It's time to blog

I observed something yesterday that, while it was unfolding, made me think,

"This would be blogworthy..."

Sadly, I wasn't in a position to snap any pics because it was a bit unusual, and would have made for a great pictorial story.

I was in Okotoks yesterday afternoon to do some work for a favourite client. The installation took longer than expected, and by 5:00 I was desperately feeling the need for a bite to eat. My habit when in Okotoks - which is about 20 minutes south of Calgary - is to frequent the local Smitty's.

The school I work at there is on the highway heading towards town. As I made my way down the hill toward town centre, the volume of traffic seemed unusually high; Calgary-high to be accurate. I thought to myself,

"Okotoks has a crazy rush hour!"

However, I justified it initially by reasoning that lots of people live in Okotoks and commute to Calgary for work. The time line seemed a bit early though. I figured something must be up.

Sure enough, at the second set of lights, RCMP were directing traffic. There was no visible sign of trouble though. At the next set of lights, yet another officer directing traffic. Just beyond that lay the railway tracks.

At first I thought the holdup was because of a lengthy train. In fact, there was no train in sight, yet the crossing lights were flashing and the traffic was backed up. As I made my way down the road and approached the crossing, I discovered four people on each side of the roadway, holding the crossing bars up so that cars could pass underneath. The lights continued to flash, the police continued to direct traffic.

The next set of lights was my opportunity out of the craziness - left to Smitty's.

The Smitty's lot was empty, but I figured it was probably early for supper and perhaps the crazy traffic was deterring any would-be early diners.

Smitty's was in fact closed, with a "sorry for the inconvenience" sign posted.

I now had to make my way out of the lot and back into the flow of insane Okotoks traffic. It was easier to turn right than left, and a good thing too. I came upon a little barn-shaped pub. I went in an upstairs and sure enough there was food to be had!

I refuelled and made my way back to the school.

Not a cop nor car in sight.

Even the crossing bars were up with no lights flashing.

So, to celebrate I stopped in at DQ for an ice cream, then back to the school to finish up.

Feels good to tell a story from life as it happens. Haven't done that in a while.

Thanks for tuning in.

Turtle out.

It pays to clean the shop!

Was rooting through cases of cables and odds and ends tonight.

Found a contract... with its cheque.

A bit of a book keeping 'oops', but... yay!!

"Why Smart People Do Dumb Things"

This is the title of an article I read today, and much to my surprise, it was more about the thinking process of cognitive misers VS logical thinkers than explaining exactly why seemingly smart people do dumb things.

It's an interesting read if you've got a couple minutes, and can be found here.

A lot has been swirling through my brain over the last few weeks. It would appear that I have the mind of a jackrabbit, not a turtle. I've been thinking a lot about personality types, specifically A-type VS B-type. I always considered myself a B-type fellow: go-with-the-flow, laid-back, easy to get along with... until I took an online quiz. The result was surprising, because it read,


You Have A Type A- Personality
You are one of the most balanced people around. Motivated and focused, you are good at getting what you want. You rule at success, but success doesn't rule you. When it's playtime, you really know how to kick back whether it's hanging out with friends
or doing something you love! You live life to the fullest - incorporating the best of both worlds.

It can be found here, if you'd care to give it a whirl.

Is that not the description of a B-type personality? When I looked up typical traits of A-type folks I found entries like,
"high strung"
"overbearing"
"workaholic"
"irritable"

Sure, I can be all those things, but I don't think of them as dominant in MY personality. I took a moment to test the quiz by entering blindingly obvious Type-B answers. Indeed, the result was "You have a Type-B" personality.

Years ago I took the Myers/Briggs personality profile test as part of a career training/placement seminar at SAIT. I'm what they call an ENFP - Extraversion, iNtuition, Feeling, Perception. It all fits, but not with what I've typically thought of as an A-type personality.

Why all this hub-bub with personality types? I guess I'm looking for some answers, to be honest. My brain seems to be pulled in many directions these days. There's part of me that simply wants to chill and "be", but part of me wants to be energized, motivated and driven. In reality, I've discovered, I cannot be entirely either one of these, I'm either "turtle" to the point of not accomplishing anything or I'm prone to burn-out.

It's a strange phenomenon, methinks, to experience the conflict of:

<1> being drawn to those who seem to be "on" all the time, and I REALLY want to be that guy who accomplishes everything he sets his mind to.

while

<2> Craving the calmness of mind that comes with letting things "be", taking things as they come and generally slowing the pace of life.

The biggest question for me right now is,

"Where does "challenge yourself" cross the line to overdoing it?

One of the characteristics of an A-type personality is the need for a clear-cut answer.

Maybe there isn't one.

Spare time

Today's post lives at the Ashtanga Turtle.

Landscaping

I did a significant project in the yard over the last weekend. It all started, looking for a solution to unwanted guests on the premises. Some creature or other had burrowed under the steps at the front of the house. The eventuality was that we ended up with mice in the basement. The exterminator was called, but I still had a hole in the garden bed to the right of the stairs. It was recommended that I not only fill the hole, but top the area with a couple or three inches of gravel, and if I were so inclined, patio stones to ensure no further nesting.

On hearing the news, my BIL called to say they had a significant amount of clay just sitting - from digging in their basement for a sump pump installation. Turned out to be a win-win, although I didn't take all the clay off their hands.

The project went something like this:

I went to my favourite mason supply yard and grabbed a half-yard of 3/4"-crush gravel.


As I was shovelling a layer in between the step and the highly over-grown Mock Orange bush, my neighbour Jim came over to offer up a few neighbourly suggestions. The first of which was to use his gas-powered hedge trimmer to cut back the overgrowth. As he trimmed, we discussed strategy and decided it was so overgrown that a haircut close to the ground would be best. We'd done this a few years ago and, as with a hedge, it allows for new growth. I won't see any blooms this year, but will be able to keep tabs on its size and shape as it grows.



This is the result, a short, stubby root ball. It doesn't look like much now, but come Spring, it will yield a great little green starter-shrub. I also didn't take any intermediate pics, so you get to see the completed patio stone project.



It not only makes a great little platform for showcasing potted plants (or for now, potted last-year-leftovers), it also provides a triple-layer protection against unwanted residents!



I had two projects in mind when I grabbed the clay from my sister's place. A few years back, ATCO, our local supplier of natural gas, did a city-wide project aimed at relocating gas meters at residences where the meters were located inside the house. I'll have to check, can't remember if I blogged about it when it happened, but when they horizontally drilled to insert the sleeve into which the gas line would run, I'd noticed they chalk-lined right over top the covers for the fire pit. I brought it to the attention of the site foreman, and he stood over my fire pit with his jaw on the ground. they rerouted the line, but over time, the soil at the meter location has sunk. I used the clay to fill in the hole. It worked like a charm, and I'd actually estimated the amount of clay for both projects quite well...

...the gravel, on the other hand, was available only by the half-cube. I have a significant amount left over, and offering to trade up at my sister's was met with, "...there's still snow in the yard - not til the the snow's gone..." So, the gravel will find a temporary home to the left of the driveway so as not to encourage rotting of the trailer floor.

All in all, a sweet weekend's work, meeting with the desired results.

On another note, last week I decided to take in the film they show in one of the Science Theatres at the University. If you hold a U of C ID card, they're free, with all-you-can-eat popcorn for $2. For non-card-holders, it's $2/show. They call it Cinemania, and have two showings on Monday nights, 6:30 and 9:00. Last week it was Fantastic Mr. Fox, this week it was 2012 at 6:30 and The Day After Tomorrow at 9:00. I was contemplating taking in both, but felt sleep was more important.

Tonight, I'm catching up on blogging and spending some quality time in Chateau Tortue.

Night, all.