Falltime ramblings

It is staying unseasonably warm here. I love that the air is crisp in the evenings, but it warms up during the day, so much that you only need a sweater.

Ellery is sick with a fever, and she's a little more sluggish than usual, but we're watching her like a hawk, and she seems to be improving.

I have applied to go back to school. I figure 5 years away is enough, and if I don't get motivated now, it'll never happen for me. I'm nervous, but that will pass as soon as I get into the swing of things. FYI, I'm staying with nursing.

Ali and I are both working at our other jobs quite frequently. The extra money is nice, and it will come in handy during Christmas time.

I am entertained by Ellery more and more every day. She repeats everything, and her personality is a good mix of mine and Ali's. She has the best dance moves I've ever seen an 18 month have. It's interesting to think of what she will grow up to be. My money is on something where she can debate a lot - possibly politics.

I was trying to plan a trip down South to an NFL game again this year. I thought this would be a fun thing for my dad and I to do, but the timing was off for every game that I tried to attend.
Sometimes I think it would be nice not to work!

That's it in a nutshell. Talk to you later.

Oh no, it's the H1N1 shot!!!!

Yesterday, I waited in line for about 15 minutes and got the feared shot.
I figure I want to be covered to protect Ali and Ellery, and we do have a lot of patients that come from the higher risk areas of the province.

So many people are on the fence about this shot. The only issue that I have with this flu shot, is that it's not available without the preservative Thimerosal. This a derivative from mercury, and there haven't been sufficient scientific test done to show what effects this may have on kids from 6-35 months.

If we do decide to get Ellery immunized, I'd opt for the Thimerosal free one.

Aside form that, it was entertaining to watch some staff play up their reactions from the shot, varying from a sore arm, to sweating, nausea, or headache. I was talking with a friend of mine, and we said this would be such an easy way to squeeze a few extra sick days out of the system.
I for one, do not abuse my sick time, so I'll report for duty as any good employee would.
For the record, my arm is just slightly tender. Maybe I should stay home...;)

The time of year when stuff begins to matter....

As October wraps her cold hands around our waists, this can only mean a few things;

A. Football season is winding up, and all teams (except Toronto ha ha ) are jockeying for playoff positions. I love going to the stadium when it's cooler out. This to me is true football weather for true football fans!

B. Shopping takes on a completely different meaning. For most of the year, I wonder around the malls, completely disinterested in the stores. As we tally up our Christmas lists, I begin to take notice in the shops as I carefully scout out potential gifts for my family.

C. Sweatpants and socks. Most of the year, neither one of these touch my legs. As the weather turns, I look forward to putting on my favorite pair of sweatpants as soon as I get in the door.
Now if only I can get Ellery to keep socks on her little feet......

D. Christmas day. Ellery is getting to be that age now where we can ask her if Santa is on his way. This should be fun!

Shit....I can't wear that.

As I was walking through Wal-Mart last night, I decided that I should buy some chap stick for my lips. The weather is turning rather cold, and when I combine that with lots of cheering at football games, my lips become rather chapped.

I entered the chap stick/facial beauty isle, quickly scanned the products, and grabbed "cherry".

Great. Done.

When I got home, and actually looked at what I bought, it turns out it was a little more than "cherry".

It was "high gloss cherry, with a hint of pink".

Shit...I can't wear that.

I just goes to show you what a man reads, and what a label actually says.

What's the big deal?!?!?

At my workplace, the staff are all required to share one washroom.

Add up the 7 nurses, 2 health care aides, numerous residents and other Doctors, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, dietitians, and any other allied health providers, and that equals quite a few trips to the can during a 12 hour shift.

It's funny watching people on the way to the washroom. If they're just going in for a, ahem, short visit, there's usually no problem.
But watching a person on their way to have a sit down rest, it's like watching Chuck Norris sneak up to Charlie's hut in Missing in Action 1 and 2.....

First, they look around. Next, they casually walk in the direction of the washroom. Then, when nobody is looking, they duck inside, ensuring to close both doors on the way.

Sometimes, if I time it just right, I'll try to enter the washroom just as somebody else is leaving. If they were in there for a while, their face turns red, and they bolt down the hall like they've just stolen an old lady's purse. After a few seconds, the stink hits you, and you know exactly why they were trying to outrun their shadow.

My question is this - What is the big deal? Everybody goes to the bathroom. The only time I'm embarrassed is when I know there's someone right outside the door and they usually try opening the door just as I let out a little excess air.

On to another subject. There are some people that I work with that actually try to flush paper towels. I don't know what these people are used to wiping with, but our paper towels are the equivalent of a fine sand paper - dipped in shards of glass.

Our toilet has been plugged numerous times. So many times in fact, that our manager actually had to post a sign in the washroom stating "No flushing paper towels". How stupid can some people be?

So, I'll end this little soap box with this little nugget (no pun intended). If you do have to use the facilities for a stinky sit down time out, please use the provided air freshener. The next person would appreciate it.

Hip Hip Hip Hip

I went to the Winnipeg Concert hall last night to see of my favorite bands, The Tragically Hip.

Just as they were finishing their set, somebody threw a drink from the upper level.
This showered us with an unknown alcohol plus the distinct smell of 7-up.

This was the breaking point for me. The free unwanted alcohol shower, coupled with the countless times that I had to move so people could do a beer run, my nerves were shot.
I went to enjoy a show, not move out of the way 100's of times, listening to the drunk idiots explain why they had to piss so badly or that they had a call on their phone.

I thank God that I wasn't as annoying as a young man. I hardly ever drank at concerts, plus my fear of pressing shoulder to shoulder with another guy in the urinals pretty much assures that I will not drink copious amounts of anything.

The only thing I am guilty of is bellowing out the words to every song, as excited as the first time I saw them play.

P.S. The count has now reached 10. I've vowed to see them 30 times before I leave this world, although watching them last night with a little more grey in their hair, and some beer guts starting to appear, I may make that number 20.

The Tragically Hip are one of the best bands that Canada has to offer. They are currently doing a tour of smaller venues. Be sure to check them out if they come to a city near you.

Failed NFLers/rejects report here

Up here in Canada, our beloved football league consists of 8 team, spanning from British Columbia, all the way to Montreal Quebec.

This is an exciting league, with such all stars as Doug Flutie, Warren Moon, and the great Joe Thiesman playing parts of their careers here.

As some player from "the league" get in trouble down South, they find their way back into the NFL by playing here for a season or two until they are noticed, or their suspensions are served.
Ricky Williams, star RB of the Miami Dolphins, was suspended by the NFL for violating drug polices and bailing out on the team. He came here for a year, stunk it up, and ultimately got his call back to the NFL.

My beloved Blue Bombers have been rumored to sign disgruntled DB Adam "Pacman" Jones. I know he's a talent, but again, some of his off field antics (involved in shootings/assault charges) have over shadowed his play. After being traded by Tennessee to Dallas last year, he was released following the 2008 season.
He is scheduled to arrived by next week at the latest. If he can keep his ego in check, I welcome him with open arms. After all, our return game has been terrible thus far.

Also rumored to be in talks with the Bombers is former #2 pick Charles Rogers who stunk it up while in Detroit, never fulfilling his expectations. I think I'll pass on this one.

So, if anyone has any relatives or friends that have a football pedigree and are looking to renew their careers, have them forward their resumes to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Just be sure to attach an extra sticky note to the page if they're a quarterback.

Sure signs of Fall...and some depressing stuff..then some happy stuff

The NFL season is about to start.

My Broncos look like a team is disarray, first trading away their cry baby Pro Bowl QB, now suspending their only good receiver Brandon Marshall. Again, I wish these whiny humans would actually have to try a real job for once, then they'd have something to cry about.....

My final week of holidays is fast approaching.
I'm taking a friend of mine fishing for a few days. He's had one hell of a shitty year on a personal level, so I think a few days of R & R are in order.
On that note, it has been a shitty year for a few people. My best friend Mike's dad suffered from a series of TIA's (small strokes) and has months of physiotherapy ahead of him. He is a strong man, one who has beaten cancer, so I know he'll pull through this as well.

Mike's wife also has had her share of drama on her side of the family too. She's currently dealing with Cancer in the family, and my thoughts and prayers are with them.
I read somewhere that soon, 1 in 3 people will be touched by cancer. That sucks.

On a happier note, Ellery is growing like a weed. She's repeating everything now, and actually said her first cuss word. Ali was telling me a story, and she used the word "shit".
E heard this, and walked away repeating it several times. Ali and I looked at each other, and vowed to clean up our language around little ears now.

I'm in the final stages of planning my next tattoo. It's a simple thing in honor of Ellery.
I guess the full back piece of Chuck Norris will have to wait.

I have the itch to see another NFL game. I might ask my parents/in-laws to chip in and help cover the cost of me to go see a game in Denver as a Christmas gift. We'll see....

Hope you all have a good weekend.

Acca Dacca

Tonight, we see one of the most influential rock bands of our time.

AC/DC will be playing at the Winnipeg stadium, to around 45,000 people.
This will be the biggest rock show that I've been to in a long time.

I waited in line for over an hour yesterday, just to buy some AC/DC gear. God knows the lineups will be brutal today, even though they opened at 11 a.m.

So, I'm ready to rock, and watch Angus melt my face off.

The only thing I'm missing is the mullet.

Mid Summer update

It has been unseasonably cool here. We have broken records for 8, going on 9 consecutive months of cooler than normal weather.

My days off are spent with Ellery, and we would normally be at the park, or trying out her new inflatable pool, but the crappy weather has limited us to the odd park visit.

This kid is beginning to love to climb things. It started at the playground, rushing up and down to keep up with the bigger kids. E tries to socialize with the kids that she meets, but most just stand there like duds. I guess they're a mirror image of the parents, because the parents don't have much personality either.
Here's an example - Ellery walked up to a little girl wearing Dora shoes. She pointed to the shoes and said "Dora!". The older girl, probably around 5, curled up her arms just as a kid does to avoid a dog, and looked the other way. She didn't even acknowledge Ellery's presence.
I guess Ellery intimidates kids too.

My Bombers are slowly gaining ground. We now have a new Quarterback in camp, and if he can get the Offence going, we will have a well rounded team, as our special teams and Defense has been kicking some serious ass.

I made it out for our annual fishing trip with the father in law.
The weather was cold and rainy ALL WEEK, but we toughed it out, and still managed to catch lots of fish.
As we would sit around the cabin each night, usually over drinks, I would just sit back and listen to our conversations. I thought of what another person would think of our topics, and language.
This was male bonding at it's best. Lot's of cussing, belching, passing gas, and laughing.
Listening to my father in law and his childhood best friend hurdle insults at each other was quite entertaining. I felt as though I was a part of the crew once those insults were directed at me.

It was fun to hear a lot of their stories from when they were younger.


So, with two final weeks of holidays approaching, this signals the end of our summer months.
I look forward to the Fall, taking walks in the cool evening air, and NFL football.

My daughter - the Intimidator....

It's funny watching people's reactions to my 14 month old daughter.
As we are weaving our way through the isles of a grocery store, or deking the clothes racks in other stores, Ellery is constantly on the lookout.

She has a radar for those who fear babies.
She'll stare them down, often craning her neck just to peer past my shoulder.

As the person nervously makes eye contact, Ellery slowly raises her hand and gives them the cutest wave ever. Of course, to these people scared shitless, this wave looks like the way a Great White toys with their next meal by bumping into them before devouring them.

Some people try to play it off like they don't see her. I'll watch as eye contact is clearly made, then the person will quickly dart their eyes in another direction. When Ellery says "hi" in her sweet little voice, to me it's cute. To others, it sounds like a Lioness' roar....

At Safeway today, an older man actually fell out of line after the Intimidator said hi.
I laughed and rolled my eyes, and as we were walking away, Ellery gave him the biggest smile and waved goodbye to him. She was toying with the weak.

It's not mine.....I swear.

Today, I received a "Glow" magazine in the mail.

Advertised as "Canada's beauty and fashion magazine", this is a publication I've never paged through.
This mag was addressed to me, not Ali, so I'm confused.
Who has my name on a mailing list, and more importantly, did my neighbours see?

Watch what you say

Everybody has read one story or another about a person posting something on their blog site, their F.acebook account, or saying something in an e-mail that has come back to haunt them.

I'll give you two examples of idiots that I work with (or near).

The first girl has about as poor of a work ethic as you'll ever see. She's constantly calling in "sick" after a night of binge drinking.
When she actually does show up, she has to lay down and sleep for 3 hours of her 8 hour shift because she's "sick" again, or there's a "family emergency" requiring her to leave early.

A while back, one of her family members was having a social. Of course, this girl followed suit, and quickly called in "sick". A few hours later, her F.acebook status says "Uncle's party tonight. I need a date, ha ha ha!".

Not only is that stupid, it's also a slap in the face of all of her other co-workers that were working that day (me), leaving them short for their entire 12 hour shift.
Apparently, she got reprimanded for this, and I say it's about friggin' time.


The second example features another associate of mine, complaining about her fellow co-workers and peers - on F.acebook. I guess she forgot that half of her friends were on F.acebook, and she was quickly let go from her job. I don't know all of the details, but it must have been some pretty heavy shit to actually lose your job over.

So, ladies and gents, watch your P's and Q's.

(How often do you use the letter Q anyway?)

I finally surprised her

As I was searching the Internet a few weeks back, I noticed that one of Ali's favorite bands was stopping in our city as part of a cross Canada tour.
I quickly looked at my schedule, and to no surprise, saw that I was working - again.
So far, I've worked during my birthday, Ali's birthday, our anniversary, so why not this day too?

After talking a co-worker of mine into making a switch, I got the day off. Now all I had to do was make sure Ali didn't find out about this evening.
I hired my cousin to watch Ellery for the night. Ali and I made our way out the door. She was asking me the whole time about where we were going.

"Are we going to the cheap theatre?"

"Nope."

"Ah, we're going to the IMAX aren't we?"

"No, it's better."

As we parked the car in a rather sketchy part of town, Ali was getting more nervous by the minute. She kept telling me that she was feeling sick to her stomach.

We walked around the corner, and there by the front doors was the band's van and their little trailer with the words "Said the Whale" on the side.

Ali let out an excited squeal, usually reserved for Christmas time, or good birthday presents.

That alone was good enough for me. Everything worked out exactly as I planned it.

It was a good night of music, and local beer. We have to do it again soon.

As a matter of fact, I think I'll take her to another concert on Monday. This is her belated birthday present, and I think she'll quite enjoy this one too.

Canada day, and the rules that apply

Today is Canada's birthday. Millions of Canadians show their pride by wearing red and white, and waving tiny Canadian flags about.

This day also holds special meaning to the hundreds of thousands of immigrant Canadians.
They leave their respective war torn countries, or poverty to find a new life for their families here in a peaceful country. Most of them, anyway.

We have an increasing number of immigrants here in Manitoba. I cannot even begin to fathom the shit that they saw from a very early age, be it from rape or starvation, to watching their own family members being slaughtered right in front of them.
Some of these youths find the transition to Canadian life hard. I put the blame on the Government for not giving these people a proper orientation to our laws, and the way things work here.

Young kids end up on the streets, forming gangs, and committing crimes. Sometimes it's just a "kids being kids" attitude from the law enforcement, and just like every other child under the age of 16, the criminal youth justice act protects them from any kind of true punishment.....

Here's the part that I don't fully understand. If these kids are coming from a violent country, why wouldn't they be the first ones in line to protest violence, rather than pick up a machete and hack some other kid's arm just to get their MP3 player?
Again, the law steps in and protects them by saying "They come from a violent country. It's all they know..."
Really? So there's nothing wrong with that? We can all just say "I didn't know we weren't supposed to shoot that grocery clerk in the face. It's all I know".

I love being a Canadian. I love this country more than any other place in the world, but our government really has to grow some balls.

The Canadian deported one violent immigrant, after numerous assaults and robberies, citing that he had no chance of rehabbing.
Maybe if they put the fear of sending people back to the hell that they came from, they would behave like human beings after all.

So, happy Canada day to the many people who truly appreciate and deserve a better life here. Just give that bad ass kid a kick in the ass for me, and tell them to smarten up. Then apologize, because that's what Canadians do...