World Junior Tournament

Posted on December 26, 2013 by kdarcy21

An annual Boxing Day tradition for many, aside from going to a shopping mall and squeezing in with thousands of other bargain hunters is watching Team Canada play in the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships.  This year it is in Sweden so there is quite the time difference.  I am not sure what time it is over there, but the Team Canada versus Team Germany game starts at 5:30am MST.  Good thing I am up anyway, otherwise this might be tough to do.

Canada has not won gold in a number of years.  They have had some heart breaking losses of late.

In general, I prefer this hockey to that of the NHL.  The players are still young and not making millions and for the most part, aren’t big cry babies.  I don’t watch a lot of NHL hockey until playoffs.  I will go to the odd game to see it live, now that I live in Calgary and have a team within 20 minutes of my place that is reasonably priced.  When I was in Niagara, I occasionally would go and see a game in Buffalo, it was pretty quick to get over there, around an hour.  I have never been to the ACC to see a Leafs game, well, why would I want to pay to see the Leafs?

Anyway, I am looking forward to watching this tournament.  With the time delay, it looks like I will be able to catch some of the action either on TV or streamed at work – the office is closed so bandwidth won’t be an issue.

Obviously, I am cheering for Canada.  I will admit, I know nothing about the team or the players and nothing about the coaches.  I guess I will learn as I go.  To end, GO CANADA GO !!!

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Christmas Dinner

Posted on December 25, 2013 by kdarcy21

I had a few invited for Christmas Dinner which was very nice of the people who invited me.  I decided to stay home and have dinner with the pups.  I had purchased a Butterball stuffed turkey breast.  When it was cooking, I was worried about it but it turned out excellently.

I used my new mixer for the potatoes, made some carrots and an entire package of Pillsbury Crescent  Rolls – I can only imagine the calorie count.  I will have left-overs for a few days I am sure.  I even broke protocol and shared a half slice of turkey and stuffing with Zeus and Blondie.  Zeus scarfed his down while Blondie took a bit of encouragement to eat hers.  It is a habit that I am not going to get into, it might turn into a yearly tradition.

I am rather stuffed, which is typical for a Christmas dinner.

I had a Skype call with my family back in St. Catharines.  As you likely know, Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes were hit with a bad ice storm and my aunts place in Toronto was without power since Saturday.

My sister and brother in law took in four refugees and ended up hosting Christmas dinner after all.  So, while they all pigged out, we had a Skype call.  It was good to “see” everyone again.

So, all in all, a relaxing day.  Santa (or JB/DB) treated me well.  I got two shirts, one long sleeve, one short.  A remote control helicopter which I have always wanted but it was something that I likely would not purchase myself.  I also received a hand mixer, Sports Illustrated Swim Suit calendar, a chocolate Stanley Cup, a Star Wars Advent Calendar (well, missed the opportunity for one square per day) and a pair of gloves for walking the dogs (camo, matches my hat from last year).  The dogs were also spoiled, they received a couple of pull toys, Blondie got a deer (or other animal) antler for chewing, some biscuits, a new water dish, new leash – lots of fun.  They wouldn’t open their gifts this year for some reason – oh well.

We had a good walk in the dog park this morning and tomorrow, I think we will go for a walk in the park down the street from my new place – they will enjoy that.

Hope that your day was awesome as well.

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Merry Christmas

Posted on December 25, 2013 by kdarcy21

I am not much of a Christmas guy.  It is likely because there are no kids in my family, immediate family anyway.  The last two years, I have not been able to spend Christmas with my family.  My immediate family consists of my two dogs, Zeus and Blondie and I will be spending Christmas with them.  Currently, they are sleeping, so, it is peaceful.  🙂

There are a number of gifts for them from my sister and brother-in-law and myself waiting to be opened.  Well, in all honestly, the ones from me are not wrapped.  JB did wrap the ones from her – that was nice.  Both dogs do a pretty good job of opening gifts.  It is fun to watch and perhaps, if I am thinking, I will remember to record it on my camera.

I received a large box from JB & DB a few weeks back filled with wrapped stuff and two packages of goodies.  One tin was filled with Toblerone shortbread and it was amazing.  I love shortbread and adding Toblerone to it made it even better, if you can imagine that.  I brought it with me on my trip to Grande Prairie, possibly a mistake.  One the way to Edmonton, before lunch, I ate about 1/2 of it, perhaps more.  Between Edmonton and Grande Prairie, I ate all but 5 pieces.  The remaining 5 were gobbled down my first day in GP.  Excellent stuff.

The other edible package was toffee bark – quite good and there is still some left.  It will be gone sometime today, I am sure.

As for the gifts, they will be opened later this morning.  Unlike when I was 5 years old and woke up, likely at this time, I can wait on opening gifts.  I am sure I used to irritate my family by waking so early being so excited.

I will be staying home today, likely going out for a walk with the dogs but having dinner at home.  I was invited to two different co-workers houses for Christmas dinner which was very nice.  I politely declined the invitations.  If I hadn’t purchased all of the stuff for dinner today, I might have accepted yesterday’s offer.  I bought a Butterball stuffed turkey breast which should be good.  I am not one to stuff a turkey, nor does one person need an entire turkey for himself.  I also picked up potatoes, carrots, cranberries and those little Pillsbury crescent rolls that taste REALLY good but we discovered that they are REALLY bad for you – an amazing amount of calories and fat.  Oh well, it is Christmas after all.

JB & DB have unexpected house guests for Christmas.  Toronto suffered a major ice storm and my aunt’s place is without power.  Her two daughters are home for the holidays as well, so JB & DB had four of them come to St. Catharines.  I don’t think they really wanted to host Christmas dinner, never mind have over night (or multi night) house guests, but, as I said on Facebook: “It is a Festivus Miracle”.  I am sure she will pull through, she is a good hostess.

As for me, no house guests.  No place for a house guest to stay actually.  I do have a spare room, but I am using it as an office.  No spare bed either.  I do need to get something so that if JB & DB come to visit, they can use my bed and I can sleep on the cot, or whatever.  Lots of time to figure that out.  I don’t even have a couch for someone to sleep on.  I do have a reclining chair, it is very comfy and I have fallen asleep in it, so there is a possibility.

At any rate, my coffee is ready so I must hook up the IV.  Have a great Christmas with your friends and family.

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The places I’ve lived

Posted on December 24, 2013 by kdarcy21

Not sure why I was thinking about this today, but I was.

I have lived in a LOT of places in my life.  My childhood, teen-aged and young adult years were stable.  I lived at the same place from the time I was born until I moved out when I was nearly done with school and moved out on my own.  So, that was 24+ years in the same location.  I sort of doubt that I will ever match that record for some reason.

Move #1 – I rented a room for a year or so, wasn’t bad, wasn’t great.  I was going through school during this time, working part time.  This would have been back in 1993/94 I think

Move #2 – My friend rented a place near downtown St. Catharines on Russell Avenue.  Was a pretty cool place and was fairly cheap – all inclusive it was $500 per month.  It had two levels, carpeting in the kitchen (rather odd) and a bedroom door that you had to duck to get through.  I left after a year because the landlady’s husband was quite the whack job.

Move #3 – I moved into a co-workers house that she was renting.  As I remember, she tried to sell the house but the market was down at the time.  It was a big jump from $500 per month, it was $650 + utilities.  I had a room mate with me for the first bit but he had trouble making up his part of the rent.  So, after only a short time, I had to move out – it was immediately rented, so I didn’t feel too bad about it.

Move #4 – I moved in with my sister and brother-in-law.  Worked out fairly well.

Move #5 – I rented a small apartment in a 4-plex building on Elizabeth Street in downtown St. Catharines.  Lived there for a year.  Was close to a grocery store, close to work as well.

Move #6 – Moved to Haynes Avenue, further away from the downtown, closer to my job of the time, Vaxxine Computer Systems.

Move #7 – Got a new job and a new place – in Fonthill, Ontario living beside a restaurant, Keith’s.  Lived there for a year, or just about a year and for some odd reason, had insomnia most of the time that I was there.  I had a room mate here as well – his rent was paid regularly (by his parents, his mom was a co-worker of mine) but he was weird.  Very weird.  I actually moved out to be rid of him since he wouldn’t take the hint that I wanted him to move.

Move #8 – Back in with my sister and brother-in-law.  Just a stop-over really but I was able to save some $$$

Move #9 – Into the basement suite in a nice place on Niagara Street in North St. Catharines.  Was a nice place, everything was included.  As I remember, it was around $875 per month.  Lived there for a year.  The landlady was a good person but she got married to quite an “interesting” guy who made it tough to stay.

Move #10 – I lived with my friend BS in Fonhill for a month or so while I waited for my new place to be ready for me to move in.

Move #11 – I moved into a cute little cottage, a former large garage that was converted into a nice little house.  It was small but it was perfect for what I needed.  Lived there for 2 years or so.

Move #12 – I had to move out of the cottage because I needed more room.  My Dad had recently passed away and I needed a place to put all of the stuff that I had stored at his place.  I rented my first actual apartment in a building.  It was pretty good, lots of room, everything included.

Move #13 – I got Zeus and quickly decided that living in an apartment with a dog wasn’t the best thing for him.  I found a house on Welland Avenue on the buy/sell board at work.  On my own, this is my record, I stayed there for 5 years.  It was a nice place, big driveway, nice backyard, gas stove, laundry in the basement, fireplace and a great landlord.  I decided, for some reason to move after 5 years – not exactly sure why.

Move #14 – We moved closer to the QEW highway in a large executive house owned by a co-worker.  It had a full in-law suite that I rented to a young guy.  I lived there for a year and this is where Blondie came into our lives.  It didn’t have much of a backyard but it was a good place.  I had to give notice as I didn’t have a job and was getting ready for stint number 3 with my sister and brother-in-law.  Good thing I got another job, this time, a few provinces away.

Move #15 – The BIG move.  This time it was to Calgary, Alberta.  I had no place to move to when I left and was lucky to find a place in a short time.  Lived in the townhouse for about 18 months.  It was huge, 3 bedrooms.  No yard.  I had two room mates here.  One was normal, the other, I had to have arrested.  Glad to be out of there.  Made some good friends though – that was good.

Move #16 – This was only a few weeks ago, have been here for less than a month.  Loving it.  Hardwood floors.  Room for my washer/dryer.  It has a dishwasher, large driveway and a 2 level backyard.  The dogs and I are happy here.  It is close to work as well.

So, in total, presuming that I have not forgotten any, 16 moves.  16 moves in 42 years.  That sounds like a lot.  Have you moved more?

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Where do weekends go?

Posted on December 23, 2013 by kdarcy21

This weekend, like many weekends flew by.  Wow.

Saturday morning I had to do a little running around and shopping.  The grocery store wasn’t that busy which was good – in and out pretty quickly.  It is amazing how quickly $100 adds up.  I mean, I am only buying food for one person.  I didn’t even get dog food in there – that is a job for today or tomorrow.

I did some stuff with my truck.  Not tires, not yet – too expensive.  I mean I will need to get new tires, but it is going to have to wait a week or two.  I guess I will withdraw some funds from my RRSP to finance them.  I am guessing it will be between $1000-$1200 for 4 winter tires and 4 steel rims.  It will save me money in the long run from having all seasons and winters mounted in the spring and fall.  Winter tires are just about a necessity here.  I think that I will use them about 6 months of the year, at least, maybe 7.  That will mean that a new set of all seasons will last twice as long anyway so that is a good thing.  It is just the initial cost.  In the spring, I think I will likely purchase 4 new all seasons.  What fun.

I won an eBay auction while I was away in Grande Prairie.  I didn’t expect to.  It was a double signed picture of Darth Vader where he has backed Luke onto the edge of the pit in Cloud City.  It is signed by David Prowse (the actor who did Darth Vader) and James Earl Jones (the voice of Darth Vader).  Very cool for a Star Wars geek such as myself.  I got it for $181 USD plus $20 USD in shipping.  I am going to have it frames or mounted or something which I am sure will be $30 or so which will bring me to around $250 in total.  A little steep, but it is a VERY cool item.  It will be my Christmas gift from my dogs.  Thanks Zeus and Blondie – very nice of you.

Anyway, back to the weekend.  I went out for lunch on Saturday with my LB, had a good time.  Dropped him off and took a nap with the dogs.  The evening was spent at the Calgary East / Forest Lawn Christmas Party.  Had a good time and the food, as always, was great.

Sunday was a day of relaxing.  I was up early, as per usual and we (the dogs and I) had a morning nap (6am-8am) then watched Big, went for a very cold walk in the dog park then had a second nap.  Two naps in a day is a good Sunday as far as I am concerned.  National Lampoons Christmas Vacation was on last night – a must watch each year.  It was on CBC which, unfortunately, cuts out a lot of the movie to fit in their two hour window.  Here’s an idea – make it a 2.5 hour window and show the entire movie.  Oh no, you couldn’t do that.  Waste of tax payers dollars the CBC is.  Oh well.

So, that brings me to today.  Back to the office in an hour and a half.  I am sure it won’t be an overly busy day today.  A lot of staff are on vacation already in our office and I am sure it will be the same in other offices.  Guess I will find something to do.  Have a good Christmas Eve Eve.

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The Holidays

Posted on December 20, 2013 by kdarcy21

It is that time of year again – The Holidays.  Christmas Eve.  Christmas.  Boxing Day.  New Years Eve.  Yeah, whatever.

I have not really been all that in to Christmas for a number of years.  I am the youngest of the immediate family so, without kids, it isn’t the same I suppose.  I do, or did, enjoy going to my sisters house for dinner and hanging out with family.  Now that I am in Alberta, that doesn’t happen.  I mean, I could fly back to Ontario for the holidays if I wanted to, but it is a little expensive and also, kennels in the area are booked months in advance for the holidays.

It is nice getting time off of work.  This year it is a little odd.  Christmas Day is of course a stat holiday and in most of the country, Boxing Day is as well.  In Alberta, for unknown reasons, Boxing Day being a stat holiday is up to the employer.  Thus far, I am not sure if I am off on Boxing Day or if I am working on Boxing Day.  BDO, the company that I work for is divided into different geographic groups.  WCR, or Western Canada Region covers everything west of north-west Ontario, except Calgary, we are in LMR or Large Market Region.  So, for BDO in WCR, Boxing Day is a stat.  For LMR, except Calgary, Boxing Day is a stat.

Now, there is another wrench in there.  Although I work in Calgary, I am not a Calgary employee, I am a National employee.  National has Boxing Day as a stat.

So, naturally, I questioned HR to see if I had to work Boxing Day or not.  I don’t mind working, but, there won’t be much to do.  All offices are closed.  There might be the odd person in, but I sort of doubt it.  I can imagine that conversation if someone said:  “I have to go into the office on Boxing Day”…  It appears that there is some sort of hole in the Boxing Day stat policy here.

If I am supposed to follow the “Calgary Office Rules” and not take Boxing Day as a stat, that is fine, BUT, if that is the case then should I not get the other benefits that Calgary employees get that I don’t as a National employee?  If I am supposed to follow National rules, then I should get Boxing Day off with the other National employees.

Thus far, I have not gotten an answer that I can understand from HR.  I asked a simple question – Do I have to work Boxing Day.  I was hoping for a YES/No answer, I didn’t get one.  I replied, indicating that I didn’t know what she was saying and asked again – I got another reply but it didn’t contain an answer either.

I am, as people who know me and people who read my blog might know, a black and white sort of guy.  If this HR person wants to say “No”, you can’t have it off and gives me an explanation that I understand, that’s fine, say no.  You won’t hurt my feelings, really, you won’t.

Last year, without even thinking about it, I booked my Boxing Day as a Stat Holiday and was paid as a Stat Holiday.  Why did I bring this up this year you might ask?  Well, there was a memo sent to Calgary employees that only Christmas Day and New Years Day were stats and the other days were to be taken as either vacation or unpaid leave.  Now, that only applies to Calgary people and as I have noted, although I work in Calgary, I am not a Calgary person.

So, back to the holidays.  I will be off on December 25.  As for the 26th, I don’t know.  I know I won’t be going into the office, I might be logged in from home.  Right now, I don’t know.

I suppose, when it comes down to it, I don’t really care for the holidays.  Too much stress.  Too many questions on whether or not I get the 26th of December off or not.  During my conversations with the HR person, who, by the way is one of the nicest ladies I have ever met, I sort of felt like I was in a Christmas Carol and Scrooge said, “be in all the earlier the next day” sort of thing.

Not sure that I will get my answer either.  The person I was talking to is on vacation.  After this, maybe I need one too.

At any rate, whether I am working on the 26th or not, have a good Christmas and New Years.  Oh, I don’t even care if that offends you.  Get over it – I am not covering that subject today.

 

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Grande Prairie to Calgary

Posted on December 19, 2013 by kdarcy21

I wanted to get out of Grande Prairie somewhere between 9 and 10 yesterday.  I was in the office shortly after 6am to ensure that I could.  Well, it was nearly 11:30 when I finally took off, truck full of used hardware.

The weather conditions were excellent.  It was cold, -22C but the roads were completely dry.

I was making good time when I decided to stop just West of Whitecourt, Alberta at a Husky for gas.  I was there for 15 minutes or so.  I answered some emails (work related), filled up with gas and bought a couple of food items.

Back on the road and about 2 hours to Edmonton.

As I am passing through Whitecourt, the truck in front of me swerved.  I saw what he was trying to avoid although I am not sure what it was.  There was junk on the road, wood, metal, who knows what else.  I was unable to swerve around it myself as there was a truck beside me.  I did my best not to run over it and I thought that I had missed it.

Several kilometers on, I noticed my back end start to shake a little.  I put both hands on the wheel and checked my TPM system in the truck (tire pressure monitoring).  The left-rear tire was down to 20kps.  Not good.  All of the sudden, a loud boom and the back end went out wildly.  I was in the passing lane driving at about 110kph – the speed limit happens to be 110.  I checked to ensure that the right lane was clear and  moved over to the right shoulder to stop as quickly as I could.  I would guess it took me about 300m to come to a complete stop – hazard lights on.

I put on my jacket, outside temperature was about -20C with fairly strong winds.

The tire is shredded.  The middle of the tire is still around the rim, a strip about 6″ wide is all that is left other than some hardened rubber that is still attached to the rim.  Great.

Believe it or not, I have never changed a tire in my life.  I have always has CAA, OnStar or some other roadside assistance program.  Luckily, just about two weeks ago, I started up with AMA, Alberta Motor Association, part of CAA.

I give them a call and am fairly quickly put through to an agent.  I explain the situation and am told that I will get a call back shortly.  I receive the call back from someone in Edmonton who has contacted their contractor in Whitecourt and he will be arriving within 60-90 minutes.  I get a call from him about 40 minutes later wondering where I am.

When I called, I didn’t realize that I was so far out of Whitecourt, about 25km when I figured it was 5 or so.  Anyway, he finds me and starts the task in bone chilling conditions of getting my spare on the vehicle.

Two bits of good news.  The spare is a full sized tire that appears to have never been used and it has air in it.  He suggests that I should stop in the next town to have the lug nuts torqued properly for my trip back to Calgary.

It is about another 20 minutes or so to the next town – not sure on the name of it.  I find a tire shop and they, like most Albertans that I have encountered, are more than willing to help.  They torque the nuts tight, fill the tires to the proper air pressure and also, at my asking, check to see if they have any winter tires that will fit in stock.  Nope, they don’t but they could have them in the morning.

I ask if it is safe to drive on the spare to Calgary and am ensured that yes, it is.  So, as opposed to spending a night, somewhere West of Edmonton, I decide to carry on.

Road conditions are pretty good for the rest of the trip.  I stop in Leduc, Alberta for dinner – McDonalds, I must have been desperate, or hungry, or both.  The McCafe that I tried was pretty good – vanilla latte.

There was a bit of snow just north of Calgary and I don’t think that I have wanted a road trip to end so badly as this one.  Actually, I guess my trip to Alberta was worse, well, not worse, longer – I wanted that one to end as well.  I got back to my place shortly after 9pm.  In total, almost 10 hours of driving.  Not a lot of fun.

Thankfully, I guess, I do not have to make that trip again.  I wanted to drive it since I do like driving.  It was an adventure indeed.

At least it ended well.  Safe travels to my readers.

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A long drive, a good day

Posted on December 16, 2013 by kdarcy21

I was running a little behind yesterday.  I wanted to leave the house at 8:15 to get Zeus and Blondie to the Pet Resort for 9am. Everything, I thought, was packed and ready to go.  We left the house around 8:30am, maybe a little after and headed south towards Rocky View.  The GPS said it was a 35 minute drive.

We are almost there and the driver wasn’t paying attention and didn’t take the correct cut-off.  Now, as opposed to 12 minutes, I am almost back to my original time of 35 minutes to arrive.  The GPS wanted me to head north on a new highway (that I accidentally took) and then who knows what.  Well, after 5km, the first exit came up and I took it.  It took a few seconds for the GPS to recalculate but it finally gave me the new route.

So, to the Pet Resort we arrive and the dogs are going nuts.  They know where we are and they are excited about it.  That is a good thing.  If I had to drag them out of the truck “kicking and screaming”, this might be a sign that they do not like the place but no, they are pulling me.

So, I unload the dogs and they are taken away and I bring in their food and bones.  Off I go.

As I leave, I realize that I am just wearing a hoodie and a baseball cage jacket with no winter jacket for the trip to Grande Prairie.  Not a good idea.  I have to head to the office to pick up the hardware that I am delivering so I stop at the house and get my winter coat – two of them actually, my leather one for wearing to work and my Jeep coat which is the warmest I own – just in case of a vehicle breakdown or something and I am stranded – best to be prepared.

Off I go – first stop is Edmonton.

I am running a bit behind and arrive about 30 minutes later than I expected, so, I was able to make up some time on the trip up.  It was uneventful, roads were clear and dry.

I am having lunch with my ex sister-in-law, two nieces, the one nieces boyfriend and their 6 month old daughter and a stranger.  My brother was also in attendance.  It has been a number of years since I’ve seen him – his hair is now a nice shade of gray, still thick – an issue that I am no longer having – I am shocked that he is there.

We have a great meal together, catching up on the 14 years (or so) since we’ve all seen each other.  I get to hold my great niece and she doesn’t even cry.  I had a good conversation with my brother – it was good to see everyone again.  It has been too long.

I have never been close to my brother.  We really don’t know one another that well.  He was 11, almost 12 when I was born and he moved out when I was 5 or 6 and only lived with us briefly while I was growing up.  Perhaps, since we now live relatively close to one another, we can stay in touch.  I am sure I can get my nieces on side with making him keep up his end of the deal.

To top off a great meal and conversation, my brother even picked up the tab for everyone’s lunch.  Very nice indeed.

We said our goodbyes and I was told to drive safe and off for the second leg of the trip I go.

The road leading out of Edmonton was not as good as the one coming in.  I turn on the 4×4 and get ready for what my GPS tells me will be a 4 hour 25 minute drive.  Ugh…

I stop for gas, a shot of 5 Hour Energy and to clean my windows and lights of the road spray and off I go.

For the most part, the drive is a good one.  Is is completely dark by about 5:15pm, the sunset seemed to last forever.  There were a few spots along the way that were a bit wet and in total, I used an entire jug of washer fluid on the way.

I pull into the hotel in Grande Prairie at just before 8pm.  I check in, nice – a suite.  Gotta love travelling on the company dime.  🙂

I go out for dinner with one of my sisters friends and her husband – I have never met them, well, I think I have met them, but I was under 10 at the time so I don’t remember.  We have good conversation over the meal – nice making new friends.  It must be my day because they pick up this tab – two meals paid for in the same day – nice.  Thanks for dinner guys.

We leave around 10pm and I head back to my room – rather tired, it has been a long day of travelling.  I lay down and am gone just about right away.

So, here it is, 4:25am and I have finished my blog post.  I’ve been awake for 35 minutes.  Not sure why I am waking up so dang early, but that is ok.

It will be a busy few days and then another long drive back to Calgary on Wednesday.  I pick up the dogs on Thursday morning and then life will be back to normal – whatever normal is.

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Grande Prairie, Alberta

Posted on December 13, 2013 by kdarcy21

I am heading to Grande Prairie, Alberta on Sunday morning.  I am the support person for that office, as well as the backup for the other offices in Alberta, but those ones have primary support people in them, so I don’t have to visit them.

This will be my last trip to GP, as far as I am aware.  In the first year that I was at BDO, I made several trips there, every couple of months.  There were a lot of issues to clear up.  Now that their IT needs have been taken care of, there is no need for me to go.  Most of the issues can be resolved remotely, either by myself or someone else on the team.  There are two staff members who are going to be trained on reimaging computers, that is one of the primary things that I would need to do up there.  This trip, I am replacing hardware for 9 of the staff.

I will also be working with our third party support company who, moving forward, will be taking care of emergencies.

In a way, it is too bad that I won’t be visiting any longer.  I like the people up there and they seem to like me.  It is an expensive trip though, not for me, really, for BDO.  A return flight from Calgary is about $650.  The hotel that I stay in costs around $150 per night.  Then there are meals to pay for as well – I get reimbursed for all expenses of course.  The only thing that I have to pay for is my dogs stay in their Pet Resort – $62 per day for the pair.

This time around, I am driving up.  My boss didn’t really want me to drive.  The mileage rate would be WAY more expensive than flying.  I negotiated and will be reimbursed for the cost of the flight.  I estimate that it will take a tank of gas each way, maybe a bit more.  So, perhaps $200 in gas all told.  I will get around $650 back in expenses so that is a pretty good deal – it will more than pay for the dogs stay.

The weather forecast is supposed to be good.  Mild weather (for Alberta) with temps just below zero.  The road to Edmonton is a major highway, the route from Edmonton to GP is a bit more remote.

I will be stopping in Edmonton for lunch with my ex sister-in-law and two nieces.  That will be good – haven’t seem any of them in a  LONG time.

So, good driving to me.  Enjoy your weekend all.

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Back to coaching?

Posted on December 12, 2013 by kdarcy21

I received a reply email to something that I had sent out at least two months ago yesterday.  As I have blogged about in the past, I have umpired in Calgary for the past two summers and have really enjoyed it.  I do miss coaching though.  So, about two months ago, I emailed the President of the Calgary Babe Ruth league, it seems to be the largest league in the city.

He replied right away and copied the Technical Director and asked me to touch base with him.  I sent an email outlining my coaching and executive experience and didn’t hear back.  I sort of forgot about it until a few weeks ago – figured he didn’t need any coaches or perhaps didn’t get my email and I was planning on contacting the President again in the New Year.

So, sort of out of the blue, I got an email early yesterday asking if I had time for a phone chat.  Sure.

He called me at a perfect time – I had just finished a marathon call with a colleague at work (resolved her issues).  We talked about the league, what he was looking for and what I had to offer.

At this point, I don’t think I want to coach high level elite baseball – too much travelling in Alberta and unless my mileage is being paid, it will be too expensive.  The Babe Ruth league runs a great program, from what I have seen on the other side of the plate.  He likes the idea of having “non parents” as head coaches – I don’t blame him for that, it removes so many perceived issues.

So, there is a coaches meeting in early January and I have been invited to join.  I will find out at that time what they have open and will make a decision.  I still plan on umpiring, it is a good second source of income to be sure.  If I only have to travel about Calgary, that isn’t too bad.  I am actually very close to the home park for Babe Ruth as well, about a 5 minute drive, so that would be very convenient.  Actually, I am also very close to their other diamond so I am now in a perfect place, both for umpiring and for coaching.

I have taken two years off of coaching now, will this be my return?  Time will tell.

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