WOW. CHECK OUT THESE DEALS.

$12.96? What a DEAL! What a STEAL!

I know someone who ought to invest in one that (insert profanity here) works!

Cutest Kids EVER

I'm sure I'm going to get in trouble for this, but I have to post my nephew's pictures that my sister sent me this weekend. Too damn cute!

Saskatchewan Supreme Court Custody Decision

A seven year old boy was the centre of attention when he challenged a court
ruling over who should have custody of him. The boy has a history of being
beaten by his parents and the judge awarded custody to his aunt.

The boy confirmed that his aunt beat him more than his parents and refused
to live there. When the judge suggested that he live with his grandparents
the boy cried out that they beat him more than anyone.

In an unprecedented court ruling, the judge dramatically allowed the boy to
choose who should have custody of him. Custody was granted to the
Saskatchewan
Roughriders this morning as the boy firmly believes that they are not
capable of
beating anyone......

Of swims and telephone quizes

I took my first telephone quiz in Economics today. I got a 90%.

Hip Hip!

Whoppdie doo!

king king karoo!

I’m pretty happy anyways. In other news, I swam my second time this week and I swam 46 laps today in 32 minutes. It was better than the other day, i think in about 2 weeks I'll be doing a lot better than my first day.

In other news, I was fighting with my suppliers at work, a delinquent account lied to me and I had some serious onsite problems on a job.

FUN!

Responsibility

The power to fulfill our dreams is within each one of us. We alone have the responsibility to shape our lives. When we understand this, we know that nothing, and no one, can deny us greatness. We are the ones pushing ourselves forward or holding ourselves back. The power to succeed or fail is ours alone.

Swim? Swam? Sunk!

I went swimming today, the first time in about a year. My body hurts.

When I took my bronze medallion and bronze cross, we had to do some serious swimming. We had to be strong enough to do:

Medallion: 24 laps in 14 minutes.
Cross: 28 laps in 14 minutes.

I could do 28 laps in 10 minutes. When I was doing my bronze cross, I beat most of the people doing bronze medallion!

Today, I astounded myself by doing 40 laps in 36 minutes. And I am awfully tired. But my plan is to go swimming at least 3-5 times a week, so hopefully I can improve on my time.

Between swimming and squash, I should get my endurance back up!

Appreciative of an unknown woman

Today I almost had a mental breakdown. I had to buy an extra extension for a class that I was taking through University of Athabasca. They have been great to work with thus far, but I have two more assignments to go plus the exam and my contract is due October 31. So, just like the other times, I decided to purchase my last extension. However, in it’s wisdom, University of Athebasca has implemented a new policy (as of September 1st) that all extensions have to be given one month prior to contract due date.

So, when I phoned to extend my contract this morning… I was greeted by an incredibly cheery woman who informed me that it was my responsibility to check the website DAILY for changes in the administration policy.

BOO URNS TO YOU LADY.

Anyways, I got in contact with a wonderful woman named Sylvia who gave me a contract extension over the phone only because she felt sorry for the situation. Her exact words were, “If you fill out any forms, you won’t get this extension, but if you do it on the phone I can help you. Unfortunately, the University Administration who makes these rules don’t have to listen to the students when they phone in… I work in student services and that is what we are about, servicing the Student!”

I have never heard such a wonderful response from anyone who has ever worked at a University EVER! I only wished that more people like her worked at the university...

Sylvia, you saved my ass! I salute you!

And God created Woman

"Women don’t generally define themselves by what they do, but by who they are. They are the nurturers, the comforters and the restorers. When the husband or children come home bruised and bleeding from the hostile world they live in, it is the woman who holds them and makes everything all right. It is she who listens to their war stories and calmly builds them back up, making them ready to face the challenges of another day. These are divine strengths given to the female psyche." - Scott Farhart, MD.

This is a quote I really liked from the book I'm currently reading.

The other day I had to serve a man with a garnishee, and as I walked up to his house, I could hear his wife just screaming at him, calling him things that would make a sailor blush with shame. As I heard this, I thought to myself, "Man, this guy is not having a good day." I mean, this guy is just an average joe who works damn hard for a living, slaving away as a contractor. Sure, the guy owes our company money, but that just means he's bad with money, it doesn't make him a bad person. So, when he gets home from a bad day, he has to listen to a lady who calls him stupid and ignorant, etc. I would think that a person should come home to escape from work and the outside world, not go to work to escape the home life…

I used to be in a huge rush to get married and to find the right woman for me. I was very preoccupied with being alone for the rest of my life. But after hearing that, being alone doesn’t look so bad! I could be married to a woman who belittles me and speaks to me like I’m a mistake! I think would rather be alone and happy then be stuck with someone who didn’t treat me well. I certainly hope that my wife never speaks to me the way he was being spoken to.

I hope that the wife that I end up with is a nurturing woman who loves me for who I am. I hope she will listen to my stupid stories about work, even though I might be in the wrong. I hope that even though I might make mistakes (I’m almost certain to) I hope my wife won't hold it over me and talk down to me. I want my wife to appreciate me for the person that I am, and I want her to push me to be the man I'm capable of being. A good woman recognises that a man needs his pride to be stroked sometimes, and that he needs to feel loved and appreciated. (He also needs to be told he’s wrong sometimes too!)

Farhart writes this beautifully.

I just finished watching Ghost. It is such a good movie, but (for all who know me, this won’t be a surprise) it made me cry. I am such a sucker for chick flicks. (and Demi Moore. Short, curvy Brunette. Sounds like my type! Although I think I like her better before her boob job)

I was going to watch the Longest Yard, but Ghost was on tonight, so I decided to watch it. I had the fire going (which, by the way, is very difficult to get going if you have damp wood. It took me an hour of tending the fire to keep it burning…) and I cuddled up on the couch and watched my movie.

It would have been a great night to be cuddled up with a lovely woman

It's a slow day for a change...

Today is a catch up day. The last couple of weeks have been really busy. Work is fantastic, we are in the middle of some nicely sized pours, we’re looking at getting some new equipment, and the snow hasn’t hit the ground yet!

I’ve been learning a lot over the last few months working along side with my uncle and my dad, dealing with a lot more executive decisions. I’ve had to deal with some inter – office problems, inter managerial problems and some other conflict that I’ve never had to deal with before.

I've also being Quality Control on the mine job that is very high spec. Some early mornings and late nights either way...

On top of that, I’m finishing up my economics. I’ve also learned that the U of M will not accept my Mount Allison 2nd year Statistics course on my transcript. Whether or not they accept the computer course is still pending. Either way, I’m very frustrated with the transfer credits department. Now I am going to have to take some other Bull#*$& class just to convocate. I am thinking about taking 6 classes this in January, but I might just hold off and take them via correspondence again.

Needless to say, I’ve been learning a lot!

I like this one

Brian Hester invited his mother over for dinner. During the course of the
meal, Brian's mother couldn't help but keep noticing how beautiful
Brian's roommate, Stephanie, was. Mrs. Hester had long been Suspicious of a
relationship between Brian and Stephanie, and this had only made her more
curious. Over the course of the evening, while watching the two react, Mrs.
Hester started to wonder if there was more between Brian and Stephanie, than met the eye.

Reading his mom's thoughts, Brian volunteered, "I know what you must be
thinking, but I assure you Stephanie and I are just roommates."
About a week later, Stephanie came to Brian saying, "Ever since your
mother came to dinner, I've been unable to find the beautiful Silver gravy
ladle.

You don't suppose she took it, do you?" Brian said, "Well, I doubt it, but I'll send her an e-mail just to be sure."
So he sat down and wrote: Dear Mother, I'm not saying that you "did" take the gravy ladle from the house, I'm not saying that you "did not"take the gravy ladle. But the fact remains that one has been missing ever since you were here for dinner.
Love, Brian


Several days later, Brian received a letter from his mother that read:
Dear Son, I'm not saying that you "do" sleep with Stephanie, and I'm not saying that you "do not"sleep with Stephanie. But the fact remains that if she was sleeping in her own bed, she would have found the gravy Ladle by now.
Love, Mom

I like this one, I think it's cute. That Mrs. Hester is one crafty woman. But I wonder why the author felt it important to give his character in a joke a last name. Just a thought...

Check out my boobees

I saw this on a friend's MSN profile

"It's better to have met you than to dream of you and awaken to emptiness."

What kind of a saint are you?

You are Julian of Norwich! It's all about God, to
you. You're convinced that the world has a
happy ending. Everyone else is convinced that
you're a closet hippie, but you love them
anyway.


Which Saint Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

All is good

Despite my paint on the floor (allegedly) my wall is done and it looks great.

My friend Kim told me that she couldn’t even tell where the hole was.

YAY!

Now to clean the furnace room…

Ya know what really grinds my gears?

When you are getting ready to put on your final coat of paint on your little project at home and you shake the can of paint and some stupid ass forgot to close the lid tightly (I mean, who knew you had to pound that lid on really really hard?) so you get paint all over your hardwood (or fake hardwood floor)!

I'm glad that it hasn't happened to me yet.

Because it would make me really &$*%$*&$# mad.

Feeling very virtuous this evening

Well, tonight I finished a patch on my wall that I put there a long time ago.

My wall needed some drywall patching, which I did patch, but I never got around to painting it. So, this weekend, I picked up a sander and I started to patch up my, well, my patch. (hee hee)

So, I sanded, and patched, and sanded and patched, and sanded and patched, etc… and now I’m finished. I primed the patch and then put my first coat of paint on the wall. You can’t even tell there was a patch! I have one more coat to do tomorrow and I’ll be all done.

I also cleaned up my house today and fixed my stove. :-)

I’m feeling very accomplished today.

KKK in Saskatchewan?

I came upon this website, a rural newspaper article, and was disgusted that it is true. I asked a few people around here and have been told that when they were young they can remember the clan being in Saskatchewan.

Man, the stuff you don't learn in grade school... To think that perhaps some of the people that I deal with now were (and maybe still are) clan members.

I'm sure glad that I've never seen or heard of any activity in my lifetime!

funny

Jesus was walking when he came upon a quarrell.

There was a group of men preparing to stone a woman. He asked the group, “why do you want to stone this woman?”

They replied, “She has commited adultery.”

He then said, “Let he who is without sin throw the first stone.”

At once, a stone fell from the earth and hit the woman on the head. Jesus looked up to the sky and said, “Dad, would you mind? I’m trying to make a point here…”

Irony

I hope I’m not the only one who sees the irony in this story…

Today at work, I had a very odd fellow come into my office. He wanted to buy some landscape blocks. He wanted me to explain to him how these concrete blocks work. Now, I don’t want to seem like a pompous ass, but they are landscape blocks. You stack them. Once it’s explained once, it should not be explained more than once. I explained it to him about 8 times.

But that’s not the ironic part. He wanted me to stay open late tonight so he could buy some blocks. Our office closes at 5:00. We normally have no issues staying open longer, but nobody could stay late. I had a squash game (in the league that I play in) and I couldn’t take the time off and I was trying to explain to this man that we close at 5:00, but I could arrange for someone to be there tomorrow morning or even early Monday. It was not good enough, he wanted me to stay open on Friday. So, I cancelled my plans because the customer is always right. He said he’ll be there shortly after 5:00.

Here’s the irony. When he came at 5:45 (a far cry from just a little after 5:00), and we loaded him up. I was chit chatting with me about life and I asked him what he does for a living. And he said, …

Wait for it….

Wait….

“I’m a banker”

Now, back me up here people. I have been at the bank, desperately needing to pay bills and drop off deposits, right when they close and have the girl at the door LOCK IT IN MY FACE.

LOCK IT. Right as I went to open the door, she locked it. She actually ran so I would not get in.

And he practically begged me to stay open late.

Yoy.

When it was all over, I had to have a little giggle because it was too ironic for words.

Where's the justice in the civil justice system?

Here’s a scenario.

A man walks into a stereo shop. He picks out a stereo that he likes. Then he leaves the store with the stereo without paying for it.

Merriam Webster defines stealing as: “to take or appropriate without right or leave and with intent to keep or make use of wrongfully”

Did our man steal?

It depends on the situation.

Let’s add to the story.

A man walks into a stereo shop. He picks out a stereo that he likes. Then he leaves the store with the stereo without paying for it. He doesn’t tell anyone that he is taking the stereo, he just leaves with it.

This is stealing. Depending on the cost of the item, it may only be considered shoplifting and not theft. Either way, it is a violation of the criminal justice system.

Let’s change the scenario.

A man walks into a stereo shop. He picks out a stereo that he likes. Then he leaves the store with the stereo without paying for it. He tells the clerk that he is not going to pay right away, but he will be back in a week once he receives his paycheque. The clerk asks him to sign the bill, saying that he has taken the product and received the goods in good condition and agrees to pay any interest accumulating after 30 days from invoice. However, this man chooses not to pay.

See where I’m going with this?

Now the owner of the shop cannot call the police and have the crook arrested. Mainly because he has entered into a contract with the individual, which makes this a civil dispute. Although the recent scenario does fit Mr. Webster’s definition, he is not considered a thief.

If the man wants his money, he has to serve the defendant with a summons to take him to court. The court date is normally about 1 month in advance from when the summons is issued. If the man does not show up in court, then there is what is called a default judgement, saying that defendant owes money to the plaintiff. Then the plaintiff has to wait another 30 days just in case the defendant wants to dispute the charges.

You would think this means a lot, but it doesn’t. A judgement is only a piece of paper saying, “The court agrees that this person owes you money. You may now legally proceed in trying to collect it.” SUCKER. (it doesn’t say sucker, but it might as well).

Now to collect the money, you need to get garnishees. A garnishee can either be for wages, or against a bank or against anyone who owes the defendant money. And it is as easy as pie to get around. If you owe money to someone and you are garnisheed, all you have to do is backdate your cheque and say that you paid him before you were served.

Geez, isn’t that freaking lovely?

Oh, I forgot! That is only if the fellow doesn’t show up in court. If he shows up in court, then they have to set a court date. So the judge sets up a date for a trial, and at the trial, the defendant and the plaintiff both get the opportunity to say their piece.

So, the plaintiff shows the judge the invoice saying that monies are owed by the defendant for the stereo that he received.

But defendant simply says, "Judge, that’s not my signature. Here’s my signature from my credit cards, it doesn't match. I didn’t receive the stereo." The judge rules in favour of the defendant and throws the case out of court."

So, now you have lost the judgement, the man does not legally owe any money to the stereo dude. The defendant has stolen from the store owner, and he did it legally!

Isn’t the justice system great?

Bad Reconciliation

There is good reconciliation.

Good Reconciliation is when you go to church and confess your sins to a priest. When you’re done, you always feel better and refreshed, like a weight has been lifted off of your shoulders.

Then there is Bad Reconciliation.

Bad reconciliation occurs when you go shopping like a fiend and you buy everything with very little regard to cost. When it comes to reconcile your visa statement and realise that you’ve overspent your entire year’s budget on clothes in one weekend is bad, that is bad reconciliation.

Holy crap. I was in Winnipeg for Thanksgiving and decided to go shopping for a tie, and I ended spending way too much money. I was actually saving my money to plan a trip, but I’ve given up on that voyage, things are just not working out. So, I figured I would buy some nice threads.

And now I look great in some nice clothes.

I just can’t afford to go anywhere in them. *Blush*

Insert White Flag here

I hate to say it, but I am admitting defeat. Waving my white flag, I am giving up. And those who know me know how hard it is for me to admit that I'm wrong, so I hope you all apprecaite it...

I know nothing about women. NOTHING! Zip. Zilch. Niente. nichts
何も Nada. Rien. Ничего.

I don’t understand anything about them. I don’t know what they want, I don’t know what they need, I don’t know what they mean when we communicate. I do not comprehend anything beyond the literal translations behind the English words that leave their mouths.

I used to think that I understood women, that I had an inside track that other men did not have access too. That other guys just don’t understand girls, but I do.

Oh, what a fool.

Here’s an example demonstrating how my complete misapprehension of the female is unparallel.

Situation: I was dating a girl recently. We had some nice dates, but she told me that she was also seeing someone else, and although she thought that I was a great guy (she’s right) she was going to pursue things with her gentleman friend, because she had known him longer and she doesn’t know me that well. I told her that that’s fine, but we decided to remain friends because she was a pretty cool chick to hang out with. Now, she made it very clear that this friendship was a non-sexual friendship, to which I agreed.

So, I took another girl on a date, (which, I might add, was wonderful) but my new found friend caught wind of it. She phoned me “very hurt” because I was seeing other people.

HUH?

To me, if someone doesn’t want to date me, then she doesn’t have to. In this case, she did not want to date me, because there was greener pastures elsewhere. So, once she has decided that we are not going to date, then I am free to date other people. This makes a lot of sense to me. But she is upset because I am dating another girl. This does not make sense to me.

I think the reason I am perplexed is because my judicious evaluation of the situation has used logic and rational. It is sensible and reasonable and is well thought out. Yet, here I am, feeling stupid for not understanding.

Perhaps if I completely removed all logic and rational from my thought process, I will understand what has confounded man for Centuries. Or, as Melvin Udall put it in As Good as it Gets (when asked how he writes women so well), “First, I think of a man. Then I take away all rational and accountability.”

There are more situations that would act as better examples, but to mention them would not be in good taste.

Either way, I've been feeling very frustrated lately.

Google Fun

I've seen this on a few blogs now, I've decided to try it.

Type: "[Your name] needs" into the google searchbar. Here are my results:

1. Jonathan needs to draw up a business plan.
2. Jonathan Needs To Go, Jonathan needs to be redeemed, or made completely evil
3. the small indoor only GO-BOT will not meet Jonathan's needs since it
is too low to the ground for outdoor use, and the construction is not sturdy.
4. Jonathan needs to draw up a business plan
5. Jonathan needs to restructure his portfolio, Jonathan needs to sell and restructure these holdings
6. Jonathan needs an experienced, skilled family that is understanding of his special needs
7. Jonathan needs improved fine
8. Jonathan Needs and James Burke to develop a series of specialised business to business meetings forums across a range
9. jonathan needs to start drinking more beer
10. Jonathan needs to leave

Daynight savings time?

Welcome to Saskatchewan! Today, it was dark at 6:30pm. And this morning, I got up for work at 5:30 and it didn't get light until 7:00am. I hate getting up for work when it’s still dark outside.

This is normal for Saskatchewanites, but just one hundred kilometers away, it was 7:30 before it got dark.

In other parts of the country, it doesn’t get as dark as early as it does here. In the summer, I love living here because it doesn’t get dark until 11:00, but when it starts to get well into autumn, the bliss of late night golf is replaced with the frustration of dark mornings when going to work. When I lived out East, it didn’t get dark in Autumn as long.

Speaking about living out East, I loved how the leaves stay vibrant colours in the Autumn time. Here the Autumn leaves stay for about 28 hours and then flump! Fall to the ground. (That’s the sound they make when they fall, flump!).

All in all, even though I am complaining, I love my town and my geographical location. Saskatchewan is a great place to live.

:-)

Busy Weekend

Wow, what a weekend!

I took a good part of the day off on Thursday and all day Friday of this weekend. I drove to Regina to pick up a friend from the airport, then we drove to Winnipeg for the weekend. She flew in to be the date for a wedding I was going to.

We played Texas Hold’em, ate good food, drank good wine and shopped (and I bought too many clothes. I now look really good, but have no money). It was a good weekend all around.

The reason my buddy came into town with me is that she was my hot date to a wedding. My cousin Julian was getting married. The wedding was absolutely spectacular. The choir was a Ukrainian Male Choir and they are phenomenal. They were very moving, I cried when they sang the Lord’s Prayer. My cousin Julian and his three brothers were apart of the choir growing up, so the choir sang at the wedding.

The other neat part of this wedding is that all four brothers are Ukrainian dancers and they are all very prestigious. The eldest brother in particular is one of the best dancers in Western Canada. So, at these types of weddings the dancing is a spectacle to see. In normal circumstances, I would say that I am a pretty good dancer, but not in those conditions!

I got to spend the weekend with my two favourite little boys, my 17 month old nephew and my 3 week old nephew. They were wonderful. My mom and dad took Carson (the older brother) home with them for the week and is bringing him back next week to Jac and David.

The only disappointing thing about the weekend is that I wasn’t going to get to eat any traditional Thanksgiving Turkey! I spent Thanksgiving at this wedding, so we never got to hold a big family get together and enjoy thanksgiving as we normally do. But Alas, I stopped to see my Grandma on the way home from Winnipeg and she had turkey and stuffing all ready for us (my parents and myself) when we arrived. So we really had a wonderful weekend!

Happy thanksgiving!

Very exciting...

I had a very nice night tonight. I had my first dinner party! Two couples that I know came over and we had salmon steaks and Fettuccini Alfredo. It was mighty tasty and the company was mighty good too.

Between work being crazy busy and my personal life being crazy busy, I have been on the move for the month or so, so I have enjoyed the day to myself in my home, and I'm looking forward to just lazing around until Monday morning.