2010

January first, 2010... new decade here we come. It's been a long time since the last blog post, and I know you have all been waiting and waiting for it to come!

So I'm reading a book called "The 4-Hour Work Week"... so far so good... I like the ideas that this guy has, basically he is saying don't wait until retirement to do all the stuff that you really want to do... just do it now, because there will never be a 'good' time to do the things you keep putting off. Unfortunately, I'm not sure yet I understand how he expects me to finance all of this stuff. So far it seems like either you are supposed to convince your boss to let you work from home, and then do all of your work in one or two days of the week... OR... start your own business and then sell it. I am only 1/3 of the way through the book yet, so maybe I'll get to the good stuff later. When I figure out the secrets, I will let you all know.

As for this year, here are some things I want to do: buy a new car, buy a house, go sky-diving, get started on getting a motorcycle (get my M1 license and take the training course this year maybe). Can't wait until Karis reads that list. Let's see how this all works out for me...

Canoeing

On Saturday, I went on a canoe trip, one of the first I've done in a very long time... and it was TONNES of fun!

Myself and two of my friends from work put our canoes into the Grand River just off of the 401 in Cambridge early Saturday morning. We paddled down through the city (portaged over the dam) and followed the river all the way down into Paris, ON. This took a little over 6 hours. For the most part, the trip was pretty quiet with the river going slowly along... but at least 3 times we hit rapids and even almost lost it on the rocks once or twice.

This whole trip reminded me of just how much I love doing things outdoors like canoeing and hiking. When I was a kid, I remember taking similar day trips with my Dad down the Teeswater river. There was always lots of snacks, and alot of fun slowly drifting down the river.

Hopefully there will be time for more outdoor trips this summer!

Interesting Things Found At a Landfill Vol.2: Wildlife

Here's one for those of you that have never seen a vulture. Believe me, they do exist in Canada and are actually pretty cool looking, although maybe a tiny bit scary. They are HUGE!! When they have their wings out, they look so amazing!

I also saw some baby geese this past week! They were really really fuzzy and pretty entertaining to watch. The momma goose actually had the cahones to try and charge at my truck. She ran towards it hissing and flapping her wings. Don't mess with a goose. They are nuts!

Also in the past little while, I have seen feral cats and dogs. Wild dogs... very VERY scary... when I saw them, I ended up holding a big stick to scare them away, while my co-worker did the work we were supposed to be doing. They just kept circling around us, growling. Now THAT'S not a job hazard you see everyday, is it?

Got Ink?

So I got my second tattoo on Tuesday and I'm pretty excited! I really like the design and I think it looks pretty sweet! I'm a big fan of tattoos and enjoy hearing the stories that people have to go along with them. Truthfully there isn't really any crazy story to go along with mine... I kind of wanted to get it to mark a time of change in my life, as I recently started a new full time career, moved to a new city and got married.

That's all for this blog, I know its super short and not that interesting, but that's all you get today. I had some blog topics in mind, but they seem to have all disappeared. I'll get on it again soon.

How Good We Have It

I will be the first to admit that I am a child of my society. I have been raised in an era where graphic image and story telling are common place. New pictures and stories of war, terrorism and death are published everyday and are pretty much common place. And yes... I have become complacent. I have become desensitized. My brain has processed so much of this information that very rarely does it strike a nerve.

But every now and then I hear of something that really touches me and makes me realize the enormity of the dire situation this world is in. Recently this happened when a friend and I watched a movie called 'Heavy Metal in Baghdad'.

The movie follows 'Iraq's only heavy metal band', Acrassicauda, as they try and live their dream of playing heavy metal in their extremely conservative and very war torn society. The thing that unnerved me the most, was the acceptance and calmness with which they approached their everyday lives. They were living in country where they couldn't leave their houses without risking their lives. And yet, to them, it almost seemed perfectly normal. To them, this was just how life was. For them, there was no other option. The only option was to deal, and go on with your life as best you can. So they did. They went to work knowing that they could hit a bomb, or be shot by a sniper, or kidnapped or... you fill in the blank. This was all just a part of life.

No one should have to live like that. I try not to forget how good I have it, even in the worst of times.

Live each day to its fullest.

Small Talk

I work in a job that requires me to meet and deal with new people on a fairly regular basis. As such, it requires some sort of skill in dealing with people and getting them to see your side of things. Mainly this process involves a great deal of small talk. A skill that I am SEVERELY lacking in. I don't care about the weather (except insomuchas I am hot/cold/wet/dry), I have no opinion on the local sports team, or any team for that matter. This makes it very difficult for me to instantly relate to people, and I think alot of the time it makes people see me as being stuck up or aloof. This frustrates me alot, because anyone who knows me, knows I am not either of those things. I know a great many people who find it so easy to relate to anyone they meet, and can be instantly friends with just about anyone within five minutes of meeting them. I'm not really sure how to fix this problem, and I wish I had some type of answer. Any suggestions?

Saturday Mornings...

I try not to sound like an old man. I really don't want to be one of those people that says "remember the good ol' days?". Because the answer is yes, of course I do, I don't have amnesia. I remember many things from many days, not the least of which occurred some time ago and could be considered in some circles to be good.

But I digress.

The reason I write today is that they just don't make cartoons like they used to. I remember when cartoons were actually funny and entertaining. For those of you that know me well, you'll know that my favourite cartoon character is Freakazoid (see above picture). He was witty, zany, and got his powers from the internet!

Then there are those cartoons that I remember as being just AMAZING from when I was a kid... but now looking back I don't know what I was thinking. Can anyone say Thundercats? I know, I know... some of you are saying... WHAT?! How DARE he mock the Thundercats?!?! And to you, I say... have you WATCHED Thundercats in the last 20 years? Cause I have. It is such a lame show. They were WAY to sissy. If it were real life, Mumm-ra would have wiped the floor with them in the first episode.

Even as I complain about how stupid new cartoons are, I know I will continue to watch them? Why? Well first of all, the good cartoons keep coming back (I did some research for this blog and found out that YTV is playing new Transformers and X-men cartoons on Saturday mornings now!). Secondly, because cartoons are just plain cool.

That is all.