Blaze of glory (sigh).

So, my cars are always very emphatic in whatever they do, especially when they decide they need some tender lovin' care from the mechanic. Today, I was driving and Vanessa (my 1989 Crown Victoria LTD is named Vanessa, just so you know), and she got a little hot under the collar. I was going down the street, and suddenly my stereo quit on me. The music just disappeared, the display screen was blank, and I was cruising in silence. And then, my car just shut off. The good news was my stereo came back on. Still trying to figure that one out. So I pulled over to the side of the road, popped the hood and took a look. I quickly noticed flames coming out of the alternator, something that I was fairly certain wasn't supposed to be happening. A guy driving by on his bike (pedal bike, not motorcycle)(though it was a bike that was made to look like a chopper, which was kinda neat) helped me to put it out. Now Vanessa is sitting at Garland's autobody being repaired, hopefully by tomorrow, but maybe not until Monday, which is fine. I can survive that long, no worries.
This beats the last time my car broke down on the side of the road. It was a 1978 Chevrolet Impala, affectionately known as Pips. Sadly, Pips decided that it was time to make leave of this mortal coil, but he wanted to be known (I just realised that Pips was a guy...I had never really thought of it before, but he was way to rough and tumble to be a lady...ugly too) for his spectacular send off, so he did not go quietly into the night. In fact, he built up to it for a few months. It started with a ticking in the engine. Tick-tick-tick-tick, going faster as I sped up tickticktickticktick. That was mildly entertaining and worrisome. And then, the tick began to talk. TICK-TICK-TICK-TICK-TICK until it became so bad that the car was shaking and almost hopping around. Peter was driving near me, and he said that he could hear Pips in his vehicle (driving his Dodge Durango I do believe) above the sound of his stereo. For my part, I was enjoying the free massage. And then the smoke started pouring out. There was no actual fire, but enough smoke to compensate. So we towed it to my house, and I got it towed away by a wrecker, and a few days (hours? I can't remember) later Vanessa came into the picture.
Then there was the time my alternator belt broke on the highway. The people who were following us decided to drive on by without stopping to help or anything. That was kind of him (it was Anthony "Growper" Olson, the new intern at RockPointe (formerly Bow Valley Country HIlls) Church). I was left to push the car with the help of Tom Ross, while Adelou (a young man from Africa somewhere who does not have his licence, not even a learner's licence) steered the car. We got to the next town and replaced the belt, but that was an interesting night.
I think I hate cars now.

Kids have the coolest toys...I'm so jealous

Today, I decided that I don't like two things: one - hockey tournaments; and two - working at a restaurant twenty feet away from two large hotels. Actually, neither is bad on its own, but when you mix them, it makes for long days. We were as busy today (Tuesday) as we normally are on a Friday, which was awkward because we had half as many servers working, which meant everyone was twice as busy. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the extra tips that come with the job. But my back is sore and my feet are sore and I am just generally exhausted. I think the biggest problem was that I was expecting a slow day, so I was all geared up for an easy couple of shifts, and instead I was busy for twelve hours, with a quick half hour break in the middle so that I could eat.
But when I'm that busy, my mind really starts to wander, especially when I get finished and am winding down. Today, it occurred to me that I'm not sure if I would be a good father. I am told regularly from people that I would be a good dad some day (I actually had one woman think that I already had kids because I was so good with her daughter), but I'm not always so sure. I like kids, I really do, and they seem to react well to me for the most part. But I'm never around kids for very long. At work I just entertain them for a few minutes here and there when I'm not too busy. When I'm around kids other places, nephews, cousins, children of friends, etc, it's never for very long, and I'm able to give the child back if he/she gets too fussy. I wonder how I would handle a child like my nephew Darian, who seems to be a bit on the fussy side, a little quicker to cry than some kids. What about when they get older and can start talking back. I don't know how I'd handle that all the time, having a stubborn child. The perfectionist in me (he's there, somewhere) wants my kid to be absolutely perfect, and I know that a perfect kid is impossible.
There was a table today at work that had some kids with them, mostly around five or six, maybe as old as ten (I'm terrible at estimating ages). One boy was sitting on the edge of his chair, tipping it up on two legs, and it tipped over, spilling him onto his butt. The father's reaction was too immediately say "I told you that would happen!" He sounded rather annoyed with his son, and didn't even ask if he was all right. It bothered me a little bit, I figured he should have at least checked to make sure he wasn't bleeding or dying or anything, but there seemed to be no sympathy at all. I don't think that he should have been too worried, it wasn't a terrible fall, and I don't think that coddling kids is any solution, but there seemed to be no compassion evident at all. It got me to thinking, though, and I wondered how I would react in such a situation, and I realised that I don't know. I would like to think that I would find a happy medium, compassion without overindulgence. I would at least make sure he was all right, and yet still try to let him know that there were consequences for his actions, such as falling off of his chair. But that's so easy to say, and so hard to actually do when the ocassion arises. And there is so much information that I don't have. Had the dad asked his son many times that evening not to play on the chair like that? And other such questions. I don't really know.
I think it frightens me a little bit. How in the world do you take this young person and raise it to be a good adult. My parents seem to have managed the feat four times (jury's still out on Jeff, but we'll give him the benefit of the doubt)(just kidding Jeff)(I bet he punches me for that one)(sigh), but I don't know if I can. Will I be too tough? Will I become to exasperated by constant crying? Will I be able to handle the junior high years? Would God be cruel and give me a daughter? Will I be too lenient? How in the world could I ever discipline anyone?
I think a daughter frightens me the most. With a son, I know what to expect - he's going to grow up into a typical male, hence - an idiot. Men aren't the brightest creatures on the planets (trees snicker at us as we pass, amused by our slow wits), but I understand that. I can handle that. I can send that into safe places...or at least I'll be able to join in. What do I know about women? I tell you, if I have a daughter, I will be useless (even more so!) for the rest of my life. That woman will have me wrapped around her finger right from the start. I know this to be true. How in the world can I ever punish my kids?
Here's the funny part. All of this has occurred to me, yet I'm not even dating, let alone in a position to actually have to think about kids. Yet all of this came to me today. See what happens when I'm overworked?
Well, I guess I'm going to go away now.

Greene and White (funnier a few years ago)

I love watching football. If I were to pick one sport to play it would be football. Or Nascar (if you can consider that a sport). And I especially love watching the Riders run roughshod over their overmatched opponents. Heh heh heh. CFL football is one of the best sports out there. The games are exciting, the uniforms are cool, and it's Canadian (that last point might not be a selling point if you're not Canadian, but I am, so there!). It's the only professional sport that I get really excited about. I don't mind baseball (the only sport you can play and nap at the same time), and hockey is really sweet. The problem is that I find it hard to get really excited about millionaires chasing things around the court/ice/field/whatever. Even NFL football isn't quite as exciting for me because they are all overpaid as well. And I think that it is not quite as exciting a product as the Canadian game. But the best thing about the CFL is that most players make less (and many of those it is vastly less) than $100,000 a year. The highest paid CFL player is in the $400,000 range, which is still a fair amount of change to be sure, but not completely insane. Heck, there are probably many people out there working 9-5 jobs that make as much or more than most players. A good mechanic can probably clear $80-90,000 a year, which is more than most O-linemen on the Riders. The reason that CFLers are playing football is because they love the game.
You see, I'm a fan of sport. I'm probably one of the few guys out there who can say that I honestly enjoy beach volleyball because I actually like watching them play, not because there are women in bikinis (or something close to it) playing. But I'm not a supporter of people making millions of dollars to do what they do. Especially when my dad, a very honest, hard working man had to spend much of his early adulthood working two jobs at a time just to barely support his family. What makes a goalie worth that much more than my dad? Just cuz he's crazy enough to stand in front of frozen rubber shot at his head at a million miles an hour? I don't think so. As far as I'm concerned, sport is important to entertain people, and to teach people good lessons (warning, I'm wearing my cliche hat, which happens when I talk about sports)(odd)(yet fitting). I don't even mind people making a living at it. Entertainment is important, and it deserves to be rewarded. But how important is it? Doctors and nurses save lives. That's important. Pastors work, in the very very least, to help make society a better place to live (and that's only if you don't believe in what they say, you'd have to acknowledge that they do that). That's important. There are many other people who are vastly undercompensated for what they do. I don't even mean people who are paid enough, even though they are worth much more. What about people who are volunteers, working at homeless shelters or at the Red Cross, getting paid nothing, or extremely low wages (I'm talking below poverty level wages here) for a job that has little recognition except maybe at Christmas. And while that is happening, Alex Rodriguez is being paid $252,000,000 over ten years (or a paltry $25,000,000 a year...shocking!! How can he survive?!) to hit the ball, at best, 40% of the time, and to field, at most, 30 balls a game (and that's if everyone hits the ball to him, and he makes three errors). Would you like your doctor to be able to perform 40% of surgeries successfully? I think you'd run screaming (unless the doctor was doing surgery on stuff that was nearly impossible to cure, i.e. brain tumors...there's only so much medicine can do)(also, if you are too sick to move, it'd be hard to run). So why is Alex given so much? It just doesn't make sense. Give him $100,000 a year. Heck, double that, I can live with that. Then maybe there'd be enough to give to those who truly need it.
To be fair, I can't completely blame players. If someone gave me $1,000,000 to do something that I was good at, I'd take the money. So the owners are to blame as well for sure. It's just too bad that things have gone this far.
But that's just my opinion.
Go Riders!!!!

"You're sitting on a throne of LIES!"

Today was a slow day. It was the second day of my 'weekend'. And I did almost nothing. I sat at home and played video games all day. I watched a little bit of TV, but not much was on. I did hand in my third assignment, at least I think I did. If I didn't do that today, then I did it yesterday. Either way I have only one assignment to go, and then a test. It was one of those days where I just feel completely uninterested in anything. Part of the reason, I think, is that I feel a little isolated right now, mostly because I haven't got my phone hooked up quite yet. It's an internet phone, but I don't quite understand how to do it, and the guy who lives above me (who happens to be my landlord, and Peter's brother-in-law, and his name is also Darrell) has been working so much that he hasn't been able to help me. He has the same phone and knows how to do it. I'm useless in this department, really. Really am looking forward to having a phone hooked up again. Never thought I would miss it, but I do. Not that I'm going to be making many phone calls when I get it. I'm not much of a phone person. Truth is I actually hate making phone calls. Absolutely hate it. Sometimes I wonder if I actually have a phone phobia, it is that hard for me to make the simplest of phone calls sometimes. Even calling friends and family is tough, even if they told me to call them. It often takes me two tries to actually dial the number. I don't particularly like that, but I'm dealing with it.
As for the bit of a bummer day, another part of the reason is that I hurt my back a couple days ago, and it's just a dull ache that won't go away. It barely even hurts, it just makes everything uncomfortable. I am having trouble finding a comfortable way to sit/stand/lie down right now. I guess I'll see how that goes.

Two movies in the past two days. First was Cinderella Man starring Russel Crowe. I read in a review of the movie that Crowe plays the character as a genuinely nice guy in all ways, and I have to agree. There's just something nice about the protagonist in a movie being someone who is just a good guy without any huge flaws or dark secrets. He doesn't mess around behind his wife's back, he doesn't lose his temper violently, he doesn't do anything like that, which is vastly different from most movies these days. I kept expecting to see Crowe and Zellweger (who played his wife) to have a huge fight and nearly break up and she is in tears and he is running around getting drunk and into fights on the street and stuff. Instead, they had a disagreement, but it never seemed like their marriage was in danger. I think that's what impressed me so much. They were playing characters that were actually working at their marriage. All disagreements weren't so big as to be insurmountable. Heck, even at the end where she finally shows up at one of his fights (first time she had ever done that, so the story goes) she doesn't seem to be supporting his boxing so much as she is showing him that no matter what happens, she will stay by his side. It was awesome.
Another cool thing was the actor who plays Da Vinci on Da Vinci's Inquest on CBC plays one of the more prevalent secondary characters, a sports writer. I just thought it was neat to see a Canadian guy in this huge film. The kids in the movie are pretty cool too.
Second movie was Elf, starring Will Ferrel. This movie had me laughing out loud a few times. Such as the scene where he walks out into the street and is hit by a car. It was all just so casually done. Funniest car crash ever. I also found a meal that I don't want to try. He eats spaghetti and maple syrup. And then later eats spaghetti, maple syrup, marshmallows, pop tarts, and some other candy. It's so disgusting. I could feel my teeth starting to rot just watching him eat it. I hope he had to do alot of takes. The movie also starred Zooey Deschanel, and actress that I like. She was Trillian in THGTHG, and Jenny Herk in Big Trouble (a very amusing movie). Her character in this one is named Jovie, an interesting name.
So there we have it, two more movies that I enjoyed.

Yippee Ki Yi Yay....

Today we (me, Jeff, and Peter) watched a movie called Hostage. It starred Bruce Willis, and some other people. If you like Bruce Willis (and I do), then you will like this movie. If you ask me (and you didn't)(but hey, my BLOG), Bruce Willis does a fine job acting. The movies he's done that aren't simply shoot 'em up type movies such as Unbreakable, The Sixth Sense, and The Kid (a very underrated movie) have shown that he is someone who is capable of more than just running around without a shirt on and shooting people. He does do that in this movie, but that is not all that there is too it. Although people seem to survive longer than you might expect with gunshot wounds, and seem able to move around more than seems reasonable. Then again, I've never been shot, so who am I to complain. Besides, it's entertainment. If I wanted real life, I'd go find where the police helicopter is chasing right now. I think it's gone now, but I could hear it for a while tonight, circling our area.
Something I liked about the movie tonight was how the ten year old was portrayed. He seemed like a normal kid. He was randomly excitable, very scared when people came and took him hostage, and he screamed like a girl when he was being chased. I think I found this refreshing because it seemed like a real kid would act much the same way. Also, Haley Joel Osment, in my mind, is the child actor that comes to mind when I think of kids in the movies. The problem is that he always seems to be a bit too intense, to adult almost. I just want to ruffle his hair and tell him to lighten up a bit. Don't get me wrong, I like his acting and the movies he's been in, but I think he's almost too mature in his movies. Maybe it's just me.
Watch Hostage, you'll enjoy it. The character named Mars is pretty creepy. He was good. Me, I'm going to write a paper (third last one) and get some sleep.
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

We're all equal, but some are just more equal.

I had an interesting experience at work today. My last table of the night was a married couple that also happened to be completely deaf. In the years that I have been working in restaurants, that is the first time that I have actually dealt with a completely deaf table. It brought to my attention a tendency that I have that I'm not sure I completely like. Whenever I'm with a minority, I become extremely paranoid, and I'm not sure how to act.
This paranoia is a direct fallout of the "politically correct" times that seem to have been thrust upon us in recent years. I don't know how to deal with certain groups of people because I don't want to offend them, so I start analyzing everything I do. For example, as I was doing my duties at work, I walked by my table of "hearing impaired" people and I glanced at the table to see if they needed anything and then carried on. I didn't even slow down as I walked past because they were eating and their drinks were full and I had already checked on them, so I had no reason to stop. And it's not like I could talk to them, at least not very easily. Yet, as I passed them, I started to worry. Did it look like I was deliberately ignoring them? Were they going to think that I was looking down on them or being rude because they were deaf? Did they think that I was bigotted somehow?
The real dilemna is this: If I had stopped and checked on them and seen how they were doing, I would have worried that they were going to assume that I was treating them like invalids because they were deaf. There was literally no way I could have handled them without worrying that I was treating them poorly becauase they are deaf. It's worse when someone has a physical disability, such as being in a wheelchair. I'm someone who likes to help, so I want to do things for people, but when I see someone in a wheelchair, I feel completely paralyzed because I don't want a person to assume that I think they can't function on their own because I opened the door for them. So rather than being helpful, I'm just uncomfortable.
I hate how this has come to be. When I see someone who is in a wheelchair, or is of a different ethnicity, I really don't want to treat them any different. As far as I'm concerned gender, religion, ethnicity, skin colour and ability make no difference. Everyone deserves to be treated well. However, the world seems to have become so sensitive that I don't know how to treat someone because I'm not sure what is offensive. Is it wrong to call "African Americans" black? I don't mean anything offensive when I say it, but is it a term that is just going to be taken as offensive? Can I call a person in a wheelchair "disabled", or is it supposed to be "differently abled"?
Seriously, this is becoming a real problem. Especially since there are people out there who are only too willing to play the race card (or disability card, or whatever). We had a table at work that was a very difficult table (they made one of the waitresses cry, were very demanding, and were blatantly checking out one of the other servers up to the point of asking for his phone number). Even though we gave them the best service that we possibly could, they still called one of the other Chili's in the city and accused us of being racist. Then they came in a couple days later, and lucky me, I got to serve them. I spent every moment that they were in the restaurant walking on eggshells. I made sure that I treated them like visiting royalty, simply because I did not want anything to be misinterpreted as racism. Fortunately for me they were much more sedate this time around. They even tipped me really well, especially considering the fact that their entire meal was on the house. All of that to say that the world is becoming too sensitive. I understand that there are people out there who are racist/bigotted/any other similar adjective. But it seems like that is the first thing people assume. Once again, the pendulum has swung too far to the wrong side. Everyone should be equal, but it seems like "minorities" have to be more equal because otherwise they are being discriminated against. One of the worst bits of legislation to come around in the past many years is the equal opportunity hiring policies. I'm not saying that there is anything wrong with "minorities" getting an equal chance at a job. I am saying that there are times when it is not an equal chance because less qualified people are hired for jobs simply because of their skin colour. On the other hand, there are still employers out there that probably would only hire white guys if they could get away with it, so it is not all bad. It's just unfortunate that we have to legislate fairness, because that is an extremely hard thing to acurately enforce.
I think I've been lucky in this regard, though. I've never had to deal with any sort of accusation in this area. I guess I've done all right in treating people as good as or better than they deserve. Actually, I'm a little nervous about even posting this, even though I don't think I've said anything offensive (or at least, anything that I wouldn't defend by explaining myself better if need be). The fact of the matter is I'm a young white male Christian from a middle class family. I'm about as majority as it gets. Heck, I'm in the only group that can be mocked openly without any worry about repercussions.
I guess in the end, I'll just have to keep trying to be fair to everyone and let my actions speak for themselves. If anyone wants to have a problem with that, then I pity the bitter existence that they would seem to have taken for themselves.
Ciao

Update

Haven't heard from me for a while. My apologies, I've been busy lately. Busy and a little down. Been a tough couple weeks. First off, I went to a wedding. By myself. And I didn't know more than seven people there. And I'm tired of weddings. Add it all up, and I was one unhappy guy. It's not that I was depressed because I'm alone. I was just tired of weddings, and I didn't feel like trying to make friends. So I left early.
That was back in Regina, and when I finally got home, I was home for a day, and then I went to Peter's house for close to a week, housesitting for them while they went to Mandy (his wife)'s parent's farm in Manitoba. That wasn't so bad, although I have to admit that I don't really like their dog. I guess it's not really their dog specifically (although she is a bit of a suck, always wanting attention, and barking at you from two inches away if you ignore her for even a second)(and she smells funny). I'm just not much of a dog person. Or a cat person. Offhand, at this point in my life, I'm not big on having a pet that requires attention. If I were to get a dog, it would have to be one that was very low energy, probably an older dog that just didn't care much anymore. If it wanted to climb up onto the couch and sit beside me while I watched T.V. without actually needing more than an ocasional scratch behind the ears, that would be perfect. And I wouldn't want it to smell to bad. I just don't like smelly dogs.
Anyway, all of that to say, I spent close to two weeks away from my home and my bed, and it started to get to me. I didn't really like it much. And I spent most of the time I was housesitting working constantly, including two 12 hour days, which is never fun no matter what job you have.
And then, once I got home from the housesitting, I just didn't care much. I've been kind of mopey lately.
I'm feeling better now, though. No real reason for the change, really. I did go and see Batman yesterday. Frankly, it is an awesome movie and everyone should go see it. Definitely worth it, I'd say. Hey, any movie with Morgan Freeman can't be all bad. And this one was all good. Forget the last Batman movie (mostly because it sucked). (and I mean really sucked). This one is awesome possum.
As for my course, I should be done the second of four assignments tomorrow night. Halfway done (almost). That's good.
Other than that, not much to report. Keeping busy at work for the most part. Next week is going to be an easy week, not alot of hours.
I think I've said all I have to say today.
Keep in touch.
Darrell

Ho. Ly. Crap!

I am speechless. I don't know what exactly to say to this. My mind refuses to accept that it actually watched what I just saw. Hopefully it comes up with some good false memory for the past two hours of my life because they are gone forever and I ain't ever getting them back. Confused? That's okay, because that is just a small picture of what exactly I have experienced.
I just finished watching (enduring) the Star Wars Holiday Special. This is a Christmas Special that was made in 1978, shortly after Star Wars became an international hit. I...don't know why. I'm pretty sure that this is evidence that George Lucas was an alcoholic, to give permission to make this debacle. And if he wasn't living in the bottle beforehand, I'm sure he spent some time there after seeing the finished product.
Unbelievably, someone thought that it would be a good idea to make a Christmas Special in the Star Wars universe. Of course, it is not Christmas, but Life Day, a wookiee holiday. Chewie and Han are being chased by Imperial Starships, as usual, as they try to get back to Chewie's home planet to celebrate said holiday. Meanwhile, Chewie's wife, son, and father are sitting around at home, doing not much more than giving excuses to have random guest stars pop up and do their thing (terribly). Chewie's dad, who is named Itchy (must have something to do with being covered with fur), gets a holographic fantasy fulfiller thing for Christm...I mean, Life Day, and proceeds to watch some woman sing a bad disco song, which had been preceeded by some vaguely erotic dialogue, with plenty of moaning. It was actually quite disturbing. I find it interesting that a wookiee is so turned on by a human woman. And if you think that was bad, you should have been me while I was watching it. I thought that the character was actually Chewie's mom, so I was trying to figure out why his mom was so aroused by a human woman. My jaw hit the floor and flopped around like a fish out of water.
Bea Arthur shows up as a pub owner on Tatooine. She sings and dances for people in an effort to get them to leave when the pub closes. Princess Leia shows up at the end and gives the standard Christmas/Life Day schmaltz about peace and loving each other and that kind of holiday special crap (have you noticed that I am not a fan of most Christmas Specials?)(I think this one tops the list). And then she sings. The song is worse than any of the dialogue had been. Picture the absolute corniest, most pathetic Christmas special you've ever seen. Now, realise that in comparison to this, whatever you are imagining is the most deserving Oscar winning performance you have ever seen.
I think my eyes tried to escape my skull about halfway through, but were killed due to lack of interest. I can't even compose coherency about this. There is a cartoon in the middle where Boba Fett helps rescue Han and Luke from some sort of virus thingy that only affects humans. It was animated by a couple drunk squirrels I think, but at least the dialogue was terrible.
All in all, I think I hated every minute of this special, and I think if you are a Star Wars fan, you should watch this at least once so that you can start to appreciate Episode One, and start to like Jar Jar Binks. I know I do now. If I think bad about Jar Jar, all I have to do is think about Lumpy (Chewie's less than appealing son), and suddenly Binks is an all right guy (Mesa can't believe mesa said that!).
Until next time, you stay classy, and thanks for dropping by???