Thursday, August 18th, 2011

I sent an email to my landlord this morning explaining the noise situation in my apartment.  I want him to know how bad it is.  He replied that he would talk to them.  I almost have to laugh... he's not going to change the situation when the issue is that they just don't know how to parent.  It's a lost cause.

I didn't go home after work today.  Lurline texted me to see if I wanted to meet for some wings after work.  ANYTHING would've been better than going home to the noise, so I was in.

I met her at Local 004 (I think that's the name).  It wasn't wing night.  Rats!  I ate some calamari and had a beer, and we sat and chatted ... well, I did most of the chatting.  It might've sounded a little more like venting.  Lurline thinks I should try to get out of my lease, if I can.  I fully agree.  My friend, J, showed up after a while, since he lives very close by.  We all grabbed a quick coffee from Timmy's and while we were inside, a storm blew over us.  We went outside to get a better look.  The clouds were swirling and suddenly there was snow/hail pelting us.  It looked like a tornado was going to form.  I took a few photos, but I don't think it does it justice.  Right after this, there was a double rainbow!  I almost cried it was so beautiful.... (that was a reference to the "double rainbow" youtube video for those of you who haven't seen it).

Afterwards, J showed me his two new guitars, and we just hung out and chatted while he played a few songs.  It was a nice evening out of the house and away from the noise.

Wednesday, August 3rd, 2011

Still have this eye problem and my eye won't stop watering.  It's embarrassing and I don't know what the issue is.
Anyway, day two at my new job.  Things are moving along ... I'm learning a lot and realizing the scope of how much I have to learn before Olga goes on maternity leave.  It's too early to worry about that, I guess.  The bottom line is that I'll be contributing to something very important, and that part inspires me to make it all work out.
After work, I went to see another apartment in Mission.  It was very, very small.  The bedroom would basically only fit a bed, and the kitchen was part of the main living area, and was really small.  It was clean, though, and it had a balcony.  I signed the application, thinking this might be the only place I'm gonna get.  There was a waiting list for parking, though, and my cat wasn't allowed on the balcony unattended.  That would mean keeping her inside the tiny apartment all day while I was at work.  Probably not the best idea.
I had to think about it.
I met Jeff for wing night at a pub near Mt. Royal, and Lurline showed up to meet us.  The sky was doing some weird, crazy stuff.  It was the most interesting cloud patterns I've ever seen, I think.  I wish I had taken video of it, since it may be the only time that I'll see that much happening at the same time.  The clouds were turning and forming what looked like funnel clouds in the North, then in the West, the clouds were making this other unusual pattern that looked like a hand was reaching out to grab at something.  In the South, it was sunny and clear.  Everything was moving, and because the sun was setting, it made for some incredible colours.
Anyway, Jeff went home to see if he could get a better view of the impending tornado.  We all believed that we'd see one for sure.  But it didn't happen.
By the time Lurline and I went home, I only managed to get a few shots of the sky, and most of it had dissipated.  The school yard looked a little eerie, though, so I took this shot.

Tuesday, July 19th, 2011

Had a very nice day today.  Woke up to another sunny, hot day.  Mom and I had a relaxing morning at home, while everybody else was at work.  Then, we decided to go to Value Village just to check things out.  We both bought a few items, and had a 25% off coupon for our purchases, so that was fun.  I dropped mom off at home, then drove up to the North to visit with Debra.  On my way there, a storm blew through the city - rain and lightning and wind.  Then, by the time I got to Debra's, it was sunny again.  Clear, blue skies once again.  We took her dog for a walk, and enjoyed the sunshine, while we caught up on things.

Then, I headed to the Kensington Pub to meet Bryn.  Again, it was wing night, so I filled up on some tasty salt and pepper wings.  That's one of the things I miss most about Calgary!  There's a wing night somewhere every night... and they're delicious.  Anyway, while I was chatting with Bryn, we both heard some pretty heavy rain falling on the skylight overhead.  It was getting louder and louder.  Then, we both realized that it was actually hail.  HAIL?!  I was beginning to freak out a little, knowing that my car was parked outside on the street, and just last year, Calgary had a hail storm so powerful that it did damage to thousands of cars in the city.  So, I took my camera and ran outside to check it out.  I couldn't even go on to the sidewalk because the hail was so strong and the hailstones were so large that people were running for cover everywhere.

Once it had subsided, Bryn took a walk to my car to check it out for me.  He said that there didn't seem to be any hail damage, but I had left my sunroof popped up and the inside of my car was pretty wet.  I was relieved.  Water will dry!

Here is one picture of the hail.  Not sure if you can make out how big some of the hailstones were, but it looks like it was snowing in July.

Monday, July 18th, 2011

I had a job interview today, so in the morning I prepared for that, then left for the interview.  I thought it went well enough, but it's never that easy to tell until the decision is made.  After the interview, I headed to the Regal Beagle in Kensington to meet a friend.  We sat out on the patio and had a cold drink and some wings - it was wing night!  We didn't stay too long because it was about 34 degrees and the heat was draining our energy.  I headed back to Lurline's, and still needed a photo for the day, so we all went to Tim Horton's to grab an Iced Capp... the sky was starting to look like a storm was coming.  There were some large clouds that looked like they could turn into a tornado, so we took a picture of that.  These skies aren't like the skies in BC ...