Moving, Touristing, Rafting

• I’m moving! Yes, some of you know this, through my Twitter hints over the past couple of weeks. Most people hate moving, and I guess maybe I don’t actually love the physical moving process, but I do love the searching for a new apartment, falling in love with a new place and then spending the next number of days drawing up blueprints for the various room layouts and scanning Ikea.ca for furniture ideas. I’m going from a 2-bedroom, 2 bath, sub-800 square foot apartment where the dog isn’t allowed to walk on the grass (or I’ll be fined) to a 1100 square foot, 1-bedroom basement apartment with a fenced yard and a landlord who loves Sully. Also? It’s a 30 minute walk to downtown and work. I’m so excited, and can start moving in on the 15th of September. I love the view here, it’s gorgeous living on a golf course overlooking the lake and the mountains, but this is what the pup and I NEED. And it’s cheaper 🙂
• Did I mention the parental units are in town? I’ve had the past week off work (even though all hell seems to have broke loose since I left — I’m so irreplacable :P) and we’ve been doodling around, seeing the sights. I’ve not really done a whole lot of the tourist thing since I got here, I’ve been saving it up for when I’ve had company. Later today, we’re going to take part in Kelowna’s national passtime: floating. Aka, sitting in an inner tube as the water in the Penticton canal pushes you along.
• The hardest decision I’ve had to make all week has been where Dad and I will go water rafting. Way back in the day, when the family made our first trip to BC when I was 16 or 17, we went rafting on the Nalahatch and had a killer time. I still wear the t-shirt that lists all the rapids we went through. I was looking at going with REO again this year, but I think it’s maybe a bit too far away. Most of the rafting is on the Thompson or Fraser rivers, easily a 3-4 hour drive from Kelowna. Apparently Lake Okanagan doesn’t have rapids, go figure. I think I’ve decided on one out of Lytton (Hyak, for those who care) but we’ll see.
• In the middle of all this, I’m somehow trying to squeeze in (and failing) rehersals for an upcoming cabaret/musical show in Kelowna. I’m “just” working backstage — Assistant Stage Manager/Props, thankyouverymuch. It opens September 23rd, and we have shows Thursday, Friday, Saturday x2 (matinee and evening) and Sunday for three weeks. I think I’m going to need a vacation after all that, especially since I’m supposed to be moving in the middle of it. Yikes. Should have planned that one better…

One little tomato

“Listen, I’m just one little tomato in this salad with some cool, cool, cucumbers”

– Ellen Page, Q, August 11-2010

Ellen Page on Q

I’m a bit behind the times, I know, but I just saw Inception.

I refuse to tell you people too much about it, but I will say this:

• I will forever be a giant Ellen Page fanboy. She is so bright — you need to listen to the interview to really get the quote above, it just kind of ‘proves’ how quick-witted she is. And that might as well be the highest compliment there is, in my book. Also? And I didn’t know this until after writing this post, and went back to retrieve the audio link — JON FROM  JONOVISION IS DOING THE INTERVIEW. See? Once on CBC, always on CBC.
• I genuinely think Leonardo DiCaprio is a good actor — Titanic being the exception
• The only reason I go to movies, I think, these days is for the “theatre experience” and Inception is one of those movies when you could feel everyone in the audience holding their breath. I, on the other hand, had twisted myself into a pretzel in anxiety and anticipation, and think I sprained something
• There was a lot of swearing at the end of the movie. I will not say why, but there were a lot of happily annoyed people

GO SEE IT.

Tidbit time!

• Sometimes I make the sliding door opening to the porch smaller than I know Sully can squeeze through. I’m not being cruel (ok, maybe just a little) I think it’s good for him to learn how to problem-solve without my help.
• Friday was “passive aggressive letter” day. Probably a misnomer on my part, my series of letters weren’t so much passive aggressive as they were necessary, and direct. I had been putting off writing these letters for quite some time. It felt good to be proactive.
• I finally dealt with the noisy neighbours upstairs. This was part of passive-aggressive letter day. I finally wrote a note that said something along the lines of “I’m sorry I have to do this, I gather you have little ones and there’s only so much you can do, but the noise is getting a little disruptive down here.” I was nice, I was diplomatic, I tried to be understanding. And then…
• My upstairs neighbours are moving. The day after I wrote my note (which was by far the NOISEST day so far, I swear it sounded like there were 15 kids up there) the young mother came to my door, apologizing profusely (I felt SO bad…) and telling me they just found a house they’ll be moving into at the end of the month. Honestly, I think they made the right choice. These apartments are nice, but they’re no place for a young kid… let alone two. And it’ll be nice to have a day go by when I’m not worried the light fixtures are about to crack from all the clanging and crashing up there.
• A friend from Rankin Inlet came into Kelowna Thursday night. Turns out she lives in Oliver (for now) and that’s only 1.5 hrs away!! We were friends, though not super close, up north, but I tell you… was it ever good to spend time with someone who knows what it’s like up there. Who shares a little bit of that part of my life. Who knows how hard it can be. I think that’s why I still monitor the northern bloggers via facebook, blogs (to an admittedly lesser degree) and twitter. Shared experience, you know?
• Are chestnuts deadly to dogs? I hope not… I took the pup for a walk/play downtown over the weekend, and we started playing fetch with chestnuts. He didn’t eat any of them, but it occurred to me as we drove back (and as he munched happily on the hard shell) that maybe they are toxic to pups. Anyone know?

That’s all for now… trying to get back on a 3x weekly blogging schedule. It seems since I have more reliable access to phone lines, I’m not much of a blogger. It used to be the blog were my main line of communication with friends and family. Now I actually talk to people again, and I guess the side effect is that I don’t feel like I’m bursting with a need to vent as much anymore.

And maybe that’s a good thing. Maybe that means I’m happier 🙂

Tidbito Time-o

• I’m in Mexico for those who weren’t on the up and up. I’m here until Saturday, when I begin the trek back home to Kelowna. I’m disgustingly brown and have learned the names of many new alcoholic drinks. Mexico rocks.
• I got water in my ear today when we were at this eco-water park called Xel-ha (Shell-ha) and it was stuck in my ear ALL DAY. For HOURS. And I finally got it out with what I now believe is the BEST method of removing persistently lodged objects from one’s ear. You can find the whole set of directions here but the general idea is you lay on a bed with your head draped over the end. Form a suction cup with your palm and cup it to your ear. Create a vaccum a couple times between your palm and your ear, and eventually the pressure will suck the water right out. Seriously, I tried EVERYTHING to get this annoying little droplet out of my ear. I was convinced I was going to be permanently deaf in my right ear. And now I’m a happy happy girl because I can hear clearly now, the rain is gone….
• I have an embarassing fear of heights/jumping/falling. At Xel-ha, there’s this ‘jump off a cliff’ area that’s 14 ft above the water. I was so excited to do it, part of the “challenge yourself Jackie” quest I’m on… Let’s just say it didn’t end with me splashing in the water. I spent a good 20 minutes freaking out over the whole thing, made one of the condiments come up to the top with me before calling it all off and doing the walk of shame back down to the bottom. Some day.
• I took an amazing photo of a parrot today. I’m amazed with this shot. And I didn’t even do anything to this photo. No crop, no post-production editing etc etc. Mini spy camera just takes photos that are THAT SHARP. I love that little dude.

  

Schoenborn tidbits

I probably should resist the urge to write too much about the Schoenborn trial I’m covering (and will be covering).

This isn’t supposed to be a “behind the scenes of the CBC” -type blog. And I don’t want to give the impression that I’m biased in my reporting (even though, as I have said – and will continue to say – that this is MY blog and reflects ME not the MotherCorp).

However, this is the first time I’ve ever covered something like this. Something that contains gruesome details analyzed by someone other than Lennie Briscoe or Temperance Brennan. And so I have a couple thoughts:

• I now understand how someone like Vincent Li could have gotten away with murder.
• The degree to which the human mind can go off into the deep end – if not cared for properly – is terrifying.
• I have managed not to cry yet. Though came close this evening at 930pm after working for 15.5 hours and came face to face with a picture of Kaitlynne Schoenborn. That’s when my knowledge of what happened to this child (not for the squeamish) hit me in the face. And I just felt my heart go out to her, even though she’ll never know. I feel for that child, though I don’t know why.
• Court reporting is quite possibly the easiest gig there is. You go. You watch. You take notes (in my case, feverishly). You go on morning break. You go on 1.5-hr lunch. You go on afternoon break. You finish at 4:30. Unreal. (Though I should add, during all those breaks I was writing up stories, so it’s not like I actually got the time off… but it’s like designed to make life easy for reporters!)
• I can’t for the life of me figure out why the CBC would pay for a Canadian Press story when they have their own reporter there on the scene filing every couple of hours with more updates and more information than can had from the CP source. I’m more than a little insulted. Also? Had they of asked I would likely have written up a copy of my radio scripts for the web, no biggie. I’m nice that way.

And now? Bed. I actually almost fell asleep between posting tidbit # 4 and 5. I’m so beat it’s not funny. And of course, the pup is ultra-hyper because I think he slept the whole time I was gone.

Tidbit time!

• I have a friend who uses the word “peanut” to describe everything that is small. She lives in a tiny apartment: it’s peanut-sized. She’s happy with the size of her little apartment because she TOO is peanut-sized. I find this amusing. I’m going to start describing things based on what legume they resemble.
• I wonder what happens when you mix two very different types of curry. For example: Thai curry sauce + Indian curry powder. Will it create an Asian-Indian-flavoured taste explosion? Stay tuned to find out more.
• I have actual plans for Friday. I am going out to a BAR and seeing a BAND. With COWORKERS. This is amazing. I am slowly VERY SLOWLY carving out a social life for myself here. This is a good thing.
• I have learned I really really really like sushi. It’s not that I HATED sushi pre-Kelowna. I was just very ambivalent about it. Turns out California rolls from a cooler in London aren’t REAL sushi. Shocker, I know. I had sushi in Vancouver pre-Regina Spektor concert. And I had sushi today for lunch (co-worker’s birthday celebration). AND I LOVED IT. I couldn’t get enough. I would have eaten way more than my share if I hadn’t of been paying attention. And there were crunchy bits in two of them… SOOOO GOOD. I’m going to become a sushi connoisseur, I tell you.
• And a little eye candy of that little rascal of mine (prior to running away on our hike – – aka when he was still on my good side):

Buzzing

Today? Today I really love my job. Today I came home from work not dead tired and dreading the next morning. Today I came home and immediately slipped on a pair of track pants, donned my favourite hoodie and took the dog for a walk.

This is actually pretty amazing, considering I left the office at about 10:00, drove an hour and a half to a little town by the name of Grindrod in the North Okanagan. I then spent the better part of an hour trying to chase bees out of my hair (curse you Salon Selectives and your sweet-as-nectar hairspray) while simultaneously interviewing beekeepers and local residents. I then booted it back to Kelowna and filed stories for the evening, morning and local AM show.

By all accounts, I should be bushed. And I’m sure I will be(e) once 9:00 rolls around. But today was GOOD. Today I got to LEARN about something new. Today I got to talk to nice people (even though it was in a terrible situation) and today I got to work at my own pace.

And it was great.

Hello from Kelowna (aka Tidbit time!)

• Kelowna is exactly what everyone says it is: beautiful. Even though it’s been raining off and on for the past two days, the view from my living room window is breathtaking, and I can even watch the sun rise over the mountains in the morning. Unreal.
• I’m in love with my apartment. It’s not very big (of course I’m comparing it to the GIANT apartment I had in Rankin) but it’s perfect for the pup and I. It’s a two-bedroom apartment, but less than 800 square feet. But frankly? I need a small-ish place. Too much room and my junk goes everywhere, and it feels like such a burden to clean. The extra bedroom gives a little ‘breathing room’ and after all, it’s really just me most of the time (unless I have visitors HINT HINT). Plus, I couldn’t have asked for a better location. 10 minute drive from work, right across the street from my bank, all the shopping I could ever need within walking distance (even though it’s kind of suburbia-land) and a golf course that I’m allowed to walk the dog on.
• Everyone is so nice here; both in the building and across the town. I’ve only been here a day or so but yet I have had so many pleasant encounters with people: from the cleaning woman for the complex to the woman I ran into on no less than 7 separate occasions in the grocery store (it became a running joke between us, haha) and even the girl I bought my new La-Z-Boy recliner from (only 300 bucks! I love Kijiji!). Between the two of us, we took the back off the chair, perched the bottom half in the trunk of my car, secured it with a couple bungee cords and a yoga strap and drove hillbilly-style across the city. She even helped me carry it into my apartment. What a sweetheart!
• Turns out I’ll have at least a bit of internet access over the next week or so after all, while I’m waiting for my own to get hooked up. I’m “borrowing” a wireless signal for the time being. It’s not all that fast, so I’m not sure if I can upload photos of the new place or anything yet (and do you really want to see JUST my recliner sitting in the middle of my living room?) but at least it’s something. I say “borrowing” because I’m being super strict about my internet activity until I get my own connection because I would hate to have my actions push someone over their bandwidth allotment. That’s okay though, I’m used to surviving on 2 gigabytes a month up in Rankin! I’m sure I can do it!

Well, that’s it for now. Plans for this weekend include driving to Penticton and picking up a coffee table/end table set and probably taking Sully to the dog park.

Have a good one…

Tidbit time!

• It’s interesting how much the ‘tone’ of American politics has changed over the past year. We used to cringe at the mention of a presidential address. Now Obama’s speeches are watched with much more anticipation… and lauded for their delivery and insight in the media, on Facebook, on Twitter etc. I’m not a big American Politics aficionado, but feel like I’m going to be telling stories to my grandkids about this era.
• Black Tower Pinot Noir is delicious wine.
• I really missed having my point-and-shoot canon on my trip to Montreal/Ottawa. Granted, I thoroughly enjoy taking NICE photos, sometimes my mini-spy-cam is just too bulky. It’s not practical to take with me for spur-of-the-moment shots of my sister’s new apartment. Or self-portraits from the CBC studio in Quebec City. I don’t want to buy a new one because I really liked the old one…
• My dog is mad at me. He officially likes my mother and father more than he likes me. And seriously? I’m totally hurt. I WANTED to take him with me on the grand voyage across Eastern Canada, but it wasn’t practical. Now he brings his toys to my parents, not me and follows THEM around the house. I’m heart broken.
• A tip for drivers everywhere, stolen from dear-friend-Matt: if you find yourself about to do some heavy duty driving (for me, this is anything over 4 hours, haha) load up your ipod with podcasts. I swear, I normally get a little dozy – not to mention restless – at the three hour mark (sad, I know). But yesterday I drove from Quebec City to PEI, a 9-10 hour stretch WITHOUT STOPPING (except for pee breaks and fill-ups). Somehow, listening to programming that’s largely spoken-word keeps me more alert for longer periods of time (WITHOUT caffeine, I might add). My podcast of choice was Nora Young’s Spark. I listened to 10 episodes, back-to-back-to-back. It gave me TONS of blog-post ideas. Big-thinking is fun sometimes.
• I think I get my first EI cheque this week or next. Thank freaking god. I need it.
• Also: even thought he hates me, I still have the cutest dog ever:

Napping on my bed *awwwww

Pogie-tans, sloth-dogs and road trips

• According to my Dad, I’m “ripenin‘ brownin’ up like a berry*.” I think this means I’m gettin’ all tan-like. For the first time since I spent a summer taught swimming lessons in high school I’m actually darker than my sister. I am hereby naming this phenomena the “pogie-tan”
• Sully, while a great cuddle-dog, is a useless running-dog. Which for the most part, is fine because I’m also a useless running-human. But for some strange reason I decided to take him on a walk-run this evening. I’ve finally found a living, breathing, THING that is slower than I am. Man we’re a good match.
• I’m heading off to Halifax on Monday to drop off my friend, Laura, and her newly-inherited guinea pig (Shamus). Shamus used to belong to me, but I had to abandon him when I moved up north. Apparently little furry beings like him don’t do plane rides all that well. So my Mom’s been taking care of him ever since, with the idea that I’d take back ownership upon my return. Well, upon my return, I found out that I’m seriously allergic to the poor bugger and needed to find him a new home. Dear Laura, being the kind soul that she is, volunteered and the two will begin their happy guinea pig-human journey starting Monday. I know he’s in good hands. After all, this is the same woman who had the great sense to pick Sully out of the litter that fateful day, nearly 2 years ago.
• Upon my return from Halifax mid-week, I’ll be jetting (putting?) off to the Gaspe for a couple weeks with my mom. A friend of hers has a cottage on the shore up there and we’re going to be beach bums out there. Not sure what kind of internet access I’ll have up there. Worst case scenario I’ll do some posts up and upload when I can. Such are the joys of summer, after all.

* I was informed this morning by said parental unit that he, in fact, used the word “brownin'” not “ripenin'” to describe my berry-like status. Now personally, I’ve not seen very many brown berries, and if I did… I wouldn’t eat one… but whatever. This journalist (or former journalist?) can appreciate accuracy. Even if it is just an ornery parent being picky. Everyone’s a critic 😛