Success...a small win, but a win

I know that I should not be tooting my own horn...I really shouldn't....but I feel so damn good about what I have achieved today.

Our Beetle Cabriolet developed a mysterious electrical problem and all sorts of electrical systems started to fail that were seemingly unrelated. To make a long story short, I was able to isolate that the problem was the ignition switch. It was the only component that was common to all of the systems that had failed. So with that in mind, I ordered a new ignition switch and replaced it....and it fixed the problem.

I love when I am able to  fix an issue with a minimum of hassle.

Finally in my happy place!!

After countless delays, lots of family issues and the feeling that I might never actually get here, I have finally arrived at the cottage.

I am really looking forward to spending a great deal of time here. I have a lot of things that I want to do while I am up here, such as working on my French course, doing some writing for both my blog and starting to work on the book that I have long wanted to write. We have only been here for a few days and I am not quite ready to get down to work because we are still sorting things out and getting comfortable, but I expect to be starting to work within the next few days.

The only downside is that my charming father is up here...and that is something that I am not thrilled about. Last night he was ok when he arrived, but after a few drinks, he became a complete and total bastard. This was something that really cast a pall on the evening and I know that my Mom really dreads his behaviour when he drinks. He just becomes an argumentative prick and makes the entire experience of being up here unpleasant.

As I write this, I am awaiting a delivery from Purolator with a replacement ignition switch for my Mom's Beetle. It has had a few electrical gremlins that occurred once we arrived up here and I am hoping that by replacing the ignition switch, it will cure these problems. I just hope that the replacement goes smoothly and isn't a major pain in the ass to do. I know that I am going to have to purchase a special socket at the hardware store to make the repair, but since I will only be using it once, I will likely just return it once I am done with it. It's stupid to have to buy a tool for one single repair, but when funds are so low, you have to do what you have to do.

I hate ServiceOntario

It really boggles the mind how a company that is supposed to serve the needs of Ontarians and even has the word "Service" in its name is such a backwardly inefficient organization.

Take for example my experience today:

- I called the local license office to find out what was involved in replacing the license sticker on my Mom's car. I was told that all I needed was the VIN number, proof of insurance and mileage on the car in order to get her sticker. Seems like it should be easy, right?

Wrong.

When I arrived at the office, after being forced to wait for over 20 minutes, I was informed by some bobble head blond that since there was a 407 balance of $75 owing, I would need a signed document AND a letter from my Mom authorizing me to act on her behalf. To me, this makes absolutely no sense at all. It's not like I was trying to license a car in her name....I am paying a 407 ETR balance and getting a replacement license plate sticker.

So, I had to leave the office and drive clear across Guelph, back to my home and pick up my Mom, turn around and drive back to the license office, wait for another 35 minutes and deal with another inept Disservice Ontario employee.

The icing on the cake to this story is that despite having paid the 407ETR outstanding bill of $95, the 407ETR and MTO databases do not actually work together. Despite the 407 being paid off, I had to pay an additional $75 for an outstanding balance that was already paid. Now, I have to wait for 2-4 weeks for a refund from the 407.

This whole system is a giant mess and the inefficiency that exists to infuriate, confuse and slow down Ontarians with other things to do is mind boggling. It is 2017....why are we still forced to wait in line, deal with incompetent employees who are poorly trained and have no desire to provide outstanding customer service and lose countless hours out of the day when there are ways to automate and accelerate many of the services that we are currently forced to wait in line for. The biggest mistake that the Government made was removing the electronic MTO kiosks and not replacing them with a more secure system.

I suspect that part of the reason that the kiosks have not appeared againn is that all of the Service Ontario employees are unionized.....hmmm....you do the math.

Falling Backwards

There are times that I find myself literally blinded by rage when it comes to my self centered cow of a sister. It really pisses me off how she forces her opinions and feelings on the rest of us because she doesn't like something. Here is an example:

- My Mom is a smoker and this is something that the princess (that is, Molly) does not approve of.
- Because Molly is such a bitch about smoking, Mum is afraid to ask her to stop so that Mum can pick up smokes. So instead, Mom had to ask me to go out again after they got back home, despite the fact that they passed no less than 3 convenience stores on the drive home. Not only does sending me out again require an extra trip using more gas, but it is a waste of my time. Of course, this means nothing to Molly because she is only interested in herself. Never mind if someone else is inconvenienced, as long as princess Molly's world isn't upset.

It really boggles the mind just how selfish some people can be - and Molly the cow is at the top of the list. I am just so tired of being treated like shit by her. One other thing that I know to be true...she has used my car all the time without ever asking...she just takes the keys and goes about her merry way. She has been making noises about getting a car of her own....and I know that I will never be allowed to touch her car when she gets one....however, I intend to level the playing field a bit when she gets a car and I will use it whether she approves or not. She doesn't know it yet, but I have no intention of letting her get away with this bullshit.

Nasty little bitch.....

Another day in paradise...

I know that this post is likely going to soujnd like bitching and complaining....and maybe it is. But it is also a byproduct of living in a household where I feel like I have little to no privacy and I feel as though my life is not my own. But of course, you aren't wanting to hear about all of this because it is an issue that is mine and mine alone.

Today was a rather busy day that saw me getting a fair number of tasks done that have  been sitting on the mental "to do" list. Among these tasks:

- Dropping the Beetle Cabriolet off at the mechanic
- Get new wiper blades
- Various other mundane tasks that really are not even worth mentioning

In any case, I am starting to feel my anxiety level increasing due to the approaching  deadline  for getting off to the cottage on Saturday. I really need to get a lot done before Saturday and I have no clue where to begin to get it done. In any case, I know that this entry is going to seem wandering and without much in the way of cohesion....and that is largely due to the crushing fatigue that I am functioning under. I feel like I am perpetua;ly running on fumes.

Anyway...because I am going to be looking this tomorrow and if I wrote this stuff down on paper, it would be lost within minutes.....so here is the list of things that I need to get done:

1. Pick up the Beetle from Jarek
2. Get the license plate sticker
3. Return wiper blade to Canadian Tire and get the correct ones
4.Begin to pack for the trip to the cottage
5. Replace the wiper blades on the Jetta and Beetle
6. Poss. Drop off the Beetle for an inspection and maintenance at Jarek's.
7. Pay traffic ticket and get license fixed at the MTO.
8. Audit that contents of my iPod and try to make some room on the iPOd for adding on some new music.

Day 2 of the blog....

My second day of blogging has not gotten off to the most auspicious start.....I had wanted to write a blog entry every day...however that failed to happen yesterday, so the entry that should be today's third entry is actually only my second.

Today has been a day of keeping busy and making plans for what lays ahead...I am finally leaving for the cottage at the end of the week and of course that means that I have to get packed and get everything ready for my pending departure. This sounds like a simply task, but I can assure you that there is disaster and sense of total impending doom in the run up period to getting ready to leave for the cottage.

It should be a relatively easy process in getting ready to leave for the cottage, since I have been doing it all my life. But there is one problem that is extremely hard to solve....the matter of time. I have so much to do before we get ready to head off to the cottage....I need to get a bunch of stuff on my Mom's car taken care of, get the car detailed and just do a few more annoying but critical little tasks. I find that those tasks are extremely tiring.

One of the things that I want to work on while I am at the cottage is trying to figure out where I am with Ian....now, of course, Ian is a factor you know nothing about since I have never mentioned him here...but the bottom line is that he is the first man I ever loved. And I will always love him with all my heart.

More on that later.

Starting Over

This is hard for me...I don't really know where to begin.

I have been told that writing a blog is something that can be really cathartic, but the problem is that I just don't know where to begin on this topic (or any topic for that matter).

There are just so many things that I feel I should be talking about, and yet I don't know what should be first and foremost on my list of discussion topics. I guess that the first thing to cover is who I am as a person.

I guess that you could say that I am a person who is at a point in his life that feels like something of a holding pattern. You see, there are quite a few things that have happened in my life that have acted as a sort of, U-turn. In many ways, I don't even know who I am anymore as a person. There are a few things that I know for sure, things that I want out of my life, things that I want to do before I die, people I would like to meet, you know, that sort of thing. The big problem that I have with my life is that I don't know how to begin on the path to where I want to go. And I really fear that at the age of 31 that my best years may in fact be behind me.

The other issue that I find is always plaguing me is that I have this fear that I will die at a young age. It is something that I have been worried about since I was young. I never thought that I would live past the age of 40 or 50.....and if that is the case, then maybe I really need to get my act together and start working on the things that I want to do before I die.

So, with all of those things aside...

- I'm 31
- I am still stuck living at home
- More than anything, I want to be a flight attendant. I know that sounds like a really weird goal for a man, but I have always liked the idea of being responsible for the safety of people....being able to see small children marvel at the magic of flight, make places on postcards become reality...frankly, I could be flying from Toronto to Winnipeg in January and I would be happy as a clam.
- I need to learn to speak French - you see, I don't want to fly for just anyone...I want to fly for Air Canada. They are the best airline in North America and they also are the flag carrier for Canada. I don't want to fly for anyone less than the best....although, I do like WestJet, but Air Canada is really what I have my sights set on.
-  Being able to take off for different parts of the world the way that some people go to the grocery is also something that is pretty damn cool.
- Finally (on the flight attendant topic), I would love to be able to put my Mom on a plane to England whenever she felt like it so that she could visit her cousin.

The problem with all of this is that I can't speak French...and I have issues with learning it. But to be honest, I think that if I want this bad enough, I will get it.....it just may kill me in the process.

Moving on from that topic...

I don't have many heroes in my life, but there are a few that I feel that by bringing to your attention will give you a better idea of who I am as a person...

For starters, Marcia Clark - she is at the top of my list. Her ethics, her incredible drive and dedication to the cause, despite insurmountable odds of never getting a conviction are somethingt that I will always admire. (She was the prosecutor on the O.J. Simpson murder trial back in 1994/1995....and we all know how that wound up.) The bottom line is that she never gave up, never let anything slow her down and she stood up for what she believed in. That is the kind of person that I would like to be.

Joe Sutter - he was the man who designed the Boeing 747 and when Boeing wanted to shrink the program and lay people off, he pushed hard to keep engineers and grow the program. The fact that he stood up for what he believed in is something I really admire.

Jan Brown-Lohr - Back in 1988, there was a severe crash of a United Airlines DC-10 in Sioux City, Iowa. The crash had some significant fatality numbers, but she kept her cool. She was not only completely by the book in handling a horrific situation, but she also campaigned hard after the crash and became an advocate for passenger safety. If I ever am able to start flying friendly in the skies, she is the EXACT type of flight attendant that I would like to be.

I guess that this is a pretty decent start for now. There is A LOT more that I will need to cover, but for now, this will have to do.