Sorry it’s been a while with the updating, but stuff has been a’happening:
1)
2) Went for coffee with
3) School is going okay, but I’m way behind on my reading for my Victorian Poetry class (was supposed to read yesterday while looking after JVL, but transit and making scrambled eggs, etc took longer than I anticipated). And last night, I found out that I have been assigned to give the first presentation in my Graham Greene/Evelyn Waugh class, on Waugh’s ‘A Handful of Dust’. Allow me to type a brief desciptive passage from the back cover of the book: “Lady Brenda Last is bored with country life at Hetton Abbey, the Victorian Gothic mansion that is her devoted husband Tony’s pride and joy. She rents a flat in London…”
4) I am engaged in negotiations for the purchase of my second condo. It’s a private sale of a one-bedroom near Bay & College for those who know downtown Toronto. It’s right behind Fran’s, a beloved eatery of mine from days of yore. I’m acquiring this as a crash pad for Justin and I to live in on nights when it is too cold or too late or too impractical for us to make the trek to Weston. Justin’s friend Glenda has been enormously helpful in doing real estate research for me, and also in making us tasty brownies. I am in her debt. More details to follow on how the deal proceeds.
5) Bought the cheapest yet most functional refurbished computer, flatscreen monitor and wireless router from tigerdirect.ca on behalf of Justin’s Mum, and am nervously awaiting their arrival so I can set them up – I hope she will like them. Her old system is weak and needs to be put down, but first I have to try and transfer all her files intact. Nervous!
6) Big reshuffle at work, particularly with my old unit, Issues Management. Two, maybe three positions cancelled (not mine, thankfully), two new positions added, one in management and one bilingual officer position. Neither of which I’m qualified for (dammit!). Also not sure if my contract will be renewed, since the person whose position I am filling is still working in his secondment, BUT the lady that HE is replacing has returned to her old job. Thus, there’s an extra body in here somewhere and I think it might be me. Time to brush up the ol’ resume AGAIN.
7) Reserved hotel rooms for Justin and I and Justin’s dad for San Diego, July 13-17. Rather panicked that
8) CANNOT find my rent cheques to deposit for January and February, and rentees will not issue new ones. Do not know how to resolve this situation. Panic is rapidly setting in. Debating the idea of resolving situation with chewing gum and a baseball bat. More reports on that later, too.
Aaaarrrrgggghhhh tooo much tooo think abooout.
Now you’re just making up words. I have no patience for that.
I have looked at flight prices, too, and been similarly offput. There’s no way I can dish out approx. $500 at tax time just for the flight, then pay for food/accomodation a few months later. Maybe if the prices go down… but I swear these days the price to fly from Canada to ANYWHERE in the US is min. $400 (what with our average of $130 in taxes on top of any flight), except you know, if you’re just hopping across the border you might be able to find something more in the $300-350 realm. It’s upsetting.
Also, how depressed am I that between you and JVL, you will own THREE properties in this fine city, and I can’t even find a-one?
I’m not making the word up, I’m EXTRAPOLATING it from the Closet Buffyholic’s website, since she appears to be the impetus and major organizer. Plus, I know it tickles your fancy every time you see a new word, so stopping feigning being chuffed.
As for the property thing, I have always been quite clear that my major “work” goal in life was to become a Mogul, of one kind or another, and very likely the real estate kind, since I don’t have the musculature for pillaging and conquering.
There is no reason to be jealous of our possessions, either. They own us. Between the two of us, we have debt loads I pray you will never witness or comprehend. Also? You have a cat. I don’t. So you can see the balance of the scales tipping right there. 🙂
Hugs to you. I may not see you for another week or so, but you are in my thoughts. One of these fine days, we will get around to completing at least one of our mutual creative projects – probably your photography one before my video review trilogy or any of my other writing projects (unless you want to start a new TMB section on scholarly essays, ha ha).
Heh. The best thing about “Buffyholics” is that wingnut who wrote the book about language in Buffy (can’t for the life of me remember which one. Possibly “Slayer Slang”?) scooped up “Closet Buffyholic” from the Bronze, but completely missed the part where it was someone’s name, and explained to the world that it was, in fact, a term used by Bronzers to describe their affliction. She kind of lost some credit in terms of “thorough research” at that point.
As for getting together, we should perhaps abandon the thought of mutual productivity at this point and lower the bar a little – perhaps replace “work on projects” with “drink cider and eat poutine”. I bet we’d be able to pull that off in short order!
I deleted me the first time. *g*
Flights – well depending on how much you’re willing to drive, I think Anya told me that going out of Buffalo (which is what she’s doing) is about $200.00 on Orbitz, who seems to have the best prices to NOLA period based on the prices she keeps trying to tempt me with — you might be able to train down if you can’t drive… have fun!
Re: the renters — can’t you get them to cancel the previous cheques and issue new ones? I understand if they have to pay fees or something, but if you cover the fee then they don’t really have a leg to stand on refusing to issue you new cheques.
That’s what I thought, but they sent me this long letter blah blah-ing about how you can’t really “void” a cheque, you can only put a “stop-payment” on it, but even then, that only stops random people from picking it up off the street and cashing it, and APPARENTLY the person it was written to can cash it at any time. Which *I* think is a load of hootenany, but I simply haven’t the time to call the bank and confirm/deny at this time. I also don’t have time to debate the morality of filling a water balloon with urine and lobbing it at the balcony of my place into said renters’ bedroom, so I may just act now, research later on all accounts.
ps – Coffee; we should have it! Also, sorry about your unfortunate contraction of the plague on your birthday. That sucks. I have a bunch o’ emails, one of which is firstnamelastname at hotmail dot com, or there’s always firstname at silversnail dot com (trying to avoid spambots drives me bonkers, but what can you do?)
Hmm… Buffalo, eh? JVL’s dad drives to Buffalo pretty often… maybe I could hitch a ride?
Good thinkin’, claris! Will work on that plan. 🙂 Thanks. [Although, it’s still $200USD, which would be like $280CDN plus tax, AND I’d have to be a Canadian citizen flying from state to state, which I’ve never done before, and I would likely have to get a flight back to Toronto… but still, it’s a good option to investigate]
well, I can’t answer the canadalander stuff, but Anya probably could, since that’s how she normally travels – via Buffalo, that is…and she’s got all the hotel info & crap, so… anya@ceruleanbreezes.com
That sounds like BS to me, but whatever — maybe they bank at Stupid Bank Of Canada.
Emailing you! It will be nonsense but it will put a real addy for you in my Book O’ Addies.
But hey! School is going well for you!
-caellum
You KNOW I need to know more details about the IMU shuffle, don’t you?
Also, bravo on the imminent purchase of new condo! I was getting perilously close to making a purchase myself, but I’ve decided to rein in that impulse and budget myself silly for at least a year, then venture out into the land of home-ownership