A lesson in organization

It sounded like a really great idea. A bunch of us from work would rent a chalet in Fernie and go hang out for four days enjoying the sun, mountains, and refreshments. Who could complain about that? Apparently alot of people can complain about it. And, as a result, I am resigning my position of social convener for c-shift. The moral of the story is: let someone else take on the responsibility, and if you don't have anything nice to say don't say anything at all. Fortunately, it's not supposed to rain all weekend . . .

Maybe its the fall air blowing through, unresting the less-green leaves from their homes, that is causing the melancholy that is setting in. Or, perhaps it is just that place I have found myself in before of being on the verge of something amazing, and simply having to wait for it to happen. This restlessness is an uneasy one. Constantly questioning my decisions, not knowing whether to try to push forward or just wait and let the fruit ripen in its own time. Reminding myself all the way along that I am doing well, moving forward, and making choices that are going to move my life in the direction I have always wanted it to go. So why the doubt, the desire to fall back into what is comfortable, the unwillingness to accept that what is is good and strong? Incoherent rambling representing the blase apathy of my generation? Perhaps.

Or maybe I just have too much time on my hands . . .

Its cold and rainy here, if that makes anyone else feel better . . .

They're talking about frost on the news. The farmers are freaking out. Surely this year, unlike every other year in history, won't produce un-farmer-friendly weather. Stories like this always leads me to wonder when the weather cooperated in such a way that they didn't actually have to worry about it. I'm beginning to think it hasn't ever happened.

I actually kind of like the rain. But, then again, I also like winter, so that could be part of the connection. Last night I came home and lit a fire, sat there and read. It was great. The rain was falling outside, it was blustery and cold, and it was cozy and warm inside. This was after I spent 2 hours driving around SW of Calgary looking for potential "Trees in the Mist" pictures. Not as much luck there as I would have liked, but I did get a couple shots of simply "Wet Trees" and have the muddy jeans and rust stained hands to make it all the more satisfying an adventure.

Not so satisfying is the recent behavior of my car. Even my threatening to sell it to an auto wrecker hasn't stopped it from stalling periodically while I'm slowing down.

Found out today that my flight to Ecuador is booked and confirmed. It always becomes much easier to plan and look forward to something once you have the tickets in the mail. Inevitability, I suppose, is also a mother of invention.

I wonder if the farmers are happy in Grand Junction, Colorado? I hear they make good wine . . . ;)

Beer for Thought

So as I was reading this month's issue of Harper's Magazine today, I stumbled across an interesting little reference to a couple of US foundations that we may be indirectly importing into Canada. The big Coors - Molson merger may seem like just more big business, but when you look a little deeper, the Coors family has their fingers in more pots than just vats. Backers of the US think-tank the Heritage Foundation (http://www.heritage.org), and creators of the CastleRock Foundation (http://www.castlerockfoundation.com), the Coors heirs are major (as in multi-millions of invested $$$) players in American right-wing politics. Ms. Holly Coors, for example, is a board member of Pat Robertson's Regent University (http://www.regent.edu/). For those of you who have never had the opportunity to get to know Pat Robertson, he's the guy that believes that feminism "causes women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism, and become lesbians."

Yikes.

Hopefully all we will be importing is their crappy beer . . .

Hoi An Market

Still avoiding :)

Thought you might like to see my new favorite picture. I took this one in Hoi An, Vietnam in April. I've been going through all of my pictures trying to figure out which ones to get enlarged. I'm hoping maybe to get a couple put in a local gallery here, not sure how to go about doing that though. Anyways, I have a nice photo album I'm going to fill first and need 8x10s for it.

Had a quiet night last night. I'm working on one of the rapid response units, which is basically an Explorer with a big engine in it. Its just me (no partner) and I just go to calls when there isn't a transport truck in the area. The best part is not having to transport means I don't have to sit at the hospitals with patients all night . . . which means I get to sleep all night (or most of it anyways). Its kind of like being a fire fighter, only way cooler ;)

For anyone out there who is considering getting a kitten - Janet (my newish kitten) has a new favorite track in my office: enter through door at Mach 3, jump over garbage can, 20 claw velcro move to back of chair, hyperspace launch to mid curtain, get picked up by scruff of the neck and tossed out door, repeat. Not that I'm trying to dissuade anyone . . .

Mostly Avoiding Housework

Had a good call yesterday at work. Showed up at the house to find a freshly (like, one minute fresh) delivered baby boy! Little guy was screaming away and all gooey. I got to cut the cord and helped mom out. Mom was freaked - being the 17 year old that she was, and considering the fact her mom and boyfriend had just helped her give birth on the bathroom floor. All in all it was pretty neat. A nice change from last week when I had an old Jewish lady swearing at me in Yiddish and telling me I'm going to burn in hell . . .

I just finished reading the book "Shake Hands with the Devil" by General Romeo Dallaire. Amazing book, its the very harsh and brutal account of the failed UN peace-keeping mission in Rwanda in the early 90s. If you have some spare time its definitely worth the read.

Today has been a busy computer learning day for me . . . Finally managed to post the picture of Emnlyn, and also MSN messengered for the first time with Mel and Mike. I'm sure I thoroughly annoyed them by playing around with all of the little faces and pictures and fish. It was good fun though. Funny though, the house still hasn't gotten cleaned up . . .

Emnlyn on the couch

Emnlyn's Story

So, for those of you who never had the pleasure of meeting Emnlyn - here's Emnlyn. Emnlyn is no longer with me (she went to Iguana heaven a while back), but that's where my handle comes from. So the mystery is solved!!!

Emnlyn and I had many fun times together. She loved eating flowers and playing with my cat Atreyu (who is now in kitty heaven). She had a little harness that she wore and would hang out on my shoulder to go for walks. Once when I woke her up a little unexpectedly she bit me on the nose . . . Silly lizard.

Lizard Haiku:

little lizard
sitting on the sun visor
sleeping

Hello Out There!

So, after reading so many other blogs over the years, I have finally decided to start my own. So here I am! This is mostly just my way of getting out of sending tons of emails when I go travelling - now you can all just look on here instead.

The latest news: I have accepted a volunteer opportunity in Ecuador for the fall. I will be working either at a public hospital ER in Quito (the capital), or in a small community clinic in Puerto Lopez (not the capital). I think I may choose to stay in Quito. I will only be there for just over three weeks, and by staying in Quito I will have better opportunities to take little trips out on the weekends. Hopefully this will be the kind of opportunity I have been looking for. You can check out the website at: http://www.cosmicvolunteers.org/ecuador_health.html. They seem like good people, and the costs are much more reasonable than alot of other "volunteer" projects.


********** Coming Soon: Emnlyn's Story**************