Arrr.
July 20th, 2003
I know it's been quite a while since I have last written. I think it was due to a combination of factors. I really wasn't all that happy with how my last job ended. I don't know if it was me, or the workload or just my brain going wonky. I really loved working there, and then all of a sudden it changed. I love my coworkers, and indeed they were the reason why I was so loath to leave. But leave I did. My next job starts August 18th, so this is my first real holiday since 1996. Unpaid, but what can you do? Anyhow, I think that mental closing off shut down other doors because I couldn't write even if you paid me. I am not saying that I am back 100%, and indeed these next few entries will probably be a little puerile until I get back into stride, but hey, I'm writing!
I had a lovely surprise visit from friends of mine today. It wasn't originally supposed to be a surprise, as we had spoken on the phone earlier in the week, and Alberta had told me that she and her hubby Locke were going to Algonquin for the weekend. I had suggested that they stop by on their way home back to Waterloo. I hadn't heard anything back from them, so had figured that they were too tired and were going to go straight home. Little did I realise, that Alberta had emailed me to say that they were going to stop by on Sunday afternoon. Meanwhile, Chris and I had decided to go see Pirates of the Caribbean for 7pm. It's a good thing we decided on the later show and not the 4pm show, because we were lazing about reading in the living room when the phone rang.
"Guess where we are?!" "Uh...where?" "Peterborough!...how do we get to your house?"
As I am sure Chris will tell you, even though I gently poked fun at him for not being handy, I am the absolute worst person to ask for directions. I don't know if it is because I don't drive so don't memorise directions, or there is some innate skill I am lacking. It takes me forever to learn layouts of FPS maps and dungeons, so it's not just the real world. I know a goodly portion of my inability to give directions is that I have just about the worst spatial sense on the planet. I get turned around very very easily, and get thrown off by landmarks not being where they should and the like.
I did manage to direct them with a little help from Chris at the start when I totally blanked on where they needed to turn off from the road they were using to come into the city. I am sure they were amused too because when I directed them to turn down the street, I ran out with the phone and jumped up and down, waving at them. When I think about the moment on the phone when Alberta saw me and laughed it still makes me smile.
It was a lovely visit, albeit very short. I am going to miss them a bunch. Alberta is going to Calgary to do her Ph.D. in Anthropology. Most of her family lives there so it will be really nice for her to be with them again. Selfish me moans and complains in my head. They left just after 6pm, so we hustled and made it downtown to see the movie. There was a huge lineup to get in, and people kept cutting in front of us which really pissed me off. I didn't care once we got in the theatre because the row we like to sit in was completely open.
We like the row right on the front aisle -- there is no one directly in front of you, and then the really close section is in front of the aisle. It's brilliant because you get to stretch out as far as you like. Since the theatre was moderately packed, there were people all around us. My Seatkicker Locator Talent is active again because the guy sitting behind me kicked my seat the entire movie. For levity, he switched off seatkicking with grabbing the edge of the seat above my head and using it as leverage to get comfortable. Grrr. I managed to ignore him, but I would really like to see a movie without people talking or kicking.
Beside me was a mother and two young kids who were bored after the first hour, so she constantly hissed "Sit down!" for the remaining portion of the movie. Sigh. I did enjoy the movie a lot. It was very fun, Johnny Depp was a scream. Keira Knightley I kept thinking was Natalie Portman. It made sense to me later when I realised she was one of the handmaiden lookalikes in The Phantom Menace. A couple of the fight scenes dragged on a bit too long, but overall, I say it's worth seeing in the theatre. I wasn't expecting it to be funny, so those moments were really great. I'll probably try and catch it again soon.
Approaching Kilter is on a little hiatus because I haven't been on the bike lately due to some knee problems.
Books I have Read Lately:
(All links go through Amazon.ca because of the affiliate program with The Usual Suspects. I spend so much time on there, that this is the least I can do.)