Darth Vader aka Dick Cheney

Just reading the latest Michael Moore newsletter. "Darth Vader". Rich.

Excerpt from an interview with the Dick:

CHENEY: On the security front, I think there’s a general consensus that we’ve made major progress, that the surge has worked. That’s been a major success.

RADDATZ: Two-third of Americans say it’s not worth fighting.

CHENEY: So?

RADDATZ So? You don’t care what the American people think?

CHENEY: No, I think you cannot be blown off course by the fluctuations in the public opinion polls.

Take a look at it or check out more of the interview here.

God help America indeed.

Just a quick note on "construction".....

If you are doing plunge cuts into sawdust and glue composite molding with a skill saw that has a dull blade in a space that has a fire alarm tied into the adjoining stores and the condos above your working space...... heed this warning as told to my "friend" by the fire department: "you should really cover the smoke detector while doing construction. Get a new blade. This place smells."

The last piece. "My friend" was so close. The condo folks seemed nice though?

Seriously... things that I know... and you should know if you help a friend doing light construction:

• Know whether or not you can disable the fire alarm through your electrical panel (generally you can't)
• There will be a central panel for the building - know where this is (I did not know that this mattered, but I should have; we had tonnes of alarms at 90O).
• When your neighbors talk about sprinklers going off and wrecking their "X" thousands of dollars of goods... tell them to relax (sprinklers are heat activated - no flames? no problem).
• Call the fire department to let them know that there really isn't a fire. No reason to get priority over someone who actually matters (dumb construction guy should always take back seat to "there is a fire in my house" guy).
• Only fire people can make the loudest alarm on the face of the planet stop being the loudest alarm on the face of the planet by waving their magic wand at the central panel (you might be tempted to forget the stated rule above).
• Smile to the crowd of displaced condo folks. Try to stop kids from crying if possible.
• When cocky 25 year old fireman points out the one gap in the recently put down laminant flooring and smiles.... punch him in the arm and call him a jerk. Laugh.... he lays flooring for a moonlighting gig... and is a jerk.
  
• When the business owner you are helping comes back from shopping trip - smile... its not your problem any more.

Anniversary

Its been a bit "full circle" for me of late. I had my one year anniversary of leaving for Peru (March 5th) last week. The fact that I was in Vancouver (the first trip I took by myself when I was 18) was somehow just; that trip marked a whole bunch of firsts for me. The fact that I realized it while getting a sunburn on a mountain top made me smile. It was the first time I had been snowboarding in 5? years. Maybe less, but a long time. [EDITOR'S NOTE: I'm splitting hairs for effect in this statement. "Myself" is literally by myself. Todd and I went to Key West when I was 16. Go liberal parents!]

I'll be here for another week. I still feel shame. I will be missing Garth's bacon party. The bacumentary will not happen which I am actually pretty sad about. It was going to work out to $1000 and missing a weekend in Whistler to make it happen. I don't love bacon that much. I really should have got my act together on the return flight sooner.

Matt and I have sampled a bit of the night life. Its pretty rough in parts of this town which I have always known, but never fully been immersed in. Its odd to want to get back into the sketchy club where things make sense and away from the East Hastings fringe. The scene is small, but people are FRIENDLY. Its kind of refreshing and fun.

Building, building, building. The store is starting to look pretty good.

Why I would never make money building out retail space (Vancouver, BC)

It takes me a long time to build things. This wall shouldn't take anyone a day plus to cut and assemble. There were some things that were not in my favour, like the lack of any real tools, slot wall that is only sold with the slots running the wrong way (why is that?), a million little measurements, random electrical and mechanical bits of unknown purpose that needed to be abandoned or moved or remounted or buried, metal stud construction that is mysteriously off centre and at weird intervals. Did I mention the 1 by 3 inch level that I had to work with? Still. Frustrating. Long. I again am shocked at how heavy sawdust and glue can get in big sheets.

The good news is that I have stricken another potential job off of my list. The bad news is that this day happened.