This week...
There aren't any words in the English language that are strong enough to describe this week. From work to home and home to work, there just... isn't a word. Stress is too weak.
And then there was the drive home. I've never felt closer to God than I did today coming home. I've never driven a car and felt like every bend, every motherfucking lane-change, was flirting with mortal danger. The road conditions were good, don't get me wrong. When it was just me on the road, things were great.
But add other cars to the mix... Take drive #1 for example. Driving like a drunk, paranoid woman (kidding about the woman part, only not really), this person couldn't go down a hill, no matter how slight, without tapping their brakes maybe five or ten times in rapid succession. On the up-hill parts, where the right side of the road is thoughtfully divided into two lanes for passing, said DPW-D proceeds to then straddle the two lanes, weaving dangerously between the two and accelerating, as to prevent anyone from passing and not risk life and limb to get home.
Great fun. Add a semi.
Large semi decides he's had enough trundling behind me and DPW-D (as, when we're not going up a hill, this maniac is only going 80 through meticulous use of the brakes. It's a posted 100 zone.) So he starts barrelling up the passing lane beside me. Dipshit in the car in front decides s/he's going to start straddling the lanes again, so then the semi is forced to crank on the highbeams and take immediate evasive action. I was sitting there, my windshield being blasted by thick, muddy grime off the road, mostly blind. The only sense I got was that I had four-foot tall tires looming towards my driver side door, and a car weaving dangerously in front of me.
Finger found horn, finger found highbeam switch, and five minutes later, when I finally passed the motherfucker, finger found the power window button so s/he could see said finger saluting him/her as I roared past.
I was almost tempted to take a picture when I got home. My car is so caked with road-slime that it looks like I've just finished driving it through a tour of Iraq's deserts. The only part of my car that's not completely plastered is the rear window and two streaky clear patches where my shitty windshield wipers tried in vain to improve visibility.
Anyway, I think I'm going to get some sleep. Here's hoping that numbnut in the car suffers an aneurism tonight, so that nobody has to die on the road in the near future from his/her antics. Cruel to say, but just imagine yourself in a van with your family and somebody pulls those antics. Not so cruel now, is it?
Saturday, December 30, 2006
Monday, December 25, 2006
Post Yule Charm
Well, I suppose I should update too. I'm glad Christmas has finally gotten out of the way. There, I said it. After nearly a month and a half of commercialized bullshit leading up to it, I'm glad that the 8-10 hours of Christmas day passed in relative peace. No carolers. No bells. No specials or sales. Just me and the family, and a shitload of food.
Didn't get much in the way of presents this year. Although, in a way, that's okay. I never really know what I want, and what I ended up getting this year is useful to the point that its utilitarian. So, I won't be a useless nub around the house anymore.
In other news, this week I've been pretty much a zombie. Or I was, until I got home. I've been debating some things with myself, like when I should finally get up the gusto and move. But, perhaps the most pressing thing right now is where my relational life is heading.
Edit: It's done.
I don't think I'll be updating again before new years. In fact, depending on how things go this week, I'll probably be spending most of my nights drunk out of my tree. I hate to vouch alcohol as a problem solver, but really, if the shoe fits...
Didn't get much in the way of presents this year. Although, in a way, that's okay. I never really know what I want, and what I ended up getting this year is useful to the point that its utilitarian. So, I won't be a useless nub around the house anymore.
In other news, this week I've been pretty much a zombie. Or I was, until I got home. I've been debating some things with myself, like when I should finally get up the gusto and move. But, perhaps the most pressing thing right now is where my relational life is heading.
Edit: It's done.
I don't think I'll be updating again before new years. In fact, depending on how things go this week, I'll probably be spending most of my nights drunk out of my tree. I hate to vouch alcohol as a problem solver, but really, if the shoe fits...
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Narcoleptic Insomnia
I guess my body's still resisting the switch from living at night.
I was making rice today, and decided to sit down on a couch in the living room to wait while it cooked. The next thing I knew, I was laying down, noting how comfy this couch was. The next thing I knew, I was more or less fast asleep, dreaming about being a million miles away, watching the waves come in and out on an unknown coastline.
Next thing I know, I'm sitting on this beach and my watch starts beeping. Still in the dream, I reach to switch it off, and in doing so, snap awake to the wonderful smell of half-charcoaled rice.
I really should try and get some sleep tonight, but working for virtually three weeks in a row has taken a pretty bad toll on me.
In fact, if and when I head to Calgary this weekend, I think Friday night will largely be spent in bed. That, and my car's muffler needs to be fixed. It's quite humorous. It's not as loud from outside the car, but inside, it sounds like I've got one of those gimmicky inverted mufflers. Kind of a pain on the highway, because it's loud enough to drown out my music, and I'm virtually deaf by the time I get to where I'm going.
In other news, Sleemans has failed me. I bought some of their Honey Brown lager on the account it was supposed to be pretty good. But honestly. Who puts honey in beer? I mean, honestly. Gross. Nasty. Putrid.
I have also been cursed by the camera gods. My pictures have sucked this week. Largely because I'm too tired to function properly. So, off to bed I go, hoping for better luck, a cure for strife, and a better lot for those I think of.
Good night.
Edit: Must've been the rum. Thanks Vigilante.
I was making rice today, and decided to sit down on a couch in the living room to wait while it cooked. The next thing I knew, I was laying down, noting how comfy this couch was. The next thing I knew, I was more or less fast asleep, dreaming about being a million miles away, watching the waves come in and out on an unknown coastline.
Next thing I know, I'm sitting on this beach and my watch starts beeping. Still in the dream, I reach to switch it off, and in doing so, snap awake to the wonderful smell of half-charcoaled rice.
I really should try and get some sleep tonight, but working for virtually three weeks in a row has taken a pretty bad toll on me.
In fact, if and when I head to Calgary this weekend, I think Friday night will largely be spent in bed. That, and my car's muffler needs to be fixed. It's quite humorous. It's not as loud from outside the car, but inside, it sounds like I've got one of those gimmicky inverted mufflers. Kind of a pain on the highway, because it's loud enough to drown out my music, and I'm virtually deaf by the time I get to where I'm going.
In other news, Sleemans has failed me. I bought some of their Honey Brown lager on the account it was supposed to be pretty good. But honestly. Who puts honey in beer? I mean, honestly. Gross. Nasty. Putrid.
I have also been cursed by the camera gods. My pictures have sucked this week. Largely because I'm too tired to function properly. So, off to bed I go, hoping for better luck, a cure for strife, and a better lot for those I think of.
Good night.
Edit: Must've been the rum. Thanks Vigilante.
Sunday, December 17, 2006
Makron
So, I've been playing a bit of Quake 4 lately, since I possess neither a Wii nor a 360. (We will never mention the affront of the PS of 3, for it is sacrilege).
It's a pretty fun game. Very twisted though, there've been a few part where I've had to look away due to the sheer monstrosity of the Strogg. Once I finally beat this beast, next up is the FEAR expansion, courtesy none other than D "I'll sodomize your mom" Chubaty.
After that, I'll be investing in a new video card so that I can actually enjoy these games, rather than just suffering through the content at heinous resolutions just so people can stop telling me to play it.
And after the 3D card, I will then try in earnest to track down a Wii, since I guess Brawl is going to be out at that point (Network support, anyone? Fucking rights).
I should also get back to playing WoW every once in a while. I'm sure my rank has long since been revoked, and I will have to work my way up from peasant once again. Albeit, I do not miss being asked for healing. Not one fucking bit. Goddamn priests need to do their job, eh wot.
Anyway, back to work.
It's a pretty fun game. Very twisted though, there've been a few part where I've had to look away due to the sheer monstrosity of the Strogg. Once I finally beat this beast, next up is the FEAR expansion, courtesy none other than D "I'll sodomize your mom" Chubaty.
After that, I'll be investing in a new video card so that I can actually enjoy these games, rather than just suffering through the content at heinous resolutions just so people can stop telling me to play it.
And after the 3D card, I will then try in earnest to track down a Wii, since I guess Brawl is going to be out at that point (Network support, anyone? Fucking rights).
I should also get back to playing WoW every once in a while. I'm sure my rank has long since been revoked, and I will have to work my way up from peasant once again. Albeit, I do not miss being asked for healing. Not one fucking bit. Goddamn priests need to do their job, eh wot.
Anyway, back to work.
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Faux Moves
So, it's been a weird week. I tried making the trip to Spruce Grove on Monday, but as it turns out, I was late. Really late. Well, not really, really late, but too late to catch the boys before they left.
So, making it out on Mondays after work is not a feasible option, contrary to what I had hoped. Made all the more bitter by the fact that I have to work next weekend as well as this past weekend, so I'll be seeing neither Calgary nor Spruce Grove for at least another couple of weeks.
Otherwise, I'm going to be out all night, shooting pictures for the paper.
Not much else to report, really. Might throw some food for thought up on Power-Lines, but otherwise, I think this week is going to be pretty non-blogworthy.
Over and out.
So, making it out on Mondays after work is not a feasible option, contrary to what I had hoped. Made all the more bitter by the fact that I have to work next weekend as well as this past weekend, so I'll be seeing neither Calgary nor Spruce Grove for at least another couple of weeks.
Otherwise, I'm going to be out all night, shooting pictures for the paper.
Not much else to report, really. Might throw some food for thought up on Power-Lines, but otherwise, I think this week is going to be pretty non-blogworthy.
Over and out.
Sunday, December 10, 2006
The end of a nuclear era
I woke up from a very disturbing dream this morning. My eyes still can't focus properly, and I feel like I've just barely escaped something with my life.
The dream was about an hour long, and went something like this:
After a time spent in the media, I somehow ended up drifting jobs until I ended up with a private investigation firm that dealt specifically with industrial espionage and uncovering illicit arms trades. After working with this firm for around five years, they finally handed me an assignment that was a bit heavier and a lot more worrying than foreign spies stealing plans for farm machinery.
Somebody had been lifting plans for a military satillite, and it was up to me to find out who did it, what they took, where they took it, and why they took it.
As with any dream, the continuity kind of lapses a bit before I recall the next thing.
We're looking at a schematic of a very large satillite. It looks like something right out of a science fiction movie. Instead of being small, with giant solar panels, it looks something like a shuttle with a huge drum-like apparatus attached to the roof, and two (undersized) solar panels mounted on the belly to run parallel to the line of the shuttle.
The schematic is a computer image, showing relative density and integrity of the materials used to make the thing. The drum on top seems typical space fare, aluminum, steel, reinforced thermal tiles. The shuttle section though... it wasn't typical. The density was way too high to be something that would nomally be risked in space.
A number came my way. A contact. A very important contact, regarding what it was that was stolen, and why - at this time - the US Army has become involved in my investigation. I jot down his name and number.
I wouldn't get a chance to call though. Somebody shouts "it's doing... something!"
And the next thing I know, we're all blinded by stinging white light that's pouring in from windows on one side of the building. A dull roar reverberates through the ground and I think "My God, this is what Hiroshima must have been like."
I attempted to leave the building. But knowing I'd never make it, I exited the door and huddled up against the brick wall. White light, almost fluid in appearance, poured from around the alleyways and out the door I had just exited. I could hear screams, intermingled with the roar of whatever it was being shot down on us. My guess is, their eyes melted out.
"This is it," I thought. "This is the end of the nuclear era."
The dream was an extension of a thought I sometimes have, how the next logical step in weapon superiority involves having a superweapon in space, on standby at all times. In this case, the weapon was an immence kind of light fission engine, with the waste energy accumulated from splitting photons being projected down a fine ray path onto a specific spot on the Earth.
Depending on how its utilized, such a weapon could be used to eradicate people, cities, or entire countries without fear of reprisal.
Fearsome. I still have little spots in my vision from the light in the windows.
The dream was about an hour long, and went something like this:
After a time spent in the media, I somehow ended up drifting jobs until I ended up with a private investigation firm that dealt specifically with industrial espionage and uncovering illicit arms trades. After working with this firm for around five years, they finally handed me an assignment that was a bit heavier and a lot more worrying than foreign spies stealing plans for farm machinery.
Somebody had been lifting plans for a military satillite, and it was up to me to find out who did it, what they took, where they took it, and why they took it.
As with any dream, the continuity kind of lapses a bit before I recall the next thing.
We're looking at a schematic of a very large satillite. It looks like something right out of a science fiction movie. Instead of being small, with giant solar panels, it looks something like a shuttle with a huge drum-like apparatus attached to the roof, and two (undersized) solar panels mounted on the belly to run parallel to the line of the shuttle.
The schematic is a computer image, showing relative density and integrity of the materials used to make the thing. The drum on top seems typical space fare, aluminum, steel, reinforced thermal tiles. The shuttle section though... it wasn't typical. The density was way too high to be something that would nomally be risked in space.
A number came my way. A contact. A very important contact, regarding what it was that was stolen, and why - at this time - the US Army has become involved in my investigation. I jot down his name and number.
I wouldn't get a chance to call though. Somebody shouts "it's doing... something!"
And the next thing I know, we're all blinded by stinging white light that's pouring in from windows on one side of the building. A dull roar reverberates through the ground and I think "My God, this is what Hiroshima must have been like."
I attempted to leave the building. But knowing I'd never make it, I exited the door and huddled up against the brick wall. White light, almost fluid in appearance, poured from around the alleyways and out the door I had just exited. I could hear screams, intermingled with the roar of whatever it was being shot down on us. My guess is, their eyes melted out.
"This is it," I thought. "This is the end of the nuclear era."
The dream was an extension of a thought I sometimes have, how the next logical step in weapon superiority involves having a superweapon in space, on standby at all times. In this case, the weapon was an immence kind of light fission engine, with the waste energy accumulated from splitting photons being projected down a fine ray path onto a specific spot on the Earth.
Depending on how its utilized, such a weapon could be used to eradicate people, cities, or entire countries without fear of reprisal.
Fearsome. I still have little spots in my vision from the light in the windows.
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
Broken machines fix people
What kind of world is this...
Where thieves steal from the poor to become wealthy.
Where the wealthy steal from thieves to become rich.
The rich steal from the well-to-do to become better off.
The better off steal from the altruistic to become masters.
The masters steal from the people to become thieves.
Just musing. There's been a few disturbing stories floated my way this week.
I'm trying to organize what's inside my head for this weekend. I've got hockey games to cover, and I'm also going to try recording again.
Hopefully. We'll see what I'm feeling like.
Where thieves steal from the poor to become wealthy.
Where the wealthy steal from thieves to become rich.
The rich steal from the well-to-do to become better off.
The better off steal from the altruistic to become masters.
The masters steal from the people to become thieves.
Just musing. There's been a few disturbing stories floated my way this week.
I'm trying to organize what's inside my head for this weekend. I've got hockey games to cover, and I'm also going to try recording again.
Hopefully. We'll see what I'm feeling like.
Monday, December 04, 2006
Snowed In
It's still coming down folks. At this rate, I won't be able to get to work tomorrow, let alone come to a movie tonight. Sorry for the inconvenience.
I think I'll try and make some fancy schmancy dinner tonight to pass the time. Fuck, it's boring out here when I've got the weekend off and I can't go anywhere.
Fucking snow.
I think I'll try and make some fancy schmancy dinner tonight to pass the time. Fuck, it's boring out here when I've got the weekend off and I can't go anywhere.
Fucking snow.
Sunday, December 03, 2006
A million miles from anywhere
I had a laundry list of things to do today, but I just wasted the whole day either sleeping or daydreaming.
It's been a very productive day for doing nothing, and I'll I've got to show for it is the ramblings of the dreams I've had, of wandering in dark forests, damp with recent rainfall. Of flying like a bird over lands untouched by human hands. And of being all over the world in a blink of an eye.
Fun stuff. I wasn't even drinking last night, and the strangest things happen.
I've also been playing a lot of guitar. Some of it's been recorded. Some of it hasn't. We'll see how much I've accumulated by the end of the weekend.
Until then, take care everybody.
It's been a very productive day for doing nothing, and I'll I've got to show for it is the ramblings of the dreams I've had, of wandering in dark forests, damp with recent rainfall. Of flying like a bird over lands untouched by human hands. And of being all over the world in a blink of an eye.
Fun stuff. I wasn't even drinking last night, and the strangest things happen.
I've also been playing a lot of guitar. Some of it's been recorded. Some of it hasn't. We'll see how much I've accumulated by the end of the weekend.
Until then, take care everybody.
Saturday, December 02, 2006
Raine: 1 Snow: ZERO
So, I went for groceries tonight.
Everything was good. I wasn't in the greatest of moods, but whatever. It's my weekend off, so all things begin and end in the evening hours.
I was pulling up the driveway, when *kerchunk*. My car. My car fell through the hard pack into several inches of soft, powdery snow. Those of you who know front-wheel drive cars, know what soft powdery snow means.
Oh fuck. I hope I don't need a tow.
Well, I almost did. After cutting a trench about five feet long right down to the black dirt underneath the snow, I finally managed to get the car to lurch free.
I'm now with you to share the exultation of my victory.
Oh... I'm feeling a tad light-headed. Maybe I should sit down.
Everything was good. I wasn't in the greatest of moods, but whatever. It's my weekend off, so all things begin and end in the evening hours.
I was pulling up the driveway, when *kerchunk*. My car. My car fell through the hard pack into several inches of soft, powdery snow. Those of you who know front-wheel drive cars, know what soft powdery snow means.
Oh fuck. I hope I don't need a tow.
Well, I almost did. After cutting a trench about five feet long right down to the black dirt underneath the snow, I finally managed to get the car to lurch free.
I'm now with you to share the exultation of my victory.
Oh... I'm feeling a tad light-headed. Maybe I should sit down.
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