You know, if this were a year or two ago, all of my blog entries this month would have been about things like the four RCMP officers that were killed in the line of duty during an Alberta drug raid, or the gas'n'dash hit and run in Maple ridge last week that resulted in the the 7km dragging death of a 22 year old gas station attendant, or how today is the last day of the Air India bombing trial... I probably would have had at least one entry about the ongoing Michael Jackson trial, and probably would have had a lot to say about our upcoming provincial election. There have been so many local murders and kidnappings and driveby shootings and gang killings that I could've spewed distain almost daily about the state of the world today.
But you know what? I'm perfectly content to tell you about all the seeds I planted this weekend instead. It's amazing how attitudes can change, isn't it? It took me a long time to realize it, but it's just such a waste of energy and brain power to regail all the woes of the world. After years of watching wars on CNN and stressing out about what would happen if Bush got elected, or if terrorists struck again, I've finally realize that no amount of worying (or bitching) gets anybody anywhere - and I'll tell ya, this last few months have been a whopper for the worriers and the bitchers!
So where was I? Ah yes, the glorious weekend. It started Friday, I guess, when the mercury reached 20 degrees in Coquitlam. (yawn, that's like 67 yankee degrees, right? Do I still need to do the yankee degrees thing?)- and Saturday, Sunday, and today, were/are all at least 18 degrees.
Saturday, Carole and I got up bright and early, I made French Toast, then we drove out to Pitt Lake for a beautiful morning walk along the dike. We walked straight for about 45 minutes, then turned around and walked back for another 45 minutes. I was just wearing shorts and a T-shirt, and it was beautiful out. We DID snap some pictures, but I haven't loaded them into the computer yet... I'll do that tonight or tomorrow, they're great! It was perfectly blue skies with a brilliant sun, and we both got lots of UV that day. After the walk, we went for lunch at Dewy's Pub in Port Coquitlam, and I had a massive bowl of chicken corn chowder and a pint 'o' Canadian out on the sundeck while we soaked up more of the afternoon rays. Okay, I confess, I had a few potato-skins too... shame on me!
After lunch I went to the Langley Long and McQuade to purchase the only GK 4x10 8Ohm cab left in B.C. It was on for $1475, but I talked 'em down to $1075, which was still pretty lofty, as I spent $799 on the 1x15 cab, and $750 on the 780Watt head... grand total, something like $3K - ouch. But, SWEET! I tried it out at home, in my sound-proofed studio, at a volume of 3 ot of ten, and on the first note, bottles fell off the shelves in the kitchen, and painting rattled on the living room walls. Carole came running down to let me know that dust was shaking out of the rafters, and that I probably shouldn't be testing that puppy out in the house. So tonight at rehearsal I'll get to really give it a workout - can't wait!
Sunday we got up early again. I made some breakfast egg sandwiches, then we started out on housework. Well, Carole did housework, I did yardwork. It was, afterall, another gorgeous day, and by 8:30 AM I was in shorts and T-shirt again, working in the backyard. I cleaned the deck, raked the leaves, weeded the herb garden, and prepped for seeding the rest of the stuff I want to grow this year. Can you believe it's still winter, and I've already got chives, sage, and lettice growing so thick that it's already time to start trimming and eating? And the strawberries are coming up all over the place - no actual strawberries yet, but the plants are doing super well.
I've started a row of onions and have seeded dill, basil, parsley, tomatoes and radishes indoors. When the seedlings are strong enough, I'll transplant them to the garden.
Yesterday afternoon, I figured I'd wash my car, but in all honesty, I had been soaking up the sun all day and was not only a little bit burned, but also feeling pretty lazy, so I decided to drive down to the hand-wash car detailing place in Port Moody and get the deluxe package. While four people toiled on my car, inside and out, for an hour, I walked 8 blocks to the Golden Spike pub, grabbed a quick pint, then walked back to the carwash. They still had 1/2 and hour to go, so I kicked back in one of the provided deck chairs, faced the fun, and tanned for a bit more in the awesome afternoon sun.
Those guys did an amazing job on my car - grand total, $16.99 - and that paid for an hour of full-time work for at least two people, but at times up to four, as they vaccumed, washed the interior, the windows, the wheels, oh - and the exterior too... that included odour neutralization and light wax - how could you possibly go wrong? I can't believe that place stays in business charging so little. I was very happy with the job - but then again, just chillaxin' in the sun after a nice pint always puts me in an awesome mood.
I also played some online poker every night, and am actually starting to do pretty well... I like to play only two to four dollars a day, and I was 'up' by $7.50 on Friday, by $5 on Saturday, and by $3.50 on Sunday. I also, just for fun, played a 'play-money' tourney on Sunday night, and I came in 3rd, which made me $17,500 from a $2000 buy-in. It's nice to finally be doing good at this!
Oh, Friday night we also went to Carole's step-sister's housewarming party, which was pretty nice - good food, Carole drove home so i got to drink (and entire case, can you belive it? and Can you belive I was up at 7AM the next morning making French Toast?) - and I made some new Poker buddies at the party too, so I may actually be hosting my own live poker night sometime in the coming months. That would be cool! Well, as long as I can keep winning, that is...
I must admit that I prefer reading blog entries like this one to the ones that discuss world problems. There is, of course, a need to discuss the state of the world from time to time but it is so nice to hear that you are enjoying your life and seeing the beauty and goodness around you.
Posted by: paladane at March 15, 2005 08:45 AM