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October 29, 2002 It was a beautiful summer afternoon. The sun poured down across the prairie fields as clouds drifted carelessly through the blue sky. Ripples of heat danced atop the black ashfalt as a motorcycle cruised by, the yellow lines passing one by one. The motorcycle purred along as field after field passed beside him. A group of trees forming a large square could be seen in the distance. The bike slowed as it drew near. The trees parted near the road to allow a small patch of gravel to pass through. Slowly, the bike turned off the highway and entered the grass filled field, guarded by the wall of trees. Gravel crunched and popped underneath the wheels as they slowly made their way into this peaceful place. The rider stopped the bike near the side of the road and put down the kick-stand. All was quiet. He stepped off the bike, still wearing helmet, gloves, and jacket, and walked solemnly towards a small mound of dirt, above which there stood a small sign. Reading the name on the sign, the rider crouched to one knee, his leather jacket crinkling as he knelt. One hand reached up and clutched the man's face as the figure began to shake. First one, then two and three, tears slipped through the fingers of his glove, falling to the grass beside the grave. "I miss you, Grandpa." Barely more than a whisper, the words slipped out between gasps of air and silent sobbing. Kneeling beside his grandpa's grave, the rider paused, remembering. I miss you, Grandpa. John October 28, 2002 Hard at Work...  Hard at Play!  If you look through the photo album, you'll notice a few new sections in there, first under Sylvania, I have posted some pictures I took while at the south Walmart in Red Deer. Some of these are quite interesting, but I'll warn you not to look at them if you've got a fear of heights or get queasy easily. The second section worth noting is under My Life, from October 26, 2002. Pat and I went out to Maclean Creek with his quad and his trike, and we rode around several trails up there. There was a bit of snow but minimal mud as everything was frozen. (We went early in the morning for that exact reason.) And no, that is not me doing the sweet wheelie, it's Pat riding the quad in teh picture. One of the disadvantages of being the cameraman is that you're not in a lot of pictures... October 18, 2002 8:48 AM Happy Birthday, Dana Lattery... I've been trying to get a hold of you but apparantly you're playing hockey and going to school in the States. Sounds like you're doing good for yourself. Actually it's interesting, there were always a lot of birthdays around this time, so it was easy to remember, but last night I was on my way to fix a photocopier for a guy who lives out near Bearspaw and I drove past your dad's house. I'm not sure if he still lives there, I suppose one of these times I could pull in and knock on the door... Anyways, you'll probably never read this anyways, but I did want to mark it down none the less. Other than that, I'm doing allright, it's friday and that's a good thing. The weekend looks like it's going to be a busy one though. Tonight I've got to go pick up some ram and then go to Ed's house. Maybe after that I'll stop by Pat's for a while, but Saturday afternoon I've been requested to come and repair a computer for a friend of Bo's Aunt and Uncle. From what I understand it is one of those cases of a teenaged son believing he knows volumes about computers and ends up making a mess of everything...  Not that I've never seen that before. But from what I gather she wants me to rebuild it and clean all his games and junk off it -- start the computer off fresh again. So that could take anywhere from a few to a lot of hours... So Saturday evening is a big question mark. Then on Sunday it's Shauntelle's birthday, so I'll have to head out to Braag Creek for that... It will likely be a whole day event out there too. I like being busy, but it takes it's toll on me too. I've had a cold since last weekend, our game of Capture the Flag the last time I was out in Braag Creek. And I just can't seem to shake it because I'm out all day and can't get enough sleep at night. The hole in my bed needs repairing, amongst many other things. I have a To-Do list, but it keeps getting longer instead of shorter. There are a lot of people I've been meaning to write to, but time to sit down long enough to compose a letter is a precious comodity. I haven't forgotten about you, don't worry. I thought by now I'de have my video archive online too, but that has been pushed aside by various setbacks and other more pressing matters. I've got things like our Pine Lake Tornado video to add, the Moby Dick series of clips from the wedding in Nanaimo, various short clips from this past season at Pine Lake, and probably some others as well. One thing I've learned though, there will always be more to do than I can ever get done. I thought for sure I would have finished building and installing the middle (between the seats) heater in my van. With winter comming I want to get as much hot air in that thing as I can. Last year's project of insulating it was a big success and made a huge difference, but as the cold season approaches again I find myself dreading those drives to work in minus fourty weather... That second heater would make a huge difference. I'm thinking about doing it up a little for Haloween. I'm taking Ed's kids trick-or-treating this year and was thinking of installing some black lights, maybe a fog machine and some scream sound clips to pierce the chilly air and give people within a two block radius goose bumps. I've started thinking of Christmas presents to buy for various people. I've decided that this year I'm going to do my shopping EARLY for a change. I know it's anti-stereotypical for a male to do any shopping before December 24th... However last year I believe I missed presents for a number of people, something I don't plan on repeating this year.October 15, 2002 Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I had a great thanksgiving this year, and although I did not get to spend it with my own family, I was not without good company. Saturday I spent the day at Ed's place, celebrating the day of thanks with their family and friends. Enjoyed a WONDERFUL meal there, followed by lots of fun card games with Kristin and her boyfriend, Arthur. My memory, true to form, does not recall the name of the other girl who played most of the games with us, but if someone reminds me I will be sure to put it in there as appropriate. The next day, Sunday, I drove out to Braag Creek where I enjoyed my second Thanksgiving meal with Shauntelle's family, and here if they didn't also throw a birthday party for me as well! I could not believe it. I even had my own cake and everything! It really tickled me to think that they would go to all that trouble for me. Sunday night most of us (Danny, Rob, Shauntelle, David, Shay, Amber, Dustin, Jake, Alyssa, and I) played a game of Capture the Flag * SLASH * Snowball fight. Basically it was capture the flag, but to tag a person you had to hit them with a snowball. We played it in the wooded area of Telle's back yard under a moonlit sky, and it was a blast! I think we played for almost three hours with flags travelling back and forth on both sides before the final game was called a stalemate... I think just about everyone was stiff and sore the next morning, I know Rob cut his leg fairly badly and Danny's forehead suffered a blow (though I won't mention the cause... tee hee hee) and today I noticed a nice bruise on my leg... But it was a blast, and an excellent way to wear off some of that turkey dinner and birthday cake! Then on Monday, Telle and I spent the day doing very geeky computer things as I showed her how to program scripts for her web page and we re-designed quite a lot of her site. Today it was back to the burnt out light bulbs, but I don't think I'm leaving Calgary this week. I talked to my good friend Luke this evening though, and once he's finished his current semmester, he will likely move in with us, so I am really looking forward to that. I've known Luke since grade 10, and although we live mere minutes apart, our schedules keep us from seeing each other. Usually when Bo comes to town we all get together, but that's about it so I'm hoping if he moves in here I'll get to see him a lot more. (Remember Telle, because I know you're going to ask, he's the guy who came to visit us at Pizza Hut.) Anyhow, the night draws on and I have a cold from the game on the weekend, craving nothing more than to crawl into bed and let sleep overtake me in a wave of rest. So until next time, keep reading! You never know what you'll find out about me in my Journal! October 9, 2002 Congratulations! I would like to thank Shauntelle and Sean for remembering my birthday. They were the only ones to call me on the 22nd anniversary of my birth. Nothing has changed, yet in a period of 24 hours a person can become both a day and a year older. At the time of this writing I am in Medicine Hat, Alberta. It's about 15 degrees outside under a partly cloudy sky, and I've been working at the Rexall Drug store all morning. Beside the drug store in the same strip mall there is a small convenience store, the "Hat News & Tobacco." It's around lunch time and there must be a school around here because it was just swamped with what I'm guessing are junior high kids. But what a mouthy croud! I don't know if it's the mob mentality or if kids down here are just like that, but I've never seen kids so rude in my life! Mouthing off the owners of the store like they were the scum of the earth. I'm surprised the owners didn't just kick the lot of them out, but I suppose they rely on the lunch rush to stay in business... Still, what is this world comming to? Kids these days have no respect. No discipline. Man I feel old saying that. I guess 22 isn't so young after all. ON ANOTHER NOTE...  How's that for cheap gas? This was no joke, and the picture is not altered in any way. Every station in town had gas below 35 cents per litre while I was down there. At this price, I could fill up my van for $18! Here in Calgary it costs me about $45. Is that ridiculous or what?? BACK to Journal Index |