The Knockout Soup

I almost didn't Blog today... couldn't really bring myself to chat about a fairly lacklustre day.

I did manage to grab a couple of pictures today... nothing special. Just held the camera up... snap! Who ever knew that waiting for light to change could be so colourful at 7:15am? I certainly didn't.

The day at work was quite busy... I was sort of in a tizzy 'cuz my e-mail was being clogged by a big nasty one from one of our clients. It would make my new machine choke and churn for ages trying to download the file a second time. The computer would sort of quit on me, not cleaning off what it had taken off it before... so the big file would be left on there to be tried again. Well, by about 1pm this afternoon, I said 'fuck it!' I called up the boss and said, 'how do I get into the webmail (knowing it was possible) to clean off this stupid e-mail?' He told me where to login and bam! I was good to go. I didn't have any downtime really... but it's hard to co-ordinate the day's activity without control of the source of it all.

Troy and I were chatting pretty much the entire day... he's an alright fella. Still getting to grips with his style of speech... I think he's alright with mine. I can get away with my Clayton-isms, so to speak... so we're doin' alright then. He's a younger sounding 30 years old... I would have thought he'd been a little closer to Lee's 28... but no, 30. 31 on the 18th of December. Who says I don't retain any conversation? He too, speaks very highly of the feminine sort... so he fits in well, unlike Meathead, who never really fit into many of the conversations.

Troy is also getting on with the position a lot better than Meathead did. Troy knows a lot less HTML, but that really isn't stopping him from getting through the jobs. It's not like HTML is the toughest thing in the world to know... hell, Troy knows nothing, but he actually wants to pick it all up... and that's actually quite a good attitude to teach to. So I'm quite alright with that.

The snow today only fell in the morning. Nothing new fell after I had gotten to work today. It was actually quite a sunny day... but the windchill has now reared it's ugly head.

This was the view from my window this afternoon... it's got that bland look of cold to it, doesn't it? Yuck.

Well, like I said at the opening... I almost didn't Blog today. There was lots to do at work today, so there wasn't much time there. Dinner tonight was Cream of Broccoli Soup... so there was some milk in it... and for those who don't know, I have a fatiguing allergy to milk and some other dairy products. It really just tuckers me out after a good glass of milk... or a milk based soup. Ice cream is really bad too... but that's also bad for my acne, so that's a double no-no.

Once the big bowl of soup was consumed... and a bottle of Keith's finest... I pretty much laid down for an hour, sort of hoping that it would take the place of my restless mind and knock me out for the night. Not a chance. The phone rang at about 8ish... the cordless was right outside my bedroom door. Fudge! So, now I've since gotten up, checked the hockey scores, watched a wee spot of CSI (not really my kind of show) and now have since been Blogging a bit.

I did want to continue on a bit about the political post I did last night... but I hadn't done anymore Libertarian reading. It's kind of shocking really that a political post on the Tales would be the one to strike up the most comments for a long time, or possibly ever in one day.

I will say this though... I might have to side with Mark on the Liberal decision. This really does seem to be an election to find the lesser evil. When I look at the politics through the news, which today, does seem to be the only way to look at politics in Canada... the Liberals have been accused, convicted and are believed to be pretty corrupt still. The Conservatives on the other hand... well, they're gonna attack our tax bottom lines... and drive the country back into the economical ground... and they're not really denying that. The Gomery Report probably cost a ton of money... but no one is saying that taxes are goin' up for it... 'cuz they're not. The surplus will cover it and all of Chretien's excess spending.

As long as federal taxes aren't goin' up... then... meh. The Liberals seem like a lesser evil. But I'm not done with my decision. But that is my thought process for the moment. I think portions of the next eight weeks may be a bit political here at the Tales... then again, I might just make a final decision over the weekend, post it... and vote with it January 23rd. It's all up in the air... for now.

At least my Canucks are winning at the moment. (Just starting the second period at time of writing) A win against the Avalanche would be most stres-relieving as a Canucks fan tonight.

We're up 2-1 there in the second... I could really use a Markus Naslund hat-trick tonight. Both for the Canucks and the pool. Hell, if the big line can get their act together, I would be doing a whole lot better in pretty much all my pools. I had big expectations for these guys... and where have they been?? Dunno... but I thank goodness that the twins are living up to the bill a bit so far this year... my faith in them is finally being rewarded.

Come on Jovo... where's your Olympic size talent? We're gonna need that in Italy too, y'know!

So how do ya like that post for not gonna post tonight? Not bad, eh. I need another beer.

Dissolved

Okay, it isn't what you think it is... or maybe it is...

Watching the Rick Mercer Report tonight on CBC brought me into a somewhat political mode for this post. Hell, we've only got 8 weeks 'til we have to vote, people... let's use it wisely. Nah... let's just make ourselves a vote based on our political ideology and be done with it.

If you remember back in the end of September, I did a post with a Political Test and I'm now curious... how would it actually play out in January's vote for a new government? I mean, if I don't vote for the political party that best represents me as a person, according to some internet personality test, wouldn't that make me a cyber-hypocrite? How 'bout a hypocrite in general? Those aren't very good things to be.

Okay, so I'm a "Libertarian" at political heart... fairly socially and economically permissive, halfway to anarchy. You know, that does sound about right. I'm really wishing that there were better links from that test to my results. Let's look up Libertarian on Wikipedia and see what comes up, shall we?

For those who won't click on those links... I'll summarize.

"Libertarianism is a modern political philosophy[1] that strongly advocates the maximization of individual rights, private property rights, and free market capitalism. Specifically, libertarian politics holds that a person's freedom to dispose of his body and private property as he sees fit should be unlimited as long as that person does not initiate coercion on the person or property of others."

You know, I'm gonna have to read this a whole lot more... it's actually quite fascinating. It is pretty much like reading my own opinions on the screen. I could almost classify myself as a full-on Libertarian.

But to sort of pull myself further into the Canadian political scene... most Libertarians are closer to classic Liberals, but with a whole lot more economical freedom ideologies than what normal Liberals have. You know, I think I might have to read this through a little bit more to see which way I sway.

I suggest to you all to go take that test and see what your mettle is really made of... then vote accordingly. I think that would be a rather informed decision. If that's the way you think, who am I to really judge how you vote... not like you're gonna tell me... although I might tell you.

The Snow Is Here...

This was out the car window on the way through Langdon... it was already dark by the time I was in the town. It was only 5:10pm! Man... how depressing. Yes, the snow is here and the roads are all the more treacherous. Geez, you think its dangerous with idiots on the road in Calgary... just give them snow and ice to drive in too! I'm sure that can be said anywhere really.

To be honest, I didn't really encounter many idiots on the trip home from work. I think I was quite fortunate in that regards. The only real dummies I found were the ones driving along McKnight through all the construction there... hell, it changes everyday, who really knows what lane you're supposed to be in at any given time.

Today at the office... I got a new computer. Just 'cuz the one that Troy was working on (and Meathead had been working on) had finally bit the big piece of RAM in the sky. So, pretty much all day today, I was configuring the new machine so I could be up and running again. Lee took my old one and then Troy took Lee's old machine... and all was well again. It's great being the favourite!! Tee hee. Or the guy who knows how to do that sort of thing... or the guy who's got someone working underneath him and will do all the work (and learning how to do the job) while a computer is being setup... but I just think I'm the favourite. Mwah ha ha!

Tomorrow should be a day back to the norm... that'll be good. I'm thinking it'll be nice and quiet and I can get Troy trained a little bit better. I think I'm actually gonna have to teach him some HTML coding... joy! I don't really consider myself a great teacher... I'm already 0 for 1 already there at the office.

I showed Lee the "Stapler Says" pictures I had done (look below)... I had a feeling he'd like 'em, all though he wouldn't really admit it, I'm sure he does. Geez... he gave me a slight pose for a couple more... which I've only done one. Oh yeah... and the line is his too.

I think he said it best... "oh the great things we can do with all this technology." Well, I can't say that he's wrong... ha ha.

This is a fair judgement to the sort of humour I get from this guy... and really this isn't all bad. I know people who are FAR worse. I think it's the way he says these things (which is fairly tough to dictate in animated GIF form) that makes him seem so funny. He doesn't really have a true confidence to him... more a fake it 'til he makes it sort of confidence. It's pretty transparent. But funny.

Tonight, I did call Barbara to see what she's up to. I couldn't call her on my mobile tonight... the Rogers Network was completely busy. I'm wondering how many accidents on the messy roads it would take to bring down the Rogers Wireless network around Calgary. It must be quite a few. So, I called her when I got in at home. She was stuck in traffic on the Deerfoot. 'Its better than being stuck in the ditch,' I laughedly reassured her.

She's got a big paper due at school at the end of the week and hadn't finished reading the material for it yet... so she was pretty busy for the bulk of the week, but she did make mention that we might get together sometime on the weekend. She does work until 9:30pm... but hey, it's the weekend, right? That was pretty much what she had said.

Does that mean I'd have to wait to have a few drinks until then?? Crikey... by 9:30 most nights these days, I'm pretty well on my way. Oh, the things I'll do for a pretty girl.

Well, a few more bottles out of the case tonight and the possiblity of two things may happen tonight... 1) I may get a tad philosophical... and 2) I might get some friggin' sleep! Down the hatch she goes!!

Happy 300th

Wow... 300 posts already. I'm glad I've found this so enjoyable.

I don't really have anything planned for #300... I guess I really didn't think it all the way through. I should have had some sort of pictures or something to share with you guys... but, meh. I suppose I could re-live some of the classics of the last 7+ months on the job.



Ahhh... the "Fool Monty" night... what a fantastic story that was. The memories.

Let's never forget the Homelands weekend... good ol' Pearce... that girl never saw it comin'.

One of the last nights in the UK... Lars and I with the pint glasses up.



Back in Calgary... love to say it's good to be home... but I dunno 'bout that.



Which sort of brings us all the way to November and out in the Kananaskis Country for the Xmas Party... yup... it's been a wild ride here on the Tales in 300 posts. I've got my camcorder with me again today, so I'll try for more pictures today and most everyday now.

Kind of my November Resolution, if you will. Now, I need to see if my coffee has finished brewing now.

The Stapler Says...

Stupid Blogger and it's new drop down options... why make things more difficult? Nevertheless.

No... I didn't sleep much at all last night or at least I don't hink I did. From the couch, to the floor, back to the couch and back into bed... it was a rough night. Insomnia is a bitch, I tell ya. Oh well, somehow I was still awake enough today to function.

The new guy started today... Troy. He doesn't seem too bad... very soft spoken, which is a complete contrast to Meathead... which is a good thing. Doesn't seem to know a lot about webpages and HTML, but that's alright... I think he'll be a quick learner. He's a hockey fan as well, which always helps... and the first day wasn't a disaster. Phew!

Now, I'm supervising the entire EDGAR section of the office... yup... supervising me and Troy. Nice. It's a good thing this is coming now, 'cuz I do believe my raise will be on the paycheque after the one on Wednesday. Woo hoo!! Fill my boots, please...

In my insomniac state... I thought it would be a good idea to get some pictures of Lee and make little cartoons out of them. He does have a very humourous look to him... that I knew I could take to my advantage. So, I animated some GIFs with some of what he might say if he saw these pictures... oh yeah, and his last name is Staples... so the nickname "The Stapler" kinda sticks easily...

These were just random shots with me and the camera... I get a giggle out of them. I suppose they could be offensive to some people... if so, please forget you had ever seen them. These pictures are for humour purposes... plus, I've seen so much worse in the e-mails that are forwarded around, that this shouldn't even cause a stink. Please, just take your stink and take off.

You can also see me frozen in "Hohmannite" over at Mark's blog... that'll make for another good giggle.

I've also got a hankerin' to put up a whole lot more pics and stuff on the Tales... I don't think I do enough photo-blogging... my Photoshop fun has sort of dissipated, until animating the Stapler... hopefully, if he likes them, we'll do a few more. All good fun...

Any ideas for more pictures?? Remember folks, I'm in Calgary... maybe that'll give you something you may wanna see from me. I like a fun project.

Anyhoo... I'm gonna go try and find some sleeping aid pills... I don't think the two beers earlier will be enough to make me pass out tonight. Catch ya later!!

Can't Sleep Again

I think I drink to get to sleep faster. Right now, that little bastard of a hamster is stretching for it's run in my head tonight. Can anyone pass me some WD-40... I think his wheel squeaks.

I'm trying to let Fiona sing me to sleep tonight... but I'm just not fading away. I guess it's probably the case that I did only get up at two in the afternoon.

I uploaded a new photo to Flickr... trying to get it posted on this post. Hmmmm... don't think it's gonna work. Might have to use Photobucket again... see if it's up and running for me again.



Yup... it worked. Good ol' Photobucket. I just can't sleep tonight... and that's what it looks like. I'm trying to live in the dark to make my eyelids heavier.

As long as I stay in front of the computer, the hamster will not get on the wheel. When my restless mind gets going, I always wish that I'm blogging it all... but when I'm sitting here posting, I just can't seem to write a whole hell of a lot.

I suppose if I was to give the news... I'm coming up to my 300th post on the Tales. I think this'll be #298... it's quite exciting. I'm blogging at quite the pace. I should do some historical blogging as I said I would do... I do have my journal from my trip to Japan to publish. I wouldn't mind reading through it again one of these days. I also have quite a few written stories from the 26 months in England... I should post a few of those. That'll shoot the post count through the roof. I'll probably date them for when I actually wrote it all, so if you see some odd looking months in the archives, click on 'em to see what I had written in the past.

Okay, one more picture for you guys... just 'cuz I wanted to use the camera. My lack of enthusiasm shows in this one.



Okay... nearing 11pm... must sleep. Must try. I'm gonna dream again tonight, I know it!! Hopefully its a good dream... something I don't find myself waking up to and scaring the life outta me. I don't wanna be sleepwalking either... that sorta creeps me out too.

Wish me luck.

Confusion...

Six cans of Pepsi, some chili, pepperoni, cheese & crackers later... yeah, the afternoon hangover is pretty much sorted now. I didn't get up today until 2pm when Dad came down to see if I was still alive... I wasn't too sure, myself.

I don't know when I came home last night... but I do know that I was pretty drunk. I'm not even sure how I got home, let alone when... it was quite something. I think the memory cut out again once the fresh air hit me.

I went down to the bar with Rob & Michelle to catch the game and play some pool... was only on bottles and I think I did a couple of shots as well, before Benny came in and we chatted a bit. Theresa was working a bit... but I didn't pay her much attention. Marni was working again... apparently, she had gotten slashed with a knife downtown and was off work for the last couple weeks. She was bandaged up still on her right shoulder, where the knife got her. I think I even saw Raquel kicking around before the end of the stay. Girls a plenty!! Nice. I think my eyes were wandering quite a bit when the commericals came on.

Once the game was over, Benny said Jeff was at his place playing poker, so I left the bar with him... I'm pretty sure I said goodbye to Rob & Michelle. Heh heh. Paid the tab and got the heck outta there. We piled into Benny's Cavalier and headed over to Jeff's place.

There Jeff, Jay, Jill & Sandra (almost got the aliteration there...) were playing a little bit of Texas Hold'em. Benny and I sat down at the table and we started a new game. They weren't playing for money or anything, just good solid poker fun.

By then, I was really in "having a good time mode." I don't think I had too many by that time... but I was doin' well enough to have a good laugh. Then suddenly, I caught Jill flirting with me at the table. Givin' little winks and smiles... I was sort of put into a state of confusion, thinking 'why??' But since I was running in "good time mode," I didn't really put much stock into it. Don't know why... I'm kinda kicking myself now, but... oh well.

We played a few games of poker and then headed back to the Wildfire for a few more. Then the memory gets a tad hazy... I remember grabbing another drink and then playing pool... playing doubles. Jill took me as her teammate... but then the fresh air that was had started to get to me and well, I have no idea how I did.

Next thing I know, I'm home... watching with a drunken intent as a bag of microwave popcorn likes in the microwave doing nothing. Eventually, it finishes popping and I took the bag to bed with me, where in the end I passed out.

I think I got up once for water in the morning... but Dad was the one who woke me up at 2pm. I was lying in a bed full of popcorn and I found myself trying my best to remember what had happened the night before. The memory kinda failed me a bit.

I have checked the last receipt I got from the bar and found that it was printed at quarter after two... but that's about the last hint of time I've got. I didn't make any phone calls past calling Jeff before heading to his place and there was no indication from the folks when I may have straggled in.

So today, I've battled with the still-drunkenness... the fatigue of possibly over-sleeping... and the kicking myself about Jill. So I've finally got myself together now and oh it'll be another early night. I should go find the Simpsons on TV soon... I missed last week's new episode, so I don't think I should miss another one. Get to bed at a good hour... I will get a replacement to Meathead tomorrow... so I'll get training here tomorrow.

I'll give Barbara a call here sometime this week... see what she's up to. I have to go get my Canucks jersey from Jeff's place soon too... I had left it there after I took it off before playing poker. Try and catch up with what I may have done at the bar... eek! See if he says anything about Jill. I am a tad curious now.

So, that's my plan... payday this week. Might look into some winter tires this week. Probably should do that soon... the wintery winds are supposed to be bringing snow again. I'll try my best to get pictures. Until tomorrow!!

Early Saturday Evening...

The wind... she has been a blowin'... and my oh my, is it ever a cool one.

I went out for a quick drive to Strathmore, just for something to do and the wind was just blowin' the car all over the place. Nothing like having to re-position yourself on the road at 130km/h.

Today, I was trying to get some pictures up on my account on Photobucket.com and that wasn't working quite so well. Odd... it never really gave me any troubles before. So now, I went on to my account on BlogExplosion and they have started to host pictures now... so I'll try their service. Just as back-up.

On Friday, I picked up my Senators jersey from Jersey City...


I'm officially a happy camper. Especially on the afternoon he gets a goal and an assist for my pool team... go Sens! It sure does look good now. When I picked it up, the guy at the counter asked me, 'how long have you had this jersey?' I hummed and hawed a bit... 'because Starter hasn't made jerseys in like 4 years.' After I thought about it, I think I bought this jersey originally when it first came out as the Senators third jersey. I always really like the look of the red jersey. Now that I have Spezza on it... it kinda rules!!

And my other picture for today will be a quick shot of Chester...



Rob & Michelle's puppy... he wasn't able to sit still long enough for me to get a super-cute picture of him... but this'll do. I'll try and capture his likeness a little bit better another day.

Tonight, I think I'll be keeping Rob company down at the Wildfire tonight. Michelle has a do going on down there and Rob will be hangin' around. What's a good friend to do... keep him company.

Canucks & Coyotes on HNIC tonight... it should be a good game. It'll allow me to be nice & loud. Giddy up!!

Well, looks like I have some network troubleshooting to do across the road... so I'll chat with ya guys later.

Laughter Is The Best First Date

What a great laugh that was last night... that Barbara is quite the cool character. I met her last night at Joey Tomatoes... hey, I gave her the chance to pick a spot, she couldn't, so I did... so sue me. I got out of floor hockey at 9:45pm and gave her a ring. She agreed to go meet, so we did.

We only had a couple drinks each, but did we ever chat... telling stories, laughing away and I pretty much had kept her pretty smile on the entire time, which was really cool. Her sense of humour is pretty comparable to my own, which made it rather easy... and her partying lifestyle, which far exceeds mine, made my stories a little easier to tell.

All in all, we quickly chatted away 2 hours in Joey's and then we parted ways with a hug and times which are good to call. I'm gonna have to make a concerted effort, I guess, since she has a 'phobia of calling people first...' which I suppose isn't really all that true, 'cuz she did in the end call me back... which for how long it took, almost could be considered a first call. Nevertheless, I think there is a definite green-light on there, but her working schedule at the restaurant she works at, may be a tad interesting to work around. We shall see though.

Last night's floor hockey was quite good... another solid, sweaty workout for all. The guys sure do like having me in net... and that does make me wanna go back all the time. I think they're glad that they have a guy who likes to play goal, who'll show up most weeks now.

Yesterday, I spent most of the day with Rob... we did lunch at Hooters in the Northeast, which was quite good... caught a little bit of the Falcons/Lions game in there, whilst having lunch. We also got his Pontiac Sunbird out of the backyard, where it had been sitting for a while. All in all, it was a pretty good holiday Thursday... as those go. Still don't wanna be here at work this morning though.

Shouldn't be a bad day at work today... got to chat with Brydon about my arch-nemesis client this morning and two other filings that are sitting in my Inbox to be worked on today. I'll probably dog it as much as possible this morning. Make a pot of coffee soon and then go from there. That sounds like a pretty good plan.

Giddy up... and all that jazz.

Gobble Up The Day

Hooray for American Turkey Day!! I guess I'm giving thanks for the Americans for taking this holiday and shutting down the EDGAR server at the SEC, so I can have this luxurious day off. Ha ha Lee... have fun at work!!

Yesterday was a pretty know nothing day. The pace at work was pretty slow... I got all of my billing done for my clients, finished off pretty much all my files that'll be filed for Friday except for my arch-nemesis client, who has now decided to come back with a vengeful (yet, rather stupid) set of changes for two of their smaller filings that probably should have been filed last Friday, but have taken their sweet time to give me this hell. This proof that they had sent me had me grrrr'ing and moaning for a good hour, 'cuz it was so frustrating. I even showed it all to my boss and said... 'we should start charging them for this shit.' I agree.

Anyhoo... I'm not at work today, so that'll be the last of my worries for the next 22 hours.

Last night, Dad got a ticket to the Flames/Sharks game with Gord (Team Lowes Racing) from work, so Mom and I were left to our own devices for dinner. 'Let's go out!' So I called Rob, told him to come down so we could antagonize some more Flames fans when the game is on TV and Mom and I went ahead for a bite to eat.

Got down there... and there was no game. Still ate though... and Rob showed up. Mom stayed for a couple, which was good... good to get her out of the house from time to time. Actually, Mom and I had a really good chat about certain things... a really good debate or discussion about Mom's fascination with other people's success and how they achieved it. Somehow, those sorts of things don't interest me... so we made a discussion from that.

Theresa was in, sitting with Benny & AJ at one of the tables in there as well... they came in shortly after we had arrived. She had come over to the table and was telling me that she was so excited that she was getting all sorts of nights off between Wednesday and Sunday for the next couple weeks. You know, I just couldn't get excited for her... I wanted to, but if only she had ever picked up the phone. She then proceeded to tell me that most of the gang were gonna be down at the Riverbend Station Pub tonight and that I should come down and meet them. I said that I might, but it was highly unlikely due to floor hockey and "possibly other plans." I wasn't gonna tell her right then and there about Barbara... "time and a place," my friends.

I actually had a good chat with Benny after Mom had gone and Rob and I were playing some pool. Benny and AJ slowly made their way over and Benny and I were chatting about Theresa a bit. It turns out, he's had pretty much the exact same problems as I... not really believing a word she says. Apparently she's stood him up a couple times as well... so we're in complete agreement about everything. The whole topic of 'not picking up the phone' had been a pretty good conversation piece for me and a few people. Everyone has had it happened... and it's a good way to get a few people to agree for a few minutes anyways.

After finishing up at the pub, Rob and I headed back to his place to play a little PlayStation for a bit... he'd been dying to do that for quite a while. A litle Medal of Honor: Rising Sun and Hot Shots Golf 3 and that was it for me... the beer wasn't going down so well and it was clocking over 1am... so it was about that time to go.

This morning, I'm up and Blogging... catching up a bit this morning. I have the New Pornographers on the stereo, "Mass Romantic," their first album. A good little pick-me-up to get going this morning. Gonna go get my second cup of coffee soon... okay, right now. Alright... now I'm good again.

On today's agenda: update the stats of the pool, help Rob with getting his Pontiac Sunbird up and running, maybe head into town this afternoon for some banking, hang out when I'm in town until floor hockey, floor hockey, then call up Barbara and see where she'd like to go for a drink today.

Yup, that'll be my day... it looks like the stats will take a little while. NHL Game Notes isn't updating them as quickly as I'd like them to... so it'll be a lot of manual entry this morning. Fun for me!! Good thing I have all day!!

Unusual Surprises

A pleasant surprise on the drive home after an unpleasant one before the drive home... that'll pretty much be the story of the post.

I knocked off work 15 minutes early to walk up to KP Tirecraft to pick up my car, which needed some ball joints and an engine mount... and the unpleasant surprise hit. It took 3+ hours to fix $90 worth of parts to bring the grand total with taxes up around $475... and news that my brakes have only 20% life left in them. Great! Ugh.

That certainly warmed up the Visa card again... crap!

When I got into the car, Pa called me on the cell to check the damage to the accounts... ouch... and to tell me that there was a major accident that was closing the TransCanada Highway at the turn-off into Langdon and the Police would be closing that section of the highway to clear up the mess. So detour for me down 52nd Street down to Glenmore... which was alright, it just means a trip to 7-Eleven.

On the way down 52nd... I got my pleasant surprise. Remember Barbara? She figured into this post here almost 2 weeks ago... you might have to scroll down a bit. Well, she called! She was also on her drive home from work when she decided to call me.

With all the crap and games that have gone on with Theresa, I sort of wrote off Barbara, thinking that she wasn't going to return the voice mail I had left her. Concentration obviously got lost.

So yeah... a turn of good luck. We had a good little chat on the phone and made plans to meet up late on Thursday night. She works evenings Thursday through Sunday, finishing up around 9-9:30... which is about the time I get out of floor hockey. So we're gonna meet up then on Thursday for a drink.

See, that's the sort of good news that perks up the spirits. And it sure beats the hell out of the "hard to get" game that Kelly and I figure Theresa is playing... granted, on the limited information he has, he thinks that Raquel is playing the same game. I don't really think so...

Well... with the prospect of Thursday night at hand and a huge bill for the car to worry about now, I will be now taking it rather easy for the next few days, me thinks. It may leave me to be able to write a little bit more and keep up with the hockey pool stuff as well. Plus, I'm probably due for a good few quiet nights. Beers at home instead of the bar... yeah, that'll do.

Me Not Dumb Idiot

In an effort to make myself feel better... I thought I'd take Stupid Test. I'm only 13% Stupid. The things that got me, I think, were the vocabulary parts of the test. I don't think I have the strongest vocabulary in the world... but I'm not too bad as a logical thinker by the looks of things.

Just to celebrate... I think I'll post my score summary. You'll see that I'm "far from stupid." Take that... all you doubters!!

Interactivity

Good morning Sherpalings... I thought I'd kill a bit of time this morning with a little post. Don't really have a whole lot to chat about this morning... just kind of a bleh Tuesday morning, although it's still fairly warm up here in Calgary. A waking temperature of +6 celcius makes for a great start to the day... should see a high of +16 when its all said and done. If this is global warming, then count me in!! (Just kidding) But +6 in the middle of November... in the morning no less... yeowsers!! Don't have to scrape the windshield of the car... still wearing a spring jacket... no gloves, scarves or boots... fantastic.

This morning, I took the car in for a wheel alignment... recommended when I got the alternator fixed up. I'll probably price out some winter tires here soon too. It's not gonna be +16 through December, I'll tell ya that much. Certainly the transition from being a non-driver to a pay-through-the-nose motorist has been a little easier than expected... it's probably because the process is 90% mental and 10% financial. Tell that to my chequebook, eh??

Pressing issues for the day... probably none. I may try to be a little more pro-active with Theresa though... try and sort the mess in my head out. It's either that mess or the mess in my bedroom... and well... I might have to flip a coin. They're both really bad. Nah... I'll give her a ring around lunch time, see if I can get a chat with her today. There hasn't been a great deal of conversation between us when we're sitting in the pub... so, it'll be my job to try and fix that. I think I can talk myself into it.

Another interactive half-awake dream scared the bejeezus out of me this morning... at about 1am, I dreamt that there was someone who needed a ride somewhere and there was a figure that walked out of my bedroom. Rather startled when I finally sort of woke up, I had to walk to the staircase to see if anyone had left the basement, 'cuz I wasn't too sure if there was anyone there or not. I was also worried in my dream states that I was using my remote car starter from bed for no apparent reason and leaving my car to run all night. It does shut off after 10 minutes with no key in the ignition, so I sort of calmed myself down with that fact in hand. Man, I'm a Dream Machine lately... if only I can tap that sort of thing up to a webcam or something and broadcast it live... I'd have myself a pretty interesting channel. I wonder if I talk in my sleep when these dreams happen...

I'll leave this post with the greatest contradiction of this century... "I'm going out for some fresh air and a smoke."

Stories

I hate being quick to judge, 'cuz I'm almost always wrong.

I caught Theresa for a moment or two, completely unhappy when she didn't call or didn't pick up the phone when I did... thinking the worst thing possible. As it turned out, which is completely viable... she didn't finish working the Friday night until after 5am... and had to be at her other job for a rare Saturday shift at 8am. Flags up for a word like "rare," but let's say she had me if it's false. I didn't give her any satisfaction that it was false, I think gave her a skeptical enough "oh, so that's what happened" to quell me over. Nevertheless, she finished at 3pm on only 3 hours of sleep and died when she got home. Jeff was saying how late he got out that Friday night... so the story can stick.

The only problem I have with it was, what's wrong with a nice small phone call. "Hi Clayton... didn't get out of work last night 'til five... only on a half hour's sleep... don't think I'll be able to make it tonight." That would have been fine by me. I understand that sort of thing... I'm not a heartless bastard.

When she saw me tonight, she wrapped her arm around me from behind and gave me a how ya doin'. It's really good I'm not a public airing kind of person... 'cuz I did think it was a tad cheeky... but I guess if I didn't like her I would have laced into her, right? She seems like a pretty decent person, it's the lack of courtesy phone calls that kind of irks me. I'm pretty sure I'd make 'em... and I'd still make them to her, even if she hadn't to me at all. You never know what some people expect from you.

Alright... so she's won back a complete throwing out here... she can be down to two strikes. Knowing myself... and Basil, you know too... two strikes can go a long ways. Man, I'm (we're) soft... it's the price some of us have to pay for being so damn nice.

It would be so nice just to have some sort of peace of mind here... not promises, but some genuine intention. Ah well... that's where my head is right now... 6 bottles of Keiths later.

I'm goin' to bed.

Thanks for hugs today... it was good to see someone (or two) agreed with me.

I Think I'm Recovered Now

I have a feeling that I've recovered from my weekend of late, late nights with a solid stint in bed starting just after 9pm. Yup, a nice early one... could have mustered the energy for a few hours of PlayStation with Rob... but somehow, I managed to do the right thing. Shock horror.

The worst bloody thing for me when I'm super-tired is that I find that I'm think even more. It easily took me a couple hours to finally get to sleep, because I found myself growing into a state full of fear and depression. Granted, I find that I think very clearly and honestly to myself... and that's what scares me the most.

It was quite amazing last night, I had been really teetering on this idea, but I really came to a close conclusion that I am trying to implode myself. I am on the edge of an emotional breakdown within myself. This could be the only public knowledge of it, just 'cuz I feel the need to write this sort of thing down, but I should have these things written down for the record to say I told myself so later. But anyways... I'm finding it harder and harder to trust myself in the things that I do, when I can be confident in having others trust in me, because in no way, shape or form do I want to let anyone down (even people I don't really like). How odd. I'm making small mistakes in my "responsibility" mannerisms... there are things that I'm ignoring or procrastinating on where I really shouldn't be and historically haven't and that sort of scares me, just because of the change in me.

There are a lot of inner-conflicts with me at the moment and I think a lot of them could be cured with just a constant flow of hugs. Sounds a tad gay, but man, hugs are great. I think that's the true sign of people wanting to be around other people, is that if there's a hug involved. A great big hug is one of the best things in life. This is one of the real reasons I would really like to have a girlfriend at the moment... just the hug factor. I think I can sort myself out a little bit better if I had the comfort of knowing that there is still someone at the end of the day who'll give me a frickin' hug, saying that they're glad to be there. That's it... everything past that... is just a bonus.

Well, that un-burdening of my soul felt really good... maybe I won't think about that too much more for now.

This morning will be the second morning without Meathead... all indications via the e-mail say that it's gonna be a pretty slow day work wise. I brought my laptop into work this morning for some project work and some personal work... so that'll be good.

Already, I've done some converstion for my MP3 player... I downloaded iTunes the other week to try and pick up some songs. I wish I had access to the UK store... there is so much more music that I want from the UK than here in Canada. Nevertheless... iTunes and my Sony MP3 player are not really compatible... which really sort of sucks. I have to download the tune I want, burn it to a CD and then rip that CD for the Sony .oma format that I have for my player. Somewhat like getting around the copy-protected discs from Sony/BMG. So I have to buy & download enough songs to warrant burning a disc... but for the first run, I have 7 tracks. Four from Wolf Parade (their first EP) sort of headline the disc, plus another track from the Arcade Fire which appeared on a soundtrack. Wicked.

Anyways... 8am has just rolled in... I'm feeling much better now. A couple cups of coffee have made its way into my system... so I should be good to go.

Yawn!!

The last post I left was a fair representation of my weekend... nothing but very very late nights. I'm exhausted.

Friday: closed down the Wildfire at their one year anniversary party... Benny and I left that around quarter to three, both tanked out of our skulls. The comment Benny had made about "taking his woman" I think was probably taken outta context... but then again, who knows?

Saturday: did some shopping and took Mom out for lunch. Picked up a new outfit for goin' out... only to not go out with Theresa. When I called around 6ish... she didn't pick up the phone. I tried a few times, left a voice mail message, but then after the Leafs game on Hockey Night In Canada, I just went to the bar. I had a copy of the pool standings in hand that I had updated, so that gave me enough reason to go.

There I ran into the same ol' crew... but man was it boring. Just when I was about to go out of boredom; Jeff, Benny & John said... let's go somewhere else if you're bored. So we did. I didn't make it home until 5am.

There were two phone calls from England... Lars called me as they were in a lock-in at Twisters in Colchester... he got me a chat with DJ Gilly, the coolest DJ in the world!! I also gave Barry a ring at 4am... only a few minute chat. He got to chat with Benny & Jeff as well... too funny.

Today... I was a tired wreck. Still didn't stop me heading over to Rob's house to catch the Lions/Eskimos game... stupid Lions.

Now... it's an early night for me. Man, am I tired. I may elaborate a bit more tomorrow... until then... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!!

Late

Just after 3am... wish I was clear thinking enough to ponder what Theresa is thinking... but I am supposed to call her about 5:30ish tomorrow afternoon. My first thought in my analytical mind, plus several beers, says... sketchy. Damn, I hate that. Don't listen to me now.

Good night otherwise... stayed on bottles... allowed to keep my sanity.... could of lost it though. Small memories come to mind... but nothing to major to write about.

My fingers are crossed for tomorrow... despite Benny's despair that I'm "taking his woman."

Bye Bye Meathead

Meathead... work called and they said if you're not coming in today, don't bother coming in on Monday.

You know, he's probably dumb enough to say, "woo hoo, four day weekend!"

His lame-ass excuse for not coming in today earned him the sack from Fred... it'll be rough without swearing all the time, but I think we'll manage.

I honestly think that he didn't wanna come in 'cuz he didn't want to admit how well I played at floor hockey last night. He's intimated by my goalie skill. Ha ha.

A New Classic Thursday Night

I thought after floor hockey, I'd have a nice quiet couple and a chat with Theresa at the Wildfire. Jeff and Greg were going to be in town drinking and I wasn't going to call them... could't bear another night in town this week... so, the plan was pretty good.

I absolutely flew home, taking the path of least resistance... 14th Street to McKnight... McKnight to 84th... 84th to the Number 1... and that's pretty much it. Less lights... less traffic... less time. It worked... I did the entire trip in about 40 minutes. I'd hate to know what going all the way on 16th Ave (which is the Trans-Canada through town) would have worked out to.

I got into the bar and didn't really recognize a soul, except for Jen & Brenda who were working... no Theresa. Her car wasn't in the lot... she could have been working in the restaurant and had just left, which would have been kinda shitty. Nevertheless, it didn't seem like there was anyone there, period, for me to talk to. So, I grabbed a bottle of Keiths and sat in front of the big screen.

As it turned out, one of the girls that the boys and us met at the Kilt & Kaber on Monday was there playing pool. The cute one, Jill. I don't remember at the moment if I had mentioned the girls, but there were a couple Jill and Sandra, who had met us there at the pub. Well, it turns out, unbeknownest to me, that she was best friends with Jeff's late sister and was "adopted" by his family... not really though. That's just how the story goes.

So yeah... Jill asked me to join her party, which had Jay, another lad from the neighbourhood (I think) and Jeff's Mom, Deb. They had been playing pool right behind me... so, I jumped right in. Jeff and Bubbles were out trying to get a truck started (so I learned afterwards) and I thought to myself... oh crap. Jeff is around? Well... the night sort of reared it's ugly head and we were off to the races.

John showed up... Sandra showed up... Deb was being chatted up by some guy from the neighbourhood (who I thought was actually an American visiting...), it was turning into your new classic Thursday night. Hmmmm... I did only want a couple.

Then the night somewhat centered around Jill. A little more on her... I heard and am pretty sure that she's a Calgary Stampeder cheerleader (or Outrider, if you will). She's just a tiny little blonde haired cutie... and man, was she getting wasted. She's a very boastful character when she's drunk... that was for certain.

Well, the shooters made an appearance last night... Jill was getting more and more drunk (and a bit more of a flirt as well)... Jeff was prepared to get himself fairly bombed... Sandra was somewhat of the pity case for the group, as quite a few of them were intent on getting her trashed... there were a few games of pool being played... some good tunes on the jukebox and then... well, it all went a bit pear-shaped.

Last call came in a hurry. We paid for our tabs and then the two girls somewhat exploded. Jill was calling some guy... Sandra wasn't happy about it... and it all went from there. I ended up guiding Sandra back to Jeff's house as she stormed away in a real big huff... and I didn't make it back home until closer to 3am.

A great bit of the details are really necessary... so I won't really drum them up. But both Jill and Deb were asking me if I had fancied Sandra. Not really... in my best polite manner. Somewhat of a larger-set girl and ummmm... well, just not really attractive to me in any way, shape or form. Plus, I have my own fish to fry, so to speak.

When I got home, I set my alarm for 7am, instead of 6am... and this morning, it made a pretty big difference. I felt a lot more refreshed when I dragged my ass out of bed at 7:18am... showered and was into work, pretty much on time, if it wasn't for checking out the line-up into Tim Hortons. Way to go me.

Anyways... Meathead just called. He's given up on the day at work because of the Calgary Transit system... so, it's gonna be a busy one for me, I think. Best be crackin' on... since I've been writing this during the working hours.

I Said I Would

Good morning kidlets... Thursday has now fallen upon us... or "the new Friday" as I like to refer to it now. Nah... probably won't hit it as hard as the past Thursdays of my Blogs time... not to say I won't hit the bar tonight... 'cuz I will.

Last night, I got a little restless at the house after getting home, so I went to the Wildfire last night to catch the Flames/Red Wings game. Not a bad game... should have been cheering for the Red Wings, I think... for the Canucks sake. Oh well... the Canucks won last night, so the Flames victory didn't set me back any.

Last night, I did wanna go see if Theresa was around. I hadn't heard anything from that Barbara, so I'm not really gonna go chasing... can't be bothered really. Who's to say she wasn't just spouting out shit 'cuz she was drinking that night too. Anyways... yeah, I went to watch the game and see if I could catch up with Theresa.

She wasn't working.

But she did show up! She came and sat with Benny and I at the bar and we chatted a bit... things went fairly well. She's working tonight, so after floor hockey, I'll go and say hi... I said I would. Saturday night, there's a good chance I'll go out with her and whomever she goes out with into town... she said she wanted to hit a pub or two. So, that sounds pretty good to me...

Otherwise, let the day begin. The inbox here at work is somewhat caught up with now... so that's good news. I've got a filing I should attack here right away... I said I would, y'know. I have to finish up all the backing up of data and stuff... I have to get a computer up and running again.

And now I leave you with the fact that this Blog is only 30% evil... sorta disappointing in a way. I could be more evil, I'm sure!

Haunting Twist

Good morning all... I'm certainly much more bright-eyed and bushy tailed than I was yesterday. I'm back to my morning-person self again... I think.

Well, my dreams were pretty fucked up last night (and this morning). I even woke up in my dream and continued to act it out while I was semi-awake. I dreamt that I had driven through a mud bog and right into a house (or the house, or just a building of some sort. Oh man, did I make a fuckin' mess of that mud bog. It was somewhat reminicsant of the ditch incident, except I don't know what caused me to go through the bog. So when I looked back at the mess, I dropped my keys or something and here I am laying in bed, moving furniture around in my room (semi-awake now), trying to find these keys. I must have looked for about 10 minutes. Geez...

After I sorted myself back to sleep from that dream/incident... the next dream was pretty fuckin' scary. There was a pretty good (intense is the wrong word, but it was pretty good) sense of fear in the pit of my stomach when I woke up. Those are terrible dreams to have... or nightmares, if you will.

In the nightmare, I was hangin' out with a bunch of people... none of them were actual familiar faces to what I know in real life, but all of them were relative resemblances to people I have met or people I have seen on TV. Like the girl who plays Karen on Corner Gas... her likeness was in it, but it wasn't quite her. I also saw a likeness of one of the guys who came to Ranchmans with Jeff, Mike & I last Thursday... and he ended up being an absolute psycho. Well, there was about six of us by the scary part of the dream, hanging out in front of a building's front door... lots of glass, almost like an inset where the front door would be. All of a sudden, ol' psycho boy decides he wants to pull a gun on the lot of us... odd. But then the real fear came when one of the guys in the group was asked for the knife he carried in his pocket (why was he carrying a knife?!?) and then the psycho took some lip from a couple of the girls and decided to cut them and beat them... luckily for me there was someone in front of my dream's vision and I couldn't see the gruesome details, rather the blood stains that were starting to appear on the glass. The Karen-likeness girl got up and started to run, but she got the worst of it... and that was it.

Almost a cold sweat and a lack of desire to go back to sleep it was for me... ugh! Sorry if that was a little twisted, but shit... I still remember it! This is very haunting.

Well, got to drive the car into work today... woo hoo. Back to my free (relatively, of course) self again.

Well, today is gonna be a busy day... lots to clean up off my desk and then fix a couple computers while I'm at it. Fun for me!!

Scatter My Thoughts

I'm way too tired to write a lot.

Took the car into the shop and have it back now... $450 later. Fuckin' alternator, man. The joys of having a car. Then there's at least another couple hundred to go into it pretty soon. Yay!

Went out with Jeff, John, Benny & Mike last night... from the Kilt & Kaber in McKenzie to Ceilis downtown in one really good night. Got fairly drunk... out 'til 2:30am. Up at 6am. Ugh.

Needless to say, it was a long day.

Updated the points on the pool tonight... leaders are sorta pullin' away. Still early though... I'll start reelin' them in soon.

Dropped some standings off at the Wildfire... they're renovating by the looks of things, so they shut down the bar. Instead of staying, went to grab a case of Keiths and came home. It might be a few days before they open up again.

Hmmmm... lost my train of thought there for a sec. I went surfin' a bit... I hate it when I do that.

Sigh... well, bed does beckon me. It's gonna be another long day at work... bizzy bizzy bizzy again. Meathead isn't any help... rather quite the opposite.

3Q Deadline Day

A couple days of chilly weather before more Chinook conditions to roll through Calgary. Woo hoo!! On the radio, they were saying highs of -4 and -2 today and tomorrow, but up to 13 degrees on Friday with the warms winds a comin'.

Well, I ended up giving Barbara's number a bell yesterday afternoon... I was out at the Langdon construction site helpin' Pa out, but he ended up chatting with the job's framer for almost an hour, so I had some time to make a phone call of relative meaning. I hummed and hawwed for a bit before trying to turn off my head to chat naturally... I don't need any extra thought to just say hello, so I tried to trick my gerbil from spinning the wheel upstairs and let me at it by myself.

Voice mail. It's an under-utilized tool anymore... but I did leave a message on her voice mail. Granted if my lessons with Theresa mean anything, the odds of a call back have diminished these days. Nevertheless...

I haven't heard anything back... can't really say I'm holding my breath, but I suppose you can say that there is a candle of hope on the side table beside the gerbil's wheel.

I was sort of thinking about it on the drive in this morning... I'm not really overly keen on really finding a date now. I don't really have anymore plans to do anything and when I did have plans, all I really wanted was some good company, a date (okay, admission), but to actually start seeing someone would have to mean that the date went really well... I'm not sure that being attached is the right way for me to go at the moment. That thought at the sub-conscious level could also be my reason for several failures. It's certainly not out of the question.

Today... a ton of filings to finish up this morning. Should be a fun day... hopefully Meathead is coming in, Fred doesn't reckon he will. I have a big filing to finish up today, so I should get started on that pretty soon.

I have to call the Langdon mechanic this morning... check and see when I can get the Sherpa Mobile in the shop.

I should get crackin'... or else I won't have any drive for the rest of the day.

Ta Da!

You are Snoopy!


Which Peanuts Character are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Oh yeah, man... Snoopy! I found this test over here...

Good Party...

Well, we were wrong about the car... it wasn't the bad circuit due to the remote car starter. Nope... it does actually look like the battery and/or alternator that's FUBAR'd pretty bad. The battery just didn't have any juice yesterday. I made it to the gas station right before leaving Langdon before the car died on me... again! Needless to say I wasn't very impressed. Luckily for me, Pa was at the construction site in Langdon picking up scraps of wood for the neighbours, so I parked the car and walked over to him and said, 'look how far I made it.'

So, we dropped off some wood, picked up the jumper cables and went to get the car started again. We got it started and I started to drive it home... when I turned the corner on 4th Street... dead... again. (Rolling my eyes in despair) So... back to site again, jumped in the truck and went to go jump it again, left it charging for a few minutes and then rushed it back to the house. Put the charger on it... and the battery just wasn't holding a charge. I'm really hoping that it's just a battery problem, 'cuz the alternator is supposed to be brand new... and I'm hoping it isn't bad wiring too... who knows what that would cost.

Ahhh... the joys of having a car.

In lieu of this, I kinda sat on the problem for a while and then ended up phoning Ernest and getting a ride out to the Delta Lodge in Kananaskis with him and his wife, Kate. The folks dropped me off at the Chapters on MacLeod Trail near Southland Drive and I waited there for them.

It was just over an hour's drive to the lovely wintery landscape of the mountains...



That was the lovely view as we arrived around 5pm. If I had driven out there, I would have had great pictures, 'cuz the sun was shining around noon, when I was supposed to leave... but never made it out on my own.

We were staying the Signature Club building, which was a pretty nice building... had a great room with a giant bed... TV was a little fuzzy for the first period of the Leafs/Canadiens game on HNIC... but overall, it was pretty sweet. Stayed in the room for the first period and Coach's Corner (can't miss that, y'know... Don Cherry rules all!!) and then met Ernest and Kate in the hallway to go to the suite that Fred and Nancy had rented out for the evening.

The suite was kitted up with a bar and big tables for the dinner... they brought all the booze, but hired a bartender/waiter for the night, which was pretty cool... a little odd though to have a server in such a small environment though. Brydon and Masha, Trevor and Darla were also there, the two sales guys and their respective wives... yup, I was the only solo flier in that party. Ah well... I kept them all entertained. We ended up watching the hockey games and then had all sorts of discussions with some book of questions, apparently it's some sort of game... and had a really great time. I think I polished off 13 bottles of beer... only 87 more to go.

Hit the sack around 2:30am... pretty much last man standing, I was... but it wasn't really much of a contest.

Up around 9:30am for brunch... and we left the resort just around noon. It was pretty tough leaving something like this:



But we did... and have been back home for a little while now.

So tomorrow, I will call the local mechanic to see if I can get my car in and checked out... it's pretty much fucked until I do that... so that's on the schedule. I'm also thinking about giving Barbara a call... I don't really have a lot to go on, since the car is fucked, I can't really go meet her or anything, but I think it might be an idea just to say hi. I don't know about you, but I'd like that sort of treatment if that was available to me. So I'll debate that for a little while longer and then maybe do a post on what the gerbil upstairs came up with for a clever idea.

Weekend Started Early...

Greetings all... spent the day yesterday, generally dealing with the car... no real time to Blog.

So yeah... finished up work on Thursday and had plans for floor hockey at 8pm. I had to do something with my time. I couldn't get a hold of my friend Jen, I didn't have her mobile number on my phone, so... I was kinda hooped to try and reach her. I did leave her an e-mail during the afternoon for her to call me when she got it... but she didn't call. Instead, I called up Julie and we grabbed a pizza and hung out at her place for a couple hours.

Floor hockey was quite good... the guys that I was playing with were quite impressed with me playing in goal. It didn't really seem like I missed about two years of playing. The funny thing about them was, they were playing with one of the road hockey orange balls... rather a foam-stuffed whiffle ball. That made the long shots a treat to play against, 'cuz whiffle balls travel like well-thrown knunckleballs... I was beaten from a shot a ways out because of that... that and it was a pretty well-placed shot. After a solid 90 minutes (with a couple breaks of course), we packed up and headed out. I'll definitely be going back as often as I can. That's a good workout... and in the goalie gear, I just get soaked in sweat, so that's excellent.

After floor hockey, I gave Jeff a ring... he was all the way down in the south (Midnapore/Shawnessey) having a beer. That's not a bad journey for being on the north side of the downtown core... but since it wasn't rush hour, it didn't take too long. Calgary is a fun place to drive when there isn't much for traffic.

Down at the Darby Arms, I met Jeff and his buddies, Mike down there. There we had a couple and made the plan to go to Ranchmans, a bar up McLeod Trail where it's usually a good place to go check out the lovely ladies. After the hockey, I didn't really feel like having a big night, so I decided that I would drive these guys and take it easy. It sounded like a good plan... so we went with that.

After a couple, we piled into the Cavalier and headed off. Popped in a little bit of Staggered Crossing into the CD player... got out onto McLeod Trail and before we passed the Shawnessey movie theatre, the CD player quit on us. Odd. Jeff messed around a bit with it... and by the time we got underneath the Canyon Meadows overpass, all the electrics and the engine went dead. Oh fuck! The car was still rolling, which was a good thing, so I managed to get it off the road and onto the side with veritbly no trouble... except for the lack of power steering. We pulled off and took a look under the hood... nothing smoking, no wires burnt, battery and alternator looked okay... so, we were a tad baffled. Luckily we were a short distance away from the Bull & Finch pub at Canyon Meadows, so we went in there to call AMA and get the car towed.

In the Bull & Finch... we decided that getting the car towed to Langdon would be disruptive to the night in general, so we ran with the idea of cancelling the tow truck, grabbing a cab to Ranchmans and dealing with it in the morning. At least I could drink with this plan, right? Right. We also met a couple guys in there... Chris & ... uh... damn, I forget. Well, it didn't take us long to dislike these guys... they were a couple of twats, to say the least. But nonetheless, they tagged along with us.

The cab was an hour or two away from showing up... really, really slow. We were already passed last call at the Bull & Finch... but they close up early, 'cuz it isn't a very busy place... so said the bartender.

We all piled into the van and headed off to Ranchmans. I'd never been to this bar... it's somewhat of a cowboy bar... and well, I'm not really a cowboy. Nonetheless, we got in there, Jeff had the two jerks with him as I went to get cash and Mike went to check our coats. Once I was done, I skipped past Jeff and the jerks and found Mike. We decided grab a beer and ditch the guys... Mike was already fairly bombed, so this was a great idea. He desperately wanted to wheel some girls and well, I liked his enthusiasm. So, we grabbed a pint of Keith's each and headed for the dancefloor.

At the dancefloor, Mike said... let's go and the first couple of girls we went up to, he chatted with and we sort of paired off. I ended up chatting with Barbara, who much like myself was feeling like a fish out of water on the country music dancefloor and we had a good laugh about it. A few more dances and laughs before the end of the night and she offered me her phone number and said we should go out. Hell yeah, I'm thinking! She was quite the looker, in her early 20's I'd assume and has the sort of look I really like. A smaller, short-haired, great smile, cutie and she had made a great first impression with her sense of humour. It was something we could play off each other in the short time we sort of hung out. Maybe tomorrow on my way back from the Xmas party, I will give her a bell, since I'll be in town. Depends how rough I feel.

Mike on the other hand... didn't do so well with his half of the deal. Too bad.

There were a couple phone calls to Jeff during our stay at the bar... and he was getting a tad hot under the collar. Not really a story I'll recount... but we ended up waiting for a little bit before actually getting into a cab back to Mike's place.

We crashed there for the night and I ended up passing out just after 4am. By the sounds of things, Jeff and Mike stayed up quite a while longer. I woke up at about 10am... and hung out in anxiety of the car, while Jeff and Mike didn't get up until 1pm. Fuckers. Ha ha.

Once they were up, the wheels were in motion and Jeff helped me out to call a tow truck and get the car back to Langdon. The end of the process really sort of came out when Dad came home early and we looked at the car.

The end result was that there was a switch from the Remote Starter that wasn't getting pushed down all the way and messing with the circuit of the car and I figure when the aerodynamics got screwed after the ditch incident, the hood never closed completely and the air that got in, lifted the hood and cut the power to the car. In theory, we could have gotten it going again while we stood there, but it took some investigating during the day.

So, that was up and running again.

Made dinner last night and then headed to the bar... didn't stay there too long. Theresa chatted with me for a moment... just really confirming that she couldn't come to the party today, but I kinda figured and settled with that already. We didn't chat too much... but she was in that sort of pose against the pool table which said 'still interested.' She just doesn't return phone calls... so I think she'll lose out in the pecking order to Barbara now. Well, Barbara's phone call anyways...

Left the pub early last night... the live music was pretty bad and Rob had called me to go over to his place and drink, play cards and have a laugh. When the music turned bad... Rob's sounded like a great idea. So I jetted from the pub about 10:30pm and played some cards at Rob's 'til midnight and had myself an early night.

Now I'm getting myself together after I post this and then out the door I go. It should be a decent day to get some pics out at the resort and post them on here for you guys. But I'm getting a tad antsy now and should get goin'. So, I'll Blog again tomorrow when I get home, I'm sure. Let you know how the company drinkfest goes.

Later!!

One Good Turn...

It's amazing the way the mind works when you "just don't know."

Last night when I went to drop off the standings and have a couple at the Wildfire, who do I see? Yup, Theresa walks in. Surprise, surprise, eh?? Heh heh... "long time, no see," I quip. As it turned out, the last time I had seen her was the Halloween night... and that was the night she ended up falling into a bonfire. 2nd degree burns up her back.

When she told me, she had this shocked look to her and asked, "didn't you know about this?" You know, you'd think in a small place like that, word would just carry for things like this... but no... I didn't hear a thing. Nor did I ask... I was just thinking I never caught her on her working days. How was I supposed to know she fell in a fire?? And why wouldn't you call back anyways... especially if you had time off. I'm pretty sure I'd understand the situation.

So, in light of this tragedy... she's finally back to work at the Wildfire, I think she's been at her other job for a while, or so I'm to believe... and will be working the entire weekend, since she hasn't for a while. Thus, cancelling her spot at the Xmas party. That's kind of shitty... but whattya gonna do, right? Well... try and convince her to drop work on Saturday night and come out... that's what I'm gonna do. Chances... slim to none, but worth a go at lunch today. There was a small glint in her eye when I suggested it when she was sitting down with me at the bar, but her good conscience might get the best of her. Dammit!

Well, I finally got around to doing up a picture with the Sherpa and myself... I've already started using it as my profile picture in a couple places (Technorati & MySpace):

It's not one of the best pictures in the world of me... it was sort of late on Tuesday night and I was kinda bored. My hair is a wee bit of a mess... but it'll have to do until further notice.

Apparently Rick Mercer is doing contests with taking funny photos and doctoring them up in Photoshop. If I get a chance today, I might take a good crack at it.

Last night, I ended up watching the Tim Burton version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. That wasn't for me. I love the book and Gene Wilder had more Willy Wonka in him than Johnny Depp... but the biggest problem for me was that the movie didn't compell me enough to not compare it to the old one. The best example comparison would probably be Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes. I really enjoyed that, 'cuz it didn't make me think about the original, it was so entertaining... and I loved all the original Planet of the Apes movies... even the zero budget ones.

I wanna give a welcome to Les and her blog, the HBP Production Site... they're my new tenant in the Rent My Blog space with BlogExplosion. I gotta say, amongst the 10 bids I got for the space, I went looking for one of you guys to see if you'd bid... one good turn deserves another! Click on 'em, eh!

Looks like I'm gonna get a ton done today... I've been given tomorrow off. Apparently it's gonna be slow tomorrow, with Remembrance Day and all (tell that to Meathead, he's gonna be swamped). Lee and I also worked out that I'll be working the Canadian holidays that are not celebrated in the States and vice versa... that'll work out. I won't mind working Boxing Day and Canada Day, since I'll get the American Thanksgiving and Veterans Day off. Woo hoo!

So, I think I'm gonna get drunk tonight... probably after a good game of floor hockey. Yeah, that's it. I talked to Jeff at the bar... and he's up for goin' out. Probably into town too... so, hopefully I can find somewhere to get rid of some of the sweat after the game... so I can change back into work clothes and go meet him... saves me the drive back to Langdon, that's for sure! That or I'll get a hold of Rob and we'll just go down to the Wildfire for a good one. I'm not gonna completely decide... you never know what might happen.

Check out the Nomadic People of the Opiated Sherpas on a new game Meathead showed me yesterday... a political ideals sort of game, kinda neat. Might have some good bearing to it.

You know, I feel like I'm forgetting something... ah well, it might come to me. Ah well... better get crackin'.

Momentary Lapse

I should be able to write about something now... but there is another lack of good topics to kind of choose from this morning. I'm in the office, nice and early, as per usual... I don't really wanna do the hockey pool stuff yet, because, I'll just get frustrated that the NHL still hasn't updated all of their statistics yet... so instead, I'll sit here with the Blog.

Greg @ the Wildfire called me just before midnight last night... he wanted to rub in the back-to-back losses that the Canucks had to the Flames of late. I had been in bed for 45 minutes, but as of part of a dream, I went to fiddle with my alarm clock (half-awake, mind you)... when I pressed the button to turn on the tunes, all of a sudden the Mr. Plow theme comes on... talk about a major trip out. It took me once through the theme song to realize what was going on... my phone was ringing! Greg wanted to make an extra point of waking me up, which I didn't admit that he sort of did, to either talk to me or leave a voice mail message (joke would have been on him there, 'cuz my voice mail isn't active) about the Canucks/Flames games. You know... I would have done the same to him... possibly.

Had another hard time getting to sleep last night... one of these nights I'm gonna go upstairs to where that hamster is spinning in my head and shoot it, I swear. I can't even use milk to my advantage anymore. (Point of note: I have an allergy to milk that makes [or made] me drowsy all the time).

Could be a fairly quiet day at the office today... gonna have to work on Remembrance Day. Don't know too many people who will get that day off... hopefully quite a few in Calgary do, so they stay off the bleedin' roads.

Well, not much more to tell ya for the moment...

Marketing Juggernaut!

I'm a marketing Juggernaut... after several denied bids to be hosted on the Rent My Blog program, I'm now on 3!! Thanks to Mark... I had a good feeling that you'd take my credits from me... heh heh... and the One Couch Critic for taking my ads on for the next seven days. Yeah, that's right... seven days... can't go back on me now!!


I'm also thinking of dropping little marketing tools such as these... in places where I seem to approve of something on the net. Mostly blogs... MySpace comments... shit like that. There are a few people who do this sort of thing... plus it'll be linked to this page... so, no harm done... right?

Are you Sherpa Approved yet?

The day at work was okay... the morning was fairly busy, cleaning up the remainder of what was in the inbox for the week. There wasn't a great deal left when Meathead and I got down to it... so much so, that we were clean of any work by 2:30pm this afternoon. If only we could have left... that'd been sweet. Nothing would be due 'til the morning anyways.

Meathead continues to find new ways of getting on my nerves... thank goodness he gets on everyone else's nerves too. Lee and I laugh at him all the time... I think there's an unsaid plan to try and break his spirits of working there and ending up quitting. Probably why the bosses hasn't really stopped us or said anything about our constant laughing at him... 'cuz we do. Well, I do anyways... Lee just takes the piss out of him so badly and I can't help but laugh... and laugh... and laugh. Lee is so tired of being civil towards Meatheads annoyances, which there are many, so he comes out and just rips into him. Now that I think of it, my laughter probably has a detrimental effect on Meathead, 'cuz he probably think Lee is joking... hmmmm... something to consider.

Tomorrow, a chinook is supposed to roll through the city for a couple days... the temperatures should hit the double digits... watch my weather channel do-hickey to find out if it does get that high. You know, I will!!

I've been ridiculously hooked on MySpace again... I've been adding all my favourite bands that I can find to my friends list. You never know... they might just give out some juicy details for touring on the bulletin boards and such. Can't be missin' out, y'know.

Anyways... if you need to find me... I'm still on MSN Messenger most days... there's also the indicator to show you if I'm on or not in the sidebar. My Messenger address is belial74@hotmail.com... it's an old Hotmail address, so old that they've upgraded my account to 250MB of free space. Woo hoo... my other Hotmail address, opiatedsherpa@hotmail.com, is only at 25MB... and it's nearly full of forwards. Anyone need a forwarded joke? Or should I just post them on here?

Off to bed I am... not a great deal more to chat about. Muscles feel better... Theresa probably isn't gonna call... lights on the car are fixed... need to get some winter tires soon still... and that's it!

Post This!!

A tale of two teams, I'll tell ya... this isn't the first time the Canucks have played undisiplined hockey at the end of a game and it probably won't be the last. Geez... Allen, Linden & Ohlund all getting caught with penalties within the last four minutes of a (soon-to-not-being-a) tie game. Arrrgh! Frustration... as a Canucks fan. I have great expectations of these guys this season, but with this sort of sloppyness... it'll be hard to live up to my expecatations.

You know, this morning's drive, although paranoid, wasn't too bad... it was dark and I couldn't see the noticing eyes of the other drivers looking at my missing lights. It's sort of embarrassing in a way, 'cuz you have no way to defend what had happened. It actually kind of looks like my car got a good kicking... which isn't too far off, since it plowed through that ditch pretty good after the icy patch. Nevertheless... I went to a Parts Source store up in the Northeast after work and ordered some replacements... yup, the car spending spree continues. $31 a piece for new lamps... one for each side. Yup, I lost both of 'em. I think something with my remote car starter became disconnected... it wasn't working today either. Shit. Ah well, I'll pick up the new lamps tomorrow after work and see what it'll take to put them in... maybe then I'll be able to check out the starter... not that I know a lot about these things, but... it'll be worth a gander.

When I arrived in the driveway this evening, I decided then and there to call Theresa. Bang! Just like that. An after work blitz... her car wasn't in the Wildfire lot, so I figured it would've been a good time to try and get something out of her... well... nothing. Voice mail. Not all bad... put the ball back in her court with a voice mail message. I'm not gonna chase her... far from it. It could be a fair bet that she'll just leave this high and dry... but it's not like I'm really chasin' anyone else either... right now, I can't really be bothered to let myself down with someone else anyways. If someone wants to show up and say 'hey, I'll be your date...' then cool... I could deal with that... otherwise... I'm gonna go get fucking bombed with the work crew on Saturday... on the company! Oh how sweet it'll be.

Lately, it's been a little bit of a refresher of the ol' depression that I used to suffer from... nothing quite as terrible or mind-numbing, but a slight reminder of what it did feel like. I think it's all part and parcel of the over-active noggin' I have upstairs... I'm sure that gerbil is gonna have a coronary if it's not careful. I have been lying in bed thinking... and thinking a lot. Between the car, the Christmas party and lovely ladies I tend to chat with from time to time... it never ceases to amaze me that things could be a lot better. It's not that I need these things to be that much better... for the most part, I'm pretty content with everything. I could do away with a lot of bullshit, but it's alright, I guess.

Okay... back to the bright side! On the persuasion of Barry... I bought myself a ticket to go see Bryan Adams... the icon! I well prepared to lose a little bit of my "cool" status for this one, but it is Bryan Adams... I mean, I didn't take 2 years worth of schtick in the UK not to go, right?? I'll show them!! Mwah ha ha!! I should have a pretty good seat for it too... 2nd level, right side of the stage (I mean, right beside), 2nd row... so, I should be able to see a ton. And did ya notice... I only bought ONE ticket. That's right... not making the two ticket mistake again.

I had to have a chuckle this evening as well... I bought some space on BlogExplosion's "Rent My Blog" and the space I bought was on a Christian advice site done... or something to that effect. Kind of an oops on my part for making that bid... I kinda ate some credits on that one, but if anyone does come from that site (which I'll be suprised), welcome... it probably isn't what you're expecting... but I'll give you a dose of real life.

If you want a chuckle... do check out my rented space... it's a pretty cool site. Scroll down or up or whatever direction... it's in the sidebar somewhere. The more clicks I give to these guys, the more I'll actually feel comfortable charging for that space. There's only a day and a little bit left... get your Daily Chuckle from there.

Wednesday should bring a new site to the Rent My Blog Section.

Well, I have a chat on MySpace goin' on... so I'm gonna continue with that for a while... and then cast myself off to bed.

Yup...

It's gonna be a busy one today. I remember what I was working on... and it wasn't pretty. More crappy tables that aren't tables... so I'll have to make tables... large tables... in HTML. You know, with this new program we're using, tables would be an absolute cinch if people in the corporate world would actually use their Microsoft Office training to their advantage, rather than swear and curse at their machines (which I know they're doing), which in turn makes me swear and curse at them (rather than Meathead's idea of swearing and cursing at the computer) for not doing it right. C'mon people... it's not that hard.

Nevertheless... hopefully that's all the complaining I'll do today.

Well, in the office now... a paranoid drive to work. That icy patch on Saturday night has gotten me spooked pretty badly. Some winter tires and light covers are definitely in need... oh yeah, and another quart of oil, are in need for the car this week. I will get the tires on before I head off to the Kananaskis, where it'll be a pretty wintery trip.

Hmmmm... need to see if my coffee has brewed.

Oh, you bet it has... totally worth the muscle pain to get there. My legs feel twice as stiff as they did yesterday morning... crikey, hopefully I'll be okay for Thursday night's floor hockey session.

I have forgotten my Micro Vault at home this morning... I thought if I got some time today, I would work on the hockey pool, give the weekly result. Not gonna be the case until I get home. That's alright, I don't really need to bring in a copy of the Standings until Tuesday anyways... Greg isn't around on Mondays.

Only a small post this morning... nothing has really changed of late. So... off to work I go.

More Tests?

I am 20% White Trash.

I, my friend, have class. I am so not white trash. . I am more than likely Democrat, and my place is neat, and there is a good chance I may never drink wine from a box.

Take the
White Trash Test
@ FualiDotCom

Well, there ya go... I'm not White Trashy. That's a relief... although, I was pretty sure that I wasn't... I think.

Let's try another test, shall we... what are Sunday's honestly for?? Except for maybe the Simpsons and some football...

I am 36% Internet Addict.

I could go either way. Deep into the madness of nights filled with coding CGI-Scripts and online role playing games, or I could become a normal user. Good luck!

Take the
Internet Addict Test
@ FualiDotCom

Hmmmmm... I would have thought this one would have been a lot higher. Woo hoo... I'm closer to normal than I ever could have hoped. Granted, that's now two tests on the same post... I don't know how much less normal I could become.

Yesterday, I accomplished most of my points of note from yesterday... all except for the calling of Theresa. Yup, I bottled out... I really just couldn't bring myself to it. I'm trying to decide why I didn't call her... there are several possible outcomes to this question, most of them are due to the over-active and analytical skepticism my mind and my self-confidence. That sounds about right... or something quite close to it.

I really haven't lost or gained anything by my action in this regard... I can't honestly think I "lost" a date, 'cuz well... you'd think if there was a date in the works that there would be a lot more un-initiated contact between the two of us... which there hasn't been. I haven't seen her at the Wildfire, nor heard anything from her. I will try to call this week to see what the hell is goin' on... but ummmm... I'm sure my personality may try to ki-bosh that in a hurry.

I'm super sore today after buying some new goalie pads and giving them a good run out in the driveway and at the bar last night. I spent a good few hours in 'em... and you can tell by the way I'm moaning and groaning when I get up off a chair. I don't wanna go upstairs again...

In the bad news department... on the way home last night from being out and about, the car found a frosty patch in the last few corners for home and I put the front end through a ditch. Not a ton of damage, but some... bent the bumper and lost some indicator light covers... what a pain in the ass. It's nothing major... mostly cosmetic shit... but damn it!

This week will be a quick one... I think there's gonna be a ton of work to do on Monday. I was still coming to grips with that new software package that I had been trained on Thursday to work with. That should be interesting.

Saturday will be the Christmas Party evening in the Kananaskis Country... I will be sure to get a ton of pictures. It's certainly something to look forward to... a giant piss-up and hotel stay (for free!) for the night. Oh yeah... the hangover will make for an interesting drive home, I'm sure. Still wishing that I had that date confirmed... but meh... I will get passed that, I'm sure. Usually do.

Anyways... I'm gonna take my aches and muscle pains back upstairs for another hour of bad TV before bed... definitely gonna be an early one tonight. It's been a lazy day, with nothing really accomplished. Another thing Sundays are good for.

In light of that... I'll leave you with yes... one more test result from the same site. I'm bored, okay?

I am 13% Emo.

Okay... so I'm not emo at all.. I am probably not even goth, because goths are just messed up emo kids... I am probably a metal head... or into boy bands...

Take the
Emo Test
@ FualiDotCom

Points of Note

Well, this'll be a quick post this morning... things to do, y'know.

Last night was a pretty quiet one... met up with Randy (Gout) after work yesterday at the Riverbend Station Pub. Got caught up... first time I had seen him since coming home. That was really cool.

Then off to the Wildfire for a VERY quiet Friday night there... didn't stay too long. Was home before 10pm.

Today... I'm off to get some new gear for floor hockey, maybe get my Senators red jersey name/numbered with Jason Spezza, fix the muffler on my car and then off to the pub for Hockey Night in Canada.

Tonight's special will be a shootout in the pub during the Canucks/Flames game... where I'll find myself in net. There's a couple guys in there gunning for me, so it should be a real good laugh. I'm taking my net and my goalie equipment in there later and we'll have ourselves a great time.

Might give Theresa a call this afternoon... see if she's working this weekend at all. Thanks for the back-up there Mark!!

That should be my glorious Saturday... go Canucks!!

'Tis Friday, Y'Know

Good morning kids... miss me? Yeah, I know... I didn't write yesterday, but I was busy, you see. I was at a software training session for work in the downtown core. We were looking at a program that looks like it will make this job a lot less complicated, but saying that, the job isn't really all that complicated... it's more spread out over a number of areas, but this program will keep the work in one general software program. It's really kinda cool.

So, that's what Fred, Lee and myself got up to... Ernest and Meathead were left in the office yesterday as we were trained. It was a pretty entertaining day, we all had a giggle or two... mostly at Meathead's expense. Fred isn't a big fan of Meathead at all... and probably is thinking about doing away with him, but he probably doesn't have much to fall back on, because it is near the end of the year and it could get a tad busy. We shall see.

Last night, I had a small gathering of the hockey pool crew... not many of them showed up, but we still drank and had discounts nonetheless. I got to give away a few promo prizes for the weekly winners of the past month and drank a few bottles of Keiths. Yeah, it wasn't a bad night. Watched the Flames/Blue Jackets game, played some pool and chatted for the majority of the evening. Was home before 11pm... so I wasn't too trashed.

You know, I'm not really hell-bent on writing this morning. I don't know why... I haven't written in a while and I know how much you've been dying to read something new... but eh.

Wednesday night, I went to the pub to work out the prize details for the hockey pool evening with Greg. I thought I'd make sure that there would be something, since Pa said he talked to all the work people and they'd be there. Holy... no pressure to get this working, eh? I sent some e-mails around and then went down to the pub for the chat.

Down there, I was able to wrangle up the promise of some prizes... but Greg wasn't even gonna show up. He had plans for a major bender Thursday night, but said that there would be prizes left behind and that Jen would be able to get them. Okay, cool. I managed to catch the third period of the absolute joke of a hockey game, the Senators 10/Sabres 4... man, that just looked like glorified pond hockey. If I didn't get 10 points in that game for the pool, I would have been disappointed... but I did, so... woo hoo! I chatted with the new waitress, Candace for a while... she's really nice. And Raquel came in as well... so once the game had finished up, I went over to the bar, where she was sitting, and went and chatted with her. Got a good chunk of the life story from her... had a really good chat actually.

Haven't seen Theresa again for a while... the Christmas party is the weekend after this upcoming one... what's the deal there?? I would sure love some confirmation, just so I don't go out and make the mistake of double-booking the event with someone else, not like I would be guaranteed to do such a thing, but what if, right? I did drop her a text message saying that it was the 12th... but haven't heard back, she hasn't been working at the Wildfire, I'll probably have to give her a call one of these days. "Helloooooooooo..."

Well... should get my ass in gear and do some work now. Looks like there is a ton to do today... so I best be gettin' on with it.