Tuesday, May 30, 2006

Keys!

Well I've been pretty busy lately so I haven't been able to post much but I thought I'd give an update. We are getting the apartment keys tonight. I've been busy cleaning out and packing and now the move is getting closer. I'm starting to get sick of this I just want it to all be over with. On Thursday Sasktel is coming to hookup phone/tv/internet so we'll get to sit there waiting with no tv, no furniture, nothing to do but wait. They better be on time.

Not too much else going on. We just finished 40 days and 40 nights of rain, well hopefully it is over, and I'm looking forward to some sun. I haven't bought anymore lanterns but I am waiting for some parts for the ones I have now. I missed an ebay auction for a 222B. I was hoping to get an apartment sized lantern but what can you do.

Well have fun, next post might be from my new apartment!

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

I was a best man

Wow lots of updates, its been a while since I posted. James and Jacqui got married and it was a busy ass three days. On Friday I left work at 1 to help decorate the hall then we went to Jim's house for a big party. I ate so much I was having trouble breathing but it was great. The secret to any BBQ is to stake out a spot near the BBQ's so you can get the hottest freshest food. A little advice there for you wannabe fat people.

Saturday was wedding day and it started bright and early. At 10 we had to haul all the booze into the hall. Hey thats bright and early for a Saturday. The wedding was at 1 and it went great although I've never had so many cameras take my picture all at the same time. Of course that wasn't the end of the pictures, we had to go for studio pictures at Picture perfect and then we were off to the university for outdoor pictures. My eyeballs got a little singed from all the flashes.

You'll all be happy to know that my speech went very well. I recieved a lot of compliments on it and I was generally happy with the way that it went. Man was I nervous though and afterwards I was so relieved to have it over with I almost fell asleep. The food was spectacular too, and as a fat guy I know food. It helps that my Dad used to own a catering business so I've been around lots of banquets and weddings. The dance and booze followed and Mark won the contest as to which of the bridal party could drink the most. Jacqui's sister came in second about 12 drinks behind. If you are wondering Mark used in the neighborhood of 30 drink tickets. Mmmm... free booze.

All in all it went very well.

In other news I recieved my lanterns in the mail.

This is the 321B with the 321C in the background, it is in pieces.
Click to enlarge

This is the 237 Empire from 1946, also in pieces. It is complete but the globe is cracked. I hope to get it running soon but with moving I don't know how long it will take.
Click to enlarge

As you may or may not know I sell things through work and I recieve emails from all over the world. This Strongbad email pretty much sums it all up.

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

How did you spend your rebate check?

For those of you who are not from Saskatchewan I'll let you know what check I am talking about. Saskatchewan Government Insurance (SGI) insures everyone's cars when you license it. We are a bit socialist as you do not purchase the insurance from a separate company, it comes on your plates. One good thing is that you are very unlikely to get in an accident with someone who does not have insurance. Anyways they had a good year and everyone gets back 8% of what they paid on plates in the last year (or something like that, I stopped paying attention a while ago).

So I got home yesterday and tore open the envelope to see what I recieved and SGI gave me back $72. Now this is $72 that I have already spent so if I didn't have it I wouldn't miss it but since I do I thought I should buy something that makes me happy. As it turns out I had my eye on a couple lanterns one eBay and the government supplied me with guilt free money to purchase them. Now I have 3 lanterns coming in from Winnipeg and my addiction should be filled for a while. It will have to be as I suspect there will be little money to feed it in the near future with the whole moving out thing. I'll post some pictures later.

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

James and Jacqui's Wedding

Is it odd that I am getting nervous about them getting married? I shouldn't say about them getting married but the wedding has me a bit nervous. I've never been a best man before so I am not quite sure about what all I have to do. I am almost done my speech but I'm still making changes to it. There is some pressure to make sure it doesn't suck.

I have to admit I have lost some sleep over this whole thing. It seems like it was a long ways off and then all of a sudden its this weekend. I've only been to a couple weddings and never in the wedding party. I can't imagine what they are going through.

I was helping James move some stuff around for the wedding and it really sunk in that it is close now.

Crap I just remembered I'm going to have to get a crash course on dancing. Ah well atleast no one will be looking at me they'll all be looking at those two crazy kids.

Ah well my lunch hour is over. Have fun people.

Friday, May 12, 2006

Lantern

Well I said I was going to show off my new lantern and I finally took some pictures of it.


This is my 11/68 220F



There are a couple of things wrong with it. It is missing some paint, but I think that is the lantern's character so i don't want to repaint it. The other problem is the valve is backwards. The valve wheel should be above the decal.



Here is the whole lantern family. On the left is a Canadian 200 from 4/52. It was pretty beat up when I got it. Mark's family had used it for 20 years on the farm or something and I have replaced pretty much everything on it except the vent and the fount(tank). In the center is a 335 from 11/73. It is all original. My grandpa had it and lit it once. I have the box for it and it is even using a mantle from the 70's. Its my favorite. On the right is the 220F pictured top.



I was talking about my car and putting the summer tires/wheels on it so I thought I would show off some pictures of it. It is a 1992 VW Jetta.



The list

Well Kal-tire is dangerously close to making the list. The list of companies that I will not do business with. Who is on this list so far? Sobey's and Sony. We all know why Sony is on the list. Cue wavey flashback effect.

It all started yesterday when I decided it was time to put my summer tires and rims on my car. It was a day like any other so I'm not sure what made me decide this but I wanted to be kind to my winter tires and get them off before the warm weather. I leave early that morning so I can drop my car off and walk to work and everything seems normal. They are going to swap my tires for me and I'll pick them up after work. The walk to work was ok except that like normal Jordan passed me and didn't offer me a ride but its only 5 blocks so I am not too concerned. Rory was kind enough to give me a ride to Kal-tire after work so I could pick my car up. I hop in it and it is pulling the left a bit, well I'm not used to the tires I tell myself, they do like to follow the ruts in the road. By the time I get to Circle and C I don't think this is right so I stop for gas and check my tire. It has less than 10 pounds of air in it, not good considering how short the sidewall is. I filled up with gas and air and went home thinking it must just be a rim leak. Over supper the tire looses 2 pounds of air so I think that my suspicions were valid and let it sit overnight to re-check it in the morning. Morning comes and I get up 30 mins early to change the tire but discover that it is sitting at 30 psi so it only lost 4 psi all night. Hmmm... if the tire was almost flat at Kal-tire after sitting in their lot for 8 hours then why didn't it go flat after 14 hours of sitting in my driveway? I'm beginning to think they didn't check the tire pressure when they installed it. I feel this is a big safety issue. Not only can I be injured but it could also do a lot of damage. To their credit they did fix it for free but they got very defensive when I claimed that they didn't check the air pressure.

"Oh well it may have been fine until the car sat on it and changed the shape of the tire"

I didn't feel like getting in an argument with the guy because I can't prove they did anything wrong and he can't prove they didn't. Atleast there doesn't appear to be any damage to the tire or the rim.

I have trouble hating a company that does so much free stuff for me. Everyone gets a free rotation every year and free balancing. They fixed my truck tire which I didn't even buy from there. If the people in the back shop cared as much as the people up front it would be a great place. What can you expect from a bunch of people making 8 bucks an hour to patch and balance tires. They just can't be bothered.

In the end I will continue to shop there but I can't recommend anyone else to start shopping there. I'll probably take my truck somewhere else when it needs tires to see if anyone else is any better. Its a pity really.

Thursday, May 11, 2006

Ok just a short one here for you. I've got a couple of links that are too good not to pass on to all of you.

http://www.avirginsplea.com/

http://antiotter.livejournal.com/144625.html

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

My Lantern Lives!

A few days ago I mentioned that I stripped out a part on a Coleman 220F I was rebuilding and it's running fine now. I am quite excited that I got it working. I spent too much money on it but it was worth it to see it run properly. When I received it in the mail I was able to get it running by fiddling here and jiggling there but it didn't run well at all. It was running dim, yellow and pulsating. Not good at all. So a few parts and too many bucks later its running like a champ. I was surprised at how bright it actually is. I should have taken some pictures but it was getting late and the dog got into the mud so I was preoccupied. I'll put all three of my lanterns up here soon. Its becoming quite the little collection.

Tomorrow I'm going to take my car in and get the summer tires and rims put on. I've grown tired of the slow turn in and sidewall rollover of my winter tires. I want some sharp steering response and I'll have it after tomorrow. I find it funny that I always reach this point in spring. By the time that winter is over I want my summer tires on for the performance but by fall I am happy to get my winter tires on for some ride comfort. If only there was a tire that did it all. C'est La Vie.

Have a good night everyone.

Tuesday, May 09, 2006

We got it!

Yay we got the apartment. We should be getting the keys on May 29th. Ah I feel much more relieved now and much more excited all at the same time. Its pretty cool to have your own address.

Now the spending of the money begins. We've already given the damage deposit and I'm going to get the money for first months rent but there is many things to do yet. The first grocery run is going to be expensive. There is power, phone, TV and internet to hook up plus undoubtedly a huge number of things that I can't think of.

On the other side of the coin is the free stuff. I can't believe how generous people can be. We should probably try to figure out how to thank people. My mom is giving us a couch, love seat, chair, kitchen chairs, kitchen stuff like bowls and probably a bunch more. My uncle was using that couch, love seat and chair so they are kinda donated by him too. Lindsay's mom is giving us an electric frying pan, slow cooker, some other kitchen stuff, and some groceries. My dad is giving us a 27" TV. Lindsay's grandma is giving us a kitchen table. My grandparents are giving us a microwave. Lindsay's friend is giving us an entertainment unit for the TV. There is probably a bunch of stuff I missed but its tough to keep track of it all. A big thanks to everyone.

Now I just need to find some lackey's to help move. I know I've moved quite a few people and now its your turn. I'm looking at Mark, my uncle and Kerri and Scott. Too bad Mark won't be in town, although he doesn't have a truck anymore. I'm sure there will be no problem as there really isn't' that much stuff to move. Vehicles shouldn't be a problem as I have a truck, so does Tim, and my grandfather. My uncle has a minivan and Tristan at work offered up a 3-ton cube van if we need it. So everyone keep in mind the weekend of June 3rd and 4th because I could always use some movers.

Monday, May 08, 2006

Apartment

We might be closer to an apartment now. Lindsay phoned the guy in charge of Wilbeldon Terrace and I guess he has an apartment for us. We're going to look at it after work today. I got quite excited when Lindsay told me, in fact I had to pee. Anyways I have no idea what this is actually for as I did not talk to him. Is this the damage walk around and stuff or is this just to say yep this will be available for you for June 1st? I dunno. Hmmm... I seem to be rambling more than normal.

I am also getting excited about paintball in Edmonton on the 24th of June. For Nigel's birthday we are going to go paintballing. I can't wait to shoot him and Dad. I'm sure that I'll get lit up pretty good too as I will be the biggest target and possibly the most out of shape. Ah well it will be fun none the less and besides the bruises heal eventually.

Wish us luck.

Tuesday, May 02, 2006

Non-stop Gonging

No I'm not getting gonged at work, whatever that would be, it is a reference to the Gong Show. Everyone next door is out on service calls so I had to set up a site computer and I have no idea what is going on. I was told to install dos, a modem, our software and the config file. I was with them right up to our software. I wasn't even born when this software was developed. So I muddle my way through the land of DOS and floppy disks all the while getting asked questions that I don't know the answers to. Rory and myself manage to get everything working much to the surprise of Rainy and then we go for lunch. On the way out I mention to Rory that we need a large gong that we can ring whenever it gets this way around work. He laughs and tells me it would be non-stop gonging if we did that. I tend to agree.

So in other news I broke my newest lantern. I bought a 11/68 220F off of ebay and I was almost done rebulding it when I stripped out the tip cleaner assembly. Damnit. So I've got those on order but it could be a while before I see them, not to mention that the parts are worth as much as I paid for the damn lantern. Ah well atleast it is a fun hobby. I've got 3 lanterns now and I may have spent $100 rebuilding them which is pretty cheap as far as hobbies go. I'll put some pictures up when I've got it running next week.

Feeling down? You might just need some sex.