My gal went out to get her feet sanded, polished and painted, and for some reason the place was closed (on a Tuesday, mid afternoon?).
But she did some creative shopping and walking, and came home with foot-sanding pads, some polish, and a 7 dolla pack of Save-On -Foods sushi, and a dessert.
Feet not sanded and spoiled, but not coming home empty handed.
'Sushi and a focking Brownie'
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Saturday, September 24, 2011
reflections on life, the 'hood, the belly
Beautiful late September Saturday afternoon: 75 F., 24 C., sunny with the odd wispy cloud wisping around up there. Just returned from a trip up to 'beer store corner', whyte and 112 st., a nice half mile walk each way. There's grocery store, bank, good coffee, beer store and assortment of fast food, optometrist, ballet, tanning.. very girl-friendly and with the beer and the meat and the girls, guy-friendly also. Big hospital and physio faculty across the street.
On my way up (walking north I consider 'up') saw a pair who very much demonstrated that sometimes people and their dogs resemble greatly. Strong and zaftig (curvy) brunette, really nice brown hair reflecting light, walking strong and zaftig lady Rottweiler. The Rotty was giving me big smiles, the girl had shades on, but also smiling.
(brief work interlude: I work with thousands of repeat customers, and call them to keep em happy and sell em stuff. Today I had 3 names in a row that made me feel like I had stumbled into the gay porn section- Manhard, Ramsbottom, Cockburn.. You find stupid things to amuse you at work sometimes.)
Good stewing beef at the store, looks like a nice cut, not blade or some crap cut, but still am marinating it for a mighty mighty stew with home-grown veg later. My sis in law grew them, and dropped some off for our consumption. My marinade of the day is soy sauce, garlic, dill, lots of coarse black pepper, and Bullseye hot n spicy bbq sauce. The gal is working weekends, I only do a half-day Saturday, so have taken on the evening feeding on Sat and Sun.
Have a great weekend. I have a 710 ml Beck's freezerizing for an hour, then I shall consume it when it is just shy of turning to Beck's slurpee.
On my way up (walking north I consider 'up') saw a pair who very much demonstrated that sometimes people and their dogs resemble greatly. Strong and zaftig (curvy) brunette, really nice brown hair reflecting light, walking strong and zaftig lady Rottweiler. The Rotty was giving me big smiles, the girl had shades on, but also smiling.
(brief work interlude: I work with thousands of repeat customers, and call them to keep em happy and sell em stuff. Today I had 3 names in a row that made me feel like I had stumbled into the gay porn section- Manhard, Ramsbottom, Cockburn.. You find stupid things to amuse you at work sometimes.)
Good stewing beef at the store, looks like a nice cut, not blade or some crap cut, but still am marinating it for a mighty mighty stew with home-grown veg later. My sis in law grew them, and dropped some off for our consumption. My marinade of the day is soy sauce, garlic, dill, lots of coarse black pepper, and Bullseye hot n spicy bbq sauce. The gal is working weekends, I only do a half-day Saturday, so have taken on the evening feeding on Sat and Sun.
Have a great weekend. I have a 710 ml Beck's freezerizing for an hour, then I shall consume it when it is just shy of turning to Beck's slurpee.
Sunday, September 18, 2011
the Time Machine, AKA oh me oh my oh
Was chattin with my nephew last night, he's a good feller. Wants to win at everything, and generally does, Scorpio hockey star engineering student. We had some good bonding time when he was 4, he was right into this cartoon with cows as cowboys, Dakota was one, anybody ringin a bell on this? Anyway, I was mindin him, we went out to the pasture at his folks', gathered dry wood and put stones down for a pit, then cooked 2 cans of beans in the hot embers. Fortunately I brought an extra can cuz young Will (aptly named) wanted more. Cowboy beans. He still eats a fair bit o beans, good low-fat protein, but he aint livin with his g-f yet. Fart factor.
So, in our convo he mentioned a time machine. I would so go back to the pre-Reagan era, 72-79. And welcome him to come back and check it out. Watch Nixon fall on the news, or not even have a frickin TV. Cheap smokes, beer, gas, weed, decent workin -joe wages, thanks to the work people did in the 60s, and about half the people on the planet there are now. I dont hate people, nor races or creeds, but its gettin crowded on this ball , and i miss the critters. Hunting mammoth, wackin a few passenger pigeons for a pie...
My point? i think its under my hair, ha, not really , I have kind a sean connnery dome but more hair on it. Oh yeah, listened to this tune 5 times today. Its a gooder. Relative to time machine? should also post a young Bonnie Raitt doin Angel from Montogmery, I fell in love with her about 10 times.
Let's all go back to 72 and do it over. Give Jimmy Carter 3 terms, not the fucking Bush Nazi-trading dynasty. Diagnose Reagan's dementia early, put a hit out on Saddam. Solve it, not react to it.
Here's some Gillian , dont have any Bonnie handy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NPEj63d0jY&list=FLrVCpBvAxSloKv0qce9jGNQ&index=69
So, in our convo he mentioned a time machine. I would so go back to the pre-Reagan era, 72-79. And welcome him to come back and check it out. Watch Nixon fall on the news, or not even have a frickin TV. Cheap smokes, beer, gas, weed, decent workin -joe wages, thanks to the work people did in the 60s, and about half the people on the planet there are now. I dont hate people, nor races or creeds, but its gettin crowded on this ball , and i miss the critters. Hunting mammoth, wackin a few passenger pigeons for a pie...
My point? i think its under my hair, ha, not really , I have kind a sean connnery dome but more hair on it. Oh yeah, listened to this tune 5 times today. Its a gooder. Relative to time machine? should also post a young Bonnie Raitt doin Angel from Montogmery, I fell in love with her about 10 times.
Let's all go back to 72 and do it over. Give Jimmy Carter 3 terms, not the fucking Bush Nazi-trading dynasty. Diagnose Reagan's dementia early, put a hit out on Saddam. Solve it, not react to it.
Here's some Gillian , dont have any Bonnie handy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NPEj63d0jY&list=FLrVCpBvAxSloKv0qce9jGNQ&index=69
Saturday, September 3, 2011
young Innu hunter in the big shitty
At the bus stop coming home from the work today, a young Innu/Chipewayan looking guy came up and asked if the bus was free. This is in a city of about a million people. Innu are the northern folks that used to be called Eskimos. Chipewayan are a northern group of people that used to be called Indians. Just for geographic context, I live in Edmonton, lat. 54 N., used to be called Gateway to the North.
So, young buddy was informed he needed 2.85 to take the bus to West Ed Mall. He ran across a busy street like a fkn ninja. He also had eyes that looked like they could see for miles, watching for game. I definitely dont mean a game on Feckbook, I mean like seeing if a herd of caribou was coming, or if some other edible beast was coming within rifle range. First trip to the city for young dude, but 99.9% of the people in that city couldnt do what he does.
Run soft, move silent, see everything.
Then the bus came. Initially, there were 4 of us at the bus stop, 5 more showed up, it was packed to begin with. Wheelchair, 3 baby strollers, 15 different ethnic groups. I could see northern buddy shrinking into the background, but he got his transfer and I am sure he got where he was headed.
I like lots of space, too. I am down with the northern folk but a little too much dark in the winter. What is to be envied is the old attention to the natural world that those glued to their phones have lost so quickly. Where is east or west? many could not answer without a map. To run like a wolf, see like a hawk, be self sufficient and part of your world : completely incomprehensible hippy-dippy concepts to most phone-drones.
Migwetch, young hunter. Soyez bien.
So, young buddy was informed he needed 2.85 to take the bus to West Ed Mall. He ran across a busy street like a fkn ninja. He also had eyes that looked like they could see for miles, watching for game. I definitely dont mean a game on Feckbook, I mean like seeing if a herd of caribou was coming, or if some other edible beast was coming within rifle range. First trip to the city for young dude, but 99.9% of the people in that city couldnt do what he does.
Run soft, move silent, see everything.
Then the bus came. Initially, there were 4 of us at the bus stop, 5 more showed up, it was packed to begin with. Wheelchair, 3 baby strollers, 15 different ethnic groups. I could see northern buddy shrinking into the background, but he got his transfer and I am sure he got where he was headed.
I like lots of space, too. I am down with the northern folk but a little too much dark in the winter. What is to be envied is the old attention to the natural world that those glued to their phones have lost so quickly. Where is east or west? many could not answer without a map. To run like a wolf, see like a hawk, be self sufficient and part of your world : completely incomprehensible hippy-dippy concepts to most phone-drones.
Migwetch, young hunter. Soyez bien.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
eking it out
No, that doesnt mean that I saw a mouse and jumped up on a chair (eek!), it means that I eke it out from payday to payday and bill to bill this summer.
I dont know where the word 'eke' comes from, looks kind of Greek (it is Greek to eke?). My workplace changed the bonus structure which used to give me some nice paydays when things are going well. Now, its pretty much always just hourly wage and maybe a little gravy, but nothing great. The corporate overlords hired some guy to 'increase profitability', translation: Raise prices, lower wages, customers pay more, the highest honchos make more, and the workers make less. I like where I work for the most part, but losing 10% of income after 3 years of being the best guy in my job makes me feel like I need surgery to get the corporate shoe out of my rectum.
I had some hopes to get paid for helping a buddy with a company to become more profitable too, in that case, just by getting more business and organizing the details so it got done and more money was coming in. However, his lack of organization, which is the prime reason he needs a focused sales/admin guy like me, resulted in my not getting paid after numerous hours of work and some cash invested on my part.
Hence, just paid rent in full 3 weeks late, behind in payments to bank and utilities, unable to repay a personal loan or have anything left over for 'fun stuff'.
EKE!
On personal, positive side, my live-in gal is great to get along with, and she has found a decent job after 2 months of hard job search, meanwhile keeping the house, laundry etc. in much better shape and earning the total adulation of my aging dog (whose unpredictable sphincter we need not discuss). Its a change for me to have somebody around all the time, but we both like to do our own stuff on the computers, read, watch tube, etc. so we dont cling or get in each others way. We even sleep together without grouchiness when its stinky hot up in our bedroom. Once 2 paycheques are coming in, the eking will be easier to eke.
I dont know where the word 'eke' comes from, looks kind of Greek (it is Greek to eke?). My workplace changed the bonus structure which used to give me some nice paydays when things are going well. Now, its pretty much always just hourly wage and maybe a little gravy, but nothing great. The corporate overlords hired some guy to 'increase profitability', translation: Raise prices, lower wages, customers pay more, the highest honchos make more, and the workers make less. I like where I work for the most part, but losing 10% of income after 3 years of being the best guy in my job makes me feel like I need surgery to get the corporate shoe out of my rectum.
I had some hopes to get paid for helping a buddy with a company to become more profitable too, in that case, just by getting more business and organizing the details so it got done and more money was coming in. However, his lack of organization, which is the prime reason he needs a focused sales/admin guy like me, resulted in my not getting paid after numerous hours of work and some cash invested on my part.
Hence, just paid rent in full 3 weeks late, behind in payments to bank and utilities, unable to repay a personal loan or have anything left over for 'fun stuff'.
EKE!
On personal, positive side, my live-in gal is great to get along with, and she has found a decent job after 2 months of hard job search, meanwhile keeping the house, laundry etc. in much better shape and earning the total adulation of my aging dog (whose unpredictable sphincter we need not discuss). Its a change for me to have somebody around all the time, but we both like to do our own stuff on the computers, read, watch tube, etc. so we dont cling or get in each others way. We even sleep together without grouchiness when its stinky hot up in our bedroom. Once 2 paycheques are coming in, the eking will be easier to eke.
Sunday, July 17, 2011
karma, summer, likin the hood
Yesterday I went up to the beer store run by friendly brown guys on Whyte ave.and was quite happy with my neighborhood. Cute chicks from the Uni or the hospital, mix of owners and renters, funky mix of academics and workin folks. I bought my gal an apple danish at the Koreans' (what I call the little local non-franchise convenience store run by, you guessed it, a Korean couple) and got a coffee for the walk. Some smiley people out walking dogs, others walkin n talkin, beautiful summer day. On the way back, I found a transit ticket which can be re-used, and passed a few more smiley people, one a cute Caribbean black gal with a big dog. The dog gave me a big smile, the girl smelled like bananas, coffee, coconut and girl, in a very good way. I dont slip around if I am in a relationship, but I definitely look and appreciate women, which my gal is cool with. Mostly.
I like my hood, its really nice, and all the rain this year makes the trees n shrubs thick and lush. Its also a big mosquito year, but they dont eat me, cuz I repel them with brain waves.
Life is good, and I have a big cold Beck's and food in the fridge.
I like my hood, its really nice, and all the rain this year makes the trees n shrubs thick and lush. Its also a big mosquito year, but they dont eat me, cuz I repel them with brain waves.
Life is good, and I have a big cold Beck's and food in the fridge.
Saturday, July 9, 2011
tales from milltown Alberta
A younger gal at work told a couple tales which are distinct to a certain type of life or area of the world. Just for context, she is a short but tasty girl, early 20s but mature for her age, and in a relationship which will probably be longterm.
She grew up in a forestry/pulp mill town in the Rockies. Her dad worked in the local economy, at the mill or cutting trees or hauling. But he also had a little room in the house where he grew a different cash crop. She was given an assignment in Grade 3 to draw a floorplan of her house. She was quite accurate with most of it, here is the kitchen table, here is the couch n TV in the living room, etc., but she also included the room she wasnt allowed to go in, blacked out and labelled 'Secret Room'. I think there might have been some raised eyebrows at the school.
She also told about being out with her dad for a walk across a frozen lake at age 4, wearing a brimmed red hat she liked, just out for a stroll on a warm spring day with the dog. The lake still had two feet of ice, but the odd soft patch. They are truckin along, her dad hears a 'sploosh', thinks its the dog jumping in puddles, then looks around and sees girl's hat floating on a puddle of icy water, but no girl in sight. Dad jumps in, fishes her out, she said that her response was "I didnt even cry. I just said 'my boots are wet'." Hardcore of her, and she is feisty smart little filly.
People from places without lakes that freeze over 3 feet thick, strong enough for regular 'ice roads' upon which semi-trailers drive for 5 months/year, might have a hard time comprehending that tale. But I think she has a a great dad, and she shows the guts he taught her to have. And she is damn cute and smart too, and her guy better consider himself lucky and treat her right.
She grew up in a forestry/pulp mill town in the Rockies. Her dad worked in the local economy, at the mill or cutting trees or hauling. But he also had a little room in the house where he grew a different cash crop. She was given an assignment in Grade 3 to draw a floorplan of her house. She was quite accurate with most of it, here is the kitchen table, here is the couch n TV in the living room, etc., but she also included the room she wasnt allowed to go in, blacked out and labelled 'Secret Room'. I think there might have been some raised eyebrows at the school.
She also told about being out with her dad for a walk across a frozen lake at age 4, wearing a brimmed red hat she liked, just out for a stroll on a warm spring day with the dog. The lake still had two feet of ice, but the odd soft patch. They are truckin along, her dad hears a 'sploosh', thinks its the dog jumping in puddles, then looks around and sees girl's hat floating on a puddle of icy water, but no girl in sight. Dad jumps in, fishes her out, she said that her response was "I didnt even cry. I just said 'my boots are wet'." Hardcore of her, and she is feisty smart little filly.
People from places without lakes that freeze over 3 feet thick, strong enough for regular 'ice roads' upon which semi-trailers drive for 5 months/year, might have a hard time comprehending that tale. But I think she has a a great dad, and she shows the guts he taught her to have. And she is damn cute and smart too, and her guy better consider himself lucky and treat her right.
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