First, an update from my last post: that set I won turned out to be a 1:10 scale technic Ferrari racer set, with working pistons and moving steering and such. Not something I really wanted, so I gave it to Tim for his birthday since I remembered him telling me about a similar technic model he had fond memories of when he helped me assemble the Life on Mars sets. The money I saved on purchasing his gift I used to buy a He-Man figure on eBay to replace my old one who's arm had broken off. Win-win situation.

THE MOVE

Packing! I had lots of stuff in boxes at my folks' place long before the move, and kept putting more stuff over there. We booked two U-Hauls, one for Tuesday, June 28, and another for Friday, July 1. We were hoping to get the keys by tuesday morning so we could move in before the end of the month, but that didn't happen. Instead, Russel let us move all of our junk into his living room and we stayed at my folks' place for a couple days. On tuesday Jenn and I had about 5(I think) people helping us, and it took about 5 hours to load the truck, partially due to last minute packing of odds and ends, partially due to divvying up stuff with Kim, partially due to waiting for the freaking elevator. To illustrate the magnitude of these delays, unpacking the truck at Russel's took 45 minutes, with just Russel and me doing it alone. Then I went to my folks' place and cleared out my old room enough for Jenn and I to sleep there for three nights, which took me untill 1am, and at 5am I got up to face a 12 hr shift at work. Needless to say, it sucked. It sucked so much I tracked down my boss and asked to have the next day off for cleaning, which he let me take. So thursday morning Jenn went straight to the old apartment from work, and I came by and took over vacuuming and shampooing. It seemed like I pulled up a beach's worth of sand from the carpet, and couldn't figure out why at first, but I eventually realized that it was just cat litter everywhere. Freaking cat. We got it all done, but the landlord couldn't come that day, so we made an appointment for the next morning. Later on I got a call from the new landlord, he had the keys for me, so I threw some stuff in the car and got the keys. Russel had been offering the use of his trailer on friday, which I was unsure of because of the weather, but it was looking good as I drove out, so I cancelled the second H-Haul and called Russel to take him up on his offer. He phoned me a short while later offering to take the bed over that night while we knew we had good weather, which sounded good to me, so my Dad and I made a trip with a few essentials and got that taken care of. Friday was the big move, which was over in about two to three hours, and it would have taken less time if the landlord hadn't given me one key that didn't work (the other was with Jenn, and I had to retrieve it). Derek showed up to help take in the last couple boxes, and I bought him and Russel lunch at the spaghetti factory for helping. I got Jenn from my folks' place that evening, and bought my family pizza for all their help. With the move done, it was time for unpacking, and the purchasing of things we were missing (wooden spoons, cookie sheets, cordless phone, toilet scrubber and plunger, two futon couches, etc...) thereby eradicating a surplus of dollars from Jenn's tax return. Our first sunday tea was July 16, and we had a mad scramble to get the place clean and assemble my barbecue, but we got everything ship shape without any snags. Tea was a great success and we had one of our new neighbours out, which was cool. After I fired up my grill and drank beer and ate burgers and was a very happy man. Since then, just little tweaks getting things a little homier, putting up Jenn's Welsh flag in the bedroom, reassembling the Star Destroyer*, that kind of thing. We're still needing stuff, but we've settled in enough for now.

THE MOVIE

So I've seen Episode 3 of Star Wars three times now, and that's enough for me untill it hits DVD and I can afford a big expensive box of all six movies. The first time I watched it I was absolutely shocked by how dark it was. I knew George Lucas wanted to make it dark, but I was expecting it to be as dark as Episode 2 was romantic. It confirmed a few theories for me (who killed Dooku, what happens to the droids), and answered a couple questions (exactly how does Obi-Wan get Anakin's lightsaber, how does Anakin take the news of being the chosen one), and also gave me something new (how does Obi-Wan know to join the force in Episode 4 but Vader does not). I still don't believe in comparing the old trilogy to the new one, because they're different movies made in different eras with different values portraying different themes with a different crew, and it can even be argued that George Lucas is a different person, the older, experienced and highly successful artist revisiting an old masterpiece instead of the young visionary flying by the seat of his pants, dodging cancellation by a hair drawing on his favourite classic movies for inspiration. In other words, STOP COMPARING APPLES AND ORANGES PEOPLE! Overall, Episode 6 remains my favourite original movie, even more so now because I felt that Anakin was a pawn of the force and I'm glad to see him redeemed. My favourite prequel movie is Episode 1 (and while I'm not a Jar Jar fan, his frothing-at-the-mouth critics can bite me), because it's so bright and colourful and it has my favourite prequel character, Qui-Gon Jinn (and if I ever buy a Force FX lightsaber, it will be his), although my favourite duel and space battle are both Obi-Wan vs Jango Fett, and my favourite fighter is the Episode 2 Jedi Starfighter. Final verdict: I like Star Wars, but I'm glad the movies are done with and I can geek out about other things like HE-MAN! (October 18th! I'll be at CNL when the doors open, getting my grubby little meat hooks on that DVD!)

THE PAIN

I am now the subject of the four most recent records in the first aid book at work. The first one wasn't a big deal, just nicked my pinky on a sharp piece of metal, put on a bandaid, no big deal. The second one was saturday, July 9, I tripped and fell chest first on a hard edge and bruised some ribs. The doctor said nothing was broken, no internal injuries, all the pain was from inflamation, just take ibuprofein three times a day untill it goes away. Sunday July 24, I lost my patience and put my knife in a pinch point to cut some paper, my right index finger got dragged in and a big flap of skin got torn up when I pulled it out. Again, the doctor said it wasn't too serious, just poly sporin and a bandaid, but I missed the last two hours of work because of it. Today around 10am, I was cutting paper with a retractable knife, when the knife slipped and I stabbed myself on the inside of my left forearm. Blood spurted out, and my skin folded in and I could quite clearly see the fatty tissue I had stabbed right into. This made me nauseous, but I started to feel better once I had it covered with gauze and couldn't see it any more. I took a cab to the clinic, waited an hour, got a tetnus shot, I was told it was really superficial, not a big deal, the laceration was only 2cm long, but he gave it seven stitches anyway just so that I don't have to worry about tearing it again while I'm back at work. I've taken the rest of the day off, although there's no reason why I can't go back on tuesday, so again, it's not that big a deal. The thing is, any one of these things are not that bad, but they're all mental mistakes of just not paying attention or being aware enough to work in a safe fashion, and all three happening in the course of two and a half weeks is not good. When I got back from the clinic the boss called me into his office to ask me if something was wrong that I wanted to talk about, but really my life is pretty good. The only thing I could think that would be causing this are the problems I have getting to sleep at night. Even when I go to bed at 8:30, which I did last night, after being up since 5:00am and working a 12 hour shift, it still took me at least 2 hours to get to sleep, and I just felt mentally and physically sluggish after I woke up, which is probably why I stabbed myself. I had already made the decision to see my doctor tomorrow while I was waiting in the clinic, because I haven't slept well since the move, and when I told the boss this, he was glad that I was aware of my problem and that I was taking the initiative to do something. My appointment is for tomorrow afternoon, hopefully I can get some good advice about my sleeping habits.

*As an aside, I have learned that Mega Bloks is a Canadian company, which makes them suddenly far less evil in my mind. While I have no compulsion to start collecting Mega Bloks (despite how cool the Ninja Turtle sets are), I do want to get the USS Enterprise to go with the Star Destroyer.

Today Jenn and I got official notice that Kim will be moving out for July 1st, so Jenn wrote up a notice for the landlord, and now we are going to start looking for a place to live on our own, and pull out all that shiny new stuff we've been saving from our wedding as well as what I've been keeping aside for just such an occasion. An added bonus is that it will clear up space at my folks' place in my old room, which is good because my Mom likes how cool that room is in the summer. Also, I'll be able to pull out my new barbecue for July and August. WOOT!

Also, I went swimming with Jenn, Rick, Tim and Derek at the Canada Games Pool this evening. It was kind of weird, because I did only four laps (there and back being a lap), and was beat, my muscles were all exhausted, especially across my shoulders and chest. I never thought of swimming as being much of an exercise, but since I haven't really done laps in about 10 years, I guess my stamina for it has disintegrated, which suggests to me that I was pretty strong as a kid, considering that four laps wouldn't have been a huge deal when I was taking lessons. I want to do more now, but it would be better if I could do it with Jenn, which means we have to get her some swimming lessons.

After that we went to Taco del Mar. I've been wanting to eat there for a while, and was kind of surprised that you have the option of shredded beef, chicken, or pork, as well as cod. I went with cod, and it was good stuff. The combo comes with a small pop and plain white corn tortilla chips and a salsa which is basically chunks of tomato in vinegar, with a couple bits of onion. However, the burrito was very filling, with rice and beans and all, so next time I'll just avoid the chips and spend the extra money for a juice. All in all, way better than Taco Time, not to mention Taco Bell.

Hmmm... maybe I should say something about episode 3. Well, I was too shocked the first time to make an actual opinion, so I need to see episode 2 again (just watched episode 1 again the other day), then 3 again, and then the dvd's once more so I can make an actual opinion. Still more stoked about He-Man in september, though.

I've been incredibly busy for the last three weeks, thus there have been no updates on my blogs. As far as I can remember, here's the major stuff that happened:

June 15: After work I drove straight to Jenn's, stopping along the way for some groceries and a movie. We picked up some peach habanero barbecue sauce from the IGA, and rented The Guru. Both items were quite good.

June 21: I bought a day pass and took transit out to vancouver to see the specialist about getting my wisdom teeth pulled. Getting all four at once will cost around $1600, but I have 80% coverage from work, so it's not too bad. So I'm scheduled for the 20th of August. In a way, I'm kind of excited, as the biggest surgery I've ever had was a wedge resection on my big toe. After that, I went to I Love Hats on broadway and picked up my tophat. Apparently I was undercharged, but the guy who owns the place said it was OK. The hat fits very nicely, so if anyone wants to pick up a hat, I give that place a high reccomendation.

June 22: Very busy day. Dropped my mom off at work in the van. Dropped Andrew off at a friend's house in my car. Took my stereo, cd's, cd tower, lava lamp, and a shelving unit over to Jenn's. Unloaded everything and set up the room for moving in the dresser. Went to CNL to pick up Lost Skeleton of Cadavera, Earth Girls are Easy, and a birthday present. Drove back to New West to cut the greens. Went to Zellers to get an extension cable, picked up Jenn and went home. Drove off in the van, picked up the dresser, picked up my mom from work, and went back home. Had dinner. My mom drove Jenn and the dresser to New West, and I followed in the car. The dresser was too heavy for Jenn to help me with, and no one we knew was home except Kim, who refused to help, but fortunately a good sameritan was passing by and offered to help carry the dresser upstairs. My mom visited for a little bit, and then Jenn and I rearranged the room and set up all the electronics. Then I went home.

June 25-26: I assembled my UCS TIE Interceptor while Jenn was at work. The next day we put together my UCS X-Wing.

June 30-July 1: We assembled the UCS Imperial Star Destroyer. The largest Lego set ever produced, over 3000 pieces. The two of us working together did it in about 10 hours, split up into 3 sessions.

July 2-3: Came home from work. Packed all my books, the last of my clothes, and the last of my stuff that I wanted to take with me to Jenn's and left home. I picked up Jenn from work at 4am, took her back to what is now our place, and she helped me unload everything. We slept untill about noon. We got up and went to the IHOP, picked up some gift certificates for Mason and Sam, got a card, got cleaned up, and drove out to the wedding. I was worried that we'd be late, but I had picked a good route and we were perfectly on time. The wedding was late, though, but only by ten minutes. The entire ceremony was about 7 minutes long, and we were told to clear out immediately after because another one was coming through. I'm glad that Jenn and I picked a location which we're able to have for the whole day. We left before the reception because Jenn had to work, so I dropped her off and went to vancouver for Sean's CD release party. Latin music isn't really my thing (although it's starting to grow on me now), but I knew Jenn would love it, so I bought a CD. It's really good to see Sean starting to make a career as a musician. Side note: good food at the Fox and Fiddle.

July 4: Brought out the Star Destroyer, Interceptor, and X-Wing. No one was boggled the way I hoped people would be, but they were all impressed nonetheless. The last of my junk was finally unpacked, and Jenn and I celebrated my moving in by seeing dodgeball at the cheapies and having dinner at the Keg.

Today: Just kind of hanging out, trying to get my head around the fact that this is my home now.

Tuesday afternoon: Jenn and I got some food, and drove out to Knock on Wood. They had some great stuff, but it was all a little outside of our price range. There were two more furniture stores, one of which was really cheap because it was particle board with a nice looking covering, the other being less cheap because they make the furniture for wholesale. We made a note of the last place and continued on to EBgames. I traded in Hulk for PC, Arx Fatalis, Taz: Wanted and Gunvalkyrie for Xbox. They still had Aquaman, and I was hoping to find Jedi Knight 2, but I had to settle for Knights of the Old Republic. In the end I payed $12 for both games. We hung out at my place for a while, and then went back to hers. Jenn went out socializing, and I beat Aquaman.

Wed&Thur: Worked. Went to Jenn's thursday night, and convinced her to play KOTOR. This seems to be a game that Jenn really likes, too bad you can't go two player.

Friday: I was going to cut the greens that morning, but it rained, so I played more KOTOR. I appear to be getting sucked in. Jenn and I went back to Solid Oak whatevers, and discovered that the price had gone up and they don't take Visa. We ordered the dresser anyway, considering that we were still getting a custom job for cheaper than anywhere else. Back to my place to show her wedding dress patterns to my mom, and disassemble some Lego to transport over to her place. We got cash and payed deposit on the dresser, and we went back to her place so she could nap before work. I did some laundry and cooked some dinner. Jenn ate and went to work, and I played more KOTOR.

Saturday: Woke up and cut the greens. Bought some stuff for lunch. Had lunch with Jenn. Afterwards, we went ballistic and cleaned the kitchen. Did the dishes, sanitized the counters and table, scrubbed the stove and vacuumed the floor. It only took three hours. We then rented Johnny English and bought slurpies. When we got back, we socialized with Derek and ate bridge mixture. Jenn left for work. KOTOR ensued.

Sunday: Jenn woke me up to a breakfast of scrambled eggs and pancakes (what a woman!). We watched Johnny English (oh, the pain, the pain!), and re-tidied the kitchen for tea. Tea ensued. I went to brickshelf and looked up instructions for a Lego Transformer, which I built. Kim was given three weeks notice for when I would be moving in, so the official date is now July 4. Jenn needed to nap, so I went home. I got a fair amount of tidying done in my room, and updated the Lego section of my website.

Today: Worked. Tried four times to call the shop where my top hat arrived, but no answer.