Classic is now under way. It has been a crazy few weeks but here we are in our last week of camp. Classic is a week for Senior High guests only (14+) they come and experience what could be their final week as a guest here. This week is very different from your normal week. The games, electives, bands, dramas and snacks are incredible. Everyone plays the games together so you can imagine the type of planning that needs to be done for 407 guests running around.
Yesterday was opening day. Things didn’t really go as planned. 20 mins before the guests arrived we had to move indoors as there was a storm coming in. Then …… it hit and it really hit. We had to direct the cars do drop the kids off at the cabins rather than the parking area as it was too bad for people to walk around in. In the midst of this we still had our crazy dancers in their 50’s gear dancing and greeting cars. Please note that when I say 50’s I mean year of 50’s not 50 year old people style.
After the intor we havd everyone pumped to play the game and the rain hit again. It was not going to be possible to play a game in this and being in charge of Classic I have to make the sucky decision to scrap it. Luckily I have had friends visiting me from Alberta. Their band is called Gaetz Ave and they were meant to be in Ottawa on Sunday night for a show. One of the band guys was in a little accident and their van is pretty mashed up. Fortunately they were sitting watching the opening show and with 45 mins notice they were good to play a concert for the guests. I think most people enjoyed them. I did and that is all that matters…. I think….
Today the rain is off. I think that I am going to go and grab a nap. Late nights + early morning = tired PK
www.gaetzave.com
Gaetz Ave are about to go on tour with Thousand Foot Crutch - very nice.
Sorry not a very funny blog. I am tired today.
Sunday, August 28, 2005
Thursday, August 11, 2005
Crash bang, oh where is my apple?
I have always been a pretty good driver. I am safe, confident and most of the time don't suffer from road rage. This summer I had my first accident. I was driving a golf cart up towards the village at camp coming up around the side of one of the buildings I was turning right but for some reason I was looking left. As I turn the corner I turned my vision towards where I was heading only to see another golf cart coming in the opposite direction. The person who was driving this golf cart (no names will be given) was also going pretty fast but his attention was not on where he was driving but what a group of kids were getting up to. The problem was that when I looked to see where I was going it was too late.
Now when I say he was driving a golf cart it was a little more than a golf cart. This vehicle is called a Ranger and it used by the maintenance guys who need a bigger stronger vehicle than your normal golf cart. We did our best to swerve but it just wasn't meant to be. We smashed our golf carts together and sat for a second in disbelief as to what had just happened.
This will seem really incidental but I was eating an apple at the time. And what a great apple it was. We get fresh fruit delivered almost daily but finding a good apple could also be compared to finding a needle in a haystack. On this occasion I was eating that needle. It was perfect with amazing texture and taste. I had only eaten just over a quarter of it until I was involved in the accident. You may be wondering where I am going with this but I lost my apple in the crash. I have no idea where it went. After asking the other person (still remaining nameless) if he was ok and checking to make sure no one saw the crash I looked down and this apple, golden nugget, needle (whatever you want to call it) was no longer in my possession. I jumped off the cart and looked for it. I never did find it.
I never used to believe about spontaneous combustion until that moment. I guess that I should be glad that it was the apple and not myself.
But I really do miss that apple.
By the way I did write-off that golf cart and it did have to be sent back. Oops
Now when I say he was driving a golf cart it was a little more than a golf cart. This vehicle is called a Ranger and it used by the maintenance guys who need a bigger stronger vehicle than your normal golf cart. We did our best to swerve but it just wasn't meant to be. We smashed our golf carts together and sat for a second in disbelief as to what had just happened.
This will seem really incidental but I was eating an apple at the time. And what a great apple it was. We get fresh fruit delivered almost daily but finding a good apple could also be compared to finding a needle in a haystack. On this occasion I was eating that needle. It was perfect with amazing texture and taste. I had only eaten just over a quarter of it until I was involved in the accident. You may be wondering where I am going with this but I lost my apple in the crash. I have no idea where it went. After asking the other person (still remaining nameless) if he was ok and checking to make sure no one saw the crash I looked down and this apple, golden nugget, needle (whatever you want to call it) was no longer in my possession. I jumped off the cart and looked for it. I never did find it.
I never used to believe about spontaneous combustion until that moment. I guess that I should be glad that it was the apple and not myself.
But I really do miss that apple.
By the way I did write-off that golf cart and it did have to be sent back. Oops
Tuesday, August 09, 2005
Seagulls - love em or hate em
I neither love birds or hate birds, but for some reason I don't have much luck with them. Let me tell you the history.
Incident One:
When I was younger I was fishing. As I cast my line out a seagull decided that it was hungry and tried to catch my bait. It missed but somehow the line managed to wrap around the seagulls wing. I watched as the bird plummeted into the water. Trying to swim, fly, or not drown I decided to reel it in. I felt slightly embarrassed as everyone started to over to watch. I had to use a net to lift him out of the water as I didn't want my line to break. Setting him down carefully I proceeded to try and unwrap him. The stupid thing kept pecking me and nipping me even though I was trying to help him. I didn't know how to stop it so I ended up flicking him on the head as a punch would be a little extreme. I took the line off his wing, picked him up and threw him back in the water. The stupid bird flew away. I was left with a damaged line, feathers in the net and marks on my hand.
Incident Two:
Walking downtown Toronto with my brother who was visiting me and Chris Schryer we decided that hunger was winning and we would get some street meat. I adore steet meat, infact when I am downtown I make a point of getting it. This time I was so hungry that I could already taste it in my mouth. Getting there I ordered 1 dog (cause that is what you say apparently) and a coke. The guy handed it to me and told me the price was $3.50. I didn't know what to do, both my hands were full and the money was in my pocket. I would have asked Chris to fish it out but that probably wouldn't have looked to good. Behind the vender was union station so I set my food down got my money handed it to him and as I turned I realised that there was about 15 seagulls attacking my food. I generally don't really lose it but on this occasion I did. I think it was the combination of my hunger, love for street meat and past experiences with birds.
I don't know what came over me but I charged for my food and punched a seagull. I didn't think that I had really hit it that hard until I looked over the edge and saw it falling.
That put me in a really bad mood. I refused to get another one and there was that awkward silence as Jonny and Chris didn't know what to say. The knew I was annoyed as they didn't even make a joke for at least 2 hours. (never mess with my food!)
Incident 3:
This was the worst and emotionally scarred me for hours.
I was called up towards the guys cabin where a Senior High guest had thrown a rock at a seagull and managed to hit it. By the time I got there you could tell that it was pretty serious. It's neck was in a really bad position, it had thrown up food, and it was bleeding from under its wing and its mouth. I went to get a box to put it in and it was obvious that the thing was about to die. It couldn't keep its eyes open.
I decided that the good citizen that I am that I would help assist this bird with it's passing on to another life. I got Chris Evans as I needed the emotional support.
I won't go into the details as to how we ended the life of this bird but let me say. That thing put up a fight. We did break its neck but then it kept moving and rolling around. It took several attemps and we ended up doing other things that ensured its death. Being the good man that I am I put it in the box and decided that I would dispose of the body.
On my way to the dump I was stopped by a couple of staff outside the Tuck Shop. We stood there for easily 5 mins chatting about the day. I told them what was in the box and they wanted to see it so I showed it to them. Standing with the box under my arm I can only describe as one of the scariest moments in some time happened. I don't know what the bird did in the box but the thing jumped up and started moving. I screamed and dropped the box, i had to refrain from swearing cause that is how scared I was. I honestly thought that I had shat my pants. Shaking, I picked up the box ran up to the dump threw the box in and closed the lid.
I had to go and have a cup of Tea and a Kitkat chunky to recover. I have never killed an animal before and hope to never do it again.
Incident One:
When I was younger I was fishing. As I cast my line out a seagull decided that it was hungry and tried to catch my bait. It missed but somehow the line managed to wrap around the seagulls wing. I watched as the bird plummeted into the water. Trying to swim, fly, or not drown I decided to reel it in. I felt slightly embarrassed as everyone started to over to watch. I had to use a net to lift him out of the water as I didn't want my line to break. Setting him down carefully I proceeded to try and unwrap him. The stupid thing kept pecking me and nipping me even though I was trying to help him. I didn't know how to stop it so I ended up flicking him on the head as a punch would be a little extreme. I took the line off his wing, picked him up and threw him back in the water. The stupid bird flew away. I was left with a damaged line, feathers in the net and marks on my hand.
Incident Two:
Walking downtown Toronto with my brother who was visiting me and Chris Schryer we decided that hunger was winning and we would get some street meat. I adore steet meat, infact when I am downtown I make a point of getting it. This time I was so hungry that I could already taste it in my mouth. Getting there I ordered 1 dog (cause that is what you say apparently) and a coke. The guy handed it to me and told me the price was $3.50. I didn't know what to do, both my hands were full and the money was in my pocket. I would have asked Chris to fish it out but that probably wouldn't have looked to good. Behind the vender was union station so I set my food down got my money handed it to him and as I turned I realised that there was about 15 seagulls attacking my food. I generally don't really lose it but on this occasion I did. I think it was the combination of my hunger, love for street meat and past experiences with birds.
I don't know what came over me but I charged for my food and punched a seagull. I didn't think that I had really hit it that hard until I looked over the edge and saw it falling.
That put me in a really bad mood. I refused to get another one and there was that awkward silence as Jonny and Chris didn't know what to say. The knew I was annoyed as they didn't even make a joke for at least 2 hours. (never mess with my food!)
Incident 3:
This was the worst and emotionally scarred me for hours.
I was called up towards the guys cabin where a Senior High guest had thrown a rock at a seagull and managed to hit it. By the time I got there you could tell that it was pretty serious. It's neck was in a really bad position, it had thrown up food, and it was bleeding from under its wing and its mouth. I went to get a box to put it in and it was obvious that the thing was about to die. It couldn't keep its eyes open.
I decided that the good citizen that I am that I would help assist this bird with it's passing on to another life. I got Chris Evans as I needed the emotional support.
I won't go into the details as to how we ended the life of this bird but let me say. That thing put up a fight. We did break its neck but then it kept moving and rolling around. It took several attemps and we ended up doing other things that ensured its death. Being the good man that I am I put it in the box and decided that I would dispose of the body.
On my way to the dump I was stopped by a couple of staff outside the Tuck Shop. We stood there for easily 5 mins chatting about the day. I told them what was in the box and they wanted to see it so I showed it to them. Standing with the box under my arm I can only describe as one of the scariest moments in some time happened. I don't know what the bird did in the box but the thing jumped up and started moving. I screamed and dropped the box, i had to refrain from swearing cause that is how scared I was. I honestly thought that I had shat my pants. Shaking, I picked up the box ran up to the dump threw the box in and closed the lid.
I had to go and have a cup of Tea and a Kitkat chunky to recover. I have never killed an animal before and hope to never do it again.
Another Year, another burn
The summer started off in a way that I didn’t plan or want to happen. Exactly the same thing happened this year to the day that happened last year. Yes I burnt my hand again. Except this time it was worse. It wasn’t just one hand but on both. So you can imagine the fun I had trying to keep that from getting bumped.
I was making a cup of tea for myself and James King who comes up each year to teach the staff on first aid. I personally think that he sets me up to get burnt cause it happens each time that he is up. It works out well. He has a real life example of a 2nd degree burn and examples of what you shouldn’t do. (I did the right thing this year actually)
It sounds like hero story but that was not the intention. As I said, I was making tea and I started to carry it back to the table. As I turned around these kids started running in my direction and were running towards me. At the last moment I turned round quickly so as to not pour the tea over them. The result was I poured the tea over both hands. I wanted to drop the tea and scream but sitting right in front of me was a 2 year old child and a grandmother. I gritted my teeth and walked to the nearest table, set down the drinks and ran to the kitchen where I filled up a bucket of water and proceeded to keep my hands submerged for over 30 mins. That night was the worst. I couldn’t believe how much my hands were still burning after 4 hours. I ended up having to sleep on the sofa with my hands dangling into buckets of water. This caused me some concern as I remember that we used to prank people by dipping their fingers in water while they were sleeping so that they wet the bed. I was just setting myself up for a disaster.
Just to let you know that I did not wet the sofa. I did wake up with an estimated 21 seconds to make it to the nearest toilet. My timing was wrong, I did not make it to the toilet, the nearest bush suffered. I think that was a little too much information.
Monday, August 08, 2005
Soooo Sorry
I do apologise for my lack of updates this past month or so. Hopefully my lack of updates will give you an idea of how busy I have been. I keep meaning to but never get around to it. Over the next day or so I will try and update the random events that have happened this summer.
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