Handover Phist

British Columbia Broadcorping Castration.

I laughed for hours.

Nothing makes a year memorable like a good vacation, and this year was the Year Of The Sore Ass. We decided to head out on our old '82 Yamaha XJ motorcycles to a small lake about 550 Kms from our house. There were three of us, myself, Mrs. Phist, and Handover Jr. The first challenge was outfitting the bikes to hold everything we'd need for the seven day trip. Believe it or not, we did it, but it meant my wearing a 100 liter backpack on the bike for the journey.

Julie put a whole whack of photos of the trip here



The pic above was just about 45 Kms shy of our final destination, and that's the pack I work. It managed to cut off the blood supply to my arms almost completely after about an hour of riding. You probably wouldn't want to spend much more time on a single leg of a ride on a sport bike anyways.

We made it to Cach Creek the first night and stayed at a campite there for two nights before heading up to the lake. We found a secluded little spot and set up camp to find that we were more than comfortable with the gear we could carry on the two bikes.



After those two nights we were off to the lake. Watch Lake is a stocked lake just notheast of 70 mile house. The site we had there was no more that 20 feet from waters edge with a dock and a small boat. The first night was spent setting up camp and resting after the ride. We made friends with the others nearby and proceeded to drink and laugh ourselves silly by the fire. The next morning saw me up just before dawn, fishing pole in hand, and hoping for a nice Rainbow Trout breakfast. It also found me limping. The evening revelries and my unfamiliarity with the terrain had allowed me to crack my knee open on a stone in the dark just before bed. Every rose has it's thorns eh?



Even so, that didn't stop me heading out the moment I saw what was waiting. My son joined me after a few hours to cast his first ever line into the water



The next five days were a wonderful blur of fishing, beer horseback riding, beer, and fishing!

On the ride home there were no overnight stops, just a straight on push from Watch Lake back home, leaving us tired and our asses SORE! Like stop at red light and stand up for relief sore. Like don't sit down anywhere for any reason for a few hours sore.

On that note, I leave you with these last pictures:

Checking the map to make sure I'm on the right course



Jade with his horse



Probably the only moment in which I've ever actually looked the part of a biker:



And finally, one of the best campsites on the planet.

Yup! Goin fishin! Time to take a trip. Were heading out to Watch Lake just north of 70 Mile House on the bikes with fishin poles and a few bevvies. Pics to follow.

Be satisfied for now that we'll be travelling hundreds of kilometers on these, our kids:

So I'm reading the paper today and come upon an article stating that Canadians are getting pissed about the Govt and big business constantly bending us over and screwing us. All I could think while reading this article was "Y'think?". I mean c'mon, guys, you need a poll to figure that one out? Hell all I have to do is open my ears for a few minutes and listen to what people are saying in casual conversations. The content of small talk in gas stations and coffee shops is a continuous litany of "Wow, we're fucked. Now what?", and that's a little bit scary. There's enough pent up anger floating around that creating a mob of destructive angry folks willing to march on (Insert agency here) and tear it to pieces would be pretty damned simple.

And guess what. Someone is gonna get smart enough to figure that out and just do it. When that happens, it isn't going to be pretty.

Surprise surprise, folks who know me, I'm an Introvert.

I wanted to bring this up because I haven't written anything in a long, long time, and I want to tell you why. I've been complaining lately, for the past yearish, that I'm tired to the point where my wife said "You're always f*%king tired!". Don't take that as bitching, she knows why, deep down. I'm an Introvert.

Introverts are a minority, but an important one. We tend to think a lot, and people who think a lot tend to come up with cool shit for Extroverts to talk about. We create energy for ourselves by being alone with our thoughts, analyzing them, and producing conclusions. This is in stark contrast with Extroverts, who tend to get their energy from social situations and being the center of attention for awhile. Crowds drain Introverts, and energize Extroverts, in a nutshell.

So don't be surprised when I come home from work at a super duper fun filled crowded brew house to a super duper fun filled crowded house that I can hardly get the energy up to scratch my own balls when they're itchy. Yeah, that's rude, but I need to vent a touch, bear with me. I sincerely want to post here. I want my family and friends to know that everything is OK. Joojie and I are doing fine, Jade is kicking ass both in school and on the field. He's one hell of a great kid and showing signs of being a role model for his peers. I don't think I've ever really felt pride like he's shown me how to.

But I'm tired. So I won't be posting much. Customer service and taking care of a house full of people has really taken the tar out of the tartan. Even when I'm not working at my day job, I still have customers who need computer work done. I'm loathe to let them down, so off I go to be social and work on machines.

Some days I really miss those days I spent in a small room full of humming machines , tending an information garden that served the world.

I have to assume that the C man is reading this once in a blue moon. I have tickets to the Rush concert, 18th row floor, Geddyside. Jooj and I are both going, I know you'll be there in spirit.

I've been hunting work lately, so putting my resume here would probably be a good thing. You can find it here: resume.pdf