The beaver is a proud and noble animal
Notes from a bemused canuck
Richard, I've obviously kept your note and resume in my files. If you are still interested, I'm now looking for someone in Montreal to be my Business Development Manager for Healthcare and Life Sciences for Quebec. I'm going to be in Montreal this Thursday (April 14), and was wondering if you would like to meet to discuss the opportunity. If so, I'm going to be interviewing people at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel – I have some time open in the afternoon.
IBM is offering me a job. How random :D
In 4 hours, I leave for the airport. Two hours after that, I leave for England. For all that's happened in the past month, I still have trouble believing it's actually happening. I have a feeling that one of these days, it's going to hit me between the eyes like a 20-pound sledgehammer.
I like this one:
TV’S Cookie Monster has been ordered by Sesame Street bosses to quit gorging on biscuits — because it gives the wrong diet message to kiddies.
New episodes of the children’s show will see him stuffing his face with fresh fruit and veg instead. The blue furry monster — famed for his love of chocolate chip treats — is also having to abandon his celebrated mantra: “C is for cookie, that’s good enough for me.”
Instead he will croon: “A cookie is a sometimes food.”
Worried Sesame Street chiefs decided to act after an explosion in obesity among youngsters. Sugar-laden fatty foods such as biscuits are blamed. The show is to introduce new characters to promote healthy eating — such as American Fruit Stand.
And celebrity guests including singer Alicia Keys and Hillary Clinton will be seen talking and singing about the benefits of a good diet and keeping fit.
Dr Rosemarie Tuglio, the show’s president of research and education, said: “Sesame Street is concentrating on the need to teach children about healthy foods and physical activity.
“Each episode will open with a health tip about nutrition, exercise, hygiene and rest.”
But she stressed: “We are not really putting Cookie Monster on a diet and we would never take the position of no sugar. We’re teaching him moderation.”
This is right, but also wrong somehow.
It's done! It's over! My shit is on its way to Cambridge. Movers came bright and early this morning, at 9, and 2 hours later it was all over. The movers were really efficient and got all my furniture wrapped, while Michel, Isabelle, Sara, Vincent, my mom, my sister and I hauled boxes down into the UHaul cube and their van. I had more things in the UHaul going back to my parents' than I did going to Cambridge. In the blink of an eye, a week's worth of stress is out the door and half of it is going to a boat, the other to a basement :) They even moved my TV out of the apartment and into the truck :D
I am now officially homeless until further notice.
Got back to the parents' and the neighbour, a mover, came to help unload the truck. My dad is now the proud (and temporary) custodian of my TV. I think he's suitably impressed. Now he's going to have to learn how to use the remote, which promises to be amusing, to say the least. I also gave him my computer speakers, so now he can actually hear what's happening on his PC. He was also impressed by the decibels those little things can pump out :) I've been givin my electronics away to my family. I went to connect my stereo system and old desktop at my sister's apartment yesterday. I realized that every electronic component either comes from me or I bought for her :)
Now now I'm going to go enjoy my coffee and relax a bit. I deserve it. We all do. Go have one for yourself.
As of now, I am offline until saturday night. My apartment is all packed up and the movers are coming tomorrow morning.
I'm leaving in 3 days.
O.O
Went to Hurleys tonight to say goodbye to the boys. I've known most of those guys for well over 12 years. Some, like Michel, I've known for close to 15. I realize that I've been blessed with a very good, very close, very supportive circle of friends. I will truly miss those guys. I have to say that leaving my support network behind is one of the scariest things I've done. I won't see those guys until December, if that. After that, who knows. I just want them to know that I love them and cherish their friendship.
I'm beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Things are happening, boxes are piling up, more and more black lines are appearing on my TODO list. Now granted, I still have the occasional 24/7 headache flare-up and my forehead vein is still making itself known, but things are moving along. Bureaucracy is an evil thing. So is money. I've been crunching a few numbers. My first paycheck at the end of May will be far, far away.
This is what Boris thinks of all the paperwork I need to fill in. I concur.
Good news: I have FINALLY obtained my passport visa.
Bad news: I still have way too much shit to shovel.
Bad news: I need to pack my apartment.
Good news: My mommy is here to help me.
A bunch of friends and I will be at Hurleys on Thursday night. If you're free, come say hello. It might be the last time I have the chance to do so in a while.