goble freakin goble :P

Happy Turkey Day!!!

I'll be experiencing Black Friday for the first time tomorrow... should be interesting... not so much the shopping part but for people watching :P I'm bringing my camera and will try to capture the human race at its best. I don't have a lot of shopping to do anyway, I bought most of my xmas gifts in New Orleans already.. mostly I just want to replenish my supply of VS. :)

After a morning of that, I'm off to Alabama, to spend the weekend at Gary's place and experience another txgiving classic.. boozing out with friends! XD

strange day

Today is a weird day for me... a lot of major events that shaped my life happened on November 25th...

13 years ago my friend JF killed himself, creating a wave that still ripples today
10 years ago I started going out with the guy that would be my boyfriend for 6 years
4 years ago I set foot in East Africa for the first time
Last year J asked me to save him from all the crazy women... turned out he wants them afterall :(

So for this strange day, here are the words of Daniel Powter:

Where is the moment we needed the most
You kick up the leaves and the magic is lost
You tell me your blue skies fade to grey
You tell me your passion's gone away
And I don't need no carryin' on

You stand in the line just to hit a new low
You're faking a smile with the coffee to go
You tell me your life's been way off line
You're falling to pieces everytime
And I don't need no carryin' on

Because you had a bad day
You're taking one down
You sing a sad song just to turn it around
You say you don't know
You tell me don't lie
You work at a smile and you go for a ride
You had a bad day
The camera don't lie
You're coming back down and you really don't mind
You had a bad day
You had a bad day

Well, you need a blue sky holiday
The point is they laugh at what you say

And I don't need no carryin' on
You had a bad day
You're taking one down
You sing a sad song just to turn it around
You say you don't know
You tell me don't lie
You work at a smile and you go for a ride
You had a bad day
The camera don't lie
You're coming back down and you really don't mind
You had a bad day

Sometimes the system goes on the blink
And the whole thing turns out wrong
You might not make it back and you know
That you could be well oh that strong
And I'm not wrong

So where is the passion when you need it the most
Oh, you and I
You kick up the leaves and the magic is lost
'Cause you had a bad day
You're taking one down
You sing a sad song just to turn it around
You say you don't know
You tell me don't lie
You work at a smile and you go for a ride
You had a bad day
You've seen what you like
And how does it feel for one more time
You had a bad day

You had a bad day

arg

Another rotten gem from jackass #1, I had to share... no idea what the context of this is... I didn't hear the first part of the conversation, but it doesn't affect at all the quote

try n guess who he means...

... "that Indian guy that left when the Chinese invaded Quebec"

GET ME OUTTA HERE!!!! before I shove a pen down his throat

where am I? hell?

I can't wait to make it to Superintendent... I'll transfer to the Gulf just so I can fire some of those fuckin American morons I'm stuck with now.

All that follows are real quotes. I swear to you, I'm not making this up...

jackass #1: "who cares about overseas! I aint never leavin the Us."
About starving children searching for food in the garbage in Angola: "you throw fries at them so they leave you alone?" this guy is lucky to still be alive.. if he falls off a rig that I happened to be on, it wont be an accident believe me >:(

the blimp: "what's the difference between a maxi pad and a tampon?" he's 29yo, married with two kids

fuckin moron: "ha man I gotta sleep! those two chicks kept me up till 5am huh huh huh..."
the guy is married, his wife is 6 weeks pregnant

what are you doing? d'you wanna come to my room? Have a beer? (I wont write more details... not sure who's reading my blog anymore, but let's just say the invitation involved more than drinking) from a married guy with 4 kids

the blimp again: "there's 3 things you have to do when you're married, a dutch oven, the fruit bowl and golden showers" google those if you dont know what they are :S

the blimp yet again: "my wife is dumb as a brick." but you married her... that makes you the biggest dumbass

bit of conversation during ET class:
"student -I heard there's a stripper with a peg leg around here...
teacher -it's not true
student -what about the midget? at that place "Mr Lucky"?
teacher - nah.. Mr Lucky's closed now, but it wasn't a strip club.. it was.. well, a notch over strip club...
blimp - a car wash?" yeah the blimp is quite something...

Add to that half the guys in the yard asking Nathalie and Maria to fix me up with them, a guy stopping his car in front of me to try and to pick me up on the street, and another one trying to convince me he really regrets hooking up with his girl cause he likes me better... can I please go home now? I'm done thanx...

The lesson to be learn here:
NEVER get involved with an American!! At least not one that works in a field that sends him away from home for more than 2 weeks at a time. They all cheat, they all lie. It doesn't matter how long they've been with the girl or how hot she is... when away from home that girl doesn't exist anymore. I've seen guys pay to fly their girlfriend over for the weekend and hook up with a "local" the day she left... classy shit, really.
And the way they talk about their girls is so demeaning... unless they're talking to her on the phone of course... then they're all sweets and I miss yous... as soon as the phone is down it's "pfff, I've been with her waaaay too long", "are we going to the strip club?!" and "hooo yeah that chick last night was hooot!!!"

I only heard two guys say they love their wife and talked respecfully about her... and they were both over 60yo...

depressing...

blackout

Coming soon... tribute to a blimp, roomates from hell and other Morgan City news.

I won't have internet access at night until Friday night or Saturday, so you'll have to wait, unless I manage to write during lunch break :P

but she's ugly...

those 3.5 words just made my day :P

Some things are just impossible to understand...

*New Louisiana pics on the right for your entertainment*

woot woot

Kicked the exam's ass...
It's the weekend
I'm going to New Orleans

did some research
found a bunch of good shops in the French Quarter
found the goth stores... but no clubs!!!! wtf??? I'll ask the freaks tomorrow for venues :S

I cant wait to go!
Beignets at Café du Monde!
Antiques on Royal
Hurricanes on Bourbon
Shoes on Chartres
Clothes on Decatur
Shiny beads on... well, everywhere :P

WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!! XD

dreaming of the weekend

Hydraulics final exam is tomorrow... we group studied a bit tonight but I have a strange feeling it wont be a big deal to ace that thing.

I'm still sick though. Nothing too bad, I'm not throwing up, but I just can't eat :S Anything other than water or coffee makes me nauseous after one bite. Considering that I'm not sleeping either, my energy level is down the drain. Hopefully, a weekend in New Orleans will fix everything. Maybe I can find some voodoo priestess to clear my demon (yeah I've been watching True Blood a bit too much :P) More realistically, I'm hoping for shopping therapy :)

As of yesterday I have a roommate... Days Inn ran out of room or something so Angela has moved in with me (she's in the ROV class that started before mine). She's really not happy about it (can't say I'm thrilled either). At least she only has one week to go and she's done, so I'll get some space back next weekend.

I know it's just the fact that I'm tired that gets to me... but I'm starting to miss you guys a lot... you and our intelligent/diverse conversations (Sean, I'd do anything to bring you down here right now).
For some reason, southern guys only have 3 subjects of conversation: cars, poop (and other bodily functions/fluids) and girls they want to bang/have banged/uglies that are after them, etc. all in a "I so don't give a fuck about them" tone (and that includes their girlfriends, wives and exs). It's getting old... and only makes them sound stupid... to the point where I wonder if any of the stories are real... because no girl I know would ever want to have anything to do with them.

If at least I could respond... but I can't. The stories I could tell are in a whole other universe compare to their crap... it'd probably freak them out and they'd just look at me weird. I do get a bit of inside laugh though, imagining their faces if I started talking about our...hum... "dress code parties", some of Marc's photo shoots or anything involving Dom... hehehe *Vero, you can delete that part for the mom and dad version... :P*

Anyway... they're not all bad, some of them are actually nice guys that I'd be happy to see again, out there or back home. I just miss the endless chats on St-Denis with Balou at my feet, good coffee on the table and good looking people passing by...
3 more weeks and I'll have it back! though people watching season is over until next April :(

Till then, New Orleans it'll be to keep moral up.. who knows, maybe I'll score a real vampire Saturday night ;) I gotta stop watching that show damnit!

Jeff Dunham Holiday Special on Comedy Central,
Sunday at 9pm!!!! ha shit is it 9 central or eastern?! :S

woohoohoohhoohhoo!

:S

The food poisoning might have been a virus... I was better Friday but it came back with a vengeance on Saturday...
I'll spare you the details, lets just say I was half dead from Friday night to Sunday early morning and my throat is still sore from all the throwing up :(

I was barely feeling good enough to go to New Orleans on Sunday afternoon, but no way I was going to waste both days of my car rental :S I got it on Friday, thinking I was fine...

I did a swamp tour in Honey Island, just passed New Orleans. It was great, pictures will be up soon, but too cold for gators to show their snouts. I saw a lot of cool birds and the bayou by itself was beautiful.. in a creepy Ann Rice kinda way :P Next time I'll explore in a kayak though (if i can rent or bring one)... no motor noise, water level.. face to face with the gators :D

After the tour I went to the French Quarter to see Mel. We had happy hour at her hotel (alcohol-free in my case :S) and we walked along Bourbon St to find a place for dinner. We found an awesome bistro, Gumbo Shop, on St-Peter St. I still was a bit off so I only had a praline sunday :P Surprisingly enough it wasn't a mountain! 2 small scoops with homemade caramel... soooooo good!!!! I'll have to go back next weekend for a real meal...

The hydraulics course is much more fun this week. Our new teacher used to be a B-52 pilot... he has stories from here to next year!

I'm exactly halfway trough this training! 25 days gone, 24 days to go! :D

how ironic

I missed school today due to food poisoning :S
nausea, dizziness and massive headache, thanx to a Vietnamese sandwich at lunch yesterday (that'll learn me to go Asian in Cajun country :S).

I must admire the irony though.. East Africa, China, Honduras and all other "exotic" countries I've been to never did a thing to my stomach... I had to come to the USA to get sick. That confirms my theory that Lysol (and all other similar crap) is an invention of the devil for paranoid morons and actually create superbugs that will kill you all, western world neat freaks :P

It did give me time to read half of my new book "Ghosts along the bayou" (don't try to find it in stores, it's out of print.. had to special order it on amazon :S got it in 3 days though, yay!). It's a collection of ghost stories, strange encounters and haunted houses in Louisiana. I mapped a couple of them I'll go see for myself before I leave here :)

Heard in Morgan City

Be careful of what you say at all time, true story told by Bob, our teacher :

New guy comes into manager's office for a meeting, noticing the cute blond at the front desk,
he says "Are you banging that?!" (yeah, some guys have class...)
Manager replies "I don't think her mother would appreciate"
Some time later, blond girl interrupts the meeting and asks the manager "hey dad, where do you want me to put today's mail?"

oops? :P

-------------

In the classroom:

"-I don't trust either of the candidates (for the Presidential), I'll just go for the lesser of two evil...
(break)
-and who would that be?
-McCain." ... of course... :S

-------------

Not heard per se, but loud enough message... on our way to lunch I saw an American flag hung upside down on a lawn... some people down here are not happy with the election result...

Hydraulic board

I remembered to take pictures in the classroom today...

That's the board before we start playing with it

... and Derek in his snazzy orange getup that matches the trainees' orange hard hat. Everybody agrees that he should where it offshore... the old folks will be so startled by it they'll forget to call him pumpkin head (the official nickname of all trainees...)

That's the board once we're done copying the schematic on it... and Bob, our teacher ready to fire it up, after making sure it was ok and not in kablamo mode. :)

O-BA-MA!!! O-BA-MA!!!

WOOHOO!!!

That could just be the best news in the history of the USA... but no matter what, having an intelligent, visionary and positive person in charge will be a wonderful change. ;)

Hydraulics 101

I started hydraulics on Monday... first thing we did was completing a 93 questions test.
Considering that I can fit all I know about hydraulics in a thimble, it was FUN!!!
"-Yeah I'll take a side of dumb with my coffee, thanx so much"... :S

Once done destroying my self esteem, the teacher said not to worry about it, all that was in the test would be covered over the next 2 weeks. I have a strange feeling that this was the actual final exam I "completed". Except that the final version probably wont have "E) I don't know" as last option for all the questions :P (guess how many Es I checked... )

Today we started playing on "simulators"... can't think of a better term (wanted to take a picture of it but forgot.. I'll try again tomorrow). It's a bunch of pumps, valves, motors and cylinders, mounted on a unit, that we connect together with hoses and then try not to blow up the circuits/pipes/classroom. It's fun enough, but I still have no idea what I'm doing half the time... nothing exploded or fried so I guess I'm still good hehehe.

I'm partnered with Derek (Derek Grey! he's the real life McDreamy! :P), a really cool guy except for his Florida Panthers jersey... that he wears expressly to bug me (I had my Habs shirt on today, nice team we were :P).

and I just heard that Melanie (yes Mui, your cousin) is coming to New Orleans this weekend!!! woohoo!!!

I survived

Halloween's weekend was eventful but sadly it didn't include fighting a poltergeist...

Friday night I went with some of the guys to the bonfire party. We had a humongous potluck Cajun style (yum!!!), played music, played with fire, played with the cute lab puppy and then went to the old slave cemetery to wake the dead. No could do, the place isn't haunted :( but the trip was still worth it.
I took some cool pictures, they are in the album "Louisiana" on the right.

Saturday evening I went to Morgan City's "Shrimps and Petroleum Festival" with Ben and Brian.
Ho yeah, every year, usually in September but this year it was pushed back because of the hurricanes, the people of Morgan City celebrate shrimps and petrol... the two main sources of income of the place.
It lasts four days, there's bands playing, classic rock to banjo country, rides for the kids, shops that sells a random array of.. well.. crap... from inflatable hot tubs to satin bows, wooden furniture and plastic Jesus that lit up, and, of course, loads of food... strangely enough I didn't see shrimps on the menu, only jambalaya, gumbo and just about anything fried on a stick :P
(*and Mui, they had red neck wind chimes like the one we made for Alex!!! I almost pissed myself laughing!!! those things actually exist outside of Dukes of Hazzard!!!)

Brian found the girl he's been eyeing, so Ben and me left him with her and watched a bit of the show while drinking giant Hurricanes.. and I do mean giant! In the land of supersized they don't mess around with drinks, 40oz (1.25L) in a glass... not sure about the alcohol content but they pack a serious punch... especially the second one ;) Bored of the banjo, we eventually went back to the hotel and bbqed a late dinner.

Sunday morning we took it easy by the pool at the hotel. Christ and me went to Waffle House for brunch and finished it off with a daiquiri...
Daiquiris is a place that looks like a soda shop from the 50s, but they only sell alcohol, their specialty being 12 different flavored daiquiris, in 32-40-52-65oz format.... that you can buy at their drive-through window... yeah.. whatever...