Tag Archives: Edmonton

Day 26

 26 MUTHAFUKKA!!  
I was about to write, “I’m not sure if it’s stupid to keep writing posts like this,” but fuck that noise. This is my blog, my journey and my little space to track whatever I want. I’m not fishing for a virtual high five or a pat on the back; I’m making this statement as a matter of public record. 

It’s Day 26 of me being sober. It’s also the fifth session of a five day workshop at Edmonton’s downtown Addiction Services office for Self-Evaluation & Support. This session is about Relapse Prevention. 

So far, I haven’t felt a lot of challenges with respect to wanting or needing a drink. I’ve learned a ton about addiction and substance abuse; some of the things apply to me and some of the things, I feel, don’t apply to me. But that’s one of the things about addiction, it’s not the same for everyone. It’s pretty much like anything in this world, the experience can be vastly different because people are inherently different. 

This workshop has taught me first hand, amongst many things that I will likely write about in the future, is that addiction and substance abuse affects people from every demographic of society that you can possibly imagine. I base this statement upon the fact that there are all kinds of people from all walks of life in these sessions. 

While I know that I have had it pretty easy with respect to cravings and challenges to my sobriety, I know that I haven’t been living within the exact same routine that got me to the point of having a seizure at my workplace because of alcohol withdrawal. I’ve been off work for 4 weeks with a significantly reduced stress load. 

I realize that, besides my stress load at work, there are significant triggers for me that are based around not having a supporting family environment. My home isn’t terrible (I know there are people who have to face violence or other people’s addictions or abuse) but the thoughts of not having a spouse who I can talk to or rely upon to just listen has caused me to well up with tears in these sessions (and right now just writing about it) and I’ve had to redirect just to not break down. 

But that’s something for Future Jeff to deal with. Right now, this Jeff has to get his ass to the Churchill station to hop on the LRT for home. 

No Safety Anywhere

Last night, my friends and next door neighbours were victims of a violent home invasion last night. They are your average married couple with four young children and were enjoying a quiet night at home. Mr A was outside having a cigar and a vehicle drove up onto their back parking pad and started to try and make their way into the yard. He tried to prevent them from entering which is where I’d assume he got the butt of a gun to the face. They kicked the back door of the house in, dragged Mr A inside and then proceeded to beat the shit out of him in front of Mrs A who was holding their baby. 

One of the most unfortunate parts of this is that this was a total case of mistaken identity. They were looking for drugs, thinking the A’s house was a drug house. What the police told us was that this may have been a gang type drug attack. Rather than go and buy their drugs to sell, sometimes these jackasses will raid another known drug house and steal the drugs. Obviously, these guys were dumber than shit and took a wrong turn somewhere thinking that this house was a drug house.

Luckily (or unluckily in a way) their two year old daughter walked down the stairs to the living room where the A’s were being assaulted and it was then that these fucking douchebags finally realize they have the wrong house. So they bail out of the house, jump in their vehicle and screw off. If she hadn’t come down, who knows what would have happened. The A’s could be dead right now.

Mr A was a bloody mess and taken away by ambulance to the hospital. Mrs A had dropped their four children off with me and my two sons to keep them occupied and cared. It’s honestly been years since I’ve held a baby. But in the meantime, family members were showing up to our house and the non-stop parade of police officers through my house asking questions of Mrs A about the events of the evening. My boys were a big help though.

The grandparents showed up and took the four kids home with them at 2:00 am so I had a chance to go and look for their dog who was scared out of the house when these thugs kicked the door in. I was out walking all of the paths and popular dog spots that I know of in our neighbourhood but didn’t have any luck. I was out for over an hour and lost my shoes in some mud which forced me to walk home with mud covered bare feet on rock covered road for about 5 blocks. I felt like a hobbit but I got off lucky in comparison. Anyway, as of now, she still remains missing.

I made my way home to shut the back door of their house, the forensic team was done and the police needed to make sure the house was secure before leaving the scene. I grabbed my drill and toolbox and screwed a 2×4 over the door and busted up door frame to close the door solidly. When I stepped downstairs into the living room, I was stunned. The floor in their living room was smeared with his blood all over. Mr A lost a lot of blood and it was everywhere; smeared over a big area, with pools of blood here and there, blood spatters on the wall, on the sofa, all over the kid’s toys.

Mr A is afraid to see his kids and scare them with his condition. He took over 100 stitches to his head and face to close up the wounds and I’m sure he had a lot of scratches and extensive bruising. I haven’t seen him yet either. But the kids are worried about him so I’m sure they will be together very soon and start to heal as a family. Our household will do everything we can to support them too.

My Apple Maps Experience

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Everyone has been complaining about Apple Maps. The iOS 6 replacement for Google Maps is largely seen as a huge blunder made by Apple. The reasons are many and valid. Bus routes have disappeared as well as walking directions. The accuracy of the maps as well as the level of detail of the Apple Maps vs Google Maps isn’t even in the same echelon. Apple tries to keep a lot of the same functionality but with the amount of time and money that Google has invested in their Maps experience, Apple’s departing from this standard was destined from the beginning to be sub-standard.

With that being said, I gave Apple Maps a trial run yesterday.

I used the app to get from the office to the football field where the Duke of Ginger was to be playing football later in the day. The trips was mapped nicely with a voice giving me directions that were accurate. With exception of the very end of the trip where the final destination was not exactly where the app said it was (luckily, I already knew where I was going) the experience was good.

However, the drive home was a different story. Again, I already knew where I was going, but I gave it a try to see how it would perform. While directing me through a sketchy part of town can’t be blamed on the app, the final destination was way off. Check out these two screenshots from my iPhone:

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If you look at the address in the search field and what is on the map, they are not even close. However, this was a problem I experienced with Google Maps as well and this seems, to me, to be related to the convention of the address. The use of hyphens in the address seems to confuse both Google Maps and Apple Maps alike. Once I removed the hyphen in the address, the proper location showed up:

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Okay, so it’s not perfect on the exact location of the destination. However, for the record, the pin location of the arena is correct. It’s the location of George S. Hughes/Southside Arena on the map that is wrong. Tell me how that one works.

I’m going to keep using Apple Maps. It’s not like I am in New York or need it so desperately. This town is small and, for the most part, I know enough for it to tell me where I need to go.

My biggest beef: it doesn’t show the New JeffLand Empire. At all.

Bastards.

Remember The Rathole?

I’ve had this draft hanging out on my dashboard since July and I figure it’s time to finish it off…

July was a wet month with some torrential downpours. Because of it, I posted to Twitter:

https://twitter.com/#!/jeeprock/status/94508774924103680

I realized that I was dating myself because some people (younger folks) on the Twitter had no idea what The Rathole was!! I had to admit that I was shocked at this because The Rathole was a complete traffic abomination by the end of it’s life and was completely hated by most Edmontonians.

Edmonton’s hated Rathole

At the time of its construction in 1927, The Rathole was lauded from an engineering perspective and was a source of controversy right from the start. The contract for the construction was awarded to a contractor who hadn’t turned in the lowest bid and would ultimately result in legal proceedings.

The Rathole would live for 73 years chock full of traffic jams, semi-trucks driving tall loads into it’s concrete face and flooding with approximately 27,000 cars driving through it, per day, near it’s demise.

In 2000, it was finally demolished and replaced with a fabulous six lane free-flow roadway that would eliminate the traffic horrors in the area. However, for as much of a nightmare The Rathole was, it’s hard to imagine that there would be people who wouldn’t be aware of it’s legacy!

Anyway, for those who are interested… there are a few articles I’ve linked below. I’m also trying out some QR codes so get yourself a QR code reader and get scanning!

Standard General – The Rathole Project

 

 

 

The Edmonton Public Library – A City Called Home

 

 

 

 

 

The Edmonton Public Library – Rathole Infofile