Finding Treasure

On saturday I went out to Wal-mart to get some toiletries for myself. While there, I went over to that big box of discount dvd's that everyone is always rummaging through. Here's the thing about that bin. It is usually filled with lot of crappy movies. Case in point, Cabin Boy. For those who don't know, Cabin Boy is a movie starring Chris Elliott, who used to be on Letterman all the time doing various skits and was a writer on the show. You may recall him from movies like Scary Movie 2 and There's Something About Mary. So in any case, there the movie was in the discount bin, all $6.88 of it. What you may not know is that this movie has a cameo appearance by David Letterman, so of course I bought it. I actually have this movie on VHS, but when I saw (and well several other copies) it on dvd I had to buy it. Yes, it's a horrible movie, but you know, I gotta have my Dave!

However, in among all of that crap, was a little gem of a movie called To Die For, starring Nicole Kidman. She plays a woman who wants to be on TV so bad, she seduces a young man (Joaquin Phoenix) into killing her husband (Matt Dillion). It's a terrific little movie which I had seen before, so into my basket went the dvd.

So, even among the crap there is always a gem. I believe their is a life lesson in there somewhere.

Fundraiser

Last night I treked out to Keene to attend a fundraiser for the International Plowing Match (IPM). The Demin and Diamonds event was being held at the host farm of the IPM, Glen Isle Farm which is owned by Jim & Margaret Glenn. There was a beef BBQ, live and silent auctions and dance, and it was held in a very large shed which normally holds tractors.

A couple of things struck me. First off, Glen Isle Farm is a huge operation, they do hay, straw and seed and deliver into the US. They had, I am not kidding, 4or 5 tractor trailors with their name on them parked by the shed and apparently they have about 10 farms in total. So, I guess this is one farm family doing alright for themselves. The other observation was that the crowd was made up largely of older people. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised by this, considering where we were and that it was for the IPM.

I would have to say that the evening was a huge success, 600 tickets were printed and I think almost all where sold, so at $20 a pop, well you can do the math. Plus the auctions brought in $22,000. Jeff Leal, MPP for Peterborough was in attendance and made the announcement that the province was kicking in $30,000 for the IPM to use for advertising, etc, and finally Jim Glenn & family contributed $5,000. That's about $69,000 for the night.

As for my job, this week was a bit slow for me, at times I had nothing to do. I know their is lots of work for me to do, but I think they have been preoccupied with this whole fundraiser and this week should see me really getting into my work more and keeping busy.

That's it for now, more updates later.

Bra Mishap

I can't believe what I did today. So I get dressed this morning and take off for work. While I am in the car driving on the 115, just before the Hwy 28 exit I am thinking I am wearing a black bra but my shirt is a light pink and white button down. I can see the bra right through my shirt. I feel so completely silly. So of course I realize I can't go to the office like this, so I turn around and drive home to put on my nude coloured bra. I end up about 20 minutes late for work, but luckily they don't seem to care.

I blame the hydro outage, yah thats right, I was dazed and confused from trying to sleep in my over-heated bedroom with no hydro last night.

Well, I guess thats another life lesson boys and girls, try to remember what coloured bra you are wearing when putting on shirts in the morning....

Day 2 (Well, actually Day 1)

Today I finally made it to work. My car did get fixed late last night, it was the starter. My first day was honestly pretty uneventful, basically just becoming familiar with the event, which was fine, I understood that today was a Friday and they didn't really want to "throw me in the deep end" today. Plus they still need to set up my computer and phone line. Looks like I will be using a laptop. But it looks like Monday and the rest of the weeks will be very busy for myself, which is fine by me.
Plus, it doesn't hurt that a Tim Hortons is right next door to us.

Day 1

So today was suppose to be my first day at work. In short, it has been a bust. You see I got up all bright eyed and bushy tailed ready for my new job. I drove into Ptbo and went to the federal building downtown to sign my contract before heading over to my actual workplace. Get there, go up and sign it, no problem. Come back down, get into my car and it won't start. Problem. I'm thinking why is this happening to me, on this day of all days.

Well, my mom comes and picks me up and now my car is sitting on King Street waiting for Brian to take a look at it later this evening. Hopefully it will get fixed tonight so I can go to work (finally) tomorrow. In any case, this has been my day, hope all of yours are going better.

On the plus side my fortune cookie last night said I would be receiving a gift soon. Here's how I envision this happening, "Margaret you have won a new car!" It could happen.

Job Decision

Today I finally decided to go with the job from the International Plowing Match & Rural Expo 2006. Even though the job is shorter than the other position I believe for right now I made the better choice for my career development. While the other job was longer (until Jan 20th) there were some questions about funding for the position, so in the end I could not pass up this opportunity.

So it is possible I might be starting tomorrow, however I am thinking it might be more like Thursday, depending on when Norm gets back from Toronto tomorrow (he is having some post-operative follow-up done). Of course when I actually start working I will let you all know how it is going.

You check out their website at http://www.peterboroughipm.ca/.

Last Song

I am listening to my favourite radio station, The Edge 102.1, and one of their radio personalities Barry Taylor. Now I love listening to Barry Taylor, he always makes me laugh. He has these little "segments" he does, the Barry Funny Joke, the surveys he does, and his 4:20 thought.

So the other day he throws out this question to the listeners to ponder and now I pass it along to all of you to think about. What last song would you want played at your funeral? Now I have been thinking about this and I haven't come up with anything yet. I am thinking it has to be something peppy. I mean who wants to hear a downer of a song at a funeral? You need to go out on a high note, I think.

I was thinking about my friend Chris, who loves Madonna, perhaps "Holiday"? Since, well, you will be taking a very long holiday, you know the dirt nap kind of holiday. Picture it: people are weeping at your funeral and then over the loud speakers, Holiday starts playing. It would be freakin' unreal.

So, whats it going to be. Perhaps some Marilyn Mason, Beyonce, who knows. I would love to hear about your song choices.

Job Update

As most of you know I have been searching for employment for some time now. Today I had a very informal interview in Peterborough with the International Plowing Match & Rural Expo 2006. They are needing an entertainment coordinator. Just a little background on this position, if you can believe it I actually sent out a resume for this job back in January, didn't hear anything until like May and now today I finally get to speak to someone. In any case, they really want me for the job, however I need to think about it because I have another job interview on Monday morning with Technology Alliance Group (TAG), who I once actually worked for a couple of years ago. The position there is for a Rural Development Officer, so basically fundraising.

So, the dilemma is that the first job (Plow Match) would probably be better on my resume, since I would coordinating like 1500 volunteers at an event that draws 100,000 people, but the position would end shortly after the event is over (it begins Sept. 19th). The other position is longer, til January 07, but it is doing fundraising which I am not sure I really want to be doing and doesn't really improve my resume.

So, in any case, I told the Plow guy (actually his name is Norm) that I would get back to him on Monday. I am not entirely sure what to do right now. So I have the weekend to ponder my options.

I will let you know what I decide to do.

NYC Recap

Yes, I am back from the Big Apple, a bit tired, but otherwise in tact. We all took off early Thursday morning and arrived in Manhattan around 5:30pm. The drive down was uneventful, except for seeing some very swollen rivers and flooding of homes. I would also like to comment that Americans seem to understand the concept of not driving in the left lane, they actually get over for passing cars, unlike our Canadian selves. Enough on that.

So after checking in we walked around Times Square a little and grabbed some dinner at a very good chinese restaurant close to the hotel. Cory and myself called it an evening, while the others went out for some late night fun.

Friday we went down to the World Trade Centre, its still such a sad place to visit, to think of the enoromous destruction that took place that day. In particular, there are plaques with messages from children who lost loved ones on the wall, it is a moving reminder of the human toll. Afterwards we went over to Century 21, a well known discount store in NYC. I ended up buying a pair of Puma sneakers. We then headed up to Canal Street in Little Italy, where quite frankly I had the best time. For those who don't know, Canal Street is where you can buy all of those knock-off designer bags. Well, let me tell you, you just walk around the street and these little asian women are saying "Gucci, Prada, LV", so you approach them and they then take you to a locked door that leads upstairs to some room full of fake designer bags. It's all very seedy, but honestly I LOVED IT! It was the highlight of the trip for me. I ended up buying an LV bag and later Chris bought me a black Prada for my birthday.

On Saturday we trekked up to the Ed Sullivan Theatre where the Late Show with David Letterman is taped. Of course being a huge fan, I had to go there and get some pics of myself in front of the theatre. I also got to see the Hello Deli, the famous deli where Dave often talks to Rupert Jee the owner. We actually got some sandwiches to go, I ordered the Shaffer, which was delicious. We then walked up to Central Park and walked around for a bit. For dinner we meet up with our friend Keir and his girlfriend Trish, it was nice to see them. Later that night, we all went out to The Roxy, a club downtown, where a good time was had by all. Let's just say that $1 drinks between 11pm-12pm were invloved.

Sunday, we went down to Century 21 again, where Cory bought his iLuv system for his Ipod, he loves it. Then we walked around SoHo and had lunch there, checked out Union Square. Chris, Antonio and myself then went uptown where I checked out Bloomingdales and they went to the Diesel store. Then of course it was back to the hotel to get ready for Madonna. The concert was great, with my favourite parts being, the opening numbers, I Love New York, and Hung Up. After the concert some of us went to Hiro. The place was incredibly crowded and very hot, I am sure I sweated off 10 pounds (at least I hope I did).

Monday was of course our travel day back to Burlington/Toronto. We were up and out by noon, on the road, with the exception of a very long toll line the ride home was fine, just tiring.

The time seem to go by all too quickly, as you can imagine in NYC there is so much to see and do and there is never enough time. I can't wait to go back another time.

(Footnote: I have pics of myself in front of the Ed Sullivan Theatre, however they don't seem to want to attach to this blog, I think they are too large. Try to picture myself in front of the theatre.)