It's a beautiful day in Banff!

I worked from 6 a.m. until 2:30 at the restaurant today, then went for a walk down by the river. Visited my future place of employment. Now I'm tired and thinking a nap might be nice...

I don't work until 4:30 tomorrow, a fact which is also nice.

The end.

yay, facebook!

I found Laura Redman today! We went to Queen's together, and rented a apartment together our second year... I lost touch with after I left Kingston. Lost her email address and everything when my icq crashed a few years ago, alas.

The internet is an amazing thing, isn't it?

And now I must go to bed, because I have to be at work at 6:00 a.m. tomorrow... We have four tour groups coming into the restaurant.

My last day at Snowflake was today, by the by! I only have one job now! No more 14 hour days! I feel so FREE!

Oh... I'm thinking about taking a break between the two jobs. Any ideas as to what I should do? My now-former Snowflake manager, Pam, told me to go somewhere sunny. Mom said to go visit the sister in Ontario. Opinions? Suggestions?

the semi-weekly update

Hello, all!

Well... let's see... what's new with me?

It's three in the morning, and I just got back from a house party at my assistant manager's house. I have to work at nine tomorrow, but I'm trying to sober up a bit first.

The party was a blast, though! ... And still going strong when I left. It was Marie-Josee's going-away party. I'm going to miss her! She's heading back to Montreal to be with her boyfriend.

I attended another going-away party on Sunday. Hannah flew home to England this afternoon. This morning, I was walking with her. She turned to me and said, "You know what I'm going to miss about Canada?" I had been walking and thinking about how beautiful the mountains were... So guess what she's going to miss the most about Canada? Our free refills on soft drinks!

Anyhow... Is anything else new in my life? Hmmm.... I joined Facebook the other day, and have already reconnected with my friend Jen Mitchell, who I lived with at Queen's. Jen is now married and has a kid.

Speaking of Queen's... I met a girl at tonight's party who attended Queen's at the exact same time as me, and who came to Banff at the exact same time as me. She's working as an X-ray technician at the hospital. We even have friends in common. How awesome is that!? Exchanged phone numbers, and will have to hang out sometime.

And now, I must say adeau. Like I said before: I work in less than six hours.

itchy feet

I think I need to get a haircut. I'm feeling restless. And yes, the two are connected. When I start to feel the need for a change the first thing that goes is my hair. I've been pretty content the last year or so, which is how my hair has managed to grow shoulder length and stay blond.

I start my new job next month. Not a moment too soon, in my opinion. I'm going stir crazy, and it doesn't help that all the friends I've made here in Banff are leaving me. My house mates are heading off to the U.K. and Aus in the next few weeks.

It's time to try something new. I had been considering spending another winter here, but I just don't know anymore. If I do, I need to try something different, job-wise. And if I do, next season I'm definitely putting in more time on the slopes. My skiing hasn't improved a bit since I came to Banff, and that's just SAD.

This morning, while I was at work at Inns, I saw a man unicycle through the parking lot. It brightened my day a bit, and I remembered that learning to unicycle was on a to-do list I made last year. Back when I was at Queen's, there was a fellow who unicycled to class everyday...

This is a dead month for Banff. The ski season is drawing to a close, but the hiking season has yet to begin. The hotels are all empty, and so are the stores. It's no good for business, and no good for tips. I made five dollars the other day, and today, which as a Saturday is traditionally the busiest day of the week for the restaurant, I made twenty dollars It's disgusting. If I didn't live in staff accommodation, and therefore have to work, I would take the next week or so off. As it is, the restaurant can't give me enough hours... The have too many staff, and too few customers.

What all this means, is that I need to book a hair appointment.

A quick note... I actually wrote this last night, but then my internet connection decided to spaz out on me. I didn't wind up booking a hair appointment... Went out with my roomie, Jess, instead, and watched her spend an obscene amount of money on three t-shirts and a pair of shorts. In a bit, I'm heading to the Keg for supper, but first I think I may need a rejuvinating nap.

Still tired, but this time I have an excuse

Well, I hope everyone had a most excellent Easter!

Ryan Hilliard, a friend of mine from my NBCC-Woodstock days came up (or maybe down?) from Edmonton for the long weekend. It was great to see another East-coaster, and it was also wonderful to see a familiar face from home. Ryan slept on the couch at my staff accomodation, which is reason #1 that I am tired: we aren't allowed to have overnight guests, and every time a door opened in the house, I woke up, convinced it was Pam, the building manager coming in for an improptue inspection.

In any case, I managed to beg, borrow and steal some time off from work. We went up to the Banff Centre and saw the new exhibit there. The exhibit, called Beckett, is a series of video installations inspired by Samuel Beckett. There is one entitled 'Clown Torture' that is just trippy. As soon as I saw it, it brought back memories of my old housemate Ed Duncan, who was terrified of clowns. (I miss you, Ed! If by chance you stumble across this blog, send me a line, eh?)

We also went on a long hike out by some lake or another just outside of town. We managed to get hopelessly lost in a marsh of overgrown pussy-willows. At one point, while we were charging through the brush we came across four elk---they very politely ignored us and continued the important business of lolling around and eating the bark off trees. I took a nap on a dock on the lake and wound up with what could be described politely as a healthy glow.

Anyhow, it was awesome to see you, Ryan! Come visit me again soon.

I've also been working lots. Yesterday was one of my lovely 14-hour work days, where I go straight from one job to the other. After work, I went down to the Bear's Den Pub and had a few drinks with Irish Angela, Aussie Ben and Ryan. Fun stuff. We got to see Matt, the bartender, have a fit and chase some teenagers out of the bar after they refused to tip him.

Today, I'm back working at Snowflake. After work tonight I may or may not go over to bartender Matt's place. He's having a barbecue or something for Angela and Ben, who are, alas, leaving town.

TIRED

I am extremely tired.

So tired, that when Tina and I finished dinner last night, I went straight home and went to bed (at 8:00 p.m.), waking briefly at around midnight to have a conversation with Justin the Aussie and then crawling back into bed again until 8:a.m.

So, I missed saying goodbye to Brady, and yet am still exhausted. Goodbye, Brady! :(

My dreams last night were dominated bye a serial killer in the sewers, a pack of wild dogs, an escalator that went far too fast, a medical check-up and a man who wouldn't stop text-messaging me. Somehow, this made up one, semi-coherent dream.

Now, I must return to work. Au reviour.

Happy April, Fools!

Got a call today at the restaurant from "Room 123." The gentleman there was looking to order a Jambalaya, and his name, he said, was "Big Load." Uh huh. It was Chris, a.k.a That Weird German Guy Who Works in Maintenance.

Then, the I.T. guy from head office came up to me and very slyly informed me that he had forgotten to bring money for a tip (head office doesn't pay for food---they all have accounts). "I'll bring money in later," he said, "or maybe I can just buy you a drink?" Katie being slow on the uptake sometimes, I didn't clue in to the fact that he was asking me out until after I had already agreed.

Brady, a.k.a Sideways Cap Guy, is leaving town on Tuesday. He's going back to London, Ontario to finish his diploma in Journalism. This means tonight will be a party night, in all likelihood.

Oh, and my friend Ryan Hilliard, from NBCC-Woodstock, might be coming to visit me Easter Weekend! Ryan's living up in Edmonton, right now, and has just acquired wheels.

Anyhow, must go and meet up with my friend Tina for dinner at Carumba's.