It's My Life

A LOOK AT MY CURRENT SITUATION

So I'm sitting here in front of the computer realizing I don't have any major news to add from my last post, but decided to post for the sake of it.

I'm still looking for work. I nearly landed a sports reporting job with the St. Paul Journal, but they obviously found a better candidate. I'm keeping my fingers crossed on a sports reporting job at the Lacombe Globe. Lacombe is an Albertan community just north of Red Deer, and it would be an alright place to live because my friend Brent, his wife Kristen and my cousin Kevin all live there. Its close distant to Edmonton and Calgary would also be a bonus. The other jobs I applied for were as a junior reporter at the Maple Ridge News and a one-year reporter covering for a maternity leave at the Hinton Parklander.

Apparently the district manager at Athletes World is on vacation in Hawaii or else I'd be able to start working at the store here in Prince George at Pine Centre Mall to earn some extra cash until I land a media job. The girl becoming the new store manager is waiting to get permission from the district manager before giving me shifts.

There is benefits to being unemployed at this point. Of course, there are also downfalls. Here's a list of each:

Pros:
- my graduation ceremony, which is in 11 days, is on a Thursday and should I still be unemployed I intend to spend a few extra nights down there to enjoy a weekend in Kamloops doing some partying amongst other things.
- it's nice to be able to spend time outside and not worry about employment when the weather is 31 degrees like it was in PG today. Who wants to sit in an office in front of a computer when the weather is like this? Not I.
- More time at home means quicker access to free food.
- the free food, rent, land phone line, cable TV, and Internet.
- sleeping in.

Cons:
- bordom.
- nagging from my parents about my being unemployed still.
- losing touch with reality and responsiblity.
- I become so used to not working it'll be hard to get back into the rhythm of working for money, like is expected of me in this capitalist society I live in.
- as a result of being bored more frequently, I find the time goes by slower. As a result, I'm always wondering why people take so long to reply to e-mails, why people aren't calling me, and why nobody does anything in this town. But I guess working 40 hours a week can take a lot out of people, and leisure time is a little harder to come by for them. I'll make sure not to get depressed when I spend every day on a computer and wonder why people don't reply to my e-mails the following day, and why people aren't calling me at noon on a Wednesday to go play tennis or golf. My bordom has shortened my temper.

Watching the Clock Tick.........

It’s weird how drastically somebody’s life can change with a difference in location. When I lived in Kamloops, I was going to school and worked two jobs. Between my work, school and leisure activities, I hardly spent anytime at home. Of course, I didn’t have the luxury of such things as cable Internet, cable TV, free food and rent either.

Now I’m living back up in BC’s Northern Capital and still not working. Now I don’t feel guilty for not working, I haven’t gotten to that point yet. I mean, I worked right until the end of April so it really has only been just over two weeks. And so many other students don’t work during school while I was balancing studies with two jobs. I was so busy down in Kamloops, I’m enjoying this spare time in my life. It’s given me the opportunity to do things I hardly did in Kamloops, like play video games, lots of tennis, and watch more TV. I’ve also been able to focus more attention on my family, sports, this summer and my future.

Of course, not working is more tolerable while living under the luxury of free rent and food. But I still have no choice but to spend money because I’ve got monthly car insurance and cell phone bills.

Last Friday I was in Vancouver, which was nice because for a little while I could forget about my current financial struggles. The trip was a real quick one – from PG to Vancouver and back in just over 30 hours! It works out to a seven-hour stop overnight in Cache Creek on the way down, a five-hour stay in Vancouver and roughly 18 hours on the road. My sister’s fiancé Jaret, whom I went down with, warned me it wouldn’t be that fun a trip. Actually it was nice.

I enjoy being on the road, I’ve always enjoyed traveling whether it’s by myself of with somebody else. Since Jaret ended up purchasing the 2002 VW Passat from Carter Honda in Vancouver (which took about 4 ½ hours of test driving, navigating, negotiating, waiting, paperwork and transactions to complete) and the dealership would only offer $2000 as a trade in for my sister’s ’95 VW Golf, I was on my own for the trip back, driving the Golf and meeting Jaret for breaks at exciting destinations such as Boston Bar (where the price of gas was like 89 cents!), 100 Mile House (Tim Hortons coffee break) and Quesnel (second Tim Hortons coffee break). We left Langley at about 6 p.m. and arrived back in PG at roughly 2 a.m.

Driving in the dark was made tolerable by some solid CD’s I recently purchased (including music by Motley Crue, Led Zeppelin, The Killers and Velvet Revolver), playing the music loud with the windows slightly rolled down, and caffeine. I entertained the thought of spending a night in Kamloops, but figured, what is another five hours?

On a side note, I hope I quit getting this junk mail in my business e-mail account soon because it is taking forever just to check my e-mail lately. This sudden influx of spam into the Thompson Rivers University journalism students account is frustrating me.

BEST PICK-UP LINE EVER: “HI I’M GEORGE. I’M UNEMPLOYED AND I LIVE WITH MY PARENTS.”

Well, I’ve back in Prince George for over a week now, and because it’s been awhile since my last post I’m going to rewind and allow my faithful blog readers to catch up. So just what has happened since my last REAL post on April 2?

In no particular order:


- I finally completed my studies at the Thompson Rivers University School of Journalism.
- I quit my job at Athletes World and finished working at the Omega as sports editor.
- I began playing tennis, but have yet to play a round of golf this season.
- I’ve managed to apply for two sports reporting jobs (The Alaska Highway News in Fort St. John and St. Paul Journal).
- I watched the Kootenay Ice eliminate the Kamloops Blazers from the playoffs with a 7-1 drubbing in game six of the first round (on April 3).
- I had to move from Kamloops to Prince George because I couldn’t afford to stay down south.
- I moved out of what had to be the worst living conditions EVER. If you know me or have spent any time around me in Kamloops, odds are you’ve heard me complain about it at least once.
- I celebrated my 23rd birthday on April 29.
- I played a lot of ping pong, but haven’t played it at all since I’ve been back in PG.

Things have been okay back here in Prince George. I say okay because they could be better. Being unemployed and living with my parents may sound bad on paper (just ask George Costanza), but I’m getting a degree in June. Now take that in your pipe and smoke it George. Wow, too much Seinfeld for me! Yeah right, is there such a thing?

The trip back up north was okay except that it rained most of the way. But between my dad’s truck and my car all my furniture and personal items made it back to my parent’s house safe and sound. Being home has been nice, even though I’ve been struggling for cash ever since I re-insured my car last month. I hope that all changes soon. But being broke is less painful when I’ve always got food on the table and a nice place to sleep in.

I’ve been doing a lot of lounging around since I’ve been home, playing NHL 2005 for playstation, watching movies, downloading music, browsing the Internet for work, watching TV and sleeping in. I went out drinking only twice since I’ve been back, yeah that’s right, twice! On Thursday night I went to Sgt. O'Flaherty's Pub downtown which turned out to be like a high school reunion. So many familiar faces, most of which were students from my old high school, DP Todd.

Then last Saturday Megan came into town from Quesnel with her friend Shannon. We went for dinner at Red Robin and then watched The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. My head hurt after watching that movie, a pain I could only cure with a little alcohol in my system. That night Roberto joined us and we checked out Club Fyre, a new club in PG. It was an alright joint, one which had a dress code in place, lots of tables, a dance floor, and an upstairs portion which cost like $20 to see. $20 just to sit on a leather couch? No thanks. We chose to stay on the main floor with the less luxurious wooden chairs and tables.

This evening I’m heading to Vancouver with my sister’s fiancé Jaret. He’s going to look at a car (2002 VW Passat) he’s interested in purchasing. I’m going for two reasons - to keep him company and because I have nothing better to do over the next couple days. Unfortunately it’s a short stay, so I won’t have time to visit anybody down there. But hey, it’s an opportunity to leave PG for a couple days.

I’m looking forward to this summer, hoping that wherever I end up working I’ll be able to get time off for such activities as:

- my graduation ceremony on June 9 in Kamloops.
- Funtastic Slow Pitch Tourney in Vernon July 1-3.
- My cousin’s wedding in PG on July 16.

I’ll just have to wait and see where the future takes me.