Time

Tick Tock, Tick Tock

I once had the opportunity of experiencing a hearing involving an Estate that took about 4 years to resolve. The hearing would start, go on for a couple of days and then be delayed because of adjournments, motions, etc. etc. By the time it came to final submissions I had approximatley six boxes of documents that had been collected and/or referred to as exhibits. It did not help that the individual on the other side of the matter was a retired judge and he had very little at stake in terms of the costs of the hearing.

At the end of the hearing, the other individual went through all of the documents and summed up his position. When my time came I stood up, straightened out my barrister’s robes, tighted my “power belt” (I had suffered another injury to my back and besides chiropractic care, I had been prescribed the use of the power belt – every time I stood up it looked as though I was tightening a gun belt!), looked at the massive amount of documents spread over the counsel table and then had an epithany. I decided to ignore the documents.

I began by indicating to His Honour that we are all born with really only one thing in common. We might have different colour hair (or none at all), be of different colour tones, have different colour eyes, different sizes, weights, genders but we all have one thing in common – we all, each one of us, has only 24 hours in a day, and no one should be able to take that away from us. We had just spent days, weeks, months and years involved in a matter that could have been resolved in two to three days and it was unconsionable that the entire court system was being held hostage to deal with a matter that involved so little but cost so much. Not only was the Judge interested in the summation, but I actually guarnered the attention of the elderly clerks who assist in the proceedings but are gnerally bored to tears. At the end of the day, I was personally fulfilled, the retired judge was upset and the court exercised its discretion in recognizing that the matter had been dragged on for far too long.

The moral of the story is simple. Guard your time and use it wisely. And like any other asset or investment make sure that you control it and it is not wasted foolishly in the hands of others.

elfs

My 2009 blog postings seem to appear and then disappear -- must be an "X File".

Almost Done

I survived the Saturday afternoon event doing a Santa Clause stint at a Chinese Mall and teaching a line dance. Then Sunday morning a four hour presentation involving independent examinations. Now, once I get past a hearing on Wednesday, I have to finish a chapter on Legal Issues in the Alternative Treatment of Cancer. Deadline is Saturday and the clock is ticking. Interesting thing about "pressure" -- when you think about it - most machines and people work under great pressure -- ie. water pressure, oil pressure, work pressure!

Logic

With respect to the continuing saga of the bump on the head -- actually it was a "huge" cut to my forehead. Since I concluded that there is nobody to sue -- I am now blaming the entire event on the full moon. However, I have learned another example of the difference between being a pessimist and being an optimist.

In this case, a pessimist would say that the bandaid on my forehead is indicative of an injury. An optimist would call it a bullseye!

next article

My second article in Dynamic Chiropractic Canada has been posted -- find the link set out below. Not quite as irreverent (as compared to irrelevant) as the first -- I must be mellowing.

By the by, I made the mistake of getting bopped on the noggin yesterday -- once the bleeding stops I should be fine -- but I mentioned to someone that I might be considered an invalid and he proceeded to remind me that the term might be appropriate for me if you change the emphasis on certain letters in the word "invalid" and then change the translation to "null and void" as in "invalid". You figure it out -- my head hurts!!!

results

So I did the dancing and awaited the results. Since it was a Pro-Am Tournament all the old adages apply --ie. "no pain, no gain" and all of the other wonderful sayings including reminding participants of sportsmanship; and it is not whether you win or lose it is how you play the game, etc., etc. I got the results -- 34 dances - 34 first place standings. (there were about 320 dance competitions from 9:45 am to 5:00 pm) I have asked for a recount and I am very nervous that since I had to use a vicks inhaler for my sinuses that there could be a request for drug testing. Seems that some people are questioning the sanity of the judges.

I am continuing to decorate Santa's sleigh for next weeks charity event. Pics to follow.

Have a great day.

Journeys

You just never know where life will take you. One of the lessons that I have learned is that you do not try and swim upstream in a torrential current -- you will just waste a lot of energy, time and enjoyment. Going with the flow can be a lot of fun. However, that statement should not be interpreted to mean that you should not take the road less travelled. Just hop on the bus and see the world.

In June, 2007 I started my wife (and me) on ballroom dance lessons (Arthur Murray - Thornhill School no less) as an anniversary gift. She has excelled and I have just started to untangle by two left feet. I have also just started to be able to count the beats of a song and just about know when to start dancing. ;-)

This past weekend I participated in a Pro-Am Competition at the Royal York Hotel in Toronto. Thirty-four dances comprising (believe it or not) the waltz, tango, fox trot, rhumba, salsa, merangie, swing, cha cha, samba, and hustle. I didn't step on anyone's toes and I didn't fall on my face.

So, I climbed (or crawled) up the hill and got to the top. It was fun and an accomplishment that I would not even have thought about two years ago. I was not swimming upstream and I was not following the crowd -- I merely got on the right bicycle, peddled like the dickens, sweated and worked and went for a great ride!

My advice of the day -- pick a journey and go for the ride -- it will not always be easy but at the end of the journey the view from the hill is fabulous.