Scottish Highlands

Scottish Highlands

Sunday, February 24, 2008

Making It Up As I Go Along #308

MONDAY...
— Back to supervisor days. Begin the week of CNI supervisor while Christine and Megan are training. It goes pretty well... time flies by.
— Family Day messes up my grocery shopping. I have no milk and little of other stuff and the grocery stores are closed. Blah!

TUESDAY...
— Busy day. Work is okay, more morning snow to deal with and it’s getting real annoying when forecasts say stuff like a dusting of snow and we get five or so centimetres instead.
— Supper and a movie with Karl after work. Good food and a fine movie.
— A couple of e-mails when I get home and off to bed.

WEDNESDAY...
— Lunar eclipse day... I look at it for a few minutes at 10:00 tonight... kind of neat.
— Work is fine... after work is quiet. I watch Bang the Drum Slowly on DVD and little else.

THURSDAY...
— Work is okay and Megan, Melissa and I order Greek food for lunch... to celebrate Megan’s birthday.
— Home to see the stupidity of mankind. It’s easy to observe... recycling does it. That is to say, when you walk past a forest of black recycling boxes all full of cardboard and paper... and still, some schmuck leaves their blue box of plastics there... that guy’s not the most alert individual you’re going to run across.

FRIDAY...
— Good night’s sleep makes the day better. Last day as CNI supervisor... again. It was a fairly fun week.
— Off to the movies and supper with Karl. The pub is crowded though so they stick us at a little table in the centre of a room where it looks like a last minute addition. We’re basically sitting at the kiddy table. But the food is good all the same.
— Movies are good. Charlie Wilson’s War and a second viewing of I Am Legend.
— Fall asleep on the sofa to end the night.

SATURDAY...
— Quiet day around the house. Some e-mails, a bit of phone time catch up, a couple of movies, and the hockey... both in the afternoon and evening.

Taking Out the Trash
Littering. Is there any worse atrocity in the existence of mankind? Well... yes, I’m sure there is. But it’s still a pretty nasty thing all the same.

Back in the day, when I was a young kid bouncing around a car with nary a seatbelt to be seen, I’d litter. The world was our garbage can and bubble gum wrappers, and the occasional tin can, would find themselves hucked out the window rather than stored in a bag in the back seat. You’d make a game of it. You’d toss it straight out and see if you can keep your eye on the item while the car speeds away on the road to grandma’s house.

As time went on, we began to realize that not only would nature appreciate not being adorned with Hostess chip bags... but that we’d enjoy nature more when it’s void of that stuff. So there was no more throwing of tin cans and coke bottles into a lake or cove just to throw rocks at it and see who has the best aim. And there was no more deposits of those chip bags and chocolate bar wrappers into nearby streams while we returned to our game of war after a salty or sweet snack.

Instead we wanted to take care of our environment and bags and wrappers returned home with us, stuffed deep in pockets and forgotten until our mothers pulled the balls of paper out of the washing machine... nice and clean and ready for the trash.

Some littering has developed out of our attempts to do good. Recycling policies have us marching bins of plastics and papers out to sit at the curb all day, awaiting pick up. But if the wind picks up or the gulls or crows are looking for scraps, the end of garbage/recycling day is much more reminiscent of the late 1970s. Grocery store flyers and aluminum cans explore the neighbourhood for days afterwards and they often end up in those old places we shoved them as kids. Bushes, rivers, shrubs along the shore of a pond... all the 1970s trash dump sites are revisited, but this time as a result of our good intentions and a bit of wind.

But we live in a complicated age. Some anti-recylcers can now be seen as littering by actually using the garbage cans provided. A plastic water bottle or an empty coke tin being discarded in the trash will bring the harshest of responses from those wishing to save the environment. I’ve seen many a heated discussion start in my office simply because someone tosses their coke can.

Other littering has somehow become socially acceptable. Two items that are seemingly encouraged to be tossed out of a moving car remain. There’s the bubble gum spit. And the cigarette toss.

I believe that some think old gum will simply help the local pothole problem. Done with your gum and spit it to the street. Nature will see to it that the wad will find it’s way into the depths of broken asphalt and our vehicles will run smoothly over them, melding them to the pavement itself. In another fifty years, we’ll have no more need of road repair. We’ll be driving along Bubble Gum Avenue. And, in fact, it’ll be a form of recycling. From popping bubbles to maintaining a city’s infrastructure... the circle of gum... goes on.

As for cigarettes, it’s the most bizarre of our littering ways. I always puzzle over the fact that a smoker will prefer to maintain a perfectly clean ashtray... probably to use it as a storing space for change... then to use it for it’s actual purpose. Don’t use the tray, toss it out the window instead.

I hear some say that the smoker probably does it because the don’t want to smell the car up for the non-smokers who ride in it. Well this is kind of like putting a band-aid on a scraped knee when the guy’s jugular vein is pumping all over the place. The grey cloud spewing from your lips doesn’t smell like peppermint you know. Fact is, if you smoke in your car, the car’s going to smell like an ashtray. So you may as well use the one that’s sitting there waiting for you.

Not only is a tossed cigarette disgusting, laying along the curb all soggy with rain and muck. It can be dangerous too. I once did a Fire Prevention Plan for a park and, low and behold, in my readings I found that some park fires are started due to discarded cigarettes from passing vehicles. But I suppose this is also a form of recycling. After all, when a forest fire is finally extinguished, one rarely finds the cigarette that started it. Ashes to ashes and dust to dust... and all that good biblical stuff.

I guess even God believes in recycling.

Sunday, February 17, 2008

Making It Up As I Go Along #307

MONDAY...
— Up and to work alright. I’m surprised cause I didn’t get a load of sleep last night.
— The drive to work starts slow. The inside of my windshield is frosted and I have to wait for the defrost to kick in... the one downside with my Mazda, the Toyota rarely did this.
— Nap in the evening and some TV and e-mails.

TUESDAY...
— Another not great night of sleep last night... and work pays for it a bit today. I’m struggling for a while.
— Some e-mails and a call home to the folks round out my day... oh yeah, I do get a nice valentine’s card from mom and dad... that give reason for that phone call. Weird to get mail that isn’t a bill.

WEDNESDAY...
— Not super sleep again. It was better but not perfect. My back is still kind of knotted up.
— Lunch at HQ with Kiyomi, Shannon and Tina. Tina buys me my lunch too... as payment for me switching shifts with her over the last while. Nice girl that Tina.
— Playing with a theory on why my back hasn’t been great... falling asleep on the sofa in awkward positions... I decide to flip around the living room. Sofa now to the side of the TV rather than in front of it. The big chair takes the front spot. We’ll see how it goes... but laying out on the sofa should be more comfortable that way... and using the chair should go up with it’s current location.

THURSDAY...
— “Coast to coast like buttered toast.” That phrase is said by one of the Ottawa Senator commentators. Nobody who’d say such a thing should be paid to call a sports event.
— CNI to remember the supervisor role in the morning. Back to AFIS in the afternoon. I go to CNI to take over again next week... for just one week.

FRIDAY...
— Not a bad night’s sleep so work is a bit easier to do.
— E-mails, some TV, and a pizza for supper in the evening.

SATURDAY...
— Some e-mails, games on the computer, movies on TV, cleaning up in the bedroom, and hockey in the evening.

Snow
Upon a mountain it’s magical, glorious, majestic, inspiring, deadly, and beautiful.

Across the prairies it’s blinding, dizzying, blanketing, concealing, and crisp.

Along the sea it’s swirling, hissing, dripping, crusty, and powerful.

In small towns it’s peaceful, lovely, picturesque, fluffy, singing, and outlining angels.

In cities it’s encroaching, meddling, inconvenient, and traffic snarling.


I’d love to be at the mountains to see the skiers fly freely, the tracks left by wildlife, and to pause with every glance... unable to look away quickly... needing to stare to comprehend the place.

I’d like to be in the prairies to feel upside down, to stand in a spot and not know which way goes where... making my way across subtle land made even more subtle by the blanket of white.

I long to be at the sea, to smell the freshness of sea snow, to hear it blown against my coat, and to stomp a foot through that upper crust... leaving a frozen footprint.

A small town would be sweet, a place where smiles and community events warm the season with Styrofoam cups of hot chocolate, toboggans, playing dogs... snowball fights and forts bring childhood memories back.

But I’m in the city. Where morning commutes begin early with a brush and shovel, just to join the snarl. Salt tracks in on pants, melted dirt puddles form around feet under desks... and a longing for summer smog rings out.

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Making It Up As I Go Along #306

MONDAY...
— Some job applications start the night at work. After supper it’s just the regular AFIS thing. Not a bad day. Sort of snowy/ice pellety by the time I go home... and the neck isn’t feeling super either. But overall, not a bad day.

TUESDAY...
— Feeling under the weather. I was feeling it Sunday... better yesterday... and worse today. So I take the day off work and hope the rest will help out. Some naps, e-mails, a little TV play out the day with lots of soup and cranberry juice.

WEDNESDAY...
— Still not feeling super. But I go to work anyway and, by supper, I feel an improvement. Groceries after work.

THURSDAY...
— Work is alright. The cold is pretty well gone by the end of the night. But I still need to be careful for it not to pick up again.
— Supper at the mall with Claudette, Sue and Nicole... some good Thai food for me.

FRIDAY...
— A movie in the morning and work in the evening. I’m alone in AFIS from 7:30 until the end of the night... kind of nice actually.
— Home for an e-mail or two and just taking it easy.

SATURDAY...
— Hockey Day in Canada. So I watch hockey. I even get a mini goalie stick at McDonald’s.
— Several e-mails as well today... and some internet scrabble.

Love in the Month of Feb
Family Day. It’s the new February holiday in Canada. Well... I assume it’s a Canadian holiday. I know that I don’t get it. So February 18, some of us celebrate family.

As far as holidays go, this one seems about as made up and geeky as any could be. I mean really... what will be the tradition of this holiday? The Family Day feats... what will it be? Turkey? Roast?... no... to go with a tacky holiday, I see a suburban meal the whole family can enjoy.

So the clan will gather on this holiday and sit down to a fine spread of tacos.

Desert on Family Day? Where pumpkin pie dominates Thanksgiving and fruit cake takes... well... takes the cake at Christmas. There can only be one logical end to the Family Day meal. It’s chocolate fondu time!

Will there be Family Day songs written? Oh probably. Celine Dion will have something written up by some overly sappy song writer... and she’ll blast out the slow ballad with sorrow in her eyes and a smile upon her face.

The Family Day cards? Oh you better believe it. Hallmark will take over this holiday with ravenous abandon. And we’ll see the tackiest bunch of drivel that has ever been printed on glossy cardboard! Family Day wishes from children to parents... to grandparents too... and to each other. Sister loves brother and brother loves sister. Cousins, who haven’t seen each other since the 1980s will be mailing cards of cousinly fuzzy warmth.

The cards will be all about sentiments in the tone of “may God bless the ground you walk on!” and “It amazes me that I have an angel in my family!” Flowers will plaster the fronts of cards... with little puppy dogs and babies dressed up as carrots, turnips and other sorts of vegetables... only leaving their faces as a reminder not to cut them up, toss them in the pot, and have a Family Day soup.

Why has Family Day come into existence anyway? February 14th is a well known day of love. It’s right there in the middle of the month. Why not grant a day off work for this day instead of inventing another day just a bit further down the calender? The conspiracy theorists will speak of the Hallmark need of more cards and stuffed bears to sell. Double the products and watch the economy grow... all for the love of family.

I wonder will there be Family Day themed movies? Many films have been made with Thanksgiving, Valentines and Christmas in mind. St. Patrick’s Day and Easter have also been represented. What would a Family Day film be like? If only John Candy was still alive. Work would be plentiful for him. Al Waxman too. Poor ol’ King of Kensington. He’d be sitting at the Family Day table, stuffing a taco into his mouth, and gleaming with pride at the Family Day card his four year old granddaughter has just passed him.

Family Day is a holiday made for Tiny Tim. Not the singer... the little lame boy in the Scrooge movies. Oh how I hate that kid. In fact, it’s this child that Celine will reference in that sap filled song of luv. For when it’s such fuzzy cheesiness, love can only be spelt L-U-V. And now I’ll have to make sure I get my proper royalties as I’ve come up with the title of that Family Day classic Celine will drone on over. To quote Tim himself...

“God Bless Us, Everyone.”

Happy Family Day, I don’t care if I am eight days early. The Family Day spirit has hit me early. Another Family Day miracle!

Sunday, February 03, 2008

Making It Up As I Go Along #305

MONDAY...
— Lazy around the house with a bit of a sore neck. Then to work for evening shift. It goes okay and is fairly fast paced actually. The time goes pretty well. Get some groceries on the way home and do some e-mails.

TUESDAY...
— Freezing rain in the morning means I’m scrapping the car before work. Freezing rain in the night means I’m scrapping again before heading home. Blah! I stay an hour late to build up a bit of vacation time.

WEDNESDAY...
— Okay night at work. Although I would have enjoyed it more had I left at 9:00 instead of 10:45. Ah well.
— Cold and windy night. I feel like I’m ready to break up in icy chunks by the time I walk from the car to the mail box and home.

THURSDAY...
— Work is fairly normal. Not much went on today.

FRIDAY...
— Stormy day. Probably 30 cm of snow through the day. And even though the city is shutting down while I’m still home... and there’s only three of us due in for the evening... in we go. A few cars off the road going in and pretty snow covered heading home on those roads. But I take my time and it all goes fine.

SATURDAY...
— Busy day. Drive to get Christina for supper. But I have to switch things up due to a closed bridge with Winterlude... and I make a wrong turn and end up taking an extra 20 minutes to get her. Supper at Grace O’Malley’s... then drop her to the airport and meet Karl for the movies. Blade Runner and Raiders of the Lost Ark at the Mayfair... good to see on big screen.


Super Sunday’s Super Bowl
Super Bowl is here again bringing Super crowds to watch.
After weeks of Super games in the Super north where it was Super freezing.
Super athletes run to the Super warmth of Super Arizona.
Perhaps they’re Super pansies?

Super sponsors will pay Super obscene dollars for Super short air time between the plays.
Super contests bring Super fans to get Super drunk and watch the game in a Super haze.
Super cops on Super high alert to arrest the Super rowdy of those Super drunk.
Ah Budweiser... Super clever selling off Super piss as beer.

Super hype... two weeks to get Super sick of hear of the Super game.
It’ll be Super historic with the Super heroic Brady of Super good looks.
As he aims for Super perfection of Super biblical proportions
19 and 0.

Super jets fly overhead to Super cheers in stands.
Super soldiers stand Super straight while a Super anthem rings loud.
How Super freedom will be equated to a Super game Super puzzles the brain.
Freedom brought to you by a sponsor.

Super quantities of Super food will be guzzled, gnawed and tossed.
Super sales of Super meds to keep the Super reflux down.
Super feasts for the Super poor lay in Super bags upon the curb.
As Super homeless remain hungry while Super dogs and gulls feast... leaving a Super mess.

Super cheer leaders show off Super skin to prove Super equality of sex.
Super smiles, Super boobs, Super abs for distraction when the game gets Super dull.
Super fights back home will Super test those Super marital vows.
The Super drunks have alcohol both to blame and console.

Super sales on Monday morning of Super flowered bouquets.
Super hang overs and Super groveling bring Super men to knees.
Super power in the home life shifts to Super women as they judge.
Power bought... by guilt paid... by men too turned on... by sideline girls in HD.