....

Today I arrived at work to find out that a co-worker of mine had passed away during her vacation in Indonesia. I didn't want to be at work in the first place, but this definitely was not the way I expected to start my day.

I didn't know her all that well outside of work...but she was a friendly, familiar face in an environment where people quickly come and quickly go all the time. She's been at Extra Foods as long as I have, and I've been there a LONG time. We could always start up a conversation...at a lane, in the back room, in the parking lot, at a staff function.

I'll miss the exchange of "how are you?"s and "see ya later!"s. It'll be weird looking at customer service and not seeing her there.

Rest in peace, Karla.

Fighting the Irish

St. Patrick's Day is finally here. Shamrock Shakes (a delicacy now extinct), Lucky Charms (don't buy them from Extra Foods this week...OVER-PRICED), Leprechauns (who knew angst could be so funny), the Fighting Irish (correctly picked them to lose in my NCAA pool). Oh, the memories...I guess I have them because I don't drink!

2 wasted tuition payments later and I finally get an indication of when I'll be defending my thesis. My long-awaited feedback from my thesis committee was no feedback at all, so we're good to go once we find a prof from another department who's willing to read my paper and sit in on my committee meeting. Sounds like my defense will happen in mid to late April, which is good and bad. Good because I can finally start preparing for what is likely to be the longest hour of my life, bad because the deadline to apply for graduation is the end of March. In essence, I will be done with my thesis before graduation, but not before the deadline to apply for graduation. I paid tuition for no advice, no feedback and to not graduate this Spring. I'm also pretty sure none of the profs on my committee read my paper until I stopped in this week to ask them what the holdup was.

I think I had more to say, but I'm pretty tired from working today and from the length of the previous paragraph. I think I'll recline and watch the Canucks game instead...or maybe some Walker, Texas Ranger...

Whatever happened to "Where's the Beef?"

The title is but one of many thoughts swirling in my mind as I prepare for slumber.

Ahhh...Weezer. The perfect "tweener" music for an evening where you're not sure if you want to get pumped up or power down. I think I'll pump one fist in the air and rest my head on my other hand whilst I listen. Best of both worlds solution.

I have an inordinate amount of toonies on my desk right now. 7 of them, in fact. Normally, I'd use them and treat myself to a car wash, but that just doesn't make sense in March in Saskatoon. I probably won't save them until then, so now I wonder how I will spend $14 in change. Maybe I'll flick them down one of those swirling mall wishing wells that always captures my attention. Maybe I'll save them for an inevitable wheel alignment that comes with driving in March in Saskatoon. I'm keeping all options open.

I've been teaching myself how to use PowerPoint this week with my obscene amount of free daytime. I don't understand why I haven't used it yet...it's been on my computer since I moved here and I should've been forced to use it at some point in university. Anyhoo, I figured the time to learn is now...especially since I lied and said on my resume that I can use it. With my luck, I'd have to make a PowerPoint presentation of the very job interview I'd be attending as a prerequisite for further consideration.

I think I discovered this week that I might be a bit of a control freak. As much as I thought it would be a relief over the last while to let other people handle my affairs for a change, that is not the case. I'm more hands-on than I thought I was...I don't like being left out of the loop. I guess that's a good thing?

Going to go see Incubus in Regina in mid-May. I found a presale password floating around on the internet a few days ago, and now I have tickets ahead of most of the general public. Now will I be driving from Saskatoon to get there, or will I be driving from a place in Regina to get there? Hmmmm...

Britney Spears has been making Kevin Federline look real good lately. Who could possibly have envisioned that mere months ago? You know who else is glad Britney's gone bonkers? That crazy diaper-wearing astronaut. It's a shame really...that was a joke with staying power until Britney came along.

So Chris Simon clubs a hockey stick in the face of another player on the 3 year anniversary of Todd Bertuzzi sucker punching Steve Moore. I wasn't aware anybody actually celebrated that anniversary, but I guess Chris does! If he had whacked him in the throat, he might have killed him. It seems as though you would actually have to kill a man in order for the NHL to rightly discipline thugs like Chris.

This blog brings me closer to bedtime...I'm up at 7am. Normally I'd complain about waking up that early, but since I've slept in all week I have no solid foundation upon which to form a complaint that make you all feel sympathy for me. I'm off to get a cold glass of milk.

Bonne nuit.