The Grieving Nag Guy

Hi all.

For those of you living in the Southern Ontario area, I hope you are all enjoying this winter.  

I just can't believe how warm it has been, and so little snow. 

I have sent my renewal to Boxing Ontario. I marked on the form that I wanted my Passport delivered to the gym by February 5. 

That is cutting it very close, but I don't care. I asked the membership coordinator how much time I needed to allow, and she did not answer me....so screw them. 

I can not spar until my coach gets my Passport, so unless Boxing Ontario wants to start paying my gym dues, they will have my Passport ready by February 5.

Speaking of my renewal, I have also received the bill from my physician for the medical exam. 

Are you ready for this? [Drum roll please]........$30.

The last time, if you remember, it was $85 for the same exam.

It is still $100 for Boxing Ontario. That will never change....Well, yes it will. 

It will go up. That is a guarantee.

It is like TTC fares.

Back to the gym:

Junmar is still away, and we are still not sure when he will be returning. "Sometime in February"...so that could be February 28, right?

Will, from Bramalea Boxing is still helping us train. He is a good coach, but he is beginning to ask us for money. 

Yeah, here's the thing...He are coaching at 'my' gym, where I am already paying a fee. That fee includes coaching.

I mean, I could understand if I was asking for coaching out side of regular gym times, or going up to his gym.

He is a nice guy, and a great coach, but I am not paying him.

Do you see where I am going with this?

Do I really I need to start an unreasonably long rant?

Am I wrong with this? Tell me if you think I am wrong.

Let's see...What else is happening?

Mississauga buses are still never on time. That isn't really news, since they are never on time. 

However, on Sunday evening, I was late for work for the very first time, but it was not because of Mississauga Transit.

It was the Toronto Transit Commission. Yeah...We haven't heard from them in a while.

It was only a matter of time, because as sure as teh sun will rise again, the TTC will piss me off again.

They had something called a "Service Suspension" (At least that is what they are calling it now, until the come up with another stupid name).

There was no subway service on the Bloor-Danforth line. 

Although, buses were supposed to be on to replace the trains, in the 20+ minutes that I waited, I did not see one damn bus.

Of course, this is no big deal. I was only going for work. I can just wander in anytime I want. That's fine. .

Thanks to the TTC, my perfect attendance record is destroyed. 

Idiots. Oh yeah, I forgot, City of Toronto service. [Hee...hee...hee...I work for the City].

The only thing that is going to "fix" the TTC, and most other city services, is privatization.

Am I wrong with this? Tell me if you think I am wrong.

Back to boxing:

Stockyards Boxing Gym was closed on Monday.

They had a post on their Facebook page a few days ago, "Due to circumstances beyond our control we will be closed on Monday".

That's fine. I figured Richard had something important to do.

Well, on Monday, there was a post on the Stockyards page again, of a film crew in the gym. 

They were apparently filming a scene for a film.

Oh, so that explains the "Circumstances beyond our control".

Okay, here we go. This goes right back to one of my major pet peeves with gyms in Toronto.

I will once again ask: 'Are you a boxing gym or a film studio?'

A gym would rather inconvenience its members to bring in a film crew? 

A film shoot is one day. Members are your bread and butter.

I have nothing against film crews, but allow them in when it is not going to affect the members so much. 

Could they not have filmed on Sunday, while the gym was closed most of the day anyway? 

No, they allow the crew in on Monday, the busiest day of the week.

Compromise people, compromise. It is not that difficult. 

Films can adjust their shooting schedule to allow for these things. 

What happened to "My members come first"? 

The members certainly did not come first on Monday, January 27, 2014.

Am I wrong with this? Tell me if you think I am wrong.

Paul "The Brick" Brec

Not Just Another 'Brick' In the Wall

Hi all.

I have been doing this blog for a long time. Since I wrote the first entry, I have gained many readers.

You all know my troubles with getting back into boxing, but few of you know any more about me.

This special entry will introduce you to the inner workings of the Brick. What am I about, what is my background, and why the hell did I choose boxing as a sport?

My friends, please read the following, and find out why I am not just Another 'Brick' In the Wall.
I will now answer some questions about myself.

• Why my nickname is 'The Brick' ?

Someone gave me a good idea about this. It is because I hit like I have a brick in my glove. 
That is good, and I will use that, but it is not the original reason.
It is actually much simpler. My coach likes to call guys by their last names for some reason. He could never pronounce mine properly, so he started calling me "Brick", and it stuck.

• My political and religious views

I avoid discussing politics and religion on the Internet, as it can start problems. However, my political views are probably transparent through my posts, and I really don't care if people know my religion.
My political slant is Conservative, and I am non-religious (I am currently not active in practicing any religion).

• Places I have visited and liked

Montreal, Quebec
New York, New York
Cincinnati, Ohio
Atlanta, Georgia
Zurich, Switzerland
Munich, Germany

• Places I have visited and did not like

Buffalo, New York
Cleveland, Ohio
Jacksonville, Florida
Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

• Places to visit (Bucket List)

Vancouver, BC
San Francisco, Calif.
Los Angeles, Calif.
Las Vegas, Nevada
Paris, France
Rome, Italy
Sydney, Australia

• TV I like

Classic comedies (70s & 80s)
Classic game shows (70s & 80s)

• TV that drives me crazy

'Reality' shows
Celebrity gossip

• Music I like

70s & 80s hits
70s & 80s rock
Jazz
Classical (symphonies)
some newer rock
some 'oldies' (50s & 60s)

• Music that makes me want to bash my own brains out whenever I hear it

Rap & Hip hop

Older "Twangy" Country & Western

• Favorite quote

"There is no such thing as bad student, only bad teacher...Teacher say, student do."

• Favorite seasons

Spring and summer

• Pet peeves

You already know!

• Words that make me cringe when used

N*gger, F*ggot, B*tch, Wh*re, or any other word that is disrespectful. 
I may be Conservative, but I still respect others.

• Phobia

Acrophobia.  I can not be higher than two floors on a non-enclosed balcony, and not higher than 20 floors, enclosed. Forget the glass floor of the CN Tower.

• Favorite politicians

Justin Trudeau  [in the shadow of his father, and he's cool]

Tim Hudak  [actually interested in creating jobs, instead of closing everything]

Rob Ford  [he is doing an amazing job, his personal life is nobody's business, leave him alone]

• Politicians I don't like

Kathleen Wynne  [Hee, hee, hee]...[and she is totally useless as a politician]

• Jobs I have had (In order)

Dishwasher, short order cook, mail room clerk, office assistant, payroll assistant, bank vault assistant, retail salesperson-clothing, retail salesperson-furniture, retail salesperson-electronics, retail salesperson-technology, logistics coordinator-store returns, customer service agent-mobile phone service, I.T. administrator, radio announcer, TV camera operator, broadcast technician, TV program director, security guard, bouncer, security guard supervisor.

• Education and certifications

Education: Applied Arts Diploma in Communications and Broadcasting, College-Level English, College-Prep (English and Math), College Re-entry [Private college](English and Math)
Certifications: CompTIA A+, First Aid, CPR level 'C' / AED, WHMIS, Smart Serve

• Why did I choose boxing as a sport to participate in?

I really don't know. 
I am still trying to figure that one out myself, but I am having a lot of "fun" doing it!

Thanks for reading,

Paul "The Brick" Brec

I'm A What ???

Narcissist?

My wife thinks I am being narcissistic.

I received an email from Rogers TV today.
Remember Rogers TV? I did camera work for them back in the days when I actually had spare time.

Anyway, they are looking for interesting local people with interesting stories to be guests on the "Daytime" show. They wanted to know if I knew anyone.

So, I told them I did...me.

Really!
My story is a great human interest piece.

I don't think I am being a narcissist. 
I am trying to help people. I have been told that I have inspired people. 

What is wrong with telling my story on TV?

Continuing my story, I will be going to my physician on Friday to finally compete my medical forms.

However, I went my registration complete by the first week if February. 

It won't, because Boxing Ontario is as slow as molasses in January.

What I may do is call her again, and ask her if I can deliver the forms in person like I did last time.

Then with the Fast Track, it should only take a week.

Yeah.

Paul "The Brick" Brec

Waiting...and Waiting...and Waiting....Again

Stockyards will be hosting another live boxing event in mid-February. 
However, I don't know if I will be in it. 
As usual, it is taking 26 decades to renew my Boxing Ontario certification.

I went to my physician on Friday for the medical tests, and he started the form. He then asked me to come back Saturday for the urine and blood tests.
I did, but I though he was going to do them at his office. He sent me to a damn lab.
I had my piss and blood done, plus yet another ECG. I think that is four ECGs I have had done in a year.
 I don't remember. I have had so many, I lost track.

My test results will be ready *after* Wednesday. So, in other words, Thursday?
Do you know how long it really takes to process urine and blood samples, for the basic things they usually check?
Seven minutes.
It is true. With the medical technology we have today, all tests can be completed in seven minutes. So, why is mine taking three days?
Good question, isn't it?

Here is an interesting thing., Junmar's physician is Dr. Long, and he is recommending Dr. Long to the other boxers.
I went to Dr. Long the very first time I needed the medical exam, over two years ago. He refused to fill out the form. He told me outright that I was "too old". 
So, that is why I don't go to him any more.

Here is the thing about these tests. Why does Boxing Ontario need a piss test? 
I can understand that if I was competing at a national level, but why does a little local piss-pot athlete like myself need a piss test?
Quite honestly, I don't want them knowing what is in my piss. It is none of their business.

Medical information is a person's own personal-private business. 
It is actually a violation of the Privacy of Information Act. 
Boxing Ontario should know that.

Not that I have anything to hide.
It is the principle.

I don't understand why my life is so complicated.
Anything I want to do always takes do long.

Even if I send my renewal in next week, it will take Boxing Ontario at least three weeks to process it.

In the meantime, Stockyards is bringing in a coach from the Bramalea Boxing Club. He is usually there on Wednesdays. 
Since Junmar is away for the month, I have been training with the Bramalea coach.
I have to say he is a great coach. He is very aggressive. He does not take any crap from his athletes. 

Honestly, I am thinking about doing some training up there. Not that I want to leave Stockyards, but the Bramalea club is close to work. It is only 20 minutes by bus. That is about the same as going to Stockyards from my home.

In other news, the pedestrian signal at Dundas West and Bloor are not working...again. The traffic lights work, but there are no signals for crossing.

They stopped working three weeks ago, and then a couple of days ago, Guild Electric came to fix them. They were working on them all day. They arrived as I came home from night shift, and as I was leaving to go back to work, they had just got them working.

Great. They worked for exactly one day. Yesterday they were out again, and have been out since.
That is great advertising for Guild Electric.
If you need electrical work done properly, call Guild Electric!

I wonder if the police consider that J-walking?
I could always cross in front of the subway station.

Paul "The Brick" Brec

My Life Still Sucks...How Are You?

Well. Where do I start?

My absolute favourite boxing organization has informed me...no, not even...
Richard informed me, that my registration with Boxing Ontario has expired.
Really? I paid for a year, not six months ago. The last time I checked, there were twelve months in a year.
Has that changed recently? If it did, I didn't notice.

I contacted Boxing Freaking Ontario, and she did in fact tell me that all registrations expire on December 31, regardless of when you registered. 
Then she got snotty with me, "The expiry date is printed in your Passport".  {Snobby}
Thank you very much. That is very helpful.

I never see my Passport. I don't even know what it looks like. Richard keeps it at the gym, locked up by three chains, two locks, a retinal scanner, and behind two and a half feet of concrete. 
I don't know when the damn thing expires. 
Richard takes it out, and gives it to the officials when I have a match, then it goes back into Fort Knox for three and a half years, until I fight again.

Of course, it would have helped if Richard had told me in November, instead of waiting until after it had expired. 

I asked the membership coordinator at Boxing Ontario how fast she can process the re-registration, and she did not know.
Of course not. Why would the membership coordinator know that? 
In other words, she doesn't care. Just like everyone else.

So, that is how they operate? 
What a rip-off organization. 
Now I have to fork out $100. Get another stupid medical exam, which is not covered. That is another $85 or more. Plus, I know my physician is also going to send me for another 150 useless tests, that I really don't have time to do.

I am definitely going to send a complaint to the president of Boxing Ontario. This whole thing is not right.
If I do not get a decent answer after that, I will get my lawyer involved. 
I am tired of Boxing Ontario's bullshit. I can't believe that nobody had complained about this sort of thing before.
I know Richard won't. He is afraid of Boxing Ontario.

It have been to Boxing Ontario. They are in an office building on the north-east side of the Don Mills and Eglinton area. The Number 100 bus stops right in front.
Their office is about the size of a studio apartment, and they have boxes and boxes of files stacked up against the back wall!
Okay, they may have been cleaning up or moving...but...still...It looks like shit.

They are located next to the Ontario Amateur Soccer Association. 
Yeah, there is an ideal location for an office.

Scenario:
"Where are you located?"
"Next to the Ontario Amateur Soccer Association."
......[Long pause]..........."Huh?"

Anyway, I find it very difficult to be intimidated by an organization that has no concept of how to use a filing cabinet. 

What are they going to do? Take a long time to process my registration? So, business as usual for them.
Boxing Ontario can pull my legs apart and suck on my groin.

With all this happening, my Ball-and-chain has asked me to pay more on the Rogers Communications bill for this month. Normally she pays half, but we are a behind.
I guess that means she hasn't been paying her half.

I told her I could not, since I now have to pay Boxing Ontario. Then she asked, "What is more important? Rogers or Boxing Ontario? Did she really need to ask?

I'd happily drop Rogers in a second. That is another rip-off organization.
We pay $440 a month for TV, Internet, home phone, her Samdung with the word-renowned Ass-'roids operating system, and my Crapberry dumbphone.
Not to mention, that at least one of our services does not work at least 20% of the time.
I have had to exchange the TV box four times because they keep freezing and crashing, and the modem for the Internet had to be exchanged five times due to compatibility issues. Apparently, Rogers modems do not like our computers.
Yeah, we have computers. How silly of me to expect a modem to work with a computer?
I wonder if it would be more compatible if I throw it down the stairs, step on it, run over it with a garbage truck, then plug the data cable into a 120 volt outlet?

Then, they want me to upgrade the cable box to something called 'Nextbox 3.0.' 
Why? Is it three times better at freezing and crashing?

I guess we could switch back to Bell. 
To be honest, I really miss their stellar customer service.

With Rogers, I have a basic HD package for the TV. 
That itself is $92. For that you get all the crappy channels that nobody watches. 
Then, if you want a good channel, it is $3 extra. That is of course on top of the $92 for the crap.
The only channel I have added is the Fight Network, which in my opinion, is the only channel out of the 200+ crap channels we get that has anything decent worth watching.

She watches only three channels, The Food Network, TLC, and CHCH. 
All crap. I am sick and freaking tired of looking at them.
CHCH has mostly news, and Hamilton news at that. What the hell do I care about what happens in Hamilton? I don't live there.
I barely care about what happens in Toronto.

I put a Parental Block on those channels once. She hacked the code!
Yeah, sure.  She does not have time to help clean the apartment when I ask, but she has time to crack the code on the cable box. 

As far as Rogers Communications goes, they can spread my legs and suck on my groin. 
The line up starts right over there behind Boxing Ontario.

It is not over.
I was paid on Friday, and $332 of it went to an overdraft on my bank account. 
Really? I spent $332 on crap in two weeks? 
I work 12-hour shifts, six days a week.
I work, and sleep, and in-between, I am trying to train for boxing. 
When the hell do I have time to spend money?

My statement shows some ATM withdraws of about $100 each. 
That is really interesting, since I don't like carrying huge amounts of cash. The most I ever take out at one time is $60.

So, the $332 Question is, who is taking this money out of my account?

That huge pay from working all the Holidays is gone. Thanks to Boxing Ontario, and my bank.

I am going to **Reluctantly** re-register with Boxing Ontario, or "B.O.", as I like to call it. 
However, I can't stop training, and wait until my new Passport comes in.
I am trying to be a freaking boxer here. I am tired of people putting up roadblocks.

That sounds so familiar. I swear, this blog sometimes reminds me of a broken record.

Anyway, Richard does not like to allow guys to spar unless their Passport is in. 
Well, as I said, I am not going to interrupt my training. The damn registration is going in, it just has to be processed. It is not fair to me for something that is not my fault.

I don't think anyone has any idea how pissed off I am about this...or maybe you are...now.

Back To Stockyards...Soon

Hi all. 

I really need to be getting back to Stockyards. A combination of Holidays, a rough work schedule, being sick, and extreme winter weather, have all been keeping me away. 

However, I promise, I will be back for Junmar's technical class on Wednesday.

I really have a lot of catching up to do, especially sparring.

Although, I was able to keep up with the rest of my training at Bloor Fitness, as crazy as that place is.

Of course, it also does not help that the Mississauga buses are never on time. 

Oh yeah, I knew that the buses being on time would not last. I gave it three weeks. Yeah, sure. The day after my last entry, the bus was late. It was also late twice after that.

I did some research, and I found out why Mississauga buses are rarely on time. 

It really is against the law.

I looked it up and I found this law:

City of Mississauga Bi-law 192-4, passed in 1998:

All public vehicle operated by the City shall allow allow buffer time prior to departure.  

If said vehicle is a scheduled coach operated by the City, it shall leave no earlier than six minutes past its scheduled departure time. Such scheduled coaches may also leave up to a maximum of thirty-five minutes past its scheduled departure time, if the operator of the said vehicle feels it necessary for the purposes of passenger security and safety. 

I found this very interesting, so I looked up more information, and found out that although the law is rarely enforced. When it is, a bus driver, for example, could face up to a $300 fine.

That explains why Mississauga buses are so often late.

So, it looks like I need to keep doing what I have, and schedule my tasks around the buses being late...at least six minutes, but up to 35.

Anyway, I look forward to getting back into training a stockyards with Coach Junmar, Coach Rick, and the rest of the team.

I will have another report for everyone here, after Wednesday's sparring session.

Cheers.

The New Year Is Starting Off Interesting All Ready

Hi all. 

I hope you have all had a nice Holiday season. 

Welcome to 2014.

Nothing much happened for me. 

Stockyards was closed, so I did my training at Bloor Fitness.

That place is getting crazy.

I was in there on December 29th at about 3:30 in the morning. 

Oddly, or maybe not so odd, there was someone upstairs in the boxing studio.

He had the lights off, which I thought was a bit odd, so I turned them on.

This guy completely and totally freaked on me. He wanted to train with the lights off.

Okay...Who does that? How the hell can you see what you are doing? Not to mention the safety issues.

What the hell? Did this guy just get back from a party with Rob Ford?

Doesn't anybody take anything seriously at that place? 

The guy was a terrible "boxer" as well. That is probably why he wanted the lights off, so nobody could see how much he sucks.

My basic answer to him was........fuck you. The lights went on, and stayed on.

As much as the management of Bloor Fitness don't want to admit that the place has "problems", I'm sure they can at least clue into the safety hazard of a completely and totally dark gym.

 I don't know why they don't invest in motion sensor light switches. Stockyards has them.

Then again...we are talking about Bloor Fitness. The gym with the wise-ass instructors, who think they know everything about fitness, but really know squat. [Of course that is purely my opinion, so for any pending lawsuits, kindly direct your lips to my ass.]

Coming home from work the previous morning, as I was crossing Dundas Street, I noticed two really nice, well-groomed huskies running along Bloor Street. They were obviously not strays.

At one point, they tried to cross Bloor in front of traffic. 

Fortunately, the traffic stopped, and the drivers of the first two vehicles got out to help the dogs back to the sidewalk. There was a lineup of traffic behind, but everyone was very patient.

Here is the thing: There was a police car right there, and did not offer to help. I don't believe they did not notice. How can you not see two big dogs running on a major street?

Oh, but they can see a 'J-walker' from five blocks away with no problem. 

Idiots.

There is a happy ending to this: The huskies were reunited with their human counterpart.

I had to work New Year's Eve--well, I had to work all the holidays--but on New Year's Eve, Mississauga buses were free. 

The shocking part is that was, they were on time. Yeah, I know, I am just as surprised as you.

Earlier last week, the Route 11A was late four times in a row, going to and from work.

I am at the point now, where I plan my schedule around the buses being late. Now that they have not been late, it is completely screwing up my schedule. Piss me off.

I am not worried. I give it three weeks maximum, and the buses will go right back to being late again. It is a Mississauga thing. It is against the law in Mississauga for buses to be on time.

Back to boxing.

Stockyards will be open again next week. It will be good to get in some sparring again.

I have a lot of work to do to get ready for the Brampton Cup.

That's all for now. 

Have a great 2014 !

Cheers.