Life Is Not Purgatory

Snow in August
… at 1524 meters (so I maybe I can forgive that)

Yup, I woke up on Tuesday – my day off and looked outside my window to see beautiful snow covered peaks, snow covered trees, and… a snow covered Plymouth Neon. Yup, it snowed a lot, and even though most of it didn’t stay there was a thundering snowstorm – I kid you not. Although most of it is gone now (at least at this elevation), the weather is still quite nippy.

I’m looking forward to leaving the valley tomorrow night, although I’ll have to make hotel reservations – I really don’t want to impose upon Else and Tim unless I have to and I have more than enough contacts in the industry in Edmonton that I should be fine for the next while.

Turns are all-but done, all Dave has to do is iron out the seams that will be present between the sections that Dave, Anne and I wrote. I was a little concerned I might not get mine done today after spending several hours with a credit card fraud, but it all ended well… except for the guy in handcuffs, in a jail cell at the local detachment.

Speaking of idiots, I just thought I’d like to remind Pat Robertson - the founder of the Christian Coalition, the host of the 700 Club, and prominent Christian Televangelist - that perhaps before suggesting it would be good if the US assassinated Hugo Chavez, the President of Venezuela he should review the Commandment: Thou Shalt Not Kill.

Light!
... at the end of the tunnel!

Well it's been nineteen days since my last day off and my boss returns from his vacation tommorow... so I think there is a good chance I may be able to take multiple days off in a row!

There is also the burgeoning realization of free time coupled with the loss of so much entertainment with the end of Purgatory in just over a week - I'm taking the weekend off - my boss doesn't know it but then again he hasn't been here in over two weeks since I put my name on the 'off' board in the admin office. Which means I'll be there for the final game, the dénouement of the entire chronicle - and still be able to unwind afterwards without having to worry about driving home for a shift the next day.

So what will I do after? I don't game here, and my minimal introduction into the Calgary gaming scene (where I was chastized for touching when I shook someones hand) did not leave a good impression in my mind... The drive to Edmonton is becoming more tedious each time I take it.

Seriously
I've been told I am way to serious... and that while I may be a gregarious, jovial and outgoing guy - I am a serious, gregarious, jovial and outgoing guy. And that is impacting my ability to have fun out here in the 'Valley of Adventure'.

I've been told I should go out, have fun, cause trouble and enjoy myself... that I am too young to be so serious. And I can't say that disagree with that assessment... I've always been over-analytical, and cautious; it’s why I have never been drunk, I have a problem with the prospect of loosing my inhibitions, and perhaps saying or doing things that I wouldn’t otherwise do.

I can get away with being serious when I work at a downtown hotel, but here? Not so much… life is just different here… and if I am going to really enjoy myself here as opposed to simply making it by here, I may have to ‘let my hair down’ and see what happens.

They say a watched pot never boils – and perhaps by that same token, the hopeless romantic in search of cupid will never meet the right person because he doesn’t see cupid over her shoulder or reflected in her eyes.

It was one of those conversations that strikes a chord somewhere deep within my psyche… the disconnection I feel within my life and the world around me is affecting my work. If I am here to recharge my batteries, make some money and have some fun, perhaps I had better do that, and start taking some risks.

Shuttle in the Scrapheap?
I have always been fascinated with the space program indeed with the very concept of space travel at all, and I find it sad that with the hopefully uneventful return of ‘Discovery’ tomorrow morning – that will be the end of the shuttle program and may put the fate of the International Space Station in jeopardy.

With the retirement (forced or otherwise) the world’s only publicly acknowledged superpower will be without the capability for manned spaceflight for at least five years as they move the design of a new space transport system to replace the shuttle.

Is there a (near) future for Space Exploration, or must we focus on the problems within our own atmosphere before we reach outward?

I am of the belief especially in the wake of the terror attacks against the US and UK that we must reach outward… it is only a matter of time before terrorist organizations are able to construct one or more nuclear weapons… weapons stranger than either of the bombs that devastated Hiroshima and Nagasaki 60 years ago – are small, portable and more deadly. We may just blast ourselves back into the dark ages, and I do not think that there are enough resources left on this planet for us to go though another Industrial Revolution…

Perhaps it is the hope that putting humans on colonies outside our own atmosphere, perhaps even /proving/ the existence of extra-terrestrial life – may make humanity realize that there is only one race, the human race.

The Morning(?) After
I am so very tired… I had to pull off to the side of the road twice for catnaps in order to make it back to Kananaskis, but I survived and made it back in once piece, and I didn’t even nod off – although I’m very certain it was close. I am sooo tired.

The game was amazing! I cannot even imagine how disappointed I would have been to miss what I think was the best game overall in either of the chronicles. I was in awe of Diana’s performance pleading, not for her life but for the life of her newly-sired childe. Julien’s exit while sooner than we anticipated in the evening, was all that I could have hoped for. While Clarisse brief but moist-eyed eulogy for Julien brought some moisture to my own. It is my sincere hope that Julien and Diana are satisfied with the quality of their exit… I know I couldn’t hope for any better.

It is days like yesterday; games that are awe-inspiring, picturesque, and emotionally wrenching that really make being an organizer satisfying and make up for the personality conflicts, the arguments, and the other petty dramas that really make us dread what we do for ‘fun’ some days.

All-in-all, I’m looking forward to this last turn and the last game, and also looking forward to the respite of not having turns to do for the next few months. I think Dave, Anne and I could use the break.

However, it brings up an interesting set of questions to consider if P3 does get past the initial, ‘perhaps we should finish the trilogy’ stage of discussion. P1 was the brain child of both Dave and I – we both worked it developed it and told the story in tandem. P2 was more Dave and less me – part of that was work stress, followed by unemployment stress, followed by lack of money stress, followed by not being with 300km of Edmonton. I have to wonder whether I’ll be able to even remotely be on the same field as Dave – when more than once I’ve felt like second fiddle. So could I play? I’m not certain… I know Dave very well, and He knows me… the reason this works so well is that for the most part we have very similar styles and our differences compliment each others weakness’. Would I just narrate? I’m not certain Dave would appreciate a Narrator say arguing with him as much as I do, and I’m not certain I would enjoy actually /being/ second fiddle. People can think what they want – I know that many people consider it far more his game than mine – and I don’t care… because I know that when Dave and I talk we both have equal input… the perceptions of other don’t really matter.

Gah… I think I should just focus on the endgame… enjoy the break and burn P3’s bridge when we come to it.

Oh! Speaking of bridges, I got to have an interesting conversation with my former other half last night. I know who she’s interested in and kind of ‘seeing’ and I gave her my blessing. Heck, I knew who her affections were turning towards before we ended it. But I like him… he’s a good guy – and I told him and her that I wish them both well although it’s tinged a little green but I’m working on that. My own efforts to enter the dating scene while out here have resulted in a resounding failure… it’s tough enough for me to take the plunge when 1/3 of my eligible candidates aren’t ruled out because they report to me in a direct or indirect fashion.

To quote Dave, “Le Sigh”

File 13
I'm feeling awfully old at the moment. The downside of being in the top four for age on the management team of a hotel where the average age is around 21, is that well, being 27 might well be the same as being 72.

Apparently, File 13 isn't a universal expression of 'garbage can' it's roughly contained to Generation X and the Boomer generation which means the divinding line is roughly age 25-26... which means I'm officially old.

Argh!