finally

7735 more hours. I know I did work. I just don't remember much. I don't really care. As far as I know he left for Jamaica on Saturday (15) and gave me Thursday (13) and Friday (14) off and only worked a half day on Wednesday (12). We were in Burlington, OH YA! Monday (10) we went to this guy's place that James knows who owns Complete Roofing to install pot lights on the outside of his house. Problem is that they were to be installed on the underside of the roof that hangs over the edge of the house which is pretty high up cause the house is two storeys and the one was over the quad-car garage which is under the house so the driveway slopes down so now it was three storeys up. We had to borrow one of the guy's 30 ft ladders to get at it because we don’t have a ladder that could reach and this guy owns a roofing business so they need bigger ladders. So we did the first light then the second. At this point we were at the side of the house. The house/property isn't finished so the landscaping is not done at all. A couple days before when we were there James put his foot through the ice into a hole in the ground. While we were moving the ladder we were sure to avoid that hole. Only problem is that the hole underneath the ice was bigger than the hole he made in the ice. I got past it fine but when he walked on it he just dropped which then left the ladder to drop and then gravity and such did its job. We weren't going too far so we decided to leave the ladder upright and pick it up and move it to then gently rest it against the house so we didn't have to bring it down, carry it, then walk it back up. So now there's this teetering tower of metal that is starting to fall toward the house. The very nice expensive house with big expensive windows. So I did what needed to be done. Throw my weight at the ladder to keep it from falling toward the house. I was able to redirect the ladder, but it had already started to tip and so I used every ounce of strength I had left to try and keep it standing and not let it come crashing down. I was holding it steady, but then I realized that I was slowly getting crushed and it was forcing me to the ground until I ended up with my head between the rungs and the ladder resting on my shoulders while i was squatting in the snow. That was terribly painful so I got my head underneath and leaned forward to put the ladder on my back and tried to push up. I don't remember how I ended up getting out from under it. But I did. It did a number of my back and neck which I felt for the next few days. We did the other lights then went into the basement and wired them up.
Then Tuesday (11) we were next door-ish at this other guy's place who is still building the house. This house is 8000 sq ft with a crazy view of Burlington. House itself is sorta ugly. Might look better when it's done. James had been there before I started working for him and had put in a temporary panel and sub panel while the guys built the house but now that it's winter and the structure and stuff is all done they wanted some power inside. So first I had to find the teck cable that was buried under the snow that was running over to the sub panel to discover that it was buried under the dirt for a few feet right by the box. Oh goody. So he found me a pickax and a shovel. The shovel did absolutely nothing to the ground. So a pickaxing I went. That was exhausting. We got the cable out, got the panel inside, ran the wire inside, hooked up the new panel, plugged all the other guys stuff in and done. There was more involved and it took up most of the day but I'll leave it short.
Wednesday we were on Bond Street putting in two wall sconces and a switch for them, and an extra counter plug. Only took the morning to do. Then we went back to the office, I got my cheque for the last 5 weeks and that is all in the way of work for the next 3 weeks. Finally.

not a whole lot

7794 more hours. So after me weeks off, James called me Sunday (18) to tell me that he has stuff to sort out so he won't be around so don't come in till Wednesday (21). Ok then. So Wednesday the weather took a turn for the worse and so I ended up doing nothing all day except fix a plug that the polarity had been reversed. He had outdoor worked scheduled for the day. Now that's planning. So he tells me depending on what the weather is like the next day if I should bother coming in. It snowed that night. So no work on Thursday (22). He said that he would set me up to finish things up at the house on Bristol for Friday (23). Friday morning I'm ready to go out the door and my phone rings. He informs me that there are too many guys still working in the house so there's nothing for me to do. So I crawled back into bed. In the pay period that was those two weeks, out of a potential 80 hours.. I worked 10. weee. This past week I did a full week but I told him that I'll just put those hours on the next paycheck. I think he was relieved that he didn't need to pay me till later. I'm not totally sure about what days I did what but I know on Monday (26) I did the work at Bristol. Then another day I went back to put the last couple wires in the panel and install the rest of the lights. Then I was at a house down the street that we walked over to. It was just the attic that they were getting finished so Rupert was framing it up and I went around and put in some boxes and ran the wires, then that night they drywalled it and it was Friday (30) that I put all the plugs, switches, and lights on. Then we went back to that house on Lottridge that we worked on for so long in the summer that apparently still wasn't done. So I ended up helping with the sink on the main floor and the cabinets. But by the end of the day those two houses were done and the keys were handed over. There's still Bristol however. No idea when that'll eventually get done. Saturday (1) my parents left for Vegas. Today (2) was my birthday. 21. yay. Anyway, tomorrow (3) we're heading to Burlington as far as I know barring any early morning phone calls telling me to not come in. Roads are supposed to be bad tomorrow. We'll see.

wake up call

7832.5 more hours. Thursday (8) I woke up cause my phone was bouncing around (it's on vibrate). It was my boss calling. I thought, why would he be calling me. Maybe I don't need to come in today? First thing he says to me is, 'Where are you?'. I'm at home. 'Are you coming in today?'. Ya. Then I noticed what the time was on my other phone. It was after 9. I'm supposed to be at work at 8:30. Then I started to freak out. He told me to meet him at the house we were going to be working at so I wrote down the address and started feverishly getting ready. I found the street but not the place so I called him and he said that he wasn't even at the house. He got caught up at the supplier downtown and to go wait for him at the Tim Horton's nearby. So I got a hot chocolate and waited. and waited. I sat there for over an hour and a half and then he finally showed up. Apparently there were issues with his brother, and then the supplier didn't have stuff, and other people were calling him and he was exhausted before we even started working. So out of all the days I could have slept in (because in my sleepiness the night before I left my alarm clock on the set alarm time thing so it never went off) the morning where he had a slue of problems that delayed him getting to work is the one that it happened on. That's not chance. Anyway we ended up at this old Italian guy's house. Oh look the whole house has aluminum wiring. Great. Oh what's that? None of the plugs and switches are rated for aluminum? And the light fixtures were connected with marrettes that aren't rated for aluminum? Awesome. So here's what we get to do. Take off all of the plugs and switches. Disconnect all them. Take a piece of copper wire and pigtail the aluminum wires (with special marrettes and special goopy stuff) to the plugs and switches. Oh and also take down all the ceiling fans and lights and replace the marrettes with the special ones and if there is copper to aluminum connections, use the goopy stuff. I was terrible in chemistry class but there' something about copper and aluminum that when they're put together they oxidize and corrode or something and crumble and fall apart and then your house burns down. So these special marrettes you can use with aluminum and the goopy stuff is Noalox (made by Ideal) which impedes that corrosion. Yay. Anyway it sucks. And the old dude has been smoking for who knows how many years and I can hear him coughing in other rooms and it sounds like a lung is coming out and he has this laboured, slow breathing. It's creepy when you're working and he kinda shuffles up behind you and you don't hear him coming cause of the little slipper things he wears but you hear the breathing getting closer and louder and he just stands there watching you work. just. creepy. he and his wife are really nice and kept offering me ginger ale and then some sort of cake at one point. But ya. Then James left me there to fend for myself all day Friday (9). Then I told him that the next week is not such a good one for me. Monday (12) night was the Switchfoot/Relient K concert in Ypsilanti which I would have to leave early afternoon to get to in time, and then wouldnt get back till the next day. Then Thursday (15) I was getting my wisdom teeth pulled out in the morning and I would need the next day off as well to recover. So Wednesday (14) was the only day I could work. That just happened to be a day he was going to give me off because he had meetings with hydro or something. So I said that I would come in Monday (12) morning to help out for a little before I had to leave. He appreciated that. So the concert was awesome. Wrote about it in my Facebook notes. Switchfoot = so good. Got to meet them again and talked with some of them for a while. Jon played Corey's guitar again. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngqmcdgpY7o So then that brings us to Thrusday. All four wisdom teeth ripped from my skull while I'm wide awake. The chloral hydrate definitely failed me. It knocked me out before they started, but once he started injecting me with the freezing stuff, I woke right up. It was horrible. I'm on some painkillers so i don't feel too great right now. If stuff doesn't make sense that's why. I'm tired.

rain, puke, sleep

7847.5 more hours. Ok so once again everytime I would go to write this I got distracted and now I can't remember everything. Ok so we started work on a house that I think was bought by his nephew, or he got suckered into buying it or something. Either way we're fixing up this house on Bristol. Complete rewire again. Nothing too exciting there. Oh wait yes there is. It was the end of the day (22) and James wanted to get going so he told me to just get the wire in the box and not worry about mounting it so i tried to do it quick and my knife slipped and left quite the gash in my left hand. He was standing in the room so I just kept going pretending nothing happened. Once I was done I grabbed some kleenex and got my electrical tape and taped up my hand. Over the next few days the cut would keep ripping back open which didn't make the next few days any easier. The next day (23) was the day that we were to help his old apprentice with some meter changes on some government housing. Sure enough, it rained all day. That would be fine except that meters are on the outsides of buildings. So Hydro showed up cause the shutdown was scheduled for 9 and they asked if we wanted to go through with it and obviously it's not up to me so we worked all day in the rain. I was given a nice cheap pvc rain suit which by time I got home had been heavily damaged. It kept getting caught on the fences. It was not a lot of fun. I gave myself a new job title that day. Electrical bitch. Not only James', but his former apprentices, and his apprentice. I did none of the electrical. All I did all day was get them tools, get them material, clean up everything, and slowly die into a bright yellow lump on the ground. (The rain suit was yellow) Cleaning up involved carrying 8, 2" rusty steel pipes, and 4, 3" rusty steel pipes, 4 old meter bases, and some bricks. Then theres all the drills, saws, and new meters, and pvc pipe(which isn't that heavy), and the generator, and ladders. Sometimes I would have to carry those things long distances to walk from the one place they were working to the other. All while its raining. Happy. Then it was back to Bristol (24), then back to the government townhouses (25) for two more meters. This time it wasn't raining. But still left me very sore. After that I seem to have stopped writing stuff in my notepad for a couple days so I don't know what goes on in there which brings us to the 30th. Time for another concert. This time it was Red, Seether, Breaking Benjamin, and Three Days Grace. I wrote out the story on Facebook in my notes read it there. If you can't, comment on this blog to let me know. I have to accept any comments so it'll be like sending me a message without anyone seeing it and you don't need to sign up or anything. Anyway. That brings us to Sunday (4). I wake up. I don't feel so good. Had this really bad pain above my stomach area. Went to church, started feeling sick and spent most of Lane's sermon in the bathroom over the toilet ready to spew. I could still hear him in there. Then we went out to lunch with Mike at BP, had a few fries, felt sick again, went to the bathroom and spent most of lunch in the bathroom over the toilet ready to spew. To no avail either time. I tried too. So we travel home and on the way I really don't start feeling well, so I told my mom to pull over. We turned down a road and I got out and over to the ditch I go and puke. So that felt awesome. Did feel better but I had just puked so there's only so good you can feel. Called James later to tell him that I probably won't be coming in cause of the sickness which mom had diagnosed as stomach flu. So Monday (5) morning I called him again to let him know that I wasn't any better and he told me to take Tuesday (6) off as well. Sounds good. Was feeling better Wednesday (7) so things seemed to be getting better. This morning however, was a different story. To Be Continued... Oh and we saw Mr. Noel at Mandarin.

how to go down stairs

7927 more hours. I'll tell you how not to go down stairs. Falling. It hurts. A lot. Try to stay standing when walking down them, and don't fall back and slide down them. I wasn't totally with it at work and I fell back while going down the stairs in the house we were working on in the Westdale area, and tried to stop my fall by putting my arms back which prbably saved me from smashing the back of my head against the stairs, but gave me some real bad scrapes on my arm and hand. The really bad one on my arm will probably end up becoming a scar like my knee from my little skateboarding escapade in Edmonton. Oh well. Such is life. Just one more injury from work. So last week on Thursday and Friday (11&12) we headed out to Mississauga to help out an electrical contractor friend of James'. They were working on an Aaron's http://www.shopaarons.ca/sa/ and were supposed to hand the store over that coming Monday (15). There was still a lot of work to be done so that's why they called James. I finally got to do some commercial work and not just residential. It's more or less the same, except you only use BX (if you've ever seen the cable that has the metal sheath) instead of the usual Romex (the white bendy sheath). So according to the internets it's not actually called BX anymore and hasn't been for some time. However, just about everyone in the trade calls it BX so I'm just gonna keep calling it that. And Romex is a brand name I know that but whatever. Anyway I haven't worked with BX since grade 10, and haven't done any commercial stuff so the other guys apprentice taught me how to do everything. Thanks Tony. So that was some good experience. I also had to do 20+ plugs in the place. And there were more to do but I ran out of plugs. The whole time James was fixing all the old fluorescent lights from the previous store that was in there. I didn't take the time to count how many there were. I helped him with about 8 but then was made to do other stuff. There was at least... 40. probably more. Not all of them weren't working but a lot of them weren't. That's all he did. And he even went back on the Sunday to help out more. Crazy. I also had to get on the top of a 12 foot ladder to take down some conduit that wasn't gonna be used that was strapped to the ceiling. A little scary when the ladder moves the slightest bit. That's a long way down when my head is almost 18ft from the floor. Other than that me and Tony hung up and wired 10 of the fluorescent lights that are used in drop ceilings. the big ones you see in offices and stuff. That was cool to learn all that. Other than that we finished the house in Westdale on Tuesday (16) so he gave me the next day off cause he had to go to Toronto to get some stuff sorted out for his trip to Jamaica and because we worked hard on that house and needed a break before starting another job. So Thursday (18) I go back and by the end of the day I had installed 7 pot lights. It took me under an hour to do that. We did it at the end of the day. I did nothing all day except for that right at the end. And then today we were supposed to help one of his former apprentices with this meter changing job for some government owned townhouses. Ya you know things are bad when Hydro won't even attempt to disconnect it because it's dangerous. So we didn't end up doing anything. We are gonna have to shut down the whole block of houses but you can't shut off peoples power unless you give the people living there notice. Which we hadn't because we only planned on disconnecting the units affected. So it has been delayed to this Tuesday. Then he took me and James out for lunch and then we went to Stoney Creek, I changed an outdoor light to a motion sensor one and that was it. And I'm getting paid for all of it. Which is not bad after my raise. I got my first paycheck today after I got my raise. Wow. That's a lot of bacon. I don't know where that came from. Bring home the bacon? Isn't that a saying? I was originally thinking that it could buy me a lot of bacon. Mmm bacon. Oh ya. So BX is not always the nicest to work with cause it's all metal and it's real sharp and doesn't bend very easily, but in that house in Westdale there was this stuff that was before BX I guess because it was encased in this metal like substance. Turns out it's lead. Ya. So I tried to touch it as little as possible. I think lead is bad for you. I thought I heard that somewhere.

giddyup

7998 more hours. So much has happened since I last wrote something here. I really should have written it down cause I can't remember a whole lot. We finally finished the house we were working on for 6 weeks down by Ivor Wynne on Lottridge. After doing almost all of the wiring I then had to put all of the plugs on, and all of the switches, and then all of the light fixtures. Oh ya! I think all of the light fixtures were from IKEA. yay. There were these lights that were for the two kitchens in the place and the instructions said not to use a regular bulb. That was apparent since they didn't fit. So we tried the smaller ones that we used for some of the other lights but they were too small. We had no idea what it wanted. James made several trips to Home Depot looking for the right bulbs but kept coming back with either nothing or the wrong ones. So the one day we were out doing a service call in Ancaster and on the way back he decided to stop off at Home Depot to grab some stuff and he sent me to look for the bulbs. 5 minutes later I had them. It's a gift what can I say? He couldn't believe it. He obssesed about it the rest of the day how I found them no problem and they were right in front of him the whole time. Win. That house is done and it turned out a lot nicer than I thought it would. If you would have seen what it looked like when we first got there and what it looks like now. Ya. I should really take a camera to work. Mine is messed up though. gotta look into getting a new one. We did some service calls after that and then this past Monday (10th) we began work in Westdale on Paisley St. I certainly enjoy working in that area. A lot. Because it's not ghetto and... it's a very nice looking part of the city. Yes. That's it. Anywho, we're rewiring the entire house, but unlike the last house which had no walls, this one still has them. So it's back to using the fish tape and getting my hands shredded sticking them into the holes for the boxes trying to grab the tape. Not pleasant. We finished up the top floor yesterday and then started the main floor and then started the basement. Today I finished all the lights and the smoke for the basement and started on the main floor. James had some words of wisdom for me. "Work smart, so you don't have to work hard." Works for me. I hit myself in the teeth with a light fixture. I remembered that the other day. I was working on the wires and it swung around and hit me right in the teeth. I didn’t like that. I got paid today, and he gave me a fancy pen with the the company name and phone number etched in it. Very swanky. Oh, and he decided to give me a raise. BOOYAH! FTW! And the TV is finally back after being gone for a month. My eyes got so used to staring at the little screen we had and now it looks huge. (that’s what she said) AND it’s the long turkey turkey gobbly weekend. Not bad.

back to work

I'm back at work now after my week vacation, which I couldn't enjoy because I was sick. It wasn't actually vacation time, I just took the time off work cause I was sick. The cold symptoms have more or less cleared up, but there's some sort of respiratory thing that I have developed. Saw a doctor about it and he prescribed me Ventolin. It's an inhaler. He thinks maybe I have some sort of asthma or something. The stuff doesn't help. If it keeps up I will take my families advice and go for a chest x-ray and whatever else I should get. They're the medical professionals. I'm just a lowly electrician in training... who got shocked a couple times today. Not a huge fan of it. The one time really hurt. And the one really crappy part is that it lingers for a while. You still feel tingly a few minutes after it happens. We went to this really cool building on Upper James today. There's a Taekwondo place that takes up a small part of the main floor and the rest of it is all empty. We were walking around inside and it just keeps going. It would be a really good place to shoot something. Unfortunately the job would require too much time to fix the place up so James probably isn't going to take it. He's already been working on getting two other huge jobs. Oh well. Watched the premiere of Prison Break at Doug's place. It's gonna be crazy sauce! I'm excited.

all your base

8090 more hours. So a bunch of stuff has happened since I last wrote, and I can't remember it all. But I'll do what I can. The one day I was working on the top floor in the one house and I heard a cop pulling someone over outside. So I looked out and saw the cop had someone pulled over. No big deal. I went back to work and checked again to see what if anything interesting had happened. Just looked like a regular traffic violation or something, back to work. Checked back in a little bit and saw a guy that was in the back seat was out of the car standing on the sidewalk while the officer was searching through some things in the back seat. After a bit of work I checked again and the girl riding shotgun was out of the vehicle as well. I could see the officer saying something to the guy who looked like someone who you would see on the show Cops. Sure enough the guy suddenly made a break for it. He just took off down the street and turned down the next street running full out. Cop just stood there and grabbed his radio. I assume he didn't go after him because he was alone and couldn't leave the girl and the driver there. So he proceeded to put the girl in the back of his cruiser and then talked to the driver some more, frisked him, and sent him on his way with a ticket for something. Two more cars showed up and drove around looking for the guy who ran. I don't know what ended up happening but it was certainly something. It was just like on TV. Exciting. I know there was other stuff that happened but I'm drawing a blank. I'm sick right now and have been the past few days and took today and tomorrow off of work. Oh ya I bought a bass guitar. Epiphone Thunderbird IV. It's pretty awesome. I like it. Me and Jenn went a little crazy buying DVDs. In one trip to one store we bought, Prison Break Season 2, House Season 3, The Office Season 3, Heroes Season 1, and Stargate SG-1 Season 10. Most shows are starting back up the next two weeks. Prison Break on the 17th, Heroes the 24th, House the 25th, and the Office the 27th. Can't wait. What else. I accidentally burned my arm while making food in the oven. Left a nice little scar. Hit myself in the face with my screwdriver. Not intentional. Saw 3:10 to Yuma. Great movie. Friends plus fire = fun. I'm running out of stuff I can remember. Just had a NeoCitran and am feeling a little sleepy. And sleep.

so it begins

I don't think anyone even reads this anymore but oh well. For those who read this and don't know, I finally registered with the Ministry of Training and Colleges on Wednesday(15). My apprenticeship has officially begun. Only 8200 more hours. It's supposed to be 9000 but the guy from the ministry was able to knock off 800. 500 because I graduated grade 12 (only need to have grade 10 to become an apprentice), and 300 for the two months I already worked. So that's pretty awesome. To date, I only have 8167.5 more hours to go. Giddy-up. So ya apparently hand-chiseling into a brick wall is a lot of work. Once again I say, why must we keep doing renovations. Or at least get some stupid shallow boxes. ugh. I've wired up most of this house we are working on. James has been busy doing framing which he apparently also learned, so it's been up to me and Junior. James seems to know everything. He's always telling the other guys how to do their jobs. It's pretty funny hearing them arguing over stuff. We're almost done the house which is being turned into two apartment suite thingys. Should be nice once it's all done. Tomorrow we have to run some PVC conduit before they pour the concrete for a pool pump which we will later hook up I guess. Or maybe we'll do that too. I don't know. We'll have to see. I think there was something else that happened in the past two weeks that I was gonna write about. If I think of it I'll write in in later.

grilled cheese and tacos

I am genuinely sorry about the window. See Hot Rod and it will all make sense. When did I see Hot Rod? It's story time. So there's this band called Red. They're an up and coming Christian band that has awesome music. Corey heard that they were coming to Ontario so he checked and they were gonna be in Sarnia. So the plan was made months in advance to go and see them. The day finally arrived (Friday 3rd) and Corey, his sister, my sister, and I drove to Sarnia to see them in concert. We met a girl who lives there named Tiff that Corey knows. She was a really big help because we would have been pretty lost without her, so thank you Tiff. Anyway, we got to the Lakeshore Music Festival where the band was going to be playing and just as we went to buy tickets the lady said, "I hope you're not here to see Red." Apparently they canceled a few hours prior to our arrival. So. I drove all the way to Sarnia to see a band that didn't show. How happy. So after some deliberation we decided to go see a movie. Hot Rod was the winner. It was an amazing movie I have to say. But I didn't need to drive all the way there to see it. Then I had to drive all the way back. Got home at 4am after dropping Corey and Lynzy off. Red's manager is going to be getting a phone call from either Corey or myself.
Saturday Milica, Mike, Jenn, and I went to check out Doug's new place in St. Catharines and then we all went and saw The Bourne Ultimatum. Good movie. Little too much shaky camera though.

long weekend

I get tomorrow off and Monday off. I'm happy. Now I can sleep. Sleep is good. I also really need some time for my thumb to heal. Long story short I was stripping wire with my one knife and it slipped and went right into my left thumb. It hurt, a lot. And then I looked down at my hand. Definitely definitely lots of blood. Ya. I don't think I've ever bled that much before. It took about 15 minutes to get the bleeding to stop more or less and then I went to let James know what happened. After I told him I went to get a band-aid and stuff to properly clean it but as I was searching I suddenly felt very ill and got dizzy. He took me inside and I was cleaning my cut when I looked in the mirror. I know I'm white, but I have never been this white before. It look as though I was dead. There was no colour in my face at all. So I had a seat. I've been trying to not use my thumb for anything because it's excruciatingly painful whenever anything touches it. But of course I keep hitting it on things, and forgetting that I shouldn't use it. Jenn finds the faces of pain and anguish I make funny, so she laughs at me whenever I get hurt. Anyway we finished that house we were working on for so long. I think in total it took 8 days for the one house. Ridiculous. It was terrible. Once again, renovations, are total garbage. It sucks.
On a different note, I have a little poem. It's a love poem. It's called, Are you getting hotter or am I lowering my standards?
I looked at my watch,
it was quarter past two.
I saw your face and thought,
hmm... she'll do.
(I didn't write it I saw it on Just for Laughs)

Randomize

Here's just some stuff that I've learned and such.
You know when a patients family withdraws treatment and someone "pulls the plug"? Jenn is THAT person. She has had to do it to two or three people so far. I call her the Angel of Death. Just thought I'd share.
I forgot what the second thing was.
I actually have colour in my skin now. One good thing about working outside. It's only on my forearms, neck, and face but it's a start.
I took two huge chunks out of my finger today with my wire strippers. Still working on my hand-eye co-ordination. So that hurt a lot and kept bleeding for a while. I made myself a band-aid out of a piece of paper towel and electrical tape. When James sustains an injury he just wraps it with electrical tape. I remembered the one painful thing that happened at work two weeks ago. I burned my fingers on a drill bit. I sorta forgot that friction (drilling through joist) creates heat (ow). It hurt so bad. I burned my fingers again when I went to turn off the one halogen light in the basement today. That's what reminded me. We finally finished the main floor on that same house we have been working on for 5 days. We still have to finish the basement and do something on the second floor. We all are sick of the house. James finally cracked yesterday and got out the Sawzall and just started hacking up walls and ceilings to find the wires. There's only so much you can do to try and preserve the house. He found even more junction boxes and loose wires and other crap. If it was up to me I would have just ripped everything out the first day. I said that's what we should do, but James didn't want to make the guy pay too much to replace all of the drywall and everything else. The guy is going to have to now anyway. This is why you do it right the first time. Hire professionals. If you do it yourself then you can either get it inspected and have it fail and then pay someone to come in and rip it all up, or not get it inspected and then have your house burn down. And if you do hire someone, make sure they're reputable. Ask for references, check them out online, whatever. There's a lot of people out there posing as contractors and the like who will take your money and run. Just ask Mike Holmes.

Casheesh

Been a while since I posted anything. First off, I got paid on Friday(13). It was a nice feeling to have money coming in finally. However, that money is one of the only things keeping me going. I started getting fed up with the way my boss was treating me and talking to me. I'm not gonna get into it because he has more or less stopped. To me anyway. He still yells at his son all the time. It was weird though because Thursday after work I said something to my parents about how he was treating me and then the next day he was nice to me, and this whole week he's been a lot nicer to me. I get the feeling he was trying to see how dedicated to learning the trade I was. See if I would quit. But I haven't. Came close, but no dice. I do need to work for another company though. I hate renovations so much, and he told me that he hates doing new construction because he finds it "boring". COME ON. Ugh. But ya it's driving me nuts. These idiots that think they know electrical and just mess everything up and then we come in and have to try and figure out what they were thinking when they did it, and then fix it all. Also I found out that the one house we worked in two weeks or so ago, definitely had asbestos in it. And I got thinking, oh was that the stuff that I was working around and hitting and breathing in without a mask on? Yupp. So happy days. Shortly after that my throat started hurting and it hasn't stopped. It still hurts right now. It's probably from a combination of the asbestos, various insulations, possible mold, old animal droppings, possible dead animals, all other forms of dust that I have been breathing without wearing a mask. These houses are old. Should be wearing an N95 while I'm working. This house that we've been at for the past few days is total crap. The idiot owner decided to renovate the place himself. A regular "handyman". So far we've had to almost re-wire everything that he did. Only reason we haven't re-wired everything is because we haven't gotten to everything yet. There's always something else wrong that we find. The one task James keeps getting me to do is trying to get rid of all the junction boxes the guy used. So far we've found 4 that were sealed in the ceiling in one room. That was after James got mad and just started ripping finished painted drywall off the ceiling. He gets to do all the fun stuff. We've already been at this place for 3 days or maybe 4, and we still have lots to do. If the place would have been gutted and we were able to do it all new, we would have had it completely done in 3. maybe even 2. James had me and Junior checking receptacles on the main floor and he ended up telling us to just rip them out box and all. He did the first one and caused a lot of damage to the surrounding drywall. He said that it was ok, so i had no problem when I ripped a box out and took a big chunk or drywall with it. We rewired the boxes, put them back in and replaced a few that got destroyed from the removal. The owners gonna have to fix the walls. And the ceiling James ripped down. As James told me, sometimes you need to teach these guys a lesson. I've sustained a number of injuries since my last post. I don't remember most of them. A lot of cuts. I do remember punching a tree, but not on purpose. I was digging a trench for some PVC conduit and it was right by a tree and the shovel threw my hand forward right into the tree. That hurt and bled. Oh, and Junior and I were running cable for the meters at this house and my fist ended up inside the one multiple times. I was feeding the wire down the conduit and it got caught but then in gave way and smack right against all the nice hard-edged metal in the box. And then I did it a couple more times.

somewhat weeklyish update

Whaa happened the past few days... I got Wednesday off so that was awesome. Thursday and Friday I didn't do a huge amount of work. I just assisted James (Boss) while he did all the work. We were in this huge house in Hamilton. I'd say at least worth 1.5Mill. I won't say the name of the family who owns it just in case, but they're rich. They wanted these two picture lights over these paintings. Sounds easy enough, but it took us the whole day to do it. This is why I hate renovations. I really hope that we get some new construction jobs. If not I'm gonna have to look for a job somewhere else. Anyway, this house was apparently used in the movie about Céline Dion's life (that Corey is an extra in). I saw a picture of Enrico Colantoni (who plays René Angélil) and the wife of the house owner. The only reasons I will watch it is to see Corey and that house.
Friday night I introduced Milica to Booster Juice and saw Transformers. So good. Sunday heard Mike speak at Maple Creek. Today, worked in the icky icky heat. I hate summer.

now you know

Most of you already know but for those who don't, I'm actually back at home. I moved back on the 20th. I just didn't mention that in my blog. The job is real, but it's actually in Hamilton. While I was out there my dad talked to the secretary at work and she said that she knew a guy. She talked to him and he said for me to give him a call on Monday (18th). I did and he said he'd give me a shot. So home I flew. I was able to surprise a few of you but it was getting harder to try and keep myself hidden and to word things on my blog, so I figured it was about time I said what was really going on. Not much point since the few people who read this I surprised, but in case someone else stumbles upon this, there it is. I'm sleepy so I'm going to bed. Happy Canada Day. Well it isn't anymore, the actual day, but now it's the holiday, even though Jenn and Milica have to work. I don't. Sweetsauce.

sweat, blood, and staples

Yesterday was disgusting. It was so hot and humid and I was working in an attic with no airflow. There was a steady drip of sweat from the tip of my nose. Working on these old houses is really not fun. I really hope that we get some new construction jobs. Today was a lot nicer outside. My boss is giving me a lot more stuff to do and leaving me to do it. I like it. Didn't think I would be left on my own to do so much wiring in my first week but he apparently likes my work. I had a few close calls today with injuries. I almost took a hammer to the face. It was my hammer, in my hand. I was pulling old nails out of the joists in the basement of the one house because it's a really low ceiling and I can't stand upright and I could easily smoke my head on one of the nails and do some serious damage. But in an effort to make it safer I almost struck myself with the hammer trying to get a nail out that didn't want to budge. The nail ended up breaking in half which is why I almost got hit because I wasn't expecting it. Then later I was wrapping up the one fish wire and it came undone and snapped back and almost hit me in the face. Then at the end of the day I accidentally nicked the hot leads on a receptacle while it was live. Not the first time I've felt 120V going into my arm, but it's never pleasant. Hooray for insulated steel toe boots. I was supposed to get a 4 day weekend but my boss got a call today and the only time he could do the job was tomorrow. So I gotta work tomorrow. Y'arr.

so many cuts

My hands are never gonna be the same ever again. I have so many cuts all over them from the wires, and boxes, and other sharp things. They're also becoming increasingly calloused. At least I won't get made fun of for having girly hands anymore. It was so hot today. Sweat was pouring out of me while I was just sitting around doing absolutely nothing inside the house. Doesn't help that I wear jeans while I'm at work. I have to get kneepads. I should get on that. I don't want to have my knees destroyed. I'm really tired. This one house today we were doing a service call at had the crappiest wiring job I've ever seen. The hot water heater, the furnace, and the freezer were on the same circuit. No wonder they were having problems. I think I saw about 5 staples for all the basement wiring, there were almost no holes drilled for the wires they were just going under and around joists. Wires not secured in the boxes, empty junction boxes, random wire that was not connected to anything and hiding in the ceiling with mar connectors on the ends of the wires. It was insane. Made me mad.

been a while

Things have been kinda crazy lately and haven't written in a while. To sum everything up, I got a job with an electrician. It's not a guarantee of an apprenticeship, but it's at least a start. If I don't suck then he will more than likely take me on as one, but he wants to make sure I'm not some crappy worker or punk kid or something. I start on Monday so hopefully this all pays off in the end. I was worried that moving out to Edmonton wouldn't pay off, but it seems that it has. If I hadn't, I probably wouldn't have this job.

westside story

Yesterday (Monday) = boring so I'm not gonna write about it. Today (Tuesday) = not as boring. I don't really remember much about this morning except my back feeling better. Mitch asked me and Ryan if we wanted to go to the West Edmonton Mall. I had to get some stuff so I said sure. So the three of us went and picked up one of Mitch's friends and off we went. We wandered around for a bit and checked out the West49 there. Holy cow that is the craziest store I have ever seen. Not only is it two floors (Main and Basement) but the main floor is bigger than a normal West, and the downstairs is bigger than a normal one. Also down there they have an indoor skate park! Crazy. That mall is awesome. Haven't been there in 8 years or something. I definitely think that Corey had something when he was out here and mentioned shooting some of Revolutions in there. I went into the one music store and played a Fender Resonator Acoustic (similar to the one Jon Foreman plays in 'Dirty second Hands') and I played 'DSH' on it and it sounded sooo good. $350 is a lot for one song to sound good. Maybe one day I'll get one. Still need a bass. Hmm. Oh and they had this store called Supply Sergeant which is like Army Surplus but better. Aside from all the cool military stuff they have swords and a lot of knives. It was also way nicer than any Army Surplus I've been in. When we went out to the car we grabbed our boards and started skateboarding around the parking lot. A couple minutes later a mall security car pulled up and said that they didn't care if we did but they get complaints from other people and they don't want to have to deal with that. So we complied.

back again

What a pleasant surprise to wake up to. My back messed up, again. Yesterday I thought, Oh good my back doesn't hurt after that day of hell. I was sorely mistaken. I took it easy today trying not to use my back too much. Not a great start. I really don't have much to talk about since I really didn't do much today. I called home to wish my dad a happy fathers day since I couldn't be there and to talk to Jenn. Mike was swimming when I called and mom is in Houston. I watched the MMVAs just to see Billy Talent and then Flying Circus was on. So good. Then we decided we wanted ice cream so we went to Dairy Queen. Tasty. I really wish I had my guitar here. Although my hands still hurt so playing would be painful. Just typing this hurts. And a huge bruise that covers my entire knee has revealed itself. At least know I know why it hurts to bend it sometimes. It didn't help when I sat at the table and smashed it against the leg of the table. YAY! That's not what I said. It hurt. A lot. Haha I just remember something. When we were making dinner Ryan sneezed and Mitch said, "bless you" to which Ryan (who don't forget is Korean and is still learning english) replied with "f*** you". I lost it. Best reply I've ever heard to "bless you". Pretty sure he thought Mitch said something else. Krazy Korean.

so bad

I got in late from the movie last night and had to get up early so I didn't get a chance to write one last night. Friday: Forgot to set my alarm clock and slept in. Didn't totally matter I didn't need to be anywhere. Mitch came home, said he forgot something at school asked if I wanted to come along and check out where he goes. So I went along. Just as we got to the end of the street we saw Ryan and asked if he wanted to come. He said that he would wait at home but forgot his keys because he couldn't find them. (Mitch attached them to Ryan's ceiling fan the night before) Mitch gave his keys to Ryan and we went to NAIT. He showed me around the workshop and stuff and then went to grab his bag from his locker. He then realized he had given his locker key to Ryan. So back we went. Not much happened for a while, then we got hungry and ordered Pizza Hut. Ryan didn't want any so he made noodles or something. I got a call around 9 or so and it was one of the places I called about a job. It was a general labour/framer helper and asked if I would work the next morning. I agreed obviously. We decided to go see a movie so we went and saw Knocked Up. Funny, yet not family friendly. Don't take the kids to see that one... or your parents. So I went sleepy cause I had to wake up early.
Saturday (today): Today was one of those days when you just want to lie down and die. I got up, got ready, walked to Kingsway Mall, met Jeff (contractor guy) and his son Jad. He had said he'd drive me. So away we went heading south. And we kept going south. And then we kept going. The avenue numbers were getting smaller and smaller. I live up at 122Ave. We ended up at 23Ave. Look at Google maps to get an idea. So I was like, whatever we're almost at the southern most part of the city no big deal. So Jeff was explaining to me what we were going to be doing. Finishing up a house with a concrete patio. Here's a picture of my Hand and Wrist after work. Let's just say concrete, is no longer my friend. First he got me to fasten the last of the reinforcement rod things which ended up giving me the chuck out my finger. Then the concrete came and it was my job to wheel the filled wheelbarrow from the truck to the patio and then dump it. Sounds easy enough. It's not. You have to get it to the back right against the house except you have to go over the reinforcement things which is over top of dirt which was damp and you're doing it with a lot of freakin concrete which weighs a lot and you have to almost run with it to keep from getting stuck. Recipe for disaster. So many times I dropped in and the wheel just sunk in the ground and got caught on the rods and stopped dead which made me run right into it and smash my shins. Twice it tipped when I was supposed to go to the back. I don't know how many I did. If I had to guess I'd say... about 20? maybe more. After a while it got harder and harder to lift the thing off the ground and then I started getting dizzier and my heart was pounding and I was having trouble breathing. Jad (9 yr old son) went and got me some water. Really nice kid by the way. I had to stop. I could barely stand. I went and sat in the shade around the side of the house and was there for an hour trying to stay conscious. I took off my gloves and noticed the big chunk out of my palm and the blisters on both hands and the incredible stinging sensation. Then I started getting bit by mosquitoes which some of you know I react horribly to. After I was able to stand I went back and helped with doing something with smoothing the edges. I don't know. They showed me how to do it so I did. When that was done he started hosing down the patio and using a broom. He told me to grab the hose and follow by him, but my steel toe boots' tread was too tough so I had to vacate the patio cause I was leaving holes and he got his one buddy to do it. Whatever. So I stood around watching. Then he said that I was done for the day so I went and sat down. Few minutes later he came over and said, so you know how to get back from here? I just said, Uh. No. So he told me that he'd drop e off at a bus stop and then I can just ask the bus driver how to get back to Kingsway. Yippee! So he dropped me off and said he'd call me Thursday because they're starting a new house next weekend. How about no? So I was standing there after he drove off back to the house and realized that I was at a "Future Bus Stop". No that doesn't mean it goes to the future, it means that no buses actually go by there but they will in the near future. Thanks. So I started walking trying to find where I was. I ended up calling Mitch and asking for a ride back. He said sure. While I was waiting, it started to hail. And then it poured rain. What a wonderful day. I was able to seek shelter in a Tim's and got myself a bagel. An hour and half later he showed up with Ryan. Not only is it at the other end of the city, there was an accident. Happy. Things started to get a little better because we went to a pet store and got to play with kittens. Mitch was looking into getting a dog. You know what kind? A PUG! (For those who don't know it's my favourite kind) He wanted either that or a boxer or a chihuahua. But ya, kittens = cute. Then we went to another pet place and found pugs and chihuahuas. Apparently those dogs are really expensive. $2000 expensive. Ya. So no puppy. Then we went to M&M's and Mitch got some stuff, then to Saveon where he got some stuff, and then back to the house. I changed and laid down while Mitch cooked up a bunch of the sausage he had that he brought from home. He's leaving in a week and wanted to try and get rid of as much food as he could before leaving. I'm going to go have some yogurt, be right back. Yum. Anyway, my hands hurt, my feet hurt, my knee still hurts, and so does my hip which I discovered was another injury from my wipe-out the other day. garbage. ya this one is long. I don't care.

could be a problem

Went to the Bredin Institute and was told that without a car, my chances of getting hired are slim. Not a good start to the day. I was able to get a booster juice because I was downtown so that wasn't bad. According to a map in the store there's 40 some-odd booster juices in Alberta. The most of any province. There's 18 in Edmonton according to the website. Downtown sure is a lot nicer than where I am now. Mitch informed me that this is the worst neighbourhood in the city. Apparently all the shootings happen a few avenues south of us. Not that my family needs any more reasons to worry about me. The people strung out on drugs wandering around isn't helping either. Anyone still wanna come visit me? Hopefully I can get a job and move somewhere else. I need a car. Real bad. Even the general labour jobs require cars. I mean come on. I called the only ones that didn't require cars but none answered. As if this wasn't hard enough.

that's gonna bruise

I'm writing this one a lot earlier than normal because I need to go to bed to get up early and head over to the Bredin Institute. Tomorrow is the Job Search workshop. " Learn how to carry out your job search productively by applying other methods of job search other than using the newspaper or internet. Gain knowledge about how to access the "hidden job market," effectively use your network, cold calling, information interviewing and other networking techniques to find and secure the job of your dreams. " That's from their site. Unfortunately I didn't find out till after it was over that today was the Workplace Health and Safety workshop. That's the one I really need. Employers like seeing that certification. I have to wait till next week to get it now. This place also has printers and fax machines and other stuff. And the best part is that it's all free. It's perfect cause I need to fax some resumés out and they'll let me do it at no charge, and while I'm there they'll help me get a job. Hopefully. That reminds me I need to make some cover letters. I'll do that once I'm done here. Mitch asked me today if I wanted to come skateboarding with him and Ryan. I don't have a board and so he asked if I wanted to go get one. Before I came out here I had planned on getting one. So I did! After I got it we went to the one skate park and within the first minute of me being on the board I wiped out. I rode it fine from the car across the parking lot. But when I tried to enter it I didn't lean forward enough and fell back. I rock! I got up, went and retrieved my board and kept going. My knee felt funny and almost felt wet. I rolled up my pant leg and discovered my first injury. Knee Picture After a bit I noticed my right hand hurt. I may have bruised a bone or two at the base of my palm near my thumb when I landed. It was still fun none the less. And a good work out too. So there Jenn I'm doing cardio. ish. I need to go clean my wounds.

i thought of a good title earlier... but i forgot it

Oh! I just remembered what it was. "How many guys does it take to cook pierogies?" It's funny to me. You'll find out why in a bit. So I finished revising my resume today and wrote up a cover letter and sent one off to a company that I would love to work for. Will they hire me? No. But I can't say I didn't try. I found a few other companies I'm gonna call. I'm also gonna be calling this place that helps people in my position. Free courses to help me get certification for things I need like safety training and stuff that looks good to employers. I'll find out more about it tomorrow. I could really go for a booster juice right now. Ugh. Why did I leave the university? Anyway the title thing. We were all making dinner and my contribution was yummy breaded haddock and carrots. Mitch decided to make pierogies, and nothing seemed to be going right. We were all standing around trying to figure out how to make them properly. We didn't know if they were cooked enough and then when he tried to fry them they were ripping apart when they were flipped. We ended up using a different frying pan and then it worked. The problem wasn't us it was a really old frying pan. Maybe you had to be there. Ya probably. I keep forgetting I have yogurt. It's too late now to have some. I'll have it tomorrow if I remember, which I probably won't.

slacking

I missed another day. weak. This will combine Sunday and today (Monday). We went grocery shopping and then went to Dollarama, which by the way is the greatest store ever! We headed over to Wal-mart and then back here. It sure is handy to have Mitch and his car. I hate taking the bus. I really want to get my own car. I don't really remember much else happening yesterday. Today was my day to start looking for a job. I soon realized that I had not copied over my resumé to the laptop. I then remembered I did that on purpose because the one I had was crap. It was in need of a makeover so I started from scratch. Hopefully this one will work better than my old one. Tomorrow I'm gonna go to the local IBEW and see if they can hook me up with a job. Apparently that worked for one of Mitch's friends. Worth a shot. Oh I just remembered that Mitch watched RWR today. I had given it to him the other day and then today I was sitting here at my laptop and could hear him watching it in the other room. I think we might have another fan. win. That was short but I don't need to go into all the details of what I bought or what I ate or the near mental breakdown I had. On a side note I like the weather here so far. It's always at least 10 degrees cooler here. As much as I like the cold I don't think I'll be ready for winter here. Hopefully I'll survive. Well if I last that long out here. Who knows.

rain

Today started out pretty good. I got up and was planning my trip to go check out an apartment. The other guys finally woke up and we had lunch together. I don't have any food yet so Mitch said I could have the last of his waffles. Have I mentioned that pretty much everyone I meet here are... is... (awkward sentence) the nicest people? He's actually from Saskatchewan but close enough. Anyway I told him that I was going to go check out a bachelor apartment and he said that he'd drive me. What I'd tell you? He ended up passing out on his bed and I didn't want to wake him and I felt bad eating his food and having him drive me around. So I told Ryan I was heading out for a bit and I'd be back later. I worked my way over to the apartment (which is quite a ways away from where I am now) and ended up being told by the guy that Monday he was allowing people to come see it. I was not happy. So I went to 7-11 and grabbed a pop and then started working my way back. As I was waiting for the bus it started raining. Thankfully I was at a stop with an enclosure. The bus finally came and I got on. After that long bus ride I got off and walked to the next bus stop I needed. This one didn't have an enclosure. Then the rain got worse, and ended up standing there for half an hour waiting in the rain for the bus. I got on and sat down dripping. At the next stop which was a little more than a block away I noticed that it had an enclosure. I wanted to die. I got back to the house ad dried my hair and changed and then had dinner with the guys. I soon forgot about how horribly crappy things had gone. We hung out for a while longer and did the dishes. I really thought that this day was gonna be the worst yet, but it didn't turn out too bad.

my bad

I forgot to write one last night. This is about yesterday, so I'm gonna speak as if it is yesterday.
I got up at about 8 because I had to run to the bank to withdraw money for rent and had to check-out of the residence by 11. My back was a little sore but I could walk fine so I figured it'd be ok. The bank isn't that far. Unfortunately I made it about a block when I felt my back completely seize up. Not a pleasant experience. So I walked the rest of the way in excruciating pain, and then walked back. I gathered all my stuff up and checked out. It was then I realized that there was a Booster Juice right there in the building! I had some time to kill so I grabbed one. When I was done I called a cab and headed to the house. I moved my stuff in, talked to the other two guys for a bit, and just took it easy. Mitch and Ryan skateboard so they're excited that they'll have someone else to skate with. From what I gather Mitch is pretty good and as Ryan put it, "I'm suck." He's still working on the English.

House. not the doctor

I can finally breathe a little easier. I found a place to rent. Hooray! Although I'm kind of enjoying living in this residence. It's like a hotel, but better. Well not the bed... or the shower. It's a little small for me but there's only so much room or else I'd lose floor space. I think they could have put a better one in there's ample room in here. Anyway, I have to be out of here by 11am tomorrow and I have some things to do before I leave, like go to the bank and take out more money for the rent. It's a pretty nice place and the owner is really nice and the other two guys living there seem really cool. The one dude is from Korea. So the next time you see me I may know a little Korean. Probably not but you never know. The other guy is leaving at the end of the month which is too bad cause he seems really funny. Once I move all my crap in then I have to start looking for a job which according to the owner will literally take me two days. That's what every other person says as well. I sure hope it's true. Cause I need a job. It is not cheap living here. It's not cheap living anywhere that isn't home lol. This is definitely a huge departure from my normal life. Gotta grow up sooner or later.
On a side note, I saw the biggest freaking rabbits I have ever seen in my life! The one was a fair bit bigger than Murdoch. On my way back tonight is the first time I've seen them here. But they were just roamin around on campus. It's like Waterloo's Geese. Except not nearly as many and a lot fuzzier and friendlier. Oh and also there's so many good filming locations here. I'm definitely gonna make some short films while I'm out here. Don't hold your breath though in case I'm too busy with work and stuff. I'll do what I can. Perhaps a certain sequel will have some stuff shot out here? OOOOO the possibilities! Stupid booster juice was closed when I came back. And the elevators weren't working when I got back. My body didn't need that after all the problems it's been giving me. I sure hope I don't wake up not being able to walk like this morning. That wasn't pleasant. Can't wait till I can get a bike. Until then I think I'm gonna get a skateboard. Ya that's right. I'm that awesome. You're jealous. You know it. Stop lying to yourself. Hey someone just went by on one. Coincidence? Yes. Yes it is.

didn't see that coming

Today was such a long day. I'm not used to actually being awake for most of the day. I better get used to it though. I'm gonna need to get a bike at some point. From walking around last night and for a lot during the day today, I have done a number on my lower back. My body is rebelling for me making it do so much that isn't walking from the couch to the fridge. I didn't have the best day today. I didn't find a place to live or even one that still had a room available. I'm starting to get worried which is not what I need right now. I may need to pay a lot more than I had planned for rent which could be a really big problem. I have to go to the bank tomorrow to find out about how I can get cheques or if I even can. This could end being one short trip. I think I can see the West Edmonton Mall from my window. Hmm. My back really hurts. I think I'm gonna go drug myself and go to bed even though its only 11:30 here. Goodnight Booster Juice.

i've made a huge mistake

I actually made it. I am in Edmonton at one of the University of Alberta's very nice residences. I'm only here for 3 days and in those 3 days I need to find a place to rent so I can continue to live not on the street. Planes are cool. Felt a little woozy at times with the turbulence bouncing and the banking. Not gonna lie, seeing the wing bending and bouncing around like that was a little unnerving. Thanks to Jenn the whole time I was thinking about LOST and just waiting for the back of the plane to break off. Actually I would have probably ended up being one of the taileys. Anyway, I just realized I need to go get some stuff that I forgot. In summary, clouds look cool when you're above them, flying from Hamilton to Edmonton seems like a long time when you're sitting by yourself, you can't take Axe body spray in your carry-on, Sky Shuttle is awesome. Let's hope tomorrow goes as smooth if not smoother.

it's on

My flight is booked. There's no turning back now... unless I cancel it, which I won't do.

it's a start

Welcome, this is the beginning of my Alberta web log. Which, due to the apparent lack of time that people on the internet have and find the need to shorten everything, I guess it would be condensed to an... ablog, or an alblog. I'll just call it my Alberta Blog. Just to show how l33t I am I'll use a 0 instead of an o. So in the end, enjoy my Alberta Bl0g. Ya that looks good. I think.

I was just looking at flights and where I'll be staying when I first get there. Things are finally starting to come together.