Almost forgot.
Fave phrase/commandment of the day:

"All Hutterites shall be eradicated."

Hottest day of the year
and we've had no water
in the apartment for a week.
Sometimes it comes in
drips and trickles, meaning
I have to run to the bathtub
and catch it with an empty
container.
This is the fault of our landlord
who is a stupid hoser and a major
shirker of responsibility.
A dopey-dope who shies away
from confrontations and tricky
situations.
A frog without water? In this
desert?
How does he do it, you ask.

Kung Fu.

Soon (next weekend)
I'll be on the road again.
Eagerly anticipating this little
road trip, I am.
This'll mean that I'll be staying in
a motel, eating chips and watching
Iron Chef on cable:
The best part of road trips!

Crime and Gluttonment
It seems that, no matter what you
do here, you have to get a police check.
I just got one today.
I'm clean, of course.
But since this place is the
crime capital of Canada, its
only appropos I guess.
Walked by the Scarth Street Mall
(downtown pedestrian mall where
all the corporates and civil
servants congregate)
and I heard the familiar strains
of "YMCA" being played in a
folkified, countrified style by a
bunch of -- middle-aged, civil-
servants by day, "rockers" by
night -- guys.
Something about "Buffalo Days".

Later, I walked by again and they
were doing "Taking care of Business".

Because this is a fat city, the YMCA
announced it will give free memberships
for the month of August.
In order to help slim down the population,
I guess.
As you'll recall in a previous blog, Regina
was voted second fattest city in Canada.
Participaction is alive!

But once these fatsos are fit, won't
the crime rate skyrocket?
They'll be able to outrun police,
do more crimes, beat people up, etc.
All in the guise of staying fit.

Fave phrase of the day:
"Free apartments for Avon ladies!"

In case there was ever a need
for anyone to comment on
each day's entry, I've
installed Reblogger for
this site.
Until I can get my own commenting
system up, it'll have to do.
Thanks to j.malone.
Reblogger

I'm starting to focus and narrow
down my daily paths through this
town. That's one way of surviving.
Like this morning, I went to the
Timothy's in the Bay. It was perfect.
It's secluded and is run by a nice
old lady with an Eastern European
accent that is super-friendly and knows
everyone.
It reminded me of home.
I realize I miss the variety of accents.
People speaking differently.
Maybe that's why, everytime I'm walking,
I like to hone my different accents
and practise saying different things to
my companion.
From Aussie to Charlton Heston to
Reginan (I'm still working on that one)
to British (ala Warwick)
to American MidWest.
Annoying I know.
But I'm getting good at the Aussie.

I am weird.

reminder: Buffalo Days this weekend!

Hey P+A!
Thanks for your email.
We miss you both.

The reason this whole week is
called "Buffalo Days" is that,
apparently, the original aboriginal
name for this place translates as
"Pile O' Bones". There must've
been a buffalo jump here in days
gone by.

Saturday night I witnessed the most incredible
electrical thunderstorm ever.
The storm was slow and ever encroaching,
with an overcast sky lit dramatically by
sheet lightning in all directions.
The sky was so electified that the seemingly
synchronized lightning made it seem like
a constant strobe light was going off in the
sky.

(It's getting really hard to breath now, as I write
this, as a REALLY smelly old guy is standing
near me on the computer---GAHHHH!)

Then as the thunder sounded as the storm blew
in from the south. Heavy rain started to fall, drenching
me as I stood outside on our third floor balcony.

Bolts streaked across the sky. No ordinary bolts.
Bolts as thick as a pipe (At least it seemed like
that from my perspective).
Thunder sounded like a 747 landed on our roof.
Whew!
It lasted forever, all through the night.
Quiet for awhile then a reprise.

This is something that I love about the Prairies.

The next morning, nothing, clear skies, warm and
sunny. No evidence of the storm.
And that's just considered normal, folks!

Sunday, there was some sort of picnic/concert/fair
in the park near our apartment.

A band was playing. Covers.

Trooper, Beastie Boys, Van Halen (Jump)
Guns n Roses, Twisted Sister.
No Kidding.