A Viking Christmas Carol

Slashing thru the snow, Valhalla’s on its way,

Ready axe and shield, for it’s time to slay!

Swords and armour ring, making spirits bright,

What fun it is to fight and sing this slaying song tonight!

Ohh, Viking helms, Viking helms! Charging o’er the snow,

Spear and axe and village attacks is all we ever know!

Ja! Viking helms, Viking helms, through the driving sleet,

All the foe will ever know is the cold edge of defeat!

A fortnight’s time ago, I thought that I’d been slain,

An arrow struck my neck, alas I felt no pain.

The Saxons cry was proud, but soon they were a’feared,

For I (of course) am a mighty Norse, with an arrow-stopping beard!

My Week of High Adventure... and It's Only Wednesday!

On Monday, I stopped at Transcend roasters for a cuppa and low and behold, I stepped right onto the set of Global Edmonton's morning show. It went something like this:

"Ok, five minutes until we roll... places everyone." We take a seat behind the cameras up against the wall. The reporter practiced her smile a bit, the baristas are posed at the coffee makers. Three styles of drinks were laid on the counter. And action! Perma-smile from the reporter until she realizes that they are indeed rolling. She interviews the movembered barista to her right (who happens to be third best in Canada) and he explains the drinks. The reporter notes that people are lining up outside the door! That's because the film crew is keeping people out of the shop. Then she signs off and I finally get my coffee, which has a slight bite of blueberry, mild bitterness and finishes with a smoky smoothness.

Today as I was coming down the stairs at work, two guys were wrestling an oxygen tank at the top. I heard a noise and turned to see the 5 foot cylinder skidding down the narrow steep steel stairs towards me! With milliseconds to act I jumped into the air, the bottle narrowly missing my legs. It then was stopped by a copper pipe which was squished flat. Afterwards, it was evident that the bottle dented the steel grated floor at the bottom of the stairs as well. If that thing had hit me I surely would have been out of commission.

Cute Little Fox (This Time I'm Referring to an Animal)

As I was working up at Suncor in Fort Crack-Scurry I heard my co-worker Vladmir Ilianovich Kalasnikov (not his real name) yell "Rrronan! Zerre ees a fox!" And sure enough tere was this cute little fox curiously poking around our pumping station. If I ad a leash I could had taken it ome. I already had a name picked out too. Fjearguss the Fox. Since we didn't feed it, Fjearguss took off down the road. We saw it later tat day in an incredibly busy part of the site. We pulled over so I could capture it and it bit my index finger clean off.

Why I Love Windows

Today I plugged my iPhone into my laptop at work and this message came up: "One of the USB devices attached to this computer has malfunctioned, and Windows does not recognize it." Oh no!! Malfunctioned?? What do I do? Well, the recommendation is as follows: " Try reconnecting the device. If Windows still does not recognize it, replace the device." Is this a clever Bill Gates joke?

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

These are some of my photos from a roll of slide film I shot a while ago, when the grass was green and the air was fresh.

Photos From the Life of a Power System Electrician

I'm Going to Kathmandu!

As the title so helpfully suggests, I am going to the Himalayas to hike to my hearts desire! So far I've booked the trip, bought my flights and insurance and now it's just the painful waiting for the day the plane leaves. I suppose I should get into shape now, eh? Annapurna here I come!!