decency in a neighborhood of poverty. Go a number of block in a couple directions and you're in pretty bummy, ultra-low income areas. But it's street by street here. We knew that coming in. Our immediate neighbors are nice, working, lower-middleclass. Not too much crime in the area, but no prestige either, which is fine by me.
As an aside, living on a picturesque, tree-lined avenue may seem romantic and very Norman Rockwell, but the reality is that in fall there are a hundred thousand leaves in our yard. If I rake those hundred thousand leaves today, there are another hundred thousand tomorrow.
Our situation is less than ideal right now. Julia is in full swing with preparations for the business, so there is a lot of baby time for me. On one hand it's great. Jaimeson and I are developing a close relationship, and I am really getting to see her incremental changes. She'll be walking soon, within a couple of weeks; she's so close. Her personality is emerging strongly and I feel good about being the major influence on her, right now.
The draw back is that the main reason I felt comfortable taking on this place was that I would have the time to devote to it: building, fixing, redecorating. But, since Julia ia already en route I can't do much of anything. It'll continue this way right up until the end of her course in mid-December, which, funnily enough, is when my parental benefits run out and I have to go get a job. That bites. I'm not okay with living in a relative stasis, house-wise, indefinitely. I'm not sure what's going to happen, but we'll have to devise a solution.
All in all, we're pretty happy so far with the decision to come here. Winter seems bearable, we're making lots of friends and the future looks promising.
Back in action
Oh sweet internet! Back beneath my fingertips is the ability to browse, search, post, and bank. I am back and things are right in the world.
Soooo much has happened that there is no way for me to capture it all in one post; I'm not even going to try. Suffice to say that the trip here was hell - 41 hours of sleep-deprived vehicular monotony. The house, well... let's just say that I have an optimistic memory. Plus, it comes with a few unexpected challenges.
See, the people moved out, and took their dogs, but left their fleas. Fleas, like mosquitoes, love me. I mean
love me, so I'm being mauled. Hopefully, the fumigators can come next week.
Things looked bleak for a while. For a few days between closings I was truly broke, unemployed and homeless. That's not nearly as funny as it sounds. Then we arrived, and I began to reassess the amount of work that this house needs. It needs a lot; a
lot. Did I say it needs a lot of work? Anyway, I began to get depressed for a while; things looked even bleaker.
But... as we live here, this old place is growing on me. Having heat helps ( the gas was shut off because the previous owners hadn't paid the bill, so there were three chilly initial days). Also, my book
"100 things you don't need a man for" has lots of great ideas and is very inspirational. Yes, it's for women, I know. It's got great stuff, though, and awesome production values. Jordan realy likes his school and class, is making lots of friends, and is generally happy.
And Julia is already in full swing with her self-employment assistance program, attending classes and getting the business going. Things are happening; it's all very exciting.
That means I am in full child care mode right now; which I guess is what the parental leave is all about. We're having fun, she and I; but it's not easy. Jaimeson is an animal and a sweetheart.
All in all, things are on track. Keep your fingers crossed for us.
