I was due to catch a flight at 11am from Heathrow to Shannon, Ireland for a wedding. My friends and I were to go straight from the airport to the wedding ceremony that Saturday. Having travelled repeatedly out of Heathrow, I knew exactly when to leave my flat to avoid sitting around Heathrow watching the clock and idiotic travellers shop at an airport. I woke up expecting the day to be relatively calm and peaceful. It took me two hours to experience enough stress and angry thoughts to send most people onto a therapists' couch (or into a mental institution).
Ballin’
College Basketball in the 80s through 1994 was the best period of college sports I have ever witnessed. In particular, at its peak, the period of 1990-1993 was simply remarkable. The same period for the NHL was the best of professional sports that I have ever watched. I continued to watch College Basketball with enthusiasm post-1993, but was always left reminiscing of what it used to be. In the case of hockey, I did nothing but reminisce as I watched the sport decline to levels of embarrassment it is only starting to climb out from. Like an old man, I'm resorted to looking back on those days fondly, wishing it could come back. Sports isn't everything obviously, but if you enjoy sports and are watching an era of the sport at its pinnacle, enjoy it while it lasts. Things don't progress as you would like them to. It is all a business after all. This part will take a look at that era of College Basketball.
A Journey – Part 2: Creating a new path
This is the path less chosen. It is fraught with uncertainty. It comes with dire warnings from your friends and family. It can cause great stress in your life at times. Yet it is the path that leaves you feeling more fulfilled.
A Journey – Part 1: Following the Path in Front of Me
Along our journey in life, we can choose the path that is put in front of us. The alternative is to take a path and then begin to dig a new path in a different direction. Taking the path that is laid out before us is the least risky, the safe alternative. It is a path largely directed by those before us, not by the individual.
There Will be Blood
I spent over 10 years working in the Oil and Gas industry. It is common knowledge that this industry is much maligned for being run and employed by selfish capitalists that will stop at nothing to rape the planet for financial reward. Some of this commentary is fair, but it misses the larger point. You find executives and staff with this mentality everywhere in today’s capitalist society. This self-interest just isn’t measured the same way in every industry or it isn’t as transparent.
The London Chronicles: Stay or Go
I have been living in London for nearly six years now. I’m in my thirties and it is becoming increasingly apparent that this is no longer a city that meets my needs. However, the decision to leave is not that easy and it is actually filling me with a lot of sadness as each day passes. I think almost every Londoner who wasn’t born and raised here struggles with the decision to leave. It is scary the amount of people I have met over the past several years that talk about leaving London. Yet none of these people ever leave. I’ve asked people how long they have thought about leaving. So many have been struggling with this for longer than half their time in the city. Recently a girl, that has been in London for 13 years, told me she has thought about leaving for 11 years. You would think for such a transient population, it wouldn’t be difficult to leave if they wanted to.
Credulity and Wealth Destruction
We live in a 24/7 news era. It started with CNN, then 24 hour business news, then the internet, mobile phones and now social media. When it comes to investing this is the kind of environment that poisons judgment. Things have only become worse since the financial crash of 2008. Of course the CNBC’s of the world are the biggest put option in the financial world. When things get dark and scary, people tune in and their ratings go through the roof.
The Peak of Professional Sports
I don’t love the NBA like I used to. I prefer College basketball, but even that has taken a dive in quality since players started leaving early for the big bucks in the NBA. I felt the early departure trend has watered down both products and coincides with a “get my money” culture that perpetuates the world of celebrity and its outputs. Nothing feels genuine in the NBA anymore. Players are all buddy-buddy, they all want to play with each other rather than against each other. There are no real rivalries and no real struggle. Players play well in a contract year, get their big contract and then promptly begin to stink up the gym.
A Relationship Not Meant to Last
London. When we first started our relationship I was head over heels in love with you. I would have done anything for you. Life was colourful. Everything I saw, I saw beauty. Everything I experienced, was warm. Every challenge I faced was never too big. I would tolerate the most painful dates, the most arduous commutes in to work and even the wind and rain pelting me in the face.
Jobs from Hell
In the neighbourhood I grew up in it was common to get a part time job as early as the age of 14. It was actually common throughout my home country and many parents forced their kids to do it, typically middle-class families. Rich kids don’t have to. I started a humiliating career of part time jobs in the 9th grade, but they provided great lessons and motivations that would shape my future world future. The first job was at McDonald’s. I was useless. I think the hiring manager must have known that, for it was only when my girlfriend’s sister intervened did he give me a job. I was always put on the meat or frying station. They once tried me in the front but realized my cold demeanour did not make me suitable for customer service. So they hid me in the back.
Siloviki 