Happy Holidays

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Joyful Kwanzaa, Festive Festivus, Radiant Rigatoni...

What every you celebrate, I hope it's happy, joyful and full of family and friends.

I choose to celebrate family, friends and being alive. 

Being together and bringing each other joy and comfort is what's really important. And in my humble opinion, it's not just a holiday thing, it's year round. Being there when times are fantastic as well as when we are at our lowest.

I wish everyone happiness and joy every day, not just at the holidays, but year round.

And fun.

You can't forget the Fun!!

Over the past several weeks, I've been working on a special present for friends of mine. They don't have a tree topper for their Christmas tree, and they couldn't seem to find the right one. 

So I made them one!!

I hope they like it!

 Merry Merry and Happy Happy.

See you again in 2016.

Cheers

Happy Pre-Hallowe'en Eve!

October 29th

It's been a while since my last blog post, but not as long as you might think.
I've been very busy and have even started another blog site.
careerreboot.blogspot.com

You see, September marked the first ever gathering of the Ottawa Career Reboot Group. It's a bi-weekly group that meets at the library on Monday evenings, to share and compare notes on bettering career fulfillment and opportunities. I'll admit that it was my brain child, and that I volunteered to facilitate the group. I realized that this type of service/event/resource was typically only accessible during regular business hours, making it difficult for folks not available during the day to access.

The first meeting, Sept 14th, was fantastic and we has 3 participants. The topic for the first meeting was appropriately "where to start" and delved into setting goals and limits.

Two weeks later at the next meeting, we had 4 people! The topic was all about resources, specifically what what the library had to offer - all free of charge, of course.

This week's meeting, Oct 26th, our third, we had an astounding 15 people join us. The talk was Taking the Fear out of Networking and it was a hit!

I was amazed to see so many new faces and I honestly hope the word gets out to those who might find the group useful.

I've been busy getting organized and crating the website (also a twitter account - twitter.com/OttawaReboot). I've made some great connections already and I hope the community grows.

Aside from the Reboot Group, I attended a networking event a few weeks ago, with great success and will be entering the NYCMidnight Short Screenplay Challenge this weekend.

I'll get my thinking cap on and eat my Alpha-Bits to help me avoid writer's block.

Until Next Time, stay safe and keep smiling!

The Day I called the Cops on God.

The day God wanted in, and I called the cops.

A few years ago, late, late at night, maybe 1 am or there abouts, there was a tapping on my door.

I was half asleep and my TV was on, so I didn't hear it at first. It got louder, but it didn't grab my attention until it became banging. 

Someone was trying to break in!!

Frightened, I threw on the first thing I snagged and grabbed the best weapon I could find; not my baseball bat, not my ski poll, not a knife... my TV remote!!

I approached the door. The pounding was persistent and I could see the door warp with each blow.

I was shaking, but I had my trusty remote in hand. "Who's There?" I screamed.

The reply came booming through the walls and door.

 "GOD!"

I was startled, and more than a little confused, so I asked for clarification.

"What do you want?" I shouted.

Again a reply boomed.

"To come in."

Perhaps I was too frightened and confused and still a bit groggy, but I felt sure, if it was God, he wouldn't need to pound the door down to get in. Surely he was all-powerful and could simply unlock and open the door, or perhaps pass right through it. I felt I needed to confirm his identity.

So, still confused, and hoping for clarity I shouted again "Who are you?"

Again, he repeated his original answer. "It's God."

Confounding my confusion I shouted again, " And what do you want?"

Now frustrated, he replied with angst "To come in..."

I shook my head and regarded my TV remote; it wouldn't be much help against any mortal being, much less God Himself.

I considered the time and, realizing I had on only an ill-fitting robe, I decided to refuse the Lord entrance to my house at what seemed to a very ungodly hour.

I shouted again, with authority.  "I'm calling the cops!"

God seemed very confused and answered back in a some-what meeker voice "What...?"

I stood firm, if still shaking, and shouted back "I'm Calling the Cops!!"

God seemed very dejected and dissuaded at this point and promptly left my stoop.

I did call the cop. They showed up soon after. They patrolled the area and filled out a report.

They didn't find God.

Nothing more really came of it.

My poor door had a few new cracks in the frame, but I was able to patch it up and reinforce the area with a brass plate.

God has not returned since then.

True Story.

In retrospect, he may have said his name was Rod, or maybe Todd, and he was probably a drunken college student at the wrong address, just looking to go to bed.

Sens Playoff Run - 2015

Like most Canadian, I am a hockey fan. When someone asks me what's my favorite sport, I usually smile and reply that there's only one sport, and it's hockey.  Truth is, I like most sports, but hockey is by far my favorite.

When folks ask me what's my team, I reply the Ottawa Senators, as I live in Ottawa. Once again, the truth is I have several teams I root for and I would prefer to see a great game where my team tries hard but loses, than to see a one-sided game where we win.

This year, the Ottawa Senators were well out of playoff standing, but rallied hard to squeak into the last spot of the playoffs. It was amazing and awe-inspiring.

When the Sens did make the playoffs, several of my customers called up looking to support the team.
We did what we could to help out.

Take a look at at a few:

and

Ottawa Daily Pics also noticed the Mustang in the Market, took a great photo and posted to Tumblr.

The Sens put up a valiant effort and took the series all the way to game 6! I'm very proud of what they accomplished and wish them all the best for next year. Go Sens!

Cheers