A better theme for Hockey Night in Canada

So just to balance things out, here's a better theme, it's from one of the guys I work with. If you like, vote for it, if you love it get your friends to vote for it.

cheers,
Pike

Hockey Night in Canada Theme

Yep, CBC is looking for a new theme, I'll post up one of the best ones, this however... may make it to Little Mosque on the Prairies style theme.

Enjoy, or not.

Return of the Geek

First day back at work after 2 weeks holidays. Walked in, half hour early so I could get my bagel toasted. (mmm... bagel and hummus, so good.) The grindstone was sitting by my desk, looking at the clock, tapping it's feet. There was a lot of work to do, but at least this time, stuff was actually done and I don't have a 2 week backlog to go through. It's about a 3 day backlog altogether, so not so bad.

I have come to the conclusion that each of my vacations are preparation training for retirement... or the retirement career. I only wore pants once the entire time, nothing but shorts for me. People are just happier in general, and in better spirits without pants.

Feels weird right now too, as the steel-toe boots for work are heavy as compared to the sandals. Oh well, not as if I don't need the exercise.

I researched out new recipes, I read a lot, watched a few movies... overall, a good vacation.

So... the retirement career. Something to work towards, imagine that.

Place to live is going to have to be on lakeshore. Small town nearby or built up around the area, House will have to be higher up above the lake, looking down. Local population will have to be large enough to support a small brewery... Will have to research some more, what will it take to become a brewer? Apprenticeship? Not much to ask for is it? Ideally that would be the retirement career for me, brewing beer and spirits for the rest of my days. Enjoying lake weather, spending a morning checking on the brewing, afternoon sampling, evening promoting.

Beats picking fly crap out of pepper.

367 days

367 days. Not one cigarette.

Plenty of cravings triggered by work stress, pain in my shoulders and from body, social stress, the after meal treat, the boredom, the socializing with other smokers... the list goes on, and I intend to keep track of them. My past posts here and on the AS3 support group show it.

And I won't forget, the cravings, the dreams, the rationalizations I tried to make. All of that subtle junkie behaviour that slides in. I won't forget the lies that it created in my habits and thoughts. And the stepping down from one patch to the next, the nicotine withdrawl dreams, the morning habit of removing the one patch, slapping on a new one.

Each and every craving denied means I'm getting closer to being normal. The progress makes me feel better than when I was smoking. But is this a path to being normal? I don't think so, it feels more like finding my control again.

(Then again, being normal is kind of overrated... it's always the black sheep of the family, the roguish personality that gets remembered. Otherwise the only memorable normal person would be Mr. Rogers, and he was ultra-normal. Seriously, extra large bucket sized normal with a side of normal, with a take out bag of normal.)

When it gets right down to it, I'm not going to let a leafy vegetable control me. I'm quite sure in a battle of wits or stomping, I will win out. Does my nicotine addiction control me? Not as much as it used to, in so many different ways. I'm still fighting back for control. It's still there, and probably will be for the rest of my life.

Have I kept up on my blog? No. Will I? Maybe, if I get time.

Have I started doing things I wouldn't have done as a smoker? Yes.

Have I saved the money that I would have spent on cigs? No. Have I found new ways to spend that money? Hell yes. Less bills, more savings plans, better weekends and in general better food.

And my student loan is paid off too. Weird. I really can't remember a time when I didn't have a student loan... and even then, I was in high school.

Recently my hometown had it's centennial. 100 years as a village. I went back, saw that not much had changed other than less people, people got older. Most of my high school class didn't show up other than my old bodyguards (more on that in a seperate post/blog if I get enough material on it together). The school and town itself has come a long way. Air hockey and fooseball tables, a small cafeteria area. Not saying it's a small town but this past year had a graduating class of 6.

And all of my past teachers have retired... scary thought. One of my past teachers voted me "the most likely to get a novel published" at my own graduation. I hope to think that I still have that in me, as I still have plenty of ideas to write, and I'm quite sure the publishers would like some more bird cage liner... errr.... submissions to read.

But my predisposition to stray off topic has still managed to keep hold... where was I? Oh yes, the 1 year done....

So what was I doing during that time when it rolled over 1 year? Was I watching my meter with baited breath? Nope, I was sleeping. It's vacation time for the next week and a half. 2 weeks of video games, catching up on movies, reading books, and just generally geeking out. Besides going back to my hometown, thats about all the travelling I'll be doing for a vacation. Besides, I have to get my geek on...

I can't promise that I won't take another cigarette in this lifetime. I can promise that I will try to stop myself in so many different ways if that situation arises. I do promise that I will laugh more and try and make others laugh more. Life is too short to not have any fun.

I can try and promise to post more to the support group but life comes up in so many different patterns and rhythms. Those who read this, are in my thoughts and equivalent of prayers/meditations, just remember, it does get better. And if not that then, try this one...

Pain shared is lessened, joy shared is increased. Thank you Mr. Robinson.

It has been 366 days without a cig, and today is looking pretty good.

This is my quit and I'm still here,
Pike
I have been quit for 1 Year, 1 Day, 1 hour, 12 minutes and 32 seconds (367 days).
I have saved $1,938.01 by not smoking 4,404 cigarettes.
I have saved 2 Weeks, 1 Day and 7 hours of my life.
My Quit Date: 8/6/2007 9:20 AM


Here's what's on my business card.

Seeker Of The Peace. Part Time Chandelier Cleaner. A Legend In His OWn Time. Oppressor Of Champions. Soldier of Fortune. World Traveller. All Round Good Guy. Progressive Time Traveller. International Lover. Casual Hero. Philosopher. Wars Fought, Bears Wrestled, Equations Solved, Virgins Enlightened, Revolutions Quelled, Tigers Castrated, Orgies Organized, Bars Quaffed Dry, Governments Overrun, Test Rockets Flown, Wives Tamed. Part time member of the Liquitarian Society of Saskatoon. (For proof of any of the listed abilities, please send 10 dollars to my paypal account, you may not get the proof, but I could use the money.)

Life is a waste of time.
Time is a waste of life
Get wasted all the time
And you'll have the time of your life.