One Month Later

Wow it's been a whole month since I have blogged. It's not like I didn't try to blog. Or think about trying to blog. I just didn't have the motivation. I was in Canada, I have friends in Canada, I have pleasant distractions posing as friends, I have drinking to catch up on. I guess this passed month I realized why I didn't blog before. Blogging is actually kind a lonely type of expression. When I was conversing with my friends I was in a sense live blogging which led to the lack of motivation to sit down and put it down in writing. It's not a bad thing really. So let me catch you up.
Last post I had landed back in Canada after a long drive across America. The drive was wonderful as I had my Mom along for the journey. She has a gift for gab for sure. It was awesome because I could sit back and really spend some quality time with her as I haven't for quite a while. I loved watching the landscape change constantly as I drove North, conforming eventually into what I recognize as home. I have to say that the QE2 is the most boring portion of the drive (not surprising I guess). Getting my car into Canada was an ordeal to say the least. I am going to blog separately on the rigmorole of getting your vehicle back and forth across the border for you reading enjoyment. Stay tuned for that soon.
Being in Canada was great. It wasn't too cold in Edmonton and my car performed well even though it was not used to the cold. Make sure you have antifreeze in your wiper fluid before entering the cold. Mine froze in Calgary and I was washer fluidless for most of the month. I still worked on RawVegas while I was up there assuming that I would be able to come back down. I had a pretty sweet set up at the STATUSfirm head office - had my own office. Considering I was in another country, I actually got a ton of work done. The fact that I wasn't interrupted a million times a day really kept me on track and I had a real handle on my whole staff for the first time. I knew what each of them were up to at all time minus a few communication break downs, I came up with a new way to organize myself to organize them while in Canada.
I went to the STATUSfirm Xmas party which was a blast. Got me this neat watchthh. I was all like "Thanks Meissther" like that guy on UHF. It's a really nice Tag, thanks Chris and David!
The rest of the month was filled with working regular hours, catching up and drinking with friends I hadn't seen in forever. It was awesome. I was a social butterfly again. That is the one thing I cannot be down here. I got to see Sue's new bar The Empress Ale House. What an awesome establishment with very friendly faces. Also made some appearances at the Black Dog, Red Star, Halo and Martini's. Got to know the new STATUSfirm staff pretty well which was awesome. It's weird when you come back to a job and you almost need to know the new faces to really get a feel for what your job is again. They've got a real good team there and I wish them all the best in 2008.
I finally got my paperwork from my lawyer on the 19th, so I booked my flight down to the US to acquire my new visa. It wasn't the best time to book a flight and I paid through the teeth for the ticket. My flight plans were to leave from Calgary international (lawyers suggest I fly out the closest largest international hub and Edmonton just doesn't cut it), get my visa from customs and then fly to Salt Lake, then to Vegas, 2.5 hours on the ground then back to Edmonton. My day started at 4:30am that day. Dad drove me to Calgary where I went way early in order to be able to wait for the customs people to review my paperwork and make their decision.
I got to customs, told them I wanted a TN visa. I was escorted to a back room where I would have my case reviewed. I handed the official my paperwork and was asked to sit down in a waiting area. Up until this point I had tried to imagine all the different questions I might be asked, tried to think of all the possible scenerios that might put me in a precarious situation. Keep in mind that what I was doing was TOTALLY LEGIT. These people make you feel like you've done something wrong regardless. I sat there for about 5 minutes. Then the agent had me approach the desk. He asked me two questions, "Is this the same job with the same company?" I said, "yes sir." Then he asked me to go back to the waiting room. Five minutes he asked me to approach again and I thought, "oh here it is, he is going to take me into the back for further questioning," but he didn't. He said he needed a cheque for $50. And I am thinking, "it couldn't be that easy." Then I looked across the desk and saw my fresh visa sitting there - waiting for me to cut that cheque so I could get outta there. So I cut the cheque, and he asked me to have a nice flight.
That was it.
I was set for another year of work in the States. After all the crap I had to deal with last year (see my first blog ever) and he asked me two questions and then let me go??? Was this some sort of joke? If it was, I was laugh all the way to the bank. As I walked towards my gate I must have had the dumbest/biggest smile on my face. I felt like I just duped the American government (WHICH I HADN'T) for some reason. It was because of all the mental preparation I had done - I had prepared for the worst in my mind. I really wasn't ready for it to be that easy. But ready or not, I hopped the plane to the US, spent a little time with the staff in Vegas, and then I was on my way back to Edmonton for Xmas.
Xmas was great, spent a lot of time with my family and my brother's new in-laws. I really like his new parents and grandma.
On the 27th I packed up all my stuff and began the new journey back to Vegas. Took me a little longer due to weather but I am back now. I live in a house with two roommates closer to my office so I think this year I am going to save a lot of money. I really want to pay off all my debt this year.
That pretty much brings you up to speed. Again, I have to go into greater detail about moving a car from country to country as a lot of Canadians are doing this and you will learn from my experience surely. I am going to bed.

Quick Update

I am not in Kansas anymore. I never was. Though this past week I was in Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Idaho and Montana. Now I am back in Canada and writing from my parent's computer. I like their keyboard, I could get used to this.

Did I ever tell you about the time I exported my jeep from the US and imported it into Canada at the same time? No? Well remind me and I'll tell you about it sometime.

I told you it would be quick. I will be updating this thing again tomorrow more vigorously. Ttfn.

Searching For a Prayer, With My Good Eye Closed

So after a year of being down in the States and being healthy (I have had a cold twice in the passed year) I FINALLY got to go to the doctor today! YAY! Today was a stat holiday in the US so I wasn't working and THANK JEBUS because going to the doctor down here is a PAIN in the ass.
Yesterday my right eye was a bit tender and this morning when I woke up it was swollen shut. Not cool. So I canceled a shoot and went to the UMC. I got there and I signed in at 1:23 then I had to go to the lobby to wait. My name was called at 2:05 and went in for the pre-exam with some lady named Linda. She weighed me, took blood pressure, and asked questions like "do you have insurance?" and "have you fallen recently?". She also tested my vision. This posed a problem as my good eye - my right eye - was not opening fully, and my left eye is complete shite. Even with glasses I dunno what is up with my left eye. It just doesn't focus properly. Then I had to go back to the lobby to wait. At 2:47 I was called up to present my insurance and pay for seeing the doctor which I was told would be happening "right away". Then I had to go back to the lobby to wait. Then at 3:12 I was called in to see the doctor. I was given my own spacious waiting... I mean examination room and continued to wait. Doctor came in 10 minutes later and looked at my eye, asked me questions like "do you have insurance" and "how are you with a skill saw?". Then he said he was going to give me an antibiotic, and that I would get the prescription after I went back to the lobby to wait. At 3:53 I signed off saying that I was seen by said doctor and had sufficient amount of time to come up with a carefully planned bank heist while waiting in said lobby and was presented with said prescription.

Two and a half hours. Two and a half hours people. I must quote Gob from Arrested Development - COME ON!!!
So by the time I had driven to the UMC, driven to get my drug from the pharmacy I had spent three and a half hours to get some eye medication. That is such a load of crap. I can't believe it took me that long. This country sucks.



So I was supposed to shoot with Joanna Krupa tonight and now I cannot. SUCKS. When you are a camera guy, you sort of need to see well. C'est la vie. Wish me luck on my drive home!

Yeah I can be cocky, I can afford it.

From time to time, I think I come across as a cocky S.O.B. I don't think this is a bad thing because for the most part I am a fairly modest person, when I think I can be cocky, I take full advantage.

One way in which I am cocky is my insistence that I have the best musical taste in the world.

Don't believe me? Well just take a look at my record collection. When I say record collection, I don't mean a stack of CDs or my iPod, I mean my LPs. I have close to 1,000 LPs in my parents basement (yeah they don't travel so well) but its all there. From ABBA to Arcade Fire I've got it all on vinyl, precious vinyl. If this isn't enough to make me an elitist prick musically I don't know what does.
When I was bartending at the Black Dog and making decent coin, I spent a lot of money at Sound Connection on 124th Street in Edmonton. That place was a goldmine. Every time I went in I would emerge with an aching neck from looking down, thumbing through LP after LP in search of that rare find that was sometimes something new, or another copy of a favorite album. I have 5 copies of the Joshua Tree and 3 copies of the White Album - just to name a few that I will buy on the spot EVERY TIME I see them for sale, no questions asked. Last time I was in Edmonton I was sad to see that it has closed OR maybe (crossing fingers) it has moved to a new location. The basement flooded a lot in the passed three years so maybe they moved because of that. So thank you Sound Connection for aiding my cockiness.

Another way I consider myself cocky is my undying belief that someone has my back.

When I was working in clubs like Lush and the Rev this was the case, if I was ever in a situation that I couldn't handle, I had 6 or 7 huge dudes a radio alert away from joining the situation. After a few months, just knowing that they were a call away, I started taking on more and more cases on my own and I found that I was assertive enough to diffuse almost any situation that presented itself - especially in those booze drenched crowds at 50 cent highball Wednesdays at Lush. This cockiness transferred over to when I was a doorman at the Black Dog. I dealt with EXTREMELY drunk people working the doorway between the best pub on Whyte ave and the Chads (read: chachi jocks) who had just been kicked out the "Thirsty Turtle". I rarely lost my temper and would go toe to toe with basically anyone who challenged my authority to deem them too drunk to be allowed in. Actually in the 4 years I was a doorman, I threw one punch and took one punch. Not bad. But I was assertive because I knew that if anything was to happen to me physically, I would have at least 3 other guys at my back in no time.
This effected me not only in real life situations, but also in print.
Remember in one of my earlier posts this month, I wrote about the time I was badmouthed in a local paper? Here is a link to it. Well I had been cocky enough to compare my band at the time to Jimmy Eat World, not really saying we were bigger than Jesus, but some people took offense apparently. Well the next week in the same paper, a retort from a friend and fan of my band!

Thank you friends, fans and co-workers for aiding my cockiness.

Finally, here is how I am cocky spiritually.

Recently I saw a video that almost made me a devout Christian.

Then I saw this.

Goddamn it. Well, it's back to my Jesus-bashing. Thank you science for aiding my cockiness.

God Bless the Gateway

Just came across these nuggets from the past - my two favorite musical excursions from days passed. Woodabeen and ALCB. SO happy that the Gateway kept these on file. If you ever graced the pages of the Gateway and want to relive the past, go here.

Ron Paul Speaks!

So proud of my little internet TV station. We nailed an interview with one of the most interesting men in American politics today. As a Canadian, it's quite refreshing to hear Ron Paul speak. Here is the interview we did with him today.

I *heart* Spacemoose

Haven't posted in the past few days because I cut off my internet at home. So I am guerrilla posting at work. Spacemoose, bar none the funniest comic to ever grace the pages of the University of Alberta's Gateway. All of Adam Thrasher's toons were on the edge but this one got him exceptional attention, I am pretty sure you can guess why. Unless you are a hydrocephalic.