Wow am I tired. I'm still at work, but I'm listening to calls. This is much better than taking calls. Thankfully I have the weekend off to relax... Relax enough to go to Montreal that is. There's a wonderful little motorcycle show to attend. How convinient that it lands just after I get my license. I'm going to see if there's anything worth purchasing at this event. Prices should be better, and hopefully they'll have some under the table tax free mojo going on. Should be fun... But I don't know about this waking up by 8:15 AM thing.. Looks like I'll have to try to sleep as soon as I get home. This will be hard after all those 2/3 AM nights I've been having. Ick. But the overtime... The overtime... And all this even after my raise... That raise better be on that pay 'cause I want all that money money money! 50 hour weeks hurt. But 40+ in Quebec is all overtime. Yay to that. One good thing I can say about working in this province. And it looks like I'll have another 50 hour week next week too! Maybe more if I'm lucky. My supervisor advised me not to burn myself out. Seems like sage advise. But then again it's not like the special project that keeps me here is late. It's mostly babysitting computers once they get started on what they should be doing. Anyway, work needs to be done, and I want to leave at 10! Have a good weekend.

Ahh, finally a day off. So what's happened in the last little while? Well here's the recap.

The ups and downs of being me... First, I get made star agent of my team, which means extra responsibility, that's an up. Then my raise is approved, that's an up. Then I'm told I will get to supervise for 2 weeks, that's an up. Then I'm told I won't because it's going to be for a month, and I don't have enough training to do it for a month, that's a down. Then after a meeting with the manager I'm told I will get the required training before July, that's an up. Then I get asked to help out with a special project that doesn't involve answering phones and gives me overtime, that's an up. Then I find out it's until 4 am or 12 am, whichever I chose. I'm drooling over the approved overtime that doesn't involve phone calls, but I have no way home at 4 am that would permit me to get enough sleep, so that's neither an up or down really. I went home at 12 since I had a drive at that time. Thanks new SMS2 lady.

So that's been work in a nutshell, but what about the rest of my days?

Well I'm going for my M1 license today, so cross your fingers on that. It's a 10$ test, which is kind of annoying since where I come from you only had to pay if you pass. Too bad I couldn't go home and take the test. Oh well, I've been reading the manual on the way to and from work lately and I've gone thru it twice. I assume the test will mostly be on motorcycle skill questions, but I wouldn't be surprised if there's the general rules of the road questions too. I was thinking that since I'm a licensed driver for over 5 years they'd let that stuff slide, but we'll see. Also, I'm looking at taking a course at my old college. The course will set me back 378 dollars or something, but it will also be the test to graduate to an M2 class license, and if I can get that done at the start of spring, well the rest of the summer will be alright. I have my eyes on a bike already, so I think I'll have to finance it with the bank. It's second hand so it won't cost me an arm and a leg, but if I can make monthly payments on the bike, I can afford to get the rest of the required gear. Like jacket, gloves, helmet, boots, pants (yeah, umm, khakis on a bike are a no-no for some reason... Stupid cotton and it's tearability...) Also, I've gotten an insurance quote on the bike I'm looking at so that'll be another 160 a month until I get 2 years under my belt. After the two years and the course, I'm sure it'll drop to something slightly more reasonable (like 70$ a month I hope, or lower!) So what looks like one simple pleasure has been a hurdle after another. And on top of that, I haven't even found out how much a plate for the bike will cost. I figure I'm "all in" at this point, so the only real worry is the how to get it. And your only worry will be if I'll let you ride my sweet hog or not! Mohahahah? I dunno, I'll shut up and go take my test now. Look back for an update on whether I pass or not.

*** UPDATE ***

Yes, I passed the test. I am now an M1 class driver. The test required knowledge of inane G graduate license information like "If you lose all your points, how long will your license be suspended?" As if I know that. Well, 25% chance to get the right answer, and I did. Stupid questions all over the place. And the wording is there to trick you. Memorize the manual word for word and you still have to stare at the test and say "What on earth are they asking?" Now I know how the trick Ontario youths into taking the test over and over at 10$ a pop. If you've never driven, some of them are fairly tricky. Anyway, test passed, all that's left is the safety course. It's going to set me back ~380 and tax to take the course in April at the gonc. Going to have to "suit up" before that. My grandmother says I should be able to borrow a helmet for that, but I kind of gave her the raised eyebrow and asked what am I supposed to do when I actualy have a bike? Keep boring a helmet? Now you roll your eyes along with me. Silly. But she did actually suggest that I finance the bike myself instead of taking a loan or a line of credit. So I'm cracking open the college/move-out fund to pay for the bike, and write myself and I.O.U. I've got it planned to throw every second paycheque back into the savings. I should be able to make it thru the month on just one paycheque (the bigger one of the two that is.) Insurance looks doable too, considering the lack of experience and my age. Things are falling together quite nicely.

And now to change the subject, here's a little movie revue...

Ong-Bak: Thai Warrior gets two thumbs way up! This was a nice subtitled movie from Thailand which made me laugh over and over again. The stunts and fights were very impressive and the dialogue is questionable to it's accuracy, but that's what makes it good. Yes, this movie has everything. Poor plot, stereotypes, and other great surprises. Definitely a theatre experience so if you can, go see it on the big screen and laugh! Anyway, I'm out, better things to do on a day off that sit here and type.