The Proletariat

    It's been a month since I gave Leema a home.  I was planning on updating this sooner, as I had pics of her since three weeks ago.  But stuff came up as usual.

    The fuzzy little thing has grown like a weed since I got her, and her meow has gone from a high pitched squeak to something a little older sounding, but still kittenish.  She's still small with big eyes and ears too big for her head, but she's not as tiny as she was at 4 weeks old.  Since then she's gotten to know the room, had a few bumps and scrapes, and actually got an eye infection for a time but got better.  I wanted to post some pics but I can't figure out the Insert/Edit image command here.  But pretty much everyone who reads this has me on MSN so just ask me.

    She's also been able to see her sister Bud a few times too.  When Julie drove me to the farm Leema came from, Julie's sister decided to come along and when she saw Leema's sister who was equally cute, she decided to take her home, and named her Budweiser.  Those two kittens are hilarious together.  Basically they just wrestle each other, take a nap together, wrestle some more, nap some more, and clean each other.  It's adorable, you can tell they have a really strong bond.  It's kind of sad when they part.

    Looks like I'll be starting working for Leons soon.  They finally called back.  Now I can finally work some solid hours instead of this 8-16 hour a week joke that Securitas has been giving me since I started.

    I have to get back to cleaning my room.  See ya.


- Kosyghin

Current Mood: tired

    I took the plunge!  I've been saying since I was a kid that I wanted to own a cat, and today I picked up an adorable 4 week-old kitten from a farm whom I named Lima (LEE-mah).  She's a light grey short hair with white on her belly and dark grey stripes.  I've seen that breed of cat before, Julie has one, I just don't know the name of it.  Of course Julie's is about 5 times the size of Lima, which is why he is nicknamed Fatty!

    Being so young I'm trying to teach her the basics; eating solid food from her bowl, using the litter box.  I've gotten her to eat at least 20 pieces of food by feeding them to her one by one.  She's already taken a shining to the little bed I made her.  I basically took a small cardboard box, cut the flaps off and cut a little gap at the front so she can walk into it.  I've lined the box with one of my army towels as bedding.  As we speak she is curled up in her bed and catching some Z's, the little angel.

    I'll have pics of her soon.  I'm sure you'll want to see her, and I'm sure to have plenty of funny and adorable pics of her.

    Apart from that, not much else is new.  Ha, not since I got Lima, all other news is like blah compared to her.  It's quite a feeling, bringing home a new pet.  She's using Storm's old litterbox and food/water dishes.  Kind of eerie, I know, having my new kitten use a dead cat's furniture.  But it was all ceaned with Javex so as to remove any infection from whatever killed Storm, if it was in that nature.

    I must be going.  I work 21:00 to 09:00 tomorrow and Friday.  If I know my fucked up body, I'll be nodding off on the job and on the bus ride home, but as soon as I get home and hit my pillow, wide awake.  It's happened before and will happen again.  But oh well.  Later.


- Kosyghin

Current Music: Animal I have become by Three Days Grace

    I know, I know, when's he going to stop this.  If I have any readers left by now, I am either being worshipped or you guys are bored.  I'll go with the latter.

    Let me do my routine sum-up that I do for every break in LJ updates. Since January, I met and started dating Julie, my roomate's Turkish Angora kitten unfortunately died of an unkown sickness (cutest little kitten in the world, such a shame), got signed on to a tasking called the 2006 Army Gun Race, didn't make the team of the Gun Race, came back to Sudbury and started looking for a job as a replacement for my boring-as-hell security job, and I turned 21.  My brother turned 24 a month earlier and I got him a Men's Health magazine.  He's probably learned a lot of useful info by now, as I always do from those mags.

    Wow, six months go by and this is all I have to say.  Huh.  Well, there is one crucial detail though.  I know I've mentioned joining Regualr Force...a number of times, but after a lot of thinking, I've come to the conclusion that that's not for me.  I could do it if I really wanted to, or had to, but I'm not the best at it.  I have such a hard time remembering certain drills and details and whatnot.  I have a long history of continually forgetting things.  And the Army is one of those things that just won't stick.  Yeah, I know how to detailed strip a C-7 rifle in seconds like the back of my hand, but it's the other more specific details that are subject to my routine memory decay.  Frustrating but not a damn thing I can do about that.

    So that got me thinking if I'm going to be doing something for the rest of my life, it might as well be simple and enjoyable rather than complex and hard to remember. Something I can even, enjoy?  Archaeology and palentology are out of the question, I've blown any chance for that.  Physical fitness and wellness however, there could be something there for me.  I retain fitness and nutrional tips like they were my own name, so I'm debating going back to college and taking the  7 semester long Physical Wellness program.  It kind of makes my Law & Security diploma seem like a waste of time and money, I know.  And I kind of wish I had taken Physical Wellness to begin with, but as per my trademark it "didn't occur to me."  I was somehow convinced I was put on this earth for the purpose of helping to maintain peace and order and all that hazy dazy crap.  If I could by some miracle become a personal trainer without having to go back to college that would be great, but I think that's a prerequisite.  That reminds me, I better get my ass in gear and start seriously thinking it over.

    That's it for today. And probably for the whole week.  Hey, just being realistic.  With my track record, my next entry could probably be not until the second coming of Jesus.

    So, for shits and giggles here's a 61 second interview with retired pro-baseball player Ricky Henderson.
    "Hey Ricky, uh...I noticed you taped your bat up a little higher than normal.  What's that about?"
    "Well you know Ricky Henderson has to do what's best for Ricky Henderson, ya know.  I mean if Ricky Henderson feels that Ricky Henderson needs to tape his bat up higher to be the best Ricky Henderson that Ricky Henderson could be then Ricky Henderson is gonna tape his bat up...higher...in a way that Ricky Henderson can perceive as Ricky Henderson can to be the best Ricky Henderson that Ricky Henderson can or will or want to be, as Ricky Henderson qualified in a Ricky Henderson-esque type of way to be a Ricky Henderson for which all Ricky Hendersons around us being one Ricky Henderson to speak through Ricky Henderson as a vessel to reach all Ricky Hendersons out there in the world in a 'qualitative' Ricky Henderson-esque magnanimous display of Ricky Henderson-tude and quality that you can find only in Ricky Henderson as Ricky Henderson does want to do for Ricky Henderson being Ricky Henderson as Ricky Henderson.  You...you come in here 'What-thi-tha?????tapeyourbatup' you know Ricky Henderson is gonna answer you in a way that Ricky Henderson can, to be--in fact that reminds me I gotta give that mothafucka a phone call."


- Kosyghin

Current Mood: blah
Current Music: Suggestions by System of a Down

    I took my G2 exit test today and, though I was given a few notes for improvement, I passed!  I am now a fully licenced driver.  Even better, I now have all the criteria needed to apply to the Military Police.  My future is no longer on hold, but back in the making.

    However, there is a disturbance (not in the Force).  I had the most disturbing dream I ever remember having last night.  I was at a funeral.  It took place outside in some kind of courtyard.  It appeared to be summer time since there was a lot of green, cut grass, a few trees and a nearby river.  The ceremony must have just ended as the crowd around the casket had dispersed.  I leered over the casket and found my own father lying in there.  Even weirder, he was not wearing a formal suit as most recently deceased do.  He was wearing the standard Canadian Army uniform, that is the cadpat pants and tunic, mark III boots and even a berret with (I think it was) the Governor General's Foot Guards cap badge, which would make sense since he was a Corporal in the GGFG back in his prime.  And the part of the dream that disturbed me the most was the fact that he didn't look a day older since last I saw him.

    What the hell does that mean?  It sounds like a grim foreshadowing and an artisitc statement mashed into one.  I pray the Lord that the dream was in no way foreshadowing something.

    Anyway, not too much else to report.  I went on the annual winter indoctrination exercise with the Irish Regiment.  That went a little smoother than last year, being a trained soldier now.  I noticed an improvement in my stamina and was able to offer tips and advice to some recruits.

Now, time to chillax.

- Kosyghin

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Music: Own Little World by Celldweller

    Heh, you thought I was going to make at least one entry a month didn't you!  Sorry to disappoint.  Actually I lie...about the sorry thing.

    The Regiment's Christmas party was on December 17, had lots of fun there. I must have had at least 12 drinks.  Visited my folks in Simcoe, ON December 22 to January 3 of 2006.  Now it's back to life, if you can call it that. Actually I consider my time in Simcoe life before I would consider my existence in Sudbury to be.

    So the holidays were pretty decent.  I was supposed to work this weekend with the Reserves doing my Driver Wheeled course in North Bay, but minutes after I arrived at the Sudbury Armoury, Cpl L. told me that I was booted from it.  He had no explaination, it was a decision made by the CSM (Company Sergeant Major) and was holding a list the of the people the CSM wrote up who would be booted, put on, or remain on the course.  As far as I know I'm on the CSM's good side, so it's quite odd.  A little frustrating too because it was easy money and the first weekend we were there the accomodations were excellent.  Further more, without my Driver course I won't be able to get taskings that require a driver.  Again, easy money, like being a trucker only with all the benefits of the military.  Hopefully I can get work for the summer doing something else.  I'm sure as hell not spending the summer doing patient watch at a hospital for fucking $8.00/hour!

    Speaking of which, I think I'm going to look for a better security job, or just a better job in general.  Back to the job hunting fiasco.

- Kosyghin

Current Mood: blah
Current Music: E-Pro by Beck

    I picked up my first shift as a Security Officer at the St. Joseph Hospital.  I got the timing a bit confused and arrived 3 hours early though, which ended up costing me an extra bus ticket.  Man those things run out fast.  But it was for my benefit since I got some on-the-job training in that time.  I did 1:1 (one on one) for a patient who was a flight risk.  That means the patient may attempt to leave the hospital.  I learned a valuable lesson from those 8 hours of sitting in one spot: bring a book!  How the time just crawled.

    I've got two shifts lined up this week, one today in fact 15:00 to 23:00.  More 1:1 today and tomorrow.  Guess what I'll be bringing with me this time!  It also helps talking to the patient, that is if they feel like talking and/or initiate conversation.  It helps time go by and creates a layer of trust.

    This past weekend I, along with a few other troops from the 2nd Irish Regiment went to North Bay for a Driver Wheeled course.  Apart from a Sergeant from the 26th SRV B who was more anal than a proctologist, the weekend was pretty slack.  Our sleeping quarters and mess hall were on an airbase and they were pretty damn good!  I think I just might look into a trade in the Airforce when I switch to Reg Force.  The classes were mainly theory and went alright.  When we took the test I left feeling like I killed it.  I then was told I failed it.  60 multiple choice questions about driving which were pretty common sense oriented and I even studied for it.  Questions 8, 59, and 60 had to be answered fully and correct or it would be an automatic fail.  When we got our tests back I checked and as it turned out I answered those questions right.  It was the rest of the test I did poorly on.  Oh well, I'm redoing it the next course weekend.  I sure have a way with military tests.

    Nothing much else to report.  Oh, this is funny: I got an e-mail saying I was recommended for a site called "Who Remembers Me" (http://www.who-remembers-me.com).  I decided to sign up for it because I could think of a few people I wanted to get back in touch with.  I fill out the information fields, get my profile set up and everything, then I finally go to search for someone, and there it is; "You must pay an annual fee to be able to use this feature."  I knew it would be like that, I just wanted to check just in case.  Exact same policy as all those singles sites I've explored.  You can't reach or meet anyone until you give them your credit card number.  What doesn't have a price tag these days?

   Interesting side note: The acronym for Who Remembers Me is WRM.  Worm!

    Been getting some Christmas shopping done.  Got my brother taken care of, and my (biological) parents half done.  My mother's birthday is 2 days before Christmas and my father's birthday is 2 days after.  What were the odds, eh?  Word to the wise, do Christmas shopping as late in the day as you can, like around the evening.  There seems to be fewer people in the last 1 or 2 hours before a mall's closing time.  Either that or go extremely early.  Otherwise, it's a fucking ZOO!

But, you already know that!

- Kosyghin

Current Mood: okay
Current Music: NIN

    That was a long orientation!  About 5 hours I spent at the Securitas headquarters filling out papers, signing my signature and dating it, recording work history, and doing some private security scenarios on paper.  No interview though.  I was told I'd be contacted and start working in 2 weeks since that's the time it would take for my private security licence to go through.  I was hoping to work sooner than that, though.  Much sooner.  Eager?  Kind of, since I'll finally have a chance to do a job I was educated to do.  But it's more of a need to work ASAP than eagerness.  I have rent to pay and Christmas shopping to start.  I've got my mother pretty much taken care of, but everyone else, hmm...

    But anyway, I've got the job.  Who knew the guy who was terrible at finding employment would land a job he was qualified for a week after he was fired from some dead end retail job?

    I came home to find that our garbage had not been taken away...again!  It's garbage day, we put our garbage out by the curb, and the shit is still fucking in the big blue garbage bin!  Our neighbours all around us have been taken care of, but for some reason the garbage men are ignoring us.  What the hell?  That's twice now!  Don't tell me my previous roomate Tony owes them money too! 

    Frankly I wouldn't be surprised.  That shady bag of shit owes at least $2000 to various people.  He owed my landlady 2 months of rent and her boyfriend $500.  Then these two people, a man and a woman stopped by about a week ago asking for Tony because he owed them $1100 altogether.  And his friend Kitler has been bangning on our windows looking for him as well, so it's obvious Tony owes him some large fee.  He only owes me $10, a month of phone calls, a few boxes of Kraft Dinner and two DVDs I'll never see again, but if I ever see him again I'll break his fucking nose a few times.  I probably won't see him though because one day he just gathered up his stuff and left and more than likely skipped town so that he doesn't have to face up to his debts.  It's parasites like him that get by from loans and empty promises of paying you back.  "Oh yeah, I'm getting a phone set up next week."  "Yeah, I'll give you that $10 this weekend."  Pathological liar and whatever other problems he had, because he's very obviously bad with money.  Anyway, moving on...

    Hung out with my new roomate Derrick and his friend Chris last night, had some drinks and watched some Chappelle Show (trust me Ben, you'd like it!).  I ended up selling a whole 750 mL bottle of Vodka to them because they wanted more booze and I was short on cash.  Not like a 26er of Smirnoff will make my Christmas any happier, so it might as well go towards my family's.  Derrick is way cooler.  He actually works, is easy going, nice to be around.  He bought a few drinks off me at my bar, and was quite taken by the bar butler.  I was quite taken by how clean his room is, probably because I've been in mine too long.  I try to get out as often as possible.  And soon enough I'll be running the best kind of errands; Christmas shopping!

    I'd get it done now but I need what money I have available for rent.  Looks like I'll be cutting my way through the jungle--er uh, mall again this year.

Funds are gonna be as tight as William Shatner's girdle.

- Kosyghin

Current Mood: worried
Current Music: Because of You by Nickelback

    What can I say?  Without a second job to keep me busy I have a lot of time on my hands.  As nice as it is, I don't get paid for it like some people do.  In fact, I haven't been paid in the longest time!  The military has been having some pay issues lately, delaying our paychecks.  And if I don't see anything from the week of bitch work I put in for Giant Tiger by the end of this week, they'll be hearing from me.

    Speaking of which, I turned in my last uniform today.  I managed to give it to my boss, Bob (the nice guy) and shake his hand so as to leave on a good foot.  It was nice working with him, he had a good attitude, unlike his second in command.  One of the ladies in customer service who I've talked to while we worked asked me why I was leaving.  I was..."let go," I said to her.  "[name removed] gave me his reasons, but I don't exactly agree with them."  I would have gone into detail but she had a customer waiting so I didn't want to take any more of her time.  But at least she knows the issue wasn't black and white.  That's right [name removed], I can play games too.  Big 6'1" guys like me have brains, and we can fucking use them!

    Enough of my ranting though, the less I obsess over some trivial civy job the less impact [name removed] has on me.  The day after I was fired I got an interview lined up at Securitas.  They provide security services for any place that requires it, like malls, Science North museum, etc.  It looks pretty promising.  Now I know I've said that about a lot of leads that didn't go anywhere, but they asked me to bring with me $5 for pictures, a $30 money order, along with various certificates.  And I'd be spending most of the morning there for orientation.  Plus one of my army buddies who I also went to Law and Security with already works there.  The only thing I've got on him is size.  So that's why I feel like I've got more than a 50-50 chance at this job.

    It was a really easy day at work yesterday.  There was a PLQ course being held at the Armoury for training Master Corporals, and four troops were needed for demonstration purposes.  Three of the four of us showed up at 08:00, drew C-9s from the vault and started off practicing one and only one drill movement, saluting an officer.  After that we were given a quick class on the firing drills of the C-9 light machine gun.  When that was done we turned in the C-9s and that was all we were needed for.  Warrant G. wasn't kidding when he said "An easy day's pay."

    Now to figure out what the hell to do for the rest of the day.  Well, I've got laundry to fold, and I guess I could try and do some creative writing.  I was getting a pretty good start going on an Aboriginal story until my dick-computer erased everything to shit.  I can remember some of the stuff I wrote, at least.  I've also felt an urge to do some drawings, which I haven't done in the longest time and I mean a long time!

Creativity is a terrible thing to waste.

- Kosyghin

Current Mood: cynical
Current Music: Sin City opening titles

    Well, today was productive!  Where to start, where to fucking...start...

    I'm not kidding anybody.  I feel like shit.  I guess the first half was productive.  I gave blood today at noon.  After confirmation, final confirmation hopefully, it was indeed my 5th donation.  The last time I donated they were behind, under the impression I made one fewer donations than actually true.  But that's all cleared up now.  Five donations in a year, soon to be six since I'm scheduled to give again December 29th, same time.  If you're healthy and you have type O blood (+ or -) I encourage you to donate.  Type O can be given to anybody!

    On a geeky note I got promoted from Praporshchik to 2nd Lieutennant on my Newgrounds account.  I can just hear the crickets chirping.  Moving on.

    Finally, on to the thing that really made my day.  Before I go on I'd like to follow up on my entry that talked about my interview at Giant Tiger.  I got the job last Tuesday.  Now on to more recent news.  I got fired today.  Those of you who know me are probably wondering what the hell, eh?  "Nice guy who works with the military got fired from GT?  What the hell?"

    Well I was approached by one of the smaller bosses (that's right!), and he told me, "It isn't working out with you.  You're not catching on.  And I heard about your comment about [name removed]."  Apparently I'm not catching on because I work too slowly.  But he's only using one example.  Today I had to load boxes of rolls of Christmas wrap out of our storage room and onto a skid so I could shelve it.  That took a while because I had to go up and down stairs.  Also that shelf, was only half put together.  It was a metal shelving unit which I put together first, and was not easy to figure out.  I swear I got more cooperation out of my ex-girlfriend, which isn't saying much!  That also took a long time.  And the kicker: I did all this by myself.  Yeah, it's going to take time, and you trying to fucking pass that off as being slow and not catching on?  Please.  And that "comment" about my supervisor was a joke.  I was told by that very supervisor on my first day that we joke around a lot.  But apparently I'm not allowed to.

    Also it was thought I had anger management issues because when I had to drag out some metal frames (for hanging clothes) out of a storage trailor, I was heard "kicking around" in there.  I explained that they were tightly packed in there and got caught on just about everything, so it took some force to get them out of there.  Besides, better to take my aggression (not very much mind you) out on a piece of metal than a customer, which I never did.

    When on probation you can be fired for looking at someone cock-eyed.  With my luck that guy is probably going to throw a bit of slander in on my story.  "Hey guys, no worries, that big dumb psycho who bad-mouthed [name removed] and can't learn has been fired."

    I tried standing up for myself.  Hell, if my explaination was even half as good as it was in this entry, it still wouldn't have made a difference.  Always, always when confronted I can never fucking think of these words on the spot.  As soon as the scenario is over, I'm flooded with possible comebacks that could have put my adversary in his/her place.  That's what really gets my goat in the end, not some smarmy supervisor exercising what little power he has in his blue collar kingdom.

    25 job applications, and a week long job at GT was the best I could do.  Wow.

    I'm glad though. Fuck the job.  Tomorrow at the Armoury, I'm getting my ass in gear and getting my Regular Force transfer started and getting the FUCK out of this Godforsaken town.  If I'm so useless to society, I might as well make myself useful the only way I know how.  And if I get whacked, one less person to surplus the population.  Please don't jump to conclusions, I have 150% will to survive.  But what happens happens.

    If dying means letting a family in a far-off country live their lives free of insurgent oppression, hell I'll die laughing if I know I've done something right in life.

    I'm a giver.

- Kosyghin

Current Mood: pissed off

    I...hate...machines...

    My laptop crashed last week erasing everything on it.  Sure, I had a few files backed up, but not nearly enough.  It's still kind of hard to fathom everything I've lost on there.  And to add to my technological calamity my internet has stopped working.  I only had it for a day, and the month of October is almost over.  I can just see it now, I'm going to call Persona to tell them to get my shit fixed and they'll say, "Okay, we'll send a technician over in 1-2 weeks.  How does the next blue moon sound?"

    Suspiciously, my computer crashed the day after I got the internet set up.  I'll let them know that, not that I'm expecting them to care in the least though.

    So it's back to using library computers again.  And I've been revisiting the ever-familiar but not missed job-hunting front.  I've applied to at least 25 jobs, in person, by phone, and online since a month ago.  I've had only 3 interviews up to now.  My first was with Costco who said I'd fit in well given my experience at Food Basics but couldn't...fuck...wouldn't hire me because I devote a few weekends a month to serve my country.  They need me for all weekends, even though I was completely free every week except for Thursday nights. 

    My second interview was with Wal-Mart, and pretty much the same thing happened; the interview was cut short because of all things they started off by asking me about availability and are as big sluts for weekends as Costco is.

    Today I had an interview with Giant Tiger, which actually went well.  The boss was a nice, down-to-earth guy who apparently has put in some national service himself.  He liked the look of my job experience and volunteer work (I swear to God, everyone else skims through/ignores that part of my resume), and told me he'll get back to me next week after checking my references. So, I actually have a chance!  Something to look forward to.  I actually walked out of an interview and don't feel like killing anybody.

    That was nice, considering everything else that's been happening you could say I haven't exactly been the luckiest guy on Earth.  Funny, I don't remember crossing a black cat, or walking under ladders, or spiting God in any way.  But that's my life anyhow, a rollercoaster of fortune and bullshit.

    The bar is looking really nice now. I set it up with a bar butler, which is a rotating...hell, I'll just show you since I've got such a way with words!

http://www.bestthings.nl/assets/graphics/product/370-bar%20butler.jpg

    Only cost me $50.00!  There was one for $40.00 but it only held four bottles, so ultimately the $50.00 six-holder was a better deal.  I had it set up with Smirnoff, Beefeater London dry gin, and Canadian Club.  The Canadian Club is gone since I had Norm and Amanda over last night and we pretty much downed it.  It doesn't last very long which is why I should probably get 2 for any parties or events.  Silly Amanda was so out to lunch she tried to make a screwdriver with Candian Club!

    Anyway, I've set the bar up with the butler, more manhattan glasses, shooters (I even managed to get specialized Beefeater, Sauza, Malibu, and Kaluha shooters!), and beer steins.  Once I get a second job I can afford to keep the inventory full.

    No, no, I'm not an alcoholic!  It's...a hobby, yeah that's it.

- Kosyghin

Current Mood: calm
Current Music: Seether

    Still on the computers in the Cyber Cafe at the rainbow mall in downtown Sudbury.  You're probably wondering why I haven't just signed up for a service provider.  Well I would have, except for one thing:

    Two weeks from this Thursday which was our first parade night back from summer, I was at the Armouries and one of the Warrant Officers was telling us about a small operation coming up in Afghanistan.  It involved tearing down base camp (for lack of the proper term) in Kabul and moving to Kandahar, a city full of warlords and insurgents.  This would not count as a tour of duty, since it would only last 2 months and a tour lasts from 4 months to 2 years.  However, it would be a good warm-up experience for anyone working towards a tour (such as myself) and we would be doing general duties instead of combat.  They needed a certain number of troops from our unit and I was one of the few who raised their hands.  My buddy Petras was also one of them.  This isn't for sure yet, though.

    That's why I'm holding off on getting internet for my new apartment which I will get into later in this entry.  I don't want to pay for 2 months I won't use.  Still, I'm hoping we get to go to Afghanistan.

    I'm settling in well in my new basement apartment.  Development on the bar has been put on hold for now as I haven't increased the liquor inventory any further than four 750 mL bottles consisting of Smirnoff vodka, London Dry gin, I can't remember the other one, and Canadian Club which I, Petras, Munn, and his brother killed in a single poker night. Also I have to clean up the gaggle-fuck of papers and junk on the bar table.  I've freed up space by rearranging boxes and shit and cleaining up my room, but finding a place for important papers and other things that take up space is a challenge.  Especially when I want to remember where they are, which won't happen.  You kow how it is.

    I've also got the college claiming I owe them money, when I remember paying full tuition at the beginning of both years. The only thing I have registered with them now is a 4-month gym membership and I payed for that upfront too. I'm hoping this is another computer fuck-up like the Royal Bank of Canada did roughly a year ago.  Kind of like how the blood bank fucked up on how many donations I've made, thinking I made 3 when I actually made 4 to date.  I'm sure when I go in for my 5th donation on November 2, they'll be thinking it's only my 4th.

    Since the beginning of high school when some yutz sent my file to Carine Wilson S.S. instead of Sir Wilfred Laurier, stupid people and defective computers have been fucking around with me.  It's very reassuring to know my files and what not are resting on a mainframe of idiocy.

- Kosygin

Current Mood: pissed off
Current Music: Something angry

    I would have updated this sooner if I had internet access, which I haven't had since May. I've been using the lab computers at Cambrian College for internet use but it seems my log-in account expired.

    Anyway, since my last entry I've been training with the army, completing my Soldier Qualifications and Basic Infantry Qualifications courses. Following my graduation as an Infanteer in the 2nd Battlion Irish Regiment, I participated in the 10 day exercise "Stalwart Guardian" in Petawawa. In between now and then I've gone on a frantic apartment hunt which has finally yielded results. My previous landlord was no help in my transition, the crazy bitch. Anyway, my new place is way better and I'm setting up a bar there too.

    Next step is to find a second job. Until next time, which could be God knows when, take care.

- Kosygin

Current Mood: calm
Current Music: Something Irish

    By 12:30 AM today I officially became two decades old.  Not that old in retrospect.  In fact today just feels like any other day to me.  18 was great because I became a legal adult.  19 was alright because I could legally buy booze, but drinking in accordance with the law just isn't the same as drinking underage like at college.  And now 20.  One fifth of a century old.  If this is what it feels like to turn 20 I can't wait to see what happens when I hit my mid-life crisis.

    I was actually supposed to be working today, like right now even.  But I and the other Sudbury troops recieved a call from one of the Master Corporals telling us there is no training this weekend due to a fire hazard in Burwash.  We were supposed to fire off live rounds on the range from the C-9s and C-6s this Saturday, but I guess the grass in Burwash must be really dry.  I can imagine how dumping hundreds of steaming hot empty cases a minute onto dry grass would be a hazard.  It was pretty dry and brown there during our last BMQ training weekend, and it being as hot as it is outside, well, need I paint a picture?

    So I don't have to work on my birthday!  Now I just have to figure out what to do tonight since I didn't have any plans besides work.  I and Petras plan on watching more of season 1 of The Shield today, there's that.  Maybe I might get somewhat drunk, I dunno.  We'll see.

    Yep, that's about it.  On an unrelated topic I was shocked to hear that there was an attempted robbery at the KFC where Danny works.  A robbery with uzis.  You think I'm joking, don't you.  I thought he was joking too, but no joke, there were really two guys with uzis at the KFC on Montreal Rd.  Strangley enough no money was stolen, and best of all no one was hurt.  I don't know the whole story though.  I'm just baffled at an armed (uzi) robbery at a KFC...in Canada!  I mean, if this were in Toronto, yeah, that would make a little more sense.  But this was in Ottawa, my peaceful native city.  Sure it has it's share of crime, but this?  I don't know what to say to that!

- Kosygin

Current Mood: indifferent
Current Music: Invincible by Static-X

    I know, I know.  When's he going to stop doing this?  Putting off updates for so long, I'd be surprised if I had any readers left, from the few that do read this post.  Bev, I can't imagine how you keep your LJ updated while staying as busy as you do. I could learn a thing or two from you!

    Now the arduous task of summing up the last two months.

    The weekend of May 8-10 was our last training weekend of BMQ.  It was spent out in the field in Burwash, and what a weekend it was.  A small taste of what SQ is going to be like.  We had to set up our hooches (basically a puny tent), take them down, set them up again, and went on a rucksack march.  That was just Friday evening.  It was so damn dark out I couldn't find where I set up my hooch so I had to sleep on the grass under the stars.  What a cold, lousy fucking sleep.  Saturday we learned camouflaging, various field movements like the stomach crawl, kitten crawl, and monkey walk, did our navigation test, and the tools we'll be using to dig a trench on SQ.  We returned to the garrison late Sunday morning, cleaned our C-7s and each recieved our paper certifying us as BMQ graduates.

    The following weekend we started our Pre-Soldier Qualifications course, or PSQ.  We basically spent the whole time learning everything we need to know about the C-9 light machine gun.  Whenever we weren't learning about it we were either eating in the mess or doing PT.  That Sunday everyone passed the C-9 handling test.

    May 20-25 I visited Ottawa, a short-lived but enjoyable visit.  Thursday following the day of my return to Sudbury I went to my graduation ceremony for my law and security program.  It was hot as hell waiting in the Koski Centre on the 4th floor to go down into the gymnasium.  By the end I was thinking of it more as something to get over with where as some of the girls in my class were in tears of happiness.  But I'm a graduate now, yipee.  We had a unit barbeque at work that same day.  Got paid to eat fried fish and drink, what good day at work!  After work I, Petras, Munro, Munn, and Almenar went to the Solid Gold and before I knew what was going on those guys set me up with a lap dance!  That really made my night.  We were talking all about it this weekend, that and other shit that went on at the 1500.

    Just this last weekend we learned how to operate the C-6 general purpose machine gun, a lot like the C-9 only bigger and a higher calibure.  It was a pretty relaxed weekend.  Just like the previous course weekend with the C-9s, everyone passed the C-6 handling test.

    Got drunk with Petras and his girlfriend last night, but I think we chose a bad night to do it.  There was a bit of drama between those two and unfortunately I got pulled into it.  Right smack in the middle of it.  His girlfriend sure did a good job at pissing him off, and she used me to do it.  I won't delve any further into that.  I certainly wasn't expecting to encounter more stress off duty than when I'm on the job, and neither was Petras.

    Dizzy dames.

- Kosygin

Current Mood: blah

    Welcome back kiddies to another "exciting" journal entry.  Yeah right, about as exciting as a...as a...help me out.

    Two weeks ago from this weekend at work we did a lot of NBC (Nuclear/Biological/Chemical) drills.  Yeah, those are fun, if you like running around at full speed while wearing a gas mask and a "bunnysuit" (a thick, olive drab, charcoal layered body suit designed to protect a soldier from biological/chemical agents and radioactive dust).  What it's like to wear one of our gas masks is not too uncomfortable, but as you probably guessed condensation builds up in there, along with sweat.  What it's like to wear that along with a bunnysuit is, well...it sucks.  But it's either that or die from whatever toxic agent the enemy tries to shower you with.  Sometimes soldiers have to spend days on end in full NBC gear.  And yes, there are ways to eat, drink, and do number one and two while wearing a bunnysuit.  During this time, it'll probably make you hate the enemy even more, which helps.

    Also that weekend I became C-7 qualified when I passed my weapons handling retest.  It was a retest because I, among several recruits failed the first weapons PO check the previous weekend.  Only 7 people of the 18 person platoon passed their first time.  Failing this PO check gives you a formal warning, and I already have one for failing that damn first aid test twice.  Now don't be alarmed, it's not that we don't know which way to point the fucking rifle, there's more to proper weapons handling than you think.  One major issue being safety, always ensuring that your rifle, or any unattended rifle you come upon is safe and unloaded.  There were the safety precautions, aiming in the prone position (lying on your front), loading 30 dummy rounds into a magazine in 70 seconds or less, performing a detailed strip (involves removing the firing bolt and taking it apart.  Without the bolt, the rifle cannot fire.), the load, unload, and make safe procedures, and aiming in various wind conditions.  The load procedure, which invloves taking a magazine out of a mag pouch on your TAC vest, holding it with the opening (where the rounds go in) facing you at eye level, insert the mag, then slap your loading hand onto the handguard of the rifle.  This drill movement must be done in 7 seconds or less.  I managed to pull this off in a "skilled" duration of time, as I was told by the Cpl who tested me.  I managed to load a mag in 56 seconds, pretty much my best time, which needs improvement.  I'd like to be able to load 30 rounds into a mag in 40 seconds at the most, like most of the other soldiers.

    I hate to admit it, but I passed my weapons handling PO check marginally, since I made a few mistakes.  Marginal, that seems to be a popular word with me this year (not so great test results in my classes recently, you see).  On the bright side, by the end of that weekend I had one of my formal warnings reduced to an initial warning.  But, I made the stupid mistake of forgetting my helmet in a classroom on Sunday.  My 2IC took that chance to teach me not to leave any of my kit lying around...by taking my helmet.  I got it back, but I also got a red chit for leaving it lying around.  There's a chit I could have avoided, but I just seem to be collecting them every fucking weekend.  Wow, I am on a roll!

    Yeah, after reading this you're probably questioning what kind of a solider I will make; failed his first aid twice, passed his weapons handling test marginally, forgets simple shit like picking up his helmet.  But I'm still in this outfit, and I take my job as serious as anything.  If I fuck up, I fuck up, but not because I don't care about doing my job right.  I do care, but I'm not perfect.  Not cut out for this?  I don't want to say.

    St. Patrick's Day was pretty fun.  After work I and Almanar went to the Townhouse Pub (which was packed) and had a few a beers.  I must have had about 6 myself.  He tried to get lucky with this one woman he knew, but she was really drunk and ended up with some long-haired guy who I dubbed "hippie boy."

    I won't be going home this Easter since, like last year, I only have 3 days off, and taking the bus here and back takes up a lot of time.  I would come back on Monday, but we have an assignment due that day which I'm not very prepared for.  After this weekend I have another weekend off, and then the next one I work again.  We'll be going to the range in Burwash to fire live rounds, which should be interesting.  I just hope to God I don't forget any steps in any of the procedures, because you don't fuck around on the range!  You do and you get kicked off, probably in a physical manner too.  That would more than likely be the last straw for me, should I fuck up on the range God forbid.

    Well, that's all folks.  Now I've got to find that damn T4 slip so I can do my taxes.  Just my luck that thing went missing.

- Kosygin

Current Mood: okay
Current Music: Change by The Deftones

    Well I'm now half done my BMQ course.  Even better, last weekend we had a PO check (test if you will) on drill as a platoon and everyone passed.  Therefore, no more drill!  Which leaves me wondering what other activites and/or lessons we'll be doing to fill up the time.  More C-7 classes most likely.  Oh, and two weeks ago I finally passed that fucking first aid test that's been dragging on for too long.  The one that, after failing twice gave me a formal warning on my permanent record (not good) and made me miss a class of Close Quarter Combat since I took the retest on that Thursday night.  Yep, two retests and one formal warning later, I passed with a 92%.

    My spring break is this week and wouldn't you know it, my laptop decided to stop working!  What great timing!  A whole week where I can just sit on my ass, watch movies, do whatever, and it quits on me. This actually started last Friday.  I switched it on and not even 10 seconds into start-up I was brought to a blue screen telling me there's this error that was possibly caused by yadda yadda.  I'd explain it to you but if you know me, you know my memory isn't the best.  Anyway, it says to try rebooting and starting up in Safe Mode.  I did that and got the blue screen again.  I tried rebooting and choosing "Last Configuration that worked."  What happened?  Deep Blue Screen again!  So I called technical support...about three times.  I called a second time because for some reason the connection terminated on us right when I was in the middle of getting help during the first phone call.  I called a third time because I had to run a hard drive scan which took forever so I was told to call back when it was done.  During my third call to technical support at one point, I was told I needed the Windows XP reinstallation disc.  Coincidentially, I couldn't find it among all the other CD's that came with my computer.  Hmm, isn't that weird!

    So, until I can find this mysterious disc or borrow one off a friend, I'm pretty much computerless.  I'd watch movies to fill the time, but I use my laptop for that very purpose, since I don't have a TV or a DVD player.  My roomates are away on break as are most of my friends, so I've been keeping myself occupied elsewhere by going to the movies, running errands, anything that eats up time.  Kinda sad that this machine is having so great an impact on my holiday.  But when it's your primary tool for work and entertainment, I guess no one can blame you.

    Perfect timing too.  Couldn't have chosen next week to quit on me, no, had to be this one.  Such great timing!  But, it's motivated me to go out and see such movies as Boogeyman, Constantine, and Phantom of the Opera.  Boogeyman isn't bad but isn't that good either.  Anyone who's seen Darkness Falls, well Boogeyman follows the same basic story!  The conflict begins when the main character is a child, loses a family member to the villain (in Boogeyman character loses his father, Darkness Falls he loses his mother), 15-20 years later the main character has grown up but with an enduring fear (in Boogeyman character is afraid of dark closets, Darkness Falls he's afraid of the dark), and the villain is undone by the main character facing him...or her.  Also, both movies are about bedside myths such as the Boogeyman and the Tooth Fairy.  Quite a coinkydink considering both movies have a different director.

    And now I'm off to run some more errands!...yay.

- Kosygin

Current Mood: bored

    We learned how to use C-7 rifles last weekend.  The C-7 is a gas operated, magazine-fed modified version of the American M-16 and is the primary weapon of the CF.  This semi-automatic/automatic weapon weighs 3.9 kg unloaded, 4.4 kg loaded including the optical sight, with a calibur of 5.56 x 4.56 mm and a 0.53 metre barrell.  On automatic it can fire at a speed of 700 to 940 rounds per minute, even though every magazine holds up to 30 rounds.  The two main components of the C-7 is the upper receiver and lower receiver, held together by two pivot pins.  It has an accurate range of 300 metres for an individual, 600 metres for a section.  What is meant by this is a section of soldiers stand a better chance of hitting a target at 600 metres than just one soldier.  We learned how to perform a function test, a field strip (removing the bolt and disassmbling it), a detailed strip (taking the whole thing apart), and checking the weapon for a round for safety purposes.  Safety is highly stressed when working with weapons.

    And of course we also learned drill with our rifles.  That was a little more challenging than the drill we learned previously without a weapon, because afterwards we all felt it, particularly in the left leg and right forearm.  My right foot has raised a complaint as well.  Over time I've been developing a bruise on top of my right foot due to a lump in my boot that has been continuously pressing and rubbing against it.  Last weekend that bruise actually bled a bit.  Over the course of last week it turned into a blister, which (after a necessary removal) then turned into a gouge, which I have to say did not look pretty.  So I've been frequently applying polysporin cream (thank you Lenny for recommending it) and bandaids to the wound.  I must say that polysporin really does help with the healing!  If I hadn't used it I bet this wound would be taking forever to heal such as most wounds in the general foot area tend to do.  In the mean time I'm trying to figure out how to fix that boot so this doesn't repeat itself.

    This weekend I had off.  Yes, I do get weekends off, remember?  One weekend for every three weekends I work.  It was pretty fun.  Not much happened, but I enjoyed it anyway.  It was actually more significant than I thought because I spent so much time thinking about my career.  I've been putting some serious thought into transferring into the Regualr Force and joining the Military Police.

    I'm going to stop here.  The more I think about this the more tired I get.  Did I mention I was studying too?  Well I am, and shall resume with that.

- Kosygin

Current Mood: okay
Current Music: Sweet as the Punch by The Bloodhound Gang

    I got in a little bit of trouble for some of the things I've said in a few past entries.  I won't say with who, or any other details concerning the matter because that's how I got in trouble in the first place.  But I tied up loose ends and assured them that it was a mistake on my part, followed by many sincere apologies.  Whether or not this mattered to them, or that they will bring up my side of the story (correctly) when recalling this incident to others, I don't know.  I'm sorry, I didn't know free speech was a privilege and not a right.

    But, I had things to say.  And it is a proven fact that it's unhealthy to keep feelings repressed.

    Last weekend at the reserves we went out in the bush in Burwash to do our winter indocs.  In summary it was a greater challenge than the previous weekend which took place inside the armoury.  We arrived there at around 13:00 on Saturday and left at around the same time on Sunday.  I got my first taste of rucksack marching, only it was on snow, with snowshoes (go figure!).  We (section 3) also took turns pulling the sled that contained our ten-man tent and many other supplies.  We also had to take turns doing fire picket during the night.  Fire picket is a little more important for camping than in the armoury because we have a nafta-fueled stove in our tent which is used for both cooking and warmth.  The tent itself is made of nylon, not to mention our sleeping bags too, so if a fire caught in there, it would spread very quickly and cook us alive.  Why they didn't simply design the tents to have a fire-retardant sheet around the area of the tent the stove operates, I don't know.  I guess it's supposed to keep us on our toes.  That weekend we also fueled ourselves on rations.  They're not bad, but not the greatest either.  In the end I was glad to get home due to the fact that I was exhausted.  We get this weekend off however, which is nice.

    On Tuesday I gave blood for the first time.  It went well; I passed the iron test, took only 8 minutes to donate and didn't feel faint at all.  You shouldn't feel faint if you're healthy.  I felt good to have donated.  My father has made over 70 donations himself.

    I better start getting ready for work.  We're learning close quarter combat today.  I got my mouth guard prepared last night.  Mayotte was joking about us getting our asses kicked by the Warrant Officer who would be teaching us, coming home all black and blue.

We work hard for our money!

- Kosygin

Current Mood: blank
Current Music: Keep on Pretending by HIM

    Last weekend was my first of BMQ (Basic Military Qualifications).  It was quite a different experience.  An experience that involved a lot of inspections, drills (not the tool, marching drills), classes, and of course yelling.  And BMQ is only the baby step!  Oh it gets funner when we move into our summer courses, SQ (Soldier Qualifications) and finally BIQ (Basic Infantry Qualifications).  Right now, I'm only 1/10 of 1/3 of a qualified infantry man, splitting my military qualification into a fraction I can't even measure.  But hey, once I get all that out of the way I'll know what I'm doing, and the salary only gets higher from there!  If I stay on long enough I'll be promoted to a Corporal (requires at least 2 years service).  It's not really the higher rank that's so appealing, Corporals don't have much authority over trained Privates.  Untrained Privates, yes, but a Corporal is also known as a "Private with two hooks."  Corporal is a good rank to get up to because, obviously, you're paid more.

    I could not wait to get home and just do nothing for a bit.  The weekend actually took more out of me than I thought.  Last night I and Alex were watching disc 2 of volume 2 of Futurama.  He was watching on his computer chair and I has watching on his bed.  By the last episode where Pr. Farnsworth creates Cubert, I passed out...or fell into a very deep, momentary sleep...which is pretty much passing out.  Yeah.  Anyway, as told by Alex, when the last episode ended he asked me if that was the end of the DVD.  When I didn't answer he shook my left arm a bit (which twitched some of the time) and got no reply.  So, he decided to take a picture of me.  I woke up soon enough though, wondering what the hell happened.

    What you see before you is a college student who works for the CF (Canadian Forces) on the side, passed out not from the mass intake of alcohol (Lord, I haven't been nearly wasted enough since last year), but from an exhausting weekend of military training.  My dad told me from his experience in the GGFG (Governor General's Foot Guards) that during training he'd come home for a weekend from training and just plop right down on a chair and pass out.  He'd be so proud *sniff*.

    Well it's good thing they teach us how to handle stress, because I think I feel a fuckload of it coming on.  But not that kind of stress.

    I tried talking to Mel again about our relationship (I know, a guy inititiating a conversation about a relationship) and it turned out only to be the preliminary to an even bigger, more important talk that, she and I both agreed, will take place later.  It was too serious a subject to talk over on something like MSN.  In the mean time I have a lot of things to think over.

    I'd really like to save what we have.  I hope she does too.

    I'm a lucky one when it comes to romance!

- Kosygin

Current Mood: depressed
Current Music: My farts of indigestion from those nasty fishsticks we ate

    Gather 'round kiddies, it's time for another journal entry.

    I'm back in Sudbury.  Got back yesterday evening on an express greyhound coach, thank God.  And unlike last year's Christmas bus ride back from Ottawa to Sudbury there weren't any traffic accidents.  I lie, there were, two in fact, but they didn't hold us back an hour each.  Well, at least they occurred then and not before the bulk of the holidays, for the sake of the victims.  I can imagine something like that would have some impact on a person's or family's holiday.

    Registered for my semester 4 classes.  This is the last one.  After this semester I done school, and I think for good.  Then it's military life for the next 5-10 years of my career, maybe more depending on what choices I make ultimately.  A lot of people, being my family and some of my friends think my ultimate goal is to become a police officer.  That might change possibly.  Or I might become one and then leave to persue something else.  I don't know, I'm not psychic.  And if I were, I'd play the lottery.  But now I'm dreaming.

    I just tried to view my grades online on the Cambrian College site, but apparently I'm not permitted to view them at this time.  Funny, I saw some of my classmates carrying printouts of their grades when they were going into Paul Denniston's (our professor and program coordinator) office to register for their classes.  What, am I not fucking smart enough to have my grades posted yet?  Geez.

    Well, I've got an 8:30 class tomorrow, so I've got to hit the sack.  Man my schedule is looking shité!  Only four more months, only four more months, only four more months...

    And no, that is not really an automatic message in my subject line, I'm just uncreative today.

- Kosygin

Current Mood: blah
Current Music: One of Shannon Larkin's kickass drum solos