Drinks with Leslie on Wednesday was inspirational. The trip to Airdrie was surprisingly short. I'm guessing the expansion of Calgary is rapidly closing the gap. It seemed I wasn't on the open road for more than a minute before I had to suddenly cut across four lanes to make my exit.
Leslie and I haven't seen each other in decades and I was graced with the unique position of drinking with a friend who hadn't heard twenty years of stories. We talked about Chad quite a bit. And writing. Hence the inspiration.
The ride home was a little melancholly. The night air was warm and traffic was light. I could have ridden away for days if I'd had the opportunity. The glacial progress of the setting sun gave way to the brisk flicker of streetlights whipping past at 150 kph. I have a terrible time keeping to the speed limit on my bike these days. If I don't get out of third gear it feels like a wasted trip. Plus the bike just rumbles happily at that speed. It seems to be made for it.
Thursday was cleaning and rearranging. It was supposed to be all cleaning but I got the majority of it done anyway. And I like the layout of my bedroom better. Now I just need to get rid of the last few pictures and my two ammo boxes stacked in its corner. Not sure if I'm going to hang the pictures or throw them out. They're all too large to fit into the trunk for storage and I have to put them somewhere. So many of them don't fit into how I want my place to look, though. Putting them up would just look wrong.
The ammo boxes are my tool boxes now, so I need to keep them ... somewhere. Not sure where yet.
Friday was more drinks with good friends and laughter. Some faux pas on my part for talking too much, but I never do know when to stop. Discretion never was my strong suit. Part of that comes from living a life where few if any consequences would matter, and part of that comes from my philosophy of straightforward communication. I confess some of it comes from my love of pulling triggers and pushing buttons as well. I do need to learn more caution, however, when it's more than just myself in the story.
I have, in fact, been making apologies this weekend for saying too much. Yes, that's apologies plural. I'm really not very good at discretion.
But Friday night was good. Really good. I was able to talk with a new friend about things she already understood without my having to go into entire libraries of background information and a glossary. It was fantastic to just talk without having to stop and clarify every two sentences.
It was also excellent seeing the Dargies again after too long an absence.
I just have to remember there are discretionary points at which I should probably just stop talking.
Saturday was the rest of the cleaning and a much larger shopping trip than I had planned. In Thursday's rearrangement I finally decided to get rid of the floor lamp that's been balancing precariously in my living room for the past year. The top was completely free floating and stayed put only so long as there wasn't a stiff breeze. The light had to be turned on full brightness or there was this metalic, electronic hum that made my eye teeth ache. And full brightness was far, far too bright for my little condo. It had to go.
Which meant I had to find a replacement. So I went in to Ikea Saturday morning for a little shopping. I found two replacements in the form of a pair of holmos. Don't look at me funny, that's the Ikea product name for them. But I have to say, there's nothing like a pair of holmos to brighten up a room.
And the holmos were cheap, too. I got them for $20 each.
The trip itself wasn't cheap, however. I came away with two dozen new glasses for other people to drink out of. My original Ikea glasses are Joel sized, just over a liter each. Numerous people have given me raised eyebrows and casual comments about "size" that got me thinking people other than me might feel a tad uncomfortable about drinking from a half pitcher. So I purchased a dozen relatively "normal" sized glasses for other people to drink out of.
And frames. I bought frames as well.
After having hung most of my pictures and putting away the rest I knew I needed to cull the frames and pictures that I already have. But then I also have all these Paul Chadwick prints that are being wasted by sitting in storage all the time, and I found a set of frames that might just fit them and get them out. So, yeah, after struggling to figure out which old picture frames I wanted to throw out because I don't have room for them I brought five more home.
People should not allow me to shop at Ikea by myself.
Saturday's party was pretty good. Not wild or crazy, but still fun. I got several drawings done up on my couch but there's still tons of free space to work with. I've decided that drawing on my couch is now going to become the casual activity for future gatherings. When we start gaming again any unconscious or otherwise disabled character will result in the player picking up a couch cushion, shuffling through my bucket-o-markers, and drawing something new. I already love the stuff I have now and I'm dying to get more. It's kind of like tattoos for your home. Each new image you receive has you yearning for more.
One of the highlights of Saturday was having Julie visit, someone I also haven't seen in over a decade. Although I could have done without Leslie and Julie bringing their nineteen year old "kids" with them and making me feel incredibly old. (I jest, the kids are great... intelligent and quirky just like their parents)
Another highlight was the gift of two road signs created by Mike Dargie himself. A pair of his own road side variations, one "caution: pirates" and one "need head". The Pirates, I think may find a home on the washroom door. The "need head", of course, makes the most sense on the bedroom door. I know, it's terribly college-dorm-room in it's theme but the signs are fun.
Sunday morning was cleaning all over again. More than just cleaning up from the party I also found myself vacuuming all over again. I'd only just vacuumed on Thursday night and here it was, less than 72 hours later, and I swear the dust bunnies were breeding giant mutant offspring because there were rolling tumbleweeds of fluff collecting in the spaces I know for a fact I'd vacuumed clean on Thursday.
I had the place completely cleaned by early afternoon, though, and it felt great. All the garbage was gone, all the laundry done, and the dishes either hand washed or clean and drying in the dishwasher. All the tech and pens and whatnot was put away. My refridgerator is now packed with food and booze, however, and while I can bring the food to work the booze is just going to wind up staying there until someone comes over to drink it. I've been taught that drinking alone is pathetic. I tried it once, just to check, and yeah it's pretty sad.
Sunday afternoon was divided up by the brief visit of a friend in my dark cool hiding place. Conversation was had and ice chilled beverages were consumed. No sooner did I drop friend off at home than my continued reverie was interrupted by yet another call. Scott offered his apologies for losing his battle with tequila Saturday afternoon and thus missing the party. By way of consolation he offered to ride with me to Cochrane for ice cream and I readily agreed. I'd been trying to think of a good excuse to take my bike out and this was a perfect opportunity.
Like a good Doctor with his Tardis our grizzled badger had a companion with him, a young lady who's name I'm very embarrassed to admit I've forgotten, and keep forgetting despite having met her three times now. She's a good foil for Scott, as any Doctor's Companion should be, and we paired up for a volley of "poke the badger" with reasonable coordination. Badger retaliated with a debasement of Simon Pegg movies and Douglas Adams books, the humors of which he apparently finds tiring. We rebutted with a simple defection and she rode back to Calgary with me. That'll teach the grizzled tuner to besmirch the names of such luminaries.
It was pleasant having a rider for the trip back. While I barely know the woman her presence was notable and welcome. Legs against my hips and arms around my chest, it was the most physical contact I've had in months. It's kind of sad when something so brief and casual actually becomes noteworthy.
It probably would have been a lot more relaxing if the bright yellow "low fuel" light hadn't been glaring at me for the latter three quarters of the trip. There aren't any gas stations that I'm aware of on the number 8 highway, and when I took a brief detour into Lakeview for the one gas station I knew was there I found, much to my annoyance, it was closed. I wasn't terribly worried. I'd managed a good half hour into Golden with that yellow light glaring at me last summer so I knew I actually had plenty of fuel left. It was just embarrassing to have forgotten to fill up before embarking on our trip in the first place.
I feel bad for having just dropped her off and not stopped to chat a while, but I wasn't entirely sure how much longer my bike would keep running.
Monday was a test of my reserve, and I cracked a bit. I was curt with a few customers and outright stoic to one in particular. I think I'm definitely ready for a vacation. The weekend was very nice and relaxing, but the two days were far too short. Sixteen days off won't feel much longer, I fear, but I'm ready for them all the same. Just four more days to get through without scaring or scarring any more customers and I will finally be able to relax.
Just four more days.
The Condo is clean again, now that I've cleared away dinner and washed the pans. The stove is wiped, all debris put away, and I've reduced the lights down to two holmos and a candle. My little netbook is barely visible on my dining room table even as I type away at it. Radio Paradise has been delivering some lovely Morcheeba, Black Keys, Pink Floyd, and Dengue Fever tonight.
The home is dark. The home is light. The home is soothing and serene. The home is mine, and sleep awaits.
Leslie and I haven't seen each other in decades and I was graced with the unique position of drinking with a friend who hadn't heard twenty years of stories. We talked about Chad quite a bit. And writing. Hence the inspiration.
The ride home was a little melancholly. The night air was warm and traffic was light. I could have ridden away for days if I'd had the opportunity. The glacial progress of the setting sun gave way to the brisk flicker of streetlights whipping past at 150 kph. I have a terrible time keeping to the speed limit on my bike these days. If I don't get out of third gear it feels like a wasted trip. Plus the bike just rumbles happily at that speed. It seems to be made for it.
Thursday was cleaning and rearranging. It was supposed to be all cleaning but I got the majority of it done anyway. And I like the layout of my bedroom better. Now I just need to get rid of the last few pictures and my two ammo boxes stacked in its corner. Not sure if I'm going to hang the pictures or throw them out. They're all too large to fit into the trunk for storage and I have to put them somewhere. So many of them don't fit into how I want my place to look, though. Putting them up would just look wrong.
The ammo boxes are my tool boxes now, so I need to keep them ... somewhere. Not sure where yet.
Friday was more drinks with good friends and laughter. Some faux pas on my part for talking too much, but I never do know when to stop. Discretion never was my strong suit. Part of that comes from living a life where few if any consequences would matter, and part of that comes from my philosophy of straightforward communication. I confess some of it comes from my love of pulling triggers and pushing buttons as well. I do need to learn more caution, however, when it's more than just myself in the story.
I have, in fact, been making apologies this weekend for saying too much. Yes, that's apologies plural. I'm really not very good at discretion.
But Friday night was good. Really good. I was able to talk with a new friend about things she already understood without my having to go into entire libraries of background information and a glossary. It was fantastic to just talk without having to stop and clarify every two sentences.
It was also excellent seeing the Dargies again after too long an absence.
I just have to remember there are discretionary points at which I should probably just stop talking.
Saturday was the rest of the cleaning and a much larger shopping trip than I had planned. In Thursday's rearrangement I finally decided to get rid of the floor lamp that's been balancing precariously in my living room for the past year. The top was completely free floating and stayed put only so long as there wasn't a stiff breeze. The light had to be turned on full brightness or there was this metalic, electronic hum that made my eye teeth ache. And full brightness was far, far too bright for my little condo. It had to go.
Which meant I had to find a replacement. So I went in to Ikea Saturday morning for a little shopping. I found two replacements in the form of a pair of holmos. Don't look at me funny, that's the Ikea product name for them. But I have to say, there's nothing like a pair of holmos to brighten up a room.
And the holmos were cheap, too. I got them for $20 each.
The trip itself wasn't cheap, however. I came away with two dozen new glasses for other people to drink out of. My original Ikea glasses are Joel sized, just over a liter each. Numerous people have given me raised eyebrows and casual comments about "size" that got me thinking people other than me might feel a tad uncomfortable about drinking from a half pitcher. So I purchased a dozen relatively "normal" sized glasses for other people to drink out of.
And frames. I bought frames as well.
After having hung most of my pictures and putting away the rest I knew I needed to cull the frames and pictures that I already have. But then I also have all these Paul Chadwick prints that are being wasted by sitting in storage all the time, and I found a set of frames that might just fit them and get them out. So, yeah, after struggling to figure out which old picture frames I wanted to throw out because I don't have room for them I brought five more home.
People should not allow me to shop at Ikea by myself.
Saturday's party was pretty good. Not wild or crazy, but still fun. I got several drawings done up on my couch but there's still tons of free space to work with. I've decided that drawing on my couch is now going to become the casual activity for future gatherings. When we start gaming again any unconscious or otherwise disabled character will result in the player picking up a couch cushion, shuffling through my bucket-o-markers, and drawing something new. I already love the stuff I have now and I'm dying to get more. It's kind of like tattoos for your home. Each new image you receive has you yearning for more.
One of the highlights of Saturday was having Julie visit, someone I also haven't seen in over a decade. Although I could have done without Leslie and Julie bringing their nineteen year old "kids" with them and making me feel incredibly old. (I jest, the kids are great... intelligent and quirky just like their parents)
Another highlight was the gift of two road signs created by Mike Dargie himself. A pair of his own road side variations, one "caution: pirates" and one "need head". The Pirates, I think may find a home on the washroom door. The "need head", of course, makes the most sense on the bedroom door. I know, it's terribly college-dorm-room in it's theme but the signs are fun.
Sunday morning was cleaning all over again. More than just cleaning up from the party I also found myself vacuuming all over again. I'd only just vacuumed on Thursday night and here it was, less than 72 hours later, and I swear the dust bunnies were breeding giant mutant offspring because there were rolling tumbleweeds of fluff collecting in the spaces I know for a fact I'd vacuumed clean on Thursday.
I had the place completely cleaned by early afternoon, though, and it felt great. All the garbage was gone, all the laundry done, and the dishes either hand washed or clean and drying in the dishwasher. All the tech and pens and whatnot was put away. My refridgerator is now packed with food and booze, however, and while I can bring the food to work the booze is just going to wind up staying there until someone comes over to drink it. I've been taught that drinking alone is pathetic. I tried it once, just to check, and yeah it's pretty sad.
Sunday afternoon was divided up by the brief visit of a friend in my dark cool hiding place. Conversation was had and ice chilled beverages were consumed. No sooner did I drop friend off at home than my continued reverie was interrupted by yet another call. Scott offered his apologies for losing his battle with tequila Saturday afternoon and thus missing the party. By way of consolation he offered to ride with me to Cochrane for ice cream and I readily agreed. I'd been trying to think of a good excuse to take my bike out and this was a perfect opportunity.
Like a good Doctor with his Tardis our grizzled badger had a companion with him, a young lady who's name I'm very embarrassed to admit I've forgotten, and keep forgetting despite having met her three times now. She's a good foil for Scott, as any Doctor's Companion should be, and we paired up for a volley of "poke the badger" with reasonable coordination. Badger retaliated with a debasement of Simon Pegg movies and Douglas Adams books, the humors of which he apparently finds tiring. We rebutted with a simple defection and she rode back to Calgary with me. That'll teach the grizzled tuner to besmirch the names of such luminaries.
It was pleasant having a rider for the trip back. While I barely know the woman her presence was notable and welcome. Legs against my hips and arms around my chest, it was the most physical contact I've had in months. It's kind of sad when something so brief and casual actually becomes noteworthy.
It probably would have been a lot more relaxing if the bright yellow "low fuel" light hadn't been glaring at me for the latter three quarters of the trip. There aren't any gas stations that I'm aware of on the number 8 highway, and when I took a brief detour into Lakeview for the one gas station I knew was there I found, much to my annoyance, it was closed. I wasn't terribly worried. I'd managed a good half hour into Golden with that yellow light glaring at me last summer so I knew I actually had plenty of fuel left. It was just embarrassing to have forgotten to fill up before embarking on our trip in the first place.
I feel bad for having just dropped her off and not stopped to chat a while, but I wasn't entirely sure how much longer my bike would keep running.
Monday was a test of my reserve, and I cracked a bit. I was curt with a few customers and outright stoic to one in particular. I think I'm definitely ready for a vacation. The weekend was very nice and relaxing, but the two days were far too short. Sixteen days off won't feel much longer, I fear, but I'm ready for them all the same. Just four more days to get through without scaring or scarring any more customers and I will finally be able to relax.
Just four more days.
The Condo is clean again, now that I've cleared away dinner and washed the pans. The stove is wiped, all debris put away, and I've reduced the lights down to two holmos and a candle. My little netbook is barely visible on my dining room table even as I type away at it. Radio Paradise has been delivering some lovely Morcheeba, Black Keys, Pink Floyd, and Dengue Fever tonight.
The home is dark. The home is light. The home is soothing and serene. The home is mine, and sleep awaits.
guns:
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