Cubby hole pic

Hey Nomi, just thought I'd put a pic of the cubby that I was telling you up on the site just so you'd know for sure. It's right above the heater controls, where the stereo usually is.

Hair

Got a haircut....nothing else....need to keep these pics somewhere.

Saskatoon!

So I'm all moved to Saskatoon...Uhaul bent me over and you-know-what for a truck and trailer. The car was too low, so we had to take the bumper off so I could get it on. The drive to S'toon was great. Just me, the truck, and hours of metal and screamo, punk and hardcore keeping me at 120-130 the whole way. I stopped twice for fuel, and made it in six flat. Not a great time, considering I've made it in 4 and a half hours before, but not bad for a truck towing a car.

No pics, but I might borrow a cam to get some shots for y'all!

Slacker!

Welp, I'm pretty much the slacker king of this blog. I haven't post up in almost two months. I figure once I get to Toontown I'll get a camera and there'll be more stuff to post up. News:

-Aubrey and Colin (Colin and Aubrey) bought a duplex out in Carstairs
-Transformers ruled. If you haven't seen it, you are the suxors.
-Got a raise to Head Cashier. Next up, MASTER OF THE UNIVERSE!!!

Ummm, yeah. That's aboot it. All my stuff is in storage and I miss my bed tragically.

News!

Well, since I've become a total Facebook-aholic, I have been somewhat distracted from my due diligence to my blog. So here is an update for you Mom (since you're probably one of the few who actually reads this - tongue in cheek). It's official, Darren and Aaron Goddard and I will be living together this coming year in the apartment on 9th. I am indeed moving to Toontown, and I'm pretty stoked about it.

When my parents were here last weekend, my father and I spent some quality time chilling in the garage prepping my summer rims for paint. It was lots of fun, and I am really looking forward to working on other things with him in the coming years (let's do that 'vert up right). It was really great to throw ideas for the old '69 off of each other. I am looking forward to saving the cash up to get my car resprayed and cleaned up. I'm thinking of either an Audi Brilliant Red or going to my favourite Europe only colour in the VAG range - Oak Green. It's a Mk2 and Corrado colour and it is just stellar....so I'll have to mull that one over for a while. I already know what my dad will say though!

Washed and waxed the car - it looked great for about 12 hours, at which point it rained and then immediately heated up. This meant that pollen was released upon my poor, wet, unsuspecting Beast, leaving her forlorn and once again covered in pollen. You just can't win.

That's all for now!

I don't have photoshop, so you'll have to use your imagination. the rims on the jetta-
on my car tomorrow! Or soon....whichever one comes first!

Night Drives

Somewhere between 1&2 am.
Night time. The best time to drive.
The Air flows cool and crisp through your open window.
All lights seem green, the road is yours.

Nightdriving.
It's soothing, it's effortless.
It's for the joy of driving.
No rush.
No need to be anywhere at a certain time.

Just feeling the road, the car, and nature itself.

Give yourself time.
Indulge.
Let every moment linger.

The music floats along,
Mirroring the rhythm of the engine.
Never thumping, never overpowering.
Just softly underlining every passing tree, house, and hedge.
And transforming your simple journey into a beautiful memory.

Slowly tiredness sets in.
You turn,
Arriving before the sun,
Leaving your Volkswagen
Until another night,
A night perfect for driving.

-from the Night Drives website, but I edited a few things to make it flow a little better and to echo my feelings a bit better...

Yippee Ki-Yay!

Just finished doing a bit of maintenance on the GTI - for the past few months I had been unable to see what the temperature of my car was. I didn't really worry about this during the winter or spring, as neither were particularly warm. But now we're entering summer, time of overheating cars. As I don't want to replace my engine immediately, I kind of wanted to know how hot and bothered my engine is getting! So I delved into my engine bay with a vague idea of where my CTS was... a couple of misses later, I scored a direct hit! And discovered the problem in the process. You see, the CTS is a single nail head sender, meaning it has a clip that sends the info to my temp guage. But due to my car being over 20 years old, the wire connected to that clip had slowly degraded until it finally gave up the ghost and broke right at the clip! So I went down to my good friends at Napa and picked up some new single head female couplers, stripped down some of the old wire and clipped it back up! Took the Beast for a little spin and lo, and behold my guage works! Rock and Roll! Now to find my allen wrenches so I can take out my Idle Stabiliser Valve (ISV) and give it a good clean with the quick-evaporating electrical cleaner I picked up last night. Hopefully that will remedy the erratic idle I've had in stop and go traffic since it was in the shop last time!

Stealership!

So on Thursday I went to the VW dealership here to pick up an oil filter for my impending oil change this weekend - no biggie. While I was there, I thought I may as well pick up the Coolant Temp Sender (heretoforth referred to as the CTS) that I also need to know how hot my car is running! So I ask for that as well. He hands it to me - $67! Okay, whatever. I leave and get to thinking that I thought they were like 10 bucks elsewhere... So today I went online to see if I could find a better price. And I did. I found the CTS for $3.95 Canadian! I could buy five of them and still come out on top! This goes to show that you can't trust your friendly neighbourhood dealership because some things are dirt cheap, while others are just bending you over the block! That is an insane profit margin!

A better day!

Well today I got up bright and early on my day off to go meet a guy and pick up more centre caps for my summer rims - I was missing one or two and you can never have too many just in case! Now to decide whether or not to paint them?!!!!

What a day!

So today I had a great day at work. It was busy, I took a late lunch seguing into a late final coffee, and I was feeling great as I walked out of THD. Went to Canadian Tire (right beside my job), picked up some Semi-Synth oil so I could do an oil change, but could'nt find the Mothers Back to Black trim rejuvenator for my arches - great. Buy the oil, leave. Go to the VW dealership to pick up and OEM oil filter because I don't want to use the Shi-ite FRAM filter I have sitting aside (I did'nt buy it, the previous owner gave it to me. Only Bosch, Mann or Mahle filters will touch this car from now on). But no, the parts desk has gone home for the day and won't be open until Monday. I work on Monday - great! So my plans have all gone to the dogs. I go to the Cambodian Tire by the dealership to pick up the Back to Black. They have it, but they also have something else - mile frickin' long lineups! Three tills open to serve like a hundred people - I'm not exaggerating! So I had to wait like twenty minutes to buy 10 bucks worth of stuff. I leave and drive home. Enter the house and proceed to go feed the cat. Only to dicover Mika has decided to protest Aubrey and Colin's departure to Vancouver by taking like three dumps and a number one in front of his litter box. For those of you in shock, his litter box was clean and this is a regular protest that the little dickhead takes pleasure in!

So yeah, a good effing day! Frick Frick Frick Frick Frick Frick Frick!!!!!!!

Epiphany

So last night when I was lying in bed listening to a delectable Sufjan Stevens mix, trying desperately to shut my brain off, I came to a realization. I think I may have been slightly out of it, but my epiphany was this: I realized how much time I had spent in the past few years reviling my time at Bethany, when the truth is that while my time at Bethany may not have exactly brought out the best in me or caused me to mature, it was indeed some of the best times of my life! I've been telling people, "Don't go to Bible School, it's a huge waste of money." While it isn't cheap, I think that the things I did gain from my two years at Bethany were definitely worthwhile: solid, lasting friendships, a love for napping (granted, I was already a solid napper when I arrived at BBI), and just a ton of solid memories. Memories like Chorale tour freshman year, making grilled cheese with my boy Kent, and planning devious pranks on Timmy D, not to mention the frequent late night walks and climbing on the roof of Hepburn School with Darren, Carly, Michelle and everyone...And who can forget the yearly beer after the swim party ritual! Good times...

So enough waxing philosophical. For now, I have to go BBQ some chicken!

Finger Eleven!!!!!

So on Friday Night, I got to see my favourite Canadian band - Finger Eleven!!!!! Once again, as in Saskatoon during my Bethany Period, they completely blew the doors off the show!!! Scott, the lead singer, was stellar! He is seriously one of the best live singers I have seen, probably due to the fact that he doesn't screw around going crazy on stage and just focuses on the music. Not to mention the rest of the band pretty much makes up for his lack of movement...as seen in the above pics (not taken by me, as I do not have a camera...yet)...That guitarist makes me jealous of his beard...*sob* Even though it's not really a "nice" beard...

Probably the funniest part of the show was during the encore when F11 did a cover of GnR's "Patience", which was apparently the first time they had performed it since Grade 8! It was pretty killer - Eat It, Axl, you smug little crybaby!!!

Anyhoo, I had a killer time, and I'm looking forward to possibly a few more shows this summer - I might go to Warped Tour even though it doesn't have the headliners it did last year, and I am definitely going to see Rise Against!!!! Definitely one of my favourite punk bands of the last few years. It's nice to finally see Punk have a social conscience again, be it political a la Black Flag or Henry Rollins Band, or more socio-environmental like Rise Against are.

This concludes the episode. See you next time, same Bat-time, same Bat-channel!

Edit: I forgot to mention that I was also busy getting my ribs crushed in the very front row!!!!

Mmmmm....money!

Man I love the taxman! I thought I was only going to get back about 900 bones, but I just found out a couple of days ago that I'm getting 3K instead!!!!! That'll pretty much make up for anything that I spent on my long midwinter vacation! Plus, I can also sink more cash into the GTI!!!! Hooray! Once I get paid in a week, I'll pe heading to a paint store to pick up some Krylon primer and paint to do up my rims!!!!! So stoked!!!!!!! Cheers!

An explanation

So anyhoo, thought I'd explain the title of my blog seeing as how my mom got ticked once she figured it out...
(insert Mom voice)-"Oh Paul, that's horrible!"
me-"It's just a funny punk album title mom...I'm not actually drunk in public!"
Those of you who know punk will obviously recognize the classic NOFX album. As NOFX certainly has some of the quirkiest album and song titles ever, I thought I'd put up the top 5 other NOFX titles and albums (not at all based on goodness of any kind):

1. We threw Gasoline on the Fire and now we have stumps for arm and no eyebrows
2. Drugs are Good - Darren, I think you'll recall some good times with this song!!!!
3. I Want You to Want Me - cover but delightful
4. Don't Call Me White - just a funny song
5. The Brews - see #2!

Porsche GT3 sickness

Found this hot little video- check it out!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Jk1kwPvUE3w

Got some seats!

Picked up a couple of seats for the car today for free! The drivers seat on my car is pretty haggard, so I'm planning on using the good foam bolsters from the seat I picked up and making one seat out of 3! Then I just have to make a pattern from the seat fabric and make new covers... I'm planning on rocking some sweet plaid as that's what the original GTI in the early 80's had. It's gonna be sweet!

Salutations!

Hey all, just a wee inaugural blog to give you a heads up on what's happening with me. I started a new job this week, hopefully that goes well and they don't have a problem with transferring me to Saskatoon in August. I swear I'm going to go insane here in Calgary... I guess I'm just pretty stoked on moving back to the flatlands.

I'm excited to have a job as well because now I can finally sink some cash into my car. Do some exhaust work and maybe get a new stereo complete with an auxiliary hookup and functional wiring! It'd be nice to finally listen to music in my car without the stereo fizzling out because of a power or ground issue...looking forward to getting my Bentley manual so I can get into this Beast and fix all the little electrical gremlins that are plaguing it right now. If you're wondering why Beast is capitalized, it's because that's the temporary name I've given it. I know, I know, a car is supposed to have a woman's name, but it seriously is a Beast right now. Perhaps once it's running like a top I'll rechristen it!

Well, that's about it for now...work to live, live to fix car, fix car for my sanity!


edit: LOL just googled my name to see my blog would come up...apparently Paul Wood is a depressingly common name... There's a Paul Wood who takes beautiful pictures (www.paulwoodphotography.com), a Paul Wood who is a Professor at UBC (http://farpoint.forestry.ubc.ca/FP/search/Faculty_View.aspx?FAC_ID=2528), a Paul Wood who is a BBC defence correspondant (news.bbc.co.uk/newswatch/ukfs/hi/newsid_3230000/newsid_3234600/3234654.stm), another Paul Wood who's an Art Prof and author in Edinburgh (www.open.ac.uk/Arts/arthistory/wood.htm)...another Paul Wood who is a blues guitar legend!(www.paul-wood.com/bio.php) and the list just goes on and on...guess I'll have to pull up my socks and live up to the rest of the Paul Woods! I wonder if I'm related to any of them....doubtful.

Hopefully speaking 10 languages someday will do....hehehe....three down, seven more to go!

Well, that's really it this time, I promise...I'm tuckered out because my orientation was sixteen hours of humid, boring SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) bliss!

Bottoms Up!

Paul Wood (what?! I just thought I'd add one more for good measure!)