Year in Review: 2008
Jan. 1st, 2009 01:22 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mousmeI'm taking a page out of ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
fearsclave's book, and going back over my last year's LJ entries, to see what went on in the last year.
January
January was marked by my becoming pretty much fully operational in my new job at the RCMP. I worked my very first night shift, and then two weeks later worked another night shift. All in all, I handled myself pretty well, and discovered for the first time that working nights is not happy-making for me in terms of my constitution.
We held the fourth annual Capricornucopia, with a Clue-based theme, and while everyone had fun I am still kicking myself for failing to include a "It was Col. Mustard in the Conservatory with the lead pipe!" line.
Things began heating up in the bi-monthly Incarnate game run byforthright, with murders and epiphanies and Highwaymen, oh my!
I bought a Scooba. It washes my floors. :D
The weather turned even more snowy and blustery, although we had already received quite a dusting by then. I was reveling in the actual winter, but was also bemoaning the lack of opportunities to go snowshoeing.
February
February was filled with snow. I also had the distinct pleasure and honour to be part of Tallis' naming ceremony, although that weekend passed for me in a blur of not sleeping.
curtana made me an Overtime Fairy icon. :D
I made a mini-resolution to post every day in February, and kept to it. I also took up running for a while, which was really really nice, except that it turns out that my ankles aren't strong enough to support running in the snow, and by the time March rolled around I had to call it quits. I am not giving up entirely, though!
I signed up for Communauto, which has proved to be a bit of a mixed blessing, but overall a positive choice.
fearsclave and his Wuh-Mun came to pay a visit to ai731 and the_exclamation, and I shamelessly invited myself over to play for a while. We sat around and laughed and chatted and ate delicious food until it was time to go. Luckily, I didn't have far to go.
I did a lot of overtime, and a lot of data entry for the new dispatching system that we were going to implement in March. We all underwent a week of training for the new system as well, which got us out of the OCC and into a classroom for five days: all to the good.
February is also when I found out that Emru Townsend had leukemia and needed a bone marrow transplant.
Winter continued to be winter-y, and I started cooking more at home. Did I mention there was overtime?
March
March was mostly made of win.
The new dispatch system went live on the 4th, and I managed to see friends a couple of times.
On the 12th I hied myself to Halifax, for an excellent five days spent in the company of very dear friends and their offspring. I even saw Nana, whom I hadn't seen in well over a year. An awesome, awesome trip, even though I appear to have brought the Montreal blizzards with me.
I came home to find that the second half of March was about to come down on me like a ton of bricks. I worked so much overtime that I was cross-eyed, and then certain people who shall remain nameless started invoking Australian surf gods and brought the entire sky down on our heads.
April
April was marked by yet more overtime.
I also rediscovered Tremors, got new worms for my vermicomposter, and started looking into hybrid cars on a theoretical level. I got myself a new digital camera after my old one inexplicably bit the dust.
I invested a lot more in my RRSP, little knowing that the market would go kaflooie in such a major way later on.
The Open-Source Boob Project took on a life of its own, and I made an exception and posted a bit about an internet kerfuffle, which I usually try to avoid.
My coworker Fitness!Girl left for Depot to become a regular member of the RCMP.
May
The Incarnate campaign came to a very violent but satisfactory end, in anticipation offorthright and curtana's upcoming migration southward.
I worked more overtime.
I celebrated May 1st as Beltane Bake Day, and made egg bread! It was a resounding success.ai731 gave me a crash course in gardening, and I planted broccoli!
Litigious!Coworker and I actually worked together for a few shifts. I think it's one of the only times I've seen her in the office.
I caught some sort of weird pseudo-cold, but managed to get in a night of fun and games attcaptain and maya_banana's.
I startedbodhifox's Soopar Seekrit Prodgikt, but was quickly thwarted by lack of the right yarn.
I was given yet more responsibility at work (the OCC procedures overhaul, on which I'm still working).
I wrote out my 101 Things To Do In 1001 Days list, with a projected start date of June 1st.
The FLQ threatened to bomb people, but never followed through and were generally unimpressive.
I met a skunk who apparently lives nearby. This was to be the first of many Close Encounters of the Aromatic Kind.
I declared a personal vendetta against the secure faxes in the office, which broke down every single day for extended periods of time.
On May 22nd I had the misfortune to attend a section meeting, which lasted two hours longer than it should have and was filled with bitching and yammering from two women in the office (hence why the meeting took three times as long as it should have).
The Scooba malfunctioned, and thus got renamed Marvin. He then resurrected, which was all to the good.
My hot water heater also died a day and a half before I was scheduled to get on a plane. Eesh. I took the Friday off work, and it all worked out in the end. New hot water heater FTW! It also enabled me to attend the Invisible concert, Live At Clyde's! A fantastic way to end the month of May, and I wore my sexy black dress, which afforded me many compliments from people. Yarr.
June
On June 1st I boarded a plane for Paris, where I spent a delightful if hectic week walking all over the place.
I got back to work in time to work more overtime. I transcribed the three-hour meeting from the previous month (thus reliving the annoyance).
I participated in Blog Like It's The End Of The World, and actually had a couple of people fooled for a while. That was awesome. :D
At work they fired my shift partner and hired Excitable!Puppy, with whom I got off to a very rocky start. I eventually figured out that he was overly anxious to seem like he knew what he was doing, and as a result came off as a pompous, arrogant jerk. He's actually a really good kid.
I didn't write down the day thatai731 and the_exclamation signed for their new house, but I believe it was in June. We celebrated with sparkling wine in the garden. The broccoli was already growing madly, thriving in the relative lack of heat and excessive humidity.
My friend April was in town, and while I didn't get to spend much time with her I did manage to sneak out one Sunday evening and had dinner with her andaislingtheach and the rest of that gang, whom I hadn't seen in a really long time. I missed Anik and Nigel's wedding, as it took place at the exact moment my plane took off for France. The timing on that was really unfortunate, and I wish I could have gone.
I also started an herb garden. By the end of June, it was showing promise. Sadly, it was not to last.
July
July was marked by (say it with me, boys and girls) overtime!
I attendedowldaughter's Canada Day concert, preceded by a lovely picnic by the lake with tcaptain and maya_banana.
I also pulled my bike out of storage and cycled to work most of the month. I was eating well and exercising regularly at the time, and was feeling pretty great all told. Too bad it didn't last.
I worked dispatch for the 400th anniversary of Québec City, which kind of got rained out. The festivities went on, but all the "important" VIPs went home early, giving me nothing to do. I returned home in the midst of Friday rush-hour traffic, and then whipped right around and headed out to the Godforsaken Howling Northern Wilderness to join up with the usual suspects for a weekend of hanging out by the barbecue with beer. Good times were had.
I got a new modem to help with connectivity issues, and was pleasantly surprised when local tech support proved to be efficient, friendly and knowledgeable, compared to outsourced tech support.
Pepe Le Pew made another appearance, nearly causing me Serious Inconvenience on my way to work.
I completedbodhifox's Soopar Seekrit Prodgikt, which I then gave to him right before we climbed up Camel's Hump in Vermont. I lost my notebook in Vermont. Very sad, and most inconvenient.
On the Monday following Camel's Hump I met BorderCrossing in person for the first time. She told me about her school life (both as a student and as a teacher), and we had a really nice time, going for a walk after brunch.
August
I co-moderated Jan's August Writing Challenge this year, by which I mean to say that I mostly remembered to post challenges once a day, and did almost no writing of my own, as I was submerged at work.
Yes, there was overtime as well.
I called in sick to work for the first time ever at the RCMP.
The intermittent computer problems I was having grew less intermittent and more permanent, until I was finally forced to concede defeat and got a brand-new MacBook, which I love with much love.
I went to the Pride Parade with BorderCrossing, which was lots of fun. I offered to buy her an ice cream, and ended up buying her a bottle of water instead.
I read "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" by Barbara Kingsolver, which was my notable book of the year.
I also packed like a mad packing thing in anticipation of The Great Migration scheduled for Labour Day Weekend.
On the 19th I saw my psychiatrist for the last time in his professional capacity. He officially proclaimed me sane: I got the Grade-A Stamp Of Mental Health™, which was good news for us both. He's a great guy, and was genuinely very happy to see how well I'm doing.
We moved on the 30th. Movingai731 and the_exclamation out took about three hours. Moving me out and in took a little under an hour. Then there was pizza and beer and more good times.
My long-estranged aunt came to Canada to visit us, so I spent part of the 31st at a family luncheon I didn't feel like attending, listening to my bitter old uncle spew bile at the entire world. My mother and I beat a hasty retreat so that I could show her my new place.
September
The cats all adjusted to the move except for Pan-Pan, who had anxiety issues for several weeks.
I purchased new and new-to-me appliances, with some little difficulty in some cases.
I failed to unpack all of my belongings.
I attempted to set up a wireless network, but my attempt was made of Epic Fail. I have yet to try again.
Politics got messy on both sides of the border.
BorderCrossing and I started dating in earnest.
I also started going semi-regularly to the Hurley's Nights, which are a great deal of fun.
At work we lost two people to long-term sick leave.
There was lots of overtime.
On September 17th I signed up for Shave To Save. The donations started pouring in.
October
October was taken up by four things: the Shave To Save campaign and subsequent shaving of my head; the eight-day stint in Québec City, the Federal Election, and metric assloads of overtime.
I got partnered with Litigious!Coworker on the new schedule, but she hasn't actually been in to work since early September, while I was on vacation. I haven't seen her in about six months.
I bought a chest freezer. I hired a cleaning lady (possibly one of the best decisions I've ever made). I also got the floor upstairs redone, a process that was fraught with unexpected snags and expenses.
I found an injured pigeon in the street, and after a bit of a minor sagasultrysong was awesome enough to give me a ride home and take him to the SPCA for me.
I also hosted Hallowe'en this year, carved pumpkins and decorated and handed out candy, with help from BorderCrossing and later fromtcaptain and maya_banana. Had pizza, made pie, and generally had a great time.
November
In November, I vowed not to work any overtime. It almost worked. I managed to put in a lot less overtime than I usually do, though, so that counts for something!
Barack Obama won the election and is slated to become the 44th President of the U.S.A.
Just when we thought we were safe from politics, our stupid Premier called elections in Québec. Damn him to heck.
I got a table!
I had a very painful argument with my mother about Teh Gay.
On November 11th, Emru Townsend passed away.
I took BorderCrossing to both Soup Night and to The Shindig, and we snuck in some extra dates in between whenever scheduling permitted.
The Shindig was awesome. Some of the crowd from Camel's Hump, plus some of the Montreal crowd, plus bonus Other Americans! There was a bonfire, and alcohol, and lots of food. So many good times.
December
One word can sum up December: Overtime.
We lost first one, and then another coworker to long-term sick leave.
Apart from work (where I spent 22 consecutive days), a few things stand out. I made BorderCrossing a hat and scarf out of really nice green yarn that I found at Ariadne Knits.
BorderCrossing decided things weren't working out, then changed her mind once I had come to terms with things not working out. Altogether not fun.
I managed to get out on the 23rd and see friends. It was really great, and I was happy to get out of the office for a while.
And here we are!
fearsclave's book, and going back over my last year's LJ entries, to see what went on in the last year.January
January was marked by my becoming pretty much fully operational in my new job at the RCMP. I worked my very first night shift, and then two weeks later worked another night shift. All in all, I handled myself pretty well, and discovered for the first time that working nights is not happy-making for me in terms of my constitution.
We held the fourth annual Capricornucopia, with a Clue-based theme, and while everyone had fun I am still kicking myself for failing to include a "It was Col. Mustard in the Conservatory with the lead pipe!" line.
Things began heating up in the bi-monthly Incarnate game run by
forthright, with murders and epiphanies and Highwaymen, oh my!I bought a Scooba. It washes my floors. :D
The weather turned even more snowy and blustery, although we had already received quite a dusting by then. I was reveling in the actual winter, but was also bemoaning the lack of opportunities to go snowshoeing.
February
February was filled with snow. I also had the distinct pleasure and honour to be part of Tallis' naming ceremony, although that weekend passed for me in a blur of not sleeping.
curtana made me an Overtime Fairy icon. :DI made a mini-resolution to post every day in February, and kept to it. I also took up running for a while, which was really really nice, except that it turns out that my ankles aren't strong enough to support running in the snow, and by the time March rolled around I had to call it quits. I am not giving up entirely, though!
I signed up for Communauto, which has proved to be a bit of a mixed blessing, but overall a positive choice.
fearsclave and his Wuh-Mun came to pay a visit to ai731 and the_exclamation, and I shamelessly invited myself over to play for a while. We sat around and laughed and chatted and ate delicious food until it was time to go. Luckily, I didn't have far to go.I did a lot of overtime, and a lot of data entry for the new dispatching system that we were going to implement in March. We all underwent a week of training for the new system as well, which got us out of the OCC and into a classroom for five days: all to the good.
February is also when I found out that Emru Townsend had leukemia and needed a bone marrow transplant.
Winter continued to be winter-y, and I started cooking more at home. Did I mention there was overtime?
March
March was mostly made of win.
The new dispatch system went live on the 4th, and I managed to see friends a couple of times.
On the 12th I hied myself to Halifax, for an excellent five days spent in the company of very dear friends and their offspring. I even saw Nana, whom I hadn't seen in well over a year. An awesome, awesome trip, even though I appear to have brought the Montreal blizzards with me.
I came home to find that the second half of March was about to come down on me like a ton of bricks. I worked so much overtime that I was cross-eyed, and then certain people who shall remain nameless started invoking Australian surf gods and brought the entire sky down on our heads.
April
April was marked by yet more overtime.
I also rediscovered Tremors, got new worms for my vermicomposter, and started looking into hybrid cars on a theoretical level. I got myself a new digital camera after my old one inexplicably bit the dust.
I invested a lot more in my RRSP, little knowing that the market would go kaflooie in such a major way later on.
The Open-Source Boob Project took on a life of its own, and I made an exception and posted a bit about an internet kerfuffle, which I usually try to avoid.
My coworker Fitness!Girl left for Depot to become a regular member of the RCMP.
May
The Incarnate campaign came to a very violent but satisfactory end, in anticipation of
forthright and curtana's upcoming migration southward.I worked more overtime.
I celebrated May 1st as Beltane Bake Day, and made egg bread! It was a resounding success.
ai731 gave me a crash course in gardening, and I planted broccoli!Litigious!Coworker and I actually worked together for a few shifts. I think it's one of the only times I've seen her in the office.
I caught some sort of weird pseudo-cold, but managed to get in a night of fun and games at
tcaptain and maya_banana's.I started
bodhifox's Soopar Seekrit Prodgikt, but was quickly thwarted by lack of the right yarn.I was given yet more responsibility at work (the OCC procedures overhaul, on which I'm still working).
I wrote out my 101 Things To Do In 1001 Days list, with a projected start date of June 1st.
The FLQ threatened to bomb people, but never followed through and were generally unimpressive.
I met a skunk who apparently lives nearby. This was to be the first of many Close Encounters of the Aromatic Kind.
I declared a personal vendetta against the secure faxes in the office, which broke down every single day for extended periods of time.
On May 22nd I had the misfortune to attend a section meeting, which lasted two hours longer than it should have and was filled with bitching and yammering from two women in the office (hence why the meeting took three times as long as it should have).
The Scooba malfunctioned, and thus got renamed Marvin. He then resurrected, which was all to the good.
My hot water heater also died a day and a half before I was scheduled to get on a plane. Eesh. I took the Friday off work, and it all worked out in the end. New hot water heater FTW! It also enabled me to attend the Invisible concert, Live At Clyde's! A fantastic way to end the month of May, and I wore my sexy black dress, which afforded me many compliments from people. Yarr.
June
On June 1st I boarded a plane for Paris, where I spent a delightful if hectic week walking all over the place.
I got back to work in time to work more overtime. I transcribed the three-hour meeting from the previous month (thus reliving the annoyance).
I participated in Blog Like It's The End Of The World, and actually had a couple of people fooled for a while. That was awesome. :D
At work they fired my shift partner and hired Excitable!Puppy, with whom I got off to a very rocky start. I eventually figured out that he was overly anxious to seem like he knew what he was doing, and as a result came off as a pompous, arrogant jerk. He's actually a really good kid.
I didn't write down the day that
ai731 and the_exclamation signed for their new house, but I believe it was in June. We celebrated with sparkling wine in the garden. The broccoli was already growing madly, thriving in the relative lack of heat and excessive humidity.My friend April was in town, and while I didn't get to spend much time with her I did manage to sneak out one Sunday evening and had dinner with her and
aislingtheach and the rest of that gang, whom I hadn't seen in a really long time. I missed Anik and Nigel's wedding, as it took place at the exact moment my plane took off for France. The timing on that was really unfortunate, and I wish I could have gone.I also started an herb garden. By the end of June, it was showing promise. Sadly, it was not to last.
July
July was marked by (say it with me, boys and girls) overtime!
I attended
owldaughter's Canada Day concert, preceded by a lovely picnic by the lake with tcaptain and maya_banana.I also pulled my bike out of storage and cycled to work most of the month. I was eating well and exercising regularly at the time, and was feeling pretty great all told. Too bad it didn't last.
I worked dispatch for the 400th anniversary of Québec City, which kind of got rained out. The festivities went on, but all the "important" VIPs went home early, giving me nothing to do. I returned home in the midst of Friday rush-hour traffic, and then whipped right around and headed out to the Godforsaken Howling Northern Wilderness to join up with the usual suspects for a weekend of hanging out by the barbecue with beer. Good times were had.
I got a new modem to help with connectivity issues, and was pleasantly surprised when local tech support proved to be efficient, friendly and knowledgeable, compared to outsourced tech support.
Pepe Le Pew made another appearance, nearly causing me Serious Inconvenience on my way to work.
I completed
bodhifox's Soopar Seekrit Prodgikt, which I then gave to him right before we climbed up Camel's Hump in Vermont. I lost my notebook in Vermont. Very sad, and most inconvenient.On the Monday following Camel's Hump I met BorderCrossing in person for the first time. She told me about her school life (both as a student and as a teacher), and we had a really nice time, going for a walk after brunch.
August
I co-moderated Jan's August Writing Challenge this year, by which I mean to say that I mostly remembered to post challenges once a day, and did almost no writing of my own, as I was submerged at work.
Yes, there was overtime as well.
I called in sick to work for the first time ever at the RCMP.
The intermittent computer problems I was having grew less intermittent and more permanent, until I was finally forced to concede defeat and got a brand-new MacBook, which I love with much love.
I went to the Pride Parade with BorderCrossing, which was lots of fun. I offered to buy her an ice cream, and ended up buying her a bottle of water instead.
I read "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" by Barbara Kingsolver, which was my notable book of the year.
I also packed like a mad packing thing in anticipation of The Great Migration scheduled for Labour Day Weekend.
On the 19th I saw my psychiatrist for the last time in his professional capacity. He officially proclaimed me sane: I got the Grade-A Stamp Of Mental Health™, which was good news for us both. He's a great guy, and was genuinely very happy to see how well I'm doing.
We moved on the 30th. Moving
ai731 and the_exclamation out took about three hours. Moving me out and in took a little under an hour. Then there was pizza and beer and more good times.My long-estranged aunt came to Canada to visit us, so I spent part of the 31st at a family luncheon I didn't feel like attending, listening to my bitter old uncle spew bile at the entire world. My mother and I beat a hasty retreat so that I could show her my new place.
September
The cats all adjusted to the move except for Pan-Pan, who had anxiety issues for several weeks.
I purchased new and new-to-me appliances, with some little difficulty in some cases.
I failed to unpack all of my belongings.
I attempted to set up a wireless network, but my attempt was made of Epic Fail. I have yet to try again.
Politics got messy on both sides of the border.
BorderCrossing and I started dating in earnest.
I also started going semi-regularly to the Hurley's Nights, which are a great deal of fun.
At work we lost two people to long-term sick leave.
There was lots of overtime.
On September 17th I signed up for Shave To Save. The donations started pouring in.
October
October was taken up by four things: the Shave To Save campaign and subsequent shaving of my head; the eight-day stint in Québec City, the Federal Election, and metric assloads of overtime.
I got partnered with Litigious!Coworker on the new schedule, but she hasn't actually been in to work since early September, while I was on vacation. I haven't seen her in about six months.
I bought a chest freezer. I hired a cleaning lady (possibly one of the best decisions I've ever made). I also got the floor upstairs redone, a process that was fraught with unexpected snags and expenses.
I found an injured pigeon in the street, and after a bit of a minor saga
sultrysong was awesome enough to give me a ride home and take him to the SPCA for me.I also hosted Hallowe'en this year, carved pumpkins and decorated and handed out candy, with help from BorderCrossing and later from
tcaptain and maya_banana. Had pizza, made pie, and generally had a great time.November
In November, I vowed not to work any overtime. It almost worked. I managed to put in a lot less overtime than I usually do, though, so that counts for something!
Barack Obama won the election and is slated to become the 44th President of the U.S.A.
Just when we thought we were safe from politics, our stupid Premier called elections in Québec. Damn him to heck.
I got a table!
I had a very painful argument with my mother about Teh Gay.
On November 11th, Emru Townsend passed away.
I took BorderCrossing to both Soup Night and to The Shindig, and we snuck in some extra dates in between whenever scheduling permitted.
The Shindig was awesome. Some of the crowd from Camel's Hump, plus some of the Montreal crowd, plus bonus Other Americans! There was a bonfire, and alcohol, and lots of food. So many good times.
December
One word can sum up December: Overtime.
We lost first one, and then another coworker to long-term sick leave.
Apart from work (where I spent 22 consecutive days), a few things stand out. I made BorderCrossing a hat and scarf out of really nice green yarn that I found at Ariadne Knits.
BorderCrossing decided things weren't working out, then changed her mind once I had come to terms with things not working out. Altogether not fun.
I managed to get out on the 23rd and see friends. It was really great, and I was happy to get out of the office for a while.
And here we are!
