Only a 2-day weekend?

Posted on August 19, 2012 by kdarcy21

This is odd.  I only had a regular 2-day weekend this weekend.  That means that I have to work a 5-day work week this coming week.  I am not sure when the last time I did that was – sometime in mid-July I’d guess.

I didn’t do too much this weekend, it was pretty relaxing.  Did some laundry, watched some tv – pretty boring stuff.

Starting this week, I am going to be working from home on Wednesday’s.  I am not sure if I will like that or not, but it is worth trying.

I currently don’t have a regular desk chair so I am going to do it, I will need to get one.  I suppose come winter, working from home will keep me from having to go out in the cold, cruel world and freezing.

I am sure that the dogs will like having me home an extra day each week.  I just hope that they don’t bug me too much or if I am on the phone, they don’t start barking for some reason.  Typically, they are pretty good so I doubt that they will bug me too much.

The week after next I will be working alone as my co-worker is on vacation. It’ll likely be a bit of a crazy week – people seem to know when we are working by ourselves and they go nuts on us.  Makes the day go by quickly though.

Anyway, no real plans for tonight either – finishing my laundry and maybe catch a movie or something.  As soon as it cools down a bit, I will take my 4-legged monster for a walk.  I hope that they don’t read this, they might get excited.  🙂

Posted in Personal, Work, Zeus, Blondie, Hera and Twix | Leave a comment

I’m coming home…

Posted on August 17, 2012 by kdarcy21

You know, I now consider Calgary home, so, the title of this entry may be misleading.

I have booked my flight to Ontario in September.  The primary purpose of this trip is an IT Conference so the flight and my accommodations for the conference are being company paid.  This is a good thing.  I would not be returning to Ontario if I was paying for the flight myself.

So, I will be “home”, in St. Catharines the evening of Thursday, September 20, Friday the 21st, Saturday the 22nd and then heading to Mississauga on Sunday the 23rd.  that gives me 2.5 days in St. Catharines, should be more than enough.

I have lunch planned with a friend and former co-worker (T) on Friday.  I am sure that I will be going for dinner on Friday and Saturday.  I am looking forward to seeing everyone and I am sure that J&D’s dog, Chloe will be happy to see me – at least I hope she will.

Anyway, after my brief stay in St. Catharines, I will be in Mississauga for 2 nights at the conference.  Should be good and it will be nice to actually meet the people that I work with on a daily basis.  Heading back to Calgary and will return Wednesday night.

I’ve rented a car to be picked up at the airport in Calgary and I am off on the Wednesday.  I will get Zeus & Blondie from the “pet resort” on Wednesday morning and will be able to do some running around.

So, Ontario, get ready for my return.  🙂

Posted in Personal, Work, Zeus, Blondie, Hera and Twix | 2 Comments

Protected Posts

Posted on August 15, 2012 by kdarcy21

As my faithful readers (or is that reader, not sure) might have noticed, there are now a few protected posts in my blog.  I don’t like the idea of having to protect a post, but, in reality, free speech does NOT exist, really never has and likely, unfortunately, never will.

I use my blog to freely post what I am thinking, feeling and what I want to express, whenever I want to express it.  That’s the way that I am, always have been and always will be.

So, to appease some, I have decided that a few of my more “controversial” posts will now have a password attached to them so that only those with the password can view them.  I don’t like having to do this, but I am not stupid, I understand the reasons why I must.

In closing, if you would like to read one of these “protected posts”, please send an email to kevin@kdarcy21.com and ask me to give you the password for them.

Thank you.

Posted in Personal | Leave a comment

Wow, the middle of August…

Posted on August 14, 2012 by kdarcy21

I cannot believe how time flies.  It will soon be the middle of August, in under 3 hours anyway (Mountain Time).  Where has most of the summer gone?

Apparently, from what I am told, winter can start pretty much any time from here on out in Southern Alberta.  Well, isn’t that nice?

Today was interesting, weather wise.  It was 23C at lunch when I went out and then, within an hour or two it had dropped to about 11C and we had a thunder storm roll through.

Strange weather here and I am sure that I have seen nothing yet.

I always used to consider my birthday, August 8 around the time in Southern Ontario when we would have fewer humid days and the nice warm, dry air would take over and the nights would turn cool.  I am still trying to get used to the weather here and I have no idea as yet.  We are expecting highs in the upper 20s this weekend, likely won’t be humid at all though, I like that.  I am so NOT used to it, being used to the humid days (and nights) in St. Catharines.  I can handle the couple of days, maybe a week in total when it has been a little humid here and the house has heated up to an uncomfortable temperature.  Tonight, I had to close the windows downstairs and in the bedroom, I threw on my duvet – I will need it tonight.

I don’t think I am really ready to experience what an Alberta winter can throw at me.  I do own a couple of warm jackets.  Well, warm by Southern Ontario standards anyway – for Alberta, I have no idea.  I own a touque or two and one scarf.  I don’t really have a pair of good gloves and I have never owned a pair of “warm” boots – I have always been able to get by with hiking boots in the past – that may be a thing of the past.

I am sure that I will complain a bit about the wind chill – I will have to get used to putting on more clothing than I am used to, I am sure.

Strangely though, I am looking forward to it.  I have not experienced a “real” winter in some time.

Anyway, for now, it is still the middle of August and the most that I need is a light jacket in the morning and then by late afternoon it is too much.  Hope the summer lasts a bit longer though, I am enjoying it thus far.

 

Posted in Personal | Leave a comment

No downtown for me…

Posted on August 13, 2012 by kdarcy21

I went downtown to check out the place right down the street from my office.  Well, it is only $22 per month cheaper than where I am living now.  I do pay for electricity, gas and water where I am, BUT, I would still pay for electricity there, plus, if I continue to have my Jeep or get another vehicle, it is an additional $90 per month.

The place is small.  Not quite 700 sq. ft.  The living room and kitchen are about the size of my current living room.  The bedroom is small, about the size of my smallest bedroom here.  The bathroom is also fairly small, not that you need a large bathroom.  There is a large closet at the front, but a lot of it isn’t really accessible seeing as it is deep and not that wide.

So, all in all, I have decided that I will NOT be moving there.  A two bedroom, which isn’t available, is $1250.  Wow. Move downtown and the prices go through the roof.

So, I’ve decided to stay where I am.  I will be actively looking for someone to walk the dogs at lunch.  I hope to be able to find someone as I really hate having Blondie in her crate all day.

Anyway, that’s what I did with my day.  How was yours?

 

Posted in Personal, Zeus, Blondie, Hera and Twix | Leave a comment

A lazy Sunday

Posted on August 12, 2012 by kdarcy21

Right now, I can only think of a few reasons that it really sucks to NOT have a vehicle at my disposal.

It is a nice Sunday morning and I am at home.  Typically, I would be out somewhere with the dogs, hiking along a trail or a river or something.  That becomes tough when you can’t get to those places because of distance.

I am also restricted in that getting groceries is a little tougher than it should be.  There are grocery stores within walking distance of course, but if I were to purchase something like ice cream, well, it would melt before I got home.

I have taken a cab to get back from Wal-Mart one time, but, my “cheapness” for such things prevents me from doing that on a regular basis.  I had to somehow get a 30lb bag of dog food home, along with another 8 bags of stuff – well, the bus is out for something like that so that leaves a taxi.

Those will be the hardest things to get used to without having a car.

If I do move downtown then I will be able to use one of the Cars 2 Go services and that will resolve that issue.  There are also paths along the river within minutes of where I could potentially live.  So, tomorrow, since I am off, I am going to enquire with the rental office about going to the property by my work.  September 1 would be ideal but the beginning of October would be fine as well.

I will save money on rent, not a lot, but some.  I won’t have a washer/dryer in my unit, but really, I only do 1-2 loads of laundry per week – I think I could suffer in a laundry room for 2 hours and read or something.  I would save a ton of money on gas and insurance (presuming I get my Jeep back in one piece) and parking as well.  If I can do it, I will – I guess I’ve made that decision.

So, back to my “lazy Sunday” – what to do?  Well, I guess we will go for a regular walk around here and I will likely catch the closing ceremonies of the summer Olympics.  No other plans on my horizon.

 

Posted in Personal, Vehicles | Leave a comment

Hmmm – what’s plan B, or is it C?

Posted on August 11, 2012 by kdarcy21

I cannot get a loan for my Jeep repair.  I can’t say that I really blame RBC either.  If I owe 18k on the Jeep now (not sure what the exact amount is) and then I add on 10k to get it fixed, that comes to 28k on a vehicle that may only be worth 14k.  So, I understand how they look at the situation.

Now, if I had perfect credit (which, unfortunately, I don’t), I might be able to get a 10,000 loan without much trouble.

So, there is another possible option that I am not really counting on.  I have a fairly large locked-in RRSP that is being transferred to RBC.  There is a possibility that I can take some of the value of that RRSP and convert it to cash.  I would pay tax on it, but then I could get access to the money I need.  I am not sure if I will be able to do this and quite frankly, I doubt that I can, but it is worth a try anyway.

If I can’t do that then I am left with a few options that aren’t too appealing.  I won’t continue to pay for a vehicle that I can’t use.  I do realize that it isn’t TD Financial’s fault, but, they are the ones that I would stop paying.  I am sure that they will send it to collections – that can be annoying.  I am sure that they would sue me – that would likely be annoying as well.

Anyway, I will find out on August 20 or 21 what’s going on.  I am the type of person who doesn’t worry about such things though.  Really, why bother?  I can’t change the situation.  I know what the options are and I have given thought to each of them but I don’t dwell on them – that’s unhealthy – it causes stress and no one likes stress.

So, I continue to be vehicle-less and that isn’t going to change any time soon.  Even if I get access to the cash I need in 10 days from now, it is likely going to be another month before I get the Jeep back.  That’s the middle of September…

I am going to actively pursue moving downtown.  It’ll end up saving me a lot of money and I will be able to get home at lunch for the dogs.  Right now, Blondie is crated during the day because she wasn’t able to be “good” all day long.  I may look at purchasing a pen for her so she isn’t in a crate – not sure on pricing.  I will be able to walk to work and, if I do get the Jeep back, I will save on parking and gas.  Right now, I am spending somewhere between $1100-$1200 per month for it – payment, insurance, parking, gas – that’s nuts.  If I do get rid of it, that’s a crap load of money that I could save.

Time will tell what will happen – I am looking forward to this saga being over.

Posted in Personal, Vehicles, Zeus, Blondie, Hera and Twix | Leave a comment

Another long weekend

Posted on August 10, 2012 by kdarcy21

The last time that I worked a 5 day work week was in the middle of July.  I have had a few 4 days weeks in there which, of course means, a long weekend.  This weekend is no exception.

I am off today @ 2pm.  I take lunch from 2pm-3pm and then I am off from 3pm – 4:30pm.  I have lieu time that I have to use, if I don’t use it, it gets paid out and then your taxes go up and who wants to make an extra donation to the government?  Not me anyway.

So, I have an appointment at the bank at 3pm and will hopefully be able to get the ball rolling on getting my Jeep fixed.  I then have some free time and a meeting at 6pm for Big Brothers.

No plans this weekend really – no vehicle so I can’t go anywhere exciting.  I do have a transit pass now so at least I can travel about the city if I want to – not sure where I would go though.

Enjoy your weekend.

Posted in Personal, Vehicles, Work | Leave a comment

Moving Downtown?

Posted on August 8, 2012 by kdarcy21

Well, I have been without a vehicle for nearly a month now.  Not a whole lot of fun really.  I like being able to get around wherever I want, whenever I want without having to follow someone else’s schedule.  Transit is a pretty good option and the service is pretty decent, but it’s not like having a car.

So, I am thinking of moving downtown so that I can walk to work.  That way, I could get home at lunch and let the dogs out – they will be much happier.  I wouldn’t have to take transit to work, even if I do get the Jeep fixed on Chrysler’s dime.

So, Friday I am applying for a loan for the repair.  I will be using my RRSP as collateral so I am doubtful that it will be turned down, but there is that chance I guess.

If I do live downtown and don’t end up getting the Jeep fixed, there is a cool service in Calgary – Cars2Go.  It wouldn’t be a really expensive option for occasional use considering a car payment, insurance and gas.  They use those Smart Cars and I don’t think I would really want to drive one on the highway, but for in the city, I think they would be great.

I will explore my options for moving in the next couple of days.  If I transfer to another Main Street property, I don’t pay a penalty for breaking my lease – it is transferred.

Lots of options to consider…

On another note, today, August 8 is my birthday.  It was pretty low key which is completely different than what I have experienced over the last several years.  Work was insane busy but that was good – the day flew by.  I received a sort of a gift at work today, an iPod Shuffle – sort of cool.  It is tiny and holds 2GB of music.  Now at least I will have something to listen to on the trip to and from work.  If I get bored with what is on it, it’s easy enough to change.  So, I can’t say I am 40 any longer, I am now in my 40s.  Doesn’t seem much different than being 40 I will admit.  Age is only a number anyway.

At any rate, I think that 41 will be better than it was at 40 – that was a tough year and a great year.  I suppose really, the end of 39 was bad, 40 was starting to look up and it will only get better from here.

Posted in Personal, Vehicles, Work | Leave a comment

Back to work

Posted on August 7, 2012 by kdarcy21

Back to work this morning and back to Calgary Transit.  The transit system is a good one and it actually doesn’t take me too much longer to get downtown than when I drive, but, I hate the crowds.  The bus normally isn’t that full but the train is quite nuts.  It will be nice when they add on the fourth car – not sure when that is scheduled for though.

So, I have decided that I am going to apply for a loan for my Jeep now to pay for the new engine and I will hope that some or all of the cost will be covered once it goes to arbitration.  I am not sure how long that process is, but really, I can’t just have it sit for the next several months not doing anything.

Tomorrow is my birthday.  I will be 41.  A lot happened last year.  I should have had a mid-life crisis but I don’t think I did.  If I did, I didn’t buy anything cool like a sports car…

It will be a low-key event I think.  I have no plans but that’s ok.  All I really ever do for my birthday is go for dinner with friends and family.  In the past, I have had what I called a “Birthday Festival” – it started the Friday before my birthday and ended the Sunday after.  Last year, I decided it was the last festival that I would have – for myself.  Sort of a greedy event, but, what the hell.  So, this year, just my birthday.  Did I mention it’s tomorrow?

 

Posted in Personal, Vehicles, Work | Leave a comment