I don't think I scored one goal last night at soccer....but ya know what? Who cares? cause I think my team won. We had a new guy out, and he was pretty good. I was in goal for a little while and got schooled several times. I'm not very good in goal.

Brains are amazing, aren't they? I mean, they handle so much information it's incredible. Besides handling the day to day operations of a body, as well as receiving input from all the senses and making sense of them, it's also got that whole memory thing as well.

I think these days we push our brain to the limit with regards to memory. 500 years ago most people just had their own personal memories, names, locations, and knowledge to maintain. Now, we still have all that, plus a lot to do with numbers. Phone numbers, account numbers, social insurance numbers, personal identification numbers, security codes, combination locks, addresses, etc. I'm always amazed at how many number (and letter) sequences I have and can remember. I can go online and check all my bank accounts and credit cards without having to pull the cards out of my wallet. I'm still pretty good with phone numbers, although I've given my brain a bit of a rest lately since I use the address book feature of my cell phone (although using a cell phone may not be giving my brain a rest).

It's truly a daunting task when you really think about how many passwords and number/letter combinations we have to remember (some more than others of course). I'm amazed our brains are able to keep up with it all, and it makes me wonder if it's maintaining memories of those things at the expense of other memories.

Am I losing my early childhood memories because I'm wanting to remember my credit card number so I can check my balance online?

I managed to wake up at 7AM yesterday and ran the TC 10K for the first time ever. I'm proud of my time...57:14. I placed 2907 out of 11,218 - not bad, top third. Sara was in there as well as Melinda and Polly. I started out running with Melinda, but felt like running a faster pace, so I soon got ahead of her. I ran the whole way, no walking. It felt good. I could definitely do it again.

The day was perfect for running...no wind, sun was coming out, but it wasn't yet hot enough. I watched the kilometer markers go by as I kept pace behind this girl with blond curly hair that was pulled back into a short ponytail (I wasn't following her cause she was cute or anything, although I'm sure she was...I noticed by about 5K that I had been behind her since about 2K and we were running a similar pace, so I used her as my pacer and it was all good). I only grabbed a cup of water at the last station near the 7K marker...I was doing well. The first few K were a bit tough as there are so many people, all trying to run at different speeds. it's just a jumble of bodies and you have to be quite skilled to manouever through it all. I was all over the place trying to get in the clear. Only once did I clash feet with the person in front of me, and that was because some old lady was crossing the crowd making a beeline for water station #1 and the person in front of me had to interupt her rhythm which caused me to kick her heels. No one fell, and it turned out ok in the end (although maybe it took a second off my time...grrrr!).

I saw Scott Robertson in the crowd as we were waiting to start...he saw me as well. It's funny, I keep running into him throughout life...we were childhood friends, not terribly close. He was a bit of a bully in elementary school, but not really bad. Lost touch through high school when he moved into town, but met up again in university and have just bumped into each other maybe once per year since. I (along with Gord and Dad) attended his brother, Spencer's, funeral, and I also DJ'd his brother-in-law's wedding. I don't run into too many other people like I do with Scott. I should pass that one off to the existential detectives in I Heart Huckabees. BTW, I looked his time up in the paper...59:19. He ran with his wife, Jodi, and they crossed the finish line together.

I had something else I wanted to write about, but I forgot. I hope it comes back to me...it was good (I think).

I preparation for the TC 10K on Sunday, I ran a good long run today. It's what I think is 10K, but maybe it's a bit less. I dunno. It takes me an hour to do it. Beautiful day for running.

Soccer on tuesday was good (as always). No major injuries...although I did kick the ball, close range, into Ken's jewels. I think he's ok. I hope. I managed to score 2 or 3 goals, including a 5-hole! Do they call it the 5-hole in soccer?

I've bid on 2 items on ebay...one was my first DVD player about 5 years ago. I won the auction and paid a whopping $450 for my APEX AD-600A. It was a unique player at the time...and I think it was a fair price at the time. Other DVD players were a little cheaper, but they didn't have the secret menu that enabled you to disable macrovision (which I needed with the TV I had at the time), and play discs from all regions with PAL-NTSC conversion and vice-versa (handy now since I own DVDs bought in New Zealand), nor were other players capable of playing MP3s. Of course now it is fairly outdated, although being able to play discs from around the world and convert formats is still a rare feature...at least in North America. It only likes DVD+R discs burned with DVD-ROM book type, and it can't handle some new fangled DVD features like seamless branching.

Anyway, back to the original train of thought...ebay. The second item I ever bid on was today...same account as 5 years ago (I managed to remember my password!). I won this one as well and will soon be in possesion of a Canon Optura 60 camcorder. It is the camcorder I've been eyeing up for a few weeks now, and while it's nowhere near top of the line...it is somewhat top of the line in the consumer end of camcorders, and it's one piece of equipment I do need if I'm going to get First Degree off the ground. I got it for a good deal too...less than any advertised price I've found so far (even with tax and shipping).

I can understand (sort of) how it's easy to get caught up in ebay. Following that auction today and watching my bid until the very last second was exciting. It's easy to get carried away and bid more than you had originally intended just because the next bid you make could be the winner...and it's only a bit more than your last bid.

I may be making another bid on a different piece of gear soon. I'll let you know how it goes.

Somebody had to be first out in the poker tourney on Saturday. I had no idea it was gonna be me. Ah well...at least I didn't go out alone. In the end, it doesn't really matter cause 7 people ended up with nothing and we were all in the same boat. I'll play smarter next time...I hope.

Sunday mountain biking with Rol and Reid, I hobbled along. I'm still not that strong/confident of a rider...but I'm getting there. I made a dumb move attempting to go over a log...I used my front brake, stopped right as I crested the log and threw my gut into the handlebars. Oooof! I have a little scar/scrape there...a reminder of my smartness. My brakes were so noisy and awful sounding, I finally decided to do something about them...I bought new brake pads! Installed them today and they seemed to do the trick. I know my rotors are fucked, but I'll see how long these pads will last and then maybe I'll get a complete brake job done. I'd like to get a second bike so that I have one tricked out for off roadin' and one for riding to work. Ideally I'd turn my current one into the work rider, and get a wicked new one for the trails. Won't happen for a while though.

Speaking of riding to work, I am the Bike to Work Week team leader for The New VI. Our name is CHUM Chains and I'm in the process of trying to drum up participation. I issued a challenge to my brother for his workplace (they're small, so even if they get a couple of riders, that's like 50% participation). Now I will issue a challenge to you. Uh...I challenge you to get your workplace involved in Bike to Work Week, and if it already is, then I challenge you to take part. Even if you don't live in Victoria...you should ride to work. It's good for you, good for the environment, and good for your wallet.

Yee-Haw! There's a new Pope! I can worship again!

They sell these "El Sabroso" tortilla chips at the Wholesale Club which I have become addicted to. I've tried the Salsitas flavoured ones, and the Guacamole flavoured ones...both are good. Nice big bag of chips, less that $4. Mmmm.

I'm runnin' the Garden City 10k in just over a week. It starts at friggin' 8am!! I don't get up before 8am! I don't even get up before 10am! How the hell am I gonna get up and run at that crazy hour? Ugh. I thought it would be like 10am start time...that's reasonable...especially for a Sunday. I'll manage...somehow. I think I'll come in somewhere just over an hour.

Grandma and I were wandering through Brentwood mall on the weekend and we stopped in at the pet store. Out front, a cage with a couple of kittens in it...cuties of course (they're all cute), and reasonably priced starting at $400. Oh wait, did I say reasonably priced?? How about crazy fucking insanely priced!? Why would anyone pay $400 for a cat? you can get 'em for free ya know? It gets better. Inside the store, there were some puppies in cages. Prices starting at $1200...going up to $2300 or so. What the? If you pay that much for a house pet, you got ripped, and you are stupid (unless you are somehow making money from the animal).

Just got home from soccer...I scored a few goals...most of them just kind of dribbled in, but they all count! It was a good game. I kicked Kevin hard in the shins (I was going for the ball, but he got in the way). Blood was drawn, but he played on. Sean took a spill and twisted his ankle good...he was out for the remainder. Becky recruited 2 guys that were standing in the hall...they were quite good, lotsa fancy footwork. And oh, we had more women playing today than ever before...it was very nice and scenerific.

I did another voice over today...it was only a test though. They're gonna test a woman's voice too. If they choose my voice the spots will be running for at least a year...so that's kinda cool (actually, if they choose someone else's voice, the spots will still be running for a year as well...it's not like they would run any longer just because I voiced them). I hope they go with mine, and I hope it sounds good. One of the last ones I did I'm not very happy with. I didn't really know how it was sounding until I got the finished product, but I wish they'd had me read it more with some different intonations or something. I like doing voice over work, but sometimes I just can't get the energy or tone right. I'm not as talented as I'd like to be.

Why can't the faces I make in the mirror translate well onto my webcam? When I'm sittin' on the toilet, the mirror is right in front of me...what else am I gonna do but make faces? I can do the stone cold (which does translate pretty well onto the webcam), and I've got some pretty silly ones too. The silly ones just don't translate well. Maybe it's cause I can see myself in real time when I do the faces on the webcam (cause I have to look into the camera, not at the monitor) so I can't make the minor adjustments necessary to facilitate the silliness of the face. Maybe the resolution of the webcam limits the amount of detail, wherein lies the silliness. I dunno...but I'll keep trying!

No soccer last night...not enough people wanted to go. Poo.

Oh, I found out what to do with bags (and it turns out that Country Grocer does not have bag recycling...although they do credit you $0.03 for every bag of your own that you use for groceries). Second hand/Thrift stores need bags, and they'll take old grocery bags and stuff (apparently). So I'll make a trip to the Salvation Army or something similar with my bags of bags soon (of course I'll keep a few so I can get my credit at Country Grocer...plus I need bags for shopping at the Wholesale Club).

I want to wash my car and clean it inside...but it's rainy these days and it just gets dirty pretty much immediately after I wash it, so there's really no point. It's tough to find the right time to wash a car and keep it clean for an optimal amount of time. You're not supposed to wash it in sunlight...cause then the water dries too fast and creates water marks. If it's cloudy, then rain could be close by, and that's no good. You gotta time it just right...P.I.T.A. if you ask me. Damn yellow car!

What's heavier? A tonne of Thrifty's bags, or a tonne of Country Grocer bags?

I just went through all the bags I had stuffed below the sink. What are you supposed to do with bags? Everytime you go to a store, they give you a bag. It doesn't matter what you got, you could be buying something, one item, that is already packaged in a bag, and the fuckin cashier will put it in a bag for you. Sometimes I'm quick enough to say, "ah, I don't need a bag", but usually I don't catch them in time and once it's in the bag, it seems like a bigger hassle to get them to take it out of the bag than it's worth. So I end up with tonnes of bags (and the question off the top is a trick question if you hadn't figured it out...a tonne is a tonne).

What am I gonna do with these bags? I sorted them into piles. Thrifty's bags in one, Country Grocer bags in another, all other bags in the third (including such favourites and Save-On-Foods, Village Foods Markets, Shoppers Drug Mart, Pharmasave, Canadian Tire, 7-11, and even a Fariways Market one!). I know Thrifty's and Country Grocer have bag return/recycling bins, but are they only for their bags? I mean, would they really care if I snuck a Save-On-Foods bag in there? Not that they'd know it was me. But I mean, here they are, offering a recycle service for their bags, and I come along and use it for recycling the bags of a competitor. That just doesn't seem right to me. This is why I split them up (although I snuck some non-branded bags into the piles...they're neutral I figure). So now I'll make a trip to Thrifty's and put their bags in their bin, then I'll do the same at Country Grocer, but what about pile numero trois? Where should I recycle it? I don't think I can just stuff it in with the Blue Box recycling...I don't think they take 'em. I can't bring myself to throw them out.

You know, I could probably figure out this dilemma pretty easily by making a few phone calls or maybe 2 minutes on the Google machine...but what fun would that be? I needed something to post anyways...and a bag bitchfest seemed like a good enough topic.