A new start

There is so much to tell, it's difficult to know where to start. So much has changed...and so much is exactly the same. Just ten years later.

My job is the same, that is an amazing thing. Well, I should say the company is the same. Wait, that's not even true, because the ownership has changed, twice. In those changes my job has become more... specialized. Which is good, and bad. Can i be more vague?

I guess I am being vague because I'm not sure what to write about. At first I thought I would go back and re-read the old posts, and update my multitudes of readers on things from the past. But, I don't think I want to read those old words. Just want to start again. So, yes...let's do it that way. Just gonna start this like a brand new blog.

Alright! Here is my first entry into my brand new blog...

SO is at choir tonight. She drives a long way to go to a small community choir that her aunts also attend. She really enjoys it, although I do wish she would find one closer. I thought about trying it. I think it would be alot of fun, and it's good exercise too. Good for the lungs. Good stress release - belting out a tune at the top of your lungs. Every fall and spring is a new season where they practice on Wednesdays, and then there is a short performance season. 5 or 6 concerts, at local community halls or churches. Sometimes a community invites them and sometimes they seek out a place. Most of the concerts are free, but they may do a couple a season that they sell tickets to, so they can recoup some of the costs. The conductor is a paid position. They also have an accompanying pianist, and that's a paid position as well. 

They sing a variety of tunes, some are religious in nature, some a folk songs or even popular contemporary songs. It's an interesting mix. The concerts are pretty good - they are by no means professional. But... they're pretty good! A good night's entertainment.

And she really enjoys it. Which is why I thought about joining, too... but then decided not to. This should be hers by herself. This needed to be hers by herself. Maybe for me, but I think so, for her, too. We can't always be doing the same things, all the time. 

So I tried different things, and lately have embraced painting. Yes, finally started to learn to oil paint. Taken some classes, am still taking some classes actually. I will post some pictures of the paintings. I have painted 5 whole paintings so far:

A Rose - my first painting teacher was a senior lady who runs a small studio in St. Albert. Very close to where we used to live in the new neighborhood. She always has a new student paint the exact same rose. I think it allows her to judge the student, learn how they paint, learn how to communicate with them. It took me forever, to paint that stupid rose, but I'm very proud of it. Currently, the lady is still running the studio, but it has an end date - at the end of May she is retiring and closing the studio permanently. 

A Tiger - for a second painting, the teacher asked that we paint anything from her available collection of pictures. There were lots to choose from, but I chose the tiger so that I could learn to paint fur. It turned out very well, but again, took me over a hundred hours. It has a great set of eyes.

A Blue Heron - I was allowed to choose one of my own photos for the next painting, and I decided on a blue heron, again with the thought that I could learn to paint feathers and start delving into landscapes. It was many hours as well, although I sped up some of the process. I don't think landscapes are this teacher's strong suit, and when she declared the painting finished, I felt that there was much more to do, but the heron itself did look fantastic. The painting got put aside until just recently. When the teacher announced her retirement, I got scared and immediately signed up with another instructor. I say scared because...I think I have just enough knowledge of painting to be dangerous lol. Not enough to be good, but I think I can paint now. Dangerous, because I think I can do it but I still need instructing. The new instructor is way on the south side and works out of a community league basement. Anyway, after a dabbling in an impressionist painting that everyone in the class did, we were asked to bring in a work-in-progress. I took in the Blue Heron. New instructor is a genius with helping me fix it up and complete it. As of now, still working on it.

Bud the BC Stoner Frog - the only one to have an official name. After the teacher had a hard time with the instruction of the Heron - or I had a hard time with her instruction - I decided to go back to her collection of pictures to choose the next painting. I chose a green tree frog which we later found out was native to BC. It's sitting on a purple flower. It ended up being the colors of SO's room exactly. I started it...and then the pandemic hit. And then the teacher had emergency surgery. And the studio was open and closed and open and closed. I did most of it myself, and it turned out great. We gave it a name, framed it and hung it on the wall, in SO's room.

A Sunset Barn - We've passed this barn sooooo many times, on the way to camp. Finally one sunset night we could no longer resist and stopped to take photos of it. There are sun-highlighted trees, golden fields, a glowing red barn. It's almost done.

And those are my small collection of paintings. It's been fun. I so wish I would have started earlier. Cost was a factor for sure, and time. But now I wish I could do it more, there is so much to learn and I feel like time is running out. But the lesson is learned - if you want to try something, you've always wanted to try something...TRY IT. You never know, it may become the love of your life.

I'll stop now, and tell more about the paintings and the teacher and the instructor later. 

But seriously... TRY IT.

This is still here? My words still here... from 10 years ago... truly online forever. What happens now? Do I read these old words? Ignore them? Start new words?

Look at the old blogs in the blogroll.... 10 years, 6 years, 5 years. I guess no one does this anymore.

What are these people doing now? How are they, I wonder...

What are all these ex-bloggers doing now? My old friends who had no idea I even existed. I was just a number on their reader tally.

Should I start this again? 

Reliance Protectron and their bullying practices

I have had this alarm service for 8 years. I initially signed a 3 year contract, and they installed various alarm hardware parts for free. At the end of that term, I signed for yet another 3 year contract, which included more alarm hardware parts to be installed for free. I completed that term as well.

Someone then called me about arranging to meet to sign a contract again, as the term was up. I told him I would now pay month to month, as there was no reason for me to sign a contract again. He told me that wasn’t allowed. After much back and forth between us, he convinced me to sign again, but I told him I would sign but for one year only, as we were just starting to look for a new house. He said he would send the papers out in the mail, I should sign and send them back.

Well, I never got any papers in the mail, and never heard from anyone again in the two years since. Imagine my surprise when, because we were now moving into our new house, I phoned to cancel our service and was told I had to buy out the remainder of a 3 year contract!

I told them I had never signed a contract, but they argued that I had VERBALLY agreed to it over the phone and that was as good as a signature. They had recorded the call, proof of my agreement, so I had no choice but to pay up. I knew I hadn’t agreed to 3 years, and told them so. All arguments fell on deaf ears, and I finally told them to produce the tape so I could hear it. I was sure that once the conversation was heard, they would not be able to charge me for a contract that did not exist.

No tape was ever produced, but I received a bill for $146.76, for contract cancellation.  This was less than the remainder of the contract, but I have no idea how they arrived at this number. A mere 40 days after getting that bill, I started to receive calls and letters from a collection agency. Reliance Protectron themselves never contacted me again. Now in fear that this mess would be a mark against my credit rating, but against my better judgment, I paid the bill.

I am still in shock over the whole thing. How Reliance Protectron treats their long term customers is appalling. I was not someone trying to get out of their initial 3 year contract. I understand the necessity behind chasing down someone who does that. In that situation, the company needs to recover the costs associated with the hardware and installation. Heck, I can even understand that if someone has signed a 3 year contract that they should have to pay a cancellation fee if they wish to end that contract early. But I was not in either of these situations. Instead, this company has lied about a contract that does not exist to get that last cent out of my pocket. I was a long term customer who had paid their bill every single month without fail for years, and this is my reward.

Years and years ago, I had my garage broken into and stuff stolen.  I did not feel as victimized then as I do now. I truly feel like I have been robbed. They lie about nonexistent contracts and they use fear by threatening your credit rating to get you to pay bills that are completely unwarranted. They should be ashamed of themselves for using these tactics against hardworking, honest people.

The internet is full of complaints against these guys, and now I add my own story. I want everyone to know how crooked this company is. Avoid Reliance Protectron and all their subsidiaries- Vivint, Voxcom, Liberty Security, Titan Alarm, etc ... (it’s worth your time to make sure the alarm company you are considering is not affiliated with Reliance Protectron) – at all costs. They will not be the company I choose for my new home, and I plan to spread the word.

We've moved...and I should be happy, right?

     The house is brand spanking new. No one has ever slept in it, ate in it, or used the bathrooms except us. There is not a mark on any wall, floor or ceiling. The appliances were hand-picked by us to suit our needs exactly. They are beautiful, pristine, and completely unused by anyone but us.

    The neighborhood is brand spanking new. One small street with a handful of houses on it. The second day there, we saw a moose 50 yards away, and have continued to see it at least once a week. There are deer and coyotes everywhere. It's quiet at night. It would be quiet all day, except for construction noises around the corner. People say 'hi', and 'good morning' to us with big smiles, as they exit their own pristine new houses. They seem happy, but I wonder if they are.

    Because... I'm not. Which is the weirdest thing in the world.  I should be... I know I should be. I'm not missing the old house. Thank god we are gone from there. I am glad to be close to my sister and the inlaws now. We've seen both more times since being here than all of last year. I should feel priviledged, I DO feel priviledged. Very few people in my family have owned a brand new house. Some will never own a house, period. Yet.... yet I want to lay down, hide my head, and cry.

    I feel more distant from SO in this house, and I can't figure out why. It's leading to feelings of loneliness which I can't explain. Not like, buyer's remorse depression, but like, I am alone in the world. I feel like...I am back in the military, when I lived in the Q in my own little room. It's hard to explain, even to myself.

      Hopefully it will go away. Far away. So I can appreciate this time in my life.

Baby Blues

     The receptionist here at work is out today, sick. I was sick a week ago, as was some other people in the office, so I know there is a bad flu going around. Well, you only have to read the newspaper to know that. Tonnes of articles about hospitals being overrun, when exactly you should go to the hospital, and debates about the usefulness of the flu shot. It's not really what I wanted to talk about, except for the bit of irking I feel that I now have to help with the phones for today. That is left over feelings from the last receptionist, who was sick constantly - or I should say, took sick days constantly. The current receptionist can't help it if she's sick, I know that, especially with a flu raging through the office.

    But she's also pregnant. And this is what I want to talk about. Not about the fact that it only took her two months to get pregnant after coming back from her last maternity leave. That's a whole subject for another day. But, about how she announced that, if she were to get the flu, how she was going to suffer so much worse than any of the rest of us, because, you know... she pregnant and can't take anything. Not a single aspirin or tylenol.

     I really need someone to explain this to me, because I don't understand why you have to suffer so much to have a kid these days. Okay, no booze, no smoking, I understand, mostly. There are studies that show booze affects a fetus's brain, and smoking affects a baby's birth weight, among other things. I won't dwell on the fact that me and all my brothers and sisters were born under these adverse conditions and have all turned out fine. I was born with a weight of almost 9 pounds. I would hate to think what my poor mother would have went through if she hadn't of smoked.

     But...suffering through a flu or a cold when you don't have to just doesn't make sense to me. Is it even smart? If you have a flu with a high fever, and you don't take anything to help reduce that fever, isn't that dangerous for you and the baby? How high does a fever have to be before the baby is affected? And also, when the baby is born, and it gets a cold or flu with a fever, are you going to never give it anything to reduce that fever? Silly me, but that sounds like a trip to the hospital for sure. You can't mess around with fevers in babies. This I know.

    I imagine, as well, without being able to take anything, her absence from work is going to be even longer. I got the flu on Jan 6th, and still feel like I'm operating in a fog. I did nothing all weekend but sleep. Just don't have the energy for anything else. And that's with taking pills to ease the symptoms.

     Good luck to her, I say... and I am so glad I am not pregnant in this day and age - I would be breaking all the rules. I would be one of those women being chastised by Molly Dogooder in the Drug store, when caught reaching for a bottle of cough syrup. "I'm calling Child Services on you!".

Death of a Blogger

I am never really sure what to do when a blogger dies.

I mean, there are blogs that I read every day. People write about their family, habits, food, and events good or bad. Eventually, I feel like I know them.

Heck, I feel like I know them better than my own brothers and sisters. Large time frames, years even, will go by and I won't talk to my own family members and find out what's going on in their family, or what they are doing for fun, or what they ate for dinner. I'm comfortable with that, though, and I believe they are too. Or wouldn't they attempt to change things? There's a comfort in having brothers and sisters and nieces and nephews, and just knowing they are out there somewhere going about their daily lives in the same way I am. I don't wonder how their kids are; I picture my nephew and see him walking around in that familiar strut he inherited from my father. I don't wonder what they are eating; I know what my sister will be making for thanksgiving dinner because it's the same recipes I will be making, handed down from my mother. I take comfort in their presence, no matter how many miles away they are, because I know them.

A blogger though... a blogger I don't know. I start to read a blog and I find it fascinating, because they, someone not related to me in the slightest, are going about their daily routines as well. And... it's so hard to describe, because their routine is the same as mine, but yet so different. So I continue to read, looking for the things, the little mentions that make that person so different from me and my family, or that make that person so similiar to me. And then one day I find myself wondering how they are doing today, or how they dealt with some event or problem, and whereas with my family I would think, eh if they need me they will call, or I should call to find out... with the blogger I can only read what they write. That's it. I can't actually do anything to help. Yet, now I feel like I know them like my own family.

Soo.... how the heck do you define this relationship? Am I really a friend? If I phoned up that person and said, hey, I've been reading your blog for oh... 5 years now, and I'd like to help babysit your kid while you deal with your sick husband, or I'd like to bring you over supper because I know you're bedridden since you broke your toe, or I have some extra red wine I'd like to give you because I know you really like it.... I think that person would think I was a completely insane stalker.  Because I probably would if someone approached me like that. At best I am a familiar ISP address, but they certainly don't think of me as a friend I'm sure. Friendship has to be a two way street, doesn't it? Give and take from both parties. So I can conclude that, from their point of view at least, I am NOT a friend.

And then...they die. And their wife posts that they have died. Or their husband dies. Or their child. And... I cry. Like I would if my friend died. But the blogger's wife doesn't know I am sitting at my desk crying. She doesn't know me at all. She doesn't know I read her husband's blog, doesn't even know I exist. And I want to reach out to her and share the mourning process, but....how can I? Write a note that says My Condolences? That doesn't satisfy it for me, and I can't picture how that would be at all comforting to her since, as I concluded, I am not her friend, so why make such an insignificant gesture? What to do?

 If it was my family, one of them, their spouse, their children... I would be on their doorstep as fast as humanly possible. That's what family does for each other. I would be there to cook and clean, to sit and listen, to run errands, to be strong while they need strength. For as long as it was needed. This is the level of support I want to express to her while she is in the beginning of mourning, because I feel I know her husband, and her, as much as I know my own family.

But I can't.

I am limited to having a cry at my desk. I can't even phone up my sister or friend and say,...Hey, you know that blog I read about such and such? That lady died yesterday and I'm really broken up about it.....because I'm sure my sister or friend would say, wow that sucks, but why are you so upset? It's not like you knew them personally.

Sigh. We need to define this new, computer-generated age of relationships. Someone needs to set out a rulebook of guidelines, a set of new traditions for the future generations. I wonder what they would be? I wonder what, 50 years from now, the tradition will be for dealing with internet death? Send virtual flowers? A service held in a virtual world like Second Life? A blogger In Memoriam website?

Hopefully someone will come up with something. For now, there is nothing, so I wipe my tears, mourn quietly to myself, and wish my true friend Godspeed.

Reinventing the wheel

I woke up this morning and thought, for some strange reason, I would try to revitalize this blog. Maybe because it 6:30 am and I am already awake and bored. Maybe because it's nanowrimo and I have the overwhelming urge to write. Not that I am going to try to keep up with a nanowrimo pace or anything as serious as that. Just a little early morning, waiting for the house to warm up writing. We'll see what happens from there.
And we'll see what happens with this blog. This would be my first post from the ipad, so I am not sure if it will look any different. I can't imagine so, but it does have some odd setting descriptions. For instance, font size is set at "medium". How big is that exactly?
I guess I'll post and find out... no sense typing any more if I am just going to delete it.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad