I had a peculiar dream last night.

I don't know why, or where, this dream came from. I was in Swift Current. That's the name I had attached to the place I was, but I wasn't actually there. The dream started at Greg's house, which for some reason I took to be my parent's house. My relatives, from my Mom's side of the family came to visit. I was just leaving as they were coming in. I had to go to Zeller's for something. Which, despite being Greg's house, was still right across the street.

I was prowling around Zellers when I came across this $1 shoe bin. They had some of those mesh shoes, which I siezed upon as a great idea for my trip to Mexico that is upcoming. So I'm picking through this shoe bin, looking for a pair that are my size. In here I find canvas, Chuck Taylor All-Star sneakers, like I've been looking for, for some time. Trouble is, there are no matched pairs. Just to shorten this up a bit, I find myself a set of blue mesh shoes, and a mismatched set of red, Converse sneakers.

I go to pay for this stuff, and a few other incidentals (2 L of Pepsi, etc) and I realize that I don't have my wallet. Just $14 in cash. Luckily it enough, but my Mom is walking past the checkout. I call her over, to see if she can lend me some money, but as it turns out my bill is only $11, so I'm okay. She takes this opportunity to tell me to hurry up, because we have company.

For some reason I figure I've got time to go for a drive. So I get in my truck and cruise around. I head downtown, such as I imagine it, following someone in a white car. They turn around on what looked like 2nd Avenue and 20th Street in Saskatoon, because of road construction. I tried to chase after them, but lost them in the checkerboard of criss crossing downtown streets. At one point I was driving down this long, long, long street, which reminded me of Rosser Ave in Brandon, at the legally posted speed limit of 90 km/h. I still didn't catch the white car.

Eventually I ended up not in downtown anymore. I tried to find this 2nd Avenue street, on the Rosser Avenue street, but it never seemed to intersect. I found myself in an outskirt region. I noticed a golf course and got out and started walking around the fairways. This course was completely unfamiliar to me, so I got lost. I had no idea where I was, or how to get anywhere that would help me. I had the vague notion that I should look for the clubhouse, but I didn't know where that was. I dug my PDA out of my pocket and turned it on to see if I could get wireless internet. Lo and behold I could. I pulled up a map of the golf course but the resolution of the map was so fine that I couldn't really figure out what it said, with my small PDA screen. I tried anyway, and kept wandering this course.

Al some point I ran into my Dad on this course. He was lost too, and we needed to get off this course and get home, because of the company. So we wandered up and down fairways, looking for the clubhouse. I checked my watch and it was 3:30. We still had time, as the deadline we had gotten from somewhere was 6:00. But even together, we couldn't find our way off this golf course. Everytime we'd think we were close, the building we thought was the clubhouse, would turn out to be something else, or we'd make a turn to get closer to our destination, only to find ourselves further away. At some point we acquired a golf cart, and golf clubs, but never could we make it to the clubhouse. Time and again we'd go over lush green fairways, or skirt nicely manicured greens, on our way towards a clubhouse looking building, only to find it wasn't what we wanted.

6:00 came and we still hadn't found the clubhouse. Frustration of a severe kind was setting in. In the distance we saw a fancy looking building, with multiple sets of windows and a general clubhouse look to it. We set off in that direction but as we got close, we realized it was actually someone's house. As we started to get mad someone, (we'd been talking to people the whole time we were tooling around this course) asked us if we were going to go to the clubhouse. We said that's what we'd been looking for all along. He started towards it himself and nodded his head in the direction of his destination. It was this silver, quonset little building. In all out searching THAT was the clubhouse!?! We'd passed it at one point, when we'd been near the driving range, but hadn't realized what it was. Our dismay at this realization was fairly palpable.

That's about all I remember from the dream. There was some other remembrance of the Toronto Maple Leafs playing a hockey game in a small town arena, but I don't remember enough details about that to write about. The golf dream is quite vivid in my mind though. What it means I have no clue. Maybe its just random images?

Toodles!

Big news!!!

I just got a voice mail message from my boss. As of November 29th, we were granted Substantial Completion on the project in Souris. This means that it has been acknowledged that we have delivered a completed system to the client.

There should be no more exhausting treks to Souris anymore. I know there will be some deficiencies that will require some time in Souris but, those can be looked at as warranty type issues, not contract holdup items. There is some changes we need to make to the chemical feed system, and one of the booster pumps need service, but the job is done, for the most part. This is a huge relief.

I think I will quietly enjoy the rest of my day. Toodles!

Blog Question Of The Day:

Should I join the Columbia House DVD Club?

This just in!!!

Like the pondering footsteps of some mythological giant, the project that is Souris has inched one more step towards its final resolution. Kicking and screaming with every moment, the giant beast has been shoved towards the line in the sand that marks completion, and the end to our travels into that land.

The herculean efforts of our staff, and the assistance we have acquired, have brought us within grasp of the thin ribbon that marks the end of this marathon. The last, gasping steps are upon us, as we struggle mightily to the finish. With some luck, and an ounce of good fortune, the last of our stays in that unforgiving place will end this week. A wonderful Christmas gift to people that have earned it.

Toodles!

I watched 'The Simple Life' tonight. It followed directly after 'Newlyweds: Nick & Jessica' and failed in the comparison. The biggest problem? The two stars of The Simple Life just don't have as much charisma as Nick & Jessica. On the scale of celebrity, there's a reason why Nick and Jessica have pop culture careers and Paris Hilton and Nicole Ritchie are famous only for being famous. The pair of princesses from The Simple Life have almost no charisma.

It doesn't help that neither girl is very attractive. They fit the mold of what 'should' be attractive but for some reason it just doesn't work. First of all Paris. She's just too skinny. I know that shouldn't really be an issue, in the currently popular view of feminine beauty but it is. She's too skinny. It just doesn't look right. Paris has the look of a girl that hasn't eaten in about two weeks. A statement which is probably true. Add a few pounds girl, it'll look good on you.

Nicole Ritchie? Who the hell is that? She wins the personality Olympics in this duo, but its only by a whisker, and a thin one at that. Again its another example of, should be attractive but really isn't. I can't tell you why though. It just doesn't work. Maybe because its plain dressed up like its something good. Nicole is marginally more likeable but still not captivating by any stretch.

Will this show work? Probably. There is some amusement in watching these total princesses fail miserably at everything they encounter. Their ride to the farm is a pickup truck. See their mortified faces. Their room has a well grate in the middle of it. See the stunned looks. The girls go grocery shopping and are dismayed at what they find in the store. See their confused looks when they don't have enough money. The girls balk at plucking chickens. This time their expressions are horrified. But, perhaps the best looks were reserved for the farm family when Paris asked what Wal-Mart was.

There is some amusement in watching these two fish be completely out of water. Its not really good entertainment though. You just don't get the feeling that these two are going to learn anything from their experience. Just how they carry themselves, it looks like one big goof for them. For the show to really work, being on the farm would need to change the two of them, at least a little bit, and I'm not expecting it to happen. They showed some clips from upcoming episodes and that's how I draw my conclusion.

That is my review of The Simple Life. Expectations are low. I'll comment again after the next episode.

Toodles.

Blog Question Of The Day:

Porno tongue, or church tongue?

Something has to change.

I keep thinking I've gotten to the end of my rope, only to find another rope hanging from that first one. Time and again, I end up further down the spiral, with the top of the climb so far above me that its lost in the mist.

I keep trying, and I keep failing. Not because I haven't given my best effort, or haven't made an attempt to survive the quest. No, I keep failing because for every one person that I satisfy, there are three others that leave frustrated and pissed off at me because I didn't have time for them, or couldn't provide what they ask for.

So I think something has to change. I wake up in the morning and I know I'm going to fail. I come to work and I know that at the end of my day, I will not have satisfied even 50% of the requests that are put at me. I put my head down on the pillow at the end of the night and I can be sure that I will have frustrated and alienated at least one friend.

Somehow it has to stop. I'm tired of being stretched as far as one person can be stretched. I'm tired of hurting the people I care about, not out of negligence or lack of care, but simply because I can't do it all.

I want this situation remedied. I want my life to be different. I've hurt people and I didn't mean to. I've disappointed people because I couldn't do it all. To everyone who has come to me wanting something, and gone away untended, I am sorry. My lack of attention was not intended, and your situation ignored. I just failed at accomodating everyone.

I am sorry. I have tried and I have failed. Please forgive me.

Something has to change.