This Sucks!

A picture is worth a thousand words, so I'll say no more

Thank You All!

Thank you to everyone who came in to say hello, offer support, volunteer at the table, make donations and ask about Cystic Fibrosis and its effects. Special thanks to LuluLemon for sponsoring the event and hosting the "spin", and to Asst. Manager Holly for her help in all the arrangements, as well as her own two hour spin to lend moral support.

Elise explains the effects of Cystic Fibrosis to some kind people who came in to see what was going on.

No final tally on the day but we had some great response from all sorts of people far and wide and the estimated total on the day was just over $4700.00, and over 200 visitors to the table to talk to the C.F. crew. Good job Devin and Elise!! And a big thanks to all of the support people, particularly Marin, who spent 8 hours manning the table and helping all around.
Colossal kudos to WestJet for their huge contribution of two flights anywhere they fly. Though many people pitched in without this as an incentive, we sold over 200 tickets and raised a ton of cash for the cause. Congratulations to J. Morris on her winning with ticket 131, and a little reminder that I am available to carry luggage and hail cabs wherever she decides we're going!! haha!

Westjetters...caring for our community!

The day's tally sheet @ 10.5 hours and 315 km, not to mention 7000+ calories burned

A great team!

20 minutes and Counting

Getting down to the wire now. It's mostly mental now and Devin is bearing down for the final push. He hit his goal of 300 km so every km is an added bonus.

9 Down

Devin is 9 hrs into the spin now, rolling past 285 km. Way to go! Holly, Assistant Manager at LuluLemon, got on her bike and rode with Devin for 2 hours, so it was great to have someone to perspire with and keep company. Next post in 1 hour, when it's all over and we do the draw. .

+ 4

We're 4 hrs and 20 min spinning. I jumped in and rode with Devin and burned a few calories trying to keep up the pace. All for a good cause. As Devin says, "pain is temporary, quitting lasts forever"

Go Devin Go!

Here we are, 2 hrs 38 minutes in to the spin with 100 km on the odometer. Lots of people stopping to check out the "display" and make donations. Come on down if you can and say hello, meet the sweaty guy and support the cause!

One Day "Til The Big Spin

With Danger Dan as his inspiration, Devin Featherstone will be setting up his spin bike in the window of the South Centre Lululemon store this Saturday, April 27, and spinning from start to closing, raising awareness for Cystic Fibrosis. Dan has faced this illness all his life and though it has been a battle of the extreme kind, he has maintained his positive attitude and warm outlook on life.You can read more about his journey at the following link http://darkandstormyblog.wordpress.com/category/spinning-for-dan/, as well as ways in which Dan influenced Devin and Elsie http://darkandstormyblog.wordpress.com/2013/03/25/spinning-for-dan-2/.
If you would like to contribute to the cause please check out http://my.e2rm.com/TeamPage.aspx?teamID=365507&langPref=en-CA.
And please stop by the store at South Centre Mall and say hello to Devin and Elise as he spins for 11 hours. To help support the effort, WestJet has kindly donated  two flights to anywhere in North America and we'll be selling tickets for $10.00 each, so you can pick up a few while you offer some moral support.
See you there!

Elise with Dan and his twin sister, Amy

Kids and Bikes

Every kid that comes into Blue Circle wants to sit on the chopper. Sometimes it's the inner child that comes out and wants to play! Right, Corey?

Deagan enjoys his sucker while he "rides"

Girls love to ride too!

Rider ... the perfect name!

Corey lets out his inner child

T.J. Returns

After a painful 10 days of dealing with a nasty broken ankle, T.J. has returned to Blue Circle. Though he is still hobbled somewhat, it's great to have his smiling face and his exuberance in the office, helping to crank up the energy another notch or two. Welcome back T.J.!

Spinning For Dan

The effects of Cystic Fibrosis gives a totally different meaning to "going for a spin" 

The Spin Guy

On Saturday April 27th, my son Devin will be setting his spin bike in the window of the LuluLemon store in SouthCentre Mall and spinning from opening to closing, in an effort to raise awareness for Cystic Fibrosis. Devin and his fiance, Elise, have a deep, personal connection with this debilitating disease but have also found great inspiration from their friend Dan as he battles through so many hardships to be the man he is today. Follow this link to read more about Spinning For Dan, and also check out My Story, written by Dan himself, which chronicles his journey under the burden of Cystic Fibrosis.

Battling through some serious stuff

Elise and Dan

More posts to follow as we near the day. Please consider stopping by South Centre Mall to lend some support for the cause, or follow the link Spinning For Dan and see how you can contribute.

Safe And Sound

Angie and Troy are back, safe and sound and all tanned up from their ride down through the Baja. Probably pretty tough to come home to snow and cold but we're happy to see them and hear their great stories and interesting insights regarding the route and the roads and all points in between. Of course, they saw some amazing sites and met some real characters along the way, so we look forward to the follow up on their website Ride Stop 'n Go.

A great trip but still happy to be home

Congrats!

Wow! Three of us at Blue Circle recently went back to school to "Get Smart" (blog post April 12/2013) and filled our brains with a whole lot of new tools and information for servicing our ever expanding client base at Blue Circle. And, as with any educational program, we students needed to prove that we were worthy of accreditation and had to write the Broker Level 1 exam on the weekend. Two hours of racking our brains and remembering everything we'd crammed in there since starting our classes.
Of course, there was a bit of trepidation as we waited on our results to be posted but today I am proud to announce the success of Elaine, Braedan and myself and offer my congratulations to them both, as well as thank them for their support during the process.
Evidently, you can teach an old dog new tricks!

Jammin"

Had quite a hoot, checking out all the action at the Chinook City Roller Derby today. We were  following the action of the Sugar Skulls, an all star team comprised of players from various clubs in and around the Regina area, but also caught some play with a couple of different teams in the derby. 

I thought the days of "Skinny Minnie" Miller and the T-Birds were over and never realized there was still such still an active community of leagues and skaters, including a fairly large one in the west. This Derby expects over 500 skaters with teams from Alberta, B.C. and the North West U.S.. And just as much fun as the action are the player and team names...The Kill Jills, The Glenmore Reservoir Dogs and the Youthanizers ( a junior team) to name a few of the locals.

Gone are the days of the banked track, as well as the scripted violence and WWF antics. It's called Flat Track now and the rules are more or less the same when it comes to the team tactics and scoring. There's a pretty interesting documentary, "This Is Roller Derby", done in 2011, that looks at the phenomena of the growing interest and participation of women in the sport and why it appeals to them, and explains the rules too.  

As for the action at "Flat Track Fever", it continues on Sunday so check it out if you want to see something different!

Good blocking lets the Jammer get by

Lead Jammer "ends the jam" by tapping her hands on her hips

The pack bottles things up on the turn

Don't mess with these gals

After bout comes the traditional celebrations

My buddy Tom with "Beata Bitchdown" from the Sugar Skulls

Behind in the score, the coach talks strategy with Jammer "Janesaw", Piper Peach and T-Bag

View from the bench

TAB-RRR-KNUCKLE

Anejo

What a night! Gerry, Miguel, K2 and I went to a fantastic dinner and tequila tasting at the always exciting restaurante Anejo, hosted by Cliff, one of the owners of Anejo. Also Jay, Anejo's General Manager, special guests Rumi Jaffer from Phillips Distilling and Mike Longfield from FreeHouse Wine. Last, but most certainly not least, la bonita senorita Diana Jimenez, from Centinela Tequila. And if you were ever looking for someone to represent the passion and fire of what I call "Mexican Scotch", Diana (pronounced Dee-anna) would be your lady.
Casey, Anejo's Head Chef, had whipped up several tasty courses, each prepared with one of the four varieties of Centinela Tequila and served with a glass of each and they were most excellent. Of course, what's a night of good food and fine tequila without the companionship of great friends, old and new. We were most fortunate to share a table and some great times with new friends Mano and Julie, and look forward to future get togethers with them. Great times with great people...hard to beat.
Just hoping now that they plan a few more of these events.You know we'll be there!

"Miguel" and K2

Gerry, the original tequila aficionado

Mano and Julie

Jay introduces Diana

I love tequila too

The All Star line-up

Gerry and Miguel break bread

Diana brought some fiery passion with her from Mexico

Jay, Michael and Gerry

Too funny

Las Cruces

Paul's baby

Beauty and The Beast

Get Smart

Paul's going to school now, trying to prove that you can, indeed, teach an old dog new tricks. Blue Circle has sent Elaine, Braedan and myself to "Brokers School"and it's been challenging, to say the least.

Braedan and Elaine hitting the books

Team work does come in to play yet again, as it's great to have support and encouragement of not only fellow students but those back at the office and my friends and family. Thanks everyone!

Instructor Brian Speirs