Welcome to 2004
The holiday season is finally over, now it is time to rest. The end of 2003 was hectic and a bit stressful and I'm really looking forward to settling into my new life.
As I'm sure you know from previous posts, I was laid off from my first American job less than a week before Christmas. I phoned the owner's wife up on the Monday and asked when I could pick up my last paycheck, I figured I'd grab it and deposit it before Julie and I headed for her parents place for the Christmas break. I was told that Janet, the owner's wife, was busy and could she call me back in a couple of minutes. I said sure no problem and waited around for an hour and half before heading out to do other errands, and while I was out she never did return my call. So I call back the next day and again was asked to be put on hold while Janet could be found. A couple minutes later she answers the phone and it was obvious she'd rather be doing anything else at this very moment in time. I asked her if I could pick up my check and she responded by saying that they were going to mail it out today. I assured her it would be no problem for me to come pick it up instead (she wasn't going to get off that easy with me). She said that I could pick it up but it wouldn't be ready until the next day. What? I explained to her that if the check was ready to be mailed out today then it should be ready for me to pick it up today as well... makes sense right? She informed me that she hadn't made her deposits yet so the check would be no good until tomorrow. Is this the same company that when they hired me said they have many multi-million dollar contracts on the go at all times and yet they can't meet the payroll for 7 guys? This just confirms all the negative rumors I heard about this place.
Christmas Eve was spent at Julie's parents house where they held their annual shin-dig. It's basically an all day party where people come and go continuously, as well as the day when everybody opens their presents. The party peaked at about 30 to 35 people at one point and my lovely wife was the star of the show. It had been a long time since she was able to "let loose" and since we didn't have to drive that night, combined with the fact she hadn't seen most of her family since the wedding, she didn't try holding back at all. Everybody had a great time and Julie laughed for what seemed like three hours straight. :) For some reason I had a great brainstorm to hand Julie my camera with a fresh roll of film, 15 minutes later I got the camera back with 31 pictures taken. Perhaps 3 or 4 will actually make it into a photo album.
Christmas Day was quiet as just a few of us stayed indoors at her parents house. They ended up cooking a nice ham and basically everybody took turns falling asleep on the couch and chairs. The weather was warm and the skies were for the most part clear and there was no sign of snow anywhere, it sure reminded me of Christmas back home. The weather in Vancouver is traditionally mild year around so having no snow on Christmas day isn't a big deal for me. Of course as I'm writing this my hometown is absolutely getting dumped on by old man winter...lol
New Years Eve was kind of weird. Julie and I have spent the last two years together alone to celebrate, first going to New York City's Times Square to bring in 2002 and then last year going to Victoria on Vancouver Island to bring in 2003. After the last year we decided that we wanted to be near friends and family to celebrate and here we are, finally together after all this time, and we have no plans for New Years. We eventually did end up at a country bar where Julie's Uncle and his band were playing that night so we got to be with lots of family and friends.
The next day we got up and packed our bags heading for the casinos. There's two large destination style casinos about an hour and a half away from us called The Mohegan Sun and nearby is Foxwoods. We lost money at everything we played and grumbled under our breaths on the way home. Oh well, we got a chance to get away for a short bit before heading back to work on Monday.
I have to go deal with INS on Monday to re-new my work permit. Gee, I'm really looking forward to THAT! I'm hoping things will go smoothly so I can come home and start looking for work again. I have a couple of good prospects already so with any luck I should be back working shortly. This new work permit is good for a year so it will also be nice not having to worry about them for a while. 2004 is looking good already :)
I hope everybody had a wonderful holiday season and I wish nothing but the best for all of you in 2004.
As I'm sure you know from previous posts, I was laid off from my first American job less than a week before Christmas. I phoned the owner's wife up on the Monday and asked when I could pick up my last paycheck, I figured I'd grab it and deposit it before Julie and I headed for her parents place for the Christmas break. I was told that Janet, the owner's wife, was busy and could she call me back in a couple of minutes. I said sure no problem and waited around for an hour and half before heading out to do other errands, and while I was out she never did return my call. So I call back the next day and again was asked to be put on hold while Janet could be found. A couple minutes later she answers the phone and it was obvious she'd rather be doing anything else at this very moment in time. I asked her if I could pick up my check and she responded by saying that they were going to mail it out today. I assured her it would be no problem for me to come pick it up instead (she wasn't going to get off that easy with me). She said that I could pick it up but it wouldn't be ready until the next day. What? I explained to her that if the check was ready to be mailed out today then it should be ready for me to pick it up today as well... makes sense right? She informed me that she hadn't made her deposits yet so the check would be no good until tomorrow. Is this the same company that when they hired me said they have many multi-million dollar contracts on the go at all times and yet they can't meet the payroll for 7 guys? This just confirms all the negative rumors I heard about this place.
Christmas Eve was spent at Julie's parents house where they held their annual shin-dig. It's basically an all day party where people come and go continuously, as well as the day when everybody opens their presents. The party peaked at about 30 to 35 people at one point and my lovely wife was the star of the show. It had been a long time since she was able to "let loose" and since we didn't have to drive that night, combined with the fact she hadn't seen most of her family since the wedding, she didn't try holding back at all. Everybody had a great time and Julie laughed for what seemed like three hours straight. :) For some reason I had a great brainstorm to hand Julie my camera with a fresh roll of film, 15 minutes later I got the camera back with 31 pictures taken. Perhaps 3 or 4 will actually make it into a photo album.
Christmas Day was quiet as just a few of us stayed indoors at her parents house. They ended up cooking a nice ham and basically everybody took turns falling asleep on the couch and chairs. The weather was warm and the skies were for the most part clear and there was no sign of snow anywhere, it sure reminded me of Christmas back home. The weather in Vancouver is traditionally mild year around so having no snow on Christmas day isn't a big deal for me. Of course as I'm writing this my hometown is absolutely getting dumped on by old man winter...lol
New Years Eve was kind of weird. Julie and I have spent the last two years together alone to celebrate, first going to New York City's Times Square to bring in 2002 and then last year going to Victoria on Vancouver Island to bring in 2003. After the last year we decided that we wanted to be near friends and family to celebrate and here we are, finally together after all this time, and we have no plans for New Years. We eventually did end up at a country bar where Julie's Uncle and his band were playing that night so we got to be with lots of family and friends.
The next day we got up and packed our bags heading for the casinos. There's two large destination style casinos about an hour and a half away from us called The Mohegan Sun and nearby is Foxwoods. We lost money at everything we played and grumbled under our breaths on the way home. Oh well, we got a chance to get away for a short bit before heading back to work on Monday.
I have to go deal with INS on Monday to re-new my work permit. Gee, I'm really looking forward to THAT! I'm hoping things will go smoothly so I can come home and start looking for work again. I have a couple of good prospects already so with any luck I should be back working shortly. This new work permit is good for a year so it will also be nice not having to worry about them for a while. 2004 is looking good already :)
I hope everybody had a wonderful holiday season and I wish nothing but the best for all of you in 2004.
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