I wouldn't have guessed, but it turns out I have more to say on this.
For starters, I clear up how I feel about that other carrier: Telus Smellus.
Things that I like about Bell so far:
-They aren't Rogers.
-My new phone has a full QWERTY keyboard, a big screen, an cutsie little blue flowers. Yes, cutsie little blue flowers.
-I am probably a good target for advertising using beavers. ;)
-They aren't Rogers.
Things that I don't like about Bell, so far:
-No SIM cards. SIM cards are kind of genius. This is the first new phone that I have had where I couldn't just pop in the SIM and have all of my contacts immediately. Also, I always kept a backup SIM, so in case I ever lost my phone, I wouldn't also lose my contacts.
-Their automated voice system is SUPER annoying. For english, please say......'English'. Thanks, Bell, I'm glad you told me, otherwise was going to say 'Go fuck a goat'.
-The beavers names are 'Frank' and 'Gordon'.
-I emailed them a question about how to use a specific feature on my new phone and they sent me back a link to the manual. Assholes.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Bell vs. Rogers
First of all, that was a tough act to follow. I think I put it off a few days because I didn't know what to follow with. Normally, even if I put a lot of effort into a blog post, follow up is easy - I am the act that I am always following.
Anyway, so after the guest blog that I thought was awesome, I'm going to follow up with....my phone. Weak, you say? Shut up.
November 1 marked the end of a 3 year cell phone term with Rogers. I signed up again for that term because Canada did not yet have the 'take your number with you' feature. The States did, and they predicted two years, so I held out. I have had my number since 2001, and well, I like it. Anyway, over the years, especially recently, Rogers infuriated me with their incompetence. In general, I was pretty happy with my phone and pretty happy with my plan. However, any time I needed any interaction from an actual human being, it was always SUPER painful. It always took aged to get through to the call centre (1.5 hrs sometimes?), which I thought was a load of horse-shit. They would say one thing was going to happen, never do it, lose track etc. I had had enough. There is more, but I won't get into the gory details.
Now, I am the type of customer that you really have to screw up with to lose. For the most part, I don't care - again, I was largely satisfied, and let's face it, I love my phone. I see switching carriers etc. mostly as a big pain in the ass, so it had better be worth it. If Rogers could have handled just being average, just not COMPLETELY SUCKING, I probably would still be there customer.
So now I am the proud owner of a shiny new bell phone. And so far it's been....a bit infuriating :) Well see.
I'd say , "call me on my new shiny Bell phone", but I can just picture most of you rolling your eyes. So, "text me on my new shiny Bell phone" :) As always, I'd love to hear from you.
ps. Whistler? I'll give you my phone number if you tell me who you are! Jk. Actually, Whistler has not been reading, since even before my "Calling All Randoms" post! :(
Anyway, so after the guest blog that I thought was awesome, I'm going to follow up with....my phone. Weak, you say? Shut up.
November 1 marked the end of a 3 year cell phone term with Rogers. I signed up again for that term because Canada did not yet have the 'take your number with you' feature. The States did, and they predicted two years, so I held out. I have had my number since 2001, and well, I like it. Anyway, over the years, especially recently, Rogers infuriated me with their incompetence. In general, I was pretty happy with my phone and pretty happy with my plan. However, any time I needed any interaction from an actual human being, it was always SUPER painful. It always took aged to get through to the call centre (1.5 hrs sometimes?), which I thought was a load of horse-shit. They would say one thing was going to happen, never do it, lose track etc. I had had enough. There is more, but I won't get into the gory details.
Now, I am the type of customer that you really have to screw up with to lose. For the most part, I don't care - again, I was largely satisfied, and let's face it, I love my phone. I see switching carriers etc. mostly as a big pain in the ass, so it had better be worth it. If Rogers could have handled just being average, just not COMPLETELY SUCKING, I probably would still be there customer.
So now I am the proud owner of a shiny new bell phone. And so far it's been....a bit infuriating :) Well see.
I'd say , "call me on my new shiny Bell phone", but I can just picture most of you rolling your eyes. So, "text me on my new shiny Bell phone" :) As always, I'd love to hear from you.
ps. Whistler? I'll give you my phone number if you tell me who you are! Jk. Actually, Whistler has not been reading, since even before my "Calling All Randoms" post! :(
Thursday, November 20, 2008
um... guest post?
First, this isn't heather writing. Second, if that confuses you, go read the most recent post, should be somewhat of an explanation. Third, ... um... this is really long. Apparently I have a lot to say about myself. It was fun to write though, so I won't be upset if nobody reads till the end ;-)
Ten things I hate about you. No wait, that's the title of that Heath Ledger movie. Ten things to hate about me? What? Never mind.
I like to be an ass to my body. In many different ways. Not only do I enjoy doing the things that are bad for my body, I get a kick out of the idea that I am the master (mistress?) of my physical being and that it WILL do exactly as I say. One example is the cancer fundraiser a friend of mine organized a couple years ago, it involved running up and down the stairs of the McGill football stadium in Montreal. For 24 hours. It wasn't quite as bad as it sounds, it wasn't constant running for 24 hours, the idea was that there was a certain target number of laps you wanted to reach within the 24 hours. In my case it meant I ran up and down the stairs for the first 20 minutes of every hour for the first 12 hours (from noon to midnight), then I slept for an hour, and then I walked the first 40 minutes of every hour for the remaining 11. Lesson learned: if you're going to do something like that, a couple DOs would be a) think about training for it first, like maybe run up a few sets of stairs maybe even one time before the day of the event; and b) STRETCH!!! Even if you are like me and opposed to stretching on principal and only do it when everyone else around you is doing it and you would feel like a tool to just stand there. If that's the case, make sure you surround yourself with people who will be stretching constantly, thus forcing you into it. One major DON'T would be don't get up to go to frisbee practice at 6am the next morning thinking you can actually do it. You will quickly find that your reward for such hardcore-ness will be tendonitis in both your Achilles' tendons. Or something equally nasty that will restrict your forms of exercise for the next several months to those possible in swimming pools.
I like to be an ass to my brain, much for the same reasons I like to be an ass to my body. My friend, who at the time was my roommate, and I decided last year to embark upon a new sleep regimen called the Uberman. You can google it if you want. The idea is that you sleep for 20 minutes every 4 hours. And that is it. As in, you sleep for a total of 2 hours in a day. Why would one do such a thing? Well number one, it means you have 22 hours of wakefulness in a day, which means there is so much time to do all the fun stuff you want to do and can never fit into your day. And number two, it's showing your brain / body who's boss. Until it turns on you and you end up writing an email to your boss at like 4 in the morning, which is completely coherent with the exception of a few nonsensical sentences seemingly inserted at random in the body of your otherwise totally normal email. Permanently etched into my brain are the two funniest: "bla bla bla research bla bla. The Kiegel exercises are complete. Bla bla bla new paragraph bla bla. I cannot WAIT to case it like a dutch language. He has the most fowl mout I have seen in my year! Bla bla bla." Much blushing, apologizing botched attempting to explain ensued, the people who cared about me forced me into bed, and I've been on at least a quasi-normal sleep schedule ever since.
Frisbee is of course a big part of my life, but it is by no means the only athletic part. I grew up playing hockey, and after a brief hiatus I am back on the ice. I especially like hitting people. And scoring goals. Actually I think I had a dream about scoring a goal last night. But hitting people is almost as satisfying. It actually threw me for a loop when I started playing frisbee and ALL contact was basically outlawed… took me a while to figure out I had to actually actively avoid crashing into people. I also like to do pretty much everything else with the exception of baseball: soccer, climbing, biking (long distance and mountain), running, tennis, squash, and on and on. But baseball… I hope there are no baseball fans in the audience. I may have just lost all respect for you. Wait – heather, how do you feel about baseball?
One of my favourite movies of all time is Throw Momma From the Train. Synopsis: A fat little loser (Danny DeVito) who lives at home with his Momma (played by the most ogre-like human being I have ever laid eyes on… possibly male… leading me to wonder how they phrased the recruitment ad for the audition for that particular part) takes a creative writing course with a recently-divorced failed author (Billy Crystal). Things take a turn for the worse (or the hilarious) when Danny thinks Billy is asking him to kill his ex-wife and offering to kill Momma in return. If you haven't seen it, and have a slightly oddball sense of humour, I highly recommend it. If only for the pleasure of hearing Momma's voice, which is a perfect match to her physique. "Type, type, type like a fat little pigeon" I often say that to my sister, except I replace "pigeon" with "pig". But that's a story for another day.
I used to think I was a frisbee dork. And then I met Heather. Now that I know what an actual frisbee dork is, I guess what I am is… a frisbee enthusiast? THINGS I WILL DO FOR FRISBEE: a) give up basically all of my summer weekends (and by summer I mean April till November); b) spend all my money on gas, hotel rooms, tournament fees, uniforms, field food, etc.; c) drive from Waterloo to Toronto once a week at least for practice (drive ranges from an hour to two and a half hours, TO traffic is out of control); d) miss my cousin's wedding to play at No Borders, perhaps the least competitive tournament of the year (to be fair this was last summer and we were going to be sending our team as two smaller teams); and e) destroy my body playing with, in addition to my main team, a side-team that doesn't practice and sends approximately 10 players to its tournaments. Let me give you a little insider's tip: when a team doesn't practice, not all of its members stay in shape, so while you might think that 10 players means you play 7 out of every 10 points, in reality in the case of anyone who can possibly handle it, it means you play essentially every point. So much fun, but I'm pretty sure I'm destroying my joints. Good thing I grew up with non-impact sports, otherwise I'd already be in a wheelchair. THINGS I WILL NOT DO FOR FRISBEE: a) run my life as if I was in another time zone to prepare my body for a tournament to be taking place in said time zone *ahem*heather*aHEM*; b) obey instructions to do sprint workout / fitness workouts on my own on days when we don't have practice – pretty sure I wouldn't be saying this if there was any chance anyone from Toronto was reading this… um… hi Mere! Oops. c) play outdoors after October and before April – unless it's in Florida or some other such warm sunny locale; and d) um… really that's about it, and I can't help but notice that my "not" list is way shorter, so maybe I AM a frisbee dork.
What I AM is a little bit of a dork in regular, non-frisbee life. Kind of embarrassing, and again this isn't the kind of thing I would tell people if they actually knew me, but Heather already knows (I warned her up front), so really… I WILL be a student for my entire life, or at least until they say they won't pay me to do it and I have to go find a *real* job, and I love to whine about it but really I love it. I went to a talk yesterday and I got so excited about the research it was describing that I was literally bouncing up and down in my seat. Well maybe it was more like I was fidgeting. But you get the idea… just in case you don't, I will hit you with one last piece of information: I can't think of a coherent order to put these little nuggets of Kristin-ness in, so when I'm done writing them, this is what I'm going to do. I'm going to copy and paste them into an Excel spreadsheet into a single column, then I'm going to use the =RAND() function to generate a random number to go into another column next to each nugget, then I'm going to ask Excel to sort the two columns on the random numbers, and that will be the order the nuggets go in. If you understood what I said, you are just as much of a dork as I am, and if you didn't, well you'll never know the true extent of it.
I like eminem. There, I said it. No, no: I LOVE eminem. Not the person, as a person I have no doubt that he's a total prick. But his music… sheer brilliance. As far as I am concerned, he is a lyrical genius. If anyone thinks otherwise, I would suspect them of not ever having actually listened to him rap, because if you actually give it a chance and get over the gangsta façade, and your natural revulsion at some of the things he actually says, you will come to appreciate, I think, the way he fits words together and makes things rhyme and just sound so… good. And if you don't, well… I'll meet you at the bike racks at 3:30 and we can have it out that way.
And I'm done. I thought I could make it to 10, but I'm running out of steam, so seven it is. I hope I won't look back on all of this and find it too embarrassing, but I'm done now and I'm not the type to edit myself, so… there you have it!
Ten things I hate about you. No wait, that's the title of that Heath Ledger movie. Ten things to hate about me? What? Never mind.
I like to be an ass to my body. In many different ways. Not only do I enjoy doing the things that are bad for my body, I get a kick out of the idea that I am the master (mistress?) of my physical being and that it WILL do exactly as I say. One example is the cancer fundraiser a friend of mine organized a couple years ago, it involved running up and down the stairs of the McGill football stadium in Montreal. For 24 hours. It wasn't quite as bad as it sounds, it wasn't constant running for 24 hours, the idea was that there was a certain target number of laps you wanted to reach within the 24 hours. In my case it meant I ran up and down the stairs for the first 20 minutes of every hour for the first 12 hours (from noon to midnight), then I slept for an hour, and then I walked the first 40 minutes of every hour for the remaining 11. Lesson learned: if you're going to do something like that, a couple DOs would be a) think about training for it first, like maybe run up a few sets of stairs maybe even one time before the day of the event; and b) STRETCH!!! Even if you are like me and opposed to stretching on principal and only do it when everyone else around you is doing it and you would feel like a tool to just stand there. If that's the case, make sure you surround yourself with people who will be stretching constantly, thus forcing you into it. One major DON'T would be don't get up to go to frisbee practice at 6am the next morning thinking you can actually do it. You will quickly find that your reward for such hardcore-ness will be tendonitis in both your Achilles' tendons. Or something equally nasty that will restrict your forms of exercise for the next several months to those possible in swimming pools.
I like to be an ass to my brain, much for the same reasons I like to be an ass to my body. My friend, who at the time was my roommate, and I decided last year to embark upon a new sleep regimen called the Uberman. You can google it if you want. The idea is that you sleep for 20 minutes every 4 hours. And that is it. As in, you sleep for a total of 2 hours in a day. Why would one do such a thing? Well number one, it means you have 22 hours of wakefulness in a day, which means there is so much time to do all the fun stuff you want to do and can never fit into your day. And number two, it's showing your brain / body who's boss. Until it turns on you and you end up writing an email to your boss at like 4 in the morning, which is completely coherent with the exception of a few nonsensical sentences seemingly inserted at random in the body of your otherwise totally normal email. Permanently etched into my brain are the two funniest: "bla bla bla research bla bla. The Kiegel exercises are complete. Bla bla bla new paragraph bla bla. I cannot WAIT to case it like a dutch language. He has the most fowl mout I have seen in my year! Bla bla bla." Much blushing, apologizing botched attempting to explain ensued, the people who cared about me forced me into bed, and I've been on at least a quasi-normal sleep schedule ever since.
Frisbee is of course a big part of my life, but it is by no means the only athletic part. I grew up playing hockey, and after a brief hiatus I am back on the ice. I especially like hitting people. And scoring goals. Actually I think I had a dream about scoring a goal last night. But hitting people is almost as satisfying. It actually threw me for a loop when I started playing frisbee and ALL contact was basically outlawed… took me a while to figure out I had to actually actively avoid crashing into people. I also like to do pretty much everything else with the exception of baseball: soccer, climbing, biking (long distance and mountain), running, tennis, squash, and on and on. But baseball… I hope there are no baseball fans in the audience. I may have just lost all respect for you. Wait – heather, how do you feel about baseball?
One of my favourite movies of all time is Throw Momma From the Train. Synopsis: A fat little loser (Danny DeVito) who lives at home with his Momma (played by the most ogre-like human being I have ever laid eyes on… possibly male… leading me to wonder how they phrased the recruitment ad for the audition for that particular part) takes a creative writing course with a recently-divorced failed author (Billy Crystal). Things take a turn for the worse (or the hilarious) when Danny thinks Billy is asking him to kill his ex-wife and offering to kill Momma in return. If you haven't seen it, and have a slightly oddball sense of humour, I highly recommend it. If only for the pleasure of hearing Momma's voice, which is a perfect match to her physique. "Type, type, type like a fat little pigeon" I often say that to my sister, except I replace "pigeon" with "pig". But that's a story for another day.
I used to think I was a frisbee dork. And then I met Heather. Now that I know what an actual frisbee dork is, I guess what I am is… a frisbee enthusiast? THINGS I WILL DO FOR FRISBEE: a) give up basically all of my summer weekends (and by summer I mean April till November); b) spend all my money on gas, hotel rooms, tournament fees, uniforms, field food, etc.; c) drive from Waterloo to Toronto once a week at least for practice (drive ranges from an hour to two and a half hours, TO traffic is out of control); d) miss my cousin's wedding to play at No Borders, perhaps the least competitive tournament of the year (to be fair this was last summer and we were going to be sending our team as two smaller teams); and e) destroy my body playing with, in addition to my main team, a side-team that doesn't practice and sends approximately 10 players to its tournaments. Let me give you a little insider's tip: when a team doesn't practice, not all of its members stay in shape, so while you might think that 10 players means you play 7 out of every 10 points, in reality in the case of anyone who can possibly handle it, it means you play essentially every point. So much fun, but I'm pretty sure I'm destroying my joints. Good thing I grew up with non-impact sports, otherwise I'd already be in a wheelchair. THINGS I WILL NOT DO FOR FRISBEE: a) run my life as if I was in another time zone to prepare my body for a tournament to be taking place in said time zone *ahem*heather*aHEM*; b) obey instructions to do sprint workout / fitness workouts on my own on days when we don't have practice – pretty sure I wouldn't be saying this if there was any chance anyone from Toronto was reading this… um… hi Mere! Oops. c) play outdoors after October and before April – unless it's in Florida or some other such warm sunny locale; and d) um… really that's about it, and I can't help but notice that my "not" list is way shorter, so maybe I AM a frisbee dork.
What I AM is a little bit of a dork in regular, non-frisbee life. Kind of embarrassing, and again this isn't the kind of thing I would tell people if they actually knew me, but Heather already knows (I warned her up front), so really… I WILL be a student for my entire life, or at least until they say they won't pay me to do it and I have to go find a *real* job, and I love to whine about it but really I love it. I went to a talk yesterday and I got so excited about the research it was describing that I was literally bouncing up and down in my seat. Well maybe it was more like I was fidgeting. But you get the idea… just in case you don't, I will hit you with one last piece of information: I can't think of a coherent order to put these little nuggets of Kristin-ness in, so when I'm done writing them, this is what I'm going to do. I'm going to copy and paste them into an Excel spreadsheet into a single column, then I'm going to use the =RAND() function to generate a random number to go into another column next to each nugget, then I'm going to ask Excel to sort the two columns on the random numbers, and that will be the order the nuggets go in. If you understood what I said, you are just as much of a dork as I am, and if you didn't, well you'll never know the true extent of it.
I like eminem. There, I said it. No, no: I LOVE eminem. Not the person, as a person I have no doubt that he's a total prick. But his music… sheer brilliance. As far as I am concerned, he is a lyrical genius. If anyone thinks otherwise, I would suspect them of not ever having actually listened to him rap, because if you actually give it a chance and get over the gangsta façade, and your natural revulsion at some of the things he actually says, you will come to appreciate, I think, the way he fits words together and makes things rhyme and just sound so… good. And if you don't, well… I'll meet you at the bike racks at 3:30 and we can have it out that way.
And I'm done. I thought I could make it to 10, but I'm running out of steam, so seven it is. I hope I won't look back on all of this and find it too embarrassing, but I'm done now and I'm not the type to edit myself, so… there you have it!
Rookie
There's one topic that feels a bit like it's been left out of several of my blog posts of late. The best example is probably my UPA posts. I talk about frisbee (of course), but what it doesn't say is that I met this awesome girl. Actually, we had met before (Boston, NE Regionals), but at UPAs we actually got a chance to hang out and get to know each other better. Anyway, I really wanted to do a blog post about her, but then I had a better idea - GUEST BLOG. Genius, you say? I thought so too. So here is a post by Kristin. No pressure Rookie. haha.
Visit messengerbuddies.ca to find out how you could win. Enter today.
Visit messengerbuddies.ca to find out how you could win. Enter today.
Saddledome Entertainment
I have been shy on posts the last couple of days, because I have been lucky enough to be able to attend two nights of Saddledome Entertainment. Last night, Marcia hooked me up with a ticket to the Flames (thanks Marcia!), and it was a great game.
The Flames beat Colorado 4-1, but the score doesn't tell the whole story. The Flames had the first goal scored on them, but recovered by dominating play after that. As the first period ended, a Flame hit the goalpost on a ridiculously long shot. It didn't go in, but talk about close call. In the second, they continued to pummeled shots on Colorado's goalie (Budaj), who seemed to stand on his head at times to keep the puck out of the net. At one point the shots on goal were 48-16 in favour of the Flames. Colorado would have the odd rush the other way (phew, good thing they pay Kipper the big bucks) and remind everybody that it was still a tie game. Then in the 3rd, Aucoin finally put the Flames up with an amazing laser of a shot from up high. The place went wild, and it seemed like that was the game - there wasn't much time left. Colorado turned up the pressure, and eventually pulling the goalie, and scrambled up some serious scoring chances in the final minutes. Iginla sealed the deal with about 30 left by hitting the empty-netter. Those suckers who left right then missed an even-strength goal on a nice passing play that just felt like gravy. It was a 4-1 game that was as close as a 2-1 game, but with added bonuses. What a fun time.
Tonight (notice I am posting very late) was NKOTB. Oh yes. All of the girls from work went, and we had a really fun time. There were two openers, Lady Gaga and Natasha Beddingfield. Both were solid! We only heard about a song and a half of Lady Gaga (including the good one). Natasha Beddingfield played four really good songs, and one I very strongly dislike. It has gotten stuck in my head before, and it's just awful - super whiny. Moving on. The New Kids started out very strong, and got the crowd into it early with a few classics. There was fun costume changes and lights, and at points a couple of the New Kids looked a little bit embarrassed to be there, which all added to the entrainment factor. The middle of the concert was weak, I'm not going to lie. There was lots of stalling (Donny yelling, 'Calgary!' to the crowd enough times that it was getting really annoying.) and some really awful, ear-bleeder solo ballads. They did have one song were they came out on stage in 80's clothes. That was pretty cool. And just went I thought I couldn't take another 40-year-old-Jordan-singing-like-he-was-just-kicked-in-the-crotch special, they encored with Step by Step and Hanging Tough. It was like going back in time.
The Flames beat Colorado 4-1, but the score doesn't tell the whole story. The Flames had the first goal scored on them, but recovered by dominating play after that. As the first period ended, a Flame hit the goalpost on a ridiculously long shot. It didn't go in, but talk about close call. In the second, they continued to pummeled shots on Colorado's goalie (Budaj), who seemed to stand on his head at times to keep the puck out of the net. At one point the shots on goal were 48-16 in favour of the Flames. Colorado would have the odd rush the other way (phew, good thing they pay Kipper the big bucks) and remind everybody that it was still a tie game. Then in the 3rd, Aucoin finally put the Flames up with an amazing laser of a shot from up high. The place went wild, and it seemed like that was the game - there wasn't much time left. Colorado turned up the pressure, and eventually pulling the goalie, and scrambled up some serious scoring chances in the final minutes. Iginla sealed the deal with about 30 left by hitting the empty-netter. Those suckers who left right then missed an even-strength goal on a nice passing play that just felt like gravy. It was a 4-1 game that was as close as a 2-1 game, but with added bonuses. What a fun time.
Tonight (notice I am posting very late) was NKOTB. Oh yes. All of the girls from work went, and we had a really fun time. There were two openers, Lady Gaga and Natasha Beddingfield. Both were solid! We only heard about a song and a half of Lady Gaga (including the good one). Natasha Beddingfield played four really good songs, and one I very strongly dislike. It has gotten stuck in my head before, and it's just awful - super whiny. Moving on. The New Kids started out very strong, and got the crowd into it early with a few classics. There was fun costume changes and lights, and at points a couple of the New Kids looked a little bit embarrassed to be there, which all added to the entrainment factor. The middle of the concert was weak, I'm not going to lie. There was lots of stalling (Donny yelling, 'Calgary!' to the crowd enough times that it was getting really annoying.) and some really awful, ear-bleeder solo ballads. They did have one song were they came out on stage in 80's clothes. That was pretty cool. And just went I thought I couldn't take another 40-year-old-Jordan-singing-like-he-was-just-kicked-in-the-crotch special, they encored with Step by Step and Hanging Tough. It was like going back in time.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Resolution
I've never really understood New Year's resolutions. I don't want to resolve to do shit in then. I want to have a nice dinner with my family and then party it up with my friends. Also, my year just isn't really divided that way. Late 2008 and early 2009 will still be 'winter' and 'off season'. Anyway, here is my resolution: I am going to spend an extra few minutes (15, let's say) cleaning my kitchen during the week, so it's not such a disaster/chore on the weekend. Boring topic, you said? What's your friggin' resolution then? Just kidding. Now I know some people swear by the "clean-as-you-go' cooking strategy. I'm much more of a "don't-light-anything-on-fire-as-you-go". I think this takes precedence. Still, I've identified a simple thing I'd like to change, and I resolve to do it.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Riding to Bragg Creek
Yesterday, Mauri and I decided to get our road ride on. I was just coming off my two week break, so I was itching to exercise. Mauri does (and says) stupid things all of the time, so this was just one more. *I keep telling her to check out my blog, and she says she going to, but I know she's not. I'm going to try trashing her on it every now and again so that I can see if she ever really reads it*. Moving on. We parked at 69th St in the SW, and biked to Bragg Creek via Highway 8 to Highway 22, about 30 km a direction. Good times! Wow, do I ever want a cyclecross bike. And an Assmaster 300. I was riding my mountain bike with slick tires on it. H E A V Y. Not heavy as in deep but heavy as in weighs a lot. Thought I'd clarify in case Mauri DOES read the blog. She's not so smrt. The whole point was to get outside and exercises though, so what the heck. It was a gorgeous day - I still can't believe the weather cooperated that much in mid November. *disclaimer: don't get me wrong, I think I am finally regaining feeling in my toes today*. Today there is snow. LOTS of snow. My legs and neck are a little stiff today, just a touch. Oh shit, I just said 'stiff' and 'touch' in the same sentence. I seriously didn't try too. Now I'm going to get a whole bunch of sickos finding my blog through there gross Google searched.
Only a 15 % Disappointment Rate, Thus Far!
The numbers are in, and http://www.travelvicariously.net/ is a huge success. So far, only 15 % of people disappointed. Did you not read the CAPITAL TEXT behind the url in my last post about this? Seriously, people. And you thought I would know! Ha. Well, Google Analytics tells me that 15% of people clicked the link. I told you there was nothing there yet :) It's okay, I'll use this as motivation to work on it some more, even if it's just for the 85% percent of people who were not disappointed.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Travel Vicariously Dot Net
I have a new blog: www.travelvicariously.net. DON'T GO YET! You'll be disappointed. I'll post again on Hezzobloggo once there is actually something up there. Right now, I'm just getting it set up. Huge thanks for my g e n i u s blog-guru friend Jeff for all of his help (read: basically doing everything).
I really do feel like I get a lot of enjoyment out of vicarious travel. I am a geography dork, so I usually make an effort to learn something about the country, even if it's not me that is going. I'll still get to see stories and pictures, and evaluate the pros and cons for making it the destination for my next trip.
Now, it's one thing to say, "I have this friend who went to/is going to VegasJapanSEAsiaWhitehorseLibya etc *those were completely random, by the way ;) *, but I think it's even better if people decide to give me permission to really talk about their travel. Don't get me know, I don't mean in the "and his address is: " kind of way, I just think names (even pseudonyms) and the odd genetic place pic go along way. So if you have been somewhere, and are into letting me blog about your trip, please sent me an email or leave a comment. No pressure, of course! I can always start with my own trips (and pretend it's not me). Evil genius.
ps. No, Hezzobloggo won't suffer. Just try to shut me up. Not happening :)
I really do feel like I get a lot of enjoyment out of vicarious travel. I am a geography dork, so I usually make an effort to learn something about the country, even if it's not me that is going. I'll still get to see stories and pictures, and evaluate the pros and cons for making it the destination for my next trip.
Now, it's one thing to say, "I have this friend who went to/is going to VegasJapanSEAsiaWhitehorseLibya etc *those were completely random, by the way ;) *, but I think it's even better if people decide to give me permission to really talk about their travel. Don't get me know, I don't mean in the "and his address is: " kind of way, I just think names (even pseudonyms) and the odd genetic place pic go along way. So if you have been somewhere, and are into letting me blog about your trip, please sent me an email or leave a comment. No pressure, of course! I can always start with my own trips (and pretend it's not me). Evil genius.
ps. No, Hezzobloggo won't suffer. Just try to shut me up. Not happening :)
Nellie Hockey Game 1
I'm winding down after my first game of the season with Nellie. Nellie has been playing for a month or more, but I have been out of town for work and ultimate. I'm not going to lie, I felt a bit like an ultimate player dressed up in hockey gear. We lost 0-5. I did really enjoy the game though. I knew it was going to be fun from first few steps in the area, when my buddy (and now our coach!) Murray said, "Hey, your back, how was it? where have you been, you are SO benched". I appreciated :) Next game is Sunday afternoon, and I'm hoping I somehow learn to skate between now and then.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Calling All Randoms
I recently got a comment on my blog from someone I don't know. I love getting comments (from anyone - please do), although I always find it a little strange to think that strangers might be reading this thing. Sometimes I forget - I'm just ranting away about whatever I feel like.
I have Google Analytics on my blog, so that allows me to see some of where the traffic is coming from, and what people search to get there. It also shows the time of the site, so it's obvious when someone searches something in Google, gets linked to my blog, says, "Oh, this is just some idiot's blog", and exits right away. So I have some information, but not much.
So: If I don't know you, and you are reading this, please leave a comment.
Who are you and wear do you live? Is this a one-time blunder, or are you a regular reader. Don't be shy!
For example, Google Analytics shows me that I have a regular reader is Whistler. I don't think I know anyone who lives in Whistler. Who are you, Whistler? I mean this is the nicest possible way. I'm not trying to call you out or anything, just curious. Thanks for reading :)
Someone in Morocco read 16 pages for 9 minutes. Mel and Mike, are you in Morocco right now?
Here are some searches in Google that led to my blog that made me smile:
I have Google Analytics on my blog, so that allows me to see some of where the traffic is coming from, and what people search to get there. It also shows the time of the site, so it's obvious when someone searches something in Google, gets linked to my blog, says, "Oh, this is just some idiot's blog", and exits right away. So I have some information, but not much.
So: If I don't know you, and you are reading this, please leave a comment.
Who are you and wear do you live? Is this a one-time blunder, or are you a regular reader. Don't be shy!
For example, Google Analytics shows me that I have a regular reader is Whistler. I don't think I know anyone who lives in Whistler. Who are you, Whistler? I mean this is the nicest possible way. I'm not trying to call you out or anything, just curious. Thanks for reading :)
Someone in Morocco read 16 pages for 9 minutes. Mel and Mike, are you in Morocco right now?
Here are some searches in Google that led to my blog that made me smile:
- "Nasty Lindsay"
- "Yo mother fucker yo mother fucker yo"
- "Charmin bears paper on ass"
- "Cooking afraid of potlucks"
- "What happened at Potlatch 2008"
- "My ankle"
I'm thinking most of these folks did not get what they were looking for.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Ghetto Riding
Brr. Lets start with that. I decided to go for a spin tonight. It's -1 right now, but I thought it was doable. I think I've said this already, but I am on a two week, post-season break before I get back to training. So I thought that an outdoor bike ride would be perfect, and not too taxing.
The 'brr' above comes from wearing gloves that were too small. Most of me was warm enough. I had lots of warm clothes on. My toes (with double socks) were a tiny big cold, but nothing major. Yeah, hand-wise: not so good. I feel like I can't quite type properly yet and I have been home for 15 minutes.
I made in about 10 minutes of the ride when I ran into a by-law officer. Not literally - that would be bad. He stopped me because the front light on my bike was going dim. No problem! I just hand-cranked it a few times and it was okay again. I think re-scotch taped it to my handlebars and I was within by-law regulations, and off on my ride (yes, my advancesd lighting system was a hand-crank flashlight scotch taped to my handlebars) . I couldn't tell if he thought it was funny, or if he thought I was a weirdo. S
I would been pretty pissed if he had given me a ticket. Yesterday, I biked by several people injecting themselves with needles (while standing on the bike path) on my ride home from the disc golf course. One of these two bike path problems seems like it would actually make the bike path more safe.
The 'brr' above comes from wearing gloves that were too small. Most of me was warm enough. I had lots of warm clothes on. My toes (with double socks) were a tiny big cold, but nothing major. Yeah, hand-wise: not so good. I feel like I can't quite type properly yet and I have been home for 15 minutes.
I made in about 10 minutes of the ride when I ran into a by-law officer. Not literally - that would be bad. He stopped me because the front light on my bike was going dim. No problem! I just hand-cranked it a few times and it was okay again. I think re-scotch taped it to my handlebars and I was within by-law regulations, and off on my ride (yes, my advancesd lighting system was a hand-crank flashlight scotch taped to my handlebars) . I couldn't tell if he thought it was funny, or if he thought I was a weirdo. S
I would been pretty pissed if he had given me a ticket. Yesterday, I biked by several people injecting themselves with needles (while standing on the bike path) on my ride home from the disc golf course. One of these two bike path problems seems like it would actually make the bike path more safe.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Movie Recyling Program
I enjoy movies. I own a lot of movies. I like to try to lend them to friends for a few reasons, and I thought maybe listing the options on my blog might work for a reasons. If you want to borrow a movie, just let me know (leave a comment, email or call me - yes, calling is a bit much, but use it as an excuse, I'd love to hear from you), and I'll bring it for you the next time I see you.
Some good reasons to share movies via the blog
1) friends lend me movies in return.
2) it feels like recycling (ok, reusing, shut up.)
3) we can talk about the movies after, if you liked it too.
Some not-so-good reasons to share movies via the blog
1) now everyone knows I own Flashdance.
2) this is more of a plastic recycling program that the City of Calgary can handle. So lame.
So as you can clearly see, the good wins over no-so-good by a score of 3-2. Go good!
I especially like when I see movies I wouldn't have picked myself through friends. It's no zip.ca, but what the heck. It's early, and if I add what movies I own to my blog, I can put off cleaning the bathroom for an hour. Beat that.
ps. The list does not yet count TV Series or sports DVDs.
Some good reasons to share movies via the blog
1) friends lend me movies in return.
2) it feels like recycling (ok, reusing, shut up.)
3) we can talk about the movies after, if you liked it too.
Some not-so-good reasons to share movies via the blog
1) now everyone knows I own Flashdance.
2) this is more of a plastic recycling program that the City of Calgary can handle. So lame.
So as you can clearly see, the good wins over no-so-good by a score of 3-2. Go good!
I especially like when I see movies I wouldn't have picked myself through friends. It's no zip.ca, but what the heck. It's early, and if I add what movies I own to my blog, I can put off cleaning the bathroom for an hour. Beat that.
ps. The list does not yet count TV Series or sports DVDs.
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Thursday, November 6, 2008
UPAs Continued
Here are a few more someone scattered bits on UPA's:
Congratulations to Nicholls and JRuss of the Mental Toss Flycoons who took the co-ed division. Great work kids!
Congratulations to Nicholls and JRuss of the Mental Toss Flycoons who took the co-ed division. Great work kids!
Scores: sometimes I guess at these things, and other times I either remember (Backhoe) or check the internet (everyone else). On Day 1, we beat Ambush (NY) 15-7, and Rare Air (Denver) 15-10. We then got our asses kind of handed to us by Fury (Bay Area) 3-15. The first two games were really good, and the last one not so much. We didn't play very well - there were a few theories as to why, but I think we could have done better. Plus some fat chick got a huge layout D one me. That fat chick had game! On Day 2, we had Backhoe first (ask me the story of the last point), Godiva (Boston) second (we lost 14-7, according the interweb. Can that be right? I thought it was a lot closer. Damn.) These were huge timeslots (2 1/2 hours) and it was very windy, so despite good play on both sides, long long games. Thus, the ass-end of a three way tie, forcing us to play a pre-quarter. Boo urns, but I don't think anyone doubted that we were going to win in. I didn't doubt it at 11-11. And then, somehow, we had lost 11-15 (the team we played was Showdown from Texas). They were good, but we should have fun. Fuck. Thinking about that game again makes me mad. On to the ninals on Day 3. We had to regroup, and come out strong the next day after such a tough day the day before. How strange to go from such a high to such a low so fast. Anyway, we still had two tough teams to beat to take 9th. I was impressed with the teams focus and resolve. I've done the same thing before and seen teams just tank the next day. They give up and stop playing well, but that definitely did not happen in this case. The first team was called Pop, and I'd never heard of them. I know what you are thinking. A Canadian team called Pop who you have never heard of sucks ass. It's just the way at goes. At UPAs, a team called Pop that you have never heard of - they have game! We pulled out another win, taking the game 15-13. We then had a second battle against Rare Air, taking this one 13-7.
Some other random stuff: to add insult to injury, some chick spat on me in the Showdown game. And I mean horked. It was super gross. She horked on the sideline, it was super windy, and it went right on my left leg. I went right up to her and was like, "dude, that's disgusting, you just spat on me." There were a few of her teammates beside her, who looked down at my leg and GASPED. So apparently there was lots on it. Ew. She felt bad, profusely apologized, and somewhat neurotically wiped at my leg (I'd swatted the worst off myself at that point). I said, "it's okay, I know you didn't do it on purpose, but seriously, gross", and walked off. I don't think she felt that bad. Honestly, I didn't care that much - I had a game to play. Damn.
I kind of wanted to cry during the Rare Air game. I layed out and hurt my shoulder and I started to loose all of the touch on my throws. Actually, maybe it was the end of the Pop game. I can't remember. I just know it hurt and I was frustrated. It was mostly just that, but also, my ankle wasn't loving me, I'd re-jammed my thumb, some girl kicked my hand, and some other girl followed threw on a huck into my face. I found it mentally draining, and I'm pretty sure this was my worst game. I didn't fuck up or anything, I just didn't do that much either.
Hopefully you won't read these last two paragraphs in a very negative way *I can here someone in my head saying 'well you wrote it, don't blame me* Overall, I have nothing but glowing praise for the tourney. They are just two things that popped into my mind to write about, so I did.
Here a good happier one: The Palm Bay Club where we stayed had the ocean on one side and a hot tub on the other! Bring on the Country Club jokes :)
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
UPAs
I don't even know where to start! Ask me for stories. I had an absolute blast in Florida. Playing with the Caps was great - what a talented team. We ended up coming 9th, which was disappointing/fine. We got screwed in a 3 way tie after taking down the 3rd place team, Backhoe. This put us in a pre-quarter, where unfortunately we did not pull out the victory. That's the disappointing part. It would have been awesome to come top 8, and I definitely think we were good enough. Despite getting knocked out to compete in the ninals, I was happy with how we played. I think the team stepped it up, played well, played hard, played gritty in the wind. If we'd shat the bed, that would be one thing. I think everyone came away with heads held high, knowing we playing well, it just kind of worked out unfortunately.
I'm feeling sickly right now, which makes me a giant baby, so that's all I've got for now. More to follow.
I'm feeling sickly right now, which makes me a giant baby, so that's all I've got for now. More to follow.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)