Sports... Riders, etc.

So, these last few weeks have really revolved around my sporting life. We have played a few hockey games recently and done fairly well which is nice since we were terrible lately. I love playing hockey with the team but sometimes the complaining gets a little too much. We played probably our best game of the year on Friday and won 10 - 3. On Saturday, it was Jen's bday who is one of the girlfriends of one of the players on our team. It was a really fun night. We had supper at the page for her birthday which was a surprise 30th. We then went to Whiskey Jacks where my love for dancing took over for the night and pool. It was a really expensive night. The next day was the Rider West Final game and I'm really disappointed that I didn't go to the game but it was a crazy atmosphere watching the game at the sports bar here. My aunt even emailed me to tell me that she saw me on TV! The aftermath of the game was pretty crazy and I could probably write an entry on that alone but I won't. Anyway, I went out with a friend last night and we are going to the Grey Cup this weekend so that should be sweet.

Trip Report

So I went to Regina on the weekend, a place where I seem to find myself more frequently. I went with the intention of visiting some friends and playing some poker. Turns out the friends that I wanted to visit weren't around so they lended me their place for the weekend. The 2 1/2 drive to Regina is brutal and I couldn't stand it and having to listen to the radio. When I got there I headed straight to the casino. I played in one of the funnest tables that I have ever played at. We had 6 people playing in "drink pots". The rules are very simple, everytime one of the 6 players won a pot over $200 they would have to buy a round of drinks, well with the game we were playing almost every pot was over $200. The table was very friendly and loud which is a nice change of pace in a casino as it is usually filled with miserable degenerates. Two people ended up getting kicked out for having too much to drink and I ended up heading home around 6 am. Saturday was pretty much more of the same, I couldn't sleep at all which really sucked and I headed back to the casino at noon and played around 18 hours worth of poker. In hindsight I wish I hadn't played that long as I was drinking with a couple guys that were playing at the same table and we were all thinking about going out. it would've ended up being a lot more profitable going out than continuing to play poker. I even tried to convince one of the waitresses to go drinking but she told me that the bars were all closed and said the only place where there was beer was in her fridge yet I was too stupid to figure out what that meant.

Remembrance

I was meaning to update this yesterday but I'm lazy and didn't get around to it. So yesterday was Remembrance Day, the one holiday that actually means something to me, nothing else really seems to matter. Let's examine the following holidays and see the significance of each:

New Year's -- Celebration of the new year, nothing really important except for an excuse to get drunk with friends.
Valentine's -- NEVER EVER had a date on February 14....... EVER, needless to say that I hate this day
St. Patrick's Day -- Meh, not Irish and no one I know is Irish, enough said
Easter -- I definitely do not celebrate anything to do with Jesus Christ
Victoria Day -- I don't really even know what this is supposed to celebrate, Queen Victoria?
Canada Day -- This is the other holiday that has a big impact on me. I love this country and am very patriotic
Random Civic holiday -- .........
Labor Day -- Celebration of not working??
Thanksgiving -- I like the fact that I can give thanks to the life I have led but the significance of the holiday doesn't really mean anything to me.
Christmas -- See Easter. I use Christmas as a celebration of family and that does mean something to me.

So let me break down why Remembrance Day is so important to me. My Grandfather fought in WWII and was on one of those huge navy ships. Ever since I was a young boy I always loved my grandpa but was never able to truly respect and appreciate what he had done. I learned as a young child that my Grandfather got the Victorian Cross for rescuing about 5 fellow crew members from a burning ship. To me this was no surprise as I would constantly see him doing everything he could for others particularly his family. The man was so respected that there wasn't enough room in the hall for all the attendees. The only thing that bothered me about him was that he was on oxygen for most of the time that I remember him and he put my family through a ton of stress because of him being in and out of the hospital so frequently. There was one point where our entire family nearly witnessed his death first hand and that is an image I will never forget. We were sitting in hospital waiting for him to wake up when all of sudden doctors and nurses came rushing into the room. My grandma, two uncles, brother, and mom stood around his bed watching him go into some sort of shock with the doctors not knowing what was going on. After the episode was over he somewhat came to and looked around at all of us and said, "Is this heaven?" I remember this moment because it makes appreciate death and this was the moment my mother (who is not a religious person) 100% believed in her mind that my grandpa "saw the light at the end of the tunnel". The stress that he put on our family with these hospital visits will make me never smoke a cigarette in my life. When he finally died, my grandma and the rest of the family took it really hard. Right now there is a rock that sits atop the hill on our ranch where his ashes are laid that is so perfect because it oversees the entire farm out near Maidstone, SK. So this is why Remembrance Day means something for me, it is a tribute to my Grandfather who would do anything for his family and I know that there are thousands of other Canadians who also had family members like him. So I wear a poppy with pride every November 11 to remember all those who gave their lives and served for their country. Deep down inside it really bothers me when I see other people without a poppy on. Even though I worked on Remembrance Day I made sure that I didn't do anything between 9:55 - 10:10 and it was very nice to see 4 others who were working do the same.

Tomorrow, I am off to Regina for the weekend and am pretty excited for that fact. I will post a trip report when I get back.

So this is blogging.......

Well, at the suggestion of a friend who is also a co-worker I decided to create a blog. I'm not sure how well it will last or get updated but I am going to try it out and who knows, maybe I'll even enjoy this.