The first football game of the year for my son is complete, and I’m happy to report a resounding 52-0 crushing of the Chestermere Chiefs. Take that Chestermere! I do however have complete empathy for the Chestermere parents. We’ve been on the losing side of many a drubbing the last two years and I well know how long the season can be when you’re getting beat like that. Even worse for the Chestermere parents – we’re not even one of the best teams in the league. I can easily see 100+ scores against their first year squad. Hang in there kids… it’s gets better.

On that note, I’m gratified to see our boys start off well this year. 2 years ago the only win we had was against the other Cochrane team. Last year we had 5 or 6 wins and the boys are clearly looking to improve on that. The nice thing is that most of them have played together over the last couple years, so they should really start to gel this go around.

We played at Shouldice Park in Calgary, and I gotta tell ya – I’m impressed. I’d driven by it many times, but I’d never actually been into the complex. It’s quite nice. Demonstrating my ignorance is getting to be a full time job.

The only downside there is the parking. It can be quite a clusterfuck to get out of there when the games are over. Still, if that’s the largest complaint I can levy, it’s hardly a complaint at all. The kids had fun, and they won. All in all it was a nice way to spend my 13th wedding anniversary with the missus. Nothing says marital bliss like freezing in the shadow of the bleachers, asses stuck to hard seats while holding hands under a blanket…

Technically I was back from holidays last week, but there’s always so much catch up to do when you get back that I only feel like I’m in productive mode now. I could have posted on the weekend, but I elected to relax instead. :)

Sports have kicked up in earnest for the kids now. Football 6 days a week right now and fall soccer tournaments are firing up. This should keep the missus and I busy for awhile. Throw into the mix my daughter’s figure skating (3 days a week) and my youngest son’s pending violin lessons, and I think we’re looking at a pretty full schedule. Oh – did I mention wrestling? Dammit… that’s coming up too. At least the kids won’t be bored.

On a personal front, I’m nearly done my Unix course. Hopefully, I’ll be done this week. (fingers crossed) Once that’s complete, I’ll need to dig up some extra cash to take something else… My brain is going soft and needs some constant challenges. On that note though, I think I’ll inject some courses that aren’t technology related. Maybe learn a new language… or how to paint or something… Something way out there. Variety, spice of life sort of thing.

So much to report on – but so much to do before I head out for the day. Crap.

OK, so you might be wondering where all the posts have gone? No…? Well that’s depressing.

At any rate, I didn’t get around to the pre-holiday post but rest assured the whole Capa clan is in the midst of holiday land. We’ve done a little hiking, hit the beach for days on end, cooked over campfires etc… It’s been a nice little break. There’s still about another week before it’s back to the grind – and I’m loving every second of it.

Today is the first day back in the city, and we’ll be running around doing the whole catch-up thing with family and friends. I hope we can fit everyone in? Time permitting we’re hoping to take the kids to see the stage production of Peter Pan at Rainbow Stage. It’s an outdoor (but covered) theatre that the missus and I used to hit all the time when we live here. I love live theatre and we know the kids would get a huge kick out of it so…

On the way home we’re going to stop off in Moose Jaw and finally visit the tunnels. Dammit. I want to see those damned tunnels and this time the bleating of my offspring will not deter me!

For now though… I’m going to kick back, sip my Tim’s, and do a Sudoku puzzle and let the day come to me. :)

This is what I want in my garden.
Now that would be cool.

Well that was an interesting week. You know… there are days when I just wish I were independently wealthy and didn’t have to work. Man… well, crap week go bye-bye. New, fresh delightful week up ahead.

In other news, I’ve been enjoying the bejesus out of my new iTouch. Simply put, this thing is awesome. I haven’t dipped into the app store lately, and the the only 2 I’ve bought are still Scrabble and Sudoku. Being the chess nerd I am, I’m sitting tight waiting for a really good chess program. As soon as one shows up, I’ll be all over it. The existing crop is pretty weak…

Having said that, I have downloaded a couple of the free applications - the best ones being eReader and Stanza which allow me to read some of my eBooks on the device. I’m not normally a fan of reading off of computer screens, but I do find it much easier to read off my Eee PC and the iTouch than a traditional computer monitor. No doubt as I continue to find cool apps, I’ll mention them here.

Speaking of here, I think the site is ripe for a huge nuke and pave. It’s just a matter of finding the time, but I’m tired of the site and it’s current look, layout and backend. I might destroy the whole thing and cobble together something new. I’ve been bored with the way it looks for some time now. Besides, I feel the need to dip into the guts of something lately. My nerd skills are diminishing.

Finally It’s looking like my trip to the Maritimes is on life support. Crap. The bright side is that it might allow us to head back to the motherland (Manitoba) for a few days and hook up with some friends and family. There’s always a silver lining… I guess. I’d rather pick up those friends and family and just keep heading to the Maritimes though.

Well, I finally broke down and bought myself an Apple iTouch. I was resisting until the Application Store became available - because quite frankly this is going to make it the device “I” have been waiting for. Being able to run a massive buttload of apps on the ipod is going to be awesome. Having said that, all I have on there now is Scrabble and Sudoku. So yeah… uh, don’t judge me.

Anywho, it’s obviously a nice device, and it’s exactly what I expected it to be. I just need to go pick up a case now to protect the damned thing. Best of all (for me) is that I’ve never had a large capacity iPod so having 30 gigs of room means I can put everything I want on it. That’s just cool. Whee! I’m a giddy gadget guy!

We finally got around to changing our TV services here and returning a cable box. This saved us about $60 month. I could likely knock it down even more from there even. We certainly haven’t missed anything.

Now I have another annual expense coming up and I think it’s going to slide. Apple’s .mac service (now mobile me) is about $100 a year - and I’ve had it for about three years. Mostly I had it for the syncing features it offered between multiple computers AND all the free crap they gave out. For the first 2 years I received tons of software - easily justifying the service. But now…nadda. I’m not sure why Apple basically stopped giving out software for their members, but well… they did. At any rate, this will be more money in my pocket. Ciao .mac address.

I’m slowly… ever so slowly, becoming more and more cognizant of what I “waste” my cash on. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not suggesting I’m going to become a luddite, live in a dirt shack or hoard money. I’ll just aim for items that offer a more tangible benefit, or God forbid, service debt or investments. $60 extra on channels I don’t watch is waste. $60 with friends at the pub is good entertainment. :)

In other (related) news, a couple other North American airlines (the biz I’m in) laid off over 3000 people yesterday. This on the heals of other recent, massive layoffs. Seems like it might be a good time to be more discerning of where my money is going. Looks like rough times ahead for the airlines… and it’s employees.

You really need to understand…. I think the Calgary Stampede is colossally overrated. It’s really just an expensive, dirty, loud, fair that happens to have a pretty impressive rodeo attached. Then again, you have to be interested in rodeos. Shock of shocks… I’m not into rodeos - but I can understand the appeal.

However, I do like the way the town changes when the Stampeded is on. I like the way the work place shifts - ever so slightly. It’s like Christmas time. Everyone’s a little more friendly… happy. It’s pretty cool.

In other news, I have someone coming to take a look at our basement. It’s mostly finished, but damn…. I just can’t do it. I have neither the time or, more importantly, the skill to do what’s needed here. So, let’s bring in a pro. By the end of today I should have an idea of when my basement should be done and how much poorer for it I’ll be. Then I only have the floors and ceiling to do… Then the kids have their place to be destructive and I can start rebuilding my office upstairs where there’s things like air and natural light. Mmmm…. looking forward to that!

It’s always fun to see how English, a notoriously difficult language, is translated aboard. I’m probably late to the party on this one, but I recently just watched the Youtube video “Backstroke of the West”. Wow…

OK, I know I’ve been remiss in posting. We’ve had a pretty hectic pace around here lately with kids in sports 7 days a week, and that’s only just petered out for the summer. Or at least until August when football for both my boys sparks up. (sigh)

Plus I just took a few (much needed) days off. Very little online time during that period. Muchos family time. On my 5 days off I:

Went to Drumheller and the dinosaur museum with the kids
Finally did my taxes
Took the wee ones to the zoo
Saw Wall-e (nice little movie)
Hiked my fat ass off - twice! (Horseshoe Canyon and just outside Cochrane)
Went to a baseball game with the family
Tackled long overdue house chores (cut the grass, replace lights, clean the BBQ, etc…)

I am pleased to say that my video cards woes appear to be over. I snagged a Nvidia 9600 and it’s awesome. It’s overkill for the aging machine that I have, but it’s an awesome card - and at least I can use the Windows box again. Well… for games, but still… that’s kind of what I have it for so…

All right. Lots to do before I go back to work tomorrow - where I apparently have a new computer sitting on my desk. I’m sure that will pose no problems. (sigh)