This morning, the list of this year's GISHWHES items was published. In order to be able to choose my items right away, I had to get up at 7 AM. When I was done with reading the list and deciding on possible items, most of my fabourite items had already been chosen so that I still ended up with only 6 items for now. However, as I have to work all week long, this might be good.
I spent the whole morning with planning GISHWHES items and around noon, I only had time for a short lunch before going to work. On the way to work, I had to run several errands: Finding an unusually large item for a GISHWHES item, putting my pay check on my account and buying a bus pass for August. I was actually surprised that I managed to do all that in just 25 minutes - usually I already have to wait in line at CIBC (my bank) for that long.
I had an 8 hour shift from 2:45 to 11:15 today. As I felt pretty stressed from quickly running all of my errands before work and getting up early for GISHWHES, work seemed pretty exhausting to me. We were quite busy all day long. Nevertheless, time seemed to pass quite slowly tonight. In addition to that, working wasn't very comfortable today: For starters, I had a bad sunburn on my belly, which made the act of bending over to put t-shirts away quite annoying. I also tended to bumb myself on shelves and stuff all the time. Finally my bra had apparently broken sometime today and consequently started pricking me all the time this evening. All things considered, I was happy when my shift was done and I could go home.
Saturday, July 30, 2016
Friday, July 29, 2016
Going to Gonzales Beach with Margo
I joined Margo at the beach today. Around noon, I took the bus going to Gonzales Bay while she was racing the bus with her bike. It was a nip-and-tuck race between the bus and Margo - she actually managed to be in front of the bus a few times. In the end, the bus arrived at the busstop shortly before Margo did and I walked the rest of the way next to her.
The sand on the beach was extremely hot, so that walking on the sand didn't feel too nice today. We lay down on a towel and enjoyed the sun. After a while, we decided to go into the water. Unfortunately, there were a lot of algae in the water today, which didn't look to appealing. Nevertheless, we went into the water and a bit further away from the beach, it cleared up. We saw a hermit crab in a shell, which was quite fascinating. Even though the water was icy cold, we managed to quickly sit down in the water. Margo even lay down on her back for a few seconds. When it got too cold, we got back to the beach.
As I knew that I had to work later, I couldn't relax too much since I always had to keep an eye on the time. I left the beach just past 3 PM because I still wanted to make dinner. On the way to the bus stop, Margo asked me 'Did you see it?' and I had no idea what she was talking about. I had to look three times until I saw it - there was a deer standing close to me. In fact, there were actually two deer and one of them was still a fawn.
After I got home and took a quick shower to get rid of the sand that was sticking to me, I realized that my camera was covered in sand. It didn't really turn on anymore due to the sand - the zoom seemed to be broken. I was getting a bit desperate since I knew that repairs could be really expensive. Thus, I tried to fix it somehow. After a while, I got the great idea to use a vacuum cleaner to get the sand out of the camera and luckily, it helped.
After that, I quickly cooked some noodles for dinner and then went to work.We had a lot to do this evening since it had been busy and the customers left a mess. There were so many items in places where they didn't belong, it almost felt like a scavenger hunt to find them all and put them away.
The sand on the beach was extremely hot, so that walking on the sand didn't feel too nice today. We lay down on a towel and enjoyed the sun. After a while, we decided to go into the water. Unfortunately, there were a lot of algae in the water today, which didn't look to appealing. Nevertheless, we went into the water and a bit further away from the beach, it cleared up. We saw a hermit crab in a shell, which was quite fascinating. Even though the water was icy cold, we managed to quickly sit down in the water. Margo even lay down on her back for a few seconds. When it got too cold, we got back to the beach.
As I knew that I had to work later, I couldn't relax too much since I always had to keep an eye on the time. I left the beach just past 3 PM because I still wanted to make dinner. On the way to the bus stop, Margo asked me 'Did you see it?' and I had no idea what she was talking about. I had to look three times until I saw it - there was a deer standing close to me. In fact, there were actually two deer and one of them was still a fawn.
After I got home and took a quick shower to get rid of the sand that was sticking to me, I realized that my camera was covered in sand. It didn't really turn on anymore due to the sand - the zoom seemed to be broken. I was getting a bit desperate since I knew that repairs could be really expensive. Thus, I tried to fix it somehow. After a while, I got the great idea to use a vacuum cleaner to get the sand out of the camera and luckily, it helped.
After that, I quickly cooked some noodles for dinner and then went to work.We had a lot to do this evening since it had been busy and the customers left a mess. There were so many items in places where they didn't belong, it almost felt like a scavenger hunt to find them all and put them away.
Thursday, July 28, 2016
A quite relaxed evening shift at Overboard
Katrina left very early today to visit her family in Ontario. I shortly woke up around the time she left but then quickly fell asleep again. When I got up, she had left us a message with stuff we needed to pay attention to - for example keeping the door locked. She also wrote a line saying 'We're thirsty' next to a drawing of flowers. I must have been pretty tired this morning because I didn't understand what she meant by that until Margo came down and we talked about it - of course it meant that we were supposed to water the plants sometimes.
Around noon I took a book and lay down on a lounger to get a little sun. However, after a while it got so hot that I went back inside.
I didn't do too much before my evening shift at the gift store. While waiting for my bus at the bus stop, I was once again astonished by the beautifully blue sky. I couldn't enjoy the sight too much though, since I was worried about being late again as the bus was taking its time. Nevertheless, I did manage to arrive at 'Overboard' just in time. Apparently the manager at 'Overboard' is less strict, as she said that it wouldn't have been too bad if I had been late due to the bus being late.
The store was quite messy when I arrived but we managed to clean it all up until my shift was over. During my dinner break, I decided to walk down to a little park at the water since we didn't have a lunch room at 'Overboard'. The spot at the ocean was quite nice but I was a bit annoyed by all the wasps there.
As there weren't too many customers this evening, I chatted a lot with my coworker Jennifer. She had travelled a lot through BC and Alberta in the past few days and consequently, she was pretty tired. We also talked a bit about places we had been to and food we typically ate - Jennifer had Dutch origins so we compared a few typical Dutch and German dishes.
When I got off at 10 PM, I quickly got my schedule for next week from 'Royal Garden' before going home.
Around noon I took a book and lay down on a lounger to get a little sun. However, after a while it got so hot that I went back inside.
I didn't do too much before my evening shift at the gift store. While waiting for my bus at the bus stop, I was once again astonished by the beautifully blue sky. I couldn't enjoy the sight too much though, since I was worried about being late again as the bus was taking its time. Nevertheless, I did manage to arrive at 'Overboard' just in time. Apparently the manager at 'Overboard' is less strict, as she said that it wouldn't have been too bad if I had been late due to the bus being late.
The store was quite messy when I arrived but we managed to clean it all up until my shift was over. During my dinner break, I decided to walk down to a little park at the water since we didn't have a lunch room at 'Overboard'. The spot at the ocean was quite nice but I was a bit annoyed by all the wasps there.
As there weren't too many customers this evening, I chatted a lot with my coworker Jennifer. She had travelled a lot through BC and Alberta in the past few days and consequently, she was pretty tired. We also talked a bit about places we had been to and food we typically ate - Jennifer had Dutch origins so we compared a few typical Dutch and German dishes.
When I got off at 10 PM, I quickly got my schedule for next week from 'Royal Garden' before going home.
Wednesday, July 27, 2016
Gonzales Beach
As today was my day off, I decided to go and spent the afternoon on a beach. Charis and a few others were going to Gonzales Beach and as I had never been there, I thought this would be a good opportunity to check it out. I had a walk a bit to get there since the bus stop was a bit further away from my house and the bus didn't take me directly to the beach. I didn't mind the walk though due to the beautiful weather.
The beach was really nice, it was an absolutely idyllic and sandy bay. We were quite a big group of people and Adam had even brought his dog 'King' along. Throughout the afternoon, we went into the water several times. Me and the other girls only went with our feet into the water while Adam and Bas went swimming. Even though the water was extremely cold like usually, I wished that I had packed my bathing suit since it seemed like fun. Nevertheless, I had a nice afternoon just lying on the beach.
Just when I got back home, Katrina was leaving with her son Josh to have a late birthday dinner. She jokingly said that I could take Jakki for a walk but since the weather was still so nice, I did just that. When I put the collar on Jakki and held the door open for her, she looked at me like I was crazy. After she had finally followed me outside, she waited for almost 5 minutes next to Katrina's car, as if she expected Katrina to come and go on a drive with her. It took a while until she finally walked with me. At first Jakki always stopped or tried to turn around. It was still really nice to walk with her and I enjoyed the little stroll around the neighborhood.
Katrina arrived back at home just a few minutes after I had come back with Jakki. I needed to buy some more water bottles and other stuff and as Katrina also had to buy a few small things, she took me to the supermarket with her. Before going back home, we also made a short stop at the post office to hand in a package that had wrongly been delivered to us - apparently someone wrote the wrong adress on the package. We had tried to find the owner of the package for a few days but as that didn't seem to amount to anything, Katrina felt that it was best to bring it to the post office.
The beach was really nice, it was an absolutely idyllic and sandy bay. We were quite a big group of people and Adam had even brought his dog 'King' along. Throughout the afternoon, we went into the water several times. Me and the other girls only went with our feet into the water while Adam and Bas went swimming. Even though the water was extremely cold like usually, I wished that I had packed my bathing suit since it seemed like fun. Nevertheless, I had a nice afternoon just lying on the beach.
Just when I got back home, Katrina was leaving with her son Josh to have a late birthday dinner. She jokingly said that I could take Jakki for a walk but since the weather was still so nice, I did just that. When I put the collar on Jakki and held the door open for her, she looked at me like I was crazy. After she had finally followed me outside, she waited for almost 5 minutes next to Katrina's car, as if she expected Katrina to come and go on a drive with her. It took a while until she finally walked with me. At first Jakki always stopped or tried to turn around. It was still really nice to walk with her and I enjoyed the little stroll around the neighborhood.
Katrina arrived back at home just a few minutes after I had come back with Jakki. I needed to buy some more water bottles and other stuff and as Katrina also had to buy a few small things, she took me to the supermarket with her. Before going back home, we also made a short stop at the post office to hand in a package that had wrongly been delivered to us - apparently someone wrote the wrong adress on the package. We had tried to find the owner of the package for a few days but as that didn't seem to amount to anything, Katrina felt that it was best to bring it to the post office.
Tuesday, July 26, 2016
Just a long work day
I didn't really do anything except for working today. After sleeping in and taking a shower, I only had time to read a little bit before I already had to eat lunch - I still had a portion of the nice meal I had cooked yesterday.
My shift was from 2 PM to 10:30. It was just busy enough for me not to get bored and not too busy so that I could tidy up my half of the store before closing time. There were several German customers today who were in a chatty mood, which was nice.
Due to some customers on Grace's side of the store, we closed the store almost 15 minutes too late. Consequently, it was past 11 PM when I finally got home and had a nice self made salami burger as a night snack. By now, it was a habit of mine to eat a snack after getting home from a late shift, even though it was already almost midnight as usually.
My shift was from 2 PM to 10:30. It was just busy enough for me not to get bored and not too busy so that I could tidy up my half of the store before closing time. There were several German customers today who were in a chatty mood, which was nice.
Due to some customers on Grace's side of the store, we closed the store almost 15 minutes too late. Consequently, it was past 11 PM when I finally got home and had a nice self made salami burger as a night snack. By now, it was a habit of mine to eat a snack after getting home from a late shift, even though it was already almost midnight as usually.
Monday, July 25, 2016
Katrina's birthday hike up Mount Doug
It was Katrina's birthday today and so I joined her on a walk or rather small hike to the top of Mount Doug. It was already noon, so the sun was up high and it was pretty hot. Consequently, we ended up sweating a lot while hiking or sometimes even climbing up the trails, but it was really fun. Jakki sometimes almost got lost, because she felt like walking a different way or didn't see us anymore. After we had reached the top of Mount Doug, I wanted to show Katrina the nice viewing spot I had discovered the last time I was on Mount Doug with Sara. Unfortunately, I couldn't find the exact spot anymore since we were coming from a different direction. The way down was also a bit challenging and I saw a small grey snake with white stripes. There was also a cute brown dog that somehow got scared by my hat or something and just took off after seeing me. I felt a bit bad for it since the owner was searching for the dog, but she eventually found it. All things considered, the hike was a really nice excercise and a lot of fun.
On the way home, Katrina made a short detour to the bakery so that I could buy some fresh bread. When we got back home, we had some vanilla ice cream with hot raspberry jam as a topping, which was really delicious and reminded me of an ice cream that I once had as a child.
After spending the afternoon reading 'The Wind Singer' and relaxing, I cooked a really nice meal in the evening. As we hadn't used the chicken thighs I had bought for the BBQ yesterday, I could make a meal out of them today. I wasn't really sure how to prepare them. Nevertheless, frying them in a pan turned out to be a great idea. I ended up eating them with some vegetables and rice, which was really tasty.
This evening, I watched a few episodes of 'Supermatural' and Margot kept me company. Katrina had gone out this evening, but when she returned, we ended up talking about supernatural shows and as this reminded me of the show 'Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction' (German: 'X-Factor: Das Unfassbare'), I showed them half an episode of that show.
On the way home, Katrina made a short detour to the bakery so that I could buy some fresh bread. When we got back home, we had some vanilla ice cream with hot raspberry jam as a topping, which was really delicious and reminded me of an ice cream that I once had as a child.
After spending the afternoon reading 'The Wind Singer' and relaxing, I cooked a really nice meal in the evening. As we hadn't used the chicken thighs I had bought for the BBQ yesterday, I could make a meal out of them today. I wasn't really sure how to prepare them. Nevertheless, frying them in a pan turned out to be a great idea. I ended up eating them with some vegetables and rice, which was really tasty.
This evening, I watched a few episodes of 'Supermatural' and Margot kept me company. Katrina had gone out this evening, but when she returned, we ended up talking about supernatural shows and as this reminded me of the show 'Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction' (German: 'X-Factor: Das Unfassbare'), I showed them half an episode of that show.
Sunday, July 24, 2016
Party at Shamilla's house
I only had to work from 3 to 7 PM today but it still felt like a very long shift. I was working at Overboard again and just like Thursday, it was pretty quiet in the store.
When I was finally done, I went to the supermarket, which was just about to close. The employer let me in though and I quickly grabbed a few snacks for the BBQ tonight. Then I took the next bus and went to Shamilla's house.
When I arrived, the party had already started. There were many people I knew from my time at the hostel and it was great to see them all again. We played some frisbee drinking game on the big lawn in front of the house, althogh I only started drinking a bit later. Even though I was bad at throwing and catching the frisbee, it was quite fun. After the game, the chicken legs were done and I ended up eating too many of them since I was really hungry from my shift at the gift store. To be fair I only asked for a second chicken leg with the words 'I'm starving' but apparently the guy on the BBQ grill took a pity on me and gave me three legs right away. I still had a forth chicken leg a bit later. While I was eaiting, Jay was trying to catch a deer that had come close to the house. He didn't succeed but the deer still dared to come close to the house a few times after that.
When it was getting dark, we went inside. I mostly just sat on the couch, chatting with several people while some others played ping pong. In the end, they persuaded me to play a bit, too, even though I knew that I was pretty bad at it.
Shortly before 11, the owner of the houe (which by the way has about 40 people living in it!) asked us in a not too friendly way too leave because there were people who had to work the next day. Some people had planned to go to Downtown to party around 11 anyway so it wasn't to bad. I decided not to join them, though, as I was a bit exhausted from work and had too much stuff with me, which would have been annoying.
When I arrived home, Katrina wasn't there yet and Margot was sitting in the kitchen, so I ended up chatting a bit with her. I told her about my bad experiences in France when I was in sixth grade and she was horrified by that. Consequently she assured me that French people usually were not like that.
When I was finally done, I went to the supermarket, which was just about to close. The employer let me in though and I quickly grabbed a few snacks for the BBQ tonight. Then I took the next bus and went to Shamilla's house.
When I arrived, the party had already started. There were many people I knew from my time at the hostel and it was great to see them all again. We played some frisbee drinking game on the big lawn in front of the house, althogh I only started drinking a bit later. Even though I was bad at throwing and catching the frisbee, it was quite fun. After the game, the chicken legs were done and I ended up eating too many of them since I was really hungry from my shift at the gift store. To be fair I only asked for a second chicken leg with the words 'I'm starving' but apparently the guy on the BBQ grill took a pity on me and gave me three legs right away. I still had a forth chicken leg a bit later. While I was eaiting, Jay was trying to catch a deer that had come close to the house. He didn't succeed but the deer still dared to come close to the house a few times after that.
When it was getting dark, we went inside. I mostly just sat on the couch, chatting with several people while some others played ping pong. In the end, they persuaded me to play a bit, too, even though I knew that I was pretty bad at it.
Shortly before 11, the owner of the houe (which by the way has about 40 people living in it!) asked us in a not too friendly way too leave because there were people who had to work the next day. Some people had planned to go to Downtown to party around 11 anyway so it wasn't to bad. I decided not to join them, though, as I was a bit exhausted from work and had too much stuff with me, which would have been annoying.
When I arrived home, Katrina wasn't there yet and Margot was sitting in the kitchen, so I ended up chatting a bit with her. I told her about my bad experiences in France when I was in sixth grade and she was horrified by that. Consequently she assured me that French people usually were not like that.
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