Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Passing the buck

Not much news here today, but please feel free to read Ali's blog....

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

What'd you call me?

I was thinking of the nicknames I've had while growing up.

When I was young, the first nickname I remember having was "punkin". Both of my grandpas called me this. As I got older, I moved on to the ol' standby "buddy" from my uncles.

It's funny how some people keep nicknames their entire lives. My father in law is a railroader, and all of his friends still go by their childhood nicknames. There's pickle, Ed, (whose real name is Rick)
Siderod, (my father in law) and a bunch more. Basically half of my hometown goes by a nickname.

When I was in the military, I was known as "Tank man" as a spin on my last name, or "Tank-o".
I agree, they're not very creative, but what do you expect from a bunch of gunners.....
There was an instructor who would pair up all of the guys who looked alike. We had Itchy and Scratchy, and I happened to paired up with Sinkins. What brilliant names did they call us, you ask? Sinkis and Minkis...

Ali and I have our own nickname for each other now. We call each other "Shy", which is ironic, because we're far from it. It is a shortened version of another word, which really isn't so endearing......let's just say it involves one of the controversial scenes for the South Park movie.

What were some of your nicknames growing up? What do you call your loved ones now?

Monday, October 22, 2007

Goin to a rock show

Tomorrow after work, I'm joining a friend to see the band The Sadies.
They are playing a small venue, and personally, I prefer a small venue to a big arena show.

I saw this band once, when they opened for my favorite band The Tragically Hip. I'd describe them as an instrumental band, with lots of 60's surfer style music. It should be good.

As I was returning a movie tonight, I heard of another good band called Sunset Rubdown. They are playing here in Winnipeg on Halloween, and I'm hoping to see them as well.

After all of these, I have tickets to see The Weakerthans on December 22. This will be a good early Christmas present.
The best part of all three of these shows is that they are all in 200-1000 person concert halls.

It should be a good few months of rock and or roll...........

Saturday, October 13, 2007

Spare change?

Usually, I'm all for giving some spare change if they are polite about it.
As Ali and I were driving home from a little shopping today, I saw the strangest thing.
I was in a turning lane, stopped at a red light. An elderly man and his wife were in front of me.
I looked around as we waited for the light to change. There were a couple of street people walking around, scouring the ground for any loose change, or aluminum that they could cash in.
As I looked ahead to the car stopped in front of me, I noticed that the old man had opened his car door. I thought that he was going to give these people some money....

Here's what happened next. The old guy bent down to the ground, and scooped up a few coins that were lying on the road. What a cheap bastard!! He was driving a nice Buick sedan, he was a veteran, and he was collecting a pension!!!
As if he really needed that fifty cents on the road. To the people in that area, extra change could mean some food (hopefully) or some other necessity. Ali and I were floored. I've seen people refuse to hand out change, but to collect it from the road, just because you're a cheapskate? Not cool in my books.

Speaking of cheapskates, I bought myself some shoes for $15 and got Ali some fancy pants for $1 at this giant warehouse sale today.

My back is feeling a little better. It looks like I may avoid surgery, and opt for some Cortizone injections to help relieve some of the swelling. I hope they work.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

For John

Hey all, (especially John) I realize I've stalled a bit again.
It's funny, when I say I won't let the lack of blogging get the best of me, I don't do it.

My back feels a little better. Today was the first day back to work, and the 12 hour shift was the first test. So far, so good.
We have another group of students on our ward right now. I get excited to teach students new things, and sometimes consider teaching part-time at my old College. I had one instructor in particular who always bugged me to apply....

These days of Fall are kind of depressing. I leave for work, it's dark. I drive home from work, it's dark. The only time I see daylight is when I look out my patient's window.

My parents are going to Cuba next week. They are going to the same location where Ali and I enjoyed our honeymoon. Cayo Coco is a small "finger" just off shore form the mainland. It was abandoned years ago by the local fishermen, who were finally over-run by mosquitoes. When they left, they left behind their livestock, and even now you can find wild goats, cows, and dogs roaming around the streets.
Now that Cayo Coco is suited for tourists, it's fogged for bugs, and actually quite beautiful. We still say that Cuba has the nicest beaches we've seen. The people there are also very friendly.

I took my mom out hunting last week. My dad was working nights, so he was sleeping during the day. I wanted to go hunt some Grouse, and my mom wanted to go along for the drive. I think she got into it more than me. As I was scouting out the woods for birds, she had her head completely out of the car window, scanning the treeline for any movement....
We got 5 birds in our two mornings of hunting, so I was happy.

That's it for now. Time to relax before the chaos known as hospital life resumes tomorrow.