Prevalent Events

The H1N1 flu is prevalent in the media today. There is a lot of hype about it, and it is very difficult to know how concerned we should be. Lots of people seem panicked about it, others don’t seem to care. I think I am in the middle somewhere. I read what I can, and try to take as many precautions as I can. More and more I am using those purell stands that are popping up everywhere.

I’ve heard about some changes to children’s sporting events. In hockey everyone gets their own water bottles to try and stop passing around germs. That makes sense, is pretty reasonable, and is economical. In soccer, they are stopping the after game handshake. I’m not such a fan of that one.

This CBC article is hilarious. They propose dropping the traditional handshake, and instead adopting the fist bump.

The handshake, with its potential to transfer the flu virus, should be replaced with the safer — and more contemporary — “pound,” says the dean of medicine at the University of Calgary.

Meeting someone and not shaking hands does seem strange. This is a long standing tradition, and I cannot fathom how one flu strain would make us rethink age old traditions.

However, add in the post bump explosion and I’d be all over it.

Pilots Show

On Saturday night I got out to a concert. It was the most enjoyable concert I’ve seen in a very long time. I think I had the appropriate number of beer before hang to get me in the right mood.

Can you tell who it is? No? It is the Stone Temple Pilots. A while ago I had given up on concerts, but when I heard these guys were coming to town I jumped at the chance to go see them. I’ve been into these guys since their first album (92/93 era).

A buddy and I headed down to the show and had a few beers before they took the stage. Right from the first song I knew I was going to enjoy it. They have so many awesome songs that it was impossible for me to now have fun. Vasoline, Plush, Creep, Crackerman, Dead & Bloated, were all awesome. The standout song for me was Sour Girl though.

The TC writeup by Mike Devlin didn’t have much good to say about the show, felt like he didn’t put much effort into the article, yet still rated the show 4/5 stars. Weird mix there.

I felt bad for the guys in front of me though. They were having a good time at the show, but they were smoking. One third of the way through the show security came along and kicked them all out. They weren’t bothering anyone, they were just having a good time. Sucks to be them.

I’ve said it to many people, but I find Victoria concert goers to be pretty boring. Most people were sitting in their seats watching the show. A rock show like this needs to be experienced. I was standing the entire show, dancing, jumping, generally making a fool of myself, and damn it was fun. I haven’t done that in a long time.

Resigned Off

Life can take some funny turns once in a while.

This blog entry was posted three years ago today. I had just resigned from NewHeights and was moving to Kodak.

This past week I was laid off from Kodak. My last day is November 30th, which will be 8 days past my anniversary date. Weird.

Motorcycle Escort

On my way to downtown yesterday I got to see an interesting practice by the Victoria police. I was on Esquimalt road waiting to cross Tyee when a motorcycle cop roared up the hill with lights and sirens going. He then stopped in the intersection, got off his bike and stopped traffic in all directions.

Several motorcycles came ripping along acroos the bridge, and up the hill toward me (by ripping I would estimate 80-90KM/H). Then it dawned on me. Some of the royal family was in town. Hmm, I wondered where they were heading.

I got out my cell phone and got ready to snap a picture.

At the bottom of the hill I could see about 8 motorcycles coming, and they were going slow, and riding side by side. Behind them was a big police SUV, then nothing. As they proceeded past me I saw a sign on the back of the truck that said “Police escort, do not cross”. That was it though, no royal family sighting for me.

Staffers Painful

Yesterday I went out and did some clothes shopping. I’ve needed jeans for a long time, and now I need some nicer clothes for interviewing.

I though I would check out some of the higher end shops and get some help picking out something fashionable (something I am not). I started with Outlooks since they have a reputation. When I walked in there were at least four staffers wandering around, but noone greeted me. I looked at some of the racks, and one staffer walked right past me but never said a thing. From a store like this I expect impeccable service, but so far I got worse service than the Bay. I walked out.

Up the street was a store named Hughes. I went upstairs to the mens clothes and looked around a little, but again, the one staff member ignored me until I started to walk out of the store.

Since I needed jeans I headed over to the Levi’s store. When I walked in the store was dead, and the four staffers were at the front desk talking to a group of three friends. I browsed a bit, but didn’t really find anything. After a few minutes one of the staff people asked me if I was finding things, but I had already made up my mind to leave.

At Street Clothing I got greeted as I walked in the door. This was a good sign. I browsed the racks a little, but struck out finding something that I liked, and that was close to fitting.

Since it was in the neighbourhood I wandered into the Bay. Lo and behold I found some pants. I ended up buying 2 pairs of jeans, and a nice pair of pants and matching shirt. The staff there lived up to what I expected of them (which isn’t saying much).

I have always found clothes shopping a painful experience. Now it is getting to be something I dread. I easily get exhausted after a half hour of frustration. I hate browsing bargain racks looking for a gem. I’m also fairly particular about what I like, so I have a hard time finding clothes I like. This also means I can’t get someone else to do it for me. Frustrating.

Daycare Rainbow

I dropped Beet off at daycare this morning. It has been raining hard all last night, and most of this morning. Just as I was arriving at daycare, the sun peaked out and I saw this awesome rainbow. I snapped a picture, and now I see it is actually a double rainbow.

Coffee Suggestions

On the weekend I had to buy some more coffee. I made the plunge and bought by first bag of decaf beans. I couldn’t find the Decaf Cliff Hanger Espresso by Kicking Horse coffee that I so dearly desired.

I opted for something roasted locally and chose the Fernwood Mile Zero Decaf. So far I am not enjoying the espresso shots I am getting out of this. Unfortunately for me I had a whole bag of this to get through before I can try something else. Maybe I should just grind it all and take it to work for my own special brew in the office. We have one of those single cup makers that takes a filter and grounds. This could get expensive trying to find a new favorite.

I might try the Decaf Espresso beans from Serious Coffee since I know they will sell by the half pound. Anyone have any suggestions on where to get great decaf espresso beans?

Karma Driver

I got some good bus karma on the way home tonight. As was exiting the building when I left work I saw the bus I wanted to be on at the stop just down the street. I knew I would never make it in time so I started the heading to the next stop.

I sprinted as quick as I could while holding my bag in one hand. The bus passed me, but I held out hope that there would be lots of people at the next stop. Thankfully the intersection I had to run through was still green. The bus driver waited for me, and as I jumped on the bus I thanked her. She replied with “If you put in the effort, I’m willing to wait”. That was nice.

Once I got downtown I got off and walked over to my stop for the #6. I only waited a couple minutes when a bus rounded the corner. Awesome. I expected it to take 45 minutes to get home and I got there is just under a half hour.

Movember Shaving

Movember is on. This morning the rest of my facial hair was removed. I had pretty much forgotten what shaving my lip was like. Damn that is difficult.

Before Movember picture:

Movember 1st picture:

The first thing I noticed after shaving was that I could feel my breath on my lip. Odd sensation. My ride today highlighted the lack of facial hair too. I could feel the wind more.

To make a donation go to my MoSpace.

Perfect Fall

Today was such a gorgeous day. Warm, sunny, perfect. Sox’s Mum was in town so we walked the dogs at Elk Lake. The kids had some fun too.

We may not get the colors that eastern Canada gets, but our fall can be every bit as gorgeous.

My son is impervious to cold. He was running through the lake until he was soaked. Then he tripped. While down on all fours he crawled a couple steps before standing up. He never complained about how cold the water was. Then he walked all the way back to the car (10 minute walk) and never mentioned feeling cold. Amazing.