[Allison]

I felt it too, I was sitting at my computer checking emails before going into work and my monitor started wobbling…then my trinkets on my shelves…and then the water in my glass started jumping around. I ran downstairs and found myself alone in the house, with the dishes rattling in the cupboards and the dogs hiding behind furniture. It was bizarre!

And then of course I went into Midland to work the afternoon shift and found myself in the middle of an F2 tornado, watching the roof get torn off the trunk repair place next door, 18-wheelers lift off the ground, trees fly and the walls of our own warehouse blow out around us. I know it doesn’t sound like much to people who have lived in tornado country all their lives, but the last tornado of any note in this entire area happened before I was born.

What a day! 😮

[Allison]

Jennifer wrote:

As long as they get Ian McKellen for Gandalf, I’m cool. Otherwise I don’t know if I can handle it. D:

That’s pretty much my take on it too. No one else could be Gandalf, McKellen was practically born for that role.

I’m still hoping that Jackson winds up directing, although I know that’s pretty near impossible at this point. Other than him I really don’t know of any director that I would want to step in and take over The Hobbit.

[Allison]

Well isn’t he a handsome fellow 😀

I’m so glad to hear that you decided to adopt an older cat, and I love his name! He certainly seems to have a lot of spunk left in him for you to enjoy.

[Allison]

My name (Allison) was ranked 42 the year I Was born, and has since hovered between 50 and 40 up until very recently when it shot up into the 30’s 😛

I like that my name is neither too popular nor too weird. I know one or two other Allisons, but it’s not like how there are about 50 Amandas that I know or about 100 Brittanys XD

[Allison]

Not the kind of news I was hoping to see when I popped back into the forums 🙁

Best of luck to Danny, I’ll be keeping a good thought for him and for you. One of my family friends is going through chemo right now and against the odds he’s doing incredibly well, let’s hope you guys do the same!

[Allison]

Oh cool, you got to see the Lanc! I assume it’s the one from Hamilton, not the one from over in Britain? I went to McMaster University in Hamilton, so I saw the Lancaster on a fairly regular basis as it flew in and out of the city. It makes the most incredible sound, I loved listening to it roar by 😀

[Allison]

I managed to get one this time around (I didn’t go to the cottage this weekend, go figure), and when I got to the page there were 6 left. By the time I had secured my order there were only 4 left, and I was clicking like lightning. Man they sold fast!

[Allison]

Once again I agreed to go up to the cottage to help my parents move heavy stuff around (this time boats), and once again I miss the Keepers.

See if I ever volunteer to help anyone again! 😛

[Allison]

I went to our cottage to help my parents put in the new dock this weekend, I missed them all 😥

[Allison]

Thanks guys 😀

I’ve told my parents how much I appreciate having them look after me for a little while as I search for work, but they still shrug it off like it doesn’t count for anything. They’re nearly as stubborn as I am 😛

As for the job hunt, I’ve been looking everywhere, for part-time, for internships, factory lab work, yard work, you name it. There are a lot of nature reserves and parks around, but to give an example, I applied for a summer/fall job in a local marsh keeping track of the different nesting bird species and their predators, something I’ve done for fun since I was about 6 years old. I didn’t get the job, a Ph.D student applied for it! You wouldn’t think someone with that kind of education would have to look for part-time, seasonal jobs like that, but that’s how desperate things are around here right now. Most of the local shops and businesses are only hiring returning students, kids that still have bills to pay down, and I understand that, but that leaves me high and dry again. The last problem is experience, and the fact that I don’t have any that counts. With all the people who have been laid off or let go in the past couple of months, I’m applying alongside a lot of people with 5, 10, even 20 years experience. I’m hoping to find someone, somewhere who wants to train a freshly-graduated student from scratch, but so far they seem to prefer the pre-trained applicants.

So I’ll keep haunting the job posting boards every day and hope for the best. For now I’m just going to bask in the knowledge that I never have to endure another year of McMaster trying to drive me insane 8)

[Allison]

After 5 years of endless suffering, I’m done university! I’m leaving McMaster with a degree in Honours Life Sciences (think bio, chem, earth sciences and ecology all rolled into one) and a Minor in Anthropology, just because I could. I’ve decided not to go to the actual ceremony in June, as it would mean driving all the way back to the city to graduate with over 1,000 kids that I don’t really know…I had to take an extra year to make up for a massive administration muck-up back in my first year, so all my friends were gone as of last year. I’ll just have them mail my diploma, I don’t need to pay to see a few dozen of my profs in weird robes and funny hats 😆

Unfortunately this isn’t exactly the best time to enter the job market. I’m still looking for work, and have been for about 8 months now. I felt like a failure until I learned that all my friends who graduated last year, including absolutely brilliant nuclear phys students and top-of-their-class teachers, are all jobless bums too. I don’t like being at home right now, just because my parents are limping by on 3/4 of a single paycheck right now and they don’t need me leeching off of them. They feel so guilty about never being able to help pay for my education (my sisters and I paid/are paying our own way), and that they have nothing to give my one sister and I for our graduations this summer, and no amount of telling them “we understand” seems to make them feel better about it. Maybe I need to tell them that feeding me and keeping me sheltered right now will more than make up for it.

Anyway, I’m done! It was so weird to read the “CLEARED TO GRADUATE” at the bottom of my grade sheet, I kept thinking they’d mess it all up on me again. And the last bit of good news? I managed to pull off 5 years of school and have less than $20,000 in debt! Working factory jobs in the summer, buying used books and living with my Grandma for two years helped a lot with that. Now I just need to find a job, pay all my debt off and get me a couple of those dragons I’ve been drooling over for the past few years 😛

[Allison]

I’ve no luck at raffles either (clearly), but I keep trying anyhow. This is just about the only way I’ll likely ever be able to own a Windstone that isn’t a little Curlie, a Fledgie or a PYO…that, and the prizes are just plain awesome to look at 🙂

[Allison]

My Nana gave me money for Christmas and basically ordered me to get another Keeper and paint it. She’s been harassing me for months about when I’m going to finally get one. I’m going to have to show her this thread when I get home from university to prove it’s not my fault! 😛

Heaven help me if I miss them when they eventually restock though o_O;

[Allison]

*lol* No dice Ski! If by some miracle I ever found myself able to get one dragon or the other, the Lap would so be mine 😛

[Allison]

I hear you. Most of Jennifer’s stuff makes me wish I wasn’t a last year university student…holy debt! So many awesome pieces, and no hope of ever owning one 🙁

[Author]

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