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 

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.

If the NHL lockout didn't happen

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.

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 

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.

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.................