That Damned Book

Greetings Bloggies.

Some thoughts. Well its September. Now that summer is winding down I can start thinking about about life in a more serious way. I have spent too much of my life in a academic setting to not have September feel a little like the new year. August was largely a month of leisure as I spent the first two and a half weeks just getting my house in order followed by well, I am not sure what exactly. I swept the floor lots.

Today I am writing because I started reading a book I have never had the chance to finish. Last night I finished Mary Roach's Packing for Mars, a book that left me tired for laughing at few points. I would recommend that every one read at least one of her books. Having finished that and being fueled by too much coffee too late in the day I had to find something to read.

As I now have a Kindle knock off, the Kobo, sold at chapters, I have no need to get out to the library or a store for more entertainment. However I was feeling lazy so I did not want to scour the internets for my next book. On a search through the machine I found Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court.

Me and this book have a history. I have started this book twice. The first time literally more then half my life ago, in grade 8 I had started it. Hell I had made decent progress. In waiting for the bus I got approached by what is now a human being but was then a ass with hormones. The net result of this interaction was the book being thrown on to the school roof. There was not enough time to arrange a rescue before catching the bus. I never saw that edition again.

The second loss is less clear. I know some years later I started reading it again. Yet some how in the flux of people at the parental home it got carried away by some one else unaware of the fact that I was reading it. Or at least that is my working model. Now it is being read on a computer, the text snagged from project Gutenberg. This time I will finish it.

Better then Old Spice Guy

The new house

Greetings Bloggies.

By now most of you are following me on face book and this is getting less and less views.

However, there is a place for wordier thoughts. I have an apartment. I am on Nanaimo street in east Vancouver, a clean well kept well treed part of town. Commercial drive is a 10 minute walk away where I can get great food stuffs and find lots of eateries. Commercial Dr, has lots of novel shops and few chain stores which is refreshing. Some of the Hippy and Hipster sub-populations are a bit much at times. Occasionally I want do there what I want to do to Baker Street in Nelson, drive up in a Semi and give a way BBQ Stakes and Bud light.

So about the house. I would say close to twice the size of my last place. Which in a chat conversation earlier today with one of the few people to have visited me there, was described as "barley big enough to open the door into it much less live in". That is no longer an issue.

Here is what I landed from Craig's List.

A proper kitchen with a double sink, a full size fridge and stove. Enough cabinet space to stock stock up on lots of staples. I also have a bath tub.

For added goodness the floor was retiled before I moved in, and its real tile. I learned the other day that the heat is in floor.

I am happy. The compromises I was making for too long, the risks avoided are being taken or changed. Its some what scary how fast I have been spending money but I worked hard to make it and I never did try to live the life style I could support.

Now I am nesting, I still need a bed, but thats coming along and I will be sleeping good before too long. Building this home is good for me.

For years I have wanted to have people over for dinner, the Soviet pot luck of last year was one of my favorate moments and well I just want to entertain a little from time to time. I also can't help but think that I am single and young and damn it I want my home to reflect that.

The tent I called home.

The bed where I realized. We're Not going to take it No We're Not going take it Any More.

Screw Exile

Greetings Bloggies.

I made a radical action yesterday. I literally walked off a job. After several weeks of bad attitude, sub-standard and uncomfortable working conditions and just too too many things just not working right I left. Packed my things and drove out the front gate.

I took that job knowing I did not want to be in that industry. What I under estimated was just how much that industry is a life style and if you don't want to live it leave. Yesterday morning I did some math, not fancy math just counting the years spent sleeping on small beds in short term locations that went long. The number was higher then I liked. I knew I had to get out. I had spent too much time working for later.

The final straw was remembering a goal I had years ago. I was living with some roommates in a largish town house in Kelowna, still one of the nicest places I had lived. I was of the mind that I wanted to take advantage of that place and get some friends over for dinner. I never did. Since then I have not had the quality of living space where I could serve more then 1 or two. The thought that for 10 years I have failed to realize that simple goal. Realizing that though I had the income potential I have failed to furnish myself with the quality of life I want.

So some what on automatic pilot, not sure when or how I made the choice but I started to pack my things in the core shack. I had not made and progress that morning and felt down just looking at rock. I felt good when I walked away.

I am sick of camping out of luggage, of temporary places. I have taken a liking to Vancouver and I am going to move there properly. Currently I am in Nakusp it is my mothers birthday, I made crapes. The plan what passes for one at least is to pack the few things I see as key to defining my space and drive to Vancouver and set up shop. Wish me luck

Awsome

Kelowna

Greetings Bloggies

As I have said I am not about to start blogging the tire some details of work. I will speak freely of the circumstances around the job. So it starts with location. Due to some details of the camp running slower then expected I have spent the last ten days in the Holiday inn in west bank out side kelowna. An un remarkable highway motel on a unremarkable strip of highway.

Having Vancouver get under my skin I have really started to see the smallness of this area. Nearly every thing is 1 story tall. Nearly every surface is a parking lot. It appears that the towns measure growth by how slowly rush hour traffic moves. Having had to drive through Kelowna rush our on an errand I realized just how bad it is here. I have traveled similar distances in Vancouver at high traffic flow. In Vancouver the traffic spends much less time stopped.

To add shinny red food colouring to the injury of exile I went for a chinese buffet for dinner today. I don't know why. I was hungry from walking around in the field and at least there I could get vegetables. Nothing makes a person miss Vancouver like trying to eat out in a small town. I can't get over how impoverished the food seen seems here.

And just to remind me of why I have not missed this area much over the last 4 years, the HEAT. Good Gods I don't miss the blast furness of the miles of pavement and raw sun light.

Vancouver I miss you.

Rule 34 Or what camp does to a person.

Greetings

This post dates from the first weeks of the Merritt job, in the summer of 2010.  The first two weeks of which consisted of wandering around a field with a GPS and hand held computer.  We were often close enough to the truck that keeping the stereo on was a viable option and in general walking around in a mountain plateau is far from the worst way to spend your time.  This combinations of things gave us time to talk.   I have no recollection of this conversation ever happening, but that it did hints at the effects of sun on my brain.

Rule 34 came up in conversation. Rule 34, the most notorious of the rules of the internet, spawned from the under belly of the web known as 4chan, states that if it exists then there is porn of it. A  conclusion was reached that implied that any sufficiently advanced culture would arrive at rule 34. This is based on the premiss that Rule 34 can only exist in an environment where there is non centrally controlled media distribution and the culture has to a healthy degree moved a way from repressive ideologies that want to control sex.

Yup, too much sun. Written Summer 2010, updated winter 2014