Down and Out in Darby, MT

So, the novelty of living in Darby, MT has finally run its course. Now I am beginning to dread even visiting town. It is a poverty stricken town that is run by a bunch of yahoos. Everytime I go there, I see someone who I figure has got to be the weirdest bastard I have ever seen. Until the next time I go into town and am again completely blown away. Also I am beginning to hate not having TV. At first I didn't miss it at all. Now I find myself wishing for its sweet glow of mind numbing info-tainment. To watch the World Cup games I have to go to the local bar which opens at 8a.m. And yes there are people there that early. Mostly old ladies who cheef through a couple packs of cigarettes a day while drinking cheap swill. A most noxious drink that I have discovered is a local favorite here is a "red beer." It is cheap beer mixed with tomato juice. I tried a sample once to see what the big deal was and realized there was no big deal. It's just plain awful. So I am trying to find ways to occupy my time away from work, though most of the time I just sit on my porch and stare at the deer that run through my yard. I can't really go too far since I am trying to save money. Overall though it is still a fun place to be.

Hmmm...

There have been mice in my room lately. Last night I was forced to tear my room apart chasing one of those little bastards. This only hours after one of our mouse traps caught another one. Snap! One dead mouse with a broken face. I can't really think of that much to write right now. I've been reading, I've been sleeping, sometimes drinking, and trying to be outside as much as possible and enjoy the very pleasant weather we are having. That's about all I feel like typing.

I heart blogs.

Another cloudy day in the deep west of Montana. Not that most days are cloudy, but the past few have been. Cloudy days aren't that bad here though. The mountains scrape through the clouds and give the landscape a much more interesting appearance. Montana is a cool place. At least for me having not grown up here and knowing that I will one day be able to leave. There is a majority in this town though, that have rarely left Montana or the Bitterroot Valley for that matter. Sometimes I feel strange bringing up some experiences I have had throughout, what I considered to be, limited travels. But the more I experience, the more I realize how lucky I really am. I have a perfect family. We have enough money to get to do pretty much what we want. I have been from one coast of the U.S. to the other and seen many places in between. I have traveled to a few foreign countries. It is easy to see why many people do not have the same perspective on things as I do. However it is strange to me that some people seem content with what they grew up with. They never really want to discover or try anything new. Isn't that what life is all about? How boring would that be to wake up knowing exactly what you were going to do for the next 30 years. I admit that it is difficult to push yourself out of your comfort zone at times, but I'm able to do it. And I don't really consider myself all that great at it. Are some people just that scared of change? Or are they just that lazy? I also suppose perhaps there could be other factors at work such as being tied down with a family and not having an education. But I'm not really talking about those people. I mean the people who have a high school diploma, no family to support, and still refuse to step out of the box they were raised in. I guess there are some things I will never understand.

A Night Out at the Sawmill

So I wanted to watch the Pistons game the other day, but was met with a dillema. I don't have a TV. The only place I could think of that would have a TV where they would be playing the game was a bar in town. There are three bars in Darby so I figured at least one would have the game on. The first two bars did not have the game on. In fact they didn't have anything on. All I got was a few wild eyed stares from the local booze hounds. So as a last resort I went to the Sawmill Saloon, which I am begining to figure out is the best bar in town. It is decorated with old chainsaws hanging from the ceiling as well as a number of slot machines. The real attraction though are its patrons. So I entered the bar and I was in luck, the Pistons were on. I mosied over to the bar and had a seat. I began to look around and noticed that no one else was watching the game but me. To my right a couple of locals were hootin' and hollerin' over some hillbilly shit, I'm not sure what. To my left were a number of guys playing pool. They seemed to be a little young to me. Then I saw the sign, "No one under 18 allowed." So I guess you can hang out in bars even if you can't drink in them in Montana. These young guys were sort of strange looking. I would have to call them mountain folk. I figured out that this one old guy was one of their dads and he was the kind of man who had no business producing offspring. Whatever. Later on, one of the bartenders was trying to fix an industrial stapler that was jammed. He was randomly pulling the trigger and swinging it around. I was expecting someone to lose an eye. Luckily that didn't happen on this day. Overall it isn't a bad place. Its a lot nicer than the other two bars in Darby.