Roll On, Weekend!

Friday morning, eh?? Countdown to the weekend has begun.

Today, I fear the non-drinking streak may come to a close with the slight possibility that Kelly will want to meet up. It will take some serious Luke Skywalker Jedi action not to go over to the dark side... possibly even a sword battle will ensue. You know, like the ones they poke through olives. I dunno... we'll see. I don't necessarily want to cave, but I had this discussion with Chris the other night... I fear the worst if I go out with Kelly. Mostly 'cuz he ponies up for most of the tabs, which is super-cool. I know it's payday... and it's Friday... I've been good so far... but this is the real test.

Moreso to positively justify breaking down... he won't be out for very long. I cannot see him staying out like the good ol' days. Those were some good days... out drinking until it was casino time... then it was more drinking and blackjack... what a hoot. I don't think it'll be a time like that, if at all... but who's to say? That there is my fear for the evening.

This weekend... I should be doing some rounds to pick up some pool sheets and entry money. I might give a call down to Sundance to see how serious the Bradley's are in going in. Josh had sent me an e-mail saying that he wants in. Then I gotta go see Randy in Riverbend sometime tomorrow, I know he wants in. Then out to Langdon and see the folks out there and see what I can drum up for activity. I had some other good news that Derek and girlfriend, Nicole, are joining the pool as well. I got their sheet last night. So, that's another unexpected addition... it should be a good sized pool this year, I figure.

I don't have much for plans on Sunday... it's gonna be a quiet one, I figure. Probably catch some more football in the morning/afternoon, probably go for a walk or something... hell, might even set-up the webspace for the pool then. We shall see.

But first, I have to get through today. I have one pretty big annual filing to look after today. That's all... it might be another slow one. I'm expecting the sales guys to be in today, so I can hound them about the pool. I'm kind of hoping for a couple more filings first thing this morning... I know the afternoon might be a tad shit, but that's okay.

Now, I think I'm pretty much covered here on the Tales. So, I think I'll bid thee adieu.

Still Puzzled...

You know what's a song I've always enjoyed... 'Cha Cha Cha' by Jimmy Luxury and the Tommy Rome Orchestra. It's on the Go Soundtrack... what a quality tune. The link is the lyrics to the tune... it's something that's a real pick-me-up. I dunno... just thought I'd mention that now since I was just listening to it. I've had the mp3 player on random tonight.

How'd ya like that picture down below? That was a good laugh when it came out, I tell ya.

Well, tonight's entertainment was a walk. I just didn't feel like hanging around the house at all, so I went for a walk. I went out, dropped off Jen's well-overdue movie and got rent for the month. I thought that'd be a good idea tonight. I tried to do the right thing tonight... something that I've had trouble with the last little while.

The walk did get me to think quite a bit. I'm looking at things that were said and tried to make some application of them. Try to take some of the advice I've heard lately and make some sense in a way that only I can do it. But really... I don't think I've gotten any further with anything recently.

Chris has said for me 'to find a hobby or a girlfriend.' Well I do have some hobbies... they might not be very time-consuming, but I do have hobbies. I'm writing here, aren't I? I've got my hockey pool... that's a pretty good hobby. The argument about the girlfriend isn't really an argument. I'll whole-heartedly agree to that statement... I think I do need one. It would really cheer me up a bundle now that I've spent these few days thinking and not drinking.

I've found it quite strange that I've got a couple of great girls express some interest in me, but neither have the time. I asked Chris tonight if there were some normal girls for me to have some interest in... and he replied, no. He thought that there were normal girls out there... but he was wrong. I really don't know what to make of my situation... I know that my luck will always play against me. If I put myself out for one (like Melody said I should) that the other will come calling or make time and vice versa. I've gotta keep looking, unless one of them comes up trumps. Optimism isn't my companion at the moment... it's tough to burden the load of disappointment when optimism is only a blanket to cover the hurt.

How's a guy supposed to put anything out there when he would appreciate some time spent in return. I'm not asking for the world and I'm trying not to jump to many conclusions for as long as I possibly can. Maybe the reward of a little quality time would go a long ways. I generally hope that it isn't a stretch for someone and if it is, then why consider it? I don't know, I'm just as confused as I sound... I don't know if I'm coming or going and it's a good sober moment to figure it all out. I'm certainly not going to do it here... I don't think I'll figure out anything myself, except for what I need. But I think that's probably the easiest part of the puzzle.

What Kind of Sauce?

And the picture I wanted to post is ready to go...

Still Going...

Day 5... still going strong. Made the trip to the Yardhouse last night to be social. It wasn't really hard to twist Chris' arm to go. All I had to do was say wings and he was in the shower and ready to go in no time.

I decided to show my face and be sober about it after Saturday's debacle... I kinda wondered how bad it was going to be. Really, I think Chris just exaggerated a little bit for me, just to get me all flustered and uncomfortable.

We showed up and sure enough, Erin was working again... Chris thought I scared her off when she wasn't out there when we first got in. But yeah... she was working and I could just feel my face turn oh so red... but she explained the situation a little bit nicer than Chris did, where I didn't come off quite as creepy. Still, I apologized since I didn't remember and it wasn't made into much of a big deal.

Ash was about and before we left for the evening, was telling us about more bad luck she had run into with her car. That poor girl is having such a hard time with both of her jobs and just being unlucky in driving.

Oh yeah... I still need to get Chris to send me the picture, but last night our tray of 50 wings came on the 100-wing platter... with the other half in ranch sauce reading "Hey There Assholes." How's that for knowing the kitchen staff. What we thought was Gerald had his hand in on it, but when the order came back, it was actually Krista who admitted to the deed. It got a good laugh out of everyone, that's for sure.

We were then outta there around 9pm... probably one of the earliest nights I've left there in a long while.

Yesterday also saw some drama between Karly and Jen... Jen still has some of Karly's stuff from ages ago and Karly would like it back. I don't know the fullest extent of the story, nor do I really want to know the full extent, but it's "against Jen's principles" to give Karly her stuff back. She apparently packed it away and hid it somewhere in her room... unbelievable. So before Jen even got home last night from work, I just went to bed. I didn't want to hear Jen bitch about it, 'cuz I knew she would and I was growing more and more tired to actually try and resolve this myself. What I can't believe though, is that Jen would prefer to continue the drama, keep her stuff and not be done with Karly altogether. Nope... she'd rather make everyone suffer. I makes me shake my head and wonder... what is Jen learning at church?

Anyways... I didn't sign up my new webspace yet. I thought I would wait until next week... once payday has come and gone. I should get rent for Jen today or tomorrow, before I forget.

Probably gonna have to make a drive around this weekend to pick up some Pool sheets and stuff. Make sure everyone has got one or has them ready to go soon. The season starts now in less than a week, so I can't wait!! Drop... the... puck!!

Chef! Another Dish!

I suppose the best thing about not drinking at the moment is that I have time. I finding more time to cook and more time to think. I know, thinking isn't my greatest friend, but I'm able to concentrate a little bit more on the things that need to be done. I do love to cook though... and once and a while take pictures while I cook.

I got through most of what I needed to in regards to setting up my hockey pool. The team pages are ready, the standings page can be added to. I think today, I will contemplate setting up www.opiatedsherpa.com for all my results. Don't click the link as it doesn't work yet. There are some set-up costs involved, but if I have the numbers that I think I might for this pool, I will count it as some adminstrative cost.

Should be decent day here at the office. I've got a few bigger ones on my desk, but nothing that will keep September from being the slowest month of the year so far. I'll try and finish up what I can today, which could possibly be all of it. I thought I would get the writing out of the way first, that way I don't have to worry about it. If I finish up everything this afternoon, I might set-up my new webspace and just be done with it.

Finally, I had forgotten to mention over the last couple days... on Monday, I have started chatting with Tim. You don't know the Tim I'm talking about? Well how about the Condiment King Tim. That's right... I've been re-united with my other half of the greatest after hours show that hit the Leeds Music Festival in 2004. It's certainly great to hear from him. I have been chatting with a lot of the lads over yonder and there is a chance for a possible return to those stomping grounds in 2007 for another repeat performance. Here's hoping!!

Games I'm addicted to lately:
Guess Which Movie - I finished all 16 rounds at 75% correct.
More Beer - addicting little flash game that I play from time to time. My current high score is 16,749.

Too Hip To Have Tickets

A slight accomplishment in Day 2, leading into Day 3... I went and visited Melody at Kensington Pub last night for a couple hours, only dipping into the ice tea for the early evening. You know, it's not really a stretch when I actually want to do it. Not being the peer pressure type, unlike Kelly... it wasn't too difficult to do. Unfortunately, I'm probably gonna have to see Kelly sooner rather than later, but I think I can beat him.

Anyways, it was good to see Melody again last night. I do believe that was the first time I saw her since she was in London. We had finally gotten together after a couple weeks of planning and cancelling, but it was certainly great to see her and catch up. She's certainly one of the better people in the world, especially to chat with. The time just flies by and there's never really a long pause whatsoever. But when it's been quite a while since you see someone, that's sort of bound to happen, I suppose.

Another wonderful bonus is that Melody is one of those people that I can openly chat about my girl situations with (mostly 'cuz she asks), because she actually has insight, rather than guesses. She was making some good points about trying to put a bit more out there, especially with Barb now that she's contacted me again. Maybe, despite my best efforts the last time around, wasn't enough to let her know that I was interested. Sadly, I still scoff at that one, 'cuz I think the Tales has outlined it pretty clear that I've done my bit. But it is something to think about a little bit more.

So yeah, the two hours just flew by... I couldn't quite believe it was 7:30pm when we left. It was really good to know she was doing well with her new job at BP and that her kids, although were getting into their fair share of trouble, were still doing alright.

Of course all that chatting got me to start thinking again. I might not be the fittest person around, but that Hamster on the wheel upstairs could probably could give some other Hamsters a good run for their money. So, it was the exploration of trying to put it all out there again. I want to try and do it without looking to overbearing... c'mon, there is no need to be like that, no matter how long it's been without. Immediately the concert tickets came to mind... and well, since I'm gonna be booking some new Tragically Hip tickets this morning, I thought I would see if she was interested in going to see them and if so, what would be the best night. So I sent her a text message asking her and she was actually pretty quick to respond saying that she didn't like the Hip. *gasp* We may have chatted about this before, but I couldn't remember when I sent her the initial text message, luckily, I had a back-up plan. Since she answered fairly quickly, I tried to give her a call, but it was already too late... she was working and already away from her phone. We'd only texted each other leading up to it, so I thought a phone call would be a bit more appropriate. I left her a voice mail message about the New Pornographers concert on the 18th... I had given her my New Pornographers mix disc ages ago and she really did enjoy it, so it seemed rather likely that she'd agree to go. A couple hours later, she had gotten a break and gave me a ring and was excited about it and booked the night off. Wonderful. She had also mentioned that she was pretty booked up this week, but she'd let me know when she would be free next week... so that's also a pretty good start as well. Maybe there is something to it after all.

The one problem with not drinking for me is my mind doesn't shut off and I can't sleep. That really isn't any excuse for me to get shitfaced as often as I did, but it does give some sort of incentive to have one or two. Not that I should or anything... but it sobriety does nothing for my sleep patterns. The contrary part of this argument is that I'm probably not doing enough in the way of exercise either... definitely something else I should be looking at. Maybe this winter I'll have to really find a way to get some more cardio in the habits and maybe I'll sleep a whole load better. So yeah, I didn't sleep well at all last night. It didn't help that Maggie, the cat, got sprung out of Jen's room and came and crashed with me all night. That's all I needed was a distraction... or another one at that. I thought about getting up, turning the laptop on and getting some writing out of the way, but decided against it. I tried to think of all sorts of ways I could combat the problem... but all that thinking was counter-productive. For a night like tonight, I'm really gonna have to think of something to counteract my sober evening thinking.

So with my lack of sleep and lack of desire to keep trying to fall back asleep, I got up at 6:20am this morning, jumped in the shower and was out the door before 6:45am. I didn't want to stay in bed, I was already pretty well awake by then and didn't mind the idea of taking off early. It would give me some time to have an extra cup of coffee and get on the Tales to do all this writing. I also thought that tickets for the Hip would go on sale at 8am Mountain Time, but no, it's 10am after checking first thing this morning. I'll probably get tickets for one of the first shows if I can. I'm pretty sure I'd be able. How exciting.

I was also told yesterday that Fred and I should be expecting our new laptops around the 10th of October. I might have to have a bash on the Tales in celebration of the new machine. What that will entail, I have no friggin' clue.

Looks like it's gonna be a slow one here at the office today. I have a few small things on the go this morning. Yesterday's dealings with the arch-nemesis was surprisingly pleasant and easy. It sort of made my day.

I'm thinking about starting a new Blog for the Opiated Sherpa Production brand. I've got a giant collection of jokes and forwards in my e-mail that I would like to keep, yet delete. If I post them all online, then I can keep them somewhere where I know they'd be and also delete them from my machine. I know there have been a couple of these blogs about on BlogMad and BlogExplosion, but what the hell. It's not like anyone has to go there and what would be the trouble if they did? It's definitely a thought and maybe one that I will do something about today. It could actually be good fun.

Saturday's Debacle & Sunday's Pain

Right, let's see if I can make it through Saturday's festivities...

I stayed in bed until the last possible moment, despite the Hamster's run because of Barb's re-appearance, see post below for further details. I had my alarm set for 8am, which was going to give me a lot of time to wake up and be ready for the first ball game. I was up, showered and even made a pot of coffee before Jen woke up and said hello. She was amazed that I didn't wake her and that there was actually a pot of coffee.

I was out the door around 9am... needed to pick up some cash for Alan for registration in the tourney, which was only $25... not too bad. It was three games on Saturday and at least one on Sunday. I couldn't make the last game on Saturday, because of getting Stamps tickets from Fred's Mom, but I was gonna play in the rest of the games, no problem. On the way to the bank, I got a call from Alan; he, Munden and a few others on the team were out drinking until the wee hours of the morning, only getting to sleep at 7am. Crikey. Needless to say, they were in rough shape for the games on Saturday. Munden couldn't keep himself together, Alan was moaning and groaning the entire time... it was quite humourous. Their states were also reflected in the result of the game... a 12-11 loss. It wasn't really a bad game... I think we were winning for a while, but it just went to hell in the end.

After the game, Alan and I went to Joey Tomato's in the NE for a drink. That was going to sort him out a bit. There he choked back a few Caesars and I had a couple beers. Something to just calm the nerves a bit. We went back to the park and had a couple more drinks at the beer gardens. Alan was working himself into a great drunk and I was getting started to some degree. The second game was a little bit more of a rout for our opponents... I think they clocked us 12-6 or something horribly worse.

The game didn't finish until 3:15pm and I had to be home to pick up Chris and meet Dad & Harold for the Stamps game at the house for 4pm. I managed to sneak into the shower since I was a sweaty mess. It was such a warm afternoon on Saturday, the game in the afternoon was sweaty and sticky affair. I was home in no time from the ballpark and quickly showered before Chris came upstairs and Dad & Harold arrived about 10-15 minutes late.

Up at McMahon Stadium, we arrived, grabbed a couple of beers and got to our seats. Low and behold, we were sitting in the "family section" of the stadium... which it didn't say on our tickets or anywhere on the way up to our seats, so we actually got a talking to by the Superfan Attendant of the building. We could finish our drinks there, but we should refrain from bringing any other alcohol up there. The game itself was in need of a few more beers... it was only 9-1 Calgary at the half... quite the snoozer. At halftime, the four of us hung out around the concourse, waiting in line for food and just generally hanging out. If we couldn't drink at our seats, that was pretty much the last place we could. We went back to our seats to watch the fourth quarter, but decided to go with 5 minutes to go... thus missing a small Argonauts comeback. No matter... we were back at home before 8pm.

Then the evening sort of went to hell... Chris and I started back at the Yardhouse, but his cousin from Victoria was in town and needed a ride or to be picked up to come out with us at the Blackfoot Inn. So, we piled into his car and picked up his cousin, Brendan. Then... it was back to the Yardhouse for a whole ton of drinks. The night became fuzzy... and rightly so. The bill in the end, Chris said, was about $180 before tip. Crikey. Chris also had made mention that I was getting awfully fresh with Erin... who, to some degree, is quite desirable. Her boyfriend, who I had met once, didn't seem to factor too much Saturday night. Between the shots and drinks, I was ill after going home... the last shot, which was red by colour, which I know for sure, 'cuz it was on the carpet of my room in the morning, obviously didn't sit well.

The day and night has made me come to think that a month off the booze will be greatly celebrated. The whole day cost me quite a bit... something I shouldn't have really done and the hangover was enough to set me straight for a while. So, I think that's what I'll do. I'll go straight for a while and see where it takes me. I'm sure it can't be much worse than the antics that I've been getting up to of late, so that's a good thing.

When 8am rolled around, I forgot that I promised to pick up Alan in the morning to go to our first ball game at 9am. I rolled out of bed at ten past and got dressed, threw up some bile and was out the door. I picked up Alan at his local Mac's Store, where I bought a 2-litre of OJ and the new issue of Playboy (man, good things do happen when I'm hungover)... and we were off to the ball diamonds. It was sort of good news/bad news at the diamonds... when we arrived we were the third & fourth one's there for the team... but we were also the last one's to show up before having to forfeit the game, since we had no players. Fortunately, I got to take Alan home and go home and die on the couch.

Besides sleeping 'til around noon, I did some shopping, did loads of laundry... had to wash the couch's covers 'cuz Costas took a shit all over the couch when I went to Safeway. I managed to quell my hangover finally in the afternoon with a bowl of salmon salad and some 7up. Jen finally came home in the evening after spending the evening at Jen & Paul's new house in McKenzie Town. I watched all the new episodes of the Simpsons & Family Guy and such... then it was bed for me.

Now I'm on Day 2 of my new alcohol-free regime. I am going to meet Melody at the Kensington Pub, but I've already told her that I won't be dipping into the lager tonight. She's not one of the peer pressuring types, so I'm cool with that. Maybe some ice tea for me... that'd go down a treat, me thinks.

Guess Who Out of the Blue

3:48am, Saturday morning

As I was enjoying my early to bed sleep on Friday night, I was woken up by the sound of my phone receiving a text message. If I don't pick it up, then it keeps making it's stupid little hooting noise every minute or so until I read the damn thing. It was right beside my bed, so I lifted my tired head off the pillow and opened the flip.

I couldn't believe it when I saw it, but it was Barb's number up on my display. I had long since deleted her number since I didn't think I would ever hear from her again. I thought I had sent enough stupid text messages confessing way too much to scare her off for good. Nope... it's almost 4am and she returns a text. Granted, she's probably been drinking a good deal by then... good for her... but there it was.

I didn't reply right away. The state I was in though, half-asleep and dreaming, sent my head for a good spin. The hamster was now running like a demon on its wheel and I couldn't really fall back asleep until I had replied to the text message.

The gist of the messages were that she apologized for it being too long since we had last chatted, that her phone broke and/or she still hadn't figured out how to use it properly. I was sure to try and take away some of the blame from the lack of contact. I was still half asleep and I hadn't realized that she could have been or probably was kinda drunk at the time. I didn't get a text back to my reply until after 7am... which probably wasn't too much better. Ha ha.

I was in udder shock though. I couldn't believe that she'd come back and talk to me. I had contacted her a couple other times during the day on Saturday and then she contacted me again yesterday afternoon and we might try and get together one of these days. She had said 'that she wasn't sure if this week would work. But you never know.'

I suppose there's something to be read into that... if it does happen this week, maybe she'll start making time for me, something that was kind of lacking in the weeks leading up to the disappearance. I'm trying not to get ahead of myself, but there are also steps in place to try and keep myself from doing something similar to what happened before. But that's all for a post later on today.

Friday Night

Friday evening was planned to be out in Langdon. I needed to go pick up some mail, including my student loan getting shipped to another Collection Agency last week. What a piss off... something to rectify this week. Also, Dad was saying to me that their PC has gone on the fritz and needed to be looked at. So that was also in the cards for me to do.

Out in Langdon, I went over to the folk's place and dabbled with their computer. It was pretty easy to see that the power supply wasn't working at it's greatest potential. The fan was so full of dust and crap that it couldn't move anymore, probably overheating the power supply, which would get the machine to quit on a regular basis.

After dinner, I went and met Benny & Jeff over at the Wildfire. It was yet another reminder as to why I had moved out of Langdon and seemingly enjoy the Yardhouse so much. Not the fact that Benny & Jeff were there, but the bar is getting less and less like the place I would actually want to go drink at. The turnover in staff is atrocious, the clientele is kinda sketchy now and other than the people that I still know in there, it's not a very friendly place to be. I only stayed out there for a few beers, which was more than enough.

The evening ended rather early, which was okay, because Saturday morning, I had to be up at 8am to go to the last slow-pitch tournament that Alan had set-up for some of the Royals. I think I went to bed around 10pm... there wasn't much on TV, so it made for a pretty good decision.

Trying To Remember The Evenings

Okay, so Wednesday and Thursday nights are somewhat blurry in the way of remembering what happened in them. I'm not completely sure. I've been trying to look back at the sports news to see if I can remember what went on... or at least trigger a memory that'll lead me back to what happened. I can generally remember if I was watching something on TV, be it at home or at the Yardhouse.

Ahhhh... when in doubt, check the e-mails with Kelly. Right I remember Wednesday now, which leads quite nicely into Thursday.

Wednesday night, Chris and I went over to the Yard for a a while. It wasn't going to be anything major, just a few beers. Chris hadn't eaten anything and was up for some wings as well. But when Krista came out from the kitchen, the real social gear kicked in and well... Chris took off on me around 11pm... Gerald came out eventually... I sat with them and Walter for a while. Before I knew it, it was 2am. Shit. I didn't have a great deal to drink in all... five beers and a couple shots... and I only spent $20. It was a pretty good night in the end. It did make for a long night and a rough morning when 7am rolled around.

Thursday night... nothing. I was in bed nice & early on Thursday night. Geez, after a 2am night, I was a dead man walking, so to speak. I tried napping on the couch for a while and just milled around the house all night. I think I did some cleaning up a bit, since Jen was working, but overall, it was a pretty quiet night all told.

New Laptop

On Friday, the new dream machine was ordered. Opiated Sherpa Productions will have a new digital home base in the next couple weeks.

The new Dell Inspirion 6400, loaded to the gills with technical goodness is coming. I think all told the machine cost $1,700, a far cry from what the VAIO I'm using now cost me and it's a pretty mean machine.

2.14 Ghz Core Duo Processor, 2 GB of RAM, 120 GB hard drive, 15.4" monitor, 5-in-1 card reader (for my Memory Sticks), DVD Burner and internal wireless networking... it'll be a pleasure to Blog with that puppy.

Fred ordered pretty much the exact same machine, 'cept he upgraded his sound card ('cuz he watches a lot of DVDs on his machine) and got an extra battery. I ordered a new wireless router since the one I have is shit and more anti-virus protection. It only made sense. Apparently the machine is now in production as of an hour or two ago... but the estimated ship date isn't for another month. Go figure. I don't honestly think that's the case, but who's to say? It's still pretty exciting though.

Work Over The Last Few Days

Well, I guess it really isn't the "last" few days, but the last few days of work could be highlighted in this post.

Wednesday, we held what was the last of the interviews for Lee's position. We had been interviewing for over two weeks, finding some good, some not-so-good and a few socially inept. The interviewing process was actually getting better and better, the more I got into it all, so in a way, it was kind of hard to believe that it was coming to an end. That only lasted for a few seconds though... the sense of relief was a little bit more dominant.

We ended up interviewing this Bruce fella on Wednesday. He was a very outgoing, personable gent who teaches English as a Second Language courses in town and was feeling that he wasn't going anywhere in his job, so was looking for something else. He was a guy who may not have been technically sound, but he did seem keen to learn. Unfortunately, he was a family man... a guy who had been around the block a bit, so an entry-level position with entry-level pay wasn't what he was expecting and in the end didn't take the job.

On Friday, it was decided that a guy, that I didn't get a chance to interview, Marcus, would take the job on the 2nd of October and that will be that. It's kind of a shame I didn't get to see him, I do believe I had a last-minute quarterly come in when he did and it needed to get done, so Ernest interviewed him alone. The reviews about Marcus were not totally great, but he did seem to be the guy who would take the money... hopefully, he'll be good enough in the role. Now I have to finish up my EDGAR How-To, 'cuz he'll need to read it in a few weeks. Shit.

Otherwise, it had been a pretty quiet week at the office. The arch-nemesis of a client came out with a new problem. The two of the three guys, maybe all three, that I work with had reason to believe that Filing Services Canada and the EDGAR component (which is me) were actually a printer as well... meaning that we kept printing their documents and kept them up-to-date as we went along. Needless to say, I wasn't keen on any of their work for the rest of the week. They had sent in another copy of their Prospectus for me to work on, which looks like shit, but needed to be done. They thought I had an updated copy of the Word file, as they made all sorts of changes to their last registration filing that their Prospectus needed to be filed in. Ummmm... nope. So, I was doing a good job at getting under the skin of their guy in New York... and making sure I kept Brydon in the loop about it all. I hope that I've got them under wraps now... I need to get their Prospectus filed today and maybe, just maybe, I'll be a little bit better to them.

Otherwise, I'm not expecting too much this week... I'm going to try and do some more writing for the How-To, of course, finish up the three filings I have on my desk for today, and finish writing a bit more here on the Tales. There is still quite a bit to write, so I might get those filings done first... you know... my job... and then see where it all goes today.

It's Time To Play Catch-up

This is probably pretty common among other Bloggers in the 'sphere... I've just found myself in a non-writing mood. An even bigger slump than those times that I said I was in a writing slump and kept on going. My last post was on Wednesday morning... nearly a week ago. There have been events and goings on since Wednesday, actually quite a few goings on, I think. I guess it's now my job to figure it all out from here and write about it. I think what I'll do is write a few posts that way my concentration on one large post is not distracted quite a few times. Just like right now... ha ha. I'm gonna have to go back in time... in my head... to dig up what happened, if anything on these past few nights. Maybe I'll even work backwards... nah... that's just silly.

A Couple Days Have Passed...

Yeah, it's been a little bit since I've posted. Other than going to the Canucks/Flames pre-season game last night with Fred, it has been a pretty quiet last couple of days.

The weather has warmed up the last couple days from the frosty reception to the new week on Monday. It was a whopping +6 out when I left the house this morning and you could certainly tell. I don't think it was quite that warm yesterday morning, but it was still warmer than -1.

The car has been doing alright... it had a bit of a hiccup when I turned it off at home on Monday night, but otherwise, it's been running quite well. Another positive... man, I'm on a roll in this post.

Been through another few interviews already this week. We're hoping to wrap them up this week as Ernest is off to Toronto next week and we've already interviewed quite a few people. I'm really hoping for a resolution sooner rather than later. There are certainly some qualified candidates for the position, but it's one of those positions that you either like or dislike and it's more likely the latter. Lee was certainly a guy with the disposition to be content with the position... it's hard to say that he liked it, but ya never know.

Monday night was watching the football game... the first half at home and the second half at the Yard. Chris had won a poker game, so he was up for the second half being out and we only had two. It was oddly refreshing knowing that there wouldn't be any idocy in regards to Ash not being there during the week. Not hoping that she'd be there or what to do or say if she was there. Nevertheless... that was it for Monday night. Only a couple and was home and in bed at a reasonable time.

Last night, it was pretty much straight home from work, grabbed my Canucks jersey and out the door again. Fred bought a package of pre-season tickets to the Flames, which included one regular season game up in the bleeders. When we went... we were in the bleeders alright. I mean... the last row in the highest point in the building. It made it really hard to get decent pictures, even with low light settings, but the action in the game was easy to see from so high up. It's not a terrible vantage point... except unless if you know which numbers correspond with which players, it's hard to read the names. Being pre-season, there were quite a few new numbers or new names attached to old numbers, which made the scouting a little harder than normal.

The Canucks lost in the end, but it was just a tryout for a lot of guys who are on the bubble. Matt Cooke was the only regular Canuck in the line-up from last season... new guys Marc Chouinard and Rory Fitzapatrick figured in the game... and rookie hope Luc Bourdon was also in the game for the Canucks. For the Flames, all they were missing was Iginla, Tanguay and Kiprusoff... it was a pretty full side. The Flames took it 3-1, scoring three unanswered goals starting halfway through the second, but the Canucks and their new system held a talented Flames side to a tie game until three and a half minutes to go. Not a terrible game... not a good game either. All the players definitely had their pre-season legs... it was pretty slow.

And that's all I've missed out on, really. No, that's not right.

I've decided against doing the hockey pool draft now. Randy won't be able to make it and a few others I was hoping for won't be able to make it and there just hasn't been a gung-ho effort from anyone, except Dad, about getting in there and doing it. It really kind of sucked. So, I've decided to do a pool more like my playoff pool, selecting players out of a set of boxes and seeing how many people I can wrangle up for that. I figure I could get more 'cuz I'm not relying on them to show up anywhere to do a draft. Hopefully I get almost as many people as I did for the playoff pool... that'd be pretty sweet.

Finally, might be ordering a new laptop with Fred by the end of the week. With the VAIO seemingly have more and more trouble as the days go by, it'd be nice to have something new to play with. I'd keep the VAIO around for other tasks... or maybe lend it to Ma... don't know exactly. It might serve some sort of purpose for something... what exactly, I don't know, but it'll be something. I'll make a note of what we order when in fact we do so.

Anyways... got another interview in 25 minutes, so I should jet.

Frosty Ruminations

You can't really see it, but there was some leftover frost on the back window of the Sherpa-mobile when I pulled into the office parking lot this morning. The radio this morning said it was minus-1 outside, just before I left the house. There was a nice layer of frost on the windows... once I heard the temperature, I used the remote starter to get a little warmth in the car before I got out there. After laying in the warm comfort of bed, being toasty was sort of a priority this morning. I wrapped myself up in another blanket at 5:30am this morning when I had a little shiver on that woke me up. Eek. I don't think Jen was in a big hurry to get up either, since I was the first one in the shower this morning.

Yesterday, I ended up going to see Little Miss Sunshine at the Globe. I had to go by myself, 'cuz Chris was being pretty lazy and Jen was gonna be heading out with Natasha to go shopping or something. But once I got outside again, the cooler air had a great briskness to walk through.

To me, Little Miss Sunshine was again one of those pictures that made me all introspective again. It was that and the autumn air that reminded me of the days of going back to school and some of those depressing thoughts of being lonely and such. Not one of my finer memories of life, but being introspective does give me a great deal of learning and it's also one of those lessons in the movie.

I couldn't really relate to all of the characters and I'm not really a big Greg Kinnear fan... but Alan Arkin was phenomeonal. I thought the Grandpa character, despite the hard edge, was a great character, not to strive to be yourself, but to listen to. There was an infinite wisdome about him beyond his habits and swearing. Everyone in the film that their role to play and each of them gave a spectacular performance. I thought I'd laugh just a bit more than I did, but maybe that was because I was watching it alone.

When I got back outside into the crisp air and the hamster was running on his wheel, looking back into the deep abyss, it wasn't setting myself up for a wonderful evening. I walked back to Kensington, trying to pry Chris out for the football game that was on TV at the Yardhouse, but that wasn't working. The realization of being alone again was not doing me any favours. When I walked in and sat down at the Yardhouse, it was pretty quiet there. Not long after I got my beer, another gentleman sat down a couple chairs away, also looking to watch the football game and also seemed to be up for a chat... or six. I couldn't say I was quite in the mood for chatting, so before the game started, I finished my beer and took off. It was about all I could do. I thought it would be better to stick around at the house and just deal with it all... let it consume me a little bit more than it would whilst being in public.

I picked up a bottle of Pepsi as the liquor store was closed (no beer for me) and Safeway was busy... I mean, really busy... so I went to the Shell station and picked up the Pepsi. I sucked myself up and got myself to dial the phone to call Ash... maybe trying to arrange a meet would make me feel better. To no surprise, her phone wasn't on and I was left with leaving a message. I did... short and sweet... nothing major. No real optimism was left, however, after leaving the message.... I'm pretty sure I was "breezy" on my message, but I don't think that really mattered.

At home it was just TV night. I flipped around during the Cowboys/Redskins game, watching some series and trying to find something else that would entertain me and dissolve some of this ill feeling that I have been describing. But it wasn't really to be. Other than football... it was pretty much crap until around 8pm... when the Simpsons started again. I still had to wait 'til 9pm for all the new episodes to air, but I managed to sit through it all and be done with it.

The new Simpsons episode was pretty decent. The whole White Stripes bit was stellar. I busted a gut through the entire Hardest Button To Button bit... even the chase scene. It's really sort of a shame that the writing of the show hasn't improved the dialogue in the last couple seasons. As much as I enjoy the comedy... and I do... the repetitive nature does seem to wear on a bit. I know it's been around for oh so long, but the movie will be hard pressed to impress, especially if their on the same track as they are on now.

I actually sat through and watched the new episode of American Dad... it was actually kind of funny. That show does get a little easier to watch, the more you get to know the characters. The new Family Guy was also quite good... I could listen to Dingo and the Baby all day long. Once the cartoons were done though, it was bed time. 10:30pm was late enough for me.

And that brings us pretty much full circle, back to the beginning of our story with all the frost and stuff. It may actually reach +12 today... but it's really reminding me of the turn in weather about this time of year. Damn school memories.

Party and Giggles

It's Sunday morning and I'm ready for a little football. Oakland and Baltimore on CBS here... and that's it. FOX and NBC don't seem to have a game early on. Hmmmm... almost makes me wish that I had Sunday Ticket here. Aw well.

Well, as you might have been able to tell on the post below this one, I was a tad drunk & angry. You know, I haven't even decided to read it when I am sober. In reflection, the post was a little harsh, if I remember it correctly, and somewhat inaccurate for the evening. I'm sure I sort of deserved the shit that Jen gave me on Friday night. I was just being difficult, but really... when she starts talking to me with her nagging voice... it's hard not to become difficult.

Otherwise... Friday night was a pretty fun night.



If there was a picture that painted the evening watching the girls party, it would be this. Natasha, Betty & Jen were acting like they were still in school. Whispering and giggling as they got drunker and drunker. The three of them were doing their best to make Stainsby uncomfortable... it's no real secret that both Jen and Chris like each other, but when it turned into a schoolgirl outing... there were phone calls, voicemail messages... needless to say, yesterday morning was somewhat of an embarrassing recount of the evening for Jen.

The party was actually pretty substantial... Jen had quite a few people show up and thankfully she called ahead to get some tables reserved, because it was pretty busy in there. I got to meet Jen's step-siblings and got to see Jen's friend Tony and his new girlfriend, Julia. It was a very social evening for me. Ash was working and I got to chat with her a little bit more. She didn't end up being our server, but she was still about and I went and found her a couple times in the evening.

As the evening continued, I got pretty drunk, despite not really having too too much to drink. I didn't, however, really eat anything for dinner, so it was a little bit of a shitshow. So the party went pretty well and we headed home in the slow falling snow just after midnight. I had to carry Betty home, pretty much... she was pretty drunk. Even more so than I. I think she was into the shots with Jen... and Jen had a lot of shots.

That was pretty much the evening... which was pretty good until the end. But I don't need to get into that again.

Saturday morning was pretty hurting for Jen. I was actually alright, but feeling super-guilty about the night before. So while she suffered in bed and around the toilet, I cleaned up the messes that were about in the house. Did some vaccuuming and stuff like that. Once that was done, I was going to go for a walk for some eats when Jen's pizza that she ordered showed up. Finally, she emerged to talk with me and she was apologizing for being a cow and I apologized for being difficult with her... and that was alright. All was well.

I did manage to go for my walk in the afternoon... went into the core, picked up a couple copies of NME, some hair gel and a couple other bits. On the way home, I stopped and called England and chatted with Barry, Ronan, Rodger, Lars & Neil... that was good. They were all at the Hog's Head in Colchester. I kinda hope there were a couple pictures taken from the evening. Would love to see some.

Barry?

Lars?

C'mon guys... just a picture or two.

Then I came home and Jen was still in front of the TV, pretty much dead to the world. Then the BC/Montreal CFL game kicked off and I knew I wasn't going to be able to watch it... so I went to the Yardhouse and watched that there. I took a seat in front of a TV and just watched it... that was the gist of the night.

It was around the end of the first half when Krystale's birthday party rolled into the bar and Ash was in there with them. Caught my eye again... what a girl. I tried my best to not make too much of it, but she did come over and say hi... she even stopped in the corridor towards the bathroom to turn around and wave at me. She's been super-nice, but not seemingly accessible. I mean, she is gonna start working only as the Leasing Agent and she'll continue to work Saturdays at the Yardhouse... so, maybe she'll become a little more accessible. I will have to try to call her during the week and see what I can manage. I have been debating calling her this afternoon to see if she was working. It's definitely a thought.

I would like to go see Little Miss Sunshine today at the Globe. My folks are going to the Flames/Panthers exhibition game and Dad said I could meet up with them for a bite to eat later on before the game. We'll see what I come up with for the day.

Oh yeah... the car is up and running again. $700 later. Fudge. There's gonna be a concern that I will be trying to save a bit more money again. I wanna get to the bank one of these days to set-up a couple more accounts to put some money in. One being a savings account and the other being a savings account for my hockey pool. I would like to maybe make some interest on the money I would collect and if it's a little bit more substantial, then it can be included in the prize money. That might be another project for this week.

Right... I need a shower.

Unless it comes to a boil... much like tonight, don't think about living with Jennifer Asmus. I think this is a pretty fair statement, especially if you're a person with regular needs and desires. Unless you consider yourself anal and will fold down to nothing at the threat of a anal mistress.

Wait... this might get me a few unintentional hits to the site... but ANAL and MISTRESS might fit in quite nicely, unfortunately, there are no videos assocaited with this site. Sorry.

Anal. Bitchy. Bitch. Shouting. Ass.

Is there a game that needs to be played... bring it on.

Ridin' the Bus

Friday morning, slightly overcast. I think it was spitting a little bit when I was walking to the bus stop this morning. I decided to take the #1 this morning since I used it last night to get home. I must say, it was pretty quick and painless and gave me time to read the book that Tom got us at the wrap-up party, The Thinking Fan's Guide to Baseball. It's a pretty good read so far in it's first 40 pages. I would have read more this morning, but the bus driver wasn't very trustworthy. I had to keep looking up to make sure I we all weren't going to die. I would sure like to brace myself for impact more often than not.

I was mildly productive last night as well... the car was quoted and towed last night with hopes that it will be done for this afternoon. Fingers crossed. There isn't any ball in Langdon this weekend, so it isn't like I need the car or anything. Apparently with the prospect of snow in the forecast, the organizers of the year-end tourney have decided to push it back one more week. That's kind of good for the Cruisers, since there were going to be quite a few from the team gone this weekend. Anyways... back to the car. Lee's Auto Repair up here in Forest Lawn said they'd look at the fuel pump for me for $365, parts & labour. That was only $15 more than the place up near our old office, plus it's walking distance to go pick it up. I'm not overly sure what the tow was going to cost me, but it was just going to be added on to my bill. No biggie.

Jen's Dad was over last night fixing the tap in the tub. It didn't actually take him too long, minus the one trip to Home Depot, but it was al done in no time, really. He's quite the nice guy and a good fella to chat with. I was sort of hangin' around, helpin' out whilst he was working. I knew he was a pretty funny guy when he was coming over picking up Jen, but there wasn't that uncomfortable awkwardness with Jen not being around. She being self-centered and a magnet for his barbs, makes everything just odd in the house. I still laugh, but maybe just a little more reservedly. But last night, it was really cool... he was tellin' me a few stories and such and really fun to be out. He'll be out tonight at the Yardhouse doing the whole party thing with Jen tonight.

That didn't really stop me from taking Jen out for one last night either. Actually, it wasn't just her that met me at the Yardhouse... Natasha was along as well as Dave & Katie. They all finished their shift at Starbucks and came over as well. I had only seen Natasha for the first time in ages on Wednesday... apparently she was in Ontario for three weeks or something. She was looking quite well last night. We didn't stay too long, I think I only had three in the end and I bought Jen a drink and Natasha one as well, just to save her using her credit card.

Ash wasn't working last night... it was mostly a lot of new people. Erin was working behind the bar, she's pretty cool. Kate was also circulating around and said hi. I met Chelsea, both by sitting in her section and wearing my blue Chelsea jacket... "I like your hoodie," she said to me. Strange... it's a jacket, I thought to myself. Nevertheless... met her. Ash is supposed to be working tonight and she was hoping to get Jen's party to work for. It should be a gooder. That was pretty much that then.

I'm really going to have to make a conscious effort to take some pictures tonight. Someone... quick... beat it into my head that I should!

It doesn't look like it's going to be too busy today. It is payday, however. Fantastic! Get the car... go home... make some dinner... and then parrrrrrr-tay!

Still Rainy

That was the view of downtown from the Barlow/Max Bell C-Train station yesterday afternoon. The skies didn't break up at all yesterday, so we were all left a little soaked. Fred dropped me off there after work, since he was gonna take Deerfoot North to his place. I had just missed the #1 bus going west by a moment or two, so he decided to take me to the train station. Hopefully tomorrow, this won't be much of an issue anymore.

The rain continues to fall this morning, which made for a wet wait for a bus at Marlborough Station. It wasn't until the #32 came rolling by and picked a good bunch of us up to head South on 36th St. It took me nearly an hour to get to work today, which is a far cry from the 15 minute drive and 40 minute skate (which gave me a ton of exercise). I'm not complaining too bitterly though... it could still be worse.

That's enough about the weather... it's kind of a bummer to talk about.

Yesterday's interviews went alright yesterday, but neither candidate, although more than likely technically capable to handle the job, there was a few issues about shift work and maybe a couple personality quirks that might keep them out. Then the three of us chatted about what we really need in terms of hired help, whether or not it's feesible to hire a full-time person if a part-time student is all we really need. I also made a point that I wouldn't mind more help sooner rather than later to get myself ready for the March deadline and have someone trained up for it. So, at least I got a little input on the situation, we'll see where it actually goes. If we had about 30 or 40 more EDGAR clients, I think I could make a good case for it, but sadly that hasn't happened quite yet.

Also yesterday, it was yet another trip to the Yardhouse. Chris was more or less trying to avoid Lisa when he came upstairs with a couple bottles of Keith's before heading out. It was wing night at the Yard and I had nothing in the house to eat. So, it sort of made sense when we took off at 7:30pm to go for some wings. Chris had already eaten at the mall when he did a little clothes shopping, but was still up for some wings. We were a tad late getting there as well, so it was pretty busy. We were relegated to sittin' at the window, the last couple seats left in the place. Ash was about and came by to chat with us once or twice... she was sort of dogging it, since she's gonna be leaving anyways. She said she was only working a couple tables at the time. I got to ask her some more of the pertinent questions of when she's starting her new job (Monday) and when her last night is (she hasn't quit yet, 'cuz she can't get a hold of management to do so, so she'll be working some nights next week). So I'm thinking that's a little more positive... it'll still be some time before I have to drunkenly do something stupid on her last night. Sorry, pessimism kinda rules there... ha ha.

Today's plan... I have a 9:30am interview, which isn't long away. I have a few filings left over for today. I have to ask Fred what garages he used again around here in Forest Lawn and I will try and book one of them for tomorrow and a tow truck to get my car to said garage. So, that's my plan today. Jen's Dad is coming around tonight to fix our pipes this morning in the bathroom. Last night, we shut off the hot water so we could have a shower this morning... but when I got up to do my thing after Jen, Lisa was in there. Fucking bitch. I was not pleased about that at all this morning.

Well, I better hop to it then.

Dreary

Ha ha ha... the optical mouse has a tail.

What a shitty day it is outside. It's raining... just like the weather forecast predicted. It's dark, it's dreary and I'm glad I didn't rollerblade to work, 'cuz I'm not sure if this is gonna break up anytime soon. It's supposed to rain for like the next few days... so there ya go.

To be honest, that picture doesn't do the drearyness any justice. The picture looks a lot lighter than it actually is outside. It does, however, give you a sense of how wet it is outside this morning.

This morning, I got onto the train and took it into town, switched to the NE line and arrived at Marlborough Mall... then it was a 25 minute walk from there to the office. So I got my exercise again this morning.

Yesterday's skate home, although downhill to start, was not easy at all. My legs and back were still sort of recovering from the first 40 minute trek in the morning and wasn't quite ready to work out again in the evening. Be it out of shape or lack of interest to work that hard... my body was hurting all the way home. I didn't stop for a rest though... I managed to power through the whole trip, even the pedestrian bridge over Memorial Drive. The uphill battles were just that for the most part.

When I arrived at home, I just wanted to die. Just so tired and sweaty... I could have just passed out on the couch if I didn't need to do a few things. Instead of passing out I showered, ate and then went out to the car to investigate the electrical system. Dad had said it may only be a fuse that went on the fuel pump, which would be a much cheaper change than the fuel pump itself. As it turned out, it wasn't the fuse... it was still intact, so I'm gonna have to call a few places here in the Lawn to see if they can look at the car and such.

After investigation of the electrics, I investigated giving the fuel tank a tap to see if there was any blockage or anything... that didn't really work so well either. So... it was confirmed that the Sherpa-mobile is garage bound.

When I got in... again I felt like dying. But Chris came up and wanted to go for a beer. Dammit. My rubber arm was still on... I forgot to take it off. So we went... I only brought $20 with me, that's it. No more.

There it was Matt behind the bar and Ash & Kate were working the floor. For the most part it was pretty quiet in there. There was nothing on the sports channels really... so we ended up watching whatever was on at the time. Ash had gotten her job sorted out, but I didn't get all the details for it. Kate was pulling off Maggie's hair from my shirt... oddly. It was a fairly quiet evening in. I managed to snake an extra beer from Matt... what a good guy. Heh heh.

Finally, I was still in bed rather early... I think I made it in around 11pm... so that was alright. Up and at 'em nice and early this morning, to find no hot water in the shower. It was almost like Chris showered first thing in the morning, which is very odd for him. So, that's the story this morning... I'm gonna try and snake a ride to the train station on the way home tonight. That'll speed things up a bit.

Things I Found Out After Work Tonight...

1. Rollerblading back home after work is much harder when you're slightly out of shape and you had to rollerblade to work.
2. My car's problems are not just fuse related. This will in fact cost me few bucks to sort out.
3. Chris thinks a phone call means a trip to the Yardhouse.
4. Going to the Yardhouse means at least what you take with you in terms of cash.
5. If I had any concern that Ashley was after me... it was pretty much quelled now. Not gonna happen.
6. Katie, one of the new ones, is another story.
7. Matt, one of the bartenders, is a good man.
8. I'll be taking the train halfway to work and walking the other half if it is indeed raining in the morning, as forecasted.

That's all I got. I'm more confused than before.

Skate To Work Day

Good morning... well, kinda.

I was out the door much earlier to pop on the skates and do the skate to work. You know, it wasn't too bad. I kind of wish I was doing it like I said I was going to through the summer. I would be in such better shape than I am now. It only took me 40 minutes to make the uphill trek from the house to Forest Lawn, using the pathways around the Bow River. I was pretty impressed in what good time I was making throughout the journey. The toughest part was dealing with my lower back, especially when I got to the bridge to cross the river and the Deerfoot. It got worse when I finished the bridge, it becomes a giant hill, especially with a tired, slightly out-of-shape set of lungs in the nearing-autumn air.

It's a good thing all those hills are going down on the way home. Let's just hope that the partly cloudy skies keep that way through the day. The last thing I'm gonna want is a tiny bit of rain to throw my wheels out from under me.

In other good news, I got a quote for the work I might need for the fuel pump from a shop in the NE of Calgary... they only quoted me $350 and they could get me in tomorrow. That'd be alright. I should get the oil pan and such done up as well, not to mention an oil change if I can get one. So, that will probably put me at the $600 I was thinking I'd have to spend, but at least the car will be done completely. Now I'll just have to figure a way to get it towed to the NE this evening.

I was thinking that I might be able to get out of here early today, but that won't be the case as I have to do an interview at 4pm today. It doesn't look like I'll be home until 5:30pm. Dammit. Well, I will try and get everything sorted for about that time. This might work... who knows?

Oh yeah, sorry for the lack of pics. I know I said I would have a few, but I didn't take the camera out of my computer bag again, but I was moving at a pretty good pace anyways, I don't think I would have stopped for many photo opportunities.

I'll probably return a little later today. It's gonna be another slow one.

Something New... Something Older...

I picked a wound on my arm... made a new header for the Tales and I thought I'd do one more post for the evening. I just want to post the song that's sort of been running through the mp3 player a little more often than not lately.

Secret Smile by Semisonic

Nobody knows it but you've got a secret smile
And you use it only for me
Nobody knows it but you've got a secret smile
And you use it only for me
So use it and prove it
Remoce this whirling sadness
I'm losing I'm bluesing
But you can't save me from madness

Nobody knows it but you've got a secret smile
And you use it only for me
Nobody knows it but you've got a secret smile
And you use it only for me

So save me I'm waiting
I'm needing, hear me pleading
And soothe me, improve me
I'm grieving, I'm barely believing it now, now

When you are flying around and around the world
And I'm lying alonely
I know there's something sacred and free reserved
And received by me only

Sorry that's just where I've contorted to lately.

Intraspective, Yet Sober... Ish.

A little bit of the depression is kicking in this evening. I have no problem with remaining a tad sober tonight... don't need to be hung over for the skate to work tomorrow. Unfortunately, with the weather forecast not being too promising in the near future, I will have to sort out a solution to the car here pretty quickly. I've heard rain is coming as soon as Wednesday. Certainly not gonna skate in that... that might be a train, train and walk. Woo hoo!!

So yeah, there's that... there's my ever over-active mind racing a million miles a minute. I don't know what to do with it. I'll probably doing a lot more posting on the Scribblings and Tales for a few weeks as I'm gonna try and sort out my finances, which will keep me away from the Yardhouse and any other potential mind-bending themes.

I'm still sort of bending over and making stuff up in my head about Ash. That's more than likely all it is though... I'm just bending and twisting four ways from Thursday and I'm believing all the hype. The Tales have been such an illustration of the ways my mind can contort itself around a touchy subject, yet never hit the right spot. My mind can be so clever or thoughtful, but that's only what it looks like in my tent full of carnival mirrors. I don't know what it looks like to the outside world. It's a scary and often debilitating.

Ah well, now it's just taking care of the task at hand. Let's make it to work tomorrow. It should give me a chance to take some pictures around the pathways in Calgary. The 7am skate should prove to be a nice part of the morning. I figure it should take me that hour to get to work... so we'll see. I'll be posting about it first thing, I'm sure. Shame it won't be on the laptop... like I'm gonna carry it with me these upcoming days.

Friggin' Cars

What a load of crap. The Sherpa-mobile died on me whilst driving home on Memorial Drive this afternoon. Luckily, when I got out of my car to check out the problem... a tow truck drove by and helped me out. So, there was a stroke of luck and didn't tie up traffic too badly... not even for that long at all.

The tow truck driver figured it was the fuel pump not giving the engine anything to combust, so I spent a good portion of the afternoon thinking about what to do and price out my options. One of the dealerships in town here has quoted me $600 for parts and labour to get it fixed up... so that's one option. I'm gonna wait to hear from another place in the Northeast to figure it out as well.

Dad also put it in my head to think about buying a new car... get on a payment plan or something. It's also a thought. We shall see.

One Event, Two Fights

Good morning world. Another year has flown by since the 9/11 tragedy. A date where conspiracy theorists and mourners gather seperately to discuss the World Trade Center collapse and it's already been five years on. A time where the already seared into memory photos of the second plane hitting the tower gets shown on every media outlet from Anchorage to Fort Lauderdale. A time to reflect and re-open old wounds and old arguments about the War on Terror. A time already captured on Hollywood's golden reels and regurgitated for all the world to see again and again.

How about a moment of silence. How about we all just live today... live like any other day... we'll remember those who were lost, but let's keep the remembrance to one another if it didn't directly affect us.

It is a symbolic day, but let's think for one second that this terrorist attack was done to disrupt the Western world and all that it stands for. If we have to stop and realize this fear for an entire day... if it needs to be blasted in our faces for 24 hours on TV (not to mention the week leading up to 9/11)... if we have to change our ways any further... then it is to say that terrorism has won.

I know there are those fighting vigilantly overseas... I know there are people fighting vigilantly for the truth in North America... I hope they all keep up the good fight, because now the web has been weaved. The idea that the truth isn't completely known, although the truth may not need to have been known to it's fullest... we live in a time where knowledge, be it fact or fiction, is power and it is held above everyone by those who have it. These are two great fights that are defining our time and our place in our own insignificant history. Both battles are fighting oppression and at least one of them, the good will be victorious.

That will be the most glorious time, stemmed from such a tragedy.

Sunday Afternoon & Evening...

You know, if there aren't very many good ruminations in life, today had a couple good ones.

Josh, when I went and saw the family today, he's becoming a very good kid. Now in his tweens or early teens (pardon my ignorance here), but he's got his head screwed on pretty good. He was asking my opinions about bullies and stuff like that and as much as he's a tough kid (a lacrosse, hockey, football and tae-kwon-do player/student) he's not a dumb kid. He does try to find reason in what's going on and when he was asking me about teenagers that were giving him trouble, it was comforting to know that he was differentiating between these kids and others. Josh is a kid that can stand up for himself and my advice to him was as much as he could stand up for himself was not to stoop down to their stupid level. I'm hoping that he takes heed to it, 'cuz it will do him more good than fighting through his battles. If he can make it through it all intellectually, he won't have to settle for a physical sense of defense... although it may be necessary in his line of life. Who's to say? He's a good kid and has learned everything well... and for that I'm already proud of him. He's also a good athlete and I hope the best for him.

Secondly, I think I learned the opposition of Ashley's attention... being that of Cory, the bartender there as well. Again, if it's going to be a contest, it's not my place to compete for the undecided. In this situation tonight, all I could do is sit back and watch. If this is what I was truly up against and let's say lost, I woudln't feel bad at all. If I was to be that shallow... that's not me. Never will be. But tonight, as I sat back and enjoyed the favours on TV without my own fanfare, I don't think I lost anything at all. Saying that, I was just me. That's all I want to be. I enjoy football (I had a good time watching the Giants/Colts game) and enjoy the Simpsons... that's me. That's what I do. Any questions or complaints? If so, please ask my complaints department to file it properly.



There you go.

That was the evening though... after the Simpsons ended, I finished my pint and I was pretty much out of there. No fanfare, just a goodnight as that was it. I didn't want to make much of it. For good reason too. I don't want to give it away now... she knows, that she's in for a challenge. She should now know that Cory has made it out to Chris and I his intentions, which I have now easily conceded to... so if she wants me, barring that she reads this, that it may be more of a challenge. So it should... what do I have?

I made my attempt, I left my phone messages... any harder to get and she isn't worth my time. I would like to think she is, but there is no proof that it's worth it. Sure, I would like it to be that way, but there isn't any background or worth to it. What do I know? Not much. I know she's gorgeous and has pretty much the exact same taste in music as I... but... but... I want something more I can cling to. I've been burnt so many times by as little as that... I don't know what's real or not. Do I wanna go out? Yes... yes, I do. I wanna see what it's all about. I am willing to give that a great chance... a benefit of any doubt... but the games have to cease.

All in time, I guess.

Until then...

What a Good Party!!

Well good morning Sunday... I'm up good and early and thought I would dabble on the Tales to catch up a bit. Unfortunately, my camera never made it out with me, so the weekend thus far isn't going to be illustrated. I know... it's rather shitty.

Friday afternoon started with a trip out to Langdon to go pick up Munden. Munden called in the afternoon and said he did a number on his Mustang, blowing 3 out of the 4 tires on his car, so he needed a ride to Tom's place. So I reluctantly agreed and thought that I could kill two birds with one stone, dropping off Benny's Red Wings jersey for him.

I got out of work a little early on Friday, so I was already in Langdon by 4:30pm and Benny was sittin' in the pub already. So I went and dropped off his jersey to him in there and sat and waited for Munden to call around 5pm to say he was ready. 5pm came around and Munden hadn't even left Tuscany yet... and then there was a huge accident on Deerfoot and it made traffic so slow... slower than normal around the Deerfoot and McKnight and all sorts. So after 4 beers with Benny, I had to get out of there or else it would have been a bit of a wild ride back into the city. Instead of another beer, I went and visited the parentals for a bit. Went in and said hello until Munden called and said he was finally home around 6:30pm.

So, I went to pick him up at his house... had to make a quick stop at the house to change into some party clothes and put my computer inside... grabbed my uniform & CD for Alan... and was back out the door. Chris was trying to give me shit that I could save him from Lisa, who had shown up on Friday afternoon... but I couldn't save him. No one could. All I could do is make fun of the poor bastard who 'dug himself his own grave.'

Off to the party and I sort of forgot to get there... so halfway up Crowchild Trail, I gave Tom's cell a call and Ryan picked it up. I told him our conundrum and he said he'd come meet us at the Husky station nearby to show off his Mustang. Well, the lucky boy got himself a fuckin' Mach 1 Mustang... I didn't quite hear which year it was, but it's one of the gooders.

But then it was party time... the keg was on ice... the food was out... and it was gonna be quite the party. Since I was already 4-up, it didn't take long for me to go off the deep end, since I wasn't eating very much either. Now I really wish I had my camera, but it was in my computer bag and I didn't take it out when we left. Everything else gets a tad fuzzy, including the trophy and medal presentations. I do remember thinking that I was a little shortchanged out of the Most Sportsmanlike Trophy... which Aaron took home. Even Derek and Nicole were thinking it was me... but no, it was the strop-throwing pitcher in the Final that got it. Hmmmm... oh well. After that... the video highlights were shown and that's where I lose it until passing out. That was it for me.

I woke up really early yesterday... something like 7am or close to it... and I had a searing headache. Oh yes... that was a truly masterful headache. I may have gotten back to sleep for a bit, but I was pretty much wide awake after 9am. So I woke Munden up and was ready to go. So we packed up all our shit and we took off. Unfortunately, Munden's sister moved to BC, so instead of only driving him somewhere in town, I had to take his ass back to Langdon. A trip to McDonalds, dropped his ass off and then I came home and died on the couch. That's all I pretty much did. I had the Federer match on the background and pretty much slept through the whole thing. I did some flipping on the TV between the CFL game and the Roddick match.

But when Jen & Stainsby were lurking around... it was a little uncomfortable around the TV. It was quite funny though, Jen came in demanding that she wanted to watch her Buffy DVD's. It sort of led to a little spat.

"Can I watch Buffy now?" Jen asked.
"I'm watching TV, Jen."
"Well, actually... I'm not asking."
"Well, actually... ... ... I'm not listening."

As she dropped her head she thought she'd try and con me into being nice, but still demanding her way.

"Don't you want to share the TV?" she prodded again.
I just sort of sat there and pondered what the right answer was.
"Well... yes or no?" she increased the degree she put me under.
"No."

She dropped her head again and that was pretty much it. I was then just sort of waiting for the argument to take to the next level... I was ready for her barbs, but they never came. I finished watching the Premiership highlights and then just shifted the remote to her and left.

So after seeing what Chris was up to, I took off to the Yardhouse to watch the Sharapova/Henin-Hardienne match, the US Open Final. Chris showed up for one, as he was getting super-annoyed by the ex-girlfriend that annexed his privacy again. Ashley showed up to start her shift a little later and she came by and chatted, but I didn't want to give many inches. When Chris disappeared, she came over a few more times... she said she got the job at the Real Estate agency, so that was good news, but I didn't make any more moves in to getting a date out of her. I also know that she's working tonight as well... and I know Chris wants to go out tonight to get away from Lisa... so... I might see her again tonight. Chris has said it... Basil has said it... move along, mate... move along.

Dammit.

Anyways, I've got to head down to Lake Sundance to give Josh a few bucks for his football program. He's playing for the Calgary Junior Colts or something... so he was doing some sort of a fundraiser and I said I'd get him $20. He called during the week and I said I'd head down there this weekend to get him his cash.

Oh yeah, last night... I got tickets to see the New Pornographers again. Woo hoo!! Can't wait.

And that's pretty much all I got for today. It won't be much. Watch some football on the first Sunday of the NFL season. Colts and Giants will be watch worthy tonight at 5pm... might have to take Chris out for that. So... that's the plan. I should make a phone call and get this day started.

Interview With The Sherpa

It's an interview day today here at the office. It looks like we'll have three interviews with candidates for Lee's job. It should be quite the day. We also have at least 3 more next week and one still to reschedule. There were a stack of resumes that came in when Fred & Ernest posted the job online, so hopefully we'll be able to find someone who fits the bill. As I'm to understand, Ernest and I will be the first line of questioning and then all of the good ones will come back to do another interview with Fred.

The biggest surprise is that pretty much all the candidates are female, but when the job is posted as a secretary/office administrator, you may just find that. I suppose what makes it such a big surprise is that Fred had said sometime in the past that he'd never want to hire another woman, just to avoid potential legal hassles. You know, if she wasn't doing her job, what's to stop her from crying foul when she gets let go? Let's face it... there are some people who ruin it for the rest of us. Anyways... that's why I'm surprised.

Last night was a quiet one. Finally. I committed to going to bed early with a sleeping aid around 8pm, so I was actually in bed by 9pm. Jen wasn't home last night... I do believe she was working. She just stormed into the house with her heavy feet and started calling for me for some reason. I was half asleep and didn't really care to answer. I don't know what got her panties in a knot, but she was almost panicking. She eventually stormed through my door and found me there lying in bed. I'm sure I'll hear about something later tonight.

That's if I'm home. Tom's hosting the big wrap-up party at his house tonight for the Royals. It should be a gooder. I should print off the directions to his house again, 'cuz I can't really remember if it was the second left or the third right. Anyways... it should be a bit of a gong show tonight... I've heard that there is going to be a keg at this shindig, so it could turn for the worse, if nothing. Ha ha. I'm sure there'll be lots of pictures to go around as well... I can't wait.

If all goes well this weekend, I don't think I'll have to go to the Yardhouse at all... I think I need to really take some time away from there... not like I won't be drinking a ton still, especially tonight, but hopefully it'll cost that little bit less that also has been a concern of late.

That's it for today...

Boredom 1 Willpower 0

My willpower lost last night. It lost to boredom, the mixed CD I made for Ashley and having no one around to hang out with at the house.

The last one may not exactly be true, but it really wouldn't have been fun to watch Chris play poker all night.

No, I've pretty much shamed myself to death here last night. It's not that I did anything stupid or outlandish whilst I was drinking, it was just the fact that I went out when I said I wasn't going to. That's what's really burning me up inside. Jen was out to dinner with her Mom and Sister last night, Chris was downstairs playin' poker and I had just finished watching the Maria Sharapova quarterfinals match. I just worked myself into going out... I had spoken to Benny and since he was in the bar down in the South, that pretty much cinched it for me. If he could drink in the pub everyday, why can't I?

Dumb, dumb, dumb.

Well, again... I didn't really do anything stupid while I was out, so there is a small silver lining to it all... and believe me, it's pretty small.

It was really busy in the Yardhouse last night, being wing night and all. I sat at the end of the bar closest to the door... Ashley was working, but nowhere near where I was sitting. Being as though it was so busy, all I managed to get out of her was a wave hello for the most part. Which was fine. I don't want to disrupt anything... especially when it's busy. Hell, I don't like it when people need to social when I'm busy... it just doesn't help anything. Anyways... I was halfway through my third (and what should have been my last) when Walter came over with a couple of guys from South America, one of which was leaving for Chile this morning. Well, that Walter... good guy... I chatted with him and he was buying drinks. Crikey... I think I had 3 shots and a pint (or a little more, as he was topping drinks up). I got to know him a little more... really nice guy. Does have a little bit of sketchiness to him, whether or not he's really legit in all of his dealings, but still nice. So I was drinking with him... that was good fun. Then Stainsby showed up... well, I had two more with him. By that time, I was pretty much gone... still chatty, but still gone.

So that was pretty much me in a nutshell. I managed to get Ashley her mixed disc before going off the deep end and that was pretty much the only conversation I had with her. She had her interview with the Real Estate company and said she did really well... so that's positive. I could be a happy camper if she didn't work there and it all works out... man, that would get me to quit drinking in no time, I'm sure. I'm getting way ahead of myself now... but it's true.

Chris made a pretty good point... I was talking with him before leaving and he said that I need either a hobby or a girlfriend. Well, I have hobbies... I have the hockey pool, I like to cook and such... but the girlfriend... that would set me pretty straight, me thinks. He made a pretty good point there. Now, if only...

Slow Afternoon

G'afternoon... it's been as slow as I thought it would be. There has been one filing that came in today, but I didn't get it until around lunch time and it's 50 pages... so I think I'll procrastinate a bit. Instead, I'm filling out the Hockey News projections for the Hockey Pool this afternoon. It's my small project that I have going on. I got all my billing done this morning and also took back all the bottles and cans to the bottle depot from the office. A solid $7.90 worth... wowsers.

That's really been the basis of my day today. Nothing really special. Tonight, I wanna do some of the programming for my Draft Day. I'll more than likely use a lot of the same programming that I used last year in Excel, using PivotTables to show all the teams as I go along and draft. They were very useful last year.

Ahhhh... just went and got a couple slurpees for Fred and I. That's better. The last few hours won't seem quite as bad now. Mmmmm... cream soda.

Tonight... to begin a conscious effort not to go to the pub. I'm going to try and beat my own reasoning with a little will power tonight. I shouldn't go... shouldn't drink... shouldn't try and contact Ashley... just keep it on the down low. Work on the draft... maybe get a case of beer for the house instead... cook up some pasta... give it a good go at home. Saying that... with Jen being sickly ill last night, I have no idea what's in store for me in that department. I might have to hang out with Chris to avoid any germ infection. Maybe even a skate will do me some good... that's a thought too. I know Julie wants to go some more while we're still in season.

I don't want my mind to get too complicated tonight... maybe a sleeping pill early in the evening will also settle me down. It was so warm last night in my room that I didn't even use my covers until 2 or 3am. It was quite unreal. I was dreaming like a madman too. Stupid playing poker before bed... I was dreaming about that almost non-stop. Argh.

One of these days, I'm gonna have to head up to Jersey City to see if I can find a Roberto Luongo jersey for the coming year. That's certainly one option... I wouldn't mind having a new one for draft day in 3 weeks.

Okay... I'm gonna take my randomness this afternoon and apply it to some mindless games.

After Eleven...

I thought I'd write a bit tonight and do a little surfing on BlogMad. BlogMad seems to be the only exchange really giving me hits... well, I'm sure if I surfed Blogazoo a little more, there'd be hits there, but what gives with BlogExplosion??

Let me put it out there... if someone gives a good review of the Tales on BlogExplosion, there could be 300 BE credits in for them. I need to up the rotation from my odd looking 67% rating, or whatever it is, I have on there. Anyone up for it? I mean, it might be a tad average, but there's been some good pics and a little drama here and there. Meh. I do the surfing, wouldn't mind getting the hits. I remember the days of 30+ hits a day from BE. Now, I'm only getting 8 to 12. Argh.

Ah well... BlogMad it is then.

I lost a little more of my account standings at Poker... it's the first time I've played in a couple months... just wouldn't mind finishing it off, but I did finish second in one game, but it wasn't enough to forge ahead really. So, I might give it another go if it's dead again at work tomorrow.

My mind is escaping me again... I did give a piece of that on the Scribblings tonight. It may make for some interesting reading.

A few beers with Chris tonight... then the poker... that pretty much summed up the afternoon.

Julie had an adventure coming back from Washington seeing Dave Matthews... so much so that her car broke down and I picked her up from her then ride-givers. That made for some downtown core traffic battles... yay!

Yawn...

Oh yeah, bought myself an External Hard Drive... 160GB for $100... man, has that ever made a difference on the laptop, cleaning off the multimedia *cough*porn*cough* from the hard drive. Now I can archive a lot of my writing and music and multimedia... and have a relatively free computer which moves at a brisker pace now. Thoughts of a new laptop have quelled a little bit now.

Tomorrow is my one-year anniversary at Filing Services Canada... the raise is in place, as per the contract schedule and I'm up for review every 6 months. That puts me... the end of March... the end of the next Annual rush. Hmmmm... no pressure. If anything, that'll drive the ol' stock up. Tried to squirm a laptop out of the deal... didn't look too plausible. Worth a try, right?

Time for sleep... yawning like mad in the sauna that is called my room.

A Chat Did The Trick

Yesterday afternoon, I was sittin' and taken some photos from the front step of the house. I thought I'd share the two best ones out of the bunch. I've been playing with a few more of the functions on my camera and some of these pictures are looking quite cool now.

Yeah, I went over to the Yardhouse for a couple last night. Ash was working behind the bar and new (and not very much liked) Amber was working the floor with her as well. Since she wasn't able to get away and do anything yesterday, it was probably a good idea to go over and chat with her for a while. I got to know her a little more, which is always a bit of a bonus. She's wanting to go back into school for PR and she wants to start working for a Real Estate company so she can sell her Mom's house and move into her own place with the commission. Apparently, her brother-in-law did something along the same lines... that's actually a pretty solid idea. We just had all sorts of discussions like that and it was all pretty laid back and easy. She'll call or text me when she knows what days she has off. That's what she says anyways... I like to keep that level of skepticism, just so I'm not overly disappointed if she doesn't.

I would like to get her out on Friday though, to the fastball wind-up party. That should be a pretty solid night. Fingers crossed.

Well, this morning is Day 1 without Lee. Still a little anxious to see what happens. I really don't want to answer the phones all day... talk about something that really sucks. If I have to change my hours... which I doubt... that would suck. There are so many variables at the moment... which we're all (all meaning the 3 of us) gonna have to chat about today, I'm sure. It's probably something we should have done before he left... 'cuz who's gonna man the phones?

Thank goodness I got lots of sleep again last night. It wasn't too bad waking up this morning. Jen told me last night that she had to be up and out the door for 7am... so, she actually got into the shower in good time and I stayed in bed until just before 7am, to get a decent shower out of the deal and it worked. I was totally impressed.

Right... 8am... better get crackin'.

Didn't Happen

Well, that didn't work out as well as one would have thought. Didn't see Ashley during the day, but she is closing at the Yardhouse tonight and her text message did say "hopefully see you later."

I'll see if Chris wants to go for a couple. I don't want to be out long, since it should be a busy day making decisions of what to do without Lee... or see what Fred and Ernest have planned anyways. Fingers crossed that the EDGAR won't be too busy. Since it is the new month, I will have my normal five or six clients who send in their monthly filings.

Well, until I decide whether or not to go, I'll watch Damon Allen try and reach the all-time yardage record in Pro Football. He was a Lion once, so I'm cheerin' for him.

Labour Day Weekend Post

There is no better way to celebrate working... by not. Labour Day rules all.

Yeah, it's Labour Day Monday and I've got a little time here in the morning, so I was gonna sit down on the exercise ball at Jen's desk and do a little writing. Thought I'd catch up a bit with what's been goin' on, see if I can remember everything.

Friday night...

Well, on the way home, I was on the horn to see if Chris had gotten his shower in. I thought he may have because he went to court to fight a speeding ticket and I thought for sure he'd come home and make himself presentable for the courts, but hell's no... he went straight from work. He managed to get the prosecution to adjourn 'cuz he was asking all sorts of technical questions that they just couldn't handle. Good for him! The shower thing though... not so good for both of us. Yet, I still let him get into the shower before I. In the end, the lack of hot water only really affected my shaving.

As of course, we did eventually go over to the Yardhouse. I didn't really have much in the house to eat beforehand... I didn't really feel like cooking too much, so instead I just snacked on whatever I could find in the fridge and in the cupboards. I think that only amounted to some cheese, sausage and crackers (which has been a very staple meal, both for sober and drunk).

You know what I forgot to say... before the Yardhouse, Chris and I went to go see Beerfest! How the fuck did I forget that?!? Don't ask me... I don't know. Anyways, it was pretty damn funny. I thought so, anyways. Chris said there were parts where I was laughing and he wasn't... so I found it funnier than he, but it was still a pretty good show nonetheless. I recommend it to all the guys who like tits, beer and more beer.

So yeah... THEN we went to the Yardhouse afterwards. We both tried to shotgun a beer... but that wasn't gonna happen. I might drink a lot, but I'm certainly not that seasoned. Anyways, that did start the downhill roll into a good night.

The other notable point from Friday night was Ashley didn't waste any time on getting me my mixed CD. Although I had a lot of what was on there, there was lots on there that I really liked and she had actually put on Two Years by Bloc Party... a non-album single, which I was really shocked to see on the disc. There was some Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Arcade Fire, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and all sorts of good stuff... which leads me to believe we have pretty much the exact same music tastes. Very impressed.

Actually, I almost thought we had a bit of a sitcom moment. When she had left and I had finished reading the tracklist around the time she made it back to the waitress station, I had passed the disc over to Chris, thus making him laugh, 'cuz I said to him, I shouldn't show it to him because he wouldn't let me read the awful text messages that Lisa was sending him. So, he laughed and in the corner of my eye she got back. I was just hoping that the camera in the corner of the set didn't make that connection... and the millions of people watching this sitcom would gasp in surprise and an ironic sadness. So, it was in my best interest to make sure that I told her that I liked the disc, which I do... of course, I do.

Well, with the brand new disc in my pocket, Chris and I proceeded to have ourselves a pretty good time. Gerald and his buddies came in a little later and they were well on their way. I met most of them for the first or second time and they're all very good guys and very drunk. So, they were buying shots as long as we were being social. It was quite something. I think Chris and mine's bill was only about $90... but we got smashed.

It has become a recurring point that I don't try and see Ash on the way out. I don't want to have the idea of being falling over drunk, trying to find her to say goodnight. It just doesn't seem appropriate.

So yeah, that was Friday night... and it was fantastic.

Saturday...

As soon as I got up, Jen was already prodding me to get up and get ready, so we can go to North Hill Mall and pay the rent. Well, it turned out that I had something during Friday night that the allergies really kicked in. I was dead-tired in the morning... I didn't want to get out of bed, but I eventually did, Jen prodded me out the door and we spent some time in the mall. A little retail therapy was also on the cards... so after rent was paid, we went down to HMV and I managed to pick up the second season of Samurai Jack on DVD and the two Metric CDs. I guess that means I get to put up the new CD table... woo hoo!


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There it is!! And I found the Chantel Kreviazuk CD on there finally too... get in!

Sadly, retail therapy didn't really help the drowsyness I had goin' on. But I came away with some good stuff for around $50. No complaints.

Next on the list was going out and getting a bite to eat and some money to pay Chris back for the ngiht before. Friday, I only had $10 cash on me and was in no shape to use the cash machine, nor did I really want to use the one that cost $2 each time... so Chris covered and I got money to pay him back on my walking trek. A meatball sandwich from Subway, a great day-after meal, was my desire, goal and accomplishment. Hoorah!

Then I tried napping... but that just wasn't working for me either. Even when Jen went out for the afternoon with her Dad, I still couldn't really manage to nap on the couch, although I tried really, really hard. I may have managed to nod off a bit, but it still wasn't a really good sleep. So, nonetheless, I still went over to the Yardhouse for a beer later on. Chris didn't want to go, he wanted to do something that didn't get him wasted. I only had $40 on me, good enough for six... so that's what I showed up with. My only intention was only going to be three and to chat with Ash and thank her again for the disc. I had listened to quite a bit of it during my boredom and sleepiness of the afternoon.

So I went over and she hadn't quite started, nor was it very busy in there. So, she came and sat with me quite a few times, but there was always sort of a listening ear, so we didn't really get into too much chatting, but I did ask her if she wanted to go for lunch on Sunday, before her shift at 4pm. She agreed... which was great. At the third beer, there was an older gentleman who walked in... I can't remember what his name was, but I had chatted with him before in July. I don't really feel like going back into the archives to see if I can remember, although I might. Ah forget it... I tried. I don't wanna read it. So yeah, when he showed up... we talked about football for a while and then all sorts of sports until the cows came home... or until I finished six. Ha ha. Krista even came out from the kitchen and was chatting with the two of us for a while. I didn't leave until midnight-ish... and I got there around 5:30pm... so it was a pretty good six. But ya know what I did... I went over and said goodbye to Ash on the way out. D'oh. I wish I could do everything I wanted to say I do.

Sunday...

Since it was an early night, it was also somewhat of an early morning. 9am to be exact. More than like at least a couple hours before Ashley was to call. At least. So, I putted a bit around the house. There wasn't a great deal to do. The router downstairs was out on me and Chris wasn't getting up to save his life. I'm pretty sure that guy was up until the wee hours of the morning playing poker.

Jen and Betty had taken off for church and I was getting very antsy sitting around the house. So, I copied the new Metric CDs to my mp3 player and went for a walk. I thought I would just walk around the river, maybe see some of Prince's Island Park that I hadn't seen before and await the phone call. So, off I went. I had my camera and played with some settings in the park and tried to have a pretty good time, trying to play down the anxiety of the phone call.





On the walk, I came up with the idea that I might invite Ashley over to the house for lunch. It would have been nice & easy and it's not far from the Yardhouse, so it would have just worked out quite nicely. Unfortunately, noon rolled by... 1pm rolled by... and around ten to 2pm, I gave her a phone call. I had woken her up. She was sleeping all day... she said she didn't get home until 3am or so... so she was pretty dead to the world. She had no idea what time it was... but she said she'd call today and we'd try again.

So the plan for the rest of the afternoon was to head out to Langdon to hang out and play some horseshoes and have a couple drinks. It was a warm afternoon and it was perfect for that sort of thing. So, I piled in the car and headed out there.

The afternoon was all about a little hooch & lemonade, a few beers, some horseshoes, some dating advice and the evening had a few fireworks that the Shavers brought back from holiday. It wasn't a very exciting afternoon... just a quiet one. Chatted with everyone who was about and around 9:30pm, I took off for home. Home around 10pm... and since I stopped drinking, I really became tired and after buggin' Chris for an hour, I just went to bed and stewed in the warm room until I passed out.

And here we are on holiday Monday morning. Dad has already phoned looking Anti-Virus software advice and I've had a few cups of coffee... still waiting to hear from Ash. But if yesterday was anything to go from, I'm feeling a lot less antsy this afternoon. Depending on when I hear from her, that's where I'll come up with a plan. Since we're nearing noon, I won't concentrate too much on thinking about lunch or anything like that. All I know is Jen is working at 5pm, so the house will be available for a few hours then... which is something to consider. I would have really liked to take her out to Banff or Canmore to hang out in the quiet... but I suppose it is only an hour away, so it's still in the cards. We'll see. I'm not in a big hurry to make a decision. It's looking really warm out there, so a day outside is something I will try and move for. Why not?

Right... well, I think I might jump into the shower. I'm kinda dying for one right about now. This post has taken forever. Hour and a half, I guess. Well, here I go!