3 Beer Limit

Well, my alcohol limit appears to be 3 beer in a
6 hour period. Yes folks, one beer every 2 hours.



This past weekend, hubby and I decided to give
our brains a break, got a few beers and settled in
to watch some movies.



Soon after hubby is ready to hit the sack.
But not me, no way. I was feeling pretty
good. Why not stay up for a bit? I said to
myself. Why not have a glass of that wine
that's been sitting in the fridge? Big mistake.
So out to the kitchen I go. I take the wine
out of the fridge. The wine is not yet opened.
This could require some coordination but I
was feeling brave.



So I get the corkscrew. The first attempt was
a disaster. All I managed to do was put a hole
through the cap, the corkscrew simply would
not grab. Same deal for my second, third, and
fourth attempt. By this time I had managed
to whittle a little hole through the centre of the
cap AND cut my finger just a little bit on the very
sharp tinfoil cap. So I hold the wine bottle upside
down over my wine glass. Dribble by dribble I
manage to get a half glass of wine and a few
pieces of tinfoil. Probably best I only got half a
glass considering my current circumstances.
So off I go with my hard-earned, half glass of wine
and tinfoil sprinkles.



Next morning I get up with my headache.
Soon after, hubby gets up. I explain the wine
bottle episode to him. Hubby looks at me,
trying not to laugh in my face. "That's because
it's a twist-off cap" he says.

Blogs of the Rich + Famous

There sure are a lot of blogs on the net.
I got to thinking - I wonder if there are
any famous blogs by celebrities? And
there are. Many do not keep their blogs
even close to current but here are some
that are fairly current:


Madonna:
http://madonnasthoughts.blogspot.com/



Ellen DeGeneres:
http://telepicturesblog.warnerbros.com/ellenshow/

Bare Naked Ladies:
http://www.bnlblog.com/

Gene Simmons:
http://www.genesimmons.com/


Jann Arden:
http://www.jannarden.com/journal_archive.php



Michael Moore:
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/message/index.php



RuPaul:
http://www.rupaul.com/weblog.shtml


William Shatner:
http://www.williamshatner.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=index&catid=&topic=3

Rosie O'Donnell:
http://rosie.com



Barbara Streisand
http://www.barbrastreisand.com/


Anne Rice:
http://www.annerice.com/

Taxes in Alberta

When I first arrived in Alberta, and saw what office
jobs paid, I was a bit disappointed. They do pay less
than they do in Nova Scotia. However, when I got my first
paycheque, it was way higher than I thought and
wasn't sure why. I've heard the 'tax rate is lower
in Alberta' but until you see it on your cheque that
doesn't really mean much to you.

You see, I actually earn $10,000 less here in salary than
I did in Halifax. Yes, 10 thousand less. But, my paycheque
is only a couple dollars less.

Today, I took an intro to payroll course. I could not believe
the difference in the tax rates. Nova Scotia is actually
the WORST IN CANADA. The WORST. Check out
last year's chart below. For those who do not do
their own taxes or could care less about provincial
credits, basically the higher the number
the better.



As of July 1 2006,
Alberta's has actually rise to $14,999

They are also very diligent about paying
overtime here. EVEN if you are on salary.
Of course that is the law, but some places,
especially Eastern Canada, do not pay
overtime to salaried employees. They are
supposed to but do not. They do here.
But employers also expect a lot more out
of you. More bang for the buck. Nova Scotia
employers are much more relaxed. There
are no office potlucks here. And despite the
poor employment opportunities in Nova Scotia,
NS employers do seem to appreciate their staff
a bit more, which is odd considering the labour
shortage in Alberta. In NS they thank you with
words, here they thank you with money.

One thing I did find surprising was the
minimum wage. I expected it to be
somewhat higher here than what is
it. Keep in mind though, practically
no job here pays minimum wage. You
can work at Fast Food joint for $12 an hour
and get a scholarship and bonuses to boot.
But for interest sake I have included the
minimum wage chart below. Some have not
changed in quite a while as you can see.




Yes, it is definitely better to work here. But is
it better to live here? We are still debating.

Drug dealers, buses, and the cold

So I took the Greyhound bus for the first time.
Went from Leduc to Grande Prairie. The bus
ride up was rather interesting. There was the
somewhat expected crowd of half-corked and
pierced individuals. And the line-butters. God
how I hate line butters. The ones who saddle up
beside the front of the line instead of BEHIND it
and then 'work' their way into the line.
There is a lot of line jumping in Alberta.



But most interesting of all was the "I'm not 18 yet"
drug dealer sitting behind us. She talked non-stop
about the various parties and bars she had been to
across Alberta. That must not have had enough of
a desired effect on her friends. She then proceeds to
pick up her cell phone and make various calls to her
'customers'. "I'm just coming back from Edmonton and
have a new shipment of 'you-know-what-it ends in Y' ,
I have yellows, blues, and the new sparkly pink ones."
She was especially proud of the sparkly pink ones as she
mentioned them numerous times. I do admit they sound
pretty but I don't think I'd eat one, whatever it is. Oh,
and did I mention her entire conversation was sprinkled
liberally with F's. Oh, yeah - and there was a mother and
her 7 or 8 year old kid right across the aisle from her.

So anyway, drug dealing girl puts her white leather 'bag
of goodies' in the window beside my arm. I know they were
her goodies because I saw the white zip lock bag sticking
out where she had tried to zipper the pouch. So she takes
the bag back, puts it back 4 or 5 times in the next hour or so.
Each time, she is shoving it farther and farther up the window
so it is almost right next to me at this point, totally in my space.
I'm thinking "why would she want to give me her drugs?" Then
it dawns on me, she had been mouthing off. Should the bus driver
or anyone have called the cops and they stop and search the bus,
guess who the drugs are beside? Me. So I shove the bag
waaaay back into her spot. She mumbles something under
her breath but she does not try it again.


Grande Prairie is a neat little town. Actually it's not so little.
Had a great time with the cuz and very very good food. My
poor hubby, he hardly ever gets home cooked meals. I always
feel so guilty when I see him scarfing down home made meals
like he is a starving animal. But not guilty enough to make
home cooked meals. Although I have been known to throw
some chicken or steak on, I do not prepare a typical Holiday
meal. I admit, I have never made a pie.



The trip back was less eventful. R slept most of the way and I
read manuals for my job. Some of the rumors regarding bus
travel appear to be true, such as:
1) All bus drivers are cranky
- I think it is a requirement
2) You will meet a variety of interesting individuals on the bus
- some you will wish you never met.
3) The bus ride does not seem as long as it sounds
- time goes suprisingly fast
4) and most importantly try to avoid using the bus toilet
- it is Co-ed and many users do not have good aim,
especially while moving.

Another thing I found to be true. You know when you
hear someone say "but it is a dry cold" and you think
"yeah right, whatever- cold is cold" But, there really is
a such thing as a dry cold. The morning we left to come home,
it was minus 12. Cuz told me and I said 'yeah- right' so cuz
promptly retrieves his outdoor thermometer (he was quite
proud of this thermometer) and shows me. And I can't
believe my eyes. I am standing outside, I can see my
breath, and it is not cold. R and I stood outside the Bus
terminal for 10 mins with our jackets open (sorry Mom) and
we were not cold. It was weird. And that was my trip.

Heaven

I am in Heaven. I finally gave in and
joined animation factory. It was a bit
expensive but well worth it! They have
tons and tons of high quality animated
graphics. On anything. You can pick
almost any topic and they have graphics
for it. Unfortunately, blogs usually won't
support high quality animations. You can
sneak the odd one through though.

So my blogs will be that much more
exciting now. As will my homepage
which I am updating with new graphics.
http://www.oddchick.com/



And for those of you who have emailed
me wondering if R finally got his license,
yes he did. FINALLY. I won't bore you
with the details but let's just say it was a
very painful process for all involved.

Well, we are heading off for Grande Prairie
soon for our turkey dinner. This will of course
take away homepage time, but I think I
can handle it. I think. I wonder if they
sell a patch for my kind of addiction?

The stuff works

I rarely sing the virtues of products but I will
say this - Cold Fx works. The over the counter
cold medication. I was feeling a bit crappy, starting
to come down with a cold. It started to progress
so I decided to fight it. I am going away this weekend
and refuse to have a cold. So anyway, I get some
Cold Fx. I follow the directions for and feel better after
only 3 or 4 hours. By the next day, cold is almost gone.
I tried it a couple years ago and it worked just as well but
now I know the stuff works for sure. It is well worth the
$20.

And then I find out Cold Fx was developed by an Albertan!

"The combination of its effectiveness, safety and all-natural profile, has earned COLD-fX a loyal following in Western Canada, where Dr. Shan along with25 University of Alberta scientists first discovered COLD-fX 12 years ago and have conducted extensive laboratory and clinical tests ever since." http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/October2005/17/c1719.html

So hopefully the effects last and I won't be sick for turkey time!

Same hell different province

The Department of Motor Vehicles.

How many of you twitched just reading
that phrase? The department that strikes
fear into the hearts of even the most
courageous.



So our 3 month deadline for switching our
drivers licenses over to Alberta is coming due
very soon. One good thing is they are open on
Saturdays from 9-1 here. So yesterday, after saying a
quick prayer, we set off. We arrive. Line up is
reaching the door. We debate leaving and coming
back next week but since we were already there,
we decide to tough it out.


As we wait in line for 20 minutes, we listen to the panicked
conversations around us. "Oh God I hope I have everything
this time" the woman behind us frets. Another woman is
relaying the story about her adventures in the Department
of Motor Vehicles yesterday, how she got turned away and had
to return again Saturday. We glance at each other and kind
of smirk because we are confident of surviving the Department
of Motor Vehicle obstacle course. We have tons of ID, I even have
a government issued ID from my employment with the province
of NS. We both have valid, current, clean driving licenses.



A teller becomes available and it's now our turn, finally.
We approach the counter. We explain what we want.
But alas, she cannot assist us as she is a new 'trainee' and
cannot handle our request. She directs us back to the
front of the line. This time, a suitable teller opens.
Then an amazing thing happens. A woman 3 people
behind us, runs to the open wicket, taking my turn and
bypassing the others in front of her. Needless to say I
don't put up with that. I run up behind her. "Excuse me"
I say. "Oh", she says and looks around as if she did not
realize there were others in the line up.
She goes back to her spot.
We take our rightful place at the open teller.



We again explain what we want.
"We need a paystub or bill with your name and
address on it before we can help you". We almost cry.
We leave. We look at the time, we have 10 minutes
before they close. We live 3-4 mins away.
We floor the gas, run into the apartment and gather our
latest paystubs. R even brought copies of his time sheets and a
photocopy of the last pay cheque which his boss includes
with each stub. We fly back. Arrive 4 minutes before closing.
Run up to door. Line up is now at the door. Again, we debate
leaving but with this much time invested in it we want to get
it over with. We enter. There is a group of 3 people just sort of
hanging around the doors, it was not clear if they were in line
or waiting for friends to finish. Thought I'd better check just
to be sure. "Are you in line?" I politely ask the woman in
the group. "Yes!" she replies, "and there's no way anyone's
getting ahead of us!" Wow. Been here long? I wanted to ask
her but didn't. Another 20 mins, we reach the front of the line.


We approach a new teller who has not yet heard our tale.
We again explain what we want. She starts the game
by requesting ID. OK, that we know we have covered.
We pull out our driving licenses, she scrutinize them,
she gives them a pass. Asks for one more piece of ID.
I pull out my government ID. "We do not accept
government issued ID" she says. HUH? I offer my NS
Health care card (we have been waiting for 2 months
for our Alberta Health card). "I'm sorry, that is unacceptable
as well". Hmmm. "What do you accept?" I ask.
"A bank card" the teller replies. OK.... I give her
my bank card. Now onto the paystub. Paystub passes with
a small amount of negotiations. I pass the first set of hurdles.



She turns her beady little eyes on R (her eyes get
beadier as the day wears on). R produces his ID, it passes.
R produces his pay stub, copies of time sheets, copy of last
paycheque. She studies them intently, looking for anything
she can criticize with her mean, beady little eyes. The head
company R works for is in BC, as are many trade companies.
"This company is in BC" she says. "Yes..."R says waiting
for her point. "We can't accept this, how does this prove you
live here?" R points out his full name and complete address
printed on both the pay stub and copy of pay cheque.
"We can only accept your pay information if it is from
a local company". Again, HUH? "I can't help that", R says,
"The head company issues the pay cheques and that is where
they are located." "Well, yes you can help it" beady eyed
bitch replies. "You can ask you boss to find an address here
to use, he must have a local office." "Or you will have to ask
him to type you a letter telling us you live here". WTF?!


Why on earth would it matter who pays you?
I was employed up until a month or so ago with
the Province of NS. What would they have done
if I walked in with a NS pay stub.
And NS gov't ID.
Imagine the carnage.

I got processed finally. But poor R has yet to make
another trip. He will have to request a letter from his boss,
and go back with the pile of ID and papers again next week.
And for this folks we pay $75 each.