Travelling Without Moving

I guess it’s been a while since I’ve been able to devote myself to just sitting down and taking the time to blog. I suppose you could amount it to a combination of laziness and housework. Not only do I work all day, but I arrive back to my Basement at the end of the day and then make dinner. After that’s all done, usually, all I want to do is be lazy and do nothing!

Anyway, I gave myself a kick in the butt to get some stuff written.

First off: today is the first day of the smoking ban! Although many people have criticized the new law, I’m very excited by it… no longer will I avoid going to bars because of the smoky air. Now even I can enjoy going out once in a while! Now all I need is someone to go to a bar with…! That shouldn’t be too hard. Mike is coming to visit this weekend and I’m sure he won’t object to having a pint at the local “Monkey Joe’s”. The only reason I want to go to this bar is because of its name… kind of reminiscent of “Shoeless Joe’s”, isn’t it?

One thing I’ve been meaning to talk about is the transportation systems around Ottawa. Since my arrival in Ottawa, I’ve experienced buses, taxis and the occasional trip in a car. Each of these has been an experience (or two). First of all, I have to say I’m really glad that the right on red rule was never implemented in Montreal. By my experience, this rule is a real pain in urban centers. With people always turning right, the intersections are always blocked and during rush hour, you may have to wait three or four light cycles before you can pass through the intersection.

The buses can be totally unpredictable… don’t be fooled by the sheer volume of city buses you see passing all the time! The one you are waiting for is not there! And just because it took one route to get you to a destination, doesn’t mean it will take that same route to take you back. There have been a couple cases where I had to wander around for a while before I found the bus that would take me back to the suburbs… hw was I supposed to know that the #3 heads downtown on Queen and returns on Albert?! Well, taking the city bus at rush hours is usually a pretty safe bet. There are lots of buses. But if you want to grab a bus after 9:00 pm, chances are you’ll be waiting an hour between buses. And when you don’t know your way around very well, it’s hard to know what your other options are. I have yet to complete a successful city bus trip from the Greyhound bus station. The first time I arrived back in Ottawa, I discovered that the bus I wanted to take didn’t run after 6:30 pm on Sundays. The second time, I had figured out an alternate route but I missed my transfer bus by about 20 seconds. The next one did not come for another hour. Anyway, both times I ended up taking a cab home.

Speaking of cabs, I can’t figure them out, either. In Montreal, it’s so easy to see whether a cab is available or not. Just look at the sign on it. If it’s lit, it’s available. If it’s dark, it’s taken. In Ottawa, the lights are off during the day, and on at night. So if you see a cab coming, you won’t know if it’s available or not until it passes you and you’ve been able to look into the back seat and see if someone’s sitting there or not. Of course by that time, the taxi’s gone past and you’ve missed your ride. For catching a cab, your best bet is to find a location where the cabs line up, waiting for passengers to come to them. And good luck doing that when you don’t know exactly where you are! Oh yeah, and there was one cabbie that wanted to buy me coffee!

So: my evaluation of public transportation in Ottawa: treacherous!

It Cancels Out My Misery

Had a meeting with my boss today. She tells me that so far I've been doing very well and she likes the work I do. Hurray! While work is going well, I just wish everything else was going as smoothly! Pay day was on Wednesday and unfortunately, it seems as though I have not been added to payroll yet so... no cheque for me. This becomes problematic as I have about $70 to my name right now. This has to last me until May 31st. Theoretically, I'll get my first cheque on the 31st. Of course, it takes three days for a cheque to clear so that means I will not have the funds to pay rent and get a bus pass for June on the 1st. I also have to buy groceries and buy a bus ticket to Montreal for next weekend. I don't think my $70 will get me very far... Luckily, I'm surrounded by people who care about me and are willing to lend me (more) money. I just hate having to borrow money, I feel like so a mooch! I just have to keep reminding myself that this period of serious monetary shortage is only temporary, as long as it may seem.

On top of my current money problems, it seems as though everything around me is breaking! What a time for everything to break! Anyway, yesterday a drawer in my kitchen broke and now it is out of commission. Next, I noticed that my alarm clock was being retarded: it seems to take one second for every minute to pass! So it looks more like a microwave timer than a clock. No matter, it still seems to be keeping time. Although the display is going 60 times faster than it should, the alarm still somehow went off at 7:00 this morning. Oh yeah, and maybe I should mention here that I'm not STUPID I tried the unplug and replug technique... that simply set the high-speed counting back to zero!

What else? My computer at work wasn't working properly this morning (I couldn't get on the internet) and the headphones for my MP3 player decided to start making annoying scratchy sounds. All that to say, some day when I have some money, I will be able to fix up all of my stuff that broke just yesterday!

Why does all of this stuff have to happen at the same time?!

I remain cheerful... my boss says I'm doing well!

She Had Things to Do, I do Too

Week one of my Ontario existence has passed... and I have to say, it was a pretty good one! I've finally gotten to know some of the people around the office, which is a huge plus. We bonded over "frisbee golf"... Essentially, when working in an office (actually, a large heritage home - my office is in the attic!) surrounded by fields and green space, you have to take advantage of it! One guy in the office plays competitive ultimate frisbee and he taught us how to play frisbee golf, which is just like regular golf except your trying to hit a taget with a frisbee rather than shooting a little ball into a hole. So one person picks a target and decides on a par. And you go from there. Anyway, we played twice this week and it's been a lot of fun! However my right arm is quite sore now from launching frisbees!

This week has also been pretty funny for encountering people I haven't seen or heard from in a long time. You would never belive my astonishment when I found a comment from Erica on my last post. What a surprise! Erica and I were very close friends in high school and we fell out of touch a long time ago, some time during the Michael and Melissa era. Hoo boy, that was a while ago! Anyway, it was really exciting to hear from her! Hey Erica, if you're still reading, I'd love to hear what you've been up to!

The funny thing about Erica's writing to me is that apparently my blog was linked to some alumni newsletter from our high school. Now how did that happen?! I'd really love to know who found me and stuck me in a newsletter. Wow, the wonder of the internet will never cease to amaze me!

Continuing on with meeting up with people, I was also very surprised to encounter an old friend from right around the time Erica and I fell out of touch. I ran into this old buddy (who is a friend of an ex-boyfriend's) yesterday at the Greyhound bus station in Ottawa. Anyway, it turned out we were taking the same bus so we kept each other company on the ride back to Montreal.

Oh, did I not mention that I'm in Montreal right now? Surprise! I have to go back to Ottawa Sunday evening, though. But for the time being, it' s great to be back around the people I care about!

An Ottawa Citizen

Well, here I am in Ottawa!

My parents and Mike helped me move yesterday... that was a pretty adventurous day... I dare you to try and find an iron in a city you don't know! Anyway, everyone was incredibely helpful in helping me get installed and with my initial grocery shopping. When everyone left, I have to admit, I felt pretty sad. And when I was chatting with my brother on Messenger, I shed a few tears. I feel kind of isolated here, where I don't know anyone and there's no chnace of anyone coming home or wanting to stop by. I'm just not used to being all by myself. It'll just take some getting used to. I'm already feeling better about my situation and I've begun to realize how many chores you have to do when you're all alone! So I've been keeping busy in my tiny little home away from home. Speaking of which:

This is my kitchen! And if you walk through the little doorway there on the left:

You get to my bedroom!

Yeah the chairs are hideous! And my next project is to get something up on those boring white walls! It's a work in progress...

So anyway, today was also my first day of work. Fairly uneventful; I did a lot of reading. My boss is really nice though and I think I'll enjoy working with her. Check it out, this is my title: "Environmental Assessment Officer". I'm an officer! Anyway, I got a tour of the office and I was introduced to everyone, but I spent the whole day in the office I share with my boss so I didn't really get to know anyone. Maybe tomorrow!

Move It on Over

Yesterday made for a fun little road-trip! I consider myself very lucky that it was so easy for me to find a place to live in Ottawa for the summer. So, next weekend I'll be relocating to my (tiny) new basement apartment for the summer. It's in a private home just south of downtown Ottawa and it's great because it's self-contained: it has a kitchen, a bathroom, a bedroom and laundry and internet is included in the rent, so it's perfect! Not much room for entertaining, though! Oh well! Anyway, I made a down-payment on the place yesterday and I already have my keys so I'll be ready to move in on the weekend.

And today was my last day of work at the Geography department. I'll be honest and say that it was pretty anti-climactic, even when it was time to go home. My boss patted me on the shoulder and said "Well, thanks for everything and good luck in Ottawa" and then that was it. And my other co-worker who's been saying for a while that she's going to miss me so much once I'm gone just kind of smiled and left with my boss. On one hand I'm kind of disappointed that it was so abrupt and almost thoughtless, but on the other hand, goodbyes are difficult and sad and nobody really likes to deal with them, so I was spared the emotional stuff. It's almost as if I'll be back again tomorrow...

Anyway, I'm still at school simply because I don't think properly when I get excited: I went to "Urban Outfitters" today to buy some moving-out stuff. My main purchase was a small mattress that you can roll up. That's for when anyone wants to stay overnight at my little place. Rolled up, it's still a rather large bundle and I didn't really think about the part where I have to bring it home on the bus... during rush-hour. I know for a fact that if I bring that thing on a crowded bus, I will be hated by everyone on that bus for the entire 40-minute ride home. So I'm just sitting here killing as much time as I can before I dare hop on a bus with my mattress! I just have to get home fairly soon because mom's taking me to Ikea to buy me a small desk that will fit in my new place: that way my computer will have a spot to stay!

Yup, I think everything's coming together...