Welcome to


July 2003

----- 07.28.2003 ---------
Happy Monday! I had my first day of class today and it's going well. We finished a little earlier then I expected and I got home at a very reasonable hour: 5 PM. That's rare for me :) So, I don't play pool until 8 (yes, I'm sub'ing again for the Dodger team) so I thought I'd go for a blade. I think it was my longest yet... 20 K ! It's getting close to where I want to be at the end of summer. I went from my place (which is at the base of the CN tower), down Queens Quay to Cherry St., then up it and along the path in Cherry St. Beach. I was just following the Martin Goodman trail which then took me to Leslie, then along Lakeshore to the Beaches. From there I went until the trail ended. It's a pretty anti-climactic end to the trail when you come to think of it. It's just a sign that says "Trail ends here". Oh well. Anyway... once I can find a little more time I'll go the other way toward the humber bridge after the beaches trip. As I mentioned sometime earlier, it's about 40 K. Ah crap... I just looked at the time. It's 7:25... pool's at 8.... gotta run. Later! One more thing... here's the tattoo I'm thinking of getting. Whaddya think?

----- 07.23.2003 ---------
Today is my 12 week anniversary. For what, you ask? 12 weeks since I've had a smoke! I'm quite sure all the nicotine is out of my body now. I've been patch-free for 2 weeks and I'm doing just fine. In fact, that Nicoderm system is truly amazing! Gradually stepping down was quite easy. I didn't even notice the nicotine decreasing. And I feel WAY better for quitting! I feel healthier then ever, my sense of smell & taste have improved, AND I'm not forking out all the dough I used to for smokes. Speaking of healthy... I went for a nice blade once I got home from work. I went out around 8:30 or so and bladed down to the end of the trail in the Beaches and back. It's about 16 or 16.5 KM if I recall. The Martin Goodman trail along the waterfront is a roller blader's dream! Actually... it's nice, but I bet California would have even better paths along its miles of beaches. And the scenario would probably be improved as well ;) Anyway, I'm just waiting for my laundry then it's off to bed for me. So, until then, I might as well keep typing. I heard from my sister in Australia. It sounds like she's having a great time. Her and 2 other girls found a place together in "Surfer's Paradise". Actually, I can't help but chuckle. In her email to me she had mistyped it and wrote "Suffers Paradise". Now that's an oxymoron! She's said that everything is really expensive. $17 for cheap shampoo/conditioner? $16 for the cheapest meal she could find? Well.... if I'm going to visit her, I better keep saving! Hopefully she'll know the good deals by the time I get there.... assuming I get there. Hmmm... what else? This weekend was a lot of fun. I went out to Mississauga and met up with Ron. He & I then went to Club 107 to meet up with Theresa, Nadia and March (from camping). It was good to see them again! Speaking of March... I wonder where his pictures are? He snapped off TONS of pics from camping and I haven't seen any yet. Hmmm... sounds like me :) Oh well. Anyway, Saturday I went into work a few hours, then another few hours on Sunday. Then I went for a blade on Sunday... but not too far, just a quick 10 KM :) And Monday... I played pool! Yes, in the league. I subbed for the "other" Artful Dodger team. We lost :( I won my singles matches, but we all lost in doubles. I call them the "other" Dodger team because I used to be captain on one of the teams for a few seasons. Then I moved to the Waterfront and started a team here... then it closed. I'm not sure where I'll play in the fall, but I'd like to keep our current team together. I'm thinking we may play out of Milwaukees... atleast that was the plan near then end of last season. Well, my laundry has to be close to done.... so I'll end it here. No, HERE.

----- 07.17.2003 ---------
Well, I finally got my camping pics posted. That's about as quick of a turn around as I could give considering how busy I've been. So, I hope you all enjoy them! There are some pics that I think turned out quite amazing and would make for a great desktop. Some of the sunset ones especially. Anyway, the pics I posted were scaled down to make them a little more web friendly at 800 x 600. If there are any you want the originals of (3 Megapixel... 2048 x 1536), let me know and I can email them to you. On another note, my lil sis left for Australia on Tuesday. She should be there by now... I wonder how she's doing? I think I mentioned she's going for 13 months to attend Teacher's college. What an adventure! She's got to be a little nervous... she doesn't even know where she'll be staying yet! Good for her :) Anyway, I think it's time to hit the sack. I played some squash tonight and it really tired me out. It felt great to play... I haven't played too much this summer. I've been away or just too busy. I'm looking forward to the next couple of weekends... no plans :) No plans means I'll stay in the city and enjoy it. Maybe I'll go biking. I'm not sure if I mentioned it, but I won a new mountain bike in a raffle at work! It's a decent bike too! I was thinking of buying one this summer but never got around to it. I love the way things have a way of working themselves out :) Anyway... enjoy the pics and check back soon for another update.

----- 07.14.2003 ---------
Well, I'm back again and this time I'll be at home for a while. Last week I flew out to St. Paul, MN to my work's headquarters. It was a short trip, however we accomplished what we want to. After I got back late friday night, I unpacked, then packed for a trip to Windsor. My buddy Dave picked me up then we went and got Ron and headed down to Windsor for Laura's going away party. Not sure if I mentioned it previously or not, but my sister is off to Australia. For 13 months! She's going to attend Teacher's college and hopes to come back with a Master's degree. Good for her! So, with her over there... how can I NOT visit with a free place to crash? I don't know either so I think I'll start planning a trip now for January. Maybe go for 3 weeks or something. I'd love to just hit the outback with a backpack and disappear for awhile :) Anyway, back to the party. It went great and we all had a wicked time. OK, now for the usual: pics. Yes, I have pictures owing... from Camping, Open Eye Festival, and probably more. My folks and sister are here right now and since I'm already ignoring them by typing this, would it be too rude to spend that much more time posting pics? We'll see... check the page, but no promises on timing. Laura's flight leaves tomorrow so we drove from Windsor today and they'll stay here in Toronto @ my place. Tomorrow I'll see her off. *sob* *sob*

----- 07.07.2003 ---------
Well, I'm back from my trip to Algonquin Park. What a great time! I met some great people and had a wicked time. I'll see what I can do to get my pics up before I go to Minnesota this Thursday. No promises, but they will find their way onto here somehow. I know, I know... I say that everytime and I know I have pics owing. If only I could spare an evening to trash my machine and reinstall. That would probably help... the process of generating the albums & batch converting is just so painful on my pathetic installation of Win98. Oh well... back to my vacation. My sister Laura picked me up last friday (June 27th) and we drove up. We met up with my folks and other sister Nicole. We setup shop and I was instantly in vacation mode. Well, maybe not instantly, but a few beers fixed that soon enough ;). Later that night my buddy Dave came up. Unfortunately he couldn't stay as long as previous years, but atleast he made it. A couple days later, Ronatron joined the bunch of us. While there, we met our neighbours (Nimmo, Melissa, Theresa, March, Nadia, Paulo, Darci and Junior )who turned out to be pretty cool to party with. Actually, "pretty cool" is an understatement. These guys rocked! If you're reading this... don't worry... I will get the pics to you! So, what did I do for the 10 days up there? Besides chillax and unwind, the time was filled w/ campfires, hiking, fishing, canoeing, lots of devil-sticking, swimming, laughing, climbing (just trees... I still haven't got back to the rock), dog-walking, and of course, a beer or two. I'm not sure what I enjoyed best... quite possibly not having my RIM on me and no phone in my ear. Oh, sweet technology-less silence. OK, so it wasn't really technology-less... I had my Nomad Jukebox (MP3 player) cranking out tunes constantly. But music doesn't count... there was very little input required on my part :) It was nice that technology was taking care of ME. Speaking of music, there was a bummer to the trip. Our park warden turned out to be Hitler, running his campground like a concentration camp. They hire the biggest pricks there! If you're going to Algonquin, find a campground that's cool to partying. Pog Lake may not be the best choice. I think it has the best sites, but when it comes to fun, you've got a ranger sticking his nose into everything you do. Oh well... what can you do? Please, don't give me any ideas ;) Anyway, just thought I'd fire off a quick update before I hit the hay. Somehow all this relaxing has made me tired (???). Later!

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