Good news, everyone!

Hello again world,

This is just a brief little update ‘cause I got some good new. I have finally been awarded my Masters of Arts Degree in History. My final marks were just completed yesterday, and my transcript reads “Degree Awarded”. I even managed to pull off an 82.5 GPA.

What a huge relief, to finally be officially done. It’s been a long haul, not just for me but for my family, and its feels great to have completed it, and done it well.

I do miss being a student though, it was a lot of fun, even if I was 10 years older than everyone else in my class. It was nice to see emails with such titles as “Keg Party this Friday” appearing in my in-box.

There is such a weight of my shoulders, I feel like I could sleep for days…

You may now return to you regular scheduled lives.

Until next time,
Dirk

Rockinest rockin’ show that rocked

Hello World,

A few things to update today, so lets get right to it. First things first. The Black Crowes show on Saturday night completely, and thoroughly, rocked. The whole day was great. I got to Fred’s around 3, and we took the kids with us to the Liquor Store. It was funny, because Fred’s four-year old knew immediately to get the cart. He even pointed out that the small bottles of booze at the cash were “kids size”. Fred’s wife showed up soon after we got back, so we immediately began to drink and just chill. Later, we went for a few more beers at a bar near the arena, then off to the arena, which sold beer. Good times.

We missed the opener, but didn’t much care. Now for the show. Amazing. It was a bit of a throw-back show. There were no video screens, not even curtains behind the band covering up their equipment boxes. Just a bit of a light show, and the band. And they sounded great. Some of the songs were “Soul Singing”, “Wiser Time”, “She Talks to Angels”, and the closed with “Remedy”. There were a few covers, a few songs I didn’t recognize, but they all sounded great. They had a few songs with long guitar solo’s that really played well with the organ and piano. “Thorn in my Pride” turned into a 15 minutes jam with a good 5 minutes of drum solo. The band was extremely tight, and Chris Robinson, in all his skinny-hippy glory was in top form. That guy just oozes soul and blues. It felt like I was at a show in the 70s, ‘cause the focus was only on the music. No theatrics, no antics, just a couple of solid hours of great tunes. Definitely a highly recommended show to see.

Yesterday was the big interview, and I think it went well. I felt confident during it, and felt good afterward, so there is not much else I can do now. I’m pretty sure I was far more prepared than others, I brought in a package about an inch and half thick, including my Masters Thesis (which surprisingly relates to the job) as my portfolio. After speaking to a few other people and telling them about my interview, they seemed to agree and were a little surprised at how prepared I was. That works in my favour, I hope. As interesting as the job is, the main focus is the 30% pay increase that I really like. We sure could use that kinda scratch.

So that’s all for now folks, but that is plenty. The last few days have been a whirlwind between heavy drinking and preparing to alter the future of my family, so I’m a little tired and have not done anything else.

You stay classy, blogworld.

Until Next Time,
Dirk

Careful what you wish for...

Hey World,

Just a quick update... I actually got an interview, despite Satan's bride being involved. I am truly amazed. Not only that, but my supervisor and manager were extrememly supportive. I didn't expect that. But of course, its not all rosy for poor Dirk. The interview is Tuesday, and its a doozy. I have to prepare a 10 powerpoint presentation (I have never used it), critique a 22 page document, and answer a couple questions. When I arrive, I will be given a few more questions, and 15 minutes to answer. After all of that, there is a 60 minute discussion. Holy Crap! Keep in mind, that I am leaving in 5 minutes from now to see The Black Crowes, with the one friend who does not know the concept of "taking it easy". I'm worried I'll still be hung-over on Tuesday. So all that leaves little time to prepare. Lucky for me I tend to work well under pressure, and I think I have a handle on things. Monday will be spent preparing. We'll see how things go. I'll update in a day or so, and let you know how the show went.

You stay classy, blogworld.

Until next time,
Dirk

No Catchy Title

Hey World,

Wow… another entry into the inner workings of my mind… isn’t that special. I can’t believe it either, but here we are. No vital issues or milestones in the life of Dirk, just a few minutes of free time. Plus I am starting to like this blogging thing a little more, now that I am becoming a little more comfortable with it. Life has also slowed down just a smidge, so I can hear the many voices in my head a little clearer.

I heard from a friend yesterday, and in the capacity of her job, she “has” to take some clients to a Red Hot Chili Peppers concert this fall. That’s right, she has to. How cool is that? The company is going to pay for the tickets, pay her salary, and probably pay for the diner and drinks before hand… and somehow that is called work. Why can’t I have a job like that? I know its not all glory, and it can be tough to be “on” and working in these situations, where the client expects to be entertained and have their company needs met, so there is no doubt there is pressure, but still – it’s the Chili Peppers. I have to make a case to take public transit into “the city” for the day. Just a little bit of envy here folks, and I can see that. She does deserve the perks anyway, ‘cause she’s cool like that. I just think its odd & interesting how our economy works sometimes. And that concludes our socio-political rant for today.

Dirk’s world is otherwise okay. I am a little nervous about one thing. I applied for a job within my company, which would be a nice step up and a cool job. The problem is that the HR person helping the manager is my former manager, and to say we did not get a long is an understatement. She is basically evil incarnate, so I am a little deflated that I won’t get a fair shot at the job, even though I am qualified, and have strong support from the “powers that be”. We’ll see how things end up. I did talk to a friend in HR, and he seems to think it should be okay, though he does admit that this person’s evil powers could come into play. I’ll keep you posted.

We had some news on our Youngest last night from his teacher, and it made me quite proud. It seems one child in his class (he is 4) has taken a strong liking to youngest, and won’t leave his side. This child has some heavy-duty behavioral issues. It seems Youngest told him he likes to play with him, but can’t be only with him every second at school. This child then kicked Youngest, and due to his issues, a big scene ensued. Youngest only mentioned it in passing to us, but it seems this has been going on for weeks, and Youngest keeps it in because he doesn’t want this child to get in trouble, and Youngest probably feels its partly his fault. How sweet is that? I was very proud, and of course, worried. He is only 4 and already taking on so much on himself to help another kid out and to not “rock the boat”. That explains some of Youngest behaviour the last few weeks. At least we now know the cause, and can work through it to take the guilt and pressure of youngest. It does make me feel good that he cares about others and acts on it though.

Okay, it seems I have been writing up a storm lately, going from no posts to these frequent and lengthy missives. I think that’s all the time we have today folks. Thanks for the indulgence.

You stay classy blogworld,

Until next time,
Dirk

Me fail English? That's unpossible!

Hello World,

See… I told you I would update again soon… and here I am. Lucky you. I went over my blog the other day and noticed something I am sure you have noticed as well. I am a terrible speller. Its true, I can admit that. Even with spell-check, I can still manage to somewhat butcher my native language. Sometimes its amazing that I have made it this far in life… heck, I even just finished a Masters degree… what does that say about our education system? I don’t want to know…

There have been no great trials or tribulations in the life of Dirk since my last posting, but a few things in the news have caught my eye. For one thing, last night I saw some footage good old Donald Rumsfeld squirming to answer a question by a former CIA analyst. No need to get into the specifics, that is easy enough to find, but some things I noticed probably won’t get picked up. For one thing, the news headlines refer to the incident has Rummy being “heckled”… and that’s the interesting point. The analyst was asking a question, calmly, at his turn, at the provided microphone. He asked a question, but as soon as it was noticed to be “off-script” security was ready to remove him. To me it speaks to the frightening measures governments (take your pick) are going to influence opinion. The facts seem to be an obstacle. Questions are pre-planned, and a deviation is deemed as “protest” or “heckling”. Rummy let the guy stay, but that was no generosity, it was obvious this guy had Don over a barrel and there was no escape. In the end, Rummy blew it. He couldn’t answer the question, though he and others think he did. That’s how I see it, anyway. That’s it for world events today.

I wrote with a friend today about music, and what I’m listening to these days. I seem to be all over the map with my taste in music, and what I listen to changes constantly. Since so many in Blogland seem to like lists, so here is my top 10 songs in rotation this week, in no particular order;

1) Love Will Save the Day – David Usher (live acoustic version)
2) Record Body Count – The Rheostatics
3) Yearning – The Trews
4) Wiser Time – The Black Crowes
5) Shape of Things to Come – Jimmy Page & The Black Crowes (Live at the Greek)
6) My Doorbell – The White Stripes
7) Cherub Rock – The Smashing Pumpkins
8) Little Sister – Queens of the Stoneage
9) Broken Wings/Till The End of Time – Tupac Shakur
10) Tired of Waiting – The Trews

So that’s it for today folks. Not sure of plans for the weekend, but the weather looks good, and having no plans is always a nice treat.

And that’s all I have to say about that.

You stay classy, Blogworld.

Until Next Time,

Dirk

Perfectly Cromulent,

Hello world,

It has been a couple of weeks, once again, since I posted, but this time I have somewhat of an excuse. I have had to do a fair amount of travel over the last couple of weeks, and just have not been around. Three days one week in “la belle province”, and a three days last week in the prairies, all for the sake of meetings, meetings, and more meetings.

At least it was somewhat productive. On my most recent trip, I ran into a friend from my University days, which turned out to be the most fun I have had in years. I have not seen or heard from this particular person since around 1993, and even, though we had friends in common and knew each other well enough to say hello and engage in idle chit-chat, we were not best friends or spent all that much time together. But, we did always like each other and always got along well.

What meant to be a 15-minute coffee to say hello, turned into 5 hours of beer and non-stop conversation, and it was the most fun I have had in a long, long time. It’s hard to describe, but it was the kind of thing were it was just great conversation, that never felt forced. We basically knew nothing of the others lives over the last 16 years and spent the time bringing each other up to date, talking about past friends we have heard of or from, and about some of the similarities our lives have taken – spouse, kids, corporate job, all that stuff that seemed so foreign and far away in our past life. The thing that made the evening so memorable, was that it seemed like the first time in years I didn’t have to be in character – I didn’t need to be professional Dirk, or husband Dirk, or Dad Dirk, or student Dirk – I just got to be me, and I don’t think I have had that luxury in a long while, and I left with the feeling that maybe I’m not as big a loser as I always think I am. It was a nice and surprising little boost. In the end it felt like a made a new friend, and that’s always good.

I suppose that is what’s happening in Dirks world as of late. On another bright note, both Eldest and Youngest children have started to learn how to ride a bike, without training wheels. Eldest learned first, and picked it up pretty quickly. That’s not much of a surprise given her competitive nature and intense drive to learn everything. Once Youngest saw what she could do, he quickly asked for his training wheels to come off. He’s a little more cautious than his sister, but with a little extra convincing and praise, he’s on his way too. Its funny to see the differences in the children, they are both so very different, even though they are very close in age (14 months apart – that’s right. See what a good Scotch can do?) and raised in the same way, they are very different in how they approach things. Its also very funny to watch.

Well, I guess that’s it for now world. This ended up being a little longer of a post than I expected, but I suppose I had more to say than I thought. Life has started to slow down a little, so I expect to post a little more frequently.

You stay classy, Blogworld.

Until next time,
Dirk