citizen of the planet

I’m sitting here in my living room shivering under a blanket with a sweater on.  According to my thermostat the temperature in here has dropped to about 16°C.  Despite feeling chilly, I’m really in no mood to switch the heat on at the moment.  This is due to a couple of events earlier this morning.  Ever since I’ve moved here I’ve been trying to get my account with the chosen gas provider set up.  I’ve called many times, but they keep saying they’re working on getting my account into the system.  So, in these past seven months I’ve been going about my business without worrying about gas usage.

Today, I decided to do yet another follow up call with the gas company.  I decided though to look for my current gas meter reading just to help them along and prevent myself from getting an inflated bill.  I got word that the meter was in my mechanical closet, so I went outside and started poking around.  Unfortunately I didn’t see anything.  I ended up calling the builder to see if they knew where I should look.  The guy that answered told me that the meter was in the basement.  Hah.  He said he’d meet me downstairs to show me.  So, I went downstairs and we started hunting together.  We spotted it fairly quickly.  It took me a moment to zero in on the reading, but when I saw it I was in shock.  My gas reading happened to be 10-20 times larger than the surrounding meters.  Damn!  I immediately joked about wearing sweaters indoors from now on.  As soon as I got back to my suite I switched the heat off, and it’s been off since.

Prior to this, the heating has been on 24/7.  The thermostat was programmed properly, so it was low when I was out, and a bit warmer when I was in.  Even so, I’m amazed that the numbers went up that high in a period of 7 months–especially in comparison to everyone else.  So, that’s why I’m putting up with the chill, which really isn’t so bad now that I’ve sort of gotten used to it.  I don’t know why it didn’t occur to me to just switch the damn thing off.  So silly of me, right?  Well, going forward, I plan on being more careful.  It seems like it’s just another part of homeownership that I needed to learn first hand.

Just like I stated last year, at this time of year I have a tendency to avoid doing these run down type posts.  I tend to do these on my birthday, and usually it’s enough.  Thing is, I think for a year like this a little bit of navel-gazing is necessary.  There’s a lot of talk about this year being a tough one.  By and large, yes, it was tough.  With all of the doom and gloom, it can be easy for me to sink into a dark place.  There are, however, enough reasons for me to look up and forward.  That’s why it’s important for me to see what I’ve gone through.

This is one heck of an entry, so I’m placing it after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

Last year, the keyword I used was “ignition.” It seemed appropriate at the time, but in the year that followed did I really burn as brightly as I wanted to? It’s really hard to tell. There were a lot of highs and lows throughout, and overall I’m in an interesting position. Without even discussing the possibilities lying at my feet, I have to say that to some extent I’m experiencing a slight paralysis. I don’t want to experience any regret with any decisions that I will make. So, I’m making an effort to really think things through. Nope…I don’t think it’s in my nature to really leap before I look.

So, OK, now that I’ve just turned 28 years old, what will be my keyword meditation for this year?  In my mind, I feel like I’ve planted many seeds in the past year.  They’ve been watered and are starting to sprout.  I’m going to have to spend a good amount of time nurturing everything.  Hopefully all of the growth will take me to higher places.  So, with that in mind I think my keyword will be “elevation.”  I’m hoping that all of the positive energy I’m trying to harness will bring me to higher and higher places.

When it comes to home life, I’ve already taken the big step of getting out there on my own.  I now have my own place to retreat to, and a proper mortgage.  Really, I don’t think there’s much that’s going to change in that area of my life.  If there’s any change to be had, it will have to do with how I utilize this space.  I’m not even talking about decor, but about how I can use this place as a springboard.  I’m closer to the heart of Toronto than I ever have been before, so why haven’t I ventured downtown more often?  There’s a theatre 9 stops down the subway line from me that offers improv classes.  I’ve always wanted to go and try it out, so why haven’t I signed up yet?  See?  There’s much potential related to my location that I haven’t realized yet.

As for the career, man, things have become downright strange.  Through a couple of twists of fate I’m suddenly the person on my team with the most of experience.  To the people that I know that are aware of my situation, I tell them that if that’s true that means that things are screwed!  On one level that’s something I say jokingly to get a laugh out of people.  However, secretly, I think I really mean it.  Currently, I don’t think I have the confidence to meet the new challenges that I will have to face.  That being said, I have no intentions of backing down and running.  I know no one who knows me will put any unreasonable expectations on me, so I will just have to hold my ground and do my best.  These are some interesting times.  I have no idea how the work landscape will change, but change will indeed come.

As I’ve mentioned in some recent posts, I’ve consciously been making an effort to get myself into a better state of health.  In the past month, I swear, I have finally found the keys to the solution that I’ve been looking for all this time.  Now it’s just a matter of keeping it up.  For running, I’m now passing on what I’ve learned to other people.  It’s really the least I can do to show my gratitude to the community that helped me learn to love running.  I will do my best to share my enthusiasm.  Soon enough though it’ll be time to try to reach for a new goal.  I keep saying that I’ll start training for a full marathon in May, but will I have the courage to go ahead and do it?  I have a couple of months to build up that courage.

Anyway, I guess that’s the trio of areas that I wanted to touch on in this entry.  I don’t know what the year will bring, but it seems like success will depend on me having the courage to initiate or grab onto opportunities that are available but not directly in front of me.  In all honesty, I guess I’m OK with that.  Nothing like a little effort, right?  Hopefully it will all take me to the new heights that I seem to desire.

I know, it’s a bit past midnight as I post this, but I’m marking this as Saturday’s post.  It’s a little bit of a cheat (again) but I’m OK with that.  Why the late post tonight?  Well, I just spent the last two hours constructing this cabinet over the left.  Nice, eh?  I’ve really been meaning to put a cabinet like this in there for the longest time.  That’s because the bathroom really doesn’t have all that much storage space.  At most, there’s just the vanity, but it’s not convenient to stash anything away there.  That’s where a cabinet like this comes in.  Anyway, the process of getting to that point wasn’t the easiest.

Earlier today I was at the local Canadian Tire looking for the Debbie Travis brand of this cabinet.  I saw a white one, but I wasn’t in the mood to make my bathroom have some sort of Nantucket feel.  No, thank you.  I checked with the clerk and they said that there was one available at another location on the Danforth.  When I heard that I was dreading the drive over, mostly because the road is always crowded and narrow.  So, I set out there but somehow managed to head in the wrong direction several times.  God knows how because Toronto roads are very grid-like.  I guess I just forgot whether the destination was further east or west.  Anyway, when I got there I got to the expected aisle only to find the damn Nantucket style cabinet.  I checked with a clerk who found that their only available one was the display model.  I asked about it and they were willing to take off $60.  Not a bad deal, however, I was really wondering how the heck I’d stuff it into my car.  I know my Corolla is capable of carrying a lot, but this thing?  Besides, the floor model was looking a little worse for wear.  So, in the end I ended up getting this Home Collections brand.

Now, like I said, I spent the past while putting it together.  I followed the instructions closely and it came together well.  I think I scratched my hardwood floor in the process though.  Dumb, dumb, dumb.  Once it was done I grabbed it and went to put it over the toilet.  Thing is…see that wood piece between the two back legs?  That actually blocked me from easily sliding it in.  Damn it!

I ended up having to partially disassemble the thing, take the legs and go over and behind, then place the cabinet part back on.  No, I suppose it wasn’t that bad, but I feel like the company should have noted that in the instructions.  I suppose I could have carried the whole cabinet up and over, but the bathroom ceiling isn’t that high.  Besides, I wasn’t going to risk having the whole lot collapse or fall apart–especially since I’m the only one working on the damn thing.

So, it’s in place, but I think I should really consider anchoring the thing to the wall.  I don’t want it to tip over once it’s loaded with stuff, you know?  Sounds great in theory, but I think I’ll end up being too lazy to care.  I’ll put stuff in there tomorrow morning.  For now, I’m just sleepy.