All that drama about BC Hydro, I call them up ready for a fight and this is what I get:
Amber: I'm calling about this letter I received saying that I have to pay a security deposit and this notice to discon..
Clerk: ok, you're name
Amber: uh, Amber Lastname
Clerk: Can you verify your address for me please?
Amber: ~verifies~
Clerk: Our records show that we sent that letter out September 20th
Amber: 19th according the let...
Clerk: And you paid your bill on September 26th
Amber: 23rd actual...
Clerk: So the letter and your payment must have crossed paths, so you can disregard the letter. We're really sorry about the confusion, miss.
Amber: um, uh, oh. ok. thanks.
Clerk: May I help you with anything else today?
Amber: um, no, no that's all.
Clerk: Have a nice day!
so, yeah. Excellent. I can keep my $246. It was almost disappointing, I had my "I'm such a bitch don't you mess with me" voice on and everything.
Tomorrow my day is looking awfully exciting. I'm doing homework. Wheee! Whatcha all up to?
Hey Fear! There's a spinning wheel for sale at this antiquey-thrift store at the end of the block for $140. You could buy yourself a spinning wheel for your 30th! :)
I spent 3 weeks away from my humble abode frolicking in the, well, rain of Calgary. I was finishing up with work and madly seeing friends I hadn't seen in a year. In addition, seeing as I am the MOST spoiled person on earth, I had my hair highlighed and cut and then threw a party to celebrate. I can, so I will.
After the Calgary fun I headed home with my Mom in tow because she hasn't been here in the year I've lived here and I felt she deserved a vacation. The two of us have been doing the tourist thing, hanging out and knitting (yes, knitting. I'm 80.).
What I'm getting at is that I've been busy. During all this being busy BC Hydro sent me a letter. Yesterday I opened it thinking it was the reminder to pay the BC Hydro bill that I forgot to pay before I went to Calgary and then Steve couldn't find the bill so I just decided I'd pay it when I get home. Since I've been home (a week) I haven't really been paying that much attention to the mail because I have company. Life is like that. Plus we have to drive to get our mail so it's not like I get it everyday even when I don't have company.
It wasn't a reminder, it was a final notice telling me to pay or they will disconnet my service. The bill was due September 12th, it was September 23rd. Dude, I'm 11 days late. Not only that, the bill was dated September 19th. 7 days after the bill was due they're threatening to cut me off. Seriously, let's not get carried away with these threats and don't I deserve more than one warning?!
Not only are they threatening to put me in the dark ages, literally, they also are demanding an additional $246 because it's clear that I'm irresponsible and incompetant and they must protect themselves from the likes of me. This $246 will be held by them for 12 months while I prove to them that I'm not generally a tardy person and can manage to pay the bill on time like a good little electricity user. If I am ever again tardy, well, at least they have the protection of my $246 to draw from.
What the fuck? Whatever happened to the usual late charge? You know, the extra $2 they add to your bill when you forget to pay it? I've paid every other bill in the last year on time, but miss a payment by ELEVAN MEASLEY DAYS and by god! CALL THE POLICE! ARREST THE CRIMINAL!
If I didn't just get laid off and my tenant in my condo give notice, I'd just pay the stupid money and feel the shame that I'm suppose to feel, but dammit, that money is my grocery money. They're going to have beat it out of me.
Or turn off my electricity. Maybe they're on to something because honestly I'd last one day with no heat, internet, water, internet, light, and internet before insanity set in.
If only there was more than one electrical company in town. What choice do I really have?
You'd think that what with now officially being unemployed I'd have all the time in the world to update. Not so. I'm very busy doing, uh, stuff. Important stuff.
Take today for instance. Today I went golfing a par 3 with my Mom. I still hate golfing, but Mom is on holidays and she really wanted to go so golfing we went! It was pretty fun, actually, because no one else was there but us so no pressure to hurry up or perform. The course had all these fruit trees that were loaded with fruit and it was upsetting to see it all going to waste. There are groups that will go in there and harvest the fruit and give it to the hungry. There is no need for that sort of waste.
In other news, I went for an ultrasound this morning (no, I'm NOT pregnant) because my tummy hurts (for real, my tummy hurts). It was weird, they can't tell you anything and it takes longer than you'd think. I never thought my first ultrasound would be for a tummy ache.
Dear Mariah Carey Fans,
Please explain.
Thank you,
Amber
If one were looking for, say, little mini beaded heads of, say, Darth Vader in any of his personalities, or other geek mini head beads, where do you think one might look?
I spent the first couple of days in Calgary marveling at the changes, how big the city has become and how lucky I've been so far with respect to the traffic that Calgarians are always moaning about.
This morning, on my drive into the downtown area (because public transportation in this city sucks, I feel forced to drive) I noticed a falcon sitting on a lap post. At first I was filled with glee to see a falcon in the city. I've seen them on the highway on-route to somewhere, usually Edmonton, but never within the city itself.
This was the second time I had seen a falcon on this trip, can you believe my luck?! I spent years in Calgary without ever glimpsing the bird, and now two? Splendid!
Or is it? Naturally my next thought was why is this bird in the city all of a sudden? And then I realized that my good luck was very likely the result of the bird's bad luck - urban sprawl.
It's not just the falcons either. Canmore, just outside of Banff at the base of the Rocky Mountains, just developed a huge resort called The Three Sister's Resort. It's a beautiful looking place, you can see it from the highway between Calgary and Banff. Development of this resort, and others in the area, means that humans have further encroached on the bear territory. Displacing the bears means that obviously, the bears move and this means that there has been a rise in human-bear encounters. In the end, we know this isn't going to fare well for the bears.
I love Alberta, I really do, but as a province they have absolutely no respect for the natural environment around them. Calgarians (and this is a vast generalization) value their homes and their cars. They do not value their parks or their trees. I remember spending an evening at a party where the conversation was a one-upmanship of fridges. Who, within the group, was installing the best fridge on the market. I kid you not. I spent that time thinking to myself "why the hell am I sitting here listening to this shit. It's a FRIDGE."
There is one small area of natural douglas fir forest left in the city, that I'm aware of, and we built a freeway through it. Calgarians simply don't care. They have the mountains, which they can see from their half-million dollar homes, and that seems to be all they need. It's one of the reasons why Steve and I left, we just couldn't imagine our entire existance being wrapped up in our house and our car, and then taking our future children to the pathway along the river that sits right beside a major road. Gee, isn't that swell?
I'm not someone who tends to preach my beliefs, and I'm not a crazy environmentalist by any stretch (I like to drive my car as much as the next person and you all know that Steve and I own a speedboat, not exactly role models the two of us), I just want Calgarians to first notice the falcons, they're gorgeous, and then recognize why they're suddenly making a home in the city. People can influence the development and direction within their own city. Vancouver does it, and they do it well. Calgary has the money, and this huge resource of intelligent and knowledgable people willing to do it. Things like planning urban runoff to prevent flooding and damage to areas like Fish Creek Park in times of heavy rain (like now). Fish Creek will naturally flood, but the flooding you're seeing right now isn't natural, its a direct result of urban runoff and not planning for appropriate water movement within the city. It can be done, and there are people who are skilled at planning it (hell, I know these people). I'd love to see things like this start to happen while Calgary continues to explode, as I imagine it will continue to do.
oh, I researched nothing in the rant, I just ranted. Maybe I'll research later ;).
Candi did it, so then shall I ;)
7 things I plan to do before I die:
1) Spend time doing something useful in a third world country, hopefully Africa
2) Dive the Great Barrier Reef
3) Knit myself a sweater. I think small, but I've been knitting for years and I haven't made anything bigger than a baby sweater.
4) Get another tattoo. I'm thinking Steve's Family's crest. It's cool.
5) Learn about photography - the equipment and composition
4) I'd like to learn how to paint.
6) Grow one fabulous garden that provides enough veggies for my family. heh.
7) Work on a political campaign - this one I am stealing directly from Candi because it's a good one. I like it.
7 things I can do:
1) I can demolish like no one else I know. Tedious, time consuming task involved? I'm on it. I love it.
2) I'm a crafty bitch
3) See the bright side of situation, and I'm pretty good at laughing away just about any problem
4) I've been told that when I have company over, I have this knack of wasting away an afternoon. If you're at my house, we tend to spend several hours just sitting around drinking tea and apparently, this is something that happens with just me and not so much with other folks. I've had several people tell me so. I've decided of this, I'm proud.
5) Damn, this list is hard. I can throw a pretty good theme party (ie: baby or wedding shower)
6) I've been told I'm pretty good at decorating, although in all honesty, I've done NOTHING to my new house yet.
7) I'm apparently good at writing ecological restoration reports (at least, for one class) :). I'm tired. I can't think of anything else.
7 things I cannot do:
1) Stop picking at my cuticles
2) Not forget, or lose, or leave behind things
3) Dye my hair purple, or blue, even though I secretly think its totally cool
4) Allow someone to get away with a racist or ignorant remark about my friends
5) Watch scary movies (stolen from Candi, but modified for me!)
6) Sleep in the house by myself with all the lights off
7) Drive the truck with the boat attached to it
7 things that attract me to the opposite sex:
1) Ambition
2) Kindness
3) Intelligence, and a desire to learn new things and experience new things
4) Honesty/Integrity (another one I'm copying from Candi)
5) Eyes that speak more than the person actually does
6) An ability to smile at the small things, like the dog hiding his bone, or the cat playing with a bug.
7) A man who does not let jealousy rule his life. I find this so damn sexy.
7 things that I say most often:
1) Absolutely!
2) What the fuck?
3) yeah, whatever or yeah...ooooo-k.
4) its really quite lovely
5) Are you my cute Vegas?
6) uh, Steven?
7) I don't wanna go to work today....
7 celebrity crushes:
1) Harry Connick Jr.
2) Brad Pitt (yea, yea, I know, but damn, he's PRETTY)
3) Vincent D'Onofrio
4) Topher Grace
5) Tobey McGuire (another one that will probably get eye rolling, but I have always thought him cute)
6) Will Smith
7) Jason Dohring (I just spent 5 minutes determining if crushing on this kid was even legal. It is, thank god)
7 people I want to do this:
Meme, little bloggers. Meme like the wind.
I'm in Calgary and let me just say that Vancouver Island is definitely a better place to live. I'm tired. I'm bored. I have 8 days of work left, and TIME IS AT A COMPLETE STAND STILL. It's going to be the longest 8 days of work ever. EVER. I wonder if anyone will notice if I rewatch all 22 episodes of Veronica Mars that I downloaded last week. And even though the premise of Veronica Mars, on paper, sounds completely moronic and not something that you'd enjoy watching - this show rocks, people. It really does. Watch it. I love it. Lisa - I'm looking at YOU. You WILL love this show.
The clock still reads the same time. huh.
What is happening in the US right now is just making me ache with sadness. I was out of loop with no news for a while, and I must say that I think that was probably good for my overall psyche. I won't give my two cents because you can read that all over the internet by folks who are much more articulate than I. Let's just say that I am still completely stunned that it escalated to the point that it did. The response to the tsunami on the other side of the world seemed faster.
I got my first report back from my courses and I kicked some serious ass, even though the entire report is marked up from start to finish, and I apparently know shit about plants (well, I can't really feel bad about that comment because it's true) he still wants me to make some 'minor' (ha!) corrections so that the library can keep a copy. Cool, eh? And I walked away with 97%. Seriously. 97%. I guess you don't need to be all that knowledgable about plants.