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May 1, 2005 - 5:49 AM Well, it's almost 6:00 and I just got home... Marshall called me at about 12:00 with a desperate computer problem, and since I was up anyways and not about to sleep anytime soon, I went over to his place and looked at the problem. Turns out he had a few system files corrupt (ntldr and ntdetect.com, to start with) and it appears that the file permissions on most folders have been damaged as well, so the system does not have access to it's own folders. Given the extent of the damage (and the fact that I don't have any XP/NT computers to hook his drive up to) I decided to just take the hard drive with me and copy his important files off it, burn them to DVD's and then he can rebuild the computer from scratch. That way he'll also have a backup of all his files too. He seemed quite happy with this as I guess he's wanted to rebuild it for some time. We had an interesting chat during throughout the whole ordeal... He was showing me some of his photography and I must say I was really impressed. He is very creative with a camera. But now it's 6:00 in the morning, I have yet to go to sleep, my Pepsi headache is really starting to kick in and I think as soon as I hit my pillow I'll be out like a light. (well, a burnt out light that is...) Wow, I just glanced at my window and you can see the light of dawn out there... When I left his house and was getting into Rusty the Red Dragon I couldn't help but notice how calm and quiet the city is at 5:30 on a Sunday morning... There is a special kind of beauty in a written letter. I love recieving pen and paper letters in part because it happens so rarely and also because it implies that the sender actually took the time from their busy schedule to push some thoughts through a pen and send them my way. Today I got the address of a very dear friend of mine and we decided to start writing real letters to each other. Well it's allllllright... even when push comes to shove Well it's allllllright... If you got someone to love Well it's allllllright... Everything'll work out fine Well it's allllllright... Going to the end of the line. Successful people aren't always the ones who can make the best plans... They're the ones who can adapt quickly when plans change. This entry, on account of the time, is merely a spattering of thoughts and ideas being tossed onto the screen with loose, brush-flicking strokes. Hope you can forgive me. I really am very tired.  May 2, 2005 1:04 AM What a lazy day! Of course, coming in at 6:00 this morning didn't help things. I slept most of the morning and although I got up around 1:00 I ended up taking another one of my beloved naps before going out for supper at Becky's restaurant with my parents. My dad, who is a self proclaimed connaseur of potatos even complimented the food there! (Coming from him that's a HUGE compliment!) And of course, we had top notch service. After the meal when my parents had left, Becky says to me, "I'd really like to get to know your parents better." What a compliment! I must have done something right to have my parents turn out as well as they have... hehehe I talked to them later on in the evening and they want to have her over for tea. Secretly, I think that would be a lot of fun. Becka and I are going out for slurpees tomorrow evening since we haven't really talked in a week or so. I love that girl. If I end up marrying someone even a little bit like her, I'll be doing allright. The end of my laptop?  This evening I was trying to play a song on my laptop but when I went to take it out of sleep mode it completely locked up with the hard drive light on. Eventually I shut the power off, only to find that it wouldn't turn on. Even with the power adapter plugged in, the power button was unresponsive. After tinkering for a bit, removing both batteries and again connecting AC power to it, I was able to get it to turn on, but a few moments later it just powered right off. When I restarted it again, it seemed to function normally, even reporting that the battery was about 90% charged (which should have been about right.) Although it appears now to be back to normal, I have a feeling this may be the beggining of the end of my first Thinkpad. Good thing I've got another one... Safety... Now that I've been made Safety Coordinator for Custom Linen Systems, the third hat that's been placed on my head since beginning my employ there a year and a half ago, I've been much more keen to identify hazardous sitiations around our plant. While none of these images are from Custom Linen, see if you can spot the hazardous equipment, actions, and/or situations in the following images:  Not only is the jacking 'system' unsafe, but it also looks like he's arc welding the gas tank!  Need a lift?   (Yes, that's a bomb!)  Maybe he knows something they don't?   Did anyone else notice that there were barely ANY pictures in April? We're nearly at the end of winter, so it's appropriate to laugh about it now. Again, while these are not my own images, they're ones that have been passed my way via email and I thought they were amusing.        How about some bad drivers for a laugh or two?       Hopefully that helps tide you visual learners over for a while. Less than two weeks until I get into my new house! I'll undoubtably have a lot of pictures from that event and everything surrounding it. Anyways, it's 2 in the morning already (where does the time go?) and I'm actually starting to feel tired. (Horray!) So have yourself a great night and an equally enjoyably week as well! May 3, 2005 - 1:05 AM Have you ever been so close to reaching something that was just outside your grasp? The tips of your fingers can just barely nudge it, brush it, recieve the slightest sensation of what it would feel like to hold and yet, for all your reaching, stretching, contorting - you just can't get your fingers around it? Like the name of a once-familiar face that you just can't recall, or the title of a movie you used to watch all the time as a kid, can quote every line, re-enact every scene - but for the life of you it's title escapes the forefront of your brain? And then, as if your own brain were out to spite you, you'll be sitting on the toilet one day or driving down the road when - without warning or reason - clear as day that lost memory surfaces. It just goes to uphold one of Murphy's laws - you will find it as soon as you give up looking for it and/or replace it. Well I think it's safe to say that I did not consume a SINGLE healthy piece of food today... I had a little Pepsi for breakfast, went out for lunch with Marshall - had Cactus Nachos at BP's... Becky and I went to Lic's for ice cream after work so I had some Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream there (in a waffle cone, of course) and then I went to Bo's house where I had a slurpee. Horray for healthy! hahaha So about God's Hundred Dollars... A lot of people have been asking me about this. Even Becky tonight as we were driving around the city, and I have to say this endeavour has been teaching me a lot of things. Have you ever read or seen a plack (horray for bad spelling) of the Serenity Prayer? Lord grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference. We've all seen it, right? But how true it is! At first I was really gung ho about this opportunity. I knew that God had sent me up there to volunteer and I was confident that He had great things in store for that hundred dollars. But then as my week kicked back into full swing and I became busy again, I realized one day that I had entirely forgotten about the quest. Spiritual battles also began to overwhelm me as I lost fight after fight after fight until the point where I really felt like just giving up everything. I began to really wish that I hadn't stood up that Sunday, that I had just let someone else go up instead and could have watched from the sidelines without a real vested interest in the outcome. ... Accept the things I cannot change... Ok God, I know I can't change that now. But my life is a mess. I've messed up so many things, I'm chasing after so many worthless things and things I know are not right and even some that I know are harmful to me. I'm completely occupied with my list of wants. A list I know I didn't even consult you on while making. So how can I salvage this mess? How can I pull the nose up and recover from the pending disaster that I've set up for myself? I'm about to fall into the hole that I dug. I'm moments away from being caught in the trap I set. Do I know you have a plan? Yes. Do I trust that your plan is good? Yes. Am I afraid to let you guide my life according to your plan? Terrified. Why? Because the things you might have lined up for me are probably not on my want list. I may never get to check off all (or perhaps any) of the things on that list. I am selfish. Self-centered. Self-seeking. What do I have to lose? Nothing of any lasting value. What would following you cost me? My selfishness, my goals, desires, ambitions, resources, assets, .. pretty much everything. Do I believe it would be worth it? Yes. Am I afraid? Yes. Do I know why? No. Do I have any idea what to spend that hundred dollars on? No. What's interesting to point out is that the implications of this object lesson go far beyond a hundred dollars and a church service. Who of us can claim that anything we have is really our own? Who of us has anything that was not given to us? And if everything was in fact given to us, why do we pretend that it was not? We have nothing when we come into this world and we will take nothing with us when we leave it. All that we will have in the next life is whatever we have sent on ahead of us. Just like I found myself realizing earlier this week, I no longer have a choice whether or not to participate in this assignment. The money has been trusted to me and I cannot change that. In the same way, God has given every one of us, yes - even you reading this right now - talents, gifts, abilities, resources and assets. These things, however great or small are all temporary. We will only have them for a short time. How are we using them? Are we investing all our time, talents, resources, abilities, gifts and assets into pleasing ourselves? Are we chasing every imaginable pleasure - the toys, the clothes, the cars, the bikes, the Seadoos, the computers, the parties - all for the exclusive purpose of temporary self gratitude? Whether or not you or I like to admit it, all these things, however nice they are, are all temporary. The toys will break, the clothes will become tattered, ripped or torn. The cars will rust or wear out. There will always be a newer, faster, sleeker bike on the market. The Seadoo will grow old. Computers will forever become obsolete and the party will always end. Do you really feel fufilled by these things? Does that feeling last? I know in my own life, I've gone after many of these things and obtained them, only to find dissapointment in the end. Maybe the reason I'm so afraid to let go of this persuit is because it's so familiar. I always know what I'll get. With God, I don't know the outcome. For no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has concieved the things He (God) has prepared for those who love him. It's exciting but it's also scarry. But scarry in a good way. I need to just do it. I need to stop wasting my time. I'll let you know what happens. May 5, 2005 - 12:17 AM She had a bee in her bonnnet... We had a bit of excitement at work today... I was called out to the towel folding machines where a lady had reportedly hurt her hand. When I got out there, it turned out she had been stung by a bee! Apparantly she had been outside (possibly because she just arrived at work or perhaps she was having a smoke break. I'm not sure which) She went to remove her hair net and the bee stung her. (Again, not sure if it was a bee, hornet, wasp, etc. Some flying, stinging insect.) So that was kind of interesting... BJ and I went for a run tonight... Yes - I can run again! Almost three weeks after Bo dislocated my knee, I was back out there running once more. (Maybe it was only two weeks... I'm really not sure of much tonight, have you noticed?) It felt sore and there was a bit of sharp pain in it when I bent it certain ways, but otherwise it felt pretty solid and stable, which I was very relieved to experience. Next month my puppy will by 91 years old in human years, and he can STILL out-run me! (Of course, I'm not exactly at my peak right now) but still. He's doing very well for a dog of nearly 13 years! I remember the day he was born... It was the last day of school in grade 6 we got the news that our neighbour's dog had puppies. We couldn't go see them for a few days, but when we did they were SOOOO cute and SOOOOO tiny! Somewhere I have pictures of our new puppy and he was so tiny he could fit in one hand! We made a bed for him and sectioned off an area in the kitchen, lining it with newspapers. We used lattice for the wall, but had to change that because the silly puppy would keep poking his head through the slats and getting it stuck there. The night we brought him home it was quite warm in the house, but the heat didn't keep me up - BJ did. He cried all night, missing his mom, grandma, and brothers & sisters. I think it took about a week before he could make it through a whole night without crying. During the day we would play with him all day long (because we were on summer holidays now, no more school for two and a half months! That was back in the good ol' days.) Blair, Lorina, and I would sit BJ down at one end of the kitchen, go to the other end and then bang our hands on the floor to see which of us he would come to. I think Lorina usually won because he had already lived at her house for three weeks and was more familiar with her. It would be an interesting game to play now... hehehe
Hard to believe that was almost thirteen years ago! How much has happened since then! How quickly the time does fly. Did anyone else notice that today is 05-05-05 May 6, 2005 - 12:28 AM There's a first time for everything... Tonight I rode my bike with three people on it. I fixed a computer, and I saw two old friends I haven't seen in a very long time (though one was definitely a longer time than the other.) Would you like to hear de tail? Eat bee-gins on a dahrk night... with a dahrk mahnnn... with a dahrk purhpose.... Ok, not really, but I love that movie... Who can tell me which one it is? I'll give you a dollar! hehehe So I went to work today, right? Right. Not much to report there. Then I went to A&W where I met Rainbow Bright from the lake. Funny thing too, as I was driving along 52nd Street on my way there, I hear this *honk honk* so I look over and it's Barb & Ed driving beside me. So I pulled closer to their lane, we 
chatted a bit as we drove down 52nd street and eventually they turned off. So then I had supper at A&W and did some
catching up with Kayla. From there I popped into a gas station where I met up with an old old friend of mine,
Kendra and we did some catching up for a bit too. I haven't seen
her in years and it was actually the walk with BJ last night that reminded me I need to go see her. We passed by her old
house, the one she lived at when I first met her while I was still a paperboy delivering newspapers for the Calgary Sun.
That would have been about 9 or 10 years ago too! We had a good time of reminiscing and I offered to give her a ride home
after she got off work since she loves to ride too. Then I went to Tom's place and rebuilt his computer for him. I went
back to the gas station, leaving Tom's house at about 9:15 because Kenny said she was off work at 10. When I got there it
was no later than 9:45 but they told me she'd already left. I figured I could probably beat her home so I rode over to
her house but because she lives in an appartment I had no idea which one was hers. (They aren't labeled either.) So I was
going to give up and go home but on my way I decided to pull in and call her just in case. I pulled into this parking lot
and tried her cell but there was no answer. Just as I was getting ready to leave, here if I didn't see little Kenny walking
down the street across the road from where I had pulled in. So, I pulled over and offered her a ride home. Which was kind
of funny in and of itself because she only lived around the corner, but she agreed and I made the turn and we pulled in at
her place. "Maybe you should take the scenic route" she said, so I turned around and ended up showing her my new house
(which is pretty close to hers) and going for a little bit of a ride. The second time pulling up at her place we stopped and
I went in to see her mom, brother and son. I hadn't seen Patrick in about two years, I hadn't seen her mom in almost as
long, and I've never actually met Tyson until tonight. What a smart kid too, he was absoultely amazing. So cute. I got a
great picture of him too, I'll have to put it up here. (If you can see it, I already have.) And Patrick, little Pat who I
used to give a piggy-back ride down the stairs to his bedroom and tuck in at night - is now 18! How the time does fly! It's
nuts! So while Kenny, Pat, Lois and I were doing all this reminiscing and having a good time, there was a bit of a shadow
cast on the night... Kendra was telling me about her oldest brother, Bryan - aka Kramer (because they shared the same short,
curly, black hair) has not been doing so good... He always seemed to struggle with drugs, even back in the day when I knew
him and he lived across the street from me... But I guess lately he's gotten into some of the more hardcore stuff and it's
taken over his life... As I recall he always did seem to have his ups and down's (no pun intended) when it came to the
drugs... Some times I'd run into him and he'd be doing allright, sometimes even be doing pretty good for himself - and then
other times he would be doing pretty rough, even looking rough. They have definitely aged him! The last time I saw him he
looked very weathered. I wish there was some way I could help him, but Kenny was saying that they've tried to get him
into detox and whatnot before - but you can't make someone change if they don't want to change. Sometimes it would be nice
if you could! So like I said, that cast a bit of a shadow over the evening, but I promised Kenny I wouldn't let another
three years go by before seeing her or calling her again, so hopefully we can stay in better touch now. I have a lot of
stories about her! It was really fun to sit down and reminisce with her too. So often I'm the one who remembers everything
and I'll be talking to a person and ask, "Do you remember the time ... " and they'll be like, "no....." or sometimes they
vaguely remember - but with Kendra she remembers everything! Even more than I do sometimes! Every once in a while I'd find
some little trinket while going about my paper route or during my day so I'd always collect them and give them to her. She
even remembered a couple of the things I had given her (and this was like, 8 or 9 years ago!) Even I had totally forgotten
about that, although it was kind of funny because subliminally I've been collecting little nick-knacks ever since, I just
forgot why I did it! But I've got a few little things, some right in front of me that haven't been packed yet, which I've
collected and I'll have to give to her some day. Oh ya - so about riding the bike with three people - Kendra is 3 months pregnant with her fiancee's child. Just in case you were wondering.  GoodnightMay 8, 2005 - 8:44 AM  Congratulations!!!!! May 10, 2005 - 2:56 AM  I have ventured into the world of barcodes! And I really have to say, it's a pretty cool world indeed. We see these little graphics on just about everything. I bet if you were to look around you right now you could probably find at least 5 bar codes in your room! Any item bought at any grocery or convenience store has a product barcode on it to identify the item when going through the till, many computers and electronic devices have barcodes to help identify model numbers, serial numbers, part numbers, etc. Barcodes are all around us. And today at work, I bought a barcode scanner and have been playing (notice the time of this entry? hehehe) with the creation of barcode graphics. Today (well yesterday, the 9th) was Luke's birthday, and Jason, Bo, and I were going to take him out for supper. But when 7:00 rolled around and Luke still hadn't come home from school, we decided to postpone the birthday celebration to another night when it wouldn't draw so late into the evening. Oh man, I suddenly felt REALLY old this evening... Bo and I were at Market Mall and I ran into Freya Peterson. I said hi and although she was in a hurry to get her shopping done, she had time to tell me that she turned 18 and is getting married this summer! So why does that make me feel so old? Well, back in High School when I was in grade 12, Freya was in grade 6! So to think that all those kids who were in that grade 6 class are now of legal drinking and voting age... Let's just say it brings out the arthritis, memory loss and incontinence! haha ok, maybe not incontinence... although I really can't remember! 
Yet another night and I just cannot sleep. I know I should but I have so much racing through my mind! I'm moving at the end
of the week, I'm having SO much fun with these barcodes, (Talk about geeking out! haha) There's an interesting new rumour
going around at work, I've been sipping Pepsi all evening, I got some more information about our houseboat trip today... Oh
ya, and I saw Pat from Sylvania this morning too! It was the WIERDEST thing. I put in my vacation request form but Barb
informed me that all vacation request forms must now be on yellow paper. Well we don't have any yellow paper at work, so
she asked if I would run to Office Depot to buy some. So I zipped over there on my bike, and I honestly did look around
the parking lot to see if there was a Sylvania truck parked there because I know they do that Office Depot (and actually,
I had worked there a number of times because they have some fixtures that like to go on fire.) But anyways, I didn't see
any truck so I went inside, found the paper and was standing at the till paying for my purchase when I distinctively heard
Pat's voice. I looked around, and what would you know it? There he was! He was just finishing up an inspection of the
store. Ironically, just the night before I had called him since we hadn't talked in a couple of months and said that we
should get together sometime and go for lunch or something. Small world. So then, to make my ignorance even more complete,
when we got out to the parking lot and I got back on my bike, here if it wasn't pointed STRAIGHT at Pat's truck! But the
truck was parked in the loading dock, the building is white, the truck is white, and for some reason I just did not see it
when I pulled in. But anyways, I should probably get to bed or at least try... Tomorrow might be rough if I don't get at
least SOME sleep tonight...  May 11, 2005 1:20 AM Found an alien in the washing machine...  He might have been trying to fix it but he looks like he got his hand stuck under the agitator... Poor guy was probably wondering why I was standing there taking his picture instead of helping him... Turns out he wasn't stuck after all, and all's well that ends well. Except that although tomorrow is supposed to be 18 degrees, the key to my bike sits upon my desk at work. I drove the van to work this morning because it was snowing when I went outside, but I had my bike key with me at the time. I must have set it on my desk at work and forgot it there when I came home. Oh well. I love driving the van, I just wish gas weren't so dern expensive. After years of hearing about the movie from Al at Sylvania, I finally went and bought the disc: 1941 turned out to be quite a funny movie after all, and I can definitely picture Al laughing hystarically throughout the film. Here is a little clip in case you're curious. When I saw this part I laughed so hard I couldn't breathe! Especially at the sound the bomb makes hitting the ground, that dong cracks me up every time. To view the clip (3 Mb) click here. I've got it on repeat and am watching it as we speak. *sigh* Ahhh, good times.  May 11, 2005 - 10:31 PM Highlight of my night... 
 And he was like, "Rubber chicken?!" 
Today was just a good day all around. First of all, I discovered something this morning... If you show up at work with a box of Krispy Kreme doughnuts, EVERYBODY is your friend! Before I even made it to the front door, I had already given out two doughnuts! The barcode project at work is progressing nicely, and the more I work on it the more ideas form. Before I go too much farther, I should back up a bit first. Last night I was up REALLY late, like - to around 5:00 this morning late. I couldn't sleep! I kept thinking about the house, about moving, about the PANDA program... Sleep was avoiding me like the plague! Finally it must have been sometime after 5 that I dozed off, only to be awakened to a ringing phone at 7:00. Up until that point, I had planned on phoning in to say that I would be working at home today. But when I heard that phone ring so early in the morning I figured it must have been an emergency so I got out of bed and checked the message. What I had expected to be bad news had turned out to be good. It was the lawyer's office phoning to tell me that they had (finally) recieved all the papers and just needed Bo and I to come in and sign them! Well, suddenly I was wide awake again so I went and showered and ended up going to work after all. I didn't even NOTICE the lack of sleep today I was so excited about the house! I left work about 3:00 to meet Bo and sign these final documents, and once that was done we went up to Peter's and had some shakes. From there I drove to my new address and checked over the back yard to see what they'd left. It turns out they did in fact take with them the nice benches and bar-b-q but left us the firepit. George has given me his old bar-b-q (which is a LOT better than the one that was there anyways) and I'm sure we can find something to sit on around the firepit. One thing I noticed was that the back yard will need to be mowed in short order, but that's a good sign... It's SOOOO close! As exciting as all that was, the real highlight of my day came next. Rob had been having some problems with Brooke's computer so I told him I'd stop by and have a look at it. As it turned out, Shannon's kids were over so we didn't even LOOK at the computer, but instead spent the evening hanging out, telling jokes and doing a lot of laughing. I don't think it ever really sank in how much I missed their whole family until I started hanging out with them again, and tonight was another one of those nights that I'll remember for a long time. May 14, 2005 1:21 AM Twas the night before moving, and all through my home Many boxes were piling, to and from I did roam. I went to the crawlspace, and moved out of there Many boxes of neat things, all handled with care. Throughout my wee room, Did I rummage and scurry... With great speed I proceeded to pack in a hurry! My treasures were all placed into boxes, brown and gray... Tomorrow I move! This is my last day! I found many things I had long since forgotten, There was even some foodstuff! (But it was all rotten.) Becky and I sat on couch slowly sipping our slurpee, But after I found that I was now burpie! Soon my stuff was all sorted, The new and the old Some things that I found are worth far more than gold! There were even some things, I found just today which are now only good for throwing away. Tomorrow a new house, into I shall move The process of which will just go to prove If you ever feel like you don't own two-bits Just you wait until the day you must move-its! -- John Finlay / May 14, 2005 It was quite the experience going through the crawlspace today... I found many things I had forgotten I even had. Some things I hoped I had kept and others I put in the pile to be thrown out. So many items from my past, each one with it's story, hold no value to anyone but me and I'm afraid do not serve any real purpose. I kept everything of importance to me but there is a fairly big junk pile as well. We're talking, trip to the dump pile! It felt kind of strange though, deciding which pieces of my history were worth keeping and remembering and which ones were worth letting go of and their memories fading forever. I will admit though, I was a little surprised I didn't have more things of sentimental value! I was almost sure there would have been more 'trinkets' and items with a story... (Not that it's a bad thing of course...) But now it's pretty close to two in the morning and tomorrow is going to be a big day. I think I'm pretty much ready to move tomorrow, so this will be fun. Matthew (our realtor) says that we might be able to get into the house a little earlier than the standard noon o'clock which could help as well. I am so excited and so exhausted at the same time! I'll try to keep this page updated as to the progress though... If the site goes down it should only be temporarily but I will try to keep something up all the while even when I move the server itself. We'll see what happens with that. Anyway, goodnight! May 15, 2005 - 3:08 PM  ... And suddenly one day you wake up and realize that you've forever left behind one stage in your life and entered into a new era. Bo and I took posession of our new house yesterday and both of us had A LOT of help! I think at one point during the day I counted 10 vehicles belonging to family members parked along the street in front of our house. My mom, dad, and brother all came over, as well as my aunt Becky, Aunt Susan, cousin Christy & Maria also came and did a lot of work getting me all settled into my new place. This morning you'd have a hard time believing that yesterday morning the house was an empty shell! My family went above and beyond the call of duty this time. My mom organized the furniture and grocery aquisition process, Christy and Maria helped organize my kitchen cupboards and drawers, Blair and Dad helped me move all my stuff over from Pam and Barry's place, and then Blair sorted my storage space. It's funny, it seemed like I had SOOO much stuff until I brought it over here where there's so much space, now it feels like I've hardly got anything! Mom also put together my new bedroom which looks awesome! Dad put together my bed and then went to work on the back yard. He brought his lawn mower over and mowed the lawn, then also weeded our strips of garden and it looks a thousand times better... I went out and bought a garden hose and a bup-bup sprinkler - something I've always wanted to do my whole life. As I lay in bed last night I kept pondering the implications of this new venture, realizing that I've slept my last night in a cupboard. I really didn't think it would happen so fast. I've still got to go to Pam and Barry's place to get some remaining stuff from there, but at this point I'm just about settled in here and now the fun of unpacking everything can begin. What a weekend! One thing that has shocked Bo, his dad, and even my own family is the fact that so far I haven't set up any of my computers yet! My servers are still at Pam and Barry's house where they'll have to stay until I get everything set up and ready to take over here, but it really hasn't been high on my list of priorities. Shaw came over yesterday and set up our modem, and I installed a wireless router which is what I'm using to connect my laptop to the internet so I can update this right now, but otherwise I haven't even touched any of my computers. That will come in time though, and goodness knows there's a lot that needs to take place in the next couple of weeks! But it's fun. I've been having a blast, and having all the help and support of my family has been overwhelming. My parents stocked my cupboards and fridge so I've got all kinds of food to make and eat. So far I have not lacked anything, from a toothbrush and towels in my bathroom to laundry detergent and fabric softener in my laundry room, all the food I could eat in a month of course, kitchen table, chairs, pullout couch, lamps , cutlery, baking utensils, knives, even a paper towel dispenser! It's incredible! I have the best parents in the world, and I am so very proud of them. May 16, 2005 - 12:56 AM  My first full day in my new house! Today was quite an adventure, let me tell you! I had such a great time! (As I write this, I'm lying in that bed pictured above. It is SOOOOO comfortable! My new room was designed and orchestrated by my dear mother, who has said throughout this whole ordeal, "God loves you, and your mother has a plan for your life." I think she is taking a bit of liberty with scripture there, but be that as it may, my room is still very cozy and comfortable. When I woke up this morning, I will have to admit there was a fair bit of disorientation... My phone was ringing, I awoke in an unfamiliar room and everything looked green! When the sun shines through my window first thing in the morning, the green curtains make everything in the room appear green. Even this text! Phone call aside, I needed to get up anyways
for church so I got out of bed, had my first shower in my new bathroom which was lovely, and got myself ready for church.
When I arrived home around 12:30, Peggy (Bo's mom) had cooked brunch for everyone so I had a plate of what I think would
be considered an omlette: Bacon, cheese, and spices wrapped in egg and served with hash browns and more bacon. It was
absolutely delicious. After lunch I puttered around in my basement a bit, unpacking a little and starting to sort my stuff
out. That killed some time and then I was going to go down to George's place and pick up the Bar-B-Q he's given me except
I couldn't reach him on the Mike phone. So I scrapped that plan and stuck to the house.
I watered the lawn thoroughly, front and back, again completely soaking the flower beds. My dad would be very pleased.
Maddison came out and helped me water the trees in the front but she was afraid she'd get wet so she had her jacket on.
Bo and I still didn't have our fire yet but there will be plenty of time for that. Mike was over and I ended up helping him
buy a laptop today and got it all set up for him so he was quite happy. Of all the ideas Bo and I have had over the years, and of all the crazy things we've attempted and accomplished, this was definitely one of our better ideas. I can't really explain how thrilling it is to own a house! There's so much I want to do, I can have friends over now and actually have a place to do things. I have SO much room! Shannon came over yesterday, she's now one of my neighbours living only a few doors away, and said to me, "Isn't it a good feeling when you buy your first house?" I don't think I've really grasped the whole thing yet, it will probably take a few days (or a few bills!) to make it sink in that I do actually have a house now. 
Tonight I experienced a few things for the first time. I imagine the next couple of weeks will be full of firsts for me and
even that thought is wonderfully exciting. I had my devotions under the warm light of my new table lamps on the old pullout
couch from Three Hills, I did a cartwheel in my kitchen, and I washed my first set of dirty dishes. (That were mine, that is.
I have washed dirty dishes before... Though some may beg to differ...) All in all it was a great day and I'm so glad
to have a friend like Bo. Anyway, it's getting late now so I better go check my laundry and I have to find my alarm clock!
I was juat about to set it and realized it hadn't even been unpacked yet! hehehe Goodnight from my new house! May 19, 2005 - 1:46 AM  It's been 4 big sleeps already and I'm still having a hard time believing this has actually happened. Would you believe I slept in that cupboard for about 6 years? There were many a' good sleep in that confined space... I think the biggest change for me at this point is just how quiet my room is at night! I'm so used to hearing the fans of half a dozen computers turning turbulantly throughout the night that their absense is kind of wierding me out. But it's a change I will undoubtably get used to. Tonight I finally got a computer hooked up here and it'll hopefully provide some internet services while I move the real servers over from Pam and Barry's house. (They're still running over there.) What I need to get still though is a computer desk. What I plan on doing is having all the noisy, ugly servers in the storage space and then just have one (or maybe two) "normal" looking computers in my living space. Since most of the servers are connected with only a power cord and network cable, this arrangement is ideal because I don't need to access them under normal circumstances, and whenever I do it can be accomplished through the network. That storage space is nice and cool which will help keep the computers cool as well and my room won't be nearly as hot! Ok, so it's two in the morning and I'm rambling. I should really go to sleep. It's so nice being able to lie in bed and update my web site from the comfort of my quilt. But anyways, I think I will put the computer aside for the night. Time to close eyes go seepies.
May 21, 2005 - 12:44 AM  Had our first gettogether tonight, and it was awesome. My family came over - Mom, Dad, and Blair all showed up. Jolene also came over, a friend of ours from high school (actually I've known her since about grade 5 or 6. Kind of a funny story too, I used to have a HUGE crush on her way back when, so much so that I used to tease her a lot. So by the last day of grade 6, our teacher Mrs. Pue made a rule that if I made any physical contact with Jolene whatsoever, I would have to carry a cabbage patch doll around the school with me the whole day! It can be a lot of fun carrying around a doll... hehehe) But anyways, ya. And of course, Maddy was over too. We had a Bar-B-Q, tried out our recently rebuilt BBQ and it performed beautifully. The night seemed to get cold rather quickly and because we weren't really having too many people over this evening we didn't want to crank up the fire tonight so the warmth offered us by it's gentle blaze was rather limited. Still, it was a good night of story-telling, reminiscing and discussing many aspects of life. From the sounds of things, many more people will show up tomorrow evening. Not only will the weather be nicer but it is, after all, a long weekend... You know what? This will be the first May Long Weekend in years that I haven't gone camping??! But it's worth it though, and having that fire pit and those pine trees in the back makes it almost seem like camping.  
My new place has quite a spectrum of color, not the least of which is my nifty
knife rack - pictured here: Some day I will paint a white eye on the side of
it, giving it a whole new personality. But until then, I really need to go to
sleep! It's so hard to sleep when you own a house!May 23, 2005 9:10 PM  Bo and I took Madisson to Calaway Park today, where we were joined by Mike and his wife and kids. His mother was also there, and one of his sisters Lexi. I don't think I've felt this exhausted since last summer. I don't know if it was the late night I had last night or just being out in the sun all day or just what, but I am absolutely exhausted.  Our house weathered it's first big get-together very nicely. Saturday evening we had some 20-30 people over for burgers, hot dogs, and a variety of other treats prepared by guests in what I would consider to be a very successful night of fun, fellowship, and fire. As guests came and went throughout the afternoon and evening, the back yard was filled with laughter and countless stories. It was interesting to note that although this was the May Long Weekend, it did neither rain nor snow (although it may have sprinkled just a little a few times), and Saturday night the wind calmed down to nearly nothing and it ended up being a gorgeous evening! This is the first May Long Weekend since at least 2000 that I was not out camping, and ironically it had the nicest weather of all the May Longs in that time! Thanks, Murphy... 
Among the guests to our housewarming party were Bo's Mom and family from
Lethbridge, (so Mark and Eric) his Dad, Lynne, her son Graham (who mainly played
on Bo's computer) Joan and Gord, and probably a few others I'm forgetting.
Ashley showed up with Carlos, and I guess she must have wanted to try to prove
her new-found parental responsibility by taking Madisson camping. So she took
Madisson away from the party around 7:30 on Saturday evening and then showed up
again on Sunday to drop her off - obviously quite hung over (Ashley was hung
over, not Madisson) She quickly handed her to Bo at the front door, who
realized that she was missing not only both new pairs of shoes that
were sent with her the day before but also didn't have any socks on! The
outfits that were packed for her were also missing, even her sippy cup! I made
the comment to Bo that it almost appeared as though they had to leave the
campsite in a hurry. But at least they brought Madisson back - the shoes and
clothes can all be replaced. My guests started showing up later on in the afternoon... Rob and Lee came by with Brooklyn, Ed and Barb showed up with Sean at first, and then later on Ed went to get Kevin and Kristin and a load of wood to burn... (How typically Ed, 
eh? hehehe Mr. Fire) Rob, Sean, Bo, and I walked down the alley to Shannon's
house and dragged back the cut down remains of her apple tree to be burned.
My boss from work also stopped by with two of his kids,
Nicholas and Jessica. While Brooklyn and Nicholas were playing downstairs he
lost one of his teeth! Nicholas chased Brooklyn all over the house while she
shrieked with delight at a pitch that tested the resiliance of every window in
the house... Outside we eventually lit up a fire and situated the chairs
around it as the light of day began to fade. It was a beautiful night
and with the warmth of the fire being central to the activities, it kept the
diehards sitting around it until nearly two in the morning. I myself nearly
fell asleep in my camping chair sitting across from the pit which was radiating
such a delightful warmth about it that I found it hard to keep my eyes open as
I watched it's flames flicker and glow. Under the light of our tiki lanterns
and citronella candles we sat. It truly felt like summer. Barb brought by a number of housewarming gifts, which she was pleased to announce that she had not paid anything for. The idea came to her after she won one of the presents-to-be in a contest and although she didn't need it herself she decided at that point to accumulate as many housewarming gifts as she could come up with without actually paying for any of them. She assures me that they were all acquired legitimately... hehehe  May 27, 2005 - 12:27 AM  Another day, another dollar. I finally moved my servers over to my new place and grabbed the rest of my stuff. Apparantly I'd forgotten a couple of shirts, two pair of shoes and my winter jacket in the closet. It looks like they're getting ready to renovate the basement so that Jaimee and Jeremy can move back in. The basement will be their domain this time though, instead of sharing a pair of rooms across the hall from Pam and Barry... hehehe I was thinking today, and I've pretty much decided to install an underground sprinkler system in the yard at our house. To some, this might sound like a lot of work or perhaps a great summer weekend project, but for me this is the realization of a life-long dream. Back in grade 6 I used to go to this sprinkler store called Regency Irrigation and there was this really nice lady there named Brenda who would give me all the pamphlets and spec sheets for every type of sprinkler, valve, controller, pipes and fittings - all the information you'd need to design, plan, and install your own underground system. I remember spending literally HOURS mapping out the yard at my parents' house where I was of course living at the time, and plotting out the various sprinkler locations, coverage patterns, and zone piping. Somewhere I am sure I still have my binder with all that stuff in it - in fact, I think it's in the attic at my parents' house. And while at that time without an income, the cost became quite prohibitive, not to mention their water from the well was very limited in both quantity and pressure - now neither of those restrictions are factors anymore. Not to mention an underground sprinkler system and lush, healthy lawn & flower garden both add value to the home. It will be quite fun! As it is right now, our yard is SOOOO dry. I'm sure it was never watered by the previous owners, and the fact that grass is growing at all is amazing in and of itself... Since buying the house though, my watering efforts have made a very noticable difference on the appearance of the yard and I have several other plans in mind to further increase the asthetic appearance of our agriculture. Now that we've got most of the entertaining out of the way, I think I can finally dig in and begin the process of unpacking my boxes and sorting what things I brought over. It just seems that every night after work there is always something coming up that demands my attention. Distractions if you will. After moving those two servers over tonight and getting them all set up and running, I had to chuckle at the whirlwind of noise all the computers in my little server room create together... And to think I used to sleep with my head several feet away from them every night! Lying in my big, colorful, comfy bed, my feet on an electric heat pad and my laptop on my lap, the only sound in the room is that of the music coming out of the little speakers in my Thinkpad. At the moment, Nelly Fertado's song Turn Out The Lights is playing. My room is so peaceful. But one thing that I've seen become a recurring theme lately is how lying in bed, surrounded by silence tends to make me very tired. As long as there is noise, activity, or Pepsi present - I can remain quite awake, but in the absense of those three catalysts, my eyes become heavy and I begin to crave the peace of a relaxing rest under warm covers in my comfy bed. So to that end, I shall now go and satisfy that craving. Goodnight. May 27, 2005 - 11:50 PM Whenever I used to go and eat out, or even eat at a friend's place, I never really looked at the food. There is usually an unspoken assumption that whoever prepared your food knew what they were doing and that (whatever it looks like) the food is ok. As a bachelor living on my own now, I've begun to experiment with those mysterious kitchen contraptions like the stove. Apparantly a lot of food is cooked on them and they have a plethora of uses! Who would have ever guessed it!?
And while I've been having a lot of fun trying out this newly de-mystified device, having seen the food come from it's
simple ingredients all the way to it's completion and arrival on the plate, I look at the completed food with a little more
skepticism, wondering if I really cooked it enough, put all the ingredients in, got the proportions right, etc. This is one
case where it's easy to trust others but hard to trust yourself. At least in the beginning.May 29, 2005 - 10:20 AM  Oh what fun it is to water my lawn! I've got the sprinkler going out there, everything is starting to turn so green... It's great! But one drawback to spring I've noticed in recent years is an apparant alergy to pollen (?) or something present in the air outside these days... It's brutal! Whenever I go outside, I get all sniffly, my eyes swell up and get ichy and sore... From what people tell me, these are all symptoms of an alergy. Which is strange, because they have never bothered me until recently! Like, the last two or three years! I used to mow lawns, play outside, roll around in grass, etc. with great frequency when I was younger and never had any trouble like this. I guess it just means I'm getting old... Tonight is the last Life Night of the summer, which means that after playing me drums at church tonight, I can finally take them home! Not that I couldn't take them home before, but I've never had anywhere to put them until now! Bo and I are both psyched about being able to start jamming again... It's going to be awesome. If we get good enough (or our neighbours get annoying enough) we may even set up the instruments on top of the garage roof and have back yard jams! I think that would be so cool - I don't think I've ever played an instrument under direct sunlight! That could be a lot of fun. I've started going through my boxes, unpacking things and sorting others. There are quite a few items I've been given for Christmas and birthdays in the past that I've kept but never had space to display - until now. It's like years ago, when you'd buy a computer game only to find out that your computer wasn't fast enough to run it. So you keep the game tucked away somewhere and then one day, you upgrade your computer and find that now you can play all those games that you couldn't before. On a side note, Bo just phoned me from upstairs... I think we're getting a little bit lazy in this new house of ours... hahaha May 31, 2005 - 12:15 AM Live a little, give a little, have a little fun...  Every day is an adventure. So much happens in any given day, even the ones that seem to drag on and are full of absense. The other night I coined a rather contemplative phrase... My apathy worries me... Tonight Jason, Bo, and I did our first work out in the garage we rented up in a neighbouring community. It's been quite a while for all of us but I think now that we have our own place it should become a lot easier to stick to it and get ripped. hahaha I rode my pedal bike to work this morning, then to my parents' house after work for supper and then back to my house. I stopped by my old house to check over the unclaimed boxes of stuff in the garage and found a special connector that I thought I had lost years ago. It basically allows one to connect a TV to one of my computers. Bo and I sat down for the first time in literally years and jammed tonight. He commented a few times about how rusty he was, but I thought he sounded great. I can just imagine a time in the not so distant future when we have a few more instruments down here getting together and making some sweet summer sounds. Yet another example of an opportunity owning my own house has opened up for me - I've owned my drums for a few years now and this is the first time I've ever had them at home! I also tried out a new sprinkler I bought for the yard and was pleasantly surprised that although it's cost was minimal, it's performance (at least for now) is not. I'm having a craving for a James Bond film. I was quite satisfied with the content of my day up until this point, but it was then that some information came to me which has been stuck in my head and causing a seemingly endless loop of thought to be processed. For obvious reasons I cannot say what it was I learned, but it definitely goes to illustrate how ignorance really IS bliss... There are some things I'd rather not know or know about. In a way, someone I know got something I've wanted for a long time, seemingly without even trying. Maybe that's my problem? I don't don't try. I can't say that I really try all that hard in most cases, but there are some things I do consciously go out of my way to do in the hopes that something might turn out of it... I really hate trying to generalize something like this. It won't make sense to you but considering that someone lost their job over this and a marriage took a major hit, you can use your imagination to fill in the blanks. As I'm nearing that place where my mind enters the un-restrained random realms of dream-dom, I'm noticing that feelings and images from some dreams I had last night are beginning to re-emerge. As if the universe was trying to torment me, my laptop, although on random, just began to play the most significant song it could probably have picked given the current circumstances. Wish I had a good girl to miss me... I thought about you for a long time, can't seem to get you off my mind. I can't understand why we're living life this way. I found your picture today... I swear I'll change my ways. I just called to say I love you. Come back home. What's going on??? The more I think about everything, the less it all makes sense! What's the answer then? Stop thinking? Cease to wonder? Discontinue my quest for understanding? Why is it SO hard to accept the things I can't change? Someone said to me tonight, "Girls only want guys who are unavailable." Maybe without trying, my available-ness is really preventing me from getting any? Talk about a catch-22 though... If being available makes you unattractive to members of the opposite sex, theoretically you could never become 'un-available', and even if you were you'd get hit on like crazy but couldn't do anything about it! It's true what they say, when it rains, it pours! I could use a little rain right about now... BACK to Journal Index |