Kevin's Ramblings...

The Keg

Posted on June 26, 2012 by kdarcy21

I have been in Alberta for 2 months now, longer than that actually. In this time, I have not had the chance to have an Alberta Steak. Shame on me.

So, I sort of felt like steak last evening. Had one of those cravings.

I texted “handsome” and we decided to go to The Keg for a bite to eat.

I had a, for me, small 8oz steak and jumbo shrimp with a twice baked potato, veggies and French Onion soup to start. Great meal. It was perfectly cooked which I do appreciate – I don’t like too much pink in the middle and this was amazing.

Handsome (as I will refer to her on my blog, I am SURE she’ll like that) had a chicken Caesar salad – yes, at a steak house. I was embarrassed as well.

She also insulted the waiter so she got the cold treatment for a bit – I will attempt to teach her some social graces, it will be an uphill battle I am sure, but, I am likely up to the task. 🙂

Anyway, I had an amazing dessert – some sort of mud pie essentially. Quite the finish.

I am sure that this particular posting is going to get me in trouble – that is, after all, the aim.

Tonight, presuming that we don’t get yet MORE rain, I am hitting the Okotoks Dawgs ball game. I wish some of this wet would leave us alone, enough is enough.

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Wow, that went by quickly

Posted on June 25, 2012 by kdarcy21

That weekend flew by. I was supposed to be pretty busy. Umpiring on Friday night and a double header on Saturday both were cancelled.

I went to the Crossroads Market on Saturday morning and purchased some cabbage rolls and perogies from a Ukranian dealer. Haven’t had them yet, looking forward to them though.

Had 3 naps on Saturday as well, caught up on my sleep. A morning nap, afternoon and late afternoon. Not a bad deal. Saturday was sort of crappy anyway.

Went for a late dinner to Boston Pizza – had a good time. I was there with an “older, handsome woman”. 🙂

I had a nap on Sunday – of course. Took it easy in the evening, sort of watched the “new” Rambo movie – a typical Stallone movie.

I am not scheduled to umpire in the next couple of weeks – I am having some off-time. BP arrives from Ontario in 2 short weeks and I am sure we will have a good time.

This week will be busy – I am going to my new dentist today, I am only working a part day on Friday, get my bed delivered on Saturday and it is already the Canada Day weekend. Not sure of my plans for the weekend, guess I will have to work that out this week.

Enjoy yours.

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The Weather – The Weekend

Posted on June 23, 2012 by kdarcy21

I was supposed to umpire a game last night at Deerfoot Park. Game time was 6:30pm. I arrive shortly after 5:30pm and the gate is locked and no one is around. So I call the scheduler and he says that someone dropped the ball and didn’t cancel the game with him so, long story short, I will get paid for the game.

I took it easy for the rest of the night, fell asleep while texting people, that’s sort of rude I guess. Went to bed and had a good nights sleep.

Raining again this morning and I am supposed to umpire a double-header. Well, I know that the games are going to be cancelled but as of 8am, no cancellations. I make an executive decision that there will be no ball played today and decide to head to Bragg Creek and do some off-roading, as a passenger.

I get a txt from JB, the off-roading is cancelled due to heavy rain in the area. OK, that’s all fine and dandy, but I still haven’t heard about baseball. Anyway, after a little more time, indeed, the ball games have been rained out – no ball, no off-roading. Great – my first free Saturday in a LONG time.

I think I might zip over to the flea market and take a look. I also have to drop into M&M, chicken breasts are on sale.

I am heading out tonight for dinner with a co-worker – should be a good time.

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Keepin’ Busy

Posted on June 21, 2012 by kdarcy21

Yesterday at work was my first full day in what is called ITAssist. I don’t answer any phone calls, which I am good with, I get assigned requests that come in from the users. We use the same system that I used in my previous job, the main difference being that this one actually works, it doesn’t crash, etc. Now, I think the reason why this is the case is because we don’t use work flow in it. If and when we start to use that, I am guessing that we will start to have issues.

So, getting back on track here… The requests come in, we acknowledge them and then either work on them or we transfer off to the appropriate person. The IT group is rather large and we are also spread out across the country. I can’t walk down a hallway and talk to someone about a request. I can, of course, pick up a phone and call someone or use Communicator and chat with someone, but it isn’t quite the same. As the days go by, I am learning what goes where and to whom.

I must say, it is keeping me busy and out of trouble. An 8 hour shift on ITAssist and I have enough work for ages which I like. My previous job, not necessarily the case.

I have another full shift today and then tomorrow I switch off with my co-worker.

Today will be interesting as well. I have quit smoking, so, I know that I am going to be a bit grumpier than normal. The time is right though, that, I know for sure.

Wish me luck.

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Lethbridge

Posted on June 20, 2012 by kdarcy21

My tour of Alberta is nearly done. I have visited Red Deer (and 2 little towns near Red Deer), Edmonton (and its 3 offices) now Lethbridge and its a small office 30km from there). One more trip, scheduled for sometime in late July, to Grand Prairie.

The trip to Lethbridge actually took longer than the trip to Edmonton and here I was thinking it was only an hour and a half. There are a couple of small town that you pass through with a speed limit of 50km so that slows you down a bit. There are also some pretty big hills which slow you down more (or me anyway in the Jeep).

So, Lethbridge is a relatively small office, 40 staff or so. Friendly people, I have found that everyone in Alberta is which is nice. The co-worker that I back-up down there is actually going to be off next week so I might get called into action. Guess we will see.

My mileage will be good for the couple of trips that I’ve made this week. That will be nice.

I am quite looking forward to just having to drive downtown this morning as opposed to 350km to the office, it will be back to a normal routine. I am on ITAssist today, all day and again tomorrow. That will keep me busy…

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Edmonton & Montreal

Posted on June 19, 2012 by kdarcy21

I made my first trip to Edmonton yesterday, it was a business trip. It only took me 2.5 hours or so to get there, great time. The QEW2 was not busy, it is so nice driving along a major highway without killer traffic.

I arrived shortly after 8am. Left around 5:20am or so and I stopped for a bit for a coffee – horrible coffee I will mention (Petro Canada) and some 5 hour energy – extra strength. That stuff is amazing. On an empty stomach, it gives you an instant boost.

So, I get to Edmonton and check in with the receptionist and who’s there to greet me? Well, Montreal of course. I don’t think I have mentioned Montreal as yet. He’s a new BDO employee, from, you might have guessed, Montreal. His parents are billionaires and owners of the Nair hair removal company. I guess he wanted to be just like the rest of us and work a regular job. He has a doctorate in electrical engineering (I think it is) so he must know his stuff – I am impressed with anyone who’s done that much schooling to have a doctorate.

Visited with him for a bit (he was in Calgary for 2 weeks training) and then met with the IT guy. We toured around the Edmonton office and then visited his 2 other supported sites in Edmonton. Stopped off for lunch at Edo Japan, amazing meal and got some sweets at an Italian bakery.

Headed back towards Calgary around 4:30pm. It was a long day but a good one.

Heading south to Lethbridge today – shouldn’t be as long a day as it was yesterday. My tour of Alberta will be just about done, heading to Grand Prairie sometime in lake July.

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The weekend

Posted on June 18, 2012 by kdarcy21

Well, the weekend is over, they go by too quickly. Friday was a busy day after only working for 1/2 of a day – did a crap-load of errands.

Zeus went to the vet on Saturday morning. His (and Blondie’s) bloodwork came back negative for anything bad so I can now pick up their prescriptions for various preventative stuff.

I umpired in Okotoks at the awesome field with the artificial infield. Games were pretty good, both ended in a tie in the 7th, first one finished in the 8th, the second finished in the 9th. I think I have already mentioned, but if so, I will mention again that the coaching staff from Edmonton were a bunch of ignorant bastards. Surprisingly, only one got himself ejected from the double-header. I have never seen a team whine so much about balls and strikes. Oh well – hope that I don’t see that particular group again any time soon.

I am off to Edmonton today for work, leaving around 5am, should get there by 9am. It will be a long day. I am then turning the other direction and going to Lethbridge tomorrow. It’s good to visit the offices that I need to support – at least if I have to go there, I will remember a few faces if not any names.

I will be going to Grand Prairie sometime in late July or early August. I have been at BDO for nearly 2 months – loving it. Great job indeed.

This week will fly by I am sure. Two travel days followed by 2 days on ITAssist and then a day with SH on ITAssist – no rest for me. I do like it that way though.

No umpiring until Friday night for me and then a double-header on Saturday. I have booked the 24th off.

BP arrives in 3 weeks for Stampede – it will be a good visit I am sure. At least he’s gotten pretty used to the dogs by now.

OK, off to shower and then I will hit the road. Enjoy your day and your week.

Posted in Baseball, Personal, Vehicles, Work, Zeus, Blondie, Hera and Twix | Leave a comment

The Calgary Stampeders

Posted on June 16, 2012 by kdarcy21

I only worked a half day yesterday, I had a bunch of stuff to do in the afternoon. Yesterday morning went by in the blink of an eye. I like days like that…

I put my name in for a draw, it was for 4 tickets to the pre-season opener of the Calgary Stampeders. I won – I never win anything. Well, I guess I can’t say that now, can I?

So, I have 4 tickets plus a free parking pass. Not a bad deal at all.

I asked FM and my new roomie, I will call him “The Kid” (TK for short) and TK’s girlfriend if they wanted to go with me. FD said no, yes, no, yes, no, no. So, it was just the three of us.

The seats were great – row 6, Calgary side, 45 yard line. Not bad at all. The game, well, good thing it was pre-season. It was sloppy, especially on Calgary’s side.

To start the game on a punt, the Calgary receiver didn’t take what I would guess would be 2 steps back to receive the kick and instead decided to let it bounce into the end zone, which, for some reason in Canadian Football, is worth 1 point – I guess I can see the value in that and one point ain’t a lot, but come on.

The other thing that I don’t like about the CFL is the 3 downs – there is too much punting and not enough running because of the 3 downs. Other than that, I like it, it’s quick, the field is bigger than in the NFL, it has times when it can be very exciting.

Anyway, I had a light jacket on and by the 4th quarter it was 9:15pm or so and getting chilly. I decided to call it a night to A) warm up, B) beat the rush of people leaving and C) go home and sleep.

So, all in all, a good night. I was considering purchasing season tickets, they are very inexpensive, but I think that I will pass. I will likely go to a couple of games this summer (and fall) and see how I like it.

Umpiring today in Okotoks on the great artificially field. Looking forward to it.

Monday I am off to Edmonton and Tuesday it’s Lethbridge. This will be a busy week for sure.

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A new theme

Posted on June 14, 2012 by kdarcy21

I changed the Theme of my BLOG and, if this isn’t your first read of my ever exciting BLOG, you might have noticed.

I like it – more my style. What do you think?

Posted in Technology Amazes Us | Leave a comment

Protected: Zeus and the Cows

Posted on June 14, 2012 by kdarcy21

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Kevin's Ramblings…