10 Day Countdown

Well, I'm down to 10 days before heading off to Nanaimo...and let me tell you I'm scared shitless.

It's not because I'm 39 and most of the people there will be young adults. It's not because of the goings on in Basic, kit and quarters fiasco's, humiliation, and prompting to do better. It's not because of the fact that everything will be new and you'll basically be trained like a 4 year old for 10 weeks.

No...it's because over the past month I have been going to the gym, walking, jogging, and working out...and I still cannot manage to meet my Expres Test requirements.

I just can't seem to get the required push ups, I'm finding it very difficult to get built up enough to pull them all off. I mean granted I'm not nearly in the best of shape and I've been told that they'll take care of that for me, lol, but the not being able to get these push ups done is really bothering me. The sit ups I can just barely manage, the run I can do so far, and the grip test I can do. I'm not really concerned with the step or beep test either.

I guess I'll just have to do my best and then follow whatever they set out for me to do...but man is this going to be embarrassing for me.

- Rob

Officer Cadet: New Member of the Canadian Forces

At 10:00 am AST I was officially sworn in as an Officer Cadet in the Canadian Navy. It is now official and there's no turning back, haha.

I'm so very excited about starting this new chapter of my life and what it means for the future for myself and my daughters. The road will be fraught with ups and downs like any new career and I look forward to the challenge.

I'm very proud of myself today, I'm proud to be a Canadian, I'm proud to serve our Country and Queen, and I pledge to myself and those I love and cherish that I will do everything in my power to excel as a Naval Officer and protect and serve.

God Bless Canada and God Bless the Queen.

-Robert

Workout: Pain and Pleasure

So, as I have been doing I've been working out a bit when I have time. I started ramping it up a bit yesterday so that I'm walking 2km's in the morning with my dog on the nature trail, then another 3km's on the treadmill. I intersperse the walking on the treadmill with some jogging and trying to make that a bit less of an issue for me.

I've also started doing my situps and pushups, I can already make the Express Test requirements, but just barely, haha. I am one of those that is truly out of shape, I lose my breath running to the bathroom, let alone 13km forced marches..hehe.

So, basically for the next month I plan on doing the following to try and get me ready for basic:

3 reps of 25 situps (extending the amount/rep as I go)
3 reps of 25 pushups (extending the amount/rep as I go)
5km's Walking/Running

Weight Training
Biking (depending on the weather)

Hopefully that will allow me to not completely collapse on my first day after our 5:10am physical training.

My legs, arms, chest, and shoulders are already protesting the exercise but it also feels great and it's a nice feeling to have a bit more energy.

So...hopefully I stay motivated and do this. It's so very hard to make yourself go through this, even though you know you absolutely have to. I've let it go way to long when I should have been working out much more effectively earlier.

Well...here we go again...workout time.

Seth

The Offer and The Dates

Well, I finally got my offer to join the Military as a M.A.R.S. Officer. I accepted and will be sworn in on April 3rd. I will then be sent for my Phase I training (Basic) on April 26th and it starts the 27th.

I'm very excited about my new career choice, I'm excited about the opportunities that it presents to me and I'm excited that I'm finally excited again about something.

My previous jobs I excelled at but I always felt I was missing something in my life, some sense of accomplishment. Since I decided to join the military and I did the initial Aptitude tests, then the NOAB, and now the Offer...I have felt like I have made a huge accomplishment and it's just the beginning. I cannot wait to get my training over with so that I can get on with the actual job.

I'm looking forward to participating in a team environment and to meet those going through it with me.

I have also taken steps to offer an olive branch to my ex by agreeing to let the girls spend two months with her in Thunderbay, Ont. I think it would be great for the girls to finally get to visit their mom, and I trust that she is now in a state in which she can look after them as well.

This is really turning out to be a great year.

Reign O'er Me

I watched a movie tonight that I've never seen before, called Reign Over Me...and after the movie ended I felt terribly sad for the characters and for things that I had yet to deal with in my life too.

It took only a movie of such profound pain of the heart to make me fall and feel that pain anew for the umpteenth time. I can't count the number of times I've watched a movie or a tv program (Oprah) and just lost my cool and had tears in my eyes because something reminded me about issues that I haven't dealt with. I think everyone goes through these things too, that there are things in our lives that we regret and that we haven't worked through so we bury them deeply and forget about the...that is until something reminds us.

I'm 39 years old now, going on 40 this year...and for the past 17 years there have been many things that I have regretted and buried in my memories...so sometimes these things come out and they aren't fun to deal with.

I've decided that it's important for me to go and speak with someone about my feelings, and to try and deal with the pain of some of these memories.

I miss my brother...and I can't even write this without tears welling up in my eyes, I miss my ex and how she use to make me smile, despite the fact that life threw us a loop and things didn't work out, I miss her and what might have been and how our two little girls would have been raised with us still together.

I'm weak tonight because this movie affected me more than I thought one could...I thought I would take the time and type this up because my blog is my personal journey, and as unfortunate as it may be that I have to relate the sad part of my life here, well that's why I started this blog, to follow the journey, to follow my thoughts....I will have to continue to travel down this path until I have resolved my feelings towards the loss of my brother and the loss of my ex. Both have affected me with feelings of guilt and sorrow that it's very hard to deal with. But I have plodded on, I have done what I needed to bring up my two little girls...but by repressing those emotions, I think I have done myself a disservice and by doing so, I have done my daughters a disservice.

So...to Billy... I miss you buddy and I'm sorry for the ass I was as a brother to you...I'm sorry for all the bad things I've ever said to you, and I'm sorry for not being there when you needed me. I'll never forgive myself for not saving you.

To Julie...I'm sorry I wasn't the man that could help you become the person you needed to be, I'm sorry I couldn't fix the problems that we had or strong enough to find a way to make your life a happily ever after.

To myself: I forgive you.

- Robert

Reign O'er Me: The Who (remake: Pearl Jam)

"Only love Can make it rain
The way the beach is kissed by the sea
Only love Can make it rain
Like the sweat of lovers
Laying in the fields.

Love, Reign o'er me
Love, Reign o'er me, rain on me

Only love
Can bring the rain
That makes you yearn to the sky
Only love
Can bring the rain
That falls like tears from on high

Love Reign O'er me

On the dry and dusty road
The nights we spend apart alone
I need to get back home to cool cool rain
I can't sleep and I lay and I think
The night is hot and black as ink
Oh God, I need a drink of cool cool rain"

Time to Fire the School Board

I remember back when I was in school my favorite classes were Music, Science, and Math. I can remember being a hard to handle young lad more interested in socializing than learning about the days lessons. I was one of those kids that was intelligent but lacked the motivation to learn and would much rather play hooky than actually attend lectures. However, in my day if I didn't show up it wasn't just detention; I would receive a strap on the hand or stay after school and write on the board.

Times have definitely changed, and for the most part as far as discipline is concerned for the better. But as far as the teaching/learning environment I'd have to say that the school in our area, and from what I've heard it is endemic of the entire Canadian school system, they are certainly lacking.

My eldest daughter is in grade 8 now, she can hardly spell, her mental math is atrocious, she's reading at two levels below her grade. She has absolutely no interest in going to school at all, she doesn't like her teachers, she finds it very difficult to concentrate (she has ADHD) and she really just doesn't care. As a parent, I'm in touch with the teachers and principle about her situation and I'm working with her nightly to try and keep her caught up.

Well, I'm shell shocked now. When we are at home doing her work, she seems to pick things up rather efficiently. She can write and read well enough from what I can tell (reading novels that I do) and her math seems to be ok as well. Her mental math does need work though (times table memorization) but all in all nothing as drastic as what I've been told. I am rapidly finding that if I teach her something at home, it tends to stick, if I test her here at home she does very well, if I ask her to reason out a problem I've given her she does very well at that. I'm starting to think that this isn't so much her problem as the way she is being taught. I decided to speak with a friend of mine that home schools her children and it just floored me. Her children are 3 grades above where they should be if they were in a public school. This boggled my mind so I went and spoke to some other parents that home school their children and I found out that their children are also way ahead of the learning curve. So what the heck is up with our public school system? Why are our children falling behind like this and where is the school board in all of this...don't they measure these things to be sure that our children are actually learning in the schools?

My main concern is what the heck are they doing in class to teach these kids? I mean she is coming home now with up to 2 - 3 hours of homework. They have almost no extra curricular activities, her music and computer classes are abysmal, and there doesn't seem to be too much emphasis on arts.

As a single parent I just cannot afford that kind of a time commitment to home school my children, even though I know that she would learn much better in that situation. There are 30+ students in one class and I can't imagine how hard that is on the Teachers. Oh, and let me be blunt here, I am not in anyway blaming our Teachers for this problem. I think that for the most part they are all very overworked and underpaid, but the buck has to stop somewhere and unfortunately, they are the ones at the front lines. Someone has to step up and take responsibility for the education of our children. The parents have a huge role as well, but our ability to affect change is very limited, our ability to involve ourselves is also limited due to many considerations (jobs, responsibilities, bills..etc).

I honestly think it's time parents banded together and fired those on our School boards to send a message that it's time to wake up and look at the education that our children are getting. These children are our future, and it would be a pretty sad future if our next Prime Minister can't read.

Day 7: NOAB - Goodbyes and Flights

Although we didn't have near as much time to meet everyone and to get to know those that were there, we did meet most and a better bunch of people I couldn't have dreamed to have met. There were so many different backgrounds, people from all over the country, and all of us bonded by a unique experience and the success of a very stressful event. We swapped emails and facebook information and chatted and talked as much as we could before everyone left.

We were the last to board our flights and all went well on the way back until we reached Halifax. There was a huge snowstorm in Fredericton and the runway was a mess, so they cancelled our flight and the next wasn't available for two days. So we all gathered up and rented a car to go back to Fredericton. We ended up losing one of our party as we were rushing to the rental agency and we eventually had to leave without him. I felt terrible about that, but after looking for him and trying to find him we had no time left.

I arrived home and hugged my girls and told them all about the experience. Before I knew it I was fast asleep fully dressed on my bed.

This experience was full of all sorts of emotions, events, excitement, and stress. I would do it all again in a second.

Day 5 - 6 : NOAB - MOST (Maritime Officer Selection Test)

Well the time had finally arrived for us to do our MOST. Let me tell you that this was the most dreaded moment for all of us. Most of the group that had been there before us had already done it and so we heard the horror stories and blank faces of those that had come out of it.

We were actually lucky because as we arrived to do the test we were informed that our small group didn't have to write them until the next day. So it left that day pretty much open to us to rest and go through the meet and greets in the Gun room. Of course it was just delaying the inevitable, hehe.

Day 6:

7am: Our Turn for the MOST test. We are nervous as hell as the instructions for the exam are being read aloud to us and we all look as if we are about to run out of the room, haha.

Obviously, I can't talk about what was in the test at all but I will say this...it can't be studied for. It's not something that you can review for. All that you could do is practice some mental math and get a good nights sleep.

We finished the MOST exam and we walked to the gun room. As we arrived at the Gun Room the rest of the group was milling about, this was the end of the testings, interviews, and selection. The groups were being called up to be told whether or not they were to be given an offer or not. This was by far the most stressful period of the entire thing for us. We all felt very rushed and unprepared for everything that we were put through.

When our time came we were taken upstairs and we waited with others for our fate. When my turn arrived, I took a deep breath, straightened my back and walked into the room.

I was asked if I was sure that the Navy was where I wanted to spend my career. I responded, "Yes Sir...very much so." The officer looked at me dead pan, then smiled, and said, "Then congratulations son, you made it." He handed me a paper with some instructions on it and they all took turns shaking my hand.

I had tears in my eyes and I walked out absolutely stunned that I had made the selection. The group gathered around and congratulated me, shook my hand, and pats on the back. The stress, anxiety, tension, and worry faded away as it slowly dawned on me that I had succeeded. My entire group passed the selection and we were just ecstatic about it.

We waited to speak with the recruitment officer to find out when our Basic would start, and other information. Once that was completed we joined the rest of the group downstairs and were congratulated and gave congrats to those that passed. There were several that did not pass and I made sure to take the time to go over and speak with those that were there.

Once we had a few drinks and swapped stories with the officers and NCM's we went for lunch and then were told we were going to be given a tour of the HCMS Ottawa. I was extremely excited to get to go aboard and see the guts of the ship. It was an incredible experience.

The rest of the day was spent packing: Oh yes, we had finally received our clothes late the previous evening.

This was a day I will never forget.

Day 4: NOAB - Flight Out Nightmare Part II

We received a call from our liaison stating that we would be catching a flight to out at 6am on our Day 4. I'm already packed so and ready to go so the excitement starts to build.

I wake up at 4am and get to the airport for 5:15am. I had the tickets for us so I met my group at the airport, gave them their itineraries and off we went to catch our flight.

The weather was bad again and our flight was delayed due to the de-icing of the plane. So when we arrived in Montreal our connection was boarding. Just a quick note on our landing in Montreal: We hit an air pocket and dropped about 20 feet, which scared the hell out of us, and then as we approached the runway we were caught in a crosswind and the plane was heaving left and right, our landing was very hard and scary as hell. When we got into the terminal we were informed that we were going to miss this flight due to baggage issues and late arrival and that the next flight out was at 17:30 that night. So, we had roughly 9-10 hours to kill in the busy airport. So, we killed off time by taking a taxi into Dorval to eat breakfast and possibly find something to do. The taxi cost for a 4 minute ride was 15 bucks and that kind of set the trend for the cost of everything else. We ended back at the airport and decided to sit down and relax and have a beer. Cost: 10.99 each. So, that idea was thrown out the window, and we just ended up lounging around the airport waiting for our flight.

Tired and cranky we boarded our flight to Vancouver and off we went. The flight was roughly 5 hours long and uneventful, then from there we took a quick puddle jump to Victoria where we were quick to find out that our luggage had been lost. We were given lost baggage tags and went on our way to the WP Venture barracks where we finally were able to get into our rooms and shower. There was no point sleeping as we arrived at roughly 3:30am and we had to be up for our breakfast for 6:30am.

After breakfast we were scheduled to do our Interviews with the Board Members. So we waited as groups as we were ushered into a room with high ranking Naval Officers. The interview lasted for about 15 minutes or so as they threw some questions at us and observed us answering. At this point, I just want to express my complete and utter respect for these men and the jobs they have to do. They were extremely friendly, gave us all a chance to ask questions, and even joked with us about our nightmare flight down.

The interview shook me a bit because I was so tired and I wasn't sure that my answers were being given clear enough. Shortly after the interviews were over we gathered for some tours. We toured the Naval Clearance Divers area and listened to a quick brief by the CO (who was one of the toughest men I've ever seen in my life) and how much he enjoys "blowing shit up" hehe. I was extremely impressed by the actual jobs that they do and by how well regarded they are in the world for their training and expertise. We saw some of the equipment that they used, the ships they used, and even some stories on what it was they did.

Afterwards we visited the Damage Control training center, where we were given another brief and then shown through some of the actual training rooms. This was just so cool it was hard to explain. The fire training rooms were awesome, and we were placed in one and then they lit it up. We then saw the flood training room, the bio/chem/nuclear training equipment and rooms, and then for the icing on the cake we watched a mock up helicopter on fire....soooo impressive.

Then it was back to the barracks for supper and a night out with the group. It was a very exhilarating day for us.

Oh...and still no baggage. So going on a 2nd day in the same clothes.

Day 2-3: NOAB

These days were spent waiting for a call and information as to what would be happening with us. We had heard that we would go on the next NOAB and then a few hours later that they are still trying to get a flight out for us. Meanwhile, the rest of the candidates were already there and enjoying the tours, meals, and getting to know each other.

I'm a bit deflated by the fact that we are missing out on that camaraderie because these are the folks that we will most likely be going through the ranks with.

So, until more information comes our way....waiting.

Day 1 - Flight Out Nightmare (NOAB)

Well, my excitement quickly came to and end on Saturday when I was waiting for my flight out of Fredericton to Toronto to begin my Naval Officer Assessment Board adventure.

As luck would have it Fredericton was hit by a very nasty snow storm and the flight was cancelled. I just shook my head and repeated, "Figures!".

Once I heard the announcement I filed out with the rest of the travellers and decided to have the other 3 candidates paged so that we could, as a group, decide our best next course of action. I took down everyone's contact information for the exception of one lady that had already left and contacted our liaison in BC. We never heard back from anyone about the cancelled flight, or to just relay that they were aware of the situation until 10pm the next evening. Something I thought was a tab bit odd, however it was on a weekend and not too many people check their voice messages or work emails on a weekend in the Military. It was a relief to finally hear from our liaison and to know the situation was being worked on.

I took the initiative to call our flight agent and have them find us the next possible itinerary to get us to Victoria before the third day, that was worked out and I sent an email to our contact point here more or less to give them a frame of reference of what was available at the time.

I found out today (2 days later) that for the 4 of us things will probably be delayed and we will be rescheduled to attend the next NOAB. They weren't sure when this would be but he stated it would most likely be a few months at the very least, which certainly puts some difficult decisions in my way.

I'm currently in a holding pattern now waiting for the final decision.

In a small way I'm glad that this happened as it will give me more time to get into better physical shape as well as review some of my Math/English skills for the MOST (Maritime Officer Selection Test) as well as prepare more for the eventuality of my actually passing. This all happened very quickly in my case as I was only notified a week before my orders to attend the NOAB were issued. I hadn't even realized there was another Aptitude type test required, as well as several interviews and presentations.

Although, I'm very confident now that I'm a decent candidate after doing a bit more research, I'm still anxious about the whole process.

Until we find out what is going.... (To be Continued....)

-Seth

Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon and ATI Drivers

My love affair with Ubuntu Linux is just growing stronger and stronger. In fact, I've found myself preaching to my neighbours, my friends, my family of cousins, aunts and uncles, nephews, pretty much anyone who will give me a moment to listen or shows interest. Hell, when I was going through my Officer Interview with the Recruitment Officer we spent a good 15 minutes just talking about the benefits of Linux vs Vista. The more I use it, the more I love it, and the more I learn about it.

However, having said that I have finally come face to face with an issue that I just can't seem to resolve and it is really pissing me off to no end that I can't fix it. This is not even Ubuntu's fault it's ATI's and there extreme lack of open source driver support.

Before I upgraded to Gutsy (7.10) I was using Feisty Fawn (7.04) and couldn't be happier. I had 3d accelerated graphics, I had my cube all done up with a cool desktop look (see previous Ubuntu blog for pics), I had Avant-Window-Navigator working like a charm and all was well in the world of me. Then I upgraded to Gutsy and I was extremely excited about it, all of the new features, fixes, and look. However, I come to find out that my ATI Mobility 9100 card is no longer in the Restricted Drivers list, in fact there are no drivers other than the default standard drivers which do not allow me to have 3d graphics acceleration.

So off i go on my search to make it all right. I hit the Ubuntu forums with a gusto, I find a bajillion posts about ATI drivers and the problems people are having. ATI even released a brand new proprietary driver for Linux support for certain cards (of course mine isn't one of them) and some folks are having success.

So I follow a bunch of How-to's, I install the new drivers, then I install the old Open-Source drivers, then I try Envy and try both Auto and Manual installs, then I try reconfiguring my xorg.conf file by myself with some help from the forums.

Nothing worked. No cube, no AWN, nothing. I have my desktop set up the way I want it, I have all of my applications set up and installed, everything is fine, but I can't use my graphics card and I'm super frustrated; here is what my Desktop looks like currently, and I'd like to keep it but add the Compiz-Fusion effects as well:




Anyways...I finally managed to fix it. The fault was actually my own, I had not installed the Beryl Manager and therefore could not run the Desktop effects I wanted. How stupid do I feel now, lol. So in the end the fault wasn't Linux or ATI it was my own, just like everyone out there who sometimes just need to rethink the problem through and don't, lol.

For those of you that would like to try Ubuntu here are some links that are invaluable, and I honestly believe once you give it a shot, you'll ask yourself why you haven't switched earlier.

To install and download: Ubuntu live CD -Ubuntu
For information on installation and apps: Gutsy Gibbon Info
For some great applications: GetDeb
For some sweet and advanced desktop stuff: Fluxbox
And for everyday desktop customization: Gnome Look

--- Seth

P.s. Ubuntu Forms is the best and quickest way to find help if you need it, the community there is unbelievably helpful and quick to answer.

Naval Officer Board Assessment

Well the time has come and on March 1st I am flying to Nanaimo, BC for my Naval Officer Board Assessment. I'm both thrilled and terrified at the prospect of what is to come. I'm thrilled because it means a change for me, a change for the better, the possibility of belonging to something noble and proud, the possibility of working towards the greater good and to work for something that has meaning and impact. I'm looking forward to the training, the challenge, and the knowledge that this decision will provide me. I've gone too long working for nothing other than a paycheck, I feel that my efforts have done nothing but made the "man" richer and myself more jaded.

The downside is that I'm fearful of being rejected based on being out of shape, older than most applicants, or a zillion other things. I know deep down in my heart and soul that I would make an excellent officer, leader, and member of our Canadian Forces, I am just worried that some of my cons like age, weight, and knowledge (different career path than my chosen military one) may play a part in giving me a negative appearance to the board.

Then again, I also realize that they have been doing this for many years and that they are intelligent and capable. So if they do judge me unsuited, than that may be a wake up call for me to go in a different direction. I can handle failure, I just can't handle rejection based on things that I can change.

The scariest part for me is not knowing what to expect from this trip. I've always prided myself on being prepared and organized. A challenge for me will be to spontaneously challenged and then to meet that challenge appropriately. I've always been able to adapt quickly, think on my feet, and to come up with a game plan but the fact that this meeting is so very important to me and my future places a bit more stress on my mind wondering what will happen.

I have always faced my fears, I have always adapted and overcome, and I will face this challenge as I do everything else, but that still doesn't help the nerves before hand, hehe.

I'm so excited about the changes ahead of me. My girls are excited for me as well and they know that their lives will change drastically as well. I'm looking forward to getting back into shape, learning a new trade and career, and most of all becoming part of a large, tight knit community. I remember well my days as an Army brat living on bases and moving every three years due to postings. That was the single largest factor for me becoming the person I am, outgoing, confident, and wise. I wish the same for my children.

So, even though I'm as nervous as I ever have been, I'm also very excited and very honored to have this chance. I will prove myself worthy and I will prove myself to be the type of leader that they are looking for in an Officer. I understand the responsibilities and am willing to face those challenges. Most of all, I want to serve my Country and protect those that can't protect themselves. The Canadian Military has always been there to fight for the weak, to help those in need with support, to help our allies fight for a safer world. I couldn't be more proud of the involvement of our Military and the Political will to change the world for the better or to at least offer the support to do so. I want to be a part of that, to know that my life and effort went towards something that makes a difference and that means something. The last 10 years of my life I've worked so very hard at building a career that only benefited my employers and really gave me no sense of accomplishment. I hope those days are at an end.

-- Robert

Where's our Canadian Ron Paul?

I'm a Canadian, and I'm extremely patriotic and loyal to my Country and the Canadian people but I have to tell you the most exciting person that I have seen in the past year is an American, and his name is Ron Paul.

As a Canadian I take a very serious look at world politics, the economy, warfare, environment, and injustice. I have been watching the American debates on TV between both the Republicans and the Democrats and I have come to the conclusion that the only one of these candidates that has any real new ideas, vision, and drive is Ron Paul.

This guy has me excited about American Politics and I'm a Canadian. His world vision and ideas are staggeringly simple and straight forward. He is a libertarian running on the Republican ticket and he is a strict constitutionalist. Now, even though from my Canadian perspective I do not agree with some of what I know of the constitution of the USA (the right to carry firearms for one), I respect his stand and drive to keep the US on a path of non-interventionism, his ideas on the free-market, his vision for boosting the economy, and his thoughts on freedoms and rights.

I've listened to Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney, John McCain, and Rudolph Giuliani, and I have to say that they are no different than the present leader and they have no clear understanding of just how deep a hole the US is in economically and morally. On the other side, you have Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John Edwards, and Chris Dodd who are all so enmeshed into the current political structure that even if they do win they will not have the ability to pull the States out of the problems they are currently facing. I do have to say that I like Bill Richardson, Joe Biden, and Dennis Kucinich on the Dems side because they do have the ability, if elected, to push aside the lobbyists and make changes...I just don't believe that they will change enough to create a stable economy or even change the foreign policy to start winning back their Allies.

No, Ron Paul is clearly the only voice that is speaking out in terms of saving the US from itself. He's the only one that is really giving the American people straight talk and telling them how it is, where they stand, how the rest of the world views the US, and how much they are losing globally in respect and standing. He has a clear view of how to solve the problems and has the strength of views to back them up. What more could you possibly ask your leader for: A clear and decisive view and belief on how to run the Country. No...Flip-flopping. The great part about all of this is that his record backs him up. I defy anyone to show the same for any of the other candidates. ANY of them.

Consistently he is targeted by the other candidates and bullied or left out of debates. Fox news (the joke that they are) had the audacity to not even allow him to attend a debate they held...I mean where in the world do they get off telling the American people whose views they can and cannot listen to, and the American people just sat back and allowed it to happen. This is a perfect example of how far the loss of freedoms have been taken in the US. It also strikes me as relevant that the only real time he's been given to answer questions and support his platform were with PBS or Town hall meetings that were televised. He is proving that the only really free media anymore is that of the internet, and really, how much longer until the US starts to censor and filter that content for its people.

So, why can't we have a Ron Paul in Canada. Why can't we have someone that will stand up and shake the very foundations of our thoughts and make us look outside of the box. Why can't we find someone like Ron Paul that will give our youth hope, vision of the future, and leadership? Our current administration isn't doing too poorly of a job, but let's be realistic how much longer will they be the Gov't as a minority such as it is. Piss off the liberals and a vote will be called.

I envy the Americans at this point for having such a man like Ron Paul that has excited, not only the young Americans, but youth everywhere in the world. I have spoke to friends of mine in Australia, Germany, England, and Sweden that feel the same as I do. Where are our Ron Pauls, where are our vocal leaders that wish to change the status quo and have the trust to be honest with us and let us see where the real issues lie.

- Robert

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Politics and the Canadian Economy

First a few facts:

America is our most important trading partner:

*30% of our Gross Domestic Product and 70% of our Exports are traded to the U.S.
Much of our investment capital and our foreign investment has come from the U.S.
Canada is the largest exporter to the U.S.
Canada is the largest source for Natural Resources to the U.S. (Including Power and Fresh Water)
Canada is the U.S.'s largest importer.

So we are pretty darn closely tied economically.

The question that many are starting to ask is: Is this a wise thing considering the downfall of the American currency and economy?

My position on this is no, it is not a wise thing for Canada to continue. We need to start branching out more to other countries such as South America (Brazil, Argentina, Cuba, Peru..etc). We need to start trading with Europe, and parts of Asia much more than we are currently doing. One of the most important things that the Canadian Government should be doing is helping, assisting, subsidizing, and even legislating the diversity of trade.

Even those without much financial background can see that the American hegemony is quickly crashing and in the next 5-10 years the Euro will be the world currency and not the dollar. The fact is that when this happens...and it WILL happen...the U.S. is going to face the largest economic collapse in their history.

Their current administration is in no way prepared to deal with the fallout of this, or have any present/future plans to correct this other than threating those who are considering the move to the Euro with invasion (ie: Iran).

Now where will this leave Canada and is it avoidable? I believe it is. I believe that it is time for our exports to start changing course to other countries willing to trade with us. It's time for us to start separating our economy and becoming more independent. Currently we have one of the largest natural resource exports of any country on the planet, we have technology advances that are in the top 5 of the industrialized countries, we have the ability to truly become independent of the U.S. and I strongly believe this is the time to do so. Before it's too late, and the economy crashes in the U.S and ours follows suit.

I would also like to see our Canadian gov't put their money where their mouth is and start supporting alternate fuels and technologies. If any country can do this it's ours. We are the type of people that would jump on board a program like this and accept the changes fairly easily. Most of us are grinding our teeth to have the ability to start purchasing eco-friendly technology. The fact is that because the U.S. has a strong focus away from any type of conservation, our current Government has no real backbone to go another way.

I'm writing this after a conversation with a few friends about this topic, and because we all agree so vehemently about his subject, I wanted to keep it fresh in my mind. We've generally have had a very strong government that is not afraid to go our own way, but currently it seems that GB has us in his pocket, and as much as I respect the Harper gov't for our current economy successes, I'm dismayed at the way he has caved to pressure to make decisions that are so disagreeable with the majority of Canadians.

Hopefully, our vote will get his attention soon.



-Robert




* http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0001258

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Officer Training

I completed my final interview for Officer training yesterday. It went very well and I am going to be receiving the go ahead. I have selected the Navy, MARS Officer, which is Maritime Surface and Subsurface Officer...meaning I'll be a sea going Officer. Originally I had intended to go into the Air Force but that trade was closed to me, and this was my second choice.

Sometime in February or March I will go up in front of the Naval Officers Board for an interview and selection. At that time I will need to pass selection and hopefully be given the opportunity to advance into the training. If not, I will be considered as an Artillery officer.

The challenge that lies ahead for me now is to get back into shape and to begin training. I plan on starting an easy schedule of walking/running, pushups, situps, weight training, and some aerobics to do so. I'll start out slow and work my way up so I don't end up hurting myself.

I'm also considering not taking the new job I'm supposed to start with on Friday. I'm not sure if I want to start driving to Saint John every morning. 1.5 hours is quite the travel time there and back.

We will see what happens today though and I'll make my decision.

-Robert

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Pictures of the Girls.

 
 
 
 

Officer Training, Kids, and Emotions

I recevied some good news last week in that after going in for my initial interview for the Air force as an ACIS specialist as a non-commissioned member of our Canadian Forces, that due to my very high aptitude score and my educational background the Captain wanted me to apply to the Airfield Engineering branch as an Officer.

The meeting actually consisted of me walking into the office, the Captain telling me that they were going to postpone my interview based on his opinion that I would be much better off going that route that the one I had chosen. Originally when I went in this is exactly what I was looking to do, but I was told that due to my age, and the fact that i don't have a completed University degree that I would have to go as a non-commissioned member (which I have no problems doing really).

I have decided to take this opportunity and on the 16th of Jan/08, I go for an Officer Interview which of course is much tougher than what I was in for before. So I will be doing quite a bit of study over the next two days. I will most likely ship out in February.

The girls seem to have calmed down now with the arguing and scrapping, I'm glad I was getting frustrated with the name calling and snarkiness. School is back in and they are back into the normal rhythm of things. Jecynda is starting to concern me because she is showing some signs of emotional distress from my break-up from my girlfriend. She is being more clutch towards our pets, she asks more questions about her mother now, she asks me when I'll date again and find her a mom, and she seems to be a bit more emotional about relationships in general. I've tried to talk to her about it, but there isn't really much I can do. I'm in emotional shape to take on another relationship and I really don't want to have that sort of headache at this point anyways.

I've been beyond stressed for this last few months due to money worries (being laid off sucks big time), also the situation with Jecynda, the fact that in a month or so I'll be leaving them for about 13 weeks, normal life concerns like bills, food, rent, dating, and such. I didn't realize how stressed I've actually been lately but it seems things for me are starting to build up. I've decided to start taking walks with Winter and trying to piece things out in my head. Although, allot of things are coming together now for me, there are still things that I have to deal with on an emotional level as well as an intellectual level.

This new career of mine means that I have to go back to University and finish off my degree, it means getting back into shape (roughly a loss of 30 pounds), it means moving and making new friends for both myself and the girls, and it means allot of new changes in lifestyle. This is allot for us all to have to deal with in a short time, but something that is necessary.

I hope I have the strength to pull this all off. I feel like this is my last chance to make things right in our lives.

-Rob

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Good News Keeps Rolling On In

Well it turns out that my car is fine after all and no immediate major repairs needed. Apparently, the vacuum hose came unattached and that was the problem. Two seconds of reconnection effort and the car was humming along again. Of course, now I have to go and get insurance put back on it. This is great news though, because alot of problems would be imminent if I didn't have the car.

My Military interview will be booked on Monday, and I'm looking forward to getting that over with. It will be the last part of the entry process and then goes for review to Ottawa.

The fun of getting the kids back into the rhythm of getting to bed on time and getting up in the morning. School is almost here, woohooo.

Ok, that catches me up for now.

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Out with the Bad In with the Good

So far so good this year, things seem to be picking up. After several months of trying I have finally received my High School transcripts from Lahr, W. Germany where I was lucky enough to have gone to school. I have been sent to so many different agencies and government departments that I thought I'd never see them again. Also, even though my Military application is being reviewed I have received another job offer in St. John beginning on the 21st which is a nice back up in case I don't start my basic anytime soon.

Things are starting to look up, now if I could a little luck with my car getting fixed things would be lovely, hehe. I think the head gasket is gone in it, there is water coming out of the exhaust and if that's the case it will cost me roughly $1000 to fix it. That's approximately $999 more than I have at the moment, haha. I have to get it fixed somehow so I'm burning all my brain power to try and find a way.

The girls have been scrapping a bit more than usual lately and I decided to sit the two of them down to have a chat about why that may be. I received allot of answers from them but nothing substantial and asked them if this had anything to do with the possibility of me leaving shortly to Basic Training, of course they say no, but I reassured them anyways that I would call every night that I could, and I would visit every chance I had. I think they are both suffering from abandonment syndrome a bit, many people that they were fond of no longer are in touch with them, not just their mother but friends that were posted away or moved. I think it may scare them a bit that I'm leaving for awhile. So, I plan on doing all I can to make sure they know that I'm always available and am not going anywheres for good.

My New Years was alot of fun and I will post some pic's asap. Also, I've been told by some of my blogging friends that they can't leave comments at the moment, so it may be a setting that I have configured, however, some can leave them...so we'll see if I can fix that as well.

Rob

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