So ya, apparently there is a by-law in Esquimalt that says you're not allowed to park a car on a street with a for sale sign on it. Seems pretty stupid to me. There's gotta be a fair bit of leeway on it, cause people have for sale signs in the window all the time and they visit friends in Esquimalt and stop in at stores and such. but whatever, I detached the top pieces of tape from my sign so that it hangs down when it's parked. I'll tape it up when I go anywhere. I don't think the sign does much anyways, but it can't hurt to have it. It would be nice to just sell the car and not have to worry about it anymore.

What a lovely day, what with the rain and all. Actually, I don't mind having the rain...I'd just have preferred it to have waited until after the weekend. Hope it lets up for the wedding on Saturday.

It's amazing how many people play guitar. With the difficulty in learning to play, I'd think more people would get discouraged and give up. The placing of the fingers on the fretboard is just so unnatural at times, and painful until you build up some callouses. I've only been trying for the past couple days. I've got some basic chords, but I'm nowhere near knowing them from memory. C, A, E, D, G, and the minor variants I can seem to handle. F seems like an impossible chord...so I'm steering clear of that one. I realize it's going to take time to learn, but it can be frustrating. It's been so long since I learned an instrument..the last being trombone in grade 8...15 years ago! Guitar will be cool though...maybe I'll finally know what I'm actually doing when I air guitar.

I'd still like a set of drums and a proper place to play them one day...but that'll probably be a while. My constant mouth, knee, and object drumming seems to have died down in the last while...not sure why.

Caramel, Butterscotch, Toffee: Are these different names for pretty much the same thing? I never really understood. Same thing with Chocolate and Fudge. At McD's you can get a hot fudge sundae...but it seems pretty much the same as a chocolate sundae at any other place.

I'm getting to a stage in my running where 10K is becoming the norm. It used to be that 10K was the goal, but now that my goal is the half marathon, which is around 21K, I've had to up my normal run distance and it seems to have become 10K. I did that this morning...pretty much no trouble. It feels good...maybe not starting out, but I get into the zone. I should get a portable audio player though...I could use some tunes when I run. I usually end up going through the same song in my head...not even the whole song, just usually the chorus, or one riff. It gets a bit lame after about 20 minutes.

I got a ticket on my car yesterday. Didn't notice it until this morning and that's only cause I went for a run. Since it's very foggy and damp out, the ink on the ticket disappeared, so I can barely make out what it says...but it's something about it being illegal to park a car with a for sale sign on it. It's only a warning ticket, but I'm gonna go into the municipal office and ask what the fuck is going on. I should be able to park my car outside my residence, for sale sign or not. It's bullshit!

Well, let's wrap up yet another busy weekend (this is the second time I wrote this as the first time it didn't save for some stupid ass reason).

Saturday was the first annual Victoria Street Hockey Tournament. A-Channel had two teams playing...Hot Properties, and Hope & Faith (both named by our station manager after two of our new shows this fall). They closed down a few blocks of government street, set up caged rinks, and 24 teams partook in the event...which was a fundraiser for something. I was there to cheer on both our teams, and I arrived midway through Hope & Faith's first game. They lost, but they played hard and the team they had played ended up going on to finish second. Hot Properties played right after and they ended up winning in a shoot out which was pretty cool. Some others were around to cheer on the teams and by the end of the day I think we had the best cheering squad! Hope & Faith didn't do so well and didn't make it past the consolation round...but Hot Properties went on to finish fourth overall! Not bad for a makeshift team of TV people who didn't practice or even prepare much. Pires was rockin' in goal, and Permack & Salvi were the scoring leaders...but everyone scored at least one goal I'm pretty sure. They were all quite tired and sore by the end, but it was agreed that it was a fun event. I enjoyed watching it and cheering. There wasn't much in the way of injuries...a bit of road rash here and there. Becky probably took the biggest one, having a guy from the TC follow through after a shot and smacking her arm and cheek with his stick...her arm bruised up pretty good and it'll be sore for a while (I annoyed it a couple times throughout the course of the evening, which is described below).

That evening, about 7 of us...players and cheerers had some beers and dinner at Irish Times for couple hours. The numbers dwindled until it was just Becky, Salvi, and I. Becky and I were meeting up Polly and her friends, including Yeech and Herch, at the Tapa Bar in Trounce Alley for Polly's birthday. I drank Sangria...as it seemed to be the thing to do. It was ok...pretty fruity. Not something I'd choose on my own. Following Tapa, most of Polly's friends went home and it was just us A-Channelers along with Polly and Melinda who headed for Darcy's. Well, Darcy's had a lineup, and Upstairs didn't, so we hit the club instead. I hadn't been in there since it had become Upstairs (I'm pretty sure)...I think the last time I was there it was The Planet. Upstairs was pretty good, although the $8 cover wasn't. I despise paying for the privilege to pay for overpriced booze...but what the hey. We got there just as things were starting to get going. The DJ was decent, and there were many girls all fancied up. I believe at one point I was head banging to a remix version of Madonna's "Like a Prayer". Polly heard about a friend of hers that was in town unexpectedly, so we left at about 12:30 to go find her at Irish Times. We did and sat with her and her friends for some more beers. Yeech and Herch were workin' on a couple of chicks, and Becky (plus Polly for a bit) were chatting up some of the Shamrocks who were there with their freshly won Mann Cup. We got kicked out of there at around 1:15 and our entourage (A-Channelers, Polly, her friend Kirsten and her friends) went to Big Bad John's. We got there close to closing time, but managed to get a beer (and I didn't even pay for it...some guy just handed it to me and wouldn't take money when I offered...I'm not sure if he was part of our group or what...but cool nonetheless). It was here where I became aware that a couple people I know have an interesting relationship...although I'm not sure what it's all about, so I'll say no more. We got kicked out of BBJ's around 2 and hit the street where some guy from Legends had a little mega-phone (more like a mini-phone) and was telling people to clear the area and go home. It was kinda funny. We walked towards the station where Yeech had his car. Some semi-random guy, Eric, ended up with us...we think he was sort of a friend of Kirsten's, but she wasn't with us anymore. Herch raised the issue of Eric wearing sandals to the bar...and I gotta side with Herch on this one: guy + bar + sandals != cool. Herch took off walking for home, Yeech picked the rest of us up, standing in the middle of Douglas St, then we found Herch and ended up at his place for a while more...drinkin' and talkin' til about 4am. Yeech drove Polly, Eric, and I to the station, where we all parted ways. I walked home and got there about 5am (my best time for the downtown walk home yet!).

Sunday I didn't have much of a hangover...I had drank enough water! Yeech, Herch, and I (Becky was supposed to come, but her arm hurt too much...and I'm sure everything else did too) hit All-Fun for their last weekend of the year. We did the batting cages, go-karts (which Battle showed up for with the family in tow), and mini-golf. I did ok at batting, lost on the karts (because Yeech spun me out), and lost at golf because of a damn 9 on one hole! Doesn't matter though...it was a fun way to spend a couple hours and it was good to be outside. When I got home I rested for a bit, then went for a 15K(ish) run which felt pretty good. I don't know exactly how far it was...took me an hour and a half though. I was impressed with my stamina, plus I had no problems with breathing. My shins hurt a bit, but I grinned and beared it and it was all good. I'll be ready for the half marathon in two weeks.

So ya, that was a lot of writing and it still wasn't that detailed. Oh well...that's what ya get.

I can't seem to shake this crush I have. It's not healthy as I'm pretty sure nothing will ever come of it. Still, I just can't stop thinking.

Short work week for me coming up...taking Wednesday through Friday off to be available for Gord and Brandy should they need any help preparing for their wedding on Saturday. Gotta prepare myself too. Plus I get vacation days, so I may as well use them.

My ass has been broken since Saturday morning. Drinkin' doesn't do a body good (unless it's only milk you're drinkin'...then I hear it does).

There is so much dust in my place...I really need to vacuum and run a cloth over everything. I hate dust. Why must there be dust? Stupid fine particles.

Almost a week til Gord and Brandy get hitched. I'm a groomsman and the MC. I hope everything goes smooth...I guess I should write some stuff to say. I'm sure I have tonnes of stories about Gord, but I just can't think of them. Why is it at weddings that people tell stories of the bride & groom? I mean telling stories of them together seems appropriate, but telling baby stories or individual tales just doesn't seem to make sense. It's not a roast/toast...it's a wedding. People just seem to take that opportunity to tell a story they want everyone to be in on. It's strange when you think of it. I can't say much though, cause I've told stories at weddings just like everyone else.

May the Schwartz be with you.

I don't know much about this David Blaine guy...I've heard his name and a bit about what he's done here and there, but never really seen any of his stuff. Tonight I watched one of his specials on TLC...he was just walking around various cities, doing tricks for people. It was pretty impressive. I don't know how much of it was TV "magic", but the people's reactions seemed genuine enough. There were a couple of tricks where I could figure out or even see the slight of hand, but some were just downright amazing (as long as there wasn't any TV "magic" which I have a feeling there was).

Well, I had another (third in a row...something weird is going on) good weekend...and a long one at that! Took friday off to partake in Gord's Stag party. It was a good time...much of which I am bonded by the unwritten code of bachelor parties never to tell. Dinner at the Keg (mmm, prime rib), Monty's for a spell (a pretty long spell), and closed things up at Irish Times. Gord's Best Man, Frank, got him a room at Swans (which was quite awesome) and I ended up crashing on the hide-a-bed while Gord took the bedroom. I was groggy on Saturday, and only got probably 4 hours of sleep at best, but I managed through the day (some people looked at the P5 (so I had to wash it first), plus I helped a friend of Q's out with a video project). Went out with Q&S to Rachel's party, which was good...but since we weren't drinking and didn't know a whole lot of the people there we left after about three hours. I had gotten a call from Hercher (guy from work) earlier saying that he and some others from work were going out and wondering if I wanted to come. I was a bit surprised, as I had never gotten a call from Herch (although we get along fine..I'm just not usually on the contact list), but I was definitely in and as soon as Q, S, & I got home, I was out the door again. The previous week Becky had met Polly at beerfest and they'd gotten along well...so Becks wanted Polly to come out too (not that I didn't too...it's just that I don't know Polly THAT well and I probably wouldn't have thought to call her up to come out with people she barely knows). I called her, and she and her friend (it starts with a T, I just can't remember it...d'oh!) met up with me at the Stinky Winky, where we met the others (being Hercher, Becks, and Yeech). I was still recovering from the stag, but I had a couple ryes and we all conversed and had jolly good times. Matt got his ass grabbed by a cougar, and Polly got hers slapped by some drunk guy (I was gonna confront him on it, but Polly was already all over it). We all ended up at Herchers apartment for a couple more drinks before we finally dispersed at a little after 4am. Second winds are great!

Sunday, I decided to throw Hercher a curve ball like he'd thrown me the day before. I wanted to go to the driving range, cause my clubs have been sitting on my floor for the last month and a half, I haven't been golfing in almost 2 years, and it was a nice day. So I called him up and asked if he golfed and then we agreed to meet at Blenkinsop Golf Centre (which is now Valley Golf Centre I think) to drive a bucket or two. I woulda called Yeech (and Becks if I had her number), but I knew they had other things going on. Herch was pretty hungover, but I was feelin' fine (I'd driven home, not having drank much)...we both hit the balls fairly well. I had some bad ones, as usual (except my five iron is usually good to me and it wasn't). I got close to putting a few balls into a barrel that's about 50 yards out...but when my aim was on, my distance was not, and vice versa. Went to Maude's afterwards for some lunch and caught the end of the Seahawks game.

I went for a 10k run in the evening...my calves hurt a bit, but it felt good. No trouble with that distance...now I just need to work on doubling it in three weeks. The knee gives me no trouble for the running. The only times it hurts is when it's been stationary for a long time (like after sleeping).

Q and I setup his old slot car track in garage on Sunday night. The 5V power supply he had picked up for it just wasn't cuttin' it...so we suped it up with a 12V supply. That cooked the motors good! I think we're gonna aim for like 9 or 10V. It was kind of fun, but one car wouldn't run very well...the pinion was slipping I think...so we couldn't race.

I came about three inches from a collision yesterday...it wasn't my fault though. I was coming down Cedar Hill X Rd, from the UVic side. There was a girl with a friend or two in a black Cabriolet/Golf waiting to cross the road from whatever road it is on the right to the plaza entrance on the left. I could see her inching out, but waiting for traffic to clear. I signalled and changed lanes to the right, but that was a decent distance away from the intersection still. As soon as I started going through the intersection, she started to pull out. I noticed right away and jammed on the brakes. I think I turned a bit left too, but it happened so fast I don't remember. All I know is that my front end slid past her car, so if she hadn't stopped when she realized I was there, I would have hit her. When we both came to a stop, we were about three inches apart, with her front end aimed at the passenger side of my hood. I gave her a goofy look...no road rage, no anger...I'm quite sure she realized she was in the wrong and didn't need it rubbed in any more, started up the truck (it stalled when I locked up the brakes) and got out of there. Lucky no one was immediately behind me.

I think that's the closest call I've had in a vehicle/vehicle incident.

It's been a good week at work. I got a raise (as did everyone else I'm pretty sure), football went well on Monday, and apparently Becky put in a good word for me with Hudson about my TD training.

Got a call about my car today...sounds like he'll come see it on Saturday.

Wow, two good weekends in a row! What's wrong with me?

Yesterday was the Great Canadian Beer Festival. I mentioned before that I bought tickets for the gang, and they all paid up when I handed them their ticket, so it got off to a good start. Rol, Melinda, and I bussed it from my place to downtown. I was under the impression that the bus ticket that came with the beerfest ticket was good for a ride to and from the fest, but I was wrong. So we used the ticket to get there. Q and Mike would meet us there later. We met up with Sara, Polly, and Reed at the gate. I won't go into the play by play, but the fest was good. Tree was there with her sister and some others. Choy showed up. There was a tonne of people from work there and I ran into them from time to time. It was all good fun...music, people, beer, etc. I sampled several brews...so pretty generic, some fairly exotic. There was a pumpkin one that stood out as quite tasty (and I'm sure they ran out quickly). Rol left his glass on a table when he went to the can and it was gone when he returned...so he had to buy another one for $3 (it was later discovered that Reed had grabbed it, but we didn't see him for a couple hours). There were a few stag and stagette parties going on and many of them were themed with shirts or hats or viking helmets and were entertaining. We spent almost six hours there and left when things were wrapping up. I had a brilliant idea, turned around, and shouted, "anyone not using their bus ticket?". Within 5 seconds I had about six tickets. No worry about the bus ride home now.

Polly, Melinda, Rol, and I walked up to Cook St and waited for a bus, then decided to start walking, then decided to get some dinner at Vietnamese Garden...so we did. It was good, but I've had better Vietnamese. Walking out of the place, we didn't have much of a game plan...although we thought Maestro Fresh Wed was going to be playing at the Trackside Art Gallery and had planned to go to that. I spotted Becky, LA, and J-Piggety on the other side of the parking lot, so I called out and they invited us to tag along with them. Becky assured us that Maestro was not playing, as he had had a family emergency. So we ended up at a penthouse in the Mosaic on Fort St...the home of a bartender that they knew from Irish Times. It was a cool pad and he was a good guy letting us hang with the rest of the crew (there were others from work there). Choy called later and wanted to come over...so I passed it by the guy and he was cool with it...so Choy showed up. I mingled and was able to carry a few conversations and such...it was good. I think the others managed ok too (I know it's awkward to be at a party when you barely know anyone). We got booted out at 11, so we walked down to Polly's place. Rol and I hung out there for about 15 minutes, then realized we could still catch a bus to get home, so headed for downtown and did just that. Home by 12:30...which is pretty much the norm for me.

Sunday was brunch at 6 Mile Pub with the gang...most of them anyways. Once again it was good...although the English Muffins for the Eggs Benny weren't toasted much. There was plenty of them though, and fresh. I had two platefuls, plus some dessert. No one was very hungover, and I was surprised that everyone was up and ready to be there at 10:30. Q&S, Choy, and I hit Costco, and Sara showed up later cause she was gonna meet her cousin there. I didn't buy anything, but the others did. Then I went to my staff picnic at Pemberton Park in Fairfield (I guess that's where it is...maybe Oak Bay). It was good...there was probably 20-30 people there with their families (if they had one). Played some softball...just fun style, not serious (nor enough people for two full teams), threw a football around for a bit, mingled a tad and left by 3:30.

I ran this evening...first time since my knee injury. It felt fine...a little pain, but nothing excruciating or damaging (I don't think). I did 5K. I think I'll go again tomorrow morning. Maybe I'll be ok to do the half marathon in a month...

Quote of the night: Letterman talking to Jamie Oliver (The Naked Chef) - "you know Kraft? Kraft? well, they make a macaroni & cheese...all in one box. nice neat package. It's just wonderful..." Ha! I love it!

First off I must thank Sara for the use of her computer and particularly her scanner over the last couple days. It's been very useful to scan photos of my brother and his fiance for the photo show I am putting together for their wedding at the end of the month. I thought I could get away with shooting them on my digital camera, but that proved too difficult to light and compose, so the scanner has been very useful. Thank you Sara!

Tonight we aired our first Monday Night Football on Citytv (and yes, I'm well aware it was Thursday...but that's the name of the show and tonight's when NFL/ABC decided to start their season). It went fairly well...to the viewer, they probably wouldn't have noticed any problems, except maybe for halftime. The cues for breaks were pretty good, but there were a couple times where I didn't exactly know what we were supposed to be running...the format wasn't completely clear, and it gets modified slightly. But we managed ok and it was kinda exciting.

Wednesday I did some more switcher/TD training with Becky. I'll get the hang of it yet. I was trying to follow along somewhat with the rundown for the late news tonight. I just need to get comfortable with the DVE and how it works for each of the things we get it to do.

I got two calls about my car last night, and one of them actually followed up today (early morning for the Planman) and we got to the point of talking money. We're at a difference of $500 and I don't want to let it go for any less. He said he'd have to consider it some more. We'll see if he gets back to me. The second caller said he may contact me on the weekend. I'd like to sell it, but I don't want to rip myself on in the process. I think what I'm asking (or rather, what I've set as my bottom line) is fair. It's got low kilometres and is in good overall shape.

I should go to bed, but I think I got my second wind as I'm not really tired anymore. I should be...I'm going on about 3 hours of sleep.

It's been a good weekend...no suicidal tendencies at all. Actually, except for a couple piss-me-off occurences at work, this whole past week has been pretty good.

Last weekend I offered to pick up tickets to the beer festival for whoever wanted to go. There were six, then seven. So Monday afternoon I went into work early and walked down to Swans to get the tickets. I knew there was a chance they'd be sold out, as they'd been on sale for over a month already. Swans was sold out, and the girl at the counter said that she'd heard pretty much everywhere was sold out. Ick! I made a call to the Strath, and they were sold out too. Uh oh. Tuesday morning and checked the website and started calling all the places that were listed as ticket vendors. Only a couple calls in I found Bedford Brewery, which just so happens to be over on my side of the bridge! He had plenty of tickets left, so Sara and I picked up the seven we needed that afternoon. Pretty cool spot too...it's a U-Brew type place, but they don't use syrups (I've never U-Brewed, but I guess most places use syrups or something)...they brew just like a microbrewery would, from raw ingredients. I think we need to get a group batch goin'. So I got the tickets for everyone and was happy that I'd located one of the last places selling them. Then, later in the week, Melinda asks for one for her guy, and I also find out that someone else (who I was under the impression had one) needed a ticket as well. Town was completely sold out...but luckily, Merridale Cidery in Mill Bay stil had some. I just so happened to be in Mill Bay yesterday to see Gord and Brandy, so I stopped in and picked up the tickets. I aim to please! I also got some berry cider, which was pretty good. So getting tickets for everyone, like I said I would...that made me happy. As long as they all pay up before or at beer fest, I will remain happy.

Another thing that has made this weekend a gooder was poker on Saturday night. I played again with the crew from work. There were ten of us in all, but there wasn't enough room for ten at the main table, so we broke into two groups of five until two people were taken out..then we merged for the remainder of the night. I was fairly middle of the road most of the night...I was down a bit, then up a bit, but pretty much maintained my stack. I won some nice hands, although we had very few straights or higher...it wasn't until at least 3 hours in that a flush showed up. Once it got down to the final four, I wasn't looking so good with the short stack of chips sitting before me. I can't even remember the details, but I must have a had a couple of decent hands (or bluffs) because I managed to rake a couple of nice piles into my area. We lasted quite a while with four players...and the blinds kept going up. We got up to 1600/3200, which was a far cry from the 25/50 that we started with. It hurt to put down that 3200 and then check your cards to see a 5 and a 9 off suit...but that's how the game works. I doubled my chips when I went all in against the person who ended up pulling third place...I believe I had a pair of aces (not pockets though) and she had a pair of queens. So it was down to two...Hercher and I. I had plenty of chips (I didn't even bother stacking them...it was just a pile in front of me) and was basically able to bully the rest of the game from him. The blinds were killing him and it didn't last too long with just the two of us as I was able to meet any bet he made, but it just drained him to meet any bet I made (and having the better cards most hands helped too). It played right to the end though...final hand he went all in following the flop which gave him a mid value pair (sevens or something). I met his all in (holding my K/2) and we flipped our cards. I saw his pair and was a bit concerned...although I was nowhere near out if he won this hand...it only made him double stronger. We saw the Turn (which did nothing for me or him). Then came the River...a King. Matched with the King in my hand that made a pair higher than his and the game was done. I took home a cool $120, plus the $20 I had put in myself. 'Twas a good game and had lasted a long time...almost five hours. I've finished in the top two both times I've played with that group.

Court and Chris were on the island this weekend too. I had planned to go see them in Chemainus (where they were camping) on Sunday, but in days previous, Choy and Tree had gone up and convinced them to come down to town. So Sunday I had only to go to Tree's place and meet up with them. We went for the brunch buffet at 6 Mile Pub. It was great (especially for $11) and Choy, Tree, and I want to try and get a regular group thing going every Sunday there. It'd be a fun, regular get together. After brunch we hung out at Choy's house for a bit, then Court and Chris had to leave to catch the ferry.

After they left I went up to Mill Bay to see Gord and Brandy (as I mentioned earlier). I visited with them for a few hours, saw all the pets...the turkeys, the chickens, the cats, the dog, etc. Gord made a good (although quite spicy) beef/seafood curry for dinner, and Brandy made a nice apple crisp. I played with Bailey a lot and gave him a decent workout having him chase his toy all over the house. I even gave him a couple of airplane rides. We talked wedding a bit and it definitely is crunch time. I got a schwack of photo albums and other pictures from them so I could put together a little presentation of the two for their reception.

So as I said in the beginning...it was a good weekend, and overall a good week.

I hate washing my car. I can never get it clean enough. I wish it would just sell, then I wouldn't have to worry about it anymore. It's a pain in the ass having a newish car, cause you have to take care of them (or rather, you feel obligated to take care of them). I so look forward to not having to worry about my truck. Fix it when it breaks and keep it running...that's all!

I thought I had something else to write about, but I guess I don't.