Hibernation 101

Did you know January is the Worst Month For Carbon Monoxide Deaths? It's true! So, I'm going to do my part to fight impending scentless oblivion with another blog entry.

The Post-Christmas Winter Season is upon us, and I for one am kind of bored. For the last few months of each year you can console yourself in the face of the incoming slushy onslaught with the knowledge that Christmas and other assorted quasi-related holidays are following shortly thereafter. Even those of us that are older and potentially less prone to holiday cheer can look forward to a wide array of holiday foodage, if not also quality time with extended relatives and the obligatory uncle-making-inappropriate-jokes-at-dinnertime. However with all that now behind us, we are faced with the worst weather the Old Man can throw at us, with no respite until Don Getty's Family Day in February.

I cannot hide that am not a very good Canadian. I can't stand beer, don't have any particular affection for hockey, haven't skied since grade 10, and hit up Timmy's a few times a month at the most, which by now is probably a felony. I admit, I should probably just turn in my passport now.

To make matters worse, we've been hit with a cold snap in the last week or two, and with temperatures barely cracking -20 in the mornings, the concrete industry is on hold until it warms up a smidge. Aka, I've had the last week off work, which is great for my sleeping and not-so-great for my walleting, keeping in mind I also had 2 weeks off unpaid around Christmas. Candice is between jobs at present, having (quite understandably) quit her salon in Guelph, and not starting at her new place for a few weeks. So, broke and prefering to avoid hypothermia, we've been holed up at my place or hers for what seems like several eons by now. We've watched a handful of movies and at least one full season of Whose Line? with 7 more Torrenting presently, played more games of Scrabble and Monopoly than I can count, read Slaughterhouse Five and 1984 (thanks M&D) and planned out the rest of our year(s) repeatedly. The time off has been relaxing, however I'm beyond broke and straining to barely get all the bills paid, which is a frustrating situation I thought I'd finally dug out of at the end of last summer. However all hope is not lost, and I'll probably be working mad overtime next week to catch up.

In other news, band stuff continues to chug along; we have 2 new songs mostly written and lots planned for the upcoming months. My personal dilemma is that any short-term touring puts my job at risk, and without steady work at a good wage I'll never get out of debt soon enough for the band to be able to reach full-time touring mode. However if we wait until my (and Hutton's) debt is paid off we sacrifice the momentum we've achieved up to this point, and we may not be able to build it back up. As Eminem once wisely said, you often get "one chance, one opportunity..." So, it's going to be a very delicate balancing act to get through the rest of this year supporting both the band and my own bottom line, however I have the best of teammates in my lady and my boys, so I'm not too worried. Alas, I'm just going to have to put my full body tattoo project on hold.