My thoughts (yes I do think)

The Big Weekend

2007-09-28T09:57:00.000-07:00

Well, the time has come to see if all our training has paid off!! I'll be leaving in 10 minutes for Dartmoor in Devon. We are staying tonight in a youth hostel, and tomorrow morning we'll be setting out on our 20ish mile trek. We are walking about 12 miles on the first day, and the balance on sunday. We'll be tenting it on saturday night in what has been very cool evenings. Hopefully I'll learn how to put photos on the blog and I'll include you all (all 4 of you!) in the adventure. So, until monday.....

Is there anybody out there?

2007-09-08T05:47:00.000-07:00

Hi. Just wondering if anybody is still checking on my blog. I wouldn't blame you if you didn't come around anymore because I'm not a very faithful blogger. If you stop by in the next few days please leave a comment so I know that somebody cares:)

Sore Feet

2007-08-09T23:04:00.000-07:00

Well, the 15 mile walk I mentioned in my last blog almost wore my feet right off. I've been cycling to and from work and there is a pretty decent hill to climb on the way home so my legs and cardio conditioning are better than they have been for more than 20 years. My feet though were killing me at the end of the walk. At about 10 miles into the walk we went through a really boggy area and it was quite, well boggy. My boots aren't as water proofed as I thought they were so my feet got wet, and then the blisters came. By the time I finished I had big blisters on the balls, and heels of both feet. Ouch!! If that had been the real thing in September where we would have to set up camp and walk another 10 miles the following day I never would have been able to finish. The area that we walked through was absolutely beautiful. At one point we walked along the sea side at the top of a 200 foot cliff. Awesome!! If I can ever figure out how to add photos to this I'll add them on.

Should actually be getting ready for work

2007-07-22T23:31:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been soooooo long I figured I had better write something. My youngest, Ezra, is crying in the background so this will be brief.

Just enjoying the British Summer. I don't think we've had a really nice sunny day here since April. Back home in Vancouver there is all kinds of sunshine and heat, while I my toes are getting water logged walking around here. Speaking of walking around, I am going on a 15 mile hike this weekend in Dorset. Me and some other guys will be doing a 25ish mile walk in late september and this is one of our "workouts" in preperation for that. We have already done 2 (I was only able to make the first one) practice hikes, but this will be a bit different because we'll be carrying all our gear getting for the real deal. Should be fun.

Gotta run.

Big News

2007-04-05T13:53:00.000-07:00

Mmmmmmm, me me me me meeeeeeeeeee (that's me warming up my singing voice) Ahem!! God save our gracious queen, God save our glorious queen, God save the queen. I'm practicing for my ceremony where I will officially become a citizen of the United Kingdom. I'm not sure exactly when it will be, but I got the invitation to call the Master of Ceremonies and make an appointment for my citizenship ceremony. So now I am a dual citizen.

Also, today I got my piano tuning tools in the mail so as soon as my "how to" book arrives I will start tuning pianos. For those of you whom I haven't spoken to to fill you in on how that's going, I have decided not to go to the school in London. It would have been a lot of fun traveling into London for school, and the school itself seemed really good, but after praying about it I just didn't feel right about going that route. So I got hooked up with a gentleman who owns 3 piano stores and does a lot of refurbishing and tuning of pianos, as well as selling them. He occasionally take on people and mentors them in the business, but he doesn't actually pay you while you learn. Once you have a skill ie the ability to tune a piano then he starts to pay you. The manager of one of his stores told me to purchase this book and gave me a list of basic tools I would need to start, and told me to just start tuning any pianos I can find. He says the book is great (he still refers to it quite a lot and he's been tuning for 15 years), and he also said that if I ever got stuck on something to give him a call and he would be happy to offer advice. So the plan is to get as comfortable as I can tuning pianos on my own, and then approach Mr Roberts (the owner of the piano stores) and hopefully he'll take me under his wing and I can start earning sooner than later. At the moment I have a full time job, but there is only enough work for about 3 days a week. My supervisor asked me if I might be willing to go to part time in the future which would work in perfectly with the piano tuning because I can still have a guaranteed partime income that will match with Zulobia's part time income, and then any money I earn tuning pianos will be a blessing.

Sorry if this is a bit rambling, I am really tired, but I wanted to blow the dust off the blog and let you all know a bit of what's going on. Bless you all!!!

Comments

2007-02-19T11:35:00.000-08:00

Please feel free to comment on anything, but try to be nice. I have changed the settings on the blog to allow anybody to comment. It seems that when a blog is set up the default setting for comments it to allow only people with a blogger account to comment, but that is now changed as I said before so comment away!!!

University

2007-02-16T13:07:00.000-08:00

Well, yesterday I headed into London to check out the school I want to attend this coming September. I am going to take a 2 year course at the London Metropolitan University called Music Technology, which in the end will leave me with the knowledge and qualifications to tune and repair pianos. I phoned the campus in the morning just to make sure the open day was still on, and having been assured that "of course it's still on", I bought my train ticket and made my way to the big city. The open day started at 2pm, and upon my arrival at 1.15pm I was informed that the open day had been cancelled. Fortunately the gentleman that I was speaking to was very kind and phoned the head of the department, and explained that I had travelled all the way from Southampton. The head guy agreed to speak with me and was very helpful, spending almost 2 hours with me answering all my strange questions.

In my heart I had hoped that the classes would be neatly arranged to fit into 2 full days, leaving 3 days to work and earn some money. We could stay in Southampton and I could do the commute into London for the 2 days of school. This year's schedule is: all day Monday, Tuesday afternoon, all day Wednesday, Thursday and Friday morning. Doesn't leave much time for work. If I was to get any kind of a job I would only see Zulobia and the kids between terms. I did some preliminary investigation into student funding today and found that there are quite a few bursaries and grants that you can apply for, but most will only consider your application after you have taken the maximum student loan out. I don't want a student loan. With the exception of the mortgage on the house we used to own in Canada, Zulobia and I have managed to stay out of debt our entire marriage.

It wasn't all negative. The course looks great, the first thing I saw as I left the building was the gherkin (you know the bullet shaped building), and the instructors seemed very knowledgeable and helpful. I am really looking forward to taking this course and getting on with tuning pianos.

I really felt like the idea to tune pianos came from God. Not that it is a "great and noble" career that will make me rich or change the world. After praying unceasingly for 3 years, well probably mostly whining, this idea just dropped into my head. It appeals to me on several different levels. I could be self employed, it keeps me in a creative frame of mind, and it is a very portable skill that is needed everywhere people own pianos. Anyway, I am still going for it. I just don't know what it will look like come September. I guess that's where my faith comes in!!

Finally!!

2007-02-14T12:10:00.000-08:00

Hey Happy Valentines Day!!! Well, today I signed a contract for an ongoing temporary post with a shipping line who has their offices here in Southampton. I will be dealing with customer queries and booking export containers on vessels leaving the UK through Southampton. They know that I'm only available until July/Aug and that I also have a week long holiday booked in June and they were ok so there you go-I'm officially employed again. I was supposed to start on the 19th, right at the beginning of half term, but Zulobia must have prayed (she wasn't looking forward to a week on her own with the kids) because as I was signing the contract at the agency the shipping line called and said that they didn't need me until the following Monday.

Tomorrow I go into London to the London Metropolitan University to find out more about the Musical Instrument Technology course I want to take this September. I can't wait to get the real scoop on the course. Coincidentally, the campus I am going to tomorrow is right next to the 4 storey building that collapsed yesterday. Probably a bit dusty down there I would imagine.

Plain Jane (or Plain Blaine?)

2007-02-09T01:21:00.000-08:00

My faithful readers (all three of you) may have noticed that there aren't too many frills or gimmicks on my blog. I could say that it's because of my minimalistic attitude towards life, and that could be partly true. I could also say that I don't have time to do anything extra, but that definitely isn't true. Considering that I'm not working and haven't been for the past 18 months I have loads of time to spruce up the old blog. No, I can't use either of those excuses. The reason the blog is so plain is because I don't know how to do anything. I don't know how to link web pages to words in my text, I don't know how to add photo's, and I can barely update it. It's pure techno-ignorance. So I apologize to those of you who like bells and whistles because you won't find any here, but I can promise you riveting discussion on various mundane topics.

The Speed of Business

2007-02-06T12:31:00.000-08:00

I remember an advertisment from when I was a teenager, I don't remember exactly what the product was but I think it was Xerox (I could be wrong here) which is a photocopier and other business machine supplier. Anyway, the tag for the advert was: "Moving at the speed of business!" The implication being that business was always fast moving and needed something that was able to keep up. I've been applying for lots of jobs lately, and it seems that nobody is in a hurry to hire anyone. An advert will be in a paper or on a website and will have a "closing date" for applications for about 2 or maybe 3 weeks away, and the advert will also usually tell you the date the interviews will be held which is probably 4 weeks after the "closing date". Obviously you can do the math, but that's sometimes 6 or maybe even 7 weeks after the CV gets put into the post, assuming you post it as soon as you see the advert. My point here, and I do have one, is that it seems to me that business moves very slow here in the UK. Maybe businesses in the UK are more organized than in Canada and can afford to take 2 months to decide on the right candidate for a position, I don't know. I am used to a turn around time of about 2 weeks maximum from the time I apply for a position to the time I find out whether I got the job or not. I have gotten some jobs, and I'm talking about management positions as well, withing 2 days of applying. I know it's just a different system here, and I'm not saying that what I'm used to is better, well, maybe I do think it's better. Anyway, I've been seriously applying for jobs for about a month now and still no joy. I am a little bit frustrated.

He calls me by name!!

2006-12-23T01:13:00.000-08:00

I went on a retreat this past monday to a place called Liss on the border of Hampshire and West Sussex. I have been very frustrated with a few things in my life and felt led to get away and spend some one on one time with the Lord. I really felt His nearness during my time there, and I believe I sensed/heard some concrete answers to the issues I was bringing before Him. The most amazing thing though, something I wasn't expecting, was when He said to me: "I love you Blaine!". I have been a christian for just over 17 years and until this week, I have never heard Him use my name (I'm sure He has used my name, but I wasn't aware of it for some reason). As soon as I heard the Creator of the universe call me by my name, I became aware that for most of those 17 years I have felt anonymous in His presence. Funny, I knew I was in His presence, but didn't feel seen by Him. Now I know that not only does He see me, but my name is written in the Lambs Book of Life. It still blows my mind when I think about it. He is so awesome!!!

Snip Snip

2006-12-13T04:06:00.000-08:00

Well I think I am finally fully recovered from my "procedure". I went into the local hospital first thing in the morning on 22 November and did all that I needed to do to register, and then the waiting began. Lots of time to think about what was actually going to happen-not a good thing. I'm usually not a squemish sort and operations have never really bothered me. Many years ago I was fortunate enough to be able to watch the doctor remove a cist from my leg and found the whole thing quite interesting. Anyway, back to my vasectomy.

After waiting for about an hour I was brought a gown and told to get ready as I would be the first patient going under the knife. Someone came and took the bed that I was sitting beside, and about 15 minutes later the same person came back and walked me into the operating theatre. I think they call it a theatre because there are lots of people watching. They had me get up onto the bed and get comfortable, and as soon as I was situated they lifted the gown and exposed me from the chest down--so much for being comfortable.

As I was being "prepped" I was looking around the room. To my left was the Surgeon and I was watching him get ready. I don't know why I looked down, but I did and he was wearing wellies and I think they had flowers on them. I was beginning to wonder what they were expecting might happen. At this point you might be thinking that maybe they had slipped me some meds but I can assure you that I was absolutely straight.

They finally got the show on the road and proceeded to inject the local anestetic into places where no needle has gone before. It hurt like a bugger, but I'll tell you it didn't hurt any where near as much as when the butcher made the incision. I think the NHS is trying to save a few bob by diluting their local freezing stuff with water because I can tell you that I wasn't numb. "Oh, did that hurt" the surgeon asked as my whole body went stiff as a board. I was surprised that I didn't scream or shout. I just answered "Yup" and he said that they would wait a couple more minutes before continuing to give the freezing more of a chance to "take hold".

I'll skip the details of the internal workings of the operation and get to the stitches. I guess the freezing still hadn't "taken hold" because I felt the prick (the needle, not the doctor) of each stitch and I could feel the thread being pulled snug. After it was all over they had me stand up and get my gown and dressing gown on and I had to walk back to the waiting area--no wheel chair or nothing. I think the freezing had finally "taken hold" because I didn't feel any more pain. Maybe it was the natural endorphins or maybe it was just the relief that it was finally over. They brought me a nice strong cuppa and buttered toast while I waited for Zulobia to come and pick me up. Anyway, it's done now. But if the vasectomy isn't successful, I'll be getting a general next time.

Figured I'd better do another one!

2006-10-31T09:59:00.000-08:00

Well I don't have much to say, but I want to get into the habit of blogging at least semi regularly.

The big issue for me at the moment is finding a job. It's strange, but at almost 40 years old I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up. Maybe I'll never grow up? Anyway, I've applied to do some volunteer work with a group that works with refugees here in Southampton called CLEAR (can't remember exactly what it stands for at the moment) and should hear back from them sometime in the next week or so. They need volunteers to help out with their english classes which run three mornings a week. I'd love to work for this organization because I think it would be very rewarding helping folks settle into their new homes in their new and possibly very strange country. I'm also thinking of applying for a relief position with a charity that works with the homeless and drug addicts (not a politicaly correct term at the moment I don't think).

Anyway, this is the pressing issue in my life right now.

First Time

2006-10-11T09:46:00.000-07:00

Hello and welcome. I don't know how often I'll get here, but I will try and write a bit every week anyway. I decided to start a blog because I have been reading some of my friends blogs and have really enjoyed them. It is an interesting, although not very personal, way to communicate. Please feel free to comment on anything you like, but please be kind:) That's it for now. I have been called to the dinner table.