24 Dec 2008
A lot has happened since I last put words in this place. My car was finally fixed and returned. Work got a little bit insane there for a while. An old high school friend of mine passed away. So much. In fact, too much to even try and get into here. So rather than catch everyone up right now, I’m going to do something more immediate.
Yesterday was my last day of work at this job.
For 2008.
Yes, there is a lot of economic uncertainty. And the place I work has let about 6% of their work force go, with plans to probably let go of another 6-10% if you believe the rumours in the news. All I can say to you all is this; don’t worry about me, I’m secure in my role.
Now, on to that more immediate stuff that I was talking about. Today, this very day, this day which is happening right now; is Christmas Eve! Do you know what that means? That means that tomorrow is Christmas!!! While a part of me is very sad that I’m not with my whole family this year; like I have been for the last 28 years; I understand this is part of life.
To all of you not here, I miss you very much and love you all! I hope you have a wonderful Christmas this year and I hope that we can have another Christmas together in the future. For now, I’m doing my best to just live in the now and embrace it as it is rather than think about what it isn’t. I don’t want to ruin Christmas for my lovely wife who gets to have Christmas with her family this year. I know she missed them dearly last year.
This year thing are a little out of sorts. You see, out here on the west coast we are having a white Christmas. Yes, you read that right. I have pictures to prove it. This is the first white Christmas out here since 1998. For those of you mentally tabulating those numbers, that’s a whole decade. I say decade, because it sounds so much more impressive than 10 years.
19 Oct 2008
Holly and I had both booked a four day weekend for this weekend to celebrate, albeit belatedly, our first anniversary. We had done a couple of small things up to this point so we were calling this “Anniversary 1.4”
One of the previous things that I had planned was to go to this little restaurant at Crescent Beach, and then walk along the beach for a while after. That beach was where we went and shared our first sunset together on our first date. That didn’t really work out as planned though since the restaurant decided to close early for the day and weather didn’t want to cooperate. So we ended up spending the day together at home and trying to make Fish & Chips from scratch ourselves. It actually turned out quite well.
This second trip, also planned by me, was a romantic weekend getaway at the Mayflower Park Hotel in Seattle. We were going to have a late lunch out one of our favourite places, and then try a late supper at somewhere we haven’t been before. The next day we were going to grab some breakfast at Lola, wander down to the market and browse/graze for a bit, and then make our way to Racha Thai on the way out of town. Which of course is our favourite thai place in the whole wide world.
None of it went exactly as planned.
We were down around north Burlington when we decided we need to grab a quick bite to eat to hold us over until our late lunch. -We pulled off the road and were following this big white truck toward Jack-in-the-Box. They started to pull into the parking lot, and we started to pull into the parking lot behind them (all clearly marked with one way arrows). They stopped, and we assumed they were just trying to pick where they were going to park, so we stopped behind them and waited. We were a good 10-15ft behind them. Then the big white truck started accelerating in reverse toward us and before we could do anything BANG! they smushed the front left of our car in. It looked pretty bad, not horrendously bad, but quite terrible. Certainly not as terrible as it ended up being.
We all pulled over out of the way. They apologized profusely, accepted full blame for it (as Holly had been laying into the horn like nobodies business), and exchanged insurance information. In a turn of what could dubiously be coined as good luck, they were also from BC, so both of the claims go through ICBC.
Soon after they left we decided to get properly out of the way and tried to drive the car to an empty hotel parking lot nearby and make all of the necessary calls. It was at this point that we realized we could only go about 2km an hour. It appears the transmission is toast; but we’ll know more after the adjusters take a look at it over the next few days. Having accidents out of country extends the whole process quite a bit, especially when it turns out to be bad enough that you can’t drive the car home.
Needless to say that at this point the romantic getaway was canceled.
We spent the next hour or so trying to sort things out. We called all of the rental companies in the nearby area and almost none o f them were open. The one that was, their computer system was down for upgrade and were unable to tell us if there would actually be a car available if we were to show up. The first towing company worked out well for us though, and they do direct billing with insurance companies which should work out in our favour long term. So with no car of our own, and no way to get a car, we were pretty much stranded in the middle of no where.
Holly called her parents and they said they would come and get us. The hotel staff offered us a friends and family discount at the hotel and we eventually took them up on it. When we decided to they actually only charged us at the agent rate. So we got a $109 room for $35. We really can’t say enough good things about those people working at that hotel. They impressed us enough that we will be looking at staying at Marriott hotels any time we need a hotel in the near future.
While we were waiting for her parents we ventured over to Bob’s Burgers and Brew; not willing to face the Jack-in-the-Box again just yet. Now, I have to say, I hate Bob’s Burgers and Brew. They have a slogan “It just tastes better!”, and I have to tell you that they are just flat out wrong. I have only been to this particular chain twice in my life. If I have my way that is the number it will stay out. They food “It just tastes better!”, well, maybe when compared to garbage. Although most of my meal made it to the garbage itself. I ate three onion rings and about 1/3 of the burger. We also had some “Cheesy Jo Jos”, which are potato wedges covered in cheese and bacon bits, they were okay. Never in my life have I gone to a sit down restaurant and come out thinking “Man, I sure could go for some McDonalds.”
After Holly’s parents showed up they offered to take us down to Seattle for supper out Racha Thai for our anniversary. So we made our way down and had a great time. We walked in and Wipa (the manager) greeted us and bumped us ahead of a few of the reserved people to give us the best table in the house. Right in the corner where you can see both of the streets and watch the world go by while you dine.
Everyone got to witness the very, very rare event of me sitting down to supper and ordering a beer right away.
After that we finally made our way home. It was a long day, an awful day, and a great day. Just one more adventure in Skagit County.
14 Oct 2008
Why should you play Castle Crashers you ask?
An actual e-mail thread between my wife and I:
Holly: My dude is now a level 12 castle crasher! Oh, Xboxy badness…
Sean: Haha, I’ll have to level my guy up when I get home. Did you get to the crazy “Ride a deer through a warehouse” level yet?
Holly: Yup! Took a couple rides to get through though. I also killed a giant mutant water cat while riding an aligator.
If that doesn’t pique your interest… nothing ever will.
14 Oct 2008
Now that the Canadian Turkey Marathon Weekend (some call it Thanksgiving) is out of the way it is time for an Election.
Here in Canada we are about to elect our prime minister. Will we have a repeat, or will someone else win? I myself am not historically really much of a political person; and as long as the Liberals(Scary Mr. Dion) or Bloc Party(Snowball’s chance in Hell) don’t win I’ll be happy.
Something that each election in Canada really drives home to me, is that our electoral process sucks. Who we vote for Regionally, impacts who wins Nationally. This just seems wrong, wrong, wrong to me. The person that is going to be the best for my local region, and the person who would be the best leader for the country are completely unrelated (at least they should be). National and Regional responsibilities and priorities are vastly different.
So in Canada you are forced to either vote for who you think will help your Region the most, or who is best for the country as a leader. This year I’ve chosen to vote Nationally, and just vote based on the “Party Line” as it were.
26 Sep 2008
Every once in a while I read an article that reminds me exactly why I love the game of hockey so much.
"Every leader needs a climactic story point that illustrates his character. For John McCain, it's his time in a POW camp; for Barack Obama, it's his speech at the 2004 Democratic Convention. For Ovechkin, it's a game in Pittsburgh last season when he took a skate to the leg and left the Igloo with a six-inch gash. None of the Caps would have blamed him for returning to DC to heal, but Ovechkin traveled with the team to Ottawa and played two nights later, scoring four goals and an assist in an 8-6 win. "Every time he moved, the stitches opened," says Boudreau. "And he played through it." Fans may remember the ass-over-teakettle goal he netted in a 6-1 win over Phoenix in 2006, but Caps officials cherish that cold night in Ottawa when their leader proved he could be counted on when needed most."
~ Eric Adelson
Hockey has leaders and characters that are easy to respect and admire. They show a lot more courage and determination than you see in other sports. Guys don’t just play hurt in hockey, they play bleeding and broken. Team always comes first.
Quite often you’ll see hockey players referred to as Gladiators on Ice. These are people who just don’t understand the game. In reality hockey holds the last vestige of honour in the sporting world.
Slowly it is starting to be corrupted like the other major sports around the world, where it is more about the money than the passion for and the honour of the game. Where the sport becomes a business instead of game.
Hockey, more than any other game, is blue collar. Every player understand that you need to work hard for every second of every shift. You give it your all. If you aren’t gasping for air then you’re doing something wrong. You don’t complain; you just do your job.
When you see an interview for an NFL or NBA superstar, you’ll see a lot of chest thumping and arm pumping. They’ll say that they won the game on their own. They’ll boast that no one can stop them. They’ll trash talk at the press conference.
If you watch an interview with an NHL player they’ll tell you how it was a team effort. They’ll say that they are just one guy. They are just trying to do the best that they can. They’ll point out a great blocked shot that was a turning point in a game, or a great penalty kill by a specialist. They will spread the credit around. They will even go so far as to try and push it away from themselves.
In what other sport will the greatest player to ever play the game take a contract for a million dollars, when he could get so much more, because he wants to play with his old friend again before they both retire?
In what other sport can the hottest commodity in the free argent market be signed for millions and millions below “market” value (probably ~11 million a season) because the team he wants to play with tells him that no one gets paid more than the captain, and the captain is making just seven million a year?
Team always comes first.
Broken hands. Broken teeth. Broken feet. Broken ankles. Ripping stitches. Pulled muscles. Reconstructed body parts. Give it everything, or give it nothing.
Bleeding and broken, the path to glory awaits.
God I love this game!