Fun In The Sun With Mr Deuce

When we first brought Mr Deuce home, I discovered quickly not to shine a flashlight for him. He tries chasing the light and barks at it because he can see it but can't touch it. It is funny to watch but he builds too much anxiety if it goes on too long, so I try to avoid this game.

We go out onto the balcony to smoke every day and now the sun is getting longer in the sky. My watch caught the sun recently and made a spot for Mr Deuce to see. He got very excited. After that, he is always on the lookout for the shiny spot. His nose down, tongue hanging out, ears perked and eyes scanning the ground, it is very cute to observe.

One sunny day his dog tag caught the sun and he saw the shiny spot. The problem is that when he turns his head to look at the spot, his tag moves and so does the spot. This is very comical and it will keep him amused for long periods of time. He also never barks at it because it is always just in the corner of his eye.

I love how Mr Deuce amuses me -- he is my shiny spot.

Pen Retirement

Many years ago my kids bought me a pen for a special occasion, birthday or father's day, I can't remember which. It was one of the best pens I've ever owned and was never out of my pocket unless I was writing. It was very heavy compared to most other pens I've used and could stand the abuse that I put it through. I would use the Pilot G2 ink refill, which is my favourite (a very smooth, flowing ink). There were a couple of times that I'd thought I'd lost it but then it was found once more. It also broke a couple of times and I cemented it back together.

Not too long ago I noticed that the lid was no longer staying on while it was in my pocket. There is a plastic sleeve inside the lid which keeps it on with a pressure fit that became loose. This is unfortunate because if the lid came off in my pocket, the G2 refill will leak and I will probably destroy a pair of pants. I tried to figure out a way to keep the lid on properly but I could find nothing that would work well.

After careful consideration I decided to retire my pen to my writing desk. It still works fine and I always know where it is. It does not get as much use though, as I rarely write with pen at my desk. It is a piece of my writing history and deserves the place I've put it. I use it sometimes when I have to jot down a quick note, or when I'm reminiscing. I wrote a lot of thoughts with that pen and I'm positive that it carries a lot of memories. When something is used a lot, it carries a piece of the person who used it. A belief of mine is that there are no inanimate objects, or at least no object that does not hold energy.

Venus Flytrap

The other day, the floral department in the store I work in received a shipment of Venus Flytraps. I've always wanted one so I picked one up. It is the neatest plant. I can't wait until it catches something.

Green Tea

I've started drinking green tea on my second break at work, instead of coffee, mainly because I end up drinking too much coffee during the course of a day. I've found that after my tea I have double the energy that I would have had with a coffee and I don't get the "coffee crash" which always comes afterward. This is amazing to me and I'm so glad that I discovered it right before I decided to stop smoking. Replacing coffee with tea will be an easy transition and I won't be giving up my caffeine.

My favourite green tea right now is Tazo Zen Green Tea. It has lemongrass and is really good with a little lemon and honey, or even nothing if I choose. It's so refreshing, a nice change from coffee.

Fresh Start

April 1st, 2010 is the date I've chosen to discontinue my smoking habit. I am going to use the same method as I used the last time and that is "cold turkey". There is a website called www.whyquit.com which is filled with pages and pages of information relative to a successful quit. I am reading all about how to prepare myself for this big step. It will not be easy but it will be worth it.

Fear Itself

In 2008 there was a series on TV that I was very excited about called Fear Itself. It was going to be thirteen episodes, each one written or directed by well known horror movie industry leaders. A few shows into the season, the network cancelled it. Very disappointing.

The other day I was in HMV and I found a collector's set of the show. I bought it on the spot! Now I can finally see all the episodes I missed when they pulled it off the air.

New Girlfriend

Eric has a new girlfriend. Well, it’s been over a month now. She is a supervisor at the store he works at and her name is Cindy. Susan and I hope to meet her one day soon. She was supposed to come over a couple of weeks ago but I guess plans got changed.

Eric is still doing the graveyard shift at Tim Horton’s in Langford. He is trying to make the switch to days though he tells us. That would be nice. It is so hard to work for any length of time on nights and still try to have a normal life -- I know from experience, I did it for years.

It’s so good to see Eric become such a fine young man. Hard to believe he’s going to be twenty-one in a couple of months. Time sure does fly by when one has children, or rather, young adults.

New Brakes

On my last day off I had some work to do on our car. It is Spring break for the kids and Laura wasn’t doing anything so I asked her if she’d like to help me. She jumped right in. The work which had to be done was changing the front rotors and brake pads. We went to the store and purchased the parts needed, then came back home and got to work. Laura was wearing a cute little Summer dress and I told her first that she should go change. She came back in old jeans and a t-shirt and we got busy.

I explained everything I was doing and why, as we worked on the first side. Laura helped me get tools and keep everything organized. Once that was finished and it was time to work on the other side, I got her to jack up the car and take the wheel off. I explained that when she starts driving that she should know how to do this on her own. (Laura is determined to get her licence before her brothers.) She did a great job! I gave her pointers along the way but she did it all herself. We changed the rotor and pads on that side and she put the wheel back on herself.

We still had some time so we went to an auto-wrecker to get a replacement for the broken headlight, came home and changed that together as well. I’m glad that Laura has an interest in learning the basics about cars before she learns to drive. There are so many people on the road today that don’t have a clue about the vehicles they are driving around in. Besides that, we had a great time sharing a common interest and it was nice being able to teach her a thing or two.

Alice In Wonderland

Yesterday Laura and I went to see Alice In Wonderland in 3D. It was awesome! I’ve always loved the story of Alice In Wonderland and am very glad that Laura shares my love for a good story. I have never read the book but it’s on my ever growing list of literature I want to read. We went to the 11:30am showing. In my opinion, it’s always better to see an early matinee, because the theatre is much less crowded, and I also find it easier to keep my eyes open. Usually with an evening movie I struggle with nodding off unless I have a nap before hand. I think that Tim Burton did a very good job directing this fantastic story and Johnny Depp was the perfect Mad Hatter.

I think that Laura enjoyed herself and I certainly liked spending some time with her on her Spring Break. She’s always so busy with her friends and I’m happy that she doesn’t mind being with her Dad sometimes.

Wonderful Lunch

The other day my Mom, my Grandma and my daughter all came to meet for lunch while I was at work. We went to a little Chinese restaurant in James Bay. We shared a few plates of food, some stories and made some good memories. After lunch we went to the park across the street and took a few pictures. It is so nice to spend a little quality time with family, especially when we don’t get to see them very often. I am so thankful for my family and I hope they all know how much I love them!

Shaving

I’ve often thought about looking into getting a straight razor for shaving. I know it’s expensive but so are regular razors over the long run and a straight edge is supposed to be a much better shave. Besides, I think it would be fun to try something different with a task that I have to do anyway.

Presently, my shaving routine is simple. I only shave two or three times per week, just before the itchy stage. I do not use aerosol shaving cream, rather a shaving brush and shaving soap. One dish of shaving soap will last me almost a full year -- not bad for just under four dollars! I go with the cheapest razors too, four or five dollars for a fifteen pack of blades and I get two or three shaves with each blade. I can get as good of a shave with cheap blades as expensive ones by my method of shaving. The trick is I shave twice. I get a wet cloth as hot as I can stand and hold it on my face for a moment, then I lather up and shave my face with the grain. I then lather up again and shave against the grain. A little cold water splash, pat dry and some after shave lotion. This is actually a better shave than once with an expensive blade. The best advantage of shaving like this is that I get no ingrown hairs on my neck.

The other day I went into a small shop which sells straight razors and inquired about getting a blade. He told me straight out that I don’t want one. He explained that it’s very dangerous and also a very difficult thing to do. It’s much easier to shave someone else with a straight edge than to shave one’s self. I then asked him what he shaved with and he showed me a razor with a disposable flat blade. I remember my Dad had one which looked very much the same. He told me that it would give me as good of a shave as a straight razor with more ease and much less cost. In fact he told me that if I went to a barber to get a shave, he would use a straight edge with the same disposable blades inserted into the blade arm.

I’m glad I spoke with someone who knows what they’re talking about before diving into a project unprepared and wasting a lot of money. A couple of years ago I went into a knife shop asking about straight razors and the guy was ready to sell me one on the spot, explaining that it’s what he uses. I highly doubt that, he was just trying to make a sale.

My mind is off of the straight edge and I can move onto other things. For now, I’m happy with my shaving routine and quite satisfied with the information I received. One day I might go and get one of those other razor’s the store owner showed me, the one like my Dad’s old razor.

New Project

I am working on a new project at the moment; a writing project. What I’m planning is something which is called a “choose your own adventure” story. It’s a story where the reader gets to make choices which ultimately affect the outcome. I’ve been thinking about this idea for a few months and finally I’ve figured out how to execute the plan. I wrote out a comprehensive outline (something that I’ve never done before) and now I am writing the body of the story. I’m very excited and hope that it turns out the way I am planning. It is a lot of work, keeping everything organized but I think it will be worth it. It will not be on this blog but will have it’s own site. I will post a link here when I’m done. I still have a lot of work to do on it so it won’t be up any time in the near future, but it’s something to look forward to.

Poem

I was working the other day and Ming, our store receiver, told me that he found a poem I’d written while he was cleaning his house. I didn’t believe him so he brought it in the next day. It’s funny how we forget. I read the poem and I finally remembered writing it when I reached the end.

When I first worked at James Bay, before I went off to be a manager, I did try my hand at a bit of poetry. There was a lady who worked in the floral department named Shelly, but she liked to be called Ariel. She was always writing poems and handing out copies to anyone who’d take them. A few of us working in the store at the time also wrote some poems to share with her, and I was one of them. I guess Ming ended up with a copy of one of my poems.

Here’s the poem which is appropriate considering my last post:

Monster

Catching my attention

Thunder on the distant hill

A feeling grows inside me --fear

Thunder growing louder still

In my youth I heard them all

Stories from my mates

Of awful monsters, miles tall

Filled with fear and hate

The echo of the footsteps now

I know are drawing near

No, not thunder -- my mistake

I now may die in fear

I am frozen stiff now

My legs I cannot move

I want to run, to flee my home

But still I cannot move

The horror that befalls my eyes

I wish I’d never seen

The creature -- monster -- ugly sight

I thought it never been

The monster stops before me

And sees, for sure I’m dead

It lifts it’s hand (a death blow?)

Smiled and scratched it’s head

The beast I thought would kill me

Paused and turned away

The thunder growing faint now

I’m here to live another day

The story I can tell now

I’ll be a hero you know

My tale will tell how brae I was

I’ll put on quite a show

My victim’s blood is liquid now

Move eight legs now I can

I’ll drink it’s body dreaming

Of my story of the Man

Sanctuary

My fears as a child, my preferred reading subject, my main writing topic, my favourite movies, the subject of my thoughts every day without fail. If I were to state my obsession, it would have to be monsters. It matters not, what kind of monster. I’ve read Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein three times, all kinds of stories about vampires, zombies, werewolves, mummys, daemons, ghosts, evil spirits, aliens, dragons, devils, elder gods, the undead, mutants, the list goes on. H. P. Lovecraft created some of my favourite monsters which is one of the reasons he is the top of my reading list: Cthulhu, Nyarlathotep, Yog-Sothoth, Azathoth, Dagon, Shoggoth, Mi-Go and Shub-Niggurath, to name a few. My favourite movies also run along the same lines, but television, not so much. I watch a vampire series called True Blood which is not bad and I love Twilight Zone and the Munsters. There was a series a few years ago which I really liked called Fear Itself, but the station cut it half way through the season.

I was watching the Space channel the other day and there was a preview for a show called Sanctuary. I watched a couple of episodes and loved it! It’s about a safe place for monsters to seek refuge from persecution. Right up my alley, a show about monsters. The program is in it’s second season so I have some catching up to do, which I don’t mind at all. I really hope it keeps running, the idea has great potential.

Walking Progress

We’ve had Mr Deuce for over a year now and have worked through a lot of his many issues. One issue that we haven't mastered, much to my dismay, is his constant pulling when we go for our walks. I’ve tried different leash and harness combinations in an effort to try and get him to walk beside me with a loose lead. Nothing seemed to work. I also read much on the subject and listened to other dog owner’s suggestions to no avail.

When we are in the house, Mr Deuce listens to me and does what he’s told. Huge progress has been made with his anxiety and trust issues with few exceptions. As soon as we leave the house though, I become invisible to him and he’s on a mission to sniff out everything and anything he comes near. My voice is muted and my actions have little effect.

I know that consistency is the key to dog training, so I had to make a decision to not give up on a method. I did my research and went with what I thought would be best for Mr Deuce’s personality. The first thing I did was loose the harness and choke collar combination I’d been using on him. I also threw out the idea of buying a pinch collar or a muzzle leash, determined only to use a short leash on his regular collar.

The first thing I did was to make Mr Deuce sit as I attached the leash to his collar. This was never practical when using the harness as he had to stand for me to clip it on. Next step was for me to walk out the door as he sits watching me until I say “okay”, then he can follow me outside. The next rule is that if he walks faster than me and pulls the leash tight, we stop and he has to sit for a minute. The first day we barely made it out of our yard, but each day afterwards he seemed to get a little bit better -- although some days were better than others.

It’s been over a week since we started this training regiment and Mr Deuce has made great progress. Tonight was the best night of all. We made it all the way to the library and I advanced his training a bit, tying his leash to a bike rack and taking a walk around the parking lot, while he sat like a good boy. Never has his attention been so focused on me!

So many times over the past week I’ve been ready to just give up and let him pull, but I persevered and I’m glad I did. It’s just one more step towards his total rehabilitation, leaving the first two brutal years of his life behind him, trusting that he is loved and has a good home for the rest of his life.

Number One Songs

I found a very interesting web site the other day. What you do is input your birth date and it finds what the number one song was for that date. It then also lists the number one song for each year thereafter. There are also two different searches, one for the US and the other for the UK. The number one song for my birth date is Sugar Sugar by The Archies, which I thought was pretty cool -- I love that song! It even gives you a pic of the 45 single which I’ve posted below.




There are so many neat web sites that people have put together, but there is also a hundred times more crap. It’s great to feeling after sifting through all the crap to find something interesting. Give it a try, just click on the link here: Number One Songs

Bath Day For Mr Deuce

Giving Mr Deuce a bath always seems to be a struggle. He simply does not want to get in the bathtub. He doesn’t mind if we walk in the pouring rain, he never even seems to notice the water. He’ll even jump into the ocean if I let him. When it comes to water in a bathtub, he becomes a big baby. A couple of times he even went as far as whimpering -- what a tough dog!

I told Susan about our bath adventures, so she decided to come and witness the process with our camera. To my surprise, Mr Deuce took on a totally different attitude towards the bath. Having her there really calmed him down. I guess he didn’t want her to see him being a big baby. He still dislikes the bath but his fight is minimal.

Today was the second time Susan took pictures. The first time, the pictures magically disappeared from the camera before we could save them to the computer. We think that Mr Deuce somehow managed to erase them. Not this time however. I saved the pics right away, so even if Mr Deuce wants to delete them, he’ll never figure out how to get them off the computer.

Getting in the tub.

Getting Wet.

Getting Soapy.

Drying off.

Oatmeal

Sometimes oatmeal is just the best thing for breakfast. I’ve been wishing for it for a few days now, so this morning I made some for Susan and myself. I cooked it with some raisins and made some toast to go with it as well. Oatmeal is filling and warms your whole body. Not only that, it helps to lower cholesterol, just like Cheerios (which are made from oats -- go figure). It’s great to have something hot and filling for breakfast, instead of just gobbling down a couple of bowls of cold cereal, which is what I usually do.

My Favourite Musical Instrument

Here is a short list of musical groups which I listen to on a regular basis: Nine Inch Nails, Rob Zombie, Marilyn Manson, The Prodigy, Tool, Rammstein, Nox Arcana. Now, knowing the type of music I listen to, you might be surprised to find out what my favourite instrument is. You might guess guitar or drums which are both very prominent in my music but it’s neither of them. Nine Inch Nails uses a lot of piano and synthesizers but they are not what I’m looking for. In fact, you would be hard pressed to find my favourite instrument in any of the music I listen to. I’ll give you a hint: it’s a classical instrument. Another hint: I have omitted one band in my list on purpose, which is Apocaliptica. If you know of them, you know my favourite instrument.

When Laura was in grade six, she decided to join the strings program in her school. The instrument she chose was the viola, which is close to my favourite. If you haven’t guessed, it’s the Cello. There is something about the Cello that takes me to another place. The music goes right through me, becomes a part of me. I often go to U-Tube, search “Cello” and let the music flow over me. I love it.

I am not musical in any way. I cannot hold a tune, read music or play any instruments, but if I ever decided to pick something up, the Cello is what it would be.

Peel A Banana Like A Monkey

Banana’s are my favourite fruit and one of the few that I will eat with any regularity. All my life I’ve had the common problem of opening them without difficulty. I take the stem and bend it. Sometimes it opens easily, but most of the time it just bends. I usually have to use my nail to break the skin in order to open and peel it. I’ve never seen anyone else open a banana any other way, until the other day.

I was browsing the internet and saw a link How To Peel A Banana Like A Monkey. Curious, I took a look. To my surprise, monkeys do not open banana’s from the stem but from the other end. They simply pinch the bottom and the peel splits open with ease. It’s amazes me to think how advanced we think we are, but I just learned something from a monkey.

BTW: if anyone is interested, this is my 200th post. Yay!

Let The Right One In

Often when a movie which is based on a book comes out, the book is considerably better than the film. At least that’s what I find.

Last year I viewed a Swedish film called “Let The Right One In”. I fell in love with the movie and have watched it multiple times, in the original Swedish with sub-titles and also dubbed in English. (I prefer watching foreign films with sub-titles in the original language because so much is lost in translation when a movie is dubbed, especially the tones of the voices -- you get to hear what the director originally wanted you to hear.)

The film is an original story about a young boy who is terribly bullied in school. He ends up befriending a girl who looks his age but is actually a 200 year old vampire. It’s not a typical vampire story. The cinematography is also magnificent. So many different picturesque settings. The director, I feel, did a great job of catching emotion in the snowy landscape of Sweden.

Recently I was in a bookstore, just browsing, and I came across the book from which the movie was made. I bought it on the spot. When I’d finished reading the book, I was very impressed. Not only was it a very enjoyable read, it also proved that they did an excellent job in converting the story to film. A lot of subtle questions which were raised in the film were now answered. Some scenes were changed but only for filming practicality -- the story stood strong. Really the only parts missing from the movie were a few sideline stories and some history.

In closing I will state that the movie is still one of my favourites and I would recommend either the book or the movie to anyone, especially if you like vampire stories and want something a little different.

Movie Night

Last night, Susan and I went out to see a movie courtesy of our oldest son, Eric. Susan was dropping him off at work the other night and and he passed her some money. He told her that it was for us to go to a movie, his treat. Eric has grown up to be such a thoughtful young man.

The show we went to see was Blindside, starring Sandra Bullock, which was playing at the Roxy -- a small, one screen movie theatre. Neither of us had ever been to the there, so it was a new experience for us. Very quaint. The sound was not very good, the screen fairly small and when it rained, we could hear it tapping on the tin roof. We had a very good time. Nice to get out for a bit, especially because we were so busy over the holidays.

The movie is a true story about an upper class family who took a homeless boy, Michael Oher, into their home. They ended up adopting him and he eventually became a pro football player. It was a touching story.

When we got home, Susan searched on the internet and found quite a few U-Tube movies about him and his family. That made a bigger impact, reflecting on the film.

All in all, it was a fantastic evening. Thank you Eric.