Field Report - Day 21

1. Still not a fan of the place.

2. Still hate driving.

3. Telling me that "It's a bigger city that still *feels* like a small town" is not a selling feature. I really hate small towns.

4. IT HAS BEEN THIRTY DEGREES (86F) (or close to it) FOR THREE FUCKING STRAIGHT FUCKING DAYS. IN MAY. CLIMATE CHANGE IS A HOAX, MY FUCKING ASS.

5. I got a job.

Not just any job. The first job I applied to that wasn't through an agency.

Not just any job. A job for which I am totally qualified, have an interest in doing, and will totally rock.

***

The barest of details: I will be working as the personal/executive assistant to a small business man who's business is in one of the few industries that thrives in this area.

The downside is, it's on call for the next three weeks, for a rate that's very low.

It will then shift to a steady 20 hours a week, for a rate that is only marginally higher.

IF I can help him find 5 new employees from *outside the Windsor area* including Europeans and North Americans if necessary, I will be full time two weeks after they start. We're aiming for September/October to have that completed. Hopefully with the increase in hours comes an increase in the hourly wage, but we'll see.

***

With only 20 hours dedicated to this employer I'm thinking about trying to pick up a couple of 10 hour a week contracts with local entrepreneurs that might need a little help with getting their administration in order.

That means networking. oh. yay.

***

I was promised a thunderstorm by 11 AM. They lifted the severe thunderstorm warning around 10 AM and cancelled the thunderstorm forecast about thirty minutes after that. It is now 12:45 pm, the sun is shining, there is some haze in the air, and it's getting STUPID hot again.

I WANT MY FUCKING THUNDERSTORM ALREADY.

***

Note: Cooling vests and neck wraps do not work in humidity over 60%. Or rather, they don't work well or for long in humidity. Why no one told me that as I was forking out $40 to purchase them, I have no idea.

***

I was going to apologize for the all the virtual yelling, but it turns out that I really am not sorry about that. No. No apologies.

Attitude Adjustment

5 hours ago I set to writing this blog post, then some stuff happened, and I just CLRL+A'd the whole thing and started over.

I was going to write that I hate it here. I was going to write that it just isn't the place I want to be. I was going to write a list of things that piss me off about the place.

But now I'm not going to because I have a job interview tomorrow afternoon for easily the most interesting job I've been offered in years.

It'll be really challenging. I'll have to drive a lot. I'll get to travel some. It doesn't pay very well at the start.

But I really want the job.

Badly.

So badly, I'm about to fork out $85 to a STRANGER (on the basis of a single online review, the fact that it's three blocks from my house, AND their name is UNRULY) to cut and colour my hair the morning before my interview.

Because this mop of mine is a HOT FUCKING MESS, yo.

He wrote in his email to me that I am the most qualified candidate he's had apply, and wanted to meet with me right away. (Friday afternoon of a long weekend, even.)

I want this job and I will not say anything mean about Windsor for a whole week if I get it.

***

Also, I have a neighbour who can't seem to get his/her shit together with the car alarm. The thing has gone off 7 times in 15 minutes.

I hate that neighbour.

***

We aren't going to be able to travel this weekend because of Joe's education getting, but I realized today the bonus of being around on a long weekend.

There are going to be a few walks of shame on MONDAY morning... and that will be awesome.

So looking forward to it.

Progress

I bought a martini glass to hold my loose change and a round short vase to hold my beach glass collection when I find it.

I used Google Maps to reason that if I could walk from my old apartment in Vancouver to the GhettoMall of East Van, then I could walk almost the equal distance from my current apartment to the Dollarama down the road.

Bonus points: No part of this current trip was up or down hill.

So I walked to the dollar store for cheap glassware, candy, and Mr. Freezes.

***

It rained again tonight, but still no storm. The temperature just made it into the teens (55F) today, and the grey, overcast skies reminded me of Vancouver. Perfect weather for a walk.

***

My friend Donna got married today. I saw photos on Twitter. It was lovely.

She had amazing shoes.

I hope marriage agrees with her as much as it does with me. Marriage is awesome.

***

Nothing went right today. I`ve been having problems with my phone and my computer and both of them *just* had their warranties lapse days ago. Apparently, the problem is mine, yet no one can tell me how much it will cost to fix the problem.

I hate these things.

***

I really hate today.

UPDATE

Nothing is exciting. Things are just different.

***

I took two buses today, just to find out where they go.

Bus routes in this city MAKE NO SENSE.

The first bus was *exactly* like Peterborough buses in the 1990s, with those hard painted seats, except this bus was in different colours, and it was super clean and graffiti had been *handled*. You could see where it had been scrubbed off or painted over.

Also, that first bus driver drove it like he *owned* it. Superfast!

***

The second bus was a hybrid. It was also very clean and graffiti-free.

Also, the whole front of the bus before the back door is courtesy seating. The seats adjacent to the back door are not.

***

I woke up this morning to the sound of automobile tires on wet pavement. IT RAINED! For the first time in over two weeks I saw the rain.

It was done raining by the time I got up. It looked like more rain all afternoon, but none came. Except for a little cloud burst that happened while we were in Target getting a more sturdy shower curtain; when we came out all the cars were covered in droplets, but the pavement and asphalt were dry.

But yeah, rain. 

I was promised a thunderstorm today and it never happened.

I haven't seen a right and proper thunderstorm in years. Now Ontario wants to keep me waiting.

Ontario is a jerk.

***

The closest independent coffee purveyor is over a kilometer (and just shy of a mile) from my house.

Hell, the closest chain coffee purveyor is over a mile from my house.

I live near nothing but the University and other people's apartment buildings.

And a convenience store, a guy who sells Chinese dumplings, and a dry cleaner/alterations shop. And a bong store.

The convenience store also sells bongs.

***

We have a great view of the GM headquarters in Detroit from one of our bedroom windows.

***

I hate the apartment less now that it's about 80% clean.

Please tell me I'm not the only person who wipes down her light switch and electrical outlet covers.

***

If wiping down light switch and electrical outlet covers is wrong, I don't want to be right.

***

Job hunting still sucks.

Windsor - The Town Where Everyone Asks You To Lower Your Expectations

It's like dating in my home town for fuck's sake.

I went to my first interview with a temp agency, and they told me that the average job search in Windsor is 10 to 12 MONTHS.

I don't have that kind of time, so I'm thinking about looking in Waterloo or Toronto for something permanent, while Joe stays here and does his thing.

Not that things were going any better in Vancouver, mind you, it's just that no one there asked me to aim a little lower and be happy with what I find there.

***

I don't know what this place is all about, but they have a sculpture garden full of strange shapes, penguins by a non-functioning fountain, and a family of elephants.

I will post photos at some point.

***

Avocados were FIVE for TWO DOLLARS. I'm eating avocado on fucking EVERYTHING until that price goes away.

Debrief - Part 1 of an Indeterminate Amount of Blog Posts

There's so many things that I want to say about Vancouver, but writing them down in the emotional turmoil of our quickly scheduled move seemed... unwise.

I landed in Vancouver on the evening of September 20, 2003.

I left Vancouver on the afternoon of April 25, 2013.

That's 6 months shy of 10 years. I had four apartments in that time. I dated five Vancouver-based people. I had 9 jobs; 13 if you include short-term temping. I was diagnosed with MS there. I found out who my friends were there.

Things I Totally Do Not Regret

1. Getting on that plane.
2. Dating Finn.
3. Breaking up with Finn.
4. Moving to East Van.
5. "Growing up" here, for lack of a better description.
6. Becoming friends with the women I became friends with.
7. Not getting into yoga.
8. Trying to stay in Vancouver.
9. Falling in love.
10. Deciding that Vancouver's latest rejection would be its last.

***

Maybe I missed a key developmental phase or something - but I never fell in love with the place.

As a city, it's kind of lame. No pedestrian culture and no grown-up drinking scene that isn't a plastic-coated freak-show straight out of the The Real Housewives of Vancouver (which is, shockingly, a real thing).

Everyone seem to spend their time and money trying to get away from there, either to the wilderness or Seattle. No one wants to really *live* there, it seems.

The pretty view doesn't pay the rent... and the view is only pretty when it isn't raining.

I never was smitten by the tourist brochures. I never felt a "soul" here because everything - and I mean everything but the Stanley Park cedars - seems so impermanent. It feels like nothing is established; like everything is temporary - including the people.

I said once before that Vancouver only felt like home when I was away from it. I realize now that "home" was about where my bed and my belongings were, not about the city in which those things resided. My new town will not feel like home until I get a proper bed to sleep in. Which given our financial situation, and Joe's new-found aversion to owning stuff, is going to be a long time.

I don't miss Vancouver, which isn't to say that I've fallen in love with this place either, but I really am glad I'm gone. 

***

I don't know what the future brings. My life is a blank slate as of May 1, 2013. I have an appointment with a temp agency on Wednesday morning. I am perpetually lost here and have no sense of direction unless I can figure out where the Detroit River is in relation to where I am, which is not very often. I'm going to start writing more; both this blog and my professional persona's.

***

But I do know what my past held, and I don't regret a minute of it. The two people who originally brought me to Vancouver haven't been a part of my life in 8 or 9 years at this point.

I loved them both at one time. I will always be grateful to them for being in my life exactly when they were. I would not be the person I am without them.

***

Confidential to E: You are the only person I cried over. You're the only person I still get teary-eyed about. I miss you so much.

***

I will probably return to Vancouver to visit any friends who might remain there in a year or so. I will never live there again. It turns out that I'm just not a "West Coast Person". I'm okay with that. I don't know that I am a "Southern Ontario Person", but I'm okay with that too.