MONDAY…
--- Work is alright. Pretty busy but fine.
--- Squash night is fine for the sweat but I’m not winning much. Bah!
TUESDAY…
--- Work is pretty good. Not too busy but not sitting around bored either. After work it’s movie night with Missy… double feature at the Mayfair. Two very different and good movies. I especially like Half Nelson… but it’s no feel good, cheery flick… for the most part anyway.
--- Thanks to the movie it’s a late night to bed.
WEDNESDAY…
--- Work is sort of busy with a tour coming through for me to deal with and a few extra hours after the day is over with Linda and me working on resumes.
--- Little early evening nap.
THURSDAY…
--- Near that time when I have to say I just stink at squash. I think I’m getting worse! Racquet sports have never been my thing.
--- Work is alright… sort of slow morning and busy afternoon.
FRIDAY…
--- Work’s okay. Meatloaf for lunch is quite good actually, that cafeteria does it all.
--- Some after work drinks with Nick, Louis, Casey and Isaac.
--- Evening in front of the computer, and with the World Series, and some other TV… and a nap.
SATURDAY…
--- Quebec is a nation again. The Liberals are starting to talk about calling the Province of Quebec a nation within the nation of Canada. If this becomes a serious Liberal push whenever the next federal election comes, I won’t vote Liberal. Quebec is a nation just as Newfoundland is. The two provinces are just as unique… there’s more to it than language and I, as a Newfoundlander, won’t accept special rights given to Quebec while Newfoundland gets lumped in with the rest of the country. Stupid stuff… if this is the way politics will go, Canada will die. There’s probably at least six or seven ‘nations’ within Canada. Pacific Nation… Prairie Nation… Quebec… Ontario… Maritime… Newfoundland… Northern Nation… Native Nation. For me, Quebec is either part of Canada or it isn’t… and the people of Quebec have to make up their mind what they want and that’s it. And perhaps, the people of Quebec is nothing more than a minority of outspoken ones… cause when it came to a vote historically, the people choose Canada.
Rocket Leaves
So much would be missed with blindness. And no, I’m not going blind… I just recently got a new pair of glasses and see things a bit more clearly than I had for the last year or two.
And sitting here, wondering what to write about today, I was looking out the window on a grey, blustery day… and I just watched leaves shot up through the air.
Talk of blindness always goes back to the basic visions we’d lose. Sunsets… the face of a loved one… mountain vistas. It’s all true. I’d miss all of these things if I was never able to see again.
But there’s the other things like… skyward shooting leaves. Fall always gives the image of red, yellow and orange leaves drifting gently to the ground. The tree lets go and watches them drop to the earth.
It’s the unique that we need to pay attention to though. I’m sitting in my second story living room with no tree visible from my seat, and I just saw several leaves launched upwards by the gusts of swirling wind.
There are many things not to be taken for granted. Moonlight on the sea. Mischievously gleaming eyes. Looking down at the lights of a small town from atop a mountain, just as dusk fades to night.
I’ve enjoyed seeing my father standing in the airport, looking around the arrivals room and not seeing me until I’m standing there slapping him on the shoulder.
I’ve enjoyed seeing my niece’s eyes. You can see their thoughts through their eyes… one working through and analysing and the other plotting and demanding your love.
There’s my sister’s laugh… which although it can be heard, the visual adds to the moment.
Sometimes vision is needed to protect ones safety. Walking with my mother is often a hazardous event. Only once have I felt the ache but I’ve feared it often and watch her pendulum of pain closely. You see, mom walks a touch faster than I do and she walks with her right arm swinging back and forth in a most energetic way. And mom is shorter than me… leaving her club like hand perfectly in line for delicate locations on the men of this world.
If I walked faster, I’d be along side rather than slightly behind… if I were taller, my thigh would take the brunt of the damage… shorter, and my stomach’s abs could be tightened in time for protection. But at my height and pace of walk… I must watch my mom closely at all times.
There’s much to see. Some of it you fear, some of it you love. And some things just trigger the imagination to dream up all sorts of thoughts and emotions. Just look what a skyward bound set of leaves did for me.
Sunday, October 29, 2006
Sunday, October 22, 2006
Making It Up As I Go Along #241
MONDAY…
--- Some morning movies and e-mails. Work is fine… not much out of the ordinary one way or the other really.
--- Long walk after work. An hour around the neighbourhood with the MP3 player blasting.
TUESDAY…
--- Fairly good day in the office. A couple of meetings to start the day and I’m in for an hour longer than normal… but it’s some banked time to use later on.
WEDNESDAY…
--- A couple of work meetings again today. And a few drinks after work with some of the boys. Not a bad time.
THURSDAY…
--- Four meetings and an hour pulled out of the normal to help the boss to try to retrieve a document. Not much work gets done with a schedule like that… well, regular work anyway.
--- In keeping with the week, I fall asleep on the sofa for a while tonight, wake around 3:30… and aim for bed around 4:00. Not great for the sleep schedule.
FRIDAY…
--- Work is busy but good. Supper is Pizza Hut. First time I’ve had the stuff in years… and thanks to the likes of Laura and Megan, I can even eat a Hawaiian pizza without having to bribe someone into it.
--- After work drinks with several of the guys from work and some of the friends of one of them… it’s a pretty good time.
--- The sofa takes me to dream land.
SATURDAY…
--- Some morning e-mails… off to Shannon’s for Dick’s Diner and some baseball on TV. I’m hoping it’ll be a good World Series.
First Snowfall
Leaves of orange, yellow and red.
Yesterday, they glowed
With a clear blue background.
Today, they wilt in grey.
Lovers in sweater and fleece.
Yesterday they walked entwined along the canal
With squirrels exploring fallen leaves.
Today, they huddle indoors with lights on at noon.
Snow is spoken of with romance.
Gentle flakes floating in dream worlds
With mittened children and the smell of wood stoves.
But first snow is wet, rainy and drives the living into hiding.
February snow is that of forest trails.
Skiing, skating, laughter and hot chocolate
With miniature snowshoe tracks of bunnies.
First snow is that of cold, wet concrete.
It falls but the ground remains green.
Colourful leaves stay today but will be gone tomorrow.
From 7:30 to 6:00, all daylight is dusk.
First snowfall is here.
--- Some morning movies and e-mails. Work is fine… not much out of the ordinary one way or the other really.
--- Long walk after work. An hour around the neighbourhood with the MP3 player blasting.
TUESDAY…
--- Fairly good day in the office. A couple of meetings to start the day and I’m in for an hour longer than normal… but it’s some banked time to use later on.
WEDNESDAY…
--- A couple of work meetings again today. And a few drinks after work with some of the boys. Not a bad time.
THURSDAY…
--- Four meetings and an hour pulled out of the normal to help the boss to try to retrieve a document. Not much work gets done with a schedule like that… well, regular work anyway.
--- In keeping with the week, I fall asleep on the sofa for a while tonight, wake around 3:30… and aim for bed around 4:00. Not great for the sleep schedule.
FRIDAY…
--- Work is busy but good. Supper is Pizza Hut. First time I’ve had the stuff in years… and thanks to the likes of Laura and Megan, I can even eat a Hawaiian pizza without having to bribe someone into it.
--- After work drinks with several of the guys from work and some of the friends of one of them… it’s a pretty good time.
--- The sofa takes me to dream land.
SATURDAY…
--- Some morning e-mails… off to Shannon’s for Dick’s Diner and some baseball on TV. I’m hoping it’ll be a good World Series.
First Snowfall
Leaves of orange, yellow and red.
Yesterday, they glowed
With a clear blue background.
Today, they wilt in grey.
Lovers in sweater and fleece.
Yesterday they walked entwined along the canal
With squirrels exploring fallen leaves.
Today, they huddle indoors with lights on at noon.
Snow is spoken of with romance.
Gentle flakes floating in dream worlds
With mittened children and the smell of wood stoves.
But first snow is wet, rainy and drives the living into hiding.
February snow is that of forest trails.
Skiing, skating, laughter and hot chocolate
With miniature snowshoe tracks of bunnies.
First snow is that of cold, wet concrete.
It falls but the ground remains green.
Colourful leaves stay today but will be gone tomorrow.
From 7:30 to 6:00, all daylight is dusk.
First snowfall is here.
Sunday, October 15, 2006
Making It Up As I Go Along #240
MONDAY…
--- Downtown with mom and dad. We do the canal and have a snack at a patio in the Market. After that it’s around the house with Melissa and her folks visiting in the evening.
TUESDAY…
--- End of the six day weekend and it felt like only a couple of days. Bought new glasses with mom and dad’s input… should get them by the weekend.
--- Drop mom and dad off at the airport in the early afternoon. It was a nice visit with them here.
WEDNESDAY…
--- Busy day at the office. And a typical day shift day with me having a nap after work.
THURSDAY…
--- Little sleep and a busy day moving CNI back to the first floor. It all makes for a bit of a tricky day.
--- After work nap and squash… and I stink at squash tonight. A few good moments but I beat nobody and seem to run out of gas or something.
FRIDAY…
--- Sort of busy day at work. Some wet snow through the morning and evening and I have to scrape the car for the first time this season.
--- An easy going night with some groceries and e-mail writing and baseball on TV.
SATURDAY…
--- Quiet day. But I should feel a little unwanted. The business world has been known to hustle for your business but, in the last week, I’ve been ignored by Toyota when it comes to getting my replacement driver’s side mirror… and now the same goes with my glasses. A call saying they were ready for yesterday… I go in to see only sunglasses ready. They say both pairs will be ready by 4:00 Saturday and that they’ll call me then… the call never comes. Businesses, as reliable as… well… as… umm… well they aren’t very reliable at all. Anyway, I call them… go get the new specs… and now I realize that my eyes were getting a fair bit worse… good change.
--- Little Stevey Harper was at it again this week. I’ll call him Little Stevey cause he’s saying very adolescent things. When a Liberal candidate claims an individual Israeli attack on a Lebanese town was a war crime, that doesn’t give the Prime Minister free reign to claim the entire Liberal party is anti-Israeli. And anyway, claiming an act was a war crime has nothing to do with overall support. Support for an ally doesn’t include blindly supporting everything that ally does. Little Stevey would be a dangerous player on the world stage if Canada had any real say in world events. This is one time I’m glad Canada has a small voice cause Stevey is an embarrassment with his generalizations.
Grandpa Simpson Said it Best
I find image a fascinating thing. Everybody has some level of concern regarding their image. Even those that claim they don’t care about image are portraying a particular image. The fact is, no matter what you do in this world, there will be an image of you that others will pick up on. Sometimes it’s the image you wish to give off, and other times it’s not. And acceptance of different images are always changing.
An example of the change of image acceptance is found in the world of rap and hip hop music. Back when I was in high school, this was seen as a purely black form of music. The thought of white rappers was on par with the black country singer.
Still, some in our school wanted to be seen as a rapper. They didn’t rap though… they just liked the image of it. So you’d see white Newfoundlanders trying to dress and talk like black men from the ghettos of American cities.
To the credit of most, we saw this as people trying to be something they aren’t. They were being fake and caught up in an image rather than reality and, like any respectful high school student would, we put them in their place.
Ridicule, shunning, physical abuse all acted as deterrents to the black wannabes. They were made to reform or their lives would be hell.
Today, the wannabes have won the war. It’s now okay to be a white hip hop or rap performer. To be from suburban, white Canada and to try to live like the downtown, black American has now been seen as a form of acceptable expression.
Does this make us better for being tolerant or accepting of other styles and beliefs? Or does it make us more superficial and searching for our identity through the mainstream media? Probably it’s a bit of both.
Changes in images go beyond music. Sports have also seen a shift in style.
Once upon a time, an athlete was expected to show class, sportsmanship, and manliness. Today, we see trash talking at an all time high with the sports journalists, by in large, supporting the practice. And we see a change in what makes a man… well… a man.
Maurice Richard was thrown in the box for two minutes for “looking so good.” This was during his time selling a hair product that covered grey hair. Even then, Richard took some heat for it… real men didn’t put products in their hair. If they went grey, they went grey and others would support their manhood.
Today, hair products have been overtaken by sexual enhancement drugs. Last night, I watched the home opener for the Montreal Canadiens (Ironically enough, Maurice Richard’s team). At the boards, to the right of centre… for the entire TV world to see… was a banner for Viagra. Twenty years ago, an athlete talking about needing sexual help in the form of a pill would be thrown in the corner and beaten for his weakness. This would fall under the same cloud as homosexuality in the sporting world. After all, athletes are virile men.
Have we become more tolerant when it comes to the athlete? I guess we have to a degree. But again, it falls under what’s acceptable. In the same way that we now accept trash talk and classless behaviour, we accept the fact that an athlete will endorse a product (any product) to make an extra buck. Selling Viagra is now seen as being no different than selling a Ford truck. So maybe we’ll see Wayne Gretzky jump from the automobile world to that of the bedroom… and then we’ll be in for a real treat.
Some images flat out lie. Body building is supposed to show strength and health. But the reality of it is that of supreme superficiality. Tanning beds, drugs and nutritional supplements are as key to that way of life as training. Men all strive to be black in the same way that Michael Jackson has become white and many women are expected to get their boobs done so that they can still be seen as feminine. Neither image comes off as very healthy to me.
And when you think of it, body builders once held the image of being among the most manly of all men… but some of their main concerns now are enough tanning time at the salon, shaving their bodies, and putting blonde highlights in their hair.
Talking about shaving male bodies (a topic I never thought I’d write about… and I feel slightly disturbed having written the phrase “talking about shaving male bodies”) what’s with the increased desire to shave anyway? Most men on TV have hairless chests now. Come to think of it, they have hairless legs too. Will we start seeing evening television with a heterosexual man running a razor down his leg in a bubble bath?
How is it that men who behave more and more feminine are becoming more and more desired by women? Twenty years ago, if you shaved your chest you were seen as a pansy and too worried about the superficial. Today, you’ll get the girl. It’s all quite confusing for those of us trying to “keep it real”.
It all reminds me of a Simpson’s quote. And it pretty well speaks for how I view this entire image makeover that we’re seeing in society. Grandpa Simpson put it so eloquently when he said…
“I used to be with ‘it’, but then they changed what ‘it’ was… now what I’m with isn’t ‘it’… and what’s ‘it’ is weird and scary to me.”
Bless the Simpson’s.
--- Downtown with mom and dad. We do the canal and have a snack at a patio in the Market. After that it’s around the house with Melissa and her folks visiting in the evening.
TUESDAY…
--- End of the six day weekend and it felt like only a couple of days. Bought new glasses with mom and dad’s input… should get them by the weekend.
--- Drop mom and dad off at the airport in the early afternoon. It was a nice visit with them here.
WEDNESDAY…
--- Busy day at the office. And a typical day shift day with me having a nap after work.
THURSDAY…
--- Little sleep and a busy day moving CNI back to the first floor. It all makes for a bit of a tricky day.
--- After work nap and squash… and I stink at squash tonight. A few good moments but I beat nobody and seem to run out of gas or something.
FRIDAY…
--- Sort of busy day at work. Some wet snow through the morning and evening and I have to scrape the car for the first time this season.
--- An easy going night with some groceries and e-mail writing and baseball on TV.
SATURDAY…
--- Quiet day. But I should feel a little unwanted. The business world has been known to hustle for your business but, in the last week, I’ve been ignored by Toyota when it comes to getting my replacement driver’s side mirror… and now the same goes with my glasses. A call saying they were ready for yesterday… I go in to see only sunglasses ready. They say both pairs will be ready by 4:00 Saturday and that they’ll call me then… the call never comes. Businesses, as reliable as… well… as… umm… well they aren’t very reliable at all. Anyway, I call them… go get the new specs… and now I realize that my eyes were getting a fair bit worse… good change.
--- Little Stevey Harper was at it again this week. I’ll call him Little Stevey cause he’s saying very adolescent things. When a Liberal candidate claims an individual Israeli attack on a Lebanese town was a war crime, that doesn’t give the Prime Minister free reign to claim the entire Liberal party is anti-Israeli. And anyway, claiming an act was a war crime has nothing to do with overall support. Support for an ally doesn’t include blindly supporting everything that ally does. Little Stevey would be a dangerous player on the world stage if Canada had any real say in world events. This is one time I’m glad Canada has a small voice cause Stevey is an embarrassment with his generalizations.
Grandpa Simpson Said it Best
I find image a fascinating thing. Everybody has some level of concern regarding their image. Even those that claim they don’t care about image are portraying a particular image. The fact is, no matter what you do in this world, there will be an image of you that others will pick up on. Sometimes it’s the image you wish to give off, and other times it’s not. And acceptance of different images are always changing.
An example of the change of image acceptance is found in the world of rap and hip hop music. Back when I was in high school, this was seen as a purely black form of music. The thought of white rappers was on par with the black country singer.
Still, some in our school wanted to be seen as a rapper. They didn’t rap though… they just liked the image of it. So you’d see white Newfoundlanders trying to dress and talk like black men from the ghettos of American cities.
To the credit of most, we saw this as people trying to be something they aren’t. They were being fake and caught up in an image rather than reality and, like any respectful high school student would, we put them in their place.
Ridicule, shunning, physical abuse all acted as deterrents to the black wannabes. They were made to reform or their lives would be hell.
Today, the wannabes have won the war. It’s now okay to be a white hip hop or rap performer. To be from suburban, white Canada and to try to live like the downtown, black American has now been seen as a form of acceptable expression.
Does this make us better for being tolerant or accepting of other styles and beliefs? Or does it make us more superficial and searching for our identity through the mainstream media? Probably it’s a bit of both.
Changes in images go beyond music. Sports have also seen a shift in style.
Once upon a time, an athlete was expected to show class, sportsmanship, and manliness. Today, we see trash talking at an all time high with the sports journalists, by in large, supporting the practice. And we see a change in what makes a man… well… a man.
Maurice Richard was thrown in the box for two minutes for “looking so good.” This was during his time selling a hair product that covered grey hair. Even then, Richard took some heat for it… real men didn’t put products in their hair. If they went grey, they went grey and others would support their manhood.
Today, hair products have been overtaken by sexual enhancement drugs. Last night, I watched the home opener for the Montreal Canadiens (Ironically enough, Maurice Richard’s team). At the boards, to the right of centre… for the entire TV world to see… was a banner for Viagra. Twenty years ago, an athlete talking about needing sexual help in the form of a pill would be thrown in the corner and beaten for his weakness. This would fall under the same cloud as homosexuality in the sporting world. After all, athletes are virile men.
Have we become more tolerant when it comes to the athlete? I guess we have to a degree. But again, it falls under what’s acceptable. In the same way that we now accept trash talk and classless behaviour, we accept the fact that an athlete will endorse a product (any product) to make an extra buck. Selling Viagra is now seen as being no different than selling a Ford truck. So maybe we’ll see Wayne Gretzky jump from the automobile world to that of the bedroom… and then we’ll be in for a real treat.
Some images flat out lie. Body building is supposed to show strength and health. But the reality of it is that of supreme superficiality. Tanning beds, drugs and nutritional supplements are as key to that way of life as training. Men all strive to be black in the same way that Michael Jackson has become white and many women are expected to get their boobs done so that they can still be seen as feminine. Neither image comes off as very healthy to me.
And when you think of it, body builders once held the image of being among the most manly of all men… but some of their main concerns now are enough tanning time at the salon, shaving their bodies, and putting blonde highlights in their hair.
Talking about shaving male bodies (a topic I never thought I’d write about… and I feel slightly disturbed having written the phrase “talking about shaving male bodies”) what’s with the increased desire to shave anyway? Most men on TV have hairless chests now. Come to think of it, they have hairless legs too. Will we start seeing evening television with a heterosexual man running a razor down his leg in a bubble bath?
How is it that men who behave more and more feminine are becoming more and more desired by women? Twenty years ago, if you shaved your chest you were seen as a pansy and too worried about the superficial. Today, you’ll get the girl. It’s all quite confusing for those of us trying to “keep it real”.
It all reminds me of a Simpson’s quote. And it pretty well speaks for how I view this entire image makeover that we’re seeing in society. Grandpa Simpson put it so eloquently when he said…
“I used to be with ‘it’, but then they changed what ‘it’ was… now what I’m with isn’t ‘it’… and what’s ‘it’ is weird and scary to me.”
Bless the Simpson’s.
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Making It Up As I Go Along #239 story
A bit of a short commentary on things. A weekend of mom and dad is good but it doesn’t make for lots of writing opportunities. So I’ll get back to a more regular thing next week and be somewhat brief with this week’s story…
Thanksgiving
What makes Thanksgiving? Family for sure. I think I could go through a Thanksgiving weekend without family. It’s not like there’d have to be a suicide watch or something like that. But having family around makes it all the better.
I may not say much when they’re around and living in my space with two other people does take getting used to (since I’m alone in this space 90% of the time) but it’s a solid feeling not to have to be speaking and, in a world where interactions come with limits, it’s good to not worry about the things I say.
Leaves. A week before mom and dad arrived, the leaves began to change colour. And with the parents here, the sun shone down and the multicoloured world began to glow around us.
Of course, mom made it her mission to search out red leaves. Anything red had to be photographed. Small bushes of red would gain her attention while great forests of gold were viewed with a shrug.
Fleeces. You know when Thanksgiving is here when you can wear a fleece comfortably. Canada may be all about hockey and Tim Horton’s coffee but nothing feels more Canadian than wearing a fleece while walking through a multicoloured forest.
Turkey. It is a family tradition to eat turkey. And I know everyone eats turkey at Thanksgiving but my mother’s family goes insane on the bird. Twenty-five pound birds feed two or three people. Great mounds of Turkey carcass sit after a meal… a sign of the meals for the coming four or five days.
Naps in front of football games. It happened again this year. Me in the chair and dad laid out on the sofa. Bits of commentator dialogue reach us like a distant foghorn. It can be heard but it’s almost more a figment of imagination than an audible sound.
And when the room darkens around us, I wake, check the score… become disgusted with what I see… and tell dad to wake up and turn the channel. I walk away and see what mom is doing while dad leaves the soothing drone on as he snoozes some more.
Back home it was all about the smells. Going to my parent’s house to have a warm house wafting with aromas. And when the evening was over, I’d return to my own place and carry buckets full of leftovers.
Now it’s a gathering at my place. Bacon and coffee greet me when I go down the stairs (not that the smell of coffee does anything for me). Where Uncles Wayne and Wince would see me back home, Uncle Bill comes around here in Ottawa. And evenings are quite in my living room. A movie or some episodes of Fawlty Towers on DVD. And my parents starting to drift off prior to bedtime.
Thanksgiving is a combination of sightseeing, walking, eating and relaxing with family. In Newfoundland or Ottawa, it’s a holiday that’s all about togetherness.
Sunday, October 08, 2006
Making It Up As I Go Along #239 (week only)
A story and some pictures will come sometime on Tuesday coming. But with the folks here and busy times for the Thanksgiving weekend, all I can offer for the Sunday fill is the weekly portion of things. And, if you only get the e-mails and don’t check the blog, the pictures won’t be coming for you.
Anyway, Happy Thanksgiving and check in or expect another e-mail on Tuesday evening.
MONDAY…
--- Back is improving still but not great yet.
--- Work is alright. Work an extra hour tonight to bank some time… also, thanks to Laura, I see my first ever pink Ottawa Senator jersey. The whole team should use those… it suits the pansies.
TUESDAY…
--- Eye exam and either new glasses or laser eye surgery will soon be bought or planned.
--- Busy night at work.
--- And by the end of the night, my back is up to about 90%. I have flexibility and can walk with energy once again. Health is a thing to never take for granted.
WEDNESDAY…
--- Back is a little delicate but, by the time I go to work, pretty well 100%. I skip staff appreciation day. That means no BBQ… no staff picture… no extra long lunch… all to work my regular evening shift.
--- Greek for supper and a busy but longish night at work… but then I’m done until next Wednesday for Thanksgiving.
THURSDAY…
--- Off work… get mom and dad around 1:00… lunch, some groceries… a walk… supper… a little TV. Nice having them around but I found it weird not being at work when I’m in Ottawa. Anytime I’m off work, I usually go out of town. So it’s odd thinking of where co-workers would be at a given time and I’m not where I would be. Stupid me… I need to take more time off if this is what I think about.
FRIDAY…
--- Museum of Civilization with the folks. Two Imax movies and the Petra exhibit. Deep Sea is a good Imax movie… but Kate Winslet and Johnny Depp aren’t top notch narrators.
SATURDAY…
--- The Wakefield Steam Train ride today. Good stuff with the Fall leaves. We get lost in Quebec before getting back home though. Those roads over there… it’s a maze!
Anyway, Happy Thanksgiving and check in or expect another e-mail on Tuesday evening.
MONDAY…
--- Back is improving still but not great yet.
--- Work is alright. Work an extra hour tonight to bank some time… also, thanks to Laura, I see my first ever pink Ottawa Senator jersey. The whole team should use those… it suits the pansies.
TUESDAY…
--- Eye exam and either new glasses or laser eye surgery will soon be bought or planned.
--- Busy night at work.
--- And by the end of the night, my back is up to about 90%. I have flexibility and can walk with energy once again. Health is a thing to never take for granted.
WEDNESDAY…
--- Back is a little delicate but, by the time I go to work, pretty well 100%. I skip staff appreciation day. That means no BBQ… no staff picture… no extra long lunch… all to work my regular evening shift.
--- Greek for supper and a busy but longish night at work… but then I’m done until next Wednesday for Thanksgiving.
THURSDAY…
--- Off work… get mom and dad around 1:00… lunch, some groceries… a walk… supper… a little TV. Nice having them around but I found it weird not being at work when I’m in Ottawa. Anytime I’m off work, I usually go out of town. So it’s odd thinking of where co-workers would be at a given time and I’m not where I would be. Stupid me… I need to take more time off if this is what I think about.
FRIDAY…
--- Museum of Civilization with the folks. Two Imax movies and the Petra exhibit. Deep Sea is a good Imax movie… but Kate Winslet and Johnny Depp aren’t top notch narrators.
SATURDAY…
--- The Wakefield Steam Train ride today. Good stuff with the Fall leaves. We get lost in Quebec before getting back home though. Those roads over there… it’s a maze!
Sunday, October 01, 2006
Making It Up As I Go Along #238
MONDAY…
--- Work is fast going… busy day. Lunch across with Melissa, Janice and Shawn. Squash is fine… not as good as last time around but okay. My hamstring was a little sore today anyway so I’m not surprised I was less effective.
TUESDAY…
--- Busy day at work… do some reading at lunch… and it’s a Woody Allen movie tonight (Scoop is pretty good).
WEDNESDAY…
--- Work is okay… but there are some people issues in my life right now and that is somewhat exhausting.
--- Prepare for the hockey pool draft on Friday… figuring the forwards is kind of hard this year.
THURSDAY…
--- Bad back all day today… slept funny or stress or fighting a cold or something. Lunch is a rare thing today… me and Kiyomi. We aren’t on same shift very often anymore.
--- Supper out with family… Ruby and Lee… my friend and their God Daughter, Melissa… and me. Nice evening.
FRIDAY…
--- Back is not doing well today. Still, I get through work and host the office hockey pool alright. I like my team, we have pretty good pizza, and it’s kind of fun having a group in the house for the evening.
SATURDAY…
--- Spent mostly on my back. It’s still very sore and I figure a day of as much rest as I can give it will help. By the end of the day it seems to be working… or it may just be the drugs kicking in. Either way, movies and some news and lots of sleep are all that happens today.
Another quick story. I’m working Sunday afternoon and was laid up trying to fix my back Saturday. So writing time has been at a premium. And for parents that may worry upon the reading… today, the back feels like it’s on the rebound. So don’t be too concerned.
Week of Pain
A week of pain. And it’s not the pain of my youth. Not the pain of playing a half dozen games of ball over two and a half days. The pain of bruises and hyper extended fingers and twisted ankles.
No, this week’s pain is that of less honour. On Sunday I hit a bucket of golf balls with my uncle Lee. We almost didn’t do it because of the wind gusts of the day. Such a defeatist attitude… a sign of the times to come.
After hitting the balls, there was the pain in my thumb. A little blistering from a lack of a golf glove.
The next day, I walk around my world with a tight and sore hamstring. I’ve had hamstring problems over the years. Running bases with explosive speed as the finely tuned pistons that are my legs chucked me around the base paths. Of course, from time to time, such a machine will develop kinks. And, by the fall of the season, it wouldn’t be uncommon for me to have to tape up my thighs in hopes of keeping my hamstrings from popping right out of the back of my pants. And many times, playing goal in the sauna heat of the summer ball hockey league, my hamstrings would cramp or strain.
But now… after an hour at the driving range and a night’s sleep, I have a sore hamstring. Simply pathetic.
Still, warrior athlete that I am, squash was played on Monday night and I took the tightness and pain and used it as motivation to play.
More problems on Wednesday. I wake in the morning and climb out of bed with tightness in my lower back. Is it a three day delay from that bloody driving range? Is it the squash of the day before yesterday? Stress? A cold? Or did I just role over funny sometime in the middle of the night? Either way… once again, it’s pathetic.
Thursday has back problems remain. And, when I’m getting the garbage and recycling ready to put out for the morning, I brush my toe off of a recycling box. Not even a hard stub… just a brush. I suppose I’ve been fighting a slight ingrown toenail. Or perhaps I’m just growing into my wimpy ways.
For the next minute, this slight brushing of my toe causes shots of pain to shoot through my foot and half way up my knee. What has happened to me? I used to play fastpitch softball and ball hockey on the same day… taking my equipment for one and leaving it in the car while playing the other. And now I have a body breakdown by driving some golf balls, playing squash, and taking out the trash all within a 96 hour timeframe.
It’s a sad state of affairs when such things beat me down. Yesterday, I slept for four or five hours through the day, trying to regain my back’s strength… and it did little. My toe has finally seemed to recover though… and my hamstring is back in piston-like order. So, I guess like the song says… two out of three ain’t bad.
--- Work is fast going… busy day. Lunch across with Melissa, Janice and Shawn. Squash is fine… not as good as last time around but okay. My hamstring was a little sore today anyway so I’m not surprised I was less effective.
TUESDAY…
--- Busy day at work… do some reading at lunch… and it’s a Woody Allen movie tonight (Scoop is pretty good).
WEDNESDAY…
--- Work is okay… but there are some people issues in my life right now and that is somewhat exhausting.
--- Prepare for the hockey pool draft on Friday… figuring the forwards is kind of hard this year.
THURSDAY…
--- Bad back all day today… slept funny or stress or fighting a cold or something. Lunch is a rare thing today… me and Kiyomi. We aren’t on same shift very often anymore.
--- Supper out with family… Ruby and Lee… my friend and their God Daughter, Melissa… and me. Nice evening.
FRIDAY…
--- Back is not doing well today. Still, I get through work and host the office hockey pool alright. I like my team, we have pretty good pizza, and it’s kind of fun having a group in the house for the evening.
SATURDAY…
--- Spent mostly on my back. It’s still very sore and I figure a day of as much rest as I can give it will help. By the end of the day it seems to be working… or it may just be the drugs kicking in. Either way, movies and some news and lots of sleep are all that happens today.
Another quick story. I’m working Sunday afternoon and was laid up trying to fix my back Saturday. So writing time has been at a premium. And for parents that may worry upon the reading… today, the back feels like it’s on the rebound. So don’t be too concerned.
Week of Pain
A week of pain. And it’s not the pain of my youth. Not the pain of playing a half dozen games of ball over two and a half days. The pain of bruises and hyper extended fingers and twisted ankles.
No, this week’s pain is that of less honour. On Sunday I hit a bucket of golf balls with my uncle Lee. We almost didn’t do it because of the wind gusts of the day. Such a defeatist attitude… a sign of the times to come.
After hitting the balls, there was the pain in my thumb. A little blistering from a lack of a golf glove.
The next day, I walk around my world with a tight and sore hamstring. I’ve had hamstring problems over the years. Running bases with explosive speed as the finely tuned pistons that are my legs chucked me around the base paths. Of course, from time to time, such a machine will develop kinks. And, by the fall of the season, it wouldn’t be uncommon for me to have to tape up my thighs in hopes of keeping my hamstrings from popping right out of the back of my pants. And many times, playing goal in the sauna heat of the summer ball hockey league, my hamstrings would cramp or strain.
But now… after an hour at the driving range and a night’s sleep, I have a sore hamstring. Simply pathetic.
Still, warrior athlete that I am, squash was played on Monday night and I took the tightness and pain and used it as motivation to play.
More problems on Wednesday. I wake in the morning and climb out of bed with tightness in my lower back. Is it a three day delay from that bloody driving range? Is it the squash of the day before yesterday? Stress? A cold? Or did I just role over funny sometime in the middle of the night? Either way… once again, it’s pathetic.
Thursday has back problems remain. And, when I’m getting the garbage and recycling ready to put out for the morning, I brush my toe off of a recycling box. Not even a hard stub… just a brush. I suppose I’ve been fighting a slight ingrown toenail. Or perhaps I’m just growing into my wimpy ways.
For the next minute, this slight brushing of my toe causes shots of pain to shoot through my foot and half way up my knee. What has happened to me? I used to play fastpitch softball and ball hockey on the same day… taking my equipment for one and leaving it in the car while playing the other. And now I have a body breakdown by driving some golf balls, playing squash, and taking out the trash all within a 96 hour timeframe.
It’s a sad state of affairs when such things beat me down. Yesterday, I slept for four or five hours through the day, trying to regain my back’s strength… and it did little. My toe has finally seemed to recover though… and my hamstring is back in piston-like order. So, I guess like the song says… two out of three ain’t bad.
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