Winter Came Back!

I finally took some time off, Friday and Monday. I am working overtime on Sunday though (the money is too good!).

So Murphy's Law kicked in, I have the weekend basically off, so I come into the city. That's where the Winter part comes in. The picture is of Jasper Avenue, one of the major streets in Edmonton. Downtown it is the major street.

So I came into town Friday night. I wanted to see Act of Valour. I did. Before and after the movie I was at Woody's bar. I met up with a friend before the movie. It was good to hang out. After the movie, I went back to Woody's. It was crowded, a different crowd than in the afternoon. The bar appears to be a magnet for the grifter types, I guess you could call them Gay for Pay. They will do stuff with a guy, but they are mainly there to drink and or to consume drugs. So a guy has to be leery with the nighttime crowd.

Oh, before I got in the bar, I had an fall on Jasper Ave. I came around a corner, the sidewalk (on the landlord's property) was not cleared and I went for a fall. I have a scrape on my forehead and bruises on my knees and a bum on my head. I could have sued, I guess but I am not that kid of guy.

So I was at Woody's then Buddy's (which is downstairs). The night was going really good. But due to my scrape I guess I looked like a scrapper.
I am not a scrapper, the last fight I was in was when I was 12. Last night a couple of lesbians and a straight guy with weird hair, all seemed to want a piece of me. I have learned somethings since I was 12. I am friends with a couple of the bouncers, I didn't want to put them in a tough spot. So I just walked away.

When I left the bar it was snowing like mad. So I stayed at a bed and breakfast.

Driving today is fun, that not knowing if you are going to stop. Impromptu right turns when a guy decides to turn left in front of you. I also planned ahead. I came from the Southside down the hill into the River Valley. Now I would normally go up 105 St hill. But Edmonton drivers have funny ideas when it comes to gravity, momentum etc. They normally slow down before a hill, like they were taught in driving school. But they slow down to almost a stop and then go really slow up the hill. After about 2000 yards, the car stops moving forward. They give it some gas and it starts going sideways. Then the car is sliding back down the hill. I was about to go to this mess, but I went down River Road instead and came up a saner hill.

The town I live in is like no other, well of course, but this is really like no other place on Earth. Normally people go out to eat, to the bar etc to see other people. Well in Vegreville, you'd be lucky if there were other people in the bar. It is very closed and you'd think keep to yourself. But that is not the case, they are some of the nosiest people on the planet. They drive slow down the streets and look in people's windows. At the A&W, which is near the Emergency Services building, they all run to see where the ambulance or fire truck is headed. If there is a fire or police incident, they come up and try to find out exactly what the issue is. The newspaper in this town is redundant.
So anyway, that's why I head to the city.

Which leads to the really good news. I paid off the car loan this week. I also finished paying off an advance at work. It is a complicated arrangement when you can take time off, 5 weeks and pay for the leave throughout the year. This results in a significant bump in extra money. So I am making plans for travel. I was going to go to a conference in Orlando Florida, at Disney World. But I don't have that much extra cash. Next years is in Toronto, I will go there.

All in all a pretty good week. I am going to finish up some stuff at Starbucks and head home. 60 miles in a blizzard. Should be fun.