Love machines on the sympathy crutches

I just listened to an episode of "The Current" on CBC called "Health Care User Fees" and when I saw the title I thought "oh, more coverage on US health care".

I was wrong, it was about us. Canada.

Excuse me?

Apparently in an attempt to pull Quebec out of the red financially Quebec Premier Jean Charest has put forward the idea of imposing a 25$ user fee for every doctor's visit.

Since taking office in 2003, Permier Charest will have indebted Quebeckers by more than $42-billion, which is an historic record, and I understand the obvious desire scrape together money where they can, and with actions like raising the price of electricity by 3.7 percent, hiking gas prices by a cent a litre, and charging higher costs for post-secondary tuition (which I am also against, but that's another topic), going after Health Care seems like a cash-grab.

According to the Charest government because they would be collecting back the amount owed from visits off workers income tax instead of making them pay up-front it's technically not a violation of the Health Care Act.

Oh, but don't forget that the “health contribution” will cost adults $25 this year and eventually climb to $200 in 2012.

This, my friends, is garbage. It completely violates the entire spirit of the Canadian Health Act, which is based on the principle of universal access. What about pregnant women, people with cancer, small children, or the chronically ill? Being charged anything for a doctor's visit is an absolute outrage. It's disgusting to even suggest it.

Thankfully it has been met with vehement opposition. Even good 'ol Iggy had something to say, and ideally as a result of the overwhelming negativity the issue will be dropped. Hopefully. Otherwise I'm afraid what could go through in Quebec will become standard practice in other provinces as well .

I'm honestly amazed at something like this, right after we watched the US fight tooth and nail for a shred of what we have up here.

I'm amazed, and ashamed.
 

The color leaks through the papers

Sunday some of us Mixhardigans got together in Ass Park for a good 'ol-fashioned bbq and hang-out.
Donald brought intense steaks that he eventually gave up trying to cut with feeble plastic cutlery and ate like a man with his hands.
Much more meat and drinking happened, but I was underdressed so I stood by the fire staying steamy warm.
Kim brought her adorable-as-hell kids, who waved at me and repeatedly informed their mom that "they really liked the pretty lady"
obviously they meant me. Hee hee.
Lovely day with some lovely peeps.
To quote Owen: New Dutch meets Old Dutch!

Super busy these days guys, but I made this for dinner tonight and having this for breakfast tomorrow, so you can rest easy knowing I'm at least looking after my palette.

Oh, and because being too busy means not having the time to read anything super heavy, I'm re-reading this because I have the box-set. You should too, if you haven't already.
 

Didn't know how lost I was

I hate the public bathrooms in my office; they're never terribly clean and at least one stall's always broken.

Today was no exception, even though the cleaning lady was hanging out in there, she was talking on her cell phone instead of doing her job.

Whatever, I'm just in there to pee and gtfo.

Do my thing, reach down and realize the toilet isn't flushing.

Open the back and realize the entire chain is missing.

I am not reaching into the back of a public toilet and covering my hand in that water, no way. I'll let the receptionist know and she can call someone to come fix it.

Exit the stall.

Wash my hands.

The cleaning lady steps into the same stall and proceeds to make disgusted sounds at me and motion at the toilet.

I tried to explain that it was broken, but she just kept harshly speaking at me in another language and looking at me with an expression of pure disgust on her face.

Did I honestly just get chewed out by the cleaning lady for not dealing with a broken toilet?

 

I left my head and my heart on the dance-floor

Rejoice and and celebrate!

I got the apartment yesterday.

I had until 1pm for my sublet to go through in order for my application not to be dropped (again) and thankfully around 11am everything was approved, and like a flick of a light switch things immediately became a million times better. I've signed the lease for the new place, it's done. I don't have to worry about it anymore.

I feel like myself again.

In light of that it amazes me what the last couple weeks did to me as a person; I wasn't as outgoing or chatty or interested in anything, really. I stopped following all my blogs and websites (sorry guys) because I couldn't focus, music didn't make me want to dance, I didn't appreciate food or wine or friends the way I usually do, I stopped window shopping online (what?!), I definitely didn't take Ty for granted but I know I wasn't exactly easy for him to deal with (thanks dear), and I wasn't even really appreciative of the amazing weather we've been having recently.

Last night I felt myself slipping back into my own head; I went for a run, had some amazing eats with Ty and a great coffee hang-out with he and Owen.

However, I realized I was back to normal when I snapped out of a dancing trance at the photocopier this morning while listening to Lady Gaga.

Life is good.
 

Come senators, congressmen please heed the call

I'm alive guys, don't worry.

I'll level with you... I'm stressed as all hell. So far I've been fucked out of two apartments due to circumstances beyond my control, and I'm terrified I'm going to lose another (super cheap) one tomorrow. I've been feeling physically sick lately and have lost more sleep than I should have. This has been so unbelievably stressful.

The scoop? The first girl fucked off on me. I found an awesome place and set up a time for her to come by... and she emailed and told me she'd already found a place by herself. Fuck. Then the guy who was going to replace her, though super nice and probably cool to live with, had bad rental history that he either wasn't aware of or didn't tell me about. I lost the place because while my application checked out, his didn't.

So what to do? I found a (more reliable) friend/roommate who is totally down with whatever I feel like going with because he's barely in town anyway. I figured things were set in motion and applied for a cool suite... but got fucked out of it because apparently Sussex Realty will only rent to people who have successfully subletted their current apartments. Which, in my opinion, is bullshit. Why would I sublet my current place until I know I have somewhere else to live? Nobody I've ever known has heard that before, nor has the lady in my office who used to work for a rental agency checking out applications. But that's besides the point.

The guy gave me 24hrs to sublet my place so I spent this past Monday showing it to six different people and there was an application being processed for my suite by 9am the following morning. So, within 24hrs. "Success", thought I. But no, apparently the asshole guy decided that having a sublet in the process wasn't enough (though getting an application processed in a day is apparently impossible) and dropped my application so I lost the place. So I spent Tuesday night running around like a chicken with my head cut off, showing my place again (just to be on the safe side) and running a new application for a place. Unfortunately it's with the same company, they seem to own almost all of downtown. Fuck.

Thursday I spoke with a woman at my rental agency (Globe, who have always been awesome) and she basically flipped out when I told her how I was getting jerked around by Sussex, and told me to have the jerk I was dealing with call her and she would tell him that what he was doing was garbage, they "they play nice with Sussex, so Sussex should play nice with them", and that hopefully I wouldn't lose this apartment to another situation beyond my control (the sublet application for my suite is still being processed).

So. That's where I am. I've been in a constant state of stress for the past few weeks dealing with this, and was really not sure how I felt about writing about it here. Was it too personal? Was I just being whiny? But fuck it, I don't care, this is bullshit and I have tomorrow off from work so I am going to do a lot of calling between my rental agency and Sussex, and hopefully I won't lose this place, too.

I just need to find somewhere to live, and I know the good suites are out there because I've found (and been fucked over on) a few of them now. I need this to be over, I need a break.

Here's some shots from a house party thrown by one of the coolest new people I know, Owen. It was really nice to get out and chill with some new (and old) peeps and for a few hours stop worrying about all this nonsense.
Most rad-assed wine bottle ever!

Here's a top for you first-time party goers (or people new to a new scene/party, like I was) bring a really interesting bottle. It's an amazing conversation starter and I got way more in mixed drinks in return for sips of the (surprisingly tasty) wine than I gave away.
Success!
Ty and Reegan's new meme together is the "Reegan & Ty Mouthswap" which is exactly what it sounds like... I'll post some up here sometime if I remember.
OWEN.
Host supreme and all-around cool guy, I was very impressed by how much I managed to impress him in the few hours since we'd met; nothing boosts the ego like new people exclaiming how cool you are.
Ascot-making!
Samerz scarves.
Ty's all into hipster shirts now but we need more places to buy them On The Cheap.
Preferably anything with modes of transportation, architecture, or vector art.
None of this "skull and roses with swords and snakes" garbage.
I occurs to me that I have a lot I haven't shared on here in a while, and I think I need to start changing that. I complain a lot about how I don't write on here like I used to, but don't do anything about it. I've got to do something about that.

The times they are a-changin'.
 

You came down in your black dress

70 Million by Hold Your Horses ! from L'Ogre on Vimeo.



Love this video!
How many paintings can you recognize?
 

Armor me with futile aspirations

One thing I usually will give to the US is that they have tasty snacks.

One of my co-workers crosses the border On The Regular and usually brings back bags of delicious snacks that usually she either puts out in bowls to share or hands off to one of us.
Today she gave me a bag of Chez Mix: Sour Cream 'n Onion.

I like my snacks to have Oomph. Or at least semblance of taste, and these guys are so bland that they actually leave a bland taste in your mouth. How is that possible? What does bland taste like?

However if you sit and stare at the bag long enough you can find one or two things clearly coated in the flavouring that was supposed to saturate the bag but clearly didn't. And man those are good.

Unfortunately this doesn't redeem the rest of this sad-sack snack.

Oh, and the really pathetic thing is that because it's a bagged snack sitting on my desk I keep finding myself reaching and picking up a mini-pretzel or Chex (Shreddie?) thing without realizing it and my mouth tastes like mildly onion-y cardboard.

These snacks definitely recieve an F-, I'm going to go for a walk and try to pawn them off on some sucker.
 

I'll do it all if you'll take more

Chill weekend, money-saving is really challenging when you're used to hemorrhaging money the way that I am on stupid things, but it's always easier when you have someone fun to stay in with.

Friday was the worst day I'd had in a long time, lots of things I couldn't control like my rental agency charging me 75$ for my rent receipt (what?!) were weighing on me and I kept doing stupid, brainless things like trying to brew coffee without adding water, spilling grinds all over the place, and tripping over my own two feet. I was so stressed and needing to not be in my office anymore that I actually wound up bursting into tears and having to hide out in the 3rd floor bathroom for a while. Oops.
Thankfully I had an Art Date evening planned with Ty that involved some delicious, super On The Cheap wine, pizza, and painting pictures of David Duchovny after work, which was basically the only thing keeping me sane all day.
Still using that 5.5mm lens from Gord... look at that depth of field! *swoon*
Art station!
My shitty watercolor... that picture proved to be WAAAAAAY more challenging than I thought it would be, so I sort of powered through it and eventually realized that there was no salvaging it, and went on to paint little koi and a terrible picture of a wizard-cat.

I just realized that I forgot to take a picture of Ty's David Duchovny, whoops.
He also drew/painted me!
I can't decide if I think the sketch really looks like me, what do you guys think? I've never had anyone draw me before, so I'm not sure if the Uncanny Valley feeling is normal or not.

I am really sick of being thwarted every time I try to go to The Lo Pub. I get kickass messages from them on the regular about indie bands and the like that always play there, but something always gets in my way when I try to go.

For example, Saturday after a day that consisted mostly of lying about and watching Steamboy and various episodes of The Boosh, Ty and I wanted to go out. I conveniently recieved a message from Lo Pub saying that Shuyler Jansen was playing, as well as The Warbrides, so I decided that was where we were going... but there wasn't anything on the message about cover. I double-checked the Lo Pub page and it's generally free before 10pm and 5$ after, so it's make sense that that's the cover unless otherwise mentioned, right? So after a big drawn-out situation getting Morley we made our way down there in time for Free Cover... and find out at the door that it's 8$? Well, sorry kids, I'm cheap and not paying 8$ for something that I expected to be free because you didn't advertise properly.

Oh well, I assume our patronage was not missed and was made up for by a the usual gaggle of hipsters that can be found hanging out around there. Thwarted, we picked up some beer and proceeded to get way more loaded than any of us meant to and watched The Boat That Rocked, which I highly recommend.
How is March almost already over, where did it go?
 

Shut up woman, get on my horse!



Awesome!
 

Don't leave me where I stand

Today has been one of the most unbelieveably frustrating and upsetting days I have had in a very long time.
So let's revisit some not-in-order adventures while I try to snap out of it.
Despite it randomly plunging back to -20 yesterday and today
(wtf weather?!)
the earlier portion of the week was beautiful, so Walking Adventures were had!
Ty insists he's only "good looking sometimes".
I disagree.
Oh, hai!
The following pictures basically explain why Ty and I work so well together:
Yup, we rule.

Saturday was (yet another) Wpg Psy party... this one wasn't as unbearable due to the fact that I spent all night cockblocking other women away from both Ty and our really, really good-looking (and newly single!) friend J.
What's with all the hot girls I know being total fucking lunatics?!
Seriously, at one point I was standing next to Ty talking to him, when this totally and certifiably loony girl cuts across the dance floor to us, gives me the dirtiest look ever, and proceeds to step in front of me and put her hand on Ty's arm. I didn't get to hear the dialogue but what I learned later was that she said something like this "I heard you were playing here tonight and I just had to come see you". Uhm... okay? Anyway I decided to exit the situation because standing idly by while she blatantly hit on my bf isn't really my style, he's not going anywhere so I don't need to assert myself, I got to hear all about the awkwardness from him later. The best part? Reegan's reaction when I told him I walked away was something like "you left him alone with her? Why would you do that to him?!"
Hehe.
Epic.
Full drink, bag of coffee grinds and sealed full box of Ferrero Rocher's that you had better believe Morley and I had our hawk-eyes on all night.
They were literally there from about 11pm until the bar closed at 2:30am... wtf?!
Things get ridiculous during tear-down.
Wow these are WAY out of order, this is from Tuesday night when drinks, calimari and the worst yam fries ever were consumed by Gord, Foosh, Alyx and myself.
Gord's letting me use his new 5 mm 1.8 lens which I am totally creaming my pants over; I'm still getting used to using it's no-zoom ways though so bear with me.
This is basically how I feel about life right now.
 

« Newer posts

Older posts »