Category: Opinion

When A Facepalm Isn’t Enough…

So a couple of days ago, I wrote a bit of a lengthy post surrounding my weight loss ambitions, some of the background behind how/why I’ve gained some weight and different times during the past ten years. I was a little taken aback by the number of people who reached out through my feedback function and I felt that I should take time today to address some of the comments and concerns that were sent my way.

First and foremost, I will once again reiterate (for the millionth time) that I am not a doctor or health/medical practitioner nor am I a nutritionist or dietitian. When I write posts in my blog, I do so based on what research I’ve personally done and what has worked or not for me. Anything anyone reads in my posts should be taken with grain of salt and your own research should be done. After all, how can you confirm anything I may have looked up myself? I do my best to cite my sources when they’re attached to a webpage that i can include.

For example, I’m not opposed to diets. That’s a feedback comment I’ve often gotten, regarding previous comments I’ve often made about how fad diets don’t work. Here’s the thing: they don’t work for ME! Every person is different. Every metabolism and level of health is different and as such, every fad diet will provide different results for different people. This doesn’t mean that they’re universally bad, they may simply not provide the results that EVERY person is looking for.

If someone decides to try and lose weight by cutting carbs, that’s fine. So long as you’ve consulted a professional and you acknowledge that carbohydrates are actually a primary source of fuel for the human body, there’s nothing wrong with cutting back on them. Trying to eliminate them altogether brings a certain host of problems but this is why you should consult a professional before making such a change.

Since every person is different, maybe going on a specific diet has helped you shed some weight but does absolutely nothing for someone else you know who has tried it. This doesn’t make it bad, especially if it worked for you. Just be cognizant that as with all “fad” diets, the weight will likely return unless you stick to it permanently or make significant lifestyle changes.

The next aspect I’d like to address, which seems to be thrown at me often, is self-image. One’s self-image is important because it helps to define you to YOU. It’s important to one’s overall sense of wellbeing to be okay with one’s body type, weight and overall image. If you are not, it’s incumbent on YOU to make the changes necessary for you to be happy, provided it doesn’t risk your health. And that’s the caveat; being overweight and/or obese is unhealthy. But positive body image and positive health are two different things. Is it a good thing if you love yourself regardless of your weight and have a positive self-image? Abso-fucking-lutely! However, do you need to acknowledge that your health may be impacted if you’re overweight? Also abso-fucking-lutely! I

t’s up to the individual to discern and recognize that difference. I’m not lending an opinion on what any one person’s body type SHOULD be, I’m simply pointing out that weight loss is good for the body. granted, that’s to an extent, as well. As with all things in life, there needs to be a balance. One can lose TOO much weight and that becomes dangerous, as well. Living a healthy life contains many moving parts that all require attention.

Last but not least, it’s not just about the food. If you’re committing to eliminating certain “bad” foods and eating healthier, good for you. Just be sure that you recognize that you exercise regularly as well, as part of your fitness and health journey. Lack of exercise will render all other efforts moot. Diets help but you need to burn some of those calories in order to lose weight. Fat won’t necessarily burn away JUST from eating better. But don’t take my word for it, I’m struggling to slim down.

My blog is a platform for me to describe and share the experiences, knowledge and information I’ve accumulated during more than three decades of studying martial arts and four decades of living (reasonably successfully) with Type-1 Diabetes. And flex my writing muscles but that’s neither here nor there. As with all things in life, if one does not agree with content I write, I’m always open for constructive discussion, so long as the respect due to the person whom you’re addressing is observed. Otherwise, to those sending snarky or rude comments, this is why I won’t reply or engage. I don’t intentionally allow others to bring suffering into my life. Have a great weekend, everyone! ☯️

Hopping In To Help…

An interesting occurrence took place on Wednesday afternoon. It seems that a large crow took it upon itself to attack a rabbit and it’s two kittens (Yes, that’s what they are called! I checked!) It was loud and raucous enough that the rabbits thumped against the front of the house a couple of times and caught my wife’s attention. The end result was that one kitten was killed on my front lawn and the mother bolted and took off. The second kitten was found some time later, wedged beneath the wheel of our recycling bin. It didn’t happen that a rather large, fat orange cat reminiscent of Garfield, was floating around like a scavenger, looking to reap the benefits of the carnage.

I came home from work early that afternoon, and my wife was able to show me the remains of one of the kittens as well as the remaining kitten that I was able to confirm was still alive and trying to wedge itself as deeply beneath the wheel as possible. It was obviously frightened and possibly in distress, so I reached out to social media to seek assistance as to what I should do. I also contacted my City office to seek guidance as they might have access to animal control and humane society resources that I couldn’t easily access on my own.

Introducing, Fluffernut!

Some people over social media were quite helpful and provided contacts for certain wildlife rescue and animal non-profits. Others, not so much. It was very reminiscent of how far we’ve fallen as a society, where people still find something negative to say even when the situation very clearly involves helping another fellow living creature. In fact, the vast majority of people who commented basically told me just to drop this poor, vulnerable thing back out in the open and come what may! Although it makes sense and I learned as a child that one should never interfere with the process of nature, this felt different.

I ended up helping the kitten get out from under the wheel of my recycling bin. I had a small, wide clear plastic box that I lined with a small dish towel, a small bowl of water and I even went to a local pet store for advice and bought a small bag of timothy hay for the little guy to snack on. The intention was to keep him protected until I got some constructive advice on how to proceed. That constructive advice wasn’t forthcoming, with even the animal advocate groups I had reached to, telling me to just put the kitten back out in my front yard where I found him. Unfortunately, I DIDN’T find him in my front yard and rescued him from his predicament.

Energetic and apparently uninjured.

One thing that was frustrating was how many people were trying to explain that the mother returns only twice a day to feed them and leaves them be, otherwise. I kept trying to explain and correct that the kitten wasn’t found hidden under a bush or in a den, waiting for momma to come back with food. This was an active situation where the momma and the babies were being attacked and killed. This changed the dynamic for me and I felt that since the mother had bolted, it may have changed it for her, as well.

The one wildlife rescue group I messaged, and obviously I won’t be naming any of these organizations because I’m not trying to shed negative light on them, basically told me to leave the kitten outside overnight and if it was still there and alive the following morning, that they’d consider picking him up. Given my personal beliefs, I feel that I have a significant respect for all life and I couldn’t bring myself to just drop this guy outside and go sleep in my warm, safe bed. I was taken aback with how little regard people had and how little they were concerned.

Hanging out in my garage with Fluffernut

When my 7-year old son realized there was a baby rabbit in the garage, the reaction was exactly what one would expect from a child. He was excited and fascinated and almost immediately started rationalizing why Fluffernut would make a wonderful pet. I had to explain in no uncertain terms that he was a wild rabbit and we couldn’t keep him and had to try and get him back to his mother. With no constructive information coming my way from any source and a lack of understanding otherwise, my wife and I agreed to bring him inside for the night, leave him in the makeshift bed we provided and see what the morning would bring.

While I was doing dishes in my kitchen, which overlooks our driveway and front yard, I suddenly noticed three large, adult rabbits sitting on my driveway. I was caught off guard as I’ve often noticed one rabbit at a time in our front yard but never sitting on our driveway and never in such high numbers. Were they looking for Fluffernut? Were all the heartless idiots online right and I should have left him outside? I retrieved Fluffernut and brought him outside. My plan was to put him under the base of our pine tree and let the rabbits retrieve him (if that was the goal).

As soon as I started trying to set him down, he started making panicked noises in my palm, which didn’t help with the heartbreak I felt at just ditching him outside. I begrudgingly left him in the shelter of my pine tree and retreated to the house. I prepared my children for bed, watch a bit of television with my wife and tried to make my peace with the chaotic and sometimes seemingly cruel nature of, well… nature! My wife and I eventually went to bed and the day had ended, rabbits and all.

I went outside almost immediately the next morning and noticed that Fluffernut was nowhere to be found beneath my tree. Although I’ll never know what actually happened, I like to think the mother came back and retrieved him. There are more lessons to learn about this whole scenario than I could possibly write in one post. But the most important to me, is that we’re all living in the same world. Although many would have argued that we should have just left all of this alone, being willing to allow a vulnerable creature to be killed or die needlessly, especially on my property, is what’s wrong with the world. Compassion, caring and the reduction of suffering could NEVER be a bad thing. I’ve unfortunately discovered that the majority of the population in my city haven’t learned that lesson. ☯️

Trust, A Blind Leap of Faith…

Like most people, I’ve suffered through trusting people who have burned me badly in life. This has applied to both my personal and professional life, with some of the ones who violated my trust being something of a surprise when it happened. It’s a special kind of hell when someone you know and trust contravenes that trust, especially when you opened yourself up and made yourself vulnerable; something you may not have done in most cases.

As my 7-year old awkwardly found out a couple of weeks ago, trust is a bit like a fart… If you have to force it, it’ll likely be shit. We all have an inherent instinct to recognize when someone is significantly untrustworthy. But what about the ones that AREN’T significant? Does that make that lack of trust any less important? I guess it depends on the nature of the mistrust.

For the most part, people tend to fall under two categories: the ones who believe that trust is earned and the ones who feel that they can trust an individual until they betray that trust and then the trust needs to be rebuilt or re-earned. I’m sure there are many other sub-categories” and I’m mostly thinking out loud, here. But it’s important to acknowledge that unlike respect, which includes individuals who may have some passing entitlement by virtue of their station or association to you, trust falls under a different category and can be murky waters to try and navigate.

Nothing that I’m saying here is rocket science and I don’t think any of you are slapping your forehead in some sudden shock of epiphany. All I’m saying with today’s post is that life doesn’t care about one’s plan and some times, the only way to genuinely learn is by taking the leap and seeing where it takes you. There are a number of individuals that I’ve met, associated and befriended that although I don’t necessarily wish I hadn’t, I recognize that they’ve said and done things that have brought damage and difficulty to my life and are no longer deserving of my trust.

If such instances never happened, one could easily develop and unfortunate “blind trust,” where one believes that trusting anyone in any situation is just fine and there are no issues with that. Ultimately, we all need people we can trust in our lives. For me, I’m blessed to have my wife and a few friends and associates that I know I can trust implicitly. But the only way I know that is because I’ve been through the difficult situations that are the opposite of that.

They may have sucked and have been difficult to get through, some have caused damage to my life that I may feel for years to come, but they were a necessary part of my growth and life experience. As long as one ensures to protect oneself as best as they can, that’s really all one can do while navigating the stormy seas of life. As usual, food for thought… ☯️

It’s Not A Solitary Journey…

Once ion a while, you may encounter someone who has the ability to push through and reach their goals without any assistance or guidance from the outside world. These people are pretty rare and are the exception to the rule, not the common theme. And even for those who go it alone, they’ve usually learned the skill or reached the goal they’ve set by learning from a source that was written, filmed, developed or provided by an another individual. If you look at it from that perspective, they’ve still gotten help from someone else. And there’s an important lesson to learn from that…

Originally, and I’m talking way back before we stood upright, humans were nomadic animals. We stopped long enough to find food, mate and bear children and move on. Eventually, as we evolved and progressed, we came to realize that certain things were easier when we stuck together. There was strength in numbers, we were safer in packs, food was easier to attain and we could maintain a better lifestyle in groups. This became the norm as humans eventually became sedentary and would seek each other out for this purpose. Although you can still find the odd individual here and there who lives completely off grid and by themselves, they’re pretty rare.

The moral of this morning’s narrative is that humans have evolved to come together to tackle common causes. And some of them are substantial enough that they would be all but impossible to learn by oneself. And this is where karate comes in. I recognize that someone, somewhere, closed their fist and used it as a weapon for the first time, although one could argue that this was likely more instinctive than anything. But for anyone who has studied karate extensively, can you imagine trying to learn that art by yourself? Sure, you could find books and videos, either online or in stores but there’s nothing that quite substitutes the presence inside the dojo.

Everyone who is in the dojo has come together for a common cause; to learn the art. Although one’s reason for wanting to learn may be different than another, that end result will always be the same. This is why it’s important to come together within the dojo and help each other out. There’s no room in a traditional dojo for egos, attitude and cheering for one person over another. The dojo environment is meant to serve as a safe space for all students to learn. The only thing worse than a McDojo (look it up, I’ve written several posts on this) is a dojo where the instructor ignores, belittles or openly ignores one of their students.

I once wrote about something referred to as the martial arts ladder. The concept is pretty simple: a student advances and progresses to a point where they can teach and pass on knowledge to another. Once the other student begins to learn and progress, they may climb that ladder and surpass the one who was helping them along. It’s important at that point to stop, turn around and assist that surpassed student in climbing higher as well. And this is how we grow, by helping each other up one rung at a time.

Last but not least, it’s important to communicate within the dojo and with your instructor. If you feel that you aren’t being treated fairly or that there is something off, you should talk about it. Although there are rules of conformity within any dojo and it’s important to show proper respect, your instructor likely can’t teach you properly if they don’t know there’s a problem. And it genuinely sucks to be training in an environment while suffering in silence. Talking about such things is not a sign of weakness but a sign of maturity; the modern dojo has no place for the disregard of a student. Food for thought… ☯️

A Dose Of Reality To End Your Week…

Folks, one of the big things that tend to grind a traditional martial artist’s gears is how fight are portrayed on television and in movies. And don’t get me wrong, I’m a big fan of a good action flic and I’ve enjoyed the cheesiest of them (Van Damme’s drunken dance scene in “Kickboxer” comes to mind). But one needs to understand the realities of how fights actually go and how they can and can’t happen.

The first biggest problem is the David and Goliath concept. Most people love this kind of a scenario because it pits a small underdog against a much larger and formidable opponent. Nothing feels better than seeing the little guy who spent the whole first half of the movie getting bullied and pushed around, kick the ever-loving shit out of the goon who started it all. But let’s examine some basic physics for a moment, shall we?

There’s a lot to be said for skill and training. In fact, consistent and progressive self-defence training will assuredly ALWAYS improve one’s chances of defending oneself and getting out of a sticky situation. But the important takeaway is that actual fight situations are just that; a means to an end, that end being to get out and get away before you or someone else becomes seriously injured. The concept of two persons squaring off in some lame attempt at righteous indignation, defending someone’s honour or finding vengeance for someone else doesn’t happen. This is only movie magic.

The next problem is when we see a smaller opponent dominating a larger one. Although I mentioned that there’s a lot to be said for training, one needs to understand that a 95-pound person likely won’t fare well against a 200-pound opponent once they get their hands on them, training or not. It’s simple physics and the reason why most combat sports Ike boxing, wrestling and MMA have weight classes. Even though I believe the smaller fighter would likely get some good shots in, the heavier opponent just has to bare down on them with their total weight and it’s lights out. For the most part.

Another issue on the docket is how we always see dragged out fights that last up to half an hour, all while both sides are delivering strikes to sensitive areas that would likely seriously injure or kill a real person. My favourite is a snap kick to the face where you see the mouth flop over in slow motion while saliva or blood flies out. Classic. But I digress… Even if a person managed to stay conscious through some of those severe strikes to the head or managed to remain standing after those devastating blows to the body, they wouldn’t be able to brush off the second or third, meaning the fight would depend on who’s lucky enough to land those critical strikes in the first minutes. This is certainly where training has its benefits.

I’m actually a perfect example of that last paragraph, having taken a single strike to the rib cage that basically had me off my feet for well over a month. It wasn’t even my opponent’s full strength, but it’s placement and technique were enough to cause damage. Interestingly enough, my opponent was larger than me and as I’ve often brought up before, mass times acceleration is what creates Force, so the greater the mass, combined with reasonable acceleration is all that’s needed. A smaller opponent would have less mass, leading to less Force. There. Now, you can pass high school physics. you’re welcome.

Again, I absolutely love a good underdog movie… After all, that’s the whole point of television; to escape reality and garner some enjoyment at the same time. If things get too real on a show I’m watching, I get bored. I can find reality anywhere. Except in the minds of. Non-martial artists who think that fights actually happen the way they’re portrayed, apparently. And THAT’s the problem. ☯️

Networks Aren’t All Wires And Tech…

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…

It’s Easier To Hate But More Powerful To Forgive…

I’ve spent the better part of my life living on the presumption that I’ve been doing everything I can to alleviate suffering in the world. From healing, training and developing myself and others to becoming a law enforcement officer to protect those who can’t protect themselves, I like to think that I’ve done more than my fair share and my tour of duty should be recognized.

Speaking strictly in general terms, an outside party looking in may agree that my tour of duty is over and that I’ve done my part. However, the elimination of suffering is a never-ending endeavour and one shouldn’t do it simply for the purposes of “doing one’s part” but rather as a part of the bigger picture that life continues on and so should one’s efforts. This has gotten me thinking about some of the unfortunate weight I’ve been carrying with me for the past number of years and what I can do about it.

The only thing worse than someone who does you wrong is someone who does you wrong that you trusted. Having caused damage in any form against you, it causes a heavy weight of negative emotion and suffering to bear down on your shoulders. It drags you down, slows you down and saps your energy and motivation. Sometimes, without even noticing it, we allow it to affect important aspects of our lives. It holds a negative energy in life, against you and against the person whom you may foster negative feelings against.

I recently took stock of my life and recognized that I have such a person; a person I trusted, someone I valued and even looked up to… Only to have them perform actions and say words that brought the very fabric of the life I was living crashing down. It took a long time to recognize that the situation was initiated by this individual, and once the initial shock of that realization had passed, I found myself experience a deep, burning emotion that I can only recall having felt a few rare times in my life: hate.

Hate is among the most insidious of emotions as it isn’t just directed towards the person in question but eats up the originating person inside, as well. It festers and can eventually lead to physical health issues, if allowed to grow and run rampant. Although one could argue that there are certain levels of hate that would be considered normal, such as hating war, famine or discrimination, hating any other individual will cause unnecessary suffering in all parties concerned.

Although I don’t consciously acknowledge it, I’ve been carrying a hatred for this one person for years. The words and actions he used that caused the difficulties in my life are not slight, by any means. But carrying this hate has caused a level of damage within me that I need to repair and heal from. And ultimately, there is really only one way to heal and move on from such a thing. I need to forgive him. This may not be an easy task, one that my instincts may even tell me I shouldn’t pursue. But only by forgiving this individual and moving forward can I hope to release this weight that’s been holding me down.

I recently reached out to a mutual acquaintance to ask if he would be willing to bridge the communication between myself and this person of interest. He has agreed to do so and in the interest of closure and moving on, I believe it will be a great step to speak with this person face-to-face, discuss what happened and finally, let him know I forgive him. Maybe he won’t care. Maybe it’ll change nothing for him. And that’s okay. Forgiveness can be helpful and healing but at the end, it’s just as much for me as it could potentially be for him. Moving on will be a great steps towards eliminating suffering within my own life. ☯️

It Should Be Easy…

I’ve been writing since I was very young. In fact, my mother recently turned over a short story I apparently wrote when I was about 10-years old that was set in the future. The feelings of nostalgia that came over me when I saw that bundle and actually read the content… My writing skills have evolved significantly since then and I started blogging a few years ago when I needed something to keep my writing sharp. With 1,193 publicized posts, 800 of which have been in a row without skipping a day, people have often asked me how I managed to write and post that often. My response is usually that it hasn’t been easy, although it should be…

My blog is pretty diverse, containing material that encapsulates Diabetes, Fitness&Health, martial arts and the Buddha Dharma as main topics. I enjoy sharing aspects of my family life, especially my children, since unlike me, they were born into the technological and it will be cool for them to look back at this blog in a few decades and recognize that their old man contributed to the world in some way that may not have been aware of. But despite this diversity of topics, I sometimes find myself stuck for ideas on what to write about.

Oh, there will always be SOMETHING I can find on one of the topics listed here and there’s also the possibility of recycling some of my own materials since enough time has passed that not only is it still relevant but newer followers may not have read it yet. I would likely have an easier time of things if, like many of my counterparts, I didn’t post every single day. And it’s been difficult getting help; I have frequently asked people I know for ideas, interviews and post materials that would be relevant to my blog. One good example is the recent series I wrote on some karate colleagues who provided some short answers on why they joined the art. But for the most part, even the ones who say they will provide something, don’t.

Another difficulty I’ve faced, is having some people comment or pick my posts apart. I think a critical thing to remember is that this is a blog for people’s reference and entertainment. Even when I post about something medical, I make a point of slipping a disclaimer in there to consult one’s doctor. And the rest is just purely for fun (there’s a reason why I swear and cut loose in most of these). But there are still those who seem to find it necessary to point things out, correct my content or analyze things, ad nauseam.

Maybe it’s simply become the way of the world or maybe some people just have more more time on their hands. I remember writing frequently in some of my earliest posts that if one did not like the content they were looking at, they didn’t need to comment; they just simply scroll on by. in fact, I wrote an entire post about trolls and commenters and the effect they have, all the way back in January of 2020 (you can read that post here). But people seem to feel the need to insert their opinion or comments whenever someone else expresses themselves or writes creatively.

We see this same trend in movies now, where people will dedicate entire reddit posts to fan theories behind storylines or movie plots or will pick apart movies and explain why “they don’t make sense” or why a certain thing couldn’t have happened the way it did in the movie. In my day and through my youth, we watched shows and movies for entertainment. After all, that’s what they’re for… We didn’t analyze the fact that the spaceship would never be capable of flight in real life or that physics wouldn’t allow that superhero to perform that heroic feat. it didn’t matter. The whole point to all of it is to entertain and enjoy.

I’ve been writing this blog for a number of years now and am slowly rounding the corner on 500 followers, with a number of others who read it for fun without necessarily following. I don’t see myself stopping, which means getting used to some level of unsolicited, unnecessary advice and comments. As a society, we should have evolved and grown to be better than that but ultimately, it’s the ones who reward and respond to them that feed the machine. Not so much the ones who write it. Food for thought… ☯️

If I Go To Hell, I Won’t Go Hungry…

Every culture and person has their own conception of hell, whether drawn from descriptions in Holy scriptures or from cultural beliefs and even mainstream media. Some cultures even have multiple hells or different levels thereof. But some people will often joke about how some situations or tangible locations would be their own personal hell. For me, that place would be Costco. If I died and went to hell, I’m pretty confident I’d land squarely in the middle of a fucking Costco. Allow me to explain…

First, I should probably clarify that i don’t actually hate Costco. In fact, I very much love Costco. A can of energy drink that retails at $3.69 at the corner store for $1.40 instead? Yes, please! And it isn’t always the lower cost on an item, since some of their prices are no better and in some cases higher, than other retail locations. But the fact you can get some of that stuff in bulk is also a significant draw, and usually results in my filling my cart with a few hundred dollars’ worth of items when I only intended on grabbing a couple of small things.

No, the issue I have with going there is the people who shop. I altered my work schedule recently in order to make an unplanned trip out to our city’s only Costco location. I got off of work early and drove out, thinking that since the work day hadn’t ended for most people yet, it should be pretty quiet. Boy, was I wrong. The place was packed, which usually triggers a whole bunch of acronyms in my behaviour, not least of which is the fact that I dislike being held up by large crowds and being surrounded.

My journey began with a walk through the liquor portion of the warehouse. In a hilarious irony, someone was providing free samples of beer. I accepted a half ounce of cerveza, which was delicious and light. I thought my shopping trip would be smooth and easy. Problematically, people who shop there always seem to move like a decomposing zombie horde, moving with the kind of speed the one would expect to see a snail, tree sap or a tax refund move at. And this is the part that drives me batty because for the most part, even when I don’t know what I’m in there for, which is pretty rare, I move briskly and get through the store in due time.

Meanwhile, everyone else leans on the handle of their cart, moving about slowly, casually glancing about and acting as though they can’t see me even when I ‘ahem’ and cough loudly next to them. I especially love the ones that are blocking the way through a certain area and staring at a single item for a full two minutes. Dude, either grab the item or don’t and get the fuck out of the way!!! Seems like a pretty simply concept, right? And then we even make eye contact, they see someone waiting to get by and they just turn away and keep gawking.

Having me navigate the shopping warehouse is not without its comedy for anyone who may be watching or who knows me. That’s why I said if I go to hell, I wouldn’t go hungry. There’s tons of food there. But I can see hell being something where I’m trapped in a crowd of slow-moving people who refuse to hurry up or get out of the way. The good news is a got a couple of flats of energy drinks at an incredibly reduced price, so it made the journey worth it. ☯️

Another Day Off…

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! ☯️