And so we have it. Another year logged in the chronicles of my life and as per usual, it has been quite the doozy. I'd like to thanks all those who took a moment of their time to send me their regards as I entered the age of the 26. Truthfully, being rememered and the receipt of a kind word or wish are the best gifts that an individual could ask for and am grateful to each kind word I recieved.
My birthday itself and the days surrounding it were quite fun. I had the 16th and 17th off and made the best out of both days. Friday, I picked up all the pieces for my new computer and assembled it with the assistance of my housemate. From there I spent a couple of hours moving over all the media and such from my old computer and installing all the various programs that are immediately necessary.
Saturday Giles and I, amongst other company, frequented an Irish pub in the Kitsilano area to celebrate St. Patty's and the B-day. All in all good times were had, Guinness was drunken, jigs were danced and many, many, many photos were taken. I've posted a small fraction of those taken on my facebook account for those who wish to see them. After the Wolf and Hound, we made a stop off at Denny's, watched a portion of Borat at my place and called it a night from there capping off one fun night.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Thursday, March 15, 2007
In recent weeks
Well, due to various items such as work, school, job interviews and facebook updates, there hasn't been that much time for blog posts. Thus, this post will summarize the last week as best possible.
Facebook
So in truth, it's not half bad. It's a little busy at times with all the potential groups and different features but that's likely its appeal to the younger crowd and how it became so popular. I forsee myself likely getting into posting pics and making comments on peoples walls but that's about it. Time will tell depending on how much free time there is to play.
Dancin with RTs
I attended the RT fundraiser last friday and had a pretty good time. My initial goal of going was to meet people that I'd seen in the hospital and learn a bit about them so that when I saw them again, the exchanges would be more enjoyable. I threw this plan into motion and it panned out pretty well for the most part. As per usual, some people were pleasant, some not so much and the natural ratio of girls that thought I was hitting on them.
Things picked up a little bit when a few folk from the department showed up as they were ready to get down on the dance floor. Many drinks were had and much dancing was done. By the end of the night there were two items which I'd derived from the night; there are some wicked people in the department to hang out with and accordingly, some of them are very very attractive. ;O)
New Computer
For my B-day, I'm treating myself to a new computer and it's about time. My current model is a PIII 667 and is badly out of date. The new specs are:
- Antec Sonata II Black ATX 16IN Mid Tower Quiet Case
- Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 500GB
- OCZ Gold XTC PC2-6400 2GB
- EVGA Nforce 680I motherboard
- Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 Dual Core Processor
- BFG 7900 GT OC 256MB graphics card
It won't be a top of the line system, but decent none the less. Definately better than what I have now.
Coffee...
So no coffee date yet. Schedules conflict and we've both had a lot of things on the go. Those are the main excuses that go through my head to justify it not happening. In all truth, if she were to set down a time, I'd likely make my schedule conform to it. It's worth waiting on though and as such, I'll be patient.
Departure off nights delayed
My departure off nights had been dealyed by a month due to me covering people who are headed on vacation. In truth in sucks, but the payoff might be that I don't have to do nights ever again. It's also another month with shift premium pay which isn't so bad.
Jitsu Van
Working on it... slowly and methodically.
T-Bone turns 26 in two days!!! Nothing like a day where you celebrate yourself and drinking guinness.
So in truth, it's not half bad. It's a little busy at times with all the potential groups and different features but that's likely its appeal to the younger crowd and how it became so popular. I forsee myself likely getting into posting pics and making comments on peoples walls but that's about it. Time will tell depending on how much free time there is to play.
Dancin with RTs
I attended the RT fundraiser last friday and had a pretty good time. My initial goal of going was to meet people that I'd seen in the hospital and learn a bit about them so that when I saw them again, the exchanges would be more enjoyable. I threw this plan into motion and it panned out pretty well for the most part. As per usual, some people were pleasant, some not so much and the natural ratio of girls that thought I was hitting on them.
Things picked up a little bit when a few folk from the department showed up as they were ready to get down on the dance floor. Many drinks were had and much dancing was done. By the end of the night there were two items which I'd derived from the night; there are some wicked people in the department to hang out with and accordingly, some of them are very very attractive. ;O)
New Computer
For my B-day, I'm treating myself to a new computer and it's about time. My current model is a PIII 667 and is badly out of date. The new specs are:
- Antec Sonata II Black ATX 16IN Mid Tower Quiet Case
- Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 500GB
- OCZ Gold XTC PC2-6400 2GB
- EVGA Nforce 680I motherboard
- Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 Dual Core Processor
- BFG 7900 GT OC 256MB graphics card
It won't be a top of the line system, but decent none the less. Definately better than what I have now.
Coffee...
So no coffee date yet. Schedules conflict and we've both had a lot of things on the go. Those are the main excuses that go through my head to justify it not happening. In all truth, if she were to set down a time, I'd likely make my schedule conform to it. It's worth waiting on though and as such, I'll be patient.
Departure off nights delayed
My departure off nights had been dealyed by a month due to me covering people who are headed on vacation. In truth in sucks, but the payoff might be that I don't have to do nights ever again. It's also another month with shift premium pay which isn't so bad.
Jitsu Van
Working on it... slowly and methodically.
T-Bone turns 26 in two days!!! Nothing like a day where you celebrate yourself and drinking guinness.
Monday, March 12, 2007
The Facebook revolution
Gradually as the time passes ever forward and more people keep indirectly inviting me to facebook by inputting their e-mail list with me on it. There is also a few folk at work who keep pestering me and thus, likely tommorrow, I will register an account on facebook and join the hipper crowd.
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Slowly becomming a stranger to posts
Well, truth be told nothing too exciting has happend in the last recent little bit to note in a blog. I had a few days off work which saw me get a haircut, sleep and run a lot and got some work done. And then back to work.
In the face of this lacking interesting stuff, I will use one of my back up blog topics to fill in such a void. What is this topic you might ask? It relates to pieces of music that have a habit of stopping all thoughts and either conjure up a fond (or not so fond) memory or even just have you stop to appricate the work as a fantastic piece. Over the last few months I've been making a list of songs that pop up on my playlist that have effect. It's not a comprehensive list off all songs as that would take too long, but it's long enough for you, the reader, to get an idea of what I'm reffering to.
John Hiatt - Have a little Faith in Me
I first came across when it was covered by Jewel from the Phenomenon soundtrack and I say that it's been a favourite of mine since then. Overall, I'd say its the humble and emotional nature of the lyrics that struck a chord (no pun intended) with me.
Jon Bovi - I believe
Suprised that it's not 'Livin' on a Prayer' or 'It's my Life'? Well I have no real explanation other than that I've found this song to be their very first power anthem and one of their best. Often you'll catch me quoting the line "with every breath I breath, you and me could turn a whisper to a scream".
Alexi Murdoch - Orange Sky
I came to know this song mainly from the first season of the OC, which was their shining season. It was included on their first soundtrack but only in a two minute version. The actual six minute version is a nice, relaxing song which has a habit of always causing me to reflect on how cool the events of my life have been.
Our Lade Peace - Theif
No real explanation for this one other than the opening line which goes "I don't want to understand this horror" always catches my ear due in part to the way Raine gently opens with it.
James Blunt - You're Beautiful
This was the first strumming pattern that I ever learned to play on my guitar. Everytime I hear it, I remember that simple feeling of actually thinking that I might be able to become a decent guitar player.
The Offspring - Gone Away
This song gets me super pumped everytime I hear it. I always kick it up a notch during a run if this every comes on.
Celine Dion - Because you loved me
It played that moment I realized that fairy tales can cross over to a real life time stream and that day dreaming isn't so bad.
Bahia Principe - Bienvenidos
Best trip ever. Nothing will ever beat it, save for perhaps another trip.
Lifehouse - Everything
This tune was on the No Name Face album and remember thinking that if I ever got married that I wanted this to be playing in the background at some point.
The Wallflowers - Heroes
A classic song orginally written by David Bowie and covered by the Wallflowers for the Godzilla soundtrack back in 99 or so. This version has a better sound to me as Jakob Bylan (lead singer) has more of an emotional contribution through his voice than Bowie.
Youth Group - Forever Young
This was a tune from the third season of the OC where two of the main characters find themselves slow dancing for no other reason that the two of them are together as if it's all that ever mattered. I also remember copying it and just enjoying the pleasure of such a moment.
Josh Joplin Group - Camera One
This song was a small hit in the states in February of my first year and everytime I listened to it, the events of the past week would fly through my head like a funny and somewhat ridiculous TV show.
Jet - Shine On
I remember listening to this song on the new (at the time) Jet album on my way back from Peterborough and having the reality of my gigantic step hitting me. Leaving my family and friends, driving across Canada and starting over with nothing. Whenever I hear the song now, I always shoot right back to the moment in the car.
There are likely quite a few songs that I've missed but that's to be expected. For those reading this, I'd be curious to know which song(s) have such an effect on you. It'd be interesting to hear.
P.S. Why is this kitty so entertaining?
In the face of this lacking interesting stuff, I will use one of my back up blog topics to fill in such a void. What is this topic you might ask? It relates to pieces of music that have a habit of stopping all thoughts and either conjure up a fond (or not so fond) memory or even just have you stop to appricate the work as a fantastic piece. Over the last few months I've been making a list of songs that pop up on my playlist that have effect. It's not a comprehensive list off all songs as that would take too long, but it's long enough for you, the reader, to get an idea of what I'm reffering to.
John Hiatt - Have a little Faith in Me
I first came across when it was covered by Jewel from the Phenomenon soundtrack and I say that it's been a favourite of mine since then. Overall, I'd say its the humble and emotional nature of the lyrics that struck a chord (no pun intended) with me.
Jon Bovi - I believe
Suprised that it's not 'Livin' on a Prayer' or 'It's my Life'? Well I have no real explanation other than that I've found this song to be their very first power anthem and one of their best. Often you'll catch me quoting the line "with every breath I breath, you and me could turn a whisper to a scream".
Alexi Murdoch - Orange Sky
I came to know this song mainly from the first season of the OC, which was their shining season. It was included on their first soundtrack but only in a two minute version. The actual six minute version is a nice, relaxing song which has a habit of always causing me to reflect on how cool the events of my life have been.
Our Lade Peace - Theif
No real explanation for this one other than the opening line which goes "I don't want to understand this horror" always catches my ear due in part to the way Raine gently opens with it.
James Blunt - You're Beautiful
This was the first strumming pattern that I ever learned to play on my guitar. Everytime I hear it, I remember that simple feeling of actually thinking that I might be able to become a decent guitar player.
The Offspring - Gone Away
This song gets me super pumped everytime I hear it. I always kick it up a notch during a run if this every comes on.
Celine Dion - Because you loved me
It played that moment I realized that fairy tales can cross over to a real life time stream and that day dreaming isn't so bad.
Bahia Principe - Bienvenidos
Best trip ever. Nothing will ever beat it, save for perhaps another trip.
Lifehouse - Everything
This tune was on the No Name Face album and remember thinking that if I ever got married that I wanted this to be playing in the background at some point.
The Wallflowers - Heroes
A classic song orginally written by David Bowie and covered by the Wallflowers for the Godzilla soundtrack back in 99 or so. This version has a better sound to me as Jakob Bylan (lead singer) has more of an emotional contribution through his voice than Bowie.
Youth Group - Forever Young
This was a tune from the third season of the OC where two of the main characters find themselves slow dancing for no other reason that the two of them are together as if it's all that ever mattered. I also remember copying it and just enjoying the pleasure of such a moment.
Josh Joplin Group - Camera One
This song was a small hit in the states in February of my first year and everytime I listened to it, the events of the past week would fly through my head like a funny and somewhat ridiculous TV show.
Jet - Shine On
I remember listening to this song on the new (at the time) Jet album on my way back from Peterborough and having the reality of my gigantic step hitting me. Leaving my family and friends, driving across Canada and starting over with nothing. Whenever I hear the song now, I always shoot right back to the moment in the car.
There are likely quite a few songs that I've missed but that's to be expected. For those reading this, I'd be curious to know which song(s) have such an effect on you. It'd be interesting to hear.
P.S. Why is this kitty so entertaining?
Saturday, February 10, 2007
48 Hrs prior to sleeping
Before sleeping last night, there had been an interesting 48 hours of events. In that time I:
- wrote two midterms, one on each day
- worked an extra OT shift in between
- managed to flood the toilet
I could elaborate in my usual way but for once, I think enough has been said already.
- wrote two midterms, one on each day
- worked an extra OT shift in between
- managed to flood the toilet
I could elaborate in my usual way but for once, I think enough has been said already.
Monday, January 29, 2007
The latest from West Bone
Truth be told, there have been many a time when there have been occurances in the past little while where I have had more than enough reason to throw something down on the blog but ultimately, the lack of sleep and associated ailments which have come with that put a major halt on that. Today though has been a different story as I got more than a good nights sleep today and am brimming with pros to lay down. And so, to catch everyone up in a quick and effecient manner, I present a series of short blurbs from Bone in the West.
Furniture
After quite the ordeal in sorting out a delievery date and a broken door knob, furniture has found its way into my apartment. Now I must say that while I knew the apartment needed furniture, I was still taken back when the sofa and loveseat were put into place as it completely overhauled the atmosphere in apartment. In the end there was a completeness to the apartment in their presence and a feeling that I'd finally attained all the basics to call this a home.
Bone's off Nights... soon
After a brief discussion with the department manager last weekend, a decision was made that I would come off nights. My argument wasn't anything much more than the nights wern't agreeing with me as my health was suffering due to the lack of sleep. Strangely enough, there wasn't any real counter discussion to convince me to stay on nights and so at the end of March, when all the student are highered and they can staff nights better, I'll be comming off nights.
First Visit Downtown
I had three days off last weekend and decided to make the most of it and spend the night hanging out with Giles for the first time in months. After a day of getting things done around the house, I met up with Giles and we decided to grab some dinner. I suggested the 'Cactus club cafe' which I'd passed by several times in recent months. This decision paid off in the end as the food and the service were definately quite good. Aside from this, the atmosphere in the restaurant was quite nice as well and will definately be a location I will return to in the future. From there Giles and I then walked down which took about 30 minutes as far as I could guess. Now, while this may seem archaic to some as I could have easily taken a bus, I preferd the walk as it allowed me to both take in the scenery and learn more about downtown at a decent pace.
Nothing overly eventful happend at the bar that night. I met a few of Giles friend's, a random girl from the hospital decided to start flirting with me and some decent scotch was had. For those that are curious, I didn't reciprocate any real interest.
We decieded to walk back home as well as a means to save money on a taxi. The walk back home was just about the same as the walk there other than the folk who drove by and screamed out the taxi window the Giles and I were a 'bunch of fagots'. Now while I have always been comfortable with my heterosexuality in the face of gay accusations, I found this to be enerving
due to the cowardly nature of someone making a deragatory comment like that behind the safety of cover. I guess that's to be expected in a city as big as Vancouver.
Ipod Video!
After having my alarm somewhat crapped out coupled to the fact that I wanted some music in my room since my desk is outside, I decided to add an Ipod Video and JBL on time radial speaker set to my 'to get' list. Now initially I was going to wait a few months and save up bits of pay checks for it but after finding a pretty good deal on a used one, I moved up my purchasing time and acquired a 30gb Ipod video. Overall, this is a very top notch product as the video quality is quite good and decently sized. The only downside is the amount of time required to change everything into an mp4 video file for the ipod.
Dine out Vancouver
One of my peers at work invited me to join her to the Stone Grill where she had made a reservation for two and naturally I decided to take her up on that offer. Now for those few who know of my potential work interest, this was not her but none the less I still had a very good time. The food was exsquisite as was the method that they choose to serve everything. We both ordered the steak and instead of cooking the items for you, they instead serve it on a hot stone which has been heated to 400 deg and thus it cooks the meat while you're actually eating it.
The other good thing about this Dine Out Vancouver special is that you get an appetizer and dessert with the meal. Overall the meal and the atmosphere is definately worth the price paid.
Closing comments:
- Can't wait til I'm not on nights anymore
- Cmon UBC; Daddy needs a new Jitsu club...
- Everytime, I hear the new JT single, I remember a time in Peterborough dancing on the bar celebrating amongst good friends
- Diggin the tune 'Welcome to the Black Parade' by My Chemcial Romance. Cool name for a band too.
- Quite a few people I owe an e-mail to and need to get to that
- Today has to be a study day. I'm so behind on my classes and midterms are next week.
Current Song: Welcome to the Black Parade - My Chemical Romance
Current Mood: Lamenting that I have to go to work tonight
Furniture
After quite the ordeal in sorting out a delievery date and a broken door knob, furniture has found its way into my apartment. Now I must say that while I knew the apartment needed furniture, I was still taken back when the sofa and loveseat were put into place as it completely overhauled the atmosphere in apartment. In the end there was a completeness to the apartment in their presence and a feeling that I'd finally attained all the basics to call this a home.
Bone's off Nights... soon
After a brief discussion with the department manager last weekend, a decision was made that I would come off nights. My argument wasn't anything much more than the nights wern't agreeing with me as my health was suffering due to the lack of sleep. Strangely enough, there wasn't any real counter discussion to convince me to stay on nights and so at the end of March, when all the student are highered and they can staff nights better, I'll be comming off nights.
First Visit Downtown
I had three days off last weekend and decided to make the most of it and spend the night hanging out with Giles for the first time in months. After a day of getting things done around the house, I met up with Giles and we decided to grab some dinner. I suggested the 'Cactus club cafe' which I'd passed by several times in recent months. This decision paid off in the end as the food and the service were definately quite good. Aside from this, the atmosphere in the restaurant was quite nice as well and will definately be a location I will return to in the future. From there Giles and I then walked down which took about 30 minutes as far as I could guess. Now, while this may seem archaic to some as I could have easily taken a bus, I preferd the walk as it allowed me to both take in the scenery and learn more about downtown at a decent pace.
Nothing overly eventful happend at the bar that night. I met a few of Giles friend's, a random girl from the hospital decided to start flirting with me and some decent scotch was had. For those that are curious, I didn't reciprocate any real interest.
We decieded to walk back home as well as a means to save money on a taxi. The walk back home was just about the same as the walk there other than the folk who drove by and screamed out the taxi window the Giles and I were a 'bunch of fagots'. Now while I have always been comfortable with my heterosexuality in the face of gay accusations, I found this to be enerving
due to the cowardly nature of someone making a deragatory comment like that behind the safety of cover. I guess that's to be expected in a city as big as Vancouver.
Ipod Video!
After having my alarm somewhat crapped out coupled to the fact that I wanted some music in my room since my desk is outside, I decided to add an Ipod Video and JBL on time radial speaker set to my 'to get' list. Now initially I was going to wait a few months and save up bits of pay checks for it but after finding a pretty good deal on a used one, I moved up my purchasing time and acquired a 30gb Ipod video. Overall, this is a very top notch product as the video quality is quite good and decently sized. The only downside is the amount of time required to change everything into an mp4 video file for the ipod.
Dine out Vancouver
One of my peers at work invited me to join her to the Stone Grill where she had made a reservation for two and naturally I decided to take her up on that offer. Now for those few who know of my potential work interest, this was not her but none the less I still had a very good time. The food was exsquisite as was the method that they choose to serve everything. We both ordered the steak and instead of cooking the items for you, they instead serve it on a hot stone which has been heated to 400 deg and thus it cooks the meat while you're actually eating it.
The other good thing about this Dine Out Vancouver special is that you get an appetizer and dessert with the meal. Overall the meal and the atmosphere is definately worth the price paid.
Closing comments:
- Can't wait til I'm not on nights anymore
- Cmon UBC; Daddy needs a new Jitsu club...
- Everytime, I hear the new JT single, I remember a time in Peterborough dancing on the bar celebrating amongst good friends
- Diggin the tune 'Welcome to the Black Parade' by My Chemcial Romance. Cool name for a band too.
- Quite a few people I owe an e-mail to and need to get to that
- Today has to be a study day. I'm so behind on my classes and midterms are next week.
Current Song: Welcome to the Black Parade - My Chemical Romance
Current Mood: Lamenting that I have to go to work tonight
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Rocky Balboa
Today, before heading to work, I found myself watching Rocky Balboa for the third time. Truth be told, for a movie that I thought would be a joke, it is slowly creeping its way into my list of overall favourites. Aside from the fact that it's a nice way to way to end the Rocky series of movies, Stallone and company portray a solid story of a man who's got all he ever needs for the rest of his days; Heart.
(Spoiler alert)
Adrian
The movie starts off in a very nostalgic manner with Rocky going about his daily routine and highlighting a man's life whose very nature pays homage to the romantic notion of 'better to have loved and lost'. The small subtleties of Balboa remembering all the small things about his dearly departed Adrian are reminiscent of a notion that is of an old coda which is that of a 'Gentleman and his Lady'. All the details the are so meticulously pointed out all relate to the simple fact that all he ever needed from his lady were trust and honesty and that is all he needed to get by.
Drive
Throughout the movie, the constant symbol of the basement is brought back time and time again and that no matter where one finds himself in life, there's nothing more worthwhile than putting yourself behind a drive to be the absolute best you can be. The interesting thing about this movie though is not only do they show drive of the Hero Balboa, but also of the apparent enemy. Both characters train and push themselves with the soul intent of findind a satisfaction within themselves.
Never say Die
The line rings in your head like a bad backstreet boy song at the end of the movie. "What is it you told the kid? Dosn't matter how hard you get hit, it's your job to get up". The beauty of the whole scene when he says this is that all the sentiments of grit, tenacity and ire and the accompanying will of a champion just resonate and surge forth as you watch the scene. Very well done in this bit of film.
Truth be told is that I could go on and find other noble virtues that are portrayed in the movie as there are many. Overall, the entire piece is well done from top to bottom and definately worth the watch (but not during sex as its worth more than that).
(Spoiler alert)
Adrian
The movie starts off in a very nostalgic manner with Rocky going about his daily routine and highlighting a man's life whose very nature pays homage to the romantic notion of 'better to have loved and lost'. The small subtleties of Balboa remembering all the small things about his dearly departed Adrian are reminiscent of a notion that is of an old coda which is that of a 'Gentleman and his Lady'. All the details the are so meticulously pointed out all relate to the simple fact that all he ever needed from his lady were trust and honesty and that is all he needed to get by.
Drive
Throughout the movie, the constant symbol of the basement is brought back time and time again and that no matter where one finds himself in life, there's nothing more worthwhile than putting yourself behind a drive to be the absolute best you can be. The interesting thing about this movie though is not only do they show drive of the Hero Balboa, but also of the apparent enemy. Both characters train and push themselves with the soul intent of findind a satisfaction within themselves.
Never say Die
The line rings in your head like a bad backstreet boy song at the end of the movie. "What is it you told the kid? Dosn't matter how hard you get hit, it's your job to get up". The beauty of the whole scene when he says this is that all the sentiments of grit, tenacity and ire and the accompanying will of a champion just resonate and surge forth as you watch the scene. Very well done in this bit of film.
Truth be told is that I could go on and find other noble virtues that are portrayed in the movie as there are many. Overall, the entire piece is well done from top to bottom and definately worth the watch (but not during sex as its worth more than that).
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
Some more resolutions
Some more resolutions popped into my head recently. These are all things I was already intending to do beforehand but getting them down in writing makes it more of a must in terms of getting them done.
6. Reduce my student loan 25% of the total by years's end. (Naturally the goal is right down to 0)
7. Become a man that people could portray as being 'A man who lived the dream'
(The old one's)
1. Set into motion the Jitsu Van domain of Jitsu Canada
2. Stop fearing that decisions made in the past will have the same repricussions. Every situation is different.
3. Get off these bloody night shifts.
4. Finish at least two CT courses (work related stuff).
5. Let everything be. If drama comes, it comes; if it goes, it goes. Everything happens for a reason.
6. Reduce my student loan 25% of the total by years's end. (Naturally the goal is right down to 0)
7. Become a man that people could portray as being 'A man who lived the dream'
(The old one's)
1. Set into motion the Jitsu Van domain of Jitsu Canada
2. Stop fearing that decisions made in the past will have the same repricussions. Every situation is different.
3. Get off these bloody night shifts.
4. Finish at least two CT courses (work related stuff).
5. Let everything be. If drama comes, it comes; if it goes, it goes. Everything happens for a reason.
Saturday, December 30, 2006
Bit of a scrooge
This holiday has been a strange one. The most obvious reason I can think of is because I had to work on x-mas and boxing day coupled to the fact that I will be working on New Years as well. That being the case, I didn't realy get as festive as I usually do and the result was that I wasn't as jolly as some of the folk around me. The end result has me feeling like a bit of a scrooge in the end as I might have dampened everyone's happyness around me just a little. If I did not contact you and wish you a happy holiday, I apologize as I slept through most of everyone's awake time. I hope that I do not have to work all three stats next year for my sanity's sake.
On the other side of things, I flew home to be with the family for a few days between the worked stats. There was a bit of a lul in my work schedule which allowed me such as chance as decided to take advatage of it. It worked out okay financially as my sister cashed in some of her rewards points and this lowered the cost to something more reasonable relative to the short time frame.
The trip home has been refreshing and allowed me to reflect upon the matters discussed above. In the past few days, I've had the chance to see some of my close family as well as touched base with a few friends. It has definately picked my spirits from the scroogish attitude I had before. The only downside to this trip home has been the overall jet lag of comming off being awake at night and having to switch for a couple days. So goes life though. I do have to get off these night shifts sometime soon though.
In a few days, I'm about to join some of the many folk who currently use Skype as my father bought my a USB skype phone. I didn't know these existed until recently, but it is a neat little product for those who use have a greater disposition to VOIP. Hopefully I'll actually use it though.
That's about all off the top of my head for now. Hopefully everyone has a safe and happy new year. I've got a couple resolutions that I've made which are as follows.
1. Set into motion the Jitsu Van domain of Jitsu Canada
2. Stop fearing that decisions made in the past will have the same repricussions. Every situation is different.
3. Get off these bloody night shifts.
4. Finish at least two CT courses (work related stuff).
5. Let everything be. If drama comes, it comes; if it goes, it goes. Everything happens for a reason.
In closing, everything will be fine...
On the other side of things, I flew home to be with the family for a few days between the worked stats. There was a bit of a lul in my work schedule which allowed me such as chance as decided to take advatage of it. It worked out okay financially as my sister cashed in some of her rewards points and this lowered the cost to something more reasonable relative to the short time frame.
The trip home has been refreshing and allowed me to reflect upon the matters discussed above. In the past few days, I've had the chance to see some of my close family as well as touched base with a few friends. It has definately picked my spirits from the scroogish attitude I had before. The only downside to this trip home has been the overall jet lag of comming off being awake at night and having to switch for a couple days. So goes life though. I do have to get off these night shifts sometime soon though.
In a few days, I'm about to join some of the many folk who currently use Skype as my father bought my a USB skype phone. I didn't know these existed until recently, but it is a neat little product for those who use have a greater disposition to VOIP. Hopefully I'll actually use it though.
That's about all off the top of my head for now. Hopefully everyone has a safe and happy new year. I've got a couple resolutions that I've made which are as follows.
1. Set into motion the Jitsu Van domain of Jitsu Canada
2. Stop fearing that decisions made in the past will have the same repricussions. Every situation is different.
3. Get off these bloody night shifts.
4. Finish at least two CT courses (work related stuff).
5. Let everything be. If drama comes, it comes; if it goes, it goes. Everything happens for a reason.
In closing, everything will be fine...
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
A letter
Dear RA,
I found myself in the Bay the other day. I had recently seen an add with an advertisement for 30% of all mens wear. That coupled to the fact that I had previously decided on getting my parents a Hudson Bay Company gift certificate for x-mas, brought me to a Bay store just the other day.
I entered with the intention of parusing the items at the Bay for a few minutes before proceeding to make my intended purchases of Boxers (which were part of the sale) and the gift certficate. This decision turned out to be very costly.
Within an instant of finding the Men's wear, I found myself in a Sport Jacket section. Normally I would instantly be turned back by the crazily high prices but the two signs of 'Take 30%' off and 'Take an additional 30%' off convinced me to browse through their selection. I began to look, and then I began to try on and before I knew it, I had found myself a tan orangish Tommy Hilfiger Sports Coat that I could not bear to part with.
My desire to have good clothing did not end there. While trying to bypass everything to make it to bexers, I found myself looking at some Nautica performance sportswear. I didn't even bother to try either of these on as they looked like good quality items and seeing how they were also 30% off, I decided to purchase a few.
With the total tally of unintended purchases adding up, I quickly made my way to find the items that I had gone to purchase. I found the boxers rather easily and proceeded from there towards the checkout. On the way there some nicer looking dress shirts caught my attention but I managed to refrain realizing that I already had quite a large bill comming to me.
In the end, without any service personal attending to me once so ever, I managed to double my orginally intended spending amount. That realy does not bother me so much though. Nothing at all bothers me about any of this in truth as I think I am comming to understand why you enjoy shopping at the Bay so much. The quality of the items they offer are definately quite high and the prices which they ask for are quite reasonably. In the future, I think I will definately be find myself there more often.
Sincerly,
Zout
P.S. I have not seen you on MSN lately. Have you taken an MSN sabatical?
I found myself in the Bay the other day. I had recently seen an add with an advertisement for 30% of all mens wear. That coupled to the fact that I had previously decided on getting my parents a Hudson Bay Company gift certificate for x-mas, brought me to a Bay store just the other day.
I entered with the intention of parusing the items at the Bay for a few minutes before proceeding to make my intended purchases of Boxers (which were part of the sale) and the gift certficate. This decision turned out to be very costly.
Within an instant of finding the Men's wear, I found myself in a Sport Jacket section. Normally I would instantly be turned back by the crazily high prices but the two signs of 'Take 30%' off and 'Take an additional 30%' off convinced me to browse through their selection. I began to look, and then I began to try on and before I knew it, I had found myself a tan orangish Tommy Hilfiger Sports Coat that I could not bear to part with.
My desire to have good clothing did not end there. While trying to bypass everything to make it to bexers, I found myself looking at some Nautica performance sportswear. I didn't even bother to try either of these on as they looked like good quality items and seeing how they were also 30% off, I decided to purchase a few.
With the total tally of unintended purchases adding up, I quickly made my way to find the items that I had gone to purchase. I found the boxers rather easily and proceeded from there towards the checkout. On the way there some nicer looking dress shirts caught my attention but I managed to refrain realizing that I already had quite a large bill comming to me.
In the end, without any service personal attending to me once so ever, I managed to double my orginally intended spending amount. That realy does not bother me so much though. Nothing at all bothers me about any of this in truth as I think I am comming to understand why you enjoy shopping at the Bay so much. The quality of the items they offer are definately quite high and the prices which they ask for are quite reasonably. In the future, I think I will definately be find myself there more often.
Sincerly,
Zout
P.S. I have not seen you on MSN lately. Have you taken an MSN sabatical?
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
One year ago...
While working out at the gym the other day, a tune came on that shot me back to a year ago to a moment when nothing but pure electricity ran through my veins.
I awoke that day knowing that later on, I would be heading to the great city of Montreal to see something that I'd only seen twice before. For some reason though, I couldn't get as excited as I wanted to be. I went through my normal motions of the day and did all the usuals all the while trying to get pumped. Perhaps it was the fact that the city of Cornwall (amongst other factors) were sucking the life out of me. I don't think I'll ever know...
The important thing though is that I did make it through and lasted til the end of the 'work' day. From there, the ambiance started to build. I had something to eat, relaxed a little bit and proceeded to get ready to head to Montreal. The drive there was relatively tame except for the actual city itself which saw me utilise some colourful language. That passed though.
We entered the arena and found our seats. It was then, where the magnitude of the evening started to set in as we were literally an earshot away from the stage. The pump started to set in at this point so much so that I think I blew almost $65 on memoribilia. That might sound like a lot but it consisted simply of a shirt and pendant. But I realy didn't care at that moment.
The opening band almost brought me back to the non pumped stage. It would only take the next few minutes after them though to bring me back and surpass that by almost a hundred. The screen above the stage lowered slowly as the house lights went down. From the behind the stage emerged most of the band members. The sound of the electric guitar filled the guitar and from and all the way accross the arena, the man emerged with his acoustic guitar, strumming like there was no other place in the world that existed except for the 20, 000 people in the stadium. And from his lips emerged:
"Come see a living breathing spectacle only seen right here.."
As I sat there at fitness world, just sitting there, thinking back, I must have spent at least three minutes or more staring off into the distance. And for those three minutes I was back in Montreal, Canada just reliving one of the best moments in my life. From the last man standing to his cover of "Have a little Faith in me", the man and his band didn't miss a beat.
I awoke that day knowing that later on, I would be heading to the great city of Montreal to see something that I'd only seen twice before. For some reason though, I couldn't get as excited as I wanted to be. I went through my normal motions of the day and did all the usuals all the while trying to get pumped. Perhaps it was the fact that the city of Cornwall (amongst other factors) were sucking the life out of me. I don't think I'll ever know...
The important thing though is that I did make it through and lasted til the end of the 'work' day. From there, the ambiance started to build. I had something to eat, relaxed a little bit and proceeded to get ready to head to Montreal. The drive there was relatively tame except for the actual city itself which saw me utilise some colourful language. That passed though.
We entered the arena and found our seats. It was then, where the magnitude of the evening started to set in as we were literally an earshot away from the stage. The pump started to set in at this point so much so that I think I blew almost $65 on memoribilia. That might sound like a lot but it consisted simply of a shirt and pendant. But I realy didn't care at that moment.
The opening band almost brought me back to the non pumped stage. It would only take the next few minutes after them though to bring me back and surpass that by almost a hundred. The screen above the stage lowered slowly as the house lights went down. From the behind the stage emerged most of the band members. The sound of the electric guitar filled the guitar and from and all the way accross the arena, the man emerged with his acoustic guitar, strumming like there was no other place in the world that existed except for the 20, 000 people in the stadium. And from his lips emerged:
"Come see a living breathing spectacle only seen right here.."
As I sat there at fitness world, just sitting there, thinking back, I must have spent at least three minutes or more staring off into the distance. And for those three minutes I was back in Montreal, Canada just reliving one of the best moments in my life. From the last man standing to his cover of "Have a little Faith in me", the man and his band didn't miss a beat.
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Day off
Today I have a day off after a six day stretch of 8.5 hour shifts. This day off couldn't have come at a better time as needless to say I feel very tuckered. Aside from working for the past six days, I have also been at the gyme each day which also adds to the tucker tole. Earlier today I wanted to attribute my fatigue to 'pushing the limit' at which point my roomate just looked at me and asked me 'if I'd been excessively flying at Mach 3?'. From that juncture, and likely from now on, I will likely refrain from using the term pushing the limit.
On a completely different note, I've been feeling a little hyposensitive to music as of late. Now, I think I'd safely say that those who speak to me often on MSN or take note of my MSN handle often enough would say that I regularily throw random song quotes into my name to reflect something of note in my daily events or on a reflection of things. Lately though whenever I try to find something of thematic value to quote, I find it a little more difficult. Perhaps because there's no real lyric about moving to Vancouver and starting on night shifts. Someone should work on that.
To conclude, a few comments of movies I've seen semi lately:
World Trade Centre - worth a watch but focusses less on the events of the day and more on a made up story
Beerfest - Another zany tale from the makers of Super Troopers. Better than that island movie but not as good as super troopers
You, Me and Dupree - Kate Hudson is smoking hot. Not nearly half as good as wedding crashers.
Talledega Nights - Unfortunately Baby Jesus couldn't make this as good as Anchorman. One might almost say its bush league.
Death of a President - Find it. Get it and watch it. This is a good one. Aside from the fact that its a movie about Bush dying, you're almost convinced that this is a real documentary knowing its fake. A brilliant work.
On a completely different note, I've been feeling a little hyposensitive to music as of late. Now, I think I'd safely say that those who speak to me often on MSN or take note of my MSN handle often enough would say that I regularily throw random song quotes into my name to reflect something of note in my daily events or on a reflection of things. Lately though whenever I try to find something of thematic value to quote, I find it a little more difficult. Perhaps because there's no real lyric about moving to Vancouver and starting on night shifts. Someone should work on that.
To conclude, a few comments of movies I've seen semi lately:
World Trade Centre - worth a watch but focusses less on the events of the day and more on a made up story
Beerfest - Another zany tale from the makers of Super Troopers. Better than that island movie but not as good as super troopers
You, Me and Dupree - Kate Hudson is smoking hot. Not nearly half as good as wedding crashers.
Talledega Nights - Unfortunately Baby Jesus couldn't make this as good as Anchorman. One might almost say its bush league.
Death of a President - Find it. Get it and watch it. This is a good one. Aside from the fact that its a movie about Bush dying, you're almost convinced that this is a real documentary knowing its fake. A brilliant work.
Monday, December 04, 2006
New Toys
Well I was afraid that this would happen. I went in to buy an iPod shuffle and walked out with a collectors edition 20th anniversary Optimus Prime. Now, truth be told, this supreme action figure is wickedly sweet as it features an Energon Axe, Ion Blaster and Light up matrix chamber. At the same time, I remember sitting at my desk staring at it thinking that my geekdom level had increased thus causing the percentage ratio of possible women entering my apartment to drop a few points. Overall though, I'd say the pros and cons balence out.
The decision to get the shuffle though wasn't quite as spontaneous as I'd done a bit of research the night before. I was mixed when I entered best buy on whether or not to get the shuffle or the SanDisk Sansa 1gb player. The pros of the latter player was that it featured a display screen, fm tuner and voice recorder. I was also trying to avoid being part of the 'iPod generation' and support a smaller company. Upon seeing the shuffle though, I realy couldn't justify not getting it as its absolutely tiny and light weight and since its purpose was a running/gym player, it made the most sense. The actuality of it all is that there is a reason iPods are so popular as they are pretty practical in the end for music listeners. I would definately recommend it to others.
Pictured below are both items.
Closing Comments:
- Look at it. It's tiny!
- Yeah for free time on night shifts for making blog posts!
- Aight, no more gifts for myself. Must focus of either saving or getting gifts for others.
- There is an off chance that Zout may return to Ontario sometime this month. More to come on this.
- The snow is starting to go away and the rain is starting to return. I can't decide whether this is a good or bad thing.
- Some people still suprise me. This time, the further demonstration of moral fibre deserves an acknowledgement. Now, just what to say.
- Gingerbread Latte - Good but expensive, served warm, drink fast. Egg Nog Latte - See Gingerbread. Coffee with Skim Milk - Flavour of coffee is stronger and thus makes coffee choice more critical.
- Congrats to all who moved up a degree in Dan Ranking. Now its time to get my ass in gear and put everything in place so its my turn next year.
No Song. Neutral Mood. Meh.
The decision to get the shuffle though wasn't quite as spontaneous as I'd done a bit of research the night before. I was mixed when I entered best buy on whether or not to get the shuffle or the SanDisk Sansa 1gb player. The pros of the latter player was that it featured a display screen, fm tuner and voice recorder. I was also trying to avoid being part of the 'iPod generation' and support a smaller company. Upon seeing the shuffle though, I realy couldn't justify not getting it as its absolutely tiny and light weight and since its purpose was a running/gym player, it made the most sense. The actuality of it all is that there is a reason iPods are so popular as they are pretty practical in the end for music listeners. I would definately recommend it to others.
Pictured below are both items.
Closing Comments:
- Look at it. It's tiny!
- Yeah for free time on night shifts for making blog posts!
- Aight, no more gifts for myself. Must focus of either saving or getting gifts for others.
- There is an off chance that Zout may return to Ontario sometime this month. More to come on this.
- The snow is starting to go away and the rain is starting to return. I can't decide whether this is a good or bad thing.
- Some people still suprise me. This time, the further demonstration of moral fibre deserves an acknowledgement. Now, just what to say.
- Gingerbread Latte - Good but expensive, served warm, drink fast. Egg Nog Latte - See Gingerbread. Coffee with Skim Milk - Flavour of coffee is stronger and thus makes coffee choice more critical.
- Congrats to all who moved up a degree in Dan Ranking. Now its time to get my ass in gear and put everything in place so its my turn next year.
No Song. Neutral Mood. Meh.
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Re-inspired by the musings of others...
Once upon a time it use to be a whole lot easier to blog as notable events happend in my life on a semi consistent basis. However with things mainly being in a settling mode right now not a whole lot of worthwhile stuff has realy happend of the usual upbeat Dawson's Creek like tempo that things use to be. So instead, as a few other fellow bloggers have done, I'll just make some small rants about everyday events just for rantings sake.
Night shift
Overall, its not so bad. Yesterday kind of sucked because I'd been up for 8 hours already prior to starting work and then when I came in, the work ran heavy for about four hours. It wasn't even the easy stuff either; hard trauma cases where people are in a lot of pain, broken something and can't move; or just plain so out of it that they can't help type stuff. I was thoughrougly tuckerd by the end of the shift. Today is making up for it though as its been mainly easy cases and very few of them.
I've redeveloped my affinity for coffee as adjusting to night hours isn't something my body readily did. Its not such a bad thing though as there are quite a few coffee shops in the Vancouver area and this allows me to sample a great many of them.
Sleeping during the day is also slightly weird as its light out when I go to bed and close to dark when I wake up. At the end of the day though, the extra $2 an hour makes up for everything, especially since I don't know very many people anyways and havn't got much of a social life right now.
Portable DVD player
As of the first or second shift working nights, I concluded that there's only so much reading one can do in the downtime and that a portable dvd player would be a cool item to have that would deal with that lul time. I spent quite a bit of time researching all the options that were available to me but in the end it came down to a choice between the Phillips PET1002 and the LG LPA 735 for their ability to play Xvid movies. The decision was made for me in the end though with futureshop putting the LG player on special with additional savings in the form of a general savings coupon. In the end, the total cost after tax was very reasonable and I've already got some good use out of it. Definately a worthwhile purchase.
Snow
How the f*ck is it snowing in vancouver and warm back in Ontario? Did my moving here bend the weather patterns so that snow would come with me? Either way, its been quite the set of events. I do have to say that Vancouver folk have no clue how to moderate themselves when it comes to handling snow and more specifically driving on the snow. Some of the stuff that drivers do just blows my mind and some of the risks they take are ludicrous. I specifically stayed off the road for this very reason as my normal road rage (under normal driving conditions) likely would have multiplied by a factor of X to the Xth power and likely seen more anger than than is healthy.
Closing Comments:
- My old mp3 player kinda went shotzkey on me which makes me want to get another one. Part of me is saying that I should save my money now since I'll need it in the future while the other half of me says that I have worked two full OT shifts at time and a half and can afford a little personal spending.
- I'm gradually starting to ease into some social circles and develope a few friendships that might have some good longevity. I even find myself developing semi serious attractions to some women as well. While my heart has not completely found itself fully restored yet, it might be able to handle a few runs of mental chess with the opposite sex.
- 202 posts isn't a big deal when yours posts have 3 lines of text and one train of thought for the last dozen posts.
- I baked some Spicy Oatmeal Raisin cookies the other day. I forgot to take a picture though and wish I had because they turned out spectacularily.
- I'm gonna get the jitsu gears going in the new year and think that developing a sucessful club will be my new years resolution.
No current song. I'm at work!
Current mood. Excited as I just schduled an exam by myself. (usually the clerks do it)
Night shift
Overall, its not so bad. Yesterday kind of sucked because I'd been up for 8 hours already prior to starting work and then when I came in, the work ran heavy for about four hours. It wasn't even the easy stuff either; hard trauma cases where people are in a lot of pain, broken something and can't move; or just plain so out of it that they can't help type stuff. I was thoughrougly tuckerd by the end of the shift. Today is making up for it though as its been mainly easy cases and very few of them.
I've redeveloped my affinity for coffee as adjusting to night hours isn't something my body readily did. Its not such a bad thing though as there are quite a few coffee shops in the Vancouver area and this allows me to sample a great many of them.
Sleeping during the day is also slightly weird as its light out when I go to bed and close to dark when I wake up. At the end of the day though, the extra $2 an hour makes up for everything, especially since I don't know very many people anyways and havn't got much of a social life right now.
Portable DVD player
As of the first or second shift working nights, I concluded that there's only so much reading one can do in the downtime and that a portable dvd player would be a cool item to have that would deal with that lul time. I spent quite a bit of time researching all the options that were available to me but in the end it came down to a choice between the Phillips PET1002 and the LG LPA 735 for their ability to play Xvid movies. The decision was made for me in the end though with futureshop putting the LG player on special with additional savings in the form of a general savings coupon. In the end, the total cost after tax was very reasonable and I've already got some good use out of it. Definately a worthwhile purchase.
Snow
How the f*ck is it snowing in vancouver and warm back in Ontario? Did my moving here bend the weather patterns so that snow would come with me? Either way, its been quite the set of events. I do have to say that Vancouver folk have no clue how to moderate themselves when it comes to handling snow and more specifically driving on the snow. Some of the stuff that drivers do just blows my mind and some of the risks they take are ludicrous. I specifically stayed off the road for this very reason as my normal road rage (under normal driving conditions) likely would have multiplied by a factor of X to the Xth power and likely seen more anger than than is healthy.
Closing Comments:
- My old mp3 player kinda went shotzkey on me which makes me want to get another one. Part of me is saying that I should save my money now since I'll need it in the future while the other half of me says that I have worked two full OT shifts at time and a half and can afford a little personal spending.
- I'm gradually starting to ease into some social circles and develope a few friendships that might have some good longevity. I even find myself developing semi serious attractions to some women as well. While my heart has not completely found itself fully restored yet, it might be able to handle a few runs of mental chess with the opposite sex.
- 202 posts isn't a big deal when yours posts have 3 lines of text and one train of thought for the last dozen posts.
- I baked some Spicy Oatmeal Raisin cookies the other day. I forgot to take a picture though and wish I had because they turned out spectacularily.
- I'm gonna get the jitsu gears going in the new year and think that developing a sucessful club will be my new years resolution.
No current song. I'm at work!
Current mood. Excited as I just schduled an exam by myself. (usually the clerks do it)
Friday, November 17, 2006
No longer sitting on the floor!
Yes, its true and you are seeing correctly. From here on in, I will be resuming my old blog post schedule as I am no longer sitting on the floor to use my computer but instead back in my good ol computer chair and my awesome new desk.
Vancouver so far has been great. Nothing too exciting has happend since I've got here since I've mainly just been working and getting my apartment in order as well as all the other things that go with that. Settling into a new hospital and new department has been a fun little adventure and looks like both could be promising. Everything at VGH seems to make so much more sense than it has in previous exposure (no pun intended) to diagnostic imaging field.
I've met a handful of people outside of the hospital in my wanderings but havn't had much social time since its taking time to get myself settled. I should be all done after this weekend though since my stuff finally arrived one of my last tasks just requires me to put it away.
I think I'll leave the rest of this post in summarized closing comments form.
Closing Comments:
- The city itself is beautiful and filled with culture at almost every corner
- People here seem to be way more health concious than in any other city I've lived in (especially compared to Cornwall). I think I've seen a total of maybe three fat people in the month that I've been here.
- My cell phone bill is going to be huge. Time will tell though just how big.
- I came at the beginning of rainy season and it certainly has been quite rainy. All part of the journey.
- It seems as though I'm not the only one in this town who has settled in for a little bit to take in the surroundings for a couple years. Of all the people I've met, only about half of them are from Vancouver.
- There hasn't been a day that has gone by where I havn't thought about how awesome it will be to get a club going here. Soon enough, soon enough.
- I baked a cake for the potluck last week which I self titled Zout's Choclate Volcano explosion. Everyone loved it. Here is a photo:
And here is a photo of the picturesque neighborhood that I live in:
Current Song: Goo Goo Dolls - Without you here
Current Mood: Pumped for the Gym
Vancouver so far has been great. Nothing too exciting has happend since I've got here since I've mainly just been working and getting my apartment in order as well as all the other things that go with that. Settling into a new hospital and new department has been a fun little adventure and looks like both could be promising. Everything at VGH seems to make so much more sense than it has in previous exposure (no pun intended) to diagnostic imaging field.
I've met a handful of people outside of the hospital in my wanderings but havn't had much social time since its taking time to get myself settled. I should be all done after this weekend though since my stuff finally arrived one of my last tasks just requires me to put it away.
I think I'll leave the rest of this post in summarized closing comments form.
Closing Comments:
- The city itself is beautiful and filled with culture at almost every corner
- People here seem to be way more health concious than in any other city I've lived in (especially compared to Cornwall). I think I've seen a total of maybe three fat people in the month that I've been here.
- My cell phone bill is going to be huge. Time will tell though just how big.
- I came at the beginning of rainy season and it certainly has been quite rainy. All part of the journey.
- It seems as though I'm not the only one in this town who has settled in for a little bit to take in the surroundings for a couple years. Of all the people I've met, only about half of them are from Vancouver.
- There hasn't been a day that has gone by where I havn't thought about how awesome it will be to get a club going here. Soon enough, soon enough.
- I baked a cake for the potluck last week which I self titled Zout's Choclate Volcano explosion. Everyone loved it. Here is a photo:
And here is a photo of the picturesque neighborhood that I live in:
Current Song: Goo Goo Dolls - Without you here
Current Mood: Pumped for the Gym
Thursday, November 02, 2006
Well I would make a post...
But right now my computer is sitting on the floor in the living area of my apartment. Thus sitting in front of it for long periods of time is not easy and hence why there have been no posts. When things are more condusive, you may or may not here about:
- the new apartment
- my new TV that broke within 2 mins of me purchasing it
- the new job
- life out west
Until I get paid and get a desk...
- the new apartment
- my new TV that broke within 2 mins of me purchasing it
- the new job
- life out west
Until I get paid and get a desk...
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Before the memories fade away...
They need to be blogged to be enjoyed by all. In truth, I should have done this yesterday since the memories were fresher but I got caught up doing other things. And so one day later, here is the story of Zout/T-Bone crossing 2/3 of Canada on his way to Vancouver.
Day 1
The first few hours before I left were definately quite tough as the emotion of the entire event became a little overwhelming. The hardest two moments were definately saying goodbye to my mother and the last few minutes before jumping in the car as I took one last long walk through the house. I knew it wasn't goodbye but the realization of how long it would be before I would be back hit me. Thankfully, Keeves was there waiting though and eventually I had to come back to the real world and realize that it was time to go.
The weather that day was the worst of the three days as it was rainy and cold. But we braved through it all and we were on our way. The drive to the Sue took approximately eight hours, some of which was spent getting lost. In fact, I'd say we got lost once a day but I digress. The drive was pretty boring as the Shield in Ontario is full of mountains, none of which are very exciting. We still managed to find ways to amuse ourselves though, laughing at the five or six ramps of the Trans Canada that take you to Sudbury as well as names of the funny roads. Some of these included Crooked Lake, Go Home Lake Road and Seldom Seen Road. Early Ontarians wern't very creative in most respects.
We arrived in the Sue at about six, checked into a Comfort Inn, showered and then headed off to dinner. We chose Lone Star because, I've only every known Lone Star waitresses to be awesome ;O). Wasn't the case here though as when we prompted here as to where two travellers would go to enjoy the atmosphere in the Sue, she brought us a NEWSPAPER. What waitress brings their customers a newspaper?!?! It didn't end there though. She told us about a bar named 'Stars' that we could find on 'Gouley' road. We would never find Gouley road on a map though but instead would query whether a street named 'Goulais' was what she was talking about. Either way, not the sharpest knife in the drawer.
We never made it out that night anyways as I'd eaten a Woody burger which is a one pound burger for all those that don't know. As such, I just laid on the bed for about an hour after dinner trying to digest. Following that sleep.
CDs listened to on Day 1:
Angels and Airwaves - We don't need to whisper
Evanescence - The open Door
The Killers - Sam's Town
Collective Soul - Collective Soul
VA - Rock Mix 3
VA - Rock Mix 9
Oasis - Don't Believe the Truth
Day 2
The second day started with continental breakfast, check out and then a trip to Wal Mart. We were originally going to get floss and a toothbrush but instead walked out with $70 of music cds between the two of us. These included:
Me:
Bon Jovi - Slippery when Wet
Bon Jovi - Have a nice Day
John Mayer Trio - Try
Bryan Adams - Anthology
Keeves:
Godsmack - IV
Killers - Hot Fuss (I was going to get this, but he ended up getting it)
After spending money that we didn't need to actually spend, we jumped into the car and started on route to Thunder Bay. About an hour into the trip, the needle on the gas meter dropped quicker than expected and for about 60 km I was driving with the Orange warning light on. I never worried that I'd run out of gas though because in the end 'everything would be fine'. There was more of the shield to see on the way and as such the drive was another lame one. In fact perhaps even lamer since the quantity of funny named lakes and roads dropped considerably.
There was one car that we grew to hate more and more over the course of the drive based on his lack of driving etiquette. One prime example of this is when he road my bumper in an attempt to get me to pass three trucks and a car in front of me. It trues that we were on a passing portion of the highway, but that is usually for one car or at most a truck. I chose not to adhere to his pushing and in the end he decided to try it himself. As far as I can tell, he almost got himself killed as a car came up from the other side. He did make it though much to our dismay.
We arrived in Thunder Bay at approximately sixish. Again we checked into a hotel and headed off to dinner at an AppleBees this time. Our waitress this time around was much better and more conversive. I attributed this to the presence of students likely going to Lakehead. We were told about a bar that students head to on wednesday's called 'Tony and Andy's' on what I thought was Court street. We would later go looking for this bar but would never find it which wasn't such a bad thing as we got to bed earlier. We hypothesized later that the street might have been Gore street based on a map. I'll likely never know though.
CDs listened to on Day 2:
Bon Jovi - Slipper When Wet
The Music - Self Titled
VA - Punk goes 90s
The Killers - Hot Fuss
Jet - Shine On
Bryan Adams - Anthology CD1
Dave Matthews Band - Central Park Concert CD1
Day 3
Day three saw us wake up to the usual continental breakfast. I was glad to note that my phone had set itself back an hour indicating that we'd be gaining an hour during the drive to Winnipeg. The drive went okay for the most part during the day. At one point I tried to pass a guy on a stretch of road with a double yellow line. I quickly realized there was a car and pulled back behind the car I was trying to pass. He didn't like this though, I suppose feeling I was being reckless, and turned to show me some profanities. From there he picked up the phone and called the police I assume which was a little over the top in my opinion. None the less, I behaved for the next 40 km or so and didn't even try to pass as an acknowledgement that I should be more careful.
As we drove, the presence of snow became greater and in following the temperature got colder. Because we'd left a little earlier in theory, we ended up delaying lunch until 2/3 of the way through the trip with a stop in Kenora. We were quite hungry by this point and I believe I ate more A and W burgers than any sane man should but I was satisfied in the end though. When we crossed into Manitoba, everything changed drastically. The roads straightened out completely and everything became flat (as oppose to hilly). Keeves immediately noted the increasing presence of deer in the forest and I commented that I would love to see deer (I couldn't turn my head for long since I was driving). When we stopped for gas though, some deer actually came out of the forest and randomly wandered over in our direction before heading off. That was pretty cool to me.
We ended up getting to Winnipeg pretty early since we'd left early. Thus we thought we might actually have more time to enjoy the city this time around. This was not the case though as we ended up getting quite lost for about one and a half hours. This was mostly due to a misunderstanding of where the Comfort Inn was located. The description of what we'd been given was that the hotel was right off the highway. As such we just followed the Trans Canada Hwy into the city. After not finding anything we stopped at a few gas stations none of whom knew where the Comfort Inn was. One lady even gave us wrong directions which got us even more lost. Finally we looked up the number of the Comfort Inn to see if she could direct us from our lost location. It turned out that she'd only been in Winnipeg for a month and had no clue where we were. I did ask if she knew what intersection she was at and after getting that, I was able to navigate my way there. In the end it turns out that the Comfort Inn was location on the Perimeter Hwy which runs around the city.
After eventually getting to the Comfort Inn, we cooled off for a bit and headed out to a Boston Pizza (of which there are many in Winnipeg) for dinner. We ate and once again settled into our server/customer banter. We found out about a club called 'Tijuana Yatch Club' and 'Coyotes' that were suppose to be the places to go. However, once again, after hitting the bed and relaxing, sleep snuck its way up on me and we never ended up making it to a bar. It's a shame in this case as I would have liked to have gone as they sounded pretty cool.
CDs listened to on Day 3
VA - Wreckless Intent
Dave Matthews Band - Central Park Concert CD2
Live - Throwing Copper
John Mayer Trio - Try
Bon Jovi - Crossroads
Bryan Adams - Anthology CD2
Godsmack - IV
Day 4
We took our time in leaving on Day Four as we wanted to hit the shops for a little bit before leaving. In our random car banter, we had decided that we needed winnipeg jets hats if we were to be crossing through Winnipeg. As such we went looking for such hats. Eventually we ended up finding the hats that we wanted but at the last minute, I decided against buying it as the value would be lost once we left winnipeg. I also don't wear hats very much these days so it would have just sat in the closet. Our search for hats did lead us to a future shop though and as before, we bought more music cds. They included:
Me:
Live - Awake (the best of)
Linkin Park - Meteora
Collective Soul - Seven Year Itch
John Mayer - Room for Squares
Keeves:
Neil Diamond - Best of
Beck - Odelay
(And another which I forget)
From there we jumped back into the car and were on our way to Regina. This day was to be the shortest day of driving as there was only one city in between which was Brandon. I was glad to have lunch at a Subway in Brandon as my body needed the delicious veggies which are present on a sub. Another unexpected surprise popped up when I was queried about chesse on the sub and offered monteray jack cheese as one of the options. I jumped at that option as I love Monteray Jack cheese on anything. There was a hottie who laughed at my excitement to which I just answered that such things don't happen in ontario and that it was a nice change.
We had no trouble finding the Comfort Inn in regina as it was right off the highway. Since we'd gotten there in good time, I decided to find a gym and hit a workout. During the course of the workout, I could feel the lack of proper eating and dehydration holding me back. It was still good to hit the weights though.
We went to Eastside's for dinner that night and proceeded to flirt with as many of the servers and hostesses that would indulge us. We also gourged ourselves with salad and bread since it was free with the meal. We once again heckled people for a bar to go to but this time we would actually end up going. (We did get lost again looking for it). The bar was called the pump and it turned out to be a pretty upbeat place. The overall whiteness of the atmosphere of Regina was aparent though as there wasn't a single asian, brown or african american person there. The band was also playing some country songs, none of which I knew. We didn't end up staying long though as we needed to be up early to head of to calgary in the morning. A shame too as some of the women in Regina were gorgeous.
CDs listened to on Day 4:
Bon Jovi - Have a Nice Day
Beck - Odelay
Linkin Park - Meteora
Live - Awake
Bon Jovi - Live in St. Louis CD1 and CD2
Day 5
We awoke at our usual time of what we thought was 830 the next morning. My cell phone said it was 730 though and it was then we realized we were in mountain time. Keeves fake yelled at me for getting him up so early and I fake yelled at him for being so lazy.
The drive to Calgary was very much the same as that from Winnipeg to Regina. Mostly flat and mostly boring from the lack of scenery. During our stop in Swift Current, we almost bought more CDs but Keeves was the voice of reason (shockingly enough) saying that we had already bought enough.
The stop in Medicine Hat was kinda lame as my allergies were acting up a little bit. Things got better though on our way to Calgary as the sun came out and made things better. We once again got lost in finding the Comfort Inn due to a terrible map that was in the map we got of Western Canada and highlighted choice hotels (of which Comfort Inn is included). This time, we knew how to proceed with minimizing lost time and managed to reduce the extra time to about thirty minutes.
The plan for Calgary had always been to have one hell of a time once we got there since it was to be our last night on the journey. Things changed though with the overall five day fatigue setting in. Thus we only managed to get to the Chinook Centre to buy belt buckles and have dinner at Hooters (which was across the street). Hooters isn't as entertaining as I thought it would be. The menu selection is also pretty poor.
That night, aside from raving about how cool my belt buckle was, we just watched some UFC fights on Spike TV and hit the sack. Once again, I didn't mind not heading out on the city since the next day of driving would be the longest of the entire trip.
CDs listened to on Day 5:
Collective Soul - Seven Year Itch
Neil Diamond - Greatest Hits
VA - Nostalgia Mix
VA - BBQ Mix
Live - Songs from Black Mountain
VA - Halloween Mix
Day 6
We awoke pretty early that morning to get Keeves onto his bus to Edmonton which was leaving at 830 calgary time. We ate breakfast, packed everything into the car and headed off. We managed to get to the Bus station with about 15 minutes or so to spare which was a decent amount of time and got him a ticket to Edmonton. From there we parted ways which was a little tough since he'd been my wingman for five days straight. We all need to soldier on though.
Day 1
The first few hours before I left were definately quite tough as the emotion of the entire event became a little overwhelming. The hardest two moments were definately saying goodbye to my mother and the last few minutes before jumping in the car as I took one last long walk through the house. I knew it wasn't goodbye but the realization of how long it would be before I would be back hit me. Thankfully, Keeves was there waiting though and eventually I had to come back to the real world and realize that it was time to go.
The weather that day was the worst of the three days as it was rainy and cold. But we braved through it all and we were on our way. The drive to the Sue took approximately eight hours, some of which was spent getting lost. In fact, I'd say we got lost once a day but I digress. The drive was pretty boring as the Shield in Ontario is full of mountains, none of which are very exciting. We still managed to find ways to amuse ourselves though, laughing at the five or six ramps of the Trans Canada that take you to Sudbury as well as names of the funny roads. Some of these included Crooked Lake, Go Home Lake Road and Seldom Seen Road. Early Ontarians wern't very creative in most respects.
We arrived in the Sue at about six, checked into a Comfort Inn, showered and then headed off to dinner. We chose Lone Star because, I've only every known Lone Star waitresses to be awesome ;O). Wasn't the case here though as when we prompted here as to where two travellers would go to enjoy the atmosphere in the Sue, she brought us a NEWSPAPER. What waitress brings their customers a newspaper?!?! It didn't end there though. She told us about a bar named 'Stars' that we could find on 'Gouley' road. We would never find Gouley road on a map though but instead would query whether a street named 'Goulais' was what she was talking about. Either way, not the sharpest knife in the drawer.
We never made it out that night anyways as I'd eaten a Woody burger which is a one pound burger for all those that don't know. As such, I just laid on the bed for about an hour after dinner trying to digest. Following that sleep.
CDs listened to on Day 1:
Angels and Airwaves - We don't need to whisper
Evanescence - The open Door
The Killers - Sam's Town
Collective Soul - Collective Soul
VA - Rock Mix 3
VA - Rock Mix 9
Oasis - Don't Believe the Truth
Day 2
The second day started with continental breakfast, check out and then a trip to Wal Mart. We were originally going to get floss and a toothbrush but instead walked out with $70 of music cds between the two of us. These included:
Me:
Bon Jovi - Slippery when Wet
Bon Jovi - Have a nice Day
John Mayer Trio - Try
Bryan Adams - Anthology
Keeves:
Godsmack - IV
Killers - Hot Fuss (I was going to get this, but he ended up getting it)
After spending money that we didn't need to actually spend, we jumped into the car and started on route to Thunder Bay. About an hour into the trip, the needle on the gas meter dropped quicker than expected and for about 60 km I was driving with the Orange warning light on. I never worried that I'd run out of gas though because in the end 'everything would be fine'. There was more of the shield to see on the way and as such the drive was another lame one. In fact perhaps even lamer since the quantity of funny named lakes and roads dropped considerably.
There was one car that we grew to hate more and more over the course of the drive based on his lack of driving etiquette. One prime example of this is when he road my bumper in an attempt to get me to pass three trucks and a car in front of me. It trues that we were on a passing portion of the highway, but that is usually for one car or at most a truck. I chose not to adhere to his pushing and in the end he decided to try it himself. As far as I can tell, he almost got himself killed as a car came up from the other side. He did make it though much to our dismay.
We arrived in Thunder Bay at approximately sixish. Again we checked into a hotel and headed off to dinner at an AppleBees this time. Our waitress this time around was much better and more conversive. I attributed this to the presence of students likely going to Lakehead. We were told about a bar that students head to on wednesday's called 'Tony and Andy's' on what I thought was Court street. We would later go looking for this bar but would never find it which wasn't such a bad thing as we got to bed earlier. We hypothesized later that the street might have been Gore street based on a map. I'll likely never know though.
CDs listened to on Day 2:
Bon Jovi - Slipper When Wet
The Music - Self Titled
VA - Punk goes 90s
The Killers - Hot Fuss
Jet - Shine On
Bryan Adams - Anthology CD1
Dave Matthews Band - Central Park Concert CD1
Day 3
Day three saw us wake up to the usual continental breakfast. I was glad to note that my phone had set itself back an hour indicating that we'd be gaining an hour during the drive to Winnipeg. The drive went okay for the most part during the day. At one point I tried to pass a guy on a stretch of road with a double yellow line. I quickly realized there was a car and pulled back behind the car I was trying to pass. He didn't like this though, I suppose feeling I was being reckless, and turned to show me some profanities. From there he picked up the phone and called the police I assume which was a little over the top in my opinion. None the less, I behaved for the next 40 km or so and didn't even try to pass as an acknowledgement that I should be more careful.
As we drove, the presence of snow became greater and in following the temperature got colder. Because we'd left a little earlier in theory, we ended up delaying lunch until 2/3 of the way through the trip with a stop in Kenora. We were quite hungry by this point and I believe I ate more A and W burgers than any sane man should but I was satisfied in the end though. When we crossed into Manitoba, everything changed drastically. The roads straightened out completely and everything became flat (as oppose to hilly). Keeves immediately noted the increasing presence of deer in the forest and I commented that I would love to see deer (I couldn't turn my head for long since I was driving). When we stopped for gas though, some deer actually came out of the forest and randomly wandered over in our direction before heading off. That was pretty cool to me.
We ended up getting to Winnipeg pretty early since we'd left early. Thus we thought we might actually have more time to enjoy the city this time around. This was not the case though as we ended up getting quite lost for about one and a half hours. This was mostly due to a misunderstanding of where the Comfort Inn was located. The description of what we'd been given was that the hotel was right off the highway. As such we just followed the Trans Canada Hwy into the city. After not finding anything we stopped at a few gas stations none of whom knew where the Comfort Inn was. One lady even gave us wrong directions which got us even more lost. Finally we looked up the number of the Comfort Inn to see if she could direct us from our lost location. It turned out that she'd only been in Winnipeg for a month and had no clue where we were. I did ask if she knew what intersection she was at and after getting that, I was able to navigate my way there. In the end it turns out that the Comfort Inn was location on the Perimeter Hwy which runs around the city.
After eventually getting to the Comfort Inn, we cooled off for a bit and headed out to a Boston Pizza (of which there are many in Winnipeg) for dinner. We ate and once again settled into our server/customer banter. We found out about a club called 'Tijuana Yatch Club' and 'Coyotes' that were suppose to be the places to go. However, once again, after hitting the bed and relaxing, sleep snuck its way up on me and we never ended up making it to a bar. It's a shame in this case as I would have liked to have gone as they sounded pretty cool.
CDs listened to on Day 3
VA - Wreckless Intent
Dave Matthews Band - Central Park Concert CD2
Live - Throwing Copper
John Mayer Trio - Try
Bon Jovi - Crossroads
Bryan Adams - Anthology CD2
Godsmack - IV
Day 4
We took our time in leaving on Day Four as we wanted to hit the shops for a little bit before leaving. In our random car banter, we had decided that we needed winnipeg jets hats if we were to be crossing through Winnipeg. As such we went looking for such hats. Eventually we ended up finding the hats that we wanted but at the last minute, I decided against buying it as the value would be lost once we left winnipeg. I also don't wear hats very much these days so it would have just sat in the closet. Our search for hats did lead us to a future shop though and as before, we bought more music cds. They included:
Me:
Live - Awake (the best of)
Linkin Park - Meteora
Collective Soul - Seven Year Itch
John Mayer - Room for Squares
Keeves:
Neil Diamond - Best of
Beck - Odelay
(And another which I forget)
From there we jumped back into the car and were on our way to Regina. This day was to be the shortest day of driving as there was only one city in between which was Brandon. I was glad to have lunch at a Subway in Brandon as my body needed the delicious veggies which are present on a sub. Another unexpected surprise popped up when I was queried about chesse on the sub and offered monteray jack cheese as one of the options. I jumped at that option as I love Monteray Jack cheese on anything. There was a hottie who laughed at my excitement to which I just answered that such things don't happen in ontario and that it was a nice change.
We had no trouble finding the Comfort Inn in regina as it was right off the highway. Since we'd gotten there in good time, I decided to find a gym and hit a workout. During the course of the workout, I could feel the lack of proper eating and dehydration holding me back. It was still good to hit the weights though.
We went to Eastside's for dinner that night and proceeded to flirt with as many of the servers and hostesses that would indulge us. We also gourged ourselves with salad and bread since it was free with the meal. We once again heckled people for a bar to go to but this time we would actually end up going. (We did get lost again looking for it). The bar was called the pump and it turned out to be a pretty upbeat place. The overall whiteness of the atmosphere of Regina was aparent though as there wasn't a single asian, brown or african american person there. The band was also playing some country songs, none of which I knew. We didn't end up staying long though as we needed to be up early to head of to calgary in the morning. A shame too as some of the women in Regina were gorgeous.
CDs listened to on Day 4:
Bon Jovi - Have a Nice Day
Beck - Odelay
Linkin Park - Meteora
Live - Awake
Bon Jovi - Live in St. Louis CD1 and CD2
Day 5
We awoke at our usual time of what we thought was 830 the next morning. My cell phone said it was 730 though and it was then we realized we were in mountain time. Keeves fake yelled at me for getting him up so early and I fake yelled at him for being so lazy.
The drive to Calgary was very much the same as that from Winnipeg to Regina. Mostly flat and mostly boring from the lack of scenery. During our stop in Swift Current, we almost bought more CDs but Keeves was the voice of reason (shockingly enough) saying that we had already bought enough.
The stop in Medicine Hat was kinda lame as my allergies were acting up a little bit. Things got better though on our way to Calgary as the sun came out and made things better. We once again got lost in finding the Comfort Inn due to a terrible map that was in the map we got of Western Canada and highlighted choice hotels (of which Comfort Inn is included). This time, we knew how to proceed with minimizing lost time and managed to reduce the extra time to about thirty minutes.
The plan for Calgary had always been to have one hell of a time once we got there since it was to be our last night on the journey. Things changed though with the overall five day fatigue setting in. Thus we only managed to get to the Chinook Centre to buy belt buckles and have dinner at Hooters (which was across the street). Hooters isn't as entertaining as I thought it would be. The menu selection is also pretty poor.
That night, aside from raving about how cool my belt buckle was, we just watched some UFC fights on Spike TV and hit the sack. Once again, I didn't mind not heading out on the city since the next day of driving would be the longest of the entire trip.
CDs listened to on Day 5:
Collective Soul - Seven Year Itch
Neil Diamond - Greatest Hits
VA - Nostalgia Mix
VA - BBQ Mix
Live - Songs from Black Mountain
VA - Halloween Mix
Day 6
We awoke pretty early that morning to get Keeves onto his bus to Edmonton which was leaving at 830 calgary time. We ate breakfast, packed everything into the car and headed off. We managed to get to the Bus station with about 15 minutes or so to spare which was a decent amount of time and got him a ticket to Edmonton. From there we parted ways which was a little tough since he'd been my wingman for five days straight. We all need to soldier on though.
I took off from the Bus station ready for my last day on the road. I immediately noticed the difference of driving by yourself versus driving with a wingman. It's amazing what your body and instincts become habituated to.
The drive itself was realy nice as there were lots of rocky mountains in the first portion and lots of folliage in the latter half when I got into BC. The drive itself was less straight forward, especially in the portion between lake louise and Revelstoke. When it says that one needs to go at 40 and 60 in some regions, you realy need to adhere to that. Things got much better though after passing through Kamloops and the drive was more straight forward.
After about 11H of driving and 1018.1 Km of distance, which saw me get lost in mini pockets three times, I arrived at my destination of Vancouver. I think I was braindead when I got here as I don't remember much of what happend that night. The drive certainly does take a lot out of you. Giles and I went out for dinner to celebrate and after that I crashed hard in going to bed.
CDs listened to on Day 6:
John Mayer - Room for Squares
Michael Jackson - The Essential Michael Jackson CD1
John Mayer - Continuum
Amanda Marshall - Intermission (The best of)
Michael Jackson - The Essential Michael Jackson CD2
John Mayer - Heavier Things
VA - Power Ballads
James Blunt - Chasing Time and Monkey on my Shoulder
Justin Timerberlake - FutureSex/LoveSounds
Closing Comments:
- A long drive has a very philisophical property and everyone needs to do it at some point.
- There were a great number of oversized vehicles in Ontario on the highway which sucked at some points. That's life though.
- The most listened to song on the journey was, not suprisingly, Living on a Prayer by Bon Jovi played four times. The second most listened to song, also not suprisingly was Summer of 69 by Bryan Adams played three times.
- Total money spent on gas - $396.17. Total spent on lodging - 554.27. Total distance travelled -4746 Km. Trip across Canada - Priceless (lame I know, but I earned it)
- There was an increased incidence of A and W, Robin's Donuts and Boston Pizza as we got to Calgary. They all but dissapeared here in Vancouver though.
- I stayed at Comfort Inns so much because they had a Choice club which reduced the cost of staying overnight and you get points for free stays.
- Now my mission is to find a place and stop bumming off Giles
- I can't believe I'm actually here now whereas a week ago I was getting ready to leave.
- I do get homesick from time to time but I suppose that's to be expected in completely new surroundings. All part of the adventure in the end.
Current Song: Collective Soul - Satellite (live)
Current Mood: Anxious (to find a place to live)
Sunday, October 15, 2006
'And I will shine on, for everyone'
Based on the sheer quantity of events and hijinks that went down this weekend this blog post is shaping up to be a long one and if you're reading this prepare yourself for a bit of reading.
The original plan for this weekend was that I was going to go to Peterborough for the mini course on friday and the Brown and Above course on Saturday. But, fate through me a curveball and stuck me into terrible traffic. One thing I will not miss after I leave is traffic on the 401. I don't think I've ever strung so many curse words together in succession like I did stuck in traffic. After letting the rage out though, I turned the negative of me not being able to make the course in any reasonable time into a positive and decided to go to kingston to get a full session in and see some of the faces that I've come to adore that I would not have seen otherwise.
Thus, I changed course and headed off towards K-town. It was quite the battle to get there in the end as half of the pacific came down from the sky and reduced driving conditions to an almost unbearable level. I endured though and made it safely. Things went up from there as the rain ceased and I made it to the session with a good amount of time. There were many suprised looks to take in including that of Mr. Bus who I would say was very happy to see me based on all the times he told me on saturday.
The session ran quite well as the 'bad cop, worse cop' duo shined like we always do. Teaching with Mr. Bus added a huge element nostalgia to the whole night as it wasn't too long ago we were doing the same as Dark Blues. Amazing how much things can change and still stay so comfortably the same. We also got to bounce Stu-Dan which was fun. Nothing like makikomis on b-day bounces.
There was a b-day celebration for him afterwards which he hosted at his place. After quickly suprising Mosie, who had no idea I was in K-town, we both headed over for some sweet times. There was some guitar hero, an airing of my superb acting skills, ice cream cake and the regular amount of merriment. Originally, I didn't think I'd have a good time as I did since I wanted to leave early and get some proper sleep for the course the next day. But even with the leave early element, things were fun.
I never ended up getting to bed early though as, even though we left at a decent time, Mosie and I stayed up reminiscing about the last six years from day one at university to now. All the fun trips, all the crushes, all the drama, all the parties and everything in between.
I awoke saturday suprisingly well and on time too. I had some cereal, filled the tank at the good ol J and was on the way to Peterbrough. I arrived early and as such just sat in the car listening to tunes. About five minutes before the scheduled start time no one was there so I started to get worried that I had the wrong venue. After a quick call, I found out that everyone was just late.
The course itself was quite intense and involved heavy throws for four hours. I took an elbow to the head in a throw about a quarter of the way through that slowly turned into a large headache later on and thus I cut out towards the end. Didn't miss too much though as the throws I had to sit down for I had done before at some point. At the end of the course, I was honoured with a (post-dated) katana which came as a huge shock to me. I was very touched by the whole thing.
I wasn't expecting the social to be terribly big as most everyone was beat up. As per usual I was wrong again. Things did start off slow with dinner and some good conversations as I'd guessed but as the first set of bar shots were done, the pace definately started to change. It wasn't soon after that, car bombs made their way an appearance. They also quickly vanished. At one point in the night, High Chief said that the night was in honour of my accomplishments and in going with this I asked if he'd make the day 'T-Bone day'. He shockingly enough just said yes whereas I expected some witty english response. Then later I actually got a hug from him!!! I was quite touched.
As the stone closed, we headed off for a destination that I didn't think I'd ever be back at which was the Trasheteria. Not suprisingly more drinks were consumed and there was even some dancing. One of the individuals started one of those person in a circle does some cool dancing circles during a heavy bass song. When I was called into the circle I threw out some ol school break dancing which was quite fun. Things tapered off there and progressed to the saphire room. I still had the dance vibe when I got there and SexyBack on the stereo just added to that. That being the case, when I went to the bar to get a drink I believe I said, "Can I get some type of minty thing? And could I also dance on your bar?". I was called on it though as the bartender said sure which came as a suprise to me. But there was dancing to be done so I requested 'What goes around' on the FutureSex/LoveSounds CD and went at it. I clearly remember getting up on the bar and Thumper yelling: "T-Bone get down from there, you'll get kicked out" and me resonponding with "No they won't, they let me". During the middle of the song I was amazed to find that people were enjoying the show and random people were taking pictures. Overall an awesome memory for my (possibly) last social in Peterborough.
We had some subway, that I couldn't taste, before heading to bed. As I predicted, I got some wicked spins which took some funny positions to get rid of.
This morning (sunday) we had breakfast at Smitty's and then I was off back home to spend the day with my family. The goodbyes at this point were very hard as I've known most of these individuals for the last half decade. It was a very surreal feeling.
The memories of this past few days are those that I'll cherish for the rest of my life. I've said it before and I will say it again that I've been very blessed to have met such wonderful people and shared such fantastic memories with them. I would not be where I'm at, or headed in this direction if it wasn't for the effort that each person has invested in me. To the following, I thank you dearly:
- Mosie
- Thumper
- My Parents and My sister
- Mr. Bus
- J-Bun
- RA
- McM
- Fish
- Flippy Dan
- Giles
There are also countless others to thank but those names present belong at the top. From the bottom of my heart, Thank You.
So ends one chapter of T-Bone/Zouts life and leads onto the opening of another.
(Cue Jet-Shine On)
The original plan for this weekend was that I was going to go to Peterborough for the mini course on friday and the Brown and Above course on Saturday. But, fate through me a curveball and stuck me into terrible traffic. One thing I will not miss after I leave is traffic on the 401. I don't think I've ever strung so many curse words together in succession like I did stuck in traffic. After letting the rage out though, I turned the negative of me not being able to make the course in any reasonable time into a positive and decided to go to kingston to get a full session in and see some of the faces that I've come to adore that I would not have seen otherwise.
Thus, I changed course and headed off towards K-town. It was quite the battle to get there in the end as half of the pacific came down from the sky and reduced driving conditions to an almost unbearable level. I endured though and made it safely. Things went up from there as the rain ceased and I made it to the session with a good amount of time. There were many suprised looks to take in including that of Mr. Bus who I would say was very happy to see me based on all the times he told me on saturday.
The session ran quite well as the 'bad cop, worse cop' duo shined like we always do. Teaching with Mr. Bus added a huge element nostalgia to the whole night as it wasn't too long ago we were doing the same as Dark Blues. Amazing how much things can change and still stay so comfortably the same. We also got to bounce Stu-Dan which was fun. Nothing like makikomis on b-day bounces.
There was a b-day celebration for him afterwards which he hosted at his place. After quickly suprising Mosie, who had no idea I was in K-town, we both headed over for some sweet times. There was some guitar hero, an airing of my superb acting skills, ice cream cake and the regular amount of merriment. Originally, I didn't think I'd have a good time as I did since I wanted to leave early and get some proper sleep for the course the next day. But even with the leave early element, things were fun.
I never ended up getting to bed early though as, even though we left at a decent time, Mosie and I stayed up reminiscing about the last six years from day one at university to now. All the fun trips, all the crushes, all the drama, all the parties and everything in between.
I awoke saturday suprisingly well and on time too. I had some cereal, filled the tank at the good ol J and was on the way to Peterbrough. I arrived early and as such just sat in the car listening to tunes. About five minutes before the scheduled start time no one was there so I started to get worried that I had the wrong venue. After a quick call, I found out that everyone was just late.
The course itself was quite intense and involved heavy throws for four hours. I took an elbow to the head in a throw about a quarter of the way through that slowly turned into a large headache later on and thus I cut out towards the end. Didn't miss too much though as the throws I had to sit down for I had done before at some point. At the end of the course, I was honoured with a (post-dated) katana which came as a huge shock to me. I was very touched by the whole thing.
I wasn't expecting the social to be terribly big as most everyone was beat up. As per usual I was wrong again. Things did start off slow with dinner and some good conversations as I'd guessed but as the first set of bar shots were done, the pace definately started to change. It wasn't soon after that, car bombs made their way an appearance. They also quickly vanished. At one point in the night, High Chief said that the night was in honour of my accomplishments and in going with this I asked if he'd make the day 'T-Bone day'. He shockingly enough just said yes whereas I expected some witty english response. Then later I actually got a hug from him!!! I was quite touched.
As the stone closed, we headed off for a destination that I didn't think I'd ever be back at which was the Trasheteria. Not suprisingly more drinks were consumed and there was even some dancing. One of the individuals started one of those person in a circle does some cool dancing circles during a heavy bass song. When I was called into the circle I threw out some ol school break dancing which was quite fun. Things tapered off there and progressed to the saphire room. I still had the dance vibe when I got there and SexyBack on the stereo just added to that. That being the case, when I went to the bar to get a drink I believe I said, "Can I get some type of minty thing? And could I also dance on your bar?". I was called on it though as the bartender said sure which came as a suprise to me. But there was dancing to be done so I requested 'What goes around' on the FutureSex/LoveSounds CD and went at it. I clearly remember getting up on the bar and Thumper yelling: "T-Bone get down from there, you'll get kicked out" and me resonponding with "No they won't, they let me". During the middle of the song I was amazed to find that people were enjoying the show and random people were taking pictures. Overall an awesome memory for my (possibly) last social in Peterborough.
We had some subway, that I couldn't taste, before heading to bed. As I predicted, I got some wicked spins which took some funny positions to get rid of.
This morning (sunday) we had breakfast at Smitty's and then I was off back home to spend the day with my family. The goodbyes at this point were very hard as I've known most of these individuals for the last half decade. It was a very surreal feeling.
The memories of this past few days are those that I'll cherish for the rest of my life. I've said it before and I will say it again that I've been very blessed to have met such wonderful people and shared such fantastic memories with them. I would not be where I'm at, or headed in this direction if it wasn't for the effort that each person has invested in me. To the following, I thank you dearly:
- Mosie
- Thumper
- My Parents and My sister
- Mr. Bus
- J-Bun
- RA
- McM
- Fish
- Flippy Dan
- Giles
There are also countless others to thank but those names present belong at the top. From the bottom of my heart, Thank You.
So ends one chapter of T-Bone/Zouts life and leads onto the opening of another.
(Cue Jet-Shine On)
Thursday, October 12, 2006
I hate blogs too!
...but people have to read something.
Most of items pertaining to the Vancouver move have been sorted out and I am definately looking forward to the venture. Mr. Keeves will be joining me for the majority of this trip which will at bare minimum provide constant entertainment. The trip itself will span six days and go as such:
Tuesday
Toronto to Sault Ste. Marie
Wednesday
Sault Ste. Marie to Thunder Bay
Thursday
Thunder Bay to Winnipeg
Friday
Winnipeg to Regina
Saturday
Regina to Calgary
Sunday
Calgary to Vancouver
Overall the total trip distance is 4482 km which splits up nicely over a six day trip. Originally I was going to make it a five day trip, but it made for stops is smaller and less interesting cities. The other advantage of having a six day trip is that it cuts down on daily driving fatigue and I can enjoy the cities a little bit more.
I am going to try and take pictures along the way and make as many daily posts as I can as a way of chronicaling the experience as well as a way to share it with everyone. Time will tell if I can actually stick to that though.
As most of you who are on my MSN list are aware, my old cell number is now gone as a new Vancouver BC number has taken its place. I must say that once that happend, the reality of this whole big change started to hit me. Its true that it is a big step and most of what will happen is unknown but in the end I think that's going to be the payoff. One day I'll be able to tell people I did something risky and have gained from it.
There a bit of writing by Marianne Williamson called Return to Love which reminds me of this. (Yes, this is from Coach Carter, but she still wrote it)
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant,
gorgeous, talented, fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking
so that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine, as children do.
We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.
It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously
give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear,
our presence automatically liberates others.
Most of items pertaining to the Vancouver move have been sorted out and I am definately looking forward to the venture. Mr. Keeves will be joining me for the majority of this trip which will at bare minimum provide constant entertainment. The trip itself will span six days and go as such:
Tuesday
Toronto to Sault Ste. Marie
Wednesday
Sault Ste. Marie to Thunder Bay
Thursday
Thunder Bay to Winnipeg
Friday
Winnipeg to Regina
Saturday
Regina to Calgary
Sunday
Calgary to Vancouver
Overall the total trip distance is 4482 km which splits up nicely over a six day trip. Originally I was going to make it a five day trip, but it made for stops is smaller and less interesting cities. The other advantage of having a six day trip is that it cuts down on daily driving fatigue and I can enjoy the cities a little bit more.
I am going to try and take pictures along the way and make as many daily posts as I can as a way of chronicaling the experience as well as a way to share it with everyone. Time will tell if I can actually stick to that though.
As most of you who are on my MSN list are aware, my old cell number is now gone as a new Vancouver BC number has taken its place. I must say that once that happend, the reality of this whole big change started to hit me. Its true that it is a big step and most of what will happen is unknown but in the end I think that's going to be the payoff. One day I'll be able to tell people I did something risky and have gained from it.
There a bit of writing by Marianne Williamson called Return to Love which reminds me of this. (Yes, this is from Coach Carter, but she still wrote it)
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant,
gorgeous, talented, fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking
so that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine, as children do.
We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.
It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously
give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear,
our presence automatically liberates others.
Thursday, October 05, 2006
"It's real! It's damn real!!"
Well after all the hoop jumping and rigamarol (as my parents would say), it all said and done with and a job offer has been formally been made my way and for all intensive purposes, I am on my way to Vancouver. It's very surreal that this has finally arrived because its been all talk for one and a half years and yet here it is at last.
Now the final details are still being ironed out but some of the more important and relevant details are:
- I plan on leaving Tuesday on the 17th sometime early in the morning. This allows me to spend the weekend at both the course, come home for a little bit and then be on my way.
- The job starts on the 30th of October. This allows me about a week to get familiar with Vancouver and spend time finding a place provided I arrive on the 22nd.
In the mean time there is quite a bit to sort out with insurance and licensing and moving companies and packing and other incurrent expenses. Oh yes, there's also thanksgiving.
My parents arn't to thrilled with the idea but I'd associate that with the close minded west indian mentality that plots out your future from birth as school, job, marriage, children, death. Since, I'm not following this, naturally I must be wrong. Hopefully though, they'll grow to understand.
I'd like to thank all of the people who have always been supporting me along the way keeping me positive. I'd also like to personally thank 'the man who will always have a place to sleep on my couch' for convincing me to take some decisive action which ended up spiraling into the offer being made. Without his sound advice, I'd likely still be waiting.
Closing comments:
- How much can you hate someone such that you purposefully lead them on thinking you've left a good reference all the while sabotaging their attempts. And you call me me low.
- It's realy a mix of excitement and fear of moving so far and doing something so completely off the wall. I'm sure that's where the payoff will be though.
Current Song: Alanis Morissette - Surrendering
Current Mood: Well... Fear and Excitement! Whoo!
Now the final details are still being ironed out but some of the more important and relevant details are:
- I plan on leaving Tuesday on the 17th sometime early in the morning. This allows me to spend the weekend at both the course, come home for a little bit and then be on my way.
- The job starts on the 30th of October. This allows me about a week to get familiar with Vancouver and spend time finding a place provided I arrive on the 22nd.
In the mean time there is quite a bit to sort out with insurance and licensing and moving companies and packing and other incurrent expenses. Oh yes, there's also thanksgiving.
My parents arn't to thrilled with the idea but I'd associate that with the close minded west indian mentality that plots out your future from birth as school, job, marriage, children, death. Since, I'm not following this, naturally I must be wrong. Hopefully though, they'll grow to understand.
I'd like to thank all of the people who have always been supporting me along the way keeping me positive. I'd also like to personally thank 'the man who will always have a place to sleep on my couch' for convincing me to take some decisive action which ended up spiraling into the offer being made. Without his sound advice, I'd likely still be waiting.
Closing comments:
- How much can you hate someone such that you purposefully lead them on thinking you've left a good reference all the while sabotaging their attempts. And you call me me low.
- It's realy a mix of excitement and fear of moving so far and doing something so completely off the wall. I'm sure that's where the payoff will be though.
Current Song: Alanis Morissette - Surrendering
Current Mood: Well... Fear and Excitement! Whoo!
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