Hello Everyone,
Jerry & I went to Cirque du Soleil on Friday night (date night!) to see Kooza. First time seeing them live. It was amazing! They had it in a big tent (just like circuses - circi ?) should be. We got 40% off tickets since they're closing in a couple days and I was a bit worried about our seats. Second last row, along the side. But, with the small venue we could see everything, really well. Very exciting, great costumes & music and overall a fabulous time. If you have an opportunity to see them in their travelling show, go for it. It's worth the money.
A cool weekend. Chance of snow. Spent the afternoon yesterday with a friend hanging out on 17th Ave. Interesting shops and a relaxing day. Today I finish my school presentation and report - Legistlative changes to ROEs. It may sound like dry material but within my company, I was the major implementor when major changes were brought in last year.
And we're having turkey for dinner tonight. I really like the Butterball stuffed turkey breasts. Nice portion size - enough for us and a meal of leftovers and very delicious.
Have a great day!
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Satisfying
Hello everyone,
My afternoon. Most of the time phone calls I get from employees are "How much was my pay cheque?" (check your bank account - I wish I was allowed to say that), "My pay cheque is wrong." (supervisor entered wrong hours/rate of pay) etc. And it can get frustrating.
And then there are afternoons like this.
Phone call 1 was from an employee that wanted to go over a few things. Then he wanted to talk. We recently had an employee die in a car accident and he wanted to know if there were children. If so, he wanted to start up a fund for them. Couldn't release this info (privacy act) but I recommended he ask around unofficially. This was coming from a guy who's had a pretty rough go at life. Long time employee, in jail for a few year. Within a couple days of returning to work for us, he was on the phone with me letting me know he pays family maintenance. One of the few responsible guys who use the system to make sure his kids are taken care of properly. The call restored my faith in the goodness of our often rough & gruff employees.
Phone call 2 flabergasted me. Someone actually wanted a step-by-step breakdown of his pay and how pay cheques were calculated. What were statutory deductions (complete with each of their purpose and the %), regular & OT calculations, group insurance (health benefits) etc. And then he wanted to know about my education. So, told him about my certifications and my current progress. So then he wanted to know about my experience with Athabasca because he was considering them. Just a super friendly, curious employee who is using his time at the rig to make some money and get out quickly. It's extremely rare for anyone to ask me to go into their pay cheque in this much detail. I think it's only happened one other time in my entire payroll career. I was giddy by the time I got off the phone because I love sharing knowledge with other.
I've still got a smile on my face.
And I wanted to share.
Have a fabulous day!
My afternoon. Most of the time phone calls I get from employees are "How much was my pay cheque?" (check your bank account - I wish I was allowed to say that), "My pay cheque is wrong." (supervisor entered wrong hours/rate of pay) etc. And it can get frustrating.
And then there are afternoons like this.
Phone call 1 was from an employee that wanted to go over a few things. Then he wanted to talk. We recently had an employee die in a car accident and he wanted to know if there were children. If so, he wanted to start up a fund for them. Couldn't release this info (privacy act) but I recommended he ask around unofficially. This was coming from a guy who's had a pretty rough go at life. Long time employee, in jail for a few year. Within a couple days of returning to work for us, he was on the phone with me letting me know he pays family maintenance. One of the few responsible guys who use the system to make sure his kids are taken care of properly. The call restored my faith in the goodness of our often rough & gruff employees.
Phone call 2 flabergasted me. Someone actually wanted a step-by-step breakdown of his pay and how pay cheques were calculated. What were statutory deductions (complete with each of their purpose and the %), regular & OT calculations, group insurance (health benefits) etc. And then he wanted to know about my education. So, told him about my certifications and my current progress. So then he wanted to know about my experience with Athabasca because he was considering them. Just a super friendly, curious employee who is using his time at the rig to make some money and get out quickly. It's extremely rare for anyone to ask me to go into their pay cheque in this much detail. I think it's only happened one other time in my entire payroll career. I was giddy by the time I got off the phone because I love sharing knowledge with other.
I've still got a smile on my face.
And I wanted to share.
Have a fabulous day!
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
New Mayor!
Hello Everyone,
I'm very excited - we got a new mayor and there was a large voter turn-out. I think we were all just fed up with how city hall was running. Out of the top 3 candidates (in a dead heat the last week of the campaign), 2 were complete outsiders. And the person I was supporting won. I liked Nenshi's campaign. Really used social media, well thought out platform and ideas, positive messages.
Things are ok right now. Busy and tired but that's how it goes. I have a major project and presentation due on Monday for school that I need to focus on. Money is tight so I'm looking at creative ways to stretch my budget. Luckily I don't any anticipated large purchase over the next few months and most of my Christmas shopping is done.
As for my diet, I can only afford one more visit to the naturopath. My benefits cover most of the consulting fee but none of the supplements. And that powdered drink crap works out to $40/week. Since I don't need it and it just means I would lose the weight slower, I'm cutting it out. I'm also a bit suspicious of the supplement doses she's recommended. It's anywhere from twice to four times the amount on the label. And for the vitamin B12, when she didn't have any of the liquid drops and switched to the under the tongue pill, the dosage quadupled without any comments from her. I'm going to switch to the label recommendations and at my appointment next week, ask her about vitamin d supplement requirements for winter. I haven't noticed any change or weight loss over the past 1 1/2 weeks whereas she mentioned 1-2 lbs a week. And those protein portions are huge! It's hard to eat all that food on the list - I'm just too full. So, I'm still going to stick with the very reduced grains, lots of veggies and healthy food. But I have my doubts. At least my energy level has remained and I'm feeling good about myself.
Got my flu shot on Friday and I can still feel where they stuck the needle. Had a plasma donation in the same arm on Wednesday and after a fiasco there, it bruised. At least it stopped hurting Sunday night. My donations generally go smooth but a night like that with what seemed like a very inexperience nurse makes me second guess my donation. I'm a universal donor for plasma so I'm valuable but I felt horrid for 1 1/2 days and had a sore arm for 5.
Mike is funny. We had one of Keith's friends stay with us Friday & Saturday and he slept in Mike's room. Jerry was in and out all weekend as it was Con-Version (sci-fi, fantasy, horror convention). Mike would not go in his room, even after the guy left. I changed the bedding on Sunday. He still wouldn't go in. I ended up having Jerry put some of his dirty shirts on the bed and Mike quite happily curled up on them. I suspect it was because Mike's room didn't "smell" like Jerry - it smelled like another male. I managed to grab one of the shirts and throw it in the laundry and he's quite happy curling up on the other. Even though he has the entire bed (and entire house) to lounge.
Have a great day!
I'm very excited - we got a new mayor and there was a large voter turn-out. I think we were all just fed up with how city hall was running. Out of the top 3 candidates (in a dead heat the last week of the campaign), 2 were complete outsiders. And the person I was supporting won. I liked Nenshi's campaign. Really used social media, well thought out platform and ideas, positive messages.
Things are ok right now. Busy and tired but that's how it goes. I have a major project and presentation due on Monday for school that I need to focus on. Money is tight so I'm looking at creative ways to stretch my budget. Luckily I don't any anticipated large purchase over the next few months and most of my Christmas shopping is done.
As for my diet, I can only afford one more visit to the naturopath. My benefits cover most of the consulting fee but none of the supplements. And that powdered drink crap works out to $40/week. Since I don't need it and it just means I would lose the weight slower, I'm cutting it out. I'm also a bit suspicious of the supplement doses she's recommended. It's anywhere from twice to four times the amount on the label. And for the vitamin B12, when she didn't have any of the liquid drops and switched to the under the tongue pill, the dosage quadupled without any comments from her. I'm going to switch to the label recommendations and at my appointment next week, ask her about vitamin d supplement requirements for winter. I haven't noticed any change or weight loss over the past 1 1/2 weeks whereas she mentioned 1-2 lbs a week. And those protein portions are huge! It's hard to eat all that food on the list - I'm just too full. So, I'm still going to stick with the very reduced grains, lots of veggies and healthy food. But I have my doubts. At least my energy level has remained and I'm feeling good about myself.
Got my flu shot on Friday and I can still feel where they stuck the needle. Had a plasma donation in the same arm on Wednesday and after a fiasco there, it bruised. At least it stopped hurting Sunday night. My donations generally go smooth but a night like that with what seemed like a very inexperience nurse makes me second guess my donation. I'm a universal donor for plasma so I'm valuable but I felt horrid for 1 1/2 days and had a sore arm for 5.
Mike is funny. We had one of Keith's friends stay with us Friday & Saturday and he slept in Mike's room. Jerry was in and out all weekend as it was Con-Version (sci-fi, fantasy, horror convention). Mike would not go in his room, even after the guy left. I changed the bedding on Sunday. He still wouldn't go in. I ended up having Jerry put some of his dirty shirts on the bed and Mike quite happily curled up on them. I suspect it was because Mike's room didn't "smell" like Jerry - it smelled like another male. I managed to grab one of the shirts and throw it in the laundry and he's quite happy curling up on the other. Even though he has the entire bed (and entire house) to lounge.
Have a great day!
Wednesday, October 06, 2010
Wednesday
Hello Everyone,
I have a love/hate relationship with Wednesdays. It's hump day so I know my work week only gets shorter come noon. But usually there is so much to do when I get home.
Dr appointment went good. I'm no longer on no wheat - just super limited wheat. She's now given me weird diet to follow until I'm back down to healthy weight. I've got 25-30 lbs to lose. According to dr, this will have me lose on average 3 lbs of fat (not weight, fat) per week, in a healthy fashion. So, for example, if I lose 3 lbs of fat but gain 2 lbs of muscle, I only have a 1 lbs weight loss on the scale. But she measured how much of my body is water, fat, muscle etc and will monitor me that way rather than a scale. And I have good water in my body - my cells are plump like grapes.
So each day I can have:
2 powdered drinks - icky gritty crap stuff but I can get it down quickly
2 "concentrated protein" - meat (3 oz) and some cheeses
1 legume (1/2 cup)
1 dairy/alternative - milk, yogurt, other cheeses
1 nuts (10-18, depending on the type)
As much salad/leafy veggies as I like
1 sugary vegetable - potato, beets, winter squash (1/2 cup)
1-2 fruits
1 grains (1/2 cup)
4 oils (1 tsp)
I can work with this. 1 icky powder for breakfast, when I take my vitamins, 1 icky powder for afternoon snack. My lunch was "normal" sized today. Apple for a snack and then figure out something for dinner.
Yesterday, I rewarded myself for sticking to the gluten-free for 7 weeks. Had a cup cake and 3 small slices of pizza. So far not feeling terrible today, although I was warned. That pizza was super yummy (and I ate it with a huge salad). On this new diet, I could eat 1 slice but I'd be limited what I could eat for the rest of the day. I like though that I can now go out for dinner, or over to someone's house and not be super vigilant about the ingredients of the meal.
This is the strict lose weight diet and once I get to my desired (and healthy) weight, it changes to maintenance portions. It does help to measure the portions out so if anything, it'll teach me about that.
We're off to Lethbridge for Thanksgiving. Will try to make 1 fruit cake tonight, 1 tomorrow night and then Jerry can make one on Monday. Then, in 3 weeks, we sample to see which will work the best for the favours at the reception Jerry's folks are hosting.
Have a great day!
I have a love/hate relationship with Wednesdays. It's hump day so I know my work week only gets shorter come noon. But usually there is so much to do when I get home.
Dr appointment went good. I'm no longer on no wheat - just super limited wheat. She's now given me weird diet to follow until I'm back down to healthy weight. I've got 25-30 lbs to lose. According to dr, this will have me lose on average 3 lbs of fat (not weight, fat) per week, in a healthy fashion. So, for example, if I lose 3 lbs of fat but gain 2 lbs of muscle, I only have a 1 lbs weight loss on the scale. But she measured how much of my body is water, fat, muscle etc and will monitor me that way rather than a scale. And I have good water in my body - my cells are plump like grapes.
So each day I can have:
2 powdered drinks - icky gritty crap stuff but I can get it down quickly
2 "concentrated protein" - meat (3 oz) and some cheeses
1 legume (1/2 cup)
1 dairy/alternative - milk, yogurt, other cheeses
1 nuts (10-18, depending on the type)
As much salad/leafy veggies as I like
1 sugary vegetable - potato, beets, winter squash (1/2 cup)
1-2 fruits
1 grains (1/2 cup)
4 oils (1 tsp)
I can work with this. 1 icky powder for breakfast, when I take my vitamins, 1 icky powder for afternoon snack. My lunch was "normal" sized today. Apple for a snack and then figure out something for dinner.
Yesterday, I rewarded myself for sticking to the gluten-free for 7 weeks. Had a cup cake and 3 small slices of pizza. So far not feeling terrible today, although I was warned. That pizza was super yummy (and I ate it with a huge salad). On this new diet, I could eat 1 slice but I'd be limited what I could eat for the rest of the day. I like though that I can now go out for dinner, or over to someone's house and not be super vigilant about the ingredients of the meal.
This is the strict lose weight diet and once I get to my desired (and healthy) weight, it changes to maintenance portions. It does help to measure the portions out so if anything, it'll teach me about that.
We're off to Lethbridge for Thanksgiving. Will try to make 1 fruit cake tonight, 1 tomorrow night and then Jerry can make one on Monday. Then, in 3 weeks, we sample to see which will work the best for the favours at the reception Jerry's folks are hosting.
Have a great day!
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