Sunday, September 27, 2015

A(nother) Year

Well, it's been a year. A year since I started my new job. A year (give or take a few months) since I finished my post-secondary education I returned to my home country, my home town, and then my new home town.  I returned to my old job, and then went to my new job.

So far things are going pretty good. I'm enjoying the work, getting paid well. While I'm learning lots, it's not as much as I was during school. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but all of the sudden my my insistence to not take my education any further has wavered. A masters? Yeah, that'd be kinda fun. I miss the air of creativity and evolution under pressure. Maybe some day. Or maybe not.

What else? The plates on my Porsche 944 expire in three days, which means I've been back on the road for a full year. Rather than renew the registration, I went out and got a brand new plate for a new/used Honda Prelude. Admittedly, that has more to do with having a reliable/comfortable car for the harsher months of the year. I drove the Porsche one last time while I was running around getting it prepped for winter storage. Compared to the Prelude, it's so much lower, the steering wheel is heavier, the clutch is smooshy, and the engine is slower and grumpy. Reminds me of why I love it so much. I feel bad parking it for the next six months, almost as if I don't appreciate it enough or am cheating on it. These are probably the thoughts of some one that thinks too much, though. Either way, seeing it tucked in beneath a grey car cover makes me sad. But at the same time, a bit excited for another spring and summer.

I've been cooking. I made sweet and sour pork, pancakes, stir fry, stroganoff, and a handfull of other meals that aren't actually that impressive until you take into account how I ate minor variations of the same three meals for the last four years I was in school. I'm also buying/eating more produce and other healthier-ish items.

I made a computer and have binged on more than a couple games. Feels good to get it out of the system.

I have not been drawing, though. Apparently the next month can be referred to as 'Inktober', so I'm hoping to get back on the wagon, even if it's for a short time.

I started taking mandolin lessons. Progress is slow, and seems to only happen when I'm looking the other way. It's frustrating, but such is life.

I went on a road trip over the summer to BC. In my red Porsche. It was wonderful.

I got my first traffic violation - a parking ticket. It makes me feel like an idiot, but considering it's my first offense since I started driving 14 years ago, I think I'm doing alright.

I helped renovate my friend's house so they could sell it. It was a great experience, and felt good to help in a way that's really appreciated by people I care about.

I did a fistful of repairs to my 944 - new distributor cap, ignition wires, vacuum tubing, spark plugs, and a throttle body rebuild. Not bad for a beginner. Makes me wish I had a garage I could park in and work on things over the winter... There's so much to do, and I enjoy the work.

The last few weeks have been tough. I drove my Porsche to get the oil changed, completely forgetting I took the plates off of it. I had to bus home and back before I could go any further. I've made some stupid mistakes at work. Also made some mistakes along the way. Last week I sent flowers to an ex, as a friendly gesture. It was a stupid thing to do, and I feel stupid about it. She was understandably pissed off at me. What an impressively insensitive thing to do. Gah. Some days I feel like I'm getting dumber with each passing year. Sometimes each passing day. Gotta get out of this rut.

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A year. A big, fat year has passed by. Was it everything I had hoped for? I don't know. I feel like I'm making leaps and bounds in some areas, and falling down on my face in others. When I was in school I had such clarity about all the things life should be, and about how great everything would be. And don't get me wrong, life is great. It always is. But I don't know if it's as awesome as pre-graduation, stressed and anxious me had envisioned. Maybe nothing is ever as fantastic as hopes forged in times of duress would make them out to be. That's alright, though, as long as I keep chuggin' along and having a good time wherever I can.
-Cril

Thursday, September 17, 2015

Parking Signs

Dear Diary,

Today I was That Guy. That Guy who parked his red Porsche sports car in a handicap zone. That Guy who's Caucasian, in his late 20's, strutting around in his office-casual attire, and working in an advertising firm.

You know, that kind of That Guy who makes you think, "what a tool bag. I hope he gets a big, fat ticket."

And that's what happened. Inside the That Guy brain of mine I was thinking "What? I parked in a handicap zone? Gahhhh! How did I miss that! Why did I do that! I'm an idiot!"

It was an honest mistake. But after reading "Red Porsche" on the ticket, I realized EXACTLY what I must've looked like.

In actuality, sometimes That Guy is just a dufus.
-Cril

Tuesday, September 01, 2015

An Evening in Los Santos

So I've been playing GTA Online. More than I should, actually; I'm working on completing 28 consecutive days of daily objectives. I suspect that once I finish that (five more days to go...) I'll throttle back sharply. That isn't to say it's a bad game, and sometimes the chaos of it all can be kind of neat.

It started off as most GTA sessions do: I got shot in the face to death while trying to outrun the police for whatever 3-star infraction I made. As a result, once I respawned my personal vehicle had been impounded.

"Jumping over the fence to break out my vehicle is so boring. I'm going to do this right." And thus I went and got a giant military cargo helicopter that I was going to use to lift my vehicle out of the clutches Lost Santos' finest. Upon arriving at the lot, I found that my vehicle had been destroyed, so I started buzzing local traffic out of boredom. Lo and behold the helicopter's hook latched on to a random commuter, and I lifted it up into the air with me.

I decided that the most prudent course of action would be to hunt down a nearby player being chased by the police and try to drop my load on (or even near him). Apparently flying around with a car in tow does horribly things to a helicopter's maneuverbility, and after one too many tight turns between buildings, the attached car snagged on a building and caused me to do a fiery face plant into the side of a skyscraper. All hands were instantly lost. I respawned.

Lo and behold, a message appeared "hey crilix u want a lift?". Apparently my shenanigans were being watched.

"Sure!"

Moments later, a sleek, gold passenger helicopter descended into a nearby intersection. I got in and joined another player in the back, where we sipped champagne while the pilot took to the sky. A few minutes later, I was dropped off in the parking lot of the golf course (I had forgotten about the waypoint I set there a little while ago).

I thanked him for the ride, he said it was no problem.

I played a round of golf and scored 3 strokes under par.

There's a certain and strange beauty in moments like those that can only be found in an online game. Chaos and spontaneous hostility, broken up by a very odd flavour of casual kindness. Think about it; I went from trying to drop a car on another driver to getting an air taxi lift to a game of golf, as if it was just the guy's job to ferry people around.

What a neat experience.
-Cril