Christmas break and all of it's "goodness"

Finally the semester is over, alright it's been over a week and a half but the days all end in Y so they seem the same.  I've been sleeping a lot, finally starting to get caught up in that department. The diet has improved, I'm eating smarter; on a more consistent basis and less food that doesn't follow the gluten free diet, so again that's a good path to follow.  One area that needs improvement is the intake of liver and brain cell killing liquids, it seems to be one bender after another, really need to get that under control aka stop or get it to once in a while, not once or twice a week. 

Other areas for improvement for 2010:

• Finances - stay financially responsible
• Education - maintain regular schedule for school work
• Health - get into the Wellness Centre twice a week minimum and stop eating crap
  

Why the need for change?  Continuous improvement is a good thing, learn from our mistakes and others mistakes to make ourselves better or help get to a better position in life where we're able to conquer challenges and help others.  That's a nice little credo to live by, I also think the policy I had for 2009 which was living honestly was followed pretty closely.  By combining both I really think life will get easier, for example with handling relationships, as well as fulfilling personal and professional goals. 

Finances are a constant concern, as with anyone not having money means you can deprive yourself of possible opportunities to improve your life and others around you.  Also having money means you can pay rent on a regular basis, eat when you're hungry, possibly have some fun?  One step to be more responsible here will to be obtain somewhat regular employment on a part time basis as well as keep refereeing when I can.  Employment can help expand the social network which can be very important considering the career search that is underway during this last semester.  Another area for improvement here is to stop spending money as foolishly as I was last semester. Quite a few times I found myself extremely broke between pay periods or games due to reckless spending at the bar or cafeteria. 

Education is an area that I slipped on a little coming out of the summer semester.  I had it so damned easy in the summer, shorts, part time schedule, golfing.  All of those put me in relaxation mode way too early and I lost my edge.  The next semester's schedule isn't a killer by any means but there are holes in it that I will need to use properly to get assignments and reading finished.  Placement also needs to be taken care of, I'm learning a lot at Safran from Christy and Mary, not to mention everyone else, so glad I found it and have a significant portion completed.  I'll keep involved with the APICS Student Chapter if only to help the new Executive since I didn't see the group before mine help at all.  There's a course offered by APICS that a bunch of us will be taking in April, it means more work but it's a step towards the CPIM designation, Lloyd Clive will be mentoring us through this process, what a great role model.

Gym... must get into the Wellness Centre and lose the love handles.  I know I know, I've got a skinny ass and am slim but when I take my shirt off there are handles.  No I'm not a chubby guy but I'm not in the shape I'd like be, definitely not cardio wise.  I couldn't keep up to a 12 year old if they wanted to race more than from my desk to the fridge.  Besides I'm not getting any younger so I need to get the core stronger especially if I want to have a good golf season this upcoming summer.

Not quite the randomness that I've had in the past but I did have a jumble of ideas that I wanted to address over the winter break but that got lost in digital translation somewhere.  More updates to follow on a more regular basis, I promise!  Respond, give feedback, offer suggestions, criticize at your peril.  Thanks!

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Late night ramble and thoughts.....

Fairly busy lately with school, new schedule is quite packed and extremely challenging.  I'm really enjoying the new courses, especially Marketing Simulation for Trade.  This class let's us get a chance to run all aspects of a corporation, we can change the marketing strategy, pricing, production, eliminate old markets or enter new markets.  Basically we can make changes and see an immediate response with the simulation.  One tool for feedback is a competition for each corporation amongst my class and the other class section (they're just Marketing, so we should dominate them!), as well there are other groups similar to ours at other colleges and universities across Canada and the US.  It'll be very hard but the mindset for our group is to use what we've learned so far, either at Fleming or previous experience, and apply all of that to the simulation.  The group appears to be very focused, Melissa is extremely dedicated and thorough, while Roberta has a great accounting and finance background, I guess my work experience and imagination will be my biggest contribution.

The rest of my class schedule only builds on previous classes and work experience, already I can feel better prepared for a rewarding position at the end of the Winter semester. 

On to the next busy part of life lately... had my re-certification clinic for minor hockey refereeing today and while it was somewhat expensive, I did learn a few things that I needed clarification on.  The instructors were pretty decent, although one seemed very uncomfortable and rushed but that might have been due to his relative inexperience at teaching larger groups.  Received a mark of 91% on the exam, probably could have passed the higher level course but some more on ice experience is needed.  It'll be a fun year getting back on the ice, next weekend has 5 games at the Pee-wee AA level.  Money is good, the pace is pretty quick, so it'll be fun.

Looks like the trip to Alberta is out for Danielle's wedding but I'll do my best to get out there after school is finished and a good job is secured.  I really need to stay here and buckle down on school and keep extra costs down for now.  It's really unfortunate, I was looking forward to going and meeting the new nephew-in-law and his family.  Oh well, priorities need to be flexible and reasonable at this point.

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Humpday thoughts - school, browsers and randoms.

Well, I survived the first day back for the Fall semester.  Lots of new students, was asked directions a few times, pretty much what I expected.  Classes were laid back, didn't get much started or accomplished but again what I expected.

Great to see my classmates and profs again, some I hadn't seen since May and others it was only a few weeks but I did miss seeing them everyday. So getting a chance today to catch up was the best part of the day. 

I had been trying a new browser for the past few weeks, Google Chrome, and while I did have a serious infatuation at first, the lack of performance and personalizing in comparison to Firefox left me disappointed.  So I'm back on the Fox and loving the old familiarity.  Kinda like seeing an old friend again (see above for the reference if you missed it)

Looking forward to the weekend as I'll be caddying for my buddy DJ in the Peterborough Masters golf tournament.  I just missed out making the club team but feel this is still a chance to make a difference.  The boys are playing at two great golf courses; Quarry Golf Club and Kawartha Golf and Country Club.  I know the Quarry very well and Kawartha pretty well.  Both are solid tracks, distance off the tee is important but putting will set the leaders apart from the pack.  DJ can flat out punish the golf ball, so reading putts might be my biggest assistance, along with carrying the satchel.

Walked to school today, and will keep walking for a few more days.  Not as far as I thought it was, just over 5 kms but didn't take me an hour as googlemaps suggested.  ;-)  So here's to crossing my thumbs for no rain!  haha!

Happy Humpday!

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Castaway? Adrift...?

A very boring Sunday; made coffee early, read email, FB updates, watched TSN for my sports updates, all in all a typical Sunday morning if I'm not heading to a golf course.  The afternoon brought even more boredom; lunch, more FB lurking, flipping through channels to find something worth watching when I came across Castaway with Tom Hanks and Helen Hunt.  I've been meaning to watch this movie for a very long time, never caught it in the theatre the first go around and whenever it was on afterI never had the urge to watch.  It's 3 freaking hours long... of a guy stuck in a tropical island talking to a volleyball.  For the first half of the movie I was critiquing his survival techniques, very poor in my mind but he managed to turn it around and finally make it off the island.  3 years he was stuck out there?  True story also... just amazing he made it off with a reasonably sense of sanity, even after talking to Wilson the whole time.  I would still be on the island, crossing the ocean would cripple me.

The whole story got me thinking though, the man was thrown into an unfortunate set of circumstances through no fault of his own.  I feel like the situation he was in is similar to mine, albeit not as life threatening.  Basically it's like this, he had to survive in an environment that he would have never chose because of chance.  I've been swimming or adrift for some time now, all because of chance.  Ok maybe I could have or should have used better judgment at times; relationships, career choices but the path I've been on for the last 13-14 years is not the one I would have chose or felt was laid out for me. 

I won't dwell on the past but having a plan now to better things; family relationships, career choices, this plan has come from the life experiences thrown at me since things went south in Burlington back in '95.  Maturity plays a big part, it's highly likely I didn't show enough back then and even now it can be a stretch but as my Dad says: "you can't beat fun for having a good time".  So now I welcome the fun but it's tempered with reason and responsibility for the most part.

Why post this?  Well because I can and it's therapeutic for me to get these things out, as I have a distinct tendency to internalize conflict and confusion.  That's a defense mechanism to prevent making rash decisions which used to happen a lot when I was younger, very vicious temper. 

So where will I be in a year?  Hopefully in Canada still, employed, working towards security for myself and my family.  Resolving certain family situations will come about, I'm prepared for that, even though I know it will be a heated battle.  I hope to have traveled to Europe as part of a College group in May (finances need to be focused).  Most of all I'll still be having fun and enjoying life.  That's my path getting off the feeling of being adrift or life without purpose, the point of this blog update and comparing recent and possible future events to a looong movie.

Thoughts?  comments?  All are welcome, if you feel like criticizing any of this, save it, that's not welcome.  If you feel like adding insight and a suggestion, bring it on. 

Thanks for reading!

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Late Summer update

Wow my last update was in June... where did the summer go?  Also why is summer taking so long to arrive?  Personally I'm tired of rain and the wet stuff, having nice hot weather is great but a nice medium of 75-80 with a little humidity would be Utopia for me, oh yeah rain at night or whenever I have to be inside working or something like that.  Ok Mother Nature?  ;-)

School update:  finals are over, have some marks in and for the most part keeping the grades in the 80's.  I didn't go chasing marks and honestly didn't work too hard for what I had.  Got lucky a few times on tests and assignments but all in all I think I know the material.  One exception is a course that is lacking on details on how my 2nd half marks are assigned.  In my view the prof hasn't followed the syllabus as laid out initially, changed how we were being marked, eliminated some quizzes, and basically had the students write the final exam.  I am a little perturbed about this, and while I know I can get ahead of myself and perhaps jump to a conclusion at times without in-depth research, I checked with some other classmates.  The consensus from those I spoke with is they are just as annoyed/disappointed/outraged as I am.  I've sent an email to the prof asking for some details on how the marks were determined, hopefully the answers provided make sense.  If there appears to be funny business I will appeal the mark to ensure someone's not taking advantage of the students.  My mark showing now is good, 86%, so I'm not trying to grind for more marks.  I'd really like the process to be fair for everyone, since we're partnered with the faculty and support staff to receive the proper education to get us into a position for successful employment.  A little background digging has led me to believe that an appeal or challenge would be successful, hopefully it doesn't come to that. 

Back to school on the 9th of September, 6 courses this fall and I am really looking forward to the challenge.  New topics, good profs, follow the plan to network to ensure employment post April 2010.  I am loving college and academia but being broke sucks.  To some this might be a broken record as I've mentioned it during online discussions (msn/email) but some are online when I'm sleeping or at the golf course.  This blog is about "my" updates ya know! 

That's it for now, talk soon!  xo

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What's in the future?

Pretty much a loaded question with no definite answer, right?  So how do we ascertain what will happen in the future? Let's take a look at how we deal with the future, and then a little background from me and recent thoughts that are leading me to consider the future. 

Some people wait for stuff to happen to them, that's purely reactionary and while I feel that can be a valid outlook, it's also limiting because there's no forward thinking or alternative planning.  Then there are those folks who are the ultra-planners, nothing happens to them unless it's documented, well thought out and then reviewed before implementing.  My question for these guys is: "do you seriously schedule poo time?"  I know, why would you say that Rob?  because it's what came to mind and those who know and love me, know that I blurt out the stupid comments before the filter kicks in, usually to my detriment.

So getting back to the initial question, how do we know what will happen to us?   I read a few books last year that really made me think.  "The Secret" by Rhonda Byrne, this is a great book and puts forth a theory that we're all magnets and that positive brings in positivity, whereas the opposite is also true, negativity breeds/brings in negative actions.  Not really a new idea but the way she describes it, with excellent examples and steps for testing, is very well done.  The 2nd book that made the light bulb go off is "The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho.  This excellent story has an underlying theme of self discovery or creating your own Personal Legend.

For me both of those books led me to explore where I needed to be, and for a short time I was on my way to British Columbia, plane ticket booked, notice given at work, sold stuff... Unfortunately that didn't work out, not sure why, especially after reading and living the tangent ideas from those books, it should have been the correct choice.  So that brought on a minor tailspin or stall.  A change was necessary, moving was out of the question, so I decided not to continue on in the golf industry, again with no clear idea of where or what to do.  After spending some time working at golf courses, I knew dealing with people is a strong skill for me, the important thing now was to determine what I needed to add as a skill to make sure I found the right place for me, either work or living or who I associate with. 

Late last year I was still involved with someone who I care deeply about.  However deep down, as much as I love(d) her I knew that we were both aware that the relationship wasn't going anywhere beyond day to day.  After a disagreement one day last fall I made a conscious decision not to be the one who initiated contact again (this is one of my fatal downfalls in relationships).  Oddly enough I stayed to it... well till February, St Paddy's day to be exact, the details of that meltdown are somewhere in the interwebs or in this blog's archive, so go ahead and delve into my misery if you need.  :P   Someone's gonna be saying, where are you going with this?  Enough of feeling sorry for yourself Mr James!   I'm not feeling sorry, not feeling super shithot but telling this is an attempt at transparency, not hiding things deep down and letting them build into something cancerous.

Quick recap: need a job, realized a relationship change was in order..... where to live?  Is that the next change?  Perhaps, however in November I stumbled across an opportunity to go back to school and get some academic upgrading.  After researching the crap out of it for 3 weeks, visiting College faculty, meeting vocational advisor... living at the public library looking at industry trends, you name it and I was doing it.  The whole time feeling extremely alone and unsupported in a direct manner.

Don't get me wrong, family was behind me but let's be honest Mom and Dad had their own concerns.  I was able to lean on them when necessary, borrowing a car to get to some referee assignments, raiding their freezer.  Moral support from my siblings, again they have their own concerns and family issues to worry about.  This isn't a story of how bad I have it, or how strong I am for getting to where I am, this is my story of being open and honest about what's led me to feel strongly about my future again.

Where am I today?  I'm attending Fleming College, specializing in Materials Management and Distribution, also trying to get enough credits to be awarded a post grad diploma in International Trade.  Both of these programs suit where I want to go, as well as bring some continuity from previous positions that I've held.  Materials Mgmt follows my experiences in Transportation, although I will have a stronger Supply Chain and Operations background when I'm finished College.  The Int'l Trade diploma really excites me because of how globalization has taken hold and is a real buzzword with people now. 

Where will this schooling upgrade take me?   I've gone and set some goals for the company or organization that I choose after College is finished.  I won't be a Lloyd Dobbler; "I don't want to sell anything, buy anything, or process anything as a
career. I don't want to sell anything bought or processed, or buy
anything sold or processed, or process anything sold, bought, or
processed, or repair anything sold, bought, or processed. You know, as
a career, I don't want to do that."   My take is that I want to work with a company that has a global presence, is an excellent environmental citizen, embraces adopting new technology and finally treats people with respect.

So that's a very long winded description of my take on the future and what's led me to this point.  After another glass of wine it could all change.  ;-)   ty for reading. 

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Having "fun" on a Saturday night

Ok maybe the title is a little misleading because the fun has yet to begin, unless you call having a nap earlier and watching the game with the dog fun. 

Heard from the 'rentals, they landed safely in Alberta and are enjoying their time with the grandkids and great-grandkids.  Wow, great grandkids.... boggles my mind still. 

Did not do anything that I would normally consider constructive today, no homework, no laundry, didn't do dishes, called in sick (up all night and very ill, won't go into details).  Still after a few busy weeks at school and work, this is my first completely slacker day.  No matter what anyone else says, I'm entitled!  haha!

Homework; reading, research and project work tomorrow.  Taking some time to go play golf around lunch time, then home for more school stuff.

go me!

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Social interactivity response required, yes you!

Time to get serious about the digital social scene, apart and beyond having a Facebook acct, a blog or two, Twitter,  carrying a Blackberry.  Ok there are more things I could be taking part in to be completely digital; tumblr, digg... it's endless and will be as people look for alternate or unique sites that challenge the status quo.

I'm also working on a project for one of my college courses, looking at different communication technology and the strategies employed by businesses today.  The lightbulb event for me was reading a few articles about how some companies are embracing the new technical media that are available now, such as Twitter.  There are also companies that are providing consulting for focusing efforts to a digital outlook, including branding, training, strategic planning and more.

The lightbulb turned on when after reading the articles and researching a little deeper on this topic, I looked back at how technology has changed in the last 5 years, then looked back further and oddly enough not really amazed at where we're at but rather that we're not further ahead.  When I was a teenager and avidly reading any and all sci-fi books/magazines I could find my expectation for this stage of my life was that we'd have a cool blend of the Jetson's and Bladerunner.  Unfortunately that's not the case although not having deadly assassin androids rampaging the streets of Peterborough is probably a good thing.  Mind you getting an assassin android to eliminate some of the idiot drivers on Lansdowne would bring a smile to my face.   jk!  =)

So what I need from you, the reader of this blog, is your feedback on whether or not you'd participate if your company started embracing a more digital interactive strategy.  Would you use Facebook?  Would you use Twitter and tweet your coworkers and customers???  Imagine a boss that wouldn't lose his or her mind if they saw you on Facebook?   Or if during a meeting you could send a tweet or IM to a supplier looking for an update?

Of course what I've described could Nirvana but there are inherent responsibilities that would need to looked at, like doing your job in addition to the FB updating, numerous Tweets, Diggs, posting pics to Tumblr..... yeah you still need to do your job! 

Feedback, keep it simple or detailed but I need your help.  Please?

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First post of May!

Wow!  It's the 11th and I've been seriously negligent in posting for over a month!  Slacker right?  Well the final exams kept me quite busy, then the week off between exams was over waaaay too fast.

And now the new summer semester is super busy for 7 weeks because I have 2 classes that are compressed into 7 weeks.  The bright side or silver lining is that I only have 3 classes after the week 8 break. =)   Business and Contract Law and Organizational Theory are the 2 classes that are compressed and probably need the full 15 weeks with all of the subject matter involved.  Luckily both professors are very aware of how their students could be overwhelmed and have an appropriate manner in getting the material to us.

Started golfing again, not playing exceptional but I'll toss a post into GCN later this week. 

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Crappy snow, wet and cold, hard to stay motivated....

Random thoughts:

• Woke up to a white blanket covering everything, what a huge difference from yesterday's bright, sunny and warm day. 
• I spent a solid 6 hours golfing with my buddy Mike in Brighton at Timber Ridge GC, caught a few rays, didn't play very well for 27 holes.... but it's still really early.  
• Today's weather though... man I find it really hard to get moving, wanted to stay in bed all day or sit in the chair drinking coffee.
• College first semester is almost done, 2 weeks to go, so staying motivated is really crucial, so the white crap isn't helping things. 
• I get my Summer timetable Wednesday, started preparing to get a good schedule by researching which courses are available this summer. 
• I'm also going to try and compress the schedule to 4 days, this might give me an extra day to work or golf.
• Super busy weekend; 3 games Friday night, worked 4 hours Saturday morning, 4 more games Saturday afternoon, 27 holes as mentioned, 1 more game Sunday afternoon.... no wonder I had a 2 hour nap when I got home from school today.

Saturday's last game was really, really, really cool!  It was an exhibition for some hockey players with developmentally challenges and with no understanding of what to expect I really enjoyed myself.  The players ranged in age from 6 to mid 20's, so the size difference was extremely varied.  The skill level was also varied from player to player.  The fun factor though was amazing, I have never seen players help an opponent up as often as Saturday.  From telling the opposition goalie they made a good save to picking up a dropped glove, the sportsmanship was phenomenal.  Coaches were encouraging to both sides, the fans were extremely vocal with their support at both ends of the ice.  I don't think I've ever spent a whole hour wearing the stripes smiling as much as I did that day. 

That's it for now, I'll put something up tomorrow about the past week's golf activities at GCN.

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Twitter, twittering, tweets, being a twidiot, twerd, twat.... uggh

First week using Twitter and it's been fun and educational.  I've found that because it's totally open (well almost totally open, there are some security blocks available) I'm finding myself exposed to huge variety of differing views from various sources I never would have come across before.

Another revelation is that because it's a social forum there seems to be two types of posts; real time status updates and then thought provoking statements or links; I'm getting to be more of the social discussion type on Twitter, so I'll reserve FB for status updates for now. The social discussion is very interesting because with the digital/electronic format of Twitter there is a wealth of information posted. It's almost too much to process at times but I've started sorting it into a few categories; funny, golf, digital lifestyle, education/work, and philosophical. Sometimes a post can fit into several categories, namely a post from Julia Roy, this young lady has embraced the digital lifestyle with blogging, vlogging, twittering and generally trying to enhance and promote living digitally.

Since I've recently returned to college, thoughts of what my plans are for after the 4 semesters have been running amok in my gourd. What to do?  Where to do it? Why am I doing that job?  and sadly How well will it pay?

Over the past winter a realization came upon me in regards to my future working career, I've been looking for the wrong reasons for employment.  So I engaged the peabrain and compiled a criteria for my future career:

• ensure I'm working steadily
• having creative freedom in my position
• having time freedom to balance my life between personal, social and work commitments
• working within an industry that is economically responsible
• working for a company that is environmentally responsible
• having a position that embraces technology/digital lifestyle

Is all of that possible right out of the gate after College? I think so as I'll have 3 diplomas; Business Admin Marketing, Materials Management and International Trade. If there isn't something that covers 3 of those 6 criteria, well.... well I'll just huff and puff.. no I'll find something that fits at least 3 of them. It's a starting point and that's important, otherwise I could find myself flipping burgers or pouring coffee, but if it's at a Starbucks that could work, free java?  booyeah!

ok just dated myself with that booyeah, no more booyeahs, booyeah! last one, I promise!

Think that's a good start for a Thursday morning, I'll put something up on golfcourse ninja later, after coffee!  =)

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College and the great generational divide.

Going back to school has been very eye opening for me for a few reasons; learning new material in a classroom setting and learning how to deal or understand the younger students today. Hitting the books again isn't a huge deal for me, I'm working hard enough to get most of my marks into the mid 80's and so far haven't felt overwhelmed.  A few of my classmates who belong to the same generation as I do (late 60's early 70's) have mentioned they're overwhelmed by the course loads and sitting through a structured learning schedule.

I personally have had the hardest time with some of the students.  The dress code is extremely lax, some of them dress like they're going to a nightclub or like they're going to bed... seriously.  It's not abnormal for me to see people wearing pajamas around the campus.  Why?  were they really that tired and couldn't find 5 minutes to put a pair of jeans on?  If college is supposed to prepare them for the real working world, then someone is missing the boat or not delivering the correct message.  Is it the responsibility of faculty members to educate these young people about proper behaviour, which includes dress code?  I think so, by ignoring this or not providing the correct guidance, the faculty is doing the student body a disservice.

Another topic of note for the younger students is their ability to talk and chat through a lecture.  The whispering and giggling while a professor is talking is very rude and for those of us who are trying to concentrate, extremely distracting.  They just don't get that carrying on like that is disrespectful to their classroom neighbours and to the professor.  Not to mention that whatever the prof is saying is lost to both people chatting.  So if they need to talk, go away, let the rest of us try and absorb whatever message the prof is delivering that day, even if it's dry as hell and boring you to tears. 

I won't get into the topic of how entitled these kids appear to be... that's another rant for another day.  =)

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Twitter...

Ok my pal Tanya turned me onto Twitter a while ago and I was reluctant to add it since I use FB and email and texting... But after Tuesday's fun and frolics, I added it because it's another way for me to rampage across the interwebs...haha!  No, seriously though I think I'll use that a little more and start weaning myself from FB as part of a self imposed exile/embargo/abstinence.... let's go with I'm going to get off FB and Twitter is my new online crack-candy. 

No I don't do drugs or condone taking non-prescribed or over the counter medication... so no weed/pot, hash or anything of that "recreational, life enhancing" crap.  Not sure how it could be life enhancing but someone tried telling me that last week, I was a little dumb founded at their description but if they're the competition when I get out of school, I just found an edge. =)

So Twitter, it's an online update interface.  Similar to FB but without the Wall and poking and crap like that.  I've heard some people call it Facebook-lite because it doesn't have all of the bells and whistles.  When I make an update, that's called a tweet (they're logo is a little bluebird).  Some funny people on it call their followers; twidiots, twerds, twollowers... you get the idea anything you might call someone else, they put a "tw" in front of it. 

Umm, what else?  Had dinner with the Larkin's last night, fantastic t-bone steaks and some awesome sweet potatoes that Kelly roasted.....mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm so good. 

That's it for now, I'd like to hear from you guys also, so... leave a comment, don't be shy. =)

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Finally an update!

Ok I know that an update has been long overdue, so to those who read this without malice, I do apologize.  To those who read this and take shots from afar, GFY.

Some anger issues yesterday, thank you Tanya for trying to help, unfortunately some bartender slipped ID-10-T enzymes into my green beer which caused the meltdown.  I knew beer was bad for me but that really pushed things to a level I hadn't seen since my 21st birthday.

So the beer and a few conversations all combined to a poorly timed downward spiral of depression which all resulted in my Facebook rampage of anger.  I'll try to sum up everything other than the beer which put me in that frame of mind.  1. a blast from the past contacted me recently, 2. contact with my most recent ex-gf.  Now both of those shouldn't be any reason for me going off like a drunken.........idiot..... wait a tic.... Ok apology time is over, so now we can move on to determining why talking to both of those women would cause "Rob's Rampage of Mobile FB/Texting on St Patty's Day." 

The first woman is someone I still care deeply about, for me there is still some reservation as to where she fits into my life.  Do I consider her an ex?  not really but I should.  Am I holding a place open for her to come back in?  yes but I probably shouldn't, she's with someone else and they seem happy.  Why am I holding on to the very faint chance she wants to be with me?  no clue, maybe since things never worked out longer than 2 weeks I feel some need to make a serious run at a long term relationship with her.  However I really think that there has been a long term relationship, it's just a series of really little flings all jammed together with a bunch of times where either one of us weren't talking to the other person for whatever reason made sense at the time.  I know that doesn't seem to make sense but if you read it again really, really slowly and then take a second it might.

Sooooo she's not moving back to Peterborough at this point, or as near as I can tell.  She's involved with a man and they're living in Ottawa, he's very supportive to her and is helping her with stuff quite well. 

On to #2, this is a woman that I was involved with over 2 years, living together (really I moved into her home, is there a difference?  kinda but that's not the issue from last night).  Since my last conversation with her was around Christmas time, neither one of us had made any attempt at contact.  Not sure of her reasons but I needed to get a little distance so I wouldn't get into a rebound routine.  Why did I initiate contact at this point now?  Since the past weekend brought up a few issues for me, I thought talking to her might be constructive for me, you know to get a few things sorted out, also to get caught up again since it had been a long time.  Ok back to last night, drunkboy (me) called her before heading downtown, because I had exchanged a few emails with her and I invited her out for a beverage, got turned down due her busy schedule, something that had never happened before.  Naturally when we get turned down we want something a little more right?  I called her from the bar, couldn't hear a thing and went outside and started talking about stuff.  As I was talking I somehow started walking towards her house... she kind of ends the call, and I'm outside of her house... so I go knock on the door, go in give her a cold hug (cold because it was cold outside), use her washroom to go pee, look for the cat..... "where's Leo?"  I get told that she's put him down in the best way possible "ohhh, I murdered him"  that's her being funny about putting him down.  He was very, very old and had a few serious health issues, so it was inevitable.  However what wasn't acceptable to me was that she never told me about it, and then she told me that the week after taking him for his needle in the paw, she went to Cuba..... Should that make me upset?  Why should I care about her cat and what she does with him as he ages?  Well the ID-10-T enzyme kicked into overdrive and I had to leave, all teared up like some teenage girl reading Twilight.  During my teary shamble home I called her and get her machine, left a barely comprehensible message telling of my displeasure about Leo and how that was handled.... not expecting a call back or even an email.  Way to go Rob.


Today... thankfully school, then work afterwards.  Big test tomorrow, so I'll be studying like a demon tonight and tomorrow morning.  Probably should have stayed in last night and worked on that...... would have avoided the green beer and the drunken rampage described above... another lesson learned right?  :p

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Thursday afternoon frolics... =)

Rox says:
DUDE I AM SLEEEPY
RJ says:
so take a little nappy-nap
Rox says:
you are so funny
RJ says:
i know!  only one coffee too!
RJ says:
you wouldn't be able to handle me with 6 high powered javas
RJ says:
i'd be like the Hulk in terms of funniness destruction

Just a little tidbit of a typical MSN convo between Roxxstar and your's truly.  There are some days when I can't help myself, the filter doesn't stop what I'm thinking... hahaha!

11 days and counting

So, it's been a while... has anyone noticed or missed a post? hmmm.....

early Saturday morning

WAAAAAAAY too early to be up on a Saturday but here I am or was, checking email and having a morning caffeine fix (man I love my coffeemaker).

Discovered that I have a brand new nephew, the order finally came in for Melissa and Kevin, Gwenavere has a baby brother to torment eventually, love first then torment when he learns the word no. Congrats DiMarcos! love you guys a lot. I know everyone, everyone family wise has been waiting very impatiently for the latest member of our clan.

So since I read it on Facebook, I also saw something else that`s almost as cool as a new baby. A friend sent me a request to join a Karma Experiment, so after reading it quickly, I sent a kabillion invites.... ok maybe 15 or so..... =) If you were one of the invitees, please let me know your thoughts on the experiment, I would really like to hear.

Off to work shortly, then a birthday party for Mizz Kelly Lorbetskie, aka Lefty!!! Big 25 today! I think this is her 4th or 5th 25th birthday celebration but who can blame the girl?

Tuesday funny?

Another busy day for me, and I'm trying to get organized so I don't miss any assignments or classes... with work and reffing it's taking a little longer than I expected. 

As usual on Tuesday's I have a 3 hour break from 2pm till 5pm... so I normally head into the LRC (computer lab) to play in the Internets and get some homework done.  I stopped by the cafeteria to grab a salads, some veggies and a juice.  Head into the LRC, grab a seemingly quiet seat and get connected online, start eating and I remembered to bring my earbuds with me, so when I listen to a video on Youtube or whatever it won't bother anyone else.  Apparently my brainstorm didn't work too well, because some d-bag came over to yell at me for the noise... I looked up at him with apparent confusion because I didn't realize anyone else could hear it.  Then I noticed and heard that there were 4 other people who were making as much noise or more than I was.  When I mentioned that little tidbit, he said "we're trying to study here, not sure why you need it so loud"  my oh so hasty retort was "why don't you go ask everyone else to be quiet so you can study, instead of trying to single me out?"  He just sat down muttering, when I asked what his deal was, I recieved some angry glares.  My last comment wasn't to suggest he go fornicate with himself, but just said "chill out dude, maybe you need to hit the library instead?"  Angry boy sat down muttering, I turned off the videos and started surfing and continued eating....

Not sure if that's funny but it was to me at the time.  5 minutes later he left.... so why did he feel the need to speak to me and not anyone else?   hmmmm we'll never know!

That's all citizens, carry on with your lives.  =)

late night rant

Ok, I went to another grocery store today after school, a huge store.... actually it's a brand new location, twice the size of the previous store which was within Lansdowne Place (the local mall).... the new place is massive... and no one knows where anything is, so I wandered around for almost 40 minutes looking for some Asian style soups that are gluten free.

Can I find them no? Can I find anyone to help me find them? no... so I put back everything I had gathered at that point... Why would I support a store that's not able to give me what I want? I can't, not with any conscience... I refuse to shop at certain stores because of policy issues relating to how the company affects the local environment and economy. So, now I'm in a quandry, I love the soups but where do I find them locally? I did notice a local specialty food store that's in a new and bigger location while riding the bus home.... maybe they can help me... boy I hope so. The commitment to my gluten free diet is soooooooooooo important. Over the Christmas break I gathered a load of information regarding gluten free diets and celiac disease and not following the gluten free diet will definitely reduce my quality of lifestyle and endanger my health. So yes it's kind of important, like having oxygen to breathe every day.

I had another topic to rant on but decided against speaking about the subject. There won't be any advantage for me to get this off my chest. Mostly because the subject is something that I just need to exorcise, get it out and keep it out. It's related to one person who holds a very special place in my heart but I can't past a few issues that will always be there no matter how much I try to change things.... end result here is that I need to close that door once and for all. Easier said than done, but I'm going to attempt it tonight/tomorrow.

That's it for now.... man I really seem to get updates in batches! haha, thank you for reading, luv ya!

Great short film

As mentioned elsewhere I kinda cruise Youtube, maybe a little too much but tonight I found this really great short film from Australia... please watch and enjoy.

Monday night and it's update time

Hi everyone,

Had a crazy hectic weekend but it was good, just really, really, really tiring.

Let's see... Friday, class till 4pm, then I went to work at the grocery store... got home at 915pm or so.... had three games to ref on Saturday, first one at 9am.... so I met Dad to get the car and headed to the rink after dropping him off.... game went alright, nothing too crazy for a change.

A little break till 3pm, because I had to be on the ice in Norwood at 4pm for a Tyke game.  Luckily the weather held off for the drive out.  Tyke game went down as usual although there was a problem with a timing issue and a delay because of a wedding party taking pics at centre ice before the game???    Anyways, the game was cool, love reffing the little kids, they hardly ever talk back!  The coaches can be a handful at times but usually smarten up after a warning.   The next game was Midgets (15-17), huge difference in pace and size obviously.  But everything was fine till a couple of knuckleheads started in the 2nd period, so I tossed them into the box for a little break.  Sure enough 5 minutes later 2 others start, so I gave them a 10 minute break.  The game seemed to cool down and get back to hockey, well that is till the end of the game, and the meathead from one team who had been sitting for 10 started gesturing and yelling at the other team.... I got his number and started them off the ice while my partner got the other side moving.  Of course the two teams see each other in the hallway where the dressing rooms are and start yelling and getting ready to fight, so we jump in, get numbers and get them into their rooms, all the while their coaches are just standing there like morons.  Anyhooo...... get that sorted out, started writing it all up in the referees room, damn novel by the end of it, but if it's not documented we get in trouble for their actions.  Typical right?

Got back to P-dot, drove through an insane amount of snow at 50 kmh.... normally 100 in good conditions.   Exchanged the car with Dad so he'd have it Sunday.  At home, chilled for 20 minutes, watched a little hockey, ate and fell into a coma by 11pm..... yep I'm that exciting.

Sunday was a full day at work, got there at 830ish, left a little after 6pm, nice long day but I think I got everything done that the managers expected.  It's a cool little grocery store and can be sooooooooooooooper busy at times, like lineups for steaks.... seriously!

Monday, one class.... from 12 till 2... basically a review session for a test on Thursday, however we got out early... not early enough for me to catch the damned bus, so I had to wait 35 minutes for the next bus... arrrggghhhh!

Reffed 2 games tonight, nothing too spectacular... just a long 3 hours at the rink.

Off to bed shortly, up early to work on a few assignments for school tomorrow.  Super long day, 11am till 8pm.

Friday update

Worked yesterday morning before school at the new job (grocery store). Had a chance to meet and work with Brad the Store Manager, will be working in the packaged meat department. Same as all retail really, get product on the floor so it can sell, make sure it scans at the front, make the shelves/bins look full, keep the place clean, and last but not least be friendly to the customers and other staff (a little lacking in this place from my own experience). The owner and his wife are friends of mine, so that's how I got the chance, but now it's up to me to keep it.

Lots of homework, assignments, exams coming up... so school is busier finally! I know, why would he want to be busier? Probably because I seem to perform best when I have a lot to do, and also because I'm so easily distracted that if I'm focused on a few important things I won't be following some butterfly or whatever...

School today, 2 classes, then working till 9-ish, get Trusty Rusty from Dad, have some games tomorrow, and then drop it off afterwards. Will be at the store on Sunday, no problems so far for schoolwork on the weekend, class on Monday is a review for a test and I'm up to speed on everything so far. =)

late Wednesday night ponderings and little amusements....

  For some reason this pooch is talking my language!  Probably waiting for nachos.  =)

Finishing off some popcorn, Caesar's laying on the floor and it's snowing outside, again! 

Work tomorrow morning at 8am, no idea what's involved but if it's like any other retail, unload trucks, unpack boxes, make sure stuff is priced and can scan, then get it on the floor.  Next step, clean up and then repeat the first step.  Looking forward to it, the extra cash will be nice, gotta save for a "new" car, and by new I mean newer than a rusting '94 Intrepid that needs a new muffler.  ;-)

That's it for now, updates tomorrow night if I'm not in a coma.  night!

It's decided, I'm moving and this time, for all of the right reasons!

Rox is soooo cool, she sent me this link and now I want to leave the snowy Great White North and head to the Bayous of Looseeanna, or Louisiana.

Have a look, it's hilarious. 

And then when I eventually got home and finished shovelling all of the bloody snow.... I get online to chill for a bit before I start making dinner.  Rox pops on, we chit chat, and I mention the shovelling... well lil Miss Smrtypants for Missisisisiisiisisisppi asks if I buried someone...  man I laughed so loud that Caesar came downstairs to check on me.  I actually heard him get up and run down here... what a great line!

It's decided, I'm moving and this time, for all of the right reasons!

Rox is soooo cool, she sent me this link and now I want to leave the snowy Great White North and head to the Bayous of Looseeanna, or Louisiana.

Have a look, it's hilarious. 

Wednesday is like the never-ending day.... on and on and on... and then ..... and then...

We had a lockdown drill at school today... wow guess I shouldn't be shocked that no one took it seriously, but seriously what if?  what if some pissed off jilted lover or former student came in to exact their perceived revenge?  I really, really hope nothing like that ever happens because most of these kids won't make it out unscathed.

Weather related news, again we're getting a lot of snow and the grumbling about it continues... big storm due to a front coming in from Texas us causing an inordinate amount of snowfall, again!  Its January and we're in Canada, why don't people just move to Florida?  I'm sure the alligators would love your ass as a snack!  these whiners are probably the same morons who can't drive in the snow or rain, so go ahead move, it'll be better for everyone, or me at least.

My second class was cancelled today, the professor gave as much notice as can be expected with a death in the family... what can you do?  giving some good thoughts to his family...

*** Edit here - With the cancellation, 5 hour break till my next class at 3pm.... uggh.   Thankfully Kim was online to give me a hard time, and then.... and then... and then it was Rox's turn... and then......    I didn't forget this but just forgot to put thoughts to the keyboard; Tanya, my fav Islander photographer was also around today to chit chat with me between her oh-so busy work schedule (and furkid cuddling), sorry T. 

Discovered my transcript finally arrived from Seneca, tried to drop a copy off to my program coordinator, unfortunately he was meeting with someone and after over hearing a second off topic story I knew it was time to leave.

Work tomorrow morning, 8am.  Class is at 3pm, so I'll finish up around 1pm, head home and get my act together, the usual.

I know this is all point form and not in my usual in-depth and well written prose, but I'm a little tired and perhaps a tad grumpy from how things developed today once I got to school.  Tomorrow will be better!  *repeat mantra*

random Tuesdays

RJ says:
if i could pick one food group to eat forever at the expense of all others... it would be nachos


Was chatting with my pal Rox tonight and oddly enough food came up, among the many topics along with world peace, astrophysics, the water quality of the Great Barrier reef... you know, just the normal conversation topics that everyone touches on.

So, nachos, corn nachos with a nice hot tomato based salsa.... mmmmmm

Tuesday's aren't long enough but then.... well.... it's Rantday!!!

Couple of things that normally start the burn... you know that burn of anger when you see something that just doesn't make sense?  When you "know" it's not right, that it shouldn't happen, probably because "everyone knows"... ya know what I mean?

So now that we all understand the burn, here's what caused a few flareups today.  First topic is the loud talkers and secondly people who put their feet up on the back of chairs or seats on the bus.

Loud talking... why?  what is it?  Here's a cartoon that shows a favourite tactic of the Loud Talker. 

As you can see.... it annoys everyone around them and they are oblivious to their actions.  I see these people on the bus, at school, in the malls, just about everywhere.  And it doesn't have to be with a cell phone, it could be just raising your voice to be heard or having your iPod earbuds in and not turning down the volume.   All things considered I think it's rude.  When I go to school I often spend time in the LRC (Learning Resource Centre, basically a big computer lab).  To me this is a place of learning, quiet talking perhaps but not for conversations, go to a public area like a cafeteria or a lounge area to talk/chat/share your drunken pub stories. 

Or as in today... don't pick a table where I'm sitting to have a chat with your 3 year old daughter because she's not talking loud enough to ask for her juice.  The room can seat 300 comfortably, there are 6 people in it, including me.  I'm minding my own business when Big Daddy sits down and offers her some juice, wants a please and thank you from her.  Dude has a loud and scratchy voice, perfect for yelling at a night club, probably not so good at advising your daughter in a public place to "talk louder".  And then when she's intimidated by your loud voice, she gets quieter!!  So what does the d-bag do?  He threatens that she can't go home and watch her movie... I know I have some father issues of my own, but this guy takes the cake.  Honestly it's not the advice he was giving, it was the fact that he picked a table where I was when he could have gone anywhere to talk to her.  What really makes me laugh is that when I packed up to leave because his loudness was really bothering me, he left as well.   What the deuce?

Next topic... putting your feet up on seats, backs of chairs.  I get on the bus today, and wander to the back where all of the cool kids are... there are always seats that face each other back there and I normally sit back there to keep room up front for older people who like those seats.  Well when I got back there, not only were there 2 kids with their feet up, they were on opposite sides of the aisle and talking to each other... so these 2 miscreants took up the space of 8 people, with their loud talking (please see above) and putting their dirty feet up on the seats.  Ok d-bags!  now the seats are wet and dirty because you're stupid,  and you're friends so sit together so others can use the same bus without sitting on top of each other.

All of that flashed through my mind quickly as I walked towards the back.... however I knew of the perfect way to correct their actions.... =)   First I stopped at the section where they were, they looked up at me and stopped yelling, sorry loud talking to each other.  Yes they were both wearing iPods with the music turned on... ?  Turn it down so you can hear your friend meathead!  

Anyways... that's my Tuesday rant.... don't worry someone else will provide material for me to comment on soon I'm sure. Also, you can leave your stories about loud talkers or whatever it is that's started your burn, I'd like to hear that there are others who get annoyed as much as I do. =)

Next I looked at one of them till he moved his feet, then the other followed suit.  As I sat down, I asked just one question "is anyone else sitting here or are you saving this seat?"  A mumbled "no sorry about that" came from the hoody wearing little punk. 

work? ...werk? ...get a job already!

Well, I've been tossing around the idea of getting a part time job to help with expenses, plus it could lead to something permanent after I'm finished at college.  Turns out I ran into a friend from the golf course and he offered me some part time hours.  I said yes, but only if it works with my college schedule and the hours I need for studying and homework.

Checking the schedule tonight and will update tomorrow after I confirm what I can accommodate.

Update:   I took the job, will start Thursday morning and get to meet the store manager and sign paperwork... bla bla bla.

new blog editor thinger...

Was surfing early this morning and found a cool add-on from Mozilla, Scribefire.  Basically it let's me add items to the blog at any time, rather than making an effort to open a new tab for the blog and entering things that way... trial period will be one week, and hopefully it works!

Oh so early on Saturday....

Yep it's early, someone woke me at 4am-ish by trying to take over the bed. I used to have a strict rule of no canines on the bed, but the upstairs boy finally broke me and my rule. He got onto the bed finally last night and proceeded to take over. I however told him that was the final straw and that he had to get his big butt over to his own side. After much grumbling and moaning he hit the floor but came back a little while later. In the end though, I can't sleep and decided to share the story. If I was really malicious I'd start calling everyone I know and wake them, but I'm a nice guy. =)

Classes went well on Friday, it was weird because I hadn't attended any on Friday the previous week as I was "sick", which is code for having some games to ref in the Atom tournament. At one point I was wandering around looking for my Business Stats class because I had the wrong room number written down.... luckily I ran into someone from my class and they took pity and led me to the class. A little homework this weekend, mostly for a Quality Management project due on Tuesday, it's also a group assignment which is a little odd because I really don't know anyone that well and in a lot of my classes I'm the outsider as most of the students know each other from 3 previous semesters together. A nice young lady took pity on me, and then another asked to join our group, they're both very bright so I'm sure they'll carry me nicely.

Had a very interesting conversation with a dear friend, we've known each other for 5 years now and have quite a connection. She's recently moved back to Ontario but for some odd reason we haven't been able to get together for a visit. I'm trying to change that, possibly visit within the next week or so. More details will follow as that situation develops.

Last night was a lot of fun, just hanging out with Caesar and messing around on the internet, when my sister pops on. I sent a message to her, and she got back to me right away, usually when she's on it's one of her older girls and they just give me the quick "hi Uncle Rob". But she and I got on the webcams and chatted for almost an hour. Her little terror Sam was there and was entertaining as always, he's a great kid. Her youngest was asleep, and the remaining 2 were out with her hubby Dan getting some movies. The 3 movie amigos made it back in time for me to say hi and thrill Olivia Joy with some neat webcam effects this laptop has. Sam had already seen them and had kid-friendly demanded I do something funny, which I tried to do with some clicking on the touchpad. Here's one pic that I took that shows some of the effects. As some of you know it's goofy and a little funny but that's how I roll.

And now I'm surfing again and getting some food in my bellay, somewhat lazy day today, laundry, homework and a visit to the Larkin's later for dinner.

Remember to check back frequently, you never know when I'll say something funny, it may have even happened in this post. once. hah!

Almost forgot....

Was surfing the internetal tubes... and found this cool site of a guy who creates art on the New York subway system. His process involves defacing posters, and since that's a crime in NY, he does it very guerilla like, covers his face, stuff like that. I think it's art but others may not, look at this video and then have a look at his pics here.

January continues.... on and on, and on... and on....

More snow? more cold weather? and by cold weather I mean -25C, that kind of cold... so wearisome, normally I'm good with weather good or bad, but right now I would love 2 weeks in a warm tropical climate. Ok weather rant over.... for now!

School, school is cool, don't be a fool stay in school... not sure where the rhyme came from but it might have something to do with a few beverages I had last night with the boys (Joey Pistachio and Special K). Not a really late night but out for drinks, then shooting a little stick, I won in the end, thank you K for sewering the black, I know that you know that I knew you were gonna choke at the end!

Ok so about school, week 2 and it's going alright, still getting the routine down, pretty sure I have the location set for all of the classes, gotta tighten up on the teacher offices. I looked for a school map before classes started and all I could find at the Fleming site was a parking lot map? wth? this college has a Cartography program, that specializes in GPS plotting.... c'mon make mapping the school a final project for the damn students!!! I was talking to a classmate yesterday and he said the same thing, it can't be this simple, can it?

Anyhoo.... dealing with new people is always interesting, good and bad. First impressions are typically bang on, however I'm new to the groups in each class, so I'm trying really hard not to bias myself towards or away from anyone. Till Tuesday.... there's a young person in several of my classes, I'm sure they have ADD or ADHD, unusual in a female but she's gotta have it, always bouncing her feet, very impatient, talking during lectures, and most important trait - never, ever wrong. She let me have it in a class when the teacher was asking for our opinions on cooking steak, apparently her 10 years of cooking is more important or valid than my 25 years of cooking for myself? Who does that? short sighted people I guess... however she got me all riled up and yesterday I vented on Kim, ty for putting up with it for the 5 minutes. After my early morning coffee/msn chat with Kim (where I vented), I then rushed off to catch the bus and make class on time. Computer lecture.... snoozefiesta for 45 minutes, Fire Drill for 10... gotta love standing outside with 1800 other people who are all shivering. Then I go to the next class, sit down at a table of people I recognize from other classes, and who sits down beside me? her.... How was I supposed to know? I mean that won't happen again, but I told myself "self, just deal with this for now, and next week, try another table, different people, college is about networking..." 30 seconds into the seminar the teacher shushes her.... and she gets pissed at him.... later on in the same class we had to break off into groups and select a position on a situation and then present and defend our positions, she's in another group and acted so angry that people were afraid to say anything against her. Ok, so the lesson here kiddies, meet more people and avoid the crazies right? Not saying she's crazy but our personalities don't mesh together well, and it's best for both of us that we don't clash or knock heads. Wow, that's good advice, wish I had learned that a loooooong time ago, I bet my ex's all wish the same. =)

lazy Sunday?

Off to do some shopping, making an early dinner today for the ladies upstairs. Trying a few new Asian inspired recipes, my friend Carla from Edmonton sent me a great link for a curried rice dish. I'll link it later if it works out. =)

Have another game to ref tonight just outside of Peterborough, could be interesting as it's a small arena and the fans are close to the ice surface.

The ladies just left, the cab finally showed up... and no I didn't join them, I'll take a stance of not partaking of the "fun" of the bar over saving a few dollars and staying home.

Caesar was his usual annoying self and got into everything possible, such a handsome boy!

i'm heading to bed shortly, have some reading for school tomorrow and another game to line tomorrow night, nothing too stressful.


Thanks for reading! =)

Different Saturday stuff

Saturday, still not feeling well with the cold, but I'm a trooper so I perservere through 3 games last night, and 2 games this afternoon.

When I got home bumped into Carrie from upstairs (my landlord), she's having people over and invites me for bevvies. Game on... after I get something to eat.

So I wander upstairs and meet Carrie's friend Carrie/Kerry.... weird a little but she's really nice so it's not too awkward for me. =) A few bevvies into the night and Carrie's sister Danny comes home after a while and we watch some pics of Danny's New Year's worm attempt plus a cool improv with a plastic bag...... you gotta see it.... different is all I can say, by different I mean funny sheeit.

And now I get to watch the ladies get their makeup done..... man I'm so cool! :-\

Oh yeah, Caesar, the fuzzy cinnamon ruler of Duffus St is wandering around to get affection from everyone like a champ. more to follow...

First week of school

Well the first week is almost over, 4 days into it and today was one killer of a workload. Yep one class at 3pm, luckily the prof had us out of the class in time for me to catch the 4pm bus....I think I spent more time on the bus or waiting for one today than I did parked in a classroom.

I'll try to recap how the week has gone down, nothing too crazy really but some interesting observations.

Monday - Orientation at 11am for new students, well I'm not really a new student because I managed to wangle some advanced standing due to my previous college career, but I went just to see if there was anything interesting I should know. Well I sat through 20 minutes of it and everything I heard was available on the college's website, and I had already read most of it. So I left to grab a coffee and wait for my first class. 2 hour class on Transportation, I thought this would be my easiest class because of my previous experiences working in trucking and logistics... boy was I wrong, this prof knows his stuff inside and out, very impressive.

Tuesday - busy day, have to be at the school for 10am.... whoops made a mistake on my schedule, make that 11am, had to sit through 5 minutes of a Law Enforcement or Police Foundations lecture to realize that while I was in the proper room, I was an hour early.... nice one buddy! had to endure the walk of shame to the door, haha! And then I ran into a guy from the golf course, ended up being 5 minutes late for the class... watdaheck? Business Stats, teacher was very professional, went over the course outline, laid out her expectations, game on! wait? what? need a calculator? dammit! another trip to the bookstore or Staples. My next class was a lecture seminar on Negotiating Skills, small class of 90 or so, thankfully they break down into smaller groups for the lab portion. Finally after a 3 hour break I had my last class of the day, Quality Management, this class should be interesting as my teacher is also the Program Coordinator. Finished up at 740pm, nice bus ride home, freezing cold walk from said bus stop to the house.... brrrrr was I cold? better believe it, felt like an hour before I felt like I was thawed.

Wednesday - Fairly busy day, 3 classes, Advanced Computers, then Negotiating Skills lab with a little 3 hour break before Stats at 3pm. Not sure how I lucked out with all of the breaks but I'm sure as a whole the College is at capacity for students and teacher utility, so the breaks are built in to maximize effectiveness. see that? that's Quality Management talking there... just one class the night before and I'm already smarter than I was a week ago..... hehe! Another funny thing about Wednesday is that while I was walking to the bus stop.... as I was approximately 100 feet from the stop, my bus drove past, didn't stop as no one was there but just kept going west on Lansdowne St.... guess who needs to read his bus schedule more closely? yep you got it the first time, so when I got to the school I was 25 minutes late for my first class (what a great start!)... I grabbed a coffee and a seat in the hallway after I lurked around and found where my second class was (made that one on time, look at me go!)

And then today (Thursday).... yep pretty exciting times, but I am enjoying it. I know in the end after I'm finished that I'll be ready for a challenging position in the workplace. School is great, but unless I win the lottery someday, I'll be working for quite a while.

One thing I noticed during this week was the dress code for most of the students. Yes I know they're younger but they all dress the same for the most part. Ok the girls seem to like black tights with Ugghs? and of course the required hoodie and a jacket with furred collar. The boys are wearing jeans, skater shoes, hoodie or long sleeve Hollister shirts and ball caps..... I know I'm older but why? If this place is supposed to be getting you ready for the workplace, shouldn't you act like you're already at the workplace? I wore jeans twice this week and khakis the rest, but none of this hat bs or sweatpants I keep seeing. The faculty should be doing something about this, these young people are not helping themselves by dressing like this. If the education is getting their brains ready, they need the mental focus for the workplace to also be instilled. Wearing the proper work "uniform" will help with this but since I'm in their peer group as a fellow student, it's not my place to bring it up. Maybe an anonymous letter to the Dean would work... what do you think?

Mid-week funnies

So yesterday I was working on the rant, and just finished posting it when I got a phone call from Blockbuster, oook. Well it turns out that some games I had rented on NYE were returned improperly, so I the next nanosecond I was wondering how did I return games improperly, I didn't return them because they were left at Kelvin's home after New Year's.... then the polite lady from Blockbuster told me they were taken back to Rogers and that Rogers had called her.... hence the reason for the call to me.

Dude! Why didn't you look at the damn boxes? It says right on them Blockbuster and even has the address tagged on the box. So I walk over to Rogers, wait for them to find the bloody games again and then walk 6 blocks to Blockbuster.... man, now I learned a good lesson here didn't I? Don't let Kelvin take any games back for me ever again! I'll let Kelly do it, she's way more responsible. =)

Just today I was talking on Messenger with Kim, and for some reason her Facebook wouldn't load, but when she asked me naturally mine was. So I went on a conspiracy guy rant for 5 minutes, talking about how they track where we are with cell phones, how they record our Messenger conversations. And then the topper, how they can implant trackers in us when we go give blood or spend time in a hospital..... needless to say she thought I was completely serious, which I wasn't.... hehe sometimes I can be funny, but only sometimes. ;-)

Tuesday's Rant of the Week!

Well there have been times lately when some things just annoy me to no end, to the point when I want to yell at someone. That someone being the person who's doing something that makes absolutely no sense to me whatsoever!

Here's an example, I live in Canada, a part of the world where it snows often during the winter time (when the little blue ball we live on moves closer from the warm bright thing we call the Sun)... and that snow needs to be moved off sidewalks and removed from cars.

Snow removal... just take it off of your sidewalk, I walk a lot, as do a lot of people, and I really dislike trudging through snowdrifts because some jerk is too lazy to work on his sidewalk for 15 minutes. It's exercise, who needs a Wii? Get a shovel you meathead and move that bloody snow! You bought a house, take care of it! Make your home look someone lives there who cares.

Clean snow off the car, why you ask? Because if you don't remove snow from your car, it's dangerous for fellow drivers and yourself. You might not be able to see out the car windows, or built up snow flying off your car could obscure another driver's vision, possibly causing an accident. Also getting back to walking...I don't know how many times I've been going across a street and some moron can't see me and almost runs into me. What on earth were you thinking? Just take 2 seconds and clean the car off, and I mean all of the windows not just a little spot that only you can see out of. Guess what I saw this morning? Yep, you guessed it a redneck driving a truck, and said redneck had only scraped off enough snow and ice to see out the side window and the front. The whole surface area he could see out of wasn't more than a large dinner plate, on either window! And yes he drove into the crosswalk at a red light, and yes I was walking across said street. What a complete imbecile!

There you have it, my inaugural RotW!!! Woooo, look at me go and get all of that frustration of lazy slack asses off my chest! So please remember to be shovel your sidewalks and clean your car off. This suggestion will only be good for another 3 months, then you can read my rants about people who don't wear tshirts in the summer and should.... eww man boobs? dude...

peace! =)

Day 2 of '09

Happy New Year to everyone reading, which probably means Mom and Dad... *note to self, increase marketing budget, ie tell more people*

So NYE was fun, spent it with my best friends, Kelly and Kelvin, who had invited some of their friends who just moved from Saskatchewan, Stuart and Adrienne and li'l Riders fan Will. Kelly and Kelvin's daughter Taylor was running around also, very entertaining while rambunctiously crawling all over the furniture trying to look at Will, who is 8 weeks old.

Had a chance to play with the new Wii that Kelvin found online somewhere. It's uncanny the man can find stuff at a great price, he's like a cyber-bloodhound, just give him something and tell him it's nowhere to be found and within minutes he has it, hours for something impossible like a Wii just days after Christmas.... mad props K, maaaad.

So I spent most of yesterday cruising around the internet, in a somewhat vain attempt so far to find a decent calendar template for Excel. One of my NYE resolutions is to stay more organized, critical with school and everything else going on. But everything I've found so far is just a basic template, no real way to add items like you can with Outlook, which I'm avoiding at all costs (for now).

Anyways that's it for today, have some games tonight and a few this weekend, nothing too crazy, that's next weekend... oooohhhh boy! peace!