Fairs, Film and Friends Lost

The word of the week is contemplative.

Sept 4 – Fair Part 2!

Today was our second day at the Saanich Fair.

My girlfriend and I arrived a little early so we could look around; though it was again rather a hot day, it wasn't as bad as it was on Saturday and also wasn't nearly as crowded. We got a lot of pics of the setup, which was pretty cool, with a large pond to float the boats:

The water was cool and refreshing, too!

By 5pm, most people had left the fair and the VMSS folks started to take down the display area, though by 5:30pm most of these folks have left as well. At the end, it was down to just two other VMSS people, my girlfriend and I to finish up, with stacks of tables, chairs and sundy items to load into two vehicles. We could have left as well, but neither of us felt right now doing that, as the other two people were older gentleman neither of whom were in peak physical form for weathering exercise in the heat. We finished up by 6:30pm, managing to cram everything into a truck and a van, then heading home ourselves across the mostly-empty parking fields after waiting in line with many other patient vehicles to exit.

All in all, it was a more relaxed day than Saturday. Next year though, if we do end up volunteering, we'll make a point to ask for the morning shifts, or even just pass on the duty if enough other people a party signed up... we'd like to see more of the Fair, especially if the weather isn't nearly as oppressively hot.

Sep 5 – Shock

My good friend Chris died suddenly today.

I have known Chris nearly as well as I'd like, having only met him during my time at Staples back in 2012, but we clicked right away. He was a friendly fellow, always willing to help and as it turns out, we shared a love of boardgames as well as some mutual local friends, so it was natural that we'd end up hanging out.

Chris was only in his early 30s when he passed away today from a heart condition called pericarditis, which is an inflammation of the heart lining suspected to be caused by a viral infection such as a cold. I had no idea this could happen, and his sudden loss shocked everyone who knew him.

I managed to write this today before work, which I feel expresses much of the friendship I shared with Chris and speaks to the character of the man I knew:

The world truly is a poorer place without him, and we'll all have to find a way to cope. 

Somehow.

Sep 6 – Ponderings

Losing a close friend really makes you think about life.

Really, you should be thinking about it all the time, but so many of us get wrapped up in the details of the everyday that we don't stop often enough to appreciate what we truly have going for us. Thoughts on dying seldom enter into people's daily lives, yet we'll all die, someday.

We take too much for granted - we've also all heard that.

I like to think that I've given more thought to what I have going on in my life over the years than many, though I don't pretend to be as introspective as the better philosophers throughout history. I think about where I've been, where he and where I'm going, and all the places that I've walked along that path.

I'm also incredibly grateful that I've rarely walked it alone.

True, there are some aspects of your life that you have to figure out for yourself: nobody's going to be able to fix things for you as an adult.

It's the people in your life that are the most important thing, those who by blood or circumstance or choice share the path you walk, coming and going as you all meander along the ways that your choices take you hither and dither. Knowing someone is the same as being friends, associates aren't family and those we choose to share our lives with( and they, us! )form the bedrock of our days. We assume that they'll always be there, and that will always have time to catch up.

Never take the people in your life for granted.

For myself, I take some comfort in that I've left this blog as a record of part of my life( around 20% )which is something, and I'm hoping to leave behind a good body of writing as well. I also hope, should I depart earlier than expected, that the good memories I made with many folks will linger on with them and provide comfort for many years after I'm no longer around to crack puns.

Then again, I might set up an email auto-pun generator.... hmmm.

Sept 7 – Why Game?

Why do I like boardgames, as opposed to video games?

It's interesting question; I've pulled back from online gaming in the last few years, a stark contrast to when I first arrived here in Victoria 10 years ago. Back then, I didn't know anyone here, so it made sense for me to continue gaming with my friends online in Neverwinter Nights as well as my friends from back east on Xbox Live playing cooperative games like COD and the like.

Gradually, that changed as my NWN group wound down and I lost interest in the first-person shooter games that demanded too much of my time in order to keep my skills( which were merely adequate )at levels needed to not drag down my teams. It just wasn't interesting to me anymore, and slower-paced games online held little similar interest for me, nor did MMO's like Warcraft or any of the others.

So that left boardgames, and thankfully Victoria has a thriving community for such at places like the Interactivity Cafe. But why do I play the games?

This article takes a look at the whys rather nicely, including this particular bit:

Also noted in the article is the fact that you're gaining face-to-face with people instead of through my computer interface... or alone with your phone. Personally, I've installed dozens of games on my previous phone, but only a few on my new one because I found that I just don't play them unless I have nothing else to do such as when I'm on a bus... but even then, I'd prefer to read.

Thus: I like boardgames because I can play them with other people when we get together in the same room.

So simple, and yet so true.

Sept 8 – Jobs For Me?

I'm still trying.

This month I've applied for three separate jobs within the government, doing my best to tailor my applications to the positions to show my strengths and qualifications. I've had discussions with several people about the positions to get their opinion on what the highlight, and I'm feeling much better about my chances of making it through the process then I did before the summer started.

It's crucial that I keep trying this fall.

It may not seem like much, but even a slightly better position would mean several hundred dollars more per paycheque, which currently for me have most every dollar spoken for... not a healthy way to live, but that's the way it is right now.

I'd hoped by now to be at least six months into my new business, generating revenue from my Glowforge, but that didn't happen, and neither did any of my job applications, so I'm here now and having to deal with things as they are.

All I can do is keep trying to make positive change in my finances, while reducing my stressing about same and continuing to move forward with my writing projects.

Sept 9 – Moving Film

In the late afternoon, my lady and I went to see a movie downtown.

We went to the old Vic Theatre, home of the Victoria Film Festival, to see the lauded Japanese animated feature In This Corner Of The World. The film is a rarity in that it's completely hand-animated, and it's just gorgeous visually:

The story follows the life of a young Japanese girl as she grows up prior to WWII and then her experiences during the war. It's moving and poignant, sweet and funny and tragic all at the right moments and it doesn't leave you with a Hollywood ending but rather pondering life's lessons and greater meanings.

It was the perfect thing for me to see this week.

Sept 10 – Breaks

Today went by quickly, but well.

Breakfast in the morning with a friend turned into a perfect lunch with my lady at Garrick's Head Pub: we were the only ones on the patio outside, and there was a Spanish guitarist playing nearby as part of the weekend market. The sun was shining and though we're in the shade, it wasn't too shivery... and we both enjoyed just relaxing outside in each other's company until the early afternoon.

I'm So glad I can eat their Sunday special again - YUM!!!!

As well, the weather has finally broken this week, with several overnight rain showers that have washed the haze from the sky, along with cooperative winds that have kept the smoke from the mainland's wildfires away. Both my sister and I have had steady headaches this last week, but as of yesterday they've cleared up, which leads us to suspect that they were in a large part related to the particulate matter in the air clogging everything up around here.

It did make for some good pictures though, like this picture of the moon from 6:30am on September 7th, which turned out rather well I think:

All for now; I've a busy 5-day week ahead, and lots to do each evening for the rest of the fall...

As I mentioned last week, I'm feeling pretty much back to normal, walking to work and home again in all things in between without any leg twinges. My abdominals are only complaining a little here and there, and so I'm looking to take up swimming in the mornings again for at least two days each of the next few weeks. It should be both relaxing and invigorating before work.