More strange dreams last night. In this one I was a high school aged guy. I got my girlfriend pregnant. But it wasn't modern society but some strange, science-fiction-like society. When you became pregnant, the couple had to report to this training center. Once there you had to go through this facility that was museum-like, with wall presentations and such. It was kind of surreal. Me and the girl in question (sadly, no one in particular, but just a pretty girl that I did not otherwise recognize) were late getting to the main presentation, and ended up behind in the lessons. So, instead of being part of the group that was going through baby-care (which was happening when we arrived) we sat down at some computer workstations to go through some simulations. They were really bad ass computers, frankly. Workstation systems with major power and big flat screen monitors. But I digress.

The most significant part of the baby training session was this part where you were supposed to be evaluated having sex. I'm not sure what the purpose of this was, as we'd already been successful in accomplishing the ultimate goal of sex. The idea of it was, you would have sex, and a nurse would monitor your body heat as you moved, and then make suggestions on what you could do better, etc. Again, I have to say I don't know what purpose this had as we'd already achieved pregnancy. I never got to the action portion of the dream (no surprisingly) as I balked at the idea of having sex in front of a nurse.

That's all I can remember from the dream. I awoke in the middle night because of it and had a poor night after that. I'm starting to get pissed off about my sleep habits.

Toodles!

I did laundry tonight, as I do every Thursday night. A situation came to my attention that may require some attention. I think I'm going to have to consider doing a complete re-evaluation of my sock/underwear situation. There are some glaring problems in both areas. 8-(

There was this French Canadian hunting guide who guided this Harvard English professor on a hunting trip far out in the woods of Quebec. Unfortunately, the canuck had not counted on the prof being a big drinker, so they quickly ran out of booze, and were left sitting around the campfire that night with nothing to do.

The prof said, "I know, lets play a word game. I'll think of a word and write it down, and you can ask ten question to figure out what word I wrote down, ok?"

The canuck replied, "Dat souns like a guud idear, eh."

So the prof thought for a bit, and wrote down the word "MOOSECOCK" on his paper, and said he was ready.

The canuck asked the first question: "Is it someting you can eat, eh?"

The prof replied, "Weeeelllll... I suppose... Yeah, I suppose it is something you could eat."

The canuck answered: "Is it MOOSECOCK????"

Another night of fitful sleep and peculiar dreams. Last night I had a recurring dream that I broke my shoe lace. Every pair of shoes I put on, and subsequently tied up, the lace would snap. It kept happening over and over. I think there might be some significance to that but I can't puzzle out what it might be.

Toodles!

A few points of interest today.

They paved the highway outside the office today. They were working on the stretch where highway 5 changes at Watson. There's a 100 m stretch, where highway 5 stops before picking up again to head east. This happens at Watson. The Department of Highways had a paving crew out on the road today. It didn't interrupt my day at all but all the people that live in Englefeld, and work in Watson, would have been sorely inconvenienced.

I watched the series finale of Dawson's Creek tonight. First of all, I didn't like the ending. I won't ruin it if you're reading this and haven't seen the ending but I was left unfulfilled. I suppose the guy had a point with how he wrote it but I disagree. We're all entitled to our opinion. The death part was played to full emotional payoff, which I suppose is what the show is best at. I will concede that the episode was a fairly effective piece of television. I, however, was not left feeling satisfied. I'll check with a real Dawson's Creek fanatic tomorrow and see if my opinion differs from those that follow the show passionately.

That is all. Toodles!

Liam Lynch - United States of Whatever

Melissa suggested this song to me. She was apologetic about it because she was correct, it is moronically stupid. And yet, it fun and funny in a way that's infectious. Give it a try, if nothing else.

Toodles!

I fell asleep on the couch last night, and thus did the majority of my sleeping there. Had some weird dreams that I don't really remember. Went to bed at about 4:00 and had more weird dreams.

The one I remember had me flying back from Toronto. But the plane took off from the middle of the terminal, and flew through corridors and restaurants, and through walls and stuff. And the plane had no cabin over me. It was like I was sitting on the wings. Then we got outside and there was a storm raging. The plane got caught in a tornado and that's where I woke up.

Oh yeah, and I was almost late for the plane because I was at a paintball match. I was supposed to be playing but there wasn't enough equipment, so I ended up watching. But then I wasn't alone in watching, and I was surrounded by little kids, and they were all lined up like theatre seating.

I left the stadium (it was a stadium instead of the paintball place) and got halfway to the plane before I realized I'd forgotten my backpack, so I had to go back and get it. I was swimming against the tide of people leaving. I got my pack, and made my way back to the plane, but I almost missed it.

Also, and on the way too paintball I was on a plane also. This gay guy was hitting on me and I told him to piss off but he wouldn't take the message. Then this old, proper English dude told off the gay guy, and he left in a snit.

So I was asleep for a long time last night, but it wasn't as restful as I would have liked. I hate convoluted dreams.

Toodles!

How many pairs of those latex gloves do you think a sandwich shop goes through in a day?

Again with this movie! I'm watching Shallow Hal for the second time today. I have a question. How is it that the particular qualities of unattractiveness were assigned to the people with unattractive 'inner beauty'? Some were fat, some were old and scrawny, etc. What personality trait corresponds with fat? I'd really like to know this.

Confused as always . . .

I'm having a devil of a time remembering things lately. I had a good blog topic on my mind this morning but I'm neck deep in work items again this week and I forgot to write my blog idea down at the moment I had it. Consequently, now that the afternoon has rolled around I have forgotten what I was going to say.

If I think of it, I'll try to write it down immediately for you, my reading public.

Toodles!

I'm always a little disappointed when Naughty Amateur Home Videos has obvious professionals on it.

I forgot what I wanted to put here today. I thought of something while I was driving but its left me.

Instead I will say how disappointed I am in the outcome of the Vancouver Canucks hockey game. They just didn't show up in this third period. How sad. A Minnesota Wild versus Anaheim Mighty Ducks semi-final? What kind of nonsense is that?

Toodles!

I think the girl working at the reception desk, at the Days Inn in Brandon, is even cuter this trip. She was also kinda flirty, which is never a bad thing.

As well, there was an audacious young girl in the pool while I was there. Black with pink trim bikini, that didn't really hide all the curves. It was a nice diversion during my relaxation from the drive. Didn't hurt that she was a mad tease, although it did get to be a little 'over the top'.

Toodles.

What's the statute of limitations on the use of 'brb' in instant message conversations? Everyone uses it and it can mean anything from 30 seconds, to almost forever. It seems like there should be some kind of definition on be RIGHT back, and be back later. I chat online a lot and 'brb' gets used for such a wide variety of reasons that you never know whether its a, just a few seconds, thing or a much longer period of time. I think it would be a good idea if we, as online chatters, added 'bbl' to our lexicon for, be back later, to cover those instances when we have to go do something, but we don't know how long it will take.

Toodles.

I'm still hearing the Outlook Express 'you have mail' bleep, when I haven't got any new mail. Am I going (more) crazy?

I officially hate small towns. I know Humboldt has declared itself a city but after what I witnessed today it is very much a town. A larger than normal town, I will grant, but still a town.

SGI screwed me on my truck, again. They listed it as an SLE and not the SLS that it actually is. The autobody place went by that and ordered the bumper for an SLE, which will not match my SLS truck. I can forgive the autobody people for that. Its an honest mistake because you would expect SGI to do their job right. They didn't, of course, and that's a whole different issue I won't go into here. So I get a call from the autobody place this morning. There's been a mistake, we can't do your bumper today, we're sorry. That's fine. If you can't get it done, I guess I'll come by AT LUNCH and swap back the loaner for my truck.

This lunch distinction is an important one. I specfically said I'd come by at lunch and get my truck. So I drive the half an hour to Humboldt, pull up to the door, and ITS CLOSED!!! What the hell!?!

And this is the crux of my complaint. What business, in a REAL city, closes its doors completely for lunch!?! None that I can think of. Sure, they might stop working for the lunch hour, but there's at least someone there to answer phones and anyone that might come through the door. In a small town they lock the doors, close the shop, and everyone leaves. This is my beef, and the reason I'm annoyed. Maybe I should have known but I specifically said I was coming at lunch. Why didn't the person on the phone tell me they closed the office for lunch!?!

Toodles

P.S. They have a Subway in Wynyard but not in Humboldt? What's that all about!?! Just one more reason why Humboldt is a penny ante city.

P.P.S. I had a Mr. Sub sandwich for lunch today. I'm really not sure you get your money's worth at $6.50 a sandwich.

Why do I put an 'i' on the end of words that end in 'ion'. For example, inspiration becomes inspirationi. Do I secretly yearn to be Italian?

Some ruminations on the morning drive back to Watson.

I hate tractors. This time of year just drives me nutty. You'll be flying along at normal road speed. A corner comes up and you cruise around it smoothly. Then, around the other side of the curve is a bloody Case IH tractor. You can't just zip around it because coming in the other lane is inevitable tractor. So you have to slam on the brakes, bloody near locking them up, to slow down behind this tractor. I hate tractors.

What's the deal with people in white cars? I was driving back this morning and two cars passed me like I was standing still. Both were white. Now, I could handle this if I was going slow. I was not. I was doing my usual generous interpretation of the speed limit. They went by me like I was an old person driver. I figure they had to be doing 150 or better. And its not like they were Mustangs, Corvettes, or Camaros. One was a Chrsyler Neon and the other was an old model Cavalier sedan. Not exactly sport models. I hope they don't come upon a tractor. 8-(

Toodles!

So, I watched 'Men With Brooms' this evening. I dunno. For a Canadian movie it was pretty decent. The production values were all up, and it looked pretty decent. Acting was strong, there was nothing amateurish about it. However, after all that I can not recommend it.

Curling is just not enough to hang a movie around. Yes, it has a certain mystique amongst Canadians but there isn't a national mythos to it. All folklore about curling is regionally based so as a Prairie son I have trouble buying into the legend of northern Ontario. I dunno, call me crazy but I just wasn't moved. I'm sure there is a kernel of real myth to this movie but I couldn't feel it because I'm not from that region. It means nothing to me.

Nonetheless, the did the best they could with the material they had. The story was a little muddled but overall they made their point. As a Canadian, if you get a chance to watch it for free, go ahead. But don't spend your money renting it.

Thus concludes today's movie review. Toodles!

I'm printing, which always seems to take forever. Thus I have a few minutes to blog.

1) I have a sinus headache centered just to the right of my nose. The feeling is quite intense and I would like it to go away.
2) I almost hit some deer last night. I was just leaving Yorkton. I looked down to open my container of ranch dipping sauce for my P'zone. When I looked up, the second of two (maybe more?) deer were scampering across the road ahead of me. I wasn't really even that freaked out. Strange.
3) I had a bizarre Superman dream a few nights ago. I don't remember the specifics as it was a few days ago, and I've been super busy since then. It had something to do with space, aliens, Superman saving humanity, and hiding his children from the alien invaders. I have my most interesting dreams.
4) My trip to Winnipeg was good.
a) I got to meet my (our, if you were on the trip) friends that we met in the Dominican Republic. They seemed genuinely happy to see me. That felt strange and weird at the same time.
b) I took control of our project in Balmoral. It did not go perfectly smoothly but I stepped up and took charge. I was proud of myself.
5) I hate my allergies.

Printing is done. Gotta go. Toodles!

A blonde pushes her BMW into a gas station. She tells the mechanic it died. After he works on it for a few minutes, it is idling smoothly.
She says, "What's the story?"
He replies, "Just crap in the carburetor."
She asks, "How often do I have to do that?"

Its gonna be a tough day. I had a weird night of dreams. They were filled with some chaotic, ununderstandable imagery. I'm left feeling confused and jangled this morning at my desk, and I'm struggling to put aside thoughts that want to tumble over each other. My brain is muddled.

As an example. The last one I remember had me going to the mall with my sister. It was, for the most part, Lawson Heights Mall across the street from my house in Saskatoon. (for those of you with a weak stomach take care) We went to this one shop that a cheap jewelry store but in the dream it was part that, part beauty store. I forget the exact reason why we were there or the exact sequence of events but, what ended up happening was strange. Candace was talking to the woman who runs the store (in the dream). The person was supposed to be a woman I know from Saskatoon but, her appearance was more like a cross between that woman, and the wife of the couple I went to Tampa Bay with. (I know, this is weird. It gets worse) Candace is chatting with this woman about some kind of beauty thing. Oh yeah, I remember now, she was getting her hair done. The woman suggested Candace might like hair extensions like the litte girl in the Toronto Maple Leafs jersey, who just walked past the store (outside on the street somehow, even though we were in the mall) I start biting my nail and I break it. (this is the bizarre part) It breaks down the center and then half of it breaks again. (wait for the gruesome part) I hate a broken nail so I break it off, but I break the piece in the center, so i have have a nail on one side, a gap, then a quarter of a nail on the other. The junk I broke off is not a typical chunk of nail though. Its a little cube. This intrigues me and I examine it. Eventually I put it in my mouth a chew it. There is an outer shell of traditional nail material on one side and the rest is fat. I chew up and eat that. It tastes like beef.

Now that you are all retching, I'll finish the dream. Candace is disgusted by my nails and talks me into having a manicure from this woman who runs the store. I sit down on this contraption that moves and articulates like a giant battlemech and eventually it surrounds and contains me. I put my hand up on this little ledge and the woman starts doing my nails. We know each other, as I've had dealings with her before. We chat, talk back and forth, and she's coming on to me, in a sly, subtle way. . .

That's the end. I came out of the dream at that point. There was other stuff in there but I covered the highlights. I am messed up. 8-|

Toodles!

I think the girl working at the reception desk of the Brandon Days Inn tonight is cute.

Ever have a movie affect you, and the affect was really not intended? I'm having that condition with this damn Shallow Hal movie. I know its not really intended to be a message movie. It's the Farrelly brothers For Christ Sake!!! You're supposed to laugh at the fat jokes and leave remembering nothing.

So why do I keep thinking about this stupid movie? Its defninitely frustrating and bordering on infuriating. I'm not SUPPOSED to be thinking about it. But I keep thinking about it. The central theme, the search for inner beauty, as opposed to external beauty, just keeps hammering in my brain. Am I being shallow? Do I suffer from the same syndrome that afflicted Shallow Hal? Should I change my ways? Am I doing something wrong? This stupid, bloody movie is torturing my soul!

Saddam Hussein's son comes home from shopping with everything in a cardboard box......
His dad says: "Why have you brought the shopping home in a cardboard box, son?"
His son replies: "Because there's no Baghdad."

A word to the wise; be careful when having orange juice after brushing your teeth. It doesn't happen all the time, but sometimes when I do that, I get a horrible burning sensation from my throat, right down to the pit of my stomach. It is distinctly unpleasant.

I have the most intense headache this morning.

Nine Inch Nails is good music to listen to when you're depressed. I especially recommend the album "The Downward Spiral". Its not good music because it inspires you, and lifts you from your malaise. Its appropriate music for depression. Its all noisy, and chaotic, with dark, and foreboding lyrics underlying the frenetic, disturbed beats.

What a boring day this has been. I don't even have a decent occurrence to put in my blog entry. My doldrums that begun on the weekend have continued into this week. My complaint for the day? Allergies. I'm getting the ol' tickle in the nose, from the beginning of spring. How slow a news day is it when the biggest thing to write about is allergies.

Work is caught up, and all systems are up to date. My projects are all in a comfortable state of completion. Murray got some encouraging news on a couple of towns in Saskatchewan so things are looking bright for another good year. I finished my EIT report and have only to send it off to APEGS for the long, arduous review. I've had a couple computer questions come in about our network here, but nothing that required a lot of research. Everything is in a comfortable equilibrium. Its almost eerie.

Toodles!

How do you decide how much vanity you are entitled to?

The Vancouver Canucks won their hockey game tonight. They looked pretty good doing it. There is renewed hope in their chances for the playoffs. We'll see how things go tomorrow for our Canadians.

Toodles!

What is the deal with Wal-Mart!?!

I don't get it. Wal-Mart was just INSANE this afternoon. Candace needed a new fish tank for her fish, as the other one broke along the side. We checked Petland and they had none that were compatible with her existing tank hardware, so we go to Wal-Mart. It was retarded with people! It was like half the population of Saskatoon was in there. And the not so desirable half either. It was enough to make you feel uncomfortable. Actually, it made me a lot uncomfortable. I don't like people at the best of times and here were all these wooly people, crawling all over each other for the supposed deals available at Wal-Mart. You don't really wanna get me started on Wal-Mart's pricing policy but suffice it to say, there is no deal at Wal-Mart worthy of the type of insanity I saw in that place today.

And what was the deal with the girl with purple hair, a white face, and more metal in her face than a fisherman has tackle in his tacklebox!?!

Toodles.

Reflections on a Thursday:

I am the MASTER of hyperbole!

I don't like SGI adjusters.

Highway 55 past Carrot River sucks goat butt.

The Pas is a grubby place and I don't want to live there.

Prices for things really vary, depending on where you buy them.

Garmin Mapsource software is not always accurate.

That is all. Toodles!

Sometimes you just can't win. No matter how hard you try, or what you do, good fortune eludes you at every grasp.

My deep freeze died. It had to have happened since Monday morning because I remember putting stuff in there, when I re-organized my food to add the stuff my mom sent me this week. So it died after that. I'm wondering if it happened when I was monkeying around with it, when I was installing those table legs. I rolled it around, I remembe that much. I fussed with the plug this afternoon but it didn't seem to want to fire up or anything. I'm guessing the pump on it went kaplooey.

So my next question becomes, what do I do now? I can't get my mother on the phone because they've left one off the hook somewhere, and don't realize it. I have trouble believing she could have been talking on the phone for 90 minutes over the lunch hour, and into the afternoon. It always rings busy when I call. I would like to get a second opinion on what I should do now.

I'm not even pissed off. I'm mostly sad or disappointed. I didn't need another situation to work on. I'm trying to put things in order. I need a stretch of good luck, or at worst, luck without connotation. I didn't need bad. ...sigh... Maybe I'll just not replace the deep freeze. I suppose that's an option. I would like a $100 deep freeze to replace it, not the $400 I looked up in the Sears catalog.

Oh well. Life sucks, wear a rutabaga.

Toodles.

I committed the ultimate sin today, and paid the ultimate price. And its not like this hasn't happened to me before, for me to have not learned. I have done this before but I never learn. Its quite sad.

I didn't save my work. I did a drawing this morning, and just left it on the screen. I never did commit it to disk. I even went so far as to send the unsaved one to a consultant, in error. Then, when I went to do another drawing in the afternoon, I closed and said no to saving, thus losing all the work I'd done in the morning.

I never learn. I get lacksadaisical about it because AutoCAD is so annoying with save messages. i start ignoring them all the time and say no. Then I get burned like this. I was hopping mad this afternoon.

...sigh...

Toodles.

Why is it that the ugliest cars have the biggest, most powerful stereos?

I have a problem. Perhaps its symptomatic of my psychosis but, I keep hearing the 'you have mail' beep that Outlook Express makes when you get email, but I'm not actually recieving any email. Apparently the sound is a figament of my imagination. Should I be concerned?

Toodles!

Its been a wild day!

Lots happening, while nothing happened. Ever have one of those days? I didn't so much chase my tail but, after all my efforts, not much got done. I wrote two section in my bi-annual engineering experience report. I'm laying it on REAL THICK about how important I am at my job. A lot of it is hyperbole but this sodhumpuers that are in charge of deciding my fate seem to need to be impressed so, I'll impressed them. I''ll write a report the likes of which I've never managed before. Half will be hyperbole, the other an extension of the truth. The reality is, NO ONE is so integral to their job that things could not progress without them. Engineers seem to have a pumped up opinion of themselves so I'll play the game and make myself sound like the next best thing to god. Maybe it'll help.

One good thing to happen was, I finally got the wireless ethernet to the shop working. That was an impressive engineering feat, and proof positive that if you throw enough money at something, you can fix it. Two wireless antennas, some low loss cables, and probably $1000 and we have wireless ethernet halfway across time. Result? They can surf the internet but its virtually unusable for the accounting program, because the accounting program is a pig. A bad design decision, from our standpoint, makes our current program ineffective, especially through the wireless ethernet. On the up side, the connection itself is stable and strong so I think that particular nemesis has been vanquished.

I had a dream last night. It was about Melissa. We were back in the Dominican Republic, and I convinced her to come stay out in the slum area. We didn't have a room though, and were staying in one of those barn shaped garden sheds. The beds were two rickety cot like contraptions with a mattress thrown over top. It was a weird dream.

Toodles!

What a turn around!

My day started very slowly. I didn't want to get up. When I did I came to work and I didn't want to do anything. I eventually did, and cobbled together a specifications sheet for a new project. Interrupting that was what I thought was going to be a trip to Lanigan for another meeting (i.e. get screamed at again) but that was cancelled. Murray, as he is very prone to do, forgot to tell me it was cancelled. I think my boss does WAY too much. He needs to delegate more and just sit in his office and do boss stuff. He's taking meetings, making calls, answering requests, doing quotes. There's so much he does that he doesn't actually do a good job of all of it, and ends up forgetting stuff. Like, for instance, noting to me that a meeting has been cancelled. A trifling thing, I know, but its indicative of a larger problem.

Now its the afternoon and I'm filled with vim and vigor. I could take on anything right now. I am actually enthused about the rest of the day. Its like night and day in the cavernous interior of my mind. I'm just in love with everything. Maybe this is a good sign of things to come. I can only hope.

Toodles!

What a boring day its been today!

No one is doing anything interesting. Sean is researching water guns, after it came up in an email this morning. Melissa is playing solitaire on her computer. Kevin is making spreadsheets, and Greg and I are (were?) emailing back and forth about a Supercom order, and the price of monitors. Oh, and Candace is sick. Everyone seems to be killing time this afternoon. Its what I like to refer to as 'a slow news day'.

Melissa has suggested I write about Rainbow Brite in today's blog entry. She was even kind enough to send me a picture of Rainbow Brite, to refresh my memory and thus be able to write something about it. Alas, her efforts are in vain. I do remember Rainbow Brite. I have a sister, and I was thus exposed to Rainbow Brite in my childhood. However, I am a male, and Rainbow Brite did not impact upon my consiousness sufficiently that even with Melissa's heroic efforts, I am unable to muster any thoughts about Rainbow Brite. I'm sure the pre-teen girls of the 80's enjoyed Rainbow Brite, and all that she brought to the word but, I was more into fire trucks and Superman or Batman. I could probably even find my capes at my parents house somewhere. However, I would not find any Rainbow Brite stuff of my own.

Toodles!

I had the most peculiar dream last night. Unfortunately I don't remember much of the details. It has something to do with searching for, and protecting a God creature that was disguised as a child, and not aware of his full powers. There was a lot of it set in a basement apartment, much like the one I lived in when I went to university. There was also elements from my childhood, and the yard of a friend of mine who lived in the trailer court in Coronach. I wish I could write out the details of it for you but they slip my mind. The first coherent part of the dream had me on a mountain top with a flat plateau. This mountain top morphed into a city, as we travelled across to the right. Then we came across this half buried shrine that, after an interminable trip down steps in the dark, opened up into the apartment vista I mentioned earlier. Jerry O'Connell was guarding the God child as we (I don't remember who was in the group). Then some evil person attached the apartment and we fought it off. Water was involved in some way. The rest of the dream evolved as a mystery to figure out who was chasing the God child and what we could do to make it blossom into its full power.

That was my weird dream. Then I drove into work and had a really productive morning. I got some shop drawings and a full set of O&M manuals ready for shipment out. Except I need some electrical drawings for the manuals, then they are done. I plugged away very industriously all day. I just now too a breather to write this blog entry.

I also should mention that I attempted to revive my French skills. I was chatting for a brief time with our Winnipeg friends, en francaise. I had moderate success. I needed the help of the online translator a lot. I hope I'll get better the more I try it.

Toodles!

MSN sucks. Its really getting on my nerves. I wouldn't care so much if it would just tell me its signed me out. If you know, you can just sign back in, and all is well. The pain in the ass part is, sitting there thinking you're signed in and actually not be signed in. First you think everyone's being rude for not replying to you, then you find out you're the rude one for having gone offline without mentioning anything.

Maybe I worry about inherent rudeness too much. Everyone knows how MSN is, so its not really much of a shock when it screws you in the left ear and you get logged out like that. Everyone understands. I just hate being like that. If I'm leaving I say I'm leaving. Maybe its over-politeness but I think its appropriated.

Toodles!

The enemy has been joined. The Battle With SGI has been launched?

What is it with these people. I was on the phone with this guy who's doing the controls for the Souris plant this afternoon. I talked to him for quite awhile and as I was, this weiner from SGI called me and left an insolent message on my phone. I didn't look at my phone when I hung up and only noticed the flashing message sign around 4:00. I listened to the message and nearly flew into a rage.

From his words and tone it sounded like an accusation. The impression I got was, he thought I was trying to pull a fast one on him, and slip someone under. He repeated the same thing more than twice.

***NEWS FLASH***

The guy just phoned me back. He is a dick. He just knows I'm lying to him, or so he thinks. The smug, arrogant, insolent asshole. I could just choke him to death right now. I would love to do that. Wrap my hands around his slimy, underworked, overpaid neck and just wring the life out of him. That would be so lovely.

I'm not lying. I quite honestly do not know how the damage to my bumper occurred. When Ken brought in my license plate, and dropped it on my desk, that was the first I knew of it. I didn't look or anything in the morning before I left, to see if it was damaged already. It was 6:00 in the freakin' morning. Who thinks about stuff like that. I drove back to Watson and worked until lunch. I think I even drove home at lunch and came back. If I remember correctly he brought it in after lunch. I don't know how it came to pass that my license plate ended up on the side of the road.

It finally happened.

The snow has begun in Watson. An almost two day long waiting for the wait stuff to descend was finally reached when it began snowing a few minutes ago. And its going hard at it too. The ground is nearly white after only a short duration of snow. I'm not really a fan of snow. Certainly not in April. By now we should be pulling out ball gloves, and thinking about golfing. Shoveling the white stuff should not even be contemplated anymore.

I do not want this. (That's a quote from somewhere. A song I think.)

Toodles!

I have news.

I'm not going to Brandon tonight for a meeting in Souris tomorrow. They rescheduled the meeting for April 10. I am at once happy about not having to travel, especially considering the storm that is supposed to blow into Manitoba tomorrow. While on the other hand I'm unsettled because it upsets the plans I had constructed for myself. I had everything set out for what I was going to do, and how I was going to accomplish stuff. There were things I was actually looking forward to. Oh well, we must adapt. Life is constantly in flux.

Now I need to make supper for myself. I have NO idea what I'm going to make. On the positive side, I get to work out today, when I didn't expect to have the opportunity.

Its a damn good thing I didn't leave at 2:00 like I was threatening to do. That would have sucked. If I'm bitter about anything in this situation, its being phoned this last minute. I'm a long way away. Make up your mind quicker. Again, oh well.

Toodles!

Good news, good news, good news!

I should have posted this earlier but, I get into a routine of posting at work, and if I don't, when I get home it slips my mind. No excuse, just and explanation.

My truck is getting fixed. The bumper, that was mysteriously broken around the license plate, will be repaired, probably by the end of the week. To all of you looking for autobody repairs for your vehicle, I heartily recommend Boyd Autobody & Glass. They have been super to work with, at the two separate locations, I have dealt with them. Quick, courteous and effective. I phoned this morning, Tuesday, and they expect by Friday I can be having my new bumper put on, painted and ready to go. That is efficient, in my books.

That's my good news for the day. Likely you didn't enjoy it as much as me but, that's okay. Its for me to enjoy!

Toodles!

Its interesting to note the variety of things that you think about, when you're stuck in a vehicle, by yourself, for a long stretch of time. I drove from Saskatoon to Watson this morning. Here's a smattering of the things that went through my mind.

Tara (When isn't she in my mind? She was kind of prevalent in my thoughts during the whole trip.)

Why didn't I get a paycheque at Sask. Place last night?

Would the tape I used for my GPS mount work to hold my CD changer controller and 4-1 12V adapter hub?

What kind of compensation are we going to get for our miserable hotel accomodations in the Dominican?

I should make a reservation in Brandon for Wednesday night.

Apparently driving back to Watson is a lot like dreaming. Once you stop doing it you can't remember most of the stuff you thought up while you were doing it. Like a dream, I have forgotten most of the details of my trip from Saskatoon. Which doesn't make for a very interesting blog entry. Oh well.

Toodles!

Murphy's Law is incredibly reliable. Of all the natural laws that exist, I think Murphy's Law is the most solid. Even better than gravity. Eventually they found cracks in the Law of Gravity too but Murphy never lets you down.

Nearly every weekend I come to Saskatoon and have no plans for Friday night, the guys want to go online and play video games. Invariably I'll have other plans for other parts of the weekend, so I won't bring my game CD's. They'll ask if I want to play, and I'll have to say no because I don't have my stuff. This weekend I took the initiative and brought my games and headset. What happens? None of them are available to game. Murphy's Law strikes again!!

On another note, I love my GPS. I drove in from Watson tonight and watched my track on the little screen, noted my speed, and distance travelled. For me its not a tool but a toy. But its fun, and why shouldn't I enjoy the fruits of my labor?

Toodles!

First of all I want to say I am VERY IMPRESSED with the service I got from GPS City Canada. I ordered my GPS unit from them yesterday afternoon and by this morning at 11:00 I had it in my grimy little hands. I consider that very good service. The price was right, they sold me all the little doo-dad's that I need to make it go and here it is Thursday evening and I'm just about ready to put the little thing to use. Maybe buying one was a good idea, maybe it wasn't. End of story, it doesn't really matter. The money's spent and I've got the calculator looking thing on my desk. I'm happy. (And it really didn't cost that much either)

I hate the photocopier. It hates me. We have a mutually symbiotic hate/hate relationship. There isn't an ounce of goodwill between me and that infernal beast. Somehow I got another set of shop drawings out of the creature this afternoon but it took me nearly all afternoon to do it. I lost count of how many times I had to stop to clear a paper jam out of the thing. The less photocopying I have to do, the better. One thing about working for a small company, there's no one down the food chain to delegate menial tasks.

Back to the GPS thing for a minute. Another benefit of this nifty, new purchase is, I took the bull by the horns to do something that has frustrated me for some time. I carved up my ashtray at lunch today, and removed the cigarette lighter plug from its molded plastic. In so doing, and by removing the tray part, I was able to get the plug, and an adapter, into the fold up tray, and well, fold it up, and out of sight. That makes me very happy. Having to have that stupid thing half open because I had an adapter in it, has bothered me for some time. And for $20 I bought this converter box and now I can plug four things into my truck instead of one. That is a major bonus!

Toodles!

I was sitting here watching the end of the Edmonton-Phoenix hockey game when I realized a very gratifying thing. They played this commercial, from the Safeway Club, and the person won a trip to Cancun, Mexico. I sat here thinking, you know, I've been there! That was a neat feeling. I saw some pictures from a model's trip to Cancun and it was neat to recognize the place she had visited. It was the Mayan ruins at Chichen Itza. I saw in the background the remnants of buildings that I'd seen myself.

I was exceptionally pleased with the realization that I got from this. I've travelled. I've seen part of the world now. Okay, I'm not some massive traveller but at least I've been a few places. I couldn't have said that a couple years ago. Since then I've been to Edmonton and Calgary a few times, east to Winnipeg and as far as Dryden, Ontario. I made it to Vancouver and saw a bunch of things there. And there was the two big trips, to Cancun, Mexico, and Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. I'm not a great tourist. I don't have good tourist instincts but there's been new, different, interesting things that I've seen just by going other places. I also went to Tampa Bay, Florida this year. I think I can take some comfort in having seen some of the world now.

If there was any one place that I'd have like to have visited, and didn't, or haven't, it would be New Jersey. Whatever has gone right or wrong with Tara, I would have liked to have visited her town, and seen the sights of her state, with her. For all the traveling I have done, that is my one regret.

Toodles!

I had a peculiar dream last night. Not peculiar in the sense of, I had a rutabaga for a head or anything but, the content of the dream is something that a guy would never, ever want to dream about.

I dreamed that I got kicked in the nuts.

Why on earth would I dream that? Furthermore, if I did dream it, why wasn't the trauma that should go along with such a remembrance enough to wake me up? Maybe I did wake up but I stayed close enough to sleep that I didn't think I woke up. Anyway, that's what I dreamed last night. Which is troubling because who wants to dream about that? I'd rather dream about the Swedish Bikini team stopping over at my house for a barbeque. Unfortunately I never dream about stuff like that. My dreams are more typically jarring, psychotic images forced together into a narrative that quite obviously has to exist outside of the bounds of normal reality. I dream stupid stuff, like that flying dream I had, that I still remember. I couldn't put together the details for you anymore but that dream was peculiar.

Perhaps I need to change my daily pattern to stimulate more exciting dreams. Unfortunately my life is boring and I know not what to incorporate to achieve better memories. Suggestions are always appreciated.

Toodles!

What do you do when you see the world going to hell? What do you do with the level on which it is going to hell is so far removed from your sphere of influence that you are powerless to affect, change or even register an impact on it?

I'm trying not to think about this war going on. Thinking about it, acknowledging it, or following it in any way depresses me on a level that disturbs me very profoundly. I'm finding that the only way to deal with it is to ignore it, hope it ends quickly, and the powers that be get distracted by the country they are conquering for a sufficiently long enough amount of time that another American election rolls around. I pray, in a way that I don't often do, or to a diety I don't fully recognize, that the people of the U.S.A. come to their collective senses and elect a new president. It's my opinion this one is not doing a good job and is endangering us all with his zeal for attack.

I'm left with praying because I'm not an American, and can't vote on it. Even saying something about it is useless. There's only one hope left for the world and its the citizens of America. The rest of us have to hope that, when they get the chance to vote, they do the right thing.

Toodles.

I saw some losers today. There is really no doubt in my mind that they were losers. Which is an odd realization to come to, when it actually hits you. At least for me it was. I'm not usually someone that makes a qualitative decision about someone based solely on a few moments. But I did today. I got one look at these guys and my mind immediately said, loser.

I was at the 7-11 in Yorkton. I needed a drink, and a brief rest, so I pulled in there. Already in the parking lot were three teenage guys, the losers in question. They were around, or inside, of a beat up old hatchback car. I don't know exactly why my mind screamed, loser, immediately. But I pulled into the lot and just sat there for a few minutes. I'd been very sleepy on the road and I wanted to get my wits about me. I kept getting the sense I was being watched. I'd look over and one of this group of three guys was invariably watching me.

Maybe it was the smoking. That's a definite strike against you, in my book. But they seemed really fake about that too. It was like they were smoking, not for the experience itself but for the illusion of cool. The same with the way they were dressed, and their carriage of being. Everything about them seemed just a little bit 'off', like they were attempting to be something they were not. The crappy car didn't help them much in the status department either. Okay, having a car is better than not having a car, but this jalopy wasn't much better than no car at all. I hope they didn't pay much money for it.

I hate being vain but I do have my moments. Today was one of them. I watched these three idiots and I couldn't help feeling relief that I wasn't one of them.

Toodles.

I have a problem. The stupid, damn wireless ethernet antenna that I had my boss purchase, so that we could have the shop, a few blocks away, on our network, doesn't have enough range to reach the other shop. I'm not amused. I bought an antenna that is way more powerful than I need, specifically so that I'd have enough range to reach the other shop. 3 km worth of range when I'm only 300 meters away. I go a hundred feet up the street and I lose 40% of my signal strength. Something is not kosher here. Blog readers, if any of you know something about wireless ethernet, PLEASE contact me at the email address provided. I am desperate for some assistance.

Thank you.

Toodles

Oh did I come up with a good one tonight!

I was in a silly mood and I was jabbering at my Mom. At one point I went to say something to her, but forgot what I was going to say. So, I blurted out, 'I can't control my liver.'

LMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Toodles!

I've been having the strangest dreams at night, over the past few nights. Every so often during the day I'll remember a snippet from one of them and I'll be thinking to myself, whatever in the world made me dream that!?! I will give you an example.

Last night I dreamed that they wanted to host the American Music Awards in the auditorium of Central Butte School. Everyone in the school was really excited, and was doing their best to accomodate the dignitaries, and make this happen. My dad was a mess and wanted nothing to do with it, and sat in his office in the school, behind his desk, without the chair, so he couldn't be seen if you looked in the door. He was reading a newspaper and eating peanuts.

To compound the weirdness, the people of Montreal were pissed that Central Butte was chosen over them, Montreal, to hose the American Music Awards. The travel agent I went to visit, during the dream, did not recommend continuing with my plan of going to Expos games this summer, because of this fracas.

But the concluding thought that we have to consider about this is, Why were the AMERICAN Music Awards going to be held in CANADA!?!?!?!?!

Just something for you to ponder. Toodles!

I have this fantasy. I have it every time I go up from the office to one of the bars at the open end of the arena. You step through the door at the bottom of the stairwell and you're hit by it immediately. The fetid stench of cigarette smoke. And before a game there is inevitably a couple of people standing by the exit doors smoking.

It comes to mind immediately. I see myself holding my tray with one hand while my other hand, usually the left one, reaches around behind my back. The fingers of my hand grip cold steel and I smile. Then next part comes on slow motion. My hand comes back around from behind my back, a 9 mm pistol gripped in my fingers. I point at the first one, a stupid-ass woman than is nearly always there. I pull the trigger. A loud retort echoes in the tall chamber. A smoking hole appears in her head as a shocked look appears on her face. Then my aim going to the next person, this mustached man this is equally there before a game. A hole appears in his forehead, right between the eyes. The two dead people fall slumped to the floor by the door, their disgusting habit bearing acute reminder of why they had to be killed.

I smile widely as I climb the stairs, my deed done.

Thanks my fantasy. I wish I could make it reality.

Toodles!

I have this fantasy. I have it every time I go up from the office to one of the bars at the open end of the arena. You step through the door at the bottom of the stairwell and you're hit by it immediately. The fetid stench of cigarette smoke. And before a game there is inevitably a couple of people standing by the exit doors smoking.

It comes to mind immediately. I see myself holding my tray with one hand while my other hand, usually the left one, reaches around behind my back. The fingers of my hand grip cold steel and I smile. Then next part comes on slow motion. My hand comes back around from behind my back, a 9 mm pistol gripped in my fingers. I point at the first one, a stupid-ass woman than is nearly always there. I pull the trigger. A loud retort echoes in the tall chamber. A smoking hole appears in her head as a shocked look appears on her face. Then my aim going to the next person, this mustached man this is equally there before a game. A hole appears in his forehead, right between the eyes. The two dead people fall slumped to the floor by the door, their disgusting habit bearing acute reminder of why they had to be killed.

I smile widely as I climb the stairs, my deed done.

Thanks my fantasy. I wish I could make it reality.

Toodles!

Crap! I was so busy trying to finish my model this afternoon at work that I forgot to blog. What a terrible transgression! I'm going to blog now, even though its 10:30 at night.

As I said before, I was going hard on my model today. I got a call from a consultant this morning. Have you got any drawings for our project? Ummmm no, I said. I didn't add that, from my perspective, there was no project yet. He seemed a little taken aback by the fact that I hadn't done any drawings yet. Well geez, I'm not into a 'getting paid' mode on this job yet, why would I be busting me ass already? I suppose I could have. Getting the job seems to be a relative lock. I'm gun-shy about spending a lot of effort on things before anyone puts a dollar on the table, after doing so many quotes for people then having them go to Staples to buy a computer. That makes you leery about going the extra mile.

So I've screwed myself. I didn't get the model done so I'm doing it on my own time, whenever I can, this weekend. I don't think I have too much more than I really need to do. I have the final piping to put on it. Maybe do some rough dimensioning of the whole unit. I don't anticipate 20 hours more work or anything. Dimensioning is the pain in the ass and I'm leaving that part out, at this stage. I hope to spend only a few hours on it, and finish it up.

Toodles!

So I go home for lunch today, and turn on the TV. There's nothing remarkable about that. I watch TV at lunch everyday. I did my usual thing and checked out all the movie channels first. There was nothing on, as usual. That kind of pisses me off. I come home, would like to watch a movie, and there's nothing on. Then, at 3:00 in the morning they play something I'd watch. Put it on during the day, dammit!

That's besides the point. I put on MuchMusic and they are having an MTV special, Diary of . . . Today's diary was of Christina Aguilera. I'm sorry but I'm just not buying this girl's schtick. What are you already? You dress like a Sunset Strip hooker but really you're a nice girl? You look like hell after a costume party for your little brother and have to clean up but when I see you in this photo shoot you have the cheapest, most tawdry ensemble I've seen in awhile on, and seem damn proud of it. Which is it? Make up your mind!

I'm probably being narrow minded about this but I'm real tired of ambiguity. You are what you are, and how dare you castigate me for forming an opinion about the persona that you're putting out for me. I have to give you ultimate freedom to do whatever you want, whenever you want, and also have to give you the benefit of the doubt to an infinitie degree? Ummm, I don't think so. I really believe you have to be responsible for yourself, at all times. Whatever you put out there for me, and everyone else to see, we have a right to judge you by that. I don't owe you infinite patience and forgiveness. I owe you only as much as I'm willing to suffer, based on how you treat me.

I know this girl is not the fragile waif she wanted to be seen as, in this show. That was her 'good' side. Oh, I wear the slutty clothes but I'm not a slut. I only ask for the things I really want or need. I'm a nice person, who treats people nice. Why does everyone pick on me? You're not what you say you are, in that show. You came to my arena and I know you made the diva demands. I was there, I know the people that had to fulfill them. I've read the rumors that go around. Maybe they aren't all truth but the truth is at their core. I was just nice to go shopping, like a normal person. Normal people don't drop a grand on freakin' party decorations for an occasion your mom just made up. That's not normal people. You're not normal people. Live the image or be real. Make a choice. Bitch please!!!

I'm out. Toodles!

I think the girl that works at the Co-op gas bar is cute.

Why is it we gripe about the price of pop, when we have to pay $1.49 for a bottle and yet we say nothing when we go to the convenience store and get a small 600 mL bottle, and pay $1.70 for it?

Well this is going to be an expensive lesson. 8-(

I broke the cardinal rule of driving. I didn't check. I just hopped in and drove away. And of course, I had the DMX just pouding the truck so I couldn't hear anything. It didn't sound right but I figured, its just a short drive home. I'll check when I get home.

I drove home on a flat tire. And not kinda flat, like when its low on air. It was FLAT! We're talking pancake flat. I got out and the rubber was steaming from the heat of friction. I knew it wasn't good. No answer at the tire place. One bad thing about small town living. Everything and I do mean EVERYTHING shuts down for lunch. One thing I miss about city living is being able to get stuff whenever you want it. I was hungry for a steak last night. Living in Watson that wasn't even an option.

But I digress. The tire guy conceded and drove over to my house, jacked up my truck and put air in the tire so I could drive it over to his shop. That went okay. He took it off and examined it for a nail. No nail but the inside of the tire is all chewed up from where the rim was rubbing on it, when it was flat. The tire didn't even roll around as the truck drove. It just kinda slid along underneath, and the spinning rim dug into the rubber.

Now I have a conundrum. There's no whole in the tire and its still structurally sound enough, for now. Do I push it with this tire, and wait for a better weekend to get a tire or go balls out and buy a new one this weekend? I'm leaning towards just going out and buying a tire this weekend, even if my schedule won't really allow for it. I don't wanna have a blowout on the highway some morning at 6:00 am. Food for thought anyway.

Toodles!

I think the woman from SaskTel that came to change our phones around is cute.

Its been a frustrating morning. Everything is in upheaval here at work. People changing offices. People setting up new offices, with new responsibilities and priorities. There's been hardware changes with phones and computers. Everything is sort of a mess.

My problem? I'm trying to install an antenna for the wireless ethernet that we have (nominally) in the office. Up until now the only person using the wireless ethernet was my boss, with his wireless ready laptop. Now we are putting a computer in the shop, which is a few blocks away. The access port antenna is not strong enough to reach that computer on its own, so we ordered an external, outdoor antenna. That took forever and a day to arrive. Now its here and I need a cable to connect the antenna to the access port. This is not a simple cable either. Its an expensive, specialty cable that I don't have, and now need. I am frustrated beyond belief by this situation. I hate trying to do stuff without all the right tools, equipment and/or expertise. I've spent the morning on the internet, and in conversation with people more knowledgeable than myself, on this question. There is still no resolution. That is the main source of my frustration.

Toodles!

I'm getting a new office. There has been talk of it for a few days now but Murray made it official this morning. He told me I was moving. The situation is this. Clarence is moving across town to our production shop. He is taking his computer, which I've put a wireless network card into (that works real slick) and vacating his office here. Kim is moving across the building, from behind the counter, to next to the front door, to more easily handle consumers. Since Kim's office slightly bigger, and not in the direct line of customer view, that's where I'm going. I get a window, more room. I think its a winning situation all around.

Toodles!

My mom had to go to emergency last night. It was a kind of messed up situation. I left to get some food for this weekend's festivities at Sean in Regina. I don't know if I was gone a half an hour. When I come back my mom is sitting on the steps going downstairs to the den/family room. She's got vomit all over her, there's a big pile of it on the floor. Her head is lolling over my dad's hand as he's holding her up while on the phone with 9-1-1 with the other. I walk in on this and I don't know what the hell is going on.

The paramedics show up after a few minutes, I don't know exactly how many as the entire episode seemed to happen in a fast moment, and an eternity at the same time. I guess I could have taken from the deliberateness of their actions that things weren't too serious. The paramedics didn't seem panicked or in a hurry or anything. I suppose that was a good sign but at the time I didn't really stop to ponder it. I did notice there were way too many damn people in the house. The ambulance showed up and two guys came in with medical equipment and started to try and figure out what was going on. A couple minutes later about 5 more guys showed up and all they managed to do was get in the way. The pathway from the front door to downstairs, or even into the living room is fairly streamlined, and not that conducive to large volume traffic.

Eventually they put her on a stretcher and took her out to the ambulance. By the time they'd got her on the stretcher she was already getting more coherent, and seemed to be getting better. She was answering questions and managed to tell the paramedics that she wanted to go to University Hospital. Dad and I cleaned up while they did whatever they were doing out in the ambulance, in front of the house. Eventually they drove away and a couple minutes later my dad followed.

There isn't much left to the story after that. I waited at home for news while dad waited at the hospital. I found my sister and told her what was going on. She came over and we waited for news together. Dad phoned once and said they were doing tests and there were no results, but she looked and felt better. He came home at another point to get her some clean clothes as she felt better and was likely coming home. He phoned a little while later and said the first tests were back with inconclusive results and now they were doing more tests and x-rays. I didn't understand the x-ray part. There was no answer on what was wrong but she looked and felt much better. Finally, at midnight Dad called and said Mom was okay, the tests came back good, and she was coming home.

The conclusion? Dad gave me the phrase 'vagus nerve reaction'. The explanation of that was, after a trauma (Mom had eye surgery recently) the vagus nerve can be irritated and it causes the desire to vomit, along with nausea. Blood pressure drops and you get the dizzy feeling Mom experienced. I looked up 'vagus nerve' on the internet this morning and its this fairly influential nerve that runs from the brain stem to many vital organs in the chest, including being connected to the digestive system. It seems like a plausible explanation, after reading about what the vagus nerve us.

So that was my night. I didn't get to sleep until about 1:00, and getting up at 6:00 has made me very tired. I question how productive I will be today. However, I will perservere. Thank you to all that I spoke to last night (Kevin, Sean and Greg in particular) for the support and kind words. They were appreciated. It seems to have just been an episode that has left no lingering affects. Mom seemed fine again this morning.

Have good day peoples. Toodles!

"You gotta grow man. Don't you ever want anything more for yourself? I know this poor, hapless son of a bitch does. I look into his sorry doe eyes and I just, I see a man crying out. He's crying out, when lord? When the fuck can your servant ditch this foul mouthed little chucklehead, to whom I am a constant victim of his folly, so much so that it prevents me from ever getting to kiss a girl. Fuck! When Lord, when? When's gon' be my time!"

I have a pet peeve. Maybe this is just particular to me, and everyone else does it differently but nonetheless it irritates the hell out of me.

MSN Messenger (aren't all my probably in some way connected to Microsoft!?!) imports your contact list to the contacts area in Outlook Express. This is a good feature, if it actually freakin' worked. When you install the program, it adds all the contacts to your address book in Outlook Express and that's where it stops. You can change your online name in MSN Messenger, but it doesn't update in your Outlook Express contact list.

Perhaps I'm just a feeb and there is a way to fix this. I always prefer ranting about the evils of Microsoft first. In any event, in the incarnation that is operating on my computers, Outlook Express does not update my MSN contacts and it irritates me. That is all.

Toodles!

Sorry for not posting yesterday. It was kind of a weird day. I was answering questions from a consulting engineer in Saskatoon. I spent nearly the whole day, yesterday, writing emails. I'd meticulously craft a response to this guy's question, send it off, then get another batch of questions about a half hour later. I must have written 5 emails to this engineer yesterday. I think I finally got my point explained to him. I got a reply this morning that said he understood my point now.

I didn't have a good night last night. I woke up a bunch of times. I even had to get up and go to the bathroom, which almost never happens. I couldn't tell you why it was such a chaotic night. I do know that I kept having this irrational fear that I was going to oversleep and be late for work. Of course I wasn't late for work, and instead woke myself a bunch of times overnight. I hate when I do that.

My new favorite emoticon is 8-|

I'm downloading new music like a crazy man lately. The endless cycle of the same CD's in my truck was driving me nuts. I have downloaded 5 albums in the past 4 work days. I'm a crazy man!!! I'm also a thief but I'm comfortable with it. I wouldn't otherwise listen to this music so its not like anyone is out any money. I wouldn't have bought the CD's so I didn't really cost the artists, or the record company, any money. I am thinking of buying some CD's but I never seem to end up at the record store. I wanna get the Pearl Jam album and I think there's a Tragically Hip album that I don't have. I think I'll have to make an effort to go to the store one of these weekends. I never seem to manage all of my differing priorities very well. 8-|

Toodles!

Have you ever taken a Mr. Big bar out of the wrapper and set it on the table? Doesn't it look like a turd?

I'm having a weird day. I've been having a lot of those lately. My head just doesn't seem to be in the game anymore. I'm not sure if its winter blah's, general discontent, or something more sinister. I just can't concentrate. I will provide some examples.

Right now I'm trying to write this simple introduction letter. I did a budgetary quote for a consulting engineer in Saskatoon and I'm just puttting together a short one page document to introduce the proposal, and give the preliminary price. I can't find any words. I just wanna say hello, this is who I am, and here's the price. That should be something simple for me, a person that likes writing. I'm stuck for words. I wonder if my atmosphere is contributing to my problem. Maybe I need more sunlight. Sunlight seems to help me think. That is an angle I had not considered.

I want something. That's all I know however. There is this general sense of desiring some thing but I can't put my finger on what that object or concept is, that I want. It is a most frustrating situation. I'd ponder that but I want to finish this stupid letter I'm trying to write yesterday. If any of you have seen my missing 'want' let me know where you saw it and I'll swing by and pick it up. Thanks.

Toodles!

Today has been a day of random thoughts. I've been kind of flitting across a wide variety of things and haven't really concentrated on anything. Such is my day-to-day life but its seemed more pronounced today.

Our new friends from Winnipeg got home, and went to work for the first time today. Thus they were recieving emails and the barrage of digital mail has begun. I wonder what people did during the work day before email and IM? Probably talked to their co-workers. I suppose I could do that too but, my co-workers do not share the same world perspective as me so conversations with them are often brief. I prefer talking to my friends, or are more in tune with my way of thinking.

I finally got to wash my truck last night. God did it need that! It was caked and covered in a white, ugly crusty substance. I'm assuming it was road salt but I did not perform a full spectral analysis. I spent three bucks washing it and I got my full money's worth. Actually, the sludge game off pretty easily, which was reassuring. If it peeled off that easily, it wasn't embedded or anything. It was probably too cold for that, if that's any kind of explanation.

I sorted my file cabinet this morning. The one project from Manitoba has created a prodigious amount of paper and in looking for something I realized that my file folder had no rhyme or reason. I decided to try and make order from chaos. It took an hour. That surprised me. If you just randomly stuff paper into a file cabinet for months, its amazing the level of insanity you can create.

There's something else on my mind but I can't figure out how to write it down, to really say what's in my head. Grant, stuck for words? Doesn't seem possible, does it? In this instance it is true. I'm actually having some trouble getting my head around some of my beliefs lately. It looks like its time for another re-definition. I hate having to do it but every so often it seems my psyche needs reorganization. I should draw up a map of my convoluted brain so it would be easier to sort. Kind of like my file cabinet from this morning.

Toodles!

AAARRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

I just wrapped up two things simultaneously and need to show them to my boss. So what happens? He leaves the office after being in it for only half an hour this afternoon! So, while I'm super busy with projects, I'm kind of up against the wall at this very moment because step two is dependent upon my bosses approval before continuation. I hate that. I should assert myself as a constitutional monarchy and make pre-emptory decisions based on what I think.

On second thought, that's a bad idea. I have a tendency to go for the overly dramatic and that doesn't play too well in the general business world. My decisions would be rash, and ill concieved, if I put all of them into practice. Better that I have a boss, to buffer my wild notions from the world at large.

Toodles again!

News from the world of Blog!

In news today, your intrepid warrior, Sir Telk, has encountered the Hortizigoid Intestine creature. This is a foul, entrenched beast that feeds on the healthy intestines of wayward travelers. Early this morn, yours truly came upon this miscreant as I slumbered quietly along the Road of Sominus. I was minding my own business, having a lovely dream about something I don't remember, when the Hortizigoid Intestine Monster or HIM for short, jumped up and grabbed me firmly, with all claws, about the intestine and general tummy region. I was in agony. My interminable battle with this monster has continued, without abatement, since 4:00 this morning. I am not winning the tide. My latest weapon to unleash upon the beast has been a liberal dosing of the ale of ginger. It is my distinct hope that this will provide the necessary carbon dioxide to poison the creature, and with a powerful exhalation or two, I will rid it from my innards.

Other than that, I'm good. Hopefully the rest of your travelers of the internet are avoiding the pitfalls and follies of misfortune. Toodles!

I am a glutton for punishment.

I'm no sooner back from the Dominican Republic and I'm already into planning mode on the next trip I want to take. I would like to go watch the Montreal Expos play baseball this summer, in Montreal. The problem I'm having is, I can't find a hotel. Its hard to search for a hotel when your criteria is, proximity to a facility. Everything is based on price and, as I'm finding, the internet does not favor searching for discount chains. The search pages are geared towards luxury accomodationis so you get high end hotels at a couple hundred dollars a night. Not what I'm looking for. Thus my search is frustrating. I need a better way to do this.

Toodles!

I am back from the Dominican Republic!

What does this news mean for you, the blog reader? Well, for one thing, I'll be writing in my blog again. I was going to do an entry from Punta Cana but when I had internet time, I had another problem that took me away from the computer. Oh well, I didn't really have much of note to say at that time anyway. I'd only been there one day.

The real shock that I've experienced coming back is the weather. Holy Moly is it cold! Last week at this time I was in +30 C weather, with high humidity that made hot seem even hotter. I was roasting on the beach, getting a sunburn that turned out to be fairly nasty. Now its this week, and I drive back to -38 C on my truck thermometer as I rolled into Watson. That's a 70 C difference! Yikes! That's nearly the difference between freezing and boiling water! All I can say is, wow. Its been a wild transition.

I'm glad to be home though. I think the value of a vacation was kind of lost on me, with all the travelling I've done since Christmas. The trip was good. I loved the beach, the warm weather, and the new people we met there. Hopefully some lasting friendships will endure, and the memories will linger for some time. But when a week was up, I was ready to come home. Its actually comforting to be back at my desk, some work in front of me, to engage my mind. The cold is but a minor annoyance.

Have a good day people. Toodles!

Well, this is the last day before I leave. I thought I'd jot down a quick blog entry while I had a minute. Funny, I'm not excited. I'm actually nervous and tense. I believe I'm having a small panic attack. Which sucks because these aren't fun. :-s

I don't really have anything to say this morning. I've been kind of lost in a fog the whole time I've been awake. I was kind of in a fog while I was sleeping too. I had a continual night of sleep, but it wasn't relaxed. I have a vague recollection of hazy, disconnected dreaming. I guess that doesn't matter much. I tend to ponder my dreams though, and I'm always discombobulated when they won't fit into some kind of pattern.

I'm at once happy to be going on vacation, and sad at leaving so much behind. Life's been pretty chaotic for the last year, and as much as I want to get away from it, there is a sense of comfort in knowing your circumstances, even if you percieve them to be lousy. I will actually miss coming to work, even though its been causing me grief lately. I'm going to miss talking to my friends on the computer. I'm going to miss my routine on weekdays, and my frenetic weekends in Saskatoon. And I'm going to miss Tara. Lots of missing. It almost doesn't seem like the fun of a vacation is going to replace it.

One thing that might be causing my trepidation today is the realization of what happened last year. I went on vacation, came home, and promptly lost my job. I hadn't considered that particular angle until just this moment. I hope that's not what's preying on my mind.

I guess the only thing to do is throw aside all my cares and just embrace the coming experience. I will take some pictures, collect some stories, and come home with lots to write about here, in this blog. Miss me people, because I'm going to miss you.

Toodles!

I've done it again. No, no, not that! Geez, you guys have sick minds! :-P

No, I wrote something that's not going to see the light of day. I wonder some days why I even bother putting this stuff on page. Of course I know the answer to my own question. I need the catharsis of committing stuff to some kind of reality, since I will, in all probability, never act on the things that I can so easily put on a page. I wish I had more confidence in myself. Any time I have the guts to let someone read something I've written, I always get mostly positive feedback. They always have suggestions, which is good, but for the most part they think its good. Still I'm mired in self doubt. I hate rejection. That's my biggest failing, and probably the one single factor that limits me most as a human being.

Anyway, what I wrote. I wrote a caustic pilot report yesterday afternoon and into this morning. We got a set of comments about the first revision of the original report. (For you keeping score that means this is the third iteration of the pilot report) Most of them were valid, from the point of view that the information wasn't there. However, the information wasn't there because there was none to give. Really, they didn't need to ask the questions that were asked. It shouldn't matter to them. Bottom line, do we think can provide the quality of water asked for in the contract? We said that we think we could. That should be end of story. So, being the type of person I am, wrote a very politely worded report where the veiled response was for them to sod off. I gotta break myself of this habit! 8-(

Toodles!

Hell is other people – Jean-Paul Satre

Someone actually called this the worst joke of the day.

I'm a single Mom. I had minor surgery and while I was recovering and spending most of the day in bed, my seven year old son asked me why I didn't have a boyfriend.
I told him the television was my boyfriend, he entertained me all the time.
The only problem was the television set was old and would just shut off for no reason. But, I would just give it a few hard wacks on the side and it would come back on, which was no big deal...
A couple of days later the pastor stopped by to check on my recovery.
I was trying to get the television to come back on so, my son answered the door.
The pastor smiled and asked "Is your mother busy, son? My little one looked up at him and replied, "No, sir, she's in the bedroom banging her boyfriend!"

Just for the record, I hate greensand filtration. Its stupid and pointless, in most instances as a membrane system will deal with dissolved iron and manganese in water just fine. If either is oxided there is a problem but typically that's not the case. I fail to see the point of purposely oxidizing the iron and manganese, to remove it with greensand filtration, when if you leave it alone its not a problem for a membrane. Its the logic of it that escapes me. Convert it to the form that is problematic for you, so that you can use a different process to remove it? How is that logical?

It's another one of those days. I'm glad I went with the approach to this week that I did. Just sit back and wait for the fires to flare up. One did, this pilot report I am re-doing again. If I ever get it into my head to be a consulting engineer will someone please shoot me? No, I'm serious. Please shoot me.

Its snowing here in Watson. Really snowing. I looked out the window a few minutes ago and you couldn't see the train tracks just down the street anymore. That's pretty intense. We haven't had a good blizzard here in Saskatchewan in awhile. At least not anywhere I've been at the time. This would be a good time for one. It would make me grin at being able to leave for the Dominican Republic in the middle of it. :-)

Toodles all!

Today should be considered a good day. First and foremost, HIGH SPEED internet is now alive and running in the Central Water Conditioning office. I set up our router this morning, and get everything working in about half an hour or so. Stupid thing. The default IP address that the router uses I had already programmed into the computer we were using for the satellite internet. So, I wasn't able to connect to the router because my idiot computer had learned the 'Server' was 192.168.0.1. I'm suffering from insomnia right now so I'm not fully on top of my game and it took me awhile to get this little incongruity figured out. {for all you that like to upbraid me for my loquaciousness, I'm still alert enough to use the words incongruity and loquaciousness :-P} Long story short, I unplugged the 'Server' computer so only the router was using 192.168.0.1. Oh yeah, since I'm using Microsoft software, I also had to reboot my computer. WTF!!!!

The other piece of really good news for today is, it would appear our shop drawings have FINALLY been approved. There is a massive pile of paper on my desk that I'm much too fatigued to want to look through. I've scanned a few pages from it and it appears to be approved shop drawings. Hallelujah, holy , !!! I truly did not expect this day would ever arrive. As astounding as it seems to me, I think we can finally move on to the next phase of the project and actually order some materials. I refuse to take responsibility for this outrageous delay. According to the original schedule, we were supposed to be starting construction already. They just approved the shop drawings. I pass nearly all the responsibility for this delay onto the consulting engineer. Yes, they had some questions and concerns about the package we submitted. Why didn't they address those specific questions with me in October, instead of waiting until December? And then taking 6 weeks after that to approve the package? Yes, they had some legitimate concerns but most of the wasted time was their fault, not ours. Bygones.

Toodles!

Sorry I didn't get a blog entry in yesterday. Its kind of a work thing I do, and I toasted my computer yesterday around 10:00. I didn't have the internet for the rest of the day and into the morning until, coincidentally enough, 10:00. I now have a brand spanking new computer and it works super slick. There's more stuff I want to install. 'Non-standard' stuff :-D that I'll put those things on as I want/need them.

Now that I have real high speed at home, this satellite connection at work is really chapping my ass. I will be so glad when we have real high speed here too. That's supposed to happen while I'm gone. I'll set it up first thing when I get back and then the horses of war can really be unleashed! :-D (That's my favorite emoticon for the day.)

I better get going. I'm off to Edmonton for a conference for two days. I don't expect there'll be a blog entry until Friday. Toodles!

It would appear I'm going to do the insomnia thing again. ...sigh... I don't really want to do that right now but for whatever reason I'm having trouble sleeping. This is night three of being awake most of the night. I went to bed early, about 10:30, because I was tired. Head nodding to the side tired. I go to bed, crawl under the blankets and bling!, I'm awake. I really hate that. Maybe I should start sleeping on the couch, with my contacts still in, to remove the, trying to sleep, aspect. If I'm just tired I can fall asleep but if I try it doesn't work. I woke up a bunch of times over the course of the night. I didn't bother looking at the clock because I could tell from the radio not being on that it wasn't time to get up. So I lay there, and rolled from side to side, and didn't really sleep. What a frustrating thing!

There was a car accident near here this morning. We heard a bunch of sirens wailing and then news filtered back that there'd been a crash. I didn't participate in any conversations about it but everyone tends to congregate at the cash register, which is just outside my door. Consequently I hear most of these conversations. There was heavy fog this morning. Some woman pulled out to pass a car and slammed into oncoming traffic. It makes you wonder about the mentality of someone that would try passing in such heavy fog.

I'm printing manuals here this afternoon and my latest batch of print jobs just ended. I'd better queue up another set. Toodles!

Sorry about yesterday. I totally forgot to do an entry when I got home last night. I was in Souris for a meeting yesterday. That was a big waste of time. It was a site meeting; an opportunity for prospective bidders to examine the water treatment plant and ask any questions they might have about the tender package. We didn't need to be there. Our presence was not utilized and we just stood around for 1-1/2 while contractors went around tape measuring things and taking pictures. I examined the pilot plant. That was my biggest contribution to the day. Then we went to lunch and listened to the problems of the project engineer. Considering all the grief I've been put through over this project, I don't feel particularly sympathetic to their plight.

I have some ominous news. Ominous for me really, not that much for anyone else. I'm not sleeping. This concerns me because with my medication I always sleep. Last night was the second night in a row that I did not sleep well. I woke up at 2:30 last night and never really got back to sleep after that. I dozed, but ended up rolling over to check the time, again and again. I'm really hoping this does not settle into a pattern of no sleep. I need it, quite desperately in fact. I feel just awful right now. The plan is to go home at lunch, lie on the couch, and maybe snooze for a few minutes, if I can. Not sleeping only leads to further bad situations, for me.

I wanted to start the next chapter in my book today. I've been putting it off and putting it off, waiting for divine inspiration on where to take the story in this next chapter. I've decided that type of epiphany is not likely to occur. I know how I want things to open, in this chapter, so I'm just going to start, and see where my typing takes me. That usually a pretty good method for me to get from point A to point B when I write. I don't know if this book is any good but I'm enjoying writing it, when I sit down with it. I just wish I could devote more than an hour a day to it. I just get into the narrative again and its time to go back to work. I'd write in the evenings but then I watch TV, chat with people, play games, and so on. I wonder how some other people make a living at doing nothing but writing?

Toodles!

Its been kind of a weird day. Why do I say that? I don't really know. Today has just felt weird. Mostly this afternoon has felt weird. There has been this sense of disconnection for that going on around me. Its kind of like floating but not really. I see everything but its just . . . not . . . quite . . . real. I get this feeling from time to time. Its somewhat disconcerting. I think I have to get things straightened around if I want this type of thing to stop happening. I'm not entirely sure how to accomplish that goal though.

On the good news front, my camera is now IN stock with TechData. What I fail to understand is, why a computer distributor for the whole country would only get pick up on their packages at the end of the day. Let's take a minute and think about it. Maybe I only think they get picked up at the end of the day because the courier company doesn't issue tracking info until the end of the day, when their driver brings the package to the depot. That explanation makes a lot of sense. Of course, it does nothing for me sitting here, waiting desperately for tracking info so I know my camera is in route. Okay, I admit, I have a problem. I should not want something THIS bad! I accept and acknowledge that its a problem. What I have yet to figure out is, how to change the situation.

Another piece of good news is, Murray okayed the purchase of a new computer for me. Its a very good system and while I had no complaints about my computer at work, this is going to be a kick ass machine! I'm looking forward to getting it now. I'll probably build it on the weekend. Over the course of one day, yesterday, Orange Computers went from cash lite and stock heavy, to stock light and lots of sales. Funny how business can be like that. Hopefully things can be slow but steady all year. I like doing the computer thing but not at the exclusion of everything else. Here's to hoping we can have a good year!

I spent last night keeping Tara company. She left me a Yahoo! message from yesterday morning saying she was really sick. I was deeply worried about her the minute I finished reading it. Luckily she came online soon after that and I got to ask her how she was. She wasn't good but at least it was okay enough that she could smile when I made jokes. I kept her company for a couple of hours and hopefully made a difference. I hope she's feeling better today. I probably won't get to find out because I'm going to Souris after work for a meeting in the morning.

That's been my day, since yesterday's entry. I may not make one tomorrow because I don't know if I'll be home. I guess you'll just have to check back.

Toodles!

I'm glad I waited to write my blog entry for today. I thought about writing something this morning but, there wasn't really anything I wanted to say. I would have been just filling in space. I figured today was going to be a pretty big write-off.

I GOT MY HIGH SPEED INTERNET CONNECTION TODAY!!!!

It was 2:13 in the afternoon when I got the call. I was sitting at my desk here in my office when my cell phone rang. WTF!?!?! I thought. Why would I be getting a call on my cell phone? At first I thought maybe it was Greg. But that was silly. Greg had phoned me in the morning, on my office phone. Why would he call me on my cell phone now.

So I answer it. Its someone I don't know. I checked out the number before I answered. It was a Watson and area number. That had me even further mystified. The person asks if its me. I say yes. The guy asks if he can hook up my high speed internet a day early. Would that be a problem. HELL NO!!! I can be home in five minutes, how long until you'll be there. He tells me 15 minutes. I race home and rip EVERYTHING in my office apart. I had that satellite modem out of there, and all the cabling tore apart in record time. He shows up and the install takes only a few minutes. There are some issues because its Windows 2000 but a simple reboot fixes that and soon I'm surfing on high speed. The SaskTel guy leaves and I put in my NEW router and hook everything up. I check my living room computer, its on high speed. Everything is golden..

I'M ON HIGH SPEED!!!! I don't know if I could be more enthusiastic about anything today.

KICK ASS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Toodles!

I found an interesting internet site. Its called www.picturejudge.com. You can pick from different categories of pictures, and you look at them, and give them a rating. There doesn't seem to be a limit on the number of pictures you can rate. I tried another one, www.rankmypix.com (I think) and you could only rate 10 pictures before they hit you with a plug to subscribe to a pay service. I miss free stuff on the internet. This is is a neat way to pass the time but its not so much fun that I want to pay $10 US a month for the privilege. I don't the internet works as a revenue pool. If you deliver good, original content then maybe you can make money at it. There are so few people putting out original content though. Its certainly not worth the subscription fees most sites want to charge. There have only been a few that I would consider getting a membership to and I've resisted the urge every time. I guess someone must be paying up because these sites do exist, and must be making money, otherwise they'd fold.

That's just my two cents worth.

Toodles!

I'm feeling nervous this morning. I ordered my digital cameras from TechData on Tuesday night. I didn't get confirmation on the order being shipped until this morning. That was a relief though because 80% of the order has now shipped. I don't think anything will be here for tomorrow but, the camera's I ordered for customers will definitely be here next week and I can give them to them, and they can be happy.

What is making me nervous is the third digital camera, for myself. I split the order between Mississauga and Vancouver because they had 2 in stock in Vancouver but Mississauga had an earlier ETA date on the next shipment. TechData and their ETA's always make me nervous. I love the ability to order stuff online as it makes things really simple. But, not having a person to talk to, when you need something that isn't in stock, is very frustrating. On the TechData site they post ETA's but the information is nearly useless because they change them, move them back, and sometimes the stuff never ships. I ordered a CDRW drive from them once and the ETA kept going back and back and back and I never did get the drive. I'm worried about that with this camera. According to the site they have 150 on order, to be delivered on January 30th. But, earlier in the week they were supposed to be getting 16 in on the 21st. What's the truth? Will I get my camera before my trip? I hate all this uncertainty. I'd feel loads better if the damn thing was in shipment already.

So, its a nervous morning.

Toodles!

You know you are living in the year 2003 when:

1. Your reason for not staying in touch with family is because they do not have e-mail.
2. You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of three.
3. Your grandmother asks you to send her a JPEG file of your newborn so she can create a screen saver.
4. You pull up in your own driveway and use your cell phone to see if anyone is home.
5. Every commercial on television has a web site address at the bottom of the screen.
6. You buy a computer and 3 months later it's out of date and sells for half the price you paid.
7. Leaving the house without your cell phone, which you didn't have the first 20 or 30 (or 60) years of your life, is now a cause for panic and you turn around to go get it.
8. Using real money, instead of credit or debit, to make a purchase would be a hassle and take planning.
9. You just tried to enter your password on the microwave.
10. You consider second-day air delivery painfully slow.
11. Your dining room table is now your flat filing cabinet.
12. Your idea of being organized is multiple-colored Post-it notes.
13. You hear most of your jokes via e-mail instead of in person.
14. You get an extra phone line so you can get phone calls.
15. You disconnect from the Internet and get this awful feeling, as if you just pulled the plug on a loved one.
16. You get up in the morning and go online before getting your coffee.
17. You wake up at 2 AM to go to the bathroom and check your E-mail on your way back to bed.
18. You start tilting your head sideways to smile. ; )
19. You're reading this and nodding and laughing.
20. Even worse; you know exactly who you are going to forward this to...

It's been a pretty productive day. I've completed two projects that needed doing. The last set of shop drawings for the Manitoba project went out on the courier this morning. When they phoned Monday, they had no changes left they wanted, just the last two copies. So, all things being equal, we should get them APPROVED!!! by the end of the week and maybe we can get paid the outstanding amount for delivery of the shop drawings. What an ordeal this process has been. I wonder if I'll relax any, having achieved this milestone? Somehow I'm doubting it. I still have lots of other stuff bugging me. It would be nice though if I could relax just a little. I feel tense. I've been having stomach troubles again since late last week. I'm reducing my diet accordingly, to try and mitigate the number of trips I must make to the facilities. What a pain in the ass this process is.

On the good news front, Murray took me and Kim for lunch today. That was really nice of him, I thought. Actually, there was no real plan to it. We all left the building at the same time. Kim was going to the Esso restaurant anyway, since she didn't want to drive back to Englefeld when it was this cold, and Murray was going there too. I don't think he had any lunch waiting for him at home. So he invited me along and he paid for all of us. That was really nice of him. I'm always free for lunch because all I ever have is a muffin or bun or something. All lunch is, for me, is a chance to get out of my office for awhile. That is a needed respite too.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do next. Without the big project looming like an axe over my head, I don't know what I should do. Its kind of odd to sit here and realize that they are finally satisfied. I almost feel like I should celebrate. That, along with getting high speed Monday, has made this a pretty kick ass week. Even the cold weather can't get me down.

Have a good day everyone. Toodles!

I know, I know, I just got back from a week in Tampa Bay. I should have plenty of material for a blog entry. Unfortunately for you, dear reader, I am much to excited to remember anything about my trip. Today's blog entry will be very short because there is just one thing on my mind right now.

I GET HIGH SPEED INTERNET ON JANUARY 28!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WOO-HOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hello from Florida everyone! This is your intrepid reporter bringing you the scoop from the sunny Sunshine State!

I don't have much good news to report, unfortunately. The business portion of the trip is going well enough. We had our first class today and it was good. I got some useful help from it. The part about how a membrane unit is put together was very informative and filled in some wide gaps in my understanding, from how I'd tried to visualize it from the book I read.

On the down side, my face hurts. Or more specifically, my left eye. To the point, it feels like someone punched me in the eye. Its not comfortable. I hope it gets better, or at least doesn't get any worse. I do NOT want to have to look for medical help here in the USA.

My most interesting note from yesterday's travels would be the enormously poo-bomb that was getting through US Customs. That was the biggest screw up I've ever seen. There had to have been 600 people in line, trying to get through Customs and onto their planes. They ended up having to delay a bunch, including mine, because they couldn't get people through. Someone needs to have a talk with the Americans. If they want all that security, you gotta pay for it. There were 20 aisles available for people to be processed through. They had six agents available for putting people through. That is not performance. If anyone in a position of power is reading this, FIX THAT SITUATION!!!

To my family, I hope they read this, lots of love.

Toodles!

Today is a total non-day. Nothing is happening, at all. It is at once both disappointing and comforting. How odd.

I took a spare power supply home at lunch today, to confirm my worst fears. They were confirmed. The computer known as the Linux box is dead. I threw in a new power supply and the computer did nothing at all. It is a complete boat anchor. Thus ends my foray into dual processor computing. :-( I'm fairly sad about this because they motherboard that I had in that computer was one I bought off eBay for a fairly respectable sum of money. I spent that much because its a dual processor motherboard. I could have put two Pentium II processors on it. (I never did get around to buying another one) Now that particalar dream is dead. I would guess I've lost at least the motherboard, and probably the chip and RAM as well. I guess it doesn't really matter since the stuff is old and I can't salvage it into another machine. Nontheless it is still disappointing to have your equipment go up on smoke.

Today is my one and only day in the office for the week. Tomorrow is a travel day, and then the rest of the week is my conference on reverse osmosis water treatment in Tampa. I've kind of lost my enthusiasm for this trip. I had some last week but a series of minor setbacks, all happening one on top of each other, has dampened my enthusiasm. I need to find an outlet for my emotions in situations like these. I bottle everything up and wind up depressed. Its not a good situation. All answers point towards spending money that I don't have, leading to further depression. I need another job.

Toodles!