.”
After we heard “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” by Tears for Fears at Dairy Queen last
week, you asked me if I know which one of my parents would want to rule the world more than the
other one and then I said that I think I myself I would want to rule the world more than either
of them. I asked my mom this question last Thursday after you left and she thought probably my
dad would want to rule the world more than she wants to because he’s the more bossy one. Like
you said, maybe that’s why the group wrote the song...because maybe everybody does want
to rule the world. And I didn’t know whether Tears for Fears is a group or a guy’s “stage name”
until you told me on Thursday that they are a group, an example of someone who I thought was the
name of a group until a few years ago when I learned that his stage name is “Sting” and he’s the
only person who I can think of off the top of my head who has a stage name.
The first stop for my parents after they left the house while you were here last Thursday was
the Safeway where you regularly shop at 138th and 72nd and where they picked up a few things as
well as gassed up my mom’s car at the pumps. My dad changed his mind and decided to go to
Spagnols another time, so after Safeway he and my mom just went to the Starlight Casino until it
was time for them to come home. He went to Spagnols during his lunch the next day (on
Friday), Spagnols is only a ten minute drive from where my dad works. My parents picked me up
some more Coppertone spray lotion at your Safeway last Thursday, this stuff she got at your
Safeway is SPF 50 and she normally buys me SPF 30. She said that SPF 50 should be better than
SPF 30.
My meals and snacks for the last week:
• You couldn’t remember everything that I had for supper after you left last Monday
(the 28th). And then when I told you my mom picked up barbeque salmon for me when she was at Safeway earlier that day, you said that you didn’t know why they call it “barbeque” salmon if it wasn’t cooked on the barbeque. I asked my mom and she doesn’t know why they call it that either, all she would say was that it might be because of the flavouring it has on it or how it’s cooked. My mom also said that she doesn’t know whether or not the barbeque salmon that I like is actually cooked on the barbeque. I’ll also let you know BTW that I don’t like anything else that’s cooked on the barbeque though I like both barbeque salmon and Safeway barbeque chicken, I prefer most of the things I eat to be cooked on the stove.
• You also asked me when you were here last Thursday (May the 1st) if I knew what I
was going to have for supper that night, I had some Shake 'n Bake chicken that was leftover from
a few nights before and I had it with some of the Save-On brand hash browns as well as cucumbers
with LITEHOUSE brand ranch dip.
• Wednesday Apr.30,2008: I had one of the last two pieces of chocolate fudge cake for my
dessert after supper and my mom and dad shared the other slice, so now that’s all gone. I
remember after you read about my plans to make a confetti Angel food cake you said that my mom
shouldn’t have to make a cake for her own special day (Mother’s Day). She made a
chocolate covered strawberry cake last year for Mother’s Day, and she won’t be making it for her
own special day anymore if we don’t end up making it until the Victoria Day weekend. You thought
that you shouldn’t have any plans for the holiday Monday which is the 19th of this month and
should be able to come here no problem on that date. I thought that if we make a cake and if my
parents wanted to get together with my grandparents (my dad’s parents) and do something,
maybe you and I could have a Chinese supper either on the holiday Monday or on the day
before (Sunday the 18th). Or if we make the cake a bit earlier in the week, another date
could be Thursday the 15th if my dad can get that day off work to spend with my
grandparents.
• Thursday May 1,2008: I had the last “Kellogg's Holiday RICE KRISPIES SQUARE” for my dessert
after lunch, and now those are finally gone too.
• Thursday May 1,2008 - evening snack: My mom got a pack of six blueberry muffins when she
was at your Safeway earlier that day, I had one for my snack that evening.
• Friday May 2,2008 - supper: I had deviled eggs with chicken lunchmeat and I finished the
coleslaw that I told you my mom got from the Safeway deli section last Monday (the 28th).
• Friday May 2,2008 - evening snack: My mom also got some more Trophy Whole Cashews at your
Safeway, I had some of those for my snack that evening.
• Sunday May 4,2008: My mom opened the second box of original/Classic Girl Guide cookies that
my dad bought after I had finished the first box earlier last week, I had the first two out of
the second box for my dessert after lunch today.
• And I think I’ll have Doritos for my snack this evening.
I remember you told me that you got a free pedometer from Safeway. And then after you told me
what one was I told you that your description sounds familiar to me, that was because Dave at my
dad’s work, who lives in Maple Ridge, gave a pedometer to everybody at work including my dad. My
dad gave his to Takashi a while later because the one that Dave already gave to Takashi broke
and also because my dad never used his.
I went out with my dad yesterday morning to do our Mother’s Day shopping, first we went for
lunch at the A&W on 200th Street that isn’t too far from Willowbrook Mall. I had my whistle dog,
medium fries, and medium Sprite and my dad had a Chubby Chicken Burger Combo with fries and a
root beer to drink. And I had to spend a few minutes in the washroom going poop after I finished
my lunch and before we left the A&W, I couldn’t figure out how to lock the door on the only
stall in the men’s washroom so I had to run out, get my dad, and then bring him back into the
washroom with me so that he could show me how to work the lock. My dad could see that the
regular lock was broken and the door had a temporary slide latch on it that didn’t line up, so
my dad had to lift the door for me to get the latch to slide in. He had to come back when I was
finished 15 minutes later and open the door for me because I couldn’t lock or unlock that
sliding lock myself, I wouldn’t have had any problems if the regular lock wasn’t broken. So now
I have another public washroom that I’ll be taking off my list unless somebody fixes the
lock. Next time I eat at that A&W and we have stuff to do in the mall after lunch, I’d
prefer to use one of the public washrooms that are in the mall. There use to also be a regular
size A&W right inside Willowbrook Mall and it was a nice dark one, “but it closed a few years
ago
” and the only A&W
that’s left right now in all of Willowbrook Mall is the one in their food court. If you’ve seen
their food court before, it has skylights which therefore would make the place too bright for me
on a brighter day. After A&W yesterday, we drove up to the Cedar Rim Nursery on Glover Road
where my dad found some floating pond plants. He got water hyacinths and my dad thought these
might’ve came from a greenhouse because they were nice and green. We also saw some miniature
cattails which my dad has a bunch of here at home, the ones we saw at the store yesterday were
$18 each and my dad said that he could sell some of his because he has so many of them at home.
After the nursery, we then went off to do our Mother’s Day shopping. You know that my mom reads
my messages before I send them to you so I could tell you more when you’re here tomorrow though
you’ll probably get a repeat of it all in a few weeks from now incase Carol reads the messages.
On our way home after we finished all of our shopping, we stopped at the Tim Hortons in
Cloverdale (the one on 64th Avenue) to pick up a couple donuts for my snack. I got my two
favorites, one Vanilla Dip with coloured sprinkles and one double chocolate, and keep in mind
that both of these are the ones that half a hole in the center. I had the sprinkled one for my afternoon snack with my cranberry juice
after we came home and I plan to have the other one for my dessert after supper tonight. My dad
also picked up a Brownie Iced Capp at Tim Hortons to bring home for my mom, but she didn’t want
it.
My mom didn’t go out to Guildford Mall while I went out with my dad yesterday and look at
sandals for me because she said that she only drove my dad’s Subaru once and she wasn’t used to
driving it so she went this afternoon. The next time my parents need to take the Subaru sometime
when I’m with you, maybe my mom should drive to get use to driving that car. This is why we were
looking for a vehicle that has an automatic transmission when we were looking for a second
vehicle almost two years ago, so that my mom could drive it too. Whenever I’ve hinted to my
parents over the last little bit that I want my mom to have a car that’s newer than my dad’s
Subaru, my dad would then ask me “why should we need a new car” because he knows that our 2001
Honda is still in really good condition. I myself still like our current Honda and ever since we
first got it I had hoped that it would last us for a good bunch of years. This is why I would’ve
rather my dad got a used vehicle when he was looking to buy one almost two years ago because
there was a good chance that it might’ve been older than 2001 but still a lot newer than 1986,
but only because he got a 2006 is why I’m talking about new cars now and why we might not have
our 2001 Honda for as long as I had originally hoped to so I asked my parents one evening a few
days ago what they thought about having three vehicles. My dad then made a joke and said that we
do have three vehicles, as soon as he said that and before he could say what our third vehicle
was I already knew that he was referring to his old 1957 Hillman out in the workshop. He will
have had that Hillman six years this coming summer and he hasn’t done much work on it since he
brought it home six years ago, I already knew before he even brought it home and after I found
out it was coming that he wouldn’t have a lot of time to work on it. On the day when it first
came here almost six years ago, I remember he said that he hoped to have it on the road within
only ten years after that date. Seriously now, I know that we don’t really have room for a third
vehicle because our garage is only big enough to park two. The reason why I asked my parents
what they thought about having three vehicles was because if we do get a new car I thought we
could also keep our 2001 Honda so that my mom could still go out on the days when I would want
to go out with my dad. I suggested to my parents that maybe there’d be room to park a second
vehicle out back in my dad’s workshop if we shoved the Hillman over to one side. We could
install an electric opener on the garage door to my dad’s shop, and then my dad could even back
out the vehicle and park it in our back alley if he ever needed more room when he wants to do
some work in the shop. You agreed with me yourself that newer hybrid cars would be better for
the environment than my mom’s current 2001 Honda. I wouldn’t mind myself either a hybrid car or
any car that has a manual transmission because you know that the manual trans vehicles can go
faster, but then my dad would have to be the one who drives the new car after I wrote to you in
a previous message about how he’s better at driving a manual trans than my mom is.
Speaking about hybrid cars, maybe you’d be able to take Scott to the airport every
week if you get one after you agreed with me that they are better for the environment. Or
another alternative I suggested in the message I sent you on Saturday Mar.8,2008:
> ...maybe you should encourage him to try and take the bus which is one way to support the
environment. Maybe
> he’ll have better luck with buses not like me who you previously read why I lost my confidence
in doing bus trips.
I also remember us talking last week about how Scott complains about walking compared to me
and doesn’t like to go too far at all. You know I did that three and a half hour hike around
Buntzen Lake a few times, and I’ll tell you about one other time when I walked with my dad all
the way to Ocean Park from our house. And yet another time, my dad and I walked down to White
Rock Beach from home and then we walked along the railroad tracks all the way to 1001 Steps. Now
you know that I could probably handle the distance of a long walk from here to Dairy Queen and
then back again now that I told you I’ve walked all the way to Ocean Park from here which is
probably about the same distance.
My dad brought home scratches for all three of us two days ago (on Friday). This time
I won $2 on my CAPTAIN CASH and then when I found out that my mom won $10 on her “Bonus BINGO” I
said out loud “why can’t I be the one to have won that much.” My mom then told me that she and
my dad’s scratches were each worth $5 and that this time my dad was the only one who didn’t win
anything on his scratch, so we pretty much got our money back. After my dad and I came home
yesterday afternoon, my mom went over to London Drugs (the one in Peninsula Village) to
pick up a few things. She cashed in my $2 that I’d won while she was there, she got me a “CaSh
COW” and a TAXI!.” I didn’t win anything on either of
those. And speaking
about the “Bonus BINGO” scratches that my mom does, I noticed that they have pictures of fish on
the front of them. I thought it looked like a neat picture and now I wonder if I should save one
of these to scan incase I decide to make up a binder with pictures of aquarium fish which you
previously read I thought about doing in the
message I sent you on Monday Apr.14,2008.
When you and I are on the computer after my snack tomorrow afternoon, maybe we could finally
scan both my mom and my dad’s birthday cards as ell as the dog picture that I told you is on the
front cover of my mom’s gardening magazine that came last month (in April). And
I will probably have green grapes for my afternoon snack when you’re
here tomorrow. And again, I hope to have Doritos for my snack evening
snack coming up tonight.
Remember in the message I sent you
last Sunday (the
27th), for the Hollywood Squares
survey I said "outdoor clothes and a matching hat" for "Your
favorite type of clothing is..."
I found lots of pictures of myself wearing green shorts with a matching green T-shirt though I
wasn’t wearing a green hat in any of those pictures, and it just so happened that I found lots
of pictures of me wearing a green hat but with a blue T-shirt. I uploaded a ZIP file with
a few Bitmap Images that you can get at:
http://www.stuntsillusion.com/download/tempfile1.zip
photo2_Apr99.bmp - here I am with my friend, Mac, and
my grandpa (my dad’s dad) in April 1999. In this shot I’m wearing a pair of green shorts
with a green T-shirt and a black Nike hat.
photo3_Feb02.bmp - here I am in Victoria with Mac in February 2002. You can see me wearing a
green hat in this photo that looks almost the same as the hat I wear now. Also notice in this
shot that I’m wearing the sweatshirt I told you about in the message I sent you on Monday
Apr.14,2008 that I bought from the Bay and I thought might’ve been a hunter green.
photo1_Oct98.bmp - I also added this image that I found when I was looking through my photo
albums to find the two above images to send to you, this is me in 1998 on my 16th birthday. I’m
wearing the other green sweatshirt that I talked about in the same message I sent you on April
14th:
> ...And I use to like to wear a few certain shades of green sweatshirts hence you know by
now that green
> is my favorite colour and I’d still wear these colours now if these shades of green weren’t as
hard to find
> as they use to be. When Mark's use to have their big selection of
sweatshirts which again isn’t so
> big of a selection now, there was one green shirt in that selection
that I liked and then after
> Mark’s phased out on this colour...
And when I first scanned the image (photo1_Oct98.bmp), my sweatshirt looked blue and I
couldn’t get it to scan in green. The only way I could get that image back to its original
colours (being the colours of the original photograph that I took from my album and scanned)
was by tinkering around with it in “Jasc Paint Shop Pro 6", here are detailed instructions on
how to go about what I did:
• Immediately after your image is scanned, end your “TWAIN acquire Session” by choosing “End TWAIN Session” under the “File” menu.
• Under the “Colors” menu, choose “Adjust” and then choose “Red/Green/Blue...” Change “% Green” to “10” and “% Blue” to “-10” if they are not already at these settings. After doing so, click the “OK” button if the “Red/Green/Blue” is not already closed.
• Under the “Colors” menu, choose “Adjust” and then choose “Hue/Saturation/Lightness...” Change “% Hue” to “96.” Click “OK” if the “Hue/Saturation/Lightness” window does not automatically close.
Speaking about Hollywood Squares, John, did you make it onto that site yet and take the two
surveys yourself? I remember you read to me from the paper when you were here last Thursday
about a list of celebrities who will soon be appearing at some of the casinos. I remember one of
the people on that list was Joan Rivers, I saw her on Hollywood Squares a few times when I
watched it.
My cat stories for the last little bit:
• Wednesday Apr.30,2008 - evening: My mom was petting Chloe when my dad came into
the room and scared her (scared Chloe).
Sunday May 4,2008: Izzy woke my mom up this morning at 4AM with a bad cough, her cough only
lasted about five minutes but ever since she (Izzy) kept having smelly toots all through
the morning. My mom thought that maybe something didn’t agree with Izzy.
The latest in “my sleep log:”
• Thursday night (May the 1st)/Friday morning: I didn’t fall asleep until
2:30AM but once I did fall asleep at that time I slept really good...so good that I didn’t get
out of bed until just after noon (12PM) on Friday. I haven’t slept in that late for a
long time, I’m usually up no later than 11 most mornings.
• Friday night/Saturday morning: I managed to fall asleep sometime around midnight, or just
after midnight at the latest.
• Saturday night/Sunday morning: I couldn’t fall asleep until around 3:20 again last night.
Not long after you left last Thursday (on May the 1st), my mom saw Logan who lives
next door, sweeping up glass. The window on the driver’s door of his car was broken. I thought
at first that maybe someone else got fed up with waking up to his car start almost every morning
and then having to listen to it sit there running, and then my dad told us (my mom and I) that
he (my dad) saw a wire hanging from the rearview mirror in Logan’s car a while ago that looked
like maybe it was some kind of a GPS. Now my dad thinks that maybe someone broke in and stole
the GPS, and my mom thinks that we’ll eventually hear the story. There is now plastic taped over
where driver’s window was.
My mom and I changed calendars last Thursday after you left with that day being the beginning
of a new month. The cat in the picture for this month (May 2008) in my “Cats & Dogs”
calendar upstairs in my bedroom looks just like Yari, Carol’s cat, the “cat who I never got to
see
.” Speaking about
calendars, I remember one time a few months ago when you were in our downstairs computer room
you saw the picture in my dad’s “BC Hydro safety calendar” of a person driving while talking on
his cell phone. And then I told you that my dad talks on the cell phone sometimes while he’s
driving, remember you said that dad wasn’t following the safety rules on the calendar. After I
told my dad that you said that, he then told me that lately he pulls over when he has to talk on
the phone.
My dad said that angelfish in my upstairs tank isn’t looking good and doesn’t think he’ll
last much longer. One of its fins fell off so it therefore isn’t
swimming very good. This is the same fish who lost his eye to the disease it
had.
I remember when you were reading our list of phone numbers last Thursday, you saw that there
wasn’t a #2 speed dial. In fact, the list that you saw with these speed dials hasn’t been
updated for a few years. The phone we have right now in our downstairs computer room has only
three speed dials, the phone we had in the downstairs computer room before that phone also had
large buttons and had eight speed dials. And here is
the list we had for those speed dials:
1: Grandma and Grandpa
2: Grandma Cora
3: Gordon and Sue
4: Karen and Robert
5: Ted and Marlene
6: Darlene and Graham
7: Dad (Work)
8: 911 Emergency
Also, Dr. Huang is a female, not a male. And her name is pronounced “Wong.”
“You and I putting together our own Muppet show sounds like a great
idea
” if I could do Bert,
Ernie, and Kermit’s accents.
I already knew before you were here last Thursday that it was Jason’s mom who’s having the birthday party for him and not you and Di:
Wednesday Apr.30,2008:
> Did you say that Jason has the same birthday as Scott coming up on this Saturday (the
3rd)? I do remember
> you said that his mom’s going to have a little party for
him, I wonder if his birthday cake will be another
> ice cream one from Dairy Queen! And by the way, Carol’s birthday is tomorrow (on May
1st) speaking about
> birthdays.
I just remember that you guys had a DQ ice cream cake for Jason when he first moved in with
you and “I was wondering if maybe he likes
them.”
You told me that you were treated to “Nando's Flame-Grilled Chicken” in Vancouver after you
helped your friend, Shaun, move. We also have a Nando's here in South Surrey and they are on
152nd Street in the South Point Annex, Nando's isn’t a place I like though.
And you told me that you got Dianne a book for her birthday at the Coles bookstore in
Oakridge Mall, and then I told you that there’s a Coles that’s a lot closer to use...they are in
Willowbrook Mall. And there also use to be a Coles in Peninsula Village, they closed a few years
ago. Coles is owned by the “Indigo Books and Music” chain which also owns the Chapters stores.
Speaking about which, when I said to my mom in the past that “I wonder if they’ll open a
Chapters in South Surrey,” she would then say about how the Chapters locations that already
exist can’t seem to do enough business.
See you tomorrow at 1PM.
-Neil
P.S. This little guy means that “I’m crying:”