h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Well, I finally heard from that errant son of mine! He phoned last night, and we had a nice long chat. His girlfriend sounds like a nice, sensible girl. She's from a small New Brunswick town, and her father has a sugar bush - makes maple syrup. Melinda wants to go to university in Newfoundland, and Harley can get his course he wants at the same school. She has relatives with a fishing fleet there, too, so they're going to look into that possibility. Sounds at least semi-serious to me!!Melinda's blonde, really bright, according to Harley, and they have a cat - Napoleon Garfield Bonaparte. Good Grief!! He has Melinda reading history books, and he's pleased she's taking an interest in his passions. Aparently, she'll buy into his schemes, but isn't afraid to tell him he's way out in left field, when he's way out in left field! Like I told him, my only wish for him is that he's happy, and he assures me he is.

I had to take a training course for work this last week - 9 to 4:30 days when I'm an evening person! Ron took the week day shifts, so I could go, but it ended up 8 days straight, with last Sunday, and this Saturday and Sunday. I'm just bone-weary. But I have 2 days off - at least at this point. At out place, you have to stay awake, the plan could change! My first shift back was Saturday, and I went up to my friend D, and started teasing her, just so she'd say "Don't start with me Hawk". (work nickname) I told her Gee its great to be back, no one's given me s**t all week! She laughed. At team meeting Saturday, I told them I'd missed them all, and it was good to be back. My gang was pleased.

Our kids at work are back after spring break, too. It was a mixed blessing. Some wanted more hours, and a few just took the week off to relax. Hopefully now things will be "normal" for awhile.

It sounds like your two had a great time. They need that time, to do their own thing, get together with their friends and all. Its a shame some have to work.

Your God-daughter's 1! Wow, time flies! My littlest buddy's 3 now, and a really bright little charmer. She's so smart, and learning something new every day.

Its amazing Olivia is 1! Just alot of fun for me. She really keeps me moving and things in perspective.

Wow, what a week you have had! That was exhausing just thinking about! We are all back at school/work. It was tough getting up. Last night about 2:00am I heard this commotion I couldn't place. There was a banging and after I investigated I thought maybe something was in the wall. I had gone outside and didn't see anything. When I went back to bed I heard it again. I was really worrying about something being in the wall and dying (oh the smell!) cause it sounded big. I peeked out the window and just caught sight of a huge bushy tale skittering around down the drain pipe! Don't know exactly what it was, but it finally left! I think it was playing with the water that came out of the gutters.

You must be anxious to meet Harley's girlfriend. I know I would! She sounds like she is good for him. Keeps her own head but tries to adapt to him a bit. That ole give and take. Sounds like they have gotten close,fast. But that is how it happens sometimes. And the cat! Wow, that is sure a mouthful!

Yes, it seems Melinda is good for Harley. I asked him if this was serious, and he told me its too soon to tell. He'll tell me when he's ready. Meanwhile, they're both working hard, and having fun. He tells me they entertain a lot - these Eastern people are really solciable!

My little buddy's been bad lately, and Sharon's trying to pull her back into line. She put ketchup on the dog the other day. Now the weather's turned really nice, and they're setting up the swing set, and getting the yard toys out today. Maybe now she'll settle down again, now that she can get outside in the yard.

Back on all my normal shifts again. I feel like I finally got caught up on my sleep, and I don't feel so dragged out. I took the shift for Ron last night - he had a doctor's appointment at 5:00, and Winnipeg Comedy Festival's on, so he wanted to go to the Comedy Club. I had everything go wrong in the first half hour - a sample didn't load properly, the dialer wouldn't work on one project, someone logged into the wrong place and got an error message. And we're trying to distribute paycheques and get the booking slips out for next week's schedule. Thankfully, it all settled down after that, and we had a great shift!

Sorry for being so long in replying. What a crazy time it has been. With Easter this past weekend, and steve and my birthday last week on top of doing my US income tax forms, whew. I'm telling you it has been a whirlwind of activity. One of my favorite things from last week was two of my work friends, Olga and Cyndi took me to a spanish tapas bar. We had lots of little plates of food and some really delicious sangria. It was one of those nights where we discussed everything and laughed loudly. It was a really nice night. Over the weekend we had Olivia over on Saturday night to color easter eggs and then Silas (my niece's son) and his parents over for dinner on Sunday. Silas was 1 on March 14th. He is just a delight. A very very bright boy. It was nice to have a little one running around. Two days of babies! A good time was had by me!

Burke has made his college decision. He is going to go to DePaul University here in Chicago. He will live on campus. It is a good choice for him, he will be close enough to come home if he is really lonesome, but will gain some independence. My money will also gain independence from me as it will be going into his education! He told me that the reward of playing basketball for him no longer merit the commitment he needs to put in. So the end of that, but there is so much more for him to discover about himself!

Ali is doing great in soccer. They moved her up to Junior varisty and she is really growing and improving. It is such a pleasure to watch her!

I can just imagine the fun you had with such little ones colouring Easter eggs! I still miss doing that with Harley, and its been a lot of years!! I had such a quiet Easter. Off Good Friday, and just spent the day relaxing. Work Saturday - full shift, and a really good one, but glad to get out of there. My friend, D and I walked home, as far as my place, about a mile, then she took the bus from there. Sunday I darkened the door of the Church - and the Norman bell-tower didn't even fall on my head! It was a lovely service. I cooked a ham and scalloped potatoes for supper, and spent the rest of the day in a book.

I looked up the website for DePaul. It looks like a great school, with lots of choices for him. It sounds like the perfect choice, and like you said, a chance at independence, but close enough to get home. He'll learn a whole lot about himself.

Soccer's a great game, and I'm glad to know Ali's doing so well. Junior Varsity so soon - good for her! Harley washed up at about 10, and he was showing signs of being pretty good at soccer, but a good tumble messed up his knee, and it took a long time to heal up. Now he has a touch of arthritis in it.

We got an Easter phone call from Harley. Melinda's folks were down, and he really like them, and said he got on well with them. They've both applied for Memorial University in Newfoundland as mature students, so we'll have to wait and see on that one. Melinda cooks but doesn't knit. If they go to Nfld, I'll have to knit hats and mitts for both of them - they'll need them there!

This stuff with Harley and Melinda does sound serious! Good to know he got along well with the parents. That is always important. It sounds like his future is just naturally developing, doesn't it? You'll have some knitting to do to keep them warm.

Ali still loves to color eggs but at 15 who knows how much longer that will hold out. She is constantly coming home with new cleat marks on her legs for soccer. She wears them proudly. She is a toughie out there. Good solid stock, that one!

DePaul is a wonderful school. Alot of people go there to finish their education and also for their advanced degrees. Since people do work in the city, that is one of the colleges in which people chose to work on their education so Burke will meet people of all ages and backgrounds. Plus again, it is close to home, and he can meet me for lunch whenever he wants as I work here in the city.

Sounds like your weekend was lovely. A nice walk then a day in a book. I love scalloped potatos and ham! We had ham, and some scalloped potatos as well. Along with lasagna, lamb and lots of side dishes. We had more desserts that should be respectfully possible. I'm going to bring in the remainders tomorrow to work as I don't want to have to throw them away.

The weather here has been beautiful, but now that we are coming up on a weekend it is going to get dreary and rainy. WILL I NEVER GET THAT GARDEN IN????? UGH!

Your kids and mine seem to all be doing well. Its sure nice to hear of straight kids, just doing what they should be doing. At least in Winnipeg, we hear a lot about kids and young adults in piles of trouble with everything you can possibly imagine. People just don't seem to take care to raise their kids right anymore. Some of the young ones at work just make me shudder!

I've spent more than enough time this last week watching a video cam of a nesting pair of eagles on Hornby Island off Canada's west coast. There's a cam set up at their nest. They laid 3 eggs, but there's only 1 left, and they don't hold much hope for a successful hatch. The pair's old, and have been nesting there for 17 years, so there's fear that they're too old to be fertile. Its been interesting to watch, and I love the birds of prey - magnificent creatures!

Its turned cold and rainy here, and I'm suffering! I've had arthritis in my shoulder blade since I was 10, and its giving me misery. That and I just have the blaa's because its so dull and cold. Warmer days are predicted for the weekend, and that should improve my general outlook!

It is a relief to hear of good solid kids. We have had more good news. My one nephew that has worried me for the past 15 years seems to be straightening out. He is 27, and recently entered the Navy and is almost through boot camp and loves it. He has met up with a very nice young gal who has a 2 year old son. Tim has fallen right into a pattern of being there for theboth of them and as soon as he gets out of boot camp plans to marry and bring them with him when he goes to florida for his next training class. It is such a relief to see him away from drugs, gang and thugs. Time will tell. fingers crossed.

It has gotten cold here all of a sudden. Rainy and cool. Good for the gardens I guess and we have been having some nice weather. A good day to be inside. Work is extremely busy so I guess I won't even notice the weather today.

We are in the final weeks (3 of them) of Burke's high school career. Very exciting for him. He picks up his cap and gown, buys ticket for senior luncheon (the day after they graduate is a friday and there is a big luncheon at a restaurant for the kids to have a sort of recap gathering), gets his graduation tickets. Wow, I can't believe high school is over! How does time go by so fast without being noticed??

What an exciting time for Burke! Graduation's such a big step, and such a fun time.

Glad to hear about your nephew. I've always figured the best thing that could happen to people involved in gangs and all the rest is Military service. As he's Navy (Yah-hoo!! Its what I was in!) I'll wish him fair winds and calm seas - a good ol'Navy wish. An instant family comes with its own set of problems, but they can turn out amazing. I hope it works out well, for all their sakes.

Harley's met Melinda's folks, and gets on well with them. Her Dad has some political and history books he's going to look out for Harley. He says they're really nice people. Melinda has Grade 8 piano, Royal Conservatory, as well as completely bilingual English and French. She wants to take history and French at university, with an eye to teaching. Melinda's sister is playing violin in the big Canada Day celebration from Parliament Hill. I'll have to try and catch it on TV. A musical family! They all sound so right for Harley - music's really important to him as well as art and history. He plays keyboards, and now guitar, and he learned side drum for pipe band when he was in high school. Now if he can get the money together to take the course he needs to get on a ship, life will be amazing! Their plan is to get Harley his course and get him on a ship (Melinda: One way or another we're going to get you to sea), then he'll help Melinda get her degree.

Cold here too. I'm still carrying my tam in my backpack, and I put it on to come home last night. We've had 2 major thunder storms, lots of noise and lightning. That's the best part of summer!

Isn't wonderful to see the kids getting settled into their lives and doing well? I just am amazed. I'm hoping all the best for Tim. I get to meet Katrina and her son Jason at the end of May when Ali has a volleyball tournament in Louisville (where they live). It will be nice to be able to meet them. She seems very nice. She is very respectful of my sister so that means alot to me.

It is freeezing here! I was waiting for the train at the station and almost had to go inside the depot to wait. It is just crazy. Its almost like we are in fall going towards winter. We had a terrific storm ourselves last night. Very windy. I have two big windows that face the back of the house and all my trees and it was something to watch them blowing back and forth and back and forth violently.

Well, I'm looking forward to going out with Olivia's parents tonight. We are celebrating their birthdays and my Ali and her friends are going to tend Olivia while we are out. We are going to a Spanish Tapas restaurant, which I love. Some nice sangria and lots of little dishes of all different kinds of things. Perfect for a rainy night!

Dimples - I'm so sorry I haven't got back to you sooner. My life has been such chaos the last few weeks. I quit the call floor - the office politics got just unbelievable!

Today I started with a bus manufacturer in Winnipeg - in the Purchasing Department! Back to my career path at last! Its only a term position, a buyer I worked with years ago is having a knee replacement done on Friday, and I have to learn her job quick! It'll be for about 3 months, maybe longer. When Shirley introduced me around today, I discovered that I know half the buyers from one place or another I've worked. We appear to be nomads - drift around with the jobs! The ones I know who don't work there now, have in the past, or at least I found out where they are.

Harley's still enjoying Halifax. I had a phone call from him Monday, to wish me happy birthday, and we had a nice chat. He and Melinda are working hard, and trying to save up for their courses, but still managing to have fun. Its always so nice to hear from him.

Its so hot here now - just when I have to get back into office-casual dress, instead of casual-slob for the callfloor! Good thing I keep a varied wardrobe in reasonable, wearable shape!

Oh my gosh! What a surprise!! Well hectic matched with hectic. I was informed last minute that my nephew who was graduating from Great Lakes Naval academy wanted to get married in my backyard on the same day we were celebrating Burke's graduation party!! It was a crazy crazy but fun time but everything went well!!

Oh my, what was going on in the office? I knew it was getting crazy but it sounded like it just exploded! How funny is that? You're back where you were when we first started writing!

How nice that things are still going well for Harley and his girlfriend. And happy belated belated birthday! Did you do anything special?

We are in the swing of festivals at this point. This weekend we had the annual strawberry fest and it was delicious! I really enjoyed myself. We brought a group of teenagers with us which made our experience decidedly more expensive but the fun was worth it!

Well, lets see: I was supposed to work Saturday afternoon - I'd already talked them out of making the shift 9:00AM!!! to 3:00 - after I'd worked till 10:00pm the Friday night. So - Saturday was 12:00-6:00 - with me in at 11:00 to get the projects loaded. When I got there at 11:00, I discovered I was supposed to be on Provincial Parks Reservations line at 11:00 - taking reservations for camping in our Provincial parks, and at the same time do the Parks Help line - both jobs right out on the call floor, and AT THE SAME TIME load programs, which could only be done from the supervisor's office computer. So, I chose what was most important to me - I loaded programs, and asked one of the Parks people to stay till I got my shift started at 12:00. Wednesday, May 24th was my next shift - and I walked in on a meeting of all 3 other supervisors, who were all mad at me, and told them why I'd documented what I did on Saturday, and why I'd made the decisions I did. One thing lead to another, and I resigned! It was tempting to tell them, graphically, what they could do with the job, call center and all, but I stayed professional! Two weeks later, I started at New Flyer, for more than twice the pay! The great up side, besides the pay, is I'm loving it - even though its crazy busy, and my buddy's knee replacement went really well.

Your nephew's sure making this a year to remember - graduating and getting married. All my very best to him - he'll understand Bravo Zulu (well done)! How was Burke's graduation? Did it all go well?

Thank you for the birthday greetings. We didn't do much, as I was between jobs, but Gord took me to The Banana Boat - an ice cream parlour for Chocolate Overload - a chocolate brownie, with a huge mound of chocolate soft-serve on top, covered with hot fudge and mini chocolate chips! Wonderful!!

Last weekend was the Winnipeg Jazz Festival, and it was amazing! We went Saturday to hear a big band, and an amazing combo, then back on Sunday for school jazz - Winnipeg Jr High - a fabulous small band, the Winnipeg Senior High Jazz Band - they get 2 weeks and 5 rehersals to get it together, then University of Manitoba - who are getting a real name all over the province. Great music, and a really fine time! Next comes Canada Day this Saturday, with celebrations right up the street from us, and fire works at night, and Fringe Festival after that. Its going to be a fun-summer!

Good for you on the job front. I can understand your wanting to tell them to stick it, but again, you probably feel better that you didn't. Great news for you. Its great that you realized it was time to say no more and wandered right into something so much better! Good news on your friends knee!

Burkes graduation was wonderful. He was so ready to be done with high school. It was a very easy four years for us with him relatively. The party was nice, some old friends,relatives, just a nice mix of people. Plus we were all still happy about the wedding from the morning. My nephew married a wonderful girl who has a 2 year old who is so much fun. Was nice to have children running around the yard!

Ali is being very almost 16. Just absolutely things I'm a moron. So normal for her age. She some days has a hard time being civil to me! But she does and I appreciate it. I'm luckier than most, she simply smolders and keeps it in. Then there are days where she is an absolute delight!ah, the joys of being a girl and a teenager!

Last weekend sounds like such fun!! Our local community college has a jazz fest tomorrow night that I'm hoping to go to. It is nice to see the nonprofessionals. I'm always amazed. This weekend looks to be alot of fun. So many festivals, parades, barbecues! It IS good!!

Yes, listening to the professionals Saturday night was the best, but its nice to see good musicians coming along. Jazz is safe in Winnipeg for at least another generation!

Harley saw one of his "projects" bear fruit this week. The last year he was in Winnipeg he'd e-mailed everyone he could think of about a World War I statue at the legislative grounds. Its called the Next of Kin statue - a soldier holding his helmet aloft, and the names of Winnipeggers who didn't come home. It was payed for by their families and the Vets. Its in deplorable shape, and Harley got on his soap box about it. He even got suited up one day to go for lunch with someone from our Provincial government! The other day I got an e-mail from him. A friend of his at the Provincial Archives took up the fight, and the other day sent around an e-mail saying there's finally a budget to fix it up. Harley titled his e-mail My Statue My Statue!! The Doctor's wife sent it to him - "for you my friend". Show's what can be done by one determined person who hooks up with the right people.

Hang in there with Ali - as she gets older, you'll get smarter!!

Tomorrow is Canada Day. We have celebrations going on all over the place, and fireworks at night. Its usually a nice day to get out and see all that's going on.

And - Happy 4th of July to you for Tuesday. Any plans? At any rate - enjoy!!

What a great feeling for Harley! It is so great when you are young and an idealist and something happens because of it! Good for him. Hopefully that will spur him on to know that one person indeed makes a difference. He must be quite proud of himself.

We had a wonderful day yesterday. My goddaughter and her parents came over at around 10;30 and we ended up spending the entire day together. We watched world cup soccer on tv, then went to an arts and craft fair, went for walks, had dinner and ended up at the local festival for some music. A cover band called American English who do beatles stuff. It was fun. Was alot of fun running around after Olivia! Today and tomorrow (I have tomorrow off) are going to be running around and cleaning days, hopefully a movie on Monday night with Olivia's parents while Ali and her friends babysit. I'm bringing my mom over to stay tomorrow and over night so she can be part of the festivities. Its good for her to have a change of scenery. Maybe tonite we'll go to hear some music at one of the fests. This time of year, every village has its own festival and attracts music. I avoid the city like the plague due to the crowds, but there is enough to see in the suburbs. On the 4th we get up and go to the parade for our village and then it is a day of a barbecueing, maybe some walks around the park, and maybe a walk to the fest. At night we will walk over to the fest for fireworks. A great day!

What do you do on Canada day?

You sure had a busy-fun day with Olivia! Isn't it great to have these days off?

Canada Day in Winnipeg there are street festivals all over the city. Its become tradition that my friend D (Dorothy - but she won't allow anyone to call her that - just D) comes over around 11:00 and we sit and chat, have a snacky lunch, and head for Osborne Street, which is just at the end our out street. This year we toured the entire street festival, and ran into half a dozen people we knew, then headed back to the beginning. The block where it starts has an old United Church - 1903, and they had a half-hour organ concert with their organizt - and it was cool in there! We listened to that, and he invited us up to see the console, and ended up telling D all about the organ and pipes. Then we watched their minister in the dunk tank - everyone wanted a piece of the minister!

From there, we went back on the street and listened to music, visited every single booth. Mostly it was craft stuff -jewelry, pottery, things made of wood, stone, some paintings. We'd got so hot we went and sat under a huge old oak tree at the church I attend to cool off. On the street we'd heard a fabulous rock and roll band, a Celtic group, who were amazing, and a friend of our's and a bunch of other people with didgeridoos and drums. It was really hot, so we went back to our place for a cool drink, and stayed home to have supper. Once it cooled off a bit we went back out to listen to Benji and the didgeridoos and drums, then off to the Midtown Bridge, also within walking distance, for the fireworks, put D on her bus home, and we got in around midnight. We'd had a fabulous day. D's a 5' tall Garden Gnome (she named herself that, so I'm not being insulting!!) and just a fun-person to have around! She's alone, so we try and include her whenever we can.

Today its going to be hot again, the celebration's still going on on Osborne, but I think I'll just stay in where its reasonably cool.

Harley's really proud of himself about his statue. He's always been one to get involved in what, at least to him, is a worthy cause, and its good to see one of his rants pay off. Quite a guy! We're really proud of him!

Hey there. It was a good 4th of July here. We had a blast watching the world cup. Being half Italian sort of added a little fun to the mix. My upbringing is 100% Danish as my mother is VERY strong and my dad did whatever she wanted and he is the Italian one. We did participate in some of the Italian customs, but not all. We are sort of hybrids I suppose. We had Olivia over alot this weekend and she has learned how to blow kisses. It is so much fun! I brought my mom over to spend the night on Monday and she ruled over a house of Teenager girls. Olivia came over and her parents and steve and I went to see the Devil wears Prada which was alot of fun. Especially for those of us without the fashion sense god gave a twig. Burke and a huge group of friends went into the city to see the big fireworks display. Chicago gets over 1 million people for their display so he said it was just insane. Thank goodness for public transportation! We got up on Tuesday and moved everyone out to the parade, my mom in a wheelchair (she doesn't walk too far these days). It is a typical small town parade, lots of people there, lots of noise, lots of candy thrown. Then it was a barbecue (after watching the Nathan's hotdogs eating contest on ESPN!) and at night we walked down to the village hall for a fireworks display. Lovely lovely night! This entire weekend has been on big whirlwind of activity!

It sounds like you had a great time. Small town celebrations make up in enthusiasm what they lack in spectacular! They're always so much more fun. I don't know if its the general atmosphere, or the friendliness that makes it so special. Was that the hot dog eating contest where the guy ate 50 hot dogs, or some such crazy amount?

We're only a short distance from Winnipeg's Little Italy, and I guess it was quite a celebration when Italy won. I was on the bus home, and they called the buses on their radio and rerouted all the Corydon Avenue buses "until the Italians give back the street"! Thankfully, I get off before the bus turns onto Corydon!!

Tonight we went out for supper. It was just too hot to cook, and we've been promising ourselves we'd go out for pickerel for some time. So, tonight was the night. It was lovely, and such a nice change. The sea food was tempting, but it was pickerel night, and we both love it!

Sounds like a good night! I'm all up for it being too hot to cook. We have to get back on track with our meals. Now that burke is working 8 hours a day we probably should make sure he has a good meal as long as we have him in our house. I'm hoping to get motivated to cook again.

Yep, the hotdog contest was the one where i think the guy ate 53 hot dogs. Yikes, I can't imagine you would feel very good after that. He was a scrawny guy as well.

The hometown fairs are so nice. It is nice to be able to walk down to see the fireworks. It was a gorgeous night as well. Pretty perfect. Tonite I'm going to meet up with a friend for a drink before I catch my train. Just a drink or two, nothing crazy or late. Just to catch up. I met Jen when she started dating my friend Kevin and became fast friends with her. They got married last year in a very cool ceremony. They are really unique people. It is nice to relax after the work day and before hitting the train. I'm looking forward to it. Tomorrow Becky (Olivia's mom) wants to go out as just Becky and not Olivia's mom so she and I are going to have a drink (well probably a lemonade!)after work and chat. She needs to get out on her own so she is enlisting my help. This is a crazy week as we had monday and tuesday off of work and it seems impossible that it is going to be friday tomorrow already. Not but busy!