Kevin's Ramblings…

I am not sure on how to put this into words exactly.  It isn’t something that I have written about before, not something that I have thought about writing before.

I am writing this for myself.  I write all my entries for myself.  I post them so that others can read them as well, but really, it is for me.

My sister, Barbara D’Arcy passed away.  She was my older sister, by 18 years nearly.  She was 61.  61 isn’t considered old anymore, not by any means.

I lost my mother when I was 16.  That was tough.  I would imagine that it is tough at any age but when you are a teenager, I think it is a little harder.  I had the support of my family and friends and teachers at school.  She had been sick for a while, cancer.  The ugly “C” word.  I don’t remember when she was diagnosed, probably about when I was 13 or so.  She had chemo therapy, it made her sick of course.  I remember one time when the nurse put the needle in incorrectly and her hand swelled up and didn’t go down for weeks. Shortly before she passed away, she had a seizure.  I was home, so was my dad.  I called the paramedics and they took her to the hospital.  I was scared at the time, I didn’t know what was going on.  She was in the hospital for a bit, don’t remember how long and came home.  She had another seizure and went back in.  More tests and tumors were discovered in her brain.  She had radiation treatments, there wasn’t enough time for that to help.  On February 20, 1988, she passed away.  That was one of the hardest days of my life.  Why was she taken away at the age of 59?  I didn’t understand it then and even now, I still don’t. It has been 27 years and that is now long enough that I don’t remember what the sound of her voice was like.  Unfortunately, I don’t have many pictures of her.  Video cameras were bulky back then and besides that, they used tapes.  Who has a VCR now to watch those, even if they were ever taken?

Nearly 10 years ago, September 18, 2005, my Dad died after a short illness.  He had just turned 80 years old.  He stayed in his own house until the end.  He didn’t want to move into a retirement home.  I lived with him until I was and was pretty well done with school, 24 year old. The years between when my Mom passed and I moved out were tough.  I don’t imagine for a minute that it was easy for him either.  I was a teenager who didn’t like to follow the rules.  He likely didn’t really want me in his house.  We got along a LOT better after I moved out.

So, now one of my 3 siblings has also passed away.  She had a short illness that was very serious and it was touch and go in the hospital.  She was living in Toronto and I am in Calgary so unfortunately, I have not seen my sister recently.  Her condition in the hospital did improve so there wasn’t an  immediate need for me to fly back to Ontario.

She was released from the hospital, likely too soon.  Funding for our medical system is never enough.  She did go back in at least once, maybe twice but, we thought, she was on the mend.

My sister would often not keep in touch with family members.  Shortly after I got to Alberta, I wasn’t able to get a hold of her for a few days.  Typically, if you message someone or you call them and you leave a voice mail, they will get back to you either that day or the next.  There have been a few period in the last few years that she wouldn’t contact us for a week or more.  Being family, we would worry.  She lived alone so there is no one there that would know she is all right.  The time recently that I wasn’t able to get a hold of her, I called the Toronto Police Service and had them do a welfare check on her.  They were excellent, I received a call back that same evening that she was fine.  She said she had a migraine for a few days and didn’t respond to anyone.  Years earlier, I sent my Aunt to her place to check on her – same thing, she had a migraine.

It was tough for us at times.  Not knowing what was going on with someone.  I live alone myself but my family knows that I am fine.  I posted regularly to Facebook or Twitter or I call a few times per week.  Now, I work from home as well, so co-workers see me online and I interact with people.  I would hate to think that if I didn’t wake up one morning that my dogs would not have anyone to look after them.  I don’t think that I would be out of contact for more than a few days before my co-worker came to check on me.

Shortly after Easter, my sister stopped responding to calls and emails.  At times, her phone would take a message and then it wouldn’t.  I don’t know if this was because it was full and then after a few days the messages would automatically delete but that is what I suspect.

This time, the welfare check ended in a way that no one would want it to.

I haven’t spoken with my sister for a little over a year.  I haven’t seen her in almost two, mind you, I haven’t seen any of my family in that time.  I had a disagreement with her that caused us to not speak.  I didn’t try to mend that fence, neither did she.  I will have to live with that.

I hope that she has found peace.  I feel better writing this on my BLOG.  Had to get it off of my chest.

Love you always, Mom, Dad and Barb and of course for those who are around to listen to me complain and those of you who might read about my complaints here.

I seem to write a lot about baseball.  I don’t have a lot of other hobbies, etc., so I will write what I know about, I guess.

We had our first outdoor workout last evening.  I am still having issues with many of the players not showing up on time.  Actually, I ask them to show up a bit early, 15 minutes before the start time so that they will be ready to go once the “start” time arrives.  Cleats take a minute or two to put on, gloves be found, bats out of the bag, etc.

We typically start with a run.  Well, I don’t run because I don’t care for running, but my players run.  I use the word “we” as in the “team”.  I am part of the team, but it is one of those do as I say not do as I do, which is watch you run and then yell if you stop.  🙂  OK, well, that is part of being the coach.  Actually, I am the manager, but I digress.

So, we start with a run and then throwing to warm up.  Since this was our first outside practice, we wanted the guys to start a little long toss to help strengthen the arms.  It is a slow process, we haven’t been able to throw any further than 80′ or so since we started indoor workouts.  It will take some time.

At the moment, the AA and AAA clubs are still practicing together.  We had 20 guys last evening, I think, it may have been 21.  We divided up, AAA players on the infield and AA guys doing outfield drills.  I was happy with the AA guys and their fielding skills.  Arms are another issue – they will come around.  We then switched it up.

For the last 30 minutes we did a quick pickup game.  We started the count at 1-1 otherwise it would have taken all night.  I wanted each batter to hit so we allowed each side to bat through the order.  Not a lot of offence, that is for sure.  One team did turn a nice double play though so that was positive.

We ended with a talk about the upcoming exhibition games this weekend.  The AA team plays two games and the AAA team plays one.  Hopefully the weather will cooperate.  It is supposed to be cold on Saturday with a high of only 8C or so, I am hoping that the forecast rain, or drizzle I guess will hold off.  The regular season starts on the 28th for AA and the following weekend for the AAA team.  I am really looking forward to it.

On another front, I received a letter from the Calgary Centre Conservative Riding Association on Monday.  Previously, I had met the President of the Association and indicated that I had moved to this riding and was interested in joining the Board.  After I moved, I called him, twice and also emailed twice and never received a response.  I thought it was pretty bad…  A volunteer organization not getting back to a potential volunteer.

Well, this letter was signed by a different President so I decided to call him. He told me that he had taken over from the previous President and didn’t know I had ever tried to make contact.  OK, great.  So I again have volunteered.  Their AGM is coming up and I plan on attending, if I can and standing for a Board position.

Being involved with politics allows me to make connections with like minded people and help out for a cause I believe in. We will see how it goes.

For now, I am out.  Have a good day. 🙂

Well, it is April 21 and there is no snow on the ground in Calgary.  Actually, I shouldn’t say something like that, it might tempt Mother Nature, the bitch that she can be.

The Rockies have our first outdoor workout tonight.  The diamonds are ready and the ground is dry.  Good news for this time of year for sure.  We split the players up last night into AA and AAA teams.  We will still practice together here and there but pretty much from here on out, we are separate entities.

The weather forecast for the weekend doesn’t look particularly good at the moment.  Mind you, it is only Tuesday so I don’t put too much trust into a 5 day forecast.  Right now, they are calling for cool and wet conditions for the weekend.  So, if all goes according to how it normally does, it will be warm and dry.

We have three games this weekend.  Two AA games and one AAA game.  Very short games, 5 innings or two hours, free movement of players.  We just need to get a feel for the upcoming season.

Speaking of the season, we open it with a game a week from tonight.  Nice to be able to play baseball in April, or at the very least, have it scheduled for April.

After Friday’s stinker, the Calgary Flames played a home game for the first time in years last evening.  With the series tied 1-1, it wasn’t a must win game but one that I am sure neither team wanted to drop.

Right from the puck drop, Calgary was on fire scoring a goal almost immediately.  The game was heated throughout, there is no love lost between these two teams, that is for sure.

Unless you live in a cave, you would know that Calgary won 4-1 and now lead the series 2-1.  The next game is tomorrow night.  For Vancouver, it is a must win.  Of course, I am hoping that Calgary takes it for a 3-1 series lead.

Indoor workouts with my baseball team are just about wrapped up.  We have a batting practice tonight, might be our last indoor batting practice.  I am not sure what the schedule shows.  Tomorrow is our first team practice outside, I am looking forward to it.

We are scheduled for three exhibition games this coming weekend but the weather forecast doesn’t look good at the moment.  I am not one to put too much faith in a forecast 5 days away though so I will hope for dry weather.  The season starts next week and I can’t remember ever looking forward to a season like I am this year.

After tonight, we split the team into AA and AAA squads.  The decisions are pretty well made already, just have to let the players know where they are.

Bring on the season !!!  Go Rockies !!!

As I have written and as most hockey fans would know, the Calgary Flames made the play-offs for the first time in a few years.  They opened the series against the Vancouver Canucks last evening, in Vancouver.  It was a great game, I watched from home.

I have been spending a bit too much on going out for food recently and need to cut back.  In saying that, I did order a pizza and cheesy bread from Dominos, but that was less than I would have paid for a drink or two and food in a pub.

Anyway, the Flames started a bit slow, were sent into the penalty box a little too often and fell behind 1-0.  It looked like it would stay that way for a while.  Calgary tied it up and went ahead late in the 3rd period – I cheered them on as an armchair goalie and made my dogs jump with the shouting at the TV.

I have been a Flames fan since the early years that they were in Calgary.  I was, I must admit, a Maple Leafs fan when I was a kid, what did I know?  My brother moved to Calgary and got me various Flames stuff and converted me.  Thanks CD.

They are at it again on Friday night and return to Calgary for a game on Sunday.  No way that I will be able to watch any games live.  The Flames only released under 2000 tickets to the public and they were put up for auction.  Tickets on various re-sell sites were selling for $1000 above face value.  I think I will just watch from home – or a pub.

I am a kilometer from the Red Mile, 17th Avenue SW.  Might make for some interesting nights.  Go Flames !!!

We had another indoor infield practice yesterday.  One of the players who we drafted who had a broken wrist was out which was good to see.  Looks like his wrist has healed and he is ready to go.  I am glad he will have a few weeks to get ready before the season actually starts.

We have a batting cage session on Thursday and another infield session on the weekend before we make the AA/AAA team splits.

Pretty well everything is set, only 1 player to decide upon for the AAA club.

We should be able to get outside sometime soon, the weather has been great.  No snow, no rain and fairly windy conditions have made it pretty dry.  I am really looking forward to getting outside.

Our opening tournament is April 25/26, three games between the two teams.  The season starts up in full speed right after that.  Looking forward to ball.

I watched the Flames defeat the Kings last night in a packed pub in SW Calgary.  I would have loved to go to the game, but that wasn’t in the cards.  Single tickets were going for huge sums of money.

So, for the first time in a number of years, Calgary finally returns to the play-offs.  I am sure the city will be a crazy place to be next week.

It is too bad that Calgary apparently will play Vancouver in the first round since a Canadian team (ie the Canucks) will be eliminated.

Anyway, go Flames go – they are looking good !!!

My three year contract with Telus home services (Internet and TV) ends at the end of the month.  I was worried that my bill was going to shoot through the roof.

I decided that I would zip to the same Telus store that I went to for setting up my services, almost three years ago. I could also pick up some groceries at the same time (surprisingly, not from Telus).

I was told that I needed to call into Telus to see what deals they had, the store didn’t handle that. I thought this was a bit odd, but whatever. 

So, after returning home, I called. No real good deals on at the moment, but my bill will remain the same and my PVR rental will continue to be free. Ok, I can live with that, thanks. 

They did offer a free month of crave TV so I figured I would try that. After a quick preview, I don’t think I will continue with it, even at only $4 per month.

Anyway, I’m happy. My bill won’t go up and I don’t have to switch to Shaw and get something else installed. I’ve been quite happy with Telus, they deserve to keep my business. 

Thursday after work, I took a trip to the north-west of Calgary to look at a new place.  From the outside, it looked a little worn.  It looked old, it needed new paint.  OK, I can live with that.

The inside was pretty good, they were clean.  The carpets looked good, everything seemed to be in place.  There was a fireplace, wood burning at that.  I was sort of surprised that a rental would have a wood burning fireplace.  I wonder how often they clean the chimneys.

So, I made no commitments there.  I decided that I would get back to them.

I went online to read some reviews.  Out of 16 reviews that I could find, none were positive, none were rated higher than 2 stars (out of 5) and most were 1 and 0 star ratings.

The main issue was bad management, cutting corners and cutting costs wherever they could.  Front line management changed regularly and maintenance people were apparently few and far between.  The complex was built in the late 60’s and apparently, the furnaces have not been replaced in that time.  That is over 45 years.  That is a bit nuts if it is true.

One of the reviews said that the monthly gas bill for heating was almost $300, which, considering the size, it should have been less than half of that.  Now, they didn’t say if they kept the heat at 85F, that might explain a rather large gas bill.

I realize that people won’t specifically go online to post a positive review but sometimes, if you read a negative one and have something nice to say, you might respond.  Nope, none of those.

So, I think I will just stay where I am, thank you.  Zeus is having trouble with the 6 or 7 steps to get outside (I live in a basement suite), so, if I have to, I will carry him to the top.  That isn’t a problem.  Moving somewhere that might be a nightmare is a problem.

By the way, happy chocolate bunny day.  🙂

So, I am going to look at a new place to live on Thursday after work. If it doesn’t meet my requirements, I won’t move. Nothing really wrong with this place. The landlady is, ummm, interesting? Yeah, I’ll go with that. The rent is ok, $1400 per month, inclusive. She isn’t too responsive to issues and three have been some issues since I’ve moved in. Now, they weren’t her fault, however.

So, the place I am looking at has no stairs. That would be good for Zeus, he’s starting to struggle on stairs. It has a place for my washer and dryer. It has a fireplace and AC, not that you need AC a lot in Calgary.  It is in the NW, I am not overly familiar with the NW as yet. I don’t really care about how close I am to the office any longer, that was my primary reason for moving where I currently am. Since I work from home, that’s no longer a concern. It also has an energized parking spot. I haven’t had to plug in my vehicle since I’ve lived in Calgary but now that I do work from home, I might need to since the truck may not make it out of the driveway for a few days in a row.

It is two bedrooms and the rooms are around the same size as what I have now. No dishwasher, but really, I am one person, I can handle washing dishes.  Guess I will wait and see.

My friend and co-coach bought himself a house in Calgary, moves in sometime in June. Congrats SS. I guess if I get him to help me move, I will have to return the favour.  No issues there, moving isn’t the worst thing to do in the world. Wait, yes it is…