Cam I Am

This year has been yet another roller coaster year for me..

Where to start?  Well, after trying for 2-3 years, I finally transferred from the Vancouver Operations Centre to Abbotsford in late January.  The commute has been so much better!  The people out there are great and it certainly was the change that I needed.  I’ve applied for a couple of service technician positions out there, one of which is still pending.  I’m ready for a change.  I’ve been an installer for over 8 years.

It terms of travel, I’ve been very lucky.  I had the opportunity to go to Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon in April.  Going to Las Vegas was amazing just for the experience of the altered reality that it provides.  Arizona and the Grand Canyon had a different significance to me.  In the winter, my grandfather would go down to the Tucson area to wait out the cold to leave southern Ontario.  As a child, I remember him talking about Arizona and what it has to offer.  He should us pictures of the Grand Canyon and even then, I knew that I wanted to go see it for myself some day.  Well, mid-April was my chance, and I couldn’t pass it up.  Even though it is very much a tourist attraction, I managed to find some peace there.  I literally sat on the edge, looking over it and thought about my grandfather.  Meghan just let me have my time there, not saying a word.  It was what I needed.

Two months after that trip, it was time to take out highly anticipated cross-country trek from Maple Ridge to Winnipeg.  My youngest brother was getting married and I simply could not miss it.  on a nearly 2 week trip, we drove across, seeing many things along the way.  It was great to reconnect with my family again and spend some time with them.  This was also an opportunity to get to know my new sister-in-law a little more.  Andrew and Martha seem to be perfect for each other.

In the summer, Meghan, the girls and I went camping only once, but we made it worthwhile.  We went to Vancouver Island and stayed in Victoria for the first night (and a hotel there!).  The next morning we drove up the coast to the Courtney are and stayed at Miracle Beach.  It was nice and sandy, but we didn’t get a lot of opportunity to enjoy it due to rain.  We did manage to find a short window of time when the tide was out to go digging in the sand for sand dollars and clams.  (They bite, I discovered!).  We also managed to find Canada’s largest geocache.  Then again, it’s not that hard to miss as you go by.

Lastly, in terms of travel, Meghan and I didn’t have the kids over Thanksgiving, so we decided to take a quick two-day trip down the west coast to Oregon.  We managed to get all the way down to Florence, where there are a lot of sand dunes.  We would have gone on a dune buggy, but we got there too late.  So, we drove to a state recreation area with sand dunes, and played in the sand there (both myself and in my truck).

It has been a remarkable year for geocaching for me.  My personal goal for the year was to find 200, which was double the amount that I had found the previous year..  Well..  I blew that out of the water.  Unless I go out with the kids later today to find one (not very likely), I found 386 in four provinces and four states.  Not too shabby.  I think I’ll try and make my goal for next year to be somewhere between 400-450.

Towards the end of the year, my back injury has been getting worse again.  For the month of December, I’ve been restricted to light office duties until it improves.  I find out on January 4th what the next course of action will be.  It could be a bumpy year next year.

For 2012, I’ve set some goals for myself.  I plan on losing a fair bit of weight, and getting into yoga to help strengthen my core muscles.  In a general sense, I’m planning on getting rid of the crap in my life — both physically and mentally.  I’ve been letting too much drag me down and that has to change.

So..  That’s pretty much it.  I’m also hoping to start blogging some more.  The one thing I’ve noticed about myself is that when the shit hits the fan, that’s when I get quiet on here and Facebook.  I’ll try to keep the complaining to a minimum too..  :)

Happy New Year everyone!  I hope your 2012 treats you well!

Well, after a little more than a month of my site being down, I’ve got things taken care of with my webhost and I’m online again!

So, where to begin..

First, I’m transferring offices starting this Monday morning.  After over 7 years out of the Vancouver office, I’m going to the Abbotsford office.  While the distance to my new reporting station is the same, the commute will go from 75 minutes to 35.  It’s hard to argue with that.  I’ve been out there before to help out when they’ve needed it, but this will be a permanent change.

I had a blog that I started to write on Christmas Eve that I still need to post (and will be backdated to that date)..  It’s funny, even though the Christmas season is over.

Now onto the reason why my site was down.  Back in November, I received my semi-annual notice that I was going to be billed for the next six months, but I needed to update my credit card info with 1&1.  I didn’t do anything about it, and then I simply didn’t have the money.  But thanks to a certain someones generosity, I’m back up..  well..  until May anyways.  I had considered letting it lapse completely, but I came to the realization that I like this as a tool to vent..  or comment..  or whatever.  If no one reads it, I still find it a creative outlet.

I’ve been busy geocaching recently too.  Just today, I found “The Hunny Pot” out in Vancouver’s West Side.  Total found: 168.  Total hidden: 4 now!

Now, since I’m online again, I decided to continue my annual tradition of changing the picture on the home page.  This year, this is a shot of an eagle flying right by me when I took the kids up to Brackendale to see the eagles.  I find it ironic that EagleinBC was taking pictures of eagles in BC.  :)

Have a great weekend!  I plan on being a lot more active on my blog this year..

Just in time for Christmas, I’ve decided to post another blog. Yes, I have been quiet recently.

It’s Christmas Eve, and I’m lucky enough to work a half day today. I looked at my route when I got to the office this morning and it looks straightforward. So, I proceed to my first call of the day.

I arrive and find out that the customer would like to have TV service in his bedroom, where he already has internet. Great! No problem!

So, I start my work. I go to plug in the digital box that I’ve brought to hook up when I see a used condom entangled in the wires that I am working near/around.  The guy is sitting nearby and I know he sees what I see, but does nothing.  WTF?!

So, as I gingerly pick around the area, being careful to not touch it and on the lookout for other rogue condoms that could be lurking in the collection of wires and dirty socks.  Meanwhile, this guy is chatting away with me either ignoring or oblivious to the fact that I may find the situation a little disgusting..

I finished up and booked it out of that call.   Fortunately, the rest of my morning was uneventful..  :)

And on that note, Merry Christmas!  :)

I’ve told this story to a few people and thought that I’d share it here..

Back in August, I was working in Abbotsford.  While I don’t remember every call I go to, this is one I’ll never forget.

At this call, I was installing digital phone for a lady that lives in a trailer/mobile home.  After I explained what I needed to do to install it, I went outside to find our connection point for cable (CSE) and telephone demarcation point. 

What luck!  Our CSE was on the front of the trailer!  Usually they are underneath the skirt of the trailer!  I follow the telephone drop and discover that it goes underneath the trailer. 

*SIGH* 

I’m a pretty big guy, so crawling around under a trailer isn’t exactly fun, but it’s part of the job.  I look around for the access panel to get under and discover I can’t find it.  In the customer’s carport, there was a lot of.. well..  crap really.  She mentions something about her daughter recently moving in with her and blah, blah, blah..  

Eventually, we find it.  I pop the panel open and peer in through the opening.  There is a lot of insulation hanging down, but about six feet in, I can see the demarc.  As I get ready to crawl under, I see something on the ground just inside and to the right. 

“What that hell is that!?”, I exclaim.  A slightly closer look and I realize..

It’s the skeleton of some animal!  No flesh or fur, just this skeleton of some animal!  I’m not talking about a mouse or rat, but something much larger.  I say to the customer, “What is that?  It doesn’t look like it’s a cat..  maybe a racoon?”

She replies, “It might be a possum!  We have lots of those around!”  I looked a little closer at it and then noticed something. 

“It has no legs!?  And how would it get under there?”

The customer’s answer is what I found amusing!  She said, “There’s a big hole in the back under the trailer.  You know, come to think of it, I remember a few months ago hearing a big fight under there.   And for the longest time, there were tons of flies out front here for a while too!”

I close the panel and tell her that I had no plans for going under there.  Fortunately, the customer understood why (mainly because I don’t know what’s still under there and alive!)  Then she asked me who she would call to remove and dispose of the legless possum remains.

I smiled and said, “I don’t know..  but certainly not the cable guy!”

I had one of the most creative/bizzare reasons for a customer canceling his order today..

On the work order, the call seemed pretty routine.  Install digital phone for a customer in Vancouver’s downtown eastside.  I get to the building, the manager lets me in and then askes me which suite I was going to.  I tell him which one was getting phone service and he asks me what name was on the work order.  I tell him the woman’s name I had, and he looked at me and said, “That doesn’t sound right at all!  But I do know who that is!”

The manager and I went up to the customers suite, and knock on the door.  Once the customer answered, the manager informed him that I was there to hook up phone.  The customers reply was:

“Oh no.  I didn’t want the service right now.  Please cancel it! One of the hookers that I had over must have ordered it!” 

Dumbfounded, I replied that I’d cancel the order for him and walked out, shaking my head in disbelief.  I’ve never had that as a reason to cancel an order before..

Only on the downtown eastside.. 

On October 29th, I had my final appeal with WCB.  With a slim chance of having a decision in my favour at this point, I had accepted that the matter was essentially over.

Until today…

Continue Reading »

A couple days ago, I was chatting with a co-worker who lives near me. We were talking about how much time we spend commuting.. Then we started doing some quick math..

It seems that I spend 22 days of the year driving to and from work. This doesn’t include the driving I do DURING the workday, just getting to and from the office. I have to admit that I was amazed that I waste that much time in a year.

I’m kind of curious about the amount of time I waste waiting for elevators..

So.. how much time do you spend driving in a year?

Today, I had my final appeal hearing with the Worker’s Compensation Appeal Tribunal (WCAT). This all stems from me re-injuring my back in July 2007.

To make a very long story short, I hurt myself at work, but failed to report it to anyone for 6 weeks.. Once I did, there was obvious doubt from my employer and WorksafeBC about the validity of my claim. After they denied my claim, it submitted it to the Review Division. Naturally, they upheld the decision, and at this time, Shaw (my employer!) agreed with their decision. After this, I submitted the claim to WCAT, which is part of WorksafeBC, but not.

Yesterday’s hearing went as well as expected. I managed to clarify some points that I think had been missed/overlooked up to this point and I feel as if someone (who can correct things) has listened to me.. I know that the chances of a decision ultimately going in my favour are slim, but I think that they have all the facts that I needed them to know.

So, now I wait. The latest I should recieve an answer is January 19, 2009, but I think I’ll have an answer before then.

Overall, I’m glad that this chapter of my life is over. The last 3 1/2 years have not been easy, but I have my health, my family, and I’m able to do all the things that I want too..

It’s all good…

After several years of going to this building, I’ve finally decided to take a picture of something that has always confused me about the parking situation. As you will see below, I parked in what is clearly marked as “Visitors Parking”. The confusing part is the sign that is posted there.

Umm.. what?   No Parking In This Area?   How can this be called Visitors Parking if I can’t park there? 

Well, here it is..   the end of September..

The last couple of months have really gone by fast.  Tomorrow is my last day working in Abbotsford, then it’s back to Vancouver.  I’ve got mixed feelings about returning to my usual routine at VTOC..  I’ve enjoyed working out in the valley (not to mention the easier commute and the cheaper gas!)..  But all good things must come to an end..

A couple weeks ago, I hosted a “thank-you” BBQ for all our friends that helped us out over the last year or so..  I’m glad to say that everyone made it, and we all had a good time.   We made chicken and steak shish-kabobs, grilled salmon, and grilled caesar salad.

Grilled caesar salad?  Yup..  When I throw a BBQ, I throw everything on the grill..  even the lettuce for the salad! 

The Thanksgiving weekend is coming up in a couple weeks, and we’ll be making our annual trip up to the in-laws place for the weekend.   It’ll be nice to go away for a weekend with the kids and my wife, especially since we didn’t get a chance to this past summer.. 

That’s about all!  Well..  aside from the Sasquatch Research that is!   On my way home from work today, I passed by a green jeep in Mission, with a sign on the side that simply read “Sasquatch Research” and a local phone number..  I found this amusing (which I’m sure that Mark is the only other person who will also see the humour in me pointing it out!).  Unfortunately, I wasn’t quick enough with the camera to get a shot of it..  Oh well..  I’ll be on the lookout for it again..    It’s not as amusing as “Ho-mart”, but still funny..