February 2006 — The Tugboat

February 28, 2006

Well the spring break "hangover" is wearing off and my nose is getting back to the grindstone. I have a midterm tomorrow somehow. It's in a first time course so no one has any idea what it's going to be like, not even the professors, who hadn't even written it as of today. It's a strange world we live in. I've read the notes four times and I'll do it one more time tonight but the whole works is only worth 15% of the final mark so my dander is far from up. I've amassed all the pictures from the trip onto my computer and I'm going to try and put them on DVD for distribution. This is going to be a real project for me. It should take up some of my time. I've been rather bored lately. I think my ability to waste time doing nothing is beginning to dwindle. In my prime I could waste a whole day with such things as rolling on the floor and throwing a football around. Now I've been only able to stare off into space for a few minutes. I keep getting this feeling that I should be doing work or some sort. I guess I take school more seriously now, which is good because it is getting more serious for me. I've begun preparations for my masters. Just imagine, some day at the top of this page it might say Chase Phillips, Msc. Wouldn't that be something. Either way, Scrubs is beckoning and so is my bowl of noodles. Good luck and good night.

Spring Break 2006 (Feb 17-26)

The following post is brought to you by Dirty Dick's Crabhouse. It is in order from the time we left Canada to the time we returned. The Friday that we left was the seventeenth, the rest of the dates are for you to figure out. This is just a basic run down of some of the events that we partook of, the rest will be leaked out in stories over the years.

Friday, Saturday

We started our journey at around 6pm eastern time and ended it around 1 pm central time the next day. That adds up to around 19 hours with stops. We crossed the border at Windsor and headed through Michigan. We tried to get some sleep but it was hard to come by. The next state on the docket was Ohio. We made our first gas stop and got a taste of the locals. The next state was Kentucky then Tennessee. We were on I75 that whole time. It was a few hours per state, more like three hours per state, with Ohio hogging most of the spotlight. Georgia followed Tennessee, apparently, I say this because I slept through most of Tennessee and Georgia. We stopped in Atlanta for breakfast around 7am Saturday morning at an IHOP. It was loaded with police, fire fighters, and paramedics so we figured it would be safe. Alabama was next. It can best be described as a desolate rural swamp. Most of the towns were extremely run down. It seemed to drag on forever. Then we entered Florida with a rousing cheer and cracked the windows for the first time in many hours. We were greeted by wafts of warm moist air, the likes of we'd never sniffed in February. The rest of the day was surreal, partially due to exhaustion and partially due to amazement. The awesome scenery and the architecture and everything was awesome. (Nice sentence dude.) Everything was just like you would picture on TV and more. We got settled in and then toured the town and acquired some groceries. We all were asleep very early that night, exhausted from our marathon driving adventure.

Sunday

The morning was spent playing mindless games such as shuffleboard, outdoor billiards, ping pong, and basketball. Roy and I tied at shuffleboard. I destroyed Phil at our modified version of 9-ball. The 8-ball, the 6, and the 7 were all missing so we adapted. We used all the higher numbered balls and the four ball took on the traditional role of the nine. It worked well for us only having one cue and no tip. The shuffleboard was good fun, we'll probably play that throughout the week. We've had several huge barn-burner series' of ping pong so far. Phil has a tendency of barely beating me on his last chance. We only played basketball once so far. We played a four man game of HORSE. Phil took me to the wire but prevailed. He was talking trash so I challenged him to a game of one-on-one, to three. I beat him. The game was fairly close and we were both winded at the conclusion of the match.

After a morning of good times we decided that we should get out and see the sights. We drove along the beach and also drove the strip of the city. Upon completion of this adventure we parked and walked along the beach. Soon after we found a spot to toss the football around. Some other guys approached us to ask for a game. As it turned out they were also went to Guelph. As we were organizing the match more and more small groups of guys came running out of nowhere to play. When the dust finally settled, we ended up with a eight on eight match-up. There was a skirmish involving a drunk and the white suited Brown. It ended well. In the game, we lost terribly which wasn't all bad since almost all of their team are members of our varsity team. After the game, which was quite enjoyable, we went to the beach side Hooters for supper. Delicious food. After a nap and a change of clothes we headed off to the largest night club in the USA, Club La Vela. It was pretty tame because it was the first night. We ran into the football guys again and spent most of the night listening to a live band. They were pretty good. We headed home around one and hit the hay to get ready for the next day's adventure.

Monday

We slept in pretty long on Monday. After killing some time with TV, we had our breakfast and showers then went outside. While on the outside we played the many parlour games that the resort has to offer. We played a huge match of doubles shuffleboard. Brown and Phil made a trip to the Winn Dixie Marketplace and got some delicious foodstuffs. After they returned, Will and Roy took another crack at the beach. We lounged around all day and had some of the pizza that was purchased. The evening entertainment included watching the Punisher with Tom Jane. Good action film, good mindless action. After the completion of the film we laughed it up for a period and put a few pictures on Brown's laptop. Soon after that we went our separate ways and watched TV, or read books, or what have you. Sleep followed.

Tuesday

Tuesday started early with a sweet breakfast. We had a feast of bacon, eggs, and toast. It was very, very, delicious. After breakfast and showers we played some more spa games and had a hot tub and swim. After a quick lunch of soup and hammers we headed for the beach. We setup our base camp and started a game of catch with the Frisbee and football. Some people wanted to get a game of volleyball going so we joined in. It was good times. Roy and Brown stayed at the base camp and took in the sights and sounds of the ocean and crowds. When we re-convened we decided to bury Phil in the sand. We used the Frisbee as a digging too to dung out a good hole and the game was a foot. We started with just breasts and testicles, that drew the attention of a passer-by, a girl who thought her breasts were larger than those we constructed, it was admittedly close. She posed for some pictures. After that we made arms, legs, and another thing. The videos of Phil escaping his sand prison is quite humourous. When Phil escaped everyone but me decided to take a walk down the beach. I laid down and tried to accomplish my life long dream of falling asleep on the beach. I did it, but it was short-lived as I was awoken by a John Deere 7820 tractor carrying a hut. The driver dropped the hut mere feet from my own feet. I was scared that he was going to drop it on me. I didn't flinch though.

When the gang returned, we headed back to Club La Vela for the festivities. These were to include four hours of free food, free drinks and three contests. This all came free once the $25 cover charge was paid. It turned out to be well worth it. The first contest was the male hard body thing for the ladies. This time was spent scouting out the free food and drinks. With our bellies full we got into position for the rest of the show. The next contest was the bikini contest. It was awesome. There were eighteen girls entered and pairs dancing was commonplace. Flash photography was encouraged and we had three cameras at work. The next part of the show got the cameras working overtime. The world famous wet 'n wild international wet t-shirt contest. Wow. That's all I'll say about that. When that was done we headed back to the hotel to get ready for dinner. Those who needed to shower did so while the others put pictures on the laptop. We had a big viewing and then headed to Dirty Dick's Crabhouse. Good food, good service. I got a t-shirt and a hat from the gift shop. Upon returning "home" we had a hot tub and then hit the hay. It was a long tiring day and the sun drained most of our energy.

Wednesday

This was to be our last good weather day as forecasted by the news and echoed by Roy. We decided that we should get all of our outdoor activities done and then do other things like shopping when it was raining. Brown and I got a package of hot dogs and headed for the communal BBQ while the others applied ointments to their sun burnt skin. After lunch we decided to hit up the beach and then some outdoor activity. The sun was clouded and the air warm and misty when we arrived. We tossed the football and Frisbee around and played in the ocean before striking off. Most of the other spring breakers were at their respective hotels for the guest only pool parties. The beach crowd was admittedly sparse. We headed for the strip with a few things in mind. We were going to go on a pirate cruise but we were a week too soon as it didn't open until March first. Only a couple of us wanted to try para-sailing so we decided to play mini-golf and or go-carts. The place we ended up at only had golf so that's what we did. Will pulled off a huge come-from-behind win. Next we went and got some Dippin' Dots, the ice-crean of the future. This lead us "home". We killed a couple of hours in our room before supper. Supper, as it turns out, was an unforgettable experience. We went to Casa de Fogo, a Brazilian joint. It's like a buffet but not. All the salads and sides are setup like a buffet but the main course is unique. Workers come around with huge skewers of meats and things (12 meats in all) and offer you some if your card is flipped to green. If it is red then they skip over you. Towards the end of the meal after turkey, pork tenderloin, bacon-wrapped chicken, shrimp, garlic steak, sirloin, prime rib, sausage, and grilled pineapple I hit up the bathroom to make more room, as classy as that sounds. No, I didn't puke. It was a bit expensive at $19.99, but it was a steal of a deal for us. Brown and Will ate the most meat, both with pants undone by the end. We all sluggishly headed back for a lengthy lie down. Later in the evening four of us (not Will and Dave) headed for the spa. It was wickedly hot and devastingly painful on sun burns. The pain subsided after a short time. We got the football out and tossed it around the pool before calling it a night.

Thursday

There were some consequences to the big feast that we had. Some members of the group had a hard time getting moving. In fact, Will didn't manage to stir until after 4pm. He just laid in bed watching movies. Brown spent the day going between his bed and the toilet. In his defense he was reading the whole time, in both locations. He has read two rather large novels in the past few days, usually in the hot tub. The rest of us went about our now seemingly daily routine of pool football, hot tub, and sporadic meals. Pool was also played along with ping pong. It rained all morning which made the hot tub all the more relaxing. We got soaked but loved it. Around mid-afternoon we headed to the Wal-Mart SuperCenter. They aren't kidding about the name. It's probably the biggest Wal-Mart or even department store that I've ever imagined. There was a full grocery store, including produce, and a liquor store inside. This along with the regular Wal-Mart departments including a tire and lube express. I add these details only because I worked at a Canadian Wal-Mart and the differences are massive. It was a very interesting experience to say the least. We all bought some tourist stuff and some food to finish out the week. We'll likely be leaving very early on Saturday so we can get home in decent time which is an advantage for me to finish my paper that I've been working on. I'm about half done at this point. Back to the story though. After Wal-Mart we came back to the hotel and made pasta, two pounds of it for four dudes. This is a lot in case you're wondering. After yet another post meal recovery period we headed down tot he exercise room. Dave, Phil and I shot some hoops and then Dave bogged off for a jog. After we put the balls back we hit the spa again. Some laughing it up ensued. When we got back to our room a poker game erupted. I, of course, won the whole thing. And Dave, of course, was the first one out. Hi yo. Phil, Will, and Roy partook in some booze during this time. Sleep followed around midnightish. One full day of "paradise" left.

Friday

Friday was a very low-key day. Most of the morning was spent either watching TV or doing various homework based tasks. Dave and Brown read their respective books. Phil did math, Will and Roy did their finance mumbo jumbo and I worked on my paper. These tasks whiled away the morning. We made a modest lunch of corn dogs and $1 pizzas and then took a stroll. We got to the store just after it closed so cigars were out of the question. Will had previously gone to the gas station to vacuum the van but I forgot to give him the funds to purchase any. As we were far from our room, maybe 7 minutes, we decided to check out the boats at the pier. Pretty impressive, it made me wish that I had a huge boat. After that excursion we headed back to the room. Supper was huge. We had to eat all of the food that we had left to minimize our luggage. This resulted in the mixture of 3 different kinds of soup (4 cans in total). It was surprisingly edible. That and corndogs made up the last meal, it was a fitting meal. The rest of the day was spent in the pool area. I was out there for a few hours while the others packed their bags. Phil and I tried to stay up all night so we could sleep all day but Dave would have none of it and claimed that the TV was burning his eyes out. We eventually went to sleep around 11:30pm.

Saturday, Sunday

Saturday morning was a quick affair. We awoke, showered and throughout our masses of trash. We loaded up and headed out before 8am Central time. I tried to sleep as much as possible. I woke up mid-way through Alabama, I don't know what it was but something about that state just rubbed me the wrong way. It caused me to hate Alabama. I cursed it out pretty good for a while, much to the delight of everyone. We stopped in Georgia for lunch around 2 pm. We went to a Cracker Barrel. The concept was nice and the atmosphere was appropriate but the service and the food were sub-par. This caused me to have some minor bad feelings towards Georgia. I once again attempted to sleep through Tennessee and Kentucky with limited success. We ate supper in Ohio, Arby's. Great food. After that we were all awake and listened to some music, Phil and I sung what we knew from the back seat. It was good times. I dozed off and awoke at the border. After another effortless cross where no identification was required we sailed silently home, through a snowstorm, welcome back, eh! We got home at 5 am eastern time. After some limited sleep I'm coming to you live from Canada. Hope everyone else had as fun a break as we did. Talk at ya later. Phillips out.

February 12, 2006

The day after a successful Sports Saturday is always a good day. We had probably the second best Sports Saturday ever. We played pond hockey, conveniently enough, on a pond in the bush. Mike Ward spent his morning shoveling it off. Probably took him three hours. It was his month long dream to skate on a pond. Dave and I choose boots for the match, he because of a mysteriously ailing back, and I to avoid further damage to my skate blades. The two skated youngens (apparently not a word) took on the three fourth year lads (only one skated). It was a grueling five game series. They won it in game five in overtime. The only reason I prattle on about it is because a) it was a highlight of my otherwise dismal week, and b) it was awesome.

In house related news I finally had another group contact me regarding a visit. It just so happened to be the group of familiars. Accordingly I sent an email to the other two groups of stragglers demanding an answer either way. I, predictably, have heard nothing back, much to my chagrin. My patience is wearing thinner than a model with an eating disorder. Wait, wait, let me try that again. My patience is wearing thinner than an actress on heroin, you know who you are Lindsay Lohan....too soon. But all my underground Hollywood secrets aside, I'm getting annoyed by their lack of follow up. Sure it hasn't even been a week yet, but I've been checking for a response every hour for the last 4 days. That can make it seem like a year. I give a fist shake of warning to them. They are going to have to knock my socks off with a sweet offer or something to get in here now.

In other news, to add to the Sports report, at one point in the game Mike went after the ball into an area that was noticeably softer ice than the rest of the pond. He ventured into a patch of reeds and after a brief moment his one leg slowly sunk down through the ice. A second later his other leg followed suit. Knowing that the pond was only a foot or so deep, no of us really worried. He confirmed before stepping out of the hole that he was not hurt. This lead to much laughing on all our parts. Some rolling around on the ice was also involved. His pants froze/dried so that was not a major issue for the remainder of the series. The skate laces froze and were troublesome to remove. It was a really funny event and a good story that I felt warranted inclusion in this web-based post, which by the looks of it has grown to a larger than anticipated size. There was a photo of Mike upon exiting the water but it was not available to me at the time of this post. Which by the sounds of it is coming to a close. And is now over. You know it.

February 11, 2006

Yesterday was an expensive day for me. I'm still partly asleep while I'm typing this. In face, my eyes are closed. Let's see how I really did in Grade nine typing class. I'd say pretty good with spell checker clearing the way. Ok, I've give a play by play again. I promise this one is better. So I got a ride to school with Annie. I went to my meeting, it ran long and I missed my class. We did get the outline done though, which is important. After that I had to kill time before I met a girl interested in the house and Brown. We all managed to come together and then walk to Brown's car at No Frills. He had started it remotely from the UC. Good range. Anyways, so we got to the car and I found an old toque and put it under his wiper for kicks. It became awesome later that day. Meanwhile, we brought the girl to the house and gave her a tour. She was assumedly impressed. So we embarked to drop her off and commence our afternoon of shopping. Dudes shop too. Just in much different way. We make a list and it's like a mission. We have to get everything on the list in the minimum amount of time. First stop, lunch. Since I was paying I was also choosing. I had not been to Burger King in too long. Brown claimed I owed him $15 for food. Later confirmed by Annie as truth. So we set out to eat enough Burger King food to cover that debt. Our combined affection for the Original Chicken Sandwich warranted it being the showcase item. In total there were 5 ordered. That is a buttload. The cook thought we were kidding. As he soon learned we don't joke about our Original Chicken Sandwiches. The bill total came out to $25 and change. It was worth it, we had a tremendous feed and some left over for later. Next stop, Staples Business Depot. We, got our DVD-Rs and printer ink. I for some reason bought another 50 DVD-Rs. I don't know why, I had over 60 at home. Either way, the price must have been right. I wanted to check on their digital camera selection. They not only had the one I wanted, the Kodak Z700, but it was on clearance. I had to buy it. In case you wondering, it is the same as Dave's which means I can use his dock until I get my own. I also got goaded into buying a battery set and charger for an extra fiddy bones. It was expensive overall. After a brief stop to pick up some stamps we made our way to Blockbuster. We returned three movies and came out with eleven. That is a net gain for eight films for those of you keeping score at home. The last stop on our tour was the No Frills. We got a few things and then headed home. The rest of the day was spent working in my room and playing with my new toy (the camera). Pictures may start to re-appear on this site. It just might happen. So I spent some money and had a fun afternoon is what I was trying to get at. I guess I could have said that right from the start but where's the fun in that. Hi yo. I'm done for now.

February 9, 2006

I got stood up today. It was not funny. I was to meet my partner in a project in the library at 12:30 today. I ended up getting a ride unexpectedly from Brown so I was there at noon. I waited for an hour and half. No sign of him. Luckily there were some notes on me that I could read so read them I did. I kept a vigilant eye out for him but to no avail. I stormed off in a huff and had to wait another half hour in the blistering cold for the bus. Pretty much I'm getting sick of waiting on other people. Which is a good segue into my next topic. Our house is losing 3 of 5 members to graduation this year. Alas the remaining two of us have to fill those spots for next year. I've placed several ads in the popular media recently and I've gotten a good initial response. I've had three groups of three respond to my advertisement. One group has already come and seen the house. I invited the other two groups to do the same and I have not received a response as of yet. Mind you its only been 24 and 12 hours since I responded but I would expect if they were truly interested as they claim that they would get on that. I had a single girl also inquire. She is in the same year as me, in fact, she is in my class. She responded immediately and I haven't had to wait more than a few hours to get replies. I guess that just goes to show that older, more mature students are more professional and courteous when it comes to quasi-important correspondence. These kids today, I don't know what's wrong with them. Most of the interest has come from girls so it will be interesting to see what they're all about. The group that was in last night seemed ok for the most part. The one member of their group was pretty immature and loud, don't know if I would want to live with her but the other two seemed to be made of the stuff that good room-mates are all about. Either way I'll keep the world informed about this trivial news. It's a big deal to me, I have to live with these people. Meh, Phillips out.

February 7, 2006

Today has been a very busy day for me today. I had to go to all my classes and labs. This caused me to miss my hockey game that I was supposed to have. We lost 5-2. I got to the arena just in time to see the end. I was told after that I was needed in that one. My defensive prowess would have been a real asset. Nonetheless, I went to my all important Problem Solving class. I need that credit to graduate so it was a must for me to attend. Also it is mainly a group oriented class and I had to meet with the group. Either way I missed the game and I didn't like that. I did some reading in the library on my long breaks and then I went to Phil's after that. I don't know why I'm giving a play by play, I'll cut that out now.

The Steelers won the title. The bus is parked now. It was all good. I triumphantly watched the game. It was golden. I got to gloat the next day in class. It was all good. Well the hour is getting larger here and soon it will start to get smaller so I'd better hit the hay or class in the morning will be mighty unpleasant. I plan on attending all the classes tomorrow, that will make for a long day as well. I retire now.

February 5, 2006

Super Sunday. The Sunday of the Superbowl. Football's greatest prize. The past six months of cheering for my beloved Steelers has paid off and they are in the big dance. Will they win it all? I'm not one to gamble or guess but I hope they do. That would be awesome, something that I could rub in Dave's face for the rest of the year, nay, the rest of our natural lives. His precious Eagles ousted only one year ago. That is poetic justice somehow. If I knew what that meant then I would be cooking with gas. As it turns out I cook with electricity that heats up elements on the stove and warms my food until it has reached an agreeable temperature that I can handle to swallow. That is how I cook. But all cooking aside I'm tearing it up in anticipation. It, in this case, is an unmeasureable quantity of boredom. All the idiot box is showing is needless hyping of the big game, which gets tiresome after 30 seconds. If I wanted to listen to four has-beens argue about pointless hypothetical situations I would go down to the local legion and spend some time with the veterans. At least that way I might learn a thing or two.

I stayed in last night and watched hockey. I also watched some girls get hammered and make their pilgrimage to the downtown bars. This is a phenomenon that I still don't fully comprehend. They sit around and argue about minute details and moot subjects whilst get intoxicated then they go downtown for a couple of hours, maybe even one. Then return and go to bed. I never understood what was so special about going to a bar for a short time like that. They go, have one drink, return home. Alas, I don't even want to know. All I know is that I don't do it, nor did I overly enjoy it when I did. I had to be dragged and coerced into going, usually deals were made where by my laundry got taken care of if I went. Nonetheless, I stayed in last night. I went to the show the night previous with a couple of fine ladies. That was enjoyable, their film selection was not up to my par standards but the film was interesting and provocative, although I don't think I would watch it again. Anyways, I leave you to figure out what it was. My time is up. Feeding must happen now. Toodles.

February 2, 2006

Well, its Groundhog Day. I almost had the day off from school, if only I didn't have that cursed lab to deal with. Anyways, Wood managed to right the ship of the stolen name. It was touch and go for a while there but he pulled it out of the fire. We're still feeling the stress of trying to fill our home for next year. We had three young lads lined up to move in, but they pulled out at the last minute, much to our great disappointment and partial anger. We were days away from signing a lease and they pulled out. Now we're back to starting from scratch. If anyone knows somebody in Guelph that needs a home for the next year then please let us know. We need this. Our campaign is under way to get some roomies. We've sent out mass emails, and our next step is to advertise at the university. We exhausted our friend resources as they all have found homes just ahead of us asking them, some even as we were asking were just getting ready to sign off on a lease deal. Either way, we're semi-confident that we can get a deal done in the coming weeks. I don't really have much to update with, it's only been a couple of days. I guess I'll close with a few comments about my academic life. I'm succeeding academically at this point in time. I'm prepared for everything and I'm done most assignments well in advance of the due date. I like that. I really do. That is all.