tracking the tracker...

i'd been delayed in calgary, because the pack of the primordial feather. there had been some uncertainty as to whether they were here or not. as of yesterday i had confirmed they were here. which meant i had to somehow find them, and get rid of this crate of theirs that had been causing all the trouble.

the thing is calgary is a big city. i could spend forever looking and not finding hide nor feather of the pack in the process. i was going to need some sort of help if i was going to successful track them down here in cowtown.


fortunantely i knew just the guy to help me out. so i hiked myself down to the bow river, which runs right through the middle of town, to try and find him...

ironic as i needed his help to do some tracking, and yet i needed to track him down too. at least on that front i'd just asked him what his route home from work was...


as i waited i admired the bow. you know it might not be the ocean, but the bow river is a lovely body of water in its own right. living in new zealand a while, i'd forgotten how pretty alberta can be in places. different, but pretty none the less.

after a few minutes the scent i was waiting for slowly grew stronger. man having my t-rex nose rocks when looking for specific people. as long as i'd smelt the person before, i could usually pick them up if they were within a few hundred metres (in a city the volume of human smells restricts me a bit... out in the open it can be a couple kilometres if the wind is right).

"hi mike!" i shouted excitedly as i waved at my librarian friend who finally walked into view.

instinctively he waved back, but yet in total disbelief came his reply. "traumdor?"

he just stood there looking at me in shock. "why are you so surprised to see me?" i asked. "i just phoned you an hour ago."

mike glared in response to this. "yes, and all you did was ask me how i got home from work!" oh yeah, that's right. oops. gotta remember next time to fill in the blanks as to why i'm asking such questions.

i quickly filled mike in on my whole vaccation to canada, and invited him out for a bite to eat so i could fill him in on my pack issues.

we sat down for a nice korean BBQ, one of my favourite human dishes... i don't know what they do differently in their BBQ sauce, but it really excites us t-rexs. larry bought a whole chain of them when he broke out as a big hollywood star.

as i enjoyed this meal, the first one i'd had in years (dunedin doesn't have a cheap korean BBQ place) i told mike what little i knew about the pack's activities and the crate. "okay so let me get this straight," mike clarified at the end of my tale. "you want me to track down a group of dinosaurs, who are off the system, because of some random email you got, from sender unknown. plus these same dinosaurs might or might not still be in the city, and the only lead you have on them you got from an ostrich?!?"

okay, i could see his point, outloud that sounded really stupid. i feabily agreed.

"would it mean i could get out of dinner early if i went to look this all up right now?" mike asked.

i didn't quite understand the question, how could he not be enjoying his BBQ? "uh i guess so," i answered honestly. it was important i try to track down the pack soon.

"perfect!" mike responded, and gobbled down the rest of his meal. as he started to excuse himself from the table. "okay, i'll try to find these dinosaurs for you. you'll get the bill on your way out?"

"uh oh," i had a realization. mike looked at me suspiciously. "you won't mind spotting me on this one would you? i left my wallet in new zealand."

to be continued... with surprising information.