let's make a deal

the other day, zoe, who is the queen of jj bean coffee on granville island, asked me if i would help her move her "new to her" bed and grab a couple of things from ikea - which was suppose to take ten minutes (the ikea part... right) and then i'd get all the free coffee i'd ever need...ok. i already have a coffee hook-up but having another in my back pocket can't be a bad thing...so, bed moving and ikea it was - which included two ikea hot dogs and a drink for 2 bucks. nice. anyhow, zoe's happy and i get free coffee...good times.

g. xo

oh, apparently it'll take around six feet....of flex tube.

i wonder how much....

...flex pipe i need to get from my tail pipe to the inside of my car....?

g.

nice view

ok...
so on the way to the airport i stopped at the bank, with my new ATM card, and noticed these benches outside the bank. they have them facing towards the street but also directly pointing at the bushes. it seems closer to the bushes when you see it in person, the pic makes it look like more room is there...."hey honey, let's sit down on the benches and look at the bushes...."

gth.

home with wine gums in hand.

so, for those who care, and those who don't, i figured out where my ATM card ended-up, i think. i had to do a return of some laminate and glue to the old home depot and after they did the refund onto my card, i bolted before they noticed the very small chip in the laminate and took the money back....so, i think the burnaby home depot now holds my card...have fun with it. and i'll tell ya, getting a new card isn't always as easy as walking in and saying you lost it and need a new one...just so you know. holy crap. but in the end, all good.
i picked-up mishi and garbs at the airport yesterday after their england vacation. it sounds as if they won't be heading back anytime soon....again? yes, sure, but there doesn't seem to be any rush to head back...i understand.
after a shirt rest we headed out to dinner with corie and katherine at topanga...the garbs had been dreaming of a big plate of topanga for a while....like two weeks. i somehow managed to knock off the double chili relleno dinner, full entre size....getting rid of one more meal off my list....this is gonna be hard...
tonight i'm putting in some time on 'cats and dogs 2'...remember how great 'cats and dogs 1' was?....me neither. anyhow, i'm gonna go out and work with one of my favorite FX guys, john sleep...love that guy. and i get to start at 5 p.m....yikes.
have a great day...

g. xo

corie gets going with the grinder.

snacks. good snacks.

hope you've got your heat turned on baby.

chilly in the old house today. damn!
the news says it's gonna be 82 degrees just outside seattle today....wow. feels like winter here, at least at 6 a.m.
ok...i'm off to the movie factory.

have fun.

g. xo

and then there was none.

none as in, all over man, done like dinner, it's a wrap. my days of being mr. pickle are over, for now - until their next trip away. i think i held-up my end pretty well. did i make a ton of sales? no, but some, enough to make it worthwhile, i think. and there's something to be said for just having the shop open, so people can come in and see a big guy there, have a chat, try on some stuff and maybe have a few laughs...i did a few handy man jobs while i was there as well, painted some stuff, drilled a hole, stamped the hammered & pickled logo on a few hundred boxes and bags....good times.
and so it is tomorrow i will head back to movie land and, perhaps, cutting more steel and painting this and that...oh, and phoning the bank about my bank card which i think i may have left in the bank machine on granville island, bummer.
the garbs and mishi come home tomorrow afternoon and i'll be, if i can that is, picking them up and getting their sorry asses home safe and sound. they'll have wine gums in hand so it's worth the drive...
have a great week...

g. xo

dew and lost cards

well, one lost card...i can't find my ATM card...if you se it, let me know...fuck. and part of the deal this time of year in the lawn cutting world is dew. some mornings, like today, you just can't start cutting until the sun has had a chance to burn off some of that stuff...i just went to cut one that i'll now go back and do after the pickle today....just too much dew, man.
ok...maybe i'll take this time to clean up a little around here...yup.

see ya at the pickle.

g. xo

cutting steel and squishing pennies

i'm not keeping up my end of the bargain here...not that it matters but, well, here's the latest.
it's strange going from zero to sixty. so quickly. i have been enjoying (?) this time off cutting lawns, handymaning, doing the odd day call on a movie or show, etc...and really, having a lot of free time but, for the last couple of weeks it's been mayhem. which i'm fine with, but a quick switch to be sure.
firstly there's the headquarter/ricardo stuff which has slowed down to a crawl and i should really call him because i'm ready to install that crap in richmond...this week also saw me doing my best - and in the end getting it done - to make shauna a new desk thingy for her new place so that she can set-up shop at home. but it nevers goes exactly as planned but in the end, she has a nice desk and her computer has somewhere to live. nice. i've also been puting in some days on a show at vancouver studios...i'm kinda being the whatever needs doing guy, which included cutting many, many pieces of steel on a bandsaw all day, for a couple of days - thank steve jobs for the ipod i say...i was also cleaning up a hydraulic pump of all its nastiness - old oil, etc...that was a good time. but it's good to hang out with the boys, shoot the shit and make a little cake. i'll be back there tomorrow cutting or painting something. and with all that action, i have also been mr. pickle and trying not to run that business into the ground. i have one more pickle shift today and that's that - the kids come home monday afternoon and will be taking over the reins.
oh, and i've been cutting lawns as well...i have been, the last couple of days, getting up early, cutting a couple/few lawns and then afterwards heading to the pickle to open up...and actually last night, cut a lawn after working at the pickle as well...i am getting shit done...what has suffered, however, is my place...it's a fucking pigsty. i'm trying to get it together but i am not having much success...today. i'll clean it up today...
yesterday don bull made another appearance at the old pickle and while there met the lovely jenine from seattle. well, we actually both met her yesterday. jenine came in and right away made quite an impression. asking questions, telling us how 'fat' she was - she's not, how her rings don;t fit her, what can she do about this...then, after showing her the penny 'he who can not be named on the blog' had rolled out on the rolling mill - flattened like no other, she wanted to do this too....so she did. in the ned jenine hung around the shop from quite a while chatting with don and me, and then later on corie after he arrived. she had come up from seattle, on her birthday weekend, to go to the raincity grill - she thinks it's the best place ot eat in vancouver - hang out, and then go home. nice birthday weekend....
some kids had seen her flattening the penny and at the end of the day they came by and asked if they could do some pennies...sure, why not...? so they, with my help, rolled pennies, thier parents took pictures and it was all good until the rolling mill handle slipped out of one of the young girl's hand and clocked her in the head...oops. penny rolling was over for the day...she was fine...but i smelled a lawsuit so...
last night ang and i made our way over to the topanga as ang has been hankering for a prawn and chicke taco salad for a while now. it was nice...i haven't just sat and talked with ang for a while...we had a few drinks, ate some good food, had a few laughs...and i check off one more menu item on my list...good times.
ok...i need to go cut some lawns and then head to the pickle for my final shift...

i love you.

g. xo

jenine works the roling mill.


don helps with the final finishing of the flattened penny.

i've been doing a little cleaning at the pickle..

hey look....i cut some steel.

with this...

um..a bad picture of the new desk thingy i made for shauna...it wasn't suppose to have legs but we had to improvise..

if i was a horse...

don bull e.mailed me today asking where the hell the blog update was...well, all i can say is this - if you can't say anything nice...
it's been a bit of a shit eater day....maybe tomorrow i'll have something funny, and/or insightful to say...today, no.

i love you all, it's just not going so well.

in the meantime, i don't really know what this is, but don bull sent it to me.

enjoy.

g. xo

bull jives and shucks...

i had fun at the pickle yesterday. i could only stay open until four because i had a bomber hockey game - more on that i a minute - so i had to shut 'er down early....but there were some good chatty customers, as opposed to shitty chatting customers, of which there are a lot...it was good...some late season tourists straggle in, there were some packs of women in their 50's who probably told their husbands, "me and the girls are going to vancouver and you can't come...i may do some drinking and spend a bunch of money. don't try calling me cell...see ya sunday." that came in as well...they were hilarious - making slightly dirty jokes, laughing at the name of the shop, more dirty jokes...and they bought some stuff...nice. some mom's and daughters came in, trying on stuff together, a wacky family from louisiana...
don bull also made the scene yesterday. he had lent me a book - thanks don - and came down to get it from me...and while he was there he learned about squishing things in the rolling mill - something 'he who can not be named on the blog' learned about the day before when we were squishing pennies - and he also made a nice ring thing for his lady friend. he was so proud. and i don't blame him one bit. go bullski.
then it was time to go play hockey. i have been playing a little hockey and seeing how my back/neck/arm responds, and it's been ok. i am, however, having some issues with hockey in general though, and before i say anything to dramatic, i'm going to let it sit for a day or two. i don't want to make any rash decisions or say anything that may come back to haunt me...so....suffice to say...nope, i'm not even gonna do that.
ok..
i have t go cut a few lawns, run a few errands and such...have a great monday...

g. xo

ps...i was wrong about the best of the blog...i do it in december..not that you ned to know...but that's when it will be, not october. stand down.

don bull gets down.

i just realized....

on my way here, to the pickle, i realized the date and thought, "hey, the best of the blog should be coming up...", so i checked when i did it last year and i put up 'best of' posts in the first two weeks or so of october...ok..cool. the best of the blog in pictures coming up soon...

g. xo

what's up richmond?

this morning i ventured out to richmond to do the dog lawn but when i got there it really didn't need it and that coupled with the wetness made me decide to give it a pass - but hey, i love going for early morning drives to richmond, so it's all good...
the pickle was almost a shutout yesterday but i did manage to sell a few things so it wasn't a total blowout. he who can not be named came by for a visit and i had a some good out of towner customers that provided some good chit chats...i also made a little piece of garn art for shauna and did a couple more chores mishi had left for me. i'm gettin' shit done yo!

after work marcy called just as i was about to head home to a big red chair, tv and bbq'd sausages, and she was loking for someone to go grab dinner with so that worked out well..she came down and grabbed me and we headed up to barney's on granville..nice. that's too nights in a row that i've ended-up at dinner after the pickle when there was no previous plan...nice - the other night as indian food on fourth ave with my pal katherine hiyashi whose husband was outta town and she needed a dinner date and i owed her a birthday snack so that worked out...and she had just come back from burning man and had tales to tell.
ok...off to the pickle. come on down.

g. xo

endorsing?...um, maybe.

i can't say what's going to go here. but it could be interesting, or disgusting, or both. keep an eye out. i'm gonna. the splash page picture is enough to keep my interest.

go man go.

g. xo

1331..getting shit done...

some mornings are better than others in terms of getting shit done...this morning, pretty good.
i got up, made coffee, went to the shop, did some mower work, drove to lisa's in the west end and cut her lawn, went to choices and got some groceries and then came home and made myself a very nice smoothie...
and now i'm gonna get ready and go to the pickle for some exciting granville island action....
feel free to come on down...if you're so inclined.

g. xo

i see you've got a selection of salami...

"hi"
"hi"
"i see over in the case that you have a sign that says 'assorted salami', so i assume you have genoa salami"
"pardon?"
"the salami, it says you have a selection of various salami. do you have genoa?"
"um. i'm not sure what you mean"
"i'd like to get some salami"
"ok."
"you don't know what i'm talking about do you?"
"no"
"ok. i'll show you in the case."

such is getting lunch on granville island sometimes....bless her heart, why would she know what types of meats she sells if she's working in a specialty meat shop? i mean really. they have, at this one place, approx. ten different types of salami, all delicious i'm sure...just don't test them on them. i did end-up with a genoa style salami that was quite tasty.
today i got down here rather early as i had to drop-off the element for service - which is ending-up being more than just the regular service - i get new brakes as well....and so cheap...well, i guess i do have to stop. nice too that it's so close to granville island and i can just walk and get it at the end of my pickle day - not like previously when i was using pacific honda over on the north shore. drag.
megan came down to the island today for lunch with her work pal lindsay and we had a little lunch together. i have been making my own lunch, kinda, but today ventured out and had some of the indian food they offer up in the market...i had another confusing conversation with the food dude there as well,
"hi, i'll have the butter chicken combo"
"ok."
"what do i get with the butter chicken"
"yes"
"which one of the dishes do i add to the butter chicken for the combo"
"yes"
"um...so i can pick any of them" i say pointing to the food in the heat trays...
"yes"
"ok"
and so it goes at the market...it was nice to see megan and meet lindsay who i have heard mentioned many times before, and who, i think, has been to my house as she's part of the erin b. book club that shauna hosted one night at our place. small world. yup.
devon just came by as well, the gang's all here today, and we had a nice chit chat that we've been trying to have for a while now...we talked about her new noodle magnets and us getting together and making some cool display stands for so she can sell them earier etc...all very exciting...i like making shit so it'll be good.
ok...not much action here today in the way of sales...lots of looking...asking of questions...and such...maybe later on...

ok. have fun.

g. xo

devon rests her head on the desk at the pickle.

loving the painting action...anyone who knows me knows, i love painting stuff.


lindsay and megan dig the salad rolls.

showcase showdown

i have to say, i kinda like being mr. pickle. it's like being on vacation, kind of. maybe that makes no sense at all. but, i go to the market, get food, bring it back here, have a little lunch, chat with the peeps, sell a few things, and while i do come down here and hang out sometimes, it's different running the show. and while it is fun in a weird way, the setting up of the show cases every morning blows. the main window show cases have to be emptied every night so people can't do a smash and grab in the night....and it all has t go in the safe and then back out and put back on display every morning...i try and make it look nice but sometimes the necklaces can be a pain and .....oh...i think i may just be a little off this morning. i had to go and see my accountant this morning and see what the government needs from me in the way of a large cheque, and the weather has changed which always brings with it a nice pressure headache and congestion ....so, good times.
yesterday before coming to the pickle i mangaed to knock-off three lawns before coming here and getting into the swing of selling some jingus. i'm going to get a couple done after pickling tomorrow and then in the morning before pickling saturday and sunday....i know, set your clocks and write it all down, pretty exciting stuff...
more later...i need a snack.

i love you.

g. xo

bringing you the hits....

one finger at a time...

i love this song....

g. xo

cramped legs, bad movies and peanuts.

the kids headed off to england yesterday for a little r and r at the dunckle's place. why not?...they deserve a break from the pickle - and i've been mr. pickle before so, they're in goods hands there. i hope.
i did learn something yesterday that i didn't know, or maybe just didn't think about before. the whole ordeal of being there, the airport, three hours before your flight is such bullshit, but i thought that was the way it was...but yesterday, mishi and garbs checked-in, and then we all went for lunch to que pasa in richmond. i took them back when they had about and hour and a bit before their flight left. i was under the impression you had to check-in, go through customs, and then just sit. and wait. and wait. guess not. it worked out pretty well.
i hope the flight was ok you two, have fun.

g. xo

happy birthday senor tornack.

today is/was corie's birthday, the big 39, so it was margs and mexican food - why change now? - for his birthday meal. i had spoken to the queen of the universe earlier in the day and had invited her along for the extravaganza - i hadn't seen her for a while and she loves the skipper so...why not?...it was good....although katherine made the mistake of asking for extra cheese on her enchilada and with serge working, it really means extra cheese....and the cake we got in the end, with a nice candle in it, was far over regulation size as well...thanks topanga..and happy birthday corie.

g.


as i have decided to work through the entire topanga menu item by item, or more specifically, meal by meal, tonight was the burger.

neil and corie celebrate their birthdays....same day, same year.

katherine's extra cheese...and tonight they put our salads in bowls...

senor tornack.

garbs eats the goodness and more bomber action...

nice silver ugs.

this morning, after finally tidying up the shit that i had decided to either throw away or giveaway, shauna came over after her class and we headed-up to mink for a little coffee-chocolate goodness...i had only had coffee there but shauna had had their, seemingly, famous, blended coffee-chocolate drinks...so i thought i'd try one of them too..k-win was the one that turned us on to the fulbulousness that was and is mink...now, i don't think i could have too many of them babies but, it sure was good...they also have thier own chocolate bars and such...shauna bought one of them for later as well...aftrwards shauna had to her office so i went to run a few errands and ended-up hooking up with the garbs.
i had some suff they wanted - from my list of stuff on the blog earlier - so i was able to give him that stuff and then head down to capers so he sould get some of the wheatgrass he sems to love so much...it doesn't taste so good, but he knows it's, apparently, good for him...(you can tell by the photos below that it must taste really good...)
we then rode our bikes down to the island - which i'm not sure was a great thing for my back but it was a nice ride....i grabbed a coffee but had to leave soon after as i had to get home to get my shit together to play some more bomber hockey...and i had to get corie as well so he could bomber it up as well.
we won 4-2, but should have won by more....we didn't play nearly as well as yesterday but well enough to win...good enough i guess. i played ok but not as well as yesterday and i was hurting little from the bike ride....anyhow, good to be back doing some bombing.
earlier in the day i had dropped off some old rolls film at london drugs, rolls that i had no idea what was on them - no idea how old they were, nothing, but i felt complelled to find out....could be funny. well, actually, in the end, kinda dissappointing. turns out a couple of the rolls were from a rugby trip to england in 1981 - i think, and some party stuff - maybe my old movie nights i used to have in kits or maybe fawn's birthday party - so at least 12 years old...but nothing really great...nothing embarassing or compromising...oh well, i'm glad i finally got them developed...but besides a couple pics from my old place in kits, most of the pics are hard to even see due to the age of the film...
more later...

g. xo


garbs gets down with the wheatgrass.

lawns, bomber action and thinning the herd. oh, and tai's birthday....

this little dude is two today....

i had a couple of lawns to get at today and thought i'd get at them early as i had a hockey game at 1:45 pm, so i was at the dog lawn in richmond today fairly early and then down to victoria drive after that - and that lawn i have to say...ok, i better not say...maybe at the end of the season....
so...it was a return to the ice today after taking most of the summer off due to my fuckin' back...it was ok. sore, sure, but still kinda ok. i think i played ok for an guy with a bad back...i'm gonna relax tonight and see how i feel a little later on s we have another game tomorrow afternoon and i'd like to play but my back will be the boss of that one...oh, we won 5-2...nice bomber action.
i was also going to go for a ride on my motorcycle and was trying to remember where i put the key - it's not a regular type key....and gets lost from time to time and the other key i had went down a storm drain in the west end last year so....i was looking for my spare key tonight and looking through boxes and here and there, and nothing. i had, recently - very recently - come across it and put it somewhere so i'd remember where it was...and now...fuck. anyhow..as i went through some of my metal storage boxes - i am a collector of shit..good shit, but shit, nic nacks, flyers from shows, small toys, tape, old ram for computers, cables, a small black bible (?), and other jingus....so i decided that while i was looking for the key, i would also throw shit out...yup...throw shit out. and i have quite a pile of shit now to go into the recycling and the garbage. i also have stuff maybe you want...an old black small bible, pencil sharpener, fancy cables, etc...have a look at some of the pics and maybe you'll see something you really, really need...

ok...i'm getting back at it.

g. xo

we've decided that anna may be the best nightime cook at topanga...don't tell serge...

whatcha lookin' at garbs?

some crap you may want....32 meg sd card, yo-yo, mints, scotch tape.....

more stuff...pencil sharpener, cables, etc....

stuff going to the garbage....not the toys...

garbis gets down....

the garbis has been invited to participate in a couple art/toy shows in the US of A... pretty good. one of the shows is in arizona so he made a cone that's day of the dead inspired...nice. the pictures don;t do it justice, in person it's wicked. good work garbs.

g.

spidey sense or peter frampton...

every once in a while my spidey sense starts acting up....or as peter frampton says, "somethin's happenin'" maybe more on this later....
maybe not.

ok.

three lawns down today and now a trip out to issy's...good times.

g. xo

did i ever tell you i love painting?..

well, i don't. but i was at it today. today was the day to paint the floor at the new headquarter store in richmond and i made the mistake of giving a time estimate of how long it would take to do. so i told the garbs and mishi, "i think it'll take three hours at the most...."
ok. so i headed out to richmond at 3:30 pm with ricardo and i just got home now. it's 11:48 pm as i type this. a little longer than three hours, but in my defence, there was/were things beyond my control. and let me say this, i really like ricardo but, being ready isn't one of his stronger points. it was a good thing i brought brooms - he had none, and tape, and ....anyhow....it's all done now and i'm hoping it's ok because since there's no lights in there yet, i had to go to the shop - boc - and get some work lights that i couldn't actually set-up in the space itself because i was painting the floor, so...i'm hoping the coverage was/is ok...and besides, i only had enough to do one coat so...that's that.
ok...

have fun....

g. xo

a little look before the paint...

almost done...notice -it's dark outside unlike the picture above.

nice platform i had made for the new store. hard to tell there what it is...but it'll be wicked.