I have to admit, as much as I enjoyed being a student, there are perks to working a day job. As I said previously, students are busybusybusy (engineering students at least) and have little time for other things. Other things usually include anything from social activities to domestic tasks (laundry/dishes/cleaning). Although over 1/3 of my time is dedicated to this job, and almost another 1/3 is set aside for sleeping, I still have somewhere around 8 hours everyday to spend any way I please.
So why is it that I feel I never have enough hours in a day to do everything I want? Well, let's look at how I'm spending that time. At least an hour is devoted to the gym - not everyday, but often enough to count it. Throw in another hour and a half average time for cooking and eating (often more, but this is a pretty good average). After these two activities, I'm left with 5.5 hours. I like to relax a bit everyday, in front of the TV or my computer writing emails, chatting online, reading the internet, etc. Sometimes this could be over two hours, often more when someone sends an interesting link. After this I'm left with 3.5 hours. But I like to read before I sleep, for say an hour - I don't really budget the time but I do it anyway because I love reading. So on average I have 2.5 hours to do the rest of the things I love to do (or need to do) like laundry, cleaning, grocery shopping, rollerblading, writing, studying, socializing or whatever comes up.
Well that's not too bad, considering I don't cook everday and sometimes the 2 hours of relaxing can be replaced with doing things I like with other people. The biggest consumer of time after work are the things I do to be healthy! I'd say making healthy choices and spending time on improving my wellbeing is a worthwile investment. And unlike most financial investments, I can cash in on the benefits almost instantly - looking good, feeling good, more energy (although some might see this as a drawback :S), an increased metabolism and more strength and endurance.
Sure, it takes some discipline and time, but the results are so positive!
It happens every September: students return to school. I did it for 17 years, and it became my way of life. And suddenly, it was over.
I may be out of school now, but I always imagine myself returning. When friends go back, becoming busy with homework and other activities, I imagine myself joining them. But the immediate onslaught of work is unavoidable. Time-consuming and stressful, school is hard work, but I enjoyed every part of it.
So here it is, another school year well underway and I've been busy studying and trying to decide which course(s) would be feasible while I work full time. I know it's not impossible in terms of time, or even money. The dilemma I now face is one of dedication. If I were committed full time to a course of studies there would be no problems - that would be What I Do. Right now, while I work, everything else is extra-curricular, including this blog!
I'm not the only one noticing the impact. The effects seem to be that Crackfactory and Stuff have less traffic and people's websites get updated less often. That's too bad because it's part of my daily ritual to check for new posts from my friends. When they don't write, I have to find new blogs to read. Blogger's "Blogs of Note" section has been pretty good, as well as the new Navbar feature. I'm continually impressed with Blogger's updates and toys.
As for the rest of you: Keep posting! I like to read what you have to say!
Another Kitchen Experience: Salmon with lemon dill sauce and sides
I wish there were a way to put up a picture of this kickass meal but Nathan just borrowed my camera! :( You'll just have to use your imagination, I guess.
The prep time wasn't too bad, but a lack of coordination on my part means I'm eating this at 7:15pm, a little later than I would have liked. However, each part is so simple, straightforward and quick that better preparation could have avoided the wait.
The potatoes take the longest cooking time, so they should be started first. I used mom's red garden potatoes (5 medium sized potatoes makes about 3-4 servings), washed but not peeled. I think the skins give it a little extra kick, as Brie would say. (In fact, I had Brie show me how to make these after I "accidentally" got one of her potato wedges in my mouth.) Sliced as wedges, I spread them out in a pan, drizzled olive oil (about 2 teaspoons) and lemon juice (1 teaspoon) and sprinkled seasoning salt (1 teaspoon) overtop, mixed everything together and threw it in the oven at 400 degrees F for 25 minutes, turning them over once after 10 minutes.
The salmon was simple enough to prepare: throw it in a pan, add some lemon zest, lemon pepper, salt and lemon juice and bake it for 10-15 minutes at 350. The low-fat version of hollondaise sauce with my own twist (extra lemon and dill) was a nice complement. It was basic, consisting of 2 spoons of Mayo and 2 spoons of sour cream, heated up with lemon, dill and a dab of honey mustard. If I were to make this again, I would replace the sour cream with plain yogurt and use less Mayo. The miracle whip has a distinct flavour that wasn't unpleasant, but it wasn't what I was going for.
I wanted some veggies to round out the meal, so I used mom's classic green beans and bread crumbs with a new spin - snow peas. They were fresh, so I "steamed" them in the microwave by heating them with some water for 2 minutes. It did the trick nicely and the beans, peas and breadcrumbs finished cooking in the frying pan with dill and steak spice seasoning.
Unfortunately, the salmon with sauce isn't very transportable, so the meal loses points in the leftover category, but I'm sure it will all taste just as good tomorrow.
Today marks the First Day of Fall, which would be a nice date to depart to the southern hemisphere, had my original plans worked out. But things don't always go the way you expect them to, and I must witness another brutal Canadian prarie winter (but this time I can play tour guide to Helen, at least for a short time) before making my escape down under.
At least the weather this week will be unseasonably warm (how ironic that this should happen after a month of unseasonably cool temperatures to mark the end of summer). I can still rollerblade for a few more days...
Wikipedia has a host of links related to almost every day of the year. In some culture, at some point in recorded history, today was a significant day. This statement is true for any day of the year. So if you're ever looking for an excuse to throw a party, get out of work or if you're just curious, check it out.
I know I've been slacking off with my posts for a while, but there is (almost) a good reason for it!
I had written a post everyday for over a week (every weekday, in any case) and was planning on continuing this trend for as long as possible. I like to provide a distraction and I like it when my hit counter goes up. One of the best ways to do this is to post consistently. Unfortunately, the first day of missing posts was due to a bug in Blogger where half of what I was written was lost to the void of the internet. It was a good little blurb, and I still hope to rewrite and post it, but I've had difficulty in recreating what I had already written.
Whenever something like this happens, I experience a sense of loss - my creation has been destroyed. My writing is an extension of myself and when I lose that, it's hard to deal with. I remember spilling water on paper with writing. It was only three pages, but it was an important three pages. They were original documents with no backup. A few days later I lost writing I had saved on my computer. Again, no backup. I suppose something can be said here about memory vs writing, but I prefer to think of it as art. No artist could recreate a painting exactly, even if the artwork was right in front of them, or if it were documented on video and they tried to recreate it as they watched. My writing comes from moments of inspiration that are irreplaceable.
My coping mechanism for this situation is to quit creating. If I haven't written anything, I won't have lost anything. It's a preventative way of dealing with loss that has already occurred by means of not letting it happen again, but it doesn't really solve the original problem. Instead it prevents me from the possibility of having to deal with the situation again in a short time period. It's like a grieving period. This may seem like an overly dramatic response, but to a certain extent, it's the way I deal with many problems: if something hurts me,
I learn to avoid that thing, instead of learning to cope with the situation. I suppose it has worked well enough so far, but I can't honestly admit that is an ideal way to deal with potentially painful situations. At least I've accomplished step one: identifying the problem. Next step? Keep writing, I guess.
Most my day is spent at my desk in the office. I finally have my own cubicle, all to myself, with a window and desk space and even a guest chair! I am only on the fourth floor, which has a wonderful vew of the shopping mall roof from 1/2 the offices. The other half get to look at the buildings across the street.
My window faces north, and although the roof isn't the most exciting place there is plenty to see nonetheless. There are five towers visible from my seat, one of which is a hotel, another which is also accessed through the mall and therefore on the same block. It's close enough that I can see people inside working when their lights are on and it's dark outside. The hotel offers endless entertainment with poeple coming and going at all hours and a crew doing renovations all summer.
On each of these towers are, of course, many many windows like mine. All summer I was entertained watching the window washer scale the sides of the buildings. Since the sun is a little lower now, I get to enjoy sunny mornings. For short periods of time, the sun will reflect into my office - right into my eyes! Sometimes it's even reflected off two buildings. I'm the cool cat in the office because I have to wear shades. Go me!
After two weeks of trying and failing, I finally managed to wake up early enough to rollerblade to work in the morning. The reason this is a big deal to me is that it took quite a bit more planning to acheive than one might first suspect.
As a temporary employee, I am often exempt from many of the priveleges and benefits bestowed on permanent staff. This is to be expected, of course, since it is considered a money-saving effort not to hire permanent employees if there is no need. I've seen it happen often enough, though, to know that contracts get extended, and extended until the temporary employees are finally offered permanent positions - often years after the initial start date. The problem for me is that as an EPCOR employee, I recieve all the information about deals, specials and benefits knowing that I am not eligible.
That doesn't stop me from trying, though. I played the game, sending an application for changeroom access. I even was able to enlist the help of co-workers to guide me through the process and make sure the right people recieved the right information. After phone calls, emails, interoffice mails, form filling and faxes, I can cycle or rollerblade to work and back and still look (and smell) presentable during the day.
It was a great morning for the first blade to work - a little chilly but I didn't mind once I got going. With good music in my ears and a warm fleece I made good time. The breeze wasn't strong enough to slow me down, and the fog on the river with the sunrise shining through made me wish for a camera. Soon, though, it will be too dark at 7am to safely blade around that early, but that's not a problem! I still have a month in which i can comfortably bike (or less, if the snow starts dropping early, which I have no doubt will happen).
Regardless of what happens, I'm glad to say that I took advantage of the services and facilities availble at least once. Although I'm only a temp, I have not been denied this small pleasure - a victory for the underling!
