When Mossy met Outburst

Through a series of strange little coincidences (no, I won't call it a Series of Unfortunate Events), I discovered that Outburst and I work for different parts of the same organziation. It's not really surprising that we didn't figure this out sooner given the size of the org., but it was still nice to make the connection. He was mulling over new work opportunities, and I offered to help. While that piece of things didn't come to pass, we decided to celebrate the breaking of the fourth (blog) wall when he was down in my neck of the woods.

It's always nice to confirm that bloggers are as affable and articulate in person as they are in their various entries, and he's certainly no exception. We enjoyed a rare afternoon (post-work) on a local patio and I got to introduce him to the joys of Keith's Red Amber ale.

Consider it a standing invitation, Outburst. :)

207.4 (or, an Answer for Bat-Rider)

Was happy to see the scale down a little bit more this morning.

After a long, four month absence, I returned to the rink last night. I admit, I was a little nervous about playing again. I was worried about the amount of rust on my already shaky game as well as being worried about how the knee would hold up.

In spite of a loss, I managed to make it through the game intact and uninjured. Now that I'm only playing one night a week (thanks to some nicely immature communications on the part of my former Thursday team) it will take me a while to get back into the groove. (or is that "rut?)

P and I are back with the midwife tomorrow and because the appointment is a little later in the morning I will be able to have my morning workout at a semi-reasonable hour.

Can I get a "yay"?

208.8

So far so good. I bounced back up a few pounds but I expect that as part of the process.

I hit the gym pretty hard after work today, and I managed to work off some lingering bullshit. I won't get into the details, but suffice it to say some people have no balls at all.

Anyway, I'm feeling better and Penny says she's noticing a difference. I'm probably losing fat and regaining some muscle, so I don't have a true picture of what's been lost versus anything gained....I just know the bottom line.

Hockey starts on Monday. Will be interesting to see how much rust I have to shake off after 4 months of not playing. ~yikes~

209.4

The weight has been coming off at a reasonable rate and I've been pretty good about the gym. It's not quite as effective as getting pushed by Wesley Crusher, but I think I'm doing okay. I've started incorporating the bosu ball with a few of my exercises, and it really is a challenge. On Monday, I decided to do my cardio work by walking to/from the gym. It's 6.4 km as a round trip, so that's not a bad way to do it.

Still aiming to be below 200 by the end of this month and I'd REALLY like to be under 190 when convocation rolls around. I'd settle for being back down a pant size, though....

Thoughts on the Labour Day Classics

There's nothing quite like spending Labour Day enjoying the real turning point of the CFL season. I got to enjoy the two big rivalries on Monday, Edmonton/Calgary, and Toronto/Hamilton. (I also enjoyed Michael Bishop's debut for Saskatchewan on Sunday, where they got a convincing win over Winnipeg in the so-called "Banjo Bowl")

Anyway, there's not too much to say about the western game except I wasn't sure why the Esks were sporting green helmets, and that the Calgary offence seemed to disappear after half-time....to say nothing of the defensive secondary.

The Argos/Cats tilt lived up to its usual level of intensity. While I'm happy with the result, I'm not thrilled about a few things.

1) Poor capitalization on turnovers. The Argos left a lot of points un-taken and we wound up setting for FG instead of TD.
2) Dropped passes. It looked once again like Nigel Williams tribute night out there. I love Bethel Johnson's speed, but even he knew he blew some really catchable balls
3) Stupid Penalties. Can someone please explain how Adriano Belli managed to cost the D 25 yards of field position and NOT get benched for his efforts?? There's intensity of play, and then there's stupid. You do the math.
4) Blown Field Goal. Pretty sure the Special Teams coach will be drilling the boys after that botched attempt in the 2nd quarter.

On the positive side, there were some nice things to be seen, like Bryan Crawford getting that late TD, Mike O'Shea picking up the blocked kick and turning himself into a running back, Kerry Joseph's running, and a team back at .500.

I do feel bad for Winnipeg and Hamilton, now stuck at 2-7 records because the East should be more competitive. I wonder when the plug will be pulled on Doug Berry and Charlie Taaffe? Those two 3rd and short decisions Taaffe made will likeluy come back to haunt him. The Argo "D" couldn't have come up with a stop at a better time for the second one.

Let the run to the playoffs begin!!!

212.2

With the kidlet on the way (and hockey season fast approaching) I finally got off my can and got back to the gym this weekend. I was reasonably smart and I didn't push myself too hard but still managed to get a half-decent workout. As much as I'd like to be able to afford to go back to train with Wesley Crusher again, that's not in the cards. So, I went back in my workout book and repeated most of a workout from about 18 months ago. I figured that would keep me on track.

I felt better for doing it and I ate pretty well this weekend.

Let the re-shaping begin (again)!

Fuckity

I did it to myself again

Tried to use the iGoogle blog interface to generate a post and mistakenly tried to refresh my email. Methinks I need to move this thingy to another tab in my iGoogle page.

(Outburst, I was actually writing something that you might appreciate. Specifically, the madness of the local sports media vis-a-vis the non-decisions of one Mats Sundin. But I wonder...does complaining about their silliness make me party to it???)

Is it possible to have an Urban Soaker?

According to the weather-guessers, we have set some sort of moisture record for this season.

In layman's parlance, the Toronto area has been summarily pissed upon. Over, and over, and over. Frankly, I didn't expect this kind of rain this side of Monsoon season in Indonesia. But I was quick to remind myself that I could have just as easily been spending my weekends in an open jeep on some kind of FTX (Field Training Exercise). As a sidebar, I knew a Reg Force Captain who loved to utter the phrase "it ain't trainin' if it ain't rainin'!". Of course HE got to spend the bulk of the weekend in the CP (command post) while we got to practice personal "pruning" and experiencing the early stages of trench foot.

...not that I'm bitter.

Anyway, I just wanted to rant about the weather, because getting into some long-winded beef about stuff like Mats Sundin's hockey future or the sad state of the Who Jays, or the shockingly large number of unsold ducats to the Buffalo Invasion would just be too easy.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Viva la Weekend!

I spent a day snipe hunting (with outcomes that Scott Adams could appreciate) and I am now home, relaxing and unwinding. Okay, so the relaxing came in the form of two large Rum & Cokes, but that's not really the point, is it?

Sadly, I have work stuff to tackle over the weekend so it won't all be relaxation and/or home reno activities. However, the work stuff is all part of my greater career advancement plan so I will make the necessary sacrifices.

And the list gets shorter...

This weekend saw some more tweaks and fixes completed at the Stone-Shagwell manor. I brushed in this nifty sand/polymer mix in the stones on the front walkway. When this stuff gets wet, it hardens and cures, not only locking the paves in place, but also preventing ants and weeds. Score one for the bipeds there. The other labour completed was the building of a shelf in the garage. Not just any shelf, mind you, but a hanging shelf that takes advantage of the high ceilings. I'll have to get a picture of this puppy to do it justice. It's actually the first of three ceiling-based shelves we will be putting up there. We don't make good use of the space in there, so lesser-used items and seasonal items can get off the floor, and that will help a lot. Sadly, I haven't figured out how to deal with the 2 big snow shovels, but a few ideas come to mind.

I didn't get a lot of sleep lat night despite some serious fatigue. Not quite how I wanted to kick off Monday, but what can ya do?

~ugh~

There's really nothing worse than the end of your vacation and trying to get back into the groove after you drag your hide back to the salt mines.

Don't get me wrong, I can be productive, and I am contributing (one of my colleagues even said "were you away???") but I always find it the equivalent of jogging through knee-deep water. Slow, messy, and awkward.

Just sayin'...

On other notes, I am excited at the start of the CFL season, and the hometown Boatmen might be able to go 2-0 if they smack the Pussy-Cats in the home opener at the Dome tonight.

I am baffled, however, at some of the NHL free agency moves. However, I am not surprised at the local media going bananas over Mats Sundin's non-decision with respect to his career. Every little indecision spawns 2-3 articles agonizing over it and performing some kind of navel-gazing analysis.

Gawd. You'd think this burg only had one team that mattered. Guys, he's likely not coming back. Get over it. Move on.

(I've missed my writing outlet. Glad school's over. For now. *8*)