Happy Halloween

It was after 11 PM. Rainy.

I went to fill up at Knight and 57th. At 113.9, they were the cheapest. They usually are. The place was packed. I took the only empty pump furthest from the 7-11.

Then a middle-aged female beggar came hassle me. I've encountered her before right at this gas station. She was asking for empty bottles and cans before, but this time she upgraded to asking for change. She even showed me a handful of pennies, saying something like, need so much more for a hamburger from McDonald's across the street.

I hate encouraging them by giving money so I always say no. Especially this one after the "upgrade" from "I'm willing to do some work" to "just hand me money". I told her I don't have my change purse. (OK, I lied.)

Strangely, I noticed all other cars have disappeared. I'm sure not even a full minute had passed. It was totally like a twilight zone. It was late, rainy, and no one was around.

I went about my business at the pump. She wouldn't go away and kept hassling me. She even said she's not a beggar. (Yeah right.) OK I didn't want to be a bitch. So I gave her the nice Lindt Halloween chocolate from A happened to be in my handbag. (T_T) She said, she has missing teeth and can't eat candy. She needs real food. I said, it's chocolate, put it in your mouth and it will melt. She then asked if I could go across the street and buy her a hamburger from the McDonald's using my card!!!!!

I snapped.

I said, can't you wait until I'm finished? Then she put a chocolate in her mouth, saying she loves chocolate "too". (Yeah, that's why you have missing teeth.) Then she started yapping about working for the police, missing women, Robert Pickton... I said, what? You work for the police and you don't even get enough to eat? Then she said no and something about an identical twin. I couldn't hear her too well in the rain, but nothing had any substance. I'm sure she made it all up.

I just want to get out of there. No hamburger, sorry. So I went around the car (into the rain) and gave her a pack of Thin Addictives from the glove box. She was very disappointed. She said this is not real food, and still wanted me to go across the street to buy her a hamburger. Geeze... I really snapped. I brought out the whole accident made me loose my job, now working minimum wage part time, 30-minute lunch = $4 deduction off my pay thing. And I really have no time for this because I need every second to product hand crafts to sell at the craft fair coming up in 3 weeks. She then gave me the "yeah yeah right" face and slowly walked away. She did say "have a good night" at the end, though.

She must have thought I'm rich or something. It's true that I'm dressed up tonight. Forgot to tell her it's just a Halloween costume.

Now, I feel like I'm a bitch. But I cannot do what she asked of me either.

Pretz: Roasted

Picture taken 2008 June. Oh boy... I'm stating to suspect I might have accidentally deleted some stock-up reviews. There are way too many pictures that have missing text!

Anyway, this was mailed to me from one of my Japanese friends. Thanks! (^_^) It's the default Pretz that says "roasted". Well then, I guess it's neither fried nor baked. Usually Pretz are salty, but this one was slightly sweet. Just ever so slightly. Like tea crackers. No Pretz ever failed me. All of them are good. It's the safest snack.

$5.60

Yesterday was 80 cents. Today is $5.60.

Thanks A for the dresses. When I heard the total came to over 80 bucks, I was slightly shocked. Then I though, oh, it's the tax. Something didn't quite ring a bell immediately. In the back of my mind, I knew they were both $35. Only after I got home, checked the receipt, that I confirmed my fear. One of them scanned in as $40. Not sure what I'm gonna do. A is probably gonna let it go. But it just feels so wrong to let the store get away with it. However, going there will take about as much for gas. So... I'm torn between my principle and a few bucks. What is God trying to tell me? If only I can let go easier, I think I'd be so much more happier.

It's the dress I was hoping to wear tomorrow. Now it's in question too. (T_T)

Didn't get to complete my Etsy purchase. I was horrified at how much it's gonna cost. (T_T)

80 cents

Yes, I was late. Left the house at 4. The gem store closes at 5. But it takes me 40 minutes to get to the north shore. Yes, I know time was super tight. I even changed my mind twice while I was on my way. But still ended up going.

The street paving on 41st got worse. I tried to avoid it but got lost in the side streets. Then the construction on Boundary caused a grid lock. At the end... I arrived at the shop at 5. Of course they were closed. (T_T)

Still able to hit the Michael's at Park Royal. Picked up a few more strands of beads. Exchanging yesterday's 2 strands with a defective bead was not a problem at all.

Hit Walmart too. Got a pack of diapers for dad. The craft section move was only half done, and of course no new shipment. Still got a pack of earring hooks that I need.

The dollar store yielded the most. 4 rolls of ribbons. 3 of them I can use for chokers.

Got home and recorded today's purchased. Then I found out, the clerk at Michael's charged me one of the bead strands that I was exchanging. That's $3.50. I was very upset. Then I found out the clerk at the dollar store didn't charge me for 2 rolls of ribbons. That's $2.80. Gain some here and loose some there. I know I shouldn't be so upset because it almost break even. It almost feels like God is trying to teach me a lesson. Yes, it's only 80 cents. It's noting to most people. To me too. But you can also look at it as 10% of my hourly paid. It turns into a matter of principle.

God, I always have tons of questions but let me start with this one. Is it fair to make me pay for somebody's mistake, and then someone else pay for mine? It doesn't add up.

Virus scare

I was Googling for local packaging supply stores and clicked on one of the search results. However, it must have gotten hijacked and spitted me out into some malicious looking site. Oh yes I recognize you. You pretend to be a virus scan and even put on an animation of "scanning my computer". Nope, away you go.

I tired to close the tab. As usual, you asked me if I'm sure I wanna leave. What are my options? "OK" to scan and "cancel" to stay on the page"? I prefer none of the above. However, clicking on the x button on the window's upper right hand corner only closed it for half a second. The exact same window kept coming back again and again. Then I made the mistake of clicking cancel.

The computer immediately started making a lot of noise, and a window popped up asking me if I want to run or save an "install.exe" file. Oh crap! I freaked out. It was literally fighting a battle! I was trying to close those windows, but they kept coming back! Crap!!!!!!

OK I've had enough. Task manager was so good at killing as always. I usually do a full scan after such incidents but today I wanted to get going so that I could actually visit the store. (Not to mention my online search was not completed.) So instead of a full scan, I ran a quick one. Things seemed to be fine.

Then I fired up Firefox again. It automatically started downloading some kind of update. It took a little while. The 2 tabs on the browser stayed blank while the machine struggled to load the contents. Then, then I noticed, besides the Firefox site where they always force onto you after an update, my "home" page wasn't Google! The title says "wait a minute, your computer is at risk"!!!!

That, was the same virus site I just escaped from!!!! It followed me!!!!! Aaaaarrrrgggghhh!!!!!

Freaked out again. Immediately I tried to close Firefox. No response but a lot of noise. The computer must have been very confused. Quickly, I launched a full virus scan. As I prepared the Task Manager again, the virus site had finished loading and I had to go through a few more rounds of battle. And the virus scan picked up something bad. I chose to "clean up". I think I went through this choice at least 3 times. It was totally freaky.

Thank God for Task Manager.

So, a full scan takes more than an hour. I couldn't continue with my search. Nevertheless, I still wanted to drop by Michael's. So I left the scan running while I fled.

I was there looking for earring hooks. But found half price on strung beads instead. Could I resist? Of course not. Spent too much time picking out useful ones. My wallet's gonna hate me. (>_<) BTW, 2 of my online orders arrived. Hand made rose cabochons. Not as nice as I thought but still better than most stuff I've seen. Not cheap, though.
Need really tiny jump rings but of course they don't exist. Have to make them myself. They keep jumping off my hands! (Can't be the reason why they're called jump rings.) This batch of 27 rings cost me 3 hours. (T_T)

Vials

Wanted to go to Michaels' but after a bunch of small things, there wasn't enough time.

Worked on the vials.

I was short 4 beads at the end. Will need to make some more tomorrow.

14 years

14th anniversary of my accident. It feels a bit weird. Is it my altered sense of time? Time seems to stand still (at least these days).

Eat-out day with brother's gang. Mom wants to see the guinea pigs and I was hoping to get some black findings from sis-in-law that she promised last time. However, she was busy making my niece's Halloween costume. They need it tomorrow for a TV shoot. Yes, some kind of TV shoot happens tomorrow morning at 7 at my niece's school. So I didn't bring up the findings issues. (But I did bring along more bead caps to give her.)

Thought I should document my hair lost now, so that some day when I have no hair and look back to this post, I'd appreciate what I have today.

Pretty much spent the rest of the day hunting for more findings online. Extremely time-consuming. I think I'll need to hit the other Michael's tomorrow.

The U.S. seller from whom I bought some lockets is sending me replacements despite the lack of my request. Very generous as not all of them are defective. Sure did not expect that. I would have bought more from her if that cabochon setting wasn't sold out.

The Chinese Etsy seller also offer to send me replacement on that wrong item. But with a 20-day shipping, it will be too late for the craft show. (Angels are for Christmas.) So I'm negotiating for a different, more generic item. Haven't received a reply yet, but I think it should be fine. Just wish the screw-up didn't happen and I'd be working on those angel charms now.

Scissors

Just another work day. Boss has been working on some clothed manikins hoping to take them on her trip, but it's unlikely that they can be finished on time. She's pretty frustrated and in a bad mood. I'd blame it partially on the weather because I'm feeling it too. Multiply bad mood by 2 and what do you get?

Last time I cut out fabric for the skirts and today sleeves needed to be cut from matching fabric, but they couldn't be found. Boss was rampaging as she searched up and down. She claimed she "never put stuff away" and I've "fold them up and put them in a bag". Of course not true. I didn't even clean up last time and left everything on the table. (She doesn't like me cleaning up. i.e. she doesn't like to pay me for cleanup time. So I usually only put away the tools and leave raw materials on the desk.) It's always me when something goes wrong, isn't it? Why am I always at fault? It's a painful reminder of how low she considers me.

After some more searching, she found the stuff in a box with other fabric she's been using. I hope she realized I'm innocent and she has wrongfully accused me.

As usual, she was very eager to send me out the door, telling me that it's 6, 10 minutes before the mark. Another indicator that she's in a bad mood. Plus, today she didn't eat any of the pastry I brought for lunch. Instead, she made herself a bagel with cream cheese. That didn't go well with her stomach either, and she ended up skipping the egg tart at the end of the day. Yup, I'd say, extremely stressed.

On my way out, I casually asked her the way to Walmart. Last time I got stuck in grid lock and couldn't make the correct turn. (Thanks to Capilano mall not being on Capilano.) She brought out a map and showed me, even went to Google map to print out the detailed parts that the map isn't showing too well. I guess it's these things that I haven't quit working for her.

Walmart doesn't have the earring hooks I need. On top of that and to my horror, the craft section was mostly sealed off by carts of junk and dismantled shelvings. Looked like it's been turn into a temporary dump. Although I managed to squeezed through those carts, still couldn't see a large part of the shelves. The blockage was complete. I asked a staff member who happened to be nearby. She said they are discontinuing the fabric, and the craft section will be moved. Good to know that it will still be around, but I kind of doubt if she's telling me the truth.

Hoping to get the erring hooks at Michael's but they don't have it either. The Orient Express line totally disappeared. Sigh... so I picked up some clearance items, too many, as if to fill the void. (Bad!!!!) Then 1 of 5 pairs of scallop scissors my boss needs (because 1 coupon per person per day). The cashier was the guy I talked to last time and he remembered me. We chatted for a little, and I said I'd hit the other branch after this to use another coupon. He was so nice, he let me use all 5! The catch is, I needed to pay for them separately, which is no problem. Thanks, you really made my day!!!

Got home, ate dinner, passed out at the desk, dealt with some Etsy feed backs and conversations on the wrong item, slightly searched for those earring hooks... and I couldn't believe I went to bed super late again despite exhaustion.

Otome Road Maple Cookie

OMG... photo was taken in June 2008. Awwwwww! How did I let this slip?

A gift from one of my Japanese blog friends. Thanks!! (^_^) This Otome Road cookie is a famous souvenir from Ikebukuro. Otome (maiden) Road = Ikebukuro. Why? Because there's a concentration of BL dojinshi book stores.

The cookie was delicious! The maple was very fragrant... perhaps a little bit too fragrant and leaning towards the artificial side. Each cookie has a character printed on it. Not sure what kind of characters they are. Perhaps some sort of BL manga???

2nd biggest screwup

Worked on more earrings. The hooks are almost gone (the bronze ones are already gone). I need more. Went online to search but no commitment. I wanna check out Michael's or a few other local places first. This way I get the hooks right away instead of having to wait 2 weeks.

Then, then... I realized, I completely forgot this weekend was the bead show!!!! AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!!!!!!

I can't believe it! How can I forget that!?!?!?! Sob sob sob sob sob sob sob...

(T_T) (T_T) (T_T) (T_T) (T_T) (T_T) (T_T) (T_T) (T_T)

Earrings

Went to pick up the registered mail. As expected, it was one of my online purchases. The order was placed on September 30th. Geeze... it's air mail from China post marked Oct 11! What took them so long!

Then, one of the items was wrong! Grrrr... looks like I'm having bad vibes with this seller. I ordered angel charms but they sent me Pegasus. Yes, both with wings, but Pegasus is not for Christmas! (T_T)

What can I do what can I do? As I continued yesterday's filing, I contemplated a nasty complain mail and all the trouble I'll have to go through for an exchange. Most of all, even with an exchange, I seriously doubt if they could make it to the November craft show.

Then when I sat down and started to work on some earrings, I noticed the Pegasus actually makes a good earring. So, maybe it's God's will that I don't use the angel charms.

Aunt Y came back from church saying she's lost our keys. After searching for an hour, she said she might not even have brought them. Then when she turn off the TV before dinner, she must have press something she shouldn't. Mom, after working in the kitchen for 2 hours, wanted to eat while watching TV. However, it went out of whack. No channels, just said "press OK to watch TV". I kept pressing but nothing happened. Tried a few other tricks and still nothing worked. I was about to reset the box, but mom stopped me saying let's wait until after dinner. So we resumed afterward. I reset the box and still didn't work. Turns out the OK button on the remote doesn't work. I pressed the one on the box and it immediately got fixed. Doooooh!!!

Conclusion: aunt Y is loosing it.

Chair

Took advantage of today's day off and cleaned up the overdue filing of findings last night. It's been 2 weeks since the cross-border shopping trip and I've been too tired mentally and physically to file the purchases. That one day without sleep did way more damage than it should. Anyway, slept in and felt a little better. Didn't go to the post office to pick up a registered letter from yesterday, though. Somehow both mom and I thought they will try to deliver again today. Of course not. The time indicated on the notification means when I can go pick it up, not when they will retry. It's just the post office, not a courier.

Took A to shop for an ergonomic desk chair. We were a bit late and the technician went home. Otherwise we would have left with the chair. Oh well. Thanks for pizza, A.

Got home, couldn't decide on what to do. There are tons of things I need to do. So many, I'm overwhelmed. Ended up flattening a bunch of bead caps in preparation of the vial pendants. Filing continued.

Thank God

(Picture was taken last September and unrelated to subject. OK... maybe a little. But nothing more than the theme of traffic.)
Didn't get enough sleep and was tired all day. Finished work before 6:20 which was considered early. Mostly worked on lace ribbon sorting, fabric preparations and cutting. Screwed up a few times including not aligning the pattern to the grain, spraying starch too close and cause spots. My boss didn't point out the tricks and expected me to observe her and know all of it. Sigh...

Second Narrows was jammed according to the traffic news. So I decided to wait it out in Park Royal. Getting there wasn't any better either, but luckily almost all the cars were going onto Lions Gate so I was fine once past Capilano.

It was raining slightly and the ground was wet, reflecting headlights and streetlights. Not a good driving condition especially downtown. Then just before Howe, I let a car cut in front of me. However, I regretted it right away because he was moving very slowly. You can tell he was talking to his passenger by his head movements and hand gestures. Naturally, I tried to pass him.

Shower check, looked back to the car in front, shower check again, look back again.

O M G !!! I'm gonna hit that car!!!

I needed to slam on my brakes immediately. I went through that "time slows down" and "a thousand thoughts" thing. In that split second, what went through my mind was, oh no, the car behind me is for sure gonna hit me and push me into the car in front. All I could do was to slam my brakes as hard as possible.

Miraculously, I stopped in time. Thank God, thank God, thank God!!! (T_T)

What happened what, someone was parallel parking 4 cars ahead. I didn't (and couldn't) see that. Of course I was distracted by trying to change lane too. But most of all, my fatigue caused me to let my guard down on my inability to tell distance at night, compounded by the rain.

Now that I look back, my brakes didn't squeak. It was expected to. I wonder if the wet ground has anything to do with it. Which means... I was still sliding! O M G !!!

Also, it's close to Halloween. And this means close to my accident anniversary. Seems like I have bad vibes around this time of year. I must remember to take extra caution.

This incident sure scared the hell out of me, but I'm super surprised how fast I recovered. Am I so numb?

And no, I don't remember that car's license plate.

Chiropractor

OMG I've been feeling so sick. My back is numb... so numb, it bleeds onto my face. This morning when I went through the face-washing routine, I noticed my face was numb! Yikes!! My joints were frozen. So stiff, I didn't even want to move.

It was like... I was fading away, loosing my senses one by one.

It was very scary after the irregular heart beat on Monday. Not to mention breathing's been difficult. Plus, I can't think! As if my brain has turn into tofu! AAAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!

Luckily, I felt much better after the treatment. However, I needed to run 4 errands (2 drop-offs, 2 pick-ups) and that screwed things up again right away. Driving is no good as you have to extend one leg constantly. Then my handbag is too heavy. Reluctantly, I did leave some stuff in the car to reduce weight.

Ended up skipping one drop-off. Sis-in-law's findings will have to wait.

Got home, ate dinner, fell asleep at the desk. BAD... (T_T)

Still need to record today's purchases and the stuff that arrived in mail. Will I be able to do anything for the craft fair? Probably not. There goes another day... (T_T)

Seat Walker

Dad's geriatric appointment today. The hospital forgot to call us for an appointment after his brain scan. I phoned after 5 weeks of silence and got today's appointment.

So, it's finally confirmed that he has Alzheimer's. As usual, he gave no response. No reaction. No nothing. Just sat there without saying a word. I wonder if he understands anything.

We had some ice-cream and buns with Vietnamese ham after we came home. As usual, dad continued to feast on more ham, apple, nuts and crackers. He would have ate everything in the house if mom didn't stop him.

It's also eat-out day with brother's gang. It was decided on cousin D's favorite restaurant. We picked up a few bags of rices before that. The large bags were on sale but none of us can lift it. So we were forced to buy the small bags. It is things like these that make you feel so powerless and hopeless.

Today is also the first time we tried to bring dad's seat walker along into the car. Nope it won't fit into the trunk. So it had to be put next to dad in the back seat. Since my whole back hasn't been well, it's super difficult to load and unload that thing.

The problem maximized when mom decided to go to Costco after dinner. Brother has a membership card. Usually he'd take his whole gang along. But today my nieces were very tired, so sis-in-law drove them home while brother came ride in my car. After a few trails, the seat walker had to be put into the front seat while 3 or them squeezed into the back.

I was in no condition to do any physical activities. After lifting that thing so many time, I think I completely lost my mind. I started cleaning up my room. BAD!

Now my floor is covered with stuff. It's gonna stay like that for who-know-how-many-days. I am in crunch time for the November craft fair and don't need this.

Almond Cinnamon Thins

Photo taken June 2008 again. Yikes! Anna's Almond Cinnamon Thins. Another great cookie from Ikea. The sister of this. There are 2 more flavours... orange and coffee. Have I reviewed them already??? I haven't tried the lemon favoured one at London Drugs, which is strangely not available at Ikea.

Next to the ginger thins, the almond thins are my second favorite in the Anna's series. The sweetness is just right. You can tell it's almond.

Globes

(Picture was taken last December and unrelated to subject.)
Another work day. Finished up on the powder puffs and jewelry busts. Started on mini globes. Boss said 200 each. Not sure if she meant 200 of each print or each size... Either way, too much precision cutting. She expects me to be able to cut out 10 per 30 minutes. I said, do you expect me to be as fast as you? She said, no, that 's why she's giving me 2 less. So... I'm supposed to cut non-stop and produce 20 per hour. 3 minutes each? Of course I couldn't. No breaks. My hand hurts.

Wooden beads

(Picture was taken in September and unrelated to subject.)
My whole body's so stiff. I can't even think. Thought yesterday was bad. Today was worse. How am I gonna work tomorrow? (But I have to. Bills need to be paid.)

Thanks A for cooking and your help on the wooden beads! It wouldn't happen without you! Many thanks!!!! (^_^)

Oops I didn't take any pictures... (>_<;)

Poor fig tree

(Picture was taken today, but not really related to subject.)
The plum tree in our backyard has been plagued with bugs and not doing well at all. Mom has been considering cutting it. So this afternoon she asked our next door neighbour to help trim off quite a bit. Then she asked dad to chop up the branches lying on the floor into smaller pieces so that they could fit into the garbage bin.

She made the mistake of leaving dad unsupervised after the initial instructions.

Dad cut our fig tree instead. Luckily not the main branch, but half of the rest is gone. Mom was furious. I wasn't home, but I was also mad after hearing the incident.

No figs next year. Sigh... That fig tree has already been trimmed last month too. And dad... being so fond of the activity, already cut off too much back then. History repeats itself. Sigh...

I really don't know what to say, or think.

We're keeping a destroyer in our house. Feels like a time bomb. One day he's gonna set fire to the house and everything will be gone.

(T_T)

Grand opening

(Picture was taken on the 10th and unrelated to subject. No, I'm not trying to say anything with this picture. I simply didn't take any today, and have to fish into the unused photo folder.)
It was really cold last night. 4 degrees or so according to the news? Mom had to set the heater to 32 degrees to start it running. Then the difference is huge! The house finally feels livable.

Still feeling half dead...

Thanks A for reminding me of Michael's grand opening. I totally forgot. And thanks for the paper punch! (^_^)

I assume they would have underground parking like the old LD used to occupy that site. But they don't. Only street parking. The original parkade became public pay parking. We were lucky to find a spot on the side street.

The store was packed. Very chaotic. I wanted some black ribbon but all sold out. Boooo~ Their beading section sucks. Looks like this branch focuses on home decor and scrap-booking. Terribly long line up at the cashier. Luckily they have a single line system which wasn't bad at all. Got a free copy of bridal magazine. Not really useful, but plenty of nice pictures.

Grocery shopping at Whole Foods afterward.

Record keeping

Day off. Finally got some cotton-filled boxes. Made a special trip just for that. It's bigger then the size I want, but I'll have to make do. If only that Etsy seller would ship to Canada. Booooo!

Picked up some more of those tiny cabochons at i-found on my way back. The price went up 50%! Boooooo! (Was 50 cents, now 75 cents.) It's no longer a good deal. I might as well buy from Etsy. The only advantage of buying at i-found is that, I can pick the less crocked ones.

Finally finished calculating how much I owe brother (or vise versa) on our cross-border shopping trip. Then the rest of the day was all record keeping. Can't believe how time-consuming it is. There are still 4 more items to go. Then I'll have to store everything away. That's... gonna take another day.

Feeling very very very very tired. It must be from the trip. It takes longer and longer to recover from one night without sleep. Getting old. (T_T)

Senior abuse

(The trash from boss from 2 days ago.)
Just another work day. Thanks boss for lending me the jewelry displays. It's times like this that makes the job bearable.

Aunt Y came back from the east coast and almost immediately came to stay with us. Her son and daughter-in-law didn't make sure there's enough food in the fridge so she ate plain rice and nothing else for both lunch and dinner yesterday. Yikes... It's already bad enough to eat out without taking your mom along, but not making sure she has enough food at home? I'd say that's senior abuse.

Online shopping continued. Got some cabochons and safety pins. Committed to buy the custom listing from yesterday.

Anna's Giner Thins

This photo was taken in June 2008!!!! Can't believe this one slipped through the cracks! It's one of my favorite. Used to be only sold in Ikea, but London Drugs now carries some varieties. There might be other stores that I'm not aware of.

The ginger is not too strong but definitely there. Sweet but not too sweet. In other words, well balanced. Just ever so slightly on the addictive side.

BTW zero trans fat doesn't mean no trans fat. There's still a little bit.

Rest

(The stuff arrived yesterday.)
Day off, stayed home to recuperate from that one night of no sleep. Yesterday was really pushing it going to work.

Needed to deposit a tax refund cheque.

Needed to fill up on gas.

Needed to buy tomorrow's lunch pastry.

None of the above happened. Didn't even leave the house. Just took it really, really, slow.

Ended up searching for more beading supply online. At least I can make use of the strong dollar. But as usual, it took way too long. And I end up overspending... (T_T) I keep telling myself, this is an investment. But so far there's been no return... (>_<;)

Tired

Of course I'm tired. After cleaning up some stuff, I ended up going to bed at 2. Six hours of sleep is not enough to cover for the night before. Can't believe I had the guts to work today.

Just another work day. Got some stuff that boss was gonna trash. She doesn't give me everything she's gonna trash, though. (Afraid I'd leak her work or something?) And eat-out-with-brother's gang day. Yesterday's 2 fast food meal with no veggies is not making me feel good. Again, no veggie today. I'm feeling very weird...

As usual, niece N was glued to me at my computer. I was showing her Pinky sites, and then I slowly dosed off. I was loosing control of the cursor. I wonder if she noticed. (She must have.) As soon as they left, I collapsed at my desk. After a 30-minute nap, I was well enough to take a shower.

I've been half dead all day.

Another batch of online order arrived. It's the feather charms. Very pretty. Too bad not all of them have a loop on both ends. I'll have to figure out some way to hang them.

Cross-border shopping

Tagged along with brother's gang. It's been a while... since last time I cost them Costco's closing time.

Brother was aiming at leaving the house at 7:30, yet his BBQ party guests didn't leave until midnight. With cleanup and everything, they ended up going to bed at 1. Sis-in-law couldn't sleep probably because of stress.

I've been busy online with purchases and searches (coupons and list of stores for the trip). By the time I went to bed, it was 5. (T_T) Tossing and turning for gods-know-how-long. Took a look at the alarm clock, it was 6:15! Afterward it was nothing but to wait for the alarm to ring. Of course I beat to clock to it. Didn't not get any sleep at all. (T_T)

Arrived at brother's slightly after 7:30. Turn out he wasn't ready. We left the house at 8:10. Lineup wasn't that bad. About 30 minutes or so? I left my cell phone at home which is also my watch, so I lost all sense of time today. Should remember to wear a watch next time.

We got to the first store at around 9:30. 2 rounds of clothing shopping for the girls. They grow so fast, they're outgrowing the clothes they bought at back-to-school. Then Joann. Got some beading supply but not exactly what I'm looking for. Just some common stuff. Got those 7mm pompoms too, yay~!!!

Then lunch at a certain Walmart. (I had no idea which malls... all day.) The 3-items-for-$10 bucket is a good deal. Quality is appropriate to the price, though. We bought a big bottle of juice so the meal only cost $14 for all 5 of us.

Then... more clothes shopping for the girls. It was... either Target or K-mart or Ross... Can't remember. Somewhere we went past another small Joann but gave it up. Then it was Michael's. But this branch was like after a big hurricane. Things were a mess and not replenished. Still managed to get some stuff thanks to an online 50% coupon. Thanks my brother and 2 nieces for helping me use them.

Next was... some other store? Then another Michael's. This one was much better with more stuff and more organized.

Let's see... we stopped at 2 Michael's, 1 Johann, 2 Walmart, 1 Target, 1 K-mart, 1 Ross, 1 Kohl's, 1 Costco... I think I missed some.

Had dinner at Costco. I got a hotdog. The ice-cream mom requested was the last thing to buy. The lineup back wasn't too bad either. 30 minutes maybe? Geeze... I'm totally lost in time.

Arrived at home around 9:30. Sooooo tired and sleepy....

I brought along a Pinky but didn't take any Pinky pictures. Awwww... All day, the only picture I took was the infamous "press button, receive bacon" hand dryer. I think that was at Walmart. Those dryers are not very common over here.

Fall colours

Very pretty indeed. Thanks A! (^_^)

Gloomy

Gloomy weather all day.

Part of dad's collection of home-made fake canes from mutilating perfectly good umbrellas. There are at least 2 more downstairs. At least. (OK one of them here is a real cane.)

Down

(Picture was taken last June and unrelated to subject.)
No work today but my tummy feels worse than yesterday. Slept in. Recorded some recent purchases. Sent mail to that Chinese seller. Set up some shared purchases with sis-in-law, searched for some pictures for ideas... Didn't get to work on anything again... (T_T)

The heat is still not running although it feels so cold. I'm in full winter home clothes. (Fleece pants + ski pants on top. Fleece long sleeve shirt. Fleece jacket.) Go ahead and laugh at me.

The sun did come out for a little while late afternoon. But forecast is all rain. I'm worried about the basement flooding again.

Reading this photocopy posted on my chiropractor's cork board sends my heart to Siberia. It explains why I'm so negative. If only my parents knew this list. (T_T)

Chewy Cranberry Apple

President's Choice Chewy Cranberry Apple Granola Bars. Picture taken May 2008!!!! Yikes! I have way too many "stocked up" old pics...

Anyway, this one is missing a note, so I can't remember too well how it tasted. The bars were small, and I think they were OK for their price. Nothing too yucky, nothing too special.

Worthlessness

Yup, the vampire definitely affects everything. The weather compounds it.

My boss was not in a good mood either. Very irritable.

She told me to clean up some resin cast clocks, and then mount them on a stick for spray-painting. Usually it's the back that gets sprayed first. I just want to make sure. But what she's been saying was "dial forward". "Forward" to me means facing me, but that's unusual. I should have confirmed louder, but I didn't say "dial up?" loud enough. She didn't say anything so I stuck them all facing up.

When she was about to spray them, she got mad. It could be simply a misunderstanding on both of us, but she always act like she's god and cannot be wrong. I said, you said dial up. She said, no, YOU said dial up. Wait a sec... if you heard me saying that, why didn't you correct me right away? I of course had to shut up.

She wanted me to punch out some printed clock dials with a paper punch. Only the "clear ones". Meaning, only the once with clearly visible numbers. That, was also questionable. What she consider "clearly visible" was different from mine.

All of these unnecessary stress and tension.

Somewhere she said, "why am I even explaining this to you?"

It really hurts.

Do you know what that means to me?

It means, I'm not worthy to know why something needs to be done a certain way. I should just shut up and blindly do what you say like a robot. I'm not a person.

The stress maxed out within a short duration of less than 5 minutes and I needed to use my emergency stop button. My arm is still sore from it.

As I sunk my teeth deeply onto my arm, I had to tell myself, I'm just a piece of garbage. No, less than that. A piece of shit. So I should shut the F%#K up and be her dog.

I have no doubt she thinks of me as her dog.

All afternoon, I was thinking, will today be the day I finally quit? I've saved up 2 incidents, past misunderstanding that would slap her in her face. I was imagining how delicious it would be, the day I reveal them to her.

However, the mixed message is, she does look like she's been trying to help me with my own craft stuff. If it isn't for that, I would have quit long ago.

BTW, some more online stuff arrived. 2 more to go. I must contact that Chinese seller as my order status is still "paid" instead of "shipped" after a whole week now.

Furnace cleaning

Busy day...

Was going to get up earlier to clean up some more, but just couldn't. Yup, vampire confirmed, but it's kind of illusive in the beginning. (Then it became normal a few hours later.) Couldn't wash my filthy hair last night, so I had no choice but to do it with the vampire.

Barely had enough time to eat lunch. The furnace cleaner arrived half an hour late at12:30. After inspection, 2 components need to be changed. The flame at start up blows out too far and the transformer is the culprit. $395. Then the barrings on the fan were all blown out. With a new shaft, $295. The cleaning itself was cheap at around $110. We got some discount and an instant coupon. The total was $725. Ouch... (T_T)

Then chiropractor. Because of the vampire, I can't feel anything else but sick. Total lack of energy. So I can't tell how much the chiropractor is helping... but I'm sure it is. I do feel more relax on my neck and shoulders.

Then A called for help on luggage and shopping. We went to Costco. Lots of food sampling. Very nice stuff. The portions were generous too. I guess they're aiming at Thanksgiving and Halloween feasts. A's having a movie night too and that's why we were there to pick up snacks. Thanks for the treats!

Vampire got worst when A was shopping in Home Depot. Sorry I got grumpy...

The first item of the second round of online purchase arrived. It's been exactly one week but the seller with the item I needed the most still hasn't shipped. I'll have to contact them... (Always too tired at night and not want to write mail especially business-related ones...)

Vampire?

(Picture was taken last December and unrelated to subject.)
Stringed micro beads at work most of the day. My eyes... (T_T) (T_T) (T_T)
Did a bit of packaging kits too.

Went to Park Royal to pay my B card bill after work. Then of course Michael's. Bingo, found the last one of a skull candle stand A wants. But it's damaged. A chunk of the cap got broken. I was able to ask for a further discount. It ended up about half price. Not much, but the damage is on the side and not too visible. Paint the edge black and it should still be OK.

It's eat-out-with-brother's gang day. This time since I had to work, he brought over take-out sushi. Still, I was late, and they save off some for me. As usual, my nieces like to hang out in my room while I show them funny web sites.

Then, I thought the knock came. It was a little illusive at first. When it was finally time (after brother's gang left, and dad went to bed), I answered. However, I suddenly felt sick. So sick, I thought I had food poisoning form sushi! My tummy hurt, diarrhea, dizzy, felt cold, cold sweat, kind of want to vomit... wait, that was exactly like the vampire... except for it shouldn't arrive in another 4 days. Still... it was possible.

I barely managed to take a super short shower. Couldn't even wash my face or brush my teeth. I stumbled to bed, turn the 2 electric blankets on, but my body just refused to warm up. Luckily, my tummy ache and the urge to vomit subsided enough to consider taking a pain killer. Mom dozed off watching TV, so I crawled into the kitchen to get Tylenol myself. After I crawled back to bed, I was so dizzy, I couldn't even keep my eyes open. After another 30 minutes or so, perhaps the Tylenol started working, I felt well enough to get up, wash my face and brush my teeth. Even recorded the day's purchases and some surfing.

Yet the vampire still wouldn't show up. Just in case, I did the necessary preparations. This post is actually written the day after. Now that I look back, it totally pointed to vampire. Why didn't I believe it?

Last time wasn't that bad. I think it's because I ate a little bit of ice-cream on that crape at Aoyama Cafe recently. Hmm... (>_<;) How could I be so careless?

Micro beads

(Picture was taken last July and unrelated to subject. Somehow it escaped being posted. Those cameos needed to have their edges filed down in order to fit into the settings. Very exhausting.)
Mainly stringed micro beads at work today. Some miniature jewelry too. Eyes, neck, shoulders, back are sore...

New store

Started late again today. Dad wet 4 pairs of pants before lunch. Sigh... (T_T)

Took A to memory express in Richmond. Didn't go to their grand opening yesterday. It was an hour before closing and there weren't treats. (Apparently, there were free hamburgers, door prizes, lucky draw, etc yesterday.) A was happy about the store. Good.

Michael's sold out on the 0.05mm marker. Booo...

Vials continues

(Picture was taken last April and unrelated to subject.)
Finally settled on the exchange item. Lets hope the supply arrives soon. The seller is in the east coast, so it should only take a few days.

Sis-in-law came to look at my findings collection. Just like me, she's been having trouble getting antique bronze colour stuff. So I gave her some. Will probably get some black one from her later.

The face on the pompoms is extremely difficult to make. Guess I haven't been drawing for way too long. Can't control the pen when drawing fine shapes. (T_T)

Tiny Toblerone

"Dug-up" series continues. This Tiny Toblerone is everything as good as the normal size ones. (Well, wouldn't expect otherwise.) One individually wrapped piece might be smaller than a piece broken off a normal size bar, since I felt like eating at least 2. In other words, not as satisfy. These are supposed to be good for portion control, though.

October already

(Picture was taken on Sept 29 and unrelated to subject.)
The weather was surprisingly nice. I'm so glad we can have some more sunny days. Took a walk to to the bank to pay my visa bill. Instead of my bank card, I inserted my visa card! Of course the PIN didn't work! Aaaaaargh!!!! Stupid me!!!!! (T_T) I hope my card wouldn't get suspended again.

Managed to get the most urgent part of the vial pendants done. (Because I need to return some supplies that I borrowed.) It took most of the day, though.

One of the findings I ordered online is sold out. I placed the order 2 days ago and only now do they find? If it's not available, it shouldn't even show up on the web page! No, I'm not happy at all. It's something I want and need. This makes me waste more time looking for a substitute instead of actually making stuff.

Wow... it's October already. Where did time go? As I don't know when in November the craft fair is, I assume I only have this month.