life

Head colds tend to put all that depressing contemplation on hold, because it hurts to think and all you really care about is getting better.

On top of my body betraying me, my apartment seems to be collapsing before my eyes. Dad emailed me something about my having only so many appliances that could break, but that’s just tempting fate, isn’t it? Currently my fridge is borked. It made a loud noise last night and then stopped making any noise at all. Now where am I going to put my beer? It’s not cold enough outside for that.

Last week’s domestic torment was the intercom, which had never worked and was only an issue because I know a few people (/me points at Dad) who don’t have cell phones and it was annoying having to wait for them in the foyer, even though the decor is cool:

After a bunch of phone calls and arguing with the building manager an electrician arrived and wired up the telephone plug in my living room, which had no wires connected to it at all and that might’ve been the problem, eh. The building manager had originally told me it was something for Telus to fix, and ironically I used up all my daytime cell phone minutes for the month (on my Telus cell phone) talking to Telus tech support’s toll-free line. I’m now planning on getting a landline as it’s a requirement for work anyways, but I haven’t set that up because it would cost a lot to make the call. It would also cost a chunk to call Telus Mobility to change my iPhone plan to more daytime minutes.

Yes, I could just go to an office or store of a telecommunications company to get this dealt with except OH DEAR GOD I’M SICK.

And my medicine of choice is self-pity, since that doesn’t require refrigeration.

I can be miserable in two ways.

In the first way, it’s sort of a passive moroseness. Apathetic, even. Life sucks and I don’t really care, so I sit about and watch lots of TV and let myself eat all the french fries I want. That was most of my year in Kelowna.

The second way is much more acute. It’s a tense, almost anxious suffering. Life sucks and I’m not that interested in food and my coping mechanism is to go out and get some exercise. This is where I am now.

This latter method of melancholic rumination is much more productive, I find.

I gave up cable TV when I moved here because I watched way too much of it in Kelowna, an amount that my mother wouldn’t let me watch growing up, which is a sign right there. I cancelled my Tivo subscription, which was way more difficult than it should have been but it’s done. I am without television and it’s all rather odd. My apartment is very quiet and it feels lonely, even with my cat filling the space with the sound of her snoring.

I think I was using television like a security blanket, and now it’s gone and I have only myself to contend with. Unless I leave the apartment, so there’s the gym, and friends of course.

I have no idea where I was going with this blog post. My inner torment does not lead easily to concluding paragraphs.

1. Pizza and beer
2. Sleep
3. Dim sum
4. Pizza and beer
5. Sleep
6. Dim sum
7. Pizza

It’s a tedious life.

I forgot how much people budge in line in Vancouver. I was aware of it before, but it was “normal” and I was used to it and only found it annoying when I was screwed over for a seat on a bus or something. Now it seems incredibly rude and I can’t believe the nerve of these people, practically pushing me aside as they hustle onto the skytrain. It goes against the whole west coast relaxed attitude vibe we’re supposed to be faking, too.

So I got my apartment, and most of my stuff is in my apartment. Mom’s got two LCD monitors, a 42″ LCD TV and a kitchenaid mixer that she’s holding to ransom, but the joke’s on her, I can’t bake her cookies without that mixer. Ha ha! Oh wait.

My cat is acting totally out of it, which is weird because she acted less out of it at both bedrooms she was stuck in over the course of September, and now she’s back in a full apartment with familiar furniture so you’d think she’d be totally chill about the situation. Instead she’s been hiding under the bed for the last 48 hours, coming out just to poop. Though she did find an afternoon sunbeam to sit in today after her poop, so there’s hope.

The new job is going well in that I haven’t been fired yet. I spend most of the time feeling like a complete idiot and often wonder why the hell I signed up for a constant ego-pounding. But then I remember that I’m not on call or working overtime and I feel much better.

that I haven’t written much lately, and of course this blog is all for his benefit, so to him I apologize.

The general problem with me in the past couple months is that I was pretty much all-consumed about the planning and execution of the changing jobs and moving back to Vancouver, but these weren’t things to talk about before they were official, so there was nothing left to say. I mean, I could’ve talked about my cat some more, but it’s not like much happens in her life either.

I’ve got an apartment sorted and am waiting to hear on a quote from the storage company about moving my furniture down here in early October, so I feel a bit better about life. I hate change and uncertainty. So much so that I’ve moved back to Marpole, to the chagrin of 95% of my friends who have all unfollowed me on Twitter because I am now completely uncool. But I took the apartment because the entranceway had swords and a crest built into the wall and a general medieval English hall theme (disregarding the anachronisms of the lightbulbs in the Ye Olde Times lanterns, not to mention the elevator) and I decided I had to live there for the irony. (Don’t worry, I will take pictures.) The apartment itself is pretty lame and nondescript, making the building foyer somewhat of a cocktease, really.

Just for kicks I paid off one of my student loans yesterday. I feel like I should get a certificate or some kind of fanfare. The lady on the phone from BC Student Loans did say congratulations so maybe that’s it. I guess they don’t need to be particularly friendly since they hardly get repeat customers.

I hope Dad is satisfied with the contents of this posting, but I’ll find out soon anyways since I’m crashing at his house.