It’s funny how human behavior sometimes plays out isn’t it? What is it about humans that make us want to exploit a weakness in other people? Recently I participated in a “Fat Bastards” competition to lose weight. I don’t consider myself too far off the mark, but it makes good sense to lose the weight and move closer to an ideal state. I’d be healthier, have more energy, and will probably live longer with a few less pounds around the middle.
Unfortunately because it was a competition, you could not expect support from your fellow competitors. What you could get from them was sabotage. Yup… those unscrupulous bastards had no compunction against using temptation to entice their opponents into putting on weight rather than losing it. There was no team camaraderie. There was no desire to help someone reach their goal and give them the support they needed to succeed. It was every man for himself. Sheesh.
It definitely tested your discipline and strength of willpower. Those who really wanted to drop the pounds did succeed. I managed loose a few pounds and I’ve been able to keep it off, but I didn’t win the competition. I know that I need more discipline and character to truly be successful. I can do it on my own, but I will do much better when I am surrounded by a support network. What makes this kinda funny is the fact that I’ve turned into one of those bastards. *cringe*
One of the girls at work has decided to kick her “energy drink” habit. She’s hooked on Rockstar Burners and wants to cut back on the amount of caffeine she takes in on a daily basis. She has made bold claims about how she has gone cold turkey and is not looking back. Her addiction was pretty strong though, and sometimes she’d have more than one of these things during the day… the can even has a warning on it not to exceed more than one a day. She couldn’t go camping without bringing along a ½ dozen for the couple days. So it was no surprise when one of our other colleagues said… “I’ve got 5 bucks that says she’ll have one before the end of the week”.
Why am I the bastard? Well, I kinda agree with my colleague, I don’t think she will be able to last out the week before succumbing to the cravings. To further my claim, I’ve taken it upon myself to entice her into having a Burner to end the “cold turkey” abandonment of the energy drinks. I’m such a bastard. How can I do this, when she really needs my support and not my counterproductive machinations? I don’t know… but it is kinda fun, and it does stretch my creativity.
I started out by buying her a Rockstar Burner during our afternoon break on Monday and offered it to her. She refused. I then proceeded to tempt her senses. I poured my own beverage into a glass filled with ice. The sounds it makes – fizzing, ice clinking against each other in the glass, and the sound of the container filling up rising in pitch as it nears the top. I displayed what the carbonated beverage would look like sitting on her desk, still fizzing. The site of the frosty glass perspiring from cold liquid inside did nothing to tempt her. Of course I had to “talk up” the Burner, explaining in detail, how good it would feel to drink it, to feel the cold, dark, liquid cool you off as it slips down your throat. I tried to paint a picture of how wonderful it would be to have such a tasty beverage and the small little adrenaline rush she would get from the Burner after she drank it. Still - she resisted! She was going to be one tough little cookie.
I was not to be deterred. I stepped up my campaign. Next I took the rockstar, found a container and filled it with ice, and then nestled the blue can in amongst the cubes, almost like a bottle of wine chilling. The imagery is priceless. Soon the can cooled and droplets of moisture started to condense on the outside. As the cubes melted, the can sank lower into the container, settling in and making the visual even more powerful. And yet…. She still held her ground and kept away from temptation. I think had we started earlier in the day, we might have had an affect, but the day ended too soon and she was out of our realm of influence.
We tried the “ice bucket” scenario again on Tuesday. I think it was starting to make some headway too. I managed to prep it even a little bit earlier and had it cooling just before lunch. All afternoon it had been perched on top of the cubicle wall that separates’ us. She looks up to see her nemesis and the craving builds. For added effect, when I went for break today, I made sure to get a second Burner for her to drink. The down side to that is now she looks at this with renewed determination to hold out. She does not want to be “beaten” by us and our nefarious plans to make her crack. I gently reminded her, that she can easily outlast us… and yet she doesn’t have to beat *us* per se… but she must outlast the Rockstar and her craving for a Burner. Her battle is with the energy drink.
Next we will try a new tactic. Doug (my accomplice) thinks that we can tempt her even more by pouring a Rockstar into a glass. She cannot resist an open container of the sweet nectar! She cannot resist her “precious” lol. It calls her name! I don’t think it will be much longer and she’ll indulge. I am such a Bastard…
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
The Drama that is a wedding...
Well, my little sister finally got married this last weekend. I say “finally” but I don’t really mean it that way
. It’s not like we were all waiting for her to tie the knot or anything. She isn’t an old maid either by any stretch of the imagination. Heck I’m 3 years older and still not married myself. The wedding was beautiful though, and my sister was a very lovely bride too. You can see for yourself when you head over to my Gallery webpage and browse through the few photo’s that I took. http://bitgeek.rezgeek.com/main.php?g2_itemId=6319
We celebrated her wedding in Radium BC on a beautiful mountain resort. A golf course backed right up to the hotel and we managed to have an idyllic setting for the festivities and all the photo’s and what not. Still, there were a few obstacles for my sister and her fiancé to deal with.
They started out with a Wedding planner when they first decided to get married in Radium. The concept of course, was driven mainly by the fact that Mick and Dave were over 600 km’s away and it would be rather difficult for them to get the stuff done that the wedding planner would take care of for them. So it started out worry free, and the wedding planner had everything well under hand... or so they thought.
Alas, poor Mick. The wedding planner was great for making suggestions and coming up with ideas, but very lacking in the execution department. Michelle and Dave ended up doing all the leg work that they assumed the planner would handle. Arrangements with the church and priest, the arrangements with the resort and banquet hall and the preparation of flowers and decorations etc were all conceptual things the wedding planner started, but Michelle and Dave ended up doing the actual work. So... like any rational person, Michelle fired her wedding planner. Why not? She was doing all the work herself anyway.
So she cut a check for the stuff that the planner did accomplish and went her merry way. Well, maybe in retrospect she should have found another wedding planner instead of taking on things herself. The work was tremendous. Her and Dave planned and took care of all the details which included the marriage course (mandated by the Catholic Church), the hotel bookings, the flowers, the decorations, the invitations, the dresses, color schemes and the music and much, much more. All looked after by Mick and Dave.
Unfortunately some of these tasks require a personal hands on visit to make sure they are done right so, the two of them found themselves out in Radium on several occasions dealing with things in person. Did I mention that amongst these trials and tribulations that her wedding ring was re-sized and then returned with missing diamonds?? She had to confront the jeweller to get that corrected... but wow... i can’t believe the jeweller would defraud her like that.
Even a video presentation was done above and beyond what they really had time to do . So last month Michelle’s lease on her apartment came due. Mick was told that it was time to renew or move out. So she moved out to save some cash. Yikes. Then an opportunity to change positions at the hospital presented itself. So she went from the UofA hospital to the one in St Albert. The whole time she’s still arranging for her wedding plans. You may not know this either, but Michelle had surgery done about a year ago, and has been trying to get in to a specialist to see about having some cosmetic touch up surgery done. It’s not an easy waiting list to get on. Guess when they called for her appointment to have it done? Oh... about a month before the wedding. She had to cancel that appointment. The cosmetic surgeon has since called back to reschedule, but they wanted to do it in June... unfortunately when you take 2 weeks off for a wedding in May and then turn around and ask for another 4 weeks off in June (high season at the hospital) they don’t like that too much. So hopefully she can get it done in August or September.
On the upside the cosmetic stuff will really enhance her beauty but the recovery time and sacrifices to get it done mean that she will have to wait till after it’s finished to think about starting a family. Interesting quandary for a newlywed couple I’d say. Michelle really likes kids so waiting another year is something they will have to do if Mick wants the other surgery done first. Yowsa!! Talk about challenges.
I hope Michelle’s bridesmaids can forgive her for being a little on the Bridezilla side of things on her wedding day. Two days before the big event, the flowers for the reception were picked up. These are the deelies that end up in the center pieces on all the tables. Michelle had very specific colors in mind when she ordered them – a darker purple. What she got was a lighter version of this... almost pink. Not a huge deal since they still looked ok... but she was charged full price for the order even though they screwed it up. Talk about putting you in a bad mood.
The hotel messed up on a number of the room bookings when people were arriving. Those with special physical needs were
supposed to be on the main floor, and ended up on the second floor. Not a big deal you say? Except that this was a lodge style hotel and they only have 3 floors – access is outdoors for the 2nd and 3rd floors and there are no elevators. Grrrrr. They gave people that requested a suite, a regular room with 2 queen beds instead. The cancelled one booking by accident and then told them that they couldn’t find them a room since they were all booked for the weekend. “Oh ok...” says Radium Resort “But the couple we have to bump will not be happy....” imagine that huh??
Remember the video presentation I was telling you about? The one Mick and Dave put together for the reception? It requires a projector , PA system, and a DVD player. Dave shows up to the hotel, and proceeds to check out the facilities to test everything out. “Oh yeah.... “ says the Radium Resort, “That projector has been broken since September and we haven’t had a chance to get it fixed yet. Did you bring a laptop? We can get you a portable projector” I think Dave was a little miffed to say the least. If I hadn’t brought a “line-in” audio cable that I use for my MP3 player, and if Mick hadn’t brought her Portable Ghetto Blaster, then they wouldn’t have had audio for the presentation. Not to mention that it was lucky that Dave had his laptop on hand as well. Nasty.
The hair salon that booked Michelle in for her “do” was running late, so accordingly Michelle was late getting back to the hotel to get ready for her own wedding. The way things worked out, her bridesmaids couldn’t help her get ready with the dress and all the girly things that had to be done. So it was just my mom and her. Then one of the Bridesmaids had her own trials getting ready and was also running late. Michelle was naturally frustrated and ended up being a little late getting out of the gates to make it to the church. Anxiety? Maybe just a little. Lucky for Mick, her priest was late as well. He arrived 10 minutes after the bride and groom got there and still had to put on his robes and arrange the stuff on his end. Whew... almost there
I hear it is good luck if it rains on your wedding day (I think they tell brides that to make them feel better). Well, did it ever pour down during the wedding ceremony! Flash flood! Still... it did clear up before everything was done and people had to leave for the hotel. No one was soaked. It also rained off and on throughout the afternoon while pictures were being taken. Luck actually was on her side this time. It only rained a smidge after the initial downpour and all the pictures happened without incident. I’m told that cloudy skies make for better pictures due to contrast reasons anyway. Yaaay something finally went in Michelle’s favour! J
The reception went without a problem and people really seemed to enjoy themselves. It was one of the few weddings I’ve been to where the dance floor was busy most of the night. Sometimes small weddings are better that way I think! J I managed to cut a rug for most of the night too! All the dance lessons I took paid off in the end and my dance card was full for most of the night.
In the end, everything was smoothed over or worked out. All the obstacles were overcome, and my sister is still has her sanity (I hope!). She and Dave (and with the help of friends and family) pulled off a great event and Michelle is now Mrs Schensema which i think is the most important part of this whole exercise anyway. I think however, I will learn from their experiences and just elope when it is time for me to get hitched! I just hope it isn’t a shotgun wedding!!! J
. It’s not like we were all waiting for her to tie the knot or anything. She isn’t an old maid either by any stretch of the imagination. Heck I’m 3 years older and still not married myself. The wedding was beautiful though, and my sister was a very lovely bride too. You can see for yourself when you head over to my Gallery webpage and browse through the few photo’s that I took. http://bitgeek.rezgeek.com/main.php?g2_itemId=6319We celebrated her wedding in Radium BC on a beautiful mountain resort. A golf course backed right up to the hotel and we managed to have an idyllic setting for the festivities and all the photo’s and what not. Still, there were a few obstacles for my sister and her fiancé to deal with.
They started out with a Wedding planner when they first decided to get married in Radium. The concept of course, was driven mainly by the fact that Mick and Dave were over 600 km’s away and it would be rather difficult for them to get the stuff done that the wedding planner would take care of for them. So it started out worry free, and the wedding planner had everything well under hand... or so they thought.
Alas, poor Mick. The wedding planner was great for making suggestions and coming up with ideas, but very lacking in the execution department. Michelle and Dave ended up doing all the leg work that they assumed the planner would handle. Arrangements with the church and priest, the arrangements with the resort and banquet hall and the preparation of flowers and decorations etc were all conceptual things the wedding planner started, but Michelle and Dave ended up doing the actual work. So... like any rational person, Michelle fired her wedding planner. Why not? She was doing all the work herself anyway.
So she cut a check for the stuff that the planner did accomplish and went her merry way. Well, maybe in retrospect she should have found another wedding planner instead of taking on things herself. The work was tremendous. Her and Dave planned and took care of all the details which included the marriage course (mandated by the Catholic Church), the hotel bookings, the flowers, the decorations, the invitations, the dresses, color schemes and the music and much, much more. All looked after by Mick and Dave.
Unfortunately some of these tasks require a personal hands on visit to make sure they are done right so, the two of them found themselves out in Radium on several occasions dealing with things in person. Did I mention that amongst these trials and tribulations that her wedding ring was re-sized and then returned with missing diamonds?? She had to confront the jeweller to get that corrected... but wow... i can’t believe the jeweller would defraud her like that.Even a video presentation was done above and beyond what they really had time to do . So last month Michelle’s lease on her apartment came due. Mick was told that it was time to renew or move out. So she moved out to save some cash. Yikes. Then an opportunity to change positions at the hospital presented itself. So she went from the UofA hospital to the one in St Albert. The whole time she’s still arranging for her wedding plans. You may not know this either, but Michelle had surgery done about a year ago, and has been trying to get in to a specialist to see about having some cosmetic touch up surgery done. It’s not an easy waiting list to get on. Guess when they called for her appointment to have it done? Oh... about a month before the wedding. She had to cancel that appointment. The cosmetic surgeon has since called back to reschedule, but they wanted to do it in June... unfortunately when you take 2 weeks off for a wedding in May and then turn around and ask for another 4 weeks off in June (high season at the hospital) they don’t like that too much. So hopefully she can get it done in August or September.
On the upside the cosmetic stuff will really enhance her beauty but the recovery time and sacrifices to get it done mean that she will have to wait till after it’s finished to think about starting a family. Interesting quandary for a newlywed couple I’d say. Michelle really likes kids so waiting another year is something they will have to do if Mick wants the other surgery done first. Yowsa!! Talk about challenges.
I hope Michelle’s bridesmaids can forgive her for being a little on the Bridezilla side of things on her wedding day. Two days before the big event, the flowers for the reception were picked up. These are the deelies that end up in the center pieces on all the tables. Michelle had very specific colors in mind when she ordered them – a darker purple. What she got was a lighter version of this... almost pink. Not a huge deal since they still looked ok... but she was charged full price for the order even though they screwed it up. Talk about putting you in a bad mood.
The hotel messed up on a number of the room bookings when people were arriving. Those with special physical needs were
supposed to be on the main floor, and ended up on the second floor. Not a big deal you say? Except that this was a lodge style hotel and they only have 3 floors – access is outdoors for the 2nd and 3rd floors and there are no elevators. Grrrrr. They gave people that requested a suite, a regular room with 2 queen beds instead. The cancelled one booking by accident and then told them that they couldn’t find them a room since they were all booked for the weekend. “Oh ok...” says Radium Resort “But the couple we have to bump will not be happy....” imagine that huh??Remember the video presentation I was telling you about? The one Mick and Dave put together for the reception? It requires a projector , PA system, and a DVD player. Dave shows up to the hotel, and proceeds to check out the facilities to test everything out. “Oh yeah.... “ says the Radium Resort, “That projector has been broken since September and we haven’t had a chance to get it fixed yet. Did you bring a laptop? We can get you a portable projector” I think Dave was a little miffed to say the least. If I hadn’t brought a “line-in” audio cable that I use for my MP3 player, and if Mick hadn’t brought her Portable Ghetto Blaster, then they wouldn’t have had audio for the presentation. Not to mention that it was lucky that Dave had his laptop on hand as well. Nasty.
The hair salon that booked Michelle in for her “do” was running late, so accordingly Michelle was late getting back to the hotel to get ready for her own wedding. The way things worked out, her bridesmaids couldn’t help her get ready with the dress and all the girly things that had to be done. So it was just my mom and her. Then one of the Bridesmaids had her own trials getting ready and was also running late. Michelle was naturally frustrated and ended up being a little late getting out of the gates to make it to the church. Anxiety? Maybe just a little. Lucky for Mick, her priest was late as well. He arrived 10 minutes after the bride and groom got there and still had to put on his robes and arrange the stuff on his end. Whew... almost there
I hear it is good luck if it rains on your wedding day (I think they tell brides that to make them feel better). Well, did it ever pour down during the wedding ceremony! Flash flood! Still... it did clear up before everything was done and people had to leave for the hotel. No one was soaked. It also rained off and on throughout the afternoon while pictures were being taken. Luck actually was on her side this time. It only rained a smidge after the initial downpour and all the pictures happened without incident. I’m told that cloudy skies make for better pictures due to contrast reasons anyway. Yaaay something finally went in Michelle’s favour! JThe reception went without a problem and people really seemed to enjoy themselves. It was one of the few weddings I’ve been to where the dance floor was busy most of the night. Sometimes small weddings are better that way I think! J I managed to cut a rug for most of the night too! All the dance lessons I took paid off in the end and my dance card was full for most of the night.
In the end, everything was smoothed over or worked out. All the obstacles were overcome, and my sister is still has her sanity (I hope!). She and Dave (and with the help of friends and family) pulled off a great event and Michelle is now Mrs Schensema which i think is the most important part of this whole exercise anyway. I think however, I will learn from their experiences and just elope when it is time for me to get hitched! I just hope it isn’t a shotgun wedding!!! J
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Mmmmmm Eye Candy for Desert please!
Holy cow! A few friends/colleagues decided we should go over to Eau Claire for lunch today. I was just going to sit at my desk and have some soup, but am I ever glad I went with them. I think I undervalued the idea of being single again. Let me just say this.... I love the sun! It brings out the best in people... specifically short skirts on women. Wow. No really... wow! There was soooo much to look at I think I'll have to go back again tomorrow to catch up on what I missed. Talk about incentive to improve my own physique. I didn't really notice the eye candy when I was dating, especially since my girlfriend was so easy on the eyes too. Now that I'm single, I definitely appreciate the affect warm weather has on a woman's attire.
Thanks Guys... lets do this again on every sunny day! ;)
Thanks Guys... lets do this again on every sunny day! ;)
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