If anyone out there is a fan of superpiking volleyball, then head on out to Orleans on Monday nights at 6:30 – Petrie Island.
In lieu of my class being over for the summer, and I have a little extra time on my hands, I figured we should start up some fun volleyball for the rest (beginning?) of the summer.
We’ll start this coming Monday night at 6:30 and decide whether or not this is a good time for all of us or not.
iplaying: Stepchild – Solomon Burke (Don’t Give Up On Me)
This morning I had to go to the West Block at Parliament Hill to watch some MPs in action.
I must admit that I feel proud when I step onto Parliament Hill for business and not while being sloshing drunk (ala Canada Day. That’s the only day that I’m like that on the Hill. It’s not like it’s a monthly event people). I walk up and think “Hey, I’m not here to sight-see, I’m here for business!”
Granted, this visit wasn’t the most exciting as I was only there to observe a Standing Committee meeting, but there was this one time years ago when I was in a meeting in the East Block and then I had to follow some official type back to their office and instead of walking across the grounds, we walked UNDER the ground in a tunnel which connects the Main Block with the East block. COOL! I felt like I was in my own little secret passageway. It was wide enough for a golf cart.
Anyhow, I’m sure some of the more politically minded friends that I have (read: Paul Duffy) would have enjoyed it a lot more, but I can’t knock walking up to the Hill on a beautiful morning and checking out the going-ons inside the walls.
So this Saturday I’m embarking on the ‘let’s level my patio stones so they water doesn’t drain TOWARDS the house.
Seeing that this is a giant job, it will consist of the following elements:
– 4 guys
– beer
– bbqed meat
I was wondering if anyone out there could help me with some details? Here’s how I envision the process:
1. Lift stones.
2. Redtribute sand.
3. Lay patio stones down.
4. Make sure they are on such an angle that a tennis ball can start rolling away from the house (learned this from the house inspector).
Other than that, I’m thinking that’s it? Eric was mentioning maybe renting a compactor but I don’t really know if that’s necessary?
Offer the Palmer some advice!
***Update – after reading Katie’s comments, I’m not sure if I made it clear that what we’re moving are those giant patio stones that go up a walkway…like there are five or six of them…I’m not talking about the brick sized ones. I’m not sure if that makes a difference or not.***
So today Krista noticed some white gunk in my hair. It was the stuff I put in my hair, but usually it’s fine.
Turns out that last week while golfing, I left my bag in the hot, hot car and the stuff melted into some random paste like substance. It’s not bad, but sometimes there are chunks that just don’t get rubbed into the hair and they stick out like bad dandruff. Doh!
This brought back a memory of me back in Grade Nine science class. Back in Grade Nine, let’s just say I wasn’t the most popular dudes in school (that subsequently happened in Grade Eleven when I was the Ladies Man. To those people who read this blog and are from KDHS, stop laughing now. Carol, I’m looking at you!), so in an effort to be cool I decided to try and style my hair a little to get rid of the cowlicks.
Well…that ended badly when some kid was talking to me and then said “Ryan, what the heck is in your hair?” and then they proceeded to laugh at the fact that there was this giant solidified glob of stuff in the front of my hair. Then everyone else decided to laugh also. Ah, the beauty of high school. I think at that point I said screw it to styling my hair and started growing it out.
We all know my faithful readers love Star Wars that they love it when I talk about it and they tell all their friends also. Crack a beer, here’s another review.
For the past six weeks, I’ve been reading The New Jedi Order series which is a 25 book opus in the Star Wars universe. It involves some new bad guys coming and kicking ass from another universe and everyone is having a hard time with them.
The books are an average of 300 pages long so I find them short reads now (compared to years ago where this would have taken me a month!) so I think I may end up finishing the series in the Fall. I’m currently six books in. Maybe the 8th. I’ve lost count.
I gave up on the Star Wars series when this came out because:
Anyhow, I am enjoying this series as they nod towards other events in the timeline of the movies and books. All characters of old come out and there is reference to events that have happened in the past – for example I just read a part where Han Solo and his kid are in the Mos Eisley cantina and they make a joke about how it never goes smoothly in that joint.
A lot of faithful Star Wars readers didn’t care for the NJO for the sole reason that it changed the way the universe is played out and it really takes away the emphasis on the old characters. Let’s be honest though…if you have a set of books and they are spread out over 25 years past the time of the last movie, your main characters ARE old so you need to focus on the new blood. I don’t mind that really. Luke Skywalker is much better as a wise old master than he was when he was a young buck not knowing what the heck he is doing.
One thumb up so far on the series and I am sure the other one will rise as soon the Jedi start kicking some ass.
iplaying: The Golden Path – Chemical Brothers – Singles 93-03
So last night Mike showed me some engine guards for his motorbike and how he removed the rust off of them. It was looking pretty slick.
How did he remove the rust?
With some tinfoil and some Coca-Cola.
I was amazed.
Eric watched an episode of Mythbusters in which they demonstrated that this is in fact, true.
I remember I stopped drinking dark pops (well…I don’t drink that much anymore anyhow, compared to years ago, it’s all water and juice and beer now) because I read what Coca-Cola was used for – such as cleaning up murder scenes. I figured if it can clean up rust, what the heck is it doing inside my poor fragile body?
Anyhow, this is a post to say kudos to the Mythbusters. I enjoy their show and they give us practical advice.
Back in 1989, Prince released the greatest song in the world – Batdance! Tim Burton asked Prince to write a slew of songs for the new (well I suppose it was the first at the time) Batman flick that we all love (although I must say I like Batman Begins better).
I remember watching this video of all these Bat’men’ dancing around and wondering why the heck they had things popping out of their chest.
Oh, Ryan, how young you were back in 1989. Little did I know that they definitely were not Batmen.
Thanks to someone on the Wolfshack for putting the memory of Batdance into my head. Now I want to go listen to the song because I just remember it being chaotic.
Went up on Friday with Johnny and Lynn and met up with Uncle Greg to play a round. My first round was fun. I can say that I enjoyed my time, but it isn’t a hard time with these guys. Good times all around. They gave me some pointers and I have to say they helped by the next day.
Friday night was a smorgasbord of Gaspesians as the McIntosh Inn. A few beers were consumed and we retired for the night.
Saturday came with a bang – to my head. Man, I didn’t feel too hot that day. Our tee off time was 10:45 so I took my time meandering around the room. Unfortunately, it was pouring rain outside. We decided to play golf anyhow and by the 3rd hole I was walking in puddles (otherwise known as my sneakers). It was a crap day, but on the whole, we had fun regardless. We played best ball so I can’t tell if my score improved from the day before but I would like to think it did.
Lynn ended up coming in second in the tourney which shows me that I should have been following his instructions more on Friday than the others. 😉
A steak dinner and another night of partying ended the golf weekend and we returned home on Sunday morning to start on Lynn’s roof since it was looking like rain for the rest of the week. That took a good 6 hours to do a portion but it was good times and it wasn’t too hot.
All in all, the Gaspe golf tournament was an amazing time and I’ll definitely be going up next year. I cannot say that I know too many people but it’s nice to see some of my parents friends that haven’t been around for 20 years.
The golf tourney puts things into perspective for me…living in a city where I didn’t grow up, it’s hard to see most of the people that you would have seen in the school – so if you have a chance at a reunion of sorts, go for it! You won’t be disappointed.
Read the post here for background info.
To all the naysayers out there, please note that I received a letter from HMV last night which had a great letter outlining all my points I brought up, as well as a $25 gift card for my troubles.
I’m so impressed that I will reply to their letter and tell them thank you, because people never get a thanks for their work.
I must admit their reason (read: excuse) is kind of lame though…they said ‘human error’ didn’t find my CD that day. Sounds like they actually had my copy somewhere but that didn’t really make sense. Not a big deal. What kind of a reason was I really looking for anyhow? I just wanted a response. I received it.
Booya.
Lesson learned: Give it a try. It never hurts.
Two days ago someone dropped by my office and told me to call the LAN team so they can install my new 19″ flatscreen monitor.
Oh baby. Christmas has come early.
I had forgotten they were giving me an extra one. I have held onto my dinosaur 20″ CRT monitor for the past 5 years since everyone was going for the ultra sleek (but ultra smaller at 17″) flatscreens. I would rather have size than aesthetics any day so I held out.
It paid off and I inherited a 19″ flatscreen. Booya.
The colour is more vibrant and I think the brightness was wacked on my old one so I’ve been visiting my favourite websites with a new experience.
Sure, I’m a geek. But heck, I really don’t care when I have something so cool in my possession.
And, to all those who want to complain about how I get the perks – two words. Get Bent. I work hard.