Category Archives: off topic

Oct 16 0 comments
cycling, home renovations, music, off topic

Why is everyone sick?

Is this H1N1 2.0?

(apologies in advance for the randomness of this post)

I’m getting over a mild cold. The Irish Wife is blowing chunks of stuff I’d rather not attempt to describe. 1/2 of my office is sneezing, sniffling, coughing or otherwise miserable.  What the hell is going on?

We’ve had a cold snap here in Toronto.  The weather suddenly went well below seasonal norms.  One day we were hovering around 20C, and within a week we’re hearing about frost warnings and flurries.  The weather is supposed to return to normal temps later next week. We’ll see.  I’m dying to get a few rides in before I have to put the bike on the trainer and bore myself to tears over what will no doubt be a very snowy winter.  Gah!

YellowTree

Autumn, pretty but lame

The cold weather means everyone starts congregating indoors and breathing on each other.  Or worse, touching stuff then poking their nose…  Hygiene is seriously lacking in modern society.  Sure, it was way worse long ago, but it could be so much better now.  Seriously people, wash your hands and stop licking random handrails.

This post isn’t about anything in particular. I’ve not done one in a while and I probably should.  The weather is quickly becoming unfriendly, to me, and I’m not happy about it.  This time of year just depresses me all to hell.

I have several days worth of work left on the basement before we can conceive of moving furniture back down here.  This project has seriously dragged on. Between work, trying to ride the bike when the weather actually allows, injury and illness progress has been delayed and it’s time to make a major push.  I started this back in MAY for fuck sake.  I want it done before the snow flies. You’re all invited over for drinks when I’m done.

I just got a quote on removing the vermiculite insulation from my attic.  Should run about $5000… Excuse me?  This abatement business is serious shit, and I’m on the wrong end of it.  This vermiculite crap is the worst thing ever invented.  Most of it was installed in the 50′s and 60′s and most of it is laced with asbestos. Lovely.  Now it’s no big deal if it’s left undisturbed which it is, however I’ll soon be renovating the kitchen and bathroom. Both rooms need new electrical in the ceiling and vents for extractor fans, etc. That means getting up in the attic and rooting around.  So, out the shit must go. It also means I have to replace it with something.  There are no deals to be had in the Level 3 Asbestos Abatement business.  If you find one stay clear, they don’t know what they’re doing.

I’m currently listening to Paul Weller’s brilliant self titled album from 1992.

Testicles.

That is all.

Sep 12 0 comments
off topic

on back pain

Many years ago I used to vacation at a resort in northern Ontario, Canada.  I basically grew up at this particular resort, had my first cigarette there, drank my first beer, kissed a girl for the first time, broke my tailbone there, wiped out waterskiing and felt my heel hit the back of my head… You get the picture. The tailbone was the first of many lower back injuries I have sustained over the years.  I’ve been fortunate to have never broken an arm, leg, or collarbone.  I’ve chipped the odd tooth and broke an ankle once, but it seems as though my lower back is a magnet for injury.

About 5 years ago I started to feel some discomfort back there and went to the chiropractor. After the visit I spent 5 weeks in debilitating pain, I had developed a bulging disc. I never went back to that chiropractor.  This isn’t a rant against chiropractors.  It seems that there are as many good ones as there are bone crunchers. You know, the ones that are adjusting you as you’re shaking their hands.  Not my bag.

Fast forward to last Saturday.  Pain again. First lower back pain to speak of since the disc issue.  The pain quickly manifested into sciatic nerve pain.  It was so bad earlier this week that simply standing was limited to 2-3 minutes at most, then I had to sit and wait for it to subside.  The big toe on my left foot had no feeling, it’s coming back now. On a scale of 10, 10 being excruciating pain, I was hovering around a 7 at times.  It was even getting difficult to wipe my butt!

No Chiro this time, per se.  I went to see a noted sports medicine guy.  You see, 5-6 years ago I was fast becoming overweight, and my core had suffered many a year behind the console of many a computer. Slouching and eating, and not much in the way of serious exercise.  Since then I got serious about what I eat, and I ride my bike (a lot).  So I’m fitter, but I’ve been putting off doing targeted core exercises…  So, Mr. Sports Medicine has done a few rounds of Active Release and acupuncture.  I’m a believer.  The nerve is chilling out now, and the pain has started to move away from the nerve to the true source. That friggin disc.

the pain, boss, the pain!

the pain, boss, the pain!

It’s interesting that the brain thinks the pain is about 10 inches away from where it actually is. That’s just the way nerves work.

It’s a good news/bad news situation.  The subsiding nerve pain means the inflammation around it is diminishing, but it means I’ll have to deal with some real pain as the disc starts to heal. Unfortunately it’s not something my friends Ibuprofen or Acetaminophen can help with either.

ARGH!  All this just as the weather in Toronto has become VERY bike friendly, and I start to see the light at the end of the basement renovation tunnel. Sorry for the rant, but I figured I’d warm up to blogging again by bitching a bit.  Hope you don’t mind.

Oh, right, core exercises… Wake up call!  Once this issue goes away I’m going to start working on the core in a serious way. So the Scottish Six Pack will make an appearance next summer.  Hold me to it!

Jun 02 0 comments
off topic

Wave Goodbye 1989>2009

Well, for all intents and purposes Nine Inch Nails is finished (at the end of this tour). In the words of Trent Reznor he’s “making it disappear for a while”.  Yet with a concert series ominously called “Wave Goodbye” it seems pretty permanent.

With the exception of 2 shows, I’ve seen them every time they’ve rolled through Toronto plus once at Molson Park in Barrie, Copps Coliseum and The Trini and I even went down to Buffalo Memorial Auditorium to see them.  I guess you could say that I am a fan.

The first album “Pretty Hate Machine” is a classic example of something in the right place at the right time.  I was an angst ridden, angry teenager and while bands like Ministry and Skinny Puppy filled the void somewhat, nothing really spoke to me the way NIN and PHM did.  It was full of the same anger and hate that I was.  The words meant something, and the music was more accessible so I could dance to it — another way of releasing that energy.

“Head like a hole, black as your soul. I’d rather die, than give you control”

If you didn’t ‘get’ that lyric when you were 17, you either had an uneventful upbringing or weren’t a teenager.  So for the the 10 or so of you who had boring teen years. you can stop reading now.

Screaming that at the top of my lungs was exactly the escape I needed.  I could have turned to drugs*, or doing other stupid shit but I had music, and what music it was.  *-the drugs are totally cool now that I’ve mellowed out a tad…

So I met my musical hero today. Someone who wrote music to which I connected, and probably (no, definitely) kept me out of serious trouble.  I made friends through his music, and have shared many memorable moments with those friends over the past 20 years.  If only I could chill with him for a little longer and tell him this. There just wasn’t time to today. Would it make a difference to him, or me? Probably not, but that’s not why I’m writing this…

This is me saying goodbye to a part of my life that was important. Besides, I have no voice right now so this is the next best option.  While he has said NIN is done, he’s not said that he is.  I can only hope to hear more of the virtuoso that is Trent Reznor in the future.

Until then I Wave Goodbye.