Here we are halfway through July already and we have been enjoying some extremely July type weather the last few days. Actually the term "enjoy" might be a slight exaggeration as this weather does play havoc when you are tring to work, especially in a non air conditioned environment. Temperatures have been in the mid to upper 30's for most of last week and it has been quite a sweat-fest at work. Even in the shade of a house it gets pretty warm and the only refuge I can get is when I have to do some work in a basement. Nonetheless it is nice to finally have some summer weather here. Who knows how long it will last.

Sandi treated herself to a new laptop computer last week in preparation for her trip overseas. She bought a HP Pavilion and it is quite slick, even though it is running Vista. She is getting used to giving it permission to do everything she has requested it to do. I have been helping her get some programs loaded and some removed and just generally set up to where she likes it. It has a built in webcam and once she buys herself a headset we will try and get Skype running so that we can talk to her and see her in Japan for nothing. She just has a couple of weeks to go before she leaves and she is frantically running around trying to take care of all the loose ends of her affairs before she departs. She is having a big going away party here next weekend and has invited all her friends to say goodbye as she won't be seeing them for about a year.

Some big news for me this week: I handed in my resignation and gave two weeks notice to Connect. I have managed to land a position working for Aramark Beverages as a service technician. It will involve going around to various offices in the city to repair, maintain and install coffee and food service equipment. I was finding that the billable hours way of payment at Connect was not working out for me and that my paycheck was never enough to cover our expenses so I started looking around again. I found this job online and was able to secure an interview and they practically hired me on the spot. So, now I start there on July 25. It's a fixed monthly salary with possible overtime and there is a benefit package, something we lacked at Connect. The money is still not quite up to where I would like it to be but I think it is at least a step in the right direction. It's a vast improvement in many senses. I won't have to be pulling wire in the dead cold of winter, most offices are heated and air conditioned. And it won't be quite so physically taxing. There's a bit of lifting involved but nothing really strenuous. So, I am looking forward to this change. Unfortunately I won't be getting any holidays this year except for one day between jobs and I am taking the Friday off that Sandi has to be in Calgary for her orientation. Dianne has a couple of weeks off around that time so she will have to find something to do with herself without me.

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