Introducing my roommate, Ronny McMurray

No, my roommate is not named Ronny McMurray, but for the sake of protecting his identity, I will refer to my roommate as Ronny McMurray... get it, initials are RM... as for RoomMate. I thought that was pretty ingenious.

I'm living here in Ft. McMurray with a roommate. It was all arranged by my company and the housing agency. I've lived with a lot of other guys before in cadet summer camps (all in groups), but this is my first time living with ONE person I have never met before in my life.

Ronny McMurray

- the best roommate one can have. He's clean, he's quiet, and a Canucks fan.

We take turns cooking.

We take turns washing dishes.

It works.

Also I think the housing agency did some racial profiling... they grouped the TWO Chinese guys from Vancouver in one apartment.

It works.

BUT, there are some funny and bone-headed things Ronny has done which are too good to not share. So stay tuned for upcoming stories revolving around my roommate, Ronny McMurray.

P.S - My only complaint: He doesn't like spicy food.

My favourite "simple" foods in life

It was a Monday morning, I was at work. I was getting hungry and bit groggy, so I instintively opened the drawer to my right... and voila, I had a pouch of "Super Milk Tea:3 in 1 tea mix" in my hand and I immediately walked to the kitchen for hot water.

I start at 8am and about 9:30am, I crave for food. I keep a few puches of SUPER Milk tea and Maria biscuits in my cubicle for whenever I want take a morning break or just to wake myself up.

As I dipped the Maria biscuits into my tea, savouring the aroma, letting the biscuit melt in my mouth, I began to appreciate how such a simple snack can temporarily transport you out of your current state.

Then I started to think of other "simple" foods that make me go "mmmmm".

Cheese and crackers

Fresh Veggies with ranch dressing

Freshly baked bread with spinach dip

Yum.

Money Talks

Dont' listen to what momma says, money doesn't grow on trees. Money is pumped from the ground.
That's right, oil.
I work in Business Support (aka, Info Tech) of an oil company up in Ft. McMurray, Alberta. It hit -30° C this week.. it gets to -40°C. Who would want to work here?
Money talks.

My pants feel tighter than before (my fight against fat and weight gains)

That's right - oh who would imagine me... the most fit guy in the world with the most perfect level of metabolism... fighting against fat and weight gains. Seriously?? Who would have expected it?! All I have to do is eat, BAM I'm fit.

Before leaving for Fort McMurray, I was expecting to actually LOSE weight because of the additional walking to the grocery store (versus having a car in Vancouver) and of course, not eating my mom's amazing cooked food.

I remembered it so clearly....

My "runny" first week

Warning: This segment contains gross subject manner which may not be suitable for all audiences.

SUMMARY: I had the runs for two days straight and blamed it on the chocolate soya drink. Two months after that ordeal, it wasn’t the chocolate soya drink.

Part I – The First Night

I've lived away from home many times; four cadet summer camps between 2003-2007, ranging from 2 weeks to 7 weeks. So being away from home is not something new to me. But cadet summer camps were different because I didn't have to worry about food.

"So what?" I think to myself, "Food, I don't have to worry about it. I can cook and can tell the difference between raw, rotten, and cooked meat. I know I WON’T get sick from my own cooking." (cue foreshadowing).

Oh my first week was rough... or should I say, runny. It was VERY runny. It began like so.....

Something I have here that I didn't in Vancouver; Time

Time time time.

That was something I didn't have in Vancouver but I do have a lot of in Fort McMurray. That's the thing about full-time work in a new city; after you work, you're free. There are no assignments, studying, or exams to worry about and your weekends can truly be weekends. In Vancouver, volunteering and serving in my church took up a lot of time too (though I do miss volunteering and serving).

With time, I've been able to do more reading, guitaring, and song-writing. I started learning the song "Neon" by John Mayer again. I attempted it 3 years ago but it was too hard. Now with more experience in my hands and time, I'm learning it again.

It's a hard song put together by an amazing artist.

I'm just practicing the intro before moving to the rest of the song.

I left the stove element on - Stress ensues

9:12am - I realize that I don't remember turning off the stove element this morning. I really don't. I turned it on at 6:12am. I do remember clearly turning it on to boil some soup, shaking the pan to let the bubbles rise. BUT I DO NOT REMEMBER TURNING IT OFF.

[Stress level: 80% - running on adrenaline, hoping that my roommate turned it off]

9:15am - I go to my roommate's cubicle and ask if he turned it off. He says no.
[Stress level: 100%]

9:20am - I call the landlord to check. She says she'll call me back.
[Stress level: 90%]

9:25am - She calls back and said it was off.
[Stress level: 80%]

9:27am - As much as I want to put this to rest, I don't believe her. Maybe I didn't say my room number clearly and she checked the other apartment building; I DO NOT REMEMBER TURNING IT OFF!
[Stress level: 95%]

9:30am - I keep telling myself that the landlord checked and "it's off". It's off. It's off... okay, it's off
[Stress level: 80%]

9:57am - I really don't remember turning it off. It's so hard to work when you have this in your mind. Even if there is no fire, the smell of a burnt metal pot in the carpet, clothes, bed, couch. Another 7 hours to go until I get back to the apartment.
[Stress level: 70%]

10:04am - Breathing in, breathing out.
[Stress level: 50%]

10:10am - I keep saying these to myself to stay sane:
- In my history of life, I've never left an element on when I leave the house (But there's always a first time)
- The freaking landlord says it's off.
[Stress level: 47%]

10:20am - Searched "I can't remember if I turned off the stove" on Google. One site says it's "so automatic to turn the oven off after cooking that we hardly realize we're doing it." I think back on how automatic actions are prevalent in my daily life. There are a lot of things which I do that I don't even remember; it's like second nature.
[Stress level: 40%]

10:29am - I hear a whole bunch of people talking outside my cubicle and I hear my mentor's laugh. It's a funny laugh.
[Stress level: 32%]

10:33am - I try recalling my memory if I turned it off or not. Stress increase!
[Stress level: 40%]

5:30pm - I get back to apartment. It's off.

[Stress level: 0%]

5:31pm - I realize I have memory problems

[Stress level: 20%]

Line Chart of Stress levels in relation to time:

Fort McMurray is not THAT bad

I realize I need to give you the setting of my adventures and experience. This will allow you to understand some of the things I say in the later posts.

As the title says, Fort McMurray is not THAT bad. I was totally expecting it to be a boon town; dirty, boring, and white (Caucasian). Oh how my preconceptions have been shattered.

WARNING: I will be using “colours” to describe different races; I’m NOT racist. Using colours is the only way I can describe people’s ethnicity without knowing their country (for example, can you tell the difference between an Ethiopian, Djiboutian, or Somalian?? I can’t – I didn’t even know there’s a country called Djibouti.)

Preconception #0: Boon town [WRONG]

Obviously it’s not a beautiful city like Vancouver, but it’s definitely not in the boonies. It's a city of 100,000 people. There's a "downtown" (I'd call it a downstreet), there's a Superstore, Wal-Mart, Staples, Safeway, Moxies, Earls, a few Chinese restaurants and Japanese ones, a mall (small one, mind you). There’s also an Extra Foods, BP, Subway, KFC, and banks about 15 min walk away from my apartment. Most of the houses look like they are no more than 10-15 years old, there are whole bunch of gyms and community centres (and a brand new one with NICE facilities; water park, library, gyms, rinks, courts, conference halls).

Preconception #1: White [WRONG]

Fort McMurray's multiculturalism is MORE visible than Vancouver's. Vancouver, all you see is just ASIAN. Walking around Ft . Mac, you can see people of every ethnicity here. The church I go to, it was like the United Nations. They have flags of 42 different countries hanging in the back to represent all the countries the members are from.

Even at work... in my team, there are 2 black guys, 3 Asians, 2 brown guys, 4 white guys. My mentor is from Pakistan; my team leader is from Nigeria. My cubicle is across from another Nigerian and beside an Indian. [You don't get this mosaic in Vancouver].

Preconception #2: Boring [Depends]

If you’re a party animal, this place is not for you. One of my co-workers is from Montreal; yes Montreal. He’s the pinnacle of party animal and he hates this place. No clubs (well if you consider an old tavern with a dance floor as big as your room, then yes). The closest thing to a bar here is.... Boston Pizza?

But if you have a purpose in life and NOT a party animal, it’s not that boring. Like I said in Preconception #0, there are whole bunch of community centres. I play badminton on Mondays, volleyball on Thursdays. Before it started getting cold, I went to play Frisbee or soccer in the nice outdoor fields across my apartment. Also I have a guitar here and I've done plenty of reading as well.

Preconception #3: Dirty [CORRECT]

It’s Alberta. What d’you expect?

Okay, it's not THAT dirty. It's not ... fresh and clean like Vancouver, BUT it's definitely cleaner than India!

Conclusion:

Fort McMurray is more of a family town than anything else. I wouldn't mind living here and raising a family. Why??? You'll save money because your wife or daughter won't be shopping too much here. (Then again, it's about a 5 hour drive away from Edmonton).

More stories to come!

I AM BACK (My return to blogging)

After much prodding by my good friendo Aaron Lo, I have succumbed to blogging again. Its been almost a year since I've blogged. School, life, traveling, and music was of greater importance than blogging.

But now, I'm in Fort McMurray, Alberta for coop and have more time on my hands. By the end of it all, I will be here for 8 months. It's been 2 months and I have many stories of my experience so far. I got stories about my coworkers, my roommate, me, God, life, etc; I assure it will be highly entertaining to read.

Here are some upcoming story titles I will be blogging about:

- My pants feel tighter than before (My fight against fat and weight gains)

- Drunk Asian business man

- My roommate is .... alright

- My week of diarrhea

- I'm ready for marriage (or so it seems)

In response to Paul’s post: “I connect to God best through P&W, so I’m a lukewarm Christian.”

First post of 2010… controversial blog title, got your attention, keep reading!

This post is in response to Paul's blog which polled the question:
Best Connection with God through ...
o Scripture
o Praise and Worship
o Devotions
o Quiet time
o Youth Group
o I don't believe in God
(ok, I'm assuming most of Paul's inner network of friends are Christians hence the last option doesn't get represented).

As of December 1, 2009, 3:00pm. 45% have chosen P&W as there best connection with God. Not a surprising result, it is well expected most people can "feel" and "connect" with God through music.
Let’s throw this into the mix: "Majority of Christians are "lukewarm", do not actively seek God, do not have growth in their faith"

Is there a connection? Time to investigate and do some soul searching.
What I'm trying to get at is I have some causal relationship that many who "connect" best with God with music and only music do not actively seek God and grow their faith.

As Paul said: we want to be fed like babies:
"Oh song is so good.. MmmmM"
"OH this tastes so good... mmmmM"
"This feels so nice ... mMmMm"

Observation: Those who are easily emotionally moved by music are NOT strong Christians. Those who connect best with God through reading Scripture, devotions are the strongest... Intellectual Christians. Those who connect best with God through P&W are weak Christians... Emo Christians.

I see worship songs as simple carbs (sweet candy, chocolate). Good, yummy, gives you that sugar rush... but definitely not filling.
I lead "worship" with music and songs at church and I enjoy doing it. It was at a youth rally and it was during worship where I "felt" God, my first 'high', and that's was when I personally gave my life to Christ, signing up for a contract of commitment, sacrifice, and love. Since age 13-18, that was my way of connecting with God; with praise & worship.

Since then, I've never had that same high... always wanting more, more intense worship, more rallies, more concerts. Of course all were great and amazing, but it never compared to that first night I "experienced" God. And leading worship 2-3 times a month... eventually the whole "experience" becomes a habit and honestly, doing this for the last 3-4 years... today it's quite bland compared to the "”first time”.

OH! WHat?! The guy in-charge of the worship team at church thinks praise & worship is bland?!?! To clarify, Why do I still do it?
a) It’s still a great way to worship,
b) seeing there’s a need for people to worship with music.

In the year of 2009, I really got into the Bible and WOW. Each time I read, I get blown away by the truths laid out by God and how powerful and deep each verse is. Currently, I’m going the Psalms and it’s really amazing to read through and recognize the psalms that have inspired some of the greatest worship songs ever written (that will be another blog post).

How do I connect to God the best? It was a tough choice between Scripture, PW, Quiet time,Youth Group, and Devotions for they are all pretty close. Since the poll only allowed one choice, I picked “Quiet Time”.

On a closing note, connecting to God with one method is bound to have your faith unstable, shaky, and weak whereas connecting to God with Scriptures, PW, Quiet time,Youth Group, and Devotions will allow you stabilize and strengthen your faith in Christ.