"I'm Back!"

Pack, Pack, Pack

My life is only consisting of 3 things right now...Work, Soccer and Packing. We have some big programs coming up for work and I'm spening alot of time working on it. Things aren't happening quite as fast as I want, but when you are hiring people you are going to have to work with for the next 8 months you want to be sure you hire the right people.

I've actually been writing my cheerleader post, but for some reason Blogger won't let me put up pictures. I seem to have that trouble all the time and it's terrible. I'd have a lot more pictures on this blog but half the time it won't let me put up a picture so I just end up posting without one. So, once I get the pictures to work I'll post the cheerleader write-up. But I'll warn you now, the pictures aren't great as it was dark in there and so a lot of the pictures are hard to see.

We move in one week and there is still quite a bit to do. Shiela has been packing lots and when I can get away from work I help out too. We should be all set once next Saturday comes around. If you are interested in helping to carry some boxes or do some fun cleaning give us a shout...we'll find a spot for you.

Grey Cup Hangover

I'm finally back home again after having an amazing time at the Grey Cup parties. Unfortunatelyl I had so much fun that I completely drained myself and now I am sick. I've got a cold, runny nose and I somehow bit my tongue while sleeping and it hurts all the time now. My boss (who happened to be in Winnipeg for the Grey Cup) said it was Grey Cup hangover (even though I wasn't drinking) when I emailed him to tell him I was calling in sick today so I could get better. And that's a good description...the Grey Cup festivities and excitement is so amazing that you literally are hung over afterward.

I'll post more on the Grey Cup later, but for now I'll just leave you with a picture of some of our Brand Ambassadors we had for our Frank's event at the Argos party on Friday afternoon/evening. Anyone know who the guy is?

Partying at the Grey Cup

I'm in Winnipeg now for the Grey Cup Party. Notice I didn't say the Grey Cup game. That's on purpose for two reasons:
1) I don't have tickets to the game
2) I'm realizing that the game iteself is just a small part of the Grey Cup.

I flew in a day early (Friday morning) because we ended up doing a Frank's RedHot event on Friday night for the Argonauts party. Now unfortunately it wasn't just a bunch of Argonaut players, but rather for fans. But not just Argonaut fans, there were fans there from everywhere...and nobody cared what team you cheered for. i now realize that it is irrelevant which team is actually playing in the game...it's more about the atmosphere and the party.

The party on Friday night was awesome. There were three different sets of cheerleaders there...Toronto's (obviously), Winnipeg's, and finally....SASKATCHEWAN'S!! It was cool to see them. The coolest part was that two of the Rider cheerleaders worked for me in Regina for a Frank's event and so i chatted with them for a bit and we talked about the Grey Cup, etc. They were having a lot of fun. Each group of cheerleaders put on a big and long dance routine and they were literally amazing. I feel bad talking about it because people are going to think I'm just obsessed with cheerleaders and good looking people, but that's not it. The routines these girls did were amazing. I fogot that my camera can take video so all I have are some pictures. I was trying to get a picture of the girls doing their cartwheels and backflips, etc. and trust me, this place wasn't very big so they didn't have a lot of room. I'm going to devote an entire post just to the cheerleaders where i analyze the three groups, tell you who was the best and I'll throw in some pictures. Not just because they are cheerleaders, but the routines they did were great and it almost made me think that maybe cheerleaders are athletes? (what do you think?)

i also got my picture taken with a few celebrities. First off, Kerri Joseph was there and i ended up getting a picture with him. i also got a picture of him with my four Frank's girls so maybe I'll post that one since that may be more interesting. Then the next person you probably all could guess if you put two and two together as to where I was. That's right, Pinball Clemens. i shook his hand and briefly talked to him when he arrived, but then he was swarmed. It was impossible to get a picture so i went outside and waited for him to leave. Sure enough, he came out and although his "handlers" were trying to get him inside the vehicle to leave, he was willing to get a picture taken still and was extremely classy. Of course the stranger who took the picture cut off part of my head, but since Pinball is shorter i got all of him! I'll post those pictures when I get back home on Tuesday night.

Well, it's off to go party some more. i need to buy a Rider shirt for the party on Sunday so i fit in. Wearing business casual at these events makes you look like an idiot. Then it's off to the parade after a visit to Riderville and possibly the Lions Den!

It's Basically Official

Shiela and I are now property owners. We have purchased a townhouse, the mortgage has been approved (they just need to verify some documents) and we are excited!! Our original possession date was January 8, 2007 as the previous owners needed time to find a house. However, they found a house over the long weekend and asked if we could move the possession date up to December 8th!! So we are going to be in our new place in less than a month. The people we are buying from are really great too. They were very helpful as we made the offer on the house and they are just very nice people.

We really feel that God gave us this place. When this house was listed on Saskhouses I phoned her immediately to go and look at it. I phoned so fast she didn't even know it had been listed yet! We went and looked at it at 8:00pm that night and were the first ones there. The lady told me she had so many phone calls about the place that she pretty much had to turn her cell phone off at work. They let us look around and figured we weren't going to buy it since we were just the first people to look at it. We had spent some time looking at other houses and townhouses and we knew exactly what we wanted. We loved it and went upstairs to chat with them. I asked them what their bottom price was and then offered $10,000 below that! Just kidding...I offered them what their bottom price was as it was right about what we wanted to pay and said ew'd buy it if we could sign the papers right away (because I knew if we didn't get a deal done right away we wouldn't get the house). They were shocked that they had sold it so quickly and were very happy to sell to us for the price they wanted.

Not having a clue what we were doing, we made the offer and signed the deal...but we had left our cheque book at home and so we couldn't make a deposit. So we went home to get the cheque book and then came back. When we got back a realtor was there and the owners told us later that he had told them his clients would pay above the asking price for their place. They told him sorry, it was already sold.

I had wanted to view it on Thursday night because on Saskhouses they were advertising an Open House for Sunday. Shiela and I had made plans to go to Calgary for the weekend and we knew this place wouldn't last through the weekend. As it turned out, if we had waited one more hour before buying it we would never have got it as the realtor would have offered more and we couldn't have gone that high. When the realtor had said his clients would pay more for the place, the owners son thought they should have a bidding war on it, but the mom was adamant against that and was just really happy they had sold it so quickly. We found out later that during the open house there was one man who really wanted to buy it. He was telling the owners he would write them a cheque right now if they would sell it to him. They told him no, it was already sold. These people weren't even worried that other people were offering more than us...they really liked us and wanted to sell their place to us. They had already phoned their neighbors to tell them they had sold to a really nice couple!

So Shiela and I are very thankful for this place and praise God for his work in this process and how he worked everything out. Now we just need to try and furnish it somehow LOL!!

Go here to see some photos of it: http://www.saskhouses.com/listing.php?id=6409

My Video Biography

It's pretty rare when you find your own video biography on the internet. But I saw it this weekend. Once I sue them I should be collecting royalties for life! No more work! Let me know what you think.

**Update:
Does anyone know what ROTFLOL means without googling it? Here's a hint: If you aren't ROTFLOL after watching that video I'd be surprised!

Did That Really Happen

I think Shiela and I just bought a townhouse...am I dreaming? Somebody better pinch me (ok don't unless you want my fist in your face (inside joke)). Guess we'll wait on that financing...stay tuned.

A Helping Hand

Last night our LIFE group (that's just another name for a small group for all those who may attend other churches with your own lingo) went to the Canadian Food for the Hungry International. The plan was to help them fold linen that will be sent overseas to hospitals in other countries. Judy, the lady from CFHI, started off by giving us some background information on the organization and what they do. Basically, they send containers (like the really big ones you see on barges and railcars) full of medical supplies, medical equipment, beds, machines, linens (like the ones we folded), etc. to these other countries to help the doctors there provide care for needy people. It's an amazing organization. Judy was a great lady! She has basically devoted herself to this organization and she does amazing work there with adminstration tasks, tracking all the shipments, arranging for medical supplies and pickups all across the province, etc.

With Christmas approaching, CFHI has produced a Gift Catalogue. This catalogue is really cool. It allows you to buy gifs for people in other countries. Not regular gifts like Ipods, cell phones or jewellery, but useful gifts that will greatly enrich the lives of these people. Some gift ideas are a pig, fruit trees, a wheelbarrow, etc. Now that may sound weird, but here's two exerpts from the gift catalogue:

The Gift of a Pig
"Pigs are a favourite animal because, in return for disposing of kitchen garbage as food, they produce manure for the farm, and new piglets each year which can be sold for income or used as a source of meat. A pig can greatly add productivity to a family's agricultural and income-generating activities"

The Gift of a Wheelbarrow
"In hilly rural Rwanda, a wheelbarrow can be the deciding factor in the success of agricultural production. Farmers often live as far as 15km from their fields, and since they travel by foot, carrying a fertilizer or other products in large quantities is next to impossible. Consequently, their farms and their incomes suffer."

I would highly recommend going to their website and browsing through the catalogue to find a gift you can buy this Christmas.

If your LIFE group (or other small group, group of friends, co-workers, enemies or even yourself) want to do something to help out other people, give CFHI a call and Judy will gladly accept any help you are willing to offer. And for you guys out there that like machines, they could really use some help with fixing up some old medical machines (one of our guys in the group calibrated a few weigh scales, I helped him with one) so there is something for everyone.

Another One Day Trip

Looks like I'm taking off in about 1 hour to go to Regina just for the day. Unfortunately I don't get to fly and have to drive there and back. I honestly can't believe I'm even going. The reason for the trip is I have to pick up the ballots from the promotions we did while we were there. That's it. Drive to Regina, pick up the ballots and drive back home. Silly if you ask me. Oh well, at least I'm getting paid for it.

Long Day in Winnipeg

The trip to Winnipeg was great with only a few little mishaps. Apparently I don't always function so well really early in the morning. With a 7:00am flight I was up at 4:30am and at the airport by 6:00am. I've flown WestJet before and made my way to the gate to await our departure. As I watched the news I saw people get up to board an Air Canada flight to Toronto. Then I was reading the Star Phoenix and glanced up to see my WestJet pilot and flight attendants at the desk getting things ready for our flight. Then a bit later I started to look around and noticed that there weren't a lot of people near me. I figured that was odd since I highly doubted I was the only one getting on my plane. I glanced at my watch and saw it was 6:45am. I got up and walked to the WestJet desk and looked at the flight info...CALGARY!!! Oh Oh! I was at the wrong gate. Luckily Saskatoon airport is pretty small and after walking about 20 steps I was at the right gate and everyone was already boarding. That would have been a bad start to the day if I had missed the flight.

Once in Winnipeg I had a lot of time to kill since my meeting wasn't until 2:00pm. I sat around the airport trying to get my internet to work and then took a taxi to a modelling agency we sometimes hire from. The head manager wasn't in, but I chatted with a girl who has worked a lot of our Frank's promos for us in Winnipeg. I learned a bit about the modelling industry, etc. Then it was off to the University of Manitoba to chat with their Employment Services to post our job for upcoming promotions. After that I took a taxi to Polo Park and had some Chinese for lunch while I prepared for my meeting.

Then I had a brilliant yet stupid idea. I figured I'd walk to the Tijuana Yacht Club from Polo Park since it wasn't far and I had done it many times before. As I wandered outside and began to walk I noticed it was rather cold out. Then I noticed that the snow was actually blowing right in my face and there was a lot of wind. Then my body told me I wasn't wearing a toque and my head was getting cold. Then my feet told me that my shoes weren't as water proof as I thought and my socks and feet were now soaked as I walked through the slushly snow on the ground. By this time I was half way there and calling a taxi was pointless. I arrived at the hotel next to the venue looking like a drowned rat and went to the bathroom to "freshen up".

At 2:00pm I noticed that I was the only one there for the meeting. I talked to the front desk and they called the manager. I think they woke him up because he told me the meeting wasn't until 3:00pm. So I went to a restaurant in the hotel until he came down about 2:30pm. We chatted for another hour before the other 2 people showed up. The meeting went great until I got separated from the group.

I had left my laptop and jacket in another part of the bar and so when everyone left I told them I'd catch up. I grabbed my jacket and bag and followed through the door they had gone. However, the next door I tried was locked. So I went to this other one...locked. I went to this other one...locked. I went back to the bar door...locked. Hmmm....I was literally locked into this little holding area since I didnt' have a key or know the pin to unlock any doors. The only door I could get out was onto the patio where I could see the blowing snow. If I went out that door and couldn't get off the patio as the gate might be locked, I would be stuck outside. So I knocked (pounded) on a few doors to no avail. Then I heard someone calling my name....they had come back for me. I ran back to the bar door but they couldn't hear or see me and they left again. I was still trapped. Finally I figured it was do or die. I went onto the patio, quickly grabbed a chair and propped open the door. Then I rushed to the end of the patio slipping and sliding, grabbed the gate and found that it was open. So I rushed back to door, closed it, ran off the patio and back through the front doors of the hotel again...and there they all were wondering where I had gone!

Our Frank's rep offered to give me and our other client from Toronto a ride. We dropped her off first which was at the Radisson downtown. The only thing was that it took us over an hour to get there!! She didn't seem concerned with the slow traffic since she is from Toronto, but the Frank's rep and I couldn't believe it and are not used to that. It was a good thing my flight didn't leave until 8:00pm because I only go to the airport at around 6:45pm or so.

The flight home was uneventful and I walked into the airport and into the loving arms of my wife. What a day!!!

Quick Trip

Just heading out to Winnipeg for the day. Flight leaves at 7:00am. Meet with the client to plan the big Grey Cup party. Then fly back home at 8:00pm tonight. Looks like I'll also be going to Winnipeg for the Grey Cup weekend too...probably not to the game itself but I'll be there for the event.

10 Steps to Guarantee Failure

For those who know me you know that I plan to be rich...one day. Today I found this list via John Campea's blog. I think I need to re-evaluate how I look at that goal and maybe change a few things in order to accomplish it.

Here are the ten steps to guarantee failure:

1. Make your goals vague
When setting your goals, use adjectives such as “more” and “some.” Goals like “I want to make more money” or “I want to lose some weight” virtually guarantee your progress will be minimal. Be as wishy-washy as possible. And while you’re at it, you might want to set a goal of getting a job doing something.


2. Make your goals difficult to visualize
A good way to do this is to keep changing your mind on the details of your goal. If you are thinking a goal such as: “I want to own a red, blue or yellow Corvette or just a Mustang”, then you are definately on the right track. If you kept that goal planted firmly in your mind, you are virtually guaranteed you’ll never go above a used Hyundai.

3. Think and speak negatively about your goals
Try using words like “I can’t” and “It’s too hard”. Goals such as “I can’t get a promotion, It’s too hard to take on more responsibility” will certainly keep you at the bottom of the food chain. If you can put it in writing or work up enough courage to tell your boss directly, he or she will almost definately avoid promoting you from that point on. Who knows, you might get lucky and get fired! It’s worth a shot anyway.

4. Avoid planning incremental steps
It’s likely that if you have made it this far you are already following this rule already! Take a goal - even a specific goal like “I will double my income by this time next year”. Then simply leave it as-is. Don’t write down any tasks or steps you’ll need to complete in order to achieve it. Just consider the goal a wish and nothing more. Creating a step-by-step plan will only confuse matters because it’s all too easy to take action on simple steps. Action in the direction of your goal would lead to success and you definately don’t want that.

5. Don’t Do - Talk
Because talk is easier than action, this step one of the easiest steps for you to take. Try to fill up as much of your day with socializing as possible. Talk about all the things you will do someday or that you were gonna do. Just make sure you don’t mess it up by doing anything productive. Action is your enemy. Embrace your excuses!

6. Wait until you are motivated
Let’s face it, it’s much too difficult to go jogging or open a mutual fund account when you simply don’t feel like it. So just wait. Waiting gives you the peace of mind that someday, you might do something. But not yet, the timing isn’t right and you aren’t motivated anyway.

7. Don’t set a date
Setting a date when you expect to achieve your goal is too much pressure. Who needs it? Definately not you if you want to avoid progress. You know that goals with dates get done, so by not setting a date you avoid making a commitment. You can keep putting off stuff. Even though people may ask “When are you ever going to get around to reaching your target?”, you have a wild card. By not having a date, you can put off actually doing anything.

8. List why it’s impossible
Now we are getting into the mental game of failing. This is quite possibly your greatest weapon against achievement because it destroys hope and optimism. So as soon as possible, set aside some time to create a long list of how impossible your goal really is. No matter what your target is, I am sure you can come up with plenty of reasons why it’s impossible. Be creative, make up some if you have to (i.e. “It’s impossible for me to lose weight because I was kidnapped by space aliens and injected with a fat-serum.”) Bonus: You get extra points if you can come up with an excuse using UFOs, ghosts or the Bermuda Triangle.

9. Don’t research your goal
You’re the kind of guy or gal who likes to “wing it.” Reading about how others have succeeded achieving a goal similar to you is just a waste of time. Instead of standing on their shoulders, they should be standing on yours! Sure, they might have overcome unbelievable odds to get from homelessness to CEO or 450lbs to a 180lbs - but they were probably just “lucky” anyway. Don’t read anything that promises to help you get to your destination.

10. Think of anything except your goal
Here’s another mental strategy that will put you on the fast track to failure. Think of anything except for your goal. Why visualize success when there’s plenty of clouds, teddy bears, and TV reruns to think about? And while you’re at it, take action on these flights of fancy instead of your goal. I know what you’re thinking…you’re thinking “I wonder if there are any green teddy bears out there?” Now you’re getting it! Focusing on your goal for long periods of time can be difficult and challenging. Thinking about unicorns is easy and fun. Take the easy path, that’s the only way you can fail in record time.

I'm About to Get Dumber

There are a lot of people out there who used to be smart and then for some reason decided they didn't want to be anymore and gave up their smarts to become dumber. Maybe not completely dumb, but if someone would give you a book filled with wisdom and then you just decided to give that book away, I would think you would be dumber as you no longer had all that wisdom.

Well, I don't have a book like that (except the Bible which I'm not giving away) but I am going to join the ranks of the dumber come Oct 26th. Yep, I am having my wisdom teeth out.

It's been a few years coming and I booked this appointment over a year ago...I think it was last September. The thing was that when I booked it they told me it was going to cost a lot of money as I have to have them surgically removed. Probably between $800 - $1000. They asked me if I had insurance to cover it and I said no, because I had just lost my job at that time. But I figured a year is a long ways away and I'm sure I would find a way to pay for it by then. And, sure enough, 1 year later and I still don't have any insurance or benefits. Oh well, who needs an extra $800 - $1000. Once I'm rich that will be chump change. Just kidding (not on the being rich part, that part will be true), I sort of have insurance. Well, I don't, but my lovely wife does and her benefits will cover the whole thing 100%. So that is awesome.

I'm sure I'll be dying to write a story about it after since they are knocking me out completely and then I'm not allowed to drive for at least 24 hours. So stay tuned for a story later in the week (or weekend). Until then, I need to spend the next few days writing out all the wisdom I have so I don't completely lose it when they take out my wisdom teeth!!

Ancient Healing

Yesterday I encountered the strangest thing I have ever experienced.

On the recommendation of my mother in law I made an appointment with a travelling medicine man who was coming through the my village for a couple of days. A few days ago I sent up my smoke signal to let them know I wanted an appointment and in return my village received a snowstorm. I took that as a confirmation.

I made my way to the Travel Inn, a small, never-heard-of hotel on the outskirts of my village where the medicine man would be performing his ritual healings. I wasn't so sure about these guys, but I figured nothing else was working to heal my ITP so why not try this.

As I waited outside his healing chambers I chatted with another local from my village I had never met. He told me how the doctors weren't able to heal his back or figure out what was wrong. He had been to the chiropractors and had x-rays and nothing had worked. He then went to this medicine man and after doing his ritual chanting and feeling he told the guy his hip was out of place. They put it back into place and this guy said he never felt better. I was feeling reassured.

The medicine man must have been having some trouble with finding enough goats blood and chicken claws for his healing rituals because I had to wait over an hour before I finally got in to see him. The medicine man's apprentice had talked to me outside the healing chambers and explained to me how the medicine man was going to look at my eyes, my ears, my tongue, my teeth and then touch the different organs in my body. At the end he would then tell me what was wrong and how much goats blood to drink to fix it. When he showed me the diagram of the body and where he was going to be touching me, I couldn't help but notice the guy was naked. Oh well, I figured, he's a doctor.

I was finally called into the healing chambers and I stood before the medicine man. He said "Let's begin the testing" and so I stripped off my clothes just like in the diagram outside. As I stood there naked I suddenly realized there was also a medicine woman in the room. The medicine man quickly informed me that with his healing powers I didn't need to take off my clothes. Oh, I thought, that would have been useful information TWO MINUTES AGO!!!

As I then stood there with my clothes and jacket on he walked up to me and shined a flashlight on my right ear. "You're going deaf in that ear". WHAT I thought...how can you tell that by looking at it. He then took a picture and showed me a curve in my ear which means I'm going deaf. He then touched me and did a little ritual counting and told me I had 80% hearing in my right ear and 93% hearing in my left ear. Then he had me open my mouth and look at my tongue. "Your tongue is twisted which means your hip is out." He then had me lift up my tongue. "Your lungs are swollen." He snapped another picture and showed me two bumps under my tongue that meant I had swollen lungs. I just stood there stunned at all the information he was throwing at me and I could barely understand it.

Then he moved on to the touching. He said we have energy in our bodies and by touching the spot where an organ is he can tell how well it's working. This part went so fast I have no idea what happend. He touched me all over my chest area (apparently where the different organs are) and did some ritual chanting I didn't understand. All the while yelling out numbers to the medicine woman who was writing it down.

Then it was over. I didn't even know if I had been analyzed yet...I still had my jacket on. In the hospital it seems like no one can analyze anything unless you are wearing a hospital gown with your butt showing! He then looked at me and said "What's wrong with your blood? You have a bad infection in your blood." Now, I hadn't told this guy anything ahead of time. He didn't know me from his neighbours goat and had not been told of my condition. I told him I had ITP and explained it. He then nodded and said that made sense. He said he thought I was going to think he was crazy when he told me about the blood infection because it was so bad, but now it all makes sense. (I could have thought of a hundred other ways I thought he was crazy too!) I couldn't believe it.

As the healing session ended he told me what medicine I would need to take to get better. He suggested taking two leaves from a rare plant in the mountains of BC, crushing them and then mixing them in a drink. Or he said I could just buy the pre-made pills with the leaves already in them as the plant is often tough to find in the mountains. He called the special herbs Red Clover and Natures Way. He said to take those and I would feel a whole lot better by the time he comes again. He even said he will be able to tell how often I took the herbs when he tests me next time. I then paid him in his preferred method of a neutered goat and 2 declawed 3 month old chickens and my bill was settled.

I tried to ask him a few more questions but suddenly he waved his cloak around himself and in a puff of smoke I was outside the hotel and standing by my car. As I drove away back to my village I decided to chat with the Specialist about these herbs and see what he thought.

What do you think? Should I try it?

Free Rider Tickets

If you want to go to the Saskatchewan Roughrider game tonight I have two free tickets to give you. I'd love to go, but I really don't want to sit outside in below zero temperatures and potentially get pneumonia again.

Just post a comment and they are yours. Game time is 7:30pm. Winner must pick up tickets from me as delivery is not included.

Purchase #9

I've already bought a number of gifts for Christmas...except that they are all the same thing! That's right, I just bought my 9th Tickle Me Elmo TMX 10th Anniversary Edition. This thing is amazing! You can "tickle" Elmo on his toe, stomach or chin and he starts laughing. But then, he actually falls down and gets back up again all while laughing! Then he begs for you to tickle him again. So you do and he goes through the same routine but adds in even more to his little show. Then he begs you to stop but when you tickle him a 3rd time he goes crazy! He goes through the same routine but on the last one he falls onto his side, then rolls onto his stomach and hits his hand on the floor numberous times, all while laughing hysterically! Then he manages to stand himself back up again!

It's going to be the hottest toy at Christmas time so I decided to buy up a bunch of them and sell them on Ebay. I phoned all over Saskatoon and they were sold out everywhere. Finally, after 2 weeks of phoning stores I found 8 of them at Wal-Mart in Confed. I bought all 8. I just picked up my 9th tonight at Toys 'R Us where I was on their waiting list for the last few weeks. But don't worry, I'm not going to change just because I'm filthy rich after this Christmas!!!

Recovering

It looks like we may have caught the pneumonia before it really had a chance to get me. Monday night I was hurting a lot and Tuesday was the same. By Wednesday I wasn't in near as much pain which I guess is what paying a lot of money for drugs will do for ya! However, on Thursday I was feeling better and was all set to go the next day to a wedding in Manitoba...just one more event in Regina for work. But things didn't quite go as I planned. As I drove to Regina I was slowly deterioting all the way down there. My head started to hurt and I was starting to feel congested. Then while at the venue I felt like I pulled another muscle in my lower left back and it hurt to walk again. I then decided that the best move was probably not to spend 14 hours in a car driving to and from a wedding. I figured I wouldn't get much rest and would probably feel worse when I got back and then be sick for the next week. So I phoned Shiela and told her we weren't going.

I woke up Friday morning and was feeling better. I technically had the day off so I was on holidays. The owner of the company I work for often gives the employees the Friday off before a long weekend so we get a 4 day weekend...pretty sweet deal! I say it was technically my day off because I was actually still working. I had to hire two girls to work Thanksgiving Monday for me for an event. I had been having trouble finding people because (surprise surprise!) everyone was with their family on Thanksgiving. I ended up hiring two models from a local modelling agency instead of our regular people.

So I then went out and ran a few errands for work and bought myself a little treat for lunch...chicken strips and Coke. I cooked up the strips and sat down around 2:00pm for lunch. I also added Frank's hot sauce to about 4 out of the six and then I also used plum sauce. I LOVE plum sauce with chicken strips! As I was eating I found it interesting that my stomach was getting sick quite quickly. I couldn't figure out why I was getting sick so I just kept eating because even though I was getting sick it still tasted so good (Shiela made fun of me all night for doing that). By the time I finished off the chicken strips I was sick and decided to lay down for a nap. I turned on a movie, saw about 10 min and then fell asleep on the couch. I only woke up at 5:40pm shen a friend phoned to ask about plans for that night.

I then got up off the couch and realized that I was still sick. I wasn't sure how I was going to go out that night but I had to as it was a triple date type of thing that also included a blind date for two of them. If I ditched out it would be bad. It then hit me pretty suddenly and I spent the next few minutes over the toilet hurling up all the chicken strips I had for lunch. I felt remarkably better after and then Shiela came home and I told her the story. Then I suddenly spent the next few minutes again hurling up the rest of my lunch...and trust me, I threw up a lot! (Shiela then looked at the expiry date on the plum sauce and all she could see was that it expired in /06 and couldn't see the month...however I am pretty sure it was expired and that's what made me sick)

So now I was feeling quite a bit better and ended up going out that night. I was far from my usual self but it was a fun night. So to end off this long story, I often feel pretty good when I am sitting at home, but as soon as I venture outside for a while I deteriate quickly. So I'm spending some quality time sleeping away my Thanksgiving holiday with the odd insert of entertainment (like going to watch someone play Huskie v-ball tonight). Hopefully I'll be ok to last out the game before retiring once again to my bed. I'm planning on being healthy again by Tuesday!!

I'm Sick and Hurting

Last night I was going to miss small group so I could go to a soccer coaches meeting for the upcoming season. Around 5:00pm I started to feel a lot of pain in my left side. It hurt to breathe and I had pain shooting all around from my shoulder down to my waist. It hurt to even walk.

I figured it would go away and I would move on. I had been having some pain in my right side the past few days ever since I went for my nuclear medicine test to see if have an auxillary spleen (the test was negative and I don't). I thought I had just pulled a muscle or something because when I took the test I had to lie down on this machine and put both hands above my head. I kept bringing them down because it got sore, so they eventually tied my hands up so I couldn't move them. When they cut me loose I could barely move my arms and that was when the pain started on my right hand side. The pain I was now experiencing in my left side was similar to that in my right. Surprisingly enough, when the pain in my left started all the pain left my right side completely.

So I ended up going to City Hospital emergency. My soccer meeting was at City Park Collegiate and so I figured if this was nothing I could zip over to my meeting after. Turned out it was something.

They conducted a number of tests on me including an ECG. This is where they strap all these wires to you, then send electricity through it and watch your heart jump. After a few bolts of electricity I had enough and ripped off the cords and started yelling at people and threating to touch them with the wires. The doctors all scrambled out of the way because for some reason no one likes to be electrocuted...go figure!

Then they did some other tests including chest x-rays, blood tests (one in each arm) and an ultrasound to see if I had any fluids causing problems in me. Oh yeah, can't forget the interrogation I also had to endure. An intern with family medicine came in and said she wanted to ask me a few questions. She turned off the main light and then turned on the bright lamp right above my head. I was instantly blinded and asked her to turn it off, but she said I didn't have a choice. She then asked me all kinds of questions...what's your medical history, what drugs do you take, where does it hurt, does this hurt (as she pokes me in pinky toes with a needle), whose your daddy and for pete's sake, TELL US THE LAUNCH CODES!!!

Once the interrogation and tests were done they all came in to give me the final verdict. I was developing pneumonia and the reason it hurt to breathe was because my lungs were rubbing up against my rib cage (I think that's what they said). And then, to top things off, they decided to destroy me financially and handed me a prescription for some very expensive antibiotics.

So here I am at home. I'm suppose to sleep lots (no problem there) and get rest. The problem is I have a few events yet to do and don't have staff for them all yet. So I will need to mix sleep with work to ensure things get done.

*Some of the events and details listed above may not be entirely accurate. Use your judgement.

A Quick Update

A lot has been going on lately and I haven't had much time for anything but work. My sister got married on Sept 16th (Congratulations Sherene and Ben!) and it was a great wedding. The reception was at the Saskatoon Inn and it was steak and shrimp plate served. But the interesting part was they mixed the eating with the program. So we would eat our soup, and then there would be some entertainment like a couple that did a tango for everyone. Then we'd eat our salad and then people would go up and give advice to the couple. It was really cool and made for a great evening. I actually wrote a song for the event and sang it at the wedding. I wish it would have been videotaped because it went over pretty good and was supposedly funny.

Other than that it has been work, work, work. Things are very busy now with hiring people and attending events. I've been to Regina and back a few times last week already and will head back there at least twice more. I like my job but there is just a lot to do right now.

As for my medical condition things aren't looking too good. My platelets keep dropping down to 7,000. Last week I was in the hospital for three more days of IVIG treatments. Yesterday I went to Nuclear Medicine to get a test done to see if I have an auxillary spleen that is causing the trouble. (Yes, amazingly enough I could have two spleens!) Today I go for a meeting with the Specialist and I'm guessing we will talk about future options. I've decided to not play soccer this season and someone else is running the team. Now I just have to find something to fill my time...I'm thinking curling!

Crazy Busy!

(I tried to add pictures to this post but it's not working...maybe I'll add them later)

Life has been very busy as of late. I had the low platelet count on Thursday night so I had to cancel all my Regina meetings on Friday. I ended up just taking Prednisone again since the Specialist was out of town and worked from home for part of Friday. Saturday I was off to Winnipeg for a few days.

I went to see the Illusionist on Saturday night at the Silver City by my hotel while I waited for the venue to open at 8:00pm (great movie, I recommend it!) After the movie I went to the Tijuana Yacht Club to see what it was like, etc. as our event was going to be there the next day. I was really out of place. I had to stand in line to get in and then they make you walk through metal detectors and search you before you get in. I was also about 7 years older than everyone else there. It was definately a party bar! I quickly talked to the manager and then zipped back to my hotel.

The event went well for the first two hours. We had lots of football fans come in there before the game as we were only a block from the stadium. But then 2:00pm hit and everyone left...and I literally mean EVERYONE! Ok, there were two people left, that's it. The staff basically just goofed around and our Frank's girls had nothing to do because there was no one to give samples to or to do trivia with. Luckily the blackout had been lifted so I got to watch the game for a couple hours.

After the event I went back to my hotel and decided to take public transit to Club Regent, a cool casino. It was pretty cool and was the nicest casino I've seen in Canada since coming back from Vegas. I also did something there that I had never done before (if you want to guess what that is leave me a comment). There's even a tunnel of water you walk through with fish swimming above and beside you.

Monday I set up shop in the lobby of the hotel after I checked out since my plane didn't leave until 7:45pm. In the afternoon I drove around Winnipeg with one of the Frank's reps and we visited some of the venues for future events which was good. I then visited one more venue on my own, went to the airport and came home.
Went straight from the hospital to the ER where they said it would be a 4 hour wait to get my blood checked for the Specialist. I then went to a Medi Clinic instead after I found one that was still open and had a medical lab. I was in and out in about 30 minutes and finally made it home around 10:00pm.

But then I spent another hour getting ready for my all day trip to Regina on Tuesday. I was running a little late and didn't leave the house until 7:30am and I had to be at the venue on the opposite side of Regina by 10:00am. Yes, I sped and managed to get there 15 minutes early. I spent the entire day driving around Regina and meeting with people. I finally made it home around 9:00pm and then worked at home for another 1.5 hours. Finally, after 16 hours of work I managed to go to bed.

So that's been my life. Combine that with needing to find workers for the event on Thursday in Regina (tomorrow) and then I drive back to Regina on Thursday to supervise that event until 10pm so I should be home around 1:00am, just in time to get up and go to another meeting with another venue in Saskatoon at 9:30am on Friday. But then, and only then, I am taking a break as my sister is getting married on Saturday and we have the rehearsal on Friday night. I am definately looking forward to a break (even though I am still on call as some girls from some Edmonton events have to check in with me...oh well, it's mostly a good break!)

Medical Update
On Monday night my platelet count was up to 156,000 which is good. The Specialist phoned me today and told me to lower my steroid intake to 15mg every other day and then I will meet with him next week. I also have another appointment with Nuclear Medicine on Sept 26 to see if I have a secondary spleen that is causing the problem. So hopefully things get figured out soon!

First Mac Post

This is it. My first blog from my Mac computer. It's definately different. I seem to be missing a whole lot of the additional things I have on my PC. It could be I just dont' know how to find them yet. Eventually I'll figure it out!

Things Change so Fast

Last night Shiela came home around 9:30pm, looked at me and asked why the area around my eyes looked bruised. I also had pateeckia (I didn't spell that right but it means small red dots that are the beginning of bruising I think) all over my body. I hadn't checked my blood in almost two weeks but since it was so late I wasn't sure if wanted to go to the ER to have it done. However, I figured I had better do it last night or I wouldn't have time to go until Tuesday. I was suppose to be in Regina all day today to meet with venues for upcoming promotions, then fly to Winnipeg on Saturday morning and come back Monday night. But I figured that if I went last night then at least if something was wrong we could hopefully fix it before I take off to Winnipeg.

Well, after waiting around 1.5 hours in ER (luckily most of that was lying in a bed in the hallway and chatting with Shiela's EMT friends who were working there) the doctor finally came and ordered my blood work. I then left the hospital and went to bed around 12:30am as I had to leave at 7:00am to get to Regina. But when the hospital phones you at 1:00am it's not usually good news.

The doctor phoned me and said my platelet count was 7000! I had never been that low ever...a new record for me!! It's like the limbo...how low can you go! After phoning the Specialist (not my Specialist but just the one on call) the doctor phoned me back and said it could wait until morning but I would need to come in for some IV Gamma Globulin again.

So that pretty much cancels my Regina trip. Depending on what the doctors say it might also cancel my Winnipeg trip. I really hope not as I was looking forward to going to Winnipeg (I know, I know, why would I ever want to go to Winnipeg) not only to do work but also visit with some old friends from Bible School. I guess I'll know more in a few hours once I've visited the Specialist...I have a funny feeling that when I call him at 8:00am all I'll have to do is say "7000" and his secretary will put me right through instead of just leaving him a message!! It's sometimes fun watching the doctors panic!!

Off to Winnipeg

Looks like I'm flying to Winnipeg for one of our events. I need to go there to train the girls we are hiring and also make sure the event goes smoothly. I just looked up the location of the venue we will be at and it is right beside their football stadium. And guess what's happening on Sunday right after our event? The BANJO BOWL! Our event runs from 10am - 2pm and the game starts at 2pm. I don't know if it will work out or not, but I think I might just have to walk over to the stadium after and try to buy a cheap ticket for the game! Then I stick around on Monday for some more meetings with other upcoming venues we will be at and finally fly out around 7:00pm Monday night. It should be a pretty fun trip!

GO RIDERS GO!

I Have My New Computer...or Do I?

I was very excited today because I knew I was getting my new laptop from my company. I couldn't wait! Finally, around 11:30am the FedEx guy brought it by. I opened up the package just to find a smaller one inside. It felt like a laptop, it had the shape of a laptop. I kept going and ripped off the remaining package and looked at my new laptop...or so I thought.

I looked at this thing, picked it up, figured out how to open it. It looked liked a computer, it opened like a computer, but the weird thing had a big apple on it. It was then that I realized it...



they had sent me a Mac laptop.

A Mac! I've never used a Mac in my entire life. I have no idea how to even use the operating system on it. I managed to plug in the mouse and tried to get it to work. It was all weird and I didn't know how to work it. It's a Mac iBook G4. Supposedly it's got built in wireless capabilities, etc. but none of that makes sense to me. Eventually I'll figure out how to use it, but I'm sure going to miss my PC. The good news is I can try to make videos and stuff on this thing which should be fun.

If someone out there knows anything about computers, please let me know why this Mac iBook is suppose to be so good. I'd love to hear from you.

Crazy Poker Talk

Last night we had a poker tournament and I didn't do so well. Then we played a cash game and I lost again. I kept losing these big hands when my opponent would hit a card on the river. When it happened in the cash game I sort of got upset. Normally I just accept the beat and that's it. But I was choked this time. However, I didn't do much except ask my opponent why they called with their drawing hand. So although I was choked I lost, I never really did much except accept the loss...and I bought back in again to pay him back but he lost all his money in the next hand so I never got a chance.

So today I ended up playing online for a while and ran into a guy who didn't like the fact that I was beating him. I'll admit I got lucky, my play was very aggressive, and I did egg him on a bit in this conversation, but I am posting the transcript so you can see how mad people get when they lose. The game was a $0.10/$0.20 Texas Hold 'Em Limit game and I ended up calling his raise when I held 7 2 suited in the small blind and he had KQ off suit. My nickname is Toby123man and he is XXSaltydogXX. (I apologize for the swearing he uses)

TOBY123MAN wins ($1.75) with (Flush, ace high).
XXSALTYDOGXX:thats twice u fken retard
SEXY_ONE:yep bigger tables still don't stop the donks
TOBY123MAN:sorry. in the small blind
<<>>
COLBYDAY13 wins ($1.00 chips).
XXSALTYDOGXX:so many retards so few good card players
SEXY_ONE:very true
XXSALTYDOGXX:tob u a sry fken retard
XXSALTYDOGXX:calling raises with 7 2
XXSALTYDOGXX:u stupid fk
<<>>
GTHANG22 wins (40c chips).
TOBY123MAN:yeah, that's annoying to lose to that. I understand
XXSALTYDOGXX:u stupid fk
TOBY123MAN:but why did you keep betting when the flush was there
XXSALTYDOGXX:i dident u sry fk
TOBY123MAN:you called me
XXSALTYDOGXX:fk u u retard
TOBY123MAN:you should have folded
TOBY123MAN:a good player knows when to lay down
<<>>
GTHANG22 wins ($1.05) with (One pair, eights).
XXSALTYDOGXX:a good player knows when to call raises u stupid fk
TOBY123MAN:yeah, I picked a good one to call there. It worked on you!
XXSALTYDOGXX:players just like u make online poker a joke
XXSALTYDOGXX:nice % to be in uh
<<>>
COLBYDAY13 wins ($1.30) with (Two Pair, jacks and fours).
TOBY123MAN:if you are so good you shouldn't be playing $.10 games
<<>>
TOBY123MAN wins (85c chips).
XXSALTYDOGXX:u are a joke twice u called my raises with 7 2 u fken retard
TOBY123MAN:whatever. I know I got lucky on that one. It happens.
TOBY123MAN:get over it
<<>>
XXSALTYDOGXX wins (40c chips).
<<>>
GTHANG22 wins ($1.40) with (Two Pair, kings and queens).
<<>>
GTHANG22 wins (40c chips).
<<>>
SEXY_ONE wins (15c chips).
<<>>
GTHANG22 wins ($2.85) with (Flush, ace high).
SEXY_ONE:wow
<<>>
SEXY_ONE:folded A 7
TOBY123MAN wins (85c) with (Three of a kind, sevens).
<<>>
SEXY_ONE wins (95c chips).
(MYLILTORAZO joins the table at this point)
XXSALTYDOGXX:i hope u get bashed in your fken face today
<<>>
SEXY_ONE wins (15c chips).
XXSALTYDOGXX:u stupid sry fk
MYLILTORAZO:wow
<<>>
TOBY123MAN wins (55c chips).
<<>>
HAMIL8 wins (60c) with (One pair, tens).
<<>>
TOBY123MAN wins (90c chips).
XXSALTYDOGXX:watch that toby he is a sry fken calling station
MYLILTORAZO:lol
<<>>
HAMIL8 wins ($1.05 chips).
XXSALTYDOGXX:calls with eany 2 cards a real retard
<<>>
MYLILTORAZO wins (55c chips).
XXSALTYDOGXX:a junk player
TOBY123MAN:he's a little bitter Torazo
XXSALTYDOGXX:trashey just like his house probally is
MYLILTORAZO:lol
<<>>
SEXY_ONE wins (30c chips).
XXSALTYDOGXX:a player like him has to have dogs chiting on his floors<<>>
MYLILTORAZO wins (75c chips).
XXSALTYDOGXX:and i bet 10 he doesent have a job
<<>>
HAMIL8 wins (25c chips).
MYLILTORAZO:hey i don't have a job :(
XXSALTYDOGXX:probally borrows money to play
SEXY_ONE:I win money to play
<<>>
HAMIL8 wins (55c chips).
XXSALTYDOGXX:am i even talking to u
MYLILTORAZO:lol
XXSaltyDogXX leaves the table

The funny part about that is he was actually right on a few things. I am technically unemployed (I don't start my new job until Tuesday) and I have borrowed money online to play poker! Those guys are fun to play against because they just go on a rant. And for Gramps and Colin, notice that somebody used the word "donks" in this transcript. I didn't make that word up...it's common poker language. Oh well, I better get back to the poker table.

Vacation Time

I'm off for a few days of rest and relaxation. I think I'm going to visit Mike...from Canmore.

*Please somebody get the joke!

Absolute Poker is Great

The other day I found an offer online where you can get $100 free dollars (real money) on Absolute Poker. So I followed all the detailed steps and finally after about 4 days I finally got $50 free dollars (the other $50 you get after you play 500 raked hands). So now I have a free $50 to play poker online.

Tonight I decided to really play some poker. I had just cleaned up my office and decided to play a bit. I only had $50 so I play low limits so I don't lose it all in case I run bad. I sat down at a 6 person $0.10/$0.20 limit holdem game. I couldn't believe how bad the players were. I started with $2.00 and ended up with around $6.50 when I left. The only reason I left is that I decided to enter a $2.00 10 person sit and go tournament. I was playing both tables at first, but once the tournament got down to 6 players I stopped the cash game and focused on the tournament. The players in the tournament were better, but I still ended up winning first place for a payout of $9.00!

Of course I immediately went back to the same cash game table as before and sat down with $2.00 again. Now about 45 minutes later I am sitting with $8.05! A neat profit of $6.05. It's already 11:53pm right now and I know I need to go to bed, but these guys are just giving their money away it's extremely hard to leave. But alas, I am going to go to bed now. Hopefully I will be able to find these donkeys* when I log on again next time.

*Donkey is a poker term for a bad player

No Longer Unemployed`

I'm not going to be unemployed much longer. Technically I still am unemployed because I haven't signed any type of contract yet, but I verbally have a new job. TrojanOne, the company I worked for while doing the Hbc Run for Canada, is going to hire me full time. However I don't want to start until Sept 4th so they were fine with that. That way I can enjoy unemployment and also a little bit of vacation before starting work full time again.

I'm going to be the Field Marshall for part of the western region. This will basically include Saskatchewan and Manitoba but it may extend a little further into Alberta or so. I'll be working out of my home office so I still won't have to commute to work! The fun part is that they will provide me with a laptop, pay for my internet and also provide me with a Blackberry. I'm exicted about that!

I'll keep you up to date on any cool promotions I am working on. Currently I'll be doing some events promoting Frank's Red Hot Sauce in some bars in Saskatoon. I don't actually do the events, I just supervise them and make sure they go well. It sounds like a pretty sweet job!

Health Update

For those of you who read this blog for the health updates, this one's for you:

Platelet count on Monday August 21: 17,000

"Is that a good thing?" you may be asking yourself. The answer is NO. That is not a good thing.

Removing my spleen was suppose to solve the problem but unfortunately it hasn't. I was scheduled to go see the Specialist on Wednesday afternoon where we were going to do some tests to see if I had an auxillary spleen that is removing platelets. But since my count was so low on Monday I received sudden call from his office saying that I was now scheduled for 3 days of IV Gamma Globulin again. So I'm going to spend the next three mornings haning out with the nice nurses in Day Medicine while they pump me up with blood product again. I'm assuming my spleen test is still happening in the afternoon so I may just spend the whole day in the hospital. It will be a good chance to catch up on some sleep!

So that's the update. I'm pretty sure my soccer playing days are over for a while until we get this sorted out. I am bruising quite badly all the time and after the soccer games I look pretty bad so it's probably best I don't play for a while.

Wise Words from Dr. Seuss

Be who you are and say what you want, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind. - Dr. Seuss

I found this posted on this guys website a while ago and finally decided to steal it. I really like that saying, especially when you are an opinionated peson like myself. I often don't outright say what I am thinking because I don't want to get people upset. I'm more of a diplomat in that regards. Now, those of you who know me may think that I'm lying through my teeth because I always say exactly what I feel. To you I say, no I don't. You can ask Shiela and I can assure you that I rant and rave about things a whole lot more at home than I do in public. Although I often state my own thoughts and will sometimes say things to get people going, it is usually done in a joking manner and I do try to be sensitive to people's feelings and opinions so I don't hurt them. I'm sure that I have hurt people in the past which is not good and I don't like doing it.

I think I do a pretty good job of just being me without trying to change too much to what people around me want me to be, but I do think I will stand up for my own thoughts and opinions more than I used to. Keeping the peace is good, but sometimes a good debate or argument is needed. Like I always say, if you dont' stand for something you'll fall for anything.

What about you? Do you act like you want or do you conform to be what people want you to be? Feel free to leave anonymous comments.

Great Camping Trip

This past weekend we had a great time camping. Shiela and I only arrived at Jackfish Lake around 9:00pm but we had sent our tent up ahead of time and our friends had set it up for us. Friday night was great as we sat around the fire, chatted and drank some Coke.

Saturday morning Ben and I woke up at 6:15am to hit the links. This was a big day as the golf trophy was on the line. This was also going to be the first round of golf where I used my driver to tee off with. For the past 4 years I only used my 3 iron because my driver always sliced too bad. But I went to the driving range on Thursday and 40 balls later I had it hitting down the middle.

By the middle of the second hole Ben and I were both pretty wet from the misty rain. We were about to head to the clubhouse to wait it out when it stopped so we kept going. I was down 4 or 5 strokes at one point but managed to gain two strokes on two separate pars to bring me within 2 strokes after 9 holes. The back nine went well for me (especially when I drained a 30ft putt for par on a par 3) and I managed to win the trophy by 3 strokes. My score of 104 is nothing to write home about, but for my 2nd full game of the season I was pretty happy.

We then went back for lunch and spent the afternoon lounging around as it was decent weather. We made it down to the beach area around 3:00pm and ended up playing some Bocce ball and then, of course, some soccer.

As we went back to the camp for supper we realized we may need the tarps up to protect us from the rain. now I won't get into it now, but rule number one with tarps...NO STICKS! It really annoys me when there are sticks holding up the tarp. Setting up the tarp is a strategic part of camping and in my mind there is no need for a stick to hold up the middle if you set it up properly. We also did some boating in the evening as the sun set and you can see me about to go tubing in the picture at the top.

Sunday morning we did some more boating and then people started to leave. Shiela and I decided to stay another day since we weren't working on Monday and the weather was suppose to be really nice. We had a great time enjoying the sun and also the peace and quiet of our campsite.

Overall it was another great camping weekend even if it was a little rainy and cold at times. I'm already looking forward to next year's camping weekend on Aug 17-19, 2007.

Bad News Flash

Since my surgery I've been having trouble breathing at times. Whenever I played soccer or ran I would be out of breath extremely fast and panting to catch my breath. I thought I might just be really out of shape, but the thing was that I played soccer 3 weeks after my surgery and wasn't panting that much. It only started to happen after I stopped the prednisone. I went in for some x-rays and some other radioactive tests to see if there was a blod clot in my lung. That was two weeks ago and I've heard nothing so I figured I must just be out of shape. Until now.

Well, actually the bad news is a little different. I went to get my blood checked yesterday as I hadn't gone for a month since my last results were around 450,000. However, I just got off the phone with the Specialist's secretary and was told that I need to go in to get a complete blood work done tomorrow and the Specialist wants to see me. I then found out my platelet count was at 21,000. Not good!

No winner...except the Tauro team

So nobody guessed the right answer to yesterday's trivia question. I should have given more notice as it was pretty last minute. The answer is: Caronport High School (there was a big hint in the post before that where I talked about my high school reunion)

But we did have a winner yesterday. Our Tauro FC soccer team. We played against Fulchester United and their team only showed up with 9 players (for those unfamiliar with soccer you play with 11 players) so we had at least a 2 person and sometimes 3 person advantage over them. We dominated the game and ended up winning something like 5-1. It was a huge win as our Tauro FC soccer team has been struggling as of late. Even though we were up players, we played amazing and definately deserved to win. Hopefully that will be a big turnaround point for us.

I think today as I am unemployed I will get a few things ready for the camping trip coming up. I also need to buy new tires for our car as ours are pretty bad. I am golfing at Jackfish lake this weekend and so I am thinking I may hit the driving range today and work on my swing so I can beat Ben again and keep the trophy. What trophy you may ask? I'll post about it later when I can post a picture with it.

Free Movie Tickets

I have a free double movie pass to give out to the first person who can answer this trivia question:

What is the name of the high school I graduated from?

First person to give me the right answer in the comments section will win a free double movie pass to a movie called Bon Cop Bad Cop. It is a premier showing on Wed Aug 9 at 7:00pm at Pacific Cinemas in Saskatoon.

Rules:
1) First time winners only (that's everyone)
2) You must be able to attend the movie on Wed night in Saskatoon

Good luck!

Reunited with the Class of '96

This past Sunday I went to my 10 year class reunion down in Caronport. Originally I was on the planning committee and we had a great 3 day class reunion all planned out. However, after telling everyone about it not a lot of people were going to attend. We then scaled it back to a one day affair and I basically had no part in planning it. But a great thanks to Tara and Janice who put a lot of work into it.

The reunion was a great time! I loved it a lot! We had about16 or so people from my class attend along with their significant others and children. It was really great to see everyone again and see what has all happened with them since graduation. There were a lot of laughs and tears (ok, nobody cried, but we did laugh a lot!) It was also really great that some of our old teachers came by including Mr. Appleby, Mrs. Hall, Mr. Reed, Mr. Guenter, and Mr. Frostad. It's funny because I'm sure that to them we are just another class of students (I don't mean that in a bad way it's just that they see so many kids over the years I'm sure it's a blur sometimes) but to us these teachers are people we will never forget. So it was great that they took so much of their time to come hang out with us and walk down memory lane.

We started off the reunion around 12:00pm with a BBQ. I was put on BBQ detail along with Tara's husband and it started out ok. But then we lit the BBQ's and it all went downhill for me. Mike was doing great and the hotdogs were turning out fine. However after I brought in the first round of burgers I made a joke to Tara that they might not all be cooked (and I'll admit I was a little unsure) and so I got booted outside to re-cook them all. Then the funnier part is that suddenly Mr. Appleby was out there talking to us and pretty soon I was no longer BBQ'ing. I found out that Tara had sent Mr. Appleby out there to relieve me of my duties. I was completely fine with that as I'll admit I am not a great BBQ'er and I really just wanted to chat with everyone anyway.

After the BBQ we went on a tour of the school and all the changes. Since I went to school at Caronport there were lots of changes as basically the entire town is part of the school. The biggest change was to the cafeteria. Those students that go there now are extremely lucky at the amazing selection of food they get. There are three stations for them to choose from every day. One if a pizza station where they have 3 kinds of pizzas all the time. Then they have the grilled station where they will have things like grilled cheese sandwiches, burgers, rueben sandwiches, etc. Then they have the classic station where they will serve lasagna, pasta, or other main course meals people are used to. Then they have an international station where you can make your own stir fry and things like that. It's unbelievable. Then they still have a deli bar, a dessert bar and all the beverages you can eat. Actually, everything is all you can eat. Very different from before.

After the tour we went back to the Nelson centre for more chatting and we ordered pizza for supper. Then the fun began. Everyone was heading to the courtyard to roast marshmallows and make smores, but a few of us wanted to play some basketball for old times sake. So one of our teachers let us into the gym and got us a nice ball. I thought it was going to be 2 vs 2, but apparantly basically everyone wanted to play and there was no one at the fire at all. We had a really fun time and played a best of 3 series to 21. Fortunately my team won 2 out of 3 and will remain the champs for the next 10 years. I hadn't played basketball in like 2 years so I was pretty rusty (and out of shape) but I did have a few awesome moments. The first was when I drained a fade away jump shot to win the first game. Then in the 3rd game I was up top and the moment the ball was checked to me I shot the 3 and nailed it. Then I did the exact same thing again later on! I was extremely pumped...the only bad part was that Shiela my wife was guarding me and she didn't like the fact that I could drain 3 pointers over her.

We then all went to the fire and made smores, etc. Finally around 12:00am the only people left were all of us staying at Janice and Brents' for the night so we headed out there along with Andrew and Michael for some poker action and to go to bed. The poker was great, especially when my pocket 6's hit a 3rd six on the flop and 3 of went all in. I won when I ended up with a full house and busted out Shiela and Larry. I played a little heads up against Brent but then walked away ahead around 6 dollars. (I know, we play very low stakes)

That was the weekend! I will post some pictures later on but I just dont' have my camera with me right now. It was great seeing everyone and definately made me realize I need to stay in touch with people more.

Enjoying Life

Life on EI is great. On my first day of EI I just hung around, ran a few errands and basically enjoyed not working. Then on Wednesday I went for a round of golf with a few guys. A few years ago a few of us bought a golf trophy and so each time one of us wins a round we get to sign the back of it and keep it until the next round. In the first 2 or 3 years I didn't win the trophy at all as my golf game was horrendous. Then, finally, last year I managed to win it two or three times. But my reign has ended as I lost the trophy on Wednesday when I shot a terrible score of 118. I hadn't shot that poorly since I first started golfing. Granted this was my first round of the season and so I wasn't really upset. I'm pretty confident I'll win the trophy back in the next couple of rounds. I also played soccer Wednesday night, but alas we got scored on twice before our goalie showed up and we just couldn't recover. We lost 4-2.

Thursday was a great day when my cousins and uncle and aunt came over for lunch. They have been living in Scotland for the last two years so it was great to see them again! We had a good lunch (which I made) and then swam in the pool for a while. It was lots of fun!

Friday I went out and got an oil change and started shopping around for tires. Our car needs new tires before winter but I think I'm going to buy them before we head out on vacation later this month. I also watched V for Vendetta at some friends home on Friday night (I know I'm a little behind the times on movies) and it was a great show.

This weekend I have my big 10 year class reunion! It should be pretty fun even though a number of the people I hung out with aren't coming. That's too bad, but it will be fun with the people who are there and also to see all the teachers again.

That's the update for now. I'll post again after the reunion...hopefully with photos!

Is Volleyball a Sport?

I've never really been into volleyball. I really enjoy playing it, the problem is that I just was never any good. I made the team in grade 7, but only because no one got cut. Then in highschool we never really had a boy's team so I never got good. Sometimes I found it frustrating that I couldn't play volleyball well because I'm an athlete and I don't like not being good at sports.

But now I'm starting to wonder how much of a sport volleyball really is. Take a look at this chart from the Public Health Agency of Canada and the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology:

Notice anything interesting. They have labelled Volleyball under "Light Effort" when it comes to exercising! All the other sports on the chart are under "Vigorous Effort". They even have Raking Leaves higher up the exercise chart than Volleyball. That must be why I never could get good at volleyball...I like to focus on real sports!

So what do you think? Is Volleyball really a sport or is it just "light effort" like stretching and easy gardening?

(P.S. I phoned the Public Health Agency of Canada and they said they weren't able to put soccer on here because that is a little too extreme for the general public and they don't want people having heart attacks all the time)

I'm Free from the Man

I'm no longer working for the man because I'm once again unemployed...and loving it! I slept in today which felt great. I felt sorry for Shiela who had to be at work by 6:00am though. I'm really looking forward to being unemployed. I've already rented a video game (a poker game called Stacked) and so I'm going to be playing that a bunch today. Then I've got a tee time tomorrow morning and a soccer game in the evening. I think I will also go down to the Willows this afternoon and chip and putt a few balls since I haven't pulled out my golf clubs all year. Hopefully tomorrows game won't be too rusty.

Catch you on the flip side!

Clarification on Previous Blog

I re-read the previous blog and thought I should delete it, but then decided to just leave it up as some people had already read it and I should probably just clarify what I meant.

I realized the previous post may have come across that I was excluding myself from what I was saying about working hard and having a passion for the game. Don't get me wrong, I am very much a part of this. When I was saying that "people need to step it up if someone gets after them" I was thinking of myself. If I misjudge a ball and it goes over my head, ok people make mistakes. If I do it again, I would hope that my team would get on my case and start telling me to judge the ball better and back up...and I hope I wouldn't get mad at them but realize that they are right. There are times out there where I get beat and I have stopped trying. When I am talking about people not giving up and hustling their butt to make up for mistakes, I am including myself in that because I know that I can improve on that a lot.

So if anyone from our Tauro FC team read the previous post, please don't read into it that I think you don't like soccer and aren't trying. That was not the point and I am not trying to point out any individual players. I also am not excluding myself from any comments I made. My sole desire of that post was to point out that if we want to start wining games we need to be fired up together as a team with all cylinders firing, meaning EVERY player must give it everything they have for 90 minutes and work together as a team.

I'd love to hear any comments anyone has on this.

Passion...We Need You

Last night we played a game against SAL Engineering and we ended up losing 3-2. We scored within the first 3 minutes of the game. Then they scored a nice goal off a free kick and went up 2-1 when they scored on a breakaway. We managed to tie it up in the second half but a late header goal off a corner kick gave us the defeat. The first half was terrible. The second half was great and our team played hard. The problem is that we need to play that way for 90 minutes, not just 45.

It was too bad because that team was not good. We killed them the last time we played them. Some of us went for drinks after and talked about the team and I've decided to post one main thought that came up. There seems to be no passion in some of the players. Now this is obviously not everyone, but where is the fire in our team's eyes. When a player steps on the field it is time to go to war. If you get beat you need to bust your butt to make up for that. If you are continually making mistakes and someone starts to harp on you and tell you to step it up, don't get mad at them because they are right. You do need to step it up.

Playing well is about respect. When I coach my youth teams the one thing I want from them is to be competitive. I don't care if we win or lose the game, but I do care if we gave it our best and made it a game. Bad bounces and bad calls by the referee can cost you a game sometimes and you can't control that, so if you only base things on wins and losses it is not a fair picture. When our men's team plays a game, whether we win or lose I want that other team to know they had a game on their hands. That way they have respect for our team. It even goes down one more level to the individual player. If you want people to respect you as a player, you need to show some passion out there. You don't need to be an amazing player because if you show true passion out there and work your butt off, people will respect you.

Now for anyone on the soccer team reading this, don't get too caught up in whether or not you are one of the people I'm talking about. Honestly, I have no one in mind when I write that, it just seems to be more of a generic thing . I think our whole team needs to bond together, each player focusing on himself playing well, and this ship will turn around.

In order to turn the team around, I've decided (with input from the other people at Athena's last night) to change the focus of the team from wins and losses to something else. I guess you'll have to come out and watch next Wednesday night August 2nd at 7:00pm at Umea Vast (behind Lawson Heights Mall) to find out what that is!

Victory is Ours!

This is my Under 11 Boys Gold (Division 1) team I coach. We are proudly (in a good sense) portraying our medals we won in the Mini Festival of Soccer. Sorry, what was that? What place did we get? Oh, we got 1st place and these are gold medals.

We only have 8 guys on the team now which is ok because at this age they only play 8vs8 and I usually bring up extra players from lower divisons to play with us. We did have 9 guys, but one of them moved to Edmonton but is coming back to play in the City Final. These guys on the team are phenomenal. If they were the same size as our Men's team I honestly think we would lose. They are going to be the future stars of Eastside Soccer. So far this season our record in league play is 9-0-3. We did lose a game in a tournament which devastated the guys, but we bounced back and still won the gold in the Eastside tournament.

The big City Final is this Saturday, July 29th at 8:30am inside the new soccer centre. We are playing Hollandia, the only team to beat us at all this year, and so it will be a big battle as we both fight for the Gold medal and be declared the Division Champions. Feel free to come cheer us on!

U20 World Cup in Edmonton - Want to Go?

It's hard to believe but Canada managed to win the privilege of hosting the U-20 World Cup in 2007. The games will be played across the country in places like Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Victoria, Burnaby and...Edmonton! Yep, only a quick 5 hour drive and you have the chance to watch some of the best youth talent from around the world! Many current soccer stars played in the U-20 World Cup before the actual World Cup. You don't think this is a big deal? Well, the U-20 World Cup is the second largest soccer event in the world...the only one bigger is the World Cup.

I know the games aren't until next July, but I have already bought my tickets...that is I've bought tickets for me and 16 of my closest friends. Yep, so far 17 of us have already bought tickets to go watch a double header game on Sunday July 8th in Edmonton. We are sitting in Section U (which is basically at center field) Rows 39-41 with between 6-8 people per row (that way we can talk to each other and not be all strung out along one long row).

But today is your lucky day...that's right because I actually still have 5 tickets left that are not spoken for. Do you want to come enjoy the fun on July 8th, 2007 in Edmonton? It's a double header game with Team Canada playing someone in the first game and then two other teams playing in the second game (we don't know who they are yet because qualifying is still going on, but I'm hoping one of them is either Brazil or England). The cost is cheap...for only $30.00 you get to watch two games of soccer! That's only $15 per game...that's almost cheaper than a Blades game and I can guarantee you this will be a whole lot better than any Blades game!

I only have 5 tickets left and I'm selling them to the first five people who contact me, so don't wait! Come enjoy the fun on July 8th, 2007 in Edmonton.

Free Stuff!

Don't you love it when you get something for free that you really like? I know I sure do and I've had my fair share lately.

A little while ago I received an item in the mail that looked like a card advertisement. I still read it and low and behold they told me that if I go test drive a car from where Shiela and I bought our Cavalier a few years ago, I would get a free IPOD Shuffle. It was almost too good to be true. So before the June 30th deadline I went on down to the dealership and test drove an SUV...I think it was a Torrent or something. They filled out the form and said I would get my IPOD Shuffle in the mail. And I did! I haven't figured out how to use it yet, but I have it!

The second free item came a few days ago. When the Toronto people were down for the Hbc Run for Canada they saw my cell phone I was using. For those that haven't seen it, it is a Nokia phone and is all taped up in the back because the battery kept falling out. Needless to say people make fun of me every time I use it, which isn't that often as it is aPay As You Go phone and I only put money on it when I will use it a lot. Anyways, one of the Toronto guys says he has a Sasktel phone back in Toronto from an old project they did and that he would send it to me for free. So about a week later I sent him an email to see if he was serious and he said he couldn't find the Sasktel phone anywhere...however he had a couple other phones and said he would send me one of those. So a week later I receive a package in the mail and there is a Telus cell phone in there. What a nice guy that Seamus is!

So yeah, now I have a new cell phone and a new IPOD Shuffle. I don't know if I will activate the cell phone or not. I don't need it right now and it seems like a waste of money to use the phone if I don't need it. But we'll see. I'm just waiting to see what else I am going to get for free!

I'm in Full Swing Again!

Hi Everyone,

Man I feel like I have been gone for a long time...at least without blogging. In my last post I was just about to head off to Edmonton and help coach in the Rocky Mountain Cup with the U13 Provincial boys team. Our goal in that tournament was to get a medal and nothing less was acceptable. Our first game against Newfoundland went ok once we calmed down. When we went to BC we got scored on in the first 45 seconds of the game. We told our guys that if nothing else we cannot get scored on in the first minute. Well, we broke a new record and within 25 seconds we were down 1-0 to Newfoundland. Then suddenly it was 2-0. We finally turned it around and won 5-2.

Our second game was against Alberta North. It was like watching David and Goliath out there as those Alberta boys were big and out muscled us. We probably played our best game ever against them, but we just couldn't pull out the win. The highlight for me was when the head coach got kicked out of the game for saying something to the linesman and I got to take the helm for the final 10 minutes. We scored our only goal against Alberta when I was coaching! But we still lost 3-1.

That set us up for the bronze medal match against Manitoba. Again, we came out a little slow and suddenly we were down 1-0, but at least it took more than 25 seconds. Then they scored again, but luckily there was an early offside call that everyone had missed and so the goal was disallowed. That gave us the edge we needed and our guys went on to a 3-1 victory as we claimed the bronze medal!

Other than that, my job with the Hbc Run for Canada is winding down and I only have another 4 days of work. After that I'm unemployed again and I'm looking forward to relaxing in August (while looking for a job of couse!) So I'm going to be blogging on a regular basis now, catch up on my surgery stories and get back into some classic Fact or Fiction. Stay Tuned!

Quick Update

The Hbc Run for Canada went well with nearly 500 people in attendance. It may be more than that but the official numbers won't be in for a while.

I can't write much because I'm off to Edmonton with the U13 boys Provincial team from Wed to Sunday as we are going to the Rocky Mountain Cup. We play Newfoundland in our first game. I'll be back to regular blogging sometime after July 10th.

See you all then!