Potpourri

By worst night ever, I mean worst shift ever. It wasn't so much the behaviours we were seeing that was draining and frustrating, but the fact that we'd been dealing with this particular group for a few weeks and it gets extremely wearisome. The girls were still up when we left out shift at 7 am that Saturday... It was a Murphy's Law of shifts.

It's after nights like that that the word "burn-out" floats around my brain, but I don't think I'm feeling burnt-out, it's just been a tough go the last little while. Work swings like a pendulum and I know we'll come out of it sooner or later... it's just hard while you're there.

I like to blog, don't get me wrong, I just get to a point where I have so much that I want to write about or mention that I avoid it altogether, maybe shorter posts are ok??

Anywho, last night was my very first official work Christmas party and it was quite enjoyable. There were the usual antics that happen when a group of people who work stressful jobs get together and enjoy an adult beverage, though there was nothing too scandalous. And given that we're all shift workers and are used to staying up all night, the party went on for the majority of the night. I rolled into bed at 5:30 am, which I think was about the average for that crew. I guess I'm making up for all those years of good behaviour and non-rebellion!

While I was sleeping, winter came along and slapped us in the face. It had been pretty blustery Saturday night, but nothing major, just icy roads and a little blowing snow. But all day today it's been blizzardy, cold, and big chunks of snow have been falling. I'm glad I didn't have to go anywhere, but the satellite isn't working so I have to resort to either reading or watching the backlog of movies on my PVR.

Have I mentionned that I love my PVR? I never miss anything, as long as I pay attention. Although with the writer's strike a lot of my regulars are going into re-runs, and I hate re-runs... passionately.

In light of thinking of anything else to say, here's a list of websites I visit during my rounds if the girls have settled at a reasonable hour:

Etsy.com - This is an awesome website I recently came across, where creative people who do handmade stuff can sell their creations. You can pay using paypal which is great for the non-credit card users (like me). You can get pretty much anything that can be made here and a lot of it is very reasonably priced. If you are crafty yourself, it might be worth looking at! I've already purchased a few Christmas presents through Etsy. I love it because you're buying from real people instead of a big corporation. And because it's usually so small scale, you can talk to the creator him or herself and have custum elements added to your order. Please visit! I promise it's a good one!

BoingBoing.net - This is actually how I found out about Etsy. It's just a blog about a lot of varied things/topics/gadgets. I've seen a lot of things regarding art and subcultures that I wouldn't have otherwise.

TMZ.com - Everyone needs a guilty pleasure, and this would be mine. I can't believe I'm admitting to it, but I do visit this site pretty often. What can I say! I need something that updates often to ward off the sleepies at 4am... It's bad, I know.

ThinkGeek.com - This probably came from BoingBoing as well. It's for geeks, and there are a lot of really interesting gadgets you can get to add to your every day life. One of my personal favs is an alarm clock on wheels. You have to chase it around your room to shut it off. So for someone like me who shuts the alarm off without waking up, this may be an essential item.

Postsecret.com - An art project where people send in their secrets anonymously and Frank posts them on this blog. It's occasionally not work safe, but very interesting none the less.

UnitedHollywood.com - A blog with information regarding the current writer's strike in Hollywood.

InsidetheCBC.com - The official blog of the CBC. Gives you some "insider" information about Canada's public broadcaster. It's usually pretty interesting stuff, and you might as well check it out since you're paying for it anyway.

I'm always looking for new websites to get into, so if there are some you visit on a regular basis that update frequently, you should let me know.

Now I must get back to my ummm, nothing, as I listen to the stormy winds outside and the Canadian Brass ensemble Christmas album inside. And then there's the smell of apple sauce cooking on the stove... how quaint.