Tagged

So, I guess I have to write 6 strange things about me. That shouldn't be so hard to do.

1.) I only have 4 toes on my right foot. Before anyone asks, it wasn't a hunting accident, nor was I attacked by any type of wild animal. I was born missing the second toe on my right foot. Most people don't even notice unless I tell them.

2.) I eat my food in order, starting with veggies, rice or whatever, and then the meat if there is any. Also, I will always eat my fries first if I get fast food. Don't know why, but I do.

3.) I go by my middle name, John, not my first name, Michael. I just prefer John, always have, and this causes no end of hassles whenever I have to do anything official.

4.) I tend to analyze songs, the music, not the words. People will say, wow, that song is soo deep, and I will say, Yeah I love how they changed keys there, and the way the drum pattern changed etc. I have a degree in music, I guess that's why, I only hear parts of a song at a time.

5.) I am a walking dictionary. I always get asked, how do you spell this, or can you proofread this for me? It isn't something that I have worked on over the years, it's just the way it is with me.

6.) I can remember things that happened ages ago, what people said, what they are like, all sorts of details. Most people won't watch Jeopardy with me, I drive them nuts. At the same time tho, I can't remember where I left my car keys, my wallet, and I usually have to go back into the house to get something I have forgotten whenever I go anywhere.

Hypochondria will kill us all

The person I normally work with is off right now, and I have been working with a temp for the last little while. Normally this is ok, and I can deal with it, but this guy has been suffering from all sorts of ailments, which are getting progressively worse as time has gone on. I wonder if he will be working tonight.

It all started off as a hamstring injury, that he was having trouble moving his leg, and that is why he is so slow. After that, he developed tennis elbow, and arthritis too. His diabetes was flaring (I didn't know diabetes can flare, but whatever), and he was getting a cold. This guy seems to be a walking game of Operation.

This week so far, he has developed pnuemonia, and rhuematoid arthritis. I think by the end of the week, he will be suffering from a case of death, if the complaining gets worse. If he starts complaining about his ovaries (and yes, that is an inside joke btw) I'm leaving.

I wonder what tonight's complaint shall be, perhaps colon cancer, or maybe leprosy if I am lucky.

Phantom, the Merciless Killer

Over the last week or so, I was convinced that there was a mouse in here, but I hadn't seen anything, just heard it at night, scratching around. Also, my cat was staring at the cupboards almost constantly, so I knew that something was in here.

I woke up on Saturday morning, and was on my way to the bathroom, when I noticed something on the ground. It looked to be a little piece of string or something, so I bent down to take a closer look.

It was horrifying.

Before I say what it was, I have to say that my cat is pretty timid most of the time, loud noises frighten him, and he generally runs away and hides when vistors come over, with a few exceptions. He is, by nature, a fraidy cat.

What I saw on the ground both horrified and intrigued me - it was a mouse tail, just the tail, with a little piece of mouse left on the end of it. There were also a few more tufts of mouse hair lying there as well. EWWWWWWW!!!!

I looked around for the rest of this unfortunate rodent's mortal remains, but there were none. This led me to believe that Phantom not only caught the mouse and killed it, but also ate it.

Although it totally grossed me out, I have new respect for my cat now. If the rest of the mice are smart, they have packed up their mousey bags and left. Woe betide any more mice that get in THIS apartment.

Night of Nights

Wow, it's been so long since I have written anything here, what with computer troubles and such. Finally, I can add something new here.

The last 2 nights at work have been interesting to say the least. Actually last night was the interesting one. For those of you who don't know what I do, I spend most of my night on the road. I work with a transport truck driver, and the two of us load and unload the trailer together when we get to where we are going. It's hard work, but my work partner and I get along very well, so that makes it ok.

My work partner has been off for a few days, so the company has gotten drivers from a temp agency. I have to say that whenever this happens, it usually works out ok. Not last night tho. When the hard work started, the temp asked where he could fill up his water bottle, so I said I would show him where the water cooler was. He then proceeded to give me his water bottle so I could fill it for him. No, I don't think so, you can do that yourself. Not really a great first impression.

He then asked where the washroom was, so I showed him where it was, and then he disappeared until I loaded the truck myself. Pushing 15 1000 - 1500 lb carts full of stuff onto to a trailer is tiring.

After we were all loaded up, off we went, and I soon learned that this guy had NO clue where he was going, at all. He is also directionally challenged, so when I said turn right, he went left. This made for a very very long night.

When it got dark, I also learned that the temp driver couldn't really see very well at night. When I opened the gate at one of our destinations, I had to jump out of the way because he started to go before I was clear. He couldn't see me. I told him to watch out getting through the now open gate, cause it was a tight fit. He blew that off, and then proceeded to scratch the side of the brand new $75 000 trailer on the gatepost I told him to watch out for. Arg.

It took him about 15 mins to finally back into the dock, and then he disappeared as usual when the work started, so I wound up doing all of the work myself. When we finally got back, it took another ten minutes to back in (it usually takes about 30 seconds). He knocked over two barrels that are set up to help guide him in. He couldn't see them. Big bright yellow barrels.

I was so glad to finally finish up last night, and be on my way home.

When you combine all of this with a hot water tank that decided to leak all over the floor, yesterday was a GREAT day :)

Birthday

Today is the 33rd anniversary of me. Woo hoo! Am I excited?

Well, to be honest, I like my birthday. It isn't about presents, it isn't about getting better treatment, free drinks at a bar, whatever. I mean, I still have to work tonight, I'm sure I will get some nice presents in the meantime, and I will spend time with my family and friends, and that's great. But for me, my birthday isn't about any of those things.

It's about cake.

Just cake.

I can't eat ice cream anymore since I am getting older, but I love cake.

Vanilla cake, vanilla icing with lemon filling cake to be precise.

And that is the kind of cake that has been ordered for me, and that I will be enjoying on Sunday :)

Where were you?

Today marks the fifth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on September 11th, 2001.

I remember this day very well, I can remember almost every detail very clearly. Just after the first plane hit, my brother called me from his car on his way to school, and told me that he just heard a plane hit the World Trade Centre in New York. We both thought it was a small plane, that it was some sort of accident. I went out and turned the tv on, to see what had happened.

I told Dave that it wasn't a little plane that hit the building, it was a big one. I was telling him what I was seeing, that there was a gaping hole in the side of the tower, and that smoke was billowing out of it. As I was telling him all of this, the second plane flew into the other tower, I watched it happen live. It was the most horrifying thing I have ever seen.

A few minutes later, I heard where the planes were from, where they had been hijacked. I realized that one was from Boston, and was bound for Los Angeles, and I knew my uncle quite often flew from Boston to the office in L.A., and that he was scheduled to take a trip soon. I couldn't get through to my aunt in Boston, but I did get through to my grandmother, who had gotten through, and told me that my uncle was safe, he didn't have to travel that day. I was overcome with relief, but horror at the realization that other people were not feeling the relief that I felt, that members of their families were gone.

September 11th, 2001 showed us how awful people can be, how evil and heartless they are, but it also showed us how selfless and heroic people can be too. When I think of September 11th, I think about all of those emergency workers who gave their lives trying to save others that were trapped inside the towers, and in the Pentagon. Those men and women are true heroes.

I think about my own country, and how people in Gander, and all over Canada, opened their doors to travelers that were stranded. I think about standing on my parents porch, and watching fighter jets on their way to patrol the border, and the strange absence of any other planes in the sky.

I remember most of all though, the thought that our world had changed, in a dramatic and terrible way.

To anyone that happens to read this, where were you when the world we knew changed? What memories do you have, what were you thinking? Everyone has their own memories and thoughts about that day, and if we share it all we will keep the memory of those heroes who gave everything, we will keep the memory of those whose lives ended on that day, and we will keep the memory of those whose lives were forever changed.

Updates and stuff

It's been awhile since I have written anything, so here is what has been going on in my little world lately.

My mother returned from her trip to England and Scotland, safe and sound, she wasn't arrested or anything like that, she just had to wait on the plane for about 3 hours at Heathrow because of the terrorist scare. She said no one really knew what was happening at the time, the sort of pieced together what was going on through people talking to their relatives on cell phones. Eventually the pilot figured out what was happening and told everyone else. All in all, she had an amazing trip, and I am looking forward to seeing the pictures.

I just got back from holidays myself, and I wound up coming back a little early, cause the weather just sucked. It was cloudy, cold, and rainy, but at least I wasn't here. I love spending time at the cottage, away from everyone and everything for a little while. It was nice and quiet up there, and even though the weather wasn't great, it was still relaxing.

My cat decided to have an adventure the night we got back, and he snuck outside while we were unpacking the car. I figured he was hiding, he does that after he has been kittysat, and then comes home. Next morning, no cat, hasn't touched his food. He wasn't inside, so outside I went to look for him. Of course, he was under the deck, and it took about 30 mins to get him out of there. Now he is addicted to getting out and making a beeline for under the deck, he tried that this morning when I took the garbage out, but I was too fast for him. I must break him of this habit.

So, back to work tonight, which sucks, but all good things must end I suppose....