Back to the normal routine…

Posted on October 29, 2019 by kdarcy21

It was back to work yesterday and I was actually happy to be back to work and get back into my normal routine.  It was a busy day, very busy actually and that made the day zoom on by, the way days should go.

The dogs got back into their normal routine as well.  They headed out in a bit of a snowstorm to go on a pack hike with their dog friends.  They were gone nearly 3 hours and were quite tired when they got back.

I had an Air Cadets meeting last evening.  They had contacted all of my references before I left for Ontario, we just had some issues scheduling my interview portion.  We did that last night and I was taken on as a volunteer.  Not sure what the next steps are exactly, but my police clearance came back and what not, so shortly, I will be good to go.

Tonight is game 6 of the World Series, back in Houston with the Astros holding a 3-2 series lead.  I am hoping it is over tonight, two excellent pitchers on the mound.  I would also prefer that the Astros score early and often and then just cruise to the Championship, it is less stressful that way.  Regardless, it will be some good baseball I am sure.  I will have a nap after work seeing as I am going to bed so early lately, my winter hibernation has started already.

Nothing else on tap for the rest of the week really and nothing planned for this coming weekend either.  On Monday, I head to Banff to support an A&A Conference so the dogs will go back into boarding for a few days and I will be staying at the Banff Centre in Banff, great rooms and amazing food.  It’s just three nights, I will be heading back to the Pass on Thursday morning.  Should be a good time.

Enjoy your week.

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All tied up…

Posted on October 27, 2019 by kdarcy21

Saturday was a relaxing day.  I didn’t sleep in, but I didn’t really expect to sleep in.  I was up around 4:30am, later than normal I suppose which is good.  I did catch a great nap around 11 and woke up shortly after 1 – not bad at all.

The Astros and Nationals played in game four last night with Washington holding a 2-1 series lead.  It was a great game, if you’re an Astros fan.  The final was 8-1 and Washington really wasn’t ever in the game.  It was the type of game I like to see.  We are now all tied up, it’s now a best of three series and four of the best pitchers in the league are facing off over the next two games, should be some great baseball.

I had forgotten that I signed up for veggie service with the Veggie Guy who sells at the local market all summer (and into the Fall).  I got a text around 6pm asking if I was coming to get them, dumb me, I didn’t enter it into my calendar.  So, I zipped over to pick them up.  In the shop where the pickup was, a company called The Pantry Girls sell a bunch of other food in bulk and the prices are great.  Will be something I will look at every other week for sure.

Hopefully, the weather will be agreeable for a good hike today, it was rainy then snowy most of the day yesterday.  The dogs could use a good hike, so could I – I have a LOT of desserts to burn off from last week’s conference.

I am back at home this week, then next Monday I head to Banff after work to provide support at a conference.  The dogs will go back into boarding for a few days and I will likely have a good time.  Tough life this job is, I enjoy it.

You should enjoy your Sunday.

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Back to a normal routine…

Posted on October 26, 2019 by kdarcy21

I am glad to be back into a normal routine.  The dogs and I took it easy last night.  I had to make my own dinner (I know, horrible, right?) and then there weren’t 5 different types of cake to choose from for dessert.  That is actually a good thing, I am unsure how much weight I put on in the last two weeks, but I bet it was 8 pounds anyway.  I typically don’t eat dessert often at all, but I did at the conference, both at lunch and at dinner and I am pretty sure, if they had put cake out at breakfast, I would have eaten it then too.

We watched the baseball game last night.  It was an absolute must-win for the Astros and they came through and won.  It was a good game, the Astros pitching was solid and they had enough offense to get ahead and stay ahead.

Game four is tonight and I am hoping that Houston ties up the series and then it will be the best of 3 which will surely make for some exciting baseball.

Nothing else planned for this weekend.  I will stick close to home, take the dogs for a hike or two and watch more baseball.  Tomorrow is football day of course, the Bills are at home again.  They are having one of the best seasons in recent history, so that’s awesome.  It’s fun to watch.

Enjoy your weekend.

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End of my trip…

Posted on October 25, 2019 by kdarcy21

The conference wrapped up yesterday around 1:45PM.  In general, it was a good conference, not the best we’ve had, but pretty good.

The venue was nowhere near as good as Blue Mountain, that was amazing.  The food was good, but not great.  Breakfast was the best meal each day.  That says something right there, I think.  Not too hard to make homefries, bacon and eggs.  The desserts though, now they, were amazing.  Different cakes at lunch and dinner, I definitely ate way too much cake and probably put on 10lbs while I was away.

The rooms were ok, but nothing spectacular.  The beds weren’t particularly comfortable and the duvets were actually too short for the beds.  One major positive was the water pressure in the showers, it would pound paint off of a car.

So, all in all, I would say it was about a 3 out of 5 which is just a passing grade.  Oh well.

Anyway, our CIO is retiring and we had a small tribute to her on Thursday.  Nice things were said and they were true.  She held it together, mostly, in her “goodbye speech”.  A bunch of staff took selfies with her, I posted mine to Facebook, of course.  Good luck on your well deserved retirement and the start of the next phase of your life.

Our new CIO was named and it was exactly who I thought and hoped it would be.  Good luck, you’ve got a great team to work with and I look forward to working with you in the days, weeks, months and years ahead.

Our bus left for the airport at 2:15 or so, it was a good ride, except for the accident that we encountered in Oakville.  It took us about 1.5 hours to get around, all but one lane were closed down.  We got to the airport shortly after 5pm.

I checked my bags and got them through.  A bunch of us leaving from terminal one had dinner together which was good.  It was nice to get to know new co-workers and catch-up with old co-workers.

My flight was slightly delayed in taking off but otherwise was an uneventful flight which is how we want all flights to be.  I took a taxi to my friends place where I was spending the night and slept very well.  I think I will sleep even better tonight, in my own bed.  I left Calgary this morning and headed home.  I unloaded the car and went to get my dogs from the pet resort.

Blondie, Hera and Twix were happy to see me and I was happy to see them.  They are all sleeping on the couch, so, they appear to be back to normal.  Hopefully the weekend will be nice so we can go on a good hike.

The World Series resumes tonight and it is a must-win for the Astros.  They better start playing the ball we all know they can, otherwise their season will soon be over.

Enjoy your weekend.

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See ya, Ontario… :)

Posted on October 24, 2019 by kdarcy21

Today is my last day in Ontario and the last day of our IT Conference.  We go just until 2PM and then the bus will take those of us who are heading to the airport for destinations across this great country of ours.  I have had a pretty good time while in Ontario.  I have eaten a LOT of food, a lot of desserts and drank a lot of wine.

The stay in Ontario was a good one.  I saw a lot of friends that I have not seen in a while which was great.  I did miss out on seeing some people that I wanted to, you can’t fit everything in, unfortunately.  I will be back in August for a couple of weeks, I am planning on driving back and bringing the dogs with me.  That will be fun, and crazy.

The IT Conference was pretty good.  It was great to see new and old co-workers and put names to a lot of faces as we’ve had a lot of turnover in the last three years since the last conference.  We have a shortened day at the conference today and I am not even sure what the presentations cover today, guess it will be a surprise to me.

The hotel that I have been staying in is nice, but nothing really special.  The food has been good, not great.  The desserts have been amazing though, I don’t need any more desserts, for quite a while, well, lunch will be an exception.  That will be it though, back to my normal routine tomorrow and I am really looking forward to it.

I land in Calgary tonight around 10:30PM and should be at my friends place by 11:15 or so.  I am spending the night so that I don’t have to drive home that late.  I plan on heading out tomorrow morning early, perhaps 5AM, have not completely decided as yet.  I am looking forward to getting Blondie, Hera and Twix from the pet resort, I will be happy to see them, and they will be happy to see me, I am sure.

Friday will be a relaxing day of nothing.  I bet I will have a nice nap in the afternoon and then catch game three of the World Series.  Houston had better win because they will NOT take 4 straight from the Nationals, I don’t think.  Yesterday’s game was a stinker and I turned it off around 10:30PM.  It was 4-2 and then, in a matter of minutes, I was told it was 8-2, I was glad I turned it off.

Thanks for the hospitality, Ontario.  I’ve had a blast but it’s time to get home.  Safe travels to all my co-workers traveling today as well.

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Mid point in the conference…

Posted on October 23, 2019 by kdarcy21

Monday was a fairly relaxing day.  I went out for breakfast with two friends that I had worked with on the 2011 Federal election campaign.  We went to The Lancer in St. Catharines which was excellent.  The food is great and whatever the spices they put on their homefries makes them amazing.  We ate and chatted for 2 hours, it was a good visit.

I had to do my packing and what not, I had washed everything, I hate traveling with dirty laundry.  A friend of mine picked me up to take me to the hotel where my conference is being held.  We are in Niagara on the Lake staying at the Pillar and Post.  The hotel is quite nice, quite old as well.  The food is good, but nothing that I would “write home about”.  The desserts are amazing though and I need to stop eating them.

We had a hospitality suite on Monday evening, I didn’t stay too long, I think I went to bed around 10:30pm.  Tuesday morning was busy, we were listening in to the conference but at the same time supporting the firm since IT needs don’t just disappear.

I watched part of the ball game last night and I am ashamed to say, I fell asleep.  I much prefer watching in Alberta where it is 2 hours earlier, the games end at a much more reasonable time.

Today will be much the same as yesterday.  The group is heading to Wayne Gretsky’s Winery and Restaurant for dinner tonight, we always have an off-site dinner.  Should be good.  Over the years I have developed a taste for wine so I should enjoy it.  None of us are driving so that’s a good thing.

The conference wraps up tomorrow around 2pm.  Those of us who are flying will head to the airport around 2:30pm.  My flight leaves @ 8:30pm and I arrive in Calgary just after 10:30pm.  I didn’t want to make the 2.5 hour trip back home at night so I am staying with friends overnight.  I was supposed to go both for breakfast and lunch with friends, but I really want to get home so I canceled both of those meals.  I am also REALLY tired of eating at restaurants, I need some home-cooked food.  I am also really looking forward to getting my dogs from boarding and I am sure they want to get home too.  I will be home for just over a week and then the dogs have to go back into boarding for a few days while I support a conference up in Banff.  That’s just a Monday through Thursday though, so hopefully, it will zip by.

Well, here’s to another day, enjoy yours.

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Great football game…

Posted on October 21, 2019 by kdarcy21

I woke up at my typically early time yesterday, around 4am.  My brother in law slept in until almost 7am, lazy teenagers…  We took the dogs for a walk along the entrance to the Welland Canal in Port Weller.  We didn’t go on the full route (about 5km), we took a slightly shorter path which works out to about 3.5km.  My leg was killing me, like I had shin splints.  We went out for breakfast to the Greasy Spoon (it’s actually called the Golden Grill, corner of Welland and Geneva in St. Catharines).  It’s the best breakfast spot in the city.

We headed back to his place and then were off to the Bills game.  The GPS took us on an odd route, but we got there.  We parked for $15 on someone’s front lawn, just down from the stadium.  It was about a 2km hike, mostly uphill to the stadium.  I did a quick tour of the Bills Store, would have bought a pullover style “cage” jacket, but they didn’t have my size.  Another nice Starter jacket would have fit, but it was $120USD (maybe it was $130USD) and that was more than I wanted to spend.

So, off to our seats.  We were in the last row of the upper bowl, but when we got there, our seats were missing.  I mean actually missing.  The row started at 3 and we had seats one and two.  A bit odd, to be sure.  Anyway, I found a Guest Relations person and he couldn’t explain it, so off we go to the Customer Service area.  Turns out, we had “accessible” seating, so we were actually on the upper walkway, just above where our seats should have been.  We were provided chairs, had a railing to lean on in front of us and unobstructed views of the field, even when people in front of us were standing.  It was great, the best seats I’ve ever had I think.

The Bills started out slowly, scored a couple of field goals and their D wasn’t as sharp as it had been in previous weeks.  They were down 5 at the half, but came back strong in the second half and won by 10, effectively “squishing the fish”.  We made our trek back to the car and made it out of the area pretty well, considering the number of people leaving at the same time, it wasn’t bad at all.

Red Lobster was on the menu for dinner, Endless Shrimp. It was quite good and we were quite full.  The evening ended with a visit with some friends in Welland then I hit bed and hit it hard.  I slept until almost 5am today, so that’s sort of late for me.

I am going for breakfast this morning at 8am with some old political friends and then lunch with another friend and then she’s going to drop me off at the conference in Niagara-on-the-Lake.

I am looking forward to returning to Calgary on Thursday and then heading home on Friday afternoon.  I miss my dogs and I am sure they miss me.  I hope the weather will be decent, I don’t really want to drive through mounds of snow on the way home.

Enjoy your week.

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Excellent dinner, excellent baseball…

Posted on October 20, 2019 by kdarcy21

Yesterday was a good Saturday.  I went for breakfast with an old friend, had a good time.  It was at the Blue Star in Welland where I used to go when I was going to Niagara College.

After breakfast, I went for a coffee with another friend after stopping at the Pen Centre.  I was surprised that the Pen was open at 9am on a Saturday, and it was dead so I was able to return a pair of boot that I had purchased that were going to be difficult to get back to Alberta.

I spoke with the guy I was meeting for dinner and remembered that I hadn’t made reservations.  I called and they had no reservations available between 4pm and 8pm so we decided that we would go earlier, 4:30pm, a Seniors time for dinner.  We were able to get a table right away.  Had a great Keg dinner (bacon-wrapped chicken, twice baked potato and coleslaw and a brownie sundae for dessert).

I headed back to St. Catharines, made great time and turned the ball game on.  The Astros lead the game from the beginning but in the top of the 9th, Osuna blew the save, allowing a 2 run homer.  Chapman pitched for the Yankees in the bottom of the 9th and he’s normally lights out.  With 2 out and a runner on base, Altuve smacked a 2-run home run out of the park to win the game, the series and got himself the Series MVP award as well.  It was, to say the least, an exciting finish, although I would have preferred that the save wasn’t blown and the bottom of the 9th wasn’t necessary.

So, the Astros move on and meet the Nationals starting Tuesday night.  Prior to the NLCS, I thought that either the Yankees or Astros would walk away with the World Series title without much trouble.  After the NLCS and the way that the Nationals handled the Cardinals, I think it’s going to be an awesome World Series.

Today, my brother in law and I are heading to Orchard Park New York and catching the Buffalo Bills squish the Miami Dolphins.  I have not been to an NFL game in 9 or 10 years now and I am really looking forward to it.

Enjoy your Sunday, I know I will enjoy mine.

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A busy weekend…

Posted on October 19, 2019 by kdarcy21

Friday was a good day and the last day of my vacation.  I started out with a coffee with an old friend from grade 7/8, we chatted and caught up.  It was a good visit for sure and we are supposed to take the dogs for a walk today, well, my brother in law’s dogs and her dog.  Should be good as the day is supposed to be beautiful.

I didn’t do a lot yesterday afternoon.  I did stop and get a sub at Sub’s Plus and it was amazing.  I ordered a club sub, they used at least 6 slices of bacon and the turkey was real turkey, not that processed crap.

I had a nice nap in the afternoon, there’s a surprise.  I headed to Duff’s, it was a smaller group than I had originally planned so there were only 4 of us, but it was a good time.  Another friend from grade 7/8 was there, he and I shared a large (12 slice pizza) and 20 wings and we ate almost all of it which I was amazed by.  The pizza had pineapple, ham and hot peppers and it was amazing.  I got medium saucy wings.  Duff’s has not changed their recipes in the 25 years they’ve been around.  Alberta could learn a thing or two about making pizza and wings, but I have given up all hope on ever finding good pizza in Alberta.  I have found good wings, but nothing compares to Duff’s.  Oh well.

I watched the Yankees / Astros game last night.  The only runs scored in the game were in the first inning.  Verlander settled down after the first, but the damage was done and the normally potent offence of the Astros was silent last evening.  The final was 4-1 and the series returns to Houston tonight, no rest since there was a rained out game.  I am unsure who’s starting for Houston tonight, but, I am hoping it’s Cole.  Even on short rest, he’s a better pitcher than 99% of the pitchers in the league.  Knowing the doofus of a Manager that Houston has though, he won’t start him.  Hope it’s wrapped up tonight and then the Astros will have a few days of rest before the World Series starts.

I would have initially guessed that whatever AL team made it to the World Series would walk away with the title, but, seeing how well the National played against St. Louis, I think it will be a better series than I initially thought.  I still take the AL, either the Astros or the Yankees over the Nationals.

On tap for today is breakfast with a political friend and that’s happening pretty soon then a visit with another friend before I head to Hamilton for dinner at the Keg.  Tomorrow is the Bills game and following that is Endless Shrimp at Red Lobster.  Should be a good weekend, all in all.

I am looking forward to getting home, I am sure the IT Conference will zoom by and Thursday will be here before I know it.  It’s been a mostly good visit but I am anxious to get back to Alberta.

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Last day of my vacation…

Posted on October 18, 2019 by kdarcy21

Yesterday was a pretty relaxing day for sure.  I woke up way too early, per usual, but I napped on and off all morning, didn’t really get going until nearly 11am.  Headed to the Pen Centre which is a large shopping mall in the south end of the city.  Was supposed to meet with an old friend but he backed out which was too bad.  Did some walking around the mall and found a nice pair of boots on sale.  Headed back to my brother in laws place and watched Seven on Netflix.  Had two dinners last night as well, home made pasta sauce and then met a couple of friends from public school at Duff’s and had pizza and wings there.  It was great seeing them, I am friends with two of them on Facebook, but the 3rd guy I have not seen to chatted with in over 30 years.  Time does indeed fly.

Today will be more of the same.  I am meeting a friend from public school at a local park, I am bringing my brother in laws dogs and she is bringing her dog.  Should be good, the weather is supposed to be nice.

Tonight is another Duff’s night with a bunch of different people.  I love Duff’s so I can eat pizza and wings twice in two days.  It will be good to see people again as well.

Saturday, I am going for breakfast with a political friend and out to the Keg with a former co-worker.  That leads to Sunday and I am heading to Orchard Park New York to watch the Bills squish the Fish…  Yes, I realize that dolphins aren’t fish…  🙂

Monday evening our work conference starts and it should be good.  I am enjoying my visit but I am ready to go home.  I am pretty sure the remaining time will zip by.  Enjoy your weekend.

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