Currently Listening Box Car Racer I Feel So see related

Xanga = Dead

Current Mood:  (Happy)

Wow, nobody's ever updating this shit anymore - probably because everyone outgrew Xanga before they outgrew their diapers. Whatever, though, I thought I'd revisit this and try and remember what it's all about.

Summer's here!!! Well, it's been here for about two months already... oh well. I never got that City of Hamilton job, so I'm stuck at Tim Horton's. BUT, I applied for a parttime City of Hamilton job a long time ago (like, back in February) and they finally called me and told me I got it, last week. So I went down to the police station and got a criminal record check, and my orientation's on Monday. And in case you're wondering, I'll apparently be a basket checker at a community pool downtown. Parttime hours, minimum wage pay, and I'll likely get canned when winter rolls around, but at least for now I'll have money and an opening into the City if I ever need to apply again, like maybe next summer?

At the start of May, I joined Family Fitness (I was going to back in January, but never got around to it until May). At this point, I'm about 10 pounds lighter than I was at the start of the summer, which is good. Hopefully that trend will continue (actually, I'm headed out to the gym pretty much as soon as I finish writing this).

My school marks weren't great, but they were good enough to get me into Honours Commerce next year (instead of the regular Bachelor's Degree) so that's all I really needed. But next year I need to get high marks in my two Accounting courses and do some sort of leadership stuff in the community and around Mac - that way, I can be eligible for over $3000 in scholarships, and that would be sweet-ASS-sweet.

My computer's been effing up a lot lately, so I'm gonna have to get that checked and pay to get it fixed. Boo-urns, but it's gotta be done. I went for my G test last Thursday - failed it, only because some idiot in a black truck on the QEW decided to slam on his brakes right in front of me, right as I was checking my blind spot. Don't worry, I didn't hit him or anything, but the evaluator said I was following too close and it was a hazardous driving practice, so she failed me. So I'll just have to re-take that one again, but it's just a pain.

Canada Day's coming up, and you know what that means - Greg's 2nd Annual Canada Day BBQ. Hopefully this time around, it won't get rained out, so we can actually have a proper barbecue, bonfire and fireworks. And hopefully everyone comes, because it's sure to be good times. I already know a bunch of Timmy's people are coming, so if you remember them from last year and thought they were cool, then drop by again and say "Hi."

What else is there to say? Nothing really, I guess. That's a quick update on where I am at this moment. Although everyone uses Facebook now anyway.

T2yL™
LongFellow Greg

Random...

 Current Mood:  (All right)

This is gonna be short, because I'm missing Conan.

So yeah, tonight we had some contractor or architect or something in to check the house and blah... so long story short we're getting an addition put on this baby, and it should be done by June or July, which will be sweet. Sweet-ASS-sweet. Seriously, I'm excited.

24 and Prison Break are amazing. Work is great. School is bleh (I'm not enjoying midterms, but what can you do?) and whatever.

So, yeah. Actually that last paragraph reminds me... I've gotta check how I did on my Accounting midterm...78%. Not bad, considering the TA today told us that a lot of people really fucked it up.

Fuck yeah! I'm excited now. Anyhew, time for Conan.

T2yL™
LongFellow Greg

Currently Listening Franz Ferdinand By Franz Ferdinand Come on Home see related

Back to School/Work

Current Mood:  (Shocked, and sort of amused)

So yeah, I started up at school on the 3rd (last Wednesday) as opposed to the 8th, like most people. Whatever though. The classes are all right, I guess, but it's difficult to actually get into them in order to understand them, if that makes sense. Fortunately, there are only 4 of them, so I can't complain too much. The midterms are gonna be a breeze.

I also started up at work again, at Tim Horton's. It was sad to shave and everything, but I did and so things are back to normal. I'm working Tuesdays, Saturdays and Sundays, though I'm also available other times during the week too. A plus side to my classes being the way they are, is now I can work mornings during the week (sometimes until 12 noon, sometimes as long as 2:00pm!). I did that last Tuesday though, after doing the truck, and it was pretty shitty. I was exhausted by the time I got home (at like 5:30 in the afternoon).

Anyhew how about a story? Today, towards the end of the shift, there were these regulars - one old guy, his old wife, and their two grandchildren. They ordered chili meals. At some point, the wife started shouting and complaining that their knives weren't clean, exclaiming "Doesn't anyone in this place know how to do fucking dishes?!" And someone spotted her as she took the three knives, and placed them in her purse.

So the manager went out to her and confronted her about it. The woman lied (presumably) and said that she was just going to take them home to clean them and bring them back. Bullshit, I say. But oh well. So about fifteen minutes later, they come back to speak to the manager again about what happened, continuing to complain and blah blah blah. The woman was shouting and screaming her head off for about 5 minutes solid. Meanwhile, many of us are laughing our asses off in the back, while a few of us had to continue to serve customers.

Suddenly the supervisor runs over to the table where the family was eating their chili, calling for the old man to come. She said something about having to call 911. I figured they had had enough of the woman's bitching and complaining.

No. The woman was on the ground, passed out and apparently seizing.

We continued serving other customers. The managers were working to keep her alive and shit until the paramedics came.

Some people... It's one thing to complain about bad service or something, but to go to such lengths that you give yourself a stroke or a seizure, well that's just off the wall. Personally, I have no sympathy for that kind of bullshit.

On another note, 24 starts up tonight. Looking forward to that - this season should be pretty good.

Also, work and school should keep me occupied until April or May, at which point hopefully I'll be working for the City or something good like that. I can't try to pull another summer of full-time Tim Horton's. Too much work, not enough rewards. Although there were some fun times.

T2yL™
LongFellow Greg

Currently Watching 24 - Season Three By Kiefer Sutherland, Carlos Bernard, Reiko Aylesworth, Dennis Haysbert see related

Montreal

Current Mood:  (Exhausted)

Happy New Year, everyone. What did you guys all end up doing?

I must say, Montreal was pretty sweet. I shared the room with Kristy, Katie and Melissa, but pretty much no one slept in those beds - the room next door was the party room, and everyone spent about 90% of the weekend there, including passing out.

The bus ride was fucked up. Too many drunk 18-year-old girls screaming and shouting for like 9 hours. It was pretty much unbearable. But we got to Montreal in one piece, along with all our liquor bottles, which also (quite thankfully) got there in one piece.

The first night (Friday), we all went to some club, which was pretty shitty but whatever. Pre-drank in Travis's room, including liquid cocaine, a 6-pack of beer, a Jagerbomb, etc. It was around this time that my string of about a million names started. Allow me to explain: at some point I came stumbling out of Travis's room and headed towards my own, and some guy goes to me (also drunk) like "Yo man, what's your name?" So I tell him, "Greg." "Frankie?!" the guy asks. "Uhh... yeah, Frankie." Then I went on and made a backstory up later in the night that I'm Frankie O'Toole from Dublin, Ireland, and I just moved to Canada 2 years ago. I never got to exercise my Irish accent though so I never used that backstory. But it was cool anyway. Then I became known as like Frankie G, Teddy, Roger, Kenny, Spenny, etc.

Then the club itself, where there was some dancing and drinking and hitting on girls and getting hit on and so on. Followed by waiting like half an hour in the freezing cold for the shuttle bus to take us back to the hotel, since it was late getting there. We were all so pissed off, but once we got home, we ordered pizza, played some cards and did shit. I passed out pretty early on, around 1 or so, and everyone else was up until around 5.

Saturday, I found one of my beers that was open but not drank. So I drank it, and hung out in the room next door for a while. We played Kings, did some shit, yadda yadda yadda I blacked out and woke up in my bed at midnight, got out and went to the next door room, where the party was getting started. Everyone was getting back from the BarHOP, which was apparently a piece of shit. And everyone tells me all the shit that I 'did' while I was blacked out (I've since learned that most of what they told me was complete bullshit and I basically slept), including having sex with this girl and sniffing coke. I checked in the morning, and none of my condoms were gone, so I was like "I better not have fucked that girl, I'm telling you!" So I spent the next day or so worrying that I had STDs and a kid.

The rest of the night was spent randomly drinking and shit. A few more names were added to the list, including Tony (a la Tony Montana, for the alleged coke), Ralph (I puked, or 'ralphed', a few times that night), Nikolai and Wilcox (just the most random names Mike, the guy next door, could think of). We were all up until about 7 or 8 in the morning, just hanging out, watching whatever was on TV (including Saddam's execution), just flipping through the channels. Throughout the night, my 40 of Canadian Club disappeared (I drank most of it myself) along with quite a bit of the Jagermeister (James and I pretty much split it).

Anyway, after 3 hours of sleep, I woke up and it was Sunday morning. New Year's Eve. This was the point at which I discovered my lack of missing condoms, and fucking worried my ass off. I kept denying ever having sex with the chick, mainly for my own sanity and because I could remember a few things from when I was passed out, and I'm sure I would have remembered that.

But yeah, so I went to the metro station across from the hotel, which had a McDonald's, a Subway, an SAQ (Quebec LCBO), a few convenience stores, etc. I picked up a bottle of Coke and went back, getting lost a couple of times and finally returning after a kindly French-speaking security guard helped me out. Even though I didn't understand a word he said, I ultimately determined he thought I was a passenger for the trains and buses, so when he was pointing me down one hallway and around the corner, I should go the exact opposite way. Doing that, I got back to my room.

By the way, Jagermeister and Coke tastes exactly like root beer, which I thought was pretty cool to find out.

So we all did some predrinking then went out to the club for the New Year's Eve party. It wasn't bad, but we had to wait like 20 minutes in the cold for the Coat Check, then another hour or so in line for drinks. But once we got back to the hotel, everyone figured the best idea was to pull an all-nighter, since we were going to leave early in the morning, and just crash on the bus.

After finishing off the Jagermeister, having a few shots of Tequila, etc. the rest of the night was all right.

In the morning, everyone was passed out. Fortunately, I thought to set my cell phone alarm to go off to wake us up, so we all packed up, cleaned up the room, and left. Everyone was either hungover or still drunk, which made everyone incredibly pissed off when the Bus Captains decided to put on The Omen and blast the volume full-force.

On the ride home, James busted out Travis's camera and made a video, chronicling everyone's opinions of the trip. Most of them gave it about an 8.5-9 out of 10. I gave it a 2/10, because I only remember about 2/10s of it. But to be honest, while it was awesome, the actual events that took place (like the bars and clubs) weren't at all worth the extra money we spent for them. The best times everyone had was in the hotel parties.

It was all right though. And, upon arrival at the McDonald's across from Lime Ridge Mall, I received the news that most of the stories I've heard about Saturday night were completely bullshitted. Meaning I didn't have unprotected sex with that chick, I didn't sniff cocaine, and I didn't do anything else they said I did (I did do a couple of things, which I do remember and there are some photos of me doing, but nothing too bad). Knowing that was definitely a relief.

If I was given the opportunity to go back, I'm not sure if I would. A lot of it had to do with the people who went and the good times that we made for ourselves. I think I'd rather save the $300 and do that in Hamilton. But next year, everyone needs to make some plans ahead of time.

T2yL™
LongFellow Greg

Currently Listening With Teeth By Nine Inch Nails Only see related

Merry Christmas and Happy New Years, Everyone.

36. Girl, you know I did it. It's over and I feel fine. Nothing you can say's gonna change my mind.

Current Mood:  (Happy)

Well, it's New Years again, and that means another New Years blog, wrapping up 2006. Normally I'd do this on December 31st, but since I'll be in Montreal () that's an impossibility. But you'll get a blog on January 1st, outlining what a freaking awesome time I had.

So, without much further ado, here's 2006:

January 2006:
Kicked it off at Adam's house, along with you guys. 'Twas pretty sweet. Returned to school for 2nd term of my 1st year, and it was Hell on Earth. Commerce, Computer Science and Macroeconomics all raped me, while Sociology and Anthropology were easy as shit. Oh yeah, and I was trying to start up shit with Brit from work. Never panned out, but can't blame a guy for trying. I wrote Seven to Three which was a 24-style series of incredibly exaggerated Tim Horton's stories. That was a major factor in my getting raped in school - diverting attention to shit that really didn't matter. Then I got written up at work for stupid baking stuff, and got sent home. Meh. Overall, a pretty boring month.

February 2006:
Ingrown toenail, apparently (I'm just reading over my old blogs for a refresher on what I did during the year). Then there was my speeding ticket, which I'm glad got reduced to $52.50. Unfortunately I still got caught by my parents (I was hoping to let it slip by without them noticing) but whatev. And for Lent, I tried not swearing. I bet that didn't last long.

March 2006:
Shitty marks on midterms, same old Tim Horton's bull. And I started with the weekly 24 updates. Heh, I worked a night shift at some point in March. I didn't even remember that. And that's about it.

April 2006:
Kyle had a poker night (which, again, I didn't even remember). Pool noodles, Dave returning from the 'rippers to regail us with stories of being legal drinking age at a strip club, and drunken phone calls. Exams. That is all.

May 2006:
Economics in Summer School. Some kid from Brebeuf was planning on shooting up the school on 6/6/06. Full-time at Tim Horton's. Bonus cheque for $175. John the Baker had a party, which was pretty sweet. I had Travis and Marc over to watch the Season Finale of 24, which was pretty amazing. And that's about it. The first month of summer. I believe Kristy had a party too, which was a lot of fun. Marc and I were disappointed that the Phantom Fountain wasn't there anymore.

June 2006:
Kyle had another poker night, where I got incredibly shitfaced. Too many drinking games. And I still haven't gotten my shirt back, over 6 months later. Then going to work the next day, late, and still drunk. One of the highlights of my summer. That was about it.

July 2006:
Canada Day was amazing. Bought a ton of fireworks, and then it was windy and raining so I didn't use any. So that sucked a bit. But still, many drinks were had and many laughs were... laughed. Stupid Cichosz broke the light at the end of my driveway with a football, but other than that it was alright. Random gettogethers with Tim Horton's people pretty much every night. Clerks II. And around here, the whole Coty/Steph fiasco happened. I won't comment on that.

August 2006:
My MSN screwed up, and still hasn't been fixed. Went to a campground in Elora Gorge for a night, which was a lot of fun. Dave Chappelle in Buffalo with Tim, which was fuckin' hilarious. I loved it. And, of course, The Cottage with Art Cottageman. There are too many stories from that week that none of us can remember. The infamous bear, the chainsaw, the boat trip/rescue, the BBQ boys, Kyle's visit, a fight or two, Irish accents, drinking games, BERSERKER!!!, and the birth of 4 timeless nicknames: GIZZ, Greg the Keg, Buns, and Muscles from Brussels. Road trip to the Prairies next year. We're doing it.

September 2006:
Back to school. Random shit like End Pocket with Trav, Cichosz and his friend Dave. Rosch's birthday, getting ID'ed at Turtle Jack's, and the realization that I am, quite possibly, the most immature person I've ever met. Eww Breakfast Sandwiches started up at Tim Horton's, those things were a pain in the ass. Haha Allie and Sabrina went out too.

October 2006:
Left Tim Horton's!!! Only for 3 months though, for midterms and exams. I'm going back soon, hopefully if they take me back. I mean, I did walk out. But they probably forgot all about it. Endless Saturday midterms, and that goddamned Marketing report. And the idea was born to go to Montreal. You guys should've come. Now it's gonna be sad. And Matt gave me the Friends CD and the Cottage CD (well, just the Cottage CD, and he made the Friends CD available on the Internet).

November 2006:
More midterms, Saw III (TITSICLE!!!), Marketing Report 2, and the Fred Eisenberger campaign. Pretty busy month.

December 2006:
Exams. Exams. Exams and more exams. Plus another exam. I turned 19, and went to Quarters after my Stats exam for a shot of rye and a cold beer. Didn't get ID'ed, but whatever. It was the perfect way to cool off. Then there was Christmas, which wasn't bad, but I got another reminder of why I hate my extended family. Finally, Montreal's coming up tomorrow!!! As I'm sure I've already stated, I'm so freaking excited!!!

A quote from my 2006 resolutions:

I wanted to lose weight for 2005. I actually gained weight, but it's all right because a lot of that weight was muscle. I'm betting I did lose fat. But for 2006 I want to be thin. I don't want love handles or a pot belly or anything like that, I want a flat stomach and/or a six-pack.

Never happened. But I don't really care anymore. I'm still trying to lose weight/build muscle, and it's working gradually for the most part. But I'm not obsessing over it.

I want to be a good friend to those who are close to me. I never thought about it going into 2005, but I am an asshole and a rat bastard. I'm getting better, but earlier in the year I was probably as bad as Julian. Or worse. But I want to be inclusive to everybody and more observant of their wants and needs.

Hopefully I was a better friend to those around me. I know I was a better person to my Tim Horton's group, more outgoing and more approachable. I tried to be good to you guys too.

For 2005 I really wanted to hone in my golf skills. It didn't exactly happen but I did make some progress. In 2006 I won't be getting a membership but I will have a 4-month summer which I plan to take advantage of. I want to play some golf but I don't plan on making it a big thing in my life anymore. In a few years, when I've got less on my plate, I'll give golf another serious look, but for now I've got too many responsibilities.

Yeah, I didn't care about golf at all this year. I went a couple of times, but between school, work, and my constant need to be saving money, golf really wasn't much of an option.

I will leave Tim Horton's in 2006. I don't know how or when, but it will happen. I've often said, "If I'm legal drinking age and working at Tim Horton's, kill me." Well I've got 352 days to make it happen. And I'll definitely miss everyone there. You're all great people.

I left Tim Horton's, but just on a leave of absence. When I return, I don't want to be killed - the people there are cool shit and I'm actually starting to miss it. Plus, I think I've grown a little bit since I left, and I'll be better when I return. It's odd, I know, but it's true.

I'm definitely getting people together for my birthday next year, and we're all going to a strip club or a bar or something. That's all there is to it. I also plan on a lot of partying in the new year.

Well, since everyone pretty much cancelled on that one at the last minute, the birthday happenings didn't exactly go as planned. It was still fine, but meh.

In April, I plan on getting a dog and spend summer a) working and b) training him. Just because everyone's suddenly getting dogs and now I'm jealous. I want it, I want it, I want it!!!

Fuck dogs. I'm happy just going to my cousins' house or something and seeing their dog, or going to my neighbour's house. I don't need that kind of distraction 24/7. So yeah, although I'd love to have a dog, I can't see devoting the next 2 years of my life to training the thing just to leave the house and leave it behind with my parents. Maybe, years in the future after I'm out of school and got my own house and stuff, I'll look into getting a dog. But for now, no.

And, finally, my goals for 2007:

1) I'm going to do whatever I can to enjoy life. I'll only have 4 courses in Term 2, so that'll lighten my load a bit. But I'll be sure to go out for drinks or whatever with my friends as often as I can, because friends are important.

2) The obligatory 'get in better shape' because I'm not happy with myself right now, but I'm working at it. Getting a gym membership is definitely a step in the right direction, as is eating better.

3) Get a good summer job, either with the City of Hamilton or Hamilton Hydro or something else along those lines. If I still feel like working part-time at Tim Horton's or wherever, fine, but I need something good for the summer.

4) Move out of the house. I'm looking at renting an apartment or a house off-campus for Year 3. That's not until September, so I've got plenty of time to do the homework for that, but I think it's time to leave the nest.

5) Do well in school. This should actually be #1, because it is the top priority in my life. I need to get really good marks to get into the Honours program and bypass a year of school. During Term 1, I did my share of reading and homework but I always knew I could have done more. So, in Term 2 and Year 3, school is tops. With 4 courses in the comings months, it shouldn't be a real problem.

Well that's about it for 2006. It was a good year, and here's hoping 2007 is even better for everyone.

T2yL™
LongFellow Greg

P.S. Matt, on December 30th, it's your duty to go out and try buying alcohol or cigarettes. Cody tells me you can't buy it on your birthday, so you're the test subject. Be sure to get ID'ed too, to be sure.