I have been a bad blogger...

But, I have an excuse! I've been without internet, which made my blogging nearly impossible. So, for all of you waiting with baited breath, updates will now be forthcoming of the move, the job, and even a small fire.

The boy, the bunny and I have a temporary home on the Danforth. The apartment isn't great, but it isn't terrible. And, it's really close to the subway station, two Starbucks, a Baskin Robbins, great restaurants and some neat shops. It's a summer sublet, but this should give us a chance to find a place that is great for September.

The boy has started work at pcworld.ca and he's loving it. He's working a lot, but getting to do a lot of neat online tech news type stuff.

The bunny has settled in nicely, with only a few escape attempts.

And I have been doing alright. I finally broke down and bought a new pair of shoes--for work of course. Last week, I worked a couple of shifts, doing news, covering the Alberta site and moderating comments on the viewpoints pages. It was a pretty crazy and intense week with the move, but I was glad to get the work.

For the first little while we didn't get unpacked, and had no kitchen supplies or groceries, so I got to try out some of the nearby restaurants. I found amazing chinese food, a good greek restaurant with a great patio, and two really nice little pubs.

Over the weekend, we went to Ikea and inherited some more furniture from James' parents, who are moving. We are now the proud owners of a futon, a bookshelf, two wire basket clothes storage units that will probably go out the window as soon as we can find a replacement because I keep knocking the baskets off, a fairly well stocked kitchen/pantry and a dining table and three chairs. The fourth is to arrive soon. Now I have to cook. I miss the restaurants--quick service, lots of choices, no mess to clean up.

I found the laundromat over the weekend, and did some laundry. I've always had laundry in my apartment or building before, so it was a little strange, but not bad. The dryers even work.

This week, I only have two shifts. So, to say the least, I've been a little bored.

And there's a group of three pigeons, a big one, a normal one, and a little one, casing out my kitchen day and night trying to scare me. I've decided that the description of pigeons as rats with wings is pretty accurate. There's also a pigeon neighbour with no feathers on his head. I think this weekend I may buy curtains.

The weather has been great, so I've been using my time off to explore the neighbourhood. I've been leery of straying too far, as we all know how great my sense of direction is, but I haven't done too badly as of yet. The Danforth is just becoming trendy, so there's still a weird mix between high-end stores and fruit stands, so it's pretty interesting.

More interesting have been my attempts at cooking. The IGA is thankfully only about two blocks away, so when I'm cooking and find I don't have a key ingredient, it's not far to run. However, we lack a microwave, toaster, and up until Tuesday night baking pans and mixing bowls. And the stove is ancient. So Tuesday, after another exciting day of wandering aimlessly, I came home to cook. I put the pot of water on to boil for pasta and turned my back for a second as I grabbed the veggies for my stir fry. When I turned back around, there were rather large and hot flames coming out from under my pot. After a yelp, which did little to calm the flames, and a frantic search for a fire extinguisher, of which there was none, I moved the pot and blew the flames out, with the help of a glass of water (thank goodness it wasn't a grease fire!). Supper, by the way, was delicious.

I worked yesterday on the newsdesk. I was doing mostly national news, and also keeping an eye for any dramatic happenings in Newfoundland, as our reporter there was off for the afternoon.

Here are a few samples of the types of things I've been doing:


Australia navy story

Iwo Jima becomes Iwo To


Military funeral

Alberta minimum wage

sample your view

Today, I was off again. After shaking my fist at those pesky pigeons, I went downtown to meet a friend from home, Tyler. I'm marginally employed and Tyler is currently unemployed, so we could commisserate over low bank accounts and a love of Starbucks.

Later today, as Tyler headed off for a job interview, I decided that I couldn't handle the lack of money (so many shoes, so little funds) and the incredible amount of time on hand, so I dropped off some resumes at some nearby coffee shops. Anything to help make ends meet.

Tomorrow, I'm back at cbc.ca for another day on the newsdesk. Next week, again, I have only two shifts, but maybe a coffee shop will call back or perhaps, just perhaps, the cbc may be able to give me more shifts or even a *gasp* steady job. Let's all keep our fingers crossed. I've got my eye on a coffee table, a pair of pink argyle flats (way cuter than they sound) and it's a special someone's big 23nd birthday next week.

I took a big risk in coming to Toronto--the weather's better (sunny and over 22 almost everyday!), and working at the cbc could be incredible for my career, but with all this time off (the opposite problem of my days in Guysborough, by the way) I'm finding myself missing the salt water and many people. When I start missing the fog and the roads we'll know I'm in real trouble!

However, I'm keeping up with home news through the Herald and family and friends. I've heard the latest scoop on Guysborough council--I can't believe there might be a non-confidence vote against Warden Hines!--and even heard about Canso on Newfoundland radio. So, if nothing else, I at least still feel moderately in the loop. Thanks to everyone for helping to keep me updated, and please continue to do so!

Apartment'd

Sort of. We have a sublet for the next two and a half months. More details following after I get some sleep.

A week in Toronto...

And I'm kind of missing home. Work's been going alright, but I'm still trying to find my stride and place. Apartment hunting has been slow going, and myself, the bunny, and James just found out tonight that we can no longer crash at our friend's place as of Wednesday. So, facing homelessness since 7 tonight, I've been frantically emailing and phoning all possible housing options.

Hopefully will have good news tomorrow. Or will be moments away from a Hilton-esque "It's not fair" breakdown at the fact that I've been given four days to find a place and move.

First day down...

I am now a card-carrying Torontonian. Meaning I am now the proud owner of a shiny purple bus pass.

On Monday, I used said bus pass to get to the CBC. I was really really nervous, so I left myself quite a bit of time to get to work. Enough time that I arrived 45 minutes before I needed to. Who would have thought the bus and the subway would both arrive just as I stood at the bus stop and entered the station? I'm normally lucky enough to see the bus drive away as I frantically run around the corner, but not Monday. On Monday morning, the public transit gods were smiling on me, even in the rain.

So, after 45 minutes of trying to occupy myself without straying too far from the building, I finally started off work. It was a pretty full day of training on the content management system and how to maintain the Your View page--reading comments and choosing which ones go up and making up and posting new questions.

There are a lot of comments. Some of them are witty, insightful, inspiring, and intelligent. Others are illegible, liable, and stunned. Many tread the fine line between these two, and it is certainly a trick to choose which are publishable. Hopefully I do alright when the ball's in my court on Friday.

So, after a great shift at the CBC of reading about people's hatred of the military and a few choice words about taxis and seatbelts (the questions were about a year recognizing military families as proposed by Gen. Hillier and whether cops should chase cars downtown after a serious and fatal accident over the weekend) I was ready to head home.

Despite a lack of an ID or passwords (apparently there was some mix up over my information from November when I interned, which has expired, and the fact that I'm back now), I was feeling pretty on top of it all. So, when I arrived at my subway station, I walked on to the bus and was ready to be home. Then the bus turned the wrong direction. I got on the northbound instead of the south. So, after a minor detour, I crossed the street and headed in the right direction.

Fully exhausted, I arrived home. I didn't work on Tuesday, due to the missing passwords and id, but was scheduled for Wednesday when those technical difficulties would be resolved. I fully intended to go to sleep early. Then Nomi, the person I'm staying with, suggested a free concert downtown, which started at eight. We got there a little after nine, and enjoyed two songs by The Stills and a full hour and a half of Hawksley Workman, and got to meet up with friends of hers from Belleville, and one of my friends from home.

So much for my early night. But Hawksley was worth it.

Today, I went apartment hunting in the Danforth area. No luck yet, but a few promising items.

Tomorrow, I'm in for my first real shift on the newsdesk, getting trained to write stories and post them. Should be another busy day.

In good news, my fiance James got a job in Scarborough, starting Monday.

Now off to finish up a batch of cinnamon buns from a can and to get my things together for an early start tomorrow.

This week's Toronto tally so far:
Times fully lost: 0
Times thought maybe lost: 3 (Looking at apartments in places I've never been!)
Toronto sites scratched off must do list: 2 (Danforth and Harbourfront Centre)

And I'm here...

I landed in Ontario on Wednesday, but quickly fled the big smoke. Tonight, I'm back with a new cell phone number and a very heavy suitcase, ready (I hope) to start work in the morning! In my four hours in Toronto so far I've gone shoe shopping--hello nine west--quickly browsed the mall, and helped the friend I'm staying with buy a hamster. Then we spent the next hour working like idiots to get the cage together. They say the cage is easy to assemble and child friendly. I think they lied. However, the little fellow does seem to be doing alright now, and his cage has neither collapsed nor stabbed him.

Tomorrow, work and the apartment hunt begin. Tonight, after that cage, my biggest challenge is merely to sift through my suitcase until I find what I need for tomorrow morning.