Life: House Work

Over the past months, I've been pretty busy: dealing with the house, getting roomates, working at work, working on personal projects, and so forth. It's been a lot of fun. I think the entire district in London where we live, knows of my one roomate and I. They probably know us as the two crazy people who are always carrying shit loads of random things in shopping karts.

I've decided I'm going to be quitting or taking a break from school. I was speaking to one of my professors that I had last term, and some of what he wrote follows:

"There are many reasons to leave institutional academics -- that doesn't mean you will stop learning, but that this structure isn't the way you want to learn. There is no shame or laziness in that, just self-knowledge and realism."

"Don't wait, because your life is valuable, and I keep thinking that this environmentally fragile moment in human history really does require all of us to live as well and consciously as we can. We need everyone, and no one can afford to blow off their life or gifts now. That doesn't mean everyone has to finish university! just that we all offer what we can."

We finally mostly fixed the gas pipes in my house. It took four visits to Home Depot to get the right gas pipe caps. I think everyone at Home Depot knows us, by name.

A contractor recently gave me an estimate on how much it will cost to finish the basement. The amount was fairly out of my range. So, roomates and I have decided that we're going to attempt to do the simpler tasks, and have the specialists do the framing, plumbing and electrical.

There are now four people living in my house - it's pretty awesome so far.

Life: Blues

I put an offer on a townhouse condo, and got it. Right now, I'm just dealing with the final details. But I'm confident it will all go through at this point. It has three bedrooms, a gas fireplace, a garage, an unfinished basement in which I'll finish, and all new appliances, including washer, dryer, dishwasher, fridge, and stove. It's a pretty new house, and its condition is "Above Average" and not "Perfect". Apparently house inspectors never give out "Perfect" so they don't get sued. I told him just said that to make me feel better. I have a good attic; he dragged me up there to look at it.

A few days ago, I went to see Blue October in Toronto with Stacy. We got to sit beside the lighting and sound guys, since I had told them I was visually impaired. They were pretty much the best seats in the place. The lighting guy's name is Drew. We talked to him the entire time. He invited us to stay and be with the band. We got a signature and drumsticks. We had to stay at a hostel in Toronto, since the very next bus back to London was eight hours later. So the hostel owner offered to pick us up from the hostel, because he too was aware I couldn't see very well. When we got there, he didn't introduce us to anyone, and we found out he was pretty drunk. In retrospect, we should of taken a taxi.

Ontop of missing the bus at night, we missed the bus in the morning and had to wait around the bus stations for three hours for the next one. We rocked.

The hostel owner back in London, where I've been living for two months now, has lost it. It all started when someone told him that the hostel was not very clean and posted that on hostels.com . So he started to randomly repair things so everything looked cleaner. He started to be very forceful with his clenaing lady. I could see in her eyes, she was fed up with him. She doesn't even get paid an allowance. She's been working there for almost two years now.

Someone from the hostel, whom is a Hurricance Katrina victim, is going to be one of my roomates. She told the hostel owner about it, and that made him even more angry. He swore at her, and told her how he is going to lose tons of money because of her. He spoke to me about it when I arrived back from work, in a soft tone of discontent. Afterwards, he gave me something to eat, which he's never done before. He asked if we both (girl and I) could stay in the same room, so he could make more money, and asked if I could move my things the next day.

So the next day came around. I came back from work, helped a friend with some computer troubles, went out to eat with some people from the hostel, and came back. I was going to move my things, when all of a sudden, the owner calls for me. He basically tells me that I should of done it sooner, that I don't respect him, that I act like I own the place, that I have abused his kindness, that I have taken advantage of him, and a few other specific, inaccurate remarks. He demanded I pay him upfront for my stay, and I demanded he give me the receipt he promised me 6 months ago.

I slept with the drumsticks in my arms one night: Blue October rocks.

Life: Throat

A few days before Christmas, a friend that I've been speaking to online for months, was finally in town and finally single. He was supposed to come at around 2:00 PM, but instead came over at around 3:00 AM. Only 13 hours late, s'okay. We had a good time.

Christmas Eve was great. Especially when my sweet grandmother told everyone she thought it was Christmas. My mom made a really awesome dessert, that everyone enjoyed! Christmas day was great as well. I got extra gifts, to cover the gifts I didn't get in the mail in time. Got a lot of things I wanted, minus a Nintendo Wii. I will get it, soon. I need to!

I left Ottawa and came back to London with the lead programmer at Digital Extremes. We listened to some Blue October and some Belle et Sebatien stuff. Had a good ride.

A day before New Years Eve, I decided I wanted to buy the house. So I got my realtor to (not kidding) take me on the bus from/to work and the house. We had a good time. She apparently has not been on public transportation in years. She was mighty nice to do this for me.

We started to write the offer down, when all of a sudden, she got a phone call saying the unit has already been sold. Yes, I know, "I guess it wasn't meant to be." I just wish it was.

That night, I went to Stacy's house, and partied it up with her and her friend. I never smoked so much before. At one point, I tried to get up. All of a sudden, I saw a bright light and fell. Was pretty scary. I hugged a big teddy bear and everything seemed to be okay after that. Stacy and her friend were both a little worried with me.

At what point does fun turn into a habbit? I'm not too worried, except I don't plan on having that kind of fun for quite a while. I heard that someone was doing stronger drugs here at the hostel, and even that bothered me more than usual. As scary as that night was, though, I enjoyed it. I mean, in retrospect, if I was drinking, I could have died from the fall.

On Christmas Eve, the woman I sublet from, invited me to a party. I went, and had a blast. We all drank a bit, and played Dance Dance Revolution all through the night. Good excersize and a lot of fun.

I'd have to say, this has been the best December. I want a house. I want a house. I want a Nintendo Wii and a house.

My throat hurts, and I don't know why.

Life: Good Party! House Party?

This Wednesday one is a bit delayed.

I've been looking at a lot of places that have had the buying potential. My friends, family and realtor have all said that I should get a condo, if anything. I quickly agreed. There is one I'm really interested in, but was reluctant to put an offer since it is fairly far from my work, according to the hostel owners I'm friends with. After much though, I've decided that I will put an offer on it as soon as I get back to London.

Last Saturday, the day I was planning on coming home to Ottawa, I decided to go to the company's Christmas party instead. It was quite worth it. I drank more than I ever should have, I talked with co-workers I rarely talked with, I got hit on by a dude (whom I wish to hurt now, more on that in just a sec), and I sang kareoke: In The End by Linkin Park!

I was sitting down with my date, whom is my cleaning lady and good friend. She was leaning on me, and I had my arm around her. Someone, whom was walking by, sat down with us. He kept saying things like, "I'm jealous that I'm not the one leaning on you," and, "We need to unsexify you, Mike." I do wish to hurt him now because, apparently, he was just joking.

After the party, I went down with a few other co-workers to grab a cab. All of a sudden, in the corner of all our eyes, we saw a huge fight start. It basically came down to ten people all kicking and punching this one guy. Within a minute, there were ambulances and police vehicles scattered all along the street. At which point, we all felt uncomfortable and felt the need to leave. There was a girl standing outside, that I had a talk with for a little while, and asked her for her phone number, just as a joke. Everyone enjoyed it. Finally, we all left, and tried to bring down some cabs. We finally got one, and we ended up sharing cabs, merely to get as far away as possible to the crazy fight - which may I add, was pretty exciting for the people looking in from the outside.

I'm in Ottawa now, and things are pretty relaxed. Nothing too exciting yet. I miss my friends here in Ottawa, and I hope to see them as much as I can.

Two of my Christmas gifts haven't arrived yet.

Life: Snow's Sanity

Last Thursday, after work, I left work and was struck with awe. It seemed as if the surrounding area around our office building was inside a light, glowing, yellow-ish bubble. All you could see were little dots all around you. It was like all of existence was in one place, at one time. It was as if time had stopped, infact, I had to just stop and stare.

I finally started to walk back home. Whilst in this sort of bubble, it made me imagine some sort of story. A sort of dialogue, between my two selfs. I thought I'd name them: Rob and Demetrius. Because, those are cool names:

Demetrius: ... I think we should just jump.
Rob: ... Why!?
Demetrius: Because. We're going to die anyway, so why not make it exciting!
Rob: But... We can't! We'll go to hell if we kill ourselves.
Demetrius: Go to hell? You kidding? What? All the people who kill themselves go to hell?
Rob: Yes.
Demetrius: How do you know that? What if it's the ones that DON'T kill themselves, go to hell?
Rob: ...
Demetrius: So fine, we'll assume you're right and that we'll go to hell if we kill ourselves. But - I'll tell you one thing - I'm already going to hell, 'mate! This is the least significant bullshit that God's really going to care about, I assure you.
Rob: Well, I ...
Demetrius: I'm doing it!
Rob: No! Don't!
Demetrius: He's going to kill us.

Demetrius jumps.

Rob: Oh for God's sake. Wait a second. That guy doesn't have a gun. He... He has a bottle of beer.

Now, you must understand, this was in NO way trying to be funny, etc.. It is merely a story I came up with while I was bored walking home.

Friday morning, I woke up, got ready, went outside, and saw these HUGE LONG icicles on the side of the house. So I grabbed one, threw it to the ground, expecting to hear a sound. I didn't hear anything. I tried it again. Then I finally looked down. There was snow up to my waist! I couldn't believe it. I walked through it, drenched my pants with snow/water, and finally escaped into the streets. To my surprise, at 6:30 AM, there were many others doing the same as I, walking on the streets. I even saw one person walking their dog, probably far from their home.

While I heard most people were troubled by the snow, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Very calming. The drivers were great too. Infact, the things that almost hit me were the people trying to clean the sidewalks, and not the cars that were SUPPOSED to be on the streets.

Back to my story. The last sentence relates to something I experienced about three days ago. I was going to my corner store, when I saw two people walking towards it too. They kept talking to eachother in a language I couldn't understand, nor identify. They then tried to get in front of me, to enter the store. They, in some weird way, tried to sneak into the store, and brieftly closed the door. But in the corner of my eye, when I decided to walk away since the whole thing made me uncomfortable, was one of the guys was holding something that mildly glimmered in the sun. Could of been a beer bottle. Could of been a gun. All I know, is the next day, when my friend Stacy and I went to the same store, the entire thing was locked up in a strange way.

Interesting enough, the day before I saw that, I tried to get into the store, and it was locked at a strange hour. The guy in front of it was trying to get in. He was stoned beyond belief, and smelt like it too.

I still have yet to buy bread.

Life: Mike! You're nuts! ...

... My boss said to me.

I've been trying to get a Nintendo Wii. Well, more like, watching people try to get a Wii. And once I see that stores appear to clear up, I'll pounce, and ... maybe buy a Wii. My boss is very aware of how much I want one. He even flaunts the fact that he has one and I don't. I asked him if he wanted to take it outside a few times - for reasons beyond me, he wasn't up for it.

Really, though, I need to buy a house first. And that is going pretty well. Finally found someone that took a 20 year old seriously. Maybe the other banks thought I was nuts too.

I must say, however, I am not as nuts as people think. At work, people from our publisher were visiting. And then, a co-worker of mine, sent me this message on MSN:

"I have a rainshower-style diareah awaiting to begin, but [our publisher] is here... can you guard the washroom door while I'm in there?"

He's awesome. So I did. We even did the whole Bond thing, and sneaked him in the washroom and all. I had to beat up two people trying to get in.

Another thing that makes me less nutty then the average, is that I'm psychic! After the incident mentioned in my other post, while I was walking home, I had the feeling that Tina and I would find ourselves going down on the elevator together, for the first time. The very next day, we were. She smiled at me, said she found what I said to her bothered her (again), I said sorry, and she accepted. Later on, apparently she had asked Stacy about it, and even then, she was sure what I suggested, actually did happen.

A father of a young boy renting an apartment under me is excessively aggressive.

Life: Why Tina hates me.

Tina is the secretary at the place where I work. Tina and I are really tight. Anyway, I wanted to get my house cleaned, so she introduced me to her friend Stacy. Stacy and I started to talk every night. To the point where both Tina, Tina's mom (don't ask) and Stacy thought I was into Stacy. Stacy, Tina, and another female friend that I have no idea what her name is because I was high when I met her, and I went out on the weekend. It was funny though, when we were out, this nameless (really good looking) girl and Tina were holding onto me at the end of the night. People walking by would be like "He's pimpin' it man!"

So anyway, I tell Stacy for the SECOND time, that I'm gay, and I'm not into her. And she's like, "Lies. I know you're into me." Then I told Stacy about all the guys I dated and whatnot so she could finally believe me. Then I was like, "We should play a trick on Tina, make her think that we got together, got high, and had sex." And Stacy was all into it, but said Tina would be mad at her. So the next morning, I come into the office, give Tina hints about the idea that Stacy came over, and that we had sex. She was stunned. Even to the point where I was going to say, right away, that I was just joking. But I decided to stick to our joke.

I then rushed to the phone, told Stacy that I felt bad, and we decided to call it off. So I try to find Tina. NO WHERE TO BE FOUND. Every few hours, I'd try to find her. I am thoroughly confident she just had to leave, because it bothered her so much. I eventually found her, and the conversation went like this:

Tina: I don't want to talk about it!
Me: I was just joking.
Tina: *cough* Uh, yeah.
Me: You honestly don't believe me that I was just joking?
Tina: I know you did it. You're just trying to cover your ass now?
Me: Are you serious?

It kept going on, until she started to run away from me. I kept saying sorry, but she kept saying, "I don't want to talk about it!" I left her alone finally. The next day (today), every time she came near my office, she ran by it.

Oh, and a co-worker got fired today.

(To protect those involved, including myself, names have been altered.)