Monthly Archives: June 2009

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Fear & loathing in Verdun, among other things…

Good old Quebec full of slum lords, too many politics and really random holidays like June 24th aka La Fête nationale du Québec Which means a paid day off of work YAY!  So my friend & co-worker Krystal decided that she was going to have a bbq at her house because none of us had to work the next day.  I was on the fence about going because I was tired and really just wanted to go home and relax since I was so stressed out over a million things but then I thought nah I’ll go home, shower and what not and head over because I don’t go out much & it would do me some good to get out of the house.

So I headed over & it was fun, best time I’ve had in a while!  Got to meet some new people, got molested by Krystal’s boob licking dog Maya & got more action from her in one night then I do from John in a month lol.  The we all started craving Doritos so I headed over to Couche Tard to get some and that’s when it all started.  The leering, the stares and the comments from the group of guys that were in there.   I know I’m not ugly and I do call a lot of attention to myself through my tattoos and I happened to be wearing shorts that night but I as always blew it off.  I DO NOT like getting hit on, it doesn’t make me feel better about myself and when I have PMS & I’m 1/2 in the bag it irritates me to no end!  Anyway made it back and I was debating do I take the night bus or do I grab the metro but I wasn’t ready to leave so I said screw it I’ll take the night bus which wasn’t due to leave until 2:10 am. Which just may have been an epic fail on my part!
Jesus Christ, in the 10 minutes I had to wait for the bus I happened to “run into” one of the leering guys at the dep from earlier who WOULDN’T stop talking to me and I almost punched him in the face, some guy asking for directions offered me a ride home (yeah because I want to become a statistic? no thanks!) and several other offers that I of course refused. This poor woman who was walking down the street who was only checking out my leg work scared the crap outta me because I didn’t see her at first and she said to me in French oh I’m sorry I just like your tattoos.  All the while I’m texting John with updates and having a fit while waiting for the bus.  I don’t know that area very well & while I can hold my own being in a strange part of town drunk @ 2am isn’t the best place to be alone.  So apparently I’m a hot commodity in Verdun, who would have thought?  Next time I’m wearing pants.

In other news…  I got a rude awakening on the 24th by a general contractor who should be thankful I was home…  I got my new water tank installed YAY!  I also got new  baseboard panel for the heat as well so maybe, just maybe I won’t freeze my ass off this winter!  He’s coming back on Monday since we have a long weekend for Canada day to install the thermostat and fix my leaking ceiling which I believe he was here today taking a look at it because its leaking from upstairs and in turn ruing my ceiling and floor here.  So that was nice, and a huge load off too!  However that still doesn’t solve the insulation issue I have with the wall that faces the outside…  As in there isn’t any at all!  So me being the crafty DIY decorating diva has decided to take matters into my own hands and solve that problem as well.

I went to home depot in search of polystyrene sheets that were 1/2″ thick but they didn’t have any that width so I searched around and found very economical Styrofoam insulation instead (23.00 for 7 sheets of it!) which is even better because its easier to carve, doesn’t cost a lot of money and will still act as an insulation barrier as well.  So I installed plastic sheeting first and then nailed the sheets to the wall which sucked because I still have electrical outlets and what not to work around so that was interesting to say the least. Thankfully the wall itself isn’t very large so fairly easy to cover for the most part. I don’t know if this is going to help or not but one would think it would at least to a certain degree! So once that is fully installed I’m just going to take some plaster Paris and do a very light texture over top of it because the Styrofoam isn’t smooth enough on its own to paint. Whatever I have left over I’m going to use underneath my kitchen sink because that too is draft central.

So because my new baseboard heating unit is shorter then the old one, you can see the old paint that was there so that needs some repair work which I also plan on doing this afternoon/evening because while I did like the look of the paint job that was here I prefer something that more to my liking and will paint the hallway/kitchen area one color and I plan on doing a really nice faux finish on the living room walls. I already painted my bedroom & bathroom door white & re-painted the trim and it already looks a million times better! So whomever moves in here after I leave should be happy with not having to freeze in the winter, and not worry about their hot water tank going to hell, can’t say they’ll appreciate the decor but to each their own!

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This just in…

I’m about to have a nervous breakdown!  Work, OMFG I ain’t even going to get started on that but I will say this much: My boss will be getting an earful via e-mail on the 24th since I have that day off and need a few days to “cool down”.  I mean really is there a diplomatic way of telling your boss “Please stop acting like a twat, I have more qualifications then you I don’t need a babysitter thanks…” I’m working on it, but something needs to be said because I’m about ready to snap!  I can’t deal with work BS on top of the 10 tonnes of drama I have to contend with already.

Once again I needed to bitch, its my blog so dammit I will!  *le sigh*…  Still haven’t heard back from my landlord, that’s convient!  Funny how when I confront someone they back down.  I’ll only be nice for so long until I have had enough which is why my boss is next in line for me to take a bite out of someone’s ass! I can haz vacay now?  How about some Valium?  I honestly can’t wait to get the hell out of this province and go home and regroup.    I just need to get away from this place, and my job for a few days.  I am afraid that when I come home it will be burnt to the ground or something will have blown up or there’s going to be a pool in my apartment.  Thank God for John, I mean really…  At least I know he’ll stop by and see that everything is OK while I’m gone & feed my cat,   he’s so good to me 🙂

In other news, I do on occasion find a reason to smile and I meant to say this yesterday but got so caught up in my rant I didn’t…  I have to give Carly a world of credit for her awesomeness!  I’m quite proud of her for her major achievement which made my day last night!  Something good came out of it which is pretty awesome!

This has been making headlines as of late…  Some people say its a hoax or a cry for attention or free advertising…  Who knows?  In any case this whole story true or false blows my mind!   Of course I could count on Ania for giving her two cents on the topic 🙂

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And I’m done…

With this damn apartment!  Back in the winter, my heating didn’t work very well at all.  Whomever lived here prior broke off the adjustment knob and I can’t get the heat to go up past 1 so when it was really cold outside it was on some occasions below 0 degree’s  in my apartment.  My living room/kitchen area isn’t insulated very well, no storm windows and plastic over said windows? FAIL…  I’ve been asking my landlord for MONTHS to get its fixed and by months I mean almost 6 now.

My hot water tank?  Yeah that’s another treat!  It would overflow, making my bedroom feel like the amazon because of the steam.  Soaked the floor which has ruined God knows how many things now at this point because there was just SO much water on my floor.  So I couldn’t shower for a few days, and when it stopped over-filling then it would take 10 hours to heat back up again.  My friends boyfriend who’s thankfully a plumber, not to mention a really nice guy said its working but pretty much on the way out.  Brought this to her attention, said to give  her two days she’d have it looked at, umhmmm yeah NOPE not fixed STILL!  I mean it works but one of these days its not going to work at all.
Then there’s my shower, the diverter stopped working so my shower was always on. Justin fixed it for me, then there goes my shower head which still spews out water everywhere but mostly not ON you while your in there… Again empty promises about having it fixed… Then she dumps the problem on me of tracking down the repair guys! WTF, NOT MY PROBLEM/RESPONSIBILITY! According to her, she’d send them over to my house because they “were in the area” which she CAN’T do, expected ME to make appointments with them because she lives really far and can’t be bothered and claims that she doesn’t have a key… This has been the repair battle royale for months now! I was fed up already, but today REALLY was the icing on the cake that was already poisoned…

When I moved in here there was noticeable water damage on the ceiling in my hallway which she said she would have repaired (yeah right!) Whatever aside from being slightly un-sightly it wasn’t too much of a bother to me. I had to run out & buy some stuff for dinner tonight, John was on his way over & I said I’d meet him at my place.
I’m coming home, John texts me to tell me that my hallway is leaking which I didn’t pay much attention to at the time because I thought maybe it was just because there was water on the floor from Heddy’s new self watering water bowl. Nope, that fucker was spewing nasty water from upstairs somewhere. Thankfully John threw a towel down on the floor & grabbed something to catch the water while I was gone. However what if I wasn’t home? What if I was in Ontario & John wasn’t there and there was a flood? So after almost wiping out due to the water on my cheap faux hardwood floors I snapped. I was stark raving mad! I have enough on my plate to contend with and then this? So I fired off a bitchy e-mail to my landlord, took pictures of the ceiling and I’m calling the Regie in the morning and filling a complaint. I’ve been nice about this because my heat obviously I don’t need right now and my hot water tank has behaved for the last little while but this tops them all!
I offered on NUMEROUS occasions to have someone *I* know come in and fix it. I know plumbers & general contractors who offered to get my heat fixed and my hot water tank BELOW cost because they know me, and will do it when I’m free. Because all those jackasses she told me to call DON’T work past 3pm unless its an emergency so she expects me to be home when its convient for HER *or* have one of my friends hang out at my house waiting for them to arrive, I think not!

To top it all off, my left arm is inflamed, I have little to no feeling in my pinky finger on my left hand so I think (read hope) that its just my carpal tunnel flaring up which is a simple surgery and I noticed I have a cavity that I can’t afford to address at the moment and can only hope that my new found OCD dental regime will hold it off until July.
I mean really can it get any worse? I’m not playing the woe is me card cos that’s not my style but DAMMIT I HAVE PMS & NO PATIENCE! So I needed to bitch.
There, I feel better now…

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Finally setting the wheels in motion…

OK so buying a ticket to go to Ontario isn’t *that* exciting…  The downfall to being poor-ish: Your vacation time and funds are generally spent going to visit the family twice a year.  While I have friends that live across the world and have no problems with me darkening their doorstep (or so they say lol) I pretty much work my butt off to enjoy my time in Ontario which is really exhausting since I pretty much run around seeing everyone I haven’t since my last visit home & of course make the semi annual trip to see my tattoo artist.  The exciting thing about buying my ticket is that I’m leaving during the construction holiday which I’m fairly certain that Quebec is the only province to have this…  Which means everyone and their mother is going to be traveling so I’ve been watching the coach Canada website for WEEKS now waiting for them to offer tickets for July.  FINALLY they updated their website and I was able to buy my ticket.  Since I bought a non refundable ticket it cost $42.89 which is great & affordable!  In light of the economy Greyhound is offering HUGE discounts if you buy your ticket 14 days in advance, as in 50% off the price so score another one for me!  The less I spend on travel, the more money I can spend on my right sleeve!  So I snatched up my ticket right away because of course the higher the demand for that trip the more the price goes up.

So I have my vacation and my stay-cation booked as well since my mom, sister, nephew & Aunt will be driving me back to Montreal, so much for relaxing…  Don’t get me wrong I love my family & I enjoy having people over at my house… However its exhausting!  My time in Ontario is pretty much owned by everyone & then I have to trek back home & play hostess/tour guide.  So I’m going to need a vacation from my vacation/stay-cation.  I have some nice things planned and thankfully the ex husband and I are on good terms & he’ll take Dustin for the night so we can go out and not feel guilty about it.  That however depends on whether or not Sandra & Dustin actually come this year with us.  Dustin is going to the Tim Horton’s children’s camp in Kentucky for 10 days and then would be leaving 3 days later for Montreal.  I’m not sure which teacher nominated Dustin for this camp adventure but I owe them a huge heartfelt thank you because Dustin is such a sweet boy & he deserves it.  Sandra’s up in the air because she’ll need someone to Watch Chelsea on Fri, Monday & Tuesday since my brother in law has to work.

So mom’s 50th birthday is slated for the 18th & my tattoo appointment is booked (tentative) for the 22nd.  That might change, going to call Time & see if I can get in earlier because he too is leaving on vacation for 3 weeks the next day.   Then finally on the 27th its off to McGill to start my much needed catching up on dental work.  So its going to be pretty insane this summer, have a lot going on and very little time to actually get it done.  Things have been insane as of late, I somehow got caught in the middle-ish of someone Else’s drama but that’s a manageable situation.  My hours at work will likely get chopped for the summer, its only for 2 months but once I get started on my dental work that’s going to suck up a large majority of my extra income.  Thank God my mom’s hooking me up with a Visa, I have to go to a bank branch of her’s here and send them my signature and what not.  Its so worth it though!  It SO nice to be able to eat semi- normally, my mouth is much happier these days!