It's been a while but a lot has happened. I jumped ship and took off to Vancouver about mid way through the month, filled with a desperate feeling that if I didn't leave soon I wasn't going to leave at all. I hadn't been getting any success in the job search department, and the Municipality of Rockyview hadn't contacted me regarding the planning technician position they had open. I had mixed feelings about that anyways to be honest. Calgary is my home town, its true, and I do like it quite a bit, but I needed to leave again and keep moving, an challenging myself. So off to Vancouver with a suit and tie and a load of resumes, and threw myself into finding a good job. I met some fantastic people - in fact everyone I spoke with was wonderful and very friendly and were very happy to meet with me and give me advice on the job hunt. Unfortunately, nothing appeared, and again, a good position open in Coquitlam that I fought hard for didn't come through, and that was a bit tough for a while.

I had some quiet moments - early morning jogs along the New Westminster Quay boardwalk, a harbour seal barking at me loudly, walking through the surf with bare toes at Jericho Beach, seeing an interesting movie at the International Film Festival. Enjoying the City for all its worth.

But, things work out as long as you don't let your spirits flag, and a previous effort of mine paid through when I received a message from a company asking me to come in for a conversation up at their Kelowna office. Just a conversation, not an offer, not an interview, but again, a good opportunity to meet someone in the field and talk about what I want to do with my life and career, and something new to learn so I lept at the chance. It turned out to be a fantastic meeting with two of the managing partners up there and I headed back to Calgary filled with a sense of purpose and a renewed mission, I guess you could say. I've been busting myself hard finishing up all the details I'd let slip, getting my Masters Thesis fully cleaned up and off to my supervisor for final review (I'm very happy with how that turned out). Now its back to Vancouver again for an actual interview at the Richmond office and I'm nervous but also really excited, because I'm happy with who I am, what I'm doing, and what I want to be when I grow up. This time its for real and I don't know how I'm going to make things work over the next little while, but with hard work, things will. I know it.

Ray, I got my thesis done before you!