This is 2009, isnt it?

I just had wings and booze with a few buds this evening and although all three of the other guys had blackberries (I don’t), I was the only one on facebook, that has used twitter and that blogs…

So what the heck do they use their blackberries for???

My 2 1/2 year old…

Gets out of the car on our way to swimming and notices it is just starting to rain. 

Says, “Oh, it’s raining”… “Actually it’s spitting”… “When I come out of swimming there will be puddles”.

Yup.

Quick and too the point

Today is the 32nd Anniversary of the release of Star Wars.  I wouldn’t be the nerd I am today without it.

Ran tonight, relatively pain free.  Some heel tenderness.  Realized I need more / new running music.

My 2 year old son’s bum hurt so he came in looking for “butter”, that being bottom butter.  I went to get it.

This is my life.

Trouble in paradise

Management question for all of you.  Situation has happened to a friend.  What would you do inhis shoes?

The situation:

Trouble is brewing @ the office between all the managers and the Vice President.  A simple task which should have taken a few hours to complete is taking days and in order to reduce the processing time, several meetings were required.  

The newest manager, there almost a year, took control of the meeting, asked a lot of questions, and formulated several basic, yet effective solutions.  This didn’t sit well with the managers who were responsible for the area in question. 

The problem is not about the suggested solutions, but rather that the new manager was in agreement with the VP – helping the VP point out the other managers and lack of their actions.  While agreeing with the VP, my friend was trying to show alliance with the other managers. 

Now the rift lies between the managers and the VP’s.

Not sure where it’s going to end, or how.

My question I pose to you, my bright, well-travelled readers is this;

If you were in his shoes, would you align with the VP, potentially alienate yourself from your peers and hope to catch on to the process well enough to climb the corporate ladder;

or…

Wold you help mend the gap between the other managers and the VP, show that you can all work together as a group, and then continue to work hard, prove you are a team player worthy of a more senior position.

 

UrbanMummy thinks option 1. 

What do you think?

Ouch

I somehow managed to strain my Achilles in my left heel… At least that is what I think hurts.  It also kind of feels like the tendons on either side of my heel.  That and the bottom of my foot – the arch – is tender to touch. 

This discomfort is holding me back from running more often which reduces the chances that I will be able to run in any of the 4-5K’s that I wanted to sign up for this summer – the first one in June. 

I’ve googled the problem but cannot put a finger on it.

I played ball hockey tonight – no discomfort at all.  Came home, showered, still no pain.  Then I hung my heel off the steps in order to stretch the Achilles and met some resistance.

Right now, laptop in lap, I have my leg on the kitchen table – heel nestled in a bag of frozen corn.

Here’s to hoping that it goes away / loosens up soon.

It’s been a LONGGGG weekend here…

Whew.  1pm of a holiday Monday of a long weekend and I’m am itching for some quiet time.  All weekend my poor wife has been sick as a dog.  Fever, hot, cold, tired, sore… all that crap.  We all managed to make our Saturday plans seeing friends we met during our cruise, but yesterday for her was a complete write off.  It hurts her to swallow… food, and liquids… but she only could manage to eat a muffin for breakfast and some won ton soup that I grabbed for her for dinner.  She ate not even half the bowl of cream of mushroom soup and noodles for lunch.  It’s sad.

And as much as I would like to be there for her, we still have 2 boys… 2 energetic boys who would tear our house apart if I wasn’t around to take them to the park, for a long walk or to the flower store.  Yesterday, for example, was very cold and windy but we walked and walked to a park, to a store and to Tim Horton’s for coffee (me), bagels and yogurts for them.  They seem happy, but we all miss Mummy.   The three of us went to friends house last night for BBQ.  Poor Mummy stayed home and slept. 

Today she’s not better at all.  No doctor’s clinics are open and we are not going to the emergency room for her suspected strep throat.   So she is sleeping and I just brought the boys home from the park and trip to the flower store before I made us lunch.  This afternoon after their quiet time the three of us are going to plant some herbs into our garden.  Maybe our peas too as they are taking over inside. 

We were supposed to have plans this afternoon with friends but doubt we’ll make it… Just a feeling.

Update:

Planted herbs and peas. 

Played soccer in front of the house with neighbours we’ve never met and neighbours we like. 

Went to the park… 2 parks actually.

Stopped for yogurt… Man the kids lucked out this weekend with Mummy sick… Strawberry Yogurt Sat night, Mint chocolate chip ice cream cones  Sunday night and Monday night, yogurt.

I cooked up dinner, gave them a bath, then into bed.

This afternoon the doctor came and gave UM a check up – not sure it’s strep but suggested she have a throat swab tomorrow.

I ran but my heel was hurting so I only got 10 minutes, then I had to stretch it out, then 15 more and more stretching, following by a 5 minute sprint and icing the sore area.    Don’t think any marathons are in the cards this year… Not looking good.

I’m thinking about a change…

I’ve been thinking for a while now that I need a drastic change to my blog.  I feel that it’s too… random.  Instead of barfing all over the blog with posts about everything and anything I think I need to bring organization to my life starting with my blogging. 

I’m going to keep this blog – Urbandaddy – to talk about personal stuff; kids, family and life.  I really want to start a tax / management related business blog to talk about taxation, transfer pricing, cost basis reporting and other fun stuff that I deal with on a daily basis at the office.  My third blog would be sports related so I can voice my opinion about anything and everything to do with sports and have like-minded people tell me to shut the fuck up, or agree with me. 

To do this I would, of course, need to learn how to post by email – I think that could be done.

I’m also toying with changing the name of this blog so that I can take it off it’s hidden status and draw more traffic through tags.  Not that having traffic is that important, but I find it’s the best way to find other blogs.

Thoughts?

Possible name suggestions?

Random Musings for a Thursday

In the news, it reports that Wal-Mart’s profits were up but their sales were down… Living in a anti-big box household, I can already predict what my wife will say about this.  She hates that Wal-Mart puts the squeeze on manufacturers, sometimes forcing them to sell at a loss, while forcing mom and pop shops out of business because they just can’t compete. 

Chrysler is closing 789 dealerships… Out of 3200… Yeah, so?  Shouldn’t they have done this 10 years ago when car sales began to slip?

Under the category of irresponsible public service, comes a story about the stupid IRS… Wont let me discuss my company’s tax discrepancy issue with them because I’m not authorized.  Yet, according to their records, not only was I able to speak to them about many issues already, but I authorized a law firm to communicate with them on our behalf… Dumb asses.  I know at the CRA when the staff had to answer inbound calls, in order to reduce their workload, they would refuse to talk to anyone unless written consent was sent to them directly, regardless if that person was the owner, bookkeeper or had been dealing with the government for the past 15 years.  This bought some time while that individual begrudgingly completed another authorization form and faxed it in.  Then if they called back and the same person answered, they would say they had not received it… yet… and have the person call back the following day, when the rotation for answering calls went to another team…  I’m thinking this might be the same situation…

“Rocket” Roger Clemons – the former star baseball pitcher whose career has now been tainted with allegations that he took steroids, went public in his defense of these allegations the other day.  You see, Roger, threw his wife under the bus by telling the press that she was taking them to look ripped for her beauty pageants and he never did.  Now she is divorcing him. So yesterday, he tells a reported that there is no way he would have taken steroids as that drug is known to enlarge the heart and cause heart attacks.  His rationale was that heart conditions are in his family… His brother had a heart attack when he was 40 and his step father had a heart attack and died not too long ago…
Step father…
Yup…

Craigslist discontinues the erotic services posts… Where are all the molesters and rapists supposed to hook up now?  Could be a business opportunity for someone, no?

I’m confused…

Why is all the music on the radio, shit?!?  Where did all the rock ‘n’ roll go?  Why is Theory of a Deadman the only good thing I’ve heard in the last 3 months???

Since when did 1050 CHUM become CP24 on the radio?  I’ve actually listened… My morning drive consists of the FAN 590, AM640, 680 NEWS, sometimes, but not often, CFRB1010, and now 1050… I’ll need to drive further in order to listen for more than 5 minutes per station.

On Mother’s Day we took the kids down to the CN Tower.  Kids 3 and under are free, and a subway ride down is already worth the price of admission.  Did you know kids 2 and over cost $0.70 to ride the TTC?  I didn’t but the nice TTC employee at Union station let us in without paying for the kids… I believe his words to me were, “who gives a fuck”.

Anyways, Stewie – the fearless child decided the glass floor was right up his alley so after stepping on it, he proceeded to lay down in the middle of the glass floor and check out the stuff nearly 500 metres below him.  As others were reluctant to step on the floor, there was Stewie laying on the floor, face pressed to the bottom checking out the world… It’s SO Stewie!

Speaking of Stewie… He loved being there so much, every time he sees a picture of the CN Tower or asks about when we are going back, he calls it the “Same” Tower.  LOL.  Well, to be truthful, he actually yells, “OHHH, it’s the SAME tower… Look!”.

He he he.

Oh, and if you are considering coming to the CN Tower… The website is www.cntower.ca, NOT www.cntower.com.  Even though www.cntower.cadoesn’t show up in a google search, it’s the one… Trust me!

All in all, it was a fun, tiring weekend.

But the point of this post… Music… Where is all the good music hiding?  Please, anyone…

Happy Mother’s Day

Happy Mother’s Day to my mother and my wife!  I consider myself one really lucky guy to have the best mother / role model and teacher for my 2 boys… I thought my wife would be a very good mom and boy did I under-estimate her.  Being an only child – wondering how to love 2 children – wasn’t an issue… Never was.  She’s an awesome mother!

When I see the way the kids look and her and the way she looks back at them my heart melts…

 

Happy Mother’s Day, hun!