The Dentist

Ok, maybe I am a baby, but I hate the Dentist. I hate the Dentist so much that I have not gone in 15 years. So it might be more correct to say that I am terrified of the Dentist. Anyway a few weeks ago I finally got up enough nerve to get in for a checkup. I chose of course one of those places that can do sleep dentistry in case I need to get some major work done. As it turns out there is plenty of work to be done (as i expected) but there is a lot less work than I ever imagine. I have known for some time that my Wisdom teeth should come out. They dont hurt or anything, but they sure make my mouth crowded. So we decided that the top two gotta come out. As well I need to get a tooth "rebuilt". Now this one is all my fault. You see the last time I went to the Dentist I was in the middle of having a root canal done. Actually the root canal was all done, all that was needed was to put the crown on, but, ya you guessed it, after having the root canal I wasnt about to step foot in a dentist chair for a long long time. So, no crown was put on, so a few years back the tooth pretty much just gave way (accept for the root canal part). So now I need to get it rebuilt and a crown put on. Other than that a few minor fillings and some scraping, and I will be as good as new. What is all this gonna cost....well we're thinking about 4 grand. How much does my blue cross cover....well about 1500 a year. So I think I am gonna get half done now, and the rest in the new year, so that I only have to pay a g-note out of my pocket. Not too shabby. Today I had my second visit in the long process of the aforementioned work, so right now my mouth is frozen, and I look like a stroke victim.

Let see, what else. Oh yes last night Tappers made a beercan-bbq-chicken. Has anyone else ever tried one of these? For those who have not I will give you the basics and you can try it out over the weekend. Ingredients. 1 chicken, 1 supercan of your favorite barly beverage, a couple of potato's, a couple of carrots, and an onion or two. you will also need a turkey pan, and some aluminum foil

First crack your beer. Then shove it up the chickens you know what. Coat the outside of the chicken with your favorite spices and bbq sauce. Stand chicken up in Turkey pan. Surround chicken with chopped up potato, carrots, and onion. Add butter to top of veggies. Cover chicken in pan with aluminum foil, and place in BBQ on high heat for an hour and a half, or until done (not rocket science).

Now I guess the way this works is the beer boils inside of the chicken cavity filling it with moist refeshing goodness. Well let me just say, this works awesome. Although I had a few too many glasses of wine to really remember how good it was, I do remember thinking "damn this is some good shit." So with all that said, happy bbq'ing.

Nooman out

Fun n Sun

Well yesterday was blistering hot. I think it topped out at around 31 degrees, and luckily for me I was on the Golf Course for a couple of hours. Darren, Rick and I played a quick nine over lunch at the Highlands golf course. Not a great course, just a tinkering one. Most of the holes are par 3 and 4 with the longest hole being a 400 yard par 4. So for the most part it was just time spent waking the ball, and talking about shit.

Unfortunately I did not come to work prepared for golf. So I ended up playing in my work shoes, and with no hat. Bald men should not be outside when it is 31 degrees without a hat. The result if you are stupid enough to do this, is an extremely burnt knoggen. Needless to say I look like some sort of Red Freak. I even have those attractive sunglass lines wrapping around my face. But Burn or No Burn it was nice to hit the ball around, rather than sitting around the hot office all day.

Last night I went over to Brad Bell's (the owner of Crush) new condominium and played a couple games of poker with Brad, Cory, Bertron, Ana, and CJ. Brads super-hotty roomate was there for awhile, but then headed out for some drinks. She manages the Cactus club right by my office, so I am definately going to have to stop in for lunch in the coming week or so. As for the poker, I lost ten bucks in the first game and 20 in the second. I think I was suffering from sun-stroke because I made some really bad plays. LESSON.. dont play poker after being in the sun too long.

Not much else to report. Little Jen got the new job she has been hoping for, so hopefully she will be in better spirits in the coming weeks. WAY TO GO JEN. Although, I am not too sure how much she is going to like working for her boyfriends dad, and with her boyfriends roomates, lets just hope it works out for the best.

The plan is still to go rafting on Saturday, but looking at the weather report, things might not be as nice as we had planned. Today may be the last day of super hot sunshine, with showers rolling in tomorrow, and possibly cutting in and out for the next few day.

Thats all for today
Nooman out

Planning for Canada Day

Well it would appear that Jessica has planned for any and everybody to go rafting down the Elbow River on Saturday for Canada Day. (and possibly Sunday, weather permitting). I am not sure what all this entails, but I guess it is a Calgary tradition. You get a small rubber dinghy from Canada Tire or Wall-Mart, along with water guns and probably a six pack and you jump in the River somewhere as a large group. Everyone ties up to each other, making a little cacaphony of rafts, and then you proceed to drift down the river.

Now I have seen this in Penticton, and a few other places, but never in Calgary. The river here seems a little faster than in all those other place, so I hope we dont end up having to be rescued from the fire department, but we will see.

Today looks like a quiet day. I have to do a WHMIS training course this morning, as a few of my newer staff dont have it. As well I have booked our external safety audit for sometime in July so I need to get everyone up to speed on that.

Not much else to report other than girls are a little nuts. I wont qualify that statement with anything for fear of offending the wrong people. I would like to welcome Amber to the world of Blogging. She has commented twice, but yet I still have not heard whether she has a blog or not. Please Amber if you have a blog, let me know, as I would love to read it. You truly are an interesting person. And you are welcome to come back and do yoga in my living room anytime, especially that boat thing. But like I said it would look much better on the floor lol.

Nooman out

A Relaxing Weekend

Well what started out on Saturday evening as chinese food and television, turned into two days of relaxation. I managed to get to bed pretty early on Saturday. The boys were Djing a house party, so the house was quiet. Jenny showed up later on Saturday, without frosties, and we watched a bit of "Station Agent" a great independent movie that everyone should see. And sometime in the middle of the movie, I decided to call it a night.

Sunday morning got up bright and early and made it to church. The theme for the week was Family, so most of the sermon was centered around stuff that wont really effect me unless I start a family. And well, I dont see that happening any time soon. There was a good conversation about the importance of the daily family meal. And some other stuff on communication, that it would have been nice to hear when I was 15 not 37, but hey, such is life.

After church, I went for a little walk in the river valley, and then came home for a little nap. Woke up from my nap, and headed out to see the documentary "Why we Fight" at the Uptown cinema. It was not a bad movie, in the same context as lets say "The Fog of War" or "Farenheit 911" only not quite as good. This was the second Sunday in a row that I managed to catch a film at the smaller filmhouses on 8ave, and I think I am gonna make it a regular thing. They are not quite as nice as the Princess, but then again what is.

The rest of my Sunday was spent just laying around the apartment. It was gorgeous outside, but I really didnt feel like going out. Sort of in one of those moods when you just want to keep the world "outside" at bay. A few more people called with birthday greetings, but I didnt answer any of the calls, not in the mood to talk I guess. Part of me wants to say that I am a bit depressed, but I dont think that would be the proper word to describe what I am feeling. Tired, might be a good word.

Since two thousand when I left the bar business, I have had a plan in my head. An idea, a plot. That plot has come undone in the past few months, and left me living a life that no longer makes sense or has purpose. My story no longer has an ending, and I am sort of left wondering which way to go. Do I continue on the road I have spent six years travelling, knowing that my destination no longer exists? Do I change direction completely, find a new plot, and a new destination? Or do I simple rethink the past few years and try to re-process them in such a way as to continue on my journey, with a new destination in mind? Well i dont really have an answer to any of those questions.

However, I plan to think about all of this while on vacation. I have booked a week or so off beginning on July 15. My plan is to load my truck up with all my camping equipment and just start driving. Last year I made the same trip with Kelly in tow. It was a great vacation, even if that was the last time I saw her "healthy". I have been debating driving to SpiritWood Saskatchewan to see Leigh (the united church minister I met on New Years). She has sent a few emails, and sounds like she could use an escape from her duties as a "minister". But we will see.

As for the Kim girl I met on Friday. She did not call yesterday, so I think I am just gonna try one more time tonight and if she brushes me off, then I will call that one another "waste of time" lol.

ANNYWAY. Thats all from me,
NOOMAN OUT

Birthday

Well I did all my birthday partying last night. Spent the night hanging with Brad, and Jeanine. We went to the Rhino, and then to Sals so I could shake my rump. It was a pretty good night overall. And I actually met a pretty cool girl. Her name is Kim, and we danced most of the night. She gave me her digits and I actually just got off the phone with her. She is hanging with her sister tonight, but hopefully we will get a chance to go out tomorrow or later in the week. Very Strange.

Tonight is gonna be just chinese delivery, the boob tube, and maybe some writing if I feel up to it. And guess what, the chinese just arrived so I am gonna sign off and get to eating.

p.s Thanks for popping your head in Lee. miss ya

Birthday-Eve

Well tomorrow is my birthday. Not too sure what I think about that right now. The Stanley Cup on Monday was a drunken mess, and I sort of made up my mind on Tuesday morning to lay off the booze for awhile. Now that was a rough day. So anyway that is my intention heading into this weekend. However, my track record for getting ugly on my birthday is almost 100%. It was eleven years ago today that LeeAnn and I met. GO FIGURE. Now that was a birthday party.

I was managing the Rev at the time, and Phil and I held a joint birthday party. We made up backstage passes and the whole bit. I had a special room that only birthday pass members could get into, with drink specials, and I think DJ Dragon. lol. Anyway there was this girl I had never met, wearing one of my birthday pass, so I stroll up and start to hit on her. And well she pretty much told me that she came with a friend and was not the "Rev" Type. We then started talking about what the "Rev" type was. I then asked her if she knew Phil or Nooman (the birthday boys). She said No, and told me that she came with Mike (Mike was a frat boy who came often for Retro Wedsnesdays). We continued to chat about this and that, until finally she gave in and had a drink with me. I think i told her my name was Fred, and that I was with friends as well, I then took off to find them. About an hour later I was formally introduced to her as the Clubs Manager and the birthday boy. I will never forget that mischevious look on her face when she realized I had been playing with her a little. But it was nice to gets someones honest opinions about things, without them trying to be someone they are not. Which I must add was Ironic because the only reason she was initially honest with me, was because she thought I was someone I was not. Go Figure.

Anyway that was it. Or so I thought, until two days later, at my birthday party volume 2, (the sidetrack cafe). When she strolls onto the dance floor, out of nowhere, long after I am intoxicated, and basically invites herself back to my house for my birthday volume 3. And that is how an eighteen year old girl from Saskatoon, turned me into a complete idiot.

There have been a few interesting birthdays since then. But that one still stands out as a BIG ONE. I guess when you stop counting the years, you can only count the memorable experiences, and memorable people. So I guess for my birthday this year I would like to meet someone new. And by new i dont just mean a new face. I mean someone who is new and interesting. Someone who is not like all the others. Someone you look at and say, "I dont understand that person", or "thats a different way of looking at the world", or the big one "I think that girl might actually have something to say, that I really want to hear." LOL.

Anyway, like Cory once said, "You cant have your cake and eat it to" well dammit its my birthday tomorrow and I wanna eat some cake

A little Run Down

Well it is humpday, but let me tell you I feel more like a sleep day. Now I dont usually get sick, but the symptoms I am having seem to be the same ones that people got last week before they caught that nasty flu. Feeling generally lethargic with the occasional bit of heart burn....hmm i better not get damn sick, after all it is my birthday of Saturday.

Not too sure what I am gonna do for my birthday. Think I might just lay low or take off on a roadtrip. I hate birthdays, and other events that cause you to reflect. I am especially worried this year becuase I just sort of realized that I locked up all that LeeAnn stuff after reading her email at Easter. And well, she has been creeping into my thoughts the past few days. Guess I will just have to work harder at repressing those damn good for nothing emotions. Beer anyone.

Not too much else to report, just thought I would try to get back into the routine of posting an entry even when i have nothing to say. And well i did a pretty fucking good job of that today. Talk to you tomorrow

June 19. A Day that will live in infamy

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. The day the Oilers should have brought the Cup home. The day Lord Stanley could be proud of the cup that bears his name, but it was not meant to be. Like Katrina before her, the hurricanes blew in and ended the party, and I woke up with one hell of a hangover from the whole ordeal.

I am not going to comment on the game, other than to say, that they won it with Canadian talent. And I am also glad that Cam Ward got the ConSmythe. Oh yes and I hope that Kevin Lowe is able to keep the inner corp of the Oilers camp into next year, because if he can do that I know that there will be a "next year". And if we are really lucky next year, there will also be a "Battle of Alberta". But we will see how the off season plays out.

Other than that things are well in NewmanVille. Work is crazy busy, actually a little too busy. Outside of work things are pretty ok, other than i really need a few days of "Ian Time" to get some laundry done and veg out a little. It would seem that everytime I have some free time, I end up in the middle of a tappers-shit-storm. Wayne got back into town on Saturday night, which after what happened at little Jens place on Friday night was a little too much for this old fart to handle. Luckily i got to bed early and had a nice day on Sunday.

Went and saw the Al Gore, movie "An Inconvenient Truth" on Sunday night. Very political and quite thought provoking on the Global Warming Conundrum. Still dont know where I stand on the whole thing, but as far as my love of hurricanes go, if he is right, there only gonna get better. I will write more when I have more to say on this topic. Anyway, thats all from me today. I have been getting pretty lazy with blogging lately, but I will try to pick up the pace a little and pull my head out of my ass.

Quick Blog

Not much to report, just thought I would touch base and make some notes. Friday was a blast, a night of drinking and hanging out with Brad and the boys at Crush. Jenny showed up a little later, and we drank some more, and then headed back to the house for more drinking and to wait for taps to get his sorry ass home.

Saturday was a lazy day, followed by a great hockey game. Thank god. Did a little bbq, with myself, taps, jenny, and jessica. Early night.

Sunday I picked up Kelly around 9am. Man that was early. We hung out and did the old church thing and then off to the movie CARS, which was your typical formula story with some great animation. A no brainer for a sunday afternoon. Dropped Kelly off and came home for some more relaxing. Played Poker online. Went for a little walk. Did a little reading. And worked a bit more on getting that damn play written. I must say it is coming along not too shabby, but more on that another time.

Work today is pretty slow. I just requested our external audit for sometime in July, which will be a real load off when it is complete. Jen just texted my and it looks like vietnamese for lunch today. Man i love that soup.

Oilers play again tonight, lets just hope they can tie it up. GO OILERS GO

Brought the Fish home today

Well I am not going to comment on the Oilers today. It has been ahwile since my last entry and since then things have sort of come undone on the hockey front. So I will just say, "lets just wait and see"

For those of you who do not know, I have wanted an aquarium for a long, long, time. There is something awesome about the sound of running water, and something kind of Godlike in watching fish inside an aquarium. And for the first time in my life, I have undertaken the task of setting up my own aquarium over the past week, so that I can play God. The aquarium is 55gallons, a good size for a starter. Plenty of room to learn about creating a positive ecosystem for my fish, yet small enough so as not to become too much of a burdon.

I started to set the tank up a few weeks ago, by filling it and attaching the various pumps and filters. Then came the decorating, at which time I learned that it is a lot cheaper to head down to the bow river and pick up some nice rocks, than it is to buy them from on aquarium story. Beleive it or not I paid over sixty bucks for two large fabricated rocks and driftwood. Versus bringing home twenty or so pounds of nice stones for free. Setting up the environment was/is the most enjoyable part of this new hobby so far. Trying to set up different areas for the fish to play, hide, and relax has been my main objective, and I think I have done a pretty good job.

I brought six young fish home today. The largest is about an 2 inches long and the smallest about 2 cm. Their latin name is Haplochromis Burtoni. They are African fish, from lake victoria. They should grow to about 3-4 inches long, and are an aggresive fish, with great behaviours. After some research, I even learned that this type of fish, is used in many research laboratories which study the evolution of behaviour. So I am looking forward, to watching them grow, to see how these simple creatures behave.

Lets just hope, they live long, and that if they die, it is someone else's fault and not mine. What a bad God I would be if I let them all die. Lol