- Silent Hill is a really, really crappy movie
- computer broken. Am stealing internet from *sweetbeans* and lamelliform
- *sweetbeans* got me stuff from Italy! But I can't reveal what it is... just yet
- wrote letters to people to let them know that I won't be checking e-mail or Facebook and got a phone call almost right away! Yay, Canada Post!

Anyway, no time. Need to hear about *sweetbeans*' tales about Europe!

As some of you know, I parted ways with my second job a week ago. It wasn't much of a decision so much as a conclusion at that point, and we sorted things out on a sunny morning. Afterwards, I called up my old store, and *NT* immediately unloaded 32 hours of work on me on the first call. Within an hour, they had called me back twice and given me another 14 hours and were planning on scheduling me for shifts on the next schedule. It would seem that they're a little understaffed at the moment, which is a situation that I am gladly taking advantage of.

That wasn't too bad. Things were working out as well as they could for me, and though it was going to be the usual struggle, I was feeling good in general about the split.

Yesterday, however, upon submitting my taxes, I discovered that I owed the CRA $660. It floored me for a while, and the resulting anxiety attack and swearing caused *nep* enough concern to actually IM me to ask whether I was okay. I WAS okay, I've just never OWED the CRA money before. In fact, with the exception of my credit cards, I've never owed such a large amount of money to ANYONE. It was terrifying to part with more than one month's rent, knowing that rent day was coming up almost immediately.

Ah well. I have to thank *hessiebell* for recommending StudioTax, as it was as simple to use as any other program out there, you can do up to 20 returns, and it's free! Well, they accept payment, if you want to send them something, which is what I plan on doing.



Latest Fortune Cookie Fortunes:

YOU ARE A PERSON OF CULTURE

Then, I got THREE from a cookie at Hon's:

YOU ARE HEADING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION

YOUR HAPPINESS IS INTERTWINED WITH YOUR OUTLOOK ON LIFE

NEXT MONTH WILL BE A SPECIAL MONTH FOR YOU

Well, thank god for THAT.

Spent Friday night drinking beer and playing Wii at *MG*'s. *MG* also made me the best tasting gin and tonic I've ever had - it didn't taste like bug spray at all! So maybe my years of hating gin are over.

It was around 1:30AM by the time I got home, then I spent another 20 minutes doing random crap online that probably could have waited until after work the next day. At any rate, when I got up for work an hour and a half later, there was only a bit of a struggle. Working the opening shift was nice, as MORE members of my old team expressed how glad they were to be working with me again, and together, we more or less rocked the morning rushes. *NL* called me 'Superwoman' after he heard that I'd slept all of 1 1/2 hours before coming to a full shift, and I got two little thank you cards for picking up extra shifts.

After work, I staggered home with some groceries, then went back to bed. My alarm was set for 5:00PM because there was a party for my new store at 9:00, but I ended up sleeping through the entire CD and woke up at 8:10 instead. Whoops. After hurriedly making some nachos, I slipped on my wooden sandals (since work is only 2 blocks away now!) and went to hang out with a handful of the baristas and the shift team. We ended up going for drinks afterwards, and stayed out until 1:00AM, or rather, when the bar closed. It was *JHo*'s (my new manager's) birthday after midnight, but he surreptitiously paid for all of our alcohol before leaving anyway. Yay! Not-quite-store-sanctioned drinking!

Tonight, I'm working the first shift ever at my new store. Wish me luck!

Wow. It's so... clean. Everything has a dual purpose - there are cabinets behind the signs, all of the shelves are extremely deep and act as storage for any additional product and everything is hidden away 'in plain view'.

Oh, and did I mention we're right next to a sushi restaurant? I suspect that their sales are about to go up by a LOT, as almost all of the baristas I've ever worked with are addicted to sushi. Even the shift supervisor who went over to give them a "Hi, we're Starbucks, nice to meet you" present bought some sushi before she came back. =)

I'm actually excited.

The last roll on my Holga turned out 5 shots that I liked (out of 12, which isn't a bad percentage). This photo was taken on my birthday, right around when I was cleaning my apartment.

It has been months since I worked a morning shift on a weekday, and well... it was awesome to get back to being a bustling, efficient barista. Both *LC* and *KB* let me know how glad they were to be working with me again, and all of my old regulars stopped to say hi and welcome me 'back'. It was nice. I didn't realize I'd missed running around with a smile on my face for so long.

Had *miss_col* over yesterday for some good conversation and also so she could see my apartment for the first time. She also brought me a birthday present, which was an awesome Freeset Bag. My constant whining about wanting a new bag probably had something to do with her decision, but man, she could not have chosen a better style/size, etc. It's so colourful and unlike anything I already own, just looking over the website makes me want to get another one.

Anyway, it was fun to have ANOTHER person over, laughing about the penguins and hanging out/discussing very mature things.

Oof. It's taken me way too long to write this. Here's a photo. There's a weird light-leak or something, but I think I may have exposed this shot twice or something. I still like it, though.

Spent a very pleasant afternoon with *CE* yesterday, wandering around, having a drink here and there and cursing the cold weather every time we walked in the shade. Along the way, we ran into *Arezu* and *proggie* (although *Arezu* was just on her way to the airport and then on to Malawi, and *proggie* was just talking to some guy in Starbucks). After a long day of searching for a cape, taking photos and discussing life, got to eat sushi tacos while we split two pitchers of beer.

Most of today was spent lounging with the sun on my back. lamelliform and I went and got free coffee as well as a little tote/grocery bag from Starbucks, because it was Earth Day and I'd brought along two mugs. We also went for all-you-can-eat sushi and walked down Denman to English Bay. It's kind of nice to walk around in the cool sun with a mug of coffee in your hand...

Afterwards, I headed over to *tizbarb*'s, where she bought me consolatory pizza and a case of Blanche de Chambly. *TD* joined us for a few hours, and though I wasn't particularly depressed when the evening began, our conversation left me feeling much better. Sometimes, just holding a conversation with *TD* is reassuring, as he's a very articulate speaker. His ability to succinctly express himself without pauses or little vocalized thought-pauses intimidates me but also inspires me to do the same.

Anyway, here's one of my favourite shots off my most recent Holga roll. It looks like the kind of photo that would accompany a dark, brooding entry where I'm slowly feeling more and more trapped by my boring, seemingly aimless existence.



I'm glad that it's attached to this post, though. It makes me happy to think that even the smallest crack in the window can provide plenty of fresh air.

Not sleeping again. Yes, it is around the time that an adult might get up anyway, but as I tend to stay up until 2:00-3:00AM the night before a day off, I try to sleep until at least 10:00 the next day.

So what is an insomniac to do? Immediately go to BoingBoing.com and start reading through sites like edible.com. So far, I've been impressed by the fact that they carry that Civet Cat coffee. £22 for .57g. Or, you could get coffee that was eaten and then regurgitated by a weasel! Apparently, it has a 'rich chocolatey flavour', and is priced at the much more reasonable £14 for 57g. How can you not want to buy this stuff?

Actually, this only made me think of watching David Attenborough eat the abdomen off a honeypot ant on some TV show. It didn't really make me want to do the same - instead, I was just thinking how crappy that must have been for the ant.

Have a weird, mystery bruise on my leg. I wish I could remember all of the things I've been running into.

Today should have been my last day at my 'old' store. We laughed about it, and I mentioned that I should probably bring my shoes and mug home, but shortly after my break, *TT* showed up and asked if I could cover her shift on Saturday. So the shoes and mug get to stay for a few more days. That will give me more time to get all sentimental about leaving.

Bought some sushi, watched the latest Harry Potter movie (after realizing that I'd completely skipped the one before this one). The movie wasn't bad... it was a good way to kill time while eating sushi.

Okay. Nothing happened today. Oh, I rolled up a giant turnip in Katamari Damacy. It was listed as 18m and "RARE" by the game item listings. I also finally got to roll Nessie, those tractors in the construction site and a blowfish restaurant. That last one made me very happy.

For some reason, it's snowing in Vancouver in the middle of April. It's all very odd. Yesterday morning, it was clear enough for me to wear my ballet slippers. It was warm enough that people I passed on the street were wearing flip flops. By 6:00, it was hailing so heavily that I had to go out and buy an umbrella from the 7-Eleven near work. Even the guy working the counter laughed and said that he planned on buying one for himself when his shift was over.

Ah well. So it was snowing. And I was in my ballet slippers AGAIN, and due for a Magic game. I went shopping for some new shoes and socks, but in the end, all I ended up with were some little footie socks with rubberized soles.

Magic night was great. *CSel* made us a tasty salad and a really delicious quiche (possibly this one) which was just the right amount of food for dinner. This was before I killed him off in the first game. I then got really tired of building up my defenses (since *RC* always manages to slaughter them anyway) and conceded after another 4-5 turns. However, *RC* did not like that I'd hit him at all in that first game and killed me pretty much immediately in the next one. *sigh*

( Free chocolate, cheap film and raging insecurities )

A few days ago, the dog woofed and *CMay* thought it was me, talking. Granted, he had his headphones on, but I was not impressed.

Also, "I'll populate YOUR site" has got to be the rudest come-back I've ever heard.