Wow! TIme flies when you are having fun!

It's been over a month since my last post! My bad! I have been so busy spending my wife's inheritance....LMAO! NOT!

Here's just a quick rundown of what I've been up to in the last 40 days:

One of the first things we did was buy my wife a new vehicle. We've been getting by with one vehicle, but it has been getting harder and harder to meet all of our obligations. So, we bought a used 2003 Kia Sedona EX mini van which will allow her to go to appointments and meetings with our own kids plus the kids she babysits. Tough to do that in a small economy car like our Kia Spectra. Can you tell we like Kias? Best cars on the market, in my opinion! Inexpensive, but built and equipped like cars double their price! My wife loves her new van, and I love to drive it too! I might post a glowing review of it in the near future.

Shortly after we bought the van, I got called back to the company I was doing contract work for. I was told I can count on steady work until mid-February, but since then that has been extended to mid-to-late-March! I was also able to get in about 1.5 days of overtime paid at "time and a half" the week before Christmas, which really was nice! It is so good to get back to work and be earning an income again!

The inheritance has also allowed us to have the kind of Christmas we've always wanted but were never able to afford. Lots of gifts, food and NO WORRYING about the bills come January! So we've been out shopping alot!

It has also been nice to be able to give to our church and another charity in town this year without hesitating, wondering if, by making the donation, we would still be able to pay our bills for the month! It was a good feeling to know that others will be blessed by the same blessing we have received!

I was going to post my Christmas highlights tonight, but since my birthday is on Wednesday, the 28th, I'll wait until that is over and put it all in one post!

Until then, I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and that the rest of the holidays are filled with fun, family and friends!

WHAAAAA HOOOOO! Finally some results!

Just a short post to express my elation that our Credit Union released 10% of my wife's inheritance money! The other 90% should be released in a few days! The only downside, the Canadian Dollar has gained value since this all started, reducing our take to just over $113,000 rather than almost $115,000. Oh well... at least the credit union worked FOR us, unlike our bank... and we've been customers of the CU for 1 week, and the bank for over 20 years... so much for loyalty!

Playing Catch-up

I was reading through my archives and noticed that in the post about my family history, I stated that I would post my coat of arms when I learned how to post pics. I guess I forgot all about that! Well, to remedy the situation, here it is.





As I mentioned in the earlier post, this coat of arms is adapted from the original Hildebrandt coat of arms which is dated back to the beginning of the Medieval Ages. I added the helm and plumes to give it some "punch" as the original design is somewhat plain. Being from the early "Dark Ages", it's no surprise that the design is plain. Those incredibly fancy coats of arms came much later as families combined their once simple designs through marriages and "hostile takeovers"! In order to make this coat of arms truly "mine" I replaced the original stars with maple leaves, to indicate my Canadian nationality, and the original torch with the Irish harp, to honour my wife's birthplace. The harp also signifies my musical heritage as well, although a trumpet would be a better representation of it! LOL!

Well, that's that... all caught up on that score!

Lawyers and Banks.... GRRRRRRR!

Just a short post to allow me to vent over the events of the past week! On Monday we received the cheque from my wife's late grandmother's lawyer. It turned out to be uncertified, AND he sent it regular mail! How stupid is that??? But, because the cheque wasn't certified (SHOULD have been a bank draft for that large an amount) our bank wouldn't accept it! After my wife argued with the bank manager for a full 1/2 hour, the bank manager agreed to take it, but was going to put a hold on the funds for 45 days!!!!! We walked out of there in a hurry! We eventually went to the local credit union, where, in exchange for becoming a member... no big deal, we used to be members of the credit union where we used to live,... the manager there agreed to try to get the lawyer to wire the funds directly to our account. As of Friday morning... the credit union manager has made 4 phone calls, and 3 emails to the lawyer, all of which have gone unanswered!!! AAAAAAUUUUGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!! So, we have a piece of paper that is worth nothing to us right now!!! To make matters more difficult, Northern Ireland is 5 hours ahead of us, so we can only make calls there before noon our time!! I AM NOT AMUSED!!!!! Oh yeah, one more thing... from what we understand, there is still a sizable chunk of Granny's estate being withheld by the lawyer to pay his fees and the Irish taxes! So it's not like he's not getting paid to deal with us or anything!!! Hopefully this week will have better results!

At Last! All Shall be Revealed! Drum roll, please!

Well, the event that I announced last week has finally happened! WHOOO HOOO HOO HOOOOOOOO!

Dorko gets the bragging rights as the closest guesser!

Last December, my wife's grandmother passed away in Northern Ireland. We were told then that my wife's portion of the estate was going to be a "modest amount". Well, today, the cheque arrived! It's just too bad that my wife had to lose her Granny for us to enjoy this, though.


The "modest amount" turned out to be £54,833.33!!! That's Pounds Sterling - Great Britain's currency. At the current exchange rate, that works out to $114, 555.54 Canadian!!!!! I'm in shock! I knew it would be a nice amount, but this is amazing!

Anyway, that's the big news! Congrats to Dorko for guessing the closest!

Time for me to go.. I got me some shopping to do!

Happy Halloween!

Opening Pandora's Box

I guess I've learned my lesson! Unless you want to be deluged with comments from a certain blogger friend (and HER friends too!) never announce something before it happens! Now that I've opened this Pandora's Box, I can't seem to get it closed again! Anyway... I'm sticking to my guns and not giving any more clues out! Burfica suggested that I should have a contest and the closest guesser gets a boobie prize... she even volunteered to provide the boobie! LOL! As of right now, the closest guesser will only get bragging rights! Pressure Burfica at Don't Eat the Tomatoes to make good on this suggestion! (insert evil laugh here!) See, Burf? I can play at this game too!

All Good Things Come to an End

Well... it happened... My current job placement ended today. I shouldn't complain, the "2 - 3 week" placement lasted 5 weeks, but it sucks to be out of an income once again! At least the temp agency has me on their "Hotlist" so I should have something in a few days or so. The upside is that I get a few day's break to try to rest up and kick this cold to the curb! My lungs are sooo sore from all the dry coughing and my head hurts from the sinus pressure! I think I must be personally keeping Nutrilite in business with all the vitamins I've been taking these past two weeks! LOL!

Another plus to the end of this placement is that maybe I'll get a chance to get some work done around the house and on the car, now that I'll be home AND awake during daylight hours... as short as they are these days! It was kinda hard to do any work when you come home before dawn, and sleep until sunset! Now if the sun would just shine for a few days.... it's been cold, wet and dreary the last few! Welcome to late fall... Canadian Style! The maple trees are gorgeous with all the fall colours, but with all the wind and rain we've been having.. the leaves are falling fast! I'm hoping for a few warm, sunny days so I can get out and do some photography! As well as get rid of that annoying rattle in my car's exhaust system... and cut the grass, and prune the rose bushes, and..... the list goes ever on!

As for anything else newsworthy, something big is about to go down here, but I can't say what it is until it happens... wife's orders! When it does, I'll post it for sure! (How's that for building suspense? LOL!)

The power of the "Dark Side"

Wow! I didn't realize it's been almost a month since I last posted! My bad! I'll try to do better, I really will!

I am now into my 5th week working the "Dark Side", as a Pogo friend so aptly called it, and I am liking it very much! Working nights seems to fit my physiology quite well! I've always been a nighthawk, so working all night and sleeping most of the day doesn't seem to pose too much of a difficulty... except for the odd times when my "not-so-nighthawkish" neighbour decides "make hay while the sun shines"... ie.... cut his grass! Fortunately, the weather has turned colder, so the grass isn't growing as fast, so he only has to cut it once a week, instead of every other day! LOL! Yes, my neighbour actually cuts his grass every other day during the summer!! He's a bit anal when it comes to grass! I must admit though, he's got the greenest lawn on our street! I haven't had the heart to report him to the watering police, though... since we live downhill from him, we get the benefit of all his run-off! Tee hee!

Otherwise, life continues as usual... although, since joining the Dark Side, the rollercoaster has smoothed out a bit. It's nice having money coming in on a weekly basis! I did find out today that I might be going back to my old "day job" in about 3 weeks, which would be good since it pays double what I'm making now! I am just not looking forward to having to adjust my sleep cycle again!

Well.. it's happened again... I've just run out of things to write about! Maybe something will happen that is post-worthy soon!

Have a good week!

Phoenix out!

New Job Title: Trained Monkey!

Well.. I survived my first ever night shift! I didn't have any trouble staying awake, I was pleased to find! Tonight will be another story... I didn't sleep too well during the day, so will be going to work very tired to start... not good! Oh well... I'm sure I'll adapt!

Now for the question that is burning through Burfica's mind! LOL! What is it that they have me doing all night? I am working on an assembly line building the motor/transmission assemblies for the power seats in Ford trucks. There are 9 steps to making these little things, and I was trained on steps 1 - 6. The other 3 are reserved for "more experienced operators". It didn't take long to get the rythmn for each of the steps and keeping up with the flow of work. It became very clear to me that what I was doing did not require any great intelligence, in fact, the less intelligence you have, the easier it is to do the work! Those of us who think too much, tend to start trying to modify the routine to keep from going numb, which doesn't always result in improvements! LOL! I just have to keep reminding myself that this is temporary, and that it is money in the bank! The people I work with are pretty nice for the most part, and the company seems to be a good employer. I was very surprised to walk in last night and see my reflection in the floor!?!? The plant is incredibly clean, very brightly lit and surprisingly quiet for such a large facility. I'm told it gets a LOT louder during the day and afternoon shifts when many more people are working the floor. It did get loud during the last hour of my shift when a large number of day shift workers came in early to get a jump on the day's production. I was very glad to leave and go home to bed! LOL!

Once again, caffiene and I will be very close friends as I return to the monkey cage for another night of mechanical mayhem!

"I owe, I owe, so off to work I go!!!"

The Rollercoaster, Part 2!

WOWZERS! That was a MAJOR lurch! In my last post I mentioned that I had registered with a temporary staffing agency to fill in the times my contract business is stopped. Sunday night I get a call from them asking me to take on a 12 hour shift the next day (Monday) at a "creamery" in a nearby city. I accepted it and EARLY the next morning, off I went. Wow, I tell you what, WOW! The work itself wasn't hard - dump boxes of 12 empty salad dressing bottles into a big hopper and put the empty cases on a conveyor. The boxes were light and the conveyor was right next to the hopper. No sweat, right? WRONG!!! They neglected to tell me the line runs at 200 bottles per MINUTE! I haven't moved that fast since high school track & field meets! I was fortunate enough that the day was a "multi-run day" which meant that they had to shut down the line twice to wash it out to change product. I also was able to benefit from a much larger than normal frequency of jams in the line, which allowed me and my other temporary co-worker to keep up to the voracious appetite of the machinery! Oh, btw, the jams were NOT my fault! LMAO!!! Twelve hours though.... who came up with THAT idea? That person should be taken out and lobotomized!!! My muscles hurt so bad, I could barely move this morning! I looked (and felt) like an old man as I struggled to move around the house! Incredible how much the human body can hurt!

Tonight I start a 3 week placement at another manufacturing plant working the night shift - 11:00 pm to 7:10 am. I am naturally something of a "nighthawk", so we'll see how well I can adapt to this new schedule. I think, however, that for the next few nights, caffiene will be my new bestest friend! LOL! I'll "file a report" here tomorrow after I find out what it is I'm supposed to be doing!

Lurch! WHOOSH! The rollercoaster is off again!

The Rollercoaster that is my Life!

Ups, downs, arounds, dizzying speeds.... These are the things that make up my life these days!

As of last Friday I was once again out of work! :-( For those of you who might be wondering why I seem to be out of work so much, let me explain. I am a self-employed contractor (one of 4 business I own) who is under contract to a great company building industrial control panels. The panel building business is a sideline for this company, and recently there hasn't been that much of a demand for new panels. I am currently registered with a temporary staffing agency for general labour as well, but so far, no calls from them yet. For those who are interested, the businesses that I own are as follows:

(In order of oldest to newest)

1) S.H. Technologies - This is the "unofficial" name of the company I use for my contract business. It was started back in 1990 after I graduated from college as an Electronics Engineering Technologist and has had numerous "incarnations" LOL!

2) Hildebrandt Photographic - I used to be a professional photographer, and still do the odd wedding from time to time. I had most of my "good" camera equipment stolen out of my vehicle when I was out of province several years ago, and haven't replaced it because my insurance policy didn't cover it. Photography is a very cutthroat business with very expensive overhead costs. Once I can work long enough to save enough I want to invest in a good digital camera (5 megapixel or better - 8 megapixel preferred) and get into calendar and stock photography.

3) LocoGraphix - I spent 7.5 years working in a print shop as a pre-press technician after my photographer days, and have continued to service some of my clients from time to time. Graphic design is another saturated market in this part of Canada, so finding new clients is more work than it's worth some times! I have a dream of purchasing a screen printing press and moving into that market, but the $15,000 US price tag is just out of reach right now!

4) Phoenix Enterprises - This business was started last year, and is a Direct Selling business powered by Quixtar Incorporated. My wife and I are partners in this, and it's fun to work together as we each have skills that the other doesn't have. This business has taken a while to get off the ground due to my tendency to over analyze stuff and my innate personality as somewhat of a loner. When in a group of people, I tend to shut up and stay in my little corner. Online, my personality is somewhat more outgoing, because no one can see me, and very few know who I really am. Quixtar has hundreds of thousands of products in their catalogs, and I have chosen a few to focus on selling retail. My wife has focused on the top-of-the-line skin care and cosmetics line, while I am focusing on the fuel conditioner I have mentioned in previous posts, a water treatment system and a gift & incentive package geared towards corporate sales. The social aspect of this business is awesome, as we are part of a team of likeminded people, but the sales part is very tough on me - a technically minded, reserved, not-so-outgoing person. I can chat with the best of them, but as soon as it comes to business, I freeze up... still haven't figured out why.

So, as you can see, I have a lot on my plate! I haven't yet begun to mention all the volunteer stuff I do at my church as well. Anyway, the last few years have been filled with exhilarating highs followed by devastating lows as my businesses struggle through their growing pains. these highs and lows seem to follow close on each others heels, so hence my rollercoaster life! I have discovered that despite my best efforts, I don't make a good employee. I think too much to be a good little drone. So, I am cursed to lurch through life, careening from one crisis to another until, somehow, someway, I can make one of these business fly in such a way that I don't have to worry about my income ever again. From where I sit now, Phoenix Enterprises has the best long term potential, but its short-term is downright nasty! S.H. Technologies has the best short-term results, paid almost immediately, but they are getting more sporadic and harder to rely on. Lurch, lurch, lurch... that's my life, just like an old wooden rollercoaster! I just wish I could see the end of the ride!

I'll stop whining now!

Un-Banned and Tagged!

I have finally lifted my self-imposed blogging ban thanks to my awesome friend Burfica who tagged me and dragged me back in here! LOL! I should have lifted the ban myself on Friday evening, after I got some good news! As of Monday (yesterday) I am back at work! HOOOORAYYYYYYY!

Now for the answers to the "5 Things I Miss From Childhood"

(in no particluar order...)

1) I miss living in Nova Scotia. My family moved to Dartmouth, Nova Scotia from Winnipeg, Manitoba when I was 3 years old. We lived there for almost 3 years and I still have memories of traveling around the Cabot Trail every summer and autumn, and visiting Peggy's Cove any time we could. I grew to love the smell of of the sea, and always dream of going back for an extended stay, or even to live.

2) I miss a lot of my school friends. I have lost track of many kids I went to school with over the years, and I still think of them and wish I could meet them again and see what kind of adults they turned out to be!

3) I miss the lack of responsibility of being a child! No bills, no obligations, just do as you're told and everything is provided for you! LOL!

(Hmmm... getting low on memories here)

4) I miss the ability to run and play football (this looks back to my highschool days, not entirely "childhood" but definitely before adulthood). My knees were damaged while playing football, and now I just get to watch others play!

5) I miss wanting to become an adult! LOL!!! I can remember wanting SOOO bad to grow up because I hated being a kid! Now, I look back and ask myself" WHAT were you THINKING?!?!?!???" LMAO!!!

Now that I've got that out of the dusty recesses of my mind, would I wish to be a kid again? NO! I do wish I could go back and do somethings differently, but I'd never actually want to be a kid again. There is an independence that I always craved that I now have as an adult that I would not want to lose! Besides, kids can't have sex! ROTFLOL!

I would tag others, but the only ones I really know in here have already been tagged, so, this tag ends here! Thanks, Burf!

Self-imposed Blogging Ban

I have imposed a blogging ban on myself until I can have some good news to write about! After reading my last few posts, I realized I was sounding like a whiney brat! And since my current situation has not yet improved.........................................................

Car Trouble Update

My very nice neighbour who is a "hobby mechanic" came over to look at my car the other night and pronounced my alternator "fit as a fiddle"! He thinks the dealership is trying to soak me for an extra couple hundred dollars! They've never done that before, but they've also gone through 3 Service Managers in the last year, so... who knows? Anyway, the car is running on the original battery AND alternator, just as long as I don't do something stupid like turn off the engine with all the electrical accessories going like mad! Maybe I can stretch this sucker out until I can afford a new battery! Man I hate being broke!

It Never Fails!

GRRRR! No sooner do I get motivated, excited or otherwise inspired to get off my butt and make this business work, something HAS to come along and try to slow me down! I experienced a dead battery on Monday evening, so yesterday spent a lot of time calling around to different garages and auto parts stores trying to find the best deal on a new one. Today I went to the Kia dealership (lowest price by a couple of bucks - go figure) and they recommended I get an AVR test done first. Alternator Voltage Regulator test, that is. Just to make sure that it really was my battery that was the problem. Good thing I did! The battery is holding a charge just fine! The problem? The alternator isn't providing enough power to keep the battery charged while driving! Sooooo... instead of $100 to replace the battery, I'm now looking at over $350 to replace the alternator! AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGH! The main issue now is... I can't afford it! After being on temporary lay-off for the last 2.5 months I'm tapped out! I'm out every day trying to make some sales on my own business, but companies don't make purchases on the spur of the moment. So... anyone have a couple thousand I can borrow for a month or so???


Didn't think so.

What a Weekend!

I'm BAAAAaaack! Wow... what a weekend! Incredible!

Let me describe it:

July 22:

2:30 am - Alarm goes off (Had only finally gotten to bed at midnight)

2:50 am - Hear a knock on my front door - it's one of my team members here to pick us up. She was supposed to arrive at 3:15 am... turns out she couldn't sleep so came over early, was planning to sit in her car and wait while drinking her coffee... until the cops knocked on her window! Sounds like one of my neighbours was up, saw the car on the street with a shadowy figure in it and called 911! Glad to know my neighbours are so vigilant! LOL!

4:00 am - Got to the rendezvue point... no bus! Final departure time is 4:30... so I was told! A number of very sleepy people are wandering around the parking lot...lol!

4:45 am - Bus FINALLY arrives.. we load up and roll out at 5:00 am. Most of the passengers are asleep in minutes, but I can't so I watch the sky slowly get lighter as we roll towards the border.

OK... this is going to take 3 days to write up! LOL Anyways, it was an early start, and we didn't get to bed again until 3:00 am Saturday morning! I got up around 8:30 and scrambled to get ready as I was "working" Saturday for the General Session from 11:00 am to 4:30 pm. Got to announce the hosts as well as the non-keynote speakers. The hosts announced the keynote speakers. I was told I did a very good job and the "professional voice" I was working with said that the chair beside him was always open for me! He also told me his wife told him that she found my voice very clear, and full of optimism - which is very high praise indeed! I ended up announcing the Sunday afternoon leadership seminar all by myself (no real challenge as there was only two times I had to turn on my mic). Between announcements, I wrote pages of notes as every speaker was full of information that was very applicable to my current situation. We had seminars on marital relationships - very key because many couples build this business together, financial awareness - one of my weakest areas, and the psychology of fitness, which is a product line we distribute. One of the speakers was former Congressman Bob McEwen, who I heard could be entering the next Presidential race! I got to chat briefly with him afterwards which was really cool! I found a number of the missing pieces to my puzzle, and now am processing the information to see where and how they fit. We left Reston, VA (a suburb of Washington, DC, I found out) at 4:30 pm on Sunday and arrived home at 4:30 am Monday morning! Total hours of sleep? 8 hours in 3 days! Needless to say, I slept most of Monday morning, and again today!

Watch out world! The Phoenix is on FIRE!!!

15 hours and counting!

Yep, in just 15 hours and 15 minutes, I'll be boarding a luxury coach with my wife and a group of other business associates for the long trek to Reston, Virginia for #2 of 3 annual national conventions! This convention will be a different one for me! I just found out last night that I am being asked to fill in for another business associate who can't go due to Plan A obligations to work backstage! WHOO HOOO! I will get to meet some of the richest people in the U.S. up close and in person! My job will be to introduce them as they come on stage. I won't be onstage myself (whew!) but my voice will be heard by over 1,000 people - IF they keep the music volume down long enough for me to get it out! Quite frequently, the intro is drowned out by the music which comes BLARING out of the giant banks of speakers! I'm not sure how much announcing I'll get to do as I'll be working with a "professional voice"! If you've ever been to an airport in the U.S., you've heard this guy making the regular service announcements. It will be an honour to work with him, and probably pick up some pointers from him throughout the weekend!

Well, it's time for me to go for lunch, so have a great weekend!

I'm a Bundle of Nerves!

ULP! Now I know why I didn't want to be a salesman when I was younger! I've been spending my morning making sales calls, and man, I SUCK at this! My carefully planned out scripts fly right out of my head as soon as the person I want to talk to answers the phone! I start stuttering, and saying things backwards... I'm sure the person on the other end must think I'm a complete basket case! And yet, this seems to be my only hope for a steady source of passive income! My electronics expertise gets me sporadic work at best and my graphic design company is going nowhere due to a lack of need up here. There are over 25 graphic designers in my small city which means that the 5 printers here have a lot of sources to choose from, IF they decide to use an outside source... they ALL have their own in-house designers who are not even getting full hours as it is!

Ok, I'll stop whining now! It's time to make another call!

A Lazy Saturday

Every once in a while one needs a genuine lazy day! Today was mine! I didn't do ANYTHING... except make a few phone calls, after my wife nagged for about 2 hours! Oh well... I enjoyed lying around for most of the day, watching cartoons on TV or playing 007: Nightfire with my daughter on the Gamecube!

We had some awesome thunderstorms today and they provided some excitement! One lightening strike was so close all the flourescent lights in my house flashed on and the crack of thunder was so loud it shook the whole house and echoed and rumbled for a good 2 minutes afterwards! The TV was broadcasting tornado warnings for our area, but we had hardly any wind so we were safe. The city just southwest of us had some small funnel clouds touch down here and there, so the threat was real! My 9 year old daughter was terrified, and was constantly asking when we had to go to our basement to "hide from the tornado"! I had to reassure her that I was watching the storm closely and if I saw any sign of a twister I'd yell real loud! The rain was most welcome as we had gone almost 4 weeks without it and everything was so dry! My 11 year old is at camp this weekend and next week, and we were wondering if they got any rain at all. My 9 year old was at another camp this past week, and it was so dry a total fire ban was in effect. Imagine going to camp and NOT being allowed to have a campfire! She tells me they spent about 3 hours each day in the water because it was so hot up there!

Ontario has been stuck in a major heatwave for the last few weeks, so everyone is trying find relief anyway they can. The temp has been averaging around 33 C (90 F for my American friends) but with the humidity, it's been feeling like 44 C! (111 F) Hot and sticky would describe our weather, and that is just no fun at all!

Well, my lazy day is coming to an end, so it's time to turn off this computer and go back to bed! ;-)

Have a good weekend everyone!

It's High Time I Learned to Post Pics!

Ok.. I admit it! I've been a complete moron when it has come to this HTML pic posting stuff! It's high time I learned how!

So here goes.............

I've always wanted to put this






in my profile... but the only other site that I uploaded it to has gone AWOL on me, so, thanks Blogger!

Here's me.....














That's a few years ago...... here's me this year....













Ok, I'll quit now ;-)

That was fun!

The Cat Came Back!

Those of you who still remember their childhood (or had kids during the 80's) will recognize the title of this post! For those of you younger folks (or those who either forgot or deliberately erased their childhood memories through substance abuse while in college) the title to this post comes from a kids song by some famous kid song singer (who's name escapes me right now) about a cat that just wouldn't stay away. I'm using the title, not because I have a cat I'm trying to get rid of, although if I DID have a cat, I'd be trying to get rid of it, he he, but because of the second line of the chorus to the song. For those of you aforementioned forgetters, here's the chorus in full:

"And the cat came back, the very next day;
The cat came back, they thought he was a goner!
But the cat came back, he just wouldn't stay away!"

Yes, I'm sure all of you thought I was a goner or something, due to my long absence from this space! I have no one to blame (or anything for that matter) but myself! My computer has been working like a Swiss watch, I can't blame Blogspot because I didn't even try and I haven't been so busy that I couldn't think either. No, I just didn't come in here for months. Why? I don't know, I just guess there was no compulsion to. The things that were happening in my life just weren't the things I share.. me being a very private person, and all that!

But...........

In May, things began to change for the better! I attended a seminar for my business that has changed the direction I was focusing my energies, what little they were. I learned at this seminar that a product I had access to had much more potential than I could have imagined! Without going into deep, technical and scientific detail, I have been buying for myself, but not selling, a fuel conditioner for my car. I was told it would improve gas mileage and horsepower (the main reason I bought it) and it did seem to work as promised. I never really paid much attention to it, but did notice an increase in the distance I could drive on a tank of gas. Anyway, this product will revolutionize the transportation industry! After doing much research in May and June, I have relaunched my business as a reseller of this fuel conditioner! This product is so effective, it will more than pay for itself in fuel and maintenance savings, especially in truck fleets! This is the diamond mine I've been looking for! If anyone out in cyber land is looking for a fast growth, high potential business opportunity, please let me know by commenting with your email address and I'll send you the info!

As for the rest of my life, my family and I went out to Winnipeg, Manitoba at the end of June for my cousin's wedding on July 1st (Canada Day for my American friends - they'll have fireworks on every anniversary! LOL). We did the 26 hour drive (2330 kilometers or 1448 miles) in 3 days, stopping at a friend's house in Minnesota for the second night. We had great weather for most of the trip, although it was extremely hot and muggy with only one full day of rain. That rain (10 inches in 12 hours) caused some major flooding in Manitoba, and over 25% of all the crops in that province are destroyed! My uncle (not the father of the groom) lost all his crops! Fortunately, he also raises beef cattle, so hasn't lost his entire income for the year.

The wedding was great, and it was wonderful seeing my mom's family again on a happy occasion. Last time I had seen them was at my grandfather's funeral in January. Since then, another uncle, my mom's brother-in-law, also passed away at the young age of 57 only 2 weeks after receiving a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. We really needed the happy event of the wedding to brighten our spirits after 2 deaths within 6 months. While in Winnipeg, we stayed with my grandmother, who is doing very well at age 86 and is coping well since Grandpa's death.

Our trip home allowed us to celebrate Independence Day in the great U.S. of A. where we saw a fantastic fireworks display over the harbour in Marquette, Michigan. We had great weather all the way home and arrived safe and sound, tired, and happy. Our car performed extremely well, and acheived a maximum fuel efficiency of over 32 miles per gallon! Not bad for a car rated for 28 miles per gallon! Our overall average for the trip was 29 miles per gallon, and that included a lot of city driving while in Winnipeg as well! That fuel conditioner really works! Before using it, our average mileage was approximately 23 mpg!

As for other news, my wife and I will be joining our business associates for the second of our 3 annual national conventions next weekend! This convention will be in Reston, VA. Once again we are chartering a luxury motor coach which will make the trip much more enjoyable than if we all drove there! I'm told it's a 9 hour drive from Ontario to Virginia, so I'm glad we are taking a bus! I've never been to Virginia, so I am really looking forward to it! I've always loved mountainous terrain and always enjoy my trips through Vermont and New Hampshire! We are leaving at 4:30 in the morning which will make for a rude awakening for this nighthawk!

Well, I've rambled on long enough for this post! Time to get back to trying to make some money! I hope to become more regular at posting once again.

Happy Hump Day! ;-) Heh, Heh!

My Answers to Burfica

Okaaaayyyy... Burfica's gone weird on me! ;-) Look at these questions and you'll see why.. AND... if you happen to know me personally, you'd probably go into shock at these questions! LOL! Here goes, Burf!

1. Have you ever gotten in a physical fight to defend a loved one?? explain

Ever is a LOOOONG time for me Burf! LOL! But yes, when in Grade 5 I came across a girl "gang leader" with her 4 "boyfriends/lap dogs" beating up on my younger brother. I don't know what came over me, but I walked right up to her and punched her right in the eye! I was expecting her lap dogs to jump all over me, so I ran, but when I looked back, they were running the other way and she was standing there crying with a beautiful shiner developing!! Needless to say, I spent the rest of the afternoon in the principal's office with a very sore hand (yes, I got the ruler!) having to listen to a lecture about why I should never hit a girl! I think I tuned out after the first sentence ;-) I knew that already!

2. If you could have your dream job, but had to move your family to the boonies of Alaska would you?? why or why not??

Boonies of Alaska??? Ummm... Burf... as a Canadian, it would be very tough for me to land a job there... Green card and all that crap! ;-) But seriously, no, I wouldn't. A dream job is still just a job, but if my family wasn't happy, then I'd be miserable too. I have already approached my wife about moving to a more remote area of Canada while running my home business, and she wasn't thrilled with the idea. And as we say in my business, "Happy wife, happy life!!!"

3. What is your favorite trait on your wife, and why??

My favourite trait in my wife is her laugh! When she gets to laughing, everyone around her starts laughing too... even IF they have no idea what the joke is!!!

4. If you were offered a million bucks to get your nipples pierced would you??

BURF!!!!! ME???? NIPPLES PIERCED???????? DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE ASKING??? Yipes! But... for a million bucks....... well....... ok... but only under general anesthetic and with the caveat that after the money is safely in my bank account I could remove them without penalty! ;-)

5. Where would you like to have a summer retreat house at?? why??

You know the answer to this already Burf! I want my own private tropical island... big enough for a small town where all my closest friends could come to live with me... except this would be my WINTER retreat house! ;-) For a summer house, I'd love a house on the edge of a high cliff in Nova Scotia overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. For you Americans who don't know where Nova Scotia is, if you look at a map of North America, it's the lobster shaped land mass northeast of Maine.

Thanks for the fun questions Burf! Someday, I'll interview you! I just have to come up with some humdinger questions of my own!

Wha???? It's MARCH Already?????

Where did February go? It was here just a few days ago! WOWZA!!! I mean, I KNOW that Feb is the shortest month o' the year, but this is CRAAA ZEEEE! I guess time really does fly when you're busy! Not just time flies, though.. money flies too! So now here I sit, out of time and out of money (almost) wondering what the heck happened! Time to get a handle on life!

I'm sitting here trying to remember what happened since I last blogged on February 11th. As a good friend of mine so delicately puts it... I'm having a brain fart! I get the giggles every time she says it! This could be bad though, because I might end up working with her! I can just see us now... sitting in adjoining offices yelling "Brain Fart!" every couple of minutes and laughing ourselves silly for the next couple... I don't think much work would get done! And that would be bad, because if I get accepted onto this project, if they don't make any money, then neither do I!!

Hmmm... what else can I write about? I don't seem to have the hilariously funny life that my good friend Burfica does. And what I find funny in my life, not many others do, and these things are just too hard to describe in text form anyway... the audio/visual parts just have to be experienced the way I experienced them in order for the joke to be understood. Otherwise you'd all be sitting at your computers saying; "Huh?" And that, my cyber friends, would be bad!

One big event did happen during the last weekend of February. My wife and I, along with our business team went on a road trip to Cleveland, Ohio for the first of 3 national conventions. Thirty three of us chartered a 57-seat luxury coach and had a wonderful trip! It was great to go on a road trip and arrive safe and relaxed - both in Cleveland AND back home! If you're wondering why I'm making such a fuss about this, check back to my October blogs and you'll find out why! ;-) The convention itself was great, as most motivational seminars are, and I learned a huge amount! I also got to meet some great associates from New Jersey and we had a great time talking with them. It was a great weekend, and I can't wait for the next one in Reston, Virginia towards the end of July. Wanna come too? It can be arranged!!

Well... it's way past bedtime for the Phoenix! Guess I'll fly off to my nest and get what sleep I can!

Once again, Rising from the ashes!

How many things can go wrong in one month? ARGH!!! Can I go back and start this year over again? PLEEEEEASE?????

If you are a regular reader of this sporadic blurt, you'll know that both my wife and I lost grandparents within the last two months. Well... it doesn't stop there! I went back to work after flying out to Winnipeg for my grandfather's funeral, and found that things had changed at work! I was now "persona-non-grata" to my supervisor, who, on my first day back, didn't ask how the funeral went, but said, "I don't think you'll be staying here, so don't bother learning anything new!" Nice welcome back, don't you think? Then, I started getting EVERY panel I built rejected at Quality Control... which is weird since I am a VERY particular worker! Screws were loose, wires in the wrong place, etc, and I KNEW that I had done it right! So, I did a little investigation, and found that someone, somewhere, was sabotaging my work! Not just mine, by the way, but the work of all the "New Guys". So, I quit! I refuse to be treated that way! No amount of money (The General Manager tried to offer me more money to keep me there - so much for my supervisor's threat to fire me!) can compensate me for poor treatment! So that makes me unemployed again, for the 4th time in two years! The only positive point is, this time, I made the move, so, I knew it was coming - no shock factor!

So, once again the Phoenix finds himself immolated in circumstances! But, like the legendary firebird, I am rising again! I have started yet another business... this makes 4 for any of you counting! I have decided to resurrect my graphic design experience and go freelance! Very scary proposition, but could be very rewarding! I am continuing to build my prosumerism business as well, so should be extremely busy for the next couple of years. My plan is to purchase a pad printing press and a screen printing press and venture out into the custom promotional item industry, supplying custom printed items, such as mugs, key chains and t-shirts, etc. IF anyone reading this blog has any need or knows of any need for these services, please let me know! I will serve all of North America if the need is there! My new company name is LocoGraphix and once I get my phone line and website set up, I'll be sure to post the info here.

Now, if I could only get this disaster area I call an office cleaned up, maybe I could get some work done???

What a Way to Start a New Year!!!

The first week of 2005 is over and I am NOT impressed! I contracted a flu virus which has made me weak, tired and just feeling icky all over, and yesterday, Jan. 10, I got word that my grandfather in Winnipeg passed away. I've been scrambling around last night and today (between sleeps) trying to make the necessary arrangements to get out to the coldest city in Canada for the funeral on Friday. As of this moment, all I have left to confirm is the rental car! Not too bad for a guy with a fogbank for a brain! Thinking takes such an effort these days!

On a more positive note, I am totally in love with my new computer! I spent some time this afternoon, while waiting for calls to be returned, retouching some photographs for a musical group I am involved with, and it was so nice not to have to wait 2-3 minutes every time I made a change! These photographs are going to be used in the promotional material for a benefit concert we are performing in come June. It's my job to make sure we all look our best! LOL! It's time for the Wizard to make a glorious return!!!

Also on a positive note, my business is starting to move upwards! The parent corporation has offered a $11,000 bonus to those business owners who qualify, and I'm told that I have a good chance at qualifying!!! All I need is a few "Right People" who want to "Have Fun, Make Money, and Help People!" to join with me and run hard to build a big business! We have just started a new Business Incentives Program which will help us increase our volume and therefore, our profits! Things are lookin' up!

Well... time to get back to making reservations and plans for this whirlwind trip to Winterpeg (as it's not-so-affectionately known). I leave Thursday afternoon, and return late Friday evening! Crazy!

The Phoenix is BACK!!

WHAAAA HOOOO!

Now that I have my new State-Of-The-Art computer, I am now able to acess this site and blog to my heart's content! While viewing a random blog back in November, I picked up a trojan horse that refused to let me back into this site! No matter what program I used, or anything else I tried, I could not get rid of it! I had too much stuff on my hard drive to just reformat and start over, so I just stopped blogging for a while. My old computer was dying anyway, so... after Christmas I bought a whole new system! YAYYYY!!!! FINALLY!!!!!!

My new system is an AMD 64-bit Athelon 3000+ and boy, it goes like stink!!! With 1 Gb of RAM, and a 256 Mb video card.. I am back in the designer's seat now! And games??? I might have to clone myself so I can have enough time to play all the games I've wished to but couldn't on my old antique system!

The last two months have been an exercise in frustration and "character building" for my wife and I. In the beginning of November we applied for what's called an "Equity Line of Credit" to help us cope with all the bills and such that accumulated over the several months I was unemployed at the beginning of the year. I applied for enough to pay the bills, then be enough to cover me for 6 months salary, just in case I end up laid off again. Even though the Canadian Government is crowing about our "strong economy" right now, lay-offs and downsizing are at an all time high! We were approved within 10 days of our application, then the frustration started! The lender kept coming back with new "conditions" for the LOC to be closed, and each time we met those conditions, they found more! To make a long story short, on December 23rd, we finally got our cheque! So... it was a fast and furious Christmas shopping trip that evening! Just crazy!

Not only was that a worry, my computer picked up a lot more than that trojan horse in November! After a two day ordeal with multiple anti-virus programs, spyware programs and such, I was able to clean out over 12 trojan horses and over 50 spyware programs that my usual programs hadn't caught! BUT, even after all that, I still had major computer problems! My cable internet was down to a snail's pace, I couldn't access numerous websites and I was just really getting frustrated with the performance!

If those problems weren't enough, my wife's grandmother in Northern Ireland passed away on the 27th of December after a lengthy illness, and my grandfather in Winnipeg is deteriorating rapidly! So we were on "pins and needles" waiting for the word... and whether or not were going to get enough warning to get plane tickets to arrive in time for the funeral! My wife is currently in Northern Ireland and arrives home on the 5th of January. My daughters and I have been having fun "bacheloring it" since Wednesday, Dec. 29th. Thank goodness for Kraft Dinner, Chef Boyardee and fast food restaurants! My grandfather is holding on... and hopefully he recovers! We were hosting my wife's family for Christmas, and the uncertainty of whether she was even going to be here for Christmas was very trying. Of course, the cost of airfare was another worry... would we receive our LOC in time to be able to afford the ticket at all? We still have the worry about my grandfather, but everything else seems to have worked itself out! Still... we couldn't see the ending, and the uncertainty was extremely hard to deal with.

Christmas was great this year! Not that has been otherwise any other year! I did very well this Christmas... receiving a set of golf clubs and bag from my parents (my birthday is the 28th, so they combined the two to give that one BIG present), the Star Wars Trilogy on DVD from my wife and a cordless screw driver and shirt from my daughters! For my birthday, my wife and daughters bought me a PlayStation 2.. which is something I've wanted for years, and I bought myself this smokin' new computer and the Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, Special Extended edition! All these new toys and so little time to play with them all!

Well... I'm being bugged to go play video games with my girls, so will close this for now... guess I'll have to re-develop the habit of regular blogging now!!! LOL!!