Kevin's Ramblings…

I’ve spent the last couple of days, against doctor’s orders I suppose since I’m supposed to be taking it easy, visiting various car dealerships looking at cars.

Now, I’m currently driving a 2019 Mitsubishi Outlander and I love it. It’s a great older vehicle that has just over 150,000km on it.

But, I’m thinking I might want to occasionally drive for Uber and/or Lyft and I’m thinking of getting a second vehicle that’ll just be for me, no dogs.

I started out with looking at Mitsubishi and their new Outlander. It’s got all the bells and whistles, they all do. Thus far, I’ve looked at Mitsubishi, a Nissan Rogue, a Honda Passport, a Toyota something or other (they had no 2026 in stock though so, no test drive) a Hyundai Pallisaire, a Jeep Wrangler (2 door) and finally, a Ford Bronco.

I decided not to check out GM, I’m not liking their lineup at all.

I’m now deciding between the Ford Bronco and the Hyundai Pallisaire.

The Hyundai is loaded. Moonroof, heated seats and steering wheel, everything one could want. It’s got a great panoramamic display, everything one could want. It would come in around 65k. The Ford Bronco is smaller, comes in a colour that I’m excited about (it’s a yellow/orange) and it sounds great. It’s slightly smaller, but right now it’s in the lead.

Do I need a second vehicle? Absolutely not, but, when has that ever stopped me?

I’ll get a large chunk of money in August so that’s when I’m looking for delivery of a new vehicle.

I’m sitting on it for now and the Ford salesman and Hyundai salesman are vying for my business.

Fun times, indeed.

I went to bed relatively early last night, about 9pm. Shortly before 10, there was a bang on the front door and Apollo reacted as one might expect a dog to, with barking.

Anyway, I threw on a bathrobe and ventured downstairs to see who was banging on my door at that relatively late hour.

Low and behold, it was Calgary Police Service, two officers.

They issued me a restraining order from the whackadoodle neighbour next door. I was sort of surprised as I have not seen or heard from her since she stormed over a few weeks ago to complain about my “loud” music.

Whatever, ok, sure. I’m not allowed within 100 feet of her, although I am allowed to live here LOL

I find it sort of laughable and I’m curious as to what she told a judge to get a restraining order against me. Thank goodness I move at the end of next week and will never encounter her again.

Weird fucking people to be sure…

I bought myself a new mattress yesterday, a Temperpedic, it was on sale which is great cause I couldn’t afford one of it wasn’t on sale, they are quite pricy. I opted for a King mattress as well. With two people and two dogs, a queen was getting a bit tight so the king offers 16″ of additional width. Should work well.

That also means I need to return the queen frame I just got from Amazon. They are coming to pick it up today. I found a great King size frame from Facebook, I’ll go get it Friday or pay for it anyway and they’ll deliver for free.

The new place is shaping up very nicely.

I went to the Canadian Brewhouse to watch the Super Bowl yesterday with a former coworker. The food was ok, not spectacular by any means but decent. I had deep fried pickles which were quite good and followed that up with a Cobb salad which wasn’t that great to be honest. I then had buffalo chicken poutine which wasn’t good at all and topped it all off with dessert poutine which was quite good. My bill, with a tip was $85, not a great value for sure.

The game was awful. We left in the 3rd quarter and the Seahawks, whatever the hell a “Seahawk” is, won. Ok, so football is over, let’s bring on baseball.

Speaking of baseball, I need to decide if I am subscribing to MLB.tv this season or not. I am leaning towards not as I didn’t watch much ball last year at all and think it’ll likely be the same this season. It’s also just over $200 CDN per season and that doesn’t include playoffs.

My move is coming up, end of next week. My reusable plastic moving boxes via EcoBox will be delivered next Wednesday and packing will begin. I have movers doing the move so it won’t be that hard for me. I’m looking forward to it.

The 5-day weekend flew by. Back to work now. Enjoy your week.

Apollo is being hailed by Calgary Police Service as a hero today !!!

Last night, well, early this morning at around 1:20AM, I was leaving the 7/11 and was accosted by two youths, 18 and 19 years old who tried to mug me.

Apollo was in the car with Twix and lept through the window. One of the youths, 19, had a machete, was wearing shorts, Apollo bit him 6 times, 2 crotch, 2 inner thigh, 2 buttocks and nearly ripped the bicep off of the other youth. I was uninjured. I threw a black coffee into the face of one of the two causing second and third degree burns to 90% of his face and neck, he will need reconstructive surgery – who says 7/11s coffee isn’t hot?

I want to be clear here, I was not injured and neither was my Hero, Apollo. The suspects were taken into custody, handcuffed and put into an ambulance under police guard. As Apollo is new to me, he has not been vaccinated against rabbies so they will need to have a series of rabbies shots which, for people, are very painful. Apollo will need bloodwork on Monday and a rabbies shot. The police officer was VERY clear that Apollo has been cleared of any wrong-doing.

The youths will be charged with aggrevated assault with a weapon with the intent to kill. It all happened so quickly that it’s sort of a blur. I will need to testify in court late this year or in 2027, which I will happily do.

I was alread glad that Apollo was adopted into our Pack and now, he’s my savior. I will care for him until the end of time, thank you Apollo, you brave boy. Twix was in the car, barking her head off but she’s too old to be jumping out of cars nowadays.

My new boyfriend was in the 7/11 using the washroom and came out thinking the boys needed assistance. Well, they did, but for different reasosn than Michael thought.

Thanks to CPS and EMS crews – EMS cleaned Apollos mouth with an antiseptic wipe (several) and got kisses as a reward. Too bad I didn’t think to take any pictures.

Dogs are the best – we really do not deserve them.

I went in and signed the physical lease yesterday. For some reason, she didn’t get a copy of the e-signed lease. No problem… I also took some measurements of the new place to ensure I could fit things. I signed up for a Amazon delivery box, no more stolen packages. My mailbox is ready as well.

I get free 1gb internet for a year. Along with that, I can get TV for $59.99 per month, so I’ll have to see if that includes the sports packages and if so, I’ll probably take advantage of it as long as I can cancel at any time without a penalty.

I will have to fit my dresser in the bedroom with the bed, the walkthrough closet isn’t wide enough, I didn’t figure it would be. Everything I have will fit though, so that’s great.

I move in February 20, my reusable plastic moving boxes arrive on the 17th so that’ll give me a few days to pack before the 20th. My BBQ and deck box will fit on the patio with no issues. I’m not going to bring the patio table, it’ll be trashed but I will have my chairs for the patio.

I have an assigned storage locker and there is a bike lock up room as well, I think I’m going to start riding a bike again.

The kitchen has plenty of cabinets, more than I have now so kitchen storage won’t be an issue at all.

I’m really looking forward to being in the new place, I won’t miss this place but I will miss the neighbourhood. The bitch who lives beside me, fuck off, I’ll miss the guys across from me, they were good neighbours.

Having underground heated parking will be nice, I’ve got an assigned spot.

It’s February 1, finally, January is over. It always seems that January takes 3 months to finish up, seems that way but this January we really didn’t even have any serious winter weather in Calgary, which is odd. Calgary is typically very cold and fairly snowy, this year, nothing really. But I digress.

2925 was, all in all, a pretty shitty year and I’m glad we’ve put it behind us.

It started out all right. I got into a new place to live, which I’m leaving in a few weeks due to the lease expiring and the landlord deciding to sell. Well, good luck selling in this shitty market.

I reconnected with JT and had a great couple of months with him including living together for 2.5 months. It started out great, ended in early June with him moving out with no notice and not even letting me know what was up. To this date, we haven’t communicated, well, I’ve tried to reach him but he thinks I’m evil, I guess, and won’t reply. Well, sobeit. He left a bunch of his crap here which I held onto months after I should have. In September, or maybe it was October, I paid for a junk removal company to haul almost all of it away. I’ve kept a few items, including a great Ashley Furniture leather couch and some kitchen stuff, but everything else is gone. I plan on replacing the couch as soon as I’m able in the new place and getting something that’ll be mine, not borrowed or left to me.  I am over JT, but he truly broke my heart and I probably became a bit more bitter than I normally am because of it. I wish him well and I hope life treats him fairly. No hard feelings, no grudges. I’ve moved on, it’s unhealthy and stressful to worry about the past and the things that you cannot change. I learned that a long time ago, and letting go has served me well.

My Aunt Bernie, my favourite relative ever, passed away at the age of 95 in May. Her health had been in steady decline for years, but she definitely had spunk. It was nice seeing family and friends when I visited Ontario for the funeral, including my brother that I only see periodically. Her funeral service was very nice, not religious at all which I appreciated and the eulogy was delivered by Bernie’s cousin and he did a wonderful job.

The job was steady in 2025, one of the good outcomes. I doubt that I will ever umpire for Cal Ripken Calgary again, I had a falling out with their director on-field. Although he’s an adult, he showed the same level of maturity as his players and I told him I’d never umpire for him again. I’m looking forward to umpiring for Babe Ruth Calgary again and am thinking of adding some Baseball Alberta work this year.

Another low point in 2025 was at the end of October when Hera passed, unexpectedly in her sleep. Waking up to a dead dog by the front door is not the way I’d hope for anyone to ever have to experience. Twix mourned her sister for at least two weeks before she was more or less back to normal. I miss my German Shepherd girl and her antics, I hope, if there’s a Rainbow Bridge that she’s playing with Blondie and Zeus is treating her well. Until we meet again my sweet girl.

So, when 2025 wrapped up a month ago, I wasn’t unhappy to see it leave.

This year is starting off on a much better note. I have a new, less expensive vehicle that I’m loving. I bought a 2019 Mitsubishi Outlander right before Christmas. It’s great to drive and even better, the monthly payment is only $430 as opposed to the $1190 I was paying for the truck. The insurance is slightly cheaper as well.

I adopted a new dog on January 9 from the Calgary Humane Society, it’s a boy and his name is Apollo, carrying on the tradition of using Greek god names for my dogs. I’ve had Zeus, Hera and now Apollo. He’s a mixed breed and we aren’t exactly sure what breeds, a guess might be Rottweiler and Black Lab, but only a guess. He doesn’t shed much, perhaps it’ll be a seasonal thing with him. He’s fitting in well with Twix, who he adores. She’s warming up to him, he’s just too energetic for her on occasion.

Lastly, I found a new great place for us to live. It’s a brand new apartment complex in the city’s north-west quadrant. It’s never been lived in before and it’ll save me $400 or so a month over what I’m paying here. We move February 20 and I’m looking to it.

So, good bye 2025 and welcome 2026, I hope you treat us all well. Happy New Year.

This weekend was the National Conservative convention and it was held in Calgary. A friend of mine who I met in 2011 when I used to be involved with politics was in town this weekend for the convention and I offered to pick her up from the airport. In turn, she offered to buy dinner on Saturday evening, very nice of her.

I suggested that we head to a great smokehouse downtown called Palomino. They have the best deep fried pickles that I’ve ever had and everything I’ve had there was excellent. My friend went to Palomino on Friday evening and found the atmosphere a little too noisy for her tastes and she decided she wanted to go somewhere else.

I offered a few suggestions in Calgary or an amazing Indian place in Airdrie, but she suggested that we go to Caesar’s Steakhouse instead. I jokingly asked when she had won the lottery, as Caesar’s is probably one of the top 5 restaurants in Calgary. She said “don’t worry about money”. Well, ok, I won’t, I made reservations.

I picked up the two ladies from their hotel at around 645pm last evening for a 7pm reservation, the restaurant is just down the street from the hotel. Caesar’s is upper end and I wore the suit I purchased back when my aunt passed away in 2025. It was only the second time I wore it.

We were seated and I had my back to one of the BBQ pits where they cook the steaks, it was nice and warm and oddly, I was cold last night so it was great.

They started us off with a variety of bread, garlic and cheese which was absolutely amazing. We shared a Caesar salad that was prepared table side and it was the best Caesar dressing that I’ve ever had. I also had a small bowl of French onion soup, it was flavourful, but lacked cheese that all French onion soup I’ve ever had has. My main course was a 10.5oz New York strip, Neptune which included a couple of shrimp and asparagus as well as a twice baked potato. The steak was good, but in all honesty, I’ve made a steam at least that good at home, I was mildly disappointed. For dessert, I had creme caramel and it was delicious.

All in all, the meal was excellent, but I find the value just not to be there. I’ll admit it was the best Caesar salad that I’ve ever had, but the prices were a bit high, thankfully it was paid for and I thank you for that, Donna.

We chatted and casually ate dinner and dessert over about 2.5 hours and decided to head out. I dropped off the ladies at their hotel and headed home, it had been a long day. Having insomnia at the moment, I was awake a mere 5 hours later.

I’m dropping them off at their airport for their return flight to Ontario this morning and then things will.ve back to normal. It was great to see an old friend and I hope we can get together when I’m back in Ontario in August.

On the apartment front, I have paid the security deposit and I can now sign the lease. I move in on February 20 and I’m looking forward to a fresh start in a new place.

I’m hoping everyone reading this entry had a great weekend for themselves.

I work 12 hour shifts, 4 on 3 off 3 on 4 off, so I have long weekends every weekend. I’m currently in a 3-day weekend.

Recently, my days start around 3am, insomnia. I wake up and I know I’m done sleeping and luckily, dogs don’t care, they get hot, go pee and go back to sleep on a dog bed, or the couch, or the kitchen floor, they don’t really care.

Yesterday, I went to Denny’s for breakfast with a former coworker, Denny’s has a great breakfast and pretty reliable food that isn’t too expensive. I took the dogs to a dog park in the new neighborhood that we’ll be living in and then acted as an Uber driver and picked up a friend from Ontario who’s in Calgary for the weekend for the Conservative convention. At $700, it’s out of this world expensive, although you get a large chunk of that as a tax deductible contribution.  Still, the content is pretty boring so I’ll pass…

I made an excellent dinner. Sauteed chicken breasts, diced tomatoes, sweet Thai chili sauce and cheese on a hollowed out giant circular French style bread. OMG was it ever good.

I ate about half of it and the other half will shortly be breakfast.

It was a relaxing even watching some TV and then about 5 hours of sleep. Not really enough to function at 💯 but close, a nap may be in order.

I’m going to a Chinese buffet for lunch in Airdrie where I used to live with a friend that I haven’t seen since about May. Should be good.

Tomorrow, I’m going for dinner with the friend I picked up at the airport, we are headed downtown to Palomino, a smokehouse BBQ place, amazing food and the best deep fried pickles you’ll ever have.

That’ll take care of the weekend, back to work on Sunday and a 3-day workweek. I’m moving February 20, so that’ll be here before I know it. It’ll be a fresh start for the relatively new year and a marked improvement over the shitty year that 2025 was.

I hope you enjoy your weekend, once it arrives after the work day today.