Thanksgiving has passed, where has the time gone. Family, friends, thinking of what matters

It's been a long, nasty day. Work was busy, and everything that could go wrong chose today to do it. Trying to stay positive through out the day was hard. At one point I felt like yelling at someone, anyone, just to get out some frustration. I haven't felt that venomous in a very long time.

A lot of different factors come to play with a day like today. Forge ahead is all one can do.

Last week was 30C and higher... Sunday till now, not so much.... :(

Been sick lately, working long hours, gotta make time for life... Good luck with that

spent the weekend in the mountains. hiking, horse back riding, hot springs, a good time had by all. nothing like sitting on a sandbar in the middle of a raging mountain river for some good old meditation.

I got rear ended today. Not to bad, scratched bumper, cracked tail light, and a whole lot of unimpressed. Accidents are accidents, and yes they happen. But preventable ones, due to lack of caring... totally different story.

I was in line at the drive thru at Timmies to get a morning tea and yogurt. The guy behind me decided that the guy trying to cut in, wasn't going to do it. Fine, I look in my rear view mirror, and he's practically touching my tail gait. Annoying but whatever. Line moves forward and I pull up, thinking buddy has made his point and is over it. I was wrong.

Next thing I knew I'm the proud recipient of a ford enema. I got out to check the damage, seeing it was minor, but he hadn't backed off, he was still crammed into my truck. I looked up and add insult to injury (so to speak) he wouldn't even look up. Didn't roll down his window, didn't apologize, didn't make eye contact, nothing. I was livid! The very least one can do is acknowledge you. And he didn't back off after that. Just kept trying to park his truck on my bumper until he was sure the other dude couldn't get around him. Do you really need coffee that bad? I was so ticked off that I shook for a couple of hours.

Eventually, I calmed down, but the basic principal of the situation still irks me. What happened to the days of taking responsibility? The damage wasn't bad, I wasn't hurt, and I had no interest involving the insurance companies. Still an offer to take some ownership of his actions would have been nice. When you hit someone, minor or not, you are morally obligated to offer up the insurance or to settle otherwise. Or so I thought at least.

lions and lambs... funny how people are. Some people would consider themselves lions, when really they are just noisy lambs. Yet others are quite about their lives and they are apex predators. accurate self image is a tricky thing.

have a cold or the flu, or something. whatever it is, it's nasty.

on the up side I got a really funny fortune cookie.

sometimes it's hard to decide which direction to go in. options are always around even if un recognized. finding the way to get to the big goals is challenging. do you ride a bad situation out for the short term, or try to find a better one in the interim. go, stay, how does one predict the future. sometimes it's a means to an end. sometimes it's just not worth the effort. wisdom is knowing the difference i guess.

Got something on my mind, but it's a bit abstract and needs time to clarify. maybe the blog post will make sense then.

I've got some mixed emotions. Someone I know had a bad accident that was completely preventable. She has a broken back and is in the hospital. Naturally I am very glad she is alive and has a positive prognosis to make a nearly full recovery. However, I'm also feeling like she needs a good lecture about making good choice.

There are very specific rules in skydiving, and she continues to break them. From the time I first met her, I had a feeling she was going to get herself or someone else killed. Though it was a serious accident, it didn't come to that thankfully. There were many times through out the accident where a good choice could have prevented it. But the bad choices were made and she is paying a very serious price.

As an inexperienced jumper, who is not licensed to jump with other people, she attempted a jump beyond her skill level with another diver. The rule is everyone needs to be under canopy by 2200 ft. Personally, I pull at 3500 ft, regardless of the fact that I am licensed to pull much lower. But I digress, an AAD (automatic activation devise) measures speed and altitude. If you are still in free fall speed by time you hit the hard deck (1500 ft) it will arm itself and deploy your reserve by 1000 ft. (give or take individual settings) The reason for this, is many parachutes can take up to 1000 ft to open, and when you are that low, getting under canopy successfully might not happen. That's how people die.

These divers sucked their dive low and both of their AAD's deployed. They ended up in a 2 out situation, both the main and reserve parachutes are deployed at the same time.

This situation can be stable, or EXTREMELY unstable. A stable 2 out is called a biplane. Where one canopy flies behind the other. As stable as that situation gets, but gentile corrections and guidance is required to land. The experienced jumper ended up with a biplane. A side by side is where both canopies are quite literally flying beside each other. This is extremely unstable, as the canopies "fight" for position, eventually putting you in a down plane... that is they go to opposite sides of each other and start spinning you straight at the ground. When a 2 out is a side by side, you cut the main away... she didn't. As is the case with the unexperienced jumper, she didn't give herself enough time to react, and didn't react the way she needed to. And now she is in the hospital.

Bad choice, doing a jump beyond her skill level, bad choice ignoring safety regulations regarding pull height, bad choice regarding reaction. One good choice could have changed things dramatically.

Some of my friends are blaming the experienced jumper, as if it's his fault. Though I agree he should have known better, and it's half his fault, she also should have known better and is equally responsible. She has been spoken to repeatedly about the reckless choices she makes and the danger she puts herself and others in. She has been given guidance, correction, and on occasion, been removed from loads. Maybe now she will learn to listen to the people who care about her and understand that they aren't holding her back, but trying to keep her and others safe.

Time will tell I guess

life is about choices and the directions they take us

eagles have moved out, canada grays have moved in... tales from the back 40

we got some rain today. maybe spring really is here... just in time for summer

Barn yard roll call... Little Daisy, Little Jessie, Homer, Rocky, Patch, Micky, Samson, Chuck, Speed Bump, Snoopy, Patches, Lady Di, Brockie, Curly, Lady Bug, T-Bone, Coke, Frostbite, Daisy, Jessie, Ma'm, Wooly, Kija, Shy-Rose, Diego, Don Xavier, Sylvester, Noir, ... 15 cows, 7 calves (so far), 3 horses, 2 cats, 1 dog.... throw in 5 bald eagles, a few badgers, several deer, the local fox and hawk families, and a bucket full of gophers.... not crowded at all.

another week, another blog post.

Alberta is living up to it's reputation of having 4 distinct seasons:
Almost Winter
Winter
Still Winter
and Construction...
I don't think we're going to make it to Construction this year...

This date last year, I was in Dunedin, New Zealand. It was amazing... I'm shocked at how fast time's gone.

Another week, another blog post. Introspection, random thoughts, and other such nonsense. Our daily lives summed up in the passing of time, the only true currency.... how much have you invested in your life, and how much have you wasted?

This was the post I put on the UBBT. Cryptic, vague, and smelling like oh so much barnyard. What do you write about? Been at this a while and my brain is running on empty. When I started this blog, I named it what I did for a purpose. It was to be a tool to help students and instructors build a better understanding of each other and there in become more efficient, empathetic, and successful.

I don't like opening up, yet at times have done just that. Though I am not ashamed of the things I've shared (they have fueled the soul forge of my existence), I am just a very private person, and they are really none of anyone's business. So why share them... guess it seemed like a good idea at the time.

Spent first weekend of the month in the mountains... always a good time. Went dog sledding in -27 degrees... the high of the day (was below -30 in the morning) One of the coolest things I've had the opportunity to do. Going again for sure.

Spent last weekend in Vegas... My new company took us all for 4 days as a "team building" thing... translated into tickets to the UFC fight on the company dime.... Caught up with a friend that lives there and she and I went to the super bowl half time show live that was being video fed to Texas. That was interesting. Good to catch up with her.

don't know what happened to my last post, but it's gone. So in the Rockies with my Aussie friend. Went for a skate this morning, sitting in the hotel having a hot chocolate now... all good.

Rocked up to Jasper yesterday, had a great dinner. Went for a skate this morning, just enjoying a hot chocolate and catching up... playing tour guide is kinda fun... off to banff this afternoon... booh yah!

My friend from Australia arrived last night... let the games begin

10 days straight of snow with no end in sight.... and of course the shoveling that goes along with... yuck

lost my glasses, have had contacts in since 06:00 hrs... feel like scratching my eyes out... yuck