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Tuesday, June 09, 2015

June 9, 1981

This Tuesday Timeline entry is brought to you by the letter T, and by the number 9.

Wait.  Note to self.  Don't watch old Sesame Street videos while typing out this blog.

But I can tell you that like last week's entry, today's Tuesday Timeline spot will be game show themed.  That's all that I'll say for now at the moment.

In the meantime, we have some other business to take care of.  Like, why don't we have a look at some of the historical events that took place in the world on this date years ago.  Beginning with...

53 - Roman Emperor Nero marries Claudia Octavia

68 - Roman Emperor Nero commits suicide (unsure if the marriage had anything to do with it)

1534 - Jacques Cartier becomes the first European explorer to discover the St. Lawrence River

1772 - The British schooner Gaspee is burned off the shores of Rhode Island

1873 - After being only open for sixteen days, London's Alexandra Palace burns to the ground

1900 - Birsa Munda - an important figure in the Indian Independence Movement - dies under unusual circumstances in a British prison

1930 - Jake Lingle, a reporter from the Chicago Tribune, is killed by Leo Vincent Brothers over an alleged $100,000 debt owed to Al Capone

1934 - Donald Duck makes his official debut in "The Wise Little Hen"

1944 - In one of the darkest moments of World War II, ninety-nine civilians are hanged from lampposts and balconies by German forces in Tulle, France in response to maquisards attacks

1957 - Fritz Wintersteller, Marcus Schmuck, Hermann Buhl, and Kurt Diemberger become the first climbers to ascend Broad Peak

1968 - Lyndon B. Johnson declares a national day of mourning following the assassination of Senator Robert Kennedy

1972 - 238 people lose their lives after heavy rains cause a dam in the Black Hills of South Dakota to breach

1973 - Secretariat wins the United States Triple Crown

1978 - The Church of Jesus Christ and Latter-Day Saints opens its priesthood to "all worthy men", which eliminates the colour lines that were drawn 148 years prior

1979 - Seven people lose their lives when a fire erupts on the Ghost Train Ride in Australia's Luna Park amusement park

1999 - The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and NATO sign a peace treaty, which would lead to the conclusion of the Kosovo War two days later

2007 - "The Real World: San Diego" cast member Frankie Abernathy dies of cystic fibrosis at the age of 25

2014 - British comedian and actor Rik Mayall dies at the age of 56

And we also have to wish the following people a very happy birthday; Tony Britton, Joe Santos, Jackie Mason, Dick Vitale, Charles Webb, David Troughton, Paul Chapman, Gregory Maguire, Elizabeth May, George Perez, Patricia Cornwell, Steve Paiken, Michael J. Fox, Aaron Sorkin, Johnny Depp, David Koepp, Gloria Reuben, Nick Kiriakis, Iain Lee, Michaela Conlin, Shandi Finnessey, Hayden Schlossberg, Brian Patrick Wade, Natalie Portman, Thomas Aldridge, Adamo Ruggiero, Mae Whitman, Andrew Walker, and Danielle Chuchran.

So, what date are we going to go back in time to this week?



Well, we're going back in time thirty-four years ago to June 9, 1981.  And, I wish I could tell you that I remember it...but I was only three weeks old at the time.

But what I can tell you is that this date unfortunately signals the end of one man's life.  A man who practically dedicated most of his life to hosting a plethora of game shows between 1959 and 1980.

But who could it be?

Well, we can eliminate Bob Barker.  He's still alive.  We can also eliminate Bill Cullen.  He died in 1990.  Nor is it "Match Game" host Gene Rayburn.  He died in 1999.

Hmmm...maybe I need some help here.  Maybe what I need is a password.  Something like "Allen" or "Ludden" or "Betty White" or something like that.

Hmmm...Allen Ludden.  That name sounds really familiar.



Oh, yes, of course.  That's why.  He's the subject of today's Tuesday Timeline entry.  And sadly, Allen Ludden passed away on this date thirty-four years ago at the relatively young age of 63.

But in those sixty-three years, he definitely managed to do a lot with his life.

He was born in Mineral Point, Wisconsin on October 5, 1917 with the birth name of Allen Packard Ellsworth.  His father died when Allen was just a year old from the Spanish flu (an epidemic took place in the United States of the illness during the winter of 1918-1919), and his mother remarried a man named Homer Ludden Jr.  This explains how Allen ended up with the surname of Ludden.  Though, he did keep his birth name of Ellsworth as a middle name to honour his late father.

Ludden's family would eventually settle in Texas, and after graduating high school, Ludden majored in English and Dramatic Arts at the University of Texas and graduated with a Master of Arts in English in 1941.  Shortly after that, Ludden enlisted in the United States Army where he received a Bronze Star for his service.  He was discharged with the rank of Captain in 1946.

But it wouldn't be until the year 1959 that his broadcasting career would take off, and over the next twenty-one years he would serve as host of several game shows from "To Tell The Truth" and "The Joker's Wild" to "Liar's Club" and "Stumpers!".  He even served as a special guest panelist in such shows as "What's My Line?" and "Match Game".

However, if one could name one game show that would be easily considered Allen Ludden's signature show, it would be this one.



Yes, "Password".  The game that Allen hosted off and on between 1961 and 1975, and again from 1979-1980. 

Now, "Password" is a game that is easy to play.  There are teams of two - one celebrity guest and one contestant.  One of them is given a clue by the host, and the person who has the clue must get the other person to guess what the word is without actually saying the word.  If the person guesses the word correctly, they earn a point.

Now, there were lots of celebrity guests who played the game of "Password" to help the contestants win lots of cash and prizes, but one you probably saw a lot of back in those days was "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" star and future Golden Girl Betty White.



There's a reason for that.  Betty White was Ludden's second wife, having married him in June 1963 (Ludden's first wife passed away in 1961, shortly before their 18th wedding anniversary).

Interestingly enough, Ludden himself would pass away just a few days before he celebrated his 18th wedding anniversary with White. 

But even though Allen Ludden has been gone for thirty-four years now, his legacy isn't forgotten.  Aside from the fact that "Password" reruns can occasionally be found on the Game Show Network, he has a walkway named after him at the Los Angeles Zoo, an artificial lake named after him in his hometown of Mineral Point, Wisconsin, and several artifacts from Ludden's own collection was donated to the Free Public Library in Mineral Point, courtesy of his widow, Betty White.

As for Betty herself, she was quoted as saying about her late husband after he died "once you've had the best, who needs the rest?"

And true to Betty White's word, she hasn't remarried since.

Monday, June 08, 2015

Thirty-Four - The Future Is Now

And so we've come to the end of the story...well, at least, the story so far.



And while this entry is meant to signify year thirty-four...I cannot finish it.  At least not yet.

You see...34 is not over yet.  My thirty-fourth birthday was just a couple of weeks ago.  And I have no idea how this chapter of my book of life is going to end.

So, I've decided to go a different route for this entry.  Don't look at this as a conclusion...instead, look at it as a new beginning of sorts.

The year that things start to make sense.

The year in which I realize that I've lived a fairly good life...even though there were times in which it didn't seem that way!

Of course, we have a little bit of business to take care of first.

Let's see a mugshot here.  Why don't I just use my current profile pic on Facebook.



Ah, now there's a reason why I chose this one.  Earlier this year, I had an article published in "The Digest Enthusiast" and this was the photo I used...well, one of them anyway.

I need a better headshot.

No news on what the hottest shows on television are because the 2015/2016 television season hasn't started yet.  But I do have information on the hottest song and movie!



#1 SONG THE WEEK OF 5/18/2015
"See You Again" - WIZ KHALIFA f. CHARLIE PUTH

According to some research, this song is still at the top of the charts, though Taylor Swift's "Bad Blood" overthrew it briefly before it took its spot back.  The song appears on the "Furious 7" soundtrack, and is a tribute to the late Paul Walker, who was killed in a car accident in November 2013.



#1 AT THE BOX OFFICE THE WEEK OF 5/18/2015
"Pitch Perfect 2"

Although it wasn't as well loved as the original "Pitch Perfect", the movie still did quite well in theatres and many people speak highly of it.  Though, I'm not quite sure how Rebel Wilson being 35 instead of 29 really makes much of a difference.

Okay, so this is the finale of the month (and a bit) long look back at this retrospective.  And, well...I figure that I'd start by summarizing all the lessons that I learned over the last 34 years based on what I lived through.

Lesson #00 - You can't always predict time.  Go at your own pace, even if it means you achieve a goal three weeks later.
Lesson #01 - Never look a gift horse in the mouth.  Especially if that gift horse has chicken pox.
Lesson #02 - Always put a smile on your face.  Especially in front of a camera.
Lesson #03 - If you hear something that you don't like, ignore it or turn it off.
Lesson #04 - You are never too young to learn new things.
Lesson #05 - Sometimes, you can't always go home again.
Lesson #06 - Fictional characters can sometimes make good company.
Lesson #07 - No matter what age you are, hospitals can still be scary places.
Lesson #08 - We are born.  We sometimes get married.  We die.  Make the most of everything in between.
Lesson #09 - Love and respect your parents.  You only get two.
Lesson #10 - Too much of anything is bad for you.
Lesson #11 - If talking about problems is difficult for you, write it out.
Lesson #12 - Be true to yourself and ignore the haters.  Listen to your own life soundtrack and put everyone else on mute.
Lesson #13 - Sometimes you have to experiment before you find something you're good at.
Lesson #14 - You can always find the bright side on the most terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad day.
Lesson #15 - Physical scars heal.
Lesson #16 - Emotional scars are forever.
Lesson #17 - Sometimes breaking away from the pack can make you have a most excellent adventure - as long as you don't hold up the tour bus.
Lesson #18 - Life is so much better than high school.
Lesson #19 - Surrounding yourself with great people makes one instantly happy.
Lesson #20 - Don't make a commitment without thinking it through.  It'll save you stress.  Not to mention fourteen thousand dollars.
Lesson #21 - Everyone deserves at least some time to find themselves, be it a week, a month, or even a year.
Lesson #22 - The best knowledge comes from the mouths of babes - or, five-year-olds.
Lesson #23 - To find stability, one must survive instability.
Lesson #24 - Everyone has to start at the bottom to appreciate things even more.
Lesson #25 - Sometimes you have to escape reality and play make-believe, no matter what age you are.
Lesson #26 - True friendship never dies...even long after you lose them.
Lesson #27 - Recognizing that you have a problem is the first step in a lot of cases.
Lesson #28 - Sometimes the best motivator is a huge support system.
Lesson #29 - If you feel that something is wrong, get it checked out.  Otherwise you risk losing an organ and a half to save your life!
Lesson #30 - It's never too late to start a project.
Lesson #31 - Don't stand out in the hot sun too long.
Lesson #32 - Sometimes, charity begins at home.
Lesson #33 - Poison kills...and that includes poisonous people.

And as for Lesson #34?  I won't know what that is until next May...when I turn three and a half decades old.  But I do know one thing.  Whatever lesson I take from year 34, it will be just as important as the lessons that I have learned over my whole life. 

Seriously, here's an exercise for all of you.  I want you to come up with one lesson that you learned from each and every year of your life, and write it out like I have, video log it, or just think about it and keep it inside yourself.  It's amazing how cathartic it is.

Only time will tell what this year will bring.  I do know that now that this blog has been around for four years, and I've completed this look back on life so far, I think I feel comfortable enough to ease back into the pop culture and life lessons we can learn from it.  I kind of deviated from the original concept of this blog over the years, and I'd like to steer my way back to that by the time we reach the fifth anniversary of the blog.

(In fact, have a look at the poll next to the blog, and please vote on it!  The poll closes on July 1 at 12:01am!  And yes, I did type 12:01.  I like to be different.)

But one thing is for sure.  No matter what my future holds, I know that I'll get there by being me.  Just as I have gotten through the past thirty-four years before that.

Maybe my life hasn't gone the way that I wanted it to go...but I don't regret a single thing about it (well, except maybe the period spanning 20-21).  I've shared thirty-four years of lessons and stories, and I look back on it fondly.  Sure, there were hard times.  And yes, things could have been a lot easier.  But this is who I was.  This is who I am.  And this is who I'm going to be.

This chapter may be closed for now.  But it continues to be added to each day...



...to a life well lived.  So far.

Sunday, June 07, 2015

Thirty-Three - Out With The Bad Air, In With The Good

Well, this is it.  After today, there's only one more piece left to write in this retrospective piece.  And you know, on one hand I am feeling bummed because this mini project has almost come to an end.  But on the other hand, I'm happy that the conclusion is almost here because I've had time to come up with some fantastic ideas for the rest of June (and possibly the rest of summer as well), and I can't wait to show you what I have planned.

Let's just say that it'll feel like we went back in time to 2011...well, a little bit anyway.

For now, we have another year to look at.



Oh look.  Another palindrome year.  Thirty-three!  I remember it well.

Mainly because it happened just last year.

And what a year it was at that.  It was a year filled with highs (such as finally becoming one hundred per cent debt free) to a year filled with lows (such as losing my last remaining grandparent in January 2015, and having to deal with my mom getting very sick at the end of 2014 - thankfully she got better).  But it was also a year in which I learned exactly what the value of friendship really was.  And in order to learn that lesson, I had to make some really tough choices.

I'll get to that story in a moment.  For now, let's see what was hot a year ago in pop culture.

Of course, we have to kick things off with a recent picture of me.  Have a look!



Don't I look dashing?  This photo was taken at a wedding that I attended in October 2014.  It's incredibly rare that you see me dressed up like this, but now that I know how good I look, I really should do it more often.  If only I had more chances to do exactly that.

Maybe in another year or two.



#1 SONG THE WEEK OF 5/18/2014
"All Of Me" - JOHN LEGEND

I suppose you might consider John Legend a bit of a giant slayer.  The song he dethroned was Pharrell Williams' "Happy" which topped the charts for practically the whole first part of 2014!  It's a nice song though.  I like it.



#1 AT THE BOX OFFICE THE WEEK OF 5/18/2014
"Godzilla"

No surprise here.  This movie was one of the most hyped of the summer blockbuster season.  Unfortunately, it didn't quite hit the mark.  Although it was kind of funny to see Bryan Cranston's over the top acting post "Breaking Bad".



#1 TELEVISION SHOW FOR THE 2014/2015 SEASON
"NBC Sunday Night Football"

Though I have to say that "Dancing With The Stars" and "The Big Bang Theory" were trying to dethrone the football players.

Okay, so before I begin with this entry, I want to direct your attention to this video posted by "The Jimmy Kimmel Show".  Let's just say that this video is linked to the point of this post.



So, we're still a few months away from "National Unfriend Day".  That day falls on November 17, and was invented by Kimmel as an excuse to unfriend annoying people on social media. 

At first I laughed off the idea.  Who would celebrate the ending of a friendship?  I've had friends who have come and gone, and I know the hurt that can come from ending a friendship.  It hurts, and you feel as though there is a huge void after walking away from a friendship that has gone bust.  Making someone feel that way is not something that I really want to do.  And besides, I like seeing Throwback Thursday posts and finding out which Frozen character I am!



I'm this guy, by the way.

But if the friendship is one-sided, it's not a friendship.  It's someone taking advantage of someone else.  And if you're at the receiving end of the one-sided friendship where you put forth all the effort, and they take and take, it's not worth keeping.

Nor is having a friendship where the person verbally harasses you or plays mind games with you to make you feel inferior to them.  Those are not friendships either.  No friendship ever thrives on emotional or physical abuse.



And don't even get me started on fair-weather friendships.  You know, the people who only come out when you have something they want, and disappear into the night?  That's a problem that began when I was in grade school where kids were only nice to me for me to help them do their schoolwork, and then at recess they were the ones pushing me on the ground and shoving snow or sand in my face - depending on the season.

Unfortunately, by the time I was 33, I had formed "friendships" with quite a few people who were exactly like this.  Friendships where I was doing all the work trying to keep them together.  Friendships where I was being manipulated or abused.  Friendships that were only convenient when the other person was interested.

I don't do friendships like that.

I take friendships seriously.  Probably more seriously than most other people.  I don't tolerate people who attack me.  I especially don't tolerate people who attack my real friends.  And when I say real friends, I mean people who I will have their back and they will have mine.

And yet somehow I had let some people slip through the cracks, both in my professional life and my social media life.

Do you have any idea how annoying it is to post something on Facebook that you worked really hard on (like say a blog post, or a photography project), and you share it for all of your friends, only to have those friends make fun of the project or say comments like "I feel like I'm a psychiatrist and you're my 10:30 appointment".  They might think it to be the wittiest thing they've ever typed out, but it really causes a lot of unnecessary hurt to the recepient. 

So, people like that were given the old heave-ho on National Unfriend Day last year.  I didn't want to do it, but if I'm going to move ahead with life, I can't have people bringing me down.

I also unfriended a couple of people who only responded to my statuses just to make snarky comments, or to make me feel bad about choices I've made.  If all they're going to be is counter-productive, why would I keep them around?

Another type of person to watch out for is the one who calls you out on something that they deem irritating, and then they go ahead and do the exact same thing that they themselves called you out on.  I am not a huge fan of hypocrisy in any form.  Thankfully, I have no such people in my social media contacts list.  At least, not anymore I don't.

Ah, but here's the tricky part.  It's easy to cut ties with toxic people on sites like Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.  All you have to do is unfriend them (and block them if they're really poisonous personalities).  In real life, it gets a little more complicated, especially if you're in a situation where you have to see them each day.

But you know, in a way, I've kind of put that theory into practice in those kind of places.



You see, ever since National Unfriend Day, I've started bringing my iPod to work with me.  And, the reason I do this is threefold.  First, it allows me to listen to music I actually want to listen to and not an endless loop of Fleetwood Mac's "Rumours" album. 



(Seriously, I swear that's all my workplace plays over the loudspeaker.)

Secondly, it allows me to block out all of the gossip and rumours that can be prevalent inside of any given workplace.  As someone who has been the victim of workplace gossip in the past, it was a lesson that I learned the hard way.  Now I don't involve myself in it at all.  And frankly, I'm a lot happier because of it.

And finally, it allows me to distance myself from any toxic people at work - the ones who get pleasure in making other people miserable, or the ones who couldn't be bothered to say two words to you unless they deem you worthy (not a good attitude to have, in my opinion), or the ones who leech onto you like a parasite to get you to spill your guts, only to have your entire life story be the topic of conversation at the coffee club table of co-dependence.  Again.  Lesson learned the hard way. 

Seriously, I'm a fun-loving guy who loves to laugh and who loves to tell jokes and who wants to make his life better.  Surrounding myself with people who love me and who I love will help me get there.

I guess if there's one thing that I am sad about, it's that it took me 33 years for me to realize that toxic people have no place in my life.  Not back then.  Not now.  Not in my future.

Of course, some people are tougher to figure out than others.  Thanks to my past experiences, I have a pretty good instinct on who I can and can't trust.  But there are some people who are like anti-freeze.  They might give off the appearance that they are really sweet and lovely, but if you get too close, they'll try to poison you from the inside out. 

Best stay away from the anti-freeze and go with some genuine candy hearts instead - preferably those coated with natural sugar.  Not that artificial stuff.

So, there's only one more year to go.  And like that Natasha Bedingfield song goes...it's still unwritten... 

Saturday, June 06, 2015

Put Yourself Out There! You Won't Stay 32 Forever!

Welcome to the sixth of June, and the final stages of the retrospective portion of the blog.  Gosh, I can't believe I'm almost at the end of this month long project.  I honestly spent so much time planning this thing out that I have absolutely no idea what I am going to do after this is over!  I'll have to think of something.

Maybe I can do one of those things where I review a television show and point out all the flaws, inconsistencies, and bloopers.  They seem to be all the rage these days.  Let me know what you think.  I think I can make it happen, and it will bring this blog back to its pop culture origins.

For now, let's go ahead with today's blog post.



I am 32 flavours and then some
I'm taking my chances as they come
I am 32 flavours and then some
I'm nobody but I am someone, someone
     -Alana Davis



In case you haven't guessed already, we're at year number thirty-two.  Which happened just two years ago, might I add.  This just proves that we're getting closer to the final parts of this retrospective.

I think I'm gonna shed a tear.

Ahem...okay, let's have a look and see what I was doing in 2013.  Let's start with a photograph, shall we?



Ah, yes.  Here I am wearing my favourite colour and standing in front of my workplace - which has really blue walls.  There's a story behind this picture.  I'll tell it a little later.



#1 SONG THE WEEK OF 5/18/2013
"Can't Hold Us" - MACKLEMORE & RYAN LEWIS

Not my favourite song by these guys, but a fairly decent song nonetheless.  And this is coming from someone who is not a fan of rap typically.



#1 AT THE BOX OFFICE THE WEEK OF 5/18/2013
"Star Trek:  Into Darkness"

Sorry Trekkies.  I'm not a fan of Star Trek at all.  Though, I do have a tiny memory of this movie that is linked to a sad moment.  2013 was the year that my friend Graham passed away, and I remember that a week before he died, I sold him this movie when I was working electronics.  I sure hope he got a chance to watch it.



#1 TELEVISION SHOW FOR THE 2013/2014 SEASON
"NBC Sunday Night Football"

You know network television has taken a nosedive when football is the most watched show that year.  Of course, part of me wonders what the top show was on Netflix.  I predict that it was "Orange Is The New Black".  I could be wrong though.

Okay, so here's my story of turning thirty-two.  And remember that photo that I posted earlier where I'm standing outside of a department store wearing purple?  That was taken on the day I turned 32!

Yes, I remember that day incredibly well.  It was a scorcher of a day - temperatures reached 34 degrees Celsius by four in the afternoon.  I had gotten a printer, some clothes, and some iTunes gift cards for presents that year.  And some of the people from work bought me a little cake that year!  It was really a touching gesture on their part.

Then again, I spent part of my birthday celebrations at work.  Only I wasn't working.  Well, not really, anyway.  Confused?

Okay, well, let's take a look at the picture a little more closely.  Notice the tables that are filled with knick-knacks, paddy whacks, but no bones to give a dog?  No, my store wasn't having a sidewalk sale, nor did we have to remove items from inside the store because they were doing inventory. 

No, we were having a yard sale.  A yard sale for the Relay for Life.

Seriously!  Meet our team that year!



Yes, this fine group of people volunteered their time on Victoria Day Weekend 2013 to sell some of the stuff in our homes that were collecting dust to raise money for cancer research.  I donated some old comic books and some of my time to help sell some of the items that we brought in, and it was a fun experience.

Of course, having a barbecue set up and having live music from a local band probably helped us attract people as well.

I don't know exactly how much money we raised for that yard sale, but I want to say that it was close to a thousand dollars over the two days we held the event.  Can any of you say that your yard sales raked in a thousand bucks?  I know any I've had never did!

Of course, that was just one of many events that took place in 2013 that helped support fundraising events in our community.  There were others as well.



Like the time we held a spaghetti dinner for CHEO and for the Relay for Life and despite the heavy snow (the dinner was in March), we still had a fantastic turnout.  I even won a prize in the raffle that was held that night. 



And, of course there was the actual Relay itself.  I spoke about it in great detail the first year I did it (which you can read about HERE if you're interested), but here are a few pictures from the event of 2013, just in case you wanted to see them.



It's funny how I remember every single detail of that night...which I really should, given that it happened just two years ago.  But still, it got me thinking about a lot of things.

You know how earlier in this retrospective, I talked about how I didn't really have a lot of community spirit at all?  How I would hide from the world instead of facing criticism and abuse from a select few people?  Well, I found that by volunteering in the community, it helped get me noticed - in a good way.

I guess it all started with volunteering my time at my old elementary school.  Sure, it was a small step, but a necessary one to take at that time.  It got my foot in the door to embracing my community a little bit more.

And through my job, I have to admit that I did a lot of things involving community services as well from volunteering at yard sales, to painting banners, to walking around a track thirty-four times within a twelve hour period.



Yes, you read that right.  Here's the beaded necklace to prove it.  I ended up getting two more added on to this necklace after I snapped this photo!

Putting yourself out there is never an easy task - especially in a community in which you always felt isolated or alone because you were made to feel different from everyone else.  But when it comes down to it, I think everybody should try and find a way to make the most of a situation.

Look, I'll never be hobnobbing with the rich and famous of my hometown any time soon.  And honestly, I'm perfectly fine with that.  If they can't accept me for me, then that's on them.  And, I know that when it comes to communities, every one has their share of jerks.  I suppose one of the perks to living in a small town is that they get exposed to you fairly quickly.  In places like Toronto, New York, and Los Angeles, it's harder to tell them apart.  But of course, there's always the joy you get when you discover that someone who you may have written off as a bully or a jerk ends up being someone you can really count on.  Believe me, there was one instance in which I was absolutely frightened of one of the assistant managers at our store, but once I got to know them, they quickly became one of my favourites!

I guess it just goes to show you that you never know what you'll find unless you go out and explore it.  And I suppose that doing all sorts of charity work in the community helped me out in that regard.  Of course, that's nothing compared to the help that charity work does for the community as a whole.

Yep, 32 was the year I learned a lesson in putting yourself out there.  And 33 was the year I learned that toxic people have no place in my life whatsoever.

You'll read about that story tomorrow.

Friday, June 05, 2015

Finding Growth In An Unusual Place At 31...



I don't have any real negative feelings about year thirty-one in general.  But I don't have a whole lot of positive feelings about thirty-one either.  In fact, 31 was probably one of the most boring years that I have ever had in my life.

But you know, sometimes that could be a good thing.  The whole period between 28 and 30 were quite exciting and busy, so it was nice to have a year in which I could kick back and relax.

Now that being said, I really had a hard time coming up with a story to tell about this particular time period.  It was one of those years in which all the things that did happen, I already talked about (mourning the loss of a friend, which I talked about around year 26), or all the things that happened seemed boring.

I really had to think about how I was going to approach this one.  And I think that I found my answer.

We'll get to that in a second.  In the meantime, I thought I'd go over some of the pop culture references that were big in May 2012 - the month I turned 31.



First, here's a snapshot of 31.  This was actually taken during one of the periods that wasn't boring.  A friend of mine named Sharyn came up to Canada to pay a visit and we did lots of fun things together including playing tourist in my hometown, going on a boat cruise, and visiting a couple of her friends in Upstate New York.  It would have made an interesting story to tell here...but I already told it three years ago.  If you like though, you can click HERE and read all about it!



#1 SONG THE WEEK OF 5/18/2012
"Somebody That I Used To Know" - GOTYE f. KIMBRA

Okay, I never knew who these people were before 2012.  I still have no idea who they are in 2015.  But this song?  It's quite nice.



#1 AT THE BOX OFFICE THE WEEK OF 5/18/2012
"Marvel's The Avengers"

Not too surprised at this one.  The movie shattered box office records all over the world and was considered one of the best movies of 2012.  And, surprisingly enough, even though the movie came out three years ago, the 3D version on Blu-Ray still costs over sixty bucks! 

Well, at least it does at my store, anyway.



#1 TELEVISION SHOW FOR THE 2012/2013 SEASON
"NCIS"

Well, all it took was a whopping ten years for the show to finally be the most watched show of the season, but NCIS did it with style proving that patience - and having to endure a near decade with American Idol at the top - paid off.  It's still going strong in 2015, having been renewed for at least one more year.

Okay, so my 31st year included a visit from an old friend, the passing of another good friend, and a whole lot of nothing in between.  And as 31 was about to fade into 32, one significant event happened that changed the course of my life forever.

Okay, that was an exaggeration.  But it did change the way that I looked at work again.

You see, 2012 was one of those years in which everything began to change at the workplace.  We got a new store manager that year that was determined to leave his fingerprint on the store - which he did by doing the do-si-do with several departments - shifting staff around from one area of the store to another, swapping department managers around, and all sorts of things like that.  It was quite a shock to get used to all of the changes because they kept happening one right after another.  But I completely tuned it all out because my thoughts were that I had been in the dairy/frozen area for seven years and there was no way that I would be moved. 

Well, apparently seven years in a department wasn't enough to spare me from being shifted to another area.

I was one of the last ones to be moved out of the area, and I only found out about it when the manager who was over the seasonal department called me into the office and remarked that I hadn't been getting enough sun.

That was code for - your time in dairy is done.  It's off to seasonal with you!

To be absolutely honest, those words scared the hell out of me.  I had been in the same area of the store for seven years.  I knew that area inside and out.  I knew how everything worked.  I did my job and did it well.  It seemed incomprehensible for them to take me out of my element in the air conditioned bliss of dairy and move me outside where the hot scorching sun would give me a sunburn faster than a convection oven can bake a toasted tomato sandwich.

I had no choice though.  The deed was done.  The store manager felt that the food side had too many people, so three of us were moved over to the garden centre area, as he felt that the attention was needed out there over the summer.  His theory made sense, and I understood why the decision was made.

But here's the thing.  When you spend seven years in the same department, you get so used to it.  By the end of it all, I could do the job blindfolded if I had to.  That's how confident I was in it.  The idea of leaving that comfort zone was frightening for me.  What if I didn't like the garden centre?  I wouldn't be able to go back to the old dairy department.  It would just be a mess.  What if I hated the people I worked with?  What if I passed out in the middle of the parking lot loading soil into people's cars and I got run over by a Betty Bread truck?

Like it or not though, a month before I turned 32 - April 22, 2013 - Earth Day - I began my three month stay in the garden centre.



And I freakin' loved it!

Okay, so maybe it took a week or two to get familiar with where everything was.  I spent most of my time in the soil compound loading bags of black earth, fertilizer, screening, and mulch in four different colours into people's vehicles for the first part of my time there.  From there, I graduated to price changes and watering duties (of which I was tempted to water myself instead of the plants as it was so hot that summer).  Eventually, I even learned how to run the cash register, which likely helped me earn a place in the electronics department that July. 

Oh, and as far as passing out?  Never happened.  We always had ice water on hand to keep us hydrated at all times.

But I think the best part about working in the garden centre area was the fact that we had such a fantastic team out there.  All of us pulled our weight and we had such a good time out there.  And one thing that I will say was that it was 92.5% stress free.

(There might have been the one time in which I had been out in the compound a little too long, and I got a little bit cranky over it.)

Seriously, I had absolutely nothing to worry about looking back on it.  I think our store manager at the time did me a huge favour looking back on it.  He took me out of a stagnant situation, and breathed new life into me.  And, well...it may not be the most exciting thing that happened to me at 31...but it was what I needed.

And at 32, I discovered that charity sometimes begins at home.  That story will wait until tomorrow though.