Moving into new apt

This week I’m taking care of all the final steps before taking posession of my apartment. Today I’m meeting with my mortgage guy to go over details and make sure everything is in order. On the 28th I take posession. Can’t wait!

Sitting at the Chicago Airport

I sit here at the Chicago air port on a 3-hour stay while I make my way home from Cleveland. All I can say is Chicago is massive. Flying in, the landscape was covered with lights as far as the eye can see. I shall have to look up the population, but I’m certain that I have never been in a city this big before.

I’m very tired as I haven’t been sleeping well or eating well on this trip, probably due, in large part, to the time change. I would wake up at 6am eastern time and go to bed at 11pm pacific time (i.e. 3am to 11pm Pacific) on Friday and Saturday… But the late nights were well worth it to be able to talk to Beverly, taking advantage of her free long distance 🙂

First Class Seats on Planes

I find the first class seats on smaller air planes (e.g. 737s) kind of funny. When you enter the air plane you see 2 or 3 rows of seats that are in a 2 seats per side per row formation (vs. the 3 seats per side per row on the rest of the plane). Then there’s a little curtain to separate the first class customers from the “regular” customers. The seats aren’t all that much bigger – only the people are bigger. I would almost be embarrassed to sit in first class because you’re put on display for all the “regular” flyers to show that you are better than them. Or is the benefit of first class that you’re right up front and can chit-chat with the pilots and flight attendants? Or in the event of a plane crash, you would hit first?

Curious…

In Cleveland

I’m in Cleveland Ohio this weekend doing some training for a company here on Dataface. This is my first time east of Manitoba and it is quite an interesting experience. My work schedule hasn’t allowed me to really see any attractions, and my hotel is kind of out of town so I can’t easily get around, but it is still nice to see the land and hear the accents of the locals.

I have to say that the hospitality has been unreal so far. A complete stranger paid my cab fare when the drive refused my Canadian money (stupid Canadian forgot to get American money before the flight), and the cab drivers (who make up 50% of the people I’ve met) make for some good conversation.

I’m flying back tomorrow afternoon and will be back in Vancouver tomorrow night. If there is anything anyone needs in Cleveland, let me know. Please pray that my planes make it home OK (I have this silly fear of flying – turbulence makes me neurotic).

De la Hoya vs Mayweather – here we go

Oscar De la Hoya will be fighting Floyd Mayweather Jr. for the 154 lbs title on May 5, 2007.

Undoubtedly this will be a major PPV event as De La Hoya is far and away the most popular boxer of the past 15 years and Floyd Mayweather appears to be the best pound-for-pound fighter of today. As a De La Hoya fan, I am excited and scared about this news. Excited because it promises to be a great fight; and Scared because I don’t think Oscar can win this one.

In his fights against the quicker Shane Mosley, Oscar was unable to dominate as he usually does – and at times was made to look slow. Mayweather is younger and faster than De La Hoya, and he is probably better than Mosley was, so the odds are definitely against Oscar on this one. If there is one advantage, it will be that Floyd is moving up in weight for this fight, so there may be a power advantage for Oscar.

Personally I think that Golden Boy Promotions would be better to get behind a Mosley-Mayweather match. This would match speed against speed as, right now, I think that Mosley has the best chance of beating Mayweather of any current fighters in the weight class. In the end, though, Oscar’s name carries much more hype and anticipation than Mosley’s so money must prevail.

Train hard for this one Oscar, I’d love to see you win this.

What I love about my fiancée

I have the world’s best fiancée. You may think that this statement is as pointless as “the world’s best coffee”, but in this case it is the literal truth.

What I love most about her is that she is true to herself, the world around her, and, of the utmost personal importance, to me. I have been quite difficult of late, being slow to accept certain life decisions and paths – and one might use a “wet towel” as a metaphor for my company. Despite this, however, she continues to be true and faithful to me by including me in her daily life – and not hiding those things for which I have demonstrated low aptitude for reacting well. I hope that, when faced with issues that are difficult for her, I can carry my self with the same level of openness and integrity.

I hereby make a pact with myself to wring out the dampness in my wet towel so that it can become a soft, warm blanket – as it is not fair to respond to her faithfulness with fear or her warmth with coldness or her openness with possessiveness – as I have never had reason to doubt our relationship and I cannot allow fear of the future to over-take what I know to be true today.

Let the fun continue…