Monday, February 02, 2004

Northern Exposure: Busy Recently

I'm sorry I haven't called recently. I started my new job mid-December, and I ended up working really hard, over a lot of weekends, to finish a proposal.

We receive requests from the Alberta government to propose a computer solution to a problem they have, and there are deadlines and structures and stuff.

Anyway, I had to be the Technical Architect for this one, and I've never done it before, so I had to work very hard. I'm very pleased with the results, we'll see if we win it in a few weeks.

Today is the first time I've really had a chance to sit at my desk and relax. Heh, I shouldn't even do that. I wanted to call you guys to chat, but the timings are usually all wrong.

Over the past two weeks, the temperature has been around -30C or lower. One day, with windchill, it was -46C. Last week, our car stopped - we had it at home, plugged in (all cars here have to have a heater block to keep the oil from freezing), and it does start, but it dies soon after. The battery is good, it's just too cold for the car.

This week it is supposed to get warmer, to maybe -10C or -5C. I can't wait. A few weeks ago I took Soph to the Muttart Conservatory and it was SO NICE to see green stuff. We were very happy there.

Soph organized a Chinese New Year party last week, and it went really well - lots of people came over (we had 15 and 2 kids in the place), and it was really good fun. A nice break for me, at the time. Also, last Tuesday I went to a Nickelback concert for first aid, got to see three bands for free - but was kept very busy with drunk girls, one of whom had to be rushed to the hospital. I ended up being an IV bag
holder for her, while the paramedics dealt with her. Good fun.

So, I'm keeping busy, and Sophia is well, and it's really cold here, and we miss everyone back home. I hope you are all feeling good, and that your "cold snap" I heard about was tolerable. Hehe.