Tales From the Milk Drinker

Yesterday Joey and I got the jorb of driving our Aunt Linda back to the airport in Moncton. She was here from Ontario to attend my grandmother's funeral. After we dropped her off the logical thing to do would be go dick around the mall since it's such a big mall but instead we went to magic mountain to ride the water slides.

There were these two sweet blue ones that are new since the last time I was there. They're side by side on the same tower and one is a steep straight run (I would say steeper than 45 degrees) and the other is a twisty one like a cork screw. The twisty one, while not as steep, actually proved to be a better ride because if you'll remember grade 12 physics the body can not sense velocity, it can only sense acceleration (otherwise travel by commercial jet would be a terrifying experience at speeds of 500 mph+). You'll also realize that twisting a slide around gives the rider a different type of acceleration - angular instead of linear. It was a huge thrill. Both of these new slides have a straight flat shute full of water you go through at the bottom to stop you at the end of your ride instead of running into a swimming pool.

There was a weight limit of 200lbs on the slides so we both had to fib a little about our mass - but I'm confidant as an engineering graduate that if they say 200 is the cut off being over that by any less than 100 should still be no issue. 200 is just some asshole's opinion of a weight that is definately safe. A lot of little kids were amazed when we'ld go down how big of a splash we'ld make at the bottom.

They insist you lie down flat with your legs crossed and arms tucked under your head. Of course I refused to let a fifteen year old lifeguard tell me how to do my job even if she was in a very tiny bikini. Since my legs were uncrossed most of the time and I kept one arm free to plug my nose with I ended up having different flow characteristics through the slow down tube than a rider in the recommended position. This caused me to flip over violently several times and bang my face on one of them. I also did something funny to one of my back muscles and today it feels like I was run over by a small car.

I can't wait to go back. It was only fifteen bucks.

1. FIRST NAME? Sam
2. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? Yes, my uncle (who's nickname is sam although his real name is Charles.)
3. WHEN DID YOU LAST CRY? Probably last summer from boredom and loneliness in Freddy Beach (Fuck that miserable city)
4. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HAND WRITING? My printing is so so my script is wretched
5. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE LUNCHMEAT? "at Free" ham
6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? Doubtful. I try to be the loudest person in a group and most often somone else like that pisses me off. Except Mike Gille.
7. DO YOU HAVE A JOURNAL? Yes, this blog. I used to have a paper journal but I thought it was faggy so I threw it out.
8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yes
9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? Maybe if it would get me something I wanted
10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE CEREAL? Maple and brown Sugar oatmeal made with minimal water so it's really thick like cement.
11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? If they're a pair that is still in good shape, elsewise no
12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? No. I have met a lot of people through powerlifting that have changed the benchmark by which I define strength. Although I am somewhat strong I don't "think I'm strong"
13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE ICE CREAM FLAVOUR? Chocolate chip cookie DOUGH (ohhhh!)
14. SHOE SIZE? 9
15. RED OR PINK? Red, like a Honda motorcycle
16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVOURITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? I wish I was less fat
17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? The Boys Boys. If you caught me in the right mood I'ld sell all my other pals into slavery to save these guys from getting a papercut
18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU? dumb question
UR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? Blue gym shorts and bare feet
20. LAST THING YOU ATE? A huge bowl of brown sugar miniwheats with a mint chocolate chip protien shake poured on top (see numbers 16 and 12)
21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? Come Sail Away by Stix.
22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Bright Orange. Loud and used for Safety Warnings
23. FAVOURITE SMELL? Pretty girls. If you're a guy you know what that smells like if you're a girl you're oblivious to it.
24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? My brother Joey
25. THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE YOU ARE ATTRACTED TO? Gentle and Kind. But really probaby body texture. Not too hard or squishy, just right.
26. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? I like everyone.
27. FAVOURITE DRINK? Orange Bacardi Breezers. See #12. I can drink whatever I want biatch!
28. FAVOURITE SPORT? Powerlifting.
29. EYE COLOR? Bluish Green with a lot of yellow
30. HAT SIZE? Admit to not knowing
31. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? Yes. and glasses too.
32. FAVOURITE FOOD? KFC (but I now only eat it once a year for artery reasons. Christmas eve is my traditional day)
.33. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Scary because what makes me happy is usually not what makes everyone happy. Did you see the notebook? What about the poor SOB who was engaged to her? WTF??? They should've wrote into it that he beats her so you wouldn't like him. Did anyone see the series fanaly to Dawson's Creek? What a shocker!
34. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? Grey
35. SUMMER OR WINTER? Summer but not over 30 degrees please.
36. HUGS OR KISSES? Dont' have enough experience to decide which I like better for sure.
37. FAVOURITE DESSERT? Coconut cream pie
38. WHO IS MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? Possibly Jeff.
39. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND? Douglas
40. WHAT BOOKS ARE YOU READING? Tales of the Phantom Ship of the Northumberland Straight
and Come Thirsty
41. WHAT’S ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? Threw it out, it was too old and gross
42. WHAT DID YOU WATCH LAST NIGHT ON TV? Most of Seventh Heaven and an episode of Simpson and House
43. FAVOURITE SOUNDS? A well running car that makes no "funny" noises.
44. ROLLING STONE OR BEATLES? Beatles
45. THE FURTHEST YOU’VE BEEN FROM HOME? Toronto Ontario or maybe Waterloo?
46. WHAT’S YOUR SPECIAL TALENT? I can talk to someone and come off as super professional and polite when really I'm thinking about killing them.
47. AND WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Charlottetown
48. WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? Copied it off Daniel's blog

Special Bonus Question for me to answer:
Favorite teacher from grades 1-12: Gerald MacCormack. No bullshit boys. None. Can't beat the Saturday morning male bonding experience up on the roof on saturday morning.

Today I decided to do something with my nice sunshiny day. I went to the cottage to ride my dirtbike. Unfortunately my ride was cut short by a mechanical failure

Pictured above are the guilty components. You're looking at the front sproket. If you think of a bicycle this would be the gear that is attached to your pedals. On a dirtbike this gear is driven by the transmission which recieves power from the engine through the clutch. On the left of the picture is the eliptical shaped clip which uses the two bolts also shown to hold the sproken onto the driveshaft. The problem here is that the clip is supposed to have some little teeth on it that grab the shaft but they have worn off. While I was riding the front sproket jumped off the drive shaft and the chain wrapped itself around the back axle, causing the rear wheel to lock up and the bike to skid to a stop. Luckily I was going slow (maybe about 20 km/h) so I wasn't hurt.

Equally lucky is the fact that I know how to fix this. I just need to buy a new clip tomorrow at the motorcycle shop on Linkletter road. I've actually bought one before and at the time it cost less than five bucks. So hopefully tomorrow if the weather is nice I'll get my longer ride in without spending a fortune. This break down was 100% avoidable and totally my fault - I should've known to check the condition of the sproket since I hadn't really looked at it in about a year. This clip is a regular maintenance item which should be replaced before it failed.

Hey Gang. Maybe you're wondering what I do with all my time now that I'm a free man. I'll try to give you a little snapshot here.

I spent May 28 to June 1 up at Waterloo University. It totally blew my mind! While I was there I had a very big change of heart. Anyone who knows me even half well must know that I've been a big supporter of staying on PEI or at least in the maritimes and I never saw myself having a life somewhere else. Well that fell appart in a couple of days! When I was there I realized that there's just so much exciting stuff going on elsewhere in the world that i don't want to spend my whole life here. Don't get me wrong - I still want to spend much of my life here, but not all of it and now being so young and free, not to mention single (which makes things a lot easier when you decide to move around) it's the perfect opportunity to get out and live a little.

I've been spending a bit of time (hm I guess it's two full afternoons so far) down at UPEI talking with Prof Andy Trivett who I want to supervise my Master's thesis next year. I even talked my way into a little part time job helping the people coming from high school into first year get settled and pick their courses. I've already produced an eight page manual for them that's basically 'Everything you wanted to know about UPEI engineering but didn't know who to ask". Andy's found a sweet project for me with PEI Energy Systems, the district heating plant down by the hospital in Charlottetown that heats a lot of buildings by burning garbage and wood waste and some oil. So now the plan is to do a collaboration between UPEI and Waterloo. Hopefully I'll be up in Ontario taking some courses and doing some library research in the fall until Christmas when I'll mozzy on home and set up shop in the C dot for a while to do some research closer to the plant. Since I'm only going to be in Ontario for 4 or 8 months at a time I wanna live in the grad student residence (should be at least somewhat calmer than the undergrad buildings) and spend my days SCREWING OVER the all you can eat cafeteria. I even got to go meet a group of competative powerlifters who said I could come train with them at night at this awsome gym called Popeyes in Kitchener, which is only about 15 minutes from campus.

I'm feeling a lot better in general. I would almost say that whatever "broke" when I realized I wasn't happy in Fredericton in the winter of 2004 has had enough time to fix itself. I have confidance in myself and I'm almost daring to start dreaming big again. I also feel a great sense of liberation - that I need to start experiencing more instead of measuring my life out in time. Yesterday I went out to the cottage and cut wood all day for Joey's new outdoor fireplace in town at his girlfriend's house. I also knocked down my old tree fort because it was no longer safe to hold the weight of even a small child. I changed the oil in my dirt bike and our ride on mower and took the bike for a good drive. It needs a couple minor little repair jobs but nothing real big.

I'm feeling a big liberation from slavery to the gym. Now if there's something fun to do like go to the beach or something with some peeps I'll skip the gym and just do it the next day - I have 100% confidance this will only serve to make my training regim more effective. A happy person is a person who's body is working under less stress and can function better. This Saturday there's a group of guys having a little powerlifting day at a local gym - not a real official contest just a chance to get together and bash up or bodies for fun and joke around a bit. I think it'll be fun.

Hey fellas I just found out Westjet have a deal on where if you fly out of Halifax on a Thursday a flight to Saint John's is only 99$. Anyone wanna go visit the dipster?

P.S. What is the reason for my complete lack of knowledge of when daniel will be around?

Hi guys and girls. I'm going to be helping put together a packet of info to give to people registering for first year engineering at UPEI. I want to hear from all of you (anyone, not just UPEI people) on the following types of things:
What do you wish you knew going into first year that you didn't
What were you most nervous about

The questions can pertain specifically to UPEI Engineering or to university life in general.

Please comment asap.