Five Pounds To Go !

Hello followers and fans of "The Brick".

It has not been long since my last entry, but I have news, 
I did a weigh-in yesterday, and I am now at 193. That means I am only five pounds from my goal of 188.
Let the whole Junction community...all of Toronto...all fans of 'The Brick', chant "Five Pounds...Five Pounds...Five Pounds...!" 

Also, for those who have not seen my first match, the Enhanced Sparring session from September, here are some photos.
There is also some commentary. We all say that we are our own hardest judge. Here is my colour commentary:

There you are. 
You can see the video here: Sparring At Stockyards, Part 1
It is the second session.


Cheers,
"The Brick"

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Saying Goodbye To Bloor

Hi all.

First of all, I have decided to let my Bloor Fitness membership lapse. 
It was actually fairly easy to do. 
You see, my bank helped a bit. I have been a customer of Scotiabank for about 20 years. 
Scotiabank is the absolute best bank. It really is. I have never had a problem with them.

So, anyway, due to a problem with my bank, Bloor Fitness did not get paid this month. 
I have decided that I am not going to bother trying to pay them manually. I am just going to tell them to use the last month's payment, and let them go. 
It is convenient that hey are open 24 hours, but that is really the only advantage.
I can get to Stockyards at least five times a week. Otherwise, I get lots of exercise at work.

Speaking of work, although not boxing related:

I went full-time security at a 'distribution centre'. Okay,  its a warehouse. Let's stop with fancy names. Anyway, it is up on Disco Road. Yes, you read that correctly, Disco, as in the cheesy 70's music.
It does not matter which warehouse, there are a lot of them up there.

Here is what happened: I am barely one-week full-time at the warehouse, and I am getting in crap from the supervisor. Yesterday, a trailer left the yard and went to the wrong location. It went to Thunder Bay instead of London. Yeah, that is a huge mistake.
So, apparently it is my fault the truck driver is an idiot.
Am I a security guard or a logistics expert? It is not my job to make sure that the trailers are going to the correct locations. That is up to the dispatch supervisor. 
Oh, there is that word again, "supervisor". I forgot, supervisors don't work.
Definition of a supervisor: One who delegates, then takes credit for work well-done, and lays blame when work is done poorly.
Oh come on. I know you were all thinking that. I am just the only one with balls big enough to say it.

In addition, it is a real pain in the ass to get there by bus. There are only two bus routes on Disco Road. The 112C and the 45A. The 112C is never freaking on time (typical for buses in Toronto), and also the 112C does not operate on evenings on the weekend. There is a 2 km walk from Martin Grove Road, along Belford Drive, up Brockport Road, and along the entire length of Disco Road...In the dark, poorly illuminated, with no sidewalks. How safe is that? 
As for the 45A, I have never seen one. It is on the TTC map, but apparently doesn't really exist. One of the TTC's  many pseudo bus routes.

So, they want to move me to another location. 
You mean a location where every little thing isn't my fault, and has more reliable bus service? Oh, no. Please don't.

One final note: Don't forget about the Stockyards boxing show this Saturday. Doors open at 7 PM. 
Please come out and support a great amateur boxing facility.
Metropolis Community Media will be covering the event for Metropolis TV West.Cheers,
"The Brick"

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Stressing "The Brick"

 METROPOLIS COMMUNITY MEDIA/CJJQ RADIO   "The Brick" on Facebook    email "The Brick"

Hi all.
Welcome to another "Blue Corner".

Stockyards will be having their next boxing show on October 18. I will not be in this one. 
However, Metropolis West will be video recording the event, and it will be posted to our YouTube Channel within a week after.
Select the link above to visit Metropolis Community Media or to listen to CJJQ Community Radio.

Speaking of Stockyards, I went on a bit of a rant in my last entry. I have to admit that looking back on it, I may have been a bit harsh. 
I have been under a lot of stress lately, trying to juggle three part-time jobs and boxing. Understandably, I am trying to keep all of them as the same priority. I am currently pushed to the limit. That is why I want to make the most out my time at the boxing gym.
I apologize for being sarcastic...well, more sarcastic than normal. (I am always sarcastic.)
That being said, I still feel that people should not be showing up for class late. It is rude and disruptive. What I do if I can't make a fitness class, I don't go, or I go and do my own training and will attend class only if invited by the instructor. 
I don't think that is an unreasonable expectation. Please be considerate of your colleagues.

The reason I need three jobs is because..and here comes the rant of the month...this city is so damn expensive. 
Even New York City has nice areas that are affordable. In Queens, you can get a nice one bedroom apartment for $850. Yes, I have already checked. I invite anyone to go to a rental agent in Toronto, and ask for a one bedroom for $850. Then, get our the stopwatch, and time how long it takes for her to stop laughing at you.
That, on top of the idiots at City Hall. I'm sure you have all heard about my City Hall rants.
Then there is the overall cost of living.....{It keeps going and going...}

Plus, you have myself, the wifey, and a friend who will be staying with us for a while, plus two cats, all living together in a studio apartment.
I have been trying to talk management into giving us a larger apartment. I want to move from a studio to a three bedroom. I will go from paying $885 to $1640. However, I will be splitting it three ways. Right now, I am paying most of it myself, because I really can't charge my friend rent for sleeping on the sofa in the same room with us.

Enough of my rant, now for some good news. One of my employers is seriously considering putting me on full-time by the end of October. The security job at the warehouse will likely become 36 - 44 hours weekly, possibly as early as next week.. That means not needing to juggle so many jobs. Also, the supervisor on that job knows that I am training as a boxer, and is very supportive. I don't think I will have much trouble getting time off to train and for competitions.

More good news, I have lost another pound. I am now down to 194. I am getting closer to my goal of 188.

If you want to contact me, visit me on Facebook, or use the email address above. Please do not use email addresses on older blog entries, as they may no longer be working.

Cheers.

                ""Dudes who know how to fight, don't -- Dudes who want to fight, can't.""

p

The Smallest Loser ?

Hello Blue Corner Peeps,

Well, there is a first time for everything, and here is one.
I have a complaint about something Stockyards did.
I know you are asking, "What? Paul has a complaint about Stockyards? Wow!"

On Wednesday, they cut class early. Reason: So they can take a "few select boxers" to HUF Gym for sparring. Well, that's great. What about my sparring class?

I was only able to get one round, and to be totally honest, that is a complete and total waste of my time. 

Look at this from my side. With me working full- time and odd hours now, I may not be able to attend sparring every week, so I want to make the most if it when I am there.

Richard said I was ready to compete. Well, how well am I going to do if I am only sparring one round every two weeks or so?  I'm not not going in there to make a fool of myself. That defeats the purpose of everything I have been trying to achieve.

They were going all the way to Mississauga to spar. It would have been 10 PM by the time they got there. What boxing gym is open at that hour?
Besides, what is wrong with sparring at Stockyards? It was a sparring class. Why do they go somewhere else?

What happened to "My members come first." What am I? Chopped liver and onions?

I am going to say something about it, because going forward, anything fewer than three rounds is pointless. Actually, I should be aiming for four rounds. I am not a beginner any more. 

It does not help that they include warm-up as part of class.
Warm-up should not be part of class. Everyone knows you need to stretch and warm-up before exercising. Here is what you do: Get to class early, and do it!
I am always there 30 minutes before class begins so I can get my stretching and warm-up done. Therefore, I should be entitled to a full three-rounds or more of sparring.
If you are late for class, you don't attend, or you can do your warm-up while others do class, and then you can finish class later, if there is time.
There has to be rules about these things. 

In other news:
I have lost 11 pounds in the last two months. 
I guess that can partly be because of work. Lots of walking and climbing. Doing security in a warehouse is a lot of work. Those who think security guards just sit and read, are living in Dreamland. I wish I could sit and read!

I am now at 195 pounds. That is down from 206 in August.

Cheers.



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""Dudes who know how to fight, don't -- Dudes who want to fight, can't.""