more grasshopper...garn-style!

day eight....

...and it isn't getting any easier...but i'm trying to stay the course and keep on keepin' on...but it's tough. thank god for ang, with her, thus far, being the saving grace for me and lawn order...and shauna for getting me where i need to go...but three months of this...? wow. i'm not going to say i don't think i'm gonna make it, because i have to, but it's hard...have i said how hard it is yet.
the day to day stuff is no big deal - walking to do errands and such - no biggie. the problem lies in that i use the element for work, to make money, there in lies the difference. but for me it's more than that, it's the being able to go when i want to go, that's the big deal. i hate having to rely on others schedules and i don't want to disrupt them from their day to day....for me, because i lost my right to drive. not their fault so when i find myself getting worked up, i try and remember that...but...it's hard. i have always been an independent sort. for now, in regards to driving and moving about, i am not. tough one.
someone said, "it'll go fast"...in reference to the three months....no it won't. it will finally expire, the time i have been given, but it won't go fast, shit, i'm only on day eight of 90...ha ha ....82 to go...i'll tell you what'll go fast, my sanity.
oh well, no sense complaining, which isn't what i'm doing here, i hope, i'm just sayin', ya know? know what i mean willis?

g. xo

grasshopper

shauna and ang have been taking some bootcamp type classes - mega workout classes - and one of the things they've been doing is some kickboxing...
don't cross her....

g. xo

sweatin' with the oldies...

what a weekend....
i can't remember everything but suffice to say, it was kinda busy.
but what the fuck did i do exactly???
wow...brain dead.
yesterday was game two of three in a row for the bombers...saturday we only had nine players - which pretty much means you're on the ice much more than you're on the bench, a fuck of a lot more...sunday's game was a little different - we had one less player...so even more ice time. we lost both games but i thought we actually played very well...if we could play like that when we have a full bench, we've be great...
after yesterday's morning game ang and i went out and cut three fairly big lawns - one of which was the huge dog lawn - so by the time we were done ang was knackered as was i...
we headed back and grabbed shauna and went over to north van for some sushi and then met-up with mishi and garbs for some ice cream at mum's on denman street...nice.
the rest of my forgotten weekend, and i'm sure it'll come back to me slowly throughout the day, was lawn cutting and hanging out...i know we watched a little dexter, went to an art opening thingy for emilie's pal billy....wow, i'm losing it...and it rained...

have a great monday..

talk soon.

g. xo

what to do...

as the days go by and the time gets longer between the last show and a new show - of which there is none on the horizon....i start to wonder about staying in the biz...this happens every time so it's not new but it's still enough to send my mind into overdrive and make me wonder about the future - my future....i have become pigeon holed amonst my group of fellow workers. i used to work on set more and was always a decent pair of hands there but most have forgotten my days there as now i am regarded as the guy who runs the office - the secretary. it's also hard as it rains and rains, and i know i'm not the only one who feels this way, to see the other side of anything. hard to cut lawns in the rain, having no license is a bummer as well, and the fact that everyone else in my 'crew', dan, joel, corie, al and eric, are all working on other shows...anyhow...it's a bummer.
i really should look into other options. make lawn order more of a handyman kind of thing...mr. sort of fix-it....go back and get a trade at BCIT or something. the main problem is i have no idea what i'd like to do - not a clue. so i'm looking for suggestions...or maybe i should open that coffee shop i've been thinking of for the last 15 years....or something. maybe 1-800-askgarn is a viable option...maybe not. or www.askgarn.com....people call me looking for shit so maybe, just maybe...you can make some decent money picking up cans if you really apply yourself.
anyhow...if you have any ideas, please let me know...if a film job comes along, i'll take it but i really need to look around...maybe i could form a rock and roll band...

g. xo

wings!

sorry sid.

nice.

g. xo

talk is cheap - lawn order shirts cost $$$$

there have been a few people, as there are every year, asking me about lawn order shirts and hoodies. i don't mind, and in fact, like making them but i always seem to lose in the end....as much as it may seem like it, i'm not made of money....and i need at least 20 orders to make it worthwhile for me to order them and to rosa (my shirt guy) to print them....so....i'm putting it out there.

$15.00 t-shirts
$40.00 hoodies.

trust me i'm not getting rich on this....

if you'd like one and promise to actually pay me when you get it, or pre-pay me..and i can get at least twenty orders..then ill do it....
e.mail me for more details...

i love you.

g. xo

grad 2008 vs. grad 1982

i love the grad shoes the best....

last night my good pal craig, his daughter Aleita graduated from high school...good for her..get the hell outta that place and now get to some real book learnin'....elsewhere. high school is just shot-gunning beer and smokin' pot anyways...oh, and for me, some frisbee golf.
congrats aleita...

garn


this is an ad a friend of mine put together that used a picture of me and all my pals on our grad night. it's for DRY GRAD...right. we were all heavy supporters of dry grad. this ad hung in liquor stores a few years ago. funny. guess who i am in the picture.

me and sammy...

(this is where the picture of rock and roller sammy hagar was suppose to be....the red rocker, mr. i can't drive 55....anyhow, blogger is having problems so....just imagine a picture of him here...)

the powers that be - in this case ICBC - have decided that i am a threat to public safety, and for that reason, have decided to take my license to drive away for three months.
bummer.
in the last two years i have received four speeding tickets, all in the same locale, near the BOC shop...previous to this, say the ten years previous, i had a pretty good record in this regard. in fact, i can't remember my last speeding ticket in canada before that...anyhow, i am now without and because if this may be bumming a few rides for the next three months...
now is the time when old garn calls in a few favors here and there - and trust me, if i ask you for a ride or help one day, know that it took a lot for me to call you....i don't like asking for help. i like giving it, i don't like getting it.
there was a letter written in my defense, that they said i could write, to try and change their minds, but it didn't work, at all. and there's another appeal process that involves the supreme court of british columbia, but really, i think it's better to just start the clock now and move forward...
am i bummed? yup...there's a certain independence i've enjoyed the better part of my life having wheels i can turn to. and for the next few months i won't have them...that's a bummer...but it'll work out, i know that, it'll just be....a bummer.
ang and the arbs are gonna help ut with the lawn order driving duties and shauna has thrown her hat into the ring, which is excellent....since she lives so close and i can ask anytime for a ride when i need one....and she's a good driver...mishi and marcy have both offered up their services as well...
so i'm all set to start my term, which i suppose has actually already started. day one or ninety, today. i'm already looking towards day number two - its gonna be wicked.

i love you all.

g. xo

debt update...

for those of you scoring at home....

laurie mercer and rich rock still owe me money.

g. xo

garbs gear hits the streets....

more on this a little later....but for now...a pic or two of some new garbs gear.

g. xo

lawns, jingus and being a grown delivery boy....

ang and i kicked some lawn order ass today - including (quite possibly) the longest grass i've ever had to cut...so long it almost completely obscured the mower from view...ang was give 'er big time today...atta girl!
we were also out delivering a special treat for some of the kids...and i think those who received the goods are happy with their new gear...more on this later...as it develops...

ok...i need to have a little relax...

have fun...

g. xo

ang gives 'er...

what the....?

manny!

the garbs and i went to see the mariners play the boston red sox yesterday in seattle...i had cut a lawn in the morning and then, for some reason, we didn't eat again until we were in seattle around 4 p.m....we had gone out to get larry to take him instead of the elephant and issy had given us some muffins but that was it....so when we got to seattle we were starvin'...and ate too much in a short amount of time...
i'm not going to say who ate what and such because the list is impressive, or sickening, either way....three Dick's deluxe burgers, one Dick's cheeseburger, a chili releno, two enchiladas, a beef taco, three margaritas, two bottles of beer, two baskets of chips and four open face peanut butter sandwiches at issy's at 2 a.m....the dick's food and mexican food was all eaten within 45 minutes of each other...
ok...
it was fun hanging out with the garbs - who had forgotten both a pair of pants to change into and a jacket of any sort, so he was a little chilly. a woman we sat next to at the game let him use her blanket for an inning or so...good times...
ok..i need to go cut a few lawns....i've got a burger to burn off....

g. xo

peanut chucker in action at safeco field.

full mullet action.

blurry seattle action.

garbs loves the blanket.

garbs movin'!

more movin'.

say hey!

tonight we all went out to topanga for some grub...i decided i needed to try on everyone's sunglasses...katherine's, corie's...and eat like a champ as well...
it was a big day of running errands, cutting lawns, paying taxes and accounting bills, planting shit on my balconey...so, why not celebrate by trying on sunglasses, drinking margs and eating a beef burrito el presidente?
good times...

g. xo

and in this corner...

someone, who also had laurie mercer own him money (and maybe he still does i dunno) - i will not name names here, sent me this google search...if you put in laurie's name my post on the blog comes up on page four...i love it.

good times.

g. xo

three more things...kinda the same...

actually four...i recounted...
a little basil, curry plant, tomatoes and chives....good times....
it was bill paying day today...bills i had been kinda siting on....like a dork. but, now it's all done, for now and i can relax and get ready for baseball tomorrow in seattle with the garbs...

have fun.

g. xo

check out my green thumb action...

getting out, gettin' shit done....

i was just thinking about my report and it just seems kinda...boring so...i present to you, instead, three pictures of the same thing....
just 'cause.

g. xo

in the depths of burnaby there is a lawn...

i've cut and do cut a few lawns in burnaby..i don't mind. my main men steve, leroy and al live out there so...it can't be a bad place.. sure, it's a drive but if i do it early enough or later in the day, it's easy...yesterday a woman called me up and left a message on the lawn order hotline, and through both broken english and a harsh phone connection, gathered that she needed it done by 11 a.m. this morning...ok. fine. so after another actual one on one conversation i figured out where she lived - basically at the foot of burnaby mountain...holy cow! and that i had to enter from the alley or something...once i got there i discovered it was a completely wierd area to navigate and that her street, or drive or alley, wasn't one they decided to put actual signs on....why bother? and since i had forgotten my phone at home...i couldn't call her....good times. 8:45 a.m. on a sunday morning...and no phone. i finally found it mainly because it was the only lawn near where she had said she lived that looked like a typical lawn order lawn...and so it began...
it was long and probably hadn't been cut in a month or more...and apparently the guy who cut it before did it for 20 bux...i told her that wasn't going to be the price this time...and then it was time to cut....
i need some food now...

more details later...

g. xo

photos from the last few days....

some before shots of todays action




and after.

marcy gave me some plants for the window boxes...they're gonna be great!


the other night at topanga mishi figured the new store next to poontango was meant for her...all black and white...


put and old mower body out and someone will take it...pronto.

bullets, burritos and guns....and some lawns for good measure.

it was a week to be sure. i remember it well...
i had dinner with mark mushet at topanga on...i think...wed?...shit...maybe it was tuesday...nope, wed. we don't eat together nearly enough so i should be able to remember this details, when it was, more clearly...anyhow...nice to sit down with him. his magazine, the vancouver review, has been nominated, again, for some magazine (duh) awards and he should be proud of that....good for you, and his finer better half and other half of the magazine, gudrun will. we ate like champs and then went back to his place where i saw some things i can't report on, kind of, stole some cd's to listen to and then split...i'm like that.
fawn and i made the scene at savary island pie company as well this week...and then afterwards i ran a few errands with her as well - mac cosmetics first followed by american apparel. it's always great to hang out with the fawnz....
cut a few lawns this week, more than a few, including judy's lawn - mother of jessica (who's lawn i also cut...that sounds weird...) and wife of tom zallen - one of the world's great guys..he still is even though he's gone...and the russian mafia lawn out in burnaby, except it turned out that the russian woman i met the first time, is/was not the 'russian'. she was and is the mother in law and this time i met the actual russian'..it was confusing at first but i figured it out...maybe you had to be there.
yesterday was a six lawn day...big day. that's all i have to say about that.
today, two lawns - including a brand new client which is always nice (and they seem really nice and regular..a bit of a shocker...lol) and a nice big sandwich at bosa - garbs' favorite sandwich - the bosa club....it's a fuckin meal to be sure.
marcy gave me some bedding plants for the deck so i'm kinda excited about that...i love the flowers on the deck...more therapy...thanks marcy...
and now, i wait for the finals of the stanley cup layoffs to begin...the mighty wings against the penguins. and i'll say it right now...i'm not that concerned with who wins as long as it goes at least six games...it's been a long time since there was a match-up like this one...it should be very entertaining...

ok...rock on.

g. xo

nice new lawn at 43rd and fraser...

i cut this one after the guy who lives i that place came across the road saying, "hey!"...and then...you know it's a long story that's kinda funny in it's long form but maybe it won't translate here...nice guy. i was happy to cut his lawn.

my first mower finally bites the dust. i was given this mower when i first started lawn order by dan cervin, a godd guy and co-worker. it's finally had to be retired. the engine is still good so i'll use it for parts, but the rest is shitola. see ya buddy - you were a good mower, i'll miss ya.



yes...there were some pics here....now they're gone...

laurie mercer owes me money.

this is laurie mercer. i cut his lawn. he owes me money. (please refer to the blog dated may 13th entitled 'assholes, dog shit and rim-lickers...' for details on this problema.) i did e.mail him and asked him what he meant by fair' when he only paid me part of the money he owed me - no response. so....like another vancouver (now kelowna) deatbeat - rich rock, he has decided not to pay me - seemingly. nice. and just so it's out there and this question is and has been answered, there was never any debate about cost of cutting his lawn - the good guy family and friends price of $25.00 per cut, or the total amount owed for almost and entire season of cutting.
so there ya have it.
i'm not happy to have to put this up but fuck it...i'm not here to be a door mat...and if someone thinks that i'm gonna do work for them, at a set price and then be happy with getting less than i have worked for and deserve, and i should think that's fair...fuck that shit. let's fuckin' jam.

g. xo