Rory

Road trip. Alberta. Camera.

Starting at Calgary and going counter-clockwise. Just not sure when yet...

Goodbye Charlie, Hello Ned.

Sunday, June 14, 2009 5:13:06 AM

Charlie (my 1988 Chrysler New Yorker) has died. May he rust in pieces. However, I have a new pet. His name is Ned. He is a 2002 Chrysler Neon. In perfect condition. For $1600. And he is standard, which is not that hard to drive. Will post a photo soon. He's pretty.

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Champion

Monday, April 13, 2009 4:12:39 AM

In the morning, I am driving to Champion.

Champion is a small town in southern Alberta, population probably under 400. Very close knit sort of place.

I'm going to my aunt's funeral. My Aunt Kaye, whom I never met. She was hit by a semi on Thursday morning on her way to work.

She and my father had a falling out some time ago, and despite his best efforts to patch things up between them, she would have nothing to do with it. I'm told she also had more or less stopped talking to my Uncle Doug as well.

The whole situation makes me wonder - Why do people insist on holding grudges? I would think that it should be easier to forgive each other for whatever troubles have occurred and make the best of the situation handed to us. When I go, I'd like to go knowing that there was nothing I or anyone around me would regret. If I were to get in a fight with someone I really do care about, I would hope that I could find the strength to try and make amends. But maybe how I feel will change as I get older. I hope not.

On that note, my mother hasn't spoken to me since the week before Christmas. I've tried to get in touch with her, but she has yet to pick up her phone. I suppose I should swing by her place at some point and try in person. At least I know that the last thing I said to her was "I love you," but I'm not sure that makes me feel any better right now.

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I... have... a weekend? Whaaaaaat?

Saturday, April 4, 2009 9:54:55 PM

It's been awhile since I've actually had two days off in a row, especially on the actual weekend. I'm quite enjoying this... AND it's nice out!

I am making seafood chowder, which is slowly being crock-potted as I type. Have banana chocolate chip muffins cooling. Am attempting to do laundry, but the dryer is kinda busted, which makes drying things a bit difficult... So I have wet shirts hanging from every possible surface. The stair railing looks lovely...

I was exited to discover that Calgary FINALLY has started a curbside recycling program. Other than having to drag the slightly massive blue cart to beside the garbage cans and attempting to compensate for the slight angle (oh, only about 45 degrees...) that the cart is sitting at right now, it will be awesome to have a decent service. Before, we had to take our recycling to a depot ourselves and they would only accept paper, milk jugs, cans and glass jars... So things are much improved!

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Musings on a new job...

Saturday, April 4, 2009 12:40:44 AM

I have recently escaped the clutches of the evil siren known as Starbucks and have started a new job at a call centre for a Canadian satellite provider. I will, eventually, be part of field support, but first I have to finish the 392,283,174 hours of training. Not that I exaggerate. So far, I am really enjoying things. Which made me think...

Isn't it ironic that the job that sounds like it would be fun (making coffee all day) is actually the one that drove me nuts and the job that sounds like it would be a complete nightmare (taking calls from possibly irate customers at a cubicle) is actually a blast?

It has come to me that the irony lies in a few key differences between the two jobs. At Starbucks, nothing was ever good enough, management never backed the staff up on their decisions, staff were treated with the attitude of being entirely replaceable and the range of products offered became so diverse that it was just too much to handle. So all in all, everyone was miserable, myself included. At the new job however, the opposite is true. Everyone is happy. Really. I have yet to meet someone who seems like they hate their job. Or even dislike it. And it seems to be because people actually do care what happens. And has fun. Which is a really awesome change. So right now, while I miss some of the people I worked with and some of my regular customers, I certainly do not miss the job in the least.

Babbling aside, I guess I'm just trying to say that I am really impressed by things at my new job. Who knew that treating employees like human beings and not expendable drones could make them happy?

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Six Weeks 'Til School

Tuesday, July 15, 2008 6:34:47 PM

$2200 = Tuition
$1000 = Remainder of car repairs
$600 = Lens for camera
$400 = Flash for camera
$400 = Textbooks

$4600 = Total

Despite having moved out nine months ago, despite my dad STILL paying spousal support to my mother and paying a mortgage and paying off debt of his own, despite my mother refusing to help me out, despite all that, I do not qualify for a student loan.

Looks like I'll be getting a line of credit. Yay, debt.

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It's July...

Wednesday, July 2, 2008 5:59:56 PM

Sorry for the lack of posting! I've been working 2-10:30pm shifts almost exclusively for over a month... I am (thankfully) taking a paid week off as of next Wednesday, and am trying to go back to my old store now that the drive-thru (or through, depending on how pedantic you're feeling) has more supervisors trained.

Got the car back, with a new(er), shiny engine. Long story short, the warranty people did absolutely nothing and the garage wound up doing almost $4000 worth of work for $2000 because of it. There are good people left in the world! The warranty company effectively screwed over myself and a man with a truck that needed around $6000 worth of work. Between the two of us, the garage has refused to do business with them again. I believe I'll be using this garage from now on.

A journalism friend from Edmonton is coming down this weekend. Haven't seen her since April, so it will be nice to visit!

Will post more in the next couple of days...

Edit: Stumbled upon this article. I found it rather interesting...

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Stuff.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008 3:40:59 AM

My dad and step-mom moved to Okotoks (about 40 minutes south of Calgary) at the beginning of May. It's a nice place. They seem happy, so things are good.

I've transferred to a new store for the summer. It has a drive-thru, and despite me cursing customers for being a)too lazy to get out of their cars, b)too quiet to be heard on the headset and c)impatient, it's kind of fun. It also helps that the person I was working DT with started singing over the headset.

Speaking of work, I had my review last week and am getting my full raise. A whopping 3%. Better than nothing though.

I'm published again. But in a slightly more official manner. I freelanced for Hockey Alberta and got my article printed in their magazine. To be honest, the article is decently awful. The guy I interviewed had problems answering questions like "What was the highlight of the tournament you won a bronze medal in?" (To which he responded with "Uh, I don't know.") But... If you're bored, click here to read it.

Car's in the shop. Thankfully, it was under warranty, so most of the repair cost is covered. It will (hopefully) be done tomorrow and I can pick it up Thursday morning.

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April showers bring... wait...

Wednesday, April 30, 2008 9:12:21 PM

It dawned on me today that it has not rained yet this spring. At least not a) a proper soaking of springlike proportions, or b) that I've been awake for. It's odd. Granted, it could be because we got a good two feet of snow awhile back, but still it's a tad odd.

It also dawned on me that I'm going to really miss having a yard this year. More specifically, I'm going to miss my (fairly tiny) garden. My section of yard in past years has contained strawberries, raspberries, mint, onions, parsley, basil, peas, lettuce, swiss chard and a terribly failed attempt at carrots. I guess I'll have to settle for potted plants this year...

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Profile Article - "The Mystery Maiden"

Thursday, April 10, 2008 4:36:00 AM

This is one of my final pieces for my newswriting class this semester. Just finished it up this morning...

A figure in a long, hooded black robe enters the room holding a scythe. Death is among us and she’s wearing a pair of red and white snakeskin pumps.

She usually goes with her trusty pair of Mary Janes.

The air in the darkened room hangs heavy with dread. Accusations fly and reputations are shattered in a heartbeat. Murder most foul is afoot and the killer is sitting here among us.

But don’t worry; it’s only a game. And the scythe is three feet long and plastic.

The grim reaper here tonight is 28-year-old Leigh Clements, otherwise known as the “Mystery Maiden.” Clements, a native Calgarian, is the owner of Shot In The Dark Mysteries. The company, specializing in murder mystery games, was officially launched in January 2007. Clements writes all of the feature games and hosts events in her macabre costume.

Hood down, Clements is nothing short of jovial. Her blue eyes twinkle as she recounts the beginnings of her hobby-turned-career. She pauses briefly to sip her soy chai latte before continuing.

“I was on a freelance writing site, looking up jobs,” Clements recalled. “I found this call for writers for murder mystery games and I just thought it would be this total off-the-cuff fun thing to do.”

The games are offered for download off of her site, www.shotinthedarkmysteries.com, for around $30. Buyers print the story line, character descriptions and clues, and play any sound effects off of their computers. The entire process takes only a few minutes. As Clements put it, the games are perfect for “hosts on the go.” The exception to the rule is when Clements is asked to facilitate a corporate event in full reaper garb. Corporate games are often custom written for the clients, adding the real life staff to the plot.

When she isn’t busy harvesting souls, Clements can be found watching “Lost,” walking her golden retriever Coburn, and as the snakeskin pumps may imply, shoe shopping. Clements, fluent in Spanish, also spends time in Nicaragua and is currently trying to get her pilots license.

Before turning to writing fulltime, Clements worked a 9-5 desk job at Rogers Communications. She quickly discovered that she was not suited to the often cutthroat corporate environment.

“It was clear that my body wasn’t happy with what I was doing and my mind certainly wasn’t happy with what I was doing,” Clements said, sweeping a strand of blonde hair behind her ear. “I just decided to do what made me happy.”

Her family initially was skeptical about her decision to leave Rogers in favour of starting her own business as a writer.

“I got the usual ‘grow up, get a job, get a good career and live happily ever after.’ And what I actually wanted to do was goof around plotting murder,” Clements said.

Clements said she did not feel her family was taking her ambitions seriously, but is thankful that mother was always extremely supportive of her.

Friend of five years and past co-worker Jennifer Johnston said that the career change did not come as a huge shock to her as writing has clearly been a passion for Clements for a very long time – she was working on a mystery novel when Johnston met her.

While the phrase “quirky” may come to mind when describing her friend, Johnston said she would rather use “talented” to sum her up. She believes that Clements should pursue the career that appeals to her the most.

“It might not get her the riches, but at least she’s going to love what she’s doing,” Johnston said. “Then she can say that she’s one in a million that does that, because not everyone loves what they do.”

Johnston said she feels that the most important thing for Clements is to be satisfied with what she has and the route she took to get where she is today. Clearly, this is what Clements has done.

“I always had this vision of a life that would make me happy,” Clements recounted. “I didn’t know what I would be doing, but I could go sit at a coffee shop and make stuff up.”

Clements has always loved writing and has worked on a diverse range of material ranging from short stories for anthologies, to freelance news articles, to novels. And of course, murder mysteries. She tends to camp out in “benign” locations while writing, preferring to choose coffee shops and parks over her home to work. Clements finds the prospect of housework too distracting to allow her to concentrate on her pieces.

Clements currently has three notebooks on the go, all with handwritten titles across the front. The covers of all three are plastered with sticky notes to remind her of story ideas, meetings or things to do.

On the odd occasion she is without writing utensil and surface, Clements employs word association to remind herself of a brainstorm.

“I remember one word that’s going to trigger it. Usually, it doesn’t work,” Clements said with a chuckle. “I try though!”

Thankfully, Clements is rarely without one of her notebooks, just incase she comes up with a new motive, plot twist or character.

One such character is “Sleepy Simon,” who suffers from a nasty case of narcolepsy. He walks around with pillows attached to his body, just incase he falls asleep in a precarious location. Simon will be a featured character in the upcoming youth game “Born on a Pirate Ship”.

“He’s actually trying experimental drugs and that’s what causes the narcolepsy,” Clements explained smiling widely.

Plans for the future include the possibility of finding a manufacturer and distributor to expand her company and launch pre-packaged, hardcopies of the games. Clements currently hopes to achieve this over the next two years.

Clements has another goal in mind to go along with the expansion of the business.

“I’d like to present death as a personality rather than just a consequence,” said Clements. “Right now I’m trying to redesign the grim reaper so that he’s a little bit more cuddly.”

Murder mystery fans are dying to meet her new and improved mascot.