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!