Category: Day to Day

Posted on

A Great Change

Since the election on the 5th of May, I have had the great fortune (/sarcasm) of reading comment after comment on social media of all types about how the new NDP government is going to run the province of Alberta into the ground, jibes at the average age of an MLA dropping by 15 years, and how Alberta has now turned into a union-loving, dope smoking, everyone gets welfare sort of province.

Now I won’t say that these comments are completely wrong; on the contrary. I’m pretty sure we’re in for a very bumpy ride over the next eighteen months. But it seems as those making the most noise are those that didn’t want the change that they’d been espousing over the past several years. I would suggest that perhaps winds of change that whipped through Alberta a few weeks ago were not simply an angry electorate.

No, I’d go so far in saying that what we’ve seen is not just a matter of the people screaming “Anyone but the fucking Tories!!!” because that’s not it.  I believe the people are angry about how they’ve been treated for the past 20 years.

Don’t get me wrong: I appreciate Ralph and what he did for the province during the 90’s, and as Calgary’s mayor in the 80’s. He was a flawed leader but he lead and did not follow.  He made up his mind and went with it basing his decisions on his party’s politics and what he thought was best for the province.

I can’t say that watching Steady Eddie, Ridiculous Redford and Pretentious Prentice gave me the same fundamental optimism that the decisions being made in Edmonton were good for the province! Maybe it’s politics in general these days but all I saw were politicians posturing, arguing (NOT debating), and getting their snouts deeply embedded in the trough.

If the Notley (how long until the right-leaning press starts calling her ‘Naughty Notley’) crew can’t figure out how to appease the population of Alberta, this could very well be a short-lived NDP government and I think that’s a shame. Though I don’t hold the same political beliefs as the New Democrats, I believe that they are going to attempt to do one thing and one thing only: do better than their predecessors.

Not a terribly difficult feat but due to the inexperience that we see in the new MLA lists, it will be a challenge. Let’s hope they can rise to it and show the population of Alberta that they can do what we’ve asked of them.

To show us a different way of governing a province.

Posted on

Repetition

I’ve spent just about the last year at the RADLab working in a project management capacity… Or at least attempting to. Not only have I been trying to improve my skill base as I go but I’ve started taking an Applied Project Management certificate course through work. It’s a long program and will take me the better part of a year to get through it all but I believe it will be worth it in the long run.

Ah yes, the long run. What is that, exactly? Or, more accurately, WHEN is that? I’ve already spent a good part of my life doing nothing and when I finally get off my ass and select something I wanted to do with my life, I get shuffled off into an area I really didn’t have much interest in. I think this is the point where I digress….

Sly often says that she thinks I’ll never be truly happy; that I’ll move through life always thinking that it should be better. That I should be making more money, getting more time off or receiving more perks from my work. She’s right but I don’t apologize for that.

Is it not the true meaning of ambition to want better for yourself and the people you love? Yes, perhaps my childhood has caused an echo into the present that causes me to make sure Sly and I don’t have to struggle as much as my Mom did. I want Sly to have the things that she desires without being fearful that acquiring them would cause us financial hardship. Or set us back too terribly far.

Which gets me back to the reason of this post: repetition. How many times do I need to feel the same thing over again before I do something to either change my circumstances or change my mind? Which is easier?  Which would lead to a more fulfilling existence?  My work feels really tough and that’s mostly because it challenges me. There’s never been a time in the past when I liked to ‘coast’, sometimes going so far as to create challenges within the work space I’m in if it gets too easy or requesting more responsibility.

Facebook is the place where people go to humble-brag about their lives (whether that’s posting pictures of some amazing trip they are taking or posting pictures of their spawn) but it also sometimes inspires me. So many memes being posted, so many inspirational posters of cats with the caption “Hang in There!” that I just want to barf until I realize one thing: I’m not the only person out there disheartened, disillusioned, disenfranchised (That last one might be untrue but I’m not positive yet) by his/her life in its current state.

Everyone wants a better life but only a few realize that change is a necessity if you wish to continue moving forward in your life; if you choose it; if you welcome it.  Change can be scary and it can be the most liberating thing you’ll ever experience but you have to embrace it. Embrace the change you want to be.

So that’s what I’m going to do: I’m going to embrace the change that’s occurring in my life and enjoy the ride while making slight corrections to my direction. I think it’s for the best, mentally and physically.

We’ll see.

Posted on

Summer Vacation 2015: Disney!

Sly and I have finally gotten off our asses and booked our vacation for the summer. We’ll be doing a week in The World and a week on a Disney cruise; specifically the Disney Fantasy.

We had a hard time determining the duration of our summer vacations or more specifically how long we were going to take.  After spending last X-MAS in Vegas, we were trying to find something to get us back to our Disney roots.

I’ve never been on a cruise before. Closest I’ve come is a couple of ferry rides between Italy, Greece and the Greek Islands. Not really the same when you consider we were sleeping on deck in some of the most uncomfortable chairs known to Man. In fact, both Sly and I have really never expressed much of an interest in taking a cruise. However, Disney gets tossed into the mix and suddenly it’s on the top of our to-do list.

I always have a hard time blowing $750 CDN on flights only to spend a week at our destination hence my insistence on spending a week at the Walt Disney World resort as well.  This will be so much fun! I’m really looking forward to it.

We haven’t been back to Disney since our Xmas trip of 2012.

Standing in front of Cinderella's castle.
Standing in front of Cinderella’s castle.

That really was an eye opener about how costly some of these trips can be.  It was enough to keep us from going back again during the high season for a couple of years but now we’re returning in middle of summer. Should be interesting with a combination of the heat and the crowds. Assuming you don’t hear about a Canadian suffering heat stroke and a loss of patience to all the little animals crawling around the parks losing his mind and making something explode, we’ll be having a grand time allowing Disney to take care of us.

http://advc.disney.go.com/media/dvc_v0500/prospects/mediaplayer/destinations/disney/slides/walt-disney-world-01-v1.jpg
The Two Partners statue on an absolutely gorgeous Florida day.

Walt and Mickey will be happy to see us again; I’m sure of it. 🙂

Posted on

One Month Anniversary

I’ve worked at SAIT as a full employee (not contract wages) for the past month. In that time I’ve had opportunity to have one day in Edmonton, expenses and salary paid, for the ASTEK awards (second place 🙁 ), one flex day (which is a day off with pay) and one sick day, also paid.

Is this what the real world is like?  Full of perks and benefits that a lot of people don’t get to take advantage of?  I could probably get used to this.

Also, after going over the annual bank statements, it also appears that one of the more challenging times during the year was two weeks after the Xmas break where the income was almost non-existent due to the two-week hold back on reporting wages and actually getting paid for them.   Not working for almost two weeks will do that to a person. 😉

I don’t think I’ve ever had a job that paid me for time off nor have I ever been in a place where I wasn’t actually having to wait for pay for the work I’ve done.  At least two weeks, anyways.

It feels good and I really appreciate being able to experience this with Sly and take that “next adult step”.  I know it probably sounds odd but this isn’t something I ever really considered as important and,  until I’ve given it more thought,  it may turn out that it isn’t .  But I know that with Xmas holidays this year,  there will be no break in my pay;  I’ll still get the same amount, every two weeks as expected without pause.  So, in effect, I’m being paid while in Las Vegas.  I guess that means blowing a couple of bills in the slots or at the tables won’t make me feel as guilty.

Oh Happy Day! 🙂

Posted on

Kudos to Sly

Only a few people in my immediate circle know this but I think it’s about time it got some attention: Sly has lost almost 44 pounds over the past few months simply by changing a few behaviors and spending time working out.

That’s it.

No amazing diet, no need to purchase meals from some “club”.  Just honest to goodness willpower and a consistency in decision making.

Probably more important, she’s been so quiet about it.  It’s not something that she has been advertising and she might be a little bit mad at me for posting this here.

I probably don’t do enough to recognize the amazing lady my wife has become.  Hopefully she’ll get a chance to read this and understand that she’s been able to illustrate a real strength and she should be proud, as I am, that she’s done this.  A real strength that, if I attempted similar activities, might not be nearly as resilient.

Congrats, babe.  You really have earned it.

Posted on

PROMOTED!!!

Ok, so if you’re not into Battlefield 3 or 4 then the title of this post is probably nonsense.  I’m embedding the video below for some context.

Funny.

I’ve worked at SAIT for several years now.  After graduation, I was lucky enough to get in with the Commercial Services department which allowed me to gain even more experience with the internal workings of an educational institution as well as spend time working on some of my less ‘programmy’ skills. This included acting as a contracted manager for a medium-sized project creating the groundwork for an internally branded and operated RFID based commerce card.

Continue reading “PROMOTED!!!”

Posted on

Handcrafted? Bullshit!

Just finished a survey for Starbucks. Throughout, they continually referred to their drinks as ‘Handcrafted’. That is such a crock of shit since the only hands involved in the entire process are used to carry my drink from the automated machine, to the hot water reservoir and back to the drop off counter. That’s it! There was no crafting involved.

Posted on

How do ‘Mental Health Days’ Reflect Your Satisfaction?

So here I am, sitting in one of a dozen local Starbucks (I really, really hate this place) hooked up to the Telus open wireless hot spot in this area (protected via SAIT VPN) and just had a very funny epiphany.  Hopefully, you won’t think less of me after my confession, Gentle Reader.

You see, for a very long time I’ve compared myself to my ideal self.  By that I mean the self I thought I was going mature into.  You know, you go through your adolescence slowly building up an idea of what you would like the rest of your life to be like.  In some cases, you’re correct, usually the easy stuff.  Marriage, kids, house ownership.  In most others, you’re grossly incorrect but be that as it may, you still have that picture in your head of where you wanted to be and what you wanted to be doing at particular phases in your life. And by ‘you’ I guess I really mean ‘me’.

For those of us that were much less ambitious in our youth, a lot of those things weren’t pursued. I didn’t think post-secondary education was important and took a major short cut. Though there was a close call, I didn’t consider marriage until well into my 20’s and only when I’d finally met my ‘match’.

So if I say that I haven’t been completely satisfied with my life, particularly my professional life,  and some of the decisions I’ve made, I think that’d be a pretty good summation of where I was sitting… up till about six months ago.

You see it wasn’t until then that I started getting the opportunity to manage our team and aid in the direction we were moving.  Though I’m still pretty green, I’m learning all the time about skills that I truly see as valuable.  Yes, I’m getting to the point and it is this….

I haven’t had to take a single ‘sick’ or ‘mental health’ day in several months, probably stretching back to April or so.  Like, at all.  This is significant as it illustrates a willingness to overlook those shitty days where you wake up, you aren’t feeling 100% and really don’t want to go into work.  I’m not positive on this, and I’m sure Sly will correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t recall that sort of time period without me needing to take a day off a month for decompression or real sickness.

The only way I can explain this is that I’m really finding a certain degree of satisfaction with my work and I really want to be there.  I’m not at work today due to a Flexday need and I really wish I was. So much so that I’ve actually been logged into my computer at work, spending some time on a problem that has dogged me for a couple of days.  Isn’t that weird?

Isn't that veird?
Isn’t that veird?

Yeah, it kinda is. But I’m going to accept this new position and do the very best I can to fulfill the requirements set out before me. Who knows? Maybe I’ve finally found what I was really meant to be and can banish all that adolescent ‘wishing’ to the past and continue, with open eyes and fewer expectations, into the future.

Posted on

Back to the Real World

Edit: I never did post this. Not sure why. Perhaps too bitter? Fuck it. It’s going up.

 

We’re back home. yay.

Perhaps not the most interesting way to phrase it but there it is. Three weeks in Europe, bouncing around and seeing the sites, really makes you want to stay. Like seriously stay. I considered it for longer than I probably should have.

One negative aspect of living freely while traveling is seeing so many “possibilities”, and probably not valid possibilities at that. You look around at some location, the locals going about their daily business and think to yourself, “You know, I could do this. I could do this right here. I don’t have to go back.”

Of course, that’s bullshit. There’s so many things you’re not thinking about when romanticizing the possibility of sticking around in a foreign country: where are you going to sleep? How are you going to find work? What about health insurance while you’re in a country that’s not going to be happy if you fuck yourself up and need hospitalization? None of these things pop into mind when you’re gazing lovingly at that pretty bridge or amazing vista in the distance. No, you just want to  experience those things day in, day out while you live there.

Sure, the idea is great but the reality really sucks; trust me, I lived it. For almost a year I lived in London and during the time I was trying to survive, I didn’t see a goddamned thing that could be called a tourist attraction. And that’s what happens most of the time; you’re so busy working and commuting that you don’t make time to do the sightseeing you thought you’d do.

Posted on

Pre-Trip Musings

How do you start 4 weeks off work? Apparently with 10 hour of unadulterated sleep. I wonder, sometimes, if I relieve work related stress via sleep rather than anything else.

This is the first of a bunch of days in front of me that are going to be work free. Sly and I are going to spend the day grabbing odds and ends that we still haven’t acquired from our ‘stuff to bring’ list, starting with the expected visit to MEC for some stuff that seemed to escape our attention last week.

I know it sounds silly but the thought of having this much time off is a bit mind boggling. It’s good that we have a trip planned already or I’m not sure that activities, other than learning some Node.js or working on a couple of personal software projects, would come to mind.

Leaving work, forced as it was (picture the boss walking through the lab, herding us out like cattle just after 1600 🙂 ), left me feeling a bit anxious. I’ve still got a few things that are going to require my attention but due to the wonders of technology, Team Viewer and leaving my work computer powered on I’ll be able to clear it up before the end of the weekend. The ultimatum has been handed down to me: I have until the end of the weekend to clear it up, then I am to give Sly 100% of my attention. I’m going to do my best because she deserves that.

In the mean time, I’m headed out with my lovely wife for a bite to eat. Then we’ll see where the wind blows…..