LAST DAY

My last day of work was uneventful and perhaps slightly unproductive. I watched the Olympics for most of the morning. Then I had a going away lunch which was nice of them to organize. The afternoon was very low-key as well. I left a bit early but only because one of my co-workers insisted I have a drink with him at a local watering hole. He was very nice about it, bought me a few drinks and some food. I left for home before 9pm and that concluded that chapter in my employment life.

When Monday morning rolls around, I won’t need to be any where in particular. Feels good!

THE OLYMPICS ARE EXHAUSTING

I woke up more than an hour earlier than usual this morning to catch the end of the gold medal game in women’s curling. By the time I fired up my tablet in bed, Jennifer Jones and her team had their gold medals well within their grasp in the tenth end. Her perfect run throughout the Olympics was one for the ages.

I didn’t have time to linger in bed though as I had to get to work and perhaps more importantly today, I had to get to work before too much of the gold medal game in women’s hockey had gone by. I watched most of the first period while on transit, dealing with random dead zones in cell reception and cursing when the Skytrain went under concrete. I missed some of the game while walking to work from the station.

The rest of the game was one of the best games of hockey I’ve seen in my entire life. I was one of the very few people on my team watching the game on their computer. I guess my most of my co-workers either don’t like hockey or don’t like the Olympics. When the Canadian women struck in OT there was much elation from the street below us as there are many bars and restaurants in the area.

The scene resets tomorrow with the same nations playing again but this time it’s the men going to battle. I’m going to try to get to work before the game starts at 9am. It’s my last day at work and I hope it will be a great one. Time to get to bed early!

BURNING DOLLARS

In a previous post I mentioned that I finally relented this winter and decided to turn the heat on in the evenings due to some unusually cold weather here in Vancouver. On most nights, I made sure to turn the heat off when I went to bed but there were a few odd nights where I forgot and the heat was on while I slept.

I received my electric bill for the months of December and January this week. Normally, I pay anywhere between $45-$50 for two months of electricity. With the added load of heating my apartment, my bill was just over $70 for those two chilly months. It won’t break the bank but it’s interesting to see how much money went to just heating my small apartment. I know people who live in much colder climates pay significantly more in heating bills.

IRON MAN

So I have a friend who is taking in a considerable amount of Olympic coverage from Sochi. He watches everything live because he wants to see the events as they happen halfway across the planet.

Some of the events, like hockey, start at midnight but at times, the games don’t start until 4:30am, local time. I don’t think he takes a nap in the evenings, so he’s watching the Olympics well into the morning. There’s a brief break around 7am when some of the hockey games end but then there are more games at 9am. I think he even watches curling in between hockey until the next game starts.

Now here’s the interesting thing. My friend has a full-time job he has to go to. I don’t know where he finds the time to sleep. I’m also not sure how he can get through the work day without falling asleep. I was chatting with him over IM this morning about 10:30am about the overnight results (which he watched live) and he casually mentioned he probably should get to work. I didn’t realize he was still at home.

I’m not sure how he gets away with all of this, both from a work and sleep perspective but he seemed to be fine. Both the Canadian men and women have some important hockey games this week and I’m sure he probably won’t get to work until after the games are finished. He’s the most dedicated Olympics viewer I know.

A NEW ADVENTURE AWAITS

Happy trails!

I can finally get to that special announcement I mentioned last week! Last Wednesday I handed in my letter of resignation to my employers. Though it had been only five months since I started the job, it was clear to me it was time to move on. In fact, I’d come to the realization I needed to leave for a while now. This was not a spur of the moment decision.

As with sensitive subjects like this on social media, I have to tread carefully. I’m currently still under an employee social media agreement that I signed when I started the job. I don’t want to burn any bridges so I won’t publicly be giving out the exact reasons why I decided to leave. If you see me in person, I’d be more than willing to get into the details. What I will say is that I’m looking forward to the future and I’m excited about the next adventure. I’ll have more to say about that soon.

Never be afraid to do the things that are necessary to keep yourself happy in your work life. You have more control over your happiness than perhaps you think. Pursue your goals with a passion and don’t let people stand in your way. Ok, enough Dr. Phil talk. A new chapter begins after Friday!

THAT WAS INTERESTING

I was tested for an ulcer last week. For several days, I’d been experiencing some discomfort after eating. The doctor wanted to rule out an ulcer, so I was sent for a test. The H. pylori breath test seemed simple enough as my doctor explained it to me. Apparently, I had to blow into a tube and the whole test would take forty minutes. I also had to fast for four hours beforehand. Nothing about that seemed difficult.

I chose to get the test done in the morning since the fasting part would be done while I slept. I got to the lab, waited a few minutes and then was shown to the testing area. The nurse got me to blow into a tube. It was as easy as it seems. Then set down a small amount of liquid in a cup. She asked me if I was allergic to citrus because I had to drink the liquid and it contained citrus. I said no. I love citrus-based fruits. The liquid was a bit tart but otherwise quite refreshing. The part that I didn’t know until afterwards was that the liquid contained urea, which is the main ingredient in urine. While technically I didn’t drink pee, one could argue it was pretty much the same thing.

After drinking the pee, I was told I had to wait 30 minutes before blowing into another tube. I was dispatched back into the waiting room while I used my smartphone to look at antiques. Half an hour later, I was called back to blow into the second and final tube. That was the end of the test.

I checked my results online twenty-four hours later. I do not have an ulcer, at least according to this test. I’m actually feeling much better now. My doctor thinks it’s related to stress. I started feeling better as soon as I removed a big stressor from my life last week.

So that’s why they make you drink pee at the lab.

VALENTINE’S DAY

Hey! Today is Valentine’s Day! Rather than write another post on the matter, direct your eyes towards my compilation post from last year. Yeah, I’m getting lazy and it’s probably time to write some new Valentine’s Day material.

Oh, by the way, I’ve been told I have postpone my special announcement until well into next week. Sorry folks.

APOLOGIES TO MATT DAMON

I know that my previous post promised a special announcement today but I was told this afternoon that I should delay the announcement for a bit. At worst, it might be a delay of a few days so we’ll just have to sit tight. I apologize for that.

So, what shall we discuss instead? Um, the Olympics? Canada has done well so far. There have been some amazing performances by Canadian athletes. Tomorrow morning the Canadian men’s ice hockey team plays their first game against Norway. Perhaps unfairly, the NHL players will take a considerable amount of the spotlight. The game starts at 9am PDT which means I’ll be on my way to work. CBC does have an app that I installed on my phone which should stream the game live though.

Alright, let’s hope we can get to that announcement soon.