Annoying Friends

I have two old buddies. Scott and Eric, who, back in the good ol' days, used to be part of the 'core elite crew' at Sherritt, back when I lived a four and a half year stint at the chemical plants.
We (the 'old' crew) were bad-ass. We got away with murder. We did jobs without permits, went where-ever we wanted, brought knives to work, they smoked in the work truck and inside buildings, swore, spit, farted, told others what to do, and violated nearly every safety rule and law out there on that plant. Ah yes, the good old days, when no-one ever gave a fuck about us, and we turned that around thrice-fold back at every-one else, and we looked like gods among men.
Me especially, having absolutely nothing to live for at the time, would willingly do anything and everything that I was assigned to do. I did it well, with an attitude, and rose alive and stronger than before when others who were assigned to help me fell or left on their own, crying from the stress. I was legendary, and still am, legendary, on the plants.

Scott Johnson, a skinny blond-haired farm boy from Brandon, Manitoba. He grew up on the poor side of town, beside an indian reserve. He grew up lean and wiry, with a pretty baby face. Even today, with him being one year older than me, still looks like he's 16.
He's a fighter, a crazy scrapper who digs in deep, hard, and fast in the blink of an eye. Usually, he has a great attitude, an upbeat 'I don't give a shit attitude, as long as I have my weed' mentality. He's a daddy right now, living at home with his girlfriend, his parents letting them sub-let their basement suite. Scotty is a shoot-from-the-hip kind of guy, and if he doesn't like ya, he isn't shy to let you know. However, he stays upbeat and mellow most of the time, until you do something to piss you off. Scotty has never wanted to fight with me, play-fight or otherwise. I have always wanted to wrestle with him. The bastard... ^_^
Eric is a chunk older than me. He's 31-ish. He comes from Ontario, where his father owned an acreage. Bred and raised to be a vehicular operator, he has mastered equipment like back-hoes, small cranes, etc., since he was just a kid. He also has a passion for trucks and truck accessories. He hasn't really suffered financially at all in his life, so he carries an almost 'I'm better than you' mentality, like a noble-man, that most people either out-right hate or love. Me, I hated it at first, but have since learned that yes, there were times where Eric has had to work hard like us and actually earn something in his life. Eric is a womanizer of sorts, and believes he could have been a porn star in a past life. Crazy man.

I came home from work today, dead-dog tired. After a quick stop at a Donair shoppe (at Jamies' request) I trudged in through our door, got nekked, and took a long, hot soak in the bath.
Well, I MEANT to have a long, hot soak in the bath...
Door bangs open, and Stephanie yells up at me from below. ''David! Somebody's here to see you! It's Scotty and Eric!'
I groaned inwardly. I JUST wanted to sleep man! Have a nice hot bath and go to bed until supper time.
I sped through my bath, certain that I'd be dragged out against my will to go sit in a bar for a few hours with these two guys.
Nope.
Came down, and they just wanted to say hi to me in person, and make plans for this weekend. I told 'em on Sunday that I have plans to be online, doing my thing until Rinni came on to chat with me. But Saturdays' okay, I said. Sure! I got a hundred bucks that needs to be spent.
So, cool, cool... We sat for half an hour, bull-shitting, like good ol' times again. Sadly, Scott had to go (Steph was disappointed too, it's no secret she has the hots for him) back home to his 'wife'. Eric had dinner plans with some older woman or something, and I was/am really tired, too tired to go out and enjoy myself.

Once they left, I sighed a breath of relief. Friends are just too crazy to deal with at times. People change, ideas change, and situations change. I'm glad we're still good friends and all, but I'm not like who I used to be anymore. I changed, in many ways for the better, in others, for the worst. Some ways, I'm still the same ol' guy I used to be.
I may not have a reason or purpose to my life, but I have people I'm living for now. I can't completely disregard myself like I used to in the past. I've grown to love myself (some days hate myself even more, but only on my dark days), something that I haven't been able to do since I was a kid. I love other people, and don't want to hurt them in any way, especially by hurting myself. plus, now that I've tasted happiness again, and want to keep on getting it, my mindset is totally different from what it was in the past.

Today at work.
Imagine a giant metal box, with holes in it. Not just any holes. Imagine millions of holes in it, like a salt-and-pepper shaker has holes.
My job today was: Run a long shaft with a pipe cleaner tip on it through these holes with an electric drill, pull it back and forth inside these holes half a dozen times, and repeat the process a gazillion times.
I had to stand on a ledge, with many obstacles to bypass, as I dragged 8 feet of shaft back and forth in a 7 and a half foot wide ledge area.
I had to stand on my tippy-toes to reach many holes, so my back, shoulders, and arms are killing me, from doing that all day long.
I broke at least 8 of the custom-made pipe cleaner heads that screwed into the shaft today. I worked so steady that the metal actually heated up to the point and broke off, from all the spinning and work I put in.
Not quite done, so I have to go back tomorrow and finish it. Unless, of course, something even worse pops up, then I get to do that instead!

This blog is distracting me from Rinni right now. One last few things to post about, then I'm outta here!

Today, someone wrote in the dust on the side of my truck.
David [Heart] Cigi.
I do not LOVE Cigi!
I have told her that I think she's unbelievably cute and all, but that I'm 'in love with someone else'...
SOMEBODY is playing match-maker! Grrr...
Oh, Cigi is my bosses niece from B.C.. She works with us at Sherritt, and lives with Gary, the fat bastard who makes me work on weekends.

K, I'll post later. Rinni is typing an epic conversation with me today. it's like 10am right now over there in Australia. Gotta go peeps! Cyaz!