Coulda Woulda Shoulda

Something of interest :) . I've not been inspired as of late and decided there really was no point in rambling on about what I had for breakfast or how I'm in desperate need of a tire guard for my bike so that I can stop having to wash my muddy jacket after every time I go for a bike ride. Wow. See? I guess I just DID tell you about that. And perhaps that's another reason to step slowly. away. from. the. machine. But I'll leave you with this first.Cause it's catchy. And awesome. And inspiring. Just what I need:

It always brings me great pleasure when an injustice is brought to justice. And working in the serving industry to fund my university (well, okay, it funded all the FUN parts of university because my parents contributed to all the schooling) I can appreciate what an exhausting job it can be. So this story makes me believe in just desserts and what I like to call ' travel karma ' or in this case ' dining karma '. Don't Let Friends Dine and Dash - But if They Do, Be Sure to Rat Them Out on Facebook The best part of this story was what the dashers employer did. Now that is what I call industry loyalty and a little bit o' work karma.

I always like to give a shout out to ideas that I find are very inventive, even if the presenters of the said idea are actually trying to sell me something. I actually don't mind that - I'm a bit of an ad junkie in a way and have been known to purchase a product just simply because I liked the creativity of the ad. It's not really enough any more to just have a product that does stuff or makes my life easier. What I really want to see is HOW CREATIVE you can get to get you hands on my dough before your competitors come along and do so. And so, when I stumbled upon the new Dell campaign, I had to express how impressed I was with this ingenuity: Good News Day Pay attention to the scrolling bar. The attention to detail (and the tongue and cheek way of doing so) made me giggle.

For as long as I can remember, I have not been very good at math. This tends to make sense as words are more my friend. My family and friends often refer to math-gone-wrong as 'A Math'. There was a recent conversation at the cottage that turned everyone into laughing hyenas as I said something to the effect that "5+5 is like 11", not EXACTLY 11, but just LIKE it. You get the picture. And so in honour of A Math, I had to add this video. credit where credit is due as I'm not sure where this came from, just know that I feel just that bit more vindicated.

Ever the planner with lists, I found this idea on Rocketwife's blog. 101 in 1001 When I was about 25, I made a list of things I wanted to do before I was 30. You know, those stupid things your arrogant 20ish self does to your aging 30ish self, not realising that the landscape will have changed in those short 5 years and that includes priorities, goals and well things that will make you happy. I haven't seen that list since we've got home. I remember a few things that are there I've done, a few things that are there I haven't and the others? Well, I cringe to think at how my smug 20ish self actually thought THAT MUCH could be achieved in 5 years. When I dig it out, I'll share it here. Until then, I'll have to get cracking on my new list. Perhaps I can put a bit more effort into it than my 365 Project? The road to hell...

D and I managed to catch the first two episodes of the latest Canadian reality TV show, How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? CBC is running this one and I believe it must have just finished in the UK because when I tried to search for the video from last nights show so that YOU TOO could piss your pants laughing, I only came up with the Brit version. I kinda don't want to ruin the surprise. And maybe not finding a video was the universe's way of telling me NOT TO. So, I'm just going to kindly ask, that if you do anything over the Canada Day long weekend, please stop just before 9pm on Monday and watch how the Marias are kicked off the show. Trust me, it'll be so worth it. Especially if you've been partaking some festive beverages during the day.

My email for some reason is letting me read, delete, and even draft messages but it will not let me send. My latest addiction Facebook seems to be undergoing 'technical upgrades' which if I remember correctly from my web days basically means WE'RE F**KED AND CAN'T FIGURE OUT THE PROBLEM considering it would be 'prime facebooking time' in North America and I can't imagine a 'scheduled update' would actually go on during peak hours. Hmmm. The girl with the gift of the gab has been silenced. Okay, which one of you jokers out there has had your wish come true?

Although I've always got a lot of words bouncing around in my head, I can't always say that they make that much sense. So, in an effort to compile some information that might be a bit less scrambled, here is a snapshot (ha ha, i'm TOO funny) I've what we've been up to over the past couple of weeks. First, there was my birthday which included tacos some wishes a pinyata and many many MANY songs sung by me and others, when I finaly gave the mic away. And then there was my ACTUAL birthday, which I shared with Buddha, and also meant, I got the day off. Happy Birthday to us, big guy. Then, there was a trip to Pohang to see some cute kids at an orphanage my friend K used to work at which included some playing some measuring - of the length of noses that is.. and some hugs and then an ice hockey game.. in which two foreigner friends were playing! It included a bit of drama, when a player stormed off the ice, because he lost his glove. More likely, it was because the G-town...

Every year, I get a LITTLE BIT EXCITED about my birthday. I'm not quite sure why. Maybe it's because I don't yet have kids of my own's birthdays to get excited about. Maybe it's because I'm like Peter Pan, will never grow up and am eternally a 5-year-old. As today is a national holiday in Korea, I was lucky enough to not have to go into work. This means I continue my 8 year "no going to work on my birthday" streak that started after I graduated from university. As they say in Korea, "Assah!" (Otherwise known as YEEEESSSSSSS!) Although I am celebrating today by doing whatever I want, last night was the big mexican food party at my house. Followed by some singing in the singing room. FOR 6 HOURS. I went to bed as the sun came up, begged the drink fairy to let me awake without a killer headache and a sore tummy and had a fantastic time. The best part about birthdays is that it's a great excuse to get everyone out. Because, you can always ma...

The weeks seem to go by faster then I'm expecting them. Monday - well EVERYONE gets a case of the Mondays sometimes - and certainly that is the day I am most happy to be finished. Tuesday - I'm finished early, well, earlier than on Monday Wednesday and Friday so it feels a bit like a holiday anyway. Wednesday - It's HUMP day! Who doesn't like HUMP day? And who doesn't feel a great relief after lunch on HUMP day knowing that you're closer to the weekend than you were in the morning? Thursday - again, early finish, plus the next day is Friday so all you tend to think about on Thursday is how happy you are that the next day is Friday. Friday - and then there it is. TGIF. The weekend is dropping it's landing gear and looking for the runway. And by mid afternoon, well, the weekend has REALLY already landed. I suppose what's not GREAT about this theory is that I am truly wishing my life away - you know, one of those phrases you hear in your head, your mother...

The Documentarist and Back in the Motherland have actually written nice sum ups to my weekend so I'm being lazy and bumping you to them. I have also uploaded more 365 pictures and I'm very pleased to say that I managed to get a pic for each day last week. And I guess I'll leave you with this picture of the view I had for five hours on Sunday. You can see why we didn't make it to the gallery OR the moutain hiking. Thanks for the great weekend....and you all know who you are....

The new bell at our school sound a bit like something right out of an insane asylum. Fitting, I guess since all the teachers continue to 'go crazy' with our new schedule. I did take my own advice and tried the 'quiet voice' in the classrom. PEOPLE - I could not have been more shocked as it worked. IT ACTUALLY WORKED! The little human beings actually lowered their voices to hear me. They had no clue what I was saying, but at least they were having no clue..QUIETLY. The week has progressed to Friday, which I can say I am truly happy about. 'Planning A' has come out again and my weekend is meant to be filled with shopping (G-town-style), culture (art-gallery-sytle) and some hiking (Korean-style). D is off to be a boy and watch the Korea-Uraguay soccer/football match in Seoul and I will be celebrating another waegook's birthday with a curry in Busan. I have managed to find some time this week to read a few of my favorite bloggers and came across this post by t...

Our new kindergarten schedule this week has put me, boringly, on no other topic that I'M SO F-ING BUSY AT WORK. When I worked in Belfast, I felt like that was all I ever said. "I'm so busy." "Things are so crazy." "I'm at a lost for words". I can't quite honestly think of anything more boring to write about and more importantly more boring to READ about (although I'm guessing the weather is probably up there...) So, if you're wondering why I've been absent it is precisely because I'm am saving you, readers, from the monotony of, "Wow, I'm not sure how I will EVER survive." One of my biggest pet peeves, besides ignorance, arrogance and that slurping noise your mouth makes when you chew with it open, is when people tell you all about how busy they are. Yes yes, everyone gets busy. But not many people are busy enough to actually discuss it at length. President of a country at war? Yes. Head of the United Nations? ...

My easy going weekend turned out to be much more 'going' than 'easy' and slowly, life is beginning to feel here like well life. A few things I did that made it feel well normal: I was able to buy shirts that I knew would fit me. Mostly because they were from the Gap and American Eagle and Old Navy BUT they were second hand and clearly from other foreigners so they didn't cost the full price. Now I actually haven something to wear to work that doesn't cling quite so tightly.. I was able to have gin and tonics in bar amongst other foriegners that I didn't necessarily have to talk to but just knowing there were other people around that WERE KINDA LIKE ME made it all the less isolating. Gimhae is a good small place to live, you don't feel overwhelmed. But I must remind myself that getting to Busan every once in awhile will allow me to partake in more comforts from home. It was probably just what a needed to keep my spirits up after being home last week. I a...

Is there anyone in Korea who knows how to flush a toilet? ** After much preparation, we're all set for what our Korean manager is calling 'Memory Pen' days - a Thursday Friday extravaganza - which, after it was finally translated from the calendar for me, essentially means get the kids to highlight important parts from the book over the past month. Sorted ** If we teach at an English school, why are all the notes on the large board calendar in Korean? ** My legs should be hurting more. I went to the gym on Tuesday and they are just..not..aching..ENOUGH!...although, my foot, perhaps is doing all the aching for them ** How many flashcards CAN I find, download and print? And how long can I allow them to sit on my desk, waiting for me to laminate (YES YES I GET TO LAMINATE!! SEE THIS TEACHER THING DOES HAVE PERKS!!) until eventually, I just start using them as scrap paper ** oh my god oh my god oh my god this time next week I'll be home!! ** oh my god oh my god oh my god ho...

After a great weekend of mild socialising, a great movie and a Korean wedding I feel fantastically refreshed. Now, if I could only get this new blogger to allow me to post pictures!! I think it partly has to do with the computer I'm on at work but it is only giving me a blank box with no editing functionality. So, the cute picture I was going to post today will now have to wait another day! The Korean wedding - mostly like a western wedding except that all of the guests have their picture taken with the bride and groom and immediately after the ceremony, people just eat. There's no waiting for the bride and groom - they didn't even EAT in the room we were in. There's no speeches or fond farwells or boo hoos. There's just eating. A LOT. This wedding had EVERY SINGLE KIND OF KOREAN FOOD available for you at the buffet. And of course hobalong couldn't really browse properly - although I must admit I did try and put a little too much weight on my foot I'm sure (...