Well, for good or for ill, the latest bid proposal is now decided. The tender closed about half an hour ago. I spent all morning, more or less, on the phone with mechanical contractors that were bidding the project. I heard from Murray that the other competitor was way high, so we actually adjusted our price accordingly. I hope we get it and I hope we hear about it soon. It would be nice to get a last job on the slate for the summer/fall.

Toodles!

Its kind of a slow news day today. Thus far nothing of any real note has happened. I've been slowly, but steadily hacking away at another bid proposal, for a demineralization plant on an Indian reserve in Saskatchewan. Its been the nearly endless repetition of little changes, reprints, updates, and tweaks. I think its done, then I find something that has to be changed. In the background of this is the usual dance of pricing given, and revised between equipment suppliers. Its kind of tedious the way different players battle back and forth, chiseling an thousand dollars, here and there, off their price. It would be much easier if everyone figured out their cost, decided what the job was worth to them, and submit a price. Instead, everyone starts out insanely high, then backs off, little by little, until they reach the threshold for how little they can stand to get out of a job. I'm glad we don't do that with our computer business. What we start at is pretty much as low as we can go, so there isn't much bartering room. I hate bartering. I'm lousy at it too. Shop keepers in places like Mexico, the Dominican, etc hate me, because I don't haggle. It seems so pointless.

Toodles!

I'm just about tired of my rotten luck.

I was driving back to Watson this afternoon. As I drove north on Highway 2, to join up with Highway 5 again, I was passed by a B train semi-trailer going in the other direction. As it passed me, it either threw something up from the road, or lost something from on top of the trailer. In any event, something large, and I think metallic, smashed into my windshield. It scared the hell out of me. I thought it was coming trough the window. It did not, but left a large, baseball sized reminder of the incident on my front windshield. It would appear I am going to SGI, again. I'm just about tired of that.

Toodles, I suppose.

I have good news! I think my Toshiba e750 PDA will ship today. I checked their website and they are now, finally, in stock. It lists my order as coming from Vancouver, which is where our supplier has some in stock, so I'm hopeful for a shipment today. That would be super good news!

Toodles!

I am having a problem. I'm trying to design a system, according to a specification provided to me by a consulting engineer. The problem? The specification doesn't make any sense. I'll condense it down to the essential.

A system is supposed to provide 26 USgpm. This is to be supplied by two membrane trains, each sized for 13 USgpm of output water. The problem with this part of the design is, the membranes chosen for each train require a flow across them membrane that is almost in excess of what the membranes are supposed to produce. Thus, it is hard to use these membranes for such a low flow application.

Second problem, the membrane unit is supposed to be fed water by a single pump, with a redundant backup. The problem here is, this single pump is supposed to feed both trains simultaneously, or if chosen, only one train at a time. Now unless I'm missing something, this situation is impossible. A pump does only one thing. If you turn it on, it pumps at a set pressure and flow. The only way to change that is to either have a flow control valve on it, or an electronic device that controls the pump motor. A flow control valve is no possible in this case because we are never sure whether we want to restrict flow or not. At full capacity the pump will supply both trains, but if one train is valved off, for maintenance or whatever, we have to restrict output from the pump, so that it does not oversupply water to single train.

Thus, this design would seem to be impossible. Unless I'm missing something, or something was left out of the spec. The membrane chosen would actually work better if you supplied it with the full 26 USgpm, all the time, and made the membrane trains redundant, as the pump is redundant. I think I'm going to have to phone the engineer and see what we can do about this. As I sit here, I don't know how to make this work.

Toodles!

I think its pretty obvious that woman are just as vain, if not more, than men. As an experiment, I deleted the picture (that is supposed to increase hits) on my Cupid profile. Result? 4 hits in one day. The conclusion, I think, is obvious.

Toodles!

Sean and I made an amazing discovery this afternoon in Regina. There IS a Taco Bell in this city!!! On the east side, on Victoria Ave., near the Ring Road, there is a KFC/Taco Bell store. We WILL be visiting it before I leave for Watson again. 8-D

Toodles!

There are so many things that are possible to do online. The question becomes, how much do you really want to put into online services? Specifically I'm think about two possible things for myself.

One is, online banking. Since I'm not local to my bank, it would be convenient to be able to do some account things remotely, over the computer. The thing that has always troubled me, and continues to trouble me, is security. Despite efforts to make it bulletproof, I don't believe the internet is there yet. I'm not independently wealthy or anything, but I'd miss it quite significantly, if my sums of money went missing due to internet fraud, scam, hack or exploit. I'm not sure I wanna take the risk. But I had an issue with a credit card recently, and it would have been very handy to have been able to look at some numbers on the computer.

The other one is online address books. I don't think I'm going to go this route, since I'm getting a PDA, and I anticipate making that my 'home' computer for my information, addresses, etc. Right now I work off three machines, and its confusing not having everything I want, right under my fingers, at all times. I'm hoping to migrate the info I wanna have all the time, to the PDA, so no matter where I am, with computer or without, I'll know where I am, what I'm doing, how I'm doing, and what has to come next. But these online services offer quite compelling attributes. Its not, as a general rule, sensitive information, so it might be a good backup for things like phone numbers, addresses, and so on, that you really should keep handy, but don't always remember to.

Just a couple thoughts. Toodles!

I got my truck back this morning. Overall, its been a fantastic morning. Getting my truck back was just the crowning jewel on the morning. I got a ride back to Humboldt to pick it up. We drove past the farm dealership and my truck appeared from behind the truck that had been blocking my view. Man did it look good! They'd cleaned it (inside and out I later noticed) and it was just gleaming in the sunlight pouring out of the south-eastern sky. They shined up the chrome too, and it just looked like brand new, on the lot. I even remarked on it as we drove up. I felt a lot of pride.

Other good news from the morning:

I don't have to go to Souris, thus getting a four day weekend

The engineer I was negotiating with agreed to let me use 4 inch membranes for this reserve project that is up for tender.

My site meeting in Souris was postponed a week, thus making it possible for me to make my other meeting and doctor's appointment in Saskatoon next week.

I love it when I have good days! 8-D

Toodles!

My Cupid.com profile finally reached 100 hits. And it only took a year. Who says adding a picture increases interest!?!

There is sad news to report. Overnight, my boss Murray, lost his mom. She had been sick for quite some time before this, but its still quite disheartening news. I don't suspect he'll be in the office any time soon. Though I don't believe he reads this, I still wish him well.

Why doesn't anyone name their daughter Bambi anymore?

I would like to understand the body modification craze. It kind of mystifies me at times, while other days I kinda get it. It seems a little too fad oriented though. I have the feeling a lot of people do it because its a fad, not because they have any particular interest. There is a tattoo that I have/am considering but, it comes from a desire to have something integral to my identity adorned on me, not because its a fad. I still haven't decided on doing it or not, mostly because I don't have the design drawn out (and I'm not sure I'm the artist best suited to draw it) and I'm not sure about where to put it. I think the shoulder blade but, I don't know which one.

Back to my rant about body modification. The girl that gave me a ride back from Humboldt today, where I dropped off my truck to be repaired, had her nose pierced. Not the cute little diamond stud piercing but the ring through the side of the nose piercing. I didn't find it attractive. The girl, without the adornment of the nose ring, was probably what I'd consider to be attractive. But I couldn't get past this ring in her nose. It really didn't suit her at all. Thus I found myself being standoffish, for no reason other than this, relatively minor, body modification. I feel kind of bad about that, but since I can't pinpoint what made me feel that way, I don't know how to alter it. Thus I'm left with the situation of just having to accept it.

I know, I think too much. I should really stop that.

Toodles.

I am convinced the photocopier hates me. Somehow this non-sentient machine knows that it is I that am using it, and it takes the opportunity jam, misfire, screw up and just generally not work the way its supposed to. All I wanna do is the very boring task of copying shop drawings. Its does 20 sheets and then jams in spectacular fashion. I hate that. I just need it to work, in a very basic, limited fashion. Just make copies. It can't do that. Stupid auto-feed function. I hate photocopiers! :-(

Toodles.

My computer seems a little sluggish this morning. Could that be because I'm using the printer?

Are there any, purely internet, jobs left on the market?

I love how Windows is always so much smarter than me, and knows exactly what it needs to enable, to maximize my enjoyment of the operating system. I really appreciate how it turns on features I will definitely want, even though I did not explicitly ask for them. For instance, I really appreciated how it firewalled my laptop computer, when I configured it this morning, so I could transfer the files I'd been working on, with the laptop, in Saskatoon. I thought it was a truly excellent piece of programming for Windows to know that I'd need a firewall on this computer. It is so important that I be protected from having access to files on this computer, from a remote computer. I wouldn't want to maliciously hack myself when I copy my AutoCAD files from machine to machine. Plus, I was especially aware of how they don't put this firewall setting right up front, where you might unintentionally find it, and disable it, thus no longer protecting yourself from evil hackers. It really is best that it be buried a couple windows deep, so I have to hunt for it, to disable it. There are so many evil hackers in the world that Microsoft has to watch out for poor, stupid me.

Idiots.

Toodles!

I hate when flies get trapped in the window.

I don't know how I want to feel about this. There's computer people here in the office, doing things with our systems. That's kinda, sorta, supposed to be my job. It had to be neglected in favor of more important stuff. Clarence needed to be migrated to a new system, at the other shop, and I just never found enough time to really deal with the situation. Now we have techies in here doing stuff and I have a vague sense of having my 'turf' invaded. Not that I have time to deal with it anyway. I'm behind on at least two other things and I probably won't be here next week. There just isn't time for me to do this project. Still, I can't shake the feeling that interlopers are prying into my business.

Toodles.

What is the point of ear wax?

There are a lot of famous people in the 2001 edition of 'Ocean's Eleven'

I find it so annoying with they have well known professionals on Naughty Amateur Home Videos. And its even worse when its an obviously professional scene!

What's the purpose of shaving cream?

I had a good day. I worked hard since first thing this morning and I managed to get two things done, that I wanted to get out today. I'm not really at the end of all the things I need to get done, but I set a goal, and managed to complete it. Its been awhile since I was able to do that. It feels pretty good.

Toodles!

Have you ever noticed that the word cup, when you say its letter individually, also says 'see you pee'.

Sorry for not doing a more in-depth entry for today. I got a call this morning asking where the quote that had been requested a couple of weeks ago, was. I'd filed it to do later, then not gotten back to it. So I went, flat out, all day, finishing it. I should have read the thing more closely before filing it. At the end of the second page was a deadline. Just another example of there being too much to do, and not enough time to do it all in. Much like forgetting to write in the blog. Both things got done though, so I can't feel too bad.

Toodles!

I have a question. Actually, its more of a complaint than a question but its phrased in the form of a question.

Why is it no one has ever DONE anything when a computer breaks. I don't get that. I'm supposed to fix something, not replace it, or redo it, I'm supposed to 'fix' it, and not lose any data. But the person in question has not 'done' anything to cause the machine ti stop operating correctly. It just broke itself.

This drives me up the wall. Obviously something happened to make it stop working right. Nothing, anywhere, breaks completely mysteriously, without cause of provocation. There is always a cause and if you can ascertain when it started happening, maybe you can figure out the why. But no one wants to tell you what lead up to the failure. More likely than not they were mucking with something they shouldn't have, and now it doesn't work right. If they tell you what it was they were doing, maybe you can put it back and it will work. When its 'just broken' I'm at a loss about how to get it back to right. My theory is to just nuke it and start over, and be damned that they haven't been backing up their data.

That's just my two cents though.

Toodles.

I had ANOTHER strange dream.

In this dream, this weird guy captured these two girls, and kept them down in his dungeon. Periodically he would come in and torture them. He had a fascination with poking them in the breasts with needles. The room was completely dark, and black. They had no sense of where they were, or when they were.

Finally they managed to trick the torturer. He always drugged them before entering the room, so they didn't attack him when he tortured them. One time they didn't get drugged, and saved it. Then, when he came in, they injected the torturer with the stuff and paralyzed him. Then they stuck him in the torture machines and hurt him, before running out of the little torture room.

It turned out the torture room was in a hotel. They ran out of the room and were naked in the hallway of a hotel. Eventually they made it into a room where they regrouped and considered what to do next. For some reason they didn't want to call the police.

Eventually they called this male friend of theirs, who brought them some clothes and helped them figure out what to do next. One girl was too scared to do anything and just wanted to hide. The other one wanted more revenge on the torturer. She set up a scheme to catch him, and kill him. She would pretend to be drugged again, when the torturer escaped his machines and came looking for him.

When he went to attack her, for escaping, she would drug him again. Then she would take him back to the torture room, and put him through everything she had gone through, until he died. She had just contacted the torturer and told him where she was, to enact her plan, when the dream ends.

I gotta lay off the psychedelics before bed. LOL Toodles!

Here's a tip for everyone, on a good site for looking up movies and music. This is courtesy of Sean, so kudos go to him.

http://www.joblo.com/index.php

Toodles!

I had the most peculiar dream last night.

It started out that i was this shiftless guy. Then my father sought to motivate me by giving me this job of driving along the border between Manitoba and Saskatchewan. I did that, and stopped in Hudson Bay, Sask. From there i started doing house by house searches, evaluating them. I ended up in this slum area where I found illegal basements and people keeping rabid dogs for protection. I exposed the situation and I remembered I was the mayor's son and i made this an election issue. But it turned out the mayor was crooked and was helping these people live squalid lives so he could have the neighbourhood condemned and turn it into a massive, luxury complex.

Then it got real weird. There was this big debate in a large theatre/parliament building. The evil people were killing baby kittens, and i chased them into the debates of town issues. Then the head villian, who was running for mayor, revealed herself. But she was some shape changing creature actually, and turned the walls into snakes. Weird dog people attacked me, and i fought back, out into streets of a major city, with buses, and taxis and stuff. There was this elaborate battle in the air and on the ground before I cornered the villians in a school where I woke up.

And I didn't even have pickles or anything before bed. 8-|

Toodles!

Its been an interesting day.

Woke up way too early this morning. I don't really regret helping Kevin with the Co-op gig this weekend. I got what I wanted out of it and I feel he got value from my services. But the morning came too early this morning. I needed a couple more hours.

Which leads to lunch, where I fell asleep watching TV and didn't wake up until 1:15. That was embarassing but ultimately didn't result in any consequences.

Back to the morning where I was run off my feet with new things, and old things requiring new efforts. I'm not even close to being done but then again, didn't really expect to. The mechanical contractor on one project requested shop drawings while I was in Souris last week so I would say that constitutes a formal acceptance of our package. Now we're bidding on another reserve job and there's a design project from a town on my desk. Oh, and we're going to commence pilot testing in another town for a really big unit, or set of units. The waves of projects do not abate.

Flash forward to the afternoon. Had an illuminating discussion with my boss about the various facets of my job, the company, and where everything stands, and how it inter-relates. I know a little better what he's thinking, about a lot of things, and I feel reassured. Maybe my stress level won't go down any but he's aware of it, and sympathetic. It was reassuring to know that he noticed, and appreciated, my efforts of late.

Back to the morning. There was an annoyance I didn't need. Stupid hacker (I think) planted bombs on Clarence's computer and made it stop functioning properly. Could be a virus too but I'm leery of that idea as I don't believe Clarence gets a lot of email. Maybe I'm wrong on that but the couple times I've looked at his computer when the mail screen was up, there wasn't much to see. I didn't need that hassle when I had all these project concerns to worry about. I fussed with his computer(s) for an hour getting him something that would work. Another hour lost.

Lunch was good. I had a bacon, egg and cheese bagel. Thanks Mom!

That's an encapsulated look at my life today. I hope you liked the short story. Have a good one yourselves folks. Later!

I'm in Brandon tonight. I'm staying at my usual Days Inn, and also as usual, the same cute girl was on night shift. I had some pressing business that needed attending to this evening so there were no pleasantries. There were also no pleasantries when I got to the room.

I just wanted to send a thank you to everyone who reads the blog, and wrote me to ask how I was doing after a couple days of depressing blog entries. Thank you everyone. Your kind words, and consideration of my feelings were greatly appreciated.

Toodles!

Here is a song you have to download. Gil-Scott Heron - The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

'My Immortal' by Evanescence is a good song for those moments when you feel tortured.

My eye has commenced twitching again. I hate that. Its not painful or anything, its just frustrating. Its this little twitch that you can't ignore because its so noticeable. I enjoyed it while it was gone and am not happy it has returned.

I looked at my grass at lunch. Its dying nicely. The back is a pronounced yellow and the front is hanging in but doesn't look good. I will cut it tonight and then hopefully we won't get any more rain and I'll be done cutting for the year. Unless I should try and keep the front going by watering it. I wouldn't mind cutting the front. Its the football field of a backyard that irritates me so much.

Thanks to everyone that asked about yesterday's blog entry. I appreciated the kind thoughts.

Toodles!

Today I am not happy. I don't feel like making a blog entry.

I need a hug.

What's the deal with nose studs now? I couldn't turn sideways this weekend without seeing someone how had a little stud in the side of their nose. Did a new fashion trend erupt with me asleep at the wheel?

Toodles!

I had an awesome morning!

The first thing to happen was, I checked my email and Tara had sent me something overnight! I opened the email and it was a couple of pictures of her, one of which being an image of her with her new, highlighted hair. I spent some time admiring her. She is still as gorgeous as ever. I really miss her. She is always so much fun and bouys my spirits no matter what the reason for their being low. I hope I get to talk to her soon.

Then, still in email checking mode, I investigated the status of my nerf bars. Lo and behold they were 'On Delivery'! That had me giddy with pleasure, after already being 9/10th's of the way there because of the email from Tara. They showed up here at just before 10:00. I took them out of the box, examined them, and took a couple pictures. I can't wait to get them mounted. I had some confusion as I tried to figure out where they go but I think I have it figured out. That is going to be such an awesome addition to my vehicle. And only 2-1/2 years late!

Back to work for me. I have a lot of stuff yet to do. Toodles!

A few thoughts that have been churning around in my head.

I think maybe it would be a good idea to buy some more weights, and another bar. I'd like to get back to my exercise regime. It has kind of been shelved of late with all of the traveling I've been doing lately. I'd like to get back to it. Since I ride my bike to and from work everyday, I don't think I wanna do the exercise bike as my exercise. Its too much of the same thing. I was thinking of getting some more weights, and go back to the weightlifting thing. My complaint with that always was, having to stop, change up the bar, before going to the next exercise always broke the routine and made it less 'fun' to do. If I had another bar I could have one dedicated to heavy weights, for the bulk lifting, and have a second bar, with less weight on it, for the conditioning exercises. I believe I will investigate that possibility this weekend. I also want to see what a rowing machine costs as that sounds like a good way to exercise, and watch TV, which I find to be a nice combination.

Is it just me or does Justin Timberlake seem to wanna be the white Michael Jackson? Not the weird, creepy Michael Jackson that exists now, but the old, talented black guy that people actually wanted to listen to. I had the (mis?)fortune of catching a Justin Timberlake video today at lunch. Damn if that didn't look like a video from the eighties. Had it been a radio song it would have been easy to mistake it for a Michael Jackson tune. I think Justin has identity issues.

Some people get really rabid about religion. I didn't think that happened anymore but there's a community near here that is in a uproar over religion. It boils down to a question of them publicly declaring their religious affiliation. There is quite a battle brewing over this issue. I got a bit of a glimpse into the saga today and while I can see their point, I'm glad its not me dealing with the situation.

That is all for now. Toodles!

I've noticed an interesting phenomenon that is occurring on the internet. Pop-up ads for dating sites are starting to encrouch on the domain that used to be reserved exclusively for adult vices (porn, gambling, etc). I get a lot of pop-ups for dating sites of one stripe or another when I visit innocuous sites like free, webmail sites. One in particular will launch three pop-ups for different dating sites when I log on to check my mail. I still don't think pop-up advertising works but at least having these ads appear on my screen feels less annoying that something for a big boob site, or something about penis enlargement. Getting a pop-up for a dating site seems more helpful than being told I need a more prodigious tool.

Toodles!

I just want to go on record as saying, 'I hate iron filter systems.'

I hate this job in Manitoba so much!

After some bad news, I got some good news.

1) I got a response to my inquiry to driverfx.ca. A customer service representative emailed me back with a tracking number for the nerf bars I ordered off the internet. I checked and they are currently 'In Terminal' with Purolator. Maybe, with some luck, they'll be here by week's end. (hope, hope)

2) My boss came into my office right at noon and had some good news for me. A consultant we are on friendly terms with just got an approval to construct a large membrane treatment unit for a town in Saskatchewan. The likelihood is that we'll be the listed specification for supplier of membrane treatment equipment. A cursory knowledge of the project would make it our largest project ever. And I'll design and implement it. Lots of work coming in now after a nervous early spring.

That is all. Toodles!

Again we had another night of lucid dreams. Maybe its not the dreams that are troubling so much as the fact that I'm close enough to consciousness that I'm remembering. Whatever the cause/effect relationship, I have a head of wool socks again.

Last night's dream had me walking across Saskatchewan. I'd walked from Winnipeg to Saskatoon, and was on my way home, to what I believe was Weekes. It was going to be a long walk (i.e. the distance would be long if driving) from Saskatoon so while I don't remember the exact destination, as I was heading to a 'home' that's what I presume it was.

That whole last paragraph was pointless. Anyway, I was one my way home, going north from Saskatoon towards Warman. Along my trip, around the point north on Warman Road where you meet the chemical plant, I ran into a girl from way back in my past. Christie Bjolverud from Central Butte. I have NO idea where that came from. Anyway, we were getting along famously, chatting and joking and flirting as we walked. Eventually we got to a 7-11/truck stop somewhere between Saskatoon and Warman. (There is no such place in reality) We stopped for drinking. The line was stupid at the 7-11 and while Christie got her drink, there were no cups left and I didn't get a slurpee like I was going to. I was annoyed but I was just going to keep going without one. She thought I should wait for more cups. Instead we left the 7-11 and walked to the truck stop place. Now as I think about it, it was more of an abandoned truck stop that was in the process of being renovated into a bar. (no, I don't know where that came from either) Inside there was a counter with a book/magazine store. For some reason I figured I should buy a movie to watch as we walked. (again, I don't know what made me think something so idiotic) I was in the process of picking from the meagre selection when I awoke, at 5:55 in the morning.

These dreams are stupid. I wish I could at least have a dream that made some sense, or contained imagery that I could appreciate where the reference came from. Christie Bjolverud? Walking from Saskatoon? 7-11/abandoned truck stop in the middle of nowhere? I don't get any of this.

On the nervous tick front, my whole eyeball seems to be quivering with each spasm now. And, I'm getting random muscle twitches in other parts of my body too. I hate being tense.

Toodles!

Why don't people listen to me?

I told them that the problem with the internet connection at our shop was the service to the building. In other words, either the modem was not working, or the system on the other side of the modem wasn't working. The setup of the computer was not a problem. Either way, SaskTel needed to be brought back to investigate their installation. What happens? They call software people to come set up the internet at the shop. Result? They waste a day trying only to come to the same conclusion I'd already reached. Solution? Do what I'd already suggested, and call SaskTel to look at the service to the building.

Why don't people listen to me?

I'm not happy. I'm really not happy. That doesn't really even cover it but I've resolved to not swear in this public forum so I'm not going to. That's all I want to do however.

It all boils down to my quest for my P.Eng. status. I got to talk to the girl at the APEGS office this morning. We went over a few things and my anger level rose with each explanation she laid out for me. When I finally got off the phone my body was quivering with suppressed rage and my right eye has not ceased twitching yet, and its 1:30 in the afternoon.

I can't think about it without flying into a seething rage so I'm just going to hit the highlights. As of this morning I am no further along in my quest for my P.Eng status. I remain locked at 32 months of experience. This is despite the fact that I've worked nearly twice that. Bygones. My chances of getting credit for the missing 6 months from Wheatheart are slim to none, based on a spurious decision that was made, and not documented AT ALL. I asked the very nice girl at the APEGS office what she thought was my best course of action and she told me, just do another 4 months. It'll probably get you to your goal faster.

Now for the really aggravating part. My Mentor is this Engineer-In-Training process has submitted NONE of the required documentation associated with the process. I have submitted and inquired with him about, two six month reports, and he has done nothing with either of them. So, as far as APEGS is concerned, I have been unemployed for the last year. The one piece of documentation that he has submitted was to say he was NOT willing to agree that I was ready for P. Eng. status. Thus I am completely screwed, and a screw-up, in his opinion.

So I sit here this afternoon in various fits of anger and abject depression. I have tried, and tried, and tried with this process, only to be met by indifference and derision from the people who make the decisions. If I could at least be treated with some kind of concern I might find satisfaction. But on various levels I have been forgotten and ignored. It makes me want to beat my fists against a wall, or crumple in misery. I hate this crap. Someone just make it go away.

I remain . . .

I had another perplexing dream last night. This pattern of being awakened by ridiculous dreams is starting to get on my nerves. I need a decent sleep and I keep screwing myself out of one.

Last night/this morning I dreamed that I woke up at 6:30. I had the part of the dream where I rolled over and looked at the clock, and it was 6:30. I must have awakened myself by this image because after that I lay there, thinking the alarm clock would go off soon. I waited and waited and waited and it didn't go off. So I rolled over again and it was just after 5:00. AARRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!

Grant's Kitchen Tip #1: The key to making a tasty Caesar salad is, adequate dressing, parmesan cheese and bacon bits.

Toodles!

Musings on another road trip . . .

There is a lot of bugs in nature already. I don't remember there being this many bugs, this early in the summer season.

Orange Slurpees may be the best flavor of Slurpee. Sprite Ice makes a good Slurpee flavor too.

I really enjoy p'zones from Pizza Hut.

My truck gets respectable gas mileage. I think though, that after all these highways miles lately, it would be a good idea for me to have it to a proper mechanic for a once over, and tune-up. I gotta stop ruling it to the razor edge before filling it with gas though. There were tense moments coming back to Brandon this morning.

Driving is very boring. It can be real hard to keep yourself awake and alert when you drive a long way. I had to stop on the way back today and get my wits about me.

There are SO many things that go through your mind when you have nothing to do but think. I'm not sure that's even healthy. The trouble is, you can't write anything down because you're driving. If a person could document all the thoughts, good and bad, that they had while driving, it would probably amaze them to realize afterward the abilities they have.

Chicken Chef makes a good hamburger.

I'm old. They had a show on Star! last night about Sixteen Candles. That movie is almost 20 years old. I remember watching it. That makes me old. Interesting show though. Reminded me of some things from the 80's, both good and bad. I suppose its not terrible to visit your past from time to time.

The damn Days Inn Brandon has made the internet access in the hotel rooms a pay service now. $8.00!!! Okay, its better than some places but you're never more indignant than when someone sticks a price on something you used to get for free.

I heartily endorse Audioslave as a musical choice.

That's about all I can think of. Like I said, all the good stuff you think about on the road, you forget once you climb out of the vehicle.

Toodles!!!

I"m pissed off. I was queued at 23 for my Weird Science movie. I told the computer to eject my Backup CD and it rebooted the computer. Thus, I lost my connection on the movie. Now I'm stuck with no spot in the download list.

Now for a real post.

I had yet another crappy night of sleep. This is becoming an all too familiar pattern. Its not even insomnia because I've had that and its different from this. I think its stress. I think too much going to sleep, have stupid, weird dreams while I'm asleep, and then wake up at different points in the night, usually having to get up to go to the bathroom since I'm awake. This sleep thing is a good indicator of stress and my right eye has been twitching for a week. That's a really good indicator of stress for me. When I'm under pressure, I get this nervous twitch that makes my eye flinch. I hate it but like any twitch you can't control it. I think I need to relax a little.

I hate closed doors. My boss closed his door this morning, ostensibly to talk on the phone. I don't know that for certain but that's my guess. I hate closed doors. I always get real paranoid and think something bad is about to happen to me. I'm paranoid by nature but that only serves to accentuate the problem. Again we come back to the 'need to relax' place.

For those of you that read the blog, a shout out to my sister. She informed me last night that she got herself a brand spanking new promotion. Any of you that are capable of sending her a congrats should do so at your next earliest convenience. I gave her one last night but here's a public one for her to enjoy. Way to go Pooh Bear!!!

Toodles!

Let's see how this works. I decided to change the blog layout this morning. What is the opinion of my readership?

I"m watching a new Dennis Miller comedy special on Movie Central. Dennis Miller IS the funniest comedian I've ever seen!!!

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!