Pipelayin' blogs 1

Neruda
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Saturday, June 16, 2007 at 11:49pm | Edit Note | Delete
"I am familiar with the works of Pablo Neruda" - Bart Simpson
I noticed a line of Neruda's on a friend's profile (J.J. -still wanna call you Jaz) and it moved me to dig out the only copy of Neruda I have around, Passions and Impressions. I've been talking with a lot of friends about travelling and drifting etc. One friend in particular, a writer, absolutely loathes Saskatoon, whereas I absolutely love it. I've spent years in other places however, and I've known what it is to miss home. I came across this poem by Neruda, and I'll print a passage here for all y'all.

excerpt from
The Poet is Not a Rolling Stone

"The first stage of a poet's life must be devoted to absorbing the
essences of his native land; later, he must return them. He must restore them, he must repay them. His poetry and his actions must contribute to the maturity and growth of his people.
The poet cannot be torn from his land except by force. Even in these circumstances, his roots must stretch across the ocean deeps, his seeds follow the flight of the wind, again to become flesh in the homeland. He must be rationally and reflexively national, maturely patriotic.
The poet is not a rolling stone. He has two obligations; to leave, and to return.
The poet who leaves and doesn't return becomes a cosmopolite. As a cosmopolite he is scarcely a man, he is barely a reflection of a dying light. Above all, in solitary lands like our own, isolated in the wrinkles and folds of the planet, as indispensable witnesses to the emergence of our people, all of us, from the most humble to the most proud, have the good fortune to attend the birth of our nation-each of us in a small way father to it."
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Weiner Dogs in the Dandelions
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Saturday, June 16, 2007 at 2:03am | Edit Note | Delete
I was working next to a field of dandelions this week, little yellow flowers as far as the eye could see. Glancing over at the field I noticed a woman walking her dogs. She had 2 little wiener dogs, and they were leaping around in this field of dandelions. For the rest of the day I had the phrase 'Wiener Dogs in the Dandelions' stuck in my head. I told a friend about it and told him that I needed to find a use for the phrase, perhaps as a substitute for swearing.
Example: (man stubs toe) "WIENER DOGS IN THE DANDELIONS!!!!! I stubbed my #%$^&$ toe!"
My friend felt that it would be more appropriate as a description of a bright sunny day.
Example: The sun was shining and the birds were singing, it was a wiener dogs in the dandelions sort of day."
Which brought me to what I think the best usage of the word would be, as a descriptor of an unusually exuberant and ebullient mood.
Example: Person 1 "Wow, you're sure giddy today!"
Person 2 "Yeah I've got wiener dogs in my dandelions or something."
And that's all I have to say about that.
just goes to prove you can type anything into google and find it. Jeeeezus
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Updated over a year ago

Darling there's a moon out...
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Saturday, June 16, 2007 at 1:52am | Edit Note | Delete
I don't know if there is a moon out but it feels like there is, know what I mean? I have a terrible cold right now, and I've had it for about 3 days. Consequently I've been jacking up on cold meds, and they're having an effect on my overall equilibrium. I was compelled today to go digging through my old journals, and while I couldn't locate the entry I was looking for, I did find myself getting lost and absorbed in the remembrance of things past; traumas and triumphs, crises and crownings, unrequited loves, some requited some not. You know, I guess that spiritually and emotionally I'm feeling a bit melancholy and romantic, but physically I feel like Hell from my head to my toes. I've been up for about 20 hours now on less than 2 hours of sleep, said goodbye to some new friends and hello to some old, and while the headspace I'm in is really pleasant, my body is miserable. But enough of that and more of the pleasant headspace. Half a dozen old faces, and as many new have appeared for me in the past weeks then vanished again and it has me thinking about change and transience and impermanence. And while for most people these are topics that bring about feelings of anxiety and fear, for me they're old friends and reminders that the whole show just keeps on rolling so you might as well enjoy the scenery. Take a moment to glance out the driver's side window and you miss what just passed on the passenger side. Look too far ahead and the road behind disappears. Savor each moment is what I'm getting at. Stop for petting zoos, watch weiner dogs playing in the dandelions and take a long shortcut when you can. Offer a friend a ride even if it's across half the country, let someone paint your lips with infuser and feel them inflate, sing a song you've never sung and sing it loud and sing it wrong. The important thing is to take what the day offers because it won't be offered again tomorrow, and as long as you can hold it all together it's all good. Maybe it's the cold meds talkin' here, maybe I've got weiner dogs in my dandelions tonight, but I've found a whole lot more room to love this week. I dug through some old yellowed papers and found a pile of teenage hurt and adolescent angst, and I look at it now and sure I remember the pain of a hundred heartbreaks and a gazillion goodbyes, , but I remember that pain and those goodbyes with a smile if you can dig that at all.
Last night I sat with a frosty nippled gal and she told me she loved me over her PITCHER of rye and that was beautiful and I loved that she could tell me that and really mean it and she told everyone she loved them and meant it and we talked a little about love and then a little about goodbyes and how the really bad ones have a greyhound bus and a diesel engine rumbling nausea thick in your belly and when you finally let go and goodbye's gone goodbye there's a big HISSSS from the air brakes letting loose and it shatters your heart and the bus rumbles some more and nobody knows it's you falling apart at the seams this time but then that bus rolls forward just a bit and your heart rolls forward just a bit and before you know it there's a mile behind you and it's a mile of tears and heartache and your heart is rolling faster and time is rolling faster and that bus is rolling faster and before you know it the rumbling has given way to a low omnipresent buzz and it's a buzz that you carry with you along with the salt of someone's tears on your lips and a great sick hole in your gut and in the night and for many nights after that long sick goodbye you have a choice...Do you fill that hole with the taste of those tears until you can smile again, or do you run and hide in that hole inside and never taste tears again? Better read this fast all, 'cause I'm sure I'll delete it once I've had some sleep and thought better of it.
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Wiener Dogs in the Dandelions
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Saturday, June 2, 2007 at 10:03am | Delete
I was working next to a field of dandelions this week, little yellow flowers as far as the eye could see. Glancing over at the field I noticed a woman walking her dogs. She had 2 little wiener dogs, and they were leaping around in this field of dandelions. For the rest of the day I had the phrase 'Wiener Dogs in the Dandelions' stuck in my head. I told a friend about it and told him that I needed to find a use for the phrase, perhaps as a substitute for swearing. Example: (man stubs toe) "WIENER DOGS IN THE DANDELIONS!!!!! I stubbed my #%$^&$ toe!" My friend felt that it would be more appropriate as a description of a bright sunny day. Example: The sun was shining and the birds were singing, it was a wiener dogs in the dandelions sort of day." Which brought me to what I think the best usage of the word would be, as a descriptor of an unusually exuberant and ebullient mood. Example: Person 1 "Wow, you're sure giddy today!"
Person 2 "Yeah I've got wiener dogs in my dandelions or something." And that's all I have to say about that.
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Karaoke and human filth
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Friday, June 1, 2007 at 1:53am | Edit Note | Delete
Hello all. Just an update on my Sisyphean life. I'm up way too late...went out with a few of the pipelaying guys to a local bar in St. Paul Alberta. It was karaoke night. Karaoke is at once a tragic and beautiful thing. There are people who have no visible gifts whatsoever, no confidence, no real hope and they metamorphose into beautiful beings with a divine connection to the ecstatic when they sing. And there are beautiful people with everything going for them who cannot for the life of them hit a note or find a rhythm. And if it wasn't so late I would go into more depth on that but I need sleep. As far as the human filth goes, I have heard that next week our crew will be doing 'sanitary replacement', which entails digging out currently used sewer lines filled with human filth, and putting in new lines. I might need to talk to them about a raise. I'm sure it will be better than a St. Paul Karaoke night though. Attached you will find some photos from my recent travels; the Vegreville egg, the Mundare sausage, and the St. Paul UFO landing pad. I didn't take the pics, left the cam at home this time. (You can source the pics on the net, they didn't transfer with the cut and paste from the old blog.)
Not to be outdone, the town of Mundare usurps the title of weirdest big thing with their giant sausage.
Canada's first official UFO landing pad in St. Paul Alberta. No traffic as of this writing.

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You take the good you take the bad you take them all
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Monday, May 21, 2007 at 6:39pm | Edit Note | Delete
and there you have the facts of life.
Well here's the scoop. About 6 weeks ago I gave up playing poker for a living to work on a pipelaying crew. Financially this has been a good move. The online poker world is in a state of transition right now, and until it levels out I think I'll stay away from it.
Work is penultimate sufferring, which is good I suppose. I'd rather suffer and learn something about my limits and capabilities than live in dulled contentment. I'm away for a week at a time, which makes it hard as I miss my family quite a bit. But I think this is what I need to do right now, and it's only a temporary situation which makes it bearable.
In other news I received a response from a publisher concerning my novel "Year of the Cock". Apparently my query letter was successful, because they've said they're going to read over it once they get through the stack of manuscripts they're currently working on.
One of the benefits of my job is that I'm working with a couple of literary friends, so between digging in the filth of a broken sewer and laying down new lines we talk about Dostoevsky and Nietzche and Bulgakov, about philosophy and art, about revolution and the nature of existence. It makes it so a guy almost looks forward to being in the pit.
That's all I have for now. If you're interested in any other details of my life you can check out my old blog at http://flatlandgrinder.spaces.live.com/
It covers mainly my life as a poker player, and if you aren't interested in poker you won't find much interesting there. You can also check out my idiotic videos at http://www.youtube.com/toontown88 I'm adding a few every week. For now there is a short discourse on air guitar, and a few videos of me singing with a friend. Stay tuned for the debut episode of "The Foremen", where 2 blue collar Canadian site supervisors (played by myself and Don't Stop Bomok) discuss issues of alleged relevance to industry.
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Home for the weekend
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Saturday, May 12, 2007 at 11:53am | Delete
It's been another long week. Exceptionally long since I forgot to take my laptop and cell phone with me. I think this might be the longest I've been away from a computer and cell in years. It was like the 80s all over again! My body is getting used to this job. I've lost 10 pounds in 3 weeks as I adjust to the physical requirements. Which brings me to my next thought. There is a apparently a labor shortage in Alberta. If companies like this put out the word about how fast weight loss occurs, there would be 10s of thousands of women lined up for the work.
Today was payday. I was hoping to get less than I got so that I could justify quitting, but I can't. Oh well, that's okay. The work is getting easier, the people are getting friendlier, and I'm not exhausted by the end of the day. I'm thinking of putting some money into poker so that I can play for an hour or 2 after work every night and make some money on the side too. That's all I have for now. Only 2 days of freedom, and I'm off to enjoy them.
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On working
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Saturday, May 5, 2007 at 2:38pm | Delete
I spent most of last week working myself into exhaustion. And one thought kept repeating itself with monomaniacal intensity; "How the fuck am I going to get out of this job?" I told my wife last week that my coworkers and I were desperately looking for a reason to quit, and in no uncertain tone she said "YOU DON'T HAVE ANY REASONS"
Here is a link to the blog of a friend of mine that is working with me up there. http://blog.myspace.com:80/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=155532521&blogID=261248354 You can have a better idea of how it's going by reading his latest entry. On the bright side most of the small talk is about writing while we're in the hole, and it's rekindling my interest in my novels. My first novel is sitting on a publishers computer somewhere as we speak, and I'm hoping to hear back from them soon. I brainstormed a few great ideas for the opening scene of my second novel that I think will really take it to a new level. I just have to study some Greek mythology, in particular Hades. More at a later date. That's all the time I have for now. I'm going to take the kids out for slurpees now I think. I haven't seen much of them lately, and I'm really treasuring the time I do get.
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Layin pipe is haaaaaard labor
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Saturday, April 28, 2007 at 12:59pm | Delete
This entry's title is from the Johnny Cash song "Roughneck". I'm finished week one of work now, and I'm back home for the weekend. This is what I do; I get up at 6am, head to a jobsite and by 7am I'm in a trench about 5 meters deep with my shovel. That's where I spend most of the next 14 hours. An excavator extends the trench, while the pipelayer checks the grade and slope. Then we bring a piece of pipe into the trench, which can be pretty heavy work. We lay the pipe down in the trench, and an excavator dumps a little sand over it. There is a long iron bar with a t-shaped head on it that I use to drive the sand under the pipe. This bar weighs about 40 pounds. I balance on top of the pipe and move along it lifting the bar (side-tamper bar) and driving it into the sand. Then the excavator drops more sand, and I shovel it out until it forms a level plane about 1 foot deep over the pipe. Where the pipe intersects other lines there are T-joints that need to be reinforced with concrete, and I sometimes mix the cement and shovel that too. We also put in fire hydrants, valves, storm drains, manholes etc, all of which are extremely heavy. We work if it's raining and we work in heat waves. It's hard, but it's financially rewarding. I received a check for my first 3 days and it was close to what I'm used to making in 2 weeks at most of my previous jobs. My plan is to pay some bills, double my poker bankroll and put aside one month's expenses. I think I should be able to do that in 3 paychecks, but time will tell. I really don't want to do this work any longer than I have to.
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