Thank goodness for fans

It's hot tonight, really hot. We had a formidable storm around 7 p.m., with hail and a heavy downpour. Somehow, it didn't clear all the mugginess that's been accumulating all day. The heat makes me sleepy, I'm think I'm gonna head to bed early for a change.

I'm thinking about a lot of things lately. Coordinating two moves (stuff from Vancouver coming back to Montreal and stuff in Montreal moving to the new place), changing my address all over the place, but also I've been wondering how come I haven't been spending much time with friends. We're all pretty busy, that's understandable, but I think there's more to it than packed schedules. I cannot speak for my friends, but I do know that I've been feeling rather tired these days. I think work has a lot to do with it.

I haven't been terribly happy with work, I'm realising that maybe consulting is not really my cup of tea. There are things I work on that really interest me, but the entire context under which the work is undertaken does not appeal to me. Consulting is a lot of politics and really more a sales job than I thought it would be. Fortunately, at my level, we do not have sales targets, but as I look at the career path that awaits me if I do well and one day get promoted, and it's all about selling. I'm not a sales person. My brother is a natural at sales, but I'm not. Well, I can get people interested in something, and I have managed to raise quite a bit of money for breast cancer over the past few years, but it's just not the same.

I'm thinking that I might start looking around at what else is available. It's the summer now, not a good time to look for work, but come September, kids will go back to school and business will return to normal.

I'm a bit sadden that I feel this way about my new job, but at the same time, when your heart is not there, it's really hard to get through the day. And right now, I'm working on a really stressful project while trying to wrap up two others, so it doesn't help. I end up working nights, evenings and weekends.

Maybe I'll even take a break in September. With a bit of money coming in from the sale of the condo, I might be able to manage a few weeks off. Since Christmas, I have only taken a week off to visit Vancouver and half of that week was spent taking care of unfinished renos and other errands to get the condo on the market.

Now, quick shower before going to bed and I'm sleeping with the fan on tonight. So happy my apartment has a ceiling fan in the bedroom, woot!

Finally summer?

Happy Sunday and happy father's day everyone. Hope you are enjoying a day of rest with your loved ones.

Last night, I had dinner at my brother's with Brendan, Annie (who was visiting for a few days) and Philippe. It was really nice to sit outside, enjoy appies and white wine, and catch up with siblings. We talked about work, living arrangements (both sales are final, only waiting for the visit to the notary in late July) as Annie is renting the top floor of the duplex and wanted to know what the place was like. After dinner, we walked over to my brother's neighours place to watch the fireworks. Now that is an activity that makes it feel like it's finally summer. I love watching fireworks. We couldn't see all of them, our view was blocked by a building, but enough to make it magic and enjoyable.

According to the weather forecast, we are heading towards some really nice and warm days. Could it be that the summer is finally here? The Montreal Jazz Festival is only a few weeks away, I can't wait to go listen to a few free outdoors show. Moving back to Montreal means that I get to enjoy all this summer activity. So far, I can't say that I have spent much time outside, work is keeping me really busy and the weather wasn't always cooperating. Hopefully the tide is turning.

I will probably have to work Wednesday, even though it's Saint-Jean-Baptiste. I have a deadline at the end of the month and there is still a lot of work to complete until then. What I am hoping is that I can take July 1-3 off instead (I also worked Victoria Day, so that would be two days I can get in lieu of) and make it an extra long weekend at the chalet. Work on the second chalet has begun, and I can't wait to get into work boots, grab a hammer and built stuff. My father is building a green chalet next to our existing chalet. This second chalet will be completely off the grid (like the first one) but will also use a "puit canadien" (geothermal system) to help cool / warm the place, and solar panels for electricity, obviously. I'm excited to be able to help build this place. It will be a nice change of pace from the long days spent in front of the computer.