Kevin's Ramblings…

My trip to Red Deer on Friday was fairly productive. I finished everything that needed to be done. That is a good thing.

I stayed at the Sandman in Red Deer, not a bad hotel but I didn’t sleep well. The room was too warm, the bed not quite as comfy as mine at home.

I left for Lacombe at around 7 in the morning, it would be about a 40 minute drive. I setup to image computers and try to start to discover it isn’t working. I try what I can to get it going, no go. I try to escalate to someone at our National office and can’t get a hold of anyone so the day is a wash, I head back to Calgary.

On the plus side, I am able to pick up my dogs early, they don’t have to spend another night in the kennel, on the minus side, I am still charged for another night since it is after 1pm. Oh well, nothing to do about that.

So, all in all, no overly productive. That’s what happens sometimes. Now I will have a relaxing evening and have no plans for Sunday.

Back to it on Monday, it all starts again. 🙂

I checked the dogs into their pet resort this morning.  They seemed happy to return but I think it causes some level of trauma.  When they return, Blondie likely won’t eat a meal or two.  Zeus doesn’t like to miss too many meals so I doubt he will miss one.  I guess Blondie misses me more than Zeus does.

I am in Red Deer today/tonight, finishing up.  I head to Lacombe and Rimbey tomorrow.  Not a lot to do in those two offices so it shouldn’t be a 16 hour day.  I am just about wrapped up here tonight, should be done by 9pm or so.  What fun.

Not planning on anything social for the weekend, I will likely be too tired.  Try to enjoy your weekend.

Today was vet day for Zeus and Blondie. They both enjoy car rides. They have no problem going into the vet but once we are waiting, the irritating behaviour starts. Zeus barked almost non stop which is odd because he is normally very quiet. Blondie was pacing and whining. It is a good thing there was no one else waiting, they were a bit embarrassing.

We arrived early since one cannot predict traffic in Calgary. The appointment was for 5pm. We left the house at 4pm, my plan was to get the truck washed along the way. In a 12km drive, none of the gas stations had a car wash, figures. So, at 4:30 we arrived, a full 30 minutes early.

So, we wait. The dogs bark and/or whine and we finally meet the vet shortly after 5.

It was a routine checkup. Both dogs needed their rabies shot and the kennel cough vaccine as well. The vet tried to up-sell me on a few items. Dental cleaning for Zeus, he has a fair amount of plaque. Guess what the costs… $500. As much as I love Zeus, I don’t think I will be spending that kind of money on a dental cleaning. I suppose if I had extra money floating around I would, but I don’t. Nothing extra is needed for Blondie. That’s good news…

As I am waiting to pay the bill, Blondie pees all over the floor, a small lake. Thanks Blondie. Final total, $209. Really, all in all that isn’t too bad for two dogs.

They are set for their stay in the pet resort tomorrow. Both are tired tonight, likely due to the shots. It’ll be a peaceful evening.

So, I think I’ve noted that I am coaching again this summer and I am feeling much better about it actually which is good. I don’t think I will be umpiring this summer at all.

Coaching takes up a fair amount of time, on average likely 4 days a week between games, practices and batting cage sessions. On the days that I am off, I really don’t want to go back to the field and umpire. I also often go out to see how the other team I am in charge of is doing, that might be one or two more nights per week. All in all, it keeps me very busy.

I didn’t volunteer to be on the umpire board of directors this year either. I was the VP last year, I wasn’t asked to do much, it was more of a title really. I didn’t particularly care for one of the other board members and being around him was a drag. So, stay away, keep happy. Hopefully I won’t see him on the field this summer, time will tell.

I do like the money I can make by umpiring and depending on how this season of coaching goes, I may return to umpiring in 2016. I am optimistic about the upcoming season though. I am not sure of what players are returning as yet, another couple of weeks and that question will be answered as well.

So, with no additional umpiring funds coming in, I doubt that a trip back to Ontario is in the cards. My company will hopefully have an IT Conference this year and if so, that will give me a short visit back to my place of birth.

Anyway, lots of time to see what is happening. I am sure it’ll be September before I know it.

I checked my payroll information for Thursday’s payday and my net pay is $10 more than my last pay. Wow, this is some sort of raise I think. I didn’t look at the details, it is either slightly lower taxes or lower CPP or EI, not sure. What’s important is that I have $10 more to play with. That’s every two weeks, well, more accurately twice a month. What will I do with all the extra cash?

Anyway, I think I got a little carried away there. Any extra money that is in my pocket as opposed to the governments pocket is always welcome. I am almost not living pay cheque to pay cheque.

Zeus and Blondie likely won’t care too much for me on Thursday. They have a trip to the vet scheduled. They need a couple of update shots. Hey, I think I’ve found something to take care of the extra money coming in on my pay, then some…

So, as I reported, I had a great weekend in Red Deer. In two days, I worked a little over 30 hours. Lots of fun.

This coming weekend, I will be back in Red Deer as well as Lacombe and Rimbey finishing up what I started. The weather forecast is good, hopefully it will stay that way.

So, the dogs will stay in their pet resort for another couple of days and I will stay in a hotel for another night.

The mileage cheque is good, helps to pay for the pet resort stay.

Not much else happening, I tend to hibernate in the winter. Baseball will be starting up in a little under a month. We should be in the field in 3.5 months. Time will fly, I am sure.

I was in our Red Deer office on Friday and Saturday replacing laptops and desktop PC’s. There were a total of 50 some computers in total. I worked 35 hours (including travel time) over the two days, that is just about a weeks worth. What fun.

The dogs were in their pet resort and I picked them up this morning and they have basically been sleeping the whole day since we got home. I think they are kept pretty active. A tired dog is a happy dog, so I hear.

I am glad this weekend is winding down. I am going to check into having tomorrow off work, a day to relax. Hope you had a good weekend.

Why is it that dogs get to stay in pampered Pet Resorts while I get to stay in a hotel? It isn’t a resort, not at all. It isn’t fair, is it? Well, they do seem to like it there.

While driving to the pet resort which is south-east of Calgary, just south of highway 22x, as I turn off the highway, Blondie starts what I would describe as her happy dance. Zeus, being much more dignified, doesn’t dance.

I am happy that the dogs pull me to get into the pet resort as opposed to me puling them. That’s a good sign, I think they enjoy the change of pace, or something. Maybe they get more attention, I am not sure.

Anyway, if you are in the Calgary area and have dogs and need boarding, I’d recommend Country Club Pet Resort, so would Zeus and Blondie.

A few months ago, I saw a commercial for Clash of Clans. I thought it looked like a “cute” game but had no plans on downloading it. I saw a few more ads (they are actually quite good, not much resemblance to the real game though) and also saw an online ad, in Facebook I think, so I decided to give it a try.

I have an iPad Mini so on it went. It started out slowly enough but after a few months and developing my village into a fairly powerful one, I will admit that I am quite addicted to it. Now, I don’t play it while working but during the winter evenings, I tend to hibernate and it is a great time waster, especially while watching tv or something.

For those of you unfamiliar with the game, you are the Chief of a clan. Your village starts out very small and rather defenceless. You build up the various buildings, build new ones, walls to protect your village, cannon, mortars, archer towers and other “medieval” implements. You are able to train various warriors to fight your battles and upgrade them over time. And talk about time that it takes for upgrades, you really need some patience to play this game.

As you successfully raid other villages, you gain trophies. After you join a Clan, you can engage in a Clan War with up to other 49 clan mates. Battles last a day and the Clan with the most wins at the end of the battle gets extra gold and elixir – both used for upgrades. The cycle continues. You win wars, you upgrade, get more powerful and keep going.

It is a lot of fun. Not a heck of a lot of strategy really, a little but not the primary focus. I’d say pretty well anyone teens and up would enjoy it.

Anyway, I am sure at some point I will bore of it, but for now, it’s war time.

So, back to work again today, you know, it’s one of those Monday to Friday things. It was insane again, it seems like it is a new theme. I don’t know if this is the new normal or not, I sort of hope not though.

Other than work, I pretty much hibernate in the winter. Now that I work at home, I might not even really go too far from home most days. I think I am turning into a hermit. What the heck…

Indoor baseball evaluations start in about a month. I am not sure how many players will we have to draft, could be 8-10 though. That would mean an almost entirely new AA team. Could be an interesting year.

Last night when I posted, Canada was playing Russia for the Gold medal in a junior hockey. It was a hell of a game. I had complained that the tournament was a bit boring, last nights game erased that impression. Canada, as most of know, win, 5-4, holding off a strong second period comeback. Definitely not boring, congrats boys.