**I'm not really sure what to title this one...

I had just woken up from a siesta after work and was doing some scrolling through Facecrack while I came human before I went out to do a duathlon for myself.  (Run-bike-run)

I had just woken up from a siesta after work and was doing some scrolling through Facecrack while I came human before I went out to do a duathlon for myself.  (Run-bike-run)

I saw a post of some article from my friend Tara.  It had the headline that was something like,

“A female blackout, are you kidding me?  Women need more presence, not less!”

First thought in my head was, “Are you fucking kidding me?!”  

(Prepare yourself for a lotta cursing as I am a foul mouthed little bastid, and this subject is gonna draw a lotta it outta me.)

**For those who know me well, she is the person who is closest to me in my life.  Nobody knows me better.  There is no boy-girl stuff between us…never has been, and definitely never will be.  Pushed by questions from others, we actually had that conversation that was instigated by me to make sure everything was on the level.  I am a blunt person with no filter, and I simply said, (amongst a buncha other things)...

“You’re like a sister to me, and I’m never gonna stop expressing what you mean to me.  You’re my closest friend who I love to death!”

Back to the story…

I began to write a comment, but after two lines knew right away that a simple Facecrack comment was not enough for this one, so I dragged myself outta bed, fired up my writing computer, and started cracking at it.

There seems to be this crazy war of the sexes right now that, from my unplugged mind can tell, started when that sick fuck, Bill Cosby first came into light.  Then things turned into a tornado of emotion from all over the place with the “Me Too!” movement.  

I know, “movement” is not likely the right word, but it’s all my simple mind has got right now, so please to pin me to the wall just yet.

 Now shit is right fuckin’ psycho…something to do with a Supreme Court guy and a woman in some hearings. (That’s me not being plugged in again…you can see why though…stay away from the noise!)

All this shit is so fucked!  I mean, I just fuckin’ hate it!  Reading that, don’t try and peg me as some feminist either, because I am not that.  I only care about equality across the board!

I don’t care about what someone’s gender is.  It is irrelevant, meaningless, and doesn’t mean shit!  It’s the same with skin colour, sexuality, or faith and beliefs.  The only thing that matters is if you’re kind, or an asshole.  That’s it.  It is that simple!

If you’re kind, fuckin’ right, let’s hang out!  If you’re an asshole, you can go fuck yourself right before you throw yourself off a cliff!  I wouldn’t have any problem with that.  Our world is far too over populated, so if the assholes wanna thin themselves out, I’m all for it!

Back to feminism for a moment…  That shit used to be about equality, but it seems to have taken quite a militant turn to very anti-male.  When you look at so much of the shit girls have had to deal with though, can you fuckin’ blame ‘em?!

I’ve never understood it though.  I grew up only knowing everyone as the same.  The only thing that determined who I gravitated toward or was repelled against was who the person was…what their personality was like.

In school, as a whole, girls were always smarter than the boys.  To be fair, most of the guys, didn’t give a fuck about school and learning.  I was the epitome of what a teacher hated in school.  I always found it really easy to be smart and get good grades, but I hated school work, and I didn’t give one sweet fuck about it.  Screwing around having fun was way more appealing, so that’s what I did.  I was labeled, “Class Clown” by grade three, and actually had the T-Shirt in grade four.  I haven’t changed much.  I’ve put my co-workers into tears, and even asthma attacks from laughing so hard just from fuckin’ around in the office.

I’m wandering astray there, but I was getting at the whole thought of the girls I grew up with being smarter than boys.  It wasn’t something the boys cared about.  We just knew who the smartest ones were (Tiffany Smith, Lee-ann Ciok) and went to them for help.

As I write that, I am thinking of all those douche-bag guys in today’s world who would never admit to being able to go to a girl for help.  That shit doesn’t make sense to me either.  It’s stupid, stupid, stupid!

I’ve always connected well with girls.  There’s never really been a reason for it.  Tiffany Smith and I were seated together in grade one, and even though I haven’t seen her since 2007 when she came out for a triathlon of mine when I went to do a race in my hometown in Ontario, she will never not be my soul mate!  She will tell you the same thing.  (There was never anything between us either.)

Back to the not understanding theme…  

I’ve never understood the inequality thing with girls.  (Women, ladies, female, girls, etc…  I keep it simple and stick with, “Girls.”)  It wasn’t a thing the way I was raised, and where I came from.  Not in the home, not at school, not in the playground.

Photos by Phil Best
www.bestphotos.ca/

When I say I’m unplugged, I mean, I literally lived in a snowshoe access place deep in the bush up the side of a mountain for 10 years. I never had internet, I only had one shitty snowy TV channel, and barely had a phone while I was there.  (I got in a lotta shit over living like that because if something happened to me, I’d be fucked and nobody would ever know.)

I like living unplugged.  It clears the clutter.  I still don’t have a phone or TV.  I have internet now, but my homepage is Google on purpose so I don’t get bombarded with shit as soon as I turn it on.  All I see is what I bring myself to.

Only a few years ago did I find out that pay inequality is actually a thing.  I know there is a lotta debunking out there for that subject that has merit, but I know it goes on.  I also know it works both ways though.  I worked in a spa for eight years.  In that time, over 60 girls worked there, and except for a guy named Andrew, who worked there for only two weeks, I was the only boy.  Spas don’t hire boys!  There might be the odd one here and there, but nothing to fulfill an argument suggesting otherwise.

Of course the spa world is only a small pocket in the grand scheme of things.  I say, let the girls have it, because unfortunately there is so much they still don’t have…which is totally fucked!

So here I am, back in my perplexed state of mind!  Girls are fuckin’ awesome!  I love them so much.  I’ve always connected very well with them.  The girls in the spa were never shy to tell me that I was different, and it was why I was able to stay there.

I never saw myself as different though.  I do realize I am as unique as a person can get.  That is a long story in itself, but it is easy to say there is nobody like me.

I think the thing with the girls in the spa was that I only saw them as who they were.  They’re spa girls.  They’re all beautiful, healthy (Even though they partied hard at times…they still brought carrots to work.), yoga-y, toned in shape girls.  I’m not blind, and the insane, vicious athlete in me has always admired a human body that is taken care of.  (Girl or guy!)  As with Tara, I only saw them like sisters.  Sure, every few months one of them would walk into the spa, and I would double take, and tell her she looked amazing today, and then I’d smile and walk away.  No big deal.  No ogling, or whatever.

I never made them uncomfortable though.  It was usually quite the opposite.  Not just in my spa, but even out on the sidewalk, or wherever else, I’ve had many girls walk into me in tears to give me a hug.  I’ve comforted many girls when they have been in a broken state.  I just happen upon them, and as soon as they see me they break down, regardless of where they are.  

I’ve talked with some of the ones this has happened to down the road afterward, and it’s the same thing as what my spa girls would say…that I am like a safe place for them where they feel comfortable.  

Hearing that has been flattering, but has always kinda tripped me out.  It breaks my heart because I’m just being the way I figured was normal, but then I see these girls completely broken, and I can see that it isn’t.  I don’t get it.  

I’ve seen so many amazing girls just totally fucked around by guys that it can tear me up.  I can’t help but feel something for them, and there’s no way it wouldn’t affect me…unless I’m right outta my damned mind!  

(I’m not just sticking up for the girls here though, ‘cause I know a lotta guys who are just the kindest, best people ever who have had their lives torn to shreds by total psycho girls.  I will never deny that.  There is a lotta that where I live.  I started making people laugh with my observation within it all around here.  “This place maaaaan…it seems to be full of real sweetheart girls who are with total asshole guys, and super kind guys who are with real psycho girls…and everyone thinks there is no one good out there.  I wish the psychos would get together with the assholes, and the super kind could get together with the sweethearts, but alas, it’s rarely like that…it’s all fucked!”)

While acknowledging that there are total psycho girls out there, it’s not even close to a balanced thing…or so it seems.

It so saddening and heartbreaking the constant stream of shit that girls gotta put up with.  Even in the horrifying circumstance that something bad might happen, they’re rarely believed.  It’s totally fucked that’s even possible.  In the instance that it’s undeniable…tons of witnesses, caught on video, whatever, somehow it can get turned into, “what did she do to instigate it?” or, “she’s blowing it out of proportion,” or “it’s not really that bad,” or whatever.  There’s way more vile shit going on that my brain doesn’t know how to think up (the kinds you see coming outta those hearings and shit that have so many up in arms, losing their shit over), so I keep it simple.

It’s no wonder girls can feel both defeated and fighting back at the same time.  It’s gotta be some exhausting shit for sure in a constant battle that shouldn’t even have to exist in the first place.

It makes absolutely no sense to me that people don’t understand the most basic concept of treat others the way you want to be treated.  Also, Yes and No are very clear cut words.  There is no misinterpreting what they mean.  Unless you have a legit mental condition going on where you don’t think proper (I’m not too sure the right way to put that), everyone knows the difference between right and wrong whether they want to admit it outwardly or not.  

We all know when we’re fuckin’ up…especially when it comes to hurting someone who says no, please stop.  How the fuck is something like that misinterpreted?!  Then you have the sick fuck, vile pieces of shit like Bill Cosby who drugged girls for decades.  I don’t even know how to put my head around that one.  I really don’t.  It’s so far beyond something my mind knows how to comprehend that it just baffles me.

I heard he has been tossed in jail now, which is sure a damned victory, but the damage that that fuckin’ guy had done for so long can’t be undone.  The violation is incomprehensible!  (I sure hope the girls take every cent that guy has!)

The thing is, he’s just one guy, and to think that he’s the only one is insane!  Absolutely insane!  It sickens me to even think about though.  I don’t like having thoughts like that in my head.  I hate being angry, etc.  It’s like Bob Dylan said,

“Don’t hate anything except hatred!”

Another thing that sickens me is a world without women.  What a piece of shit world that would be!  Girls are fuckin’ awesome.  If you stop looking at their bodies as something bang through to who they really are, this whole wonderful world opens up.  The flavour and variety that girls bring to the world, and their softness to our rigidness is very comparable to a world of black and white vs one with colour!  

Good gawd…if women did a global walk-out kinda thing, I’d wanna punch out ever fuckin’ guy on the planet ‘cause that would be the shittiest thing ever!  EVER!  

What the fuck have we come to as humans that we find ourselves in a place like this?!  We have this infinite potential but here we are getting dumber and fuckin’ dumber like pieces of shit that don’t deserve to exist.

For all the shit girls have to endure that a guy never has to think about (Ex:  walking at night by themselves!), I wish I could apologize on behalf of all the guys, but I can’t, and what would it even do anyway?!  Thinking about that just makes me sad.

Girls, as a whole, are fuckin’ amazing!  I love them so much.  It hurts to see them hurting.  I hate seeing that, and as I had eluded to earlier, I have seen many tears.  I can say that even being a mean, nasty, tough, tough gnarly athlete who curses and swears more than anyone.  I just have a balance…an extreme balance.  I love being tough and nasty, but I also love being a guy who girls can feel completely safe around in their most vulnerable states.

Held together by tape and wraps to race through the pain.
Photos by Phil Best
www.bestphotos.ca/

I wish people would just throw the whole gender thing…and race, sexuality, and whatever.  Just see people and be kind to each other.  It’s easy to be considerate.  It’s easy to help one another out.  It’s easy to care for another.  The best part, is that it feels good to give a shit about others.

It baffles me that we can be so fuckin’ stupid when we have this ultimate capacity and potential for brilliance.  It makes no gawd damned sense whatsoever!  

Obviously I can’t apologize for anyone else for something they might have done, but for some reason I feel compelled to share this thing I just wrote a week or two ago for a friend who has been having a tough time.  I never read it.  I was thinking about her, sat down and wrote it in one shot, and then sent it to her.  I remembered the essence of it, so I shared it with a couple other friends afterward, and it moved them quite a bit.  One of my friends, she answered me like this:

Good god I needed that…

For any guys that might read this.  It is possible to be the guy-est guy ever and still be aware and sensitive to the girls.  Thankfully, I know a lotta really good guys like that, but there sure are a lotta them that need to pull their heads outta their asses for sure!

I don’t know if there is anything else I can say, so I’m just gonna end with that thing I wrote.
 
"It Waits For her"

I see this beautiful woman
I look into her heart
Holding so much life
The love inside her
But I know something more
Underneath the cover
Look inside
A fracture lies there
Her heart, it hurts
Feeling quite confused
Looking for signs
Of some guiding light
To end her pain
Holding her down
I wish I could
Make it all disappear
But it's not for me
That path lies for her
Still I see the foundation
She is built on
Despite feeling somewhat lost
It's still there
The purity of her soul
Waiting for her to find
The meaning of herself
That has never left
She's just having troubles
Seeing her own shine
But I know it is there
Underneath all of the hurt
It is still there
Her passionate divide
Connecting heart and mind
Even when feeling so lost
It is still there
Hurt may feel overcome
But it will pass
Her love inside
Her passion for life
Is far too strong
To be held down
And kept aside
For what dwells down in
Where her love resides
Waiting to be set free
It will know its time
Release the pain
Leave her clear to see
The endless beauty
Surrounding her
Living inside of her
The endless beauty
That is her
But for now she hurts
It makes me sad
Knowing this
When I look to her
And see what I see
All I can do
Is hope for her
To find her peace
Recapture her love
Felt within
Her own beautiful self
Her true nature
Her story she strives to live
The story that inspires her
The best I can do
Is feel all the love
I've learned in life
Feel it deep
Send it across the world
Send it to her
Soaring through the skies
Transcending the seas
Find its way to her
Massage her heart
Take its hand
The hand of her heart
Take it in mine
Tell her it will be OK
Tell her she will be fine
It might take some time
But she will find
All that passions her
All the love she has
So desperate inside
Trying to escape
Release onto the world
The nature of her soul
Her beautiful mind
Her loving heart
Free of pain
Holding her down
I want to say
It will be OK
But it's not for me to do
Even though it's all I want to do
I just want to say
She will find her way
So all I can do
Is hold her deep
Within my love
I've learned over time
Embrace it full
Send it across to her
In hopes she might see
Someone knows
The real beauty
She has within
Even when it's hard for her
To see for herself
In this time
It breaks my heart
But I know
She will be set free
Spread her wings
Fly into herself
The love she desires so
Living within
The hurt she knows
It disappears
It cannot fly
Keep up with her soul
Her kind soul
Astonishing so
Of pure truth
The nature of her soul
Always lying in wait
Just for her
Embrace her whole
It gives me comfort to know
I can see the truth
True nature of her soul
She'll be fine
It might take some time
But she'll be fine
That love she has
Swirling deep inside
Cleansing all the hurt
Confusion
And her pain
The love she has
Swirling inside
Deep inside
Will carry her
Where she needs to be
Where she needs to go
Set her free
Breathe light air
Fresh and clear
Breathe in the life
That makes up her soul
Her beautiful soul
Permeating all her cells
Making up her being
Her beautiful being
Composed of love
From a different time
Untainted love
The kind found in dreams
Dreams unbound
By any constraint
Boundless love
Boundless life
Lucid and clear
What she wants
So desperately
It awaits her
So patiently
It waits for her
Her love inside
It waits for her
As long as it takes
It waits for her
Never abandoning
It has the time
As long as it takes
Her beautiful love
It waits for her
Love of herself
How she deserves
Set her free
I believe
I see this in her
It brings me peace
Knowing her love
It waits for her
It's always there
Her beautiful love
It's always there
To soothe her pain
Comfort any of her fears
Even when she can't see
It's always there
Her love waits for her
It has time
As long as it takes
It waits for her
She'll be fine
Her beautiful love
It waits for her
Even when she can't see
It's taking care of her
As long as it takes
Her beautiful love
It waits for her

**After thought...  Tara just told me what that blackout thing is.  I had seen it, but thought my computer was fucked.  What the fuck maaaan?!  Please don't black yourselves out girls!  Please!

(This was actually Day 10, but for some reason I cannot change the title.)

I put in another long night at work, and instead of leaving at 7:00am, I walked out of there something like 1pm.  When I got home I knocked off my push-ups straight away.  I was tired, but it was pretty warm out and mid-afternoon, so I finished blowing up the recliner water float-y that I had started blowing up a couple weeks ago and never really got around to finishing as I'd use my Stand Up Paddler instead of lounging.  

Now, with this challenge of mine I haven't had any time to do anything else.  Today I said, "Fuck it!", and finished blowing the thing up.  (Yes, I know it is plastic, but it falls in the loophole of no new plastic...I bought it last summer, and have had it sitting on the floor half blown up for awhile.)  

I took it down to the water to lounge around floating for a bit.  La la laaaa..

I've started noticing that my swim shorts are startin' to smell like old stank-ass hockey gear that hasn't been cleaned for a season.  it is nasty, but warmly embracing.  I really do love the gnarly athlete within me where things like this hold a beautific essence in my mind.  Blood, sweat and beat up injury is the place I feel most at home...that and Grateful Dead shows!

(Speaking of Grateful Dead shows...  A real close bro of mine from Dead Tour days, who I haven't seen since then, just had a baby.  I'm so happy about it that I kinda can't believe it.  There has always been something different about people I did Grateful Dead Tour with.  I was living in Toronto, Derek was from outside of Detroit, and we met in Ohio.  We clicked right from the moment we met, and have been lifelong bros ever since.  Shortly after Tour ended when Jerry Garcia died, Derek moved west to just outside of Vail, and within weeks, I headed west to British Columbia.  When he had his baby the other day I had a rush come over me.  I'm just so happy about it.  I fuckin' love that guy!  Grateful Dead...bringing worlds together!)

It was nice to float for a bit, but I was exhausted and needed real siesta time, so I packed 'er in and went up to my place and crawled into bed despite it being mid-afternoon of a beauty day.

LaRae is pretty amazing!  She's always living life right to the max.

I had some thick cobwebs when I woke up, so I spontaneously took my doggie for a hike to the waterfall nearby.  I've had it in my head for a few days since I messaged LaRae about it when she was looking for local hike recommendations.

It was a nice walk.  The water isn't rushing as hard now, so i could walk out onto a nice slab rock right at the base of it.  There was a stiff wet breeze blowing off from the spray.  It was super refreshing.  I enjoyed that for sure. 

I stood there thinkin' about and sendin' out some huggy-smiles across the air to another friend who has been feelin' down lately.  I didn't stay too long though 'cause dusk was waking up for another night and I wanted to get home and do my hills.

when i got back to the bottom after my second hill i noticed my heart and chest doesn't feel the same pain doing the hills, so instead of just walking quickly...my version of quickly...I ran the third and fourth ones tonight.  I felt good, and more reveled in doing it barefoot in the dark...although I always do it barefoot.  

It's nice to feel progressions, even just small victories.  You know how it is when you string together and add up a bunch of small victories, you end up with something special.

The one thing I am looking at in my mind though is that it is 10:00pm as I write this and I have only completed my push-ups and hills so far.  The big hurdle in this moment is the chunk of time on my bike, especially with my legs all chewed up from hike and hills.  Once I get through that the rest is smooth sailing.  I just know it is gonna be a long night though 'cause I need to sit down for awhile though before I crack into any more of this.

(I wrote all of this on August 9th, but never fine-tuned it til now)

I had about ¼ tank of gas when I left town on my way home from work.  I was flying along the highway, gruuuvin’ to a Morning Dew blaring outta my stereo.  I saw Taghum Shell approaching in the distance.  It was the same as every other day…even the music.  

Rollin' along n' gruuuuuvin'!

I keep the same tape in my van for at least a month at a time...usually much longer though.  I love that I have a tape deck in my van.  I went through a couple thousand Grateful Dead live show tapes from back in the day.  I still have a few hundred that I refuse to get rid of.  I love playing every one of them…even the dusty, shitty sounding old-school ones.  From dusty soundboard to crunchy cracklin' soundboard, or even a good audience recording, they’re nostalgia in the literal definition of of the term!

Recently I gave Natalie a ride home from work.  She picked off my tape deck right pronto and started making fun of me.  “Who still has tapes?”  (Daniella has since done the same.)  I was quick to start making fun of her for Ipods, phones, n' shit.  We made fun of each other and it was excellent...but I still stood my ground with tapes.  Tapes kick ass!

Lately I have had the second tape of the New Year’s ’76 show at The Cow Palace in San Jose, California goin’.  Every-so-often I think about changing it, but I don't.  It’s just so freakin’ awesome!  The transition from Good Lovin’ into Samson & Delilah is crazy.  Scarlet Begonias is…well…Scarlet Begonias.  The Help on the Way jam has something special about it; and of course, Not Fade Away > Morning Dew to close the show before encores = Daaaaamn!!  Changin' it would just be stupid...no need to do that!

While I was blaring it, and gruuuuvin’ right along, whenever I glanced in my rearview mirror I would catch the odd glance of my doggie in her seat in the back.  (By the way…Rearview Mirror is a great Pearl Jam song...just sayin'!)  

Fennario always has such a big smile on her face when we’re cruisin' down the highway.  That makes me thoroughly happy, as it wasn’t always the case when she was a little pup.  She used to be absolutely terrified of vehicles to the point where she’d run and hide in the house if I even walked near my van parked outside.  Inside the van she would slobber and foam at the mouth from anxiety or something.  Now she’s totally stylin’ and I love it ‘cause I don’t like leaving her at home.  I want her everywhere I am.  I looove my doggie so much.

So, as I was sailing along the highway, gruuuvin’ full blast, I saw Taghum Shell approaching quickly.  I didn’t need gas right away, but I was feeling ultra lazy, so, knowing they are full service, I said, “Fuck it!” and did a last second quick swerve off the road.  I pulled up to the tanks like I was in a race car chargin' into the pit-stop scenario.  I definitely rolled up to the pumps with some heat, that's for sure.

I’ve always felt kinda strange about a full service gas station where you don’t do shit.  They just come and ask you what you want and take care of everything as you sit there doin’ nothin’ like a lazy-ass.  Even when my body is completely broken down, I still feel like I can pump my own gas.  It sure ain’t that hard of a thing to do after all.  Sitting there though, as buddy was gasin’ me up, my lazy-ass did take time to appreciate the service.

Scott, Cam and Shawn Robertson…

(Photo by Matt Bolt for Kootenay Business Magazine)
kootenaybiz.com/west_kootenay/article/taghum_shell_has_been_spaciously_souped_up 

The brothers who own Taghum Shell are awesome guys.  For years I had no freakin’ idea that Scott and Shawn were two different people – twins!  I remember finding that out and thinkin’ it was awesome, and of course laughed at my idiot-self once again.

For a long time they had talked about expanding their store and stylin’ out the whole place.  After many, many years, they finally were able to get at it in 2016.  I lived in Nelson during most of the renovation.  

Every Friday I check out what movies’r playing at the theatre in Castlegar.  I’ve been going to the movies since I saw the original Star Wars at the drive-in with my parents when I was a three year old kid.  

(I miss the drive-in as a way to see movies…seeing classics like, Smokey and the Bandit, the original Superman, Cannonball Run, and many more!)

As I like to drive to Castlegar consistently on weekends to catch a matinee movie I got to see the progression of the remodel take place.  I rarely ever see newspapers or anything, so I had no idea it was happening until I drove by for the first time after it had started.  I remember yelling out loud, “Nice one boyyys!”  As simple as that!

I lived up the lake for years, and after a 10 month stretch right in Nelson, I ended up moving on the other side of town again.  Now I pass the Taghum Shell twice a day, 6 days a week.  I always enjoy seeing it, because I know how long they had wanted to do that, and I’ve been happy for them to finally manifest it all.  I love seeing people pull their dreams together.  It's such a great thing.

Even back in the day, the boys always had the full service touch.  It has always been easy to tell that they’re genuinely good guys.  All you have to do is talk to them and you find it out right away.

(The way it was...)

As far as being a customer goes, they make you feel very welcomed and appreciated.  It’s not a false front pitch to get your buck either.  It’s as if they come from a lost time.  Nowadays, in the service station industry, there is virtually no service whatsoever.  It has all but disappeared.  Everything is self serve "get it yourself, you pricks" gas stations everywhere you go.  Not the brothers though.  They still deliver the special touch from a seemingly forgotten era.  

I’ve been going there for over 15 years, and I can say their level of service is not limited to them either.  Their staff always shows that same standard too! That is simply because of who Cam, Scott & Sean are as people though.  It brings to mind that old overused saying,

“Great leaders lead by example!” 

All this rolled through my mind while I was sitting there getting gassed up today.  It was more than confirmed when their employee walked up to my window after he was done gassing me up and asked if I needed my oil or windshield fluid checked.

"Freakin' right boys!  Taghum Shell doin’ it right!

Their finished product is great.  The building is gorgeous...the nicest gas station I have been in.  There is a snack-y area that is on the side of the main store that has a variety of goods to grab and go, or chill out to sit and stare out the window if you desire.  

The building is spacious, and stocked nicely.  There's travel food, all the gas station-y things for your vehicle, fireworks, ATM, and a tad bit of party-time beverages.

Outside, they went from a simple two stall/two pump gas station set-up to a four stall/six pump system.  Even with tripling their pump capacity they're still super busy.  It's great.  It shows how necessary their expansion was and that their longtime vision for their expansion was the right thing to do.

Scott, Shawn and Cam…I’m glad to support you guys all these years, and I'm really happy for you that you were finally able to pull off the massive site rebuild you have been dreaming about for so many years.  The place looks freakin’ great!  Nice one boys!!

I cruised outta there, back lost in my tunes with these thoughts rollin’ through my mind and a happy doggie in my back seat.  Gruuuvin' down the road a little bit further thanks to the fellas.

Taghum Shell
5644 Highway 3A West
Nelson, BC
V1L 6Y3
250-354-1222

I woke up from a siesta and saw snowflakes in the air when I looked out my window.  It made me wanna take my doggie to the park, so I told her we were going, she got all excited.

The ground was slightly covered with snowy patches, but the road looked clear.  I thought about bringin' my shovel with me to get a head start on clearing the walk from the parking lot to the court, and the court itself; but thinking that the weather will warm up a bit in coming days, I found it pointless to start shoveling yet, so I left it at home.

Even though it's only just down the road, it seemed like there was more snow at the park than there was at my place, but it was no big deal.  When I got to the ball court and saw it start coverin' over with thickening slush I kinda wished I brought the shovel, but that was only for a moment.  I like the gnarly stuff, so I enjoyed it for what it was.

Shootin' baskets in any kind of thick wet snow and slush brings some definite adjustments into play for sure.  Yeah, freezing numb hands make it tougher to shoot 'cause I can't feel the ball, but that's just minor stuff.  It's the bounce of the ball in the slush and what the wet snow does when it is stuck to the side of it is where the challenge sits.

I'm not too great at bending over, so reaching down to the ground is tough.  Slush doesn't let the ball bounce too well, so I have to bend down to pick up the ball after pretty much every shot.  I didn't really enjoy that.  

Aside from the bounce after a shot, it also meant I had to be conscious to put more umph into dribbling the ball.  Every time the ball hit the ground I'd feel the cold splash of the slush on my legs.  Each one feeling like a refreshing little pop of adrenaline.  I did enjoy that.

 

The biggest adjustment to shootin' baskets in wet snow is when it clings to the ball causing the weight to be be severely lopsided and unbalanced.  It does strange things with the flight of the ball, especially when it hits the peak of its arc and starts dropping down.  Instead of the nice symmetrical path it usually takes, on the downside of its flight it drops off much more rapidly.  The degree of that too depends on how much snow is stuck to the ball.

Sure, ballin' in the hot summer sun is great, and it's wonderfully magikal under the dark sky lit up by the moon, but I like the challenge of shootin' ball in the snow and slush.  Frozen hands that I can't feel, a ball that doesn't bounce, and the inconsistent lopsided flight of the ball does something wondrous with the senses. 

On top of shooting with the natural feel of the ball there's also all the different calculations needed to be made in regards to trajectory and velocity of shots.  Ignoring all the implications of harsher conditions and finding the rhythm within it all is quite amazing.  That's when the true essence of the experience really comes through for me...transcending the harshest conditions to find the beauty of it all.  That's why I do it. 

I've been in my new place for 6 months now, and tonight was the first time I shot baskets under moonlight.  I forgot how majestic it is, and especially how much I missed it.  

The odd time, when I am in town in the middle of the night, I'll go to the Hume School to toss up some hoops under faint shadows from the distant streetlights on Nelson Ave.  I love doing that...a lot!  I do the same thing, shooting under distant light, at Mt. Sentinel High school and Lion's Park too.  There really is something special about it.  When the cresting moon starts appearing over the mountain ridge and lights up the ball hoop in the pitch dark sky it is a different kind of special though.  

When there's nobody out but the crisp air, the shadows of my wandering doggie, the silhouette of the ball hoop, and me with a ball I can barely see...siiiigh...is a piece of heaven on earth for me.  It's just so serene in a really beautiful way.  I was happy to get reminded of that tonight. 

Today I felt like giving some flowers away again. It's a thing I do both random and spontaneously. Most of the time I have no idea who I'll give 'em to...just walk down Baker Street til I see the right someone...it doesn't even matter if I know them or not. If I'm strollin' down the road and someone actively likes them and asks who they're for, I'll say, "It's random flower givin' away day and today I got 'em for you apparently." Those are fun ones. Creating huge unexpected smiles from outta nowhere.

Kyla has such an amazing shop in Bella Flora too. I like going there. Everybody should go there.
www.bellaflorastudio.com

When I was walking past the CIBC two completely different things happened at the same time. Scotty was yelling at me from across the street, hoping they were for him. :) As he was yelling and laughin' at me, I heard a guy going into the bank say to his kid, "He's got flowers...someone's in the dog house."

I yelled back to Scotty, "Not today, and it's too bad 'cause they smell awesome." Then I laughed at him. As I was doing that, in my mind I was thinking of that guy going into the bank. The guy seemed like a clueless moron to me who really doesn't get it. Is that the reason so many guys get flowers to give...to get out of the doghouse? That's ridiculous. I choose to live by this thought instead...

"No reason is the best reason to give."

I find that giving for no reason at all is the purest form of giving there is because it is truly untarnished and vibrant in intention.

Random thought for the day

July 22, 2017

It was a casual Saturday morning.  I was in town the previous night to house sitting for a friend.  I had just finished taking the doggies for a walk and was on my way back home out of town.

I stopped in at Maglio's to get a piece of rebar, and to see if they had any pruning shears. I saw Gord out in the parking lot.  He’s been working there for a long time.  Many years ago, he recognized me from all the triathlon stuff I was doing that landed me in the local media a bunch.  We seemed to hit it off right away, and have had many kind friendly smiles and hello's ever since. 

It was still relatively early in the morning, so it was nice and casual in the store.  Perfect…I hate busy!  The aisle for the pruning shears was right near the front counter and easy to find.  I rolled in straight away and found the last pair they had. Sweeeet!  I grabbed them and went to the check out counter.

As soon as I put the shears down on the counter I looked to my right and there was a man on the floor.  He was an older gentleman.  I heard his wife say he was having a seizure.  (Me...in my mind, "Whoa!")  I was kinda blown away by how calm and mellow she was.  She definitely had it together, that’s for sure.

Right away one of the Maglio's staff called for first aid and to phone 911.  Someone appeared totally pronto from outta nowhere.  I can’t remember the guy’s name, but I had spoken to him a few times before.  Totally nice guy!  I wanna say his name is Randy, but really I have no clue at all, so I am likely just talkin' outta my ass.  I think he worked in the office behind the front desk.  (I remember talking to him about ordering some Dremel bits for some carving I was doing before)

He was there in a flash.  He knelt down and was cradling the gentleman’s in his hands, and talking to him in a warm and caring voice that was full of reassurance that everything was going to be OK.

One of the guys behind the counter was on the phone with the 911 operator.  The gentleman’s wife said he also has dementia.  She was talking to the staff who were helping.  She said that, from the look in his eyes, he was at least aware and that was a good thing.  She was pretty amazing how she was handling it all too.

The guy behind the counter who was helping me, and I…we kinda stole a couple glimpses, but just kept doing our thing all casual-like.  I didn’t really feel the need to watch and stare ‘cause I kinda thought it to be rude.

My initial thought was that, “not only is the poor guy having a seizure, but it is in a public place, and despite his dementia, and the nature of what was going on, a bigger audience wouldn’t be what he wanted, nor the best thing for the situation.”  At least, that’s what I felt he would answer if he was lucid, without dementia, and you were to ask him as a hypothetical, so I felt it would be better to simply move along.

His wife took over the phone call with 911 to talk them through the situation and everything they needed to know about her husband and his basic history.  She was a total bad-ass the way she went about it.  Just so ridiculously calm, and together!

As he was lying there on the floor, the staff member who was holding his head in his hands was still talking to him and looking in his eyes.  It seemed he was listening to the man’s wife talk to the 911 operator, and using that information as to how to speak to the man...trying to comfort him, and letting him know that everything was gonna be OK…that the man was being taken care of and he was in a safe place.  Everything was so casual, but so together.

When I had finished my transaction, I caught another glimpse, and then started to head out of the store.  I stopped though because I heard someone say the ambulance was there already. When I heard that, I kinda did a double take in my mind ‘cause I couldn’t believe they were there that fast.  “Shit maaaaan…totally crushing it on this fine Saturday morning!!”

I just stood off to the side, the way one would pull over on the side of the road when a lit-up emergency vehicle is charging down the street.  That’s when I casually watched a bit.

I sorta glanced back and forth between glimpses of him on the floor with the staff, and waiting for the ambulance people to come in.  When I saw them walk in, I kinda smiled and mini-nodded with, “so bad-ass” in my mind.  I also said to myself, “Hey…it’s that one ambulance girlie that I have seen several times.  Sweet. Of course it’s her.  Yaaay for her!”

(I have seen her several times on the job. The last time being last summer when I walked into emergency to get my stupid brain checked out because of all the numbness in my skull that had been going on for months. <Still numb…just like all that other shit…like that for life…suck it up and move on.>  She always has such a warm demeanor about her, and it always kinda strikes me that if shit goes down, she’s the type I’d want helping me.  I’ve been around a freakin’ lotta doctors/healers in my 24 years of being super messed up, and I can say this…a lot of them can take lessons from her about how to carry themselves when dealing with people.)

The ambulance girlies got in there and continued with the theme of the moment, “Casual freakin’ awesomeness!”

The tone in everyone’s voices, as well as body movements, and everything was so embracing and reassuring…and beyond professional!

So, once the ambulance ladies were past me and had started talking to him, like a car pulled over on the side of the road, I casually started walking outta the store again.

I was so blown away by it all.  It wasn’t as much that the man was having a seizure, I had seen that in public before, but it was how everything went down.  I mean, this all happened in the time it took for me to pay for a pair of pruning shears, and order a piece of rebar, and was handled so well.  As I was walking outta the store, the jack-ass part of me was thinkin’, “Shit maaaan…if I ever have a seizure, I hope to fuck it’s at Maglio's in Nelson. Daaaamn…that was so bad-ass!”

I was just so impressed with the way it all was handled by everyone… The Maglio's staff, the man’s wife, the patrons in the store who didn’t make a scene out of it, and the ambulance girls! Bad-freakin’-ass!  I felt everyone deserved some kinda somethin’…you know, some drinks or some shit bought for them…

As soon as I got home I put up a quick little post about it.  It got a buncha likes and loves, so I felt like writing a better version of it now.

(I just found out through my other post that one of the ambulance girls was Sharon Pol. Because of all the times I have seen her around, I was glad to be able to put a name to her face, although next time I see her, I’ll have no idea what it is ‘cause names aren’t my thing.  Anyone who reads this who knows her, tell her lots that she's awesome!)