I am no longer a member of the 25-35 crowd. I can hang on no longer. I still feel young, but I'm merely the youngest of the old now.
Was I supposed to start saving for retirement a while ago?
Money issues aside, this hasn't been all that bad of a year. I really do enjoy the summer weather in Vernon, I have my health and am happy at home. I really can't complain.
I feel that I should. But I won't - at least, not here, not now.
Sunday, August 27, 2006
Saturday, August 19, 2006
Smoke on the water
There are some fires in Washington state that have been making things very hazy up here. The smoke hasn't been this bad since the Kelowna fire, three years ago. I guess the wind is blowing along the lake, and the valley funnels the smoke toward us, even though we are probably about five hundred miles away from the fires.
So no imminent danger for us, although I'm sure that the people with athsma and other breathing problems are less than enthused.
It has been making for some interesting moons lately. The light reflected off the moon turns a bright orange as it penetrates the smoke, giving it a very unnatural (or at least unusual) colour. However the smoke has been getting thicker over the past two days, so I'm not sure if we will even see the moon again for a little while.
So no imminent danger for us, although I'm sure that the people with athsma and other breathing problems are less than enthused.
It has been making for some interesting moons lately. The light reflected off the moon turns a bright orange as it penetrates the smoke, giving it a very unnatural (or at least unusual) colour. However the smoke has been getting thicker over the past two days, so I'm not sure if we will even see the moon again for a little while.
Monday, August 14, 2006
A quiet weekend spent shooting people
Yes, it sounds horrible. Playing video games during the heat of the summer. My Mom would be so ashamed - especially so if she knew the game had me play the role of an assassin, mercilessly killing people of all stripes.
At least the game penalized me for killing innocent bystanders.
Okay, the real issue is that if I didn't have a dog to walk, I would have been indoors the whole weekend. I've noticed that video gaming is easier to justify in the dead of winter, mostly because people are indoors already. Sorry Mom, for not playing outdoors more.
At least the game penalized me for killing innocent bystanders.
Okay, the real issue is that if I didn't have a dog to walk, I would have been indoors the whole weekend. I've noticed that video gaming is easier to justify in the dead of winter, mostly because people are indoors already. Sorry Mom, for not playing outdoors more.
Sunday, August 06, 2006
For haircuts, pay more to cut less
I went to my barber for a haircut. It was time, I needed one. Unfortunately, on the day I went, my usual barber was closed. As it happens, there is another barber just a couple blocks away from where I normally go, so I decided (against better judgement) to try him out. At least he was open on a Saturday.
He was a grumpy man who liked to complain that cutting hair for a living was the worst possible thing in the world to be doing. But his rates were cheap, so I (against better judgement) decided to go for it. After all, I would only have to listen to him for about half an hour, right?
Lately I have been getting my hair cut so that the length on top is a little more than an inch, and shaved pretty close on the sides and back. This barber's interpretation of that was to take it down to a quarter inch off my scalp pretty much everywhere except the little piece on the very front. It doesn't look 'bad', but at the same time, it wasn't what I asked for.
One thing I have noticed with it this short though, is I get a pretty good look at which parts are turning grey (or white) faster than others. It makes parts of the top of my head look like they are balding (I'll be in denial on any evidence supporting that theory for quite some time yet) because of the hair colour. I figure things should be back to normal in a few weeks, just in time for my birthday.
He was a grumpy man who liked to complain that cutting hair for a living was the worst possible thing in the world to be doing. But his rates were cheap, so I (against better judgement) decided to go for it. After all, I would only have to listen to him for about half an hour, right?
Lately I have been getting my hair cut so that the length on top is a little more than an inch, and shaved pretty close on the sides and back. This barber's interpretation of that was to take it down to a quarter inch off my scalp pretty much everywhere except the little piece on the very front. It doesn't look 'bad', but at the same time, it wasn't what I asked for.
One thing I have noticed with it this short though, is I get a pretty good look at which parts are turning grey (or white) faster than others. It makes parts of the top of my head look like they are balding (I'll be in denial on any evidence supporting that theory for quite some time yet) because of the hair colour. I figure things should be back to normal in a few weeks, just in time for my birthday.
Saturday, August 05, 2006
Grampa turned ninety
Well yesterday was my grampa's ninetieth birthday. I gave him a phone call to see how he was doing, which is always fun. He actually celebrated a day early because he liked Thursday's daily special better than Friday's at his favorite restaurant. When I heard that the dish was corned beef and cabbage everything made sense to me.
It was a good conversation and later it got me thinking: how much different are things going to be when (if) I hit the age of ninety? Looking back at his life, he was born around the time that World War I started. The Great Depression was soon to follow, and he would have been old enough to be actively enlisted during World War II. By the time the Dot Com Bubble burst, he was already retired, collecting his pension - aside from watching the news, I wonder if he was affected by it at all?
Of course, when I call my grampa, it's not an interview. Sometimes I get a few answers, and other times he says something interesting that I wasn't looking for. But it's mostly about how we are doing, telling a few jokes and enjoying the conversation.
It was a good conversation and later it got me thinking: how much different are things going to be when (if) I hit the age of ninety? Looking back at his life, he was born around the time that World War I started. The Great Depression was soon to follow, and he would have been old enough to be actively enlisted during World War II. By the time the Dot Com Bubble burst, he was already retired, collecting his pension - aside from watching the news, I wonder if he was affected by it at all?
Of course, when I call my grampa, it's not an interview. Sometimes I get a few answers, and other times he says something interesting that I wasn't looking for. But it's mostly about how we are doing, telling a few jokes and enjoying the conversation.
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
What happened to my hot weather?
On Sunday, the temperature dropped by about ten degrees. It was like someone unplugged the power for our Okanagan summer. While just about everyone around us was rejoicing for the milder weather, I was not amused.
Wearing a sweatshirt while biking into work IN AUGUST is not my idea of summer weather.
Oh well. At least the dog is more comfortable. This is probably the ideal weather for her. I wouldn't complain if it wasn't such a shock. I like a more gradual change, I guess.
On a different note, I have added a lot of blues to my regular playlist at work. Stevie Rae Vaughn, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, John Lee Hooker, B.B. King and even some Ella Fitzgerald. I dunno, sometimes I just like some blues in the background.
Wearing a sweatshirt while biking into work IN AUGUST is not my idea of summer weather.
Oh well. At least the dog is more comfortable. This is probably the ideal weather for her. I wouldn't complain if it wasn't such a shock. I like a more gradual change, I guess.
On a different note, I have added a lot of blues to my regular playlist at work. Stevie Rae Vaughn, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, John Lee Hooker, B.B. King and even some Ella Fitzgerald. I dunno, sometimes I just like some blues in the background.
Monday, July 24, 2006
A sick cat makes for a shitty day
This morning I woke up and had to walk to work instead of bike, due to a flat tire. No big deal, walking takes roughly the same time as catching the bus (because of the route they take) so I figured I would enjoy the morning sunshine. My plan was to pick up a tube at lunch so that my bike could be ready for tomorrow.
Shortly after arriving at the office, my wife called and informed me that one of our cats was sick. We keep two of them in a rather large pet cage overnight, and well, there was shit all over the bottom of it. To top it off, we didn't realize this at first, so we had two cats with shitty paws wandering through the house. Needless to say, my wife was busy washing the sick cat and mopping the floors. The cage made it outside for later.
My wife also informed me that the other cat just happened to puke up the world's largest hairball on my side of the bed. If she wasn't already busy enough, now extra laundry got added to the list, along with another cleanup. The only good news is that Louise slept most of the day away, which made cleaning up much easier than doing so under constant pug scrutiny. (Read: "Louise! Get out of that! NOW!")
Later, when I was home from work we discovered that the not-sick cat also had some more shit on her, and needed a bath. This turned into a game of 'catch the unwilling participant,' starring said cat. Of course, the unlucky winner was me, since I caught the cat, and it was just simpler and easier if I proceeded to carry her off to the bathtub.
Let me just say that this cat reacted poorly in the tub.
There were howls. There were mad attepmts to flee. There was much shedding of fur. At one point she may have even been foaming at the mouth and at no point was there ANY cooperation from this cat. She was not pleased. When the ordeal was done, my wife swooped in with a towel, deftly wrapped the cat in it and carted her out of the bathroom. Net effect: my wife, the Hero in the cat's eyes for rescuing her from the torture treatment, me the evil torturer who shall not be forgiven (at least for the night - this cat doesn't hold much of a grudge, luckily.)
Anyway, as I type this out, all of today's little disasters are behind us and while a little tired, I'm hoping one day we can laugh about it. I'm sure some of you are laughing already.
Shortly after arriving at the office, my wife called and informed me that one of our cats was sick. We keep two of them in a rather large pet cage overnight, and well, there was shit all over the bottom of it. To top it off, we didn't realize this at first, so we had two cats with shitty paws wandering through the house. Needless to say, my wife was busy washing the sick cat and mopping the floors. The cage made it outside for later.
My wife also informed me that the other cat just happened to puke up the world's largest hairball on my side of the bed. If she wasn't already busy enough, now extra laundry got added to the list, along with another cleanup. The only good news is that Louise slept most of the day away, which made cleaning up much easier than doing so under constant pug scrutiny. (Read: "Louise! Get out of that! NOW!")
Later, when I was home from work we discovered that the not-sick cat also had some more shit on her, and needed a bath. This turned into a game of 'catch the unwilling participant,' starring said cat. Of course, the unlucky winner was me, since I caught the cat, and it was just simpler and easier if I proceeded to carry her off to the bathtub.
Let me just say that this cat reacted poorly in the tub.
There were howls. There were mad attepmts to flee. There was much shedding of fur. At one point she may have even been foaming at the mouth and at no point was there ANY cooperation from this cat. She was not pleased. When the ordeal was done, my wife swooped in with a towel, deftly wrapped the cat in it and carted her out of the bathroom. Net effect: my wife, the Hero in the cat's eyes for rescuing her from the torture treatment, me the evil torturer who shall not be forgiven (at least for the night - this cat doesn't hold much of a grudge, luckily.)
Anyway, as I type this out, all of today's little disasters are behind us and while a little tired, I'm hoping one day we can laugh about it. I'm sure some of you are laughing already.
Saturday, July 22, 2006
Been a long time
I wish I could say I was busy, and that was why I haven't updated in a while. Well, I sort of can - here is what has been going on with me lately:
- I got the vinyl floor glued in the entranceway. Now all that is left is installing some trim - for that part of the house. This is a good thing though, as we went an entire week with the piece of vinyl laying on the kitchen floor (it was stored in a roll, and this was an effort to un-curl it. Mostly successful, too.)
- The Dragon Boat races are here in Vernon once again. I blogged about it last year, and we will head down to the beach again tomorrow. The only problem with that beach is that we can't bring Louise. But then again, she would just get overheated anyhow.
- I have been revisiting some old video game classics. Well, classic games to me, at least. I installed Hitman: Codename 47 today and also dusted off Thief II. I'm doing this because they are about the best games I can expect to run on my home computer.
Oh crap, I forgot to call the cable company and cancel our service. We talked about it a few days ago, and decided that we weren't really watching TV anymore, so why pay for it? I find we download and watch way more content, or just spend time on the computers instead of the tube. I'm sure there will be more on this later, as it happens (and more importantly, as I start suffering withdrawl in September when the new shows start.)
- I got the vinyl floor glued in the entranceway. Now all that is left is installing some trim - for that part of the house. This is a good thing though, as we went an entire week with the piece of vinyl laying on the kitchen floor (it was stored in a roll, and this was an effort to un-curl it. Mostly successful, too.)
- The Dragon Boat races are here in Vernon once again. I blogged about it last year, and we will head down to the beach again tomorrow. The only problem with that beach is that we can't bring Louise. But then again, she would just get overheated anyhow.
- I have been revisiting some old video game classics. Well, classic games to me, at least. I installed Hitman: Codename 47 today and also dusted off Thief II. I'm doing this because they are about the best games I can expect to run on my home computer.
Oh crap, I forgot to call the cable company and cancel our service. We talked about it a few days ago, and decided that we weren't really watching TV anymore, so why pay for it? I find we download and watch way more content, or just spend time on the computers instead of the tube. I'm sure there will be more on this later, as it happens (and more importantly, as I start suffering withdrawl in September when the new shows start.)
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