Show Some Respect

Baby anxiety

2009-07-28T09:32:00.000-07:00

Hello old friends. By now I figure everyone has quit reading this blog all together. Recent posts by a certain mother of twins has me figuring it is time for a post of my own.

Only problem is I don't have anything interesting to blog about.

So I guess I will just give quick life update.

It might be a good idea to start a baby count down. Due date is Nov 16, so that is what, 3 and half months away.......... sorry, need a minute........

I get this sudden onset shortness of breath when I think about this little person that will be entering our lives soon. It was like that days you wake up a realize that you have a 10 page paper due that day and you haven't started it yet. Times 7. I feel like we haven't really been preparing for this. I mean, we have bought a couple books, and we have some clothes to put it in when time comes, but it doesn't seem like enough. I mean, I went to school for 4 years to get a business degree that I didn't really even use. And what, I have to keep this kid for something like 18 years. How come there isn't a program to become a parent. Teach me how to do diapers, make a bottle, appropriate discipline if they do something “bad”. Do people do allowances any more? Am I allowed to spank? I am supposedly an Emergency Medical Technician – Advanced, yet I don't know if I should call an ambulance if my kid has a febrile seizure – I only ask because we get those calls all the time, and we usually cancel on scene...Forget that. I will be calling the ambulance.

So many questions.

But I can't wait. I really can't. I am ready to take my kid to the park, to the football games, to friends houses. My platoon is full of young parents with young kids, and they almost all seem absolutely in love with their kids. They have all sorts of horror stories, but they quickly follow that up by saying it is lots of fun.

The fafard clan seems like they got a good thing going...although I am pretty pumped we aren't having twins. Not sure I could handle that. I would likely forget one at the mall or something...mind you I will probably do that anyway.

Well I better get back to my deck. Just about done the railing, and that should be it. I am pretty proud of it. I require all of you to come here and see it and have a drink with me on it.

Take care.

Why Alberta Sucks

2009-05-27T09:27:00.000-07:00

So I know it is my new home, but there a are many ways ol'sasky is a much better place to live. Here are a few reasons to stay the heck out of Alberta.

- No Crown Corps - it's not a matter of being government run, it's that in Sask it's so easy to set up your utilities. There is SaskEnergy, Power, SGI, Sasktel. You don't really have a choice, so it's easy and stress free. Here in Alta you there are multiple choices for power and energy, even more for phone, you have to get separate car insurance thru places like RBC, then go to a registry to get you license and registration. It's a huge pain in the ass. Quite painful.
- The Eskimos. But that is obvious. Go Riders!
- People who diss Saskatchewan. Everyone is a comedian. "Oh, the place you can see your dog run away for 3 days".... SHUT UP. Then they all say that they haven't even been there. It looks the same as here jackass.
- The weather. It seems even more volatile here then back home in SK. It will be 23 degrees one day, then -2 the next. Snow, rain, or anything else without any notice.
- All the newspapers. In Regina, I bought the leader post. Here, there are several major newspapers for Edmonton alone. How do I know which one to choose. Dammit!
- Without question the worst thing about this new province is speed cameras. The first 27 years, 2 months, and 6 days of my life I received 1 speeding ticket. The next 1 month and 4 days...3. Yes 3 speeding tickets. They show up in the mail more often then the Home Depot flyer. Ok, in truth one of the tickets I got in Saskatchewan, while driving back from Alberta, but still. I got 2 camera tickets in the mail in ONE WEEK. It's bullshit. In both cases I was driving exactly 15 km/h over the speed limit, in areas where it is quite safe to do so. It's my fault, and I am going to have to change. I knew how to speed in SK, but the game has changed now. And I am losing miserably.

Go Saskatchewan!

Star Trek...

2009-05-19T12:28:00.000-07:00

...was frickin AWESOME!

Not kidding. I heard it was pretty good, and it didn't disappoint. It's action from beginning to end, and although there was a small amount of confusion, it all comes together nicely. It felt like it was only about 45 minutes long, which usually means that it is good. Only part that was a little weird for me was the co-pilot with the bad accent- but you get used to it. It makes me wish I knew more about the history of star trek. Go see it if you haven't already.

I also saw wolverine and it was great too. Next movies that are must see have to be Transformers, GI Joe, and that District 9 movie looks very intriguing. On the fuuny front, Year 1 looks hilarious, and I want to see the new Tarentino movie where they kill all the nazi's.

2 year Recap

2009-05-11T08:50:00.000-07:00

So I have been thinking about how much had happened in the past two years in my little world. Here is a quick recap.
June 07 - got engaged
July 07 - booked wedding in Cuba. Played final senior baseball game.
Sept 07 - decided a career change was in order, applied to fire school. Helped move M and PW into their new house.
Oct 07 - got all my needed courses to get into school, including first aid, cpr, Air brakes, etc.
Nov 07 - Rider's win Grey Cup!
Dec -07 - Traveled to vermilion to go through testing/interview to get into school. Found out 2 weeks later that I got in.
Jan 08 - had possibley the best 2 weeks of my life in Cuba. Got married. Told work that I was quitting. Found out JAM was having Jambabies.
Feb 08 - last day of work at old job, earned last pay check for just over a year. Had wedding reception. Moved to vermilion and started school. Lived in a very questionable house.
May 08 - moved into more acceptable apartment, became a licensed emergency Medical Responder.
July 08 - Bizzy Stag - good times.
August 08 - Brizzy wedding, got to be best man and MC. Got a niece when the brother in law and wife had baby B.
Sept 08 - Jambabies - both of them joined us. Quickly fell in love with them.
Oct 08 - finished school. MC'd Grad ceremonies. Started hiring process for SCES.
Nov 08 - After being back in Regina for about 4 days, moved to Sherwood Park to practicum. More of hiring process for SCES including physical. Mrs got a year older and a new Saturn.
Dec 08 - finished practicum and moved back to Regina. Had interview and medical for hiring.
Jan 09 - Canada won another World Junior championship. Found out I got job, put house up for sale.
Feb 09 - Moved to Alberta. Had final testing and became a licensed EMT.
March 09 - Found out the Mrs. and I would be bring adding a new Brody to the clan. Saw first ultrasound - head looked normal size. Started orientation to SCES. Still working on selling house. Mrs also started new job
April 09 - Sis got married. Jambabies baptism. Sold house, and bough a new one. Told people about baby. Moved out of house, put everything in Alberta landlord's garage. Official induction to SCES. Got hit in the head by a very angry girl armed with a purse after the bar one Tuesday night.
May 09 - first days on the floor with SCES. Started blogging again.

You readers may not find this interesting, but I wanted to write it all out. Lots had happened, although I am sure I forgot a few important events. Hope for the next 6 months to be lower key...than it's baby time.

Farewell Regina

2009-02-20T12:00:00.000-08:00

Well you all had to know this blog was coming. It might be on the sentimental side, so look away if you don’t have the stomach for that sort of thing. I need to say farewell to Regina.

I need to say farewell to all the streets and routes that I know so well. I am going to miss knowing the best ways to get everywhere, also knowing which streets to take if I want to see some drunken bum passed out on his front lawn. Good riddance to the route I used to take to work everyday, I won’t miss you. And goodbye Vic Ave east, I also will not miss you.

Farwell to the Regina night life. Although I don’t frequent you much anymore, I have had some good times at your fine establishments. Such as my 19th birthday at Checkers (now demolished) in which I got so drunk I threw up in a juice pitcher after the bar, or the night I won $1000 in the VLT at the pump, perhaps the night at Habanos, the first night out at the bar with my then new girlfriend (now my wife), when her friends (including a certain mother of twins I know) kept ripping my shirt open. The next morning Michelle had to sew several buttons back on (that’s right, I slept over. NICE! ) Other bars frequented were the Broken Rack, the Warehouse, and McNally’s and The Owl. And I will never forget my night at the Plains.

Farewell to all my go-to restaurants. Viet-thai, Brewsters, the Tap, Rock Creek, and so on. Good times and good eats were had by all.

So long to the movie theaters. I have probably spent more money at these locations than any other business in Regina. Back in the first few years of university, I was at the Southland for almost every Tuesday cheap seats, and then at the Golden Mile on Friday for the midnight show after the Pats game.

Farewell to Regina sports. No more Regina slo-pitch, no more adult safe hockey. No more church hockey (will I still go to heaven?). So long Strasburg Expos. I hope they have found a way to replace my 3 errors per game. So long to the YMCA, and SETS and the other gyms I have gone to, I won’t miss you either. Farwell Pats, I am coming to say a goodbye in person tonight, to see you play the hated warriors one last time. To the Riders I will see you in Edmonton on September 26th, and maybe June 17th for the preseason game.

Farewell to the Regina Fire Department. I actually saw two of your trucks heading to a call today. Unless things really don’t work out in Alberta, a small part of me will always wonder what it would have been like working for you. If only you paid better and ran ambulances.

An eventual good-bye to our house. I like this house, I don’t want to leave it. Of course it holds some sort of sentimental value; some major life events took place while living here. However, I will admit that at this point I just want someone else to buy it already.

Bye-bye Jambabies. For the first time in my I feel like I will be missing out in watching someone grow up. I have grown quite fond of you, and already you two little buggers have changed so much. It sucks for me that we won’t be around to see you more often, and become the honorary uncle. Now I am just going to be the weird old guy they will meet in 15 years that will say “I used to change your diaper”.

Farewell friends and family. I don’t know how to say a proper goodbye, so I hope that their will be many visits, whether there, here, or some place in-between. I know that we are going to miss out on some good times, and the friendship you have shown me will never be forgotten. This is, without question, the most difficult part about leaving Regina.

Farewell Regina. You will be missed.

Holiday Monday thoughts

2009-02-16T18:14:00.001-08:00

Here are a few thoughts that I am having on this holiday Monday.

- I am very grateful for my freinds that came to our going away party. I might not have a whole bunch of friends, but I can say I like the ones that I have.
- I am especially thankful for JAM, as they really went out of their way (again) to make the Brody's feel special. Supper, heart shaped cake, booze, and refusing to let us lift a dish rag to help out. Thanks Jam, you are the best, I mean that.
-I am once again embarrassed at how drunk I was. I am now 27 years old, and once again do not remember coming home. I hate waking up with the feeling of not knowing what I said or did, and being ashamed at that fact. I used to think my antics were humorous, but now I only embarrass myself. Sorry for anything I may have said or did that was offensive. If i did nothing offensive or embarrassing, than thank god. I hope I didn't wake any babies up.
- I like the Olympic Team that Pierre Mcguire predicted on TSN, with a few minor changes. I would like to see Johnathan Toews instead of Shane Doan, and I would like to see Brian Cambell on the team, although I don't know who he should replace.
- I should be studying, but I'm procrastinating. I am very talented at this.
- 2 weeks to the day and I start my new career. Wow. It is almost here.
- Today is the one year anniversary of the day I left Mrs. Brody and went to Vermilion. That was not a happy day.
- I am still a little scared that we might now be making the right choice in moving. So much unknown ahead, and so much good stuff back here in Regina and south east Sask. I guess we well have to wait and see.
- Why won't someone by our house. I think its nice, i think the price is a least reasonable to the point where someone could give us an offer.
- Time to get some work done.
- happy family day.

Enough of this lovey stuff

2009-02-12T18:17:00.000-08:00

Ok, I have been a little sappy lately, I guess it’s just because I have been so damn happy. Well now I am going to get mad and tell you some things that piss me off. Know that when I wrote this I was all fired up and typing really fast.

First off, bad drivers…but I have been down that road many times before. See my first ever post.

Also, my cats right now. They won’t shut up. Mostly the male, is often drives me crazy. We have a bit of a feud, think Jerry and Newman. I am frequently calling him down..then I fell shame because I am tough talking a cat.

Entertainment shows. I like movies and all that stuff, but I hate how people can revolve their lives around celebrity gossip. (By the way, did you see Jaquin Phoenix on Letterman…wow. U-tube it.) Moving on.

CTV news Regina. When they chat and try to be funny it pisses me off. It’s embarrassing and I think they are a piss poor news team. I also watch CTV Edmonton and its like night and day the difference.

Evil forces. Take a pill.

ESPN. Show some God damn hockey once in a while.

Americans. Why don’t you like hockey? Take five minutes to understand the game and you will realize it’s the best sport out there. Well, better than basketball anyway.

Catholic Church. I won’t get into it.

Assholes. Why be a dick all the time. Try being nice. Asshole.

Ray Emery. He has all this talent, but won’t use is frickin head and now he is playing hockey in Europe trying to fight trainers who probably make $15/hour. I wish I had his ability and I would be in the NHL.

People who seem to hate cops. Ya, you hate them until you need them. You try doing their job. I am sure you just don’t like them because they give you a ticket or throw your ass in jail. As Jim Carrey put it in Liar, Liar…STOP BREAKING THE LAW ASSHOLE!

Repair Shops. Stop ripping me off. Have you no conscience.

Grr.

25 random things about me.

2009-02-11T13:13:00.000-08:00

So there is a facebook “thing” going on right now in which a person puts 25 random things about themselves for people to read. I guess it's to help people get to know each other a little better. I am not really comfortable putting my 25 on facebook, but I will put them on this blog…which nobody reads. Many of these things you will likely know about me, some you may not. I think the other bloggers should do this too.

1. I watch Sportcentre almost every morning while I eat breakfast.
2. I have two egg whites and one full egg almost every morning for breakfast.
3. Although I lived a great childhood, I think I am happier now than I have ever been.
4. I would rather go to a movie than to a bar.
5. I am proud of my university degree, but don’t really know what the heck I learned.
6. I am a little worried about the fact I was never confirmed at church.
7. I really have no interest in music. Although I wish I did.
8. I used to show heavy horses at fairs.
9. I like to think I am handy, but many of my projects prove otherwise.
10. I have never had the urge to travel overseas to place like Europe or Asia. I would love to see more of Canada and the States.
11. Although I have been flown with airlines more time than I can count, I still get a little worried every time we land.
12. I am extremely proud of having grown up on a farm, and of what my parents do on the farm, but I have never wanted that as my career.
13. Sometimes I think I have the best wife ever, other times I know it.
14. It drives me crazy when people type without using complete sentences and proper grammar or punctuation. I blame text messaging. Ie. i no u ppl will b the only ones 2 read this blog
15. I really enjoyed high school, had great friends, but can only think of one person from those days that I still talk to regularly. Not sure why this is.
16. I read lots, and when the book gets good I might stay up all night just to finish it.
17. I had Basal Cell Carcinoma (the most common type of skin cancer) in a mole on the back of my head, which I had removed. While it poses to health risk to me, it does make me a higher risk of a more serious type of skin cancer.
18. Now every time I get a haircut the hairdresser makes a comment about the bald spot on the back of my head.
19. I once went about 6 months without speaking to my bro because we were pissed at each other. Now I wish we could hang out more, and I wish I called him more often. I think he is more fun than I am.
20. I weight as much as 215 pounds in university. Now I am just under 190.
21. I was one of two people in my class of 30 people not to fail a test during fire school. And yes, I am bragging about that.
22. I am a romantic guy. It’s true. I have pulled off a few sweet things in my day. Ie. The Amazing race for Mrs. Brody that took her to 12 spots across the city to represent the 12 months we had been dating, each with a clue to lead her to the next spot. Each spot help some significance in our first year together.
23. I had braces from 2002 thru to 2004. That was not easy while in university, but one of the best decisions I have made. Thanks to Mom for pushing that one.
24. My inability to drink beer causes me stress sometimes. I feel like it stops me from being “one of the guys”.
25. I have been drinking coffee in the morning since as long as I can remember. I am sure I was drinking it in prior to grade 7, although I can’t say for sure.

Getting a grip

2009-01-17T09:28:00.000-08:00

It wasn’t long after writing my previous blog that I realized how silly I was feeling sorry for myself. Sure this hiring process is getting a little frustrating, but in the grand scheme…no, even in the small scheme, I am living a great fricking life.

That’s name a few. I have, in my opinion, one of the best wives in the history of the world, and certainly the best one I could ever even hope to find. I have friends who I like to be around and make me feel like they enjoy my company from time to time. I have a family that I am proud to be a part of, and an extended family, which is growing, and I am happy to say filled with more people I think of as friends. I have a great house, live in a place, no matter how cold it is, that I feel safe in. I never have to worry about the basic necessities in life, food, water, shelter and such. I don’t even really worry about money, and that is impressive seeing as I haven’t had a job in 11 months (this is mostly because of the previously mentioned wife).

Yep, I have a great frickin life.

Anyway, this is all a little sappy, but it gets me wondering if more people out there realize how good their lives are. There are certainly some people in this world who are not living in as perfect a world as mine. People who, for what ever reason, were dealt a shitty deal even though they were/are good people. But I also think there are people that bad things happen to that as they say “had it coming”

I am a strong believer in Karma, and that if I do good things, then good things will happen to me. I am not a prefect person, that is for damn sure, but I do try and treat others with respect, and hope for respect in return. I try not to cheat, steal, or lie, so that others won’t cheat me, steal from me, or lie to me. I don’t like to be cruel to people, in hopes that other won’t be cruel to me. (The obvious exception to this is my poor brother, who I tortured for years…although we had lots of good times as well.) In short, I find it simple to let one general rule govern the way I act, and it’s one that we have all heard since we were young… Treat others like you want to be treated

Here are a few things that I like to do to tip the scale of Karma to my side:
- Be friendly to cashiers and servers
- Call seniors “Sir”, or “Ma’am”
- Leave my loonie in the carts at Super Store so that the next person to use it gets a nice surprise (admittedly not every time)
- Always stop to push someone out if they are stuck
- Hold open doors.
- Stop to help little old ladies get in or out of their car.
- Signaling/not driving in the left lane.

The waiting game

2009-01-13T08:59:00.000-08:00

Holy Crap, I am starting to go crazy. I got a call from my friend Eric who is also going through the hiring process, and he is also starting to go crazy, so he called the dept. today to see what was up. Turns out that there STILL hasn't been any decision made on how many recruits will be hired. Apparently negotiations are still underway between the province and the county to over the ambulance contract. Of course, anything involving the government in turning out to be long and drawn out. Apparently the Deputy Chief is now on holidays until the 21st. I also hear that the start date has been pushed back from early Feb to mid Feb.

So in summary it is getting ridiculous. I have pretty much put my life on hold waiting to hear about this job. I know that is my choice, and probably a stupid one, but in my defense they have pretty much been string me along, week to week, for almost exactly a month. I am still fairly confident I will have a job, but with each day that goes by more and more doubt creeps into my mind.

I need to get a job. I want it to be in the EMS field, but I don't know how to do that when I have no idea if I will be around Regina for 1 month, or 6 months...or longer.

I feel so useless. I need some structure in my life. I need a reason to get up in the morning...and once up, stay the hell off the couch.

Anyway, enough feeling sorry for myself. Time to get up and frickin do something.

Have fun working.

My last shift

2008-12-15T06:55:00.000-08:00

It was awesome and sums up why I want to do this job, and also why I want to work in SC.

All started right at shift chance, about 5:55pm or 1755, we got called to an MVC - it was a head on, pick-up truck vs firefly. The dude in the firefly appears not to have been wearing his seatbelt and did not fair well, the dude in the truck was fine...not a scratch on him.
After that we went back to the hall and had some supper, then got called out to a local liquor store that had been robbed and the worker got beat up a little. There were 6 cop cars there, and when we walked in all the cops were watching the surveillance video with the guy...haha, it as just like Superbad. It was hard not to laugh. The dude was fine, hurt his pinky.

Went back to the hal again and the guys pulled out the Aerial Tower and let me set it all up and then go up in the basket and o way up and around and down and out. Just mess around or about an hour. Out over the street, touched the top of an evergreen, put it right up to the window on the 2nd floor of the fire hall. Got a great view of the Park.

We had a few other ambulance calls that night, one chest pain, and one broken hip, pretty standard stuff. But at the hospital with the latter the cops had to come and arrest a pt of an Edmonton ambulance after he went loonie in the back of their unit. They had him in cuffs in the hallway where we waiting; he was cursing and swearing, telling them to go ahead and "break my fuckin wrist" They were a bunch of crazy losers in their that night; swearing away, one guy pulled out his own IV, got up, took about 20 minutes to get his stuff together and left. "Trailer Park Night" my lieutenant called it. Hilarious.

Back to the hall for about an hours sleep, then we got called to a vehicle fire at an industrial company. Showed up and found a big ass Tractor on fire. It was already pretty burned up, but we put it out and I got to shoot lots of water, which is always fun. The guys are always willing to show me things.

Got back to the hall, and while cleaning up I went into the house tower to hang some hose we cleaned and got a bucket of water dumped on me. It was freezing and I was soaked, but let's face it...I love it. It was a great last shift.

Combine that with getting done my interview, which went pretty well, I got my EMT certificate, and I got my wife back.

I'm comin' home

2008-12-07T20:07:00.000-08:00

That's right, one more week and I should be back in the great city of Regina...at least for a while.

Monday marks the first day of the last tour of my practicum. I also have made it to the interview stage of the hiring process for a job our here in Sherwood Park. My interview is Friday, and if it goes well the wife and I could be packing our bags for Alberta in a few months time. I can't believe I might become one of those sellouts that moves to Alberta...but I take solace in that fact that it won't be Calgary.

But nothing is for sure at this point, I think I just need to start getting used to the idea. If we do come this way, it won't be an easy decision.

Other than that my practicum had been going well. I have been to my first fire, I have done CPR on someone - who we brought, and then they died anyway. I've seen a dead person, some sick kids, some very sick people who did nothing to deserve what they have. And after all that I am still sure that this is the line of work I want to be in. I have to admit that it is a good feeling when someone looks at you for help, when you can make there bad day a little better. Sometime it is with treatment, and sometimes it is just by chatting with them.

It's also sort of strange to see how little we do in most cases. We always go through the process to make sure nothing life threatening is going on, then we sort of just make them comfortable and take them to the hospital. For the most part any person willing to chat with a stranger could do the job.

It's not all roses. I can see how some of the guys around the hall would be tough to be around all the time. But that is only about 3 or 4%of the guys. And there is a lot of gross shit...and I mean shit. Blood and shit. I have been to three rectal bleeds. That is just not cool. The shift work is tough, it's really hard on the sleeping patterns. Getting 2 hours here, 3 hours there. I am always very tired by the time I get done my last night, and I am pretty much ruined for an entire day after that. And it can't be healthy jumping up in the middle of the night to slide down a pole. The ol heart isn't supposed to go from 60bpm to 120 in about 3 seconds.

Anyway, I can't believe I am almost done with this schooling thing again. It will be nice to get back to living with my girlfri...I mean wife, Mrs. Brody. It has been long enough living apart.

They call me Stu...for student

2008-11-12T11:45:00.000-08:00

I slept until 11:10 today…I love being a fire fighter.

I am currently enjoying my first set of days off. My first tour went pretty well. 2 days and 2 nights. I got about 10 ambulance calls, and by the first night shift I was leading the calls, or “attending”. The other guys pretty much let me run the show until I either don’t know what to do, or miss something, then they step in. I haven’t seen anything really cool yet. Not big trauma’s, or anyone in need of CPR. Just a bunch of pretty sick people. One stroke, one status eclipticus (series of seizures without a return to consciousness). A few chest pains…that sort of thing.

I also got to go on the engine twice. It was pretty much like living my dream when I got to go one the truck. Just like I imagined it…tones go off – “Engine 1-1, engine 1-1…”, everyone runs and gets in their gear and hops on the tuck, lights and sirens to the fire, or in this case to the gas leak. Both calls ended up being not a gig deal. The first was a gas leak after someone didn’t call before they dug. We just had to be there incase while the gas company took care of things. We went to some of the houses to tell people to make sure their windows were closed and to stay inside. Really fancy neighborhood. The 2nd call was a car fire, but when we showed up on scene the bus that was allegedly on fire had driven away…not sure what happened there.

I think I am jinxed in a way that is good for the victims or patients. I have spent approximately 66 hours working or riding along on ambulance/fire truck- including an 18 hours night shift, I still haven’t seen anyone bleeding profusely, not breathing, dead, or even severely injured. I don’t wish any harm on anyone, but if they are going to be hurt, I wouldn’t mind being there. The other night we responded to some dude with abdominal pain, the engine got called out to a vehicle fire, with possible victims trapped inside. The day crew before my night shift got 3 MVC’s (car crash), we got none during the night.

After I get see something ugly I will probably regret looking for it, but I figure I might as well just see if and get it over with. Then I will know if I can take it or not.

But overall it is just awesome being at the fire hall. As a student I don’t really matter, or have an opinion, or any right of any kind, but its all part of earning the respect and earning your place. There are endless little “traditions” that one must be aware off…don’t sit on the leather couches as a student of probie, be the first up in the morning, be at work an hour early, probies are supposed to be the first one to answer the phone…etc, etc.

They have a pole. It actually isn’t that easy to go down- at least in a way that doesn’t make you the focus of jokes and jeers. But I think I finally figured it out during my last shift. I am happy to report that I managed to get a couple hours sleep during the nights. We got one call at 4am, and I managed to get up, get my boots and shirt on, and get down the poll before anyone else. (note-I slept with my pants on so as to save time) It can be pretty hard to wake up, get dressed, get stuff you need, and get in the unit in about 60 seconds at 4 in the morning. The ol’mind had a little trouble keeping up with what is going on.

The other thing I have realized is that hospital wait times are ridiculous even for ems. I will get into this more some other time, but it is scary how long we can wait, even with someone who is somewhat serious.

Be safe.

Life Update

2008-10-14T19:13:00.000-07:00

The stress level was about an 8 out of 10 earlier today...down to about a 5-10 now, but there is much to much happening right now.

On the good news front I got a call from the fire dept I applied to and will be moving on to the aptitude testing taking place next week. Certainly a move in the right direction.

I go to day 1 of 3 of my hospital practicum tomorrow. It is surgery day so i will be starting IV's and controlling airways....aren't you all glad your not at the Vermilion hospital for a vasectomy tomorrow. Apparently those are quite popular here.

Only 3 weeks left of school. In fact I only have 10 days of actual class left. Exciting. It's been fun but I am ready to be done. Have my med final next Tuesday, but after that it will be a coast to the finish. I somehow ended up as MC for our graduation ceremonies. i could have passed it off to a teacher I'm sure, but it will be easier to do it myself than try and explain to them how I - I mean WE want the day to go.

I didn't vote today. Hope that doesn't come back to bite me in the ass. Mrs. Brody did vote, so that makes me feel a little better.

later folks.

New Post?

2008-10-09T17:06:00.000-07:00

I am sitting here, watching the news about yet another snow bird crash and I was thinking that I should write a blog about something. But I also want to have a nap. It has been a very busy and fairly stressful week.

I vote for nap.

Take ca....zzzzzzz

On a need to know basis

2008-09-29T11:46:00.001-07:00

Inspired by DM’s blog on getting his car fixed, here is a list of things that I really should learn/know more about. I see myself as a fairly intelligent person and as such don’t know why I can’t figure these things out. Some of them are a problem just because they are popular things that I can’t keep up with in the conversation, others really are things I need to figure out to make life easier.

- cars – Besides the basics, I know shit about cars. I don’t know what any car made before 1999 looks like, beyond the basic principles I don’t know how an engine works. I don’t really even like talking about cars. Two things I look for in a car-comfort and no break downs. I also don’t like doing any maintenance on them, I can’t even be bother to check the tire pressure or oil on a regualar basis.
- Politics- I don’t really know the difference between “right” and “left”. I get the impression that the “Conservatives” are not conservative at all, and “New Democrats” aren’t new, so why are they called new. I want to care, I want to think that voting matters, but in the back of my head I always think that it doesn’t matter who is in power, they can only do so much and it is all pretty much going to shake out the same way anyway. Plus the elections truly annoy me. I suspect the some of the leaders might actually have good ideas that could make a difference, but because of the “politics” involved they can’t really state what is one their mind because the other parties will be all over it.
- Music/music videos – I seem to be border line retarded (can I say retarded? Hope so) when it comes to music. I can’t seem to understand words of the songs, I can’t remember the names of bands or songs, and I think I just generally miss the point. I seem to advertise the fact that I don’t get music, and I think I do that to avoid embarrassing situation when someone tries to make music talk with me and I have to B.S. my way through it. Last night I drove home from Vermilion and I listened to my audio book the entire way. The only time I shut it off was to see what was on News Talk radio. Not one song. What is wrong with me?
- Soccer – at least I am not alone in this one here in North America. The worlds most popular sport and I feel a little left out that I don’t like it. It would be great to be able to get so into a sport that I want to start a riot at every game. Now that is fun in anyone’s books. Have you seen the movie “Green Street Hooligans”? It is a great show about soccer hooligans – staring Frodo no less.
- NCAA sports- the whole US seems obsessed with their college sports. Again here I feel left out that I don’t get the same enjoyment. I feel like a am missing out on something great. March madness makes sense, but I hate basketball, and I like football, but I have no idea how the hell the determine who the best team is, or who plays in what bowls.
- Food network- seems like more and more of you, my friends, are watching the food network. Now this is something I have never even given a shot, but I still don’t see the appeal. I must be missing something. What is it? It just makes me want to eat, and I can’t cook like they can, so it just seems frustrating.
- UFC- another sport that is very popular and gaining popularity every day. I can appreciate the intensity, but I am somewhat embarrassed to say that I don’t really like watching it. Two grown, very sweaty men rolling around on a blood covered mat. It’s kind of disgusting to me.

Congrate JAM!

2008-09-23T21:35:00.000-07:00

Welcome to both Sweet and Salty - two great looking babies.

Congrats for all of us at Show Some Respect blog co. Way Happy for the jambabies!

The Fafours!

(I was going to post pictures but didn't want to be the first to put there images on the world wide web)

Guess who?

2008-09-23T14:43:00.000-07:00

Well guess who came out to play Friday night? You guessed it, Taylor Brody. It all started out innocently enough, I went over to a buddies place for steak, planned on driving home after. The problem was that I grabbed a bottle of whiskey on my way over there. I have talked to several people who have pieced the night together for me, since I remember only about half of it.

Highlights of the night include:
- when approached by a girl who asked him to dance, Talylor told her "Fuck off, I am 37"
- While getting a drink with a guy from my class he complained that the booze seemed watered down. Taylor reached into the tip jar and took out some change and threw it in is cup, saying " There, that should make up for it". The bartender did NOT like that.
-While smoking on the deck, Taylor turned around to a group of guys who were apparently minding here own business and told them to shut up, then got back to his conversation.
-Taylor phoned one of the girls in our class to give him a ride home, then when she showed up he was amazed and said "how did she know we needed a ride"
-Stood on the street outside the bar and yelled "where the fuck are we!" (we were in vermilion on campus)

Those are only a few of the stories I heard the next day. None of it was REAL bad, but in the end I am embarrassed by the night, but my classmates have told me they prefer that version on me more than the sober one. They even said that we should give that personality a separate name. I told them he already has one…It’s TAYLOR!

What to blog about...

2008-09-16T20:50:00.000-07:00

I don't friggin know, so I will just let my mind wander.

- the NFL is great. Did anyone see or hear about the Bronco's going for the two point convert for the win with 24 seconds left rather than kicking the extra point to force OT. Wow, very exciting stuff. I was not so excited about the Vikings loss to the Colts. Tough one.

- I met my niece Bria on the weekend. She as a little cutie. I even held her and she didn't break. Uncle Brody...has a nice ring to it.

- I am supposed to be studying but I have spend about an hour surfing the net. Damn facebook, normally it has little to offer me, but tonight I got in deep.

- i also didn't go to the gym tonight, which is pretty brutal. Can't start slipping now. Need to stay focused here these last couple months.

- anybody know anyone who lives in Sherwood park. I need a place to stay for 6 weeks.

- I got into the show "Rescue Me" It's pretty outstanding. Maybe just for a fire fighter wanna be like me, but I think that is some quality entertainment.

- Good story for you. My roommate tried buying some sort of kitchen appliance on Used Regina for $50. She got back a message that said" i would rather throw it in the garbage then sell it to you for 50 bucks" She showed it to me and we replied "Wow, that is rational thinking. If I offer you $1000 for you car will you drive it off a cliff? hmmm." I thought it was frickin hilarious.

Boo Ya!

2008-09-08T17:30:00.000-07:00

Right on, yes, sweet, awesome, life is good!

I found out today that I got my practicum site at Strathcona County in Sherwood Park. They chose 4 of us from the 18 med students to go there. They are widely regarded as one of the best departments in Alberta and getting by practicum there is a big step in getting a job down the road, should that be the best option for me and Mrs. B. It also can't hurt my chances for any other department. Could be a great reference.

Also, I am officially a licensed Emergency Medical Responder. Next up with be the EMT, which won't be official until I write the provincial exam in February. EMR is only somewhat more qualified than a first-aider, but it's all about baby steps.

Yesterday I sat down on the couch at about 10:30 am. 11+ hours later i got up, having watched about 7 football games, including the riders incredible comeback. Good news it was a great day of watching sports and the riders won, bad news is I did not get much homework done and I lost my opening week of fantasy football. I blame the loss on Carson Palmer and is measly 99 yards passing and Willis McGahee who did not tell me he wasn't playing. A-hole.

I rocked my scenario today when I was incident command at a single story structure fire. I managed 9 firefighters, and had EMS in to save two victims, and managed not to get yelled at. Sure, I gave instructions to ventilate a little early, but I feel the fire was under control.

Tomorrow I get a free lunch.

I get to see the wife in 4 more day.

Life is good everyone... Life. Is. Good.

Stuck in the middle

2008-09-06T13:32:00.000-07:00

Last night it came to my realization again that somehow I just haven't been able to find my crowd here at school. I feel i am liked, and I enjoy the company of many of my classmates, but I really don't fit in great with any of the main groups. Let me break it down for you.

The way I see it there are about 4 groups of people here at school. The first two I don't have much to do with, the second two I really feel is where I am stuck in the middle.

1) "The Youngsters" - these guys are decent enough, but they are about 8 years my junior. Some of them might be just like me when they are 26 but right now we just don't have much in common.
2) "The Always Go Homes" - there is the group that goes home every weekend. They might be good people but they are never around on the weekend to get to know. They don't seem very interested in hanging with the group.
3) "The Friendly musicians" - these folks are my kind of people...almost. They are super nice, great to visit with, down to earth, and I consider them friends. They really are the kind of people you want to know, the kind of people that make the world a better place. However there is one major problem... our interested are not the same at all. These folks regularity get together on the weekends to "JAM". They are really quite good, I have listened to them often. But it's no secret that I don't do music. I don't know why exactly, but it just doesn't "speak to me" if that makes sense. But that is only half the problem... they don't like sports - ANARCHY, ANARCHY! Not only do they not take an interested in any sporting event, they don't even have TV- NO TV I TELL YOU. No talk about sportscentre, the football game, or ever non related sports shows such as Lost, Heroes, or the Office. Sometimes they try, they will ask me about the riders or the blue jays - but I know they are just amusing me, they don't really care, and they certainly don't care about watching any games. I do think that many of you readers of this blog would like these folks. In fact if some of you were around then it would make the whole thing more comfortable, there could be some music combined with some current events talk. When hanging out with these folks there is way to much just sitting and listening got music that I can't understand and don't care much about, no matter how good they are. And I think they are pretty good.
4) “The Drunken Sports Fans” - This is the other main group that I spend much of my time with. Interestingly enough, the drunken sports fans do not do much hanging with the friendly musicians. Now, at first glance you might ask - what's not to like about a drunken sports fan??? Well the problem is “drunken” comes before “sports fan.” You know those drunken fools at sporting events that are so drunk you know they can't even see the play, and their is no way they will remember the game. All though sports fans most of these guys are still more interested in drinking then they are the game. You get the feeling that to them sports is more off an excuse to drink than a reason to have a drink. I like hanging with these guys but I also am past the days that I need to get wasted on a Tuesday night, and I don’t really enjoy going to the clubs anymore either. What about a good pub fellas??

But in the end it doesn’t matter, I just hope that when I get hired somewhere I fit in with everyone a little bit more.

I'm not quitting you!

2008-09-03T21:33:00.000-07:00

Fuck it, I am not quitting. I like this blog and no matter how pathetic it might be I see no reason to shut it down. I only have two months left of school and once unemployed I will be looking for things to do.

I do not however have much to say. But here are a few things I am excited about:
- NFL football starting tomorrow. F-ya. Go Vikings and go Practice Roster (my fantasy football team)
- JAM's babies ** please note that these items are in no particular order. I do not think football is more important than babies... Hockey yes, football no. :)
- that I only have 8 weeks of school left. Can't wait to get done and get a job.
- that I soon will get to use some of the stuff I have learned.
- I did the fire fit for the last time here at school. It is the worst 2.5 minutes I have ever experienced by far. Total and utter pain like I have never felt. Here again, I mean no disrespect to babies and deliveries
- in 9 days I will get to see my wife... and my new niece who arrived last Saturday courtesy my only sister in law.
- all the TV shows are starting again soon.
- that I still have a blog.
- the leafs traded Brian McCabe. aka. over paid bum.
- that the riders play Winnipeg again this week. haha. They suck. Go riders.

Is it time to pull the plug?

2008-08-27T16:30:00.001-07:00

I am wondering if it is time to shut down this blog of mine. It has been fun, but in the past few months I just haven't been very inspired to write and every time I turn on my computer I feel guilty for not posting. I would just leave it dormant, but somehow I hate to leave my inner most thoughts just sitting on the world wide web.

I am sure there will be a overwhelming repose to tell me not to quit, but come on, admit it, I really have been doing a piss poor job. Plus the only things I have to blog about seems to be firefighting, the odd sporting event, and maybe an occasional rant.

All is good

2008-07-31T21:30:00.000-07:00

Hi all, i was just thinking that any of you who check my blog might see my last post and think that I am still miserable.

So just to let you know I am good. Some things still piss me off, but some things have changed. I have cooled down.

Anywho, changing the subject. This weekend is the Brizzy's wedding in which I will be best man/MC. Should be lost of fun. Hope to see you all during my week of starting August 9th.

Take care out there.

How good have the Riders been?!?! Hope we can keep it going in spite of all in injuries.

No Discipline

2008-07-07T17:07:00.000-07:00

I am pretty pissed off at my fellow class mates today. It isn’t just one thing, but a number of things that have really got me going. It had been building for a while, and I think I need to vent a little.

It all stems around the fact that I am highly disappointed in the discipline our class is showing as a group. I blame the administration of the school somewhat, and I will touch on that in a bit, but my fellow classmates are starting to let me down.

Not showing up for gym in the mornings…giving a half ass effort at gym… not showing up for class because of whatever reason… lying about assignments being handed in…blaming the teachers for the program for all their problems… complaining… complaining… and more complaining.

Diving a bit more into these; on Friday we have 1/3 of our class missing from gym class. Yep, only 20 of 30 people showed up. One individual also missed gym on Thursday and Monday. That just isn’t good enough to me. On Thursday our fitness instructor didn’t show because he slept in…it happens, but many students, rather than stay and do the 20k bike like we knew we were supposed to, just went home…I just expected more form people. Or there is our test today, several people didn’t study, but when they do poorly they blame the school. Or they did fine and brag about not studying and passing…well way to sneak by champ! One person in out class regularly misses Friday’s and Monday’s and I really don’t see any fallout of this…what message does that send to the rest of us.

I may sound like a bit of a hypocrite about the complaining piece, seeing as this blog is one hug complaint, but people seem to focus so much on the negative it is getting to me. Be happy about the fact that you are here; you could be doing something much, much worse.

As for the administration, I am disappointed at the discipline tactics they use…when I came into this program I was told it was going to be para-military, and I expected to have a bit of a rough go…HA! No freaking way. Did you know that our instructors are not allowed to make us do more than 10 pushups at a time…this is a OH&S guideline. This obviously doesn’t include gym class, but what a joke. I thought I would be doing pushups every time I was late, every time I misspoke or screwed something up. One person in our class missed last Friday because they were to hung-over to come, on Monday the instructor told her that he wasn’t mad, he was more feeling bad for her because he knew how bad she must have felt… FUCK OFF! ARE YOU KIDDING ME!...again, what message does that send to the rest of us.

I thought when I came here I was going to be pushed to improve myself…they told us we would become a different person, and I honesty don’t think I am any more disciplined than I was before I came. It pains me to say that, but I just expected to much more.

It’s not like I find this course super easy, it is challenging academically, physically, and emotionally… at times…but I came here to be pushed…and for the most part I have not been.

Anyway, I think I need to talk to someone at the school about this. I don’t know if it is better in person or in writing but I need to let them know what I think. And I am not alone. There are a few people in the program who are very focused, very dedicated, very disciplined….they make me look like a loser gang banger, and I can’t begin to tell you how much I respect them, how much they inspire me. I just wish there were more people like that. It’s not the course material or content that I have a problem with, it is the overall, general attitude that seems to be prevalent in the group and in the school. It’s like after years of teaching, they have lost some of there heart. I don’t want them to break us like we are in boot camp, but I would like to see consequence for behavior seems to be very clearly unacceptable.

And to my classmates… are you not hear because you want to be…are you not trying to be ready for one of the greatest and most respected professions in the world…do you not respect the sort of effort that takes…do you not respect all the firefighters that have done this before you…are you not worried about how you look and how ready you will be when school is over.

Tell me, please, am I being to hard on people? Am I just expecting to much. It is because I think what I am trying to do here is more special than it actually is. Am I going to be equally disappointed when I get a job after this and see that all firefighters are not what I thought they would be.

Can I take that kind of disappointment and still be in the profession.

Writing this has not made me feel better.

more randomness

2008-07-03T15:53:00.000-07:00

After working out early Tuesday morning I returned home to two cop cars blocking my parking spot and two officers standing by my front door. I thought for a moment that my roommate finally flipped his lid and what up on the roof with a riffle, but it turned out there was some sort of domestic at our neighbors apartment. When I walked by I could still hear shouting. Nothing really exciting came out of it, but it’s always cool when cops are at our door.

The Mrs and I spent part of our long weekend in Edmonton. Highlights include our Polynesian themed room at the Fantasy Land Hotel at the west Ed. The room was complete with a bed that seemed like some sort of boat, and a large Jacuzzi, complete with waterfall. However the TV remote did not work to my satisfaction, so I give the room only 3 stars.

Speaking of TV, the riders won and that makes me happy. I watched that game in Edmonton and was happy to cheer out loud when watching the game in the lounge at Chilis.

Also in E-town we went to Body Worlds – which is an exhibit of actual human cadavers, preserved and placed in interesting positions to allow viewers to see how the body works. Examples were a guy playing basketball, a person sitting and playing chess, or one had two dudes playing football – one talking the other. The have holes or layers cut away to highlight different systems in different models. Very cool stuff. I would recommend this to anyone going to Edmonton before the show ends in mid October.

We all have pet peeves, and I may have more than the average guy. One that has been bugging me lately is people who swear loudly in public. Don’t get me wrong, I swear, at times I swear a lot, but I do not like to swear in the presence of children or seniors. But you get those people in public places that drop the loud f-bombs for everyone to hear and it makes me cringe. I think it is a huge display of disrespect, and by the name of this here blog you now that would not sit well with me. I think it really shows a general lack of character.

I can NOT believe the leafs signed Jeff Finger to a 4 year deal worth 3.5 million per season. Why is it the insist on overpaying players that don’t deserve to be overpaid. It would be one thing if they overpaid Marion Hossa, but they insist on overpaying players like Bryan McCabe, Jason Blake, and Jeff Finger.

I need to do two speeches this week in class. I’m not worried about them, but I am stumped on what topic to do my persuasive speech on. I am doing my informative speech on how to officially score a baseball game, but I can’t decide what to persuade people about. I have thought about sports or driving habits, but it needs to be 20 minutes and I don’t know if those two things will take up enough time.

Later gang.

New Career

2008-06-23T20:46:00.000-07:00

So I am enjoying my time here in Vermilion, but I have recently realized that what I really want to do is be a photographer. Last week I actually dropped out and just walked around taking pictures all week. Here are a few of my favorites.

I expect you all will support me in my new career. It is what I have always wanted to do.

Finally Fire....

2008-06-19T20:59:00.000-07:00

After weeks of building up our skills with no flames, this week I finally got to put out some fires. I have hundres of photos, but here are a couple of highlight pics.

These are all Industry fires, the idea being there is a gas leak and we have to get close enough to shut off a valve. Got real up close and personal. Have to say, it was pretty awesome. Next week we move into structure fires.

But enough about fire fighting already...

I'm heading home this weekend. Not looking forward to the drive, but I am excited to get home and see the wife. I am doing a EMS ride along on Saturday, and I am also pretty excited for that. I won't get to get my hands on any patients, but it will be great to see some EMT's in action.

Can we believe that Tiger won the US open are a broken leg? The media is playing it up way to much, but I have to say, that guy makes it exciting to watch golf.

So what else is new... the blue Jays suck, but Riders season is right around the corner. Looking pretty good in pre-season, can't wait to see the green and white defend the cup.

It interesting how everyone around school is getting to know me... for example, I am already well known for my sports knowledge and my back seat driving, and I get bugged about being a banker quite often. Mostly I am known as the married guy. The one structure we put fires out on today (the big flames) is called the widow maker. Being the only married fellow in the group, everyone gave me a shout out when we went in to that one. Luckily I did survive.

Why aren't there more firefighter movies? There are about 1 million cop movies, but the only movies based on firefighters that I know are Backdraft and Ladder 49. Others are sort of about firefighting, like Frequency or Always, but I think there should be more. I would go watch them.

Later gang.

This and that.

2008-06-14T20:33:00.000-07:00

What to say, I haven’t talked too many of you in such a long time.

Today me and two others from my class went into Edmonton, or more specifically Sherwood park. This is home to the Strathconna County fire department. We went to Hall #1 and got a great tour. It is an integrated service, which means that they are both fire and EMS. This is very appealing to me and they seem like a very with it department… new trucks, innovative equipment, good everything really. I still hope something works out in Regina, but if not I am at least feeling like their might be some other options for Mrs. Brody and I.

A couple weekends ago I competed in the River land Adventure Challenge. I went with 5 other students form my program and we knew it was sort of for fun but we still planned on wining it. Well it did NOT go well. Started off great, then about 20 seconds in one of our twosomes tipped their canoe. 10 minutes later they were back in but we were so far back we were pretty much the last ones out of the canoes. The 5k run was next, and that went pretty good, can’t really screw up a run, and we made up lost of time, but then the bike started and about 500m in to the 15k I blew my front tire. So then for the rest of the way we had to double one person, or one person ran while the rest biked. At that point it meant we were just having fun, so it was good times. It was less fun when we missed our last turn and instead of being about 500m from the finish we went 5k in the wrong direction, then 5 k back. I was not happy. But all in all a good day. Still glad I did it.

So what else had been going on besides fire stuff? Not much. There really isn’t much going on around here besides school. I am on a slo-pitch team, it’s actually pretty fun. The golf course here is pretty decent and I have put in a few rounds there. And with 9 holes costing only 12 bucks it is dirt cheap. Combine that with watching some Jays games, about 6 phone calls a day with the lovely wife back home and that pretty much is what is going on with me.

Later folks.

Riders are 1-0 in the preseason…nice.

Here are a couple pictures for your viewing pleasure.

Selling the farm

2008-04-08T19:32:00.000-07:00

Well not exactly, just selling all the equipment that we used on the farm.

Yep, this past weekend was a big event in the history of Brady farms, Saturday, April 5th marked the day that our family officially got out of farming. I won’t dwell on the financial part of it all, we did ok on the sale, not great, but good enough (I think – you’ll have to ask my dad I guess), but I have to tell you that I know my Grandma was rolling over in her grave – she was always concerned that this day would come. I feel like it is sort of my fault that this day did indeed come ( well, mine and the bros). With no boys in my dad’s brother family, and my Dad’s sisters family settling in Alberta about 40 years ago, it was really up to Luke and I to be the ones to keep the farm going… and we failed miserably. Fact is neither of us really wanted that for our life. For myself, I have always enjoyed farm work, but I new from a young age that I wanted to leave the farm and pursue a different life. I didn’t know exactly what, but I new that it wasn’t going to be in a tractor, combine, or pulling a calf. I’m not sure my parents wanted the farmer life for me either, as they saw many of the tough times of farming throughout the years, and thought I good live a better life doing something else. They always preached that we should find our own way, and we did, and all the power to us, but after 100+ years of farming (we even have the sign to say so), and no one to pass the rains to (no pun intended) the Brady farm is now being forced to “hang them up”, and that is sort of sad. All the hard work that my parents, their parents, and several parents before them put in, building up the livestock, the land, and everything else, is now being sold off or rented out. It’s not all bad though, I am SUPER happy for my folks, as I think they deserve a chance to do something else for their remaining working years before a well deserved retirement. And the “homestead” is not being sold, and I think that it will be a long time before that home quarter is ever vacated by our family. Mom and Dad have many years left there, plus the Uncle and Aunt, and the cousins that built a house on the farm about 10 years ago. Luke claims that he might move back there, not necessarily to farm, but to live and work, and I hope he does.

There is indeed a deep and great history on the Brady farm and I hope it continues to build memories for a long time to come, even if there aren’t any cows mooing, or tractors starting on any given day. Like the say, all good things must some to an end, its just to bad that I know that I am the one that is ending this tradition and legacy.

Here’s to Brady farms… it was a great farm, with a great history, and it will be remembered for a long time. Thanks for the memories.

Who needs those stinking leafs.

2008-03-31T14:55:00.000-07:00

Another great things about sports, is that no matter how bad you team is, there is always next year. And even when they suck year after year, (ie. Leafs) at least I have other sports with other favorite teams. Queue the 2008 Blue Jays. Going into this year the team has spent more money on their lineup than any year previous and we are expecting big things. We still have to compete in the ultra competitive AL east with the Yanks and Bo Sox, but if this years jays live up to their potential, and stay relatively injury free we should be able to make our first playoff appearance since Joe Carter hit that infamous home run almost … wow, almost15 years ago. (Man I am getting old).

Lets play ball.

Plus with playoff hockey only about a little over a week a way, we are entering the glorious time of spring time sports.

Can’t wait to get those golf clubs out. Just like my beloved leafs.

The Good with the Bad

2008-03-30T13:23:00.000-07:00

Well lets see, I am about 6 weeks into firefighting school and I haven’t blogged even once. Well I thought on this Sunday when I should be either studying or working out I would spend some time and post something for all you loyal readers out there. (anyone look at this thing anymore.) But I also think it will do my good to put some of my thoughts down on paper.

So far school has been pretty good… not perfect, but pretty good. First and for most, I think vermilion is a fine town with nice people but I really miss Regina and all that it has. Of course the one thing that vermilion does not have is a wife for me to live with. It has not been easy living away from Mrs. Brody, and this might sound silly, but it’s been harder than I thought it would be. It is such a young group of people in my class, I would say average age of maybe 21. In some cases the “kids” are 18 years old…that means I am a full 8 years older than they are…wow! I don’t consider myself to be old but I feel pretty old compared with some of these folks. What a change going from a corporate setting in which I was clearly the young one to now being one of the old guys, and the only married one. (last night I went to the bar and didn’t have my ID, I just told the bouncer I was 26 and married and he let me right in.) There are definitely a couple of meat heads in the class, but there are also some great people that I can see myself being friends with for a long time. But I’m afraid I am passed my prime years for going to the bar 3 or 4 night a week, I just don’t enjoy it that much anymore. I quite liked my social life in Regina and miss it quite a bit. I feel like I am being thrust back into my early twenties, or even late teens. Sometimes I fell even younger. Last Thurs about 6 of us went biking around town, stopped at other people house to see if they could “come out and play”, we stopped for slurpees, and then went to play video games at the dorms. ( this was actually a lot of fun), but man o man, what a change from a couple months earlier when I was flying to Winnipeg for work, going for a business supper with colleagues, trying different kinds of wine and discussing current events and business ideas. Truth is in my in old job I felt like I was pretending to be older than I feel or am, and now I feel like I am pretending to be younger than I feel or am. I think that is why I miss Mrs. Brody and the rest of you so much because that is really where I feel the most like myself.

In my head I was ready for a very exciting program and with a few exceptions it has certainly NOT been exciting so far. No emergencies, no sirens, no jaws of life, not even any fire. But I must be patient and realize that stuff will be coming soon. On Friday we finally got out bunker gear (stuff you wear in the fires), and helmets (I got one to fit) and in another week or two we will start doing more hands on stuff. I guess we have to walk before we run.

The instructors all seem like good people, but some have no real clue how to teach. I think they will be much better once we get in the field, but in the class room they seem sort of lost. Last Thursday I think we had half a dozen people sleeping during the lecture, and I am not exaggerating at all.

Highlights so far have been that I got to back a fire truck into the bay, and the ambulance too. I also have learned a lot of cool medical stuff that I didn’t know before. I actually am confident that in an emergency I could now help someone. Henning, just give me a call when you are ready to have that baby and I will be all over it.

Most of the time I think about how I can’t wait for the program to be over so I can get back to Regina, get a job, and actually get the opportunity to do the things I hope this job will let me do…mostly I just want to help someone. But I really need to allow myself to enjoy my time here, somehow. So many former students say this is course has been the best time of there lives, and I need to allow for that possibility. I will find my place within the class and I think once things pick up at school I will enjoy my time here much more. And no matter how many negatives I find to dwell on, all I have to do is think about the job that I left and I know that I made the right choice.

Anywho, hope you all are doing well, I will catch up with all of you some time soon.

Take care,

oh and just in case any of you miss the good Taylor picks. Here is a shot from this weekend. Taylor in fine form singing his heart out.

Blogging, so very weak.

2008-02-13T10:34:00.000-08:00

I know, my bloging had been absolutely atrocious. It’s likely that no one will even read this because you have all given up on me as I never post anything new.

Well, in my defense there are two reason for that.

One- I am extremely busy with several things.
Two- those things that are making me busy are all those things that I have been bogging about over that last 4 months and I’m sure you are all sick of hearing about. Wedding, school, and quitting work.

Same shit everyday. I have nothing original left to say about this stuff, and yet these things pretty much dominate my thoughts. So I ask you, how am I supposed to come up with anything else to blog about.

But I thought I would give it a go today over my lunch hour. I was suppose to go out for a farewell lunch with work people but it was canceled do to weather/people have other shit to do. I worry that most of my actual “teamates” at work don’t even care that I am leaving, as they haven’t said much. But I have been getting several very nice notes and cards from people both in my company and outside whishing me luck and telling me that I will be missed. I sincerely appreciate it when they do. People should quite there job more often, because it is a real moral boost when people come up and say all these nice things about you.

But there I go again, on and on about the same old shit.

So how ‘bout this weather… Brutal, hey.

Played some shinny last night, now there is an activity that I have never NOT enjoyed. It’s always a good time going out a messing around with some fellow shinniers slapping the ol’ disk around for a hour or so. Even though my toes were frozen and I fell and hurt me elbow it was good times. Why doesn’t a guy do that sort of thing more often? (Rhetorical question)

Well enough for now. Talk to you again in about another 10 days or so…

NEWS RELEASE – Brody to cease Top 10 effective immediately

2008-02-01T11:33:00.000-08:00

That’s right, I think the Brody’s Top Ten has run its course and the Friday Top Ten will no longer appear on this blog. That is not to say that I might not have the odd Top Ten from time to time, but I simply have lost the drive to come up with one ever week. I should have known I couldn’t stick to this for more than a couple months. Plus, I sense that my loyal readers are tiring of it.

I am in truth concerned about the long term sustainability of this fair blog of mine. For after Feb 15th I will no longer be at this job of mine in which I can waste hours every week doing this bloging thing. What, am I supposed to do this on my own time?

I hope I can manage to still get up the odd post, but I don’t really know what the time demands will be once I become a fire putter outer in training.

This is just a heads up bloggerville, I’d like to ease you into this time of transition.

Signed,

I Want Respect Management.

Business Trips

2008-01-31T08:55:00.000-08:00

First off, looks like the Regina Fire Dept needs my driving skills

I recently return from a two day business trip to Winterpeg , and this will likely be my last business trip for sometime… maybe ever. Early in my career I found it quite exhilarating to go on a business trip. Having your company pay for flight, meals, hotels, pretty much everything is a treat, but I after doing it a few times the novelty wears off quickly.

I was always surprising to me how many people travel on business. I think the majority of flights within Canada contain more business people than people traveling for personal reasons. Maybe this doesn’t surprise most of you, but for me, when I went on my first with RBC I thought I was special in a way, a fortunate soul who was getting a bit of a benefit getting to travel, but then I looked around most others we also the business type, traveling alone, wearing a suit…I was just a face in the crowd, not special at all. What a blow to my ego.

The reasons not to enjoy traveling are many:

First and for most are Airplanes and Airports. You have to arrive a hour early (or more), then stand in line to check your bags, then stand in line at security, then you wait at the gate, then stand in line there, then you wait to get in your seat, wait to the plane taxi’s to the runway, wait until you arrive, wait until you taxi to the gate, wait to get off, wait for bags, wait for taxi’s…and so on. I am not a patient person and I do not enjoy waiting. Especially in an airport where everyting seems to be hurry up and wait. There are delays – especially in winter. Nothing like spending two hours sitting in an airport waiting for your flight to leave. Serious Boredom. On your luckiest days you manage to strike up a conversation with an interesting stranger. I don’t fit on planes either, there is no head room and no leg room. I literally can’t even stand up straight on the Air Canada Jazz flights, my head hits the roof. I’m also not a big fan of flying period; it makes me a little nervous. I don’t trust the airlines that they would ever tell me if there was something wrong, and when I don’t have any control it bugs me. If I could drive the thing I’m sure I would enjoy it much more.

Cabs – well let’s face it, I am one of the biggest back seat drivers on earth. I would much rather be behind the wheel then letting some two bit cab driver get me around. Plus they are dirty and expensive- and I have to wait for them.

Hotels – I don’t have a huge issue with hotels, I’m not picky, but I just can’t sleep in them. Often they are too hot, too bright, and too noisy. Thus I always feel tired when I’m traveling. Having to get my drinking water out of the bathroom tap also disgusts me a little. For some reason I also relate hotels to hangovers – I always seem to wake up in a hotel room hungover, which is not a good thing.

Eating – it’s pretty much impossible to eat healthy on the road. Eating in restaurants you usually eat to much, it’s possible to order reasonably healthy food, but I just eat too much. It’s dificult to eat between meals so I am too hungry when it comes time for the next meal. When at the hotel, unless you pack something, the only food available is junk food. And not that I should complain, but every meal seems to come with beer or wine, and while enjoyable, not good for my waistline. All this causes me to get indigestion and feel like a large bag of poop. Yes, I’m sure with the proper planning and will power I could eat better on the road, but it is mighty difficult thing to do.

I’m sure someday I will miss the chance to get out of the city once in a while on an all expense paid trip somewhere, but not for a while. Maybe the problem is that I never really got to go any where cool. All my road trips have been to Calgary, Winnipeg, or Saskatoon…not exactly my list of top destinations. I went to a conference in Banff, which may have been cool if I hadn’t been there 5 times before. Lots of people in my company went to places like Vegas, Vancouver, Toronto, Nashville.. all places I would like to go someday, but never got the chance to do it while employed in the corporate world.

Somehow I doubt the fire department sends many people on business trips to Vegas. Maybe if more hotels keep lighting on fire...

I'm back

2008-01-24T08:05:00.001-08:00

So it has been a while since I posted anything on this fair blog of mine, and I have to admit that since return from the land that Castro built I haven’t really had an itch to blog. Likely it is just a combination of fatigue from a vacation and playing catch up at work, so I figure I will just force myself to write something in hopes that I will re-inspire myself.

Prior to leaving I was told that my blogs were getting a little “sappy” and I can’t argue with that. What with all the wedding stuff, Christmas, and the end of another year there was just too much mushy stuff to talk about. But enough of that, it ended with my crying at the reception, I will now refocus my posts on random rants on random subject, with the odd personal story if it fits.

I guess the obvious thing would be to talk about Cuba, but I really don’t know where to start. Most of my readers were there, so they know it was wicked good times, and for those of you who weren’t, I will give you the low down sometime face to face. There are plenty of pictures and face book and the now Mrs. Brady and I will get some pics up there soon. A quick summary of Cuba though. Long flights, nice hotel, ok food, awesome wedding, creepy Europeans, great GREAT times, lots of rum punches, pepto and Imodium, cigars, jeeps, hangovers, beautiful weather, relaxation, sweet Chinese food, Havana, shark, lizards, and dominos. I don’t know what else to say.

I will add that I hate ESPN. It is a junk station with junk programming. Even though my beloved TSN Sportscentre is basically the little sister to ESPN version, their version is a shit show that jumps all over the place spending the entire time talking about basketball then football, then basketball, then football, and so on. Junk. I had so much hockey to get caught up on when I got back. That station creates a deep hatred within me for our neighbors to the south. I could never live there for sports reasons alone.

Speaking of hating Americans…Cuban’s hate Americans with a passion. I can’t blame them really, for as long as most people can remember the US has basically treated Cuba like a cancer of the face of the earth. Granted I’m not completely up to speed on all the issues, but it seems pretty silly to me that after all this time the relationship hasn’t been fixed. Can’t we all just get along…oh, getting sappy again.

And speaking of hockey, I am pumped the my leas fired their GM, John Fergeson Jr. He never really got it together. Now we got a 72 year old, who man or man not be senile. But al least it isn’t Glen Healy. I hate to say it but they need to trade away Mats for a boat load and get this team in a rebuilding phase that will allow us to compete again in a few years.

Well I think that’s enough for now. It’s good to be back in the world of blogging. Talk to you all soon.

Top 10 most anticipated moments in 2008

2007-12-28T07:24:00.001-08:00

2008 is already shaping up to be on of the biggest and most significant, if not the most significant year in the life of your’s truly. Here are some of the reasons:

10. Another great year of sports – what’s the best thing about Sports – there is always next year. 2008 brings new hope for my Leafs, Jays, Vikings and for the Riders to become Back-to Back Champs.

9. The Brady Farm Auction – it will be a sad day when all the equipment goes up for auction in March. But I think it’s great that the folks are moving on to enjoy something else for a few years. After farming his whole life I know pop’s is looking forward to a change – which will likely be golfing and biking the whole summer.

8. Quitting my job – Sure the conversation will be a little awkward, but I will have a real sense of relief when I know that my days here are over. I honestly don’t know if I will miss it at all. The paycheck sure, but the job, no.

7. Practicum – Nearing the end of 2008 I should go on a practicum with an actually fire department somewhere out there. I can’t wait for that first time the bell sounds and we hope in the truck. Obviously I have a lot of learning to do before that but I can’t help but be excited to actually be on a real call of some sort, whether it is a fire, an accident, a gas leak, or a cat in a tree.

6. The Bizzes Wedding – It’s not everyday I get to be the best man for a great pal. I totally want one of those best man patches like on You, Me , and Dupree. I hope my outfit has a tie so I can put it on my head. Heads up Brizzes…Heads up.

5. Wedding Reception – I’m looking forward to this, but I also have some reservations. Is it going to be fun if I can’t turn into Taylor and put my tie around my head? I just hope everyone else has fun.

4. Cuba week 2 – aka. Honey moon. After a week of bozzing and weddings I will be ready for some serious R&R with the then Mrs. Brady. It’s going to be sweet to just hang out and enjoy each others company and do all the things in Cuba that we couldn’t do the first week. This will be the first time I have had more than 8 days off in a row since I started working with the bank back in Feb 05.

3. Fire College – well I’ve got to get a place to stay still, and I am truthfully a little nervous but it’s got to be done, and it should be somewhat fun. I found out two days ago that I start on Feb 19, not March 12 like I thought. I am panicking just a little. I just hope I can get a job when it is all said and done.

2. Cuba week 1 – Not only do I get to marry my beautiful bride, but I get to party with some of my best friends and family for 7 days plus. I think it will be ridiculously good times, from the flight down there with 40+ people that I know, to the wedding of 56 people, or to what I’m sure will be some great partying. Here we come Sol Palmeras. Only 10 short days away.

1. The Unkown – I look forward to all those new challenges, opportunities, and moments that they next year will bring. Sharing the year with old friends, new friends, old family, new family. All signs indicate that this year will be full or more great times in this crazy, wonderful life that I have.

Top 10 Moments of 2007 – a look back at the my top 10 memories from what was a pretty great 2007.

2007-12-21T07:55:00.000-08:00

10. Doing a back flip off the houseboat – While out in the Shushwaps I pulled the maneuver for first time. It might sound silly, but I was pumped!!!

9. Playing in the waves in Cancun – In the ocean, it’s hot, and the waves were huge. What’s not to love.

8. Rider home playoff game – when combined with the party the Murdock’s house, that was a great weekend. I can’t believe I am giving up my rider tickets next season.

7. The moment I realized that I was actually going to apply for Fire College – I have been thinking about it for years, and there was a moment sitting at home talking with Zentner that I suddenly knew that I was going to go for it.

6. Getting my new golf clubs – I got them the same day Michelle picked up our wedding bands. I won’t tell you which I was more excited for.

5. Getting the engagement ring – it showed up the afternoon before we were supposed to fly out to Banff. I don’t know what I would have done if it hadn’t come on time, it really would have messed with my plans.

4. Riders winning the Grey Cup – Been waiting a long time for this. It was great to be in Regina and share it with so many other rider fans.

3. Holding the Grey Cup in The Tap – And we thought we were just going to enjoy some wings and beer. Then the cups shows up and they put it at the table right beside us. Very exciting!

2. Getting notice that I was accepted to fire college.- Boo-ya! That was a big day!

1.Getting engaged – Of course this is number 1. I was nervous as hell, and I don’t remember what I said. I actually not even sure she said yes, she just called me crazy and put out her hand.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Feel better about how much you paid for your home

2007-12-19T07:49:00.000-08:00

Check out this place. It’s a 300 square foot home, dubbed The Little house in Toronto. On the market for only $173,000. My. God.

While I don’t know it for 100% certainty, I have heard a rumor that Journeyman is going to be cancelled. This is a great new series on NBC, the only TV show that I am watching right now since everything else is temporarily delayed until the writers strike is over. What is wrong with you people, why can’t more of you watch the shows that I want to watch. All the good shows (in my opinion) keep getting canceled and there is more and more crap on TV like “Dancing with washed up Celebrities”, or “So you think you can look ridiculous Dancing” or “ Deal or No wait, we’ll go to commercial again”. How about they cancel on one of the 6 CSI shows or one of the 27 shows about lawyers? It is just like last year when the Black Donnelly’s was canceled, and yet 9 new reality shows start up, like “Bring your Dumb Ass on TV and We’ll Ask You Questions from a Text Book and laugh when you don’t know who lost the Presidency in 1935.” What they hell is wrong with people.

At least I’ll always have SportsCentre.

I’m in!

2007-12-17T11:58:00.000-08:00

It was another pretty good weekend for me. Late in the workday on Friday I got a call from a coworker that had been invited to sit in a certain telecom providers private box at the Pat’s game. He couldn’t make it and wanted to know if I wanted to three tickets. I, of course, accepted without any hesitation and when I couldn’t find any work colleagues to come with me, invited two lucky readers of this blog – Josh and Dave – to join me. There was a little corporate schmoozing when we got there, but after that we enjoyed free beer and appey’s and watched a pretty good hockey game in which the Pats won 3-2 in a shoot-out.

Then on the way home Zeddie called me and played a message on the answering machine – It was vermillion and they were calling me regarding my application and I should call them back. I pretty much started hyperventilating as I didn’t know what they wanted – were they calling to say I got it – to say that I should try again next year – or was it just that there needed some additional information from me. After dropping Josh off I made it home and tried calling and of course got no answer and left a message. It was such a cruel thing to do, leave a message like that then not answer. So after finally settling down and getting to sleep I woks up Saturday and played it cool. I didn’t call back again until 11 – 10 their time. Again I got no answer, but I left another message trying not to sound to pathetic and needy on the phone. This time I asked them to call me back on my cell.

Then as about 2:42 local time I got the call. It was Randy and he was calling to let me know I was successful in my application to the fire etc. program. Halleluiah! Halleluiah!

I was and still am – pumped! This is only another step in the end goal, but it was an important one.

But I know you are all likely sick of hearing about this, so I will try and blog about something else once in a while. I think I will tell work once I get back from Cuba.

Other good news, I was at a wedding on Saturday and Taylor never showed (for those of you who don’t know who Taylor is – read here). I kept all my clothing on and I don’t even think there will be any embarrassing photos of me. I was pretty sure that Taylor would make an appearance, especially when I sent Zentner home with my parents at 12:30 and stayed behind to catch up with my old comrades from back home. I think one reason that I stayed a little quiet was the cougar that repeatedly tried to get me on the dance floor with her and telling me that Zentner wouldn’t be hot forever. I was honestly scared of her, and at one time even thought about hitting her so she would leave me alone.

But all in all another great weekend.

Top 10 favorite things about Christmas

2007-12-14T07:22:00.000-08:00

10. Sportscentre Year in review – I have to get my sports in. It’s always on right around Christmas. I would say the World Juniors, but they are on passed Christmas.
9. The holiday – just being off work or school for a few days. It’s great to have a couple of extra days to do nothing but eat, sleep, and drink.
8. The gifts – best ones over the years include a Nintendo, a remoter Car race track and a Maple Leafs jersey.
7. Turtles from Grandma – ever year since I can remember – I get two gifts from Grandma and one is always socks and Turtles
6. Stockings – always open stockings first…always.
5. One gift on Christmas Eve – get to open just one. Sometimes it’s the right one, sometimes it’s not.
4. The food – I love Christmas supper and Christmas baking. Time to put on the winter weight.
3. Wifesaver – it’s food again, but I live for Wifesaver on Christmas morning. If you don’t know what that is, you should find out.
2. Family – For the most part I enjoy my family and have always enjoyed the day with them. It’s not always perfect but lots of good times over the years – snowmobiling, skating, curling, shinny, games. It’s all golden
1. The traditions – like opening 1 gift on xmas eve, going to the same place after church on xmas eve, opening stockings first, boxing day curling, Wifesaver, super with the extended family, Turtles. I always look forward to these same things that I know and expect to be a part of my Christmas.

Ok, time to rant

2007-12-12T08:22:00.001-08:00

Work is pissing me off again and it is all about people making a big deal out of nothing at all – and I hate it when people make mountains out of molehills. I got an email at 6:50 am this morning (go back to bed you crazy bastard) in which a client was explaining how a particular issue was of grave concern to him. He needed response by 11:30 or he would have to escalate to some of the executives in our company. He is in a meeting that whole time, but he is unable to extend the deadline. RRAAAAHHH. Oh no, you can’t extend the deadline or you are going to escalate… is that supposed to scare me. It almost makes me want to intentionally wait until after the “deadline” so he does escalate, just to make my day more interesting. Maybe that works for some people but I think I respond much more effectively to something like “ we have this problem, I would appreciate it if you can look into it today as it is important” – how about being nice for once. Why the threats? It really pisses me off. Don’t threaten me with escalating – that means nothing to me. What am I going to get yelled at – not likely, get fired – no chance. Worst is I might get another email saying that I need to do better next time – but even that isn’t probable.

Then there is a second email – responded to another service issue in which we had previously responded with a - we’re sorry, we should have done it differently, we didn’t, we will do better next time – our bad. Now this isn’t the greatest explanation but it was really all we could say. There has been a lot of changes lately and this one was not easily identified. Well the client came back and said that that isn’t good enough, they realize we’re sorry but it was a really big deal (even though it wasn’t) and we look bad to there executives – but then they add nothing about what they would like us to do. So they don’t like our response, and write a page long email about it, but say nothing about what steps they would like to see. Well I hope you had a good time writing that bitchy note because I sure had a good time reading it….idiot. What they hell do I say back. I can’t say I’m sorry, I can’t say I will do better next time, I can’t say I should have done it differently. What they hell do I say?

Then a third note came about how two project were done incorrectly. This note came after I sent this client an email 12 days ago saying that I wanted to talk about these projects as I knew they were off track little. But I got no response, so I sent another email Monday, got no response - they complained to one of our other staff yesterday and it came back to me, so I phoned, left a voice mail, no response… then I get this email this morning saying that we haven’t addressed this. WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK I WAS TRYING TO DO!!! GRRR.

I need to go for a walk.

Life is good again.

2007-12-11T11:07:00.000-08:00

Have a read of this article. As briz put it – only in Saskatchewan.

It is officially one month from Wedding day. (Que the scary music). I actually can’t wait. It is going to be lots of fun down there.

I’m not feeling very ranty today. Really I don’t have to much going on until after Christmas, the next 3 weeks should go by without too much stress. Although I am still worked up from the lat couple weeks, work should start to slow down heading into year end, and plans are in place to Christmas. Then it will be off to Cuba and two weeks of relaxation – mixed with drinking, eating, a small ceremony and many family and friends.

My testing in Vermilion went good last week – although it is evident that when it comes to standardized testing I am way dumber than I was about 7 years ago. That is the last time I did anything with Chemistry, Biology or Physics. That shit is hard. I should find out next week if I get in or not.

My car had a squeaky break. I freaking hate having to deal with vehicle maintenance. It would help if I new a think about cars. I always feel like I am getting ripped off when I take it in for repairs. Now there is a rant I might have to go on, the lousy, no good mechanics that always over charge for any work they do. And half the time it doesn’t even fix the problem. But I’m in a good mood today and don’t want to ruin it thinking about this.

Merry Christmas everyone.

Oh so much happening

2007-12-04T15:22:00.000-08:00

This is the man now known as Taylor

So I have been slacking a bit on the blogging of late, but it’s really because things (life) has been pretty busy. So many things have been and are happening. First off work has been keeping me pretty tied up, but that’s boring so I won’t talk about it.

On Saturday we had my companies annual Christmas Party. About 120 people gathered together for some food, booze and music. And somewhat surprisingly it was a blast!

I was the MC for the evening, first time I have mc’d anything of the nature and in the end I quite enjoyed the duty. People told me a did a good job, and along they may have been lying, I think it went pretty good. Although I wasn’t a big fan when my boss had the mic and pointed Zeddie and I out and that we were going to get married. Then the clinking glasses started and we had to kiss. Then later when it happened again, Zeddie wouldn’t kiss me so I had to kiss the other guy sitting at my table. Awkward!

But I was a little nervous for it, and so after that part of the night was over, and the band came on I was ready to get my drink on – and apparently so were a lot of other people. Drinking games and dancing ruled the night and thepicture above basically tells the story. I am starting to get a little concerned because it seems lately that very time I drink I turn into this other person…we’ll call him… Taylor.

Taylor is the happiest person on earth. He smiles constantly, he talks to everyone. He talks loudly to everyone. Taylor does not have a throttle or a governor when it comes to Whiskey. He drinks as much of it as quickly as he can. He doesn’t really tire out, and he loves to be in the action. He will do just about anything to bring attention to himself – included taking is pants off at parties he knows less than half the people, wearing 12 different name tags at his girlfriends work event – one of which says “top performer” or putting his ties on his head at a company Christmas party. Taylor also seems to love getting his picture taken, because when the next day rolls around all I see are different pictures of Taylor doing things that he (and I) are not necessarily proud of.

I think Taylor has problem and I am thinking about holding an intervention to address this with him. Any of you care to attend?

But enough about Taylor, I have more important things to worry about right now, like my testing in Vermillion this week. There will be no top 10 on Friday as I will be either ding pushups, struggling though long division on paper, or nervously answering interview questions. I am nervous, excited and anxious all at the same time. I want this pretty bad, so I hope I don’t screw it up.

The wedding is only a month away – that also has me a little nervous. Not sure why exactly, but it’s a lot of pressure knowing that 50 people are going on a vacation and a certain amount of that vacation centers around you. What if it rains the whole time, what if no one has fun, what if Josh and Peewee get in a fight and henning has to kick both their asses. And standing in front of that many people during the actual wedding, it’s a little unnerving. Where do I put my hands, what if I cry (I am a bit of a cryer), what if my nose itches and I need to pick it. You see what I mean?!?!

Plus it almost Christmas and I haven’ even thought about gifts let alone bought any. Any volunteers to do my shopping this year? I know what I want, but no one I know can give it to me.

By the way, it looks as though I am going to have to cancel my stag. I think I better attend a wedding that same day, and it also appeared as many of the potential participants couldn't make it. I think I will try and have it after I return from Cuba.

But no more time to blog, I need to pack for the big trip.

Wish me luck.

Go Brody Go

Top ten things about the Grey Cup 2007 – pretend I posted this Friday

2007-12-03T14:09:00.000-08:00

10.I got all you can eat pizza and a schooner for $10 at BP’s
9.They won it a year after Barret and Shivers were out. Shows those guys weren’t doing such a great job.
8.Rider Prider Shots!
7.That Henry Burris was broadcasting and not on the field – HEENNNRYYY!
6.That all of Canada got to hear about how crazy rider fans are.
5.That long time footballers like Gene Makosky, Yo Murphy, and others got to lift the cup
4.That the Bombers lost
3.That I got to be in the middle of the pandemonium Sunday night on the street of Regina.
2.I got to Hold the Grey Cup at the Tap on Thursday.
1.The riders WON

The Year of the Fan

2007-11-29T09:17:00.000-08:00

So I am a couple of days late in posting my blog celebrating the riders big win – and really what else am I going to blog about. I won’t go into detail on the game, or what my favorite part of the game was, as that part has been fully dissected, but I will instead talk about what this win seems to mean to this province.

I have heard it about 300 times in the past few weeks, that the Riders have the best fans in the world, that we support this team like no others, that we made Grey Cup weekend in Toronto. I can’t really comment about what it was like in ’89, but I think this championship seems to be more about the fans than any other championship I have ever seen before in any sport.

I haven’t seen an interview with any person, player, coach in which they haven’t said how happy they are for the people of Saskatchewan. Even Troy Westwood, maybe the most hated Bomber of all, said while he was crushed by the loss, he was happy for the people of Saskatchewan…not for the Riders, but for the people…the fans.

It just seems that this year the fans were the story even more than the team. It started with the sellout pre-season games, then the impressive attendance through the first part of the season, then there was the now infamous black-out/torrential downpour game in which thousands of Riders fans endured an hour delay and soaked clothing to some back out an cheer like never before as the riders came back to beat the…who was it again- doesn’t matter. There was the game in which we got hit by a freak hail storm, which only made everyone more excited during a cold - somewhat boring game in October. There was the home playoff game in which the fans of Saskatchewan finally got to witness a playoff game in Regina after a twenty year drought. And the fans mad that game unforgettable, never have I been in a place with that much energy and excitement. The section I was sitting in didn’t sit down the whole game….not once. Next big thing was the win in BC, where not only was the green and white well supported in the stands, but 2000 people showed p at the airport at 1:30 in the morning to welcome the boys home.

And finally there was the Grey Cup. Thousands of people from Saskatchewan flicked to Toronto to attend the festivities, and thousands more adopted the Riders and there team and the Green and White fans were talked about all week on the coverage leading up to the game. In Regina you couldn’t find anyone who wasn’t talking about the game all week. Everyone in this province was not a Rider fan, (even if they didn’t know what a first down was). House parties were thrown, sports bars were overflowing, and when the clock hit zero’s, the city went crazy. Thousands upon thousands of people hit the streets, everyone with a smile on their face (despite the -20 weather). Albert was lined with Cars from almost the south right to the north, people hanging out of their cars, sitting on roofs, running down the middle of the road giving out high fives. I never saw one person looking to take advantage or cause damage, people we just thrilled to be in that moment. And it continued to the rally Monday at Mosaic Stadium, when 8000 crazy ass rider fans braved the -34 weather to welcome the team back from Regina (I was not one of then).

I guess what I am getting at is that in a way this wasn’t about the team. Really the riders didn’t play that well in the payoffs. Well the defense did, but offensively we were less than outstanding, but it seems like finally nothing could stop us fans from getting the championship that we have waiting so long for. I don’t want to take too much away from the team, as Ken and the boys have done something very impressive, and I hope this turns into a dynasty, but this main story line remains the fans and our support of our beloved football team.

I watch a lot of sports, and while teams often make reference to there great fans, the fans are never the story themselves, but in the case of Saskatchewan, we were what made this grey Cup 2007 such a memorable time. For the first time in a long time it seemed this province was finally in total agreement on something, and that is that WE LOVE THE RIDERS.

My Top 10 most anticipated sporting events in my life

2007-11-23T07:13:00.000-08:00

10. 2003 Big Moose Final – Kenosee Lake 2003 vs the Saskatoon Outlaws- we should have won, they beat us in the bottom of 7. It hurt like hell.
9. 2001 MLB Division Series –Yankees vs Twins – I saw games 1-2 live. The Metrodome was loud, but twins lost both on way to loosing series 3-0.
8. 1992 World Series – Finally the Jays were in the world series. I remember Candy Maldonado making the final out in the ALCS to put them in the series. I was just old enough to be a big fan.
7. 2001 Memorial Cup – Regina hosted and the pats had an awesome team – if only they had a better tender they would have won. I only went to one game live but it was a beauty.
6. 1998 Olympic Hockey – This first Olympics where NHL’ers were allowed to play. Unfortunately they put Rob Zamnuer on the team and we were lost. I still hate shootouts because of that year.
5. 2003 World Juniors – after losing the previous two years after entering into the 3rd period with the lead we were coming back with a vengeance in 03.
4. 1993 World Series – after the win in ’92 it made bigger Jays fans out of many people. They had an awesome team this year, I think it was better than the ’92 team.
3. 2007 Rider Home Playoff Game vs Calgary – Never, Never have I been in atmosphere like that. Mosaic Stadium was rocking!
2. 2007 Grey Cup – Only 2 more sleeps. Go Riders Go! This town is excited!
1. 2002 Olympic Hockey- The only event that can beat this year Grey Cup. I looked forward to that event for 4 years. It made my 2002. I don’t know if I will ever be that excited for a sporting event again.

GO RIDERS GO!!!!

The riders are going to the Cup and IT FEELS AWESOME

2007-11-20T06:57:00.000-08:00

So our beloved Roughriders did the job against BC and will face the hated Bombers on Sunday the first ever Bomber/Rider Grey Cup. And man am I excited!

It actually is a little surprising how excited I am. To me football has always been clearly the 3rd sport on my list, clearly behind hockey and baseball, and it has never rivaled those sports when it comes to anticipation and excitement for a game. But I haven’t been this excited for a sporting even since the 2002 Olympics Gold Medal Game.

I think part of the season is that none of my favorite teams have played for a championship in some time, and I’ve forgotten just how good it can feel, how exciting it is. During the game against BC I got pretty excited, but that is just a drop in the ocean compared to what I will be like for the big game this weekend.

Already you can feel the energy in Regina, everybody is talking about it and this city is ready to explode. I think they better have to riot police out on Sunday because it could get crazy. This city loves it riders. All ages, from 7-70 will be watching to see how the boys do on Sunday.

Go Rider Go!!

Top 10 controversial subjects

2007-11-16T07:15:00.000-08:00

– the things I might want to blog about, but just shouldn’t. All I will say is that I am both for and against things in this list.

10. Euthanasia - more than just pulling the plug.
9. Politics – Provincial Politics is one thing, but what about Communism, Dictatorships, or Democracy
8. Spanking – Did your parents? Do you or will you?
7. The Death Penalty – Canada doesn’t do it – should they?
6. Native Cultures – Poverty, crime, and unemployment are some of the issues here.
5. Abortion – Pro-choice or Pro-life – both sides have merit
4. Religion – Not just Catholic vs United, but what about the lives lost in religious conflicts
3. Homosexuality – Can you handle it? What about marriage?
2. War – Linked with politics in many ways. Is war today different than war in 1915?
1. Jen or Angelina – who should Brad choose? Who would you choose?

Hangovers

2007-11-13T10:39:00.000-08:00

Inspired by yesterday’s hangover after two days of boozing I am going to try and describe a typical hangover in my experience.

For me hangover’s typically start pretty early. It doesn’t really matter what time I go to bed, but at about 7am it all gets started with waking up to a dry mouth. And not just a little dry. Sometimes my tongue actually feels like it might crack. The immediate needs is water. On some occasions, when I don’t have water at my bed side, I may fall back a sleep a couple of times and dream about water. (one time I fell asleep while holding a glass of water on my chest, it ending up spilling right in my face – not cool)

Shortly after finally getting some fluids back into my mouth the headache makes it self known. For me this is typically the worst thing about my hangover’s. It is blinding pain that seems to focus in my eyes and/or the back of my head just above my neck. I get some drugs in me, whatever I can find, but it typically offers little solace as the Hangover Headache out battles any headache medication known to man. This pounding in my head prevents me from sleeping anymore, so I spend the next several hours laying there, beginning to realize how nauseous I am. I roll from side to side, but I can’t lay on my sides or else I can feel the puke coming. Like most people, I hate throwing up, so I fight for as long as possible. Then there is the moaning… for some reason part of fighting back the puke is letting a moan out every few minutes. I will lay there wishing to hell that there is something that may make me feel better, and promising myself I wil neer drink again. Eventually when I have grown tires of the rolling around, or the mrs has kicked me out of bed, I will move to the couch. But going vertical only intensifies to headache. I try to drink some water, as I need re-hydration to ease the headache, but my stomach won’t allow it. I take sips, but the water just doesn’t taste good. My stomach feels like it is going to pop.

Eventually the puke comes. Some days I fight it longer than others, but eventually it comes. It comes with a ferocity that one rarely see’s in their lifetime. I yell at the toilet, scaring the cats and waking the other people in the house, until it is all out. When that’s over my head feels so close to exploding I hold it to offer extra support. All the skin around my eyes is filled with popped blood vessels that won’t go away for a couple days. I look like hell, but on the upside, my stomach feels better.

The next few hours bring more laying around, but no sleep. Maybe a little food, but not much. The headache wont’ let up, but usually the stomach starts to quiet down.

Eventually, at about 1 or 2pm I finally am able to have a nap. The nap lasts for 1 or 2 hours, and when I wake up a feel ok, but the headache is even worse. But at least I can eat at this point. And I don’t just eat a little. I devour anything within sight. Typically I crave grease, soup, and caffeine.

Once I have food, caffeine, and more water the headache eventually subsides. This might happen by 5pm or so. The rest of the evening I try and do something productive, but it never really goes well, and I end up just sitting on the couch, hoping the next day I will be back to normal.

When bed times come I enter into the last stage of the hangover…the shakes. While trying to fall asleep I will these sudden jolts when my whole body shakes like I got shocked by a deliberator. I wake up a couple times soaking wet as my body seems to try and sweat out the remaining booze in my system. I tell my self on last time that I will never drink again.

My Top 10 movies:

2007-11-09T09:10:00.001-08:00

10. SuperBad – Super Funny. It might not last long on the list, but right now has to be there.

9. For Love of the Game – For I love baseball, Vin Sulley, and seeing a guys attempt to throw a perfect game.

8. Transformers – Dare I say best action flick ever?!?

7. The 3^rd lord of the rings – There were actually people cheering in the theatre when I saw it. Awesome! All three were good, this was my favorite.

6. Ladder 49 – More or less why I want to be a firefighter

5. Rounders – Matt Damon is awesome, and the narration in this movie rules.

4. The Matrix. – At one time my #1, the two sequels were let downs, but I loved the original

3. Shawshank Redemption – Everyone loves this movie. Morgan Freeman at his best.

2. Good Will Hunting – I wish I was a Genius like Will. Plus he’s tough.

1. Crash – If you haven’t seen this movie, rent it (download it) now. I didn’t know much about it the first time I saw it, but have never been so captivated by a movie.

Top 10

2007-11-02T08:50:00.000-07:00

I am starting a Friday ritual in which I will create a Top 10 list on every Friday on whatever category I see fit.

This week is my Top 10 broadcaster sports personalities.

10. Vin Scully – MLB play by play – classic play by play – best voice out there
9. Don Cherry – NHL analyst – CBC – starting to lose it, but still entertaining
8. Chris Cuthbert – NHL/CFL play by play – TSN – great play by play man
7. oe Buck – NFL/ MLB play by play – FOX – one of the best of our generation
6. Jay Onrait – Sportscentre anchor – TSN – Funniest anchor in Canada
5. Chris Berman – NFL/MLB analyst – ESPN – Knows his stuff
4. Bob McKenzie – NHL insider- TSN – Truly knows the inside scoop on the NHL
3. James Duthie – NHL on TSN – Leader in Panel hosting in Canada plus he writes a great article on tsn.ca
2. Ron MacLean – NHL analyst/host – CBC – he defines hockey night in Canada
1. Jerry Haworth – Blue Jays Radio play by play- FAN – another Classic – no one was better than the late Tom Cheek and Jerry on the radio.

Halloween

2007-11-01T09:10:00.000-07:00

So another Halloween has come and gone, and I and a few others around here noticed that there weren’t many kids out last night. Maybe it was just coincidence that our neighborhoods were slow, but I wonder if Halloween still offers that same excitement that it did when I was a youngster. I’m not sure there was a day of the year that I liked more when I was between the ages of 5 and 11. My mom never really kept junk food around the house, but on Halloween I got to get pounds of it and kept it all to myself. Man did I love that stuff.

But besides the candy, the whole dress up in a costume thing was hug for me. Some of my greatest costumes were Zoro, Batman, Leonardo from TMNT, an astronaut, a guy who got beat up, a cowboy, amongst many others. I think the batman was the best.

I don’t know if the kids these days are putting forward a good enough effort. I think next year I will give out Candy depending on the quality of the costume. A full blown, home made costume that shows great effort will get a bag of chips, a chocolate bar, and a bag of nibs. A ghost will just get a chocolate bar, and a kid in jeans with a crappy mask on will get a single piece of gum- and it won’t be double double. Plus I want to see enthusiasm when you say trick or treat! And show some manners, a thank you sir wouldn’t hurt anyone.

The rating system will have to be further developed, but you get the idea. No more hading out Candy just because you show up at my door. As for the kid last night, who came at about 9:00 and asked if he could have the rest of my candy just because he was likely my last “customer”, he might just get a swift kick in the ass. And the kid who said marry Christmas, he might get a punch in the nose. Happy Halloween you little $#%*!

Ah the downtown drunks.

2007-10-30T14:26:00.001-07:00

I was sitting in my officle this afternoon, typing away on my computer and I hear one of the guys a few officles over yelling for me to look out the window. So I get up and have a look and there laying in the middle of the parking lot is this guy, facedown, spread eagle, absolutely motionless. We watch him for a few seconds and then we decide to call 911 to be safe. But I head down stairs with one of my other coworkers to see if this guy is alive. As we go outside and walk up to this guy he opens his eyes and looks right at us. Immediately I was sure he was just plastered. The smell of booze coming from him was my first clue, the second was the empty bottle of vodka laying a few feet away. I ask him how he is doing and he says not very fucking good. Asked him if he was drunk and he confirms that he is. At this point he is still laying on his belly in the middle of the parking lot alleyway, so we tell him he should get up and move to the near by wall. But before he gets up asks me “you can see I don’t have anything on me right?” I just say “ya, sure”, I hadn’t even think about that until he said it. But he gets up and he swaying back and forth like a sailor on rough seas. He starts to move to the wall, but turns around and goes for his smoke that is laying a few feet the other direction. There is a lighter about 6 feet to his left, a toonie about 6 feet to his right, and his jacket is over by the wall. He gets his smoke, I kick his lighter over to him, and he asks me for a ride home. My coworker responds that we don’t have cars. I have to say he was a very polite drunk, he even asks us if we wanted to come sit down beside him and have a drink. Haha. Then the guy who called 911 comes out and says the ambulance is coming, and it arrives pretty promptly. We explain that the guy is just drunk, but they ask if he will get it the trunk and he does, so now he is their problem and I returned to my desk, a little disappointed I didn’t get to do more.

Ah yes, good old downtown riffraff.

Am I allowed to make two post in one day… not sure of the proper blog etiquette.

How fit am I – about Average

2007-10-30T11:01:00.000-07:00

So in preparation for my trip to Vermillion in early December for two days of evaluating to determine who gets in to the fire college, I am working on improving my physical fitness. While searching for ideas on the website of Men’s Health, I found the Men’s Health Challenge. It is 5 different categories that you measure yourself to see how fit you are. Basically you come in 4 different areas – Unfit – Average – Fit – and Men’s Health Fit, depending on how you do when you track your own performance. As it turns out the categories you are measured in – Pushup’s, Chin-up’s, Vertical, One-leg squats, and the 1 mile run – are similar to the areas I will be measured on in Vermillion. So for the next 5 weeks I cam going to dedicate myself to this work out.

On Sunday I tested myself to see how I measured up. As if to confirm my blog of a few weeks ago, this little test had confirmed that once again I am AVERAGE:
Chin-ups- I did 6 – Avg.
Vertical – 18 inches – Avg.
1 Leg squats – 1 (they are hard) – Avg.
1 mile run – 7:49 – Avg.
The only area I was above avg was push-ups, as I squeezed out 40, and that is just above avg.

So I take all these figures and log them in to the website, and in big, bold letters it says – YOU'RE AVERAGE! As if I didn’t know that already.

I scored 22/40, but I will follow this workout and test myself again in a week and see if I can improve.

Random

2007-10-24T12:45:00.001-07:00

Sorry to all my faithful readers for the amount of time between posts, I guess I got lazy plus with thi- what’s that?... You didn’t notice. Alright then, never mind.

This weekend was the much anticipated Meet The Parents weekend when the Brody’s and the Zeddie’s got together, but there really isn’t any exciting story coming out of it…not fires, no injuries, no called off weddings…nothing exciting at all. We got muffins from Tim Horton’s, so that was cool.

Ever since my last post work had been rather hectic, I think the work gods are punishing me for considering this other career path. Going from a contributing member of society, just so I go back to being a bum student.

I just went and wrote my Air brakes written test…failed. But I get to write it again tomorrow for a fee of $10 bucks. If it was that way in university I never would have studied. Just write it, fail, remember what you did wrong, and go do it again the next day. But here’s to hoping the questions are the same.

I also stopped to get my criminal record check – I see they missed that stalking conviction that Sidney Crosby had against me. Nice.

I almost have everything in line to apply to college, just need this airbrakes thing and I am good to go. It’s pretty ridiculous all the things I have to get together… letter of reference, high school transcripts, university transcripts, first aid, CPR, air brakes, criminal record check, driver’s abstract, and on and on. Then it’s the interview and testing. Yikes.

The leafs lost again last night, this time to Atlanta, who had only won 1 game this year. It seems the leafs can’t keep the opposition to less than 4 goals. It tough to win that way, even with Mats and Antropov putting up impressive offensive umbers thus far.

My co-worker in the nest officle over is going up to see Ozzie tonight in Saskatoon. He is going with 3 other 50 year olds. I’m sure they will be up to no good. I didn’t even know this guy still toured. He can’t even talk, how can he sing. Mind you I have never likes his music, it seems the Wolf always has Ozzie on and thus my radio is usually tuned into NewsTalk 980.

I am off to the dentist this afternoon. It will be my first filling in – gosh – 7 years. Looking forward to it. Truth is am a scared of the dentist, even at the age of 25. But for those of you who haven’t been in a while, they now have TV’s in the ceiling…Ingenious! I should have picked a day when there was some afternoon playoff baseball on.

I ordered my Rider playoff ticket yesterday. Hard to believe this is the first time Regina citizens have been able to do this in 20 years. Someone needs to do one of the articles about what was happening back then, like who was in power, how much a loaf of bread was etc.

Well I hope it won’t be so long until my next post. Take care, comb your hair.

My Big News

2007-10-16T11:44:00.000-07:00

I am taking this opportunity to announce to all my bloging comrades (those of you that don’t already know) that I am looking at making a pretty big change in my life. It is something I have been thinking about for years, but I have finally worked up the courage to do it.

What could it be?
Am I returning to work for the bank, as I just missed it too much?
Am I moving to Tibet to become a monk?
Am I pursuing a career as a beat writer for my beloved blue Jays?
Have Michelle and I broke up as I am in love with the old lady from the cafeteria?

Nope, it’s none of those…this time.

Caution! Before you read any further I need you to promise me something. You must promise not tell anyone from my office what I am about to tell you. This could seriously jeopardize by ability to not get fired. Promise?
.
.
.
.
.
Ok, I believe you.

I am in fact making a real attempt to become a firefighter.

Some of you may know that this has been my calling for some time. For about 4 years I have constantly said this is the career I think I belong in. Up until know I have told myself that I need to give my business degree a chance, see how the corporate world treats me. And while I have a job that pays me well, allows flexibility and interaction with many people, some travel, and great benefits… it’s not what I really want to do.

For the past several months I have been seriously investigating this, speaking to many people involved in the schools and the profession, plus hours of research on the internet and talking with my family and most importantly my bride to be. I will be submitting my application soon and will be going for the physical test and interview on Dec 6&7th. Nothing is guaranteed, as I am just applying, but I am excited nonetheless.

I consider myself pretty lucky; I don’t think many people have the chance to pursue a career they believe they will love. It is a long road until I actually land a job, but the thought of it really excites me. It is going to mean at least a year without a salary, and at least a year of Miss Brody supporting me (good thing I already bought those golf clubs), and the biggest issue, a year living away from the her (Peewee, don’t get any ideas) and everyone else in Regina. But if it was easy I would have done it a long time ago.

So why do I think I will love this? Well I look forward to actually working in a TRUE team environment. In the corporate world we often refer to our groups as teams… “ good win team”, “let’s work as a team”…”welcome to the team” I call BS to all of that. Everyone is still just looking out for themselves, maybe working hard, maybe not, but not overly concerned with the success of the others on their “team”. In the fire hall, I believe I will actually be a part of a team. A team that will go in together and come out together. If one man runs out of air, we all move to get him out. On top of that, I am sick…SICK… of people treating shit in the office like it is life or death. ‘I need that computer running right now or else there will be hell to pay”, “It’s critical that we get the project done by October 5th or else heads will roll” I find I can’t take it anymore- people crying wolf. Everything is an emergency, urgent, or critical, and what difference does it make??? Who knows! The world never comes to an end, no one looses a limb or a loved one, no one even loses their jobs. And if it gets done the next item on this list is now an emergency, urgent, or critical. I can’t say I look forward to people loosing their lives, but I will relish the fact that many of problems in the world as a firefighter will be life or death and should get the appropriate attention. I don’t expect it all to be roses, I am sure there is political BS, and I have never wanted to be part of a union, but once you go out on a call that shit won’t matter.

Maybe there is a corporate job out there that would make me happy, maybe there isn’t, but I know that to be happy I have to feel engaged and appreciated, and I don’t feel that now. I think in my posts of late you could see that I felt like a change. I also feel to be successful I will have to climb the corporate ladder, and not to sound arrogant, but I think with time I could do that. However, when I look around at the executives in our company, and some of our partner companies I just don’t want to be like them. They all seem over stressed and over worked and whatever drives them to keep going and to succeed - well, I don’t think that is in me, at least not in the long term.

I didn’t mean for this to turn into a bitch session about my job, as this is supposed to be a celebratory post. It sounds cheesy, but I feel life I am pursuing a dream, and it feels good. This is more about wanting to pursue this new career than it is about not likely my current, but the fact that I am not satisfied will make it easier to walk away. I don’t mean for it to sound like we should all quit our jobs, just because it is at times a piss off, but I just had to get all that out. Plus it’s my blog and I will write what I want.

Again, I am taking a bit of a risk putting this information on the world wide web, because at this point I still haven’t told anyone at work, so please if anyone sees my boss pretend like you don’t know anything. I need to hold this job in case I am not accepted, and I need the money wither way.

Kind of a weird day

2007-10-12T13:30:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was progressing by as a fairly normal day in the life of your’s truly, but once I headed out the doors after work a couple of strange things happened.

The first and I suppose most exciting was when I stopped by the liquor store at the Normanview Mall to apply for a liquor permit for the wedding reception in February (I know, on the ball or what?!?). Anyway, I was at the till going through the details with the nice lady helping me out. Several other customers walked up to the till, but as we were going to be a while she directed them to another clerk.

About 10 minutes in another guy walked up, and I never really thought much of it, he put down a 24 of Lady’s light, and a bottle of some orange stuff. Without looking the lady said, “You should go the other till; we are going to be a while”. The guy, with a certain “inner city” look to him said something like “Oh really?.” The lady, who is about 55 years old, and not much more than 110 pounds, looks up and immediately goes off. She yells at him, “HEY BUDDY, WHAT ARE YOU DOING!!!” She runs out from behind the till in front of this guy and right beside me. I have no idea what is going on, but obviously this guy has done something wrong. He immediately gets a deer in the headlights look on his face and starts for the door. She keeps yelling at him “ SHOW ME YOUR POCKETS – WHAT DO YOU HAVE!” He responds with – “What are you talking about?” and makes a move to get by her. This little lady then starts pushing this guy, blocking him like an offensive lineman and preventing him from getting out the door. By his point she is yelling for her manager and this alleged thief looks pretty scared. But this was no small guy- at least my height, and at least 50 pounds heavier than me. He continues for the door, pushing her out of the way and telling her to get off him. She makes another move and pins him up against the wall. All the while I am standing about 5 feet away still not sure exactly what the problem is, but starting to understand that this guy has stolen something and put it in his pants. I did mange to say something like, ‘you should just let him go”, as even though this guy looked more scared than aggressive, I certainly didn’t think a stolen micky or whatever he had was worth her getting stabbed or punched or something. But this little lady won’t back down, she is latched onto his arm, and he is pulling her right out of the building. Her manager, another lady, comes running out, also yelling, but this guy breaks free and stats to jog, not run, across the parking lot to an waiting “getaway car” parked over by the CIBC.Eventually the ladies come back into the store. I am thinking they will call the cops, but instead they all just go back to work! The manager tells the lady at my till that she is never to try and stop a customer like that ever again, but the little lady says “That guy bugs me”. Apparently.

I got to talking to the both of them, and apparently this guy is a repeat offender, usually he comes up to the till with some booze, then says he forgot his wallet and that he will get it from his car, but then just takes off with whatever it is he had in his pockets. Another gentleman came back in and gave the license plate of the car the guy left in, the lady says thanks, but then tells me that the cops can’t do anything, at worst they just get a slap on the wrist. They tell me some other stories, like on time a guy came in with a bandanna across his chest and over his shoulder, with a huge knife in it, right out in the open. They tell me in that situation, they just ignore they guy, let him take what he wants and hope he leaves without creating a scene. They have seen guns and all sort of stuff. They apologize to me for that all happening right in front of me, but I am just happy I have a good story for my blog.

So I went home, had a quick bite and went to the gym, it was chest day so after a short warm up I headed to bench press and threw on two 45’s and did quick set. I sat up, just waiting to for the next, then out of the corner of my eye I see this little kid, about 10 years old, maybe younger, putting the safety pins on the barbell for me. He puts one on then goes away gets another one and goes to hand it to me, I tell him that he can just put it on, so he does and the runs off in the other direction. What is this kid doing I the weight area anyway? Just watching out for everyone's safety? Maybe was he my guardian angle!?!

Then at the same time, just as I turn around, and old man, like really old, wearing the grandpa sweater and everything, is standing right in front of me. He is about a day away from needing a walker, in no shape for any sort of weight training. He says, “90 pounds! You can life that much?” I just sort of laugh and said I guess. He said something else I didn’t understand as I laid down and got ready to start my next set, but I could feel him watching me. This guy sort of reminded me of the old guy from Family Guy, as he was sort of just walking around the free weights areas looking at everyone. Kinda creepy, but definitely weird. I just shook my head and laughed to myself.

What a weird couple of hours..

Sports

2007-10-11T12:59:00.000-07:00

It’s certainly no secret that I am a big sports fan. I am certainly not the minority in this as millions of people around the world are huge sports fans, and many much larger than I. But some of you might wonder why it is that I get so much enjoyment out of sports.

Where do I start? Well not many other things in life will get me jumping off the couch in anger ,or in jubilation, like that game winning goal, homerun ,or touchdown. But the deeper questions is why am I so vested in this that I jump off the couch, throw inanimate objects, and/or hug grown men, depending on the gravity of the situation.

Well I think it partially comes down to emotion. Sports are the true reality TV. You are seeing people giving their hart and soul to win for there cities, their fans, their teammates and themselves. These athletes, through blood, sweat, and tears, give their all to achieve the ultimate goal in their respective sport. Yes, there are a few overpaid bums that only play for the money, but I like to think they are few and far between.

Maybe it is that I am just living vicariously through these athletes. When I cheer for Sidney Crosby, maybe it is because I want to feel what it must be like to have his kind of success. Maybe it’s that I wish I could be these guys for just a few days; do see what it is like to do what they do. These athletes are the best of the best; they can do things on the field, ice, or court that I and most others simply can not. The fact that I play most of these sports, even recreationally, makes me appreciate the extraordinary things they can do. That one time slap shot to the top corner, that 97mph fast ball, or the guy that can hit that fast ball over the fence, the receiver that can run full speed and lay our for a football and catch it with one hand, the centre fielder that can climb the wall and pull back a sure home run, or the forward that can deke through three guys and the goalie and slide it home, even the tennis player who can play a five hour match and still stand at the end. They can do things that I can’t, but at least I can watch it and share in the glory by cheering them on.

When there is a good game on, with a team I care about, I almost feel like I am part of the team. I will wear the team colors at the stadium, at the bar, or even alone on my couch, just to show my support, and for some reason I believe it makes a difference. If I watch a game at BP’s and the riders get pumped, I won’t watch it there again. A few years ago when watching the leafs in the playoff’s, I would hold my breath anything the puck was in the Leafs zone, and do my best not to exhale until the puck went back out over the blue line. One year during the baseball playoff’s me and two buddies would lay on our stomachs in front of the TV, drumming the floor for good luck…what happened, Luis Gonzalez hit a World Series winning single to beat the hated Yankees. This is blamed on sheer superstition.

A large part about sports is the camaraderie it brings with friends and family. Not much else brings together a group of friends than a great sporting event. I remember being 7 and watching the riders win the Grey Cup in 89 at a family friend’s house. I might not have totoally understood why everyone was cheering when Dave Ridgway kicked that ball through the uprights, but I know that everyone in the room was happy I remember sitting down with my whole family back in 92 and 93 to watch the Blue Jays win the world series, and all cheering together when Joe Carter hit that walk off home run, and jumping around until I knocked my brother into the corner of the couch. I remember sitting with about 20 of my best friends watching Joe Sakic score the clinching goal in the 2002 Olympics and high five-ing everyone in the room. I remember several world junior tournaments during Christmas time, with so many people home that you haven’t seen in months, getting together to see the boys beat the Russians. It gives me goose bumps even to think about it.

Have I made it clear enough, can you now understand the excitement that sports provide? If not then I have failed. But I will not give up! I will continue to put the TV on SportsCentre when I get the remote, I will start conversations on the games from the night before, and I will promote trips to live events, and with a little luck, and a lot of channel surfing, I will turn all of you into the sports nut that I am.

Go Team GO!

Bosses

2007-10-04T14:37:00.000-07:00

So I found out today that I am getting a new boss. It will be my first male boss since I joined my current company. He already works for us, but is coming over from the operations side to work on sales. I know him a little, pretty nice guy, and I think – think- he will be good to work for. I will likely loose a little freedom, reason being that since the last VP sales was let go in Feb, I have been reporting to the Executive VP of our area, and while a great boss, she didn’t really have time to worry about my day to day activities. I pretty much did whatever I thought was necessary each day. With new guy – we’ll call him Barry, coming in, I assume that he will have a little more say in what we do. Barry works out of Calgary, so once again my boss will not be in the same location as I am.
Counting back the last couple of years, I have worked for two organizations in a little over 2 and half years, and Barry will be my 6th boss, and only 3 of those bosses have been in the same city/town that I am. I have also changed locations/offices 7 times. Keeps things interesting I guess.
I think I would have to put my last boss as my favorite. She was very blunt, very open, and I didn’t feel like there was any BS with her. It was nice being so close to that top line of decision making. But Barry should have more time to assist us in Sales, so it will be nice to have that backup when struggling to get results from internal resources.
It interesting how different bosses can be, and how as their employee you have to alter your style to mesh with theirs. My first at the bank was an old school, worked hard in his office, first in, last to leave, didn’t interact with the employees much. My next one was a lot like Michael Scott from The Office. He wanted to be everyone’s friend, but no one really liked him…or respected him. Next boss was in a different city, but he was very supportive, would dive out if I needed help, complimented good work, I would say a pretty good boss and a pretty good guy. Next was my first boss in my current company, she was the smoke-oholic, stressed out, always doing 6 things at once, little ball of energy. She always look sort of tired and sort of overwhelmed, often expressed how much she had to do and how busy she was. I kind of felt sorry for her, and eventually she was let go. Then there was my current boss, very open, very well respected by her employees, very supportive, very smart executive type. When she talks everyone listens. Like I said before- probably the best of the bunch.

But now there is another one to bring in and train. I’ll have him whipped into shape in now time.

Fun and games…fun .and . games.

Anybody else have any interesting bosses over the years?

I wonder...

2007-10-03T11:38:00.000-07:00

When I travel to and from work with so many other people on the roadway and I often wonder how there can be that many other people in this city that are in the same dull 9-5 job that I am. That many people that get up 5 days a week and go to work waiting for the opportunity to go back home again. I wonder what percentage of those people actually enjoy the work they do. What percentage only work to get that pay check. What is most important to this people. Is it their job, their family, their friends… themselves perhaps? What do these people rush home too, how many of them are happy. Do they feel their job is important, that they accomplish something when they leave for the day? Or do they work simply to provide for themselves and their own family, and maybe that is enough. We can’t all walk the streets like hippies after all. We have to eat, we have to drink, and we have to have fun. Is that why we work? Just so we can do all those things outside of work. I hope this isn’t depressing, but if there are lots of people out there that get up in the morning and actually look forward to the job, I am seriously jealous. Truth is every morning I think about how much I don’t want to go to work. I don’t know if I have ever had a job that I looked forward to going to. Except maybe Dairy Queen, and that could just be because I had a crush on the girl I worked with.

So will there be a job out there that I will look forward to going to. I think there is, and I need to find it. I will find it. That is my promise to myself.

Royally Drunk

2007-10-01T13:15:00.000-07:00

So it was another Saturday night to remember on the weekend when Bankers from across the province gather to celebrate another year of record profits, of staff once again some how meeting the ridiculous sales targets in front of them, allowing the bank to increase the goals even more for next year. And once again, I and many others got royally drunk.
The night started when we walked in and the first people we saw were JAM. Up to that point I wasn’t sure how the night was going to go, but when I saw they were both already happily tipsy, I got all excited and knew it was time to get my drink on.
So into the wine, rye, vodka, champagne…basically whatever I could get my hands on. The rest of the evening turns into a bit of a blur, the awards last hours, resulting in dozens of empty glasses in front of us on the table, drunken conversations with my one time colleagues, multiple identities due to a stack of unused name tags I found, 5000 awards points to Mrs. Jam, drinking wine directly from the bottle, a smuggled bottle of red under my suit jacket and into our awaiting limo, a rather short appearance at the pump, and many PDA’s by JAM. But even with all the making out done by my good friends, Mrs. Jam saved her best kiss for the payment outside subway, when the combination of an unlit curb, and arms tucked deep in her pockets resulted in a pretty nasty lip stand. But even though I fully expected some pretty extensive damage, up she came relatively unharmed, and after we tracked down her shoes that we’re lost in the fall we were on our way. And after getting some wraps at subway (they had no bread – how does that happen) it was back in a cab, some drunken cabbie talk and another royally drunk performance was complete.

Not funny

2007-09-28T10:45:00.000-07:00

It’s been a little over 2 months since I started this silly little blog, and I find it is helping me discover things about myself and the world that I maybe never thought through before. The latest is that I realize that in written word I am just not very funny – you might say average. I have at a few times tried to be funny in my posts and afterwards I think – who am I trying to kid, that was totally lame. My humor is better spent on off the cuff comments, quirky responses, or smart ass remarks. But I have never been much of a story teller and in my blog that is no different. So unless something particularly funny happens to me in my regular, everyday life, I am going to save myself a little embarrassment and stop the lame attempts at comedy. I will leave that to Mr. Murdock, as he seems a little more seasoned at it than I. Yes, that was a compliment Peewee.

Instead I am going to focus on re-evaluating the world, its people, and myself in a detailed, almost philosophical sense. I’m not sure if my readers (all 4 of them) care, or will be at all entertained by my new approach, but I guess I am willing to take the chance.

Average

2007-09-26T15:27:00.000-07:00

I came to the realization recently that I am pretty much average in everyway…. I am average height, average weight, average intelligent, average wealth (for my age), average looks, average …umm size, average house, average car. I am average at most sports, which means that I can pick up a sport and in a short amount of time I can look like I know what I am doing, then after a while I just quite improving, I never become the best. I was an average student; I had a pretty average childhood, with an average family. I think I am an average boyfriend, (with an above average girlfriend), an average friend period, an average contributor to society, and I know fairly average people, no one famous, and no one particularly pathetic either. I have average knowledge about sports, politics, history, and current events. I can drink an average amount and I eat an average amount. Basically I came in or around the middle in almost everything.

I also think I am ok with this. I think it allows me not to create great expectations of myself, and yet when I do excel I get lots of credit. It allows me to blend into the crowd, so to speak, and never get signaled out or identified as the scapegoat or failed leader in any project or event, and again, if I do step up, I get noticed. It might make me a little boring, and that is a little concerning, but I will get over it.

There are some areas that I vary for the average. Let’s start with below average. I am way below average about knowledge in music, in artistic talents, and in organizational skills. I think I am above average in the speed I drive around the city, in NHL games on playstation, and in the amount of movies I go to.

The key is, I think this all may be adding up to a pretty dammed good life. Maybe it’s above average, maybe it’s not, but I do like where it is going. I think I just reached above average happiness for the day.

And I certainly cheer for an average sports teams. Average at best. – Go Riders Go.

Article by James Duthie

2007-09-25T13:37:00.000-07:00

I am a little to lazy to blog today, but I thought I would share this great article from James Duthuie from TSN. He writes awesome stories. Below is one from back in 2001 after 9.11. Enjoy.

We, in sports, seem determined to attach a number to everything, and the nightmare of September 11 is no different.
The "Sports World", this imaginary bubble we supposedly live in, lost L.A Kings scouts Ace Bailey and Mark Bavis.
Two.
A neat, tidy death toll, perfect for the tickers at the bottom of the screen.

But wrong.
We also lost:
Soccer moms, and Little League dads, and big sisters who became corporate bigwigs, but could still whip you at 21 when they came home for Thanksgiving.
We lost star shortstops from the corporate softball league, and secretaries who didn't play, but always brought the oranges, and cheered like you were Derek Jeter.
We lost 11 year-old boys who could have been the next Jordan or Gretzky, and four-year old girls who could have been the next Mia Hamm or Venus Williams, not to mention whom they could have become in the real world.

We lost fans.
We lost Mets fans and Yankees fans and fans who couldn't stand either, which was a damn brave stance in New York.
We lost Jets fans who'd always go to the game with the same three buddies, each shirtless with a big green painted letter stretching from navel to neck. And no matter how cold, they'd remain skin to the wind, screaming: "J-E-T-S, Jets!" Even when it was 21-3 Colts.
We lost bosses you couldn't stand, until they invited you to the box at the Rangers game and you both wore your Messier shirts, and forever bonded.
We lost girlfriends who left you alone on Sunday afternoons in the fall, or better yet, sat right next to you and cursed like a convict when Kerry Collins threw a pick.
We lost guys from the mailroom who'd spend a couple of days wages to sit in the nosebleeds with their girl at a Knicks game, and traders in Boss suits who'd spend a couple grand to impress a model with courtsides. But they'd cheer just as wildly. New York has great fans.
We also lost Red Sox fans, Bruins fans, Patriots fans, Capitals fans, Redskin fans, Wizards fans, and probably at least a fan or two for every team out there. Even the Bengals.

We lost fathers who'd take you to Mini-Putt and blow a six-inch gimme on 18 every time to lose by one, so he'd have to take you for ice-cream yet again.
We lost mothers who somehow found time to run households with a bunch of kids, corporate divisions with hundreds of employees, and marathons in under four hours.
We lost Grampas who took you out for your first round on a real course, and pretended they didn't see when you teed it up on the fairway.
We lost coaches who'd work 60-hour weeks, and then spend their Saturdays trying to teach six year-olds to stay in position, and not all chase the same ball.

We lost entire lines from the Firefighters Shinny League.

And you know what the saddest part of all is?
Sport was just a tiny part of who these people were.
We lost all of them.

OLD BALLS!

2007-09-18T14:57:00.000-07:00

It’s not even my birthday and I am a little down because I feel like I am getting old. I think a big reason is that my cousin, who is in her second year of university, is staying with us for September while her rental is getting renovated. Now she is a nice girl and I wouldn’t call her a partier, but she is social and she’s making me feel like an “adult” and that sucks.
It all started the first night she was with us when she came upstairs and ask us is she could have some friends over to watch MTV. I fought the urge to say, “why do you watch that junk anyway” and said “Of course, no problem”. Immediately it felt weird to have someone ask me if they could have their friends come over to my house and hang out, but NOT with me. I don’t think I have ever had that happen to me before. So off she goes and about an hour later the door rings, and 3 “kids” walk in, 2 of which I know well, and are really not that much younger than me. So we exchange pleasantries and as they are proceeding to the basement to watch their stories on the tele, I have to ask them if they are all ready to go back to school the next day. What a dumb ass- mom and dad thing to say. I felt so uncool. Meanwhile the future mrs. Brody had an itch to bake earlier in the day, and is just about to pull some fresh muffins out of the oven. The kids comment on how great it smells, and in a way I think they are mocking me that we are making muffins like grandma would while they are gathering to enjoy the latest Teeny bobber series on MTV.

So that’s where it starts, and I’m rattled from that first night and now she is in my head. So the little things are starting to bug me. For example, like any good university student in there first few weeks of the semester, she is out just about every evening gallivanting around, and it depresses me that I am not even awake when she gets home. She tells me she gets in at about 11, and I just can’t fathom that I am so asleep that I don’t even hear her. Luckily we don’t have the rule that she has to wake us up to let us know she is home safe.
The thing is I don’t think of the future Mrs. Brody and I as overly boring people. While it’s nothing like my university days, we are fairly social, and often out of the house doing something. So being my insecure self, when returning from a social event of some sort I have been looking forward to returning to the house to show the young kid that I too have a busy social calendar. But as luck would have it, whenever I get home she is never there to see my triumphant return. I’ve considered sitting around the block in my car, then when she gets back driving up so she sees me come in and I can tell her all about my wild adventures, but that just seems a little too pathetic. So again and again she returns home to find me in front of the TV in my sweat pants (at least I have pants on).

One of the more recent events was last Sunday morning, when ms brody and I were getting out day started and doing some house cleaning (boring) and I noticed that the cuz’s bf stayed the night, as his shoes were in the door way. No big deal at all, I didn’t think twice about it. So we head out to the gym, and return to find that our guests have left the house, but she has left a long note apologizing because they got kicked out of dorm’s at the UofR (where he lives) that night so the bf had to stay over and she is very sorry for not ok’ing that with us and it won’t happen again. Wow. When she returned we tried to explain to her that we didn’t care at all, he could stay there any night, we are cool and hip and all that. She’s like, I told him not to worry, I said your guys weren’t that old. NOT THAT OLD – come on.

And so it continues, with her living in our basement, tying not to disrupt our old person lives, when we are home in the evening, in bed by 10:30, having tea on a Friday night when she is off to the bars, etc.
Not so long ago I was different. I was cool. I was hip. Do the kids even say hip anymore. Not likely.
But I will be ok, in fact I don’t even really want that life anymore, but I just hate to admit it. Makes me feel OLD.

Hey Riders – get your shit together.

Brr...fuck

2007-09-14T12:20:00.000-07:00

Well it appears that winter is coming. I got up this morning, did my regular routine, saw the sun shining in through the curtains, and surmised that it must be a pretty nice day. So with my toast in hand, out the door I went ready for another wonderful day of fun and frivolity at the work place, only to discover two very disturbing things. One was that the future Ms. Brody was parked behind me and I would have to ask her to move her car, knowing that she would yell, curse, and hit me for disturbing her morning routine (she’s not a morning person). And two, and even worse than the abuse that I was surely about to receive, all my windows were completely covered in frost. Not only was I already late for work, but I had no idea where my scraper was and moreover I was just not mentally prepared for scraping my windows and what it represents. Memories of winters gone by flashed through my head as I remembered what the next 6 months unquestionably hold. Months of frozen fingers, shivering, shoveling snow, bad roads, cold legs in dress pants, cars that won’t start, plugging in cars, cold wet feet, god awful terrible fucking traffic, and so on…

It’s just too soon. I’m not ready to be done with summer.

Go Riders Go.

a case of the Mondays

2007-09-10T10:43:00.001-07:00

So I realize this isn’t a ground breaking discovery or anything…but Monday suck!
For starters I’m always so damn tired. A combination of the trials and tribulations of the weekend, combined with sleeping in on Sunday and thus not being able to sleep Sunday night, and I always seem to be dragging my ass all day at work. I always seem to show up about 10 minutes late, then when I get here I am greeted by all the work that I left from Friday. It always seems like a good idea on Friday afternoon to leave the work until Monday, maybe go home a little early. Plus every few weekends I am actually foolish enough to think that if I take work home on the weekend I will actually do it. But sure enough, when Monday morning rolls around I wake up stressed and tired, with a whole pile of work to do and no energy to do it.
The future Mrs. Brody doesn’t help either, as she doesn’t usually work Mondays and I have to pull my sorry ass out of bed and into the shower while she rolls over and logs another couple of hours. (I know, I know, she has to work Saturday’s, but this is about me ok) The cats don’t even move, they usually just look up at me with there eyes barely open, seemingly thinking to themselves “What the hell man, it’s too early, go back to bed or get the hell out of here”
It also sucks that Monday is so god dammed far away from Friday, which brings the next weekend. All I want to do is have a sleep in and I know that can’t happen until at least 5 days from now. Wouldn’t it be nice to have every Wednesday off, just to catch up in the middle of the week. Now that would be a change in labour laws that I could get on board with.
I’m also depressed at the amount of money I spent, the amount of alcohol and the unhealthy, but delicious food I consumed. The problem is I just love to do all those things so much…it just tastes so good…when it touches my lips.
But I will power through, survive this Monday like so may before it. Tomorrow should be a better day and with determination and will I shall prevail too make it to the Friday five days from now and the weekend that I so desire. Then the golf tournament that is sure to involve multiple alcoholic beverages, poor food, and monetary expenditures that are not in the budget. But at least I will be able to sleep in on Sunday…

The cycle continues.

Go Riders Go.

My favorite time of year.

2007-09-07T15:05:00.000-07:00

Of come to the decision that the end of September /start of October as the best time of my year. There are several reason for this, but for anyone who knows me you won’t be surprised by the fact that it mostly revolves around sports.
The best part has got to be that October brings the start of a new NHL hockey season. Hope exists for all 30 NHL teams, even my Leafs. It’s the first chance to see all the players on their new teams, new players will emerge as superstars, and a hockey pool or two adds to my excitement. A few of the most anticipated things for me are watching Sidney Crosby wearing the C for the Pens and if they are as good as I think they will be, if the Oilers can win any games without Ryan Smyth, and if there is any way I can cheer for the Leafs big signing Jason Blake, who I despised as a Islander. Plus there is all the debate... I love to talk hockey.

October also marks the time for Baseball playoffs, and even though I can’t skip school anymore to watch the games, I still get pretty excited to tune in for those afternoon games. There was nothing better than getting some pizza and beer, or a sub and a slurpee, and listening to Joe Morgan, Joe Buck, or Tim McCarver call a ball game in October. I don’t know what it is about playoffs, but every pitch seems to matter that much more. If the Blue Jays ever make it to the playoffs again, mark my word, I will be in Toronto to cheer on the boys.

Of course we have the last few games of the CFL season. Usually the riders have already blown a chance at a home playoff game, but this year things are looking very different. If we can win 2 out of our next three games, I like our chances of hosting our first playoff game since I have been a fan of the team.

NFL season is just beginning and by October I am up to speed on who’s who and what teams are contenders. I also enjoy the odd NFL pool. And any Sunday spent watching football is a good Sunday in my books.

Besides sports we also have the season premiers of many of my favorite TV shows- The Office, Heroes, Lost…they will all be back this fall and I'm sure better than ever.

Other highlights include the end of harvest, rec hockey to play, thanksgiving, and to top it all off the weather is still usually pretty damned decent.

Yep, it’s a great time of the year, only rivaled by my other favorite time of year- spring, when the weather gets nice, NHL playoffs are happening, baseball season gets underway, and love is in the air. As you can see, very similar reasons. But I will get into that in March.

Go Riders Go.

I can’t believe…

2007-09-04T12:19:00.000-07:00

I often find myself in a situation when I am dumbfounded by someone or something and saying “I can’t believe…” So here is a list of things that I can’t believe.

I can’t believe…

- NASCAR is more popular than NHL hockey in the States… so sad.
- That people don’t signal, it’s rampant and it really bothers me.
- That “So you think you can Dance, and Dancing with the Stars are successful programming …I just don’t’ get it.
- That as a big sports fan, I have three favorite teams, the Leafs, the Riders, and the Jays, and in 25 years of existence I have only celebrated championships three times. That is a 4% success rate, unacceptable. Thank you to our Olympic hokey team of 2002 and our World Junior teams for keeping me out of a deep depression.
- That I don’t enjoy music more… It seems other people get so much enjoyment from it and yet I just can’t seem to get on the “Band” wagon. haha
- Terrorism or Religious War… Sorry to be so deep, but it all seems so unnecessary to me.
- That I get so hung over from beer. It’s like a handicap. Not fair at all.
- It’s not butter
- NBC pulled the show The Black Donnelly’s
- The brutal service given by Bell express VU
- That people can be so bold and so desperate to break into other people houses in the middle of the day and walk out with all sorts of stolen goods.
- The economics of farming, expenses keep going up and revenues remain stagnant year after year.
- That “The Office” isn’t the most popular show on TV…it’s great.
- How much of my life revolves around TV.
- How expensive golf is.
- How serious some guys take rec. hockey.
- How much money I loose of my pay cheques to income tax.
- That trampolines aren’t outlawed. I hate those things.
- That I claim to be very busy at work and yet have time to write the odd blog.

I like this. I think I will have to do a part II sometime.

Go Riders Go.

Isn’t it easier just to be civil?

2007-08-29T13:59:00.001-07:00

I work in a position where I am often faced with people experiencing frustration with one thing or another and have come to me for assistance. And really, most people are very reasonable, patient, and courteous, but then again, there are many people who are rude, ignorant, and bitchy. Now I don’t think that people always have to act like Mary Poppins, in fact I think it’s a little exciting when things get a little heated in a corporate setting, but as long as it’s done in a professional way. I just can’t understand when people seem to go out of there way to be difficult and hamper constructive conversation.
But really, in the business world most of the people are professional and act accordingly, however out in the “real world”, it is a different story. I was recently behind a woman in line at the photo centre in Wal-mart who seemed to be more miserable than Saddam Hussein when he was living in that hole in Iraq (that must have sucked). I almost felt sorry for her, because she must have had some real problems in life to be that miserable, but more over I really wanted to tell her to get a frickin’ grip and quit infecting the rest of society with what ever has caused her existence to be so dreadful. The poor employees at Wal-Mart did nothing to bring it on, but that poor lady treated them like they insulted her first born (although I don’t see how there is any guy out there who would have procreated with this beastly woman – at least I hope not).
Other places I often see this sort of behavior are hockey games, amusement parks, airports, restaurants, and any political assembly I have ever seen in action.

Have people forgotten what there mothers used to say – “treat others like you want to be treated”

Where is the Respect?!?

Battle of first place teams this labour day…when is the last time that happened? Go Riders Go.

Brady Bunch

2007-08-27T12:08:00.000-07:00

I said in my last post that I would find a frustration to rant about. Well you know what I’m sick of… no, well let me tell ya. It’s people making jokes to me about the fucking “Brady Bunch”. It was cool for like 5 minutes when I was 10 and realized there was a television show that featured my last name. But shortly there after I realized the show was lame and yet everyone knows about it. It reminds me of the movie Office Space, when everyone asks Michael Bolton if he has a relation to the singer. It is tiring, especially when one of my coworkers, superiors, or elders, makes reference to the show and I have to put forward my best fake laugh. At least with my peers I don’t have to pretend and can just stare at them with a look that clearly states my feeling to that same old joke.

Ok, I feel a little better now.

Siskel and Brody at the movies

2007-08-17T12:46:00.000-07:00

So I still haven’t proactively let anyone know that I started a blog, and this is only my 2nd post. But earlier this week someone at my office from the communications team told me that I should think about a career in advertising or communications after an e-mail I sent out to our entire Regina office was well received. Now I’m think I’m John frickin’ Grisham and everyone wants to see what I have to write about. Then again, during a performance review a while back my former boss told me that I have poor writing skills and asked me if I ever read books – yes I read, but thanks for making feel like a 7th grade drop out. So for now, I guess I will stick to writing my blog that no one reads.
I went to the movie Live Free or Die Hard last night with a few of the boys from back home that were in the city. It is the 4th movie I have been to in about a week and a half. Even for me, a self proclaimed movie junkie, a lot for that amount of time. Here’s a quick run down and my brief opinion on each, which I know my readers value immensely.
Bourne Supremacy – Matt Damon – The 3rd movie in the Bourne Series based on the Novel’s by Robert Ludlum. Come critics have said it is the best of the three and I have to agree. This was a great show- good story line, good action, good everything. Best action movie I’ve watched in a long time. I might be partial as Matt Damon may be my favorite actor currently in the business (except for Vinny Chase). With movies like Good Will Hunting, Rounders, The Departed, all the Bourne’s, the Oceans movies, and Stuck on You, he never fails to entertain me (Ok, I’m completely kidding about the last one…terrible, terrible movie, but we’ve all made our mistakes.)
10/10

The Simpson’s- The Simpson Family – This movie could never be bad, there hasn’t really been a bad Simpson’s episode in the what, like 46 years the show has been running. I don’t think it the best comedy in years, but they did a good job (I’m sure they are happy to have my opinion on the job they did.) It’s pretty much a 90 minute Simpson’s episode, just a little better. Homer is classic as usual.
7/10

I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry – Adam Sandler and Kevin James – Have you all seen that Family Guy episode where Stuey goes to see the movie Bewitched, then in the middle calmly gets up, walks out of the theatre, flies to LA, buys a ladder, goes to Will Ferrell’s house, climbs the ladder, rings the door bell, then when Will Ferrell answers he punches him in the face and says “THAT’S NOT FUNNY!”. Well that’s exactly what I would like to do to Adam Sandler after seeing this show. Only good thing is that the movie crashed for about 10 minutes, so after the show everyone in the theatre got a free movie pass. At first I thought they gave us the passes just because the movie SUCKED.
3/10

Live Free or Die Hard – Bruce Willis – I laughed a lot during this movie, way more than I did at Chuck and Larry. I don’t think this will be a movie for everyone, but I found it thoroughly entertaining. Between the hilarious dialogue of the guy from the Mac/PC commercials and the ridiculous action sequences (Bruce Willis actually knocks a guy out of an air born helicopter by running over a fire hydrant and hitting the guy hanging out the side of the chopper with the water) there was always something good for a giggle. This movie didn’t try to take itself to serious and I think it’s a great action/comedy. An easy watch for anyone, it would probably make a great hangover movie. For my techie buddies (you know who you are) there is a lot of cyber terrorism type stuff going on, I’d like to know if any of it is feasible, not that it matters.
7/10

Next post I will have to write about something else. I like movies to much and what fun is it writing a blog if you can’t rant about something you hate. I’ll build up some old frustrations for next time.

Go Riders Go!

My First Blog- anybody care?

2007-07-20T14:06:00.000-07:00

So I’ve decide to give this blogging thing a go. Obviously I’m just having a slow day at work. What can I say it’s Friday afternoon and I’m looking out the window at a beautiful day, wishing I were anywhere but here.

I think I want to dedicate my first blog to making the roadways a better place to be. Few things cause me stress like the drivers I have to deal with on the road. I won’t claim to be one of the best drivers out there, as I’m usually one false move away from starting a 7 car pile up, but at least I get where I’m going in a hurry and I try to be courteous to other drivers. I think if everyone on the road followed the 5 rules below, the world would be a better place.
1) On any road with a posted speed limit of 70 km/h or higher, you always drive in the right lane except to pass. This one is without a doubt the top of the list, why some people think the left lane was built for their exclusive use is beyond me.
2) When driving on a signal lane highway always pass the vehicle in front of you. As soon as you choose to follow right behind that person, it make it harder for the next person coming behind you to pass, and then it snowballs until there is 16 cars traveling down the road together like one giant snake, filled with many angry little people. Then for the one guy (me) who decides to make the pass from the back, it becomes about as dangerous as a walk through Regina north central at 3am on a Friday night with a bottle of whiskey in one hand and a pack of du Mauriers in the other.
3) Frickin Signal. It does make a difference. And do it before you actually start turning or moving into the next lane, at that point I already know what your doing and it’s kinda pointless.
4) Always drive at least 10km’s above the posted speed limit (weather permitting). Chances of getting a ticket are almost nil and we’ll all get where we’re going a little bit quicker. Those 30 seconds you cost me, because I didn’t get through that light will add up over a lifetime. I don’t want to spend my life sitting in my car at red lights. If you want to drive faster than that it’s cool with me too, but it’s your ticket.
5) Keep cell phone use to a minimum. As soon as you put a cell phone to your ear you start driving like an 80 year old woman with a heavy foot, myself included. At times it’s necessary, but make it quick.
- Others to consider: Turn your lights on, get aggressive at 4 way stops, turn into your first available lane, and learn how to merge.

Any other driving thoughts, please leave them in the comments section.

So this probably isn't a great blog debut, but I’ve always been a slow starter…and a poor finisher. Just ask Michelle.

Go Riders Go.