July 31, 2007

envirofriendly pubs

It’s Guinness time on the deck at O’Hanlon’s this balmy last afternoon of July (or August eve if you prefer) . Hah! Never mind that it’s 30 degrees celsius and there’s not a breath of a breeze to cool our weary brows. Even the mosquitoes have gone to hide in the park! But there’s the crew, faithful sots that we are, shielding our lovely dark brews from the heartless prairie glare. Trying desperately to get just the right angle on the table umbrella, so that our pints stay colder longer and don’t lose their heads (while we lose ours). Ah well, just “drink ‘em quicker” seems to be the solution of the day. And so we will.

Tables burgeoning with glasses, the crew goes through a few shift changes, it’s all extended family here. And as evening creeps across our happy place, and the sipping of the pints reaches that critical balance where the last sip is still just cool enough to be tasty, the philosophers in the crowd start searching for the topic of the day…

Have you ever noticed how friendly great pubs are? I mean really. They go out of their way to make you feel more welcome than you do at home. You get a smile or a nod, maybe even a hug when you stroll in the door. The bartender knows your name and your favorite brew. The floors are wood, so spills are cleaned up easily with a mop (if there's time and the crush isn't to bad), you still have traction (though occasionally a little too much) and accidents aren’t quite so embarrassing. The tables are nice and heavy, so that you don’t knock ‘em over as you struggle through the sea of libertines to go for a smoke. The sturdy chairs embrace you so that when you start to wobble they maintain your stability and your butt doesn’t fall asleep. The bartenders might even take a musical request or two if you ask real nice.

To my mind and tastebuds the best pubs draw their potables from kegs on tap and serve them in pint glasses (schooner mugs being too large to drink quickly enough before they get warm if you want to last more than an hour or two). Both kegs and glasses are reused, nothing for the landfill here. So pubs are environmentally friendly too! You might get the occasional coaster that has been ripped to bits or used for numbers and email addresses and of course the inevitable napkins once the munchies appear, but there just isn’t a lot of wastage in the pub. Even the bathrooms use Exelorator hand dryers that sound like a 747 coming in for a landing (talk about overkill, they'll even dry your jeans if you were in the path of spillage).

Just think of all the garbage a “not on tap” bar produces never mind that the bottles may be outdated or just freshly put in the cooler so they're still skunky warm. Bottles, cans, beer caps and flip lids, plastic holders and cardboard boxes. Granted the bottles and cans are recyclable, but then you have to dump any leftovers, sort them and load them (inevitably a bottom will drop out of a case and then you have to pick up the crushed glass as well), and tote them to the recyclers, then wait in Murphy’s “the other line is always faster” queue, and put up with the fruit flies flying up your nose and avoid or kill the other miscellaneous insects attracted to stale liquids. Sounds like a fun afternoon to me!

I think I’d rather just mosey on down to the pub, find myself a nice sturdy picnic table with umbrella protection, and have another Guinness.

July 30, 2007

life after vacation

so it went up to 37 and it felt like 42 with the humidity today. i wouldn't have known it if i hadn't gone outside for a smoke around 2pm. just missed the 3 sec rain shower, it was evaporating before it even hit the ground. thank the hundred little gods i'm a smoker or i would have missed all the excitement.

first day back. damn but i have a great boss. everything she could take care of she did (my first day back & now she's on holiday) got some new correspondence in along with the half dozen on my desk. gives me enough to do to keep busy yet not enough to make me dislike my job. like a canter. and the AC sure doesn't hurt. the day just flew past.

then it was off to the library with the 40 or so pounds of books i read the last few weeks and pick up a couple holds that were waiting, which was good cause i've gone through the others including the 4 books i bought. 2 blocks - holy sheepshit batman. i love the heat but i absolutely detest the humidity that's been hanging around. so much for that bermuda vacation ...

so tomorrow's going to be t'another steamer an' i ain't gonna worry none 'bout it cause i be inside my nice office building in ma cubicle with my LED fan sending fake jamaican breezes through my forever 8 year old hair.

back to work

it's bright and early on a soon to be VERY HOT (38) summer day ... think I'm even happier to be in air conditioned comfort. now that I am back at work, I will be visiting the pc a lettle more often :)

hope all my friends have fun this summer, even the ones I haven't met yet.

July 18, 2007

floggin' bloggin'

vacatopn is loverly .. not spending much time at th 'puter, just a quick note to say hi y'all and it's back out to the glorious fantabulous summer heat!

July 12, 2007

summer vacation :)

the new phone books are here and this is my last day of work until August

WHO HOO!!!!

how much better can it get? you can find me in Bombay or on the deck-adance, or maybe camping or at the pool.

cheers y'all

July 10, 2007

attitudinal

so I've been off work for 4 days, the temperature has hovered in the high 30s with the humidity or it's been raining for the last week, i spent way too much time in deck-adance last week and yet ... i'm quite the happy camper or maybe happy campy (depends on who you ask). so the attitude swings are gettin closer together and i'm a thinkin that the "change" is creepin' up upon me.

shit.

the only good thing will be the cessation of the plumbing leakage really, BUT the crap you have to put up with before that happens (for maybe 10 years), never mind the 37 years already invested makes the payoff at least as overpriced as the regina housing market ( there's a 420 sq ft condo in my building for $69,900!)

so it's rollercoaster time once again, been here before when my testosterone & adrenaline levels went wonky when i was around 29-32. mon to thurs happy & manic, friday mad panic, saturday chillin and sunday swillin'. monday was donnacake day, fairly laid back and calm and here it is tuesday good news day .... i guess that's how i roll! so for now i'll just have to try and figure out what my sine curve is and handle the side effects as they come. all my friends who see me as a positive influence ... heh heh heh ... might be in for a rude awakening, cos when i hit the bottom of that curve i am one nasty piece of work. not on purpose - shit just happens.

c'est la vie - saves me $200 bucks for the exhibition.

July 06, 2007

friday

the ladies auxillary discovered that we are all gangStars yestereve. mr upsidedown hat guy, he showed us we were representin in style n'all. . . ask crazyD she had us rollin, then add the ninja's dry wit and bitter accompaniments and the hilarity rolls on. needless to say it was a deckadance day. the ladies were called by osmosis to to yattle and prack and have decided we need a little pampering.

so it's gin & juice on the menu tonight, abby's bbq tomorrow and jo's bday sunday ... the heat is on, no really on. spent the day cleaning and fixin and launderin and now it's time to do some more yattle & prackin'

cheers mates








change is eternal ...

July 03, 2007

tuesday ...

up & at 'em early, gotta go to work today. went to get my yogurt and found that the fridge door had not been completely closed at some point late last nite, so though it was still refrigerated the items on the top shelf by the light (which comes on when the door is open) had become less than the desired chill. that would be my yogurt, tuna and half a pineapple none of which are good lukewarm.

...something had been tugging at the corners of my consciousness in the wee hours, and having gone to bed quite a bit earlier than usual I found myself quite wide awake around 5 am. so i took my dailies out to the deck to contemplate the morning and have a smoke and was contemplating the nasty roofwork on the opposite building when i realized that today a very good friend of mine is having her hysterectomy.

what amazed me was that though i empathize and truly wish that disease had not interrupted her path, i am more filled with thankfulness that it was found, diagnosed and today will be treated so that my friend will still be here, albeit not "all" here, but then again she is in some pretty good company :) (most of our crew aren't really "all" there)

once i realized what it was that had been nudging me to wakefulness i took a few moments and sent all the good vibes out into the ether for her to pick up and felt much better. sometimes it is the recognition of the changes life requires of yourself and your friends that provides a great foundation for your day.

July 01, 2007

canada d'eh!

camping was such a release. beautiful day and the weather dudes were completely wrong about their "severe thunderstorm warnings". watched the cutest new growth chipmunk try and find the peanuts we stashed in the woodpile. i lost the majority of the card games but i did have one that was awesome, the saving grace. slept better than a baby - for an entire 7 and a half hours - in a row - with only a slight recognition of consciousness when Lu made a trip out around 6 am. glorious morning, exactly warm enough with just a touch of the earth's breath to keep it fresh yet redolent with java deepness. absolutely did not want to leave. i do so love the quiet.

mournful ride home (very short) greeted by angus bodhi cat with a rumbling purr. stow the gear, find a snick snack munchie .. why look at that = it's my super soft feather bed and a fan to imitate the tropical breezes of belize ....

4 hours later i am trying to determine what page i was on when i drifted off to la la land missed supper time entirely, hmmmm ... basa all pepper buttery crispified with lemony rice and greens, juicy fresh cherryness to freshen the palate. tasty tasty.

holy crap! just about dropped my coffee - fireworks in the park, car horns and alarms blaring for blocks from the shock waves as they are launched. sounded like a wonderful display. for once the cat didn't freak out either, just kind of noted my response twitched his ears twice and went back to his gangster dreams. the new arrangement for the office popped into my head and i actually drew it out before i forgot. and i scrubbed the bathroom fixtures and did some dishes.

to top off an already good day, the kids brought the grands over for hugs and a quick chat after the park.

the only thing missing is a guiness.

improvise & overcome

... and why would I choose to associate myself with a term that most used used in a derogatory manner?
In order to change the meaning of a word or create a new meaning for a word, one must own the word. Over time and use the word may evolve to mean other than was originally intended & to that end...
my definition: an independent woman

dictionary definitions:

1. informal term for a (young) woman
2. an unsupervised umarried woman
3. a young woman or girl, esp. a peasant girl.
(usually facetious)
3. a woman servant
4. a wanton woman
5. Archaic: a strumpet
[Origin: 1250–1300; ME, back formation from wenchel, OE wencel child]

synonom :"dame"

acronym:
Women Entitled to Nothing but Complete Happiness

International Wenches Guild

what do you believe?

Disclaimer

This website is for entertainment purposes only. Advice by trained professionals should always be sought in place of any recommendations or information provided herein. Opinions expressed on this website do not reflect the opinions of the wench’s employers, family, or friends, unless otherwise noted.

Thank you to Schmutzie.com for the text of this disclaimer :)

DON'T STEAL, PLEASE: Please do not copy/paste, or Shift CNTRL C any text or images without wench’s express permission. It is not nice and I would most likely share if you asked. Send me an email to mailto:omanipadmehum@gmail.com