well I am alive after all... I had a very long drive and of course there were a few highlights of the trip... before I get into that ... first I will begin by saying I've been up to some strange things I've never done before and since I dont have regular access to internet I"m going to try to date my information accordingly (since I'm quite forgetfull this could be quite a task) on the beginning of my trip I was flagged off by a Bald Eagle.... it actually swooped down in front of the car.. I was in so much awe that I nearly went off the road..... well probably not but I did slow down to check it out... sadly no pictures but I did think to stop to take them... I figured by the time I get the camera set up it would be gone by my cars calculations I drove 4334 km (I think I missed three stops milage though) I know this is wrong because the actual distance listed on the maps from where I am and the cape is at least 5000 km's and I dont think I took any shortcuts (perhaps) ... I put 531 liters of fuel in the car... now this statistic probably wont be interesting to anyone but me but from coast to nearly other coast I was only passed aprox 18 times... I lost count in Montreal but that place doesn't count because they drive like nutz there.... and I was trying to locate the turnoff for a new route I wanted to try... needless to say I didn't find it .. but I know where it is now for next time... anyway the most important stats are of course how many cops I saw.... this would include 18... 3 of which had flashing lights... boring isn't it... no.. actually it's not... one of these wonderful police officers with flashing lights decided it would be time to pull me over.... yes I got pulled over in th emiddle of buttfuck nowhere....

the story goes like this: I was driving along behind a transport truck... I have a new love for driving behind them because at night it is safer and as long as there aren't any hills you tend to motor on at a constant rate of speed... if you get behind the right one you motor along above the speed limit just enough so you dont get pulled over ... and of course if they are passing people you know it's gonna be safe to pass too.... anyway this truck I"m following is doing 100 in a 90 zone so this suits me fine because the roads are twisty.. anyway we are going along just fine and I'm getting the time to pull over feeling.. (sleepy) I nearly pulled over into a truck stop but was going to fast and missed it because all the lights were out so I decided to keep going to the next one.... mistake ... we motor along until we come to another town..... we slow down to the speed limit through towns of course and there hasn't been anyone behind us for ages when all of a sudden there is a car behind me and real close too.... I think to myself it's a cop..... but keep going..... we are about to pick up speed again on the other side of town when all of a sudden the flashing lights come on confirming yep.. it's a damned cop.... I pull over to let him go by.. because I"m not doing anything wrong... he pulls over behind me.. fuck.. what the hell does this dick want???... perhaps he was lonely and needed some company... meanwhile my driving companion is speeding away... not cool.... I roll down the window and nearly forget to turn down the music.... (I dun think he would appretiate trying to speak to me over the music... might arrest me) he says good evening sir.... what a fuckn opening ... I refrain from saying it certainly was and just agree with him... he asks me for my paperwork... I conveniently have it ready for him of course (I know how these things work because I've been in the car with other people being pulled over many times) he asks me the usual questions like where am I headed and where coming from.... then he asks have I been pulled over before.. I say never in my life.. (this isn't true but he doesn't need to know that) he replies with so I popped your cherry.... geez I refrain from making an idiotic sexual comment and say I guess so.... the guy then tells me why he pulled me over.... it was because a bulb that shines on my license plate was burned out.... WHAT????? this dickhead was pulling random people over to fuck with them trying to locate bad people.... yew fukn dick!!!! anyway all my shit was in order and I was obeying the law so he goes back to his car and checks it out... legit... he comes back and tells me so and ends with have a safe trip... there's a tim hortons ahead if you want to pull over for a bit...... ok so not only is he a dick but he lied to me too.... after I pulled away and drove off I did not pass a tim nortons anywhere near there... but that was my big scare of the entire trip
perhaps this isn't exactly true... there were a couple other scary moments but I dont concider them really scary because I"m a competant driver and wasn't in any real danger.... but cops pulling me over scare the crap out of me... but only because I could potentially lose my license if they want to be a prick about it... anyway the other moments consist of mostly bad drivers... I was driving along at a good clip of speed in the praries.. yes of course I was doing above the limit but all of a sudden some dick decided to pull out in front of me ... this wouldn't bother me except as soon as he pulled out he hit the breaks.... what??????? so I slow down.. maybe he has some sort of perception that a cop is ahead and figures he'd be kind and let me know the only way he could.... course not he was being a dick... he pulled back into the slow lane seconds after he did this and proceeded along... I had slowed down so I didn't plow into him (not slamming the breaks on of course cause I"m a competant driver) anyway after a few moments of caution and checking out the area to verify the possability of cops presense.. nope none... I pick up speed again... as I"m passing the asshole he's got his hands over the side of his face to sheild the embarasement of what he just did.. he either didn't see me until it was too late or he did it to be a dick... I"m voting for the second option... he's lucky I was not in the mood for retaliation.. I realy wanted to pull in front of him and hit the breaks ... but I had places to be and didn't want to ruin the trip......

another moment is one of the reasons that I like following transport trucks at night... you see there is a danger of wildlife wandering onto the road and nobody wants that to happen because they make very big messes with vehicles... well I should say ordinary cars and trucks... transport trucks are different... unless we are talking bear or moose... well as I am driving along behind one of the trucks I see the truck kind of swerve all of a sudden and then the trailer kinda jumps in the air a bit... next thing I see is an animal flying out the back end.... I safely divert my car around the carcass being ejected by the truck... and found a new appretiation for driving behindn them... they plow down the animals and I dont hurt my car

sadly there may be one more scary adventure for some... I think if I had been closer to home this may have had a different outcome but I shall explain that after.. I'm not sure if anyone reading this has ever seen them wide load trucks before but for those that haven't it's a truck that is carrying stuff on the trailer that is abnormally large and takes up more than the actual lane they are driving in.... these perticular trucks normally have another smaller truck ahead or behind them to let other drivers know that there is a large load behind or ahead and you are being warned to take caution.... I came accross a number of these on my trip but one in perticular sticks out because the warning truck that was in front of it was coming around the turn ..... in the wrong fuking lane.... yes my lane.. he was driving straight at me... luckily we were in a town at the time and I am very aware of my surroundings so I slowed down.... I look at the moron driving the truck he's waving his hands furriously for me to pull over or something... I dont actualy know what's going on till I get around the corner.... oh by the way the guy swerved back into his lane after I slowed down and pulled off to the shoulder... but he freaked me out.... anyway around the corner I saw the reason for his maniacle escapade.... a transport truck was carrying a house... yes a house... not a trailer house a huge ass fukn house... but it's worse than that... he's driving over a small bridge that narrows the road so there is no room for anyone to get by... I'm no longer cursing the stupid moron that was driving head on in my lane.... I could have been a new doormat or something (probably not since the speed limit was 50 anyway) ... but needless to say those were the scary moments.....

the alternate side to the last part of the story was that since I"m driving an extravagant Kcar I would have plowed into the dickhead and claimed emotional damages as well as all kinds of other things... the stupid fuck would have had to give me a new car as compensation... but I didn't want to be stuck in buttfuck nowhere for days....

other possible events would include sightseeing ... I came accross a 30 foot statue of a snowman.... another town had a depiction of two mooose being stalked by wolves... it was pretty cool.. I wish I had pulled over to take a picture.. another thing of interest to me was yards full of logs... now I dont mean peoples home yards.... these yards are huge lots for processing plants .. the logs were being processed into something else... I took a picture of this because it was facinating... the picture only shows a portion of the logs... the logs could probably fill a football field entirely.. yes tall ways as well..
I dont recall anything else of any importance except it was fucking cold waking up in the morning in the car.... yes I slept in the car on the way.. it was cheaper and since I did the trip alone I didn't have to worry about comfort that much... I probably could have done the trip in 3 days as well but I spent the night at my buddy georges in new brunswick which cost me at least 9 hours of driving.. but it was well worth it....

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my first day in alberta found me driving a standard for the first time in canada... I've driven one before but I didn't go above second gear... it was quite the adventre.... the first time was in england and I was driving in a parking lot to get used to using the clutch... I stalled it a couple times of course... but quickly got the hang of it... I was driving a saab of all things lol... nice fancy car and very easy clutch... the second was a beater clio.... (yew can look this up it's kinda like a chevette but nicer) I drove it from the auto shop to my g/f's place of employment because there wasn't anyone else to drive .... it was exciting at the time cause I had never done it before.... oh and I didn't stall it once along the way lol..... anyway back to the story at hand... my new car is a mustang... what I wasn't told about it was that it has a standard transmission... joy... I had not had any real practice driving one and was expected to drive this around town..... yes it is a really nice fancy car but driving a standard?? not sure I can do this... I get in the car and try to start it... I"m doing this all by myself.... nobody is showing me anything because dad is gone somewhere.... it wont start... I rememmber I have to push in the clutch... ok so the car starts... cool.. I put it in reverse.. it backs up.. rather it rolls back... I give it some gas.. it revs the engine. it's not in gear... as you may know I'm a short fella... the seat is as far forward as it goes... my feet reach the peddles but not enough to comfortably put the clutch far enough to switch gears.... loverly.... the car backs up far enough and I push the clutch in again and put it in first... finally a successful gear change... as I'm letting off the clutch and giving it gas the car stalls.... shit!!... I take it out of gear again and start it up.... put in gear and try to pull away ... stall... this is gonna be fun... I repeat the proceedure again... this time I start moving forward with a shaky shift.... I get to the end of the drivway in first... break check both ways and pull out onto the gravel road... the moment comes for me to shift gears... amazingly I get into second just fine (except for the car shaking violently) an example would be if you have seen the movie twins when arnold is trying to drive a car for the first time.... anyway I drive along and make some more shifts.. I"m in 4th heading down the gravel road... I'm geatting the hang of it.... I smile as I make the turn onto the main road to town .. this is awesome.. I pick up speed again and all of a sudden the car starts swaying back and forth in the back end.. it's a bit difficult to control but I manage... I am a professional after all... the rear tire is low in air pressure .. this is causing most of the swaying... (one of my directions for taking the car was to put air in the tires) I no longer am smiling as it's not as comfortable a ride as I'm used to.... I get to the gas station and pull close to the air thingamajig... but as I'm slowing down the car stalls... I coast up to where I need to be and stop the car... I fill up the tire that is needed and decide to put some air in the rest of the tires... the hose wont reach them... shit.... I start the car and try to manover it to a convenient location for all the tires to be filled... after stalling a number of times I finally get into a position suitable... I fill the tires to an appropriate level and while doing the last one I test it but notice the car is rolling... oh fuk it's not in gear while it's off... neutral will allow the car to roll anywhere of course... luckily I'm not on any incline so it doesn't roll much... I put the hose away and get back in the car... start it up and get the hell out of the gas station before anyone has a chance to notice my lack of knowledge of driving a standard... I contemplate takingn the car for a drive to town for shopping (my original reason for going in the first place) well I make a wrong turn and end up in a dead end..... in my attempt to slow down and turn around some idiot.. I mean impatiant person behind me whips around me and I nearly hit him as I turn left into a parking lot to turn around.... (the car had stalled as I'm doing this) I'm no longer having fun with the car..... but I am determined... I drive to the town and turn around because I'm still getting used to the car... I park it and then go through the motions of turning off and on then backing out and such... I'm getting used to the machine.... I"m beginning to feel more comfortable when again I make a wrong turn ... the whole fiasco goes again as I"m tring to recover from my mistaken turn... this time I dont have an idiot behind me passing me or whatever... but I do stall the car as I try to turn around lol... I finally get back to the main road and head back to the farm... (yes I live on a farm people) I get on the highway and motor on... I switch through the gears and pick up speed to the limit... the limit is 110 here.... once I'm through the gears I can drive the beast properly.. it's when I slow down or am getting up to spead that I have a problem.... since I am up to speed I am actually gaining on people... I pass someone for the first time in a standard.... I'm smiling wide again... then the wipers come on by themselves... what the hell??? this car needs some work.... when I get back to the farm my father decides to let me in on a few aspects of the car... all of which I figured out but could have enjoyed the warning beforhand.. thanks... but at least I am able to drive a standard now.... not well but I'll learn... the car goes up for sale very soon (thankfully lol)

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march 18th
so I have a job of sorts... I'll be hauling cars to a junk lot so they can be crushed... in order to pepair for this job I had to get a trailer fixed.. by this I mean the lights in the back needed to be hooked up so they can be used properly.. you know signal lights and such... the wires have been severed and will not connect to the back of the truck perperly... we have to redo the connections... this turns into an annoying task because we have to rebuild the connectors and have the wires put in the correct locations... the connectors being used are makeshift though so they dont fit in properly... anyway after a while of confusion we discover that the signals work but the rest of it doesn't work when connected up... for some odd reason the lights were screwing up when everything was connected in together.... luckily I'm on a scrap yard so we locate another trailer and rip the connectors off it to use on the trailer we are about to use.... after connecting the wires up everything seems to start working properly magic.. now I can start driving the truck with the trailer....

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march 19th
day one of the tow trucking was actually quite interesting... I learned how to use a tow truck and use it to rig up cars onto the back of the trailer... we picked up a number of cars and dragged them back to where they needed to be... it's not glorious work but with every trip I'm learning a few things at a time... sadly the trip is an hour an half each way so most of the time is just driving around.... even worse on the last trip of the day the truck broke down... fuel pump blew.... luckily I'm working for mechanics and of course everything is all taken care of relatively quickly.... but at least I learned how to use a tow truck ...

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march 20th
I nearly died today (supposedly) in southern alberta there is a lot of wind... and I mean lots of it... there is so much wind that people complain about it like people complain about rain or snow.... they complain about the wind because it is almost as frequent as rain or snow in other areas.... (snow and rain dont happen often here) anyway getting off topic... I almost died today...... driving truck you can feel the wind blowing against the truck as you drive around.... add a trailer..... it's not nice... especially the strong ass winds that blow through here.... so I am driving along the highway and I feel the back of my truck start to swing back and forth... it's only subtle but enough to creep me out... I get the truck back under control and keep going on.... a while later I'm suddenly feeling the same thing the trailer is whipping back and forth but with each swing it's getting more violent.... never being in this situation before I am not completely sure what to do so I let off the gas and try to steer back into control... it's not happening... the trailer whips more violently.... I'm not freaking out but am concerned..... I try breaks.... wrong fukn idea.... the trailer responds with pushing my truck the other way while the trailer keeps going.. I jackknife of sorts and come off the road..... thankfully I'm in farm country so the ditches are quite large.... somehow the truck starts going the right way and I am once again in a straight line.... I pound on the breaks.... oh hell there is a fence in front of me.... too late it's wrapped around my truck.... I plow through the fence post and come to a stop finally... the damage is done... I'm alive.... but the guy I'm driving behind (who happens to be my dad) is motoring away.... I'm not sure if he saw what happened or not but he needed to find a place to turn around I spose.... I get out of the truck... mostly embarassed and pissed off about what happened... I'm in a farm field plowed through a barb wire fence and people are gawking at me from their cars and trucks.... I scream out...."FUCK!!!!!"

perhaps this was uncalled for but it's what happened.... I inspect the damage... one broken fence post... no big deal... the truck is fine.... the car I'm towing is still on the trailer.... the trailer... damn.... the tires are screwed up on one side... it's not going anywhere anytime soon... loverly.... but I'm alive... for now.... my dad ends up getting back to inspect things.... just before he gets there the owner of the land comes by.... great just what I need.... thankfully all he says is are you gonna replace the fence? well I spose so bud I kinda went through it .... and again I'm alive.... so we call the owner of the trucks and inform him of what's goin on and come up with a plan of action.... we disconnect the trailer... the truck starts ... good.. we then get the hell out of there.... tomorrow we will clean up the mess of the trailer..... and yet I'm alive ... more pissed off than anything... oddly enough not even shaking or anything (I've been in worse accidents but never actually driving in one haha)

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March 21st
the trek out to clean up my mess from the day before begins with filling the front tire with air... the tire must have gotten a small leak from the barb wire that was used in the fence... anyway we get out to the scene of the great wreck and count the tire tracks.. they add up to more than what I was driving.. .it's incredible.... well we hooked onto the car on the trailer and dragged the damned thing off then got to work on the trailer... I took the wheels off the back end and we found that the rotor for the wheel had blown up but the axle seemed fine... I replaced the flat wheel with a full one and left the back axle empty.... we dragged the trailer out of the mud and hooked back up to the truck.... and all that was left was fixing the fence.... well the fence post was destroyed so we rigged the barb wire together so it would hold together... I noticed in the field that there were two horses wandering around..... (they weren't there the day before) I wonder if the owner had put them in there so that he might be able to charge me.... anyway it doesn't matter everything is all taken care of now ... all I have to do is stay on the road from now on....

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march 22nd
it never ends.... I dare say that I may be in a world of trouble... it's weeks before my actual job building houses starts and my temporary fake employment is causing more grief than it's worth... I went with the tow truck (since the trailer is dead) on my own for the first time today ... it's a standard so I was a bit worried that I might not be able to handle it.... it was easy... the clutch is smooth.. it's just a matter of holding it in while breaking (something I"ve gotten used to) I made it all the way out to the lot.. hooked up to a big van and dragged it back to where I needed to be... I got to about 5 minutes or less away from the salvage yard when all of a sudden a cop stops me... what the hell!!!!
the cop wants to write me up on something.... he tells me that it might not be safe for me to be driving this thing... well umm ok maybe I did something wrong hooking it up... well I only did what I was shown (actually I wasn't really shown specifically but he doesn't need to know that) the guy gives me a demonstration on second layer safety (yew know just in case the first layer fails) and we go over some other things... the guy lets me off with a warning... I'm a sob story after all... umm no .. I didn't cry.. geez... well after this I get the truck back to the yard and all of a sudden the damned thing stalls... I can't start it... apparently there is a trick to it but the owner is gone.... after lunch I'll go back and try again... maybe even go get another car.. of coursre if I"m not fired...

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March 27th
I've been driving the tow truck for a week by myself and haven't had any issues until yesterday... I went to get one of the salvage cars but nothing was ready for towing... what a pain in the ass so I wasted a trip ... but that doesn't matter I believe after todays events I will not be doing this anymore..... today me and my dad went out to get a vehicle and after half an hour of hooking up dragging and then disconnecting then reconnecting properly (this was a flatbed truck and did not have any rear wheel anything so it was a pain to try to drag out of the lot it was on) we get on the road.... we get to the bottom of the hill and some dood drives up to us saying the truck was his and that he was calling the police..... great just what I need.... we drag the piece of shit truck back to the top of the hill and put it back on the lot we took it from and the police arrive.... the officer asks the guy if he has paperwork for the truck and the man says no..... what a prick... he couldn't prove it was his and wasted our time.... but I dont want to get mixed up in any more legalities over cars that are potentially stolen.... it's time to find a new profession