As usual, it's been too long... but hey, I've been busy. It seems to go like that: I have nothing to report for months at a time, and suddenly I have a million things to tell you all. So where to begin!?
Shortly after New Years (Happy New Year, by the way) I took off for Guatemala to meet up with a few of my best friends from high school. I hadn't seen them in more than two years, so it was very nice to catch up with Del Cid, Cahill, and Tony over the two weeks I was down there. Tony also brought up a lady friend from Brazil named Andreia and she was very nice, but didn't speak English so she and Tony kept their secrets in Portuguese and the rest of us smiled politely.
Highlights of the trip included climing two different volcanos; one active, one not. We also made our way to Caye Caulker, Belize and hung out in the Carribean for a couple days and went snorkelling, seeing sharks, rays, eels, and a million colourful fish. We saw the Mayan ruins in Tikal. I spent a day at Lake Atitlan which is surrounded by volcanic peaks, and is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. All in all, a great trip.
Since then I've been far too busy to think. I've been working on my business which is taking a fair bit of time, now that I have a couple clients. I've been working on my Masters, which is now officially in its last leg now that I've STARTED my final project. I've been working in schools on a new program called Rocks and Rings, where we bring curling into elementary school gym classes.And on top of that, I'm working at my job... where I work.
So yeah, I'm busy. But it's a good busy, a profitable busy, and productive busy, and an exciting busy. I'm all about progress ;)
Hey folks. I know it's been forever (again) but what can ya do? I actually have been rather busy, but not busy enough to claim that I couldn't have found a few minutes to log in and post... but let's see. What has happened?
I started a business called Left Button Solutions. I have real clients and hope for future projects, so that's good. It's basically a tech consulting and project management company, but I haven't really figured out how to sum it up succinctly yet. It's going well though.
Curling has been rough. Leagues are going okay, but competitions haven't been. The record is suffering, but hey... what can ya do?
How about go on vacation? Sounds like a plan. I'm going to Guatemala and Honduras next week. I'm meeting up with some of the boys from Massachusetts and we're going to tear up Central America. Beaches, Guitars, Hiking, etc. Should be a good couple of weeks.
My courses are done for the Masters. It's just a matter of the big ol' final project now. I should probably get on that.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Here's looking forward to an exciting 2009... I have high hopes!
I generally try to make these things a little more frequent, and a little less like monthly updates, but there just hasn't been a whole lot to report. After such a busy spring/summer, I've really shut 'er down for most of the fall... only curling two nights a week and most weekends, volleyball one night a week, school work, regular work and so on... actually is a little more boring than you think.
Having played 30+ games already in the curling season, I'm not really thrilled with that way that is going. I don't feel I've been playing that well, nor have my teams in various leagues and events. I finally got a couple good games in yesterday, which made me feel a LITTLE bit better. I think I've finally worked my way back to a winning record, which is not ever a struggle I like to have.
Planning is well underway for the second edition of the 12 Bars of Christmas. It looks like it will be well attended, and may actually pose a logistics problem for the organizer... me. I've got some ideas though, and I'm sure it will be a smashing success.
In other news... I had a friend pop in for a visit from Edmonton. Jen was in town for some work stuff, so I made sure we got her fed with a healthy diet of Burrito Boyz, Big Slice, and poutine from Dangerous Dans. I've also been nerding it up with thoughts of a new business venture putting some school-acquired knowledge to good use. More on that later, as it develops.
That's about it for now... I think I'll be taking a trip in January. I've been sitting still for too long :)
-
Canada
-
United States
-
Cuba
-
England
-
Ireland
-
Latvia
-
Spain
-
France
-
Germany
-
Austria
-
The Netherlands
-
Italy
-
Switzerland
-
Leichtenstein
-
Dominican Republic
-
Belgium
-
Luxembourg
- Guatemala
- Belize
Okay, I've stopped moving... mostly. Other than a couple of short visits to Maitland to see the parents, sisters, nieces and nephews, I've been pretty low key. I'm settled back into work in Toronto for now, getting excited for curling season, and back to playing volleyball once a week. So far we haven't lost at volleyball, but unfortunately Thornhill curling didn't treat us so kindly.
Starting this weekend, the curling season takes off. We're in Barrie this weekend, leagues start for me on Tuesday AND Thursday, then we're playing in Guelph next weekend. After that, there's a week off... then three more weeks of spiels.
In other news, I'm doing my LAST course for school. Pretty soon, I'll actually get my act in gear and start progressing on my final project. That will be a ton of work, but it has to be done. Also, I may be planning a little trip with some buddies from high school, but it depends on if I can get the time off in January. More to follow...
And finally, I'm just trying to write more... movies, sketches, books, columns, blogs. Anything.
AUG.22-23.2008- (OT) 3W (3-0)- Win 3 games in the Gan Summer Spiel. 2nd overall. Win Garden Gnomes.
AUG.25.2008 - (OT) W (4-0)- Spare in Oakville, win HUGE.
SEP.8.2008 - (OT) T (4-0-1)- Played really poorly, came back for a tie.
SEP.15.2008 - (OT) L (4-1-1)- Garvin made everything. We didn't (spared in Oakville).
SEP.21.2008 - (OT) L (4-2-1)- Played well in Brockville, lost though.
OCT.2-5.2008 - (OT) 2W, 2L (6-4-1)- Played REALLY badly for two games, and really well for two games. Shoulda been much better.
OCT.17-19.2008 - (CO) 1W, 4L (7-8-1)- Rough Weekend in Barrie... at least we got a free buffet at the horse track.
OCT.22.2008 - (MX) W (8-8-1)- Tuesday Night Domination (TND) begins with Nagle.
OCT.24.2008 - (ME) W (9-8-1)- Thursday Night Domination (TND) begins with Virgo.
OCT.25-26.2008 - (ME) 1W-3L (10-11-1)- Guelph happened. Some signs of life?
OCT.28.2008 - (MX) W (11-11-1)- At least I can still win in Mixed. Skipped vs. Buckner.
OCT.28.2008 - (MX) W (11-11-1)- At least I can still win in Mixed. Skipped vs. Buckner.
OCT.30.2008 - (ME) L (11-12-1)- Lose to Kevin... there goes the Mens streak.
NOV.4.2008 - (MX) W (12-12-1)- Win vs. Pickett. Boozy Tuesday ensues.
NOV.6.2008 - (ME) W (12-13-1)- Lose to Guy? Curling sucks.
NOV.7-8.2008 - (OT) 1W - 2 L (13-14-1)- Trenton... how many "should win" games will we lose?
NOV.11.2008 - (MX) L (12-14-1)- Lose to Mackay. Miss everything. I hate life.
NOV.13.2008 - (ME) W (13-14-1)- Domination!! Wow. How about making shots?!
NOV.15.2008 - (OT) 2W-1L (15-15-1)- 2 good games with Tom, lost the 3rd... shoulda won.
NOV.18.2008 - (MX) L (15-16-1)- Lose to Abbotts. Consecutive Mixed Losses?! NOV.20.2008 - (ME) W (16-16-1)- Beat Harcourt on last shot.
NOV.21-23.2008 - (CO) 3W-2L (19-18-1)- Actually play some good games in Stroud. Win some money.
NOV.25.2008 - (MX) W (20-18-1)- Beat Abbotts. Revenge is sweet. WCBT Thwarted.
NOV.27.2008 - (ME) L (20-19-1)- Lose to Fleming.
NOV.27.2008 - (ME) L (20-19-1)- Lose to Fleming.
DEC.2.2008 - (MX) W (21-19-1)- Beat Henry pretty well. WCBT Thrives.
DEC.4.2008 - (ME) L (21-20-1)- Comically bad loss to Guy.
DEC.5-6.2008 - (OT) 2W-2L (23-22-1)- Cricket goes poorly.
DEC.9.2008 - (MX) W (24-22-1)- Beat Mackay. Revenge is sweet. Really bad 7th!!
DEC.11.2008 - (ME) L (24-23-1)- Lose to U of T... shoulda won, but we sucked.
DEC.16.2008 - (MX) W (25-23-1)- Beat Corrigan. Epic BT ensues. Wow.
DEC.18.2008 - (ME) W (26-23-1)- Beat Harcourt. Didn't play that well.
DEC.21-22.2008 - (CO) 2W-2L (28-25-1)- Zones ended poorly in Carlton Place.
JAN-FEB.2009 - (EVERYTHING) 11W-6L? (39-31-1)- Best guess at the last month or so... Includes a 4-1 weekend at mixed zones and a super comeback vs. Mackay.
Since the end of April, I've been to Las Vegas, Edmonton, New York City, Germany, Holland, Spain, Belgium, Wilberforce, Perth, Maitland, Guelph, and Gananoque. I don't think I've been home for more than 3 weeks at time, and in most cases it was less than that. I am happy to say, however, that I'm finally able to relax and stop moving.
There are a million things to share about the last month and a half. Boozefest at Steve's cottage was a little tamer than last year, which was a good thing. My team came in 2nd place in the Fleming Olympics, which again was a great improvement over last year's results. I also took home the individual honours in Home Run Derby, which was a source of great pride for me.
Trillium was awesome as usual. Seeing old friends and meeting new ones is always a blast. I played a round of golf with Mark and Kaitlyn on Friday of Week A, which was a lot of fun, but certainly not good golfing. Kaitlyn hung around with me downtown for the weekend, before flying back to Winnipeg on Sunday, as week B was beginning. Week B was just as good. Teaching with Megan was a blast, having Josh around was fun, and we all managed to exhaust ourselves before heading to Gananoque to curl and camp for another few days. The ice was garbage, but we won all 3 games, and had a blast camping.
I've wrapped up my 10th course for my masters, and only one more remains (on top of a massive research project). I'll start the last course this week and be that much closer to finishing! In other news... well I don't have much other news. I'm happy to sit still.
The following was written over the course of the last few days in a variety of countries...
Note to self: Avoid Belgian trains. Three simple words that would have saved me a heart-attack and a half today, if only I’d known ahead of time that finding a train from
Brussels
to
Munich
would be more difficult than building a flying machine to take me there in the first place. The fact that I assumed a six hour train ride would be simple to arrange was my own fault, the panic caused by the lady at the train station who said everything was booked but she JUST might find me a train that got me in JUST on time to catch my flight out of Munich seemed a little unnecessary.
So what did I do? I got on a train to
Luxembourg
. After playing a little game of travel agent, I decided that flying out of a small town in
Germany
would be a better option, but the bus to that small town left from
Luxembourg
. So I got on a train to
Luxembourg
. The train however, left late, went slow, and stopped for chips and dip before easing into its final destination about 25 minutes late, which was great, because the bus I was trying to catch to the airport had left 5 minutes before that from that exact spot. So there, I was… in
Luxembourg
, wondering what I was supposed to do now, knowing that ALL the trains to
Munich
were sold out.
So I went to the desk in
Luxembourg
and asked for a ticket to
Munich
, as soon as possible. He asked if a train leaving in an hour would be okay, and that it would cost half the price I was quoted in
Belgium
. I said that would be fine. So here I am, on a train… in
Luxembourg
, about to head to
France
, so I can fly out of
Munich
in the morning.
I obviously never thought that I’d end up in
Luxembourg
on this trip. I didn’t think I’d go to
Austria
either, but we needed gas and beer.
Germany
, The Netherlands,
England
,
France
,
Spain
, and
Belgium
were all expected. But
Luxembourg
was a bonus. I hadn’t been here before… one more country off the list.
For the record, the train station here looks like it was bombed by the Germans… sometime this week.
I prefer flying to taking trains, but sometimes there are just no options. Like where this all began, in
Fuessen
,
Germany
. There is no airport in the small Bavarian
village
of
Fuessen
. Just lakes and mountains and cobble stone streets lined by buildings that look like they were stolen from
Canada
’s Wonderland.
The train to Fuessen was right on time. As was the train out of Fuessen a week later. In fact, every German train I was on was perfect, right to the minute. I look forward to leaving
France
on another German train later on today.
The camp in Fuessen was amazing. There were 119 campers (due to a last minute cancellation) from 17 countries. I had 20 campers, from 8 countries in my group. It was much like the other camps I’ve done, except for the obvious cultural differences. One of my colleagues was presented with a six-pack of Czech beer as a thank you gift. One of the other coaches was asked if they were going to go to the same bar as last year when the camp was done, because the 18-year old campers wanted to meet up.
But there was curling and coaching, mini golf and barbecues. All the things that make a camp a camp. The scenery was terrific, as were all the people, and I would go back in a heartbeat if I was ever invited.
In many respects, it was better than Trillium, the camp that I’ve worked at for the last ten years. The scenery is nicer, the lodging is better, the schedule is kinder, and the connections made bridge nations and continents instead of
Ontario
area codes. There is a giant medieval castle a few minutes away that one can tour when he has a free period during his week.
Neuschwanstein
Castle
is perched on the side of a Bavarian Alp and actually was the inspiration for the
Disney
Castle
.
Guelph
has… a Wal-Mart. In other respects, however, Fuessen was still 2nd to Trillium. The kids aren’t as well behaved (in my humble opinion) due to both language barriers and cultural differences, the variety in ages, skill levels, and nationalities lead to clumping within a group, which is already larger than the 16 campers I’m used to. Regardless, the camp was amazing and before long Saturday afternoon rolled around and the campers were set free.
During the week, there was supposed to be an outing to a downhill slide/bobsled run that was cancelled because of rain. After our wrap up meetings on Saturday, much of the staff went over to the mountain and took a couple rides down before rushing back to the hotel to change for our closing party, courtesy of Keith and the WCF.
The closing party was a pretty little boat cruise on one of Fuessen’s many lakes which afforded us a lovely view of the mountain and the castle, while we joked, and laughed, and sang until we docked a few hours later. Some folks went into town, others went back to the hotel. I was part of the group that did some of each… and ended up going to
Austria
for gas and beer, before heading back to the hotel.
My train left for
Amsterdam
at 5:50am. Bjorn (my Swiss roomie and drinking buddy) was kind enough to drop me at the train station and keep right on going back to
Switzerland
. At one point, a few hours later, I woke up in a fog, dreading that I had slept through a stop where I was supposed to change trains. Eventually I realized that I was still almost three hours away from that stop, and that I was tired, perhaps still a little drunk, and certainly not familiar with the geography of
Germany
.
As planned, I ended up in
Amsterdam
around 2:30pm. After a brief stop in a Hemp Shop/Internet Café (there are many of them in Amsterdam) to locate my hotel information, I eventually walked the few blocks through streets that were at least moderately familiar from my visit two years ago.
I’m always amazed how a brain can do that. Of all the places I’ve ever been, I suddenly recognize that a shop seems familiar, or the feel of a particular neighbourhood reminds me that I’ve been there before.
Amsterdam
was a constant source of amazement in that experiment, because I constantly would feel that knew roughly where I was, without really having a clue… yet, I was always right.
For the day or two, things were pretty relaxed. A lot of walking around, a few drinks, a couple nice meals, and tours through the Red Light District. For those of you who are curious, I only ever partook of the internet offered in the special coffee shops, and none of the other local delicacies. The biggest letdown of the whole city, however, was that I couldn’t find any good clothes at Sissy Boy this time, where I got two great shirts on my last visit.
After
Amsterdam
, I kicked off one of the silliest days I’ve experienced in quite some time (honestly, for a 24 hour period, it destroys the “NYC and Back for 2 Ballgames” trip). Wake up in Amsterdam, train to Eindhoven, flight to Stanstead, England flight to Biarritz, France, taxi to Irun, Spain, and then a train to Pamplona, and a taxi to a place to stay. For the next 14 hours or so, I was surrounded by folks in white suits and red scarves and sashes, 99% of whom were absolutely trashed. There was music in the streets, crowds dancing and singing, and a general sense of festivity in every corner of every narrow street in the city.
I don’t think anybody does anything in Pamplona for the week of the San Fermin festival except party and sleep (but mostly party), from the time the bulls run in the morning until they pass out in a park sometime later that day. After watching the famed Running of the Bulls (and being dangerously close to deciding to participate), I split from Pamplona on a bus headed to Zaragoza which, if you must know, is almost two hours south of Pamplona. Almost exactly 24 hours after taking a taxi into
Spain
, I was on a flight out of it.
Before too long, I landed in
Belgium
. As is often the case with RyanAir flights, we landed in a city’s secondary airport, or a town only kinda nearby. So there I was at
Charleroi
, on a shuttle to the shiny metropolis of
Brussels
. After a nice steak at a local brasserie, I crashed pretty early at my 4 star hotel which was nice and cheap on Priceline.
The next day was filled with touristy things like Mini-Europe, the Atomium, and the Mannekin Pis, which I think will be my favourite thing about
Brussels
for a long time. The little statue of a peeing boy draws thousands of visitors a day, and is such an attraction that he has more than 800 costumes to wear depending on what sort of festivities need attention. Christmas, World Cup, holidays, etc. all require a special costume for the normally naked boy… which is how he was the day I saw him. There is, however, the Mannekin Pis tavern across the street from the statue, which has many of the costumes and artifacts on display to be enjoyed over a pint of La Chouffe.
The next day, I decided I should figure out how to get back to
Munich
to catch my flight home… which is where I left this last time. I was still on that train… leaving
Luxembourg
for
Munich
. I arrived in
Munich
around 3:30am. I took a taxi to another nice hotel I got on Priceline (oddly enough the same one that Greg stayed at when we were there two years ago… *talk about recognizing things when you’re not sure where you are! Try that at 3:30am after 7 hours on the train and a crazy taxi ride!).
I wish I could have spent more time in that room. It was a suite with three beds. I used one bed for about three hours, and I don’t think I moved for that whole time. The lines in my skin imprinted from the sheets and pillows were as deep as I’ve ever seen them. Regardless, I was up at 7:10am, on the shuttle to the airport at 7:30 and on a plane to
Atlanta
at 10:00. That was roughly 13 hours ago. As far as I can tell, I’m about one hour from
Toronto
, and I should arrive safely with all my bags. I’m just going to assume the rest of this all goes according to plan.
I land. I get through customs. I get my bags. I get a shuttle downtown. I walk into my apartment. If that doesn’t happen, I’ll change this later…
Saying that I'm in a funk doesn't really begin to describe what I'm feeling. I think everybody goes through something like this every now and then, but I'd have to figure that this one is mainly self inflicted. After Vegas, then Edmonton, then New York, and a few days in Maitland visiting mom and dad, I feel like I want to stop moving around for a while... of course, that's not going to happen for a while yet because I leave for Germany on Friday to work at a World Curling Federation Junior Camp. This weeks goal is to prepare some lessons for the kiddies.
On top of that, work has been getting me down a bit lately. I don't know what I'm supposed to do about it, but hopefully it's just a result of feeling otherwise scattered. They've been great about school, and days off for everything, so I can't complain that much. I'm just not feeling like I'm supposed to do it for much longer. I've discussed it a few times with my boss, but I think it's about time something gets done about it.
In happier news, New York was a great trip. It was fun to see Bry, and Kyle really enjoyed his first trip to the Big Apple. We hung out at Bethy's bar for a bit, did Times Square, Rockerfeller Center, and Yankee Stadium, and had a really good few days.
Now, let's hope I can relax a little bit...
I have returned from Edmonton. I almost finished two courses (I still have some papers to write), I visited with friends, and I went to Calgary for a weekend to see my nieces and nephews... and sisters and brothers-in-law. It was a lot of fun, a lot of work, and I'm happy to be home. I also saw a soccer game featuring David Beckham at Commonwealth Stadium, although I'm stilll not sure why the LA Galaxy played the Vancouver Whitecaps in Edmonton. That's not important though.
So I've been back for a few days and have tried to settle in to the Toronto routine. Of course that involves going to as many Jays games as possible, playing in two different softball games, and having a work schedule that has to fit around all these other things. And oh yeah... the papers to write are still lingering over my head.
Next week, I'm taking advantage of a good ebay deal on tickets and a good JetBlue deal on a flight from Buffalo to take a long mid-week weekend (don't ask) to see the Blue Jays play in NYC against the Yankees. Bry Fink is coming down for one, and my buddy Kyle will be joining me from Toronto. I'm sure I don't need another vacation quite yet, but this one was too good to pass up.
In other news, I booked my flight for Germany today. I'll be off to work at the WCF Fuessen Curling Camp in July. So many things to do, and none of them work!
To prove that I actually did work in Alberta, here's a picture of my research poster presentation... which explains what I'll be doing for the next year.
So I've been back for a few days and have tried to settle in to the Toronto routine. Of course that involves going to as many Jays games as possible, playing in two different softball games, and having a work schedule that has to fit around all these other things. And oh yeah... the papers to write are still lingering over my head.
Next week, I'm taking advantage of a good ebay deal on tickets and a good JetBlue deal on a flight from Buffalo to take a long mid-week weekend (don't ask) to see the Blue Jays play in NYC against the Yankees. Bry Fink is coming down for one, and my buddy Kyle will be joining me from Toronto. I'm sure I don't need another vacation quite yet, but this one was too good to pass up.
In other news, I booked my flight for Germany today. I'll be off to work at the WCF Fuessen Curling Camp in July. So many things to do, and none of them work!
To prove that I actually did work in Alberta, here's a picture of my research poster presentation... which explains what I'll be doing for the next year.
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