It was sunny all week long. Monday to Friday was absolutely wonderful around these parts. Sure, the evenings and overnight were a little crispy, but you gotta expect a little chill in the air this time of year in Atlantic Canada.

But now it’s Saturday. And it’s raining. Some low pressure system is hanging around and will likely dump a couple of inches of rain on us today and overnight. Then, tropical storm Kyle is going to pay us a visit tomorrow and as it passes through it will be leaving behind another 4 inches of rain accompanied by bales of gales.

So… it’s a lazy day. My darling wife is napping on the couch and I’m clicking around my computer. I decided to change the picture on her profile (right) as mentioned in a previous post and I think you’ll agree it’s an improvement over what was there before.

Then I decided to click on the posts featured in my Random Post section in the sidebar of my site. I must say, it was very interesting for me to remember what was going on in my life and see the timelines associated with them as I clicked away, re-reading post after post. Some of them were a little cryptic, but I was immediately reminded of where my head was as I read and reminisced. This project/hobby of mine is serving as a journal of sorts, a “captain’s log” if you will. I know, I know, big revelation right? But it’s not until you get a few years of this thing under your belt do you realize what value it brings to you personally. While I post shit about stuff I encounter that interests me and little anecdotes from everyday life, I also record significant happenings like family deaths, injuries and other stressful or lifechanging events.

It’s amazing how life passes by. Days blend into weeks and months. Months blend into years and generations. I find that unless something else significant was going on in your life, sometimes it’s hard to remember the timelines and order of things in your past. This blog thing of mine is starting to serve a second purpose. It’s not just a hobby and a waste of time for me and my readers, it’s turning into a form of autobiography; a journal of events and eye-catchers in the life of me and my family and friends; a map of my past and a record of that journey…

I highly recommend doing something like this. It doesn’t have to be put out there on the interwebby thing for all to see. A journal, or diary, or even a special folder on your computer with selected pictures with captions will do.

So, go ahead, give it a try. Three or four years from now you’ll be happy you did.

I’ve written about procrastination before. It was a short post and I intended to come back to the topic to expand. I just never got around to it.

Seriously. Procrastination is a real problem for me. There’s plenty of stuff, particularly around the house, that needs to be done and that I keep putting off. They say that the first step to a cure is admitting you have a problem. Uhm… I could write a post a day for a year, each on a different topic, and not get past that first step on any of them. But, I’ll try not to let that get me off topic. Actually, that IS the topic.

One of the main reasons I procrastinate is that there are so many projects I want to start and so many chores that need to be attacked, that I sometimes get simply overwhelmed and don’t start any of them. It’s simply so much easier to make a peanut butter and jam sammich, pour a glass of milk, grab the remote control and watch reruns of Two And A Half Men. And while the food is yummy and it’s fun to watch Charlie make a fool of Alan, it doesn’t get shit done.

If the first step to a cure is admitting you have a problem, then the second step must be to make a list of the things you must do to fix the problem. In my case, that list is my anti-procrastination to-do list. So… here goes:

• Finish scanning my photos: I’ve done this in spurts, but it’s been on my mental to-do list for two years.. Lately I’ve started it up again, but there still plenty that need to be done.
• Organize my basement and shed: I’ve also done this in spurts. Occasionally, I’ll spend an hour or two or eight in one or the other, and “find” a couple of garbage bags worth of junk or “organize” enough so there’s room to navigate the area without having to climb over stuff. But for some reason, I stop there. Or I’ll decide that something needs to be built or renovated to make it easier to be organized. The efforts I put into avoiding or delaying the actual work truly amazes me.

Note that I’ve mentioned the above two items before. My New Year’s Evolutions post 8 months ago promises that I’d progress on these.

But there’s more:

• There’s a few handyman jobs around the house that need a finishing touch. Whether it be sanding down the rough edges on cupboard doors I’d shortened 5 years ago or nailing a baseboard back on the wall in the living room from my hardwood flooring project 6 years ago, I’m guilty of not putting the finishing touches on some of my projects.
• There’s a couple of repairs necessary that I’ve been putting off. My driveway has a couple of major cracks and a pothole that needs filling. The light on the side of the house needs replacing. I’d replaced the light once, but after a month it failed. So, that’s kind of only half-procrastination. But the driveway… I bought the pavement patch in May. It’s still sitting in my shed, probably hardened and useless by now.
• I’d been planning a couple of creative projects as well. My neighbour has a mini-deacon’s bench in her front hall. She has promised to loan it to me so I can replicate it for my own front hall. It it takes is a little lumber, a weekend, and gumption. I also have every intention of putting in a stamped concrete from pathway. I borrowed the stamp two years ago… Nuff said.

Ok… I’ll stop there. I’ve sufficiently exposed my list. On the off chance that my wife will read this, I’d better keep the list a little short. Trust me, there’s already enough on this list to ensure she cures my procrastination forever.

While that might sound good, given the topic of this post, I’d rather not rush it.

Ever since Tony Soprano got whacked I’ve been searching for my next addiction. The Sopranos was without a doubt the best continuing saga I’d come across on TV. I’d wait each week and each season for the next twist or turn in the life and times of the world’s most neurotic, dangerous and yet lovable, mob boss.

But then it all ended in 10 seconds of black and silence, sending millions of fans into an anti-climatic realization that it was over. Over forever. I tried shows like 6 Feet Under, Deadwood and The Wire but none of them hooked me. I wasn’t reeled in.

That is, until I came across Dexter.

A friend of mine told me about this HBO show, not available in Canada, and that he had the first season downloaded off the interweb. He thought I’d like it. Dexter, the lead character, is a serial killer who kills serial killers. I filed it under “yeah right”. Then, the Movie Network picked it up and I fluked across it. I watched it. Dexter was riveting. Neurotic, dangerous and lovable.

So… I picked up on all the reruns of seasons one and two. Now, I can’t freakin’ wait for season three to start. I’ve got 4000 channels and nothing’s on TV. That is until September 28, when the the premiere of Season 3 airs. Check out the trailer below.

Always the bridesmaid, never the groom. Or is it always the usher, never the pusher? Always the shooter, never the shot?

It’s closer to the last one.

This summer’s pool league was a successful one for me and my team. We teetered around first or second place all season, just eking our way into first place just before I went on vacation. My team, for which I’m the captain, managed not only to retain first place, but got us all the way into the finals for the championship match.

Enter Steve Melee, their illustrious captain.

On championship night, I managed to stand up to the pressure, mastering the table and my opponents with a whopping 2 wins out of 8 games. We lost by 4 games. But I can only take half the blame. I couldn’t have lost if my opponent didn’t win. Right?

Ok. I know, I know. So, then there’s the party. A bunch of guys, pizza, free beer… and a tournament. While I managed to play my way to the final two, I also managed to put away several (12 or so) barley based beverages. It was best 2 out of three. My opponent was none other than Jon M. A teetotaler and a very fine pool shot who was a little pissed off at a prior opponent who tried to win by not divulging the fact that he had fouled on a shot. The odds, needless to say, would be stacked against me at the best of times. My money was on Jon. Even though I took the first game, Jon wiped the table with me the next two. Looking back, I can see now that I shouldn’t have drank the extra two beers between the start of the first game and the start of the third game.

Oh well. It’s a fun league. I’m playing for fun. At least that’s what I keep telling myself.

Four thousand six hundred and eighty two kilometers.

That’s how many kilometers are on my 2003 Yamaha motorcycle. I’ve owned it since it was new, but never really got to use it much. I had plenty of opportunity, but I guess the romance of owning the bike was greater than the actual riding turned out to be. I was hoping my darling wifey would like riding with me, but it turns out that taking a back seat on my motorcycle didn’t exactly turn her crank. Going riding one my own or with a bunch of other folks I barely know has limited appeal for me. So…

I loved the bike, but everything has but a time. Yesterday, we traded it in on a 2008 Arctic Cat 650 H1 TRV. It’s a two seater ATV and I already know she likes to ride one of those, thanks to her brudder Jim and her udder brudder Jerry. We have borrowed theirs when we have made our various trips to Newfoundland and it is something we both truly enjoy.

I had ‘er out yesterday for a little jaunt… powerful, responsive and smooth. I like it… should have bought one of these five years ago.

I enjoy tinkering with odd jobs around the house.  Building this, repairing that, replacing those, painting these.  (Almost) nothing is more satisfying than stepping back from a job well done, admiring the job well done, and saying "That's a job well done."  Or so I'm told… maybe someday I will experience this for myself.

You see, there is usually a lot of work between starting a job from the job jar and that gratifying moment when you can step back and admire your handiwork.  It's the stuff that fills that portion of the project that I often have difficulty finding the gumption to work on.  And even at that, it's only the final 10% that eludes my attention.  I know what you are thinking… he's a lazy son-of-a-gun, eh?  No, that's not it.  I have all kinds of energy to start another job before the last one is finished.  I have gobs of odd jobs started, material purchased, and plans made for projects that won't see progress until I get around to it.  Round tuits are rare around these parts. 

For instance, I built a deck shortly after we bought our house in Moncton, but never finished the stairs going to the back yard…  That same deck a year later still doesn't have the stairs finished.  My intention was to build stairs that would get wider as they got closer to the ground but I didn't get "round tuit".  Finally, after three years, the job got done.  I have many other jobs that have followed and probably will follow that same pattern.  My wife can testify to that.  (Yes, darling, I'll reattach the baseboard in the living room that I detached while doing the hardwood six years ago when I get a round to it.)

In my experience, round tuits are equally hard to come by when they are needed to start other initiatives such as diets, exercise regimes, and other self-improvement resolutions.

Current To Do list for incomplete jobs:

• Nail down baseboards in living room (after hardwood flooring job)
• Refit baseboards in kitchen entrance way (after flooring in kitchen)
• Remove carpet on stairs and refinish (after Rec Room reno)
• Build cupboards in storage room (after basement reno)
• Put ceiling up in storage room (after basement reno)
• Put shelves in cold room (temporary ones in place now)
• Fix bedroom door (it rubs on the frame since the carpet was laid)
• Clean and organize shed (my wife hates this one!)
• Complete walkway in back yard (I borrowed a concrete form a year ago!)
• Learn the guitar (I bought a guitar 2 or three years ago)
• Learn French (I bought "teach yourself french" CD's two years ago)
• Complete the rest of this To Do list (I'm too embarrassed to continue on-line!)