A damsel not in distress

I ran into a bit of a dilemma the other day that I would like to share with you.

As the sun set I was driving west on Crowchild trail when the front left wheel went flat. I slowly pulled over to the shoulder listening to the exposed rim make awful sounds against the road.

This isn't the dilemma.

It was raining and cold and I had left my jacket at home because I was only travelling a short distance. Also the shoulder was covered in mud because of nearby construction.

No dilemma here yet.

My trunk was packed solid with recycling so I had to empty it and throw eveything in my back seat.

I'm still dilemma free.

The butterly nut on the spare was unreasonably tight and my cold hands cried as I pried it off. The elevation screw on the jack was stuck and my already sore hands worked hard to lossen it.

Not even close to being a dilemma.

Finally with all the equipment in place I readied myself to change the tire. Suddenly a kind stranger pulled over to see if I needed help.

DILEMMA!

You see the guy was guite handsome and so I was hurdled into a mental ball of confusion with a split decision to make. Should I play damsel in distress and let him come to my rescue which could possibly turn into something else or let my internal feminist prove that I'm an independent woman that can take care or myself. Ahhhh!!!!

Well folks, the feminist won and my prince in shining armour drove away leaving this prideful woman to change the tire herself. Cold and muddy I drove home numberless and sure that my actions made no change whatsover in the female sexes fight to be recognized as strong individuals who don't need men so do everything that requires the slightest bit of muscle power. Sigh.

Stinky heat

This morning's chill forced me to crank the temperature dial in my car from all green to all red. A yearly ritual that takes place around the same time and is a sure sign that summer is coming to an end. As my car filled with that heater smell that usually eminates when you haven't used it in a long time I reminisced about what a terrific summer it has been.

I won't recap everything as the important events have already been documented. The past four months have been super busy and although I didn't accomplish everything I planned it was still jammed packed with events. Two things in the way of self growth are worth bragging about. The first being the vast improvement in my golf game. It seems that golfing once a week regularly really does improve one's score. Who knew?! Secondly, I've come full circle and found my spiritual footing again. Somehow in the last couple of years I lost what I spent a lifetime building up. Through constant meditation and self reflection I've grounded myself and returned to the values and morals I once lived by. Finally, peace!!

Shit, it's starting to get a little too serious around here. Last weekend I managed one more camping trip before the campgrounds closed and it was fantastic! Zaman spent his first nights in the mountain and had his best sleep ever. He was so adorable all bundled up in the tent. Even the exploding coke can wasn't enough to wake him from his slumber.

I'm feeling a little exhausted these days just because the summer has been so eventful. I have 4 weeks of holiday I need to use before the end of the year so a short term hibernation doesn't seem like a bad idea. Unfortunately, the list of things to accomplish over the winter months is continuosly growing. :-)

Saxophone is the new water

From the moment I picked up a saxophone I've been tinkering around with it at home on my own. Recently I ventured outside of my comfort zone and offered to play on a friend's cd. Or should I say 'attempted to play'. After many trials, I discoverd that I'm useless at accompaniment, which is a serious problem if I ever want to play in a band. Finally we turned off the music and I got to play solo, just how I like it. Still waiting to hear if any of it was usable. If so, I can now brag that I'm a recording artist (small exagerations never hurt anyone). If not, it's a hard lesson learned and a slight shot to my ego. Regardless, I've a choice to make, start putting myself out there and learn to play with others or stick to playing my own tune.

Now remember the cat? Well, I've discoverd that certain high pitched noises freak her out. Enter the saxophone. All I have to do is play a loud second octave c# and she goes running. Hiding under my bed until she's sure I'm done torturing her. We are now at the point where all that's required to send her running is to pick up the instrument and ready it for play. I'm thinking this is a great discovery. Anytime she's being bad I just threaten to play and she freaks. Works so much better than spraying her with water.

I was supposed to start a one week holiday on Friday, Septemeber 1. Let's recap how that's going. Worked through the night on Thursday/Friday. Showered and went to work for my regular 8 hours. On Friday at 4:00 pm when my holiday was supposed to begin I was still working. Left at 5:30 pm and did computer support for a friend for 4 hours, went home and started working. Worked through the night on Friday/Saturday, slept for two hours and then went into the office. Worked until 5:30 pm on Saturday and then went out for dinner. Sunday I 'rested'. Worked all day Monday (which was a statutory holiday), and through the night on Monday/Tuesday. Seeing a pattern here? Went to work on Tuesday, worked my normal 8 hours. The server crashed so I continued to work. Fixed the server at 9:00 pm and went home to start my 2 day 'holiday'. All this so some CEO of an oil and gas company can add another million to his pile. Hmmmm....I have some serious thinking to do during my days off.