Bundy The Firefighter

Ok, so I'm not really a firefighter but I did do my good deed of the week earlier tonight.

I was on my way to work around 10:40 p.m. and as I drove by a house just down the road from my place I noticed an open flame near the front deck. I knew this wasn't normal but the house I'm speaking of is also the house that Christmas threw-up on during the holiday season with a yard full of those inflatable Christmas decorations. So it could have been some other new winter fake flame thing I've never heard of.

Any way, I figured I'd better check to be sure so I turned the car around at the next street and drove back. I got out of the car and walked up to the deck, half expecting the owner to come out with either a can of mace or a baseball bat to scare me off. He didn't.

Sure enough, it was an electrical fire with the rubber end of an extension cord running under the deck "fully involved" to steal a real firefighter term. The fire was strong enough that it was blackening the side of the house and was capable of igniting the wooden deck had it not been discovered.

I quickly went to the front door and knocked. The owner came out the side door and looked at me like "who is this big bugger and what the hell does he want?" I told him about the fire and he sort of went "nuts" while yelling at his family to get out of the house. I showed him where the fire was and he was able to extinguish it without having to call the fire department or 911.

Although he never thanked me, I didn't really need to be thanked as I just felt good knowing I'd done the right thing and averted a possible much worse situation.

But as I continued driving to work, I couldn't help but wonder how many other people had just driven by without stopping? It had been burning for a little bit and I know there was some traffic that had gone by it earlier and even as I was turning around to go back another 2 cars went by.

It's scary to think that someone would rather not get involved. I hope if something similar was to happen to me, that someone would be kind enough to knock on my door...unless I'm watching LOST or Survivor...in which case just put out the fire yourself and leave me a note.

Old Time Hockey

To quote Reggie Dunlop (Paul Newman's character in the movie Slap Shot), this is "Old Time Hockey".

I can imagine what Don Cherry had to say about this dust up.

For all of the hockey fans who say fighting in hockey is over-rated or that there's no place for fighting in hockey...all I can say is listen to the fans during this line-brawl between the Ottawa Senators and Buffalo Sabres on February 22, 2007 and tell me they didn't enjoy it. If you look closely, you'll even see Ray Emery (Ottawa's goaltender) with a big smile on his face.

Enjoy!

I Think I Have SAD

As winters go, this one hasn't been too bad really. It took a while to get here but once it arrived, it came with a vengeance.

I'll admit, I'm a "Wuss" when it comes to winter. It is my least favourite season of all and despite having lived in a part of the world my whole life, where winter can be evident six or seven months of the year, you'd think I'd be used to it by now. But I'll never be used to it.

There are those who love winter or parts of it. Not a week goes by during the season where I won't run into someone who will admit to "liking the cold but hating the snow", or "liking the snow but hating the cold." I HATE both!

I've already had a mild case of frostbite to a couple of fingers this winter from trying to put air in a tire on my vehicle. That doesn't happen in the summer time. You don't hear people using the term "Wind-chill" in August. I don't know about you, but I don't enjoy going outside to pick-up the recycle box and in the time it takes me to walk to the curb and back, I have a "snot icicle" hanging from my nose. Sorry if that grosses you out but I'm not too happy about it either.

I also don't enjoy shoveling the snow from the driveway only to have the plow come by two minutes after I've finished to fill it back in again. I throw my winter clothes back on and go out to clean it up. After coming back inside, you can guarantee the sidewalk plow will be by to dump even more back into the driveway.

My sister-in-law Erin came to Canada for Christmas and was dying to see snow since she was raised in Florida and never had the chance to experience it. Luckily for her she did get to see a minor snowfall and was able to make a snowman and a snow angel. I think it was about minus 3 and we got a couple of centimetres. I'd like to officially invite her to come stay up here for the month of February when we go through stretches of days or weeks where the temperature doesn't rise above minus 14 and at night we see lows of minus 25 or worse without the windchill. Stand outside in the howling wind and try to shovel in that and then tell me it looks "pretty". Trust me...it's not that pretty then. I'm just bugging her of course and I'm sure she believes me when I say, she ain't seen nothing yet.

I'm positive I'm suffering from SAD. at this point. For those of you who don't know what that is, it stands for Seasonal Affective Disorder. It is a winter mood disorder. Most SAD sufferers experience normal mental health throughout most of the year, but experience depressive symptoms in the winter.

I'm not the type to go to the doctor so I've prescribed for myself the only cure I can think of and that's a vacation to Florida. Unfortunately my vacation isn't going to happen until after February so with my luck winter will end in March and I'll be feeling much better before I go. Oh well, I'm sure the time away will still be good for me. There's nothing like a round of golf in the Sunshine State or a day at the ballpark to watch a Spring Training game to help lift my spirits.