Johnny: Year 40

Emerging from self-induced blog-coma

Well, so much for the frequent posts idea…

Here’s what’s been happening in my world.

April

Signed both boys up for karate classes at Pro Style Martial Arts. Both of the boys have really taken to it, and have each already gotten their yellow belts. The focus that C. shows in amazing, now if we could convince him to do the same for other things…

May

Started inventory-ing the to-do list for the summer, including some grading beside the garage, re-doing the deck, having a tree removed, re-insulating the attic, painting the inside of the garage.

Started the deck last week….

Went camping at the Carleton Area Beaveree with the whole fam dam. The weather was perfect, the kids had a great time.

I decided on a whim, that I was going to play soccer again, after 25 years. So I contacted the Kanata Soccer office, and asked if there were any spots available. It turns out there were, and I was asked to come out to a practice for an O35 (old-timers, yes) team. When I got home afterward, you couldn’t wipe the smile off my face. The next day, stairs were a challenge.

Anyway, I’ve been playing for two months now, having a blast. Though we haven’t won many games, we have downed a lot of Gunness after each game. I don’t remember that aspect of soccer from when I was 14.

June

Had an unfortunate incident with a grade one teacher who thought it might be a good idea to try psychology. During the last week of school. Much stress ensued. Much disillusionment with the boy’s school…

My good friend Colin, who we hadn’t seen since we were visting the UK in 2003, was in town for an extended business trip in June, and we managed to get together twice, once at our place for dinner, and then a night out at the Royal Oak. Good times, and nice to see old friends.

My wife went on a girls weekend, so the boys and I had a great time, movies, mini-golf, good fun. Boy they missed their mum though.

July was vacation time. Two weeks, (including the last of June) with the first at home, and the second in Toronto, during the heat wave. Went to the ROM and C and E were really jazzed by the dinosaur collection, the “bat cave” and, surprisingly, the minerals gallery. Went to the zoo. when it was 45 degrees. Thing about going to the zoo when it’s 45 degrees no one else does, and the animals basically sleep all day, so the zoo trip is remarkably quick, including the mandatory trip to the splash pad. When I was a boy, we didn’t have no splash pad at the zoo, we went, it was so hot our shoes melted, and WE LIKED IT!

The next week, I got a “boys” weekend with, well, the boys in Toronto to see the world’s geekiest band, Rush. Took VIA rail business class. Two important things for future reference. 1) they don’t serve alcohol on the 6:45 train. Not even mimosas. 2) Reserve your hot breakfast in advance. I got stuck with the fruit tray, which was good, but the mo-fo (more on that later) sitting in front of me’s mushroom and three-cheese omelet smelled really good..

So I get on the train, tired, plug in the iPod, hok up to the wifi and hope for a peaceful trip. Two minutes before departure, these three large guys get on the train, and sit down right in front of me, and they’re making a video, They’re talking to the “peeps” and I take it they were some sort of “band” or something. They were all muthafucka this and muthafucka that, and “You gots to show them your shit” (they had big ugly watches on). Real gangsta-types. So, they finish their video, and basically, dropped the act. Started speaking English. Blessedly, (aside from one of them taking the last un-claimed hot breakfast) they slept all of the way to Scarborough. Yup, those gangstas were from Scarborough….nuff said.

Anyway, concert was great, and got to see some buddies I haven’t seen in a while, and certainly not as a group. Its funny how group dynamics don’t change much, even after 15-20 years…

And that’s where we are now…

2010: 08/02
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Maybe watching HGTV isn’t a waste of time…

So, Friday, I was standing on the front step, watching the kids playing. Suddenly, I wasn’t standing on the step anymore, I was standing in the step.

Not something you want to have to deal with on a long weekend.

To be be fair, uh, to the step, I’ve been putting off dealing with it for a little while. Well, okay, ever since we moved in in 2007.

The step is comprised of a retaining wall, and then the interlock goes between the wall and the house. There’s a second “porch” area off to the side, and a lower, initial step. It’s not done the way Mike Holmes would do it, for instance they didn’t actually use retaining wall bricks for the retaining wall, but that’s not what was wrong.

It sounds simple enough but essentially what I’d been putting off doing was leveling the interlock,by removing the bricks, adding stone dust, leveling it out and replacing the bricks. Doesn’t sound hard, I mean I’ve seen it done on TV…

But that’s not what was wrong on Friday. On Friday, part of the step had collapsed, because there was nothing under the bricks.

So, Saturday, I pulled up the bricks, (rather cleverly numbering them so I’d know in which order to replace them) and then assessed the situation.

The void under where I was standing was about 7 inches deep and about 6 inches wide. I’m still not sure what caused it, but I have m suspicions. I don’t think it’s a result of water erosion, because it’s next to the house, and well sheltered. I suspect that it’s likely a result of the installer using anything and everything he could find as fill, including broken bricks, which caused a void, and with time it just shifted. Also, when the step was installed, the installer (I discovered later) had cut off part of the original cantilevered step, and built on top of it. I suspect they didn’t close off the space under the step, and the fill eventually spilled under that. It could have been chipmunks, because while I was doing the work there was a very interested-looking chipmunk hanging around.

Saturday, off to Home Depot I went. I figured I’d need three bags of stone dust, so I bought five, and one tube of landscape adhesive (there were a couple of bricks in the retaining wall that were loose), so I bought two. Unfortunately, I didn’t need to purchase any power tools .

First hurdle: I knew that one of the top bricks on the retaining wall was going to be an issue. Due to settling, there was a 1/2 inch difference between the part of the retaining wall that was integrated into the original step, and the part that was built on the ground. And that’s where this particular brick was supposed to go. I had to remove the next two bricks, then dig down, remove two courses of brick below the bricks in question, prop up one end of it to create a slope (propped up by a brick was being used as fill that I found,) and then glue them back in place. Success!

Next up: laying the bed of stone dust. I knew that the row of bricks next to the house was at more or less the right level, because they were on top of part of the original step and a few inches of stone dust, so I didn’t add anything to that. I thought I’d be smart and lay string from that row of bricks to the front of the retaining wall, and just filling up the step with stone dust to the right level, but in the end I didn’t doing that. I dumped the bag of stone dust, raked it level, tamped it down (I just used my feet, but you can get a piece of plywood, or rent a tamper from the Depot) and then used a 2 x 4 as a screed to get it flat. Sounds simple, right? I thought so too. This was easily the most-time consuming part of the job. I ended up using two of the five bags of stone dust for this. The rule-of-thumb I discovered was that if you think you’ve got enough stone dust, you probably don’t.

Finally, I was ready to put the bricks back. This part was surprisingly easy, and went fairly quickly, but by the time I was done, I didn’t feel like doing the “porch” part of the step, so I left it for the next day.

Sunday, I did the porch part of the step/ Now that I was an interlock guru, it went much more quickly, (I only needed one bag of stone dust) and I was ready for the final part.

The bricks were all in place, but needed to be adjusted slightly to look right. Once that was done, all that was left to do was to secure the bricks in place by sweeping stone dust into the space between the bricks. I figured I’d probably only need part of the fourth bag of stone dust, but ended up using the whole thing (see rule-of-thumb, above.)

All in all, I would have much rather done, well, anything else this weekend, but I must say, it feels really good to check this one off the to-do list, and the front step looks great.

2010: 04/05
CATEGORY: DIY
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What a great day!

Today was the first day of March Break. I took advantage of a meeting-free day to spend it with my boys.

Cat still had to go to work today, so she caught an early bus, and I let the boys wake me up. C suggested we go out for breakfast at Cora’s (if you’ve never been to Cora’s you should try it, but go hungry).

After breakfast I took them to the IMAX theatre at the Museum of Civilization to see Sharks 3D. What a riot. Unbelievable technology. The camera takes you through a school of sardines, a school of jellyfish (is it a school when it’s jellyfish?) they look like they’re leaping right out at you, E was reaching out trying to grab them. He says he caught one…but it got away, I’m not so sure…

After the film, we were able to meet up with Cat for lunch, had a stroll around downtown a bit, and then we headed home.

Sidebar! – A few weeks ago, we attended the local Scout Banquet (Cat’s been a Beaver leader for more than 20 years, and C is a Beaver.) Anyway, whereas when I was in Scouting, it was an occasion where each group got up, did a skit or a song, and everyone had a good time, now, it’s a fundraiser. So, they had a silent auction, and a raffle. E won a remote-control car through the silent auction. I’m thinking, “Great, that’s cool, but C is going to be absolutely green with envy, and I’m going to have to go and buy one to keep the peace.” Then, C wins another RC car in the raffle! Fantastic! Problem solved.

Oh – another sidebar! So, after the banquet, I’m taking the kids out to the car in the parking lot, and I ask E to grab on to the hem of my jacket, because my hands were full of, you guessed it, RC cars. Anyway, we get about halfway to the car and E pipes up, “Hey…it’s like I’m walking a big pet…that wears glasses…and talks!” God he’s funny…

Anyway, we get home after our trip to the museum, etc., and the boys decide it would be great to have a race in the basement with the two RC cars…well to be fair it was the two RC cars PLUS E, who decided it was more fun to run around chasing, and/or being chased by, the cars. So we lay out a start/finish line on the floor and we were off to the races. So much fun…

I’m so freaking tired…but this was the best day!

2010: 03/15
CATEGORY: Uncategorized
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Daredevil kids and mean kids

It’s been an interesting couple of weeks. E hurt his neck. We’re not sure how, but, as a parent, whenever a kid complains about a sore neck, you worry. “OMG what if it’s meningitis?” (It wasn’t. Thankfully.) It was Torticollis which sounds scary, but it’s essentially a “Tight Collar”, muscle spasm which misaligns the vertebrae in the neck. He’ll be fine in a few days. Great experience at the clinic and the chiropractor it was all cleared up in about a week. So E’s back to the somersaults, handstands, etc.

I’ve been sitting on this next bit for a while, letting it stew…

Bullies suck.

I went through it. C is already going through it at school and it breaks my heart.

So here, based on what I can get out of him, is what’s happening: He and his “friends” play tag at recess. Thing is, they only to chase him, and then they jump on him. When we asked him whether he got the chance to do the chasing, instead of being chased, he matter-of-factly says they always chase him because he’s the slowest runner. There have also been other isolated incidents. It all adds up.

The thing is, he doesn’t seem to realize, or care, that he’s being bullied. He just takes it. Doesn’t even tell the teacher. But I can tell it bothers him deep down. I’ve seen it before…

I fully admit that I’m sensitive about the whole subject of bullying. I also realize that just about everybody has to go through being picked on at some time or another. It seems some kids just instinctively know how to deal with it. It gets boring for the bullies and they move on. And that’s part of what worries me. I was picked on. It started pretty early, I never really learned how to deal with it, and it continued. And it affected me. My self-confidence, my self-image. It probably affected my performance in school, definitely my social life.

I do NOT want him to go through that. He is the sweetest boy. Scary smart. Thoughtful. Caring. Wears his heart on his sleeve. Always eager to please. So much potential.

I do NOT want that potential stifled.

We’ve talked to the teacher, and to her credit she’s done her part.

But, how can I teach him to deal with it and cope with it when I’m not sure I ever learned how?

We’re going sign him up for karate, so at the very least, he’ll learn how to stick up for himself a bit. At best, he’ll learn the pinky of death (or is that kung fu). Other than that I’m open to suggestions…

2010: 03/02
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Well that didn’t take long…

Already neglecting the blog. Bad Johnny. Bad Bad Johnny.

So here are a few flashes from the week.

Production Schedule is close to ready for presentation. Doesn’t really matter though because there is no way the client can deliver the content when we need it, so, back to the drawing board. I used to enjoy summer vacations…
Made some great progress with the new clients. I think I’m establishing a good rapport with them; next up, establishing trust. The trick here is that my new clients have a history of not trusting communications and so it’s going to be a challenge.
On a similar note, bumped into a former client at a retirement get-together for a colleague. She’s not too happy with my replacement, which made me feel great!
Went to the Sens game with Andrew on Thursday. I must admit I wasn’t hopeful for a victory, despite the recent 11-game winning streak. Couple of things struck me. First, man the Washington Capitals are a really, really good team. If they had a decent goalie, they’d be a shoe-in to go a long way. Second, these are NOT your father’s Ottawa Senators (unless your dad is Eugene Melnyk <hey-oh!>) They work hard, they never give up, they back each other up. They could go far too. Nice to see. And Spezza is shooting the puck! Sens 6, Caps 5.
So so so so very sad about Nodar Kumaritashvili the Georgian luger, killed during practise at the Games. I think the IOC and VANOC handled the situation very well, particularly during the Opening Ceremonies (which was outstanding, despite the glitch with the cauldron). Major respect goes to the Georgian team for taking part in the athletes parade, and major kudos to the crowd at the stadium for the standing ovation. I cannot imagine what that must be like for them.

I’m going to be more diligent at writing for the blog this week. We’re taking Family Day off to be with the boys so I am sure much hilarity will ensue…stay tuned.

2010: 02/13
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C-c-c-cold!

Great day today. Cat and I and the boys went to the annual winter Beaveree, held at the Carp Fairgrounds and MAN it was cold, especially when the wind picked up. Great and fun ities activfor the kids though – especially popular was the giant beachball (can you call it that when it’s -25?), the snow soccer (which degnerated into a form of rugby by the end), and tug of war. A very well-run event. The boys were fantastic, no meltdowns. They were real troopers cause, again, MAN it was cold.

And, added bonus! Kid falling asleep in the car on the way home.

Now hopefully I can enjoy a relaxing afternoon with my family, a cup of coffee, (or two) and then maybe a movie tonight.

2010: 02/06
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Shorty tonight

Today was a bit of a non-starter. Tried to hammer out this production schedule, but doing so in a vacuum isn’t easy. Everyone, I mean everyone, I needed to speak with was occupied until at least 3 o’clock.

I also put together a presentation for a meeting tomorrow, an analysis of our outreach and consultation activities, which are supposed to be posted on the neat web calendar we provide.

Highlight of the day was a short evening out for our friend Greg Werthman‘s CD release party at the Rainbow. Good music and in true “Small-town Ottawa” fashion, an old friend from high school, Scott, was there. Wild.

2010: 02/04
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Let’s give this a shot

I’m thirty-nine years old today. Wow. No, it doesn’t feel any different.

My birthday started off pretty well, got some sweet presents from the kids, then we dropped C at school, took E to Roland Michener to register him for JK - not the school we wanted to send him to, but due to a lack of proper planning (oooh, now THERE is a future topic for a post) they’ve moved the JK program from Stephen Leacock (where C goes, where Cat and I both went, which is the closest school to our house), to Michener (which I’m told has three, yes three, students of their own in JK, all the rest are going to Leacock next year). Then Cat and I drove to work, grabbing a Timmies on the way (love my Timmies).

So, there I was, at my desk, surrounded by Annual Reports, survey results, trying to wrap my head around my new files. You see, there was a portfolio shuffle about three weeks ago, and I moved from a great client, with neato projects to another great client with neato projects that are WAY out of my comfort zone. (I know, I know, it’s good to stretch yourself.)

First up on today’s docket – was a production schedule for an audit report. I haven’t done one of these in ages. I need to factor in the proposed tabling date, and then essentially work backwards the number of days it takes to handle: editing, translation comparative editing, final approval of the text by the client, the layout (both print and web), another proofread, and final approval by the client. I also need to figure out how much time the Minister will need to have before he – hopefully – tables it. Invariably, we need more days than there are. I have lots of confidence in the Comms branch team here, it’s the approvals that I think are going to bog us down, and lead to overtime for our editors and production folks.

This afternoon I competed in the Meeting Olympics. Today’s event was the Management Committee biathlon, a two-hour audit branch meeting followed by a 90 minute Directorate meeting. No chance to grab a coffee between the two, but I think I’ve still got a shot at the gold…

Not terribly exciting, but what would you expect from a middle-aged bureaucrat.

Hey…does that mean I’m eligible for a mid-life crisis?

2010: 02/02
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Forty seemed like it was a long way off. Now, it’s just a year away.

Forty.

I remember when my Dad was 40. He was pretty old. Forty seemed like it was a long way off. Now, it’s just a year away. Someone told me that forty is the new thirty. Maybe so, my back might not agree…

Anyway,m my whole idea here is to post something (almost) every day during year 40, or y-four-oh, if you like. Not sure what I’m going to cover at this point, so I’m going to play it by ear.

2010: 02/01
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Ok, now I REALLY need to grow up…