Dustin Plett

Last weekend my girlfriend, Michelle, flew in from Winnipeg. Since I moved to Toronto this is how we’ve been doing things, I get to see her every six to eight weeks. This was the first time seeing her since coming home from Kilimanjaro.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland has always been a place we’ve wanted to visit. I thought this would be the perfect weekend for this trip. I love road trips, and since selling my truck road trips have become rare.

I rented a car on Friday and picked Michelle up from the airport (YYZ) shortly after seven. We drove down to Niagara Falls for supper, this is about an hour and a half drive from the airport with no traffic. After supper we followed the Niagara Parkway along the water down to the Peace Bridge. This is a beautiful drive and if you have time it’s much more relaxing then the freeway. You drive past some incredible properties with some amazing houses as this is some of the most sought after real estate in the area. It was a clear night and moon reflecting off the water lite the area up around us just enough to give us a hint of what this drive would look like at midday.

We crossed over into the US via the Peace Bridge shortly after 11. We cruised along the 190 through Buffalo without hardly slowing down, turned South on the 90 and got a hotel on the far South side of Buffalo. This drive took a little more than an hour but would have been less had we not taken the Parkway and just crossed over into the US at Niagara Falls.

We got up in the morning and after a stop at Denny’s we were back on Interstate 90 heading South West along Lake Erie. About 90 minutes later we left New York state and entered Pennsylvania. We turned off the freeway about 30 minutes into Pennsylvania and drove along Ridge Road, a road running parallel to Interstate 90 but with a lot better view of the countryside and the small towns along the lake.

In total with this route we were only in Pennsylvania for maybe an hour before entering Ohio. From the state line to Cleveland is about an hour and a half and you can stay on the freeway right up to the Rock and Roll hall of Fame which sits on the bank of the Lake Erie.

We arrived at the hall of fame shortly after noon. The hours of operation are 10:30am to 5:30 and we had been told we would need all this time - and possibly more - to get through all the exhibits. 

In this video I have a few shots inside the hall of fame. Cameras and recording devices are strictly prohibited but I couldn’t resist. I broke down at the Rolling Stone magazine and the Run DMC exhibits. There are many cool things to check out at the hall of fame and way too much to explain in detail. But, if I took one thing away from the visit it was a better understanding that these people, these legends, were people just like everyone else.

What drove this home was seeing life size busts of the Rolling Stones showcasing clothes they actually wore on tour and realizing, “hey, I’m taller than Mick Jagger.” Or seeing the piano that John Lennon had in his house and seeing the wax drippings from candles he had resting on top. And seeing some extremely rare and candid footage of Elvis sowing him as he was and not his stage or film personality opened my eyes to the person behind the name.

The premier exhibit right now is called From Asbury Park to the Promised Land: The Life and Music of Bruce Springsteen. This is a great collection of artifacts from his career but neither Michelle or I have ever considered ourselves huge fans of The Boss so although this was interesting to see, we did move through this section quickly. It was because of this we were able to get through the entire hall of fame in five hours. Even allowing us enough time to watch the hour long film chronicling all inductees of the last 25 years since the hall of fame opened.

After leaving we went down to the lakes edge and touched the water. This was the last of the five great lakes I needed to touch. Mission accomplished! As an aside, earlier this year I had touched Lake Huron along the trans Canada highway in Northern Ontario. But after looking more closely at a map I realized it wasn’t really Lake Huron and instead a bay. I felt like this success would still have an astrix beside it until I touched Lake Huron proper. 

After the hall of fame we grabbed supper downtown. I knew the Cavaliers were playing and although I was a few months late for LeBron - and they were playing the perennial bottom feeders Sacramento Kings - I still love watching basketball and since tickets were only $20 each it was an easy sell to Michelle.

The game ended up having a great finish which is really all you can hope for in regular season NBA basketball. It came down to Cleveland needing to make a three pointer with only a few seconds left. They didn’t make it but it made for an exciting finish - I was happy.

We left Cleveland after the game and headed West towards Toledo where we stayed for night. This was another two hour drive but it was nice to be back on the road. 

The next morning we got up and decided we would drive into Detroit for breakfast. We crossed into Michigan and soon realized downtown Detriot was not the place to go for breakfast. We ended up at the MGM Grand Detroit where we knew we could get good food.

Last Sunday the Washington Redskins were playing the Detroit Lions at Ford Field. I would have liked to go but I had already pushed my luck with the Cavaliers game so although I suggested we take this in I didn’t press the issue when Michelle suggested we not.

We walked around downtown, got some shots of the landmarks and headed North to 8 Mile Road. If you’re a fan of Eminem this is a no brainer, if not, Google 8 Mile Road. 

I got some shots of the street, ollied a manhole, and drove from the Edsel Ford Freeway to Telegraph Road and then North to Interstate 696.

While on 8 Mile Road we turned off the main route and toured the neighborhoods that seemed to be the most effected by the recession. It was worse than I expected. I saw whole blocks of houses boarded up. I saw apartment block communities, four buildings, 20 stories tall completely vacant with windows removed, I’m assuming because they have value. It was sad and although I wanted to capture it I did not feel right about exploiting this situation and did not film what I saw. It is a sad situation for the people of Detroit and my heart went out to the families that have suffered in the recent years. It was a somber experience but something I wanted to see first hand and I’m glad I did. 

We did not cross back into Canada in Detroit. Instead we headed North on the 94 to Port Huron and crossed over into Sarnia and Canada - about a 50 minute drive. Once across we went down to the water and touched Lake Huron. Now, the Great Lake mission was truly complete!

We continued up the 402 to London for supper, about an hour drive, and then on to Toronto, another two hours past London. 

The video above is a few highlights from the trip. I went with Katy Perry Teenage Dream because I must have heard this song 25 times on this trip and in my mind it will always be associated with this trip. I do understand the irony in visiting the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and 8 Mile Road and then subjecting you to Katy Perry, but it works. Enjoy.

Eight years ago company X was started by a serial entrepreneur. Company X was started as a result of this entrepreneur unable to find a support service for another of his startups - company Y.

Fast forward two years. A major Canadian network television station is launching a new channel and also requires the very specialized services of company X. Company X begins work with said station.

Fast forward one year later. One of the biggest consumer brands in the world launches a campaign that will change the advertising industry forever. For this campaign they will require the services of company X. The serial entrepreneur sees the future of business and shuts down all other companies and focuses his efforts on company X.

Fast forward four years. Social Media has been a buzzword now for a couple years. “Web 2.0” is already sounding dated. Company X has now grown to be the world leader in its industry. Company X is now working in the biggest online communities and working with many of the world’s biggest brands and agencies from around the globe. All the while proving a business model as revolutionary as the assembly line - this might be an exaggeration, trying to keep this entertaining.

Fast forward one more year. Until now company X has grown entirely by WOM. Marketing and ad budgets have been non-existent. Company X revenues continue to exceed all expectations. Company X is or has now been involved in 100’s of high profile social media strategies and campaigns.

Fast forward to seven months ago. Company X makes a conscious effort to be where its clients are - or could be - and move its business development manager to Toronto from company X HQ in Western Canada. Business is exploding south of the border and overseas and company X wants to focus on owning its “backyard”.

Fast forward to two months ago. Company X hires senior level management to support the growing Toronto market. Company X is now working alongside the most successful and influential agencies in Toronto and partnering with Canada’s most recognized brands.

Fast forward to 20 minutes ago. Company X business development manager wrote this blog and published it on his blog wondering why he hasn’t read this story somewhere else yet…

One of the first things our guide Emmanuel said to my friends and I was, “you climb Kilimanjaro in your mind.” I smiled and thought, “I have a strong mind, this should be no problem”, followed immediately by “I have a history of disappointing myself, I’m in trouble.”

This ran through my head over and over for the next six days. Sometimes the trek was very enjoyable, most of the time it was testing me in ways I wasn’t sure I was ready for.

One nagging thought with me throughout the climb was if I do not complete the climb nothing bad will happen to me. The people that love me will still love me. The company that supported me will still employ me. And the life I lead will continue to go on.

I thought, the only person I would disappoint would be myself. And as we began our climb to the summit on the sixth day that simple thought evolved into: can I live with disappointing myself? And then: if so, what is the greatest disappointment I will allow and what is the least, or is it all the same? And finally: how much, or how much more, disappointment am I willing to accept?

I began to think my life, and likely most others’ lives, are a result of how much we let ourselves disappoint ourselves. If I let myself disappoint myself on this mountain, what’s next? Maybe next time I’m out skateboarding and a trick will push the limits of my skill I will hold back? Maybe next time I pitch a client I won’t have the enthusiasm I should have and will not close the sale? Maybe next time a friend asks to talk I will be there in body but I won’t put the effort into actually listen?

These are all things with ranging consequences in the world around me but always huge consequences to me and who I am. This trek made me aware of those times in my life when I made a decision that let “me” down. The trek let me find the places in me where the results of those decisions hide and it revealed the way they surface. I understood for the first time the connection between my actions and my actions.

I saw, felt, and realized that I am a result of myself. If I allow myself to disappoint myself I allow myself to be disappointed. Disappointment makes me sad, to put it plainly. When I’m sad I loose interest, become unhappy and blame things and people around me. When things and people around me are to blame for my unhappiness I escape or leave the situation. When I escape or leave instead of face the issue or situation I disappoint myself. And, the cycle continues. (I just tried to write the continuation of this thought and realized I would need a few hours that I just don’t have right now, so we will leave it at this for now. In case you’re wondering, the negative tendencies come out during the escape process.)

These are the doors I walked through in my mind as I struggled to put one foot in front of the other on my way to the crater’s edge of Mt. Kilimanjaro.

But this is what Emmanuel meant. Positive thought isn’t “I can do this, I can do this.” Positive thought is thought that moves you and your life in a positive direction.

At least that’s what I think. If you want to discuss this more let’s grab a coffee, I have a feeling I won’t tire of talking about this trek anytime soon.

As for the goal of tweeting from the top, it was achieved. I struggled for the next 36 hours to remember what the tweet said but I knew it was sent. I blame the minus 20 degree Celsius temperature, the howling wind and the thin, thin air at 20,000 feet for my lack of memory.

I also checked into Foursquare as I had planned. This I was less sure of as it had to be done on my iPad with my fingers exposed to the elements. I was rushing while I was up there, and with a window of only a few minutes before I had to start my descent I wasn’t sure it got out. I tried a number of times and was glad when I checked earlier today and saw it went through.

Officially Uhuru Peak (5895) @ Kilimanjaro has been checked into by six people before me but I have my suspicions. I’m back in Mooshi now, 15-20km away, and it still comes up as a possible place to check in. Foursquare, you need to fix this.

I got some great footage from the trek and some great photos to prove ICUC Moderation Services made the summit of Kilimanjaro.

I will post what I have as soon as possible but for now I will enjoy my vacation, which includes some much needed relaxation, a safari and possibly a trip to the Serengeti - time permitting. 

For now, a huge thank you to Keith Bilous for making this possible. Thank you for providing me with a great place to work and I’m glad I work for a company that I don’t mind sharing my vacation with. And thanks to the rest of ICUC for making the last year so enjoyable. I will see, talk, gchat, tweet, or Facebook, you all again soon. 

As a side note, I did summit on my 26th birthday, September 26. Hooray!

Last night Ian Penney (@cr03) aka “The Crow” - because of his Twitter handle - and I spent the evening at the office insuring the system that would allow me to tweet and check-in on Foursquare on the summit of Kilimanjaro was possible. In essence, we were making sure #ICUC2Kili was possible and ensuring it could happen. The tweets we found were easy. But to check-in on Foursquare presents a hole host of challenges. 

The following is Ian describing in his own words what he did. I couldn’t begin to explain it and quite frankly I’m still in aw of what he accomplished. Thanks a lot, Ian. Without your help this would not have been possible. I hope I can make you proud.

“Our main goal was to enable either a GPS enabled Blackberry 9600 or an iPad to check into Foursquare from a remote location via BGAN,” said Penney. “The devices have real GPS chips built in, so as long as we could get one of them online, we figured it should work.”

We exhausted a lot of potentially easy solutions at first. 

The Explorer 500 BGAN access point has Ethernet, Bluetooth, and a USB mini port. The USB port can only be used to get a real computer online, and we already had Ethernet for that. 

We paired the BlackBerry to the access point only to find the Explorer 500 only supports Bluetooth voice profiles. No tethering for data, so in this case Bluetooth was effectively useless for our purposes.

This meant we’d have to use Internet connection sharing from the Netbook to one of the devices via ad-hoc WiFi. Unfortunately, the Windows 7 Starter OS that came on the Netbook doesn’t support ICS, and we eventually found Windows XP Pro SP3 didn’t have appropriate storage drivers for the Netbook’s SATA controller. 

At this point, since the disk on the Netbook was blank from a failed XP install over USB, I decided to try Ubuntu 10.04. 

This turned out to be even easier than I expected. We used UNetbootIN to make an Ubuntu install USB key, had the machine running in less than 15 minutes with full driver support. We easily setup NAT between the Ethernet port and a simple ad-hoc config on the wireless device using the Ubuntu network preferences GUI.  

The BlackBerry 9800 could not see the ad-hoc network, but the iPad could, and that night, on the deck at our office, after 4 hours of hacking, we successfully checked into Foursquare via satellite.  

This has definitely been one of the most exotic technical challenges I’ve faced, even though most of the functional components (WiFi, NAT, Netbooks and iPads) are very domestic. “I wish good luck to Dustin and his team,” said Penney. “I can’t wait to see the tweets roll in from high above.” 

I’m climbing Kilimanjaro next week!  I’m all about sharing the experience, I’m going to be using the hashtag #ICUC2Kili - it’s going to be fun.

I’m flying out to Amsterdam this Saturday evening and hopping down to Nairobi on Sunday. Monday I’m travelling from Nairobi to the base of Kili and then Tuesday, bright and early, we get rolling. My hope is to summit on my birthday, September 26. As an aside, this is also my champagne birthday. As an aside to that aside, this trip is also a personal celebration of my sobriety and passing a significant milestone in that struggle. The irony of the champagne birthday is not lost on me.

The team includes my brother in law, Thomas, our friend, Sat, and their friend, Steve, who I’ve never met and it’s been said our personalities might clash.

We are taking the more isolated Lemosho Route. This is considered the most scenic route but is less travelled because of the extra days, and the extra travel and costs associated with getting to the western side of the base.

I would like to say I have a romantic story about wanting to climb Kilimanjaro since reading about it as a child in a collection of Hemingway’s short stories but that’s just not true. However, I have wanted to go to Africa ever since I read Roots, by Alex Haley. But that was only a few years ago when I was holed up in my parents basement having just moved home from Alberta trying to figure out how life could get so sideways.

The trek has been in the works for about six months and needless to say I’m ready to get going. I’ve trained for it, lost some weight (and muscle, that sucks), got used to the idea of walking a lot, got my shots, got my pills, got my confidence. I’m very ready.

This will be my first time overseas and my first time outside of continental USA or Canada. I once walked across the border in Tijuana but that hardly counts as international travel.

As much as I am stoked to get going I’m going to miss my job – is that weird or what? Just this week I told our new Sales Director, Thomas Ephraim, I was looking forward to getting back to Toronto to get to work on some new ideas and strategies.

As for this job I speak of… I’m in my second fantastic year with ICUC Moderation Services and my great company has graciously sponsored my trek by providing financial support and providing the communication hardware to keep me connected as I travel, climb, think, and learn. I will be posting new content whenever possible as I make my way to the roof of Africa.

As I said in the opening, I’ll be using the #ICUC2Kili to post and read content on Twitter. I’ll also be using my blog www.dustin2to.com to share video, pictures, comments and thoughts on the trek.

With that said, let the countdown begin. About 60 hours to boarding…

I’m back on the road so it seems like the perfect time to reflect on the past two weeks of solid Toronto time. I made some friends, met a lot of interesting people and had some very unique to Toronto experiences.

I’m a social person so I generally like running into friends wherever they may be. Out here friends are few and far between so what’s been great has been being lucky enough to run into people I’ve met through business. I’ve ran into more than one client of ours on public transportation - I’ve been told this is common in the downtown Toronto area. It’s a great feeling to see a familiar face. I’ve also run into people  on the side walk who I’ve been making efforts to speak with - those chance meetings are very valuable and just won’t happen in Winnipeg.

Living here has been easy, spreading the word of ICUC Moderation Services has definitely been a challenge. Talking about what ICUC does and the value of our services is an easy conversation to have because the value is easy to see – getting people to sit down and have that talk is where the challenge exists.

My job has been just as much about educating and informing as it has been about selling. We are in a unique space where our core competencies center around moderation when most people are talking monitoring – two very similar words with very different meanings and often used interchangeably incorrectly.  

When I’m out there sending emails, making calls and reaching out to those who work in social media I still come across, “we already have a monitoring solution” or “we don’t do monitoring yet”. I say, “that’s great, can we talk about moderation?”

To me it’s like being in a furniture store and saying to the salesman, “listen, stop showing me sofas - I already have a dishwasher.”

It’s a tough row to hoe but it’s getting better. It seems with every call I make and every day I spend talking about ICUC, our moderation service and our people powered solution the awareness grows.

The bottom line is I’m having fun and making progress and I get the sense most of ICUC – getting close to 150 of us by now – are having just as much fun as I am. 

This was the first weekend in over three months I did not have the question “where am I going to live when I get to Toronto” hanging over my head - and I tried to make the most of it.

On Thursday night some friend’s band played in Kensington Market. They were on a tour of Southern Ontario but I got to know them back in Winnipeg where they are from. It was really great to see some familiar faces the first weekend out in my new city.

A bonus of this band, The Details, is that I’m actually a fan of their music. It’s not at all one of those situations where I have a friend and I go and watch him because I feel obligated to support his music and then drag another friend of mine along because I know I’m going to be bored and end up ruining both our evenings. This was the opposite of that, it was a real treat all around, both grabbing supper with the guys - and Keli, and then taking in the show.

The show went late as can be expected and I ended back at my new place shortly after 2. I wanted to be up as early as possible to make the most of my day with my brother so I set the alarm for 5 and feel asleep.

In this video you will notice some shots of the sunrise. That’s already a couple hours out of Toronto on my way to Ottawa - it’s about a 4 hour drive total.

I got to my brother’s place and after saying hi and catching up a little, it had been a few months again since I saw him last, we got into his car and drove across the city to pick up his girlfriend before heading to Montreal.

We spent the afternoon being tourists, which was more fun for me than my brother or his girlfriend - she grew up there so they visit often.

We stayed the night and spent our evening and early morning at a club on Saint Catherine Street. This was my first time in Quebec and it was very humbling realizing everyone is bi-lingual except me. Even the 10 year old who sold me a Chein Chaud changed languages on a dime when I responded to his “bonjour” with a lack luster “hi”.

The next day, Saturday, we drove back to Ottawa in the afternoon. I have a buddy who lives in Ottawa so I called him up and my brother and I spent the evening in The Market (ByWard Market) at a pub exchanging stories and tall tales with our childhood buddy.

I woke up late the next day and did a whole lot of sitting around. My brother and I did some skating but soon enough it was time to go. I headed back to Toronto and prepared to leave for Cincinnati the next day.

Most of this video is in Montreal and most of it is just me being myself with my brother. A lot of goofing around and a lot of running, jumping and spinning. It was a great weekend and I think anyone who saw me the days before I left compared to the way I look in this video will agree I look as though a weight has been lifted.

A few quick shots of a few of the good times along the way. All in all looking back it was fun. Stressful at times but absolutely worth it.

The last shot is about 4 hours before the tire blow out. You can tell it’s before because we are still smiling. No footage was taken during that tire change because, well, if you’ve had to change a tire on the side of a freeway in the rain and you had to take everything out of the truck - and you were in he middle of moving - to get at the jack you would understand.

None of the footage of the snowstorm that had the highway closed made the cut either just because it was too dark and really not that great. The downside of the Flip - it’s a poor low light camera.

None the less, enjoy this minute of memories. And a big Thank You to my Dad, who after being on the road for two weeks prior still offered to come along for the drive to Toronto. Thanks Dad, you made that trip possible and even enjoyable.

The last 72 hours have been interesting, here’s the brake down of the last 3 days to put what I’m going to write in the next couple days into perspective.

Saturday 7:30am Wakeup

8:30am Met Dad for breakfast

12:00pm Hit the highway after stopping in to see the banker and getting a tarp for the box of the truck in case it rains.

5:00pm Starts to rain, go to put on tarp and realize I grabbed the wrong size despite knowing what size I needed. Dumb mistake, luckily my mattress prevented most of possessions from getting wet. Unluckily my mattress is more of a sponge than an umbrella.

5:30pm Leave Dryden, as I leave I say, “I’m going to need gas in 2 to 3 hours.” Dad says, “no problem, there is a truck stop in about 200 km, we’ll be fine.” We carry on.

7:45pm Turns out Petro Canada thought a gas station was just taking up valuable real estate on an otherwise wide open parking lot and got ride of it.

8:30pm Pull into the only gas station open between Dryden and Thunder Bay - sweating and cursing anyone I thought could be held responsible for the lack of fuel over the last 300 km.

8:45pm Leave the gas station - with a new tarp! This gas station sells tarps of the exact size I need, right beside the welders. Bizarre - but I took it as a positive sign.

10:30pm Arrive in Nipigon to a big flashing sign that reads “Highway Closed due to dangerous driving conditions.” We pull into a truck stop and get the word from the drivers pulling in for the night. The road is described as horrible, one especially animated fellow claims he has 8,000 lbs of ice on his truck and trailer. Dad says, “that’s bullshit” and we move on. He says, “how bad can it be?” It’s impossible to argue with this.

12:00am Driving 50 km through a snowstorm. Dad says, “see, the road’s open.” It’s impossible to argue with this.

6:00am Through the storm alive and well!

8:00am I’m hallucinating and start swerving trying to avoid stone cubes I’m imaging on the road. My swerving wakes up my Dad who says, “maybe I should drive.” It’s impossible to argue with this.

10:30am I wake up as we pull in to grab a coffee on the East side of Sault Ste. Marie. After a coffee we are back on the road and I’m behind the wheel after resting for the last hour and a half.

1:30pm As we fill up with gas in Sudbury I say, “something’s up with the truck, it’s not sounding right.” We pop the hood and realize the alternator is going, it’s very hot and grinding away. I had noticed the vault gauge jumping a bit in the last few weeks so I knew it was on its way out. We drive across town with the alternator grinding away and pull into Canadian Tire with horrible, horrible noises coming from my poor truck. Luckily Canadian Tire has a rebuilt and all my tools were easily accessible. I bought the replacement and my Dad and I had the new alternator in within half an hour.

2:30pm Joyfully talking about how lucky we are the alternator went when it did and not in the middle of nowhere during the storm last night.

5:30pm We are 30 km from Toronto and BOOM, grrrrrrlrlrlrlrlr - at least that’s how I remember it sounding. A tire blew out and we came to a stop underneath an overpass. Very lucky considering it was raining like crazy. This time the tools - jack and tire iron - were not as accessible as were my tools. We had to unload everything from the cab to get at the tools. We were tired and this was hard to do.

6:00pm The spare is on and we are at Canadian Tire again - this time buying a new tire.

8:00pm At a hotel in northern Toronto.

9:00pm Asleep

7:30am Awake

9:00am Visit first apartment I was interested in.

11:00am All the paper work is done - I got it, that was easy.

12:30pm Not so fast - someone else got it, sorry.

12:30 - 1:00pm Sit in my truck and curse everyone who I feel is responsible for this cruel injustice.

1:00pm - Resume search for apartment

1:00pm - 5:30pm Let down after let down (I don’t want to relive this by writing it, but it was rough and I was thankful my Dad was along to remind me to be patient.)

5:30pm - I notice landlords aren’t answering calls anymore - the day is over and I still don’t have a place to live. I start focusing on smaller places where I think there is a better chance of getting an answer.

7:00pm Close to giving up. I see one more place, I pull in and am greeted by one of the sweetest ladies I’ve ever met. Her name is Magda, she shows me my dream apartment but it’s more than I wanted to spend. She says she likes me and shows me an equally amazing place but a little smaller and on the North side of the building. It’s a few hundred dollars cheaper and I say, “I will take it.”

7:30pm I walk out of the tower - only 3 blocks from ICUC’s new office on Mowat - with a new address!

SO, here I am now. Tired but relieved. It’s been a long 3 days. I’m moving in first thing tomorrow morning. I will fill you in later tomorrow on the days events. Until than, goodnight.

I’ve spent this last week sorting, separating, dividing and deciding. I had to make some hard choices about things I wanted to keep and things I needed to throw out. Of the things I felt were worth keeping I had to decide if it was something worth lugging across this great nation, or just lugging to my parents place to store in their garage until some time indeterminable.

So that’s where I am now. I came into Brandon last night with the furniture I had borrowed from my parents, filing cabinets, my book and my CD collection, and 90 percent of my wardrobe.

Over this past week I determined there was no way I could bring all my clothes - it just wasn’t necessary. The system I used to determine if I should keep the article of clothing was simple: I held it up and my mother either pointed at the “keep heap” or the “dump bump” - as I had cleverly dubbed them. What I’m left with is a small but more than adequate collection of clothes and the Brandon Value Village got a great donation.

This evening I went to my Grandparents  for supper and to say my goodbyes, I knew this was going to be tough. My grandfather has been sick lately and leaving him and not knowing what was in store for him was weighing heavy on my mind and my conscience. After seeing him more spry than I’ve seen him in years and talking with him I truly feel I have his blessing and that means a lot to me.

Now, I just finished packing my truck with what I’m taking and preparing to say goodbye to my Mother. I know this is going to be tough and I’ve been wishing this day would never come. I know my Mother and Father have liked having a child of theirs in the same province as them over the past 3 years just as much as I have loved being this close to them again. But, with that said, we all feel the move is right and my folks have peace with my decision.

There is still a little concern about where I will live but things are beginning to fall into place. I’ve been offered a lot of help over the past few weeks and I truly believe things will workout. Thank you to everyone who has read this and sent me an email, tracked me down on Twitter or otherwise - I really appreciate all the help.

Again, don’t hesitate to reach out if you know of a great spot to rent or any other advice about living in Toronto. Until the next post - have a great Saturday night.

This is a short video showing everything I own (except the truck).This is 99 per cent of what’s going to make the trip to Toronto with me. In a way this is nice because it will make the move a lot easier but it another way it makes me wonder - have I made the best investments?

You might be asking yourself, but what of a dresser - the truth is I don’t have one. The one in the video is borrowed. And the bed, it was cut in half to get it into where it is now and is so uncomfortable it’s still questionable whether or not it will make the trek.

But I’m curious to know what you think. I think the total value of all my “stuff”, not counting my truck, is around $2,500 - what do you think. Is this wishful thinking? Not that possessions matter but if I had to list assets at this moment it would be a very short list.

Sorry for the radio silence the last few days. Life after surgery was a little rougher than I expected. But now with the day of departure finalized and the countdown on expect the traffic to be quiet busy. I have secured a road trip companion for the drive out to Toronto and have been in contact with a few different landlords and other plans such as what to pack and what to leave are taking shape. Expect updates and expect news! I’m excited and I hope I can somehow infuse you with some of that excitement.

Have a great night, I’ll be in touch soon!!

Before I go… I just got a text from a friend here in Winnipeg. It reads, “I’m going have to find 3 new friends to make for you once you leave.” I text back, “why 3?” He responds, “A serious man, a really funny man, and a dude willing to drive for 20 hours straight. I’m screwed.” That just made my day!

This is kinda fun. This is a video Jenette Martens and Lisa Rowson did as a class project in creative communications a few weeks back. This is the same Red River College program I graduated from last year.

I hope it makes you laugh a little!