So last week was the shortest workweek I have had here in Regina so far. Monday and Tuesday Andrea (Derek and my supervisor) and Cara (Robert’s supervisor) were in to interview some people for another Actuarial Student position and to give us some heads up about up coming projects. Tuesday and Wednesday were Access training it was pretty boring but hey, 2 half-hour coffees a day and hour lunch, I’m not complaining. Then the long weekend started! Yes my long weekend started Wednesday, the same day all of my new furniture showed up!

Aunt Eunice and Uncle Mike brought all the stuff from Grandma’s in a trailer, and we got it into the house and set up in an hour and a half! So now, IF any of you decide to come visit me in this land of flat I have beds for y’all to sleep on! Then Thursday we all got up and started the long drive to Calgary. There was a little snafu when I forgot my cell in their car after they dropped me off at the Bus Station otherwise it was some good visiting with the Aunt and Uncle. The bus trip to Red Deer however wasn’t quite so good. It was late leaving, it was overfull and instead of a pretty girl sitting beside me I had a guy who was unaware that cologne can be overpowering when overused!

Red Deer: Went out for desert with Rachel and Kyra on Thursday night after getting in. It was fun, mostly because I was pestering Rachel about her new boy-who-isn’t-her-boy. Spent most of Friday hanging out with Evan, catching up on comics and helping him procrastinate from finishing an assignment. Then got to hang out with Bert, Jeff and Erin as we watched a couple films. Got my invitation their (Jeff & Erin’s) wedding, which negates the possibility of me being considered a Wedding Crasher I guess, haha. Saturday I hung out a Bookworm’s Den and visited Dave for a bit. Then I found out that Ricky and Chelsey were heading back to Calgary from Chelsey’s family farm near Rimbey. Which meant I wouldn’t have to ride the ‘hound back to Calgary, I could take the Bennett express! They showed up and I got my invite for their wedding, woot!

Calgary: Friday night was FUN! Got to meet Chelsey’s Maid of Honor: Heather, who shall be referred to with any of the following adjectives preceding her name: COOL, FUN, GOOD, or PRETTY. We all went to Value Village to pick out some clothing for each other to wear for the evening… Ricky and I were inspired in our selections for the girls to wear (puffy shirt, blue leopard print shirt and the awful skirts), the girls made us wear pink shirts and purple ties, in my opinion we got off easy. Then we went to my new favorite place in Calgary, Lloyd’s. For those who’ve never been, you get to go rollerskating/rollerblading to good music for hours on end, it is too much fun. We went for 3 hours; there was much soreness in our group of people who haven’t gone skating in forever. Then we were off to Peter’s Drive in for food and then Pirates of the Caribbean at Ricky’s house. Sunday involved some cards, hanging out with Ricky for any extended amount of time always ends up with some card playing. Then there was supper at Chelsey’s Aunt’s house. Got to meet some people on her side of the family and discuss some things about the wedding with her dad. Then I got to fly home, its still weird writing that about this place, on Air Canada, which is something that will never happen again.

Notes:

Placement of Photos on the Blog: You may notice the Photos on the main page have been moved and are smaller, this is due to JASON BLORE complaining because he only has dialup. He still isn’t finished his 3+ years of updating /fixing /creating his web site www.blore.ca and since it only took me a week to get this done I’m challenging him to get his done ASAP!

NDSF: Well apparently no one else wants to go to the North Dakota State Fair, but I’m still going to go. Should be fun, so why not?

Magic: I’m insane, driving back to Calgary for this upcoming weekend for a prerelease tournament, mind you 6 other yahoos are coming along. I finally know when regionals are! Too bad they are May long, the weekend before my Actuarial exam . It should be a fun 5 weeks of getting ready for both from now until then.

Hello everybody! Its time for a new post, woo hoo! So I’m not sure how things are in your part of the world but it has become spring here in Regina (or Angina for you Ross) and I have gotten the chance to go out Rollerblading! I’m psyched! I came to a few realizations while I was enjoying some physical activity: 1. I need new blades, technically I need new wheels and bearing but since it is cheaper to get new blades J . 2. Gravel is the Devil! There are some really nice paths here that are free of these tiny particles of rock, however the sidewalks and roads are covered. A nice big rainstorm should clear up this problem and hopefully give me a nice light show too.

Plans are coming along for Ricky’s Bachelor party! I have managed to get a hold of all the people on his list, so now I just need to lock in the place and get a few more details sorted out. I’m pretty pumped, and hopefully Ricky will enjoy it, if not I’m sure I will, HAHA!

Recently I have had to start another Blog for my family, which is pretty sweet, as we haven’t really been in touch too much in recent memory. As an added bonus all of us cousins now have access to each of the other cousins emails and by association MSN! So I have been informing my oldest cousin of the great opportunities that instant messaging provides. It’s been fun and a cousin chat night might develop out of it.

I’m a consumer whore. What? You didn’t know? I broke my vow of non-DVD-Tuesday-purchasing yesterday. I haven’t bought a new release movie since before Christmas. Yesterday, The Chronicles of Narnia came out, a special edition TOO, and I am weak. So bought it along with a backlog of DVDs that have come out since my last purchase.

(8)My house in the middle of my street (8) hopefully become an "our house"… that’s right y’all I am looking for a roommate. So far I have had a couple people looking, today my posting goes up at work, hopefully I get some more interest.

Next week at work should be wicked! Monday my supervisor is in from Winnipeg for a couple interviews, then going over some stuff with me. Tuesday and Wednesday are computer training days. Then Wednesday night Uncle Mike and Aunt Eunice get here with furniture. Thursday I am taking the day off along with the Good Friday Holiday, I get a 4-day weekend and I get to go home! WOOT!

Ok, so now for the BIG announcement! Well after some more pre-amble. So some of you may not be aware, but State Fairs are kind of a big deal in the states. Think Calgary Stampede or Klondike Days but even more GRANDIOSE! Well anyhow the North Dakota State Fair http://www.ndstatefair.com/ is from July 21^st to 29^th in Minot, North Dakota, a mere five hours away from Regina. So I’m thinking I want to go, and probably will. So if, and I realize this is a big if, any of you are considering taking the time to come visit me this year we should go to the ND State Fair. Oh, if you haven’t clicked the link there are some pretty major musical acts coming: Keith Urban, Gretchen Wilson, and Carrie Underwood. Yes their all country, but they are all pretty good. Keith and Gretchen are the first weekend, the weekend I’d probably want to go. So send me the emails let me know if you are interested! Tickets go on sale April 14^th I believe.

I’m going to comment now about some goings on in the world:

Summer movies: So pumped! After seeing Ice Age and V for Vendetta, and getting previews for The DaVinci Code, X-3 and Superman I just can’t wait for May to start.

Alberta Politics: Oh poor King Ralph, I still hope you plan to send out a second set of free money checks L .

Junos: I missed them, bummer: P. Honestly, the only award show I bother watching nowadays is the Oscars, and that is mainly for the hosting. Sure wasn’t going to watch the Junos for the host. If you want to read "good stuff" about them check out Rossi’s Blog http://kpaul.no-ip.org/rossblog/.

My insanity: Oh, incase I have failed to tell you guys, June 2^nd is Ricky and Chelsey’s wedding in Calgary/Cardston where I am the Best-man. June 3^rd is Jeff and Erin’s in Red Deer/Penhold and I am a guest, yes that is right, 2 weddings in 2 days, and I’m going to them both! There was a brief window when Ricky and Chelsey’s was supposed to be the 3^rd and I thought I would have to master being in 2 places at once or at least self duplication.

National Politics: All I really have to say on this subject is I don’t want to have to vote in a federal election THIS year too!

State of Comics: Yes that is right comic books! So anyone who really knows me is aware of my love for this medium, however the big 2 (DC and Marvel) are well on their way to making me loath them. I can’t argue that the stories coming from DC in the last 3+ years haven’t been awesome and compelling, the same can’t necessarily be said for Marvel with the exceptions of the Ultimate line and Astonishing X-men. That being said, VARIANT COVERS ARE THE BANE OF MY EXISTANCE! I’m a relative art connoisseur in this medium, and when I have purchased one copy of an issue and there is a variant cover with better/more appealing art, I’m going to want to buy that variant. Now this isn’t a big deal/issue when the covers are offered in a 50/50 split, but when you start getting into 1 in 10, 1 in 25, or higher the product is a speculators market that, if past trends are any indication, is about ready to go bust. So Marvel and DC I’m pleading with you, in the words of Lewis Black "Stop it! OK? Just stop it!"

The Louvre: This place is going to be a focal point in The DaVinci Code movie. This place will hopefully be a focal point in my Magic career. If you are unaware, Magic has tournaments in the Provincial, Regional, National and Worlds level. This year Worlds is being held IN the Louvre, my plan is to be there! If only Wizards would post when Regionals and Nationals are so I could start getting ready.

Well I think that is all I have to rant and rave about today,

Laters,

Erick