Making It Up As I Go Along #254

MONDAY...
— Train Megan some more and it’s going fine.
— Walk with Jackson at a break and it’s pretty cold out.
— Wendy’s for supper is not bad every now and then.

TUESDAY...
— Still training. It’s been busy and there’s fear of overloading Megan’s mind with too much too soon... but we push on and she’s doing fine.
— Get the CD with the office golf pictures on it... I pick the ones I want for my computer. It makes me want summer again.

WEDNESDAY...
— Mostly a meeting night. Megan and I meet with the staff one on one to go over things from the past month and tell them how Megan will plan to do things. Takes away from the teaching and regular work I’d do but needed anyway.

THURSDAY...
— Normal day for this week. Training with Megan and some meetings as well. Get a few groceries on the way home and get my Amazon order arriving in the mail. Extras first season and Unforgiven (the best western I’ve seen).

FRIDAY...
— Last day training Megan. We also have a luncheon for me... with good food and I’m also given a card containing $25 cash... $25 movie money... and $25 at Chapters book store. Really never expected that at all.
— To Leslie’s with Linda for a surprise birthday party (Leslie’s 40th). Then we meet Melissa, Nick, and Sheila (plus some others) to have some food, drink and talking at the bar downtown where the guys from work play music. It’s a good night really.

SATURDAY...
— Quiet day around the house. The Godfather is watched on DVD (my first time seeing it and it is a really good movie. Hockey is also watched (Montreal vs. Toronto must be viewed by real hockey fans).


A Mishmash of Media Thoughts
We’ve gone back in time. From a news/media point of view, we are back in the days of the Hindenburg crashing to the earth with “ohhh the humanity” being cried in the background.

From that time on we had much advancement in the media. TV went from black and white to colour. Grainy pictures gave away to images as clear as looking through a window. And great big cameras that needed to be mounted to pedestals have been replaced by hand held devices.

Satellites allow instant access to any part of the world. But... somewhere along the way, we have fallen down on the quality of what we’re seeing.

Cell phone images and satellite phones have taken over for serious journalism. And the result is a return to grainy, stuttering images. We’ve retained the colour aspect of things... but the quality makes it all look like fifty years ago.

I think children of the future will look at images of today and wonder “what on earth were you people doing?” And that is has been accepted as quality journalism probably says something... and not necessarily a good thing... about today’s journalistic practices.

War in the Middle East has overrun us with low quality images. We see juttery pictures of armour plated assault vehicles speeding through desert terrain. We get disconnected journalists in armour plated vests and helmets. They speak in confused tones about that which happened just seconds ago. For journalism of today, speed takes priority over quality.

A network like CNN would gladly take cell phone pictures and an eyewitness describing an explosion that they’re still in shock about. Giving the time for real reporters to set up and learn the story prior to sharing the relevant details has become frowned upon. There’s a fear of losing the audience to another network that is showing the drama, raw and live.

The problem with all this is that it’s up to the viewer to filter. We see breaking news of an airplane stuck on the tarmac. And the reporters speculate... maybe it’s a highjacking... maybe a bomb found on board... maybe someone snuck a tube of toothpaste onboard. Nobody knows... but we’re all made not to know together. And wasting our time becomes a fact of live. An hour of grainy images of a plane sitting there... “Breaking News” plastered on the bottom of the screen, forcing us to remain glued to the set. Obviously, for twenty-four hour news networks, the story of the Boy Who Cried Wolf hasn’t occurred to them when it comes to using discretion on the “Breaking News” usage.

So we now live in a time where archived footage of news events actually look better and more modern than that footage which occurred last week.

On the positive side of our topsy turvy media world, I can now see live images of my home town anytime I want. In fact, after just writing that sentence, I googled “St John’s Webcams” and came up with a group to look at all on one page. http://www.stormpost.com/cams.pl

I can see downtown, Bell Island, and different roads around the city. I even sat there and watched a car drive by a Portugal Cove front porch with the ocean and rocks serving as a familiar background. And the car that passed did so clearly, and without staggering... it was better than CNN!

That’s the world we live in. I can see 1950s style images of Baghdad on cable TV, or I can go to my personal computer and view clear images from the front porch of some regular person. If ever there’s a terrorist attack in Portugal Cove, I’ll know where to go to view it. Stormpost.com... CNN of the 21st century.

Making It Up As I Go Along #253

MONDAY...
— Training day with Megan. She’ll be fine with the job, of that there’s no doubt.
— Lots of snow today. Probably 10 cm. But it falls while I’m at work and is clearing up by the time I leave... so it’s not bad for driving.
— A few groceries end the day.

TUESDAY...
— More training with Megan. Busy day but going fine.
— Sort through some old e-mails and watch a little TV tonight.

WEDNESDAY...
— Training of Megan is going fine.
— Freezing out the last few days. Around -20 or so.
— Nick comes over after work for drinks, movies, and Chinese food. Not half bad.

THURSDAY...
— Training goes on well. Lots for Megan to take in.
— I skip squash. My neck is a bit tight and I’m tired so I aim for rest around the house instead.

FRIDAY...
— Work with Megan again. We do a meeting for an hour or so in the afternoon.
— Supper and movies with Karl tonight. Borat and Shut up and Sing are two fine movies.

SATURDAY...
— Lazy lazy day. Lots of napping. Seems like the normal thing after a week of days... Saturday I catch up on sleep.
— Cold out anyway... around -15 today.
— To Leslie’s in the evening. I’m one of 14 for Chinese food that she made (not take out). Good time... nice for a change from the norm. Still, with all the laziness, I’m home just after 10:00 and asleep for another half hour before 11:30 comes.


Hair at Thirty-Four
The longest hair upon my head
Is a surprise to balding me
It sprouts out from my poor ear
There for all to see.

On televison, the leading man
Has a head of wavy glory
But five day stubble tops my skull
And on my lobe sits hair quite sorry.

Once there were six inch hairs
They flowed as a mighty mane
But now a half inch solitaire
I pluck with a twinge of pain.

What will coming years bring?
It’s a question I now fear
For it seems quite obvious
The home of locks will be my ear.

Making It Up As I Go Along #252

MONDAY...
— Not much out of the ordinary at or away from work.

TUESDAY...
— Work is okay. I spend time telling my team that I’m likely going to be heading back to AFIS soon and, therefore, giving up the supervisor role. They seem somewhat surprised by it but with my year’s experience just about in, I’m pretty well ready to move back.

WEDNESDAY...
— Things at work improving. I have a talk with a friend that was long overdue and it’s good to get it over with. Pizza for supper... some ice cream cake later.
— I’m officially going to be out as CNI supervisor very soon. There will be some weirdness giving up the responsibility and being able to listen to music as I work again... but after a year of handling the extra responsibilities, it’ll be good to just handle my own work. I’ll start training Megan for my job on Monday.

THURSDAY...
— Quiet evening at work. Not much out of the ordinary.

FRIDAY...
— Real quiet night. Only Louis and I are in CNI tonight with Dave working in another section. I am invited to join my team to be (when I return to AFIS) as they take Megan out for supper before she leaves them for my job... but I don’t really feel like it’s my place to be there since I’m not on the team yet and I also feel like it isn’t a good night to leave CNI for a long supper when it’s only Louis left to do the work. Sounds like the restaurant wasn’t so good anyway... although Laura gets a gift certificate for her troubles after a phone call to the manager of the place. She’s a daring one that Laura.
— Louis pops by for a few hours after work. It’s nice to hang out and chat.

SATURDAY...
— Hockey Day in Canada at Derek’s is a good time. Of course, I wear my Montreal jersey and watch them lose badly to Ottawa 8-3. Everyone else there are Ottawa fans so I have trouble with that one. Good food and fun though.


Hockey Day is Here Again
Hockey Day in Canada has become a tradition. This is the eight year that the NHL has held such a day in the season where all six Canadian teams face off against each other in back to back to back games.

While I lived home, this day didn’t hold any real special place for me. I’d watch the games but there’d be no big party or planned event around it. But now, here in Ottawa, it has become one of the few planned events on my calendar.

Each year, Derek hosts about fifteen of us for the day. We all bring whatever alcohol we may want and a dish for the group to eat and then we let the most Canadian part of Canada rule the day.

For the second straight year, I’m responsible for the vegetable platter. It’s an easy thing for a single guy to do. And I do a change in the jersey I wear.

In a house of Ottawa Senator fans, there is no bigger insult than to wear a Toronto Maple Leaf jersey. Last year I did it and, with another Leaf supporter, we laughed as Montreal beat Ottawa, and Toronto went on to win their game right after. It was sweet victory against the crowd.

This year, I play nice and wear my Montreal Canadiens jersey instead. Even though Montreal is playing Ottawa, Senator fans are not insulted by Montreal support... it’s a complex dynamic.

But my support of Montreal goes for not. They surrender goals early and often and end up losing to Ottawa 8-3. Senator fans are most pleased.

But the games are only a part of the day. In a country as diverse as Canada, there is little that can be looked at and seen as purely Canadian. Hockey is one such thing... I challenge you to name three other things that are really Canadian and not just borrowed from another culture. In fact, I often remember back to a Cultural Geography class I was in back in university. The class was basically stumped when asked by the professor for examples of Canadian culture. I mentioned hockey with laughter from the rest... the prof was straight faced and nodded. She quickly silenced my fellow students... and cultural geography became my specialty.

Hockey brings us together. Most of the supporters are men but even among the women who don’t care about the game, they join such events to support their husbands or boyfriends and to just share in a fun time with others.

Stories are often told, both by fans and their supportive partners. Times when remote controls put holes in walls after the wrong team scored during the playoffs. Times when NHL stars were met back in their junior league days. Some of these players were nice and down to earth... others were arrogant and acted as royalty. And your left watching them there on the TV, wondering if they’ve changed from the time your sofa neighbor is describing. There are stories of comeback victories. There are also stories of a year ago, when we were all gathered in this same place and how the wrong teams for some (right teams for me) won the day.

People are dressed as children. T-shirts and jerseys. Hats with logos. Even wrist bands are donned to support our teams. This year, Derek has even done up the house for the day. Hockey table clothes and napkins. Flags of his favorite Senators stuck up behind the TV. Posters of players around the room. I’m in the house of the enemy but it remains a friendly visit in hostile territory.

Conversations are mostly light and of the game we’ve come to celebrate. We talk about how our teams and players are doing. Of how this guy has let me down in my hockey pool because of an injury... of how another guy should have been named to the league’s all-star game... and of how the new rules of the NHL have either made the game better or worse. Many a passionate discussion can be had when a non-Senator fan tells the Senator loyalists why their team will never win the Stanley Cup. Traditionalists damn the advent of the shootout while others call it the greatest part of today’s game.

Hockey Day in Canada is more than the NHL games on TV. They broadcast the day from a small town somewhere in Canada. They tell stories of hockey in that region of the country and show how that region is both different than and the same as all the rest of us.

Last year, Hockey Day was hosted by a small town in Newfoundland. Camera shots around my home province had me sitting and daydreaming for a few minutes at a time (or until the next round of hockey teasing occurs among rival fans). That event made me a host within another host’s home. I answered questions and explained circumstances that were touched on by the cultural aspects of the television broadcast.

This year, a small town in BC (Nelson) is host and my sister and her family are supposed to be there to take in some of the festivities. Nelson is only a half hour from Edena’s hometown and I’m left watching the events broadcasted there with memories of my visit to Nelson with the family... and with an eye on the people walking the streets, just in case a familiar face comes into view.

Yes, Hockey is a vital part of Canada. It doesn’t matter if you enjoy the game or not, it’s a part of where you come from. And on a day like Hockey Day, fans are brought together with the indifferent... supporters of rival teams share laughs and good humored fun... and families separated by thousands of miles are brought a bit closer in a common theme.

And I leave Derek’s after a day of Canadiana... with talks of next year already taking place.

Making It Up As I Go Along #251

MONDAY...
— Fly day... but we’re late leaving St. John’s and I miss the Toronto connection. I have to rush to another gate just in time to make the plane an hour after my original flight to Ottawa... I’m tired of Air Canada.
— Saw Brad Gushue (The NF curler who won the Olympic gold). He flew on the plane to Toronto with me and sat just two seats away... he came off as down to earth.
— Supper with Melissa and Ginette (after finally reaching Ottawa minus my baggage).
— Ears are dead... my throat and nose may have improved by sinus trouble must have lasted cause the flight to Toronto killed my ears.

TUESDAY...
— Take the day off work. I don’t feel great after traveling yesterday. My cold wasn’t all gone and my sinuses hit me with the take offs and landings of yesterday.
— Luggage arrives at 11:00. Air Canada... always a day or two behind.
— Laundry, groceries and cleaning up dominate the day along with an Office Marathon on DVD. Good ol’ British version of the Office... eases the pain.

WEDNESDAY...
— Back to work. It’s alright although there are still tensions and annoyances that I would have rathered seen go away. I’m just tired of concerning myself with ignoring.

THURSDAY...
— Alright day at work. Fairly quiet really.
— Watch Stand By Me on DVD tonight... good movie.

FRIDAY...
— Leave work early to watch the gold medal hockey game with a bunch of people. Good to see Canada win.
— Evening at home is quiet.

SATURDAY...
— Do a lasagna with Melissa today. First time either of us have made one and it actually works out. We plan to watch The Life of Brian on DVD while we ate but I forgot that I loaned it to Shannon... so it’s A Christmas Story on the last day of Christmas instead. I guess another lasagna will be needed for the Life of Brian to be done.


Christmas 2006
Christmas. When asked how it went by co-workers, I find myself struggling to answer. I’ve always hated the “Oh fine” or “It was good” responses when that’s not fully the case. Too many people hide behind such facades.

Prior to leaving for holidays, my energy and sense of inner peace were both at fairly low points. Conflicts with co-workers and a friend had beaten me down and, more than any other, this Christmas’s trip home sat there as a beacon of therapy.

The flight home on the 22nd is horrible. I miss getting on a flight out of Ottawa, that left an hour earlier than my scheduled one, by one standby passenger. With freezing rain drifting over Ottawa and heading to Montreal, that hour would be key.

Still, my flight leaves Ottawa. But it would be better had it not. A flight to Montreal usually takes about 45 minutes gate to gate. This one took more than four hours with much of the time spent sitting on the runways, awaiting our planes turn to depart Ottawa... or role up to the gate in Montreal.

My original flight out of Montreal leaves late... but it leaves. Unfortunately for me, I am sitting on another plane, only a few hundred yards away from that flight.

By the time we get off our plane, all other flights are cancelled. It’s a Montreal hotel for me and I’m too worn down to be angry about it.

A call to Air Canada informs me that the next flight I can get out on is 48 hours later... Sunday night. In this day and age, when communication happens around the world in an instant and one can fly half way around the world in under twelve hours, the idea that I’m stranded a two hour drive from my current home and a two and a half hour flight from my original one... and I won’t be able to get anywhere for another 48 hours... seems ridiculous.

But with the month of emotional beating I’ve taken, I don’t care. I extend my hotel stay to include the next day and prepare to hide away in a little room... alone. It’s a form of therapy I don’t plan on taking but it is therapy non-the-less.

Uncomplicated alone time where nothing is asked of me other than to sit and wait is a welcome thing. Perhaps it leaves me with too much time to think of the issues of the last month but I’ve always been one to think and analyze anyway, so this would likely happen whether I am alone in Montreal or with family in St. John’s. So I now get two days to try to get it out of my system.

On Christmas Eve, I check out of the hotel at lunch time. Before heading to the airport I decide to have lunch at the hotel restaurant. Other than me, the only patrons of the establishment are Orthodox Jews... a group of six of them. I guess anyone who holds Christmas dear is already in the places they’ll be. I think about how those who don’t hold the Christian holidays in high regard must have restaurants and hotels all to themselves at this time of year.

I make it to the airport seven hours before my flight is due to leave. And it’s suggested by the girl at the counter that I don’t check my bag yet... that such a long time in the baggage area will greatly increase my chances of never seeing the bag again. At least she’s honest.

She’s also nice. I walk by twenty minutes later, as I explore Montreal airport, and she comes up to me and suggests a check area where I can store my big bag. When I ask if there’s a place I can just go and sit, she guides me in the right direction. The bags act as pillows and I lay down for several hours of reading.

After four hours, a family of Muslims invade my privacy. They pull a group of benches together and, within five feet of me, the group of twelve people sit and loudly talk in a language I do not know. I don’t mind them staking out their space... but I would have preferred them giving me more of a buffer. I pack up my stuff and go to check my bag. If it gets lost three hours before my flight, all hope in world travel is lost.

I get the same girl at the baggage check. She looks at me and laughs, taking my bag and sending me on my way cheerily and in record time. She is my favorite memory of Montreal.

A ten dollar pint of beer is sipped as I watch flights come in to Montreal through a clear and purple sky. It’s that half hour before darkness closes in... when distant lights flicker in the clear air and stars begin to appear. This is my second best memory of Montreal.

I arrive home thirty minutes into Christmas. My parents allow themselves to breath once we greet each other... Christmas can officially begin for the three of us.

The next few days have me seeing plenty of family and being offered plenty of food. And I also get sick. Fever, a sore throat and exhaustion keep me close to home and lazy... whether I want it or not.

By Friday I start to improve and on Sunday, New Year’s Eve, I’m at my most energetic. I’m not perfect but I feel able to go to Cape Spear. It’s my first time there at all since the previous Christmas... and my first time there alone in several years.

I walk in over the snow covered coastal trail and allow the sea, the air, the rocks, and the silence to rejuvenate my soul. There’s been too much time, over the past month, where petty and silly garbage have grabbed my life and pulled me down. A place as simple as this is needed.

I sit on glacially placed rocks and stare at the sea as it meets the rugged coast below. I watch as patches of the sky become hazy with distant snow. Sometimes the snow obscures the hills and cliffs a few miles away... and other times it covers a patch of sea, giving an isolated oceanic storm that I can watch from a distance.

Other patches of sea sit in brightness, where clouds have parted and allowed the sun to glisten on the water. And with all this going on, I’m nothing but an observer on my ancient rock.

I decide to leave when it appears that the snow is coming towards me. The cliffs of Cape Spear is nowhere you want to be when the weather is bad. I walk back over crunchy ground, looking up towards the historical lighthouse. I imagine that as my destination. As my refuge from winter’s cold and the drama of others. I imagine walking in the door to a crackling fire and a pot of soup, ready to warm me.

By the time I reach the lighthouse, I see the parking lot below and rejoin civilization as I slip into the car. The troubles of Ottawa haven’t disappeared... but they seem much less important to me after this. It’s a perfect way to spend my last day of 2006.

Making It Up As I Go Along #250

An extended weekly rundown up to January 1st. Back to normal on Sunday (Jan 7).

MONDAY (Dec 18)...
— Productive work day but I need out of the office for a while. Too much tension going on. Christmas can’t come soon enough.

TUESDAY (Dec 19)...
— Tricky day at work... just not a good one for a relaxing day at the office... too much happening too closely to me.
— Quiet night around the house.

WEDNESDAY (Dec 20)...
— It’s Rocky week on the movie network. Tonight is #3... the last of the reasonable Rocky movies. Still, I’m interested in checking out the new one.

THURSDAY (Dec 21)...
— Not a great day but holidays are almost here... an evening walk is good and the team gave me some nice stuff for Christmas.

FRIDAY (Dec 22)...
— Short work day where Christmas socializing goes on.
— Lunch with Sheila before she takes me to the airport to start my way home.
— 4.5 hours on the plane to get to Montreal (a 38 minute trip in the air). Most of the time was spent on the tarmac with freezing rain.
— Flight cancellations leaves me stranded in Montreal.

SATURDAY (Dec 23)...
— Hotel day with a sore neck to boot. Don’t know if it was sleeping funny or time on the plane or lugging luggage.
— Little walk a few blocks around the hotel but that’s it. I’m too drained to explore.

SUNDAY (Dec 24)...
— Travel day is long and tiring. About seven hours in Montreal airport followed by the flight home. Invincible is a fine enough movie to watch on the plane though.

MONDAY (Dec 25)...
— Christmas day... nice morning with the parents... bunch of relatives around in the evening... maybe the start of a cold coming... we’ll see.

TUESDAY (Dec 26)...
— Junior hockey on TV. I rest to fight off the cold too. Supper at Winst’s place with lots of family.
— Cards end the night.

WEDNESDAY (Dec 27)...
— 9.5 hours of sleep tells me I am indeed sick... just no energy and my throat and nose are iffy.
— Riggs’s and Lafosse’s come for supper... not a bad time.

THURSDAY (Dec 28)...
— House day... still not feeling well. Lots of time on the phone and watch Cinderella Man on DVD with mom and dad.

FRIDAY (Dec 29)...
— Some downtown time shopping and having lunch with the parents.
— By 2:00, I’m feeling pretty well again (throat and nose are better anyway).
— Supper and the evening is spent at Jim and Kristann’s... with Sherri-Lynn and Mike there as well.

SATURDAY (Dec 30)...
— Some visiting with Wayne.
— Jim and his family come for a visit followed by Del.
— Down to the hockey stadium to see St. John’s play Halifax with dad, Tom and Morrissey. Halifax wins in overtime and on-ice dancing girls make for an unforgettably nasty few moments... but it’s a good game anyway.
— Saddam is gone... once again, the powers of good fails to rise above what we see as evil.

SUNDAY (Dec 31)...
— Cape Spear is done and it’s good for me.
— Visits with Bev and supper at the Lafosse house is also good.

the delay goes on

So I said there'd be writing today but lots of other stuff came first. Laundry, groceries, unpacking... getting my bags in the first place (thanks to Air Canada and their "screw the bags" policy). Plus I felt pretty run down today. Coming off a cold and flying doesn't mix. I was under water all day today with leaky sinuses and ears that didn't appreciate the altitude of yesterday.

Anyway, writing should come tomorrow... lots of air tales to tell. Bloody Air Canada.