The topping contains Potassium Benzoate*
Life's been a bit of a roller-coaster lately. A bunch of real ups and downs. Two weeks ago I got the all-clear to take the cast off. It was a real thrill to a) not have walk with a cast on my leg, and b) stop looking like a gimp. So that was an "up". But then the actual walking around on a foot that had been cast for 10 weeks was a real "down". All the muscles, tendons and ligaments have atrophied, and according to my physiotherapist, the broken bone, while looking like a corkscrew now, is the only bone in my foot in the right place. So its been a pretty painful fortnight. I have managed to get to the gym once, and I'm hoping go regularly enough to lose my "sitting on my arse for three months"-fat.
Work is similar. While I am thrilled to no longer be unemployed and so relieved to finally be getting a regular paycheck, I am so miserable in my new position. I've tried to make the best of it, keep my chin up and just knuckle down, as the cliches go, but it's not helping. A great deal of dissatisfaction surely comes from how the position was misrepresented to me. While they advertised for extensive web technical skills, only about 2% of the job is technical or web related. It was also supposed to be technical writing, but it seems to be 95% boring student administration work. It doesn't help that my boss has spent less than two hours training me in the month I've been here, so it's been a real muddle-through-on-my-own type of scenario. The program utilised to access to student records is pure 1985 technology, and any ideas offered to streamline processes fall on deaf ears. Also, I miss working with geeks, rather than middle-aged women from the suburbs.
On the accommodation side of things, we are still debating whether to move or stay in our apartment. Our flat is expensive, not-exactly modern, but is in exactly the location we want, and has a lot of space. Today we saw an apartment in staff housing out at UBC. A two-bedroom modern flat, with a fireplace, plush carpet, a kitchen to-die for and its $350 less a month then were currently paying. Only problem is that while living on campus sounds good, its actually quite remote. There aren't any real restaurants or shops around and its a good 20 minute hike to where you catch the many buses that run from UBC to the rest of Vancouver. UBC has gardens, birds, trees, and is the proverbially "nice place to raise a family", but we're just not in that phase yet. We currently live 2 minutes walk from the supermarket, have about 30 restaurants within 10 minutes walking distance, and have a 5-block walk to the beach. And while we're not right downtown, its a 40 minute walk to be downtown (think Glebe). So for the time being, we'll stay in our less-than-perfect but large and well-located apartment. At least it has room for visitors, of which we should have many this year.
*Wondering about the title?
Work is similar. While I am thrilled to no longer be unemployed and so relieved to finally be getting a regular paycheck, I am so miserable in my new position. I've tried to make the best of it, keep my chin up and just knuckle down, as the cliches go, but it's not helping. A great deal of dissatisfaction surely comes from how the position was misrepresented to me. While they advertised for extensive web technical skills, only about 2% of the job is technical or web related. It was also supposed to be technical writing, but it seems to be 95% boring student administration work. It doesn't help that my boss has spent less than two hours training me in the month I've been here, so it's been a real muddle-through-on-my-own type of scenario. The program utilised to access to student records is pure 1985 technology, and any ideas offered to streamline processes fall on deaf ears. Also, I miss working with geeks, rather than middle-aged women from the suburbs.
On the accommodation side of things, we are still debating whether to move or stay in our apartment. Our flat is expensive, not-exactly modern, but is in exactly the location we want, and has a lot of space. Today we saw an apartment in staff housing out at UBC. A two-bedroom modern flat, with a fireplace, plush carpet, a kitchen to-die for and its $350 less a month then were currently paying. Only problem is that while living on campus sounds good, its actually quite remote. There aren't any real restaurants or shops around and its a good 20 minute hike to where you catch the many buses that run from UBC to the rest of Vancouver. UBC has gardens, birds, trees, and is the proverbially "nice place to raise a family", but we're just not in that phase yet. We currently live 2 minutes walk from the supermarket, have about 30 restaurants within 10 minutes walking distance, and have a 5-block walk to the beach. And while we're not right downtown, its a 40 minute walk to be downtown (think Glebe). So for the time being, we'll stay in our less-than-perfect but large and well-located apartment. At least it has room for visitors, of which we should have many this year.
*Wondering about the title?
Our place just got even more expensive, and we have an impressive mould problem in the laundry.
-Shoshe
But yeah, the central nature of your current place sounds good, and I imagine it could help a lot to stay more central as you settle into a new place / community.
I'm kind of getting that "gee, I'd love more space" thing now, too. I'd love to buy in Newtown, but I can't see myself able to afford it for many years. But buying in Marrickville may still be a possiblity. I'll be sad to leave the buzz of being close-in, though...
Getting better is the top priority. I want to see you bouncing down the street and dancing longer than Jaime.