GTA: Bellamy Hill

Personally, I though it was both exhilarating and cool to witness a $60,000 Beamer get smashed to bits in front of our house. I can feel no guilt about this because no one was killed, nor was the car stolen...just some drunk rich kids who demolished their own property. I got to be on Citytv and fill out a police report, which simply adds to the coolness factor of the whole evening.

On Monday evening, the ante was raised further in our quiet little neighbourhood. As I stood in the kitchen I distinctly heard someone knocking on the front door. Maizey started barking so I peeked out the window to see who was there. Nobody. Curious, and confused, I opened the door and stuck my head out...still no one. I then noticed a kid across the street running for cover, and for an instant I figured I might have been pranked. Then Nicole asked me if I'd heard the gun shots and seen the cars speeding away. Apparently I failed to see the black car riddled with bullet holes speed past our home.

Let's see. Someone fires off a few rounds on a semi-automatic, and I stick my melon outside to see what's going on. Surely that debunks the "survival of the fittest" myth.

So within a week, Nicole and I witness two newsworthy events, and this time she gets to fill out the police report. The camera crews from all the stations were parked outside our place, but they refrained from interviewing anyone - I guess it's not a safe idea to put drive-by-shooting witnesses on the late-night news.

Nicole and I are betting we'll witness a stabbing next, perhaps amongst the various vagrants who camp out in the bushes lining our property.

We've really got to learn to keep a camera on us at all times!

Currently: Enjoying the freedom of not applying for another year of student loans.

Go Outdoors

It's very tempting to describe Edmonton as a cold, dirty, concrete wasteland, and if all you see are the outskirts and main roadways, I wouldn't fault you for reaching such a conclusion. The refineries are just plain disgusting and there's very little green along the Whitemud or Yellowhead.

Living in the downtown Rivervalley this past year, however, has forced me to see Edmonton in a completely different light. Quite frankly, the Rivervalley trail system is amazing and there are a tonne of decent parks to be found. Just this evening Nicole and I were looking for the Terwillegar Park off-leash area but ended up wandering around some awesome trails. There were old-growth trees too large to get your arms around...with a bit of effort, you could easily imagine you were in B.C., or even a park in the Rockies. At the very least, all the sights, sounds, and smells of the city were absent, making for a very enjoyable hike.

So, if you haven't done so this summer, get out there and enjoy all the free relaxation opportunities the city has to offer. Once you get out there, you just might be surprised at how much there is to explore.

Currently listening to: The Eskies battling the Alouettes on streaming 630 Ched.

C://windows_xp.err

Okay, so Windows didn't exactly self-destruct, but things haven't been running very smoothly on my computer for quite some time. I mean, geeze, it's been almost half a year since I wiped my HD and re-installed XP from scratch.

So that was part of my morning, backing up my files and downloading XP updates after the install. So fresh. So squeaky clean. This baby'll be running great for the next few days!

Currently: Fearing that I can't find my "back-up copy" of Office 2003.

Old Man Skinner

Residing in a house and having to pay all the various bills which that entails, has an interesting effect on one's youthful, carefree lifestyle.

Anticipating our very first, personalized, water and gas bills, Nicole and I have been dreading what they may contain. So in the meantime, if you're cold, DON'T you dare touch that thermostat...put on a sweater, or two. As for the electricity, you'd better be turning off those lights when you leave a room, and HEY!, why do you have them on anyways...the sun is still up! Sit by a window.

It's not exactly like I'm responsible for cracking the whip, though. I believe Nicole 's stated, "I'd rather freeze to death than pay a $300 gas bill."

So as I deposited several large stones in the toilet's cistern, I wondered, if I'm this miserly at 24, I can't wait to see what I'll be like at 80!

Currently: Understanding completely why Clint and Tara's home is an ice palace.

Destruction Derby

Apparently Nicole and I are news-worthy incident magnets. Specifically, we always seem to witness horrible accidents covered by A-Channel/CityTV. I was interviewed and got to appear on the evening news as one of those "Geeze, I can't believe what just happened!" idiots. That didn't stop me from taping it, of course.

In case you didn't catch the 11:30 news, a beautiful BMW was totaled right in front of our house. Nicole and I were just pulling up to the intersection of Bellamy Hill and 99 Avenue, when the sound of a revving engine and screaming tires alerted me to proceed with caution. Suddenly the Beamer popped into view, flew up onto the curb, spun within metres of my car, nailed the pole in front of our house, then swerved back across all 4 lanes and crashed head-on with yet another giant, steel pole!

It was all a blur of silver car and flying debris.

I put my car in park and decided it would be best to see if the people in the car needed help, when two guys in their mid-20's stumbled out of the wreckage and then fled into the bushes! I didn't quite expect that to happen, so I immediately called 911 and reported the whole event.

Within minutes all of Bellamy Hill was filled with police, fire trucks, and a whole crowd of curious neighbours and rubber-neckers. Since I was one of the few people who witnessed the entire thing, I got to fill out a police report, and my description of the fleeing car wreckers was pretty close to the two guys they managed to nab.

It's scary to think that Nicole and I avoided being hit by mere seconds...I'm pretty sure that BMW would've sliced right through my car, especially with how fast it was flying. It got my adrenaline pumping, that's for sure.

Currently listening to: The peace and quiet of the house when both dogs (Maizey and Babie) are sleeping.

Settling In

It's been just a bit over two weeks, but this little rental house of ours is starting to feel like home. Sure, there's still plenty of boxes that need unpacking, not all of our things have found a permanent home (re: clothing) and there are still minor repairs which need to be done, but the ol' house is downright cozy. With a countertop there, a few shelves here, and a couple nail holes filled in, the place'll be looking sweet.

The weather outside has been miserable this week, so we now know, for a fact, that the heating system works great. What we'll find out in time, I suppose, is how well the house is insulated. A few -40C mid-January weeks will reveal all.

Over the weekend I was able to pick up a new pair of glasses to replace the worn-out, scratched, and dog-chewed spectacles I was wearing before. My new Ray-Ban's are similar in style, but fit a bit smaller. It's great to now be able to look directly at a light source and not have scratched lenses refract that light in a multi-directed explosion. Check 'em out:


Currently: Wishing I had more/any deskspace by the computer.

PRL Blog-a-thon

Ooooohhh...my legs are sore as Hell thanks to my netminding duties on Sunday. It's rough, even on my relatively young body, to play once a month and pay little heed to stretching techniques either before or after.

I nearly cried when I had to climb one set of stairs to the Lab.

Currently: Mixing "leisure time" with "work time."

The [K]ome-back Kid

Despite some initial frustrations in getting ball hockey started on time, the evening played out rather nicely. Having not played in nearly a month (there were cobwebs in my goalie equipment!), still slightly pissed off from the pre-game confusion, not given a single warm-up shot, and facing a decade-tuned Vegreville squad, I completely self-destructed in a quick 10-1 loss.

Thankfully, things improved from there. I picked up victories in the next two games (10-7, 10-9), where the final game was a come-from-behind victory that saw my team down 9-7 and then score 3 unanswered goals for the sweet, sweet win. It's not very often that comebacks occur, especially when the other team is one goal away from ending it.

It's nice to see that what was perhaps my final Sunday of ball hockey, before heading back to work with Tri-City Drilling, ended on a hard-earned, winning note.

Speaking of returning to work, it's still slowly sinking in that I've written my final UofA exam as an undergraduate...completing my degree has been such a looooonggg process that I was truly starting to feel there was NO END to it. My time at the University of Alberta has been the source of both my greatest achievement and shame.

I went from nearly failing out of school entirely, to now flirting with the possibility of convocating with Distinction. Ultimately, I refused to give up on what's, arguably, an unmarketable Sociology/Anthropology Bachelor of Arts degree. For that I can be proud of my accomplishments.

On the other hand, I tend to be very hard on myself when it comes to failure or not living up to perceived expectations, and for every 10 things I might've done right, a single negative point is capable of overshadowing everything. I dwell on my mistakes and shortcomings - the "outta's" and "shoulda's" of the past years. It frustrates me to no end that I have such a hard time seeing that I've done well, made the most of an unfortunate and complicated situation, but instead constantly fear that I've been a burden and embarrassment to the loved ones in my life.

It's so easy to feel incompetent when you see the thousands, upon thousands of students who finish up in four years, graduate, and start working, whereas every similar stage has never been easy for me. I see people my age, and younger, with decent paying jobs/careers, their own homes, fiances and wives, whereas I've been trying to live off ~$5/day for the past half-decade and depend on others just to eat on a daily basis.

Words cannot express how thankful I am to Nicole, my family, and friends for supporting me. I get overwhelmed just thinking about the confidence everyone has had in me, even when I'd convinced myself that I was an unnecessary burden, undeserving of second-, third-, fourth-(and counting) chances. Thank you. Thank you all so very much.

With the coming of September comes the beginning of the next true stage in my life, and I like to think of it as the starting point for giving something back to all those who have supported me. My time at university, especially the last two years, has necessitated a focus on me, where I was the centre of focus, often to the sacrifice and detriment of those around me. It's time to get to work. It's time to shoulder my share (and more) of the responsibilities in my life and support those who've postponed and given-up so much for me.

In the short-term it means having to go back to a job which keeps me away 21-days of the month and progressively breaks my body and subdues my spirits, but that's a personal sacrifice that pales in comparison to all I've received.

Currently: Watching the dog chew on her new squeak toy.

Wooooooooooooooo!

I've just finished writing my last University of Alberta undergraduate exam!

Currently: Astonished, quite frankly.