Day 430: Work Until Work Is Done?

As my readers know, I have been a particularly lazy cat this summer, taking a long "sabbatical" as I busily spend the severance from my last fatcat job while idling away like a modern-day faineant.

But all good things must end, and I realize that I should eventually look into securing additional employment long before my financial situation becomes too perilous. The straw that broke this camel's back was my last credit card bill. When your monthly expenditure is 1/6x, and "x" is your current bank balance, this can tend to focus you.

So I've eagerly sent off one resume to a local high-tech employer and I expect that I will receive the job, probably to start in early September - right on my initial schedule. How can I be so sure of my skills? Well - it's not my skills per se, but the fact that I am applying for the position with my old manager at his new job. And as everyone knows, it's not what you know, it's who you know. So I am optimistic.

But I have no doubt that if I do start working, I will receive yet another pay cut as I continue to the steady reverse progress of my sad, ill-fated tech career. This is de-evolution in action, just as Devo predicted.

But for those who enjoy seeing me out of work, do not despair - for this is probably only a 12 month contract position, and I will undoubtedly be back on the dole in no time (assuming I actually get the job, which come to think of it, is a big assumption).

Day 429: Old Tom Reg

I hope that everyone has been enjoying themselves as I continue my long summer hiatus from blogging. The last few weeks were spent in Victoria and Balfour, and the roads, ferries, and towns in between.

I enjoyed my time in Victoria helping out my family as my dad and sister both recently had hip replacements (this is my sister's second time), and there have been lots of kids to help look after. And with my brother spending his mornings up at UVic pursuing his education degree, I was quite busy. But he still managed to put in more time than I did despite being busy all day. I have no idea how he stays sane being as busy as he is.

After Victoria, I journeyed up to Balfour to defend my titles in the Joe Louis and the Kootenay Loop Invitational. I was unsuccessful on both counts. I lost the Joe Louis quite handily to SteelCurtain at Christina Lake who cruised Tigerlike to an easy win. My 80 left me 6 shots back in T3. My Kootenay Loop was equally frustrating as I ended up losing by 4 shots, shooting 82-72=154, finishing ahead of Kevin and Travis in 3rd place. The initial 82 at Granite Point was silly - as I hit in two water hazards and OB twice, but I did recover with the even-par 72 in round two. The worst part of the event was not my poor play though, it was turning my ankle beside the 12th green and tumbling down the mountainside, shrieking like a woman. The ankle swelled up horribly and I had difficulty navigating the hills for the rest of the trip ("His home planet is flat," said one commentator, as they observed my bizarre limp.). I've been icing it since then, but I fear that my grinding days are over for this summer. As for the chase for the title, SteelCurtain was not successful in his efforts, as his 76-75=151 lost by one shot to Young Tom Reg (77-73=150), who will be a worthy champion.

But with all this talk of scores and such, I have not mentioned the single most astonishing feat I have ever witnessed on the golf course. I refer not to Doyle's "Cold Top Kill Shot" (which was amazing), but to the play of the champion's father Old Tom Reg, who cruised to the Kootenay Loop's Low Net trophy. Reg Sr., just a few weeks shy of 81 years old, managed to get around the treacherous Balfour golf course during Round Two in just 76 shots - a score well under his age. Think about this for a second: Old Tom Reg is 80, and he shot a 76! Wow..... Shooting your age is among the most difficult feats to do in golf, and to do it in a tournament is unbelievable. I don't know what will happen to me for the rest of my time on this planet, but if I one day shoot my age, then I know that I will have lived a good life.

I'm now in Vancouver for just a couple of days, before I return to Victoria for most of the rest of the summer. Chance and Slippers are there even now, and it has been difficult being here without them. I can't see how I coped before, as the hole they leave on their absence is most glaring. Cats are great.

Day 424: Country #28: Ukraine

Ukraine

Hooray for Team Ukraine for making the quarterfinals and boo to Italy for beating them there. Vlad, I hope that you have been able to drown your sorrows with a plate of perogies and a nice bottle of vodka. Vlad, my frequent partner on "Team Ukraine", holds the distinction of being the only golfer I know who once served in the Soviet military in Chechnya.

The heart of Ukranian Canada is probably Edmonton, where I once roomed with a stalwart Ukranian family and served a co-op term for four months during second year university as a struggling computer engineer (Note: I actually worked for Dow Chemical in nearby Fort Saskatchewan). Who knew then that this career would ruin my sleeping patterns and lead me to the unemployment lines so often? I recall the long drive up there where I was a contented passenger in ThePirate's unfortunately standard transmission automobile. I did later learn to drive a standard and can report it not that difficult.

We had left Victoria in the hot early-September summer sun, and I figured that I was due for at least some good weather in Alberta so I dutifully took my golf clubs. But my dreams were not well realized for although the daily highs that first week in September were around 18, the lows were consistently 0! All through September and October, it was near-zero when you got to your car in the morning, and near-zero when you left at night - so who cares if it warmed up for a few minutes at lunch time?

Anyways, I only played one game of golf on the trip: at the Fort Saskatchewan golf course. I recall it was a long walk to the other side of town but that it was a charming course with some good hills. I battled hard but in the end failed to break 80, shooting a disappointing 81. The date of that lone round was September 5, 1992 - the very day that the Boy was born! I can remember that day of golf very well, and it does not feel as though it was that long ago.

After the snows of Alberta set in, I would not play again until March 7, 1993 at Uplands when I shot 91, though I did follow-up with a 74 at Uplands in my next round on March 26th. Then after playing zero rounds between May 1 and August 15, I suffered a winter/spring of 1993-1994 with 16 successive rounds where I did not break 80.

Day 423: Country #27: Argentina

Argentina

Argentina is a large country (8th largest in the world) occupying the eastern portion of the southern part of South America. It ranges from its sub-tropical northwest, through the fertile plains of the Pampas, past the steppes of Patagonia, to Tierra del Fuego and even down to the Antarctic continent - where Argentina claims "Argentine Antarctica" because the Antarctic Peninsula is a geological continuation of the Andes. Chile agrees with Argentina, but also claims much of the same area (as do the British). The rest of the world does not agree.

Argentina is a Spanish-speaking country, although they employ the voseo (the use of the pronoun vos instead of tú) - so are particularly difficult to understand. Argentina has the greatest percentage of European immigrants of South American countries - by some counts up to 97%. This is in contrast to its neighbour, Bolivia (for example), where Amerindians make up a majority of the population. This European influence probably explains why Buenos Aires is considered the "most European" of South American cities.

In 1920, Argentina was easily the richest nation in South America and Buenos Aires was even one of the largest 5 cities in the world. But the twentieth century has not been overly kind to Argentina - mostly due to disastrous military rule, and its relative place in the world has dropped considerably. The economic decline culminated with a run on the banks in the 1990s, peso devaluation, and foreign debt default. Recovery is now proceeding, but the Argentine situation is still difficult.

The greatest footballer to hail from Argentina is undoubtedly Diego Maradona, who led them to a World Cup win in 1986 and a loss in the final in 1990. His World Cup career ended in disgrace in 1994 when he was expelled for drug use. Although he denied it at the time, it seems clear that he used the weight-loss drug ephedrine in an effort to shed 25 pounds in the run-up to the competition, a weight that he had gained through good living and copious cocaine use. Maradona's best goal is often regarded as the greatest goal in World Cup history. For their second goal in a 2-1 win over England in 1986, Maradona single-handedly went through 5 English players before beating the goalie. This goal was a marked contrast to the first goal in that game which he also scored, which is referred to as the "Hand of God" goal because replays clearly show that he punched it with his hand. To this day, Maradona is not particularly loved by the English public, though he is often considered the greatest player of all time (though most would rank him #2 behind Pele).

Day 422: Country #26: England

England

As Gned (the pride of Oxfordshire) has noted in a comment, I have had a hard time having these blog entries done in time. The main reason is that I've been away from the house so frequently. Indeed, I am heading off to Victoria (named after an English Queen) and a house with no internet access later this evening, so it seems highly unlikely that I will be finishing this World Cup series in a timely manner. While there my parents will undoubtedly spend their time watching English TV shows while my dad recovers from his upcoming hip surgery.

So the World Cup Blog Series is a failure. But while we are talking about failure, let's move on and discuss England, a nation that knows all about failure.

One stereotypical aspect of the English character is the "stiff upper lip" - the bottling of emotions and stoically enduring things without complaint. This British attitude to "keep buggering on" can be seen from such times as during the Blitz in WWII. A song that reflects this attitude is "Always Look On The Bright Side of Life", originally from Monty Python's Life of Brian. Indeed this song has apparently become a popular singalong at football matches, as every current fan of the English certainly needs a stoic attitude if they hope to stay sane.

For England are a truly frustrating team to watch at the World Cup as they went out on penalties again - this time to Portugal. Why can't the English kick penalties? Why does Germany always win on penalties (where they beat Argentina)? Why did Rooney pull a Beckham-circa-1998 and get sent off in a crucial quarter-final? I found it impossible to watch in peace as it was inevitable that Portugal would win once it reached penalties. England scores only 1-of-4? Pathetic. For a "great" soccer nation, England's results are consistently less than great.

A sad aspect of English football has been the presence of "hooligans". Hooligans certainly exist everywhere, but the English took it to a new level of organized violence. It's calmed down slightly today, but I would be concerned about what could happen if England made another World Cup Final (not that this is very likely). I think part of the English nationalist paradox is that the English tend to think of their history as "always having been in the right", in a way that Germans, Italians, or even the French don't. This probably helps fuel their self-righteous English nationalism (as does alcohol). But since there's nothing wrong with cheering on your squad, I won't criticize fans just for being patriotic. Still, I think you should heartily cheer your side and not beat up fans of your opponent with tyre irons. Just my opinion. Does this hooliganism result from the bottling of English emotions discussed earlier? Perhaps.

Anyways, the future of English soccer is hopeless and I am better off cheering for the new "defence-first" Vancouver Canucks with Roberto Luongo in net and Willy Mitchell on defence, now that Jovocop has moved on to Phoenix. Will the Canucks sign any other marquee players? Not likely - they have next to no cap room! I'll reserve judgement until I see the final roster - but I am a bit concerned about this team's ability to score goals.


THIRD ROUND STATUS
1. Steel Curtain 28 = 25 + 3 (Y:ITA, N:NET, BRA, ARG)
- no further points possible
T2. CA 27 = 24 + 3 (Y:FRA, N:ARG, ENG, BRA)
- no further points possible
T2. Big J 27 = 24 + 3 (Y:GER, N:ARG, CZE, BRA)
- 13 more points possible. Big J wins if Germany wins SF.
4. Snowy 23 = 20 + 3 (Y:FRA, N:ARG, ENG, BRA)
- no further points possible
5. BumblyB 20 = 17 + 3 (Y:GER, N:MEX, KOR, BRA)
- no further points possible
6. Glenn 18 = 18 + 0 (Y:None, N:NET, ANG, SPA, BRA)
- no further points possible

So SteelCurtain wins if Italy beats Germany in the SF, while Big J wins if Germany beats Italy in the SF. The final will be inconsequential (except to pad Big J's margin of victory).