Making It Up As I Go Along #301

MONDAY...
— Early morning to work. Work is okay and is done by 11:00 thanks to the boss giving us a really Happy New Year.
— Relax for a bit... do some afternoon writing... and Karl comes by at 7. We have pizza and hang for a while before going off to see I Am Legend at the movies. I like it... good flick.
— Some alone time to end the night... with falling asleep on the sofa ending it.

TUESDAY...
— Watch the Bourne Identity in the morning... hard to believe I’d never seen it before but it’s good.
— Outdoor NHL hockey in the afternoon.
— Bourne Supremacy after that... and the Bourne Ultimatum to end the night.

WEDNESDAY...
— Junior hockey on TV in the morning... then to work for the evening shift. Cold day out there. Around -18 with a wind chill around -29.

THURSDAY...
— Hang around the house in the morning... too cold outside again today.
— Work is okay. I plug in to the music for much of it and keep the talking down to a minimum.

FRIDAY...
— Not feeling super in the morning. Tired and kind of sore. But as work goes, I get better.
— Super is Thai food with Trevor and Sheila today. Not too bad.

SATURDAY...
— Do nothing for much of the day, but then get busy. Leave just after 3:00 to get Janice, Sheila and Nicole. We’re at the hockey stadium by 4:30. Supper and then the Tampa Bay vs. Ottawa game. Good game, Ottawa wins 4-3 in overtime. Home again by 11:30 after all the traffic and dropping the girls off again.
— Canada wins cold again at the World Junior Tournament. Beating Sweden in the final game. I only get to see the first period before having to leave for the night out.


Can You Spare Some Change
Change. It goes on all around us, at all times. Today, for the first time since July, I changed the background on my computer. No longer are the icons for “My Computer” and “Firefox” and “Wordperfect” atop a snowy BC mountain. Today, they line the stands of a hockey stadium, with a giant Canadian flag being passed through the upper deck (for those on my blog, the picture attached to this piece).

One year ago, I was just finishing up my stint supervising a team of eight people in CNI. Today, I’m a member of a team back in AFIS and CNI has fewer than eight people in its entirety, the two supervisors included. It’s moved to a different room within the office and there’s no longer shift work there.

One year ago, I was on pretty bad terms with someone I see as a pretty good friend... and we were about to become teammates in AFIS together. Today, she no longer works with the RCMP and is preparing for work in Toronto... and we’re as good of friends now as we’ve ever been.

One year ago, there were close to sixty people in my current department at work. Today, there are just over thirty, with several still unsure what the future holds for them.

Two of my good friends got married within the last year and families sprout up all around me, both through people at work and friends from home.

Some things seem to never change. Or, if they do, only slightly. I have a few friends here in Ottawa who I can rely on just as much as I ever have in the past. They’re always there with a smile and desire to catch up even if we’ve gone just a few days without seeing each other.

I have friends back home and in other cities. They remain close, despite the distance. My sister and her family are there in BC, and my parents still back in the only house I knew growing up.

Not a great deal has changed with me. I remain in the same house and as single as ever. I probably have too many of the same old pairs of socks that I had last year... and the same old t-shirts that are only good to wear under sweatshirts or sweaters. I still hate getting up at 5:15 in the morning. I still hate looking at a clock and deciding its time for bed. And despite a summer of walking and more concern for what I eat, I’m pretty much the same size as I was the year before too.

I did go with a goatee for three weeks. It’s gone again now... too grey and shaggy. But maybe it’ll be back someday.

And I do have a new car. The red Echo is gone and a black Mazda is there... in the same ol’ parking space.

Advertising remains all around me. Most of the e-mails I receive are spam, most of the phone calls I get are telemarketers, and most of my mail goes straight into my paper recycling.

So what does it all mean? I don’t know. I’ve been struck by the changes and sameness of the past year I guess. And left to wonder what the next year will bring. I guess these are the thoughts of someone whose had a busy few weeks around the New Year, and a rainy quiet day to settle down in front of the computer.

And this week’s update may not be terribly funny, or overly poetic... but it is a bit of a change. And that’s the way things go.