Ok here is a thought...well, not one related to camp life or anything but something that came to my mind because....well, as a dishwasher for the last 2 and a half weeks and another week and a half to go, I seem to have a lot of time on my hands and I let my mind wander. A dangerous thing to let my mind wander cause I usually come up with the weirdest and probably the most unrealistic things. I mentioned this idea to a couple co-workers and I guess they are used to my strange ideas (though I thought my idea of hooking up the treadmills to a power generator and making the guys in packs of 10 run on them for 2 hours of their shift to power the camp had double benefits for all...power for the camp and get them to exercise and lose some weight) cause they just looked at me, shook their heads and walked away. I have gone over it in my mind and can not seem to find a problem. Here it is.
How to find any terrorist leader in the world quickly
You pick a terrorist leader that you have been looking for and then every single terrorist attack in the world that is done, you put it through the media that it was this leader/organization that did it. For example, Osama Bin Laden...seems the Americans are having a devil of a time finding him. So, there is a terrorist bombing in Iraq that kills a number of people, the papers say it was him that did it with his name and terrorist organization all over the papers. Possibly even go so far as doctoring up a video to broadcast with him (well a look alike or computer generated one) claiming responsibility for the act; three gun men go into a bank anywhere in Asia and gun down a lot of innocent people, we say they were part of the organization and even have a video with the same double Bin Laden saying he put those men up to it and it was all him that came up with the plan; another school yard shooting somewhere in America, Bin Laden again on video saying his organization put the boys up to it and it was all his master planning cause he is the ultimate genius.
How will this work? Well, I figure that a terrorist attack not only is used to strike fear into those around them but it is also a calling card of sorts so that an organization can gain that power to negotiate their wants on the world. They organization wants to be known for their work so that their wants or goals can be accomplished sooner. If they didn't then why would most organizations call to claim responsibility for the action once an action has happened? So, imagine how angered the organization would be if after all that cost of both money and time the plan happened and then at the last second it is told to the world that someone else did it for their own stated gains. Kind of like you spending months building an addition on your house and then when you bring your friends and family over to show it off your cousin (who did absolutely nothing) steps up and takes credit for the whole thing and you can not prove him wrong and he gets all the praise and admiration.
Who knows, perhaps if this is done enough and the right organizations have their terrorist activity credit taken away from them perhaps they will start to hunt down Osama themselves so that they can prove it wasn't Osama doing it. Of course, it being a terrorist organization, the world isn't not going to believe it if they come forward with a video saying "yeah, we found Osama and he said he didn't do that but he said it was us..so yeah, we did it, not him...trust us". So what will the terrorists have to do for believability? Produce Osama either alive in the hands of the country that wants him (like the Americans) or produce Osama's body so that all credit for upcoming acts can not be claimed by him.
By doing this the terrorist organization leaders become the most hated people on the planet, not just by the countries that they assault but by the terrorist underworld as well. Like John Spartan (played by Stallone) said in Demolition Man "you gotta send a psychopath to catch a psychopath".
As for the claims that it would be manipulating the media and we have to trust the media and can't have them broadcast false information. Why would that be so? I mean, so far the media has built the reputation for being trusting and truthful, so who better to dupe the terrorist and public with lies than the media themselves?
When it comes to the actual terrorists doing the attacks, I am not saying that we don't punish the terrorists that do the act but capture them, put them on trial and all but basically make it known to all that it was the terrorist person you are after that put them up to it. Of course when they say "no no it was *insert their terrorist leader/organization*" the media just omits that part and says that we can't trust them cause, hey, they are terrorists and lie on a regular basis.
Any big problems with this plan? I think must have been in camp too long and brain gone to mush cause this all makes sense to me.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
feels like summer camp...
Looks like camp is starting to boom up into the numbers that they were hoping. We have Camp B already filled. Camp B is basically a little trailer camp that they moved over from another location summer of last year and dropped it down about 50 feet away from the main Camp A. It has about 50 rooms, washroom facilities, small rec area to sit down and, just recently, they had a smoking tent put up so that the smokers can have a puff without walking all the way from Camp B to Camp A smoking room. Camp A while not totally packed to capacity is filling up quickly.
We are seeing many old faces from when we were all let go between the summer and October as well as seeing some faces from way back as far as Tahera. It is almost like those movies of summer times when people either return to the 'lake' or back to camp and seeing old faces that they had not seen since the previous summer. There are a lot of handshakes, smiles, greetings of "Wow, haven't seen you in a long time" followed by the usual 'what have you been up to?' These are all answered and stories are swapped. Sometimes there is the 'I got married' which is usually followed by the standard 'congratulations' and then the guy usually tells a brief story of how he got screwed on the wedding night. Sometimes there is the 'I got divorced' which then is followed by the standard 'congratulations' and then the guy usually tells a longer story of how he got screwed in divorce court. There are a lot of stories about building up the house, sleeping, drinking, vacationing and such. It is all rather interesting to watch and listen to.
One thing I have noticed is that out of all the faces that have returned, it is all mainly the men that are returning to camp and not so much the women. It is almost like we have a new bunch of female faces but all the men are the same. I got to wonder of why this is. Could it be that the camp life, the isolation, the wild untamedness and uncertainty of life with every second appeals to the dangerous hearts that beat in the chest of the male gender. The fact that the smallest mistake out in this frozen wasteland could cost a man his life or even limb. Unlike living in the city when if you have a mild heart attack you could be raced to the hospital and live, out here in the middle of nowhere a mild heart attack could mean certain death. When you might lose a limb or appendage in the city it could be sewn back on with no lasting effects but out here by the time the plane gets up here, you loaded, fly to the city and get to the hospital the best that you can hope for is to have the wound cauterized and bandaged up properly. A place where you could be out walking a gas line and come across a bear or wolf and you become part of the food chain of the arctic. A cold and inhospitable place where a mechanical failure in the generator area could turn your nice warm camp into a deep freeze where you will die waiting for a rescue plane to come. I got to thinking that perhaps these are the conditions that appeal to the frontier trait in the male gender. The death, the danger, the uncertainty...
Of course, then I thought of it from another angle. Perhaps the reason the camp life appeals to the male gender is simply because they are basically taken care of like children. We cook for them, do their dishes, make their beds, vacuum their rooms, wash their sheets and pick up their dirty dishes from their rooms. I think the only thing we don't do for them is their own clothes laundry. So basically their life in camp is almost better than at home...well, with the exception that the married men might get sex out of camp.
No wonder men return to the camp life while women don't.
We are seeing many old faces from when we were all let go between the summer and October as well as seeing some faces from way back as far as Tahera. It is almost like those movies of summer times when people either return to the 'lake' or back to camp and seeing old faces that they had not seen since the previous summer. There are a lot of handshakes, smiles, greetings of "Wow, haven't seen you in a long time" followed by the usual 'what have you been up to?' These are all answered and stories are swapped. Sometimes there is the 'I got married' which is usually followed by the standard 'congratulations' and then the guy usually tells a brief story of how he got screwed on the wedding night. Sometimes there is the 'I got divorced' which then is followed by the standard 'congratulations' and then the guy usually tells a longer story of how he got screwed in divorce court. There are a lot of stories about building up the house, sleeping, drinking, vacationing and such. It is all rather interesting to watch and listen to.
One thing I have noticed is that out of all the faces that have returned, it is all mainly the men that are returning to camp and not so much the women. It is almost like we have a new bunch of female faces but all the men are the same. I got to wonder of why this is. Could it be that the camp life, the isolation, the wild untamedness and uncertainty of life with every second appeals to the dangerous hearts that beat in the chest of the male gender. The fact that the smallest mistake out in this frozen wasteland could cost a man his life or even limb. Unlike living in the city when if you have a mild heart attack you could be raced to the hospital and live, out here in the middle of nowhere a mild heart attack could mean certain death. When you might lose a limb or appendage in the city it could be sewn back on with no lasting effects but out here by the time the plane gets up here, you loaded, fly to the city and get to the hospital the best that you can hope for is to have the wound cauterized and bandaged up properly. A place where you could be out walking a gas line and come across a bear or wolf and you become part of the food chain of the arctic. A cold and inhospitable place where a mechanical failure in the generator area could turn your nice warm camp into a deep freeze where you will die waiting for a rescue plane to come. I got to thinking that perhaps these are the conditions that appeal to the frontier trait in the male gender. The death, the danger, the uncertainty...
Of course, then I thought of it from another angle. Perhaps the reason the camp life appeals to the male gender is simply because they are basically taken care of like children. We cook for them, do their dishes, make their beds, vacuum their rooms, wash their sheets and pick up their dirty dishes from their rooms. I think the only thing we don't do for them is their own clothes laundry. So basically their life in camp is almost better than at home...well, with the exception that the married men might get sex out of camp.
No wonder men return to the camp life while women don't.
Monday, January 18, 2010
I love my new eyes...
oh how I love my new eyes. Well, not really my new eyes but the freedom from glasses. I was working in the freezer the other day putting the bread away from grocery day on Wednesday. We like to leave the bread in the box to freeze for a day or two so that they freeze in the right way and are easier to stack since when you stack fresh thawed bread in a freezer the lower ones get crushed and when they do freeze they end up really flat and are useless for sandwiches. So there I was in the cold freezer putting bread away for about 15 minutes and then I walked out of the freezer to put the empty boxes in the garbage area. I sensed trouble when I stepped out and I felt the wave of moist air hit me in the face since the 1st cook was boiling water in the big steam kettle for pasta. The entire back area felt like a sauna and you could see the mist forming on the ceiling and the water dripping down the walls. Anyone with glasses knows that you come from a frozen area like a freezer or outside in the winter to a warm/moist house you are blind for however long it takes you to either slid your glasses down your nose and look over the rims to walk or the moisture subsides and you defog. This was the first time I walked out, stopped to wait for my vision to clear and found that I was instantly able to see where I was walking. My arms were full of flat boxes and I didnt have to stumble around in the back room while my co-workers laughed at me cause my vision was gone.
Oh the freedom and joy of having good vision. Granted, was still a hellish experience (at least to me) to get them this way but ohhh, how I am enjoying the wonderful things that I am experiencing.
Wonder if this is what it is like for women and childbirth?
Oh the freedom and joy of having good vision. Granted, was still a hellish experience (at least to me) to get them this way but ohhh, how I am enjoying the wonderful things that I am experiencing.
Wonder if this is what it is like for women and childbirth?
Friday, January 15, 2010
the olympic flame
just a quick note and thought which I am probably gonna be booed and hissed, if not burn in a small part of Hades for, but I had the thought and mentioned it at dinner.
Is it just me or does the olympic torch look like a big joint?
I saw it on the news this evening as they were running through stadiums and all and in most of the shots there was a little bit of flame being blown by the wind as they held it high. It looked like a joint that was rolled on both ends. I asked this at the table and one guy said he said the same thing when he saw it awhile back.
Does anyone else think that the torch looks like a big joint?
Is it just me or does the olympic torch look like a big joint?
I saw it on the news this evening as they were running through stadiums and all and in most of the shots there was a little bit of flame being blown by the wind as they held it high. It looked like a joint that was rolled on both ends. I asked this at the table and one guy said he said the same thing when he saw it awhile back.
Does anyone else think that the torch looks like a big joint?
Thursday, January 14, 2010
big wigs were here..
It appears that we had 13 big wigs in charge of mines around the world and in charge of the mining company coming in to camp on Wednesday. Normally we get one or two of the HR sort of guys and the camp gets a little bit unnerved by their arrival and all. However, this time we got so unnerved I think we got wedges from having our underwear in tight knots. Even if I had not been told that big wigs were coming to camp, I could sense the subtle things that told me that something was amiss.
First off, I had my usual 'thought for the day' posted on the main board. I like to put up little humourous quotes for the campers to read, though mainly I am the only one that finds them humourous while the others just shake their head at what I write. For instance, on Wednesday the thought was "is it good if a vacuum really sucks?". Anyways, Radio (you all remember Radio right? the guy who talks non-stop about nothing and everything in particular. The one that has a standing order to tap us on the shoulder when he is saying something of importance cause when he opens his mouth we just tune him out) comes up to me and taps the board and says "none of this tomorrow. We have important people coming and we cant give them the wrong impression". To which I wipe the thought off the board and say "what impression? that this might be a fun and interesting place to work?" That got me a sharp retort of "no, that we are a professional company working". That got my response of "great, so where are you going to tie up Henry so he is out of the way for the whole day?". I was told that "Henry is Henry and he blends in".
Don't know if I have mentioned Henry before but he is a mid-60's guy that has had 3 heart attacks already and takes about 7 pills with his supper and needs an hour nap in the middle of his shift or else he might have a stroke. Oh yeah, did I mention that he has the mind of a 20 year old perverted sailor that has lived in a brothel his entire life and he has no problems with speaking his mind out loud about it. I mean, I dont think of myself as prude but there are certain things about female body parts, as well as small and large animals, that just should not be said allowed followed by certain thrusting body motions.
That was my first sign that something was amiss. Later someone asked me where the thought for the day was and I had to polite tell them that "we have big wigs coming in to camp, we are not allowed thoughts".
Second sign that something wicked this way was coming was the amazing change in dress and buzz of activity that was present. Since we are in camp we really do not have a need for high professional dressings around here since it is sort of hard to portray a sort of professionalism when the people that you are trying to impress see you either walking down the hall with just a towel wrapped around you or in a teddy bear bath robe; or even see you sitting in the smoking room with a cigarette hanging out of your mouth as you swear at the hockey game on the TV. So when people go to the offices up here the standard attire is usually tshirts (one lady will wear tshirts that have cartoon or muppet characters on them while other guys wear shirts with sayings on them like "My wife says I dont listen to her...or some stupid s*&t like that"), jeans and sometimes even sweat pants. On Wednesday everyone was dressed in nice pants, button up shirts and some even had ties and name tags around their necks. I think a couple of the geotechs even showered, which for some of them is something that happens once ever week or so.
As well as being dressed up in office attire, a lot of the people in the place were dressed up in work attire and they were flying all over the camp doing stuff and carrying tools. The tool shed it out the back of the camp and the way they have it designed the handymen have to walk through the kitchen to get to the shed to grab their tools and materials and then walk through the kitchen to do the job. Normally we see them go through maybe 5 times a day and that is it. This day we had them going through non-stop carrying pieces of paper and tools instead of pastries and cups of coffee and were looking all professional and busy.
The third thing that had me thinking that something was up was that the kitchen got slammed with amazing food orders that are not normal. I was asked by Radio to make 4 assorted pastry trays to be in the board room during the presentation and discussions. He also added that he would ask Big D to do it but she would probably screw it up so he needed me to do it. As well, dinner was totally different and new. We normally have steak nights on Fridays but it was bumped up to Wednesday instead. So, steak is not something new so nothing out of the ordinary there. Normally we have it with either breaded shrimp or garlic butter shrimp but this night we were having king crab legs and sauteed escargot with mushrooms, not to mention the 3 trays of smoked salmon that we had put out. So as I am sitting down to my steak, crab legs, escargot, baked potatoe, smoked salmon with corn niblets, the day janitor asks Radio (sarcastically) if we are having this type of feast cause the big wigs were in camp. Radio actually said "what are you talking about? we have this every second week or so". This comment actually stopped our forks halfway to our mouths and a stunned silence for about 2 seconds before the entire table burst out laughing at such a stupid comment. Sure we may get steak once a week but crab, escargot and smoked salmon is like Santa...it only comes around once a year.
The big wigs came and we had our meeting. I was going to stick around for it but then after the introductions were done I realized that I was greasy and smelly and I had to shower and change before coming online to chat with the Mrs and watch Bones at 9. Little did I realize that the Mrs was out with friends eating really good century egg porridge and Bones was a repeat. Tweeted with the Mrs as she rushed home and did some internet surfing and watched the repeat.
The next day I found out what was said at the meeting. Basically it was the same thing in a nut shell that we are always told. There are big plans for the camp, lots of action in the upcoming year, gonna see some major moves forward and lots of development. Granted, that same thing was said last August and everyone got a 2 month lay off in October. So, not about to jump for joy at this news but will take the job one day at a time as the day progresses.
First off, I had my usual 'thought for the day' posted on the main board. I like to put up little humourous quotes for the campers to read, though mainly I am the only one that finds them humourous while the others just shake their head at what I write. For instance, on Wednesday the thought was "is it good if a vacuum really sucks?". Anyways, Radio (you all remember Radio right? the guy who talks non-stop about nothing and everything in particular. The one that has a standing order to tap us on the shoulder when he is saying something of importance cause when he opens his mouth we just tune him out) comes up to me and taps the board and says "none of this tomorrow. We have important people coming and we cant give them the wrong impression". To which I wipe the thought off the board and say "what impression? that this might be a fun and interesting place to work?" That got me a sharp retort of "no, that we are a professional company working". That got my response of "great, so where are you going to tie up Henry so he is out of the way for the whole day?". I was told that "Henry is Henry and he blends in".
Don't know if I have mentioned Henry before but he is a mid-60's guy that has had 3 heart attacks already and takes about 7 pills with his supper and needs an hour nap in the middle of his shift or else he might have a stroke. Oh yeah, did I mention that he has the mind of a 20 year old perverted sailor that has lived in a brothel his entire life and he has no problems with speaking his mind out loud about it. I mean, I dont think of myself as prude but there are certain things about female body parts, as well as small and large animals, that just should not be said allowed followed by certain thrusting body motions.
That was my first sign that something was amiss. Later someone asked me where the thought for the day was and I had to polite tell them that "we have big wigs coming in to camp, we are not allowed thoughts".
Second sign that something wicked this way was coming was the amazing change in dress and buzz of activity that was present. Since we are in camp we really do not have a need for high professional dressings around here since it is sort of hard to portray a sort of professionalism when the people that you are trying to impress see you either walking down the hall with just a towel wrapped around you or in a teddy bear bath robe; or even see you sitting in the smoking room with a cigarette hanging out of your mouth as you swear at the hockey game on the TV. So when people go to the offices up here the standard attire is usually tshirts (one lady will wear tshirts that have cartoon or muppet characters on them while other guys wear shirts with sayings on them like "My wife says I dont listen to her...or some stupid s*&t like that"), jeans and sometimes even sweat pants. On Wednesday everyone was dressed in nice pants, button up shirts and some even had ties and name tags around their necks. I think a couple of the geotechs even showered, which for some of them is something that happens once ever week or so.
As well as being dressed up in office attire, a lot of the people in the place were dressed up in work attire and they were flying all over the camp doing stuff and carrying tools. The tool shed it out the back of the camp and the way they have it designed the handymen have to walk through the kitchen to get to the shed to grab their tools and materials and then walk through the kitchen to do the job. Normally we see them go through maybe 5 times a day and that is it. This day we had them going through non-stop carrying pieces of paper and tools instead of pastries and cups of coffee and were looking all professional and busy.
The third thing that had me thinking that something was up was that the kitchen got slammed with amazing food orders that are not normal. I was asked by Radio to make 4 assorted pastry trays to be in the board room during the presentation and discussions. He also added that he would ask Big D to do it but she would probably screw it up so he needed me to do it. As well, dinner was totally different and new. We normally have steak nights on Fridays but it was bumped up to Wednesday instead. So, steak is not something new so nothing out of the ordinary there. Normally we have it with either breaded shrimp or garlic butter shrimp but this night we were having king crab legs and sauteed escargot with mushrooms, not to mention the 3 trays of smoked salmon that we had put out. So as I am sitting down to my steak, crab legs, escargot, baked potatoe, smoked salmon with corn niblets, the day janitor asks Radio (sarcastically) if we are having this type of feast cause the big wigs were in camp. Radio actually said "what are you talking about? we have this every second week or so". This comment actually stopped our forks halfway to our mouths and a stunned silence for about 2 seconds before the entire table burst out laughing at such a stupid comment. Sure we may get steak once a week but crab, escargot and smoked salmon is like Santa...it only comes around once a year.
The big wigs came and we had our meeting. I was going to stick around for it but then after the introductions were done I realized that I was greasy and smelly and I had to shower and change before coming online to chat with the Mrs and watch Bones at 9. Little did I realize that the Mrs was out with friends eating really good century egg porridge and Bones was a repeat. Tweeted with the Mrs as she rushed home and did some internet surfing and watched the repeat.
The next day I found out what was said at the meeting. Basically it was the same thing in a nut shell that we are always told. There are big plans for the camp, lots of action in the upcoming year, gonna see some major moves forward and lots of development. Granted, that same thing was said last August and everyone got a 2 month lay off in October. So, not about to jump for joy at this news but will take the job one day at a time as the day progresses.
Monday, January 11, 2010
back in camp...
a rather uneventful trip in to camp. Flew up from Edmonton to YK on the Sunday with all the connections smooth as silk. Well, minus the 20 minutes or so we waited in Edmonton in the plane for 'passengers from Toronto on a connecting flight' according to the flight attendant but then just before take off we were told by the captain that 'the bags...your bags...that were still in the airport finally arrived to the plane and we are cleared for take off'. Either which way, we made our way up to YK and arrived only 20 minutes later than expected.
Spent the day setting up the Wii and Wii fit for my mother and baking a lemon meringue pie. The pie did not turn out too well since I had to use a premade fake pie crust and I really am not partial to that sort of thing. Came out kind of stiff and tasteless. Though I did find out that my mom has a way better lemon zester than the grater that I use at home because the lemon zest I normally put in the lemon filling was able to melt in with the gooey filling and make it smoother but still have that lemony zest that makes the filling so tart. The grater I use at home has a sort of thicker chunky taste and you end up chewing the chunky bits more than anything else.
Today I was at the airport for 8:45am to catch my plane. It was set to leave at 10am but we were told that due to delay in leaving somewhere the plane would not be available till at least 11am. At that point one of the ladies at the airport went around and asked if we would like the breakfast that we would have gotten on the plane right now. It isnt a big airport or anything just a small little charter airport building kind of thing. I was kind of hungry so I said sure. She went into the back and came out with 4 boxes and put them on the counter and we were told to help ourselves. They were the same size as the type you get from KFC when you order a 2/3/4 piece chicken meal. Anyways, I took one and sat down and I am pleased to say that I think I had my first 'crack addicts breakfast'. I opened up the box and inside was a container of yoghurt, raspberry granola bar, fruit medley juice and a piece of chocolate cake. At 10am I was sitting there eating chocolate cake. Though, on the up side, it was a really moist piece of chocolate cake.
Got to camp, found out that I was given the torch of 2nd cook and finished my shift. So, now after a fun filled trip up, time to see what the next few weeks (possibly since they havent told me how long I am in camp for) will hold.
Spent the day setting up the Wii and Wii fit for my mother and baking a lemon meringue pie. The pie did not turn out too well since I had to use a premade fake pie crust and I really am not partial to that sort of thing. Came out kind of stiff and tasteless. Though I did find out that my mom has a way better lemon zester than the grater that I use at home because the lemon zest I normally put in the lemon filling was able to melt in with the gooey filling and make it smoother but still have that lemony zest that makes the filling so tart. The grater I use at home has a sort of thicker chunky taste and you end up chewing the chunky bits more than anything else.
Today I was at the airport for 8:45am to catch my plane. It was set to leave at 10am but we were told that due to delay in leaving somewhere the plane would not be available till at least 11am. At that point one of the ladies at the airport went around and asked if we would like the breakfast that we would have gotten on the plane right now. It isnt a big airport or anything just a small little charter airport building kind of thing. I was kind of hungry so I said sure. She went into the back and came out with 4 boxes and put them on the counter and we were told to help ourselves. They were the same size as the type you get from KFC when you order a 2/3/4 piece chicken meal. Anyways, I took one and sat down and I am pleased to say that I think I had my first 'crack addicts breakfast'. I opened up the box and inside was a container of yoghurt, raspberry granola bar, fruit medley juice and a piece of chocolate cake. At 10am I was sitting there eating chocolate cake. Though, on the up side, it was a really moist piece of chocolate cake.
Got to camp, found out that I was given the torch of 2nd cook and finished my shift. So, now after a fun filled trip up, time to see what the next few weeks (possibly since they havent told me how long I am in camp for) will hold.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Wii
The Mrs finally found it. The Wii fitness board and fitness plus or whatever it is called. The Mrs got a Wii for christmas from the family and we have been playing it quite a bit in the last couple weeks. I have noticed a few funny things that she does that are most amusing. For instance, one of them is in the boxing part of Wii Sports. She will start in line with me, about 3-4 feet away from the TV, but once the announcer goes 'fight' she starts throwing punches like a mad woman and after only 30 seconds of boxing she is right up next to the TV throwing punches like a machine gun. I don't even have time to block anything because if I block one punch she manages to land about 30 other rapid fire ones. I lose every single match, mainly not because of the skill of the other player but because I find it hard to throw a Wii punch when I am doubled over laughing from her antics.
She went to Costco with a friend today while I stayed home (nursing a bit of a cold and sore throat) and she bought the Wii fitness board as well as Rayman Ravin Rabbits 2. I can not even begin to describe the amusement that we are having with the two games. Though, on the down side, I have discovered due to the wonders of video game technology that I have now been classed as 'overweight'. Yep, me...the person that would have sworn at a young age that I would have never broken that 100lbs mark am now overweight. I am about 82kg at 5'11" which gives me a BMI of around 24.6 and the ideal BMI for someone of that height is around 22BMI. So, think I should have kept my new years resolution of going to the gym every day for at least 45 minutes of a work out (treadmill, cycle...even the pool for 45 minutes of dog paddling).
I think the only thing I can say at this moment is that perhaps my excuse to her before xmas as to why we have not gotten a Wii was correct. I kept saying that there is no Wii cause with our competitive nature as well as back couch game playing (you know, when one is playing the game but the other sits behind them going "jump..no jump..come on, jump now..not now but NOW...sheesh, you suck!") the divorce would be quite at coming and quite messy.*G* Guess we will just have to wait and see if we do make it to our 4 year anniversary this year in December*G*
She went to Costco with a friend today while I stayed home (nursing a bit of a cold and sore throat) and she bought the Wii fitness board as well as Rayman Ravin Rabbits 2. I can not even begin to describe the amusement that we are having with the two games. Though, on the down side, I have discovered due to the wonders of video game technology that I have now been classed as 'overweight'. Yep, me...the person that would have sworn at a young age that I would have never broken that 100lbs mark am now overweight. I am about 82kg at 5'11" which gives me a BMI of around 24.6 and the ideal BMI for someone of that height is around 22BMI. So, think I should have kept my new years resolution of going to the gym every day for at least 45 minutes of a work out (treadmill, cycle...even the pool for 45 minutes of dog paddling).
I think the only thing I can say at this moment is that perhaps my excuse to her before xmas as to why we have not gotten a Wii was correct. I kept saying that there is no Wii cause with our competitive nature as well as back couch game playing (you know, when one is playing the game but the other sits behind them going "jump..no jump..come on, jump now..not now but NOW...sheesh, you suck!") the divorce would be quite at coming and quite messy.*G* Guess we will just have to wait and see if we do make it to our 4 year anniversary this year in December*G*
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
delayed going to camp
I guess it has been a rather long time since I have posted anything. Not really much happened in the way of cooking or baking. Christmas with the family was quick and interesting though no blood shed and I am still married and not disowned by the family so as family vacations go I guess it was a success.
On New Years we had a dinner party for a couple friends. Our dinner was a spinach salad with home made raspberry vinegrette (turned out really good), BBQ ribs (sort of dry, used side ribs instead of back ribs so there was more fat than I would have liked), baked italian potatoe fries (not bad, one of my friends thought they were store bought I cut them so perfectly uniform but they werent cooked brown enough for my liking and took too long), honey glazed carrots (rather good). For dessert we had creme brulee (again a success, getting pretty good at it), banana split cake (a banana cake roll up with whip cream in the middle on a bed of home made strawberry sauce with chocolate sauce and garnished with fresh pineapple and bananas) and a lemon meringue pie (got a little crazy on this one. Home made lemon pie filling with a meringue topping that had to be at least 3 and a half inches tall at the centre). I think all the desserts turned out pretty good. We played Wii till midnight and then cheered in the new year. It was a good evening and great way to end 2009.
I was supposed to go back to camp on January 2nd. However, when I got my flight papers they were for January 5th. I did my usual "WTH??!!?" and fired an email and found out that it was put to the 5th because there were only 20-30 people in camp at that time and I wasnt needed. I was fine with that since I had a few movies and books from the library that I had to finish.
I was to fly at 11am on the 5th. A friend offered to drive me out to the airport after her night shift ended at 7am, which I am really really grateful for. So, we were up at 6am, the Mrs, my friend and myself went to Humpty's for breakfast and out to the airport. So I was there at 8:30 am for my 11am flight. Mainly cause of all those crazy newspaper reports of 3 hour waits to get through security while airport security did body cavity searches on every living thing going on the plane.
OH, here is something freaky. I am used to using the self serve ticketing booths in the airport. Put in your booking reference, tell them how many bags you got, confirm your name and seat and out pops your plane ticket. This one, however, threw me for a bit of a loop cause before my ticket popped out I got one of those long bag stickers that normally the booth person prints off and puts on my bag. I spent a couple seconds trying to figure out how to attach it to my bags and hoping that I got them on the right way. Turned out I got the things on right but I ripped off the tiny bit on the end (what I had seen them do countless times) when I shouldnt have. Now I know.
Anyways, turns out my 11am flight was delayed till 11:20am as the plane was 'being serviced'. This was later extended to 1:20pm while the plane was being 'serviced' some more. I wish prostitutes serviced as long as the plane mechanics. Anyways......1:20 came and slowly went by till 2pm when we got the announcement that the flight was going to be cancelled but do NOT worry because the good people at Air Canada Jazz had us rebooked on a First Air to Yellowknife at 8:10pm. Oh yeah, I bet you can almost guess how thrilled everyone on this flight was at that moment. Our thrill and excitment got even higher when we were transfered to the First Air flight and the lady at the counter confirmed that they had 35 seats available for the 33 Air Canada passengers going to Yellowknife, but there was no room for our luggage and that would be coming up in the evening of January 6th. Not much help for me since I was to get on a puddle hopper out of Yellowknife at 6am on the 6th and all my winter gear would have been in my luggage that would arrive nearly 12 hours after I needed it.
I called the camp and told him what the deal was and then I found out that the next flight in to camp was on Friday but it was completely booked so my next available flight would be on Monday out of YK. So instead of flying me to YK and leaving me there for 5 days they decided to leave me here in Edmonton till January 10th. Though, after talking to the boss in camp it is almost a good thing I am still here. There was 25 people in camp when I was to fly in and they already have a 1st and 2nd cook (Tony 2 and Curtis are back), a dishwasher (Henry) and a baker (Big D)...yes, the Dragon Lady has returned to her cave...The person that makes people say "yeah, birth control is definitly a good idea"...the woman I am sure that has made many a man take up a vow of celibacy when she walks into a bar...yep, she is back in camp. I now wonder, with only 25 people to bake for, she must have enough time to bake at least 25% of the things and only cut 75% of her stuff instead of serving 90% of the premade stuff on a regular basis.
I guess the one bit of comic relief that I had was the little french guy that was on the flight with us. By the smell of him and how he was acting I think he was having a beer at 10am and then when he found out that the plane was delayed till 11:20 had another and then when it was delayed till 1:20 he must have went back for a bit more. He was being a royal pain in the butt, was being loud, abusive and just plain annoying. When we got the announcement saying that they were waiting to see if there was going to be enough room on First Air for us all he was told with no uncertain terms that if he did not have something to eat and drink some coffee to sober up he would NOT be flying on the plane, even if there was room. By the time I was cancelling my flight and about to leave the airport he was at the Air Canada counter making a big fuss and noise that the RCMP had been called and was on their way with security. I think the guy behind me said it best when he said "you do NOT raise your voice in an airport...you do not cause a fight in an airport...you do NOT do anything to cause concern in an airport. On the street, the RCMP will just give you a warning and tell you to leave. In an airport they will taser your ass." I left and didnt see if he got tasered or not but since I didnt read about anything in the news the next day I am guessing he wasnt tasered or shot but might have been escorted off the premises.
So, here I sit...in Edmonton...playing Wii (Force Unleashed is a good game but now I have Spiderman 3 for $14.98). Oh yeah, I am also spending some time with the Mrs....but, yeah..Wii*G*
On New Years we had a dinner party for a couple friends. Our dinner was a spinach salad with home made raspberry vinegrette (turned out really good), BBQ ribs (sort of dry, used side ribs instead of back ribs so there was more fat than I would have liked), baked italian potatoe fries (not bad, one of my friends thought they were store bought I cut them so perfectly uniform but they werent cooked brown enough for my liking and took too long), honey glazed carrots (rather good). For dessert we had creme brulee (again a success, getting pretty good at it), banana split cake (a banana cake roll up with whip cream in the middle on a bed of home made strawberry sauce with chocolate sauce and garnished with fresh pineapple and bananas) and a lemon meringue pie (got a little crazy on this one. Home made lemon pie filling with a meringue topping that had to be at least 3 and a half inches tall at the centre). I think all the desserts turned out pretty good. We played Wii till midnight and then cheered in the new year. It was a good evening and great way to end 2009.
I was supposed to go back to camp on January 2nd. However, when I got my flight papers they were for January 5th. I did my usual "WTH??!!?" and fired an email and found out that it was put to the 5th because there were only 20-30 people in camp at that time and I wasnt needed. I was fine with that since I had a few movies and books from the library that I had to finish.
I was to fly at 11am on the 5th. A friend offered to drive me out to the airport after her night shift ended at 7am, which I am really really grateful for. So, we were up at 6am, the Mrs, my friend and myself went to Humpty's for breakfast and out to the airport. So I was there at 8:30 am for my 11am flight. Mainly cause of all those crazy newspaper reports of 3 hour waits to get through security while airport security did body cavity searches on every living thing going on the plane.
OH, here is something freaky. I am used to using the self serve ticketing booths in the airport. Put in your booking reference, tell them how many bags you got, confirm your name and seat and out pops your plane ticket. This one, however, threw me for a bit of a loop cause before my ticket popped out I got one of those long bag stickers that normally the booth person prints off and puts on my bag. I spent a couple seconds trying to figure out how to attach it to my bags and hoping that I got them on the right way. Turned out I got the things on right but I ripped off the tiny bit on the end (what I had seen them do countless times) when I shouldnt have. Now I know.
Anyways, turns out my 11am flight was delayed till 11:20am as the plane was 'being serviced'. This was later extended to 1:20pm while the plane was being 'serviced' some more. I wish prostitutes serviced as long as the plane mechanics. Anyways......1:20 came and slowly went by till 2pm when we got the announcement that the flight was going to be cancelled but do NOT worry because the good people at Air Canada Jazz had us rebooked on a First Air to Yellowknife at 8:10pm. Oh yeah, I bet you can almost guess how thrilled everyone on this flight was at that moment. Our thrill and excitment got even higher when we were transfered to the First Air flight and the lady at the counter confirmed that they had 35 seats available for the 33 Air Canada passengers going to Yellowknife, but there was no room for our luggage and that would be coming up in the evening of January 6th. Not much help for me since I was to get on a puddle hopper out of Yellowknife at 6am on the 6th and all my winter gear would have been in my luggage that would arrive nearly 12 hours after I needed it.
I called the camp and told him what the deal was and then I found out that the next flight in to camp was on Friday but it was completely booked so my next available flight would be on Monday out of YK. So instead of flying me to YK and leaving me there for 5 days they decided to leave me here in Edmonton till January 10th. Though, after talking to the boss in camp it is almost a good thing I am still here. There was 25 people in camp when I was to fly in and they already have a 1st and 2nd cook (Tony 2 and Curtis are back), a dishwasher (Henry) and a baker (Big D)...yes, the Dragon Lady has returned to her cave...The person that makes people say "yeah, birth control is definitly a good idea"...the woman I am sure that has made many a man take up a vow of celibacy when she walks into a bar...yep, she is back in camp. I now wonder, with only 25 people to bake for, she must have enough time to bake at least 25% of the things and only cut 75% of her stuff instead of serving 90% of the premade stuff on a regular basis.
I guess the one bit of comic relief that I had was the little french guy that was on the flight with us. By the smell of him and how he was acting I think he was having a beer at 10am and then when he found out that the plane was delayed till 11:20 had another and then when it was delayed till 1:20 he must have went back for a bit more. He was being a royal pain in the butt, was being loud, abusive and just plain annoying. When we got the announcement saying that they were waiting to see if there was going to be enough room on First Air for us all he was told with no uncertain terms that if he did not have something to eat and drink some coffee to sober up he would NOT be flying on the plane, even if there was room. By the time I was cancelling my flight and about to leave the airport he was at the Air Canada counter making a big fuss and noise that the RCMP had been called and was on their way with security. I think the guy behind me said it best when he said "you do NOT raise your voice in an airport...you do not cause a fight in an airport...you do NOT do anything to cause concern in an airport. On the street, the RCMP will just give you a warning and tell you to leave. In an airport they will taser your ass." I left and didnt see if he got tasered or not but since I didnt read about anything in the news the next day I am guessing he wasnt tasered or shot but might have been escorted off the premises.
So, here I sit...in Edmonton...playing Wii (Force Unleashed is a good game but now I have Spiderman 3 for $14.98). Oh yeah, I am also spending some time with the Mrs....but, yeah..Wii*G*
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