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chemgurl
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read my profile
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Birthday: 6/10/1977
Gender: Female
Interests: music, reading, writing, photography, cooking
Expertise: none at the moment, but I hope to be a pretty good machinist eventually. :)
Occupation: Manufacturing/production
Message: message me
ICQ:  5556509
Yahoo:  chemgurl
Member Since:
7/14/2003
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| Lanc - keep reading for the job developments. =) The little
guy and the old man are doing ok. They're both homesick (me too),
but other than that they're fine. Right wing land isn't so bad if
you fit in half well I guess. We're blue collar, making oil field
parts, living on somewhat of a farm, and our second rig is a half
ton. We've got to fit in somehow. Lol.
So, I think I've given up on the whole low carb thing. I'm fickle
I guess. =) First I was going to give Atkins a shot.
But then I thought to myself, "How healthy can it be to totally cut out
fruit and eat all the bacon and butter I want?" So... Next
was South Beach, a more moderate approach. Then I realized that
South Beach is pretty much based on the glycemic index ratings of
foods, so I went straight to the source. I know Atkins works for
a lot of people, but I think the whole GI thing is a much more balanced
approach. Whole grains, veggies, most fruits, pasta, rice (brown,
long grain, wild). I'm counting calories too, but not obsessively
- just to be aware and to make better choices. I found this great bread at the grocery store the other day. Silver Hills Bakery.
I bought the Squirrelly type and it's *great*. Even Shamus likes
it, although he does prefer the white bread. As does J (he hasn't
even tried the good stuff). Kids. 
I've been eating a lot better. This morning I had oatmeal with
yogurt for breakfast. A turkey breast, broccoli sprouts, and
spinach sandwich for lunch. Spaghetti squash with a sort of sauce
made of onions, garlic, green pepper, cucumber and salsa for
supper. Yesterday... Hmm, All-Bran with yogurt and cottage
cheese for breakfast (all mixed together), I can't remember what lunch
was (I think I skipped it), and for supper I had a bit of spaghetti/sauce and grilled a piece
of sole and some spinach on the Foreman grill. I love that
thing. Everything comes out so good. We love grilling some
chicken or whatever for supper, and then throwing on frozen veggies
when the chicken is done. It only takes a few minutes and they
come out great. I'm not talking peas and corn - mixed stir-fry
type veggies with cauliflower, broccoli, snow peas, peppers, etc...
The job. We start new jobs on Monday. Monday to
Friday. 8-4. Can't complain about that. Got Shamus a
daycare, and we stopped by today to have a look around. We didn't
have any real beefs with our old job, other than the whole
schedule. It will be great to have a family life again. I'm
already making plans (Curious George is on the list). The new
shop seems like a great place to work - time will tell. We're not
hard to please anyway - we just need to have a life outside of
work. One that involves each other. So we won't be in
milling, we'll be in turning instead. That's fine. Looking
forward to learning some new skills, even though it will be like
starting all over again. Haven't touched a lathe since
school.
Ack, it's almost 10 pm. I still have a bagload of stuff to
do. Put laundry away. Clean sheets on bed. Wash
dishes. (J is good with housework, but I hate leaving him with a
mess to start his days off. It's nice to start with things half
decent) Work out... I was planning on doing my exercise
ball thing tonight. So, yeah. 5 am comes early, gotta get
going. =) Oh perfect... My Name is Earl
is on next. Yet another reason why I'll only get 6 hours of
sleep... Lol. At least I can watch it while I wash dishes
and it will be added motivation to work out, since I'll just be
watching tv anyway. | | |
| Just a quick bit - I'll fill in the details later.
Lost two pounds this week. =) (I weigh myself at work on
Sundays) That was after having tacos (yes, with the shells) for
supper Saturday night and only working out *once* all week.
Imagine the possibilities if I could just get off my butt a few times a
week!
There's been a change with the whole work thing. Things will get better shortly. More on this later...
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Last Updated Sat, 14 Jan 2006 18:03:25 EST
When Alberta grocery stores have to go across the country to find
workers you know that province's economy can be described only one way
- hot. A job fair opened in Halifax on Friday, looking for Atlantic Canadians to fill the jobs in the Alberta job market.
One grocery retailer is offering jobs that pay up to $35,000 per
year, free airfare, a month's free rent and moving expenses. Philip
Roach of Westfair Foods says it's not just the grocery business that's
booming. "Every business in Alberta is struggling with recruiting
qualified staff," he said.
Alberta pays especially well for skilled trades people, such as welders and machinists.
For student machinist Shawn McCulloch the pay rewards are just too
great to turn down. He says Alberta is offering twice what he could
make in the East. "So that's very good at getting me out there."
There's nothing new in Atlantic Canadians heading West looking for jobs. But labour experts say the lure is stronger than ever.
"Now it seems they're offering apartments, offsetting costs for
living," said Robert Sampson of Nova Scotia Community College. For some
it is great opportunity, but there is a downside for the Atlantic
provinces.
Barbara Byers of the Canadian Labour Congress calls it "poaching."
Atlantic Canada is losing qualified, skilled tradespeople. Byers says
it's taxpayers in places like Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and
Newfoundland and Labrador that help subsidize the students' education,
only to find them leaving for the West.
Right now, there are no megaprojects in the Maritimes, but some are
expected soon, including the construction of liquid natural gas plants.
Staffing those projects could be difficult if skilled people are lured
away to Alberta.
"When you lose that level of skilled labour it's very difficult to
bid knowing that you're going to be able to complete a project," said
Rick Clarke of the Nova Scotia Federation of Labour.
Some say the solution is to train more people. Others suggest that
instead of sending workers West send some of the work, like pipeline
fabrication, to the East.
Bold in third last paragraph is mine. I know a lot of us
transplanted east coasters would move home in a heartbeat if the wages
were anywhere near what we can make out here. Get some decent
wages happening at home and they'd have no trouble filling the
positions. I don't know how reasonable it would be to expect
anything at home to compete with Alberta wages though.
As a bit of an update - lost 6 lb the first week, nothing the
second. =P The carb cravings are getting easier, motivation
to work out isn't.
Still no change in the shifts at work. That's going to be resolved soon though, one way or another.
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| So, haven't had a lot of time to post lately. Not sure why, just been doing other stuff I guess.
Started a low carb thing over the weekend. We'll see how that
goes. Less than 20 carbs per day for the first couple of weeks,
then 40-60 after that. Man, it's *hard* to give up carbs. I'm so
used to having bread, pasta, rice, or potatoes with every meal.
Started working out at home too, alternating between pilates and budokon.
The pilates is kinda slow and even a little boring, but it's relaxing
anyways. and I do sleep well afterwards. Not sure if working out
in the evening is the best time, but it's the only time I get a chance
to do it. The budokon dvd is actually pretty fun. It's
about half yoga, half martial arts. Easy enough for a beginner
(me), but interesting enough that I think it will take a while before I
get bored with it. Hopefully middle of next month we'll be able
to pick up some exercise equipment for home. J's not keen on the
low carb thing. We'll see how it goes - maybe he'll jump on board
if I do well with it. If not, *shrug*, I'm not going to force it
down his throat.
So... Started a multivitamin too, but got one without iron as
I've been eating more meat than usual. After reading the symptoms
of iron deficiency, however, I think I'll pick up some iron supplements
today. Started drinking much more water than I usually do too.
We'll see how it goes. I've been asked to be in my little
brother's wedding this summer, so I now have even more
motivation. I wanted to get in shape before vacation at home this
summer anyway.
So... Sunday I had eggs, spinach and cheese for breakfast.
Tuna salad sandwich (without the bread, lol) and a salad with low-carb
dressing for lunch. Chicken and veggie stirfry for supper.
Yesterday, spinach and eggs for breakfast again. Chicken caesar
salad for lunch (we went out and it's the only thing I could see on the
menu that wasn't loaded with carbs). Didn't eat the garlic toast
that came with it though. Grilled chicken and veggies for supper last
night. Oh yeah, and yesterday morning I had a small piece of
fruitcake. My mom made it and sent it out in the mail - couldn't
resist.
I miss not being able to have a bowl of cereal for breakfast, but I
think I'll get used to it. The eggs and spinach are
awesome. I could eat them for breakfast every day. Can't
give up the coffee (need a couple of cups a day), but I've given up
things like orange juice, and I never did drink much pop (soda for you
Americans, lol) or other sugary drinks like that to begin with.
I've had a dull headache the past couple of days, hopefully that will
go away as my body adjusts.
So... Hopefully I'm going about this sensibly and things will go
well. Time will tell. I'll not weigh myself again until
this weekend. We have no scale at home yet, so I'll have to do it
at work. That's good though - better than checking twice a
day. =)
Ok... Off to kindergarten.
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| Yuck, felt like crap today. Not even sure why. Just all
around not-so-hot. Hopefully it's not the start of a flu or
something. How much would that suck?
Took down the Christmas tree this afternoon. The living room looks so big and bare without it. Oh well, it is nice to have a good view out the big window again, without the tree taking up the middle of it.
Pic of a tree beside our driveway.
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