Zona

None of you are here on weekends anyway

I kinda had big blog plans this year seeing that I turn 50. I was gonna wax nostalgic but there is so little of my childhood that I recall. I can't remember my 1st grade teacher's name but I remember all the others

Hardee
Colecleasure
Coffee
Bright
Kaiser

Mr Kaiser was my fave. He was so cool but looking back now, I mean come on, he was a sixth grade teacher. How cool could he have been to like, grown ups?

I remember being on the school safety patrol and getting kicked off for telling a friend who was a captain that his arm injury was fake. He then ratted me out and I got tossed off stopping traffic while everybody crossed the street detail. I've had a beef with authority ever since.

Most of what I do remember was bad and I created it.

I think I have/had ADD. That was unknown in my days and when you were me you were called a day dreamer and one who had a short attention span. I just thought I was bored. My mind wandered alot too.

I was never real good in sports because I was small and slow and rarely played in any league because my family didn't have the money for extras like that. Now I'm big and old and slow.

I had a huge crush on a girl named Leigh in 5th and 6th grades but knew that she was way out of my league so I settled on making a play for a girl named Dani who made a fool out of me. Last I heard, Leigh had moved to England to go to college and married a chap from over there. I think I saw Dani some years ago and she looked like a welfare mother.

When I was in the 6th grade a girl named Sandra told a mutual friend, Robert, to tell me that she liked me. I liked her too but was too petrified to tell Robert that I did so that ended any chance with Sandra. In the 7th grade Sandra dated an older boy and got pregnant. I know that would have been me if I would have shaken my shyness for a day. Maybe that was one time it saved my ass.

My best friends in those days were Bruce and Eugene. Those guys were very intelligent and when I saw them at our 20th high school reunion I told them that I kept expecting them to show up at some NASA briefing on the news and we all laughed.

I remember praying in school for lunch.

God is great
God is good
God we thank thee
for this food

I think it's pretty wild that I remember that.

Oh, Peter Howell was the name of my elementary school and whenever I'm home I drive by it at least once. Mr McCrary was the principal. I have no idea what Peter Howell had done to warrant a school named for him.

I was in a rocket club and made several rockets that we launched on the playground of my elementary school. I STILL have a bunch of rockets in a closet and always want to launch them but never do.

My sister had a cat for a pet but I only had a hamster. The cat ran away. My hamster died. I was one of those kids who tried to save birds who had fallen out of their nests but always failed, and always cried.

I was in my 5th grade class' production of Hamlet and I played the guy who hides behind the curtain when hamlet comes in and hamlet stabs him through the curtain. When my baby sister, Sarah, saw me "die", she cried. David played Hamlet and Wendy played Hamlet's mother. I held Sarah after the play and she felt better.

My grandmother always said her best friend, Kitty, lived hand to mouth.

Then she'd giggle.

Don't know why, she just did. Everytime

My grampa always called him "three dollar" Bill. I don't know why he did, he just did.

The day was gray and cool and the course was beautiful and my game was for shit for the most part.

Then I went for lunch and had great chile rellenos. Then I went and bought a new light jacket. Then I paid $3.89 a gallon for gas.
I bought apricots. It's the first time in many years that I've eaten apricots. They're pretty good and my granddaughter doesn't like them too much which is why there's still some left.

Besides THAT!

When am I happiest?

On mornings like this morning. Right now.

It's a calm morning. I'm plugged into music. (Robert Plant, The Way I Feel) The house is quiet. I'm not cold. AND as soon as I post this I'm going to get dressed and go play golf at a very nice course.

Not even those yoyos at the border will be able to screw this up.

ta

I was stuck in an elevator in Calgary for about 45 minutes. I had my
cameras and snapped this polaroid. I had my laptop and they had wifi
so I chatted with JaG for a bit.

The staff at the Hampton Inn were very nice and discounted the room
30% and offered free ice cream. We weren't hungry and opted for a
water and a 7-Up.

It gets stuffy in those things.

I was locked in my room away from the little ones and working on my iTunes when out of nowhere a fly, the size of a sparrow, appeared. I grabbed an old rental car agreement folder from my night stand and went to battle. I was only successful in scaring the creature into running for cover. I continue to scan the skies as I post this and resume my editing.

The outhouse of aristocrats.

We stopped for some drinks and when asked where the washroom was, the lady pointed out back. "It's an outhouse. Welcome to the toolies".

I can't remember the last time I heard the word "toolies". I told my
wife that if one of my prankster friends of was with me, both
seats would be occupied in this picture. Oh well.

And there's NO WAY my wife would have taken a pic of me on one of the seats.

She's just not like that at all.

Shaz asked if the picture would be pants down. Oh yeah it would. I wouldn't wimp out on that.

it's 'cause I'm old.
you're not old. when he was 50, you're dad was old, but you're not old.
I feel old.
you feel outta shape is what you feel. you need to exercise.
and eat right?
and eat right.
I wanna be famous.
can't help you there pal.
I want chicks all around me.
you'd just get bored with'em after awhile.
you think?
I think.
I like the idea of chicks who smile, treat you right, and then go away.
they're called hookers.
you make it sound bad.
okay, it's good. four bills an hour good.
four bills?
four bills.
maybe I could be a guy hooker.
doubt it champ.
why not?
trust me. you don't want anything to do with any broad who would pay YOU four bills an hour.
touche'.
yep.

I was driving home from Edmonton with my wife when two punks decided to play games and block our car in for a few miles going at slow speed on highway 10 near Surrey. I called the RCMP on the cell phone but they were unable to respond. The two cars soon pulled off into a convenience store and we were on our way home free of the harassment.

When we got home I told my wife what I was thinking and now I tell you.

If the car in front of me had stopped and the driver would have gotten out I would have put the car I was driving into reverse and slammed into the car behind me. That would have given me the room to then put the car in drive and run over the guy who I would have considered a threat to us.

My wife stayed silent for some time.

When I see a friend of mine in the RCMP I'll have her see what became of the car in front. I gave them the license and make of the car. I know that in my home town the kid would have arrived home and wondered why a cop car was parked across the street from his house.

Saturday afternoon and I sit here on the sofa

knowing I go back to work tomorrow
remembering submarine sandwiches at kresgie's in El Con mall
remembering eating hotdogs in a booth while my dad sat at the bar and gave bets on dog races to the bookie
remembering the quiet before the evening going out storm
remembering walking into a closed restaurant to set up the bar upstairs
remembering everything being closed in Oruro, Bolivia
listening to my grandkids scream at each other over a helium filled balloon
remembering cruising the mall as a teen with friends
remembering sitting on the sofa at home being just as bored as I am now
clicking back and forth on this computer but knowing all my blog and face book friends have better things to do on a Saturday
feeling that feeling that Saturday is a different feel from Sunday

This job I have took away my weekends 20 years ago. They wonder why we're not normal sometimes. It's because we grew up having Saturday cartoons and dates and Sunday morning breakfast and maybe church and a football game. Now we have work and people telling us what to do. People telling us to act professional yet excluding themselves from the requirement.

Saturday afternoon and I sit here on the sofa

blaming them.

In July when I have another two weeks off, I am going back to Alberta. This time by myself. The barren fields I found on this trip will be like green carpets of wheat and corn.

That means I'll be in Vancouver for my 50th birthday.

On being a grampa, note to self

Refrain from opening the box of twinkies you're craving in order to allow your daughter to feed the little ones things that's good for them. Things that they will quickly ignore upon the sound of opening plastic baggies that allow an exchange of air wafting twinkie aroma.

The quickest space in time measured in the universe is the time it takes for an almost immeasurable amount of air to escape from a sealed twinkie bag and the time it takes for either of my grandkids to smell the twinkie.

So here I am awake at 3:45AM and it feels alright

I dreamt I was at the academy awards and I was nominated for screen play but didn't win. The director of our film won as well as the child star. It was a casual affair with the men dressed in polo shirts and after I was talking to Robert De Niro as he was folding chairs that had been used.

I got up and reached for the iPod determined to listen to a tune I was craving. I turned it on and it was already on The Dave Matthews Band and when I pushed shuffle it played the exact song I was looking for. Lie In Our Graves. It's on repeat now.

I turned the rental car in yesterday with 4000 more kilometers on it than when I got it. Then I popped into the office and grabbed my mail. I went in and out a door that brought me in contact with as few people as possible. Why ruin the end of my vacation before I need to?

Say baby, how about a hay in the roll?

I wish I'da had a place like this when I was their age. Of course it's the sign of five bands who are struggling and scraping for success but to me, as an old man with experience, it's living.

I tell my son and other young people. NOW is the time for you to experiment, to take those chances. The day is coming where those windows of opportunity close.

It's the people who can look in the mirror the day after that and smile because they gave it a shot.

I am home from the prairies. After about a 13 hour drive we pulled into the driveway at about 2AM

I already want to go back to a place we passed called Three Valley Gap, BC. Beautiful place with lots to do. Maybe in a couple of weeks.

I'm kicking myself for not sticking my face in one of the other characters. Let's see who can guess which.

You shouldn't have to ask now.

Let a smile be your umbrella and you just might end up with a mouthful of rain

Keira Anne asks where all the gentlemen are and I say that we're still around but it aint easy.

Some years ago when I was much younger I was driving a delivery truck around Tucson and I see what looks like a purse in the street. I pull off the road first chance I get and walk back to the purse laying on the busy road. Sure enough, it's a purse and it has everything inside. Wallet, checkbook, credit cards, make-up, well, like I said, everything.

I've made my last delivery so I go to a nearby convenience store and call information. Using the lady's name an address I get her number. I give her a call. She doesn't sound relieved, she sounds stunned. So I tell her where I am and that I'll be sitting on the bumper of my truck which is emblazoned with the name of the company I work for. I'm not 5 miles down a country dirt road behind an abandoned house, I'm at a convenience store on a busy city street.

I wait.

She shows up with her grown up daughter which I totally understand given this day and age.

They get out and the looks on their faces tell me that they suspect me as having obtained the purse through other means than how I actually did.

No big deal.

She then proceeds to take the purse and go through it taking inventory to make sure everything is there. I tell her where I found it and that she must have left it on the roof of the car for whatever reason.

These women are not the happy kinda women you'd expect if you can imagine what a pain in the ass losing all your I.D. is.

The lady pulls $5 from the wallet and hands it out to me and says thank you.

"That's okay" says I, and I decline her offer.

Now I LOVE women. They're my preferred gender of the species. I love doing things for'em. I get out of my booth at work and push luggage carts for'em so they only have to push the baby stroller and not both. When they look incredible, I tell'em. Most react like I would hope they do and glow. I've gotten many many "you just made my day" responses. (we're talking total strangers here)

BUT

Yes, there's always a BUT

I've been "kneed in the nuts" my share of the time. Maybe it's because you girls have dealt with your fair share of losers so I can't blame you that much.

So remember what I tell many people at work when they ask about the mood we happen to be in whether good or bad.

Sometimes it depends on the last person we dealt with to determine what YOU get when we have our interaction.

Hey, it's the city of champions

I hate Edmonton. The city has no vibe and it's full of graffiti. Sure, there's some cool stuff but more often than not it's the spray can tagging by shit heads variety. Some of it takes time and is very visible which left me wondering if there are any cops in this town.

The general rule for erecting a large building downtown seems to be that it must clash with all the buildings around it.

There's a haunted, burned out building with cameras constantly looking on. It's been that way for a couple of years. They know they wanna do something with it but it just sits there waiting for junkies to find a way into it.

Tomorrow I put this place in my rear view mirror.

These are from French Beach. I'm dying to get home a work on the shots i have in my camera now.

Leave the gun, take the cannoli

We went to dinner in Edmonton's Little Italy (or as I pronounce it, IT lee) and had pizzas at a place called Santos. It was classic. There was a restaurant down the street on the corner where some older men were sitting on chairs by little tables on the sidewalk while younger men milled around.

Santos has off track betting and some VLT's and old bald men with racing programs. Trotters and thoroughbreds on several TV screens. A mix of hockey and azurri futbol posters on the wall.

Thin crusted pizza with fresh ingredients and a plump, large breasted waitress with her thick hair in a big bushy pony tail. She noticed my ring and didn't just ask about it. She grabbed my hand and asked about it as she pulled it up for a closer look. I like that. She gave me attitude and I gave it back.

She reminded me of me.

You can't make this stuff up no matter how hard you try

I was in Vulcan, Alberta waiting for my breakfast when I picked up the day old edition of the Calgary Sun.

A drug dealer was convicted in the torture, murder, dismemberment of one of his fellow dealers over a $1,500 debt the guy had rung up by using drugs he was supposed to be selling.

Now the "because we're in Canada" part.

The judge trimmed three years of the man's 15 year (yep you read that right, 15 years for torture murder) sentence because he was kind enough to return some of the victims body parts to the victim's family. The judge was so disgusted with the nature of the crime that he sentenced the convicted torture, murder, dismemberer to an extra.....

wait for it

here it comes

SIX MONTHS

From the prairie to the big city

We left Cardston and drove north across the still barren wheat fields to Vulcan. There's a golf course there and even though I didn't have the time to play, we stopped by for a hat, and breakfast. Fresh fresh eggs. Then onward past more fields and decaying buildings. The rare wooden grain elevator and hay rolled up like big cinnamon rolls The clouds kept the day gray and the wind pushed the car and the two lane roads made a long drive.

Calgary blew a kiss as I passed on the road called Deerfoot

Up farther to Red Deer where an Earl's sign screamed at us to stop for lunch. Earl's has the best chowder on the planet and the Earl's Girls are always so fine. Think of a Hooter's girl who dresses nicer, likes her breasts the way they are, and knows how to read above a 3rd grade level and you have an Earl's Girl. I WAS surprised to see that our Earl's Girl had a pierced tongue. The chowder was great and the pasta was good too.

Boy and girls I'm telling you that my ass was dragging on the ground when I walked through the door of the hotel in downtown Edmonton. I called the boy and he was surprised that we had arrived so early (4PM) and he was doing laundry so he wouldn't knock on the door for another two hours. Maggie napped and I watched Fletch on TV and played online poker.

So the son shows up and we go with him to the studio where his band is recording their next CD. Now calling this place a studio is like calling a can of tuna a lobster dinner. It's a big room above a laser tag place where five local bands rehearse. There's a smaller room where they record using there laptops. Then there's the art department where they do screen printing. The guy who owns the building does merch for the bands. It is what you imagine. Instruments and instrument cases all around. Five drum kits set up and guitar pedals on the ground. I took lots of pictures so you'll have to wait until next weekend to see them.

Danny recorded his track and they were satisfied after six or seven takes and it was off to dinner surrounded by posers and pretenders. Guys with hats on backwards and girls with fresh nails clasping glasses of the latest hip wine. Yes kids, I'm talking about none other than Joey Tomato's. I had a spicy pasta thing. The spice and the sausage completely overwhelmed the delicate flavors of the other ingredients. And the shrimp and scallops were tiny. The sizes of quarters and pencil erasers.

Now I am in my PJ's and it's midnight and I'm gonna fall asleep right after Purple Rain.

Road trip is all about the hotels people

So far we have been in three hotels on this trip so lets rate'em!

Super 8, Edson $124.00
Continental breakfast
Free pay TV
Free Wifi
Shower head was over my head
Great bed

Hampton Inn, Calgary $179.00*
Better continental breakfast
Secure carpark
Free Wifi
Shower head was over my head
So so bed

South Country Inn, Cardston $109.00
No breakfast
Free Wifi
Shower head was over my head
Great bed

Now I'm sure you've noticed the * by the price of the Hampton Inn. We actually paid $124.00 after they discounted the price 30%. They did that after I spent 45 minutes stuck in one of their elevators. Even though it was a nice gesture I still have to place them last overall so far.

We got free premium TV at the Super 8 (including PORN which I saw 30 seconds of because my wife is revolted by nudity but hey, it's the thought that counts). The bathtub was huge and shower was great but they're currently in second.

The winner was a no brainer but the South Country Inn cheated. They had a card up their sleeve and I still gave them the nod. Here's the winning strategy. Coke machine, not Pepsi. I put $1 in and out pops a CAN of coke. (my preferred container) I notice something right off the bat. Something about the can. I had to open it to confirm my suspicion. I took a drink and it was all confirmed to my delight. You see, Cardston, Alberta is about 30 minutes north of the U.S. border. This coke machine was stocked with AMERICAN COCA COLA!!!

Warm, dry, Southern Alberta and I find an oasis, I find nirvana in a hotel coke machine. I told the kid at the front desk what I knew and he told me that the owner DOES bring stuff from the U.S. for the hotel and some other businesses that he owns.

God bless him and the fine work that he does..

NOTE: For those of you new to the blog, Canadian made Coca Cola tastes like shat to me because they use a different sweetener up here. The U.S. uses corn syrup and Canada uses beet sugar. That was explained to me by the manager of the Coca Cola bottling plant in Calgary.

We are exhausted and sprawled out on the beds of our hotel room in Calgary

The drive was shorter but add it to yesterday and that it was all two lane roads... I got some really good pictures though and the weather is still sunny and warm.

Can I say something between you and me?

There are some people who know that we are in town. We are having dinner with some of them in about an hour. Yet here we are, in a hotel. If it were the other way around, any of them would be staying at our house, or at least the house would have been offered.

Tomorrow early AM we are headed for Cardston. All the traffic should be light because it's heavy today. Cardston, Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump and Vulcan. Well with TWO of those you know were in Southern Alberta.

Good morning I'm tired

From the time we left Vancouver until we reached Jasper National Park we saw maybe ONE RCMP vehicle. So I was averaging 20 KPH over the limit most of the way. Then we hit Alberta where me and the local cops had a disagreement some time ago. So it's the speed limit on cruise control with people passing and kids waving out the back window of the minivan,

The nice people at the gates to the park in Jasper wanted $19 for the pleasure of simply driving through the park. The "no charge" option would "add 40 minutes to your trip". The guy actually got mad when I told him I wasn't going to pay and give me those directions again. All he had to say was, "you come to a traffic light, go straight, don't turn or you'll hit another gate where you'll be charged". But he didn't. He just got mad and made it sound harder than it was.

I'll tell you boys and girls, when we hit that park the RCMP were about as plentiful as frat boys in a room with a passed out sorority pledge, There were three of them at ONE pulled over vehicle fighting over who got to eat the still beating heart. The only joy I got is that one asshole who was riding my ass finally whipped around, cut the car in front of me off, flew around a curve and BAM!! I laughed when the lights went on and the RCMP unit flipped that u-turn.

Then the goats showed up

They outnumbered the RCMP. We musta seen 40 mountain goats and one elk and a lake still pretty much frozen. Still a lot of brown around and lots of dust here. This town seems to be a big gathering place for off road vehicles. We ate chinese and then came back to watch Vantage Point on TV. Man does THAT movie ever SUCK! Speaking of that, the only funny thing was when I was going through the channels looking for the movie I stumbled on the porn channel. It made me laugh. I mean, how many times have you cruised through the channels and saw commercial, commercial, crime drama, hospital drama, commercial, BAM!! pause, "wow, how can she do...oh shit, the wife's coming out of the bathroom" click "oh thank god, here's the movie".

I mean, when you don't expect to see raw porn while channel surfing...

Long drive over tall mountains

We are in Edson, Alberta. I have never been here before. We pulled in at about 5PM Vancouver time after 12 hours on the road. That's a regular driving day for me. No stretch at all. We stopped at dairy queen for sundaes. It is windy, sunny, and WARM here. In fact all through the rockies it was warmer than it has been in Vancouver lately. I'll tell you boy and girls, that sun is a wonderful thing.

I had the best feeling in dairy queen and I told the wife, "it feels like home here". I can't explain why it feels that way but it just does. So I decided that we'd stay the night here. Super 8, free internet, free movies, a shower head that I don't have to squat to use, and FREE De La Hoya fight on HBO!

Tomorrow we're off to the prairies. Hanna, Drumheller and then down to Calgary where our Bolivian friends have organized a dinner party in honor of my wife's return to the area for a few days

I got some interesting pics but I didn't bring my cord to upload. Maybe a stop at Walmart when we pop out for dinner.

Vacation, whoopee! Dinnertime, whoopee!

People ask me to smile at work and i tell them that I smile off duty. I lie. I don't even smile then.

The trip to Vancouver Island was pretty much a disaster. I shot for shit at golf but it was a nice course. Today the weather was miserable but it was a nice drive. I went south from Victoria to Sooke. I came home a day early which made the wife happy.

I'll tell ya, when the sun is out that has to be one spectacular drive. Maybe I'll get another shot at it this summer.

This picture is from French Beach. I had the place all to myself which was a consolation prize of sorts.

My mother is pregnant with me in this photo. She was just here last month for two weeks and she was very happy. She got to meet her great grandchildren and see my two older kids after many years and some grief. She also got to attend her granddaughter's wedding. It was a great time here in the house.

I love you mom

I am on vacation. I return to work on the 25th.

Tomorrow I hop on the ferry for Vancouver Island. I play golf at Bear Mountain at 3:30. I will be back on Wednesday afternoon and may post some pics. Thursday morning we head for Alberta.

My latest iTunes passion is a genre called Jazz Ladies.

Dinah Washington
Dinah Shore
Peggy Lee
Sarah Vaughn

More are coming. I just keep exploring and sampling.

Cruise ship season began in earnest this week in Vancouver. Today was very busy because the inexpensive early season cruises really bring the "double wide" crowd out en mass.

Hee Haw fans from all over left rover chained to a tree so they could stand in buffet lines and complain that the budweiser in cans sold out in the first hours of the sailing. Stateroom bathtubs are half full of ice as people hoarded the remaining cheap beer.

A near riot erupted when the plaid shorts wearing mob discovered that there were no 50 cent chips or penny slots in the casino.

Oh god knows how I HATE cruise ship passengers.

Yeah, we used to get all likkered up and then thinkin' we had to impress the girls. Them was my younger days. Maybe it explains why Tommy never did have any kids and I always have this ringing in my ears and dizziness when I lay down for too long.

At least I can say that I won more than I lost.

Comment I left on Charmaine's blog as she contemplates the question, "what's the most beautiful thing you've ever seen?"

zona said...
hmm

the most beautiful thing. depends on my mood. if I'm hungry it's an alan roll. if I'm thirsty it's a coke. if I'm angry, it's a baseball bat in my hands. on a general day to day basis though, it's gotta be nice cleavage.


Sure there was the time when each of my four children looked up at me as I held them for the first time but that was the most beautiful thing I've ever FELT. That encompasses much more than SEEN which just kinda hovers on the surface of things. The one I remember most is my oldest. I can see that one in memory anytime.

Two circles of love
Spinning our worlds together
Surrounding my heart

Wanna gross me out?

Brush your teeth in front of me.

Never fails

I've told you that when I want, I have a talent to read people.

I just came across a woman. An attractive woman, who had missed her chance at either greatness or the good life.

It was one of the more interesting reads I have ever gotten. I could feel it really strong.

I finally had a burger at Vera's. Lots of people rave about'em but I'm here to tell you, they're not that good.

First off, it took FOREVER for them to make it and they weren't even close to being busy. Then there were the lame fries. Mostly tiny fries that I needed a fork to eat. The roll the burger came on was tough and had no taste.

Sorry Vancouver but your "favorite" burger sucks.

Peter's burger in Calgary beats Vera's meat.

MY favorite burger on the planet is STILL the burger at Love Burgers in San Clemente, California.

In second place is the burger at the Semiahmoo golf course in Blaine, WA and the bronze goes to Whataburger

So I went downtown the shoot the Vancouver edition of the Global Marijuana March. I love to put my photojournalist hat on. I was offered pot and declined of course and wandered through the peaceful gathering shooting pictures. In this photo you see Michelle Rainey speaking. The United States wants Michelle extradited to face trial for her alleged role in selling marijauna seeds to people in the United States. She faces life in prison if convicted. I personally doubt she will extradited and the request created an uproar in Canada.

My take on the marijuana debate is based entirely on my common sense approach and ignores any and all scientific studies. Under current guidelines in my home state of Arizona it is very unlikely that anybody caught smuggling under 500 pounds of marijuana will be prosecuted by either federal or state authorities. That says a lot.

The leaders of today's march spoke about how marijuana being illegal means organized crime is allowed to spread. One guy even mentioned the oil companies and major corporations as the reason for pot remaining illegal. What I laughed at is when their activism was compared by one speaker to Rosa Parks refusing to give up her seat on the bus.

I think that too much money is spent fighting and prosecuting marijuana while alcohol and prescription drug abuse present far greater dangers. However, if marijuana were legalized like the organizers and participants of this march want, it would be completely taken over by the tobacco industry. Huge corporations would pounce on marijuana faster than they pounced on Vancouver when it was awarded to 2010 Winter Olympics.

Good Saturday morning to you

I am up early on a day off. I'm up at the time I would normally get up if it were a work day. 3AM and I am plugged in to my iPod listening to Stranger In Town by Pat Metheny on repeat and enjoying a can of coke. Funny as it sounds, I enjoy getting up at this time on a day off. I sit in the glow of my laptop and am more relaxed than I ever am. I go until my adrenaline wears off and then I go back upstairs to bed.

Today I will be downtown at about noon. I'm gonna have one of the burgers I always hear rave revues about at a place called Vera's. There are several locations in Vancouver and I will be at the one on Davie.

Then I will cruise over to the Art Museum where the participants in the Global Marijuana March will be gathering. The march begins at 2 and I want to shoot. I am excited to meet up with a local girl named Phaedra. I know her from the local blogger community but we have not met.

Lets hope it doesn't rain too much and that my party girls back east in T.O. aren't too hung over.

ta

We, the wife and I, are now heading north to the mile houses (100, 108, 150) and then over to Edmonton to see the son and then across the prairie of Southern Alberta and into Southern BC with a stop at Kelowna before heading back home.

Sorry Vancouver Island.

Just in the last week I had contemplated...

San Francisco
Los Angeles
Montana again

Hey, that's me.

I'm changing my vacation plans again because I can.

Stay tuned

Thursday is the new Friday

I have a four day weekend. It will be my last 4 dayer of the year because I changed my schedule. I will now have Wednesdays and Thursdays off for the rest of the summer at least.

Lemme tell you what I enjoyed at work today.

A gentlemen whose breath would knock a buzzard off a shit wagon.

The lack of an iPod because I forgot to recharge it.

A guy who smelled like a walking ashtray.

Two ladies dressed so horribly that I had to separate them to keep from vomiting.

Met a Colombian boxer who's next fight is for the WBC title in his weight class.

And to top it off I had to slow to the speed limit when I happened upon an unmarked police car on the way home.

On another note, it's May 1st

LONG LIVE THE WORKERS!!