I started a new (temporary) job last week and made the decision very quickly that I was going to allow myself one store bought coffee per day for two reasons:
1) I need to be at the office for 8:30, but do not have keys. My colleagues are not always punctual. Rather than get annoyed, I give them till 8:40 then I go down to the Starbucks two blocks away. My Starbucks cup serves as evidence, when I waltz in the door after them, that I was in at 8:30;
but more commonly
2) The office is tiny and does not have any lounge space. If I want a break, I need to leave the office. The only obvious place in the immediate vicinity to sit down and read the paper for fifteen minutes is the Starbucks.
Where do assumptions come in?
There is a convenience store in our building that sells coffee and the next nearest place is the Starbucks. My colleagues always go to the convenience store and gasp when they see my Starbucks cup. My boss finally commented on the fact saying "The coffee downstairs is okay and a lot cheaper than Starbucks." She was surprised by my answer. A cup of truly disgusting coffee from that convenience store in a size equivalent to a 'tall' size of Starbucks brewed coffee is 1.79. That tall size of Starbucks brewed coffee will set you back... 1.72$. Go for a 'short' and you're at 1.52$.
Starbucks gets a bad rap for having expensive drinks. Yes, the fancy drinks are very expensive (I once paid 6$ for most 2nd most amazing latté of my life (my mother makes the best!)!), but the price of brewed coffee is extremely comparable to what you'd get at a coffee bar in a convenience store and Tim Hortons... and tastes MUCH better. Amusingly enough, I remember the days when I couldn't appreciate Starbucks coffee, finding it too strong for my taste. Then, I started to drink it with two inches of milk in it and four packets of sugar. Now, I don't put sugar in my coffee ever (something that shocks me!) and I never ask Starbucks to leave me a couple of inches of space for milk, ergo practically drinking their coffee black. And I now get their dark roast.
I'll be working at this new job about 75 days which comes out to 130$ for coffee, which was earned my first day on the job. So, to those who make snarky comments about the kerchief sporting gal's ridiculous 'latté factor', check your assumptions. :)
Showing posts with label work. Show all posts
Showing posts with label work. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Friday, June 20, 2008
More Officialisms
I'm houseless (but not homeless) as of 1 September. My landlords were happy to accommodate my request to break my lease a month early (yaaaaaaay).
Then, I'll be jobless as of 4 September. My supervisor signed the first batch of papers today.
I now have just about all of September to get out west. The beauty of having your home with you and boondocking most of the way (ie. not paying for a campsite) is that it doesn't cost any more to take four weeks to cross the country than to take one week. You'd have had to eat during those four weeks anyway and you would have done the same amount of mileage in one week or four. I just need to learn to slow down and not put in insane driving days, something I suspect will come naturally to me when the time comes.
Excited, so very excited.
Then, I'll be jobless as of 4 September. My supervisor signed the first batch of papers today.
I now have just about all of September to get out west. The beauty of having your home with you and boondocking most of the way (ie. not paying for a campsite) is that it doesn't cost any more to take four weeks to cross the country than to take one week. You'd have had to eat during those four weeks anyway and you would have done the same amount of mileage in one week or four. I just need to learn to slow down and not put in insane driving days, something I suspect will come naturally to me when the time comes.
Excited, so very excited.
Monday, June 2, 2008
One Door Wide Open
I was asked for an update on the bus situation. I'm really not convinced that a 1979 Wanderlodge is going to suit my needs. It's a sturdy product, but it is 30 years old, with steel springs instead of an air ride suspensions (which brings back nasty memories of boucing around in a school bus) and it has a cat 3208 engine that could make those BC mountains feel like Everest as I try climb them. There are so many cons that I'm not certain that 'It's a Wanderlodge!' makes up for them. Add to that the dismal cosmetics and I'm getting less and less enchanted the more I think about it.
That said, I have another candidate in mind! This one's not a bus, and it's not even diesel, but it's made by Tiffin motorcoaches, which also have a fabulous reputation. This coach is a '94, is in near perfect mechanical condition (minor things need updating, but they could wait), and the interior is gorgeous and spacious. It even has a full size tub! The only things I'd want to upgrade immediately would be the flooring (replace carpet with laminate) and to install a bookcase in the livingroom. Soon as I saw this coach, I want 'ah ha!' It's exactly the sort of space I see myself living in. The price is excellent, too, and I plan to make a rather lowball offer to see if I can knock even more money off. Yup, I think I've found my new home! I've contacted to seller to make arrangements to view it. The fact that it's located in Ottawa and was just recently safety checked are huge bonuses. The first fact means that I don't have to travel to see it (more $$$) and the latter means that I don't need to have another mechanical inspection done in order to purchase.
In other, related, news, The Letter arrived today at last. I didn't get the job. Yippee! I can't believe that was my reaction. There was a a time not so long ago when I would have seen not getting my dream job as being the end of the world, a portent of a dismal future. Now, I just see all the opportunities this would afford me! The gods have truly blessed this wayward child of their's.
I'm going out to celebrate with a friend tonight (celebrate NOT getting your dream job, how funny is that?!), so I'm off to research the nutritional content of squid in black bean sauce. Yum, yum!
That said, I have another candidate in mind! This one's not a bus, and it's not even diesel, but it's made by Tiffin motorcoaches, which also have a fabulous reputation. This coach is a '94, is in near perfect mechanical condition (minor things need updating, but they could wait), and the interior is gorgeous and spacious. It even has a full size tub! The only things I'd want to upgrade immediately would be the flooring (replace carpet with laminate) and to install a bookcase in the livingroom. Soon as I saw this coach, I want 'ah ha!' It's exactly the sort of space I see myself living in. The price is excellent, too, and I plan to make a rather lowball offer to see if I can knock even more money off. Yup, I think I've found my new home! I've contacted to seller to make arrangements to view it. The fact that it's located in Ottawa and was just recently safety checked are huge bonuses. The first fact means that I don't have to travel to see it (more $$$) and the latter means that I don't need to have another mechanical inspection done in order to purchase.
In other, related, news, The Letter arrived today at last. I didn't get the job. Yippee! I can't believe that was my reaction. There was a a time not so long ago when I would have seen not getting my dream job as being the end of the world, a portent of a dismal future. Now, I just see all the opportunities this would afford me! The gods have truly blessed this wayward child of their's.
I'm going out to celebrate with a friend tonight (celebrate NOT getting your dream job, how funny is that?!), so I'm off to research the nutritional content of squid in black bean sauce. Yum, yum!
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Who Lives, Who Dies
Last week, I read Deep Survival by Laurence Gonzalez, a fantastic and fascinating study of the psychological, emotional, and physiological reasons that some people survive a dire situation while others die.
He did a case study of the World Trade Center and discussed how some people had started to head down the stairs but were pushed back by 'officials' who told them there was no danger and to stay put. Those who stayed put died and those who pushed past the official lived.
Today, I was given pretty good evidence that I would be a survivor in a similar situation.
Upon discovering the electrical panel on our elevator to be engulfed in flames four witnesses reacted in four different ways:
1) decided to run to her phone across the floor to call for help;
2) decided to run for the emergency phone around the corner;
3) decided to run for the fire extinguisher;
4) decided to follow person number 2 to the red phone in order to pull the fire alarm
Person number 2 gave person number 4 heck for pulling the fire alarm since the fire was extinguished and said there was no way he was hiking down eleven flights without advice from the fire marshals. This person was also one of the 'safety' officers for the floor. He instructed people to stay put until he got word from the fire marshal.
Person number 4 ignored him and headed downstairs. By the time the call came to evacuate the tower, she was four floors above ground level while he was still on the eleventh floor... where the fire had broken out again and smoke had filled the up-until-then smoke-free staircase. There were thirteen floors above him.
I live 10 minutes from work on foot and could hear the police and fire sirens for a full forty-five minutes after I'd pulled the alarm and left the building.
I won't be surprised if work is canceled tomorrow.
He did a case study of the World Trade Center and discussed how some people had started to head down the stairs but were pushed back by 'officials' who told them there was no danger and to stay put. Those who stayed put died and those who pushed past the official lived.
Today, I was given pretty good evidence that I would be a survivor in a similar situation.
Upon discovering the electrical panel on our elevator to be engulfed in flames four witnesses reacted in four different ways:
1) decided to run to her phone across the floor to call for help;
2) decided to run for the emergency phone around the corner;
3) decided to run for the fire extinguisher;
4) decided to follow person number 2 to the red phone in order to pull the fire alarm
Person number 2 gave person number 4 heck for pulling the fire alarm since the fire was extinguished and said there was no way he was hiking down eleven flights without advice from the fire marshals. This person was also one of the 'safety' officers for the floor. He instructed people to stay put until he got word from the fire marshal.
Person number 4 ignored him and headed downstairs. By the time the call came to evacuate the tower, she was four floors above ground level while he was still on the eleventh floor... where the fire had broken out again and smoke had filled the up-until-then smoke-free staircase. There were thirteen floors above him.
I live 10 minutes from work on foot and could hear the police and fire sirens for a full forty-five minutes after I'd pulled the alarm and left the building.
I won't be surprised if work is canceled tomorrow.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Home Again
Whew. What a week it's been. 4000+KM in 8 days. I'm beat!
I had to cut my trip short because I got an email informing me that I've been selected for an interview in Winnipeg this coming Friday. Flights won't be cheap, so I chomped two days off my trip. That said, I save a ton of money in an unexpected category while on this trip: gas. In my city, gas averages out to about 1.15$/L these days, making a full tank cost about 46CDN (OUCH). In the US, I was encountering gas prices that averaged out to 3.15$/G, making a full tank cost about 33$CDN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Every time I tanked up, I had an extra 13$ to do something fun. I haven't finished crunching the numbers yet, but it looks like my gas expenses came in close to 200$ UNDER budget. Wow!
The main reason of my trip was to spend a day in Savannah, Georgia.
I'm glad I booked just one day, with a second spent exploring the environs (Bonaventure Cemetery, Fort Pulaski, Tybee Island). One day in Savannah was plenty. Maybe even too much. The following will make it seem like I had an awful trip, regret my holiday, had no business going to Savannah, etc., but that's not true!
Savannah is touted as being the US's most beautiful city. My eyebrows continue to raise at that. Its historic district is quite beautiful, but, overall, Savannah is no more beautiful than San Francisco or Chicago. So, right off the bat, I didn't succumb to this city's façade.
There was something else going on, though, something that not very many people understand. Those who know me well take this as being a fact about me, an integral part of me the same as my having grey eyes and a love for grilled cheese sandwiches cut into triangles--I am very 'psychic.' Not in the sense that I see the future (although I do have the odd premonition dream), but that I can feel 'vibes' around me, and, yes, I sometimes see dead people.
Savannah's vibes were really bad. I knew from the second I set foot in the historic district that this was a place where horrible things had happened, where the current beauty had come at a price paid with innocent suffering.
My last night in the city, I took a ghost tour. I'm not so gullible as to say that I took everything I was told at face value. But the guide did explain a lot of things to me about Savannah's history, things I've been able to corroborate with other sources, and the vibes the city gives off make a lot more sense now.
During my full day in the city, I noticed a house that bothered me. 432 Abercorn if you want to Google it. This house turned out to be the last stop on the ghost tour. The guide had stories about this house that completely freaked me out, but I'm pretty sure these stories were 99.9999% fiction. That said, there is still something horribly wrong with that house. Perhaps the problem lies with the ground the house is built on.
Edinburgh, Scotland, is another city with bad vibes (so bad, in fact, that I cut a four day stay there down to a day and a half!). I think that it's important for me to show respect when I go to this sort of city. I need to understand the history and pay my respects to those souls that have stayed behind, but once I understand what I'm feeling, I need to move on. It would simply be disrespectful to have a merry time in a place that is begging me to notice its suffering.
I'm glad I went to Savannah, but I'm not convinced that I'd go back.
My favourite part of the trip was definitely the excursion to Tybee Island on Wednesday. The day was gorgeous, temps in the high 20s (C!), the ocean plenty warm enough to swim. I couldn't believe that I was a mere three days driving time from winter. My skin was shocked by this sudden exposure to the sun and burned right through my two layers of sunblock, with my back being the worst, but I can't regret to decision to spend the day out in the full sun in skimpy clothes because it charged my thoroughly depleted batteries. It was the kind of afternoon that defines 'vacation.'
What this trip did best, though, was prove to me that the bus idea is a very good one. I could have stayed on the road forever, but would have been much happier to be able to sleep in my own bed at night with my cats.
I had to cut my trip short because I got an email informing me that I've been selected for an interview in Winnipeg this coming Friday. Flights won't be cheap, so I chomped two days off my trip. That said, I save a ton of money in an unexpected category while on this trip: gas. In my city, gas averages out to about 1.15$/L these days, making a full tank cost about 46CDN (OUCH). In the US, I was encountering gas prices that averaged out to 3.15$/G, making a full tank cost about 33$CDN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Every time I tanked up, I had an extra 13$ to do something fun. I haven't finished crunching the numbers yet, but it looks like my gas expenses came in close to 200$ UNDER budget. Wow!
The main reason of my trip was to spend a day in Savannah, Georgia.
I'm glad I booked just one day, with a second spent exploring the environs (Bonaventure Cemetery, Fort Pulaski, Tybee Island). One day in Savannah was plenty. Maybe even too much. The following will make it seem like I had an awful trip, regret my holiday, had no business going to Savannah, etc., but that's not true!
Savannah is touted as being the US's most beautiful city. My eyebrows continue to raise at that. Its historic district is quite beautiful, but, overall, Savannah is no more beautiful than San Francisco or Chicago. So, right off the bat, I didn't succumb to this city's façade.
There was something else going on, though, something that not very many people understand. Those who know me well take this as being a fact about me, an integral part of me the same as my having grey eyes and a love for grilled cheese sandwiches cut into triangles--I am very 'psychic.' Not in the sense that I see the future (although I do have the odd premonition dream), but that I can feel 'vibes' around me, and, yes, I sometimes see dead people.
Savannah's vibes were really bad. I knew from the second I set foot in the historic district that this was a place where horrible things had happened, where the current beauty had come at a price paid with innocent suffering.
My last night in the city, I took a ghost tour. I'm not so gullible as to say that I took everything I was told at face value. But the guide did explain a lot of things to me about Savannah's history, things I've been able to corroborate with other sources, and the vibes the city gives off make a lot more sense now.
During my full day in the city, I noticed a house that bothered me. 432 Abercorn if you want to Google it. This house turned out to be the last stop on the ghost tour. The guide had stories about this house that completely freaked me out, but I'm pretty sure these stories were 99.9999% fiction. That said, there is still something horribly wrong with that house. Perhaps the problem lies with the ground the house is built on.
Edinburgh, Scotland, is another city with bad vibes (so bad, in fact, that I cut a four day stay there down to a day and a half!). I think that it's important for me to show respect when I go to this sort of city. I need to understand the history and pay my respects to those souls that have stayed behind, but once I understand what I'm feeling, I need to move on. It would simply be disrespectful to have a merry time in a place that is begging me to notice its suffering.
I'm glad I went to Savannah, but I'm not convinced that I'd go back.
My favourite part of the trip was definitely the excursion to Tybee Island on Wednesday. The day was gorgeous, temps in the high 20s (C!), the ocean plenty warm enough to swim. I couldn't believe that I was a mere three days driving time from winter. My skin was shocked by this sudden exposure to the sun and burned right through my two layers of sunblock, with my back being the worst, but I can't regret to decision to spend the day out in the full sun in skimpy clothes because it charged my thoroughly depleted batteries. It was the kind of afternoon that defines 'vacation.'
What this trip did best, though, was prove to me that the bus idea is a very good one. I could have stayed on the road forever, but would have been much happier to be able to sleep in my own bed at night with my cats.
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Summer's End...
It's been a most peculiar summer.
I had my breast reduction surgery immediately upon returning from my delightful, if not particularly frugal, vacation. I'd recommend the surgery to anyone whose quality of life is diminished by their breasts. Recovery is slow and humbling, however, as I can barely exercise and I need help to do such basic things has grocery shopping and house cleaning.
My two months off from work were busy indeed, even despite the fact that I was recovering from surgery. I wrote chapter upon chapter of my novel, started work on my Book of Shadows, reread all the Harry Potter novels, took small day trips to neighbouring villages, made use of free admission times at local museums, and more.
Of course, I continued my Wiccan education, reading some 'classics.' Last night, I finished Starhawk's The Spiral Dance. Tonight, I start Margo Adler's Drawing Down the Moon. One thing I have taken away from my readings is that I feel empty and purposeless because I am not serving the gods and I am working in complete solitude. I've come up with a couple of ideas on how to rectify that once I'm completely healed.
One of my favourite things I did was adopt a new cat!!! I went to the Humane Society with my list of criteria and was surprised to find a cat who matched those criteria exactly! He's a sweet seven year old brown tabby who fits into my household much better than my last cat did. His sister is slowly getting used to the idea of not having me to herself again. :-) The Humane Society loves me. Apparently, very few people walk in and say: "Hi, I'm looking for a cat. It has to be at least five years old, but seven to nine would be ideal, and I'd be willing to consider up to twelve."
The return to work has been brutal and I intend to make some major changes to my schedule come September. I don't want to quit this job, however. I think my supervisor will agree with the idea I came up with for keeping this job and still having time to do meaningful work. Some of this will depend on my meeting with a financial advisor in early September. I've been coasting along financially since late spring and I see the freedom trickling away. It's time to rein it in and come up with a plan I can live with and goals I can look forward to.
I had my breast reduction surgery immediately upon returning from my delightful, if not particularly frugal, vacation. I'd recommend the surgery to anyone whose quality of life is diminished by their breasts. Recovery is slow and humbling, however, as I can barely exercise and I need help to do such basic things has grocery shopping and house cleaning.
My two months off from work were busy indeed, even despite the fact that I was recovering from surgery. I wrote chapter upon chapter of my novel, started work on my Book of Shadows, reread all the Harry Potter novels, took small day trips to neighbouring villages, made use of free admission times at local museums, and more.
Of course, I continued my Wiccan education, reading some 'classics.' Last night, I finished Starhawk's The Spiral Dance. Tonight, I start Margo Adler's Drawing Down the Moon. One thing I have taken away from my readings is that I feel empty and purposeless because I am not serving the gods and I am working in complete solitude. I've come up with a couple of ideas on how to rectify that once I'm completely healed.
One of my favourite things I did was adopt a new cat!!! I went to the Humane Society with my list of criteria and was surprised to find a cat who matched those criteria exactly! He's a sweet seven year old brown tabby who fits into my household much better than my last cat did. His sister is slowly getting used to the idea of not having me to herself again. :-) The Humane Society loves me. Apparently, very few people walk in and say: "Hi, I'm looking for a cat. It has to be at least five years old, but seven to nine would be ideal, and I'd be willing to consider up to twelve."
The return to work has been brutal and I intend to make some major changes to my schedule come September. I don't want to quit this job, however. I think my supervisor will agree with the idea I came up with for keeping this job and still having time to do meaningful work. Some of this will depend on my meeting with a financial advisor in early September. I've been coasting along financially since late spring and I see the freedom trickling away. It's time to rein it in and come up with a plan I can live with and goals I can look forward to.
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