Early last week, I had the opportunity to experience something different. I attended a 2-day conference related to my work. The reason I say it was different is because although I’ve attended a number of courses and seminars during my time with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, I never quite had the experience of communicating, exchanging information and business cards. It’s always been about the learning but this time it was about the networking.
I spent two days hearing others speak about matters related to my current field, which was fantastic. I also got to speak on some subject matter, myself. Never one to keep my mouth shut, I was able to speak well over time and infringed on everyone’s lunch. Shame on me, but it was free lunch so they really don’t have too much to complain about. I ended up handing out dozens of business cards and making all sorts of connections. It was phenomenal…
It definitely exposed me to a different side of the professional world. As a police officer, I was usually limited to a world where I associated with other badges. Now, my world has expanded a bit. It gives me some thoughts about what the future may hold. And I’m kind of thinking that the future may be bright enough that I’ll have to wear shades…
Yesterday I travelled back to Regina from Saskatoon after having spent the night recovering from my eye injections on Monday afternoon. As is my usual habit, I spent Tuesday morning attending some work-related meetings from my hotel room and part of my afternoon dealing with the closure of an office location in Saskatoon. The result is that I got home much later last night than I normally would have. And interestingly enough, My Monday/Tuesday was a bit more interesting than my typical visit to the hospital and evening in the pub. And here’s where you het to hear about it…
I arrived in the city around lunchtime and headed straight for the hotel. I’m almost always a few hours early for check-in and I do this to ensure I can accommodate any unexpected delays, such as construction, road closure, a flat tire, etc… It’s never happened but I know that the one time I leave so that I arrive on the hour, I’ll have some issue come up. I used to wander one of the local malls or stores to get closer to check-in but I stopped doing that when I realized the hotel would allow me to check in early, provided there was a room available.
Zombie eyes…
My check-in and walk to the hospital went off without a hitch, despite the cold winds and slightly lower temperatures than we’ve been getting lately. I arrived at the hospital about thirty minutes before my injection appointment. This is always by design as well, because they have to dilate my pupils and take surface photos of my eyes before I get to see the doc for the injections themselves. I’ll usually try to get through all of that prior to my scheduled appointment so that I can be on time. I can’t help but feel that if everyone did this, there would rarely be any hold ups. But I digress…
I got through the vision exam, dilation and photos without issue. Then, the wait began… Amazingly, the doc could be seen floating from one room to the other as he usually does. It seemed as though they were on the mark but everyone had been waiting well beyond their scheduled appointment. As any of you who may have read some of my previous posts would know, I’m not a big fan of being kept waiting; especially when I intentionally take steps to prevent keeping others from waiting. I was getting a little frustrated at the wait (it was already 15 minutes past my scheduled appointment) when one of the nurses came into the waiting room and called for a “Mary.”
One of the ladies stood and said she was called Mary but when the nurse checked her name tag, her first name was actually “Cora,” with a middle name of “Mary.” This was not the lady they were looking for (cue Sir Alec Guinness’ voice, here). I made a passing joke about how I should have piped up and said that I went by Mary so that I could slip in earlier. The whole room got a laugh and it alleviated some of the tension that everyone was feeling, which was a good thing. I finally got in to have my injections more than a full hour after my scheduled appointment.
My dinner, once all the hospital stuff was done
I could get angry and frustrated about the extended wait I experienced. After all, what if I needed to get back to work? What if I had to pick up children or had other obligations? Being made to wait for that period of time is inappropriate in any setting. Unfortunately, this has become the norm in the Canadian health care system and I’ve learned to roll with it and be sure that I can accommodate the added wait. So as much as I dislike waiting, I was prepared for it and knew it could happen. And here we are. I staggered back to the hotel room for a brief nap to let the dilation wear off prior to going to dinner.
My evening started at about 6 pm, where I made my way down to Finn’s Irish pub on the ground floor of my hotel. I love Finn’s on a Monday night. Never much of one for clubs or bars, it allows me the pleasure of relaxing in a pub environment without the crowds or business that comes with being in such locations. As you can see from the photo above, I indulged well beyond what I would usually consume at ANY meal. between the beer and the “Irish nachos,” I was looking at almost 90 grams of carbohydrates. I can feel my insulin pump having a panic attack just looking at that photo.
I was in the midst of enjoying my meal, sipping my beer and watching Disney+ on my phone while sitting quietly in a dark corner, when I could hear yelling and swearing around the corner. Although I’m no longer in law enforcement, self-preservation is a natural instinct and I’m still naturally inclined to help others who may not be able to help themselves. I took a subtle stroll to the washroom so I could see what was happening. It appeared as though a couple were arguing at the bar and the bar staff were trying to kick them out of the bar. Since there appeared to be no physical violence, I kept walking.
About fifteen minutes later, a tall security guard comes in and all hell breaks loose. Likely told they had to leave, the couple decided to get nuts and this one security guard somehow managed to arrest and remove them both. I’ll admit I was a bit impressed. Unless there were police around the corner where I couldn’t see, it was pretty ballsy (and unsafe) to try and arrest two people by oneself. I never would have attempted it. I decided my evening was over after this and crashed quite early, which had me with my eyes open early as fuck, the following morning.
The moral of the story is that I didn’t stick around beyond that first beer so despite the fact my pump got an olympic-level workout throughout the night to bring my blood sugars down, I got a reasonable night’s sleep despite being away from home. But even in the quietest of environments, the potential for violence and danger is always present. It’s important not to allow paranoia to prevent you from enjoying life. The distinction is to be vigilant, not paranoid. If only I’d had told the nurse I went by “Mary,” I could have gotten though sooner and maybe missed all the action… Who knows? ☯️
Last weekend, we were trying to decide what we could do with the boys as an activity outside the house. Sometimes we bring them to a play structure or a public park, which allows them to burn off some excess energy and doesn’t cost anything. The latter makes me sound pretty cheap. But getting the former accomplished is no easy task, especially when having Nathan and Alexander together is like mixing oil and water. Unfortunately for us, Nathan has developed a taste for the finer things, preferring the likes of the trampoline gym or indoor climbing structures that cost half a fortune.
It presents an interesting challenge, considering we’ve pledged to do something with them outside the house every weekend. Although it wasn’t raining, we had received some snow in Regina last Friday, which cooled everything overall. Temperatures on Saturday morning were in the single digits, which meant that there was a significant chill in the air. Although i don’t hide from the cold, I don’t enjoy being in it unless I have to. And being idle while standing outside makes the cold all that much more penetrating. My wife likes the cold even less, dressing warmly even in the summer months.
Alexander, making his way through the play structures
We decided to try dressing warmly and bringing the boys to candy cane park. An outdoor play park, it features a number of different ares of play, including a giant, concrete sculpture of a Canada Goose featuring all the different wildlife found around Wascana lake and has a slide and different tunnels. It a pretty fun place to play, especially since it also has a rubberized surface all over, preventing serious injury when kids tumble and fall. The idea was to let them play for a while and grab them some lunch from somewhere that they could takes bites from as they played.
All the things he could be playing on and he decides to dig with a random stick…
I thought the colder weather would allow for a quieter amount of people but i was quite wrong. In fact, i was surprised at how many people were either wearing shorts or sandals, making mu theatrics about how chilly it was seem a little excessive. It didn’t take long for both my wife and I to start shivering and being uncomfortable. Since my wife is usually colder than I am, I offered to have her drive back home for something warmer and grab lunch for the boys while she came back. She happily accepted.
Some local wildlife decided to snoop about the park, as well.
The boys both made friends and played at their leisure. When my wife finally came back, she had happy meals in hand and the boys started snacking away. The sky had turned completely cloudy and we had some concern of rain, so we coaxed Nathan to the car with the promise of hot chocolate when we got home, which he fully took advantage of. Alexander didn’t seem to care either way, content to follow wherever we took him.
These two look like trouble!
Once everyone was home and fed, we took advantage of Alex going down for a nap to close our eyes for a short period of time. Weekend naps are the best, and Nathan actually left me alone long enough to enjoy one, this time. Even if it was a bit on the colder side on Saturday morning, we managed to find a way to get some enjoyment out of the day. I’m sure as permanent, warmer weather starts kicking in, we’ll be enjoying more things like swimming and splash parks. ☯️
Sometimes I get a little cheeky in my writing because you have to admit, there are a lot of weird and strange holidays out there… When you consider things like National Hugging Day, Donut Day and as much as I get a kick out of the gimmick of it, Star Wars Day (May the 4th), it’s easy to see how holidays have become a bit of a staple of society. Social media posts are always filled with tons of posts about these holidays. But once in a while you get one that’s official and it usually isn’t as recognized as some of the goofy ones.
Today is Victoria Day in Canada. For those if you from elsewhere who may not be familiar with the monarchy that oversees Canada, Queen Victoria was the grandmother of King George V, who was subsequently the grandfather of Queen Elizabeth II, the current reigning monarch. Queen Victoria reigned from 1837 until her death in 1901. In 1845, Queen Victoria’s birthday was declared a national holiday in Canada. Upon her death 1901, an act of parliament declared it as a legal holiday. In modern days, it’s used as an excuse to go away for a long weekend.
Having a three-day weekend is always a catch-22 for me… Although it’s great to have an added day off to kick back, relax and do whatever, it’s also an added day of work to catch up on, once I return to the office. Plus, it makes the remainder of the work-week shorter, meaning there’s less time to get certain tasks done. This pretty much undoes any of the relaxation I may get from being off today. But that kind of sounds like a “tomorrow me” problem… For now, time for some caffeine and to actually enjoy the added day. Hope everyone got to do something pleasant for their long weekend! ☯️
Despite how loud and outspoken I tend to project myself as, I’ve never really been a social butterfly and I rarely keep an increased social circle within my personal life. This isn’t because I don’t WANT friends… Far from it, in fact. But the nature of how I live my life, mixed with familial and home obligations, doesn’t make for much free time to hang out and spend time with friends. And that’s fine. I have a handful of people whom I call “friend,” they know who they are and I get to see them when our respective lives allow us to.
With that in mind, it’s a normal thing for people to come in and out of our lives. Sometimes it happens organically and doesn’t really change a great deal. I have people that I spent TONS of time with, twenty years ago and somehow life carried us in different directions and life has progressed all without the sense of loss that should normally come with that lost connection. However, once in a while a person may make an impact on one’s life that makes it a little bit harder to accept their departure when fate deems it necessary for them to step away.
We usually navigate our own lives oblivious to the direct impact we have on other individuals. And that impact can be either negative or positive but the reality is that any given person will ALWAYS have an impact on others. When you meet someone genuine, someone who is helpful, a teacher, guide, mentor and friend, that impact is all the more measurable and important. It’s made all the more special by the fact that these people often don’t assume or consider how much of that impact they’re responsible for. And that’s kind of what makes it special… If a person did all these things with the purpose of being recognize and considered as a genuine, impactful person, I think it would lose a little something.
In some cases, many cases, we are oblivious of the importance of such people until we’re at risk of losing them. And that loss can come in many forms, whether illness, death, falling out and misunderstandings, moving away to a new location or simply unavoidable circumstances of life. Once they’re gone, it leaves a significant gap and sense of loss and one can suddenly regret that the requirements and rigours of life prevented more time spent with these individuals. But, such is life! That’s why it’s important to value and appreciate the important people in your life while you have them. Because you never know when someone who impacted your life significantly will have to leave. ☯️
Happy Star Wars Day! One of the big things I love about Star Wars (besides the science fiction aspect) is how its transcended generations. I know it isn’t the most popular view, but I love how the new trilogy has brought out all the nostalgia, the excitement and the wonder that the original trilogy elicited. Since I’m still kind of nursing my wounds, perhaps tonight will need to be an evening of a couple of Star Wars movies…☯️
My son Alexander was born just a short period of time before the world shut down due to the pandemic. In fact, he was sadly born during the few days that I was in southern New Brunswick for a job interview. Not only did I miss his birth, I also didn’t get the job. Life, eh? My point is, the majority of Alexander’s existence has been contained within the confines of our house and back yard. We’ve brought him to a couple of parks and to my place of work on a couple of occasions, but he hasn’t been out to experience the outside world, despite pandemic conditions being recently lifted.
We recently started picking out one activity every weekend to do with our two sons. Last weekend, we brought them to an indoor play structure in a local mall. It was good times; we were able to get coffees and sit while the boys played and socialized with other children. They were quite happy and made a bunch of friends. The best part is Alexander passes right out for an excellent nap that mommy and daddy end up partaking in… But I digress… This weekend, we thought we would shake things up by bringing the boys to a restaurant. Not a fast-food restaurant, mind you; an actual, sit-down and eat restaurant with a menu that didn’t includes toys or a play structure.
Besides getting the boys out of the house and being out in the world, they had the option of choosing their own meal, including drink, main, side and a free sundae. Nathan absolutely loved the option of choosing his own meal. Much to our surprise, both boys were extremely well behaved and ate their meals with gusto. I enjoyed a deli sandwich with fries and my wife had a chicken burger with bacon and dill sauce. It looked amazing.
There were some mild leftovers to be brought with us but that’s okay! They both enjoyed their mutual mini-sundaes and we left the restaurant with a calm feeling of success as we introduced our toddler to a restaurant without any behaviour issues or having to raise our voices. It went so well, that we decided to reward them by bringing them to a local outdoor park. Despite the wind, they were pretty game to play and there were some kids there for them to socialize with.
Despite all the other kids to play with, Nathan and Alexander couldn’t help but cling to each other and stick to each other’s hip as they played. Nathan filled his role as big brother with aplomb and helped Alexander make his way up the obstacles and joined him down the slides. It was fun to just sit and watch them play. My wife and I stayed off our smart phones (except to take these photos, of course) and just soaked in the fresh air and watch the kids have fun. It was incredibly soothing.
After about half an hour, the looming clouds chose that moment to join in unison against humanity and start drizzling their unnecessary dampness on everyone’s head. We loaded the kids back into the family vehicle, which Alexander chose to voice his displeasure by pouring a torrent of verbal diarrhea and screaming combined with hot tears. By the time we got home, it became quite clear that we were overdue for a nap time. Alexander was put in his crib and passed out within minutes. My wife and I joined and found some enjoyment in a small, two-hour nap. Unexpected sleep is the best.
Despite my current torso injury, I napped quite nicely and awoke with renewed energy. Once our naps were over, Nathan was allowed to go outside and join one of his neighbourhood friends at the park contained in his school yard, which is only five minutes around the corner. Last night involved mommy and daddy time of watching “Bad Boys For Life,” so I could relive some of the glory days (policing is NOTHING like what’s seen in those movies, but it’s fun nonetheless). We also binged a few Grey’s Anatomy episodes. Looking forward to what today may bring. Weekends with family are best. ☯️
Considering the bitch-fest I’ve been writing about in recent weeks, I thought I would write about how nice yesterday kicked off after I posted about my doctor’s visit. When I got ready for work, I suddenly realized that not only was it Friday but the sun was shining and he weather was great. It was geared up to be a great day and I had actually gotten some actual sleep by virtue of the stronger muscle relaxants I had been prescribed the previous day after that shitty doctor’s appointment.
Since I wanted to keep the positivity going, I was crooning along to some music as I headed south towards the office when I decided I should get some donuts for my staff. There were a few of them sill working from home, but I knew there would at least be a handful that could take advantage. So I popped by my local retail coffee chain (y’all know where Im talking about). I ordered a dozen donuts but got myself a medium coffee as well. My usual habit is to make a Keurig coffee at work but I thought, what the hell? May as well treat myself as well, right?
I pull up to the drive thru window and had something happen that I had, until that moment, only read about… Someone “paid it forward” and paid for my coffee and donuts! I was floored! I often read stories about people paying it forward in drive thrus like that but I had never had it happen to me. I was elated and was asked if I wanted to keep it going by paying it forward to the next customer behind me. I agreed and pulled my debit card out. Then, a thought hit me… What if the person behind me was ordering breakfast foods for his entire crew or something like that? I assumed the risk that comes with paying it forward and kept my mouth shut.
The person behind me only ordered a coffee and I drove off feeling happy and satisfied. I got to work and sent out an internal email to the staff I assumed would be working on site that day. Then, I ironically sat down and ate the two hard-boiled eggs I brought, since I couldn’t justify the increased amount of carbohydrates that early in the morning. It only took a few minutes for me to recognize that at least four of the ten people I assumed would be working at the office were either working from home or had the day off. brutal. I offered some donuts to the on site staff. I still had seven or eight donuts left.
I walked the other two floors of office and offered the remainders up to all the other staff. I got to make a few people’s day and met some of the staff that I’ve somehow managed NOT to meet over the past year due to working from home as a result of the pandemic and some who have been recently hired. Besides the fact that I got to do some wicked networking within my own organization, I created some positivity not only in my own day but for others, as well. It was a great way to cap off the week, especially in light of how rough it’s been with the pain and the lack of sleep. Next week has a lot to do to make up for yesterday. ☯️
Yesterday was our eighth wedding anniversary. No, I didn’t forget to post about it yesterday, wise asses! We just hadn’t enjoyed our expected festivities yet and writing about something well before it happens is not without its pitfalls. For example, if our plans changed or got cancelled, I’d have a post going live describing things that never happened. The entire point of a blog is to write about one’s knowledge and experiences.
But yes, yesterday was eight years that my wife and I have been married, nine years years together in total. It’s been a wild and fantastic ride, with the purchase and ownership of a couple of houses, the arrival of both our sons and getting through some of the darkest and most difficult periods of my life together. Somehow, I still wake up every morning and she’s still by my side. I consider anyone strong enough to put up with my bullshit for this many years without running away screaming to be a keeper!
Although we do occasionally enjoy a night out, we’re both a bit more on the homebody side, preferring to binge watch some of our favourite shows while the boys play in their respective ways. So, it’s all the more fun when we get to go out for a special occasion, such as last night. Our evening started with my wife picking me up from work and we went to a local restaurant that we’ve both been wanting to try. We had a fantastic meal and enjoyed ourselves before I decided to do a little something different…
They say that the gift for eight years of marriage is brass, so I started by getting my wife a small, brass heart pendant. I also got her some hardware for her phone to help it operate more smoothly. But for the past year or two, we’ve been playing with the idea of doing something akin to renewing our vows at our 10-year anniversary. With that concept in mind and assuming it would potentially take a year or two to plan anything pertinent, I got her a new wedding ring and proposed again!
She said yes again, so I must be doing something right! My boss was teasing me that if I propose again, I’m giving her an out and I need to be prepared for a different answer than I’m expecting. I was glad to see he was wrong. We capped off our evening by going to the book store. Of course, we did. It was a fantastic evening, loaded with joy and good company. With all the negative that happens in the world, it’s always important to take time to appreciate these special moments. They come and go in an instant but the memories last forever. ☯️
I’ve been complaining about my back quite a bit in recent posts. Nobody likes a crybaby and I have to admit that I’m starting to get some mobility back and the pain is lessening more and more as the days are passing. With that in mind, I thought I’d share a quick clip that illustrates the comedy of the moment… please bear in mind that I hold no rights to this video whatsoever and I simply copied and shared from YouTube. Get a laugh and enjoy! ☯️
The Blogging Buddhist 