Thursday, July 01, 2004

AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! (diary)

(CAUTION: This blog entry does not follow any logical progression, and may lead to--hey look! That dog has a bushy tail!)

If I believed in some form of higher power that was capable of directly affecting my course of life (i.e. a "God"), then I would think that that power HATES ME right now.

Of course, the recent series of stressful events is just a statistically valid anomaly in my schedule that has caused a coincidentally high number of unfortunate failed outcomes in various manners. It's not really that things went poorly, it's just that a number of unfortnate things happened, and I didn't get the regular "everything's going smoothly and you're on time for things and things are going the way you are expecting them to and you have energy to do the things you want to".

Although my recent job interview went well, and I had an uneventful dinner with my Aunt, I was unsuccessful in acquiring sufficient content for an article I was assigned.

This failure on the article may have been caused by the fact that the thing that the government was supposed to have done that I was to be researching was in fact a public consultation over a month ago where they proposed doing this thing. It wasn't until after I conducted two interviews over the phone and a national holiday came around that I realized this. It also didn't help that the deadline was said national holiday.

I also was scheduled to go on a Pathway Patrol, but ended up late (thank you OC Transpo!), although the door to the community centre was closed anyway. My partner also didn't get a hold of me because I didn't year my cell phone ring as I raced to get there. I eventually met up with him but we didn't have all the gear so we improvised...

I also lost my digital camera. Twice (in two days). Luckily, I found it - it had fallen out of my pocket as I got into my Aunt's vehicle at home. But sometime between leaving the house, getting on one bus, transfering to another bus, and getting to the U of O campus, it fell out of my pocket AGAIN. I am happy that most of the important pictures on there I already had copies on my Laptop (which I haven't managed to lose yet), but still, the camera cost me about $450, and the card alone (a 512mb SD card) cost about $300.

I think I'll buy an external hard drive to back up my laptop...

Needless to say, I called OC Transpo to report it lost, but I'll have to call again tomorrow (on a non-holiday) to their lost and found line to see if some kind soul will have found it. Luckily, if they don't report it, they'll have a bitch of a time finding a battery charger or an adapter...I'll have to keep an eye out on the "found" pages of the Citizen.

I was fairly lucky that I chose to record the interviews for that article on both my camera AND on one of my PocketPCs. I was able to make a transcript off the PocketPC version.

And in case you're thinking, "Well, you seem to have money to buy all these gadgets...you can probably afford to just replace it," you're wrong. I have a very meagre income, and I expect to not have to buy any gadget X after already having bought one.

But I already miss my digital camera, and may have to replace it, even if that does mean a bit of a hole in my pocket. But I am saving up for a few things:

  • Laser eye surgery (probably sometime next year)

  • Insurance costs for car (I'll have to bitch about this at some later date)

  • Gear for my Bike (new headlight, helmet, seat/seatpost

  • The book, Divorce your car! by Katie Alvord

  • Some sort of GPS toy for my bike

  • External hard drive (to back up laptop for when it gets lost or stolen)



Other than food and maybe a couple of movies, that's about all I'm really going to buy over the next year or so. Well, that and regular expenses, of course.

This is why I call myself a post-consumer. I don't like to buy things just for the sake of buying it. (Okay, I suppose 'functionalist' or 'utilitarian' would do just as well, but this has an aire of I'm-better-than-you that I like) I also try to make use of things for as long as they will last, or try to buy things that will serve me for a long time (which is why I bought very little when I was in China!).

I'm tired. I will be writing a letter to the Citizen, but can't tell you more about it because of that whole anonymity thing...I think I'm alienating myself with that. All these other blogs have bunches of friends who know each other's name, but here's ol' RealGrouchy, who for all they know may be some weird 50-year-old stalker (who also attends university?!? and volunteers for community safety organizations?!?)

But, seeing no reason (or pressure) to not remain anonymous, I shall continue in this manner.

It rained today, very hard. I believe that this is a result of my feeling like shit. Happy Dominion Day!

- RG.

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