Round 4 Complete---ONE more to go!!!

HI Everyone,
Earls is home from hospital and has now got only 1 treatment left. His week went very well and was pretty much uneventful. His hemoglobin was a bit low, but did not require any treatment, so that was great. Earl had an interesting roommate and at the end of a day, requested a move himself. I know its not funny when you are sick, but I haven't laughed so hard in a very long time (behind a closed curtain...I must say). They did a CT scan and the results were good, stating that everything looked good....YIPEE! Earl was supposed to go back in on New Year's Eve, but Dr. Wong wants him to celebrate the new year at home and also to celebrate his 20th b-day which is January 2nd at home also. He will return on the eve of January 3 for hydration and resume his chemo on January 4th. He still welcomes visitors, and this being his last treatment....maybe we can encourage him to stay awake.
We want to wish everyone who reads this a very Merry Christmas and a 2008 that is Healthy Happy and full of Peace and Joy.
Love Debbie, Earl and Darby

Earl gets Mobile

Earl is working very hard at his physio! It feels funny, but he is making great strides at building up the strength in his new leg. Somedays, we have to hold him back, because if we don't he works too hard and then pays the price later.

Round 3

Hi Everyone,
Earl is back in hospital tonight and getting hydrated for chemo tomorrow. Hopefully all will go much better this time than last time. We have had a busy few weeks with Earl at home. We started to get our Christmas Shopping done and started decorating also....(it takes me a few days to get the christmas decor just right) Earl was happy to get a few gifts and is really getting into the spirit of Christmas, especially after our city lights tour, caroling at a Linden woods Manor and a visit to the Hudson's Bay downtown store. This trip downtown has become a tradition for Earl and I since he moved into our home and family.

Earls is anxiously awaiting the completion of his chemo, but I remind him that we won't know for sure what will happen next until after they run some tests, to see if the chemo is being effective. At our latest visit to the surgeon who did Earl's revision to clean out the infection, the Dr. pointed out something of concern in the most recent x-rays. There appears to be some excessive bone regrowth at the the site where the prosthetic fits into the femur. He was not sure what this could mean and has sent the images off to Dr. Wunder in Toronto. We sit and wait to hear what this means. There is also a bit of concern about something seen in the ultra sound that was taken when Earl was in hospital 3 weeks ago. Hopefully this week will provide some answers.

Please continue to keep Earl in your prayers.
for Earl, Debbie

Round 2 update

Here are some pictures of my new leg!








Hi Everyone, today is Friday and I have just arrived home from the hospital since arriving there on Tuesday morning. Earl has had a bit of a tough week, starting on Tuesday when we found out that his hemoglobin counts were low. They needed to give him 2 units of blood and after the first one he had a reaction. This was quite scary as his head and lips began to swell and he broke out in hives from his waste to the top of his head. The nurse acted very quickly as we watched this reaction appear before our eyes. She administered Benadryl and it wasn't too long before he started to respond. His chemo was put on hold and the next day his counts were still low, so they gave him another unit of blood...this time starting with the Benadryl first. Thankfully, no reaction thins time. The chemo resumed but Earl was very tired and needed to sleep. The other events of the day were that Earl's roommate and several others on the ward were found to have MRSA a superbug found in hospitals. They had to find a private room for Earl, which did happen by the end of the day. Problem #3 Earl's leg was swelling so they sent him for an ultral sound. They have found something but due to the metal in his leg the test was somewhat inconclusive. We are waiting to find out what is causing the swelling. Tonight when I finally left Earl was feeling much more like himself and looking forward to and evening watching hockey and sleeping.

Round 2 begins

Hi Everyone...this is Earl.
I am heading back into hospital tonight to resume chemo tomorrow. Thank you to all of you who keep in touch and encourage me. Would you please keep me in your prayers that the chemo will be effective and that I won't get sick. Also, as I begin to use my leg....(I can actually walk with 1 crutch for short distances) please pray that I would work hard at my physio and that my leg would continue to get stronger. My ultimate goal is to be back in net for the Canadian Winter games in Quebec City at the end of February.
Earl

Somewhere Out There

This was taken somewhere on a hike near Huntsville, Ontario:



Good times...

As the sign indicates, things have been slow around EuroRoss over the past months, but soon they're going to pick back up. Tune back in Apr. 2008 or subscribe to the EuroRoss RSS feed now! :-)

Special Olympics Day on TSN

"Enriching the lives of Canadians with an intellectual disability through sport"

Make a donation online

You can also donate
by calling
1-888-888-0608

For the past 23 years, TSN has been a strong supporter of Special Olympics Canada, helping generate awareness and support fundraising efforts for the organization and its worthwhile and rewarding programs.

TSN celebrates the inspirational achievements of Special Olympics athletes across Canada with its seventh annual Special Olympics Day, airing Saturday, November 10.

Highlighting the day is the live two-hour special � Special Olympics Day on TSN � at 1 p.m. ET (encore on ESPN Classic at 6 p.m. ET). Hosted by Vic Rauter and Jennifer Hedger, the show honours the accomplishments of Special Olympics athletes, coaches and volunteers across Canada. Features and interviews include a profile on Earl Cook, a member of Manitoba's Floor Hockey team, and Saskatchewan native Michael Qing, who won four silver medals at the 2007 Special Olympics World Summer Games last month. The show will also feature figure skaters Teagan Laxton and David Robertson, as they prepare for the 2008 Special Olympics Canada National Winter Games in Quebec City.

Viewers are invited to call TSN's Special Olympics hotline at 1-888-888-0608 from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. ET to donate funds to Special Olympics Canada. A number of Canadian celebrities will be on-hand to answer the phones, including I.B.F. World Junior Featherweight champion boxer Steve Molitor, actress Tara Spencer-Nairn of Corner Gas and MTV host Daryn Jones. Callers will also receive information on volunteer and coaching opportunities with Special Olympics Canada.

TSN has been a strong supporter of Special Olympics Canada for 23 years. The organization, now celebrating its 25th anniversary of the Special Olympics Festival, is dedicated to enriching the lives of Canadians with an intellectual disability through sports. Over the years, hundreds of TSN staff have donated their time and efforts to Special Olympics Day on TSN and the Special Olympics Festival Breakfast & Gala.

TSN has televised both the Canadian and World Special Olympics Games and Special Olympics World Summer Games. Special Olympics athletes have also appeared on TSN's highly acclaimed sports talk show Off The Record.

You can make a donation or find out more about Special Olympics by logging on to www.specialolympics.ca.

Latest News

HI Everyone,
Earl will be going back into hospital this Monday, October 29th to resume chemo on Tuesday. They are anxious to get going. Earl will remain on IV antibiotics for the duration of his chemotherapy. We are ready to continue the fight, and with the prayers, love and support of all our friends and family we go forward. The results of the pre-surgical chemo came back and Earl's response was only 10%. In light of this they are changing his chemo and hopefully it will pick up and have a more positive effect.

Earl is getting around much better these days and in fact he started walking with one crutch for short spans this past Wednesday. He also rode the physio bike and was thrilled when he was able to make one complete rotation, and then two and three and so on. He was so happy.

The next big exciting news is that TSN (the sports network) contacted us and they are going to do a story on Earl as a Special Olympics Athlete. It will include his cancer, his love of hockey, his Floor Hockey Team and their journey to The Special Olympic Winter Games in Quebec City this February. The story will air on TSN on November 10th time TBA, which is a day that TSN focuses their programing on Special Olympics. Pretty Cool and Earl is so looking forward to it. We are still not sure at this point if Earl will be able to participate, but he will be going to the games.
take care, and keep in touch Debbie, Darby and Earl

October Update

Well, it certainly has been too long since I updated this BLOG. Earl is recovering well from his revision surgery and is doing great with the IV antibiotics. He is feeling pretty good, except for a bit of a pull in his quadricep.

The Great News is that Earl took his first weigh-bearing steps today. He was so happy he cried. I wish I would have had my camera so that I could show all of you the joy on his face.

We did visit Dr. Wong (Earl's oncologist) yesterday, and at the time of the visit he wasn't sure what the next step will be. This infection has complicated the plan for follow-up treatment and he would like to confer with other Dr's, before deciding how best to continue Earl's treatment.

Earl has been a bit down lately and would love to hear from his friends. This battle is not over and we still need the support of you our family and friends. So please keep in touch.

Debbie & Earl

Earl Cook Family & Friends "The Titaium Wall"

Hello Everyone,

Well tomorrow is the Terry Fox Run here in Winnipeg. Earl is pumped and ready to go and I have mastered the IV antibiotic treatment so we will be there. Yesterday Earl spoke at and participated in the Terry Fox Run at Arthur A. Leach School where he attended Jr High. He did a great job encouraging the students and staff to be enthusiastic about the run and actually completed the 3km distance himself (with the help of his good friend Torey.) He used his crutches and a wheelchair and was very proud of himself for making it.

To all team members,

We will be meeting at the Lyric Theater in Assiniboine Park at 8:45 tomorrow (Sunday September 16) Registration begins at 9:00, but I do believe you can register online also. Mayor Sam Katz will start the Run at 10:00

We are at home most of today preparing a banner and getting organized so call us if you have any questions.

Debbie, Earl and Darby

From the website:

There is no pre-registration or registration fee for the Terry Fox Run. Please show up at least a 1/2 hour before the start time if you wish to be involved in the official start.

All locations have a 10 km course with many providing shorter routes for families and children. If your area is not listed or you require further information, e-mail or call the Manitoba office.

For one month after the Run, you can take your money and pledge sheet to any Canadian bank or send it to the provincial office listed at the top of this page afterwhich, it must be mailed to the provincial office.

Let's Support Cancer Research Together

Earl is recovering well from his second surgery. He will be coming home in a day or two and will be on IV antibiotics for 6 weeks. Chemo will hopefully resume when antibiotics are complete.

He is very excited (or am I more excited) about the upcoming Terry Fox Run in which he (we) will take part. Earl has his own team called:"Earl Cook family & friends THE TITATIUM WALL" The team number is "MB1529" You can support him in this in several ways.

1. You can particiapate in the 1-10 km walk/run and collect your own pledges.

2. You can donate (to us in person or online at terryfoxrun.org)

3. You can volunteer on the day of the run which is being held in Winnipeg at Assiniboine Park

(to do this check with the local office 231-5282 to see if they still need volunteers)

All Team members we will meet at the registration area by the Lyric Theater on Sunday Morning 8:45.

Call me if you have any questions

Debbie

Update

Earl has a various serious infection in his leg, and I have just now gotten home Friday 7:00 pm from being at the hospital(s) with him since Tuesday evening. He is going to have surgery tomorrow that will involve washing away the infected skin, and tissue etc and may also involve changing of some of the movable parts of his prosthesis. After the surgery he will recover in hospital and then hopefully chemo will resume. He will be on IV antibiotics for 6 weeks and then there will be a wait to see if any more infection surfaces, if so we will likely be traveling to Toronto. I am exhausted to say the least.


Earl is at the Concordia Hospital and will remain there until he has recovered from the surgery.

Please keep us in your prayers. This has been a very tough week, as my dear mom passed away on the 22nd.

Debbie

Earls Challenge

Hi Everyone,

As most of you know, we are back from Toronto and continuing on with treatment. Earl has completed 1 of 6 treatments and will go back into hospital on Monday August 20th to get his methaltrexate on Tuesday. We had our first physio appt today, and they are quite pleased at how well Earl is healing and with the leg itself.

After physio, we stopped in at the Terry Fox Foundation office and signed up for the Terry Fox Run on Sunday Sept. 16 at Assiniboine Park. Earl has his own team and wants to challenge all of his friends and family to take part either by being on his team and raising funds or as a financial supporter.
He will be in touch with many of you to ask if you will join his team. It's called "Earl's Friends and Family" or "The Titatium Wall"

Another Way that you can help is by volunteering on the day of the run, they need approx 250 volunteers. The Terry Fox Foundation has very low operating costs and all staff are volunteers and 87 cents from every dollar will go directly to research.

My Challenge to you is let's show Earl how much we love him and admire what a trooper he is!

Take Care,
Debbie

Home at long last!

We arrived home on Wednesday evening, and after spending over 1 hour on the airplane (due to a back up of planes because of thunder) were greeted by friends and family. Earl had the lady from air canada, stop the wheelchair so that he could walk on crutches toward everyone. He was very proud and very happy to see everyone.
We are definetly happy to be home and I think Darby is pretty happy too. I don't think he will want us to go away again, any time soon. Sauer was happy to see us and surprisingly did not, I repeat did not jump up on Earl. The air conditioning was not working so Darby and I slept downstairs. Earl doesn't mind the heat so he slept in his own bed, with a fan. The next day, Bill came over and had our air conditioning working in no time, but it took until this morning to feel like it had cooled down. I h ave some pictures to put on, but have to get caught up around the house before I can take the time. Love Debbie & Earl
Earl can have visitors and phone calls!!!!!

Tim and the Spokeman Tour

www.spokemantour.com
this is Tim Harriman visiting with Earl at Mt Sinai in Toronto. Tim is riding his bike across Canada to raise awareness of Childhood Cancer and to try and make September named Childhood Cancer Month. We were very excited to have a visit with Tim as he has a busy schedule and it was a big surprise as Mt Sinai (Earl) was not a scheduled stop! Thanks Tim and Heather!!!! For all of our friends and family we ask you to log on to Tim's site and follow his journey. If you can support him in any way, that would be great.

The Great Escape!!!

Hi Everyone,

Well, our time is up here at Mt Sinai, 3 days short of 3 weeks. Earl will be discharged tomorrow. It is kinda of a weird feeling because they have been so good to us and we have made many friends. Earl is getting around fairly well on crutches, although he is a big winer, and the time has now come for me to stop catering to his every need and encouraging him to take care of himself. We will be coming home on Wednesday July 25th @ 7:28. I thought it might be nice if some friends/family could come out to meet him at the airport. Darby is trying to organize a little homecoming, so call him if you have questions 487-0077 or 799-5104

We will have a few days of fun in Toronto, and will be going our to dinner and then to the musical "We Will Rock You, to the Blue Jays vx Minnesota Twins, and either on a harbor cruise or the Hippo's (boats that drive on the road and go in the water)
On Tuesday Earl will have an x-ray and then he will see Dr. Wunder one last time.
(this is night we go see the Jays)

Well take care and we'll see you back home. Earl wants to have a bbq, so we will be intouch.

Thanks for all your prayers, support, emails, caremail, and calls
Love Debbie

Hi Everyone,

Earl sat up and left his room for the first time today. He went to the lounge and checked out some hockey sites and then returned to his room and sat up for lunch. During his physio today he walked with a walker out into the hall and then back to bed. His therapist wants him to start walking to the bathroom and sitting up for meals from now on. If things go well over the weekend, they will start Earl on crutches and stairs on Monday. Wow, I can't believe how well he is doing. There is a possibility that he will be discharged on Wednesday, but we will stay in Toronto for the weekend so that he builds up some strength to travel. This way we can take in a few outings and be close to the hospital should we need them. Earl really hasn't had much of a summer, and then he will start chemo once we return, so we thought it would be nice to have a few activites in Toronto. He is sure looking forward to showing everyone how well he is doing.

Take Care,
Debbie

Earl is feeling great!!!!! The Dr's took off the dressing today, and are very happy with everything. They also took out the epideral and so Earl is now on oral pain killers. He is looking forward to Janine coming and to some visits from family and friends.
He is watching movies now on his new dvd player and looking forward to getting around again.
Thanks for the care mail. He loves it and so do I

Love Debbie and Earl

Hi Everyone,

Sorry it's taken so long to post an update, but the computer in our lounge on 11 south was not letting me post. I have located another computer so here you go.

Earl had his surgery on Thursday July 5th, and after 7.5 hours it was an amazing success. Everything went just how they planned and the prosthetic fit like a glove. Apparently Earl has very strong bones and it was quite a task for Dr. Wunder and his team to carve the bone and make the fit. They gave Earl an epideral and then put him to sleep (he also has a personal pain pump, which he held on tightly to for the first 12 hours or so). When he woke up in the OR they said he was chatting and happy that the tumor was gone. He really has experienced very little pain, and they are now weaning him off the morpine/novacaine and switching to percocet. Each day they reduce it by 25%. They expect to start some physio today and would like to try and get him up by Monday. Dr. Wunder says that under best case Earl could be out of here in 2 weeks, but if he is here for 3 weeks, they will start his chemo.

Dr. Wunder is not too concerned about the nodules they found in Earl's lungs, and says that due to the fact that the tumor responded so well to the chemo, they are unconsequestial. He and Dr. Wong will keep a close eye on the lungs.

Earl does have a phone in his room 416-586-4800 ext 4652

You can also send him care mail https://www.mtsinai.on.ca/CareMail

Dale was here on surgery day to keep me company, Darby is here for the weekend and Earls first foster mom Janine will be here all next week. So we are doing well.

We do like to here from all our friends and family so please keep in touch.

Love Debbie & Earl

His name is " THE WALL"

Hi Everyone,

We are happy to let you know that Earl has completed his pre-op chemo. "HURRAY" He was discharged yesterday and actually it was hard to get him out of there. Earl has this amazing way of drawing people to himself and making friends wherever he goes. He is a welcome presence and brings a smile to everyone's face. It has been said that seeing Earl come close to you is like getting a hug.... oh and he is famous for his hugs too.
We have a busy two weeks ahead of us as we get ready for GRAD and our trip to Toronto. Earl's graduation dinner and dance is on Monday June 25th,at the Winnipeg Convention Center, where he has be asked to say grace prior to dinner. What an Honor! His convocation will take place at 9:00 am on Friday June 29th at the Winnipeg Concert Hall and this is open to family and friends. We are very proud that Earl, despite all his challenges has managed to graduate with the rest of the students that he has gone to school with in Pembina Trails.

At 4:00pm on the 29th we depart for Toronto, where we spend a couple of days with friends before Earl is admitted to MT Sinai Hospital. We will get a chance to go to the Hockey Hall of Fame and to the Theater. Earl will be admitted on July 2nd at 4:00pm and will undergo some tests and procedures on Tuesday. We will have a day off on Wednesday, so hopefully if Earl is feeling good we will get a pass and do some Toronto Sightseeing. Thursday is surgery day.... so those of you that pray please mark this day boldly on your calendar. I don't have all the details of the surgery yet, but I think it will be about 9 hours.
I will keep the BLOG updated during our stay in Toronto. And I remind you that it is wonderful to open it up and see that you have sent comments. I will be staying at the Chelsea Delta and Earl will have a phone in his room. He will also have his laptop with him or we might buy him a DVD player so if you have some DVD's that you don't watch anymore perhaps we could borrow them and have some movies to watch while we are there. Earl also has a NINTENDO DS, so he could use some games if you know anyone who has them and doesn't need or want them anymore.

We are at home now so Earl would love to have a phone call, it always cheers him up to hear from his friends and loved ones.

Take Care,
Debbie

Life Continues

HI Everyone,
Earl was so excited on Sunday at his baptism, even commenting that it was the best decision he has ever made. He confidently stood up in front of a full church and shared his faith story, and I even heard a story of a woman having to share her tissue with the man beside her. Needless to say Earl has a strong and powerful story to tell, and watch out when he has an audience.

Earl also spoke at a team building conference for the City of Winnipeg last Wednesday and did a fabulous job encouraging participants as they get ready to launch the summer programs of Parks and Rec in our city. He even got a standing ovation.

Well, chemo does continue and Earl was really not looking forward to the end of two great weeks off. He reluctantly reentered the hospital to start his 2nd last treatment before we go to Toronto. He had a rough night on Monday, and was a little sick and when he woke up in the morning was cold and had a little fever and a higher WBC (white blood count) They took a chest x-ray in the afternoon to check his lungs, but thankfully it was clear. They started a round of antibiotics and delayed his treatment. It will hopefully happen to day, so please say a little prayer, as we don't want to get to far behind.

Take care and keep in touch.
Debbie

Earl is doing GREAT!!

I thought I should let you know that Earl is feeling great. He has been going out a little each day and is sleeping when he should. He went to the Delerious concert last night and out for lunch and a movie yesterday afternoon. He will be heading back to the hospital on June 4th for his next treatment.
That's all folks
Debbie

That's All Folks

"All of us are in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars..."

- Oscar Wilde

Thank you to everyone who came along over the past 4 years for the EuroRoss ride. Unfortunatly time has come, we go our separate ways from here... safe travels everyone :-)



Update: Thanks to everyone who e-mailed, I cannot tell you how much it means... and yes, as promised I will post the photo slideshow from Australia below later this week as a final addition to the main page. In the meantime please feel free to browse the archives :-)

Cheeri-O

Update 2: Still working on it but within a week or so the vid will be up.

Update 3: Yeah, still no video, you know... busy ;-) For all you asking I finally caved and am on Facebook, use my Rossiroo [at] hotmail [dot] com address

Update 4: Just checking in. Why have my website traffic numbers increased since I stopped blogging?? I guess the public is trying to say something! ;-)

The Future Is Now

Everyone who knows hockey knows that Junior hockey is the most exciting hockey on the planet, when you mix in 35 years of rival history then you've got a storyline for the ages. Russia-Canada summit series reunion, here's how it looked 35 years ago:



Down 2 goals in the final period, Canada pulls together and brings home the series. This time we were down 2 goals in the first period of the first game... but... never... looked... back:



In 2009 the World Junior Hockey Championships are in Ottawa... you're all invited :-)

Electric

I'm starting to wonder about my decision to live in the tallest building in the city. About 10 minutes ago the sun was pleasantly going down, some rolling clouds were rolling in when... BAM!

A thunder clap hit so loud and hard you'd swear blood was coming out of our ears. Within 30 seconds the entire sky was black and the winds were threatening to bust in the windows. Moments thereafter there was a flash of light and suddenly all the alarms in the building went off.

We had just been hit by lightning, one floor up and two floors over is apparently where the brunt of the damage is. Sleep tight tonight everyone... I know I won't!! :-)

Too Days 2 Late to Early

Juli plays my old MBA stomping grounds in Pforzheim this November two days after I leave nearby Stuttgart for Florida and then I leave the sunny beaches two days prior to my Senators rolling into town for a game against the Lightning :-( Too days 2 late to early...

Looks like Juli is mixing in some English collaborations of late:

F1 Rossiter

Travelling in Europe with long trip times and limited access... or maybe I'm just test driving Formula 1 cars now ;-)

Round 2 or is it Round 3?

Hi Everyone,
Earl is taking his chemo treatment very well this time. Dr Wong has made some changes to his treatment, which will eliminate one whole round of chemo. This means that:
1) Earl has only 2 treatments of high dose methotrexate left before surgery,
2) Earl will be able to go to his Graduation and wear his fancy tuxedo,
3) We will get to Toronto 2 weeks earlier than we expected.
We are hoping that Earl will be coming home sometime today. I know some of you have been saying that you haven't heard from us, please understand that Earl is totally exhausted by this treatment. He misses all of the people that are special in his life and we really encourage you to call, visit, comment on the blog...in other words keep in touch with us!

Earl has decided that he would like to be baptized and would like to invite his friends and family to share this special event with him.

The Baptism will take place at the 10:30 service of Whyte Ridge Baptist Church on June 3rd, 2007 The church is located at 201 Scurfield Blvd in Whyte Ridge.

Take Care,
Debbie

Life Begins Every Morning

Don't be afraid that your life will end,
be afraid that it will never begin...

(Grandma gets it in today :-)

Schlossplatz

They finally announced that Stuttgart will bust out the "fan fest" screens from when everyone watched the World Cup in each centre city so fans can watch VFB Stuttgart win the championship this Saturday. That's where we'll be, come join us for a beer and the celebrations :-)

T-dot Weekend Skies

A great weekend in Toronto :-)



Back to the grindstone tomorrow morning...

The Championship Is Here

After winning yesturday coupled with a Schalke and Bremen loss leaves VFB Stuttgart just one home win away from the Bundesliga Championship. The week after they have a chance to add a Pokal Cup Championship, it's going to be a great week in Schwabishlande!!! :-)

Face-off Time: 2pm Sunday May 13, 2007

The "Face off for a Cure" dinner was great. What a great bunch of young men are represented here. Try and make it out on Sunday to see Olympic gold medalist Jennifer Botterill drop the puck or sometime this week! Earl had a great time!

Debbie

Petite Amie

The Whitsunday's have some of the most beautiful islands and coral reefs in the world... and when you're finished a full day of diving and beach life the bars have some great "scenery" as well ;-)

I hate shopping, but when you're traveling with 3 girls sometimes you have to make exceptions. Besides, taking a break from the outdoor heat for the air conditioned stores wasn't a bad idea... I found other ways to amuse myself ;-)



Perhaps some company was in order, so I bought a bunch of these for my buddies back home :-)



Three more work days and I'm back on a plane, there's no rest for the wicked ;-) :-)

Business Quote o' Note

Business quote of the day:

“Too often we measure everything and understand nothing. The three most important things you need to measure in a business are customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction, and cash flow. If you’re growing customer satisfaction, your global market share is sure to grow, too. Employee satisfaction gets you productivity, quality, pride, and creativity. And cash flow is the pulse—the key vital sign of a company.”

- Jack Welch

Business tech joke of the day:

"VISTA = Virus Inside, Switch To Apple"

Business Visual Funny of the day:

Stuttgart Visions

Just a hop, skip and a jump before I arrive... :-)

Face off for a cure

Hi Everyone,

Earl has another treatment behind him now and he is doing fantastic. What a strong young man he is. He is still at St. Boniface and hopefully will be coming home Friday morning. He has some exciting activities planned for the weekend and then will go back in on Monday evening (provided his blood work is good) to begin his 5-day treatment on Tuesday.

What is Face off for a cure, you may be asking?

On Sunday May 13, 2007 a group of forty passionate street hockey players will attempt to break the current Guinness World Record for the longest street hockey marathon in Winnipeg, Manitoba and in doing so have a goal of raising 30,000 dollars for the Canadian Cancer Society

Approximately six months ago we filed an application with the Guinness World Records in London, England that would enable us to officially attempt the record. Nearly four months of restlessness we were given the go ahead to official attempt the record. The current record for longest street hockey marathon belongs to Conroy Ross Partners and there 30 hours of street hockey madness. Their record has stood since 2004 when the event was held in Edmonton, Alberta. It is our hopes to successfully break and set the new Guinness World Record on May 13, 2007 on the outdoor rink facility at St. Norbert Community Center located at 3450 Pembina Hwy. The entire event will be open to the public.

The above statement was taken from www.faceoffforacure.blogspot.com. There is lots of info there if you are curious.

Earl has been asked to attend the dinner/kick-off on Saturday night as a guest. I am really impressed with the young men that are organizing this event, many of whom are from our community and hope that you will make it part of your planned activities next week.

Keep in touch,
Debbie

Cancer has touched us all and here is a great chance to get involved.

PS3 vs. Xbox

I've been thinking about buying a new video game console to fill those non-existant "down-time" hours (yeah right), but which one? The PS3 or Xbox360 would both make fine choices, but perhaps a cost comparison is in order. For the same $599 plus taxes I can buy either the Xbox360 and beer pile #1 or the Sony PS3 and beer pile #2...



Ah, what the heck, I'll just buy a Nintendo Wii ;-)

TFC - The Beginning

Last week to a sold out crowd of over 20,000, Toronto FC (TFC) started what will become the greatest soccer team in Canada/MLS :-) Having bought my supporter's section season tickets over a year ago it was finally time to break bread in the new stadium. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, Toronto FC!! :-)

The promo leading up to the big franchise opener, it's great to watch the game and see the C.N. Tower in the background:



Let the game begin!



The end stands are filled with all the supporter's clubs. Our club is know as the "Red Patch Boys" referrencing an old army division made up of Toronto locals from back in the day. Not only is our club name a tribute to those that died for our freedom, we have also affectionatly named the supporters stands as "the Bunker" :-)



The view from "the Bunker":



The crazy supporters that hold down the Bunker and lead the cheering for the rest of the stadium:



Wide angle shot of the sold out franchise opener:



Despite the 1-0 loss, the crowd was totally into the game and the team. Great times:

San Fran Freak

If you're a geek you'll get this. If you're not a geek then move along, nothing to see here :-)

Future Society

What future "nature" paintings will look like if the U.K. gets it's expanded surveillance bill approved:



Inspirational isn't it... :-(

Paris Love Lamp

Finally lets end the day with some community creativity and love, coming in the form of a Paris traffic light that hopefully brings a few smiles throughout the day:

Radio Shame

...and now back to evil, this time a radio show host crushes the heart of a cheating girlfriend:



Today is apparently good-bad swing day ;-)

Ice Rose

Because EuroRoss likes to mix the crudety (like the last post) with the sensitive :-)

Low Brow

Warning: this vid is a bit crude. Shows what guys are really thinking, and yes, even your perfect "my man would ever think that" guy is thinking this:

More Crazy Subway Fun

I don't know what it is about the mixture of copeus amounts of alcohol and subway trips, but it works. More "crazy" fun on the subway:






Lip Dubbing: Crazy from Jakob Lodwick

Rollers and Haters

In life there are "rollers" and then there are "haters". Don't be a hater, live life and roll baby!! :-)

Schtuo-gard

How do you get over the travel blues after returning back from Australia? You take another trip of course! I can't believe it's been 2 months since I've last been back, only 2 more weeks until we fix that sitch! :-)

What's Stuttgart like? Here's a view of some pics posted during the time when I was last there:

Downtown sunshine:



U-bahn traffic:



On my way up from Hauptbahnhof, a 2 minute walk away from the best watering hole in the city - CBP (Circle-Beer-Place) :-)



It also rained :-(



Warm up the Schwabish and their livers! I'm almost back! :-)

Worst Day Of My Life

A future PETA member in the making:

Friday Fest

It's Friday and time to party! Looks like some of us, namely David Hasselhof has beat us to the weekend!



Have a good weekend in the sun everyone!

Canada Passtimes

As much as I loved Oz, it's also good to come back home to Canada. I think I'll go play a round of golf ;-)

Manly Hood

The dangerous side of Manly is like snow in the Sahara, you don't see it very often and if you do you're either dehydrated or drunk. Well we were drunk ;-)

Stamp scares from the club the previous night:



3:30 am crash and burn:



I lost a beer cap... honestly! :-)

Say No To DRM

09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0

If you know what this means you're a geek ;-) Screw DRM.

All is Well

Hi Everyone,
Earl completed his 2nd round of chemo, and made it through with flying colors. He is still in hospital waiting for the chemo med levels to come down. He has experienced very few side effects, the main one being just plain tired (jonked would be a better choice of words.) He will be able to go home once those levels come down (hopefully by Friday) and then will head back next Monday to take on round 3
Keep in Touch,
Debbie

No Worries

It's only been a week since I left the surf beaches of Oz and I already miss it...



Only 11 more months before I get back :-)

Manly Wharf

Only 5 days after getting back from Australia I already miss having a cold beer on the patio overlooking Manly bay. Sigh:



Here's a short video of the scene:

DaVinci Musak

This is even better than the movie, a father and son team have discovered the code from the 13 symbols found at the Rosslyn Chapel in Scotland (the chapel highlighted at the end of the movie), this is what they found:

Sydney Snap

Sydney has tons of things to do so one day I met my little buddy for lunch and then just walked around discovering some of the city. Here are some of the things I found:

Still one of the best sights in all of Australia. The ferry we take from Manly goes by here every single trip :-)



Getting culture-ized at the Sydney theatre house:



2 mins outside of downtown Sydney is the botanical gardens, which have a great line of sight at some points going back to the city:



This tree is old, really old (I can't remember how old but I did read it on the sign ;-)



Cool artifacts are littered around the gardens:



Leaving Sydney after a well-done night of partying. A little blurry but the ferry hit some wicked waves that night... and I guess my liver hit some wicked alcohol as well ;-)



Here's a quick video (at night shitty quality) of us leaving Sydney at the end of the night:

NBA Raptors Playoffs

After being in Australia for the past 5+ weeks there are things that I'm really appreciating about Canada that I missed... especially the sport culture and playoffs! (hockey and basketball).

The Toronto Raptors had a great season but are falling behind arch enemy Carter of the New Jersey Nets :-( Come on lads, get it in gear!! :-)