Currently Listening Body Count By Body Count Body Count see related

Dear Mr Snowplough Driver,

I fucking hate you. 

     One of the biggest snow dumps in history means we got another excu-- opportunity to bust out da BOST (Big Orange Snow Tosser..! Woooo!!!), so at 2 in the morning, thanks in no small part to a tenant, I'm firing up the mighty Orange Beastie; she called at 1:30 in the morning.... transcript as follows:

Half Asleep Grumpy Super: ... emergency response, please state the nature of your emergency.

Dumb Ass Tenant: Can I leave tomorrow at 6 am?

HAGS: What..?!?

DAT: Will I be able to leave at 6? I have important buisness...

HAGS: <long pause> Uh... maybe..?  You might sleep in; they could cancel on ya; you may not wanna go... I dunno. Anything could happen.

DAT: <annoyed> I mean can I drive?

HAGS: What..?

DAT: <slowly, loudly> Can. I. Drive!

HAGS: Why? Have you been drinking?  What do you mean, can you drive?  How the hell should I know?  The roads'll be bad..?

     Turns out she meant the 2.5' of snowbank the city keeps depositing in front of the garage doors.  I had just finished clearing the fourth (!) snow wall the ploughs built maybe an hour and a half earlier.  So, I assured her... then got dressed and went to check.

     Fucking city ploughs... the wall has been rebuilt.  By this time it's pass 2, but fuck 'em, everyone's gonna know the Dahdoo show NEVER FUCKIN' STOPS! YEAH!!!!!

    Uh... sorry 'bout that.  Anywho... at 2:30, I have brought down the wall... just in time for the ploughman to pass again... and rebuild the wall.

Oh... such language.  Good chance to practice the Portuguese I can't use in front of the Jrs...

Currently Listening 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of Tom Jones By Tom Jones What's New, Pussy Cat..? see related

Can a leopard change his shorts..?

I rather think Mr Pratchett is quite on-the-money on that count.

Thanks for all the hard work... now push off.  At first, it's all excitement and jitters, but there's a honeymoon that never goes the distance.  It's like a bad rollercoaster: ups & downs, yeah yeah, but not enjoyable... it just leaves you nauseous. 

There's a lesson in there, somewhere. Yea, but what good is the lesson if there are no students?

So much done...

Summary,as I'm pressed for time:

Raven Lake = BRILLIANT! Thank you, Master Chui, whever you are... Rained Saturday, so good excuse to stay in the tent.  Huzzah for bunnies..!  Oh, had a dear walk up to the tent, maybe 3 meters away. Wow.

A month later, BACK TO RAVEN LAKE!!!! Woo!  Took the Brits (cousins) and a friend from work; they'd been camping in England and Scotland, but nothing like this.  It wasso great, the youngest cousin (18)wants to go again next summer... wanna go camping now... even smelled a bear on the trails..!

Theatre closed suddenly. This Mrs and I took two weeks, now we're running a apartment complex.  Weird. Now some other guy (formerly of the same company) is opening the olde girl again.  Good luck, bud.

La cucaracha... UGH!

Currently Listening Trainspotting: Music From The Motion Picture By Various Artists Lou Reed - Perfect Day see related

Into the bush

I'll be in scenic downtown Huntsville this time tomorrow, onward to Algonquin.

I'm almost twitching in an-ticy-pay-shun.  The stove's been checked out and is solid; the playlist is complete and raring to go; the ground mats and bags got a good airing; I've been stretchin' again (and am alarmed at my utter loss of flexibility).  Tonight, the final repacking; tomorrow we add only the chilli (Tio ate the pepper, mistaking it for a more reasonable level of pepper.  Scotch Bonnet's aren't that reasonable if you ain't expecting it; but the flavor it brings if you don't pierce the skin is angelic) and the gatoraid for the portages.  The first one's short (500m), the second a bit longer (950m).  Most avoid our lake's route, as it's longer doing portages and canoeing is very short (maybe an hour on the water -combing the three lakes- going in, I'm estimating). 

Just checked in with the EnviroCan page to see what's going on in there right now.  The good news: no fire ban!  The bad news: because it looks like everything's gonna get soaked.  Highs of 21 - 23 over the weekend.  Going in should be nice.  Let it rain if it may, I say.  It's just the two of us...

WOOO!

Currently Listening Them VS. You VS. Me By Finger Eleven Paralyzer see related

Raven-ward

Oh me oh my. 

Quite the summer.

The Clan geared up over the weekend to explore the nature trails again, and it's never the same trip twice.  A month ago it was a snapping turtle, sunning himself on the pathway (or more likely taking a break after crawling up a steep incline to get to the path... the bad news was it was even steeper on the other side leading to the river). 

We were strolling about (Jr Jr was content in the three-wheeler, but Jr Sr was acting as Pathfinder), and I swore I saw a huge rust-coloured  dog leap into some over growth.  I mention this to the Clan (who were on High Alert after seeing a missing dog poster... thank you Diego...), and we all stop and look, but nada.  Mayhaps I'm nuts?  The brain's reviewing the tape, and one question leaps out (yes, just the one at the time): how could a dog be that big AND that quiet?  Yes, it's full moon. but it's also 5 in the afternoon.  Far too early for werewolves.  Pathfinder urges the party onward, but I linger.  I've never seen anything like it before.  If it were rather dark, okay, but rust..?

Oh. hello. 

Huzzah!  I'm not (entirely) nuts!

Like a triangular periscope, the fawns head rose above the brush, maybe 6 meters away from me.  I froze like Han in Carbonite... I was downwind!  Time to end the moment...

I called to the Mrs, and the second time I called, she and Jr Sr slowly made their way over.

I couldn't believe it!  I expected Bambi to scamper when I spoke, but the silly begger stood there, staring right back at me.  The wind shifts, and we both tense up.  Bambi's seriously considering exploring the local egress when the others come back, but then settles in to watch the monkeys go Ooh and Aah.  Two minutes we stood there, considering one another, then Bambi turned its head.  A second later, we heard the footsteps pounding.  Bambi held on for another few seconds, then lept off as the jogger rounded the bend.

Wow.

We've been planning a little escape to The Big City?  It was so nice last time.  But then the Mrs had a great idea.  Algonquin.  Haven't been in three years.  I've missed it sorely.  So we bust out the tattered, ragged map, and I say "Pick a spot."  And she does.  We'll need some new equipment (like a barrel pack, because some bloody weasel got into the food sack last time.  He learned his lesson, though: he bit into a pack of soya sauce, and it shocked the little thief so bad he feel right off the pack, alllllllll the way down.  We heard him impact from the campfire, he landed that hard.  Didn't stop him from trying again a second time, but the Mrs emptied one of her hot sauce bottles all over the ravaged sack.  Anything that could come near enough to steal something deserved it was our thinking, and it worked: it was fine the next two days.  We weren't worried about bears, since the site was on a small island in the middle of the lake).

Ooooooooh boy.