Battle with the flu

November 16, 2005 - It sucks being sick, but it's worst when you're alone.

On Sunday night, I felt sick for the first (and hopefully the last time) time this flu season. I knew I wasn't feeling 100% even in the afternoon, but I kept thinking that I could sleep it off in my apartment. When I got home that night, my conditions got worst - the point where I couldn't move and I had to wear layers of clothing just to stay warm. I also knew I have a high fever, judging my how warm I feel (while getting chills at the same time) and how my head felt like it was going to explode.

Struggling to even grab a cup of water from the kitchen, I finally had enough and called home. Mom came and picked me up. It was then I realized how difficult it is to be sick and alone. I don't know how some people do it - it's definitely not a fun experience.

So back up to Markham I went, where I spent three days fighting my fever and struggling to get my health back. It was sooooo nice to have mom around to bring me soup and water and to remind me to take my pills every 4 hours...

I'm such a baby eh...sigh...but at least I'm back on my feet now =)

Countdown to Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire

November 12, 2005 - Let the countdown begin !

This summer, I finally had the chance to read all 6 Harry Potter books. The books have been sitting on my bookshelf for years now, but with school and work, it was hard to find time to read them (especially books 4 and 5, which were over 500 pages long). So finally, this summer, I had the chance to read them - all 6 in a row.

Of the 6, I have to say Goblet of Fire is my favourite. Perhaps it's because it's the first BIG book (over 70o pages) in the series. Or maybe it's because the book has more actions and feels a bit more grown up. Or perhaps it's because that dreamy Cedric Diggory is in it...

So in counting down towards Friday, when the movie officially opens, I have tried to find as many GoF posters as I can and I have to say, I'm pretty impressed. Aside from that teaser poster that has been up since the summer, it seems like marketing forces at the WB have also developed entire series of posters featuring all the GoF characters - some of them are strictly for promotional uses overseas (particularly in Asia). I will try to post some of these posters on here over the next week, but here's one of my favourites so far, with Cedric and Cho Chang...

Roaches, Paint Odour and a Leaky Toilet

November 3, 2005 - Tonight marked a low point in my first week of living on my own.

Tonight, when I came home and found yet another bug in my bedroom, I finally lost it.

First, I'm just disappointed by the fact that the apartment didn't turn out the way I had hoped. Primarily because 1) it stinks because of the paint odour, which makes all my clothes smell like paint; 2) it's infested with creatures 3) it's really quiet and at times, even a bit lonely...

Seriously though, the bug situation has subsided. I still kill on average two bugs a day, but the size of them have decreased and we're talking about little creatures (don't see the big ones no more, touch wood)...but still...

So after finding yet another bug tonight, I decided to take action. All week I've been talking to the people at work and they've told me to get these roaches traps. So I decided to make a trip to Canadian Tire and buy a few for the apartment. I even did research on them all afternoon at work and have decided to get this one that will kill the eggs too (it's called Raid Eggs Bait or something like that).

Needless to say, the trip did not go as planned. The Canadian Tire at Bloor & Church does not carry roach traps anymore, because they are "out-of-season". Neither does the Shoppers Drug Mart at Yonge & Bloor. I was told to perhaps try the Canadian Tire at Eglinton and Laird.

Disappointed, I went back to Eglinton and took the bus to Laird. The Canadian Tire there was bigger, but still no traps. Pissed off that the whole trip was a waste of time (and fuelled by Jason's text msgs which also pissed me off - seriously, I think he doesn't quite know how this bug situation affects me), I finally just lost it and was THIS close to either knocking someone over with a can of Raid or burning down the apartment. I was just really upset that nothing seems to be going my way.

After cooling off a bit walking around the store (and with Jason finally figuring out that I'm ultra-pissed/depressed over this situation), I decided to buy that cocking gun, another can of Raid, and some steel wool to re-claim my apartment from those awfully disgusted creatures. I went back to my place, sealed up some cracks on the walls in my bedroom (that's where they seem to be found these days) and the bathroom, made a huge mess (I stopped caring though), while at the same time, cursed the genetic makeup of roaches for allowing them to survive past the Jurassic Period...

The other problem that I've found this week was that my toilet leaks water around the base. Though after some investigation, the problem doesn't seem that big nor important anymore. I mean, I flush the toilet maybe four times each day and it appears that the toilet will only leak under heavy usage (such as last weekend when my parents were around). A little paper towel around the base seems to do the trick for now.
At least that problem solved itself - sorta...

I feel better now that I've ranted...still, I think I might be a tiny bit home-sick...

Last Day, First Night

Sunday, October 30 - Tonight marks the first night I'll be living on my own. I guess you could say it's the beginning of a whole new life !

So this weekend, my parents helped me settle in by bringing the rest of my stuff from home. (By the way, packing was hard because I wasn't going to bring everything with me - since I will still go home every weekend - so I had to divide everything into twos). Anyway, they cleaned, washed, bleached pretty much every part of the apartment. I also re-sprayed the place and helped my dad bug-proof it by sealing up some of the bigger cracks and gaps in the walls and ceilings. I made a mental note to buy a cocking gun this week to seal up some of the smaller cracks on my own.

Bug situation: still see them - more disturbing are the ones that we've seen inside the kitchen cabinets. That's just gross. So my mom and I will have to bug-prof our kitchen, meaning all food will be in sealed containers. All dishes will be covered and will be rinsed before using, and I think I might even use the fridge for storage (since roaches cannot tolerate cold temperature).

My last day at home was pretty standard though - I didn't feel like I'm going to miss it, considering I'm not moving that far away...but who knows, we'll see what happens after a week.

Aside from the bug situation, and the fact that my apartment STILL smells like paint, I really like the idea of having my own place. It definitely feels grown up. Let's hope I'll be able to wake up on time to go to work tomrrow...

So this is it - Day 1 of the rest of my life !