I am an idiot.

Canada day for your good buddy Telk was very slow. Slow to the point of noticing moss grow around my unmoving position on the couch in the den. My A/C unit got its first real test and performed well. There is a wicked temperature inversion as you come downstairs. I was impressed.

However, I am an idiot. I watched three movies today. Pirates of the Carribean, Die Another Day, and Lara Croft: Cradle of Life. That was my afternoon. At 8:00 the Britney Spears concert from Miami came on live on Movie Central. I thought that would be interesting to watch. I was incorrect. Somewhere in the first half an hour of the show I fell asleep.

Falling asleep during a Britney Spears concert would not, on its own, make me an idiot. There is a greater purpose beyond my idiot story.

I'm lazy. After a couple of hours of contemplation I decided to buy some food. I wanted a Quiznos sub, I further chose in my period of contemplation. I drove over and got it about 6:30. It was just before 7:00 when I got myself back into bunker mode on the downstairs couch. My dad's grass was still looking a little sickly so I chose to turn the water on again.

Now I think you can see where this is headed. I fell asleep during Britney. It was not, however, Britney's fault. The idiot part comes in where I slept through turning off the grass watering. When I awoke, it was 1:00. I still didn't remember the grass. I decided to go to bed and knowing how my mom feels about windows open while no one is awake, I took the A/C hose out of the window and closed it. I looked outside and noticed the sidewalk was wet. Oh cool, I thought. Its raining, like I predicted. Then I noticed the mall wasn't wet. I mentioned some profanity before running outside to shut the water off.

Surprisingly enough, the story doesn't end there. I went to bed. That much is true. The longer I lay there, the more awake I became. By 1:45 I was bored with lying in the dark so I got up again. Decided against A/C so I instead opened the window for some fresh air. Sat back down and listened to the sounds of nature (and traffic that was still on the streets at 2:00 AM). It didn't sound right. I sat up and sure enough, its raining. 6 hours of watering, all for little point.

I am an idiot.

Toodles!

I sold another computer today.

Its kind of unexpected. I didn't get up this morning with any thought of computer sales on my mind. Frankly, it was about the furthest thing possible from my mind. I have 93 different things going on, most of them from work, and I barely concerned myself with computer sales. Except for the occasional fleeting thought of the order that is currently enroute.

My boss invited me for lunch. I bought last time so it seemed like a reciprocal thing. Plus, he mentioned some glowing praise for the completion of the units in Maple Creek. He was really impressed, which made me feel good.

I'm sitting, eating my chicken and sausage (I know, weird combination) and my bosses buddy Greg sits down with us. Murray and Greg exchange greetings, and chat idly. I continue to consume my dead animal flesh. Then, from out of nowhere Greg asks me if I could build a system for him.

I was caught off-guard. I wasn't thinking about computers! But, I'd just put together a package for Central Water, so I had a recent quote in my head. I mentioned the computer I'd just sourced for work, and its $600 price tag, and he seemed agreeable to that. The conversation opened up as I mentioned prices for things like DVD burners, and so on, but eventually everyone migrated to another topic and I was alone with my thoughts.

However, as the noon hour was winding down, and everyone was getting ready to leave, Greg asks me if I'd order that computer for him. GA-FUH!?!?! He didn't want a quote, he wanted a machine. So, I sold a computer, without doing any selling. I will order it tonight, or sometime soon, depending on availability of businesses through this holiday weekend. It is strange how some things go.

Be well my friends. Toodles!

I have a question.

How is it I can be the 50,000,000 visitor of a web page, several times a day, everyday? My hits on this site alone should be pushing the number towards 60,000,000.

Damn, stupid internet ads!

Blog Question Of The Day:

What could I add to my office to make it feel more comfortable, personable, and relaxing?

I just noticed a peculiar irony.

The one time leader of Body Count, Ice T, who also had a successful solo career with the same police hating lyrics as Body Count, ended up in a TV role where he was playing . . . wait for it . . . a cop.

Did you all do your civic duty today?

I don't vote everytime. When I first got the right, I made a point of exercising it. It was new for me, and I had an opinion or two that I wanted to convey, so I voted. Its not hard at all, and we really should do it, so maybe things get done the way we'd most like to see them done. The party system we employ in our democracy is not fail-proof. But if we all vote, then the group that wins, should be the choice of the most people.

It is easy to do. The people running the show do everything. All you have to do is provide proof of identity and make an X in a box. How much easier would it need to be? I'm glad I did it. I feel a twinge of something, although I am not sure of what. Hopefully the party I voted for wins. I think they're imperfect, but our best hope, given the circumstances.

Get out and vote! Its easy, takes almost no time, and its a worthwhile thing to do. As the lame TV commercial spouts, speak when everyone is listening.

Blog Question Of The Day:

Should I wear a vest more often?

G&M's Word Of The Day:

oxymoron

A Day In The Life of Commonwealth Stadium
(Game Day)
1:47 PM

cooking begins . . .
Today we have a burger promotion. We will be cooking 19,000 burgers. More to come.

A Day In The Life of Commonwealth Stadium
(Game Day)
11:15 AM

Sunny with a high of 25...almoist zero wind. Expected attendance.....35,000. We are in pre-production mode

Have you ever been in one of those bathrooms with huge mirrors? Or one of those bathrooms with mirrored shower doors? In my sister's new house, there is a bathroom off the kitchen. Its got an interesting shower (Which BTW Candace and Trevor, could use a nicer shower curtain) and a mirror that runs the length of the small room. Thus, when you're using the commode, as a guy, you can watch yourself.

Am I the only person that is creeped out by this? I'm doing some anecdotal reckoning but I would suspect that the average length of time to do one's business is 30 seconds. Its not entirely impossible to not look, but when its RIGHT THERE, I find it impossible to not glance up at least once. And then I'm watching myself do my business, and it troubles me in a vague, not easily defined, way.

Obviously girls woundn't have the EXACT same experience, in that bathroom. But how about the rest of you guys? Or girls when the shower doors are mirrored? Am I alone in this? Discuss amongst yourselves.

Toodles!

I guess I kind of left you all hanging, didn't I?

This morning's Word Of The Day did have a basis in life. It was not just a random choice.

Okay then, knock it off with the stupid melodrama!!!

My sister is now engaged. Last night about 8:00 or so I got a call from Candace. She was all breathless and excited. She managed to get out the part about being proposed to, and the accepting. Beyond that she seemed to dazed to make much sense. (sorry Candace, just calling them like I see them)

So that was yesterday's big news, to go on top of full tilt deer destruction. It turned out to be a momentous day.

Congratulations to Candace and Trevor. Those of you with the means, please send them well wishes. I, for one, am extremely happy for them.

Toodles!

G&M's Word Of The Day:

wedding

Who among you will step up to the task of joining me, as I indulge my interest in puerile teenage comedies?

So, I hit a deer today.

I had just left the Gordon Indian reserve, on my way to the Muskowekwan Indian Reserve. I was in a hurry, since the meeting at Gordon ran WAY long. It was quarter to twelve before I made it back to the highway, and cell phone coverage. I started down the highway, a little irritated because I wouldn't make it to Muskowekwan before lunch. I really didn't want to hang around outside the water plant for an hour or more, waiting for operators to return after lunch.

I'm coming down the highway and this deer head pops up out of the grass. I instinctively brake, as anyone would. But the deer doesn't appear to want to come up onto the road. As I get close, it breaks into a dead run, in the same direction that I am travelling.

I don't quite understand what this deer's motivation was. A dead sprint through the tall grass in the ditch, in parallel with me. I slow down from normal highway speed, but he's staying in the ditch so I don't come to a stop. Then, as we reach the congruence of our velocities, this stupid animal decides to make the break for the opposite side of the road.

I slammed on the brakes but that was of little consequence. Squish, squish goes the deer as I pile into it, primarily with the front, driver side, quarter panel. This whole process took about 5 seconds, but the results remain imprinted into my vehicle.

Fun for me. I just LOVE dealing with SGI. Why is it we're not hunting these animals to extinction?

Toodles.

As some of you may know, I have a big yard. Before it was all conjecture when the question was posed, how big is it? Now I have a definitive answer.

Last night I yanked my GPS out of my truck. (no mean feat considering the mount I purchased for it) I reset it to zero and roamed around my backyard, taking distance measurements.

(As a sidebar I should mention that I did end up getting a kid to cut my grass. I was toiling in my front yard and this little guy comes over and offers to do it for me. $10 per cut. Its a fair price, considering the 90 square acres I have in the back.)

Back to your originally scheduled blog entry. The dimensions of my yard (when we average the discrepancies) are 28.1 meters from rear of the house to the back fence. Width between fence on either side is 12.1 meters. For those of you not keen on doing the math, I'll add that too. It gives me a back yard only size of 340 square meters, or a whopping 3660 square feet. This does not include any front yard, the driveway, or the plot the house sits on. All that excluded, my yard is still HUGE!!!

A new survey question for my faithful readers.

My parents are on vacation right now. They are on a 3 week bus tour to Alaska. I am glad they have gone on this trip. They deserve to have more experiences than just staying home, doing chores, and earning money at their various odd jobs. (tutoring, contract sewing, etc)

This does, however, leave me with something of a question. What do I do for the weekend? Half the point of going to Saskatoon every weekend is to spend time with my family. There's no family in Saskatoon this weekend. I could stay in Watson for the weekend but, I have to be in Maple Creek on Monday, so whatever I choose to do, should take me closer to Maple Creek. It would seem that no matter what I choose, its a weekend alone. I am less than enthusiastic about this turn of events.

Does anyone have any thoughts? I would gladly entertain a plan. Contact as usual. Toodles!!

Show of hands, who thinks I should add 'Hampton the Hampster - The Official Hamster Dance Song' to my WinAmp playlist!?!

G&M's Word Of The Day:

blush

Okay people, heads up! Its time to get serious about something.

June has now arrived, and I feel the time is at hand that we discuss the vacation situation. As you all should know, I'm going. Once my handlers from SP let me know when monster trucks are next year, we'll have the time window pinned down. That leaves us with only a few questions.

Where - I'm still voting Cuba
Resort - I've had the 'Beaches' corporation suggested to me
How much - probably critical for some people
Hotel Rating - I'm pushing for 5 star, simply because I've done everything from 3 to 5, and for the extra you pay for 5 star, its really worth it
Amenities - probably the wrong word but I'm looking for suggestions on resort services that are important - say golf, for instance
Cultural exchange - do you want a resort buried in the jungle, or something more urban, thus allowing for more immersion in the culture of a foreign country
Agenda - Do you wanna party hard on vacation? Just lie on the beach and listen to the ocean? Experience a different culture? Shop? Tour?

These are my preliminary questions, to kick off the vacation planning duties. As I have now posed the question, I will take the position of co-ordinator. I have a small staff that will be employed to research available packages, secure pricing, and help determine how much do we get for how little. Right now I'm looking for comments. What do you want from your vacation experience?

Reply as always. Toodles!

Blog Poll Of The Day:

Britney Spears has became passe. Which of the following should becoming my calendar girl for 2005? (yes, I'm aware its kinda early to be deciding this)

1) Hilary Duff
2) Jessica Simpson

I have a complaint.

I can check my MasterCard balance online, as its tied to my bank account information. (MasterCard for that bank, is attached to the account at same bank) Its a great feature. I can see when purchases I've made are attached to my account, and see what's due. My complaint is, once we hit the cut-off for billing (the 15th in my case, with this bank) they remove all the transactions that made up that billing period, and I can't see what I spend, and where, until the paper statement comes in the mail.

I hate that. I wish they'd have a button that would let you read your previous month's statement, once the cut-off day is reached.

Just something that is on my mind this morning.

Blog Survey Question of the Week

Do you:

a) like
b) dislike

Clippy, the Microsoft Office paper clip character, that offers assistance with Office products?

G&M's Word Of The Day:

Hungry

Why do I always have to be the first person to do something?

I'm on site yesterday, attempting to commission the membrane treatment units. We'd been messing around with units A and B for a couple days. The bugs appeared to be tuned out of the process, and efforts were turned towards making unit C operational.

The first step in accomplishing the commissioning of a membrane unit is to fill it with water. There is a lot of piping, and feed space in the membranes themselves. It takes awhile to fill the unit up but its necessary because you can't hammer a dry system with 90 psi water. THAT=not good

So we're trickling water into the unit with a butterfly valve that's open about 10%. My technician is giving the system some casual interest as he does other things. It takes a decent length of time to fill a unit, so he was doing other things at the same time.

The unit reaches about half full when it is noticed that there is drip coming from the booster pump disconnect switch. (for those of you that don't know what that is, its a rugged electrical switch that controls the feed of electricity to an electrical device) That shouldn't be. We'd had an accident earlier that sprayed water all over the plant. So it wasn't given a whole lot of importance. Tim had a few spare moments so he investigated where this water was coming from.

He opened the disconnect box, and there was a small pool of water that had formed inside. That really shouldn't be, because the whole point of the box is to protect the electrical circuit from being disrupted, shorted, engaged/disengaged by accident, etc. Further investigation found that the water was originating from inside the box. Even more examination brought us to the realization that the water was entering the box from inside of the wires, that connected the pump motor, to the disconnect switch.

I phoned our pump supplier. The initial response was incredulity. That's not supposed to happen. The wires run from the pump motor, inside the submersion cannister, to the disconnect switch. It is supposed to be completely sealed, and impervious to penetration. As this is a submersible pump, and the entire unit, motor and all, will be completely encased by water, it is vitally important that water not be able to get into the electrical line. But it had, and the pressure of the water was sufficient to push it between the strands that make up the elctrical cable, to terminate in a pool inside my disconnect box.

Lots of incredulity, from lots of people. Which is fine but I'm wetting my pants because I'm using two other of these pumps already. And the indication I'm getting from the electricians on site is, this water in the cable situation is very, very bad. So I'm quite freaked out. Then the pump supplier phones back and tells me that they have no idea of what to do next. This has never happened before.

Which brings me back to my initial statement. I hate being first. If you're the first person with a problem, it always takes a long time to fix, because a bunch of things need to be checked, before you do anything that will work. And I'd rather not commit to a long, drawn out process.

So all of you pump/electrical people, please email me with your solutions to my problem. I have padlocked that disconnect switch so that no one can operate that pump without my supervision. Beyond that I am left with no choice beyond being highly nervous about my pumps. Stress relief suggestions would also be worth recieving.

I hope all of you are having better days that mine yesterday. I am back for awhile, so hopefully I can amuse you with my writings.

Toodles people!

How weird would it be if people were transparent, and you could see all the inner, bodily activites, take place, as if looking through a window?

G&M Word Of The Day:

requite

We are going to have another contest!

Today's topic revolves around Kevin's computer. His hard drive died a couple month ago, and he needed a new one installed. Life happened, and I never got the tower to my house until it was delivered yesterday.

It is now June 6, 2004, 3:32 in the afternoon. The question being put to you is as follows:

I am installed Windows 98 Second Edition on this hard drive. On what day, and at what time, will I complete the Windows Update of this system?

Respond as always.

For the first time in the 30 year history of my participation in the Guenther family (Wayne, Colleen, Grant, Candace) there is air conditioning in the family home.

Air Conditioner

For those of you curious about the outcome of last night's blog question, 'can I cut my grass in 45 minutes at lunch' the answer is yes. I had some trepidation about pulling this off, but it actually worked out. I think it was a shade over 45 minutes, but I got an early start and managed to wrap it up at 12 to 1:00. I was still late getting back to the office, as I hadn't done any packing yet. But overall, I accomplished a LOT, in a LITTLE time, so I'm satisfied.

And for those of you that didn't care about the blog question . . . tough cheese. That's all I'm adding right now. tee hee hee

Toodles!!!

G&M Word (actually a phrase) Of The Day:

Come and Go

10:00 Blog Question:

Can a person learn to not be self-conscious?

9:00 Blog Question:

Who has the hardest job?

Blog Question Of The Day:

Can I cut all of my grass in 45 minutes at lunch on Friday?

I was just reading Slashdot and a story on the front page caught my eyes. It was about HP calculators. It brings to my mind a question that will probably only be significant to Greg and I.

When I was in engineering school, the big 'cheating' issue was HP calculators, that could save text. How do they handle PDA's that have full spreadsheeting, and word processing packages?

The place we do not name, may finally have exhausted itself. The beast has grappled with me, for more weeks that I care to count. I have wrestled, and fought with this monster, never gaining anything better than a stalemate.

Now, finally, it may be over. Like the sick pet that you agonize with, as it lives the last days of its life, it has finally fallen, to lie prone on its side. The last few, hollow breaths are escaping, before the husk falls silent, and the pain dies.

The place we do not name is like a cherished pet that must die. You know that it will come, eventually, but in the mean time you must live with that soul destroying sorrow of watching something you cared about, stumble and wheeze its way to the denouement.

I never loved that project, like you would your childhood pet. But it was important to me, and I had a cherished feeling about it. When it began I have visions of it being my, point of pride, project. The one I could hold up and say 'I did that'. But it dragged on so long, and would not bend, yield or give me even an inch of victory. I fought it from beginning to end. Now, as it passes into closure, I do feel a twinge at its passing. It was long past time, and I'm glad that the suffering, for everyone, is over.

Be well my friends.

Blog Question Of The Day:

What features to a website make it the most interesting, and dynamic, such that you would visit it from 1-5 times a day?

I miss Candace.

I usually like the rain. When its not tied up in some big storm, its almost peaceful. The dim, grey sky, drops of water falling from the heavens. The affirmation of life, as all living things that the rain touches, reach up and embrace the giving water.

Usually I like the rain. However, in recent times I have lost my zest for rain. The reason? My grass. Somewhere between where I was, and here, I ended up with a landing strip sized amount of grass to cut. Its freakin' huge. What complicates this chore even more is, my allergies. If its green, I sneeze. That's the rule. And there's lots of dust in the air when you cut grass. If I do the chore, I've resigned myself to an evening of snorting and blowing. It's fairly unpleasant.

So the lush green-ness of my front yard does not impress me. It actually depresses me. Anyone for an asphalt front lawn?

Toodles.

Well, I'm going to New Mexico!

I sometimes wonder if maybe I shouldn't be the boss, and my actual boss shouldn't be the employee. Then again, maybe he indulges me because it is me, and he wants to keep my happy. Nonetheless, I just spent about $15,000 of his money, essentially to appease a couple of my whims.

Whim one is a trip to New Mexico for a membrane cleaning course. I'm fairly happy about this. Everyday I take on more and more responsibility for the safety and good performance of our membrane treatment systems. Any additional knowledge I can acquire just makes me more, and more comfortable in my role. My assistant is working on my flight, hotel and car rental needs for this excursion. About all I have to do is get on the airplane.

The second whim is my desire to build a pilot unit that more accurately reflects the conditions likely to be encountered on full implementation on a large scale system (something in the 100+ gpm range). That'll be a $6000 or $7000 touch. But once we have it, the machine will be incredibly valuable, as a method of acquiring new, high profile projects, and doing proper pilot testing, before implementation of a full system. Yes its a lot of money, but its money well spent.

So I guess, despite it being a lot of money, its all going to a good purpose. Now that I've talked my way around it, maybe Murray does know what he's going with these things. I guess I just need to believe my ideas are good, and not be so concerned with things being foolish, or ill-concieved. Have faith! I guess that's the phrase of the day.

This is G%, sounding off from the rain forest of Saskatchewan.

G&M's Word Of The Day:

Headbanger Twins

Blog Question Of The Day:

How is glass cut?

Blog Question of the Day:

(This is a non-rhetorical, serious one. I would like some opinions.)

Should I buy a Porsche?

(Red, 1972 Porsche 914 convertible)

Okay, someone knew just made 'The List'!!!

I suppose I can't really complain all that much. Its not like I paid for the song. Nonetheless there is still a sensation of indignance, raising itself from the depths of my insides.

I'm listening to this song. The one in question is Usher - Burn. Everything is good and then I hear something, faintly in the background, about half way through the song. Some soothing voice bastard, breathes quietly into the background of the song, "AOL Music, First Listen"

I suppose I can't really fault them for doing it. Downloading music for free on the internet is very hard on their business model, such that it is. Still, I don't think its uncommon for me, or anyone else for that matter, to get annoyed by this stupid ploy. Whether you paid or didn't pay, you don't want your song marred by this stupid corporate branding. Can we please find a fair model between gouge the consumer, and making a reasonable profit?

Just my one thought for the evening.

Okay, I'm sitting here watching the Stanlet Cup Finals, and I've got a damn question!!

They just did the national anthems. I'm watching my TV, and this girl comes on the ice for the anthems, in a red, Calgary Flames jersey. Much like the other 18,000 people in the building, who all appear to be wearing Calgary Flames home jerseys. CBC does the obligatory (but in this case necessary) graphic with the singer's name.

Who in the HELL is Heather Liscano!?!

They go on, and on, and ON about how its been 10 years. Which is true, and a heart-wrenching crime. But, I do have to ask the following question. If its been TEN YEARS sinec a Canadian team has been in the Stanley Cup Finals, then WHY can't they bring in a big name celebrity to since the anthem? Its the Stanley Cup Final, for Christ sake! Where's the Shania Twain, Avril Lavigne, Alanis Morrissette, and so on. God, Jann Arden is from Calgary!!! She can't possibly be so busy that they couldn't bring her in. (However, now that I think it, didn't she butcher the anthem a series or two ago?) Just make a damn effort! Please!?!

Blog Question Of The Day:

I know she's hot but is Charlize Theron really worthy of an Oscar!?!

Haven't we had enough Shrek already?

I really didn't mind the idea of a Shrek 2. The first one was decent. I liked it. My question however, is did we really need this much hype for the sequel?

I mean, come on! People know who and what Shrek is. How many hundred million did the first one make? The concept of Shrek is not lost on us. The saturation bombing of TV commercials, product placement, and promotional tie-ins was not necessary. Really not necessary. Its so bad that, I've actually turned again the movie. I don't even want to see it now. I'm too pissed off at all the irritating commercials.

Just a thought I've had.

G&M's Word Of The Day:

Eeyore

I need to get something off my chest.

Who decided that pop-up ads right inside the web page itself, was a good idea? The marketing guru's didn't get the message that pop-up advertising pisses us off, by the fact that the dot-com industry went out with a flaming glory? We HATE pop-ups! I doesn't matter how craftily you weave them into our internet experience. We hate them, we hate them, we hate them!!!

And what's the deal with eBay? Is there even a competitor to eBay? Isn't it one of those things like Coke or gasoline, where you're gonna buy it whether they advertise or not? So why all the irritating pop-ups ads?

And how about Viagra? Have we not heard enough about his stupid crap? Okay, my dick is broke. I'll go to the physician and ask him for Viagra, or Cialis, or that P-starting brand. We all know what the penis pills do, and where to get them. I don't need to see a 70 year old guy in the steam bath, belting out a 50's standard at top volume. I'll keep my sexual dysfunctions discreetly to myself, thank you very much.

And how about the penis enlargement pills. Isn't that like the worst sucker bet of all time? Who actually believes this is going to work? You take a PILL and your schwanz is gonna get bigger. How the hell is that supposed to happen!?! Smarten up people!!!

That's enough bile for now. Enjoy your evening!

Map Of Springfield, USA

Just a couple thoughts I had, as I drove across the country-side today.

If sound has a finite, definite speed at which it can travel, how can you have a conversation with someone on the other side of the globe, with little perceptable pause between utterances?

Do cows care when their feet get wet?

G&M's Word Of The Day:

tacos

Blog Question Of The Day:

Does my desk need a snow globe?

I'm watching this Calgary vs. Tampa Bay Stanley Cup Final game. Calgary scored the first goal. They gave credit to Gelinas because it hit his skate.

Should you really get credit for a goal if your only contribution to it is that it hit you in the skate? What effort did you expend to get the goal? I would like to suggest that, credit for a goal should involve using your stick in a legal manner. If you touch the puck with your stick, you can have credit for a goal. If it hits you in the skate, you're no more important to goal scoring than the boards, the crosspost, or the guy in row six eating a hot dog.

G&M's Word Of The Day:

headache

Okay, I have a question!

What is the deal with public restrooms? It would seem that (and rightly so) those damn air blower, hand dryers have gone out of fashion. I do not recall the last time I saw one. At least not exclusively. Also what you don't see much anymore is the linen type. That was kinda nasty. This grunge-y looking thing that a million people had used before you. The most popular equipment for the drying of the hands seems to be the brown paper dispenser.

But what is with the new innovation that has come along with this? An infra-red sensor that you put your hand in front of, and it advances a measured amount of paper. What the hell is up with that!?! You can't tell me that the difference between profitably, and financial ruin is a couple feet of brown paper. Its not like its highly processed. Its never soft, or in any way desireable. Are we really concerned about a couple feet of paper? I feel cheated when I go into the washroom and this thing gives me an A4 sized piece of paper to dry my hands on. I have big hands, I need a big sheet of paper towel!

That's just me. I could be wrong.

Well THAT was easy!

I had this spare computer at my house. During my first year in Watson, we didn't get SaskTel high speed internet. (Not that its rock-solid now that we do have it) So if I wanted accelerated speed on my dial-up connection, I had to have satellite internet. And, if I wanted to network it in my house, I needed a server (loose interpretation of the word) from which to share the internet connection.

I got high speed internet last January. (by that I mean January 2003) This computer became redundant so it was disconnected, and stashed under a table in my 'office' at my home in Watson. (What I call my 'office' is really more of a huge closet, as I just pile stuff in there, and rarely do anything with it) I ended up lending it to my friend Greg, for some event he needed computers for. I think it was a mine safety contest, or something like that. He hooked it up and it didn't do what he wanted it too. I got it back from him, agreed that it wasn't right, and again shelved it. I took it out one more time, a couple months ago, and again it did not snap to attention right away, so it was stowed once more.

My buddy Sean and I developed a plan that would ideally include using this computer again. I remembered it was broken, so I brought it with me, to Saskatoon, to attempt to fix it. I began the attempt this afternoon.

Funny thing happened on the way to fixing the computer. It didn't need to be fixed. I plugged it into my setup here, and it booted on the first try. It had no issues. So I find myself relieved that I'm not tech support-ing my own equipment again. However, I am disappointed that I have not figured out what its problem was the last couple times I tried it.

This is probably one of those 'gift horse' situation. So, to follow the standard instructions for recieving one of these, I will not check any mouths.

Toodles folks!!!

My pants have fallen down.

Please submit your engineering proposals on how to remedy this situation to the following email address.

Grant's Pants


This contract will be conducted in a cost-plus arrangement. All due haste is required as there is a critical, public decency, crisis surrounding the current 'down' position of my pants.

Bonuses will be available for proposals of an inventive, or ingenious manner.

Blog Survey Of The Day:

Who among my devoted readership think that I should buy a replica Philadelphia Flyers jersey with the name and number of my new favorite NHL player, Alex Zhamnov?

How do you thank someone that has done you a wonderful favor, but you're really not in contact with anymore?

In my last job, I worked in a very traditional, business environment. Suits, ties, formal and stuffy. In this company we had a front line administrative assistant. Her name was Amanda. It was a daily affirmation to walk through the front doors in the morning, and get the sunny 'good morning' that she always gave freely. I liked her, but was always intimidated by her. She had that effortless beauty and grace that has always left me befuddled and nervous. Eventually I left that company, and embarked on a new career direction. Which, I would like to take the opportunity to say, I love with enormous passion. Amanda and I exchanged a few emails, but not long after I left, that fizzled out to no communication at all.

However, destiny is a funny thing. What I learned, as it turned out, was that the company I move to, was one that Amanda's father had owned. Amanda's father was no longer a partner in the company I move to, but her uncle remained the silent partner, to my boss, who was running the show. This piece of information came my way when Amanda took her trip to India. I was on her list of people to mail with her Indian exploits. I loved reading about her adventures, and must confess I was a little sad when the endeavour was over. At her request I printed copies of her exploits, so that her aunt and uncle could read about her trip.

I had a long talk with my boss this afternoon. It was the first time we'd crossed paths in the office in awhile, so there was a lot to be said. One thing led into the next and we ended up sitting there until 6:30. Towards the end, as we were talking about the company, its financial standing, and the ownership situation, Murray told me that Amanda had provided to her uncle a very glowing recommendation about me. I have to confess, I was a little shocked to hear that. I knew Amanda was a wonderful person, and I am infinitely glad to have met her. But, I did not know that I'd made any kind of impression on her, in the year and a half that we knew each other. I find myself in a place where, I'd like to thank her somehow, for the kind words, but I'm not sure how to do that.

Amanda, if by some miracle you end up reading my words, thank you. Your words, a simple act of kindness, are a deed I can think of no way to properly repay. Thank you Amanda, and know that anything good you could ever have said about me, is magnified tenfold, in my opinion of you.

Has anybody seen this Honda Element commercial where they recreate the vehicle out of, what looks like, Lego blocks? How many blocks do you think you would need if you actually tried to build a Honda Element with Lego?

Grant's Mini Bar

Blink 182 - I Miss You

Should I switch to a Commodore Vic 20 as my main system?

I sit here tonight, cautiously optimistic about the future course of my working life.

I was in Maple Creek today. That project is coming along wonderfully. It does not look very complete, in any of the pictures I could show (which I won't because they won't really mean anything to anyone else) but we're real close. By the end of next week, with two guys working, we will have 3 units complete, and ready to make water. In six weeks. 6 weeks and I've gotten the capacity for 650 USgpm of bottled water to be produced by a water treatment plant. I am taking a considerable amount of professional pride in that achievement.

And from 'The Place We Do Not Name' there is also positive news. The 'loan' membranes have come out, and the original membranes (each one having been individually, chemically cleaned) have gone back in. Performance on Day 1 from the original (but cleaned) membranes is slightly better than what we had from the loaned (new) membranes. This is an exciting turn of events as all previous attempts have been rather dismal failures. I have hope again, that maybe that project will finally, mercifully, go to sleep.

So I am happy, and full of hope tonight. Thanks for listening. Your support is more valued than I can say.

Toodles!

I love those Russian hockey names! My favorite from tonights Tampa-Philadelphia game? Jam-nov I know that's not the right way to spell it, but I giggle every time they said it on the game.

One more day of tribulations.

My #1 technician turned in his hat this morning. Well, he won't officially be gone until June 11. Thank god for that much. He will stay on long enough to get Maple Creek complete, to the stage of mechanical completion. There is other stuff to be installed, connected, and made work. Most of this being process instrumentation and devices not critical to installation. Still, my #1 guy will be out of the company, before we go to turn the switch on.

I can't fault him for trying to get a step up in life. He's moving on to a government position which, with his hands-on experience, should turn into a significant raise. However, this leaves me with the problem of, more work than staff. We were just trying to get a new technician trained, so we'd have three field agents instead of two. Now, instead of that, I have one trained technician, and an apprentice that is of little use to me yet. The strain is going to be significant for the next little while. The situation I was bemoaning a few weeks ago, where we had no projects, is now a sense of relief, as we're too committed for what we have on the go now.

Sorry for such a boring blog entry from my life. The staffing question has been plaguing me all day today, and thus weighing heavily on my mind. I thank you for listening. Toodles!

How can it be, one of those days, at 8:30 in the morning!?!

I really like this little 3 piece speaker set that I have in my office now. (I decided I needed a 3 piece speaker set more than the new salesman) This brings me to the focus of today's poset.

Blog Poll Of The Day:

Should I buy a set of these Creative Labs speakers for myself?

G's Word Of The Day:

Lonely

A few comments that I feel need to be made, after working another concert.

Why do people care so much about when the bars will close? Let's be honest, even if you know the time that bars are going to close, when the ticks on the clock reach the appointed time, you'll be too drunk to remember. In many circumstances you'll be too drunk to remember you're wearing a watch.

And why is it you can't know? Some yahoo will ask a front line person when the bars will close. Why can't you just tell the idiot, you don't know. Because you don't! Then you'll turn around and ask someone else, and of course the won't know either. Because no one knows! It hasn't been decided. Accept it and move on. Also, don't be so damn accomodating to the yahoos. They aren't going to remember anyway.

And why is it that so many concert-goers can be stupid enough to walk up to a completely darkened bar, and still want to buy a drink? Yes, I know they're stupified by alcohol, and aren't thinking clearly. But you'd think the frigid darkness that surrounds the bar counter would be signal enough that there will be no more liquor. Nope, the idiots still have to ask, can I get a drink? You're already drunk. Stick yourself with a pin and drink your blood. Its probably 2% more alcohol than you'd get from a beer.

And why do we gotta be SO, DAMN, ANAL about the bloody tips!?! This is a concept that I do not fathom. To watch people ferret through the quarters and loonies they've collected in a cup over the night, you'd assume they were homeless people we'd pulled off 1st Avenue. They scrap and forage through a collection of coins like they haven't seen hard currency in two years. Its a few, measly dollars. Relax people. Its just money.

Preliminary impressions of the new chair are all positive. This seating device may prove able to solve the sitting issues experienced this previous week.

Have you ever stopped to ponder how many trees have to die so we can wipe our ass?

G&M's Word Of The Day:

Friday!

For the sake of all that is good and pure in the universe, will someone PLEASE shoot me!?!

Blog Computer Question of the Night:

If you're on dial-up, do you even bother trying to do a Windows Update?

Blog Question Of The Day:

Why is it, that when I come in after-hours, and there's no one else here, or anyone else coming in, that I still park in my usual day-time spot, and not right in front of the doors?

Just for the record, I hate the temporary office chair I have been forced to use.

My original office chair finally ceased being useful yesterday. The back of it broke the last little bit it had left. It went out yesterday afternoon. The poor thing flaps around like the tail of a fish that is tossed in the bottom of a boat. I have already ordered a new chair, but it won't be here until next week. Thus I must suffer the indignity of this chair.

No one seemed to like the guessing game I proposed a couple of days ago. I'm not exactly sure why that is, as I recieved no feedback on the game. I am assuming it is because it revolved around a money figure. People don't always respond to questions like that. So, we will try a new game.

Today's game will be a time guessing game. I spent yesterday writing a report on the situation in Souris. In specific, whether the iron filter system that is installed, is providing any benefit, and for how long it can be operated, before it exhausts itself. The report writing took me nearly all day yesterday, and at the conclusion of it, I emailed it to all relevant parties. These people all live in Manitoba, so according to their clocks, they recieved it after normal business hours.

In short, the report said, the iron filters are useless. It is now Wednesday morning and I am nervously awaiting everyone's response to my report. The tension mounts as more time elapses without a response. I figure I'll be into full panic mode if I don't hear something before lunch.

However, that's all ancillary information. Today's guessing game is, when will I get the first call about the report? All times submitted should be made according to current Saskatchewan time. I believe that is Mountain Daylight Time but don't hold me to that.

Let the games begin!!

Blog Question Of the Day:

Why can't I sip anything? When I get a beverage, I nearly pour the contents straight down my throat.

Blog Question Of The Day:

Does a prostitute get depressed if she can't find any business?

I just gotta say something here.

I don't care how important they are to women's hygiene. I don't want ANYTHING to be brought to me by Tampax.

Mr Munchy has LEFT the building!!!

Okay people, I have a question!

Why would I ever want to answer the phone when it comes up with no name, or no number? Honestly, why!?!

It boils to this. If you're hiding your name from me, by getting your number unlisted, or whatever it is you have to do to not show up on name/number display, then you obviously have a reason for wanting to hide that. Odds are, the reason you wanna hide that, is because the info will likely make me not want to answer the phone. (the most glaring example being, a telemarketer) So then why do it?

Maybe I'm atypical for people, with respect to their telephone. Personally, I hate the phone. I'm getting better with it, as a business tool. I know I need to talk to people, and the phone is efficient. I still don't like it. But at home? You can forget me answering the telephone if I can't know ahead of time who you are. No blocking! If you're someone I know, I will talk to you. But telemarketers, surveyers, sales people, and any other annoying idiot in the world, you can forget reaching me. I answer my phone MAYBE once a month. I'd scrap it entirely but I need it to get high speed internet.

We are going to play a new game. If, of course, you, my faithful readers, want to play this game. The context of the game is the absurd value of gas. Now, my consumption of fuel is not all THAT dependent on our fluctuating gas pricing lately. More at fault is the multiple trips I've made to Manitoba. But I digress. To the rules of the game!

I am flabbergasted by the absurd value of my gasoline purchases during this billing period. All of my gas is purchased on a credit card, the balance of which I can check online, as time passes. I did a review of it the other day, and nearly stopped my heart when I saw the total.

So here's the game. Its a stupid game for me to play, given the circumstances, but I like fun, and absurd fun at that, so this could be exciting. Plus the money at stake will make it exhilerating.

The game? Guess my fuel bill. The billing period of my credit card is from April 16th, until May 15th. Your job? Guess, to the penny, the sum of gas purchased, by me, in that period. Your reward for winning, if you manage it? A sum equal to the total of my gas bills.

Entries will be accepted until the arrival of my MasterCard statement, which should come in the later half of the month. To win you must guess the exact amount of my gas purchases.

Have fun, and let the guessing begin!!

That it's!!! Its official!!! My computer is GAY!!!!!

Melissa, please forgive me!

My day started out with the best of intentions. Unfortunately my great intentions were interrupted at 8:02 this morning, but a phone call from a project manager, wanting to know what I was going to do about the fact that a long standing client of ours, an Indian band to the south of us about an hour, no longer had membranes that were effective. From there my life descended into another race, at 100 mph, in the wrong lane as usual.

So I run a marathon, at full speed, for the whole day. Issue upon issue is piling up in front of me. Supply problems on this job, no one ordered the stuff for another. We need staff in five places but we only have one available technician. Staff are taking vacations, missing work for farming. We are promising people product on completely impossible schedules. It seemed like every time I turned, it was another crisis.

At 4:10 I had to go. If I was going to beat traffic to the Metallica concert, I had to leave early. So at ten minutes after four I bolt out the door. Its a boring drive, and there's lots on my mind, so I figure I'll stop for a Coke to sip on as I drive. Pull up to the Co-op gas bar, zip out the door and inside, leaving the truck running, as I'll only be a minute. I run in, grab a Coke, pay and go outside. The door is locked. WTF!?! Its still running, so I couldn't have locked it. Every door around the vehicle is locked. DAMMIT does not even cover it.

Its a 'to the nuts' Chevy Trailblazer so I have OnStar. First problem is, I don't know the OnStar number. I can push the button on the mirror and get them, but I don't know the phone number to call if I'm not in the vehicle. So first I gotta call my secretary, and get her to look up the OnStar number for me. I get that and then I phone. Sure I can help you, the pleasant female voice says. But first, you need to answer some questions. For the ordinary person this would be okay. But I have at least 2 permanent addresses, about a half dozen relevant phone numbers, at least 3 different job/lifestyle personas and more accounts of various types than I could ever possibly hope to remember. The questions aren't hard but they are 'codes' I'm supposed to answer, but because of the wealth of options, I never know exactly what I gave as my answers when I signed up.

Anyway, I finally get this woman the answers she needs, and I get back into my truck. The whole ordeal has cost me all the time I'd hoped to gain by leaving at 4:10. Now I'm lead-footing it up Highway 5, because there are people waiting for me. Somewhere past the Wolverine Oil Recycling plant I realize that, its May 7 and I still haven't renewed my license. Well damn it all, I'd better not speed because I REALLY can't afford a ticket right now. So, agitation biting my every thought, I keep it at a medium pace.

All things put aside, I meet up with my compatriots, and with Greg at the wheel, we go to Sask. Place. I think I'm a crafty little bastard and I enter the building via the the stage door, and pretend to be what I usually am, a Western staff member. Thus I am not searched, and the brand new Canon ZR90 digital video camera I have in my pocket is not searched, and discovered. Feeling really proud of myself, I cruise the concourse, talk to some friends, both long time, and newly acquired from the Brier. Greg and I do a lap of the building, and it is approaching 7:30 so we head for the seats. Once there I begin fiddling with the camera so that when its showtime, I'm good to go.

The only trouble is, I'm about 20 feet from the stage. Which, is really good, from an, enjoy the concert, perspective. The problem with that is, I can look the performer in the eye, as he stands on stage playing, and I stand at my seat, with camera in hand. Its not a hard problem, in terms of logistics, but it does make me a tad self-conscious about directing the camera. The second problem, as I sit in my seat is, I have no bloody idea how to work this camera. To this point I had never attempted to use the camera for any purpose. Sean and I got matching cameras, in a sort of 'don't chicken out' pact that caused us to acquire hardware. Had Sean not insisted, the night I was at his house between trips to Souris, it might not have made it out of its original wrapping. Nonetheless I'm sitting here with this camera, and some instructions on how to use it that Sean had given me, and I can't even figure out where the tape compartment is.

So, I fiddle with this expensive toy, and lo and behold, I figure out how to access the tape compartment. Truthfully, I only really figured it out because I remembered Sean mentioning you couldn't load a new tape while it was tripod mounted. That narrowed down my search to the bottom of the camera.

So, another mystery solved, I push the door open button for the video camera, and prepare to inspect my tape. What the hell is this!?! The compartment opens, and there is no tape inside. Oh for Christ Sake!!! When Sean had me open my camera, and my pack of free tapes he'd acquired for me, by smooth talking the salesman, we had not left a tape inside, as I had been going on the assumption. So here I'd expended all this effort to sneak in my camera, pulled together the courage to make a bootleg recording, and I had foiled myself. The ultimate cause of this disaster being, the fiasco with the locked, running truck.

Suffice it to say I felt like a tool. I asked Kevin, Chris and Dale Cooper (friend of Kevin's who is a videographer by career) and none of them had a tape. Thus, I was screwed. Had I known Metallica was going to be late I could have left, drove home and got the tape, then come back and had a Pepsi before the band went on stage. But I did not do that, and did not capture the concert for posterity, and basically wasted the entire extent of my pre-concert machinations. Foiled by fate and a lack of proper planning. Sounds like the typical end to all my schemes.

I did enjoy the concert however. I will gush on that subject at a later time. I had to tell this video camera fiasco now because the event is fresh in my mind and I suspect many of you will get a chuckle from the story. I will leave you with mirth at my expense, as I often do.

Good night all!!

In the words of Comic Book Guy . . . worst finale EVER!

I see you!!!

Blog Question Of The Day:

Should I buy a handheld gaming device, such as the Nintendo Game Boy Advance?

I have a question.

Can someone explain this 'no carb' thing to me? I know its a diet strategy. But why has this one become SO god damn prevalent? Its as if the laws of nature have been rewritten and somone discovered an elemental truth. Why has the world fallen in line with this particular, stupid fad? Its just a fad. Quite likely that by 2005, everyone will be off this particular bandwagon, and will have found a new one.

Subway has a low carb menu.

The breweries have introduced new, low carb, beers, or extoled the virtues of their existing product as, low carb.

Almost every food product being advertised, seems to minimize the amount of carbohydrates they may, or may not have in them.

Now I read that Pepsi and Coke are looking to put out products that feed into this particular, stupid obsession.

Give it up people! If you're fat, eat less and exercise more. It doesn't matter what food you want to eat. Go ahead and eat it. Just don't go back to the buffet for a third time, and walk your portly ass home. The equation is simple. Energy coming in must be less than energy being expended. If you burn more energy than you consume, you'll lose weight, and the pants will fit better.

Call it Grant's Weight Loss Plan. Eat less of whatever you want but about 1/4 as much of it as you want, and walk home instead of driving. No need to thank me when you lose that 10 pounds.

Toodles.

Does anyone know where all this howling wind and rain came from!?!

Why is there no late night SARCAN? What if I need some change at 11:30 on a Tuesday night? It would be nice to be able to cash in the spoils of a week on the road, for some change to buy new bottles of soda.

Has climatic change, and its relationship to my actions, progressed to the point where it now begins to rain when I only 'think' about washing my vehicle?

Have any of you ever, actually seen one of those germ free pod balls, that seem to crop up on TV and in movies? The type where the sickly looking kid has to sit inside it all the time, to be protected from a world that would otherwise devour him, because of his weak immune system? I need one of those. My allergies are kicking my ass today.

Do you think I could find one on eBay?

Blog Question Of The Day:

How fast do fingernails grow? Why do they go white at the end?

And then he steps up . . .

Its weird when someone does something you didn't expect, and it lifts the burden from your shoulders. I'd girded myself for another tormenting week of driving from here to places yonder. I outlined the dilemma to my boss this afternoon, and he stepped up. It was completely unexpected, and something of a welcome relief. I hadn't expected that at all.

So I can take a short breather this week, from a pace that has been beyond that which would be described as 'hectic'. I really appreciate this respite. I plan to use it to its full benefit and maybe catch some sleep that I've been missing out on lately.

Blogger is being gay on me today, so I'll keep this message short, in case it screws me over again. Have a nice day all of you!

Toodles!

I am calling out for help. To all of you who read my blog, I ask for your assistance, in answering a question that has been plaguing my mind over the past week or so. I don't necessarily expect any one of you to have the 'magic bullet' answer. However, if we could drum up some kind of 'brain storm' of ideas, I would appreciate it.

Last weekend I bought this digital video camera. In 25 words or less, its a camera that records movies to tape, but is also exportable to computer to edit. In short, I have the capacity to make movies.

Thus the question. Does anyone know anything I could put this new toy to use on?

Reply, as always, to the address provided.

Toodles!!

Does anyone else think its a little, ,and kinda disturbingly, prophetic that one anagram for my name turns out to be 'hung regret rant'?

Blog Web Site Recommendation of the Day:

Bob Ricci Parody Songs