1454 - Ice and Egypt: Together at Last

Well, another week has come and gone, and Christmas has drawn one week nearer. It still doesn't feel like Christmas to me yet, but hopefully it will soon. I haven't put up any Christmas lights for anyone yet. I haven't put up any trees for anyone yet. I haven't even downloaded any Christmas music because some stupid Star Wars movie collection has been downloading for weeks. I did find a couple of heavy metal Christmas CDs to download, but of course they are not popular, and at this rate Charlton Heston will be cursing the Statue of Liberty before it finishes. I haven't put up a tree, and I may not be putting one up at all (read on).

On Monday I stayed a bit late at work because there was a new build of one of our software projects going out the next day. This worked out well because there was a relatively mild snowstorm that somehow managed to cripple the city worse than any other event ever has. Cars were backed up outside of the office. It was AN's first day at work, and he had the pleasure of waiting for the bus for a half hour only to have the traffic move by one car length. He came back in the office, and after wrapping up a bit more work, we walked over to the pedway over one of the major bus routes. There were at least a hundred people there, waiting for any bus to come down the empty road (the traffic jam was further along). As I live within walking distance of home, I decided to make a run for it on my own. As it turned out, Adam would not get home for another two and a half hours (envision a bus with a hundred people on it, filled with smoke from tires burned off to get up slippery hills).

The walk home was easy, for me at least. The sidewalks were as clear as the roads were not. On the first hill I found several cars stuck, with lines of traffic maneuvering around them. People were having angry conversations on cell phones, burning off minutes in an attempt to stave off insanity for a few moments longer. Cars were even stuck on a piece of road that I considered to be flat. The plows hadn't gotten out before the snow, and the cars had compressed it into thick sheets of ice. I watched as pedestrians helped motorists get their vehicles moving again. There was a bit of the disaster mentality that I had witnessed during Hurricane Juan and "White Juan" - people not in cars seemed jovial and eager to help others.

Further along, I found that the power was still out near JW's (she had called me at work to see if we had power). The lines of traffic headed in that direction of course were therefore going without traffic lights as well. I decided to stop at JW's, figuring that if her power was out, mine would almost certainly be as well, as she is on an emergency grid. It turned out that JW had been doing laundry that was now waiting in the laundromat for power to return.

When the power came back on, we went over to the store (cutting through the lines of traffic) to put the laundry in the dryers. I ordered a donair, despite JW noting that the donair meat had been sitting in the cool store while the power was out. We took the donair back to her place, and I ate it while she ate East Side Mario's leftovers from two nights before. The donair was surprisingly good, and I didn't get sick or die, which was a nice plus.

After the donair, we went back over to the store to get the dried laundry, again cutting through lines of traffic five hours after they had formed. The roads were still ice covered. Emergency vehicles were not able to get to accidents because of the traffic. Police didn't respond to accidents until the next day. We took the laundry back to her place, and we relaxed until bedtime.

On Tuesday work went well, and the build was successfully delivered to the client. I made sure to leave at five o'clock sharp, after which I proceeded to waste the evening away chatting to JW online. Well, it wasn't a waste to chat with her, but it was a waste to not be doing anything else between responses.

On Wednesday I again worked a normal day. In the evening, I worked out the value of a bunch of games I had sold a friend. After that, I again chatted with JW for a while, though I think I did better at multitasking that night.

On Thursday I yet again left at five o'clock (I had been going in earlier though). I finally had an opportunity to take JW down to the ancient Egyptian display at a local art gallery. Firstly, however, we had to eat. We went to a quaint Lebanese store/cafe very close to her house. The food looked good despite the fact that it was unnamed and unpriced. There was a brownish, chunky liquid; some tabouli; a yellow broth-like substance; some liquids resembling lava; and other miscellaneous items equally mysterious. There were also samosas. In the fullness of time (and following much frustration on the part of the clerk), JW ordered a four item combo plate consisting of tabouli and three unknown substances, and a samosa. I ordered a wrap with lettuce fingers and a samosa. Her meal looked good, especially when I found that mine wasn't anything special. The samosa was really good, and the fingers were good, but the wrap was small and I couldn't taste the hummus that gave it its name. I wound up lathering it up with yet another mystery substance that came with it. The mytery substance was a white cream that was quite tangy. It saved the day, as did JW's leavings.

We left the cafe and headed to the bus stop, only to wait in the rain while the bus didn't come. We decided to walk to the art gallery, and it only took us about 25 minutes to get there. We talked about the human soul at length as I had come to several disturbing conclusions that morning. Fortunately there were a few possiblities I hadn't considered, and our chat re-affirmed to me that it was indeed possible for a soul to exist.

The ancient Egypt exhibit was almost completely void of life. A tour guide greeted us and informed us that we could take a tour if we liked. JW wanted to take the tour, and so did I, but I also wanted the poor girl to have the night off, especially given that she'd probably been expecting it (we got there a bit after the scheduled start time). Of course the tour guide insisted that it was okay for us have her give the tour, so we did. It turned out to be an excellent decision, and we learned much more than we would have otherwise.

The personal tour was both more extensive and more informative than most tours at the gallery. We were able to ask lots of questions, and there was a lot of interaction with the guide. She didn't seem to know everything about the exhibits, but she did a good job and I was impressed with the genuine interest that she seemed to show. She did not rush us along because there were only two of us. She didn't seem bothered by the fact that we (JW) asked many questions that we knew she couldn't answer. She didn't get upset when we rambled on about possible meanings for some of the pieces, when in fact were were almost certainly completely off track. We even caught her reading up on the subject after the tour! Needless to say, I was impressed with the service and I very much enjoyed the tour. It was amazing to see things that were literally thousands of years old. I tried to imagine the Egyptians making and wearing these items. I'm sad that so much of our ancient history has been lost. Hopefully history will not repeat itself, as an article I read this week suggested. I really liked the mummies, especially when I found out that there was likely preserved flesh inside them. To think that a body thousands of years old might still be intact is nothing short of amazing. One of my goals in life is to see the Great Pyramids in person, and obviously my visit to the exhibit reminded me of this.

We quickly bolted around other parts of the art gallery after taking our fill of the Egyptian exhibit. There was an interesting exhibit depicting ugly industrial scenes that caught my eye. I could almost feel the infectious bacteria building up in the back of my throat.

We milked the gallery for all it was worth and headed home at closing time (down the snakes and up the ladders). The snake was the number nine bus, and the ladder was the sidewalk leading up to JW's. We relaxed for a while and went to sleep.

On Friday, the office was almost completely empty. It was a very quiet, uneventful day until AN and I were literally walking out the door. B-SM stopped us and asked about a possible trip to Seattle on the 18th. We both thought he was asking which of us would like to go. We backpedalled, spewing out half finished sentences about the proximity to Christmas. In the end, we probably conveyed the idea that either of us could go. B-SM then clarified that it was a two-person trip to take MMC (MCM?) training. He said we'd be back on the 22nd or 23rd. Relieved, we left the office still knowing nothing about the trip. Would we be training on a development methodology, as AN thought? Or would we be training on an existing product that our company was going to modify in the coming months, as I thought? Would we be going for sure? B-SM said he was going to try to set it up.

I was briefly excited about the trip, but I was brought back down to Earth when I realized that it would make Christmas shopping difficult. It would also mean I would likely miss my parents putting up their tree. It would also make it meaningless for me to have a tree, as I would only be at home one night after the trip before going to my parents' for Christmas. My only hope now is that the company will be too cheap to pay our flights, as they will be expensive and hard to get this time of year, especially on such short notice. I'd have no problem going to Seattle in January, so hopefully that will be the case. There is no word to describe the anger I'd feel if I were to get stuck in some strange city over Christmas due to a flight cancellation.

Friday after work I went to pick up JW to go to AN's for his annual Christmas party. Everyone showed up despite a bit of snow. As usual, AN had his smoked salmon appetizers, along with many others. Everyone sat around chatting, eating and drinking. It was nice to see (and smell) a Christmas tree, and the gift exchange was, as usual, fun. I regretted not putting more effort into my gift(s) (I bought JW her's as well), as they did not change hands even once during the game. One at a time, people would select a gift, and then either open it or trade it with someone else's opened gift. That person would then do the same (though an opened gift could only change hands once during the round). I wound up with an old, framed picture of AD looking angry during his not-so-productive years. I also got a keychain with an LED light on it.

On Saturday JW and I got up after hours of lazing about and failed in our attempt to have a shower due to a broken nozzle at JW's. We walked to Piercey's to get a new one, and then to my place for a shower. It was nice to have JW at my place, as she so rarely is. Of course, each of us likes our own home (well, usually I guess) and I often miss my place as I am at JW's so much. After a nice shower, we went to Mary's for breakfast. It was delicious, and as JW pointed out it was another example of the many great places to eat in her part of town. Even though the place was tiny and dirty, the food was good and there were many items on the menu that I wanted to try.

After Mary's, we went to the mall yet again to shop. We were lucky this time to get a parking space straight away. JW had lectured me on giving thoughtful gifts earlier in the day, so I tried hard to find interesting items for gifts. I did find a couple of books for F-LS (the 'F' indicates family), and I managed to buy a CD for myself. I later remembered a couple of other items I was supposed to buy for myself (*grin*). I couldn't find anything for anyone else. The stores had the same tacky crafts they have every year, and I feel like I've beaten everything to death. Every year, my father and I go shopping for my mother. Every year, we feel more pressure because there aren't enough new items appearing in the stores. We've seen it all before, and each year we squeeze out what little oil there is left in the ground. Last year, we actually gave up because we just couldn't find anything suitable. We actually bought my mother the identical earrings we had bought her the year before. She doesn't want earrings this year.

I still need to find things for my mother, aunt, grandmother and of course JW. I just hope JW won't have to fake liking her presents too much.

After the mall on Saturday, JW and I went for groceries. I needed pretty much everything. We were both very tired, and the big meal at Mary's followed by the hot, dry mall had us almost dead on our feet at the grocery store. We barely managed to escape with our lives, and we actually had to lie down at my place while we were there to drop off groceries. We eventually got to her place, and there we decided to cancel our dinner plans we'd made the week before. Instead, we ordered in some mediocre Chinese food. It was expensive, and the servings were small and cold. After the meal, we had planned on watching a movie, but again we wound up lying down. We digested while listening to U2. JW shot up suddenly during one song, as she had just come to a very important realization about her life. She laughed and it became clear that she had experienced what she refers to as God (she had told me about the laughing). She thanked God repeatedly. The occurrence was quite surreal. She told me a lengthy story leading up to the realization, but at first I could find no indication of anything that God or anyone else had done. JW had pieced together a possible explanation for a part of her life based on a couple of U2 songs and some thinking. At first I thought that she had reached the conclusion, and that God had told her somehow "yes, that is it." Then I thought that it was more that she was thanking God for setting the events in motion that led her to the realization. Now I again think the former. Somehow the realization made her laugh - this is something that I cannot hope to understand at the present. Still, it was nice to see her happy, and I was happy that she'd found a good light to cast on a rather dark part of her life.

The next morning (today, Sunday), the cat woke us up early, so JW decided to go to a Sackville church she sometimes goes to. I had said not too long ago that I'd like to come along to church with her just to try to get a look into her life. So I went with her to church. The church is a Vineyard church, and so it is not like traditional churches. People don't dress up. They talk during the service. They dance around in the isles. They wave flags and beat drums. They raise their hands in the air. The service started with about a half hour of singing Christian rock songs. Of course I didn't sing. I didn't wave flags, or beat drums. I didn't dance in the isles. I did however, talk during the service. It was quite amusing to see people so into the music, even though the words were shallow and predictable (JW explained why this is later on). It did seem like a good atmosphere for kids, though I was shocked to see how brainwashed one family's kids were when they got up on stage to light an advent candle. JW said that this type of brainwashing is preferable to the brainwashing we receive from all types of media. Personally, I'd like a third option.

The second part of the service was announcements. They were as normal as one would expect. Following a break (during which a strange, softspoken man gave me a CD and a coupon for free ice cream for coming), there was a pray for the children bit, which seemed much stranger when JW had described it earlier. You basically find some kid and touch them while praying for them. The kids were then sent off to Sunday school, while us adults listened to a sermon/comedy routine by one of the pastors. It would've done me a lot of good to have had that kind of sermon in church when I was a kid - I might not have celebrated so much each week on the way out the door. I enjoyed phrases like "the enemy", "you've got to get the last jab" (with a picture of a boxer up on a big screen - a PowerPoint presentation accompanied the sermon) and "kick in the window to my car."

The final part of the service is meant to help people who are having trouble. Interestingly, the lead pastor came over and put his hand on my back and prayed for me. Apparently I have trouble. JW thinks he prayed that she had not corrupted my mind, but as she said he probably just wanted me to be a good Christian. The pastor said he didn't want to freak me out too much, but he had already done that before he even came over. He looked like an alcoholic wife beater who had sobered up just enough to get to church. He looked insecure and stressed out.

My first church experience in about 7 years was not a bad one. It was amusing to see people so into what was going on around them. It seemed like a breeding ground however for people with mental health issues, as many people appeared (at least to my brainwashed mind) to be quite insane. Then again there were "normal" people as well, such as JW's friends, and an old university professor I saw from across the room. The church had a bit of an evangelistic quality to it. I couldn't help wondering how many people believed in what was going on around them because they wanted to so very much. Perhaps problems in their lives had driven them to this - they needed an answer, and it didn't matter if it was the right one - they just needed it. The human mind is infinitely complex, and it is completely reasonable that the perceived experience of God is in fact an elaborate illusion generated by the mind. The fact that many people experience God differently supports this, because each person's mind is different and therefore the illusion is created differently. Unfortunately I have not had any personal indication to the contrary yet, though hopefully someday I will.

Are JW's experiences of God a creation of her mind? At this point I don't think so - it's difficult to explain why, but she has presented some convincing arguments. I can never rule anything out of course, I can only choose what I am going to believe. Even if I were to have a Godly experience, I'm not sure I'd be able to convince myself that it wasn't just a figment of my imagination. Hopefully the contrary will somehow be obvious. I do know that there are many conclusions that I might draw from the events of my life that I haven't considered - and a few of them might even be conveniently meaningful at a given time.

One final thing about the church - I really like the idea of going somewhere where everyone is honest, caring and friendly. It was nice to experience that feeling again.

Well, my eyes are burning and my wrists are sore - that's what I get for having an interesting week, I guess.

It is clear and cool. I am currently listening to "Almost Crimes" from "You Forgot it in People" by Broken Social Scene.

Movies watched this week: "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier"