Coincidence of the Day:

This actually happened over a week ago, but I just remembered it on the bus ride to work today.

You know the Heart and Crown pub in Ottawa? (It's okay if you don't, you just need to know that it is a bar in the Market in Ottawa.) Well, one of the bartender's at Filthy McNasty's has a brother. And that brother once worked in the Heart and Crown and the McNastys bartender had been there. Isn't that crazy?! Yes, it is, considering the bar is an ocean and a third of a country away.

I am tired.

Tomorrow is Canada Day. The red and white will be out in full force.

Just thought of something: last night the drunkest people in one of the bars we were at were the bartenders. One even had to go HOME. Crazy Scotland. In Canada are the bartenders not responsible for cutting people off? I guess I shouldn't complain, because drunk bartenders give cute Canadians (eh, Shan?) free liquor.

But still, you can't help but wonder... Didn't the chicks in the apprentice get into shit when they drank while running the Planet Hollywood?

Dearest Candace:

As per our phone conversation yesterday, I am updating you on the status of my plan. Despite an error of extreme potential disastor (hence panicked phone call), the plan was completed and I have declared myself a winner.

Love Jen.

End secret girl code.

Dear parents:

I will call you soon.

Love Jen.

Yay! I got my pics uploaded!!!

Webshots, I hate you.

Yahoo, I heart you.

Link: http://photos.yahoo.ca/formingapaste

Let me know if you have trouble accessing them...

Hee hee... went to bed at 2:00 last night and was up at 7:00. Out the door wandering the city by 9:15. I LOVE early Sat mornings like this... Just wandering around before the city gets busy. Fabulously awesome...

Heart you Edinburgh!

End post. I need to use the toilet.

Hey all...

Freakishly early for work today! So I'm uploading some more pics. I gave up on webshots and am now resorting to Yahoo. A link will go up when I finish.

So lets discuss the art of being a nerd. Today on the bus I was thinking about my shoes. Mainly, that they are getting worn down from walking about so much. Then, I started thinking about physics. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, right? Right! (Sigh, I miss grade twelve physics - I actually really liked it. Mostly because it was easy. Allow me to brag about my 98% in that class for a moment.


Okay, done.)

Anyway, that is either Newton's first or third law of physics, can't remember which one. So, think about all the people walking about in, for example, the streets of Edinburgh. Their shoes get worn down. Technically the pavement or side walks should be worn down just as much as our shoes. But I can't imagine that being the case, as the rubbers of our shoes aren't as dense as the concrete/cemment. So, I doubt the reaction is exactly opposite. So, when does the rest of the force exerted by our shoes go? Or, rather, I assume the force of the cemment against our feet is greater than the force we put on it... So... I have no idea where I'm going with this. Maybe the excess force goes into our legs...? I should really just ask someone, given that I'm sure this consturction firm I work for is milling about with engineers and physics folk.

I was thinking about something else almost equally as nerdy but I can't remember what... I think I slightly missed science courses in university. I always could have taken some as electives, but filled my elective-schedule with economics and spanish courses (hola!) instead. (Me llama Jennifer... Tengo veinte y uno anos... Mes cabellos son moranos... Mi espanol no esta muy bueno... Debo que trabajar ahora... Son las nueves... Adios!)

Remember when I used to be able to speak french too? Souvenez l'ecole secondaire dans laquelle je parlais francias?

Anyway, I need to get to work now and think about more physics related stuff. I remember at the end of first year when I thought about switching to engineering but decided to stick in business for one more year... Oh! Totally remembered what else I was thinking about on the bus: probability trees. Because I was wondering about what bus to take, when it comes, etc. I'll explain in more detail later, cause I know you are all dieing to re-live grade eleven advanded math 511 (Oh, Mr. Coady), Uni math 111 and Management Science I (Bus 251, oh Brimberg, how you did not enlighten me).

BTW, they do probability now in grade nine. Seriously.

Snore.

Just a quick note:

I got my pics burned to a CD yesterday so I'm gonna upload 'em this evening or tomorrow evening. Woo!

I want a deep-fried Mars bar.

Meh, bored.

I am uploading files on to a server. It takes a few seconds for them to upload... so why not blog while I wait? Or I could try to find a flat for us. Lets discuss priorities: blogging vs roof over our heads.

A flat would make some people happy, mainly us three girls and the person who receives the income from the lease.

A blog would make lots of people happy: me and all those who read it.

To those who think London is expensive: I got a sweater there for £3. I have officially prooved all of you wrong.

Remember grad week? That was fun.

Sometimes working in Scotland reminds me of working in Gatineau. I could understand people there as long as they didn't speak french too quickly. Here, I can also understand people... as long as they don't speak too quickly. If they catch me off guard and spout something in rapid-fire english out at me I either say, "Sorry?", sort of smile and nod, or look puzzled, laugh and say "What?!?!".

Anyway, I'm off to a different desk now.

Gaaaaaaaaaaaah.

Hey, at least the upload/sit/wait/upload/sit/wait portion of my day is taking a break until I type something up for someone.

I wish I had a pony.

My lack of sleep is starting to catch up with me... Aren't people supposed to get eight hours of sleep a night? Well, looking back, the last night I probably got that much sleep was likely at least two weeks ago. My new moto: Sleep later. I wonder how long I can go on little sleep? And it's not like I'm missing out on that much sleep... I went to sleep last night at, like 11:45 or something. And I slept until seven! Despite the fact that sleep was absolutely minimal on Sunday night, who wants to spend a nice Monday evening sleeping when the sun is actually shining?

So lets talk about buses.

Bus to London on Friday night was brutal. I was not prepared at ALL for how cold the bus would be. I fell asleep for a little bit at one point and woke up shivering. I kept the hood on my sweater up pretty much the whole time. Thank god I actually wore sneakers instead of the usual sandals. Ever try to sleep on an over-packed, freezing-cold bus? It's not easy. The bus was pretty much full. Oh, and someone asked a worker to turn the heat on, and the worker gave the passanger a hard time.

I thought I was prepared when it came time to take the bus home on Sunday night... Basically, I decided to wear lots of layers. Which was hard, because I brought hardly any clothing with me. So I wear, shorts, pants, a tank top, a sweater and another sweater. And this driver chose to blast the heat something fierce. Seriously, I could have worn my bathing suit and would have been perfectly happy. Well, the seats probably would have been itchy, but regardless, that is not the point.

I have decided there is not happy medium in buses. Similarly, Shannon has decided there is no happy medium in boys. Oh, simile! Boys are like buses: either too hot or too cold. I can't believe I just used something I learned in junior high language arts... I guess the whole university degree was a waste of time if I'm drawing knowledge from the puberty point of my life.

And in our last bus story for today: today I had to wait awhile for the bus and three guys in a van stared at me. Maybe it's the big hooker hair that I have managed to somewhat calm since getting to work. Or, maybe some people like girls in sweaters that are too big and skirts past the knee. Or it could be the whore boots. Oh my lovely boots, how I heart thee.

In good news, I bought an Elvis t-shirt in London for £5. It's kind of small (the only shirt in the world my boobs are too big for?) but I heart it regardless. I mean, usually an Elvis t-shirt would be around £15.

Anyway, I can type fast. People here tell me that. Jen = nerd. (They don't tell me that, but I know myself well enough to call me that.)

Example of fast typing: this took me about five minutes to type.

All together now: Jen = nerd. Nerd with big hair and big boots and "a big heart". Hee hee... That will be the movie tag line when Heidi makes a film about my life after I take part in a large corporate scandal that threatens to ruin my small-town girl reputation.

La fin.

Hey hey,

Quick note before I leave work: LONDON IS BLOODY FABULOUS.

Although some of you may not realise that, seeing as not everyone has been there.

Lets make a list of Islanders who spent the weekend in London:

Jennifer MacPhail
Keri Shields
Shannon Curtis
Hannah Jones
Janielle Furness
Jill Blanchard.

I am mean.

But seriously, weekend was fantastic, I am soooo tired, but it was all definately worth it. Will post later with more details.

Woo!

Sleepy Jen

This is a note for Heidi: You emailed me awhile ago and mentioned some store in London that was cool... But I can't get into my hotmail so I don't know what store! So if you read this on Friday can you email me at lynn.birrell@bbcl.co.uk and say what store and where it is???

Mwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwa.

PS: More free beer for me last night. Life = good.

Hey all,

I am early for work today! Actually, I usually am. One of the "joys" about taking the bus.. Just because you leave on time doesn't mean you will make it to work on time. I left about hte same time as yesterday but got here about ten minutes early. Public transportation is "special" like that.

So guess who is going to London this weekend? KERI.

Oh, but guess who is going with her?

ME.

This is where you all feel jealous. Oh, I can feel your jealousy all right.

In news-you-don't-care-to-know, apparently the people on Big Brother were wrecking their house last night and the live feed had to be cut. By the way, Big Brother can also be substituted as soft-core porn, by North American standards of what is shown on TV at home.

Anyway, I should have some pics to post some time in the next week, I think I'm getting them burned to a CD today so that I'll have lots of room to take pics during my weekend adventure. Wait... what on earth would I take pictures of this weekend?

Maybe...
Buckingham Palace...
London Bridge...
Prince William and Prince Harry (you know I will see them. Kind of like everyone who goes to Canada sees Adrianne Clarkson.)
and so much more.

Anyway, it's time to get to work. Oooh, yesterday there was a fire here at some telephone building and all the phones in Musselburgh (pronounced Musselburrrrrrrrrrrrrrraaaaa) were out. That meant no faxes, emails, internet or phone calls yesterday. It was weird. And quiet.

Bye!

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeee

I am bored.

I have finished my typing. I have finished the filing. I have cleaned my desk. I'm supposed to be uploading files on to a server thing, but it's not working. I have finished the mail. (Except the stuff that can't be done until the end.)

Hey all!

Here is a real post. I wrote the last one in the last five minutes of work and now I'm at the library down the road from work.

Weekend:

Friday consisted of, obviously, working. Highlights: Getting a drive home! Bonus: Driver was hot. Friday night had a run which revealed a very special surprise: a grocery mere minutes away from our flat! The fact that none of us ever noticed it before is pathetically sad. Then, Keri and I went pubcrawling and were joined by Shannon later on. Relatively early night, we were prob home by one.

On Saturday I woke up confused at 6:45. I had set my alarm for 8:00 since we were heading out of town for the day. I thought my clock said 7:45. ANyway. I got up anyway, only to find the bathroom wasn't free and Shan also was up! It must be because bladders of flatmates eventually become syncronized, it's the only explanation, really.

At 9:00 Keri and I left for Stirling. You may remember Stirling from films such as Braveheart and Braveheart: Director's Cut and the like. Although the movie wasn't filmed there, it is where the events actually took place. Keri and I were eventually joined by Shannon, and three co-op students taht are currently bumming around in Aberdeen. We looked at a castle, climbed a monument, and, most importantly, got our faces painted!! Well, Keri and I did while waiting for the rest of the group since we arrived earlier then them in the morning. I LOVED it. I didn't wash my face until the next morning. It doesn't seem that hard to do... maybe I'll learn... Hmm... entrepreneur?

Two of the students, Sheena and Julie, came back to Edinburgh with us. We thought the best way to introduce them to the city was through pubs. It turns out we were awfully right. We hit a few pubs and are now cool enough to stay in Filthy McNasty's AFTER HOURS. WE OFFICIALLY HAVE CONNECTIONS. Oooooh yeah!! This connections also got me free liquor, but that is the post below. Oh and before I forget, an irish guy mocked me for saying liquor. "Just call it booze!"

Sunday afternoon involved a trip to the mall because we were stupidly early for a comedy show we wanted to go to. So we wasted time. Eventually got to the comedy show, and it was pretty good. All improv, and for free! Fell asleep Sunday afternoon. I blame being up at 8:00 in the morning Sunday morning but not being asleep until 2:00. Anyway, it's all good.

Although the weekend was great, a word of caution to my tail: in the past week and a half I have spent about £90 in cash and maye £20 on my credit cards. That is probably close to $300. In 9 days. But it's all totally worth it! (The face painting ESPECIALLY.) I encourage you all to move away and throw money out the window. Just give me a heads up so I can stand below your window and catch it.

Anyway, I'm oot. I'm heading home to run. Although Shan is a fabulous running partner, it's getting bland. Maybe I'll start playing a sport. Ever hear of hurling? Apparently it's similar to hockey in the general terms, but I think you get to hit people with the sticks and stuff. Apparently it's very rough. Which is why I shouldn't play it. It's also why I should play it!

Oooh, and tomorrow night we are going to watch a magician in a bar. Yaaaaaay!

And sorry for the lack of emails to you all. Again, I can't get into my hotmail account at work (no worries employers, it would be done after hours or during lunch) and the library is often closed by the time I have a chance to go. (Except today because I remembered the Musselburgh library.)

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay Edinburgh!

Recipe for a kickass night:

Football
France
Irish blokes and lassies
Free liquor
"Car bombs" (half-pint of guiness + shot of baileys and then chugged)
all can be found at Filthy McNasty's. When cooking, watch closely for drunkeness.

Here are some nice, clever phrases from one of the blokes that shares "my" office with me. They are spelled phonetically so I can learn to pronouce them.

Guteez (Glasgow/Scottish speak for sneakers)

Kirkaudey (Kirkcaldy!! There is one here north of Edinburgh)

Hail hail witz the matir?

Whit you awe aboot? Or, Whit yie oan a boot?

Nae worreez!

And, something else I was taught, "What's the score?" = How are you

Oh another note, people here are riding bicycles naked tomorrow to protest our dependece on importing oil or something. And to celebrate the human body. Like anyone is going to care what they are protesting about!

Yesterday I learned how to make coffee and tea.

On Tuesday a bisexual female approached me and said she was attracted to me and wondered if I was interested. Flatterd, but, umm, no.

And apparently I look somewhat like Sarah Jessica Parker. My office mate told me so and Keri and Shannon agreed.

Anyway, time to get to work (I was early today).

Hi everyone!

I'm still alive. Surprise!

Sorry for lack of contact with everyone... I checked my hotmail account yesterday for the first tie in almost a week. Had only five minutes of internet time (can't access hotmail from work!) and didn't even have time to read all my emails. Sad. But I'll catch up soon, really!

Anyway, I'm at work. Taking the last two minutes to blurt out a blog. This afternoon I was manning the phones all by myself. Heh. People always know it's me too. I couldn't figure it out at first due to lack of calling ID, but I'm thinking the crazy canuck accent could be the give away...

Well, they don't pay me to type blogs so I'm oot.

Woo!
Jen

Well know, guess who FINALLY got a job yesterday?! MEEEEEEE!!!! I am a... dramatic pause... SECRETARY. This is the stuff of business-degree dreams! Job duties include typing minutes (not taking minutes though, I made sure of that,) and other random documents, answering the phone for my boss (not a switchboard, so hopefully I'll do okay... as long as people speak SLOWLY and CLEARLY. Yup, I want scottish people to speak slowly and clearly. Ha! Ugh...), making tea and coffee and other random stuff. By the way, I have never made coffee or tea in my life. NEVER. Mental note not to poison anyone...

So I'm working for Belfour Beatty. In a nutshell, it's a construction and engineering firm. I think it's in charge of the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary or something, as well as a huge chunk of the London train system, or perhaps the tube... can't remember. I had enver heard of this company prior to yesterday. By the name I thought it might be some kooky cosmetics firm. Yup, I was a little off on that one once I popped the company name into google.

I get £6.20/hour, plus some vacation pay, minus taxes, plus, I believe, a small travel allowance. THe job is for four weeks, so I'm just going to buy a bus pass. It works out to be cheaper, plus it will be useful tomorrow when the time comes to take the bus to the BEER FESTIVAL! £7.00 entry charge includes two beer and a free pint glass. Hmm, something tells me I typed this out before... Ah well.

Saturday night will be spent at Finnigan's Wake hopping and dancing about to the Mockingbirds. We like them because they remind us of the sort of band that plays at Peakes. We also like them because the lead singer is hot. (Personally I thought the drummer was better looking, but my fellow Islanders think he looks young. This is where our 2+ year age difference shines through =P ) Sunday is a bit up in the air... May go to Sterling (place where braveheart takes place) or go to a Motown Tribute type concert thing. Or maybe both! Who knows. But I'm totally up for a visit to Loch Ness sometime. Not this weekend, but someday. Oh, and in two weeks Keri and I are going to London to hook up with Shannon, Hannah, Janielle and Jill. LONDON. Jealous? Oh, I think you are.

Adios ~

Hey hey,

Here I sit at the library unemployed. Yaaaay! Perhaps a blessing in disguise? Doubtfully, but I am pretending to be optimistic.

So, The Day after Tomorrow was quite the cheese fest. Impressive special effects, of course, but a few unnecessary bits of drama that had an eye-rolling response instead of climatic gasps. A lot of unsubtle social commentary.

So after a couple of weeks of aimless wandering, lets make a list.

Things Scotland Could Learn from Canada
- How to recycle. ANYTHING. I have not sorted a single item of garbage since I got here. It's rather sad.
- Stop signs. I haven't seen a single one since I got here.
- Cross walks ("zebra crossings?") that aren't at traffic controlled intersections.
- TV tax. Canada doesn't have it, why should the UK?
- Nachos. Fifteen chips with a bit of cheese and mountains of sour cream is not an order of nachos.

Things Canada Could Learn from Scotland
- Text messaging via mobiles. The cheap and fun alternative to phone calls!
- Garbage/Rubbish day. Picked up twice a week. ALL the garbage, not just parts of it.
- Commercials. Some are too funny... Like the Orange Wednesday ones that play in the cinema!! Although I don't really like commericals before my movie... but anyway...
- Weight. Although obesity is a bit of a problem here, it isn't nearly as obvious as home! Maybe Ch'town needs more hills downtown that people are forced to tackle and can't avoid?
- Kilts.

The end.

Oh yes, there is a beer festival somewhere this weekend... £7 to get in (eek!) but includes two beer and a glass. And much socialing! Maybe. Yaaaaay! It's weird how when you are away you scope out fun things to do, but when you are home you stick to the same routine every weekend. Start reading the newspapers folks, fun random stuff like this probably does happen on PEI, but only the tourists pay attention!

Smooches!
Jen

Hee hee... I just saved Keri because she forgot her keys today. I am the best flatmate EVER.

Well, no job. I am a bit bitter. I called one agency this morning just to let her know that I'm still looking. She called back a couple of hours later and asked if I still wanted to avoid the heavy-duty phone jobs as one had come in. I said yes, as the scottish accent can be very tedious to make out and often leaves me confused. I would like to challenge myself, but not in that manner since I can smell failure and frustration from many kilometres away. Later in the afternoon, I got a call from another job agency. They were going to send my resume to a larger employer and, if chosen, I would be a secretarial exectutive assistant something or other blah blah blah. More importantly, pay would be £7.00/hour. However, a call was returned and the kind lady let me know that they decided to fill the job internally. SIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGH. I know it's just some bad luck, but I feel so unemployable! Both Keri and Shannon are into week two of actual WORKING. I am into week two of actual NOTHING. Muuuuh.

Slacker.

And my fancy attempt to get this site to come up in google didn't work. Maybe it needs a link or something fancy like that.

Jennifer MacPhail.

Tonight we are going to see the Day after Tomorrow. No beer. ;)

Adios`