Car show and stuff

Every April, the "Majestic's Car Club" in Regina has a car show. I went to it when I was in grade 11 or 12 and ever since then (almost every year) I have said, "I should go to Majestic's this year".... and then I don't! So this year - I did!

Shady Shane (a buddy from town) and I met a couple of other guys (Dennis and Justin) up there and went to the show. It was really fun! In particular, I really enjoyed visiting with the guy who had the late model stock car shown in the picture above. When I walked up and started looking at it he said, "Jump in - see what it feels like" - so I did and then got out and visited with him about the car, the tracks in Regina and S'toon, the tour, the costs of running a car - it was cool.

The show had everything from older cars done up in original condition, to hot rods, to custom bikes and even a Lotus. A Bible camp was selling tickets on a brand new Harley - draw being made on Father's day - so there are going to be 3 999 sad little Daddies when I drive away with that bike! :)

From there we went to Princess Auto, Peavey Mart and a motorcycle shop. When I got home the girls had started a fire in the fire pit so we sat outside and enjoyed the nice night with the first camp fire of the season.

I almost stayed home. I had other things that I could have/should have been doing around the house and what sense does it make to go to Regina just to look at a bunch of cars..... but I am glad I went. It was a good day!

You know you live in a Redneck town when...

Three examples.....

1. Vanity plate on a car that I saw today...... "Sea ya" (Now maybe "See ya" was taken but how about "C ya" or something...... it ain't a boat!)

2. Neighbourhood kid (child of the people that we used to refer to as "The Hillbillies") rides her bike down the block (usually plays in the street but that is another matter).... runs into the side of my motorcycle! There literally is not another vehicle parked on our side of the street for the whole block and this kid still hits my bike.... she falls over.... lays on the ground for a while.... after about 3 minutes - without crying or saying a word - just gets up and rides off like nothing happened. Sari sees this and tells me about - so while I am out checking the bike to make sure nothing is wrecked I overhear this conversation between the kid and her dad - 20 feet from me.....

Kid: I ran into that motorcycle

Dad: Well.... did you scratch it?

And that was it! Didn't ask about the kid. Didn't acknowledge the fact that I was now 10 feet away looking at the bike..... no "Hey I am so sorry man!" Nothing! Just taking the word of a 4 year old kid.... "Did you scratch it? No? Good!"..... and that was it. Then they played in the front yard and on the street as if we did not exist (which is odd b/c we usually can't get them to stop talking).... "If you don't acknowledge it.... it didn't happen!" :)


3. Actual conversation at school recently.

Dad: Here is my kid's band instrument. He forgot it at home.

Sari: Oh - I think they had band already - he missed it

D: Well - that is ok. I don't see why he has to take band anyway - that is stupid. That and french - two stupidest things in the world

S: Well - he does not have to take band next year. He gets a choice I guess, but he may want to keep up with it - and with french - good to have in high school

D: My kid ain't going to high school. He is droppin' out after grade nine. All I got is my grade nine and I am making $1000 a day in the oil field. Kid doesn't need to waste his time in school. He gonna go and get a job and do something with his life. Sit in school - that is just stupid! :)


And there you have it......if you have seen or heard these things - you may live in a redneck town.


PS. Still waiting on someone to give and opinion re. the Tim Horton's winner rule - buyer wins - yes or no (See below)

That is funny!

So I a friend of mine - lets call him "Sally" (why? Because I like the name Sally and no one ever names their kids Sally anymore. Why is that? When is the last time you met a Sally? Does anyone know a Sally? Seriously! Even more rare would be a guy named Sally - so that is the name I am giving him to protect his identity because it is not really Sally) - came and got me for coffee this afternoon. We ended up going to Tim Horton's and - because Sally drove - I paid.

We sit down at the table and I offer Sally the choice of "roll up the rim" cups and he chooses one. I look at mine - nothing (I have not won a thing all year). Sally rolls his up and it says, "Win a netbook!"

Sally says, "What is a netbook?"

I explain that it is a mini-computer.... worth maybe $300 - 400.

Now here is the question: What should Sally have done at that point?

I bought the coffee - but I gave Sally the choice of cups. Sally chose his and I got what was left over (by my choice - I could have gone first but didn't).

Should Sally have said, "You bought coffee - it is your cup and your computer" or did Sally win on the cup that was Sally's and the computer is his?

As it turns out, Sally said, "Lets go claim this thing". He got the form to fill out and that was that. Sally is taking the computer.... and the funny part is that Sally does not like computers - Sally does not even have an internet connection. :)

It may turn out that Sally comes back and offers it to me after all, but even if not - it is worth it just to have this story to tell. :)

PS. Please don't ask the identity of "Sally" - I could tell you but then.... well you know the next part right? :)

Thatsa Nice!

I am not sure why I wrote the subject line with a cheesy Italian accent, but none the less we had a nice weekend. Sari had an unexpected meeting for the magazine that she helps with (ask if you need more details there) so we ended up going to Regina and hanging out with the Mooneys Friday night and Saturday.

- We stayed up way too late Friday night (2 am I think)

- Fed my "I want to go to New York" addiction by looking at their pictures and hearing about their trips out there

- We walked around Wascana - along with everyone else who lives within 30 hours of the place (Don't get me wrong - it was nice - but obviously it was the first nice Saturday of the year b/c everyone was out there)

- We got slurpees and played road hockey in the back yard

- Then today church was good - especially our Bible study tonight (if you have not come you are missing out - it is really interesting to hear what people have to share)

- We worked in the yard for a while this afternoon

- And I went for my first motorcycle ride of the year. I put plates on it on Friday, but I was so busy changing oil in our vehicles and getting ready to go to Regina that I did not have time to ride. (Funny thing: I went to SGI to get the bike registered and there were like 5 people in line.... then more and more came in.... until we had a group of about 10 people. The last guy to come in said, "Huh - I thought I would just run in here - plate my bike and be gone quick". The guy behind me said, "Me too". The guy in front of me said, "I am plating my bike too". I said, "Me too". All 10 of us were there to put plates on bikes. It must be spring)

So - a nice weekend - a good day - hopefully a good week as well.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!!!!!

Wwwwoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!! NHL playoffs start tonight!!!

The first round especially = 4 games per night, drama, tension, late nights, double overtime that goes till 1 am, lost sleep..... it is great! :)

The good news: I am in two hockey pools this playoffs (One family pool and one with the guys at the radio station in town)

The bad news: I got beat by two little girls in our regular season family pool!

The good news: They are my kids, so I can claim part of the victory as they have my genetics

The bad news: In both playoff pools I ended up taking a bunch of guys from two teams that I do not like (LA and Philadelphia)

The Good news: My brother in law is a Philly fan - so I will either have someone to celebrate with or someone to cry with

The bad news: San Jose lost in the last minute tonight (I have Nabokov - SJ's goalie in the radio station pool)

The good news: Detroit lost (I have none of them- others have lots)

The bad news: I have not won the family pool in a long time (came in 2nd and 3rd a lot - no wins)

The good news: The guy in the radio pool gave everyone cool nicknames like "Spittin' Matt Litton" and "Rippin' us Tim Pippus" (Not bad - what are you gonna do with Pippus??? I think he did ok)

The bad news: I now have to wait almost 24 hours for the next game to start!

The good news: There are lots more games to come

The bad news: It is going to be really hard to stay awake all day after a few double overtime games b/c my office is so sunny and warm and my chair is so soft and recliney and there is no one else in the building and it is hard to read when you are tired and after a while the words all run together and the traffic noise is sort of lullying and ...... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!

Why Not Minot????

Ok - so I have not been a good blogger lately - I will try to remedy that this week. Part of the problem is the "No pressure" aspect of not having to blog every day. No commitment = no writing... but I will see what I can do.

The other issue is that we went away for three days and I was completely "computer free" - in fact, I had a total "computer-ectomy" (Something that - having survived the procedure - I would recommend to everyone once in a while). I did not touch a computer... I did not look at a computer... I did not even sit down in front of the free one at the hotel.... nothing! And guess what???? Contrary to popular belief - the world did not stop spinning.... I did not really lose any "quality of life" by not knowing every time one of Sari Facebook friends blew their nose..... NOTHING BAD HAPPENED!!!! (Spread the word!!!!!!)

In fact, some really nice things happened.....

- We went to Minot for a few days (more in a moment) and just relaxed! It was great! I even enjoyed wandering around the mall (which I normally HATE!!!!) I guess that is what happens when you get trapped in town for like 8 straight months - it makes you appreciate freedom!

- On the way down, we took a detour over to Newtown so that the girls could see the big lake/bridge etc. They whined about it a bit.... "Lets just go to Minot" - but in the end they were really impressed and had a lot of fun looking around (Sari even got "Whooped" at by a passing car as we walked a trail by the highway - nice hey?) :)

- In Minot we just hung out, shopped, ate out - I went to motorcycle shops - nothing intense - but really really nice. Good just to hang out together with nothing to do.

- I even brought out "the special wallet" (The is a quote from a Scottish comedian we saw one time who said, "I bought ice cream cones for the kids.... note the plural.... two cones... because when I am on holiday I bring out the 'Special wallet'")...... so we ate ice cream at this 1950's dinner place (some one told us the shakes were good)..... we went to a 3-D movie (the girls really liked that.... and we got some "cool" glasses out of the deal)...... the girls bought enough stuff to load the whole back of the van (When i got home I realized I should have spend more on myself - just in "self-defense")

- I did buy three NASCAR coats though.... regularly $60 - 80 dollars ...... on sale for $5 each (I did not even need the special wallet for those ones). They are not teams that I particularly like so I may just give them away.... but $5!!!!! I could not just leave them there.

But the best was just being there together. We laughed and hung out and stayed up too late and slept in too long and drank too much coke and ate too much chocolate..... and it was great! I am looking forward to summer holidays now..... and to the next weekend getaway. Hopefully it will not be another 8 months away.