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Personal News Archives: 2003December 12 | November 30 | October 13 | August 24 | July 27 | July 1 | May 15 | Mar 30 | Mar 9 | Feb. 16 | Jan. 1 Past Newsbits stored here for a while. December 12 , 2003We've been doing various Christmas things lately (other than shopping):
Jean's office is in its usual pre-Christmas frenzy, somewhat heightened because Cathy is off on medical leave, and Karen has just started. So he's a wee bit stressed. Fortunately, I'm feeling somewhat less stressed at work at the moment, so at least there is household balance. Jean is also working on next year's budget, and on finding a replacement for Matt. We had good news with Sandy: His all-day titration test showed that he could stay on one shot per day, and at a slightly lower level than he had been getting. As before, except for the stress of the vet visits, he seems to be fine. November 30, 2003The first Electric Thursdays concert was “Power Ballads and Metal Classics.” Highlights were Michael Shotton doing Zep's “Kashmir” (plus his reprise of Queen's “Show Must Go On”); Katherine Rose and Lis Soderberg sharing vocal duties on Heart's “Barracuda”; a lovely version of Kiss' “Beth”; Helix's “Rock You,” featuring—the lead singer of Helix, actually; and all vocalist's tearing through the inevitable “Stairway to Heaven” (with nod to high school dances). The only problem was that the crowd in our seating area were kind of poop heads who just sat there when they should have been clapping and singing along. Oktoberfest wasn't a big thrill. Jean was on call and therefore had to behave responsibly; it seemed to put a damper on the whole thing. For Halloween, we went to “Fright Night” by the KW Symphony. Part of the Pops Series, they played various pieces with a “horror” theme, including the music from Psycho (very chilling), Wagner's “Ride of the Valkyries,” Stravinski's “Danse Infernale” from Firebird, and Alfred Hitchcock's theme (Marche funèbre d'une marionette). In addition, the symphony members were in costume, an actor did some readings from Edgar Allen Poe, and various characters (ghosts, Psycho's mother, Kim Novak of Vertigo) made their way across the stage at opportune moments. It was fun. Jean now has two positions to fill, which is causing him some stress. Fortunately, he already has interviews lined up, and many of the candidates do look promising. At work, I am working on manuals for military sites—a tricky business, because I have to learn about the technology I'm documenting, and the format and organization of these manuals, which isn't like the User's Guides or technical references I'm used to producing. A good learning experience, I suppose. Sandy's blood sugar levels have gone out of wack for some reason—possibly due to a change of cat food. So he's been going in for regular blood tests to try to get that regulated again. Fortunately, he actually seems very healthy despite the levels: his fur is nice, he's reasonably active, he's walking and jumping well, and not drinking or eating excessively. So there is a problem, but at least it doesn't seem to be making him feel that bad. October 13, 2003Cathy (heretofor referred to as “I”) is adjusting to the new job. I've been on an important project for which they were trying to achieve a certain deadline yet not lose all features. That brought some tension—partly because I didn't realize the extent to which everyone else on the project was sharing my dilemma of not having enough time to do what needed to be done. The project has since been redefined, and will, essentially, be released in three phases now, to make it manageable. Jean's office is once again seeking a new healthcare professional, which is always a challenge. But generally operations seems to be running quite smoothly. They recently moved into a new office space, so now everyone has a place to sit down. That's a good thing. We've started on our season of plays and concerts. We saw “Rent” at Centre in the Square with Heather and Tim. Jean had trouble getting into it. I enjoyed it, though. A gritty sort of musical, set amongst idealistic and therefore poor artists in New York. All about selling out, or not selling out. The Waterloo Stage Theatre season began with Scenes from my Dock. A series of vignettes about cottage life, it should have been a lot more successful (and funny) than it was. The performers were great, but the material was just so-so. Next week we're Oktorberfesting with some people from my work. It will be the first time in years we've done anything Oktoberfest-related. August 24, 2003We went on a two-week vacation in August. Since we didn't have excessive funds, we opted for visiting Northwestern Ontario. I have to say, this is a very underrated part of the country. Not only is it gorgeous (see photo), but it also offers a number of interesting tourist attractions, and some surprisingly good restaurants. We started out by visiting with Ginette, Donald, and Calum in Sudbury. Then we went to the Soo—Sault Ste Marie. We stayed on the waterfront, and visited four museums/galleries within walking distance. The most interesting of these was the Bushplane Museum.
Next we stopped in Terrace Bay, for the sole purpose of getting out to Slate Island to see the southern-most herd of caribou in the country. We chartered a boat out there, and while we didn't see a herd, we did see individual caribou, along with an eagle's nest and other interesting sights. We also stopped in at nearby Rossport, a beautiful but tiny town that offers interesting shops and some really good restaurants.
There we did a number of things, including visiting Fort William (very interesting—highly recommended), going to Kakabeka Falls park, visiting a gouda cheese farm, seeing a number of art galleries, and eating at every Thunder Bay restaurant recommended by Where to Eat in Canada. Mmm. (For more trip pictures, see the Photos - Trip to Northwestern Ontario page.) Finally, we stopped in Timmins (via Wawa), which is where we experienced the Great Blackout. It only lasted about five hours there. Jean eventually figured out that it was being more persistent in the KW area, however, and after a number of phone calls to the office, he decided that we should leave early so he could help out. We therefore, unfortunately, missed Jacques and Kim's wedding. On August 18, I started at Agfa/Mitra. Everything is going pretty well so far—no big “gotchas” that I didn't expect when I accepted the job. It's always kind of disorienting starting at a new place, and it is annoying to go from being the person others come to for information to being the one who keeps having to ask for information. But I'll just have to be patient on that score. They keep emphasizing the steep learning at that company. I think the actual documentation process will come easiest; it's their project management process and the intricacies of the medical technology and environment that will be a bigger challenge. July 27, 2003The big news is obviously the change in my job status. Engineering.com decided to close their Waterloo office, meaning that we'd have to work out of their Mississauga office (with the possibility of some work at home). The whole delivery of that message was bungled in a way that I don't really want to get into, but even if it had been delivered in the best way possible, the arrangement would not have suited me. It amounted to a dismissal followed by a new job offer, which I opted not to accept. Very happily, I have found a new position at Agfa (formerly Mitra), as a “Documentation Specialist.” Much thanks to Robin, who told me about the position as soon as it became available, and recommended me for it. It does sound like interesting work with a good employer. I'll be starting there August 18, after a couple weeks off. Before all this job angst (and trust me, it was very angsty for a while), I booked a bunch of activities for July, which did prove a good distraction from the worrying and resume writing. It also ended up being a round of visiting all the siblings.
The next day I got to see Jackson some. I even babysat him by himself for almost a half hour! He's quite the cutey, and in a very good mood in the morning, so that was all fine. I didn't end up seeing Hugh at all, but there you go!
We then went to Québec City. (Click picture for larger version.) We stayed right in the Old Québec area, and mostly just ambled around the shops and streets of it. But we did have a particularly nice meal at a restaurant called l'Initiale. And I also saw Bob Geldof in concert again.
Jean later declared that it was “the best concert I've ever seen.” That would mean more if Jean actually liked rock concerts, but still. The best. Told ya.
The Lion King, on the other hand, was quite the spectacle. The staging and costumes used really are amazing. A lot of fun, very talented performers.
July 1, 2003
We also got to see Neal, Thérèse, and the boys, which was nice. Friday the Globe and Mail recently had a story on the KW Symphony and their principle director, Martin Fischer-Dieskau. With another comment at how amazingly good they are for a town of this size. Saturday we went to see our first “Masterpiece” Symphony concert, and we were impressed. The first half featured a couple more modern pieces, with bits of the orchestra all around the hall to create a true, real-life, “surround sound” effect. It was pretty cool. The second half was the very passionate “Symphony Fantastique” by Berlioz. We've decided to try another five of their concerts next year. May 15, 2003Mom and Dad visited at Easter. We took them to see Einstein's Gift at Theatre and Company — the first of their productions we'd seen. It was very good; very powerful. We had Easter dinner with the Macphie's; Michelle, Hugh, and Jackson were up for that as well. And everyone cooed appropriately at the kitchen. We also saw the Waterloo Stage Theatre production of Art. As befitting the name, that was probably the most “arty” production they've done, full of big ideas. I found it intriguing; Jean wasn't sure what he thought. Then there was Julia's 4th birthday party, and a gathering to watch the season finale of Angel, and I tell you, quite the social calendar. :-)
You can click to enlarge this picture. And yes, we will be changing the blinds. The last week of March we went to Electric Thursday's “Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark: Music of the Eighties.” It was very enjoyable, as always, especially the versions of “Time After Time,” “I Don't Like Mondays,” “Sweet Dreams,” “Don't Give Up,” “White Wedding,” and “Money for Nothing.” We decided to go ahead with the kitchen renovations, so the house is now in chaos (a lot more than usual), and we've put off the Grand Canyon trip. We escaped for week, going to Timmins, and then Ottawa. But now we have an echoing, empty kitchen (albeit with new tile and door), appliances in the garage, and a quasi cooking area set up downstairs. All quite annoying, really. But the trip was nice. Obviously not to sun destinations, but it was nice to see family in Timmins (and I got two birthday gatherings — oddly, neither one on my actual birthday), and we met with Sylvie and Paul. In Ottawa the highlight was a multi-course meal at Signatures, an excellent French restaurant. We also visited the Museum of Civilization again. Jean and I went to see “The Bible: The Complete Word (Abridged)” at the Waterloo Stage Theatre. It was very funny; very well done. Then Robin and I went to “The Vagina Monologues.” That was hilarious in parts, and rather sad in parts, and very well-performed throughout. Margot Kidder was one of the stars. Last weekend we went to Toronto — Jean had a conference there, and I went to join him. We had nice dinner at the funky YYZ restaurant, and met up with Michelle and Hugh the next day. Jackson is holding his head up more now, and is a bit more interactive. We just got the estimates for renovating the kitchen, and now have to figure out the finances. We have some saved, but not quite enough. So we have to figure out if we're borrowing now, or delaying while we save. (And Jean still hopes to get a Grand Canyon trip in...) January 1, 2003We're just back from Timmins, where we spent most of our Christmas holiday. Timmins weather was great this year: not too cold, enough snow to be Christmas-y, and some nice sunny days. It was great to catch up with Isaac, who's quite the sweetie, and to meet Caleb, who was pretty chipper despite a tooth coming in. We also saw Neal and Thérèse's new house. It gives them a lot more room. We also got together with the Lefebvre's, of course, at Réveillon and other times. They seem to be doing well also. Before leaving, we attended a couple of good Christmas performances: Electric Thursdays Rockin' Christmas, which featured both traditional and reinterpreted versions of Christmas songs (capped off by a version of “Do They Know It's Christmas?”), and a pantomime version of Cinderella. (Pantomime is a form of comedy that has nothing with mime.) See also: News Archive 2002 |
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2003
July
2 I went to Toronto to see Elvis Costello. Michelle met
me downtown for dinner, and we went to the concert together. (Jean had
no problem missing out on it.) He played at the Hummingbird. It was definitely
the most musically impressive rock concert I've ever seen. He
played some of his darker, lesser-known songs rather than just the hits,
but it was really effective. It wasn't about spectacle, or community — it
was really about the songs and his interpretation of them.
Finally,
last weekend, Jean and I took advantage of the “SARS special” to
go to Toronto and see The Lion King. The package included
hotel, dinner, and one other event, which turned out to be going up
the CN Tower. Which turned out to be — underwhelming. (Although
some of the other people seemed very excited about it.)
The
kitchen is done! We're quite enjoying the new one. It looks better and
works better. Some details still to be ironed out, but in the meantime,
it's in active use. 
