14Feb2006

The World Junior tournament, more snow and my guitar.

It's been a long time and I apologize for that. I hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday season.

I left Rayne and the puppies for a few weeks to have a trip out to Vancouver and watch the World Junior Hockey championships. For those that don't know, tickets had to be purchased a year in advance in order to get seats. My buddy Curtis and I attended almost all the games (21 in all) with the exception of a few of the relegation games near the end. Even for me (a self confessed diehard hockey fanatic) 3 games a day was just too much. I also came down with a flu bug sometime New Years Eve so for the last few days of the tournament I went from raving, cheering fan to a hockey zombie sitting quietly in my seat. Luckily I turned the corner somewhere on the last day of the tournament as Canada soundly thumped the Russian team 5-0. All in all I would do it again in a heartbeat. The hockey was fantastic!

Christmas was spent with the Davis family in Victoria. We had a nice day together and I got my dog fix as my Aunt Julie breads Yorkshire Terriers and there were a houseful when I arrived. My cousin Kirk and his wife Jane were there from Edmonton and were kind enough to give me DVDs of a TV show called Corner Gas. Something I truly appreciated because I can't get the Canadian made show down here and Rayne and I both really enjoy it. Any time spent with family during the holidays is time well spent IMHO (chat speak for "in my humble opinion").

After the tournament I went up to Kamloops for a couple of days to visit with Mom and my sister Vonny's family. Once again a nice visit, some good food and some absolutely awful singing. Actually I should explain the awful singing. Krista (my niece) received a karaoke microphone for Christmas. When I arrived at my sister and brother in-law's house the place was chock full with Krista and Carli's (my other niece) friends. They were taking turns with the karaoke machine. Now to say all the singing was awful would not be fair. Luckily my nieces and some of their friends could hold a tune. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for my brother in-law or Krista's new boyfriend. I was only glad my dogs were not there to endure the suffering the rest of us were subject to. Hopefully the karaoke microphone will help Jim since it actually gives you a score at the end to say how well you matched the correct pitch...

I then met up with my Dad. We drove down to Kelowna to check into the Rotary Cancer lodge. He was diagnosed with lung cancer shortly before Christmas and was scheduled for Radiation and chemotherapy. The lodge is a marvelous place and is situated right beside the hospital and cancer clinic in Kelowna. For patients the cost is only $30.50/day and for guests (if there is room) it's only $50.50. This includes your room (shared) and 3 meals a day. Absolutely everything in the lodge from beds to dishes and computers was donated. Trevor Linden donated the computer, way to go Trev! Dad had radiation treatment only while I was there. He couldn't have chemo right away as he needed a phlebotomy to reduce the red blood cell count. We spent a lot of time getting caught up and reading. Unfortunately since I have been back Dad has gone back to his home in Celista since he had some complications that meant he could no longer handle treatment.

The snow returned Saturday night with a vengeance, by Sunday afternoon we had about 2 feet of snow on the ground. Luckily the landlord has a snow blower! I can't imagine how long it would have taken me to shovel an 80 foot long driveway...Of course the dogs are in heaven although when it first snowed they looked more like rabbits as they hopped through the snow (they're only about 10-12 inches high). Since then the upper layer has hardened so now they can walk on top (although the occasional disappearing act does happen, pretty hilarious).

I've finally had an epiphany of sorts on the guitar! I've found a few very good websites that helped me to understand a few basic strumming patterns. I also started using a free piece of software called Audacity that allows me to record my playing. It allows me to record multiple tracks so I can play and then sing over top (something you don't really want to experience, trust me!).

I posted my resume on Monster.com, a site for jobseekers. In the first few days I had 4 phone calls from recruiters. Nothing has materialized yet but hopefully something will come up soon. While I enjoy being the dog's personal plaything all day I really would like to get working. Unfortunately it seems once I tell the recruiters that I am a Canadian citizen and require a Visa they don't call back. Hey guys I'm Canadian, it's not contagious!

Rayne is doing well at work. Her company, Open Solutions had their yearly "Kickoff" party a couple of weeks back (they have this instead of a Christmas party). The party was held in the ballroom of the worlds largest casino called The Foxwoods. The food was good and it was nice to meet some of Rayne's co-workers. They seemed like a nice group of people.

We went to a co-worker of Rayne's for the Superbowl. Brett works in the same cubicle as Rayne (remember the old days when people had their own cubicles!). He has a big screen TV with HDTV (high definition television) and I must admit it was great to see all the Superbowl commercials for a change. In Canada they show mostly Canadian commercials during the game. Sadly for the Seattle Seahawks it appeared that the entire umpiring crew were selected from the Pittsburgh area (where the champion Steelers are from). Across the country here the next day, the talk was all about how many blown calls the refs made. Oh well there's always next year....

Anywho I'm off for now to practice on the guitar. Hope you all are doing well!

Kevin and Rayne