Doom?

My brother and I were having a conversation over MSN...even though we were actually sitting right beside each other. I was working on my assignment and he was bumming around on his computer. Here's how our conversation went:

Andy: "How long do you estimate you will take to be done ur assignment?"

Me: "Umm. It will be awhile. But I'm only going to stay up until midnight. Then go to bed."

Andy: "....okely dokely"

Andy: "I will stay by your side until you go off to bed :)"

Me: "hahaaaaaaaaaaaaahahaahha"

Me: "how supportive of you, little brother of mine"

Andy: "you're welcome"

Andy: "i am your knight in shining armour"

Me: "good god. if you are my knight in shining armour, i am doomed"

Me: "DOOMED!"

Andy: "Don't worry. I will save you :)"

.....Like I said, doomed.

anniversary

four years today.

shattered.

four years.

and still broken.

happy anniversary to me.

Location, Location

My cousin Jimmy was telling me about his friend's family member that had cancer. He told me about what he went through and some of the effects of the cancer. So, I decide to ask Jimmy a question and in true Jimmy fashion, he answered...

"Where was his cancer?"

"It was in Canada."

"No, Jimmy. Where was his cancer?" (I asked s-l-o-w-l-y)

"Uhhh. It was in C-A-N-A-D-A." (He answered as if I was having issues understanding him)

"Jimmy. Where on his BODY was his cancer?"

"Ohhhhh."

I couldn't stop laughing.

Oh Boy

What's the experience like so far? Dan just asked me this question with regards to me taking a quarter off of work. Well, let me tell you about my experience so far...

The first week off was fabulous. The weather was good and I was winding down from the job. There was a work dinner on Wednesday evening of the first week and I got to sit down for a relaxed dinner with everyone - it was a good dinner. It made me realize that I had made the right decision to take my quarter.

After that, things took a turn for the worst.

The Saturday of that week I got into a car accident. It was my fault - I rear-ended someone. For the people who know me (Jaclyn! Grishma!) and my driving habits know that I drive like a grandma. There are left turns I don't take because they make me nervous. I didn't even see them. Now my car has about $8000 worth of damage. I still don't have it back.

Then a week and a half later I got sick. Not a serious sick, just a cough/cold/flu type scenario. I didn't think anything of it and actually by Friday I was feeling better. On Saturday morning it hit me. I thought I was dying. I went to the doctor and he prescribed me two sets of antibiotics. He said I had waited too long to come in. So, I have essentially been in bed since Saturday. I am feeling better and better every day but I still feel very weak. I'm going into Vancouver tomorrow and I'm praying that I make it through the day...and the rest of the week.

The experience so far has been nothing like I imagined or planned for it to be. I'm already a third of the way through my quarter! I'm hoping and praying that it gets better from here.

Taking a Quarter

I'm making a huge change in my life. I've decided to take a three month leave of absence from work to focus on me. I've been working with this company for about six years now and I needed a break. I've always put in long hours at my job and it was wearing down on me. So...my three months start April 2nd!

At first, I felt pretty guilty about doing this. I feel a certain responsibility towards my job and my colleagues - especially being in management and often being put in a position where you have to work short-staffed. So I felt bad for putting my manager in such a position. I was feeling like I was abandoning my workplace in pursuit of a selfish motive. Gradually, however, I started to realize that this is something I need to do for myself and my sanity. I love my job but there were days when I'd truly think about what I was doing there and why I was wasting my time. Now I no longer feel guilty for taking this time off - I'm actually getting pretty excited.

I have compiled a short list of my to-do's for the next three months...here it is (not necessarily in priority order):

- school
- gym
- having fun in downtown Vancouver ;)

Who knows...I might be having so much fun that I might decide to extend my leave!

Transition

I'm taking this course on Management. I find it really interesting because I can relate it to my own work. For example:

The Transition to Management Initial Expectations

Manager's initial expectation:
Be the boss
Formal authority
Manage tasks
Job is not managing people.

After six months as a manager:
Initial expectations were wrong (no shit)
Fast pace (really?)
Heavy workload (gasp!)
Job is to be problem-solver and trouble-shooter for subordinates (in other words: everyone is stupid).

In His Shoes

This past Saturday evening, we had planned a family game night. My brother and I had planned on going over to our cousin Jimmy's house and play the games there. But I had been sick all week and just wanted to stay home. So we decided against going over to Jimmy's. In the end, my dad, my brother and I played a game of Monopoly at home. It was a great evening. The game went on for hours and my dad, who had dominated the entire game, won. It was past midnight by the time I went downstairs to my room.

As I got into my room I heard the familiar buzzing of my mobile phone telling me I had a message. I picked up my phone and noticed I had eight missed calls. Now I don't know about any of you out there, but eight missed calls is a heck of a lot for me. The first thing that came to my head was 'there's been an emergency', but immediately after that I knew that if there had been an emergency, then I would've probably also received a phone call at home.

I check the list of numbers in my missed calls. I notice all but one of them are from a phone number I don't recognize. I check my voicemail and there's four messages. The first one is from a friend of mine asking me to give her a call back. The next two are hang ups and the fourth is a full message. Here's how it went (I only changed the names):

"Hi Lillian, this is Garth. Garth Smith. I'm looking for my step-daughter Jill. She told me she was going to go see a game with you. It's 12am and I'm just wondering when she'll be home. If you get a chance, will you please call me? Thanks."

After listening to that message, my chest felt heavy. Clearly this is a wrong number. I have no idea who Lillian, Garth or Jill are. Putting myself in Garth's shoes, I would want to know that a phone number that I believe is going to get to my step-daughter is the wrong number. He called my phone seven times with the last one being at midnight, so he's obviously worried about her. I toy with the idea of whether or not I should call him back to let him know it's the wrong number. I look at the clock, it says 12.30am. Should I call him? Is it too late? Should I just forget about it? Am I being an idiot?

Of course I'm not being an idiot. If I was this parent, I would really appreciate a phone call back. If I knew the phone number was incorrect, it might make me decide to start calling other numbers I know to find her. On the flip side, if I didn't know the number was incorrect then I probably won't make those other phone calls. The decision was made. I called him. A lady answered.

"Hello?"

"Hi. May I talk to Garth, please?"

"Yes. Hold on."

I hear her telling Garth that the phone call is for him. He comes on the line.

"Hello?"

"Hi Garth. My name is Loveleen. You left a message on my voicemail looking for a Gillian. I just want you to know that you've dialled the wrong number."

"I'm looking for my step-daughter."

"I know and I hope everything is ok. I just called to let you know that you've got the wrong number. I have no idea who Gillian is."

"Gillian Hill?"

"No idea."

"Oh. Well, I'm really sorry."

"No no. Don't be. I just felt you needed to know this was the wrong phone number."

"Thanks. I appreciate that."

"Take care."

I hung up my phone and felt much lighter. Hopefully in the future, if I ever find myself in that situation, someone will do the same thing for me.

He Knows

This entry is an extension of the entry above. Earlier on in the day, when I had decided I wasn't going to Jimmy's house for games night, I had the following conversation with my brother:

"Hey Andy, maybe we'll ask dad to play a round of Monopoly with us tonight. If he's up to it."

"Yeah!" my brother says, nodding his head. Suddenly he looks at me quizically.

"What?"

"Umm. Do you think dad will understand?"

"Andy. Dad taught me how to play Monopoly."

"He did?"

"Yup."

"Wow. He knows more than I thought."

Tight Pants/High Maintenance/Waste of Time

One of my counterparts from another office e-mailed me last week. Her and I send e-mails back and forth every now and then. What's great is that if she's ever in a bind for employees, I'm able to send her someone to work the shifts she needs and vice versa. Here are two of the most recent e-mails I've received from her:

To: Luv
From: Wynde
Subject: short fat crabby bum

You knew who it was before you even opened the email, right!!! Apparently that girl that we had tentatively signed up for our office, doesn't want to come this way.

I LOVE MY JOB !!!!!!!!!!

Is your girl still available on those days, or do you have anybody else that is available. We have posted a casual position for here , but you know how long that takes. i am away tomorrow, and back on friday

thanks a million
- - -

The next day, I received the following:

To: Luv
From: Wynde
Subject: CRAZY WOMAN

Hi Loveleen................ I am certified nuts.............. I just wanted to let you know that the other office has offered a girl to come over and cover for us on the 24th 25th and 26th........... I am going to hire an older lady, rather than these young girls, that can't make up their minds, what color to dye their hair, or if their pants are tight enough

thanks a million, and talk to you soon
- - -

And I agree with her! Young employees are much higher maintenance than the older ones! They're always having a personal dilemma that they MUST share with you...regardless of whether or not you want to know about it...and 95% of the time it doesn't have anything to do with work. Then they break a nail and can't come into work for three days. Total waste of time.

Can't Think

Mondays are my regular days off from work. As I had quite a hectic week & weekend, I had decided to sleep in his morning. At 8am my cell phone starts to ring. I open my eyes to see who's calling - it's Grish. Inwardly groaning, I pick up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey"

"What are you doing up so early?"

"Well. I have to take my grandma to her manicure & pedicure so I decided I'd get up early and hang out for a bit."

"Oh."

"So what are you doing today?"

"Sleeping!"

"I know that. What are you doing later today?"

"Don't know. Can't think past sleeping."

"Haha. Alright how about this, you give me a call after you've had your sleep."

"Ok. Bye."

And of course, I could not go back to sleep.

Hazardous

For those of you that don't know, my mom works in the health care industry. As such, she has access to things that us normal folk wouldn't have access to. She came home from work this evening with a couple of packages in her hands.

"I brought mushrooms! I'll incorporate them into dinner tomorrow."

"I love mushrooms!" I looked at the packages in her hands and here is what I saw:

(FYI, these are Biohazard Specimen Transport Bags)

"Uhhh. Mom, the mushrooms are in biohazard bags!"

"Yes! These are the most sterile bags you will ever find!"

"I don't care! It's a biohazard bag!!"

"One of the guys at work brought a box of mushrooms and we all grabbed these bags and helped ourselves."

"You mean everyone took home mushrooms in biohazard bags?"

"Of course. They're the most sterile bags you'll ever find."

At this point my brother walks into the kitchen. I grab a bag.

"Look what mom brought for us to eat!"

My brother took a look at the mushrooms in the bag.

"Oh dear God, she wants us dead."

"Oh for heaven's sake! I don't want you dead. These are the most sterile bags you'll ever find!"

My brother looked at me. I looked at my brother.

"It was nice knowing you, Andy."

He nodded his head and gave me a hug.

L'Oncle

As many of you already know, my family is crazy. Since the apple doesn't fall far from the tree...well then, you know what that says about me. Anyway, I mostly blog about my idiot brother and his craziness. Today I will blog about one of my uncles. Uncle D is my dad's oldest brother (my dad is the youngest in a family of six kids) and Uncle D is number 3. He is by far my funniest/craziest uncle. Here are a couple of his stories.

- - -

We were all at a wedding reception one day and I went over to say hello to my uncle. He was wearing a suit and tie and looked quite spiffy but I noticed that he was wearing runners with his outfit.

"Hi Uncle D!"

"Hello Sona."

"Um. Why are you wearing runners?"

He put on his serious face.

"Well dear, you never know when you might need to make a run for it."

My jaw dropped. Satisfied with my reaction, my uncle turned around and walked away. Later on that evening, I caught up to him again.

"Uncle D, who would you be running from?"

He thinks for a moment, nods his head and looks over at me.

"The wife comes to mind."

My jaw drops. He walks away. Again.

- - -

On another day, I decided to ask my uncle about his grey hair. His hair is quite unique in that the hair on one side of his head is black and the other side is grey and it literally splits down the middle. I've always wondered why he didn't dye his hair.

"Hey Uncle D, why don't you just dye your hair one colour?"

"Well dear, you have to understand my dilemma."

"And what is your dilemma?"

"You see, my wife wants me to look young and my kids want me to look old."

"...O...k..."

"So, when I'm talking to my wife I turn this way." He turns to the side on which only his black hair shows.

"When I'm talking to my kids I turn this way." He turns to his grey hair side.

"And that dear keeps everyone happy."

I was laughing so hard I couldn't breathe. Satisfied with my reaction, he turned around and walked away.

Keep

"Excuse me, are you the manager?"

I cringe inside. I hate hearing that. I wonder what's coming next.

"Yes. What can I do for you?"

"Well, I found this outside in the parking lot. I think someone will come back to look for it."

I look down into the man's hands. He's holding a pink rzr phone.

"Oh thank you for bringing it in. We'll take care of it."

I have had many instances where someone has left their cell phone behind. Usually, I take a quick look at the contacts list and look for any phone numbers under "home" or "mom" or "dad". This one had a "dad" contact and it was a local cell phone number. I dialled the number from my office phone.

"Hello"

"Hi. This is Loveleen calling from the office. There was a pink cell phone found in the parking lot and I believe it may belong to your daughter. Does she have a pink cell?"

"Yes, that's hers."

"Oh good. Could you please pass onto her that we have her cell phone here and she can come pick it up anytime?"

"Actually just keep it."

"I'm sorry?"

"I'm paying her cell phone bill and if you keep it, it'll save me a lot of money!"

"Oh. Oh! You could come pick it up if you like."

"That's ok. It's the price I pay for deciding to have kids. I'll let her know you have it - she'll go crazy looking for it otherwise."

"Ha! Thanks. Have a great day."

Saved

I came home from work today and found my brother on his computer (he's always on the computer). I asked about how his day was and while he was telling me about the events of the day, I realized that he was reading up on Physiology. He ended his summary by saying, "And now I'm doing homework" and he got quite a perplexed look on his face when he looked back at the computer screen.

"Andy, why are you looking up physiology?"

"Because it's my class and I have to do a little report on what I learned today."

"You're not taking physiology."

He looks at me as if I'm going mad.

"Uhh. Yes I am!"

I look at him as if he's gone mad.

"No you're not!"

"Yes! Physiology is one of my classes."

"Uhh. Andy, you're taking Psychology."

His eyes go wide.

"What?"

"Yeah. Psychology not physiology."

"What's the difference?"

"Believe me, there's a huge difference."

He starts to look into his backpack, pulls out a couple sheets of paper and starts reading them.

"No wonder I was so confused! But I'm sure that there's a spelling error somewhere on these sheets. I'm sure of it."

At this point I am laughing so hard I can't breathe. After taking a quick look at the sheets and realizing there wasn't a spelling error, he put the sheets back into his backpack.

"It must've been on a sheet I threw away."

I laughed even harder! He takes a look at me and starts laughing a bit himself.

"Don't laugh at me!" He looks over at the report he had typed up, "What a waste of a report. I was wondering why nothing online was about what we had talked about in class today."

"Andy, I believe I just saved your behind. You owe me."

I looked at him and started laughing again. Ignoring me, he went back over to the computer and started working on his report. This time the title was Psychology.

Dye

(This post is for my friend Jaclyn in Australia) Here's what my hair looks like now!