leppardfreak aka Leann’s Neighborhood

Show us the last thing you bought.

 

Today I went to Relax the Back store.  I have had a tempur-pedic contoured pillow for about 6 years now and its not doing it's job anymore....and lately my neck has been in so much pain because it's not getting any support when I am sleeping.  My shoulders are so sore every morning and I am not sleeping very much at all because my neck is so sore and making other parts sore,too....and I have been getting a lot of headaches from the neck pain. So, I figured it was time to look into something new.

I love Relax the Back store and could spend hours in there. With anti-gravity chairs, lots of massage chairs, and a whole bunch of beds where you can lie on to test the mattress (most are memory foam) and to try out different pillows and leg wedges.....they expect you to try everything and stay awhile.  I remember a long time ago, we spent a whole afternoon, practically, trying stuff out.  And today, lying on the tempur-pedic mattress with a side sleeper pillow and a body pillow......it was so comfy and supportive, I almost drifted off and had a nap!!

Today I invested in a new pillow that is good for side sleepers and is amazingly supportive to my neck. OMG!!  Love it! Love it! Love it!  And I also got a body pillow which I have been wanting forever.  I tried it out in the store and it's just wonderful.

It felt like a bit of a splurge....but, quite honestly, investing in things that help my back isn't really a splurge.  Less doctors visits and less pain....is a VERY good thing! :)

Now, I just have to save up to buy one of those amazing tempur-pedic mattresses that are just a DREAM to lie on!

 

What part of your childhood do you miss the most?
Submitted by Maretta.

Having a flexible, healthy body.  I used to be able to wrap my legs around my neck and cross my feet behind my neck. Seriously.  As a teenager. 

My back injury means I will never be that way again regardless.

I received a phone message, yesterday, from some guy in the HR department at some company regarding my resume.  When I returned the call, he asked me if I was still looking for employment.  I said yes.  He then asked if I was lookig for full time or part time and I said full time.  Then he said that he didn't have my resume in front of him right then but could I give him a quick rundown of my work history/experience.  As I had no clue who this company was and what the job was, I was a bit taken aback considering HE called me first.....so I asked him if this was about a job I had applied for. I personally like to have an idea of which job someone is calling about...especially when they pull the "I don't have your resume right in front of me" bit.  (I like to have an idea so I can "slant" my talk towards my experience that is relevant to the job)

He said that it was probably not something I had applied for and that he had been forwarded my resume by his Head Office and that they probably got my resume from Workopolis or Monster.  This immediately was strange because I do have my resume on Monster BUT my name and contact info are posted as private so people cannot call me directly. (I've had too many Primerica type calls in the past when I don't post it as private)  When I told  him, totally innocently, that my contact info on Monster is posted as private his attitude immediately got super snarky.

"Are you or are you not looking for employment?"

I said yes but told him I was curious as to what this is all about and how he got my resume since he is saying there was no job posting and my contact info on Monster is private.

He upped his snarkiness again.

I then politely said good-bye.

I still have no idea of what position or anything. He was not forthcoming about anything.

How freakin wierd!  And how totally rude!!!!!

 

 

 

Seriously, folks.....I don't think it gets any cuter than this........

 

 

 

Do I hear a large collective AWWWWWWW.....??!!!! :p

 

If you could take a class right now and learn anything in the world, what class would you take?

This, for me, is a hugely loaded question!  I am in the middle of making a list of things I want to learn and making up an action plan.

 

This year, I plan to take or start taking:

1. voice lessons

2. guitar lessons

3. pilates

4. Adobe Creative Suite 3 Design Standard (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign)

*5. looking into possibly taking some graphic design courses....maybe even get into a program/school if I can find the $$$ to make it happen

 

Next year, I plan to take or start taking:

1. digital photography

2. dancing - not sure where to start as I want to learn quite a few different style like salsa, latin, west coast, blues, hip hop, ballroom... but I am sure I will figure it out next year!

*3.  If I get Adobe CS3 Design Standard done this year, I will probably start work on the Design Professional next year which is all the web apps like Flash, Dreamweaver, etc.

 

Eventually, I want to learn some languages but not sure when:

1. French

2. Italian

3. Spanish

 

I have so many things I want to learn....it's exciting!! :) 

Are you going to be amongst the first people to buy the iPhone 3G? If so, when do you plan on picking yours up and which one will you be purchasing?

 

 ....um.....that would be a no.

The iPhone is pretty, charming, and quite cool but it does not have all the things that I would want and so I will have to pass until Apple makes it more into a Smartphone like a Blackberry.  And with the data-charge raping that is going with our Canadian carriers, there is definitely no reason for me to change from my current hiptop (that would a sidekick to you US peeps) that I have had for the past 4 or so years with a $20 monthly unlimited data plan........at least until something worthy comes along.

With all the hype that is going on with the new iPhone, some people may not know that there are some other cool phones coming out this summer.

The Samsung Instinct looks quite cool and has won quite a few awards already.  It is the closet competitor for the iPhone. It should be debuting in Canada either this month or next.

And the one that I am looking forward to the most is the new Blackberry Bold which has all the regular great Blackberry features and more.....AND you can now edit documents.  That, too, should be debuting in Canada sometime this month or next.  It appears to be the Smartphone that I have been looking for.  I guess we shall see! :)

Bad day?

I am sure some of these people are having a worse day......

(all courtesy of the fail blog)

 

 

 

 

 

 

I broke the silence!
Where have I been? What did I do? Why... on earth are earth am I so lazy? You might ask.
Lazy is not exactly the right word.
Well that whole list of things I posted just before I vanished was the cause of all this... that and having a social life beyond the computer screen. I never thought I'd be distracted for this long! o_O

Well that magazine thing is getting MADE! I've got 20-something people on the project (at least a few dedicated ones) and it's really happening. I decided to take the lead and direct the project. Scary. 'cause as a kid I told myself never to be responsible for somebody else's doomsday. So far so good! I just need to keep up with the rolling waves that will be running an online publication/blog. I have no idea if it'll be a huge success or not. I won't be disappointed either way, most people come up with ideas and never do anything with them. At least I'm doing something with it.

Awwww but right now.. I'm hating/loving life. It's a mixy feeling you see. I moved almost a year ago. (last September) School was out for summer. Got a job, lost the job. Realized that one of my teachers was completely incompetent and failed me for NO REAL REASON. She made some lame reason about attendance...anyways... I'm trying to get a new job. It's been two months and I've had 8 interviews. They went great! However the rolling competition in the city is fierce just as fierce as stupidity.

My birthday was last month. I had the time of my life... even though I was broke enough to not buy drinks, I got drunk!!! My friends came and visited me and brought some cocktails. My brother pitched in, my dj friend who was hosting the event I went partying at gave me some free drinks. It was the nicest thing I've experienced. Everyone had fun! Everybody!

I had one offer last month for a part-time job at the hospital's cafe. After the interview she pretty much said I was hired.  She never called. A few days later.. I called her. No answer. So I left a message asking if she was still needing cashiers because I was still interested. A day later, no response.

Then... suddenly, my auntie offered me the opportunity to go to Cuba with her for vacation. It was so worth it, the phone call and everything I've been through for her to say this. She acknowledge my mother leaving, my father being absent, my auntie's passing, my grandfather passing, my grandmother (her sister) passing. She said I don't deserve all the shit I've been getting in life and therefore I deserve a free trip to Cuba. Not a cent to give out.
And I said, hell yes.

Then I called the prospective employer and left a message saying that I'll be away for a week. So if she still needs me, I'll be available the day I get back. A week later, still no response.

So I said F*** IT! I'm going to Cuba!
I went, I loved it. It was incredible. Again so very lucky, I could've stayed home being miserable if I didn't go!

Now that I'm back and everything, things are still the same but I'm not depressed and sad about not getting work. I mean it doesn't mean I stopped caring, I just have to move quicker, get in their faces.
 
I live in the worst place for cell phone reception and there's nothing I can do about it. Nothing upsets me more when employers call ME and never leave a voice message. I lose the call because I can't get signal strength in the basement and I loose a chance for an interview.
Staples called me once..I got screwed by the weak signals.
I tried to get back to who ever called me. An employee I happened to reach didn't know what to do and didn't know which person called me. They never called back again.

Can you believe that some fashion retail employers (*cough* Urban Outfitters) I've met with did not consider "Wal-Mart" as retail sales experience? They gotta be freakn' kidding me right? I ask them why not and till this day I haven't heard of an answer that made intelligible sense yet.

It's also frustrating as hell when someone under qualified gets hired before me.

Nothing bugs me more than mediocre cashiers at Wal-Mart in Toronto. It's like... you know you can do a million times better than most of them but they won't hire you because they already full staffed with half-decent employees. It's not like I'm gonna stick around and wait... the bills need to get paid!
Truth be told I gave in and applied for a spot back into the team. They said they were happy to know I had previous experience but "oooh nooo we don't need cashiers at the moment."
EFFIN GHEY! Gimmie a job!

Yeaah but they did say I can apply for the baby department. (cause nobody wants to work in that dept.) Being the tool that I am I applied for that position too.

Before leaving the store, an employee asked, "Are you old enough to work?"
I stood in shock.
Thinking in my head, "WHAT THE HELL? Okay so I look young. I get it but you're reading my resume... which has like years worth of experience typed on it. (oh! Legal work experience by the way) You're asking if I'M OLD ENOUGH TO WORK IN CANADA!? I graduated high school in 2005, worked straight for 1 year and took 1 year of college then 1 year University and you're asking me if I'M AT THE LEGAL AGE?(16 years old)... you do the math."

So I responded to his stupid question with civility, "yes."
Then I turned around and added, "I'm 21."

Today I went on craigslist and ...AND....AAAAAND I saw an actual real ad from HMV. The same place I handed my resume into about two months ago requesting a position for the Electronica department.
Yes. You are right.
They are looking to hire someone for Electronic Music Department OR Metal now. I'm very happy about this. There has been nothing but shit jobs to pick from but this one could hold the most promise. Music is my life! I can't let this opportunity go to waste.
Imagine the mad discounts? I will BUY CDs at discounts I tell ya. Imagine the cool people I'd meet who actually have ranging tastes in music besides Canadian idol one hit wonders. Of course some customers can be pricks but working at Wal-mart made me accustomed to pricks on a daily basis so.. I'm almost ready. I wonder what music pricks are like?

I applied to it today and this time I wrote a spank-ass cover letter. (I never do the same thing twice!) A guy in front of me in line applied too! He looked like a DJ.. AAARGH! FUCKING competition!!! All sorts of worries infiltrated my head right there and then.
Let's hope this is his first time applying for a job.

What do you find interesting or unique about your family history?

1. The women on both sides (paternal and maternal) live a LONG time.  My paternal grandmother and great-grandmother both lived to their late 90's...and my maternal grandmother is still alive and will be 99 this October.

2. I have French ancestory on both sides. Part of my Mom's ancestory is French-Canadian (mostly from my maternal grandmother's side) and my Dad's ancestory goes back to France.

3. I have blue blood (royalty) on both sides of my family.  My Dad's ancestory goes all the way back to the French nobility and the kings of France.  My Mom's ancestory includes an Objiwa "princess" (daughter of a chief).

4. I have native blood in me from my Mom's ancestory on my maternal grandfather's side.  As mentioned in point 3, my mom's ancestory includes an Objiwa "princess". My maternal grandfather was about 3/8 Objiwa. My maternal great-grandmother was 3/4 Objiwa. My maternal great-great grandmother was 1/2 Objiwa and her husband, my great-great grandfather, was full Objiwa. I don't know any further back, at this point. 

5. My siblings and I didn't discover that we have native ancestory until after my maternal grandfather's death in 1990.  My grandfather was ashamed of his ancestory because he was treated with much racism while growing up. He made my Mom and her siblings swear not to tell us grandkids or look into it until after he died.  I never picked up on the ancestory because he always looked like a tanned, French-Canadian to me.  He was always outdoors because he was a logger so being tanned all the time seemed normal.

6. My maternal grandfather, being a logger, was a pretty rustic guy.  I heard he once killed a bear with an axe.  And he often left deer carcasses on our doorstep when I was little.

7. I have never met my paternal grandfather or know where and when he passed away.  My grandmother left him in England in the 1950's when she came to Canada to be with her sons (including my Dad).  My Dad doesn't even know what happened to him.  My grandfather was very abusive to his wife and kids.  I think it was incredibly brave of my grandmother to up and leave him like that.

8. My parents got married fairly quickly....especially for being married as Catholics!!  They met in September 1957, started dating in February of 1948, were engaged in September 1958, and married in December 1958.  They were married for almost 43 years when my Mom passed away.  This December would have been their 50th anniversary. 

9. My eldest brother was born 2 days short of being EXACTLY 9 months from my parents wedding day. haha! :)

10. My parents, me, and all my siblings have names that start with D.  It didn't start out intentional but ended up that way.

11. I think I have mentioned this before but I am named after my Dad.  They thought I was going to be a boy and so they were going to name me after my Dad since I was the 4th and last kid and no one was named after him yet.  But lo and behold, I was a girl and since they had no girl's name ready, they decided to feminize my Dad's name and added "ta" to it and voila...my name! (its unique like me!)