Let's Talk About Nothing

As I feared, keeping up with my blog since returning to the world of work has become a real challenge. There are two primary reasons for this. First of all, I leave the house at 5:30 AM and usually roll back into the driveway at around 7:00 PM. This in and of itself is not an excessively long work day. However (this is the second reason), working takes 13+ hours out of my day, leaving me not only with a limited amount of time to blog, but also with a vastly reduced amount of time to do or see anything worth blogging about. Oh, for the good old days when I had unlimited time to do whatever I wanted, including making up things to blog about. However, there have been a few fairly noteworthy things happening lately.


This weekend I got to meet my new grand niece, Ava Campbell. Ava is, by unanimous consent of all of Earth's residents, the cutest baby on the planet (I took a poll). If you don't believe me, check out Kayla and Lance's blog (the link is located to the left of this post). Kayla has included about 100 pictures of Ava for your viewing pleasure.


I have now become officially addicted to listening to "books on CD" during my fairly lengthy commute to and from work. So far I've "audio-read" five books. Yesterday I finished Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck. Like The Grapes of Wrath, Mice takes its place as one of the most depressing books ever written. But don't let that stop you from reading either or both of these books. They're both great, in their super-downer sort of way.


Last Friday afternoon I went to see the movie Shutter Island. I went alone, not because I am such a loser that I can't get anyone to go to a movie with me, but rather because Vicki was out of town and it was Friday afternoon and everyone I know was working. NOTE: At my new job we work ten-hours a day, Monday through Thursday (we're off every Friday). I didn't wait for Vicki to see it because the previews on TV looked really scary and creepy, and she doesn't do scary and creepy. However, the movie was actually much more suspenseful than scary/creepy. I enjoyed it enough to give it an 8 out of 10. However, judging by their comments, the surprise ending left some of my fellow theater patrons less than thrilled.


Before I go I need to bring up up to speed on the latest fishing news. While fishing on Turtle Lake in northern Saskatchewan (that's in Canada for those of you who are geographically challenged) a lucky angler hooked a 36" northern pike, which is by most standards a very, very large northern pike. However, while Mr. Lucky was reeling in his monster fish, another really monster fish decided to eat it. When all was said and done, Mr. Lucky had landed not only the original 36" fish, but also a bonus fish that was - get this - 56" long! Weighing in at 55 pounds, this behemoth was a new Canadian record for a northern pike. Remind me never to swim in Turtle Lake. Sushi anyone?