After a day of being a house manager it's becoming clear that this week won't be a walk in the park. It's fantastic to be able to sleep in past 7, but once I'm up it seems like I'll be doing just as much work, if nor more, than I would be doing at the Agricultural Society. Even with two people going all out, cooking, cleaning, baking, and have left me utterly sapped. My sincerest respect goes out to any stay-at-home parents or spouses out there. Oh, and we went grocery shopping and got everything we needed for the entire week minus the macaroni for our dinner tonight. We spent the whole trip fretting over the garnish and whatnot for the dish and forgot the main ingredient.
I've talked a fair bit about my experiences here, but I've yet to really touch on how I'm coping with the program. Maybe it's just the melancholic day I've been having speaking, but for me Katimavik is tough. I'm a fairly introverted person, so living with ten other people is far from comfortable. I have a hard time finding the time or space to be alone, I feel tense and I have no real chance to unwind. I've also come to realize what a control freak I am. Not over other people, but over my environment. I suppose that growing up an only child I've never really had to share my space with anyone: even at Guelph I had a single room. But here things are different. I can't just lie down wherever I please and browse the internet, I can't eat what I want, or when I want. It's actually really rough on me. I miss all my friends, my family, and I really miss one person in particular (but she's coming out here tomorrow!). But I'm going to persevere. Katimavik isn't what I expected, but it's something that I've committed to and I want to see it through. I'm sorry if I seem negative guys. I'm worn out from my cold, from a lack of personal space, and stress over my visitor coming out here (not because she's coming, but because I'm worries about her making it here safe and sound (I really need to ask her if she wants her name used here ha ha. I try not to mention anyone by name here, but it sounds weird does it not? She means a lot to me so she may be an exception to that guideline (I'm sorry for that tangent))).
Don't worry about me though; I'll be all right, I always am.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Sunday, October 25, 2009
The absence
AHA! I actually have a legitimate excuse for my lack of recent activity (that's right folks, I wasn't slacking off this time). For half of last week I was bed-ridden with a head cold and as a result I spent most of my time sleeping t. I'm nearly 100% now though and as soon as I shake this headache I'll be golden. Next time I'm ill though I'll be sure to put of a post to that affect so as not to leave you all hanging. I really do appreciate your readership, and I hope I've done a decent job of keeping you all entertained and informed. I'm afraid not much is new, oh, except for...
DRUMHELLER
That's right folks, yesterday the Katimakrew went on a good 'ol fashioned road trip to the Badlands of Alberta.
Act I
We left Olds en route to the world famous Gopher Hole Museum in Torrington, AB. I...it's hard to describe the museum. Okay, well not really, it's a collection of stuffed gophers that are dressed up and posed into teeny tiny tableaus ranging from a gopher wedding to a gopher crouched behind a bush with a hunting rifle dressed in full camouflage. No, you did read that correctly, and yes these are actual deceased gophers that have been preserved.
Act II
And so we pressed on towards Drumheller. Have you ever driven across eastern Alberta or Saskatchewan? It's just as flat as you'd imagine it to be, endless fields dotted with oil wells as far as the eye can see. And that's all we saw until we reached the Badlands. Suddenly we were approaching what seemed like little more that a slight dip in the ground, but as we continued onwards the road kept sinking. Before long we were being swallowed up by the earth. Just when I thought we couldn't possibly drive any lower we rounded a bend and found ourselves looking out onto a great canyon. You can dumb down the Badlands by saying its a big hole in the ground, but that hardly does it justice.
The Royal Tyrell Museum was our first stop there, better known as "that one with the dinosaurs". Now I was never much into dinosaurs as a child, at least I don't remember myself being that way, but the museum was pretty impressive. As you work your way through it you're taken on a journey from the origin of life in the primordial seas of the ancient world all the way up to the last ice age. We were also lucky enough to be there in time to catch the tail end of an exhibit on Charles Darwin. There were copies of his sketches to view as well as his life story to read, fascinating stuff indeed.
After doing the musuem circuit we went for a little walk around the Badlands. We climbed some hills, explored a bit, and got some wicked windburns, all before lunch time!
Act III
After grabbing a bite to eat a local restaurant the Krew headed back out, this time in search of the Hoodoos (rock formations molded by erosion into vaguely mushroom-shaped forms). Once again there was some climbing, some photos, and some laughs. Funny thing, they're not as big or as plentiful as you may think.
Next up was a local suspension bridge that lead to an old mine site. I'll tell you right now folks that I do NOT like heights, nor do I like un-stable bridges, but this one wasn't too bad.
Our next stop was what may be one of the smallest churches in the world, boasting that it could "seat 10 000 people, 6 at a time".
Act IV
Finally after a long day we headed home. While I found driving across the prairies mid-day to be dull, driving home towards the sunset was something else. Watching the sun sink below the horizon as the world around us (most of the Krew included) began to sleep was an extraordinary experience.
Epilogue
I'd like to start by giving a shout out to Mr. Steve Anderson over at High Levels of Awesome for reaching his 10th post! Congratulations to you sir, and I highly suggest that you check out his writing at http://thatstevesureismetal.blogspot.com/. Now, this coming week is my turn to be house manager, so I should have a wee bit more free time to report on what my co-manager and I are doing. However I do have a special visitor coming all the way out here to see me, so I apologize if my posts are still a bit slow.
Catch you all next time.
DRUMHELLER
That's right folks, yesterday the Katimakrew went on a good 'ol fashioned road trip to the Badlands of Alberta.
Act I
We left Olds en route to the world famous Gopher Hole Museum in Torrington, AB. I...it's hard to describe the museum. Okay, well not really, it's a collection of stuffed gophers that are dressed up and posed into teeny tiny tableaus ranging from a gopher wedding to a gopher crouched behind a bush with a hunting rifle dressed in full camouflage. No, you did read that correctly, and yes these are actual deceased gophers that have been preserved.
Act II
And so we pressed on towards Drumheller. Have you ever driven across eastern Alberta or Saskatchewan? It's just as flat as you'd imagine it to be, endless fields dotted with oil wells as far as the eye can see. And that's all we saw until we reached the Badlands. Suddenly we were approaching what seemed like little more that a slight dip in the ground, but as we continued onwards the road kept sinking. Before long we were being swallowed up by the earth. Just when I thought we couldn't possibly drive any lower we rounded a bend and found ourselves looking out onto a great canyon. You can dumb down the Badlands by saying its a big hole in the ground, but that hardly does it justice.
The Royal Tyrell Museum was our first stop there, better known as "that one with the dinosaurs". Now I was never much into dinosaurs as a child, at least I don't remember myself being that way, but the museum was pretty impressive. As you work your way through it you're taken on a journey from the origin of life in the primordial seas of the ancient world all the way up to the last ice age. We were also lucky enough to be there in time to catch the tail end of an exhibit on Charles Darwin. There were copies of his sketches to view as well as his life story to read, fascinating stuff indeed.
After doing the musuem circuit we went for a little walk around the Badlands. We climbed some hills, explored a bit, and got some wicked windburns, all before lunch time!
Act III
After grabbing a bite to eat a local restaurant the Krew headed back out, this time in search of the Hoodoos (rock formations molded by erosion into vaguely mushroom-shaped forms). Once again there was some climbing, some photos, and some laughs. Funny thing, they're not as big or as plentiful as you may think.
Next up was a local suspension bridge that lead to an old mine site. I'll tell you right now folks that I do NOT like heights, nor do I like un-stable bridges, but this one wasn't too bad.
Our next stop was what may be one of the smallest churches in the world, boasting that it could "seat 10 000 people, 6 at a time".
Act IV
Finally after a long day we headed home. While I found driving across the prairies mid-day to be dull, driving home towards the sunset was something else. Watching the sun sink below the horizon as the world around us (most of the Krew included) began to sleep was an extraordinary experience.
Epilogue
I'd like to start by giving a shout out to Mr. Steve Anderson over at High Levels of Awesome for reaching his 10th post! Congratulations to you sir, and I highly suggest that you check out his writing at http://thatstevesureismetal.blogspot.com/. Now, this coming week is my turn to be house manager, so I should have a wee bit more free time to report on what my co-manager and I are doing. However I do have a special visitor coming all the way out here to see me, so I apologize if my posts are still a bit slow.
Catch you all next time.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
You know what drives me up the wall? When people say they'll have a project done at a certain time and then they procrastinate. Gosh that's irritating.
*Cough* So hey, how's it going? How's life? The weather? Your family? Fantastic! Me? Ah I'm doing alright. This week I'm working outside at the Ag Soc.; tearing apart stalls, erecting stalls, setting up for shows. It's hard work, but hey, good exercise yeah? The weather isn't quite as pleasant here anymore. The sun-drenched days of yore have been replaced by overcast days and endless torrents of rain. STUFF.
The house
Another week, another set of house managers, and in yet another it will be my turn! I have no clue what I'm going to make yet, but I'll be planning it out within the next few days with my fellow caretaker. We watched Clue (the movie, based off the board game) and I have to say it's fantastic. Put aside your skepticism for a moment, if you would, and let me point out that Clue has both Tim Curry and Christopher Lloyd. Dr. Frankenfurter and Doc Brown in the same movie? Yes please!
Red Deer
Last Saturday the group went on a trip to Red Deer to visit the nearest Value Village. Why? You need a reason? Alright, some of us needed additional clothing for work / for the weather here. More importantly though we all needed costumes for Halloween. I think we're all geared up for it now. Oh, right, I guess you'd like to know what I'm going as. One of my housemates and I decided to go as the Blues Brothers, so we sought out some cheap suits, and some knock-off RayBan's, and come October 31st I'll be all geared up as Elwood Blues.
I do believe that's it for now, I look forward to our next meeting. Adieu, mon amie.
*Cough* So hey, how's it going? How's life? The weather? Your family? Fantastic! Me? Ah I'm doing alright. This week I'm working outside at the Ag Soc.; tearing apart stalls, erecting stalls, setting up for shows. It's hard work, but hey, good exercise yeah? The weather isn't quite as pleasant here anymore. The sun-drenched days of yore have been replaced by overcast days and endless torrents of rain. STUFF.
The house
Another week, another set of house managers, and in yet another it will be my turn! I have no clue what I'm going to make yet, but I'll be planning it out within the next few days with my fellow caretaker. We watched Clue (the movie, based off the board game) and I have to say it's fantastic. Put aside your skepticism for a moment, if you would, and let me point out that Clue has both Tim Curry and Christopher Lloyd. Dr. Frankenfurter and Doc Brown in the same movie? Yes please!
Red Deer
Last Saturday the group went on a trip to Red Deer to visit the nearest Value Village. Why? You need a reason? Alright, some of us needed additional clothing for work / for the weather here. More importantly though we all needed costumes for Halloween. I think we're all geared up for it now. Oh, right, I guess you'd like to know what I'm going as. One of my housemates and I decided to go as the Blues Brothers, so we sought out some cheap suits, and some knock-off RayBan's, and come October 31st I'll be all geared up as Elwood Blues.
I do believe that's it for now, I look forward to our next meeting. Adieu, mon amie.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Thanksgiving!
Ah, Thanksgiving. An excuse to sleep in and eat turkey if I've ever heard one, and eat turkey I did (and sleep in).
Skipping past my lounging around with my housemates, we find ourselves at dinner. Well, sort of. No one in my group had ever cooked a turkey, let alone a full Thanksgiving dinner. But did we give up? Did we surrender? Did we opt instead to go to A&W's for burgers and onion rings? Of course not, Katimavikians never surrender, and we never back down. Our two brave house managers valiantly accepted the challenge, and with a little help from our project coordinator they got it done. It may have taken a bit longer than expected (2 hours more to be exact) and we may have forgotten to take one of the dishes out of the oven (potatoes, they were fine 5 hours later), but by gum was it fantastic. The turkey wasn't dry, the stuffing was amazing, the bread was divine, and, well, I don't know if I'll ever be able to eat canned cranberry sauce again after having the real deal. Kudos to you, house managers. You've set the bar high for all of the big dinners to come. Oh, and in the spirit of open-mindedness I decided to try the turkey neck. It was a bit of a let down actually, there wasn't that much meat on it. Ah well, I tried something new, and that's what this whole program is about in my opinion.
Oh, best thing ever. One of the girls and I are the house managers for Halloween. I can't wait to make all kinds of creepy food. And on a related note, some of you may be aware that I used to write a fair number of short stories. It's been a while since I've written any and that just won't do. My first goal is to have a legitimately terrifying ghost story penned up by Halloween. When It's finished I'll post it up here for my Halloween blurb. Until then, stay safe. Never forget that there are always things that are beyond our comprehension.
Skipping past my lounging around with my housemates, we find ourselves at dinner. Well, sort of. No one in my group had ever cooked a turkey, let alone a full Thanksgiving dinner. But did we give up? Did we surrender? Did we opt instead to go to A&W's for burgers and onion rings? Of course not, Katimavikians never surrender, and we never back down. Our two brave house managers valiantly accepted the challenge, and with a little help from our project coordinator they got it done. It may have taken a bit longer than expected (2 hours more to be exact) and we may have forgotten to take one of the dishes out of the oven (potatoes, they were fine 5 hours later), but by gum was it fantastic. The turkey wasn't dry, the stuffing was amazing, the bread was divine, and, well, I don't know if I'll ever be able to eat canned cranberry sauce again after having the real deal. Kudos to you, house managers. You've set the bar high for all of the big dinners to come. Oh, and in the spirit of open-mindedness I decided to try the turkey neck. It was a bit of a let down actually, there wasn't that much meat on it. Ah well, I tried something new, and that's what this whole program is about in my opinion.
Oh, best thing ever. One of the girls and I are the house managers for Halloween. I can't wait to make all kinds of creepy food. And on a related note, some of you may be aware that I used to write a fair number of short stories. It's been a while since I've written any and that just won't do. My first goal is to have a legitimately terrifying ghost story penned up by Halloween. When It's finished I'll post it up here for my Halloween blurb. Until then, stay safe. Never forget that there are always things that are beyond our comprehension.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Stuff and Rabviews // Olds, AB
The Katimahouse has been uneventful as of late now that everyone is working. The upside of this being we're out of each-others hair for a bit, the downside being that there's not a lot to write about! So rather than leave you all hanging I've decided to take this opportunity to review Olds. But enough of my yappin', let's boogie.
Founded in *DATE HERE*, Olds was built around the rail line, and like most small towns in North America the infrastructure is based around the main street (50th Avenue). Many of the staples of day-to-day life can be found along 50th; a single-screen movie theatre, a western wear store, Shoppers, antique stores, and some family run restaurants (I've yet to try any of them, but hopefully I'll have visited them all by the end of my stay here. With names like Dutch 'N Such how could I not?). The Olds Agricultural College, kitty-corner to the Katimahouse, offers courses in agriculture, land sciences, and veterinary sciences among other subjects. The Agricultural Society (my employer) is another large focal point in Olds, although not always for the best reasons; the MegaDome has been cause for a plethora of complaints as it was built taller than local regulations permit.
The overwhelming majority of people I've met here have been kind and caring individuals. Interestingly, a large number of them are not natively from this area, or even from Alberta. The couple that own the local antique store are from England, the western wear owner is Ukrainian, and my boss is actually a University of Guelph Alumni (small world eh?). It's amazing how a small town can attract so many people, not only to live, but to come from far and wide to attend the local events such as the Ag Soc. shows and Olds Fashioned Christmas. Olds Fashioned Christmas? What's that? Well, I'm glad you asked (I told myself I was going to be professional for this review, but....pfft I don't need an excuse, this is my blog after all). OFC is a nearly two-month long event here that involves parades, period costumes, free food, and of course the town crier. I'll have more on that once the festivities begin, but it should be spectacular to say the least.
But I wouldn't be much of a critic if I wasn't critical now would I? Olds is not without its faults. I promise I won't complain too much about this, but its cold here. While those of you back home have +10 degree weather, it's -13 here, and we have an inch of snow. While this is unseasonably cool for this area, the fact is that Olds is always going to be cooler than Bradford. And what would winter weather be without ice?(ooh, check out that alliteration) A whole lot more pleasant for one. The town has been iced over but I've yet to see hide or hair of any attempts to melt it. No salt, no sand, and sidewalks that slant downwards towards the road. Not the best situation, especially considering the large number of elderly citizens in Olds. For now though I'll give the town the benefit of the doubt and assume that they weren't prepared for this. The only other real gripe I have is with the lack of a by-law prohibiting idling. Guaranteed, every farmer that comes into the Ag Soc. will leave their gigantic Ford running for the entire duration of their stay. True, most of these are petty things that can't be helped, but honestly there's not a whole lot out here to complain about. There are tons of people and things I miss from back home, but if you lived here you'd be fairly comfortable.
PROS:
-Great small-town atmosphere
-Amazing community
-Christmas is a two-month long affair that involves the whole community and tons of period costumes (more on that as it approaches)
-Everything is within walking distance
-Gorgeous college campus
-Single-screen movie theatre
-Chinooks provide a huge bump in the temperature in the winter months (when they blow in that is)
-It's flat. Really flat. You just won't believe how vastly, mind-bogglingly flat it is. Good for those of us who are lazy or have a hard time getting around
CONS:
-No autumn or spring, just winter straight into summer
-Un-salted / un-sanded sidewalks, made worse by the fact that large portions of them slant downwards towards the road
-No anti-idling laws resulting in huge pick-ups that just sit on the road, engines running, for unbelievable lengths of time
-It's really freaking flat, so there's nothing to stop the wind from howling through the streets.
**Stuff and Rabbits V 1.1**
-S&R will now be updating Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.
-Writing will be improved, no more winging posts at 2 AM
-New site layout forthcoming
-Photos coming soon, courtesy of my grandpa's camera
Founded in *DATE HERE*, Olds was built around the rail line, and like most small towns in North America the infrastructure is based around the main street (50th Avenue). Many of the staples of day-to-day life can be found along 50th; a single-screen movie theatre, a western wear store, Shoppers, antique stores, and some family run restaurants (I've yet to try any of them, but hopefully I'll have visited them all by the end of my stay here. With names like Dutch 'N Such how could I not?). The Olds Agricultural College, kitty-corner to the Katimahouse, offers courses in agriculture, land sciences, and veterinary sciences among other subjects. The Agricultural Society (my employer) is another large focal point in Olds, although not always for the best reasons; the MegaDome has been cause for a plethora of complaints as it was built taller than local regulations permit.
The overwhelming majority of people I've met here have been kind and caring individuals. Interestingly, a large number of them are not natively from this area, or even from Alberta. The couple that own the local antique store are from England, the western wear owner is Ukrainian, and my boss is actually a University of Guelph Alumni (small world eh?). It's amazing how a small town can attract so many people, not only to live, but to come from far and wide to attend the local events such as the Ag Soc. shows and Olds Fashioned Christmas. Olds Fashioned Christmas? What's that? Well, I'm glad you asked (I told myself I was going to be professional for this review, but....pfft I don't need an excuse, this is my blog after all). OFC is a nearly two-month long event here that involves parades, period costumes, free food, and of course the town crier. I'll have more on that once the festivities begin, but it should be spectacular to say the least.
But I wouldn't be much of a critic if I wasn't critical now would I? Olds is not without its faults. I promise I won't complain too much about this, but its cold here. While those of you back home have +10 degree weather, it's -13 here, and we have an inch of snow. While this is unseasonably cool for this area, the fact is that Olds is always going to be cooler than Bradford. And what would winter weather be without ice?(ooh, check out that alliteration) A whole lot more pleasant for one. The town has been iced over but I've yet to see hide or hair of any attempts to melt it. No salt, no sand, and sidewalks that slant downwards towards the road. Not the best situation, especially considering the large number of elderly citizens in Olds. For now though I'll give the town the benefit of the doubt and assume that they weren't prepared for this. The only other real gripe I have is with the lack of a by-law prohibiting idling. Guaranteed, every farmer that comes into the Ag Soc. will leave their gigantic Ford running for the entire duration of their stay. True, most of these are petty things that can't be helped, but honestly there's not a whole lot out here to complain about. There are tons of people and things I miss from back home, but if you lived here you'd be fairly comfortable.
PROS:
-Great small-town atmosphere
-Amazing community
-Christmas is a two-month long affair that involves the whole community and tons of period costumes (more on that as it approaches)
-Everything is within walking distance
-Gorgeous college campus
-Single-screen movie theatre
-Chinooks provide a huge bump in the temperature in the winter months (when they blow in that is)
-It's flat. Really flat. You just won't believe how vastly, mind-bogglingly flat it is. Good for those of us who are lazy or have a hard time getting around
CONS:
-No autumn or spring, just winter straight into summer
-Un-salted / un-sanded sidewalks, made worse by the fact that large portions of them slant downwards towards the road
-No anti-idling laws resulting in huge pick-ups that just sit on the road, engines running, for unbelievable lengths of time
-It's really freaking flat, so there's nothing to stop the wind from howling through the streets.
**Stuff and Rabbits V 1.1**
-S&R will now be updating Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.
-Writing will be improved, no more winging posts at 2 AM
-New site layout forthcoming
-Photos coming soon, courtesy of my grandpa's camera
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Snow
Oh Alberta. It seems that fall forgot to come here. We have a inch of snow on the ground already, and the mercury is at -10 and falling. Blech.
Told You
Aha! See? On Schedule.
*Ahem* So here I am, a day later and not a whole lot different. There was a freak windstorm here the other day: for about two minutes we had gusts up to 120kph. Cool to watch, not so cool in that it damaged the MegaDome, the Agricultural Societies main venue for it's shows. For those of you with visual minds, the Dome looks like one of those bubbles that you play soccer in during the winter, only much, much larger. The Dome's size is fantastic for hosting large events in a spacious locale; it's not-so-great in that it functions like a giant kite whenever the wind picks up. Currenty the top is torn in two, some of the support beams are coming out of the ground, and some of the girders are bent. As a result of this the whole area is closed off and all events have been put on hold indefinitely.
On the home front....not that much. I think we're all a little grumpy transitioning from lounging about to working 9-5 (or 8-4 for some of us...). We should be okay in a bit, the long weekend will help. But until then things may be a bit touch-and-go.
That's all for now folks, I'm tired.
*Ahem* So here I am, a day later and not a whole lot different. There was a freak windstorm here the other day: for about two minutes we had gusts up to 120kph. Cool to watch, not so cool in that it damaged the MegaDome, the Agricultural Societies main venue for it's shows. For those of you with visual minds, the Dome looks like one of those bubbles that you play soccer in during the winter, only much, much larger. The Dome's size is fantastic for hosting large events in a spacious locale; it's not-so-great in that it functions like a giant kite whenever the wind picks up. Currenty the top is torn in two, some of the support beams are coming out of the ground, and some of the girders are bent. As a result of this the whole area is closed off and all events have been put on hold indefinitely.
On the home front....not that much. I think we're all a little grumpy transitioning from lounging about to working 9-5 (or 8-4 for some of us...). We should be okay in a bit, the long weekend will help. But until then things may be a bit touch-and-go.
That's all for now folks, I'm tired.
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