It's My Life

A CHANGE OF PLANS

After contemplating whether making a trip to Kamloops was worth it or not, I decided against it. Instead, I'm going to be in Prince George the same weekend (Sept. 10 and 11). I have my reasons for changing plans. I'll admit a big part of the Kamloops trip was going to see Dani, but that wasn't the basis for my decision to go down there. I wanted to go to party and see old friends, but realized I'd rather go to PG to see family and friends there. Plus, I'm already scheduled to work Thanksgiving weekend, the weekend I was originally planning to go to PG. So I'm going to do the same sorts of things in PG I would've Thanksgiving weekend, like get new brake pads and shoes, and winter tires put on my car. Plus with three of us in the office doing layout next Friday I may be able to leave a little early, and go out for a few drinks in PG when I get there.

When I think about my complaining that there isn't anything to do here, it's pretty pathetic. I can find things to do anywhere, life is what you make it. And I'm really close to Red Deer, with Edmonton and Calgary also relatively close. I should be taking advantage of that, instead of taking trips to places like PG and Kamloops, which only cost more money.

MONEY, CAR INSURANCE AND ANOTHER VISIT TO RED DEER

Last night I went at Billy Bob's in Red Deer with my cousin Kenzie and discussed money, and how stressful thinking about it can be. Her situation is somewhat similar to mine in that she isn't making much
money at her job. Then she talked about how she could get on working at a oil company and make up to $100,000 after bonuses. I thought that seemed a little outlandish, considering she doesn't need a degree to get that job. I think she may have been exaggerating.

As much as I enjoy my job, the money, or lack of it, gets to me. I made more money (by the hour) when I started working at a sawmill at 17 in Prince George. But I love my job, I enjoy covering sports. If I got paid sawmill-like money for what I do right now I'd be willing to settle in Lacombe the rest of my life. The location is great - right in between Calgary and Edmonton, and only 20 km north of Red Deer. I also love being near a place where there's so much growth and development. Prince George has barely any of it, and Kamloops seems to be growing slowly and surely, but not at all like Red Deer. Experts are predicting that in 50 years Red Deer may double in size, to over 150,000. I wouldn't doubt it, considering it's gone from 60,000 to 80,000 in 15-20 years.

The issue of money only really stresses me out when I'm not working. Last week when I was working at the Globe, taking pictures and writing stories, it was the last thing on my mind. But then yesterday when I looked at the money in my account and realized how much it may cost me to turn my car insurance over I was ready to flip. Nick must know what I'm talking about regarding the whole out of province vehicle inspection I have to get done to get Alberta car insurance, he lived in Peace River for eight months. It's a scam.

I went to the Kal Tire in Lacombe, and the mechanic there told me it's best to get a regular safety inspection done first, so that's what I'm doing. I have an appointment this Friday. Since I'll fail the out of province inspection for anything like a small crack in the windshield, I might as well get the new brake pads and shoes placed on that I've been putting off until before winter, get a new windshield because there's cracks in the one I have, fix up any rust on my car, get a new paint job, new shocks and cough up a good $1500 before it's all said and done. I understand why they have it, I just think it's unfair to ding somebody for little things like a crack in the windshield. It's bad enough gas is $1 a litre right now.

Technically it's against the law to keep a BC vehicle insurance in Alberta for longer than three months. I've been here two. The only exception is if you're going to school here. Maybe I should just sign up for a night course at the Christian college near my place, then I could drive around with a BC vehicle insurance all I want.

I know some of you reading this think if I did less trips I'd save more money. Of course I would, but with Red Deer being as long a drive as the one I used to take to the sawmill in Prince George every weekend while I was there, and so little to do in Lacombe, of course I'm going to drive down there, it's not even a trip really, I don't consider a 15-minute drive to get to a bigger city like Red Deer a trip.

On a different topic, I saw the coolest miniature motorcycles yesterday with my other cousin Kevin while I was helping him move items to his new house. They're only $500 each, and are 2-3 feet long. They go up to almost 70 km/hr. but aren't street legal (no surprise there). I think it would still be fun to find an empty parking lot to rip around in one.

I also checked out Bellini's for the first time last night, it's a bar right beside Billy Bob's that I've just never bothered to check out. Well I'm glad I did because it's a much nicer place than Billy Bob's, and not everything is constructed out of 2x4's in this place. It's bigger, fancier and more like a club with younger people. Plus, it was the first bar I've been to that has a Pizza Hut. I ordered myself a personal pepperoni pizza before hitting the road back to Lacombe.

Today I'm hitting the links for a round of golf with my publisher Susan and the new reporter James. It sould be some fun, and less stressful than dealing with mechanics and worrying about car insurance.

NOVEMBER-LIKE CONDITIONS IN AUGUST

I haven't paid attention to what it's like in other places on earth, but the weather in Lacombe has been terrible lately. Saturday was decent, at about 20 degrees, but then it dropped dramatically, getting cooler on Sunday and a high of only roughly 12 degrees today. And tomorrow's supposed to reach 10! I've heard of snow hitting Alberta this time of year before, but I'm just not ready for this kind of weather yet.

It's interesting how little people here know about Prince George here. I tell them it's in northern BC and they automatically think that means it'd be colder than here. But the summers there are actually warmer than central Alberta for the most part. And I can't recall snow ever hitting PG in August. Not in my lifetime. I'm not going to freak out just yet though, unless I do happen to see some snow flakes falling from the sky. It's just too bad my parents chose this week to go camping in Alberta. They're in Edmonton tonight, and then proceed into the Lacombe-area tomorrow where they'll spend two nights camping nearby. Unfortunately I won't be able to join them when they leave here Thursday, en route to Green Lake, where there's a reunion for my mom's side of the family. Oh well.

Weather aside, I have this coming weekend off and I plan to take another trip, probably just to Red Deer. I can't see myself camping if the weather doesn't warm up. And I get paid again Friday which is a bonus.

Other news relating to my life:
- finally our newsroom is back to three reporters with the addition of James, who is filling the news reporting position. He seems like a nice guy who's into golfing, which is great, because I haven't found too many golf partners yet.
- As I mentioned before, my parents are coming into Lacombe County to camp tomorrow and Wednesday night. They're bringing in their new fifth wheel they picked up in Edmonton.
- My editor and publisher have committed to allowing me to take off Friday, Sept. 9 so I can make a trip to Kamloops.

Okay, not not too much going on, but that'll change. I'm plan on going drinking this weekend.

A NIGHT OF CAMPING

On Saturday night I went camping near Bowden with my friend Brent and his wife Kristen, my cousin Kevin and my friend Allison. It was a fun time, I had my share of alcohol as you'd expect, and it served as a nice break from work and Lacombe. It was a nice campsite with a river in which I swam a couple of times, and I love to just sit by the campfire and catch up with old friends. We talked about Prince George, high school and just general gossip about friends back home.
Other news - our new reporter James starts on Monday. It'll be nice to be back at three reporters again, as I can now focus more on sports. He's taking two days to get here, coming from Windsor, Ont. And I consider PG far from here! That makes PG seem like a cakewalk of a drive.
Boy the NHL news just keeps getting bigger. Two big sports stories today - Wayne Gretzky was hired as the new head coach of the Phoenix Coyotes, although talks about the move have been stirring around for a while, and Todd Bertuzzi was reinstated into the NHL.

A CRAZY WEEK IN WORK........AND HOCKEY

This weekend I have off and it couldn't have come soon enough. After working last weekend and a short four day work week between two of us at the Lacombe Globe, I'm taking the opportunity to enjoy myself this weekend. I'm going to Red Deer and possibly camping Saturday night. My friend Brent is looking to get a campsite as I'm typing this. Originally I was thinking Billy Bob's for Saturday night, but I've only been camping once this summer so I'd have to take that over the bar.

Apparently, the next reporter joining the Globe staff was hired today. His name is James and he comes from Ontario, that's about all I know of him. It'll be a relief to be back to three reporters. Now I can focus more on sports reporting and photography, and I won't have to carry the police scanner every second week. Now I'll be on every third weekend instead.

When I haven't been working or waisting time on the computer this week, I've been checking out the NHL free agent signings, which have come rapidly. I knew the new CBA in the NHL would create more parity among the 30 teams, but I'm surprised at how little time players have accepted offers to change teams. And with a salary cap of 39-million I had a feeling the teams with the smaller payrolls would do most of the big signings, but man not quite like this this.
Between trades and free agency, a lot of players have landed on new clubs, some remained with the same clubs with new deals. Take a look at some of these players and where they're headed:

Nikolai Khabibulin and Adrian Aucoin - Chicago
Paul Kariya - Nashville
Tony Amonte - Calgary
Bobby Holik - Atlanta
Scott Neidermayer - Anaheim
Sergei Gonchar - Pittsburg
Pavol Demitra and Jeremy Roenick - Los Angeles
Gary Roberts, Joe Nieuwendyk and Martin Gelinas - Florida
Adam Foote - Columbus
Chris Pronger and Mike Peca - Edmonton
Peter Forsberg - Philadelphia
Jason Allison and Jeff O'Neill- Toronto
Cory Stillman - Carolina
- and many more

Staying home - there were also some big names that elected to sign new contracts to stay where they left off at the end of the 2003/04 season. They include:
Jarome Iginla - Calgary
Marcus Naslund and Brendan Morrison - Vancouver
Alexei Kovalev - Montreal

Two of the top players in the game, Iginla and Naslund elected to stay with their respective clubs, which should make for another exciting year of Flames/Canucks matchups. I'm excited about the fact Iginla is back with the Flames, and plan to catch a few games myself. And giving up Mike York and Eric Brewer to get Peca and Pronger, it's clear the Oilers won those deals and I expect they'll be an improved team this season. It should be exciting in the West. As for the Leafs, I have mixed feelings about Roberts and Nieuwendyk leaving, but they needed more youth. They look to be on the right track with O'Neill and Allison, who should have some good years left in them. But I'll admit their history with injuries and inconsistency has me a little concerned. But at least they'll have Tie Domi to watch their backs.

THE END OF THE BIG HURT SHOULDN'T SLOW DOWN THE WHITE SOX

The past few seasons of Major League Baseball haven't been that exciting to me. Sure, watching Barry Bonds break the single season homerun record was something else, but I'm not a Bonds fan. And seeing Boston win the 2004 World Series after being down 3-0 to the Yankees in the American League Championship Series was something else too, but I only enjoyed that because I dislike the Yankees. I don't follow the Red Sox.
But this year is different. It's different because my favorite team, the Chicago White Sox, is having a breakthrough year. I have been a fan of the Chicago White Sox for as long as I've been following baseball, which dates back to the early 90s. I started liking the team when I was collecting baseball cards as a child, and followed the career of Frank Thomas. It's too bad he's probably done for the season, and possibly for good, but he is 37. But thus far this season the team has been fine without the Big Hurt so I'm confident they'll get the job done.
Their pitching staff is solid, with players like Mark Buehrle, Jon Garland and Freddy Garcia. In addition, they have a balanced batting order and solid defense. I just hope they can get it done in the playoffs. They don't have the playoff experience throughout their roster like some teams, and the team hasn't even won the championship since.........1917! Yeah, that's a bit of a drought. The Red Sox broke their own championship drought last year, so the White Sox can break their own. At 68-35, they're doing well so far.
Also, if you're a baseball fan who hasn't gotten around to following the season more, I suggest you start doing so now because there are a lot of teams still in the hunt for playoff berths and it's going to be an exciting final stretch. You may also want to check out the exciting battle between Mike and Nick in the fantasy baseball pool, in which I have moved up on in the standings by the way.