Day 130 – February 29th

I am heading into a wave of depression and am not entirely sure why although today it was speculated that I have dating withdrawal this could be true given I haven’t been on a date for two weeks now.  I just need to wait and see what comes to me, next week I clean my apartment and hopefully that will help clear some of the funk.

As for today, first up was squash and once again I lost a 5 game match, my squash play is literally terrible it is absolute garbage……..I follow this up by going to the Raptor game only to see the Raptors spanked by Indiana and to make matters worse the franchise player goes down with a knee injury……..when it rains it pours.

Out to Armadillo or as it is now called the Loose Moose after the game for a cheeseburger although this also failed to heighten my mood.  I am no longer enjoying, squash……..the Raptors don’t appear to be ringing my bell at the moment, and it also appears that I’m not enjoying my food either now.

Mood for the day 2 out of 10.

Day 129 – February 28th

I have stumbled into a major depression again and am not entirely sure why……I will take a few days of work next week, give my apartment a spring clean and hopefully start to snap out of it.  Not much going on today as it remains ice cold in Toronto………..a quick shoulder and tricep workout and that’s pretty much it.

Mood for the day 3 out 10

Day 128 – February 27th

It was very late when I got home yesterday as a result of 3 events straight after work…..first up was the gym with a killer chest workout, I’m pretty happy with how my weight gain program appears to be progressing and will get on the scales in a few days to see if I am actually gaining muscle mass.

Following the gym, I met up with Cheryl and Richard my old work colegues from Intria although sadly not Terri who was held up at work……Cheryl appears to get better looking with age and appears pretty contented with life and bizarrly has just joined the Wellington Club…..this would be bizarre in that she is joining pretty much immediatly after I left…….maybe I should read something into this?  Richard also appears pretty much the same and I am rapidly getting the impression that once you are married, life is pretty much the same everyday…….I guess that’s not a bad thing if you enjoy your days……..I wonder if I will ever fall into the catagory of “married”.

Ducked out early as I managed to score a ticket to the Spice Girls…….I certainly wouldn’t class myself as a fan, and had it been anything other than the final concert doubt I would have atteneded……as it turns out I could have stayed at dinner later as a 7:30 show didn’t start until 9pm.  Was it a good show?  It was OK although they were a) drowned out by the band and b) appeared to perform better when they each did their solo turns.

I now know what it is like to be in a minority……..% of males in the crowd, approx 2%…….% of people over 30 in the crowd, approx 2% so obviously I fall into both these minorities.

On to today and I feel completely shattered and was struggling to stay awake, even a new hair cut didn’t appear to spark me into life…….no workout today and straight to the ACC after work to watch the Raps……..too tired to stay to the end so left early to watch the second half on TV.  It’s looking like a win so hopefully they’ll hang on.

Interesting fact for the day…….in a survey of 10,000 people 74% of women want to be spanked.  Where are these people, how do you find them…….out of the 74 what percentage are Asian.

Mood for the day 4 out of 10………I feel both tired and a mini-depression coming on.

Day 127 – February 26th

I have only just got home, so this will be an exceptionally short post but I will post a full review of the days events tomorrow…….they include a workout at the gym, a meal with some old world colleagues…….and………and I already know I will be ridiculed for this the Spice Girls !!!!

Mood for the day 7 out of 10……..full report to come Wednesday.

Day 126 – February 25th

I continue to ache in my core today……I have no idea what was done to me yesterday but I am paying the price today, so much so that today I didn’t even make it to the gym?  I am still in my funk and my toenail continues to hurt, I can’t wait to get my week off work next week so I can get some rest and finally get my apartment into some kind of order.

According to the weather reports it is time to baton down that hatches as there is by all accounts a monster snow storm coming to Toronto over the the next 3 days……we’ll wait and see what happens.

It was announced today that the captain of the Maple Leaf hockey team has refused to waive his no trade clause…….I can’t really understand this decision, although have never really understood why GM’s would sign players to no trade clause’s either.  There are a number of players in Toronto who refuse to be moved, although given the team is pretty much rock bottom of the hockey standings I can’t seem to figure it out.  I’m pretty sure if the company I was working for was falling apart and they asked me to leave with guarantee of employment somewhere else then I would take that offer in a heartbeat.

There is a difference between deserting a sinking ship and leaving when the captain tells you to get the hell out.

Something I should have pointed out on Friday, but didn’t was how my view on women I deem attractive appears to be different from the majority of society……..obviously there are women who everyone classes as attractive but I am talking more now about those women who don’t have the “traditionally” attractive look.  I could point to Sarah the lawyer although in this instance it happens to be Soo the Pilate’s instructor, who was unbelievably graded a 4 out of 10 by one of my colleagues when she is at least……at least a 7 probably even higher.

As I write this the Raptors in a dog fight in Indiana whilst the Leafs unbelievably are handing out a 3-0 beating to Ottawa.

Mood for the day 6 out of 10.

Day 125 – February 24th

Today was my pilates lesson, and I have to say that I was very impressed, with both the core and flexibility workout I was given, Soo is extremely knowledegable and appears in a different class to many of the personal trainers I have seen working at the club.

I think I will get a better idea in the morning as to how I feel, but I know my abs were burning a couple of hours after the session, it is certainly not something I would consider every week but a bi-weekly session may help suplement my workouts.

I followed up the session with a back and bicep workout and then practiced some squash…..squash is looking more and more like a lost cause as my right foot an the toe specifically was pretty painful.  It will be interesting to see how the year progresses although one thing I am pleased with so far is how well my strength training program appears to be progressing.

Getting home I watch golf……Tiger Wood dominates again he wins by 8 holes with 7 left to play……it is a clinic and it is simply ridiculous…….whilst I say watch I only half watched as I fell asleep on the couch, this would not be too bad under normal circumstances but I was airing out my apartment at the time so will no doubt wake up with a cold.

In the evening the Raptors get back on track with a beat down on the New York Knicks……..the Raptors remain a team that appears to play one day and then terrible the next, hopefully they will find some consistency soon.

Mood for the day 7 out of 10.

Day 123/124 – February 22/23rd

A double post today as it was pretty late when I got home Friday………so what happened Friday a mixed day I would say I finally made it back onto the squash court and played absolutely terrible yet still managed to get a 3-0 win, I am not sure what has happened to my game at the moment, it is definitely lost and it remained lost on Saturday when again I played terrible and to make things worse coughed up a match ball in the 5th to make it a 3-2 loss.

It is certainly a little bizarre that I would lose a match 3-2 just days after writing about how good my record in 5 game matches was………but heh, what can you do…….to make matters worse today I was again jarred the nail on my right big toe and ended up with blood all over my socks, I have no idea how it will feel in the morning but at the moment things are not looking good……for either my toe or my squash career……the fire, the energy, the passion for the game……all appear lost at the moment, and I am unsure as to when if ever they will return.

Back to Friday, and after squash I was due to watch basketball Knicks/Raptors but decided to head out for dinner with Garry and Richard instead.  Richard is now pretty much a full on vegetarian and has lost a lot of weight as a result, he also appears to have a pretty balanced view about diet…….watching what he eats but certainly not being obsessed by it.  Walking home we appear to be in similar places in life in that we both are now ready to meet the right girl and get into a serious relationship.  Garry on the other hand still doesn’t appear ready to settle down and I am not sure he ever will…….I still think he will end up moving to Vancouver in the next couple of years and maybe then his perspective will change……..but then again maybe it won’t.

Upon returning home I find that the Raptors have lost to the Knicks, and am probably a little relieved that I didn’t witness it…..I have no idea what is going on with the team they are like a yo-yo, up one minute and down the next hopefully they will figure it out before the playoffs begin.

On today and not much really happened, I nipped into work for about an hour….and man is it depressing the move to the wrong side of Yonge street does certainly not sit well with me, although having said that it has only been a week, however do I think I will enjoy it more over time…..probably not however I guess I will have to evolve in order to survive.

In the afternoon I went to see a movie “Step Up 2″ I think it was called, it was OK….incredibly predictable and it certainly won’t be up for any academy awards…but it did have a great soundtrack that I may have to hunt down.

I then watched some highlights of England beating France at rugby…..I have no idea what is going on with the English team at the moment, are they supposed to be playing, are they supposed to building for the future or something else…….one thing I do know is that 2 weeks ago they were being ripped for struggling to beat Italy, so I have no idea what the press will make of this result.

I heard today that severe snow storms will be hitting Toronto again in the next few days, this is certainly not something I’ll be looking forward to……as I can’t wait to say goodbye to old man winter.

Mood for the day(s) 6 out of 10.

Day 122 – February 21st

There are few events in life that cause me to go “wow” but last night such an event occurred with eclipse of moon…….I can remember watching an eclipse of sun when I was in school, and whilst an eclipse of the moon is not quite as impressive it is impressive just the same.  The planets, the sun and the moon is really something I should learn more about.

Today I made a return to the Adelaide Club, I used to play squash there once a week, although had not been in almost a year, the club looks good following it’s renovation and it has certainly a far more relaxed and social atmosphere to it than the TAC…….the club is also home to numerous women although this “perk” is somewhat reduced by the fact that they have split men/women gymnasiums……….around August when I see what Wellington looks like after the renovation I will have an interesting decision to make.

It was trade deadline day in the NBA, although the Raptors only made a minor move…..on a related note I will be selling some tickets to Sunday’s game to someone in my office and by all accounts he will be taking a date……..I will grill him on Monday.

Mood for the day 9 out of 10.  (Because of the eclipse)

Day 121 – February 20th

Compared to yesterday not much of significance has happened today other than I filed my tax return, we will see how long it takes to receive my refund.  Back at the gym today for a shoulder and triceps workout plus as an added bonus I received a flexibility session from Soo.

The Raptors have laid a beat down on the Magic and with a pair of games against the hapless Knicks coming up are poised to make a run up the standings. No dating tales today, however I am now back on eHarmoney as they offered me 3 months for the price of one so we’ll see how that turns out over the next few weeks.

I mentioned yesterday I would write a little more about what happened 5 years ago……when my father left me I was still taking very tentative steps on my journey in Canada, now 5 years later I think he would be fairly proud of how things have turned out so far to date.  On the day I found out I was sitting in a doctors office being told that my knee cartilage was becoming torn and I needed to ease down on squash……on any other day this would have been depressing news, but as I was about to leave there was a message on my phone telling me to call home immediately regardless as to the time.

Before I even made the call I suspected what I was about to be told……and simply wandered home in a state of disbelief.  In a bizarre twist of fate at the same time, Garry was transitioning jobs so was able to spend time with me over the next couple of days.  Given how things had turned out on my first attempt at emigrating to Canada I had made a promise to my father that I would not return to the UK in an emotionally depressed state……..not wanting to break the final promise I made to him, I didn’t return to the UK for the service but instead consigned my thoughts to paper so they could be read at the service.

I can’t believe 5 years has passed……….at 29 I was still finding my way in world, whereas now at 34 feel I have found a place to stay and am not sure if I will change cities again.

Mood for the day 7 out of 10.

Day 120 – February 19th

It is 5 years today since my father passed………I can remember hearing the news as though it were yesterday as I received two pieces of news that had a profound impact on my life at virtually the same time, however I am not going to write about this today, as I would probably start to cry……..but will post some thoughts on this tomorrow.

I have also been asked by someone to post my views on the “purpose of life” and will do so in the next couple of days, I have a pretty clear idea in my head as to what the “purpose of life is” but will formulate my ideas before committing them to this blog.

What else has happened today, I had a brief conversation with my mother (see paragraph 1) and moved into a new office at work……….I am not aloud to criticize the company I work for…….however it is fair to say that I am not about to “burst into song” at this move.

The biggest things that happened today however revolved around sport, Liverpool the team who not 3 days ago lost to Barnsly in the FA Cup, have beaten Inter Milan by 2-0 in the European Cup……..how can you go from losing to a side that is 29 places below you in the standings to beating a team that up until today was undefeated and leads the Italian “Serie A” by some 11 points, it makes no sense……no sense whatsoever.  Hopefully Liverpool can hang on when they travel to the San Siro in Italy next week.

Following this, I headed to the gym to do a workout………only to find two of the world’s top squash players Ramy Ashour (World number 2) and Sharier Razik (Canadian Number 1) playing at the club, to watch them close up is amazing and with the added bonus of it being free.  I watched for a little and proceeded to the weight room, (I am determined to pack on muscle for the summer) after a few minutes they both come in to do some cardio training……it was some kind of interval training on an eliptical machine and was remarkable to see, Ashour has fitness beyond belief, and is extremely approachable……apparently the reason they are still in Toronto is because they are playing in another tournament up the road in Barrie at the weekend.

It was also today that I discovered that my workout habits are different from the majority of members, as I was the only person in the workout room who recognized who these two people were.  As a result one can conclude that fitness people stick to working out and have no real interest in squash, whilst squash people stick to playing squash and have no real interest in entering the workout room for additional training.  I do both so I guess this makes me a little different from the average, however there are numerous other character traits that I have that would certainly classify me as different from the average.

Mood for the day, I will go on the high side with a 7 out of 10……today was certainly a day mixed with sadness and joy.