The cost of phone service, and high speed internet from SaskTel, delivered to a resident in rural Saskatchewan, is a minimum of $89.29.

Today on Grant's Rants we are going to take a walk down memory lane. I am going to post a couple pictures to the world today, and we'll see if any of you remember the people depicted in these images. Sorry goes to my Mom, and more to Candace (because I know she's going to spawn a cow when she finds out I put her picture on the internet). If I know my Dad at all, I don't think he's going to care.

Award (2004)


Wedding (2004)


Today's trip down memory lane was cued by a conversation I was having with Melissa the other day. I don't recall the exact reason why we ended up on the topic of body weight, but it came up for some reason. I made the comment that I'd once weighed (as an adult) 134 pounds. She was a little incredulous of that, and I promised to prove it. Well, this is me proving it.

My mom mailed me these photos yesterday. They are shots taken of me from when I was 18, so in 1992. I didn't even recognize the guy in the picture as me, at first. Especially in the 'award' photo. I had no exterior reference for it. (Other than I recognized the coat and the T-shirt). The 'wedding' picture reminded me of me more, but probably only because I was with my family.

To answer the question of how I was that skinny then, and not even close to skinny now, I will sum it up in a few words. I was sick, in an mental and emotional way. I was not making good decisions. I was in a bad, ugly, desperate state of mind that did not want to respond to stimuli. I was wrapped in my inner pain, and I couldn't escape. I think I'd have qualified for an anorexic diagnosis, had that been my only concern. There were, unfortunately, far more difficult, and potentially tragic forces at work, such that we kind of ignored the weight thing. The fact that we did ignore it, is a testimonial to how messed in the head I was. While I may be 80 pounds heavier now, I would suggest I am far more healthy.

Show of hands people!

Who thinks I should buy the 10,000 BTU Danby window air conditioner for $320?

Blog Question Of The Day:

Why do people cheat on the person they love?

Okay! I get it! I like my lettering to be small. We can stop talking about it now.

I have a question.

How can the Hotmail server be too busy? Wasn't Microsoft the one that wanted everyone to do their online experience by virtual of their Passport service? How then can the server be 'too busy' when the Passport idea kind of fell apart? Did they sell off all the server space they'd planned to do this service on?

Further to that, how can the Hotmail servers be 'too busy'? Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't there more Hotmail email addresses than there are people on this planet!?! If you know, I mean KNOW, that you are the single largest provider of free email accounts, how then can you allow yourself to fall into a position where your servers are 'too busy'?

I don't get this. I don't understand. Explain it to me like I'm a three year old. How can Hotmail be 'too busy'?

You know what?

Screw all you guys. I'm going to bed.

Can someone please tell me when Saskatchewan was re-located to Malaysia!?!

G&M's Word Of The Day:

pissrag

Blog Question Of The Day:

Why are there so many weird bitrates on MP3's available for download?

We will begin today with a question. The answer to this question should be self-explanatory. However, in typical human fashion, people have done things that defy logic such that we get the situation we have here, a ridiculous situation.

Why would you take your baby, or pre-schooler, to an air show?

I just don't understand these stupid people. An air show is, by definition, going to be loud. And you decide that a day in the grassy infield of an international airport is a great place for the family. Grab a bloody brain!!!

I sat and watched this retarded behaviour, all afternoon yesterday. (I am omitting the diatribe I was GOING to post last night, about the cacophony of sound I put up with yesterday afternoon. And no, it wasn't from the planes. I decided my blog didn't need that many consecutive epithets and I did not post it)

These jet-engine planes are screaming through the air. And screaming is a good approximation of the sound because its wicked loud. Babies are cued to cry. No wait, not cry. They howled. They poured out their hearts is futile, burning passion. The noise of these brutalized babies was nearly enough to drown out the jet planes. However they could not, because the sound of a jet plane is way to prodigious to erase with a babies cry. But they did their best. And they did this because they were in pain. Yes Mom and Dad, the babies were in PAIN!!! You can't do that to the little people. They just aren't able to handle it. It overwhelms them and of course they cry. Why kind of idiot subjects their new-born person to that!?!

I currently have 18 windows open on my computer desktop, and I am making a useful purpose out of each one.

Blog Poll Of The Day:

Should I add a number and lettering to my Saskatchewan Roughriders jersey?

I don't do this often but someone sent me this link, and rather than emailing it to 97 different people, and try to remember all the people I want to send it to, I figured I'd just put it in the blog, since everyone I know reads that anyway. (or at least I think you all do)

Wait for the web page to load and then pass your mouse over the image a few times.

<>Finally, leave the mouse over the nose of the image. This website won first prize in the Phillips Digital Arts Festival.

http://www.expression.philips.com.br/artes/venc2003/obrasflash/rmello/o_incomodo.swf

Blog Question Of The Day:

If you are a male, and on an Olympic swim team, and having to wear one of those spandex suits, to eliminate drag in the water, would you 'stuff' your suit?

I would like to take this opportunity to introduce you to a new friend of mine. His name is:

Bruce




I found Bruce this morning when I came to work. My assistant had purchased him for me, while she was taking a day off yesterday. I was immediately surprised, and happy to have recieved him.

We've had an influx of animals to my office lately. Some weeks ago my assistant brought a fish for her own desk. I liked to stop by and see how he was doing. He was an orange fish. I named him Harvey. The fish didn't seem to mind. Then my boss brought his fish and turtles to the office, as he is in the process of moving and the new house isn't ready for pets, while the old house must be vacated now. More fun things to amuse the eyes and mind.

Now I have a fish. I was very appreciative to have gotten him. My desk didn't really need more stuff for it, but I made room for Bruce. He will keep me company as I toil away on my late nights and boring afternoons. I will have to learn how to care for him. I've never had a pet that was completely my own. This is going to be great!

If you want to welcome Bruce, contact him or I by the usual methods. He's still pretty shy, and likes to hide in the plant in his bowl. Slowly he's getting more adventurous. He peeks out for a few minutes, and then goes back into hiding. Should Bruce do anything monumental, I'll blog about it.

Toodles!!

I have something to say!!!

What the hell is wrong with SaskTel? I really don't understand this. At home in Saskatoon I've had high speed internet for 7 years. In that time I've had outages and problems on only two or three times. All were quickly and expeditiously resolved. So what the hell is the problem in Watson!?!

We had ANOTHER major outage. However, it didn't go completely down. For 3 or 4 hours it was, worse than dial-up, slow. Down on your knees, begging for salvation, slow. It was horrible. You never really appreciate how much you rely on the internet until it dies a slow, painful death like mine in the office did this afternoon.

The question remains. Why? Its freakin' Watson!!! It can't be an overloaded demand thing. What demand!?! Its freakin' Watson!!! This pisses me off. What pisses me off even more is the fact that I can't do anything about it. There's no, switch to Shaw, option. Sasktel is the only service that has a static IP address that we need for the accounting software. We're screwed.

If you see a SaskTel van on the street today, please give them the finger. SaskTel pisses me off.

Blog Question Of The Day:

What is the next great adventure of your life?



I think I think about these questions to much. I have this impression that the key to living a happy life is to not think about life so much. Everyone thinks about life. I know that. But it appears to me that pondering any part of life too deeply tends to create this uncomfortable psychological malaise that is not easily escapable. The person in question tends to get so wrapped up in what they are thinking about that the little moments in life pass you buy, and you forget to notice and appreciate them. Too much time spent alone in one's head can not be good for you.

Nonetheless I am pondering this question. Where am I going next? What's going to be the next story that is written in the book that is my life. I wish I knew, but in knowning I would lose the splendor that comes from finding something by surprise.

I need to relax more. Take my own damn advice and not think so much.

Good night my friends, family and loved ones. Have the greatest day that you can.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SEAN!!!!!

Notes from a busy Friday:

I don't have a turbidity problem in Maple Creek ---> YAY!!!!!

Something about me must smell attractive to deer. I saw another two today, as I tried to pass a very slow moving, old Honda.

I shouldn't spend that much time driving, with nothing else to do but think. I believe I shall go back to watching movies.

Tonight's Madden 2004 should be kick ass.

Missy, I was busy dealing with that pesky thing called work. Sorry.

I'm getting annoyed with a collection of people that should be busting their ass to get us ahead of schedule, and not wasting our time worrying about a) Who is getting ahead while they work, b)
what corners they can cut so they can get home sooner, c) the state of 'clean' provided by the custodial staff or d) whatever pointless or inane thing is occupying their mind, that has no significance in the global picture.

I forgot to phone Manitoba Water.

Today's Pain Report is only the usual stomach churning. Am I improving?

Backing up multiple GB's of files is very boring.

This whole, new building, plan is beginning to give me a headache.

Why did I suddenly become everyone's confidante?

I think I will enjoy the weekend. I hope all of you do too. Good night!!!

Pain Report

Headache
Right ear
Stomach

Blog Survey of the Week:

Not everyone will be able to weigh in on this one. To answer this one you will have to have worked on my computer at some point, with my desktop resolution.

Is my desktop resolution too small?

This is an All Points Bulletin for Grant's Watch. If you see Grant's watch, or know the whereabouts of Grant's watch, please contact the relevant authorities. It is important that we get in touch with Grant's watch. Only Grant's watch is capable of dealing with the situation that has developed.

Thank you for your time.

I'm watching television this evening. They played a new Dr. Pepper commercial, or at least, one I don't recall seeing before. I have to make an observational comment.

I think its time to retire Reba McEntire. The commercial opens with Leann Rimes driving down the road in a very nice car. I think it was a BMW of some type. Now Leann Rimes is hot. She's twenty-ish, blonde, young fresh looking and sexy. Exactly what will help sell any kind of product.

Then she meets Reba McEntire at a desert gas station. BAD IDEA!!! She looks horrible. The skin on her face is all tight and drawn, giving her a drawn, wax paper like appearance. And the flaming red hair is so obviously fake that its painful. Yeah, age does not diminish the voice, but it has destroyed the image. The time has come for Reba to fade into radio-only moments.

Ways to tell you're not in the city:

1. The burger joint takes only cash or cheques (cheques? WTF!?!?!)
2. They let you take the lunch anyway
3. It doesn't matter that it takes 5 hours to remember to go back

Pain Report:

Stomach (forgot my pill)
Shoulder
Left ear

Its time to blast someone again.

Why is it that SaskTel has to treat their rural customers so poorly? This pisses me off. I'm in the middle of a great wasteland. The internet is my lifeline to the rest of the world. I don't so much like it as I NEED it. Disconnected I feel barren and alone.

So our SaskTel connection goes down this afternoon, AGAIN. I've already told you how that makes me feel, and we won't dwell on that anymore. So fine, it goes down. If its going to crash and burn this often, why don't they provide a reset button on their cable modem? I don't understand this. When you have to 'maintain' your connection this often, it only makes sense to me you provide the ability to cycle the power on your connect. Especially considering how often it goes in the tank and needs to be reset.

My official, thumbs down, goes to SaskTel today. Feel free to spit on all their employees.

Blog Question Of The Night:

Which is of the following is better?

1) Sex
2) Taking a piss after holding it for two hours?

Respond as always.

My house smells like grilled cheese sandwiches.

We are going to introduce a new feature here at TELK - Grant's Rants. This feature is:

The Pain Report

My new approach to life is intended to be a healthier one. I'm not going to go into the long list of particulars but I have a variety of things that I would really like to have go away. One of which is pain.

Its not soul destroying pain, but it is irritating and I wish it would go away. Its rarely the same thing, day to day, but one thing or another is bugging me. I know from experience that a lot of these things are psycho-somatic. Not necessarily accurate physical pain, but pain manifesting itself as a physical sympton of my emotional/mental state. I've been here before and most of my troubles can be traced to mental conditions.

However, I have a goal. And that is, to have a completely pain free day before the end of September. That's 6 weeks away. I think it is achievable. However, in pursuit of this goal I am going to document (mostly for my own purposes) what malady I am trouble by, on each day.

Bear with me, even though this information may be a little depressing. It is for a greater purpose, and if anyone has suggestions, for whatever the daily irritant is, I will gladly welcome them.

Toodles!

Its time for a rant.

I went to the medical clinic today, at 1:00. There is one doctor on staff that I like. He treated my broken foot and I was very impressed with his care. So, I thought I'd try to get an appointment to see him specifically. I didn't know the doctor roster, so I had to physically go in to the clinic to find this information out.

It was after 1:00. I know this because I went out to start my truck and it wouldn't start, AGAIN (we aren't going to talk about that in this blog) so I was late leaving my yard. So I know it was after 1:00. I went into the clinic and it was deserted. Fine, its just after lunch, the place is empty momentarily, as people come back from lunch breaks.

I stood there for 15 minutes. No one that could help me book an appointment, made an appearance. I did find one person, but she was unable to help me, and assured me someone would be out shortly. More time rolls by. Finally I got pissed off and left. I'll phone later, since I know the schedule now.

That pisses me off. Has the whole world completely stopped giving a damn? I hate this crap. It is not so much to ask that people be conscientious at work. You have an appointment desk so for crying out loud, staff the damn thing!! The phone rang at least a half dozen times while I waited in person. You can't even forward the stupid phone to a place were you can answer it? The world does NOT stop from 12:00 until whenever you deem it reasonable to go back to your desk. We have agenda's and lives, and appointments and we'd thank it if you could do your stupid-ass job, and be there when it can be reasonably expected that you SHOULD be there.

Christ, I'm pissed off!! If you need me, I'll be dousing my enraged head in this bucket of water.

I have a question.

We've discussed this particular topic before, here in Blogland. Nonetheless it has come up again so a few opinions would be appreciated. Reply as always.

I have these dating site memberships. I signed up for them a long time ago, when I was kind of sad, and moping about the state of my romantic life. I have vacillated back and forth between pursuing them, and ignoring them. Right now I'm in kind of a weird place between wanting something, and not having the time to pursue it. I also don't know, with much definition if there are candidates in my life that I'm just not seeing. (if you're out there, reading this and want to volunteer for candidate status, please let me know) Anyway, back to the story.

Some girl on one of these sites 'apparently' sent me two messages yesterday afternoon. On this particular site you can not read the message unless you pay for a membership. From what scant information I can access for free, I am intrigued. This is probably due to an appalling lack of romantic interest in my personage lately. I'll spare the drama but the bottom line is, I'm not sure where I stand with anyone, but I am tiring of sitting alone to watch TV. Thus I'm intrigued and wonder if I should see what this particular girl is thinking.

So, to the question. Do I spend the money and see what is up with this new person?

Answer as always. Toodles

It has been a rather interesting day. Very hectic, and lots of things happening. It seems like my life is destined to be very full. Which is good, because it keeps me out of trouble. But its also bad because I find myself feeling a little overwhelmed from time to time.

My boss is getting back into the groove of things again. That's good news, but again it will mean re-adjusting my approach. It is only now that he's reining me in, calling a halt to my ceaseless pursuit of a new direction for Central Water. He knows where I want to go, and he wants to go there too, but he's acting like the boss again, and setting different priorities. I like that, and feel better to know that he's examining the situation critically. However there is some melancholy in having my designs thwarted.

After all that though, I got a great surprise tonight. My parents came to visit me!! I was late at the office. Murray and I were engaged in another of our marathon discussions of the future of Central Water, myself, himself, and all things great and philosophical. They are stimulating conversations because we're both passionate about the future of the company, and see a lot of potential for everyone as we move forward. He has stuff he wants, and I have stuff I want, and we're going to be advancing all things as we begin a new fiscal year in September.

I will have more news about the future direction for myself later in the week. Murray is going to speak to the accountant and see where things sit. I may finally get the security I have always lusted for. Stay tuned for more news on that.

But for now, my great surprise. I was just wrapping up to leave for home when my Mom came through the front door of Central Water. I was shocked, but really happy. They'd been in Nipawin for my dad's latest golfing adventure. When the morning dawned, he realized it was too cold and rainy for him to enjoy the experience, so he simply aborted. They went back to Weekes to visit and then, instead of trekking home, they came to see me.

I thought it was great! I've been away for awhile and it was nice to see them. I love my family. I am glad we are close, and see each other often. Its straining when long stretches of time passes without contact. I've never quite understood other people's desire to flee their family. I suppose its looking for independence and their own voice, but I've never felt that way myself. Life with them was better than life without them. I was very glad to see them tonight.

And that was it. I entertained my parents visit, although I didn't do much. I showed my Dad my high definition TV, and he was impressed with the clarity. My Mom did what she likes, which is making supper and looking after things. Now the evening will wrap with everyone getting some sleep. I am thrilled they came to see me and wish it could have been longer. But I will see them again on the weekend when I go home, so it will not be a long wait.

Thanks for listening everyone. I know this was less flashy than some of my entries, but the occasional homily for my own benefit will be required from time to time. Have a great night and I hope to see all of you real soon.

Toodles!

I am home again. The blogging can re-commence.

Hang in there Sean. It'll look better with time, and some perspective.

And as for the rest of it . . . well . . . maybe some time with a regular schedule will help me sort out the maelstrom in my head. I can't see it getting any more chaotic.

More tomorrow, when I've had a chance to tack a few hours onto my over-taxed system. Toodles all!!

Blog Question Of The Day:

The prevailing theory is, when you are plugged up, you need to eat fibre to loosening up the system, and get things flowing again. Crunchy vegetables, whole wheat breads, and things of this nature. How about if you have the reverse problem? What can you eat that will perform the task of the proverbial, boy with his finger in the dike?

I dunno, maybe its just me . . .

They cut to the crowd, between the end of the last play, and the face-off for the next start, when you're playing NHL 2003. Its one of three sequences, you will note, if you play it often enough. Is it just me or does the character they have playing the 'girlfriend' role in these sequences have a monkey face!?!

Things to ponder . . .

What I want to know is, are there really that many people making collect calls?

I was thinking about this, while I was supposed to be sleeping. That's a story for another day however. What I would like to know is, how can this collect call thing be profitable? There's a flurry of 1-800 blah, blah, blah ads on the TV. You can't watch a channel with commercials and not see Carrot Top, Alyssa Milano, or whatever down on his luck former sports figure, is hawking 1-800-CALL-ATT, 10-10-220, 10-10-987 or the newest variant on the same theme. Are there that many people making collect calls? I've made a few in my day, but that was back when I was a kid, and didn't have any money or facilities. I would never make a collect call now.

These are American commercials. I've been to the states a few times in the past couple years and the one thing I've noticed is, it is unlikely anyone in that country would make a collect call. They all have cell phones! I'm at the Four Corners Monument, and there's teenage girls (young ones, not 18/19 years olds) and they're making cell phone calls. (Or trying to make calls. Mysteriously the cell phone coverage is abysmal at that particular point. I'm surprised no enterprising entrepeneur hasn't slapped up a cell tower at that spot, and charged back to the major players (Verizon, AT&T) a nice roam fee. The Indians charge you three bucks to get on the site of the monument, why not build themselves a cell tower too and make a few more bucks?) So why all the ads for collect calls?

Maybe there's a segment of the population still using this quaint phone technology, but I'm not seeing it. If anyone has some further insight into this question, I'd be glad to hear it. Maybe I'd sleep better.

Toodles!

It never fails. I always forget something.

AGAIN, it was my CD player that got left at home.

(That's if we pretend I consciously chose to leave my sandals in Saskatoon)

There is something that will always, without fail, piss me off.

What is wrong with some people?

I'm driving from Watson to Regina this evening. It is a boring, almost completely straight road. However, there is just enough, up and down, with hills and dips that you frequently lose sight distance. It is a difficult road to pass safely on.

Now under ordinary circumstances, this doesn't matter. Its a rarely used road, relatively speaking, and its infrequent that I've ever noticed significant traffic. Thus you can set your cruise at a comfortable pace, and just settle in for a two hour drive.

But then there's Mister Wizard. The stupid-ass monkey butt that's just gotta go 200 miles per hour in his Chevy Malibu. And he is just so damn important that he's gotta pass me. No one for a hundred miles, I'm not going slow, but this genius just HAS to pass me.

The trouble is, I'm following someone myself. Like I said, its a slow, lazy, boring drive. Hilly terrain making it difficult to pass. So, I adjust my cruise down a couple notches, and just stay behind the car in front of me. But not Mr. Wizard! Going up a hill, the idiot goes around me, but because he's an impatient jack-ass, as he's halfway through his pass, someone crests the hill in the oppposite direction. Pinball Wizard quickly ducks back into the proper lane, and now he's sandwiched himself between me and the person I was following. Keep in mind I'm on cruise, and I've set a comfortable following distance. Dill weed the wonder weevil has now completely screwed that up.

Is it really so damn important that you get to Regina 10 minutes sooner? I mean REALLY! Just slow, and wait until its clear to pass. Don't pull this irritating cowboy crap.

People piss me off. Can someone explain why we're not hunting them for sport?

Blog Question Of The Day:

Why do I have so much trouble getting up in the morning?

1-800-559-8155 is back.

Some people just don't get the message.

Here's what I want to know.

These two nitwits, Paris and Nicole, are all about image, and beauty, makeup/hair/style and on, and on and on. So, today they are working in a beauty salon.

HOW CAN THEY F&%K THIS UP!?!?!?!?!

I don't get it. This IS their calling. They should be fantastic at this. Then again, you take a look at the pancake approach they use on their own faces, and it gives a person pause. Nevertheless, they try to promote the agenda that they are hot, and know how to create hot. So why the hatchet job?

This is the fundamental flaw with The Simple Life. Its staged. Its supposed to be reality, but its clearly not because the principles are obviously doing things that are out of character for a typical person. And that's why you can't really embrace the show. You know its all a put-on.

In conclusion, I thought this episode was stupid. Paris and Nicole can't even do a good job of working in a beauty salon? If even that is a joke then what's the point? Luckily the biker family was of just the right temperment to put up with this idiocy.

See you all again next week!!!

Whoever is calling me from 1-800-559-8155, you should really consider giving up. I never answer my land-line phone. I know that anyone who wants to reach me, and who I want to speak to, will call my cell phone or get me on the computer. You're not going to get me to answer when I see only a phone number, and a suspicious one at that.

If you wanna talk to me, I'd better know its you or the call we be unanswered.

Toodles!

To quote the wise Allison (Ally Sheedy), the dark, loner in The Breakfast Club:

'My home life is UNsatisfying'

I will freely admit that I have no clue about all the intricacies involved in the BSE crisis that is ruining (or so we are told) the lives of cattle producers in Canada. However, I have some ideas.

1) Grow something else. I was reading the wall of the diner today, as I awaited the completion of my cheeseburger. They were offering a conversion to buffalo or elk burgers, for a lower price. So, I asked myself the question, why not buffalo, elk, deer? I have not heard mention of any of these animals getting mad cow disease. (and why would they, they're no cows) Perhaps we could end-run that beef embargo by selling the Americans some exotic meat.

2) Why not a BSE-resistant cow? We can build all kinds of hybridized plants, flowers, and other assorted living things, so why not a cow that can't get BSE? If the cow can't get mad cow disease, the ban on the shipping of them would have to be lifted, wouldn't it? How can you ban something because it might carry disease if genetically it can't get the disease? Makes sense to me.

Points to ponder. Toodles.

Something I forgot to mention on Friday

To all of you who suffered my accusation about stealing my blue shirt, I apologize. I found it in the laundry when I cleaned clothes on Thursday night.

That is all.

Update to Friday's depressing blog.

Things needed to change. So, they did.

I had a chat with my boss this morning. I explained my point of view and how I did not appreciate the comments directed at me during last week's operations meeting. He agreed. My boss said he felt the tone of the comments directed my way was inappropriate. However, he had some vision on it that I was clouded from seeing. After a good chat, he brought me around to understanding that it was all about changing things, and making them better. So it will all work out, by the end of the game.

Those of you concerned for my state of mind, thank you for your comments. The interest you have in my predicament was appreciated. Its not to have support from the ones that care. And to answer the questions put to me, yes, there will be changes in operation at work. We're going to expand the roles of a few people, and get me some help. I am feeling relieved.

Thanks for listening and have a great day!

I'm not quite sure what to do with this emotion. I'm going to kick it around for a couple of paragraphs and see if I can't find some kind peace.

Someone accused me of not doing my job. That stung, a lot. Lately I've been pouring myself into my work. Ten and twelve hour days, until I simply can't think anymore, and have to rest. I work on weekends. I take calls when I'm out of the office. I try to fix problems when I'm not in the same country. I am trying to do everything at once, and make everyone happy, all the time.

Increasingly I am finding that I simply haven't the resources to satisfy everyone. I am being forced to accept that some people are going to be mad at me. This is proving difficult to swallow. I lust for approval from others. Through the whole of my life, my actions have been largely based on the principle of getting people to like me. I've never really felt wanted, despite the fact that I am wanted, by many people, for many reasons. I'm just never satisfied. Its a self perpetuating cycle of getting praise or acceptance, and wanting it more with each action. Everything becomes this uncontrollable maelstrom that does not cease until I punt it in spectacular fashion, and lose everyone except the most near, and the most dear.

Am I trying to do too much? I don't know. I think I need an outside perspective on this because my inner notion is to double up my efforts, and try even harder than I am now. This will undoubtably lead to yet another breakdown, and the real possibility exists that I'll screw over my entire existence, yet again, and have to start over. I don't know if I can start over again. I've been to the end of the rope a number of times in my adult life. I'm not sure I can pick up again for attempt number seven.

So what to do? A hundred people want a thousand things from me. The barrage keeps coming, with no abatement. I'm tired now. The tremors have returned, signalling the early beginning of a slide into disaster. Its July right now. Where am I going to find the necessary time to save myself? I just acquired two new projects, and have an intriguing possibility on my desk. I need to relax, and clear my head. I need to believe. I need faith. But that portion of my mind and my soul, have been empty, for far too long a period of time.

So what to do? Mostly I'm just babbling right now, so the torments in my head, have some way of escaping, rather than churn my gut, and burn my soul. I expect no answer. I need no reply. Thank you for listening, all of you that are. To know you are out there, helps me greatly.

Later . . .

Grant's Restaurant Review:

I'm not much of one for restaurant eating. Due to my lack of social grace, it is not often that I have a companion who could go with me on a restuarant excursion. Or perhaps it is not a lack of social grace that causes my situation, but perhaps only a lack of courage. One way or the other, I don't fine dine very regularly.

Thus I find myself doing the fast food thing, more often than not. When I'm 'on the road' the easiest thing to do is get fast-food or take-out an camp out in the hotel room. Plus, when you're on the road you know you'll be alone, so fast food is the least lonely choice.

You gotta stay away from the burgers though. At least I do. Enough of that kind of food, and my stomach wages an all out civil war with me. Its not pretty. I try to mix it up, to confuse and befuddle my meddlesome purge reaction. A pizza, a sub, maybe a hamburger. Taco Bell when I can find it. The Subway sandwich (thank you Christiane and Melissa) has become a leading contender for my food purchasing dollar. I like that option. Its not grease, which aids in my digestion, and retention of the consumed food.

I don't often have restuarant food in Watson. Truthfully, I just don't trust it. All the places offering food in this town are not providing the visual cues I need to feel comfortable about making that food choice. In a word, they look 'ratty'. Especially the Quick Stop. It is this little dump of a building, directly across the street from the office. I look at it a thousand a day out my office window. I've been spending some long hours in the office this week and at the end of the effort, I'm not enthusiastic about going home and trying to find something appealing in the fridge. My bigger problem is, I'm working 10-12 hours a day, and the only thing I do that could be described as 'fun' is eating. Something out of the freezer, put in the microwave, does not stimulate my fun button.

So, I've been getting take-out from the Quick Stop. Now, the name of this establishment will trigger some smiles in those of my readers that are well versed in the lore of Jay and Silent Bob. (hi Sean) This Quick Stop is nothing like that Quick Stop. However, distinguishable about the Watson Quick Stop is the general run-down nature of the building. It looks like a greasy shack. It doesn't inspire confidence. But, my dad and I tried it, when he came to Watson to golf with me, and I have to say that it was pretty good. I kept that in mind as I wandered in there a couple times this week.

The burgers are phenomenal. I can't say enough good things about the cow sandwich. The fries may have had a bit too much seasoning salt on them. This made them tangy, which isn't bad, but seemed a little over the top. The burgers were top notch though. I would definitely recommend them. So, should the Gamefest Crew ever return to Watson, I think we should all give the Quick Stop a try, and we can compare notes.

So, this was a long entry about nothing. Sorry about that. I'm feeling social tonight, and there's no one on MSN. So I'll chat with my blog. Thanks for listening!!

Toodles!

Have you ever wanted to get yourself a baseball bat and just beat the life out of someone for being so infuriatingly insipid!?!

Okay people, we have to talk about this.

What is the deal with releasing TV shows on DVD? I'm not opposed to the concept. There are some shows that are 'classic' enough that we deserve the opportunity to acquire DVD copies of them, for future enjoyment. What is baffling me is, this trend towards releasing EVERYTHING on DVD.

For reasons I won't go into here, I happened to be looking on Future Shop site tonight for new, or soon to be released, DVD's. In my search I came across the fact that they are releasing 'Boy Meets World' on DVD.

Boy Meets World!?! Are you serious? Yes, the show had the occasional moment. And yes, Topanga was hot, but good grief! This show was hardly classic. And it certainly wasn't good, by an objective review of its merit. At best it was pandering to teenage idolatry. It does not deserve to be on DVD. Nor does Saved By The Bell, which I noticed on the Future Shop stores shelves, on one of my visits to that store. In fact, Saved By The Bell is an even more egregious travesty. That show SUCKED!!! I can say that, while fully admitting I used to watch it faithfully. But again, it was pseudo-porn for kids that couldn't get real porn. Guys could fawn of Kelly Kapowski, and then 'need a moment'. I suppose girls might have gone for Zack or A.C. God help them if Screech turned their crank. The production value was brutal, in either instance. Please, spare us from such ill advised releases.

But I suppose, its cheap revenue. The shows are not in production anymore, and the likelihood is, the principals of the show see little or no cut if more money is made in DVD sales. If you're a fat cat Hollywood type, why not release something with a cult following on DVD. The fanboys will probably buy it, and at least insure that the adventure does not lose money.

Still, I wish they'd consider these things from a cultural perspective. Do we really want future generations to find out that we were entertained by something so vacuous?

I'm out.

The man who plays the priest, in the comic book hero movie 'DareDevil' looks like my Service Manager.

Blog Question Of the Night:

Why can't I believe?

I'm pretty sure I've blogged about this before. However, it is not a situation that has rectified itself, in the fullness of time, so I'm going to blog about it, again!

What's the deal with putting the good show on at lunch, and absolutely NOTHING at 8:00 in the evening when I finally have time to watch them!?! I hate that. At the end of a day I don't have a boat load of ambition left. Frankly, most nights I don't want to do anything more than lie on my couch, and let the world entertain me. And the sick thing is, the world seems totally uninterested in providing me entertainment.

Am I asking too much? Do I need to find my own entertainment, or should life provide it to me, for free? Thoughts?

The cab of my, Ford F-150 Supercab, rental truck smells like dirty gym socks.

Another exhausting day in the life of a water treatment engineer.

On a positive note, I secured another project for the company.  I feel pretty good about that.  Granted, I didn't pour my heart and soul into it, like I did for the project in Manitoba, but we got it, and that's nice.  Make a couple bucks and get something for our, less skilled, technicians to develop their talent.  It will work nicely.

Besides that, I was managing about 6 other projects, listening to staff complaints and trying to put that back together.  Its hard to get much constructive done when you spend your whole day talking to people.  Which is a weird scenario for me to find myself in because I am not really a talker.  But I must be doing something right, if we're making all this money.

Thanks for listening people.  I appreciate this soap box to speak from.

Toodles!!

Blog Question Of The Day:
 
Would a normal person actually keep the last name, Cockscomb, if they were born into the family that was so named?

I love air conditioning!!!

Here we are again, back home, safe and sound, discovering the little
questions that I am renowned for contemplating. On the block
today is the topic of the 'home page'.



What does everyone use for their 'home page'?



I have different ones on different computers. Mostly a hold-back
from previous setups of the various computers. My old, still
functioning system, has www.mysask.com as the home page. This is
a hold over from the days of SaskTel's Sympatico affiliation.
Most of the rest have the default www.msn.com selection, that you get
when you install Windows. www.msn.com is a servicable choice for
a home page. It has a nice snapshot of interesting articles to
fill a 30 second period when you start up a browser.



I go to Yahoo a lot. I don't search with it. I use Google,
like 99.98% of internet users worldwide. But Yahoo has Groups,
which provide me considerable amusement, the email system is better
than Hotmail because they give more storage. The Maps are
handy. All in all, Yahoo provides me more utility than MSN.
Does anyone else use Yahoo as their 'home page'? Should I switch?



Please, discuss.



Toodles!!!

Just for the record, I think Martha Stewart deserved to get serious
jail time. By serious I mean, the hardest of hard time. As
Dennis Miller described it once, I would like to see Martha's sentence be
'sodomy tough'.

Thursday, July 15, 2004
8:16 PM - Mountain Daylight Savings Time

Something happened today.

I'm sitting on an airplane right now. There is this agitated man sitting next to me. He keeps fidgeting. Not that I care really, but it would be irritating if my mind wasn't 1000 miles away.

Something happened today.

I'm sorry Melissa. I swear I didn't mean to ignore you. You deserve better than I behaved. You have my apology, and hopefully that will suffice until I can beg for forgiveness.

Something happened today.

I think about all that has happened to me. I find myself contemplating the series of events that have come before this moment. And if I judge it honestly, things are better than good. I have no cause for true dis-satisfaction.

Except for one thing . . .

Something happened today.

I wish I could stop thinking. For one hour, I wish I could sit in a moment and not have to listen to the demons and voices that haunt the great caverns in my mind. Giant spaces, that lust for stimulation and knowledge, to fill them. But as I attempt to insinuate worthwhile thoughts in these gaping chasms, I find myself deafened by thoughts of the failures of my past.

Why must I have these moments? Why can I not escape from the shrieking cacophony of wailing torments? I loathe this layer of despair that must coat my heart.

Something happened today.

What do you do when you reflect on a moment, a decision, a fork in the road where you chose the path that was paved, and well lit, as opposed to the one through the dark, uncharted, and frightening forest? How do you sleep in the night, when your eyes are wide open, and you realize that the safe, easy path you chose ended in a desolate wasteland, and not the comfortable garden you were hoping for?

I met a new friend today. Her name was Natasha. (Why did I choose the past tense? More pessimism?) It was a peculiar moment. It was not at all in context for me. A pretty, obviously younger (to a significant degree) girl sat down next to me in the Albequerque airport. And to my utter surprise, I spoke to her first.

And from there she launched in a conversation with me that did not abate until she boarded our mutual plane. We talked, we joked, we laughed, we had fun. Granted, the bulk of the exchange was her talking and me listening but it remained a shared moment.

When we disembarked in Phoenix I sought her out because I had enjoyed her company immensely and I hoped for more, should her next departure be some hours away. It was, and we shared lunch. I saw her to her gate and we discovered her plane was delayed. I got another couple hours of her company. I was elated.

The depth to which we explored amazes me still. She was smart, articulate, poised and knowledgeable, belie-ing her tender age of only 18. We talked of families, pasts, gifts and talents, points of personal liability, sex, politics, religion and faith, human behaviour. It was one of the most intoxicating verbal discourses I can ever remember having.

And it was over, gone too soon. An email address shared, she boarded her plane for Vancouver. A single serving friend? Only time will tell.

So why the allusion of misery? It made me remember the decision I made, that I regret. It is the one that haunts me in the dark night, when the room is black but the eyes are wide.

Natasha happened to be in New Mexico because she was defying the wishes of her parents (although they didn't sound that reasonable, even subtracting for teenage hyperbole) and going to a foreign country for the sake of love. She had made a wild, impetuous decision and run off to be with her 'boyfriend'. (long story to the quotation marks - please simply accept them with the dubiousness I am suggesting) The un-erasable smile, glow in her skin, and joy resonating in her voice proved to me that she was happy with the decision, despite the parental wrath that awaited her at home.

As my flight out of Phoenix was delayed 90 minutes, I had plenty of time (altogether too much, to be completely frank) to reflect on the parallel in Natasha's choice, and how I handled the similar situation.

You can't change the past. I know that. A decision made can never be un-made. I accept that, and try to move forward. Most of the time I can do that. But it never disappears.

Natasha was enchanting. She glowed, which was probably in no small part the result of a last tryst before parting with the aforementioned 'boyfriend'. The state of her unavailability did not impact at all upon the whisper she lay upon my heart. I was touched, if only for a moment.

And I remember. And it stings, the wound that lays upon my soul, never to be healed. I remember what I had and how I didn't do the impetuous, romantic thing I was supposed to do. That I needed to do. The one thing that had to be done, even though we agreed it couldn't, or shouldn't be done.

All the talk that lead away from the passionate, romantic voyage, was really just the rising action towards it being done. But I was pragmatic and not romantic. And because of that I sit in seat 3F, the painful memories of a chance that was abandoned, burning my heart, like the spray of acid on an open sore. The urge to howl, swells in my throat. The wetness of tears forms on my eyes. But I won't. Again I swallow the misery that I must accept. I chose, and it was the wrong choice.

Its still there. Like one always remembers their name, I remember that love.

Be well, my love. I hope that time will eventually re-unite us. If faith does not have that in store for us then please, be happy and enjoy life. You are my shining star and the one with a room waiting for you in my soul.

Good night.

Most of you probably saw this picture earlier, when I emailed it off to nearly everyone that I knew.

Down a hole


I got a response from someone about it. Actually I got several responses but this one was funny for what she said, and the fact I never would have expected it from her.



> You should get that put on your business card. :o)
>
> Grant Guenther
> "Your hole specialist"
>
> Come to think of it that would be a great tag line for a proctologist.....don't ya think?

Blog Assignment Of The Day:

We have a new task people! Put on your thinking caps and let's get started!

My boss wants to rename the company. He mentioned this morning that the 'Conditioning' at the end of Central Water is somewhat old-fashioned, and not connected to what the focus of our business model now is. He thinks we should rename the company. And I agree.

The assignment presented to us is, rename it to what? He kind of likes the 'Central Water'part, but we're looking to ditch the word 'Conditioning'. The target of this assignment is to re-brand ourselves, with an eye towards what we do now (commercial/industrial/municipal membrane treatment systems) and what we could do in the future.

Please submit all entries by the usual method.

Again, just for the record, I want to make a proclamation. Greg AJ Schwalm, living in the city of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, is a god damn, unbelievable freakin' genius.

I was having some trouble with my network equipment at home. I piddled around with it a bunch of times but I always got to the same point. My notebook would access the wireless network but my WiFi enabled PDA would not access it. However, when I say it wouldn't access it, I do not mean in totality. Sometimes it would. But in an hour of trying, the PDA would be online for 1 minute, and offline for the other 59 minutes. It was very frustrating. It worked, but very, very poorly, so I blamed incompatible equipment, and gave up. (until I would get a new bug in my ass about having wireless access for my PDA)

Then, I was talking to Greg about network equipment last weekend. I had just bought an SMC all-in-one and (router/switch/wireless access point) package and it worked slicker than Vaseline. From the time I opened the box, until it was fully functional, including wireless connection for my laptop AND PDA, was about 10 minutes. This contrasts with my DLink equipment in Watson, that was giving me all the grief. I told this story to Greg, glowing over how well it worked, and how well my DLink stuff did NOT work, and contemplating another SMC device for Watson, when Greg asked me a very important question.

Had I done a firmware upgrade for my network equipment?

Well no, I had not, because frankly, I didn't think of it. However, it made complete sense because my PDA was a brand spanking new model when I bought it. It was among the first batch to arrive at our supplier, so I was one of the first people in North America to have one of these Toshiba PDA's. My firmware (I know now) was from January 2003, so it wasn't as current as it could be, and was not as current as my new e750 PDA. It got all excited about having the wireless in Watson work right. Then I had to wait almost a week to try it out.

Well, it worked! Just like Greg suggested it might. I upgraded my firmware on the router, and then on the wireless access port. I pulled the PDA out of my vest pocket (where it nearly always is) and yup, without a hitch, the two started talking immediately. And its way faster than any other network I've ever connected this PDA to before.

I am super impressed. I want to send a heartfelt thank you out to my buddy Greg. Once again he has shown me his incredible genius, and calm, rational resolution of a problem. There are many times I wish I had his vision, when it comes to technical support. Thought I don't say it enough, thanks a bunch Greg. Once more you have fixed my problem. No meagre amount of words I could string together would ever convey enough, my relief at all the problems of mine that you solve. I have only this I can say.

Thank you.

For the record, I want to say that Trailer Park Boys is the most entertaining piece of television that this country has ever produced.

Yes, it looks low budget and amateurish. To the producers credit, they took a lack of abundant funding and used it to their advantage. The documentary style allows it to look rough, but completely appropriate. It may seem a little unpolished but the quality of the production does not say a thing about the level of entertainment. This show is freakin' hilarious! You can't help but laugh. I was slow to convert but now that I have, I think this show is great! I will continue to buy the DVD's.

That is all for now. Be well, and in moments of sadness, watch Trailer Park Boys.

Blog Word Of The Day:

Home

Reflections on an evening at Saskatchewan Place, serving beer to the pathetically small crowd of not fully evolved hooligans.

1) Why did I collect $35.25 in tips on a night when the crowd was at least 90% male? Do I come off as gay?

2) How can you walk up to a bar, that shows no bottles of alcohol, no soft drink dispensers, and no apparent facilities for making a mixed drink, and confidently ask for 2 rye and Cokes?

3) At what point in your personal evolution did you deviate from growing, if you can stand in front of me, and with no attempt at humor in your voice, ask me how big a 15 oz beer is?

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?