1. Driving - Don't you ever wish you had a digital message displayer on your back windshield to display messages to those behind you? Well, I am pretty sure that Winnipeg drivers are the worst in the world. all i have to say is that just because you are going 2 km over the speed limit it doesn't mean that you have automatic rights to use the left or FAST lane. also, when someone faster is coming up behind you, common courtesy would be to move into the slower lane to let them pass. yet to my amazement and great frustration manitoba drivers fail in trying to exhibit any competence in the field of driving. If i had my little digital message displayer i would write sayings like "if im passing you in the slow lane, get off the road!" or "you, ya you, learn how to drive or get off the road", etcetera. Yet the frustration from this does not even come close to that caused when two vehicles are going the same speed down the highway right beside one another while 4 other cars and myself are trying to get passed. to deal with such a situation i usually have a series of remedies which i employ to solve the situation. firstly, i ride the bumper of the most persuadable driver. this means minivans, cars, and some trucks. semis and hauling trucks don't work. they don't see you and your car will continually be pegged with loose content flying out of the back of the vehicle. secondly, i lay on the horn. i figure that people should know if they are in the way. it may be rood but hey, they should learn how to drive. thirdly, if all other attempts fail in getting one or the other vehicles to pass the other, than i pass on the shoulder. yes it is quite unconventional and dangerous but sometimes situations become desperate. i warn that such an event tends to cause older people to almost have heart attacks and almost swerve off the road. most people can't believe their eyes really. but hey. the shock affect will do them good.
2. Suicidal birds - while on the topic of driving, i would like to announce that this past week, i created roadkill for the first time as a driver. i was driving to the city to work at roughly 6am at 150km/hour when a bird decides to land on the road ahead of me. instead of flying the one foot to the left to freedom, the bird decides to fly the 4 feet to the right when he was three meters ahead of me. lets just say i clobbered him with my license plate. as i looked back in my review mirror i could see him stumble onto the shoulder and die. and everyday i pass him on the way to work, and i think about how stupid birds are. the next day i was driving home from work and a bird flew right into the passenger window of the vehicle in front of me. i couldn't believe my eyes; feathers were everywhere. and i thought that the whole feathers flying thing was only an idea from the cartoons. after such events i started to notice the number of birds lying along the highway. i counted 10 - two of which were only 2 feet apart from eachother and the same kind. they were probably brother and sister. now i don't know whats causing all the birds to go crazy and become suicidal but i think there is something in the air and the government is keeping it a secret.
3. West nile - now the high populations of mosquitoes may be a reason for the crazy birds. according to the records, manitoba has never seen this many mosquitoes in recent memory. according to winnipeg mosquito trap numbers, we had roughly 560 mosquitoes/night a week ago. only 1994 comes close when roughly 500 mosquitoes were found. with all the excess water and flooding, i think that we pretty much are facing a plague. i feel that i have a glimpse of what the egyptians had to deal with when they received the plague of gnats. yet all this time i kept on reading that most people who have been bitten alot since a child were probably immune to the west nile virus, which is carried via mosquitoes. but the other day as i listened to the radio, the announcer said that only 3% of the population were immune, while the majority of the rest don't show any symptoms of the virus if they do have it. still a small few do show symptoms, and a few even die. that is a comforting thought. i just killed three mosquitoes since i began writing the last sentance.
4. Morning talk shows - another thing about what i love about manitoba is the radio talk shows in the morning. only in manitoba have i been able to listen to talk shows and find them hilarious enough to continue to listen to them. radio morning shows in ontario are in no way funny or good. but the ace burpee show on hot 103 and wheeler and hal on power 97 are hilarious. they seriously have my laughing my ass off all the way to work from 5:50 - 7:00 in the morning.
5. Work - work at premier this year is alright. i get a pay raise to $9/hour which is good. yet alot of things are messed up in the shipping world, and so i spend more time just organizing stuff so i can do my job, than doing my job at all. it has been very frustrating and stressful as some of the workers there can tell by the look on my face as i run around the plant as more and more things get added to my list of things to do (usually all needing to be done at the same time- as in right now), things going wrong everywhere, and the frustrated people that i have to deal with. you would think that since my assistant no longer has to do any work in the trailers and actually is fully helping me in everything i do this year, that i should have less work than any other years. yet surprisingly, i am busier than ever, having my helper do my regular work while i try to organize and keep things going otherwise. i definitely don't think im being paid enough for my job.
6. My assistant - speaking of my helper, this year i received a new assistant. after two years, dustin a.k.a. haroo or benji, has been promoted to working on the colater (the machine that assembles the different parts of the agenda) and is now working on the other shift. i guess once someone enters university it is probably better to give them something more than the dirty work. anyways, with his departure i have received a new fresh 15 year old helper to assist me in my work. he is a really cool guy and im sure we will have a great time working together this summer. now as many of you know i have a tradition of naming my helper (last year - haroo - from a dream i had, two years ago - benji), yet this year i seem to have a hard time with this one. so any suggestions please leave a comment. also my assistant has a little problem with b.o. and when your in the shipping world and sweating all day for 10 hours straight it gets bad. but i don't know how to tell him to wear deodorant. so if you have any suggestions, please, please leave a comment.
7. The Carman Parade - so another year has passed and another carman parade has come. this year's parade has left me with mixed feelings. as the biggest social event of the year, the parade has always been a highlight for the entire town and region around us. this year had a few surprises. i definately enjoyed the local rock group exhibiting their talent on the back of a float, something not done for years. as well, i liked seeing our mayor in a bright yellow ford mustang rented from the local dealership. it was a proud movement. my favourite part was probably the tractors pulling a series of "cars" (made out of plastic bins cut in half with kids in each one making a train) advertising the new daycare opening in town. it was great as the lady driving the tractor was constantly telling the kids to sit down and not reach out of the cars, while other kids balled their eyes out not wanting to be in them. yet such highlights were tainted with floats/entrances that didn't even look like they belonged in the parade. random semis don't do anything to a parade. i don't' get it! also, miss winkler, morden and true value were really disappointing this year. im pretty sure none of those girls on the floats should be qualified to enter a beauty pageant, no offense or anything. also disappointing was the lack of candy. even though i have outgrown the age of receiving any candy from those handing them out, i have to say that the actual quantity of candy being thrown out has been steadily decreasing over the last 8 or so years. i used to come home with a grocery bag full of candy. kids these days will be lucky if they come home with a sandwich sized ziploc bag. finally, even the rock bands performance was tainted by the p.o.s. speakers which the muffled and lost lyrics came out of. i still think that the organizers should move the parade back to saturday mornings right after the town breakfast at the community hall. it's just better at that time. some things shouldn't be changed. period. so as you can see, this past years parade has been left me with mixed emotions and cautiously optimistic for next year. i give 2.3 stars out of 5.
8. Church - church is great. i love church. yet when it is 32 degrees out and the humidity makes it feel like 43 degrees and your stuck in a church with no air conditioning and no moving air current, the weather tends to hamper the service and experience. i mean, when the elder reading the sermon off the pulpit is sweating profusely in his sunday suit with sweat stains that pretty much cover his entire shirt, which causes him to be uncomfortable, making him read faster in order to get out of the building, than i think that is a problem. also, the heat causes a lot of people to feel tired and fall asleep, and those who manage to stay awake are sweating so bad and feel so sticky that all they can do is think about how much they want to get out of the building. as we are renting the church from our sister church in carman east for $1000 a month, i say if they refuse to invest some money in an air conditioning system, than we should stop renting the church and start renting out the town's meat market freezer. i mean, if God doesn't care exactly where we worship Him, than lets make sure that the weather is not preventing us from getting the most out of the church service.

Anyways, so that is just a glimpse of my life this past week. i could go on, but i think it is long enough for now. i hope that you all have a good week, as i officially start night shift tomorrow night and plan to go to chad's cabin on saturday after work for the day. anyways, take care, peace. out.