Like Joel Plaskett…

Like Joel Plaskett… there is a reason why I love this town.  Today is a Tuesday in the middle of February – other than being my mothers birthday it is quite a nondescript kind of day. It ended up being a beautiful day.  I said to someone “Wow, what a gorgeous day.” To which they responded “yeah but another storm is coming tomorrow”.  Alright, that isn’t one of my favorite bits of living here – people sometimes love to talk about the negative and wonder “who the hell does that guy think he is?” when someone is doing something different or is doing particularly well.  But all in all – what a place!

I woke up this morning at 5:30 am (begrudgingly) for bootcamp.  From 6-7 I did some ridiculous exercises which required me to be inverted, swinging, squatting and reverse planking.   But, as I worked my way through the class I was surrounded by my awesome co-worker-outers.  My laugher caused my form to suffer at certain times. At 7:04 am I was back home greeted by the queen of the house – MIllie.  Off we went to Point Pleasant Park for a 45 minute walk.  Along the way we met a few chatty people.  Back home I had coffee, ate breakfast, read the newspaper and then got ready for work.  We left home at 8:48. I got a coffee along the way and was still at my office at 8:59.  I had meetings all morning.  Over lunch I went to the post office, picked up 2 packages, grabbed some sushi and made it back to the office in 1 hour. I worked the rest of the afternoon.  At 5 I took a taxi home as Millie (who normally comes to work with me) was waiting there.  Today I sent her out with her dog posse where she goes berserk with a pack of 20 dogs off leash outside of the city – she was completely zonked.  Ahhh, no guilt. I took her out for a pee, chatted with my friend Kelly on the phone and then took a taxi back downtown to meet Maurice at 6 for some beers and bites at a new pub. I ran into a stellar guy from home.  Chatted with him, showed him my new rubber boots and then Maurice arrived.  We had delicious food, great conversation with 2 different people, paid up and we were back home by 8 pm greeted again by the Queen of the House.  I am now sitting in my living room writing a blog while kind of looking at the really bad pants the Norwegian curlers are wearing.  I hope to be in bed by 10.

Recently our mayor (who doesn’t smoke crack, make racial slurs, or have a gut that causes his buttons to pull) started a campaign called ‘Define Halifax’.  They were looking for the unique bits that residents love about Halifax.  At first they were bombarded with negative comments to which Mayor Savage responded with a pretty witty series of social media videos calling out the ding dongs who could only come up with foul bits about the city they choose to live in.  Things really changed after that.  Now, the campaign has taken on a whole new flare.  Balance, community, neighbors, great food, ocean, farmers market, The Oval, amazing beer, Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, saying hello, students, The Mooseheads, airport, waterfront, Point Pleasant Park, shops, no traffic, short commute, small-big, Pete’s Frutique, the people, sailing, fresh air… the list goes on.

I am not saying that Halifax is “the best place to live”, but I have a pretty great life here.  I get to see my family and friends at least a few times a week, I work with amazing people (well I have one coworker and she is amazing), cook great dinners after coming home from work, spend time outside, volunteer and still have time to watch Keeping Up With The Kardashians and The Bachelor every now and again.  We are a society based on technological connections, huge debts, more work than play and  high stress levels.  I am doing my best to keep myself out of the vortex and living in Halifax helps me do that.

It was a great day.  It is 9:45 – if I want to be in bed by 10 I better hit send on this.

Shame Shame Double Shame

We live in an age where shame isn’t felt as much because many things can be done electronically now rather than in person.  Texts, banking, dating, Dr. Google, cell phones, voting, etc.  Growing up we had one phone in our house and it was mounted on the wall in the middle of the dining/kitchen/living room.  If any of us wanted to call someone you had to do it in the middle of all the action and you likely had a parent answer the phone on the other end.  Our phone cord would get stretched so badly that it needed to be replaced often.  Now, every one has a phone of their own no matter what the age really.  So there is no shame involved as you no longer have to call a guy/girl with your entire family listening and then having to ask their mother/father to speak to them.  We even had a party line for quite a few years which meant our old cranky neighbor with one leg would often interrupt your call telling you to “get the hell off the phone”.  Communication has changed for all ages.

Internet dating has caused huge changes in the world of meeting and greeting.  No longer do you have to blow-dry your hair, rub 5 smelly creams all over you, put on lipstick, heels, get a cab, pay cover, to scour a bar full of creeps for someone you find attractive.  No, now you can wear your big flannel pj’s while you scope out potential mates online without going through the discomfort of approaching, breaking the ice and giving a number.  I know online dating has worked for some and I myself have tried it.  It didn’t work for me for a few reasons:  too many losers, too much energy, too much time, too much expectation and of course too many people dating multiples.  This is where the point of my post comes from.

My co-worker is fun, kind, very attractive, smart, financially independent single woman.  Sadly, she lost her husband and is back in the arena of finding a man. She has tried all the dating methods: bars, set ups, and of course online dating.  I love hearing all of the dating chronicles.  She is a bit older than me, but it seems that dating issues are the same no matter what age you are.  So here is the point of this post.  Michelle met a guy online: good looking, entrepreneur, fun, sporty, etc.  So, they were going on some dates and “poof” he falls off the face of the earth without any warning.  He pulled a Houdini.  She put on her big girl panties and kept trucking.  A few months later she heard from him out of the blue. Of course, he laid out a series of excuses for why he pulled the magic disappearing act – kids, work, he had a cold.  He asked her out again and she decided to go meet up with him.  Now, some would say ‘no, she should have said no’.  Well, most of the people that say that are in relationships.  When you are single and haven’t had a date in a few months your decisions making process is different.  Well they end up seeing each other and things actually went really well.  They started dating – met his mom, his kids, he met her son, she went to his cabin, concerts… until yet again he goes ‘poof’!  Arsehole.  She got over it.  Fast forward about a month when her best friend is at a party chatting with a friend of a friend.  In conversation one of the gals starts talking about her friend who was dating a guy she met online – good looking, entrepreneur, fun, sporty (sound familiar???) when suddenly he went “poof”.  It sounded oddly familiar so her friend asked “what kind of a company did he own?” – match.  “what was his name” – match.  Well, well, well it seems he was dating the both of them at the same time.  After some fact checking it is indeed the same guy.  The two women decided to meet.  He was in fact in “committed relationships” with the both of them and even went on dates with both of them on the same days!  Uh-oh.  Here he thinks he got away with dating the two of them (and maybe others) and he also jaded the both of them by falling off the face of the earth.  These two ladies decided to get the better of him.  They hatched a plan to hit a pub where they know he always goes.  They perched themselves at the bar and waited for him to walk in. Sure enough – he did. A very funny encounter followed.  Lucky for him his insurance broker arrived to meet him for dinner before they could embarrass him much further.  The pic at the top is what they sent to him after he went and sat at his table.

I love it.  I love that they took the bull by the horns, hatched a plan and made him squirm.  There is no shame anymore because we live in big urban environments where you will likely never see the person again.  He certainly didn’t think he was going to… at least not the two of them together. Boom!