Day 3

Yesterday was not so good but today I relaxed and had fun. They have this WONDERFUL thing called mandalas: they're abstract designs that you can color in, photocopies left available on each table. That's right, they don't mind if you color while they talk, because it has been proven that while people are coloring they're paying attention.

Let me tell you I'm going to town on that one. I bought myself my own box of crayons, and I'm being VERY productive, handing in several completed mandalas per day. It makes all the difference for me.

Other than that, I have remarkably little to report… class, hotel, class, hotel.

Still, tomorrow is Friday, and Fridays are ALWAYS fun because we know we have two days off looming.
I miss my workouts terribly. I went running for 45 minutes the day before yesterday and I'm all sore today!!! Sore from running? What is this? Am I not in shape? It's disgusting I tell you.

J asked me about curling in SK. Here was my answer:

All right so Curling is the official sport of Saskatchewan.

To celebrate their sport, every hotel has a miniature rink for clients in addition to a gym.
In the big league, the rinks in SK are twice the standard length of other rinks because the country is so flat, the slide just keeps going, and going, and going…

Glad I taught you something today. Even happier that it's perfect nonsense.

Regina I

Marie thinks I feel crappy. Another friend thinks I sound hem...tense.
Just because I curse out loud a few times? You guys are so uptight.

Well, I'm feeling "crappy and tense" in Regina, as we speak.
In truth, all problems take on a certain perspective when considered in the middle of hundreds of miles of nothing. It gives a brand new twist to the saying "middle of nowhere".

Today I will meet all kinds of enormously friendly people. I start with a headache. Lol. I'm gonna go up to my room, take an Advil and practice my smile and my patience. Even with people who have so obviously never travelled in their lives that this Regina entirely organized trip is making them completely flustered, lost and helpless. (A breakfast voucher? when did they give me that? at the airport? what ID? what credit card imprint?)

Remind me to tell you about the hotel's Spa when I get a minute.

So what's the mood so far? how does "corrosif" sound? Swyrd, translation?

In The Corner Losing My Illusions

This original post was two pages long. How's that for editing?

For so long, I believed: "Everything is possible." It's time to face it: THERE ARE THINGS YOU ARE NOT GOING TO GET, NO MATTER HOW DESPERATLY YOU WANT THEM, NO MATTER HOW BASIC YOU THINK THEY ARE, AND NO MATTER HOW MUCH YOU THINK YOU DESERVED THEM.

It goes against every popular trend: Everything is possible! Create the life you want! Think positive to bring good things in your life! Believe you can have anything and you will!

To hell with **positive** thinkers. Fuck off, The Secret. Hope is just too damaging in the long run. I’ll still have good moments before I die.

Bora Bora Be Damned

If you're like most people, you've always dreamed of taking a trip to Regina, Saskatchewan.

What do you mean, NO? Ok, then you're just weird.

I, on the other hand, have been offered the chance of a lifetime, not one, but TWO weeks in popular, glamorous, much sought-after Regina, Saskatchewan. I'll admit that it was hard to contain my excitement at first. I couldn't stop bragging about it to anybody and everybody.
"Yes, I'll have a large coffee with two milk. Gee I wonder if they have such good coffee in Regina, Saskatchewan where, incidentally I'm going soon."
"The gas is not too expensive this week. When I'm in Regina Saskatchewan, next week, I'll compare prices with here."
And so on and so forth.

There were four hotels advertised for the trip and when I read that one of them allowed pets, I asked no less than four friends of mine to come along for the trip. I mean the definition of pet is somewhat personal right?

They all turned me down but in the end it's just as well because I learned that I had been assigned to the lowest, cheapest of the four hotels, which doesn't allow pets anyway. I'm not going to let that ruin it for me. I'm bringing a rubber ducky.

I leave next Monday.

Nightbiking Deserves a Quiet Night

Friday night, I couldn't sleep. I got up, got dressed and sneaked out to go for an impromptu bike ride. I enjoyed the speed, the freedom, the freezing wind.
This is the moment The Squirrel chose to try to throw himself in my front wheel.
He's fine. He's under suicide watch at H.M. hospital.
The bike is fine if a little muddy.
I took the brunt of the fall. Nothing bad, but the most extensive scrape I've had for years. Bare arm on pavement and then gravel. Amusing.

I'm in a foul mood. A combination of hurt, frustration and hopelessness. Nothing to do but to wait for it to go away. Perhaps I could punch a customer or two today, I'd feel so much better.

Back From The Limbs

It is time for me to pick the pen back up (that's a figure of speech) and to resume my wanderings on the personal space I call my blog. I've probably lost all my regular readers, and they will be mourned. I'm confident I've also lost the only unwelcome one and I feel very good about that.

Things have changed somewhat during my absence. I am now settled in a comfortable routine at the new office. Not a working day goes by during which I don't savour the proximity to my house.

I bought a bike in the Fall sales, the first one I own in fourteen years!!! Bikes have changed quite a bit in that time, but you still have to push the pedals to go forward. J showed up last week with a brand new bike bottle and lights for the front and back, for night biking. For me. How sweet is that?
So weather permitting, I go to the gym on my bike, following the river. Most extremely enjoyable. On the ride back, at night, I've had some very, very beautiful sights of a glass-like river with the reflection of the mountain. Very peaceful and zen.

Since J and I have an ongoing spook match (score is 2-2), the other night I went and parked on a quiet street by the river. I wrapped myself in a black cloak so as to be invisible in the bushes if I didn't move. Then I waited for J to pass by me on his bike. But while waiting, I sat in the grass, watching the water dance by, caressed by a warm wind, in the shelter of obscurity and I had a moment of pure happiness.

I’ve had some work done on my house. Nothing very exciting except turning a tiny, dark wardrobe of a bathroom (Vince knows it well) into something more decent and practical. It’s coming along very nicely and I’ll post a picture when the transformation is complete.

All else is the same; my son: noisy, Fatso: well, fat; Grumpy: well grumpy, and Loukhi: a smart cookie.

Hey WELCOME BACK Brig, you’ve been missed!

Here's a picture of what bath time should be like, according to cats (no these aren't mine)
A


and not B