.

Some nights, dropping dead doesn't sound so bad
this is one

sQuba!

Ha the world of crazy engineering...
A James Bond fan, who happened to be versed in mechanics has created a working(!) amphibian convertible(!?!) car... the model is based on Moore's Lotus in The Spy Who Loved Me.

Prototype construction cost: 1,5 million$... scuba tanks included :P

Let's just say I wont be saving for that one.. but I must admit it would make underwater exploration even more... well, if not exciting, at least stylish!

skeleton in St-Lambert

I just finished Katy Reich's first novel, Deja Dead (she's the woman who inspired the TV show Bones.. though the books have very little in common with it).

Beside being entertaining enough, the book has another very cool fact.. it takes place in Montreal, in the districts where I hang out most, and in St-Lambert where I live! Ms Reich lives in Mtl part time, and it shows, all descriptions are flawless... down to the last Shish Taouk joint!

The only mistake I found was the monastery in St-Lambert where they recover a buried body (no idea where or what that is, but I figure it's intentional). She also mentions that some place was a bar that closed 6 years ago... there isn't and never was any bars or clubs in St-Lambert, a municipal law forbids it.... St-Lambert is a cosy, upscale little "village" and the people here do not want to see their pristine lawns disturbed by drunken idiots. :P

So all n all a nice little page turner if you have, like me, an interest for serial killers. :)

rov options

ROV options : 1 - getting rid of the Zebra mussels invasion in the Great Lakes (or try anyway), 2 - The Serpent Project, 3 - play Pirates of the Caribbean for real!, 4 - bridge inspection with lil firefly like Geek, 5- keeping score of fish populations and discover new species...

Many people have asked me and frowned.. so I will specify here...

I am not employed by an oil company! My "boss" is Oceaneering, who provides rov services to people who require them, like the Telecoms and the Oil and Gas industries.

This kind of company was my best (if not only) chance at a job so I took it gladly. When you start in rovs, you're a trainee. Smaller cies, like archaeology, marine protection or wreck recovery, do not employ many and often cannot afford to train someone. They'll prefer a pilot who'll be efficient right away, who already knows the machines inside n out

Oceaneering treats its employees very well so I should enjoy being there for the time. I will learn a lot and should make great contacts all over the world too.

But I do not forget that I got into rov to work with the ocean, not against it. This summer I contacted, and am still keeping in touch with, companies that do archaeology/treasure hunting in Florida, oceanography in Ontario, fish surveys in the Keys, bridge inspection in California and environmentalists all over the place (check SERPENT project). All of them know my interest and are willing to hire me when the need will arise... but in a company of 15 people, it doesn't happen too often.

So in the meantime I'll get the oil companies to give me $, instead of paying them every time I fill my car, and see where it takes me...
Maybe I'll make enough to start my own artifacts recovery company.. mmm Florida, the Caribbean, the Mediterranean... :P

So are we clear? I am not selling my soul or conscience, I have not changed my mind about anything, I am only taking the obligatory steps that will take me where I want to go in the end...

3..2..1..

The paperwork has been received, completed and sent back. I'm officially an Oceaneering employee!!!

They had in mind October 8th for my first job, but my OPITO survival certs are not enough :S I'll need to do a 5 days training in St.Johns NL before I can go anywhere (who said OPITO was the most complete??? I've been had! :S)

Oceaneering works with Petro Canada and Husky Oil... so I'll end up on a rig for one of those 2 very soon. Depending on what type of platform I'm on, the rotation will be 28/28 or 21/21 days. 3-4 weeks work, 3-4 weeks home.. I can definitely live with that! :)

And the pay is... well the pay is... hehehehihihahahoho (that's me laughing all the way to the bank). I'm still stuck paying taxes though, so I might laugh a little less when I get my first pay check...

Now that the pressure of getting that first job has lifted, it can give way to "ho-my-god-will-I-be-any-good-at-this" + "what-the-hell-was-I-thinking-going-into-a-workfield-involving-powertools-when-I'm-a-clumsy-twit" and "how-on-earth-will-I-fare-in-the-middle-of-nowhere-surrounded-by-boys-who'll-all-think-I-don't-belong-there"...

I still don't know where I'll be going, but it sounds like it could be anywhere... not just offshore Labrador or Newfoundland. I have to call the "dispatcher" on Wednesday, and she'll tell me when my training will be and when(where, what, who, why) I'll start my first rotation.

So, yeah, more wait... *sigh*

good news though: Mui, we're going South in Feb for sure!!! I'll have both $$$ and time :)
and more good news, if I'm good at this and don't get fired after 3 days and if the economy keeps on crashing I might be able to get a condo and my boat at the same time next year! *happy dance*

I got the email this morning :

"Our General Manager has called all the references that you provided and they were all fantastic, so we would like to offer you a position with Oceaneering Canada Limited."

I FUCKIN RUUUUUUUULE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOOOHOOHOHOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!

I'll get the paperwork around Thursday, fill it, and not long after I'll know what team I'll join, what rotation I'll be on and where I'll be going :P

In the meantime, I'll be dancing all 'round the living room and party till I drop!!!!

Hey, it took 4 months and about 250 emails, but someone finally realized I'm the Queen of the Universe and gave me a chance...

6 months I make supervisor! :P
1 year I have my boat!
February I'm going DIVING!!!!!!

I'm happy... so very happy...

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Superman's dead

....................... ordinary's just not good enough................
.

Last night I had the kinda dream I could gladly go without...

I was in a sort of aquarium center, where you could try diving in full gear: surface supply, dry suit, helmet. I had registered to it with J, but arrived late, so they rushed me in a suit and just said, "you go down the ladder and dive". J was already in, I could see him walking like an astronaut towards deeper water.

I followed the instructor and went under. There was a platform at 3m and then you slipped from it and went deep. On the platform, my helmet started filling with water. I realized I didn't know how to purge it, so I tapped the instructor and hand signaled "water rising in helmet" but he just looked at me dumbly and signaled me to keep on going.

By that time the water was almost to my nose and I had to keep my head tilt back to breath. I turned around and went back, all the while trying to tell the instructors "hello! I'm about to drown here!!!" but no one helped.

I came out of the water and try to remove the helmet that was still full of water. I had realized by then that they hadn't hooked up the air supply to it so not only was I nose deep in water, but O2 was getting scarce. As I was thinking I would soon pass out and die, someone finally removed it.

I told the guy the helmet was leaking and he should have it checked, but he looked at me like I was a complete idiot and whispered to a staff girl "just put it back with the others".
All the people there were looking at me with smirks on their faces, like I was just a panicky little twit. I tried to tell them that water had been leaking in and nearly drowned me, but no one believed it.

I took off the suit and sat on a bench, a bit in shock. I was putting my stuff in a bag when J came out. I looked at him, wanting to tell him what had happened, hoping for some support, but he went straight for a food table on the other side of the room to flirt with a faceless blond and never turned towards me.

Then I woke up, laid still for a couple of seconds, and said... tab******

♪ I got a Nintendo DS ♪

and it's BLUE!!!
and Mario Kart too!!
woo-hoo-hoo!!!

existential questioning

Is the wish still valid if I don't blow the candles on my actual birthday? My b-day dinner has been moved to Thursday so I won't have a cake today but I really could use that wish!...

Could someone ask Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy and get back to me on this?

a good thing

If you have old cellphones, as I'm sure you do, you can bring them to any SuperClub Videotron. They send them to a company who refurbishes the not-too-old, and retrieves the toxic and reusable components in the others.

Some materials in cellphones are really bad for the environment, not only as waste, but in the way they are produced. The more we can recycle what's already there, the better.

The project was suppose to last only a couple of weeks, but looks like it's going to become a semi-permanent thing... so go, next time you rent movies, bring your cells with you! :)

click here for a list of other places to bring old cells.

rain drops keep falling on my head

Judging by the thick curtain of water going sideways and the trees bent at 90º... I would say that Ike has reach Canada :P

Nice to meet you, now go away!

Thought of the day

How do you take a break from life?

Hum... actually I have an answer to that... you go diving... but what about when, like now, you can't?

why do I miss him so? :(

I wish the human body had multiple switches we could pull at will... on/off buttons for the heart, brain, ears, emotions, memory... so we could have some sort of control and escape the overload/freakin out/insomnia episodes.

No rescue team needed, I haven't heard some terrible news about loved ones or my -maybe- future job... I'm just waiting... waiting for my life to jump start... and the stress is short circuiting my brain... can't sleep, I thrive on caffeine and sugar and I'm so restless I annoy myself!

...and I still have one week left before knowing if I'll need to hit the panic-ulcer-suicidal-binge-drinking button... if I'll be bouncing off the walls, or bouncing off the walls in a padded cell.

In the mean time, I'll try an forget my name with the first phase of my birthday party tomorrow... don't know where I'll be, but I'll be drunk out of my skull... that should help!
Proper family dinner Tuesday (my actual birthday) followed by more parties Wednesday, Friday and Saturday... And hopefully at this point I'll have more to celebrate than just another year that passed.

Jinx²

They've asked for my references.... arg....

Good news is that I had to confirm everyone's address, cause people in my field (old and new) tend to move around a lot, and they all got back to me in less than 24h, and were all more than happy to give me excellent references! :)
I have worked with good people in my life, yay!

now I wait.. tick tock tick tock... can you feel the stress rising? arg

mechanimaniacal trouble

I don't even know how to qualify this anymore... my bran new tire has gone byebye after 3 days!

After the repair, I only used my car to go park at Mui's place Saturday, then come home yesterday...
Today I went to rent movies. A guy in the left lane bipped me and told me my tire was flat... another trip to the garage... the tire is finished! f-i-n-i-s-h-e-d!!! The valve was cut (why and where that happened I have no idea, the rim is pristine, so it's not a "sidewalk burn"), the air went out, the rubber overheated and I could have had another blowout anytime coming home!

Where is the karma police? I want to file a complaint...

If this was a mystery novel, I'd say it's the same guy that left a flower on my car this summer that messed up the valve... my car was parked on the same street... and he could be the guy that was talking about me at Passeport.. and this is all a plot for me to notice him.. the flower didn't work, so he was hoping for me to blowout on the bridge, end up in the hospital so he could nurse me back to health! ... so.... the guy is a doctor (or a patient of the psyche ward) in a downtown hospital and I'm gonna die if I don't get the hell out on a rig soon! how's that for conspiracy theory? The x-files have nothing on me.. I should get writing :P

Crunch

I think I really did break something in my foot... That drunken twit jumped on it August 23rd... more than 2 weeks ago, and it still hurts :(
There's no black n blue evidence... just a small red spot, but I can't wear my fancy flip flops (yes, there is such a thing as fancy thong footwear) cause the pressure of the strap still hurts a bitch.

:(

Maybe I can turn this to my advantage by creating a new saying... : "She who breaks a bone, a job will get very soon" ? or maybe I could just cash in on equal opportunity employment and register as a disable hehehe :P

yaowza!

It's lucky I took pictures... the details are blurry :P

Alex entered his 30s with a bang... he deserves total respect for his marathon... started drinking at 2pm, stopped at 3am... didn't get sick AND was able to walk home (ok, he did fall face first on a recycling bin getting there, but he doesn't remember so it's just as good)!! Plus he came with us for brunch today, and his steps were just a little shaky!
And he did drink!! not that sissy one beer per hour, no way... buckets after buckets of beers and at least 15 shots of 15 different kinds of alcohol. Plus a gin tonic to polish off at 2:45am.

Lucky this gang doesn't meet too often.. we'd all be in AA and/or signed on the waiting list for a new liver...

Anyway, it's always fun to see you guys.. even if we end up with large pieces of the evening missing :P

Next one, December 17th (more or less) for Mui and Annie's 30th birthdays.. that one's gonna hurt! :D

♪ In the morning I know I wont remember a thing ♪

Birthday bash marathon tonight... starting around 4pm for most, but one of the birthday boys is already drinking as I write these lines...

I'll try to take pictures, so I can remember some things... :P

Ho I'm so jinxing it right now!!!

but.... I GOT A PHONE CAAAAAAAAAALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It took 3 months and about 210 emails of trying, but the manager for the Canadian division of Oceaneering called me this morning... I am short listed for their new projects. ayayay!

He said he will call me back in a week or two with more details, but if he doesn't he said to call him because it won't be cause he doesn't want to hire me, but because he's super busy and forgot.

A week or two.. do you know what's also happening in a week or two? my birthday... I might not need to make a wish blowing my candles...

If this thing doesn't work out I'll be sooo depressed, but if it does... YAAAAHOOOO!


Ho and I finally made it to the passport office.. but maybe the universe WAS trying to tell me something... I was planning to have it made regular speed (and receive it end of Sept) but now since I might leave for somewhere sooner, I paid the extra for express service and will go get it next Friday... so maybe all that trouble IS a sign that I will get the job.... :P

if it's not brrrroke

DON'T FIX IT!!!!

I tried to link my latest album, critter land, to this blog... turns out Picasa has updated its site, and now the link to embed an album has disappeared. You can only link it in the slide show form.. and I don't like that.. I tweaked my photo column to make it look like it does now, I don't want to change it.. I don't want a million images flashing by or with a big green arrow in the middle of them!!!

I want my link baaaack!!! I tried to write to tech support.. HA! if someone knows how please tell me, cause I ran in circles until I was about to throw my laptop through the window. And in the already answered questions, it's the obvious "well you go to your album page, click on "link this album" and copy the code made for blogs... yeah, that's how it used to be.. now that link is gone, the only one available is for the &%#@*!&% slideshow! >:( grrrrr

So I did a paste job from the old code, but my cover pic looks like shit... anyway, the link works, go see my cute critters.

No point arguing against the gods

Bottine lost a shoe :(

I've been trying to renew my passport for two weeks...

I completed the forms online Monday August 25th, but no way I'm paying express post, the passport itself is expensive enough, so I want to deliver the papers in person.

Tuesday Aug 26th, my dad's car went in the shop... so daddy took mine without telling me. Everybody else was gone, so I was on foot. The car was supposed to be back next day, but the ol' clunker is falling apart and I only got mine back Friday night :S

The passport office is closed on weekends, and Monday was Labor Day... Tuesday I tried to go, but got impeded for 45min with road blocks and traffic and arrived too late, Wednesday was a furnace so I decided not to go breath acrid fumes downtown... and today... I BLEW I TIRE!!!! I didn't even make it to the bridge!!!

I was taking the exit ramp towards the bridge, and suddenly all went RRRR, bumpbump, RROOOOOR, BUMPBUMPBUUUUUUMP. I stopped on the side of the road, in the curb, with barely 2 inches on each side, metal guard ramp on the right, heavy traffic on the left. :S

I didn't have enough room to repair the tire (back, right side) and after checking it, there was no point in trying.. the whole thing was ripped to shred! Since I have the smallest car in the world, there's no space for a spare tire, but I have a repair kit, with filling/sealant gel... easy to use, works well for a puncture, but pretty useless when the hole is the size of the Grand Canyon! :(

I called a towing, and they took me to the dealership... 1:30h and 200$ later, I have a new tire (luckily, the towing is covered by Mercedes, or it would have been 320$ !!!).

The passport office is now, of course, closed, so I'll have to try tomorrow... after checking if I can still afford the 90$ for renewal since I'm an unexpected 200$ lighter :(

Is the universe trying to tell me something? A very subtle message like DON'T RENEW YOUR PASSPORT JUST YET DUMBASS!!! but why? Am I gonna get a job in two days that will send me across the world?
If so yay! but if not I'll have to go and kick some bored god's ass.. I will not be entertainment for the AllMighty capice?!

summery

A summary of the last weekend of summer hahaha! damn, I'm funny *sigh* :S

Blue of the Jungle, is not afraid of the mighty elyphant ;)
Friday I went to say goodbye to Robert and Limba. They'll be going back to Bowmanville for the winter. Actually only Limba is, Robert's going to Scotland (near Fort William!) to take care of his dad.

We tried to introduce Balou to Limba... didn't work too well :( They were wary of each other. With time they'll probably get used to the other, but it will take a lot of jellybeans and dog treats to achieve it... to be continued next year... in the meantime, see the pics on the right for this year tryout.

Blue, Martha wannabe
Saturday was Maya's birthday party, so I made her a cake in theme with her present... an electric guitar :) I'm very proud of the result...
I melted a square of dark chocolate, made a thin slate out of it, freezed it, placed it on a bag of frozen peas so it wouldn't melt or soften and painted the guitar playing Emily on it with melted white chocolate. I then placed the slate on top of the cake (chocolate and caramel if you wonder) and voila! :D

It was also Dave's birthday, Maya's best friend... I heard about it last minute, but was able to make him his own lil birthday cake for the party :P

Blue, tourist guide extraordinaire ;)
After the kiddy party (s*** she's 12 now... wont be a kiddy for much longer!) So and me went for giant drinks at LaDistillerie. While she was in the bathroom, a guy came to talk to me! (precision: in Montreal that NEVER happens.. like NEVER!!! if you want a guy, you go see him cause he NEVER will.. they're too afraid I guess... wuss...) I was flabbergasted.. until he told me he was from Switzerland and here on vacation... pff Quebeckers' track record still stands...
He was nice, though not exactly my type, and I suggested a couple of pubs/clubs/bars he should try. Saw him later at Baloo's and he thanked me for the recommendation :)

Blue is dead
Sunday I got freakishly sick... dizzy, nauseous, tired... slept until Tuesday morning.. so those 2 days did not exist in my universe.

Blue will kill all government employees
I went to renew my passport today, with the construction, road blocks, traffic and shit I manage to make it there at 4:34pm... to be told that they close at 4:30pm (what the f*** happened to working 9 to 5?). I argued, "I'm here, all my paperwork is filled, all I need is for you to take it!" no can do, the computers are closed.. "can't you open them again?" nope! well fuck you and I hope you die! What kind of lazyass snail of an excuse is that? the pc is closed.. yeah right...
aaarg, I hate bureaucracy... they are the reason why the world is not turning smoothly! A mort tous les pousses crayon inutile qui bloque le systeme!!!