Big Mo

Time sure flies when you are having fun. I've been working a lot, getting a lot done. As such it seems that things are working out for the better as of late.

For a while it seemed that if it could go wrong it would. The last week it seems that things are moving in the right direction. It isn't as though there are no set backs but more things are working out more often. Everything seems to have positive momentum again.

I don't know if this momentum thing is real, lets face it there may or may not be a big cosmic force that keeps the universe in order. I may just be that being so busy has produced a lot of effective work, laying the groundwork for a better chance of success. It's hard to say.

You can definitely see momentum shifts in sporting events. You can feel them in your life from time to time.

I can say that if you feel you are having some negative momentum you need to work even harder to get things turned around. The world does not owe you a living and will not take care of you if you don't take care of yourself.

Maybe Big Mo is real however if you want it on your side you should definitely work hard at laying the groundwork for success.

Rolling Down the Avenue

Last week-end I had the pleasure of taking the bus. The city bus. I don't do this very often but from time to time I have a reason. It wasn't a very long trip and the route I took was well travelled so the service is quite good with a bus passing by about every six minutes.

The full fare for an adult on Winnipeg Transit is $2.30. This is quite affordable. The affordability of the bus lends itself to two things. It is not the most expedient travel but often there are some rather unique characters using the service.

For example, there was the guy sitting in front of me who became visibly upset when we missed the green light during a driver change. It's the bus. You can travel quickly or you can travel cheaply. You can't do both. The same guy became visibly upset when we missed another green light because an older lady took longer than normal to get onto the bus. It's the bus.

True to form there was a woman talking to herself the entire time she was on the bus. She was also sitting near me. The conversation was rather coherent and topical as she discussed with herself the merits of sitting or standing on the bus.

The bus makes for an incredible people watching experience. Since sitting and riding takes virtually no mental effort you can make up stories about the others you see on the bus.

If you are lucky enough to catch two people who know each other you can hear the most interesting conversations and get some insight into their lives. You will most likely never see these people again, however there is definitely some entertainment for you during your ride.

If you like to observe people and have some time hop on a bus. It could be funny, it could be sad, it could be annoying, or it could be uplifting. It will always be the bus.

Disruption

I have relocated to my summer location. My job moves from the bustling city of Winnipeg up to the beach town of Gimli Manitoba for the summer months. This has been the case for many years now. I pack up enough of what I need and truck up north. It isn't too far and I do get home once and a while.

I am finding as I get older, the disruption to my routine seems to have a bigger and bigger effect on me. It isn't just the different locale, it is also not having all my stuff. It is eating in a dining hall with set meal hours. It is not seeming to find the time to get to the gym. The time is there however the different environment and structured demands on my time seem to make it much more difficult to get there.

The gym here is ok. It doesn't have nearly the equipment the gym at home does. It seems to slow the falling out of shape, but I am always in worse shape when I return home in September. It's unfortunate since the more I exercise the better I feel and the more confident I am. Skipping as many workouts as I do in the summer seems to lead to generally grumpy feeling until I drop everything and get some exercise.

Yesterday was a prime example. Everything was on track to get out of the office in time to catch a workout and make it to supper on time. Some things came up near the end of the day and I was unable to fit in my workout before supper. Combined with the work I did on the week-end and I have not had a workout for a week. I can feel it.

It is important for everyone to take steps to ensure that they integrate into the world around them as well as they can.

For me one of the steps is to ensure that I exercise regularly. This is a challenge that I must improve on for all the people around me.

Action

It seems that the addition of advertising and the subsequent blog entry about the same subject has stirred up a the biggest flurry of comments on Flying Cookie yet.

Apparently I have lost a reader though this activity. I'm ok with that. People have the freedom to choose to read or not to read my blog. It is out there. I know not everyone will like everything that is being said.

If you agree with everything that is being said and everyone agrees with everything you are saying then someone is lying to someone. I don't want to live in that world. I want to share and debate ideas.

I'm curious if the reader I lost has looked back to see if they have made an impact. They did a bit. It lead to others commenting. I realize the 'penis' comment is a bit random but it was submitted and not illegal I posted it.

As of today I have eared $1.10 from this blog. Hosting on Blogger.com is free but it provides their parent company with an ability to earn back some of the cost of hosting me. To me, a guy with a B.Comm, that seems reasonable.

There is no cost to the reader and the advertising is clearly marked.

This is an example of choice and choice is a central foundation to capitalism.

Advertising

I added advertising to my blog. It is no secret. You can see it right next to the post. I can earn money from these ads. As of writing this I have earned $0.00. I probably will not be able to retire on what I earn from this blog. I may never see a cent. I imagine the readership of this blog will have to get a lot larger to earn any substantial amount of money.

May people are annoyed with advertising. The problem is if you are exposed to significant amounts of poorly targeted advertising you will grow weary.

A well targeted ad can be very effective.

We all want to know about what products are available for purchase. Ads inform us of potential products or services to investigate. If the ad is well targeted we can find it quite useful.

I am not suggesting you ever click on an add from this blog. If you are interesting in what is being promoted, feel free, but it doesn't matter to me one way or another. The ads are clearly marked and the reader of the blog has all the power in the relationship.

As the most interesting man in the world says, "Stay Thirsty."

That was an advertising reference.

Power Through It

I was watching Sportscentre on TSN where I saw part of a bit. In this bit one of the anchors of the show attended the NHL Combine. As indicated at the link he completed 25 reps of the 150 pound bench press, better than any prospect. Remember these are 18 year old men and still have some physical development to go. I was discussing this with a friend last night as we were watching the hockey game. He asked me what I figure I could do. I wasn't too sure so we decided that when I go for my regular workout today I would put 150 on the bench press and see how it goes.

I did 26 reps.

I may have been able to push out one more but my arms were pretty much done. I normally do 3 sets of 10 reps of 195 pounds 3 times a week.

I have not been having the best luck of late. It seems every time I turn around I get passed over, the result goes the wrong way, or I am ignored. It probably isn't as bad as it seems but you get that feeling some times.

This small achievement may be the indication that things are starting to turn around for me. I hope I am out of this rut. There is even a rumor that the weather is going to pick up and act like summer.

You can't sit back and say the world is against you and just accept it. If you feel you are having bad luck you have to go out and try to change it.

You can mope about for a couple of day. You can say it sucks, because it probably does. You can't just let it be. You have to go out and change it.

I was watching 'The Departed' again a couple of nights ago. I love the monologue at the beginning. It has some teeth to it. the part that I really like is when Jack Nicholson's character says, "I don't want to be a product of my environment. I want my environment to be a product of me."

I like that idea. You can go out and make things happen or you can let things happen. I think I have been letting things happen to much and need to go out and make them happen.

Everyone should look forward and when things don't go there way just power though it.

Party Like You are 18, Recover Like You are 32

Several friends were in town earlier this week. Some I had not seen for years.

We partied hard. Really, really hard. It was like I was eighteen again. We thought it was best to call it a night when the sun started to come up.

The flip side was it took two days for my body to feel normal again.

When I was 18 it would take a few hours. I would sleep a bunch and feel better by dinner time the next day. Apparently my body has aged a bit. It doesn't recover instantly. It seems to take a while.

It also makes me wonder what else am I not quite as good at.

It may be difficult to determine. Much of what we do we do not measure so we cannot tell if we are fading. I think it is most difficult to notice change in yourself. You are always present for everything you do. You do not see the little changes.

As you get older you are supposed to get wiser. I think I'm getting wiser, just from time to time I want relive my youth.

I don't think there is anything wrong with that as long as I am willing to recover like I am 32.

Elevator Conversations

I live in a rather tall building. I'm on the 20th floor and there are still a few above me. As such, I routinely ride in an elevator. Sometimes I'm alone, often there are other people. Sometimes nothing is said but other times there is a conversation. At times I am part of the conversation but often I am not. The conversation may have started before the participants entered the elevator or may only be in the elevator.

Elevator conversations give us a snippet of society. A small window into what is happening around us or even a barometer on how things are out there.

You hear a cross section of everything in elevator conversations and oftem they can be very interesting.

In the last few months there have been two converstations that have stuck in my head. One I cannot seem to forget and one prompted me to write this entry.

The first one took place last fall. I believe it was in November but I can't say for sure.

It was a typical day. I had arrived home from work in my uniform to find a group of a few people already waiting for the elevator in the basement. I joined them in waiting. It eventually arrived and we started loading up. There was a woman who arrived just after everyone else had already got on the elevator. She was obviously in a hurry and was having what appeared to be an important converstation on her cell phone.

I understand I have been there.

She only wanted to go up to the main floor. When we arrived on the main floor she paused her cell phone conversation and turned to me (remember I was still in my uniform) and said, "Thank you for everything you do for our country."

She didn't have to say anything. She didn't have to interrupt her cell phone conversation. For whatever reason she was compelled to thank me, and the rest of the CF, for what we do.

Although very brief and completely one sided this elevator conversation had an impact on me. I'm sure it had some kink of impact on others in the elevator.

The second conversation was very different but made me think as well.

I was headed downstairs on a Saturday around 7pm. The elevator made a couple of stops along the way and picked some people up. One of the stops There was a man and a woman that I would estmate were in their early twenties and were dressed to go out for the evening, quite possibly to a party or to meet friends.

Their conversation had started before they entered the elevator an continued as we headed down. They were discussing music. The young lady indicated she only enjoyed some parts of the the artist in questions music while the young gentleman replied inidcating that he had not really thought about the significance of Flo Rider and his place in popular culture.

I found this conversation interesting because it was being held on two different levels. There was obviously some debate going on and I don't know everything that was being said however, it was a window, not necesarily clear, into the conciousness around me.

I was one of those moments that makes you go hmmm.

An elevator conversation is an interesting thing. It is brief. It is incomplete. It lets us into the world around us just a wee, wee bit. It can be entertaining, interesting, scary, or moving.

It is unique, and I see so much to learn from it.