The good, the bad and the free

The good: I've finally found a one-bedroom place of my own, and it's huge. I move in around three weeks from now. And I plan to go all posh style and convert the ex-pantry room into a walk-in closet, heh heh. Maybe not, but it's a nice thought.

The bad: the RCMP rang up earlier and offered me a 6 month admin job in Homicide, which I had to turn down because of my contract with UBC. Work seems to come in spurts or not at all.....

The also bad: http://www.vaed.uscourts.gov/notablecases/moussaoui/exhibits/ if you want to be depressed by the exhibits from the World Trade Centre trial against Moussaoui. I had to look - I'm in forensics.

The free: Have just made a foray out to grab free stuff from a back alley, posted on craigslist 15 blocks from me. I was too late for the bike, but I grabbed the free standing lamp and the table on wheels before the next car came around the corner :o)

Two months on

Thanks for the prodding, Dan. I hadn't realised that it had been two months since I last posted - although I did recognise that my updating had been less than stellar. Rest assured that I am still alive, although I have been crap at keeping in touch with people and I haven't read anyone else's blog since about March. Apologies to all - I know I'm terrible. You'll just have to allow me some time to wallow in my new-found stability and cut me some slack ;o)

So..... what has been happening over the past two months? Happily, little in the way of drama and lots in the way of settling down. Jason and I have booked flights to Nova Scotia in August to attend his family reunion so I can meet the parents - serious stuff! My parents are coming over here in September so I will get to return the favour. I'm not sure who is the more scared. I have been looking around at one-bedroom suites in a vain attempt to get my own place, but so far things are either too expensive or too grotty for my liking, so for now I'm still here. I seem to have developed an allergic reaction to mosquito bites in the past few weeks, so I am covered in huge red welts which turn into hard lumps and then bruises, looking like I have the plague or something. Jason and I bought a truck on Sunday for $600, which is going to get dismantled over the next few weeks and magically incorporated into another truck. I have now learned the differences between straight 6 and 8 cylinder engines, can explain how fuel is mixed with air to make the car run and know what the alternator does. In addition I have helped install speakers in the front doors of my car and have been junkyard hunting for a wing mirror and a back wiper. I am slowly becoming more mechanically-minded - wonders will never cease. I'm enjoying it all immensely, although Jason can't understand why the hell trailing round a wrecker's yard after him as he pulls vehicles apart is the least bit appealing. All I can say is that for an Oxford girl who went to a public school and grew up not knowing the simplest thing about cars, it's something new and interesting!

I have applied to UBC as an unclassified student so that I can use up some of my staff tuition waiver and do some courses - I'm kind of limited by what still has space left when it's my turn to register and also what takes place in the evening, but at the moment it seems to be a contest between Latin, random Forestry courses and perhaps some Asian architecture modules. Let it never be said that my life is not eclectic :o)

Aside from my personal life, it's nice and hot here and I have managed to lose some of my deathly pallor, although the self-tan may have to be broken out before the trip to Halifax. I need to do more exercise and stop being such a lazy bugger now I have a desk job, so everyone is at liberty to post their fitness tips for me ;o) but for now, I am going to have a Coke (diet), listen to some music (The Fray) and go to bed. Night all xxxx