How Long has it been anyways?

Wow, it has been a really long time since I've posted something on my blog. So, where do I start? So many things have happened since I last updated, that I really don't know where to start.

The first is that our family has moved from Dieppe to Riverview. We purchased a new house in April & we are loving every minute of it. We purchased in a new subdivision and almost all the homes have been sold.

Here is our new house :

What else is new?

Well, I'm really disappointed in the election outcome. I know that I'm only 1 vote, but my 1 vote didn't make any difference at all!

The promises that now Honorable Mr Alward is really bothering me as there is no attached price tag on the final cost. The first thing that comes to my mind is the return of free Ambulances.... Not only will it cost the government Millions of Dollars a year, it will also put our billing department out of work. That would mean that people would be going on EI; which in turn is costing more money...  The other cost that worries me is the fact that he's promised to freeze property taxes for seniors. Again, Millions of Dollars gone!

Other then that, not a whole lot else has been going on. I'm trying to get into the Riverview Fire Department; however, I have yet to get a call. I now have a contact name which I should really follow up on; however, I seem to be the king of procrastination – just look at my blog!

I do have to admit that life in Riverview is treating me pretty well. Olivia appears to love her new area as well. We are always playing outside and there are tons of kids in the area. It's hard to believe that O will be starting school in the fall of 2011.... SCARY!

Well, I've best be going. I have to finish installing my central vac! Best invention ever!

'til next time!

New Year, New Adventures

Since I haven't written in a while, let me start by saying, Merry Christmas & Happy New Year...

Now, that's out of the way, let me tell you about my latest adventures. 

At Christmas, my parents got Allison, Olivia & I a Wii. I have to admit, it's an awesome console! After Xmas, I started looking at for accessories for our new gaming console. The first thing we bought was the Wii Fit Plus. That is really fun! We've played in some cases where Allison has done nothing but laugh at me for an hour straight because of how foolish I look.

The second thing that I bought was a Wii gun adapter, so that when I buy Call of Duty, I would get into the game. Well, didn't that cause a whole other set of issues.... Lets just say that Codiac RCMP had to get involved... That's a whole other blog post.

So, I kept my eyes open for sales of games & such... While Allison & I were shopping at Zellers, we stopped in the gaming section & started to look at the display case. I noticed that Call of Duty, World at War was on sale for $39, $20 savings... I quickly grabbed that & headed for the cash. When the cashier rang it in, the bar code rang it in at $19 (technically $40 savings) instead of the $39... what a steal! (No RCMP involvement this time)

The New Year has also treated us well so far. We've been lucky enough to not have any major snow storms yet, so I don't have to worry about getting up really early to snowblow the driveway to get out.

In case you were wondering what the story was behind my Ipod, nothing has chnaged... it's lost to me forever! Kinda sucks, but I've learned my lesson!

On a last note, I've now become a permanent Ops Manager with NBEMS. I'm really happy about that! The only down side about my job, that I've noticed is that it takes me away from Firefighting. I find I don't have as many opportunities to go to calls, either because I'm at work or they are all medical calls.

Well, that's about it for me for now!!

'til next time!

How I helped them steal my iPod Video

As you might have seen, last week I listed my iPod on Facebook marketplace to help sell it faster. Well, it worked, or at least I think it worked. This girl, Anita Elli, made an offer of $200 for me to ship it to someone in Nigeria. I started to price out shipping & handling & came to the conclusion that $200 isn't that bad of a price, considering. So, I told her that when she sent me the money, I would ship it. So she did & I got an email from Paypal saying that the money was debited from the senders account & I would be credited within a couple of hours of sending the confirmation of shipping. At first I hesitated & then reassured myself that it was all good... as it was the first time I was shipping overseas. So, off to Canada Post I went & sent off the packaged iPod. Today, I wake up from my night shift to find an email saying that the seller had to credit me $100 extra & that I needed to send that money via Western Union to some jerk off in Nigeria. Well HELLO!!!! What a wake up call. I immediately called Canada Post to stop the package & they basically said Kiss it goodbye. Only an RCMP Officer could make the request & they may try to stop it. So, needless to say, the package is long gone with an empty promise of money; however, the only silver lining is that the iPod didn't cost me anything to purchase a few years ago as I used reward points from work (RBC) & it only cost me $18 to ship international. Although I did go out & purchase a new iPod Touch, so technically, I'm out $220 or so dollars....


The funny thing is that I know better & the second I started to look at the header of the emails from paypal, i knew that I was screwed out of an iPod.

French Only??

French Only??

Well, it's official! The City of Dieppe is actually going to try to push French/Bilingual signs for new businesses. Here is a link to the article in question... I think that this is crazy & shouldn't be tolerated. Don't get me wrong, I certainly agree with pushing the bilingual signage; however, I don't think that it should be French only! How is that any better then the English only signs that are currently on the wall now? 

I have asked the Mayor, before the article came out, what he was thinking & why they wanted to do this? He said not to worry & things would be done very "Acadian" like! From what the news is putting out, I don't think it's being done very Acadian like. 

The city wants to ensure that we protect our French language being an Acadian city & all; however, I think that the true language that should be protected is "CHIAC". 

I understand that the Mayor wants to please the people in the city; however, I'm not sure imposing a signage by-law, extremely similar to the one in Quebec is the way to go. I think that the city should allow the businesses in the community to choose how they want the signage to be put up! 

Here is a copy of the by-law & as it is clearly marked in paragraph 3(a) subject to clause (b), the message or content of the external commercial sign shall be in French or bilingual.

I'm glad that the city has also taken the time to set up a Townhall meeting to discuss the matter. I will certainly be attending & I will also be emailing my Councillor to make sure that he is aware of my point of view as well. 

I guess what is really frustrating is that the mayor even commented on my facebook page & it was later deleted! How is that supposed to instill confidence in the Municipal Government?

On another note, the city was holding a contest that would grant access to 50 families from the city to have the first swim at the new Aquatic Center. We were picked as one of the families to participate! It was a blast! The center is divided in 3 sections & the section we spent most time in was the kids play area. It's made like a beach where it slopes down and gets deeper as you continue to move forward. 

Olivia was even in the paper!  

In case you haven't seen it either, I've also entered the world of Tattoos... I had Olivia's name tattooed in Kanji on my right forearm. Olivia was very impressed! On top of it all, Allison also got a tattoo on the weekend! I think hers is awesome!

Well that's all that I've got for now!

'til next time!!!

What a difference!

What a difference!

I've been going to Forever Healthy in Riverview for the last few weeks & I can't explain it, but I'm getting really good results. They start with the basic stuff; which includes milk & milk products, and it seems to work. 

I've had issues with milk in the past & it's seriously all clear now. I am feeling better & also drinking lots of milk. I couldn't believe it! Ik know that I would certainly recommend it to anyone who has any type of issues with health.

Allison & I have also started eating & distributing healthy chocolate. Although I haven't noticed a huge difference, I am noticing that I am less hungry and I'm hoping to start seeing results shortly. We are doing a presentation on July 23rd at the press club & we are hoping to bring this to as many people as we can. Allison & I really do think that this is a great product & can change people's lives. My mother-in-law has seen some success with the chocolate so far. She has started to cut down on some of her medication & she is no longer seeing a need to take her Fybro medication.

I think that's awesome! Although I don't have any of those issues, I am looking more for the preventive side of the chocolate.

Check out our website for more info!! www.ieatchocolate.ca

Work side of life is going good. Summer vacations have started & I have the privilege of working nights instead of day shifts if the night manager is missing. As a manager, it makes great sense, but it certainly puts a damper on family life, especially since I'm working all weekends in the month of July.

We are also having a yard sale next weekend! Can't wait. Kinda like making money & I'm hoping to maybe try to draw new business - chocolate business. 

Other then that, there's not a whole lot else going on. 

'til next time!

Another day, Another dime

Life has been pretty interesting lately. As you know, March 1st, I started a new position at work. I am now a Operations Manager & I am more then halfway done my 3mth term. For the month of March, there was a transition month were my team members where going to change around. I also ended up changing rotation from a 4 on - 4 off rotation to a Monday to Friday rotation.

That last about 2 weeks & we are now back to a 4 on  - 4 off rotation. I think that this works much better when it comes to training & developing the teams. Each Ops Manager has 2 EMDss (Emergency Medical Dispatcher Shift Supervisor) which take over the shift when the manager is at the center. I'm hoping that I can continue to impress & possibly have the position become permanent.

On another note, Olivia is growing like you wouldn't believe. She's played soccer (SoccerTots) and loved it, but she decided that she wanted to take a break. So we put her in swimming. Last week was her first day in the swimming pool under instruction. It was fun as I went in with her & she seemed to love it. Have her follow instructions is another thing, but really, at 28mths, are there really instructions to be followed???

I have also started selling the same products that I was selling before. I haven't really done any "advertising", but I think I came up with an idea that I could canvas the area & possibly come up with some sales...

Well, that's all I've got for now as I've got to head out & pick up Allison from work.

'til next time!

New Job!

Well, starting on March 1st, I'll be starting a new position at work. I'll be an Ops Manager. Basically, I'll be supervisor full-time for the next 3mths. It's a term position and I'm hoping that it will pan out into something more permanent, but who knows!

Not a whole lot else going on... I've pretty much finished the basement drywall. I have it even tapped & plaster on the walls, but I'm not the one who did it! I'm not that talented! Olivia is starting a new daycare next week. She's going to love it I think! We've been introducing her slowly this week & so far so good! She is really growing up quickly!

Also, I've decided to start my business again. I'll be selling knick knacks starting just with catalogs at work & maybe I'll be starting a website again. I do have to come up with another name as Allison said, it doesn't really fit my business...

Well I've got to do some more fixup's around the house...

'til next time!