Monday, April 13, 2009
*Poof*
Ya know what's weird? Usually, I celebrate big occasions; I don't mean I celebrate Christmas or Easter or Cinco de Mayo, but I mean, if there's a big party coming up, I tell a bunch of people about it (thus making it big, but that's not the point of this post)... when we all decided we were going to China, I told a bunch of people, I put it on my blog, so people will know that I'm going to China and I will have fun and I won't be around at home to come over on weekends for a few weeks. Long story short, I like to tell people what's going on, keep people in the know, have a plan for the upcoming weekend(s) and so on.
But every now and then... instead of letting everyone know, I kinda just... poof. Like when I was working for WinMagic, and then I got another job in Toronto, I didn't tell anyone at the office, like other co-workers. So one day I was at the office, and then I didn't come back to the office for a month. When I got back, some people were like "hey, didn't see you for a month, where did you go?" "Well, I got a job, but now I'm back"... that kind of thing.
Or when I was going to Hawaii... Peter, etc. at Influenza knew I was going to Hawaii early July or whatever it was, but they didn't know the exact date. So the DAY BEFORE I leave, I didn't tell them I was going. So we were working on a project on that day, and it was coming up to about 4:30, and they didn't know that I wasn't going to work the next day... it was like, "OKAY, WE ARE GOING TO FINISH THIS PROJECT TOMORROW" and then "POOF. BAO DOES NOT SHOW UP TO WORK BECAUSE HE IS IN ANOTHER COUNTRY." Well, it didn't play out like that, because they asked me when I was going (because the project wasn't done) so I told them I was going tomorrow so then we stayed at work that day until 8:00 to finish the project.
Like, what the hell? I like telling people about fun/good events so that people know, but for "bad" events (like leaving coworkers suddenly for a while) I kinda keep it a secret, and then instead of them knowing it and dealing with it, instead they find out when it's already too late. Instead of "hey, you're going soon, let's prepare for the meltdown" it's like "poof, surprise, he's gone, we are in so much trouble, my plans involving him have all just gone out the window and I have no contingency plans".
So... let's wind the clocks back a bit. So a few weeks ago my mom got angry with me and said something like "move out of here." So that day, I thought about moving out, and I thought... "money, meh, is okay, I can take a vacation.. where is cheap in summer?" And, I know of one place that is cheap during the summer... and that's Waterloo. People scrambling to get people to rent their places at a loss, because they have a 12 month-lease but they're only there for 8 months, and nobody wants to pay $400-500 to live in Waterloo during the summer. So rent is $250-400, depending on the place and what's included.
So, that day, I went to the online UW Housing sublet board thing, where we used to put up our townhouse for rent. And I browsed. I e-mailed a couple people. And fast forward to now, where I have agreed to take a place. $350, pretty nice, fully furnished, bed, desk, everything, living with 2 male graduate students. I used to live close to campus, now I live a bit farther, partially because I want a change of scenery, and I don't need to live close to campus.
So... that's my POOF, but I wrote it down this time, so it's not as poofy, but I did keep it a secret for a while. So, I'll be there for 4 months, pretty independently, and not working. Part of me says I'll end up like Jia when he's on vacation, eating out a lot, lazing around a lot, playing videogames and watching tv shows all the time... but part of me wants to take the time to develop myself... you know, little things, like cook for myself, do my own laundry, hopefully do a lot of exercise. Maybe even some swimming. There are too many distractions around here, too many people doing laundry, cooking, etc. for me. And watching people NOT exercise makes me NOT exercise.
I'll probably come back once every 3 or 4 weekends, but we'll see about that. There's a few events I still have to attend in Mississauga, like one thing in July, and maybe one thing at the beginning of May, so yeah. It's a temporary thing; 4 months out of the house isn't the same as moving out permanently. And you don't move out permanently unless you have a job, and I don't really plan to have a job during these 4 months. Mayyybe, maybe I'll look for a job, then I'll get a car so I can commute and all that, but I don't see it happening yet.
And... that's it for this update.
(Aside: So... if you were a jerk, you could go online to the UW Housing sublet board, and apply for a bunch of summer places... and since the agreement is by e-mail and you never have to see them or sign anything... you could probably screw over a lot of people, right?)
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But every now and then... instead of letting everyone know, I kinda just... poof. Like when I was working for WinMagic, and then I got another job in Toronto, I didn't tell anyone at the office, like other co-workers. So one day I was at the office, and then I didn't come back to the office for a month. When I got back, some people were like "hey, didn't see you for a month, where did you go?" "Well, I got a job, but now I'm back"... that kind of thing.
Or when I was going to Hawaii... Peter, etc. at Influenza knew I was going to Hawaii early July or whatever it was, but they didn't know the exact date. So the DAY BEFORE I leave, I didn't tell them I was going. So we were working on a project on that day, and it was coming up to about 4:30, and they didn't know that I wasn't going to work the next day... it was like, "OKAY, WE ARE GOING TO FINISH THIS PROJECT TOMORROW" and then "POOF. BAO DOES NOT SHOW UP TO WORK BECAUSE HE IS IN ANOTHER COUNTRY." Well, it didn't play out like that, because they asked me when I was going (because the project wasn't done) so I told them I was going tomorrow so then we stayed at work that day until 8:00 to finish the project.
Like, what the hell? I like telling people about fun/good events so that people know, but for "bad" events (like leaving coworkers suddenly for a while) I kinda keep it a secret, and then instead of them knowing it and dealing with it, instead they find out when it's already too late. Instead of "hey, you're going soon, let's prepare for the meltdown" it's like "poof, surprise, he's gone, we are in so much trouble, my plans involving him have all just gone out the window and I have no contingency plans".
So... let's wind the clocks back a bit. So a few weeks ago my mom got angry with me and said something like "move out of here." So that day, I thought about moving out, and I thought... "money, meh, is okay, I can take a vacation.. where is cheap in summer?" And, I know of one place that is cheap during the summer... and that's Waterloo. People scrambling to get people to rent their places at a loss, because they have a 12 month-lease but they're only there for 8 months, and nobody wants to pay $400-500 to live in Waterloo during the summer. So rent is $250-400, depending on the place and what's included.
So, that day, I went to the online UW Housing sublet board thing, where we used to put up our townhouse for rent. And I browsed. I e-mailed a couple people. And fast forward to now, where I have agreed to take a place. $350, pretty nice, fully furnished, bed, desk, everything, living with 2 male graduate students. I used to live close to campus, now I live a bit farther, partially because I want a change of scenery, and I don't need to live close to campus.
So... that's my POOF, but I wrote it down this time, so it's not as poofy, but I did keep it a secret for a while. So, I'll be there for 4 months, pretty independently, and not working. Part of me says I'll end up like Jia when he's on vacation, eating out a lot, lazing around a lot, playing videogames and watching tv shows all the time... but part of me wants to take the time to develop myself... you know, little things, like cook for myself, do my own laundry, hopefully do a lot of exercise. Maybe even some swimming. There are too many distractions around here, too many people doing laundry, cooking, etc. for me. And watching people NOT exercise makes me NOT exercise.
I'll probably come back once every 3 or 4 weekends, but we'll see about that. There's a few events I still have to attend in Mississauga, like one thing in July, and maybe one thing at the beginning of May, so yeah. It's a temporary thing; 4 months out of the house isn't the same as moving out permanently. And you don't move out permanently unless you have a job, and I don't really plan to have a job during these 4 months. Mayyybe, maybe I'll look for a job, then I'll get a car so I can commute and all that, but I don't see it happening yet.
And... that's it for this update.
(Aside: So... if you were a jerk, you could go online to the UW Housing sublet board, and apply for a bunch of summer places... and since the agreement is by e-mail and you never have to see them or sign anything... you could probably screw over a lot of people, right?)