Achievement Unlocked: Looking for a new job.

Hey Intrawebz,

So, I am becoming increasingly frustrated with my job. Management seems to be promising things, and not following through with them. Not only that, but the things that they had originally agreed to do they have changed without consulting those whom the changes affect. Yes, they had promised me 9-5 Monday to Friday, but now it seems like they've given those shifts to the other person in my position, leaving me with the ever increasingly frustrating position of having made plans that now I apparently need to change to appease the infuriating management. If they had said, "Hey Craig, unfortunately it doesn't look like we'll be able to keep our promise of a 9-5 Monday to Friday schedule, do you mind if we change it to this instead?" I would have been a little more open to the idea. Unfortunately, it they didn't, so now they have to deal with the wrath of Kha...Craig. Even more infuritating is that my mum has decided to come visit me and I had told her that I was no longer working weekends. Apparently, not according to my managers! And, having her change her visit back to what it was before is going to be such a hassle that I haven't told her to, and work will just have to deal.
Which is why I'm looking for a new job. It seems like my management staff are starting to take me for granted, and I REALLY don't like that feeling. Yes, I'm happy to work around what they need, so long as THEY ASK. I'm not working out in a particular position? sure, I'll move to a different one, as long as I'm not taking a pay cut and it'll be less stressful. No, I don't mind covering for somebody, thanks for asking. Yes, I do mind when you promise me one schedule, and then go behind my back and give it to someone else and then tell me "tough".
So you know what? Sucks to be you, I won't be staying. City of Edmonton Emplyoment, here I come.
Easier commute. Much better pay. Better hours. How did I not think of this in the first place?
Ah well, sometimes it takes a little time for it to sink in.
If all works out well, I will be working for the City in a week or two. And not having to appease either my managers or pissy customers who don't have half a brain.
/Rant.
-Craig
P.S On the plus side! a) my mum is coming to visit next weekend! and b) 3 weeks until I get to board again! Woo!!

Achievement Unlocked: Christmas.

Hey Intrawebz.
So, Christmas turned out to be awesome. I am currently sitting on a wonderful bus back to Edmonton so as I can make it in time to work for Boxing Day madness tomorrow morning at 5:30 AM. Oh, how much I love retail. It would be so so so so sooooo nice to get a few weeks off at this time of year again. I would enjoy nothing more than to have about a week off, for Christmas and for New Years. That, and a couple weeks off in the summer is really, all that I could ask for. (Well, no, I would REALLY like to have lots of time off to relax).
Dearest Rachel's parents seemed to enjoy spoiling me these past couple of days, as we had German Christmas, opening gifts on Christmas Eve. Cooking was the theme this year for my presents, and I was very happy, not to mention surprised, to receive an excellent set of knives, a crockpot, and a fantastic new frying pan. Cooking books and recipes were abound as well, and I shall wholeheartedly enjoy making use of my presents. I also know that Rae shall wholeheartedly enjoy the results of the usage of said presents. We shall be having lots of good food for the next couple of...well, months, really.
I also got to skype this morning with my family in Vancouver, at the same time as my brother and his girlfriend who are in New Zealand. So it was a cool way to have everybody there for Christmas morning, even though we were in three separate time zones. Makes like fun, doesn't it? Technology really has made it easy to get connected with someone, not matter where they are on the planet. Makes for a fun, wonderful life.
I really am grateful for being allowed to come down to Calgary and spend Christmas with Rae and her family, as opposed to spending it in my "Man Cave" as it's so affectionately called. It really did make it a wonderful Christmas.
And I am making a New Years resolution early. Next year, I shall not be working in Retail for the holidays. I have done my time, I'm gonna find somewhere office-like that has the wonderful idea of having days off for major holidays. And more than just one day.
-Craigles
P.S. I REALLY got spoiled this year, lots of awesome gifts, and when my mother comes out to visit in two weeks, there will be a few more. I get 2 Christmases, but I would much rather find a way to have a large Christmas with everyone included. T'would be a wonderful year should that ever come to pass.

Achievement Unlocked: Insert Title Here

Hey Intrawebz.
Dear Girlfriend's father has decided, quite ingeniously, to start a new blog. I am le excited, as he has an amazing skill at spinning tales. Also, because it is a food-based blog. With wonderful dining experiences, full of delicious food and entertaining hosts. He has quite the sense of humour as I was informed that he has begun calling his daughter (my girlfriend) as Der GF. This sense of humour is translated into his writing and so creates the wonderful blog formula, H+FxE=Awesome. (Humour + Food x Experience = Awesome)
I have a fairly busy week ahead of me, what with two visits to Calgary. Firstly tomorrow after working for 8 hours, DGF and I are going to rush to drive down from Edmonton to Calgary to make it in time for a 6 P.M. Service. Hopefully traffic is good, and the weather co-operates, as it's supposed to be fairly clear and somewhat warm at -2 C. Strange to think that a few years ago I would've told you that -2 C is a wholly unnatural temperature, but now seeing it in the middle of December it is cause to jump for joy.
The second visit, which is currently being planned is a New Years visit to Calgary with DGF's fam. I shall be enjoying the night accompanied by Rachel and her parents and siblings, as well as her Godparents and their children. I am confident that I shall have a good time, whilst also being scared pants-less at the expectations that I may have to live up to! Apparently I'm a huge excitement, and I know (at least it's what they tell me) that Rae's family likes having me around, so hopefully this feeling shall be transferred to the Godfamily. It shall be an interesting night indeed, filled with fun and games, and drinking. (All of the drinking ever, my better half is heard often saying. 'Tis one of her favourite sayings, in fact, "All of the -blank- ever").
Another wonderful reason for joy is that I currently have all of my (read: both mine and DGF's presents, as we're giving presents together) purchased and wrapped. Excellent planning indeed, DGF. You shall take all of the credit, as you've done pretty much all of the planning/wrapping. (I was informed of what was needed to be purchased/wrapped/done and given a time limit).
All in all, it looks like it's going to be a very lovely Christmas, so long as I don't cause a large disturbance having to leave in the early evening to be back in Edmonton Christmas night so that I can get to work (yay! retail!) for the ridiculous occasion of boxing day. This shall be my first boxing day not spent either at home relaxing or with friends, and instead attempting to tame the rabid and frothing-at-the-mouth bargain hunters. I really feel like there should be a mandatory 2 day holiday for Christmas. Possibly a three day holiday. That way it would encourage a more "traditional" Christmas, focusing more on family and togetherness instead of rampant consumerism. I really would enjoy the holiday more if I did not have to worry that the gifts of which I am giving are going to please the recipients as much as they are wishing. I do much prefer the more "traditional" side of the holiday. The feasting, and the time spent together, be it joking or just falling asleep on the couch after stuffing yourself with wonderful food. Christmas breakfast and dinner were my favourite parts, as well as the opening of stockings. Unfortunately the holidays this year are going to be a little bit rushed, on account of needing to stay employed. -Sigh- Retail, thou art the bane of my existence. Rachel, I agree completely with you. Next employment shall be office related.
Now, off to sugarplum land, and reading of Dr. Seuss classics.
-Craigles
(And his heart grew THREE sizes that day!)

Achievement Unlocked: Sleep!

Hey Intrawebz,
Just thought I'd let you know I'm still alive, oh, and that I rock. In case you forgot.
Also, that my life is actually going pretty well despite the moaning and groaning (that's what she said!) going on lately. I'm actually pretty happy about things, and my wickedly AWESOME girlfriend is really excited/nervous (I think) for me to to be spending Christmas with her family. I know her mother is slightly nervous. Which they shouldn't be, because her family rocks, and I'm just so freaking excited to not be spending it alone. Seriously, I could be sitting in the corner just watching them have a family christmas and I'd be happy. Instead of y'know, being lonely in my "Man Cave". Which needs cleaning, darn it!
The reason it needs cleaning? Is because my lovely mother has decided that for her birthday treat to herself, she shall be coming to visit me! I'm REALLY excited, (lots of capitalization this blog, eh?) as I have not "seen" any of my family since September. Skype doesn't count.
Anyways, off to sleep with me now! I shall hopefully get another post in soon after Christmas. (read; boxing day, if I'm not dead from the hordes of stampeding capitalist consumers foaming at the mouth for deals. Yay, retail!)
-Craigles

Achievement Unlocked: Stressed?

Hey Intrawebz,

So, turns out that I REALLY don't like working retail. Especially not retail in December. And don't even get me started on retail in December with any shred of responsibility. I may have reached my Limit Break, and I spent some of my day looking for new jobs. That are NOT retail. It was a very effective form of "Holy Balls I need to get back to school". Seriously, unless I want to work my way up through retail management, or some form thereof, I need to get my arse back to school and complete some form of it. Currently I'm looking forward to a network engineering diploma, but that might turn into something closer to a Bachelor of Computer Science. That would be nice to have, but I'm not entirely sure if I'll end up liking it. We shall see. Also, I very much dislike that my laptop (because my desktop is currently incapacitated) is ancient, as it tends to take forever to load anything that's clicked, typed, or loading on said screen. AND it's had it's hard drive formatted, so it's not even cluttered with junk.
Also, my room is a mess. Not that it matters to you, but when you're sick, it makes a huge deal. Because you want to do something about it, but you can't, because A) you feel like crap and B) you feel like crap. Ah well, I'll need to get onto that anyways seeing as the guy coming to install TV and Internet into my lair is arriving sometime next week. (Friday).
Short post today, just wanted to rant about retail and this ridiculous consumerism that our wintery month drives us to. The only side of Christmas of which I am not an enthusiast. Ah well, soon to be long gone the days of insane stress, cheap customers, angry managers, and unrealistic expectations. Not to mention shift work. I will so very much enjoy working 9-5, Monday to Friday. Regular schedule here I come!
(oh, and Merry-soon to be-Christmas!)
Craiggers

Acheivement Unlocked: Greatest Limerick!

There once was a buggy AI
Who thought that her subject should die.
When the plot was uncovered
The subjected discovered,
That sadly the cake was a lie.

Acheivement Unlocked: Holy Month Gone By!

Hey there intrawebz! Sorry it's been so long, but I've been fairly busy lately.


So, turns out that retail in December is quite possibly the most infuriating thing ever, and I shall gladly enjoy the, y'know, day and a half I get off for Christmas. Woo. But seriously, I am looking forward to Christmas this year. It'll be fun to do something slightly different, and I'm really happy to not be spending it alone. Also, chilling with Rae's family is always fun. Wonder what mischief I shall get into. Still working on getting all the presents for the multitude of people that I'm getting gifts for this year, but I'm not entirely sure if I'm going to get the presents for my fam back to Vancouver on time or not. We shall see. Slightly worried that I won't be organized enough to get all of my presents purchased/wrapped/gifted in time. This is when having a girlfriend who loves to organize things comes in handy! (also, it helps when she's not reading this over my shoulder!) The place that I am renting is becoming slightly more and more interesting as I get to know my roommates a little bit better. M seems to be up at random hours during the day/night and has an incredibly loud (and annoying at 1:00 AM) sound system and a seemingly low regard for when others are sleeping. P on the other hand, likes to talk. He's pretty cool, and we get along well, but there are times when it's fairly obvious I do NOT want to talk. Like when I'm sitting in my room eating ice cream in my boxers watching a movie. Ah well, not like I'm home enough to let it bother me, what with the working a bajillion hours a week. Seriously, I'm pretty sure I'm getting close to 60 hours this week, plus 60 hours every week until January kicks in.
That's one more thing that's interesting about work. We've got a competition going on between all of the stores in our district (Edmonton and Saskatchewan) and the winning management team (read: Managers and Supervisors) get to go on a trip to....the Bahama's I believe is this years prize. Which, while not being incentive for ME to win this, I was made aware that the Seniors in the winning departments have usually, meaning almost always, gotten promoted to Supervisor. Which would mean that A) I would FINALLY be on salary/over the poverty line and b) It would give me supervisor experience so that after I finish going back to school I wouldn't have to start building my way back up a corporate ladder. Well, not entirely true, but it would give me a boost anyways.
I have already picked out my new years resolution as well, which is crazy, cause I usually don't make them. However, I'm resolving to either be back in school full time by next Christmas, or at least not working in Retail for the next Christmas season. That and man does my room need to somehow find a way to motivate me to keep it clean. It's Katrina-esque levels of displaced things around here lately, and I'm not a) unhappy enough with myself to clean it and b) don't have a big enough motivation to clean it. Which I really should, but I don't. Which also makes me sad. I should get a fish or something that would force me to be here more often and keep track of/care for. Seriously, plants aren't working and I'm nowhere near ready enough for any kind of rodent/feline/canine companion. As much as I would love to have one, I don't believe that I am ready for that level of care.
I'm also trying to find out more about school and courses that I can take part-time before going back full time to a program. I recently found out that NAIT has some wicked courses that I can take to prep me for the program that I am currently wishing to attend. Which would be nice. I should give them a call.
Alright, Intrawebz, looks like this one is slightly absent-minded but I'm signing off for now, to go peruse some random sites via stumble. Hopefully there's no more Russian porn that shows up, it'll sneak through pretty much ANY filter.
Wish me luck!
Craigers.

Achievement Unlocked: Making Nerds Angry

Dear Intrawebz.
I have found a new joy in life, and that is making fun of the nerds who need to take pictures of themselves with their brand new prestige editions of Call of Duty: Black Ops. I mean really, are you THAT much in need of it? I can't WAIT until World of Warcraft: Cataclysm gets released. It just really won't be funny enough. Anyhow, playing CoD on a 60" TV has kind of ruined Xbox for me now, seeing as I do not have a high-definition TV, nor do I have a 60" TV. Makes me sad. Ah well, one day!

So, Short post today, I'm off to clean my room, so that the Telus guy installing my intranets/optik TV doesn't get too disgusted. And so that he doesn't judge me. Or worry about stepping on things. I think I might just put everything in the closet and close the door, and empty out the garbage cans.

See you later Intrawebz! I shall be able to blog more often as of tomorrow night! Yay!
-Craig

Achievement Unlocked: Christmas Can Wait

So, today at work was an interesting day. Firstly, we started a new program where each sales associate keeps track of their sales and tries to hit a personal goal, predetermined by either my supervisor, or myself. It makes it a little easier to keep track of sales, who you've talked to/dealt with. Plus, it's more fun within the department to see who can sell more and the competitive atmosphere. Secondly, our lovely project team managed to redo our speaker section, so now we can actually let customers hear what the speakers we have for sale sound like! YAY! It's great, because now we have new toys to destroy peoples' ears with. And lastly, they have already put up the wonderful (read: annoying) displays for Christmastime. Oh joy, it's not even Guy Fawkes day, and we already have Christmas decorations and music playing in the store. Could it at least wait until after Remembrance Day? Or even after the American Thanksgiving? Does it really need to be 50 days of Christmas? If you can't tell, Intrawebz, Craig is not pleased with this development. He is a Scrooge until December hits, and then it's all of the sudden a huge rush and then finished. I really should get started on my shopping for presents for family and such this year, however, I'm not that huge on Christmas presents. I like the more...family oriented side to it, the togetherness. I'm really not a huge fan of the commercialization of the holiday. Which will make it a wonderful segue (I've always wanted to use that whilst writing!) into my plans for the aforementioned festivities. I shall be traveling down to Calgary on Christmas Eve to visit Rachel's family. Unfortunately, I have to work Boxing Day for the ridiculous sales and boxing day shoppers that will be frantically searching for ridiculous deals. Once again, the dislike for commercialization. Boxing Day is supposed to be a relaxing day, where you spend time with friends who were otherwise busy with family the day before. It's the time to show off your gifts and brag about how amazing the dinner the night before was. It must be that Christmas chez moi was always a relaxed (or relatively so) affair. Always low-key, with minimal drama, so long as every one had planned enough to get appropriate gifts, and Mum didn't have to cook the feast by herself. This also marks the first Christmas away from my parents, and I'm not entirely sure how well I'll fare on the bus ride home. I'll most likely give them a call. My Mum is coming out to visit after Christmas to see how I'm doing and where I'm living, which will be nice. It'll mostly be nice just to see her, depending on how much I'm working and such. I do miss them, and I've found (as have most of my friends) that your relationship with your parents definitely gets better after you move out, and you realize how much you actually miss them. Then you go home, and after a couple days or so, can't wait to leave again. Also, wow this has gotten long. Slight rant about Christmas turned into a long, slightly depressing blahg. Sorry, Intrawebz, but for some reason my inner angsty-emo side has been surfacing on mein blahg lately. I assure you that my life is going amazingly well, and that the only real complaint that I have is that I have to listen to Christmas music for close to 50 days straight now. Hopefully it'll end on December 24th, externally anyways. I have a feeling I'll be humming carols and Christmas tunes until my brain turns to mush. Wish me luck!
-Craig.
P.S. Man did I write the word Christmas a ton! Sorry 'bout that... Also, I need to learn how to paragraph again. My bad.

Acheivement Unlocked: Quiet Night

Hi there Intrawebz.
Craig here.
All I have is one question. When did "boring" become the new awesome? Cause man, I'm spending my friday night before hallowe'en sitting at home, listening to Bach, planning on watching Grey's Anatomy, and eating lovely lovely LOVELY Pocky which I discovered at the T&T market at West Edmonton Mall. Man, I love this stuff. So awesome and full of wonderfulness. And apparently short sentences. Ah well, better than my usual run on, long-winded, exasperatedly ridiculous ones. I wish Rachel would take my advice about writing though. And I hope she starts writing songs again, it would be fun to do one with her. Maybe she will after reading this, who knows? hahaha. Either that, or I might record something with her brother the next time we meet. More bonding time with the young'un. I feel he'd like that, but we'll see. Speaking of brothers, I'd love for my lil' bro to come out and visit, but I doubt that it'll be possible, judging by how much he's working now/with his plan to go to school in September, he'll need to wrap his head around it. Plus, I work so much I dunno if he'd have much fun out here anyways. Ah well, we'll figure something out. Whilst on the topic of familial visits, my mum has a few days vacation left that she needs to use up before the end of the year, and so she might come out to visit around Christmastime. Which will be really nice, because as much as I enjoy visiting with Rachel's family, they're not MY family. Feeling slightly, not home-sick per se, but family sick. I'd love to see Ross and Vicky (my older brother and his girlfriend) before they go to New Zealand for however long. Not to mention, I saw that Ian got his brand-new King Size mattress delivered the other day. Ah well, I knew it would hit me at some point. And my friend Elisa has decided that she's going to come visit in February, for reading week. So it'll be somewhat nice to have a bit of a High School connection again. But I think what I'm most looking forward to is getting my wireless connection set up on the 10th. Because then I'll be able to game with Dan and the guys from BB in South Surrey. That'll be the most fun. I wouldn't mind having a wicked game of Reach with Dan and Andrew soon. Maybe we'll get Brett involved, but I dunno, we might kill his innocence, and make Dan feel like a geezer. Reach, Starcraft 2 and (eventually) Fable 3 shall consume my gaming life which should return on the 10th of November. We shall see.
Work is going well these days, and this is my first weekend "flying solo". Meaning that I'm in charge of the department whist the real supervisor has a few days off. Hopefully it won't be nearly as much of a disaster as today was. Returns, angry customers, and a couple managers who don't like to communicate create a wonderful environment for newly appointed Senior Craig. It's still fun though, and it looks like the guys are starting to see me in more of an in charge role, which is nice. I'm especially getting along well with a few of the guys, while I'm starting to tire of a few. Hopefully with all the new hires for the Christmas season we'll get some new faces and be able to get more coverage for the days so we're not running around like chickens with our heads' cut off.
I haven't blogged for awhile, and so am a little out of practice, so hopefully I'll get a little bit more into the habit in the next little while. It's nice to sit down and decompress slightly, especially now that I've stopped drinking altogether. Which, while most people seem happy that I'm being healthier, seems to disappoint a few of my friends. We shall see how this goes over. Especially with my night out with Adam on Tuesday for the Oilers/Canucks game. Good times shall be had by all, even if one half of the party is going to be slighty late (hopefully not!).
Well, the night beckons, and I shall bid thee adieu!
-Craig.

Achievement Unlocked: Too Busy For Life

Hello Intrawebz!
So, after getting promoted, I have realised that I am way too busy for my own good. Having a girlfriend who is also just as busy does not bode well for the long run. We shall see how this turns out! Speaking of turn-out, this Friday, I have been voluntold to jump on a bicycle-powered generator to help produce electricity for a concert. I am supposed to only have a 30 minute shift on said bike, but I plan to be on there for as long as I can get away with (read: until Rachel decides to kick me off for selfish reasons, I'm sure :p) after spending a full day at work. We shall see how this works out. Also, shave and a haircut! My beard, may the Lord bless it's passing, was beginning to get itchy and gross/filled with crumbs no matter how hard I tried to get them out/cleaned/brushed it. So it got nixed, and much to my surprise, she who has been making fun of my beardage since we practically met, has all of the sudden decided that she actually likes it. I shall never understand women, ever. Next to go (today!) is my starting to look like a hippie hairstyle. I'm trying to look a little bit more respectable these days. For my next post, I shall entertain you all with before and after pictures. They shall be wonderful! Wonderful I say!
Alright, next topic! I am looking for an excuse to write about the Oilers, being my favourite NHL team, and I have apparently lost a bit of respect from my best friend (also an Oilers fan) because I am being an awesome boyfriend and not only am I buying Rachel a Cammalleri Habs jersey for Christmas, but I'm taking her to see an Oilers/Habs game in February. Should be interesting, what with a couple cheering for two different teams AT the game where both teams are playing. Just for fun, I might wear a completely random jersey... like a St. Louis Blues jersey. I haven't heard/seen them play for years and it kind of makes me sad, as when I was younger I used to be a huge fan of theirs. (By younger I mean around 6-8 years old.) Ah, well, we shall see how my teams do this year, and I know that Adam is already gloating that Toronto is doing well. Hopefully they crash and burn once again this year, but not so badly as to earn a first round draft pick.
Well, Hockey news aside, I do believe that it is about time that I put some real clothes on and went to get my freaking hair cut. And to find some Lip Balm. Silly Alberta fall weather, making us west-coast humidity loving people suffer the wrath of cracked lips.
Until next time Intrawebz. And remember to always keep your stick on the ice!
Red Gree...I mean Craig.

Acheivement Unlocked: Stuffed Turkey

Well world, it turns out that Canadian Turkey Day (also known as thanksgiving) was a success! I managed to just barely make it to the bus on time despite waking up 15 minutes before it left and living close to 2 miles away! Sprinting and children traveling alone make me a very happy person indeed, especially because all of Rachel's family woke up three hours early to go to First Service at church so that she could make it to the bus station to pick me up on time. For the bus I very nearly missed. Seems like God was looking out for me, either that or he just didn't want me to get to know him that well so soon! In all seriousness though I was really happy to have made it on time, and doubly so that a friend was there to make the journey slightly less painful/boring. In other news, it looks like my little brother has fit in well at his new job, which was previously my job. All my friends from there, have said that he's a really good guy to work with, so I'm very pleased. Glad that he's doing well too, and happy that he's no longer working at McDonald's.
In other news, I have been getting berated more and more frequently from my previously mentioned friends to get my act in order and set up intraweb connections chez moi, as I only get a chance to connect online either via smartphone or whilst visiting my dearest Rachel. It also means that I am not gaming online anymore! Which has displeased many a Vancouverite.
On to gaming news! I have recently purchased a game I have been coveting for awhile now. Fable 2 has now joined my repertoire of games that shall be played infrequently and awesomely. So far, I have thoroughly enjoyed it, having met a wonderful balance of open world sandbox gaming as well as a somewhat linear plotline. I have to agree with many a reviewer however, and while the minigame "jobs" are fun for a little while, it does get tedious having to go back and spend a bit of time doing them just to get cash for items and upgrades. While it brings more "realism" into the equation, it's not something that I have readily enjoyed. I do, however enjoy how well they've changed the land/shop ownership as well as the relationship parts of the game. It's much more interesting, and while Fable is touted as an "action adventure RPG" it takes the role playing a little bit too seriously. In the role playing part of action adventure games, the first thing that jumps to mind for myself is that it's customizable and immersive character wise, with at least a semi-decent plot. Fable does take all of these into account, it also adds how the world around you reacts to your actions. And while entertaining, it definitely makes being "good" and "noble" just that much harder, which is something that I am attempting to do on my first run-through of the game. I think the second time through, I will be as menacing and as far from the law as I can get, just to shake things up.
I am really looking forward to some other games coming out soon, and some older ones which I have not had the time to get to. Also, I got some nice pictures on the drive home from Calgary today, of a really nice sunset. We shall see how much more photography I can squeeze into my schedule in the next little while, as work seems to be dominating my schedule. Ah well, 'tis a lifestyle I suppose!
I wish to write more, but I am getting a little bit sleepy, and am finding that my words are not getting strung together nearly as well as I like, so I will continue my posting at a later date. Most likely tomorrow. We shall see.
Craigster out.

Achievement Unlocked: Promotion?

Well, interesting news today world!
Apparently I have been granted awesome powers of awesomeness, and have been delegated the wonderous responsibilities of senior in my department! However, I also found out that the store may be doing a department shift, and I may be delegated to another department, but still as a senior! So, either way, I will get a lovely promotion, and a lovely big boost to my paycheque! Happy Craig is Happy. Also, Craig has found a way to irritate his amazing and gorgeous girlfriend! All he has to do is geek out with David, and if she is within earshot, it will usually end with Craig and David being ignored. Ah well, the price one has to pay to nostalgia. Speaking of which, nostalgia just isn't what it used to be, eh? Crazy how that works...
This weekend, I got to have an awesome walk along the river valley with my lovely Rachel, and yes, I took a bunch of pictures. Unfortunately not nearly as many of them turned out like I had hoped. Some of them look fantastic, especially the ones of Rae, but some of the shots of the river from the bridge didn't end up as nice as I had hoped. Perhaps if we had made the trip earlier that week it would've worked out, but alas, we were too busy. Saturday night was a lovely time as well, for we all trooped over to a friend's house warming party! It was loud, dancehall-ish and full of booze, so naturally everyone had a good time. It was also nice to see friends that I have not seen for a few years. Tonight, there is a hockey game for Les Centurions, which I plan on attending, jersey proudly worn.
It'll be nice here when it starts to be more like winter ("Are you OUT of your FREAKING MIND!?" screams Rachel) as it will give me more chances to go out skating, which I have not had the chance to do for a couple years and for which my bones yearn. I'm pining for the frozen fjords, you might say. It also gives me a legit reason to steal Rachel away from her roommates, aside from "Well, I AM her boyfriend..." as I promised her I would teach her to skate! Woo! Relationship building time! Ah well, she'll enjoy herself, and I'm sure she'll enjoy winter a little bit more having a seasonal activity. I hope so, anyways.
Speaking of which, I should find a drop-in league to, y'know, drop in on for hockey. I miss it so much, but I don't have any equipment here, aside from skates. I will have to purchase at least a stick for pond-shinny, and that is something that I will definitely enjoy. I might even try to get Adam to learn as well, knowing how much he loves the sport. Hmm... Craig could potentially be a skating teacher! It's something that I've always kind of wanted to do, even if it was just volunteering at a rink for a couple hours on a weekend. We'll see, after I figure out what days work will give me off, and after the transition period is done for whatever they are planning to do about the "secret but not so secret" department shuffle.
Sounds like a type of dance, hey? "Alright y'all! It's time to do the Department Shuffle!"
Silliness aside, Craig should consider a large amount of things, such as how he will survive the weekend if work does not give him enough time off to make it down to Calgary and back for Thanksgiving chez Rachel's parents. They'd better, seeing as I asked them for it off, but with this changing of the guard or whatever new name I have for the changes at work, we'll see how things work out.
Ah, responsibility. (Seriously, I totally thought it was spelled with an "a"!)
This posting is much much longer that I had anticipated. I 'spose that once I get into a creative mood (read: start writing about nothingness) I tend to ramble on and on about everything and anything. Character flaw? Most likely.
Very funny Scotty. Now beam down my clothes!
-Craig

Achievement Unlocked: Weekend

So, I somehow managed to wrangle myself a weekend off from work! For those of you who have never worked in the retail industry, this is comparable to finding a treasure chest filled with gold bullion.
Today I plan on being slightly productive, as this morning was spent lounging and making changes to mein blahg.By productive I mean stealing David's tools and building my stupid bed, moving a freakishly heavy and awkward TV into my room, and constructing a desk for which to place mein computaaah! (Sorry, I felt that the German accent in which this narration occasionally twists itself into needed to be viewed...) Later tonight apparently we, as in myself and my friends, have a house-warming party to go to. I'm not entirely sure how long I'm going to stay, and I know that Rachel isn't feeling to well so she might be going home early. Tomorrow promises to be an excellent day! Filled with good food, lovely weather, a romantic walk along the river valley, and a bajillion pictures. Yes. Bajillion. For some reason I feel like it needs to be celebrated as a "end of autumn" day, and Dear Lord are the trees pretty this time of year. One of the reasons why I don't mind bussing to work so freakishly early in the mornings, is that I get to see the sunrise over the river, illuminating all of the multitude of colours that decorate the trees lining the riverside. And if there is some dust in the air, it creates an almost sepia-toned picture feel, an it usually takes my breath away. I say usually, because sometimes I'm still asleep.
So, the Xbox and the computer have finally arrived chez moi, but I am short a computer screen, and an internet connection. So while it is nice to know that I have the components, I do not have the capabilities to utilize them. Xbox shall remain almost solely one-player campaign until wireless is connected, and Computer shall remain ridiculously expensive paper-weight until such a time that I purchase a new screen. The cheap scot inside of me cringes at that though, as computer screens these days are not inexpensive.
Well, I figure I should start on my to-do list for the day, and perhaps get something done today. Also, it probably wouldn't hurt to put pants on. Ahh, the freedom of not getting out of bed.
Beam me up, Scotty!
Craig

Achievement Unlocked: Responsability

So, this past week has been a bit of a hectic blur. The second day of my return to Edmonton, and I went to visit my new stores, only to find out that they WEREN'T expecting me. They were really good about it though, and I got an interview and a job within five minutes. I'm super happy there, and a raise plus a possible promotion is an awesome thing. However, they did get me to start an eight hour shift the next morning at 9AM and today is my first day off in 6 days. Full-time jobs are awesome, but they're also kind of terrible when you're trying to move into a new place and get your feet settled. Ah well, as many parents have told me, I'm young and apparently full of energy. Doesn't always feel like it though. Lots of things to do on Craig's list of chores today, including going to pick up his goddamn computer from UPS. And finally finishing building that forsaken swedish bed that he will so kindly be sleeping on. The mattress is super super comfy, but there's just something about it being on the floor that screams "first year". Which also means that I'll have to build Rachel's bed as well, once she finally picks up the screws for it. I've been thinking of things that I could do with this blog, to try and make it a little bit more fun and incentivize myself to write more. I was thinking of doing reviews of things, but I'm not so sure that I can critique all that well. My drawing skills are terrible, so a webcomic is out, and I really didn't have any ideas for that anyways. Rachel wanted me to start playing piano a little bit more, and I was thinking of perhaps taking lessons again, but I'm not sure if I'm brave enough to post videos on the internet for that. Besides, a lack of video-camera and half-decent sound equipment kind of puts a damper on that. We shall see, however, for as time goes by, there shall be new ideas that spring forth from the bountiful land of my imagination. I really wish that I could draw, cause that would be fun to do a little mini-series for here. I could become famous! If only web-famous! And then they would read back into the archives of the blog and people would realise that yes! Even their celebrities are indecisive, insecure and full of spelling and grammatical errors! (English-nerds notwithstanding).
And now, into the vast, unsafe, insane world that is my mind, shall I delve for ideas on how to "spice up" my blahg. (Rachel got me caught on that one.) Quick! To the Pantsmobile!
I think if I decide to purchase a printer, which I'm pretty sure I will, it will need to have a scanner, and I shall require a purchase a copy of photoshop or a program of some such nature. Drawing and sketching shall be seen on the future on your friendly neighborhood blog!
Kind of a poor way to finish this post, but I don't really care. Your opinion on me is like a cows opinion!
Craig
(It's a "moo-point")

Acheivement Unlocked: New City!

Finally arrived!
Today will be the first full day of a new chapter in my life! I have arrived in Edmonton, and have already been to the land of the swedes to start the long and arduous process of moving in. And by that I mean today I have to go over to the house and actually introduce myself to the people who live there. Which shall be an adventure! Also an adventure is how early Rachel has to get up in the morning! A 6:30 alarm isn't the friendliest thing ever, and especially when your body is still an hour behind. That will change, as it's only a one-hour difference for my body to adjust. It's much colder in Edmonton than in Vancouver, and I am looking forward to when the first snows arrive, which should be in about 3 weeks. It's really nice to be back, to see everybody, and to finally be on my own once again. This time it looks like everything will work out, as I have a job already set up for me and as of October, I will have a wicked benefits package. Yay dental coverage!
It's hard for me to keep on topic, as there are a billion things running through my head. Most prominently is "Get on your freaking to-do list, damnit!" and oh, how I wish I could. The bank doesn't open until around about 9, and I don't think it would be a very good impression to show up at the house at 8:30 unannounced to introduce myself. I'll give them a call just after 9, I think. After I go to the bank and see about ordering myself some cheques. Ahhhh! Responsibility! Well, it was bound to happen at some point. So, today. Bank, House, Lunch with Rae, new Phone Number, Work and then IKEA. Followed (hopefully!) with some sort of celebration, perhaps of the monopoly variety, perhaps of the alcoholic beverage variety. We shall see.
-Craig
P.S. Must remember to ask if the house is pet-friendly. Shouldn't get my hopes up though!

Acheivement Unlocked: Now Go Outside and Play!

In a completely different direction from my last post, I shall geek out extravagantly about Halo: Reach.
Simply put, it was the single most fun game I've played all year. There was a wonderful mix of almost everything awesome from the previous Halo games, with some new things added that were a pleasant surprise. This game, chronologically, is the first in the series, however it is the last that will be made from the creator of the Halo universe, Bungie. Thier contract has finished with Microsoft, and so now should they want to continue the franchise, they would have to sign a new contract. The company could now produce multi-platform games, and that's where I believe that is what they're going to do for the future. But what a way to finish. The story of the game I found to be fairly depresssing, especially with some of the characters. You become slightly attached to some of the first ones that you're sorry to see them leave. In all fairness, it was kind of like going to see Star Wars Episode Three, you know what the outcome of the story is, so really, you're just there to see how they bring it about and what cool things they'll decide to throw in. Except this has better acting. Personally, I found that the last mission, the one that is available after the credits, was the most bleak. I'm going to "Ruin" the end of the game, just by saying that it finishes with you delivering an Artificial Intelligence to a captain, and he takes off while you use a large anti-air cannon to destroy an incoming enemy cruiser. So while you're being the hero and saving everyone, you are committing yourself to staying on the ground surrounded by enemy troops, with no means of escape. Roll Credits. End Credits. You are standing on a platform, being bombarded by aircraft, and a swarm of hostile aliens slowly closing in on you, and you play until your character dies. Not only this, but it is a dusty and hard to see area, and you'll turn around and there will be somebody there trying to shoot you. Very effective at getting your heart rate up. Incredibly difficult to continue for longer than 5 minutes, even with four people playing.
One funny thing that I've realised while playing this game, however, is that I am usually the reliable "medic" in the group. Whenever there was a chance to pick up an ability that would create a "healing field" I would be the one to take it. Apparently I'm the "healer" or the "medic" of the teams. Which is kind of funny considering that I most enjoy running around with a shotgun punching aliens in the face. Kind of a different character personality, eh?
The artwork and scenery in the game were amazing, and Bungie outdid itself once again. I was really struck with a shot after a mission where one of your comrades sacrifices himself to blow up a massive super cruiser. You started the mission before kind of joking around with him, and sitting in the transport with him and a bunch of Space Marines. After that mission, there is a cutscene of a couple minutes, of your character sitting in the back of the transport looking out over the city/planet which is now riddled with destruction, and a torrential rain making buildings smoke and fires turn to embers. It's dark, depressing and clearly details how alone your character is feeling. It's not often you'll find a game thats main premise is to punch 10 foot tall aliens in the face with metal cyborg arms, and attempting to shoot others in the head for confetti to explode everywhere and a soundbite of children yelling "Hooray!" but Halo does it, and does it well. It would be interesting to go back and play them all in order now, to sit and watch how the story really does progress and seeing how it all ties in with itself.
Buuut, that's enough Halo for tonight, and I'm realy excited to mark another day off on my mental calendar leading up to my return to Alberta. Unfortuately, it looks like Natalie has almost resorted to guilt-tripping me into going out today (Friday) night to the Blarney Stone. I get paid today and need the money to pay for my furniture and everything to get set up in Edmonton, and I'm already going to be spending more than I would like that weekend. Saturday night I promised some friends from work that I'd go out for a few brewskies after my last shift, and I invited my friends from highschool, but they're all cancelling on me. So if I really want to see them, instead of going to a local pub where most everyone can get home easily, we are apparently going to make out way all the way downtown, to go to a not-inexpensive bar. I am not entirely impressed with them, but if I want to see them before I leave it looks like I'll be going out Friday and Saturday nights, as well as a brunch Sunday morning with a friend from the Olympics. At least she understands just how broke I will be and so we'll be going to see some of the free stuff at the Fringe Festival on Graville Island. I suppose I should write a letter to work as a nice "Thank you for everything!" card. Because really, I got the job on the spot at the interview, and they've really been supportive. I will miss working with the guys (and girls!) there, especially Dan, Simran, Swaniel, Jenn, Harteg, Sawan and Harman (both of them).
Wow, this post started out as a "OMG BEST GAME EVAR!!1!1!LOLOLOLOL" post, and has since transitioned into a "Aww, I'm going to miss the people I work with/emo" post. Strange how that works. Speaking of people I'm going to miss, today (Friday) I am going to go see my brothers' condo that he and his girlfriend own. Most likely on my way downtown. But he, myself and Kseniya all went out for sushi last night and had an awesome time. He eats a LOT of sushi, and I am slowly being able to judge just how much and what I will eat. Looks like Alaska rolls are my favourite. Crab, Avocado (sometimes cucumber. And I prefer the cucumber!), with raw salmon draped on top. Deeeeeelish. I do believe that my lovely Rachel and I must go for sushi when I get back, and though I'd say the first night home, I do recall that she at one point said that she wanted to show off her new culinary skills. So totally her call amd either way, I'll be extremely happy! 
I managed to get most of my clothes into one suitcase, and I really hope that it's under 50 pounds. if it is, this will make me immensely happy as it would mean that I could potentially put a few items on the plane with me instead of shipping them. Like, say, an xbox. or perhaps a few, unrelated things that i wasn't sure i'd be able to bring!. I'm really getting excited about this, and friday being my only real day off before I go, it means I have to get a LOT of things done. Cleaning especially, because if my brother is going to be commandeering this room, I dno't want to gross him out, or leave a metric tonne of crap in it for him to clean. So we'll see how well this works. I had booked my ticket to fly out of Vancouver so that should the need be, I could make my own way to the airport somewhat easily, and not have to burden my mum or make her take time off of work for my selfish desires, hahaha. However, it turns out that she's going to be taking some time off to see me go, and I think it's her way of dealing with it a little more, and not see me in the morning and say goodbye. We'll see!
However, with a fun-filled day ahead of me, I should probably get some rest. The sound of the rain pounding on the deck outside is not condusive to awakedness as well.
So, good night and good luck.
Craig
P.S. Oh, Rachel? I freaking love you and can't wait to be back! :)

Classical Storm

Listening: Rostropovich Bach Cello Suite No.1 Prelude

So, nothing really of consequence to note today, Halo: Reach came out, and it wasn't nearly as busy as I had thought it was going to be. I suppose all of the REALLY big nerds went out and got it at the midnight launch. Go figure. The only downside to this is that because of the move I do not have the budget to buy said game and enjoy destroying "n00bs" with Dan and Simran. Go figure. Ah well, eventually. I'm getting more and more excited about the move as it draws nearer. Also, I'm getting nervous about the transfer to the West Edmonton store. i'm not amazing with computers, but I am willing to learn and I feel that it's a nice controlled environment to start with my education. What I'm most concerned about is if there is a skills test before being allowed to transfer, and that I may not pass it. While I am computer literate, I'm not 100% confident with my skills diagnosing and fixing the multitude of problems that are possible with computers. I'm going to see if my dearest dad can help me out with a few crash courses on it, as well as asking the Geeks at work for some pointers/tips. That is, however, the biggest worry that I have at the moment, and should I not get into Geek Squad, which is what I would LOVE to do, there is always a senior position in the Home Theater department which I would rock. There is also a Supervisory position for the same department, however it was made clear to me that I would require to work my way up the ranks before being offered said position.

Another cool thing that I've recently started doing again, is listening to more and more classical music. I find that it really calms me and helps clear my mind, while being something that will continue to raise goosebumps on my skin. Most recently are Bachs Cello suites, specifically Suite no.1 and Suite no. 4. Brilliant music, on a brilliantly played instrument. I can and have been listening to them repeatedly during the day, and do not think I shall grow tired of them. The prelude on Suite no. 4 is actually one of my favourite pieces of music, however Suite no.1 is so well transcribed and such a wonderful flowing harmony that I would question the sanity of any person who does not enjoy it. The feel and emotion playing through the notes on Rostropovich's rendition is amazing and while many would consider him to be playing it too quickly, I do believe that it was originally transcribed at that tempo. Another beautiful rendition of Suite no.1 is by Pablo (or Pau) Casals. There was a wonderful video upload onto youtube of Mr. Casals playing the full suite in a French church in 1954. A solitary figure in a church hall, filmed in black and white, and playing a beautiful arrangement of music made the hair on the back of my neck stand up and brought chills down my arms. It truly made me wish that I had the talent and the drive to learn how to play the cello, if only to play that one piece of music.
Going back to my move to Edmonton, however, I still have a ridiculous amount of things left to accomplish on my list, and not a large amount of time in which to complete said tasks. There was a very nice surprise to this move, which was brought to my attention via parental explanation. Turns out that whilst paying rent to my parents to live in the basement, they would take a portion of that rent and put it into a savings account/setting/something and are returning that fraction to me to help with my moving. This was a very welcome surprise, and gives me a little bit of padding to my "well maybe if I..." budget. My mum was surprised when she found out how well I had planned and managed to figure out the move and all of my financing for it, if a little upset that I was leaving soon. Sunday night is going to be a joint Happy Birthday dinner for Mini and a Farewell dinner for yours truly. Mini will enjoy the fact that I'm leaving for the reason that he gets to commandeer my room, but I think that's one of the few positive points he'll see. The other being that he'll get a TV in his room. I really should learn some new transition words, and try to implement them, as I find that I use "However" a fair amount in my writing.
Sleep really should be a priority at the moment, however I have messed up my sleeping patterns a large amount and am wired from about the current time (2:15 AM) until about 7:00 AM, where I crash and need to sleep sometime around 5:00 or 6:00 PM. Needs to be fixed, especially before I return to Edmonton. Another thing I should fix is the length of my blahg posts. It is impressive that I am able to write so much these days and not feel overly self-conscious about it, and even more impressive (to me at least) that I will actually post them on ze intrawebs, even if they're really only read by my lovely girlfriend.
Ah well, a new chapter in my life is about to start, and I should assume that there will be many changes being associated with that. It will be very nice to be able to see Rachel on a regular basis, and not have to have skype-dates and the such. Perhaps we'll actually go out on dates too! Who knows, we'll be as cliche and as offbeat as we like and I am definitely looking forward to it. Another lovely thing about this will be I get to see Adam again. I miss that German bastard like crazy. It's been FAR too long since we've had a decent night doing anything we damn well please, and I miss his straightforward approach to life. It's a nice shiny beacon in my adrift world of "well, I suppose that I would enjoy this...." life. The scrubs marathons, the impromptu dance parties chez Rachel with all of our friends, Wings, screaming at the Oilers for their dismay demonstrations of hockey and rejoicing in their triumphs. It will be nice to be back where I feel I'm much more at ease and where I feel like I belong. Even though I grew up here, I don't feel that same connection with the people or with my friends as much or as well as I do with those I met in University. I will miss being in the Vancouver area, and I will definitely return for visits and trips to the cabin, but I feel I am becoming an Albertan true and through. We'll see how well that works out, though, as Rachel wants to move to Montreal in a few years. Maybe I'll fall in love with that city as well, but Edmonton will forever be a place that I will call home, -60 degrees celcius can not scare me away! It's just an obstacle on your way to Sev to grab a slushie.
Beam me up Scotty, I'm ready for redeployment.
Craig

Seriously Brain, I work in the morning.

ARrrgghh!
The worst thing to happen when you know you'll have a ridiculously busy day in the morning is when your brain is on overdrive and you can't sleep. And so, the blogging at 3:30 in the morning. Feel my wrath as I attempt to exhaust myself ranting of nothing of consequence! Let the over-tired ravings.....Begin!



Now.
Interesting things have been happeninglately, and by interesting I mean mundane. Somewhat. My "little" brother is having his 18th birthday this weekend (hardly mundane!), and has asked for a new xbox(nerd). Seeing as all of his dear older brothers are dirt broke, having to either pay off mortgages or ridiculous VISA bills, save for moving or a trip, or just generally have NO money, I seriously doubt that it'll happen. UNLESS, we all magically coordinate a day where we all pitch in and buy him the Goddamn Xbox 360 Slim, with a 250 Gb harddrive. Yeah, at a $299.99 price point, that's a hefty gift. Hell, for my 18th birthday, I got a minifridge for the residence I was moving into, and a laptop. And that was a combined graduation present!
In other news, I'm going to miss Mini, as he is so affectionately referred to, as I bought a one-way plane ticket to Edmonton today (monday). Yes, that's right, all of my planning for the past YEAR have finally come to fruition and I shall be returning to my wonderful land of snow and cold! I will NOT be shipping bedroom supplies, however, and shall be visiting my local Swedish embassy for said furniture. When it'll cost just over $200 to furnish a bedroom purchasing new meubles and close to $450 to ship them, I have decided that the lesser expense is the better idea.
As of Monday, September 20th, 2010 I shall become an Edmonton resident (sort of) again! And no need for searching for ridiculous jobs either! A wonderful piece of news I received today was that Geek Squad gets paid RIDICULOUSLY well. Better than I was planning of asking them. When $15/hour is LESS than what they offer, you know that you've gotten yourself into a good career path. It just means that I have to work my butt off to obtain the certification required for future employment, but they give me a 3-month berth to obtain said certification. And that would be just the basics as well!
Before I get too giddy about my transfer to awesomely-paid-ville, I need to finish a metric ton of assorted small jobs:
- renew prescription so I don't die from lack of meds
- purchase adequate amounts of said meds to last until extended-health benefits commence
- pack/ship computer/gaming supplies for myself and my better half (Seriously, xbox is on it's way!)
- pack clothing and assorted necessary curtainings and linens
- plan/execute a fairly organised "you're leaving you bastard" party. My friends here demand one apparently
- clean my room as Mini has decided that he shall comandeer my room the day I leave
- as yet to be determined assorted jobs, miscellanious jobs, "OH MY GOD I FORGOT THAT" jobs, etc. etc.

Aaaaaaand, now I'm wired. Thank you Internet, for this lovely re-awakening of my brain so that when there are literal hordes of elite gamers frothing at the mouth waiting for a chance to dive head first into the lovely science fiction world of super-human cyborgs combating nine-foot tall aliens in a holy war bent on the destruction of the human race, I shall be unable to help them, yearning for sleep. Yes, I am aware that the previous sentence was a run-on, but you can kiss the lower part of the back of the canister that is my body.
Hopefully, sleep shall arrive now, having vented my wrath for avid Halo: Reach fans.
This will, unfortunately, lead to a faster re-union with TM, my power-loving "senior" (as he is one year my junior) at work. Beacuse of my move to Edmonton, the managers at work had to by-pass myself for a promotion to senior of the department. It didn't make sense for them to give me a full-time, full-responsability position if I was going to be leaving in 2 weeks. This led them to the ever-so-popular decision to promote a guy I have known since I was playing hockey in elementary school, who has somewhat of a reputation as a bully. He had it then, he has it now. To be fair, outside of work, I somewhat enjoy his company. At work, or talking of work-related issues, I would MUCH prefer his absense. Dear. Lord. there is an age-old philosophy that those who lead by doing make much better and much more respected leaders. TM has apparently decided to forgo this wisdom and instead tries to bully and order others to do tasks which he deems below himself. In a retail environment, talking to customers and finalizing a sale, is not below anyones part in the company. I have seen my General Manager stop performing an important part of his position to either find a sales associate who was free, or helping out the customer himself start to finish. Granted, this does not happen often, however he does not believe himself to be above performing these duties. TM, has forgone any attempt at forming bonds with the other guys in my department, and I fear that my transfer will set off a chain reaction of the associates focusing their attentions to other companies and jobs. Not to blow my own horn and make it seem like I'm the all-knowing, infallible party here, but I do believe that I would, and can, perform the duties of said position to a much higher calibre than he is currently. Product knowldege has absolutely nothing to do with it, in my opinion, but more of an openness with your co-workers, managers, and definitely customers. A mutual respect between those above and below your positions is also key, and I believe that an immediate way for those among with whom you must co-ordinate and oversee, is to show that you would never ask them to do a job that you yourself would not do. Travis, my previous senior understood this well, and though he can be a bit of a chump and a bit of a jerk, we still respect him and would perform the tasks he bestowed upon us, were we available.

Wow, this post was supposed to be a small one, but 30 minutes of almost continuous writing apparently fills a blahg. G'night!

-Craig
P.S. Dan you bastard, booking two days off AFTER the release of the game to sit on your ass and pwn 13-year-olds across the globe continuously. I wish you well, and I shall join you next week when the cash is high enough for me to be able to purchase said game without losing a weeks worth of groceries.

Insert Witty Title Here

So, Wow.
It's finally just hit me that I am actually going to be moving back to Edmonton in a couple of weeks. Now, I have been looking forward to this for a LONG time, so I'm definitely excited. However, for the past year, moving back has seemed like an almost unachievable goal. And what a year it has been. It's been an exhausting (for myself and my friends and family!) trip of self-realisation, and though it's not over, it's much more controlled and has definite direction. This is a new chapter in my life, one of responsability (sort of) and that will be much more fun. I've had to do a lot of growing up lately, and even I am surprised by my productivity. Something must have switchd a little in my brain after my last visit to the hospital (oops!) as I have done at least one productive thing a day since. Then again, probably not, as I am still posting random thoughts on a blog at 5:30 AM on a weekday. Big changes though, as I now have a place to stay in Edmonton, a job (although it has not been explained to me what position I shall acquire), a benefits package which my teeth shall enjoy, and one very excited girlfriend. Who started her new job today! I am very glad to know that she enjoyed herself, and am not surprised that she fits in well. Rae, you are pretty amazing, and that's not a biased opinion. Also, I'm super jealous of your lab-coat-wearing job, but not so much for the job itself. Mostly just for the lab-coats. Wow, rambled on with this post. I SHOULD end it here, but I'm too wired at the moment to stop. Perhaps I should, as the screen decided to start wobbling. Sleep perchance? If only you would not elude me. Curse these long nights of sleeplessness! I shall need to vanquish you Superhero style.
In a completely unrelated topic, one of Rae's lovely friends has decided to compare me to Jim from "The Office". Which is pretty awesome, if I do say so myself. It also means that my dearest Rae would be Pam, which is equally awesome. Aaaaaand it would make a sweet halloween costume, if Rae decided she wanted to be fun and dress up for the occasion. Which is something that I'm not quite sure I can wrap my head around, as all of my halloweens up to my first year of university, I had gone trick-or-treating. It was fun to dress up and goof around and not feel the slightest bit out of place in doing so. It's just slightly beyond my comprehension to not dress up for halloween, which I suppose is a by-product of my childhood. Still, All Hallow's Eve remains a fair time away and I have more pressing matters at hand. Such as, Dear God I have nothing to move into this house with! One massive trip to IKEA is most definitely needed once I arrive in Edmonton. It seems like there is quite a fair amount of things left to do, most of which require my physical self to be in the city of my future residence.
So, with that I shall bid you Good Morning, and I am off to attempt to steal what little bit of slumber I can, before being rudely awakened by either my parents, my brother, or our glorious life-giving ball of fire in the sky.
Adieu
Craig

Still alive

Ah, Johnathan Coulton.
Seriously, I've been listening to variations of "Still Alive" for close to about an hour now, and I must say that the best version I've seen so far has got to be when JoCo himself sings it via rockband at a concert. But, such things are unimportant. My biggest concern right now is that they haven't sent in my letters for my transfer at work yet, doubled with the fact that I am concerned about getting my benefits. So, later today I shall be making my way down to the box to make sure that they follow through on their promises. After that, I get to call the landlord of a wonderful building near Southgate in Edmonton, not 10 blocks away from where Rae is living. They want me to sign a one-year lease, which will be okay, as I plan on being there for at least two years. It's hard to concentrate though, especially with JoCo serenading me.

Maybe you'll find someone else to help you.
Maybe Black Mesa
THAT WAS A JOKE.
HAHA. FAT CHANCE.
Anyway, this cake is great.

Witty. Made even funnier in Japanese. I should finish that game again. It's a gooder.
Wow, this post has absolutely nothing of value. Maybe I should get some sleep. That was a joke. Haha. Fat chance.
See what I did there?!? oh, I'm so clever. But seriously? sleep.
Craig

Disimpressed

So my wonderful body decided yesterday to go into Diabetic Ketoacidosis (DKA) which requires an overnight stay at my local sick-house. Not only that, but it starts off with a lovely display of remembering what my past meals looked like, followed by shivers and finishing off with acidic blood throughout my body. Oh joy! What beautifuul happy day it was! This wonderous occasion was made doubly so, to the advent of an old lady sufferring from dementia in the bed next to mine. Honestly, when an 80-something year old starts talking about "needing to get home to teach" you know that she's not doing well. This lovely tempered old lady tried, unsucessfully, to escape from her bed thrice, and every time she fell and hurt herself to varying degrees. Also, every time she attempted a "hospital-break" the overnight nurses would have to come and sedate her, which would require holding her down and getting kicked. All in all, not a pleasant night. The nurses who treated me were all very pleasant, and all but one were very competent. One nurse in particular was quite a delight, as she was there the last time I had an episode of such a nature. She remembered my mother, but not myself as I seem to have grown a fair amount of facial hair. She joked about me calling in to make sure she was working before I showed up and very easily took my mind off of the situation. Looking back at the serious side of this, however, I'm not entirely sure why it happened, but I am fairly certain that it is because my insulin overheated, or cooked as we like to say, and became useless. So, while I was under the impression that the insulin I was injecting into my system was helping, it was just as useful, if not as harmful, as injecting water or air into my body. That, and now I am fully disimpressed with myself as I am snuggled bedwards with a distraught (not so much anymore) girlfriend who is just glad to hear that I am okay. That and that this delightful trip will not delay my return to Edmonton any, so she does not have to fear a long distance relationship for very much longer. But not it is time to catch some shut-eye as old bag-lady robbed me of any last night with her shrieking.

Craig

Sleepless Nights

Realising that my nights are usually wasted watching pointless videos on youtube, I have decided to do something slightly more constructive with my time. Unfortunately, this does not include sleeping at the moment, as I am getting a little too excited these days. Or restless, you decide. Lots of changes happening soon, mostly with career, love life, housing and of course schooling. I was fortunate enough to land a position at Best Buy, which I have greatly enjoyed, even getting the chance to open a new store, which was a ton of fun. Even after having worked for six months with the company I still enjoy going to work, something which not many people can attest to (and somedays with all of my grumbling you'd think I was lying!). I am also fortunate enough to have impressed my "higher ups" enough that they are hoping I will change my mind about moving to Edmonton. Which brings me to another change in my life! In the past year, I have moved back and forth from Edmonton twice, culminating in my upcoming return home (Edmonton). As much as I love being at home with the fam, there are too many memories that I do not wish to relive in this town. I really will miss my friends, most notably those with whom I remained in touch with, and I am well aware that this move will not be nearly as I imagine it. But most of all I'm a little afraid. Moving back will bring forth many realities I have had the luxury of ignoring these past months. Grocery shopping, budgeting, and finding somebody insane enough to actually teach me how to drive! And while this move scares me, it also brings hope for my future. I will be moving back to a city in which my lovely girlfriend resides, which we are both very excited about. That plus not having to sneak around or hide the fact that we really love each other, is really going to change my outlook on life a little, and definitely for the better! Love life aside, I will be switching mindsets with work as well, going from sales-man to computer technician, hopefully. Transferring within the company from a fairly infrequently frequented store to the busiest store in the country would have been stressful enough, but having to learn quickly on my feet will make it that much more of a challenge. A challenge I am looking forward to. Also included with these changes in life is the fact that I am interested at returning to post-secondary in the winter. Starting in January, I hope to be attending the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology, studying Computer Engineering. It will be an adventure, and a start to what I am hoping will be a long and fun career. My parents are worried that this is a "flavour of the day" decision, and I do not blame them. Since finishing High School, I have wanted to study: History and Political Science, with hopes of being a High School teacher; Journalism and Photojournalism in hopes of becoming a war correspondant; Business and Economics in hopes of either joining a large corporation or opening my own business; and now Computer Engineering and Technology. Not to mention a continued interest in joining the Armed Forces that my lovely Rachel enjoys hearing about. No worries, though! My sometimes infuriating always inrritating complications with my Diabetes is sure to keep me surely planted in Civillian life. Returning to the topic of my move, however, has also brought my attention to future companionship. Shortly after returning, and after my life is more or less settled, I wish to adopt either a puppy or a young dog. Preferably, I would adopt one of either a Pembroke Welsh Corgi, a Black Labrador/Retriever cross, or a German Shepherd/Rottweiler cross. We shall see how long it will be before that happens though, but my interest in once again having a companion dog is not fleeting. Ever since my grandfathers Collie, Gordon, was put down I have yearned for another of "man's best friend" to enter my life.
It has now just come to my attention that I have started to ramble quite a bit, and this post seems to have grown quite substantially. Hopefully, they won't all be this long or be posted at 4:30 AM.
Rachel, eat your heart out, this blog is going to stay.
-Craig