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| Friday, February 17, 2006
After working 12 hours the previous day, this day started slow but began to pick up near the end. It was my last day of work before my first "real" vacation and as I'm "the glue that holds this place together", I had quite a bit of things to do before I left. I made it clear that I wasn't going to be bringing my cell phone nor answering any work related emails (I may have said "any emails"). I wanted to leave around 3pm, but things were still left to be done. I left work at 4:30pm partially because I was tired of still working and partially because I still had to go to Halifax (well... Shubenacadie) that night.
I got home and everything was packed and ready from the night before. I got a shower before we left. About 5:30pm, we were on the road (my sister and her husband offered to drive me to the airport). They listen to less than fulfilling music, but fortunately, I had my iPod. We stopped in Port Hawkesbury at the Dairy Queen where I bought supper for us. The rest of the drive was rather uneventful as it was dark and there's nothing particularly exciting about the drive. We stopped at an Irving station in Truro where a couple of snacks were purchased (despite having snacks in the car... *shrug* I dunno). From Truro, it was a 20-minute drive to the Mastodon Ridge turn-off and another 15-20 minute drive to the middle of nowhere a.k.a. my brother-in-law's uncle's place. We arrived around 10:30pm that night, and as luck would have it, there were only 3 channels to watch on TV and nothing else to do. As I didn't want to watch Numb3rs, The Ghost Whisperer, or Wife Swap, we watched the Olympics. This started off poorly because it was ice dancing. It really picked up when it switched over to the skeleton. Canada won Gold and Silver in the skeleton, which is now in my top 3 of Olympic events to watch. After that, it was off to bed.
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Saturday, February 18, 2006
My flight was to leave at 10:50am, so I wanted to be there between 9:30am and 9:50am (I much prefer being early than just on time). My sister set her watch for 8:30am, but I woke up about 8am anyway (I guess I was too excited to sleep). We left at about 8:45am and we arrived at the airport around 9:15am. My sister asked if she wanted me to have them wait, but it wasn't necessary.
I took my stuff to the counter and checked-in. I was starting off towards the gate when Christine recognized me and was just getting into the line to check-in (it was the silver pants that were a give-away). I waited along side until she checked in and she was assigned the seat next to mine. We walked down towards the gate and stopped at Tim Horton's for a muffin and drink before going through security. I got through security without incident, but Christine, I believe, had to undo her belt. We got up to the gate and had to sit for about 20 minutes before boarding. It was the first time I had flown and had somebody to talk to. Airports can be boring places when you're travelling alone. We boarded the plane and I let Christine have my window seat as she hadn't flown since she was 4 and I could see fine from the middle seat. Christine was a little nervous on the flight and the woman next to us recognized this and offered Christine her magazine. The woman was reading some book about women empowerment (or something) and was underlining words and phrases. I noticed that there were some quotes from Lord of the Rings, but as I read them, I noticed it was from the movies and not the books (I'm quick like that).
The plane took off without incident and it was a fairly smooth ride. The cool thing about WestJet is that each seat has it's own TV with satellite television and a Map Quest screen showing our approximate location, speed, and altitude. Once we got above the clouds, and the thrill of flying wore away, we watched the Olympic men's curling, which is also in my top 3 of Olympic events to watch. For some reason, not all the channels were working so I couldn't watch the Olympic men's hockey (you guessed it, also in my top 3 of Olympic events to watch).
Once we got about half way there (it's about an hour and a half flight), the captain came over the intercom and stated that due to some high winds in Newfoundland, the landing might feel a little like travelling down a gravel road. Christine was obviously thrilled about that prospect. He then said what the temperature in St. John's and was going to tell us the time. He had to stop and calculate it out because it's a half hour difference than Atlantic Time, and he mentioned something about "crazy Newfoundland time". We sighed at his sense of humor or lack of intelligence.
The landing was a little smoother than the captain let on, unless we landed on a dirt road, in which case, driving on dirt roads is a lot smoother when you're in a plane than it is when you're in a car. The woman next to us commented about how she flew all night from Vancouver and how there's a lot more snow here than there is there. She also mentioned about mowing lawns, but I stopped paying attention because she was gloating a little too much about something that nobody has any control over. I'm sure the people in tropical areas had even fewer snow days than Vancouver, so, congratulations on living in a milder climate area. That must mean that she's better than the rest of us.
We followed the crowd to the baggage claim and at the bottom of the escalator was a big, homemade welcome sign, and next to the people holding the sign were Matt, Jenny, and Amanda. Our disappointment at the lack of sign and fancy clothing was brief. :P As we were waiting for our bags, quick recaps of the day and flight were made, then Christine and I realized that our bags were two of the first ones on and will probably be two of the last ones off. We then went outside and there was a taxi van there and we took that back to the apartment. The driver mentioned that he couldn't make stuff up about St. John's thinking that everyone lived there, but we told him that we were all from Nova Scotia and he could make stuff up if he wanted to. Along the drive, he pointed out some landmarks and gave a bit of a history about them.
We arrived at the apartment. We climbed a flight of stairs and passed the washer and dryer and the door to their neighbor's apartment. Matt unlocked the door to reveal another set of stairs to the top floor apartment. After the grand tour (living room/kitchen, bathroom, and two bedrooms), we sat for a few moments before walking along Water St. and George St. Water St. is the oldest street in North America and features a bunch of shops, but first we travelled along the length of George St., which houses the most pubs per square foot in North America. We then walked back along Water St. towards the apartment. We stopped at a couple of shops along the return. One was a sex shop (obviously). Why? Because it was there. Another was a liquor store. This was a really nice liquor store with stained wood floors, walls, shelves, and ceilings, plus it had three levels for differing types of alcohol. We didn't end up buying anything because Matt, Jenny, and Amanda stocked up before our arrival. We also stopped at a shop with skiing and camping supplies. Our last stop before getting back to the apartment was a little convenience store run by a mean older woman. We then returned to the apartment to have something to eat.
After a little while, we all got on the bus and headed towards the Village Mall. Our first stop was an "As Seen On TV" store. The girls then went into Winners while Matt and I walked around a bit. We decided that we would need winter hats for our upcoming ski trip. We went to two or three stores then went back to Winners to catch up with the girls. They were barely 30 feet from where we left them, so we took a quick look around Winners for winter hats and then went around the mall some more. Most places didn't have any winter hats, or didn't have any winter hats at reasonable prices (sorry Sport Chek). We stopped looking for hats and then went into EB Games to see if there were any good GameCube multiplayer games available. Upon leaving EB Games, we came across Jenny. We followed her back and she suggested a couple of places to get hats, but there weren't many of interest/reasonable prices. We met up with Christine and Amanda and just followed them around through the stores. Matt hates shopping, so he wasn't thrilled. It doesn't bother me, so I was fine. We then got to Bluenotes where I was told I *had to* get jeans (to be fair, I wanted to get jeans anyway, but Bluenotes wasn't what I had in mind). I was directed towards the men's jeans and was told that the dirty, worn look was what I should go for. It was unfair because I was being triple-teamed by the sales girl, Jenny, and Amanda. I eventually went with the $50, dirty jeans, which looked good and all (more about the jeans to come later). We went to a few more stores then sat down and had a bite at the food court. With the time of the bus drawing near, we headed back towards the mall entrance. Christine and I purchased "10-ride" bus passes and after a quick stop in one more store, we got on our bus and headed back to the apartment.
Back at the apartment, and the official first night of the vacation, the drinking commenced (for those of you offended by drinking, well, prepare to be offended in the parts that start "back at the apartment that night"). Amanda also let her two chinchillas (Paris and Niki... I believe they were named before she got them) out to run around. I think this was the night where we drank the least (of the nights we drank... which was all but one, maybe two, nights). We also watched Cast Away while we drank. After the drinking, it was time for bed (note... there won't be much reference to time as I didn't really keep track of it that often). The sleeping situation on the first night was a little crazy. The girls all went in Amanda's bed, I had Matt and Jenny's bed, and Matt had the floor. The night was mostly comfortable, except that I like to be completely silent when I sleep, and every movement on the bed had a loud rubber on rubber creaking sound, so my movement was limited.
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Sunday, February 19, 2006
We started the day by having waffles, scrambled eggs, beans, and toast... at least some of us. It was decided that we were going swimming on this day. I liked this idea. I'm not a strong/good swimmer by any means (as was pretty evident early on), but I do enjoy just floating around and relaxing. We all got on the bus and headed to Memorial University (MUN). This is a less than straightforward bus ride. The layout of the roads is confusing enough, but then you tag on the billion turns in and out and around that the bus takes, and it's no wonder you can't easily find your way around.
We arrived at MUN at the UC entrance. As you enter the doors, there are a couple of flights of stairs. Behind the stairs is the campus pub (I forget the name... I'm sure it won't be the only thing I forget). Up to the first level of the stairs is the campus bookstore, but it was closed and at the top is the cafeteria/food court. What I really liked about this food court is it's built over a four-lane roadway. I don't know why I like this, it's just cool. We continued through the university to some of the different areas, but we couldn't go through the MUNnel (get it... it's a tunnel, but it's at MUN). Before going towards the field house, we checked out the library and the four-story, absolute silent sitting area. That was cool, but I was afraid I was going to sneeze and mess up the ambiance. We then went by a small gymnasium where a basketball game was being played and to the field house that had a running track that went around three curtained-in gyms where badminton, and ultimate Frisbee was being played. On the upper level (opposite the side we went up) was some workout equipment and a better view of what was going on in the curtained areas. We continued through a pedway to the Aquarena. We had a 10 to 15 minute wait before we could pay and go in, but there was a Tim Horton's right there. When the staff was ready to accept people for public swimming, we all checked in. Once everyone got their tag, we proceeded through towards the changing rooms. Being the gentleman that I am, I allowed the girls to walk on ahead. I was following them along when Matt grabbed me by the backpack and pulled me along another way. Obviously, the girls were heading towards the girl's changing room, but I commented that I wanted to go there too. :P
Once changed, there was a few minute wait before we could go into the pool area. During that wait, I noticed a kid, no more than 10 years old, and he had a tattoo. I found that quite odd... I mean... he was no more than 10!
Now we were in the pool area. After getting in the deeper end where Matt and Amanda dove in (I don't know where Jenny and Christine were), and determining that I'm still not a strong enough swimmer just to sit around in the deeper end (damn kids swimming behind me when I went to grab the side), I went to the middle area. Matt came with me despite me telling him to go and dive and have fun. The girls joined up with us there and we spent the rest of the time throwing and catching a ball that was in the water (at some point, it became throw the ball so that it splashes whoever the recipient is in the face... good times). We all got out of the pool and Matt and I went into the sauna for about 20 minutes. After changing, we grabbed something at the Tim Horton's and waited for the girls to finish. We headed towards the bus stop and decided instead to get a cab back to the apartment. Upon arriving at the apartment, we all changed and hung out a bit and Jenny and Amanda sent an email to their other Brownie people letting them know that because they had people over, they weren't going to be able to make it to their leader meeting on this night. The main reason was because we were going to go to a flea market, but we never ended up going.
Later in the afternoon/evening, we got dressed up and went to a restaurant called Rumpelstiltskin's where Christine went when she was younger. The reasoning behind it was when she was last there, she ordered the fish and chips and was disappointed when fries came out because she was expecting potato chips. I got a club sandwich and garlic mashed potatoes. It was a nice, tasty meal that I was satisfied with. When the bills came, the waitress put down some life savers in front of me. I was reaching for one, but made the mistake of reaching before the girls darted for the ones they wanted. And girls sharpen their nails for just such an occasion. We went to a convenience store where Matt picked up a case of beer for the evening, and then we walked back to the apartment.
While at the apartment, more drinking commenced. Matt contacted one of his friends to invite over (Kira I think) but she wasn't available (or something... I could be way off on this point). He then contacted his friend that Amanda knew as well, Kelly. Kelly came over with her little dog, Cleo (I don't know types of dogs) and her and Amanda's chinchillas riled each other up. Kelly was really cool and kept us entertained (along with Cleo) until she went home late that night.
After Kelly left, it was time to re-address the sleeping situation. Jenny wasn't thrilled at the prospect of another night of double reverse spooning (but she's crazy), and it was viewed as unfair that I got my own bed (because Matt and I don't share). So, I told Matt and Jenny to take their bed back and that I would take the down comforter and sleep in the living room area (I had brought two sleeping bags). This made the most sense, and eventually, people agreed. The one thing I didn't count on was the light coming up in the space between the stairs and the lower entrance area, but I adapted.
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Monday, February 20, 2006
This was the day that we all went shopping on Stavenger Drive (it's St. John's version of Bayers Lake). This is one the longest bus rides. When we arrived, we went into Old Navy. While we were there, I saw a pair of cargo pants that I liked and contemplated getting. I also looked at the jeans they had and liked them better than the ones I got from Bluenotes. I decided to hold off on buying them because I didn't really need them, plus, if I wanted them, I could always come back and get them. From Old Navy, we went into Future Shop. Now, if I was a little nerdier and had a little more disposable income, I would have bought the lightsaber that was $150, but I really didn't have a need for it, despite the fact it was cool. Jenny was looking at a camera case, but it had a magnetic latch, and we thought that it wouldn't be good for the camera. We looked around at some more stuff, but left without getting anything. We then decided to split up. The girls were heading to Winners and La Senza, and Matt and I didn't want to go to those places. We agreed to meet around La Senza/Sport Chek later on.
Matt and I went on to Staples and EB Games, but didn't see anything that really jumped out at us. We went back to Future Shop so he could get more information about that camera. Matt was getting hungry, so we went to Winners to see if the girls were done. They had barely started, so we told Amanda that we were heading to Wal-Mart to find hats and gloves for skiing. We each found a hat ($2 and $4) and then walked to Sport Chek thinking that we killed enough time and that the girls were probably at La Senza by now. While at Sport Chek, Matt found skiing sunglasses that he liked, but didn't end up getting them. There wasn't much of a selection of clothes that I liked there either, so I didn't get anything like that. Just before we were leaving, I noticed on a sales table, a miniature version of a handheld football game my dad had when I was really young. It was only $5, so I picked it up. We left Sport Chek and walked in front of La Senza, checking to see if the girls were there. We didn't see them, and Matt was still hungry. We walked back to Winners, but we couldn't find them there. So, we started walking around for the next 30-40 minutes trying to find them. We went into La Senza and asked the girl working there if she saw them, but I wasn't very good with my descriptions and the girl had just started work about 30 minutes before. When we left, I told Matt to go to the grocery store and get something to eat and I'll run back to Winners again and see if they're there. Matt came with me instead and when we got there, Amanda and Christine were sitting on a bench inside. They told us that they went looking for us but couldn't find us and that Jenny ran over to Wal-Mart to look for us.
When Jenny got back, and everyone said they were hungry to some degree, we decided to walk over to the Pizza Delight for supper. While we were waiting for our food, one of the waitresses said something to another waitress about how it smells like babies. We all made comments about what the secret ingredient was in the "secret" (or special) sauce. The only letdown about the meal was that they didn't have one of the grill your own bread bars. When we were getting ready to pay. I was teasing Christine about the waiter who became known as "knife guy" and when we went up to pay, I was asking her if she'd like me to get his number for her and so on. I was saying it loud enough that she could hear me, but not quite loud enough for him to hear me. Christine was glowing red anyway. When we went back to the door to wait for the others, she was telling Matt was I was doing and as she was, knife guy was walking up behind her and I started up again. Good times.
Back at the bus stop, we waited about 10 minutes for the bus to arrive, and then it was back to the apartment. When we got back, the girls went to the Avalon Mall (I think that's which mall they went to) and Matt and I stayed behind, filled on shopping for the day. I was using Amanda's computer when Kelly messaged Amanda and I filled her in on what was going on. I told her that it was possible that she could meet the girls at the mall, but I didn't want to guarantee it. Ultimately, Kelly came straight to the apartment with Cleo and the girls got back a short time later. More drinking commenced and again, Kelly kept us entertained for the evening, as did Cleo and the chinchillas. After Kelly had left, everyone returned to their sleeping assignments from the night before. The difference on this night was I was awakened by the downstairs neighbor and the guy (or guys) she had over. There was talk about a broken table and the sound of what I assume was somebody dragging the table down the stairs. I then fell back asleep.
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Tuesday, February 21, 2006
This day started a little later in the morning. Matt and I got up and called a couple of car rental places. The one that was called yesterday during the day that had the best price, when I called to confirm, I asked how many kilometers you get. We would have been limited to 100km per day and $0.20 per kilometer over that amount. I then told them that I would call back once I confirmed it with everyone else. We then called Discount and it was only $3 a day more expensive than the other place and had unlimited kilometers. I gave him my name and requested a mid-sized car. There was talk about a luxury car, but the price was crazy high. Everyone else got up and we relayed our information to them. The rest of the morning was spent speculating what type of car we were getting. We all wanted a Hummer (H2), but I was hoping more for a Dodge Charger. When I mentioned that, Matt was more hoping for a Dodge Challenger, which is fairly similar, only it's a 2-door car.
Around lunchtime, Matt and I went downstairs to ask the landlord where we might be able to park for the next couple of days. The only suggestion she had was to go to the Avis rental place down the street and possibly being allowed to use their parking lot during the night. We had a few minutes before the bus arrived, so we went into Avis and inquired. Their cars were $10 a day more expensive and we were limited to 250km per day. We told the guy that we had to check with "the bosses" before we could make the decision and he mentioned that he knew all too well what that's like. We left and the bus came a few minutes later. We decided to stick to the original plan (and we didn't even confer with the bosses).
It was a relatively short bus ride to the rental place. We walked in (a little excited because it was connected to a Dodge dealership and our dreams of a Charger/Challenger didn't seem too farfetched then) and I gave the guy my name and told him I called earlier about a mid-sized car. A few minutes later, we were out inspecting a Chrysler Sebring to make sure there were no dents or other blemishes that could be seen. It was a fairly nice car. Then we started to pull away. I get to the end of the parking lot and press the brakes and all we could hear was a metal on metal scraping sound. We backed up and Matt went in to ask what that was. He said that was normal when a car hasn't moved for a while and that it will go away shortly after some use. He was right. Before we got back, the scraping was gone. Now, for those of you that think Cape Breton drivers are bad, well they are, but they can't hold a candle to St. John's drivers. Couple that with the oddest layout of roads ever conceived and it makes for some very timid driving at the start. We had to park on the next street down right next to the water and there was a sign saying "Wharf Speed" and we both chuckled.
We got in the apartment and told the girls that we got the H2 and whenever they were ready, we could go. We were ready to go within minutes. First stop was the university so Christine could speak with somebody at the Registrar's office and so that Jenny could pick up her prescription at the campus pharmacy. While we waited for Jenny, we took a quick look around the bookstore. While we waited for the woman Christine had to speak with to get back from lunch, we took another tour of some of the university. It is where we saw the multi-levelled hall that was designed in such a way that when you look down, you don't feel a sense of vertigo. Christine spoke with the woman and straightened everything out (I believe there was some physical violence) and then we left the campus. We then headed for Chapters, which wasn't that far from the university. I missed the turnoff that would have taken me straight to the road Chapters was on (this was due to the fact that everyone would call shotgun and Matt was the one with the best sense of which way to go, but he was in the back), so I took a more indirect route through some subdivision and came out on the road that led to Chapters. The only problem was it was a left I had to make and there were 4 lanes of traffic I had to cross. So, it took me a while. We got to Chapters and everyone went their own way. I first went to see if they had the final series of books about Drizzt, but I ultimately decided to wait until I was almost finished the current series I'm reading. I then walked around looking at random other books of interest (computer, humor, astronomy, sports, etc.) and then met up with the rest of them. Matt was looking at a photography book, while Christine was looking at a book to get Scott. We then went over by the Starbucks where the girls were thinking of getting some over-priced coffee, but it was ultimately rejected in favor of getting lunch. Just down the road from Chapters was a Wendy's where we stopped. Everyone got a spicy chicken combo (except Amanda because chicken doesn't have a high enough vegetable content). We left our trays on the table because there were no garbage cans and that's their new thing at this Wendy's.
We headed back to the university so Jenny could get her prescription or see the doctor, and then we left again. Our next destination was Quidi Vidi, a small fishing village next to St. John's. This is a cool little place with one-lane streets. We then drove around to where Matt and Jenny lived last year. This area had an incredible view of downtown St. John's. While driving around these still single lane roads, Amanda saw a cat and screamed an exclamation of the "cute cat". My heart rate jumped ten-fold as I thought I killed something or was about to be killed by something. It wouldn't be the last time this activity would happen. :P After turning around, we headed for a shop on Duckworth St. that had some t-shirts and one in particular that Christine wanted to get for Scott. The shirt said, "I club baby seals" (but it had the card symbol for clubs). It was a good shirt. Our next mission was to find Christine's old house. All we knew was that it was behind the Sears at the Village Mall on Melrose Place. So, we headed towards the mall (getting cut-off by some guy along the way) and turned up along the street that went behind Sears. Now, I have an uncanny ability to just randomly stumble across places as I go, so after a few minutes of driving, I made a turn off of Canada Dr. and came across a subdivision that had Melrose Place. Excitement abound, we turned up and found Christine's old house. It was on a cul-de-sac and I turned around. Christine got her picture taken in front of it. It was quite exciting for her. We then headed back to the apartment, stopping at a furniture store that was closed when we got there.
We hung out there for a while until it was time to take Jenny and Amanda to their Brownie meeting. While we were in the area, and Matt still hadn't found a pair of gloves for skiing, we went to the Village Mall to try and find some again. We found a nice leather pair at one place, but Matt ultimately decided on a pair that had a watch built into the wrist for easy viewing. Matt, Christine, and I then headed for the food court to kill some more time and to get a little something to eat. Christine only got a coffee, Matt got some chicken stir fry, and I got a roast beef deli sandwich. We then left the mall and headed back to pick up Jenny and Amanda.
Next stop was the Bulk Barn. This was a big deal for all of us because Christine works at the one in Sydney and we could go around quoting the numbers and she would tell us what item they were (or vice versa). She also spoke with the workers and swapped some stories about the management visiting both stores. Then we headed to Sobeys to get some supplies for our ski trip and general necessity. Everyone picked up something (I got potatoes and V8) and once again, we returned to the apartment for some drinking.
Now, because MUN students only get a three-day break, there were some students who had some papers to write. Jenny was one of said students. As she was continuing her research on Shiva, I started writing the paper (remember, we're drinking). I got about a page done but was interrupted by a glass of orange alcohol being kicked in my direction. Now, as irony would have it, I was wearing my Harrison Ford shirt from Halifax trip 2005. Matt had a Tom Sellick shirt that was dyed pink due to the same person who kicked an orange drink at me. That's two shirts down, three to go. For those of you who still have your shirts, lock them away and keep them safe. Now, I haven't seen the shirt since, but rumor has it that it is white again. Because tomorrow we were going on the road for skiing, we didn't drink as much and didn't stay up as late.
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Wednesday, February 22, 2006
This was a fairly early starting day (but not the earliest). Now that we had the car, and with only one day left in Christine's visit, it was time to go skiing (we were going to snowboard, but you get the idea). This was planned since mid January and I was looking forward to it. I hadn't done anything ski related since I was in grade 6, so it should be fun. Kelly was going to join us for more added excitement to the trip. She got dropped off at the apartment around 9am and with everyone set and the car mostly packed, we were underway. The destination was White Hills Ski Resort in Clarenville, it's about a two hour drive from St. John's.
It was a kind of snowy day as we were leaving and the roads were partially covered. I was taking it easy along the drive and had Matt as co-pilot with the four girls in the back. Now, I had no idea where to go, so I was relying on Matt and Kelly for directions. We passed what was first believed to be the exit we were supposed to take, but it was quickly realized that I was to take the second exit to go west/north. As it was a highway, I was travelling at about 100km/h, slowing a bit when I thought I had missed the exit, and when the right exit was pointed out, I went into it and power-slid (a la Dukes of Hazzard) around the exit. I was in control and knew what I was doing. The girls (and maybe Matt) exclaimed about the sliding, but Kelly noticed the smirk on my face while I was doing it and then realized that I knew what I was doing. But, to be fair, it wasn't fully intentional that I slid around that exit, but I wasn't worried as I was doing it. It was a quick adjustment for a late change in course.
The rest of the ride was fairly straightforward. Matt and I in front having bits of conversation and making the odd comment back to the girls during their conversations. Along the way, there was a sign for the "Nova Scotia Ferry" which I found amusing because I've always referred to it as the "Newfoundland Ferry" and it was just different seeing it that way. Also, more than halfway there, the sun came out and it was fairly clear in spots.
After the roughly two hours, we had arrived in Clarenville. I first pulled off at an Irving station, but there was an exit into Clarenville just beyond. None of us knew where White Hills was, so we thought the townsfolk would be the best bet for answering that question. I pulled into a little strip mall and everyone went into the Shoppers Drug Mart. I stayed in the car and took a nap (again... late nights and early mornings, couple that with a two hour car ride and you get a tired Andrew). All I know about what happened in Shoppers was that they found out where White Hills was and that they seemed to have been gone for 10-15 minutes. Back towards the highway and further along. It was only another 2 minute drive from the exit into Clarenville to the entrance to White Hills. We were getting excited now, our long trip was coming to an end and snowboarding was about to commence. It was a single lane roadway towards the resort and we only came across one vehicle coming the other way. We were reaching the end and noticing a lack of cars. Hmm... this was suspicious. I parked in front of the building and everyone else went in. They all came out and were livid. They were informed (and passed it along to me) that because of the possibility of a snowstorm, the place was closed for the day. DAMNIT! No, we didn't think of calling ahead. No, we weren't thrilled that we drove for two hours for nothing. After it was determined that there's nothing else to do in Clarenville, we decided to head back to St. John's. I took my jacket off and put it in the trunk, and away we went. I stopped at the Irving station to fill-up despite still having a half a tank of gas left (it must have been a huge tank because it cost $35 from half).
So, remember my description of the drive to Clarenville? Now picture that, only going in the other direction. Yea... not a thing to report. I think the only thing that happened was Kelly took her sweater off and flashed boob, but her back was to Matt and I, and I was focused on driving. :P
It was still fairly snowy when we got back to St. John's. We had a plan though. First, was a stop at Kelly's place. Kelly has a ton of animals. Among them were three dogs outside, a deaf dog inside, a cat, a rabbit (that got a pedicure by the girls), and a dove. Those are all I can remember. We were there for about a half hour, then we went to Pizza Hut but first, Kelly had to drop something off to her mom at work (which was right next to the Pizza Hut... what are the odds?). We got the meal for 6 and it came with two pizzas, fettuccini alfredo, caesar salad, bread sticks, and beverages. Considering we were full when we left, it was probably the best $12 (not including tip) that we spent on food. We then took Kelly back home (and later found out that she was locked out) and went back to the apartment.
Well, after 4 hours of driving and eating a filling meal, people get tired. It was mid afternoon and everyone gone to lie down for a nap. I napped for all of 20 minutes. I turned on the Olympic men's hockey and fell asleep for part of the first period. So, I was watching that and it was the game that Canada ultimately ended up losing and being eliminated from the competition. It was a disappointment for everyone as they started waking up around the end of the game and we all watched as Canada was defeated. I wasn't really surprised by the outcome, as I didn't really think that Canada was going to win the gold, but I was still disappointed.
As part of the plan we developed earlier, it was decided that we were going to go bowling this night. We all sat around and got ready as Kelly came to pick us up. As I am the biggest one in the group, I sat up front. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately... depending on how you look at it), Kelly drives a Sunfire (or something to that effect) and everyone else was jammed into the back. The bowling alley we were going to was in Mt. Pearl, which is about a 10 minute drive from the apartment. When we got there, there was a bowling league going on that would be over shortly, so we got back into the car and headed to the liquor store (for later that night). We were getting some alcohol for playing shot checkers and some random other alcohols. When we got to the counter, Jenny forgot her ID and wasn't allowed to get whatever it was she was picking up. So, after going through the attached grocery store to get some other things for drinking, we left for another liquor store (there is no shortage of liquor stores in Newfoundland). We got everything we needed and then headed back to the bowling alley.
This was a different type of bowling than I (or most of the others) was used to. It was 5 pin, but the cool thing was, we didn't have to keep score because the computer kept it, told us who was supposed to be up, and some killer graphics for spares, strikes, doubles, and turkeys. None of us were ready to become professional bowlers and we were just having fun. It was funny when one of us would celebrate knocking down a single pin in three attempts and the people in the other lanes would look over and scoff at us for having fun. :P Jenny won the first game (by cheating) and I was leading in the second game when we ran out of time.
Back in the car and we headed off back to Kelly's place where her mom was going to drive us all back to the apartment (so Kelly could drink with us). Now, in the Sunfire, there were seven of us. I was still quite comfortable up front talking with Kelly's mom. Now, with the new stuff we bought to drink, we decided to play shot checkers. Kelly and Christine played the first game. The thing that made this game a bit unfair at the start was the fact that one color had 5% alcohol and the other had a higher concentration. So after that game, it was decided that the colors would be evenly distributed (the glasses were distinguishable). The next game was Jenny and Amanda, however, because the Sour Puss was a vile drink, Amanda backed out and I took her place. I lost, but not by much (all but two shots... I think) and the rest of the night was spent talking and having random drinks until Kelly called a cab and went home.
*******
Thursday, February 23, 2006
This was a really early starting day. Christine was flying out on this day and had to be to the airport really early (I can't remember if it was at 6am or before). It was still dark and I went down and cleared the car off. Amanda and Jenny came along to show me the way and to see their friend off. We headed off in what we thought was the right direction, but then I noticed a plane landing to my left and knew I was on the wrong road heading north-ish. I turned around and got on the TCH and exited at the next street and found the airport. Jenny and Amanda went in with Christine and I drove around the loop several times until they came back out.
We got back to the apartment without incident and I put $2 in the parking meter. We all went back up and back to bed. Around 8am, Matt and Jenny were up and getting ready for their classes. Jenny was tearing the apartment apart trying to find something (a student card or copy card) and I was doing my best to avoid the hurricane as it passed. When they left, it was back to sleep.
A couple of hours later, I was again awakened by footsteps coming up the stairs. At first, I thought it was just the neighbor, but then whoever it was opened this apartment's door and started climbing the stairs. I was confused (not hard considering I just woke up). There was Matt. He told me that he had a test that he wasn't fully prepared for and wasn't going to his labs. I got up again and after I got ready, we both headed out (it was the last day with the car).
Firstly, we went back to Chapters and Matt wanted to test a shorter, more direct route he had thought of. It was in fact more direct and we got there with little incident. I think Matt was trying to determine if he wanted to get a photography book while he was there where I again determined whether or not to get the series of books dealing with the legend of Drizzt. I again decided against it and continued looking around at the books. Once we were both done, we left to go to this camera place that Matt had heard about in the vicinity of the school. We got to the strip mall and I noticed that the parking lot had parking meters for each space. I figured with its proximity to the campus, at one time, they were losing parking spaces to students. Pretty clever I guess, but a bit of a pain in the ass for regular customers. We walked around the parking lot, looking at the different stores, but there was no camera shop to be seen. The closest thing was a shop that was for picture development, but that wasn't what Matt was led to believe was here. We then got back in the car and headed towards a used furniture store we noticed on Water St. When we got there, it was closed (and this was around lunchtime at this point) but we noticed, while looking at the couch, that a pair of candlestick holders in the window was being sold for $50. We figured the couch wasn't really going to be in the price range they are looking for.
With about two hours to go before we had to take back the car, we headed back to the apartment to have lunch (as we still had sandwiches made for the skiing trip). We had lunch and watched MacGuyver before we took the car back. I ran to the store across the street and got some change to put in the parking meter while we ate. When we decided to go, the meter had just run out and the meter maid was just going by. I stopped at a Canadian Tire gas station to fill up the car and we took it back. We finalized the paying procedure and did an inspection of the car and then we jogged over to the bus stop, just in time for the bus that was going in the opposite direction that we were heading. Almost a string of perfect timings, sorry Matt. We then walked up to a convenience store to get a drink where I realized the date, it was my mother's birthday (happy birthday mom). Since we had a half hour to kill, we went into Canadian Tire and as luck would have it, they were showing the end of Top Gun on some TVs in there. After watching the ending, we went back to the bus stop and waited out the last 10-15 minutes.
Upon arriving back at the apartment, Jenny had returned from school and Amanda was up. They were both cleaning the apartment because Amanda's mom and grandmother (who is also Jenny's grandmother) were scheduled to arrive for a few days of visiting on Saturday. So, the rest of the afternoon was spent cleaning or just hanging out.
Later, we got the bus to the Avalon Mall and the movies. On Thursday nights, there is an independent film shown at the theaters (I believe put on by some representatives of the university) and it is quite popular. On this night, they were showing a film called Everything is Illuminated which was about a young Jewish American (played by Elijah Wood dressed in his Sin City outfit) who goes to the Ukraine to find a village where his grandfather was saved during WWII by some woman. It was an entertaining movie and I would recommend it. When the movie was over, we had a few minutes to kill before the bus arrived, so we went to the bookstore and Matt picked up a book as we looked around. Once the time for the bus was coming around, we went and waited. We returned to the apartment and this was the first night in which we didn't drink (it's the sixth night of the trip... holy crap... drunks).
*******
Friday, February 24, 2006
I awoke on this morning to Matt and Amanda getting ready for class. I started getting ready as well as I knew I would be accompanying somebody. Jenny then told me that she only had one class and it wasn't boring like Matt's palaeontology class. I decided then to go with Jenny. We were down at the bus stop with plenty of time to catch the right bus, and off we went to the university. Our first stop was the library so Jenny could print off her paper. There is a designated area for people with laptops to hook up to the wireless network. We then went to the main desk where she had to get a guest printer card (the card she lost and was tearing the apartment apart for the day before would have allowed her to print on her account) and she had to put a dollar worth on the card, and then she printed everything she sent to queue. We returned the guest card, stapled the paper, and were off towards class. We travelled through the MUNnel and got to the class (on the ground floor of the building that's designed so that you don't get vertigo when you look down).
The class was pretty interesting. I believe it was an introduction to Hinduism class. The professor was funny and started her lecture with some curling references (you'll understand why soon). The lesson was about the Pandavas and the Kauravas who were cousins and rulers of the land. The Pandavas (who were lesser in number) lost their claim to rule in a gambling match against the leader of the Kauravas. Thusly, the Pandavas were to live in the wild for a number of years, and if they survived that, then they were to live in cognito in a city of their choosing for another number of years. When it came time for the Pandavas to return, the Kauravas wouldn't allow it and a war was about to begin. One of the Pandavas, Arjuna, who is a great warrior, is having trouble knowing what to do. Should he continue to fight because that's what he is here for and help the Pandavas, or should he follow his teachings and respect his teachers, who are now his opponents. It is at this time that Krishna reveals himself to Arjuna as an avatar of Vishnu and teaches him that upholding righteousness is more important that any personal gains or consequence of action (not as good as the paper I wrote, but interesting nonetheless). The class ended there and Jenny and I returned to the apartment.
We arrived back at the apartment and I clicked on the TV. The gold medal game in curling had already started between the Canadian team (from St. John's ironically... hence the professor making the jokes) and the team from Finland. It was 3-2 for Canada when we started watching. Jenny was talking to her mom while the game was going on, then the best curling shot I have ever seen happened and Canada scored 6 points in that end to take a 10-4 lead. Finland gave up after the eighth end and the celebration was on. Schools and some businesses in St. John's closed down for the day so people could watch the gold medal game. MUN was very close to closing down as well. Matt got back a little while after the game had ended and was mentioning how he was waiting for the bus and heard a big roar of cheers coming from the university.
Towards suppertime, Matt, Jenny, and I went to a sushi place on Duckworth St. called Sun Sushi (I think that was it's name). It was my first time having actual sushi, but I only tried some of Jenny's spicy salmon roll (I had chicken curry). It was also my first time seriously using chopsticks. It was a little difficult at the start, but I got to an acceptable level after a few minutes. I will probably try sushi again at some point in the future, but my chicken curry was quite good and filling. From the window at the restaurant, I saw a car or two drive by with Canadian and Newfoundland flags flying in celebration of the win in curling.
We hung out at the apartment for a little while before Jenny, Amanda, and I returned to Stavenger Dr. and the Old Navy store where I picked up the pair of cargo pants and the pair of jeans I liked better than the ones from Bluenotes. It wasn't that the Bluenotes jeans were bad, but I paid $50 for them and I could have gotten two pairs for that much at Old Navy. We then went to Future Shop, Staples, and a craft store before getting on the bus and heading back to the apartment.
At the apartment, we contacted (or were contacted by) Kelly and she asked if we needed any more alcohol before she came over. We were going out on George St. tonight and the plan was to drink before we went out. When Kelly arrived, we all drank enough to get a buzz on and then we headed out to the bars around 1am. I forget the name of the first bar we went to, but it was packed and we only stayed long enough for Kelly to talk to some girl she knew. We then walked down the street trying to determine what bar we should go to. Matt wanted to show me O'Reilly's Pub and when we got there, there was a live band playing. The girls stayed downstairs and danced, while Matt and I (not being avid dancers) went upstairs and watched and enjoyed the music. After the band finished, Matt and I went to sit at a table we put our coats at and the girls headed towards the washroom. Matt and I continued talking for a while and we noted how the girls had been gone for some time. We initially chalked it up to girls always spending hours in washrooms, but then I noticed a disturbance moving away from the washrooms with a bunch of angry looking girls following Kelly and Jenny (I couldn't see Amanda) and it looked as though they were dragging somebody. My initial thought was Amanda got into a fight, but when I got over there, Amanda and Kelly were trying to help a girl who was passed out and her friends were freaking out. They got her towards some stairs heading down and there was this really drunk guy saying he was the girl's boyfriend. Kelly was telling him to go away. I pushed my way through in an attempt to help Kelly and Amanda. The guy hit some girl in the face and grabbed Matt by the arm and Matt told him he had three seconds to let go before he broke the guy's arm. The bouncer and some girl who I assumed worked at the pub came and started to clear people away. Everything was as straightened out as we could get it, so we left the pub and walked around thinking of what other bars we could go to. We saw the really drunk guy stumbling around as we walked and there was a girl who got thrown out of another bar and she was getting right in the face of the bouncer. The girls then wanted to go to a gay bar, but Matt was adamant and I wasn't that keen on it, and there was another bar but it had a $7 cover that none of us really wanted to pay. We then headed back to the apartment, as it was really starting to snow now.
Along the way, Jenny and I got some "street meat" (sausage on a bun) from the somewhat flamboyantly gay street meat vendor. We made it back to the apartment where we all went to bed.
*******
Saturday, February 25, 2006
This day started off with me answering the phone. It was Amanda's mom telling me to pass along the message that their flight was cancelled for the morning, but they were going to try for the later flight. I let Amanda know, and back to sleep I went. Later, when everyone got up, we had discovered that it had snowed all night and St. John's was buried and shut down (holy crap did it ever snow). At this point, there was at least 30cm of snow on the ground with 50cm to be on the ground by early afternoon and an additional 30cm or more expected by midnight. Everything was shut down... except for a pizza place (Strogger's Pizza) up the top of the hill behind us. So, everyone got ready and dressed up for a winter hike, and off we went to get pizza.
There were some cars on the road, but not many. We got to the pizza place and went in and sat down. We decided we would get the Florence (just a combination pizza), a pizza with just cheese, and some garlic fingers. The pizza was pretty good and relatively inexpensive. After we finished, we donned our travel gear, took our pizza, and headed back down. Going down hill in the winter is a whole lot easier, and a lot more fun, than going up. Along the way, there was running and sliding to see how far we could, some random throwing of snowballs, and some random throwing of people into snow banks. It was a lot of fun. When we got back to the apartment, Jenny put the pizza inside and we continued along the road (we really didn't have anything else we could do). While we were out front, Matt through a snowball at the downstairs neighbor's window. She came to the window and waved and Kelly noticed that she was wearing a sheet. Our snow fights continued, moving to the side every once and a while for a passing car, and we played with the guy across the street's dog until he locked the door and ran off with his dog. We then decided that we wanted hot chocolate and walked to the Tim Horton's, but it was closed. With that, we went back to the apartment to make our own hot chocolate.
The rest of the day was spent just talking, watching TV, and so on. Kelly's ride came late in the afternoon to take her home and for the rest of the night, we watched Forrest Gump, the six episodes of The IT Crowd, and Serenity. During the night, I kept watching the flight status of the flights that were leaving St. John's. Most of them were being cancelled a couple of hours before they were supposed to leave. Jenny set her alarm clock for 8:30am so I can determine my flight status early enough and contact my parents before they left for Halifax.
*******
Sunday, February 26, 2006
I woke up around 8am and checked the status of my flight. My flight was still on time and scheduled to leave. Matt and Jenny got up a little while later and I called WestJet (not that I didn't trust the St. John's Airport website, but better to be safe than sorry) and they informed me that my flight was leaving today and may be a few minutes late. I then called my parents to let them know that I was flying out today and that I should arrive around the time I'm supposed to.
Jenny made breakfast and we watched the gold medal game in men's hockey (between Finland and Sweden). I also ran to the bank machine to get some cash because I don't think cab drivers are all about the free rides. The game ended around noon and Matt called me a cab. I thanked them for having me and went down stairs where my cab was waiting (I'm not a big goodbye person). The cab driver told me that he used to live in Cape Breton (as we discussed where I was going) and that he was the news director for CHER radio. He also stopped the meter at $15 when we were approaching the airport.
The airport was busy, but that was to be expected since it was completely shut down the day before. I checked in and was told that there would be a 15 minute delay. I went up to the gate and had to stand around for 45 minutes to an hour because there were no seats available in the terminal. There was this one woman sitting not far from where I was standing and she was yelling at some airport worker because all she had was a muffin and she had been here for hours. I laughed at how ridiculous her arguments were because there were obviously hundreds of people waiting to get planes that were delayed or cancelled. The plane arrived and refuelled and we were allowed to board. There were no gates available, so we had to walk outside to the plane. I got to my seat (near the back, aisle seat) and put on my iPod and watched the Discovery channel. The male flight attendant (even more flamboyantly gay than the street meat guy) messed up his in-flight emergency routines. The flight had nothing of note at all. The girl next to me was flying for the first time and her mother (or possibly grandmother) was explaining all the things about the flight.
We landed a little after 3pm and my parents had just arrived and were waiting for me at the bottom of the escalator (my mom was crying, she was so happy). :P We got my luggage and left. We stopped in Truro at Frank & Gino's restaurant to eat and then it was straight for home. We got home a little after 8pm.
| | |
| Gone. See some of you in a week.
| | |
| Your results:
You are Will Riker| Will Riker |
| 50% | | James T. Kirk (Captain) |
| 50% | | Data |
| 46% | | Chekov |
| 40% | | Worf |
| 40% | | Jean-Luc Picard |
| 40% | | Geordi LaForge |
| 40% | | Spock |
| 34% | | Uhura |
| 30% | | Mr. Sulu |
| 30% | | An Expendable Character (Redshirt) |
| 25% | | Leonard McCoy (Bones) |
| 25% | | Mr. Scott |
| 25% | | Beverly Crusher |
| 15% | | Deanna Troi |
| 10% |
| At times you are self-centered
but you have many friends.
You love many women, but the right
woman could get you to settle down.
 |
Click here to take the Star Trek Personality Quiz
| | |
| There's really only one good thing about a winter storm. You get to sleep in. After that, you're pretty much just trapped in your home with no where to go because everything is closed and the streets aren't plowed.
Plus, I don't think work will be all that fun tomorrow with having to catch up. | | |
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