Friday, July 15, 2005
What a perfect night.
Sometimes everything just falls into place. Its peculiar when it happens. You fall out of your peaceful reverie just long enough to notice that the whole world has aligned into a pattern of sweet serenity. You can cruise the streets of the urban jungle, and the slumbering suburb, and everything just appears content.
The family walks down the sidewalk to the video store, the laughing voices of children crackling in the air.
An elderly couple can walk, hand in hand, up the steps of the library.
Couples can putter in their yard, doing more admiring than trimming. The smiles on their faces radiating, even to a passing vehicle.
The sun, as it sets, casts delicate shadows over everything, punctuating the serenity of the moment.
Everything washes together in a serene tableau. Its breathtaking in its simplicity, and a perfect moment to behold.
Enjoy well this Friday my friends. The days do not get much better than this.
Sometimes everything just falls into place. Its peculiar when it happens. You fall out of your peaceful reverie just long enough to notice that the whole world has aligned into a pattern of sweet serenity. You can cruise the streets of the urban jungle, and the slumbering suburb, and everything just appears content.
The family walks down the sidewalk to the video store, the laughing voices of children crackling in the air.
An elderly couple can walk, hand in hand, up the steps of the library.
Couples can putter in their yard, doing more admiring than trimming. The smiles on their faces radiating, even to a passing vehicle.
The sun, as it sets, casts delicate shadows over everything, punctuating the serenity of the moment.
Everything washes together in a serene tableau. Its breathtaking in its simplicity, and a perfect moment to behold.
Enjoy well this Friday my friends. The days do not get much better than this.
Thursday, July 14, 2005
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
Two things to note from my Wednesday.
I did my presentation for Sask Water today. It went extremely well. I was 'presenting' for nearly two hours. Interrupted at several points by discussion from the assembled group, but still in the course of covering my intended material. I spoke in front of a group for the first time, I didn't nearly lose bowel control with anxiety. That was a major first. We talked about a lot of stuff, I seemed well recieved, and people thanked me for the discussion afterward. I'm quite proud of how I did.
Came home tonight and checked the mail. There were two letters from the Watson Housing Authority. This is the board that is my 'landlord'. Every July they do an inspection of their properties, and mine they checked on Monday. Apparently my level of cleanliness is not up to their august standards. I was directed to clean my bathrooms.
I did my presentation for Sask Water today. It went extremely well. I was 'presenting' for nearly two hours. Interrupted at several points by discussion from the assembled group, but still in the course of covering my intended material. I spoke in front of a group for the first time, I didn't nearly lose bowel control with anxiety. That was a major first. We talked about a lot of stuff, I seemed well recieved, and people thanked me for the discussion afterward. I'm quite proud of how I did.
Came home tonight and checked the mail. There were two letters from the Watson Housing Authority. This is the board that is my 'landlord'. Every July they do an inspection of their properties, and mine they checked on Monday. Apparently my level of cleanliness is not up to their august standards. I was directed to clean my bathrooms.
Monday, July 11, 2005
Given the tragic nature of what happened at Sunday's performance at the Moose Jaw air show, I felt it was appropriate to include an 'eye witness' account of it, from someone that was there. My good friend Sean attended this tragedy, and provided for my reading, the following account of what he saw:
Day 2 was the day Bobby Younkin and Jimmy Franklin died and yes, we saw the whole thing. The beginning of their “Masters of Disaster” performance was pretty good, they chased each other in circles and made artistic loops in the air with their smoke streams, but then they just went nuts; randomly swooping at each other, doing random barrel rolls and somersaults. The air was quite still so their smoke and exhaust just hung in the air until it was almost difficult to see them when they were directly in front of us. Then the rocket truck arrived on the runway and was just about to go for a few burns up and back in front of us when the crash happened. My father and I were looking at the truck until we heard the “pop” sound. We looked up and saw a ball of flame and black smoke cascading away in two different directions while the 3rd plane in the act continued on to the west. He must have had quite a surprise when he turned around and couldn’t see his buddies anymore…just black smoke. A piece of the one plane’s flaming wreckage almost hit the jet truck while it was coasting down the runway and it had to swerve to miss the wreckage. Moments later fire trucks headed out onto the field as well as the rescue chopper. And yes, as reports in the news indicate, the crowd fell amazingly silent and fast. You could only hear kids babbling around you as every adult fell to silence in disbelief of what had just happened. Jimmy Franklin had just performed with his son moments earlier doing their wing-walking routine (Jimmy would fly and his son did stunts on the wings and shook his father’s hand in mid-air while upside down – his last handshake with his father as it turned out). His son was up in the tower narrating as his father collided with Bobby Younkin’s plane. It’s not known who hit who but from the look of the video and what I remember, Jimmy came up fast and hard from below in his jet plane and clipped Bobby’s prop plane (only Jimmy had a jet engine, the others just had regular propeller engines). Bobby’s plane didn’t even seem to be going that fast when Jimmy zoomed up through the smoke and haze and they hit. It might have been a mechanical problem or medical problem which befell one of the pilots, but it could just as easily been a simple problem of reduced visibility. I mean…at high speeds like that in the jet plane you must have all kinds of smoke streams careening over the front windshield – Jimmy probably couldn’t tell exactly how close he was to Bobby until it was too late. Anyway…it makes you think when you see that happen right in front of you. …and as we stood there in shock, what appeared to be Jimmy’s son went zipping by on a motorcycle across the field to find his father and confirm the worst. But you could tell from the amount of smoke and flame there was no chance anyone could survive. The air show was cancelled within maybe 2 minutes and we were all asked to leave in an orderly fashion…which everyone did. I looked all around me and there were very few smiles left on anyone’s face. A woman and her family with two kids broke into tears just ahead of us…and bad. She must have known one of the pilots dearly because she was crying hard and her nose was running. Yup…in a word it was “horrible.” I would have liked to see the Snow Birds perform as they were up next, but given the circumstances nobody minded missing that opportunity.
Day 2 was the day Bobby Younkin and Jimmy Franklin died and yes, we saw the whole thing. The beginning of their “Masters of Disaster” performance was pretty good, they chased each other in circles and made artistic loops in the air with their smoke streams, but then they just went nuts; randomly swooping at each other, doing random barrel rolls and somersaults. The air was quite still so their smoke and exhaust just hung in the air until it was almost difficult to see them when they were directly in front of us. Then the rocket truck arrived on the runway and was just about to go for a few burns up and back in front of us when the crash happened. My father and I were looking at the truck until we heard the “pop” sound. We looked up and saw a ball of flame and black smoke cascading away in two different directions while the 3rd plane in the act continued on to the west. He must have had quite a surprise when he turned around and couldn’t see his buddies anymore…just black smoke. A piece of the one plane’s flaming wreckage almost hit the jet truck while it was coasting down the runway and it had to swerve to miss the wreckage. Moments later fire trucks headed out onto the field as well as the rescue chopper. And yes, as reports in the news indicate, the crowd fell amazingly silent and fast. You could only hear kids babbling around you as every adult fell to silence in disbelief of what had just happened. Jimmy Franklin had just performed with his son moments earlier doing their wing-walking routine (Jimmy would fly and his son did stunts on the wings and shook his father’s hand in mid-air while upside down – his last handshake with his father as it turned out). His son was up in the tower narrating as his father collided with Bobby Younkin’s plane. It’s not known who hit who but from the look of the video and what I remember, Jimmy came up fast and hard from below in his jet plane and clipped Bobby’s prop plane (only Jimmy had a jet engine, the others just had regular propeller engines). Bobby’s plane didn’t even seem to be going that fast when Jimmy zoomed up through the smoke and haze and they hit. It might have been a mechanical problem or medical problem which befell one of the pilots, but it could just as easily been a simple problem of reduced visibility. I mean…at high speeds like that in the jet plane you must have all kinds of smoke streams careening over the front windshield – Jimmy probably couldn’t tell exactly how close he was to Bobby until it was too late. Anyway…it makes you think when you see that happen right in front of you. …and as we stood there in shock, what appeared to be Jimmy’s son went zipping by on a motorcycle across the field to find his father and confirm the worst. But you could tell from the amount of smoke and flame there was no chance anyone could survive. The air show was cancelled within maybe 2 minutes and we were all asked to leave in an orderly fashion…which everyone did. I looked all around me and there were very few smiles left on anyone’s face. A woman and her family with two kids broke into tears just ahead of us…and bad. She must have known one of the pilots dearly because she was crying hard and her nose was running. Yup…in a word it was “horrible.” I would have liked to see the Snow Birds perform as they were up next, but given the circumstances nobody minded missing that opportunity.
Sunday, July 10, 2005
Saturday, July 09, 2005
This is a message that goes out to all blog readers!
You must kill any and all moths that you encounter. Moths are the larval offspring of Satan himself. If allowed to propagate themselves on our plane of existence, they will meld with one another, and form a portal by which Lucifer will gain footing upon all of our souls.
Please do the righteous thing and kill a moth today.
You must kill any and all moths that you encounter. Moths are the larval offspring of Satan himself. If allowed to propagate themselves on our plane of existence, they will meld with one another, and form a portal by which Lucifer will gain footing upon all of our souls.
Please do the righteous thing and kill a moth today.
Thursday, July 07, 2005
What the hell is wrong with people?
This is a classic example of why people should be hunted for sport. It also serves to indicate why some of my 'alleged' anger problem is, in fact, justified.
This also serves to illustrate how easy it is to forget the irritation of urban driving.
But now to the story . . .
I'm driving on Circle Drive. Which, for anyone that knows, is always a bit of a lesson in frustration during the summer, as the city seems pre-disposed to screw with this road every summer. We are stopped at the intersection that is currently recieving construction right now. The whole place is an utter cluster-bomb of disorganization. Rather than be the Mr. Wizard that everyone else is choosing to be, I just stay behind the big truck ahead of me, and decide to wait it out. The light changes and we go through the intersection.
The lane from College Drive merges into Circle Drive after the intersection in question. And predictably enough someone wants to merge from College onto Circle Drive. Now keep in mind my comments from above about the Mr. Wizard phenomenon and how I chose to stay behind the big rig. The consequence to this is, NO ONE is behind me. I use the emphasis of capitals to make a significant point. Ther is no one within vision range, in the lane behind me.
Can anyone guess what behaviour is witnessed by the dumb bitch driver of the red mini-van to my left? Survey says . . . !?!?!?!
You guessed it, she HAD to cut in FRONT of me. I'm bloody near inside the cargo trailer of this truck, because he is going slow, and this Captain Calamity really must be in the lane ahead of me. The idiot sow basically cut me off, getting in, in front of me. I just about slammed my brakes and got out of the vehicle to point out how much territory was available BEHIND me. But nope, she had to slip into the micrometer of space separating me from the cold steel of the back of this cargo trailer.
People irritate me.
This is a classic example of why people should be hunted for sport. It also serves to indicate why some of my 'alleged' anger problem is, in fact, justified.
This also serves to illustrate how easy it is to forget the irritation of urban driving.
But now to the story . . .
I'm driving on Circle Drive. Which, for anyone that knows, is always a bit of a lesson in frustration during the summer, as the city seems pre-disposed to screw with this road every summer. We are stopped at the intersection that is currently recieving construction right now. The whole place is an utter cluster-bomb of disorganization. Rather than be the Mr. Wizard that everyone else is choosing to be, I just stay behind the big truck ahead of me, and decide to wait it out. The light changes and we go through the intersection.
The lane from College Drive merges into Circle Drive after the intersection in question. And predictably enough someone wants to merge from College onto Circle Drive. Now keep in mind my comments from above about the Mr. Wizard phenomenon and how I chose to stay behind the big rig. The consequence to this is, NO ONE is behind me. I use the emphasis of capitals to make a significant point. Ther is no one within vision range, in the lane behind me.
Can anyone guess what behaviour is witnessed by the dumb bitch driver of the red mini-van to my left? Survey says . . . !?!?!?!
You guessed it, she HAD to cut in FRONT of me. I'm bloody near inside the cargo trailer of this truck, because he is going slow, and this Captain Calamity really must be in the lane ahead of me. The idiot sow basically cut me off, getting in, in front of me. I just about slammed my brakes and got out of the vehicle to point out how much territory was available BEHIND me. But nope, she had to slip into the micrometer of space separating me from the cold steel of the back of this cargo trailer.
People irritate me.
Wednesday, July 06, 2005
Lord and Merciful Creator? A few questions?
1. When have I suffered enough?
2. How much do I have to endure before I am allowed back into your good graces?
3. Is my life supposed to be about pain?
4. Am I being tested?
5. At the end of this ordeal, will a truth be revealed?
6. When is everyone else going to try to follow the moral dictates you made me adopt?
7. Does it ever work out fairly?
8. Why can't I give up?
And just if you're curious, I could do without the taunting. All it accomplishes is making me angry. I don't learn anything. In case you were wondering.
1. When have I suffered enough?
2. How much do I have to endure before I am allowed back into your good graces?
3. Is my life supposed to be about pain?
4. Am I being tested?
5. At the end of this ordeal, will a truth be revealed?
6. When is everyone else going to try to follow the moral dictates you made me adopt?
7. Does it ever work out fairly?
8. Why can't I give up?
And just if you're curious, I could do without the taunting. All it accomplishes is making me angry. I don't learn anything. In case you were wondering.
Tuesday, July 05, 2005
Monday, July 04, 2005
Friday, July 01, 2005
Thursday, June 30, 2005
I must confess that today has been one of much confusion and considerable introspection. I'm not exactly sure how to process the various thoughts that are swirling around in my brain.
The salesman finally got his walking papers today. Which I am okay with, because about the only thing he was really accomplishing was pissing people off. He'd chased my boss right out of his own office, and had everyone in this organization on high alert, at all times.
However, what I blanche at is the almost giddy glee that has followed his exodus. I can understand some smug self-satisfaction in seeing a hated enemy be vanquished and sent packing. I can accept a little extra curl to the smile that should adorn your face every day. But I think exultant joyfulness is over the top. You hated the guy; the point is taken. But keep in mind, someone just got fired. Their entire world was turned upside down in the span of a few minutes. Be happy he is gone but do not rejoice the event. It is not wine and roses for everyone.
Now I wonder if I'm psychic, because I had a very peculiar dream last night, that would tie into what has happened today. I dreamed that I was starting my first day on the job with a new company. However, it wasn't a new company at all. It was one that had employed me not so many years ago, and sent me packing with all the grace and civility that was afforded our salesman today. The dream was surreal because of this fact. I could not get myself to understand why I would sign back on with these jerks.
It had some other odd moments to it. One, Saskatoon was this traffic-snarled metropolis that I did not know how to manuever. I haven't been scared to drive in Saskatoon since I was 16 years old. And those of you that know me, are aware that point in time is WAY back in the mist. I couldn't find a place to park, so I put it down by a meter on the street. Then I went inside to get parking instruction for the underground parkade and was met by the full force of a Government of Canada terror alert security process. I won't go into the details because they are mindless and boring, but it was security check after security check. For some reason the company I'd just signed on with, had leased office space in a Goverment of Canada building.
Some random weirdness from the dream:
- My old boss, who became my new boss again, and about a dozen earrings in each ear. This included one giant, pirate buccaneer gold one, in each ear.
- All the computers had very small, LCD monitors, maybe 7" in width. But each desk was also equipped with a large plasma TV, to which the computer could be linked.
- The computers were Apple Macintosh machines, running the OS X - Jaguar operating system.
- There was a screw-up with someone's sound and we had rap/metal going for awhile in the office
- No one had offices, it was just a rabbit's warren of desks and book shelves that separated work environments.
It makes me question the concept of clairvoyance though. To dream about things that hadn't touched my last since I was summarily dismissed so many years ago. And have this happen the night before the termination of someone else who was reviled in the organization. The parallels must make you consider some exotic concepts.
Am I wrong?
The salesman finally got his walking papers today. Which I am okay with, because about the only thing he was really accomplishing was pissing people off. He'd chased my boss right out of his own office, and had everyone in this organization on high alert, at all times.
However, what I blanche at is the almost giddy glee that has followed his exodus. I can understand some smug self-satisfaction in seeing a hated enemy be vanquished and sent packing. I can accept a little extra curl to the smile that should adorn your face every day. But I think exultant joyfulness is over the top. You hated the guy; the point is taken. But keep in mind, someone just got fired. Their entire world was turned upside down in the span of a few minutes. Be happy he is gone but do not rejoice the event. It is not wine and roses for everyone.
Now I wonder if I'm psychic, because I had a very peculiar dream last night, that would tie into what has happened today. I dreamed that I was starting my first day on the job with a new company. However, it wasn't a new company at all. It was one that had employed me not so many years ago, and sent me packing with all the grace and civility that was afforded our salesman today. The dream was surreal because of this fact. I could not get myself to understand why I would sign back on with these jerks.
It had some other odd moments to it. One, Saskatoon was this traffic-snarled metropolis that I did not know how to manuever. I haven't been scared to drive in Saskatoon since I was 16 years old. And those of you that know me, are aware that point in time is WAY back in the mist. I couldn't find a place to park, so I put it down by a meter on the street. Then I went inside to get parking instruction for the underground parkade and was met by the full force of a Government of Canada terror alert security process. I won't go into the details because they are mindless and boring, but it was security check after security check. For some reason the company I'd just signed on with, had leased office space in a Goverment of Canada building.
Some random weirdness from the dream:
- My old boss, who became my new boss again, and about a dozen earrings in each ear. This included one giant, pirate buccaneer gold one, in each ear.
- All the computers had very small, LCD monitors, maybe 7" in width. But each desk was also equipped with a large plasma TV, to which the computer could be linked.
- The computers were Apple Macintosh machines, running the OS X - Jaguar operating system.
- There was a screw-up with someone's sound and we had rap/metal going for awhile in the office
- No one had offices, it was just a rabbit's warren of desks and book shelves that separated work environments.
It makes me question the concept of clairvoyance though. To dream about things that hadn't touched my last since I was summarily dismissed so many years ago. And have this happen the night before the termination of someone else who was reviled in the organization. The parallels must make you consider some exotic concepts.
Am I wrong?