Here It Comes Again...

The game has been over for less than 2 minutes, but I'm already sure that we're going to be hearing the same old garbage from the Tampa Bay Lightning Head Coach, John Tortorella. He's going to say that his team got back on their feet and played hard against the Calgary Flames, who's presence in the Stanley Cup Finals, in his opinion, is a total fluke. We're going to have to endure his chest-puffing, swagger-stepping, egotism for another 3 days until Game 4. Well, John, let me point out a couple things...

First of all, if Referee Kerry Fraser would pay as close attention to the game as he does to his sadly out-of-style hair-do, the Lightning would never have gotten the 2-man advantage that led to their goal. Somebody grab that guy a rule book and a hairstyle magazine!

Secondly, you'll notice that the only goal scored was on that 2-man advantage. Calgary was playing a hard-hitting game, they had lots of jump, and they won a lot of key puck-battles. But let only 3 of them face a full compliment of 5 for 2 minutes... What do you expect?

The Flames clearly had more scoring chances than the Lightning tonight, but were unable to solve the Bulin Wall that is Nikolai Kabibulin. Admittedly, the goalie was sharp tonight... Perhaps just a little too sharp for Calgary. On a number of occasions, he was hung out to dry by his slow-footed defensive team, but still managed to keep his net clear.

All in all, it was a good game, and a fun one to watch (minus the questionable officiating, mind you), and the 1 - 0 score reflects that. The two teams really took it to each other and gave it their all, despite what we're sure to hear from the Tampa Coach.

It's going to be a tough night back in Tampa this Thursday night as the Calgary Flames look to regain their lead in the series. If they manage to go up 3 games to 2, then we'll be seeing them play for the ultimate prize here again Saturday night... One can only imagine how wild the Red Mile will be then!

Oh, and before I go, a final word for Mr. Tortorella... Your boys played hard and got the 1 goal victory tonight, but don't forget the 3 - 0 Shut Up, er, Shut Out that was handed to you the last time you fired off your mouth...

Go Flames Go!!!

Scenes from the Forklift: Holy Hiatus, Batman!

Wow... Can you believe it? It's been forever since I posted anything new. Well, as you will soon see, there has been a good reason for that. Read on...

So, things at the old warehouse have been a lot more hectic than usual lately. I guess that's what happens when you have 50% of the staff you need. Anyway, CK and I have been thrown into a bunch of "new roles" over the past two weeks, in a last ditch effort to avoid total disaster. First and foremost, as I've already mentioned in a previous post, we are the Kings of Unboxing and the Regents of Re-Boxing (please allow us to take a bow). Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it is obvious for all to see that we alone possess the unparalleled skills necessary to get this job done... Over 800 systems have passed through our hands, not once but twice in the last two weeks! Impressive indeed, I know. And the Ones in the Higher Places know it as well. Having noticed our unmistakable abilities, they have promised another 800 within the week! Oh well, I guess that's why I get paid the Big Bucks and CK gets paid the Not-Quite-So-Big-But-Bigger-Than-Before Bucks...

Naturally, such monotonous and mundane work has had an effect on the two of us. Forget about the tired state we are left in everyday... Forget that my 4-year old can stay awake later than me now... Forget that muscles I never knew I had are in pain... The worst part of it all has to be the Gradual Insanity!

In the first two days, we must have exhausted every interesting story we could think of. Since then, we've had to fill the time in more creative ways... Ever played "Name That Tune" in a warehouse? How about a rousing game of "How Far Can You Throw This"? Yeah, I didn't think so... However, I did learn about something very cool during all this. It has to do with a bunch of guys CK knows, and the crazy things they do with cameras... I could try to tell you about it, but I couldn't possibly do it justice. Instead, I'll tell you that it's called "One Leggin'" and you can learn more about it here. We've had a blast discussing various "One Leggin'" venues and challenges... Like I said, I blame it on the Gradual Insanity...

Perhaps in an effort to ease the pressure on our psyches, the company has also been sending us on little expeditions outside the warehouse from time to time. We call these "pickups". Now, "pickups" are normally done by the "Pickup Guy", and it entails picking up product (ie. ancient PC's that haven't seen the light of day since the last century) purchased by the company to refurbish, then sell, scrap, or store forever. Unfortunately, the "Pickup Guy" is apparently out for the season with an injury, so we've been called in to cover the gap. Yay for us. Nothing like lifting and packing old, obsolete machines to make you forget about the pain of lifting and packing newer, more useful machines...

Now, don't forget, CK and I both have actual jobs to do in the warehouse, aside from the fun mentioned above. As you can assume, they aren't exactly getting the attention they deserve, and it's only a matter of time before that catches up with us! Isn't life just grand?

Well, I guess that about does it for now... I still haven't caught up on the sleep I need to carry on at this pace, but I do have my laundry done before midnight, for once, so I think I'll crash now. Hopefully, I'll be able to get back on soon and regale you with Tales of the Mighty Calgary Flames and their Slaying of the Lowly Tampa Bay Lightning in their Quest for the Stanley Cup... Stay tuned, folks!

I'm Getting Too Old For This...

I can't remember the last time I was this tired...

First of all, things at the old warehouse haven't been exciting enough to bother with a "Scenes from the Forklift" post, but they have been busy. I've spent the entire week, along with the help of CK, unboxing, prepping, and reboxing over 800 pieces of high-end inventory. Not exactly what you'd call "brain work", but very physically taxing.

That would normally be enough to have me craving a weekend, but that's far from where it ends... Last night, Rockstar invited my girlfriend and me over to his apartment to watch Game 6 of the Western Conference Final between the Calgary Flames and the San Jose Sharks. The lure of his super-wide screen TV and the promise of a steak dinner proved to be more than I could resist. Now, as I've mentioned before, Rockstar lives just off the now infamous 17th Ave here in Calgary so it was quite a rush to experience the pandemonium at Ground Zero when the Flames eliminated the Sharks from the playoffs around 10pm. People were dancing in the streets, cars were honking non-stop, balconies for blocks were packed with elated fans, and the flame burned bright atop the Calgary Tower.

After standing on Rockstar's balcony for a while, enjoying a little celebratory Champagne, the effects of the last few days plus the adrenaline rush of knowing the Flames would be playing for the Stanley Cup began to take their toll... I was in need of some serious sleep and a weekend! But it wasn't over yet...

Three of us had tickets to see Thornley play at a bar called "The Whiskey", a bar which is quite close to the Saddledome. So, we put away the Champagne glasses, grabbed our coats, and made our way to the gig. We drove through crowds of people, literally thousands of party-goers chanting "Go Flames Go!" or honking their horns. It was an amazing sight to behold.

We arrived at the bar shortly before 11pm with just enough time to grab a drink before Thornley took the stage. They played for about an hour, crushing our eardrums with their fast-paced rock. All in all, it was a good show, but the fatigue was starting to take serious effect. By the time we arrived home again, discarded our smoke-filled clothes and finally crawled between the sheets, it was a little after 1:30 in the morning. Believe me, it seemed like mere seconds before my alarm woke me again at 6!

And, I was back at by 8 this morning... Repeating the same unbox, prep, rebox routine with CK that we'd been doing all week. There wasn't enough coffee in the world to keep me from yawning every two minutes... But, I guess I made it through, or you wouldn't be reading this. I just can't believe it's only Thursday and I have to do it all again tomorrow!

I'm getting too old for this...

Selected Monday Musings

Light 'Em Up!
As I sit down to write this, the horns are still honking up and down the street to celebrate the latest Flames victory over the Sharks. Despite a dismal and depressing "performance" at the Saddledome for Games 3 and 4, Calgary has bounced back with a vengeance to secure a 3-2 lead in the series and the chance to send the Sharks packing as early as Wednesday night.

Extreme Makeover: Blog Edition
You can't help but notice the changes "Musings..." has undergone in the past few days... Thanks to the recent improvements in Blogger, I was inspired to adopt a whole new look and feel for the page, along with a little info about myself. I wasn't too sure about the picture, though... I thought it might make it seem too much like a Personals ad and, although that is how I met my girlfriend, I have no further interest in those kind of hits! Also, I'm afraid I had to ditch all of the comments left over the past few months, since I opted to use Blogger's Comments feature instead of the old Haloscan. Anyway, browse around and feel free to let me know what you think. Especially check out my BlogRoll if you have the time...

Drool On My Pillow
I had a very strange dream in the wee hours of the morning today. I dreamt that I was out shopping with a bunch of people, some that I know, one that I know but never hang out with, and at least one celebrity, though I can't remember who now. Anyway, as we were about to leave the store, I decided I wanted a pack of gum and began searching those little racks of candy and chocolate bars they usually have right beside the cashiers. My eyes landed on a huge pack of Bubblicious in a yellow package with red and orange lettering... The flavor was "Strawberry Orgy Coffee Bean". I couldn't believe my luck! Another caffeinated gum! I ran out of the store to show my friends, thinking all along that I couldn't wait to write a blog about my find. So, what is more disturbing? My obsession with caffeine, my obsession with blogging, or the use of the word "orgy" on a food product???

By Google, By Golly!

I've noticed a very interesting trend over the past few days with the hits I'm receiving here at "Musings..." It seems that a large number of people are using Google (and other search engines) to find pages relating to "Calgary Flames 17th Ave girls gone wild". Now, I know that I've been writing about the Flames a lot of late, and I'm sure I've mentioned the celebrations that occur along 17th Ave on game nights... Hey, it's likely that I've even used the words "girls", "gone", and "wild" at some point. So, it's no mystery how people are being directed to my page... My question is, "Why?"

Now, I'm not going to play innocent here... I realize that people want to see pictures of girls on 17th Ave "going wild" with the current success of the Calgary Flames. Perhaps there is some sort of Mardi Gras-esque atmosphere down there these days with all the breast-baring that implies. In fact, I can think of nothing else that would inspire people to set out on such web searches as mentioned above. But, you'd think that, since I'm from Calgary, and I'm right in the midst of all the Flames hype, I would have heard of this by now! But I haven't... Not really. I did mention these bizarre Google referrals to Rockstar yesterday, and he mentioned something about bare breasts... Come to think of it, he lives just off 17th Ave... Hmm...

Oh well, it's neither here nor there, really. Just an odd observation on my part, I guess. I would, however, like to say the following to those of you who have found yourself here by accident:

Thanks for dropping in... Sorry I couldn't give you what you were looking for... But, once you're "finished" with that other obsession, why not pop back in and take a look around? You never know, you just might like it!

Heart-Racing Goodness

I have just discovered the coolest thing! Are you ready for this? No, seriously... Are you ready? This could well be the greatest thing since sliced bread... And let's face it, sliced bread is pretty damn cool.

I have discovered... Drum roll, please... Caffeinated mints and caffeinated gum! Is that awesome, or what?!? As if it weren't enough already that this planet is blessed by the goodness of coffee, now I can get my fix in a little candy or simply chew my way to jittery bliss!

Rockstar (you'll remember him from Scenes from the Forklift) turned me on to this incredible line of products from Penguin. It turns out that one of his clients also markets some of these wonderful goodies here in Canada. Talk about my lucky break! In truth, I have only tried the Cinnamon Mints, but I have serious plans to get my hands on the Chocolate Mints, the Peppermints, and every flavor of Energy Gum I can... Thank goodness the Great Decaffeination is over, eh?

Once I've had the chance to sample the full range that Penguin has to offer (and as soon as I can see straight enough to type again), I promise to post a full review for you to check out...

San Jose Drowns In The Shark Tank

Not since Game 2 against Vancouver in the first round of the playoffs had Calgary scored a First Period goal... Going into the Western Conference Final against San Jose, that was 11 games. That brutal streak was broken, however, in the first game against the Sharks, with the Flames grabbing a 2 goal lead in the first. San Jose struggled back, though, and ultimately sent the game to Overtime by flipping the puck past Miika Kiprusoff in the dying minutes of the Third Period. Undaunted, the Calgary Flames continued to battle hard for the puck. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, defenseman Steve Montador appeared high in the slot, received a sweet pass from Flames Captain Jarome Iginla, and buried the puck stick-side on the Shark goalie. The Calgary Flames had stolen Home Ice Advantage from San Jose, and found themselves with a 1-0 lead in the series.

Everybody knew that Game 2 was a critical one. If the Flames could manage to win, they would effectively have a strangle-hold on the Sharks, bringing a 2-0 lead back to Home Ice. And it didn't take long for them to prove they have what it takes... A mere 20 seconds into the game, Calgary Flame Marcus Nilson let the puck fly toward the Shark's net, only to see it "pinball" off a leg, then a skate, and slide past the goalie! With less than half a minute played, the wind had come out of the Shark's sails, but the storm kept coming. Calgary continued to pressure, putting the puck past Shark netminder Evgeni Nabokov 3 more times to win the game by a score of 4-1. It was only the second time the Shark's have lost a game in Regulation Time these playoffs.

Tomorrow night, the mayhem begins at the Saddledome... The next two games will be played on Calgary Home Ice, and the fans are hungry for victory. If the Flames continue to play as hard as they have been, we could be seeing them advance to the Stanley Cup Finals as early as this Sunday!

Go Flames Go!!!

Men and Their Laundry

I've gone and done it again...

Even though my days of bachelorhood are behind me, bits and pieces of the old lifestyle still manage to cling to me more tenaciously than cat hair on a pair of black pants. Even though I had the entire weekend to get it done, my laundry basket still sits in the corner of the bathroom like some multi-colored volcano photographed in mid-eruption.

I can't ignore it any longer. Not only is it clashing terribly with the girlfriend's Guest Towels and Fancy Soaps, but I've completely run out of clothes for work! Sure, working in a warehouse means I don't have to don the old Suit and Tie everyday, but I'm not too eager to relive past nightmares by showing up wearing only a pair of boxers... Or was it briefs? Either way, if I don't get some laundry done tonight, I'll be forced to wear my "nice pants" (the ones my girlfriend bought me) and my faded "Hard Rock Cafe: Los Angeles" T-Shirt. The shirt should have been thrown out long ago, but men don't throw away clothes... That would be like abandoning a car on the side of the road... You just don't do it! As for the "nice pants", if I recall correctly, I believe I signed some sort of contract that forbids them being within 3 kilometers of the warehouse. So, laundry time it is...

Now, I could grab that laundry basket, separate the clothes into clever little piles like "colors", "darks", and "whites", but like I said, there are some parts of the bachelor lifestyle that never go away. If it wasn't already 11:30 at night, I'd probably just grab everything that wasn't "white-ish" and cram it into the machine (I find a broomstick is especially handy for "tamping" the articles into place), double the soap dosage, and let the Warm Wash / Cold Rinse cycle do its thing. Next, a nice full load of "white-ish" on Hot Wash / Cold Rinse and we're almost done. All that would remain is to stuff the freshly "washed" loads back into the laundry basket, where they would sit for a week until no iron on Earth could get the wrinkles out. But I haven't got time for that tried and true method...

Instead, I'll have to pick through the piles, find exactly what I want to wear tomorrow, and wash it, regardless of color. This is also a common method of mine, which probably goes a long way toward explaining my use of the word "white-ish"...

Anyway, then I'll have to sit up, probably posting something terribly boring to my blog like, "Men and Their Laundry" while I wait for the wash to finish. Once it goes in the dryer, I'm home free and can get back to the peaceful sleep I was enjoying before I was startled awake by the realization that I had no clothes to wear.

Here I go again...

In the Blink of an Eye

Whoa! I take a break from the old Blog Scene for a weekend, and everything changes on me!

I arrived at work this morning, popped on my Trillian (aka MSN Messenger and a whole lot more), and saw that I had a message from my good buddy Torfeida. "How do you like the new Blogger?" he asked. What? New Blogger? Whatever could he be talking about?

So, having 20 minutes or so to kill before starting my day, I surfed on over to Blogger to see what was up. Low and behold! It was different! In fact, quite a bit different... New layout, new color scheme, something called the "Dashboard" from which I can manage my blog... Impressive, to say the least!

Now, I guess I'm going to have to get back into the swing of things and post a couple blogs...

You know, it's funny how guilty I can feel if I let it go for a few days. Kinda like I'm letting people down by not having anything new for them to read (isn't that presumptuous of me!). Personally, whenever I go Blog Surfing and find that my favorite reads haven't changed since the last time I was there, I feel disappointed... It's the same feeling I get if I tune in to catch a show, only to find out that it's a re-run. And if that sort of thing starts happening more and more often, I'm likely to give up trying after a while. Since I'm sure most of you are the same, I better get crackin'!

Well, keep your eyes open for more "Scenes from the Forklift" and the usual Calgary Flames Updates (they are leading 1-0 in the Western Conference Finals against the San Jose Sharks, by the way), and whatever else crosses my mind. Until then...

Cinderella on Fire

Unbelievable! A true Cinderella Story... The Calgary Flames have managed to eliminate the Detroit Red Wings, the team that finished first place over all in the National Hockey League this year, and a damned skilled team to boot! Yes folks, Hockeytown has gone down in flames...

It was incredible enough when Calgary made in past the first round of the playoffs, sending the Vancouver Canucks to the golf course... The city has gone wild with an excitement it hadn't felt in 15 years. People everywhere are suddenly rooting for the home town boys once again... Bars are packed on game nights... You can't go anywhere without seeing a Flames Jersey, a "Go Flames Go" sign, or a Flaming C flag... And with last night's victory securing a place in the third round, the Conference Final, it's just going to get crazier!

Not long after Martin Gelinas ended Detroit's season in the final minute of the first overtime period of Game 6, the fans began pouring out of the Saddledome and bombarding the local area bars and restaurants to celebrate. An estimated 10,000 people (half the capacity of the arena) flooded down 17th Ave, the trendy night-spot strip just west of the 'Dome, causing the police to eventually shut the street down. People were dancing in the back of pickup trucks, running through the streets in their underwear (admittedly, a strange way to show support for the team...), and generally partying like it was Y2K all over again. Throughout the rest of the city, cars were honking their horns in victory well past 3am.

Encouragingly, local law enforcement reported this morning that, despite the carrying-on, the cheering fans behaved rather well, and there were no arrests made... Not bad when you consider the aforementioned 10,000 people packed into a couple square miles filled with alcohol!

And so, we now await the beginning of the Conference Final against the San Jose Sharks... Our boys have a few days to rest and heal before throwing themselves into the "Shark Tank", and this city has a chance to recover from last night's celebration. And, if this is how we react to making past round two, what will happen if we actually make it to the Stanley Cup Finals? One can only imagine...

The Great Re-Caffeination

For the first time in 30 days, I have experienced the "sunrise in my bloodstream". That's right, my Coffee Abstinence is finally over.

Being a rather warm, if overcast, Sunday morning, I decided to take my daughter for a little walk around the neighborhood after breakfast. We put on our sneakers and Spring jackets and set off, hand in hand, to do a little exploring. If you haven't taken a walk with a 4-year old, I highly recommend it. It's surprising what their little eyes see and what their little minds make of it all... Something as simple as a robin hopping around on the neighbor's lawn becomes a significant event.

I decided that the first stop on our little tour would be the corner convenience store. I knew before I even went inside that today would be my big day. So, I led my little girl to the Candy Aisle first, to let her pick out a little treat. The expression "like a kid in a candy shoppe" still rings true today, as she seemed to take forever pondering over the wide range of powders, lollipops, and other assorted confections. With a little help, she eventually settled on a necklace of candy beads and a package of Bottlecaps (these having been a favorite of mine in years gone by).

Then, it was off to the Coffee Counter. Remember my "kid in a candy shoppe" comment? Well, it seems that it holds true for us "older kids" as well. Before me was displayed a variety of decanters offering everything from a "Breakfast Brew" to "Columbian", from "Irish Cream" to "Medium Dark Roast", all touted as "Seattle's Best". Well, if it's good enough for the birthplace of Starbuck's, how could I go wrong? I grabbed a nice big 20 oz. cup and filled it to the brim with "Columbian".

Upon leaving the store, it was back to our little trek, she happily consuming tiny, sugary bead after tiny, sugary bead, myself savoring every sip of my first coffee in a month.

By and by, we found ourselves at the neighborhood Elementary School. Even here, the support for the Calgary Flames was evident. The professionally printed signs in the front windows of homes around town and the Flaming C flags festooning many of the city's cars and trucks are one thing... To see the logo recreated by a bunch of Kindergarten children, though, is truly inspiring!

After playing at the park for a little while, climbing on monkey bars and seeing how high we can jump from, we headed back home, just in time for a little bit of lunch. All in all, it was a great morning.

Oh... How was the coffee, you're wondering? First of all, it tasted fantastic! And it only seemed to get better with each sip... As for the effect it had on me? Well, it wasn't the great caffeine rush that I was expecting after such a long drought, but it did put a little spring in my step... And I can't remember the last time a blog post flew off my fingers so quickly!

Here's to coffee!

Scenes from the Forklift: Project X Head Quarters

All in all, it was a good week for Mass Storage Area One in general and for the Department of Inbound Deliveries in particular. In fact, by early Friday morning, Inbound was fully caught up on all duties and responsibilities, an event which I can assure you hasn't happened in quite some time! Of course, as mentioned before, the addition of CK and Newbie to the place has helped. But since Newbie missed Wednesday and CK wasn't scheduled for Thursday or Friday...

Friday's Big Task was to get ready for Project X. CK will need a Base of Operations from which to oversee this endeavor, so I set out to establish this for him, with the help of Newbie and our IT Guy. Naturally, the perfect spot happened to be occupied by countless tons of steel which nobody wanted to claim ownership of and really has no relevant purpose in the process of refurbishing computers. Never the less, as with most things in MSA One, I couldn't throw it out so the bulk of the day was spent relocating it.

Once the area was clear, all that remained was to install a command console. Normally, quite a simple task... However, as IT Guy pointed out to me, there was no existing connection to our network available in this particular location. And so, more of the day was spent fumbling around in the ceiling space between the Server Room and Project X HQ. I had forgotten how much I hate Fiberglas insulation, by the way...

In the end, it all came together nicely. CK will be able to take the Command Chair in Project X HQ first thing Monday morning. And, speaking of Monday morning, rumor has it that another of the Old Crew will be rejoining us. This is starting to feel like a Back to the Future sequel...