Embracing a different lifestyle

For the next three days, I will be embracing the "no-wife-at-home" lifestyle, which I can confirm isn't as much fun as the "my wife is in the same city as me" lifestyle. I don't handle these brief returns to single life particularly well, being a big needy tool like I am. While many men might relish a few days away from the old ball-and-chain, I rather dread the backslide into unfortunate single-life habits that actually living with someone prevents. For one thing, I haven't had any vegetables today. In fact, I think I will go eat some fruit just to keep from going totally feral. I feel a bit like Red Foreman when he said, "What is it God? It's Okay to eat meat and beer and cheese? Okay, I'll tell her..."

The trip to the Airport started out all wrong, with Jenn leaving her tickets and documents on the kitchen counter. I'm glad she had remembered to pack her passport, because I forgot to check for it on my trip back into the house to find the tickets.

On top of my already starting to live like a university student who has been turned loose in a friend's parent's house for the weekend unsupervised with a key to the liquor cabinet, to make matters worse, the text messages I am getting from Jenn are becoming increasingly alarming.

15:51 "Hey, I arrived at ND... Everyone was in the basement because of the severe tornado warning..."

16:44 "Can you contact the travel medical insurance people for me, I think I need to go to the hospital..."

18:00 "I'm a the hospital, and there are injured babies all over the place..."

The trip to the hospital is unrelated to the tornadoes, - ear infection - but I'm not sure about the injured babies. I keep expecting to turn on the news and see that the dead are rising from the grave to feast on the flesh of the living in Indiana. I'm just glad we chunked the extra $22.00 for the travel medical... I don't relish the thought of an un-insured hospital trip in the good-old USA.

This does have the effect of making the third trip to the hospital, and as we all know, bad things come in threes. My finger, Jenn's Shoulder, Jenn's ear. Now we should be clear for at least a month without going to any emergency rooms.

And now, for just a bit of out-shouting, for some generally unrecognized co-bloggers and friends who deserve some recognition, especially as I don't blog too much these days, and I don't have the long distance plan to call them anymore:

Malcolm, you old giant, next time I'm in town we're hitting Wild Rose, I met one of the higher-ups at a beer judging, and I am commanded to show up for a pint at the taproom.

Speaking of Brewers, Brian - congratulations on finishing your exams.

Ms. Mayhem, as you are now my official Vancouver connection, you may be imposed upon to direct me to excellent sushi and Indian next time I am in town. Take Heed. Also hug Mr. Tall for me next time you see him.

My Brother Doesn't
Update His Blog Very Much
Even Though he should.

Fabsuz - I promise to show you a good time next time you are in Edmonton - and don't give me that "I'm not going to be there" crap... we know that is all lies.

and to Dree and Goose, who prove that a friend you haven't met is not necessarily a stranger,
Dree: I look forward to seeing the upcoming knitting, I am strongly considering compounding the interest on the beer you owe me and taking it in the form of mittens and a place to stay the next time I am coming to the festival in Canso, and

Goose: You are in our (choose one - completely secular thoughts / prayers - whichever you would prefer.) as you welcome Fetus into non-fetus status.

Jenn just texted me an update telling me that
1) Yes, she has an ear infection.
2) It would have ruptured by morning.
3) She has seen the doctor and Pharmacist.
4) Drug prices in the US are unconcionable.

So if all of you can keep us in your (totally secular thoughts/prayers) (at your discretion) It would be much appreciated at this, our time of ear infections and separation.

In unrelated News

Notwithstanding Jenn's busted up wing, I decided to be the standard husband and go drink beer on weeknights. As a judge in the BJCP, I have certain responsibilites, which just happen to inculde dringing 47 different beers in 3 days, and giving each one serious consideration. Tonight, I get to clean the house, which needs it in a bad way after having been torn apart for painting, and then neglected by the only able-bodied person in the house in favour of beer.

Oh, and I forgot, on my last post, whoever had a double pick of Jenn/dislocation and Owen/electrocution is the overall winner in the pool.

Painting

So many of you know that Jenn and I were having a crowd over to paint yesterday. Many of you will also know that I am not generally known as the most careful or graceful person in the world, and that home improvement of any variety seems to only make my clumsiness worse. The question therefore is,

"Who had 'Owen falls off the Ladder while painting and has to go to the hospital' in the pool?"

Because that person would NOT win.

The winner is, "Jenn falls down the stairs and dislocates her shoulder while trying to carry curtains to the basement to put in the wash."

Anyway, long story short, Jenni s 6 weeks in a sling, and is pissed about that, we didn't get nearly the painting we had hoped to done being several hands short, but we did manage to get most of the downstairs and upstairs hallway and get a start on the master bedroom. A particular thanks goes out to Jocelyn, who sat with Jenn and tried to keep her from hyperventilating while I proceeded to completely lose it.

Operation: Carboy drop.

Or, in reality, Carboy drop, then operation - to-wit 6 stitches in my little finger of my left hand. Starting to hurt some. Tylenol 3 should be kicking in pretty soon. I'm fine. Don't worry. I still have more fingers than average.

Happenings

After a break from work (and blogging) I am back to the old salt mines, but the reduced pressure of no new files has allowed me to get some older stuff sorted out. Soon files will be closing and we will be back to a reasonable level.

On other topics, the Flames seem hell-bent on breaking my heart yet again, as I assumed they would, the beer I blogged about that I should have been bottling last August was finally thrown out last weekend, and I write my BJCP exam next Saturday, leaving me one week to study the diverse and complex topic of Beer.

Our house still hasn't sold, in its 15th week on the market, which is alright, except that it sucks having to clean all the time, since I am a complete slob when I can get away with it.

Anyway, back to my studies ... everything from AAU to Zymurgy.

I ain't saying I'm burnt out, but today was a bit of a flicker.

Today I ran out of steam in a huge way just after lunch. Several files are in the process of blowing up, and none of my files seem to be resolving. I have clients who seem to be on quest to make my life difficult, and I have opposing counsel who seem to be doing the same. For the first time in a long time, I have been losing sleep over files. (Also because today at 5:30 AM the cats decided to have a 'who can piss Owen off the most' contest.) My energy is waning, and it is affecting my ability to function at the level at which I want to. One factor in this is the sheer number of active files I am conducting, well over 100 since the other family law lawyer left the firm. This is about double what it should be. As a result, I will not be taking new files for the foreseeable future, and I will be working to close the ones I have to get down to a proper caseload.

Getting at the root of the problem is one key, and that is one that will have to be addressed over the next weeks and months. The other key is to de-stress right now, which means improving my diet and exercise, and really enjoying my upcoming 4 day weekend.

Larium

Antimalarial drugs are giving me an upset tummy. Could be worse. They're giving Jenn strange dreams. Either way, Jenn isn't getting much sleep.

Mandy apparently adopted again.

Mandy's profile has again been removed from the EHS website, which means I am much happier. I will stay that way until she shows up again.

Sadness

I checked again today, and "Dot", better known as Mandy, is back up on the EHS website. Our initial hopes for a short stay for Mandy have been overthrown. Mandy is still in need of a home and of love. If you know someone who needs/wants a very snuggly apex predator, please point them to "Dot", pet #5900.

Now that I have no snow tires...

AS OF 3 PM RADAR INDICATES BANDS OF SNOW DEVELOPING TO THE NORTHWEST OF EDMONTON VICINITY THE SWAN HILLS. THIS AREA OF SNOW IS FORECAST TO INTENSIFY AND TRACK SOUTHEASTWARDS THIS EVENING. A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL DEVELOP NEAR CALGARY LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND THEN TRACK RAPIDLY SOUTHEASTWARD INTO SOUTHWESTERN SASKATCHEWAN BY WEDNESDAY MORNING. THIS SYSTEM WILL TAP INTO A WARM STREAM OF MOIST PACIFIC AIR AND IS EXPECTED TO BLANKET THE ABOVE REGIONS WITH 8 TO 12 CENTIMETRES OF FRESH SNOW. IN ADDITION THESE AREAS WILL EXPERIENCE STRONG EASTERLY WINDS AND REDUCED VISIBILITIES IN BLOWING SNOW ESPECIALLY IN EXPOSED AREAS. BRIEF PERIODS OF FREEZING RAIN ARE POSSIBLE AS WELL

Mmmmm, warm Pacific air mass, with everything that entails - above-normal temperatures (a wlecome departure, I assure you) moisture in the air, oh yeah, and huge amounts of heavy, wet, slippery snow. I really don't mind, I just hope that my new car with it's low-profile all-seasons doesn't wind me up in the ditch. Just chant along with me, "Drive for the conditions...Drive for the conditions...."

Someone loves Mandy.

Today, I did my normal review of the Edmonton Humane Society website to check up on Mandy. She had been put up on the site about 1 week ago. She is now off of the site, which means that she has been adopted. Someone has seen her extra-love personality and her complete gentleness, and taken her home. I only hope that she will be treated as an indoor cat, and given plenty of love, because that is what she deserves.

For whoever took cat #5900 "Dot" (Real name - Princess Mandolin (Mitten) Manjit Bananna-Muffin Sunbeam-Tiger Cat-Taylor-Kirkaldy (AKA Mangalore, AKA Mandibles, AKA Mang, AKA Mangy-Moo, AKA Mucous)) into their home, I wish you the warmest blessings of whatever god-figure, analogous entity, or lack thereof that you (believe/tell your mom you believe/don't believe) in.

Humiliation at the Opera

On Tuesday, I attended the Edmonton Opera's production of "HMS Pinnafore" as part of the "Opera Explorer's Club" Which is a fancy way of saying "Rush seats, pizza and beer for people under 30 who want to go to the opera".

It was at the pizza and beer intermission that I had my humiliating experience - I was part of a group of people, albiet a small part, who were admonished for.... (it's almost too horrible to say)...

Not Drinking Enough Beer.

Sure enough, of the 50 or so people in the room, there were perhaps 10 who had availed themselves of the free beer that was already poured and waiting for them. I did my best and sucked back two, fast, between acts, but I wasn't able to make a serious dent in the backlog by myself. Embarassing.

Moreover, the Total Loss department has finally gotten back to me about my truck and made a better offer. I will be accepting that and probably buying the car that the firm accepted in lieu of fees from one client. It kind of looks like a drug-dealer's Civic, but that's only because it was, well, a drug dealer's Civic. That having been said, it will be nice to have a vehicle with a trunk again. I am a little dissapointed that I don't get a convertible, but that's on my wishlist for sooner rather than later. The nice thing about the 3rd generation Miatas is that they have dropped the bottom out of the used market for 2nd generation Miatas.

Moist Kitty

Today the inevitible happened. Little Billie fell into the fishtank. She got out just fine, and made a big mess right before the open house, but I don't think she'll be going after those fish for a while.

Post # 200

To celebrate the 200th post, I will provide the good news. I am alive. I have not frozen to death in this cold snap. This, according to the Globe and Mail and other reputable news sources, places me ahead of quite a number of other people in the last week. Two small children have frozen to death in Saskatchewan, three people were killed in a blizzard on the road between Edmonton and Jasper, and a cat was found, I am not making this up, frozen to the sidewalk in Edmonton last week.

In other news, the total loss people have finally told me that they are making an offer on my truck. I will be squeezing them for closer to what it is worth, but I might just be able to buy a working car with what they will give me. Fingers crossed, people.

Jenn Went back to work today. Apparently, it was...bleich. The kids were really happy she was back, and plenty of the staff. On top of that, her grievance has been formalized, and we are now at the start of the actual "under the collective agreement" thing. What that means is that if the timelines for the grievance process all go the maximum length, Jenn's problems might just get resolved by the end of the teaching year. Isn't that great?

Anyway, work has been going good for me, I have been rocking the whole practicing law thing, and I hope to actually be finished my thesis soon too, which would allow me to justify reading for fun.

You can get used to anything

Witness the fact that I was happy on my drive in to work because it was "Only" -38c WITH the windchill. The actual temperature was only -28c.

Next week it is supposed to go up near zero. I don't know how I will cope. I'll have to take off all my clothes and go tanning on the front lawn.

A weather update

The windchill this morning on my way to work was announced on the radio as -47c. My colleague spent an hour digging his car out of the end of his driveway, and had to go home with mild hypothermia at noon.

I am not looking forward to the drive home. I think I may leave early to take advantage of the daylight.

My weather forecast

Here is what environment Canada has to say about Spruce Grove tomorrow:

AN ARCTIC AIR MASS HAS SETTLED OVER NORTHERN AND CENTRAL ALBERTA. THE VERY COLD TEMPERATURES COMBINED WITH A BRISK NORTHERLY WIND WILL PRODUCE EXTREME WIND CHILL VALUES BELOW MINUS 40 TONIGHT INTO MONDAY MORNING. HIGH RISK OF FROSTBITE. EXPOSED SKIN CAN FREEZE IN 5 TO 10 MINUTES OR SOONER DEPENDING ON WIND SPEED. REDUCED VISIBILITIES IN SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW ARE OCCURRING IN THE COLD LAKE, FORT SASKATCHEWAN AND LLOYDMINSTER REGIONS. SNOWFALL AMOUNTS NEAR 10 CENTIMETRES ARE EXPECTED AND WIND CHILL VALUES WILL FALL BELOW MINUS 40. VISIBILITIES AND SNOWFALL ARE EXPECTED TO IMPROVE MONDAY MORNING HOWEVER WIND CHILLS WILL REMAIN BELOW MINUS 40 INTO MONDAY.

Doesn't that sound lovely?

Here are a couple of pictures of the tiny kitten. She is very tiny and very sweet.

Part two of the saga of the visit to the Edmonton Humane Society

As sad as we were to leave Mandy at the shelter for someone who can provide a ferret-proofed space for her, we couldn't leave a cat at an over-capacity shelter without doing our part to make us cat-neutral. On the way home, we were joined by Pet # 5174 (Shiraz). She was promptly re-named in the music theme: Billie (Bear) Holiday Cat-Kirkaldy. She is almost as snuggly as Banjo was when he was her age, but she hasn't shown any distinct preference for Jenn yet, so I have high hopes she might like me too.

I am not very happy.

Last night, Mandy, who has already had an ongoing problem for three years with chewing through string, has moved on to harder stuff. Electrical cords. This makes my cat a fire hazard.

So this afternoon, we are going to the humane society to give her up to the program for cats who are too difficult to live with and are adopted as barn cats. This means that my cat, who is the gentlest cat I think I have ever seen with people (although lethal to anything smaller than her) will have a new life where she will probably never get another tummy rub. After about noon, she won't be getting any from me.