In Sickness and in Health.

I hate dealing with sick people.

Not mentally, sick - Hell, where I work, they're all a little twisted.

I'm talking about those people who treat a sore throat and sniffles like it's H1N1 - like the world is ending because their sinus headache won't go away.

Those people I want to stab with a pencil and put them out of their misery.

'Cause really, that's all you can do - they are useless to be around, don't accomplish anything, and the bitching and moaning are almost too much to handle.

The thing is, if they would just suck it up a bit, then they would probably end up feeling better - but no - bitching is waaaay more fun.

It's gunna be a loooong night.

Later.

Progress

It's that time of year again - weight loss time.

Since I have to lean out anyway for the races I'm training for, I decided to go for the added motivation of joining not one, but two weight loss contests, one at the gym, and the other is at work.

I know your asking yourself: "Are you fucking nuts?"

While my sanity can be called.into question at times, I think it'll work out fine - the weigh-ins are on different days, which will help me stay focused through the week. (All part of the plan.)

Yeah - believe it or not, I actually have a plan..


Later

Enjoyment

- Coffee.
- How I feel after a good run.
- Reading. ( right now, The Invisible Man )
- Watching my kids on the ice.
- Discovering a really cool app.
- Toast.
- Kevin Smith Podcasts
- "I just had Sex" by the Lonely Island.. ( I know, I know )


These are things I enjoy right now.


Later

Schedule Hell.

Mondays and Wednesdays ?
Skating and Hockey .

Tuesdays and Thursdays?
Karate.

I'm going to be driving these kids around for what seems like forever.

Thank God for Timmy's Drive Thru.


Later.

Last Call

Goodbye, 2010, I hardly blogged ye..




Later.

Mobility.

Picked up a smartphone the other day, and I'm really digging it.

I enjoy having the world's information at my fingertips, and just the fact that texting is so much easier is a plus.

I'm hoping I'll still feel the same way once the shine wears off, but the simple fact of being able to have workouts, dietary stuff, and the entire Internet in my hand is awesome.

(Like I said on Twitter- haven't had this much fun since I discovered my penis)

As for having the Internet in my hand? That includes sites with flash, because Android rules, and iPhones drool..

Later.

True Patriot Love

Just when I thought Canadian bands couldn't get any cooler, I see this on the news today:



The Trews visiting a B.C. school that's practicing "Highway of Heroes" for their Remembrance Day ceremonies. Hearing all those kids singing along is kinda touching. (Don't go telling anybody I have feelings - I'll deny everything.)

Since the video is kinda muffled, here's the original for comparison.




Now that's Patriotic Goodness, right there.


Later.

Brand New Scene

Yesterday I switched my TV service over to Telus. I did the whole "Bundle" thing with the Home phone, TV, and Internet. (It's what all the cool kids are doing.) Since I already had Phone and Internet with Telus, throwing the TV package in there just seemed like a good idea.

I'm incredibly happy with the results.

Aside from waiting for the Install guy to show, it was a painless procedure. (be it Shaw or Telus, why do they have to say "Between the hours of 8am to 8pm" - what's wrong with "2-ish"?) The installation was quick and easy, and he had it setup and running in about an hour. (All shiny brand-new equipment too - he said that this is the 3rd gen stuff they are installing now, works like a charm.)

I really like the guide/schedule/PVR setup as opposed to what I had with Shaw - it's more polished and intuitive. The "Search" feature alone is worth the switch. I find that my picture quality is better too - but if that's from Telus or the fact that they use HDMI instead of Component cables, I'm not sure.

And the upgrade to my ADSL speed is nothing short of amazing - to go from max 5Mbps to approximately 15Mbps is pure heaven. It's not like I was in a two wheeled cart on a muddy road, but my Internet has gone from a minivan to a sportscar to say the least.

I'm sure I'll find some faults with it once the shine wears off, but for now I think I made the right decision.

Now if you'll excuse me - I have some High-Def Zombies I have to watch - (Walking Dead premiere is on repeat..)



Later.

Ticket Frustration.

As a Canadian hockey fan, I understand how tickets to games are always at a premium - there's no shortage of fans who are always willing to pay the maximum price for a chance to see live professional hockey. What astounds me is how affordable the American teams make it for the average fan to go.

While looking at the Colorado Avalanche fan page on Facebook, I noticed there was a "Guys Night Out" package at the Pepsi Center in Denver to see the Vancouver Canucks- 2 seats, 2 beers, and 2 T-shirts for $59.

59 Bucks - and if you want to upgrade the seats to the lower bowl, it's an extra $20. I decided to price this out, just to see what it would be after taxes and shit.

Once you throw in taxes, handling fee, and the charge to pick up at the Will Call booth, the total is $97.30 - and converting that to Canadian Dollars only ads 25 cents.

$97.55 for all that.

Compare to seeing the Canucks play Colorado at Rogers Arena - same seating area, beers, cheapest shirts and all that - $409.

For that price, you could afford to fly to Denver to see the game. (Doesn't include getting back, but still..)

I know it's all about supply and demand, but I think the difference is just crazy - and it must be twice as bad for Toronto fans - they are rumored to be even more expensive, and their team sucks!

I can't see this changing anytime soon, and that's unfortunate - I'd love to one day take the Boys to see a live game - without having to spend their university savings to do it.



Later.

Mammeriffic.

Greatest Video Ever.
(According to my libido.)




Did I mention I didn't even turn my speakers on?


Later

Blast from the Past

So I'm watching AMC's The Walking Dead.

(Fucking awesome show, by the way.)

As the episode closes, there's this wicked song that comes on during the closing credits. Maybe it was the fact that I just watched some spectacular, emotional, engaging TV, but I was really digging the grove.

So I go online to look up the title, and find out it's called "Space Junk" - Cue it up on Youtube, and I'm grooving away.

Then I notice something.

It's Wang Chung.

Yeah - that Wang Chung - you know, Dance Hall Days, Everybody Have Fun Tonight.. The guys I fucking hated in the Eighties. Turns out they made this song in '97.

I guess 13 years is enough time to bury the hatchet. (And after watching The Walking Dead, that's just such a great visual..) Doesn't mean I'm going to run out and buy Look at My Wang - Wang Chung's Greatest Hits, but it does mean I'm going to grovve on this song just a bit more.

Later.

The Walking Dead.

I've set my PVR, double-checked the time slot, and if worse comes to worst, I'm ready to download the multitude of torrents I know will be up the next day.

I'm not going to miss The Walking Dead.

Forget that it's on AMC - who has two other awesome shows with Breaking Bad and Mad Men - it's from one of the best comic series I've ever had the pleasure of reading. Thanks to the Twin's ownership of a comic book store, I've been able to read at least 95% of this fascinating story. It's not a Zombie story - it's a story about people that happens to have Zombies in it.

If you haven't read the books, I'd suggest you do it asap.. I'm dying to see how they do some of the storylines on the small screen.

So after the candy is handed out and the porch light is turned off, don't bug me - unless you want to risk being one of the undead yourself.


Later.

Hallo-wtf?

The image to the right has me conflicted in so many ways.

There's a lot that I like:

1. Hot woman? Check.
2. Stockings? Um - yeah, Check.
3. Skintight Dress, practically glued to her body? Check. (Is it hot in here or is it just me?)
4. Heels? Check.
5. Big Bird perched on her head like a Brain Slug from Futurama? Check.
   

(Yes - I list the Brain Slug look as a positive thing - anything that references Futurama is okay in my books.)

And some stuff that I find troubling:

1. She's dressed like Big Bird.
2. Big Bird appears to have crammed his beak into her cranium, completely rendering her incapable of thought.
3. She's dressed like Big Bird if he was transformed into a nymphomaniac slut. (I really had problems putting this in the "negative" category.
4. She's dressed like fucking Big Bird.

Now for the longest time, I've been completely fine with the "slutty" or "sexy" trend in Halloween costumes. Slutty Mail carrier, Slutty Teacher, Slutty Nurse, Slutty CSI, Slutty Jedi (oh I wish).. you get the idea. But the line has to be drawn somewhere, and I guess this is it for me.

Sure, you can parody the ambiguous relationship Bert and Ernie have, and even make fun of Oscar the Grouch as a belligerent drunk - but making Big Bird (and Elmo too, believe it or not - I've seen pictures) sexy and trashy is just wrong. Big Bird is the most child-like and innocent of all the Sesame Street characters - as far away from sexy as can be.

If I see a woman dressed in this, am I going to look? Hell yes - I'm a man after all. But I'd feel reaaaallllly bad about it afterwards. (Hey, maybe if I asked nice, she'd take it off...)


Later.

The Power of Faith.

Whenever I go to the gym at a time other than my usual there's one thing I've noticed that always surprises me.

The 700 Club is on.

Now, most of the TVs in the gym are usually focused on one of two things: the News or Sports.

That's why it's such a shock to see one to the channels tuned into a religious program. It's hard to imagine one of the people that I work out with (around, actually) to be getting their Jesus fix on in between reps. (I think one of us would change the channel, but we're all secretly worried the it's the guy benching 285 who's eyeballing the program.) The private aspect of religion seems to clash with the openness of flexin' your glutes at the gym.

Shows what I know - just watch, Jesus will come back, and I betcha he's ripped.


Later.

"Don't be Evil"

"The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist" - The Usual Suspects


Let me just say that I'm sure Google knows more about me than my own Mother does. I use Google to search, Maps/ Earth for directions , Gmail for practically everything, and heck - you're reading this on Blogger, aren't ya?

Ya - I'm a fan.

But unlike everyone else in the world who is upset with Google for wi-fi privacy infringements and those who want there homes blurred in Google Street View, I think the company's biggest problem in this case is one of ignorance.

I secure my wi-fi network at home - everyone who lives around me has a secure network. If you are broadcasting an open signal to anyone who cares to jump onboard, you're an idiot.

That being said, I think Google, and especially the people who were involved in the data collection, are ignorant to the fact that there are people out there who aren't "tech" savvy and aren't going to accept the blame for leaving their digital front door wide open. I also think that Google"s ignorant (or arrogant) in thinking that nobody would catch them doing this - they are one of the most powerful/noticeable corporations in the world. Even if your slogan is "Don't be Evil", there are people out there who will assume you are doing your worst, and they live for moments like this - when they seemingly catch you with your hand in the cookie jar, inadvertently or not.

As for not wanting your home on Street View, I don't understand the fuss - anyone can get your address from a phone book, and can walk by and see the front of your home every day. Having the front view of my house accessible on the Internet really doesn't bug me - except that now some guy in Germany might notice that I needed to mow my lawn the day the Google Car drove by. The same people who are too ignorant to secure their wireless networks are probably the same ones who don't want their dwelling online, for fear of "teh h@ck0rz". Maybe there's a point I'm missing, but I don't think so.

Either way - I and millions of others around the world are going to continue to use Google and their products. I can still see Google's halo shining - it's tarnished, but in my book it's still there.


Later.

Stairway to...

There are 23 steps on the stairs at work.

On days when I'm the only senior (in experiance, not age) manager here, it means that I run up and down those stairs about 15-25 times, just in the general day to day stuff.

On days like today, however, I run up and down about 30-45 times.

For some reason everything I needed today was at the top of those stairs.

Any job or task I needed to do? Top of stairs.
If someone needed something? Top of stairs.
Lunch Room? Top of stairs.
Gotta pee? Top of stairs.

You get the idea.

So lets just say that after the workout this morning, the usual lifting and stuff that I do anyway, and all the running up and down the stairs I did today, my legs fucking HATE me.

Too bad they don't know about the run I'm going to do tomorrow...hahaha.


Later.

I Feel:

• That once my legs adjust to all the punishment of squats and lunges, that I will be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound.
• That the new KOL album, while not their best effort - has grown on me, and I find it hard to step away from it.
• That the minute the new Foo Fighters album comes out, the previous statement will become null and void.
• That the fact that I use words like "album" makes me seem like I'm some ancient fossil.
• That it took me 5 minutes to fix my keyboard (having inadvertently switched it to French) and that makes me feel like a failure as a geek.
• That having just one day off is both a relief and a tease.
• That having finished Lamb by Christopher Moore makes me crave more funny, insightful literature.
• That just when I think Dave Grohl couldn't get any cooler - I see this.
• That even though I love Shaun of The Dead, Zombieland, and The Walking Dead, enough with the Zombies already - Pride and Prejudice and Zombies? Really?
• That if the River City ever got a Booster Juice, I'd be broke.
• That I want a Samsung Galaxy S sooo bad. Not that I'd turn down an iPhone...
• That I think I've exposed more geekiness in one post than I have in years on the Internet.

Later

Fuck You, 5am.

Is that too bitter?

Don’t get me wrong - I’m enjoying my new routine - the legs are a little bit sore from the different weight program, but everything seems great so far - with one exception:

5am sucks.

I used to do it no prob - 5am, jump out of bed, head to the gym or out for a run. But when I started letting things slide this summer, the first thing to change was how much I hit the snooze button. Not good.

I read somewhere that the best way to establish a habit is to do it (or not do it, as the case may be) for 21 days. After 3 weeks, your body adjusts to the change and you just accept it. So my goal is to make sure that I’m getting up for that morning workout or run on a regular basis.

Yesterday the combination of getting up at 5, the new weight workout, and heading back from holidays to bust my ass at work had me in bed by 10:15! (Really - how sad is that?) Today is the same, except now it’s a night shift, which meant that the whole night drrrrraaaggged. (Sure, I could have slowed down and left myself with work to keep me busy, but that’s not how I roll.) And do you know how hard it is to stay awake when there’s nothing to do? I felt like taking a nap on the Bakery Table - and don’t say coffee, the stuff at work is a crime against man.

But I overcame that, and soon it’ll be Marathons while shoulder-pressing 120lbs on 4 hours sleep.

Ha! If that’s the case I must be dreaming - I’m off to bed.

5am comes early, ya know.


Later.

Rededication.

I failed my legs.

For the first time ever, I failed to PB (Personal Best) in the last two races I was in - The Victoria Half Marathon, and the Miracle Beach 10K. The fact that I placed well in both (429th out of 6800 and 27th out of 150+) is a small comfort - but basically I let myself down.

It's all a matter of training, really - I wasn't putting in the distance and staying focused like I did last year and earlier this year - I let my diet and the gym slide, and it shows. I was just tired of the same routine, and lost it on the follow through.

But that's enough - it's stopping now.

I'm rededicating myself, changing the routine, (can you believe running less?) and knocking the honey cruller out of my hand. I have a goal to CRUSH my Half Marathon PB at the Comox Valley half in March - that gives me plenty of time. (As for the running less part - don't think my Twitter feed will go silent - it'll still be minimum 3 times a week.)

Part of that re-dedication will come from this blog too- it was always something that helped, in running and life, and I would really like to get back to it. I'll try not to make it all about running, but if your tired of hearing me talk about my shoes, you might want to delete me from your bookmarks...

(On a side note, just occurred to me -I'm going to have to change my blog title soon - from "Thirty-something Man" to "Holy Shit, I'm Forty." - but that's 2 years away, so I can hold off on that..)


Later.

Digital Letdown.

A while ago, the book Little Brother was suggested to me.

I'm not going to talk about the book, except to say that it's fantastic and a must-read for pesudo-geeks like me.

What I am going to talk about is why I wasn't raving about it earlier.

I downloaded the book the day it came to my attention. (Before you curse me as some sort of digital pirate, it's a free download right here.) As compelling as it is, I was only able to make it through a couple of chapters - not the author's fault at all- reading for that long on a computer screen just sucked.

(Compare that with reading the entire book in one evening the moment I had it in paperback form.)

I'll be honest - I haven't tried any e-readers, and the moment I hold an iPad in my hands I'll probably be too preoccupied containing my geek-gasm to think of it as a device for casual reading - but something about holding paper in your hand while you read a novel just feels...right.

And it's not the reading material's fault, either - I'm having the same problem with A Confederacy of Dunces - trying to read the digital version while I wait for my actual copy to arrive is almost as maddening.

It's funny - with music I embraced the digital format immediately - movies took a bit longer, but now I've come to appreciate the convenience of a digital copy. But books? I just can't do it.

This all might change the moment I lay hands on on a Kindle or an iPad - but for right now, I say chop down some trees and fill my hands with pulpy literary goodness.


Later.