Wednesday, February 29, 2012

My 2011 in retrospect


Well, I haven't blogged on here in a while, but I thought it was time to do a recap of my 2011. Better late than never they say.

2011 was uneventful as it usually was. In January, like every year, my parents went on their annual vacation. My grandpa died during their first week of the vacation. Since there were no flights back to Canada until a week later, they stayed in Mexico until the vacation was over. The good thing though that lots of my dad's siblings were with him in Mexico that week, so at least family got to be together. It seems like the entire family doesn't really all get together much anymore, unless if there's a death or a wedding really.

In February my girlfriend broke up with me. It was all my fault, we had our worst fight yet, especially after having several months of no fights.. but as they say, calm before the storm. She is better off with someone else anyways. I didn't want her to be dating a loser with no job and no future. She was my best friend too, so it was hard no longer having her in my life even as a friend.

The spring had some serious flooding at the farm, in the 20 some years the farm has been there, I've seen some flooding, but nothing that extreme. My dad wasn't able to do anything for the entire summer due to it.

I had a job interview every week during the summer. However, I am still unemployed. My anxiety got worse, and I shake during interviews because I'm too nervous. I got help from local job agencies, but that never seemed to work.

During one interview, they told me I didn't appear to be physically fit to do the job. The job being a desk job. THAT pissed me off beyond belief. That said, that also pushed me to make major changes in my life. I cut down on beer, and pushed myself to exercise. I started to exercise on and off starting in June, but when the Winnipeg Jets started playing their exhibition game, that's when I started to really exercise. Every Winnipeg Jets game, I would exercise for 45 min to an hour while watching the game. Now it's end of February 2012, and I lost FOURTY pounds since September 2011.

Look, I still feel depressed. It's harder in a place like Brandon where decent employment for a university grad is scarce. I still wish I was dead like I always have, since I was 5-6 years old.. but I do feel better about myself. I used to get stress related chest pains whenever I would think about employment or anything of the like. Now? It's gone. My physical health is much better.

What am I hoping for 2012? I need to start working. I graduated with a BA in June 2009 and I haven't had a paid job since. I volunteered more than enough, went to dozens of job interviews and still feel like I'm not good enough for a job, even when I'm actually confident in an interview.

I work hard, I am stubborn but I get my work done, I like to keep busy, so sitting in a basement in a crappy apartment just makes me even more depressed. I'm sick of being infront of a computer 18 hours a day looking for a job. I wish I COULD afford to move to Ottawa or Quebec and work fulltime, hell even 50 hour a week is better than sitting infront of my computer wishing I had something to do.

I have a roommate who just won't leave me alone, he's a nice guy, but I'm a bit of a loner now days. He always talks to himself, and walks in my room without asking if I don't respond to him. My temper's getting bad and I feel about it, but I need my own space. I'm sick of having to clean up other peoples messes, the smell of burnt baking pan covered in grease and dried crap (never being clean), sick of being the only person who ever takes out the trash, etc. I can't wait to finally find employment and move on with my life, like eff... I'm nearly 27.

Thursday, November 03, 2011

A time for change

I don't blog on here much anymore but why not? So here I am.
2011 has been one of the most stressful, most back aching, most tiring, most depressing and most head-bashing years of my life.

Look, I've never been a happy person, nor will I ever be a happy person, but this year takes the cake for "worst year ever", first of all, grandpa dies right when the majority of my family was on vacation in México, me and my girlfriend breakup, a ginormous flood hit my parents' farm and caused my dad to not be able to do his livelihood for an entire year (or possibly more), and to top it all off.. I'm still unemployed.

I have a BA in Political Science, I've had numerous job interviews this year (thankfully), but even with all that, I can't get a job. I have a few reasons why:

  1. I get too damned nervous in an interview. Mentally, I'm fine, but physically, I shake and my voice trembles. The reason behind this is because there's a part of my body that knows I won't get the job, so it sends a message to my body to "do its best" in the interview, causing me to shake, and seem non-confident. This hurts my chances at the interview, even if I'm qualified.
  2. Employers don't take my application seriously. They're not going to hire a kid from Brandon, Manitoba for an entry level job in Montréal.
  3. Employer DOES take it seriously and asks me to come to Montréal for an interview in two days time. I can't do that as I have no money in the bank as it is to GET to Montréal. If I didn't get the job, then I'm out $500+.
  4. There's no jobs in Political Science. One of my best friends does policy for a government and he's worried that he will be out of a job soon.
Then there's the whole living in Brandon issue. People here suck. This isn't a friendly place, the people here aren't welcoming and it's impossible to make friends at all. That being said, I do have a few kickass friends here, but I need to get out of Brandon. But it takes lots of resources to move from a dirt cheap apartment to a city with an apartment that may cost a lot more in rent.

I'm not a confident individual, it has to do with being told my entire life by almost everyone around me that I'm not going to achieve anything. Heck, my own mother doubted that a political science degree would amount to any jobs.. she was right. That doesn't stop me though. In the meantime, I still try to apply for jobs at Walmart and Superstore, with little to no success. With the lack of confidence, when I'm around people, I get a vibe that people are creeped out by me, weirded out by me or just that they don't want me around. As someone with low self confidence and usually being absolute oblivious to everything around me in my environment, I can somehow pick off vibes from others.. and usually.. the vibes are 100% correct. Fake smile and raising eye brows while shaking their head? Of course.

So, what have I tried doing? Well, I've kept doing the job search. Sometimes it's successful enough to get an interview or two, other times - nothing. 

Also, I exercise EVERY day. I don't exercise as much as most people or do as intense exercises, but for someone who never really cared for exercising, I need a change. I've lost twenty pounds since July and looking to lose enough weight in time for March. If I'm still unemployed in March, I'm considering joining the Army. I'm sick of sitting around, getting older with a BA, unhired. So, why not join the Army? 

My main goal is to get fit, look at least somewhat presentable, and get a job in the Army, or else move to Montreal or Ottawa early next year. I want to experience life, make new friends, try new beers, meet a nice Francophone girl and be able to afford to finally save money for my future. I've worked too hard to still be absolutely nowheres in my life. 

Friday, September 23, 2011

Review: Innis & Gunn Canadian Whisky Cask (2009)

I will be the first to admit that I am a beer hoarder. While my friends believe that you should drink beer you buy ASAP, I believe sometimes I have to just save it for a special occasion. Well there was no occasion this time, I just wanted to drink it.

For the past few years, Innis & Gunn has made a special edition Canadian whisky cask beer in honour of Canada Day. I haven't tried it, but finally will. This is the 2009 release, and I believe may be the first release. The seal states that this beer is best to drink before December 2010, so hopefully it's still good.

Appearance Very nice copper-amber colour that just looks absolutely tasty to drink. Eggshell off-white head, just slightly carbonated.

Aroma: I smell whisky! It reminds me of Crown Royal a bit. Nice hint of caramel as well.

Taste: Like butterscotch, a bit creamy on the tongue, I can actually taste a bit of whisky's sweetness as well. Very much a sweet sweet beer. Good to savour if you have a sweet tooth, when it comes to beers. Then again, most of Innis & Gunn's beers are very very sweet tasting.

Value: $4.50 Canadian (in 2009). It is a decent value with it being a bit pricey. I will have to look to see if the 2011 edition is still in the local liquor stores. ABV of 7.1%, which is a bit surprising as I expected it to be closer to 5.5%. Very smooth. I would recommend this to those looking for a nice beer after supper. I would get someone, like my father, who is a rye whisky fan to try this, but he wouldn't like it.

www.flickr.com/photos/codyrl/6176152515/

Tuesday, June 07, 2011

I just don't know

It's been two years since I graduated university. Two years ago, I was confident, I was giddy, I was happy somewhat and I had great friends supporting me. Now - I'm exactly where I was then. This time I'm pessimistic, grouchy and depressed, and all my friends have moved away. Every day I think to myself "oh, things will get better soon, they just have to." But, that's just not happening. It's been nearly 3 years since I had a real job, a good job. Two years since graduation and I can't even see myself employed in the next 6 months.

What have I learned from all this. In university, keep a level head. When people go wow, you're going to be successful because you're taking a double major! Just stay calm and carry on, don't agree with them. My biggest regret? Majoring in politics. That was a huuuuuge mistake. I was told that there'd be several jobs out there for me, and with my French background, that would help. I've learned that there's very few bilingual political science jobs out there. The ones I do apply, apparently I don't quality for them as I am not qualified enough. I point out exactly how I qualify, and that's not good enough. Nothing's good enough.

In a perfect world, I would be living in Downtown Montréal right now, with a full time job making $50,000/year. What industry? I don't know. I lost interest in politics as I've been pushed around way too much in the industry that it's just not worth it anymore. Frankly, I'm not going to kiss anyone's ass, and I'm an incredibly friendly person. The beer industry would be something great, but I just don't have experience and I don't know where to look.

Some say to me "Well, just move out there and get a job when you get there." The problem with that though is that I don't want to be in the situation I am now, but in a different city, paying much more in rent and other stuff. At least here I'm close to family, able to live off minimal money.

My French is not perfect, may never be perfect. I remember overhearing people in a different department at my job in Quebec City criticizing my French behind my back, thinking I wouldn't understand them. It's things like that that depress me further. It brings me into this slump that I am in now. How am I trying to get out of this slump? Well I've had meetings with an employment councillor to see what I need to improve on, I've been exercising daily - although nothing's changed, tried to be positive, changed my diet as much as I can, and go out more. It's hard to do some of that when you have no money.

Some say "take a random job, just for now." That's kind of hard when you don't hear back from anyone, including restaurants. I AM a hard worker, I'm good at my job, I'm confident that I get the job done. I'm more stubborn than most, but give me a deadline and I'll get it done, quickly, efficiently and correctly.

Where do I see myself in 6 months? Exact same spot as am right now. Where do I hope to be in 6 months? Montreal, Quebec City, Ottawa or even Toronto... Winnipeg if there was something great.

I truly believe I'll find an amazing job, but I just got to keep trying - which is exactly what I've been doing. Some of my weaknesses are that I nearly pass out during an interview because I get overstressed because my mind thinks I won't get the job, which is true in the end, I'm stubborn - but I work hard at what I do, and I'm bad with communicating with people - but that's something that I can't change, training and medication can't improve that, it's sort of a disability per sé.

I just hope for the best and try my hardest, just as I've done for two years. One thing I've stopped doing - applying for civil service jobs. They're laying off thousands of people soon, and those job opportunities are the biggest letdowns ever.

Friday, May 27, 2011

Nikon Coolpix S3100 quick review


Nikon Coolpix S3100 camera, originally uploaded by Cody La Bière.




I just bought a Nikon Coolpix S3100, as I need a digital camera for times when I don't want to lug around my Canon DSLR, I found this camera on Futureshop's website on sale for pretty cheap so decided to buy it.

What do I think? Compared to my old Canon SD1000 digital camera, it is even thinner than that. The Nikon S3100 has a very cheap plasticy feel to it, although I read reviews that it's aluminum body - certainly plastic. It's pretty slow to start up, slow for taking photos. It's generally slow, my old SD1000 was better than this camera. The SD1000 was generally just much better as it had a nice metal frame, the options were simple to amateurs and beginners, while for the Nikon, it takes alot just to change ISO, you actually have to go into the settings and change ISO for each setting - pretty annoying.

For macro, it has alot of trouble trying to focus (and locking) onto the photo, but fiddling around for a few minutes eventually fixes that. I tried taking a photo of the iPhone screen and it had trouble focusing until I changed to a different "Macro Scene", then it was clear. The photos are a bit too soft, as I've read in reviews, but for what I need it for - possibly taking outdoors photos when I'm in a rush, it will do the job.

For some shots, I feel that my iPhone may actually take better photos than this camera, but I guess we'll wait and see over time.

I rate this a 2/5.

What do I like about it? Compact feel, was only $130, lots of "Scenes" for different things (ie macro, outdoors, pets, etc),

What do I hate about it? Too plasticy of a feel, LCD screen is incredibly fragile, it has problems focusing in on photos, you need to play around with menues alot for what you need. I guess you get what you pay for!





Update: On June 2 I returned the camera, I just couldn't deal with the slowness of the device. Futureshop was very friendly and welcoming, letting me to return the device with zero hassle, I was quite pleased! My mom bought a camera instead, a $220 Sony camera, so I'll get my old SD1000 back. The last picture is the best photo I took of the bunch, and that's not saying much.