I lean with my back against the wall. Today was supposed to be easy, just a quick check in at the office, enjoy a coffee and then head to the indoor golf range.
doesn't look like I'll be working the irons today though' I mutter under my breath as I pick my head off the concrete wall and move towards the cafeteria.
I scan each area of the hospital quickly and am back to the main entrance in under 10 minutes, my futile search ending where I started out. Uneasy doesn't begin to describe the feeling as my eyes drift, as if in slow motion, to the front door where shiny chains are strung through the handles effectively trapping me in. My heart starts to pound as I quietly head back down the hallway, checking for an unlocked door but only the windowless bathroom is open. I slip in and check the stalls to ensure I'm alone and once satisfied I sit on the counter and try to think.

Drop-Ceiling.

In most retail/business buildings there is no solid ceiling, a false one is created so there is easy access to cabling, pipes and lighting. There is a crawl space large enough for me to fit! I jump up on the toilet and climb onto the top of the metal divider. Into the musty ceiling and through a tangle of wires I go and then softly settle the tile into place after me. The dim lighting makes it hard to navigate but raw determination to survive drives me on, my thoughts just earlier spread through my head and 7 layers out, now intensely focused in on one objective.
Get out Alive.

___________________________________________________________________




I can see Mr Morka through the thin slit I've created by slightly raising the edge of a ceiling tile. His balding head shaking as he spits Russian into the grime covered telephone, definitely convincing me he isn't all that happy with his day. As the conversation comes to an end he sits down and switches to English, talking in slow deliberate tones.
" Ven I ordered da hit I vas only sinking of da brosahood.'
My blood chills and I let the tile slap down causing Mr Morka to jerk his body around and yell something unintelligible into the phone. I hear crashing and movement and suddenly a large ice pick comes through the tile beside me, weakening the support system my body is perched on and I crash down to the floor losing consciousness.

Unfinished basement

Doesn't take long around here to fill up with snow! Started last night some time and covered up everything.

Good thing we still have somewhere to drive that jeep!




Walking to work in this doesn't look very fun.. sounded better on paper when I decided not to reinsure my car for the winter.. just park it I said.. sure! I'll walk to work.. it'll be great! What was I thinking?


Dentist today.. first appointment in a long time.. I better not have to get that flouride stuff. I think you only get it when you are a kid but they might get confused when I start playing with the 10cent toys and make me take flouride before taking my rubber ball home... I'll let you all know how it goes.

Ok I know I've asked for hobbies before on here... but I'm really lookin for some good suggestions today ok? This is the situation. I dont like the gym. I would like something active to do with my time. I looked for Rec hockey leagues online but couldn't find anything.. not that I can play hockey particularly well. And swimming is out of the question.. you have to get wet all time. Yoga is for gay men.

Help me find my active activity.. or just any activity for that matter! My choices so far are online poker or video games on the xbox.


Martina says HI.

P

I am a kool dad

Early christmas!!

















Got it put together... with a little help.

Super-cool princess!

I'm OUttta here!!

Do this

There is a new virus out.

DO this so you dont get infected..

Tools- Options- Use Current.

Click ok.


Peece Owt

Mr Morka

Tired hinges creak and echo through the workshop as I step inside Mr. Morka's lair. The Russian engineer is hard to understand but apparently knows his stuff, so we put up with the gutteral G's and the neverending V words ( vas is dees? My GGGrandma vould do dis verk betta!)
Just as I had suspected the shop is empty so I move quickly to where the keys are stored. An electrical panel with a false backing that unlocks by flipping the right sequence of breakers is all that stands in my way now. 62748902. The door opens and I pump the air like I just made a 42 foot putt for birdie. 'The old code still works' I laugh internally with a smile on my face.

"Vat de Hell are you doink?" A voice booms from behind me.
"Uh, Security check" I smoothly reply (stammer) to the short round man as I start to sweat.
Mr Morka narrows his eyes and then a like a light coming on he chortles: "Dat vladimir! E is a sneaky one eh! Alvays checkink on me!"
I join in the laughter and slam the panel shut and slap Mr Morka on the back. "You guessed it Mr M. you guessed it.." My hands are still shaking and I wonder why I don't just tell the truth.
"Do you know vere everyvone is today?"
"I was about to ask you the same question"
"Dere is only vone tink ve can do. Ve Must call in de professional!"
"I'm not sure we need your sharpshooter brother just yet, let's just try to find out whats going on ok?"


I leave Mr Morka and slip into the dimly lit hallway, determined to find out what is going on. The smell of bleach was overpowering when he had entered the room, and I suspect he may have something to do with why the hospital is so quiet today.

140 october pics

http://zanitram.spaces.live.com

Silence

I turn off my car and get out as the dynomax performance exhaust settles and stops its delightful rumbling. I've had to park in the lower lot which has significantly diminished the awe of the surrounding mountain view, for now I have to walk up the never ending monastery like steps to get inside to the warmth of Mills Memorial Hospital.
The eerie silence greets me like a stranger entering a bar in a small town, granted, my entrance is without the stares and snickers one might encounter at Harry's ol Beer Barn but the lobby is normally alive with crying kids, moaning sick and dripping babies, especially when the parking lot is full like this. I pinch myself and feel nothing, but that's because I'm superhuman. Ok it hurt a little bit, and I keep moving past hemodialysis where 10 patients are normally seated, passing the time as the phlebotomy procedure toils on endlessly. But not today. The seats are empty, machines silent and no nursing staff in sight.
I start to feel uneasy, wondering what could possibly have happened to lull the building to sleep. As I turn the corner and pass by the elevators my shoe squeaks on the shiny waxed floor, indicating the night shift staff were busy as usual last night, scrubbing the thousands of square footage by hand ( the machines broke last fall and we're still fundraising to have them repaired.. darn government cutbacks).
No sounds come from behind the doors in OR, Recovery or staffing and I choose not to look, but continue through to admin where I spend most of my days training the nursing staff computer skills and shuffling through the never-ending layers of political emails and voicemails.
The doors are locked, normally wide open by now inviting staff to come and complain about the lack of staffing or surplus of patients. The only option now is to backtrack and visit engineering to get a key, although if the rest of the hospital is any indication, I'll be on my own once I get there.
__________________________________________________________________

My room has no windows

The Skeena valley chill whips through my bones as I step out of the door and into the cold harsh reality we call life. The frost is thick, clinging to every stone, branch and windshield causing me to wish we'd chosen a warmer city. The breathtaking view slowly warms me, my frosty eyelashes taking in the fresh snowy mountains and glistening tree's between them and I. At least there isn't any snow yet I think to myself as I start the car and back out cautiously onto the road. A gear slips as my car starts up the daily short steep climb and wonder why I don't drive the other way to work. The dull yellow light of the Tim Hortons sign answers that thought quickly as I pick up speed to ensure I don't get too far back in the drive-through lineup.
What are so many people doing up this early anyway? I pull into the parking lot and decide to skip the busy drive through today and settle for the ancient Hospital coffee machine mud.
I usually enjoy the drive to work, I get to catch a bit of news and perhaps get a catchy tune stuck in my head for the remainder of the day.. but today as I arrive I notice there are no parking spots open and the new Colin James song is forgotten. The lot is usually half empty and a full parking lot always means some sort of disaster has struck........

____________________________________________________________________

I've noticed a difference as of late. Responses monotonous, lack of significant activity in others lives, as well as my own. The winter 'blahs' have arrived. The time of year that sucks the very life out of us and drys up our minds, our bodies and our motivation. So I've decided to start a mini blog novel to give us all something to look forward too.. something closer than summer.
What you just read was a preview of great things to come.. or at least.. things to come.

Beyond writing I have been busy with other things;

Winter is starting to look a little better...

P.

Dark all day

Today it was dark all day.. Didn't get much lighter at any point than PG look like at 4:30pm.. sort of dusky looking.. overcast with scattered showers.

Our office equipment is currently being installed into our new office! yay! No more working off the edge of a small round meeting table meant for coffee and small descisions, No more clutter causing papers and piles of assorted pens plastering the small space I've pee'd around. At last I shall have some organization and plenty of desk space to setup my little plastic toys that capture my attention when paperwork is slow.

Just got back from my trip to PG. Spent most of the time either at work or painting the old house. ( still hasen't sold yet!) It's good to be back and I don't think I'll be leaving again anytime soon as it was quite painfull not seeing my girls for a week!

I heard it was snowing in PG today..meheh.. mwahah. HAHAHAHAHAH.. (this is funny hey kim?) Yea.. as the famous phrase goes.. 'sucks to be you'

I feel my writing is rather boring today, lethargic and labourous it comes, slowly at first and then picks up speed, but the content is lacking.. lacking indeed. That is all for now then.

P

Fall

Snice weather hey?


Spent last week in an interesting team meeting, learned some and got to know my co-workers a bit better. The week was too busy though, not much rest and too many visits.. I'll be in town for the end of next week (alone most likely) and plan on not spending to many nights out!
The freakin bear got into our garbage again and we came home to it strewn across the vacant lot next door... Exciting huh?
Today is a slow motion day.. whack yo. Everything I do is sort of delayed and fuzzy.. maybe it has something to do with bailing on the merry go round yesterday! I was Just given'er running around pushing M on the thing and I decided to jump on for a ride.. The force of my slightly overweight belly gave the aparatus a mini turbo boost, which sent me sprawling head over heels into the next bar with 'great force'.. My arm is sluggish today, bruised at the elbow and whining for attention.. But.. T gave me Th3K1m Speech.. ' suck it up princess' And sucking it up I am. Honestly, its not bad compared to the slice along Tamara's forehead she got from standing up into the cupboard when putting groceries away! OOUch.!

Oh. I bought a HD starchoice reciever and they're hooking it up on friday.. just in time for the next canucks game! Wohoo!! I hope T decides to cook a turkey that day.. gosh thatd be nice.. :)
(hint... hint...)

On monday we headed out to my wonderful wife's aunty's house for turkey dinner. They had so much food it was funny! at least 6 pies, buns, carrots, peas, corn, brocolli, salad, turkey (with cranberry sauce), homemade stuffing, mashed potatoes ( with gravy) and the list goes on. Needless to say we stuffed ourselves fuller than the turkey was and waddled home. The only bad thing about not doing turkey dinner at your house??.... no leftovers.

The golf season is almost over, frost slowly choking the life out of the lushious green grass, cold wind washing over the greens, robbing them of any progress they have made over the summer. The driving ranges must still be open, the fake rubber grass does not feel the angry weather, it laughs at winter's feeble attempt to oppress the mighty golf ball cleaner upper machine thingy. But victory will be short-lived.. Air support has been called in, and when the tiny white warriors land, we will be all but finished. Finished until the sun rises again, healing the wounds and crushing the evil enemy, paving the way for golfers once again. Oh how I long for that day, that warm day in like,, april or may or whatever. It'sa gonna be sweet.


P.

Gettin settled

So why not take a trip to pg?

Finally we've moved the majority of our things -well some of them anyway- to Terrace. We know our garbage day, met the mail lady and found the closest beer store.. so we're all set.

So next week we'll be in the peeg, main reason is for work, I get to hang with Big G and the crew at HSBC. But we plan on kickin it with the locals too! Really get in there and see the culture you know? It's really what travelling is all about.. experience the place.!! Pretty much filled up the week already but if you feel you have some authetic PG culture that we need to see just drop me a line!

Kool thing about a small town? You could get them to put just about anything on your ID card!

A bit different

As I settle into my new life, some notable things are starting to show through the clearing dust. I've been keeping mental tabs on them and thought I should write them down so you all can understand a little more what it is like here.

List O things that are whack yo.

1. The online paper is updated once a week max.
http://www.terracestandard.com/

2. The internet companies have poor websites (no pricing or anything??) You'd think they would be 'cutting edge' but I had to email the cable/internet company for prices.

3. No information online about this freakin town. I have to actually look in the phone book to get information!

4. Roads randomly stop and start.
You'll be driving along and the road comes to an intersection where you can only turn left or right.. If you continue straight through for a block ( through houses and lawns) the road picks up again.. same name and everything! Wieeerd man.

5. People are nice.


So as you can imagine.. It's going to take some adjusting, some getting used to, but I think in the end it will all be worth it.

We are getting excited as there is only 3 more sleeps until we get our new house! Can't wait to wash walls, clean bathrooms and bleach every visible surface in the whole house! Yay! (isn't that neat how house! worked out to be exactly the same on three lines without house! trying? Ok.. so maybe i MADE it happen the 3rd time...

We've been playing with a virtual house painting program and are close to deciding what colors we want, it also lets you color the furniture in the room, the trim, pretty much anything you want.. So now we have to buy all new furniture, side tables, window coverings etc as we have created 'dream rooms' and must have them!
M is doing really good, started her ballet yesterday and came home skipping and 'airplane flying'. I will post pics to the other site linked here

Work is good, I'm getting organized and settled. Starting to slowly get into the nursing wards and infiltrate their IT barriers that are strategically placed and heavily fotified. Alas, i forsee a long battle here in the trenches.. send in the snackwiches so I don't go hungry.


Peece Owt

Up and Down and Up again

Referring to life in general at the moment, life has been up and down and back up again. Some subjects are just not easily approachable on a blog.. N0netheless, those who I care about know whats up! So its all good.

But back up again and movin on, the house has passed inspection and the bank has cleared the financing! We decided to sell the PG house, as we would need to remortgage for a downpayment on the new house and get some high interest rates in the process.
So, PG house is on the market, look for the mls listing (should be up tomorrow) if you are lookin to buy.

Not much else to report other than we are quite happy with the move so far and are glad to be exploring new things together as a family. Mostly been spending our time at the river, or lake.. or ocean.. :)

Only one response to the end of september invite so far! I'll send out a more formal invite (with dates and whatnot.. no that does not mean i will supply your date.. I'm referring to a 'calender date' .. sheesh) closer to the end of the month once we are a bit settled.

Peece owt.

Photos

New house photos at

http://zanitram.spaces.live.com/

Buyin a House

So the last week has been alot of driving.. The trip here was looong and we are dreading the return trip to pack up our stuff.. may end up hiring someone to do that (work will pay anyway!)

After days of driving around, with and without the realtor.. we found where we don't want to live!. We were having a hard time finding a nice enough neighboorhood to buy our second house in ( had to throw that in hehe), without spending more than we should..(bank said 200g but I don't want to eat spam and KD for 25 years)

2608 Kalum St

http://www.mls.ca/PropertyDetails.aspx?PropertyID=4970343



This house is quite nice! We fell in love once we saw it, from the brand new carpeted huge upstairs loft (don't have to duck at all) To the 2 bedrooms on the main floor, double french doors from the stylishly decorated living room into the newly laminated kitchen. The newer style bathroom, full laundry and built in dishwasher help to create desire in a home buyer.
The basement is only accessable from an outside door, stairs will have to be put in if we want to get at the basement from inside. It is all new looking concrete with rooms framed in and plumbing already run, easily allowing us to add 3 bedrooms to the house!.
The back deck covers from the back of the house, wrapping around the right side (looking from this angle) and catches sun all day long.

Grape vines and cherry trees surround the swing/slide play area in the backyard. Rock and woodchip landscaping, almost putting green lawn (k more like fairway but niice!) surround the house making a cozy private area with plenty of parking.
The offer was accepted a few hours after we sent it in, and by sept 15th we should be moving in, if the inspection goes well! We encourage ALL who are able to come plan a trip for the end of Sept to come have a look and party on the deck!

When we go to have the house inspected we'll take some of our own pictures and post them for your viewing pleasure!

P.

Moving prep

My moving prep entry may be slightly different than my wife's... You see, she is busy packing away trinkets and dishes into well padded boxes, organizing toys and cleaning out the fridge.. I've been golfing :)



Now the Prince George branch of the Pine Valley golf courses isn't quite as fancy as this one, but you get the idea.

Last night was boys night, we went out for dinner, my father, brother and I,. We scarfed down some chinee and were on our way.
Golfing was a gruelling contest of skill and mental stability, and in the end I beat them both down. Not that it means I golfed good, rather bad in fact, they just golfed worse!
All in all it was good to get out and have some time together, brings back the woodshed memories... no not those kind.. the ones where you go and get wood, from the woodshed.

Work is contributing to my move, which will ease the strain and decrease the pain.. ( why do I insist on rhyming everthing? I should just get rich and show off my Bling.. ) So the plan is to check the area out.. have a look at whats what and who's who and why and where and all that jazz. Then come back in a month or so to get the rest of our belongings and move into the new place.
Good thing I've prepared so well for the move, should make the transition easier... :)

Peece Owt.

Moving!

Q.Whats worse than having nothing to write about?

A. Not feeling like writing when you have something to write about!


But ok..






I was offered the job of NW Project Coordinator for the Nursing Technology Support Team.
Swiftly moving me about 10 steps up the corporate ladder. So needless to say really, I accepted! Before long I'll be packing up my little family and charging off towards the ocean in search of adventure, a little solitude and bit more money!

We aren't exactly sure when the big move is happening, within 2 weeks I suspect, as I already have some appointments setup in terrace on the 28th. I'll be sure to keep you updated as we go along discovering the little tidbits of information that will form the mosaik we call our 'new' life.

"How we live our days, is of course, how we live our lives"

Realization

This morning the colors seem dull, sounds are muted as if I'm not really here, as if I'm watching a movie of my day. I could see my breath in the air, smell the rain and sense that something was missing.

At first I couldn't place it, the missing thing. Was it humpday? no.. we've made it past that. Is it mid summer blues? (is there such a thing?) I think so.. but no.. it's not that.. More a feeling of loss or when you miss a breath and catch yourself wondering why it happened.

Detached..


And then it dawned on me. Th3K1m has left the city.

Sniffle.

Comforting colors

From the mouth of Mr J. Son Clark. regarding the new blog design.

Introspection

Exciting news to be shouted from on high! My wonderful wife is with child! Just early on, into the 7th week or so and coming along nicely. Big sister is quite anxious to see the new baby and help with whatever she can!

Remember Honey; Madonna said: "I'm not interested in being Wonder Woman in the delivery room. Give me drugs"
I think I'll probably say the same thing!



Other things happening ...

Th3 K1m is leaving us. Not just leaving us for a short time.. a little trip or short journey, soon to return and regale us with mighty tales of her travels to the infinite abyss.. but she is moving.

Moving far away to where the night never sleeps.. the music never stops, away from the cozy comfort of this small, safe.. nightsleeping.. music stopping.. village. And now.. an Ode to the kim


Ode to Kim-o-thy

The kim, the kim arst thou really going?
Why now? When that car needs some towing!
On with your travels, from far to nigh!
Those closest to you, fell they might cry.

The kim The kim, don't be afraid!
We know you can conquer!
Your new life is now made.

From then to now, from old to new
Don't forget, which friends are true.
Whenever you're lonely or sad,
or just in need of a hug
Feel free to give my sleeve a tug.