Well, rain cancelled the big St Paul's Shipwreck day parade! Though of course it cannot compare with the 10 below in Ottawa, there is no doubt that 7 above with a whipping wind is pretty miserable!
You should see this place...geriatric central! This place is worse than Fort Lauderdale for blue haired old hags running out the clock with their leathery dates. They all look like they should be making "carry on" movies. Here I was expecting Italian cooking, English speaking and cold beer, instead I get warm beer, semetic speaking and English cooking! I am getting mightily tired of egg and chips butty! (A butty is a sandwich... but one that drips a lot.) As usual, we made the long trip all the way out to Fort St. Elmo, and just as usual, it wasn't open! Closed due to rain this time. You dopes, you only open it once in two weeks for a Police parade, and when you cancel the parade, you don't even put up a sign to say so!
Oh well...we had lots of company. Lots of grumbling people at the gates of Fort St. Elmo. If any body from Malta is reading this...you lost a LOT of money today you fools! When I was there, it was lovely, sunny and nice, though of course, the streets were flooded with over 6 inches of water at times. Its not like they make provision to drain off rain water...I think I saw the year's supply of rain this morning! There is not a lot of rain here...lots of cactus though.
Yesterday dropped into the Takali airfield. It isn't an airfield any more, of course, though it saw LOTS of action in WWII. Now the local craftspeople are trying to eke a living in the old nissan huts. Seems like an idea of the 1960's, with the tie dyed shirts and embroidered jeans, but these are just plain taudry, and well past their "sell by" dates. There is a plan to change it all...probably by putting up hotels...that seems to be the usual answer to urban renewal around here.
Well, more later, as you can see, my usual ascerbic comments are just going to have to wait until I get much more pissed off...so far though, this warm beer is not too bad. Maybe if I drink enough of it, I'll learn to play cribbage. (the hot game around here....)
From Malta, this is your intrepid reporter signing off.
Sunday, January 30, 2005
Friday, January 21, 2005
Vacation...vacation....vacation...
So looking forward to taking off on my much needed vacation. Well, its sort of a working vacation...I'll be helping to set up and repair armours for the Palace Museum armoury in Malta. And perhaps get some use out of that Scuba training Brenda and I took last December.
Brenda has planned our trip to the last detail....a bloody long flight to Heathrow, then four days crawling around London. Fish and Chips, currys, and roast beef for awhile. I think I can handle it! Then three hours on the amazingly tightly packed Air Malta aircraft, and landing at some ungodly hour. It been a long time since I was in London, the last time was some twenty odd years ago, when I was a newly minted corporal, and took a standby military flight to London. They lost my bags then...it was three days before I could pick them up.
Things are crazy around here...worked until 11.30 this evening trying to get things ready enough for Henrietta to take the pieces back to her shop for welding while I am gone. Made a breastplate this afternoon...was not very happy with it. Well, it'll have to do! Should look great when I am done...oh, sometime in March!
Tomorrow morning a quick Allergy shot, then back here to guide Henry...and get her paid off for the week. She has picked up some contract work to tide her over, the weather has been too cold for her to work in her blacksmith shop. Well, minus 29 Celcius is bloody cold by any standards....think this is about 20 below Farenheit. Blacksmith shops have to be so well ventilated that us Canucks have to dress like Bob and Doug MacKenzie just to stand in front of the forge. Your face gets red from the heat, your back gets frost bit. You keep a stick in the slack tub to break up the ice. Heck lately she has taken to keeping the water in a pail, and putting the pail onto the forge when she fires it up, just to melt the ice in the pail. Then she can pour it off into the slack tub! Me, my biggest downer is trying to grab the long blacksmith tools and have the frost peel strips off the palms of my hands. Even the gloves don't seem to help much...the chill just goes through the leather. There is something kind of .... elemental.... about pulling a white hot bolt out of the fire with a pair of tongs, quenching it in the slack tup, and watching the frost form on the reins (long handles) of the tongs.
Yeah, I can see why she jumped at the chance to work in my nice warm lighted workshop!
Wednesday night, the second night of classes. Jean got stuck in traffic, so we started the course in the hallway. This is my "sword handling" course for those who are wondering. The first half is Kenjuitsu, second half is heavy broadsword. Think I could remember what the second kenjuitsu class was? Hah! I was so out of my depth, trying to think on my feet. I don't normally teach the kenjuitsu....just sort of go by what Jean wants. Its all breakfalls and wrist outturns if you are interested! Looks like there are too many people taking the basic class to provide room for an advanced class. Oh well, perhaps I'll run the advanced class at my place.
Well, enough of that. Time for bed. Hope to blog again before I go, but if not, well, I'll be keeping a diary like I did last time. WWW.southtower.on.ca, go to the library, and check out My Malta Journal. That is my diary from my trip last year....lots of great pictures of armour!
Brenda has planned our trip to the last detail....a bloody long flight to Heathrow, then four days crawling around London. Fish and Chips, currys, and roast beef for awhile. I think I can handle it! Then three hours on the amazingly tightly packed Air Malta aircraft, and landing at some ungodly hour. It been a long time since I was in London, the last time was some twenty odd years ago, when I was a newly minted corporal, and took a standby military flight to London. They lost my bags then...it was three days before I could pick them up.
Things are crazy around here...worked until 11.30 this evening trying to get things ready enough for Henrietta to take the pieces back to her shop for welding while I am gone. Made a breastplate this afternoon...was not very happy with it. Well, it'll have to do! Should look great when I am done...oh, sometime in March!
Tomorrow morning a quick Allergy shot, then back here to guide Henry...and get her paid off for the week. She has picked up some contract work to tide her over, the weather has been too cold for her to work in her blacksmith shop. Well, minus 29 Celcius is bloody cold by any standards....think this is about 20 below Farenheit. Blacksmith shops have to be so well ventilated that us Canucks have to dress like Bob and Doug MacKenzie just to stand in front of the forge. Your face gets red from the heat, your back gets frost bit. You keep a stick in the slack tub to break up the ice. Heck lately she has taken to keeping the water in a pail, and putting the pail onto the forge when she fires it up, just to melt the ice in the pail. Then she can pour it off into the slack tub! Me, my biggest downer is trying to grab the long blacksmith tools and have the frost peel strips off the palms of my hands. Even the gloves don't seem to help much...the chill just goes through the leather. There is something kind of .... elemental.... about pulling a white hot bolt out of the fire with a pair of tongs, quenching it in the slack tup, and watching the frost form on the reins (long handles) of the tongs.
Yeah, I can see why she jumped at the chance to work in my nice warm lighted workshop!
Wednesday night, the second night of classes. Jean got stuck in traffic, so we started the course in the hallway. This is my "sword handling" course for those who are wondering. The first half is Kenjuitsu, second half is heavy broadsword. Think I could remember what the second kenjuitsu class was? Hah! I was so out of my depth, trying to think on my feet. I don't normally teach the kenjuitsu....just sort of go by what Jean wants. Its all breakfalls and wrist outturns if you are interested! Looks like there are too many people taking the basic class to provide room for an advanced class. Oh well, perhaps I'll run the advanced class at my place.
Well, enough of that. Time for bed. Hope to blog again before I go, but if not, well, I'll be keeping a diary like I did last time. WWW.southtower.on.ca, go to the library, and check out My Malta Journal. That is my diary from my trip last year....lots of great pictures of armour!
Monday, January 17, 2005
Another Dentist Story!
Stag's comment.....the second time?
Toothache man finds nail in skull
Open wide... dentists were shocked to find a nail in Lawler's head
A Colorado man who went to the dentist complaining of toothache found he had a 4-inch (10cm) nail in his skull.
Patrick Lawler had been suffering pain and blurry vision since a nailgun backfired on him at work, AP news agency reported.
The machine sent a nail through a nearby piece of wood - but little did Mr Lawler realise another nail had shot into the roof of his mouth.
The nail was embedded 4cm into his brain - barely missing his right eye.
Six days after his 6 January work accident, Mr Lawler decided to visit the dental clinic where his wife Katerina works because painkillers and ice failed to stop the pain.
"We all are friends, so I thought the [dentists] were joking... then the doctor came out and said, 'There's really a nail,'" Mrs Lawler said, according to AP.
"Patrick just broke down. I mean, he had been eating ice cream to help the swelling."
Mr Lawler remains in hospital following a four-hour operation to remove the nail.
Mrs Lawler says her husband is thankful despite having no medical insurance and being faced with hospital bills of at least $80,000.
"The doctors said, 'If you're going to have a nail in the brain, that's the way you want it to be,'" she said.
"He's the luckiest guy, ever."
Doctors at the hospital said it was the second time a patient had failed to notice a nailgun had fired a nail into their heads.
Toothache man finds nail in skull
Open wide... dentists were shocked to find a nail in Lawler's head
A Colorado man who went to the dentist complaining of toothache found he had a 4-inch (10cm) nail in his skull.
Patrick Lawler had been suffering pain and blurry vision since a nailgun backfired on him at work, AP news agency reported.
The machine sent a nail through a nearby piece of wood - but little did Mr Lawler realise another nail had shot into the roof of his mouth.
The nail was embedded 4cm into his brain - barely missing his right eye.
Six days after his 6 January work accident, Mr Lawler decided to visit the dental clinic where his wife Katerina works because painkillers and ice failed to stop the pain.
"We all are friends, so I thought the [dentists] were joking... then the doctor came out and said, 'There's really a nail,'" Mrs Lawler said, according to AP.
"Patrick just broke down. I mean, he had been eating ice cream to help the swelling."
Mr Lawler remains in hospital following a four-hour operation to remove the nail.
Mrs Lawler says her husband is thankful despite having no medical insurance and being faced with hospital bills of at least $80,000.
"The doctors said, 'If you're going to have a nail in the brain, that's the way you want it to be,'" she said.
"He's the luckiest guy, ever."
Doctors at the hospital said it was the second time a patient had failed to notice a nailgun had fired a nail into their heads.
Sunday, January 09, 2005
Found the owner of the "Wisdom" below!
The stuff in the below post was culled from Texas Bix Bender's book "A cowboy's guide to life".
Hey, more Ho_T Krysp Chiks!
Gee, opening spam mail is getting more and more interesting all the time! Here is a list culled from bathroom walls in (maybe...)Texas. Yee Haw!
Sent: Saturday, January 08, 2005 11:53 AM
Subject: The Permian Basin Scroll
>
> These are some writings known as "The Permian Basin Scroll" found
> while digging for artifacts in an old abandoned corral in "No Trees",
> West Texas.
>
> Don't name a pig you plan to eat.
>
> Your fences need to be horse high, pig tight, and bull strong.
>
> Life is not about how fast you run, or how high you climb, but how
> well you bounce.
>
> Keep skunks and bankers and Lawyers at a distance.
>
> Life is simpler when you plough around the stump.
>
> A bumblebee is considerably faster than a John Deere tractor.
>
> Words that soak into your ears are whispered, not yelled.
>
> Meanness don't jest happen overnight.
>
> Forgive your enemies. It messes up their heads!
>
> Don't sell your mule to buy a plow.
>
> Do not corner something that you know is meaner than you.
>
> It don't take a very big person to carry a grudge.
>
> You cannot unsay a cruel word.
>
> Every path has a few puddles.
>
> When you wallow with pigs, expect to get dirty.
>
> The best sermons are lived, not preached.
>
> Most of the stuff people worry about ain't never gonna happen anyway.
>
> Don't squat down with your spurs on.
>
> Don't judge people by their relatives.
>
> Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
>
> Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back,
> you'll enjoy it a second time.
>
> Don't interfere with something that ain't bothering' you none.
>
> It's better to be a has-been than a never-was.
>
> The easiest way to eat crow is while it's still warm. The colder it
> gets, the harder it is to swaller.
>
> If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop diggin'.
>
> If it don't seem like it's worth the effort, it probably ain't.
>
> It don't take a genius to spot a goat in a flock of sheep.
>
> Sometimes you get and sometimes you get got.
>
> The biggest troublemaker you'll probably ever have to deal with
> watches you shave his face in the mirror every morning.
>
> If you get to thinkin' you're a person of some influence, try orderin'
> somebody else's dog around.
>
> Don't worry about bitin' off more'n you can chew; your mouth is
> probably a whole lot bigger'n you think.
>
> Only cows know why they stampede.
>
> Always drink upstream from the herd.
>
> If you're ridin' ahead of the herd, take a look back every now and
> then to make sure it's still there with ya.
>
> Good judgment comes from experience, and a lotta that comes from bad
> judgment.
>
> Lettin' the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier than puttin' it
> back in.
>
> You can't tell how good a man or a watermelon is 'till they get
> thumped'.
>
> Never, never, miss a good opportunity to shut up!
>
> This email was cleaned by emailStripper, available for free from
> http://www.papercut.biz/emailStripper.htm
Sent: Saturday, January 08, 2005 11:53 AM
Subject: The Permian Basin Scroll
>
> These are some writings known as "The Permian Basin Scroll" found
> while digging for artifacts in an old abandoned corral in "No Trees",
> West Texas.
>
> Don't name a pig you plan to eat.
>
> Your fences need to be horse high, pig tight, and bull strong.
>
> Life is not about how fast you run, or how high you climb, but how
> well you bounce.
>
> Keep skunks and bankers and Lawyers at a distance.
>
> Life is simpler when you plough around the stump.
>
> A bumblebee is considerably faster than a John Deere tractor.
>
> Words that soak into your ears are whispered, not yelled.
>
> Meanness don't jest happen overnight.
>
> Forgive your enemies. It messes up their heads!
>
> Don't sell your mule to buy a plow.
>
> Do not corner something that you know is meaner than you.
>
> It don't take a very big person to carry a grudge.
>
> You cannot unsay a cruel word.
>
> Every path has a few puddles.
>
> When you wallow with pigs, expect to get dirty.
>
> The best sermons are lived, not preached.
>
> Most of the stuff people worry about ain't never gonna happen anyway.
>
> Don't squat down with your spurs on.
>
> Don't judge people by their relatives.
>
> Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
>
> Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back,
> you'll enjoy it a second time.
>
> Don't interfere with something that ain't bothering' you none.
>
> It's better to be a has-been than a never-was.
>
> The easiest way to eat crow is while it's still warm. The colder it
> gets, the harder it is to swaller.
>
> If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop diggin'.
>
> If it don't seem like it's worth the effort, it probably ain't.
>
> It don't take a genius to spot a goat in a flock of sheep.
>
> Sometimes you get and sometimes you get got.
>
> The biggest troublemaker you'll probably ever have to deal with
> watches you shave his face in the mirror every morning.
>
> If you get to thinkin' you're a person of some influence, try orderin'
> somebody else's dog around.
>
> Don't worry about bitin' off more'n you can chew; your mouth is
> probably a whole lot bigger'n you think.
>
> Only cows know why they stampede.
>
> Always drink upstream from the herd.
>
> If you're ridin' ahead of the herd, take a look back every now and
> then to make sure it's still there with ya.
>
> Good judgment comes from experience, and a lotta that comes from bad
> judgment.
>
> Lettin' the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier than puttin' it
> back in.
>
> You can't tell how good a man or a watermelon is 'till they get
> thumped'.
>
> Never, never, miss a good opportunity to shut up!
>
> This email was cleaned by emailStripper, available for free from
> http://www.papercut.biz/emailStripper.htm
Saturday, January 08, 2005
Economic World News!
Well, again, international events have a close impact on my business. Argh! The US dollar is down, making me less competitive. Well, actually, I am just as competitive, but with less cash on hand, people are not buying. Same difference... The world economy is going for a dump! Every where I look analysts are talking "economic bubble". As if the recent couple of years were high, now we can expect a low! (read about it all here...http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/GA05Dj01.html)
It is quite annoying....seems that me and my customers and friends can take advantage of any highs in the economy about a year or two after everybody else does, but we get hit by a low right away! When the "lows" hit, we might have had, what six months of prosperity? Less?
Oh well, its just me bitching, don't pay any mind. I am just blaming everybody else but my and my lazy ass. Time to get up and to work, we'll see what we can do about improving the situation.
It is quite annoying....seems that me and my customers and friends can take advantage of any highs in the economy about a year or two after everybody else does, but we get hit by a low right away! When the "lows" hit, we might have had, what six months of prosperity? Less?
Oh well, its just me bitching, don't pay any mind. I am just blaming everybody else but my and my lazy ass. Time to get up and to work, we'll see what we can do about improving the situation.
Friday, January 07, 2005
New tooth!
After 9 months of sitting in dentists chairs once a month, I finally got my new molar mounted into the back over there on the lower left side. I was quite attached to that tooth, been with me since I was a toddler. Even had a gold inlay put into it a decade ago or so. Trouble is, that glint of gold was too much temptation for some junkie on the next bed when I was lying dead in a hospital bed. The pain of him prying my tooth out kick started my heart, I came alive (bet that was a surprise dude!) and removed a couple of his with a short upper cut. Then I sort of sank back into sleep, trying my best to ignore the sudden activity around the IC bed. Thought it was all a dream actually until a few days later, when I talked with my dentist about this pain in my molar. He confirmed that "Yup, somebody was prying on it". We tried for 3 years to save it, but eventually, it sheared off at the gum line. Well, last February, they dragged out the roots, set in a piece of cadaver bone (Me and the dead guy, we get along fine!) and let it become one with my lower jaw. Then, drilled it out, and set in a nice solid spike, which had a socket in it. (Nice piercing dude!) Yesterday, the good doctor inserted a spike into the socket, and mounted a ceramic tooth on it! Yaaay!
You know, dental work is very finicky, very techy, very much underappreciated. Feels good to be able to pry beer bottle caps off with the left side again.....grin!
You know, dental work is very finicky, very techy, very much underappreciated. Feels good to be able to pry beer bottle caps off with the left side again.....grin!
Monday, January 03, 2005
A HUNDRED AND FIFTY THOUSAND!!! LORDY LORDY!!
My prayers go out to the lost souls. The ones who are perishing even now under piles of rubble, the ones who are starving but refuse to eat the fish brought in by the fishermen because those fish might have been feasting on their loved ones. The ones who are hopelessly dehydrated from diarrea, and bad water. The ones here in the west who are frantic waiting for news.
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