11.28.2003

All I want for Christmas is a load of stuff...

I'm in the second of two days off from work. Just the time to laze around and just be non-productive. I felt the burn to write something, so...

My parents asked me to email them my Christmas wish list. In the past few years, there's usually been one thing I'd really crave (Last year: Mario Sunshine. Year before that: A game system.) and then I'd be pretty noncommittal about the rest of the stuff.

But since I'm hard to buy for, according to my relatives, I actually found a few things I would like for Christmas. So, if you're buying anything for me come December, these are things I'm currently wanting:

DVDs
Mr Show: The Complete First and Second Seasons
Space Ghost: Volume 1
Any Coen Brothers film that isn't Big Lebowski or Oh, Brother, Where Art Thou
Fiddler on the Roof
The Ric Flair Collection
X-Men 2
Jesus Christ Superstar
The Tenacious D DVD
Run Ronnie Run

Books
Exiles: Volume 4 on
New X Men: Assault on Weapon X
Runaways (all available at a comic shop)
Mr Show: What Happened?

CDs
Steve Burns - Songs for Dustmites
The new Red Hot Chili Peppers
Any old Outkast discs. I only have the Greatest Hits and the new two-disc set
Strongbad Sings!

Bacon (On a side note, any clue why they'd be selling Chateaubriand beef for half off?)

A strainer/colander (So I can actually cook pasta or KD without losing half of it in the sink)

New twin bed sheets

There! Now Jago isn't so hard to buy for.

* * *

Found a funny weblog yesterday. Damn, I was laughing.

* * *

My thoughts and prayers go out to the family of Caboodle. I hope we find out what's wrong soon.

* * *

Kow's decided to hold off recording the CD until after Christmas. Too much busy-ness for the six of us (Kow, and our sound engineer Grank) to get together that often.

Reading: Geek Love, by Katherine Dunn. A strange book about a family of circus freaks. Finished Stephen Fry's The Stars' Tennis Balls, a great modernization on The Count of Monte Christo

Listening to: Andre and Big Boi Present: Outkast. Nope, still not off them yet. But I've thrown Streetnix's Ignition into the mix as well.

11.24.2003

A dump of post.

My computer's been acting up. Instead of going into a sleep mode, it decides to go into a coma mode. After half an hour on non-action, it shuts off.

Oh, the power button is still lit up. And I've got the "sleep" light on my keyboard. But it doesn't respond when I push the wake button. until I unplug it and plug it back in.

Sigh. Looks like I might be without a comp for a bit.

* * *

Wow. Looking back on my last post, I was amazed I was able to write 2,000 words on my frustrations from one day.

Scary thing is, that's three times the size on my aborted NaNo novel.

* * *

Had a fun time at Elimination's birthday party on Friday.

D! and I went to WEM, and did a bit of shopping and visited Julio's Barrio for some nummy Mexican food. Ah, Julio's Nachos. Drool.

Then, with a whole bunch of friends, we went to see a movie.

Silver City's selection sucked ass, so we went to see what was in the second run theatre. Lost in Translation, School of Rock, The Rundown, that movie wtih Kate Beckinsale in leather as a vampire who's title I can't remember...All movies I'd have no problem with. And $5 ticket prices!

Just for kicks, we decided to try the THIRD run theatre, and found Pirates of the Caribbean playing. So we went to see that. But we had two hours before the curtain went up.

I found the kickin'est-ass dessert place which sold crepes. Seriously, if you're in the food court beside Galaxyland, go check it out. Some dessert crepes to die for.

(Kate's movie is called Underworld, methinks.)

After the movie, D! and I were getting a ride from Screech, who had parked at Misericordia Hospital.

But first, we had to get a ride to Screech's car by Edmonton Playwright.

For some reason, Screech couldn't get her car started (no power steering). So Ed Playright went in.

"This is not my Mustang," he said.

I chirp in, "This is not my beautiful house! This is not my beautiful wife!"

D! and I start singing some Talking Heads until Playwright yells at us to shut up.

"Sorry, man. D! and I express stress differently. At least at this point of night."

As it was, Playwright had to drive us home due to Screech's car not starting.

* * *

On Saturday, I was able to spend some fun time with MFJ. We worked on some Kow PR, watched the Hockey Classic on my crappy reception TV, watched some Red Dwarf, played some Animal Crossing and went shopping. And napped.

And then we had a games night at her place. Nova, Dev, MFJ, me and Lady Def.

Fun times. We had a fun game of Battle of the Bands, where Lady Def's mom turned out to be a party animal drunkard.

The Whole Brain Game. Highlights include:

"Okay, Dev. Your topic is 'Why would Dieter (Deeter) impress?'"

"What? Let me see that card. DIE-ET-ER! Not DEETER!"

And a fun game of Pygmy Cannibals that lasted way after the ladies went to sleep.

* * *

Yesterday, I was coerced into going to the company's Christmas party. The only reasons I went were because I had people I actually wanted to hang out with this time, I won yet another sales award, and because Mitch was in charge of it. Otherwise, I would have gone to Kow rehearsal, and Ravenloft.

It was a decent time. Some good food (and quite a bit of it), some great jokes (including being amazed at Real's wife), and a pickup game of Battle of the Bands.

An excerpt of the banter:

ME: You know, I should just go around and pretend to be Jeff for a bit.

TABLE: What?

ME: As in, "Hi, I'm Jeff Ferris. Is this your wife? Hubba!"

JEFF: You ARE aware that almost everyone here knows who I am?

ME: That just makes it funnier. I can just imagine all the people who'd end up saying, "Man! That Jeff Ferris is SUCH a jackass!" OOH! Even better! "Hi, I'm Mitch Vik! Now, I know, I might be at the front of the hall, being the MC, but I AM Mitch." Or, "Hi, I'm Regional Manager Pete Scully! Groin! Grope!"

Laughter ensues.

Afterwards, I walked to the bus terminal at Northgate (thank God the weather was a lot milder), got on the 9, and and then promptly fell asleep on the bus.

I awoke to a residential view. "What the hell? Where am I? WHAT? Southgate Mall!?!?"

Yup. Missed my bus stop by 30 blocks. Whee! Got home at 12:30 am. And I got to open today! Joy!

* * *

Well, that about wraps up this update. Hopefully, I'll do better than a weekly post for the future. Just pray that my computer actually decides to stay on...

11.18.2003

My own personal Survivor Series (or, the Workday from Hell)...

Last night, I learned a very valuable lesson:

A riding mower is not a toy.

* * *

A very long day at work today. It wasn't the worst day, thanks to the money I made ($1700 in one day is a pretty good sales figure.), but I wouldn't want it to happen again.

Some of my co-workers decided they'd go out drinking last night. That's all cool and such, but not when people who are scheduled to work the next day decided to bite off more than they can chew.

I opened the store with Emmanuel. Nathan was supposed to be there, but called in and said he'd be a bit late. Like an hour late.

So I had to open the store by myself. While Emmanuel opened the toy store by himself. I had only one task for him to do: Take down all the green sales tags that had expired the day before. Not a hard job. Certainly one even a slackass like Emmanuel can do.

It was busy. Nothing I couldn't handle, but I was glad when Nathan showed up at 10:30. He told me what had happened last night, and that he was suffering from a hangover. he wanted to get something to eat, so he could sober up some. I said, "Wait until Darren comes. I can't afford to be by myself in the store at this point."

Darren calls at 11. "I'll be a bit late."

"Why? Same sort of circumstances as Nathan?"

Darren laughs. "No. I just need to take care of some personal business."

"Okay, then. When do you think you'll show up?"

"1 pm." An hour late. Well, I'll cope, I guess.

Meanwhile, he's got some things for me to ship out. A video card to a store. More product to other stores. A 27" TV he sold to a customer and promised to ship the next day.

All I knew is that I was NOT going to go downstairs and get the box for a 27" TV that he sold, pack it up, ignoring all the customers in my store when there's only two of us working. Darren can deal with that when he comes in. If I can't go for some desperately needed change, I can't take care of a sale he made...

Terry shows up at 1. I send him over to the toy store. But before he goes, I make sure to tell him that I want all the expired green sales tags down. I know, it's an easy job, but Emmanuel rarely does work. He tells me he's got it taken care of.

I start to get worried when Darren doesn't show up. At 2:30 pm, a full hour and a half after he told me he was coming, I start calling his cell. No answer. I call Jeff on his day off, and tell him what's happening.

"Damn it!" Jeff says. "Why can't these people think before they get drunk, if they're working the next day?"

"You took the words right out of my mouth, Jeff."

Nathan's feeling woozy. But I can't afford to give him a break when there's only two salespeople in the store.

A woman comes in with a patch cord she bought.

"I'd like to get a return," she says. I look at the receipt. It was from August. A full three months after she bought it.

"I see you have the extended warranty. I can give you a new cable."

She shakes her head. "It's not working with the TV. My husband bought a new cord, and it's working now. I want my mnoey back."

"I'm sorry. I can't do that. The return policy is only 30 days. I can give you a new cable, though, if this one's broken."

"But I bought the three year warranty!"

"Yes. Which gives you a new cable. I exchange the broken one for a new one, free of charge."

"I don't want another cable. I just want my money back."

"I can't return the cable..."

She interrupts. "I don't WANT to return the cable. I just want my money back."

"Yes. You want to return the cable. I can't do that. I could have done it halfway through September. Not three months later."

"It doesn't say there's a 30 day limit on this receipt."

I turn over the receipt, and point out, word by word, where it says there's a 30 day return policy.

She glares at me. "I want my money back."

"I won't give you your money back. I CAN'T give you your money back. All I can do is give you a brand new cable."

"The boy who sold it to me said that if anything happened, I could bring my cable back..."

I finish her sentence. "And get it exchanged for a new one. Which is what I'm offering you. The three year warranty does not mean you can get your money back in three years."

She throws the cable at my chest and storms out. And storms back in, demanding her receipt back. Which I give her. And then she storms out again.

I almost leave at that point. Instead, I just sigh and help the next customer.

Nathan feels sick. He rushes to the washroom.

Emmanuel and I are dealing with the lineup. Nathan comes back, wearing his t-shirt. He has puked in the washroom, and has soiled his shirt.

"I'm going home," he says.

I reply, "Fine. If you go home, you have to call up Jeff and tell him you're going home. Because he's going to have to get someone to come in to replace you."

Darren still hasn't shown up. Nathan manages to get him on his cell. Darren's been at home, sleeping.

Nathan calls Jeff. Jeff calls me back.

"I got a call from Darren. He's not coming in today."

"Nice of him to tell me. So, you're coming in to take over the store, right?"

He said he'd call me back.

Four o'clock. Emmanuel's leaving. I ask him to stay until Rod shows up. Because I'm not going to be in the store by myself.

Emmanuel grumbles. "I don't get a break. I have to stay later."

"Join the club, Emmanuel. You can always quit, if you want. (In my mind: "PLEASE quit! It would make it easier for everyone...") But you're staying until Rod shows up."

Nathan goes to buy a shirt so he can still work. When he comes back, I follow him into the back room.

"You know, I'd be kicking your ass right now, if your body wasn't doing it for me," I tell him.

Rod shows up. Emmanuel leaves. Terry calls up, asking if he can get relieved so he can go for break. I tell him it will probably happen at about six or so.

Jeff calls up, saying Steve (glorious, glorious Steve!) will be showing up to finish the shift. And that Jeff and Martin will come into close.

I deal with a customer who called earlier about getting a Bell Expressvu receiver. I had clearly explained over the phone that he'd need a credit card to buy the dish, thanks to Expressvu's new crazy-ass policy. (In a nutshell, you have to sign a two year plan of at least $40 a month to get all the promotions given. You have to sign an agreement saying you are NOT stealing a signal from Bell. The retailer pretty much has to fill out a form with address, work number, creidt card, dish registration number, etc, etc... It's more work than a cell phone contract these days. You can't buy an Expressvu unless you have a credit card.)

So this customer was grumbling, saying I didn't need his information. Although I had explained it in detail over the phone prior to his coming in.

Six o'clock. I'm supposed to be off. Steve hasn't shown up yet. I call Steve's cell, asking him to PLEASE call me with his whereabouts.

6:20 pm. Steve comes in. Nathan can now go. I have to go to the toy store so Terry can have his break.

Terry has made a grand total of $150 at the toy store. It's so slow, he's been able to watch three movies on the TVs.

While I relieve Terry, I take down all the green sales tags that expired on Sunday. Because Emmanuel didn't do them. Terry didn't do them. Sigh. I am at the point where I'm calm. TOO calm. Eye of the hurricane calm. A dangerous calm.

Steve comes into the toy store at 7 after Terry's done his break. I am able to leave. But first, Steve wants to buy a Game Boy Advance and some games. So I have to ring that through first. It takes about fifteen minutes to do properly, because of some miscommunication between us. So I'm leaving at 7:30. But first I call Jeff.

"You're still there? Why?" he asks me.

"Just. Don't. Ask. Please."

As I am leaving, Terry answers a phone call. And asks me if I know anything about a 27" TV that was supposed to be shipped to a customer's house.

I laugh maniacally, and tell him to put the guy on hold, so I can tell him that since Darren didn't come in to get that done, it didn't get sent out. "So tell the customer that it WILL happen. But it will happen tomorrow. And it won't be me doing it."

I leave. Finally. Completely wiped.

* * *

I am so happy with the way that the WWE writing is dramatically improving. Raw is having some moments of brilliance these days. Yesterday, I called some matches at Survivor Series wrong. I lost the pool. But I was fine with the wrong choices, because they worked out in an unpredictable, yet plausible way.

"There's no way Stone Cold's team is going to lose. They're not going to fire Austin. Oh. Austin's team lost. Well, that worked out better than I had hoped...

"Yup. Triple H is back, which means he's going to take the title and push down all the talent that deserves it a lot more than the son-in-law of Vince McMahon. Oh, Goldberg retained the title. That's good."

Just some logical storylines these days. I won't bore you with the details of today's episode of RAW, but I was very pleased with how the writing's improved.

It's getting to the point that I can't call the plotlines in every detail before. Unpredictability in the WWE. It's definitely looking up.

11.14.2003

Jago is...

From Googlism.com:

Googlism for: jago

jago is the new rebels' talent

jago is from now on available at www

jago is a java framework for geospatial solutions

jago is regarded as someone to be respected by the community because of his gifts or talents

jago is sick 09

jago is tall and has a lithe build with

jago is busy these days renewing soccer contacts for the dallas cup's betterment – while simultaneously refreshing his own professional enthusiasm

jago is back from his holidays

jago is very intense with a lot to learn and the students need constant practise

jago is

jago is a master manipulator

jago is a completely autonomous underwater vehicle which

jago is a relatively small craft

jago is immers de eigenlijke hoofdrolspeler

jago is equipped with fluxgate compass

jago is also currently the chair of the university presidents' council

jago is remembered for his poem edge

jago is a client for playing go on internet servers such as igs and nngs

jago is wel getrouwd

jago is the best equipped for this task

jago is a client software for telnet go servers

jago is a java framework for geospatially

jago is quick to point out the band "still does a lot of pretty

jago is about to lose

jago is a london slum where crime and violence are the only way of life

jago is overcome with fear

jago is a former documentary producer for channel 4 and the bbc

jago is too sweet on naomi not to come back

jago is still a living man?"

jago is de mooiste club uit rotterdam

jago is 19

jago is a java applet that plays the game of go

jago is killed? bren is blinded? where will that take us?

jago is covered in a few sentences

jago is not

jago is now on its way to explore the volcanic vents in lake taupo

jago is submerged surface conditions do not affect its performance or capabilities

jago is able to use this situation as well for his intrigue

jago is betrayed by his one time master

jago is on the roof looking for the offenders

jago is a solicitor specialising in family law

jago is started as an applet

jago is kind to kate and then she finds him signalling to an american privateer

jago is a magnificently two

jago is a man who can bring about heaven on earth

jago is a freeware contributed by rene grothmann

jago is equipped with a precisely working manipulator permitting selective sampling

jago is a

jago is conniving; carteri's desdemona is captivating

jago is appealing to people who have voted for the liberal/national coalition or the alp in the past to vote for him this time around

jago is within walking distance

jago is wedding kencd7? posted

jago is a pineapple grower

jago is wedding kencd7? that's right

jago is a seamless whole

jago is excelent tool for viewing and analyse go games

jago is beatiful and deadly

jago is founded on michael whelan's covers

jago is a young boy separated from his family and home and surviving as a street child in a war torn country

jago is frightened away

jago is suddenly jolted by a psionic backfire

jago is completely right

jago is able to load and save go games in xml format

jago is the phonetic spelling of santiago

jago is niet mijn naam vanaf mijn geboorte

jago is the 28

jago is a qualified mediator

jago is scheduled to arrive in wellington on its mother ship

jago is a programming environment that allows programs written in a subset of java to be run in a virtual environment

jago is able to bring to the committee remains to be seen

jago is a graduate of the prestigious royal ballet school in london

jago is the marketing director at seattle

jago is a client to connect to the internet go server

jago is a 1 year old black and red german male he has great drives and ability and temperment

jago is looking forward to welcoming new prospects to the team

jago is retired from corning inc and mrs

jago is participating in the programme on behalf of the max planck institute in germany and will be manned by a technical team headed by professor hans

jago is installed locally

jago is an christian mc that was born in oktober 1972 in gefle/sweden

jago is an ex

jago is a master of "tang lang" kung fu and an instructor of tai chi

jago is able to unleash people?s fantasies

jago is a member of canterbury christ church university college's centre for international studies in early childhood

Yup. Jago's easiest post, due to cutting and pasting.

Oh, wow. This is my 75th post. Not quite the landmark that girlone's at, but it's not a bad total for a journal that's been online for six months.

And, it's a pretty cool unintentional subject for such a number.

* * *

On another note, I've been participating in some political surveys along with some contributors to a message board I frequent.

It's pretty interesting to see where this survey ranks you.

My statistics are:

Economic Left/Right: -4.62

Libertarian/Authoritarian: -2.15

Which puts me at the ideological equivalent of Gandhi, so to speak.

And, scarily enough, I'm the most authoritarian of those surveyed from the Failure boards. Guess I'm the least critical of government, as a whole...

11.08.2003

Acting While Buzzed

I had a great release for this nightmare week of working today: I went to improv and just channelled all my aggression into cutting loose and acting.

It was to be The Monsters of Rock Tour (Me and the Wombats) vs. The Three Musketeers (D!, Marauder, Elimination). But yesterday I heard that Randy wasn't able to make it, and Paul was working a late shift.

Which would make the odds a lot worse, since the lineup would be me vs. three good improvisers.

I decided on a plan of attack: I'd get a sixpack of beer, come onstage dishevelled and talk about how the Monsters of Rock Tour had celebrated after our last victory.

Someone would reply back, "But that was three weeks ago!"

Me: "Yeah. They're fucked up. I'm the only one able to come out for improv."

As it turned out, Paul switched his shift so he could make it. But I decided to act drunk regardless...

I got what turns out to be one of Paul's and my favourite beers (Sleeman's Honey Brown) and we decided to drink it during the show.

And we decide that since we're going up against some very good improvisers, we'd let our minds run wild. Absolutely no fear onstage.

Sometimes it worked. We had a good brother/sister scene, where he was filled with jealousy and I with rage. It ended up where Paul took an aging potion to gain my birthright.

And the Scene Done Three Ways, set in a dance club, with me as a patron and he as a bartender, with me getting slapped by women across the room, and him trying to test new drinks on me.

And then the same scene done with "more sexuality." And then as a Western.

We ended up winning the competition, and had a lot of fun doing it.

Since we had very few people in the audience, we decided to forgo the usual elimination round in favour of a long-form love story: "When the Mad Scientist Met the Mermaid."

The first scene involved the mad scientist and his assistant. One guy named Adam jumped on as a hunchback, and I joined him. When the lights went on, I decided to reverse roles, and became the sarcastic grad student to his tenured professor.

When he asked me what sort of project I wanted to do, I replied, "I want to do some reanimating of Elle Macpherson."

Adam replied, "Elle Macpherson's dead?"

Me: "Well, not yet! But she WILL be!"

So my grad student turned out to be the most evil character around. And I had a lot of fun doing it: Basting Elimination in lemon to get eaten by a fish, cutting a fish in half three times, pretending to play the piano, selling out the professor, selling out the captain of the submarine, cutting Elle Macpherson in half...

And I died laughing when Edmonton Playwright turned his Elle Macpherson into Larry (L) Macpherson during a monologue. It made it seem like I was insane, mistaking a supermodel for some guy.

Some VERY fun times...

* * *

Got that freaking toy store computer working FINALLY on Wednesday. It only took me about twenty hours of labour. At which point OTHER machines started breaking down.

But today? MUCH less stressful.

Listening to: Speakerboxxx by Outkast's Big Boi. That disc has ALSO grown on me...

Must go to bed. Recording tomorrow...

11.04.2003

SO much frustration, and ways to amuse myself in a bedroom with blankets and a microphone...

My plan was to write for a few hours tonight on my NaNoWriMo project, the story of a Seattle guy and his con-artist friend.

But real life decided to kick me in the head today, and so I just want to get to bed and sleep off my frustrations. After I vent.

The RadioShack toy store will be opening up in KGM tomorrow. So we've been getting ready for it. Setting up a new location. Counting 300 boxes of stock. Cleaning up the main store for a visit by RS CEO Brian Levy tomorrow. Pricing.

My job for the past while has been to set up the toy store computer.

It was a matter of installing the Point of Sale system and Unix as well. It wasn't a big deal until I found that I'd need to back up my store's POS and reinstall it onto the toy store comp.

We don't have a working backup. We haven't for a year. So, for a year, we'd been living on a computer system ,that, if there was a power surge, would lose all of its data. There would be nothing left.

So I had to backup the system onto another computer, and then reverse the process for the toy store computer.

So far, this task has taken me over twenty hours to do. And about ten hours to Calgary.

And I end up being frustrated, because there's NOTHING I can do to fix it. AND I have to stop to help customers. AND I have to answer questions from both inexperienced new staff members and dumb, unlearning old staff members. AND answer the phone. AND tell Jeff that I can't do any work on the computer because I've got four customers in line, and THEY come first.

At least i'm getting good sales due to Christmas shopping.

Today I was ready to throw in the towel, just quit without any notice. It's not the first time I've felt this way. But the last time was in February.

* * *

Last night, Kow started the process of recording a CD.

We enlisted the help and skill of our friend Grank, who has his own computer and sound recording equipment.

We went over to his house and found one bedroom converted into a soundroom, with blankets hung on the walls, and a microphone in the middle.

We'd start off by recording a base track, with all of us singing. Then each of us would record a separate track by singing along to the base track.

It worked fine with the first two songs we recorded (Little Red Riding Hood and Hitching a Ride). Once Coney Island Baby was decided as our next song, things got difficult.

Coney Island Baby is a barbershop standard that requires us all to watch each other and listen for blend. But there's so many pauses and rubatos and speeding up, we found out it's impossible to anticipate where everything is laid out during our separate stints in the sound room.

We had to stop and start five times, and Grank recorded them all. So when I was in the soundroom laying down my voice track, I was trying to figure out which one was the real one.

"Okay. This isn't it. Next part of the song."

Then I heard my mic cut out.

"I'm not hearing myself anymore. Am I just on mute? Or am I not singing? Hell, I'll sing anyway."

So I start and stop along with the base track.

At the end, I ask into the mic, "Okay. I think I should try that again."

Dev pokes his head in the bedroom.

"Did you just say that you should try that again? Were you singing the entire time?"

"Of course," I reply.

Yeah. My mic was off.

So I try again. But keep on screwing up.

The rest of Kow told me they knew we were done recording for the night "when we hear Jago cursing like a sailor."

Still, it was pretty fun and a big learning experience. Now we know what to do for the next session: Have everything planned out.

And Grank found out that he should keep the recording going all the time, because he loves our banter and doesn't want to miss out on a particularly funny bit that we just improv.

Well, I'm looking forward to next week...

11.03.2003

Jasper

Got back this afternoon from Jasper.

It was a fun time, although Friday was conspiring to kill me.

I was in charge of getting the computer terminal for the toy store all ready, which was taking a bit of time. My parents had left Moose Jaw at 6:30 (5:30 my time), so they'd be arriving at about 2 or so, a bit earlier than I had planned.

After MFJ got ready, it was about 4:30 pm. After eating some dinner, we set out for Jasper and got there at about 10 pm.

Some interesting roads on the way there, with the nice new snowfall Alberta got.

The hotel we were staying at was pretty nice, with a kitchenette, one bedroom, a loft with three singles, and a hideabed in the living room.

We watched some television, and MFJ and I stayed up and watched some late night shows.

The next day, we had plenty of free time, since the wedding was starting at 5 pm.

MFJ and I went exploring the shops, and buying a few things. I needed a swimsuit, we found a comic store, so I HAD to go in a check it out. Treats at Nutter's Bulk Foods. Fudge for MFJ's family.

Had a nice time at the hotel pool. The steamroom had some menthol added to the steam, which really refreshed me (I tend to go nuts for menthol and minty things. See the Kleenex rants a few pages back). And it was shocking to NOT be the hairiest guy at the pool. Man, that guy had back hair to overshadow mine, and I have 103% hair! ("Even my hair has hair!")

The wedding itself was very nice. My Uncle Dan was approached by Colin and Joanne to marry them, so he obtained a temporary license from the province.

Mom's camera was on the fritz, so I lent them mine. And I brought my digital camera as well, just so I could get shots. Dad was taking pictures, when all of a sudden, a HELP warning came on the LCD.

This was the FIRST time in five years my camera's done this to me.

So I pull out the digital camera. And realize I had forgotten my memory card in my USB reader back here. And it was a four hour drive.

So my sister EJ lent Dad her camera. Which promptly died.

Luckily, Dan had borrowed some digital cameras and a digital videocam from his work, and since Alberta Justice buys Canon supplies (at least in this case), I was able to steal a 128 MB CompactFlash card to use in my Canon.

The meal was AMAZING! There was a pretty good squash and Granny Smith soup to start off with. Then came a mozzarella and tomato salad that had the freshest mozza I've ever tasted.

The PRIME RIB with YORKSHIRE PUDDING and DOUBLE STUFFED BACON POTATO was my favourite part, of course. Guh. I was wanting more Prime Rib, and my aunt Kim was saving herself for dessert, so I got to have another half of beef. Yum!

MFJ's favourite part was the dessert. It was a chocolate mousse with raspberry coulis. MFJ was cutting off the circulation to my left leg by squeezing my thigh when she tasted the mango-peach dipping sauce that was included.

There was no official program, and so the dance actually occurred during the meal, while they were gettign the courses ready. And then a small thank you speech from Colin and Joanne afterwards.

I forgot how funny Colin could be until he started dancing these crazy steps that made everyone laugh. I got about 4 minutes of video through my Canon of some just silliness.

Then this morning, we were up pretty early so my parents could make the 12 hour drive back to Saskatchewan and still be able to function at work tomorrow.

* * *

Recently, the girl downstairs has had her boyfriend move in. So he takes my parking space without asking for it. Otto, my landlord, has talked to me about it, and I told him I didn't make any arrangements for this guy to park there.

Today, when my parents pulled into my space, he came up in his van and said, "Hey, you can't park there."

"Yes I can," I replied. "I live here."

"Do you live in that apartment?" he asked, pointing to the window below mine.

"No," I replied. "I live in the one above. Number 23. Which is the parking stall number."

"Well, Robin told me she owned both spaces."

"No. I own one of them. So it's okay for my parents to park in MY space."

We then headed into my apartment. Looks like I'm going to have to have a talk with Robin about this.