conversation after a road trip during a saskatchewan snow melt

me: the first thing i'm going to do when i get home is wash my car.
her: you do realize it will just get dirty again tomorrow.
me: that's true. but i myself will get dirty again tomorrow and i am still going to have a shower.
her: good point.

oh i've had the time of my life ... and i swear it's the truth ... and i owe it all to you...

My dad got me a DVD player as one of my Christmas presents. It didn't work and had to be returned and so when he gave me the second one he said, "It can also work as a karaoke machine." I laughed and thought, "How silly of him. When will I ever use a karaoke machine?" Well tonight, that's when. A friend was in town from New York this week and a bunch of us decided that since I had one, why not have a karaoke party. So we rented some songs and invited some folks. I feel bad because the actual scheduling was quite impromptu and I feel like we possibly missed important people who should have been invited. But anyway. It was tres fun.

Awhile back my old roomate made sure my neighbours were scared of me by yelling out the open windows and doors, "GO AWAY AND LEAVE ME ALONE!" at the crows that constantly caw near my house. But I don't think they realised that she was yelling at the crows. If they would have still considered associating with me, they will no longer harbour any such thoughts. Because tonight, anyone walking past my house tonight would have heard twelve voices raised in unision wrapping Gangsta's Paradise and I'm Just a Gigalo. My poor neighbourhood.

Thanks for the Christmas present though Dad. A night of fun had by all was made possible by you.

Land of the living skies

I was listening to a speaker from another province this weekend at the quiz meet. He was talking about how Saskatchewan does not change time for daylight savings which of course led to some jokes about Saskatchewan. We seem to be an easy target for people. Anyway, he said our slogan "Land of the Living Skies" was one of his favourites and most especially true. "Your skies are living," he said. "So many bugs all throughout the sky."

Hah, hah.

But I had never actually heard that joke before so he gets points for originality. I do not think originality is, however, a word. Meh.

today is the 2nd of march. that is 2 and 3 meaning 23

they FORCED me to switch to the beta blog thing and start a google account. i've been resisting even though it's a way big hassle to bypass all the "please switch" and "you should really switch" messages. did i mention i hate being forced to do things? well, i guess i don't actually hate being forced to do some things. because sometimes you know how you just aren't in the mood to go to the gym or to go to a movie or out to play some hockey but if someone forces you then you really like it and have the best time ever? but i sure hate being forced to do something like switch to a new blogger by some stupid blogger powers that be. and i am very annoyed at the moment.

on a completely unrelated note, i have decided that i really like jim carey in any role other than a comedy. i saw The Number 23 this week and i was a fairly big fan of it. you must understand that i hated ace ventura and liar liar and all those types of movies. but truman show caught my attention, eternal sunshine of the spotless mind intrigued me, and now the number 23 has won me over. jim carey is a good actor.

The tree was in the middle

I'm back from the annual ski trip! Fun as always. This year we went to Sunshine and stayed in the inn right on the mountain. So cool. Valet parking at the bottom and then you take a gondola up to the hotel and ski right out of your room practically. I highly recommend it.

So anyway, this year I decided that I would conquer the black diamond. I am a pretty confident blue run skiier but I wanted to expand my skills and tackle those blacks head-on. Actually literally head-on; my poor "head" hit "on" the ground several times. The thing that still foils me is the narrow runs - I can't seem to turn quick enough. So while I was inside warming up with some hot chocolate, the guys found this run (I think it was called "Star Trek", although I'm not sure why) that they thought would be perfect for teaching me. It was two moguls wide except for this one part where there was a big tree right in the middle. I said, "Which way do I go?" and was told to just pick the right or left and go. Right. No, left. No, right. Then my skiis crossed and I ran straight into the tree. "That was the worst way," was the laughing response of one of my friends. And he was correct. I should have stuck with right.

The rest of the trip was just as excellent. I hung out for a few days with my friend who got married in Mexico this December. I also visited with some pals in Calgary. And went to IKEA. I can't believe they won't ship things. I probably would have spent $1000 on furniture there plus whatever shipping was, but since they don't ship, I didn't spend anything. I guess it doesn't matter to them though. If I don't buy it, someone else will.

But today is the last day of my holiday. Tomorrow is the return of work. So I guess that's it. Later.

Ontario wimps

I've been busy. Christmas was relaxing. Work's been good. Life has been fine. But I just haven't been in a computer mood. Which is too bad, because I actually had some funny stories in the past month. But meh, too late now.

I just got back from a work trip. I was gone for the week, doing my surveys, staying in little towns. The usual. But it was a particularly cold week. And it got colder as the week went; -26 degrees Celsius, -28 degrees Celsius, and then this morning, -32 degrees Celsius. That is cold my friends, and it does not include the wind chill (which thankfully was not that bad. Only -40 or so). So this morning I went to start my car, my beautiful Mazda that I still love and find only one fault with (and that is that it is kind of wimpy and doesn't like the cold weather). While I was loading all my equipment and files into it, I turned on the Weather Channel, my guilty pleasure. As per usual, the world in Canada revolves around Ontario and they were doing a "National Forecast" which involves a quick mention of all the rain in Vancouver, a passing remark about Alberta (a.k.a. the Prairies), and then on to Ontario. To be fair, they usual don't mention the maritimes or Quebec all that much. Eastern friends, Saskatchewan feels your pain.

Anyway, this is what I heard the weather lady say. Paraphrased of course, because I am horrible at remembering exact quotes.

Extreme cold weather warnings in Ontario today. Weather dipping as far as MINUS TEN. And with the wind chill, it feels even colder.

My mouth dropped. Did she really just say EXTREME? Her very own network is telling me in a scroll across the bottom that it is -32.

Ridiculous. Well, I sure hope those Ontarions are staying inside today with that extreme cold. Wouldn't want their cheeks to get rosy or anything.

Yes, I am bitter. But it is more that the weather network ignores my province than anything. And I also realise there are snow squalls going on out there, and those are a really big deal. But geez. -10. That's approaching spring weather. Sure I choose to live in Saskatchewan and I know that means it gets cold. But really, do you need an "extreme weather warning" for -10. Buck up.

And northern Ontario, you are excluded from my rant, because they ignore you too. And because you are cool. Especially Kenora. I want to live there someday. But I digress.

Busy Miss Gina

Okay, so I'm taking a break from bloggy land and I'm not quite ready to come back yet but I had to quickly post about my sister's new blog!

Miss Gina

She's not sure yet if she's going to be a full blown blogger or not, but you should check her out in case she does. She's very clever.

Okay, I'll be back soon. My break is almost over. I can feel it.