Next

So now that I'm out of work again, many (more like no one) may ask me: hey Nathan, what are you going to be doing for the rest of the spring/summer? Of course, I will try to sound all comprehensive and give a hundred different part answers to try to confuse the heck out of them. All it really means is.. nothing. As the cynical person that I can be, I'd tell them to leave me alone and let me go through my midlife crisis - or, uhh, quarter life crisis.

Honestly though, I will be spending most of my days at home "wasting" my time. It may seem like a bad thing, but I've come to the conclusion that I'm not potent enough to be able to do over 9000 things at one time. So, all it really means is that not having to spend ten hours a day outside of home will sort of allow me to focus on my application into university. Most people who've worked with me in any degree will know that I'm extremely lazy and I procrastinate a lot. It's usually not by choice, it's just my biggest weakness as a person; I could go on and on about that, but that's a different story. I know that this is four months of preperation that's going into the big move, but hey, using four months to prepare for the next five years of my life doesn't seem too bad.

I'm not as good as a lot of people who can just do things in a heartbeat. Although I am somewhat of a spontaneous person, I have to have a direction or a vision of some sort. I can't just dive into something, especially something of this magnitude.

All I am REALLY saying is that, I need time to ready myself; I am moving out after all. ;)

Accountability

I wonder what it was like to be living at the time during World War II when Hitler's empire started to collapse. For those that may have lived far enough to observe the progress, what would it have been like to watch the fall become so inevitable that it was only a matter of time until it happened. So when you shrink the scale by a huge margin and fast forward to the year 2010, what is it like when it's just so obvious that something is coming to an end whether people choose to acknowledge it or not? I'm not sure if I'm making any sense at all, so I might as well go straight to what I want to say, haha. Whether it is good or not, I kind of see something that's starting to fall apart. What this is, is something that's been going strong for many years, but over the last couple, it seems that things have not progressed at all. With a lack of new and fresh ideas, things start becoming repetitive and even annoying at times. So then, eventually, if it ever got to that point, everything would just become.. loud noise. In my case, it's a very cynical way of looking at it because I'm directly involved in it as well; but the thing is, it's starting to die on me. I'm having trouble finding new and refreshing things to do or introduce that could bring new life into it. Time reveals everything, so I guess we'll just havea to wait.

Anyways, one of the biggest things that help you earn trust is accountability. I don't believe I've ever had any issues with trust in anyone, whether that's my family, friends, or other people. However, it drives me insane when you try to help someone, but when it comes time for them to be in the spotlight, they have zero accountability and therefore don't follow through. Normally, you would only notice the lack in this area in bigger scale things. But when it happens a couple times, you start to take notice, then you'll eventually find that even in the tiniest things, there is still no accountability. Then you start losing faith in whoever that person is. I hate not being able to trust someone, because it usually means you've passed some sort of judgement on them to come to that point. Then, things just start turning ugly. I am not saying that this is becoming a problem with me, but its like what I said earlier: when something is so evident and obvious, how does it not affect the way you act moving forward?

But then again, the best way to predict the future is by acting upon it; so who am I to speak (=

Keep it fresh .

Square One

It definitely felt strange for me to wake up this morning not having to rush to get up and get ready for work. It almost felt as strange as when September rolled around and I didn't have to go to school. The only thing that seperated the two was that I already had a four month summer before September, so I wasn't in any "school/work" mode; whereas I've been working full time over the last while, and then suddenly having no need to get up urgently anymore.

It seems so long ago that I was a couch potato at home last summer that I've kind of forgotten what I did to pass all that time. But when it came to working, it definitely made the days go by even faster. I'm very thankful for the opportunity that was given to me to allow me to get "baptized" into the working life, but I believe that my character doesn't allow me to take on too many things at one time and be able to be effective with all of it. That's why I'm choosing to take the time off to really ready myself for the fall.

Yep, time to start finding things to do again =D

In other news, I'm getting killed by my players in my playoff pool!

History Will Be Made

I must admit, those new NHL Playoffs commercials are pretty cool; and of course, there are some pretty funny parodies that have been done with that history theme.

The nerd inside of me calls out again to blog about hockey, and more specifically the Oilers. I have no opinion on what the team will look like next year, especially with Souray now having gone public with his frustration and trade request. I'm not going to talk about Souray, because this could go on and on about finger pointing and who's right and who's wrong type of deal.

With the draft lottery coming up tomorrow, I've been more solid on who I think the Oilers should take, should they draft first overall. The Oilers have a 25% chance of winning the lottery, but a 48% chance of retaining the first overall pick; so the when you look at it, it doesn't really seem very good. But in the grand scheme of things, we have the best chance - theoretically. However, it's just our luck that I really don't think the Oilers will win the lottery tomorrow, and be forced to take Seguin.

I firmly believe that Taylor Hall should and go first, whether that be the Oilers or another team. Sure, Tyler Seguin has that huge first line center potential, but it's not immediate, and not guaranteed that he'll reach that. Hall has been the superstar for a longer time, and that's exactly what the Oilers need. Whether or not Seguin will be the better player, or Hall will be the better player, the Oilers could use a player like Hall. Seguin being a center isn't enough for me to think that the Oilers should settle on him to take three or four years to develop into that first line center that we need so desperately. If we want to wait for Seguin to develop, we're better off with Gagner, who I believe has first line potential, but it'll just take him longer to get there because he's a brains guy. And the Oilers need a player who has that star status especially with the shaft that we've received for the last half decade. So, I think the Oilers should take Taylor Hall. Hall has also made it known that he'd be welcome to the idea of playing for the Oilers, where Seguin seems to rather play out east close to his home. Hall has all the connections he needs here in Edmonton, and it also opens us options for the wings and for trades.

However, I honestly won't be overly disappointed if we got Seguin, because he'll fill the organizational need over the "best player available" pick. But with the Oilers' luck, we'll probably be picking second and drafting Seguin.

/endnerd (=

Let The Games Begin.. Again!

Yes, boys and girls, that time of year has come once again! It's NHL playoffs time! Man, I'm really excited for this coming Tuesday where I'll get to watch the Oilers lose the draft lottery (because this whole system is rigged), and for the playoffs to being shortly after. I think this is the first time where I don't really see a clear cut team that I believe will make it far for sure; but, here is my best attempt at predicting how the playoffs will turn out!

- Eastern Conference -
(1) Washington > (8) Montreal . no contest here
(2) New Jersey < (7) Philadelphia . heart says Jersey; head says Flyers.. barely
(3) Buffalo > (6) Boston . Miller will steal the show
(4) Pittsburgh > (5) Ottawa . might be closer than some think

- Western Conference -
(1) San Jose > (8) Colorado . the Avs' kids can't hold out long enough for the fail
(2) Chicago > (7) Nashville . Hawks are too good of a team
(3) Vancouver > (6) L.A . Not quite the Kings' year
(4) Phoenix < (5) Detroit . the Wings went on fire at the perfect time

Those are my brief predictions for round number 1 of this year's playoffs. There are some pretty close matchups that I had a tough time predicting, but I'm pushing for Washington to play Chicago in the finals; that would be an insane series.

"Swamped"

Well, I had multiple topics that I was so excited to blog about; but when I sit down to actually do it, I go blank. In a way, it reminds me a lot of what I'm like =D

I couldn't find a definition for the word "swamped", so it's probably not even a real word. However, I heard this word being used multiple times this last week. Usually when someone says they're swamped with something, it means they're busy and pretty overwhelmed. So, to put into context, it would have a different meaning for everyone since different people have different thresholds of what they consider busy and overwhelming.

This past week was a bit of an adjustment week for after the Easter weekend and Spring Break for a lot of students. So, typically, you'd expect things to be somewhat busy, but not as bad as the previous week. A while into my shift at work, I was asked to "go to the change rooms, because we are completely swamped out there." So I went outside to take a look at how busy it was. And when I say this, I'm not exaggerating, but I saw that there was probably literally only one or two customers shopping in clothing. But, since I'm nice and I don't rebel, I went into the change room to monitor customers who need to use it. Then, the clothing associate that was working at the time came in and saw me going about my business. The store must have been so busy, that the clothing associate needed to come into the fitting rooms to have a nice conversation with me about driving a standard car.

Anyways, this was just one situation where the word "swamped" was used. The couple other times that I caught the word's useage was pretty similar. But I guess the word "swamped" isn't what I thought it meant?

Almost There

Easter's always pretty awesome. Mini eggs can make my day better no matter how bad it is, and I'm sure I've made that pretty clear many times.

Lately - and when I say lately, I mean the last two months - I've had a very bad case of laziness. Maybe it's because I'm tired, or maybe because I'm struggling; who knows? But I know lots of people rather sleep all day and do nothing. I'm in paradise when I get those days that I have absolutely nothing to do and no worries on my shoulders. But the thing is that whenever these days happen, I want to repeat them so I end up going on crazy lazy streaks, and sometimes they seem uncureable, if that's a word.

Well, hope everyone has a sweet Easter Monday because I have to work. I'm almost there, almost at the end; just gotta trek it out and go for a few more weeks. Anyone have any good ways of getting off the lazy?

Well, I thought I was finished with this post when I hit the "publish post" button, but I guess not.

I think I've come to realize, for the millionth time, that when I go to Calgary for school, it means that I'll be "moving out". And for the millionth time, I'm in denial. It's so hard to believe that I'm that old and this means I'm moving away from home and familiarity. But I think that through this denial, I've also come to realize why I've had so many flashbacks and memories of my younger days. First and foremost, it's to tell me how much I dislike this whole "time" business, especially since it only moves forward. But I guess it's also telling me that this is the life that I've been living, go take from all of this and start the next saga in your life.

I find it impossible to believe that I'm old enough to be moving out. I don't wanna grow up!

Okay, I think I'm done for realz now.

Next Year

I couldn't wait long enough for the Oilers' offseason to begin if it was in a few seconds. If it was possible, I'd like to go straight to the Stanley Cup finals to see Washington beat Chicago to take home the cup. Then we could move right to the draft and see whether the Oilers take Hall or Seguin. Honestly, I could go on and on about who I want the Oilers take; but I have the slightest feeling that we're leaning towards Taylor Hall. I honestly won't be disappointed if we got either, as I seem to lean back and forth between the two, but I feel the Oilers' might like Hall more even though Seguin could fit the needs better.

Now, since I said I couldn't wait long enough, I must attempt to put down my thoughts on what the Oilers' team might look like next year; yes, this has kept me up a couple times at night.

If we draft Hall -
Hall - Gagner - Hemsky
Penner - Brule/Cogliano - Eberle
Omark - Brule/Cogliano - Potulny
Jones - Horcoff - Stortini
Pouliot

Whitney - Gilbert
Chorney - Smid
Johnson - XX
Peckham

Honestly, we have far too many players to fill roles. These lines aren't even what I want them to be, but it's what I'd like to see generally. And I'm probably not going to get into details about how or why some players are moved. I'm also willing to give Omark a look even though I don't think he will be in the Oilers' plans for a long time.

If we draft Seguin -
Penner - Gagner - Hemsky
Brule - Seguin - Eberle
O'Sullivan - Potulny - Cogliano
Jones - Horcoff - Stortini

I think if we draft Seguin, things could actually work a little bit better for the forwards because of empty holes. But I support the idea of many people in saying that you take the best player available in the first round, even though the margin between Hall and Seguin is so close and a never ending debate.

If I'm crazy, I'd do this -
Hall - Gagner - Eberle
Penner - Brule - Cogliano
Omark - Horcoff - Hemsky
Pouliot - Potulny - Stortini

I think Hall will fit in sooner and faster, but Seguin will be more of a long term fix for us in the future. And there's a lot more, but I will stop now, as my blogging hunger is now satisfied.