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| This needs to be seen by all. To bad that they're taking it off the internet Sunday night
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| Xanga is bugging me to blog or else they cut off my account, so.... I guess I should write an entry.
Today I'm blogging from Nipawin, SK. There is pretty much one town north of me (Fin Flon). I cannot figure out why anyone would live out here. The nearest town with anything in the form of entertainment is an hour and a half away and is smaller than Merrillville. The town of Nipawin has a total of 5 restaurants and probably just as many stop signs and it gets down to -40° (don't you dare ask if that's Celsius or Fahrenheit) in winter. Fortunately, the weather is great and the area is beautiful. The Rape fields are in full bloom, unfortunately, I'm quite allergic to the seeds. The plant I'm working at is tall enough that from the highest most point I can look down the river for miles.
Last month was Dave's wedding. It went off without a hitch (pass: photos). A fun time was had by all... except while driving, Pennsylvania roads are horribly laid out. Why would you be able to exit a highway and not be able to get back on.
Speaking of weddings, John and Sarah are getting married on the 26th. I know that's going to be one crazy wedding.
I've been keeping my time busy with a couple of web sites. The first is a strange online game called Erepublik. Kinda a world simulator but Dave and I are still playing. I have a few invites if anyone is interested. Steven got me addicted to the Woot! site. Their deal a day is quite addictive. I've even gotten Alyson to begin entering into the shirt Derbies (go go godzilla). I'll be house hunting in a month or two. Looking at something in the Bourbonois area.
I guess that's all for now.
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| It's 10:34 PM and I just got back from another week-long business trip. This is the 2nd week of 5 in a row after a 2 week break that was preceded by another 5 weeks of travel. This week just seemed different.
I spent the week starting up a plant in Hamilton, Ontario. This plant happens to be located next to Burlington Bay which is located in Lake Ontario. This area is a haven for older factories. I probably drove 4 miles past medium-sized industrial plants, anything from textiles to steel-mills, every morning. Each morning I tried to start my day by walking up 100 ft of stairs to get on the roof of the deodorizer building and catching the sunrise. This is the tallest structure around and it overlooks the entire city. From there I could even see Toronto.
The view kinda made be think back to 60-70 years ago, how the area would have looked. Looking east it was an entire industrial shore. There were many smokestacks billowing steam out the tops. I imagine that view hasn't changed much over time. To the north was the bay where the large ships come into dock. Again, much of the same. To the west more industry and a few high-rises, a slight shift into the modern era. To the north, rows of brick houses. I could practically see that area 70 years ago. Smoke coming out of the many chimneys warming the residents, brick lined streets filled with model A's, men walking to their job at the local factory in dirtied up overalls. It's quite the refreshing way to start the morning.
After that morning excursion it was back to work setting up modern equipment to do what man has been doing for centuries, making food fit to eat. As I set up the newest and latest control panel I think back to how it used to be done. When the science in the large scale system only went as far as the layman's estimate of weight and remembering that the last time he did something, it worked well.
Fast forward to later today. I leave the plant at 3pm to catch my 7:45 flight out of Buffalo knowing that I still have over 8 hours until I step foot into my home. I arrive at the airport and have something to eat. Then I sit down next to a window and watch the sun set and the rain start trickling down the glass. Planes come and go, yet the rain keeps on coming. People fade into and out of view, going on their way. I finally board the plane and take a night flight into Chicago. It's stormy the whole way there. I finally get outside of the airport and see one of the most horribly beautiful sights of the day. There is a slight haze to the air as I stand waiting for the bus to so I can get to my car. The air has a calming warmness to it. Cars, cabs and buses zip past as the city keeps on ticking. The rain starts to pick up to a downpour and the city just keeps on going. I stand in the corner while a man nearby smokes a cigar, the wind sends the slightest wiff my way. Suddenly it just seems like everything is at peace.
I don't really know how else to describe it, it just seems that everything just clicks together at once to make it so that everything is perfect, that one moment where nothing is out of place. The city feels beautiful, yet plain; inviting, yet shy; full, yet empty; noisy, yet silent; and for that one moment... everything is perfect.
I spent the ride home going over that one moment in my head, 90's music playing in the background, where I would randomly notice little things that just don't appear to be there most nights, yet they stood out tonight. A mist across the empty corn field, a spotlight illuminating the distant cloud a man helping a lady change a flat tire.
Well that's it, a bit longer than I imagined, but it'll do. I just felt like I needed to get that out of my head before I hit the hay. Still need to buy a bed as a futon can only do so much... goodnight internet.
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| Hehehe, Steven's dad had placed an airshell (the ones that launch high up into the sky from a tube and explode) into the fire pit earlier in the day to get rid of it... well it didn't explode earlier and he hadn't told Steven. So when we had the wonderful idea of placing sparklers in the firepit, everyone agreed. Steven goes and places the sparklers in the pit, about 5 seconds after they ignite the 'dud' airshell ignights sending ash everywhere. Everyone was alright, but it was probably the coolest thing I saw all 4th of July | | |
| I finally conned convinced my friends to take a road trip with me to burn all my free hotel nights. Here's the current plan of action.
Saturday - Drive to Indy, drop off Kat and Zach's car, etc. Go to Dayton and see the Wright Patterson Base and Air Force Museum - pretty cool stuff. Hang out in Dayton, stay there for the night.
Sunday - To Cincinnati to see Big Butter Jesus, and possibly go to church with the fine people of Solid Rock Church. From there, there are all sorts of things we can see, like a Medieval Castle that some dude built, and all sorts of other neat stuff. Could spend the night in Cinci, Dayton, or somewhere in between it and West Virginia
BTW: This is one of the best sites ever for planning a road trip: www.roadsideamerica.com
Monday - Drive to West Virginia, check out stuff there. A hike has been suggested by Dave - there's a ghost town and all kinds of stuff. Spend the night near the hike place.
Tuesday - Pittsburgh. Check out the sites, including the railway up the mountain and the cool scenery around the city. See why Sienna Miller was wrong in calling it Shitsburgh. Stay the night in Pittsburgh
Wednesday - haul our sorry selves back to Indiana
I expect nothing less than complete insanity for the next half a week.
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