It's so different out here

So we're back from up north. What a great place, where the only thing you're blowing a tonne of money on is gasoline. It's nice not to be surrounded by products and crazy people, but rather by trees and crazy people you enjoy spending time with. Adding pictures to Flickr periodically for the next day or two.

There is nothing like a nice hike to simultaneously clear your mind and fill it with wonder. What a good trip. Back to grumbling when I wake up. It's laundry day.

To the MG fans, what's left of them...

Unlikely, as the remaining fans are the obsessive type, but in case you missed this somehow, here's Alan Cross talking to Matt Good about Vancouver.

Bob Barker looks like hell

And he belongs to PETA, so there's that too. [Article and muppetty photo here]

Almost as creepy: The amount of spiders around lately.

ZENN illegal to sell in Canada

The only information I've gotten so far on this is in the video below. So, as long as this idea doesn't secretly suck somehow, I think maybe the provinces should start regulating them so we can drive them.

Turning a blind eye to science. (See what I did there?)

A blind woman is able to see again after having a tooth and part of her cheek lining implanted in her eye. Of course, the operation has been referred to as 'disfiguring' (I guess there's no real happy medium), but given the choice, I think I'd take sight again over my own vanity. Chances are she couldn't apply makeup all that great before the surgery anyhow. There's always sunglasses.

Amazing though, isn't it? [Article here]

Baby's 1st Phobia

So here it is, my one unexplainable and recently-revealed fear: Going to the gym.

No idea where this stems from. Possibly because the last year of gym class I ever had in school was spent with a healing broken nose; possibly because my knees are shot at the tender age of 25 (they have been since ... say, the even tenderer age of 18); possibly because of nothing.

I can confirm that the reason is not:

• Self-esteem issues
• A desire to be enormous
  
• Freemason conspiracy

You know what? Screw it. I'm just going to go. I will probably break every limb on my body while changing into gym clothes before I even get to the machines, but I might as well do it. Why the hell not. You only live once, might as well scare yourself shitless while the getting's good.

PS... while sunrise was nice for sentimental purposes this morning, any given sunset on a clear night blows morning way out of the water. I celebrate and strongly encourage the nocturnal life.

My car is a birdshit magnet.

I can smell my feet. This will need to be remedied before (second) work (of the day). I really want to go up north in the next few weeks. Up north in the fall is the best. Colours, colours! And sweaters, sweaters! My feet really smell, wow. I should try showering one day. And coffee that isn't burnt would be a great start too. Today I put all my stuff at Work 1 in my locker, and then locked a different one. Ha-ha. Won't be giving up caffeine any time soon, as it happens.

Also, I know it's Blogger's b-day, but it's being a real sonofasomething right now. I don't want my text size default to be 100pt! Really, I don't!

Sans-Labour Day

We went to the Marshville Festival for our day off. It was fun. All the useless crap people sell there makes me want to open a booth at a trade show. A booth comprised of anything! One place made really good wood carvings, and wasn't even selling any of them. Amazing. Creating things simply for the enjoyment of it, not for business... who does that anymore?

Speaking of working for nothing, the frantic job search continues tomorrow. Going to change the name on my resume to Gary Busey and see if that gets me further...

This is getting old.

At times, people have a strange sickness about them when they enter a store in need of a product. All their insecurities seem to fade, and all 'normal' behaviour is kicked temporarily to the curb before they must again face the world outside the shop that houses the product they require.

Today's incident involved an elderly woman who insisted to me that someone had told her she could have a product for 20% off, as it wasn't available a few weeks ago when we had a day with such a discount.

"It's just that it's so darn expensive, and they told me they'd call me, but I had to call them to find out it was in."
"Unfortunately, I can't do that for you. I can have the manager call you on Tuesday when she's in, but I do not have the authorization to reduce a pharmacy product by 20%."
"Well I guess I'm..." [her old, glazen eyes welling up with tears] "...just not a ... valued customer then."

Oh sweet jesus.

The Elevator Times

Just now on the way up from the laundry room, I held the elevator for a couple of weirdos.

"Laundry day, eh?" said the girl, looking at the basket I held in my hands.
"Yep... best day of the week," I mused.
"Yeaaaah!" said the girl. "Get ya clean clothes, go out 'n party??"
"...you got it."

My neighbours know me so well.