Fire alarms and hockey
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
First we had the alarm go off on Sunday morn. Then, yesterday I run back to my office for a quick meeting, only to have the fire alarm sounding. So I call to cancel the meeting - thoughts of having to evac 24 floors down being the reason - especially after the 42 floor evacuation couple weeks back.
I then strolled back to my client, catch the elevator to the 42nd floor, where I'm greeted with more flashing strobes and shrieking alarms, and being ordered to commence the evacuation!! Another 42 floors!! Thankfully, after going 10 floors down, the evac was aborted.
It was just after 3pm, so I went home any - we were watching the Flames play the Avs. We met for dinner at Juan's Mexican restaurant. And guess what? Starters hadn't even arrived when yet another fire alarm sounds. But here's the interesting part. We hear this rumbling and crashing in the ceiling, followed by waterfalls of water pouring into the restaurant. Four fire alarms in three days!!!
This is our host, Juan, pouring his gourmet tequilsh. And the waterfall in the window of his fancy clothing store neighbour.
Well anyway, we went to the hockey hungry where we scoffed the dirtiest Pocket Dawgs ever (they're like hot dogs, but dodgy!). The game was quite exciting, but the Flames totally embarrassed the Avs 5-2. It was quite a pity since the Avs are the team from Denver - my American home town!
But firstly, G, I want to apologise for dissing your cheap seats - we sat so high in the rafters, there were sleeping pigeons all round! Free tickets, what can you do, eh?
The game is made of of three 20 minute periods, with 17 minute breaks in between! Fucking crazy. Who can handle three periods in one night? Imagine that PMS!
I was probably the only doos in that place not wearing a Flames jersey, but at $200 you can fuck right off. Rather be a doos than drop a R1400 on a jersey that will only open me up to abuse back home!
Photo gallery - click here!
I then strolled back to my client, catch the elevator to the 42nd floor, where I'm greeted with more flashing strobes and shrieking alarms, and being ordered to commence the evacuation!! Another 42 floors!! Thankfully, after going 10 floors down, the evac was aborted.
It was just after 3pm, so I went home any - we were watching the Flames play the Avs. We met for dinner at Juan's Mexican restaurant. And guess what? Starters hadn't even arrived when yet another fire alarm sounds. But here's the interesting part. We hear this rumbling and crashing in the ceiling, followed by waterfalls of water pouring into the restaurant. Four fire alarms in three days!!!
This is our host, Juan, pouring his gourmet tequilsh. And the waterfall in the window of his fancy clothing store neighbour.
Well anyway, we went to the hockey hungry where we scoffed the dirtiest Pocket Dawgs ever (they're like hot dogs, but dodgy!). The game was quite exciting, but the Flames totally embarrassed the Avs 5-2. It was quite a pity since the Avs are the team from Denver - my American home town!
But firstly, G, I want to apologise for dissing your cheap seats - we sat so high in the rafters, there were sleeping pigeons all round! Free tickets, what can you do, eh?
The game is made of of three 20 minute periods, with 17 minute breaks in between! Fucking crazy. Who can handle three periods in one night? Imagine that PMS!
I was probably the only doos in that place not wearing a Flames jersey, but at $200 you can fuck right off. Rather be a doos than drop a R1400 on a jersey that will only open me up to abuse back home!
Photo gallery - click here!
TENACIOUS!
Thursday 28th November 2006 - Tenacious D - Orpheum Theatre - Boston
What a great concert!
I bought a winner hoodie - too funny - Cleveland Steamers on my chest!
It started off with a comedian called Niel Hamburger who was so bad that people eventually started screaming at him to get off. He was absolutely terrible - on purpose.
Then THE D came out, they were absolutely excellent, and we had great seats. JB has to be the funniest person on earth.
Check out these clips I got of the concert (including sound):
Jack and KG
Jack's sax
Sometimes you have to .... her hard
Tribute
Check out the gallery for a few more pics. Goo Goo Dolls on Friday - can't wait.
What a great concert!
I bought a winner hoodie - too funny - Cleveland Steamers on my chest!
It started off with a comedian called Niel Hamburger who was so bad that people eventually started screaming at him to get off. He was absolutely terrible - on purpose.
Then THE D came out, they were absolutely excellent, and we had great seats. JB has to be the funniest person on earth.
Check out these clips I got of the concert (including sound):
Jack and KG
Jack's sax
Sometimes you have to .... her hard
Tribute
Check out the gallery for a few more pics. Goo Goo Dolls on Friday - can't wait.
Thanksgiving weekend - Boston (Part 2)
Monday, November 27, 2006
So we got back home pretty late on Friday night after a long trip in the Chinatown bus on which I sat next to the toilet - bad idea. We didn't do much that night as we were pretty bushed.
The next morning we took the visitors to Harvard, it was an awesome day so it was really great.
We went to a restuarant on the harbour called the Barking Crab when we got back from Harvard. There was massive old South African flag inside which was unbelievable!
The food was excellent, the seafood in Boston is amazing. We all had the seafood platters and a couple of Stella's (best beer around - all the local beers taste like dam water).
That night we had a poker evening at my place before we hit a club down the road called the Gypsey Bar. We had a huge night and I woke up the next morning feeling sorry for myself again. We didn't have much time on Sunday so we went for some breaky to Quincy Market and on the way back I came across the sale I had been looking for since I arrived - 80 gig ipod for $ 280! What a bargain bargain. Bought it and I am now at peace with myself.
The guys left and Robot and myself went to REI and bought some ski pant, so we now have everything we need to snowboard except snow! Its a pity the bad weather Dari has been moaning about has not moved down here yet cause it still warm (50 degrees) and we wanted to hit the slopes this weekend.
Check out the gallery for some more pics and Tenacious D is tomorrow (Tuesday) night so there will definately be tons of pics coming from there.
Peace out.
The next morning we took the visitors to Harvard, it was an awesome day so it was really great.
We went to a restuarant on the harbour called the Barking Crab when we got back from Harvard. There was massive old South African flag inside which was unbelievable!
The food was excellent, the seafood in Boston is amazing. We all had the seafood platters and a couple of Stella's (best beer around - all the local beers taste like dam water).
That night we had a poker evening at my place before we hit a club down the road called the Gypsey Bar. We had a huge night and I woke up the next morning feeling sorry for myself again. We didn't have much time on Sunday so we went for some breaky to Quincy Market and on the way back I came across the sale I had been looking for since I arrived - 80 gig ipod for $ 280! What a bargain bargain. Bought it and I am now at peace with myself.
The guys left and Robot and myself went to REI and bought some ski pant, so we now have everything we need to snowboard except snow! Its a pity the bad weather Dari has been moaning about has not moved down here yet cause it still warm (50 degrees) and we wanted to hit the slopes this weekend.
Check out the gallery for some more pics and Tenacious D is tomorrow (Tuesday) night so there will definately be tons of pics coming from there.
Peace out.
Thanksgiving weekend - New York City (Part 1)
So week 6 started with a trip to New York City to celebrate Thanksgiving with some of the secondees there. Mike and Deshan flew into Boston from Detroit and arrived on Wednesday and then we all took the Chinatown Bus to NYC (only $15 each way!) on Wednesday evening.
We got dropped of in Chinatown (we first got taken down to chinatown) and then we caught a taxi to the apartments where we were staying. We met up at a place called the "Sway" lounge, the sign outside said McGovern's Tavern but the bouncer said it was called Sway? As we were going inside a lady rushed out and said to the bouncer not to let any more men in cause its full - luckily we had booked a table so we got let in, but when we got it there were like 6 other people inside? And it stayed like that all night!! So there weren't tons of people but we ended up having a huge one.
The next morning we rose at about 9am to a rainy day. We went straight to times square for the Thanksgiving Parade of which we caught about an hour of, but it was pouring with rain. We met up with Aneen and Joy (secondees from SA living in NY) for lunch at Planet Hollwood in Times Square which was awesome, the food was great - deshtroyed a bacon and cheese burger.
After that we took a walk around, we saw the Rockafeller centre and the ice rink below it, but it started raining harder so we went to a small pub and had a few beers for the rest of the arvy.
That night we got invited to a Thanksgiving dinner (including turkey) with a friend of a friend from SA. Her place was in New Jersey and we caught the subway which is located just below Ground Zero. Ground Zero is crazy - it is a massive hole, the buildings must have been enormous, it must have been unreal to be there at that time.
The dinner was great, we packed in turkey, dessert and some Bacardi. On the way back it was raining again and we ran into a guy taking his dog for a walk and the dog had a raincoat - priceless.
When we got home at about 12, the girls went to bed so we decided to hit the town. We caught a taxi which we drove around in until we found an open club, which happened to be a Jazz Club with a live band. We watched them for about 1 song and became their biggest fans. We then on the way out found another club called the Asylum and we had a few more drinks there and sang Karaoke including "New York, New York". We were terrible but it was too fun. We then got swept out at about 4:30am and we went back to the apartment where we met up with a guy from SA who invited us for some vodka and orange juice. At 6am after no sleep yet I headed back into New York cause the biggest sales started at 6 (day after thanksgiving), when I got there the shop was closed! Bad idea - it seemed like a good one at the time.
Finally I got to bed at about 8am and we woke up at about 11 to go have lunch with Steve who used to go to Boys High with us. We went to TGI Fridays in 5th Avenue. The food was okay. We then walked around the city (saw the Empire State). The streets were packed, you can hardly walk. Later we went back down to Chinatown to catch a bus back to Bosty.
The short two days we were there was great, I will take more pics of the sites when we go again over New Years.
Check out the gallery.
We got dropped of in Chinatown (we first got taken down to chinatown) and then we caught a taxi to the apartments where we were staying. We met up at a place called the "Sway" lounge, the sign outside said McGovern's Tavern but the bouncer said it was called Sway? As we were going inside a lady rushed out and said to the bouncer not to let any more men in cause its full - luckily we had booked a table so we got let in, but when we got it there were like 6 other people inside? And it stayed like that all night!! So there weren't tons of people but we ended up having a huge one.
The next morning we rose at about 9am to a rainy day. We went straight to times square for the Thanksgiving Parade of which we caught about an hour of, but it was pouring with rain. We met up with Aneen and Joy (secondees from SA living in NY) for lunch at Planet Hollwood in Times Square which was awesome, the food was great - deshtroyed a bacon and cheese burger.
After that we took a walk around, we saw the Rockafeller centre and the ice rink below it, but it started raining harder so we went to a small pub and had a few beers for the rest of the arvy.
That night we got invited to a Thanksgiving dinner (including turkey) with a friend of a friend from SA. Her place was in New Jersey and we caught the subway which is located just below Ground Zero. Ground Zero is crazy - it is a massive hole, the buildings must have been enormous, it must have been unreal to be there at that time.
The dinner was great, we packed in turkey, dessert and some Bacardi. On the way back it was raining again and we ran into a guy taking his dog for a walk and the dog had a raincoat - priceless.
When we got home at about 12, the girls went to bed so we decided to hit the town. We caught a taxi which we drove around in until we found an open club, which happened to be a Jazz Club with a live band. We watched them for about 1 song and became their biggest fans. We then on the way out found another club called the Asylum and we had a few more drinks there and sang Karaoke including "New York, New York". We were terrible but it was too fun. We then got swept out at about 4:30am and we went back to the apartment where we met up with a guy from SA who invited us for some vodka and orange juice. At 6am after no sleep yet I headed back into New York cause the biggest sales started at 6 (day after thanksgiving), when I got there the shop was closed! Bad idea - it seemed like a good one at the time.
Finally I got to bed at about 8am and we woke up at about 11 to go have lunch with Steve who used to go to Boys High with us. We went to TGI Fridays in 5th Avenue. The food was okay. We then walked around the city (saw the Empire State). The streets were packed, you can hardly walk. Later we went back down to Chinatown to catch a bus back to Bosty.
The short two days we were there was great, I will take more pics of the sites when we go again over New Years.
Check out the gallery.
Sunday morning, wakey wakey!
Sunday, November 26, 2006
09h00: Indoor climate, +24C. Slight man smell. Outdoor climate, -24C. Flurries of snow.
09h01: {Fire alarm sounds} Wake up with a fucking heart attack, disco flashing lights and ear piercing whoop-whooping going on. Run around a bit all messed up, don't know which way is where? My new afro in total disarray.
Eventually I wake up enough to realise that it was the fire alarm making the shrieking alarm sound. So I start getting dressed in my snowboarding gear, head to toe - I saw this happen last year in Denver, where the apartment across the road from us was evac'd when the fire alarm went off, and everyone forced to stand in the snow!
Fire alarm strobe in my bathroom, and the emergency exit.
Luckily, it was a false(ish) alarm - a water pipe burst and set off the fire alarm. So no scrambling for possessions in a last ditch effort to salvage all cheap and cheesy Made in China trinkets I've collected since arriving. Although I did think about taking my passport, air ticket and all my dolleros stuffed under the mattress and in the septic tank and freezer. And my golf clubs. And the last blueberry bagel...
And thank God no 42 floor trundle down the stairs...
So I made my way downtown to clean up on the last Sears sale items and make some (free international) calls from the office. It was freezing and a lot of snow fell - by mid afternoon you couldn't tell where the sidewalk ended and where the street started - which explains why I almost got hit by a car after waiting in the street to cross!
Just check how dead downtown is on the weekends!
I went out once more at 17h00 to buy some groceries and shit - a 10 minute walk in 30 below temps! At that temperature, exposed flesh can get frost bitten! So you gotta wear lots of layers...
Top: thermal beanie, neck gaitor, undershirt, tshirt, hoodie and snow parka.
Bottom: long-johns, jeans and Trojan triple-lubed, double glazed, but amazingly thin (for extra feel) condoms - gotta get all the protection you can get, man! Check this, snow and fogginess actually freezes on your glasses!
09h01: {Fire alarm sounds} Wake up with a fucking heart attack, disco flashing lights and ear piercing whoop-whooping going on. Run around a bit all messed up, don't know which way is where? My new afro in total disarray.
Eventually I wake up enough to realise that it was the fire alarm making the shrieking alarm sound. So I start getting dressed in my snowboarding gear, head to toe - I saw this happen last year in Denver, where the apartment across the road from us was evac'd when the fire alarm went off, and everyone forced to stand in the snow!
Fire alarm strobe in my bathroom, and the emergency exit.
Luckily, it was a false(ish) alarm - a water pipe burst and set off the fire alarm. So no scrambling for possessions in a last ditch effort to salvage all cheap and cheesy Made in China trinkets I've collected since arriving. Although I did think about taking my passport, air ticket and all my dolleros stuffed under the mattress and in the septic tank and freezer. And my golf clubs. And the last blueberry bagel...
And thank God no 42 floor trundle down the stairs...
So I made my way downtown to clean up on the last Sears sale items and make some (free international) calls from the office. It was freezing and a lot of snow fell - by mid afternoon you couldn't tell where the sidewalk ended and where the street started - which explains why I almost got hit by a car after waiting in the street to cross!
Just check how dead downtown is on the weekends!
I went out once more at 17h00 to buy some groceries and shit - a 10 minute walk in 30 below temps! At that temperature, exposed flesh can get frost bitten! So you gotta wear lots of layers...
Top: thermal beanie, neck gaitor, undershirt, tshirt, hoodie and snow parka.
Bottom: long-johns, jeans and Trojan triple-lubed, double glazed, but amazingly thin (for extra feel) condoms - gotta get all the protection you can get, man! Check this, snow and fogginess actually freezes on your glasses!
Hard to find good help!
I bitched about this last year, and I'll bitch about again this year! First there was this rant about washing and ironing, and then there was the infamous bathroom brawl I had with Rox.
Housekeeping in North America is totally different from SA - no paying minimum wage that borders on slavery, as they're forced to clean up after us! No, they vaccuum and make beds. That's it. No washing, ironing, dishes or even taking out the rubbish.
G, I don't know if you guys have housekeeper in Boston (I'm guessing you'd need it more that us, exactly when does Big Rach' arrice?) - but here they come twice a month to do nothing but drink my milk and steal my Viral Choice cold 'n flu tabs that I smuggled from SA (really, bottle of 30 of which I had two last month... they left me with one!)
Seriously, these are the first cleaners that actually take your jammies off the bed and throw them on the floor?????? This is how I find my stuff when I get home - on my putting cups... have some fucking respect, man!
Housekeeping in North America is totally different from SA - no paying minimum wage that borders on slavery, as they're forced to clean up after us! No, they vaccuum and make beds. That's it. No washing, ironing, dishes or even taking out the rubbish.
G, I don't know if you guys have housekeeper in Boston (I'm guessing you'd need it more that us, exactly when does Big Rach' arrice?) - but here they come twice a month to do nothing but drink my milk and steal my Viral Choice cold 'n flu tabs that I smuggled from SA (really, bottle of 30 of which I had two last month... they left me with one!)
Seriously, these are the first cleaners that actually take your jammies off the bed and throw them on the floor?????? This is how I find my stuff when I get home - on my putting cups... have some fucking respect, man!
A picture paints a thousand words...
Thursday, November 23, 2006
I don't think you understand how cold it is...
Take note, those are minuses before the numbers!!! As in below freezing!!! They say at -30C a glass of water freezes within seconds, shattering the glass. Can't wait to see if it's true.
Note to self: Must take glass from work tomorrow (stuff we break in our apartment, we have to pay for!)
Take note, those are minuses before the numbers!!! As in below freezing!!! They say at -30C a glass of water freezes within seconds, shattering the glass. Can't wait to see if it's true.
Note to self: Must take glass from work tomorrow (stuff we break in our apartment, we have to pay for!)
What's in the box?
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Seven long days, the clock tick tocks,
Parcel in the mail, what's in the box?
Jumpin' up 'n down, like I shat my jocks,
Shiny bright - my gold 'n black Nike Shox!
Shit, it's like Princess Di flew down from Heaven and blessed my feet herself!
EBay, gotta fucken love it - paid less than of half of MSRP! That's North American advertising speak for "Manufacturer's Recommended Sales Price".
Parcel in the mail, what's in the box?
Jumpin' up 'n down, like I shat my jocks,
Shiny bright - my gold 'n black Nike Shox!
Shit, it's like Princess Di flew down from Heaven and blessed my feet herself!
EBay, gotta fucken love it - paid less than of half of MSRP! That's North American advertising speak for "Manufacturer's Recommended Sales Price".
News from one fucked up...
Monday, November 20, 2006
...fantashtic-international-ChumpStyle-machete-deshtroyer weekend ever!
Saturday, 18 November 2006
Like I've said, Calgary is full of foreigners since the job market is so hot, and there aren't enough skilled Calgarians (yip, they call themselves that) to fill those positions. Which is why I've been sent here. So at work there's a social club for the "Internationals" - the people who talk funny and have no friends - and were invited to watch the minor league (ice) hockey game: Calgary Hitmen take on the team from Moose Jaw????? I don't find hockey the most exciting game - I don't see any structure or game plan, other than hit the puck at goal, or if you have a chance, fuck each other up until one of you falls to the floor.
But it was a fun evening out, free food and drink! I actually spent the whole night talking cricket with the Pakis! The Hitmen totally destroyed the Moose Jawians 6-1 in a totally one-sided affair.
Note to G Man: if you're gonna watch a game, you gotta get tickets in the corporate box. No having to squint your eyes cos you're in the cheap seats that are so high up you get altitude sickness.
Check the gallery.
...and the players warming up... pretty cool.
Apologies for the low resolution, forgot to set the camera up properly!
Update: video link fixed!!!!!!
Sunday, 19 November 2006
07h45: Get picked up.
10h00: Arrive at Sunshine Ski Resort.
10h01-17h30: Totally carve up, shake 'n bake and fluff some powder (that's 'boarder talk for "snowboarding merrily along one's way").
20h30: After some really bad indecisive-ness and umming and ahhing by the people, and agreeing to drop off the rental car (being the nice guy I am), and then walking home (12 blocks) from Avis, I arrived home dead tired.
20h31: Shit, shower, shave.
20h40: Zzzzzz...
But I had an awesome time. After the first run, it all came back to me and so I pretty much kept up with the Swiss mofos - Swiss are famous for clocks, banking, cheese and producing Olympic skiers. I think the Swiss people I work with were Olympic skiers in their past lives!
Check the pics!
It was an awesome day out, friggen expensive though - the whole day costing me a whopping $150 - so pretty much dropped a grand - Judge, you happy?!
So up until now, my most daring ever was to look Jan Pierie-Wiet in the eyes and call him a raging homosexual Dutchman. As of today, my new most daring is skiing down an advanced slope, after sunset*, to get back to the parking lot (we were skiing so high, we had to catch two cable cars going up to get there).
* After sunset, there's no light, duh? So you can't see fokol. Like humps and ditches. Or the edge of the fucken mountain. And the snow turns quickly to ice, which makes it that much harder when you fall.
So after going the entire day without landing on my head or face - I took an almighty tumble after I hit a ditch, then a ramped up a hump, then cart-wheeled in the air with one-and-a half-twists. And landed my skinny arse on the ice. That's like 9.9 - for height reached, velocity, difficulty and artistic execution! If it wasn't for losing my goggles (and consciousness), I reckon a perfect 10 was on the cards!
So on this fine Monday morning at work, I'm walking with with a limp, and one shoulder dropped - it's not cos I'm gangsta, but cos I'm fucken all buckled outta shape!
Saturday, 18 November 2006
Like I've said, Calgary is full of foreigners since the job market is so hot, and there aren't enough skilled Calgarians (yip, they call themselves that) to fill those positions. Which is why I've been sent here. So at work there's a social club for the "Internationals" - the people who talk funny and have no friends - and were invited to watch the minor league (ice) hockey game: Calgary Hitmen take on the team from Moose Jaw????? I don't find hockey the most exciting game - I don't see any structure or game plan, other than hit the puck at goal, or if you have a chance, fuck each other up until one of you falls to the floor.
But it was a fun evening out, free food and drink! I actually spent the whole night talking cricket with the Pakis! The Hitmen totally destroyed the Moose Jawians 6-1 in a totally one-sided affair.
Note to G Man: if you're gonna watch a game, you gotta get tickets in the corporate box. No having to squint your eyes cos you're in the cheap seats that are so high up you get altitude sickness.
Check the gallery.
...and the players warming up... pretty cool.
Apologies for the low resolution, forgot to set the camera up properly!
Update: video link fixed!!!!!!
Sunday, 19 November 2006
07h45: Get picked up.
10h00: Arrive at Sunshine Ski Resort.
10h01-17h30: Totally carve up, shake 'n bake and fluff some powder (that's 'boarder talk for "snowboarding merrily along one's way").
20h30: After some really bad indecisive-ness and umming and ahhing by the people, and agreeing to drop off the rental car (being the nice guy I am), and then walking home (12 blocks) from Avis, I arrived home dead tired.
20h31: Shit, shower, shave.
20h40: Zzzzzz...
But I had an awesome time. After the first run, it all came back to me and so I pretty much kept up with the Swiss mofos - Swiss are famous for clocks, banking, cheese and producing Olympic skiers. I think the Swiss people I work with were Olympic skiers in their past lives!
Check the pics!
It was an awesome day out, friggen expensive though - the whole day costing me a whopping $150 - so pretty much dropped a grand - Judge, you happy?!
So up until now, my most daring ever was to look Jan Pierie-Wiet in the eyes and call him a raging homosexual Dutchman. As of today, my new most daring is skiing down an advanced slope, after sunset*, to get back to the parking lot (we were skiing so high, we had to catch two cable cars going up to get there).
* After sunset, there's no light, duh? So you can't see fokol. Like humps and ditches. Or the edge of the fucken mountain. And the snow turns quickly to ice, which makes it that much harder when you fall.
So after going the entire day without landing on my head or face - I took an almighty tumble after I hit a ditch, then a ramped up a hump, then cart-wheeled in the air with one-and-a half-twists. And landed my skinny arse on the ice. That's like 9.9 - for height reached, velocity, difficulty and artistic execution! If it wasn't for losing my goggles (and consciousness), I reckon a perfect 10 was on the cards!
So on this fine Monday morning at work, I'm walking with with a limp, and one shoulder dropped - it's not cos I'm gangsta, but cos I'm fucken all buckled outta shape!
