Where you will find my (documented) thoughts, worries, concerns, and issues
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86 posts tagged with this topic.
One of the challenges when someone dies is having to prepare an obituary. Being a writer and story-teller, I felt compelled to put together one for Janice. It’s too wordy and would never be used in a newspaper. But …
Today, my mother-in-law, Janice Aicken, died. Janice has been unwell for months … years, really. But the last four months have been especially hard, a result of illness that brought forth the underlying issues. …
I’m watching the crews in the plaza out in front of Brookfield Plaza take down the Christmas tree decorations. In an hour, it’ll be an empty space once again. It’s a metaphor for January, really: the …
I snore. There, I said it. I snore most likely because I used to grind my teeth. And that was because of stress. I had a dental guard to stop the wearing of my teeth (I no longer have canines), but I stopped wearing it …
You might recall that I got a cavity recently. Not a particularly proud moment, even if it’s been over 20 years since my last one. Still, something that needed to be fixed before anything else went awry. I was …
I had the worst sleep. Between a third day of fucking fever and headaches (the Tylenol was barely having any effect), the crew decided to have an all-night dance party in the crew quarters underneath us (Deck A, below …
Didn’t sleep well. Wasn’t hungry but had a bit of breakfast anyway. Went back to the room to rest and sleep. The ship doesn’t really have a quiet spot to settle and sleep other than your own cabin. I tried to watch Death …
I woke this morning knowing that there was a high likelihood that, by the end of the day, I’d be buried under the sheets with something nasty. I was very unhappy with that reality because the one thing I did not …
Time for the ol’ semi-annual visit to the Oral Torturer – the dentist. For the first time, ever, my jaw is killing me, the muscles having seized thrice, no doubt brought on by extensive x-rays (which I …
Alex has a mild obsession with the movie Amadeus. This comes from seeing it as a child, home with a cd, and her father thought it would be an interesting thing for her. Not Strawberry Shortcake, not The Care Bears, not …
You might recall in an earlier post that I said that my recent hernia surgery was my first incision, that the previous two had been laparoscopy. Turns out I’m wrong. The steristrips came off today, which was a bit …
In case you missed it, I recently had surgery for my second hernia. I’m now on Day 5 and it’s better … ish. Three days ago, it felt like someone had kicked me, hard, in the right testicle. …
About eight months ago, I concluded that the lump forming on the right side of my groin was a) not cancer, b) not fat, and c) an awful lot like the lump that formed on the left side of my groin back in 2010. Dr. Emma …
On a curiously warm and otherwise lovely 11 November afternoon, the kids and I stopped into the local Rexall to get a COVID booster. Choo Choo had (finally) caught the bug and I wasn’t too keen on any of us dealing …
I’ll just come out and say it: I didn’t want to do New Year’s Tea this year. Yes, it’s our tradition, yes we try to do it even under strange circumstances (heck, we made our own during COVID). I …
Last night was Believeco (Calgary)’s annual Holiday Party (though “Christmas” was more generally used, we acknowledge the more non-denominational intent). And has nearly every corporate (and more …
1,285 days ago, many of us were sent home to face an unknown future. Most of us had no idea that a couple of weeks would turn into over two years, that thousands of people in Alberta alone would die, and the long-term …
Second verse! Living with a hernia, ow All the time, such aggravation Living with a hernia Gonna be my ruination Living with a hernia Got to have an operation Feel so old –“Living with a Hernia”, Weird Al …
First point of note: I’m now 51, thank you very much. Happy birthday to me! And, as usual, this is the weekend that “DI Weekend” falls, so my birthday is celebrated amongst Alex’s coworkers and …
As a result of COVID, it’s been a bit hard to do some of the things one should regularly do as part of a healthy regimen. Like, say, getting an annual checkup. (I, in particular, am several years out from my last …
I still say it was the Best Birthday Week Ever. But … well, fuck, I caught COVID. I assume it was Stampede, the timing is the only thing that makes sense. But I’m the only one who caught it, everyone else …
Let’s be clear on one thing before we begin, here: I’m not advocating for widespread death and suffering. If it were possible to have a pandemic without all the pain we’ve collectively endured for the …
We flew back from England on Sunday. It was a long day. On Monday afternoon, I started to feel … off. For me, that’s somewhat common for flying, I often don’t feel great afterwards. Especially with …
Two years ago, we went into hiding from a rising pandemic. At the time, we were bracing for at most a few weeks of remote operations, with hopes that things would return to normal fairly quickly. Hoo boy, how wrong we …
Today, Alberta dropped almost all of the COVID restrictions that we’ve been living under for the last near-two years. (I’m ignoring the boondoogle that happened in summer 2021 – The Best Summer Ever …
The COVID-19 pandemic has been … I don’t want to use the the word “unprecedented”, because it’s not entirely true. If you look back far enough, there are similar scenarios: SARS in 2003, while never declared a …
Hey kids, I hope you’re looking at this blog, especially at the two tags I’ve created to help you find all the things I’ve written for you, and you find this. Because I’m assuming you’ve …
I don’t have COVID, I haven’t had COVID, and I’ve been doing everything in my power to not get COVID. But I’ve known more than a few who have had it. People I know and love, my friends… And …
On 13 March 2020, a majority of Calgarians followed a sizeable portion of the planet’s population and went into figurative isolation as COVID-19 raged across the world. So began a near-total removal from society …
A decade ago right now, Mommy and I were preparing to go to Foothills Medical Centre. There, Mommy would have a caesarian section and you would be pulled forth into this world — not of woman borne! — with your arm draped …
Well Monkey, you’ve hit a milestone: today, you lost the last of your baby teeth. You told me you pulled it yourself (rather brave, if I do say so myself), and presented it to me like a strange kind of trophy. Your last …
Today I celebrate my 43rd orbit around the sun, thus concluding my Towel Year. What’s a “Towel Year”? I like to think of it not just as a 42nd year of life, but also an opportunity for those heading into …
It’s happened. I’ve snapped. All work and no play make Geoff go crazy. Three weeks ago, I left Evans Hunt’s office a broken man. A comment made in a meeting caused me to blurt four non-profane words. This brought me a …
I blinked, and 2013 kind of vanished on me. It’s a blur, a seemingly endless stream of activity that rarely relented long enough for me to appreciate any of it. I have pictures to prove it, sure, but I have to struggle …
For our wedding, Alex and I got a breadmaker. (I think we had it on our list.) It’s a good breadmaker, and we’ve used it many, many times, though we had eventually stopped using it for the baking aspect — the loaf size …
Dear Monkey, I don’t know if you’ll remember today by the time you read this, but today you lost your first tooth. Literally. In both ways you can take that sentence. And man, is Mommy sad about that… First off, …
A week ago, I sat in one of our meeting rooms at the office, discussing the current state of one of our projects, when I felt the all-too-familiar and sickening sensation of a rush of fluid in my nose. The generous drop …
Well, kids, this vacation is certainly having some ups and downs. I’m taking that as a good thing, by the way, since without variation things can get a little dry. That’s also a joke, incidentally — “dry” …
I’ll presume you’ve read my previous post, which is how I got … well, to this post. If you haven’t read the previous one, you should — this is kind of Part 2. We’ll wait… Now when we last chatted, you left …
Yesterday morning, I woke up unusually hungry. I honestly can’t think of the last time I actually woke up hungry. Also dead tired, but that’s another matter. Breakfast was small, one egg and coffee, which I hoped would …
Let’s pick up where we left off, dear reader. As you already know, I came home in a fair amount of discomfort. Thankfully, I also came home drugged up and bearing a temporary stash of drugs to maintain the druggy state. …
Yesterday, I finally got my hernia repaired. (“Repair”, incidentally, is what the surgery is called.) It’s a short job that uses, believe it or not, part of a screen door. It wasn’t a procedure that I was …
As little as a hundred years ago, North Americans lived (generally) in towns and (much smaller) cities, where it was possible to know your elected representatives personally, meet with them, and have a person-to-person …
Back in August, I was diagnosed as having a direct inguinal hernia. While not particularly serious (right now), it is periodically uncomfortable — especially with a groin-level child who doesn’t realise that hitting in …
When I was about 12 years old, my eye doctor told me that I’d need glasses one day, but not until I was 40. When you’re 12 years old, you can’t comprehend 40 — heck, it’s hard to comprehend 13. Still, it was something …
All I do is grunt and groan Hurts me to walk anywhere Went to see my physician, Dr. Jones He took my trousers off, told me to cough Doctor says there ain’t nothin’ to discuss He tells me any day I might have to wear a …
A little over four months ago, Alex dragged us all out to see an eye doctor. It had been a couple of years since my last visit, so there was a pretty darn good reason to go back and visit. Not that I particularly wanted …
A couple of months ago, Alex arranged for all of us (herself, Monkey, and yours truly) to visit the eye doctor for a checkup. It’d been a couple of years since my last run, and given my age it was a wise idea. (I would …
Once upon a time, I had it. “It” being my state of fitness. Back in early 2003, my friend Arthur put me on an exercise and diet regimen. Over the course of a few months, I shed something like 30 pounds of …
Have I ever mentioned how much I hate being sick? Well, add to that a very sick and very pregnant wife, and a sick toddler (which I suspect led to Alex and I becoming ill), and you’ve got a pretty miserable household. …
Yesterday, we went in for our now-weekly anti-K checkup. The process is fairly simple: toss the Monkey at some poor, unsuspecting friend to keep her out of our hair for the hour-or-so long appointment, truck over to the …
This morning was the first reoccurring ultrasound appointment, to look into Choo Choo’s ongoing health insofar as our apparent anti-k issues are concerned. It was an early morning, and getting everyone up and rolling …
Two weeks ago, I was sitting at my desk at work, plugging away on requirements documentation. It’s rather mind-numbing at times, but is often very helpful for the rest of the team. My phone rang. It was my wife, Alex. …
I’ve had some interesting Boxing Days in my past, but perhaps today will rank as one of the strangest. This morning, we woke up when The Monkey — who has become very adept at waking up before Mommy and Daddy — came …
Well, Monkey, the last week’s been quite the slog. Last Saturday, you started showing signs of being sick, having caught something from one of your schoolmates. It basically turned you into a bonafide snot factory. (One …
This weekend past was not one of your healthier ones, Mi Pequeña Niña. On Saturday, we noticed your nose was running, and you were coughing again. We’ve almost come to expect this since you started going to school a few …
Yeah, Murphy, I’m talking to you. You’ve been dogging me now for 10 months, almost non-stop. You’ve always been there, hiding in the shadows, popping out every so often to cause a bit of havoc only to vanish again. …
Well, you already know that Mi Pequeña Niña had an incident earlier this week. Apparently she was not meant to be alone in sickness, and on Friday night, I got to join in the fun. That is, if you can call running to a …
Yesterday, Mi Pequeña Niña was sick. Not the sniffly, sneezy, coughy kind of sick (she has yet to get a cold [insert sound of me knocking on wood here]) — but the worse kind of sick. Things coming back up kind of sick. …
As you might have seen on my Tweets this morning, I’m alive in Costa Rica. But I’m not “well”. My daughter gave me a parting gift — a nasty head cold. Fortunately, it didn’t kick in until I arrived here, …
Last night I had the opportunity to do something I’ve wanted to do for a very long time — eat at Ruth’s Chris Steak House. We got one in Calgary a few months ago. It’s built into the base of the Calgary Tower, on the …
When I woke up yesterday, I felt fine. By noon, the sniffles had set in. At 15:00, I had that queasy feeling telling me a cold was coming on. When I got home, I was congested and achy. That was just the start. Didn’t …
A year ago, I got married. Something that until a couple of years ago, I never thought I’d do. I’d been bitten hard, and I couldn’t do it. Couldn’t even imagine it. It takes the right person, and the right situation, to …
I know, I know — where are the journals, Geoff? Pardon me if I’ve been busy. I’ll dispense with the specifics of my job. First, you don’t want to hear them. Many of them are things that would only make sense to someone …
Wow. Long time no write, eh? It’s amazing how one’s life can change so dramatically in such a short period of time. Things that had once been hugely important become minor, and things you never imagined having a major …
[This entry originally posted on How To Get Lost: Alive in Irkutsk.] You know that feeling you get, when you’re finding yourself walking down a street in a dream, and you’re not sure if you know where you are, but you …
[This entry originally posted on How To Get Lost: Cough.] I’m sick. I caught Amy’s cold. I hate being sick. The only thing worse than being sick is being sick on a train. It ruins the experience. Blech. Sniff
So I noticed white hairs for the first time. I’m 32 (and a little over a half), and I’m just getting them, it seems. I can live with that. I mean, I’ve been losing it on top for about a decade, so having some go white …
Minus 34. Celsius. (Not that it would matter much more if it were Fahrenheit.) That’s 14 degrees below my thermal underwear threshold (that would be when I put them on). That’s what it was on my way to work this morning. …
I think I’m having a mental breakdown. And I think I know why. A few days ago was Pam’s wedding. I wrote a few things that I seriously regret having written. Made sense at the time, but it’s only after I really pissed …
It’s been another six months, and that can only mean one thing — another visit to the dentist. Normally, I wouldn’t mind so much. It’s just another trip to the dentist, right? It should be nothing more complicated than a …
Psst! Hey, wanna hear something shocking? I’m taking yoga. Relax, I haven’t grown my hair out and gone hippy (well, the hair has grown out, but only because I haven’t had it cut in a month and a half), nor have I become …
A year and a day ago, I made the decision to move from my slovenly-like appearance to something a little more healthy. I signed up at the Eau Claire YMCA, and started my exercise regimen. And for about six months, the …
A little exercise never killed anyone … but there’s always a first time. This morning, I made my first visit to a gym in about seven years. I know what you’re thinking, and no, it’s not some lame New Year’s …
It’s the beginning of the year. It’s quiet. I’m (somewhat) relaxed. That’s probably why I’ve got a cold. At least, I think it’s a cold. It doesn’t behave like most rhinovirii I’ve had in the past — no fever, no stuffy …
[This entry written by Geoff Sowrey, ©2002 Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). Text used with permission of CBC. The opinions expressed within do not necessarily reflect those of the CBC, employees, affiliates, or …
I hate being sick. When I arrived here, I had a sore throat. I had thought i was because of a lack of water or fluids while in transit. It was, however, the beginnings of my first cold in a year. It’s more annoying than …
Today we a good day. Despite the slew of visitors, we finally saw some major improvement in Dad. For starters, he had a shave — almost all by himself. And not with an electric — he used a safety razor. The shave was …
I awoke at 4:30 this morning, not originally knowing why I was tired. I had tried (unsuccessfully) to get myself drunk the night before. I wanted to numb the pain. I didn’t want that dull ache in my gut that told of bad …
Tomorrow I’m going home, to spend what could be my last few days with my father. It’s not something I’m really looking forward to. Last Thursday, dad suffered a stroke, probably a result of his brain cancer. It left him …
It is said that when under pressure (e.g. deadlines), the average geek will let other seemingly less important things (such as personal hygiene) fall by the wayside. Although I can safely say that I still keep myself …
Fewer things are harder than losing a loved one. I suppose it’s even worse when you lose them slowly. And it’s only worse when there’s nothing you can do about it. My father is dying. As you might recall, late last year, …
Blepharospasm (n.): The repetitive contraction of eyelid muscles in a rhythmic fashion. In some instances, the eyelid may repeatedly close or attempt to close. The most common causes of muscle twitching in the eyelid …
[Ed. Note: This is the actual message I sent to most everyone I knew, letting them know what had just happened.] Today, I completed two of the most traumatic experiences of my life. One was leaving Radical Entertainment, …
‘Twas the night before Christmas, And all through the house, Not a creature was stirring, ‘Cause they were all at the hospital. Well, briefly anyway. Our evening was off to a startled start, after Allison required …
This weekend was a little strange — we received some very unusual weather. It all started Friday night. As we were walking around English Bay with our friend Tyler, returning from a wonderful Greek dinner, we noticed …