Making It Up As I Go Along #216

MONDAY…
--- Alright day at work… some groceries picked up in the evening… and hockey to end things off.

TUESDAY…
--- Work is fine. Go for lunch with Bill, Dave, Mike and Derek. Lots of e-mail time when I get home… sometimes e-mail time isn’t great.
--- Cold and windy today. There’s even a flake or two of snow when I come back from lunch.

WEDNESDAY…
--- Busy day at work with three people off today. Still not bad though. Hockey on TV tonight… seeing the beginning of a playoff game in Montreal is enough to give goose bumps. It’s why one would scoff at Ottawa calling itself Hockey Country and Toronto calling itself Hockeytown… or whatever catchphrase they go for. Montreal is where hockey is the game.

THURSDAY…
--- Tough day at work… kind of busy and lots of things to have to juggle. Although talking with Isabelle on one break and going walking with Mike and Kiyomi on another is good.
--- Go to a movie with Karl tonight. Neil Young’s Prairie Wind is just him in concert but it’s really good. Neil Young is what makes American Idol silliness.

FRIDAY…
--- Last day with current team. It’s also hockey jersey day at work. No Ottawa Senator jersey for me though… Team Canada comes out instead.
--- Evening in with hockey on TV and some time on the phone.

SATURDAY…
--- Walk with Karl in the morning. Mer Bleu is a pretty good spot to go… reminds me a little of Pippy Park back home.
--- Hockey on TV at Shannon’s. Edmonton looking pretty good against Detroit.
--- Dick’s Diner for supper after the game… perfection in a burger.


Dogs, TVs and Hockey Jerseys
Lots of things came up this week so we’ll do a little covering of an assortment of things.

As I write this, one of the neighbours, whose unit attaches to mine, has a puppy home alone. So I hear barks and whines coming through my wall as the little one wants to rid itself of loneliness.

I last had a dog back in the 1996. I’ve dog sat a bunch of times since then and have been in contact with dogs often over the last ten years… but I haven’t had one of my own. It may soon be time.

I used to say I won’t do it while I’m living alone because there’d be too much pressure for me to go straight home after work to let the dog out. But ninety percent of the time, I do that anyway. Right now, the biggest thing holding me up on getting a dog is the thought of having to get up fifteen minutes earlier (from 5:15 to 5:00) and bundling up in the dead of winter to take the dog outside. Standing and waiting for a pooch to do its business in -35 degree weather isn’t appealing. But maybe it’ll soon be something for me to deal with anyway.

For I found a good spot to take a dog. Yesterday, Karl took me walking through the Mere Bleu trails. It’s partially forest and partially bog with some open fields and hills as well. It reminds me of walking through Pippy Park back home. A place to go to get away from the hustle of the city and a place that a dog would simply love. Some pictures of Mere Bleu will pop up on my blog within the week.

From dogs to television. The more channels I have and the longer I’ve been a TV watcher, the more I dislike watching TV. I still watch. Most nights end with me turning the television off before going to bed. But man is there a lot of junk on there! And when the junk goes to commercial, we get companies trying to brainwash us into buying more junk.

Yesterday, while watching the hockey game with Shannon, we paid attention to one segment of commercials. In this segment we saw two different commercials for the same insurance company. And we saw the same Wendy’s commercial twice. It’s bad enough to get bombarded with ads but when the companies trying to lure us in are so lazy as to just throw the same ad on there time after time as they beat us over the head with it, it just comes off as insulting. They don’t want to entertain. They don’t want to create variety. All they want is to make sure their message is drilled into that skull of yours so that you go and buy from them.

My wish… the government would legislate that no single commercial can be shown, on any given channel, any more than twice in an hour.

But the reality of the situation is that I have more channels to select from than I’ve ever had before in my life and I consistently watch things on the fewest number of channels. In past years, I’d have favourite shows all over the dial. Now I regularly go to about six or seven channels and rarely see things on a few others. I think it’s time to take a serious look at my cable bill and start trimming the fat.

I started thinking this because there was a discussion about the television watching habits of me and several of my co-workers this week. And in the talking, Laura stated how her family still only has five or six channels that they pick up via antenna. It sounded almost stone age but I admired and envied her for it. She doesn’t desire to have more… she doesn’t wish to be like the rest of us… and I felt like she was the better for it. Rather than sit and watch TV all day, wouldn’t it be better to get out and do things? Or if the weather is bad, pick a specific DVD… or read a book? That Laura is wise beyond her years and she has her parent’s television views and an old fashion antenna to thank for it.

This Friday was Hockey Jersey Day at work. Our boss, Tom, told us to wear our Ottawa Senator jerseys to work but I, being an individual of good taste and high standards, have no Senator jersey. So I wore my Team Canada sweater instead and scoffed at the silly people around me.

And that Tom, he’s a major Senator fan. He has his office covered in jerseys, banners, inflatable thunder sticks, signs and who knows what else. Truth be told, I have a hard time entering his office now. The Senator vibe overwhelms me and I drop into a fetal position, searching for a place from within that will comfort and keep me safe.

Yes, on Friday, I saw too many of those bloody Senator heads plastered on too many chests of co-workers. When will these people learn? The only highlight was Laura’s jersey unveiling. She came into the office, called for the attention of the half dozen of us that were milling about, and dropped her coat as if she were on a game show, pulling away the sheet that concealed the mystery prize.

So after this display, I have decided that Laura can pull off the Senator jersey… well, not pull off literally… she can wear the Senator jersey… WEAR it!

I better stop before I get myself in trouble.