Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Do you know more about Canada or America?



A friend of mine since me a quiz this morning called "Could you become a U.S. Citizen" quiz I took it and got thirty five questions right out of 50.  I then took the "How well do you know Canada" and got 25 out of 30.

I'm wondering how others would score especially some of my friends in the United States would score on the Canadian quiz.

Feel free to take them & leave a comment on how you scored on both and we're your from.

CLICK TO TAKE THE U.S. CITIZENSHIP TEST 
TAKE THE CANADIAN QUIZ 





Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Be A Part Of The Energy

So Calgary Economic Development is hosting a contest for people to come check out Calgary and see what it has to offer

"You’re invited to visit our city and check it out as great place to make a living and make a life. You could win two tickets to YYC from anywhere WestJet flies in Canada. Just tell us what you love about our city and enter to win an opportunity to experience our energy."

I am entering this contest for my parents who currently live in Pickering, Ontario. My wife & I recently had a daughter on July 1st, 2014 and my family all came out in August to see her. They loved Calgary and I'm trying to put the bug in their ear to move out here as I did in 2007 and this contest would be a great way to help with that.

I am very close with my family and have a trip planned for Easter to bring my wife & daughter to see them again but it's hard with her growing up so fast with them so far away.  We Skype every second day and my mother even sings her to sleep on occasion.

I don't make a lot of money and my wife is on Maternity leave so we're finding it hard to get by as it is.  If I had the money I'd fly them out myself.

My parents are retired Salvation Army officers who spent their lives helping others and putting others before themselves.  I am very thankful to have them in my life and this little contest would be an amazing way to say thanks and to have them see little Chloe one extra time this year.






Sunday, July 27, 2014

The Night I Met My Guardian Angel

Last night my lady & I watched the movie “Heaven Is For Real” and aside from it being an amazing movie with a great story it brought back some memories for me from my accident in 1994 in Ottawa. In 1994 I was walking outside Bayshore Shopping Centre in Ottawa, Ontario and noticed three guys approaching me yelling threats at me from the other side of the parking lot.

The next them I knew three of them were chasing me up the side walk and suddenly they had me cornered. They came at me and I remember trying to defend myself & a big blur. The next thing they were gone and I put my hand down on the side of my leg. When I looked at my hand it was completely covered in blood as were my jeans.

I had been stabbed twice in the leg, nine times on my back & once on the side of my chest puncturing a lung. One of the knife wounds missed my heart by half of an inch.

I don’t remember much about that night but I do remember being in the ambulance on the way to the hospital and there was a guy driving, a guy working away on me and a lady that was holding my hand in the ambulance that said nothing. She just held my hand, stroking it and smiling at me.

I apparently also came very close to not making it that day and I remember feeling very comfortable despite all the pain that I was in. One thing I have never told anyone not even my parents was I remember seeing a slide show playing of every birthday I had up to that point. Three seconds of each birthday with me blowing out the candles being surround by family right up until the age of 17 which I was at the time of this incident.

I then remember seeing my two grandfathers looking at me & smiling. They both then shook their heads and I woke up in the operating room recovery.

I remember asking the nurses if the three EMS were still in the hospital so that I could say thank you but I was told there were only two people in there with me. The male EMS driver & the attendant who was keeping my vitals stable there was no lady.

Being raised by two parents who were Salvation Army officers and going to church pretty much every Sunday until I turned sixteen I have always been a very faithful person. Even though I no longer go to church every Sunday I still hold on to the beliefs I was raised with and believe that night in 1994 I had a guardian angel in the ambulance with me and there was a reason I was kept alive.

For the next 13 years I would always randomly bring Tim Hortons coffee to Firehalls and would always buy a coffee for first responders when I’d see one behind me in any line ups. Then in 2007 I had heard that they opened a Tim Hortons in Afghanistan & my “Thank A Soldier – Coffee for Our Troops” mission started.

Was this the reason I was kept alive that night in 1994? Maybe however always in the back of my mind since then I wondered if that was the reason and thinking maybe they had to be more.

This past Canada Day the reason I was kept alive became very clear to me. With the birth of my first child Chloe I have been given the greatest gift I have ever received. This to me is the reason my life was spared that night and for that I’ll be forever thankful.






Wednesday, July 9, 2014

You never know who's life you're going to save

I'm 38 years old and I have never donated blood.  At my work once a month they have a blood donation clinic set up and I always walked by it and carried on my way however something happened to me on Canada Day that changed the way I think.

In 1994 I was attacked by three guys in Ottawa and stabbed thirteen times. So anything related to hospitals including needles had freaked me out ever since so I avoided donating blood and used this an excuse.

On July 31st my lady went into the hospital to be educed and without going in to too much information she ran in to some problems about 13 hours in to labour and required a blood transfusion after the baby came out.

Here I am the happiest moment in my life with this little angel in front of me and not knowing if the woman in my life behind me on the hospital bed is going to survive to enjoy it with me was the scariest thing I've ever gone through.

She has an apparently rare blood type "Type AB Negative" and for all I know I could even be this blood time I've never checked. If the person who was that blood type had "Just walked by" a blood clinic she wouldn't even be here today.

I would be a single father and not going though the amazing things together we have gone through in the last nine days.

I'm very happy to report that I have an appointment to go to the Canadian Blood Services to donate blood and I'll never walk the setup at work without taking the time to donate blood.

I want to say THANK YOU to the person in Calgary that is blod TYPE AB Negative as you saved a life for sure.

Visit blood.ca for more info 

Thursday, June 26, 2014

My Anytime Fitness YYC 90 Day Challenge post

In 1994 I was involved in a stabbing by three guys and had 11 wounds on my body. Two of which were very sever on my upper left leg and as a result of this happening to me I was unable to move for almost three months. I put on a lot of weight most of which I've never been able to lose until now. My muscle in my left leg was severed and suffered severe nerve damage in my thigh as well. For many years I used it as an excuse to be lazy and couldn't even walk 1km without having severe cramps or having pain from it.

A few years ago I met a Canadian soldier who had lost both his legs in Afghanistan after stepping on a IED and this man never quit. He started his rehab and I first heard of him when I saw that he was RUNNING a 10km run on prosthetic legs. I had no more excuses.

After trying several challenges and failing in the past I finally had enough.

Last Sept I set out on a person mission to try and get healthy and I promised myself to donate 1lb of food to the Calgary food bank for every lb I lose in 365 days. I had been doing great and losing weight and then I heard about the 90 day challenge from Anytime fitness.

This lit a fire under me because I had also found out that my lovely lady and I were going to be having our first child. As If I needed any extra motivation this news made me push very hard during the 90 days.

In total I have lost 85lbs now (40 since the 90 day challenge started)I go to the gym five times a week now religiously and really starting to see results. The staff at anytime fitness are very friendly and supportive and have helped me a lot stay on track.

The money from this challenge would help me and my soon to be wife out so much with this new child coming along. I would also use it to buy 100lbs of food as I KNOW I am going to hit the 100lb mark by August 31st.







Saturday, June 14, 2014

Calgary Transit - High Five Guy


Yesterday was just a normal Friday in Calgary and on the way home from work on the C-Train I saw something happen that was awesome & we need lots more of in this country.  Something that made people smile, laugh & actually look up from their smart phones for ten seconds.

It started at Marlborough Station when a guy got on the train and announced the following

“Ladies & Gentleman on this train could I have your attention please” ......... 

People started thumbing through their pockets & purses thinking it was a Calgary Transit officer looking for transfers & proof of payment.

This was followed up by

First of all let me tell you that I am not sick, you will not catch anything from me  but I am however going to high five every person on this train that will let me.  You do not have to high five me back but I will try & if you choose not to I hope you have an awesome weekend anyway and try to smile”

For the thirty seconds it took for people to hear this announcement no one was looking at their phones, people were smiling & laughing about it with each other.

The guy came by me I gave him a high five and told him what he was doing was so simple but awesome.
He said “Just trying to make people smile & I have two more cars to do so I have to go”

It’s little things like this that make our city so awesome. 


High Five.................

Saturday, May 17, 2014

You have to cheer the only Canadian NHL team.........

As a Leafs fan for thirty eight long years I grew up disliking The Montreal Canadiens and enjoy the rivalries I have formed with friends & family who cheer them on. When Montreal was the only Canadian team to make the playoffs this year just about everyone I talked to said "I"m cheering for Montreal as they're the only Canadian team in the playoffs"

Some might say I'm just "A Disgruntled Leafs Fan" but that's not the case at all. I will cheer on any other team aside from Montreal, Vancouver or Ottawa. (The Oilers, Flames & Jets are alright in my books)

The thing I heard the most is "Don't you want the Stanley Cup back in Canada"

Out of the four teams left in the NHL Playoffs The Los Angeles Kings have the most "Canadian" players so if they were to win the cup The Stanley Cup would have the most visits back to Canada with the players when they get their day with the cup.

Canadians on four remaining teams :
Los Angeles 15
New York Rangers 13
Montreal Canadiens 13
Chicago Blackhawks 9

Someone told me it was "Un-Canadian" & "Un-Patriotic" NOT to cheer for the Habs, well this is the biggest pile of crap I've ever heard in my life. I wear my Team Canada jersey & cheer for Team Canada at the Olympics, World Championships & World Juniors. Part of me even felt a little guilty for cheering Carey Price at the Olympics but as soon as the gold medal was handed out it was back to cheering against him.

"It's Canada Vs USA" No........ No it's not it's the NHL

Do you REALLY think that if it was the Toronto Maple Leafs Vs The New York Rangers Habs fans would be cheering the Leafs? Montreal would root for Toronto like I’d root for a global outbreak of the bird flu.

When Vancouver was in the finals a few years ago Vs. Boston I'm sure everyone in Montreal was cheering them on....... Not likely. They want to be the first team to "Bring the cup back to Canada" and were probalby cheering against the Canucks like the rest of Canada outside of B.C.

Would Boston Red Sox fans cheer on the Yankees if they were playing the Blue Jays in the semi finals? Would all of the USA cheer on the Miami Heat if they were playing the Raptors in the finals? I doubt it.


Who are you cheering for in the Eastern Finals?
  
pollcode.com free polls 




Saturday, April 26, 2014

Losing Weight To Help Homeless & at risk Veterans


In September 2013 I started a weight-loss challenge and as I have tried and failed many times I wanted to come up with a way to stay motivated and not fail again.  "Lose For Food" was born.  I decided I was going to help out two charities with my mission "The Calgary Food Bank" & "V.E.T.S Canada"

I pledged that I would donate $1.00 for every pound I lost in the next 365 days as well as one pound of food for every pound that I lose to the Calgary Food Bank.

Here we are almost nine months later and I have lost 70lbs so far.

Yesterday while checking my email I noticed an email from Anytime Fitness which is the gym where I currently work out.  The email stated they were starting a contest called "Get 10,000 & Give 10,000"

They're giving away $10,000 to the most inspiring story and that person receives $10,000 to pay it forward to someone.

I instantly thought of the folks at V.E.T.S Canada to receive the $10k as I have worked very closely with them over the past few years and have seen first hand the great work they do with Veterans who need assistance.

What would I do with the $10,000 I receive if I win this?  The first thing I will do is buy my lbs in weight-loss in food and donate it to the Calgary Food Bank and top that donation up to $500 along side of it.

I also found out back in November that me and my lady are going to be having our first child in the first few weeks of July.  This money would help us out a lot with things we're going to need for the little one.

A lot of people have asked how I'm losing the weight well the answer is simple, I'm working my a$$ off.  I go to the gym five times a week now and do cardio every day and some circuit training every 2nd day.  I have cut out junk food, pop and take out food and replaced with healthy meals & drink a lot of water.

The original pledge I made to the Calgary Food Bank & VETS Canada helps me stay motivated.  On days when I don't feel like going to the gym I think about the people I'm going to be able to help if I keep working hard and that usually lights a fire under me.

The "Give 10k Get 10k" contest is for all of North America so it's going to take a lot to help us take this one home and be able to donate $10,000 to V.E.T.S Canada as well.

Please consider going to the link below and sending a vote my way & sharing the link to this page on your Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+ ect.

If you have never heard of our "Thank A Soldier" page and efforts feel free to check out "The History of Thank A Soldier" 

Thank You
Dave M. - Calgary, AB

CLICK HERE TO VOTE FOR MY STORY 






CLICK HERE TO GO TO OUR FACEBOOK POST AND CLICK THE SHARE BUTTON 

Updated Photo : June 13th, 2014 - Total Weightloss now at 81lbs







Saturday, April 5, 2014

It's OK to put down your smart phone





Smartphones, for most of us, are always within reach, and in most cases they have become an extra appendage. Remember the last time you forgot your phone at home and the ensuing panic that followed until you were reunited with it.
There's even a term for cell phone addiction called "nomophobia," meaning "no mobile phone phobia." For thousands of years, we have operated by having intimate conversations with each other were we laughed, told stories, and connected face to face.

A few weeks ago I was at the Calgary Flames Vs Ottawa Senators game and sitting next to a man who was sitting next to his 4 yr old son. His son was attending his first ever live NHL game and you could tell he was excited. He was asking his dad questions about every play and what was going on.

His dad had his face buried in his smart phone and ignored the boy completely for at least 3 or 4 minutes. The boy stopped talking waiting for a response and the man never said a word. The little boy stared at him and then went right to his soda. Here's this boy as his first NHL game ever a memory he will never forget and here's his father texting away and tweeting photos of how awesome his seats are little does he know the effect he's having on his child.

As someone that attends a lot of concerts & live sporting events this is something I’ve seen more and more. We have forgotten how to enjoy the moment and instead want to post on Facebook & Twitter about how great a time we’re having, yet everyone seems to be glued to their phones.

I feel we have lost the ability to “Enjoy The Moment” and instead need to post the moment on our social media pages. I remember going to my first ever concert when I was in Grade nine Alice Cooper & Motorohead. I couldn't wait for the next day of school to talk about it with my friends about how awesome it was but that doesn't exist anymore.

I used to go out to the pub with friends a few times a week and always had my phone on the table, but then I made a decision to keep my phone in my pocket all night and talk to people. The first night I did this I felt like I was at the bar by myself. The eight people I was with were all glued to their phones tweeting & facebooking their night away. 

I was at a Tim Hortons recently and saw five teenagers sitting in the corner glued to their cell phones and not talking to each other for about thirty minutes straight. They got up to leave, and I saw one of them zombified to his cell phone leave his bag.

I called out to him and said “Hey man you forgot your bag” without even looking from his phone he grabbed his bag I got a "Thanks man!" and he ran after his friends to catch up.

The next time you are on a flight anywhere watch what happens as soon as the plane lands, people are fidgeting, panicking as if that phone in their pocket is a drink of water in the Sahara desert and God forbid their phone has been off for over and hour and someone may have tweeted them, texted or tagged them in a face book photo.

Just remember folks as Juan Pablo would say “Eeetz Ok”

It’s Ok to put down your phone for awhile and enjoy the moment. Maybe call a friend and ask them “What’s New” without checking their facebook page or Twitter timeline to see what they've updated.

Here’s some ideas for how to put your phone away:

Phone stacking – When you go out to the pub with friends friends, institute a rule that you will all pile up your phones on the table, and the first person to grab his or her phone buys everyone at the table a round of drinks.

Focus on being present – Try to engage in the moment, and with the people around you. Use “self-talk” to remind yourself, “I am talking to this person right now”. Staying active can also be helpful. Take time to go on walks, exercise, meditate, and breathe. All of these activities can help people to stay in the present moment.

Take a “Technology Holiday” – Take a day, a weekend or even a week off from your phone and email. Time away from screens can help you reset. You don’t need to be sitting on a lounge chair by the palm trees to put up an away message.

Get a watch – Sometimes we use our phone or computer to tell time. When we do this we may get sucked we may get sucked into another application or email. Having a regular timepiece may spare us those extra temptations.


Now feel free to Tweet or share this write up on your Facebook & Twitter pages 

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Snow Day In Newfoundland

This sure made me miss living on The Rock!

Saturday, March 22, 2014

A different sort of "Facebook Nomination"

I was taking a scroll through my "Facebook Timeline" a few days ago and noticed a bunch of women posting photo's of themselves wearing no makeup and nominating friends to post the same kind of photo via a "Nomination"

I then stumbled across my cousin Stephen P.'s  Facebook page and saw the following post :

"Someone nominated me for the "photo with no makeup" thing....has to be a mistake. So, i started my own nominating trend: "post a photo of yourself looking disgusted at your own flatulence"

#fartsmellnomination

On the bottom of this post was a "Challenge" to myself & a few others  to post the same sort of photo so OFCOURSE I accepted, this started a chain of photos and for those of you who are sick of looking at the "No Makeup" photos have a look at these and feel free to submit yours.

Here's mine : 
#fartsmellnomination















Wednesday, March 19, 2014

What does 10,000 calories look like?



Yesterday at the gym I passed a milestone which was burning 10,000 calories in total on the treadmill. I usually do 5KM three times a week on my “Cardio Days” and usually burn 500-600 calories in the 49:00 it takes me to walk 5KM.

The machines I use at Anytime Fitness allow you to log in and track your progress so as you can see in the below photo it took me 17 hours on the treadmill to pass this mark. It got me thinking about how hard I’ve worked to do that and about some of my favourite treats that “Old Dave” used to consume on a very regular basis. So what does 10,000 calories equal?

If you wanted to consume 10,000 calories you could consume any of the following :

75 bottles of Budweiser Beer

18 Big Macs from McDonalds

20 orders of McDonalds Fries (Large Size)

33 bottles of Coke

20 Extra Large Tim Hortons Coffees

23 Bagel B.E.L.T’s from Tim Hortons

37 bags of All Dressed Potato Chips

9 Large Dairy Queen – Oreo Blizzards

21 slices of Meat Lovers Pizza from Pizza Hut

18 Fully Loaded baked potatoes from Wendy’s

105 strips of bacon

116 Chicken Wings - Note I used to go to a “All You Can Eat” wing night on Thursdays for 9.99 the scary thing is I used to consume about five lbs of wings on any given Thursday. That would roughly be about 5000 calories not to mention the amount of alcohol I would also consume would be about 6 or 7 pints of beer so that would be almost 6000 calories on one evening. It makes me sick to my stomach to think about that but when I look at the above list I know I’ll never go back to eating garbage like that.


If you want to keep track of my progress on this journey you can follow @Lose4food on Twitter or keep on eye on The MAIN BLOG PAGE.

Saturday, March 15, 2014

Homeless People Are Not "Creatures"

After reading an article in The Metro Calgary about a Face book page started by high school kids that posts photos of videos of homeless people in Calgary,   After working closely with the folks at V.E.T.S Canada (A group which provides assistance to homeless & at risk Canadian Veterans) seeing the posts on this page made me sick to my stomach at the way these people who are just as human as you and I were being portrayed on this public site.

The original page was deleted by Face book but they’re back with a new page called “Creature Sightings” which the caption for the group says “funny pics of indigenous intoxicated interesting individuals”


The saddest thing about this is that everyone on this page doesn't look over twenty years old and they all think these photos and videos are great entertainment at the expense of others misfortune.
I’m in downtown Calgary just about every day and often pass about ten or more homeless people just waking a stretch of five or six blocks.  So the same day I had read this article I decided to walk around downtown Calgary for a few hours and have some conversations with these “Creatures” as the page so describes them.

I first talked to a guy named Joe who was shocked when I asked if I could sit with him and have a chat.  He first was shocked that I wanted to chat with him but we talked for about fifteen minutes.  Joe and his wife had split up after he had been laid off from his job due to cutbacks and when his wife threw him out he decided to live out of his Van for awhile.  He said he had tried going to shelters but would be attacked and have his personal items stolen.    He said to me "If you are not dirty people give you this horrible look like you are a liar or a fraud."  

I asked Joe if he had any family he could contact.

“There is my mother, but she is looking after my little sister and they barely make enough to put food on the table already. I don’t want to make things even harder. That’s what it means to grow up. You have to look after yourself. I know I’m not in a great place now, but I’ll find my feet.”

I gave him a contact number of a friend of mine that manages a warehouse in Calgary who is always looking to give people a chance at a new start and I could see his eyes flood up.    Joe is not a creature, Joe is a human that had a tough break and I have no doubt he will “Find his feet”

Over the next hour I sat down with five different “Homeless Creatures” (As the Face book site referred to them) and none of them had the same story.    One used to be a mortgage broker, Another worked as a professional musician for 25 years.  I spoke with a guy who used to be a truck driver throughout Canada & USA who got addicted to drugs & alcohol and ended up losing his job, his home & his family.

The only common thread was that they lacked a community and shared a reserved and wistful smile that held the memory of better days and a distant hope for the future.

It’s kind of ironic that when you watch the news & view social media that everyone is “Taking a stand against Bullying” yet the same people that are probably wearing their pink shirts on a given day of the month are posting photos on these pages and laughing at the misfortune of others.

A quick search of similar Face book pages brought up several results across Canada with the same “Public Shaming” theme attached to them.  As an example “Only In Hamilton”

The next day this article & their Face book page was still bothering me so I decided to spend a few hours the next day handing out Tim Hortons gift cards not just to “Homeless People” but to random strangers downtown who were walking around looking like zombies on their smart phones or a look on their face like if they smiled their face might crack.  I am not one to post things looking for a pat on the back from anyone however I strongly suggest others might do the same sort of thing.  You will be blown away at the stories and reactions that you receive.

Dave M. – Calgary, Alberta

If you would like to know more about V.E.T.S Canada and they work they do check out their website by clicking the link on the photo below.

CLICK HERE TO VISIT THE V.E.T.S CANADA PAGE

Sunday, March 9, 2014

"You will soon witness a miracle"

I don't usually put much thought in to what I read on a "Fortune Cookie" but this one stuck in my mind for awhile now.  A few months ago after having Chinese food I received this as my fortune cookie at first I thought it might mean that my beloved Toronto Maple Leafs were going to win the Stanley Cup but shortly after I realized it was going to be about something else.


A month later I found out me and my lady are going to be having our first baby in July and I got to see this on a ultrasound.


Seeing that little life moving around on the screen and hearing a heart beat for the first time was the most amazing thing I have ever witnessed in my life and I can already say this fortune cookie has already come true.

Around July 15th I'll become a dad for the first time and I can't wait.


Sunday, March 2, 2014

Breaking News : It's Sooooooooooooo cold



One Week Ago : As I tune in to the seven day weather forecast on my local news channel and look at the temperate over the next week I know it's coming.......  "The Cold Complainers"

If you have a look on Twitter on any of the Canadian airport codes (#YYC, #YYZ, #YEG ect) you will see a constant flood of people whining and complaining about the cold weather and how much they hate living here.

Well BREAKING NEWS we live in Canada, we live in a place where some days the wind hurts our faces.
I guess maybe this post makes me a bit of a hypocrite for complaining about people complaining but I think we're getting weak in this country.

Growing up in Newfoundland I used to love getting "Snow Days" but now if we get anything more than a forecasted 20-30cms of snow it's called "Snowmageddon" or "Snowpocalypse" and Twitter & Facebook explodes with photos of Snow dooms day across the country.

Now don't get me wrong some of the "It's So Cold........." Tweets are pretty entertaining but most people act as if the Zombie Apocalypse is happening outside.  Here are some of my favourites I found in the last 24 hours on Twitter

"It's so cold in #YYC Alison Redford has her hands in her own pockets"
"It's so cold outside the prostitutes on 4th Ave are selling hand warmers"
"It's so cold outside that members of Calgary City Council can't even get in a heated argument"
"It's colder than both my ex wives combined out there"
"It is so cold that when I walk out the door it's like automatic botox."
"It's so cold that flasher in the SW was seen describing himself to women"\
"I blame Canada for this cold weather we're getting, can't we weatherstrip the borders?"


AND The winner is : 
"Its so cold that I "keyed" the side of my car with my nipples while clearing the windshield"

Honestly though this post is all in good fun, people will complain and people will complain about those who complain to much but hey no matter what the temperature is we still live in the greatest country in the world and remember

#WEAREWINTER

right?






The world needs more people like this

As someone that takes Calgary Transit to work every day I see a lot of things some good, some bad and some amazing such as the story I’m about to talk about.

There’s a gentleman on the bus every morning who is “Special Needs” and he sits in the same spot every day by the back door. Every person that passes him he says “Good Morning, How are you” to them and he’s usually given a strange look or ignored. This doesn't matter to him as when they get off the bus he says to them “Well then, have a great day and remember to smile”


Something so simple yet not even noticed by 99% of the people passing him on the bus.

Every day I pass him I say back to him “How’s it going” and give him a head nod and when I get off the bus I respond to him with a “Same to you”

Last Friday I decided to sit next to him and he seemed shocked. I started a conversation with him and asked him “So just curious as to what makes you want to say hello and good bye to every person that gets on and off this bus” he says “I just like to make peoples day and if I can make someone smile or laugh then I have done my job”

I got off the bus gave him a fist pump and told him to keep up the good work.

Every day that I get on the bus now he greets me with a “Hello Mr Big Guy” and gives me a fist pump and a “have a great day” when I get off the bus. I had won a free coffee on Roll Up The Rim and decided to give it to him a few days ago and it was as if I had just given him a brand new car. He said “I’m going to get this as SOON as I get off this bus, Thank You so much”

On another occasion it was a chilly -40 and there was an older gentleman sitting at the front of the bus. Every person who got off the bus that night got a “Make sure you stay warm and have a great night” so simple yet most people who weren't too busy looking at their phones or had their ear buds in smiled and nodded back.

The world needs more people like these two guys.

As someone who was raised on the East coast it doesn't matter where I am in the world when I pass someone on the sidewalk I say “Hello” or “How’s it goin” even if they look at me like I have ten heads it doesn't matter to me.

Friday, February 28, 2014

Oh Calgary, You're so prrrrrty

One of my favourite things to do is to randomly go on a walk throughout our city and snap photos.  I am not a professional photographer by any means but I strongly suggesting taking a "Photo Walk" in your city and you'll be surprised what you capture.