Ride to Work

I decided to ride the motorcycle to work today. It's a beautiful day out and I plan to take the bike up to Goderich for the weekend, so it seemed like a good idea.

About 20 mins from work there was a sign on the QEW that the QEW was closed. Not 'closed at night' or 'one laned closed', but 'the QEW is closed'. So, all of the traffic on the QEW to Niagara at 9am this morning was routed through Hwy 406 which is a one lane turnoff where they were still doing construction work. It turns out there was a fatal accident on the QEW in St. Catharines. Okay, close the QEW, but stop doing construction on the turnoff that we all have to use. Does that not make sense?

It took me another hour to get to work from that point. I hate working in Niagara.

Photos, At Least

I haven't had a chance to write up the blog portion, but pictures are at least uploaded.

Check them out at Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/12289259@N06/sets/72157601707174828/

Back

Okay, I'm back. No pictues (yet) due to plane malfunctions and getting home much later than expected.

I'm having a very crappy day and do not want to discuss the trip.

Wedding

Just a very quick blog. I'm leaving in a couple of minutes for Nunavut.

I have a number of blogs in draft mode (Jerry's stag and doe, etc). I will write more with pics of my brother's wedding. It was an absolutely beautiful day.

Potter, again

My friend Rod is back from vacation and we finally had a chance to discuss the final Harry Potter (he loved it by the way). We discussed the stupid storyline flaw. It turns out it wasn't a flaw just an expectation that I remembered something that happened back in book 2 (this is book 7). Considering she spent 400 pages talking about crap, she couldn't have made a quick reminder of this plot point? Really?

Which reminds me, Jason has recommended that I read 'The Golden Compass'. I have wanted to read the series for a while now. I am going to attempt (if I can ever find time) to pick up a copy at Chapters before my trip to Nunavut. Which means I need to go shopping tomorrow. Luckily, I pass a chapters on my way home from the falls.

There really are not enough hours in the day.

SNL Fav List

TV Stevie (from Rogers) just posted an article on his favourite cast members of SNL. Just remembering some of these skits has me in hysterics. How I remember hanging out at Leasa Collinson's watching Eddie Murphy the night that Buckwheat was shot. Still one of my all-time favourite SNL episodes.

http://yahoo.rogers.com/yahoo/spotlight/tv_stevie.jsp?id=20070808

Note: I am attempting to add my blog about my crazy evening in Goderich, but it requires pictures that are home in Mississauga and I'm stuck here in Niagara Falls working crazy hours until I go on vacation. I have 3 more training sessions to give this evening (which means I'm missing So You Think You Can Dance :(

Another Crazy Night in Goderich

On Friday I was at work thinking about how I would see my brother later that evening (he was flying in to TO with Megan at midnight). I knew I would spend most of Saturday with him and then I was looking forward to getting some much needed wedding stuff done (music, etc) on Saturday night and Sunday. Ah, the best laid plans.

Somehow (damn facebook) I was convinced to travel up to Goderich for the evening for Jerry's stag and doe. Originally when I heard about the stag and doe I did want to go but it was the week before my brother's wedding and I would already be going to Goderich for that (I'm not a big fan of going to Godrock more than necessary). Then Sharon asked if I was going to the party and I was reading Shane's comments on how good the party was going to be and decided that I should support Jerry (come on we did go to the prom together, even though he made out with Colin's date the whole time :).


Friday night I met up with Christi for dinner when I got home from the falls and we had an okay Thai dinner. I think the Thai place in Mississauga is good for take out once in awhile, but I have to agree with Christi, there isn't a lot of substance, just a lot of sauce. Toronto definitely has the better Thai food (Mississauga can not be beat when it comes to Indian, though). We then toured around trying to locate a Dairy Queen. After Christi dropped me off I desperately needed to clean my house before Jason and Megan showed up. Unfortunately I was unable to get to the couch (the cats have really made a mess of the couch), but the rest of the condo was relatively clean (this living in two places is really messing with me).


At 11:40 I headed over to the airport. I figured that their flight got in at 11:58 and that gave me lots of time to get there and get parked. Jason calls me at 11:45 to say they are there. That confused me and so I didn't park and ended up circling at the loading area (which I will never do again). Due to luggage delays I ended up parking the car. Got to see Jay and Megan shortly thereafter and we headed back to my place. Stayed up until about 2:30 am chatting. Up early Saturday as there was much to do. We headed out to get the car (I haven't been back to Enterprise since December and was sort of hoping that Moh would be there - I haven't seen him since we were dating back in February - he wasn't, though). Then off to see Nolan (Megan's brother) and drop Megan off with him for her day in Hamilton. Jason and I stopped to get breakfast and then off to Canadian Tire to get me a drill so we could fix my bed.


The bed. I love my bed. It is a metal frame that my parents bought at CNE furniture in Goderich 33 years ago for $13. When they first had it, it wasn't painted so the iron showed, then it was painted white. I ended up with the bed after mom died. The bed still had the same mattress and box spring that mom and dad were given as a wedding present. The mattress finally gave up the fight and was replaced by the mattress my mom had since she moved out of Goderich when I was 18. Over the years I became very angry with the box spring and frame. For some reason the frame doesn't actually hold the box spring. The box spring just sits on top of the metal frame. Which I guess if you don't move the box spring that would be fine. Unfortunately, the box spring does move around (get your minds out of the gutter people) when I make the bed. When it moves it actually falls off of the frame. Luckily it has not killed either of the cats, yet. I almost broke my finger a couple of weeks ago, though, when I tried to put the box spring back on top of the frame and didn't get my hand out of the way in time (it was dented for a couple of days). I ended up talking to Jay just after the mishap and he came up with some ideas of how to fix it.


I was super happy when he said he would help fix the bed issue while in town. We went to Canadian Tire and picked out a drill (dad kept promising me his old one, but he has way too much going on). I was super excited about the new drill (I can be very girlie and also very tomboyish). We drilled some screws into the box spring and now it can't move off of the frame at all. It's awesome! Yes, this is what makes me happy a bed that doesn't fall off the frame.


After that we jumped in the pool and enjoyed the wonderful weather. Ah how I do love the pool! Can't wait for Grandma's this weekend and relaxing in the pool with a beer.


When we got out of the pool we attempted to find Rene. Jason was heading up to St. Catharines to meet up with Megan, Q and Martha. But, Rene was supposed to meet at my place for the ride up. After many phone calls, messages, text messages, cursing, etc. Jason left around 4:30 (he was hoping to leave at 3). About 15 mins later Q called to say that Rene no longer needed a ride. I can only imagine the cursing once Jason got to Q's place.


I was hoping to get to Goderich around 5pm, but that didn't happen :) I finally hopped on the motorcycle (once again I absolutely love my new leather jacket and chaps) and headed home. Beautiful ride, perfect weather! Arrived to find out that I had been locked out. This is the third time I've been locked out of the house (you would think I would get myself a set of keys made since this is where I stay when I go home). The worst had to be at Christmas when I arrived around 2am and found the house locked up. Luckily Jason's second family were willing to take me :) This time I gave my aunt a call and grabbed the keys, hopped in the shower and then over to Sharon's for some pre-party drinking. We got ourselves all gussied up and called ourselves a cab (there was no way I was getting on the bike after the beer and wine - but I had to promise Sharon that when I'm back in town for the labour day weekend I will bring an extra helmet).


We got to the arena and I was so excited to see Jerry's dad, Ray. I haven't seen him in forever and I spent many a night / day sitting at the kitchen table trying to convince Ray to let Jerry come out and party with me. My puppy dog eyes normally worked ;) Many faces that I hadn't seen in a long time: Rob Pollock, Jay Austin, Tim Harrison (was he always that tall?), Chris Muggridge (it has been so long since I saw him, we reminisced about the party in the upstairs of my garage watching Rocky Horror - which reminded me of my ex,Rob, as the party was due to him coming to town from Mississauga), Shane Davenport, Rob McGraw, Dan Mabee. Much reminiscing. I must finally be over my high school insecurities as I had an awesome time and talked to so many people. But, the best part (as always) was getting to dance. I don't know what it is about dancing in Goderich, but it is by far my favourite place to dance (maybe because I normally have the dance floor all to myself - and I do love being the exhibitionist; it could also have to do with the fact that they don't normally play that much AC/DC in the city). There were a couple of worrisome moments when my heels slipped out from under me on the arena floor, I thought for sure I was going to fall or end up doing the splits. The unfortunate part was that I could not locate any water and normally I need a lot of water when I dance, so I had to settle for beer. That might explain why I felt so crappy the next morning :)


After the arena, Sharon, Paul (her ex) and I went over to my grandma's for a beer before heading over to Jerry's for the after party. My feet were killing me by this point. I love my heels but they are not meant for walking around Goderich (the dancing probably didn't help either). I switched back to my doc's (which I was really happy about later when I could not get a cab to save my life, probably because I was too drunk to figure out my phone). Off to Jerry's where I had many memories flood back: like the shoe fight in the tent with Jerry, Cara and Shane where I ended up with a bloody lip that got ripped open later on a sleeping bag zipper. There were way too many times that I ended up hurt when partying with these guys (luckily the incident with the spaghetti-o's in the fire was not one where I got hurt, sorry Shane).


I wish I had of gotten more pics (sorry - I looked at them and they will not be posted) of the destruction of the TV. Only in Goderich would the defining moment of the evening be when everyone threw rocks at a television set in the driveway (yes, this is where I'm from). Sharon and I also teased Shawn mercilessly (well, he probably didn't think it was so bad since I believe we were discussing how we were going to molest him later in the evening - but when I came back outside they were gone, I believe Shawn answered the phone when I called, but I'm really not sure since I was pretty drunk by this point). I left not too long after that (I think, but really who knows). According to my phone I attempted to call Sharon and a cab around 4am. No cab to be had (from what I can remember) so I walked over to Sharon's to get my motorcycle and go back to my Grandma's. I suspect I got home around 5am and was not happy that I had to get back to Toronto to finish shopping for my trip to Nunavut. Riding the motorcycle hung over was not the most fun thing I've ever done.


During my shopping trip at MEC (to get the rest of the stuff needed - including a down jacket for the 4C weather) I was supposed to buy two more fuel canisters. I could not find them. MEC is renovating and I found it difficult to find what I was looking for (plus, they don't seem to have the selection that they used to). After attempting to find them I asked customer service. I did not expect the answer I received. Apparently, the Canadian gvt has recalled the fuel canisters as the lid is not child safe. We leave in less than a week and we don't have enough cansisters for the fuel we are going to need (apparently Jason has two of these, but they, of course, are back in BC). They recommended that I go across the street to Europe Outfitters (or whatever they are called). I hate that store. I always think something is going to fall on me and I can never find anything I'm looking for. They directed me to the back of the store and of coure the fuel canisters were on the top shelf. But, they weren't the right kind. Liz is now in charge of locating two more cansisters as I failed at the one task I was given :(


Only a couple more days until I head to Goderich for a very whirlwind weekend. I was in at work yesterday (civic Monday) until 10pm trying to get everyone trained. So another crazy week of me training the different shifts (I really hate 7-7 shifts). I'm still at work waiting for the next shift to get in so I can train them. Then I have a full day of training again tomorrow. I'm so tired. Luckily, this time I have a place to crash in Niagara (well, last time they put me up in the Hilton, I like Gord's place, but it's not the Hilton).

Gotta love Jack

I normally don't go to youtube, but it had to do with Jack Bauer so I had to check it out. I love the beginning interview with Keifer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxzovLECtGc

So You Think You Can Dance

I love this show. I got Gord watching last week and he asked me if I thought I could dance and I told him 'I know I can dance'. But, I also know that I am nowhere near the level of the dancers on this show.


Last night I was surprised that Lacy let me down. During the auditions I thought she was very full of herself and I was quite surprised that I really enjoyed her dancing and she ended up being one of my favourites. But, last night I thought she looked the same (in the latin jazz routine, not the contemporary) as she had in other routines. Same facial expressions, same hand gestures and body movements. Neil, as always, was awesome. Hello, he can keep dancing without his shirt every week! Even better than Demetri without his shirt (at least in my opinion). I did love their contemporary routine, but that was mostly because of the sentiment behind it. I, like most of the audience, was crying for the next ten minutes. I hope Neil sticks around.


Sabra is definitely one of my new favourites, but I don't know if I agree with all the gushing. I do love her hair and attitude, though.


For the guys, I hope Neil and Danny stick around to the end (I like Pasha, but these guys seem to grab more attentions - since I keep forgetting Pasha is left in the competition). For the girls, I love Lauren (even though her dancing did not impress me in the beginning - maybe it's because she is so damn sexy and I can't keep my eyes off of her when she's on stage). I think it is a great female competition this season. Sabra is amazing. I love Sara, I think she is definitely the surprising one out of the group considering she is a b-girl and has done great learning so many different styles and doing them very well. Lacy, unfortunately, I think is starting to show her limitations. At the beginning she blew me away, but I'm not so sure anymore. Plus I hate the socks she wears :)


While watching the show last night I was also putting together song lists for Jason's wedding. All that great dancing and great music had me up and dancing around the house (neither Gord nor George were home, obviously). I forgot how much I love to just dance around. It was awesome, I danced around the house for about two hours and then it was definitely time for bed. I could not get up this morning. I'm not sure if it was the dancing, the lack of drugs, the crazy dreams, or what. But, the clock was snoozed multiple times throughout the hour it took me to get out of bed.

Another crazy side effect of the lack of drugs this week: giggles. Most of the guys I work with have commented on it. I am giggling uncontrollably. I'm dizzy and I'm giggly. It's very odd. It actually feels like I'm on a different kind of drug. Weird.

The dreams from last night were also very involved and weird. Lisa and I were travelling to Pittsburgh (?) and had to meet up with a bunch of other people, but they could not get the same flight as us and one group even had to fly through the Caribbean to meet up with us. While there we had to stake out hotels (because we hadn't done that before) and we did this by walking around the city. I ended up losing everyone one night and was stuck in a weird grocery / liquor store where they thought I had stolen a bottle of alcohol. But, since I couldn't find my friends I ended up sticking around the store and dancing around the aisles. Later on I ended up back at the hotel to realize that I had left my child in the hotel room (other friends had also left their children in the hotel room) and housekeeping was taking care of the kids (sort of). Later on in my dream there was a whole hockey thing going on where (surprise, surprise) I was infatuated with a hockey player. I somehow ended up stealing his shoes (that were actually owned by his favourite hockey player and were a surprise present from his sister). I promptly lost this present and spent most of the rest of the dream trying to relocate these shoes (someone in a biker gang / pickpocket ring had stolen them from me). My brother and my dad were both on another hockey team and had matching 'Woodall Plumbing' hockey bags that were pink (yes, my least favourite colour) and I wanted one (I didn't get one because I kept being unable to locate my hockey equipment or my father whenever he came to pick me up at the arena). I finally convinced the hockey player I was infatuated with to give me a chance, but it turned out he was a smoker and I had to tell him that I was no longer interested. There were a lot of other elements to my crazy dream (like the restaurant we went to for breakfast, but were given free fries and onion rings that Jason covered in ketchup and we all decided to go for a run / hike after breakfast). I do have the oddest, most vivid dreams.

Work, etc.

Well, the dizziness has kicked in from the lack of anti-depressants. Boy it's fun to walk around in heels when you feel like you could fall down at any minute ;)

Work is actually pretty good this week. It looks like we will be getting rid of the crappy software and I can start putting together a project plan again for the next phase of my job. YEAH!!!

My brother is getting married in just over a week. I can't believe it is so soon (yes, I am aware of my last post on this subject, sue me, I'm off my drugs and my moods are all over the place). He and Megan fly in on Friday night and are crashing at my place after their very late flight and then they will have a whirlwind week of trying to get the wedding together (I expect).

This also means that I leave for my vacation in less than a week. I had another conversation this week with someone asking how we could not be taking a gun with us. What is with all the gun happy Canadians lately? Okay, I realize this sounds more in keeping with Canadian tradition of owning guns, since it involves wildlife... but not really. This is not about hunting for food, this is about protection, which sounds way more like American ideas about owning guns and I am not keen on that at all. Now, Gord's ideas on a 'bear bang' sounded a bit better because it was just about making a large enough noise to scare off the bear. Since the Nunavut handbook and Polar Bear warning guide did not mention this as an option, it doesn't sound too promising to me. I think they might know what they are talking about (I hope).