Who's in charge???

The weekend came and Daddy was in charge! Mommy was extremely busy with her business, travelling all over Southern Ontario making the big bucks to pay for the upcoming wedding. Daddy was entrusted with taking care of Ali and Jake…shouldn’t be too hard, Jenn does it all of the time, poor delusional Daddy. I discovered that Jake knew enough to hide outside and avoid our home grown version of the Terminator. I’ve labelled it T1001, the model Arnie portrayed wouldn’t last more than 5 minutes against this kid. Her claws were like Wolverine’s adamantium blades, the shriek of laughter or rage caused momentary deafness and had a level 20 stun factor. Smart Jake, dumb Daddy….
This little girl didn’t sleep more than 15 minutes a day, and of course it had to be in Daddy’s arms. However the T1001 had a battery life of approximately 13 hours max nothing too odd about that number right? So she normally awoke and beckoned her servants with a bellow around 5am, then crushing all opposition with her iron will. Again the battery life appeared to have limits to it; thankfully she would stop functioning around 6pm but only after her servants bathed and fed her, and then applied a program of rocking and back rubs.
Once the T1001 was safely asleep in her throne room, I would escape bowing and scraping like any good body servant, tip toeing downstairs and trying to avoid any squeaky treads. Jake and I would exchange looks and simultaneously sigh in relief that our Demonic Terminatoddler was finally recharging her batteries (and leaving us alone).
By Sunday night, Jenn was finally finished her jam packed weekend schedule. I was looking forward to just 5 minutes alone to have a bodily function without a child tearing apart the bathroom cabinet, or pantsing me as I tried to go pee. It’s then that I realized that going to work on Monday would provide the 8-9 hour escape from the torture of a nap less Terminatoddler….
On Monday morning Ali woke up at her usual 4am, Jenn took care of her with a bottle and cuddle, Terminatoddler transformation averted temporarily. At 530am I was awoken with a slap on the face and a giggle… as I rolled over to see who had the audacity to strike me in my own bed (and out of a welcome coma) my eyes focused in the dim light on a smiling Terminatoddler… her mom sold me out, she snuck out and brought the demon into our bedroom! Our Fortress of Solitude had been violated, the very thing I desperately wanted all weekend was shattered with a slap and a giggle. After clearing the cobwebs, I remembered that I was going into work…a smile lurked behind the bloodshot eyes and bed head.
I got into work, met with my new Rotation manager, and met the new team I’ll be training with for the next 5 weeks. Settled into job shadowing a Transportation Specialist learning what their roles and challenges are for this team.

And now for something completely different....

First visit back to blog in ages!  So lets recap the past few months shall we?
Started with Loblaw Jan 27th
Ali was born Feb 7th
Moved to Guelph - still in progress
Got engaged to Jenn Aug 13th

Small post here using the new cell.... Jury is out on the mobile effectiveness.

So yeah, lots going on, really enjoying life!

Happy Octoberfiesta!!!

Alright it's been almost 10 months since I posted last, just too busy to take the time to get on the computer...... ok I got lazy and disinterested with the process. Also with having Jenn in my life my need to vent via the interwebs was lessened, she's a great listener (especially when I take her for a road trip and drive really fast she doesn't have a choice except but to listen, although her screaming and yelling for me to slow down can interfere) :) Just kidding, we don't drive like maniacs or yell and scream, the music can be loud when we're road tripping but most often we just enjoy the countryside and each other.

Felt Alison kick last night (that's our expected baby who's due in late January), she's a real mover and shaker lately, which is really exciting for Jenn and I. Jake also knows where she lives, when we ask him where she is he immediately gets over to Jenn's belly and shoves his nose into the belly button. He's also been great in her room, by not eating the few stuffed animals or any of her clothing (yet).

In job search mode full time, surprising how much time it can take, not sure how people who are already employed find the time to find a new job....workplace effectiveness must be quite low. The job market isn't super hot right now, especially in the Peterborough area, which is our primary target because of family and friend proximity. A move to the west GTA or Kitchener-Waterloo could be happening, if only to take advantage of the numerous job opportunities. Hoping a few of the local companies find that some of my talents could be of use, that would help us stay here till Ali's born at least, then we could explore another location. However if the right opportunity came along here, I can see us staying here permanently.

That's it for now, I'll try to remember to pop by more often and let people know what's going on in my oversized cranium.

Post semester ramblings....

Points to consider:

• why don't people who are making right hand turns look to their right?  (to watch for pedestrians)
• why must people be constantly entertained?  
• why is there a lack of drive to succeed in people today?   are we really that lazy?
• is honesty really a bad quality to have?   or why is it a missing quality in so many women today?  what have men done to cause this?
• is it wrong to just want a friends with benefits relationship?

So here's the best question so far, "why is Rob going off randomly again?"  the follow up could be "is he drunk yet again?"   The answer is no, I am not drunk at this moment or do I plan to be drunk again for a while, at least not tight or tiddly till New Year's.  (although I think some people have a different plan for me)

Seriously though, why did I stop posting blog updates?  Too busy with school?  Too busy with school and reffing?  too busy with school, reffing, friends, family, lack of outside interest in the blog?   Probably the last reason there... I started the blog to facilitate and encourage discussion but it really became my sounding board for what was happening to me.  I have some time off next week to write and prepare for the next semester, however I will make a conscious effort to explore each of the bullet points near the beginning of this post in the near future (one blog post per week) and will endeavour to answer each and every question that you, my family and faithful readership have of me, all 3 of you.  haha!  that's probably no joke, which is even sadder than it sounds.

Anyhooooooo, the honesty policy started last February is going strong and I do not plan on quitting.  It's helped me keep my sanity during some trying times with relationships lately.  More on that next week, I promise!

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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.....