The day after I arrived at my parents house for reading week, I decided to hop on their treadmill (aka: mom's clothes hanger) for an hour before they woke up. Since I hadn't used it in a loooong time, I decided to set it at a really easy pace. I pushed the "lower" button on the incline setting, and set myself an easy speed.
Things were going good. I was definitely sweating, but not out of breath, so I decided to do a two minute sprint at 5mph. That's when things went terribly wrong. By the end of my first minute, I was gasping for air. 10 seconds into the second minute, I was trying not to fall over. I managed to finish the sprint, but by then my lungs were bleeding, I couldn't get enough air, and even though I kept lowering and lowering the speed, I was still gasping.
I decided to take a short 5 minute break and got off the treadmill. As I was about to get back on though, I noticed something. The treadmill had a definite incline on it... That's when I realized that the "lower" incline button actually lowers to back of the treadmill to CREATE an incline. For CHRIST'S SAKE! Every other treadmill in the world raises its upper portion to create the hill. No wonder I was so damned exhausted - I was running uphill the entire half hour! Needless to say, I immediately corrected my error and did my next half hour at an easy pace. LOL
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Reading Week
I finally got a reading week! This was my first reading week since first year! (In my second year, I was working at Bruce Power, in my third year I was working at Business Objects, in my fourth year I was in Hong Kong!) It's horrible to say, but I got more work done this past week than I anticipated. (Meaning, I actually did a little work as opposed to none at all.)
The week was super relaxing. I have a switch in my brain that flips on and off whenever I go home. The moment I step into my parent's house, I start gorging on all kinds of junk food. It's ridiculous, and even maddening. When I'm in Waterloo, I live like a monk - no (well, nearly no) sweets, chips, etc. Heck, I've been carting around a box of popcorn for 3 houses now! When I was at home, I had cookies, chips, nachos, pizza, pie, ice cream, etc. Yeesh. Oh well, it was bliss. :)
I spent a lot of the week watching movies and relaxing. My mom and I also went to see the movie Music and Lyrics. It was cute. :) We also rented movies like School for Scoundrels, Mistress of Spices (terrible), and the Protector (so terrible it was hilarious). The week kind of melted all together because I was so relaxed. I just switched from shopping to watching TV to playing on my computer to eating. Fabulous.
Yesterday was also my mom's birthday. I bought her a hilarious card that mocked her techno-incompetence (turns out my oldest sister bought her the same card). I then gave her money for a new curling iron (she needed one, and I didn't know what type she used). I also bought her two sticks of deodorant. I know that seems like an odd gift, but she made such a fuss at Christmas about not getting some (it was on her wishlist - none of us daughters remembered though) that I went and bought two to compensate. :)
My crowning gift though was a bowl of random chocolates. Scattered through the chocolates were a bunch of little notes I had written, reminding her of some of our funnier moments in life. For example, I mentioned a time when I was 5 years old and gave her a gumball that I had rolled in air freshener. She did know this of course, and popped it in her mouth and of course gagged. I don't know what possessed me to do that, but it has become a favourite family story. I also mentioned when we went to the flea market near my hometown. She had been bugging me and bugging me to go (it had been years since we last went) and she finally took me there without my permission. The flea market was SO scummy! Everything in there was from the 70s and ridiculously expensive. She was so disappointed in the place, which allowed me to mock her endlessly as a result. :) The stories went on and on, but you get the idea.
Melanie also drove up to visit my mom for her birthday, so we all ended up going out for dinner and flaking out that night. This morning we went to my parents' favourite breakfast place and relaxing for the morning. Mel ended up driving me back to Waterloo. We had an absolutely wonderful ride and had a lot of fun in the car. :)
I know I had some other funny stories to tell, but I'm getting tired and apparently can't remember what they were. Now, it's time for more reading! (Darn, I was about to type "it's time to go to bed" but it's only 9:30pm! I have to do some more reading! Doh!)
The week was super relaxing. I have a switch in my brain that flips on and off whenever I go home. The moment I step into my parent's house, I start gorging on all kinds of junk food. It's ridiculous, and even maddening. When I'm in Waterloo, I live like a monk - no (well, nearly no) sweets, chips, etc. Heck, I've been carting around a box of popcorn for 3 houses now! When I was at home, I had cookies, chips, nachos, pizza, pie, ice cream, etc. Yeesh. Oh well, it was bliss. :)
I spent a lot of the week watching movies and relaxing. My mom and I also went to see the movie Music and Lyrics. It was cute. :) We also rented movies like School for Scoundrels, Mistress of Spices (terrible), and the Protector (so terrible it was hilarious). The week kind of melted all together because I was so relaxed. I just switched from shopping to watching TV to playing on my computer to eating. Fabulous.
Yesterday was also my mom's birthday. I bought her a hilarious card that mocked her techno-incompetence (turns out my oldest sister bought her the same card). I then gave her money for a new curling iron (she needed one, and I didn't know what type she used). I also bought her two sticks of deodorant. I know that seems like an odd gift, but she made such a fuss at Christmas about not getting some (it was on her wishlist - none of us daughters remembered though) that I went and bought two to compensate. :)
My crowning gift though was a bowl of random chocolates. Scattered through the chocolates were a bunch of little notes I had written, reminding her of some of our funnier moments in life. For example, I mentioned a time when I was 5 years old and gave her a gumball that I had rolled in air freshener. She did know this of course, and popped it in her mouth and of course gagged. I don't know what possessed me to do that, but it has become a favourite family story. I also mentioned when we went to the flea market near my hometown. She had been bugging me and bugging me to go (it had been years since we last went) and she finally took me there without my permission. The flea market was SO scummy! Everything in there was from the 70s and ridiculously expensive. She was so disappointed in the place, which allowed me to mock her endlessly as a result. :) The stories went on and on, but you get the idea.
Melanie also drove up to visit my mom for her birthday, so we all ended up going out for dinner and flaking out that night. This morning we went to my parents' favourite breakfast place and relaxing for the morning. Mel ended up driving me back to Waterloo. We had an absolutely wonderful ride and had a lot of fun in the car. :)
I know I had some other funny stories to tell, but I'm getting tired and apparently can't remember what they were. Now, it's time for more reading! (Darn, I was about to type "it's time to go to bed" but it's only 9:30pm! I have to do some more reading! Doh!)
Boo to testing!
Back in January, the Department of Foreign Affairs came to UW to give a talk on their post-secondary recruitment campaign. I've always been interested and to be honest, smitten, by the idea of working for DFAIT, so I applied for several jobs at the department. To do so required a mad scramble to assemble an updated resume, create a short essay (and I mean short short short) detailing my leadership experiences and so on.
The recruitment campaign also requires its applicants to write several exams at the school on a specific date. Since Agnes had also applied to the same jobs, we went together. This meant that we appeared at school, on a Saturday, at 7:15am. Egads! I was so freaking exhausted. At least I got to eat though - Agnes just rolled out of bed and came to pick me up. Hee hee.
The exams were neither hard nor easy. The first one was a generic exams testing your logic and school smart skills. They included questions that needed you to find number patterns, rotate figures around, word similarity questions, and evil evil questions that required you to create formulas to math problems. Those last ones were deadly. I hate math! The second test was a "situational judgement test." Essentially it gave you a bunch of scenarios and asked you to select the most effective as well as the least effective response. This sounds easy enough, just use your common sense and answer! Not so! Some of the potential actions you could take were pretty similar, or difficult. And in the example they gave us, we knew they didn't want the goody-two-shoes answer either (e.g. "Gee, my coworker is doing something wrong, so I should run and tell my boss." Wrong!) The final test was a written communication test. They gave us a 4 page booklet and we had to summarize its contents in 450 words. I don't know how I did on it... I think I might have been a little too concise in my writing. :S
Luckily the first two tests were multiple choice, so they were graded fairly quickly and I'm happy to say I got decent marks on them. I still have to wait for the written test to be graded. And the pain of all this is that I might not even be qualified for the jobs I applied to. The descriptions said I needed to graduate by June 2007... But I won't graduate until August 2007. Hopefully I'll slip through the cracks. Even if they do decline me though, it's good experience for when I apply next time. :)
The recruitment campaign also requires its applicants to write several exams at the school on a specific date. Since Agnes had also applied to the same jobs, we went together. This meant that we appeared at school, on a Saturday, at 7:15am. Egads! I was so freaking exhausted. At least I got to eat though - Agnes just rolled out of bed and came to pick me up. Hee hee.
The exams were neither hard nor easy. The first one was a generic exams testing your logic and school smart skills. They included questions that needed you to find number patterns, rotate figures around, word similarity questions, and evil evil questions that required you to create formulas to math problems. Those last ones were deadly. I hate math! The second test was a "situational judgement test." Essentially it gave you a bunch of scenarios and asked you to select the most effective as well as the least effective response. This sounds easy enough, just use your common sense and answer! Not so! Some of the potential actions you could take were pretty similar, or difficult. And in the example they gave us, we knew they didn't want the goody-two-shoes answer either (e.g. "Gee, my coworker is doing something wrong, so I should run and tell my boss." Wrong!) The final test was a written communication test. They gave us a 4 page booklet and we had to summarize its contents in 450 words. I don't know how I did on it... I think I might have been a little too concise in my writing. :S
Luckily the first two tests were multiple choice, so they were graded fairly quickly and I'm happy to say I got decent marks on them. I still have to wait for the written test to be graded. And the pain of all this is that I might not even be qualified for the jobs I applied to. The descriptions said I needed to graduate by June 2007... But I won't graduate until August 2007. Hopefully I'll slip through the cracks. Even if they do decline me though, it's good experience for when I apply next time. :)
Saturday, February 10, 2007
Funny email
My sister sent the family the following email. It's subject line was, "Death in the family." It was too funny to keep to myself, so I have posted here so that all may enjoy the hilarity.
PEPPY
a.k.a. "the little red rocket", "lama's rocket launcher", "the death trap" , the "Hi-I-Wanna-Die"
February 1998 - February 2007
Odometre reading: 330,899 kms.
It is with a heavy and sad heart that I send along the news of the passing of everyones favorite vehicle, Peppy. Peppy in all her shiny, red splendour came into our lives on a cold February day and it is fitting that she leaves us in the same way.
Peppy saw me, and numerous others through 9 years and almost always got us to where we needed to go. Along the way she kept me safe through 4 years of traversing some of the busiest highways in Ontario and I thank her for some of my exemplary driving skills because of it. ;)
She survived a brutal break in (we're still both in therapy), numerous major operations and overhauls (thanks Wolfie), long trips up north when no one thought she could make it, WAY too many lacrosse games, mocking from the family (she knows you guys loved her!), do-it-yourself body work, ONLY one speeding ticket and one parking ticket, overstuffings like you wouldn't believe from camping trips and Christmas goodies, DUCT TAPE, being on palliative care for the last 6 months and finally: a system to system shut down (who knew an automatic could drive like a standard!).
Although Peppy is still slightly chugging along (literally) she will be officially heading to the Great Scrapyard in the Sky tomorrow. I bid her a heartfelt adieu and thank you.
On that note it is my extreme pleasure to announce the arrival of the newest member of our family. Ladies and gentleman, please welcome: Silvercuda!!!
(oooooo, Baracuda!)
She's a sleek and stylin', saucy silver lady. Although she's got a bigger ghetto bootie than Peppy (ie. 4 doors) she's alot younger being a child of the new millenium- 2001 to be exact. With low kilometres, all the right parts in the right place (and in new/great condition) and an amazing price, she and I knew we were meant to be together.
Silvercuda made her official debut to the world this morning and so far has gotten rave reviews- YEAH! NO DUCT TAPE (black was never her colour anyways), no stalling/chugging/shifting gears unexpectedly- she drives as smooth as she looks.
So, please help me in welcoming Silvercuda to the family. She can't wait to meet you all and she accepts 'car shower' gifts in the form of cash donations, chocolate and fuel injector cleaner. ;)
Love you all!
Mernie
Ps. I was told by Scott and Mau that if I named a silver car the "Silver Bullet" I would be disowned- APPARENTLY that was too white trash... ooooooo Silvercuda!!!
PEPPY
a.k.a. "the little red rocket", "lama's rocket launcher", "the death trap" , the "Hi-I-Wanna-Die"
February 1998 - February 2007
Odometre reading: 330,899 kms.
It is with a heavy and sad heart that I send along the news of the passing of everyones favorite vehicle, Peppy. Peppy in all her shiny, red splendour came into our lives on a cold February day and it is fitting that she leaves us in the same way.
Peppy saw me, and numerous others through 9 years and almost always got us to where we needed to go. Along the way she kept me safe through 4 years of traversing some of the busiest highways in Ontario and I thank her for some of my exemplary driving skills because of it. ;)
She survived a brutal break in (we're still both in therapy), numerous major operations and overhauls (thanks Wolfie), long trips up north when no one thought she could make it, WAY too many lacrosse games, mocking from the family (she knows you guys loved her!), do-it-yourself body work, ONLY one speeding ticket and one parking ticket, overstuffings like you wouldn't believe from camping trips and Christmas goodies, DUCT TAPE, being on palliative care for the last 6 months and finally: a system to system shut down (who knew an automatic could drive like a standard!).
Although Peppy is still slightly chugging along (literally) she will be officially heading to the Great Scrapyard in the Sky tomorrow. I bid her a heartfelt adieu and thank you.
On that note it is my extreme pleasure to announce the arrival of the newest member of our family. Ladies and gentleman, please welcome: Silvercuda!!!
(oooooo, Baracuda!)
She's a sleek and stylin', saucy silver lady. Although she's got a bigger ghetto bootie than Peppy (ie. 4 doors) she's alot younger being a child of the new millenium- 2001 to be exact. With low kilometres, all the right parts in the right place (and in new/great condition) and an amazing price, she and I knew we were meant to be together.
Silvercuda made her official debut to the world this morning and so far has gotten rave reviews- YEAH! NO DUCT TAPE (black was never her colour anyways), no stalling/chugging/shifting gears unexpectedly- she drives as smooth as she looks.
So, please help me in welcoming Silvercuda to the family. She can't wait to meet you all and she accepts 'car shower' gifts in the form of cash donations, chocolate and fuel injector cleaner. ;)
Love you all!
Mernie
Ps. I was told by Scott and Mau that if I named a silver car the "Silver Bullet" I would be disowned- APPARENTLY that was too white trash... ooooooo Silvercuda!!!
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
A library near me
Is it possible to measure one's intellect by the amount of books they have borrowed from the library? If so, I'm getting to be a freakin' genius!
(This mountain of books looks a lot more impressive in real life than in the picture. :( )
(This mountain of books looks a lot more impressive in real life than in the picture. :( )
Saturday, February 03, 2007
Must register to comment
Okay, after having had some really weird comments on my blog lately, I've decided to make it so that people cannot post comments anonymously. Mainly because I want to know who the hell writes things like this:
"A cool blog about females at the gym. So nice to read that you didnt give in easy to that chick but took a fight with her untill she finally got of the machine.
That bitch probably needed a beating too, and cool that you almost was ready to get into a catfight with her and kick her ass. I guess she didnt think you dare to fight her at all, but that bitch meet a tough lady."
"A cool blog about females at the gym. So nice to read that you didnt give in easy to that chick but took a fight with her untill she finally got of the machine.
That bitch probably needed a beating too, and cool that you almost was ready to get into a catfight with her and kick her ass. I guess she didnt think you dare to fight her at all, but that bitch meet a tough lady."
Catfight
I nearly got into fisticuffs with a girl at the gym today. I had signed up to use a specific elliptical machine at 11:15, and when that time came around, there was another girl on there. I figured she was just finishing up her exercise when I saw that she still had 30 minutes to go.
I politely tapped her on the shoulder and asked if she was nearly done (meanwhile I'm thinking: Get the hell off my machine bitch.) "What?!" She asks. Duh. Turn off your MP3 player. I repeat my question. "What?" Turn it off. Not just down. Ask again. "I've got 30 minutes left."
I pointed out that I had signed up for the machine at 11:15 yada yada yada and then her friend beside her jumps in and growls, "Well someone must have erased her name!" Bullshit. I was in the gym before these bimbos arrived and I had watched them look at the reserve boards in utter confusion then hop on whatever machines they saw handy. You could tell that they weren't happy that I was facing them down.
The chick on my machine got off finally, grumbling and rolling her eyes to her friend. I nearly pounced on her then and there.
I politely tapped her on the shoulder and asked if she was nearly done (meanwhile I'm thinking: Get the hell off my machine bitch.) "What?!" She asks. Duh. Turn off your MP3 player. I repeat my question. "What?" Turn it off. Not just down. Ask again. "I've got 30 minutes left."
I pointed out that I had signed up for the machine at 11:15 yada yada yada and then her friend beside her jumps in and growls, "Well someone must have erased her name!" Bullshit. I was in the gym before these bimbos arrived and I had watched them look at the reserve boards in utter confusion then hop on whatever machines they saw handy. You could tell that they weren't happy that I was facing them down.
The chick on my machine got off finally, grumbling and rolling her eyes to her friend. I nearly pounced on her then and there.
Friday, February 02, 2007
Not Sesame Street's big bird...
So there I was walking home like normal. I was listening to my MP3 player, just concentrating on keeping my footing. Suddenly, this massive bird (probably a falcon or something - it's wingspan was the length of my outstretched arm) swoops down from behind me, misses my head by like a foot and lands beside me. I cursed and nearly about jumped out of my skin! The stupid featherbrain then just sits there and watches as I try to cajole my heart out of my throat.
Stupid animals.
Stupid animals.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)