Ditch Run 2004


In The Ditch


Ditch Tracks


Curling Ice


Well, I promised you all that I would blog again, to let you know that all was well, and I got to my destination intact. That much I can say did happen. However, it was not without incident that I got from point A to point B.

I hit the ditch. That much is pretty obvious from the pictures. Strangely though, it was almost fun. I think I stayed pretty upbeat about it. It wasted about an hour of my time, but there doesn't appear to be any consequences from the trip into the ditch. (I can't say through, because I didn't make it)

Here's what happened, encapsulated into a bite sized portion. I was travelling south on the highway. There was a truck ahead of me. I was giving more following distance than would ordinarily be necessary. The truck slowed down to turn right, onto the grid road that is present in the pictures. I hit the brakes. The vehicle started to fishtail. So I let off the brake. Coming at me were three vehicles. One passed me by as I began to fishtail. A second was coming towards me and the truck in my lane. Behind that vehicle was a third vehicle. I had three choices.

Fishtail into the wrong lane, and potentially collide with oncoming traffic.

Stay where I was, and rear-end the truck in front of me.

Hit the ditch.

In the 1/64 of a second I had to make the decision, I picked ditch. I was privately hoping that I'd make it through the ditch, and into the field. With a 4x4 truck I figured I could probably get out of that mess. I didn't make it through the ditch. The snow was knee deep at the base, where I ended up. I couldn't get a picture of that unfortunately.

In the final analysis I would have to say, no harm, no foul. It was an adventure I'd have sooner not had but, all it really costed me was an hour. I should probably consider myself lucky. Those of you that would be alarmed by this news, please try not to be. I am fine, the truck appears unaffected, so for the most part, the event might never have existed. Relax and enjoy your weekend.

Toodles!

Its been another one of those days. Things falling all over themselves trying to vie for my attention. I handled it well, given the circumstances I was dealt but, as we come to the end of another Friday, I find myself glad that its the weekend.

I have one final task to complete, before I will truly be 'off' for the weekend. I have to drive. It looked scary, about 10:00 this morning, and I was having some second thoughts. The skies are reasonably open now, and the only concern should be the road surface. I'll take it easy and it should be fine. I promise to blog, for all of you that would worry about my safety.

Be well, my friends and readers. It is the weekend. Enjoy!

My keyboard is filthy.

Smack the Penguin is back!!!

Pingu



Here's a classic computer game, from years gone back, again compliments of Pooh Bear.

FunCopter

While I'm thinking about things, I have another thought.

I forgot my hard drive in Saskatoon on Monday. Thus I have NO music at my disposal, as I sit at my desk. I remembered Kevin telling me about Shoutcast once so, in the absence of anything else, I checked it out.

Major thanks to Monsieur Hills for the great idea. This is exactly the type of facility I wanted to have. New music, all day long. Thanks Kevin!

Okay this bit of news fits in both the weird, and cool directory.

The Rant King


I forget the story that lead me to this guy's blog. I think it was a link, on another page that I ended up on for a reason I don't recall. Let's just say, I don't remember when or why I started reading his blog. The material was good, the writing better than most, and final analysis, it was a good read. So I'd check it occasionally.

I am not entirely certain what made me read the, non-blog, side bar. I'd scanned it briefly before, as it had some elements similar to me, such as the email link. A TSN link, to which I can relate. Come to think of it, since I'm pondering it now, I think I ended up on this site because the reference I saw for it said, Canadian, and Rant. Since both would apply to me as well, I thought it worth noting.

In the sidebar, on the right side of the main blog window. Seventh yellow heading down is a section called 'Blog Roll'. 11th on the list happens to be 'Grant's Rants'. That's me. Now I'm curious. How did I end up on this list? Its very cool that I ended up there. I don't write in my blog solely for the cathartic release. I do kinda want it to be read. I wonder if this is stimulating any proliferation in my readership? So many questions!

I wonder if I should email him? Say thank you? Is there an etiquette to linking to someone's site? I don't know any of the rules!

All thoughts would be welcome. Contact me same as always.

Toodles!

My boss has been a very bad influence on me.

He likes gadgets. And, being owner of a successful company, he has the means to acquire almost any toy he wants. Thus there is an almost endless parade of new trinkets and toys, parading passed my eyes. I like gadgets too. Thus, every time he gets something new, I begin scheming for a way to get myself something new.

However, that is not how I arrived at the topic sentence of this particular blog entry. Today we are talking about 4x4 trucks. Again, Murray is a bad influence. From time to time he will go, play in the mud. Ripping around in a bog, with his 4x4 Chevy Avalanche, and then come back and describe how much fun it is.

So I got back to Watson on Monday, only to find my driveway full of snow. I probably should have shoveled. However, Murray's voice echoed in my ear, and after a couple of examinations of the quantity and quality of snow in my driveway, I made the critical decision to not shovel. 4x4 LO, and away we go!

It was okay the first couple times. I appear to be making things slippery now, on top of snow filled. I almost had my truck stuck this morning. Did I shovel? Ummmm, no. :-D

I will provide pictures, should the occasion arise that I do get stuck. Toodles!

This is one of the coolest things ever!

When I was about 10 or 12, I bought one of those remote control cars that Radio Shack has been selling, since forever. It was a fun toy, but it burned through batteries faster than I could afford (being 10 and all) so it ended up on the shelf.

Fast forward 20 years. For some reason I started thinking about this car again. I went through my boxes of toys at home with my parents, and I found my little car. Three weeks later, and several aborted attempts at getting the right number and size of battery, I have the car working.

Nostalgia is kinda fun. I wonder what else I have squirrelled away that might be fun to play with? Anyone remember those little windup cars you wore on your wrist like a watch? I have one of those somewhere too, although it never really worked all that well. There is my LARGE Lego collection. I had some neat toys when I was a kid. I miss those days.

Look out for speeding Tandy Camaro's. I have one on the road now. :-D

Toodles!

It does not look good. No Jell-O has been served since last week.

And I was hungry too. ;-(

Two things already, on this bright March morning.

Some people shovel. I go 4x4 Lo. Its fun churning snow, getting out of your driveway.

These shoes suck. After wearing those Columbia hiking boots for a week, I realize how god awful these sneakers are.

Have you ever had one of those moments? One of those moments that you could tell would be a defining one. There's something inside of you, in a place you could never locate for anyone, when you could tell that something was going to happen. A truth would be revealed or a hope would be renewed. Or conversely, despair would descend and blackness would color your eyes.

I have these moments, from time to time. Perhaps its unusual to note them as I do. I suspect that everyone has these moments. I further suspect that a great part of, the secret of life, is to not note the occurence of a crystallizing moment, but simply live in it, and make the decision that seems most natural.

I do note these moment however. The razor sharp focus that comes to my mind, strikes me far deeper than the vividness of the moment. I 'know' somehow that I'm going to be facing a decision that will take me along one path, or the other, without going back again to make another choice. This decision will shape some part of my future, in a way I can't understand or describe. I just 'know' it.

And almost without exception, I make the wrong choice. However, that summation is not entirely accurate either. It would be more correct to say, I make no decision, and the moment to change my life passes. I stay where I am, grounded in the same reality, and unable to grow, and change, in a way that is long, long overdue. The opportunity to become someone new, to experience new adventures, and be in love with my life, just fades away, like the rising of the moon through the darkness, as the sun fades quickly into the western horizon.

I am here. Same as I was the day before. You can expect that I'll always be here. Knowing there is more to life, but unable to touch it. Share with me your stories, all of you, my loved ones. It is only through friends and through family that I remain whole.

Good night, and may fortune smile on you.

You can be fairly sure that the cream of civilization has left you behind when your next door neighbour has parked a vintage, 1970's snowmobile on his front lawn.

And the saga continues . . .

More from the world of truck repair today. I stopped at Sherwood and got my vehicle. They were full of it, but I couldn't be bothered to argue about it today. I wanted to get back to the office. I missed it, in a strange way. It feels good to be back.

Nevertheless, we had new truck problems. Not right away. I came back to Watson, everything was groovy. The trouble was, as soon as lunch came, and I tried to remote start, I got a definitive, not gonna happen. That left me highly unamused.

I guess its easily fixed though. Not that it matters anymore. Winter, or at least the chillingly cold part, seems to be over. Hopefully spring is just around the corner. I'm anxious to wear shorts again.

Toodles!

Blog Question Of The Day:

How can you have an, AutoMall, and not have a gas station!?!

The final entry from the 2004 Nokia Brier

It is with a bit of a sad heart that I sign off from my Brier experience. It had its moments, good and bad. The worst was the physical pain, of 16 hour days, with no rest, doing labor that my body is simply not accustomed to doing. I handled it well, given the circumstances I was dealt, but the pain was a low-light. But there were highlights too. The camaraderie I developed with many of the concessions people that I'd previously known, but with whom I'd not spent much time. I learned things, nuances, idiosyncracies, and bits and pieces of their personalities. I connected more with some, than with others, but the whole experience was another vast step into a realm I'd known of, but had never explored. I end my Brier experience with a twinge of sadness, that is much covered by the fun I had, and the friends I made.

But this wouldn't be a Brier update without the customary rant. We simply have to include that. So, in conclusion, I must speak about the Sask. Place elevator.

What the hell were they thinking when they had that hunk of crap installed? Okay, the old elevator had its faultss, and I suppose I probably had seen its time pass, with all the use. But my god, couldn't they have found a better replacement than that!?!

Its slow. Its stupid. It does things that don't come close to being logical. You're the only one in the elevator and yet it stops on every floor, up to three, and then back down through 2, when you got on at 2, and just wanted to go down. No one else on any other floor pushed a button signalling the elevator. Why did it have to stop SO many times!?!?!

And another thing. Why is it so slow? The old one wasn't that slow. When the door closed, you went up. Exactly the way an elevator is supposed to work. This one, the doors close, it seems to think about the situation for a moment and then come to the conclusion, oh yeah, they want me to go up! What the hell is that all about!?! Elevator logic shouldn't be that complicated. Push a button, here comes the elevator. Push another button and the elevator goes to the programmed level. Where's the vast, conspiratorial complexity that makes this elevator have to ponder the situation for an eternity!?!

That is all from me. I hope you have all enjoyed your Brier experience, as soon through my eyes. It was fun to be there, and I hope I gave you a satisfying taste of it. I will return tomorrow, with tales of water treatment.

Toodles one and all!!!