Just my random posts
This Saturday I attended the second annual Cry for the Children Fundraising Gala at Daniel’s Spectrum in Toronto. The event was to raise funds for the Cry for the Children Foundation , which is committed to helping children and families, living in Jamaica, better their lives. It was a great event and it showed how we can make the difference in the lives of those who need our help.
This Sunday I will be participating in a walk for Ovarian Cancer research. This will be the fourth walk our team, The Wild Things, have taken part in this year.
Today, thousands of Canadian women are living with ovarian cancer and another 2,800 will be diagnosed this year.
Each of these women is central to a family. Every one of these women has people who love her. Just being there to support and honor her means everything. That
On July 7th I completed an experiment based on The Verge. In that case it was a year long test without Internet. The Verge’s Paul Miller periodically wrote about his time disconnected and this influenced me to try even if it was only for a day.
My goal was to be totally disconnected from any telecommunications for 24 hours. At midnight on July 7th, I turned off my phone, disconnected my Internet and disabled my smart watch. The only way to reach me was to be physically where I was at the moment. No instant messaging, no social networking, no phone calls, no text messaging or email. I informed everyone of my “Purge Day” on all telecommunications for one day.
That day I had the following items with me:
The change was immediate the first thing in the morning. Normally I read my email, check my messages, review my calendar, check the weather and check my social networking feeds right after waking up. This is followed by breakfast and Netflix. Instead I had to deal with watching a DVD of Duckman and not knowing what my contacts were up to at the moment. What a strange concept! For practical reasons it was necessary to do this experiment during my vacation. It would not be possible to perform my duties as a technician without the Internet.
Traveling Downtown
I chanced waiting at my Brampton Transit bus stop without looking at the times. Unfortunately, I only have online copies of those schedules and no access to real time schedule updates. It was a risk, especially when you can end up waiting an hour for a bus to show up. Luckily, the bus showed up quickly and I reached downtown in about an hour.
Lunch Time
I stopped by Subway and had a quick sandwich. Normally, I’d be glued to my phone as I ate, reading an eBook or browsing the Internet. Instead I looked around at my surroundings. Looking at the area, at people (glued to their own devices.) It was a good lunch and relaxing. Also ate just a bit faster too.
Baseball Game
That evening I went to a Blue Jays game. I walked up to the box office and purchased a ticket. I was really able to enjoy the game without distractions. No calls, messages or social networks bugging me. No urge to take pictures instead of watching what was happening.
Conclusions
At the end of my 24 hours with the Internet, I can say it was reminiscent of how life was years ago. There were less distractions, but less convenience. Of course I had alot of catching up when I reconnected, but it was relieving to be connected again. As with everything, moderation should used when it comes to the Internet.
This weekend I participated in the Canadian Cancer Society’s Relay for Life. It was the third walk our group, the Wild Things, took part in this year. This event took place from 6pm to midnight. During this time we had members of our team doing laps around the track at a local high school. The goal for each team was to have continuous laps from at least one member of your team. Our team did a great job at this from beginning to end.
Personally I was able to complete 41 laps around the track to surpass my goal of 10km. I completed 16.4km that evening. Thankfully, the weather was great. Sunny, hot and a nice breeze. The event was also well planned. There were various themes, such as an 80’s hour, beach hour and even a western hour.
The Relay for Life was a great way to raise money for Cancer research. Seeing the dedication and commitment of everybody was truly heartening. It was great to see the community coming together for this cause. As a team, the Wild Things raised 796 dollars. This was our most successful fund raising venture so far, but I look forward to our next event!
This Sunday, I participated in a charity walk by the Canadian Liver Foundation. The Stroll for Liver took place at Earl Bales Park in Toronto. It was a a quick 3 km walk in the park to raise funds for liver disease research. We learned about a young family that was beset by learning their young child was born with a rare liver disease.
Yesterday a friend and I participated in the United Way’s Spring Day of Caring. We volunteered with Bigger Brothers And Sisters of Peel Region and helped with a local after school program for a dozen kids. The afternoon was spent with activities in the gym, board and card games, baking pizzas and making ice cream. The experience was very fulfilling. It was great to give back to the community. I would definitely recommend everyone try volunteering when possible.
Last night I had an awful dream. It started with me tickling the cat. It seemed to really enjoy this and was laughing out loud. Suddenly, it attacked me with its claws and ran off. The scratch was so bad, the skin was hanging from my right arm and I could see the bones of my arm. On the bottom of my arm, the skin was hanging on.
For some reason I went with my mother to Chicago and did not get any medical attention. Even pausing to take a photo of my tattered arm in front of the downtown skyline. Apparently, the trip was for my mother and her colleagues to attend a show for insurance sales people. I lost my way from the group and ended up in a mall with homeless people. I remember how they were all bunched together and many were sleeping.
Somehow I ended up back home. I yelled at my family that I was finally getting my arm checked. I took a cab to a very old hospital. I initially tried to line up at the insurance claims line. Then I realized it was the wrong place and found the admission line. A woman was ahead of me, but a nurse noticed my awful injury and called for a wheelchair for me right away. I was also feed an unknown red liquid from a vial, after which I became drowsy. It’s possible that what happened after is a dream, within my initial dream.
At this point I was wheeled into the set of IT Crowd, where Jerry Seinfeld was in the audience. I spoke briefly with Roy, played by Chris O’Dowd, from the show. Upon showing my injury, the hanging skin fell off, along with my thumb. I passed out and when I woke up my doctor, who was Morgan Freeman, said he would do his best to save my arm. I remember he was very compassionate and determined to help me.
I passed out once more and found my arm appeared to be repaired, except my thumb was still missing. Immediately I was yelling at my family. Blaming them for my disfigurement. Thoughts were racing through my mind about what I could and could not do with my missing digit. The doctor and nurse had brought prosthetic thumbs for me to try. Including different colours (black, white and blue) and some strange ones, like one with a toothbrush attachment and one for a glove. While testing them, I noticed my blood was on one.
This discovery lead to a panic as the doctor checked my fingers and found blood emitting from my index finger on my right arm. While inspecting my hand, the nail separated from the bleeding digit. X-rays were taken and it appeared I was going to lose that digit as well.
This lead to another blackout. When I came to the doctor was checking my hand with two prosthetic fingers. He found that the index finger was still having issues. He stated he was not a specialist for prosthetics and referred me to another doctor. At which point I awoke.
This was a very realistic dream. (Except for all the guest stars.) I made sure to make these notes right after I awoke.
This spring I have started walking around Brampton a lot more and it makes me realize just how much there is to see. There are lots of paths and beautiful green space. I never figured there were so many little lakes either.
And of course lots of tunnels. Or bridges or underpasses. That was a fun debate trying to figure out what to call this spot:
The only negative part is that I rarely see people walking around. Hopefully as the weather gets warmer more people will enjoy the sights to see in Brampton.
Just signed up for my new challenge. Doing the Relay for Life in Brampton on June 11th. Will be doing this with my team, the Wild Things!
This charity is to raise funds for cancer research through the Canadian Cancer Society.
http://convio.cancer.ca/goto/JustinGo
Yesterday I participated in a charity hike for the Bethell Hospice in Inglewood, Ontario. It was a 5K hike to raise funds for the facility. I completed the hike with friends from work.
