Category: Opinion

A Little Light Before The Dawn…

I’ve always found that old expression, “It’s always darkest before the dawn,” to be wildly inaccurate. I know it’s meant to be metaphorical, but from a literal standpoint, it’s completely wrong. but before I go off on a tangent, today’s post is about more than inaccurate sayings. The winter months bring about a score of issues that the everyday person needs to deal with. Considering the snow, cold, needing to shovel, road and weather hazards and the fact that almost everyone else seems to turn into the world’s worst drivers on account of road conditions (I’m a little bit biased), it kind of seems as though the winter months make it safer and more worthwhile to just stay home and hidden under some warm blankies…

The winter months can be harsh on a person. Since it stays dark for so much longer during the day, it can feel as though one lives in perpetual darkness, especially if your work keeps you indoors all day. Most days, I wake up and it’s still dark outside. I make my way to work in the dark and by the time I typically leave the office for home, it’s either getting dark or full-on dark. This can play havoc on a person’s energy levels and motivation. Contrary to what many of my colleagues would say, a person needs a certain level of daylight in their lives. Not only is this important in order to balance out one’s circadian rhythm but for vitamin D and shit.

The lack of motivation that the winter months bring can affect one’s motivation to do some of the little things through the course of your day, such as working out, spending time with family and ensuring proper nutrition. In fact, most days during the winter, all I want to do is flop down on the couch and binge-watch television for an hour or two before crashing for 12 hours or more. As nice as that sounds, I usually leave the house and get to work around 7 o’clock in the morning and leave work at 4:30 to 5 o’clock, making for a 10-hour day. If I followed that up with 12 hours of sleep, that would only leave about 2 hours of free time per day, which kind of sucks.

It can be pretty easy to allow the rigours of the day and darker, greyer winter weather get you down and keep you from doing what needs to be done to ensure proper nutrition and health. It takes a bit of a push in order to ensure you don’t get kicked in the balls by the winter blahs. And they can sneak up on you without notice. Eat well, exercise regularly and check your blood sugars often. Eventually, the snow will melt, the weather will warm up and weekend coffees on the back deck can become the norm again. ☯️

Black Adam: A Review (Spoilers Ahead)

One of the benefits of having recently purchased a large-screen television is that we’ve opened up the floodgates for a number of movies we’ve wanted to see. Although I’ve been quite happy with the 14” television we were lent about three years ago, there’s just something about having access to a larger, better television that brings something to the table in terms of the movie-watching experience. And since the lack of an available babysitter makes it difficult for my wife and I to hit the theatres, the next reasonable step is to bring the theatre to us. And here we are…

One of the first movies we purchased was Black Adam, which we watched a couple of nights ago. Let me paint you a picture; we have the 52” flat screen. We have a digital sound at with a wireless subwoofer, basically causing our chest to vibrate, every time there’s an explosion. I have a drink in my hands and chips in my lap. The movie logos kick in and the walls are reverberating with the deep rumble of bass. The evening has begun.

One of the fascinating things I’ve noticed with Hollywood and society in general, is that we’ve reached a point where remakes and reboots are often seen as something “new” by the public. But in truth, Black Adam is a comic book character who’s been around since the mid-20th century. Having first appeared in the comic books during the mid-40’s, he became a mainstream character in the DC universe in the 1970’s. He’s been one of Captain Marvel’s (or “Shazam’s,” if you wanna be a dick about it… Thanks, Marvel!) main antagonists since then.

I’ve seen some of his appearances in the comics over the years and was reasonably familiar with the character and the background, making me somewhat curious as to how he would be portrayed on the big screen. I’m a big fan of Dwayne Johnson and although he has his particular niche when it comes to roles, I feel he was well-suited to fill the black and golden yellow shoes of Black Adam. And unlike having Brandon Routh and Henry Cavill done the “S” shield, there were no predecessors for him to work off of.

The movie starts the way any film of the genre would; with Teth Adam as a slave, along with his family, in a city called Kahndaq. The movie suggests that Teth Adam steals something of value from Kahndaq’s king and is sentenced to death. He’s rescued and bestowed the powers of Black Adam by the old gods and becomes Kahndaq”s champion. He defeats the king and in doing so, disappears for 5,000 years. This is somewhat different from his original origin, which sees him defeat and kill an Egyptian pharaoh and take his throne.

Teth Adam is re-awoken 5,000 years later as a violent and unrelenting antihero. Unlike Superman, Black Adam seems pretty m,ugh unstoppable, with the exception of exposure to an element called Eternium, which appears capable of injuring Black Adam and even cancelling out his powers. He’s exposed very little to it in the film despite it’s appearance all over the bloody place, making it even less effective against Black Adam than kryptonite is against Superman.

Ultimately, Black Adam sees the more positive side of things and takes on the role of a hero by defeating the bad guys, restoring order to Kahndaq and saving the day. All in all, the movie rated pretty well for me and even my wife, who usually sits through DCU and MCU movies with me but isn’t usually taken by the genre. Would I watch it again? Absolutely. Was the experience pretty bad-ass thanks to the television and sound bar? You’d better believe it. I would recommend this movie as something to watch on an evening where you have the whole family and want something to keep them all engaged with the action and fight sequences. ☯️

A Foundation Without Form Will Still Be Weak…

I saw an interesting post on my Facebook feed a couple of days ago… Since I tend to check out martial arts pages and subscribe to some on occasion, I often have suggestions that pop into my feed. Some help to plant seeds for good blog posts, some just look like nonsense (to me) and I scroll right on by. But this one threw out a thought that resonated with me. It read something comparing kata and kumite to the body and soul of karate and how you can have kata without kumite but you can’t have kumite without kata.

This would be a point of heated discussion among martial artists of different styles, as some would argue that neither is needed to support the other. I was raised on a system where kata, or forms, are the base foundation for everything that follows. Kumite is a physical application of those forms. If you try to do kumite before properly learning the forms, you’ll be lacking in certain respects. Again, this can differ from style to style and I‘ve even trained in dojos where they teach their students kumite and even sparring well before they properly learn kata.

A big problem I have is that learning to spar or doing kumite before learning the proper foundational elements is sort of like trying o run before you’ve learned how to walk. It doesn’t work well in anyone’s favour. But one of the main issues, which has always been something that’s irked me as well, is that people want the flashy, high-flying techniques. They want the kicking and the punching and the speed… Most people don’t have the patience to learn kata and develop themselves.

And if I’m being honest, kata shouldn’t be sold short. Doing a half dozen forms with proper muscle tension and power will usually work up more of a sweat than anything else will. I was well-reminded of this recently when I watched the Karate kid III for the bajillionth time… The main protagonist is training in the antagonist’s dojo and is asked what was the last thing he learned. The protagonist says, “kata,” to which the antagonist says that kata is great for working up a sweat but it doesn’t win tournaments. Although I don’t necessarily agree that form won’t help win a tournament, I can easily agree that it works up a wicked sweat…

Traditional martial arts isn’t a fast process and you won’t be ready to kick ass and fight like an action star, even after a couple of years of training. Katas are not just a nice-to-have, they are the requirements needed to develop your foundation in order to build your skill set properly and efficiently. Plus, they’re hard as shit to master. After almost four decades of studying karate, I still have difficulty managing some of the steps and techniques included in my katas. Time and patience, folks. That’s the spice that makes an effective martial artist. ☯️

Whoopsie…

Well, there you have it folks… After 1,036 straight days of posting, I neglected to submit a post to go live, yesterday. I guess it was bound to happen eventually. After I hit my 1,000-post goal, I was left wondering what my next goal would be with this blog. Theoretically, with the height of the pandemic come and gone and the fact I’m back to work full time, there would be few practical reasons for me to keep hammering to write something EVERY day. In fact, achieving my 1,000 was reasonably anti-climatic, with only one or two acquaintances acknowledging the milestone, even through my blog. But I digress.

I’d like to say that this oversight (if it can be called that) was the result of something external that simply prevented me from writing, but such is not the case. In fact, I had ample opportunity to sit at the keyboard and get something on paper (or rather, on screen), I simply chose not to. Oddly enough, when Thursday evening hit, I felt a strange wave of something come over me. It wasn’t quite nausea, not quite dizziness, tinged with an unfortunate feeling of sleepiness. Not tired or fatigued, like after a long day’s work but actually sleepy.

Given that this can easily happen and having a night where one is sleepy isn’t unheard of, I made certain my blood sugars were level and crashed with no second thought given to how I was feeling. It wasn’t until I noticed the following day that this strange feeling had not only remained but appeared to be worsening. I told my wife about it and we discussed some potential reasons behind the feeling. Given that I recently discovered blood pressure issues, I checked that often but it was normal.

Friday nights are usually my night with Nathan, where we watch videos, play games and eat junk food in the basement. Although we still did this, I wound up crashing at about 10:30 pm, unable to stay awake any longer. I slept solidly and had no issues during the night but imagine my surprise when I woke up and checked the time to see it was past noon! I haven’t slept in that late since I was in my early 30’s. I struggled to get out of bed and quickly realized that my bed was in a fog and I could have easily slipped back insert he covers and fallen back asleep. I started to get concerned…

I made my way upstairs and spoke to my wife about it. I still went about my Saturday and ran errands, went out, even purchased a new television for the living room. All the while, I still felt foggy and couldn’t quite put a finger on what was causing the issue. Saturday night was almost as bad as Friday, with my wife unceremoniously putting me to bed when our toddler went down. I woke up around 10:00 am on Sunday morning and we did some running around as a family, followed by a much-needed 2-hour nap in the afternoon.

I basically spent the majority of my weekend sleeping, which really irks me as I usually have workouts and family plans and things I want to get done. Now, as I try and get at my Monday with the workweek starting anew, I still feel the thin veil of this sleepiness but it appears to be passing. Although paying close attention to all things required (blood sugars, blood pressure, hydration, etc) I still have no idea what may have had me so tired and in a funk. Maybe it’s just mood-based. Light knows I’m a moody bastard! Getting medical attention is no longer a promising prospect, given the state of most hospital emergency rooms, so keeping myself healthy has never been more important. ☯️

All The Little Things… ( A Matter Of Perspective)

Sometimes it gets easy to forget that the important things in life will often be a matter of perspective based on one’s circumstances. For example, most of us take for a given that we’ll get home at night and have food on the table. While we may consider this a little thing, barely worthy of thought or attention, for the family struggling to make ends meet, having food on the table can mean the world. And that‘s what I mean by perspective. What seems like such a little thing to one person may be integral to a better life for others.

I was reminded recently of just how lucky I am, in life. I have a warm, stable home and household, food in my fridge, clothes on my back and I want for nothing. There are things I want out of life, obviously. But there’s no shortage of warmth, safety and love within my life. Not everyone is so lucky. That’s why when a friend reached out for some help for someone else, I was able to say yes without hesitation. There is a prevailing belief that if you find yourself able to do good, you should.

What I did or who I did it for is not important. But knowing that I was able to help someone in need not only made me feel better but I’m certain the person obtaining the help is grateful, as well. We all need a bit of help sometimes, regardless of where we are in life. The irony is that it’s sometimes the richest people with the biggest entourage who need the most help but are the least likely to ask for it.

If you have the ability to help someone else, I highly recommend it. Although no one will line themselves up to give everything away, there are always ways to help others. And not only does it make you feel good to help others but karma will love you for it. Granted, if you do it to get good karma, you’re kind of defeating the purpose. But any good is still good. So go out and spread that good. Doing so will go a long way towards eliminating suffering in yourself as well as others. Food for thought…☯️

Why Would You Ever “Lego” Of Your Childhood…

One of the fun things about having children is that you get to live vicariously through them and in most cases, you get to relive aspects of your childhood by playing with their toys. Namely, their freaking LEGO blocks… Most adult will joke about the aspect that they found themselves stepping on LEGO blocks left out on the floor. I’ll admit that I live that very thing on a daily basis and not just with LEGO. But I have to admit that playing with Nathan and his LEGO tickles the nostalgia bone.

I still remember the first LEGO set I got as a kid. It was a spaceship of sorts that included a storage pod and command pod but when assembled, it became a larger ship. I used to play with that thing for hours, taking it apart, putting it back together and losing myself within the realms of imagination. Given how much I enjoyed it, one would think that I would have had plenty of LEGO sets in my youth, but that really didn’t happen.

As Nathan has gotten a little older, he’s started to receive actual LEGO sets and boxes of bulk pieces, like the one pictured above. A couple of years ago, he received a pretty substantial LEGO set that built into a police station with multiple floors, multiple vehicles and a helicopter. It was pretty badass, despite how difficult it was to put together. Nathan loved it but has since completely dissembled it. Such is the case when imagination takes over; one won’t always follow the pattern or the instructions.

For years, I’ve been looking at different LEGO sets and thinking how cool it would be to make some them as a hobby. When I worked at the academy, I had a colleague who would often order LEGO sets of specific things. My favourite was one of the cars James Bond used. It had functional secret compartments and features. He was nice enough o bring that one to the office to demonstrate it. I had always thought I’d order a couple of sets at some point. The LEGO website even has an adult section. But some of my concerns was how to assemble such a set without my kids getting into it and then, what to do with it afterwards.

Nathan’s assorted LEGO bin

Last night, I finally broke down and ordered a few sets. In fact, I ordered three sets that interconnect with each other. One is a lunar rover, one is a lunar base and one is a lunar space station. From what I can tell, they connect and interact with one another, so it should look pretty sweet once it’s assembled. I figure I’ll buy a nice, large baseplate to build them all on to allow for stability and permanence. It likely isn’t a set that I would take apart or alter once I’ve put it together. It’ll likely be displayed.

Most aspects of our childhood get left behind when we grow into adulthood. But there are some aspects we can always revisit. And why not? There are still a lot of things that one can participate in, that can include your children and bring that nice, warm feeling of nostalgia rushing back. I’ll see just how deep that takes hold once I get my sets. I’ll keep you all posted. ☯️

Unfamiliar Sweat…

As part of my recent decision to try and better myself all around, fitness plays an integral role in maintaining a healthy body and regulating blood sugars. For most people, this can mean joining a local gym or fitness group or working out from home. For me, the latter is preferable because I can do what I want when I want and I don’t have to follow others or wait on people using machines that I might want. Not everybody feels this way though and it would be inaccurate to say that there aren’t some benefits to using an outside gym. yesterday, when i got to my hotel in Saskatoon, I had a bit of free time as the roads were better than I anticipated and I had two choices; kick back and relax before heading to the hospital or hit the hotel’s gym… Guess which one I chose?

Normally, I arrive in Saskatoon, check into my room, unpack my necessities so that I’m not groping around for them when I get back and have lost most of my vision and then make my way to the hospital for what is almost always a delayed process where they’re running late. On this visit, I actually had a couple of hours to spare before my scheduled appointment. I changed into gym wear and made my way down to the hotel’s gym. A reasonable space, I could see it becoming somewhat cramped if there were more than one or two people in it. But, the space had everything one needs for exercise, including free weights, a couple of cable machines and at least one of every type of cardio machine (elliptical, treadmill and stationary bike).

I put in a solid thirty minutes of resistance training followed by about fifteen minutes of fast-paced elliptical to cap off my workout. It was good times, despite the fact that I forgot my Bluetooth headphones or earbuds at home and had no way of listening to music while I worked out. Talk about first-world problems, right? But I got a solid workout in and worked up a wicked sweat, which was nice. It felt good knowing that I had done the workout and wouldn’t squander the extra time. Typically, I don’t get much done prior to my appointment and once I get the eye injections, I sleep it off for a couple of hours followed by some time in the pub, having dinner and a couple of pints to fight off the pain. This was a nice change.

Reasonably, one can hammer out a workout just about anywhere. With only a six-by-six foot floor space, I have a wicked marine workout that uses body weight only and will absolutely kick your ass. By that logic, it could be easily done in the hotel room. But sometimes it can be fun and keeps things fresh, using machines and resources you don’t typically have access to. Every little workout counts and helps contribute to better health, better weight management and better overall blood sugar control. It can be SO easy, finding an excuse not to work out. And the body usually prefers being at rest because it’s designed to reserve energy. But if you can find it within yourself to push a little and hammer through, not only do you get to tell your body I told you so, but it’ll thank you in the long run. Food for thought. ☯️

Getting A Chilly Response…

No, this isn’t a post about someone giving me the cold shoulder, although my shoulders certainly were a bit on the chilly side for a while. The unfortunate things happen when the thermometer drops… After all, your car never fails to start during the warm, summer months. It’s always right in the middle of January, when you’ve got -50 degrees with the wind chill, that several cranks of the key will yield no response. And such is life, right? Last night, we had that same situation happen but with something that is ironically nestled snuggly within the arm confines of our home… Our furnace.

Furnaces are wonderful. They keep you warm during the winter and maintain the overall ambient temperature of one’s household. During the autumn of 2021, we had a brand new furnace and air conditioner installed as part of the overall renovation of our basement. It made sense at the time, since walls would be going up that would likely be damaged if we replaced it later on. Long story short, our furnace is less than a couple of years’ old, meaning that the expectation is that it’ll continue to chug along and function properly. What is it that I always say at moments like these? Something about life not caring about one’s plans, right?

I quietly sitting on my rocker in the basement while Nathan looked up his umpteenth video on YouTube on how to build some particular thing in Minecraft. Since I’ll be leaving town for the evening this morning for my eye injections, I was busy doing laundry, cleaning out the basement and ensuring everyone got their Sunday showers before heading back to school. That’s when my wife came downstairs and explained that she had the thermostat set at 72 degrees but that the house temperature was currently sitting at 66 degrees. 66 isn’t the be all, end all of cold temperature but for a household used to hovering at about 70 during the winter months, it doesn’t go unnoticed.

We did all the usual “due diligence” steps before considering calling someone; we checked the furnace breaker, took off the furnace panels and made sure nothing appeared broken or disconnected, checked the filter… Nothing. So, despite it being quite late into the evening and would costs significantly more, we contacted a local furnace company to come see what the problem was. To do otherwise would have meant that the house would have become dangerously cold for the family overnight so I would have had to put us up in a hotel or something, the cost of which I could simply contribute to having the furnace looked at and everyone stays home. I know, I know… first-world problems…

Anyway, this very skilled and capable gentleman comes in and discovers that we’re missing a particular drain on the furnace, which is causing humidity to come in from the outdoors. Although it had been reasonably humid lately, he felt it was strange that after almost two years’ of use, we had never encountered this issue before. He went outside and discovered small footprints around the vent pipes, suggesting that Nathan may have been walking around there. Considering we had basically forced Nathan out to play yesterday, we began contemplating that the little fucker may have stuffed a bunch of snow down the vent pipe, which the engineer made very clear could have caused all the water backup into the furnace.

Nathan was already in bed and asleep but the engineer got the furnace working and true to his word, it kept working all night. In fact, I hear it belching out warm air now. The engineer is slated to return today to install a replacement part for what was damaged due to the water and now I get the fun parenting task of trying to determine if my son is actually responsible and explaining why it was a bad thing. Getting the truth out of a child when they assume they may be in trouble is always a bit problematic. But there’s no denying that by the time today’s repair is completed, we’ll likely be looking at a cool grand in costs. Fun, right?

Life doesn’t care about one’s plans. It’s almost a guarantee that the furnace wouldn’t have given out during the summer months because we don’t use it (besides the fan for air circulation). But when the x-factor to all the damage is your own child, it adds a bit of vinegar into the paper cut. Que sera… We’re still very fortunate to live in a comfortable home with very few issues with food on our table and clothes on our back. Not everyone is so fortunate. Stay warm, everyone! ☯️

The Matrix Has You…

There’s no denying that modern life has led to the here and now; a world where everyone (or almost everyone) is plugged in. Computers, laptops, cell phone and tablets are seen and used everywhere with a very small demographic remaining who have either never laid hands on one of those or never will. Our children are no different, with modern life making it almost impossible for someone to raise a child without the use of electronic devices. One good example I can provide is when my son start second grade and his school demanded that we provide him with a device to do his homework on. This blew my mind and I immediately opposed it, as it’s one thing to pay for supplies that are needed but entirely another when you’re expected to buy them an expensive electronic device just to do homework.

My opposition was not well-received, as I was told that any device could be used, including my own cell phone. I don’t know about y’all, but I’m not a fan of providing my personal cell to anyone. Beyond the fact that I use it myself as my personal phone line, there’s also my email access, games, alarm, scheduler and social media. My phone is my phone, purchased with my own money for my own purposes. The presumption of being told I can simply hand it off to anyone else is ludicrous to me. But here we are. I ended up giving my son one of the older version cell phones I had, since I never turn them in. He now uses this not only for his school apps but for a few simple games and some streaming services as well. This is combination with the Nintendo Switch we bought him last summer to keep him occupied on our trip out East.

The issue is that my children are fast-becoming people who can’t live without these devices. As a result, my 8-year old, who should be outside, running, playing, climbing and riding a bike, spends his down time on his back or lying on his stomach, watching Netflix Kids and Disney+, playing Minecraft and unfortunately binge-watching Minecraft videos on YouTube. The unfortunate byproduct of this standard is that Nathan is becoming a bit of a lazy shit. Gets home from school, drops his shit and grabs his devices. Wakes up in the morning, walks himself out of the bedroom and grabs his devices. All weekend, stays on his devices. Drives me absolutely batty!

I grew up on the Northern shores of New Brunswick, where I spent my down time in the forests, swimming in brooks and playing outside. I put so many kilometres on my bike that I usually ended up needing a new one every couple of years. Maybe that had something to do with my growth, though. My point is, we’ve been trying to get Nathan more physically involved with the everyday life outside the house. Considering we have some pretty nice weather on occasion, our new standard has been that if he wants his device, he needs to spend an hour outdoors, first. Not if there’s a snow storm or bad weather, obviously. But in general and overall.

Our idea has also been poorly received. Considering that yesterday morning, I was able to sleep in quite late (pretty bad that between 9 and 10 am is now considered late) before my toddler woke me by scaring the living shit out of me, I didn’t start out my Saturday on the best note. But I made it clear to Nathan that he was getting no screens until he spent an hour outdoors. In true, teenage form, he decided it was a better and easier option to curl up in a blanket and sulk than just go outside. It was -3 degrees. That’s almost cut-off jean shorts weather. Never mind the fact that the time he used to sulk about not getting his screens, he could have easily burned through an hour outside.

Look, I get it… It’s 2023 and everyone and everything is tethered to the electronic frontier. There’s no living completely device-free because no matter how you live, you’ll eventually need technology in some given way, shape or form. I just don’t want technology being the only way my children experience life. Ultimately, he conceded and went outside. Although I don’t like that it turned into a negotiation, at least I got him outside. I think it’s one of those scenarios where the parent gets to say, “Someday you’ll thank me…” ☯️

Back In The Tilted Saddle…

It’s been something of a rough six months for me. Although I recognize that some may have some significant issues they’re dealing with in their own lives, one must acknowledge that our individual obstacles in life are specific to us, so I make no apologies for disliking anything I may be dealing with. My journey is my own. Moving on. Last fall, I faced a strange shift in what was otherwise one of the few remaining stable points in my life. I travelled home on vacation for what should have been a very special trip. My parents would meet my mother-in-law for the first time as well as seeing their second grandson in person for the first time. it should have been fantastic but it turned out to be anything but.

Besides the lacklustre outcome of the trip, which included a massive amount of spending to get us there, I was taken aback at how few people made themselves available to us while we were there. While I recognize the selfishness of that statement, it’s usually what happens when I go home. family and friends make time so that we can catch up. This didn’t happen, this time around. In fact, even Sensei somehow managed to skirt seeing me during the time I was there. I left New Brunswick with a feeling of emptiness that I had never experienced before. Although I was disappointed at the time, I think it had an effect on me that’s been lingering over the past months.

For quite a while now, I’ve had no energy or motivation to focus on my fitness or health. Sure, I’ve continued to take my medications, I monitor my blood sugars and keep a close eye on certain things. But I dropped out of karate within two classes of starting back in September. The pressures of work and life seem to have held me down more in recent months than it ever has, before. Losing that consistency and stability back home made me realize that “back home” isn’t back home, anymore. I took a rare opportunity to have some time off over the holidays. Since Christmas and Boxing Day took place over a weekend, I had a four-day weekend starting on December 23rd and I took the remainder of the following week as vacation time.

Since New Year’s Day was also on a weekend, I had yesterday as a day off. All in, I was away on vacation from December 23rd to this morning. That’s almost two weeks that should have allowed me to relax and unwind. Unfortunately, certain elements beyond my control managed to keep some pressure on, despite being on vacation. This morning is my first day back. I have obstacles and issues to deal with that manifested during a time when I shouldn’t have been thinking of work. But at least I got a few mornings of sleeping in. Let’s see how well THIS is going to go… ☯️