Kevin's Ramblings…

Well, the weather forecasters were correct for a change. We got somewhere between 8-10″ of snow overnight and into today. It cleared around Noon or so. What fun. Where’s Spring?

The sidewalks in my apartment complex have been nicely cleared. The roadways haven’t though, unsure why. The dog park has about a foot of snow in it and drifts where it’s deeper.

Twix is considerate, she poops near the entrance of the park. Apollo goes to the furthest corner, making me wade through snow to pick up after him. Sigh.

I’m happy that we have an off-leash area for the dogs, it’s quite convenient. There aren’t other dogs in there too often, but Twix and Apollo get to play with other dogs a few times a week. We do go to the large off-leash park about a kilometer away as well, but it’s largely flooded at the moment. We’ll go out this evening for a walk in the neighbourhood, after sidewalks are hopefully shoveled.

The snow won’t last long, temps are supposed to climb in the upper teens over the next few days, so, maybe, if we are lucky, this is winters last breath. It is Alberta though, so anything is possible.

We have an umpire clinic this weekend. I’m thinking it’s going to be too wet to be outside, but who knows. It’ll be nice getting back on the field and nicer still if spring actually springs.

Monday and Tuesday it felt like Spring, finally, temps were in the mid teens. Today and Thursday, we are expected to get up to 30cm of snow.

Spring takes a LONG time to spring in Calgary and Alberta in general.  Winter, on the other hand arrives early, often by mid October and sometimes earlier.

Baseball season, minor baseball that is, is right around the corner. I’m looking forward to getting back on the field to umpire.

I’ll be umpiring, primarily for Babe Ruth Calgary but I’ve also decided I’ll do some games for Baseball Alberta and perhaps High River as well, although High River is about an hour away. I live in North Calgary, about as far north in Calgary as I can go and High River is about an hour south, so, I am unsure how many games I’ll do down there.

Regardless of where I umpire, I’m looking forward to getting back on the field. Spring will eventually arrive, typically any time now, about a month or so after the calendar arrival. After the snow melts, the diamonds will dry up fairly quickly as it tends to be windy and the City will get the diamonds to shape.

I need to check my equipment to ensure everything is good to go. I think I need a new mask this season, I’ve had mine for about 6 years or so and it’s seen better days. I wear a catcher style umpire mask and they aren’t cheap, around $400. I don’t umpire to make money, but I don’t want to lose money either.

I plan on umpiring 4 or 5 games a week I’m thinking, maybe 3-4 games on the weekend and 1-2 games during the week. That’ll keep me out of trouble. That may change if I go back to 12 hour shifts, but it looks like I’ll be on a Monday through Friday “9-5” type shift moving forward.

So, I’m hoping the weather forecast for today and tomorrow is exaggerated and we don’t get the dumping of snow they are calling for, but, I guess we can use the precipitation.

Spring will arrive eventually, it always does…

I did nothing yesterday, except take the dogs to the dog park. It wasn’t as warm as it was supposed to be. We only got to about 12C, whereas they were calling for 18C. Spring sorta of looks like it has arrived, but then we are supposed to get snow today. That’s spring in Alberta for ya.

I have nothing planned for today other than making a batch of beef stew. I plan on making a large batch and freezing it. Very easy, stewing beef, mini potatoes and baby carrots with a couple of packets of stew spices and several cups of water.

I brown the beef and then add everything together and let it simmer for a few hours. It’s definitely comfort food. I do need to make a trip to the grocery store for some stewing beef, but, at 4am, there aren’t any grocery stores open as yet.

Back to work tomorrow, of sorts. I’m still on the bench so there’s no real work to do. I may get a new position in the coming weeks/months, they are working on funding the position and then, by the sounds of it, it’s mine. It’s a team lead type role, ensuring SLAs are met and what not, not too many details as yet.

If it does snow today, it’ll be a stay in day, watch some baseball on tv and have a nap or two.

I hope you’re enjoying your weekend.

The dogs and I made an afternoon/evening trip to Crowsnest Pass yesterday. We were going to stop at Backcountry Butchers for some meat but that didn’t happen. We did go out for dinner with a friend from the Pass.

Well, I went for dinner with a friend from the Pass, the dogs patiently waiting in the car.

We went to the Spice Lounge, attached to the Travelodge Hotel. They have decent Indian food and Thursdays and Fridays they have a buffet.

I must be getting old I guess, I’m pretty well limited to one plate at a buffet nowadays. Gone are the days where I’d have 2-3 plates and would still go back for more.

It was great catching up with my friend and she got to meet Apollo who was visiting Crowsnest Pass for the first time.

We stopped on the way home and had a quick walk, off-leash. It was an absolutely beautiful day, temps in the upper teens. That’s supposed to continue today and then winter returns tomorrow unfortunately. When it’s 19C, one actually thinks spring may have arrived, then you’re reminded that it’s Alberta.

Earlier in the day, I put down a deposit on a 2026 Ford Bronco Sport Sasquatch edition, to be delivered in August. The next 4 months waiting for delivery will be tough.

It was a good road trip, we got home around 930pm and hit bed shortly afterwards. Now to figure out what’s happening this weekend. Enjoy yours.

I have had what I call seasonal insomnia for the past 30ish years.

I have it for anywhere from 3 – 6 months at a time, then I sleep fine for 6 – 24 months, or somewhere in there.

I haven’t slept well since about January now. It’s now April so, I’m hoping it will go away sometime in the next bit, hoping. This could be one of the stretches where I have it for 6 months, who knows.

I’ve done sleep studies and what not, I don’t have sleep apnea or anything, they can’t find anything wrong.

I suppose after this long, I’m sorta used to it. I do try to nap in the afternoons so that I can function in the evenings. I never have an issue falling to sleep, I just wake up after 4 or 5 hours.

I went to bed early last night as I was tired, it was around 830pm and I woke up at 1230am, so that was 4 hours, I laid in bed trying to fall asleep but it didn’t work, so I got up. I’m sure I’ll go back to bed before dawn and grab another hour or two of sleep, I hope so anyway.

Right at the moment, 130am I’m not tired at all so I’m watching TV and just chilling.

As I said, this has been going on since my 20s so I’m pretty used to it. I hope you’re sleeping well.

I’m putting down a deposit tomorrow for a 2026 Ford Bronco Sport, it’s a custom.order that’ll be delivered in August.

I don’t really need a new vehicle, but I want it. I’m keeping my 2019 Mitsubishi Outlander, that’ll be my dog car, the Bronco will be for me, undecided if the dogs will ride in it or not. I’m leaning towards no, but that’s subject to change.

That’s basically it, I’m adding a moonroof though. That’s the colour and the trim level. I’ll be getting a custom plate for it, undecided what it’ll be as yet, perhaps just DARCY, my Outlander is KDARCY. Time will tell.

As I said, I’ll take delivery in mid to late August and I’m looking forward to getting it. I’m paying cash so that’ll save me some money up front and of course in the long term as well since there’s no financing involved.

Hurry up August, get here already.

Thanks in a large part to my amazing housekeeper, my place is finally organized and setup. The office was the last major obstacle.

She was here on Friday and motivated me to get moving. Now, we just have a few pieces of art to hang and a shelf unit to put together. I think she may be coming back today to help me finish.

Today is Easter Sunday. I delivered some assorted chocolates to my buddies 5 year old son yesterday and they met Apollo. I also met his 1 year old son for the first time. Cute kid, actually they are both cute, must have taken after the mother.

I made a trek on Friday to Cross Iron Mills mall and bought some house essentials. I was surprised that the mall wasn’t all that busy. I made a pot of chili and now I need to freeze what’s leftover.

I can’t believe it’s already April, the year is zipping right by. It’s going to be August before we know it. Speaking of August, I’ll get my new vehicle in mid August and I’m really looking forward to that.

In July, friends from Idaho will be visiting for a week or so, we are touring around Alberta a bit and hitting up the Calgary Stampede as well. It’ll be a good time I’m sure.

The dogs are doing well, they like the new area rug in the living room. They are a happy pair, for sure.

Well, enjoy Easter if you celebrate. Enjoy the chocolate if you don’t.

So, the JT chapter has concluded. I’ve also cut out our mutual friend, Brian. Brian is a typical dramatic gay man. He’s too fucking emotional and pretty weird to boot. Now, I’ll readily admit that I’m weird as well but he was on a different level. There was no sense in remaining in contact with him, we only had John in common. So, he’s now blocked. I feel good about it.

So, now I’ve cut that part of my life away. John is certified as a user, both of people and of drugs. He’s a junkie, plain and simple. I wish him well, I hope he gets the help he so desperately needs.

This should be the last entry I make that mentions John. I don’t think we’ll encounter each other moving forward. Alberta is a big province and I can’t imagine just running into him. Best of luck my former friend.

There has been some movement on the job front at IBM. I’ve been approached about a position as a Junior Project Manager. I’m sure it would be interesting, I’d have a learning curve for sure but I think I’d enjoy the challenges.

Time will tell what happens with that route and I’m sure I’ll report on it here.

My Ford Bronco Sport has been ordered and will be delivered in early August. August will be here before we know it, I’m sure.

Everything else is in a steady state.

Happy Easter to those who celebrate it.

For those of you who’ve followed my story for a while, you probably aren’t surprised by much.

Well, JT pulled the wool over my eyes, again. When I helped him move into his apartment yesterday evening, it turned out he was denied on his application and had no apartment. He took off, dropping his two boxes of worldly possessions which are now in the garbage.

I presume he’s back to living in his car and I honestly don’t think he’s working again. I still wish him all the best. He’s a junkie and I hope at some point he gets the help he so desperately needs.

I’m happy that this time he said good bye to Twix. She loves him, he spoiled her, big time.

I’m.happy cause I’m back to sharing my bed with two dogs as opposed to two dogs and a human male.

My place is mine again, I’ll cook for one and I’ll enjoy my privacy.

Good luck JT, get some help for yourself.

While I was unemployed between working at BDO and IBM, I lived well beyond my means. I was given a good settlement from BDO (it’s confidential, so I can’t disclose the amount, but it was approximately 10 months salary) and it was paid out over 10 months as opposed to a lump sum. I was also getting employment insurance at the same time so I was bringing in unprecedented amounts of money.

On top of this, I used my credit cards extensively and Canadian Tire MasterCard kept raising my limit as I was paying the balance off in full every month. It got up to 10k in credit within about 6 months. I had a second card that wasn’t quite as insane with only a $1500 limit. I ran both cards to the max.

About when my severance ran out, I wasn’t bringing in enough funds to cover expenses, this is when my credit really helped, and hurt.

Thankfully, I started at IBM in March of 2022 at a good salary. I was making minimum payments on the MasterCard and nothing more. The interest was staggering, minimum payments were nearly $300 per month.

Late last year, I just stopped making payments at all. The cycle of a payment and then interest being almost as much as the payment became too much to handle.

Back when I moved to Calgary and my Jeep Wrangler Unlimited died, I was faced with a $10000 bill for a new engine. I didn’t have that kind of money, so I stopped playing the bank for it, so, they sued me and won. They got a garnishment order for so much money per month that I wouldn’t have enough left over for rent, never mind other living expenses. I was in a true panic.

Working for BDO, I spoke with the Financial Recovery group and the partner suggested a Consumer Proposal and since I didn’t want to deal with BDO, he got me an appointment with another form, same day.

They were able to get the garnishment stopped immediately and set me on a path to get out of debt. I was set to pay $300 per month for 60 months, a total of $18000 and all of my debt would go away. I was saved.

Now, with mounting interest charges and some items in collection, I’m in a similar situation, although not as bleak. Before it becomes bleak, I decided to investigate another Consumer Proposal.

This time, with less total debt, I’ll be paying $150 per month for 60 months and everything will, again, be erased. The creditors are unlikely to decline the offer as that would force me into bankruptcy and they’d get only pennies on the dollar.

So, another reset at 54, my RRSP and LIRA are safe and cannot be touched, my car is safe, I’ll be debt free and calls and letters will stop.

It’s a last resort, but, it provides some peace of mind.