Tales From the Milk Drinker

Last night I was given a really great book by my friend Caroline Landine. It's called The Caper - The Monty Lewis Story. It's written by some lady named Joanne Jacquart and I HIGHLY recommend this book to you. In fact, Caroline asked that I read the book and then give it away to someone else so it's gets around, so if one of you wants you can reserve it from me. It's about this REALLY bad guy who's into dealing drugs and beating up women and almost kills a few people in bar fights but then he gets driven into Christianity by a series of fortunate events and gets saved by Jesus then he cleans his act up really good. The neat thing is it's actually a true story written by one of Monty's friends - he's a real guy from Cape Breton, hence the name "The Caper" - clever huh?

I made it through my first real week at work and it was fantastic. I must admit the weekend here in Fredericton feels a touch on the lonely side but I think this will be a great summer for "me" time which we all need. I think it should be a good opportunity to read more personal interest books - hey I should check out the UNB library since I'm too cheap to buy my own books!

Tonight I was craving a very summertime supper so I had barbequed burgers with corn on the cob..... mmmm mmmm good.

Well I'm off to read some more about Monty and his crazy caper. Have a good night y'all.

Let's just say I've hit the summer job jackpot with this NSERC thing working for Dr. Holloway. I don't feel like typing a whole lot right now but I'll let you know this - "relaxed summer hours". That's right.

I spent monday and today reading equipment manuals for the "laser" which I assume is either for Dr. G Money's research or is to be used to control the British navy. Tomorrow and the next day we have a training session with a guy from the company which manufactured said "laser".

There are two grad students sharing the room I work in - Sean Richardson and Ian McLeod, both great fellas. They have these little fish called Oscers which are actually meat eaters, it's quit the thing to watch them eat.

Well I'm surprisingly tired for a guy who did not much all day, so I shall end it here. Thanks for reading, and remember keep watching the skis - oops I mean sky.

conclusive proof that it don't matter if you're black or white as long as there's a paint brush and a can of shoe polish handy. In real life my brother is the same color as me 

Sorry this one is so dark. 

A very mysterious facial expression, perhaps brought on by the dieting 

Tomorrow is my first final exam at 7 at night. I don't understand why we do exams in the middle of the night, could just as easily have held it in the morning or afternoon, but I don't mind.

Today my to do list looks pretty straight forward with getting a start on Heat Transfer and polishing off Optimization. This week has felt slack to the max. I love it.

Planning on a trip home to PEI next week mostl likely on Tuesday. Don't want to speak too soon but I may be arriving in a no-longer-banged-up sunfire if all goes well with my bodywork appointment on Monday. Looking forward to having things straightened out for wash&wax season.

Feeling a trifle anxious about the powerlifting meet on May 7. I just want to get in there and get my first attempt in with some white lights. Since I'll assume people reading this don't care too much about powerlifting I shall explain it anyways. There are three events designed to test different major muscle groups in the body for maximum one rep strength. These events are the Squat (primarily Upper thighs) Bench Press (mostly chest and arms) and Deadlift (Legs are improtant but I'll be honest with you and admit it's a big pull on the lower back. Ya I know you're not supposed to lift with your back, but it's unavoidalbe). In each event competitors get three tries to lift as much as they can. Ideally your tries will increase in weight each time, you will request a first attempt you know darn well you can lift, a second attempt you think you probably can lift and then a third that it'ld be nice if you did lift but let's be honest you ain't budging this one. The only thing that worries me at all is that there are 3 judges watching you and each one rates your lift as pass (signified by them turning on a white light) or fail (red light), and your overall ruling on the lift is best two out of three (i.e. if two judges say it was not proper technique but one says it was, the two overrule the one and that attempt is disqualified. ) I've been reading the IPF rulebook a lot and I'm pretty sure my lifts should be fine, espescially since I'm going to request first attempts that I think I could actually do five repititions with. I've been looking at some results from past powerlifting meets and it turns out there are definately some 150 pound women around who are at least as strong as me and in many cases much stronger, but maybe no one will notice this since I'll be in the Junior age category since I'm still under 23. Oh well, I'm sure they will notice but it's not like there's anything I can do about it. I'm going to try to prove to myself that I actually can go in one of these meets and then after that s accomplished to try to compete against myself and what I think I can do.

Oh ya, check out the pictur of my brother from this weekend at the Atlantic Bodybuilding Championships in Moncton. It was a sweet weekend.

Well here it is the week before exams. My Optimization final is on Friday night and my Heat Transfer is on Monday morning and then I'm done.

This weekend was a blast! Stayed in Moncton Friday and Saturday nights for the bodybuilding show my brother was in. Unfortunately, the level of competitors in his weight class was way above him, but he's still happy with how he did and I'm still very proud of him. The guys who came in in better shape than him looked like Aliens from another planet - it was really something just to see them. The whole weekend overall was awsome though - we had some darn good laughs that will probably last a lifetime (a certain incident involving a man in a woman's thong running through the hotel and another in which a security guard had to quiet down what he thought must have been a gay male stipper convention but was actually the competitors from summerside practicing through their posing routines after midnight in the hotel hallway). We got our hotel room free Saturday night because Sunday morning Iron Mike Rioux went to the manager and complained that he had been harassed by the "little prick" security guard all night. I have no idea what this instance was reffering too but I was glad to save the price of a night's rooming.

Well I'm going through my "lazy fu#^%*" stage today. It's the time before exams when I didn't start to study yet, and my gosh it feels good.

Well I just ripped out a Heat Transfer (quote prof B. V. Reddy - "YEEEEET TRANSVUR") assignment so I have NO SCHOOL WORK to get up and do in the morning - woot woot.

I shall now retire to the couch where I will watch sitcoms and eat something. Pope John Paul II would've wanted it that way, God rest his soul. I liked JP, we're both very pro-life, and by that I mean much more than just a position on a social hot button.

woof. I'm a Dog 

A bloom on my lemon tree - The first one! 

Hey hey! We had our last quiz in my electrical class this morning. The only thing left that they evaluate me on for that course is my fourth lab experiment report which I will be doing this coming wednesday. There is not a final exam in this course so I suppose the prof doesn't really have anything left to say that effects me. Yippee!

Optimization is pretty well done too, next week will be taken as a review period to get us ready for the exam, which I think will leave me feeling very well prepared.

Heat Transfer is pushing full speed ahead, hoping to cover two new topics in the next 7 days I believe. Oh B.V. Reddy, when will you stop?

Biomechanics - one class where I actually have significant effort to put in this weekend. Jonny Bowles and I are designing a better braking system for wheelchairs and will have to finish putting our report together. It should be okay. No final exam in this course either.

Last night through a fortunate series of events I got invited into my nieghbor's house for a slice of blueberry pie! I ended up having to drop a parcel for a friend of mine off at Rick and Caroline Landine's house, which is two houses down from my appartment on Woodstock Road in a beautiful home which Rick informed me is 180 years old. I had no clue this road had been here that long! I met Rick and Caroline a while ago because they go to my church in Fredericton here but I had never been in their home before and only knew them mildly well. Rick's an engineer himself, presently working out of his lovely home office here in town and also doing some financial consulting on the side so he's an incredibly interesting guy for me to talk to for finding out about how one goes about starting an actual career after they obtain an engineering degree. It's nice to see someone who started out with an engineering degree doing so well for himself, because it gives me more hope for the future.

I'm very much warming up to the idea of staying in Fredericton for the summer. I think spending my first summer not on PEI will be a large step towards a more grown up version of myself - like I need to squash this idea that every time school's over I need to run home to mommy, know what I mean? I think I should fit in really well working at school - school is an environment I do well in, and I enjoyed my summers spent working at UPEI with Dr. Dahn so I'm holding out lots of hope that Dr. Holloway and I can just be buddies. I mean, he seems like he'ld be a great guy to have a few beers with around a campfire if you could ever get him out ot one.

Well I really ought to be going. Brandon invited me to attend the end of the year Geomatics Trivia tonight at the 20/20 club and I think I would very much like to go. But first I shall do a little work and cook a ham dinner