This is take three trying to write this blog. The first time I was too tired to start it and just now all my words just up and disappeared. So maybe I should hit the "save as draft" button after every paragraph?
I guess I will start from the beginning, again. I was supposed to have my semi-annual dentist appointment just before Christmas but I was ill so it was rescheduled for the middle of February. Everything proceeded as normal until the hygenist says "You might have a (something that sounded like) taurus. I'll get the dentist to check after I am finished." And he did and said that he can't tell what it is and he wants me to see an oral surgeon. Oh joy. Stuff like that is why I avoided dentists for 15-some years. That and they aren't covered by OHIP.
The appointment is set up for the end of February and I am given a piece of paper that tells this surgeon what to check for. After a few days, I look at the paper and it has the cryptic phrase "sub-mandibular gland". WTF is that? Being the smart fellow I am, I type that phrase into various search engines and every single link has the word CANCER in it. Wonderful. Not only am I overweight but now I might have cancer.
The day of the appointment finally arrives and I get to the office early. After sitting in the waiting room for half-an-hour, I am led to an examination room where I wait for another half-an-hour. Finally, the doctor arrives and asks me a few questions and says he needs some x-rays. The first couple were done there in the room with the 800 pound lead vest thingy, then a lovely young lady led me to a dark, closet sized room to deal with a machine not designed for a person who is 191 cm tall. After turning me into a human pretzel, we got the x-rays taken.
After another wait for the x-rays to be developed, he asks me about the symptoms I am having to which I reply "I have no idea what symptoms I am supposed to be having as I don't spend a lot of time exploring the bottom of my mouth." He then goes on to tell me that he can't locate any major problems other than the area is "not normal" and he'll refer me to an ear, nose and throat specialist just to be on the safe side.
Needless to say, that lifted a huge burden off my shoulders and I found out that sometimes a little knowledge is not a good thing.
3/29/2007
Slight retraction about Red Bull
It appears that AJ Allmendinger wasn't totally responsible for the pit road woes Ken Schrader and the Wood Brothers team experienced at Bristol this past weekend. That said, I am still ticked at Brian Vickers for pushing the 21 car out of the way and nearly causing him to crash. If the burns he suffered were caused by a broken exhaust from that push then I have no sympathy for him. And I still think Red Bull tastes like cough syrup!
3/28/2007
The race for the playoffs has begun!
Less than 2 weeks left in the NHL regular season and there are 6 teams battling for the last 3 playoff spots in the Eastern Conference. All 6 teams were in action and when all is said and done, the teams are seperated by a grand total of 3, yes I said THREE points. Someone was marvelling earlier this year about how the Northwest Division teams were so close and I said then that they had only played around 20 games and if it was still that close with 10 games to go, then you can get excited. So to summarize the last 3 spots currently are occupied by the
NY Rangers; 77GP - 87pts,
Tampa Bay; 77GP - 86pts and
Montreal 77GP - 86 pts.
On the outside looking in are
Carolina; 76GP - 84pts,
Toronto; 76GP - 84pts and
NY Islanders 76GP - 84pts.
It is going to be fun and every game will count.
NY Rangers; 77GP - 87pts,
Tampa Bay; 77GP - 86pts and
Montreal 77GP - 86 pts.
On the outside looking in are
Carolina; 76GP - 84pts,
Toronto; 76GP - 84pts and
NY Islanders 76GP - 84pts.
It is going to be fun and every game will count.
3/27/2007
3/26/2007
Not a fan of Red Bull
I tried their product once, tasted like cough syrup. Blech! And also not very happy with the drivers they employ in NASCAR. Vickers just about spun my boy Schrader out on the track. Fortunately, Ken was able to save the car after losing about 12 positions on the track. Then the 80-some laps off the pace AJ Allmendinger (or Wallmendinger as Mike Joy called him) kept getting in the way on pit stops and ended up costing the Wood Brothers at least 3 laps on the track including a 1 lap penalty for pitting outside his box. Now it is being reported that Vickers suffered burns after an exhaust part failed. If that failure was caused by his hitting the 21 car then I have no sympathy for him.
3/25/2007
Speaking of shaping up...
The lovely and talented Kate Bilo of accuweather.com has issued a challenge to her video blog viewers to see who can lose the most weight since she has just signed up with Weight Watchers. I guess if I reach my ultimate goal I would win but if we are talking about a specific period of time I don't know, maybe if there was some sort of reward? .... pondering....
Leafs better shape up
It was the best of times, it was the worse of times. For fans of God's team aka Toronto Maple Leafs it's a little of both sometimes combined in the same game. I had to work Friday so I took my Sirius satellite radio along so I could at least monitor the score. Imagine my glee when I glanced down and saw the Leafs had a 3 goal lead in Buffalo with 16 minutes left in the third period. Needless to say, the glee was shortlived when I heard Dennis Beyak's voice tell me the Sabres tied the game, took the lead and won 5-4. How could a team that is fighting to make the playoffs suddenly have a colossal 20 person brain fart like that?
Of course, the schedule maker gave the Leafs an opportunity to make things right by scheduling another game against Buffalo at home. Thankfully, the boys in blue and white again took a 4-1 lead but played much better and hung on to win by that same score. Because all the teams they are chasing also won tonight the Buds are in 11th place but are only 4 points out of 6th. They have 7 games left to play and pretty much will have to go 7-0 to make the playoffs. Still hope springs eternal.
Of course, the schedule maker gave the Leafs an opportunity to make things right by scheduling another game against Buffalo at home. Thankfully, the boys in blue and white again took a 4-1 lead but played much better and hung on to win by that same score. Because all the teams they are chasing also won tonight the Buds are in 11th place but are only 4 points out of 6th. They have 7 games left to play and pretty much will have to go 7-0 to make the playoffs. Still hope springs eternal.
Welcome to my humble abode.
I have no idea who may or may not read this blog. Who knows, it may only be little old me but I guess it won't be the first time. Maybe some friends from various message boards may stumble across this and I promise that I will try to not embarrass you too much.
I guess this is where I tell you all about myself and what I hope to talk about on here. Well, I was born in the same small town I currently live in. My parents and grandparents are all deceased, I have a younger brother and sister and 2 teenage nieces and a young nephew along with a golden retriever named Angel. I was born the same year as the Ford Mustang and the original Terminal 1 at Pearson International Airport in Toronto.
I am tall, 190.5 cm to be precise, or 6'3" for those of you who live in the only country who refuses to use metric, right Kate? Maybe I'll upload a photo of myself someday, but I don't want to be blamed for breaking the internet. Mostly dark hair with a little red mixed in and even a little *gasp* gray! I remember my Grade 1 teacher telling my mom that she could tell my mood that my hair was more red when I was happy. Who knew I was a walking mood ring?
If you are wondering about the title of this blog, it is because I spend a lot of time on the highway, specifically the MacDonald-Cartier Freeway in Ontario or "the 4-0h-1" as it is popularly known. Especially the stretch between Highway 409 in the west end of Toronto to Kingston. My employment comes from driving an airport shuttle van taking people to and from the airport. I get to meet a lot of nice, generous folks, some nice folks and some others. I also get to see a lot of strange sights on the highway and if I get a camera phone I may share some of those photos with you.
I am a big, and big in a couple different ways, fan of hockey and stock car racing. Even though I cannot skate an inch, I love the game of hockey, especially the Toronto Maple Leafs who may one day stop wandering in the wilderness and bring Lord Stanley's Cup home to Toronto. And in NASCAR, my favourite driver is Ken Schrader. Did you know he was the first driver ever to win a race in all 3 national touring series when he won the third race ever run in the Craftsman Truck Series in 1995. An don't worry with NHL playoffs starting and teams still looking for playoff spots and all the fun in NASCAR I'll be sure to have a few things to say.
And finally, assuming I haven't bored you to tears yet, I am hoping to use this to document my battle of the bulge. I have always been heavy but it has gotten extreme in the last few months. The doctor has put me on high blood pressure medication that goes away when I lose weight. One of my co-workers who I would consider to be much healthier than me had a mini-stroke last month and needless to say, it scared the hell out of me. So to make a long, internationally copywritten story short I bought a scale on March 5/07 and was disgusted by the number I saw there. I then bought an exercise bike and resolved to lose a lot of blubber. So far, I am down 6.4 kgs from that original number and leaves me 0.5 kg shy of my first goal of 5. The ultimate being a somewhat svelte 100 kg (220 lbs for those in State College).
I guess this is where I tell you all about myself and what I hope to talk about on here. Well, I was born in the same small town I currently live in. My parents and grandparents are all deceased, I have a younger brother and sister and 2 teenage nieces and a young nephew along with a golden retriever named Angel. I was born the same year as the Ford Mustang and the original Terminal 1 at Pearson International Airport in Toronto.
I am tall, 190.5 cm to be precise, or 6'3" for those of you who live in the only country who refuses to use metric, right Kate? Maybe I'll upload a photo of myself someday, but I don't want to be blamed for breaking the internet. Mostly dark hair with a little red mixed in and even a little *gasp* gray! I remember my Grade 1 teacher telling my mom that she could tell my mood that my hair was more red when I was happy. Who knew I was a walking mood ring?
If you are wondering about the title of this blog, it is because I spend a lot of time on the highway, specifically the MacDonald-Cartier Freeway in Ontario or "the 4-0h-1" as it is popularly known. Especially the stretch between Highway 409 in the west end of Toronto to Kingston. My employment comes from driving an airport shuttle van taking people to and from the airport. I get to meet a lot of nice, generous folks, some nice folks and some others. I also get to see a lot of strange sights on the highway and if I get a camera phone I may share some of those photos with you.
I am a big, and big in a couple different ways, fan of hockey and stock car racing. Even though I cannot skate an inch, I love the game of hockey, especially the Toronto Maple Leafs who may one day stop wandering in the wilderness and bring Lord Stanley's Cup home to Toronto. And in NASCAR, my favourite driver is Ken Schrader. Did you know he was the first driver ever to win a race in all 3 national touring series when he won the third race ever run in the Craftsman Truck Series in 1995. An don't worry with NHL playoffs starting and teams still looking for playoff spots and all the fun in NASCAR I'll be sure to have a few things to say.
And finally, assuming I haven't bored you to tears yet, I am hoping to use this to document my battle of the bulge. I have always been heavy but it has gotten extreme in the last few months. The doctor has put me on high blood pressure medication that goes away when I lose weight. One of my co-workers who I would consider to be much healthier than me had a mini-stroke last month and needless to say, it scared the hell out of me. So to make a long, internationally copywritten story short I bought a scale on March 5/07 and was disgusted by the number I saw there. I then bought an exercise bike and resolved to lose a lot of blubber. So far, I am down 6.4 kgs from that original number and leaves me 0.5 kg shy of my first goal of 5. The ultimate being a somewhat svelte 100 kg (220 lbs for those in State College).
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