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Journal Entries for July 2005
July 1, 2005 - 8:25 AM
Good morning from my tent at Pine Lake! Well. My July has been off to a great start, and thus far my camping season has been quite an adventure! Yesterday I came home from work at about 3:00 because I knew there was a LOT to do in preperation for the long weekend. What threw me off too this year was the fact that Friday was the holiday instead of Monday. In the back of my mind I kept thinking I had one more day before I went camping to pull my tent out, set it up and let it air, as well as put the battery in the Seadoo and get it all ready to go. So there I was, lying in my bed on Wednesday night, suddenly being struck by the realization that I'm supposed to LEAVE for the lake the next afternoon and I've done NOTHING to prepare! So anyway, I got home from work about 3:00, and the first order of business to take care of for the journey was music. I figure there was NO way I was going to drive to Pine Lake without some tunes. So I moved enough of my stereo back into the van to get some sound for the drive. Considering how much driving I'm going to be doing in the van over the next three weeks, this was indeed a necessity. The next order of business was to pack. It's been almost a year since I packed for a camping trip, so I made a list of things to bring and checked it off as I went so as not to miss anything. So far, so good although I believe I have forgotten one small item which (was not on the list) and I'll explain later.

Once I had done everything at home, I went to pick up my Seadoo. It didn't take long to get it hooked up. I put the battery back in, started it up, it seemed to be ok. I tested the turn / brake lights and everything was working so my last in-town stop was the gas station. Now when I was at the gas station, I looked at my tires and decided to check their pressure. I had between 12 and 20 pounds in all of the four tires! Not good! And after I filled them up, I looked at that bulge on Mr. Front Right and decided it wasn't worth risking a blowout on the highway so I went and got two other tires and put them on the front. It was now 6:30 PM before I was finally heading out of the city. I knew this was later than I would have liked, especially at the front of a long weekend - but what could you do? When I got to the lake, the news was not good: Sandy Cove was FULL! Not a site to be rented, neither tent nor RV. So I turned around and came back home, and am now tenting in my back yard.

huh huh Ok, just kidding. Here's what really happened: When I got to the lake and pulled up at the store, the van was INSTANTLY swarmed with kids. Both the Seadoo and the roof of the van were covered - it was worse than the mosquitos in Calgary! And Sandy Cove was in fact full. All the tent sites and even the RV lots were full! Not a spot to be rented in the campground! Francais asked my why I hadn't phoned and reserved! But, thanks to the generosity of friends, I'm now situated on the front lawn of Heather - much to the delight of Jeff and Chris.

I launched the Seadoo last night as well, and took it out on it's maiden voyage of the year. For the first time since I've owned it, it really didn't run very good. I couldn't even get close to top speed and it kept on sputtering and almost stalling. Fortunately, I think (and hope) I know what the problem is, and my first order of business today is to go see if I can't fix it. I brought two tubes with me this time, the RAID tube and the doughnut tube. But it occured to me as I lay in my tent last night that I probably took my tube patching stuff out of the van while I was cleaning. So hopefully the RAID holds up! I think it was ok when I put it away, but you never know what a season in storage can do to it... Only time will tell. Otherwise I may have to go into Red Deer and buy something. But so far it looks like a great day... The sun is shining in full force on the side of my tent, the air seems warm and there are birds chirping and squalking away in the distance. One thing I'm not used to though is the long walk to my tent from the beach! And up that hill too! haha. But I'm not complaining and I'm grateful to have a spot to camp instead of having to turn around and go home for real!

Of course I couldn't help but reminisce a little as I wandered around the campground last night. How many nights have I spent at Sandy Cove on evenings much like last? The warm lake air, the gentle sound of spots of rain splattering against the site of the tent, the soothing roar of the lantern, swaying on a string inside my tent. Some of the friends you know are here, and it's good to see them all again. But others I did not see, and of course now I wonder where they are and what they're up to. I'm even tempted, just a bit, to make a phone call or two - for old time's sake. Of course, numbers change, and I don't even know if I'd be able to reach anyone. I guess we'll see. My escape was an adventure, (I won't tell you what I did.) Suffice to say, I cannot add - so ask some other kid!

July 1, 2005 - 11:37 PM
Another day at Sandy Cove. You know, I think I'm really getting tired of coming out here by myself. Everything's been done. I've taken kids for rides on the Seadoo. I've fed the ducks duck bread. I've gone swimming. I've sat on the heater looking pensively out over the lake. I've flirted with the cute girl who works in the store. It's all been done.

There's something wrong with the Seadoo. I don't even know where to begin diagnosing, and there's not enough time to get it in anywhere to have it serviced before we go to BC, so I am thinking about not even bringing it. Especially since this is the first year going out there, I have no idea what there is in terms of lakes, launches, gas, or anything. It seems to start and run much the same as always, but when you open it up, at top speed the motor starts to cough and sputter, almost like it's hitting the governor and cutting out. But it could be a fuel problem (not enough pressure in the fuel rail) so - fuel pump, high pressure hoses/seals, faulty / plugged injectors, sensor problem, computer problem, it could be just about anything. But after running for a while, it does seem to get better and I was able to get it to go all out... Man that thing is fast! Every year it blows me away. So tomorrow if it's nice enough I'll take the kids out tubing. We found another hole in the RAID tube this morning so it sat out on the table behind the store, being patched... Hopefully that's the only hole it gets because it takes 24 hours for that stuff to dry... I've heard a wide variety of weather forecasts for tomorrow so I'm not even going to try to guess what the weather is actually going to be like... We will just wait and see.

They did the fireworks tonight. Quite a good show, it was neat the way there was a dark cloud right behind the section of sky most of the fireworks went off, adding contrast and making them look *that* much better. Happy Canada Day everyone! A lot of the regulars are here... Kayla came out, Casey is here (nice hicky, by the way... :P Your boyfriend sucks! haha) BJ, Chris, Jeff (obviously - I'm camping on their front lawn), Allison, 'Des, Mitch, plus a lot of new people I've never seen before. As for the seasonals, Brian is out, John and his wife, (Man I'm rusty on the names!) I saw Bob today, Carol, Tim (but not Maria) to name but a few. Tonight was the wee-wee night too, so for about an hour and a half the lounge was closed to non-wee-wee-ers. It took about an hour and a half for someone to burst, which was longer than last year. Tomorrow night is the comedy night. Next weekend is the champagne breakfast. There are times I miss being a 'seasonal', but one thing that's been really driving home in my mind is how much it's not the place or the events that made Pine Lake and Sandy Cove what they have become to me - but the people. And now a lot of those people are gone, and it really isn't the same out here. I suppose I could make new friends and 'start over', but with the wonderful memories I have here, I really think it would be hard to start over because I'd constantly be comparing the way I remember it to the way it is and the result would more than likely be disappointing. I'm glad I came out to visit, I'm glad I got to see some friends again, but unless I'm bringing some friends out with me or meeting some people out here, I doubt I will come out again this year. I've really felt alone this weekend. It's like standing in the stadium after a concert. You can still hear the echoes of music, the shout of the croud, feel the energy that was in the building only a short time ago, but now all that's left is empty cups, spilled popcorn and the stench of a thousand sweaty bodies. To further hinder my disposition, some roudies over at Whispering Pines have their death rock music cranked and I can hear it as clear as day from my tent here where I'm about to attempt sleeping. Man I feel like a party pooper tonight. It's amazing how clearly I can hear every footstep on the road, every murmered conversation, somebody's car alarm going off somewhere. This could be a long night...

July 3, 2005 - 9:48 PM


July 4, 2005 - 11:29 AM
SUNBURN!



I never got a chance to thank them before they left, but if you're reading this - Thanks Jeff and Heather for letting me camp on your front lawn this weekend... I had a lot of fun.

And now it's back to the dull drudgery of the working world... At least for another week. There's no time to get the Seadoo fixed this week so I'll just bring it "as-is" to BC and hope for the best. I guess after five years without any real problems of any kind (besides the speedometer not working) I can't really complain. Perhaps I'll hang onto that statement until I see the repair bill... hehe But we still got some good use out of it this weekend despite the problem with the fuel injectors. I took some more kids tubing and realized looking back on the weekend that I never did even catch their names... Everyone had fun though and that's what counts. I never did find out if Mike was there or not (well - he wasn't at Sandy Cove, but he might have been at his Uncle's cabin somewhere on the lake.) We had some good riddle action at Kayla's trailer which helped kill a few hours. And commends to Kayla and BJ for sticking them out and solving them both. (Of course, now they're going around TELLING everyone the answers instead of making them figure them out like I did, but what can you do) I'll write a bit more on the topic of the weekend later on tonight though, as there were some funny stories to tell... I think. If not, I'll make some up. hehe

July 7, 2005 - 11:13 AM
HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROLANDA!

This morning I got a shocking surprise in the bathroom as I was preparing the water for my shower. I have one of those bath/showers, and so normally to run the water I just pull open the tap, let it run for a few seconds until the hot water starts flowing, and then pull the shower knobbie to divert the water to the shower head. Well this morning, I guess the knobbie was half-engaged, so when I was bent over, I pulled the tap on and was showered from above with freezing cold water! Talk about a jump start to one's day!

I had a wierd dream last night too, it seems the more sleep I get the more I remember of my dreams. In my dream, I was staying in a high rise hotel with my family. It was night time, and as I was walking through one of the hallways, I had this bizarre sensation like the whole building was moving. I reasoned that there was probably an earthquake taking place and the hotel was just built to be able to sway with the motion, so that less damage would occur. When I walked into my brother's room, he too was feeling the building move, and so we looked out the window to see if we could see what was happening. Below our window we could see a newer white pickup truck, but the building we were in was buckling below us and crushed the truck. We weren't realy sure what to make of this, but we both sort of sat there and waited to see if the window was going to shatter. It never did, but that's pretty much all I remember. It's wierd having dreams like that, because in the morning I remember them like they were history - like they actually had happened - instead of as a dream.

Only a few more days till I leave for BC! Man this has snuck up fast on me! I've got to go to my parent's house tonight, shave my head again so I won't have to worry about it at all while I'm camping, stop by Becky's and pick up my chain lube for the bike and battery charger (The battery on the Seadoo has been acting up a bit lately so I want to bring a proper battery charger with us, *just in case*) stop by the bank and cash a cheque that I've been meaning to do for the past month, and run a bunch of other little errands. Then I've got to come back to work and figure out why one of my hidden cameras suddenly stopped working the other day. I didn't *see* anyone tamper with it but you never know. If it turns out that someone did damage it on purpose, they'll be fired immediately.

The only other news I have is that right now I am craving a Pepsi Lime. They are SOOOO good! I might just run down to 7-Eleven and buy one. Mmm

July 8, 2005 - 12:06 PM


The countdown is on till the trek to BC. In the wake of recent developments at the Salvation Army Camp at Pine Lake, our family has moved it's annual gathering to the waters of Baynes Lake, BC. It would seem that the SA camp is no longer able to accomodate our family's needs, and their waterfront and dock facilities have always been lacking. Long too have members of the extended family complained about the quality of the water at Pine Lake, so we are venturing out, away from the familiar and trying a place that is new to us. I must say, it will be strange. Our family has been going to Pine Lake ritualistically for as long as I can remember, dating back even to a time when my own mother was a little girl! But change, as they say, is inevitable (except from a vending machine) and we are adapting as well. I am quite optimistic that this new location, although considerably farther away, will provide much of the same relaxation and retreat that we once found at Pine Lake.

Tonight I mow two lawns, one belonging to my parents and one belonging to me. There will undoubtably be other errands to run in preparation for the trek West, so this will be a busy weekend! As well, I still have an empty spot on the houseboat, July 21 we depart for the weekend and return the following Monday. If anyone would like to go houseboating on the Shu Swap lakes and can get that time off, let me know ASAP! Call me or email me or something. I believe we are sitting at 16 persons aboard our 21-person houseboat so there's still lots of room. The more the merrier. I'll be bringing my Seadoo, and we might even host a beach party or two. So far I believe I am bringing at least some of my sound system, and those beach parties are a blast if you've ever been to one. When I went two summers ago, it was the most fun I had at a single event that whole summer!. Ask anyone who's been houseboating, it truly is a blast. Anyhow, must get back to work! Last day before my vacation kicks in and I've got quite a bit to do!

July 9, 2005 - 4:58 PM


Un-BEE-lievable!

Sometimes you just get really lucky! I took my bike out for a ride today, really the first real ride of the summer. I went up to Pine Lake to thank Heather for letting me tent on her front lawn last weekend. They got away before I had the chance on Sunday, so I wanted to make sure my gratitude was known before too much time had passed. (And also because I really wanted to get a chicken kabob from the 7-Eleven in Red Deer! hehehe) Since I was in no hurry, I took all the back roads all the way to Pine Lake, going by Irricana, Beisiker, Acme, Linden, Three Hills, and Wimborne. It was a beautiful day for a ride and I was thoroughly enjoying my day.

Probably no more than 20 minutes away from the lake, I felt a thick *thud* hit my jacket. Experience has taught me that it was likely a bee that I hit, since they tend to have more mass than most other flying insects and you can really feel them when they hit. I continued on my way to the lake, arrived, went into the store, tried to buy a bottle of Pepsi but was informed that I must spend at least five dollars to use the Interac machine. After picking up a loaf of bread and a chocolate bar, I went and sat outside on the picnic table where I was talking with some of the kids. Suddenly, I felt a flutter from inside my shirt around my stomach. At first I thought it might just be a slight breeze flapping the fabric, and I ignored it. But shortly thereafter, I felt another flutter, so I took my hand, and with my palm flattened I patted down my shirt in the area from which the sensation was coming from. A soft crunch could be heard (and felt by me.) "Oh," I thought, "there must be something inside my shirt!" I began to hold the bottom of it out and shake in an attempt to loosen whatever crunchy insect had crawled inside, when much to my shock, horror (and also relief) a very dazed BEE fell out and landed on the deck! I figure what must have happened was that the bee I hit on the highway stuck to my jacket, clung on for dear life, and crawled between the buttons of the jacket, between the buttons of my shirt, and found himself very close to my heart! Luckily for me, (and I mean VERY luckily) he was not inclined to deploy his kamakaze defense mechanism and sting me! But that was definitely an exciting moment!

So I hung out at the lake for a while. Took some pictures and then Des stole my camera and went picture happy... It was worse than that time my camera got soaked by Sadie and wouldn't stop snapping pictures! Then she turned the camera on herself and handed it back to me, very pleased with herself. I must confess though, I played a mean trick on some of the youngins out there... I asked, "Who wants to go tubing?" and then chuckled to myself gleefully because there was no Seadoo or tube to fulfill the request. Many excited ME!'s were exclaimed before the realization kicked in that it was a mere prank since I had only brought my bike out with me this time. So I will appologize, that was rather a mean trick to play. I'm sorry guys.

I rode up the hill and went and talked to Heather for a bit, expressly thanking her for her hospitality last weekend. It would have really killed my weekend having arrived at the lake the eve of a long weekend, only to have to turn around and go home again... Shortly thereafter I left but not before letting Bob ride my bike up the road leading into Sandy Cove and back again. After we'd chatted I headed out and made my way through the back roads into Red Deer where I sought out that infamous 7-Eleven where the Chicken Kabobs come from.

Now every once in a while it happens, rare but not unheard of. When I entered the store and casted a longing, expectant gaze towards the chicken case, my watery mouth turned dry as I quickly realized that it was completely empty! The lady, sensing my obvious disappointment explained that the cook would not be in until three, and that it would be at least an hour after that before any kabobs would be ready. (I was at the store around two.) Disheartened, I settled on a pair of Taquitos and a bottle of Lime Pepsi which I both ate in the parking lot of the store. Now I have to tell you an interesting bit of information concerning me and this parking lot. EVERY TIME I've been there with my bike, eating my kabobs (or in this case, Taquitos) at least TWO people approach me and start talking about motorcycles with me. Every time! As it turns out, today was no exception. This little boy on a pedal bike came over and asked how fast my bike could go so I started talking to him about it, and then as I was walking over to the garbage to dispose of my waste - this guy in a white truck called out the window some question about it, so I walked over and talked to him about bikes as well. Like I said, at least two people every time.

My last stop on my route today was Al's house. Now Al and I worked together at Sylvania for four years, and he and his mother live out in Carstairs. Every morning, he makes the 60+ km commute in to Calgary to go to work, and repeats the process (although in the opposite order and therefore - direction) every evening. I haven't seen Al in some time so I was quite looking forward to chatting with him. Disappointment seemed to be the theme of the day however, when I realized that there was no answer at his door. I waited, rang again, waited, but no response. Just as I was getting ready to leave again and come home, I saw his mom had come to the door so I walked back over and chatted with her for a little while. She explained that Al was in Calgary helping someone but didn't know when he was going to be back. We talked for a while on the front step of the house, I told her about my new house. I left a business card for Al so he'd know I stopped by (this was before his mom answered the door of course) and so she was asking me all about work as well. Eventually I thanked her for the chat and said I would stop by again sometime soon. My brother and I have wanted to have Al and his mom over for supper sometime, but like so many other good ideas, so far it has not ever come to fruition. But soon, I hope. Perhaps after we get back from BC.

Then I saw something I've never seen before: As I was leaving Al's house, there's a segment of highway, probably no more than 500 feet that is designated a Playground Zone. The posted speed limit is 30 km/hr, but one night as I was dropping Al off at home he told me that nobody ever does that speed there and he's never seen any police patrol it. Well here if a cop hadn't pulled someone over for speeding through this playground zone! I smiled to myself and felt very justified for having never sped through that area. I have to say, the financial incentive for not speeding has definately put a dent in my need for speed as car after car passed me on my way throughout central Alberta today... You see, now that I have a house, I was talking with the insurance company I have my house insurance with, and if I wait till September and then switch my van and bike insurance over to them - (as long as I don't get any tickets in the mean time) -- I will save over a THOUSAND DOLLARS a year on insurance! I tell you, if that's not incentive to slow down, I don't know what is!



Anyway, I've gotta go get some more mowing done before I head out. Have a great weekend and week!



YEE-HAW! Happy Stampede!

July 16, 2005 - 11:11 PM


I'm back from BC with lots of pictures and stories. It will be up on the web site sometime this week (and hopefully before I go houseboating! hehe)

We had a decent time out there but it's not Pine Lake. One of the things about the arrangement was the fact that half of our family stayed at one campsite, while the other half stayed at another campsite. There was 20 kilometers of two lane highway, one-lane bridge and winding gravel roads between the two sites, so any time a party from one side wanted to visit the other side, it would take 20-30 minutes of travel to reach the other group. At Pine Lake, we've always been an easy walking distance from the cabins and/or trailers and tents we've been staying in, so this was quite different. Another drawback was the fact that I was at the campsite whose lake did not permit motorized boats to be used. So whenever I wanted to go Seadooing, I had to make the trek to the other campground. Then a bearing in the boat motor siezed (or at least the latest educated guesses have determined that to be the problem) so it was dead in the water, and oddly enough then the Seadoo also had a bit of a spat of trouble, not wanting to start at all one evening until I pulled the battery out and gave it a full charge. It definitely needs to get in for servicing but all the shops are so busy there's no way I'd get it in before the houseboat trip, so I'll just have to make due and hope it can hold up. We really didn't use it all that much last year, but then again Carmen will be on the boat and we all know how much she loves the Seadoo... She should just get her license and then I'd let her take it out by herself.



We did have a pretty relaxing time though, despite the challenges and distances. The place was very scenic and quiet, and this year we had everyone in the family except Bethany come out for at least a part of the week. Craig spent a lot of time Canoodling, and even made friends with some of the neighbours around the lake. I also spent a fair bit of time in the lake, trying out my underwater camera case for my S400. It worked quite well, although the water was definitely the inhibiting factor when it came to getting good pictures... Even so, I was able to get some neat pictures, and the fish there are very friendly! I floated around the lake in an innertube and noticed at one point that I had a whole school of fish following me in the water. I got a few pictures and even some underwater video of that, which was pretty cool. That was one thing I had completely forgotten about when it came to the underwater case - the ability to take underwater video! I've now got quite a few clips of video from beneath the water's surface! So that part was really awesome!



The one sad thing that I have to report was that my camping light - that solar powered one I brought camping with me everywhere that would flash Red, Green, and Yellow - it was set up in the grass beside my van where I slept with BJ, but one afternoon while my dad was backing the car out he accidently ran over it. I'm afraid there was not much left. It actually made me really sad to see it utterly destroyed like that. I figured it would have worn out or the shaft would have gotten broken but never did I imagine it would have gone like that. I guess nothing lasts forever...

When I came home, I found that the city has dug up the street in front of my house to put in a better storm water system or something like that. Jason was thoughtful enough to move my bike for me while I was away. You gotta love friends like that. Bo had phoned me to ask how to move it so I called him back and told him where the key was, and then I guess when Jason was over he just rode it to safety. That would have been a nice surprise, coming home and finding it gone or damaged... I've got to finish unpacking and cleaning.



July 21, 2005 - 12:18 AM


In a few short hours I'll be off to BC to board the houseboat pictured above for 5 days and four nights of fun on the lakes of the Shuswap. Quite possibly the last of my paid vacation days for this year, I intend to enjoy it! A few of the guys who were on the houseboat trip two years ago are returning, as well there are a few new faces. I think we have about 16 people coming this year, up from our 11 the last time. As well, I'll actually know more of the people on the boat too, which is always more fun. My Seadoo buddy will be aboard and has made me promise to throw her off the back of the Seadoo MANY times, Jason will be there of course, Jay and Sean O also. I believe Paul is coming too, quite possibly Alex as well. I can't wait! But, in the mean time there is little sleeping and much preparing to do! So, I will be off! Have a great weekend everyone!

July 25, 2005 - 12:08 PM


Houseboat Pictures Coming Soon!!!

(Most likely by the end of today. I just need to sort them, there was over 500 images! In the mean time, let me just say that we had an awesome time, despite less than ideal weather. This year we had no problems with our boat, we didn't hit anything, we lost very few items, and I think it's safe to say that everyone on board had a good time. Our boat contained 20 people, some of whom knew each other, others who were just meeting for the first time, and there are many, many stories and good times to be shared as a result from this little nautical adventure. More on that later.

July 26, 2005 - 12:07 AM


Don't ask me
What you know is true...
I don't have to tell you,
I love your precious heart.


July 28, 2005 - 9:21 AM
The small world gets smaller

I'm sure by now everyone knows that the houseboat pictures are up, Jason told me he's been getting calls from everyone about all the pictures. I didn't get time to sort them out so I just posted everyone's pictures, those of you who gave me their pictures on the boat. If anyone else has more they'd like to share, email me and we can discuss how to get them on the site. A couple of highlights:
  • The Sasquatch costume
  • Roman Candles
  • Large beach fires
  • Cubbies
  • Poker for Cheerios
  • Jumping off the boat
  • The Ten-Minute Tan
  • Alex and Chris Sunday morning
  • The boat next door
On a bit of a sadder note, I was at Kaylee's house last night working on her computers, and through the course of the conversation I found out that Jackie Valdemar, one of the first girls I ever went out with is not doing so well. Our first date involved us riding our bicycles through the drive in at the Monterey McDonalds, and it was actually through her that I met Kaylee, got my job at Sylvania, and wound up where I am today. Small world. But I guess what happened was that somehow she broke a glass in her hand, and the glass cut / damaged some nerve that did something to her brain, and now she has severe, chronic pain. Kaylee said they saw her on the news once and didn't even recognize her, except for her name. She's all pumped up on steroids and has a live-in nurse to care for her since she can do virtually nothing for herself and is in excruciating pain 24/7. That's definitely not how I pictured her ending up... Poor girl. A quick search on Yahoo turned up quite a few stories about her, including this picture:



The article that featured the picture was dated February 28 of this year. The entire story can be found here although I don't know how long the Calgary Sun keeps it's articles online. It's crazy how things like that can happen! When I look at her face in that picture, I can still see a glimmer of her once-contageous smile. Man that brings back a lot of things I'd forgotten. Poor girl.

July 29, 2005 - 12:39 AM
Sometimes the music just comes alive...



Saturday night as I lay semi-conscious in my cubby, I heard a dance song played on our neighbour's boat (twice, actually) that caught my ear. Now I'm kicking myself for not going over there and asking them what song it was, because I would LOVE to find it, but all I can remember of it is one line of the chorus and the fact that it had a great bassline. So after several days' downloading frenzy of everything hot, new, funky, current or otherwise remotely similar - I have yet to catch even a whiff of the song I'm looking for. BUT, having said that, I am discovering a plethora of other awesome songs, which have been nothing but a sheer pleasure to discover. Some of them are new, some are remixes of songs I know, some are songs I've heard before but never knew what they were. One song I bumped heads with quite a few times brings me back a few years to a time when I actually sang the words in the actual content of the song... All I ever wanted, all I ever needed is here in my arms... Interesting how every couple of years a good song like that will come back in the form of a new mix...

I've been working on the camping light and so far it's been showing promise... The lights blink in sequence and despite missing a corner the solar panel still seems able to charge the batteries... I have been having one small, intermittent logic problem with the sequencing circuit which I can only assume is caused by some sort of phantom bad connection, though I have yet to trace it down... I think it may be salvagable, although it could be tricky finding a case for it... I might need to buy another solar light thing and try to transfer the guts if there's enough room. I'm such a geek.

I decided not to go camping this August long weekend... There's just too much to do at home, and I'm trying to save my money too. I lost $260 on the houseboat trip and none of my passengers ever did give me any gas money... That's at least another $60 that that trip cost me unexpectantly. I'm glad I went, but those extra expenses have put me back a bit.

Today's quote of the day comes from Diana: "Ya John, um... Your bike is cool. I was wondering if you were doing that on purpose..." to which I grinned ear to ear and replied, "I most certainly was!" hahaha Good times! (and good night!)

July 29, 2005 - 8:50 PM


I got broadsided after work this afternoon and I'm not really sure what to make of my world right now. Funny how life can blow you out of the saddle like that sometimes... I'm going to go and hang out with The Gav Man and Bo for a while.

July 30, 2005 - 11:47 PM
It's quarter to midnight, 20 degrees outside on a simply gorgeous night, and I had one of the most amazing bike rides this evening. In pretty much every way, this was a perfect night. It's just too bad I was too exhausted to really enjoy it. This morning I got up insanely early to go help Jaimee move out of her appartment and into her parents' house, the place where I was living in a cupboard for some six years. Jason and I loaded up a rented cube van while Jaimee and Thereasa brought most of the stuff from the appartment to the elevator and unloaded it all in the lobby. It's amazing how much stuff one appartment can actually hold! I certainly never imagined she would have so much stuff.

Then, after we filled the garage at her new abode with the former contents of her living space, we loaded up the cube van with garbage ripped out of the basement of the house which Jaimee's dad is renovating and converting into more of a suite for her to live in. So if you had ever been to my old place, all those false walls around the outside of the living room are gone, the tile ceiling is being replaced with a drywall one, the extended wall that formed the outer region of my room has been removed and my entire bedroom is becomming a closet for Jaimee! (How's that for putting things into perspective?) Needless to say, we had a lot of old lumber, tiles, and drywall to dispose of. The new basement is quickly taking form and will undoubtably be un-recognizable from the old one.

After helping Jason fill up the truck with the junk, I headed home and got myself ready. Today was Mark and Jennifer's reception celebration out at their house in Redwood Meadows. It was a lovely dinner and I am so happy for Mark and Jennifer. It's not hard to see how happy she's made him. (Mark is Becky's dad, in case anyone is confused.) I plugged it out until about 8:30 or so but I was just exhausted from the move that morning and could not muster the party spirit. Dangerous Goods was playing on the deck, which was awesome. Some 8 or 9 years ago, when Bo and I were in grade 11 or 12 Mark snuck us into The Shamrock Pub while they were playing there and we got up on stage and started jamming with them. Of course, neither of us was of age, but when you're on the stage in a bar playing instruments, nobody asks you for I.D. That was an interesting night. So needless to say it was pretty cool to see them still playing and still being in a band together for that matter. I congratulated Mark and Jennifer on their marriage and said goodnight to Becka, but as the saying goes, When in Rome... I decided to take a little detour down some once familiar roads to see how they looked after much passage of time and change in perspective. After a very potent stroll down memory lane, I headed home on perhaps the most beautiful night I've seen so far this year. Clear sky, warm, warm air, barely a breeze anywhere, modest sunset behind me... It was, shall I say, gorgeous? I think that's a good word for it.

When I got home, most of Bo's family was over sitting around the table in the back yard. Someone had tried to light a fire but had been obviously unsuccessful. Some cheers went up when they saw I was home and I was immediately bombarded with requests to build a fire to keep away the mosquitos. We sat out around the fire for a while, just a perfect summer night. I think our tree nearly caught fire but I grabbed the garden hose and started watering it down. Sean was unfortunate enough to be seated underneath some of the branches at risk so as they became doused with water, so did he. By this time I was so exhausted from the move in the morning and then the sun and heat of the afternoon / evening. By all rights I should be in bed right now instead of writing this out but lately I've been feeling like I don't write enough anymore and I've been letting a lot of significant events pass by without recording at least some thoughts on some matters. This afternoon I was sitting out in Mark's back yard and a brilliant idea came to me (well, I thought it was brilliant which of course, is subject to confirmation by an external opinion) and now, for the life of me it's gone. Haha, but I just made $20 selling an old monitor to one of Bo's friends... I guess she moved to Drumheller and they have no radio out there, so she has this computer with all her music on it but no monitor. So I had this old Multisync monitor I used to use on my Kazaa computer that's been in 'storage' since I moved, so I sold it to her for twenty bucks. It's not like I'll ever have a shortage of computer parts... hehehe

I found some helium! Now there's something you don't hear every day. I think it was part of an old project kit I had when I was little. Ok, I MUST be tired now. I think it's time to say goodnight. I just read over this day's entry and I must appologize for using the word so as often as I did. Hopefully it is merely a side effect of my complete lack of energy right now and does not reflect a deteriorating ability to form coherent sentences with a healthy variety of word choices. One hinderance to my wonderful day - my neck was just KILLING me on the bike tonight for some reason. It's like something was out of joint or something because it would get just pins and needles in it as I was trying to ride. I've never felt anything like it. The night was so awesome I ignored it for the most part but thinking back now it really did hurt. I need to marry a missuse.

July 31, 2005 - 2:22 PM
Make a wish...

Well, I don't know if 2:22 counts... As I recall, it was 11:11 and 12:34 that were the magic numbers, either signifying that someone was thinking of you or that you could make a wish and that it would supposedly come true. Do you ever feel like you're sooooo close and yet so far? You're as close as you've ever been, but still way too far away. I discovered a spatter of inspiration last night for my next song. It's just one line, an idea that perhaps inspires the imagination of the listener... Looking up at a window I once looked down from. How many of us have been there? Revisited a place that was once very familiar to us, a place of significance, of memory, of connection - only this time you're on the outside looking in. There's a feeling of emptiness there, of loss, of sadness. I think it would make a great song. How much of the best music out there connects with the listener? Isn't that what makes it great music? You hear it and you can relate. The music itself helps express what you're already feeling. Enhancing the mood, the emotion, the sensation. The melody, the bass, the rhythm, the voices - all playing different notes at the same time, but blending and producing an effect that is greater than the sum of the parts. Isn't that how life 'feels'? Many different emotions happening at the same time, unique - yet intertwined. Distinct - yet connected.

Hmm. My web server hard drive seems to be full. Guess I'd better clean up some stuff on it... 12 gigs of pictures on my site alone! Crazy.



Hey, anyone remember in Foobar when they're talking about amplifiers and how the volume should go to 11 instead of 10? Well I was looking at one of my amps the other day, and would you know it!?!? The volume levels go to 11! hahaha


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