All kinds of pain...

My body is just ravaged. I had a very active weekend where each activity would destroy a different party of my body.

Friday Night:Dancing at Cowboys. I didn't plan on going but it was poker night at my place and the table was full. I figured if I'm going to lose $10 I might as well do it having some fun so Kendra and I left to join some others at Cowboys. Thankfully it wasn't that smokey there and I danced a lot. I even know how to two-step. I was convinced that I didn't. I felt like Jason Bourne. I have amnesia and just forgot I knew how to dance. Weird.



Dan's balls...

Saturday Morning: Left early for paintball in Cochrane. This place was huge, 110 acres of terrain. There are tire fields, towers, ridges, forests. It's pretty crazy. I sucked it up the first couple games. I still felt like I was actually being shot at. Then we did the towers and my team kicked ass. In the end Rob and I had Scott pinned down in his tower until we finally got him in the chest. I registered 3 kills and made Brendan run out of ammo on me.



Nevin: Laugh it up buddy, I'm going to shoot you!



Dirty boys. I thought just Brendan's mind was in the gutter.

My favorite part of the day was the duals. We'd load our guns with 4 or 5 bullets and mark off 30 paces. Then we'd go shot for shot. After each one we'd take a step towards each other and go again. Dan and Luke had a few hilarious stand offs. Dan is a great shot and made Lucas pay. Lucas had to go el-cheapo to even it up.



Lucas messed with Dan the Geer. He'll think twice next time...and probably just shoot him in the back from the beginning.

I went against Ben...a great decision. That guy can't hit anything. I pegged him twice in the forearm (the marks overlapped) and twice in the body. He missed with two, grazed me with one, and finally found my chest for the last.



Ben shows off his wounds. How's the arm buddy?

Kolla was easily the super-sniper of the day. He'd pick of people from so far away and hit Adam in the head twice during their dual.



McHale's Navy?? Meet Michael's Army...although I'd brobably never go to war with them.

Saturday night: So we're all sore and bruised...a nice barbecue sounds about right. We had about 25-30 people over at our house that night. It was a good time. The alcohol was immediately numbing. And you know what I learned? Chicks dig battle scars:



Scott and I pick up the ladies. That face just says "STUD" doesn't it?!



Nevin must have more scars, he's got three ladies. Where's that hand going?

We really need a fire pit in our back yard. We had the circle of chairs but only Ben sitting in the middle for entertainment. I guess he is pretty flaming most of the time but it's just not the same. It was still very nice in the yeard. Brendan was sure enjoying our game of musical chairs. Everytime someone got up for a beer their seat was stolen but another one usually opened up by the time they got back.



I can't feel my bum.

There was also a party going on inside. They had Anchorman playing several cute girls that I hadn't met before. Peter was getting quite a few laughs. His girlfriend Angela was down too. She has the patience of a goddess.



Peter: "Ladies and gentlemen, can I please have your attention. I've just been handed an urgent and horrifying news story. I need all of you, to stop what you're doing and listen."

Sunday:Okay, I'll finish this quick. Lucas and Nevin were really keen on getting our wakeboarding season started so we went down to Nanton in the afternoon to get the boat ready. My dad came with us and we launched the boat in the new reservoir near Nanton, Twin Lakes. It's May, 7:00 PM, and windy. I don't remember the last time I was so cold but it had to be in the depths of winter. I still managed to pull out a few of my tricks but I just couldn't get my usual air. I blame that on Lucas's P.O.S. board.

Monday: I skipped the gym but still went to hockey. My legs are sore from Saturday, my back is killing me from Sunday. For once I just didn't want to play. I wanted to stay warm and lazy. Gotta toughen up. It was still fun but definitely the hardest hockey I've played this summer.

I rode my bike into work today too. Andrew wants me to come running with him at noon...I don't think I'm going to survive this week. Lucily I can look forward to Montana this weekend. Nothing but sun, sleep, and relaxation. Oh right, my dad's coming with us. Nothing but work, frustration, some obscure sense of accomplishment. Hey, the place will be right primed for July.

Just so you know I have been turning up the work intensity this week...I just took a short break.

The Answer: Nothing...

The Question: What is in Mike's head right now? I'm so burnt out from today. Nothing like a couple of afternoon rush jobs to just really take it out of you.

Do you ever just want to be held? To know that someone else out there cares for you? (cough) Yeah, me neither.

But you know, it couldn't hurt sometimes. I have many friends around me at pretty much all times of the day. I work with great people, I live with great people, and yet I can still find time to think "why the hell do I feel alone". I'm not, I know I'm not but that feeling still comes. No Nevin, I don't want to cuddle but an offer would be nice. JK So am I alone in this feeling of being alone? Probably not. I know that my bro Jeff feels like that sometimes too. He's convince that he's the only one and that it's all his fault. Jeff, you're cool....capiche?!

So what do I want? A super awesome best friend? No. Girlfriend? No. To date Elisha Cuthbert? Who doesn't? I think right now I'd be best off with a mission. I'd like to quit this job and this life for just a while and do something completely new. Maybe this isn't a feeling of being alone but more a terrible form of deja vu. Maybe life here for a second got just a little bit too routine. Wouldn't it be cool to be James Bond? Jason Bourne? Or even Tom Cruise?

I just have this itch right now. I have this incredible amount of built up energy but I don't know what to use it on. Instead I feel tired and lazy, like nothing at the moment is worth wasting that spark on. I'm not giving up, I'm don't sit at home depressed. Ask my roommates or coworkers, I haven't been acting odd the last couple of weeks. I just suddenly feel like I should be doing something new and really great but it's just not here yet.

Talisman might be that thing I'm looking for. It's not completely new but I'd be taking a new approach. I want to come back but I haven't exactly proven myself. I'm not slacking (too much) even though I may say I do. I'm well ahead of anything they've asked of me and doing other small jobs all the time. Bursts of efficiency is my forte. But maybe I should turn on that bust full time. I could be impressive here, do more than is expected. But is it worth it? I don't see how it can't be. I might need to get more sleep at night to make it happen but I could do it.

Okay, I'm going to start this new form of work......first thing Monday morning. Hey it's Friday, you don't mess with that.

If your May Long wasn't fun, you were in the wrong place...

My May Long was freakin' awesome, much like last year. Although Nanton doesn't quite compare to Montreal or Quebec City for excitement, my house outside of Nanton just might. There were quite a few first timers there this time and all were very impressed with the place. Nice work mom and dad. The more parties I have there the more I realize that it's really set up to do just that. But before I get into it I must back up a bit.

Friday: GREEN DAY CONCERT. We missed My Chemical Romance (sorry Brendan and Dan) but GD made up for it. They are great performers, the lighting is super cool and the crowd was just nuts. I think my favorite songs was one of the slower ones (terrible with song names) but they had almost all of the lights in the Saddledome turned off. People all over were waving their lighters and cell phone screens so there were yellow and blue stars everywhere. I wasn't even looking at the band, just staring around at this huge black space with hundreds of lights. I'm not upset that I didn't have a camera there because it just wouldn't have caught the moment at all.

Saturday: Star Wars Episode III. Great movie, awesome movie, incredible movie. It ties II and IV together and it's a really good flick on its own. If you haven't seen it yet, you must. It's crutial for the series. What do you call at six movie series anyway? Double trilogy? Hexilogy? But now to the party.

It was sunny pretty much all weekend, kind of windy sometimes but there was still a lot of frisbee and golf in the back yard, gopher shooting in the field, and barbecuing on the patio. The movie selection was Team America World Police. I laughed pretty hard sometimes. Very vulgar and politically incorrect but does hit a few good points. I do have a favorite quote but I can't repeat it here. I heard another one from the Dave Chapelle show though. "Question: How does Bush know Iraq has weapons of mass destruction? Answer: He has the receipts!" Ah, the wit. Anyway, a few highlights from the party. Terry showed up later in the evening, polished off a whole Big Bear in the hot tub in under an hour and then...well...he's an idiot. He was showing off by going head first from the pool into the hot tub but in his state he couldn't quite coordinate that action. He hit his head on the seat and opened up a big cut. Thankfully I had a couple of nurses on site (for just that reason) and they told him to go get stitches. He went up to High River around 9:00, passed out at the hospital, got his 4 stitches while he was unconscious, and was diven home in the morning by one of the nurses there from Nanton. Nice work bro, way to introduce yourself.

There were about 25 people at the place that night, a good number. Luke was there of course and was cause for our next bit of excitement. He'd been MIA for about 45 minutes when Scott when looking for him. He found him in the upstairs bathroom passed out on the toilet, chest on his legs, head between his knees, pants around his ankles. Being the great friend that he is Scott proceeded to invite everyone at the party into the bathroom...Luke is still asleep. I see this and go running for my camera to join the other 4 or 5 photographers. Ben and Scott posed with Luke...Luke is still asleep. Then the girls go to pose with Luke...Luke wakes up. He wasn't mad though, just very confused and very very wobbly. He managed to get his pants up, take two sides steps, and tumble backwards into the bathtub. Yeah, I have good pictures and a sweet video but I told Luke I wouldn't post them here...yet. Maybe some day but now he's embarassed enough, I'll give him a break.

I did absolutely nothing the rest of the weekend. No golf, no wakeboarding...just sitting around...and it was glorious.





Here's a few pics from Vic's wedding the weekend before. The first one is of him and his groomsmen, the second is the Nanton delegation. It's been a while since I've seen most of those guys so it was good to catch up. Lesson for next wedding, don't give me the camera!

My ears sound like...burning...

Adaptation of a Ralph Wiggum quote. Simpsons rule. Anyway, I'm finally back in the office...almost for good. The tour of the Stabeco plant was pretty sweet today. They make square motors for our drill strings. For the laid person, they make a really stiff pipe that we ram in holes in search of treasure. Capiche? They took us out for lunch after too. Yeah it's free and all but I'm starting to see the value in attending these functions. In the last week I've increased my knowledge of the mechanical side of drilling a hole about 50 times. I know cementing, coiled tubing, blow out prevention, fishing, and mud motors. I kind of knew how all these worked before but it's different now. I can participate in decisions. Cool.

Ready for your lesson? I took some sweet pictures yesterday at the fishing demo in Blackie, Alberta. Fishing tools often use explosives to separate pipe and casing. They also had some charges used in mining.



The Blast Room just East of Blackie, Alberta

This is where most of the tests take place. This huge metal room is buried underground, the metal is 1" thick. You feel like you're walking into a tomb.



Perforating guns are used to blow holes in casing so that gas from the ground can flow into your well and out the top. To see how powerful these charges are they piled up stacks of 1" thick aluminum and steel squares, blew the charge, and counted how many pieces the hole made it through.



I managed to get one of the aluminum pieces near the top of the explosion. They also set one of these charges on a telephone book to demonstrate the compression effect of the blast.





At the top you can see the beginning of the hole, it's still kind of small. In the second picture Andrew is holding up the book so you can see the back end where the compression wave has completely ripped the book apart. This wasn't a very big charge either.



The also shot one of these charges (only 6 grams) through the side of a drill collar. That cylinder with the wires going into it hold the charge and it set in the super thick steel drill collar. Pull the trigger and...



It's hard to see but that's a small 1/8" hole through the drill collar and it goes all the way through. I guess you have to see it to really appreciate this one but I couldn't believe that small charge blew all the way through with such a perfect hole. Guess these guys aren't stupid pyros.





They also taped some of their primer cord to a plate of aluminum and blew it up. The plate flew about 50 feet in the air before sailing back down. It was pretty mangled and you could see places where the pattern of the nylon thread that wrapped around the primer cord was indented into the aluminum. Guess these guys are stupid pyros.

Just to make sure we realized the danger of all of this they inserted a 1/2 gram detonation charge into a piece of steak (from our earlier barbecue) to show what happens when one of these goes in your hand.



You don't have to tell me twice. That's STEAK?? So it was a pretty awesome afternoon. They have enough explosives on this site to level the whole city of Calgary. Part of me was not sad at all that I had to drive away. I got pretty burned out there too. A nice farmer's tan but not as bad as Kendra, one of the other students. She's a red head...don't need to say more.

Okay, work time. I have so much to catch up on after being gone for so long. I have some pictures from Victor's wedding to put up but I'll do that at a later time. I think this can keep you satisfied for now. Peace.

Drill school...

Apparently I'm missed. I'm sorry I haven't been around for a while. I've been on courses since last Monday and just don't find a lot of other time. I came into the office a bit early today before going off to my course so I guess I can take a moment to talk.

Highlights of the last week:

My friend Victor got married on Saturday. I was his unofficial camera man. Very fun job.

Lost both of our volleyball games which is good. Last games of the seating tournament so we should end up in an easy league.

Got tonnes done at home on Sunday. My desk is finally clean.

Almost passed God of War with Mike. Hopefully he'll wait for me so we can wrap it up on Thursday.

Last weekend we won our hockey league. Nevin, Lucas, Peter and I have been playing for the TriOcean's at the end of their season. Both games went to shootouts. I didn't score on either but Nevin was the hero of the sudden death shootout in game one and scored again in game two to ensure us the win. My contribution was drawing penalties by letting the other team punch me in the head. They think of that big red helmet as a target.

Okay, I'm really late for my course now. Hope this will hold you for a couple days. If not...Dan, you're in charge.

I like to ride my bicycle...I like to ride my bike...

That's Queen.

Yes I like to ride my bike and I finally did so this morning. Lucas and I left the house at 6:40 and I was in the shower here at Talisman by 7:10. Not to shabby. The ride home is going to be a bitch though. It seemed like the whole way here we were going slightly downhill or flat, but rarely uphill. Just little dips under bridges. That means I'm going to be grinding the whole way home. I was going to leave at 2:00 to get back to Nanton in time for golf but maybe I'll have to leave at 1:30. Skipping lunch again!

Last night I was out at my cousin Carly's place to help tutor her in Math 30 Pure. I was really effective I think. Having her explain it all to me again and correct me over and over seemed to really help her. I started to have horrible flashbacks of my grade 12 year and first year of engineering. Trig identities, equations restrictions, frequencies and amplitudes of sinusoidal waves. I wanted to curl up into the fetal position. It was definitely all worth it though. She's really smart and caught on to everything quick, plus my aunt cooked an amazing meal last night. Roast beef, mashed potatos, vegetables, apple pie, chocolate ice cream...heaven. I think I'm going to head out there to tutor again even if Carly's not going to be home.

Oohhh, sooo early....

Kolla and I dragged ourselves out of bed at 5:45 am to catch the early bus downtown. My first morning work out of the year. With volleyball, softball (which we lost last night) and general living I just don't have time to work out at night anymore. I do have time to get to bed earlier though. It was a bit rougher than usual but I think I'll get used to it. When I start riding instead of taking the bus I'll probably be more awake by the time I get there.

Speaking of riding I finally bought a bike. It was $1500...minus $1300 because I'm not an idiot. I was considering a real expensive bike but I realized that this just needs to be something to tide me over for a couple years until I buy my super bike. So, Canadian Tire it is. I like it. It's super heavy but just think of the additional work out that it'll provide. Maybe I'll tie some bricks to it as well. Going down the hill to work in the morning will be damn quick.

I was in Edmonton last weekend. It'd only been a month since I was last up there but it seemed so much longer. It was really good to see Jeff again, and Grandma too. I watched "The Interpreter" and "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy", both excellent movies. Jeff's going to have a great time up there this summer. Steph is awesome and seems to really get Jeff. Plus Wabamun Lake still rules. Montana is nice and all, but it's soo far away. When I was in Edmonton for the summer I'd take people out to Wabamun just for a Friday afternoon after classes. I miss those times.

We have a few new students at Talisman this week, new semester. My good friend Jared Atkinson started in the G&G department. He's with the Edson group so he's just down the hall from Lucas. Kendra and Nick are here in place of Dave and Vic. They're going to fit in just fine. Not too much else for the moment. The work out this morning has giving me some great motivation to get some some real work done today. I'm going to try to finish two projects that my bosses won't be expecting at all. Ready...go!