Mountain O-Dishes

It's interesting how quickly dishes can pile up when you neglect to do them! Tonight we had Kevan and Leah over for coffee & cards after a failed attempt at watching a movie (see Duane's Rants of Reason for more details on that!) and when they left, it was decided that we needed to do dishes. Sometimes when I do dishes by myself I make a game out of seeing just how well I can stack all the clean dishes in our dish-rack so I don't have to dry them. It really is a work of art. Karyn says that her sister Jody is the queen of stacking dishes but, as you can see, I could be a contender in the family for the same skill (though I'd rather not be known as the "queen of dish stacking" for obvious reasons!).This pile consists of almost all of the dirty dishes we had. What I could not include due to an obvious lack of room on the stack was the cutting board, a cookie sheet, a soup ladle, and a spatula.

The key to dish stacking is to plan out your wash to get the best base possible. First, I like to get the cutlery out of the way and then move on to the plates & bowls. Once in their place you can fill in the rest of the available space with cups & mugs. Covering the solid base you need to start packing on the volume items such as pots & pans and your tupperware. It's a toss-up as to which you stack on top of the other and there's some trade-offs to each. If you stack pots & pans first and then tupperware you have your weight on the bottom and things are going to be pretty stable until you get to the top (with the tupperware). If you go tupperware first and then pots & pans you have some weight to hold the tupperware in place but there's a higher risk of the lot falling down under the weight if not properly distributed.

My analysis of this post leads me to two conclusions:

1. We need a dishwasher to prevent our dishes from piling up like this
2. I need to get a life or at least start posting about more interesting things!

D

Last Day! *sob*

I apologize, firstly, for my lack of posting and secondly, for the fact that this will be very short and with as little detail as possible.(I have to run downtown to the police station for a police check and make sure I get back to HandiBus on time)
As most of you know, I gave my notice at HandiBus two weeks ago to pursue a position as a lunch room supervisor at a special needs school.
Today is my last day with HandiBus. As stressful as it has been in the last 6 months/1 year, I will miss everyone a whole lot, and I'm sure many tears will be shed(by me)today when I'm leaving my children for the last time. It was not an easy decision to make as children hold a special place in my heart...and especially these children. It's hard to leave them when you're someone they look up to and expect to be there for them every day.
I do need to post about past events, but I sure don't have the time to do it now. I'll get on that as soon as I can.


~K~

Update...if you're interested

I've updated "Duane's Rants of Reason" if you're interested in reading it. You can find the link to this blog in our "Favourite Sites" category.

D

Sacramento - The End is in Sight!

It's now officially been a long trip. I'm very much looking forward to coming home on Monday after I'm done my trade show here in Sacramento. The hours on the road have been long but what's really taking it's toll on me is the fact that I've had to eat out for 12 days already. It's amazing how sick of eating out you can get and how much you can crave a home made meal or just a simple snack from your cupboard!

Monday I took the afternoon off to go visit the Manatee Springs State Park. I really wanted to see some manatees but alas, they were heading up the spring at the State Park to the north! Oh well. I did get to see some vultures which was kind of cool. While snapping some pictures of the vultures I had a conversation with a guy and girl from Missouri which went something like this:

ME: Do you guys see the vultures over there?

GUY: Yeah, my girlfriend here is a scared of big birds like that.

GIRL: They freak me out!

ME (to girl): Oh, you don't need to worry about them. They won't bother you...That is, unless you were dying, and then they'd only just pick you apart!

GIRL: Oh, gee, thanks! That makes me feel a lot better.

GUY: *LAUGHS HYSTERICALLY*There were a ton of birds flying around there as well. I've never seen so many hawks and vultures circling in my life!I also had the chance to take a look at the Manatee Spring as well. It was pretty beautiful, though I don't know if I can appreciate it as much as some people since I get to see mountain lakes all the time with lots of minerals in the water.Some of the cypress trees at the Manatee Springs State Park are rather neat. You can see in the picture what are called "knees" that the tree has to help it filter the water it sucks up from the ground. It would make for some crappy bush whacking if you had to navigate through them but certainly some pretty cool vegetation to look at.Tuesday and Wednesday last week were installation days at the libraries I visited with. The install/training went quite well and I had a good time visiting with the librarian and her husband who took me for a tour of Levy County. I sure did learn a lot about the area. Unfortunately it was raining pretty heavily so I didn't get a chance to snap any pictures of where we went but I did get to visit Cedar Key, an old and historic town on the Gulf of Mexico that was a key port during the civil war.

Thursday was a long travel day. I ended up getting to my hotel on Wednesday night at about 7:30pm and I was out of there by 5:30am on Thursday morning to fly to Sacramento, arriving here at about 1:30pm local. Most people don't realize it but traveling sure does take a lot out of you!

Today I was setting up for my trade show that I have this weekend. The setup itself wasn't too bad after I got things ordered that were overlooked when we set up the plans to come to the show. I ended up waiting for power to my booth and an Internet connection (I'm doing an Internet cafe so both are kind of critical!) for over 2 hours. It was...frustrating, yeah, that's it. For those of you who have no real clue what I do, here's a shot of the system I sell set up for this trade show.After setting up my booth I decided I was going to take a look at downtown Sacramento. It was getting kind of late but I figured today will be the only day I have the time to explore the city a little. Sacramento is the state capitol of California so I took some shots of the capitol building. I also had a chance to shoot some pictures of the cathedral downtown. Since it was pretty dark and the pictures weren't all that great I decided to sketch them.Tomorrow and Sunday are exhibit days. This show and the American Library Association shows are always over a weekend which is good because I build up overtime but bad because I have to work on a Sunday, something I've been excited not to have to do since leaving Hurricane's Ice Cream store in Ontario years ago. Oh well. Once the show is over I get to fly back home, hopefully relax a little, and be with my darling wife once again! Oh, and eat home cooked meals!

D

Hanging With the Hillbillies!

For those of you who do not know, I'm currently in Florida, partially through my two-week sales trip. Last week I managed to go through Georiga, starting just north of Atlanta and snaking my way down to Gainesville, FL for the weekend. The trip has been very successful thus far without any major mishaps along the way. Let's keep our fingers crossed that it stays that way for the remainder of my trip.

I was "trapped" in Gainesville, FL this weekend and decided on Saturday that I was going to experience Florida that most travels don't see. I packed up my camera equipment and headed out to Suwannee, FL as it's a small town right on the Gulf of Mexico. I thought maybe I could get some cool pictures down by the water and experience some of small town Florida.

As I was driving to Suwannee I noticed along the road that there was a National Wildlife Refuge on the left hand side of the road that stretched along for miles. Every so often there would be an "access road" coming out that was bacially two tire-ruts heading into the bush. I was upgraded to a Jeep Compass by the rental car company so I figured I'd head in...I was in a Jeep, it would have been wrong had I not diverted from the beaten path!

I drove about half a mile into the bush and stumbled upon two locals who were packing up some guns. I wasn't worried because it was clear they were hunters, though after talking with them it was clear they were hillbillies and I was in uncharted territory. The conversation went something like this:

Hillbilly Husband: You planning on walkin' 'round in these parts?

Me: Yeah, I'm not from around here and I thought I would take a look around and snap some pictures. I'm not trespassing or anything am I?

Hillbilly Wife: No, but this be huntin' season and you need to watch out in here. Best to wear your bright orange huntin' vest that you can get at the local Wal-Mart. You best not be wearin' that nice green shirt that you have on. You got a huntin' vest?

Me: Ah, no...But I do have a bright yellow tank top that I could wear.

Hillbilly Wife: Here, you can have this extra huntin' vest we have.

Me: Ah...thanks. What should I be looking out for in these woods? You know, animals.

Hillbilly Husband: Well, you best watch out for coral snakes, ticks, 'gators, panthers, and most critters. You best find youself a walkin' stick so if you do run into a critter on the trail you can fend it off. I'm not sayin' they're vicious, but sometimes they have the rabbies and you want something to protect yourself with.

Me: Oh, ok...

Hillbilly Husband: If you see something like a 'coon that's foaming at the mouth or something it has the rabbies and you don't want to have to go through the rabbies shots.

Me: Alright...thanks for the info.

Hillbilly Wife: Now you don't foget to wear that huntin' vest. You don't want to be shot by some hunter. Not that it happens a lot but this is back-country Florida...

Me: Ok. Well, I'm going to head out now. Hope you have a good day hunting.

I should have taken some pictures of them because they were just classic hillbillies! Oh man...

Anyway, I drove further into the bush until I reached the Suwannee River. The spot I was at didn't have much to offer photograpically, but I did snap a shot of the jeep in the forest and some leaves of the palm trees. Pretty nice picture actually.I drove off and was going to head into Suwannee but decided to take the Dixie Mainline road. This is a connecting "road" that goes between the Florida 347 and 349. It was about 10 miles long and the speed limit was only 25 miles an hour. The "road" was basically a single-lane gravel road and there were times when traffic would be coming the other way and we'd have to get creative to get by each other! Along the drive there were a number of places to pull off and go on little nature walks, which I took all of them. I got a little bored of the "road" after a while and decided to take my Jeep further into the bush. I ended up taking every little hunting trail I could find just because and had a good time going through the forest. You can see, some of the areas I was in were quite remote!During my drive I had the opportunity to take a few wildlife pictures. I got to see an armadillo in the wild which was very cool. They do really look like little tanks going through the forest. While trying to get a shot of its face I decided to lob a small rock into the forest beyond it to get it to come back to the road and I found out that these little tanks can jump! It must have jumped at least a foot and a half into the air when the rock hit the forest! Crazy!I also saw some butterflies in my travels. I've never done macro photography of butterflies and I'm very impressed by the quality of the pictures I got. Next time I will increase my depth-of-field a little since the wing was blurred a little on some of the shots because I was in so close.During one of my little walks I found a pool of water with a stick popping out of it. The water was relatively calm and had a good reflection coming off it. I cautiously got down to take some pictures after deciding that there were no gators in the water. Stupid hillbillies got me all worried!I continued my drive to the end of the Dixie Mainline road and decided to head town to the water. On my way I wanted to take a look at an observation tower that was listed on the map I had picked up on the area. When I got there it was hillbilly central! There were about 6 big pickup trucks (all with the off-road tires) and a whole bunch of people out fishing in the marshes. I went up the lookout tower (it was only about 15 feet tall) and chatted with the locals a little. Turns out it was a pretty popular fishing spot. While I was chatting with them they asked me what I was taking pictures of and the like...I ended up talking with this couple who were launching their boat to go out with their kids. One of their kids, a little girl about 3 years old, came running up to me and was the cutest little kid you've ever seen! Blonde hair, bright blue eyes, and COVERED in mud from head to toe! I asked her if she was having fun and she said yes and I asked her if she was going for a boat ride. To that she answered "You're silly!" and I replied back, "Well, you're the one covered from head to toe in mud!" She laughed and ran away.

I left the hillbillies to their own and headed to the Gulf of Mexico. I walked out on a path to the water, dipped my feet in, and just hung out there for a bit. The wind was blowing a warm breeze off the water and it was just a beautiful place to be. I should have brought my book out there and read a little but I was getting rather hungry. I took a shot of myself hanging out there but unfortunatly couldn't get the ocean in the background since I would have had to put the camera in the water! Oh well.I left that spot and decided my day was done. Drove all the way back to Gainesville (about an hour) and called it a day. Sunday was a low-key day...about as low key as I've had in a long time. The weather outside was wet so I didn't venture out at all...Spent the day sleeping and watching movies...What a tiring day!

Well, that's all for now. Hopefully I'll have some other stories to tell in a few days along with some more pictures.

D

That's Ridiculous!

So I finally got the phonecall I was waiting for yesterday. Only, it wasn't so much what I was expecting.

Here's what I WAS expecting:
CBE lady: "Hi Karyn, I'm calling to let you know we've finished your consideration process for the position at Christine Miekle School, and I'm happy to tell you that you've been accepted and deemed hirable by the Calgary Board of Education."
Me: YAY! "Thank you so much! What are the specifics, and how to I go forward from here in the process?"
CBE lady: "We'll have the school contact you with further information. Thank you for your time at the interview, and good luck in your new position."
Me: "Thanks again! Bye!"
CBE lady: "Have a great day, bye!"

Here's what ACTUALLY happened:
CBE lady: "Hi, this message is for Karyn Clemens. Karyn, I'm calling to tell you that we're having some trouble with your 3 current business references. Could you please return my call as soon as you can, and provide me with two more references? Thanks, I'll talk to you soon."
Me: What the HECK!!?? No wonder it's been a whole freakin' week!!
Me: "Hi, I'm returning your call regarding my references. So what happened that you weren't able to get the initial references?"
CBE lady: "Well, the notes here say that (blank) from HandiBus says it's against company policy to give out job references. She can, however, confirm employment. Since two of your business references were from HandiBus and we can't use them, is there anyone else you could suggest?"
Me: "Sure, the fourth reference I had given to you at the interview should be able to provide a good reference for me. I think she'd be home now for you to contact."
CBE lady: "How about Robert Van Norman...who is he" (I must've given her two separate reference sheets!)
Me: "Oh, sure, he's my pastor!"
CBE lady: "That's great, perfect. Is the number here his home number or work number?"
Me: "Work, here is his home number..."
CBE lady: "Thank you so much, and again, I'm sorry for the delay."
Me: (through gritted teeth) "Sure, no problem."
CBE lady: "I'll get back to you soon."
Me: "Alright, bye!"
CBE lady: "Goodbye"

GOSH! What the heck is up with HandiBus not giving out references??? Anyway, I think someone's neck will be wrung at work on Monday. This has cost me precious time that I could have been at a new job, actually enjoying myself! Then I got a phonecall later (I guess while I was on the phone with Duane that night) from the CBE saying that the home number I had given her for my pastor was not the right number!! AAARRRGGHH!!! I have two church directories, and one has the right number, and one has the wrong number...and I had given her the wrong number! By the time I got her message, it was past closing time, and she was gone from the office for the weekend. I left a message on her confidential voicemail, so hopefully on Monday she'll get that, and have a chance to call Pastor Rob for a positive reference. This has been SO super frustrating...especially waiting for the call, when I had thought the interview was merely a formality that would be dealt with quickly and have offered me the new position within a couple days. Not so. The stress was added to this week by many different situations going on at HandiBus and having not received the call from the CBE. Thank goodness I at least know what is going on now, and can breathe. I know God knows what's best, but does He have to take so long?? ;) I think I've handled it well, but it's been frustrating, that's for sure.
So we'll see what comes of this next week.

~K~

Another one gets the "thumbs up"!

These are the wonderful lettuce wraps I made last week sometime. They turned out really well..and who knew I'd be so full after only two! Duane was stuffed and satisfied :) We might just have to make these again :)
Sorry for the bad quality shots, it was hard to keep the camera still and on macro mode!

~K~

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D