Cerebral Discharge

I write this, my final entry as a NAIT blogger, with a heavy heart.  This final entry into my blog represents the closing of a chapter of my life…over the last two years, I’ve met so many new people, experienced so many new things.  In my two years at NAIT, I’ve learned so much not only about my program of study, but about myself!  I’ve done things in the past two years that I probably would have thought impossible had you asked me before starting my studies.  I did my best to make the most of my time at NAIT, and I can say with conviction that I did the best I could, had the most fun I could, learned as much as I could!  Any doubts I had about whether or not I made the right decision to come to NAIT have long ago vanished.  I feel more confident, ready to take on the world!  I’ve made many new friends, some of which I know may well be lifelong…

The feeling of elation handind in my last final exam was tempered with a solemn feeling…that was Tuesday.  Three days later, it really hasn’t hit home.  In talking with a few of my friends who graduated last year, it really won’t start to sink in until convocation…that’s still a couple weeks away, and there’s a few loose ends to tie up before then!

Last weekend was the annual Board of Governors retreat….had a wonderful opportunity to partake in some team building exercises, and to see some of the great programmes being taught at the institution!  We got a chance to tour the CNC labs, at which we saw some robotics at work, and even got to play around with them a little!  Also on the tour, we had the opportunity to conduct some simulation of operating a manlift in the Nexen Theatre, a respitory crisis sim (our dummy died haha), and a process simulation in the instrumentation lab at the Spartan Centre!  Some VERY exciting things were tabled at the meeting, hopefully some announcements are made in the near future!  We have one more formal Board meeting on Monday May 4th, followed by a convocation dinner on the 8th…

Speaking of convocation…I’m starting to get excited for that!  Mom and dad are both coming from out of town to cheer me on!  I saw mom at Easter, but haven’t had the chance to see my father in about a year.  I’m very close to my dad, and am really looking forward to seeing him!  I suppose it’s a bit of a blessing in disguise that I am not off to work right away, it will allow me to take a bit of a breather.  I am going to savor spending some quality time with those I love.

Also on my agenda is the PGC grad party, which is going to be held at Ceili’s Irish Pub on 104 ave and 109 street TONIGHT, starting at 5:30 pm!  PGCers take note!  If you are reading this today, get your butts down there for a free drink (or two!), some appys and some good company!  As I understand it, there will be some draws for some really great prizes too!  Hope to see you all there!

I suppose my last blog entry won’t be the last you see of me at NAIT!  After writing my last exam, I went for a bit of a stroll over to NAITSA to say my goodbyes.  Walking by student recruitment, I couldn’t help but notice the new Continuing Education course calendars were out…here’s a picture.

I guess there’s no getting rid of me!  I’ll be here watching over you for the next year to come! 

Thanks to everyone who took the time to read about my experiences over the past two years at NAIT.  I sincerely hope that looking into my experience has been as enriching for you as it has been for me to share.  I wish everyone nothing but the best in future endeavors, and be sure to say hello should our paths ever cross!

Terry

Well, this is it…the home stretch.  This Friday marks the beginning of the end of my tenure here at NAIT; on Friday, I begin writing my finals.  Now, many of you are actually in the process of writing your finals, and are undoubtedly thinking, “Why Friday?  Friday’s the last day of classes!”  And you’re right, for MOST programmes, you’re right.  Less fortunate are those enrolled in 17 week programs, such as Petroleum Engineering Technology students!  It’s really ok though, this week will be used to review, study, and hopefully get some job hunting done!

Speaking of jobs, I’ve actually got a good lead on a job working for Suncor up at Firebag (that’s like 45 mins north of McMurray); now, I know what you’re all thinking!  Oh no!  Camp job, Fort McMurray no less!  But….there’s a silver lining or two to this job…first, it’s an 8 on 6 off rotation…that means you have almost 1/2 the month off.  If you take 8 days holiday, you wind up with 20 off.  Not bad.  Second, it’s a fly-in fly-out position, meaning I can keep my place here in the city, and come home to enjoy  my days off.  Sounds pretty sweet…I’ll be interviewing for this job a week from Thursday.  That just happens to coincide nicely with my last final being written on Tuesday…with any luck, I will have a job lined up well before I convocate.  The other job I am interviewing for is still very much a possibility as well, but all of this uncertainty is really starting to weigh heavily on me.  Luckily, exams and the playoffs have been a pleasant distraction.

Another Oilers free playoff…finally they get it right and can MacT!  That organization is such a mess, I really can’t see them putting together a solid team for at least a few years.  On paper, Calgary seemed to be a powerhouse this year, but are struggling mightily against an upstart Blackhawks squad…they better win at home tonight, nobody comes back from a 3-0 deficit.  Detroit (my team yay) has been dominating Columbus, as expected….now, don’t you guys start by calling me a bandwagon jumper!  I’ve cheered for Detroit since 1991, when Fedorov and Lidstrom were in their rookie seasons (man, that just makes me feel old).  I’ve been through some pretty big ups and downs as a fan, (most notably the 2004 1st round exit to Calgary, and the 2006 1st round exit to Edmonton…man those still sting)  I’ve had several arguments with die hard Oilers fans, but I think Detroit truly has a dynasty team.  They’ve won 4 cups in the last 11 years, with different players…they’ve always been among the league’s best teams over the last decade, and have done more than any team in the same timeframe with their scouting and drafting.

Anyhow, best of luck to everyone on their exams!  Remember, all the hard work you’ve put in over the last year (or two, maybe even three or four!!!) is about to PAY OFF!

Well, you might guess from the picture I have posted what this particular blog is about!  I had the fortunate opportunity to meet our Prime Minister this afternoon.  Prime Minister Harper flew in to Edmonton late this morning to meet with staff, students, and to announce a new federal program for tradespeople.  I’m happy to report that tradepeople completing their journeyman certification now qualify for a $2000 bursary from the government.

I’m less happy to report how the media handled this whole announcement.  The focus of the questions had absolutely little to nothing to do with the announcement itself, but rather to criticize government action (or lack thereof) to the current economic downturn.  Prime Minister Harper iterated that there will be a shortage of skilled labor in the near future (just as there was last year), so actions have to be taken to ensure we meet these ever increasing labor demands.  I echo these sentiments.

Another bit of a blemish on the PM’s visit was the presence of Tamil Tiger protesters on the front lawn of the HP centre.   I mean, come on guys!  How much diplomatic clout do these people think Canada has with Sri Lanka?  I’m not taking a position on their cause, but sometimes shamless self promotion actually takes you farther from your objectives.  Anyhow, enough of that {dismounts from soapbox}.

The end is near, the end is near!  I still don’t know what I’m doing with myself!  I have had a few interviews with a few companies, but still no sure job yet.  I’m trying to stay positive, but with graduation looming, it’s hard not to be a bit worried about my future.  I’ve looked at doing the BTech here at NAIT, but still haven’t made a decision.  Lucky for me exams are starting in about 2 weeks…that’ll turn my attention away to my lack of gainful employment, if not for just a little while.   I don’t feel the same stress this time around as in previous exam weeks; that may be partially due to the fact I have but 4 exams, but might also be because…gasp…I’m getting USED TO IT!

Hopefully everyone has made it to the library to reserve a gown for Convocation!  If I’m not mistaken, the deadline would have passed last Friday, though it might not hurt for any latecomers to go over to Reads and Needs ASAP if you want to attend!  On that note, you will also have to get tickets for the event…they are free, but need to be booked via the Ticketmaster.ca website (search NAIT convocation); you’ll first have to find out if your program convocates in either the morning or the afternoon.  Tickets are “free”….I put that in quotation marks because you can expect TicketMaster to take a $5 “Convenience” fee for them to send you the tickets.  Each student is allowed 3 tickets, you’d be best to reserve ASAP to get the best seats.  NAIT’s convocation will be on May 9th at the Jubilee Auditorium.

I almost forgot, playoffs start a week from today!   Have those Oilers been mathematically eliminated yet?  It doesn’t much matter to me.  GO WINGS GO!

Could it be? Is it possible that I’ve found a job?! I had an interview with the outfit for whom I worked during my work experience in January, I think it went pretty darn well! I’m expecting to hear back from them early next week to set up a second interview. I really enjoyed my time with this company, so getting to go work for them full time would be a welcome happening!

I managed to survive April fool’s day without getting pranked, or pranking anyone for that matter…I was a bit concerned about this virus that was getting all that media buzz over the last few days, but it seems to me as though it was more hype than anything else. It figures.

Slumdog Millionnaire is out on DVD! I’m definitely going to pick that one up, probably one of the best movies that I’ve seen in recent years. Maybe I’ll watch it, then go for buffet at the New Asian Village….they just opened a new location at Manning Crossing, Indian food is one of my favs. A friend of mine is having a fundraiser/houseparty to raise funds/awareness for clean drinking water in Africa on Saturday, I’ll definitely make an appearance there to show my support!

Well, it’s been a while since my last post….surprisingly, I don’t really have an awful lot to report. The last couple weeks of March tend to be the lull before the stress of finals begins building. School has been a little bit on the lax side for these past two weeks, though that may be more because I proactively completed my stockpile of assignments, papers, projects, etc…we do still have one midterm to writenext Thursday, still lots of time to study for that. My technicalreport has been completed for some time now, I have an interview ina couple weeks to defend my paper. Not really much else going on at school at the moment, I can’t that I don’t enjoy the rest!

Like school, my job has been quiet. I actually worked my last shift at the curling club last week, they’ve already started melting the ice.It’s just too expensive to keep iceas the temperatures rise…speaking of that, I heard next week is going to be mostly abovezero! We’ll have double digits before we know it!

I did end up having a BBQ to celebrate spring’s arrival…we had a blast, everyone came in beach attire. Beer pong and burgers were the flavor of the evening, it made mefeel likeit was summer, if only for a moment.

Here we go….another 17th of March. Countless people will proclaim themselves Irish for a day, and copious amounts of green beerwill be swilledamidst a backdrop of shamrocks and leprechauns. Unfortunately, I will be unable to partake in this year’s festivities, I have way too much homework. Funny how things can make such an abrupt about face….three days ago, I was longing for something to do. Guess I need to be more careful about what I ask for!

I’m starting to feel a little pressure to make a decision regarding my future. I’ve been unable to secure a job upon graduating. I can assure you, it’s not for the lack of want, or effort. This economy stinks. This time last year, I would have been able to quit a job and start a new on the same day. Now, it’s become so competitive that you have dozens of people vying for a single position. I have acouple options: 1) I can stay in school, either to take the B.Tech here at NAIT or go to U of A for a degree; or 2) I can get a job…

I’m thinking the most prudent thing to do is apply for school, AND continue searching for work. It’s always good to have a backup plan, just in case. There’s still about a month and a half until the deadline for applications for school, so I do have a little more time to think. There’s other things I’m starting to worry about though.

Like most other students, my finances are dwindling around this time of year. Compounding the problem is the fact my job at the curling club is on the verge of ending for the season. Oh joy, I get to look for short term workin a practically dried up job market. At least I have a fair amount of experience. Time to polish off the resume!

My training regime has been going pretty well; the fact that I am only training a body part or two per day is really allowed me to make strides in the department of strength. I’ve been doing a tonne of cardio too, hoping to get nice and lean in time for my trip to Central America in a few months! Hey speaking of that….My application for grant funding got approved today! All that’s left to do is book a hotel for the first couple days of my stay (I’ve decided to do a little reconnaissance ha ha)

It’s been pretty frigid this week! I’m really looking forward to the arrival of spring, which technically occurs March 20. I’m thinking about having a party to commemmorate spring’s arrival, weather permitting of course. I’d like to have a BBQ, though from what I heard we will be getting snow this weekend. What a drag.

What the heck is Video Games Live, one might ask…it’s basically an orchestra playing the most popular video game music of all time. The concert is put on by the video game industry to support the culture and art that video games have become. My friend James opened my eyes to this about 6 months ago, so I’ve been looking forward to them coming to Edmonton! Bad news is tickets are currently going for $195 a pop…ouch.

This week should be a fairly easy one in comparison to last…I wrote an exam for Environmental management this morning, pretty sure I did very well. I also got my intrumentation exam back this morning, I ended up with 87%, not too shabby. I’ll get my technical report back tomorrow afternoon, hopefully I don’t have too much reworking to do on it. I have an interview with my advisor tomorrow, we’re going to go over the technical aspects of my report. I’ve put a tonne of work into this report, I really want to finish my last semester on a high note!

My BOG subcommittee met briefly this afternoon to engage in some preliminary planning for our last major event of the year: the Board Retreat. I’m really looking forward to attending some of the workshops we have planned, I’m sure they will help me grow and develop! I can’t say I dread having to eat at Ernest’s either…

Not a whole lot more to report at the moment, I have another exam on Thursday, wish me luck!

What a week! My technical report is nearly sewn up, I have a midterm to write on Friday…the NHL trade deadline is on Tuesday, I just got signed up for a demonoid.com account, aaarrgh! Too much to write about!

Ok, first thing’s first…blog title. I recently found some really cool remixed retro videogame music by this Japanese cat by the name of Hyadain. One of my favorite all time games is Megaman 2 for the NES, and he covers music of several of the stages in the game.

You can find his some of his other stuff on youtube…fans have made animated music videos for several of the songs. The one for Yie Ar Kung Fu is one of my favorites…

So I handed in a rough draft of my tech report Friday, I’m looking forward to getting it back to see how much tinkering I’m going to have to do to it; I have an interview booked with my tech advisor in a week’s time to go over the content, I’m fairly confident that it will be well received…it feels so good to be done the bulk of the work, exams are really the only thing standing between me and my diploma.

Speaking of exams, I have an instrumentation midterm on Friday, an Envionmental management exam next Monday, and a Project Management exam Thursday after next…it’s starting again! That’s alright though, this is the last round of midterms at NAIT, I think I can handle it.

WTF is demonoid? Haha, it’s the greatest site ever, you can get all the best torrents from them; I’ve been trying to sign up for an account with them for months! (They have a closed registration policy, only opening it up for an hour here or there at completely random intervals) Anyhow, I lucked out last night, and managed to get signed up. To give an idea of how hard it is to get an account through them, I’ve found places on the internet that actually sell their user accounts! Haha well, at least I know where I can make a couple bucks if I get strapped for cash.

Speaking of that, I’ve been semi-feverently looking for a new job for the past week; my job at the curling club is winding down in spectacular fashion,curlers will be wrapping up their seasons over the next few weeks. I really enjoyed working there,I love games of strategy, particularly ones that needphysical execution.The Tournament of Heartswassuper exciting, I was hoping BC would pull it out for the home crowd, but the pressure was just too much; they really wilted after the 5th end. But good for Jennifer Jones, she’s a great skip! The Brier is going to be in Calgary, it’s starting next week….if I wasn’t so busy between work and school, I’d be in there like a dirty shirt…but next year’s Brier is in my hometown of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario! I’m so there, it’ll be a big party for sure!

Tomorrow’s the trade deadline…there’s a lot of big names being thrown around…Pronger, Lecavelier, Jokkinnen; hopefully the Oilers make a move or two to make a run at the playoffs, I’m tired of them losing. I’m not really a fan of the Oilers, but it’s good for the city for the Oilers to be in the playoffs.

The SS Benefit NAIT cruise is going full steam ahead this weekend; main campus will be transformed into a luxury liner for the weekend! It’s a major fundraiser for NAIT, here’s hoping it’s a roaring success!

Ok ok, so back to the grind this week! Rather than dwell on how much more I could have done on my week off, I’m going to focus on the more positive aspects of my reading break. Firstly, I managed to get a bunch of things crossed off my ‘to do’ list; my passport is en route, my flight to Guatemala booked, the house clean, and a whole bunch of cooking. More closely related to this blog’s subject, I made it to the Kinsmen sports centre on Saturday with a friend to play some racquetball; it was my first visit to the Kinsmen since they renovated the pool last summer, I was quite impressed with the new look. But I digress…

I really had a great time playing racquetball, and got a great workout to boot! In fact, I think I’m going to pick myself up a racquet this coming week! NAIT has a couple courts, so I think I just found myself a new recreational passtime! A few of my buddies are pretty big into tennis, so it shouldn’t be too much of a stretch to get them to play this; besides, buying a new racquet will cost you only 30 bucks, or a couple bucks should you just want to rent one from the sports equipment centre.

Anyhow, I should get some rest…school’s at 8am sharp! Hopefully everyone enjoyed their time off, good luck with the last stretch! Just a little more, we’re almost there!

It saddens me to say I’m officially past the halfway point of my reading week…there’s still so much to get done! I literally spent the entire day job hunting, I must have applied for 40 positions if it was one! With the current economic downturn, jobs are getting harder and harder to find…they’re still out there, but perhaps not in as great of numbers as in recent memory. I’m still fairly confident I’ll have a job lined up before I graduate…after all, it’s three months away. I’m resolving to spend an hour or two on job hunting twice per week. You reap what you sow, after all.

I confirmed the dates for my trip to Guatemala this morning…August 12th is the magic day! Some of my Millennium colleagues are having a get together in Calgary this Friday, I’m going to try and make it down. I haven’t seen most of them since November, so I’m due for a visit. Apparently the city is having a hiring fair at city hall from 2-6pm on Friday, I may pop in to check that out. The bad news is that I have to be back in Edmonton for work at 10:30 Saturday morning….that’s going to make for a long drive Saturday morning! Guess I’ll have to behave myself on Friday night…

Did everyone have a good Valentine’s day? I wound up spending a nice evening with my sweetheart; we ended up watching Zack and Miri make a Porno…. SO romantic hahaha! Seriously though, it was a pretty funny movie, I’d reccommend it if you haven’t seen it yet.

That’s it for now, stay tuned for the nitty gritty on my Calgary escapades!