1474 - Who Want's a Ticket?

I've been late writing my entries the last two weeks, but this time it seems that the gods (in this case, the public school system) have granted me some extra free time. I should be out golfing, or at least going to the driving range, but it's cold and wet out, after a week of sun and warm.

The work week was probably one of the busiest and most frantic I've had at my current job. Monday, I dealt with the aftermath of the data import I'd performed over the weekend. I'd received a list of "problems" discovered via the import (none were my fault), so I worked at correcting them. I didn't get a lot done, because I'd been bitten by the perfectionist bug. I spent part of the day unnecessarily reorganizing things that didn't need reorganizing, for my own pleasure.

I got off work at five and headed straight for yoga. It was a level 1/2 class that I was taking as a make up for my weeks in Seattle. It was packed - I think the instructor avoided moves requiring us to raise our arms out at our sides, because we wouldn't have been able to. The students in the class *looked* more advanced. They sat with better posture; they appeared to be practising yoga moves before the class started. They looked like the wishy-washy sort of folk that you might expect at a yoga class. I was one of only three men in a class of roughly twenty.

The class started with a series of quick, simple moves. I had trouble keeping up, especially where you're supposed to be breathing at specific times, while moving into and out of certain positions. Fortunately, the quick move portion ended quickly, and we moved into a series of positions that we held for quite some time. The teacher gave the class the opportunity to request positions, and some did, using names I'd not heard before. The positions were difficult, but I thoroughly enjoyed the challenge they presented. I imagined myself being really good at them, and that made me happy.

It was a warm day, and I left the class tired and soaked in sweat. I got on my bike and headed home, where I frittered away the rest of my time on the net, and reading magazines and books.

Tuesday, I worked until six, then headed home. TA came over around seven, and we watched Kenny Vs Spenny and Jeopardy. After that, we went to Lion's Head for wings. The place was packed when we arrived around quarter past eight. We got our wings, had a drink or two, and were on our way. I headed over to JW's to spent the fleeting moments of the evening with her.

Wednesday, I again worked until six, after which I went to my regular yoga class. We had a substitute again, and again the stretches were very helpful. My back went from being very sore to feeling fine, and it hasn't been sore since. It was a fun class, because we only had six students, a far cry from the class on Monday. It was the last class of the "term," so I'm not sure if I'll see any of my fellow beginner students again.

Wednesday was a day filled with exercise. I walked/biked to work, went for a half hour walk at lunch, biked to yoga after work, did the yoga, biked to pool, and finally biked home. Pool was... interesting. TA, AD and one of AD's friends showed up late, but they brought me a double cheeseburger. TA was drunk, but AD was drunker. Neither were driving, and it wasn't long before TA and I had two beers a piece, and AD had a quadruple scotch. The pool was good, except for the constant interruptions by AD. He made an ass of himself, and I'm sure lots of people at the pool hall would've kicked the shit out of him had they not been in public.

Thursday after work, I got a call from AN. Apparently the Seattle folks needed another import run. I worked until eight, doing what I could before heading over to JW's. I had no intention of sacrificing my evening on such short (no) notice.

Friday morning, I discovered that the import had failed, so I started it again. I learned that I'd been asked to start the import the previous night, only to give the Seattle people more time they didn't need to do their part. For some reason, the tool ran slowly, and by the end of the day, it wasn't done. I went over to AN's to continue the import, while he worked on upgrades for the auction software we were going to be using the next day. The import didn't finish until three in the morning, so needless to say, I'm taking some time off ASAP.

We did watch Rocky Balboa toward the end of the import. It wasn't great, but it was entertaining. It's more about following your heart and positive thinking than anything else - Rocky loses a close fight in the end, but that isn't important to him because he so much enjoyed the chance to fight again. The fight also helped cure him of his fixation with the past.

I slept in Saturday, naturally. In doing so, I slept through both of the remaining two yoga classes I might have attended to make up for the second class I missed in Seattle. I decided instead to go out in search of a haircut, or rather hair trim. I tried to go to the mall, where I'd last gone in December, but the salon was full of women and more were waiting. Another hair place downstairs was less crowded, but they had no appointments available. The trip to the mall wasn't a waste, though - I picked up a large wok (larger than the one I'd bought the previous week) for only $13.

On the way back from the mall, I happened to see the sign for Gunther's hair salon. TA, PL, sometimes GK and I used to carpool by the place every day, and we used to find the name "Gunther" funny for some reason. I went around the block and parked, then went into the tiny room that is Gunther's Hair Salon. Gunther is an older, eastern-European man. His wife/assistant/employee was busy doing someone else's hair, so he offered to do mine. I told him very specifically that I wanted mine left long - I just wanted a little trim on the back. He said he thought it could stand to be thinned out a little.

The cut itself went seemingly well. He didn't wet down my hair, so I wasn't really able to tell just how much he was cutting, but it didn't look like much. He trimmed the back and the sides a lot, but it wasn't until I got home to survey the damage that I found out just how much he'd cut. I like the back being nice and short, but the short sides give me a bit of a mushroom head, and I now find it to look a bit feminine at times (ugh).

I went to JW's right after the cut, and she was devastated. It wasn't long before I was feeling really badly about it, too, but as time passes I realize that things aren't as bad as perhaps they seemed. It's still pretty long - I've lost maybe an inch in places, and it won't take more than a couple of months to grow that back. Plus, I'll be able to grow it longer without the sides and back being so unacceptable to certain relatives. TA's party last week was a bit of a turning point as far as my view of my hair is concerned - I got lots of positive comments, and I liked it in the photos that were taken. Oh well, it'll be back soon.

After several moments of silence, JW and I went to the grocery store. Afterward, we went to Staples for a few things. AN then called, and I met him close to JW's, leaving the car at her place.

We both had our suits on, and were ready for our third run as volunteers at the local Progress Club's auction. We're responsible for working with the software program that keeps track of such auction necessities as bid sheets, winning bidders, invoicing and reporting.

Our dreams of a technically-flawless evening were crushed almost immediately. Though AN had tested the wireless signal strength of the auction's network throughout its entire space, the patron registration laptops had greater and greater difficulty staying connected as the evening wore on. We think it might have been related to the people themselves - more people means more physical objects interferring with the wireless signal. In the end, we took names, ticket numbers and phone numbers down on scraps of paper, which really looked professional. At least most people had pre-registered online - a fact that averted a disaster of biblical proportions.

The rest of the auction went smoothly, apart from the warring egos of the Progress members, and a slight lack of adherence to the agreed-upon procedures. The auction raised approximately $100,000 for local (provincial) charity - a nice take, even given the wealthy audience.

AN and I could've had a table at the auction for our efforts, but having no one in mind to fill it, we teamed with our company. They got the table, and an advertisement in the auction programme. They squandered a potentially-valuable PR opportunity by not attending, en masse. In the end, only one of our employees attended (with a friend), and another's parents attended. Our table had four people at it, six less than any other (they're tables of ten). It was both sad and embarassing. Next year, if we do the auction again, we've agreed to invite our friends to the event.

JW picked us up from the auction, thanks to an open bar and Progress folk generosity. Several hours later, we got back to JW's, having dropped AN off.

Sunday morning, I had breakfast with JW then headed home, leaving her to be alone with her mountain of work. I again took a stab at re-doing my web site, but I only succeeded in wasting another hour of my time. I played Civilization for a few minutes, then looked at cars online for a couple of hours.

I went home for dinner, but I didn't stay long. Dad was away, so Mum and I had dinner and watched a bit of golf before she drove me down to TA's. I only ate vegetables, as TA and I thought we might go out for wings. I was kind of excited by the prospect of doing something fun Sunday night - sometimes I get tired of going to my parents' EVERY Sunday. The main thing keeping me going every week is golf - I don't have cable, so I can't watch it at home.

At TA's, we watched the Trailer Park Boys movie again, played some Mario Golf, then watched some South Park. We also listened to some odd music that TA had picked up at IF and RD's party the day before. The first album was a mix of rap and Adult Swim cartoon sound clips. The second album was a mixed combination of The Beatles' White Album and Jay-Z's The Black Album, appropriately entitled, "The Grey Album." This all took place in the company of a few drinks and yet another Donnini's pizza - this time we tried a chicken, pepperoni, hot pepper and green olive pizza. It was hot and intense - almost too intense. I couldn't even taste the pepperoni, its taste dominated completely by the other ingredients (the chicken is spicy). Next time, I think I'd substitute the pepperoni for pineapple.

I missed the bus at midnight, then wound up taking a cab home. The cabby said a lot of strange things, but I forget what they were now. I find that being friendly and responsive to a cabby often breeds this type of behaviour.

Nine Inch Nails released a new album this week, which I purchased on Thursday. It was a total surprise - I'm used to waiting at least four years for a new album, but this one came after only two years. I looked up the review on Allmusic.com, and I was blown away by both the sheer length of the review, and the overwhelming support of it. It's actually quite an interesting read. I'm never quite sure what to think of new music the first listen; I was lukewarm at first. Since then, I've come to think of it as an excellent album - I'm constantly listening to it. I used to like it when this sort of thing happened more often.

I’m currently listening to: The Beginning of the End from Year Zero by Nine Inch Nails.

Movies watched this week: The Trailer Park Boys Movie, Rocky Balboa.

1473 - Young, Embarassed and Climbing

Last week was a wild week, at least the Thursday through Saturday stretch. It was so wild, I was a week late finishing my previous entry. I'd decided to be a bit more casual with my writing, as I seem to have lots of free time during the week. This time, I didn't.

It was a decent work week, until Friday. I got lots done, and I wasn't interrupted much by the Seattle guys. I really focused on making life easier once these inevitable interruptions make their unheralded return.

Monday after work, I tried to finish off my taxes, but I wasn't able to log into the tax site. The "email me my password" thing didn't work. I tried dozens of usernames and passwords, but I had to give up. I was too pissed off to enter all my information again. I watched the first of what would be a string of Kenny Vs Spenny episodes, a show that has quickly become one of my favourites. It pits the bizzare, unscrupulous, and intelligent Kenny versus the paranoid, honest, and irritable Spenny. Each episode, they pick an activity at which they compete. The winner of the activity gets to choose a "humiliation" that the loser must suffer. The show is Canadian, taped on the streets of Toronto - I'm glad that we came up with such a brilliant concept! The two conflicting personalities could not be more perfect.

I cooked Monday night. I made perhaps my best stirfry to date - for the first time, I didn't overcook the meat (chicken) OR the vegetables. I put in a can of coconut milk, and it really absorbed nicely into the chicken. As always, I made it pretty spicy.

Though the cooking experience went smoothly, I was angered enough by my small wok to head to the stores in search of a larger one. I also made a list of the other things that had been bothering me. I looked for a nice, heavy blanket for my bed - ideally one that is heavy yet not particularly warm. I like the weight of lots of blankets, but I don't like being too hot (certain exceptions noted). I also looked for a large pot (for chili/chowder making); a larger cutlery tray (why are there never enough spaces for two sizes of both forks AND spoons? COME ON!); and a large, wooden cutting board (so I can cut more than one bloody carrot at a time). I am such an old man.

I returned with a cutting board, an overpriced cutlery tray, and deflated enthusiasm. Tuesday night, Dad and I went out for round two. We hit store after store, but the puny woks available did nothing but insult us. The Paderno store had one large wok, like JW's, but with handles that were extremely loose. The clerk recommended I not buy one, so I left empty-handed. At Zellers, our sixth store, I finally broke down and bought a wok. It's only slightly larger than my old one, and now I think I'll return it and keep looking. I did get a nice pot at Price Club.

Okay, I'm just sitting down to continue this entry. It's after one in the morning, and I'm running imports in the name of Seattle. I need to do something to pass the time. Anyway, enough about that - I can't be talking about the future in the present context!

Wednesday night, I went to yoga and had a great class. We had a guest instructor, and though she lacked the superior intellectual skills of our usual instructor, I liked her literally hands-on approach. She helped each person stretch beyond what was achievable alone. She physically helped you get into the proper positions - sometimes verbal instructions just aren't enough. It get's confusing when they say something like (and this has happened), "reach as high as you can, but keep your shoulders low and relaxed... now turn your shoulders into your armpits...." The stretches were amazing, and I definitely came out of there with an added bounce in my step. I needed it, too, because I wound up walking all the way home - I still beat the bus there.

I think Wednesday was AN's birthday. Thursday evening, we celebrated at his place. TA and I bought him a quart of Johnny Green, which he wasted little time in opening. AN and AB bought him some knives and some snacks; they also bought him a cake. We tried to convince AB to let us have the word "cracker" written on the cake, but she would have none of it. After all, last year, we got AD a cake with "Happy Birthday Dorris" (yes, TWO r's) written on it, and he still thinks we got a deal on a cake someone didn't want.

The evening was spent eating snacks and drinking blender drinks courtesy of AD. He now has an extensive liquor cabinet, and he seems to take great pleasure in taking orders from his guests, knowing he'll have the ingredients available to make the beverage. I'd decided I wasn't going to drink that night, sometime that morning. By go time, I'd alloted myself two Strongbows, a reasonable amount. In the end, I had two grasshoppers, two pina coladas, a Strongbow and a shot of Johnny Green. AN tried to get me to do a shot of tequila on the way out, but that's exactly what I didn't need. He poured it back into the bottle.

The five of us wound up back together again the very next night, once again at AD's. This time, we played Risk and then poker. I won the Risk game, while we listened to 103.5 and drank wine, whiskey, beer and blender drinks. I didn't have all that much, but I had enough. RD had a lot - she smashed her favourite crystal wine glass, spilled a drink on the Risk board (separate incidents), and rolled a die across the board, knocking the men all over the place. She spent the latter part of the evening passed out on the couch. We had a good time that night - everyone was in a good mood, and we laughed constantly the entire evening.

Saturday, Toni had yet another "big" party at his appartment. It's thunder was largely stolen by Friday night's activities at AD's - a night we all knew would be difficult to top. Earlier on Saturday, I re-did my taxes, this time completing the process by submitting them to the government. I'm not really convinced I got all of my tax documents this year, but I decided to go ahead and submit anyway - I'll take my chances.

Mid-afternoon, I went to JW's. It was a nice day, so we sat out on the front steps while she did the remainder of her work. Once outside the house, I noticed that the door had locked behind us - we quickly realized that we were locked out, with a laptop computer and no warm clothes. JW's roommates had just gone out, so waiting around was not an option.

The ensuing examination of the building for potential entry points proved fruitless. JW lives on the second floor of her building, so a simple (but effective) smash-the-window-and-hop-through-the-hole approach wasn't in the cards. I decided that our only hope was to get up onto the deck coming off of JW's roommates' room. It looked fairly simple - climb onto the fence surrounding the deck of the first floor unit, grab onto the bottom of the second-floor deck, and pull yourself up.

It wasn't quite that simple, for two reasons. Firstly, the step I planned on using to get from the lower deck to the upper deck was far underneath the upper deck, making it difficult to stand on while getting a grip on the upper deck. Secondly, the boards making up the fence of the upper deck were incredibly smooth - getting a good grip would be fiddicult (I was going to correct that typo, but it's kind of funny).

I got JW to come around to the back of the house to witness my death. I climbed up onto the top of the lower deck's fence. I tried to find a good place along the upper deck, but I gave up and circled around to the front, so that I would land on flat ground if I fell. I got up on the step underneath the upper deck, while holding onto the slippery boards. I collected myself, then let go with my weaker left hand and quickly reached up for the top of the railing, not really sure if I'd be able to hold my weight with only my right hand. I was able to hold it long enough to reach the top of the railing with my left hand. Once I'd got ahold of it, I knew I was in the clear. I pulled my body up, and easily hopped over the railing. Luckily, the door to the deck was open, and I was able to get back inside. It's a good thing, too, because I wouldn't have been able to get back down, at least the way I came up.

We went to get our groceries as usual, then went to Economy Shoe Shop for dinner. We split a club wrap and some sort of Thai dish (the only one on the menu), both of which were delicious as usual. Next to us sat a couple of younger guys who'd obviously put back a few. One of them was the boyfriend of our waitress, and she would go over to their table every few minutes to chat or grab a nacho. There was a magician going round to all the children, and he got roped into a rather lively chat with the two guys. The conversation ended when one of them said something like, "catch ya later, brother." On our way out of the restaurant, I said to one of the guys, "have a good one, man" and we punched fists (or whatever it's called) before heading out. It was an interesting meal.

Next up was another one of TA's famous parties. There's not much to say - a bunch of us sat around, people marvelled over my flowing locks, we looked at pictures, and had a few beer. It was a fun party, but yet again, it was poorly attended. It's kind of sad, but it seems that TA's coworkers have stopped coming to his parties (with two unfortunate exceptions).

Sunday morning, JW and I went to a nearby Jamaican restaurant for breakfast. We both had the simple eggs/bacon/taters breakfasts, with toast. I was a bit disappointed that I had to eat eight slices of toast with only raspberry jam for spread. I'm going to have to start carrying mini cheese whiz packets around with me.

After breakfast, we took a walk around the neighbourhood - we stopped at a shop in the Italian market, where I bought another cast-iron (or similar) figure for my house. It's a frog, and it hangs on the wall (I know, good description). After that, we continued on to Needham Park for a couple of nice sits in the sun.

At supper that night, the golf was pretty uninteresting. A couple of nobodies duked it out for first place, and this is rare: I can't even remember the name of the winner. The runner up's name was Ken Duke, appropriately. After supper, I went to visit my grandmother for an hour - we talked about the usual things - events that have happened in our lives, my hair (an endless source of banter for her) what we'd eaten for dinner.

I went back to my parents', then got driven home, where I watched a bit of television before hitting the sack in my new queen-sized bed. Apparently I forgot to write earlier that I bought a bed at Price Club. Yeah, I did. It's good.

I’m currently listening to: 103.5 - The Beat of Halifax (Again - is this the death of the CD? There's some Beyonce song on right now - it's a duet, of course, because we expect it. Stars make things good. Like the Simpsons.)

Movies watched this week: none (so sad).

1472 - Military Barbie

I’m writing a bit late this week because I decided that I don’t like writing entries Sunday, especially Sunday evening. I’ve found recently that I have more time during the week, so I’m going to try writing then instead. The unfortunate downside to all of this is that I’m that much more removed from the events of last week, and so I’m likely to miss some of the boorish, drab details of my life that are the very essence of this work. They are the anchors that keep my many readers seated in front of their screens, reading and re-reading my entries, laughing and crying, until they lie their radiated heads down upon the keyboard and go to sleep (editor’s note: he’s really trying, huh?)..

Well, the first four days of last week were boring, or so I recalled on the equally-dull fifth. I’m having trouble recalling why I thought they were so boring, because I’m beginning to remember a bit of excitement (editor’s note: the author’s definition of excitement is the raising of one’s heart beat by one beat per minute – be warned!). Monday was an off day, to make up for my travels the week before. I got a lot done – taxes, reading, weight-lifting, cleaning (editor’s note: yet another questionable definition). After supper, I went to JW’s to watch a movie.

The movie of choice was Proof, and it followed the life of the daughter (Gwynneth Paltrow) of an ingenious mathematician (Anthony Hopkins – one of my favourite actors) who’d fallen mentally ill and died. She apparently shared his condition to an extent, as she often interacted him despite his condition (not alive). The movie focused on a new mathematical theorem and whom it was that proved it – the father, or the daughter. We ultimately learn that it is the daughter who’s done the work, though finding this out is made interesting by the fact that we do not always know whether we are flashing back to a scene when the father was alive, or a scene where he is being imagined by the daughter. I liked the movie overall.

On Tuesday, I didn’t do much of anything that I can remember. I probably surfed the net, checked and rechecked Facebook… I really don’t know what else. I think I read a couple of Coasts and a newspaper.

Wednesday was an interesting day at work. It had become obvious that I was not being moved over to product development (from professional services) anytime soon, as our Seattle friends like to make new friends AND keep the old (to say nothing of their metallic properties). However, a glimmer of hope was offered by B-JN, who discussed with me an important product development task that he saw me starting the following week. The task was both interesting and quite challenging (well, I saw it that way, regardless of how it actually might’ve turned out). He said he was going to have B-SM contact our Seattle friends and have me released from their paralyzing grip.

Well, I’m not one to keep you on the edge of your seat. The entire week passed without further mention of this task (to me). However, I did overhear B-PM discussing the task with another employee Friday morning. This other employee is neither a new nor an old friend of the Seattle folks. This week (skipping ahead a bit), I heard the task mentioned a few more times, but I’ve yet to have anyone actually tell me directly whether or not I’ll be working on the task. They could at least tell me that they tried, but couldn’t, pry me away from Seattle. To use one of my own catchphrases, “what a joke” (editor’s note: it is not unusual for one to say what one often says).

Wednesday evening, I went to yoga class, having missed two weeks away. I found the class difficult, and I had trouble keeping up, though I sensed I was not the only one. I also badly hurt the top of my left foot, though I think the bulk of the damage was done by a poorly-fitting sneaker. The class was very small, and only a few of the people I’d met the first two weeks were there. It was kind of sad – when I walked in the door, I wondered whether I’d come at the right time. The difficult class and the different people soured my experience a bit, but having just come from another class, I can say that the class was the exception, not the rule.

After class, I went over to JW’s. It was late, and by the time she got her work done and we talked a bit, it was bedtime.

Thursday evening, AN, AB, TA and I went to AD’s for what one might call a birthday party. We brought cheese, meat, cake and liquor (presents and otherwise). The evening was spent eating the various snacks while being fed blender drinks excitedly made by AD. He fancies his well-stocked bar, and he seems to nearly force drinks down our throats when we go over. It’s difficult to say no to tasty drinks such as grasshoppers and pina coladas, and I didn’t. I had two of each! We sang happy birthday, had some cake, and headed home around midnight.

Friday evening, I stayed at work until six waiting for the bloody train to get into the train station, with Dad on it. It’s always late, especially on Fridays, but especially when I’m picking him up on a Friday. I’d promised B-CC I’d play pool with him at seven, so I had Dad drop me off directly at the pool hall.

I’d forgotten to move my parking pass from Mum’s car to Dad’s when I took his car for a couple of days midweek. So, I had to take out my wallet to pay for parking on the way to the train station. I left the wallet in the coffee holder, where it stayed as I paraded into the pool hall.

Inside, I found B-CC at the golf simulator, hitting balls. We took turns hitting balls on a mock driving range. It was entertaining, though I found the censors hadn’t improved much since my grandfather and I played years ago. It still didn’t seem to accurately translate a swing into a believable trajectory. Anyway, it was fun to swing a club, as it’s been a few months.

After the simulator, we played pool. I had trouble focusing on the games, as I kept trying to watch the door for Dad and my wallet. Several times I expressed concern to B-CC that it hadn’t yet arrived, and I imagined that he might be thinking I was trying to skip out on the bill. It finally arrived, however, not too long before we decided to leave. I managed to win the majority of the games, despite my obvious lower skill level.

Saturday morning I got up and did a few weights. Dad called, wanting to go to the Shearwater Military Aviation Museum (that may or may not be its title – but it was a military museum with planes, located in Shearwater, so it’ll do). We headed over after lunch, and found it to be a big disappointment – there was some sort of collectors’ expo going on, and the museum was packed with doll-toting, model-building enthusiasts. They blocked views of the planes, and their tables and ropes blocked total access to others. We were definitely seeing a singular, definable segment of society – largely country and military folk (the latter makes sense), and largely older, retired men sometimes accompanied by their wives. Many people were there just to chat; others were there cashing in their pension cheques for overpriced, dusty models.

We got to see a few planes close up, but there was very little in the way of documentation, so you never really knew exactly what you were looking at. The most interesting parts were a mock war room with a large chart showing the positions of ships in the North Atlantic, and a tiny model train display. The model train display didn’t have a loop in the track, so we watched the owners drive the trains forward, then backward along the same track. They even had model houses, cars and people. Model train watching is definitely an activity suited to only the easiest of excitable people. Having said that, I’d love to build a model train room some day – they’re fun to put together. I still have some trains from when I was a child (including a G.I. Joe engine – those collectors would’ve drooled over it – military AND trains, together at last).

How did I wind up talking so much about that lousy museum? Maybe I enjoyed it on some subconscious level? Anyway, after the visit to the museum, Dad got his groceries, after which I dropped him off at home. I took went down to JW’s, and soon after we drove out to East Side Mario’s for dinner. We stopped by the house again to get some gift certificates from Dad, which is important because I forgot to use them. That’s 0 for my last 2 “gift certificate” meals.

We both had bowtie pasta meals. JW had some kind of boring white-sauced dish, while I had a firecracker shrimp dish – hot and tasty. I used to love the bread at East Side Mario’s, but I found it to be stale and not particularly tasty. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’ve toned it down a bit to stop people eating bread and salad as a meal, and bringing their actual meals home in a doggy bag. We had lots of bread and salad, and we brought part of our meals home in a doggy bag (editor’s note: try a bit of mold, boys – definitely one example of pretty colours not being appreciated).

After the meal, we walked over to Chapter’s. I bought CA a couple of books for his birthday. Then, we went to Future Shop to buy a USB key for JW. I had a gift certificate burning a hole in my pocket, but I couldn’t find anything worthy of using it.

We walked next door from Future Shop and got our groceries at Superstore. After that, we headed back to JW’s place and watched Billy Elliott, set in a mining town in industrial Northern England. While I got a good kick out of the thick accents, I found it difficult to understand the words early on. The movie focused on a boy in the town who loved to dance. Much to his father’s eventual chagrin, he would head to boxing class, only to wind up attending ballet class instead. The father’s tension over the situation is heightened by the fact that he, among many others, is on strike from the local mine. In the end, the boy wins a scholarship to a famous dance school, and his father accepts his son’s lifestyle without assuming him a “poof.” I liked the movie – it was interesting to see a chapter of English history.

Sunday morning, we got up and went for a morning walk. We wound up eating breakfast at Cora’s again. This time, having not been satisfied with the fruit side salad my last visit, I ordered the large fruit platter, which comes with cheese and toast. It was huge, but unfortunately, it was a disappointment. There was little in the way of desirable fruit – perhaps because nothing is in season. There were no African gooseberries (though there were in the picture of the platter), no berries (other than rather unfresh strawberries) and no banana (!). There was sliced apple (two kinds), sliced pear, sliced plum (all of which were either over- or under-ripe), an abundance of various melons, one kiwi, pineapple (the best part) and semi-rotten grapes. I’ll order the platter again in August, I guess – I really wanted some blueberries, raspberries and blackberries.

After breakfast, we slowly walked back to JW’s. After a nap, I headed home, then to my parents’. I didn’t get to watch the golf because it was postponed by the high winds that would eventually strike us. Boo Weekly (yes, that’s his real name) won the tournament on Monday, which was nice because he’d broken under the pressure a month earlier, missing a short putt to win a tournament. Sometimes after that happens, the player is never quite the same, and their career is effectively over.

After dinner, I headed back home and played Civilization for the first time in quite a while. I enjoyed it, but I haven’t had a chance to get back to it yet. I also spent an hour deciding not to move ahead on yet another rebuild of my Web site. I kind of want to do it (mostly because I can purposely learn new programming methods along the way), but I’m put off by the mountain of work required. I just can’t get started – I can’t even seem to break it down into small parts, focusing on one part while ignoring the rest. All I can see is the finish line, and damn, it’s far away.

I’m now a week behind writing. I’ve already lived through another week that I have to write about – but not now. Somehow a lot has built up recently, and I’m still working through the backlog. “Right on to all those English girls named Cherise….”

I’m currently listening to: 103.5 - The Beat of Halifax (yes, the radio - amazing, isn't it? The song is Drinkin' in L.A. by Bran Van 3000.)

Movies watched this week: Proof, Billy Elliott

1471 - A Tale of Two Climates

I left Seattle mid-week, and in doing so, I went from a warm, sunny, summer-like climate to a wintery one, courtesy of an April snowstorm. I don't mind April snow as much as I mind snow earlier in the year, because I know the end is near.

Monday morning, I hit rock-bottom. I was tired of being in Seattle, yet I still had the better part of a work week to get through. I'd scraped through Saturday and Sunday via the fact that it was the weekend, but I had no such reason to feel good Monday. Fortunately, work calmed down, and I had a fairly quiet day. By the end of the work day, my mood had improved significantly, because for the first time I felt like I could see the light (or the plane, in this case) at the end of the tunnel.

Our lunches hit rock-bottom Monday too, as we dined in a grocery store cafeteria. After work, we went to Canyon's again, where I had tasty ribs with spicy buffalo fries. Physically, I felt better Monday, having not eaten much Sunday. We didn't do much after dinner - at least that I remember.

Tuesday was another relatively light work day (light in Seattle means ten hours). It was hard to work, because we'd decided to go see the baseball game after work. We ate lunch at an authentic Mexican restaurant called Guaymas, where they welcomed us "amigos" at the door. They had free nachos with home made salsa - it was the best salsa I've ever had. We devoured three bowls of chips and salsa before our meals even arrived. We each ordered burritos, but these were no ordinary burritos - they were a full foot long, and much thicker than a fully-loaded Subway sub. Inside were veggies, rice and chicken (in my case). Guacamole and sour cream came on the side.

I was only able to get through half of my burrito, and I opted not to take the rest home in a doggy bag. I just wasn't willing to spend my afternoon passed out in the office.

We headed to the game right after work. We had walked to Safeco Field the previous Sunday, so we pretty much knew where to go with the car. We parked about ten minutes away, and walked to the gates to pick up our tickets, which we'd ordered online.

Inside, we found out it was military appreciation night. They were giving out yellow ribbons, though I didn't take one. The lady handing them out looked at me like I had two heads when I turned it down - I guess you're either with her or against her. I later found one left at a concession stand, so I grabbed it to give to JW as a joke later.

Despite having worn my warmest clothes, I nearly froze to death at the game. The days in Seattle were warm, but the nights were still cool. I had a sweater and a summer jacket on in five degree weather (celsius of course). After my dinner of a hot dog and popcorn (popcorn is not a good choice when it's cold outside), AN and I went back for $3.75 watery hot chocolates. They were worth every penny though, keeping us warm for about an hour.

The game was good - the Mariners won 8-4. A couple of foul balls came within twenty feet of us, one of them nearly mowing us down in the process. It was a hard-hit, low screamer that got to us very quickly.

Between innings, there were countless military tributes. There were six ceremonial first pitches, helicopters flying overhead, military personnel singing the anthem and God Bless America (the most heavily emphasized word of which was "foam"), a giant flag, and Mariners players praising the troops. The game was attended by four thousand military personnel, so it was pretty impressive when they were all asked to stand up and take a bow.

We all had a good laugh when they played the theme song of our trip, a rap song the subject of which is the fact that the rapper is getting rich by writing about nothing in his songs. Our favourite line is, "I make a mil sayin' nothin' on the track." The rest of the song belittles the listener for actually listening to such garbage - we got a good kick out of the fact that we kept listening to it.

The game was about three hours long, fortunately not longer. Outside the stadium, we all got collectible military coins, then headed for the car. We got slightly lost, but still managed to get back to the hotel quickly.

Wednesday morning, the last work day for AN and I, another bomb was dropped on us. We were to repeat our work of the Thursday and Friday previous, on a new code drop from engineering. It was stressful for two reasons: we had to wait for the new code to become available, and we didn't have the luxury of finishing our work the next day - it had to be done that day. We got the code early in the afternoon and began our data import. It went well - much better than the last time. Still, it took us until 8pm to finish. Even worse, we couldn't get a hold of a guy who'd written another data import tool that had to be run, so we were asked to do it for him. It took us an hour just to track down instructions on how to use his tool, but we finally did, and it didn't take long to run.

We left work shortly after 10:30pm, following a twenty minute chat with one of the VPs about "the girls in Halifax" and his life story. He seemed interested to know whether the girls are beautiful in Halifax. He told us that they are not beautiful in San Jose. Interesting.

For those interested, we ate at a cafe for lunch, and we had Arby's for dinner (I ran out quickly mid-evening). One of the Arby's employees pointed out that the store was understaffed because, and I quote, "no one goes to Arby's." That's employee spirit for you!

Thursday morning, I got up at 3:15am, beginning a long day of travel. I felt terrible, but I resisted the urge to stay in bed and miss my flight home. I had a quick shower, and an even quicker shave, then headed down to the front desk to check out. Using a phone to call an employee to the desk, I woke up a girl sleeping in the employee office. Apparently staying awake is not a job requirement at the particular hotel. She could barely function, but finally I got checked out. I told her not to go back to sleep until after AN checked out.

Normally, AN is the first one down to the desk. I have this terrible tendency to cut things to the last second - if you've read past entries, you know this. One manifestation of this problem is my tendency to miss busses. Anyway, I was surprised that I made it to the desk first. After throwing my bags in the car, I came back in to the hotel and went to AN's room. I wasn't sure it was his, so I nervously knocked on it. No one came to the door, so I went back down to the desk, presuming we'd missed each other. He wasn't there, so I had the sleepy girl at the desk phone his room. He didn't answer. I went back up and banged on the door a second time, this time confident I had the right door. He quickly opened the door as he got his stuff together. He had set his alarm for 3pm instead of 3am! Five minutes later, we were gassing up the car down the road before returning it.

We got to the airport about an hour and a half before our flight. It was surprisingly busy for 4:30am, and again we had trouble getting all of our boarding passes from the incompetent personnel. After sorting things out, we got to the proper gate, bought some snacks, and waited.

The first flight was uneventful. We got into Vancouver and went through customs. Again, I left a bottle of juice in my bag (I was supposed to drink it before customs). They took it, and when I asked if I could drink it on the spot, they just threw it away.

More snacks and another short wait later, we boarded our flight for Toronto. I hate to say "I knew something was going to go wrong," because I always feel that way about air travel, but it did. I was just way too happy about getting home in time to see JW that night for it to actually happen.

Somewhere over the Rockies, close to the BC-Alberta border, the pilots detected a leak in the emergency oxygen tank they use if the flight cabin depressurizes. We were forced to head to Calgary for repairs.

We sat, grounded, and unable to leave the plane, for over two hours, while repairs to the tank were made. Finally, after deicing, we took off. We landed in Toronto a little over three hours late. On the flight, I watched "Good Will Hunting" on my laptop. It's about a janitor at MIT who's a math genius (Matt Damon). He has his problems, and a MIT professor and his psychiatrist friend fight over Damon's direction. The professor pressures him to accept a job in mathematics right away, while the other tries to help him with his demons while he makes his own choice. In the end, Damon makes his own choice, having been mentally saved by the psychiatrist and his best friend (Ben Affleck). I especially liked the math aspect of the movie - the problems being solved by the professor were in the graph theory branch of math. I took a course in graph theory in school, so I could relate to the problems being worked on. It did take a bit of the realism out of the movie, but whatever.

AN and I were expecting bad things in Toronto - prehaps a day stranded there, or even worse, given the Easter weekend. Fortunately, they had moved us to a later flight to Halifax, and it left soon after we got to Toronto. We did have to wait for them to fix a couple of the seats before we could leave.

We got to Halifax around 11pm, though our bags (predictably) didn't arrive with us. After filling out the paperwork, we went home. I went straight to bed - I did not see JW, nor did I pass "GO" (that has absolutely no meaning, though having thought about it, I think some meaning might be read into it!).

Friday morning, I got up at a decent time. I unpacked what little I had with me, and basically killed time until my bags arrived at 12:30. After unpacking those, I finally went over to JW's. It was great to see her, after such a long time. We spent the bulk of the afternoon asleep - we were both tired. We had leftovers for dinner - pizza and scrambled eggs. We "blew" the eggs so that JW could paint them later - you basically poke holes at the top and bottom of the egg, then blow the insides out of one hole via the other. The hollow shell then dries, and it can later be painted (for Easter).

After supper, we watched Jesus Christ Superstar, an appropriate activity for Easter Friday. It had been my turn to pick a movie, but I yielded to the sense that JCS made. I really didn't know what to expect, as it was my first time seeing it. I was pleasantly surprised by the plethora of 70s music - the songs were really fun. I couldn't get past just how 70s the movie was - the King of Jews wore a head band and yellow-tinted sunglasses - awesome. I didn't like that the movie ended with Jesus' crucifixion - I wanted to see a bit more.

On Saturday, I suggested to JW that we go to Scott's Bay, close to Cape Split, where she gets the rocks that she tumbles/polishes. I like going there, because I also have an interest in rocks, though I never bring any home because I don't have any way of polishing them. I like the ocean even more, and the last time we were at Scott's Bay, the waves were big and fun. I love tides, so naturally, any visit to the Bay of Fundy is exciting for me. I would get a cottage along the bay in an instant if it weren't for two things: poor swimming conditions (cold water, dangerous tides, mucky/rocky beaches), and my ties to the north shore (where the swimming conditions are the best in Nova Scotia, but the tides aren't much fun). I still might. I feel lucky to be within driving distance of such a natural wonder.

JW was excited about going to Scott's Bay too. On the way there, we picked up her friend, BE, and we were off. The traffic was light, and we got to the beach in Scott's Bay pretty quickly. Along the way, we stopped at a lookoff close to the beach to take pictures. We also stopped to take pictures of a donkey and its guardian horse. As we approached, the horse kept between us and the donkey, not allowing us to get a good picture of it. It had a cold, icy stare, and a wild look in its eye - it would've killed the three of us had we gone any closer, shooting flames through its menacing nostrils to counterbalance the icy stare. The donkey resumed grazing, and as it moved, we got a few pictures of it. The horse remained motionless, staring holes through our heads. No human could've possibly defeated it in a staring contest.

At the beach, much to my delight, the conditions were similar to my last visit. There was a bit of wind, and the waves were a decent size. The tide was coming in, which of course is more exciting than a tide going out. I discovered this while washing clay off my hands - there are deposits of clay all over the beach. I could scarcely get my hands in the water before being forced to take a step back. I've never enjoyed washing my hands quite so much (numb hands included). The tide, already being about three-quarters of the way in, severely limited the size of the beach, and thus the rocks available, but there were still plenty to be found.

The three of us split up and staked claims to different parts of the beach. We slowly walked, heads down, examining the ground for potential winners. BE and I would occasionally walk over to JW with several candidates. Thinking we'd done well, we would have our hopes crushed time and time again - quite literally. JW would take a rock, declare it no good, then throw it to the ground. I'm learning, though - she accepted more of my rocks (editor's note: you're really asking for it) than she had the first time - I'm starting to learn which rocks will polish well. My favourite polisable rocks are the ones that you can see through, or into. I also like the ones with geodes in them, though I didn't personally find any this time around. I like some other unpolishable ones too, but I didn't bother keeping any of them.

A stream cutting down the middle of the beach was just narrow enough to get across, so I went over to the other side for a look, leaving the girls on the other side. Much to my delight, I found a large deposit of shells along the edge of the stream on that side - large snail shells (smooth), one large broken pointy snail shell, clam shells, and a very strange, flat shell that was circular, had a hole in the middle, and had spikes around the hole on one side.

Soon after the shell run, the girls decided it was time to go home. I was disappointed, not having had my fill of the beach yet. I just like being there, and I wanted to stay as long as possible. I wanted to watch the tide come all the way in, and I wanted to listen to the waves along the way. Ironically, nature called us away from the beach.

We drove to Wolfville to eat at Paddy's/Rosie's, just as JW and I had done last time. JW and I both had the sesame salad again, too. It's right up there with authentic Chinese food as far as making vegetables taste good goes. I very seldom love eating green pepper, but it actually tasted good in the salad. There was a live band to entertain us as we ate, and I watched the Masters on a TV reflected in a mirror behind the band.

After our meal, we headed back into town. It snowed most of the way, and by the time we got to Lower Sackville, it had covered the ground. It made for a beautiful, though potentially dangerous, drive. We dropped BE off, then continued back to JW's. We stopped for groceries/Easter cards/birthday cards along the way.

I dropped off JW, then headed home. It was UFC night, and I'd promised TA that I'd come out to the event. I went over to TA's, and found AD already there. We stayed for a little while, watching golf. After the golf, we headed downtown to the Oasis to catch the action. We arrived at 8:45, with the action starting at 11 - and wings ending at 9. So yes, we had a feast of wings and some beer, while watching a hockey game. It was the Canadiens versus the Leafs, and playoff spots were on the line for both - a loss by either team meant elimination. I'm a Canadiens "fan", in the laziest sense of the word. At least I was able to watch one game this year - it was a good one, but they lost. I don't like the Leafs, and I was happy to hear the next day that they too had been eliminated from playoff contention.

The UFC event itself wasn't particularly entertaining - I slept through a lot of it. Too many wings and too much beer I guess. The main event was supremely disappointing. It was for the welterweight championship, and it pitted the Canadian champion Georges St Pierre against the winner of the UFC TV reality series, Matt Serra. There wasn't much hype for the match, because it was widely believed that Matt Serra had no chance. I'll give you one guess as to what happened.

I wound up walking all the way home, tired and disappointed. It was windy and still snowing as I stumbled along snow covered sidewalks. I sort of enjoyed it though - being outside experiencing all of nature's fury. It took me an hour to get home, finally getting in the door around 2:30am.

My alarm woke me up at 10:20am Sunday. I rushed to get dressed, then headed to my parents'. I got quite a verbal lashing when Mum saw my pants - they were slightly wrinkled, and apparently they had grease stains making it look like I'd shit myself. We picked up my grandmother, then stopped by my place for a fresh pair of pants.

We met my Aunt and cousin at 44 North for Easter brunch. It's a buffet, one that I've been to several times. I found the food quality to be worse than I remembered, but it might just be that I've got higher standards these days. The desserts were excellent, at least. I had a few plates of food before calling it quits, not wanting to eat myself into further discomfort. I had a nasty headache the entire day from the night before.

While at the buffet, LS opened his cards and presents, while I recounted Seattle stories to the relatives. I was surprised to see that LS had grown a beard - he carried it well.

After the lengthy meal, I wound up on my parents' couch watching five solid hours of golf. It was the Masters, the year's first major, and the biggest tournament of the year in my opinion. Many years, I miss out on Easter activities because I'm too busy watching it, but this year it worked out perfectly. We had snacks in front of the TV at six, in place of dinner. I did regret having to turn down an invitation to Easter dinner at JW's parents' - I would've liked to have gone. However, if I had gone, I would've either spent the entire time in front of the tube, or sat there fretting about missing it. It's so important to me, that if I had to choose to watch just one television event (sports, a movie, a TV show) a year, I'd choose the final round of the Masters. I've taken days off work in the past just to watch the early Thursday and Friday rounds, let alone the final Sunday round!

My second favourite event of the year is the British Open (known to the rest of the world as THE Open), played in July. My third favourite is the US Open, played in June, and I suppose my fourth is The Player's Championship, played in May this year.

Zack Johnson won this year. It was only his second win, which is unusual for the Masters - the pressure generally crushes all but the most seasoned veterans. I've watched him play for a couple of years, and I always liked his style - I figured he'd win something big, but I didn't think it would be this soon.

Well, next week should be a bit quieter, for a change. It'll be nice to see the office again, and the four-day week will ease me back into "regular" life. I've got nothing big planned, but I'm sure something exciting will happen - hopefully Spring.

I’m currently listening to: Waiting, from Rotten Apples by The Smashing Pumpkins (whom I hear are back together!).

Movies watched this week: Good Will Hunting

1470 - The Freyed Ends of Seattle

What a week. I've discovered that putting four guys together for a week leads to some pretty self-destructive activity. I'm kind of glad I didn't ever live in residence - if this is a taste of living in residence, I'm sure I never would've survived it! The week saw us (AN, B-CC, B-AC and myself) go from mild amusement and hesitation, to elation and excitement, to a feeling of total chaos, and finally, to feelings of fatigue and boredom toward the end of the week.

The problem with business travel is that it's too easy to just go out and eat. Every meal is free, so why would you go to the grocery store to buy healthy things, then come back to the hotel and cook them (we have kitchens in our rooms)? It's difficult to find healthy food around, and when you do find it, the portions are huge. You eat until the food is gone, only afterward realizing that you probably didn't need that much. And, of course, you have a couple of beers, because you're out enjoying yourself after a hard day's work. There is also the peer pressure factor - if your buddy is having a big, tasty steak, you tend not to order the cheap salad. If your buddy orders another beer, you're not going to want to sit around and watch him drink it for a half-hour - you get one for yourself.

Monday, AN and I got up at seven and met for breakfast at half-past. Breakfast is the one semi-healthy meal that we have. We could go to Denny's for a huge, unhealthy meal (think Smitty's times two for the same price), but instead we have cold cereal or a bagel, some yogurt and maybe an orange (if they're there) - continental breakfast at the hotel. Breakfast being free also allows us to have nicer dinners in the evenings.

We worked Monday from eight until about six, so it wasn't too bad. We ate lunch at Arby's - I had a market frssh sandwich with curly fries. After work, AN and I went to Canyon's to wait for B-CC and B-AC to arrive from Vancouver - they'd flown in there and driven over the boarder because B-CC doesn't have a passport. It's actually a good story that I shouldn't tell here - the border crossing took two hours because they failed to lie about the purpose of their visit to the US - work. In the end, our CEO worked things out on B-CC's cell phone with the border agent. They basically let the two into the country not knowing who to believe!

They arrived around nine, and we had dinner and several drinks. I had a Thai wrap with rice, peanut sauce and various veggies - it also came with pineapple! The conversation was reserved, as we didn't know each other that well, but it wasn't long before we were taking turns badmouthing those coworkers deserving it. We also badmouthed the company travel policies (or lack thereof).

Tuesday morning, we all headed into work together. Again, we worked from eight until about six, this time taking lunch at D-Thai. I had the Panang Curry, which is coconutty and has various peppers in it (red, green and hotter ones). I went with "level four spicy", and I got through it okay.

After work, we hung out in B-AC's room and had a few beers before heading to Outback Steakhouse. I had the king crab leg dinner - one and a half pounds of crab - it was absolutely delicious - one of the better meals I've had in a long time. We asked the waitress about nearby pool halls, and were told the nearest one was a half hour away. She told us to go to the Silver Dollar Casino or Thrasher's Bar. The Silver Dollar Casino didn't have their tables open, and we wound up checking out a place across the street called Pounders - a name that we've laughed about many times since. The place was a total dive - peanuts on the floors, dirt-cheap tables that looked like they were made of plywood, slutty, aging waitresses and the typical bar flies that accompany such places.

They had one pool table - it was a pay table, and the felt wasn't in great shape. It didn't even return all of the balls every time. By this time, we'd grown accustomed to each other, and we (well, AN and I at least) were totally being ourselves - laughing a lot and saying a lot of "crazy" things. We played for a little over an hour, and I'm proud to say that I won every game I played. I played pretty well, but B-CC was clearly the best player. He later mentioned that he always chokes when he plays new people - and this case was no exception. Both times I played him, he got off to a good lead. Later, he'd miss a shot or two on the eight ball, and I'd capitalize and run a few balls off the table to finish.

We were all tired, and so we took our leave of the hospitality of Pounders around eleven.

Wednesday was to be our last day of relative calm. We worked a regular day again, eating lunch at Qdoba - a mexican fast food joint. I had a tasty burrito with black beans, veggies, spicy sauce and rice.

For dinner, we went to McMiniman's, a local micro-brewery. By now, we were all feeling the effects of bad eating (except B-CC - he claims that you just get used to it after a while). AN ordered a veggie tray, and I had a few hot wings. We were going to share our dinners, but in the end I wound up eating only the wings. I didn't have many, and they were completely unappetizing. B-AC had to finish them off for me. I did manage to have a couple of beers - after all, we were at a micro-brewery.

Thursday, all hell broke loose. Our supervisor in Seattle informed us that he'd "dropped the ball" and not told us about a need for a database drop by Friday morning. AN and I spent the day furiously attempting to whip something together, suffering many setbacks as we went. It was a frustrating day - we couldn't get answers to our questions, and we were angry that we had to work so hard for no good reason. We worked from eight in the morning until about midnight, taking a few hours in the middle to go to Jack-in-the-Box for lunch (I only had a chicken sandwich, as I had veggies waiting back at work), and Bonefish Grill for supper. The grill is a nice restaurant that AN and I went to on my birthday. By now the four of us were giddy all the time, laughing at anything and everything. We especially laughed about how terrible we all felt from the bad food and several days of beer. We felt like we were spending a bit too much on ourselves at our company's expense (well, actually at the company in Seattle's expense), but Thursday we justified overspending based on how we'd been jerked around at work.

We all had appetizers - I had a spicy shrimp platter. Then, we all had filet mignons, which came with mashed potatoes (that I could almost drink) and candied carrots (a bizarre flavour). We were all totally full, and we weren't going to have dessert, but then B-CC decided to have a brownie dessert, and so we all joined in the fun. I also had the brownie dessert - it had raspberry sauce, vanilla ice cream and cream, and the chocolate in the brownie was REALLY good. Of course, we all had a few beverages.

Friday was another hard day. The deadline for our data had moved to sometime Saturday, and we worked on a few changes handed to us by our boss. For lunch, we went to Arby's again. I had a sandwich, plus a banana and oranges back at work. We left work at six to go catch a SuperSonics basketball game, knowing we had to come back after the game to finish up some work.

The game was fun, only in that it's still a relatively new experience for us. I had a cardboard, unsalted pretzel (I swear it was cardboard) and a five-dollar hot dog that wasn't very big. The game was a blowout, with the home team winning by a large amount. We got our tickets from a scalper, and they were the worst seats in the building. Though they appeared to be together on paper, they were divided in pairs of two by a steel beam support - yes, our seats were in the very top row of the building. Fortunately, the game wasn't well attended, so we all sat on one side of the beam. Our bad seats also meant we had no chance of catching free tickets being dropped by a blimp, t-shirts thrown by the SuperSonics girls, or more shirts dropped from the rafters of the building. We were above the rafters.

After the game, B-CC and B-AC went up the Space Needle, while AN and I wondered aimlessly around the area. We came across a line of pot-smoking, pillow-carrying teenagers waiting to be let into a planetarium. We also crossed paths with a few of the many mentally-deranged bums in the city.

After the needle, we headed back to work. Fortunately, we didn't stay long, though, as I would later find out, AN worked through most of the night.

Saturday was supposed to be fun. It was the weekend after all. Instead, it was pretty sad. We were all tired of food - the thought of a burger, coffee, or a drink of beer made us sick to our stomachs. We were tired of each other's company, having been constantly together for nearly five days. Our car rides together were quiet, and our meals were even quieter. AN was in particularly rough shape having not slept much.

AN and I went into work in the morning. We fixed up a few problems, then met up with the other guys early afternoon. We decided to head out to the Boeing facility just outside of town - they had tours of their massive campus. B-CC really wanted to go, as he's interested in planes, cars and machines of all types. We found the place after a few wrong turns - we tried unsuccessfully to get into the corporate offce, we think. There was a small model of a plane inside the office, which we could see through the glass, so I pointed out that at least we'd seen something.

At the real tour, we found the next tour sold out, so we signed up for the three o'clock one. To pass the time, we went to a nearby Taco Bell, the only real restaurant we could find nearby. Our insanity deepend when B-CC bought some superballs, which we then bounced all over the restaurant. I had nachos supreme plus a supreme taco, and a raspberry iced tea. The iced tea story in Seattle is kind of interesting - it never has sugar added - you have to add it yourself. We've been unable to find a single restaurant offering sweetened iced tea.

Back at Boeing, we looked around a rather boring museum display before the tour. The best part was an old cockpit - we had to fight the kids off to get into it. I took the co-pilot seat, and then was continuously hit in the groin by the controls controlled by a five-year-old in the pilot's seat. The kid must've been an airplane whiz, because he took to telling what all the controls did - he knew a lot more than I did!

The tour itself was excellent - the tour guide was really funny and knowledgable. A bus took us past security and into the huge complex, complete with its own runway. We passed several new planes ready to be delivered to some client. Finally, we entered the hangar where they build some of their planes. It consisted of seven assembly lines, each a half-mile long, with doors the size of football fields. We went in via perhaps the longest corridor I'd ever seen. The view inside the building was even more grand - the wall furthest from us was so far away, I couldn't distinguish large objects from one another. Apparently, one time when the air conditioning broke down, clouds formed in the building. People walked around on the floor like dots, around the huge planes being built.

Many planes sat in various stages of assembly. Some were just hollow sections, others were complete other than the paint. We were astonished to hear that the planes are built in just six weeks. Imagine our amazement when we heard that a new moving assembly line being installed will allow them to build planes in FIVE DAYS! The tour was really interesting and fun for all four of us.

After the tour, we resisted the urge to head for the hills, instead opting to drive back to the office. AN and I did a bit of work, then we met up with the boys at the hotel. We decided to head out for sushi at Sushi Zen, a nicely-decorated sushi full of a wide mix of people. We over-ordered big time, thinking that sushi is small and not filling. We all had appetizers, then meals consisting of at least fifteen pieces of sushi. B-CC almost threw up when he tasted one piece of sushi. I also had it - we have no idea what it was, but it was like chewy wax - it was the first sushi I've ever had that I didn't like. B-CC didn't even come close to finishing his meal - he just couldn't get that waxy taste out of his mouth. I finished my meal, but just barely, while AN and B-AC didn't finish theirs. To top it off, we "enjoyed" (by which I mean got down) several pint-sized Japanese beers. We managed to turn an otherwise healthy experience into another food bonanza.

After sushi, we made our gallant return to Pounders. We fully expected the place to be overrun by a combination of drug dealers, ax murderers and country hicks, but we went in anyway. The pool table was occupied by two suspicious-looking characters - a young man dressed up like a rapper, and an older man who'd obviously had a rough life. He might as well have been wearing red leather pants to go with his NASCAR hat, dishonest moustache, and wrinkled skin.

B-CC went up to the pair to ask about their intentions, not noticing the large stack of quarters on the bar next to the table. The two were friendly enough, and they offered to play with us. The younger one took off for most of the night, so we wound up playing with the older one, while he bought us beer and told bad jokes. He also told us about his three ex-wives, and it soon became apparent why they were all "ex." B-AC asked him about peeler bars, and he started to give us directions to one all the way downtown, when we stopped him. He then pointed out that he gets whatever he wants when he cruises the streets downtown.

He played a few shots poorly to start, and we were all convinced that he was a hustler, giving us a few wins early to get us to bet on a game. He did mention betting later on, but we told him we weren't interested, and he claimed he was only joking. He actually still won all of his games, except for the two he played against me. I wasn't even playing well, but somehow I won. It became apparent that either he wasn't all that good, or that he was drunk... or both I suppose.

After a few more "interesting" stories, B-AC gave the guy his work number and suite number at the hotel in case he wanted to play pool again. The next day he pointed out that he probably shouldn't have done that. We keep expecting the guy to be in B-AC's room one day, sitting in the dark, tenting his fingers. He hasn't shown up yet.... :) *Jaws music*

Sunday morning, AN and I met up and went into work around ten. We came back at the hotel around twelve to collect the guys and head down to the underground tour downtown, but we couldn't find anyone. B-CC's car was gone, and B-AC didn't answer his door. We decided to go for a random cruise, during which we passed mansions, trailer parks, huge forests, huge fields, cows, chickens, wineries, Costcos, trucks, rocks and funny signs. After the cruise, we found B-CC, who'd stepped out for the morning to go to church. B-AC apparently was in his room, asleep I guess, but we got him up, and headed downtown.

We parked near the Space Needle, figuring we could find the underground tour. We did find it, but not before taking the monorail, then walking fifteen blocks along downtown streets filled with garbage and homeless people. Arriving at quarter to three, the three o'clock tour was sold out, so we bought tickets to the five o'clock one. We then set out in search of a restaurant that could kill two hours of our time. The only respectable place we could find was a Quizznos, so we went inside and had subs. It only took us a half hour to eat them, so we decided to go for a stroll.

We came across the home of the Seahawks (Football) - I forget the name of the stadium. Right behind it was Safeco Field, the home of the Mariners (baseball) - we internalized that information above the neck, as one of my old teachers would say. There was a comic book convention going on, and many people around the stadiums were wearing costumes. We tried to get into the convention for a peek, but it cost $12. Instead, we slowly walked back to the underground tour.

The tour itself was good and bad. The tour guide was an older, fast-talking, completely random lady who managed to make fun of nearly every segment of the population. She was particularly merciless when it came to Tacoma, a city located at the southern edge of Seattle. She was a bit inspiring to me, because her speaking was no better than mine, yet she's been a tour guide for 28 years. I don't think I'll ever be as bubbly in front of a dead crowd though - she hardly stopped laughing the entire time!

She told us the story of how the underground came to be - largely sanitary reasons. We explored the basements (well, now basements, but formerly first floors), and saw piles of rubble, wood, pipes, dust, dirt, cobwebs and flies. It really stunk too. A lot of the junk looked 'placed', and investigation on Wikipedia later verified this. We saw old businesses still largely intact (no furniture though). Otherwise, the tour was pretty uneventful, except for the guide's colourful storytelling, which saved the experience.

Okay, it's almost a week later, and I'm just getting back to this entry. I published it by accident last time, so I'm sure no one will ever read this part. Anyway, after the tour, we walked back to the monorail. On the way back, we heard this long scream across the street - it was some guy looking totally drugged out. Every block or so, he would stop, look around, grab the hair on the back of his head and yank, then scream loudly for as long as ten seconds. This happened probably fifteen times, until finally he turned up a street away from us. B-AC later chose this as his favourite moment of the trip.

The rest of the trip back was uneventful. We stopped into the office for a few minutes to check on our work, then went our separate ways for the remainder of the evening.

I don't think I mentioned the movie 1001 Maniacs - I forget exactly when we watched it, but it was a super-cheesy, super-gory and super-cheap slasher where a group of teens wonder into a southern hick town, populated by people that died during the American civil war. It was by far the worst movie I've ever seen, and we only watched it because it was so bad. In the end, all of the teens die - they are the dishes of honour at the town's annual feast.

I’m currently listening to: Choose Life by Humate.

Movies watched this week: Wallstreet, 1001 Maniacs